Favorite Summon in each Final Fantasy

[Wolf Kanno]

What it says on the tin, obviously don't count the entries that don't have summons.

[Fynn]

Let’s see

III - I’ve honestly never used summons here lol
IV - the Mist Dragon is cool if only for its personal connection with the summoner. Plus the design is pretty
V - Carbuncle. It really comes in handy and I love the contrast between his angry form you battle and the cute critter you summon
VI - a lot to choose from, but I think I’d pick Alexander, as it definitely has my favorite design here
VII - Choco/Mog, actually, just for having a funny animation
VIII - this game has some of the coolest designs imo. But I think my vote goes to newcomer Diabolos
IX - Fenrir, based purely on aesthetics tbh
X - Anima for being hilariously out of place
XII - I think Hashmal will get my vote here, but I think the Ivalice summons were just awesome overall
XIII - Odin, probably, though he’s far from the coolest incarnation
XV - Either Ramuh or Shiva. The former for being unbelievably epic in proportions, really making him far more badass than just an old dude with a staff has any right to be, and the latter for the story involvement and there being so many of her

[maybee]

FFIII : Chocobo. Simple, but cute.

FFIV : The DS remake version of Shiva. Just her sitting so confidently on her ice throne. What a queen.

FFV: Fat Chocobo. Just the way he bounces across the screen. Pure joy.

FFVI: This game has quite a lot of fun summons, but the same time, I don't think there's one that sticks out ?

FFVII: Again, tons of amazing summons, don't think that there was a favourite though.

FFVIII : Carbuncle/ Brothers/ Doomtrain. Can't pick one between these three classics.

FFIX : Shiva. Always loved her princess crown here.

FFX: Shiva. And the best Shiva here ! Bahamut, Ixion, Valefor and Yojimbo are honourable mentions. FFX had a lot of stand-out summons.

FFXII: Pisces/Mateus. Just love it's animation. How it swims down and the animation of it freezing and breaking the screen.

FFXIII: lightning's Odin horse and Sazh's hot wheel car gets a honourable second place. Worst place ever goes to Snow's Shiva car.

FFXV: FFXV summons are the worst. They all go into the worst pile with Snow's Shiva car. Bye.

[Judge Mandolore Shepard]

When it come to my favorite summons, these are my favorites from games:
III: Don't one since I did not get far enough to obtain them
IV: Shiva, Asura, Leviathan, Bahamut
V: Shiva, Carbuncle, Phoenix, Bahamut
VI: Bahamut, Shiva, Gilgamesh
VII: Bahamut ZERO, Shiva
Crisis Core: Bahamut Fury, Magic Pot
VIII: Diabolos, Shiva, Bahamut
IX: Shiva, Bahamut
X: Valefor, Bahamut, Shiva
XII: Mateus
XIII: Shiva, Bahamut
XV: Shiva, Bahamut, Leviathan, Garuda
Type-0: Shiva, Bahamut, Diabolos

[Lord Golbez]

IV - Definitely Bahamut. Back when Bahamut was the unquestionable ultimate summon and they didn't have to keep one upping him until he became mid-tier.

V- Don't remember at all

VI - Palidor. Maybe only because I started off most boss fights after I got him using this summon and I didn't typically use most other summons much, but there you go.

VII - Either Alexander, which I didn't even get the first time, or Neo-Bahamut. Knights of the Round is kind of boring overkill and Bahamut Zero is a bit much. Neo-Bahmut gets it just right.

VIII - Definitely Alexander

IX - Probably Bahamut

X - Ditto, but Shiva's pretty badass on this one too.

XII - I hated summons in this one much like I hated the game, so no favorite.

XIII - I stopped very soon after fighting Shiva, so no idea.

XV - I stopped almost immediately after fighting Titan so no idea.

[Wolf Kanno]

III: Ifrit since it was the most useful even if you were using the lower tier Evoker Class.

IV: Leviathan or Asura because they are both super useful, and can be gained relatively early compared to Bahamut who is only really useful for two dungeons.

V: Golem is easily the most useful summon in this game. Syldra is a second choice since she'll carry you for most of the game until you acquire Levaithan and Bahamut.

VI: Alexander, first appearance and still my favorite incarnation. Love the quest you have to do to get it. Love it's attack animation. Love it's spell set. Great summon overall.

VII: Leviathan is easily one of my faves. Great animation, awesome power if you get it as early as possible, and it's water elemental nature makes it more useful than you would imagine.

VIII: Diablos is easily the most stylish and cool summon in this game. Hardly the most useful as a summon but it has a great Junctioning skill set. My second choice goes to Tonberry.

IX: Easily Bahamut, favorite design of his in the series. Fenrir is my secondary choice since I wasn't expecting to see himback as a summon.

X: Shiva is my favorite and the best redesign of the group. She's also super OP compared to all the previous summons and despite needing her limiter removed, I feel she's on par with Bahmut and all the advanced summons. Anima and Yojimbo are secondary choices.

XII: Zodiark, easily the best summon, especially in the vanilla version of the game since he had one of the easiest exploits to cause him to use his super attack. My secondary choice is either Belias for the Tactics nostalgia, or Chaos for the FFI nostalgia.

XIII: I didn't care for the summons in this game, but Hecatoncheir is easily the most useful when it comes to Adamantoise farming. Still hate the orgasm attack though...

XV: Shiva easily. Love the story elements with it and it's a pretty brutal looking attack. Always makes me smile when I see her or Leviathan instead of Titan and Ramuh who I see way too much of.

Tactics: Cyclops always stood out to me. Helps he's probably one of the stronger summons that doesn't take a bloody lifetime to actually cast without Short Charge.

Tactics Advance: Famfrit which is just a cool looking summon, is associated with my favorite race in the game, and is a tie in to Final Fantasy III no less.

Crisis Core: Odin got a nice touch up in this game.

Type-0: Bahamut Zero, even in NG+, I'm tempted to throw that boss fight just to see this awesome summon.

[Spuuky]

I just control-f'd this thread for the word "cactuar" and I am very disappointed in the lot of you.

[Lord Golbez]

Cactuar doesn't even make my list of favorite enemies, man.

[Shiva95]

IV: Bahamut, Leviathan, Asura
V: Syldra, Bahamut
VI: Ragnarok, Phoenix
VII: Neo-Bahamut
VIII: Diabolos, Bahamut
IX: Alexander, Bahamut
X: Bahamut, Shiva, Ifrit
XII: Mateus
XIII: Odin, Bahamut
XV: Leviathan, Shiva

[remy5623]

Final Fantasy IV
Bahamut. His animation in the 3D version is awesome, and Megaflare saved me a bunch of times.

Final Fantasy VI
Kirin. I like it's design, and I used it to teach Cure to most of the party.

Final Fantasy VII
Bahamut ZERO. Bahamut in space is just a really cool visual.

Final Fantasy X
Anima. She's absolutely terrifying and completely unforgettable.

Final Fantasy XII
Zodiark. One of my favorite optional bosses.

Final Fantasy XIII
Bahamut. The way he saves everyone while they're falling to Gran Pulse is awesome.

Final Fantasy XV
Shiva. Diamond Dust is always stunning, but it has never looked better than when it shatters Ifrit in this game.