A stage troupe on the surface, Tantalus is really a band of mercenaries, thieves and treasure-hunters. They are hired to stage the daring kidnap of Princess Garnet during their feature presentation of the world-famous play "I Want To Be Your Canary".

• Abusive Parents: Played With. Baku beat Zidane when he was a child, as a punishment for running off in a futile search for his homeland. Zidane seems to hold no ill will towards Baku for it and in fact, he sounds fond of the memory when reciting it to Garnet. It's also heavily implied to be Anger Born of Worry.
• Ambiguously Human: Ruby looks human enough, and Zenero and Benero are very clearly not human. The rest? Marcus has pointed ears and fangs that make him look a little like a goblin (though not the goblin monsters found in this game). Blank's skin looks like it's been stitched together from multiple different sources. Cinna also has pointed ears, a bright red nose, and greatly distorted facial features. And Baku has a bat-like nose and ears.
• The Artful Dodger: Blank and Zidane, at the very least, are implied to have been cunning thieves in their younger days.
• Artificial Limbs: Benero and Zenero's hands are robotic.
• Badasses Wear Bandanas: Marcus wears a bandana that covers his eyes and can keep up with the party and even braves Evil Forest alone just to free Blank from being petrified.
• Blade Across The Shoulder: Blank does this in his battle stance.
• Blindfolded Vision: Blank wears a massive strip of thick cloth over his eyes, but still seems to see just fine.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Baku is big and loud, be it fighting or otherwise.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Most of the group is really odd, but they are pretty competent at their jobs.
  • Baku's a Drill Sergeant Nasty with a habit of attacking his crew (sometimes as part of unscheduled training sessions, other times because he's in a bad mood), but nobody can doubt his abilities as a leader — after all, he got Tantalus out of Evil Forest alive. Plus he holds back when he fights his crew.
  • Blank is terrified of Oglops, but he makes up for this phobia through his gifts in fighting, thieving, and potions-brewing.
  • Cinna is addicted to South Gate Bundt Cake, enjoys playing with dolls, and is insanely protective of his hammer, but he's also a very talented engineer.
  • Benero and Zenero are both just a tad dimwitted, but they're strong and capable enough to be kept around as Dumb Muscle.
  • Ruby is hilariously overenthusiastic, easily annoyed, and speaks with an accent unique to the setting, but — as the final scenes display — she's actually a good actor.
  • Finally, Zidane will flirt with anyone female and of age, but can lie, cheat, steal, and act better than any other member of Tantalus.
  • Marcus, by comparison, seems pretty normal.
• Butt-Monkey: Cinna exists to be humiliated. This is demonstrated in the first battle of the game, where he both deals less damage and takes more; he's useless.
  • Additionally, Steiner swatted Cinna aside as he was chasing Zidane and Garnet/Dagger and Cinna after eating so much South Gate Bundt Cake found himself running away from Baku's Super Tornado Tantalus Punch. Oh, and he was never shown doing any victory poses either in game. Did we mention that Zidane indirectly called Cinna ugly looking and him feeling irritated when being addressed as an uncle by Vivi?
• Cat Folk: Baku and some of the musicians are something like cats. Benero & Zenero resemble the blue tapirs.
• Companion Cube: Cinna is very attached to his hammer.
• Cool Ship: The Prima Vista, is both a ship and a mobile theater.
• Covered with Scars: Blank's entire body is a patchwork of stitchmarked scarring.
• Damn, It Feels Good to Be a Gangster!: Absolutely none of them are upset about the way their lives turned out, and they are gleefully flamboyant as performers and thieves both.
• The Danza: In-Universe example; Marcus, Blank, and Zidane go by those names in the play and in the game proper. It's possible that Baku named them after the characters in the play (see The Fagin below).
• Duel Boss: Baku fights Zidane one-on-one early in the game, making it one of the first battles fought without even a Guest-Star Party Member to back him up.
• Easily Forgiven: Zidane is permanently kicked out of Tantalus in disc 1, but later admits that "it isn't the first time I left." (We learn more about that in disc 2.)
• The Faceless: The Nero families' heads are always covered by their pig masks, and we never get to see what they look like under them.
• The Fagin: It's heavily implied that Baku is one of these. He is outright stated to have taken in Zidane and raised him to pickpocket, burgle, and perform classical theater with the best of them.
• Funetik Aksent: All of them sans Blank in the Italian dub. Each has a different one ^note  Sicilian for Baku, Spanish for Ruby, German for Marcus, Rome Dialect for Cinna, Sardinian for Zenero and Benero to highlight their nature as a colorful gang of misfits.
• Gentleman Thief: They're classically trained actor theives after all.Except for Ruby, who is, in fact, a woman.
• Girly Run: Ruby beats out Garnet for the prancing trope.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Blank, Marcus, and Cinna. Marcus serves as one for the longest of the three, being the only one to serve as one beyond Disc 1 as he takes Zidane's place while the party is split so the player can continue to steal items with Garnet's team.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Blank's assist in the Evil Forest leads him to be petrified. He throws Zidane the map when he realizes he won't get out.
• Hidden Eyes: Blank and Marcus, and some of those musicians.
• Homage:
  • Blank not only has Black Jack's scars, but even develops a cure for the seed-infection that hits Zidane and some others.
  • The musicians. Someone at Square obviously watched that ship movie.
