Bahamut

Bahamut is one of the most popular Summons in the Final Fantasy series. He has appeared in several installments, as well as his own game, Bahamut Lagoon. He also appeared as a boss in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. His attack, Mega Flare, sometimes translated as Sun Flare, deals non-elemental magic damage which ignores defense and evasion. He is typically considered the strongest among story-line summons and more often than not, the player must prove his/her worth by winning either against Bahamut himself or rarely another storyline boss.

Final Fantasy
Bahamut played a major role in the original game promoting the character's class into a newer, more adult upgrade-- e.g., fighter to a knight, thief to ninja, etc.

Final Fantasy III
The Heroes of Light travel to Canaan where they find a girl waiting for her love to come back. The heroes must find him on Dragon's Peak. When reaching the top they go into battle with Bahamut. This first battle with him cannot be won and the heroes must flee. Later in the game the heroes may visit Bahamut's Lair to battle him. When defeated the heroes are rewarded with the magic to summon him. This is the first time Bahamut can be used as a summon and the first time he is a boss in a Final Fantasy game.


 * Aura - Casts Haste on the party
 * Rend - Causes instant death on one enemy
 * Mega Flare - Causes massive non-elemental damage to all enemies

Final Fantasy IV
Bahamut was "The God of Summoned Monsters," and lived on Red Moon in Bahamut's Cave awaiting Rydia to come and challenge him so she could be able to Summon him; in order to be given this challenge, Rydia must already be in possession of Asura and Leviathan's summons. He has two guards who take the form of children, and he has admitted that Rydia was the first he ever accepted.

Lunar Bahamut challenges Kain Highwind during his trial in the Lunar Ruins in Final Fantasy IV Advance.

Final Fantasy V
Bahamut lives atop the Northern Mountain in the Third World. The party must climb the mountain and fight him at the top. He is a Level 5 Summon which is obtained after the fight.

Final Fantasy VI

 * See the Summon sequence here

Bahamut is an Esper in this game. He is acquired after defeating Doom Gaze on the Falcon. However, if Doom Gaze is killed using an attack that delays its final attack for one turn (such as X-Zone), the party will not receive Bahamut. Sun Flare (Mega Flare in the Advance Version) deals non-elemental magic damage to all opponents. Its Spell Power is 92, it is unblockable, and it ignores defense. It costs 86 MP to cast. It teaches Flare at a rate of X2.

Bahamut's Level Up bonus is to increase HP by 50%.

Bahamut

 * See the Summon sequence here

The Bahamut Materia is found in the Temple of the Ancients after defeating the Red Dragon. It, along with Neo Bahamut, are required to unlock Bahamut ZERO.

It costs 100 mp and casts "Mega Flare". Level -- AP Needed
 * Level 1    --  0
 * Level 2   --   20000
 * Level 3    --  50000
 * Level 4   --   80000
 * Level 5   --   120000

Stat Changes
 * Magic +1
 * Magic Defense +1
 * Maximum HP -5%
 * Maximum MP +5%

Neo Bahamut

 * See the Summon sequence here

Neo Bahamut is another version of Bahamut. The animation of Neo Bahamut is the enemy/enemies being sent into the sky on a piece of earth. Neo Bahamut then uses a beam to destroy the piece of earth and damage the enemy/enemies. This attack is called "Giga Flare" and deals non elemental damage to all the enemy party members

Neo Bahamut costs 140 mp and casts "Giga Flare".

Level -- AP Needed
 * Level 1 --   0
 * Level 2 -- 30000
 * Level 3 -- 80000
 * Level 4 -- 140000
 * Level 5 -- 200000

Stat Change
 * Magic +1
 * Magic Defense +1
 * Maximum HP -5%
 * Maximum MP +5%

Bahamut ZERO

 * See the Summon sequence here

Bahamut ZERO, among the stars, launches a massive beam of holy elemental energy at the enemies. This attack is called "Tera Flare". The Bahamut ZERO materia can be found at the planetarium in Cosmo Canyon when you touch the Huge Materia, however you must already have obtained both Bahamut and Bahamut NEO to acquire it.

Bahamut ZERO costs 180 mp and casts "Tera Flare".

Level -- AP needed
 * Level 1 --     0
 * Level 2 -- 35000
 * Level 3 -- 120000
 * Level 4 -- 150000
 * MASTER -- 250000

Stat Changes
 * Magic +4
 * Magic Defense +4
 * Maximum HP -10%
 * Maximum MP +15%

Bahamut SIN
Bahamut SIN is a form of Bahamut, a monstrous dragon, that only appears in the CGI movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. It is Summoned by the movie's antagonist Kadaj in order to wreak havoc on the people of Edge, a town built near the broken ruins of the former metropolis Midgar. It is defeated by Cloud Strife with the help of his companions from Final Fantasy VII. It was given the name "Bahamut SIN" in the English version due to a translation error, its real name being "Bahamut TREMOR" (Bahamut SHIN in the Japanese audio version).



Final Fantasy VIII

 * See the Summon sequence here

Bahamut is a Guardian Force in this game. He is acquired after defeating him in the Deep Sea Research Center. It is uncertain how he actually got there, but he does make an obscure reference to this immediately prior to the battle:


 * Squall: "The Great GF...Bahamut"
 * Bahamut: "GF? I..."
 * Bahamut: "Using my powers...it is you humans I fear"

This may indicate that Bahamut was created or captured at the Research Center and experimented on, which would explain his intense dislike of humans or he could also mean that his powers could fall into the wrong hands.

