Kuja called them black mages, dark spawn of the Mist.

"Black mages are autonomous, man-sized magician dolls mass-produced as weapons of war by Queen Brahne of Alexandria due to Kuja's influence. Final Fantasy IX is the only game that has black mages as a distinct race, rather than a job.

Black mages' faces are dark with two glowing eyes and they always wear the distinctive steepled hat.

See also: Black Mage (Job) and Black Waltz
Contents[show]
CreationEdit
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Black mages are created from Mist to be the soulless magical arm of their master. They are similar to the Genomes in being artificially produced life organisms and Kuja teaches Queen Brahne how to manufacture them due to his knowledge on how Genomes are made. The Final Fantasy IX Ultimania explains that the black mages differ from the Genomes in that they are made out of Gaian elements, whereas Genomes are made out of Terran elements.

The black mages are being produced in the secret factory underground the village of Dali where the mages appear to be first produced as types of eggs. Finished products are stored in barrels and quietly shipped to Alexandria on a cargo ship.

NatureEdit
FFIX-BlackMage-Concept
Concept art of the three Black Mage types.
Black mages are manufactured as a type of magical soldier capable of casting powerful Black Magic. Black mages come in three ever more powerful variants, called Type A, Type B, and Type C. Black mages are used, in tandem with human Alexandrian soldiers, by Queen Brahne as the grunt forces for Alexandria's invasions of Burmecia and Lindblum, and the destruction of Cleyra, as well as piloting the Alexandrian air and sea-ships, most notably when Queen Brahne attempts to kill Kuja at the Iifa Tree.

The black mages appear to be born without a will and mind of their own, and passively obey their masters' orders. It is unclear as to how aware they are of themselves and their surroundings at this initial stage, as when the party boards the cargo ship the black mages are unresponsive and keep going on about their work uninterrupted, ignoring the stowaways, and despite Vivi's best efforts, do not react to him. At this stage black mages appear as soulless dolls, incapable of speech. However, when the ship is attacked by a Black Waltz, the black mages react to the change and gather around Vivi to protect him.

Black Waltz 2 FFIX Art 1
The Black Waltz variant of black mages are different than the regular black mages in many ways. They appear "custom made" as opposed to mass-manufactured, and are cognizant from the get-go, capable of speech and acting out on their own without needing constant orders from their master. Once given a task, the Black Waltzes won't rest until having completed it. Their magical powers surpass those of the regular black mages. The party encounters three Black Waltzes during their travels and as the name "waltz" suggests there might never have been more than three."

-some dumbass wiki we found