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"Donald is NOT there to heal" Boy, ain't that the truth.

Of course sweet little Vivi had to be number 1. Who could resist such cuteness? And he has one of the most tragic backstories ever. My heart was breaking for him the entire time while playing. 😥

Rita Mordio from Vesperia is my fav black mage, and probably the strongest one too.

David said "steal PP", I'm telling.

Vivi Ornitier needs a hug, the Intro. Vivi Ornitier sets his competition on fire/ice/lightning/darkness, the Video. Vivi Ornitier and his cute victory pose after being #1, the End.

That Thumbnail LOL 😂

I just wish Jade from Tales of the Abyss was on this list, but other than that, solid list, Vivi obviously was going to be #1.

Donald is NOT here to heal… Kingdom Hearts Fans: WE KNOW

Cool having a community list. Keep up the great vids David 👊

This is a fun one. Black mage is probably one f the most common archetypes, but it really is cool just how many different ways it can be interpreted. Of course, I knew who number 1 had to be xD

Jade from Tales of the Abyss is my fav black mage.

Probably a niche pick, but Millenia from Grandia 2 was the first one who came to my mind. That girl pumped.

I freakin love Lulu, that belt-dressed icon

My honorable mentions: Elly from xenogears Leon from star ocean 2 Rune from phantasy star 4

I love Vivi. I felt so sad at the ending with his final letter. Spoilers: At the end of FF9, you read the letter. And as you read the letter, you realize that it was Vivi who was writing that letter, and he's saying his farewell as his very short lifespan comes to an end (it was addressed multiple times throughout the game that all black mages, including Vivi, have very short lifespan). And throughout the game, Vivi goes through all stages of facing his death -- denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Ironically, Kuja (the final boss) goes through the same thing, as he also had a short life span (although longer than Vivi), except he never gets past anger (he reasons that if he dies, then everything should die with him).

Great list and it should be noted that Yuji Horii himself said that Veronica from DQ 11 is his favorite character in the DQ serie. And Sakaguchi (FF-creator) has said that one of his favorite characters in the serie is Vivi.

Lots of competition in this category. Great list everyone!

I still say Lucca doesn't get enough credit for setting in motion one of the greatest RPGs in history. Overall a great list, can't argue with any placement, specially #1. God I love Vivi.

Although Vivi is number one by far, I just loved Lysithea when I first played Three Houses. Her backstory was nice and the girl carried hard in battle, she's a queen!

#1 was no contest. I would've liked to have seen Celine Jules, although the mages in SO2 lose their usefulness by the end of the game. I just love her personality, darling

I resumed playing Bravely Default 2 this week. Red Mage (main) and Black Mage (sub) is a pretty fun albeit obvious combo, especially when both jobs are mastered.

I always enjoyed Bleu from Breath of Fire. She almost felt like you activated a cheat code when you unlocked her for you party in each game that she was in. Great video!

The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.

Great black mage selections, and I saw a few of my favorite black mages in the line up as well 😀. Looking forward to the white mage selections. Have a great day, David.

Great list and great to see Vivi and Magus in the best three! ❤️

Well, Vivi got the top spot, I've got nothing to complain about. It might be fun to do a list of BM's from smaller/lesser known games... like Aika from skies of Arcadia. Thanks for the video.

Ah I love this series. So much fun to be a part of! JOIN THE DAMN DISCORD AND GET IN ON THE FUN

Hooray, thanks to the community for voting for my pick for #8! These top ten lists keep getting better and better.

Funfact: Yuna is the better BlackMage in ffx she got more Magie attack points.

Can't believe Bleu and Nina from the Breath of fire series didn't make the list.

A couple of my Faves that didn’t make the list would be Ghaleon from the first Lunar (He is playable for part of the game) and Bleu from the Breath of Fire Series.

To be fair Donald's tunnel vision was the catalyst for Riku giving his heart to darkness. There's a ton of butterfly effect stuff in the KH series that wouldn't have happened if Donald wasn't a douche to Riku.

Still loving this format, and it's great fun to participate in.

OMG the thumbnail is sooooo cute! lol

Witnessing Palom and Veronica in the same top 10 gaves me a smile...

Solid list! Can I throw out an honorable mention for the strategy RPG “dark mage” Tao from Shining Force. She gains MP quickly and learns fire at an aggressive rate making her a reliable beast of a caster that is there from the first battle.

