Dark Bahamut is a boss in Final Fantasy IV. It guards the Ragnarok, Cecil's strongest weapon.
Stats[]
Battle[]
Dark Bahamut always begins the battle with Megaflare, and then casts Reflect on itself and bounces Flare spells onto the party until the effect wears off. Flare is typically not fatal, and it is possible to survive Megaflare as well. Dark Bahamut counters summoning with another Megaflare, limiting Rydia's potential in the fight, although she can still summon Bahamut to pierce Reflect. It can also cast Heal onto itself to recover a portion of its HP, and its physical attack (which it can also use as a counter to regular attacks) has a chance of inflicting Instant Death.
Strategy[]
Another strategy is to immediately use a Spider's Silk or have Rosa cast Slow on Dark Bahamut (although it might counter it by casting Flare). If Rosa has the Omnicasting Augment one can simply have her cast Blink on the party in one turn, followed by Reflect on the entire party. If Dark Bahamut casts Reflect on himself, the party can cast Flare onto each other if the party is reflected to reflect it onto him. When Dark Bahamut uses Flare as a normal attack he will bounce it off his Reflect barrier, but if Dark Bahamut uses it as a counter attack he will cast it directly, bouncing it back if the party has Reflect. With the Omnicasting Augment, if multiple party members get KO'd, one can cast Arise on the entire party to fully revive everyone.
Etymology[]
Bahamut (Arabic بهموت Bahamūt) originated as an enormous whale in ancient pre-Islamic Arabian mythology. Upon Bahamut's back stands a bull with four thousand eyes, ears, noses, mouths, tongues and feet called Kujuta (also spelled "Kuyutha") (compared with the pair of Behemoth and Leviathan). Between each of these is a distance of a 500-year journey. On the back of Kujuta is a mountain of ruby. Atop this mountain is an angel who carries six hells, earth, and seven heavens on its shoulders.
Another version of the Arabic story is that Bahamut is indeed a dragon and he stands on a whale called Liwash.
In modern times, the game Dungeons & Dragons is responsible for reimagining Bahamut as the king of dragons, a benevolent Platinum Dragon; the opposite of the malevolent Tiamat, the five-headed Chromatic Queen of Dragons.
It has also been known by another name: wyvern. A wyvern is a medieval European mythological winged creature with a dragon's head, reptilian body, two legs (sometimes none), and a barbed tail. They appear in many crests of Europe's ancient families, symbolizing strength. The word wyvern comes from wivere, which means serpent.