Death (ability)



Death, also known as Fatal, Reaper, or Doom, is a recurring Black Magic spell from the Final Fantasy series that inflicts Instant Death on its target. Death is also often referred to as the Status Effect of KO, or having zero HP.

Death, typically, is easy to resist when being cast upon a playable character from an enemy and usually results in a miss. This is also the same when casting Death on an enemy from a playable character. There are other forms of Death that are used by enemy creatures: Some are called Level 3 Death or Level 5 Death, which will kill any character that has a level divisible by the set number. The level-specific variants are generally very accurate or 100% accurate.

In most of the game series, the spell's special effect is represented by the personification of death, known as the Grim Reaper.

In the modern Final Fantasy series, using Death on an undead creature has no effect and it may even fully replenish the undead target's health.

Final Fantasy
Death, also known as RUB in the NES release, and Reaper in the Final Fantasy Origins release, is a level 6 Black Magic spell which attempts to inflict Instant Death on a single enemy.

It does not have a high success rate, but there is an upgraded version called Kill. Beholder, Death Eye, Astos, Dark Wizard, and Marilith are all capable of casting the spell.

The spell can be bought at Crescent Lake and can be learned by the Black Mage and Black Wizard Job classes. In the Dawn of Souls, 20th Anniversary Edition and iOS releases it costs 30 MP to cast.

Final Fantasy II
Death, also known as Doom in the Origins release, is a Black Magic spell which attempts to inflict Instant Death on one or all enemies. The success rate increases with the spell's level. Any character can learn Death by having them use the Death Tome (called the Doom Scroll in the Origins release).

Death VIII can be used by Imperial Shadow and Sorcerer, while Death XVI is used exclusively by Astaroth.

Final Fantasy III
Death is a level 8 Black Magic spell that can be bought in Eureka for 60,000 gil. It inflicts Instant Death on one enemy with a 35% success rate, and can also be cast through the item Black Musk. The enemies Kum Kum and Echidna can use the spell against the party.

Final Fantasy IV
Death, called Fatal in the original SNES release, is a Black Magic spell that attempts to cause Instant Death for 35 MP. Rydia learns it at level 52 in the original versions, and at level 55 in the DS version, while Palom learns it at 46 in all versions. It has an accuracy of 30% (60% in non-DS versions). Both Dark Sage and Blood Eye can cast the spell.

Final Fantasy IV -Interlude-
Death returns as a Black Magic spell in the sequel of Final Fantasy IV. The imposter Rydia learns it at level 52 while Palom learns it at level 46, but Rydia doesn't have the spell when she participates in the final battle. It inflicts Death to one or all enemies at the cost of 35 MP.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Death costs 35 MP to cast, and is learned by Rydia at level 55 and Palom at level 47. Fusoya starts with the spell.

Final Fantasy V
Death, also known as Doom, is a level 6 Black Magic and can be purchased at Phantom Village for 10,000 gil. It attempts to inflict Instant Death on one target, and it costs 29 MP to cast. The enemies Alchymia, Aquathorn, Carbuncle, Black Warlock, Exdeath's Soul, Fury, Necrophobe, and Archeodemon can all cast the spell.

The player may utilize this ability by catching and releasing a Mani Wizard, Tonberry, or Aquathorn. Death is one of the spells that can be cast from the Wonder Wand for free.

Final Fantasy VI
Death, also known as Doom, attempts to cause Instant Death for 35 MP. It is learned from the esper Catoblepas at a rate of x2. It is a vital part of the infamous Vanish-Doom Bug. It has a 95 hit rate and is vulnerable to Runic. The Soul Sabre and Death Tarot weapons have it as an Added Ability.

Level 50 Magic, Magic Master, Death Rider, Death Machine, Necromancer, Death Warden, and Behemoth King (Undead) can cast this spell as well.

Final Fantasy VII
The spell Death can be learned on the Destruct Materia. It attempts to inflict Instant Death on one target. It requires 10,000 AP to learn and 30 MP to cast, and has accuracy of 44%.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Death can be obtained from various missions and monsters in the game, as well as in Materia Fusion by fusing a mastered Stop Materia with Libra, or Poison with any DMW Materia. It attempts to inflict Instant Death on a target at the cost of 18 MP.

Final Fantasy VIII
When cast in battle, Death attempts to inflict Instant Death upon one enemy. It is one of the best spells to junction onto the Luck stat, although it may be wiser to junction the spell onto ST-Atk-J or ST-Def-J in order to cause or protect against Instant Death respectively (ST-Atk-J is particularly useful; if one Junctions 100 Death spells to it, any enemy without an innate immunity to Death can be killed in one hit). While few enemies hold the Death spell for the player to draw from, it can be manufactured from many refinery items.

Casting Death in battle increases compatibility with Doomtrain by 1, but lowers compatibility with Carbuncle by 0.2.

Final Fantasy IX
Death is used exclusively by Vivi. It is taught through the Black Hood, costs 20 MP to cast, and takes 45 AP to learn. It has a 35% accuracy. It can be reflected and works with Return Magic. The enemies Lich, Ozma, and Ash use the spell as well.

