Will Final Fantasy XVI feature 16 summons? (Part 1)
The Final Fantasy XVI Revenge trailer just dropped at the Game Awards 2022 and with TWO IFRITS CLASHING, it’s safe to say that summons will play a massive role in the game’s story. Following from the logo designed by Yoshitaka Amano which features Phoenix and Ifrit and the operatic shout outs they got in the Dominance trailer, 8 Eikons (what the summons are referred to in the latest edition of the genre-defining series) had already been confirmed but just how many of them would the game have altogether? From a mural revealed in the Ambition trailer, 8 otherworldly beings were shown yet two of them seem rather unfamiliar. While one of them looks nothing like any of the revealed summons, the creature positioned at the top of the artwork is arguably an amalgamation of Phoenix and Ifrit so assuming that is the case, they altogether suggest that are at least 9 Eikons. But why stop at 9 when 16 is the magic number this time round?
Ignoring the fact that are two Ifrits shown for now, we can find support for the theory that there are more than just 8 summons in a now deleted tweet which oddly referred to Ifrit as the “mysterious ninth Eikon”. This led to the fandom speculating hotly over “Light” and “Dark” pairings with Phoenix representing the former and Ifrit the latter. Yet another clue is Benedikta Harman’s profile which refers to Ifrit as the “elusive second Eikon of Fire”. While it doesn’t fully support the “Light” and “Dark” theories, it does suggest that the summons are all tied to an element, or an aspect of the game’s universe at least, and that it is possible to have two Eikons associated with the same element. Further to the fiery duo at the game’s core, I will look into the series’ history and consider what other counterparts the revealed Eikons could have and just how many summons there is likely to be in Final Fantasy XVI.
Ramuh and Quetzalcoatl
With the latest trailer, Cidolfus Telamon is confirmed to be the Dominant of Ramuh, being the human vessel that these Eikons would assume. For most of the series, Ramuh had been the summon associated with the element of Thunder and Lightning. Now Thunder is sometimes conflated with Wind (as in Mobius Final Fantasy) which makes it possible that Ramuh would be actually paired with Garuda who had been the representative summon for the latter since its first appearance in Final Fantasy XI. Nonetheless, a potential counterpart for Ramuh would be Quetzalcoatl.
Quetzalcoatl first appeared in Final Fantasy VIII in Ramuh’s place and it had only appeared as an enemy boss in the rest of the mainline games since. Pairing it with Ramuh as its “Dark” Eikon would hence be rather apt as it would allow Square Enix to further explore its fearsome side in a more nuanced way since them having Dominants show that they do have a human side. That said, Quetzalcoatl and how it had been depicted within the series thus far might make it seem rather similar to Garuda who is already confirmed to be an Eikon since they are both bird-like. If Quetzalcoatl were to be featured as an Eikon, perhaps it could be more faithful to its serpentine depiction as in Mesoamerican mythology to distinguish it from the latter.
Titan and Fenrir
Despite being featured in 4 of the mainline games, Fenrir is still a largely obscure summon that is like Titan, linked to the Earth element. What makes this pairing likely is the rather interesting relationship the two shares in Final Fantasy IX. Even though neither Garnet nor Eiko can summon Titan, Eiko is able to summon Fenrir who summons Titan for its default move, Terrestrial Rage. Given that Titan’s Dominant is Hugo Kupka, a once nameless soldier who rose to the position of The Dhalmekian Republic’s Permanent Economic Advisor, it seems fit that he would ultimately bow to a higher power like Fenrir’s Dominant.
Similarly, Final Fantasy XI’s depiction of Fenrir also posits it as a higher level summon given that the quest to acquire him, “The Moonlit Path”, requires that a summoner reacquires the whispers from the battles against Ifrit, Shiva, Ramuh, Garuda, Leviathan, and Titan. Essentially, this means that the player must rematch all six of the required Avatars. Should Fenrir be included as Titan’s counterpart, this will put an interesting spin to the assumed power dynamics between the Eikon pairings and whether they are actually split between “Light” and “Dark” as speculated.
Interestingly, the latest trailer confirms that Clive would be joined by an animal companion Torgal who is never far from his side in battle. Could Torgal and its canine appearance be a hint at the possibility of Fenrir being included as an Eikon? The fact that it can attack and also heal is interesting. Given that Fenrir is sometimes linked to the Wind or Dark elemental too, this could also frustrate the currently assumed need for the pairings to even share a common elemental basis.
Garuda and Sylph
Benedikta who commands Waloed’s elite intelligencers is the Dominant of the Eikon Garuda, also known as the Warden of the Wind. Her profile’s reference to Ifrit as the “elusive second Eikon of Fire” could simply mean that Ifrit is a known summon albeit elusive but it also implies that it is rare to have two Eikons linked to the same element. Following this, while Odin (who is also associated with Waloed) had been classified as a wind-elemental summon in Final Fantasy Dimensions II, he is unlikely to share the same element as Garuda, especially since he had been invoked as a non-elemental summon for most of the series.
In his place, a common Wind-elemental summon that could be paired with Garuda is Sylph. What makes them interesting is that even though their signature move had been Whispering Wind for most of their time in the series, they weren’t even tied to the Wind element in their first appearance in Final Fantasy IV though that was retconned in its DS remake. That aside, Sylph was also mainly introduced as a species and not an individual. As the Eikons all had a singular Dominant thus far, Final Fantasy XVI is likely to feature Sylph and not the plural Sylphs but this is yet another way by which the lore behind Eikons could be complicated. I mean there are two Ifrits shown in the latest trailer!
If the Eikons are actually not exclusive to the Dominants, it would be a very empowering choice to make narratively as it would suggest that such astronomical power isn’t exclusive to a select few only. Moreover, with their sweet, fairy-like appearance, they also form an interesting counterpoint to Garuda who had made several appearances that can be said to look rather feral. While Benedikta does take on a more angelic form in the Ambition trailer (potentially a result of a half-transformation feature within the games), her antagonistic appearance throughout suggests that the known Eikons are perhaps not always linked to “Light” but can instead be linked with the dark side.
While my guesses thus far had been relatively straightforward since the summons discussed are all very closely affiliated with a particular element, things start to get complicated when we look at the rest of the already confirmed Eikons. If you are still reading, please look out for Part 2 that I would post tomorrow!
