Summon: Odin

Odin: Slice 'n' Dice with Zantetsuken

Appearances: FFIII, FFIV, FFV, FFVI, FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, FFXI, FFXIII, FFXIV

Amano concept art of Odin

Like the other summons introduced in Final Fantasy III Odin has become one of the staples of the Final Fantasy series. He is a tall heavily armored warrior who rides his stead Sleipnir into battle. His most famous attack is Zantestuken which instantly dispatches all foes in the fight. Some times the attack is renamed 'Gungir' where it simple deals damage to the enemies. There will be more on Gungir, Sleipnir and Zantestuken at a later date.

Odin is one of the major deities in the Norse pantheon. He is not exclusively Norse as he appears in many of the wider Germanic traditions. Odin was a wandering deity in search of knowledge. A common depiction of the god had him in long traveling cloak with staff and hat. This depiction of Odin bears a remarkable similarity to the Lord of the Rings' Gandalf the Grey and was likely the inspiration for the character. J.R.R. Tolkein was well versed Old English and Scandinavian lore having been one of the first people to translate 'Beowulf'. This wandering aspect of Odin caused the Romans to associate him with their god Mercury, the messenger of the gods.

Odin was at the begging of the universe. He, with his two brothers, slew the giant Ymer and created Midgard from his body. They then created humans to live for all the ages in this realm. But it is foretold since the begging that the world will end Ragnarok. At this time Odin will lead einherjar, warriors slain in battle that reside in Odin's halls, in battle against Loki and his hordes. The einherjar represent the warrior aspect of Odin.

In Odin's wandering pursuit of knowledge he came upon the well of Mimir, the god of wisdom. This place was hidden at the base of one Yggdrasil's roots. In the Prose Edda it is said that Mimir drinks often from these waters and is full of wisdom. At one time Odin sought this knowledge but Mimir denied him. Mimir demanded Odin's left eye as a pledge which the god gladly gave. In other sources Odin gains wisdom through Mimir's embalmed severed head

I highly recommend reading the translation of the Prose Edda  linked above for a more thorough account of some of Odin's deeds.

'Odin the Wanderer'  by Georg von Rosen. Not Gandalf the Grey.

Summon: Chocobo

Chocobos: Those giant yellow chickens that go 'kweh' or 'wark'

Appearances (as a summon): FFIII, FFIV, FFV, FFVII, FFVIII, FFXI

Boko the chocobo from FFVIII

The chobobos are one of the most instantly recognizable creatures from the Final Fantasy games. They are so popular and cute that they have spawned their own slew of spin off games. Within the main series of Final Fantasy games they are best known as steadfast mounts, useful for traversing the world without fear of pesky random encounters.

Chocobos do feature in several Final Fantasy games as summons. They are generally low level summons dealing weak non-elemental damage. In FFXI the chocobo is not actually a battle summon but rather an emote that summoners can use. The summoner can call forth a chocobo chick to land on their head. I think I would spam that emote. Mog teams up with Chocobo for a combo summon in Final Fantasy VII. This isn't the last time these two paired up in the games. The Chocobo summon in FFVIII took a bit of effort to acquire and isn't one of the standard Guardian Forces. For those, like myself, who played the original PS1 version of the game getting the chocobo summon was nigh impossible. A PocketStation peripheral was required in order to access a minigame where Boko, the chocobo summon, could be found. The PocketStation saw an extremely limited release in Japan and no release in the West. Interestingly Boko has several fire based attacks. Some times when a chocobo is summoned in battle the Fat Chocobo may show up instead. This is certainly the case in V, VII and VIII. The Fat Chocobo always deals more damage than a regular chocobo and, in the case of FFVIII, is able to exceed the game's damage cap of 9,999.

There isn't much to say about the origins of the chocobo's name. They were created by Koichi Ishii and the name may be inspired by Kyorochan, a mascot for 'Choco-Balls' Chocolate made by Morinaga and Company. Kyorochan is a bird like creature created in 1967 as an anime character to sell the chocolates. Kyorochan's predecessor, Chappy the space squirrel, just wasn't doing a good enough job. There was another anime series featuring the bird in 1999/2000. An example of how different Kyorochan is the the Chocobos can be seen in this commercial.

Kyorochan even had is own games.

Summon: Leviathan

Leviathan: The Tidal water snake

Appearances: FFIII, FFIV, FFV, FFVI, FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, FFXI, FFXIV, FFXV

 Amano art of Leviathan

As a summon Leviathan's signature attack is Tsunami or Tidal Wave which calls forth a massive wave of water to wash away all foes. In Final Fantasy III he is called the 'Lord of the Seas'. Leviathan also appears in FFII as a mini dungeon and FFXII as the name of an airship. In modern English the word Leviathan is used with large aquatic creatures, particularly whales.

