Origin of summons

March 27, 2008, 9:33 AM

Have you ever wondered where Square got the names for their summons from?

Before a couple of months ago i didnt know that Gilgamesh is from a novel.
A lot of the others are gods from different religions.

so any you are unsure of?

March 27, 2008, 9:36 AM

Well the one that springs to mind is Shiva, from the Hindu god of Destruction I think it is.

Except in FF SHiva tends to be female, and I think he is male in Hinduism.

*btw Eleanor Rigby is awesome

March 27, 2008, 9:41 AM

I think some of them are from mythology and whatnot. Isn't Odin a God of thunder...or...something?

And Minotaur is some Greek thingy aswel, Im *sure* theres something to do with the minotaurs maze O_o

Im pretty sure they are all taken from Gods and all that mythology lark. Makes it more interesting IMO

March 27, 2008, 10:40 AM

There are loads. I'll go through the main and more reoccurring summons.

Gilgamesh and Enkido are taken from an old poem called 'Epic of Gilgamesh', one of the most early works of literature. The Gilgamesh there was also futher based on a Sumerian King.

Shiva is a Hindu God and is also Male as previously mentioned.

Ifrits are supposable spirits that embody fire. Should also be mentioned that early some early fire monsters in FF were called 'Jinn' which Ifrit is one of in the Qur'an.

Ramuh is aid to be based off a character in an old Hindu poem.

Leviathan is a sea monster, most notably from the Old Testament in the Bible.

Odin is 'Chief God' in Norse Paganism. If you research into NP, you'll find alot of FF names come from there.

Bahamut is infact a giant fish from Arabic mythology (One which a Bull called Kujata resides on). However I once recall coming across an old Japanese tale telling of a battle between two god-like Dragons, Bahamut and Tiamat. Being from Japan I guess this would be the more accurate influence.

Pheonix is a mythological firebird from numerous backgrounds.

Ofcourse because so many religions and myths take alot of inspiration form others, there are other possible sources the developers took them from.

March 30, 2008, 9:15 PM

Wee! As far as the other summons in FFX go...

Valefor - I think he comes from some sort of demon/devil legend and is a famous demon that has a good relationship with thieves and crooks. That's where the name came from, but the actual summon doesn't look too terrible.

Ixion - This one is actually from Greek Mythology, but I didn't realize it until Junior year (last year). Ixion was the King of Lapiths (sp?) and the son of the God of War, Ares. There's a myth about his antagonistic ways and how he became lustful for Hera (Zeus's wife), and was eventually shipped off to Tartarus.

Yojimbo - This one is rather easy. A 'yojimbo' is a mercenary hired for protection in Japanese culture, which is exactly what the summon is.

Anima - I actually don't know about this one. At first, I thought it might have to do with psychology, but now I'm not so sure.

Magus Sisters - This one stumped me, so here's what I found on FFWiki:

Quote:

Reference in Final Fantasy VI

The Three Dream Stooges who haunt Cyan Garamonde in his dreams, Larrigorn, Curlax, and Moebius, may be a reference to the sisters, as they attack as a team and can use a Delta Attack of their own. They are in fact a reference to the American Slapstick comedy trio, the Three Stooges who were known as Larry, Curley and Moe.

March 30, 2008, 10:20 PM

From BehindTheName:

Quote:

ANIMA

Means "soul, spirit" in Latin. In Jungian psychology the anima is an individual's true inner self, or soul.

March 30, 2008, 10:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eidolon

Well the one that springs to mind is Shiva, from the Hindu god of Destruction I think it is.

Except in FF SHiva tends to be female, and I think he is male in Hinduism.

*btw Eleanor Rigby is awesome

Thats cool about Shiva, I never knew that about Shiva being a male God in Hinduism.

Hmm and anyway yeah, I have wondered how they come up with their names. I always loved Shiva and Ifrit, but what was that really long name in FFVIII? That one, I never used to get!

March 31, 2008, 8:42 AM

Quezecatol or what not, the thunder GF?

I'm not sure, but the first time i saw the Magus Sisters was in FF2(US).

As for the origin, Magus is the term for multiple Magi, Magi meaning mage, mage meaning magic user. So basically its magic sister's. There are a couple of references to 3 magic sisters working together in a few religions and epics. Such as Greek, Roman, And Norse mythology. The Norse being the sisters of Fate.

March 31, 2008, 9:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blkmage

Quezecatol or what not, the thunder GF?

Quezocoatl is an Aztec God. I can't remember exactly, but I believe that in Aztec mythology, every however many years the Sun must be reborn, by sacrificing a God, and Quezocoatl was either A) the last of those Gods to be sacrificed or B) something went wrong in his sacrifice and now he is a mummy sort of God, wrapped in feathers.

But I may be completely wrong. This is all from memory :S

March 31, 2008, 11:13 PM

A lot of Final Fantasy games have quite a bit of religion in them, just not in the way that it stands out and makes you think "thats religious, and that, and that" etc
I knew most of the summons represented something but Shiva was the only that I knew what she stood for.