Garnet Til Alexandros XVII

Overview

Garnet is the main heroine of Final Fantasy IX. She is the Princess of one of the four major powers in Gaia's Mist Continent, Alexandria, and is the only heir to the throne. She is well spoken and has a high level of education, although she tends to be rather stubborn at times. Due to her sheltered upbringing, she can be rather shy and naive.

Final Fantasy IX

At the beginning of the game, Garnet plans on sneaking aboard the Prima Vista, Tantalus' theatre ship, who are coming to Alexandria to perform a play Lord Avon named "I Want to Be Your Canary" for her 16th birthday. Her reason for doing this is so that when the Prima Vista returns to Lindblum, she can speak with her deceased father's long-time friend Regent Cid Fabool IX about her mother, Queen Brahne, and her erratic behaviour as of late. Little did she know, however, that Tantalus' true goal was to kidnap the princess, and after a long chase by Zidane, she finally requested that he kidnap her as soon as possible.

After the "kidnapping," it is decided that Garnet needs to have an alias, and that she must learn "common speak" so people would not suspect her of being the princess. After an argument between Steiner and Zidane, Zidane drops his dagger, a weapon that Garnet finds interesting, which leads her to choosing "Dagger" as her alias.

Upon arriving in Lindblum, Garnet learns from Cid that he was the one who planned the kidnapping, as he was worried about her safety since he had noticed the Queen's growing lust for power. However, Cid refuses to take any action against Queen Brahne, and insists that Garnet remain in Lindblum for her own safety. Upset by the fact that no one will try and help her mother, she asks Zidane for some Sleeping Weed, claiming that she is having difficulty sleeping. She then uses the Weed to poison the food of everyone (with the exception of Steiner) who attends a feast Cid had organised so she can escape Lindblum Castle and talk to her mother personally.

She and Steiner make their way into South Gate, with Steiner stashing Garnet in a bag of stinky gysahl pickles to sneak past the guards. They then make their way up via trolly to the actual gate itself, helping others along the way and meeting old friends in Cinna and Marcus. Garnet asks Marcus to let her join him as they travel to Alexandria. Then, the car is abruptly stopped, and a boss battle with a beat-up Black Waltz No. 3 begins. They then reach the next station, and take a forked path to Treno. In Treno, Garnet ignores all of Steiner's warnings and rants and asks Baku and Marcus if she could help in the theft of a special item, the Super Soft. She meets back up with her old tutor, Dr. Tot, and he reveals he owns the item and will give it to them later. The group heads to the doctor's house, and obtain the item. Dr. Tot also allows them a rapid passage to Alexandria via Gargant. It is here that she, Steiner, and Marcus are captured and separated.

After arriving in Alexandria, Garnet confronts Queen Brahne. However, Kuja appears and, after a bit of teasing, puts her to sleep. Afterwards, Queen Brahne orders the jesters Zorn and Thorn to remove Garnet's Eidolons so that she may use them for herself, successfully using Odin to destroy Cleyra. During this incident, Zidane and the rest of the party manage to get aboard the Red Rose and travel to Alexandria and rescue Garnet. However, it is General Beatrix who re-awakens her.

Garnet suggests that they use Gargan Roo to escape to Treno; however, the Gargant they use to transport them is chased by Ralvuimago past the stop points at Treno and ends up crashing at Pinnacle Rocks. It is here that Garnet meets the Eidolon Ramuh, who is also known as the Thunder God. She requests his assistance, and he agrees. However, she must first pass a test: find his six incarnations which are hidden throughout Pinnacle Rocks. After passing this test and obtaining Ramuh, Garnet finally comes to grips with her own power, and decides she will use it to cure her mother of her endless greed.

She then bears witness to the terrifying power of summoning when Alexandria attacks Lindblum. The gravity Eidolon Atomos is summoned, and Lindblum is virtually destroyed.

