Zombie (status) (2024)

Zombie (ゾンビ, Zonbi?), also known as Undead, is a status ailment in various games in the Final Fantasy series, and is, along with "Zombify", often the name of the spell that causes the status. Its effects vary from game to game.

In some games, Zombie reduces the character's HP to 0 and makes them uncontrollable and hostile to the party, similar to Charm. In these games, a zombified character is flagged as defeated for the purpose of Game Overs.

In other games, Zombie status makes the afflicted characters undead, acquiring the same inherent weaknesses, resistances, and immunities as undead monsters, while leaving them alive and under player control. Typically, this means that healing magic (and some healing items), HP- and MP-drain, and some Instant Death effects have the reverse effect. The reviving items and spells have the same effect as Death (though in some games it simply deals a significant amount of damage). The spell Reverse in Final Fantasy XII bears some similarities to this status. In some games, Zombie status cuts physical damage taken.

In some games, such as Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI, both versions of the status condition appear, with the former known as Zombie and the latter referred to as Undead.

Zombie can typically be cured via Holy Water (also been called Magic Tag or Revivify), and not by normal healing items/spells. Zombie status usually persists outside of combat.

Appearance[]

Final Fantasy V[]

Zombie is inflicted by several enemy attacks. The player loses control of afflicted characters, and they attack any random ally. Zombie is not to be mistaken for the "Undead" status, obtained by using certain equipment, or using the Necromancer job. Zombified characters will still gain EXP and AP at the end of battle.

Zombified characters have green skin, 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. Zombified characters are immune to the darkness, poison, float, mini, toad, petrify, and sudden death statuses.

The player can use the Angel Ring accessory to protect against Zombie and use the Holy Water item to heal it, if afflicted. Zombie persists after battle but is not removed with Tent or Cottage.

Final Fantasy VI[]

A party member inflicted by zombie will become uncontrollable, and counts as dead for Game Over purposes. The character will keep attacking both enemies and allies even if HP is displayed as 0.

Final Fantasy VI also has the hidden Undead status inflicted upon a character who wears the Lich Ring relic. There are no cosmetic changes, but the character is damaged by healing magic and is healed by spells like Drain and Death. Certain monsters possess Undead status inherently, and Gau or Gogo can acquire Undead status through Rages, see here for details. Undead status has no effect outside of combat, since it expires at the end of battle.

Final Fantasy VIII[]

The afflicted receives damage from curative items and magic, and is instantly killed by Life magic and items. Absorption abilities' effects are reversed. Targets under Zombie gain innate immunity to instant Death and Doom, take double damage from Holy-elemental attacks, and halve damage from physical attacks (the in-game Information menu erroneously states that Zombie increases attack power).

Elixirs, Megalixirs, and Full-cure will completely reduce the HP of party members afflicted with Zombie, rather than prioritizing healing the status. Outside of battle, healing items and spells will have no effect. The effect remains until healed, even after battle. The status is removed with Holy Water, Esuna, and Treatment.

Final Fantasy IX[]

Healing spells, potions, and Regen are reversed, causing damage. Zombie persists on KO'd party members and disables the effects of Phoenix Downs and Life spells and Revive and Phoenix; the only way to revive a Zombified party member is to use Auto-Life. Zombie members' Trance gauges become depleted and cannot fill, and if the status persists at the end of battle, the afflicted will not gain any EXP or AP. Zombie is cured with Magic Tags.

Zombified targets can still be healed with jewels mid-battle, such as Ore, and Death and Doom restore them to full health. Outside of battle, their HP can be replenished with Tents, but this does not cure their Zombie status.

Final Fantasy X[]

Zombie can be inflicted on enemies by use of the Zombie Attack skill, located in Auron's section of the Sphere Grid, and by the Zombietouch and Zombiestrike weapon abilities. Characters and enemies afflicted with the Zombie status have a glowing green body and black smoke clouds around their heads. Zombie can be cured via Holy Water or Remedy, but it notably cannot be cured with the spell Esuna. Evrae Altana and Fallen Monk start the battle under permanent Zombie status.

Zombie causes items and abilities that normally heal HP to deal damage instead. Revivification abilities, such as Life and the item Phoenix Down, will instantly kill targets under the Zombie status, or deal damage equal to the HP it would normally heal if the enemy is immune to revivification, such as Barbatos and Evrae Altana. Enemies that are only immune to Instant Death will still die from those abilities, such as Behemoth and Dark Flan.

