Is Necron mentioned during the story?

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Watching a playthrough brought it to my attention that Garland mentions a few times that he was created for this task, but he never says who by. I assume he's talking about Necron.

Do you think this is true?

[Cress]

Necron is the personified will to end everything. He sensed Kuja's will to die and decided to end everything lol. Originally, Hades was planned to be the final boss. I find both options bad, Trance Kuja should've been the final boss. Or maybe a 1vs1 against Zidane after he lost his trance form.

[Narcoleptic Marshmallow]

There is absolutely no mention of Necron, or anyone/anything that could be theorised to be Necron, at all in the whole game.

The Ultimania says that Necron was "awakened by Kuja's fear, despair, and hatred, which called out to it as he learned of his mortality, just as his ambitions were within reach".

That is still not saying much, except that he's some kind of personification of end itself.

Garland is an android created by the Terrans of old to carry the task of merging their planet into Gaia so that it could survive. Completely unrelated (that we know of) to Necron.

[Eltia]

Necron is an Eidolon summoned by Kuja's fear, despair and hatred.

If you have solved the Eidolon's wall mystery, the notes left by the Summoners suggest that legends creates Eidolon, not the other way around. So it is people's memories as they return to the planet that create the Eidolon, and so that's how Kuja created Necron.

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

If Kuja created Necron then how did Necron exist before all of that?

And was Garland an android? I don't remember anything indicating that he was anything but organic.

[Narcoleptic Marshmallow]

Necron is not an eidolon, that's just silly. Eidolons are created through worship and accumulated memories. If you did solve the Eidolon's wall mystery at Madain Sari, the part about Shiva describes her having different forms based on the time and people worshipping her. And then there's Ozma, who is said to be an eidolon so ancient that any memories of it faded and, with them, its physical form. Necron might have been accidentally awakened by Kuja, but he's never described as anything other than a "being". Lastly, eidolons are protectors of the Crystal, which is the exact opposite of Necron's purpose.

Garland was alive for 5000 years before the start of the game. Garland has no attachment to anyone or anything except for his mission. During battle, the red sphere in his chest blinks more quickly the lower his HP is. Altough his body was destroyed by Kuja, his presence remained, at least temporarily, until the task given to him had utterly failed. But the biggest evidence is his mechanical, armor like body. Yes, that's his body, not an armor with a human body under it. Although he may not actually be a machine, it's clear he is not "alive" as everyone else is.

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Then who created Garland? Someone did.

[Kalec]

Originally posted by Blackjack Gabbiani:

Then who created Garland? Someone did.

The old people of Terra did, as he himself mentions in the game. They created him to find a solution against Terras coming end

[Black Metal Kommando]

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Final_Fantasy_IX

You may want to read from "Setting" onwards, as it clears out some confusion. Also, individual characters' pages have even more information.

[FoFo]

I think the confusion comes from people assuming Necron is the villain of the game. He's not. Necron was not behind any of the events in the game at all. Kuja still remains the main villain.

Necron is simply a god that oversees all of creation and the crystal. After Kuja gave into deppression and decided to end all of existence, Necron figured that living beings would be much happier if they never existed at all. That way they would never have to experience the fear of death.

I believe the fight against Necron represents the will of living beings to continue to exist despite all of the pain and suffering they experience. Throughout the entire game every one of our heroes has a moment where their identity and purpose for being is questioned. Vivi and the Black mage puppets, Zidane and the Terrans, Garnet and her role as Queen, Amarant and the question of altruism, Steiner and a life of fealty, etc.

Necron is the final test our heroes face to prove that they now have the confidence to shout "I" in the face of nonexistence and mortality. In the end Kuja realizes what it means to live and rescues the team by teleporting them out of the battle. Necron is immortal and is not defeated either. He just leaves once he realizes Kuja repented. He was shown that living beings would still rather exist in pain than not exist at all.

[slmorton]

Necron is the embodiment of Anti-Life, or as some call it, the Void, and is effectively the opposite of the Crystal. While the purpose of the Crystal is to create existence, the purpose of the Void is to return everything to non-existence.

This is not a new theme in Final Fantasy. Manifestions of the Void appear in Final Fantasy III (Cloud of Darkness), Final Fantasy V (Neo-Exdeath), and Final Fantasy IX (Necron, called the Darkness of Eternity in the Japanese translation). Each of those games, if you notice, also feature the Crystal(s) and emphasize the Crystals' importance in maintaing existence.

In the case of Final Fantasy IX, Kuja's attempt to destroy the Crystal was what attracted Necron's attention, who then decided to show up to finish the job, only to be confronted by Zidane and his companions.

[Lunchbox]

Soulcage said something about not being able to kill him when you fight him in disc 2. Many think Necron is Soulcage after having absorbed the souls of Memoria or something and that is his final form.

[slmorton]

There have been theories that suggest that Necron is the true form of Soulcage or even the Lifa Tree itself. There's been nothing so far to conclusively pin that down, however.

My Void hypothesis is not based solely on the Final Fantasy IX storyline, but on a recurring theme throughout the Final Fantasy series. Necron's appearance only seems to make sense when viewed in that context.

[Narcoleptic Marshmallow]

Soulcage was described by Garland as an illusion, possibly suggesting that the real overseer, who took that form to confront the party, is a different, vastly more powerful being. That being said, Soulcage's only goal was to replace Gaian souls with Terran souls, much like Garland's, so I strongly doubt it has any relation to Necron at all. It could be that Soulcage's true form was the Iifa Tree itself, but that's as far as plausible theories go.

There is absolutely nothing that suggests Necron was known to exist, in any shape or form, prior to when he is introduced to the game.

And since we're throwing around baseless theories, I'll share my favourite one:

Kuja's desperate Ultima attack was successful in killing the party, or at least, leaving them on the brink of death. The Hill of Despair is some kind of purgatory. That's when Necron shows up, as the Grim Reaper, who came to fulfill his goal of resetting everything back to a "zero world", one soul at a time. The characters' will to live was so strong, however, that it was enough fight back and "defeat" Death itself.

[slmorton]

Did Kuja's Ultima kill the party? Possibly, but it was more likely that Kuja's attempt to destroy the Crystal was what attracted Necron's attention in the first place. Necron even implied this. He simply saw an opportunity to fulfill his purpose.

[Narcoleptic Marshmallow]

Like I said, it's a baseless theory. The only concrete thing we know about Necron is already covered in my first post, which refers to his description in the Ultimania. There are a few things we can decipher out of that small bit of information plus his role and dialogue in game. Everything else are theories, some are just more believable than others.