Damages with the difference between your max HP and current HP.
Description
Pumpkin Head is a Blu Mag spell for Quina in Final Fantasy IX that deals the difference in Quina's current and maximum HP as fixed damage to a target at a cost of 12 MP.
Pumpkin Head cannot be reflected but works with Return Magic. The only enemy to use it is the Hedgehog Pie.
Obtain[]
Quina learns Pumpkin Head by eating a Python, Hedgehog Pie, Ladybug, Skeleton, Yeti, Basilisk, or Bandersnatch. The earliest it can be learned is from the Hedgehog Pies on the overworld near Lindblum's Dragon's Gate as soon as Quina is recruited from the nearby Qu's Marsh.
Mechanics[]
Pumpkin Head deals fixed damage to an opponent, the amount being the difference between Quina's current and maximum HP.
Use[]
Pumpkin Head can be handy for bringing enemies within the required health range to become vulnerable to Quina's Eat, as the player can be certain of how much damage it will do. Pumpkin Head is more powerful the lower Quina's HP is, but if Quina is on 1 HP, they should use Limit Glove instead for maximum possible damage in one go. If Quina is low on health, using Pumpkin Head can be more worthwhile than using Attack; Quina can then be in the back row as it would not matter for Blue Magic.
Quina's other fixed damage abilities are 1,000 Needles and Frog Drop, the latter with considerably greater potential than Pumpkin Head should the player partake in the frog catching minigame.
Steiner's Minus Strike has an identical effect to Quina's Pumpkin Head and he has more HP than Quina and is overall more sturdy, however, he also has other more powerful offensive abilities he will likely want to use instead. To make most of a low health Quina in the party, they can be given Reflect and paired with Steiner, Freya and/or Amarant with Cover; Zidane's Protect Girls does not work for protecting Quina.