• Joke Character: Cinna has awful stats to the point that even the first tutorial boss can take him out in a single hit.
• Lovable Rogue: Every mother's son (and daughter) of 'em are a quirky group of True Companions, who are also professional thieves.
• My Hero, Zero: Blank, in a way. Zero is "empty" which means it is "blank".
• Navel-Deep Neckline: Ruby's top is basically open all the way down to her waist.
• Neighborhood-Friendly Gangsters: For a gang of thieves, they are on friendly terms with Lindblum's regency, hence why Cid entrusted the task of "kidnapping" Garnet to them. They even help rebuild the Lindblum theater district after the blitz!
• No Name Given: The musicians. (The box office guy in Alexandria mentions that Tantalus performs "with accompaniment by Lav Layderce," which could refer to the composer, the conductor, the whole band, anything.)
• Only Sane Man: Marcus, the only member who is not strange in some way (aside from his goblin-like appearance, which is comparatively minor.)
• The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Other than the swashbuckling kidnapping attempt that kicks off the game and the performance at the end, Tantalus doesn't really seem to do much in the way of thieving or performing. They mostly loiter around various towns and occasionally show up to be useful to their old buddy Zidane. Mostly justified throughout the game, as both personal and global events prevent them from doing their schtick, be it finding a cure for Blank's petrification, to Lindblum getting invaded, to helping repair the city, and accompanying Cid's fleet. The fact that they're back to at least performing at the end signals a return to normalcy in the world.
• Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: They're a group of thieves who also pose as a theatre group and are all a little goofy in some way, Baku in particular.
• Real Men Wear Pink:
  • Pay close attention, Baku has a bright red bow in his hair.
  • The entire premise of Tantalus (gang of thieves) as a theater group.
• Running Gag: Baku sneezing loudly every time he appears and not in the well-known anime context of someone talking behind his back, just...so he can sneeze loudly every time he appears.
• Satisfied Street Rat: If any member of Tantalus starts telling you a fascinating sob story about their tragic childhood, stay alert and watch your wallet. These guys make no bones about loving their lifestyle.
• Scars Are Forever: Blank, and not just on his face. It's a dangerous line of work you know.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Played with. Although Marcus immediately ditches Steiner once they escape the castle rather than go help Garnet, that's because he's prioritizing saving Blank first. Once he's been cured of his pertrifiction Marcus immediately doubles back to the castle with Blank in tow despite Blank being weakened from just being cured telling him to move it because they need to save their buddy's (Zidane) girl. Although they're late to the actual rescue they make it back in time to cover Zidane's escape and, offscreen, manage to recover Steiner, Freya ,and Beatrix and carry them back to Lindblum.
• Shoo the Dog: Baku turns Zidane away in disc 3 because of his Heroic BSoD.
• So Long, and Thanks for All the Gear: All of them technically but while you can't unequip Cinna, and Blank's brief stint in the party is early in the game before you'd have anything particularly rare or useful to put on him, Marcus's turn in Disc 2 can have him potentially have the rare Mythril Sword (which you can buy but is no longer available in shops past a certain point in the game) or even rarer Blood Sword (of which there are only two in the entire game: you intially get one as a sidequest reward, and the other one has to be stolen from a very lategame boss) on him when he leaves the party. You have a brief period to unequip him before he goes, but if you don't know it's coming....
• Southern Belle: Ruby affects this in her accent and fashion sense despite there being no equivalent to the American Deep South in this game. Perhaps it's an artistic invention?
• Taken for Granite: Blank, after saving Zidane from suffering the same fate in the Evil Forest. Fortunately, Marcus and Cinna manage to find a way to return him and only him (as opposed to him and the rest of the forest and its monsters) to normal.
• Talking in Your Sleep: If you examine the Moogle's Flute key item (allows you to summon a save moogle on the world map) in the menu, you get a quotation from a character just like any other key item. In this case, the quotation is from Baku, and reads "Hey, let me touch that red...bonbon-lookin' thing on your head...Zzz..." =Baku sleeptalking=
• Tattooed Crook: Marcus, with Tron Lines on his arms, either fancies himself as one or used to be one for real.
• Team Dad: Baku is technically the father of the entire trope, sans blood, because he raised them.
• There Is Another: Played for laughs. Benero and Zenero meet up with a third twin, Genero, in disc 3. Which would, y'know, make them triplets. If you meet them as Zidane, you can challenge them to a Shell Game using themselves. Just before endgame, on Disc 4, there's a lesser known sidequest involving meeting every single one of their other family and relatives (and there are a lot).
• Tough Love: Baku will beat you cross-eyed if you try to sass him. Then you'll have a good guffaw together and he'll tell you he likes your spirit.
• True Companions: They are very much a foster family. After the Forest of Evil, their main activities are helping Zidane with his save the world business and also researching a cure for Blank's petrification.
• Vanity License Plate: Variant: the first FMV spends a lot of time around the Prima Vista's seated-mermaid bowsprit.
• Willfully Weak: After their duel, Baku floors Zidane with a friendly punch to the gut, leaving Zidane to state that he was pulling his punches up til that point.

