Final Fantasy IX.
This was on my third or fourth playthrough, I think. I had gotten to the part just after the Iifa Tree boss, and was facing those monsters that main villain Kuja often sends after you. (The ones that look like huge, grotesquely mutated pillbugs.)
I could, at the time, remember nothing about the creatures from my earlier playthroughs... except that they were REALLY tough.
My party consisted of main (girly) man Zidane (fighter/thief), main love interest Dagger (healer/summoner), Vivi (Black Mage) and Eiko (healer/summoner).
It seemed like a good idea at the time. I was having a bad day.
First up was Eiko. Which was great. Eiko had learned several new summons I wanted to try, and a beefy Summon monster would be just the thing to soften up those big, tough monsters before pounding them with more mundane (and Magic conserving) attacks.
However, as I scrolled down the menu, my thumb slipped and I accidentally summoned Carbuncle. Up popped a green kangaroo/hamster thing which did absolutely nothing except to cast Reflect on everybody in my party. This means that any magic cast on my characters is redirected toward the enemy instead. Practical, at times, but NOT AT ALL the offensive start I wanted. I cursed my clumsy thumb.
Next up was Vivi. Which was great. Vivi had a spell which would not only remove the usual amount of health from the enemy, but also add it to Vivi's own health bar. This wasn't really necessary, as everybody was at full health, but just attacking the monsters wasn't good enough for me right then... I wanted to HUMILIATE them.
So, I had Vivi cast the spell on both monsters, and what happened? It turned out that one of the things I'd forgotten about the monsters is the fact that they're undead. This means, everything to do with their health works BACKWARDS. Bottom line: The monsters got HEALED, while Vivi nearly kicked the bucket!
Next, it was Dagger's turn. Which was great. Vivi needed healing, and Dagger had just learned the best healing spell in the game. To be on the safe side, I had her cast the spell on the WHOLE party, just in case the monsters got an attack in before she had time to cast it.
However, I had forgotten about Carbuncle and the Reflect spell. (I was having a REALLY bad day.) The healing spell got bounced off the heroes without doing anything to them, and hit the monsters full blast instead. I nearly screamed with rage.
However, I had also forgotten about the whole "undead" thing.
(Did I mention I was having a bad day?)
The healing spell proved instantly fatal to the monsters, wiping them out before they had a chance to attack!
