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Promotional artwork for the International version of Final Fantasy XII.
Beings of strange form and appearance made by the gods in ancient times. Favored with great strength and intellect, the Espers knew power far beyond that of men, but their power made them proud, and at length they sought to challenge the gods. Seeing this, the gods were angered and struck down their blessed children, and binding their souls and flesh with the Glyph of the Beast, they stole their freedom for all eternity. Now they are bound to live only when summoned by their Glyph, to serve whosoever called them forth.
Espers, Sage Knowledge
The Espers (召喚獣, Shōkanjū?, lit. Summoned Beasts) in Final Fantasy XII are powerful beings created by the Occuria. The Espers that join the player's side are those spurned by their creators; twelve for having rebelled, and a thirteenth for being too powerful. Most of the Espers are based on the Lucavi in Final Fantasy Tactics or other past bosses of previous Final Fantasy games.
Five Espers first appeared as Totema in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and all but two reappear in Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings as Yarhi. Lastly, all Espers return in Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift as Scions. Recruiting every Esper in Final Fantasy XII adds Belias's sprite on the Sky Pirate's Den in the PlayStation 2 versions, and awards the "High Summoner" trophy in The Zodiac Age.
Story
The Espers' Glyphs, used to summon them.
In vainglory they arose, shouting challenges at the Gods. But prevail they did not. Their doom it was to walk the Mist until time's end. A legend of the Nu Mou.
The scions that would become the Espers were created by the Occuria. While the exact number is never revealed, there are at least 24 scions, with each zodiac sign having a light and dark representative.
Proud of her power and status, and believing herself superior to her creators, the highest ranking Esper, Ultima, rose up against the gods. Rallying the scions of darkness, the Espers attacked their creators, but even with their combined force, the twelve Espers were defeated and banished to the darkest reaches of Ivalice. Sealed in the Mist, they could only walk among mortals if called by a summoner via their glyphs.
A thirteenth scion, Zodiark, was bound by the gods for fear of his power. Unlike the rest of his brethren he is not known to have harbored rebellious desire. It is unknown how long the Espers have been sealed away, but since Dynast-King Raithwall possessed the glyph of Belias it is thought they have been sealed away at least since the era of the Dynast King.
Ashe's party comes to the Tomb of Raithwall seeking the Dawn Shard to prove Ashe's royal lineage. She enlists the help of sky pirate Balthier with promises of the Dynast-King's treasure. Before the party reaches Dawn Shard's chamber they enter an area thick in Mist and Belias attacks the party. Defeated, the Esper yields and lends its power to the party, but Balthier is disappointed in learning Raithwall's treasure was an Esper rather than something of monetary value.
The party finds more Espers in places thick in Mist, such as the Zertinan Caverns, Garamsythe Waterway and Necrohol of Nabudis. Many Espers guard locations associated with the Occuria, such as Mateus in Stilshrine of Miriam where the Occurian-forged Sword of Kings is hidden away, Shemhazai guarding the area within the Great Crystal where a waystone to the Occurian realm lies, and Hashmal in the Pharos, built by the Occuria to house the Sun-Cryst. On the party's way to the Giruvegan the party must summon Belias to open the gate to the Occurian city.
List of Espers
There are thirteen available Espers. Five are obtained in the main story; the other eight, represented in italics, are found through sidequests. Espers require Mist Charges equal to their level to summon.
Scions of Light and Darkness
The following is a list of scions, their associated zodiac signs, and element. It is never stated if Ultima and Zodiark are the Scions of Darkness or Light, but we never see the mentioned Scions of Light regardless.
| Scion of Darkness | Scion of Light | Zodiac sign | Element |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belias, the Gigas | Loghrif, the Transcendent | Aries, the Ram | Fire |
| Chaos, Walker of the Wheel | Mitron, the Chastiser | Taurus, the Bull | Wind |
| Zalera, the Death Seraph | Emet-Selch, Angel of Truth | Gemini, the Twins | Death |
| Zeromus, the Condemner | Pashtarot, Knight-Star | Cancer, the Crab | Gravity |
| Hashmal, Bringer of Order | Fandaniel, the Protector | Leo, the Lion | Earth |
| Ultima, the High Seraph | Virgo, the Virgin | Holy | |
| Exodus, the Judge-Sal | Halmarut, the Arbiter | Libra, the Scales | Aether |
| Cúchulainn, the Impure | Nabriales, the Majestic | Scorpio, the Scorpion | Poison |
| Shemhazai, the Whisperer | Igeyorhm, the Martyr | Sagittarius, the Archer | Soul |
| Adrammelech, the Wroth | Deudalaphon, the Benevolent | Capricorn, the Goat | Thunder |
| Famfrit, the Darkening Cloud | Emmerololth, Holy Queen | Aquarius, the Water Bearer | Water |
| Mateus, the Corrupt | Lahabrea, Abyssal Celebrant | Pisces, the Fish | Ice |
| Zodiark, Keeper of Precepts | Ophiuchus, the Snake Bearer | Darkness | |
Level One Espers
Level 1 Espers take a single Mist Gauge to summon.
