Vivi Ornitier
A prototype Black Mage who sought meaning beyond his expiration date.
Vivi Ornitier is a shy Black Mage and a central member of the main cast in Final Fantasy IX. His character design draws inspiration from The Dark Crystal, aiming for a balance between realism and a comic-like aesthetic. Throughout the game's plot, Vivi grapples with the trauma of discovering his manufactured past and unique identity among mindless footsoldiers. He utilizes elemental magic including fire, ice, and lightning. Beyond Final Fantasy IX, he appears in titles such as Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts II, and World of Final Fantasy. A felt doll was included with pre-orders of the Japanese original release starting June 1, 2000.
- Character Role
- Black Mage
- Affiliation
- Garnet's Party / The Black Mage Village
- First Appears
- Final Fantasy IX (Alexandria)
- Signature Ability
- Black Magic
Lore & Background
Vivi is a Black Mage, a class of magic users employing fire, ice, lightning, and other elements. He discovers a factory where Black Mages are manufactured by Kuja and supplied to Queen Brahne for conquest. These soldiers are mindless, yet Vivi possesses emotions. At the Black Mage Village, he learns most stop functioning after about one year, but he is revealed as a prototype built to last longer. The source states he aids the group in overcoming Kuja and other threats. In his ending monologue, he is implied to have died, having created seven copies of himself, with one identifying as his son.
In Their Own Story
Vivi becomes embroiled in a kidnapping plot by Zidane Tribal and others during Vivi's trip to attend a play; they travel together with Adelbert Steiner. An early scene concept involved the group posing for a play where Zidane coaxed him to participate to avoid arrest, though this was cut from the final version. He discovers the truth of his identity as a manufactured clone with emotions unlike other Black Mages. In Kingdom Hearts II, he is friendly to protagonist Roxas despite being part of Seifer Almasy's Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee. His journey culminates in an implied death and the existence of seven copies.
Reader's Guide
Vivi serves as a key character around whom part of the game's world was designed. He is kind, pure-hearted, obedient, quiet, indecisive, and introverted. In Kingdom Hearts II, he is voiced by Ikue Ōtani (Japanese) and Melissa Disney (English). In World of Final Fantasy and Chocobo GP, his English voice actor is Kath Soucie. He acts as the leader of a group of Black Mages who gain sentience after battling protagonists in World of Final Fantasy. A card based on him was printed in the Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy set but later banned in standard format due to power level issues.
Did You Know?
- A felt doll of Vivi was included with pre-orders of the Japanese original release of FFIX starting on June 1, 2000.
- Vivi is implied to have died during his ending monologue but created seven copies of himself, one of whom identifies as his son.
- In a 2020 NHK poll of over 468,000 Japanese players, Vivi was named the franchise's 4th best character.
- A Magic: The Gathering card based on Vivi was printed in the Final Fantasy set but banned in the standard format due to power level issues.
More in Heroes & Villains
Related in Final Fantasy
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Elsewhere in the Final Fantasy universe
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