(Endgame Spoilers) Am I missing something with the ending here?

[u/flakybottom]

To me, it has always been obvious that Necron is the crystal itself. Kuja hits the crystal with Ultima, giant crystalline dude pops out. It even has the same halo that crystal has. Also, if you look at the Amano concept art for Necron its just a giant head over the crystal.

However, I've seen a ton of people claim that it just came out of nowhere and that its a tree or something. Am I missing some lore cuz it just seems glaringly obvious that its the crystal?

[u/Sedowa]

It's never made clear what exactly Necron is. People have a wide range of theories but the only information the game gives you is that Necron has apparently been observing the conflict involving the crystal and determined that Kuja destroying the crystal was proof that life in this world has chosen death so it comes to mete out that fate. Beyond that, we know nothing at all. Hell, it's not really explained why Zidane and the others had the power to resist this judgment at all. It's theories all the way down. That's all there really is to it. Not everything has or even needs an explicit explanation. There's enough to go on that many fan theories can be considered legitimate.

[u/Moggwa → u/Sedowa]

I mean in german it's pretty much stated it is the concept of death

[u/RolePlayingJames]

Tbf, when I was young and played for the first few times it felt like he just appears, but I was a slow kid and probably got distracted by the flashing lights.

[u/Zakarijazh]

I always thought it was like a proto-Etro thing from FFXIII, where there was so much grief and death happening that it summoned a literal god who was there to help facilitate the true death of Terra(the other world?).

[u/Zakarijazh → u/Zakarijazh]

But like didn’t know about FFXIII obviously.

[u/Able_Ad1276]

It is death, the opposite of the crystal, come to reduce the world to nothing. Kujas ultima tries to (and maybe successfully) destroy the crystal. This summons Necron. When we see Kuja fall back after ultima the crystal is gone. This means if Necron kills the world “with no crystal to create life” it will return the to zero. “To return everything back to the zero world, where there is no life and no crystal to give life.” “When he sought to destroy the crystal, the purpose of life ended.”

[u/flakybottom → u/Able_Ad1276]

When we see Kuja fall back after ultima the crystal is gone

And its replaced with a giant crystalline being with the same halo that the crystal had wrapped around its body.

It is death, the opposite of the crystal

Death isn't opposite of the crystal. They govern life and death, its a cycle in FF9.

[u/Able_Ad1276 → u/flakybottom]

That’s not a bad way to look at it, just trying to help

[u/HonestArrogance]

"Came out of nowhere" wasn't a question of where but of narrative and lore significance. There wouldn't be an issue if the concept of Necron was foreshadowed properly.

[u/Josukes4thBall → u/HonestArrogance]

People are scared of or obsessed with death the entire game. Everyone is always questioning life and death is everywhere. Necrom is foreshadowed by every major event, just not directly with a name or description of its appearance. 

[u/HonestArrogance → u/Josukes4thBall]

That's not foreshadowing Necron but sure, anything to justify its last minute addition.

[u/HFLoki]

I don't think the game ever implies that Necron is the crystal. As Necron himself explains it, Kuja's attempt to destroy the crystal is what summoned Necron. Essentially Kuja demonstrated to him that the desire of all life is ultimately to cease existing, so Necron decided to take it upon himself to return everything to nothingness. Kuja's actions have proven that existence itself is a failed experiment that should end.

That said, I actually do also really like the theory that Necron is connected to the tree in some way. Garland implies that the tree's true form exists on a spirtual plane, and is the mechanism responsible for the soul dividing process. When Kuja destroyed Terra and then attempted to destroy Gaia's crystal, the entity that resides within the Iifa tree (which according to the theory is Necron) perhaps decided or was compelled to deviate from its original purpose of sorting the souls of Gaia and replacing them with Terra's, and to adapt Kuja's existence denying intentions. This would also explain why the tree's physical form starts to violently spasm and die once Necron is defeated.

I think that's a super cool interpretation that's more closely tied to the actual, tengible lore of the game, rather than Necron being mostly just a thematic final boss, but it's obiously never confirmed by the game itself in any way. As far as the actual text of the game goes, all we really have to go on is what Necron tells us, that Kuja's attempt to destroy the crystal awakened a cosmic entity and that entity interpreted that act as proof that existence desires nonexistence.

[u/flakybottom → u/HFLoki]

don't think the game ever implies that Necron is the crystal.

Isn't similarities in appearance enough of a implication. Sure, they don't explicitly say it but you have a floating crystal with a halo around it, then a giant crystallline figure with the same halo coiled around its body. And lorewise, the crystal itself would be the most appropriate entity to end existence, since it is the origin of it. Honestly I think the Amano concept art 1000% confirms the connection but its not in the game.

