Relm: I couldn't miss the chance to practice my drawing!
This article is in need of a few pictures. Perhaps you can help by uploading and adding a picture or two.
Various portrayals attributed to KO: Final Fantasy (top left), Onion Knight from Final Fantasy III (top right), Bartz Klauser (bottom left) and Final Fantasy VIII KO status icon (bottom right)
"The character has lost consciousness and cannot move or act. Remove with a tuft of Phoenix Down."
'Knocked Out(せんとうふのう,Sentofunou?), also known as Dead, Death, Disabled, Swoon, Wound, Wounded, Fatal, Fell, Killed Out, Killed Off, Stun, KO , KO'd, or KOed, is the condition a unit is in when they have run out of Hit Points. Whenever this occurs, the unit "faints" and is no longer able to aid in battle. In older games, the condition was called "Death", but this is not to be confused with Instant Death.
Being knocked out in battle is not to be confused with when a character actually dies in the game's story, where use of such aforementioned items and spells won't revive the character; they are beyond the point of no return and cannot be saved.
When a character is KO'd, s/he would collapse and lie down on the ground, presumably in a state of total unconsciousness. This trend, starting in the original Final Fantasy continues on to Final Fantasy XI. Starting with Final Fantasy XII, KO'd characters would kneel down instead.
In almost all Final Fantasy game series, KO would only result in a Game Over when all party members on screen are wiped out. This can also happen when the player has exhausted all available party members in titles where the characters can be switched in and out of battle. When a party member is KO'd in Final Fantasy XII, the game removes them from the field and players have to navigate to the main menu to select a new party member; when a party leader dies, the gameplay freezes and prompts the player to designate a new party leader.
However, in Final Fantasy XIII, the game is over whenever the designated party leader is KO'd even when other party members are still alive. In The Final Fantasy Legend series, the player may restart from the beginning of the fight after this loss, but in Final Fantasy Legend II, this power is explicitly granted by Odin, and is lost after he is defeated by the player on his request.
In Final Fantasy Tactics, when a character is knocked out, a counter starts counting down from 3 to 0. When the counter is set to 0, the character will transform into a Crystal or a Treasure Chest, and the character can no longer be revived. KO'd Guest units are protected from Permanent Death with stars floating above their heads.
This particular feature is continued in both Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift. Interesting side note: because Dead cancels Blood Suck, and because Dead is a lot easier to remove than Blood Suck is, killing a Blood Sucked unit is often the best way to deal with it if you don't have any Holy Water handy.
KO can be prevented by the use of items such as Potions and White Mage skills such as Cure and Cura that restore HP. Also, bestowing a unit with Auto-Life will automatically revive them in the case of a KO.
Games with inns allow the party to fully heal all characters, including Final Fantasy X's healing save spheres. However, this does not occur in the original Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II, as Sanctuaries are used to revive fallen characters. In the original Final Fantasy, a clergyman takes a fee for his services, though in Final Fantasy II the party prays directly and therefore it is free of charge.
In The Final Fantasy Legend, characters must be revived at a House of Life for 100GP, but can only be revived three times unless they are the party leader. After their third death, the party member can only be brought back with a Revive (15 000 GP) or must be replaced entirely at a Guild.
In most games, a character will remain incapacitated after the battle's end. However, in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, the character is brought back to life after battle with 1 HP remaining, and in Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Tactics all characters are fully healed after battle, although characters who are not lost forever are always fully healed after a battle in Final Fantasy Tactics.
Some skills inflict Instant Death regardless of current HP. Such moves include the Alchemist's Death or the Assassin's Last Breath. Bosses are usually immune to Instant Deaths, and the Undead may fully restore health if inflicted with it (seeing as it is a Dark ability).
The only way to prevent Instant Death is with equipment or support abilities that offer protection for it. This kind of KO is often called a status ailment, since an Instant Death attack does not actually inflict damage on the character.
Knock Outs usually result in the award of EXP/AP to increase the power of units, which is why it is critical to keep units alive to score KOs to increase their abilities. In Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, KOing a unit results in the awarding of one Judge Point.
Edit
Final Fantasy (PS).
The Death symbol in Final Fantasy II (NES).
Final Fantasy II (GBA).
Final Fantasy III (NES).
Final Fantasy III (DS).
KO Symbol in Final Fantasy III (DS).
Final Fantasy IV (GBA).
Final Fantasy IV (DS).
Final Fantasy IV (iOS)