The Leviathan comes from the Old Testament of the Bible. Most of the references come from the book of Job. This book deals with divine justice and whether people will act righteously for selfish motives such as divine blessings. It is an attempt to explain why even an upright and good person who is dutiful may, in real life, face a life of suffering. So how does a sea serpent fit into this? The first example is when Job is lamenting his misfortunes cursing the day of his birth. Job wishes that the soothsayers had conjured Leviathan to swallow the day he was born. God mentions mentions the Leviathan and Behmoth as examples divine wisdom and power as he is able to control these fell beasts. The description of the Leviathan emphasizes the strength  and size of the beasts scales. He sports a rugged under-belly. This incarnation of Leviathan was also said to belch fire. The thrashings of the creature churn the seas so much the froth looks like the hair of the very beast himself. This second mention of the Leviathan is some times taken to be a giant crocodile.

There is another version of the Leviathan that appears in Psalm 74:14. This version has multiple heads which God had smashed open to feed the desert creatures. There are several other legends of multi headed serpents across the near East, the most famous being the Greek Hydra.

Leviathan also appears in several medieval demonologies. I've only had a chance to briefly look into the vast subject mater of demonology. But this is what I have found so far: Leviathan crops up as the Sin of Envy in the German Peter Binsfeld's 1589 work. In the later work of the Marvelous History by Michaelis Leviathan is a seraphim who tempts people into heresy. In this account he is one of the first three angels to fall from Heaven. Leviathan may be either a Prince of Hell or hold the office of Grand Admiral.

"Destruction of Leviathan". 1865 engraving by Gustave Doré

Summon: Titan

Titan: The fury of the land

Appearances: FFIII, FFIV, FFV, FFVI, FFVII, FFIX, FFXI, FFXIV, FFXV

Amano concept of Titan

Titan governs the element of earth. His signature attack is generally called 'Gaia's wrath' which normally summons earthquakes to strike the targets. His standard appearance is that of a very burly dark skinned man in a loin cloth.

The character Titan also appears in Final Fantasy I and XIII, though he is not summon-able in either game. In FFI there are two Titans that act as barriers to the party's profession requiring a Star Ruby before they move. In FFXIII Titan is one of the Pulse fal'Cie and governs the aptly named 'Titan's Trials' set of missions.

In Greek mythology the Titans were a group of primal deities. What is to come is only one version of how events unfolded. There were numerous accounts of how the world came to be and who gave birth to whom etc. The following is mostly based on Hesiods' Theogeny with help from Robert Graves' The Greek Myths. The Titans were the second generation of deities and were born to the creator deities Gaia (earth) and Uranus (heavens). In total there were seven to twelve children born (depending on the source), one of whom, Cronos, would prove to be a bit of a handful. Now the Titans were not the first children of Gaia and Uranus, a series of Hekatonkheires (hundred-handed giants) and Cyclopes. Uranus had turfed the Cyclopes into Tartarus which didn't sit well with his wife. So Gaia persuaded her other children, the Titans, to take revenge on Uranus. She gave her youngest son Cronos a flint sickle which he used to slice off his father's genitals. And so began the rule of the Titans. The irony being that Cronos would in turn be overthrown by his youngest son. But the Titanomachy is a story for another time.
    
The Titan most like Titan of Fina Fantasy is Atlas. Atlas was the son of the first generation of Titans.  Atlas is famous for bearing the weight of the heavens. As a Titan Atlas joined with his kin and lead them in the unsuccessful war against the Olympians. Zeus sparred Atlas's life but sentenced him to support the heavens on his shoulders for all time. Atlas did have one small deprive from his task. In Hercules' eleventh labor the hero convinces Atlas to let Hercules take on the weight of heaven in return for Atlas fetching the Golden Apples of Hesperides. In the later Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid, Atlas is said to have been transfigured into Mt Atlas by Perseus using the severed head of Medusa.

There is also the tale of Atlas, son of Poseidon, told by Plato in his philosophic dialogue Timaeus. Atlas was ruler of a vast land that lay to the west of the Pillars of Hercules (Straights of Gibraltar). The Atlantians had amassed a powerful empire encompassing not only their home continent but parts of Egypt and Libya. They were set to take over the rest of the Mediterranean but were thwarted by the organization of Athens' naval forces. Afterwards the continent sank bellow the ocean in a single night of earthquakes and floods. It was this which caused the Atlantic to become un-navigable to the ancient Greeks.

For those interested in a discussion on the philosophical themes of Timaeus check out this article.

The Farnese Atlas-Naples

Summon: Shiva

Shiva: The scantly clad Ice-Maiden.

Appearances:  FFIII, FFIV, FFV, FFVI, FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, FFX, FFXI, FFXIII, FFIV

Ammano concept art of Shiva

Shiva, along with Bahamut and Ifrit has the most appearances throughout the Final Fantasy games. She even appears in FFXII where she lends her name to an air ship. I wonder if her popularity has something to do with her preference to limited clothing...Shiva is typically blue skinned and haired reflecting her ice-elemental status. Her signature attack is 'Diamond Dust', referring to how ice can sparkle like diamonds.

Shiva, along with Brahma and Vishnu, is one of the main deities in Hinduism. He, like many Hindu deities, has multiple aspects. Shiva is at times a protector, a leader of evil spirits or a house keeper with his wife Parvati.

