Job system

While each game in the Final Fantasy series features their own ability systems, such as the Materia or the Junction System, one that has reoccurred most often in the series has been the Job System, also known as the Class System or the Job Class System. The system's basic concept is that each player character starts as a blank slate on which to choose character classes, much like in computer RPGs, and has development directly controlled by the player's decisions.

While this system was a fundamental element of Final Fantasy initially, today it finds much more use in the Final Fantasy Tactics sub-series, as the Job System puts heavy focus on complex statistical decisions, which suits a tactical game, over the plot-related character development that modern Final Fantasy games have become more involved in.

Each game that has featured the Job System has expanded on it and changed it in their own ways.

Final Fantasy
The Job System in the original Final Fantasy, much like the rest of the game, is somewhat simple in comparison to its incarnations today. At the start of a new game the player picks one of six available classes for four different characters, much similar to the popular computer RPGs of the time such as Ultima (whose influence on the series has been noted often, most especially in the older games). Each class features their own unique ability, such as the Thief's ability to Flee or the Black Mage's ability to use Black Magic spells. Upon reaching a certain point in the game, the four classes the player chose for the characters upgrade into a masterful version related to their basic starting class (e.g. a Thief becomes a Ninja). While basic, this was the starting point for the Job System to gradually progress from.

Final Fantasy III
In Final Fantasy III the system was somewhat similar in progression compared to the first Final Fantasy, but had a good deal of changes and improvements to it. One major change in particular is, instead of picking a class at the start of a new game and being locked into it, all the characters started as a basic "beginning" class (The Onion Knight/Onion Kid in the NES version, Freelancer in the Nintendo DS remake). Eventually, after making some progress, basic jobs such as the Thief and White Mage make themselves available for the player, but in addition, the player is allowed to freely change between jobs and make accumulating progress in each. The individual job abilities are also expanded, with advanced ones such as the Scan for the Scholar and Steal for the Thief.

Like the first Final Fantasy, reaching a point in the plot bestows the player with new "advanced" or "master" versions of classes - except in Final Fantasy III this occurs up to four times (including the first encounter yielding the basic jobs) and the player does not need to make progress in a "basic" class to use the "master" one (the master classes make themselves available depending on their power - i.e. the most powerful classes will be available last).

Despite that, having the characters undergo progression through drastically different branches of jobs can be both a blessing and a curse, as HP increases gained through levelling up accumulate into the permanent abilities of the character - a Black Mage will not gain HP as fast as a Knight as a Warrior would, so a Knight who had been previously trained as a Black Mage will have lower HP than a Knight trained as a Warrior. HP is the only affected stat, but a similar system was used with all major stats in Final Fantasy Tactics.

Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy V retains the concept of having a basic starting job which to make progress with and the ability to freely switch between classes while retaining progress in each. New to the Job System, though, is the concept of Ability Points and multiple skills per job. After a successful battle, AP is earned along with XP and the player can use the AP to gain one of many skills available to the chosen job in a way similar to gaining levels for a specific character, as jobs now use multiple abilities instead of just one. This became another major part of the Job System and contributed to more flexibility and diversity available to the player.

In addition, the concept of having a "basic" class, such a Warrior, and an "advanced" class such as a Knight, became less prominent. Instead the game offers a variety of different classes to the player, which bear little relation to each other. The classes present in Final Fantasy V include past staples such as the White Mage and Thief, but also include new ones such as the Blue Mage and Samurai which went on to become staples within their own right in the series.

Final Fantasy X-2
As the Tactics series had been introduced to the Final Fantasy family to facilitate the Job System, the primary Final Fantasy games began to gravitate towards intricate plots over intricate statistics. Final Fantasy X-2's system is a compromise between the two polarities. More acute details of the Job System were shred in favor of putting production values to other things, but it still manifests in its own way. Referred to as Dresspheres, the Job System in Final Fantasy X-2 operates more or less like Final Fantasy V, with new jobs making themselves available as the player progresses through the game. The major change is that Yuna and her companions can now change jobs in battle.

Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XI's presentation of the Job System included many classic job types, as well as a few that are unique to the 11th installment. Some mechanics of the system were changed to be more in line with computer MMORPGs, which in a way is a modern version of what occurred with the first Final Fantasy. Most jobs retain their archetypal expertise and many abilities commonly associated with the jobs from previous installments. Other aspects of the system do remain such as the player picking from one of six basic jobs to start with, the same six original jobs from the original Final Fantasy. Players have the option to change job it at will, similar to Final Fantasy V or Final Fantasy Tactics. This is unique to Final Fantasy XI among MMORPGs. Once progress has been made on a character to level 30, more advanced job types make themselves available to be pursued via specific quests made available at that point.

