Protect (ability)



Protect (プロテス), also known as Barrier, Fog, Armor, Shield, or Safe, is a recurring White Magic, and later in the series as a Green Magick, spell. It appears in various games in the series, and it generally halves all physical damage dealt to the target. In all cases it increases a target's resistance to physical attack, but in some games, like Final Fantasy XI, it increases the Defense of a single character by 10. Some games feature a stronger spell called Protectga.

Final Fantasy
Protect, also known as FOG in the NES release and Shld1 in the Final Fantasy Origins release, is a level 1 White Magic spell which increases the Defense of a single ally by 8 points. Gilgamesh is the only enemy capable of casting this spell.

The spell can be bought at Cornelia and can be learned by the White Mage, White Wizard, Red Mage, Red Wizard, and Knight job classes. In the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary Edition releases it costs 3 MP to cast. The spell can also be cast by using the Murasame as an item during battle.

Final Fantasy II
Protect, also known as Shield in the Origins release, is a White Magic spell which increases the Defense of one of all allies reducing physical damage inflicted by enemies. As the spell's level grows, the spell's effectiveness and success rate increase. The effect can stack, however repeated use on the same unit(s) increases the chance that the spell will miss.

Any character can learn Protect by having them use the Protect Tome (called the Shield Scroll in the Origins release). The spell was bugged in the NES version, only working on the caster. It increases the target's Defense equal to 1/4 of the caster's Spirit stat per level.

Final Fantasy III
Protect, also known as Safe, is a level 5 White Magic spell that can be bought in Northeast Saronia and Doga's Village for 5,000 gil. It can be used by the White Mage, Red Mage, Devout, Sage, and Onion Knight. Aria can cast Protect on the whole party when she joins as a guest in the DS version. The weapon Defender also casts Protect, as does the item Turtle Shell.

The enemies Yormungand and Shadow Master can use the spell as well. It has a 75% accuracy and a base power of 5. It increases the target's Defense and Magic Defense, though if the target is using the Defend command, Protect's effects will be negated at the end of the turn. In addition, if a character under Protect changes the items in their hands, Protect is also negated.

Final Fantasy IV
Protect, also known as Armor in the North American SNES and PlayStation releases, is a White Magic spell. It costs 9 MP, has 66% Accuracy, and takes one turn to cast. It boosts its target(s) Defense stat by 5 points, to a maximum of 255, for the duration of the battle. The spell can be manually targeted to either a single target or an entire party; this has no impact on its effectiveness.

This spell can fail frequently when cast by a character with a low Spirit stat. The spell will automatically fail if its target's Defense is at 255. Asura has access to this spell in the Advance and DS versions only, while Platinum Toad is also capable of casting this spell.

Protect is learned by Rosa and Porom at level 12, Tellah learns it after completing Mt. Ordeals and Fusoya joins the party with it. Cecil learns it as a Paladin in the Nintendo DS version at level 10.

Protect cannot be learned in the North American and Easy Type versions of the game, although the Zemus's Malice enemy still casts it as a part of its attack script, along with Shell. The White Magic icon has been replaced with a blank space, making it appear as if it is an enemy skill.

Dispel has no effect on this spell's Defense increase.

Final Battle
Protect is hardcoded to have no effect during the final battle against Zeromus. The spell's animation is displayed, but the Defense stat is not modified. This is of little consequence, since Zeromus does not attack physically.

Nintendo DS Behavior
The behavior of this spell has changed for the DS version. It sets Protect status on its targets, and can only be applied once. Its MP cost has been boosted to 15.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
In the sequel of Final Fantasy IV, Protect follows the same pattern than its previous version, all the White Magic casters can use this magic. Using the Murasame as an item also casts the spell. The spell can be used to target all allies at once. It is also used by the enemies Lord Dragon and Ultima Weapon.

Final Fantasy V
Protect, also known as Protes in the Anthology release, is a level 2 White Magic spell that costs 280 gil and can be found in Carwen, Karnak, and Jachol. It uses 3 MP. Protect can be cast by Byblos, Calofisteri, Carbuncle, Enuo, Gilgamesh at the Big Bridge, Necromancer, Siren, Zephyrus, and Apanda.

Final Fantasy VI
Protect, also known as Safe, can be learned from Unicorn at a rate of x1, Carbuncle at a rate of x2, and Golem at a rate of x5. Celes learns it automatically at level 22. It costs 12 MP and is vulnerable to Runic. Protect can be cast by Level 20 Magic, Cherry, Moebius, Gilgamesh, Kaiser Dragon, Visage, and Dadaluma.

Final Fantasy VII
Barrier is learned by equipping a Barrier Materia and costs 16 MP to cast. The Barrier Materia can be bought from Rocket Town for 10,000 gil. The enemies Dark Nation, Death Claw, Adamantaimai, and the boss Gorkii all use the spell against the player.

Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-
Barrier is the only defensive non-elemental Magic Materia.

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Barrier costs 16 MP to cast and grants the status of the same name. The Barrier Materia can be purchased from the Happy Turtle shop for 4,000 gil.

