Freya Crescent

Freya Crescent is a playable character from Final Fantasy IX. She is Burmecian, a race of anthropomorphic rats who live in two cities, Burmecia and Cleyra. She hails from Burmecia, but left several years ago in search of her lost love, Sir Fratley. Zidane meets her in Lindblum just before the Festival of the Hunt.
==Profile==
===Appearance===
Freya wears a red hat with decorative metallic wings, which, combined with her white hair, obscures much of her face and her green eyes. She wears a long red coat with a split up the back, buckles on the upper arms roping around the sleeves, a large escutcheon bearing the Burmecian coat of arms on her torso, a pale blue cravat, knee-length orange trousers, a pair of tanned leather gaiters, and a small orange ribbon tied to her tail. During Trance, Freya's clothing is replaced with full platemail armor, complete with a pair of gauntlets and greaves that cover her hands and legs respectively. Her hat is replaced with a knight's helmet that covers all but the back of her head.
===Personality===
Freya is a skilled and powerful dragon warrior with a sharp mind, but her longing for her lost love burdens her. She is humble and friendly, as seen when she speaks to Eiko or Vivi. She can also joke around with Zidane, saying she will "kick his butt" in the pub in Lindblum because he's flirting with girls. As a dragon knight, she can put aside her doubts and join forces with others when necessary, even teaming up with her former enemy Beatrix at one point.
Freya faces much tragedy yet holds out hope. She may appear to live in the past, ever hopeful she'll be reunited with Fratley, but actually chooses to live for the future, by sustaining memories of the past. In the Japanese version Freya speaks archaically. She speaks in , which was used in Edo-era Tokyo and is similar to modern-day Hiroshima dialect.
==Story==
Freya became a dragon knight at age 16 and a year later, left Burmecia in search of Sir Fratley. She is Zidane's old friend whom she met during her quest to find her lost love. While in Lindblum, Zidane meets her in a pub, teasing her by pretending to not remember her name. They discuss the Festival of the Hunt, which Freya plans to partake in and invites Zidane to follow suit. During the festival Freya is one of the top performers, and if she wins the hunt, the party will receive a Coral Ring as reward. When Zidane encounters the Zaghnol during the hunt, he persuades Freya to let him land the killing blow so that he may win a date with Princess Garnet.
After the festivities, a Burmecian soldier enters Regent Cid's throne room telling of a black mage attack on Burmecia. He asks Cid for reinforcements before dying. Freya brings Zidane and Vivi along to Burmecia to help, parting ways with Garnet and Steiner, who depart for Alexandria. Along the way to Gizamaluke's Grotto they have the opportunity of recruiting Quina Quen to their cause.
The party passes through Gizamaluke's Grotto to Burmecia, which they find in ruins. Kneeling to honor the dead, Freya remarks she has not visited her hometown for five years. They reach the Burmecian Palace and find several fleeing Burmecians who plead with Freya to escape with them to Cleyra. She refuses, and scales a large statue with Zidane and Vivi to spy on Queen Brahne, Alexandrian general Beatrix, and a mysterious man named Kuja, who are standing in the middle of the coliseum-like apex discussing their next move.
Freya reminisces of Sir Fratley, her estranged love. She is rent from her reverie when a Burmecian soldier attempts to challenge Beatrix, prompting Zidane's party to intervene. They are defeated by Beatrix who leaves with Brahne and Kuja. The party decides to travel to Cleyra to meet with the King of Burmecia and other refugees.
In Cleyra, Freya participates in a ritual dance to strengthen the sandstorm that protects Cleyra. During the dance, the strings of the sacred harp used in the ritual shatter, and the sandstorm wanes, giving the Alexandrian forces the opportunity to march up the giant tree's trunk to reach the settlement at the top. Freya and her group attempt to hold off the invaders, but are driven back to the cathedral. A dragon knight appears at the cathedral's spire, destroying a trio of black mages and allowing Freya and her friends to take refuge inside.
The mysterious knight is Sir Fratley. Freya pours out her emotions to him, but Fratley does not remember her. He suffers from amnesia, and has no memory of his identity, nor recognition of his former friends. Fratley vacates Cleyra and Beatrix appears and takes the High Priest hostage. She takes the jewel, a royal heirloom, atop the harp and flees, escaping through the black mages' telepods. The party (with the exception of Quina) follows suit, appearing on the Alexandrian airship Red Rose. Queen Brahne summons Odin obliterating the city of Cleyra.
Freya declares revenge on Brahne and they spy Beatrix questioning the queen's motives. Back in Alexandria Castle, when Beatrix has a change of heart and sees the cruelty behind Brahne's crusade, Freya joins her in resisting a pack of monsters summoned by Zorn and Thorn, the queen's court jesters. Steiner comes to their aid, and the three stand strong as Zidane, Vivi, and Garnet flee Alexandria via the Gargan Roo.
When Zidane returns from the Outer Continent he meets Freya and the others at Alexandria Castle. Freya duels Amarant, a bounty hunter who had joined Zidane at the Outer Continent. The two develop a respect for each other, and when the two accompany Zidane to Treno Freya coaxes Amarant out of his silence and gets him to tell of his history with Zidane.
Freya continues supporting the party during their quest to find Kuja, whose nefarious plots put their world in peril. She leads the party in the Desert Palace if Eiko, Steiner, and Vivi accompanied Zidane to Oeilvert, and joins forces with Amarant in the Fire Shrine where the two battle the Fire Guardian to place the Fire Mirror in the shrine to open a portal to Terra, Kuja's homeworld. In Terra Zidane is locked inside the Pandemonium. As his friends set out to rescue him Freya helps him defeat Amdusias and helps Zidane recover from the anguish of discovering the true nature of his origin.
right|thumb|Freya applauds Zidane's return during the ending.
After Kuja and the mysterious Necron have been defeated and the Iifa Tree has collapsed Freya helps rebuild Burmecia with Sir Fratley, who, despite his amnesia, has grown closer to Freya. The two attempt to rekindle their romance from years past despite Fratley not remembering anything about their past. When Tantalus Theater Troupe returns to Alexandria to perform I Want to Be Your Canary, Freya attends the event and applauds Zidane's return to Alexandria.
==Gameplay==
right|120px|Character model.
Not counting characters who can change job classes, Freya is the first playable female Dragoon in the series, with only three others taking this role after her: Oerba Yun Fang from Final Fantasy XIII, Barbara from Final Fantasy Dimensions and Sophia in Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin.
Freya wields spears, equips heavy armor, and has high physical stats but low magical stats. Her special ability is Jump, which allows her to jump in the air, avoiding damage and deal more damage than a normal attack when she lands on an enemy. Her skillset is Dragon, which has a range of effects, including offense, healing, and status-changing, though her MP is limited. Her support abilities aside from defensive boosts include boosts to her physical attacks, such as MP Attack, Counter and the Killer abilities, as well as unique abilities to her such as High Jump. Trance modifies her Jump ability so that she remains in the air to rain spears on all enemies, dealing random damage to each. As only she can learn the Dragon Killer support skill, she can be very effective against dragon-type enemies.
Freya is the only playable character in Final Fantasy IX who is left-handed. This is possibly an allusion to fellow dragoon Kain Highwind, who is also left-handed. Handedness is not a mechanic in Final Fantasy IX, however.
==Musical themes==
"Freya's Theme" is named for herself, and it is used as the background music for Gizamaluke's Grotto and is also integrated into "Unforgettable Silhouette" played during scenes involving Sir Fratley, and its background beat is used at a slower pace as "Kingdom of Burmecia," the city's theme. It has a fast beat and a slow, somber melody.
==Other appearances==
Freya has made appearances in the following games in the Final Fantasy series:
*Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia as a playable character.
*Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as a summonable Legend.
*Final Fantasy Artniks as a series of cards.
*Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a summonable vision.
*Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a series of cards.
*Tetra Master as an opponent and cards.
*Triple Triad as a card.
==Behind the scenes==
The English script switches at various points between correctly saying Freya left Burmecia three years prior and saying it was five years.
Freya is notably the only female in Burmecia's military.
Before the player can name Freya, Zidane jokingly incorrectly guesses her name as Helga, Christine, and Ratchel. The player can then name her Helga or Ratchel (but not Christine due to the seven-character limit) contradicting the previous interaction.
==Merchandise==
Freya is bundled with Beatrix for the Bring Arts series of figurines. The 6″ scale figures include a number of interchangeable parts and accessories. Freya stands at 3.7″ tall, while Beatrix stands at 2.4″ tall. Each includes interchangeable portraits, multiple interchangeable hands, weapons, and a figure stand. Freya comes with the Javelin and Kain's Lance spears.
:Other official Freya Crescent merchandise
==Gallery==
==Etymology==
She is called Freija in the Spanish and Italian versions, Freyja in the French version, and Freia in the German version.
==Citations==
de:Freya Crescent
es:Freija Crescent
fr:Freyja Crescent
ru:Фрейя Кресцент
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy IX
Category:Dragoons