The unique aspect of Final Fantasy XI's Job System is the "Support Job". This system allows a player to augment their character with Abilities, Traits and Spells from another chosen job at half the level of their current job. For instance a level 20 Warrior could set Ninja as their support job. This allows them to use all Ninja Abilities, Traits and Spells up to that of a level 10 Ninja while still primarily being a level 20 Warrior. The support job system allows for job merges never before seen in the Final Fantasy series.

Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System
The original version of Final Fantasy XII had no clearly defined Job System, but the Final Fantasy XII International version (only released in Japan) features a new version of the Job System, called the Zodiac Job System. Characters are given twelve special License Boards to choose from, each one corresponding to one of twelve jobs and a Zodiac Sign. Each board has special licenses which give each job its special equipment and abilities. Once a character chooses a job, they can never be switched out. Characters who do not choose a job cannot receive LP.

Though most of the classes represented in the Zodiac Job System are purely traditional such as Black Mage, White Mage, and Knight, several were renamed just for this game. For example, the class usually called "Dark Knight" has been named "Uhlan".

Final Fantasy XIII
There are six job classes called roles available in Final Fantasy XIII through a system called Paradigm Shift. Each of the six party members start out with a limited access to different roles but gradually gain access to all of them. Since all roles are heavily focused on the few tasks they can perform during battle, the battle system focuses greatly on switching the roles on the fly. Unlike other games with Job Systems, in Final Fantasy XIII all six characters have personalised skillsets, and even if all characters can eventually learn all the roles, not everyone will learn the same abilities.

Final Fantasy XIV
The MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV uses an Armoury System, where jobs are tied to the weapons and tools that the player character uses, and changing jobs is as easy as changing equipment.

Final Fantasy Tactics
Being in a game genre which focuses heavily on number crunching and player decisions, the Job System expanded intensely in Final Fantasy Tactics. In this game, the ability to freely change jobs at will was more heavily structured. Instead of swapping in and out, the character had to make a planned progression of their character abilities to reach the destination they wished, such as to be a Ninja, a character must have the prowess of an Archer, the agile skill of a Thief and the knowledge of a Geomancer - all of which find a distant root in the basic Squire class.

Starting off the player is again given a base job as a starting point, but there are now two: the Squire (combat focused) and the Chemist (support focused). After choosing which their characters will be, progress is made much similar to Final Fantasy V's method of accumulating AP and spending it on skills - which have further increased in number per Job and have multiple categories such as Movement Abilities and Reaction Abilities. As the character develops in their job further, new jobs make themselves available, and as the player changes between the jobs skills will be able to be transported over to the next (unlike in Final Fantasy V, where skills were restricted to the individual jobs). This addition of mixing skills (along with the jobs themselves) and the statistics gained from them, further developed the Job System and also became integral parts of the Tactics series.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance resumes the progress of the Job System where the original Final Fantasy Tactics left off, again providing the same structured character progression and blending of skills. Changed, though, is how the skills are obtained and how to access particular jobs. While Final Fantasy Tactics used Final Fantasy V's system of accumulating AP and spending it on a list of possible skills, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance has the character learn their skills from the equipment they are wearing (much like Final Fantasy IX, which in turn was much similar to Final Fantasy VI's Esper system).

While worn, the skill present on the specific item is ready to be used, but once unequipped it is no longer available. To make the skill a permanent part of the character, the player must build up a specific amount of AP while the item is equipped in battle. As the availability of equipment is limited to the player's progression, this makes the development process somewhat more linear in regards to skills.

Despite that, the character options available to the player are expanded further by the introduction character races such as Moogles and Nu Mou, who all have different varieties of jobs and progression paths available to them. With that, many new classes are introduced in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and many long unused classes found a revival, without seeming out of place (as the classes fit the races' personalities) or overwhelming (as each race has their own limited and mostly unique sets of jobs). This allowed players to add in more decisions on how they will structure their parties.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Final Fantasy Tactics A2, being a direct sequel to Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, is for the most part the same in regards to the Job System. Many smaller mechanics are heavily tweaked to the players' wishes and it is sort of a refined version of what was present in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. New races and many new jobs are added to the game, furthering complexity in regards to those aspects. It features the most jobs of a Job System game, with a large majority of them being new creations.

