Blu Mag (Final Fantasy IX)

Blu Mag is Quina's unique skillset in Final Fantasy IX. Blue Magic is a recurring type of magic in the Final Fantasy series where one uses magic learned from enemies.
Using Blue Magic 100 times in the mobile and Steam versions earns the I'm So Blue achievement.
==Mechanics==
Quina learns new skills by eating regular enemies when they have a quarter or less of their maximum HP remaining (or half during Quina's Trance). Eat command is sealed inside Oeilvert.
Different skills work by different mechanics, but damage-dealing abilities generally depend on Quina's Level and Magic stats to calculate the outcome.
==List of Blue Magic==
Name	MP 	Enemies 	Description 	Image
 	4 	Goblin, Goblin Mage 	Causes a small amount of non-elemental magic damage to a single target. Should the target's level be the same as Quina's, the amount of damage inflicted is increased. 	
 	Causes Non-elemental damage to the enemy. 	Causes Non-elemental damage to the enemy. 	Causes Non-elemental damage to the enemy. 	Causes Non-elemental damage to the enemy.
 	20 	Stroper, Dracozombie, Whale Zombie, Lich (Crystal) 	Causes Instant Death to all targets whose level is a multiple of 5. 	
 	KOs all enemies whose LEVELs are multiples of 5. 	KOs all enemies whose LEVELs are multiples of 5. 	KOs all enemies whose LEVELs are multiples of 5. 	KOs all enemies whose LEVELs are multiples of 5.
 	22 	Feather Circle, Torama, Amdusias 	Causes moderate Holy damage to all targets whose level is a multiple of 4. 	
 	Causes Holy damage to enemies whose LEVELs are multiples of 4. 	Causes Holy damage to enemies whose LEVELs are multiples of 4. 	Causes Holy damage to enemies whose LEVELs are multiples of 4. 	Causes Holy damage to enemies whose LEVELs are multiples of 4.
 	12 	Carve Spider, Lamia, Lizard Man, Sand Scorpion, Ochu, Grand Dragon 	Reduces Defense and Magic Defense of all enemies whose level is a multiple of 3 by a random amount. 	
 	Reduces Defense of enemies whose LEVELs are multiples of 3. 	Reduces Defense of enemies whose LEVELs are multiples of 3. 	Reduces Defense of enemies whose LEVELs are multiples of 3. 	Reduces Defense of enemies whose LEVELs are multiples of 3.
 	12 	Veteran, Ash 	Inflicts a 10-step countdown for Instant Death to a single target. 	
 	Casts Doom on the target. 	Casts Doom on the target. 	Casts Doom on the target. 	Casts Doom on the target.
 	18 	Ghost, Zombie, Hecteyes 	Inflicts Instant Death on a random target, be it enemy or ally. 	
 	Randomly KOs a target. 	Randomly KOs a target. 	Randomly KOs a target. 	Randomly KOs a target.
 	14 	Clipper, Axolotl, Sahagin, Green Vepal 	Inflicts Water-elemental damage to all targets equal to 1/4 of their Max HP (has a 50% success rate) and doesn't work on bosses. 	
 	Causes Water damage to all enemies. 	Causes Water damage to all enemies. 	Causes Water damage to all enemies. 	Causes Water damage to all enemies.
 	64 	Serpion, Myconid, Gigan Octopus, Antlion, Gargoyle 	Casts Protect and Shell on the entire party. 	
 	Casts Shell and Protect on all party members. 	Casts Shell and Protect on all party members. 	Casts Shell and Protect on all party members. 	Casts Shell and Protect on all party members.
 	8 	Trick Sparrow, Dragonfly, Zaghnol, Ogre, Land Worm, Armstrong 	Reduces one target's HP to 1 (has a 20% success rate) and doesn't work on bosses. 	
 	Reduces the target's HP to 1. 	Reduces the target's HP to 1. 	Reduces the target's HP to 1. 	Reduces the target's HP to 1.
