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appeared. The classes that appear in '' Final Fantasy XI '', the first online-only title, have certain unique implementations that more closely follow MMORPG convention. For information specific to this title, please see ''Final Fantasy XI'' Character Classes . PHYSICAL CLASSES Physical classes fight using a variety of weapons, including their bare hands. Many of them specialize in specific techniques, although generally these attacks are not based in magic. Warrior/Fighter/Knight See Also: Warrior (character class) The ''Warrior'', formerly translated as the ''Fighter'', is portrayed as a skilled Swordsman who can make use of some of the most powerful heavy armors and weaponry in the game. As such, it is a well-rounded physical combatant with both high attack and defense statistics. Initially, the '''''Knight''''' was treated as an upgraded form of the Warrior class, but later games in the series began to use the two terms interchangeably. The Warrior/Knight can be reasonably described as one of the most basic character Archetypes in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. The Warrior has appeared in '' Final Fantasy '', '' Final Fantasy III '', '' Final Fantasy X-2 '' and '' Final Fantasy XI '' while the Knight has appeared in ''Final Fantasy'', ''Final Fantasy III'', '' Final Fantasy V '', '' Final Fantasy Tactics '' and '' Final Fantasy Tactics Advance ''. The class ''Squire'' ('' Final Fantasy Tactics '') bears some similarity to the Warrior class, and it is referred to as the ''Apprentice Warrior'' in the Japanese version of the game. As many of the main characters from the ''Final Fantasy'' series are sword fighters, many of them can be said to be roughly analogous to the Warrior or Knight class, including Cecil Harvey ('' Final Fantasy IV ''), Cloud Strife ('' Final Fantasy VII ''), Squall Leonhart ('' Final Fantasy VIII ''), Adelbert Steiner ('' Final Fantasy IX '') and Tidus ('' Final Fantasy X '') Tidus is more like a hybrid of a Thief and a Warrior, since he doesn't take as much damage as some other characters (a common and usually needed trait for the average Final Fantasy Warrior character). Many games in the series also feature a variety of specialized sword-wielding classes, such as ''Dark Knight'', ''Paladin'', or ''Holy Knight''. While these classes use the same basic type of equipment as the Warrior/Knight, they usually feature unique specialized skills and attacks. Monk The ''Monk'' is a master of martial arts (especially karate) who shuns heavy weapons or armor in favor of barehanded fighting. In the later games, it has also shown a proclivity towards certain meditative techniques which can improve its attack power, or heal its battle wounds. Frequently it has the ability to immediately counterattack against physical attacks directed at its person. In early English localizations of the series, the Monk was known as the ''Black Belt''. The Monk has appeared as a class in ''Final Fantasy'', ''Final Fantasy III'', ''Final Fantasy V'', ''Final Fantasy XI'', ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', and ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance''. The characters Yang Fang Leiden ('' Final Fantasy IV ''), Sabin René Figaro ('' Final Fantasy VI ''), Tifa Lockhart ('' Final Fantasy VII '') and Zell Dincht ('' Final Fantasy VIII '')) can be roughly categorized as Monk-type characters. Amarant Coral ('' Final Fantasy IX '') incorporates a number of characteristics of both the Monk class and the Ninja character class. Berserker A ''Berserker'' is a warrior who fights battles in an unbridled rage, and is thus vicious but uncontrollable. Berserkers characteristically dress in animal skins, much like the classic Norse Berserker s. In most games, the ''Berserker'' has access only to physical attacks is not directly controlled by the player, simply attacking enemies automatically on each battle turn. The character Umaro from ''Final Fantasy VI'' (whose class is given as ''Sasquatch'' in the Japanese Language version and as ''Yeti'' in the North American version) is analogous to the Berserker class. Vincent Valentine's Limit Break Ability in Final Fantasy VII gives him berserker traits. Berserker is present as a class in ''Final Fantasy V'' and ''Final Fantasy X-2''. Many ''Final Fantasy'' games include the spell "Berserk", or some other equivalent ability, which can be used to mimic the characteristics of the berserker class (that is, the target gains increased physical strength and sometimes speed, but becomes uncontrollable and can use only physical attacks). Samurai See Also: Samurai (character class) ''Samurai'' are Japan ese fighters whose weapon of choice is the katana. They hold their blades with both hands for increased damage, and are often associated with the "Coin Toss" (or "Gil Toss" or "GP Rain") special attack. In the original Japanese version of '' Final Fantasy VI '', the character of Cyan Garamonde is identified as a Samurai. Samurai are featured as classes in '' Final Fantasy V '', ''Final Fantasy X-2'', ''Final Fantasy XI'' and ''Final Fantasy Tactics''. In ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', Samurai can unleash the "spirit" of certain katanas with their "Draw Out" skill. Auron , from Final Fantasy X can be seen as a Samurai. Many of his special moves use Samurai terminology such as Bushido and Auron himself is somewhat of a Ronin . Dragon Knight See Also: Dragon Knight (character class) The ''Dragon Knight'' uses spears to ''Jump'' onto enemies. Jump typically does double damage when the user is wielding a spear, and removes the Dragon Knight from combat for a number of rounds. Kain Highwind of ''Final Fantasy IV'', and Freya Crescent of ''Final Fantasy IX'' were Dragon Knights. Cid Highwind (''Final Fantasy VII'') and Ward Zabac (''Final Fantasy VIII'') are similar to Dragon Knights in that they both fight using Harpoon -style weapons and both characters' limit breaks are aerial attacks (jump attack). Kimahri Ronso (''Final Fantasy X'') has abilities from both the Dragon Knight class and the Blue Mage class. Richard Highwind of ''Final Fantasy II'' is referred to as a Dragon Knight, but does not have class's trademark aerial attack. Dragon Knights are available as part of the job system in ''Final Fantasy III'', ''Final Fantasy V'', ''Final Fantasy XI'', ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', and ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance''. The English Software Localization of ''Final Fantasy IV'', ''Final Fantasy XI'' and ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance'' refer to Dragon Knights as ''Dragoons'', and the English localization of ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' refers to them as ''Lancers''. Thief/Ninja See Also: Thief (character class) The ''Thief'' is generally only a mediocre physical combatant, but with an unusually high skill at dodging attacks due to their natural dexterity. They can steal items from their foes, disarm various traps, and sneak up on their opponents unawares. The Thief has appeared as a class in ''Final Fantasy'', ''Final Fantasy III'', ''Final Fantasy V'', ''Final Fantasy X-2'', ''Final Fantasy XI'', ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', and ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance''. The characters Locke Cole (''Final Fantasy VI'') and Zidane Tribal (''Final Fantasy IX'') are characterized as thieves. The '''''Ninja''''', similar to a Thief, is generally both fast and powerful, combining the agility of a Thief and strength of a Fighter. However, in order to achieve this level of dexterity, Ninja are limited in defense, unable to wear heavy armor. Ninja usually possess the Throw ability, which allows them to throw powerful, damage-dealing items like shuriken and items from the inventory such as weapons at the enemy. Specificly to ''Final Fantasy XI'', Ninja shares more in common with a spellcaster than a physical job with the line of Ninjutsu spells. In many games, the Ninja class is treated as an upgraded form of the Thief, and the characters Edge (''Final Fantasy IV''), Yuffie Kisaragi (''Final Fantasy VII''), and Rikku (''Final Fantasy X'') incorporate elements of both the Thief and Ninja classes. MAGICAL CLASSES Magical classes specialize in casting Magic in all its forms. This includes both traditional white and black magic, as well as more esoteric forms of magic, such as Geomancy . Black Mage See Also: Black Mage A ''Black Mage'' is a magic-user that specializes in attack magic. Many of their spells utilize the elements to attack their enemies (fire, ice, electricity, water.). The Black Mage is available as a class in ''Final Fantasy'', ''Final Fantasy III'', ''Final Fantasy V'', ''Final Fantasy X-2'', ''Final Fantasy XI'', ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', and ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance''. In the English localization of ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', Black Mages were called ''Wizards''. Other black mages throughout the series are Tellah (who also exhibits white magic powers), Palom of ''Final Fantasy IV'' and Vivi Ornitier from ''Final Fantasy IX''. On her default sphere path, Lulu of ''Final Fantasy X'' is roughly analogous to a Black Mage. As the series has grown, Black Mages have gained the ability to not only inflict elemental damage, but also to cause certain status ailments such as Blind. White Mage See Also: White Mage A ''White Mage'' uses magic to replenish party members's Hit Point s, revive the wounded, cure status conditions, and deal holy damage to the enemy. White Mages have appeared as a class in ''Final Fantasy'', ''Final Fantasy III'', ''Final Fantasy V'', ''Final Fantasy X-2'', ''Final Fantasy XI'', ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', and ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance''. Rosa Farrell and Porom of ''Final Fantasy IV'' are roughly analogous to White Mages. Aerith Gainsborough of ''Final Fantasy VII'' can be classified as a White Mage as her limit breaks mostly involve healing, curing and reviving party members. Yuna of "Final Fantasy X", Garnet Til Alexandros XVII and Eiko Carol of "Final Fantasy IX" are all a mix of a white