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iSelf-Discovery

 

For Vivi, self-discovery is nothing short of a rude awakening. Everything he'd believed about himself is thrown into doubt, and even worse, the new truths aren't exactly positive. Superficially, he discovers he's a black mage, created for the purpose of acting as a weapon of war bent to kill, with no will or thoughts of his own. However, Vivi realises some things just don't add up: sure, he's a black mage with powerful, frightening and certainly destructive abilities; but he has a will of his own, his own thoughts and emotions, and the last thing he wants to do is kill anyone. Vivi's self-discovery is less knowing that he's a black mage, and moreso discovering and even reshaping what that means.

At first, Vivi rebels against the idea that he's the same as the deadly black mages who've attacked and killed thoughtlessly, like puppets controlled by an evil puppet-master. He's so different from them that he ignores the similarities between their physical appearances and abilities. He rejects the black mages controlled by Brahne and Kuja, determined to search out those who are more like himself.

And he finds them: the black mages of Black Mage Village are aware, free and slowly gaining individuality. But these black mages are also disturbing. They're like children, discovering basic facts of life with an almost infantile bearing. Even without Black Mage No. 288 telling him it's so, Vivi realises that these black mages were none other than the ones under Brahne and Kuja's control.

Making that connection fills Vivi with anger. He realises Kuja has purposely restricted his kind, modeled them through manipulation as instruments of war. Vivi knows, based on his own experiences and from what he sees in the Black Mage Village, that Kuja is wrong to view the black mages as mere puppets. He's sure that the black mages are being unfairly handicapped, prevented from experiencing their lives as they could be.

Vivi's self-discovery is realised in his efforts to free the black mages. His aspirations lead him to both helping Zidane's kind, the Genomes, who are very much like the black mages in their having lead restricted lives, as well as serving as puppets to an overlord bent on using them for his own negatory means — and the defeat of Kuja.

Although we don't know whether or not Vivi was alive during the ending scenes, we're introduced to a group of Vivi look-a-likes who call themselves his sons. At Vivi's direction, they've travelled far to reach Alexandria and see a Tantalus play. In essence, Vivi has sent them on the same journey he himself embarked on: the journey that distinguished him as a person.

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