Magic (Kingdom Hearts)

Magic is a command menu option in Kingdom Hearts and its Final Mix version. It is used to select a learned spell, which is then cast through Sora's weapon; onto a locked-on target, or centered on Sora himself. Spells in Kingdom Hearts are generally learned after vanquishing a boss. The spell reward henceforth being called the 'power of', with the relevant element coming at the end, such as the 'power of fire' for the Fire spell. As such additional 'powers of' act as upgrades to the base spell already learned, up to the -Ra and -Ga variants.

Gameplay[]

Spell strength[]

The strength of spells in Kingdom Hearts is intrinsically tied to the level of the spell, your maximum MP stat, and the target's resistance. The latter is generally the same for most enemies, except bosses, which often take half or no damage from magic. Some enemies also absorb spells or are exceptionally weak, being stunned or granting extra Tech Points if hit with the right element. Enemies also gain a bonus to their innate resistance for Gravity and Stop after returning from Hollow Bastion.

Max MP affecting spells means that accessories and weapons are incredibly important for maximizing spell damage and duration. Choosing the Dream Rod will grant an extra two MP on certain level-ups throughout the game, although it remains a limited commodity during fights in the long term, especially considering attack abilities and summons also cost MP. Note that the actual limit of your maximum MP on spell damage is 15, although higher amounts still improve spell duration on Aero and Stop, as well as summons.

Party members and others[]

Several party members can also cast magic, with Donald most prominently among them, whom shares the same spells as Sora. Other party members have their own spells, except stylized as abilities. Sora is the only one, as the player character, to be able to cast magic through the shortcut menu, which lets players pick three types of magic they want easier access to, and the option to cast the selected spells rapidly in sequence.

Magic is frequently used to interact with objects in the world in Kingdom Hearts, ranging from lighting candles on fire, to dousing them, activating electrical machinery, or lowering floating platforms. Similarly enemies like White Mushrooms require specific spell interactions to ensure they drop actual prizes. Enemies themselves also cast magic, for example the Red Nocturne and its related variants, or the Wizard Heartless.

Spells[]

Fire[]

Fire is the first spell learned and is an offensive magic that allows the caster to launch a fireball directly ahead. The fireball is fast, and if aimed at a target will curve slightly to hit it, although it is too fast to genuinely home in. If used through the shortcut command it can be fired rapidly, moreso due to its cheap cost of only one MP charge unit^[a]. Due to its range, speed, and single-target limit it is best used against lone foes of medium strength. Fira and Firaga do not actually impart any real improvements to the base spell other than an increase in damage.

Especially early on it will be very useful against the Soldier enemies, or to quickly bring down an enraged Large Body. Fire and its stronger variants tend to become less useful as other and stronger spells become available and easier to use thanks to the increasing MP capacity as you level. Its main problem remains its single-target hit limit, and the fact that Blizzard can hit an entire group for the same cost. Final Mix did improve its viability by increasing the Fira and Firaga spells' base strength level.

The Fire spell can be used to light certain objects on fire, such as candles, which often yield minor rewards. It is also used to open the door in the Third District to Merlin's Mystical House.

Blizzard[]

Blizzard is the second spell learned, and is an ice-element magic that lets the caster fire a large spread of snowflakes in front of them, which expand into ice crystals on hit. The spell forms seven total, a row of five horizontally, with two above it. If fired in mid-air this changes from a row of three, with two above and below it. It is as cheap as the Fire spell, at the cost of one charge unit, but with less range, firing, and projectile speed to off-set the ability to hit groups. Due to that it remains useful against generally any enemy, but mostly when they spawn in front of you all clumped up. Blizzara and Blizzaga functionally improve by increasing the range, and thus spread, as well as the size of the ice crystals on impact.

Early on Blizzard will absolutely decimate the enemy groups in Wonderland, in part due to the Red Nocturne's vulnerability to the ice element. Blizzara especially becomes incredibly useful for a large part of the game, and even Blizzaga remains somewhat viable against weaker foes, although both spells ends up outclassed by the stronger variants of Thunder at high MP levels. Final Mix slightly improved the spell's strength, but not as much compared to its Fire counterpart.

The Blizzard spell can be used to douse certain objects, such as candles and braziers, also for minor rewards. In Hollow Bastion it can be used to freeze water bubbles to use as platforms.

