Shiva



Shiva is a frequently recurring summoned monster who usually takes the shape of a blue-skinned woman with clothing of the same color. Her signature attack, Diamond Dust (sometimes called Gem Dust, and Transcendantale in the French version), deals Ice-elemental damage.

Along with Ifrit and Bahamut, she is one of the very few summons to appear in every main series game from Final Fantasy III through Final Fantasy XIV (although in Final Fantasy XII she appears as an airship instead of a summon). She also appears in every main series side-story and sequel that features summons, with the only exception being Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-.

Profile
Although enjoying regular appearances throughout the series, Shiva, like most of the popular summonable entities, has never been given any significant back story, being simply described as the "Ice Queen". She is, however, shown to have a lover named Shivar and a daughter named Shivan in Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, although this is the only appearance that either of them have made in the entire series. In Final Fantasy XIII, Shiva is embodied in a pair of sisters called Nix and Stiria.

Shiva has occasionally been shown as one of the more "friendly" summonable entities, only requiring being fought to gain her services in a few Final Fantasy games, and she usually does not display malicious intent when doing so.

Shiva's basic physical characteristics are that of a willowy humanoid female with pale skin and long, blue hair so to invoke an image of ice and cold. This image is reinforced in later summon sequences by the addition of arctic winds, freezing temperatures and large ice crystal formations.

Shiva invariably wears only enough clothing to retain her modesty, along with boots and other minor aesthetic pieces. She carries no weapon in most appearances, and implements her main Diamond Dust attack with arm gestures, a snap of the fingers, and/or force of will. Later games in the series allow Shiva to carry out physical attacks in the form of kicks and punches.

Final Fantasy III
The first Final Fantasy to introduce Shiva and the ability to summon. She can be acquired by purchasing the Level 2 Summon Magic spell Icen.


 * White summoning: Mesmerize - casts Sleep on all enemies.
 * Black summoning: Icy Stare - deals Ice damage to one enemy.
 * High summoning: Diamond Dust - deals Ice damage to all enemies.

Final Fantasy IV


Shiva appears as Rydia's summon after she rejoins the group in the Underworld. She is also a boss in Rydia's trial in the Lunar Ruins in the Advance and Complete Collection releases. It has a casting time of 4, costs 30 MP to summon, has a power of 120, and attacks all enemies for ice-elemental damage. In the 3D releases, the charge time to summon her is six seconds.

On the Easy Type version, the casting time was reduce to 3.

Final Fantasy IV -Interlude-
Shiva returns as a Summon spell for the imposter Rydia and Rydia in the sequel of Final Fantasy IV. Its signature attack, Diamond Dust deals moderate Ice-elemental damage to all enemies at the cost of 30 MP.

Shiva is wielded by the Frostbeast, one of four Eidolon-holding bosses found within the Lower Section of the Tower of Babil B13. Once it's defeated, it leaves behind an orb of blue light. The imposter Rydia claims the light and regains the ability to summon Shiva during battle. Shiva along with the other reclaimed Eidolons are later summoned by the imposter Rydia on B6 of the tower to battle against the party.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Shiva returns in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years as one of the Eidolons being controlled by the Mysterious Girl. She is first fought in Palom's chapter, then later can be faced in The Gathering. The first time is a scripted battle, but the second time the player fights Shiva until she stops attacking, and at this time the player must do the same if they want to recruit her, otherwise she will be killed. If the party stop fighting, Shiva will recognize Rydia and will be acquired as a summon. She costs 30 MP to summon.

Final Fantasy V
The Summoner job class has ability to call Shiva. She can be found at the tower at Walse Castle. This was the first time in the series Shiva appeared as a boss. Along with her are three Ice Commanders who also must be defeated.

Shiva costs 10 MP to summon and deals mediocre Ice damage to all enemies.

Final Fantasy VI

 * See the Summon sequence here.



Shiva appears as an esper, first encountered by the Returners in the Magitek Research Facility of Vector. After being drained of her power, Kefka disposes of her and Ifrit in a waste chute.

Believing they mean the two espers harm, Ifrit attacks the party. Shiva soon senses Ramuh's power within them, and halts the battle and the two grant their abilities to the Returners. Shiva's Spell Power is 52, and she costs 27 MP to summon. She is unblockable.

