This is a list of terms used in Mercenaries that have specific definitions that may not be immediately apparent.

If these terms appear in a mercenary's ability without further context or definition, assume the default definition listed here is meant. However, in any case where further elaboration in the ability text contradicts the definition listed here, the ability text takes precedence.

Week: A unit of game time consisting of all the phases in the game-- Peacetime, Wartime, Battles, and Results.  Typically takes a week.  

Cooldown: If an ability is stated to have a cooldown of X, it means that X weeks must pass after the week it was used before it can be used again. Contrast with the wording 'once every Y weeks' for some abilities-- such an ability has a cooldown of Y-1.  If an ability is put on cooldown for X weeks, X weeks must pass where it is rendered usable during a phase where it would normally be usable-- the net effect of this can vary depending on when the ability was put on cooldown for X weeks.  For instance, if it's put on the cooldown after it's used, then the used week would not count towards that tally as the chance to use the ability had not been denied for one week.  This is in contrast to effects like Tron Bonne's beacon bomb which can put abilities on cooldown before they have a chance to be used for the current week-- in those cases the effective "week of cooldown" would be considered served immediately.  

Enemy: References to 'enemy team' or 'enemy mercenary' refer specifically to the the directly opposing team (or, in the case of 'enemy mercenary', a member of the directly opposing team) during that week's Wartime.

Nullify: When something is said to nullify an ability use, the effects of the ability that was nullified do not take place, and the ability goes on a one-week cooldown.

Fail: Synonym to nullify when it relates to an ability unless otherwise specified. 

Battle Write-Up (or Write-Up):  The blurb of text that is located at the top of a mercenary's wiki page, and the default blurb pasted into any fight topics posted.  If an ability refers to "the write-up" it refers to this.  

Mercenary (Merc) - An individual character.

Alignment - A mercenary's classification of Heroic, Neutral, or Villainous.  

Type - A mercenary's classification of Human, Beast, Robot, Undead, or Otherworldly.  A mercenary with two or more types listed will be considered to be a valid target if an effect only allows certain types can target any of its types, and will be considered invalid in the case of an effect specifically bans any of its types.  In the case of a conflict, the first listed type takes precedence.  

Gender - A mercenary's-- what do you think?  Male, Female, or Genderless.  

Roster - The list of mercs chosen for battle that week.

Pure Support (PS) - A merc that cannot be rostered for battle. Must be attached to a mercenary on purchase (with identical rules to an On Purchase ability when doing so), and can only use its start of battles if the attached mercenary is rostered, but can be reattached every 5 weeks during Peacetime provided no abilities are on cooldown. If a PS uses an ability, for purposes of ability interactions it is considered to be used by the attached merc, but otherwise the PS is considered independent from the attached merc, and is not an eligible target unless an ability specifically notes so.  A PS cannot declare abilities if its linked merc is not rosterable.

Assist - A merc that fights alongside the merc they're assisting. Assists do not count towards the roster cap and will accompany their assisting merc in side topics and in-battle repositioning, however they are not considered "hit" by such abilities.  Assists default to 0/week mercenaries for ability purposes if not otherwise specified.  If an assist has an assist, they will also be considered to be assisting the assisted merc (assist soup).

Low Tier (LT) - The combat tier where only mercs with an upkeep of 1-3 can be rostered without fees.

Mid Tier (MT) - The combat tier where only mercs with an upkeep of 1-5 can be rostered without fees.

High Tier (HT) - The combat tier where any merc can be rostered without fees.

Removal - Any effect which removes a merc from the battle.   KOs, possessions, seductions, and kidnappings.  Removed mercenaries may receive EXP and still charge upkeep, but are not considered rosterable mercs, and all their abilities (including passives) are considered unusable for the rest of the week except where noted in the specific glossary entry or the mercs themselves.   

KO - A KOd merc can't participate in battle or use abilities the week they are KOd.

Injured - An injured merc can't participate in battle or use abilities the week after they are injured.

Possession - A possessed merc's leader cannot roster them or use any of their abilities.  The player who possessed them can roster them as though they were their own mercenary and use any non-rechargeable abilities they have, as well as choose their customization.   Any abilities that were sent at the possessed merc before the possession will still resolve even if that shouldn't normally happen due to team membership.  Any abilities already used by the merc will be cancelled without going on recharge unless they were pre-battles (and may be declared again by the new leader if they're non-rechargeable).  They will return at the end of results.  Their passive will be considered to be in effect at the end of the week, however their original owner may not use their results abilities for their own team as they do not return until the end of results.  They may still receive EXP.

Seduction - A removal where the mercenary will only be unable to be use abilities or be rostered for the phase they're seduced for (so a mercenary seduced during Wartime could use a Results ability, for example), rather than the rest of the week and does not interact with abilities that specifically mention KOs.  

