Aeon (Final Fantasy X)

Aeons are the Summons in Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 (however they cannot be summoned in Final Fantasy X-2). The Aeons are obtained by completing the Cloister of Trials at each of Spira's different Temples. They are different from most Summons in the Final Fantasy series as they can be controlled by the player once summoned and they can only be summoned by Yuna.

Origins
Aeons are the physical realization of the Fayth. The Fayth are able to communicate with summoners who pray to them within the Chamber of the Fayth, and establish a mental link between Fayth and summoner. Using this link, the Fayth gives their dream a physical form - an Aeon. Aeons are powerful creatures which only a summoner can use in battle. Most Aeons bear some similarities in appearance to their respective Fayth, so it can be assumed the Aeon may take on aspects of the person whose soul was sealed inside the Fayth statue.

List of Aeons
Only five of the game's Aeons are required as dictated by the story's plotline. The other three are optional, and must be searched for.

Required Aeons
(In order of appearance)

Valefore
The Aeon of Besaid temple. Valefor's Fayth is that of a small girl. She has high evasion and speed but only mediocre attack power, though this changes later in the game. She can deal non elemental damage and cause a turn delay with her special attack Sonic Wings, and with her two Overdrives, the default Energy Ray and the much more powerful Energy Blast, both of which fire large amounts of energy at the foe. Valefor is the only Aeon who has two Overdrives. Energy Blast must be obtained by speaking to a girl and then her dog in Besaid Village. In order to break the Damage Limit, Yuna must have obtained her Nirvana, and powered it up with the Moon Crest. Later in the game Valefore is so fast that if Sonic Wings is used over and over again against a single opponent, that opponent will never have an opportunity to attack. Due to a glitch, possibly caused by the fact that Valefore is perpetually floating, some enemies cannot hit Valefore at all due to their attacks only hitting ground targets (an example being Omega Dungeon's Demonolith) and pulling out Valefore in a fight with such enemies makes for an extremely easy fight.

Ifrit
Ifrit, the Fire Aeon. Located at the Kilika Temple, Ifrit is the second Aeon a summoner must obtain in their pilgrimage. His Fayth is a male Crusader. Ifrit specializes in the use of the Fire element, which is reflected in his attacks - Meteor Strike, a physical Fire attack which bypasses the Protect status, and his Overdrive, Hellfire, a powerful Fire assault in which Ifrit hurls molten fireballs at the enemy, and finishes by hurling a huge chunk of earth at them. To break the Damage Limit, Wakka must upgrade his World Champion using the Jupiter Crest.

Ixion
Located at the Djose Temple, Ixion is the Lightning Aeon. Ixion manifests as a unicorn with a gargantuan horn shaped like a big hook, and uses the attacks Aerospark to deal damage and dispel beneficial status effects, and the ultimate Thunder attack, Thor's Hammer, which encases the enemy in a field of electricity, and sends them crashing down to earth, to deal high level Thunder damage to all enemies. Ixion's Fayth is a man in a sailor's outfit, and to break the Damage Limit, the Saturn Crest must be used on Kimahri's Spirit Lance.

Shiva
The ice queen, Shiva, returns in Final Fantasy X as the Ice Aeon of the Macalania Temple. Her Fayth is a Macalanian priestess, and she possess high Evasion and Speed. Using her power to manipulate ice, Shiva utilizes her Heavenly Strike to deal out non elemental damage and inflict Delay, and her signature attack, Diamond Dust to freeze over the battlefield, and all of Shiva's opposition. Then, with a snap of her fingers, the ice shatters, and deals ice damage to all enemies. Shiva can break the Damage Limit once Lulu's Onion Knight has been upgraded with the Venus Crest.

Bahamut
Another recurring summon, Bahamut is the final summon that is absolutely required to complete the storyline. The Palace of St. Bevelle is where Bahamut's Fayth - an extremely young boy - resides. In Final Fantasy X, Bahamut's Fayth acts as the collective representative of the Fayth, and communicates with Tidus and Yuna. Bahamut is considered the strongest of all the storyline summons, albeit not very fast, and backs this claim up with his powerful Impulse attack, and Overdrive Megaflare. Bahamut can also break the Damage Limit automatically.

Optional Aeons
The optional Aeons must be sought out outside of the main story.

Yojimbo
Originally located at the Baaj Temple, Yojimbo's Fayth - a Crusader and his dog - is now within the Cavern of the Stolen Fayth. To obtain Yojimbo, the player must first defeat Lady Ginnem's Yojimbo, and then offer Yojimbo's Fayth a large sum of Gil, usually in excess of 200,000.

Yojimbo is a unique Aeon, as his attacks are largely random, and are executed by giving him Gil. He must be paid at least 1 Gil to act. The larger the sum, the better the attack, and frequent usage and paying large sums of money make his stronger attacks more probable. When given Gil, he will use one of four moves; Daigoro, Kozuka, Wakizashi or Zanmato. They increase in power from left to right. Daigoro and Kozuka injure a foe, Wakizashi one or many and Zanmato instantly kills any enemy who opposes Yojimbo, even bosses and the superbosses of the game. While Yojimbo has no Overdrive, the chances of Zanmato being executed after achieving a full Overdrive bar will increase.

