I couldn't miss the chance to practice my drawing!
Tellah in Critical status in Final Fantasy IV.
HP Critical (ひんし, Hinshi?), also known as Critical, Near Fatal, Anemic, Near Death, or Near KO, is a status effect that appears in several games in the series. The status does not actually do anything on its own, but is a trigger for a number of items, character abilities, Desperation Attacks, or Limit Breaks. Critical simply refers to a status of being low on Hit Points.
Normally, when in Critical, the characters assume a bent over or crippled position, and their HP is usually at a low percentage displayed in a yellow or red color. In other cases, the characters simply look exhausted.
Appearances[]
Final Fantasy[]
Final Fantasy II[]
Final Fantasy III[]
The spell Tornado is the only way of achieving critical status without dropping the target's HP to 1/16 of their max HP.
Final Fantasy IV[]
Several spells and attacks cause this status effect:
- The Black Magic spell Tornado (Weak on the SNES) reduces enemy HP to the single digits.
- The Behemoth ability Maelstrom reduces the entire party's HP to single numbers.
- Cecil's ability Cover automatically makes him take damage whenever a critical party member is physically attacked.
- The Last Stand augment doubles defense when under this status effect (3D).
- The Adrenaline augment doubles physical and magical attack power when under this status effect (3D).
Cecil will automatically cover for allies who are in critical health (current HP is less than a quarter of Maximum HP) when he is a Paladin but not when he, himself, is in critical status. Edward will automatically use Hide in critical health, something that leads to a glitch in the GBA port.
Final Fantasy IV -Interlude-[]
This section in Final Fantasy IV -Interlude- is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.Final Fantasy IV: The After Years[]
This section in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.Final Fantasy V[]
- Characters gain critical status when their HP is below ⅛ of Max HP.
- The Knight's Cover ability protects critical party members from physical attacks.
- The Mystic Knight's Magic Shell creates a magic barrier that absorbs magical attacks when in a critical state.
- The Geomancer's Gaia can summon a twister (it has the same effect as Maelstrom) on the second world at normal terrain (this ability is useful against the Kuza Beast).
| Game Element | Type | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Death Claw | Blue Magic | Inflicts Paralyze and Critical. |
| Bone | Enemy Attack | Inflicts Critical. |
| Maelstrom | Enemy Attack | Inflicts Critical. |
| Tail Screw | Enemy Attack | Inflicts Critical. |
Final Fantasy VI[]
The status was called Near Fatal in the versions prior to the Advance release. Characters kneel down and gain Critical status when their HP is below 1/8 of Max HP. Critical status gives the characters a chance to perform a Desperation Attack. The Knight's Code relic makes the character cover critical party members from physical attacks. If multiple characters are equipped with Knight's Code, they will all cover the critical character. The Valiant Knife is stronger when Locke is in critical health. The Ultima Weapon is weaker when the user is critical, turning the blade into a light object when attacking.
The critical status decreases the attacker's hit rate on the affected by 25% apart from the game versions affected by the Evade bug.
Final Fantasy VII[]
Listed in the manual as both ANEMIC and CRITICAL, HP digits turn yellow when characters hit critical health at below 25% max health and the characters appear exhausted on the screen.
- The sword Ultima Weapon and the megaphone HP Shout are weaker when their wielders are in critical. The Ultima Weapon turns blue when Cloud is in critical health.
- Tifa's Master Fist and Powersoul weapons double in attack power when she is in critical health.
- The final bosses use several attacks that reduce the party's health to critical.
Final Fantasy VII Remake[]
When a party member is in critical health or KO'd, the screen is tinted red. If the player finishes a normal encounter with critical health, the characters may comment on their poor performance. Some 
Complete Materia activate when someone in the party is in critical health, such as Auto-Cure Materia and Provoke Materia.
