Magic

Magic (まほう) is a type of skill that appears throughout the Kingdom Hearts series.

Magic can be either offensive or supportive, and it differs from weapon skills in that its usage is generally limited by some factor, such as the player's current MP, and that its potency is determined by the Magic stat (maximum MP in Kingdom Hearts). In Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II, and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, offensive magic is the only way to inflict elemental damage. Additionally, many types of magic inflict Status Effects on enemies.

Party members who specialize in magic include Donald Duck, Jack Skellington, and Zexion.

Magical power is associated with wisdom, as indicated by the descriptions of the Dream Rod and Struggle Wand, as well as Wisdom Form. It is also associated with the color blue, the color of the MP gauges appearing in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, the color of magic cards in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and the signature color of Wisdom Form. In the menus, magic is represented by a symbol of Donald's mage hat.

In Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, choosing the Dream Rod in the Dive to the Heart grants greater magic-casting ability upon leveling up earlier in game. Magic-focused play styles are considered to be among the more difficult to use, owing largely to the care that must be taken of elemental effects, as some enemies will not be harmed and may even be healed by certain elements, as well as the limitation of a finite amount of MP which must be carefully managed, with the assistance of restorative items and abilities such as MP Haste and MP Rage.

Usage
Many individuals in the Kingdom Hearts universe are capable of using magic. All wielders of the Keyblade are capable of learning magic, and magic of the Keyblade itself is capable of great feats, being able to lock a world's Keyhole, open gates, and transform into different forms. There are also those that specialize in the use of magic, such as Donald Duck, Merlin, and Yen Sid. Those that are adept at magic can use it in a wide variety of uses outside of combat, such as transformations, transportation between worlds, realms, or even time periods, or casting enchantments or curses.

Kingdom Hearts
There are seven types of basic magic that become available throughout Kingdom Hearts, which are upgraded upon reaching certain milestones, up to maximum of three tiers. They are accessible from the Command Menu under "Magic", and three of them can be set to shortcuts at a time for easy access during battle.

Casting magic costs MP, which can be recovered by collecting MP orbs, attacking enemies, using restorative items such as Ethers, or by touching a Save Point. Some party members' can also restore MP. The length of the MP gauge determines how effective magic casts are, and as basic magic gets upgraded to higher tiers, it will become even more powerful.

In Kingdom Hearts, summoning is categorized as magic.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Magic cards represent the types of magic that appeared in Kingdom Hearts. They are colored blue, as are summon cards. By using sleights, higher-tiered magic can be used in battle, as can advanced magic techniques, such as Tornado and Mega Flare.

Kingdom Hearts II
There are six types of basic magic in Kingdom Hearts II, which are upgraded upon reaching certain milestones, up to a maximum of three tiers. They are accessible from the Command Menu under "Magic", and four of them can be set to shortcuts at one time for easy access during battle.

Casting magic costs MP, which can be recovered by collecting MP orbs, using restorative items such as Ethers, entering a Drive Form, or by touching a Save Point. If the MP gauge is fully emptied, MP Charge begins, during which the gauge is replaced with the pink Charge gauge. While the Charge gauge gradually empties, magic cannot be used, but portions of the gauge can be emptied immediately in the same manner as recovering MP.

Wisdom Form, Master Form, and Final Form have abilities that enhance the casting of magic, while Valor Form and Limit Form disable the use of magic.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, magic can be used during missions when magic panels are installed into the panel grid. The number of available casts for a type of basic magic is determined by the number of installed panels for that type, but casts can be restored mid-mission by using items such as Ethers. Linking basic magic panels to special magic panels will increase the level or grant multiple casts of that magic.

There are five varieties of magic that appear, each with three tiers; however, unlike in other games, different tiers of one type of magic will have difference effects. For example, Fire launches a homing fireball, while Fira shoots a penetrating fireball straight ahead, and Firaga launches a large fireball with slight homing capabilities into the air, after which it explodes.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
In Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, a wide variety of magic techniques are available, basic and advanced, in the form of magic commands. As with attack commands, magic commands go through a cool-down period before they can be used again, but otherwise their use is not limited.

Magic commands may be dropped by enemies, purchased from shops, found in small chests, or obtained from various mini-games, such as the Command Board.

