Instant Death

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FFIV TAY iOS Instant Death from Triton's Dagger — Calca inflicting Instant Death to an enemy with the use of Triton's Dagger in *Final Fantasy IV: The After Years*.

Instant Death (即死, Sokushi?), also called Sudden Death, Death, Fatal, Swoon, Dead, KO, Fell, Dispatch, and Stun, refers to an attack that immediately kills its victim regardless of what HP they have remaining. Instant death attacks are recurrent throughout the Final Fantasy series; several bosses, including final bosses, are known to use instant death moves, and some summons, such as Odin and Yojimbo, can also kill instantly. Instant death spells generally do not work on bosses, however, exceptions do exist.

In most games, attacks that inflict instant death do not display damage points when hit, even if the attack would have inflicted normal damage if instant death had not taken effect. In some games, indicators such as the word "Death" or the abbreviation "KO" may appear instead of damage points.

As with the use of curative and resurrection spells, such as Raise, instant death's effect is often reversed for the undead. In some games, using an instant death ability on the undead will fully heal it in the same way that using Raise would kill it, though there are some exceptions, such as the undead in Final Fantasy XII.

Appearances[]

Final Fantasy[]

Game Element	Type	Effect
Scourge	Black Magic	Inflicts Death upon all vulnerable opposing combatants, with a low rate of success.
Death	Black Magic	Inflicts Death upon vulnerable opposing combatants.
Quake	Black Magic	Inflicts Death upon all opposing combatants.
Break	Black Magic	Inflicts Death upon one opposing combatant via petrification.
Kill	Black Magic	Inflicts Death upon one opposing combatant.
Warp	Black Magic	Inflicts Death upon all opposing combatants when cast during combat.
Earthquake	Enemy Ability	Inflicts Death upon all opposing combatants.
Razer	Weapon	Casts Scourge when used as an item in battle.
Deathbringer	Weapon	Casts Death when used as an item in battle.
Assassin Dagger	Weapon	Casts Kill when used as an item in battle.
Mindflayer	Enemy	Can inflict Death via physical attacks.

Final Fantasy II[]

Game Element	Type	Effect
Death	Black Magic	Inflicts Death.
Warp	Black Magic	Inflicts Death when used in battle.
Teleport	White Magic	Inflicts Death when used in battle.
Toad	Black Magic	Inflicts Death on enemies, and turns party members into Toads.
Break	Black Magic	Inflicts Death on enemies, and petrifies party members.
Mini	White Magic	Inflicts Death on enemies, and inflicts Mini on party members.
Hecteyes	Enemy	Can inflict Death via physical attacks.
Coeurl	Enemy	Can inflict Death via physical attacks.
Orukat	Enemy	Can inflict Death via physical attacks.
Cait Sith	Enemy	Can inflict Death via physical attacks.

Final Fantasy III[]

Game Element	Type	Effect
Mini	White Magic	Low chance of instantly defeat one enemy.
Toad	White Magic	Low chance of instantly defeat one enemy.
Raze	Black Magic	Inflicts Death to weaker enemies.
Death	Black Magic	Inflicts Death.
Lilith Rod	Item Magic	Casts Death when used as an item.
Black Musk	Item	Casts Death
Devils' Sigh	Item	Casts Raze
Black Hole	Item	Casts Warp
Zantetsuken	Summon Odin	Chance of causing Instant Death on all enemies.
Rend	Summon Bahamut	Chance of causing Instant Death on one enemy.

Final Fantasy IV[]

Game Element	Type	Effect
Deathbringer	Weapon	May inflict Death.
Death	Black Magic	Inflicts Death to Weaker Enemies.
Odin	Summon Magic	Inflicts Death 50% of the time.
Black Fang	Enemy Attack	Inflicts Death.
Blaster	Enemy Attack	50% chance to inflict either Death or Paralyze.
Ninth Dimension	Enemy Attack	Inflicts Death. Is Reflectable.
Assassin's Dagger	Weapon	May inflict Death.
Coeurl Whisker	Item	Casts Death
Dark Bahamut (3D)	Boss	Physical attacks may inflict Death.

Final Fantasy IV -Interlude-[]

Game Element	Type	Effect
Death	Black Magic	Inflicts Death to Weaker Enemies.
Odin	Summon Magic	Inflicts Death 50% of the time.
Ninth Dimension	Enemy Attack	Inflicts Death. Is Reflectable.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years[]

Game Element	Type	Effect
Death	Black Magic	Inflicts Death to Weaker Enemies.
Odin	Summon Magic	Inflicts Death 50% of the time.
Black Fang	Enemy Attack	Inflicts Death.
Ninth Dimension	Enemy Attack	Inflicts Death. Is Reflectable.
Assassin's Dagger	Weapon	May inflict Death.