mage and summoner. In the English localization of ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', White Mages were referred to as ''Priests''. Time Mage The ''Time Mage'' is a specialized wizard with the ability to manipulate the Space-time Continuum to speed up, slow down, or completely halt the passage of time, to increase or decrease the pull of gravity, or even to open up rifts to another dimension. While it is referred to as ''Time Mage'' in English localizations of the series, some know this as the Time/Space Mage. In actuality, the Japanese version specifically calls these mages "Time Mages" (時魔道士, ''tokimadoushi''). Time Mages have appeared as classes in ''Final Fantasy V'', ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', and ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance'', commonly depicted wearing tall, pointed wizard hats adorned with star and moon decorations. In most games, Time mages' magic appropriately use time magic. In ''Final Fantasy V'', however, Time Mages used time/space magically (literally 時空 ''jikuu'', or time/space). And in ''Final Fantasy XI'', Time magic is divided amongst White, Red, and Black mages (with White Mages receiving teleport spells and some enhancing and enfeebling spells (''Haste'', ''Slow''), Black Mages receiving utility spells to ''Warp'' someone to their binding point or ''Tractor'' a party-member's corpse, and Red Mages receiving the same enhancing and enfeebling time/space magic as White Mage as well as an exclusive enfeeble, ''Gravity''). Blue Mage See Also: Blue Mage The ''Blue Mage'' is a practitioner of blue magic, a specialized school of magic which replicates the special attacks of various monsters, usually through observation: in most games, the only way to learn blue magic spells is to survive being targeted by them. Blue Mages have appeared as classes in ''Final Fantasy V'', ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance'', ''Final Fantasy X-2'' (as '''Gun Mages''), and the ''Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urhgan'' expansion pack. Additionally, various characters in other games have been identified as Blue Mages, including Strago Magus (''Final Fantasy VI'', pictured at left), Quistis Trepe (''Final Fantasy VIII''), Quina Quen (''Final Fantasy IX''), and Kimahri Ronso (''Final Fantasy X''). In '' Final Fantasy VII '', the "Enemy Skills" Materia allows a character to cast blue magic. Summoner See Also: Summoner (character class) ''Summoners'' call upon entities of great power (whose name and source varies from game to game) to attack their enemies, protect their party or render other forms of aid. This type of magic is known within the franchise as Summon Magic . Summoners have appeared as optional classes in ''Final Fantasy III'', ''Final Fantasy V'', ''Final Fantasy XI'', ''Final Fantasy Tactics'', and ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance''. Rydia of ''Final Fantasy IV'', Garnet Til Alexandros XVII and Eiko Carol of ''Final Fantasy IX'', and Yuna of ''Final Fantasy X'' are identified as summoners. In the English localization of ''Final Fantasy IV'', Summoners were referred to as ''Callers''. In games that lacked Summoners, various means of equipping the summon ability (Summon materia, GF, etc.) are provided. Geomancer See Also: Geomancer (character class) ''Geomancers'' channel the powers of the environment around them. Therefore, their abilities differ depending on where they currently are. If in a forest, they will attack with vines and forest animals, if in a cave with rockslides, if in a desert with quicksand, etc.Geomancers are featured in a few Final Fantasy games, either as a class or in loose association with a characters powers. They first appear in ''Final Fantasy III'', and they reappear in ''Final Fantasy V'' and ''Final Fantasy Tactics''. Mog the moogle (Final Fantasy VI) is considered a member of the Dancer class, however, his dances are elemental in nature and change depending on his environment, therefore making his abilities much closer to a Geomancer's than a Dancer's. In the Japanese versions, Geomancers are "風水士 (''fuusuishi'')," which specifically refers to Chinese geomancy or Feng Shui . MIXED CLASSES These classes are capable of both adequate physical attacks and the use of magic or magic-related attacks. Red Mage See Also: Red Mage ''Red Mages'' use the abilities of both Black Mages and White Mages and have the combat abilities of a Fighter, but are dilettantes and are not as good at any one ability as are any of the other classes. In general, they are only able to cast lower-level spells, and even then, not necessarily every one of those. In their later appearances, they were associated with the ability to cast two spells in one combat round. Terra Branford and Celes Chère of ''Final Fantasy VI'' can be roughly classified as Red Mages, as they both wield swords as their primary weapons and automatically learn both black and white magic. Red Mages have also appeared as classes in ''Final Fantasy'', ''Final Fantasy III'', ''Final Fantasy V'', ''Final Fantasy XI'' and ''Final Fantasy Tactics Advance''. Later in the