The Measure of a Life and the Death of a Mage: Vivi Orunitia, 10.0 out of 10 based on 1 rating

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. -Gandalf the Grey

Note: The following contains spoilers. You have been warned.

For many games, we go on a journey of understanding and adventure with larger-than-life characters. These journey’s can be as simple as defeating a great evil threatening the world, to as complex as a socio-political struggle between two kingdoms. But inbetween, each story has a heart; a human element that is either in the background or foreground of the major conflict that is designed to connect the player to the events. Typically, this is usually some sort of love story, a romance that is often tragic or triumphant, that makes that connection.

But in all honesty, it can be anything that offers that human connection to the players. A crisis of faith, growing up in a conflicted world, a noble sacrifice to protect who you love, and so forth. But perhaps the scenario with the most impact, is finding a character who learns their worth, despite the threat of impending death. Dragon Age: Origins had this with several characters, the TV show Lost had Charlie Pace, and Lord of the Rings used this theme to explore Frodo, Gandalf, and Arwen in the narrative and appendices respectively.

But today, we are talking about our favorite black mage from the Final Fantasy series, Vivi Orunitia. Vivi’s character follows one of the most fascinating story arcs in Final Fantasy IX, showcasing the measure of one’s life for this young black mage. And because of this, Vivi is symbolic in his representation of one of the core themes of Final Fantasy IX, what life is worth before death.

Sort of a child at heart, Vivi is a young black mage who really has no place in the world, as far as he knows. Afraid to use his powers as first out of fear of hurting others, and his child-like naïveté coupled with his bumbling nature, give Vivi a lack of self-confidence in the first half of Final Fantasy IX.

He accidentally gets swept up in a kidnapping plot against the princess of Alexandria by the Tantalus Theater Troupe. During the play the troupe performed (the one which Vivi snuck into with a street-rat named Puck) he would eventually use his magic for the first time in public, setting fire to Princess Garnet’s cloak and causing the troupe to flee the scene with Vivi onboard. Their ship crashes into the evil forest, where Vivi joins Zidane Tribal, one of the thieves of the theater troupe, and Adelbert Steiner, a Knight of Pluto and protector of Princess Garnet, to rescue the lost princess in the forest.

At first, Vivi is rather hesitant to help the group, only attacking enemies who attack him with his powers. Despite the respect Steiner gives him, and the friendliness nature of Zidane, Vivi distances himself from the group, often going on alone to explore his surroundings. After rescuing Garnet from the evil forest, the group goes on the run from Alexandria’s soldiers, until reaching the village of Dali, where Vivi is mistaken for a “lost” black mage and captured.

See, in the world of Final Fantasy IX, black mages are not humans but artificial constructs, mass produced beings to be used as shock troops for Queen Brahne, the queen of Alexandria. Because of this, black mages are made to be obedient and without a will of their own. But what sets Vivi apart from them is that he is a black mage that has “become aware.” He has no memory of his birth, and the first thing he remembers was six months before the main game began, in the Qu marsh. Other black mages have similar stories, each of them coinciding with their awakening.

Vivi, being mistaken for a lost black mage, later finds more of his kind, but is unable to communicate with them. Once discovered by the rest of the party, they steal the cargo airship to escape the clutches of a maniacal mage known as the Black Waltz No.3, a custom made black mage of immense power. The Black Waltz attacks the ship, destroying the black mages who protected Vivi without a qualm, and constantly pursues them until Vivi retaliates, fighting back with his magic after witnessing the death of those mages.

This entire scene shifts Vivi’s character, not just in giving him confidence in his abilities, but also in making him a question that is core to his being; what am I? Does he exist as a person, or does he have no real life? This is a question we have seen in many RPGs before, once again, the notion of a “soul” found in Mass Effect’s Legion comes to mind as a recent example. So in essence, Vivi embarks on a personal quest to find out what makes him human, what makes him alive.Of course, the irony is that Vivi knows the answer already at least sub-consciously. It becomes a complex mission where Vivi explores what it means to be a black mage, and why he is how he is. Most of these questions are discussed when Vivi reaches the Black Mage Village for the first time.