headcanon » physiology

[toolofdestruction]

**Here thar be SPOILERS.**

Canon is fairly mum as to how, exactly, the Mages and Waltzes are put together, as their faces are obscured in shadow and very little of their skin is seen. Three's hand are exposed, showing that he has a humanoid structure with black-purple skin and claws. The Waltzes are characteristically more violent than the Mages (when awakened, the Mages are kind and timid, like Vivi), which may account for the claws. Both have the same black faces with brilliantly glowing eyes. It would be a logical assumption that, for the Waltzes (or at least Three), all of his skin is purple-black, and that all of his form is very much humanoid. Neither group is seen without their full clothing, or even with partial clothing, so all of this is guesswork.

As for certain anatomy, it could be assumed that Mages have the standard humanoid package, but since there are no males or females in distinction this point is somewhat moot. Their race was not meant to procreate, as they were manufactured, and no Mages ever refer to having children. They themselves are very child-like. However, at the end of FFIX, there are a bunch of small Vivi-like Black Mages celebrating with the main characters. There is a strong fanon implication that these are his children, but nothing is ever confirmed.

Therefore, I'm going to roll with Black Mages and Waltzes not possessing that type of anatomy. One of the theories of their short lifespans is that they were designed that way, so that escaped "product" wouldn't last very long. If that's the case, and it makes some sense from a cruel creator's perspective, then they wouldn't want them to be able to create more of themselves, either.

The more pressing concern, of course, is their faces. It's not just a shadow effect from the brim of their hats. In certain screenshots, Vivi's head just looks completely round and black, like a Heartless from Kingdom Hearts. Some Heartless appear to have mouths, and Vivi himself does eat in the game. This means he does possess a mouth, it's probably just hard to see due to the ink-black tone of his skin. And the same would be true for the Waltzes. Fanon also likes to give the Waltzes fanged teeth, rather than normal teeth, which is something I'll be going with for the flavor. Since they have claws, there's a precedent for them being made to look a little more inherently intimidating than the Mages. The Waltzes are special troops sent on their own missions, and appearing more frightening would only be a boost for that.