"I commend your courage, but I will show you no mercy."

The general of Alexandria's all-female armies, Beatrix is a fabled paladin who is feared and respected all throughout the continent. However, though fiercely loyal to her queen and almost as unquestioning as Steiner, she still has a honourable heart — enough to wonder if she's on the right side after the first few atrocities...

• Action Girl: Let's just say she more than lives up to her reputation as "a fabled paladin."
• Amazon Brigade: Inverted, because she isn't a commander of some small-ish non-gender-standard unit (that honor goes to Steiner). Alexandria is a nation where women are dominant, and thus Beatrix is the general of her all-female army.
• Anti-Villain: She's a dutiful general who serves her kingdom and her queen. Too bad that her queen has become a greedy conqueror...Beatrix leads the Alexandrian army during the invasions of Burmecia and Cleyra, but acts like a general invading another kingdom would. She doesn't revel in pointless acts of villainy and becomes unnerved after witnessing Brahne destroy Cleyra with an Eidolon even though the city was already defeated. Unsurprisingly, she pulls a Heel–Face Turn after she realizes that her queen has gone too far.
• Badass Boast: More than one and every time, it also counts as a Pre-Asskicking One-Liner.
  "I once killed a hundred knights single-handedly. To me, you two are nothing more than insects."
  "Let me shatter your delusions of grandeur."
• Battle Couple: With her fellow military commander Steiner in disc 3 after Love Letter Lunacy drew them together.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: She and Steiner ultimately ended up together despite their initially antagonistic relationship.
• Combat Medic: She's a dreaded swordfighter, but can also use healing spells.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Downplayed. Supplementary material states that back in the day, Steiner and her got along well until one of their sparring matches got out of hand. At that time, they were more or less equal in strength but Steiner accidentally hit her in the face, destroying her eye. It's implied that Steiner never really apologized for it because of his lack of social skills. As time went on, Beatrix grew much stronger than him and became a general while his underappreciated Knights of Pluto became a laughingstock. He grew unfathomably jealous and she never really forgave him for her eye. When they eventually wonder if they have feelings for each other, they are both flabbergasted and confused about how much they really care about each other.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Literally; the first fight against her concludes the game's first disc.
• Distaff Counterpart: To Steiner in many ways: commander, honor bound, conflicted loyalties, sword using etc.
• The Dreaded: The terrified reaction of the Burmecian soldier who wanted to avenge his town is a good testimony of what her name means. Just finding out his enemy would be Beatrix was enough to stop the soldier in his tracks.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Upon finding out about the Queen's true evil nature and that she was merely used as her puppet all this time, she starts to have second thoughts about what she's done. She also objects to Brahne using the Black Mages in battle and blowing up Cleyra with Odin, insisting that the army was enough, and completely destroying Cleyra wasn't necessary.
• Eyepatch of Power: The loss of her eye marks her as dangerous not disabled.
• Flower Motifs: Something about a Rose — her leitmotif is "Rose of May," and there is a rose emblem emblazoned on the back of her uniform (though it's hard to notice because of her hair).
• Gameplay and Story Integration: Is known as the best warrior on the planet and boy does she back it up.
• I Gave My Word: Her oath to protect Princess Garnet eventually helps prompt her Heel Realization and Heel–Face Turn.
• Gratuitous Japanese: Has the special command "Seiken" (Holy Sword) in a game that otherwise lacks much Japanese flavoring.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Helping Garnet escape the castle, and again when the mist monsters attack Alexandria.
• Handicapped Badass: She is Alexandria's best warrior despite the loss of her right eye.
• Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: It's impossible to truly beat her. Whenever her HP drops below a certain point, she'll activate one of her Seiken powers and knock your entire party's HP down to 1, ending the battle.
• Heel–Face Turn: Turns against the evil queen to help the heroes, after it's confirmed the queen tried to execute Garnet.
• Heel Realization: When the Queen orders her to kill Garnet, she realizes that the queen truly is as evil as she feared. Shortly before this, after Cleyra's destruction, Beatrix wonders if she has a will of her own.
• Holy Hand Grenade: Can use the powerful Holy spell once she's a temporary party member.
• Hopeless Boss Fight: Every battle against her cannot be won.
• Invincible Villain: Before deciding to join Zidane's party in protecting Garnet, she was this for much of the game, considering she was still working for the blatantly evil queen and impossible to defeat during each encounter.
• Jiggle Physics: The PC version added a little bounce to her bosom whenever she claps her fist over her chest.
• The Juggernaut: She is a One-Woman Army that no number of knights, or the entire heroic party, can stop.
