The queen's mysterious benefactor
Kuja initially debuts as Mystery Man at the end of disc 1 in FINAL FANTASY IX. Described as pale, white-haired, and strangely dressed by Zidane, he accompanies Queen Brahne on her invasion of Burmecia and is later revealed by Regent Cid to be her weapons dealer. He provided the recipe by which to produce the destructive black mages en masse, and in doing so enabled the queen to wage wars across the Mist Continent. Princess Garnet, convinced that Kuja was responsible for her mother's sudden turn to the dark side a year prior, seeks to eliminate him with or without Zidane's help.
Age: 24 years old
Height: ~214 cm (7')
Occupation: Sorcerer
A brutal, prideful man with a flair for the dramatic. — FINAL FANTASY Ultimania Archive Volume 2
Kuja's eye color is a subject of debate due to inconsistency throughout official materials. In most games, including the original, his eyes are colored blue; however, in some collaborations and artworks, they're purple. In fact, Itahana even gave him green eyes at one point! What's up with that?
While he appears as a man of mystery, Garnet goes on to retrospectively call him "the tall man" from her memory of the time he first met Brahne. Although difficult to tell due to the game's diminutive art style, Kuja is revealed in FINAL FANTASY Ultimania Archive Volume 2 to tower over most of the cast at a whopping seven feet in height. Between his impressive stature and Zidane's description of him, Kuja certainly leaves a strong impression wheresoever he goes, which was as intended by the art director, Hideo Minaba, who wanted "something with impact."
Having said all of that, Kuja is actually mentioned as early on in the story as Dali when Zidane regales "Dagger" with a recount of the Kings, a wealthy family of aristocrats in Treno. Zidane tries to tell her that the Kings "were hiding something in their mansion," recalling the time he stole from the auction house. The game only ever implies through the words of others that Kuja could be King, though a more direct confirmation would come years down the road in DISSIDIA FINAL FANTASY OPERA OMNIA, when Kuja mentions holding auctions in the past. Hilariously, he never learns that Zidane robbed him.
Auctioneer: How was Burmecia?
Kuja: Not bad . . . Better if I didn't have to see those vermin and the ugly elephant-lady. They offend my senses.
Between his early appearances in Burmecia and then Treno, Kuja wastes no time unveiling his narcissism. The FINAL FANTASY IX Ultimania affirms his confidence in his own looks—with Brahne herself saying that he has a "girly face"—and he proudly shows himself off by way of theatrical gestures and vernacular not unlike those of a strutting peacock. As a result of this self-importance, he's equally quick to dismiss those he finds somehow lacking and to treat them with disdainful prejudice while he regards the beautiful with more, albeit rehearsed and therefore disingenuous, tenderness.
His leitmotif, aptly named "Kuja's Theme," gives him a sinister air that's also been described as "bad vibes only" by a learned melophile. This video will become relevant again in the next section, but let's first finish going over others' impressions of Kuja by ending them with Lady Hildagarde, Cid's wife.