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-[]
When Zack falls below 50% of his max HP, the left side of the screen with turn yellow and "Warning!" will be displayed in yellow letters. When he falls below 25%, the screen will turn red. In Reunion, each side of the screen will glow red when Zack's HP falls below 30%, and his HP bar will turn red below 20%.
Auto-Potion activates when Zack falls below 25% HP.
Final Fantasy VIII[]
Party members fall into critical health when their HP is 25% or less of their max HP. HP digits turn yellow when critical, and the characters appear exhausted. Being in a critical state raises Crisis Level, which increases the chances of being able to perform a Limit Break and stregnthens their effects.
If Rinoa is in the party, Angelo has a chance of performing Angelo Recover on a critical HP party member.
Final Fantasy IX[]
The status is called Near Death.
- When HP falls below 1/6 of Max HP, the characters appear hunched over and their HP is displayed in yellow.
- A character with Cover equipped will take the damage of an enemy Physical attack that targets a character with critical HP.
- If a character with Restore HP survives an enemy attack while in critical, they recover 50% of their max HP.
- Quina's Eat command only works when the target is at critical health.
- Quina's Limit Glove only works when Quina is at critical state, with 1 HP.
- Quina's Matra Magic reduces all targets to critical health, if it hits.
- Beatrix finishes the battles fought against her by striking the player party and leaving them at 1 HP.
Final Fantasy X[]
HP digits turn yellow at 50% and any SOS auto-abilities will be activated while in a critical state. The Daredevil Overdrive Mode also boosts the user's Overdrive gauge every time they get a turn while in critical condition. In the original Japanese version, the critical threshold is instead 25%.
Characters look more exhausted as their HP is lowered past 50%, until they are nearly doubled over past 25%. The post-battle comments highlight their tired state. Aeons will also slouch at 50% HP, including enemy aeons (namely Valefor, Bahamut, Yojimbo, and the Magus Sisters) in all but the original Japanese version.
Final Fantasy X-2[]
Characters fall into the Critical status when their HP falls below a third. They will appear tired and hunched over when in critical condition. Aeon enemies also use their Critical stances in the same condition. If the player finishes a battle in critical health, the party's comments reflect that.
There are numerous SOS auto abilities that activate when users with the abilities are in Critical. The Cat Nip accessory uses the unique "SOS ????" auto-ability, which allows characters in Critical status to inflict 9,999 damage for every attack, regardless of Attack power or enemy Defense. This can be well-utilized with the Trigger Happy and Black Sky commands. This method does not work in the International and HD Remaster versions, where Cat Nip adds Auto-Berserk and Auto-Slow.
Final Fantasy XI[]
A number of weapons and armors have "latent effects" that are triggered by HP. Some will be triggered at higher HP totals, but many are active only when the player is below 75%, 50%, or 25% of total HP. A near-fatal status may also be commonly referred to as in the red by English-speaking players as the player's HP will display in red text when below 25%.
Final Fantasy XII[]
The character is gravely injured but can still move and act normally. Remove by restoring HP.
HP Critical
When a character or enemy is in critical state, known as HP Critical, they will flash red. The player will get this status if their HP is at 15% or less left of their maximum. Diseased units do not get HP Critical, as whatever their current health becomes their maximum HP.
There are several passive abilities that trigger in HP Critical status. Many enemies have these innately, and the player characters can access several of these enhancements by purchasing augments in the License Board or by equipping accessories.
For player characters and enemies, the number of hits performed during a hit combo increases the lower their health is, reaching its maximum at below 6.25% of max HP.
There are some enemies that only spawn if the player characters are on low health. Examples of this are the Rare Game Dustia and the Mark Deathscythe, which require at least one player character to be at 10% or less.
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings[]
Units have no visible HP numbers, but their health bar turns dark red when they have only little HP left.
Final Fantasy XIII[]
Whenever a character's HP falls below 30% of their maximum, they fall to an exhaustive posture. Their HP bar will turn red and flash white periodically, and the screen will glow red, continuing to do so if someone is KO'd.
