Doom (status)

Doom, also known as Death Sentence, Condemned, or Count, is a status ailment that appears in most titles in the series. It places a counter over the target's head, and when it reaches zero, the target dies. In some games the speed at which the counter drops to zero depends on the target's speed. The status is most commonly applied by the spell or ability of the same name. Commonly, the only way for a party member to be rid of Doom is to either die or win the battle before the counter hits zero.

Doom can commonly be learned as Blue Magic and is often automatically inflicted by the Cursed Ring. Exactly how long the Doom timer lasts varies, but in many games it lasts 60 seconds. In games whose battle system are based on rounds rather than real time, Doom commonly has the target die after three rounds.

A similar status condition is Gradual Petrify.

Final Fantasy IV
Doom can only be applied to the party, and through the spell of the same name. The enemy Ahriman and the boss Plague Horror are the only ones to have access to this ability. The counter will always start at 10, and if a character under Doom is hit with the Doom spell again, the counter will reset back to 10.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
The Doom spell is the only method of applying the status to enemies or allies, and is used by the enemies Ahriman, Blood Eye, Curse Dragon, and Dark Knight.

Final Fantasy V
The Doom status can only be applied either through the Blue Magic spell and Oracle ability Doom, the enemy ability Grand Cross, or through the accessory Cursed Ring. It cannot be removed from the player and starts the counter at 30 seconds, 15 seconds for characters with Haste.

Final Fantasy VI
Doom is commonly applied through the Lore spell of the same name, though various other means can be applied to characters. The timer for Doom varies each use, as shown in the following formula. If the value for the formula is ever less than 20, the timer will always be set to 20. The timer will decrease by one every two seconds.


 * $$Timer = 79 - a random number from level to ((2 * level) - 1)$$

If the doomed character uses Jump, and the countdown ends while they are in the air, and the battle ends before the Jump attack is performed, it will result in the 0 HP Character Bug.

Final Fantasy VII
Doom is applied only through the Enemy Skill Death Sentence, which will automatically set the timer to 60 seconds (30 if the target is in Haste). The accessory Cursed Ring also applies Doom to the character equipped with it, and will not reset itself if the character is KOed and then revived.

Final Fantasy VIII
Doom is a rare status, only inflicted through the use of the Doom ability learned by Shiva, and lasts for around 16 seconds, despite the timer starting at 5.

Final Fantasy IX
Doom's countdown starts at 10, and kills the target when it hits zero. Stop will halt the countdown.

Final Fantasy X
Doom can only be applied to either character or enemies through the spell of the same name. For player characters, only Kimahri can learn it as a Ronso Rage. The counter will decrement by one whenever it is the victim's turn. For the player party members, the counter will always start at 5, however, the starting figure differs for enemies.

Final Fantasy X-2
The Doom spell is available for Dark Knight dressphere. Both the spell Doom and the enemy abilities Harbringer (used by Lucil), and Tick Tick Boom! (used by Volcano), can inflict the status. The counter will always start at 10.

Final Fantasy XI
While Doom is not available for players to cast the ability can be inflicted by a few monsters, the most notable of which is the Taurus family, which possesses an ability, Mortal Ray, that inflicts Doom in a gaze attack on party members in front of the Taurus. The counter goes from 10 to 0. Doom has a chance of being removed via the Cursna spell or Holy Water, however, the chance is rather low, so it may take multiple tries and a little luck to remove the Doom before the timer ends.

Final Fantasy XII

 * "The character is doomed and will be KO'd when the count reaches 0. Remove with a Remedy. (Requires the proper license)."

The Doom status can be inflicted by the Time Magick Countdown, Doom Mace weapon, and can also be used by enemies. When afflicted, the unit will be killed after 10 seconds, unless cured by a Remedy if the user has learned Remedy Lore 3. Stop halts the countdown and Doom and Petrify cannot coexist on the same character; which ever status the character has first, they are immune to the other. The only exception is using Remedy with Nihopalaoa, which inflicts both Doom and Petrify.

Final Fantasy XIII
In a battle against an Eidolon, Doom is cast on the player at the beginning of the fight. The timer is set to 1800 on normal battle speed, and 3214 on slow battle speed, and decreases about 10 every second. Some bosses will also inflict it on the party leader, if the player takes over 20 minutes to defeat them. There is no way to remove Doom after it has been inflicted: even summoning an Eidolon will only temporarily halt it while the Eidolon is present, and the countdown continues when it is dismissed.

Doom is also cast by Orphan's final form, but allows the player more time, the timer starting at 4800.

Final Fantasy Tactics
Doom can be inflicted by various abilities, including those learned from the regular job classes such as Monk and Orator. Some bosses and monsters can doom the target as well. When doomed, a red counting bubble starting at three will appear upon the unit, same counter that appears when the unit is KOed; the unit will be KOed when reached the fourth active turn. Doom status can be negated by Reraise or equipment which protects from instant death when the doom counter reaches zero. Chocobo's Choco Esuna and White Staff can remove it. When the remaining unit of one side is doomed, the battle will be immediately ended when the counter reaches 1 rather than waiting for the unit's defeated moment or the death scream. It should be noted that the game's A.I. will ignore the doomed enemy completely, as if transparent. That means when all of the allies are doomed, the enemy will do nothing or run away.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Like its predecessor, Doom can be inflicted by various abilities. Moogle Gadgeteers can learn the ability Black Ingot from the Death Claws, and it costs 200 AP to master; it will cause the Doom status on either all allies, or all enemies, depending on the coin flip. Snipers also have an ability that allows them to inflict Doom, Death Sickle, learned from the Hades Bow, that costs 300 AP to master. The last ability the player can use to inflict Doom is the Assassin attack Nightmare, which can cause the target to sleep and/or cause Doom; it can be learned from the Kikuichimonji and costs 300 AP to master.

When under the Doom status a counter will appear over the target's head, similar to when a Zombie or Vampire is killed. When the countdown ends the Grim Reaper appears and lighter colored silhouette of the character, presumably his or her soul, and is split apart, KOing the unit. The Ahriman ability/Blue Magic spell Roulette, and the Alchemist attack Death have the same animation as Doom, except it is possible for these attacks to miss causing the "soul" to return to the unit's body. Doom can be prevented by wearing armor and accessories that protect against it, including: Barrete, Ribbon, Judo Uniform, Wygar, Mistle Robe, Sacri Shield, Fortune Ring, and Angel Ring.

There are two ways to get rid of Doom: one can either cast Esuna or hit the unit with the White Rod. Zombies and Vampires will be healed if Doom, or either of the "Grim Reaper Deaths" mentioned above, are cast on them.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Doom can sometimes be inflicted by the Assassin ability Nightmare, and Sniper ability Death Sickle. The Master Monk has a chance of causing Doom (along with damage) when it uses its Lifebane ability, as well as the Blue Magic spell Doom. The Scion Zalera is also capable of inflicting both Doom and Sleep on all enemies.