Enemy abilities

Enemy Abilities are abilities that are usable by enemies and are a recurring feature in the Final Fantasy series. Some of these abilities can be learned as Blue Magic by Blue Mages, and some of these abilities' names can only be learned in-game by controlling the monster.

Final Fantasy
Enemy abilities can not be used by the player in the original installment. The majority of spells and skills used by enemies are the renamed or reanimated version of spells and skills used by the characters. Several attacks were renamed in the original versions, such as Holy originally being named FADE due to censorship issues, and Temper being named TMPR due to space issues. Very few attacks were of elemental nature in this installment as well, mainly focusing on non-elemental damage and the Poison status.

Final Fantasy II


Once more, most of the Enemy Abilities exhibited in the second game in the series are renamed, remodeled, or reanimated version of spells that the player may obtain. The skill/spell "Enemy Ability" does not appear in this game. Many of these attacks are also non-elemental in nature, with few exceptions, and vary greatly from one version to another, such as Fire V and Fire VIII.

Final Fantasy IV
Once again, many of the attacks used by enemies in this installment are of non-elemental nature, and their name changing greatly from one version to another, although being the same in the Japanese version of the game. It is interesting to note that many attacks here are the first attacks to actually focus on dealing percentile damage, such as Blitz dealing damage equal to 1/10 of a character's Max HP each time it hits. The game puts a heavy emphasis on physical attacks over special attacks as well.

Final Fantasy V


This is the first time that enemy abilities can be usable by the player due to this being the first installment in which a Blue Mage appears, and has appeared as a feature in many of the later installments. There are several attacks that are not named when used, such as ???? and Strong Attack, and are sometimes not even named when controlling the monster. Poison is still the most used status in attacks as well.

Final Fantasy VI
Some enemy abilities can be learned as Rages by Gau and some can also be learned as Lores by Strago. This is one of the first games to actually put emphasis on special attacks rather than physical attacks by enemies as opposed to earlier installments, in which physical attacks were more dominant than special attacks. Imp is a very popular status alongside Poison in being used with attacks, and several enemies prefer using elemental and status attacks over non-elemental attacks as opposed to earlier installments.

One bug in the game is called the Rippler Bug. The Lore Rippler has the effect of exchanging statuses between the caster and the target. However there were some mistakes in the coding that caused Trance, Dance, Rage, Near Fatal, Interceptor, and Magitek to be able to be switched around. A second bug is that Rippler would always hit, even when it claimed to miss, this was fixed in the Advance port.

Final Fantasy VII
Enemy Abilities could only be made usable through the use of the Enemy Skill Materia. In Final Fantasy VII, a total of 24 Enemy Skills are available. Some skills are only used by certain bosses, and thus there is limited opportunity to obtain some skills. Several attacks are also not named when used, and thus are only named when Manipulating the enemy. Again, elemental attacks start making more of an appearance over non-elemental attacks, though physical attacks seem to be more dominant still. Poison, Blind, and Confusion seem to be the more used statuses when used with attacks this time around as well.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Most of the enemy abilities' names can be seen when the enemy uses them. However, most normal physical attacks' names are not revealed to the player.

Final Fantasy VIII
In Final Fantasy VIII, enemy abilities are every attack made by enemies, except for the basic physical attack. These abilities includes both physical and magical attacks. When an enemy ability is used, its name will appear on-screen. Some can be used by the player through Quistis's limit break Blue Magic, though certain items must be used on Quistis first. This also marks the first time that attacks can hit the player more than once, as seen by Omega Weapon's Tera Break attack. Physical attacks are used more than the enemy's special attacks, though several special attacks are now more deadlier than in previous installments, as Death appears to be one of the more used statuses with attacks, which hasn't been the case since the original Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy IX


Every ability used by enemies in Final Fantasy IX is given a name and is the first game in the series to label all attacks including the basic physical ones. In this installment Quina may cast Blue Magic, which is originally blank. Unlike all other spells, Quina may not learn magic from items like other abilities, but instead by "Eating" his/her enemies.

Final Fantasy X
Many abilities in this game are stronger versions of the weaker abilities in this game, such as 10,000 Needles being a stronger version of 1,000 Needles, and 99,999 Needles being the strongest version of 1,000 Needles. Usually, the stronger the version, the more deadlier it becomes, as it gains more statuses and power. All enemy abilities are named in this version, and some can be learned by Kimahri by using the Lancet skill on specific enemies.

Final Fantasy X-2
As the same fiend-genera reappeared in this game, a lot of the enemy abilities are shared with those in the preceding game. Also, as with Final Fantasy X, many abilities are just stronger versions of weaker abilities used by weaker versions of enemies. Many attacks in this game are also percentile-based, dealing damage based on usually either 25%, 50%, or 75% of a character's max HP. Multiple hits return as a feature for some attacks in this game as well, such as Angra Mainyu's Perdition's Flame attack.

Final Fantasy XII


This game has the most number of Enemy Magicks and Technicks.

Final Fantasy XIII
Enemy abilities in Final Fantasy XIII can't be learned by the party.

Final Fantasy Tactics
Unlike most other games, enemy abilities are divided by race, generic monsters, and the Lucavi.