Template:Sideicon Doomtrain is a summon that first appeared in Final Fantasy VIII as a Guardian Force. It is a Poison-elemental optional summon who inflicts a myriad of status ailments on its opponents. It doesn't learn any stats junctions naturally, but learns comprehensive elemental and status attack and defense junctions, including the useful x4 variations. It is the only GF to learn Auto-Shell naturally and the first GF on the roster to learn +40% versions of SumMag+ and GFHP+ abilities. Its unique abilities let the player remodel weapons from the menu and create "forbidden medicine", such as Elixirs, Megalixirs, Hero-trials and stat-boosting items.
Profile
Doomtrain is a demonic train invoking the imagery of ghost trains of folklore. It has a skull-like face with white eyes with red pupils. The parts the train is built of appear organic, resembling bones and fangs. It has a bright light up front and flies through the air on tracks that appear out of nowhere. Doomtrain has an arm in his steam calculator nearby its smokebox. It has a stubby rat-like tail.
Doomtrain resembles, and may have been inspired by, the Phantom Train boss in Final Fantasy VI. Besides the obvious similarities in name and appearance, the two have the same power to inflict many status ailments on their enemies.
Obtained
Occult Fan mentions Doomtrain.
The player must have the Solomon Ring and at least 6 Steel Pipes, 6 Remedy+, and 6 Malboro Tentacles. The player can find hints on obtaining Doomtrain in a magazine called Occult Fan. Once all the items have been collected, Doomtrain will join when Solomon's Ring is used in the inventory. The clues to obtaining Doomtrain given in the Occult Fan magazines imply it not only appears at the presence of the items that summon him, but also that it attacks the people/monsters carrying them. However, Doomtrain does not appear as a boss, though another GF summoned from an item does: Diablos.
It is possible to obtain Doomtrain via the Chocobo World minigame, which is available as soon as the player can visit a chocobo forest after Balamb Garden becomes mobile. Solomon Rings, along with the other items required to activate the ring, are possible item drops from this minigame. If the player doesn't have access to Chocobo World, Doomtrain can be obtained after the party first leaves Esthar City fairly late into the game. Chocobo World is not available with Final Fantasy VIII Remastered.
Solomon's Ring picked up at Tears' Point.
- Solomon Ring is found in Tears' Point on the east of Esthar continent, near the foot of the giant statue. Tears' Point is accessed on foot/car when first leaving Esthar City.
- Steel Pipes can be mugged from Wendigos (enemy fought in forests in Timber region) or refined from Elastoid cards.
- Remedy+ can be obtained by refining 10 Remedies with Alexander's Med LV Up ability (must learn Med Data first).
- Malboro Tentacles are obtained by defeating or mugging Malboros. One can also use Quezacotl's Card Mod to refine a Malboro Tentacle from four Malboro cards.
When the Solomon's Ring is selected in the inventory, Doomtrain will call out:
- You called upon me?
- I am... (at this point the player names the GF)
- I shall become your ally
Obtaining Doomtrain in the versions that support achievements earns the achievement/trophy Doomtrain.
Battle
Doomtrain "Runaway Train" FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered
Doomtrain's attack, Runaway Train, is Poison-elemental and can inflict several abnormal statuses on the enemies: Sleep, Poison, Darkness, Silence, Slow, Stop, Berserk, Confuse, Doom, Petrifying, and Vit 0.
Doomtrain's summon time is 22.9s, which, according to the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania, allows the player to boost its damage to around 240% 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. 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 status spells in Doomtrain's case) and by summoning the GF during battle. Compatibility is reduced by using "opposing" magic to the GF's element and other summons.
| Compatibility Chart | ||
|---|---|---|
| Summon Effect | Doomtrain +20, Alexander -10, Every other GF -1.6 | |
| Compatibility Items | Poison Powder +1.6 (-0.8 for others), Venom Fang +3.2 (-1.6 for others), LuvLuv G +20.2 | |
| Casting Magic | Berserk +1, Blind +1, Bio +1, Break +1, Confuse +1, Death +1, Silence +1, Sleep +1, Slow +1, Stop +1, Zombie +1, Apocalypse +0.2, Ultima +0.2, Holy -2 | |
The below values are the base compatibility values with all playable characters at the start of the game. Although Seifer cannot junction Doomtrain in a normal playthrough, a default value still exists for his compatibility.
