Hey guys! It’s time for another Life Lessons In Fiction, and as you can tell by the title, this time I’m going to be taking some wisdom from Final Fantasy 9 (aka one of the best games ever). It’s been a few years since I last played this game, but so many parts of it are still fresh in my memory. There is a lot to take from this game, as there is with any Final Fantasy. So much happens with so much character development! Let’s get into it! SPOILER Warnings!
1. You’re Not Alone!
Of course this would be the first thing on this list! This is a big theme of Final Fantasy 9, so much so that there is an actual soundtrack called this (and it happens to be my favorite song in the game). The scene in which this song plays is when our protagonist, Zidane, has hit rock bottom. He found out that he isn’t technically a person, and is only a copy of a real person created in a lab. This is a serious blow to him, and he loses himself in his anger. He turns his friends away and goes off by himself. However, he quickly finds that he is too weak to fight off all the enemies he encounters by himself. But he wasn’t alone! His friends never left him, and they came to help him the moment things got too much. He had to learn that no matter who he was, he wasn’t alone. He had a family that was going to stand beside him no matter what. You aren’t alone either! Whether you have your friends, family, or only God beside you, there is always someone with you!
2. There Are Things Worth Fighting For
Zidane mostly cares about Zidane. He’s an actor and a thief. He does what he can to survive, along with his closest friends. But when he meets Princess Garnet and finds how much evil is in her world, he decides to fight back with her. He, of course, falls in love with the princess, too. When it came down to it at the end, he even sacrificed himself to protect his friends and the princess, and to stop his brother from carrying out his plans. Zidane found things – people – worth fighting for. No matter how dark things might seem in your life, there is something worth fighting for. Filter out the things that you need to let go of, and hold on tighter to the things that deserve to be held tight.
3. Be Careful Of Where Your Loyalties Lie
“Having sworn fealty, must I spend my life in servitude?”
This is a quote I’ve memorized by heart at this point. Though Steiner is more of a comic relief character, he has a lot of depth to his story. He is sworn to fight for the queen, but he begins to wonder if he is even on the same side as her anymore. The more he spends time with Zidane and the others, he realizes there are better places to put his loyalty. Think of who or what you are loyal to. Friends? Family? Beliefs/values? Think of how these loyalties are affecting you. If you find that your loyalty to, say, a certain friend isn’t being returned, perhaps you should rethink that loyalty. What/what you are loyal to can greatly influence you, so make sure you are staying loyal to the right people/things.
4. You Are You
Vivi struggled throughout the game with the idea that perhaps he didn’t really exist. Vivi is my favorite character, and his character development is a big reason why. If he didn’t exist, then who was he to his friends? Who was he in the grand scheme of things? How could he have a purpose in the world? Of course, it turns out that he didn’t exist- at least, not like everyone else. Finding this out was crushing for him, even though he had begun to suspect it. But his friends never left his side. They cared about him for who he was. In the end, he helped save the kingdom. He had a purpose after all. The same goes for you! You may think that in the grand scheme of things, you make no difference in the world. That to some people, you don’t exist. But that’s wrong! Everyone is put on the planet for a reason. Trust me when I say that you will know why in time. In the meantime, be your true self, and don’t be ashamed of it! Surround yourself with people who accept you and make you want to be a better person, just like Vivi’s friends.
Literally, this is probably just scratching the surface of this game. There is SO MUCH. I want to play it again to see what else I can find! For now, I’ll leave it here. What are your thoughts on this? Let me know in the comments below! And as always, God bless y’all and have a wonderful week!
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