Final Fantasy V[]

Main article: Death (Final Fantasy V status)

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 Angel Ring makes the player character equipping it immune to Instant Death.

Final Fantasy VI[]

Main article: Death (Final Fantasy VI status)

Death instantly kills the target regardless of the current amount of HP they have remaining. Some instant death moves work on the undead, whereas others restore undead to full health.

Final Fantasy VII[]

Main article: Death (Final Fantasy VII status)

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.

Final Fantasy VII Remake[]

This section about a status effect in Final Fantasy VII Remake is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth[]

Tonberry-type enemies use instant death.

This section about a status effect in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.

Final Fantasy VIII[]

Main article: Death (Final Fantasy VIII status)

Each player character has a brief and unique death animation. When allies are KO, they lay on the ground until revived and their ATB bar is emptied. Enemies fade out and are removed from the battlefield after their death animation is finished. The effect remains indefinitely until the party member is resurrected, even outside of battle. Sudden Death is when a character is instantly killed, whereas normal Death occurs when HP reaches 0. Enemies struck by Sudden Death will skip their normal death animation and simply fade out red after being struck. Guardian Forces will also die if they run out of HP. Phoenix Downs and Life magic revive fallen allies, but may cause sudden death to undead, including targets that have the Zombie status. On the flip side, using Death spells or attacks against the undead may fully replenish their HP.

Final Fantasy IX[]

Main article: KO (Final Fantasy IX)

The player can inflict instant KO with Iai Strike (Swd Art), Death (Blk Mag), LV5 Death (Blu Mag), Odin (Zantetsuken), and Avenger 5% with Add Status. Instant Death cannot be protected against with immunity abilities.

Final Fantasy X[]

Main article: KO (Final Fantasy X)

The player can inflict instant KO with some abilities, such as Deathstrike, and protect against instant KO with Deathproof.

Final Fantasy X-2[]

Game Element	Type	Effect
Death	Arcana	Inflicts Death.
Carrier Flurry	Flurry	Inflicts Death.
Death Flurry	Flurry	Inflicts non-elemental damage and Death.
Zantetsu	Bushido	Inflicts Death.
Shin-Zantetsu	Bushido	Inflicts Death to all enemies.
PuPu Platter	Wildcat	Inflicts Instant Death to all enemies.
Arsenic Knife	Cutlery	Inflicts Instant Death.
Death Petals	Fallalery	Inflicts Death.
Death Missile	Machinations	Inflicts Death.
Death	Full Throttle	Inflicts Death.
Death Blast	Enemy Attack	Inflicts damage equal to remaining HP and Death.
Gun Payback	Enemy Attack	Inflicts physical damage and Death to a Gunner, Gun Mage, or Alchemist.
Killer Fang	Enemy Attack	Inflicts physical damage and Death.
Mage Payback	Enemy Attack	Inflicts physical damage and Death to a White or Black Mage.
Russian Roulette	Enemy Attack	1st version. Inflicts physical damage and Death.
Sword Payback	Enemy Attack	Inflicts physical damage and Death to a Warrior, Samurai, or Dark Knight.
Deathproof	Auto Ability	Prevents Death.

Final Fantasy XI[]

Game Element	Type	Effect
Atma of Cloak and Dagger	Atma	Bestows "minor" Resist Death.
Atma of the Einherjar	Atma	Bestows "superior" Resist Death.
Atma of the Winged Gloom	Atma	Bestows "major" Resist Death.
Dark Sun	NM Skill	Inflicts Death on anyone in range.
Death	Dark Magic	Inflicts Death.
Deathly Glare	NM Skill	Inflicts Death as a gaze attack within a conal area.
Death Prophet	Enemy Skill	Inflicts Death on anyone in a conal area.
Eihwaz Ring	Equipment (Ring)	Has a small chance to resist Death attacks.
Extremely Bad Breath	NM Skill	Inflicts Death on players in range.
Heimdall's Doom	Weapon (One-handed Sword)	Has a small chance to inflict Death.
Mortal Blast	NM Skill	Inflicts Death as a gaze attack within a conal area.
Pavor Nocturnus	Diabolos Skill	Inflicts Dispel and has a small chance of inflicting Death; success rate increases if target is asleep.
Perdition	Enemy Skill	Inflicts Death.
Shadow Ring	Equipment (Ring)	Has a small chance to resist Death attacks.
Svaha	Notorious Monster	Melee attacks have a very low chance of inflicting Death.
Tera Slash	NM Skill	When used by Arch Dynamis Lord, has a chance to inflict Death on those hit by it.
Thar She Blows	Enemy Skill	Inflicts Death on those within a frontal area.
Twilight Scythe	Weapon (Scythe)	Has a small chance to inflict Death on normal hits or physical weapon skills.
Tyrant Tusk	NM Skill	Deals Dark elemental damage and inflicts Bio status, but if the target would fall to less than half HP as a result of this damage, the damage is negated and victim simply dies instead. Apparently unaffected by Resist Death effects.
Zantetsuken	Odin Skill	Inflicts Death on anyone in range. Will simply deal damage to Notorious Monsters and others immune to Death.

