V_K
Arcane
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NeverMessWithGrannya granny in the street teaching axe grandmaster
What killed IX for me were the retarded quests. Granted, plot and writing were never the series' strong suit, but IX just crossed the line.
(and I don't know about VII, never played it, but the few dungeons I managed to complet in IX were boring as fuck)