Vivi Ornitier

A prototype Black Mage who sought meaning beyond his expiration date.

Vivi Ornitier is a shy Black Mage and a central member of the main cast in Final Fantasy IX. His character design draws inspiration from The Dark Crystal, aiming for a balance between realism and a comic-like aesthetic. Throughout the game's plot, Vivi grapples with the trauma of discovering his manufactured past and unique identity among mindless footsoldiers. He utilizes elemental magic including fire, ice, and lightning. Beyond Final Fantasy IX, he appears in titles such as Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts II, and World of Final Fantasy. A felt doll was included with pre-orders of the Japanese original release starting June 1, 2000.

Quick Facts

Series

Final Fantasy

First game

Final Fantasy IX (2000)

Voice

English
Melissa Disney (Kingdom Hearts II)
Kath Soucie (World of Final Fantasy)
Japanese
Ikue Otani

Lore & Background

Vivi is a Black Mage, a class of magic users employing fire, ice, lightning, and other elements. He discovers a factory where Black Mages are manufactured by Kuja and supplied to Queen Brahne for conquest. These soldiers are mindless, yet Vivi possesses emotions. At the Black Mage Village, he learns most stop functioning after about one year, but he is revealed as a prototype built to last longer. He aids the group in overcoming Kuja and other threats. In his ending monologue, he is implied to have died, having created seven copies of himself, with one identifying as his son.

Reader's Guide

Vivi serves as a key character around whom part of the game's world was designed. He is kind, pure-hearted, obedient, quiet, indecisive, and introverted. In Kingdom Hearts II, he is voiced by Ikue Ōtani (Japanese) and Melissa Disney (English). In World of Final Fantasy and Chocobo GP, his English voice actor is Kath Soucie. He acts as the leader of a group of Black Mages who gain sentience after battling protagonists in World of Final Fantasy. A card based on him was printed in the Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy set but later banned in standard format due to power level issues.

Did You Know?

A felt doll of Vivi was included with pre-orders of the Japanese original release of FFIX starting on June 1, 2000.
In a 2020 NHK poll of over 468,000 Japanese players, Vivi was named the franchise's 4th best character.