Kuja

Kuja, the first general of the Black Hearts

"A mortal...? ...I'm finished? I don't believe you! Why would I believe such a silly story! You're telling me that I'll die soon, now that I'm more powerful than anyone? I'm gonna...die!? Lose my soul...? Ha... HAHAHAHAHAHA! What comedy!."

Stats

Age: Unknown

Freiheit Debut: "The Empress of Darkness, Zhanla"

Element: Darkness

Origin: Final Fantasy IX

Weapons: N/A

Official Theme Song(s):

• "Dark Messenger" by Nobou Uematsu

Voice Actor: Alex Fernandez

Seiyuu: Junichi Suwabe

Special Attacks

Flare Star - A ring of purple fireballs surround Kuja's enemies. Afterwards, the fireballs fly into the air, then slam down onto the foes in streams of red energy. The energy that was built inside the attack stores up into a gravity well before exploding violently.

Ultima - Kuja's ultimate attack. A pink aura surrounds him, then the ground around him begins to upheave. He throws his arms into the air, at the same time unleashing streams of pink energy. It then rains down on the enemies in a mighty explosion, dealing strong damage.

Background Story

Kuja is the antagonist of Final Fantasy IX. A genome obsessed with power and its application, he is ambitious, cruel, narcissistic and ruthless. Well versed in the arts, Kuja has a great fondness for classical works such as Lord Avon's play "I Want To Be Your Canary". Kuja emulates the role of a traditional villian, including such elements as monologuing even when alone.

Garland's plan for increasing the cycle of souls (causing more frequent death) on Gaia required a so-called "Angel of Death" to descend on Gaia and incite warfare. Kuja, a superior Genome, was given a soul with the intention of fulfilling this role. However, Kuja's willful nature caused him to develope his own agenda that conflicted with Garland's plan. Kuja planned to follow Garland's design, until the moment was right to depose Garland and assume rulership himself. To resolve this Garland created Zidane Tribal, a second "Angel of Death" superior to Kuja, who could replace Kuja when he matured. Garland also placed a limit on Kuja's lifespan that coincided with a time when Zidane would be mature. Kuja became jealous of Zidane's greater power and kidnapped him when he was four years old. Kuja left him abandoned in Lindblum, then returned to fulfill his station as Gaia's "Angel of Death."

It was in Queen Brahne's greed that Kuja found the tool to spread world-wide warfare. Kuja used Mist (stagnant souls from the Iifa Tree) to create an army of Black Mages and Black Waltzs. Serving as an arms dealer, Kuja sold his mindless soldiers to Queen Brahne to support her campaign against the neighboring kingdoms, a campaign which was also born of Kuja's influence. It was also in Queen Brahne's daughter, Princess Garnet, that Kuja found the tool necessary to one day usurp Garland: Eidolons. Kuja influenced Queen Brahne to extract Garnet's Eidolons so that she could summon them herself. As he had anticipated, Queen Brahne betrayed Kuja after she had successfully conquered Mist Continent, and attempted to defeat him by summoning Bahamut. Prepared, Kuja summoned the Invincible to seize control of Bahamut, and used him to kill Queen Brahne and to destroy her army. Kuja then used Bahamut to attack Alexandria in the hopes of baiting out the legendary Eidolon Alexander, whom he had hoped to seize for himself to use against Garland. However, before Kuja could use the invincible to enslave Alexander, Garland took control of the Invincible, released Bahamut, and used the ship to destroy Alexander. Alexandria was nearly destroyed with collateral damage from this strike.

Retreating to his secret stronghold, the Desert Palace, Kuja was closely pursued by Zidane and his allies. Kuja used this opportunity to kidnap Zidane and his allies. Threatening them with death, Kuja blackmailed Zidane into retrieving the Gulug Stone from Oeilvert. After retrieving the Gulug stone from Zidane the party managed to escape and pursue Kuja, but not before he captured Eiko Carol. Kuja hoped to extract a powerful Eidolon from Eiko so as to be able to continue his plan of usurping Garland. Before he could complete the extraction, Eiko's guardian Moogle, Mog, entered Trance and revealed her true form as the Eidolon Maduin. No longer being able to obtain any Eidolons and realizing that even a weak Moogle could use trance to reach higher levels of power, Kuja resolved to achieve Trance himself so that he may still attain the power to defeat Garland. Kuja escaped being captured and closely followed Zidane and his allies to Terra. By observing them, Kuja determined that the power of Trance could be induced by an eruption of intense emotion within a soul. To strengthen this, Kuja absorbed all of the souls collected within the invincible, particularly that of Queen Brahne. Kuja then attacked Zidane and his allies. His defeat at the hands of Zidane fueled his emotional eruption and he attained Trance.