Final Fantasy XII[]

Final Fantasy XIII[]

Game Element	Type	Effect
Death	Full ATB skill, Enemy Ability	Inflicts Instant Death with a low rate of success, inflicts non-elemental damage when it fails.
Zantetsuken	Gestalt Ability	Inflicts Instant Death on all enemies with low HP, inflicts non-elemental damage otherwise.
Progenitorial Wrath	Enemy Ability	Inflicts Instant Death with a 50% rate of success, inflicts non-elemental damage when it fails.

Final Fantasy XIV[]

Various enemies and certain player spells can inflict instant death, which will trigger the message "[target] has been sentenced to death!" in the battle log. For instance, Level 5 Death is a spell cast by Page 64 enemies in The Great Gubal Library and can be learned by the Blue Mage class, which can inflict instant death on most enemies, provided their level is a multiple of 5 and not higher than the player's.

Most boss encounters have enrage mechanics that will deal unavoidable, lethal damage to all players in the encounter, usually to punish poor performance or failing mechanics. While not an instant death in the conventional sense of the series, these attacks will always ignore defense and will even be repeated should the player bypass the enrage through resurrection.

Final Fantasy XV[]

Instant death can be inflicted on enemies with the Death Penalty gun, as well as Killcast magic. Death and Alterna are spells used with the Ring of the Lucii that can defeat opponents without depleting their health to 0 first. Death fills an invisible gauge that enemies have variable resistance to while also dealing damage; if the instant death effect takes effect before the target runs out of HP, they will die. Alterna can remove enemies from the battle and thus instantly defeat them. Though it works on almost every opponent, even superbosses, the effect is random and some enemies resist it more than others.

Headshots against imperial troopers with the Cerberus rifle defeat them in one hit.

Some enemies, such as coeurls, can inflict Instant Death on the party. The player can protect against Instant Death with the Safety Bit and Ribbon accessories, the Assassin's Creed attires and the Deathproof food buff.

Final Fantasy XVI[]

Clive's Zantetsuken Level 5 culminates in a cut that deals no damage but the animation slices enemies without a will gauge in half and defeats them instantly.

Certain bosses defeat player characters instantly if not enough damage is dealt in time. The Eikon of Fire can defeat the Phoenix instantly, although if the player dealt enough damage, Phoenix will restore his HP soon after using Flames of Rebirth. Omega Aionios is capable of instantly defeating the entire party with Omega Protocol, which triggers a Game Over after a cinematic cutscene depicting the dimension being compressed. Leviathan is capable of killing Ifrit with Tsunami if the player is unable to pass the DPS check, Leviathan will flood Mysidia and drowning the player, triggering a Game Over as well.

Final Fantasy Type-0[]

Killsights cause instant death to enemies when in battle with them. To initiate a killsight, the cursor has to be red when the player attacks.

Instant Death also has a 10% chance to be inflicted through certain weapons.

Final Fantasy Tactics[]

Game Element	Type	Effect
Death	Black Magic	Inflicts Death.
Magma Surge	Geomancy	Deals fire-elemental damage with a chance of inflicting Death.
Northswain's Strike	Holy Sword, Swordplay	Deals non-elemental physical damage with a chance of inflicting Death.
Finishing Touch	Limit	Deals non-elemental physical damage with a chance of inflicting Death.
Suffocate	Subdual Arts	Inflicts Death, 100% hit rate.
Bioga	Befoul, Bio, Magicks	Deals non-elemental magick damage with a chance of inflicting Death.
Dark Whisper	Enemy Ability	Deals dark-elemental magick damage with a chance of inflicting Death.
Heave	Enemy Ability	Deals non-elemental physical damage with a chance of inflicting Death.
Valhalla	Weapon	May inflict Death on the enemy it hits.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance[]

Game Element	Type	Effect
Death	Alchemy Skill	Instantly KOs one target.
Roulette	Blue Magic	Instantly KOs a unit chosen at random on the battlefield.
Last Breath	Corner	Instantly KOs one target.
LV5 Death	Enemy Attack	Instantly KOs any target in range with a level divisible by 5.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift[]

Game Element	Type	Effect
Death	Arcane Magick	Instantly KOs one target.
Last Breath	Assassination	Instantly KOs one target.
Roulette	Blue Magick	Instantly KOs a unit chosen at random on the battlefield.
Mirror Items	Survivalism	Instantly KOs one target when used with a Phoenix Down.

