This is a list of all statuses in Final Fantasy V. When the party is under the effect of a status change, they often change color; in the defunct Steam and mobile versions, monsters can also change appearance due to status changes to make the statuses being present more apparent.
List of statuses[]
Critical[]
Near Death is the status given to characters whose current HP is less than 1/8 of their Max HP.
- The Knight's Cover ability protects critical party members from physical attacks, as long as it is from the enemy and not from a party member.
- The Mystic Knight's Magic Shell creates a magic barrier that absorbs magical attacks when in a critical state.
- The Geomancer's Gaia can summon a twister (it has the same effect as Maelstrom) on the second world at normal terrain (this ability is useful against the Kuza Beast).
| Game Element | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Death Claw | Blue Magic | Inflicts paralyze and critical. |
| Bone | Enemy Attack | Inflicts critical. |
| Maelstrom | Enemy Attack | Inflicts critical. |
| Tail Screw | Enemy Attack | Inflicts critical. |
Darkness[]
The player can make use of this status by casting Flash, attacking enemies with a Dark Bow, or via Dark Gas and Dark Sigh mix skills. A character under darkness has their Hit Rate reduced to a quarter and cannot use the Aim ability. A playable character under darkness wears black glasses in their pixel sprites.
- Inflicted by: Flash, Rainbow Wind, Needle, Skunk, Leaf Dance, Dust Storm, Dark Sigh, Dark Gas, Dark Bow, Grand Cross
- Cured by: Heal, Medicine, Nightingale, Cure Blind, Pancea, Eyedrop, Mantra, Pray
- Immunity granted by: Ribbon, Silver Specs, Bone Mail, zombie status
Zombie[]
Zombie is inflicted by several enemy attacks. The player loses control of characters inflicted with zombie, and they automatically attack any random target. The game ends if all characters are zombies. If the status is inflicted to a hidden character, it will result in a bug. If Zombie is inflicted on a singing character, they will continue to sing. Zombified character's will still gain EXP and AP at the end of battle. In the defunct mobile and Steam version, party members afflicted with zombie can have their equipment modified outside of battle.
Characters inflicted with the zombie status have green skin, solid white eyes and zero HP. They are immune to most damage, and equipping a zombified character with the Healing Staff will make them randomly heal party members.
Zombie is not to be mistaken for the "undead" status, which can be obtained by using certain equipment or using the Necromancer job. Zombied characters are immune to the darkness, poison, float, mini, toad, petrify, and death statuses.
| Game Element | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Holy Water+ | Mix | Cures Zombie and restores all HP. |
| Dead Dance | Enemy Attack | Inflicts Zombie. |
| Zombie Breath | Enemy Attack | Inflicts non-elemental damage and has a chance of inflicting Zombie to party. |
| Zombie Powder | Enemy Attack | Inflicts Zombie. Works even if the character is Hiding, which results in a bug. |
| Angel Robe | Armor | Protects against zombie and old. |
| Angel Ring | Accessory | Protects against zombie and old. |
| Holy Water | Item | Cures zombie. |
Poison[]
A character inflicted with poison will lose HP equal to their Max HP/16. Outside of battle, every step taken will result in the poisoned character losing HP equal to Max HP/64. A character under stop will not take damage from poison.
| Game Element | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Poison | Black Magic | Inflicts very minor non-elemental damage and attempts to inflict poison. |
| Bio | Black Magic | Inflicts non-elemental damage and poison. |
| Chaos Burst | Combine | Inflicts moderate non-elemental damage and poison. |
| Evil Mist | Dark Arts | Inflicts non-elemental damage and poison to all enemies. |
| Poison Mist | Gaia | Inflicts poison elemental damage and poison to all enemies. |
| Poison Sword | Spellblade | Inflicts poison. |
| Fin | Enemy Ability | Inflicts non-elemental damage and poison. |
| Incisor | Enemy Ability | When used by Skull Eater, inflicts heavy non-elemental damage and poison. |
| Poison Breath | Enemy Ability | Inflicts heavy non-elemental damage and poison to the party. |
| Poison Powder | Enemy Ability | Inflicts minor non-elemental damage and poison. |
| Sling | Enemy Ability | Inflicts non-elemental damage and poison. |
| Spore | Enemy Ability | Inflicts poison. |
| Venomous Clasp | Enemy Ability | Inflicts poison. |
| Wing Attack | Enemy Ability | Inflicts non-elemental damage and poison. |
| Wring | Enemy Ability | Inflicts moderate non-elemental damage as well as poison, darkness, and paralyze. |
| Poison Axe | Weapon | Poison elemental weapon that has a chance of inflicting poison. |
Float[]
Float protects the party from hazards on the field and earth damage. It is acquired from the Time Mage's Float spell. The Mix item Levisalve (Levitate in the PS version) casts Float on the entire party, and can be mixed from a Phoenix Down and Holy Water. The Blue Magic spell Mighty Guard also casts the status.