 	16 	Anemone, Worm Hydra, Malboro 	Causes Confuse, Poison, Darkness, Slow, and Mini to a single target (has a 40% base success rate). 	
 	Causes Confuse, Darkness, Poison, Slow, and Mini to the enemy. 	Causes Confuse, Darkness, Poison, Slow, and Mini to the enemy. 	Causes Confuse, Darkness, Poison, Slow, and Mini to the enemy. 	Causes Confuse, Darkness, Poison, Slow, and Mini to the enemy.
 	10 	Mu, Axe Beak, Mandragora, Blazer Beetle, Jabberwock, Catoblepas 	Inflicts 9999 damage to a single target if Quina's HP is 1. 	
 	Causes Non-elemental damage to the target when your HP is 1. 	Causes Non-elemental damage to the target when your HP is 1. 	Causes Non-elemental damage to the target when your HP is 1. 	Causes Non-elemental damage to the target when your HP is 1.
 	8 	Cactuar 	Deals a fixed 1000 damage to a single target. 	
 	Reduces the enemy's HP by 1,000. 	Reduces the enemy's HP by 1,000. 	Reduces the enemy's HP by 1,000. 	Reduces the enemy's HP by 1,000.
 	12 	Python, Hedgehog Pie, Ladybug, Skeleton, Yeti, Basilisk, Bandersnatch	Inflicts damage to a single target equal to the difference in Quina's Max HP and current HP. 	
 	Damages with the difference between your max HP and current HP. 	Damages with the difference between your max HP and current HP. 	Damages with the difference between your max HP and current HP. 	Damages with the difference between your max HP and current HP.
 	14 	Nymph, Abomination, Seeker Bat, Grimlock 	Casts sleep on everyone, enemies and allies alike. 	
 	Causes Sleep to all targets. 	Causes Sleep to all targets. 	Causes Sleep to all targets. 	Causes Sleep to all targets.
 	22 	Red Dragon, Abadon, Tiamat 	Inflicts random wind-elemental damage to all enemies based on the following formula: 
55 * A random number between 1 and (Quina's Level + Quina's Magic stat) 	
 	Causes Wind damage to all enemies. 	Causes Wind damage to all enemies. 	Causes Wind damage to all enemies. 	Causes Wind damage to all enemies.
 	20 	Adamantoise, Earth Guardian, Shell Dragon 	Inflicts Earth-elemental damage on all targets (unless flying or floating). 	
 	Causes Earth damage to all enemies. 	Causes Earth damage to all enemies. 	Causes Earth damage to all enemies. 	Causes Earth damage to all enemies.
 	4 	Ironite, Mistodon, Epitaph, Behemoth 	Consumes 4 Remedies to be used on all party members at once. If there are no Remedies in stock, then no MP or Remedies are used, but the turn is lost. 	
 	Uses Remedy on all party members. 	Uses Remedy on all party members. 	Uses Remedy on all party members. 	Uses Remedy on all party members.
 	10 	Gigan Toad 	Inflicts Non-elemental fixed damage equal to:Quina's Level * Number of frogs caughtIf no frogs caught, deals 1 HP damage 	
 	Amount of damage depends on the number of frogs you have caught.	Amount of damage depends on the number of frogs you have caught. 	Amount of damage depends on the number of frogs you have caught. 	Amount of damage depends on the number of frogs you have caught.
 	14 	Zuu, Griffin, Zemzelett, Garuda 	Recovers HP to all allies equal to 1/3 of Quina's Max HP. 	
 	Restores HP of all party members. 	Restores HP of all party members. 	Restores HP of all party members. 	Restores HP of all party members.
 	8 	Vice, Hornet, Gnoll, Troll, Drakan 	Makes a target temporarily disappear. A vanished target's physical attacks always hit, but physical attacks towards it always miss. The effect is nullified when the target is hit with a spell or simply by expiring over time. The duration of the effect lasts longer the higher the target's Spirit.	
 	Makes a party member disappear. 	Makes a party member disappear. 	Makes a party member disappear. 	Makes a party member disappear.