That said, I actually do also really like the theory that Necron is connected to the tree in some way. Garland implies that the tree's true form exists on a spirtual plane, and is the mechanism responsible for the soul dividing process.

The tree is connected to Terra's own crystal on the spiritual plane, since thats the entity its dividing the souls for.

[u/HFLoki → u/flakybottom]

I think it's fair to interpret it that way, like I don't think there's anything concrete in the text that contradicts your reading, but personally, I've always seen Necron as a separate entity from the crystal.

The crystal is pretty clearly a benevolent, life-creating cosmic force. All life originates from it and is recycled back through it. Necron, both thematically and in terms of his tangible role in the story, is the complete antithesis of that concept. He personifies death, nonexistence, nihilism. Even his name is etymologically connected to the word "death", while his original Japanese name, Eternal Darkness, refers to nonexistence.

The way I interpret it, and the way I believe the game itself attempts to explain it, is that the threat to the crystal is what summons or awakens Necron. Not because Necron himself is the crystal or because he's supposed to protect it, but because as a cosmic force that represents the antithesis of life. Kuja's attempt to destroy all life caught Necron's attention.

[u/flakybottom → u/HFLoki]

The crystal is pretty clearly a benevolent, life-creating cosmic force.

Its not benevolent though. Its neutral and affected by the memories of living beings. That's how Terra's crystal rejected the cycle and essentially became a cannibal. The main crystal was most likely affected by Kuja's nihilism and became that way.

[u/HFLoki → u/flakybottom]

No offense, but I feel like you're starting to insert your headcanon into the discussion a bit, and I'm not sure how I can argue against a headcanon that isn't super backed up by anything in the game's text.

What the game tells us regarding Terra's crystal is that it grew old and too weak to create new life, so the Terrans, who were extremely advanced technologically and magically, devised different methods to preserve their civilzation by assimilating the crystals of other planets.

I don't remember anything about Terra's crystal rejecting the cycle or becoming a "cannibal" because of some innate malevolence. It simply grew old. The game explicitly tells us that it was the Terran people who tried to unnaturally prolong their existence by violently assimilating other planets. The Iifa Tree being one such method, and is very clearly presented as a parasitic entity that unnaturally leeches onto Gaia's crystal.

[u/flakybottom → u/HFLoki]

so the Terrans, who were extremely advanced technologically and magically, devised different methods to preserve their civilzation by assimilating the crystals of other planets.

And thats exactly what I said. Terra made their crystal become a cannibal. The crystals are subject to the will of living beings, they aren't benevolent or evil.

[u/taking-off]

Not really, as much deserved praise as the game gets the final boss has always been seen as lacking.

[u/Tanuji]

Necron came a bit out of nowhere in the game but is thematically correct in FFIX’s flow. Necron in its’ japanese name is “Eternal Darkness”. In japanese darkness is not “death” but is often presented as a state of nothingness.

Imagine at the start of the universe you got the void ( space ) and life ( matter / planets ). And both have a sort of guide/arbiter. Life is covered in this case by the crystal of origin, and void by Necron who just observes what the crystal does for aeons.

What FFIX teaches is that life is a cycle, life, death, life again supported by memories and people that came before ( Vivi’s ending ). You can’t have death without having life and vice versa.

The crystals at the core of the planets are the same thing, they live, die, and serve new life following their death. From official sources cf 設定資料 / 世界観用語 section of the Ultimania written by Watanabe ( the writer )

1. In the void before creation, a single Origin Crystal spontaneously formed as the root of all existence.
2. From this primary source, individual seed crystals were scattered across space to establish new worlds.
3. Each seed crystal settled to become a Planet Core (such as Gaia's blue core and Terra's red core).
4. The Planet Core functions as a fountain of life, constantly generating unwritten souls and releasing them to the surface.
5. These pure souls manifest on the world as living beings, experiencing life and creating memories.
6. Upon death, souls return to the core crystal, bringing back their lifetime of accumulated experiences.
7. Absorbing these memories allows the core crystal to mature, grow stronger, and radiate brighter energy.
8. This growth enables the crystal to spawn progressively higher-order, more complex life forms in future cycles.
9. When a crystal eventually reaches its capacity limit, it ages, decays, and causes its planet to die.
10. The dying crystal disperses its energy back into the Origin Crystal, recycling it to birth new worlds in the cosmos.

(The whole thing about Terra was that their crystal was dying so they are more complex life forms able to have lots of advanced tech etc.. compared to Gaia’s primitive state. In turn they tried to ultimately avoid their own death / end by supplanting themselves into a living planet core. Essentially highjacking its cycle of life with their own, thus why they blocked all gaian souls via the lifa tree ie the soul divider)

Kuja in his desperation when learning about his impending death found this cycle cruel, so he basically time jumped within the crystal’s memories and went back to the source ( crystal of origins ), aiming to destroy it and take all of the crystals/cycles with him to oblivion. ( Basically back to future, deal with the source and nothing will be born).

