Quina Quen Quina Quen is a playable character in " Final Fantasy IX " . S / he is apparently a genderless Qu who specializes in blue magic , and loves eating frogs . Quina serves as comic relief , often failing in his / her eternal quest to consume new cuisine . S / he speaks in broken English , as all Qu do , and will often eat anything s / he sees . Quina ' s eating habits are one of his / her greatest skills , as Quina learns Blu Mag by consuming an enemy . Recruiting Quina on the first chance ( when the party leaves Lindblum on foot ) is optional . S / he will join the party the first time the player visits a Qu ' s Marsh . Although the pronoun " s / he " is mostly attributed to Quina , only masculine possessive and demonstrative pronouns like " his " and " him " are used , while the feminine pronouns " her " and " hers " are not . Many languages use the masculine pronouns if the gender is unknown . In the game ' s Spanish version , Quina is referred to as " she " , and it is same for Quale ( renamed Quera ) , while Quan is " he " . In the German version Quina is always referred to as " he " . In the French version Quina is " she " whereas both Quale and Quan are " he " . In the Italian version , Quina is said to be female , like Quale ( renamed " Quera " ) , and has rearranged with Roman dialect . Profile . Appearance . Quina is a genderless Qu , a tribe known for their strange eating habits , long tongues , and poor language skills . Quina wears a chef ' s hat , and his / her tongue hangs out to the middle of his / her chest . S / he wears a salmon - pink overcoat with a baby - pink apron over it , has a napkin tied around his / her neck , and wears white gloves and blue shoes with white ribbons . In Trance , Quina ' s facial area resembles Vivi ' s ( long black tongue notwithstanding ) having disappeared into a void with only bright white eyes to hint s / he has a face . Clothes are replaced by an obese armor set complete with an elaborate neck armor and his / her chef ' s hat may possibly be metal as well . The armor includes a decorative design on the chest . Personality . Quina has a childlike curiosity for the world and is always ready to explore new locations to find new tastes ; when arriving at a new location , Quina is quick to smell and taste - test the local wildlife and cuisine to discover delicacies . The childlike curiosity is Quina ' s dominant personality trait , as s / he is delighted by the small things in life , and takes the journey as a learning experience . Quina can be reckless , such as when s / he jumps head - first into the canal in Treno after thinking s / he spotted food down there . Setbacks don ' t bother him / her much , and s / he is soon back on his / her feet ready for new experiences . Quina has great respect for qus elder to him / her , and at first wants to journey with Zidane because his / her Master tells him to . In an optional event in Quan ' s Dwelling it is revealed that Quina is on his / her way to become an excellent gourmand because of his / her vivid imagination , and it is hinted Quina has already surpassed his / her Master in the ways of the gourmand . Although it may seem that Quina is the least involved in the quest the heroes undertake , being more interested in food than world events and going off on his / her own numerous times to pursue his / her own interests , s / he does develop a bond to the party . Quina attempts to cheer Freya up en route to Burmecia , and assures Vivi — who worries not being human — that he is as human as anyone else in the world . Quina helps Eiko cook in Madain Sari , teaching her that cooking for friends is at the core of love for food . When Quina is paired with Zidane to go explore the Earth Shrine , s / he is happy to go with him even if knowing Zidane only took him / her because s / he was the one left over when everyone else already left , saying that leftovers are a good thing . In Pandemonium , Quina eagerly helps Steiner fight off a monster . In the Japanese version Quina ends his / her sentences with written in katakana , alphabet usually reserved for foreign words . This is supposed to be mimicking Chinese speech of ending sentences with the " er / ar " sound a la mainland / Beijing mandarin Chinese . China is often associated with the world of cooking and restaurants in Japan , befitting the qus ' gourmandism . In the English version Quina speaks in broken English . Story . Quina works in Alexandria Castle , overseeing the chefs ' every move and tasting most of their dishes , for preparation for Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII ' s birthday party . Quina also participates in the Festival of the Hunt in Lindblum under the name " Strange Gourmand " . However , it is not until the party visits Qu ' s Marsh they have a chance to make their acquaintance properly . Quina loves frogs , and is distressed that s / he cannot catch one . Zidane catches one for Quina , leading the head Qu , Quale , to scold Quina for being too lazy to feed him / herself . Quale asks the party to take Quina around the world so that s / he may visit the other marshes of the world to taste different types of frogs , as frogs are the Qus ' delicacy , and attain a higher rank of gourmand . Quina joins the party for their trek through Gizamaluke ' s Grotto , Burmecia , and Cleyra while being obsessed with hunting for new kinds of food , which s / he refers to as " yummy - yummies " . At the party ' s stay in Cleyra , Quina is upset that the locale has no exotic food to be had , settling on a pair of pink mushrooms whose edibility is questionable . When the other three group members teleport to the Alexandria n airship " Red Rose " via black mage teleportation devices , Quina declines to go with them and flees Cleyra on foot , saying that s / he " no like heights " . When Cleyra is destroyed by Odin summoned by Queen Brahne of Alexandria , Zidane , Vivi , and Freya are left believing s / he perished during the destruction , with Vivi particularly devastated by his / her possible demise . Quina returns to Qu ' s Marsh , where , much to Zidane ' s relief , the party finds him / her , with Quina explaining that while s / he survived , s / he had " much trouble coming back from Cleyra alone " . Zidane , Vivi , and Garnet , who has joined in place of Freya , want to find the path to the Outer Continent , and Quina inadvertently leads the party to the Fossil Roo entrance in search of more