Death is a status in Final Fantasy VII. Party members and enemies enter the Death status when their HP reaches 0, or when struck by an ability that induces the Death status instantly. If all characters' HP falls to 0, the game is over, and if all enemies' HP falls to 0, the battle is won.
The player can immunize against instant death with certain equipment or the Death Force E.Skill. Dead party members can be recovered in and out of battle with resurrection items and spells like Phoenix Down and Life. Enemies in Death status simply disappear as they are defeated. Death is distinct from being ejected; in the latter, the unit is removed from battle but not defeated. Death and Petrify are similar in that the afflicted is flagged as defeated for Game Over purposes.
Instant Death and Restorative have their effects swapped on undead enemies.
Mechanics[]
Party members in Death status lie on the ground and are unable to be targeted by anything but resurrection skills. Their Limit gauge depletes and they lose all other statuses they may have had on them.
The player can add the instant death attribute to a character's physical attacks by linking Destruct Materia or Odin Materia with Added Effect Materia in the character's weapon. Equipping the pair in the character's armor will make him/her immune to instant death.
Certain enemies can be killed instantly by hitting them with a certain element even if the attack does not induce Death status by itself. For example, Jemnezmy can be killed instantly with Poison damage. Undead enemies may be instantly killed with resurrection items/spells, the notable example being Gi Nattak.
Red XIII killed by damage overflow glitch.
Enemies can also be killed by a single hit if the player performs the damage overflow glitch with a character's ultimate weapon. If the player triggers a damage overflow glitch and the attacker has HP Absorb linked to an ability that does the overflow, the attacker instant dies when the HP Absorb Materia tries to restore the HP to the user from the overflown attack.
It is possible to have a party of three Dead characters if the party is assembled as such outside of battle by killing the party leader's allies during a battle, using the PHS to swap them with two alive characters, starting another battle to kill off the party leader, and using PHS to get the two KO'd characters back into the party. If the player enters a battle with three KO'd party members, they get an instant Game Over.
If Sneak Attack is used to revive fallen party members, their ATB bars will never fill up.
The Final Attack Materia will activate when the wearer enters Death status, as long as they are not prevented from using the associated ability, such as that they are out of MP. Some enemies also have Final Attack scripts which they perform, if able, upon their defeat.
Cloud's Yoshiyuki and Aeris's Princess Guard double in power if they are in battle with a dead ally, and if 2 allies are dead the weapon's power is tripled.
Field traps that remove HP technically take off 1 HP more than the end result, but 1 HP is added on after. For example, the large pink flowers in Ancient Forest remove 1000 HP, then add 1 HP. Since when removing the HP the player cannot fall below 0, the added 1 HP will put them if they have less HP than is being taken off. Due to this, if a player enters one of the flower traps with a member in Death status, they are brought back to life with 1 HP.
The player can withstand one of any Tonberry "Knife" attacks by using the spell Resist. This only works one time as the attack dealt by the Tonberry will dispel the effect. Since the character the Tonberry attacks is random, one can wait until it is only one step away from a party member, as Tonberries tend to attack whoever is in front of them prior to the last step before using the "Knife" attack. Using Death Force will give a battle-long protection, however.
Abilities[]
The Death spell
The following abilities may induce instant death to enemies who are susceptible. Cait Sith's Game Over Limit Break will defeat all enemies, even enemies normally immune to Instant Death, like bosses. If the player rolls a Death Joker, however, the party will be defeated instead regardless of status-protection.
| Item | Kiss of Death |
|---|---|
| Limit Breaks | Dragon Dive, Finishing Touch, Hyper Jump, Game Over/Death Joker, Hammer Blow, Chaos (Satan Slam) |
| Materia | Added Effect + Destruct/Odin in a linked slot on a weapon, Slash-All (Flash) |
| Spell | Death (Destruct), Roulette (E.Skill), L5 Death (E.Skill) |
| Summon | Odin |
Enemy abilities[]
The following abilities may instantly defeat party members who are not protected against instant death with Death Force, accessories, or Added Effect + Destruct/Odin in armor.
| Ability | Description | Enemy |
|---|---|---|
| Hidden One | Instant Death to one enemy. | Death Dealer |
| Joker | Instant Death to one enemy. | Joker |
| Knife | Instant Death to one enemy. | Master Tonberry, Tonberry |
| L4 Death | Instant Death to all targets whose levels are a multiple of 4. | Allemagne, Gargoyle |
| L5 Death | Instant Death to all enemies whose levels are a multiple of 5. Can be learned on the Enemy Skill Materia. | Parasite |
| Roulette | Instant Death to one random enemy or ally. Can be learned on the Enemy Skill Materia. | Death Dealer |
| Scissor Attack | Non-elemental physical damage and Instant Death to one enemy. When used, transforms into Scissors (Upper) and Scissors (Lower). | Scissors |
| Suffocation Song | Instant Death to one enemy. | Christopher |
Protection[]
The following allows the player to protect against Instant Death, but not from Death that results from falling to 0 HP.
| Accessory | Safety Bit |
|---|---|
| Materia | Added Effect + Destruct/Odin in a linked slot on an armor |
| Spell | Death Force (E.Skill) |
Healing[]
The following means remove Death status from allies. Death status cannot be removed from enemies, apart from in the reviving enemies glitch.
| Item | Phoenix Down, Tent |
|---|---|
| Spell | Life, Life2, Phoenix, Angel Whisper |
Sleeping at inns (or equivalent, like the sailor's potion in the cargo ship or the healing spring in Gaea's Cliff) and walking into field traps that affect party health also remove Death.
Enemies[]
The following enemies are immune to Instant Death:
All bosses are immune to Instant Death except Dark Nation, Poodler Sample, Pyramid, Right Arm (Helletic Hojo), and Sample:H0512-opt.
Use[]
Despite how many enemies may resist it, Death is a very powerful status when inflicted instantly. To get around the low accuracy of the Death spell, the player should use Added Effect + Destruct or Odin in a character's weapon, allowing their regular attacks to have a chance to inflict Death. If the player does this, they should make absolute certain that this character is immune to Confusion so as to avoid having their own party wiped out.
As both Odin and Destruct are not available until Nibelheim, the player cannot make use of this status until nearly halfway through the game. Death will not work on the tougher enemies, such as Wolfmeister or any Dragon enemies, but will defeat a wide array of enemies throughout the game from that point forward.
As a late-game setup, the player can link Final Attack Materia with Phoenix to summon the latter as the wearer falls in battle to instantly revive them and any Dead allies.