Many of the ideas found in earlyFinal Fantasygames were lifted from western tabletop RPGs, notablyDungeons & Dragons. However, the Blue Mage stands out as a wholly original feature, with its ability to copy and store strong, exotic, and sometimes weird enemy spells and attacks.The blue mage isn’t the easiest concept to explain to newcomers, but for those who know, it can be a lot of fun to play with.
The blue mage didn’t appear until a good few games in the series, but since then, a few notable blue mage characters have made a name for themselves. Since a blue mage gains their abilities by copying monsters, it may be hard to say which objectively are the strongest, but each iteration comes with its own quirks and codes that can help it stand out from the rest.
Although he was originally described as a “lore master” in the English translation ofFinal Fantasy 6(also known asFinal Fantasy 3), Stago is very much a blue mage. Stargo has a very much “monkey see, monkey do” approach to blue magic. If he observes an enemy performing a skill, spell, or technique that he can learn, he records it in his “lore” skill.
This is a straightforward approach to copying, although it does mean that if Stago is suffering from the blind condition, he will miss the action and will fail to copy it as a result. Of all the blue mages in the Final Fantasy series, Strago is unfortunately the weakest when compared to the rest of the party, andconsidering the size of the cast of FF6, Stago may not be the most memorable mage, even if his memory is superb.
The blue mage job is an understandably strange one, and not something that can be inserted into an already live, finely-balanced MMO with all its delicate cogs and motors. Since the blue mage relies on using enemy abilities, those abilities will need to be appropriately spread throughout the game to give the blue mage consistent firepower.
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Unfortunately, the blue mage wasn’t conceived and implemented from the start, and while it is still available to play from a certain level, it is considered a “limited job.” This means that, unlike characters with regular jobs, blue mages can’tquick-join dungeons and raids or take part in duties. However, they do have their own carnival-themed storyline to play.
This is where the blue mage was born. After the shattering of the Wind Crystal, anyone in the party can take up the blue mage job. The blue mage inFinal Fantasy 5is much sturdier than other mages, as unlike black, white, or red mages, they can equip offensive items like swords to buff up their physical attacks.
With a high magic stat, a decent strength stat, they can take on plenty of challenges, although their HP tends to be lower than the martial classes.This is unfortunate, as blue mages in FF5 gain new spells after being hit with a blue magic spell, although they don’t need to survive to successfully copy the move.
This might be the closest the series gets to explaining the reason that enemy-skill-using-mages are called “blue mages.” Kimahri is notably big, stoic, imposing, and blue, although he is considered the smallest of his tribe. He uses his lancer ability to absorb health and MP from targets as well as any copyable monster skills.
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Kimahri can only usethe abilities that he copies from enemieswhen his overdrive meter is filled. However, his location in the sphere grid is dead center, making it quite easy for him to adapt to any other party member’s build, effectively making him the perfect copycat.
Blue mages inFinal Fantasy 11can lend themselves to just about any role, be it support or high damage, making them one of the most popular classes in the MMO. As well as being able to solo content and provide substantial support to any party, they are also one of the most stylish blue mages, with their curved swords and mysterious demeanor.
Each blue magic spell is given a cost, and the player is limited in how many spells they can carry depending on their budget for blue magic, which slowly increases as they level. This, as well as a thoughtfully distributed array of learnable spells, makes the blue mage inFF11one of the more well-thought-out and balanced implementations in the series.
Technically, every magic user inFinal Fantasy 8could be considered a blue mage, since only sorceresses are blessed with the ability to create and use magic spells at will. Everyone else has to make do with “para-magic,” drawing effects from monsters and magic sources throughout the world in stacks. However, one party member has the ability to learn spells and use them (but only at her psychological limit).
Since Quistis is of the academic type, her blue mage abilities are learned not on the battlefield but from items dropped by monsters. These items include spider webs, power generators, and “mystery fluids.” The player will need to find them and use them in the menu. Having examined those items,she is able to cast an array of spells at her limit, including emitting sonic beams, splashing acid, and shooting exploding lasers from the sky.
Quina’s fresh take on the whole “monster skill copying” thing is that they eat the enemies they intend to copy the abilities from, so long as they have low enough health (lower than 25%). While traced, they will cook enemies with less than half health, potentially trivializing fights. Most monsters have a skill for Quina to learn, even if many of them teach them the same blue magic spell.
Quina marks the first time that the series has includes anon-binary party member, at least in the English localization. Quina is perhaps the most powerful of the blue mages because their Frog Drop spell, powered by the consumption of swamp frogs, can be charged up to be one of the most powerful spells in the game.
