{"id":102697,"date":"2020-10-23T18:30:03","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T18:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gamerant.com\/final-fantasy-summons-inspired-by-mythology\/"},"modified":"2020-10-23T18:30:03","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T18:30:03","slug":"10-final-fantasy-summons-inspired-by-mythology-game-rant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/2020\/10\/23\/10-final-fantasy-summons-inspired-by-mythology-game-rant\/","title":{"rendered":"10 Final Fantasy Summons Inspired By Mythology | Game Rant"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Final Fantasy<\/em> is one of the longest running and most successful video game franchises ever made.\u00a0It’s responsible for some of the most loveable heroes<\/a>\u00a0&\u00a0most memorable villains<\/a> in\u00a0gaming and has developed\u00a0gameplay mechanics that would go on to shape the entire JRPG genre<\/a>.\u00a0Although\u00a0the summon mechanic wasn’t introduced until the third entry in the series, the creatures themselves have been popping up since the very beginning.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a05 Ways Chrono Trigger Was Square’s Best RPG (& 5 Ways It’s Final Fantasy 7)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

In many ways,\u00a0summons are every bit as memorable as some of the series’ party members<\/a>. Unlike the party members however, they’re not always entirely original creations. Many of\u00a0Final Fantasy<\/em>‘s most iconic summons were heavily inspired by mythology and religion. Whether it be their names, their powers or their appearances, these larger than life creatures have much more in common with mythology than many players may realize.<\/p>\n

10 <\/span>Alexander<\/h2>\n
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Although he may not have been a God like some of the others that inspired summons, Alexander the Great appears in many ancient myths and religious texts. Most notably, he has a strong connection with the ancient city of Babylon and once ordered his men to rebuild a religious temple there called Etemenanki. Unfortunately, Alexander died shortly afterwards and the work was never completed.<\/p>\n

It has been suggested that Etemenanki served as the inspiration for the biblical Tower of Babel, which\u00a0looks a lot like Alexander in the Final Fantasy<\/em> series. Alexander also shares visual similarities with the\u00a0Giant of Babil enemy found in Final Fantasy IV<\/em> and a later version of this enemy even uses Alexander’s signature attack, Divine Judgement.<\/p>\n

9 <\/span>Phoenix<\/h2>\n
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The Phoenix is a large orange\u00a0& red bird that appears in a number of different myths and legends. It has an unnaturally long life-span and\u00a0bursts into flames when it dies. Some time after, a new phoenix\u00a0rises from the ashes. It’s most common in Greek mythology, but many other cultures and religions make reference to\u00a0this mythical bird.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a05 Most Overrated Final Fantasy Summons (& 5 That Need More Love)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

In Chinese mythology, the Phoenix is also immortal and \u2013 along with the Dragon \u2013 is said to represent balance.\u00a0Similarly, Christian\u00a0writings sometimes compare the resurrection of the Phoenix with that of Christ. Together these beliefs explain why the Phoenix found in Final Fantasy<\/em> has both curative\u00a0& fire elemental powers and also how its down feathers can resurrect fallen party members.<\/p>\n

8 <\/span>Carbuncle<\/h2>\n
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A\u00a0Carbuncle is a legendary creature originating from Chilean folklore. There are numerous different descriptions of the creature,\u00a0but most seem to be in agreement that it is somewhere between the size of a cat and a dog.\u00a0The gemstone on its forehead is supposedly as\u00a0reflective as\u00a0a mirror, which would explain why Carbuncle usually grants the reflect buff.<\/p>\n

The word carbuncle itself is also used to describe a type of red gemstone which is similar to ruby. This likely inspired Carbuncle’s signature move, Ruby Light. Carbuncles\u00a0are supposed to bring great fortune to those who see them and this could also be why the summon provides buffs rather than inflicting damage to enemies.<\/p>\n

7 <\/span>Titan<\/h2>\n
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In Greek mythology, the Titans were the gods before the Olympians. Cronos became their leader after killing his father, Uranus, and would eat each of his children to avoid suffering the same fate. Unfortunately for Cronos, he was tricked into sparing the life of his son Zeus and would eventually be overthrown following a great war between the Olympians and the Titans.<\/p>\n

It’s said that Gaia, the personification of the Earth, was the mother of the Titans. This explains both Titan’s affinity\u00a0with the earth element as well as his recurring move,\u00a0Gaia’s Wrath. Titans were incredibly powerful creatures with Atlas supposedly being strong enough to lift the entire planet.\u00a0This may have inspired the Titan found in\u00a0Final Fantasy XV<\/em><\/a>\u00a0who is shown\u00a0to be holding the weight of\u00a0a giant meteor that crashed down to Eos on his back.<\/p>\n

6 <\/span>Odin<\/h2>\n
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Odin’s origins can be traced back to Germanic mythology, although\u00a0he is more typically associated with\u00a0Norse mythology. Those who played 2018’s God of War<\/em><\/a> should be fairly well versed on Odin thanks to Mimir’s tales<\/a>, but for those who didn’t, Odin is the father of the Gods. He wields a mighty spear known as Gungnir and rides an eight-legged horse called Sleipnir.<\/p>\n

Sleipnir has featured in Final Fantasy<\/em>\u00a0on multiple occasions, although has never been shown with eight legs. Gungnir also appears regularly and is the name of one of Odin’s\u00a0attacks in some of the earlier games as well. In later titles, he instead uses the instakill move\u00a0Zantetsuken. This was inspired by 20th century Japanese swordsmith\u00a0Kobayashi Yasuhiro, whose blades were\u00a0strong enough to slice through steel.<\/p>\n