Calling it before I see it: Magus is on this list

I know this is probably unpopular, but I liked magilou in tales of berseria a lot. She is such a witty smart ass and I thought she actually developed well towards the end of the game

How did I know Vivi would be #1?! Haha

This was a tough list. So many good choices. Shout out to the discord for the work placed in to get it all narrowed down! Of course, shout out to David for creating and editing the video as well. This has been a fun experience and can't wait to see what we got in store next!

I was like, "If Magus ain't on here, I'm gonna riot." (Just kidding Xd) So, I was glad to see him and Lucca here. Vivi is adorable and really grows eventually. Good list, only thing I wish is that Jade Curtiss actually ranked, but there are just a ton of black mages. I also love the Ausa girls from the Lunar games and Bleu in Breath of Fire 1 and 2.

I knew he was going to be number 1. I would add black mage from FF1 on my list. He was favorite character class when I originally played some 20 years ago.

awesome! I love all these characters! i was getting worried when I didnt see Lulu until #2 spot. I didnt know you had a discord channel, im going to join it so I can keep up to date with the most handsome, most wonderful KZfaqr (IMO) keep giving us great content Handsome!

My favorite black mage is definitely Genis

Wow, great list! I would have swapped 3 and 2 personally, but I agree with the individuals and placement of literally everyone else.

I wish Genis Sage from Tales of Symphonia was here or Rowan J. Illbert from Tales of Xillia.

I loved the video, there are so many black mages, you could make a part II

Rune is an absolute killer but I understand why he is an honorable mention, just not quite popular enough. This is a great and fun list, please do more like this! The number 1 spot is well earned, no one can take that spot imo from (not spoiling it) them! I love that Magus made this list and he is a personal favorite of mine and especially so with that amazing theme he has. When I heard Donald Duck I lol'd out loud for real, I have never would have thought of him and black mage being associated with each other but youre right! Some heavy hitters in here. Thanks David, very well made!

Missed Elly from Xenogears. Ether doubler + aerods = cheat code for any gear fight.

Lulu. Wooooo.

WatchAllDavidsVideosChallenge Never replayed Kingdom Hearts so never knew Donald Duck was a mage lol Glad Raynie made honorable mention at least, Radiant Historia needs a home console port or remake to get the attention it deserves

I really like Ashe from Final Fantasy 12. While you can choose any class for her, she just really felt like a great black mage, and a fun character. I also helps that I feel she is the main character more than the bland Panello or Vaan.

Oh man I feel Jacen from Lost Odyssey needs to be on this list. Really wish they would port it and Blue dragon to the switch people are missing out

When I played FF9 for the first time, I always had Vivi in the party every chance I had. His spells tore through everything the game threw at me. I also made sure to pair him up with Steiner, cause their duo skill where Vivi slaps an element onto Steiners’ Sword Slash was killer.

Lemina is one of my favorites.

one name that didn't get mentioned that i like is Ronyx from Star Ocean

I came here to make sure Vivi was number one and was not disappointed.

love the thumbnail lol

This ist the first time i 100%agree with one of your lists 😅🤗

Celine from Star Ocean 2! Have been enjoying this series.

thumbnail game is on point lmao

When I played the Crimson Flower route of Three Houses, I couldn't get to Lysithea's range because her Dark Spikes T spell would insta-kill everyone.

I think you need to limit one per from series since there are too many Final Fantasy characters. Celine from Star Ocean 2, Zerase from Suikoden V, Cai from Brigandine, Blue from SAGA Frontier, Reinhard from Dragon Force, Selan from Lufia 2, etc. Tbh, Rita should be no. 1 because she's totally broken character lol.

Haven't watched it yet but I can't imagine no.1 being anyone other than Vivi

I think a good video would be Davidvinc's ultimate dream RPG.

I don’t know if you’d consider Aht from Radiant Historia a black mage but her magic traps are top tier powerful and she can also heal.

Bit disappointed Jade didnt get to the top 10. Good tier nonetheless👌

List doesn't have Arche from Tales of Phantasia and is therefore wrong. I kid, but not only does she casually cast spells which are considered Mystic Artes in other Tales games, she also manages to be smart by flying above the action during battle.

DQ -11 isn't quite challenging enough to warrant a character to heal the party for free, unlike say valsue in 7th saga

Vivi is my favourite character in the series.

Couldn't agree more with 1 & 2

Lulu will always be my Favorite, a Total Queen!

