Death (ability)



Death (デス, Desu), also known as Reaper or Doom, is a recurring Black Magic spell from the series that inflicts Instant Death on its target. Death is also often referred to as the status effect of being dead, 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 castable 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, such as the Blue Mage's Blue Magic skill Level 5 Death.

In the modern Final Fantasy series, using Death on an undead creature has no effect. Most times it fully replenishes the undead target's health.

Final Fantasy
Death, also known as RUB in the Famicom release and Reaper in the Origins release, is a level 6 Black Magic spell which attempts to inflict Instant Death to a single enemy, however it does not have a particularly high success rate. There is also a upgraded version called Kill.

The spell can be bought at Crescent Lake and can be learnt by the Black Mage and Black Wizard Job classes. In the Dawn of Souls and 20th Anniversary Edition 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).

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).

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.

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's also a vital part of the infamous Vanish-Doom Bug. It has a 95 hit rate and is vulnerable to Runic.

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

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Death can be obtained from various missions and monsters in the game, as well as in Materia Fusion and shops. It attempts to inflict Instant Death on a target. It can be combined with other Materia to create skills such as Death Twister that inflict damage as well as have a chance of Instant Death.

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 very few enemies hold the Death spell for the player to draw from, it can be manufactured from many refinery items.

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.

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. An upgraded version called Mega Death (オーバーデス, Over Death in the Japanese version) is a skill used by Yunalesca which inflicts Instant Death on all characters who are not afflicted with the Zombie status.

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.

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 unresistable 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 costs 5,200 gil, 60 LP, and uses 30 MP. 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 chest in Paramina Rift's Karydine Glacier. This magick is only available for the Red Mage Job class.

Zalera's skill Kill has the same effect as Death, however it has a 100% hit rate. As with Death, enemies with Safety 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

 * Main article: Death

Death appears as the Vanille's Full ATB Skill and acts in a similar way to a Limit Break. It deals up to 99,999HP damage (but can break the damage limit with a Genji Glove) and has a 1% chance of inflicting Instant KO. Chances can be boosted with abilities and buffs. Death is also used by the Sacrifice Cie'th in Eden and Orphan's Cradle.

Final Fantasy Tactics
Death is learned through the Black Mage Job for 600 JP. It has a speed of 10 and uses 24 MP. Causes Instant Death. Since more enemies are humans in this game than usual, it can actually be somewhat reliable.

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.

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