Pitfall (trap)

Pitfalls are a recurring trap that have appeared in several Final Fantasy games, and are often used in dungeons to divert the player and drop them down to another floor.

Final Fantasy II
There is a pitfall in Castle Palamecia, which takes the player down several floors. This trap is unavoidable and must be triggered to progress through the game.

Final Fantasy V
One may find pitfall traps in dungeons. These traps can be first found in the Ronka Ruins surrounded by several treasure chests in a small room to try and trick people into dashing straight ahead out of excitement to open the chests, only to fall to their doom. These pitfalls often take the player to the floor below. Some pitfalls are necessary to access certain areas, though most are used to slow the player's progress down by dropping them to the previous floor. There are also certain pitfalls that can drop the player into hazardous areas, the first one being inside Castle Exdeath, where the player is dropped into the lava and another being in the Great Sea Trench, where a switch is required to activate the trap and the player is dropped into a small pool of lava. The Geomancer job class has the ability to reveal pitfall traps without stepping on them.

Final Fantasy VI
One pitfall trap can be found in the Phoenix Cave, which drops the player into a group of spikes, which deals damage to the party.

Final Fantasy VII
A kind of pitfall trap is found on the Corel Mountain Path, where when the player steps on a loose piece of railway track, they are sent falling down. This can be avoided with quick reflexes, because the player is given an option to jump before falling. Falling in Final Fantasy VII is actually beneficial, because there are treasures that can be grabbed, a Star Pendant and a Wizard Staff.

Final Fantasy VIII
In the Ultimecia Castle, if the player steps on the chandelier it will collapse and send the party falling to the room below. The chandelier can be fastened in place with a lever in the floor where the party falls so the player can walk across it without it collapsing.

Final Fantasy IX
In Ipsen's Castle]], the room with the Moogle has several pitfall traps that send the party falling to the room below if stepped on.