Qu

The Qu are a genderless race from the world of Final Fantasy IX. Quina, Quale, and Quan are Qu. This rare species desires to discover and eat new foods, materializing in a study called the "Way of the Gourmand". Quina sees this as their mission. All known Qu have "Qu" as the first two letters of their names, this possibly being a cause of, or a reason for, their species name.
Qu speak in a crude form of broken English. For example, when Quina sees a frog, they think, "I eat frog?" In the Spanish version, the Qu speak perfect Spanish. In the original Japanese, the Qu speak in Kyowa-go, adding the particle aru at the end of their sentences and omitting other particles, similar to Chinese people attempting to speak Japanese. In the German translation, most of the Qu's s-sounds come out as a mushy "sh" and their way of speaking is described by others to sound as though they are speaking with their mouths full. The Qu's Spanish and German sentences end on the exclamation ñam and mampf, respectively, translating to "munch" or "chomp". Similarly, the Qu's French sentences often end with the word miam, which translates to "yum". In the Italian version, the Qu speak with a heavy Roman accent.
This odd-looking species permanently let their long tongues hang from their mouths and often dress like chefs. They have a longer life span than humans, as seen that Quina is 89 years old, yet still considered young by their species's standards.
The playable character Quina Quen is a Qu. Quina can use Blue Magic and to learn spells they must consume enemies when their HP is more than three-quarters removed. Eating enemies destroys them, and Quina has the opportunity to learn a Blue Magic spell from them. It is unknown if this is a common trait among the Qu, though as Quina's master, Quale, also knows many Blue Magic spells, it is assumed to be the case.
The majority of the Qu live in swamp areas, called Qu's Marshes, which also house Mogster and his brother, seen in Active Time Events. There are several marshes across the world map. In every Qu's Marsh, Quina can take part in a frog catching minigame, in which they must catch frogs to yield item rewards, in addition to powering up Quina's Frog Drop ability.
==Etymology==
Category:Races in Final Fantasy IX
de:Q