She teaches the following spells:
 * Blizzard x10
 * Blizzara x5
 * Osmose x4
 * Rasp x4
 * Cure x3

Final Fantasy VII

 * See the Summon sequence here.

The Shiva Summon Materia is obtained from Priscilla of lower Junon after Cloud and company defeat the boss, Bottomswell. Shiva can then be assigned to a weapon or armor and called upon in combat and her spell power is equal to 1.5x the base magic damage.

If the player's Materia inventory is full during the scene Priscilla is supposed to give the Materia to Cloud and the party, she leaves the Shiva Materia in her room for the player to pick it up later.

Shiva is one of the available summons in the "Battle Square" demo version of the PC port of Final Fantasy VII.

Before Crisis -Final Fantasy VII-
Shiva can be summoned in battle using the Shiva Materia. She uses the attack Diamond Dust, an ice-elemental attack that hits all opponents. Her appearance is based off her appearance in the original Final Fantasy VII.

Final Fantasy VIII

 * See the Summon sequence here

Shiva is available as one of two default Guardian Forces assigned to protagonist Squall Leonhart at the start of the story. It is implied that she knows Ifrit, as he will comment on her if the player summons her in the battle against him. Shiva may be assigned to any party member throughout the game. If Squall attempts to exit Balamb Garden before accessing the tutorial where he obtains her, Quistis will present both Shiva and Quezacotl to him before reaching the world map. Obtaining Shiva in the Steam version earns the player the achievement Shiva.

Shiva's attack, Diamond Dust, is an Ice-elemental attack that damages all enemies. Shiva's summon time is 12.9s, which, according to the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania, allows the player to boost its damage to around 180% of normal damage using a regular PlayStation controller.

Its damage is calculated as follows:
 * $$Damage = 62 * Level / 10 + 43 $$
 * $$Damage = Damage * (265 - TargetSpr) / 8 $$
 * $$Damage = Damage * 43 / 256 $$
 * $$Damage = Damage * Boost / 100 $$
 * $$Damage = Damage * (100 + SummonMagBonus) / 100 $$
 * $$Damage = Damage * (900 - ElemDef) / 100:$$

Elemental Defense starts at 800 (0%), 900 nullifies damage and 1000 absorbs it. If an enemy is shown to be weak against an element, its Elemental Defense is below 800. If damage becomes negative (due to high Elemental Defense), the target is healed by that amount.

Stats
The following table represents the base stats:

Abilities
Abilities learned naturally by Shiva are listed below:

Final Fantasy IX
Shiva is an eidolon summoned by Dagger. Shiva is learned from equipping an Opal for 20 AP. According to notes left on the Eidolon Wall at Madain Sari, the summoners first discovered Shiva in the form of a small child. As years passed she grew into her more familiar adult appearance. When summoned she uses Diamond Dust, dealing ice damage to all opponents. Her spell power is equal to 36 plus the number of Opals in the party's inventory. Before Dagger has her eidolons extracted Shiva costs 96 MP to summon, but after being re-acquired she costs 24 MP instead. Dagger has Shiva since the start of the game but doesn't yet have enough MP to summon her without excessive level grinding. When she is relearned later, her MP cost is reduced.

There exists an early concept art of Shiva in a more childlike appearance.

Final Fantasy X

 * See the Summon and Overdrive sequence here.

The aeon Shiva is obtained after Yuna visits the fayth in the Macalania Temple. Shiva's fayth appears as a Macalanian priestess. She is unique in that Yuna can summon her before the player has named her, during the first fight against Seymour, in which she is called "????". Shiva has the highest initial Agility and Evasion of all the aeons.

Summonable entities in Final Fantasy X can be controlled by the player, and have their own special attacks, spells, and Overdrives. Shiva's special attack is called Heavenly Strike, which does ice damage and inflicts Threaten to enemy. Though she starts out knowing only ice magic, she can be taught any ability provided the player has enough items. Ice magic heals her.

After Lulu receives and charges her Celestial Weapon, Onion Knight, Shiva will be able to break the damage limit of 9,999.

In the International, PAL, and HD Remaster versions of the game, Dark Shiva will appear as an optional boss when the party attempts to reenter Macalania Temple after escaping from Bevelle.

The symbol for Shiva and Macalania (see "Shiva's seal" in the gallery for this section) is annotated with the kanji for ice.