Thunder[]

Thunder is the third offensive spell learned, and lets the caster call down a storm of lightning on either themselves or the target position. The spell spawns a large amount of thunderbolts, with a random hit rate, that are literally lightning fast. It is far more expensive than either Fire or Blizzard, at the cost of one full MP, but balances this out by potentially striking far more enemies, although only if either targeting a group, or when surrounded by one. Thundara and Thundaga are powerful improvements on the base spell, increasing the number of lightning bolts being called down, and the range in which they hit foes.

At the start and middle part of the game Thunder often does not really outperform Blizzard in terms of usability, solely because it starts out weaker and is more expensive. Both issues are eventually entirely mitigated by progressing through the game; the larger MP pool ensuring that throwing expensive Thundaga spells around is less of a concern, the way Thunder's damage is calculated ensures you out-perform the other spells, and Thundaga's hit rate eclipses Blizzaga's. Final Mix only somewhat improved the spell's base strength.

Other than combat the Thunder spell is also used to activate a few objects and things in the world, such as the exposed wiring in the Third District, and the flowers in the Lotus Forest.

Cure[]

Cure is the first defensive spell learned, and as the name implies lets the caster restore Hit Points of the target. It is invaluable as prior to its acquisition you are entirely reliant on using healing items during combat, which take a bit longer to select, and are only available in a limited amount. The higher tiers of the spell, Cura and Curaga, only increase the amount healed, while the cost always remains the same at one MP.

Its sole downside is that being interrupted while casting it will interrupt the spell, a downside entirely negated with the addition of the Leaf Bracer ability in Final Mix. This doubles the spell's functionality by letting you use it to ignore powerful attacks that are about to hit you. In return, for the bonus Leaf Bracer adds, Final Mix removed the spell's multiplicative spell strength, making it not as overpoweringly strong as it was before.

Aero[]

Aero is the second defensive spell learned, and causes the caster to create a sphere of winds forming a shield around an ally. Much like Cure it is crucial due to its ability to reduce all damage by half, as without it a lot of bossfights become significantly more difficult. At a cost of two MP it is quite expensive, but this is generally worth it, as most other spells other than Cure are generally useless during bossfights.

Unlike other spells Aero only functionally benefits from each spell upgrade; Aerora allows the shield to damage enemies on touch, whereas Aeroga lets it deflect several types of enemy attacks. MP affects both the damage dealt by the shield and the duration of it, although Final Mix only slightly boosted the former.

Gravity[]

Gravity is an advanced offensive magic spell that lets the caster create a sphere of dark energy, flattening non-boss foes caught within it, dealing percentage based damage. The sphere either spawns on-top of a targeted enemy, or directly in front of the caster. It is somewhat slow to appear, costs one MP, and has a much smaller attack radius compared to Thunder, but the spell deals percentage-based damage.

Due to this it is nearly useless on fast enemies as they can move out of the way and their low max HP means the spell is not as effective. Instead it should be used on high-HP and slow enemies like the Large Body, Fat Bandit, Black Fungus, Battleship, and Defender Heartless. The higher tiers of the spell, Gravira and Graviga, only increase the size and thus area of effect of the sphere itself.

Due to its cost Gravity is of limited real use early on, although Gravira is especially useful against the powerful Defender Heartless. After rescuing Kairi from Hollow Bastion all enemies gain an increased resistance (generally 20%) to the Gravity element, although the strongest late-game foes already possesses at least an innate 20% damage reduction. Regardless it remains viable against Battleships, Defenders, and Invisibles, but almost never against bosses who often have a damage reduction of up to 97%. Lastly, Gravity also has some use by forcing airborne enemies like Wyverns to the ground, and making flattened enemies unable to block or retaliate against you.

The spell Gravity is only used to lower platforms in Hollow Bastion, granting access to the treasure chests on-top of them.

Stop[]

Stop is an advanced type of support magic that freezes either everything around the caster, or around the targeted enemy or object's area. Stop is expensive at two MP, and without actually damaging enemies it is somewhat hard to justify its use. Affected foes take no damage when frozen, but any damage dealt is added up and unleashed all at once when time resumes again. Due to this it can be unclear whether or not you can ignore the Stopped enemy, or if you are dealing more damage than is needed. Stopra and Stopga only improve the spell's effect radius, but not the actual time.

Early on Stop has almost no use, being too expensive and too much of a niché compared to other more direct spells. Prior to rescuing Kairi it can be convenient to freeze foes for 10 seconds if you have a sufficiently large MP pool, but afterwards essentially all enemies gain a 50% resistance to Stop. Some foes against which the spell could be useful, such as teleporting Wizards and the flying Angel Stars, already even possess a high resistance to it on their own.

Notes[]