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded
In Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, magic commands return in the same capacity as in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep.

They may be found in rare prize blox, purchased from shops, or awarded for high ranks in boss battles.

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
In Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, magic commands return in the same capacity as in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded.

Magic commands may be purchased from shops, found in large chests, obtained through Ability Link or won from mini-games.

Recurring magic

 * Fire, Fira, Firaga
 * Blizzard, Blizzara, Blizzaga
 * Thunder, Thundara, Thundaga
 * Cure, Cura, Curaga
 * Aero, Aerora, Aeroga
 * Gravity, Gravira, Graviga
 * Magnet, Magnera, Magnega
 * Reflect, Reflera, Reflega

Origin and naming
Many of the magic that appears in the Kingdom Hearts series borrows heavily from magic in the Final Fantasy series. This includes elemental types, as well as specific spells, such as Fire, Curaga, and Reflect. The distinction between Black, or offensive magic, and White, or supportive magic, is not carried over to Kingdom Hearts, however.

Also borrowed from Final Fantasy is the naming convention of basic magic. In most installments of Final Fantasy, the higher tiers of magic are denoted by the suffixes -ra and -ga, normally corresponding to the second and third tier of a spell, respectively. This convention is followed in Kingdom Hearts, with one notable exception: While the fourth tier of magic in Final Fantasy, when included, is -ja, Kingdom Hearts uses the suffix -gun, dubbed as -za in the English release of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Some accessories are named after the fourth tier of magic, using the suffix -gun (e.g., Firagun Bangle), as are two Reaction Commands, Firagun and Blizzagun.

Abilities
Certain abilities enhance or facilitate the use of magic, generally by boosting magical damage, elemental damage, or MP recovery.
 * MP Haste
 * MP Hastera
 * MP Hastega
 * MP Rage
 * Fire Boost
 * Blizzard Boost
 * Thunder Boost
 * Magic Lock-On
 * Crime & Punishment
 * Magic Haste
 * Magic Spice
 * Master Magic
 * Endless Magic
 * Leaf Bracer
 * Cure Boost

Some party members also possess abilities that mimic the effects of spells, which include the following:
 * Healing Herb
 * Blazing Fury
 * Icy Terror
 * Bolts of Sorrow
 * Ghostly Scream
 * Cure Potion
 * Aero Potion
 * Dark Shield
 * Dark Aura

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Kingdom Hearts

 * Fire: Shoots a homing fireball at an enemy.
 * Fira: Shoots a stronger homing fireball at an enemy.
 * Firaga: Shoots an even stronger fireball at an enemy.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

 * Fire: Shoots a homing fireball at one enemy.
 * Fira: Shoots a stronger homing fireball at one enemy.
 * Firaga: Shoots an even stronger fireball at one enemy.

Kingdom Hearts II

 * Fire: Causes fireballs to revolve around the caster.
 * Fira: Causes stronger fireballs to revolve around the caster.
 * Firaga: Causes even stronger fireballs to revolve around the caster.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

 * Fire: Shoots a homing fireball at one enemy.
 * Fira: Shoots a penetrating fireball straight ahead.
 * Firaga: Shoots a fireball in an arc with slight homing capability that explodes on contact.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

 * Fire: Shoots a homing fireball at an enemy.
 * Fira: Shoots a stronger homing fireball at an enemy.
 * Firaga: Shoots an even stronger fireball at an enemy.

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded

 * Fire: Shoots a homing fireball at an enemy.
 * Fira: Shoots a stronger homing fireball at an enemy.
 * Firaga: Shoots an even stronger fireball at an enemy.

Kingdom Hearts

 * Blizzard: Shoots a spreading burst of ice crystals in front of the caster.
 * Blizzara: Shoots a stronger spreading burst of ice crystals in front of the caster.
 * Blizzaga: Shoots an even stronger spreading burst of ice crystals in front of the caster.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

 * Blizzard: Causes an explosion of ice in front of the caster.
 * Blizzara: Causes a stronger explosion of ice in front of the caster.
 * Blizzaga: Causes an even stronger explosion of ice in front of the caster.

