The Basics
Elements (属性 [zokusei] in Japanese) tend to play a big part in Final Fantasies. Most obviously, they bring variety into the battle system, where any attack (ability or weapon) or defending property can have an element - sometimes with varying strengths. Oftentimes some monsters are associated with an element, and on rare occasions your surroundings can have an effect on how the elemental properties work.
Note that the elemental affinities listed below (elemental affinities and weapon affinities) are not the whole picture. In addition, some weapons/abilities can have an increased effect towards a type of enemy - an anti-something effect (anti-undead, anti-flying, etc). These exist separately from the elemental and weapon elements…although sometimes, 'anti-flying' is considered an element like 'Fire' or 'Ice'. Note that it still isn't listed below even when treated this way.1
Not listed on this page is also the element 'none', which is simply having no element whatsoever. In certain games, there are also categories such as 'black magic', 'summon magic' or simply a 'magical'/'physical' split. These are likewise unlisted, although they function exactly as elements do.
Elements
Below is a list of which elements have appeared in which Final Fantasies, as well as examples of some elemental icons when they have been present. Note that some elements that have been listed might have been 'hidden', only mentioned in one or two abilities etc. More specifically, any title marked with a * didn't mention that element by name.
Note that there are also games that have been remade several times during the history of the series, and different versions of that game might use different elements. Whether an element has been in all versions of a title or only in some hasn't been noted separately.
| Elemental Affinities | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Element | JP Name | Final Fantasies | Symbols |
| Absorbtion | 吸収 | FF3, FF7GB, FF8* | |
| Astral | 星極 | FF14 |  |
| Body2 | 神経 | FF2* | |
| Comet | コメット | FF7BC* | |
| Dark | 闇 | FF4, FF9, FF11, FF12-FF12RW FFTA-FFTA2, FFCCRF, FFCCET, Agito, FFDI, FFLCT FF4HL, FFEX, FFAB, FFBE, FFM, FFP, FFRK |
     |
| Darkness | 暗黒 / 暗 | FF3-FF4, FFT | |
| Death3 | 死 | FF1*, FF2* | |
| Earth | 土 / 地 / 大地 / 地震 | FF1*, FF3-6, FF7-FF7CC, FF7GB, FF8-FF9, FF11, FF12-FF12RW, FF14 FFT-FFTA2, FFT0, FFDI, FFLCT FF4HL, FFEX, FFAB, FFBE, FFM, FFP, FFRK, VS |
         |
| Fire | 炎 / 火 | FF1-FF6, FF7-FF7DC, FF7GB, FF8-11, FF12-FF12RW, FF13-FF13LR, FF14 FFT-FFTA2, FFCC-FFCCET, FFT0, FFDI, FFLCT FF4HL, FFEX, FFAB, FFBE, FFM, FFP, FFRK, FFWWW, VS |
         |
| Gravity | 重力 | FF7, FF7GB, FF10-2 | |
| Holy (Light) | 聖 | FF1*, FF3-7, FF8-FF10-2, FF12-FF12RW FFT-FFTA2, FFCC-FFCCET, Agito, FFDI FFAB, FFM, FFP, FFRK, VS |
    |
| Ice | 氷 / 冷気 | FF1-FF6, FF7-FF7DC, FF7GB, FF8-FF12, FF13-FF13LR, FF14 FFT-FFTA2, FFCC-FFCCET, FFT0, FFDI FFEX, FFAB, FFBE, FFP, FFRK, FFWWW |
        |
| Light | 光 | FF11, FFLCT, FF4HL, FFEX, FFBE |   |
| Lightning (Thunder, Zap) | 雷 / 稲妻 | FF1-FF6, FF7-FF7DC, FF7GB, FF8-FF11, FF12-FF12RW, FF13-FF13LR, FF14 FFT-FFTA2, FFCC-FFCCET, FFT0, FFDI FFEX, FFAB, FFBE, FFP, FFRK, FFWWW |
        |
| Matter4 | 変化 | FF2* | |
| Mind5 | 精神 | FF1*, FF2* | |
| None | 無 | FF1-14 FFT-FFTA2, FFCC-FFCCET, FFT0, Agito, FF4HL, FFDI, FFLCT FFEX, FFAB, FFBE, FFM, FFP, FFRK, FFWWW, VS |
 |
| Poison | 毒 | FF1*, FF2*, FF5-FF6, FF7-FF7CC, FF7GB, FF8, FFRK |  |
| Restoration (Healing) | 回復 / 治癒 | FF1*, FF2-FF5, FF7*, FF12RW FFT*, FFCCRF |
 |
| Space-time | 時空 | FF1*, FFCC*, FFCCRF-FFCCET | |
| Stun6 | 気絶 | FFCCRF, FFCCET | |
| Umbral | 霊極 | FF14 |  |
| Water | 水 | FF3-6, FF7-FF7CC, FF7GB, FF8-FF11, FF12-FF12RW, FF14 FFT-FFTA2, FFT0, FFDI, FFLCT, FF4HL FFEX, FFAB, FFBE, FFM, FFP, FFRK, VS |
         |
| Wind (Air) | 風 | FF3-FF6, FF7-FF7CC, FF7GB, FF8-FF9, FF11-FF12, FF13-FF13LR, FF14 FFT-FFTA2, FFT0, Agito, FFDI, FFLCT, FF4HL FFEX, FFAB, FFBE, FFM, FFP, FFRK, FFWWW, VS |
         |
| All * | FFCC*, FFM |  |
|
*All is listed here for the purposes of displaying the icons for it. It is not an actual element per se, but consists of all other elements present in the games it appears in.
