Will Final Fantasy XVI feature 16 summons? (Part 2)
The Final Fantasy XVI Revenge trailer dropped at the Game Awards 2022 showed many awe-inspiring scenes of Eikons engaged in epic battles alongside some unfamiliar sights that once again teases the possibility of there being more summons than the confirmed 8. Further to my article yesterday where I discussed the possibility of Ramuh, Titan and Garuda having counterparts in the form of Quetzalcoatl, Fenrir and Sylph, it is interesting now to turn towards the remaining 3.
Like most J-RPG games, the Final Fantasy series makes use of Elements to categorise and calculate damage input and output in the midst of battle. While Shiva (like the rest of the summons discussed yesterday) is typically associated with one of the series’ commonly-recurring elements such as Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Earth and Water, trying to predict how Odin and Bahamut would fit into the game’s logic and lore is not as straightforward.
Odin and Atomos
Odin who has Barnabas Tharmr, the King of Waloed, as his Dominant presents difficulty to the paired summons theory as it is not commonly associated with any of the commonly-recurring elements. While the iconic summon had some fleeting links to the Wind element and a one-off affair with the Lightning element in Final Fantasy XIII, it is more commonly known for inflicting non-elemental damage to enemies. More specifically, its signature move, Zantetsuken, is known for ending battles immediately by inflicting instant death on all enemies.
A good counterpart for Odin is hence Atomos as it’s the wielder of a move, Wormhole, which can also remove characters from battle altogether. Interestingly enough, that is a move that Atomos uses only when you are up against it in a boss encounter. This makes it interesting to think about whether it would be positioned as Odin’s “Light” or “Dark” counterpart. On this note, the only times Atomos is summonable is in Final Fantasy IX where it inflicts percentage-based damage and Final Fantasy XI where it absorbs a buff from the enemy and gives it to party members within range. Given that the Eikons had been featured in very action-packed battles, these traits could make it more like Phoenix who is better known for status effects like reviving party members that had been knocked out and hence, “Light”.
Atomos mostly appears as an alienesque portal with a nebular substance emerging from its gates and even though no such being appears in the Revenge trailer, this evanescent, wraith-like creature reminds me of it somewhat. I think it has to do with how it is dehumanised and has fogs and sparkles instead of eyes it. It’s not what one would think of when we try to imagine “Light” but this could be its antagonistic form before it is calmed. Besides, given that Clive appears to be teleporting in some of the combat scenes, this could even very well be a battle trait that he acquires from gaining Atomos as an ally.
Bahamut and Alexander
Since the Dominant for Bahamut is Dion, the Crown Prince of the Holy Empire of Sanbreque, could Bahamut be the Eikon associated with the Holy element as its namesake suggests? After all, even though Bahamut had been regarded as a non-elemental summon mostly, he had also been associated with Light in Final Fantasy XV’s Justice Monsters Five and Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, though the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game mostly categorises him as a Fire-elemental with one unique instance as a Dark-elemental. Given that Odin is already regarded as the non-elemental summon and the difficulty with classifying Bahamut, can the “Light” and “Dark” theory still hold?
While Holy and Dark are typically classified as two distinct and opposing elements, the “Light” and “Dark” theory could mean that they would become categorised as different sides of the same coin now and this is an idea that I really like. I mean, do we actually think that the Holy Empire is all good and not, possibly using (seemingly) divine right and authority as a front? Given the design of their banner, further questions on their legitimacy can be drawn as the Bahamut is unlikely to even be their main Eikon due to its absence and the presence of yet another figure that I would discuss later. In any case, if Bahamut is categorised as a Holy summon (but on the “Dark” side as I am inclined to believe), this would nuance our understanding of “Light” and “Dark” and also complicates the false dichotomy between “Good” and “Evil” in a very productive manner. Seeing how this plays out in terms of game mechanics would thus be terribly exciting.
In support of this theory, I would love to see Alexander as Bahamut’s counterpart. As the series’ mainstay summon for the Holy element, there is no better choice for this role. Besides, there’s also that epic encounter between the two in Final Fantasy IX that they can throwback to. The only problem though is that Alexander had always been presented as a castle and the Dominants have all been very much humans or at least alive if my theory regarding Torgal is true. Still, if a character were to become a Dominant for Alexander, that could encourage us to consider our relationship with spaces and territories in very interesting ways.
Shiva and ?
Finally, we come to the Ice Queen herself who still doesn’t have a confirmed Dominant despite having been shown since the first Awakening trailer. While that is another problem for another day (though the answer seems to be right before our very eyes), in trying to find a counterpart to Shiva, the difficulty herein is that there had only been one instance where Shiva is not the Ice summon. This occurs in Final Fantasy XII where the Mateus takes her place. As the Ivalice summons appear to be rather exclusive in that they haven’t been used in any other the mainline games, the chances of Mateus appearing seems unlikely.
Would Shiva be paired with a water elemental then? While this is indeed a possibility for reasons I will get into in a bit, my guess is that a new summon altogether will be created if there are indeed “Light” and “Dark” pairings for the Final Fantasy XVI summons. So altogether, we have Phoenix and Ifrit, Ramuh and Quetzalcoatl, Titan and Fenrir, Garuda and Sylph, Odin and Atomos, Bahamut and Alexander, and Shiva with a new summon. That’s 8 of the confirmed Eikons but only 7 pairings. What’s left then?
Leviathan and Bismarck
While discussing Bahamut, I mentioned the Holy Empire of Sanbreque’s banner. Its core features a feminine figure that could be Shiva but it also features two, probably-mirrored just for the aesthetics, serpentine creature that look exactly like the last of the 8 beings featured in the mural from the Ambition trailer. Given that it has a halo just like the rest of the Eikons (except for the Phoenix/Ifrit being at the very top), this must be Leviathan, the series’ most iconic summon for the Water element. Following from the emphasis on Fire and the new, ultra-catchy, goose bump-inducing slogan “Fate is written in Fire”, the secrecy behind Leviathon as an Eikon makes sense as you do put out fire with water. Since it even shares a banner with Shiva, it is possible that it is the Ice Queen’s counterpart but we’ve come so far now, so why stop at just 14?
Like Leviathan, another summon that had been associated with the Water element is Bismarck, which mostly appears as a whale. The only instance where it could be summoned in the mainline games is Final Fantasy VI where it is the main Water-elemental summon though Leviathan was re-instated as it’s better in all later editions of the games. Given its fate, perhaps it’s time for it to join the “Dark” side and fight back?
So with all things considered, what do you think are the odds of Final Fantasy XVI featuring 16 summons altogether? While I do feel like it would be difficult given the combat style and how actively Eikons are shown to take part in battle, I think that there is still a good possibility for it just not in the way one would expect. After all, Square Enix had managed to throw two Ifrits in to shake things up. In any case, Sqaure Enix had been killing it with its narrative feats lately and I am terribly excited for these games. I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic so please feel free to shout at me anytime!