Kingdom Hearts II

 * Blizzard: Shoots a chunk of ice straight ahead.
 * Blizzara: Shoots a stronger chunk of ice straight ahead.
 * Blizzaga: Shoots an even stronger chunk of ice straight ahead.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

 * Blizzard: Shoots a homing ice crystal that pass through the enemy with short bursts.
 * Blizzara: Summons a snowstorm that explodes on contact.
 * Blizzaga: Sets an ice mine that triggers a large explosion of ice when the enemy approaches.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

 * Blizzard: Shoots a chunk of ice straight ahead.
 * Blizzara: Shoots a stronger chunk of ice straight ahead.
 * Blizzaga: Shoots an even stronger chunk of ice straight ahead.

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded

 * Blizzard: Shoots a chunk of ice straight ahead.
 * Blizzara: Shoots a stronger chunk of ice straight ahead.
 * Blizzaga: Shoots an even stronger chunk of ice straight ahead.

Kingdom Hearts

 * Thunder: Summons a barrage of lightning bolts to strike surrounding enemies.
 * Thundara: Summons a barrage of stronger lightning bolts to strike surrounding enemies.
 * Thundaga: Summons a barrage of even stronger lightning bolts to strike surrounding enemies.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

 * Thunder: Summons a barrage of lightning bolts to strike surrounding enemies.
 * Thundara: Summons a barrage of stronger lightning bolts to strike surrounding enemies.
 * Thundaga: Summons a barrage of even stronger lightning bolts to strike surrounding enemies.

Kingdom Hearts II

 * Thunder: Summons a lightning bolt to strike enemies around the target.
 * Thundara: Summons a stronger lightning bolt to strike enemies around the target.
 * Thundaga: Summons an even stronger lightning bolt to strike enemies around the target.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

 * Thunder: Sends out a straight line of lightning before the caster.
 * Thundara: Summons lightning bolts to randomly strike a broad area around the caster.
 * Thundaga: Summons a lightning bolt to strike enemies around the target.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

 * Thunder: Strike surrounding enemies with lightning bolts.
 * Thundara: Strike surrounding enemies with stronger lightning bolts.
 * Thundaga: Strike surrounding enemies with even stronger lightning bolts.

Kingdom hearts Re:coded

 * Thunder: Summons a barrage of lightning bolts to strike surrounding enemies.
 * Thundara: Summons a barrage of stronger lightning bolts to strike surrounding enemies.
 * Thundaga: Summons a barrage of even stronger lightning bolts to strike surrounding enemies.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

 * Aero: Causes wind to blow away surrounding enemies.
 * Aerora: Causes stronger wind to blow away surrounding enemies.
 * Aeroga: Causes even stronger wind to blow away surrounding enemies.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

 * Aero: Shoots a homing gust of wind at an enemy.
 * Aerora: Shoots a larger gust of wind that slowly stalks the foes across the ground.
 * Aeroga: Generates a huge whirlwind around the user that pulls in nearby enemies.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

 * Aero: Causes wind to stun surrounding enemies.
 * Aerora: Causes stronger wind to stun surrounding enemies.
 * Aeroga: Causes even stronger wind to stun surrounding enemies.

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded

 * Aero: Shoots a homing gust of wind at an enemy.
 * Aerora: Shoots a stronger homing gust of wind at an enemy.
 * Aeroga: Shoots an even stronger homing gust of wind at an enemy.

Kingdom Hearts

 * Gravity: Crushes enemies around the target with a gravity field.
 * Gravira: Crushes enemies around the target with a stronger gravity field.
 * Graviga: Crushes enemies around the target with an even stronger gravity field.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

 * Gravity: Crushes enemies around the target with a gravity field.
 * Gravira: Crushes enemies around the target with a stronger gravity field.
 * Graviga: Crushes enemies around the target with an even stronger gravity field.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

 * Zero Gravity: Creates an anti-gravity field that flings surrounding enemies into the air.
 * Zero Gravira: Creates a stronger anti-gravity field that flings surrounding enemies into the air.
 * Zero Graviga: Creates an even stronger anti-gravity field that flings surrounding enemies into the air.

