Why do Monk classes always know healing and support commands?

[*Laurelindo*]

It started in the original version of FF4, where Yang can use a move that is essentially Protect; then in FF5 you could use Chakra, which healed some HP and removed basic status effects; Sabin in FF6 could use Mantra and Spiraler; and the Monk class in FF Tactics was insane, since he could heal HP and MP for several characters at once, remove most status effects AND revive dead characters.
Then it returned yet again in FF9, where Amarant could do tons of white magic-based moves.

What's the logic behind all these obvious support commands?
Can it have something to do with the fact that some monks in real life are known to have certain healing skills?

[Del Murder]

Monks are supposed to have supreme control over their own mind and body. One can argue that all things that affect one affect the other. That is why they have great strength without the use of weapons. Their intense focus allows them this. Similarly, they use the power of their mind to create physical change in their bodies, thus healing themselves or hardening their bodies to danger. Notice that, for the most part, their abilities only affect themselves. It's a inward mind over matter concept, which is different from typical magic that is projected outwardly.

Personally, I find monks boring and I hate using them. Being able to derive power from your mind and body is cool in concept, but in a video game it basically means you don't need to upgrade them at all and that's pretty boring. I like getting shiny armor, powerful weapons, and mystifying magics for my characters.

[*Laurelindo*]

Personally, I find monks boring and I hate using them. Being able to derive power from your mind and body is cool in concept, but in a video game it basically means you don't need to upgrade them at all and that's pretty boring. I like getting shiny armor, powerful weapons, and mystifying magics for my characters.Ok, thanks a lot. :p

Yeah, I agree that they tend to be kind of overpowered, but they do have certain weaknesses when it comes to defense - their armour collection is usually pretty bad, which means they get beat up easily, and I also think they are relatively slow.
They did vastly exaggerate their powers in FF Tactics though, I seriously can't think of anything that the Monk class does NOT handle in that game - you have an attack that hits all surrounding enemies at once in one move (Spin Fist), a critical hit-type attack (Repeating Fist), an extended normal attack (Wave Fist), a hit-everything-in-a-line attack (Earth Slash), a death sentence status (Secret Fist), a status remover (Stigma Magic), an HP-and-MP restorer (Chakra) and a revive command (Revive).
I mean, really, come on...?

[TrollHunter]

Yeah, I agree that they tend to be kind of overpowered
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They did vastly exaggerate their powers in FF Tactics though, I seriously can't think of anything that the Monk class does NOT handle in that game

That monk's a pretty cool guy, eh is a one man army and eh doesn't afraid of anything.~ (at least in tactics)
I don't think he meant overpowered, just very simple. I can surely agree with him on that, I love fist-fighters but buying new gear has a certain flair to me. Not to mention simple skill-wise where they lack any sort of variety whatsoever.
I like them but seem to be using them less and less as time passes.

[Martyr]

Some people like the BB in Final Fantasy, but most people recognize that it is a stupid character.
Yeah, it's cheap, but the actual fun of the game, the part where you strive to acquire the better weapons and learn the best magics, kind of like Del Murder was saying, is missing. The BB just gets stronger. Then it lives or dies. Whatever.
It is a boring class with no diversity. By is I mean was, of course.
In order to provide diversity and purpose, the designers had to give it more than just powerful knuckles. Healing is cool. Use some sort of zen ying/yang concept to justify a mystical mind-power sort of thing.

A better idea might've been to eliminate monk classes and stick to swords and sorcery, but then it wouldn't directly imitate D&D, and something might feel missing. The truth is that the true identity of the monk is both an anomaly and a freebie. Anybody can do anything with it, as long as it's somehow different from a red mage that can't swing an axe.

[TaylorS]

It stems from common East Asian and Buddhist cultural tropes about monks having seemingly magical powers as a result of intense meditative and mind-body training.

[Pike]

I think TaylorS pretty much answered the question here!

[Behold the Void]

From a design standpoint monks have often had something of a catch-all "what the heck do we give these guys just throw some moves at them and call it good" effect. They show up in D&D and pretty early on you can see the developers weren't really sure what they were doing besides making someone who can hurt people through punching, so they just give them a bunch of "thematic" abilities and call it good. I've generally noticed that the monk classes have all kind of fallen in line with the initial D&D conceit, ability-wise, and while in some cases the balance has been OK it seems like a number of games that include the option at all have derived it from the D&D base and never really thought to do much with it, they just decided that it was a thing they needed to have.

[Depression Moon]

In III they do not have any healing abilities whatsoever and I think they don't in the original either.

[Chris]

...And I just can't see certain characters as anything but Monks. For some reason, I always make sure that Galuf's first mastering of a job, is that of a Monk.