Black mage ( Final Fantasy IX ) Black mages are autonomous , man - sized magician dolls mass - produced as weapons of war by Queen Brahne of Alexandria due to Kuja ' s influence . " Final Fantasy IX " is the only game that has black mages as a distinct race , rather than a job . Black mages ' faces are dark with two glowing eyes and they always wear the distinctive steepled hat . Creation . Black mages are created from Mist to be the soulless magical arm of their master . They are similar to the Genomes in being artificially produced life organisms and Kuja teaches Queen Brahne how to manufacture them due to his knowledge on how Genomes are made . The " Final Fantasy IX Ultimania " explains that the black mages differ from the Genomes in that they are made out of Gaian elements , whereas Genomes are made out of Terran elements . The black mages are being produced in the secret factory underground the village of Dali where the mages appear to be first produced as types of eggs . Finished products are stored in barrels and quietly shipped to Alexandria on a cargo ship . Nature . Black mages are manufactured as a type of magical soldier capable of casting powerful Black Magic . Black mages come in three ever more powerful variants , called Type A , Type B , and Type C . Black mages are used , in tandem with human Alexandrian soldiers , by Queen Brahne as the grunt forces for Alexandria ' s invasions of Burmecia and Lindblum , and the destruction of Cleyra , as well as piloting the Alexandrian air and sea - ships , most notably when Queen Brahne attempts to kill Kuja at the Iifa Tree . The black mages appear to be born without a will and mind of their own , and passively obey their masters ' orders . It is unclear as to how aware they are of themselves and their surroundings at this initial stage , as when the party boards the cargo ship the black mages are unresponsive and keep going on about their work uninterrupted , ignoring the stowaways , and despite Vivi ' s best efforts , do not react to him . At this stage black mages appear as soulless dolls , incapable of speech . However , when the ship is attacked by a Black Waltz , the black mages react to the change and gather around Vivi to protect him . The Black Waltz variant of black mages are different than the regular black mages in many ways . They appear " custom made " as opposed to mass - manufactured , and are cognizant from the get - go , capable of speech and acting out on their own without needing constant orders from their master . Once given a task , the Black Waltzes won ' t rest until having completed it . Their magical powers surpass those of the regular black mages . The party encounters three Black Waltzes during their travels and as the name " waltz " suggests there might never have been more than three . The average black mage has a limited life expectancy of about one year . The reason for the limited life expectancy is unknown ; it could be anything from a technical limitation , to a deliberate method taken to keep the mages from having enough time to become self - aware , like those of the Black Mage Village and Vivi have . Vivi , one of the game ' s main characters , is a prototype black mage , and as such , has powers rivaling that of the Black Waltz " brothers " and possibly a longer life expectancy . Unlike the other black mages , Vivi has experienced a " childhood " in the care of the Qu Quan , whom Vivi refers to as his " grandpa " . This may have allowed him to develop his cognitive skills beyond those of other black mages . At the end of the game black mages identical to Vivi are seen in Alexandria , dubbed as Vivi ' s " sons " , even if by that time the flow of Mist has been stopped . It is unknown who manufactured Vivi ' s children and how they did it without Mist . Becoming self - aware . The exact method of how a black mage individuates is unknown . Vivi remembers nothing of his birth , and his first memories are of living with Quan . The other black mages describe the moment of becoming conscious as an abrupt event , as if coming out of a daze . After gaining awareness the black mages escape to the Outer Continent and set up a village . It appears that the black mages ' true personality is similar to Vivi ' s : timid and gentle . In their village the black mages live simple , peaceful lives away from the wars they were built to fight in . The dwarves of neighboring Conde Petie refer to them affably as the " Pyntie - Hets " . The black mages , never having had someone to mentor and teach them like Vivi had with Quan , are naive and ignorant of the world . They don ' t , for example , really understand what death means , and after the mages started " stopping " due to reaching the end of their life expectancy , the others were confused and set up a cemetery but many still struggled grasping why their friends had " stopped " and why were they buried . The acceptance of death is something the black mages have to come to terms with , and Kuja manipulates the mages by exploiting this fear by telling them he knows how to expand their lifespan , and only a few stay behind . The black mages realize Kuja had tricked them and return to their village . The Genomes from Terra , similar to the mages in many ways , move in the village as well and teaching them about the world seems to give new meaning to the mages . It appears that at least some of the black mages have come to terms with their existence and come to accept death as part of life , and that life ' s inevitable end doesn ' t make it meaningless . Gameplay . Different types of black mages are fought in the game as enemies . Type A are fought in Gizamaluke ' s Grotto and Burmecia , Type B are fought in Cleyra and Type C are fought in Alexandria . The Black Waltz variants are boss battles . Vivi Ornitier is a black mage playable character . He can utilize Black Magic in battle and when paired with Steiner allows the latter to use Sword Magic . Vivi wields staves but his physical attacks are weak . In Trance he can cast two spells in one turn . Other appearances . " Pictlogica Final Fantasy " . Types B and C appear as enemies . " Final Fantasy Record Keeper " . Type A , Type B and Type C black mages appear . " World of Final Fantasy " . Vivi appears along with many black mages within Mako Reactor 0 . They are like artificial Mirages referring to the concept of black mages from " Final Fantasy IX " being constructs . Etymology . Black mage is a recurring job within the " Final Fantasy " series , starting from the original " Final Fantasy " whose Black Mage job the " Final Fantasy IX " black mages also physically resemble . Black mage refers to a mage who wields black ( offensive ) magic . The variants fought as enemies are named Type A , Type B and Type C .