KO is a status in Final Fantasy.
Content in italics is exclusive to the Dawn of Souls and/or 20th Anniversary releases.
Mechanics[]
Entities with 0 HP are KO'd in battle, unable to act until revived. Some abilities are also able to inflict the status, reducing one to 0 HP without dealing numerical damage. KO'd party members are flagged as defeated for Game Over purposes. Unlike later games, resting effects like inns or Tents have no effect on KO'd party members; the victim must be revived separately before resting.
KO'd enemies are removed from battle entirely and cannot return. KO'd party members remain in battle, but have all other statuses removed, and are unaffected by anything bar effects that remove the KO status.
It is not possible to resist or be immune to the KO status, the most one can do is resist the element of an attack that inflicts the status, reducing its accuracy. Even if a target is listed as resisting Instant Death, this is in reference to the element, rather than effects that can instantly KO.
Abilities[]
Spells[]
| Name | Element | Description | Users |
|---|---|---|---|
| Death | Instant Death | Attempts to inflict KO on one enemy. | Black Mage, Black Wizard Astos, Dark Wizard, Death Eye, Death Gaze, Echidna, Evil Eye, Marilith (#125), Reaper |
| Full-Life | — | Removes KO from one ally and restores 999 HP.[note 1] | White Wizard |
| Kill | Instant Death | Attempts to inflict KO on one enemy. Always succeeds if the target has 300 or less HP and is not resistant against the Instant Death element. Always fails if the target has over 300 HP, or resists the Instant Death element. | Black Wizard Black Dragon, Chronodia (#197/201), Death Gaze, Death Knight, Evil Eye, Lich (#124), Reaper |
| Life | — | Removes KO from one ally and restores 1 HP. | Red Wizard, White Mage, White Wizard |
| Quake | Earth | Attempts to inflict KO on all enemies. | Black Mage, Black Wizard |
| Scourge | Poison | Attempts to inflict KO on all enemies. | Red Wizard, Black Mage, Black Wizard Dark Wizard, Tiamat (#127) |
| Warp | Time | Attempts to inflict KO on all enemies. | Black Wizard Chronodia, Death Eye, Lich (#124) |
- ↑ Restores 9,999 HP prior to pixel remaster.
Enemy abilities[]
| Name | Element | Description | Users |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deadly Gas | Instant Death | Attempts to inflict KO on all enemies. | Earth Plant, Iron Golem |
| Earthquake | Earth | Attempts to inflict KO on all enemies. | Ahriman, Chaos, Echidna, Omega, Sand Worm, Undergrounder |
| Gaze | Instant Death | Attempts to inflict KO on one enemy. | Bloody Eye, Dark Eye, Evil Eye, Pyrolisk |
| Gaze | Time | Attempts to inflict KO on one enemy. | Death Eye |
| Snort | — | Attempts to inflict KO on one enemy. | Typhon |
| Wormhole | Time | Attempts to inflict KO on one enemy. | Atomos |
KO-inflicting attacks[]
| Element | Users |
|---|---|
| Instant Death | Catoblepas, Reaper |
| — | Mindflayer |
Equipment[]
| Equipment | Type | Description | Equipable by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assassin Dagger | Weapon | Casts Kill when used as an item. | Warrior, Knight, Thief, Ninja, Red Mage, Red Wizard, Black Wizard |
| Deathbringer | Weapon | Casts Death when used as an item. | Red Wizard |
| Razer | Weapon | Casts Scourge when used as an item. | Knight, Ninja, Red Wizard |
| Phoenix Down | Item | Removes KO from one ally and restores 1 HP. |