Thanks to Scott Baird of ScreentRants.com for the inspiration!

1. NECRON

The villain of Final Fantasy IX is a powerful sorcerer, named Kuja. He was so powerful that his Trance gave him the ability to destroy the planet Terra, which puts him above most of the other villains in the series. What Kuja lacks in fashion sense, he makes up for in cruelty and power.

Kuja is built up as being the final villain that you face in the game. However, he isn’t. Instead, you fight a big bald blue dude, named Necron, who shows up out of nowhere, claims he is some kind of representation of the void and fights you for no other reason than he is a bad guy.

Necron has no reason to be the end boss of Final Fantasy IX, as there is no build-up to his arrival and he is quickly forgotten when he is defeated. Kuja is the true enemy of the game and the final battle belonged to him and Zidane.

It’s fine if Necron shows up in the Final Fantasy IX Remake, so long as it’s just long enough for Kuja to job him out and take his place as the true end boss of the game.

Originally, the final boss of Final Fantasy IX was conceived to be Hades. Concept artwork of the final battlefield shows the party fighting Hades instead of Necron. Hades was also to have a much more thematic presence throughout the game:

There are eyes on the face of his sword and on his throne. Blinking disembodied eyes are also seen in the final battle arena, showing the connection between Hades and the original final battle. Incidentally, eyes are also a feature of many Terran structures (e.g. Pandemonium), perhaps implying a deeper connection that was lost or severed in the final cut of the game.

It is possible that Hades represented the final culmination of the many eye motifs observed throughout the game, seen largely displayed on structures of Terran design.

For whatever reason, Hades became an optional superboss, and Necron took his place. This is a bit of meta background, for we the players aren’t even sure why Necron became the final boss, besides the naming convention “related to the Greek word νεκρός (nekrós) which simply means “dead”“.

So then might we suggest more build up to his character? Final Fantasy IX seems to be about choosing Life over Death, which is the perfect setting for the final showdown between our characters and the ultimate Big Bad of that world. And most Final Fantasy villains usually end up unintentionally unleashing evil far beyond their control (or even comprehension). Necron stays dormant until it “concludes all life exists to seek death” after “observing Kuja’s murderous actions”:

You stand before the final dimension, and I am the darkness of eternity…

All life bears death from birth.

Life fears death, but lives only to die.

It starts with anxiety.

Anxiety becomes fear.

Fear leads to anger… anger leads to hate… hate leads to suffering…

The only cure for this fear is total destruction.

Kuja was a victim of his own fear. He concluded he could only save himself by destroying the origin of all things – the crystal.

…Now, the theory is undeniable.

Kuja’s action proves it. All things live to perish.

At last, life has uncovered this truth. Now, it is time to end this world.

I exist for one purpose…

To return everything back to the zero world, where there is no life and no crystal to give life.

In a world of nothing, fear does not exist. This is the world that all life desires.

Foolish creature…

Your fears have already deluded you.

One day, you will choose destruction over existence, as Kuja did.

When he sought to destroy the crystal, the purpose of life ended.

Now, come… Enter the zero world that you desire.

Should they cut Necron from a Final Fantasy IX remake? I used to think so. But once I found out how Final Fantasy games usually include this trope, I welcomed him. Not to mention I started to understand how the idea of Necron fit into the story. Sure, I still believe it should have been Hades, as his design matched the final arena. But the concept of a mysterious final boss has grew on me. Creating more hints to build anticipation and mystery around this character would give the final battle more thematic power.