• Karma Houdini: Downplayed. Considering that she partook in the destructions of both Burmecia and Cleyra out of loyalty to Queen Brahne, she gets off rather lightly. However, those destructions were caused by the Black Mages and Brahne's eidolons, not by Beatrix or her soldiers. She is also genuinely sincere in her desire to repent for what she did in Brahne's service and even apologizes to Freya for her actions. Plus, agreeing to fight alongside Freya and Steiner against Zorn and Thorn's Bandersnatches results in Beatrix's first major defeat in the entire game, to the point that Blank reports that she was actually knocked unconscious and had to be rescued.
• Knight in Shining Armor: She always believed herself to be a heroic and loyal knight. She simply doesn't realize that she's not on the heroic side at first.
• Lady of War: She's a feminine gentlewoman who uses her sword with impeccable grace and poise as a renown warrior.
• Lawful Stupid: Initially, much like Steiner, she has "obey my queen" above "don't commit genocide." She gets over it a lot quicker than he does.
• Magic Knight: She mostly uses sword techniques during fights, but her brief moments as a Guest-Star Party Member show she also knows a few spells of White Magic.
• Mama Bear: To Garnet. When the Queen orders Garnet's execution, Beatrix goes so far as to change sides. Even after Garnet becomes Queen, Beatrix acts as her primary adviser and rules the nation in her stead while Garnet hunts down Kuja.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: Shares this dilemma with Steiner. Like Steiner, she eventually realizes what Brahne has become and shifts loyalty to her daughter.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Shares this sentiment once she actually sees Garnet was put under a sleeping spell, confirming the Queen's actions to have her executed. Beatrix also realizes that her attacks against Burmecia and Cleyra were in the wrong and could have been prevented if she had questioned Brahne sooner.
• Mythology Gag: Shares a lot in common with Cecil Harvey and is likely a nod to the character. Like with Cecil, she is a paladin and swears to protect those she holds dear. She follows orders from the Queen without question and then starts to doubt her once she sees how genocidal she has become. After her Heel–Face Turn, she does everything she can to make amends for her actions.
• Noble Top Enforcer: Her official job description is "Protect the Queen"; what she usually does goes way beyond it.
• Not So Stoic: Quite the romantic, especially when it comes to love letters.
• Older Than They Look: Perhaps it's because the in-game sprite, but you are forgiven if you mistake her to be around the same age as Zidane or just a bit older, either in her late teens or early 20s. But she's actually 27 years old (and 28 during the ending).
• The Paladin: In true Final Fantasy tradition. She combines sword skills with white magic, and goes through a redemption arc in the course of the game.
• Parental Substitute: Alongside Steiner after Brahne is killed, as she's the gentle and calm maternal figure to the newly crowned Garnet who also acts as regent while the queen is off hunting Kuja.
• Pet the Dog: Her love and protective attitude towards Princess Garnet and Alexandria.
• Promoted to Playable: Beatrix was an NPC in the original game but becomes playable in other spinoffs such as Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius and Final Fantasy Record Keeper.
• Pyrrhic Victory: Her third win against Zidane and friends very nearly ends up as this; having defeated them as soundly as ever, she realizes almost too late that they were trying to rescue Princess Garnet, and has to use her powers to heal her and awaken her from the magically-induced coma - only just succeeding. Had the battle carried on any longer (for example, if Beatrix decided to finish Zidane and the others off), Garnet might have been beyond saving by the time Beatrix noticed her.
• Recurring Boss: Fought three times as a boss, none of which can be won.
• Redemption Demotion: Mostly downplayed. She doesn't have nearly as much HP as a guest party member compared to when you fight her, but she is still monstrously powerful. The same Shock ability that she can use to one-shot your party at level twenty or so (with nearly a thousand damage) will also one-shot the first enemy she fights when she's an ally (where it will do about 1900 damage).
• Sarcastic Devotee: The first sign that her loyalty is starting to falter arrives when she quite bitterly notices that the Queen shows her no gratitude for retrieving the Gem from Cleyra and favors the Black Mages and Eidolons over her number one general.
• Timed Mission: She always has two good equipment pieces to steal; the catch is getting them before she decides to deal out a Total Party Kill to end the battle.
• To Be Lawful or Good: Like Steiner, her dilemma is her moral code vs her oath of fealty. It also has the same solution: heroic princess > evil queen.
• White Magic: Has several white magic spells when she's a temporary party member and can also be seen using it to revive Garnet from the sleeping spell that Zorn and Thorn used on her.
• World's Best Warrior: When Beatrix is properly introduced in Burmecia, Freya remembers a conversation with Fratley in which he refers to Beatrix as the world's greatest swordswoman, with legends of her killing hundreds of soldiers all on her own. As her boss fights show, she's earned the reputation.
• Worthy Opponent: She's looking for one. In the end, she may not have had one after all.