Belias, the Gigas
Belias.
Belias is a bestial Fire Esper who guards the Dawn Shard in the Tomb of Raithwall, and is likely the party's first Esper. Belias is the only Esper that must be summoned during the main storyline, to open the gate to the Ancient City of Giruvegan. He fries enemies with Painflare unless the foes absorb Fire. His ultimate attack is Hellfire, perishing enemies in a devastating fire.
In Zodiac releases, Painflare's power was boosted and Belias can also cast Fira and Cura and has the Piercing Magic augment.
Mateus, the Corrupt
Mateus.
Mateus is found in the Stilshrine of Miriam, guarding the Sword of Kings. Mateus is an aquatic creature with multiple limbs wielding a trident with a goddess chained to his chest he uses as a living shield. He freezes enemies with Flash-Freeze unless they absorb ice. His ultimate attack is Frostwave, charging his trident to his enemies and into a crystallized ice before it shatters. He heals his summoner when they are low on health.
In Zodiac releases, Flash-Freeze's power has been boosted, Mateus can cast Blizzara and has gained the Null Vitality augment.
Adrammelech, the Wroth
Adrammelech.
Adrammelech is an optional Esper found in the depths of Zertinan Caverns, in Athroza Quicksands, closest from Ozmone Plain. He is a winged Lightning Esper that resembles a goat with hooves and a goat's head. Adrammelech shocks his foes with Flash Arc unless they absorb Lightning. His ultimate attack is Judgment Bolt, where he releases bolts of electricity. He uses Bio against foes that absorb Lightning and heals his summoner when they are low on health.
In Zodiac releases, Flash Arc's power has been boosted, Adrammelech casts Cura instead of Curaga, and has gained the Null Vitality augment.
Zalera, the Death Seraph
Zalera.
Zalera is an optional Esper that resides in the deepest reaches of the Barheim Passage. He is a winged skeleton, imbued with the power of death, with a shamaness on his right arm to command impure souls under his doing. The party must obtain the Barheim Key in the Dalmasca Estersand to find him. Zalera destroys foes with the Kill ability, and casts Holy and Shock. His ultimate attack is Condemnation, whereupon the shamaness's cries summon dead souls with Zalera hurling them at the enemy. It instantly kills all enemies with fewer than 9,999 max HP (6,999 HP for those with the Damage Resist augment), and those with more are hit with non-elemental damage that can break the damage limit.
In Zodiac releases, Zalera no longer casts Holy or Shock. Instead he has Cura, Warp, and Death. He no longer absorbs Holy-elemental attacks and Condemnation's damage is randomly generated.
Level Two Espers
Level 2 Espers take two Mist Gauges to summon.
Shemhazai, the Whisperer
Shemhazai.
Shemhazai is found in the depths of the Ancient City of Giruvegan in the Gate of Fire area. She is described as a half-woman, half-horse that utilizes soul energy. She attacks foes with Devour Soul, a non-elemental attack whose damage is calculated the same as the item Knot of Rust. Shemhazai's ultimate attack is the Soul Purge, where she shoots soul energy from her guns, creating an explosion. It deals damage by the same calculation as the item Dark Matter, meaning its damage cap is 60,000, making it the second most powerful single attack in Final Fantasy XII, only bested by Zeromus's Big Bang.
In Zodiac releases, Shemhazai can cast Shock and Curaja and has gained the Null Vitality and Piercing Magick augments.
Hashmal, Bringer of Order
Hashmal.
Hashmal is a leonine Earth Esper found in Pharos at Ridorana. He shakes his enemies up with Roxxor unless they absorb Earth damage, and his ultimate attack is Gaia's Wrath where Hashmal sends enemies into the depths of the earth before erupting like a volcano to deal massive damage.
In Zodiac releases, Hashmal can cast Curaja and Graviga, and has gained the Null Vitality and Piercing Magick augments.