Showing his newfound powers with a single spell (Ultima, to be exact), he succeeded in bringing Zidane's entire party to its knees. Gloating over the power at his disposal, he then cast Garland from the top of a cliff. This sense of fulfilment was blighted when the disembodied voice of Garland informed Kuja of the deliberate time limit on his life. Kuja determined that he would not allow Terra to exist without him, and subseqently all of existence as well. In a fit of rage, he used his powers to destroy Terra.

On returning to Gaia, Kuja started a chain reaction within the Iifa Tree that would lead to the complete assimilation of Gaia by Terra; a reaction, according to Garland, that was part of his plan all along. He then used his power to create Memoria, which granted him passage to the Crystal World. He did this because the source of the universe and all of life itself, the Original Crystal, lay there. By destroying the Crystal the universe would return to nothingness. However, just before Kuja could execute his plans, Zidane and his allies stood against him. Even with all the power Kuja had acquired he could not withstand Zidane and his team's combined strength. On the verge of defeat, he unleashed Ultima to destroy the Original Crystal, stirring Necron to attempt to undo all of existence.

After Zidane defeated Necron, Kuja finally realized that the purpose of life was to help rather than destroy. So with the remainder of his magic he helped Zidane's party escape from Memoria as it exploded after Necron's demise. He did so by teleporting them out of danger as the Iifa Tree began to collapse and telepathically leading rescuers to their location. Despite this, Zidane refused to leave his brother alone to die, and so went back inside to find Kuja. Zidane, even after everything Kuja had done, sat with his brother and comforted him. Zidane knew that no matter how sinister and malicious his brother had become, Zidane may have done the same thing if circumstances were different. As Kuja’s life slowly came to an end, he spent his last few moments expressing regret to Zidane for not realizing the true purpose of life sooner. Mikoto, the prototypical third "Angel of Death" created by Garland, silently informed Kuja that though the actions he'd taken were wrong, he'd given all of the Genomes one thing: Hope.

Kuja is revived by the Black Heart to open the gates between the worlds of fantasy and reality.

Season One - The Adventure Begins

Dark Hill Arc

Kuja debuts by bringing Zhanla back to life. Though he's not revealed as Kuja, because of his cloak, he's looked up to as a leader to the rebelling Black Hearts against the Toran Army. Other people he recruits are Zophar, Black Wargreymon, Mae Young, Queen Beryl, Parasite EVE, Sigma, Queen Metallia, and even the Goddess Althena. He reveals himself as Kuja after he kills Black Wargreymon for his failure against Hotaru. With his identity out, Kuja tries to stop the Toran Army at all costs. He sends both the brainwashed Althena and Queen Metallia to battle them, both fail. He awaits his enemies to come to Dark Hill, in which he sends the Doom and Gloom Girls, AKA the DG Girls, after them. Once Drake is alone, he pulls him into the Dark Fortress where he sends a brainwashed Lebia after him. At the same time, he reveals that he had destroyed Toran Castle with Diamond Dallas Page's cameras that he had planted inside during the first war battle. Drake infects Lebia with a virus, who then infects Kuja with it. Kuja is thought to have died, when instead he had assumed his Trance form.

Kuja in Trance form

After undergoing the Trance, Kuja wounds Drake with an Ultima attack. Leknaat revives Drake and gives him the true power of the Soul Eater to fight the Angel of Death one-on-one. Though Kuja's efforts were great, he is killed by Drake's Judgment spell, but this one was combined with the souls of the fallen Toran Army members. Kuja dies after a crystal shard emerges from his body.

Season Five - The Cult of the Watchers

Movie 5 - Castle of Broken Dreams

Kuja appears a memory figment to Corey when he enters the Dark Fortress memory. He plays the Soul Eater bearer in a game of hide-and-seek, in which he cheats. The two battle after Kuja assumes Trance form. In a brutal battle, Corey kills the figment of Kuja with the Soul Eater.

Later, in Glenn's story, he battles Kuja in the same memory chamber and kills him.