^{Click to see him as an oglop}

^{Click to see him as a frog}

"No amount of hardship can tear our two countries apart."

The monarch of Lindblum, the only country equal to Alexandria in strength, Cid is a peaceful but proactive ruler, well known for his industrial innovations and revolutionary airship designs. He hires the Tantalus bandits to kidnap Garnet, which leads directly to the beginning of the game.

• Almighty Janitor: an Invoked Trope. He's the current Tetra Master champion, but due to being an oglop at the time of the tournament in Treno, he has to ask an NPC to play for him (while giving her instructions), making the crowd label her as the champ, and he has to pose as her "pet", much to Cid's dismay.
• Badass Cape: So badass it stays with him through two transformations (see below).
• Big Good: A textbook example. The party takes out Kuja, but they wouldn't get anywhere without Cid's backing.
• Cool Airship: Cid's prototype steam-powered airships usually fall under this heading — with the possible exception of the Hilda Garde II.
• Cool Chair: His throne has a built-in elevator that allows the throne itself to move between two floors.
• Cool Old Guy: An older man, a technological genius, helps out the party in a myriad of ways and is just a good guy overall.
• Emperor Scientist: The monarch of Lindblum is busy developing a groundbreaking new model of airship.
• Forced Transformation: Transformed into an oglop (by his wife Hilda), and later, after an unsuccessful attempt for a cure, a frog. Doesn't stop him from ruling his country, though.
• Gadgeteer Genius: A trait common with most Cids of Final Fantasy. So, not surprising at all. Part of the plot involves getting him back into human form, because being an oglop, and later a frog, messes with his mind and keeps him from exercising his full potential as an airship engineer/designer.
• Guest-Star Party Member: At one point you have to control him in a dungeon, but he won't fight in battle.
• Honorary Uncle: Treated Dagger like family, she even calls him Uncle Cid.
• King of Games: He's the champion of Tetra Master.
• Literal Transformative Experience: in Disc 3, Cid is finally reunited with his wife, forgiven for his infidelity and transformed back into a human; not only is Cid able to return to work with renewed confidence and design the Cool Airship of the game, but he enjoys a much better relationship with Hilda from then on.
• The Mind Is a Plaything of the Body: As a human, he's one of the most brilliant scientists in the world. In his oglop and frog forms, his mental faculties aren't nearly as sharp, which prevents him from finishing an advanced airship to help the heroes until his cursed is reversed.
• Morphic Resonance: His mustache is always with him through both transformations.
• Mythology Gag:
  • He's the 9th Cid (including Cidolfus Orlandeau from Final Fantasy Tactics.)
  • Fabul... What kingdom do we know by that name?
• Non-Mammalian Hair: His mustache stays no matter what he's polymorphed into.
• Parental Substitute: Eventually adopts Eiko. He is very pleased to hear her call him father.
• Really Gets Around: It's hinted that he was always a womanizer, and that his wife only found out about one of his mistresses.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: "a peaceful but proactive ruler". He provides regular support for the heroes.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: He accompanies Zidane and company for part of their journey, and he also designs the airship they travel on later in the game. In fact, he rescues half of the party from a deathtrap during their imprisonment in Kuja's desert castle, personally. While still in frog-form. Later on, he helps lead the armada of airships — almost all of which he designed and his country built — against the horde of silver dragons that Kuja sent after the party en route to the final dungeon.
• Silver Fox: His mustache is grey, but he can still charm the ladies.
• Trickster Transformee: Regent Cid has been transformed into an oglop by the start of the game, with attempts at a cure only turning him into a frog instead. As such, he's basically useless in a fight, forcing him to get by through stealth and trickery: when Queen Brahne takes over Lindblum, Cid is able to get Zidane out of the city by sabotaging a trolley that would have allowed Alexandrian troops to block his escape. Later, when the entire party ends up captured by Kuja and put in a Death Trap, Cid is able to sneak into the control room and disable the trap through a sneaking minigame.
• Verbal Tic: "Gwok" as an oglop, "Ribbit" as a frog. Ever after he's transformed back to his old self, he has a bit of trouble dropping them.
• Worf Had the Flu: Being turned into an oglop then later as a frog seriously hampers his ship-making abilities.
• Younger Than They Look: His mustache and grey hair makes him look like a Silver Fox in his fifties, but he's really 35.