Cúchulainn, the Impure
Cúchulainn.
Cúchulainn is an optional Esper residing in the central area of Garamsythe Waterway. He is a venomous and grotesque monster with an engorged body, draining life energy with his poison. Cúchulainn drains the HP of his enemies with Malaise unless they are undead, and his ultimate attack is Blight, using vines emerging from his spine to absorb life into a desert of poison. If there are no enemies around when he is summoned, Cúchulainn uses Curaja that ignores the party's Reflect status. When attacked Cúchulainn counterattacks.
In Zodiac releases, Cúchulainn gains Bio and the Null Vitality augment.
Zeromus, the Condemner
Zeromus.
Zeromus is an optional Esper hiding away in a secret area of the Stilshrine of Miriam. He has the appearance of a crab due to his massive "claw", and wields power over gravity. He is the second largest Esper after a winged Zodiark, as his length is measured by his long tail. Zeromus attacks his foes with Gravity Well and his ultimate attack is Big Bang where he uses his claw to charge up gravity power destroying his enemies. Both attacks' damage depends on Zeromus's HP, Big Bang having the potential to deal tens of thousands of damage.
In Zodiac releases, Zeromus can cast Scourge and Curaja and has gained the Piercing Magick augment.
Exodus, the Judge-Sal
Exodus.
Exodus is an optional Esper making his abode at the highest reaches of the Mosphoran Highwaste. Exodus commands celestial bodies, attacking his foes with Comet and his ultimate attack Meteor, whereupon Exodus sends two comets from the ends of his scales to the sky summoning a giant meteor. Both deal random non-elemental damage.
In Zodiac releases, Exodus can cast Curaja and Ardor, and has gained Null Vitality and Piercing Magick augments.
Level Three Espers
Level 3 Espers take all three Mist Gauges to summon.
Famfrit, the Darkening Cloud
Famfrit.
Famfrit is a Water Esper summoned by Dr. Cid at the summit of Pharos at Ridorana. Famfrit carries an ewer of water with which he creates giant waves. Famfrit splashes his enemies with Briny Cannonade unless they absorb Water. His ultimate attack is Tsunami where he uses the ewer to douse his enemies.
In Zodiac releases, Famfrit can cast Renew and has Null Vitality and Piercing Magick augments.
Chaos, Walker of the Wheel
Chaos.
Chaos is an optional Wind Esper sealed in the center of Necrohol of Nabudis, in the Cloister of the Highborn. He has the appearance of a bull and sits atop a pedestal commanding four swords to do his bidding. Chaos halves the highest HP enemy's HP with Whirlwind and attacks foes with elemental weaknesses with elemental magick that ignore enemies' Reflect status. His ultimate attack is Tornado where Chaos utilizes his swords to send his foes into a whirlwind. The attack damages his foes 90% of their max HP. Both attacks are capped at 9,999 damage.
In Zodiac releases, Chaos only retains Aeroga from his previous abilities, but can now cast Renew; Whirlwind and Tornado no longer do percentage damage.
Ultima, the High Seraph
Ultima.
Ultima is an optional Holy Esper who makes her abode at the top of the Great Crystal. She is the one who rallied the other eleven Espers to rise against their creators. She is adorned in gold and white robes with six wings. Her dress hides an all-powerful cannon that renders holy light. Her basic attack is Redemption, a powerful Holy-elemental attack. If a foe absorbs Holy, she will use Flare that ignores enemies' Reflect status. Her ultimate attack is Eschaton that blasts all enemies with a ray of Holy-elemental light.
In Zodiac releases, Ultima can cast Holy and Renew and gains Null Vitality and Null Weather & Terrain Effects. Her damage is also no longer capped at 9,999.
Zodiark, Keeper of Precepts
Zodiark.
Zodiark is an optional Dark Esper sealed in the deepest reaches of the Henne Mines. He is the strongest of Espers and a serpentine monster able to sprout wings. He is the only Esper not part of the rebellion against the gods. Zodiark punishes his foes with the Dark-elemental Banish Ray, and if his enemies absorb Dark he uses Flare, and if there are multiple enemies he uses Scathe. His spells ignore enemies' Reflect status and take no charge time to execute. His ultimate attack is Final Eclipse that ends in an explosion that deals fixed 50,000 damage, and unlike most other Esper attacks, Final Eclipse is unaffected by Reverse.
In Zodiac releases, Zodiark can no longer cast Flare, but can cast Renew and Hastega. Final Eclipse's damage has been boosted to 60,000 and he gains the Null Vitality augment.