Mini[]
The Blue Magic spell Lilliputian Lyric and the White Magic spell Mini are the only means of inflicting mini on a character.
The formula for how mini works is as follows:
- Defense = 0, Evade% = Evade% * 2
Toad[]
Toad-afflicted characters cannot cast spells and their attack is pitiful—but may also inflict toad on their target. Toad-afflicted characters have different sprites for the battle screen and the field map.
The formula for how the toad status works is as follows:
- Defense = 0, Evade% = 0, Magic Defense = 0
| Game Element | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Toad | Black Magic | Inflicts and cures toad. |
| Pond's Chorus | Blue Magic | Inflicts toad. |
| Toad Kiss | Mix | Inflicts toad. |
| Kurururu | Enemy Attack | Inflicts toad to the party. |
Petrify[]
Characters with petrify set are considered 'dead', and a party of four statues equals a Game Over. Petrified characters keep their HP score, but can no longer act, nor can they Cover for other allies. Petrified targets cannot be attacked by conventional attacks; only those that are specifically designed to be able to hit characters with petrify can be directed at them. Monsters with petrify set are just killed, and cannot be healed. Petrify lingers after battle.
The player can inflict the status with Break, Break Blade, and Catoblepas.
KO[]
KO'd units will have all statuses removed excluding blind, mini, and toad. KO'd units are considered defeated for Game Over purposes, along with zombied and petrified units.
Death[]
Some attacks incur the "instant death" property that immediately places the afflicted at 0 HP and knocks them out (player characters) or defeats them (enemies). The Angel Ring makes the player character equipping it immune to Instant Death.
Heavy status on an enemy nullifies a number of instant death effects; this is a separate factor from standard status immunity: some abilities will be blocked by either immunity or Heavy, while some abilities are only blocked by one or the other.
The following instant death abilities work on Heavy enemies but do not bypass Death immunity:
- Black Magic spell Death
- Gaia's Phantom
- Death Potion mix
- Blue Magic spell Roulette
- Killer Bow, Death Sickle and Assassin Dagger
The following instant death ability even works on Heavy targets with Death immunity:
- The Blue Magic spell Level 5 Death ignores both normal immunity and Heavy, but is restricted by the target's level
The following instant death abilities fail on Heavy enemies:
- Time Magic spell Banish
- Gaia's Quicksnad and Bottomless Swamp
- Blue Magic spell Doom
- Samurai's Iainuki
- Summon spell Odin
- When at least one Heavy type enemy is present, summoning Odin will cause him to perform Gungnir instead of Zantetsuken, excluding when summoned via the Magic Lamp, which always triggers Zantetsuken. Heavy targets will not be instantly slain by Zantetsuken if summoned via Magic Lamp, however.
Image (2)[]
Image (2) sets up a duplicate target that causes the next two physical attacks that would otherwise hit, miss. When Image is successful in helping avoid a physical attack, it will remove one image and become Image (1). The command Image, Kiss of Blessing, and the Blink spell set up two images. The image status wears off after battle.
Image (1)[]
After losing one "image" from Image (2), it will become Image (1). Image (1) sets up one duplicate target that causes one physical attack that would otherwise hit, miss. When Image is successful in helping avoid a physical attack, it will be removed. The Mirage Vest only gives a single Image. The image status wears off after battle.
Silence[]
Black Magic, White Magic, Red Magic, Time Magic, Summon, Spellblade, and Sing are unusable. Blue Magic is unaffected as well as magic used through weapons. Enemy spells are considered Blue Magic and thus are unaffected by silence.
The player can inflict silence through Silence spell and Silence Blade, as well as the Mute spell that affects both allies and enemies.
Berserk[]
Berserked characters or monsters will deal 50% increased damage with their normal physical attacks, but are forced to execute a basic physical attack every turn. Berserked targets are immune to the effects of confuse, charm, and the Lilith Rod, nor can they be the victim of Control. Berserked characters will not use Cover for other allies. Monsters will not counter attacks when berserked, but characters with Counter set may still. Blessed Kiss ignores Berserk immunity. Berserk wears off automatically. In all versions besides the defunct mobile/Steam version, Berserk resets the unit's ATB.
