Quina Quen

Quina Quen is a mysterious character in the game Final Fantasy IX. It is unknown whether Quina is a male or female, though there is some minor evidence to suggest female over male. The awkward pronoun 's/he' is used when referring to Quina, and the game goes to great lengths to avoid sentences where the words 'his' or 'her' would be used. S/he is a member of the Qu tribe, a group of equally bizarre creatures who, despite their ridiculous appearance, are well-seasoned gourmands who care more about their food than anything else. As a Qu, Quina has the ability to use Blue Magic, spells and attacks only otherwise available to enemies, which Quina learns by devouring the appropriate enemies alive.

Story

When protagonist Zidane Tribal first encounters Quina, it is in Qu's Marsh near the Dragon Gate exiting from Lindblum. S/he is seen trying to catch frogs, and joins Zidane after deciding he smelled good. Shortly after they meet, Quina's mentor Quale enters, and talks to Zidane and the group about bringing Quina along for training, and to let Quina see the world and experience more than just food. It is at this point where you can either say no, or allow the Qu to join your party. If you decline, you will be forced to later on, as part of the storyline.

Quina's personal history is never really elaborated on. All that is really known about the gourmand-in-training is learned through the story. Quina is fairly unintelligent, and tends to think with the stomach instead of the brain. Although for the most part this means Quina never contributes anything worthwhile to party discussions and plans, this actually aids the party at one point in the game, where Quina's lust for food and well developed sense of smell leads the party to the opening of an abandoned mine which leads to an entirely different continent. On this continent, Quina 'marries' Vivi Orniter in Conde Petie, purely to get through to the Mountain Path (which only newly-married couples can travel) and the Iifa Tree. S/he attempts to catch and eat Eiko's moogle friend Mog, and even helps Eiko Carol fix a good meal for Zidane and the gang. Later on, Quina winds up partnering with Zidane to take down the Earth Shrine, one of the four barriers of Terra, if only because all the other party members had already divided up into pairs. Quina seems totally oblivious to the insult when Zidane remarks that he was stuck with the "leftovers"; s/he comments that to Qus, leftovers are good. Quina's final contribution is that of discovering an interesting part of the airship Invincible. S/he discovers a way to enter from under the ship.

Like the other FFIX cast, s/he helps finish off Kuja and Necron, ultimately saving the world. In the ending scenes, Quina is shown serving as an executive chef for the Alexandrian castle.

Skills

Quina's skills are that of one common theme in Final Fantasy characters, Blue Magic. S/he also has the ability to Eat enemies with lower HP. Upon using "Eat", Quina can acquire a new Blue Magic spell, though only from certain monsters. With its Trance, "Eat" becomes "Cook", which is the same, only the enemy doesn't need to have such low HP to be easily eaten.

Blue Magic

• Goblin Punch - Eat a Goblin or Goblin Mage

• Lv5 Death - Eat a Stroper, Dracozombie, Whale Zombie, or the Lich boss.
  
• Lv4 Holy - Eat a Feather Circle, Torama, or Amdusias.
• Lv3 Def Less - Eat a Carve Spider, Lamia, Lizard Man, Sand Scorpion, Ochu, or Grand Dragon.
• Doom - Eat a Veteran or Ash.
• Roulette - Eat a Ghost, Zombie, or Hecteyes.
• Aqua Breath - Eat a Clipper, Axolotl, Sahagin, or Vepal.
• Mighty Guard - Eat a Serpion, Myconid, Gigan Octopus, the Antlion boss, or a Gargoyle.
• Matra Magic - Eat a Trick Sparrow, Dragonfly, Zaghnol, Ogre, Land Worm, or Armstrong.
• Bad Breath - Eat an Anemone, Worm Hydra, or Malboro.
• Limit Glove - Eat a Mu, Axe Beak, Mandragora, Blazer Beetle, Jabberwock, or Catoblepas.
• 1,000 Needles - Eat a Cactuar.
• Pumpkin Head - Eat a Python, Hedgehog Pie, Ladybug, Skeleton, Yeti, Basilisk, or Bandersnatch.
• Night - Eat a Nymph, Abomination, Seeker Bat, or Grimlock.
• Twister - Eat a Red Dragon, Abadon, or the Tiamat boss.
• Earth Shake - Eat an Adamantoise, the Earth Guardian boss, or a Shell Dragon.
• Angel's Snack - Eat an Ironite, Mistodon, Epitaph, or Behemoth.
• Frog Drop - Eat a Gigan Toad.
• White Wind - Eat a Zuu, Griffin, Zemzelett, or Garuda.
• Vanish - Eat a Vice, Hornet, Gnoll, Troll, or Drakan.
• Frost - Eat a Wraith, Chimera, or the Kraken boss.
• Mustard Bomb - Eat a Bomb, Red Vepal, Grenade, Wraith, or the Maliris boss.
• Magic Hammer - Eat a Magic Vice or Ring Leader.

Also, while it's not strictly a blue magic spell, as it can also be learned by white mages, Quina can learn Auto-Life by eating a Carrion Worm, Gimme Cat, Cerberus, Yan, or Stilva.

Equipment

Quina wields forks as weapons, fit for one obsessed with food. They all teach it the same ability: High Tide, which makes it easier to Trance. The unusual thing is, Quina's damage isn't really based on the attack power of the weapons, the stats are a red herring. Instead, s/he does random damage with each attack, meaning s/he's better off not attacking but rather using his/her Blue Magic. These weapons are:

• Fork - Attack Power: 21
• Needle Fork - Attack Power: 34
• Mythril Fork - Attack Power: 42
• Silver Fork - Attack Power: 53
• Bistro Fork - Attack Power: 68
• Gastro Fork - Attack Power: 77