Eiko: He looks pretty smart. Hey, you look like the bookish type!

Dr. Tot: Ha ha ha...what gives you that impression?

Eiko: You really want me to explain?

Dr. Tot: Oh yes, I'm quite curious.

Eiko: Where should I start...? First, your beard! Second, your nerdy hat! Third, your thick eyeglasses! All signs of a nerdy philosopher!

A former loyal servant of Queen Brahne, Dr. Tot left Alexandria years ago to do research. The heroes meet up with him again in Treno, when they need a Supersoft and a way back to Alexandria.

• Absent-Minded Professor: Tends to get lost in thought rather easily, wandering off muttering to himself about whatever's currently on his mind.
• Accidental Misnaming: Baku can't get his name right.
• Eccentric Mentor: Tot's a smart guy, but get him started on a subject that interests him, and he'll fly off into his own little world.
• Gag Nose: One so large that it accounts for roughly 75% of the total size of his head.
• Intergenerational Friendship: with Eiko whom he helps write a love letter.
• The Last DJ: Chose to leave Alexandria when Kuja started influencing Brahne's rule.
• Miniature Senior Citizens: That hat makes up a quarter of his height.
• Mr. Exposition: He provides a lot of information on the backstory of the setting and some of the characters, including the truth behind Garnet's adoption.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Dr. Tot tutored a young Garnet, and is also an accomplished writer, historian, and astronomer. He also apparently has some medical training, given that he mixed a potion that was meant to cure Cid of his being turned into an oglop. In fact, all it did was turn him into a frog, but in Dr. Tot's defense, he wasn't sure if the remedy was going to work anyway.
• Opaque Nerd Glasses: Eiko says they mark him as a nerdy philosopher, which he is.
• Parental Substitute: Dr. Tot provides both emotional support and material aid to Garnet during Discs 2 and 3. He also helps Eiko write a love letter to Zidane.

A bratty Burmecian kid who's known to pop up at the most random moments, his first act of significance was making Vivi his personal Butt-Monkey. Secretly the prince of Burmecia.

• The Artful Dodger: Introduced running around Alexandria, "accidentally" bumping into people.
• Bratty Half-Pint: The kid sure has an attitude, that's for sure.
• Chekhov's Gunman: He first appears at the beginning of the game in Alexandria, helping Vivi sneak inside the theater to watch I Want to be Your Canary in secret. He doesn't reappear until much later in the game, when he's revealed as the prince of Burmecia.
• Keet: Seeing him run around and act high and mighty is quite a sight and especially since he hangs around Shrinking Violet Vivi so much.
• King Incognito: He' introduced as a seemingly random street rat, but he's later revealed to be the prince of Burmecia all along.
• Rebel Prince: Has no desire to return to his homeland, even before it's destroyed. After the war, he can be seen running helter skelter through the streets of Alexandria with nary a care.
• Running Gag: Runs over Vivi every time he shows up.
• Walking the Earth: Puck travels all over the world and through his travels, he encounters Sir Fratley and then continues his travels after sending him to Cleyra to help out.

A Dragon Knight of Burmecia, he was Freya's lover, and one of the few to match her in skill. Fratley left Burmecia in search of greater challenges, with Freya searching the world in hopes of finding him again.

• Aborted Arc: It's never revealed exactly what happened to cause Fratley to lose his memories, nor is any attempt made to help him remember.
• Big Damn Heroes: His return to Cleyra is marked by him saving people from black mages.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: He remembers nothing about Freya, or himself. He just feels compelled to fight For Great Justice.
• One True Love: He never does remember his past or Freya, but by the end of the game, he's fallen in love with her all over again.
• Punny Name: Sir Fratley.

The least apathetic of the Genomes of Bran Bal, Mikoto welcomes the heroes to Terra and shows them the way to Pandemonium, Garland's fortress. Garland created her to be his newest Angel of Death, meant to replace the uncontrollable Kuja and then-missing Zidane. When the latter finally learns the truth, he adopts her as his little sister.

