White Mage

The White Mage (白魔道士, Shiromadōshi, or しろまどうし in earlier games without kanji support) is a character class (or job) in Square Enix's Final Fantasy series of computer role playing games. It is often also referred to as White Wizard or Priest. In Final Fantasy III, a White Mage changes into a more powerful form - the Shaman.

The White Mage is a portrayed as a skilled cleric who casts curative magic. Typically a poor physical combatant, with a limited repertoire of attack spells and an inability to utilize heavy weaponry or armor, their primary use is support for other members of a battle party. There are traditionally a limited number of attack-based white magic spells (such as "Holy") which add some offensive capabilities to the class, but these spells are typically not available until the mage is much stronger. Because of the limited use of the class in combat, the White Mage has occasionally been integrated with the Summoner class.

The White Mage has appeared in the following games in the Final Fantasy series:

• Final Fantasy
• Final Fantasy III
• Final Fantasy IV
• Final Fantasy V
• Final Fantasy X-2
• Final Fantasy XI
• Final Fantasy Tactics
• Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

In addition, the character Minwu (Final Fantasy II) can be roughly categorized as a White Mage-like character, as can Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII). Garnet Til Alexandros XVII and Eiko Carol (Final Fantasy IX), and Yuna (Final Fantasy X) incorporate a number of characteristics of both the White Mage class and the Summoner class.

Dress

Like most Final Fantasy job classes, White Mages have a standard outfit/costume. The White Mage is usually depicted as wearing a long, white cloak/robe. The robe has long sleeves and a hood that covers the Mage's hair. Another feature of the robe is the red, triangular patterns on the cuffs of the sleeves and bottoms of the robes. In some games, female White Mages wear the hood over their hair, while Male White Mages normally do not wear the hood at all. This has lead most gamers to believe that the only practitioners of White Magic are female, seeing as most White Mage models have the hood over the head. The White Mage character sprite from the original Final Fantasy is usually assumed to be female, an assumption perpetuated by the fact that most White Mages and other White Mage-style characters in subesquent Final Fantasies (and indeed, healing characters from many console RPGs in general) have been female. Also, in graphic updated versions of the game the White Mage appears more feminine. However, Maria of Final Fantasy II was in fact the first female. One could easily argue that the Black Mage is genderless except for when the characters are leveled up by Bahamut (at least in the NES version), the Mages are clearly revealed to be male.

White Mage in Final Fantasy games

Final Fantasy

The white mage is one of the character choices posed to the player upon starting Final Fantasy 1. The white mage is a poor attacker though has moderate defense and more HP than a thief/ninja or black mage/wizard.

Final Fantasy II

Minwu is a white wizard in Final Fantasy II. He is one of the few male white mages in the Final Fantasy series.

Final Fantasy III

The White Mage is one of the first few jobs the protagonist could acquire. They could use all White magic up to level seven. While their upgraded job, the Shaman could use level eight as well.

Final Fantasy IV

Rosa Farrell is a White Mage in Final Fantasy IV. She is able to use staves as well as Bow and arrows. Her HP is moderately low however when using the correct arrows can be an effective fighter. Porom is another, with lower HP than Rosa but has the ability to cast offensive spells using Twin with her brother Palom.

Final Fantasy V

The White Mage class is one of the first Jobs available to the party. They can use all White Magic spells, while mastering the class allowed players to use White Magic with other classes, as well as giving a +10% Bonus to MP (Magic Points). As in previous titles White Mages didn't have much in the way of offensive magic and were very weak physically.

Final Fantasy VII

The character of Aeris, AKA Aerith, is considered a White Mage character by some due to her Limit Break, which is basically a cure to the whole party.

Final Fantasy IX

In Final Fantasy IX, the role of the white mage is taken up by two separate characters, Garnet and Eiko, and both can use summon magic, but through their limit breaks it can be assumed that Garnet is a summoner first and a white mage second, while the opposite is said of Eiko. Also, at the start of the game Garnet briefly wears the traditional White Mage outfit.

Final Fantasy X

In Final Fantasy X, Yuna plays a similar role to Garnet from IX except that she is the only character who can start off using White Magic. She also wears the garb for a short time.

Final Fantasy X-2

In Final Fantasy X-2, White Mages are a very useful class in the game. In this game there is no character who really is a white mage, but with the garment grid battle system, the three playable characters (Yuna, Rikku, and Paine) could change into white mages almost any time they want to, with the mage outfit and all. The White Mage dress sphere is found after beating the Flame Dragon at Besaid Island in Chapter 1. Cannot learn Holy (due to the White Lore item)

Final Fantasy XI

In the MMORPG incarnation of the series, the white mage specializes in healing and restorative magic, as well as enhancing and some enfeebling magic. White mages use clubs and staves almost exclusively and may also equip shields. White Mage abilities include Divine Seal, which doubles the power of the next curative spell; traits include Auto-Regen, which gives constant HP regeneration, and Divine Veil, which transforms a status-removing spell (i.e. Erase, Poisona, etc.) from a single target to Area of Effect (AOE) when combined with Divine Seal. The White Mage's 2-hour ability, Benediction, instantly restores massive HP to the whole party within the area. The downside of using Benediction during battle is an extreme increase in enmity toward the White Mage due to sheer amount of HP healed, though in later levels, this can be easily counteracted by the party's tank. White mages in this game are able to use the Holy spell at high levels.

Final Fantasy Tactics

The white mage in Final Fantasy Tactics is known as "Priest" although it has the same main abilities. The Priest Job is part of the "Chemist" branch of available jobs.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

In FFTA the White Mage class is available to the Human, Viera, and Nu Mou species. A slight change occurs in the Bangaa class with the use of the Bishop and White Monk classes. Most traditional spells can be learned, and the White Mage is almost a must for all battles. With the law system, most White Magic skills have their own law against them, such as Protect and Shell. Cure, Cura, Curaga, and Life spells are forbidden with the Holy and Healing laws. The entire White Mage skillset is forbidden when a "Color Magic" law is in effect. Carrying the "antilaws" for these can help you when you absolutely need a White Mage.

White Mage in other games

• The White Mage is a playable character in Chocobo Racing.

• A White Mage is the partner of the main character Boco in Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2.

• A White Mage will be playable in the Nintendo DS game Mario Hoops 3-on-3, her special shot being Holy. This White Mage does not keep her hood on.

White Mage in folklore

The White Mage is a reference to witchcraft and such folklore. A white witch was a title occasionally given to cunning folk - a witch who would be paid for removing the supposed effects of witchcraft. While there is no evidence for the existence of witches, white witches were a matter of record. Modern white witches use white magic for purification, cleansing and defense.