# Off-banner

> A top-rarity gacha result that is not the banner's featured item, known as a spook in Fate/Grand Order communities. Whether off-banner results grant protection is a defining difference between gacha systems.

- Canonical URL: https://gachawiki.com/wiki/off-banner
- Type: term
- Verification status: verified (facts checked 2026-07-09)
- Last updated: 2026-07-09
- License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Attribution: "Off-banner", GachaWiki, https://gachawiki.com/wiki/off-banner

An off-banner result is a top-rarity pull that is not the banner's featured item: the 5-star from the standard pool when you wanted the event character. Fate/Grand Order communities call it a spook, and the word has spread across the genre.

What happens after an off-banner result is one of the sharpest dividing lines between gacha designs:

- In [50/50](/wiki/fifty-fifty) systems (Genshin Impact and its successors), an off-banner 5-star is also a state change: it arms the guarantee, so the next 5-star is the featured character. The loss has value. [[1]](#ref-1)
- In fractional [rate-up](/wiki/rate-up) systems (Fate/Grand Order, Blue Archive, NIKKE, Granblue Fantasy), an off-banner result changes nothing. The featured odds on the next pull are identical, and only a [spark](/wiki/spark) ceiling, where one exists, moves closer. [[2]](#ref-2)

The distinction drives real cost differences that headline rates hide. Two games with similar top-rarity rates can have very different featured-item costs depending on whether off-banner results carry protection; the [comparison table](/compare/pity-systems) tracks the guarantee column for exactly this reason.

Off-banner results are not always losses in the larger sense: standard-pool characters obtained this way are often strong, and in games with [dupe systems](/wiki/dupe-system) a spook can be a copy of something worth upgrading. The term describes intent, not value.

## References

1. Genshin Impact in-game Wish Details rate disclosure (HoYoverse): https://genshin.hoyoverse.com/en/home (accessed 2026-07-09)
2. Summoning rates (community documentation of in-game disclosure) (Fate/Grand Order community wiki): https://fategrandorder.fandom.com/wiki/Summoning (accessed 2026-07-09)