Fire (ability)

Fire
Fire is the most elemental Black Magic spell in Final Fantasy history. Usually, it is the first spell a Black Mage knows, or should learn. Its usefulness is due to the fact that undead enemies are weak to it, as well as most basic enemies. Fire is also useful against plant and mammalian creatures.

Fire in Final Fantasy 1
In Final Fantasy 1, magic is done in levels. Higher levels meant more powerful spells. Fire is a basic level 1 spell, which can be taught to Black Mages and Red Mages, and can be bought in Coneria.

NES version
In the original NES version, Fire magic had its name in full, since the memory on the NES allowed four characters, although the spell name was completely in upper-case, like every other spell. It could target a single enemy for small fire damage. It cost 100 GP to buy.

Origins version
Not much had changed for the Origins version, other than the spell now contained lower case letters. Its description read:

Inflicts 10-40 fire damage

It cost 100 gil to buy on normal difficulty, and 50 gil to buy on easy.

Dawn of Souls version
Since the magic system changed for Dawn of Souls, Fire also had to be changed. First, since MP was now done in the modern style, it now consumes 5 MP. Also, now that damage isn't set, its description reads:

'''Deals fire damage to one foe."

It costs 50 gil to buy.

Fire in Final Fantasy II
In Final Fantasy II, magic can be taught to anyone via scrolls, are bought at shops or dropped by enemies. Also, magic levels up by numerical levels the more you use it. So if you use Fire 1 enough, it becomes Fire 2, then Fire 3, etc, its MP cost equalling its level. It can be bought at the Altair Magic Shop and Mysidia Magic Shop, and is dropped by Magician.

Fire in Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy III introduced job classes, so lots of people could now use the Fire spell. Magic was actually learned by buying/finding it as an item, then using it on any team member. However, they had to be one of the following jobs to actually use the spell:


 * Black Mage
 * Red Mage
 * Warlock
 * Sage

Fire in Final Fantasy IV
Four characters learn the Fire spell in Final Fantasy IV:


 * Rydia
 * Palom
 * Tellah
 * FuSoYa

It costs 5 MP to cast and can target a single enemy or all enemies.

Palom, Tellah and FuSoYa all begin with the Fire spell in Final Fantasy IV, but Rydia doesn't, and she won't learn it by levelling up.

Rydia and Fire
Rydia has an intense hatred of fire at the beginning of the game. Her reason is rather simple: It was with fire that Cecil and Kain destroyed her village at the beginning of the game.

At Mt. Hobs however, a large block of ice blocks the team's way, and the only way to get past is by casting Fire on it. Rydia is reluctant at first, but with the morale support of Cecil, Rosa and Edward, she overcomes her fears and casts the spell. From then on, Rydia can cast Fire in battle.

Fire in Final Fantasy V
Like Final Fantasy III, the job class system returned, so anyone who had the right job could use Fire magic. Magic was simply bought at the store, and once it was, the entire party could use it if they were using the right job. The following jobs could use Fire:


 * Black Mage
 * Red Mage

It cost 4 MP to use, and could be bought at Tule, Kerwin, Karnak or Crescent for 150 gi.

Fire in Final Fantasy VI
In Final Fantasy VI, anyone can learn magic, via the Espers. After a character equips an Esper, they start teaching the charcter magic. It requires 100 Magic Points to learn the spell, Magic Points are gained after battle, but certain Espers have faster growth rates. So, if a character had an Esper equipped with a growth rate of 10, and you got 1 Magic Point after a battle, that character would actually get 10 for that one spell. The following Espers teach Fire:


 * Siren, Growth Rate x6
 * Ifrit, Growth Rate x10
 * Bismark, Growth Rate x20

The spell costs 4 MP to cast, and can target a single enemy, or multiple enemies.

At the game's beginning, Terra already has innate use of the Fire Spell.

Fire in Final Fantasy VII
In Final Fantasy VII, magic is taught via Materia. Just by equipping the Materia, they learn the default spell, but as they gain AP by battles, the Materia levels up and teaches tougher magic. The actual Fire spell costs 4 MP, and can be bought from the Sector 7 Slums, Sector 5 Slums, Wall Market, Mideel, Costa Del Sol and Junon. The character Red XIII also comes equipped with it initially.

Fire in Final Fantasy VIII
Magic is learnt in Final Fantasy VIII by either drawing it out of your enemy, or creating it using items by Guardian Force commands. A character can stock up to 100 of one spell, with each casting taking up 1 stock. Lots of enemies have the Fire spell, but the most common one would be the bomb. The Guardian Force Ifrit gives the ability to create Fire magic via items.

Fire in Final Fantasy IX
Only one character can learn Fire in Final Fantasy IX, Vivi. He can learn the spell by equipping any number of weapons, although his default staff teaches him it, so he'll probably learn it pretty quickly.

Fire in Final Fantasy X
In Final Fantasy X, magic, and everything else, is learnt by using the sphere grid. By levelling up, you gain the ability to move your character round the grid, learning new abilities and so forth. Fire can be located near the middle-bottom, beside Lulu's starting position. Lulu is the only character who begins the game with the spell.

Fire in Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy X-2 re-introduced the job system, and as such, only one job could actually use Fire, the Black Mage. During each battle, your characters gain Job Points, and when they gain enough, they learn an ability. However, this isn't necesarry for Fire, since it's the Black Mage's default ability.

Fire in Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XI also has jobs, and thus, like all the previous job-based games, you have to buy the spell before your job can use it. The following jobs can use Fire:


 * Black Mage
 * Red Mage

Fire in Final Fantasy XII
While not job-based, you still have to buy Fire magic in Final Fantasy XII. Once you buy it, anyone can use it, provided they buy the right to use it on the license board. The license to use Fire is Black Magic Level 1, and requires 15 license points to unlock.

Crystal Chronicles
Can 'burn' enemies, lowering their defense