Poison (毒, Doku?), occasionally abbreviated to Pois, is a recurring element in the Final Fantasy series. It is primarily featured in Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy VI, and Final Fantasy VIII. Often, attacks with the Poison affinity have a chance of inflicting the status ailment of the same name.

Recurring themes

Equipment

In general, any equipment that protects the wearer against the Poison status (such as the Star Pendant) also protects from the Poison element. In Final Fantasy II, Gold equipment protected the user from Poison. Weapons with the word Poison or Venom in the name (such as Venom Axe) tend to cause Poison-elemental damage.

Spells and abilities

Bio is the most recurring poison-elemental damaging spell, with Biora and Bioga appearing as its upgraded forms in some titles. The recurring Poison spell serves as a low-tier poison ability in Final Fantasy VI, while Scourge serves as the sole poison-elemental Black Magic in Final Fantasy II. In addition, the Bioblaster ability serves as recurring poison-elemental attack for the Machinist job.

Poison-elemental attacks often are effective against lightning- and holy-elemental entities.

Summons

Poison has only has one summon aligned with the element, Doomtrain from Final Fantasy VIII, which attacks targets with Runaway Train. Doomtrain later appears in Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a summon Soul Break, dealing poison damage to targets. Hades from Final Fantasy VII is the status ailment summon, but its damage is non-elemental.

Appearances

Final Fantasy

In Pixel Remaster and the Famicom/NES originals, stone-based attacks are grouped with poison.

In all version in-between, stone was separated out into its own element.

Poison affinity list

Poison
Game Element	Type	Effect
Scourge	Black Magic	Attempts to inflict Instant Death against all enemies.
NulAll	White Magic	Grants resistance to all elements.
Excalibur	Sword	All elements.
Aegis Shield	Shield	Grants wielder resistance to poison and stone.
Genji Shield	Shield	Grants wielder resistance to poison and stone.
Hero's Shield	Shield	Grants wielder resistance to all elements.
Genji Armor	Armor	Grants wearer resistance to poison, stone and death.
Ribbon	Helm	Grants wearer resistance to all elements.
Genji Helm	Helm	Grants wearer resistance to poison and stone.
Poison Darts	Enemy Attack	May inflict poison on all party members.
Poison Gas	Enemy Attack	Deals poison damage to the party.

Final Fantasy II

Poison
Game Element	Type	Effect
Scourge	Black Magic	Inflicts Poison-elemental damage (does not inflict the status effect).
Toxin	Ability	Inflicts Poison-elemental damage (does not inflict the status effect).
Acid Phial	Item	Casts Toxin 16.
Poison Axe	Weapon	Adds Poison element to attacks.
Wizard's Staff	Weapon	Casts Poison/Scourge 16 when used as an item.
Poison Cloud	Enemy Attack	Major Poison element damage to the party.

Final Fantasy V

Poison is an element mostly associated with the poison and sap statuses, as poison-elemental abilities often attempt to inflict either. However, the HP damage due to poison ticks and sap is not poison-elemental.

Final Fantasy VI

Poison is a fairly rare status in Final Fantasy VI, the most common source perhaps being the Poison status, which will deal poison-elemental damage periodically to the afflicted. Poison-elemental weapons also randomly cast Poison or Bio when attacking with them. There is no poison-elemental summon in Final Fantasy VI. Poison tends to be ineffective against undead enemies. Animal suits for Strago and Relm protect against poison-elemental damage.

Final Fantasy VII

Poison gained its first spell tiers, which increased its importance. Because the Poison status deals Poison-elemental damage, it can be absorbed if the character is absorbent to Poison, such as with the Poison Materia linked with a mastered Elemental Materia in the character's armor. If the character is immune to the Poison element (takes no damage from it), they are also immune to the Poison status. The reverse is also true: if the character is immune to the Poison status, they are also immune to the Poison element.

Final Fantasy VIII

Poison was given to its first own summon, and the element is also somewhat attached to status ailments in general. Unlike the last few games, there are only three ways to inflict Poison-elemental damage on enemies, either through use of Elem-Atk-J, Doomtrain's Runaway Train, or the Bio spell.

Final Fantasy XII

Although Poison is not an element, the summon Cúchulainn is given its attribute. Bio and Scourge also appear, and both may grant the Sap status instead of Poison.

The Final Fantasy Legend

Poison
Game Element	Type	Effect
Fog	Magic Book	Attacks enemy group with Pois.
King	Armor	Grants resistance to Fire, Ice, Elec, Poison, Stone, Para, Weapon, and Quake.
Band	Helmet	Grants resistance to Fire, Ice, Elec, Poison, Stone, Para, Weapon, and Quake.
Dragon	Shield	Grants the party Fire, Ice, Elec, and Poison resistance with 80% success.
Gas	Enemy Ability	Attacks enemy group with Pois.
All	Enemy Ability	Resists Fire, Ice, Elec, Pois, Ston, Para, Weapon, and Quake.
Damage	Enemy Ability	Resists Fire, Ice, Elec, and Pois.
Poison	Enemy Ability	Resists Pois element and status.

Final Fantasy Legend II

Poison
Game Element	Type	Effect
Fog	Magic Book	Damage = Mana x10; Attacks one group; Poison-elemental.
Poison	MAGI	Damage = Add 5 Mana +1 per MAGI to Mana damage; Poison-elemental.
Acid	Enemy Ability	Damage = Mana x5; all enemies; Poison-elemental.
Gas	Enemy Ability	Damage = Mana x5; all enemies; Poison-elemental.
Change	Enemy Ability	Strong against status change (combination of Poison, Para, Stone, and Weapon).
Damage	Enemy Ability	Strong against elemental magic (combination of Fire, Ice, Thunder, Poison, Quake).
Poison	Enemy Ability	Strong against poison-elemental attacks (both damage and status inflicting).

Final Fantasy Record Keeper