Kuja

Kuja (Japanese:クジャ (Kuja)) is a Rank SSS yo-kai of the Slippery Tribe.

Biology
Kuja is a 24-year-old man with silver hair that falls halfway down his back. He wears a large feather in his hair, has light-blue eyes and pale complexion, and is of medium height and light build. He wears white sleeves with a violet mantle around his shoulders. A white robe covers the back of his legs down to his ankles held up by four straps that act as a codpiece. He wears armored, dark purple boots, with golden buckles.

When in Trance, Kuja becomes covered in red fur and his clothes, which turn white, become tattered. He has a long furred tail in this form.

Personality
Kuja speaks in metaphors, referring to Garnet as a "canary" and Brahne as "the elephant-lady". His refined nature juxtaposes his role as a sadistic war-bringer. Kuja loves luxury, as evidenced by his home at Desert Palace and spending time in the nobles' district in Treno.

Etymology and symbolism
In Hindi, kuj or kuja means "born of the earth". In Hindu cosmogony Kuja is the name of the planet Mars, which is also the name of the Roman God of War.

In Tagalog, kuya formally means "older brother". Informally, it may also be used to refer to an older male person, usually a blood relative, within the same generation as the addressor.

"Born of the earth" may symbolize Kuja's birth on Terra (terra is Latin for Earth), and reflect Kuja's role to incite war and destruction on Gaia. Mars is known as the red planet, fitting with Terra being the red planet to contrast Gaia's blue. Kuja could also be considered to be Zidane's brother.

An alternative Japanese spelling of kuja is 九蛇, which translates to "nine snakes", referencing both the title from which he hails as well as his untrustworthy and scheming characteristics.

Kuja's name may also be derived from the Japanese word kujaku, which means "peacock", an animal befitting of Kuja's flamboyant and vain nature.

Kuja's story arc about going to extremes to ensure his soul is preserved even at the expense of others takes from Japanese cultural views, in particular the concepts in Zen Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism and Shintoism regarding the inevitability of death and how one should not have an aggressive ego due to it harming oneself and others.

Trivia

 * Kuja is the only main antagonist in the series who defeats the player party every time he is battled. His final form falls after he casts Ultima, ending the battle in "double KO".
 * In the GBA, PSP, and mobile remakes of the original Final Fantasy, there is a town in the Whisperwind Cove where a child asks the party if they have a "Trance Kuja action figure," because it's the only one missing from his collection.
 * Kuja is the youngest main antagonist in the Final Fantasy series.