*In FFCC the 'all' element also corresponds to 'Holy'. You cannot get Holy element for your chalice without the 'all' element, and you cannot get 'all' element without Holy element.
Weapon Elements
While the above elements are commonly used throughout the series, there is another set of affinities present in some titles. These are the weapon elements (武器属性, sometimes also known as weapon affinities or damage types), listed below.
In the systems that use them, each weapon has at least one element from its corresponding system. However, as they are heavily tied with weapons and/or physical attacks, abilities/magical attacks often lack these elements.
| Weapon Elements #1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Element | JP Name | Final Fantasies |
| Ballistic | 銃弾 | FFT0 |
| Blunt (Strike) | 打 / 打撃 | FF3, FF11*, FF14, FFEX |
| Cleaving | 切断 | FFT0, Agito |
| Grappling (H2H) | 格闘 | FF3, FF11* |
| Hitting (Hit) | 殴る | FF7* |
| Piercing (Penetrating) | 貫通 | FFT0, Agito |
| Piercing (Punch, Thrust) | 突 / 突撃 | FF3, FF7*, FF11, FF14, FFEX |
| Shooting (Shoot) | 撃つ | FF7* |
| Shot | 射 | FFEX |
| Shouting (Shout) | 叫ぶ | FF7* |
| Slashing (Cut, Impact, Slash) | 斬 / 斬撃 / 斬る | FF3, FF7*, FF11, FF14, FFT0, Agito, FFEX |
| Weapon Elements #2 | ||
| Element | JP Name | Final Fantasies |
| Close Range | 近接 | FF5, FFD-FFDD |
| Long Range | 遠隔 | FF5, FFD-FFDD |
| Special | 特殊 | FFD-FFDD |
| Sound Wave | 音波 | FF5 |
*In FF7, the weapon elements are hidden, and don't have much actual effect in the game. However, they are in the data ready to be used.
*For FF11, the English version game only mentions slashing, piercing and blunt damage. However, Japanese mentions four. 'Grappling' is combined into the blunt category in English.
Physical/Magical
In addition to the element systems detailed above, virtually all Final Fantasies differentiate attacks between physical and magical ones. Sometimes the system is more complicated (such as having physical, magical and healing, or magical on one side and the other consisting of various weapon elements), but most games have a physical/magical split of some kind. Below are listed the various titles for this element system.
| Physical/Magical System | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Element | JP Name | Final Fantasies | Symbols |
| Magical | 魔法 | FF1-FF6, FF7-FF7DC, FF8-FF14 FFT-FFTA2, FFCD-FFCDVS, FFCC, FFD-FFDD, FFT0, Agito, FFDI, FFLCT FF4HL, FFEX, FFP, FFRK, FFWWW |
 |
| Physical | 物理 | FF1-FF6, FF7-FF7DC, FF7GB, FF8-FF14 FFT-FFTA2, FFCD-FFCDVS, FFCC, FFD-FFDD, FFT0, Agito, FFDI, FFLCT FF4HL, FFEX, FFP, FFRK, FFWWW*, VS* |
 |
| Stat=Element System | |||
| Element | JP Name | Final Fantasies | Symbols |
| Agility | 技 | FFAB* | |
| Intelligence | 魔 | FFAB* | |
| Strength | 力 | FFAB* | |
| Job=Element System | |||
| Element | JP Name | Final Fantasies | Symbols |
| Mage | 魔道士 | FFM |  |
| Ranger | レンジャー | FFM |  |
| Warrior | 戦士 | FFM |  |
| Support | サポート | FFM |  |
*In FFAB it is unclear what element regular weapon attacks are meant to be, if any. The elements listed correspond with types of abilities, and regular elemental affinities can be found on both abilities and weapons.
*In FFWWW the physical/magical divide is a bit unclear when it comes to regular weapon attacks. Physical abilities work off the Physical stat, magical ones off the Magical stat, but weapon attacks work off the Striking stat. It is unclear if this is meant to be a third type of basic damage.
*In VS [Vagrant Story], the element Physical is present. However, no counterpart Magical element is in the game, instead all elemental affinities are separate and Physical is only one among them, comparable to Fire or Water or such.
Category: Mechanics
