Black Mageshave been aFinal Fantasystaple since the start, dating back to 1987 when their strikingly iconic design instantly became a fan favourite. You can immediately pinpoint them based on their blue robe, straw hat, obscured face, and bright yellow eyes, so it shouldn’t be surprising that fans were quick to spot one inFF16.
“Look who I found,“u/CaptainWeirdBeard13 postedin the game’s subreddit, attaching a photo of a scarecrow dressed up like a Black Mage.
Warning, spoilers for Final Fantasy 9.
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It’s not just any Black Mage, though. The hat is larger and slopes at the front and the blue robe opens to show white clothing underneath. As many fans agree, it’s likely Vivi Ornitier, ourlovable little friend from Final Fantasy 9. He’s a Black Mage, hence the similar appearance, who was created in Dali by command of the kingdom of Alexandria. However, like all Black Mages, he has a premature ‘expiry date’, which leads to a monologue at the ending after his death, in which he says that his “memories will be part of the sky”. Or I guess, in the middle of a farm stuffed full of hay.
Like the Black Mage of the first Final Fantasy, Vivi quickly became a fan favourite and icon of the series, so it’d make sense forSquare Enixto include a tribute to our favourite party member. However, there is some dispute in the comments about whether it really is Vivi, as some suggest it might be the Black Mage design from Tactics.
They also have a longer hat (however, it lacks the slope at the bottom), but the robe is replaced by a blue cape. Vivi wears more of a jacket, which opens toward the bottom to reveal his clothes underneath. The scarecrow version is a robes and jacket hybrid, not a cape. Combine that with the differences in the hat design, it’s unlikely to be Tactics' version. However, Vivi’s design pulls from Black Mages all across the series' history, from the first game to Final Fantasy 5 to Tactics, so if it’s him, there’s a bit of every Black Mage design in there, anyway.
Maybe this is a stretch–it definitely is–but we also see butterflies landing on the scarecrow, and where do you get the Butterfly Sword in FF9? In the Black Mage village. I rest my case, i.e. I miss you Vivi, and I’m so sorry you’ve been stuck on a farm for god knows how long, scaring off birds instead of fighting side-by-side withZidane.