Certain accessories grant positive status enhancements when the character falls below the critical threshold. Instead of expiring after the character's HP is recovered, these enhancements last 120 seconds (or 60 seconds for the Tetradic Crown) and do not reactivate for the remainder of the battle, even if the character falls below the critical threshold for a second time.
Some synthesized abilities activate when the character's HP falls below ten percent of their maximum HP, such as Low HP: Power Surge, which increases the character's strength and magic. These abilities expire when their HP recovers and can reactivate many times over battle.
Critical HP triggers the Sentinel auto-ability Deathward and negates Reprieve.
Final Fantasy XIII-2[]
Critical party members have an exhausted posture and the screen gets a red hue. If a party member is KO'd the screen will keep glowing red. Certain passive abilities, either found innate in Paradigm Pack monsters or via equipment on Noel and Serah, activate when the unit falls in critical status, below 30% of their maximum HP.
Final Fantasy XV[]
Unique to Final Fantasy XV, when a party member's HP falls to 0, they do not get immediately knocked out but fall in a Danger state, and will be given a red meter that slowly decreases. During this time, companions can heal them via items, magic, techniques, or the Rescue command. While in this state, the party member cannot attack and moves slower. If the meter fully depletes, the party member will be KO'd. If the party leader is knocked out and not revived after a few seconds, the player receives a game over.
King's Knight -Wrath of the Dark Dragon-[]
When the active unit is Near KO, the corners of the screen wash over in red, and both the HP gauge and its numerical value appear in red as well. At this point, the player should use a healing skill or pick up as many heart power-ups as possible. Healing is the innate skill of a Wizard; standing in a Wizard's regen field will recover the active unit's HP.
Final Fantasy Tactics[]
Heavy damage bringing body on the verge of death. Recover by restoring HP.
HP Critical
When a unit reaches Critical status, s/he will kneel down. A character is critical when they are at 1/5 or less of their max HP, rounded up. Some bosses flee the battle when brought to this state.
Attacks like the Templar's Vengeance are stronger in critical (since damage depends on Max HP to current HP difference). Being attacked by a critical attack can also lead to the trigger of some abilities, such as the Samurai's Bonecrusher, which deals the character's maximum HP as damage.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance[]
Characters in critical will kneel down. When equipped with the appropriate reaction abilities, the units may receive enhancements when they reach critical state, such as Last Berserk.
The Hunter ability Aim:Vitals may reduce a character's HP to 1.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift[]
HP Critical status is unchanged from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. However, this status does help raise the power of Tenacity (when on the user) and Traumatize (when on the target).
Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light[]
When in critical health the battle theme changes in tone and the characters' HP numbers are displayed in yellow. The boss music also changes when the boss is in low health. The Beastmaster can capture enemies that are in critical health. The Paladin's Last Stand ability lets the character stay alive at 1 HP for a number of turns, and the Dark Fencer's ultimate ability lets the character unleash Darkside until they have only 1 HP remaining. The Shaman's ultimate ability reduces both the enemies' and the player party's HP to 1.
Final Fantasy Dimensions[]
This section in Final Fantasy Dimensions is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.Dissidia Final Fantasy / Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy[]
Near Death occurs when a player's HP falls below twenty-five percent and is shown by a red HP bar and a frequent high-pitched bell sound. The Achy ability increases this boundary. Certain other extra support abilities such as Magic Shield, Physical Shield, and Back to the Wall only activate when in near death status.
A character also enters Near Death if his opponent's Bravery is enough to defeat him with a single blow, even if that character has large HP. The character for the win will have his bravery colored purple.
Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia[]
Most characters will assume a hunched or kneel down posture when below approximately 10% of their maximum HP, also turning the HP gauge's numerical value a dark shade of pink. Below 25%, the bar graph value will also become bright red.
Final Fantasy Record Keeper[]
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