Shiva's basic stats and default abilities.

Final Fantasy X-2
Shiva makes her return in Final Fantasy X-2 as a boss under Shuyin's control. She is fought in the Farplane, as the temple sank to the bottom of the lake shortly after Final Fantasy X.

Final Fantasy XI
Shiva appears in Final Fantasy XI as one of the six celestial avatars. She represents the ice element. The job class Summoner can unlock the "spell" Shiva upon completion of the quest "Trial By Ice". Alternatively, a brave low-level summoner may go on the quest "Trial Size Trial By Ice" and defeat Shiva in a battle alone rather than in a group. She has the highest magic attack of the game's six celestial avatars thus far, making her merited blood pact "Heavenly Strike" a popular choice. Shiva is also the name of one of the game's servers.

Formerly the young ruler of a small kingdom situated in the south of Vana'diel. Despite her young age, Shiva was a wise and highly competent ruler, loved by all her people, except a small fraction of the nobility. Those were faithful to Shiva's uncle, who had been regent when she first came to the throne. Scheming with the neighboring countries, Shiva's uncle finally managed to organize a coup. He seized the throne and banished Shiva to the frozen Northlands, reluctant to further provoke the anger of the population by executing her outright. However, the rulers with whom he had forged an alliance soon decided to take over the country.

In the chaos that followed, a regiment of soldiers, led by general Aeomatra, decided to go rescue their queen. They managed to find her, frozen solid in a block of ice. Unaccustomed to the harsh climate of the Northlands, they also died one by one, refusing to leave their unfortunate queen. Altana was moved by Shiva's plight and transformed her into the Celestial Avatar of Ice. Aeomatra is the name of the brightest, light blue-colored star of the Shiva constellation.

Final Fantasy XII
Shiva does not appear as a summon but the airships in Archadian Imperial Fleets are named after traditional Final Fantasy summons, and includes an airship named Shiva.

Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings


Shiva is the rank 3 Water Ranged summon, and costs 20 affinity points to summon. Her normal attack, Triple Slap, deals water damage to one foe with three successive hits. Her special, Diamond Dust, deals heavy water damage to all enemies in range, and inflicts Stop.

She is one of the unique water types in that she is really an ice-type. Therefore, she is weak to fire instead of thunder. There are two other weaker Yarhi which are also named after Shiva, Shivan and Shivar, which are stated to be her child and lover respectively.

Final Fantasy XIII

 * See the Gestalt Mode And Summoning sequence here.



In Final Fantasy XIII Snow Villiers' Eidolon is the Shiva Sisters, also referred to as the Twin Sisters of Shiva. The sisters are composed of Stiria, the dark-skinned elder sister with a light patch around her right eye, and younger, lighter-skinned Nix , who has a dark patch around one eye. Snow first faces the sisters as bosses at Lake Bresha, as a test to prove his strength to them.

While summoned, the sisters have separate ATB Gauges, but both will be dismissed if their shared SP Gauge falls to zero. This is compensated by Stiria not being able to be directly targeted. In normal mode, Stiria focuses on the Medic and Ravager roles, healing Snow and dealing ice-elemental damage to enemies. Nix focuses on a Commando role, although she does have Blizzara at her disposal. While Stiria cannot be targeted by enemies, she can still be damaged by Area of Effect attacks.

Snow's Gestalt Gauge increases by driving up enemy chain gauges and by defending against enemy attacks as a Sentinel. In Gestalt Mode, the Shiva Sisters transform into a motorcycle Snow can ride.

Final Fantasy XIII-2
The Shiva Sisters help Lightning fight Caius in Valhalla, but are of different color from the original game, suggesting they are an alternate form of Shiva, like Caius's Chaos Bahamut. In the paradox ending, "The Future is Hope", Snow is seen sitting on the same gestalt motorcycle he had in Final Fantasy XIII. It is therefore possible that Snow received the Shiva Sisters again upon becoming a l'Cie.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
The Shiva Sisters appear during Lightning's battle against Bhunivelze when Snow summons the sisters to shield her from Bhunivelze's attack. Bhunivelze's defeat and the subsequent creation of the new world, the Shiva Sisters bid farewell to the party and disappear into the void alongside the other Eidolons as their kind cannot exist in the new world. There is a general store in Yusnaan called Nix and Styria General Store, named after the Shiva Sisters.

