Alexander is a Holy-elemental Guardian Force in Final Fantasy VIII and one of the very few Holy attacks at the player's disposal. It has only one stat junction ability, but learns elemental attack and defense, including the useful Elemental Defense x4. It learns support abilities that boost Spirit. It is the only GF to learn Revive naturally, which is a command ability that fully restores a target from KO or instantly kills undead targets, and Med Data, which doubles the potency of recovery items when used by the junctioner. Its unique abilities let one make third tier magic spells and improved versions of recovery items. The latter is needed to get the GF Doomtrain.
Profile[]
Alexander is a big fortress-like robot that towers over enemies and shoots white laser beams at them.
Obtained[]
Alexander is drawn from Edea in Galbadia Garden or, if missed, from Catoblepas in the final dungeon. If missed on both opportunities, Alexander cannot be obtained in that playthrough. Obtaining Alexander in the Steam version earns the player the achievement Alexander.
Battle[]
Final Fantasy VIII - Alexander
Holy Judgment
Alexander's attack, Holy Judgment, is a Holy-elemental attack that damages all enemies. Alexander'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:[1]
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.
Compatibility[]
The charge time for summoning depends on the compatibility between the character and the GF and the Battle Speed set in the config. 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 (also life magic in Alexander's case) and by summoning the GF during battle. There is only one spell that deducts from Alexander's compatibility when used: Bio. In this vein, Alexander's opposite GF is Doomtrain, whose summoning deducts from Alexander's compatibility the most.
| Compatibility Chart | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summon Effect | Alexander +20, Doomtrain -10, Every other GF -1.6 | |
| Compatibility Items | Moon Stone +3.2 (-1.6 for others), LuvLuvG +20.2 | |
| Casting Magic | Holy +2, Apocalypse +0.2, Curaga +0.2, Full-life +0.2, Life +0.2, Regen +0.2, Ultima +0.2, Bio -1 | |
The below values are the base compatibility values with all playable characters at the start of the game. Even if Seifer cannot junction Alexander in a normal playthrough, a default compatibility value still exists for him.
| Party member | Compatibility |
|---|---|
| Squall | 580 |
| Quistis | 540 |
| Zell | 560 |
| Selphie | 640 |
| Rinoa | 620 |
| Irvine | 530 |
| Seifer | 280 |
| Edea | 700 |
Stats[]
The following table represents the base stats:
| Level | HP | Attack Power |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1,925 | 1,350 |
| 30 | 2,266 | 1,542 |
| 40 | 2,954 | 1,920 |
| 50 | 3,650 | 2,298 |
| 60 | 4,354 | 2,676 |
| 70 | 5,066 | 3,054 |
| 80 | 5,786 | 3,432 |
| 90 | 6,514 | 3,810 |
| 100 | 7,250 | 4,188 |
Abilities[]
Abilities learned naturally by Alexander are listed below:
| Ability | AP | Prerequisite |
|---|---|---|
 Spr-J
|
(Already learned) | |
| Elem-Atk-J
|
160 | None |
| Elem-Def-Jx2
|
(Already learned) | |
| Elem-Def-Jx4
|
180 | None |
| Ability x3
|
(Already learned) | |
 Magic
|
(Already learned) | |
| Draw
|
(Already learned) | |
| Item
|
(Already learned) | |
| GF
|
(Already learned) | |
| Revive
|
200 | None |
| Ability | AP | Prerequisite |
|---|---|---|
 Spr+20%
|
60 | None |
| Spr+40%
|
120 | Spr+20% |
| Med Data
|
200 | None |
 SumMag+10%
|
40 | None |
| SumMag+20%
|
70 | SumMag+10% |
| SumMag+30%
|
140 | SumMag+20% |
| GFHP+10%
|
40 | None |
| GFHP+20%
|
70 | GFHP+10% |
| GFHP+30%
|
140 | GFHP+20% |
| Boost
|
10 | None |
 High Mag-RF
|
60 | None |
| Med LV Up
|
120 | Med Data |
Triple Triad[]
Alexander is a holy-elemental Level 9 GF Card in Triple Triad used for playing the minigame and for turning into 3 Moon Curtains with Quezacotl's Card Mod. The card is won off Piet in the Lunar Base or Escape Pod Crash Site. The player must lose the Alexander card to the Queen of Cards as part of her sidequest to become able to win the Doomtrain from the pub owner in Timber. Alexander card is the only Holy-elemental Triple Triad card in the game.
Other appearances[]
Dissidia Final Fantasy (2008)[]
The manual version of Alexander.
Alexander is a summon that temporarily locks the user's Bravery preventing any change. Its manual version is a colored version of his Final Fantasy VIII artwork, found in the second stage of Destiny Odyssey IX.
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy[]
Alexander returns as a summonstone, with the same function as in Dissidia. The manual version can be purchased from certain Moogle Shops for 50 KP.
Final Fantasy Artniks[]
Though dubbed as the Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy version, the artwork on the card is Alexander from Final Fantasy VIII.
Mobius Final Fantasy[]
Alexander's FFVIII ability card.
The Final Fantasy VIII incarnation of Alexander appeared as a light-elemental Warrior ability card for players to summon during the Final Fantasy VIII collaboration event. It allowed player characters to perform the Guardian Force: Light (Gフォース:光, G Fōsu: Hikari?, lit. G Force: Light) Warrior ability, which dealt light damage to enemies within an area of effect. Additionally, the attack drew three light elemental orbs, along with granting the Lightforce and Resist Darkness buffs on the user.
Final Fantasy Trading Card Game[]
Though dubbed as the Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy version, the artwork on the card is Alexander from Final Fantasy VIII. The card is Wind-elemental rather than Holy-elemental.
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
"Alexander" is a common western name of Greek origin, the original name being Ἀλέξανδρος (Alexandros), "Protector of Mankind". Alexander III, better known as Alexander the Great, was a famous Macedonian king and military conqueror.