Later on in the game, Garnet's powers are further explored when they venture into Madain Sari. It is here that Garnet learns of her true past and birthright after Eiko Carol shows them around the destroyed village. Garnet's real name was Sarah, and when Madain Sari was attacked and destroyed many years ago, she and her mother fled by boat towards the Mist Continent and ended up at Alexandria. However, her mother had died at some point before reaching Alexandria, and coincidentally, Sarah looked almost identical to the former Princess Garnet, who had died shortly beforehand due to illness. The King of Alexandria decided that Sarah would assume the role of Princess Garnet, and ordered the removal of the Summoner's Horn she had. The only memories Garnet had retained of this up until now were a recurrent nightmare involving her escape from Madain Sari, and the song "Melodies of Life," which only she and Eiko knew.

Afterwards, at the Iifa Tree, Garnet witnesses the battle between Queen Brahne and Kuja, where Brahne summons Bahamut in an attempt to overpower Kuja. However, this backfires, as Kuja summons the Invincible and assumes control of Bahamut, wiping out Brahne's naval army and leaving her for dead on the beach. Garnet rushes down and attempts to comfort Brahne, where she apologises for her foolishness and asks for Garnet's forgiveness shortly before dying.

After the Queen's death, Garnet is named the Queen of Alexandria. During her coronation, Kuja attacks Alexandria using Bahamut. It is here that Garnet and Eiko summon the legendary Eidolon, Alexander, to protect the city and defeat Bahamut. Once again, though, Kuja summons the Invincible with the intent of controlling Alexander just as he did Bahamut, although unknown to him at the time, Garland takes control of it and obliterates both Alexander and most of Alexandria. The shock and stress presented by these turn of events renders Garnet mute for a large portion of the game, as she feels guilty for not being able to protect her kingdom.

After the party returns from Kuja's palace, Zidane finds Garnet in Alexandria mourning at her mother's grave. It is here that Garnet regains her voice, telling Zidane that she will fight for her kingdom. She then asks for Zidane's dagger, which she uses to cut off a large portion of her hair, severing her ties to her former weak self.

Fighting Style and Abilities

Garnet is a mixture of the Summoner and White Mage classes, although she prevails in the art of Summoning. She fights using rods and magical rackets, but her physical strength is rather weak. She has the ability to summon Eidolons to damage her foes and use White Magic heal the HP and status effects of her allies.

Eidolons:

Shiva (24MP) - Ice element attack (learned from Opal)

Ifrit (26MP) - Fire element attack (learned from Topaz)

Ramuh (22MP) - Thunder element attack (learned from Peridot)

Atomos (38MP) - Gravity element attack (learned from Amethyst)

Odin (28MP) - chance of instant kill (learned from Dark Matter)

Leviathan (42MP) - Water element attack (learned from Aquamarine)

Bahamut (56MP) - non-elemental attack (learned from Garnet)

Ark (80MP) - Shadow element attack (learned from Pumice)

White Magic:

Cure (6MP) - weak healing spell

Cura (10MP) - medium healing spell

Curaga (22MP) - strong healing spell

Life (8MP) - revives KO'd ally

Scan (4MP) - obtains detailed info on enemy

Panacea (4MP) - cures Venom/Poison

Stona (8MP) - cures Petrify/Gradual Petrify

Shell (6MP) - reduces magic damage (including healing)

Protect (6MP) - reduces physical damage

Silence (8MP) - prevents use of magic

Mini (8MP) - shrinks enemy; lowers magic and attack

Reflect (6MP) - causes all spells to reflect back on caster

Confuse (8MP) - gives enemy "Confuse" status

Berserk (6MP) - gives enemy "Berserk" status

Blind (6MP) - gives enemy "Blind" status

Float (6MP) - causes levitation; immune to earth damage

Trance

During Trance mode, Garnet has a white/yellow glow to her. Her "Summon" ability changes to "Eidolon," which guarantees a fully-animated summon, which inflicts more damage. After she summons an Eidolon, there is a random chance that it will reappear, as well as act as a counter-attack, as long as her Trance bar is full.

Quotes

• Someday I will be queen, but I will always be myself.

• I have a favor I wish to ask of you... I wish to be kidnapped right away.

• I don't know what the future holds... But I want to finish what I came here for.

• Mother... I shall become a great queen!

• Mother... Zidane... No... I can't depend on them anymore! As the queen of Alexandria, I must protect my kingdom.

• Promise me one thing... Please come back.

• A-alrighty?

• My skills may be up to snuff but that name isnt.