Phoenix Down (SPOILERS AHEAD)

[Flashback007]

I don't know if this is going to work here, but in a chatroom he had a lot discussion about it. Phoenix Down is a item that returns in every FF. The discription you always see is:
"Restores K.O" "Fixes K.O".

No-one ever dies in the Final Fantasy games, the always get "KO". That would explain some case where in people did die, and the charachters didn't use Phoenix Down. Ok, so Phoenix Down cures Death. But if an enemy casts Death, you are dead. If an enemy casts Doom, you will be dead in a few seconds. And there are several other spells that works like that. But you can cure this with a Phoenix Down. And that while a Phoenix Down only cures "K.O". For me "KO" is a way other thing then Death. It also make you wonder, when for example (SPOILER)Aeris died why didn't the party used Phoenix Down. You can stock 99 Phoenix Downs, while the party never uses them on (SPOILER)Aeris. Same with for example (SPOILER)Galuf, they also never used it on him, while the party really misses him. Another example that Phoenix Down didn't work on the death was (SPOILER)Rachel in FFVI. Locke even summons the great Phoenix, but even Phoenix cannot heal him. So what is with this Phoenix Downs, Phoenix Tails etc?

[Zante]

Same with for example (SPOILER)Galuf, they also never used it on him, while the party really misses him.

I think they used some items or magic on him, but it didn't work.

Another example that Phoenix Down didn't work on the death was (SPOILER)Rachel in FFVI. Locke even summons the great Phoenix, but even Phoenix cannot heal him

That's because the magitice was cracked/broken whatever.

And you have a point. I gues they did it this way because they thought death sounds better that KO in most cases.

[Sefie1999AD]

I don't know if this is going to work here, but in a chatroom he had a lot discussion about it. Phoenix Down is a item that returns in every FF. The discription you always see is:
"Restores K.O" "Fixes K.O".

No-one ever dies in the Final Fantasy games, the always get "KO". That would explain some case where in people did die, and the charachters didn't use Phoenix Down. Ok, so Phoenix Down cures Death. But if an enemy casts Death, you are dead. If an enemy casts Doom, you will be dead in a few seconds. And there are several other spells that works like that. But you can cure this with a Phoenix Down. And that while a Phoenix Down only cures "K.O". For me "KO" is a way other thing then Death. It also make you wonder, when for example (SPOILER)Aeris died why didn't the party used Phoenix Down. You can stock 99 Phoenix Downs, while the party never uses them on (SPOILER)Aeris. Same with for example (SPOILER)Galuf, they also never used it on him, while the party really misses him. Another example that Phoenix Down didn't work on the death was (SPOILER)Rachel in FFVI. Locke even summons the great Phoenix, but even Phoenix cannot heal him. So what is with this Phoenix Downs, Phoenix Tails etc?

The battle system and the storyline are two different things, and the gameplay mechanics don't really apply in the storyline. I think Death and Doom spells are just called that, and they KO a party member. If you check their status after they've been hit by Death, it will say Wounded, KO, Swooned (great job, translators of FF"2" US!) or something like that.

The early FFs were an exception. They actually said the character was dead. In FF1 PSX, you'd take "dead" characters (especially Black Belts ) to church (clinic in the English NES version) and two angels would come and bring the character's spirit back to his/her body. In FF2 and FF3j, I think the characters' menu pictures turned to tombstones or crosses saying R.I.P. or Dead after they had been KOed. You could still revive them, though.

Using Phoenix Down (SPOILER)on Aeris after her death is something which has been debated for ages. I think that case shows it really well how battle mechanics just don't work with the storyline, and Wounded/KOed isn't the same as dead. When (SPOILER)Galuf died, the party tried to keep him alive with many methods. I think they tried using Cure3, Life/Raise, Phoenix Down and Elixir on him, but (SPOILER)after taking tons of punishment from the crystals and Exdeath and beating the dark lord while having 0 HP, Galuf was simply beyond healing and couldn't be saved anymore.

GLR already covered the Phoenix case in FFVI, though I don't think the summon would have worked even if the magicite hadn't been broken. The theme in Locke's story hints too much that (SPOILER)you can't bring dead people back to life and grieve their deaths forever. Instead, you should get on with your life. The lost loved ones will always remain in your heart, though. That's what Rachel's spirit said to Locke when she visited him for a while.

So to answer your final question about what is up with Phoenix Downs/Tails/Pinions/etc, they just wake up wounded/KOed characters during battles or when you're accessing the item menu. They don't bring the dead back to life.