The best incarnations of each summon in the series.

[Wolf Kanno]

What it says on the tin, of the recurring summons, which is your favorite version, whether you go purely by gameplay or plot relevance.

[Loony BoB]

A list of recurring summons for anyone curious

Personally I'm gonna focus on the ones that I always feel are the most notable. I'm also gonna point out that FFXIV has a massive advantage on almost every other FF when they use a summon because, quite frankly, they give it an entire story with multiple missions for each summon. Needless to say it's hard to compete with. So with that in mind I'll only include them for visuals unless the player can actually summon them meaning I'll limit FFXIV for plot related stuff to Carbuncle, Titan, Garuda, Ifrit, Bahamut, Phoenix. I also don't know/remember much about FFIV and FFXI when it comes to summon relevance, so forgive me for leaving those out.

Alexander: Visuals I'll go with... FFVI. I know, I didn't expect it either. I just think the old school image of Alexander looks better as an entity, while most future versions of it just go a little overboard for my liking. Plot point? Probably FFIX. Alexander never really has much plot because it's more construct than character as far as I'm aware, but the FFIX scene stands out for me.

Bahamut: FFXIV. No question. On all counts! Kudos to FFVII and FFVIII's designs of Bahamut too, I really liked them.

Carbuncle: Visually, FFXIV. Plot? Uhhhh. I honestly can't remember getting a lot of plot stuff for Carbuncle in FFXIV, and the only game that I recall giving Carbuncle any real notable screentime (outside of the never ending in-game Carbuncle merch FFXIV has) would probably be FFXV. I'm not a fan of the FFXV/FFVII Remake Carbuncles. I like my Carbuncles as non-furry alien-like creatures.

Chocobo (and variants): FFVII's ChocoMog was always a favourite of mine, and the Stop magic being included with it at such a low overall MP cost made it a go-to for me in a lot of battles. The Remake's version was good as well, but I prefer the older one in this case for the "solo chocobo" nature of it. As for plot relevance, I mean, I don't even know where to begin. I know the chocobo we summon in FFV probably isn't actually Boko, but for me Boko is the most notable individual chocobo in the series, so let's go with that.

Diabolos: All of them generally look so similar, I've yet to see a design of Diablo/Diablolos that I think doesn't look great. I also can't remember a Diabolos that was majorly plot-relevant off the top of my head, so I'm going to just give this one to "the series" on both counts.

Garuda: Hello and welcome to another episode of FFXIV wins everything.

Gilgamesh: Technically they are all the same character so therefore there is only one winner. Actual in-game plot goes to FFV, obviously, and appearance I'll probably say the FFXIII-2 DLC version of him looks really, really cool. Never saw it before now so it was nice to watch on YouTube.

Golem: FFV for both counts. I don't like overly fancy looking golems, I like them to appear like a bunch of rocks (which Titan seems to be closer to these days).

Ifrit: Hello and welcome to another episode of FFXIV wins everything.

Leviathan: Visually, Leviathan hasn't changed much over the games, so I'll give it to FFXV as the most detailed (and epic) version of him. For plot, I'll actually give it to FFVII. I know it's minor, really, but I really enjoyed the little lore it was given and it felt more authentic than many other Leviathans.

Odin: Gotta give this one to FFXIV for visuals, rather easily too. And that's saying something because all the other ones still look great. For plot, I'm going to say... hmm. FFVIII? I know it's very minor but it felt cool.

Phoenix: FFXVI for visuals and it's not even out yet, but goddam it looks so cool. For story, I think I'll go with FFVII, I enjoyed the Fort Condor stuff, and actually getting to see Phoenix really live up to the name.

Ramuh: Visuall I have to give this one to FFXIV for the hilarious and infamous seductive beard. I don't recall any real good plot points (outside of FFXIV but as mentioned I'm not including this as he isn't actually a summon of the player).

Shiva: Shiva is always hot and always not because puns haha oh god I'll go now okay. But seriously, my favourite designs are probably... FFVII and FFIX.

