Inside the Series
Contributor: Ava
From the very first Final Fantasy game, the Black Mage was featured and became a series icon. Along with the Warrior, White Mage, and Red Mage class, the Black Mage was one of the four main characters. The Black Mage class continued to be a central job class of recognition in every game of the main series up through Final Fantasy VI (FF6). Throughout this period, the character design remained generally the same: blue robe, shadowed face, and pointy straw hat. Black Mages did get more bright and colorful accents in their design, on occasion, possibly to reflect the style of Yoshitaka Amano's artwork.
Things changed when Final Fantasy VII (FF7) and Final Fantasy VIII (FF8) came along. These games revolutionized the series by marking a significant change in graphics, as well as a change in world concept and storylines, from a swords and sorcery fantasy to a sci-fi fantasy theme. Because the classic Black Mage did not fit into this theme, the spells were kept but the iconic gear was omitted. Final Fantasy VII had a possible nod to the class in that the design of the Ancient characters had a slight resemblance to the Black Mage design.
The Black Mage made a striking return to the series in Final Fantasy IX (FF9), a game that attempted to blend the new innovations of recent titles with the classic setting of the early games. To appeal to nostalgic fans, FF9 created Vivi, a protagonist character who was a Black Mage in name, in action, and in appearance. The mages were no longer just a job class, they were a race of characters. This group also played a significant role in one of the game's existentialist themes.
However, the prominence experienced in FF9 was short lived, as the Black Mage soon came to its current position as a frequent homage that is altered to fit the setting of each title. In Final Fantasy X, the character Lulu is explicitly introduced as a Black Mage by other characters; her gothic design seemed to represent the modern visualization of a "witch" or offensive magic caster. In FFX-2, the Black Mage dress sphere allows the Gullwings characters to take on the job class, depicted by a comical Halloween-Witch outfit. FFXIII-2 also has a Black Mage costume available for its main male protagonist as downloadable content.
Despite its dilution in distinctiveness, Black Mage characters continue to be identifiable in action even if they are not referenced in name.