Favorite Summons in the Series

Vote for the best recurring summon


  • Total voters
    97
Bahamut has to be my summon of choice, even as he wasn't a summon in the first FF, he did appear to guide us all. Doesn't matter if he's a regular, zero, neo ect. The King of Dragons will always have a place with me.
 
It has to be the ultimate powerzoid "Ark" from FF9. That summon was so ridiculous both in how it looked and its attack but holy pancakes on a Friday was it cool.
 


Cannot wait to see this epic summon sequence in the Remake. Badassery overload.
 
I knew Bahamut was going to be the winner, he is the King of Dragons after all. Bahamut is definitely my favorite but I would say Odin is probably the coolest, IMO.

Side note: Did anyone else never use the summons in FFXII? I went through the whole game and used maybe one or two but they were so unnecessary, they needed to do more or something.
 
Always will be, and always has been, Bahamut. Loved the variations of him in 7, as well as kicking ass in X. KotR / Eden had nice cinema's, but I got tired of watching them lol.
 
Shiva is my choice.

Ever since childhood she has been my favorite, probably because she's blue and that's my favorite color. She's also the only summon who remains mostly unchanged in my string of favorite FF games.

Also she's fabulous so there's that. :love:
 
Final Fantasy XII espers were amazing. Especially Cúchulainn, the Impure. Also Bahamut from Final Fantasy X and Shiva especially from Final Fantasy X.
 
For me it has always been Odin, in particular Final Fantasy VIII's incarnation. I love everything about it! How to acquire him you have to reach a very cryptic section of the game which holds no narrative place - It's a reward from you desire to explore. The location itself is run down and creepy and has a few puzzles involved before you reach the battle.

Upon beating him he agrees to help you, but he isn't like the rest o the GF's in the game. Odin cannot be contained and summoned at will, No he strides into battle when he feels like it really livens up the monotony of the typical battles within VIII - I love how when you expect to a fight it's suddenly interrupted by the sudden flash of 'Zantetsuken' & then it's just pure bliss to see him ride on to screen and make mince meat of your enemies! I should also add that with his attack he does cut the enemies character model in half! Which is a big deal considering FFVII's death animations consist of a flash of red around the character model and fade.

But what makes Odin even more special is how it is included in a story based scenario later in the game! I should add that VIII doesn't really feature Summons heavily into the narrative like IX & X (Which I think is one of IX & X's stronger points over VIII) But for the sequence in VIII which appears if you acquire Odin before the end of Disc 3 to even exist is just astonishing - It's one of the most memorable moments of the series for me and left me completely jaw dropped.

Then there is the aesthetic - Which I am totally biased as FFVIII's art direction is my favourite example from any form of media. All the GF's look fantastic in VIII But Odin was just so striking and actually kind of intimidating with his stone cold face. I also love that before he struck, he'd pause to give a scary glare - red eyes and all! before lighting strikes and he rides forward to slay his foe. I loved how he looked Reminiscent of Greek God which really came across considering the characters origins. Also, the design of the horse was so rich in detail with separated stands of hair and muscle visible across is body - It was just such an upgrade from VII's before.

Other variations have been neat - I like how VII's actually had multiple attacks, the motion on IX's variation as the horse strides towards the enemy looked really fast! XIII's was okay, but didn't stand out as much, I think the highlight point was in XIII-2's opening but the bigger focus is with Lighting using Odin as a horse.
 
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I'm surprised to see only one post about Knights of the Round. However I guess I wouldn't peg it as my number one favorite either, but the effort put into getting it seems well worth the reward, in my opinion. Fingers crossed this is in the remake and will look epic.

I can't really decide which is my favorite. My first instinct was to say Leviathan, so that's what I cast my vote for. I liked most of the Leviathan versions from the different games, and I really find the deep sea and various creatures, monsters, myths, etc., fascinating.

Shiva is also really cool looking in her different versions. I particularly liked her in X I think, but I also really liked the way Bahamut & Ixion looked in X as well.

Gah! So many awesome looking summons! Leviathan, Bahamut, Alexander, Phoenix...! So many - and so hard to choose! They all have their different merits and bonus of use, I hate to commit to just one. 🙃
 
I've picked the king of dragons, Bahamut :)

Also not listed I love Hades, a great one with supp effect materia and Eden in FF8 for it's 5 digits damages =3
 
I don’t have a clear favourite.

If I had to choose under duress then I’d probably say Shiva or Carbuncle out of the recurring summons. Shiva because she cast a spell on me long ago and I love the ice elemental. Carbuncle because I think it would make a lovely pet.

However, I also really do appreciate it when they give us something new every now and then, such as Ixion from Greek mythology presented as a unicorn. Or the Minotaur being given a secret brother.

Hecatoncheir in FFXIII is another example. This represents the ‘Hundred-Handed Ones’ or Hecatoncheires of Greek mythology. As their name implies, they had a hundred arms and about fifty or so heads and they helped Zeus overthrow the Titans. I don’t think the design in FFXIII is very memorable, but to be honest by their nature these creatures are almost impossible to depict visually (there’s a reason we don’t really find them depicted in Greek art since they are almost Lovecraftian in their grotesqueness) but at least an attempt here was made. This was certainly ambitious.

More of this sort of thing, please!

All of that said, I do also like the staple summons which we usually get. A healthy mixture of recurring summons with a few experiments is ideal.
 
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