Kingdom Hearts II

 * Reflect: Creates a barrier of light that guards against attacks and disperses into a spray of light, dealing damage equal to the enemy's attack power..
 * Reflera: Creates a wider barrier of light that guards against attacks and disperses into a spray of light, dealing damage equal to the enemy's attack power.
 * Reflega: Creates an even wider barrier of light that guards against attacks and disperses into a spray of light, dealing damage equal to the enemy's attack power.

Kingdom Hearts

 * Aero A protective wind barrier surrounds the target, increasing defense.
 * Aerora A protective wind barrier surrounds the target, increasing defense and damaging enemies it touches, and the duration is also increased.
 * Aeroga A protective wind barrier surrounds the target, increasing defense and damaging enemies it touches, and the duration is further increased.

Kingdom Hearts

 * Cure: Restores a small amount of HP.
 * Cura: Restores a large amount of HP.
 * Curaga: Restores a massive amount of HP.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

 * Cure: Restores a small amount of HP.
 * Cura: Restores a large amount of HP.
 * Curaga: Restores a massive amount of HP.

Kingdom Hearts II

 * Cure: Restores a large amount of HP to all allies in range.
 * Cura: Restores a larger amount of HP to all allies in range.
 * Curaga: Restores a massive amount of HP to all allies in range.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

 * Cure: Restores an amount of HP.
 * Cura: Restores HP over time.
 * Curaga: Creates a zone that restores HP.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

 * Cure: Restores a small amount of HP.
 * Cura: Restores a large amount of HP.
 * Curaga: Restores a massive amount of HP.

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded

 * Cure: Restores a small amount of HP.
 * Cura: Restores a large amount of HP.
 * Curaga: Restores a massive amount of HP.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

 * Esuna: Cures all negative status effects.

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded

 * Esuna: Cures all negative status effects and restores a small amount of HP.

Kingdom Hearts II

 * Magnet: Creates a magnetic vortex that pulls in enemies, orbs and items.
 * Magnera: Creates a stronger magnetic vortex that pulls in enemies, orbs and items.
 * Magnega: Creates an even stronger magnetic vortex that pulls in enemies, orbs and items.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

 * Magnet: Creates a magnetic vortex that pulls in enemies.
 * Magnera: Creates a stronger magnetic vortex that pulls in enemies.
 * Magnega: Creates an even stronger magnetic vortex that pulls in enemies.

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded

 * Magnet: Creates a magnetic vortex that pulls in enemies.
 * Magnera: Creates a stronger magnetic vortex that pulls in enemies.
 * Magnega: Creates an even stronger magnetic vortex that pulls in enemies.

Kingdom Hearts

 * Stop: Halts the movement of surrounding enemies for a period of time.
 * Stopra: Halts the movement of surrounding enemies for a longer period of time.
 * Stopga: Halts the movement of surrounding enemies for an even longer period of time.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

 * Stop: Halts the movement of an enemy for a period of time.
 * Stopra: Halts the movement of an enemy for a longer period of time.
 * Stopga: Halts the movement of an enemy for an even longer period of time.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

 * Stop: Halts the movement of surrounding enemies for 4 seconds.
 * Stopra: Halts the movement of surrounding enemies for 6 seconds.
 * Stopga: Halts the movement of surrounding enemies for 8 seconds.

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded

 * Stop: Halts the movement of surrounding enemies for a set period of time.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

 * Slow: Slows the movement of enemies around the target for a set period of time.

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded

 * Slow: Slows the movement of surrounding enemies for a set period of time.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep

 * Confuse: Causes surrounding enemies to attack each other for a set period of time.

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded

 * Confuse: Causes surrounding enemies to attack each other for a set period of time.

Limits
--> Some powerful magical abilities, called Limits, may be performed in tandem with a party member, but will drain all of Sora's remaining MP after usage.

Trivia

 * The suffixes -ra and -ga are only applied to second and third-tier spells in the English, Japanese, Italian, and German versions of the Kingdom Hearts games. In the French versions, second-tier spells are marked with a "+", and third-tier spells are marked with an "X". The suffix -gun, which is used in the names of several accessories, is often marked with an "XX". In the Spanish version of the Kindom Hearts games, third-tier spells are marked "++".

MP