"Minions of evil, you have gone too far! My spear will purge this land of you!"

—Sir Fratley

Sir "Iron-Tail" Fratley (フラットレイ, Furattorei^?) is a legendary Burmecian Dragon Knight and explorer in Final Fantasy IX, as well the lover of Freya Crescent. He is 25 during the events of the game.^[1] He first appears as Stranger before Freya identifies him.

StoryEdit

"Freya, you're going to be fine. Trust your strength... and have faith in your destiny. Once I complete my journey around the world, I will return to Burmecia."

—Fratley, before leaving on his journey.

Five years before the game events, Fratley decided to leave Burmecia in order to keep peace, as other kingdoms were slowly gaining power. Before leaving, he promised Freya he would return. Two years later, a devastated Freya left Burmecia as well to search for him. The prince of Burmecia, Puck, ran away one month later. All Freya found on her journey were minor hearings of where Fratley had traveled, and even rumors that he had died. Eventually Freya settled in Lindblum, where she met Zidane.

Early in the game, Alexandria attacks Burmecia after Queen Brahne, with the help of the mysterious Kuja, created an army of autonomous black mages. The resulting war ends in Burmecia's defeat, whereupon the King of Burmecia and many of the surviving citizens flee to the neighboring settlement of Cleyra. When Zidane, Freya, and the party travel to Cleyra, having traversed the Burmecia ruins, they meet up with Puck, who reveals he had found Fratley wandering about during his "travels around the world".

The source of the sandstorm, a harp with a Summoning Jewel in it, breaks, and the sandstorm around Cleyra dissipates. This prompts an attack by Alexandria. Zidane's party helps guide the surviving Cleyran citizens to the cathedral in an attempt to regroup, as hordes of black mages teleport straight into the city.

After being surrounded, the party is saved by Sir Fratley and everybody retreats into the cathedral where Freya pours out her feelings to him and tells of how much she has missed him. Fratley remarks this is the first time he has met either of them and it transpires that he does not remember anything, suffering complete amnesia and only Fratley's faint memories of being called a "Dragon Knight" lead him back to Cleyra. His amnesia devastates Freya, who watches him depart once again.

The attack renews as General Beatrix appears and steals the Summoning Jewel before running out of the cathedral. Zidane's party follows and confronts Beatrix but, even though they fall to the general, they manage to follow her during the Alexandrian withdrawal. They escape Cleyra on the Red Rose before Brahne uses the Dark Matter to summon Odin, destroying the city and leaving behind nothing but a giant crater and a blackened stump in the place of Cleyra's great trunk.

Fratley's fate is unknown until one of the game's ending sequences, where he is seen sitting beside Freya on a fountain in Burmecia, still in ruins, before Freya leaves for Alexandria to see Zidane's return. Though Fratley has yet to regain his memory, he returns Freya's affection.

Musical ThemesEdit

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"Unforgettable Silhouette"
Trouble with the audio sample?

"Unforgettable Silhouette" (忘れられぬ面影, Wasurerarenu Omokage^?) plays when Freya tells Zidane of Fratley, and the melody plays again when he is seen in Cleyra.

ReferencesEdit