FF1 Characters

-At the beginning of the game you will have to choose a party of four characters. This will be a very important choice as it will determine much of the rest of your game. There are six character choices: Fighters, black belts, ninjas, white mages, black mages, and red mages. Use this guide to help make your choice.

-A little after the middle of the game, your characters will receive an upgrade. This upgrade will help your members in many regards, take this into consideration when making your party choice.

Fighter
	Weapons- Swords, Knives, Axes, Staves
	Armor- Most all armor
	Magic- N/A
	Pros- High damage, high HP, and he is compatible with the best weapons and armor.
	Cons- Equiping him is very expensive, can't use magic.
The fighter is the base character of the game. They are very strong and have high HP. They are extremely helpful in the beginning of the game, seeing that they are the only ones that can deliver significant physical blows. They can also use the very best and most powerful weapons and armor. This comes at a high price though. At the beginning of the game fighters are very expensive to equip. Getting this equipment though allows them to be the most powerful throughout much of the game. Don't start the game without one.

Knight
	Weapons- Swords, Knives, Axes, Staves
	Armor- All
	Magic- Level 1-3 White Magic
	Pros- High damage, tons of HP, and can use the best armor and weapons
	Cons- None
Knights are the the most powerful characters in the game (with the exception of maybe the black belt at a high level), they have the most HP, and they can use the best equipment. Plus, they can now use some low level white magic to help against the undead and to help with some curing. They're still pretty expensive to equip, but by this stage in the game that's no problem. Most definetely have one in your party.

Black Mage
	Weapons- Knives and staves
	Armor- Bracelets
	Magic- Level 1-7 Black Magic
	Pros- Solid black magic, helpful against early major bosses.
	Cons- Very low HP and attack power, can't equip much anything, magic very expensive.
The black mage's power rests entirely on his magic. They are the weakest physical characters in the game. However, the black mage's magic can be extremely powerful. Especially against major bosses where they can use their most powerful magic all out. Another weak point to the mage is that magic is extremely expensive. At the beginning of the game it is very hard to buy more than 1 or 2, level 3-4 magic spells. However, you can more than make up this with the very low cost of equipping them.

Black Wizard
	Weapons- Knives, staves
	Armor- Bracelets
	Magic- All Black Magic
	Pros- Powerful black magic, especially level 8.
	Cons- Low HP, low attack power.
The black wizard uses the most powerful magic in the game. Especially, the extremely powerful level 8 black magic. Their magic can easily overpower the strength of a knight, and can be extremely helpful. They can also hit many enemies at once to help eliminate them that way. Definetely a worthy addition to any team.

White Mage
	Weapons- Hammers
	Armor- Bracelets
	Magic- Level 1-7 White Magic
	Pros-Helpful curing, and good against undead.
	Cons- Extremely low HP, low attack power, expensive magic costs.
The white mage has very low attack power, the lowest HP, and the worst defense of any character in the game. However, all of these weaknesses are made up by her magic. The ability to cure is extremely helpful and saves you an enormous amount of money at the beginning of the game. This allows you to use your money for much more useful purposes. HARM also is a huge help against undead monsters that can be a pain. One weakness is that their spells are very expensive early on, but it's a worthy investment. Plus, it won't cost much to equip them.

White Wizard
	Weapons- Hammers
	Armor- Bracelets
	Magic- Level 1-8 White Magic
	Pros- Extremely helpful white magic, especially LIF2.
	Cons- Very low HP, attack power, and defense.
The white wizard's ability to help cure and defend your team are indispensable. The white mage's upgrade to wizard is especially helpful because he can now use level 8 magic spells. LIF2 is EXTREMELY helpful. It can bring one member of your party back to life with FULL HP. This is very helpful against major bosses late in the game. A white mage is a necessary component of any party that wants to get through the game without too much trouble.

Red Mage
	Weapons- Swords, Knives, Staves
	Armor- Bracelets and some light armor
	Magic- Level 1-5 White and Black Magic
	Pros- He can both cure and attack with magic.
	Cons- Not much magic to choose from, not great attack power.
The red mage is most definetely the most well rounded character in the game. They can use both types of magic, black and white, as well as having a half way decent physical attack. They can equip much more than a white mage or a black mage and they inflict much more damage. However, they are fairly average in every category, so they can't really help you in any one way.

Red Wizard
	Weapons- Swords, Knives, Staves
	Armor- Bracelets and some light armor
	Magic- Level 1-6 and some level 7 Black and White magic
	Pros- Can use decent equipment, well rounded, and can use 2 types of magic.
	Cons- Can't use powerful magic, not as powerful as knights and masters.
The red mage is improved in many ways when they become a wizard. First of all, they can now use many weapons and armor previously unavailable. They can also use some more magic spells. However, a major weakness of the red mage is that they are unable to use the best and most powerful magic spells. (Some in level 7 and all of level 8.) They also don't stand up to the power of a knight or a master by any means. But they're well-rounded attributes should not be overlooked.

Thief
	Weapons- Small swords, Knives
	Armor- Bracelets and light armor
	Magic- N/A
	Pros- Agility makes it easy to run from battles, cheap, and decent HP.
	Cons- Low attack power and no magic.
The thief is most definetely the most interesting character in the game. The thief has no magic capabilities and he cannot match the strength of a fighter or a black belt, but he can help you in other ways. Namely his speed allows you to run from battles much easier than if you didn't have one. (A very helpful feature early in the game.) He is also quite inexpensive to equiq, saving you valuable money. A thief is a great help early in the game but can become a great nuisance before he upgrades to a ninja.

Ninja
	Weapons- Small swords, Knives
	Armor- Bracelets and light armor
	Magic- Level 1-4 Black magic
	Pros- High agility, decent HP and attack power.
	Cons- Limited armor selection.
The thief becomes much more powerful after being upgraded. First of all, their attack power goes way up. They can now all but keep up with your average Knight. They can also use many more weapons than the thief could. Their agility is still as high as ever, making it easy to run from battles. Plus, they now have some black magic to help them out in battles. Ninjas can also equip a much greater variety of weapons and armor including the powerful katana. If you can survive the bad stage of a theif, a ninja is an extremely helpful character to your team.

Black Belt
	Weapons- Fists, Staves, and Nunchucks
	Armor- Bracelets
	Magic- N/A
	Pros- High attack power, decent HP, and cheap to equip.
	Cons- No magic and low defense.
The black belt is a fighter and nothing more. He has no magic at all and will not even after upgrading. His half way different HP and his high attack power make him a powerful force. He is also quite inexpensive to equip saving you quite a bit of money. Do not equip any weapons to your black belt or master. They will do much more damage with just their fists than with any weapon, especially late in the game. A black belt is a great addition to any party, you can use their extra equipment space to store weapons for other party members and can pack quite a punch.

Master
	Weapons- Nunchuks, fists
	Armor- Bracelets
	Magic- N/A
	Pros- Extremely high attack power and high HP.
	Cons- Cannot use magic.
The master, in my opinion is the ultimate character in the game. They have the ability to take away 1500-2000 HP at a time late in the game. They make almost every late boss battle a piece of cake. They take away more than double damage than your average knight. They have a solid amount of HP and half way decent defense. They don't need to equip any weapons because their fists take away more power than anything. Their only weakness is the fact that they can't use magic. Which shouldn't be a problem if they're in a party with a mage or two. I highly recommend having one in your party.