Ark (summon)

Ark is an airship-like eidolon in Final Fantasy IX. It attacks Zidane and his party in Oeilvert, as they obtain the Gulug Stone for Kuja.

Later in the game, the party may locate two Pumice Pieces, which can then be forged into Pumice by Hades at his Synthesis Shop in Memoria. Pumice can also be received by beating Ozma, the most powerful enemy in the game. Ark's spell power is equal to 106 plus the total number of Lapis Lazulis in the party's inventory.

Summoning
When equipping Garnet with the Pumice, she can learn to summon Ark. When summoned, Ark departs from the Red Moon of Terra, and transforms upon reaching the atmosphere; hovering ominously amongst the sky, Ark targets the enemy with a laser glyph, before it fires a salvo of explosive lasers from its wings to scorch the battlefield, and finishes off its attack by readying a larger laser whose impact can be seen from space. Its attack is called Eternal Darkness, which deals Shadow-elemental damage to all enemies.

It costs 80 MP to summon. Ark is notable for its long attack animation - the full length attack is almost two minutes, and the short animation is longer than most summons' long animations.

Battle
Ark is fought as a boss in Oeilvert.

Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Ark appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game with a dark-elemental card depicting an artwork of it.

Trivia

 * The Pumice item used to summon Ark is known as "Fuyuuishi" . In the original NES version of the original Final Fantasy, this item was translated as "FLOATER", and was used to lift the ancient airship from the desert. This bond is strengthened by the fact that Ark takes the form of an airship.
 * Ark appears to hold a dueling thematic against Alexander in Final Fantasy IX: their elements are opposing, Ark being Shadow-elemental and Alexander being Holy-elemental; both are mechanical in nature, being feared as ancient weapons and summons, with Alexander being an immobile megalithic castle fortress, while Ark is a transforming airship robot; both have a theme of Heaven and Earth, with Ark being airborne and Alexander being earthbound; both represent their respective worlds of origin, Ark hailing from the planet of Terra, while Alexander comes from Gaia; and their names relate with a theme of judgment and punishment, with Alexander known for his attack, Divine Judgment, while Ark's original attack name in Japanese was known as Dark Fate.
 * Ark's transforming capabilities can be seen not only as a precursor to the transforming Eidolons in Final Fantasy XIII, but also an indirect reference to the Transformers franchise, which features a spaceship called the Ark.
 * Ark's design is a nod to the 1986 Square game , bearing heavy influence from the game's cruise chaser mecha.

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