Gameplay
Obtaining
Obtaining an Esper.
Espers must be defeated in battle to obtain them. Espers attack as soon as the party arrives in the area they reside in, and often players cannot leave until they defeat the Esper. Once an Esper has been defeated, it appears on the License Board and any character can purchase its license. Espers are assigned to a specific character and once one has bought the Esper's license it disappears from everybody else's boards. In the Zodiac versions, Esper licenses can be used to reach locked abilities on jobs' License Boards, thus giving more of an element of strategy whom to assign the Esper. These licenses are isolated from the rest of the board and if the Esper that unlocks them is assigned to another player then they are in some cases rendered permanently inaccessible. Some, however, can be unlocked by more than one Esper and in the Zodiac Age version can in some cases be unlocked by the License Board for the character's other job.
Espers are some of the toughest bosses, and some of the battles have handicaps that seal some of the party's abilities. As all Espers in the game are of the Dark scion, some are flanked by undead.
Summoning
Belias's license appears on the License Board.
The party member who has an Esper's license can summon it by expending a number of Mist Gauges. Summoning an Esper is similar to using a Quickening; the Lv1 Espers take one gauge to summon, whereas the Lv3 Espers take all three. The option to use Quickenings is not available while an Esper is summoned.
Summoning an Esper is instantaneous and when an Esper is summoned the two other party members disappear. The normal music is replaced by the Esper's battle music as long as the Esper is present. An Esper's level is identical to its summoner's, yet Espers have fixed Attack, Defense and Magick Resist (as if wearing the same "equipment"). Espers cannot trigger traps even if they are ground-based, like Belias, Cúchulainn, Shemhazai and Hashmal.
Each summon lasts maximum of one minute and thirty seconds and ends when either the summoner or the Esper dies, or the Esper uses its ultimate move. The ultimate attacks are area-effect attacks and target the enemy with the highest max HP. In the original Final Fantasy XII the Esper follows its own gambits, which the player can't set. In this sense, Espers work much like guests. In the Zodiac versions, summons last a maximum of four minutes and ten seconds. Also, the player can directly control the Espers and toggle their gambits, but not modify them.
Espers' attacks never deal hit combos or critical hits. Espers can cast magicks even without MP, meaning the player can Syphon their MP freely. Espers are immune to almost all status ailments, which can give a strategic advantage against enemies like Carrot, because whenever an Esper is on the battlefield the enemies tend to focus their attacks on it.
The Dead character glitch can be triggered if a character dies during an Esper's dismiss animation.
Stats
The Espers level up along with their summoner and thus their stats grow. See individual Espers' articles for stat lists. The stats vary per version, and their HP values were doubled for The Zodiac Age version as compared to the International Zodiac Job System version.
Musical themes
Battles against Espers are accompanied with "Esper Battle" (召喚獣戦, Shōkan jūsen?), composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto. It is the second track in disc 3 of the original soundtrack. The Zodiac Age has a remastered version of it.
It plays immediately after the Esper approaches the party. The intro starts with a series of militaristic beats, accompanied by wind instruments, and later joined with a female choir. Intermittently, the choir goes louder, joined with voices of the male choir. The choir is switched occasionally with loud brass and strings, and reaches climax with all instruments beating together to the martial tune.
An arrangement of this theme appears in Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy. Both versions are available in the Dissidia Final Fantasy NT. The original theme is the sixth track of the Memories of FFXII album in Final Fantasy XV playable in the music player. The Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy arrangement is available on the Memories of Dissidia 012 FF album purchasable from Old Lestallum for 500 gil.
When summoning an Esper into battle, the track "Esper" (召喚, Shōkan?) plays. Composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto, it is the second track in disc 4 of the original soundtrack. It is a variation of the "Esper Battle", with a higher tempo making it fast-paced and a bit chaotic. The choir also joins in with a higher note.
Creation and development
Concept art of the Esper Zalera.
Final Fantasy X was the first game where the summons are more like playable party members than plain special attacks, and this trend continues in Final Fantasy XII. Whereas in previous Final Fantasy games summons are "good monsters" that fight alongside the player's party, the summons in Final Fantasy XII are the demons of Final Fantasy Tactics. Instead of the summons being automatically good, the developers wanted it to be ambiguous whether the Espers fight for the party or if the party fights for them. Instead of being characterized like pets, the Espers are depicted as entities with minds of their own.[1]
The freely traversed environment set its own challenges for recreating that in Final Fantasy XII, and in the end the developers did not have enough time to perfect the system until the International version where Espers become fully controllable rather than following an AI.
