Magic
Magic is both a form of attack and stat parameter from the Kingdom Hearts series.
Magic is one of the two forms of basic that Sora and many other characters in the series can perform, the other being weapon-based attacks, and, although the use of magic is limited by the character's remaining MP, it is perceptibly more powerful than physical attacks, as well as capable of inflicting elemental damage. Party members that excel at magic include Donald Duck, Ariel and Jack Skellington. Most summons will use Magic as their primary form of attack, with summoning being regarded as a form of magic in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.
Magical power seems to be related to intelligence, as noted by the descriptions of the the Dream Rod and Struggle Wand, as well as by the name of the Wisdom Form. Unlike fighting, which seems to be able to be mastered by practice alone, it appears that magic must be taught, learnt and studied.
Magic is often associated with the colour blue, with MP being represented by a blue meter in the status bar. In Kingdom Hearts, there was an additional gold bar overlapping the blue MP Meter to represent MP Recovery, and which could be used as additional MP, however, in Kingdom Hearts II, this bar does not appear, and upon expending his MP, Sora must wait for the magic recharge gauge to be filled before he is able to use magic further.
MP may be recovered by dealing damage to enemies; by stepping into a Save Point and allowing the blue gauge to be filled; by the use of an Ether, Mega-Ether or Elixir; by the use of a Tent or by picking up the bubble-like MP Orbs dropped by enemies and by the wisps appearing in the Underworld.
Magic-heavy playing styles are considered to be among the more difficult to use effectively, largely due to the attention that must be paid to elemental differentiation, as some enemies will not be harmed and may even be healed when attacked by certain elements, and the clear limitation imposed by possessing a limited amount of MP, which is only partially remedied by a large stock of restorative items.
Standard Magic Powers
- Fire
- Blizzard
- Thunder
- Cure
- Gravity (not available in Kingdom Hearts II or Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days)
- Stop (not available in Kingdom Hearts II or Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days)
- Aero (not available in Kingdom Hearts II)
- Magnet (Kingdom Hearts II only)
- Reflect (Kingdom Hearts II only)
- Holy (Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories only)
Influencing Magic Strength
The amount of damage caused by an individual spell is governed by the spell's base power combined with either the caster's max MP (in Kingdom Hearts) or magic power (in Kingdom Hearts II) through a set formula, in addition to any elemental strengths or weaknesses possessed by the target of the spell coupled with abilities that boost the power of certain elemental magic.
Additionally, every standard magic power, with the exception of Holy, appears in three tiers of increasing power denoted by a particular suffix appended to the end of the spell's name. Base-tier spells bear no special suffix, but set the precedent for the names of other spells of the same element. Second-tier spells generally append -ra or -ara, whereas third-tier spells will generally append "-ga", -aga or -ega. It might be noted that this process is somewhat irregular, as final syllables from longer names are often dropped (i.e. Gravity > Gravira > Graviga). By acquiring all first-tier spells in Kingdom Hearts, Merlin will give Sora the Spellbinder keychain.
A pair of negative suffixes -gun and -agun, make an appearance in the battles against the Volcanic Lord and the Blizzard Lord. They do not appear to have originated with Final Fantasy titles, but rather to be exclusive to the Kingdom Hearts series, though whether or not these are spells is debatable.
Certain Abilities may also influence the power of magic, though these generally have more weight in Kingdom Hearts II, in which the Keyblade, Donald's staff, and Goofy's shield held abilities themselves. Abilities that affect magic include:
- MP Recovery
- MP Charge
- MP Haste
- MP Rage
- Fire Boost
- Blizzard Boost
- Thunder Boost
- Magic Lock-On
- Crime & Punishment
- Magic Haste
- Magic Spice
- Master Magic
- Endless Magic
- Leaf Bracer
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
- Dark Shield
- Dark Aura
Keychains, staves and shields that affect magic or are magic-oriented (raising Magic Strength more than Strength) include:
- Spellbinder
- Lady Luck
- Hidden Dragon (MP Rage)
- Photon Debugger (Thunder Boost)
- Mysterious Abyss (Blizzard Boost)
- Fatal Crest
- Circle of Life (MP Haste)
- Bond of Flame (Fire Boost)
- Ultima Weapon (MP Hastega)
- Wisdom Wand
- Shaman's Relic (MP Rage)
- Save the Queen
- Save the Queen+
- Akashic Record (MP Haste)
- Save the King+ (MP Rage)
Strengths
Defeating Multiple Enemies
Offensive spells, such as Fire (in Kingdom Hearts II), Blizzard (in Kingdom Hearts) and Thunder, can enable Sora to attack or even destroy multiple enemies with a single attack, as well as to pierce physical defence. The defensive spells Aero and Reflect can also cause damage at higher levels, and possess numerous strategic uses.