• Artificial Human: Like her whole race she was created by Garland.
• Cain and Abel and Seth: The third Angel of Death. Mikoto provides important exposition but otherwise receives less focus than her brothers and is largely an outside observer to their conflict.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Scenes of her in the Black Mage Village show that she is slowly learning about concepts like friendship and love.
• Emotionless Girl: She was given a soul by Garland, and therefore she's capable of emotions, but because she grew up exclusively around other Genomes, she has no clue how to use them.
• Happily Adopted: By Zidane as his sister and by the Black Mages as their friend. Mikoto and the rest of the Genomes find a home in the Black Mage Village, learning about the ways of Gaia and that there is more to life than waiting in an emotionless fog.
• Meaningful Name: Mikoto means 'life' in Japanese, the main theme behind Final Fantasy IX.
• Ms. Exposition: Her initial role when the gang first arrives in Bran Bal is explaining how things work there.
• Mysterious Waif: First appears as an enigmatic, silent girl whom Zidane feels compelled to follow.
• Scary Dogmatic Aliens: She is a Terran. She's truthful, but her quietness and lack of emotion make her appear cold.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Mixed with a bit of Tsundere: she seems as cold and remote as the other Genomes, but grows flustered and indignant when Zidane refers to her as his little sister, and later waxes compassionately about Kuja and his impact on the Genomes.
• Younger Than They Look: She's an Artificial Human created by Garland, but she appears as a teenage girl of around 15 years old.

A minor celebrity of sorts among Moogles, Stiltzkin is on a worldwide backpacking trip, bringing him conveniently to the same locations as your heroes on occasion.

• Badasses Wear Bandanas: As a proper world-traveling adventurer, he wears a bandana.
• Bold Explorer: His main claim to fame is his wide ranging exploration.
• Famed in Story: Among the Moogles; they all seem to know who he is, and for them a visit from Stiltzkin is something to write a letter to your friends about.
• Perpetual Poverty: Hinted at; he'll offer you items for a price to fund his trip.
• Recurring Traveller: He pops up at the same locations as the heroes, if they can find him.
• Walking the Earth: Backpacking from one end of Gaia to the other.

Little more than a small-time crook, Alleyway Jack relies on quick schemes and staying on the move for a living. There's more to him than that.

• Dirty Coward: Whenever confronted by someone who looks capable of fighting, he immediately runs away in fear. This usually results in him dropping some item for the party in the process.
• Foreshadowing: His multiple arms are a rather subtle example, given his true identity.
• I Have Many Names: His real name is Gilgamesh. Yes, that Gilgamesh.
• Kick the Dog: He shamelessly pickpockets the player on multiple occasions.
  • When he first appears, going without speaking to him will result in him suddenly and violently mugging Vivi before running off.
  • When Garnet first arrives in Treno, Jack will bump into her and rob her if the appropriate ATE is viewed.
  • Finally, if the player takes more than twelve hours to finish the game, he will steal the Excalibur II, Steiner's Ultimate Weapon, from Memoria.
• Leeroy Jenkins: His tough-guy act is a response to his being bullied for having four arms. But an act is all it is — he nearly craps himself with fear when he realizes that he's trying to pick a fight with Amarant. Steiner and Quina, the comic relief characters, also intimidate him at different points during the game.
• Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Minus the dangerous part but definitely the arms. He's Gilgamesh after all.
• Mythology Gag: A walking one considering that he's Gilgamesh.
• Oh, Crap!: Nearly soils himself with fear when he realizes that he's trying to pick a fight with Amarant.
• Pet the Dog: He provides your first Tetra Master tutorial, and thus showing that he's not all bad.
• Recurring Traveller: The heroes can find him in many locations.
• Walking the Earth: He travels the world and is encountered in Alexandria and later Daguerreo and then leaves after his sidequest is over.
• Would Hurt a Child: Perhaps not "hurt", but he's not above mugging Vivi or attempting to kidnap Eiko to get back at Amarant.

The wife of Regent Cid. An offscreen character for the first two disks, she is mysteriously absent when the gang first arrives in Lindblum. It turns out she has been kidnapped by Kuja and is also responsible for Cid being turned into an oglop.

• Affectionate Nickname: After she turns Cid back into a human, she is quite affectionate with him and is shown to have several pet names for him, variously calling him "sugar-cup," "darling" and "my sweet froggy-woggy" (referential of the fact that he was also a frog for a while due to a potion.)
• I Call Her "Vera": The Hilda Garde airships were of course named after her.
• Gilded Cage: Says that Kuja didn't treat her like a prisoner and was very nice to her.
• Lady of Black Magic: Has some magic though the extent of it is unknown.
• Ms. Exposition: Midway through Disk 3, having the benefit of Kuja explaining his entire plan to her while she was held prisoner.
• Mythology Gag: She shares her name as Princess Hilda from Final Fantasy II.
• Pimped-Out Dress: Complete with hoopskirts, bustle, poofy sleeves and a train.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Is simply found by accident in Mt Gulug where Kuja abandoned her and needs little persuasion to turn Cid back into a human. Therefore, all the trouble to change him back without her help was pointless.
• The Unfair Sex: Averted. Cid calls her out on her petty revenge and the two admit how silly they've both been before reconciling.
• Woman Scorned: Turned Cid into an oglop as revenge for him cheating on her with a waitress.

Quina's master and also an optional boss once Quina catches all ninety-nine frogs.