Final Fantasy VIII
Protect is a Support Magic spell which halves physical damage inflicted on the target for a short time. The spell can also be cast with a Protect Stone. Casting Protect in battle increases compatibility with Carbuncle by 1, and with Cerberus by 0.2, but lowers compatibility with Diablos and Eden by 0.2 as well.

Final Fantasy IX
Dagger and Eiko can learn Protect from a Steepled Hat, Desert Boots, Rod, Mythril Racket, or Wizard Rod. It needs 30 AP to master and uses 6 MP. Protect can also be used by the Iron Man and Lizard Man enemies, and the boss, Necron.

Final Fantasy X
Protect is on Yuna's path of the Sphere Grid and uses 12 MP. The spell can also be cast with a Light Curtain. Protect can be cast by Cindy, Guado Guardian (A), Sanctuary Keeper, Seymour Flux, Seymour Natus, and Th'uban.

Final Fantasy X-2
A White Mage that has learned Shell can learn Protect for 30 AP. It uses 12 MP. It can also be used without being a White Mage while equipped with the Shining Mirror Garment Grid. Protect can be cast by Garik Ronso, Node A, Node B, Node C, Right Bulwark, Seymour (Colosseum), and Unum.

Final Fantasy XI
Protect is a spell that can be learned by Red Mages, White Mages, Scholars, and Paladins, though because it is such a low level spell it can be used by many characters with any of these Jobs as a Support Job. It is the earliest in a line of spells that go up to Protect V. Protect grants a flat +10 Defense.

Final Fantasy XII
Protect reduces physical damage by a third and is on the Green Magick 1 license which requires 25 LP to unlock. It can bought at Rabanastre, Nalbina, and Bhujerba for 200 gil. Protectga can also be learned in this game which casts Protect on the whole party. It requires the 'Green Magick License 7' and costs 105 LP. It can be bought in Balfonheim Port for 9400 gil.

In the International Zodiac Job System version, Protect is listed as White Magick 3 License, along with Shell. It can be used by the job classes White Mage and Red Mage. Protectga is White Magick 12 License, and can only be obtained from a chest in the Necrohol of Nabudis. The enemy White Mages can also cast it.

Final Fantasy XIII
Protect is a Synergist ability which increases one ally's defense by 33% for a short time. It is learned by four characters through advancing as a Synergist in the Crystarium System, those being Hope (Lv1), Lightning (Lv7), Snow (Lv7), and Sazh (Lv9). A stronger spell, Protectra, that raises Defense by 50%, is learned by Fang and Vanille. Both spells expend one ATB bar upon use.

Final Fantasy XIV
Protect is a level 6 Conjury spell that can be equipped by all classes. Its MP cost is based on the level of the user.

The spell raises the physical defense of all party members within range of the target; Once a conjurer learns the level 24 trait Enhanced Protect, Protect will also increase magic defense.

Final Fantasy Tactics
Protect is a White Magick spell, and costs 70 JP to unlock. It consumes 6 MP and has a speed of 25. In the PS version, there is a chance that the caster will say, upon using the spell: "Precious light, be our armor to protect us! Protect!".

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Protect is a White Mage spell can be learned by equipping a Guard Staff. It needs 100 AP to master, costs 6 MP to cast, and has a range of 4. It can be stolen through the ability, Steal: Ability.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Protect can be learned by a Green Mage from Iron Hammer for 150 AP, and costs 8 MP to cast.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates
Barrier is cast by piling Fire and Clear. It lasts for a short amount of time.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King
Protect is a level 10 Protection Spell, exclusive to the White Mage class, and caps at level 100. It increases an ally's Defense, can be used once per battle, and up to three times a day.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time
Barrier is once again cast by piling Fire and Clear.

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light
Protect appears a White Magic spell and costs 2 AP to cast. When the spell is used it increases a characters defense by 50%. Protect can be given to any character by having a Protect Tome in the character's inventory. The spell can be purchased for 1,000 gil in Guera and Urbeth at night, and in Horne after the player defeats Satan.

Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales
Protect is a Status Effect that halves damage until the end of the next round.

Cards that cause Protect

 * Cait Sith's Megaphone
 * Phoenix's Blazing Barrier
 * Adamantoise's Might Guard

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Protect is an support ability the Warrior of Light gains while in EX Mode. It increases his DEF by 10.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Protect returns as an ability of the Warrior of Light's EX Mode with the same effect.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Protect activates when the equipped character's HP falls below 80%, and reduces damage the party takes by 15% until the end of the stage. Snow is able to use Protect.

Kingdom Hearts
Protect appears in Chain of Memories and Re:Chain of Memories as the ability of the Defender card, and raises Sora's defense. It reappears in Birth By Sleep as the first ability of the Goofy D-Link, and in Re:coded as an ability attached to several Keyblades.

It also appears in Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix+ as an ability attached to the Palatial Mushroom Shield for Goofy. The Palatial Mushroom+ grants Protectra. In Final Mix+, instead of raising defense Protect has a 10% chance to negate all damage done to Goofy. Protectra raises this chance to 20%.

Gallery
Protes