Crystal Defenders
Units can be purchased and sent into battle like in the Tactics games, but their jobs cannot be changed after being placed on the field. Available jobs include Soldiers, Archers, Black Mages, White Monks, Time Mages, and Thieves, though only the first three are available in the demo. More jobs become available in later rounds. Units can be upgraded multiple times to increase their range and power, but their classes and abilities remain the same.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
Like in the Final Fantasy Tactics Advance games, the Job System is based upon tribes, with certain tribes being limited to certain classes. The Clavats, however, can use all four jobs. There are only four basic classes: Black Mage, White Mage, Thief, and Warrior.

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light


The Job System returns in Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light for the four Warriors of Light to use to once again save the Crystals. In its newest incarnation, the Job System is known as the "Crown System", as characters use hats to switch between jobs. There are 28 Crowns including the freelancer where the character is sans hat.

Final Fantasy Legends: Hikari to Yami no Senshi
The episodic game Final Fantasy Legends will include a job system.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Some recurring and iconical jobs in the series appear as job cards in the Duel Colosseum, each having their own effect.

Furthermore, although they aren't the traditional job classes, each character has a unique fighting style that is described by a "class" of sorts. Kefka uses "Mad Mage", Sephiroth uses "Focused Blade", Firion uses "Weapons Specialist", etc.

Final Fantasy IV
Playable characters in Final Fantasy IV are all listed as having a particular job, but with the exception of Cecil, none of the characters may change their job assignments during the game. Each character has several static abilities that are usually the same the job they represent. In the world of Final Fantasy IV, many NPCs can be seen to hold certain classes. Classes are usually cultural groups; the kingdom of Eblan is ruled by Ninjas, Mysidia is home to White and Black Mages, Fabul is ruled by Monks, and Baron's army consists of Dragoons, Dark Knights, and Black and White mages.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years uses similar styled menus to Final Fantasy IV. Each character is assigned a job class that is displayed beside their name. A few characters change jobs (Ceodore goes from Prince to Red Wings, and Ursula goes from Princess to Monk), but unlike Cecil's change in the previous game, the change in their "job" has no effect on gameplay, with the exception of Kain, when he becomes a Holy Dragoon.

Final Fantasy VI
The game menu of Final Fantasy VI lists every playable character as having a job, though usually not the same as the traditional Final Fantasy ones. Every character has set abilities similar to Final Fantasy IV; for example, Locke Cole, who is similar to the Thief Class, is not listed as such; rather, he is called an "Adventurer".

Final Fantasy VII
The characters of Final Fantasy VII were originally to have job classes. However, this idea was dropped during development. It is unknown if this would have actually affected gameplay. Cloud was intended as a Mystic Knight, Barret a Gunner, Tifa was a "Shooter", or Monk, Aerith was a Geomancer, Red XIII was a "Beast", Cid was a "Pilot", or Dragoon, Vincent was a "Horror Teller", and Yuffie was to be Ninja or Assassin, and Cait Sith was a "Toysaurus", a type of Beastmaster. Even if the jobs were removed from the final product, some of the characters still retain traits of their intended classes.

Final Fantasy VIII
In  Final Fantasy VIII  the characters do not have an apparent job but their Limit Breaks mimic the abilities of traditional jobs. For example, Selphie is a Gambler, Irvine is a Gunner, Zell is a Monk, Quistis is a Blue Mage etc.