Kidnapping -  Similar to a seduction, but kidnapped mercenaries will be returned at the end of results unless otherwise stated.  Their passive will be in effect at the end of the week, however they may not use results abilities.

Intercept - A mercenary takes the effect of an ability in place of another mercenary.  More information on the standard rules for these effects can be found here in the Interception Effect Rules Reference. As always, conflicting ability text takes preference. 

Negative Effect - Any harmful effect that does not do damage or remove a merc.

Stolen Ability - An ability that has been "stolen" by another merc, such as with Yuffie's Ability Thief or Dark Samus's The Prime.  Such abilities will not recharge until they are returned (which occurs the beginning of the week after it is used or bought back-- it will recharge at the beginning of the week it is returned as it normally would) and cannot be affected by other abilities in any way while stolen.  

Manipulation - An ability that influences the way a mercenary thinks in some way.  Only the first declared ability (pre-battles take priority over start of battles) will work on a mercenary each wartime, and any further manipulation attempts directed at the mercenary will fail without going on recharge.  This only applies to abilities explicitly tagged as a manipulation which means this shouldn't even really be here since there's like one ability that does this.

Targeted ability - An ability that affects one or more individual mercenaries.  An effect that can only affect the mercenary using the ability itself, places a condition on the match itself, summons mercenaries, affects the entire match or an entire team is not considered targeted.  Affecting the entire team by ways of affecting each individual mercenary on the team (for instance, Sephiroth's SEPHIROTH! going off after sufficient weeks have passed for the entire enemy team to be supernovaed) is still considered a targeted effect.  

Pre-selected ability - An ability that has a pre-determined target chosen by the ability's user.  

Random ability - An ability that uses a random selection to determine the target.  By default, mercenaries who cannot be rostered will not be included in any random target pools, though you may include any and all of them if you declare such when making the roll.

Passive Ability - An ability that is always active when the listed conditions are met (not all passive abilities have conditions).

Rechargeable Ability - Blanket statement referring to abilities that incur a recharge when used.  This recharge does not necessarily have to be incurred by the ability itself-- for example a multipart ability that gives recharge to one of the components when used would be considered rechargeable.  Rechargeable abilities can never be used by possessed mercenaries.  

On Purchase Ability - An ability that must be declared once upon successfully purchasing a merc, within one in game week of the mercenary being purchased.  The ability will be randomized if this time is exceeded, and the choice may be remade any time during the week.  

Peacetime Ability - An ability that can only be used during Peacetime.  These abilities must be done 3 hours before the end of peacetime unless otherwise stated.  

Pre-Battle Ability- A Wartime ability who's effect goes off whether or not the user and/or target is rostered that week. The effects occur immediately on declaration, before Start of Battle abilities.  Pre-Battle abilities may be declared targeting out of tier mercs, unlike Start of Battle abilities.

Start of Battle Ability - A Wartime ability that only takes effect if both the user and target are rostered that week. If the user is not rostered, the ability doesn't happen and goes on a one week cooldown. If the target is not rostered, the ability doesn't happen and does not go on cooldown. The effects occur at the start of the battle if both the user and the target have been rostered, after Pre-Battle abilities.

Results Ability - An ability that can only be used during Results.

Trigger Ability - An ability that is used immediately if the conditions are met.  If an ability triggers it, the effect occurs immediately after the triggering ability (but before resolution-- so if for example the ability causing the trigger was a KO the trigger would still occur)

Limited Use Ability - An ability that can only be used a certain number of times before becoming permanently unavailable.  Such abilities can never be used by anyone but the player who owns the mercenary for any reason, even if rechargeable abilities are allowed, and cannot be duplicated in any way.  

Must - If there is a condition to declaring an ability or using any sort of action that uses the terminology must, and the player is not able to meet the must criteria, the action cannot be used.  If a condition using the wording must is imposed upon a merc after declaration of an ability (either within the ability text itself or due to another ability or effect), and at some point after the declaration of the ability the merc is rendered unable to perform the action for any reason, the ability will still function, however.  

Customization - A list of merc-specific options that can be chosen each week during the ability phase. Customization is not considered an ability, though certain abilities will interact with Customization lists.

Attacker - A player who declares on another player during Wartime.

Defender - A player who is declared on during Wartime.

Defer - The Attacker making the decision to let the Defender use abilities first.

Terrain - The battlefield a match takes place on each week. Chosen by secret bid of GP after during Roster selection, with the Defender getting a +3 bonus.

GP - Player currency used to hire mercs, bid on terrain, etc.

Infrastructure (Infra)- How much GP you earn each day in Results.

Upkeep - How much GP you pay a merc you own each week in Results (upkeep does not apply the week a merc is hired)

Real Income (RI) - A player's Infrastructure minus the total upkeep of all of their mercs.