This Final Fantasy IX NPC is me

I love looking for non-player characters in games that I feel truly represent me somehow, and imagining that I am perhaps truly in this world somewhere as a background character with a rich offscreen life. In Final Fantasy IX, I found this stylish NPC who looks like some kind of 1930s sailor woman, and I have decided: she is me.

Excuse me for the extremely tiny screenshot, but seriously, look at her. She has pale skin like some kind of dead person, possibly untamable blonde hair, and is wearing a cute bow around her neck, as well as what looks like a stripy top. Me. In some ideal life.

She's also lurking in a small, dark place. Similarly me. She probably has a multipack of Freddos hidden in her skirt. I bet.

I think it's really fun to think about NPCs and how much they add to worlds. I always find myself connecting with particular NPCs and I think it must say a lot about me, which ones I'm drawn to.

I love looking at concept art too, and these are such great examples of the eclectic look of NPCs in Final Fantasy IX. Character designers Toshiyuki Itahana and Hideo Minaba used such great design elements and shapes with the game's preferred character proportions, and I love the prevalence of kids and creatures for such a fun, diverse feel that made the environments feel so well populated.

Who is that mystery sailor woman in Treno? Who knows. But she conjures up so much perfect mystery in my mind. I love her.