The Final Fantasy series has produced many unforgettable heroes and villains. The developers just have a gift for it. This week’s crush has endured since I was sixteen. That’s a long time, trust me. I love how flamboyantly evil he was. He wasn’t crazy like Kefka and didn’t carry a big sword like Sephiroth. He just simply wanted to be bigger and badder than everyone else.
Stats:
Full name: Kuja
Age: I am guessing around 21.
Occupation: Genome, bad guy
Who is He?
Kuja was the main villain in Final Fantasy IX. He rode a silver dragon and operated in the shadows until his big reveal. He is also related, in a clone like way, to Zidane. His main goal in the game is is to acquire enough power to take down his maker and anyone else in the way. He also appears in the Dissidia games.
Fun Facts:
- Kuja’s name is Hindi for “born of the earth”.
- Kuja has a tail like Zidane but he hides it.
- Kuja has a knack for nicknames, such as “canary” and “elephant lady”.
- Kuja was called the Angel of Death.
- Kuja’s palace was way prettier than Garnet’s.
Why So Crushworthy?
The first time I saw Kuja I thought he was lovely. His androgynous beauty was simply wonderful. He was like the world’s most evil drag queen. He was snarky and made the best quips at everyone’s expense. He had one of the best bad buy intros in Final Fantasy other than Sephiroth’s. His outfit was beyond comprehension. Was it armor or lingerie? It was so absurd that I had to cosplay it. I just simply loved everything about his character. He wasn’t born evil and he wasn’t twisted by some turn of fate. He was rebelling against a terrible father figure. After his maker banished him from home, Kuja decided it was time to show him what he was made of.
Kuja did not want to accept he was just a clone, a tool. He wanted to be more than that. The quest led to him destroying several kingdoms via manipulation of others and his own hand. I am not applauding his actions but it made him different than, say, Sephiroth or Sin. Kuja had a huge ego as well. He really believed the world should not continue if he could not. I never said my crush on Kuja made sense. I don’t think many crushes on bad guys make sense. It’s probably because many times they are cooler than the heroes in a story. Kuja was a dynamic character throughout the game. At the end, he finally discovered his humanity. He went as far as to save the friends of his brother Zidane. He actually gave hope to the other genomes. He taught them they could be more than just vessels with one purpose. Kuja wasn’t all bad or all good. He was just Kuja. He would have been a great anti-hero in any story.
