Black Magic

Black Magic (黒魔法) is one of the three main types of Magic in the series. It focuses mostly on spells that deal direct damage, although some strategic magic is often included as well.

In the series where the Job system is employed, Black Magic is the specialty of the Black Mage Jobs; other Jobs that can use Black Magic include Red Mage and Ninja.

Most of the spells have upgraded forms. These forms are usually named using the original spell name and adding the suffixes -ra/-2, -ga/-3 or -ja/-4, depending on the installment (i.e the upgraded version of Cure is Curaga or Cure3). In the Spanish versions of the games, there is no "ra/ga/ja" in the spell name, so a + or ++ is used instead. For example, the upgraded version of Thunder (Electro in Spanish) in the Spanish version is called Electro+ and the upgraded version of this spell is Electro++.

The French versions of the games use a similar system, with + and X indicating upgraded spells. For example, the upgraded version of Blizzard (Glacier in French), Blizzara, is called Glacier + and Blizzaga is called Glacier X.

Recurring

 * Aero - The basic Wind elemental spell. It has appeared on its own in several installments, and made its first appearance in the series as a White Magic spell in Final Fantasy III, and as Blue Magic in Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI. It is highly effective against flying enemies. It has 4 levels in all; level 2 being Aera or Aerora, level 3 being Aeroga, and either Aeroja or Tornado as the final form, depending on the game.
 * Aura - This spell differs from game to game, either adding Regen and Auto-Life to a character, adding elements to physical attacks, by boosting the party's Strength, or even allowing the party member to use Limit Breaks more often.
 * Bio - The advanced Poison-elemental spell, though is also non-elemental in games that do not have the Poison element. It is generally highly effective against human enemies, but not as effective against machines, while undead enemies absorb it. It has 3 levels in all; level 2 being Biora, and level 3 being Bioga. It is often an upgrade to the Poison spell.
 * Blind - This spell reduces one or all opponent's Accuracy by half, making them miss more often with physical attacks. Its upgrade is Blindga.
 * Blizzard - The basic Ice-elemental spell. It is highly effective against fire enemies as well as lizards and sometimes Earth enemies. It has 4 levels in all; level 2 being Blizzara, level 3 being Blizzaga, and level 4 being Blizzaja.
 * Break - Usually inflicts Petrify, though it has been a powerful Earth-elemental spell on occasions. Its upgrade is Breakga.
 * Curse - In Final Fantasy II, this spell decreases the target's stats, making the target weaker and easier to defeat . In Final Fantasy XIII, it is a Saboteur spell that increases the chance of an opponent's ability being interrupted.
 * Death - This spell instantly kills a target. It does not work on undead enemies.
 * Drain - Drains HP from an enemy and gives it to the caster. It inverts against the undead. In Final Fantasy XI, Dark Knights get access to Drain II, wherein if the user already has full HP, all damage absorbed becomes added to their current max HP, temporarily raising it. It has 3 levels; level 2 being Drainra, and level 3 being Drainga.
 * Fire - The basic Fire-elemental spell. It is highly effective against Ice-elemental enemies, plants, and undead enemies. It has 4 levels; level 2 being Fira, level 3 being Firaga, and level 4 being Firaja.
 * Flare - High-leveled spell that can either be Fire-elemental, or in most cases, non-elemental.
 * Flood - High-leveled Water-elemental spell that damages all enemies.
 * Freeze - High-leveled Ice-elemental spell. It often inflicts either the Freeze status or Stop status.
 * Hold - This spell inflicts Paralyze on an opponent.
 * Meteor - High-leveled non-elemental spell that damages all enemies. In the games that Meteor is a plot-device, the spell Comet takes its place, with its upgrade being Cometeo. The upgrade for Meteor is Meteorga.
 * Osmose - Drains MP from an enemy and gives it to the caster, but will invert if used against the undead. Its upgrade is Osmoga.
 * Poison - The basic Poison-elemental spell which can inflict the Poison status effect. Its upgrade is either Poisonga or Bio.
 * Quake - The basic Earth-elemental spell. In most games, it can target all enemies, and is ineffective against flying enemies or those with the Float status. It has 4 levels; level 2 being Quakra, level 3 being Quaga, and level 4 being Quakeja.
 * Rasp - Similar to Osmose, but this spell simply blows away a portion of an enemy's MP.
 * Scathe - This spell inflicts heavy non-elemental damage to all enemies.
 * Scourge - This spell usually inflicts heavy non-elemental damage to all enemies and can either inflicts Sap or Poison depending on the game.
 * Shock - This spell inflicts damage (either non-elemental or Lightning) to one or all enemies.
 * Sleep - This spell puts one or all opponents to Sleep. Its upgrades are Sleepra and Sleepga.
 * Stone - Basic Earth-elemental spell. It first appeared as a Lore spell. It has 3 levels; level 2 being Stonega, and level 3 being Stoneja.
 * Stun - This spell prevents the target from taking any actions, and has a shorter duration period than Stop.
 * Thunder - Basic Lightning-elemental spell. It has 4 levels; level 2 being Thundara, level 3 being Thundaga, and level 4 being Thundaja.
 * Toad - This spell turns a character into a Toad. Alternately, characters with the Toad status, when hit by the spell, will change back to normal. The spell has been White Magic on occasion.
 * Ultima - Usually the most powerful Black Magic spell in the game, it deals non-elemental piercing damage to all enemies. It first appeared as a White Magic spell, but has been a Black Magic spell since then. Its upgrade is Ultiga.
 * Warp - This spell usually teleports the party one floor back, out of a dungeon, or kills all enemies, depending on the game.
 * Water - Basic Water-elemental spell. It has 4 levels; level 2 being Watera, level 3 being Waterga, and level 4 being Waterja. In games where Water is absent, Flood replaces it.

Game Specific
The following spells normally only appear in one game in the series: