Inconsistent? Well, yeah, but no one cares

[Mercen-X]

So about them summons. A lot of referencial names don't add up to their real-world counterparts. I think most of them might be cooler to see if they were modelled after real-world legends rather than just bearing their names.

Supposedly, according to the game, Bahamut is the legendary king of dragons . . . but nowhere in real-world history and legend is Bahamut titled as this. Bahamut is a giant fish (like Geosgaeno - FFX) on which stands Kujara (Kjata) a giant bull which bears on it's shoulders the world's angel (the angel that holds the world). Geosgaeno was a cool enough monster. I think it would be a cool enough summon called "Bahamut."

Bahamut ZERO looks similar to FF8's Tiamat whom is a legendary monster similar to a dragon and is the female nemesis of some great god whose name slips my mind at the moment. According to the game, Tiamat is the queen of dark dragons or other such nonsense which makes her the archenemy of Bahamut.

Everyone knows the inconsistency about Odin. He's not supposed to have a sword called Zantetsuken, it's supposed to be a spear. His horse is supposed to have eight legs, not six. Aside from that, I suppose there's no real inconsistency about him.

Alexander . . . I don't understand the whole robotic castle thing. Alexander was a great warrior who fought against inhuman odds.

Knights of the Round is very funny to me. There are shown twelve knights and then King Arthur is the 13th. However, to my knowledge, there weren't twelve knights to Arthur's Round Table. There were about 300 or more. The Round Table was nearly as huge as Arthur's massive dining hall and could easily seat at least 100 men. There aren't even twelve most popular names from King Arthur's legends. Here are the most common names to associate with the legends of Camelot:
King Arthur Pendragon, Lancelot, Galahad, Percival, Merlin, Guinevere, Morgan, Mordrid, and possibly Lady Nimue.
There are, however, twelve apostles depicted sitting with Jesus Christ in "the Last Supper." It's an obvious reference.

Eden of FF8 is an interesting creation. Eden has never been depicted as living being and thus it has no biological reference. Eden, however, is depicted as a sort of biological version of eights SeeD Gardens. Hence, the Garden of Eden.

I have no idea what inspired the FF9 designers to make the Ark into a transformer, but I found it entertaining, even though the Ark is not supposed to hold weapons of any sort.

[Lord Chainsaw]

I don't remember Bahamut that well, but wasn't Kujata standing on Bahamut as it swam the oceans?

Tiamat is the female incarnation of Apsu. This is from one of the Mesopotamian societies. I know it isn't from the Persians, because they incorporate the Zoroaster with Ahura Mazda and Ahriman. Tiamat and Apsu are either Sumerian or Babylonian. I think it would be pretty neat if we could so Apsu as a summon. The only video game I've ever seen Apsu in was Sailor Moon: Another Story on the SNES.

I agree that Odin is inconsistent. For once I'd like to see him appear in a game that isn't FF Legend 2 with Sleipnir, Gungnir, and the crows. FF Legend 2 had a pretty neat idea when it sent you to Valhalla after you died in battle. From there, you could speak to Odin to continue your game.

Alexander I don't get either. Perhaps it is a reference to Alexander's kingdom of Alexandria, an iron kingdom?

I've never heard Knights of the Round in reference to the Last Supper before. I do know that I have seen many stories in which there actually are only 12-13 knights of Arthur's round table. It may not be accurate, but there are so many versions of that legend floating around that anything is possible.

I thought FF8 got pretty creative with the GFs. Quetzelcoatl in place of Ramuh, who took the place of Indra. Indra doesn't ring an immediate bell, but I'm pretty sure it is connecting with Hinduism and has some relation to Agni and Dagon (also seen in Phantasy Star Online).

Pandemonium was a cool one. It is a shame they had to waste such a unique reference on a summon that was completely worthless.

[DarkLadyNyara]

And of course, Shiva is a hindu God (as in male).

[Captain Maxx Power]

Here are the most common names to associate with the legends of Camelot:
King Arthur Pendragon, Lancelot, Galahad, Percival, Merlin, Guinevere, Morgan, Mordrid, and possibly Lady Nimue.

You missed one.

[Lynx]

isnt odin supposed to have 2 dogs and a bird?

[Takara]

I think they're wolves, actually... I could be wrong, I'm not an expert at Norse Mythology.

[rubah]

He has one wolf and two birds.

I dunno what the wolf's name is (I thought it was fenrir at first, then I realized 'no, that's not right'), but then [hughin mughnin?] thought and memory.

In ff5, Odin has a 'spear' (it's a lance)

Valefor in ffx doesn't look much like a demon lord.

Yojimbo is one of the coolest though, even if it's less inconsistant than the others mentioned.

I wish I knew what alexander was too.

[Lord Chainsaw]

Cronus would make an awesome Time summon. Granted, a Time summon would be rather worthless, as time magic sans meteor is pure support. And nobody likes support spell casting summons.

Apollo as a modern game Sraphim? Thor with Mjillinor for Thunder? Adramalech as a Dark summon? The Four Saint Beasts?

The possibilites are endless.

[rubah]

Is Adramalech not in FFT-A?

People use support spell-casting summons if they're any good. Carbuncle in ff8 and ff5, golem in ff5, and cerberus in ff8.

golem and carbuncle were essential to beating some of the last bosses in ff5, and cerberus makes lowering malboro's hp for devouring so much easier.

[Big D]

In legend, Odin has only a single eye. He sacrificed one eye in exchange for knowledge/magic powers of some sort. A neat reference to this is in FFVIII, where you've got to remove eyes from statues and then replace them in order to access Odin. In FFVII, one of Odin's weapons is Gungir, but it's translated as "Gunge Lance" in the English script.

Ifrit (also spelled Efreet, Afreet, and other variants) is simply a spirit of a similar kind to the classic Genie, rather than a Balrog-like fire demon.

But then, none of the FF games are set in our world, so there's nothing to say the summon spells have to mirror their namesakes in our own mythologies. The fact that they're inspired by our legends is neat, but it'd probably be dull if they copied directly.

Hmm... aren't Bahamut and Behemoth simply different names for the same entity? I seem to recall that Behemoth is the name used in western and Christian texts, while Bahamut is in Islamic documents. Could be wrong about this, though.

[Captain Maxx Power]

Not quite. They're both used in Arabic translation, and are very separate characters. Bahamut is the serpent on which rests Kujata, while Behemoth is from Jewish beliefs as the metaphorical unconquerable beast of the land (Leviathan of the sea). Only YHWH whom created it can kill it. Behemoth will be served up at the banquet at the end of the world, along with Leviathan and Ziz. Texts may also refer to Behemoth tasting just like chicken :P

[BG-57]

Behemoth will be served up at the banquet at the end of the world, along with Leviathan and Ziz. Texts may also refer to Behemoth tasting just like chicken :P

Yeah it is, in the Holy Book of Armaments 6:8.

[HunterFlamebrow]

*Dungeons & Dragons geekiness*
Well, I'm not sure where Wizards of the Coast got this from, but in D&D, Bahamut and Tiamat are the two dragon gods. Bahamut is the good one, and Tiamat is the evil one. This is about where the connections stop; in D&D for instance, Timat's most distinguishing feature is that she has 5 heads in all the different colors.

[BG-57]

In many of the earlier FFs Tiamat was portrayed as a boss with several heads.

In FFVIII she appeared as a repaint of Bahamut with one head, leading to an inevitable B=T thread. :rolleyes2

FF Tactics has a breed of three headed hydras called Tiamat.

[Lord Chainsaw]

Is Adramalech not in FFT-A?

Oh that's right. FFT slipped my mind. The Beoulve Castle boss was a skewered Adramalech.