Enemy type

Enemy Types are a recurring system of monster classification in the Final Fantasy series. Each game has its own system, but in general Enemy Types are used to determine what abilities affect which enemies in different manners.

Overview
Enemy Types mostly come into view when determining damage from certain weapons or attacks. Depending on the game, an enemy's type may also affect their vulnerability to certain attacks, including status ailments and elemental damage. Recurring weapons that are affected by enemy type include the Man-Eater, which deals extra damage to human-type enemies, and the Dragon Whisker, which deals extra damage to dragon-type enemies. The most common type of ability concerning enemy types is the Killer series of abilities, which increase a character's damage when attacking enemies of the associated type. Individual games also have other equipment pieces, abilities, or battle mechanics concerning enemy types.

Beast
Beast-type enemies are often similar to real world animals, usually mammals but also including reptiles and insects.

Undead
Undead enemies include various types of zombie, skeleton, ghost, and other, similar entities. Undead are usually immune to dark and poison attacks, but are vulnerable to fire. Life-draining attacks are reversed, healing them and damaging the user, but curative magics damage them instead of healing them.

Flying
Flying-type enemies are flying enemies, commonly birds but also sometimes dragons and insects. Flying enemies are vulnerable to wind elemental damage and shoot-type weapons, and are immune to earth-elemental attacks.

Dragon
Dragon enemies are often among the strongest monster types of a game. They do not have any consistent elemental resistances or weaknesses, and are used more often to determine which equipment pieces resist damage from them or deal extra damage to them.

Fiend
Fiend-type enemies are particularly monstrous enemies, having a mythological or demonic influence.

Giant
Giant-type enemies are depicted as large humanoid figures. They fight using earth-elemental attacks and strong physical blows.

Machine
Machine-type enemies are generally mechanical in nature. As machines they are weak to lightning and water attacks.

Flan
Flans are enemies made out of gelatinous material. They have low HP but are highly resistant to physical blows, often taking little if any damage from normal attacks. Their weakness it to magic, and many flan-type enemies have specific elemental weaknesses.

Stone
Stone enemies are living statues and golems made of stone. They are resistant to physical damage but can be defeated instantly using a Gold Needle.

Heavy
Heavy is less a themed enemy type and more a classification. Usually reserved for bosses and very strong enemies, Heavy enemies are immune to Instant Death attacks and Gravity magic.

Final Fantasy IV
The first game to include specific enemy types, enemies may have the types Beast, Undead, Ghoul, Mage, Flan, Dragon, Giant, and Machine. Enemies may have two types, or have no type at all. Numerous weapons deal increase damage to enemies of certain types, while certain equipment pieces reduce damage from an enemy type.

Final Fantasy V
The types included in this game are Magic Beast, Dragon, Undead, Humanoid, Desert, and Aevis. As in Final Fantasy IV, monsters can have more than one type. Monster types are only influenced by weapons now, with no armor pieces resisting damage from specific types.

Final Fantasy VI
There is no official series of monster types in this game. However, some monsters are flagged as Undead or Humanoid, affecting some weapons and spells. As a substitute for Flying or equipment monster type, flying enemies are given the Auto-Float status.

Final Fantasy VIII
Some monsters are flagged as Undead or Flying

Final Fantasy IX
There are eight enemy types in this game -- Bug, Bird, Stone, Undead, Fiend, Beast, Human, and Dragon. This is the first game to introduce abilities that affect monster types.

Final Fantasy XI
There are several monster types, separated into four interrelated groups based on predation or opposition. Plantoids eat Beasts, who eat Lizards, who eat Vermin, who eat Plantoids in turn. Birds eat Aquans, Aquans eat Amorphs, and Amorphs eat Birds. Undead are opposed to Arcana, and Demons are opposed to Dragons. There is another type, Humanoid, that is not in a group with the other types. Predation makes a creature's attacks stronger against that target, and a creature attacking a target who predates it may freeze in fear instead of attacking it. Meanwhile, opposition increases the attacks of both types against the other without conveying the freezing effect. This ecosystem is most relevant to the Beastmaster and Blue Mage jobs, who use the beasts and their attacks, respectively, to defeat enemies, and must be mindful of this system to use their powers to their fullest. However, any class may take advantage of the ecosystem through the use of Killer abilities, which may be obtained via Jobs or equipment.

Final Fantasy XII
In this game, enemy types are not often influenced by abilities or equipment. Instead, monster types affect Chains. As the party defeats enemies of the same Genus consecutively, the Chain level increases, causing monsters to drop more loot and to have a higher chance of dropping rarer loot. Monographs also allow monsters within certain Genuses to drop additional loot, each Monograph affecting specific Genuses.