Gravity, Magnet, and Stop affect how an enemy moves. Gravity grounds aerial enemies, making them easier to hit with standard attacks in addition to inflicting a rather sizeable amount of damage to enemies with high HP, and can, at higher levels, destroy several enemies in a single casting. Magnet brings enemies together at a certain point, making stationary attacks easier to execute, whereas Stop freezes enemies in suspended animation, allowing for an easy kill, though the damage acquired while frozen in time does not appear until the end of the spell's duration.
Attacking at a Distance
Blizzard, Thunder, and Fire (in Kingdom Hearts only) enable one to attack enemies at a safe distance. Blizzard fires a projectile that homes towards a target, as does Fire in the original Kingdom Hearts, allowing the user to take less time in aiming and to avoid direct attacks more easily.
Defense
Cure, possibly the most widely-used spell, is used to heal the caster and/or his allies, generally acquiring an area-of-effect as its rank increases, and is instantly effective. With a certain ability, Leaf Bracer, the user also becomes invulnerable to being interrupted while casting Cure. Magic of the cure-element appears to be related to Marluxia's use of the element of flower.
Limit Break
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 a usually-spectacular finale.
Drive Forms
Of Sora's Drive forms, Wisdom Form, Master Form, and Final Form are the best choice for Magic users. Wisdom Form literally relies on magic for its attack, though only the standard magic powers consume MP, and spells may be cast with the greatest speed in this form.
Any magic power used in Master Form performs differently than normal, usually incorporating some sort of additional keyblade attack. Sora will charge forward when casting Fire, and performs a dance-like combo while casting Thunder. The use of two keyblades, which combine their magic stats, lends Master form extra spellcasting power, in addition to the Endless Magic ability, which allows magical combos to continue indefinitely, albeit only by disabling magic combo finishers entirely.
Sora, in his Final Form, has the strongest magic potential of any party member, despite having the slowest MP recovery of any magic-using drive form. Thanks to the boosts of magic-oriented abilities and the use of two keyblades in similar fashion to Master Form, Final Form Sora can attack multiple times and with much more power with the amount of magic any other form would require to land one hit. Final Form is able to augment the power of the spells themselves for maximum efficiency, calling upon multiple bolts of lightning, or launching two blasts of ice with a single casting.
Trivia
- In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Donald has a sleight called Magic in which he casts two spells, either Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, or Cure. The power of the spells depends on how many Donald cards were stocked. If two Donald cards are stocked, then Donald will perform two -ra level spells, either Fira, Blizzara, Thundara, or Cura. If three Donald cards are stocked, then Donald will perform two -ga level spells, either Firaga, Blizzaga, Thundaga, or Curaga.
- The magic spell Flare is available to Donald, as well as Shadow Flare to Sephiroth.
- In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Sora is able to cast the recurring Final Fantasy spell Holy through one of his sleights, though this only appears as a powerful engine gummi in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, alongside the other ultimate black magic spells of Final Fantasy titles Flare, Meteor and Ultima in these games.
- Final Fantasy spells often also have a -ja ending for fourth-level spells, though usually only Curaja is available to playable characters. However, another set of fourth-level spell endings appears in Kingdom Hearts II, as evidenced by the reaction commands for Volcanic Lord and Blizzard Lord, as well as synthesized items, end with -gun, which is apparently either a translation error, an attempt to cause the spell tiers to appear more unique between the two franchises, or a newly-created negative-tier ending, as it is never applied to a spell.
- In order to have a magic strong point in Kingdom Hearts, it is advised to choose the Dream Rod in the Awakening stage of the game. This will enable the character to have a large amount of MP by the end of the game.
- The suffixes -ra and -ga which come with magic upgrades are only available in the English, Italian, German and Japanese versions of Kingdom Hearts games. In other versions, the second form is noted with a plus (+) sign, while the third is noted with an X, except in the Spanish version, where it's noted with two plusses (++).
See Also