Abilities that normally drain HP or MP, such as Drain, Osmose, and Lancet, reverse the effect if used by or against Zombies, dealing damage to the spellcaster and healing its target. If both the target and the caster are Zombified, the spells work like normal; the Zombie hit with the draining ability will lose HP and/or MP, and the spellcaster will regain the HP and/or MP.

A Zombified character can still be healed if it is hit by an elemental attack while equipped with the appropriate Eater ability. Another notable boon to the Zombie status is that characters under Zombie cannot be KO'd using standard Instant Death attacks, as their resistance to them is increased significantly. This can be used to the player's advantage in the battle against Yunalesca, who uses Zombie attacks, and later in battle casts Mega Death on the entire party, knocking out everyone not under Zombie status. Zombie does not protect against attacks that always inflict Instant Death, such as Fenrir's Fangs of Hell. It also will not prevent Doom from taking effect.

Final Fantasy XI[]

"Zombie" is one name that players give to the particular form of the Curse status that prevents healing effects from working on the character until it wears off.

There is also an internal-use only status that undead have to take damage from Cure spells; normally, this status is not accessible to players, nor can it be removed from the undead. However, a bug in the Absorbing Shield's enchantment (which absorbs status effects from monsters) allowed players to make themselves undead until it was fixed.

Possibly as either a reference to the above bug incident, or to past incidences of the Zombie status in the series, or both, some of the lore for certain seasonal events referred to certain non-player characters as "using a forbidden curse to mask their vital signs".

Final Fantasy Tactics[]

Undead is a status effect. The afflicted character appears in a purplish tint. Some human enemies and monsters are inherently undead. Curing items, magick, and skills (except Chakra), damage undead characters. Even though Cure spells will damage the character, they will not try to evade it. HP loss from Cure spells will still trigger damage-dependent reaction abilities, such as MP Switch and Auto Potion. Regen status still works as normal.

KO'd zombified units retain their Zombie status and may return to "life" upon the counter reaching 0; and skills and items with drain properties will instead heal the target and damage the user. Reraise cannot be set on that character. If the character has Auto-Reraise (as from Chantage or Angel Ring), then Reraise will remain set when Undead is set. If the Undead/Reraised character is killed, that character cannot be revived by any means (aside from ending the battle).

Attacks that use Dark element/attacks that drain health and heal the attacker do not harm undead characters; instead they are healed, and drain attacks' effect is reversed and the drainer is harmed rather than gaining health.

The Death spell will restore the character to full HP. The Raise spell will subtract half of the undead character's Max HP, while the Arise spell will subtract all of the undead character's remaining HP. Though Undead absorb Death, they are not immune to attacks which have add: Dead, such as Suffocate (The 'Death' spell is a special-case—it both adds Dead and subtracts target's Max HP. The effect of the Undead ailment is to a: remove the add: Dead property from Death, and b: reverse damage from Death into healing.) Undead units will still try to evade Death, even though it is beneficial to them. When a Death Sentence runs out on an undead character, it will simply cancel out rather than adding Dead.

This status can be inflicted using the Mystic's Corruption, the Templar's Zombie, Zombie Touch and one version of Bioga used by the Lucavi Cúchulainn, and Reaver. The accessory Cursed Ring will grant the one with it equipped the Auto-Undead status as an expense for the one point bonus of Attack, Magick and Speed. It can be cured with Holy Water and if a character is equipped with Japa Mala, Cachusha, or Ribbon, they become immune to Undead.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance[]

The Zombie status makes the afflicted unit weak against the holy element, meaning curative magic and healing items inflict damage. However abilities that heal using a different element, such as Earth Heal, still heal zombified units as normal. Abilities and items that normally revive units from KO inflict severe damage upon zombified units. Conversely, abilities that normally cause Instant Death to a unit will instead restore full HP to a zombified unit.

When a zombified unit is KO'd, the zombie status is not removed, and therefore the unit cannot be revived using abilities or items. Instead a counter appears above their head, much like the Doom status. When the counter reaches zero, they are revived with 50% of their HP. Zombie can be removed with the item Holy Water. Zombies and Vampires are in permanent Zombie state.

Pictlogica Final Fantasy[]

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Gallery[]

Etymology[]

[view· edit· purge]A zombie is an animated corpse resurrected by mystical means, such as necromancy. Since the late 19th century, zombies have acquired popularity in North American and European folklore.