• Bad Liar: Insists he doesn't know anyone by the name of Quan, but repeatedly makes it clear he knows Quan is of the Qu tribe and has enough familiarity with him to call him a bigot on principle.
• Chef of Iron: As Quina's master, he is highly skilled in the art of culinary combat.
• Improbable Weapon User: As with all Qus, Quale uses a giant dinner fork as a weapon. He also has a giant sword-like carving knife hanging on the wall of his house in the Qu's Marsh on the Mist Continent.
• Making a Splash: Uses the Water and Aqua Breath spells a lot, and is healed by Water-elemental attacks.
• Optional Boss: Fighting him is optional, but he gives the best weapon for Quina if he is defeated.
• Rolling Attack: Rolling Attack, where he curls into a ball and launches himself at a party member.
• Status Effects: Will inflict Poison, Mini, Confuse, Blind, and Silence.
• Stern Teacher: Quale initially reproaches Quina for not being able to feed himself and needing Zidane to catch a frog for him. However, once Quina buckles down and starts applying himself to catching frogs, Quale begins rewarding his progress. Later, Quale challenges Quina to a final test once s/he catches 99 frogs, and congratulates Quina on his progress when s/he wins.
• Supreme Chef: He's a master Gourmand.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: Claims to "not know that bigot" when Vivi asks about Quan.

The only unit of male soldiers in Alexandria's military, which is otherwise an all-female Amazon Brigade. Besides Captain Steiner, they include the double super-sleuths Blutzen and Kohel, the writer Laudo, the artilleryman Dojebon, the knowledgeable Breirecht, the ladies' man Weimar, Haagen who knows Alexandria's streets backward and forward, and Mullenkedheim, the winner of last year's cannonball race.

• Amateur Sleuth: Blutzen and Kohel are experts at detective work and gathering information. Their best role during the attack on Alexandria is to gather information.
• Big Eater: Mullenkedheim can be found in the castle's feast hall complaining about how hungry he is. Later, when the Knights are helping to rebuild the castle after it's wrecked, he says he wants to start by rebuilding the kitchen.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The Knights are shown to be...eccentric, to say the least, and they're treated as incompetent nitwits by the rest of the army (and by Steiner himself). That said, when Kuja and Bahamut attack Alexandria in Disc 3, the knights mobilize quickly and take their duties seriously, even doing a great job if Garnet assigns them to duties that suit them.
• The Casanova: Weimar knows all the girls in town, and his knowledge makes him one of the ideal knights to protect the townspeople during the attack on Alexandria.
• Catchphrase: Haagen repeatedly talks about his "fury" early in the game.
• The Face: Laudo is the best writer among the Knights, which makes him suited to contact Lindblum for aid when Alexandria's attacked.
• Gender Incompetence: Most Alexandrians see the Knights as a bunch of incompetent boobs, and they don't help their case. When Steiner calls the Knights to attention at the start of the game, only two of them show up, and in their underwear (though, in their defence, that's because they'd been ambushed and stripped by Zidane and Blank). The rest of the Knights are all wandering the castle doing their own thing, and Steiner has to go find them.
• The Gunslinger: Dojebeon is the best artillerist in Alexandria, while Mullenkedheim won last year's cannonball race. That makes them ideal for using Alexandria's cannons when the city's invaded.
• Hidden Depths: As inept as the Knights generally are, they all have their own areas where they shine.
• Inter-Service Rivalry: With Beatrix's personal squad, and the Knights seem to be on the losing end.
• The Lancer: Breirecht is implied to be the oldest of the Knights, and he also knows what all his teammates' specialties are. His experience and knowledge may be what makes him best-suited to ask Lindblum for aid when Alexandria's attacked.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: The Knights generally seem to be a ceremonial guard, but when Alexandria is attacked in Disk 3 they can show a shocking level of competence, especially if Dagger gives them the right orders. One of the citizens you can talk to later says that the Knights did an excellent job evacuating the citizens and that there weren't nearly as many casualties as there could've been.
• Mr. Exposition: When the party is searching for Dagger in Alexandria Castle in Disk 2, several of the Knights can offer clues on how to find her.
• Mugged for Disguise: Blutzen and Kohel get beaten up and have their armor stolen as disguises by Zidane and Blank at the start of the game.
• The Navigator: Haagen knows every inch of Alexandria's streets. It makes him ideal for helping to protect the townspeople during the attack on Alexandria.
• The Squad: Subverted. They're the only male unit in Alexandria's army, but they're mostly an inept joke.
• With This Herring: Several characters comment about Steiner's rusty armor, and it's implied the other knights aren't much better. When Blank puts on his stolen armor, he complains that it's too big and makes his back itch, his helmet stinks, his boots are wet, his gloves are slimy and his pockets are full of cookie crumbs, implying that the Knights' equipment is...subpar compared to their female equivalents.