Games - Final Fantasy magic

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	Games - Final Fantasy magic

Magic is one of the two principal forms of attack in Square Enix's (formerly Square Co., Ltd.) Final Fantasy
series of computer role-playing games. Although the specific features of the magic system vary significantly from game to game, many concepts have remained consistent throughout the course of the series. This article is meant to serve as a basic overview of Final Fantasy magic and the most commonly recurring Final Fantasy magic spells. For specific details about the magic system of a particular Final Fantasy title, please see the article on that particular game.

Magic classifications

Magic spells are divided into offensive and defensive categories. By default, offensive spells are cast against enemies, and defensive against party members. In some games, it is possible to cast defensive spells against the enemy (e.g. casting Cure against undead enemies) with an offensive effect, or cast offensive spells against a party member. Another category of spells are status spells that alter the status of the target (e.g. Poison, Break, Berserk) rather than affecting HP and/or MP. Within the boundaries of the series, offensive spells are generally classified as Black Magic, and defensive spells are generally classified as White Magic (Summon Magic frequently serves in either capacity). The distinctions between Black and White Magic are not always clear, however. For example, the spell Holy—which is classified as White Magic—deals a large amount of Holy elemental damage to a target, and Cure—which is normally a restorative spell—will infict damage on an undead target. Furthermore, some enemies absorb certain elemental spells, resulting in casting such a spell on the enemy healing them rather than damaging them.

Spells that are designed to inflict various status enhancements or ailments are classified under various categories of magic, depending on the effect of the spell. Starting with Final Fantasy V, two new categories of magic (Blue Magic and Time/Space Magic) were introduced. Time/Space Magic incorporated a number of status-inducing spells, both offensive and defensive, such as Slow, Haste, and Stop. (Prior to this, Slow and Stop were classified as Black Magic, while Haste was classifed as White Magic.) Blue Magic was a special class of magic, its spells normally learned when receiving attacks from enemy monsters.

Spells can also be divided into elemental spells and non-elemental spells. Elemental magic is associated with a particular element of nature, including Water, Ice, Fire, Thunder and Earth. Non-elemental magic is not associated with any particular element. Monsters and characters may have resistance and/or a vulnerability to certain elements, which can vary from extra damage, reduced damage, no effect, and absorption of the damage to heal the target. The magic resistance of monsters and characters tends to reduce the effect of all magic spells. Certain characters can have an affinity to casting certain elemental spells, such that a Fire-based character can cast a stronger Fire-based attack than an Ice-based character of the same magic level.

Spell levels

In most Final Fantasy games, certain types of magic are divided into various power levels. As the player progresses through the game, successively more powerful versions of basic spells become available. The series has developed a naming convention to identify second, third, and fourth level magic spells, which appends a specific suffix to the name of the first level spell, with possible minor variations in the root word.

The three suffixes are as follows:

Second level: -ra
Third level: -ga
Fourth level: -ja

For example, the name of the second level version of Thunder is named Thundara and the third is Thundaga. Likewise, the second and third levels of Fire become Fira and Firaga, respectively. The fourth level suffix (-ja) is infrequently used; few games in the series feature magic spells with four power levels, the Cure spell being the only example in more recent titles. Other examples are the Dia and Heal spells. In the few times they are used, elemental spells such as Thundaja are extremely powerful.

The one exception to this rule is Final Fantasy II, which used a vastly different magic system from ther games in the series. Spell names in Final Fantasy II were given in katakana, and rather than appending one of the above suffixes to signify a more powerful version of a spell, a simple numerical modifier was added to the end of the name. Each spell in Final Fantasy II could be raised to level 16.

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