HP Critical HP Critical , also known as Critical , Near Fatal or Anemic , 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 Attack s , 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 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 : 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 game ' s GBA port . " Final Fantasy IV - Interlude - " . Critical returns in the sequel of " Final Fantasy IV " , and functions the same way as it did in its predecessor . " Final Fantasy VI " . The status was called Near Fatal in the versions prior to the Advance release . 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 " . " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " . When Zack is in critical condition the screen flashes and the text " critical " is displayed on the side of the screen in large letters . " Final Fantasy X " . Characters gradually look more exhausted as HP is lowered , until they are nearly doubled over . The post - battle comments highlight their tired state . HP digits become yellow below 50 % of full health and any SOS Auto Abilities will be activated while in a critical state . The amount of HP affects the strength of several Celestial Weapon s , and the Overdrive Mode Daredevil boosts the user ' s Overdrive gauge every time they get a turn while in critical condition . Auron ' s Masamune also deals more damage the less HP he has . " Final Fantasy X - 2 " . Characters fall into the Critical status when their HP falls below a third . Characters appear tired and hunched over when in critical condition . The aeon enemies also use their Critical stances , identical to the ones from " Final Fantasy X " , in the same condition . If the player finishes a battle in critical health the party ' s comments reflect that . The game features numerous SOS Auto Abilities that act 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 " . When a character or enemy is in critical state , known as HP Critical , they will flash red . There are several passive abilities that are triggered when the unit is in HP Critical status . Enemies have these innately , and the player can often observe their attack power and defense increasing greatly while in low HP . The player units can access several of these enhancements by purchasing augments in the License Board or by equipping accessories . The number of hits performed during a hit combo increases drastically when the user is below 6 . 25 % of their max HP . Some enemies , when reaching critical state , gain a massive boost in their overall stats , some may even ready Growing Threat . There are some enemies in the game that only spawn if the player characters are on critical health . The player will get this status if his / her HP is at 15 % or less left . 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 25 % of their maximum , they fall to an exhaustive posture . Their HP bar will turn red and flash white periodically and the screen will also glow red . 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 expire after a short time has passed , but 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 . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . The effect is identical to its predecessor ; the critical party member has 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 25 % of their maximum HP . " Final Fantasy XV " . Unique to " Final Fantasy XV " , when a party member ' s HP falls to 0 , they don ' t get immediately knocked out but will be given a red meter that slowly decreases . During this time , companions can heal them via items , magic or the Rescue command . While in critical the party member cannot attack and moves slowly . If the meter fully depletes , the party member will be KO ' d . If Noctis is knocked out the player receives a game over . " Final Fantasy Tactics " . When a unit reaches Critical status , s / he will kneel down . A character is critical when they are at approximately 1 / 5 of their max HP . 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 . 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 ) . 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 . " 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 .