Final Fantasy XIV


Shiva appears in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn as the featured Primal and boss fight of patch 2.4, "Dreams of Ice." In Coerthas, the Adventurer begins investigating a series of caravan robberies in which large shipments of crystals were being stolen from Ishgardian transporters on their way to Revenant's Toll. These attacks are the work of Dravanian heretics under the leadership of an Elezen woman known as Lady Iceheart. It is revealed that in Ishgardian lore, Shiva was a woman who, in centuries past, became the lover of a dragon. Thus the Holy See of Ishgard consider her to be a great blasphemer, while the heretics who serve the Dravanian Horde revere her as a saint.

Though Shiva is not strictly a Primal, Iceheart completes a ritual similar to the summoning of one to bring her back, using her own body as a vessel for Shiva's spirit. This puts into question the players' understanding of the true nature of a primal, as up until this point all previous beastmen primals had been summoned as an embodiment of aetherial energy brought forth from the collective prayers of their respective followers. The Adventurer is tasked to defeat Iceheart as Shiva in the trial The Akh Afah Amphitheatre as part of the main scenario, but she manages to escape afterwards using the power of the Echo. Although Iceheart's true motives have not yet been revealed, her dialogue during combat indicates her wish to see peace between humanity and dragons.

Final Fantasy Tactics
The job class Summoner can learn Shiva. Her Glacial Shards attack is a large ice-elemental attack that spreads over a portion of the battlefield. Shiva costs 24 MP, has a speed of 25, and needs 200 JP to learn.

In the PlayStation version, when summoned, the summoner will sometimes say, "Wind, fade to silence and light, give us power! Shiva!"

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
The Summoner job class learns the ability to summon Shiva through the Snake Staff for 200 AP and costs 18 MP to cast. Unlike in her other appearances where she appears with a revealing outfit, this incarnation of Shiva is shown in full armor with only the bottom of her face revealed. Although Shiva wields a sword and shield she does not use them to attack. Instead, she holds the sword vertically above her head, and casts an ice spell.

Shiva has a Magic Power of 40, is stealable through the ability Steal: Ability, and is also susceptible to Return Magic and Absorb MP.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Like in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Shiva appears once more with her dark blue armor and sword, although she does not use her sword to fight, but instead raises it to send a flurry of ice shards at the selected foes. The Summoner job can learn the "spell" Shiva through the Serpent Staff for 300 AP, and Shiva costs 16 MP to cast with a range of 4.

Final Fantasy Tactics S
Shiva appears as a boss in Final Fantasy Tactics S.

Final Fantasy Type-0
Shiva appears as a set of summons or "Eidolons" in Final Fantasy Type-0 called "Shiva Class". Each Shiva under the class has different names, abilities and sizes.


 * Shiva
 * Shankara
 * Petite Shiva

Shiva has a more human appearance than in other installments, with white/pink skin and long grey-blue hair with straight bangs. She wears a bikini top, a micro-skirt and a g-string, as well as high heels with floating gears.

In-battle Shiva is a quick character, and skates through the battlefield while striking her foes with ice spells.

Final Fantasy Dimensions


She appears in the Glacial Cave near Rusalka in the Bard story in act 2 as a monster to defeat deep inside the cave. After you defeat her, you gain her as a summon for the summoner job class. She attacks with Diamond Dust all enemies with ice. After her defeat, all ice covered sections of the cave become water and you can walk freely in without fear of sliding. She is blue like all her other Final Fantasy incarnations and wears gold jewels.

Final Fantasy Legends: Toki no Suishō
Shiva appears as a collectable summon in Final Fantasy Legends: Toki no Suishō. Shiva allows players to use the Blizzard I ability. Shiva's summon ability is Diamond Dust. Her illustration was drawn by SQEX.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
Shiva appears as a summon in Dissidia. When summoned, Shiva uses Diamond Dust, "freezing" the opponent's Bravery Points, preventing them from increasing. Like many summons in Dissidia, Shiva can be summoned in two distinct ways: automatically, which summons her immediately when the user is attacked by an HP attack and her Final Fantasy VIII artwork appears, and manually, where her Final Fantasy IV artwork appears. Shiva's auto version can be obtained in the third stage of the Destiny Odyssey II storyline, and the manual version can be obtained in the same odyssey's second stage.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Shiva's Final Fantasy X incarnation is summonable by Yuna in-battle to perform either Heavenly Strike or Diamond Dust.