Final Fantasy IX

 * See the Summon sequence here

Bahamut is an Eidolon in this game, and he plays a major role in the story. He was one of Princess Garnet's original Eidolons, but was extracted by Zorn & Thorn for Queen Brahne to use. However, she did not summon him until the battle at the Iifa Tree against Kuja. There, Kuja used the Invincible to enslave it. Kuja then controlled Bahamut. He used Bahamut to attack Alexandria, however, Garnet and Eiko Carol defeated it by Summoning Alexander together. After obtaining the Hilda Garde III, Beatrix gives the Garnet to Zidane, which Princess Garnet can use to Summon Bahamut.

Final Fantasy X

 * See the Summon and Overdrive sequence here

Bahamut is an Aeon in this game, and once again, he plays a major role in the story. He sleeps in Bevelle Temple where Summoners can obtain him on their Pilgrimage. In his Fayth form of a young boy, he is Tidus's guide in Spira and reveals the truth that Tidus is a dream of the Fayth, and was brought to Spira to defeat Sin for good. Only Tidus and Yuna can see him. In the International and PAL versions of the game, Dark Bahamut will be waiting patiently to offer Tidus and co. a quick end to their lives if the party decides to revisit the scene of their glorious victory over Yunalesca at Zanarkand.

Final Fantasy X-2
Due to Shuyin's grief and hatred for Spira, Dark Bahamut is brought to life and attacks the Gullwings when they discover the empty chamber that used to house Vegnagun. His appearance comes as quite a shock to Yuna, as she is faced with one of her beloved Aeons that helped defeat Sin. She even attempts to talk to Bahamut before being forced to fight for her life.

Final Fantasy XI
Bahamut is present in Final Fantasy XI as a plot-based summon. His story is intertwined with the Chains of Promathia storyline. He is not summonable by player characters. At this time, the developers have flatly stated they have no intention of adding him to the players selection of summonable monsters, since they view him as a powerful icon, and they would have to seriously cut back his power in order to make him fair.

A storyline mission available after finishing the first two expansions features Bahamut as a boss. Those who complete this mission can take part in an optional battle with Bahamut that ranks amongst the most difficult in the game, not in the least because he summons most of the game's other wyrms to help him.

Bahamut is also the name of a server for Final Fantasy XI.

Final Fantasy XII
Although Bahamut does not appear as a summon in this game as is the norm, his name does make an appearance. Like so many other previous summon names in XII, Bahamut is a ship, or more specifically a sky fortress. The sky fortress Bahamut is the last area in the game, and the ship is generally regarded to be the deadliest weapon in Ivalice.

Revenant Wings
Bahamut appears as a boss and an actual summon in Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. It is a rank 3 summon. Its other 2 ranks are unknown as of now.

Final Fantasy Tactics
Bahamut appears as a powerful summon in this game, and you can summon him by using Summon Magic. You can learn to summon Bahamut by using 1500 JP.

Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon
Bahamut appears in Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon.

Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2
Bahamut appears in Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2.

Chocobo Racing
Bahamut appears in Chocobo Racing.

Itadaki Street Special
Bahamut appears in Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special.

Itadaki Street Portable
Bahamut appears in Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable.

Final Fantasy: Unlimited
'True' Summoning Gun Dragon 5mbOfxODGTg In the anime, Final Fantasy: Unlimited, a Bahamut-like summon named Gun Dragon makes an appearance as the ultimate summon at Kaze's disposal. It came in two forms: the "Chaos" reddish form seen in the first episode and the rarely seen silver true form seen on the finale and the FFU: Before CD. The Soil Charge Triad (Soil is like the colored bullet of a Magun, used to summon creatures) needed to summon Gun Dragon is:


 * With the rays of light brimming in thine eyes! Tear Rainbow!
 * The ultimate soul is born! Soul Gun Metal!
 * Our circle of life! Endless White!

In the English audio version, the Soil Charge Triad was changed to:
 * The light that fills up your eyes! Tears of the Rainbow!
 * The ultimate spirit! Soul Gun Metal!
 * The helix of my life! Endless White!

However, in both occurrences, Kaze must turn himself into Endless White, leaving Makenshi to fire the MaGun in "FFU: Before" and Lisa in the anime series finale.

Etymology
Bahamut originated as a enormous fish in ancient Arabian Mythology. Upon Bahamut's back stands a bull with four thousand eyes, ears, noses, mouths, tongues and feet called Kujuta (also spelled "Kuyutha"). Between each of these is a distance of a 500-year journey. On the back of Kujuta is a mountain of ruby. Atop this mountain is an angel who carries six hells, earth, and seven heavens on its shoulders. In modern times the game Dungeons & Dragons is responsible for reimagining Bahamut as the king of dragons, a benevolent Platinum Dragon; the opposite of the malevolent Tiamat the five headed Chromotic Queen of Dragons. As an interesting note, Kujuta, the bull on top of Bahamut, is actually the summon in Final Fantasy VII called Kjata.

The word "Bahamut" is similar to the term "Baphomet," sometimes used in Occult or Satanic writings. The demon-like appearance of Bahamut throughout the Final Fantasy series reinforces the idea that "Bahamut" is based on the demonic "Baphomet" of Occultist literature.