Titan: One of the few summons in FFXIV that I don't really favour the appearance of, although it's still a cool design (love the lava-veins), I just like the prior designs more (exception: FFIX, so creepy). He wins in FFXIV for plot points, obviously, but the visuals I'm going with either FFXI or perhaps a rare shout for FFXIII, which I felt was interesting.

Thanks for giving me something to do to pass the time, dude xD

[Christmas]

Alexander from FFIX. Wing Gundam Zero Custom design will nvr go wrong.

[Mr Gashtacular]

ramuh: XV honestly. him towering over the landscape was pretty impressive the first time i saw it

ifrit: VIII when he does that deeply penetrating backbend and then smashes forwards slapping his fists on my shoulder blades

odin: IX (the big summon-destroying-a-town scenes in this game in general are excellent)

[Wolf Kanno]

Chocobo
Story: Not much to choose from since it's usually a default starter summon. I may give this to FFVIII since it is heavily implied the summon is specifically Boko the chocobo you acquire for the PocketStation game. Acquiring it in VII is also neat.
Design: VII or VIII
Gameplay: V and VII, since I love the fact they both give you the critical hit Fat Chocobo.

Moogle
Story: None really
Design: VII or FF Tactics
Gameplay: Tactics and Crisis Core

Sylph
Story: FFIV easily
Design: FFV (Steam)
Gameplay: FFIV

Ifrit
Story: Either FFV or VI. I like the idea of him either helping out some scholars burn cursed books or him being one half of a dynamic duo with Shiva being prisoner of the Empire.
Design: FFX no question
Gameplay: FFVIII or X

Shiva
Story: FFXV, had a nice twist and gave her some good personality.
Design: FFX and FFTA
Gameplay: FFVIII, X, and XV

Ramuh
Story: Easily FFVI with him being a lone Esper survivor hiding out in Zozo protecting Terra. FFIX comes in at a close second, with his cool lesson for Garnet being a call back to FFII.
Design: VI or XV
Gameplay: VII and XV

Titan
Story: Not much to choose from, so XV kind of wins here by default. But I did enjoy fighting him as a boss in FFV, having Rydia punish you with him, and finding his "junk materia" in VII.
Design: VII, though I do like his design in Type-0
Gameplay: FFXV or Type-0

Golem
Story: FFV easily. I like the idea of it being this curious entity that follows you around until you ultimately save it.
Design: VI, love my steampunk Golem
Gameplay: FFV, VI, and FF Tactics. Give me that free Physical damage protection.

Carbuncle
Story: FFXV, the Platinum Demo was cute and Carbuncle photo bombing you is amusing.
Design: VI, VIII, and XV
Gameplay: IX, since you can change the effect from reflect to more useful status effects.

Siren
Story: None really
Design: Surprisingly XIII
Gameplay: VI and VIII

Phoenix
Story: Tough one, but V and VI are easily the best.
Design: VII, VIII, and IX. XVI's design looks cool too.
Gameplay: VIII and IX, since they can save you more often from a KO.

Diabolos
Story: VIII
Design: VIII and Type-0
Gameplay: VIII and Type-0

Leviathan
Story: IV, IX, and XV
Design: V, VII, VIII, and XV
Gameplay: IV and VIII. IV because it's a beast of a summon until Bahamut is acquired, and VIII because I love the animation, and it has good longevity.

Alexander
Story: IX and Type-0
Design: VI, VII, IX, and Type-0
Gameplay: VI, VII, and VIII. It has a cool animation and group Holy spell? Count me in.

Odin
Story: VI easily. Though I also like his story in IV being the late King of Baron.
Design: Crisis Core, Type-0, VIII, and XIV
Gameplay: Any really. IX may be the only exception.

Bahamut
Story: IV and technically IX
Design: IX and VIII
Gameplay: Any, but IV, IX, and X stand out the most.

[Dr. Acula]

I think X did a great job with regards to the recurring summons. Made Shiva a bit more badass, made Ifrit a bit more beasty, gave Bahamut those trippy colours.

And, although he's not a summon in that game... FFV Gilgamesh is best Gilgamesh.