Nice video! It makes me wish I bothered to shill for Relm and lose on principle

Im here for THE DUCK

Commenting before I watch the video. I’m expecting Vivi at #1

My 1st thought for black mage was Zhuzhen from shadow hearts

Would the hero of the first Suikoden count? I mean I know he’s also great at hitting things so referring to him as a Black Mage might be inaccurate, but the instant death spells he gets are probably some of the best in RPGs out there, and the Soul Eater’s magical damage is pretty impressive too. Though if he doesn’t count, Viki definitely does. She’s not great in the earlier games, but by 5 she is absolutely incredible with her high damage and her chance to doublecast that high damage.

The black mage I think is good is alaron from aidyn cronicals the first mage because he can learn all school of magic nameing-elemental-necromancy-star

That thumbnail is nightmare fuel, just imagine the amount of bicep muscle under those robes

Honorable Mention 1: Bleu from Breath of Fire II - holy crap - those stats! Honorable Mention 2: Ershin from Breath of Fire IV. Seemingly useless for a good chunk of the game and then gets ALL the strongest elemental spells and a breath attack when she returns.

What?! No OG Black Mage from FF1? There's no Vivi without the Icon. Whenever I torture myself and replay the first Final, always gotta have the little guy on the team. Regardless, fun list!

Vivi's in the number one spot, isn't he?

Further proof that "Jessica" is *the* sexiest woman's name.

By best, I am referring to characters that are/were influential, indispensable and/or gamebreaking, in their own respective game. That being said, taking that into consideration, my list would have to be: 1. Merlin (Fate/Grand Order) 2. Lysithea Von Ordelia (Fire Emblem: Three Houses) 3. Gala Cleo (Dragalia Lost) 4. Vivi Ornitier (Final Fantasy IX) 5. Grune (Tales of Legendia) 6. Janus Zeal/Magus (Chrono Trigger) 7. Jade Balfour/Curtiss (Tales of the Abyss) 8. Genis Sage (Tales of Symphonia) 9. Arche Klein (Tales of Phantasia) 10. Deneb Rove (Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together) PS: I thought about adding Rita Mordio to said list, but there were already more than enough Tales of characters in it.

Yshtola from ff14 was my favorite!!

Vivi is the best videogame character of all time

What are the names of the songs used in your video. The opening and closing

Lucca was a good pick

Ohhh before I watch if vivi ain't number 1 we gonna have ourselves a fight mister. Edit: oh good we don't all is right in this world.

Too bad no mention of Elise from Tales of Xillia lol

Ain't no way I was going to finish this list if my boy Vivi wasn't number 1 😑

Keele Zeibel 🥰

Not gonna lie, I BOO'D Donald Duck. Guy never heals me when I need it, wastes all of Goofy's MP gift so he can sling more thunder spells, etc etc etc. On my second playthrough, I did a mage build (Take Staff, Give Up shield) and became a glass cannon god of death, putting the Duck to shame. Not only could I wipe out entire rooms of Darkballs with ONE thundaga, but I could ALSO attack for a decent amount of damage to recharge. I ditched him whenever I could. Like, in that segment where physical attacks are useless, I laughed and said "I don't need 'em" and kept mopping the floor with everything. If lategame enemies didn't suddenly gain a whole lot of magical defense, nothing would have even slowed me down.

I'm surprised Rydia from final fantasy 4 and Arche from Tales of phantasia wasn't mentioned

VIVI GOAT

Vivi's story made me cry plus, he could literally NUKE every entry here. Also, please don't diss Serena, she's easily the best healer in Dragon Quest!

If Vivi was not gonna be in the top 3 I was gonna flip lol

Breath of Fire Bleu 7th Saga Ezuna If we're counting tactical RPGs then Lysteria from Fire Emblem 3 houses

Vivi from Final Fantasy IX: Not much to add here. You summed him up pretty well Veronica from Dragon Quest XI: Sassy black mage, and her death hit hard. Can we get her original body back and not her kid form, please? Angela from Trials of Mana: One of my personal mainstays, because she knows how to use her staff to great effect, and partially, because she can also look quite sexy Genis from Tales of Symphonia: A kendama as a weapon, and Lloyd's best friend, he tries to keep him out of trouble as much as possible and beats his older sister in the culinary arts Milla Maxwell from Tales of Xillia: Refined as she is focused, while she may use a sword, she can combine her swordplay with her magic stat to wonderful effect. Also, her quirks are so charming and funny, especially when food's involved Emma Millstein from Trails of Cold Steel: This beautiful, loving motherly witch, who got to Thors thanks to a scholarship, was originally tasked with keeping an eye on Rean to ensure he's ready to be Valimar's awakener, but, she never had that ice queen persona, and was always welcoming to everyone in Class VII. Also, she can sing to me at that concert, and place me under her spell any day.