Eden (summon)

Eden is a summon exclusive to Final Fantasy VIII. Although it is debated what the exact nature of Eden is, the name and design indicate a link to the "Gardens," a theme in the game. It is the most powerful Guardian Force.

Eden is found at the Deep Sea Research Center. After defeating Bahamut, the player can head deeper underwater. At the ocean floor players will encounter Ultima Weapon if they have enough steam power left to reactivate the excavation site. Eden can be drawn from Ultima Weapon during battle. Eden can also be drawn from Tiamat in Ultimecia Castle on disc 4. Obtaining Eden in the Steam version earns the player the achievement Eden.

Eden takes 1000 EXP to level up, most of any GF and the same amount it takes for a playable character to level up.

Eternal Breath
Eden's Eternal Breath can break the damage limit, even without the Boost ability. With all GF abilities learned, the player can easily boost the attack to the full 250, considering it also has the game's longest animation, at 72.6s. At the maximum of its power, Eden can deal 60,000 damage to all enemies. Eternal Breath ignores enemy Spr.

Its damage is calculated as follows:
 * $$Damage = 100 * Level / 10 + 70 + 250$$
 * $$Damage = Damage * 265 / 8 $$
 * $$Damage = Damage * 70 / 256 $$
 * $$Damage = Damage * Boost / 100 $$
 * $$Damage = Damage * (100 + SummonMagBonus) / 100 $$

Compatibility
The way Eden's compatibility works is unique. Summoning it only raises compatibility slightly, and it also slightly boosts compatibility with every other GF the player has equipped. It also doesn't have a unique compatibility item. Because of these, the only effective way to boost compatibility with Eden is via the LuvLuv G item.

Stats
The following table represents the base stats:

Abilities
Abilities learned naturally by Eden are listed below:

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Eden appears on a promotional card depicting its official artwork by Tetsuya Nomura. The card is Shine-elemental.

Etymology
According to the Ragnarok's origins, the Centra legend of the Dragon Ship, Eden may be the legendary Dragon Ship itself, and it could be assumed that due to the "Garden" theme of the schools, this is the oldest Centra weapon and thus why it carries the name.

In the French localization Eden is named Orbital, and Eternal Breath is called Otono.

In the debug room Eden is referred as Bartandres. This could be a short form of the name "Barthandelus." The name Barthandelus was used for a fal'Cie in Final Fantasy XIII.

Trivia

 * Even though it may look androgynous, Eden is a female. Other than the major tell-tale sign, the feminine form of the needle on the bottom. If one looks near the bottom of the needle, one will see a violet oval on the front. Aside from the female angel motifs on either side of it, within the oval one can make out a woman. Out of all the ultimate summons found at the end of each game, Eden is one of two females, along with Magus Sisters.
 * Dissidia Final Fantasy has a trading component with the name of "GF Eden." It can be acquired by fighting the Seifer Special Friend Card, Level 100 Ultimecia. It is used to create the Bone Mail.
 * Eden is a fal'Cie in Final Fantasy XIII as the fal'Cie responsible for all of Cocoon's base functions, and Cocoon's capital is named after it.
 * Early in Eden's summon animation, the Ptolemy celestial diagram floats in space. This is taken directly from Safer∙Sephiroth's Supernova animation from Final Fantasy VII.