The Humanity Within

Many years back I saw a Final Fantasy IX fanart with Vivi as a human boy with black hair and golden eyes. I entertained this idea for a long time until I finally came up with this just today. This isn't literal (or it can be, if you want it to be) but Vivi's black face is just a mask, and his humanity (or humanoid-ity) lies beneath it. Because even though he's a "doll" he still has a soul.

I had trouble coming up with a title for this. I was also thinking of using "A Puppet No More" but I decided against it in the end.

There is one thing wrong with this picture: the Flame Staff. I screwed up its design just a bit, and I'm more pissed at myself than I usually am because I had the actual concept design of the Flame Staff on my lap while drawing this. Ergh.