Final Fantasy X
Death is the second-to-last spell learned along Lulu's basic Sphere Grid path. It attempts to kill one target, and it costs 20 MP. Lulu can cast multiple Death spells with her Overdrive, Fury.

An upgraded version called Mega Death is a skill used by Yunalesca which inflicts Instant Death on all characters who are not afflicted with the Zombie status, or have Deathproof in their armor.

Final Fantasy X-2
Death is part of the Arcana skillset used by the Dark Knight dressphere, but can also be used through the Bitter Farewell Garment Grid or while equipped with the Mortal Shock accessory.

Death can also be used through Yuna's Festival-Goer ability Ultima Geta. It requires Doom to be mastered and 50 AP to master for it to be used by Dark Knights, and costs 24 MP to cast. Also, Paine's special dressphere Full Throttle can learn Death for 20 AP after learning Fiers. For enemies, the spell is exclusive to the Precepts Guard.

Final Fantasy XI
Death is an enemy-only known spell. It is cast by the Dark Rider, megaboss statues of Dynamis, and Angra Mainyu, the megaboss of Dynamis - Beaudcedine, generally in conjunction with Chain Spell. Death, in Final Fantasy XI, is usually unavoidable and causes instant KO. However, there are means of resisting the spell. The Shadow Ring item obtained from Dynamis Lord offers resistance to Death. The Flawless Ribbon may also give resistance to death.

Final Fantasy XII
Death is an Arcane Magick 5 license that requires 60 License Points, and uses 30 MP. It can be bought in Rabanastre, Nalbina, and Phon Coast for 5,200 gil.

In the International Zodiac Job System version, Death is an Arcane Magick 2 License. It costs 50 LP and 30 MP, and can only be obtained from a treasures in Paramina Rift's Karydine Glacier. This magick is only available for the Red Mage job class.

Death's base success rate is 35%, but it is also affected by the caster's Magick Power and the target's Vitality. Zalera's skill Kill has the same effect as Death, however it has a 100% hit rate. As with Death, enemies with Safety passive ability are immune to Instant Death.

Prime Level Death is also a skill used by Zalera when being confronted as a boss, inflicting instant death upon party members whose levels are prime numbers. Presumably, the only levels at which all such spells may be avoided are 49, 77, and 91 as there are no spells relating to multiples of 7, 11, or 13, all three of which are, however, prime numbers.

Final Fantasy XIII
Death appears as Vanille's Full ATB Skill and acts in a similar way to a Limit Break. It deals up to 99,999 HP damage (but can break the damage limit with a Genji Glove) and has a 1% chance of inflicting Instant KO. This is increased by an additional 1% for each status ailment the target possesses.

Despite widespread word-of-mouth to the contrary, Death is not classified as a debuffing spell, so its chances of hitting can't be boosted with the passive ability, Improved Debuffing, found in Vanille's Belladonna and Malboro Wands, or by staggering the opponent. Death is also used by the Sacrifice Cie'th in Eden and Orphan's Cradle, and the final boss can use an attack called Purgatorial Wrath which attempts to instantly kill a player, in the same way as Death. These are affected by Cherub's Crowns and Seraph's Crowns, in that the chance of death becomes lower (but not collectively).

Final Fantasy Tactics
Death is learned through the Black Mage Job for 600 JP. It has a speed of 10 and uses 24 MP and causes Instant Death. Since more enemies are humans in this game than usual, using Death is more reliable than in most games in the series.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Death is a Dark-elemental spell that can be learned from the weapon, Life Crosier, used by Alchemists, which can inflict Instant Death and costs 36 MP to cast. It is stealable through the ability Steal: Ability, and is also susceptible to Return Magic.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Death is able to to learned by Arcanists, it uses 16 MP, 450 AP to master, and is learned from the Heretic Rod. The spell causes Instant Death.

Final Fantasy Legend II
There's a Magic Book called Death and it has a book icon before its name. It cast Death, and can be bought in numerous towns across the various worlds for 6800 GP or found in chests. It only has 30 uses, and also increases a Robot's HP by 45 when equipped on them. It inflicts Stun on non-undead such Skelton, Zombie, O-Bake on a single target. The formula is Mana x13.

Final Fantasy Legend III
Called Fatal in the game, this Black Magic spell will inflict Instant Death if successful. It cost 36 MP to use, and it can be bought for 25,000 GP in Dwelg Town (Underworld).

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light
Death appears as the strongest Dark Magic spell and costs 4 AP to cast. Death can be given to any character by having a Death Tome in the character's inventory. The spell can only be purchased in Urbeth for 5,000 gil. A Death Tome can also be found in a chest inside the Pirate Hideout after obtaining the Magic Key.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
The player can utilize the Deathgaze summon in battle to trigger its effect, Level 5 Death, which causes their opponents bravery to instantly break if it is a multiple of 5 at the time of summoning. It can be obtained as a stage bonus in Destiny Odyssey VI.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
The Deathgaze summon and its effect, Level 5 Death, return unchanged. It can be purchased from select Moogle Shops for 40 KP.