One of the attribute that Shiva can have is Nīlakaṇtha or 'blue throat'. The blue throat was caused when Parvati strangled Shiva after he drank the Halahala poison. Parvati did this to prevent the poison spreading to the world which was said to lie in Shiva's stomach. The Halahala came about because the Asura, demons, and the Devas, gods, fought in the primordial ocean to obtain the Amrita, the nectar of immortality.

There is a form of Shiva known as Ardhanārīśvara who is depicted as half man, half woman. The name roughly means 'the lord who is half woman'  according to Ellen Golberg. This form is a a fusion of Shiva and his wife Parvati. Some tales say that this union of the two created the universe. In another tale Parvati requests Shiva to let her reside within him, which the god obliges thus forming Ardhanarishvara. There are many, many additional forms of Shiva. Check out here for a introduction into Shaivism.

So what relationship does the Hindu Shiva have to ice? Well there is Amarnath Temple located in the Northan India state of Jammu and Kashmir. The temple is a sacred cave high up in the Himalayas which features a permanent ice pillar. The cave is inaccessible for most of the year due to snow but is open to pilgrims for 45 days a year during festival time. The ice pillar is worshipped as a Lingam of Shiva. A Lingam is an abstract, normally pillar like, object used to represent Shiva. It comes from the god's lopped off penis.

Shiva's Ardhanarisvara form

Summon: Ifrit

Ifrit: Also Jinn, a reccuring fire elemental

Appearances: FFIII, FFIV, FFV, FFVI, FFVII, FFVIII, FFIX, FFX, FFXI, FFXIV

Amano concept artwork of Ifrit

Ifrit is a recurring low to mid tier summon associated with fire. In the original SNES version of FFIV he was known as Jinn. His signature attack is 'Hellfire'.

Ultimately, Ifrit comes from Middle Eastern mythology. They are cthonic spirits, spirits that live underground. Cthonic entities are not always evil like demons. Their appearances is that of a large winged creature of smoke and fire and may be either male or female. These creatures were on a level approximately that of demons but it is important to note that they could be both believers or non-believers. They are not inherently evil. Ifrit are noted for their strength and cunning, the former which is stressed in the Final Fantasy games. In the Qu'ran, on the single occasion they are mentioned, the Ifrit come from the Jinn tribe.

However, the Ifrit of Final Fantasy is highly likely to be inspired by Dungeon and Dragon's Efreet monster. Many of the early Final Fantasy monsters have their roots in DnD. Efreet appeared in the earliest version of DnD back in 1974. These creatures are a class of genie (hence the translation of Jinn in FFIV) that predominately live in the Fire Elemental Plane. The appearance of DnD Efreet bear striking resemblance to the early Ifrit of Final Fantasy. Both are tall muscular humanoids with redish or blackish burning skin. They are both often mistaken to be demonic in appearance. The Final Fantasy creature is notable for it's ostentatious horns. The Efreet of DnD are not quite so known for their large horns. Later incarnations of Ifrit, starting around FFVIII, become more bestial in design.

Ifrit's 'Inferno' sprite- FFIII

Summon: Ramuh

Ramuh: Recurring thunder element Summon

Appearances: FFIII, FFIV, FFV, FFVI, FFVII, FFIX, FFXI, FFXIV, FFXV

First up in our mini series on the Summons appearing specifically in Final Fantasy III is Ramuh. Why Ramuh? Honestly, I just chose him at random. As can be seen from the list above Ramuh has appeared in quite a few games since his first appearance. His appearance is that of a sage old man and governs the element of lightning. Ramuh is also one of the few summons that has had interactions with the party. In both Final Fantasy VI and IX Ramuh gives console to both Terra and Garnet in a time of need. The Summon's signature attack is Judgment Bolt.

There is no direct link between Ramuh of the Final Fantasy games and any entity that I could find in mythology.  That being said, Ramuh is probably based on Rama from Hindu mythology. Rama was an incarnation of the god Vishnu born as the first son of the King Dasharatha.One of the main texts featuring Rama's deeds is the Ramayana, a text as old as 1,500 BCE in the oral tradition with the Sanskrit version dating from around 400 BCE.

A quick summary of Rama's life: Rama was the eldest of King Dasharatha's three sons, all born to different wives. Rama was to succeed the throne but the mother of the second eldest son became fearful of Rama and forced him into exile with his wife, Sita. During their thirteen year exile the couple manage to tick of the demon king Ravana who promptly kidnaps Sita. Rama and his allies go to war against Ravana. The heroes win and they get Sita back but there are some rumors she may have had a side helping of Ravana. Despite going though a trial by fire public opinion forces Rama to exile his beloved. They don't get a happy ending together, at least in most versions of the tale.

They key links between Rama and Ramuh are their roles as judicers. In his later life Rama served as king for over 10,000 years in a time of peace and just rule. As an avatar of Vishnu Rama represented the ideal king. Though Ramuh is not a king he is regarded as a wise elder figure and counselor.