The player can inflict Berserk via Berserk White Magic spell, Blessed Kiss and Bacchus's Cider mixes, and Moon Flute Blue Magic spell.
Confuse[]
A confused character with White/Black/Red Magic can attempt to cast a random spell on the wrong party; damaging spells against allies and support spells on the enemies. Confused characters cannot evade attacks or use Cover.
Confused enemies will attempt to use an ability from their Controlled ability list.
In all versions besides the defunct mobile/Steam version, Confuse resets the unit's ATB.
The player can inflict the status with the Confuse spell, as well as Lamia Kiss and Dark Sigh mixes.
Paralyze[]
Paralyzed units cannot act, nor will they cover for other allies. The duration of paralyze depends on the attack setting it. A paralyzed target cannot avoid physical attacks, not even with the help of Elven Mantles, Main Gauches, or Aegis Shields. Paralyze wears off automatically.
The following weapons may inflict paralysis on hit:
The following abilities may inflict paralyze:
- Constrict, Remora ability
- Mineuchi Samurai ability
- Death Claw and Mind Blast Blue Magic spells
- Chaos Drive Dark Arts ability
The player can immunize their party against paralysis with Hermes Sandals, Genji Gloves, and Genji Shield.
Sleep[]
Sleeping targets cannot act. The duration of sleep depends on the attack setting it. A sleeping target cannot avoid attacks, not even with the help of Elven Mantles, Main Gauches, or Aegis Shields. Sleeping creatures automatically wake up when they take physical damage, but not from magical damage. The only two exceptions are Mineuchi and the last two hits of Rapid Fire. Sleeping characters will not cover for other allies. Sleep wears off automatically.
The player can inflict sleep with the Sleep spell, Time Slip, and Sleep Blade.
Old[]
Also known as Aging, afflicted party members see their stats gradually deteriorate to 1 while their level remains the same. Monsters will have their level and agility gradually sink to 1 for all purposes; attacks that check for level will look at this deteriorating level. Old lasts the entire battle until cured, but is removed at the end of battle. Level 2 Old ignores old immunity. The player can also inflict it with Time Slip and the Old spell.
Regen[]
Regen periodically regenerates HP based on a character's LV and Stamina; skills that raise LV or Stamina also boost the HP healed by regen. Regen will not heal a character with stop status. Dragon Defense mix ignores regen immunity.
The rate of regen is as follows:
The player can bestow the status with Regen spell, Dragon Defense, and Lifewater.
Invincible[]
Invincible only occurs on monsters. They can be targeted, but will not receive damage or status changes of any kind, even beneficial changes. The conditions for removing invincibility differ between each fight.
The following monsters possess invincible at some stage of their fight:
- Necrophobe - While at least one of his four Barriers are alive
- Guardian - While at least one of its two Launchers are alive
- Neo Shinryu - Has a formless and unselectable invulnerable form that is responsible for its attacks. Destroying the vulnerable form causes the invulnerable form to be destroyed.
- Enuo - His two arms are invincible. Destroying the main body's first form removes the hands from the battle.
Slow[]
Causes the ATB bar from both characters and monsters to take twice as long to fill. Mutually exclusive with haste; slow is removed when haste is set and vice versa. Slow doubles countdown timers caused by the Doom spell and Condemn.
The player can inflict the status via Slow and Slowga spells.
Haste[]
Causes the ATB bar from both characters and monsters to take half as long to fill. Mutually exclusive from slow; haste is removed when slow is set and vice versa. Haste halves countdown timers caused by the Doom spell and Condemn.
The player can bestow their party with haste with the Haste and Hastega spells, Hermes Sandals, Speed Shake, and Blessed Kiss and Hasty-ade mixes.
Stop[]
Stopped units cannot act. The duration of stop depends on the attack setting it. A stopped target cannot avoid physical attacks, not even with the help of Elven Mantles, Main Gauches, or Aegis Shields. Stopped characters will not cover for other allies. Timers will not go on; ATB bar will be frozen, countdown timers, status duration timers, regen and poison will not take effect. Sap will continue.
The player can inflict the status with the Stop spell.
Shell[]
Targets with shell active take only half damage from magical attacks, and magical attacks that are not unblockable have their Hit Rate halved. Magical attacks that are almost entirely barrier-piercing are still halved in effect; magical attacks that disregard Magic Defense due to elemental edges are still halved in damage, magical attacks that deal a set amount of damage are unaffected. Shell ends after battle.
