Final Fantasy 9 fans have long thought Vivi's name came from his tragic background, but a new prequel book has a much sillier explanation

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Call him SixSix from now on

Vivi
(Image credit: Square Enix)

The long-rumored Final Fantasy 9 Remake still isn't certain, but thankfully, a new prequel book is here to fill out all of the original's blank spaces anyway. Top of the list: Where the heck did Vivi's grandpa get his name from?

Square Enix recently revealed that a Final Fantasy 9 prequel book following adorable black mage Vivi and his adopted, aloof grandad Quan is on the way with a beautiful teaser trailer. The short clip below includes a couple shots of the book's fairytale art, with one scene in particular showing Quan measuring Vivi's height on a wall in roman numerals.

「ファイナルファンタジーIXえほん ビビとおじいちゃんと旅立ちの日に」PV - YouTube 「ファイナルファンタジーIXえほん ビビとおじいちゃんと旅立ちの日に」PV - YouTube
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Vivi himself is about three feet tall – he's a short goofy guy – but to make him feel a little better, Quan measures him from his toes to the tip of his very pointy hat. Want to take a wild guess at how tall he is? Six feet, Six inches – or, rather, VI feet, VI inches. Vivi. Sigh.

It's a hilariously silly origin story for such a tragic character especially because, for the last two decades, fans have long thought the name Vivi had a slightly more sentimental context.

We now have canon explanation why he is called Vivi (from the upcoming FF9 Vivi picture book) from r/FinalFantasyIX

Spoilers for Final Fantasy 9 ahead.

Since Vivi is actually a cloned black mage, destined for eventual death, fans always reckoned that his name had Latin origins. We always knew that Quan had given him the name Vivi, but many a headcanon surmised that it came from the word Vivienne, which more or less translates to "alive."

Still, maybe the remake project can provide a more definitive answer if it even exists at all.

Final Fantasy 9 gets website celebrating 25th anniversary with hints of "various projects," leaving fans of the JRPG hopeful for the long-rumored remake

Kaan Serin
Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

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