5 <\/span>Ramuh<\/h2>\n
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The North American release of Final Fantasy IV<\/em> gives a pretty big hint as to the origins of Ramuh. The game\u00a0sometimes refers to him as Indra, who is the Hindu God of Thunder and Lightning.\u00a0This is in keeping with\u00a0Ramuh’s elemental affinity in the Final Fantasy<\/em> series\u00a0and also explains his signature attack, Judgement Bolt.<\/p>\n

As for Ramuh’s name and appearance, they may have been\u00a0inspired\u00a0by a deity from\u00a0Akkadian mythology called Lahmu. Depictions of Lahmu are similar to Ramuh’s appearance throughout the games\u00a0and as the Katakana for ‘La’ and ‘Ra’\u00a0are the same, it’s possible that ‘Ramuh’ was the result of a translation error. The name could also be a combination of Lahmu and the Hebrew word for thunder (r\u00e1’am).<\/p>\n

4 <\/span>Leviathan<\/h2>\n
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Mentions of Leviathan can be found in both the Bible and the Tanakh,\u00a0but comparisons can also be drawn to Tiamat, the Goddess of the Sea in ancient Babylonian mythology.\u00a0Leviathan also bears a strong resemblance to the\u00a0J\u00f6rmungandr from Norse mythology and the great sea snake\u00a0Orochi from Japanese folklore.<\/p>\n

Most of these sources seem to be in agreement that the Leviathan was a serpent like creature that inhabited the ocean. The Talmud goes on to describe it as a beast\u00a0capable of devouring oceans simply by opening its mouth. This may sound familiar to those who played Final Fantasy II<\/em>, wherein the party’s ship is swallowed whole by Leviathan.<\/p>\n

3 <\/span>Bahamut<\/h2>\n
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The earliest mentions of Bahamut can be traced back to Middle-Eastern\u00a0folktales \u2013 although many believe that the creature described is actually a reimagining of a biblical\u00a0beast known as the Behemoth. The Behemoth appeared in the Book of Job and is said to be a primeval creature so powerful that only God himself can defeat it. The Bible also pairs the Behemoth\u00a0with Leviathan, which is quite fitting given that Bahamut (Final Fantasy I<\/em>) and Leviathan (Final Fantasy II<\/em>) were the first two summons to appear in the series.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0Final Fantasy: 10 Awesome Things You Didn’t Know About Bahamut<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

What’s not fitting, however, is the description of Bahamut\u00a0that these Middle-Eastern writings provide.\u00a0Rather than a dragon, they describe\u00a0Bahamut as a giant fish or whale-like creature that rides atop a\u00a0great ox\u00a0known as Kujata (another of the series’ summonable creatures). It’s therefore likely that Bahamut’s dragon-like appearance was instead inspired by the Dungeons & Dragons<\/em> series\u00a0where Bahamut is considered to be the\u00a0Dragon\u00a0God of\u00a0Justice.<\/p>\n

2 <\/span>Ifrit<\/h2>\n
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Like Bahamut, Ifrit’s origins can be traced back to the Middle East. According to numerous sources, Ifrits are an incredibly powerful<\/a> type of supernatural demon known as Jinn. They’re made out of smoke and fire and can sometimes\u00a0be\u00a0bound to a sorcerer\u00a0& summoned\u00a0at will. The North American release of Final Fantasy IV<\/em> supports this idea as it sometimes refers to Ifrit as Jinn in the game’s menus.<\/p>\n

Ifrits are said to\u00a0inhabit the seven layers of Jahannam, which is the Islamic equivalent of Hell. This would explain the\u00a0source of Ifrit’s signature move, Hellfire. That Ifrit is based on a type of\u00a0demon rather than a single deity would also explain the\u00a0many different versions of Ifrit<\/a> that appear throughout the series.<\/p>\n

1 <\/span>Shiva<\/h2>\n
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Shiva is the Hindu god of destruction and is one of\u00a0the three principal deities of Hinduism. He’s often shown as having blue skin and a third eye in the middle of his forehead. Unlike the\u00a0summon found in Final Fantasy<\/em>, Shiva is\u00a0never depicted as female nor does he have any obvious connection with ice.<\/p>\n

While Square may have changed the gender of the summon to differentiate her from the Hindu god and added the ice connection for elemental coverage, it’s possible that Shiva’s wife, Parvati, may have also inspired the summon. Parvati is\u00a0the daughter of the Hindu God of Snow, Himavan, and possesses divine powers of her own.\u00a0This would explain both Shiva’s gender and her affinity with ice.<\/p>\n

NEXT:\u00a0Final Fantasy: 10 Lore Details You Never Knew About Summons<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n

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Many of Final Fantasy’s most iconic summons were heavily inspired by mythology and religion\u2013 whether it be their names or appearances.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":849,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"slim_seo":{"title":"10 Final Fantasy Summons Inspired By Mythology | Game Rant - ITTeacherITFreelance.hk","description":"Many of Final Fantasy's most iconic summons were heavily inspired by mythology and religion\u2013 whether it be their names or appearances."},"footnotes":""},"categories":[607],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102697"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/849"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102697"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102697\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102698,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102697\/revisions\/102698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}