The player can bestow shell with Shell spell, Mighty Guard, Magic Shell, and the Dragon Defense and Protect Potion mixes.
Protect[]
Targets with protect active take only half damage from physical attacks. Physical attacks that disregard Defense due to an elemental edge, or any other physical attack that ignores Defense completely, is still halved by protect. Protect ends after battle.
The player can bestow protect with Protect spell, Mighty Guard, and the Dragon Defense and Protect Potion mixes.
Reflect[]
The reflect status allows certain spells to bounce off the target onto the opposing party. Reflect may be achieved through the spell Reflect, the accessory Reflect Ring, the summon Carbuncle, and the mix Dragon Defense.
Reflect is the only positive status that lapses. Enemies can be immune to reflect, but the Dragon Defense mix ignores it. The status lasts longer the high level the user of Reflect/Carbuncle is.
Reflect can reflect the following:
- All White Magic spells, except Dispel (which removes it instead).
- All Black Magic spells, except Drain and Osmose.
- For Time Magic spells, the following can be reflected: Slow, Regen, Haste, Float, Gravity, Stop, Slowga, Graviga, Hastega, Old, and Banish.
- For Blue Magic spells, the following can be reflected: Level 5 Death, Level 4 Graviga, Level 3 Flare, Level 2 Old, Aero, Aera, Aeroga, Mind Blast, Mighty Guard, Dark Spark, and Off-Guard.
- For enemy abilities, the following can be reflected: Delta Attack, Search, 100 Gs, Blaster, Gamma Ray, Atomic Ray, Frostbite, Electrocute, and Mega Flare.
The reflected spell needs a target for the status to activate. In the Necrophobe battle, the Barriers can destroy themselves if the entire party hides, as reflect does not trigger if there is no valid target to bounce a spell into.
Added effects from weapons can bounce from reflect, such as Assassin Dagger's death effect.
Hidden[]
The Level 1 ability for the Bard class, Hide, gives the hidden status that makes the user unable to be targeted. If all party members are in the status, they run from the battle unless it is impossible to do so. By having all party members hiding and never coming out of hiding, it is possible to completely avoid taking damage and force the enemy to miss every attack that they perform, eventually wasting all of its MP. This status can also give rise to the hidden zombies bug.
Singing[]
When the Bard class is using a Sing command, they may enter the singing status. While the effects of some songs are instantaneous, other songs are ongoing, meaning the Bard will continue to sing until they are hit by an attack, killed, or silenced, though in most cases the song's effect will remain even after the Bard stops singing.
Sap[]
Sap causes the current HP of the target to drop by a marginal, absolute amount every interval. Stop will not stop the erosion. The duration of sap depends on the attack setting it. Sap automatically ends at the end of the battle.
Doom[]
The Doom status is applied through the Blue Magic spell and Oracle ability Doom, the enemy ability Grand Cross, and through the accessory Cursed Ring. It cannot be removed and starts the counter at 30 seconds (15 seconds for characters with Haste). When the counter expires, the afflicted is inflicted with Death.
Controlled[]
Users who have a target under the controlled status, only possible through the Control command, are given a list of abilities. Usually the first one is Attack, and beneath it are between one and three other commands. A unit with the status has its sprite flipped horizontally, so they face the other direction. When in this status, the controller cannot attack; instead when it is their turn the enemy under control moves instead. If the target is under berserk or confuse, or is already being controlled, the status will miss.
False Image[]
The target cannot be affected by any action, except to toggle the status. This status is used by the false images of Wendigo and Pantera. Neo Shinryu's vulnerable form toggles False Image status on itself on every turn.
Erased[]
Erased status is caused only by Encircle, that removes the target from battle, thus cannot be healed or attacked, and only will be back to action via Return spell. It is removed automatically after battle.
Jumping[]
This status is caused when using the Jump and the dummied Hishou command. A jumping character can't be targeted by anything except for the enemy ability Interceptor, used by Mecha Head. The effect is dispelled when jump is finished.
Charm[]
Charm status is inflicted by the Dancer ability Flirt and the Lilith Rod. It causes the target to waste its next turn displaying the "Entranced!" message, after which the status wears off.
Undead[]
Undead characters are immune to some status ailments, but take damage from many healing methods and are healed by drain/death spells.
Undead is applied by the Necromancer job, the job's Undead support ability, and the Bone Mail. Bone Mail wearers cannot be revived in battle, but Necromancers/characters with the Undead ability can.
Gallery[]
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