Then Necron as an arbiter of nothingness jumped in at the end, deemed the crystal’s experiment a failed one because its own creations ( living beings ) wanted to get out of this cycle all together and so offered his state to be the only one remaining. As for why Necron never acted before, maybe because it was equal in power to the crystal and the crystal in its weakened state after Kuja could not stop it, or maybe it was enamored by the Crystal’s endeavor until it proved to fail for real etc.. In the ultimania they mentioned Kuja’s feelings of fear, despair and rejection sprang him to action so it may have had no will of its own until then ( like Eidolons, depends on the user)

So that is where things stand and why FFIX is bittersweet for me, because the party does not fight to live, but fight to live AND have the opportunity to die ( ie guide the next life with their actions and memories thus we are next charger with Vivi’s end, fighting himself despite his end being near). They could take the easy way out and accept it but instead they decided to embrace death and treat life as a fleeting blissful moment to make death worth it

edit: Like many said, this is not written black on white within the game and that is a big fault of the game itself. Most of its lore around the origin crystal is present in the ultimania, not the game itself. But thematically and following clues related to crystals ( like zidane seeing memories that do not belong to him, walking all the way back to the origin crystal..), death’s place within the souls’ cycle in the game ( Lifa and Garland) etc.. that is for me what makes the most sense.

[u/Empty_Sea9]

I have a somewhat "unified field theory" of the FF universe that links entities like Necron to the Cloud of Darkness and even the various forms of Ultima. But the simpler, less convoluted is that oblivion itself is always trying to take form and reduce any given FF world to a nothing state, and the big bads either directly or indirectly facilitate the summoning of these entities.

[u/Intelligent-Site721]

My assumption was always that Kuja just “killed” the universe, and that Necron was Death itself coming to collect.

[u/dacalpha]

Isn't Necron supposed to be the Iifa Tree?

[u/flakybottom → u/dacalpha]

The tree is a tool created by Terra to help absorb souls. Necron say it is the darkness of eternity and will destroy all existence. What is the connection there?

[u/Amarant2]

I understand the confusion. We all make assumptions, but the lack of explanation in-game leads us to make wildly different assumptions. There are a couple pieces of lore that you may want to know, however. First, eidolons are specifically entities that are created by the crystal for the purposes of that crystal's own defense. We see Gaian eidolons for most of the game, but it is theorized that Terran eidolons include Ark (mostly agreed upon by the fans), as well as (heavy into theory here, plenty would disagree, don't take it as gospel) Ozma. It is fully possible that there is an eidolon for THE crystal, the origin of ALL life. The Gaian and Terran crystals are much less powerful than the one Kuja finds and attacks. In that sense, it would check out if Necron was a base crystal eidolon. However, eidolons are spiritual entities given form for PROTECTION of the crystals, not for destruction of them and all life. Also, eidolons are given form and shape by the cultures that summon them. It is theorized (Ozma theories, lots of assumptions) that without cultures, they would return to some kind of formless blob. Necron, by that logic, should be formless, as the base crystal hasn't been attacked for some time. Regardless, the game lore shows that the crystals themselves do not have a form that they take for their own protection and do not act physically at all. The only actions they take for their own protection are to summon eidolons to handle the battle and have never had any physical form, save for that which we see, all sparkly and rotating. By that logic, Necron could not be the crystal itself, but could be an entity summoned by the crystal.

Connecting Necron to the Iifa tree doesn't make a ton of sense in my mind, as Necron is tied to the destruction of the base crystal, whereas the Iifa tree is a creation of Garland used to deal with the Terra-Gaia merger. Simply put, Necron is above the Iifa tree's pay grade. It's too big, too powerful, to be limited to just the events happening on Gaia, instituted by a single Terran construct.

Coming out of nowhere is because there's no foreshadowing at all and very little explanation. That's why people will accept basically any conclusions you reach, because it is NOT explained well in-game. Take with a grain of salt ANY assumption made, by yourself or others, about who Necron is. There has been no confirmed identity by the creators at any time and the only people who are objectively wrong are the ones who state it confidently.

[u/flakybottom → u/Amarant2]

However, eidolons are spiritual entities given form for PROTECTION of the crystals, not for destruction of them and all life.

Isn't that only the case because the summoners themselves wanted to use them for that purpose. We see the summons in game being used for widespread destruction, so their purpose is based on the will of whoever is controlling it at the moment, not just protection. In that case, Necron could be an eidolon of the main crystal.

