Kuja

Kuja is characterized by his lavender-silver hair that extends past his shoulders, with a feather at the base of his forehead. His eyes are of an Asian type, a bluish color. He is of average height (according to the game's standards), with a slender build and pale skin. He wears purple armor that covers his chest and shoulders, to which long white sleeves are attached. Kuja wears a robe that extends from his waist to his ankles, tied in an unconventional way. His pants also function as armor, and his boots have a gold buckle.

Kuja embodies poetic elegance and sophistication, both in his mannerisms and the metaphorical way he speaks, as well as in his overall appearance. His refined nature contrasts sharply with his cold and ruthless attitude as a promoter of war. Kuja is excessively proud due to his full awareness of his capabilities. This is evident in the opportunities he has had to eliminate Zidane and his group, yet he spares their lives until they reach his level, thus defeating them in a more humiliating manner. Upon discovering his mortality and, consequently, the futility of his immense power, he loses all control and the characteristic elegance of his personality. In his final moments, Kuja demonstrates remorse, as does Queen Brahne.

Kuja is the Genomid created by Garland in 1776, 24 years before the start of the game. The ultimate plan of the inhabitants of planet Terra was to assimilate their twin planet, Gaia, by progressively replacing the souls of Terra with the souls of Gaia's deceased inhabitants. To accelerate this process, Garland created Kuja and sent him to Gaia to spread chaos and war, thus causing the people of Gaia to die more quickly and facilitating the exchange of souls between the two planets more rapidly. Kuja was intended to be Garland's Angel of Death only for a limited time, as his mission of destruction would be canceled once Garland completed the ultimate and most perfect Angel of Death. Garland eventually succeeded in creating the perfect Genomid and named him Zidane. However, Kuja, feeling threatened by the new creation, decided to kidnap him and went with him to Gaia. While Garland was busy destroying Gaia's greatest defenses, the Madain Sari summoners, Kuja abandoned Zidane to his fate on Gaia. Garland was then forced to continue using Kuja until the third Angel of Death was completed. While Garland was occupied on Terra, Kuja made his first appearances within the Kingdom of Alexandria as Queen Brahne's weapons supplier, inciting the Queen to attack the neighboring kingdoms of Burmecia and Lindblum, thus killing a greater number of people and plundering many more souls for Terra's benefit. The weapons Kuja delivered to Brahne were the Black Mages, humanoid mechanisms that used powerful magic to destroy other kingdoms. During his time as the Queen's aide, Kuja took the kingdom's jesters, Son and Ton, as his servants, who commanded the Black Mages to carry out Kuja's orders to the letter.

After the invasion of Burmecia, Zidane, Vivi, and Freya manage to arrive to defend the kingdom, only to learn that it has just been conquered by Alexandrian forces. Once the group reaches the destroyed royal palace of Burmecia, they begin spying on Kuja, Brahne, and Beatrix. They launch an attack but are easily defeated by Beatrix. After the battle, the villains head towards Cleyra, but Kuja takes a moment longer to notice Zidane. It is unknown whether Kuja recognizes Zidane at that moment or not. In any case, Kuja departs on his silver dragon, leaving Zidane alive. Meanwhile, Princess Garnet, who had separated from Zidane to return to Alexandria Castle, is in grave danger, as Kuja advises the Queen to extract the Eidolons from Garnet to use in the conquest of the continent. Brahne succeeds in his plan and uses the Eidolon Odin to catastrophically destroy the last refuge of the Burmecian survivors, the giant Tree of Cleyra. Meanwhile, the group teleports from Cleyra (moments before its destruction) to Brahne's ship and then to Alexandria using the same teleportation method. After Zidane and the others rescue Garnet, several events unfold in the story where Garnet learns more about her summoner roots, but the group is largely divided during this time. Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi return to Lindblum, only to witness the kingdom's destruction at the hands of the Eidolon Atoms, used by Vivi to conquer the territory.

It is on this occasion that Cid Faboule IX reveals to them that Kuja is responsible for the sudden increase in Queen Brahne's military power. So the group decides to focus their attention on Kuja and his army of Black Mages. After gathering some information, the group learns that Kuja comes from the northern regions, so they set off for the Outer Continent. Once there, Zidane and his allies manage to locate Kuja by following clues obtained from the Black Mage Village and Madain Sari, recruiting Quina Quen, Eiko Carol, and Amarant Coral in the process. With these new members, the group travels to the Iifa Tree, a tree similar to Cleyra's, which filters the souls of Terra and Gaia, producing the mist that Kuja uses to create his army of Black Mages. Deep within the tree trunk, the group defeats Onodrim, halting the flow of mist, but Kuja appears on his dragon, announcing that the mist is now irrelevant. Brahne then arrives with an entire Alexandrian fleet to confront Kuja at the edge of the immense tree. Kuja survives the onslaught of Brahne's warships, forcing the Queen to use the Eidolon Bahamut as a last resort. However, even the dragon's devastating attack fails to inflict significant damage on Kuja. Garland's ship, the Invincible, then appears from the clouds, which Kuja uses to seize control of Bahamut and counterattack Brahne, destroying him and his entire fleet.

After Brahne's death, Garnet is crowned the new Queen of Alexandria. Kuja unexpectedly appears that night, intent on eliminating Garnet and destroying the kingdom. Kuja summons Bahamut to accomplish this. Seeing the city besieged by Bahamut, Garnet and Eiko manage to reach the castle's side towers and summon Alexandria's guardian Eidolon, Alexander. Alexander annihilates Bahamut, much to Kuja's amusement. Seeing Alexander's superior power, Kuja decides to seize control of him in the same way he did with Bahamut. Unfortunately for Kuja, this time the Invincible was being controlled by Garland, who, having learned of Kuja's plans for rebellion, uses the ship as a weapon to destroy Alexander along with most of the kingdom of Alexandria, thwarting Kuja's plans.