Final Fantasy Mystic Quest[]

Game Element	Type	Effect
Life	White Magic	Inflict Fatal on single enemy target.
Doom Dance	Enemy Ability	Inflicts Fatal.
Doom Gaze	Enemy Ability	Inflicts Fatal.
Doom Powder	Enemy Ability	Inflicts Fatal.
Corrode Gas	Enemy Ability	Inflicts Fatal.

The Final Fantasy Legend[]

Enemies that are Dead are permanently removed from battle. Ally units in Dead status can be revived according to the number of hearts they carry. Add hearts with the Heart item. Revive at a House of Life or with the Revive item.

Game Element	Type	Effect
Hyper	Cannon	Inflicts Dead to all enemies.
Death	Magic Book	Inflicts Dead to one enemy.
Saw	Assorted Others	Inflicts Dead to an enemy if it hits.
King	Armor	Grants resistance to Fire, Ice, Elec, Poison, Stone, Para, Weapon, and Quake.
Arthur	Armor	Grants resistance to Stone and Para.
Dragon	Helmet	Grants resistance to Stone, Para, Weapon, and Quake.
Band	Helmet	Grants resistance to Fire, Ice, Elec, Poison, Stone, Para, Weapon, and Quake.
Aezis	Shield	Grants the party Stone, Para, Weapon, and Quake resistance with 100% success.
King	Shield	Grants the party Ice, Stone, Para resistance with 255% success.
Stop	Enemy Ability	Inflicts Dead to an enemy group.
D-Beam	Enemy Ability	Inflicts Dead to an enemy group.
D-Fangs	Enemy Ability	Inflicts Dead to an enemy group.
Saw	Enemy Ability	Inflicts Dead to an enemy group.
All	Enemy Ability	Resists Fire, Ice, Elec, Pois, Ston, Para, Weapon, and Quake.
Change	Enemy Ability	Resists Ston, Para, and Weapon.
Par/Wp	Enemy Ability	Resists Para and Weapon.
Para	Enemy Ability	Resists Dead, Blin, Slep, Conf, Curs, and Para.

Final Fantasy Legend II[]

Game Element	Type	Effect
Wizard	Staff	Inflicts Stun to all enemies.
ChainSaw	Assorted Others	Inflicts Stun; cannot cut if Str < Def - 9; or against Weapon if Str < 2 x(Def - 4).
Death	Magic Book	Inflicts Stun on non-undead (Skelton, Zombie, O-Bake).
Erase	Enemy Ability	Inflicts Stun; one group.
FatalGas	Enemy Ability	Inflicts Stun; one group.
X-Gaze	Enemy Ability	Inflicts Stun; one group.

Final Fantasy Legend III[]

The target is instantly killed and becomes Fell.

Game Element	Type	Effect
Fatal	Can inflict Fatal	Kills one enemy.
LifeA	Can inflict Fatal	Kills one enemy.
Dispel	Can inflict Fatal	Attacks one enemy.
Dance	Can inflict Fatal	Attacks one enemy.
XPowder	Can inflict Fatal	Kills one enemy.
X-Gaze	Can inflict Fatal	Kills one enemy.
X-Flash	Can inflict Fatal	Kills one enemy.
X-Heat	Can inflict Fatal	Kills one enemy.

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light[]

The player gains access to sudden death moves with the Death spell, the Ranger's Smashing Blow (25% chance), Monk's Ghost Army and the Bandit's Deadly Blow attack. The Party Host's Pot Luck command has a random chance of executing Sudden Death that kills all opponents instantly.

Some of the tougher bosses use sudden death attacks against the party, such as the Leviathan, that has a chance of instantly defeating a party member with its physical attacks.

Game Element	Type	Effect
Death	Arcane Magick	Inflict KO on target.
Warp	Time Magick	Inflict KO on targets over an area.
Raise	White Magick	Inflict KO on undead target.
Arise	White Magick	Inflict KO on undead target.
Bonecrusher	Technick	Sacrifice HP to inflict KO on target.
Warp Mote	Item	Inflict KO on targets over an area.
Phoenix Down	Item	Inflict KO on undead target or when used with Nihopalaoa.
Deathbringer	Weapon	Deal damage and may inflict KO on a target.
Assassin's Arrows	Weapon	Deal damage and may inflict KO on a target.
Assassin's Dagger	Weapon	Deal damage and may inflict KO on a target.
Kill	Esper Ability, Enemy Ability	Inflict KO on target.
Death Strike	Enemy Ability	Inflict KO on target.
Sonic Fangs	Enemy Ability	Deal damage and may inflict KO on a target.
Crushing Fangs	Enemy Ability	Deal damage and may inflict KO on a target.
Prime Level Death	Enemy Ability	Inflict KO on party members whose levels are a prime number.
Dimensional Rift	Enemy Ability	Inflict KO on target and user.
Darkja	Enemy Ability	Deal Dark-elemental damage to party members and many inflict Blind and/or KO.