Top 10 Final Fantasy Summons/Espers/Eidolons/GFs/Aeons/Whatever!

In the Final Fantasy games, you get access to powerful super beings that you can summon to mop up your enemies. They are usually called summon magic, espers, or eidolons. These beings are usually based upon lore of many different varieties. Thus, every time I pass copies of "The Epic of Gilgamesh" in bookstores I'm tempted to buy it. Also, if not for Final Fantasy, I'd probably never know how disgusting a carbuncle looks... Thanks, much Square-Enix. Good enough introduction? I thought so. On to the list...

10. Carbuncle 

Make sure you never type in "carbuncle" in a Google image search without any modifiers. You'll get lots of gruesome pictures of "carbuncles", which is a type of skin disease. Who knew? Who the hell names these diseases anyway? The Carbuncle we're talking about here is an extremely cute little being that casts Reflect on your party. Carbuncle comes from an ancient term for a cut garnet. There is also mention of a creature called "Carbuncle" in the "Book of Imaginary Beings" by Jorge Louis Borges: described as a creature with some sort of jewel in its head. 

9. Ifrit

Ifrit's basis is the infernal genies (or Djinn) of Arabic myth. They are described as strong and cunning and are associated with fire. So, naturally, Ifrit is usually depicted as very muscled and obliterates the field with fire... Or even a meteor. Anything that's hot and explosive. Ifrit is usually among some of the first summon creatures you have access to in a typical Final Fantasy game. Thus, we all share a deep bond with this blazing genie.







8. Shiva

Oh, Shiva. The sexy ice summon that we usually cast over and over again until our MP is depleted just to see her. Unless we're talking FFVIII... My Shiva had 1,000 (the maximum) compatibility with Squall in a few hours. I could summon her in close to one second. She's also an early game summon. Shiva is drawn from the Hindu god of destruction of the same name. The deity Shiva is said to represent duality and thus it's perfectly reasonable to say that, although he's usually depicted as male, Shiva can also be represented as a female. Other stories about Shiva include a tale about him drinking a poison from the world's oceans that turned his neck blue. All depictions of Shiva in FF games have the creature an icy blue. Shiva is also told to have "matted" hair. In Final Fantasy X, the Shiva Aeon does indeed appear to have either matted or perhaps extremely braided hair: possessing several long, flowing dreadlocks. That's about it for similarities, though.

7. Phoenix

Phoenix isn't as common in the series as some of the others, but when he does appear... It's always very good. The Phoenix summon will usually revive fallen party members while dealing fire damage to your enemies. What's NOT awesome about that? I'll tell you what: nothing. Phoenix comes from Persian mythology originally and is depicted as a bird with beautiful gold and red plumage that, once ever 500 or 1,000 years, dies and is reborn again. The phoenix is also part of Egyptian and Chinese myths. You've seen the Harry Potter films so you know exactly what I'm talking about.

6. Ramuh

Ramuh has a particularly noteworthy distinction of being one of the very few summon creatures to play a direct role in the storyline of some of the games. In FFVI, he helps the party find and explain what is happening to main character Terra. Also, in FFIX, Ramuh helps Dagger get back her summoning ability and becomes her first eidolon. Pretty cool, huh? Always depicted as an old man with a long white beard, Ramuh commands thunder and lightning. His basis is, again, Hindu beliefs. The deity Indra is the king of the gods (Devas) and reigns over war, storm, and rainfall.

5. Odin

Odin is a very common FF summon. He's almost always depicted as demonic knight riding a horse (usually with six legs) and deals instant death to enemies he's used against. Odin is named after the principal god of Norse myth: god of wisdom, war, poetry, battle, and other things. Need I say more? A badass summon based on a badass god.






Honorable Mention: Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh is... well, complicated. He has only been a "summon" one and a half times (If you really want to know how I calculated that math... I'll gladly tell you if you leave a comment...). So, I didn't include him in the list. However, he's so damn cool that I had to put him in somewhere. There was probably an ancient Mesopotamian king called Gilgamesh, ruing the ancient Sumer city of Uruk around 2700 B.C.E. However, that's the least interesting version. The interesting one is said to have been two parts god and one part man. "The Epic of Gilgamesh" chronicles his exploits with his sidekick Enkidu to anger the gods, having become bored with his rule. Gilgamesh is usually portrayed as some sort of rogue that seeks powerful swords. The party is usually able to steal powerful "Genji" equipment from him.

4. Anima

Did this thing seriously freak you out or what? Don't lie. If you said no, you're lying. Anima is the most interesting Aeons in Final Fantasy X and one of the best in a Final Fantasy game period. It's origins lie in both ancient Roman beliefs and in Jungian psychology. The ancient Romans believed that the "anima" was associated with the heart. When one died, their anima would leave their chest through their final breath. Carl Jung said the anima was the subconscious collection of female qualities that reside in all males, influenced by their mothers and perhaps also their sisters, aunts, etc. This is interesting because, in Final Fantasy X, Anima was created from the mother of her summoner, Seymour. For a more in depth discussion of Carl Jung and FFX click here.

Also, check this Youtube vid of Anima being summoned for a more thorough "freaking out":


3. Bahamut

"The Dragon King" as he's known this is usually the summon that most fans point to as their favorite. He's always powerful, his attack animation is always awesome, and he's a dragon. What more could you want? Bahamut is based on Arabic myth. It's first depiction was that of a giant fish which carried a giant bull with 4,000 eyes on its back, which carried a mountain of ruby on its back, which carried six hells and seven heavens, which contains Glenn Beck's sanity. Nah, just kidding about that last part. Another Arabic supposedly does depict Bahamut as a dragon. I'm not sure about this, though. Usually, Bahamut has to be defeated for the party to gain access to his powers. Bahamut was so popular that there are currently FOUR different versions of him in Final Fantasy VII canon: Bahamut, Neo-Bahamut, Bahamut ZERO, and Bahamut Sin. Wow.

2. Knights of the Round

Oh, what hell one had to endure to get Knights of the Round. The only way to do was to either breed a Gold chocobo (with little instruction on how to do so if you wasn't using a guide) or to defeat Emerald Weapon... an optional boss with one million HP to get a Master Materia set from the Traveler at Kalm. Either way, this summon is worth it. It summons thirteen knights that attack in turn, the final blow being struck by--obviously--King Arthur himself with Excalibur. It looks incredible, it's highly damaging, and it's a status symbol. Having Knights of the Round means that you've pretty much mastered Final Fantasy VII, the only game where it appears.

And... without further ado... I give you my number one summoned creature in the Final Fantasy games:

1. Alexander

Alexander is a gigantic death fortress. It's depicted as a massive castle shaped structure with a head in the center and two large "arms" that it moves with (and sometimes fires its weapons with). It's deals holy damage and is sometimes the party's only source of holy damage. Alexander is a common male name (and my favorite male name at that.) It means "protector or man" or "to push back". It plays a key role in FFIX where it is summoned to stave of Bahamut, who is sieging Alexandria (coincidence?) castle. You can see the clip here. That FMV alone is enough to top my list. It's attack animations are also always fantastic. I was glad to see Alexander utilized in FFXIII. Really glad!

So that does it for my Top 10 Summons/Espers/Eidolons/GFs/Aeons/Whatever! List. I hope you enjoyed it.