frogs . After helping Zidane , Vivi , and Garnet fight and defeat bounty hunter Lani in Fossil Roo , Quina navigates the tunnels with the party and arrives on the Outer Continent and its dwarven village of Conde Petie . Quina rushes in , certain that good food is to be had . S / he makes a beeline for the consumable shop , where the shopkeeper offers to sell Quina a Pumpkin Bomb for 1 , 000 gil . Quina cannot understand the need for currency , so the dwarf labels him / her as a thief and Quina flees the shop . In the Black Mage Village Quina finds another source of food : a chocobo egg being hatched by two black mages . Though Quina longs to taste the egg , the mages shoo him / her out , but he / she stays and keeps referring to the egg as " delicious " . Returning to Conde Petie , it is possible for Quina to undergo the " marriage " ritual with Vivi to access the Sanctuary beyond the village . Quina is pleased with this arrangement , saying , " I . . . so happy " . If Quina and Vivi choose not to marry , the pair will sneak by the dwarven guards when they are called to deal with a theft committed by a little girl from outside of the village . After being allowed to travel through the mountain path , the party encounters Eiko , the young thief , stuck on a tree limb . Quina is deterred from eating her when Eiko says she tastes horrible . This backfires on her , as Quina runs off to attempt to eat Mog , Eiko ' s pet moogle , instead . Eiko later mistakes Quina for Kuja , having been reeled in from the river by a fishing pole . Quina stays and helps Eiko cook dinner for the rest of Zidane ' s party in Madain Sari . While Zidane , Vivi , Garnet , and Eiko are investigating the Iifa Tree , leaving Quina behind in Madain Sari , s / he swims away back to the Mist Continent , wrongly believing the others had purposely abandoned him / her . Quina ends up in Treno , and later , when Gilgamesh attempts to corner Eiko there , using the guise of attending a banquet to kidnap her and hold her for ransom against Amarant , Quina pops up , demands food , and scares Gilgamesh away . Despite this noble act , Quina is again left behind and , thinking a reflection of the moon in the water resembles food , jumps in to try and eat it . S / he washes up on the shores of Lindblum , frightening several town guards . S / he fails to haggle for a Gysahl pickle , a local delicacy , and finally permanently joins the party either after Zidane pays off his / her debt for the pickle , or Zidane simply boards the " Blue Narciss " where Quina will already be waiting aboard , ready to help his / her friends on their quest to find Kuja and the kidnapped Lady Hilda . After obtaining the " Hilda Garde III " airship , the party can visit Quan ' s Dwelling with Vivi and Quina , where Quina hallucinates a feast on the table of the abandoned dwelling . Upon realizing there is no food as the others are puzzled what s / he is doing , Quina runs outside onto the fishing post where they meet the ghost of Quan , a master gourmand and Vivi ' s caretaker whom he calls " grandpa " . Quina ' s Master Quale shows up , and it turns out Quale is Quan ' s protege the same way Quina is to Quale , but Quan ' s ghost deems Quale an inferior gourmand for his lack of imagination , revering Quina for his / her skills instead . Zidane who follows the exchange from afar is bemused as he can ' t see the ghost . Quina is paired with Zidane when the party decides to tackle the elemental shrines simultaneously , and is unbothered by Zidane ' s admission that he only took Quina because s / he was the one left over when everyone else had already left , stating that leftovers are a good thing . When the heroes reach Terra , Quina candidly interacts with the unresponsive Genomes at Bran Bal . S / he attempts to taste a large luminous stone seemingly worshiped by the Genomes , to no avail . When the airship " Invincible " is used to escape Terra , Quina warps in at the last minute from underneath the ship . The rest of the party also uses the warp when they descend into Memoria . While in Memoria Quina experiences Gaia ' s early era as a globe covered in ocean and tries to swim through it . After Trance Kuja and Necron have been felled and peace returns to the world , Quina is back in the Alexandrian kitchen , cooking up more munchies to satisfy his / her never - ending palate , ensuring the other chefs prepare a good meal for his / her friends who will soon be visiting Alexandria and to witness another performance of " I Want to Be Your Canary " by the Tantalus Theater Troupe . Gameplay . Quina wields forks in battle , which deal random damage , but can be very powerful . His / her primary function is casting Blu Mag spells , which are learned by consuming enemies with Eat when they are at 25 % HP . In Trance , Eat transforms to Cook , which kills enemies at 50 % HP . S / he has great utility through his / her Blu Mag spells , but each need to be learned from fighting specific enemies . Quina can also participate in frog catching at the Qu ' s Marshes to obtain his / her ultimate weapon and boost his / her Frog Drop power . Cinna is an early temporary character whose level s ( not statistics ) are transferred to Quina , should Cinna ' s level be higher than the party average upon Quina ' s joining the party . Though some localizations treat Quina as a female , the game mechanics treat him / her more as a male . Quina is affected by the Lamia ' s " Entice " ability , like all male characters . If Quina is weakened , Zidane will not take damage in place of him / her with his " Protect Girls " ability like he does to Dagger , Freya , and Eiko . Even Beatrix would be protected if Zidane fought alongside her . The Rubber Suit that can only be equipped by female characters , cannot be equipped by Quina . Musical themes . " Quina ' s Theme " is named for himself / herself , and plays during the frog catching minigame , when s / he washes up in Lindblum , and when s / he first meets Grandma Pickle . It has parts of the the Qu ' s Marsh theme inter - spliced with a new techno melody . Other appearances . Quina has made appearances in the following games in the " Final Fantasy " series : Etymology . The name " Quina Quen " is a Japanese play on words . Throughout the game , Quina is on a personal quest to find new , exotic foodstuffs , but most of the time fails at this task . All of the Qus ' names in " Final Fantasy IX " begin with " Qu " .