| Party member | Compatibility |
|---|---|
| Squall | 540 |
| Quistis | 520 |
| Zell | 520 |
| Selphie | 580 |
| Rinoa | 600 |
| Irvine | 510 |
| Seifer | 260 |
| Edea | 720 |
Stats
The Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania incorrectly shows Bahamut's Attack Power as Doomtrain's and vice versa. The following table represents the correct figures:
| Level | HP | Attack Power |
|---|---|---|
| 28 | 2,521 | 961 |
| 30 | 2,686 | 1,288 |
| 40 | 3,514 | 1,614 |
| 50 | 4,350 | 1,940 |
| 60 | 5,194 | 2,266 |
| 70 | 6,046 | 2,593 |
| 80 | 6,906 | 2,919 |
| 90 | 7,774 | 3,245 |
| 100 | 8,650 | 3,571 |
Abilities
Abilities learned naturally by Doomtrain are listed below:
| Ability | AP | Prerequisite |
|---|---|---|
 Elem-Atk-J
|
(Already learned) | |
| ST-Atk-J
|
(Already learned) | |
| Elem-Def-Jx4
|
180 | None |
| ST-Def-Jx4
|
180 | None |
 Magic
|
(Already learned) | |
| GF
|
(Already learned) | |
| Draw
|
(Already learned) | |
| Item
|
(Already learned) | |
| Darkside
|
100 | None |
| Absorb
|
80 | None |
 Auto-Shell
|
250 | None |
| Ability | AP | Prerequisite |
|---|---|---|
 SumMag+10%
|
40 | None |
| SumMag+20%
|
70 | SumMag+10% |
| SumMag+30%
|
140 | SumMag+20% |
| SumMag+40%
|
200 | SumMag+30% |
| GFHP+10%
|
40 | None |
| GFHP+20%
|
70 | GFHP+10% |
| GFHP+30%
|
140 | GFHP+20% |
| GFHP+40%
|
200 | GFHP+30% |
| Boost
|
10 | None |
 Junk Shop
|
(Already learned) | |
| Forbid Med-RF
|
200 | None |
Triple Triad
| Doomtrain Card | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Element | Poison |
| Refine | 1 refines into 3 Status Guard | |
| Drop | n/a | |
| Card | n/a | |
| Level 9 (GF Card) | Win | Part of Queen of Cards sidequest; win from pub owner in Timber after losing the Alexander card to the Queen. |
Other appearances
Final Fantasy Dimensions II
Glasya Labolas is a dark-elemental Eidolon obtained as a signet for Morrow to equip, teaching him the Silence Strike abilities.
Despite the summon's artwork being based on the recurring giant design of the enemy of the same name, the Glasya Labolas summon is based on Doomtrain, sharing the same Japanese name and the same summon attack of Runaway Train.
In the original free-to-play versions, its signet could only be obtained through the game's summon draw shop.
Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Doomtrain appears during Quistis's Doomtrain Overstrike Soul Break, learned from the Malboro Tentacle. It deals poison and non-elemental damage equal to 39.6 times the base magic damage, and, like all Overstrike Soul Breaks, is capable of breaking the damage limit. It has a 15% chance each of causing Poison, Silence, Confuse, and Blind.
Mobius Final Fantasy
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Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
Doomtrain appears in the trading card game with an ice-elemental card.
Behind the scenes
The Malboro Tentacle x6, x6, and Remedy+ x6 refer to the number of the beast.
In Final Fantasy XI, Glasyalabolas was the name of the Japanese PC beta server, keeping with the game's theme of naming its servers after summons in the series. Glasya Labolas also appears as an enemy, but not as an allusion to Doomtrain, but to an enemy from Final Fantasy III.
Gallery
Etymology
Doomtrain's Japanese name is Glasya-Labolas. In demonology, Glasya-Labolas is derived from one of Goetia's demons, the mighty President of Hell who commands thirty-six legions of demons. He is depicted as a dog with the wings of a griffin. He is mentioned in the 17th century Grimoire, The Lesser Key of Solomon. Doomtrain is obtained from the Solomon's Ring. Its ability to cause a myriad of status ailments and its demonic portrayal may stem from late 19th century superstitions about locomotives within Victorian Era Great Britain and Japan, in where riding or being closely around running trains by the tracks could cause anguish known as locomotive derangement, and to where machines were sometimes viewed with ominous airs or tools of demonic origin.
Doomtrain is called Helltrain in French and Spanish and Kharonte in Italian.
In the debug menu, accessible only via a cheat device, a menu refers to Doomtrain as "Death Express". This may have been Doomtrain's intended name, but it was over the character limit—likewise, Pandemona is referred to as "Pandemonium". In the French version its attack is called "Death Express".
In the Japanese version of the Debug Room, Doomtrain's name is Devil Thomas (デビルトーマス, Debiru Tōmasu?). This is a reference to the fictional steam locomotive Thomas the Tank Engine.