 	8 	Wraith (Blue Flame), Chimera, Kraken 	Causes the Freeze status on a single target (has a 30% base success rate). 	
 	Causes Freeze to the enemy. 	Causes Freeze to the enemy. 	Causes Freeze to the enemy. 	Causes Freeze to the enemy.
 	10 	Wraith (Red Flame), Bomb, Red Vepal, Grenade, Maliris 	Causes the Heat status on an enemy (has a 30% base success rate). 	
 	Causes Heat to the enemy. 	Causes Heat to the enemy. 	Causes Heat to the enemy. 	Causes Heat to the enemy.
 	2 	Magic Vice, Ring Leader 	Reduces one target's MP by a random amount between 0 and the target's current MP. 	
 	Reduces the enemy's MP. 	Reduces the enemy's MP. 	Reduces the enemy's MP. 	Reduces the enemy's MP.
 	14 	Carrion Worm, Gimme Cat, Cerberus, Yan, Stilva 	Target is automatically revived one time when KO'd. 	
 	Casts Life when KO'd. 	Casts Life when KO'd. 	Casts Life when KO'd. 	Casts Life when KO'd.
==The earliest each Blue Magic spell can be learned==
*Aqua Breath from the Axolotls and Frog Drop from the Gigan Toads in the Qu's Marsh where Quina is recruited after first leaving Lindblum on foot.
*Mighty Guard from the Serpions and Pumpkin Head from the Hedgehog Pies in the grasslands outside Lindblum's Dragon's Gate.
*Mustard Bomb from the Bombs, Limit Glove from Axe Beaks, and LV3 Def-less from Carve Spiders on the Lindblum Plateau. Quina can be brought to the Lindblum Plateau before visiting Gizamaluke's Grotto by backtracking to Lindblum immediately after recruiting Quina.
*Angel's Snack from the Ironites and Vanish from the Vices around around the Chocobo's Forest.
*White Wind from the Garuda on the Popos Heights forest, however, they are likely much too tough for the player to take on yet, so they may want to wait until Cleyra's Trunk to learn it.
*Night from the Nymphs on the grassland north of Cleyra.
*Magic Hammer from the Magic Vices in Burmecia.
*White Wind from the Zuus, Matra Magic from the Dragonflies, and Auto-Life from the Carrion Worms on Cleyra's Trunk.
:(After Cleyra's Trunk, Quina is away from the party until the party is supposed to find the Fossil Roo.)
*LV4 Holy from the Feather Circles in Fossil Roo.
*Goblin Punch from the Goblin Mages and 1000 Needles from the Cactuars in the grassland and desert terrains around Conde Petie.
:(At the start of Conde Petie Mountain Path, Quina is not available until after the Blue Narciss.)
*LV5 Death from the Dracozombies or Stropers in the Iifa Tree, or from the Whale Zombies on the beaches of the Lost Continent or on the Outer Continent near the Desert Palace.
*Roulette from the Zombies in the Iifa Tree.
*Earth Shake from the Adamantoises and Bad Breath from the Anemones around the Qu's Marsh on the southwest island.
*Twister from the Red Dragons and Frost from the Wraith (blue) in Mount Gulug.
*Doom from the Veterans in Ipsen's Castle.
==Strategies==
Many of Quina's Blu Mag spells have poor accuracy, or have a randomized effect, making using them something of a gamble as Blu Mag spells also take a lot of MP from them. The Half MP ability is thus useful when using Quina in battle. Quina's level-based abilities are situationally useful: powerful against the right enemy, but useless against enemies on a wrong level.
Limit Glove is a supremely powerful move that deals 9999 HP fixed damage if Quina is on 1 HP when using it. This is easiest achieved if Quina is revived by Auto-Life, but Phoenix Downs also randomly revive at 1 health, and Quina could use Matra Magic on themself for the same effect. As Limit Glove is available early, the player can take on the tough monsters above Gizamaluke's Grotto the first time through if they use this skill, and Limit Glove will one-hit-kill every boss and regular enemy that Quina can fight (besides the Grand Dragon) in the first two discs of the game. Freya, Steiner, and Amarant can use Cover to help protect the 1 HP Quina from damage long enough for them to use the skill. In the endgame the player has various means of dealing the full 9999 damage with various characters, however, making Limit Glove more useful early game. 
