OPINION: BEATRIX - FFIX’s HIDDEN GEM In a way she keeps her oath honourably as she works to preserve the monarchy and the interests of the Kingdom, if in an unconventional way. There's connective DNA here to other characters, of course FFVII's Turks are never 'evil' - they're just doing their job, and her turn from the Queen’s wishes mirror FFIV's Cecil. Most significant of all is the similarity to FFVI's Leo. Both are generals, both are temporary playable characters, both have the ‘Shock’ abilty and both beg forgiveness from another whose allies they slaughtered.
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inal Fantasy IX is one of my favourite games. Featuring one of the strongest collective casts of the entire series centralised around a thief with a heart of gold rescuing a princess, it’s a story that is almost classic yet still feels fresh, even when replaying in 2012. Mixed in amongst all this is one character that always stood out, a difficult task in a game that has captured my heart in its entirety, a woman who despite being more of a background element, remains to be one of the strongest characters in more ways than one: Alexandria's General Beatrix. She's as much an anti-hero as she is an unsung hero - portrayed for a large chunk of the game as a superpowerful enemy who can reduce your party HP to 1 in an instant. She's there to hinder your efforts to stop the machinations of reigning monarch Queen Brahne, who herself is being manipulated by main antagonist Kuja. As the head of Alexandria's all-female army, she is of course sworn to protect the monarchy. She stands against Zidane and his allies twice, believing the group to have genuinely kidnapped the Princess. It’s only after the queen launches a brutal, genocide attack on the settlement of Cleyra and later kidnaps and imprisons her own daughter that Beatrix begins to question her role. Beatrix as a character is interesting as she has her own side story buried deep beneath the main plot, struggling between her sense of duty and what she knows is right. While it is unclear whether she had questioned the queen’s actions before the attack and kidnapping, Beatrix eventually does help the party – though does not turn on the queen entirely, instead hoping to bring her to her senses.
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At first glance she appears cold. "I once killed a hundred knights single-handedly... to me, you two are nothing more than insects," she flippantly tells the party before battle. It's when she joins your cause that her true personality becomes clear.
“Beatrix stands out as one of the better female characters not only of FFIX, but of the series in general.” She’s proud, fiercely loyal and a formidable warrior but she's also human. A comedy of errors where a love letter by Eiko ends up in Beatrix's hands leads her to believe it's from Captain Steiner, her long-time rival. It's with this relationship barely blossoming that Alexandria falls in one of the most memorable sequences in all of FF. Here the two Knights stand back to back, surrounded, against impossible odds - and Beatrix really stands tall. As Steiner prepares to profess his love, ready for death, she quiets him - swearing his confession can wait for another day. For a time the game lets you believe the pair dead - and it's a devastating thought. They’re two characters the game's script initially pushes you to hate - but at that moment, all but the most heartless player will love them. Even the idea of ending their story just as it is really blossoming just seems too cruel; thankfully this is not the case. They too get their happy ending, raising Beatrix's sword skyward together in the closing moments of the game - seems only just. Final Fantasy IX is not a game that is short of female figures, and in a way each represents a different kind of woman. For me personally, Beatrix stands out as one of the better female characters not only of FFIX, but of the series in general. Hers is a story worth knowing. By Harriet Jones [@HC_Jones], a freelance writer and contributor to the Unlimited Hyperbole podcast. [joemartinwords.com/podcast/]