Beatrix is a fictional character in the 2000

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

Final Fantasy IX is a 2000 role-playing video game developed and published by Square (video game company), Square for the PlayStation (console), PlayStation video game console. It is the ninth game in the main ''Final Fantasy'' series. The plot focuses on a wa ...

''. She is one of its antagonists until later switching to the protagonists' side.

Concept and creation

Beatrix was created for the 2000

''. Her character design was meant to strike a balance between realism and a comic-like style, while taking inspiration from the style employed for the characters in the film ''

The Dark Crystal ''The Dark Crystal'' is a 1982 dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and The J ...

''.

Appearances

Beatrix appears in ''Final Fantasy IX''. She grew up on a middle-class family in the city of Treno, and she later moves to Alexandria to join its military. She eventually ascended the ranks to general, becoming acquainted with Captain

Adelbert Steiner The characters of the PlayStation role-playing game ''Final Fantasy IX''. Filling four CD-ROMs,''FINAL FANTASY IX'' English game manual, Published by Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., 2000. ''Final Fantasy IX'' featured a cast containing a variety ...

. She loyally served

Queen Brahne The characters of the PlayStation role-playing game ''Final Fantasy IX''. Filling four CD-ROMs,''FINAL FANTASY IX'' English game manual, Published by Square Electronic Arts L.L.C., 2000. ''Final Fantasy IX'' featured a cast containing a variety ...

in her wars, though she eventually betrayed Brahne to help the protagonists, remaining behind with Steiner to allow them to rescue

Garnet Til Alexandros XVII Garnet Til Alexandros XVII, alias Dagger, is a video game character in the ''Final Fantasy'' series and one of the protagonists of ''Final Fantasy IX''. She is the princess of the kingdom of Alexandria and one of the lead characters. In this gam ...

, the kingdom's Princess, and escape. Following the Queen's death, Beatrix serves under the newly crowned Garnet. She eventually has a romance with Steiner due to a comedy of errors. She and Steiner defended the city against an attack from a villain named

Kuja ''Kuja'' is a genus of African moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approxima ...

, but went missing during the chaos. She is later discovered alive in Alexandria, having helped to rebuild the city. She pilots the airship Red Rose in order to protect the protagonists as they enter Memoria, the final area of the game. After the antagonist Necron is defeated, she intends to renounce her position, but Steiner convinces her to stay and help protect Garnet, which leads to them entering a formal relationship. She received a figurine bundled with one of Freya Crescent from the

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

Figure Line series, released in February 2020.

Reception

Beatrix's character has received very positive critical reception, having been a very popular character in Japan and to ''Final Fantasy'' fans. She was the 14th highest-ranked female character according to a fan poll organized by Square Enix Japan for the fan favorite female ''Final Fantasy'' character. Beatrix is the 10th most popular ''Final Fantasy'' character of all time according to an IGN reader choice's poll. In 2020

NHK , also known as NHK, is a Japanese public broadcaster. NHK, which has always been known by this romanized initialism in Japanese, is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee. NHK operates two terrestri ...

conducted an All-''Final Fantasy'' Grand Poll of Japanese players, featuring over 468,000 votes. The poll results revealed that Beatrix was ranked the fifty second greatest ''Final Fantasy'' character by Japanese respondents. The musical theme "Sword of Confusion" was discussed by Julian Whitney of ''Video Game Music Online'' as evoking Beatrix's "magical, yet dangerous power" and her knighthood. Nadia Oxford of ''

USGamer Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and other ...

'' drew a comparison between her and ''

Final Fantasy VI also known as ''Final Fantasy III'' from its initial North American release, is a 1994 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the sixth main entry in the ''Final Fantasy'' s ...

'' character General Leo, citing their high power and turn away from the antagonist after its evils were revealed. Leo died in ''VI'', which caused her to worry that Beatrix would die due to how powerful she was, but was relieved to discover that Beatrix survived to the end. Mario V. Marco of ''Hobby Consolas'' praised her as a standout character in the game, noting that he would have given it a perfect score if she was a main character. Scott Baird of ''

Screen Rant ''Screen Rant'' is an entertainment website that offers news in the fields of television, films, video games, and film theories. ''Screen Rant'' was launched by Vic Holtreman in 2003, and originally had its primary office in Ogden, Utah. ''Scr ...

'' noted that she would have been a more interesting pick for the main cast than the character Amarant. Alex Donaldson of ''VG247'' suggested in an interview that the designers of the fighting game ''

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT is a fighting game with action role-playing elements developed by Koei Tecmo's Team Ninja and published by Square Enix for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4. The game is a follow-up to ''Dissidia Final Fantasy'' and ''Dissidia 012 Final Fan ...

'' should add Beatrix as a playable character in order to receive a perfect score from him. Connor Foss of ''Tech Raptor'' and Alex Donaldson of ''RPGSite'' were similarly hoping to see Beatrix made playable in the ''

Dissidia Final Fantasy is a fighting game with action RPG elements developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation Portable as part of the campaign for the ''Final Fantasy'' series' 20th anniversary. It was released in Japan on December 18, 2008, in Nor ...

'' series.

References

{{Final Fantasy Female characters in video games Fictional bodyguards in video games Fictional characters who can manipulate light Fictional characters with disfigurements Fictional characters with healing abilities Fictional defectors Fictional female generals Fictional female knights Fictional knights in video games Fictional mass murderers Fictional swordfighters in video games Fictional war veterans Final Fantasy characters Final Fantasy IX Video game bosses Video game characters introduced in 2000 Video game characters who use magic Video game characters with electric or magnetic abilities Woman soldier and warrior characters in video games