After the catastrophe, Zidane and the others return to Lindblum, where Cid tells them that Kuja has taken control of his ship and is likely heading to the Black Mage Village to recruit the remaining peaceful mages. To track Kuja's movements on the outer continent, Cid uses the Blue Narciss, which manages to bring them close to the Desert Palace. Upon entering, they quickly fall into a trap set by Kuja, and after taking some of his friends hostage, Zidane is forced to retrieve an ancient artifact from a place called Oeilvert on the Forgotten Continent. Kuja is unable to enter this place due to an anti-magic field. While Zidane and the characters the player has selected at this stage of the game are in Oeilvert, Kuja betrays his commitment to Zidane and attempts to kill his remaining friends. Fortunately, they manage to escape thanks to a little help from El Cid, but Zidane returns before the fugitives are discovered and unfortunately hands over the Gulug Stone. Kuja, along with Ton and Son, take Eiko hostage and escape to the Isolated Continent, specifically to Gulug Volcano. After a chase by sea and deep within the volcano, Zidane and the others witness Ton and Son attempting to extract the Eidolons from Eiko and rush to her rescue. Upon arriving, they see the ritual fail several times because Eiko is still too young. In response to the danger Eiko is in, her pet Moogle, Mogu, enters a Trance state, revealing his true form, the Eidolon Madine. Witnessing this, Kuja realizes how much power can be unleashed by entering a Trance, and that it is necessary to undergo some kind of intense emotional experience, even if negative.

With the help of Cid's wife, Queen Hilda, Zidane and his comrades discover a path that leads them directly to Terra. After their journey, once on Terra, Zidane reunites with Garland, who tells him about his origins and his connection to Kuja. Kuja denies his existence as a Genomidian, even going so far as to hide his tail, a characteristic feature of the race. Although Garland attempts to consume Zidane's soul, Zidane survives and later confronts and defeats him alongside his friends. A dying Garland is then replaced by Kuja, who had returned to Terra aboard the Invincible. The battle against the heroes begins, and Kuja is defeated, triggering his Trance state. As a result, he defeats the group by using Ultima magic. After the battle, Kuja reveals that he has absorbed a large number of souls, which he stores within the Invincible, including the soul of the deceased Queen Brahne. Kuja needed this soul to unleash his destructive powers, drawing on the negative emotions it held while she was alive. Kuja then kicks Garland off the highest precipice of Pandemonium Castle and declares his will to completely dominate Terra and Gaia. As Kuja mocks Zidane's weakness, Garland's spirit appears to him, revealing that when the true Angel of Death (Zitan) reaches full maturity, his life will expire forever. Horrified to realize that he is nothing more than a pawn, like the Black Mages made of mist, Kuja decides that the world cannot exist without his earthly presence and therefore he must be destroyed.

Blinded by rage, Kuja destroys Terra and returns to Gaia. Zidane and the others manage to gather the Genomides and escape on the Invincible just in time. Upon arriving on Gaia, they find the entire planet shrouded in mist. Kuja is in the depths of Memoria, a dimension located at the top of the Iifa Tree, which our heroes manage to cross thanks to the help of Beatrix and the alliance of the kingdoms of the Mist Continent. Guided by Garland, Zidane and the others manage to traverse the dangers of Memoria, reaching the Crystal World. Within this final dimension, they find Kuja inside the crystal that controls all existence in the universe. As a final test before the final battle, Kuja summons Desgueis, who is eventually defeated by the group. After the victory, Kuja faces the group in the battle that will decide the fate of the universe, but upon being defeated, he decides to use Ultima magic once more as a last resort. Following the devastation wrought by Kuja's magic, the group awakens in a mysterious and abstract realm where the entity Eternal Darkness appears, intent on destroying all life. However, Eternal Darkness is defeated, and as a result, life continues unabated.

After the defeat of Eternal Darkness, Kuja uses his last bit of energy to teleport Zidane and the others out of the Iifa Tree. The group leaves the tree's grounds, but Zidane decides to return to rescue Kuja, who is trapped in the center of the trunk's roots. Upon reaching him, Kuja confesses his regret for everything he did, and Zidane fully understands. Mikoto, the third Angel of Death created by Garland, establishes a psychic and spiritual connection with Kuja, in which she tells him that the Genomides have learned from him the hope for tomorrow. Suddenly, the interior of the tree begins to collapse, and Zidane leaps to protect Kuja from immense branches descending toward them. It is unknown whether Kuja survived this final event.

He is capable of creating Black Mages made of mist using alchemical-style machinery. He can also conjure creatures called Mists out of thin air and even manipulate other creatures. He also demonstrates great resilience, surviving Bahamut's attack almost unscathed—an attack that destroyed a large part of Alexandria. His most devastating attack is Astral Flare, a potentially lethal spell for the entire party. He was able to completely destroy Terra with Ultima, and even defeat the party with it. Ultima in this game is used merely to advance the storyline, as it is impossible to resist Kuja's magic when he uses it, but events continue as normal. He is capable of creating orbs of magic from different elements, which he launches, and whether they are lethal or not depends on him. His Ultima attack

It's a radical transformation: he loses his elegant clothes and is covered in fur that combines red and white tones, his power increases drastically, his eyes shine, and he becomes more powerful, capable of using devastating spells.