Zidane Tribal is the main character of Final Fantasy IX. Zidane has a very positive attitude and a bright outlook towards life. Sporting shoulder-length blonde hair, with a primate-like tail. A playful, womanising, and flirtatious individual, who knows when it's time to be serious. He has a close relationship with each other character in some way, be it romance with Garnet, an unknown rivalry with Amarant, or as a guide around the world for Quina. His good-spirited nature and charming demeanour make it easy for him to become good friends with anyone he meets, and he is often found on the good side of those he encounters.

At the beginning of the game, Zidane is a member of the thieving group Tantalus, who are disguised as a Theatre Troupe. They enter Alexandria with the intention of kidnapping Princess Garnet while everyone is distracted by the famous play from Lord Avon called "I Want To Be Your Canary." Zidane is tasked with the actual kidnapping, along with Blank. Zidane gives chase to the Princess, who eventually asks the thief to kidnap her. Although it surprised him, Zidane agreed. He is immediately attracted to her and makes many attempts to hit on her and get something out of it from her. As they disappear from Alexandria into the Mist, the real plot begins to thicken around the Princess, Zidane, and Queen Brahne's warmongering.

Later on in the story, it is revealed that Zidane is a Genome from Terra (a planet that was once flourishing, but had since declined and absorbed other planets and souls to keep alive) whose task is to be an "Angel of Death" (intended to replace Kuja) for Garland - the current leader of Terra, and overseer of the Genomes. It turns out that Zidane's purpose as a Genome and Angel of Death was to go to Gaia and cause death in massive amounts, which would then be absorbed by the Iifa Tree and cycled to Terra. He had apparently been abandoned on Gaia by Kuja (out of jealousy) and lost his memory of the mission he had. He was then adopted by Baku, the leader of Tantalus.

In the end, he leads the fight against Kuja and Necron, saving all of life and eliminating the ultimate of evil. As Memoria begins to crumble, Zidane hears the voice of a dying Kuja at the Iifa Tree. He tells the rest of the team to go, and as the other tearfully watch on, he rushes down the massive tree's root system towards Kuja. He gets there, only to talk briefly with Kuja (Kuja having had a change of heart) and watch his brother die. Then the roots enclosed on him, and the screen fades to black. The scene shifts to a year later, and life is back to normal. As the Tantalus group returns to do "I Want To Be Your Canary", Garnet is sitting as Queen, her hair back to its older length. As the show reaches its climax, Zidane reveals himself as one of the hooded actors. Garnet rushes down to him, abandoning her dropped pendant and embracing him, though giving him a few chest punches for being gone for so long. They live happily ever after (like a cliche fairy tale).

He starts off as a hopeless flirt, hitting on various females throughout the game, and even mistaking Garnet for a different woman he had hit on. But he grows into more of a romantic hero, with genuine feelings for Garnet. At the end of the game the feelings are mutual as he and Garnet become a couple. He is the person who connects most to the 3 silent members of the party (Amarant, Freya and Vivi), helping them break out of their shells.


Fighting Style and Abilities

Zidane is a representation of the Thief class. He fights using twin daggers or a shallowtale (a bladed polearm) and has the ability to steal from his opponents.

His weapons are:

Daggers

Weapon Name	Attack Strength	Abilities/Skills Acquired
Dagger	12	Flee (40 AP)
Mage Masher	14	Flee (40 AP); Detect (40 AP)
Mythril Dagger	18	Bandit (40 AP)
Gladius	30	Annoy (50 AP); Lucky Seven (55 AP)
Zorlin Shape	42	Flee (40 AP)
Orichalcon	71	Detect (40 AP)

Thief Swords

Weapon Name	Attack Strength	Abilities/Skills Acquired
Butterfly Sword	21	What's That!? (40 AP); Protect Girls (35 AP)
The Ogre	24	Soul Blade (35 AP)
Exploda	31	Sacrifice (55 AP); Lucky Seven (55 AP)
Rune Tooth	37	Lucky Seven (55 AP)
Angel Bless	44	Thievery (55 AP)
Sargatanas	53	Annoy (50 AP)
Masamune	62	Sacrifice (55 AP)
The Tower	86	Lucky Seven (55 AP); Thievery (55 AP)
Ultima Weapon	100	Flee (40 AP)

His "Skill" abilities range from basic scanning abilities to powerful attacks that can inflict large amounts of damage.

These Skills include:

• Flee - Guaranteed chance of escaping battle at the cost of losing Gil.
• Detect - See the enemy's currently held items.
• What's That!? - Allows back attacks.
• Soul Blade - Inflicts a status ailment depending on Zidane's equipped weapon.
• Annoy - Inflicts Trouble status on enemy.
• Sacrifice - Sacrifice yourself to restore rest of party's HP and MP.
• Lucky Seven - Deals physical damage by luck.
• Thievery - Deals physical damage to enemy.

Traditionally, the main Final Fantasy protagonist is of the Warrior class, but Zidane's class is more dependent on speed and slightly less on strength than earlier game counterparts.

Trance
During Trance mode, Zidane has a pink/purple glow, while his hair grows longer and his clothing is replaced by thick fur that covers his entire body. His "Skill" ability changes to "Dyne", and the Trance skills he can use are based upon the techniques he has learned and/or is currently learning. For example, he can only use "Free Energy" while he is learning or has mastered "Flee". His most powerful move is Grand Lethal, though towards the end of the game most of these abilities can reach the 9999 damage limit.

These Dyne abilities are:

• Free Energy (Single target)
• Tidal Flame (All targets)
• Scoop Art (Single target)
• Shift Break (All targets)
• Stellar Circle 5 (Single target)
• Meo Twister (All targets)
• Solution 9 (Single target)
• Grand Lethal (All targets)