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Summon of the Month - December - Shiva
It’s that moment in Final Fantasy X. Yuna and her guardians have just discovered that Seymour is a bit of a bad guy, and now he’s going to try and take them out in the Macalania Temple. He’s summoned Anima and he’s coming at them with all he’s got.
It’s now that point in the battle where it’s time to pull out the big guns, your party is getting weaker by the second and there can be no room for error now! Your last Phoenix Down is gone… You’re almost out of hope.
But then, you press that button.
It’s time for something you haven’t seen before.
It’s time to summon “?????”
There is a dip in the music as swirls of magical ice surround Yuna, falling so gently around her it doesn’t seem threatening at all; it’s more of a sprinkling of snow, until of course an icy prison is slammed into the ground behind our young heroine…. But what beast inhabits it?
That is the moment we catch the first glimpse of our Macalanian prize. She floats down so heavenly from above, tossing aside the cloak which reveals her marvellously curvaceous body. She is graceful, confident and hauntingly gorgeous. We may not know her name, but as followers and fans of the series, we know that this is Shiva.
The undeniable Queen of Ice. The hypnotic beauty of all things frosty. She’s about to hit hard with her Heavenly Strike.
For Final Fantasy X, Shiva was given a beautiful makeover, possibly making her best appearance yet, with her heavily dreadlocked hair and barely there bikini. Perhaps she doesn’t feel the cold.
Shiva is a Summon who really epitomises the magical and mythological side of the Final Fantasy series. She is the most frequently recurring summon alongside Ifrit and Bahamut. Despite making appearances in many of the games in the series, she isn’t always your typical summon… In Final Fantasy XII she appears briefly as an Airship and in Final Fantasy XIII she is a motorcycle. Wait… what? A motorcycle?
Yes, a motorcycle; and a pretty sexy one at that.
Final Fantasy XIII saw her take on a whole different image and role entirely as two separate entities in the form of sisters named Stiria and Nix. The sisters represent a Yin and Yang type duality, each one strong individually, but when together they both create a great force of power.
But who can forget her earlier appearances too. When you first obtain Shiva in Final Fantasy VIII it’s a great moment, it starts to have that true Final Fantasy feeling, especially considering just how handy she is at the Fire Cavern…
In Final Fantasy VII, Cloud and his team are awarded the Shiva material for saving Priscilla’s life from the Bottom Swell in Cannon Town. As with Final Fantasy VIII, it’s a great moment!
This summon is a prize for your hard work, and she works hard for you. Her powerful Diamond Dust encases enemies in her deadly ice trap, and with that iconic single finger click she destroys it completely, it shatters into pieces and falls as dust to the ground. She is the femme fatale of summons, her alluring beauty captures the hearts of many, but she will always leave them cold in the end.
Our forum members also happen to have a lot say on the summons, I asked forum regular and ace blogger, Formalhaut to share his views on the Ice Queen herself!
What do you have to say about Shiva?
Formalhaut: When you ask people to remember a Summon in the Final Fantasy series, invariably they will say Shiva as their first choice. In this sense, this is why I love Shiva. Often being the first summon, the first sight of seeing Shiva's summon animation in FFVIII is a wonder to behold. Shiva, much like her rigid ice, has staying power; she's been a staple summon since Final Fantasy III… she has always been a favourite of mine and she never really feels like a service to teenage boys. Sure, she only dresses enough to retain her modesty but it never crosses a line. Though if you did gawp at her assets she'd probably diamond dust your pervy ass!
Which Shiva design is your favourite from the series?
Formalhaut: My favourite Shiva design is quite hard to track down because they’re all quite similar. Barring the XIII incarnation of the sisters of Shiva, the others all pretty much resemble each other. Special mention has to be made to FFX's portrayal of her; I really loved that design and it for me is Shiva's true appearance. When I think of Shiva, I think of the FFX version. However, my favourite? I'd have to go for XIII; it was a brave new direction to take with Shiva, being such a well-loved Summon whose design hasn't really changed much it was quite a striking new take.
Do you think that Shiva is a good representative of the Final Fantasy series?
Formalhaut: No. Shiva is just one part of the Final Fantasy universe and to say that she is the essence of Final Fantasy is wrong for me to suggest. However, the Summons as a whole do for me illustrate the mythological side of Final Fantasy; each game with summons have a mythology surrounding them. I think FFX does this the best. From Besaid to Zanarkand I bonded with my summons. In Final Fantasy the summons are like your adorable pets to fiercely defend and protect. I nurture them as I progress. They help me if I've messed up. This symbiotic relationship with your family of summons is an essential part of Final Fantasy. It is not the only part of Final Fantasy; the music and story and characters also make Final Fantasy but the summons also make Final Fantasy be what it is in the past, present and I'm sure, in the future to come.
Thanks Formalhaut!
Over the run of the series, Shiva has become almost as synonymous with Final Fantasy as Chocobos and Moogles! Hopefully with future titles for the series, we will continue to see Shiva as part of the story and as an interactive part of the game. After all, she may not necessarily have made Final Fantasy what it is today, but she sure has helped, and without Shiva, the games would be left cold.