Yojimbo requires Auron's Masamune to be upgraded with the Mars Crest to break the Damage Limit.

Anima
The Dark Aeon Anima can be obtained after you have defeated Yunalesca, obtained the Airship, found the Baaj Temple, defeated Geosgaeno there, and found the Destruction Treasures in all six Cloisters of Trials. After all this, Anima can be found waiting in the Chamber of the Fayth there. Anima's Fayth is actually the mother of Seymour Guado, who was turned into a Fayth by Yunalesca so that Seymour could become a powerful summoner and be respected. However, this triggered a lust for power, and his eventual search for a way to control the ultimate power, Sin. Anima offers her powers to Yuna in the hopes that she can stop Seymour. If you look at the Help bar when fighting her inside Sin, it says "Thus I atone." Similarly, if she is summoned during the battle against Seymour Omnis, he will remark on her opposing him, saying "So be it".

In battle, Anima is extremely strong. Her special attack Pain deals high damage, instantly defeating all foes who are not immune to instant death. Her Overdrive, Oblivion, also has an added chance of causing instant death, but deals colossal damage to all foes. In the PAL and International versions, Oblivion deals 16 hits of damage instead of just 1, as it does in the NTSC and Japanese versions.

The Magus Sisters
The last Aeons obtained in the game, the Magus Sisters, can only be obtained once you have received all other Aeons, the Blossom Crown, Flower Scepter and defeated all of Belgemine's Aeons. The Magus Sister's Fayth can then be approached.

The Magus Sisters are so named because they consist of three sisters - Cindy is the fat one, Sandy is the tall one and Mindy is the small one. Each has their own field of expertise, with Cindy excelling at White Magic, Mindy at Black Magic, while Sandy is best at physical attacks. It is interesting to note however, Cindy is the one who knows Ultima, and Mindy ends up having one of the most powerful attacks in the game, Passado, her special attack which deals 15 hits of physical damage. Cindy's special attack deals physical damage and is called Camisade, and Sandy's special attack is a powerful physical assault called Razzia.

Giving commands to the Sisters is different from any other Aeons. You can only "suggest" what they should do by selecting a phrase to say to them, which could result in them doing anything, including having a rest, or casting Cure on another sister in dire need of Curaga. However, the Sisters are still a very powerful tool, as they can deal very high damage from the beginning.

To launch their Overdrive, each Sister's bar must be full, and the command "Combine powers!" selected. Delta Attack deal very high damage to all foes, either in one lump sum, as it does in the NTSC and Japanese versions, or 6 successive hits like it does in PAL and International versions.

All three wear armor resembling insectoid predators: A mantis, a ladybug, and a wasp.

The Magus Sisters are named after the bosses of the same names from Final Fantasy IV.

Using an Aeon
Unlike in the past Final Fantasy games where you summoned a creature, do an attack sequence and disappear, Final Fantasy X features the ability to have direct control over the summoned creatures, in the same way a player would control a character. Once Yuna summons the desired Aeon, all other characters vacate the battle field, and offer control of the Aeon to the player (with the exceptions of Yojimbo and The Magus Sisters (see respective articles for more details). They can also launch the Boost and Shield commands from the Sub-Commands Menu. Boost increases the damage an Aeon receives, but greatly increases the rate at which the Overdrive gauge fills up. Shield does the opposite - both damage and Overdrive increases are reduced. It should be noted that when an Aeon is used against Seymour, they will only have one turn to attack before he uses a special attack to destroy the Aeon, such as in most of the battles where he uses Banish which automatically kills Aeons, meaning you cannot summon it again in the battle.

Overdrives
Aeons, like the player characters, have Overdrives of their own (again, with the exception of Yojimbo). Their Overdrive meters can be charged by giving and taking damage in battle, or avoiding an attack. The Overdrive Gauge can also be filled when Yuna uses her Grand Summoning Overdrive. After the Overdrive of the respective Aeons is launched, the Overdrive returns to the state it was in prior to the Grand Summoning. This means that is the Overdrive gauge was full before it was Grand Summoned, the Aeon can launch two Overdrives in a row. When an Aeon is defeated, however, the gauge is reset to zero.

While Yojimbo lacks an Overdrive, keeping the gauge filled will slightly increase the probability of his better attacks being used.

Increasing an Aeon's Strength
An Aeon can increase its stats by using Spheres and the Aeon's Soul, which is obtained from Belgemine the second time you fight her. Aeons are also unique to other summons as they can learn most abilities available to the main party by using specific items in specific quantities. For example, Ixion can learn Full Break by giving up two Dark Matter. Only Yojimbo and the Magus Sisters cannot learn abilities this way - theirs are set.