series, such as ''Final Fantasy XI'', the Red Mage began to gain specialized magic (such as Refresh, which slowly restores your MP over time, and the ability Convert, which uses HP to replenish spent MP) that the other mages are not able to. Additionally in ''Final Fantasy XI'', Red Mages have become superior to other mage classes in casting enfeebling magic (status ailments and enfeebling time/space magic such as Gravity and Slow) and enhancing magic (such as Protect), and receives the ability 'Fast Cast' which enables them to cast spells slightly faster than other mages (similar to the double-cast effects in earlier games). Dark Knight See Also: Dark Knight (character class) ''Dark Knights'' are the embodiment of sorrow, regret, and mourning. They wield dark magic dedicated to stealing the health of an enemy. Their special attacks usually involve draining their own health or in some cases, sacrificing themselves, in order to inflict heavy damage on the enemy. They use very heavy armor and weaponry to augment their skills. Some of the most notable dark knights in the series include Leonhart ('' Final Fantasy II ''), Cecil Harvey ('' Final Fantasy IV ''), and Gaff Gafgarion ('' Final Fantasy Tactics ''). They are also found in '' Final Fantasy III '', '' Final Fantasy X-2 '' and '' Final Fantasy XI ''. In ''Final Fantasy XI'' they are a damage dealing class but have relatively weak armor and spells. In '' Final Fantasy VIII '' and '' Final Fantasy IX '', they don't appear, but their trademark ''Darkside'' ability is learnable. Paladin ''Paladins'' are virtuous knights devoted to the good of the people, these "knights in shining armor" wield white magic to aid the people. A possible precursor to the class existed in '' Final Fantasy III '' with the Mystic Knight job, which was a dark sword wielding knight capable of using lower level white magic. Important paladins in the series include Cecil Harvey ('' Final Fantasy IV ''), Beatrix ('' Final Fantasy IX ''), Agrias Oakes , and Delita Samuel Hyral (both of which are called '''Holy Knights''' in '' Final Fantasy Tactics ''). In ''Final Fantasy XI'', they are not as powerful as Dark Knights, but these warriors of the light have heavier armor yet weaker physical attacks. Beatrix from Final Fantasy IX may be considered as a paladin in terms of her abilities and equipment descriptions. Magic Knight ''Magic Knights'' are knights that can cast magic on their swords to perform attacks with the power of the spell for several rounds. They have also been called Mageknights or Biskmatars. In ''Final Fantasy V'' the magic knight can use any magic previously learned on their sword. In ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' it is called ''Temple knight'' and is a special character class. The skill itself is called ''Magic sword''. Their magic power might not be as powerful as the mages' but since each cast can last for more attacks, they use less MP as compared to the mages. Note that the magic effects will affect the target when hit, therefore they are very useful when used to poison, stone, etc. enemies. In ''Final Fantasy V'' when equipped with the sword ''Excalipur'' (the fake version of Excalibur), due to the nature of the sword that will always deal 1 point of damage on the target and never misses, they can stone all enemies that are not immune to the stone effect in 2 turns. In final fantasy VII using a combination of the add affect materia and the hades summon materia can enchant a weapon to inflict status ailments in a way simmilar to that of a magic knight. In ''Final Fantasy IX'', Vivi is able to cast magical effects on Steiner's sword, which resembles the ability of a magic knight. Chemist See Also: Chemist (character class) . ]] Highly proficient in the use of items, ''Chemists'' are generally rather weak attackers with below-average defense; as such, they function best as support units, using special abilities such as "Mix" to cure party members and relieve status ailments. When using the Mix command, Chemists combine two items from the player's inventory to produce a certain effect, be it an elementally-based attack on the enemy party or powerful restorative magic designed to help allies. The Chemist has appeared as a class in '' Final Fantasy V '', '' Final Fantasy Tactics '', '' Final Fantasy Tactics Advance '', and '' Final Fantasy X-2 '' (as ''Alchemist'' in the latter two). Rikku of Final Fantasy X could be considered a Chemist of sorts as her overdrive is the Mix command. Mime ''Mimes'' can mimic the previous action of another party member with the "Mimic" command. In '' Final Fantasy V '', Mimes can be given other previously-learned abilities and commands. In '' Final Fantasy VI '' Gogo can be given up to three special commands that the other characters have. In '' Final Fantasy VII '', the characters equipped with the "Mime" Materia can mimic the most recent action performed by another party member. The class does not appear in "Final Fantasy X" but a move called "Copycat", which allows you to perform any previous action of an ally, is learnable. SEE ALSO |
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