Frog Drop is Quina's "signature spell" and outclasses Limit Glove as their most damaging move by the endgame if the player has been trying to get Quina's ultimate weapon, as it deals fixed damage based on the number of frogs caught in the marshes' minigame (up to the cap of 9999). It does not have an overly high MP cost and is great against bosses, Ozma, and Yans.
LV3 Def-less works on various enemies, but the drop in enemy defenses is random, limiting its usefulness.
Though many enemies are vulnerable to LV4 Holy, only few are also weak to the Holy element, making it worth using the ability against them, as the ability on its own is not powerful. Veteran in Ipsen's Castle is on a vulnerable level and is also weak to the Holy element.
Every random encounter inside Desert Palace is vulnerable to LV5 Death, making Quina a great character for this segment. LV5 Death is also useful for grinding with Grand Dragons. It can clear out pairs of Garudas in Esto Gaza or Vepals in Mount Gulug.
As it is exceptionally rare for an enemy formation to include 4+ enemies, the odds are stacked against the player's four-member party when using Roulette, and it is not possible to become immune to Instant Death in Final Fantasy IX. The odds change if the player has fewer than four party members, being most favorable if they have only one party member against multiple enemies, but having few party members is itself a disadvantage. 
Bad Breath can cripple some otherwise tough opponents (such as Meltigemini or Red Dragon), but its poor accuracy limits its usefulness.
Night is superior to Vivi's Sleep spell, but also puts the party to sleep unless they equip Insomniac. It has a perfect base accuracy (can still miss if the enemy has high Magic Evasion), ignores Reflect, and hits every target in the battle. It can be useful against several tough enemies and bosses, especially in the battles against Yans, and if Deathguise is put to sleep before its first turn, it will not use Meteor.
White Wind is not as good as Dagger and Eiko's White Magic, but there are portions of the game where the player has no white mages available where it may be of use: Cleyra and Mount Gulug when Dagger is still mourning and her skills are hampered.
Angel's Snack uses up Remedies to heal the entire party. Enemies that use statuses on multiple targets at once are faced at the end of the game, and thus this spell can be useful against Quale, Ozma, Hades, and the final boss. However, using it repeatedly quickly uses up the player's stock of Remedies unless they have specifically stocked up.
Mighty Guard starts out very MP-expensive and its buff duration is poor due to it being based on the party's Spirit stats; however, late into the game Quina has more MP (and Half MP support ability) and the party's Spirit is better, and Mighty Guard can be useful in boss fights.
Quina's Vanish spell is the only means of inflicting the Vanish status on a single target the player has available. It can be especially useful when used on characters that have Cover/Protect Girls, as the enemy's physical attack will miss even on covering characters.
1000 Needles is good if acquired as soon as it is first available, but Quina leaves the party soon after, and later on, it is no longer as useful.
The game has a lot of flying/floating enemies so Twister can be good at exploiting their weakness to Wind, but as it does random damage, the results will vary. Its "counterpart" ability, Earth Shake, does consistent damage, but misses flying/floating enemies, making it likewise situational.
==Other appearances==
Quina uses their Blu Mag spells in their spin-off appearances in Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia, Pictlogica Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy Record Keeper, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, and Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade 
PFF Frog Drop.png|Frog Drop in Pictlogica.
FFAB Earth Shake - Quina SR.png|Earth Shake (SR) in Airborne Brigade.
FFRK Angel's Snack.png|Angel's Snack in Record Keeper.
FFBE Limit Glove.png|Limit Glove in Brave Exvius.
==Gallery==
Eat FFIX.png|Quina learns Blue Magic.
Category:Blue Magic in Final Fantasy IX
Category:Command abilities in Final Fantasy IX
 FF 09