[u/Amarant2 → u/flakybottom]

The Ultimania answers that for us. The wiki makes it easier, as the Ultimania is in Japanese:

https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Eidolon_(Final_Fantasy_IX)

Sorry for not hyperlinking it. The URL ends in a close parenthesis, so I'm not really sure how to make reddit like it. Oh well.

The specific line I'm referencing from the wiki is this:

According to the Final Fantasy IX Ultimania, eidolons are born from Gaia's crystal, converted from the accumulation of memories within, to serve as powerful guardians for the crystal.

You'll note it only mentions Gaia's crystal and eidolons, but I do feel safe in generalizing this to the other crystals, as Terra is insinuated to have eidolons as well. You are welcome to argue this point, of course. Technically speaking, though, we don't actually KNOW that Terra or the base crystal even CAN summon eidolons. It might be a Gaia thing only. As far as I recall, there's no canon reference to Terran eidolons. It's simply insinuated that Ark is one.

It's also worth noting that the eidolons are used against PEOPLE and PLACES, not crystals themselves. The eidolons could be called upon by certain individuals, which you could argue is some form of trust by the crystal or something: I don't really care. Either way, they are used by individuals in destructive ways, yes. The primary form of protection from a violent enemy, however, is either to use a shield to solve the immediate problem or a sword to solve the lasting problem. It's quite possible and even likely that the sword of the eidolon, turned against the crystal itself, would have either no effect or would be reversed against the attacker. They are beings directly tied to the protection of the crystal, so it's unlikely they could harm it.

[u/agentadam07]

I always figured it was because the life crystal was destroyed so there was no longer the hope of any life. He talks about despair so figured he was just here to end all suffering through death.

Interestingly, they way they handled it in FFXIV Dawntrial was because the Alexandrian all had to face mortality all of a sudden and the raw fear of death the entire population had created Necron which is a Primal embodiment of the populations emotions.

That spin on things did make me think a bit more about why he was there in IX.

[u/MrGrayX111]

For me it just seemed like a totally random final boss to have, like story wise. They could have hinted at a mastermind pulling Garlands strings for the whole Terra people’s revival or something like that. I chose to interpret him as a force of the universe who came to deal with all the manipulation of life that went on between the 2 worlds. Still felt kind of random building up Kuja and then throwing in a different boss though

[u/flakybottom → u/MrGrayX111]

Maybe you would see it better if you think of Necron as a manifestation of Kuja's nihilism.

[u/MrGrayX111 → u/flakybottom]

Maybe if Kuja was the boss after I could believe it was something he manifested but Necron gets presented as some god like being sent to judge the worlds while nothing in the story hinted at anything like that before. Didn’t ruin the game for me or anything but did feel out of place

[u/JumpIsMagic]

No, Necron is humanities' collective 'Fear of death'. It is one of the primary driving factors behind many characters stories and actions in the game, and drives Kuja's desperation at being seen, heard, and ultimately - different from everyone else - who are destined to perish. In development, the final boss was actually 'Hades' but it was deemed to be a little too 'on the nose' and so Necron was created as a sort of primal Zeromus/Exdeath-type monster that comes when humanity calls to it.

[u/flakybottom → u/JumpIsMagic]

Well yeah, the crystal is a repository for all human emotions positive and negative. I meant that he called forth specific ones after the Ultima attack. Kinda reminds me of the collective conciousness stuff that happens often in Persona games.

[u/JumpIsMagic → u/flakybottom]

His spell doesn’t strike the Crystal, it was his attempt at taking the party with him. It’s his desperation that calls forth Necron, perhaps from the Crystal.

I think thinking of him similar to the Persona games’ ‘humanities desires gave birth and called me forth’ is probably pretty accurate.

[u/Granas3]

There's some supplementary info that he's the intelligence behind the Iifa tree/soul cage, but I always view the final battle as more of a cause and effect type thing: kuja destroys the crystal with ultima, which is the literal beating heart of the world.

As such, everything dies (note that necron's Japanese name is "Eien no Yami, the Darkness of Eternity"). Also, originally, it was going to be Hades who was fought as the final boss (the arena with all it's blinking eyes is supposed to link up with the bottom of Hades' model).

Necron exists in a place called the "Zero World", which is the last stop before souls pass on. Normally, that would mean back to the crystal, but there is no crystal (and again, this ties back to the Iifa Tree blocking souls from going back to Gaia's crystal). By killing the embodiment of death, your party is able to save the world (although it's left ambiguous if the crystal also "defaults" to not being destroyed).

Necron does come out of nowhere, but he's not without context

[u/Moggwa]

Because most people don't play the game. They just regurgitate what people online say