Adelbert Steiner
[Steiner is unusual amongst Final Fantasy characters, in that while the game allows the player to customise his name, the name the player chooses becomes his surname instead of his first name. The preset name is "Captain Adelbert..." followed by whatever name the player chooses. For instance, if the player entered the name "Steve," the character would be called "Captain Adelbert Steve."] is a fictional character from the
PlayStation computer role-playing game Final Fantasy IX.
Steiner is a loyal, if blind, follower of Queen Brahne's Alexandrian regime, and sometimes will follow every single one of her orders just to prove himself better than his arch rival, General Beatrix. He believes his duty is to protect crown and country no matter what the cost, but he later on learns to think for himself in matters of knighthood.
Known as the "dorky knight of Alexandria", Steiner is the Captain of the Pluto Knights, and also the First Pluto Knight, the only male troop in Alexandria's military force. Steiner always has a massive frown to go with a grouchy disposition. He meets
Zidane and the Tantalus group during their performance of a popular play, "I Want To Be Your Canary." He chases down the Tantalus group after their "kidnapping" of
Princess Garnet because of his oath to protect the Princess from danger.
He is an extremely loyal soldier, and his number one concern is the protection of the Royal Family. When Princess Garnet is "kidnapped", he joins forces with Zidane, whom he hates because he's a thief, but is willing to put up with just about anything to ensure Princess Garnet's safety. When the party learns of the Queen's role in the attacks on Burmecia, Steiner finds himself torn up inside at the fact that such horrible deeds could be committed by the person he's dedicated his life to defending.
Despite his disdain for most of the members of the group, Steiner has a humble respect for
Vivi Ornitier, admiring his magical abilities and referring to him as "Master Vivi". When both Steiner and Vivi are in the party, Steiner has access to the Magic Sword abilities, which allow Vivi to charge Steiner's sword with the power of any of his black magic abilities, dividing the MP cost between them.
Steiner's love interest is his ex-rival,
General Beatrix, which occurs after the result of Eiko's Failed Love Letter Scheme.
In a way his fierce loyalty and stern look could be compared to that of
Kimahri from
Final Fantasy X. His facial features and mannerisms are somewhat similar to Inspector Zennigata from the anime series
Lupin III. Steiner also resembles Malvolio from
William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, in that he is both tirelessly dutiful and mercilessly mocked.
