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Regent Cid is very wise. He always thinks ahead.
Template:See Also Cid Fabool IX is a temporary non-battle player character in Final Fantasy IX. He is the ruler and Regent of Lindblum, successor of his father, Regent Cid Fabool VIII. Cid acts as an ally to the party aiding them to halt Queen Brahne's aggression against the Mist Continent. He serves as a temporarily playable character during a short sequence, and as per tradition with Cids in the series, is the maker of several airships.
He was born in 1764, making him 36 years old in Final Fantasy IX.
Profile
Appearance
There are notable aspects of Cid's appearance which stay constant throughout all of his forms: his long, red cape and regal clothing, and his large moustache, which is how those familiar to him can attest to his true identity in spite of his current appearance. In his human form, Cid has gray hair and is fairly tall and noble-looking, but in his other forms he is a hunchback. This may be because of the species of his other forms, but it may also be to show that his other forms are him "broken".
Personality
Cid is a caring and wise figure whom the party can depend upon, particularly Princess Garnet. While trustworthy, Cid is not without his flaws. He is arrogant and boastful of his achievements and airships. He is frustrated with his current form, and quick to complain. However, although his arrogance led to him cheating on his wife, he is genuinely upset about it, although it could be argued he is more upset about the loss of his airship and pride than the loss of his wife. Despite his flaws, the party considers him well-meaning. Cid attributes his failure to design a new airship to his change of form, saying it has affected his mental capacities, so the extent his transformation has affected his personality remains ambiguous. Cid is still sharp-witted even after his transformation, defending his position as champion in a Tetra Master tournament and outsmarting Kuja's machinations to help the party escape at Desert Palace. Though having no children of his own Cid has a paternal streak.
Story
In 1780 Cid Fabool VIII collapsed due to an illness, passing the power to his son. In 1794 the king of Alexandria died, and when attending the funeral, Cid met Princess Garnet.[1]
In January 1800, Cid ordered the Tantalus Theater Troupe to kidnap Garnet from Alexandria during their performance of I Want to Be Your Canary due to Queen Brahne's increasingly odd behavior. Cid is an old friend of Brahne and her husband, the late king, and Garnet calls him "uncle".
When Zidane and the party meet with him in Lindblum, Cid has been transformed into an oglop. His aide tells them it was done six months ago when an assailant snuck into the castle, transformed Cid and abducted his wife, Lady Hilda. Cid later admits the transformation was done by Hilda herself when she discovered Cid had a fling with a girl he'd met in a tavern, and she made off with the Hilda Garde. The Hilda Garde is the first airship to fly without Mist, and Cid has been trying to build a Hilda Garde II, but his mind as an oglop isn't the same. Cid wishes for Garnet to stay at Lindblum for her safety, but after news comes in that Alexandria has attacked Burmecia, she absconds the castle to return home to speak with her mother.
Cid pulls back the fourth division of Lindblum's airship fleet to fly to Burmecia's aid, exposing their borders to Alexandria. This proves fatal when Brahne's fleet attacks the city, and Brahne summons the eidolon Atomos. Cid surrenders and allows Alexandria to occupy the city. Zidane and Garnet sneak back to Lindblum and Cid helps them by telling them about Kuja, Brahne's weapons dealer, who is supplying her with her black mages. He provides them a way to the Outer Continent and an ancient map of the world to track down Kuja and halt Brahne's supply of mages.
Brahne follows Kuja to the Outer Continent where the two do battle and Brahne and perishes, leading to Garnet being instated as Alexandria's new monarch. She stays at Alexandria while Zidane and the others participate in a Tetra Master tournament in Treno and find Cid is the current champion, but due to his condition Erin plays in his place while he advises her.
Cid becomes a frog.
When Alexandria is attacked by Kuja with Bahamut Cid takes the party to Alexandria in the Hilda Garde II, functional with limited efficiency due to being designed by Cid's oglop brain. After Alexandria is destroyed by the Invincible, the party returns to Lindblum with Cid. He tells the party he witnessed Kuja in possession of the Hilda Garde I during the attack, piloted by the talking black mages of the Black Mage Village. Unable to construct a new airship to track down Kuja in his current state, Cid has Doctor Tot confect a potion to reverse his transformation, but it turns Cid into a frog instead.
Cid sneaks past a Hedgehog Pie.
Cid accompanies the party on the Blue Narciss to search for Kuja, and is captured along with them at the Desert Palace. When Kuja attempts to dispatch the party Cid retrieves the key to their cells and reverses the hourglasses that will drop the party into lava when its sand runs out. He sneaks to the key guarded by a Hedgehog Pie, and positions weights on a scale to reach the hourglass and saves the group.
Kuja flees with Eiko to Mount Gulug, and when Zidane and the party pursue to rescue her, they find Lady Hilda, who had run off with Kuja and provided him with the airship Hilda Garde I. Hilda returns to Lindblum and reverts Cid into a human as the two make amends. He scraps the Blue Narciss to construct the Hilda Garde III for the party's use, while Hilda's information about Kuja aids in finding a path to Terra, Kuja's home world. As Zidane and his friend open the portal to Terra they jump down from Hilda Garde III to the Shimmering Island and are transported to the other world.
After Terra's destruction at Kuja's hand, they return to Gaia on the Terran airship, the Invincible, and follow Kuja to Memoria that has manifested above the Iifa Tree on the Outer Continent. The entry is blocked by a horde of silver dragons, but Alexandria's and Lindblum's airship fleets join their forces to fight them with Cid on the helm of the Hilda Garde III.
Cid pilots the Hilda Garde III to retrieve the party who return from Memoria after Kuja and Necron have been felled, and takes them back to the Mist Continent. Cid and Hilda adopt Eiko, and while he and his family are on their way to another performance by I Want to Be Your Canary by Tantalus, he boasts of a "new Hilda Garde" airship, though it is unknown if he means the Hilda Garde III, or if he has built a Hilda Garde IV.
Musical themes
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"Cid's Theme" plays in Lindblum Castle. It is a slowly paced majestic theme with a drum roll similar to ones announcing important figures.
Gallery
Etymology
Cid is a recurring name in the Final Fantasy series. Cid is derived from the dialectal Arabic word سيد (sîdi or sayyid), which means "lord" or "master".
His last name, Fabool, refers to Fabul, the kingdom in Final Fantasy IV. Being the ninth Cid Fabool is a reference to Final Fantasy IX being the ninth game in the main series.
Trivia
- A regent is defined as a "person selected to act as head of state (ruling or not) because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated". This may indicate Lindblum once had a royal family that was replaced by Cid Fabool I and those of his descent.
- Cid Fabool IX might have been based on Ferdinand Von Zeppelin because both pioneered airship development and both share the same facial features, including the mustache.
References
- ↑ (2002-02-28) Final Fantasy IX Ultimania (in Japanese), 12–13, Tokyo: Studio Bentstuff.Invalid citation format.
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