Final Fantasy IX
Most playable characters in Final Fantasy IX are references to past jobs in the series. Characters often dress in manners similar to the classes they represent: Vivi looks exactly like a traditional Black Mage, Princess Garnet is seen in a White Mage's garb towards the beginning of the game and the summoners' tribe have the traditional summoner's horn. And, like in Final Fantasy IV, NPCs also have jobs. The Black Mages are a race of manufactured weapons. Some visible NPC jobs, like the traveling Red Mages, cannot even be used by the player. Still, it would seem that most of members of the primary cast exhibit the characteristics of at least two jobs, with one taking precedence over the other(s) (akin to the "Main" and "Support" jobs present in Final Fantasy XI):
 * Zidane: Thief - Zidane is presented as a typical Thief: His primary weapon is the dagger, and possesses many Thief abilities such as Flee and Steal, access to Thief-specific techniques such as Master Thief and Bandit. However, he holds Ninja traits, such as his Dual Wield of Daggers and the resemblance of his Dyne abilities to Ninjutsu.
 * Garnet: Summoner | White Mage - Summoner takes precedence since her spell catalog favors Eidolons over White Magic spells, and her Trance caters to the summons exclusively.
 * Steiner: Knight - Capabilities include the wielding of two-handed greatswords, access to defensive abilities such as Cover and the game's best heavy armors. Steiner is also alludes the Mystic Knight class from Final Fantasy V with his Magic Sword skill, and can use the typical Dark Knight skill, Darkness.
 * Vivi: Black Mage - Vivi is a traditional Black Mage, using elemental and damaging magic, enfeebling spells such as Sleep or Poison, and the famous Drain and Osmose.
 * Freya: Dragoon - Deadly with spears and polearms, possesses a number of character-specific abilities involving dragons, as well as the signature Jump present in all practitioners of the Dragoon arts.
 * Quina: Blue Mage - Ever the enigma, Quina has characteristics and weapons specific to him/her in the entirety of Final Fantasy. It would appear that Quina is a Blue Mage through and through, gaining access to enemy skills by devouring them alive.
 * Eiko: White Mage | Summoner - The inverse of Garnet, Eiko's White Magic spell list far exceeds that of her paltry four Eidolons, and takes precedence in her Trance which caters exclusively to White Magic. As a White Mage, Eiko trumps Garnet, with access to unique and powerful spells such as Might, Haste, Holy, and Full-Life.
 * Amarant: Monk | Samurai/Ninja - Uses knuckle weaponry for hand-to-hand combat like other canon Final Fantasy Monks, and has access to other unique Monk abilities such as Chakra, and his weapons carry the Counter ability. In the meanwhile, he also possesses Throw, the Ninja's trademark ability. Furthermore, not only does he scour the land as a wanted, ronin "sword-for-hire", but he can use Spare Change and learn Flee-Gil, signatures of the Samurai job. Being a traditional Monk, it would seem that Amarant has two support jobs.
 * Beatrix: Paladin - While possessing access to heavy armors such as Freya and Steiner, and sharing many Sword Arts with Steiner, Beatrix excels in the healing arts, and even has access to the Holy spell. In the game's storyline, she even possesses the ability to reverse a powerful curse on Garnet using an unnamed and furthermore unaddressed dispelling technique.
 * Marcus & Blank: Warrior | Thief - One-handed swords and scimitars are their primary weapons and means of damage, but also have the ability to steal from targets. Tantalus being what it is, the aspect of Thief goes without saying.
 * Cinna: Machinist | Thief - Uses an infamous Hammer, possesses almost zero fighting capabilities, and is more accustomed to tinkering the Prima Vista's mist engine than a battlefield. He can steal like the others in Tantalus, making him a Thief. Still, when something needs fixing, he's the troupe's go-to guy, and possesses a knack for creating and collecting models, dolls, and trinkets (such as the Mini-Set collectible Key Items).

Final Fantasy X
In the Japanese and American verisons, while all of the characters can eventually acquire all of the abilities and maximize their stats, for a significant portion of the game, they all have different abilities. Each character's individual starting section of the Sphere Grid contains different nodes corresponding with the character's predetermined strengths and weaknesses: Tidus is a cross between a Warrior and a Time Mage, Auron is something akin to a Spellblade or a Samurai, Yuna is a White Mage (and the only playable character who can summon), Kimahri is a Blue Mage who can lean towards any of these (although he is aesthetically reminiscent of Dragoon and even can use the Jump command), Lulu is a Black Mage (and referred to as such early on, by Wakka), Rikku is a Thief, with shades of Monk, Machinist, and Chemist, and Wakka's accuracy and long-range weapon lend him best as a Ranger (with a hint of Gambler in his Overdrives). Seymour Guado, playable for a single battle, is often said to be a Sage, because of his variety of spells in his arsenal and average attack power.

In the European and Final Fantasy X International versions of the game, all the characters can have access to all the abilities throughout the game and are not constrained to predetermined nodes on the Sphere Grid.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
Unlike the original Final Fantasy XII or the Zodiac Job System version, the playable characters in Revenant Wings all have set Job Classes. For example, Penelo is a Dancer. The classes cannot be changed during the game. Also, Sky Pirate enemies in the game have Job Classes, often ones that the player does not have access to. These enemies all have special skills similar to those that the playable characters learn during the course of the game.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates
Some armor characters can equip are named for certain job classes, with some abilities based on that class. For example magic type armor, like the Black Mage armor can give AI characters the Black Mage's Eye which automatically make them cast magic during battle. These abilities depended on the armor crafted and what bonus material is used when making them.

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