Bahamut (Final Fantasy VIII)

Bahamut is a non-elemental Guardian Force i Final Fantasy VIII. He is an optional GF who appears as a blue dragon that shoots energy from its mouth. A late-game GF, he doesn't learn any junction abilities naturally, and is the first GF to learn Stat+60% support abilities. It is the first GF in the roster to learn an ability that has the junctioner gain HP by walking on the field, and the only GF to learn Auto-Protect naturally. Its unique abilities include the ability to get rare drops from enemies more frequently (although the way item drop mechanics work in Final Fantasy VIII the ability can be detrimental), and the ability to create the best highest level magic spells in the game.

Profile
Bahamut is a steel blue dragon, though the underside of his wings is dark red. He has spikes at the tips of his wings, a long tail, and sharp claws and horns. It is one of the few Guardian Forces to speak to the party.

Obtained
Bahamut is fought as a boss in the Deep Sea Research Center, acquiring him as a Guardian Force after the battle. Deep Sea Research Center is a hidden dungeon located in the upper left corner of the map. The player must land the Ragnarok on it to enter.

There is a flashing blue pillar in the middle of the first room. If the core is in the middle of a pulse and the party moves, they enter a random battle. When the party approaches the core, a voice asks them a question (So you wish to challenge me?). If answered correctly (It's not our will to fight), the party will fight a Ruby Dragon, and if the party wins, the next question (Begging me for mercy?) is asked, and the correct answer is "Never".

If the party answers correctly they will fight another Ruby Dragon, but if any are answered incorrectly the party will be warped back to the entrance and they will have to start over again. The trick is that on the final question (Damned imbeciles. Why do you wish to fight?), there is a hidden answer, below the main two (revealed to be "It's our nature"). If the hidden option is selected, the party will fight Bahamut.

Obtaining Bahamut in the Steam version earns the player the achievement Bahamut.

It is uncertain how he ended up in Deep Sea Research Center, but he does make an obscure reference to this immediately prior to the battle:
 * Bahamut: "I am... Bahamut"
 * Squall: "The Great GF... Bahamut"
 * Bahamut: "GF? I..."
 * Bahamut: "Using my powers... it is you humans I fear"

This may indicate that Bahamut was captured or lured to the research center and experimented on, which would explain his dislike of humans, or he could also mean that his powers could fall into the wrong hands.

Battle
Bahamut's attack, Mega Flare, is a non-elemental attack that damages all enemies and ignores the targets' Spirit stat. Bahamut's summon time is 22.1s, which, according to the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania, allows the player to boost its damage to around 230% of normal damage using a regular PlayStation controller.

Its damage is calculated as follows:
 * $$Damage = 70 * Level / 10 + 55 + 30$$
 * $$Damage = Damage * (265) / 8 $$
 * $$Damage = Damage * 55 / 256 $$
 * $$Damage = Damage * Boost / 100 $$
 * $$Damage = Damage * (100 + SummonMagBonus) / 100 $$

Compatibility
The charge time for summoning depends on the compatibility between the character and the GF and the Battle Speed. The greater the compatibility, the less time it takes to summon. Compatibility can be boosted with compatibility boosting items, by casting magic that is the same element as the Guardian Force (or "forbidden magic" in Bahamut's case) and by summoning the GF during battle. Compatibility is usually reduced by using "opposing" magic to the GF's element and other summons, but Bahamut doesn't have an opposite GF or magic; his compatibility value only drops by a small amount if the junctioner summons another GF or uses other GF compatibility items than Bahamut's. Uniquely, Bahamut's compatibility item is a very rare item and thus best used for refining rather than for boosting his compatibility.

The below values are the base compatibility values with all playable characters at the start of the game. Although Seifer cannot junction Bahamut in a normal playthrough, a compatibility value still exists for him.

Stats
The Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania incorrectly shows Doomtrain's Attack Power as Bahamut's and vice versa. The following table represents the correct figures:

Abilities
Abilities learned naturally by Bahamut are listed below:

Boss


Bahamut's physical attack is Claw Swipe and it uses Stop, Thundaga and Tornado. Its special attack is Mega Flare, a non-elemental attack that will ignore the party's Spirit stat that Bahamut can cast twice in a row. Bahamut is susceptible to Blind.

Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Bahamut from Final Fantasy VIII appears as a boss.