Shiva also returns as a summonstone, with the same function as in Dissidia. Her auto version is now found in Chapter Six: Indiscernible Truth of Scenario 012. The manual version can be purchased from certain Moogle Shops for 30 KP.

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy
Shiva appears as a summon in her Final Fantasy X attire and appearance. She uses her signature attack, Diamond Dust, to assist the player during Battle Music Sequences.

Equipping the item Shiva's Magicite will ensure Shiva is summoned, should the player succeed in the Feature Drive section of the song.

Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
Shiva is an Ice-elemental esper in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade. From time to time, players may encounter Shiva in battle. Defeating Shiva will grant players the Shiva I summon stone, which allows Shiva to be summoned into battle. When summoned, Shiva uses the skill, Diamond Dust. Her summoned animation bears a strong resemblance to the summoned animation of Shiva in Final Fantasy V.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Shiva appears in Final Fantasy Record Keeper. She retains her appearance from Final Fantasy V.

Chocobo series
Shiva appears in Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon, Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon 2, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, and Chocobo Racing. She appears also as cards in Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales and Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.

Final Fantasy: Unlimited
In the anime, Final Fantasy: Unlimited, Shiva makes two appearances as a summon. The Soil Charge Triad (Soil is like the colored bullet of a Magun, used to summon creatures) needed to summon Shiva is:

Followed by saying: "Shine! Summoned Creature! Shiva!"
 * The cry of the dark spirit, Dark Green!
 * The one that does not forgive creation, Virgin White!
 * The one that freezes everything, Ice Blue!

In the English audio version, the Soil Charge Triad was changed to: Followed by saying: "Shine! I summon you! Shiva!"
 * The cry of a soul without light, Forest Green! (or Moss Green)
 * The soil that forbids the birth of life, Maiden White!
 * To freeze all things, Ice Blue!

At the second summoning Shiva seems to be destroyed by the Makenshi's brother, Madoushi, with a swipe of his sword.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Shiva is represented in the Final Fantasy Trading Card Game by many Ice-elemental summon cards: depicting her in normal and in Gestalt Mode from Final Fantasy XIII; one depicting her Final Fantasy Tactics art; two depicting her Final Fantasy Type-0 art; one featuring her Final Fantasy XI appearance; one depicting her Yoshitaka Amano art from Final Fantasy III; and one of Shiva from Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.

Mevius Final Fantasy
Shiva's ability card requires 6 Water Elements to be used and casts Blizzaga, which deals Water-elemental damage to all enemies. Shiva's card Auto-Ability is Magic Up.

Blood of Bahamut
Shiva, alongside other recurring Final Fantasy summons, appears as one of the giants that must be defeated in the Japan-only game Blood of Bahamut.

Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special
Shiva has appeared in Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special.

Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable
Shiva has appeared in Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special.

Kingdom Hearts
While not making a physical appearance in the series, Shiva's trademark attack, Diamond Dust, makes several appearances in this series.

Knights of the Crystals
Shiva is a monster summoned by the summoner Stein at the Ice Fortress. Defeating them both will reward the player with the Quest Achievement "Blizzard Master".

Lord of Vermilion II
Shiva appears as a card in Lord of Vermilion II.

The World Ends with You


Shiva appears as a pin called Tin Pin Shiva in . Her psych calls up massive icicles from the ground, dealing considerable damage to the enemy.

Million Arthur
Shiva cards exist in the mobile card game Million Arthur, designed after the summon's Final Fantasy X appearance.

Dead Fantasy
Shiva is summoned by Yuna, along with all of the other aeons, in Dead Fantasy IV, but is ultimately defeated by Kasumi and her clones.

Merchandise
Shiva is one of the more popular summons in the Final Fantasy series and as thus has appeared in numerous official merchandise.

Etymology
There is a possibility the name was simply the Japanese way of pronouncing the word "shiver", given her icy nature. Another possibility is the reference to the Slavic goddess, the goddess of love and fertility.

Trivia

 * Square Enix's cafe Artnia sells a cocktail called Shiva that contains white rum, white curacao, lychee, and lemon juice.