Protect (ability)

Protect (プロテス, Purotesu), 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 Famicom release and Shld1 in the Origins release, is a level 1 White Magic spell which increases the Defense of a single ally by 8 points.

The spell can be bought at Cornelia and can be learnt 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.

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, which reduces physical damage inflicted by enemies. As the spell's level grows, the spell's effectiveness and success rate increases. 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).

Final Fantasy III
Protect, also known as Safe, is a level 5 White magic spell that can be purchased in Saronia, Doga's Manor, 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 the party as a guest in the DS version. The weapon Defender also casts Protect.

Final Fantasy IV
Protect, also known as Armor in the North American SNES and PSX 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.

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

This spell 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 NDS version. It sets Protect status on its targets, and can only be applied once. It's 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. It is also used by the enemies Lord Dragon and Ultima Weapon.

Final Fantasy V
It is a level-2 White Magic spell that costs 280 gil and can be found in Carwen, Karnak, and Jachol. It uses 3 MP.

Final Fantasy VI
Also known as Safe, it 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 uses 12 MP.

Final Fantasy VII
Known as Barrier in this game, it can be learned by equipping a Barrier Materia. It costs 16 MP.

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

Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-
Barrier is a Magic Materia. It costs 16 MP to cast.

Final Fantasy VIII
Protect is a Support Magic spell. One spell can be refined from a Protect Stone, 30 from a Turtle Shell, 60 from a Giant's Ring, or 100 from a Steel Curtain using Leviathan's Supt Mag-RF ability. It can be drawn from Blobra, Gesper, Armadodo, Righty, Wendigo, Adamantoise, Hexadragon, Iron Giant, X-ATM092, Sacred, and Minotaur.

Final Fantasy IX
Dagger and Eiko can learn this spell from a Steepled Hat, Desert Boots, Rod, Mythril Racket, and Wizard Rod. It needs 30 AP to master and uses 6 MP.

Final Fantasy X
It is on Yuna's path of the Sphere Grid and uses 12 MP.

Final Fantasy X-2
A White Mage that has learned Shell can use this spell 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.

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 subjob. It is the earliest in a line of spells that go up to Protect IV. Protect grants +10 Defense.


 * See Also: Protect II, Protect III, and Protect IV

Final Fantasy XII

 * "The character is enveloped in a magick field, increasing defense and reducing physical damage taken. The effect is temporary."

Protect is on the Green Magick 1 license which requires 25 LP to unlock. It costs 200 gil and can be found in Rabanastre after obtaining the Crescent Stone, in Nalbina Fortress, Bhujerba, in the Barheim Passage before obtaining the Treaty Blade, and the Dalmasca Westersand between escaping the Leviathan and obtaining the Treaty-Blade. Also, Protectga, which targets all allies in a certain radius, can be purchased in Balfonheim for 9,400 gil after obtaining the Treaty Blade. Its license, Green Magick 7, costs 105 LP. The spell uses 36 MP.

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.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
Basch can grant the Protect status to multiple allies by casting Protectga.

Final Fantasy XIII
Protect is a Synergist ability witch increases defense of one ally by 33% for a short time. It's learned by four characters though advancing as a Synergist in the Crystarium System, those being: Hope(Lv1), Lightning(Lv7), Snow(Lv7), and Sazh(Lv9).

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 PS1 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, and uses 6 MP.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Protect can be learned by a Green Mage from Iron Hammer for 150AP, and costs 8MP 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 3 times a day.

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

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

Cards that cause Protect

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

Gallery
Protes