There were two reasons why we couldn't implement that in the original. One was that we were afraid the graphics would suffer — imagine the Esper occupying the same space as the background or a character, or the Esper getting in the way so that you couldn't see around you. We didn't have enough time when making the original game to adjust the camera work to fix that. The other problem was that for the Espers to be controllable, we had to actually walk them around every map for debugging.
Hiroyuki Itō, the director of Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System
Other appearances
Final Fantasy XII Manga
Belias in the manga.
The Esper's glyph marks itself on the summoner's body as a sign of its servitude to him/her. Ashe's group enters the Tomb of Raithwall and to Belias's chamber and Basch, Vossler, Fran and Balthier battle Belias while Ashe, Vaan and Penelo try to enter the door the Esper was guarding to get the Dawn Shard.
Vaan wishes to assist in fighting Belias, but Ashe tells him their mission to retrieve the Dawn Shard takes priority. Vaan is displeased with Ashe's attitude towards power and her friends, and leaves her to retrieve the nethicite herself. Ashe returns to protect Vaan before Belias can strike him down, and the group defeats it, Belias's glyph marking the back of Ashe's hand.
The group is captured to Ghis's Dreadnought Leviathan where Ashe enters a trance-like state and summons Belias against Ghis. As the Dawn Shard's reaction causes a chain of system failures and explosions through the airship, Ashe awakens from her trance and sees her arm where Belias's glyph appeared has grown bulbous and deformed. She dismisses Belias, causing her arm to be cut to a stump below the elbow.
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
Most of the Espers from Final Fantasy XII return and the party must unlock them on the Ring of Pacts to summon them; most must be defeated as bosses before they appear on the ring, and grant Quickenings to the party members upon being defeated. The only Espers not to return are Adrammelech and Zeromus. The returning Espers are level 3 Espers, meaning only one can be summoned at a time, apart from the sole level 2 Cúchulainn.
No series' trademark summons appeared in Final Fantasy XII, but in Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings the Espers appear alongside series staple summons like Bahamut and Odin.
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Zalera.
Among the new summons added are Ultima and Zalera from Final Fantasy XII. Ultima's Eschaton grants Stage Bravery to the player after being struck by a EX Break or Assist Break for a short period of time, and she can be purchased at the special Moogle Shop at Cornelia for 150 KP as a limited offer after earning 1,800 KP total. Zalera is bought from a Moogle Shop in the northwestern continent for 120 KP. When equipped, his Condemnation will activate once the enemy has 9999 BRV and instantly inflicts Break status on them.
Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade
- Ability Cards
- Legend Cards
This section about an ability in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade is empty or needs to be expanded. You can help the Final Fantasy Wiki by expanding it.Pictlogica Final Fantasy
Some of the Espers appear as enemies.
Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Some of the Espers from Final Fantasy XII appear as enemies.
Final Fantasy Trading Card Game
The Espers from Final Fantasy XII on cards.
Gallery
Etymology
In fiction, an esper (stylized as ESPer) is an individual capable of telepathy and other similar paranormal abilities. The term was apparently coined in this sense by Alfred Bester in his 1950 short story "Oddy and Id" and is derived from the abbreviation ESP for extrasensory perception. "Scion" is an uncommon English word that means "descendant or heir to a family" and "guardian".
Most of the names of the scions have something to do with angels, in both Judaism and Christianity. For the etymology of the Scions of Darkness, see their corresponding articles.
A name with a hidden meaning is Emet-Selch, the scion of light. His title is "The Angel of Truth." "Emet-Selch" in Hebrew means "Your Truth."
Nabriales, another Scion of Light, is a name of an angel in Jewish mythology. It is pronounced in Hebrew as "Nabriel."
Fandaniel matches the basic template of angel names in Judaism, as the "-el" suffix in hebrew means "god" and is usually at the end of many angel names, to mark their superior connection to God.
Some of the Espers take their name after a main antagonist from the first five games in the series:
- Chaos - Chaos
- Mateus - Emperor Mateus
- Famfrit - Cloud of Darkness
- Zeromus - Zeromus
- Exodus - Exdeath
Trivia
- Mateus and Shemhazai are the only Esper fights where it's impossible to fight with a guest.
- Zeromus and Adrammelech are the only Espers that don't return in Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings.
- Members of the Ascians in Final Fantasy XIV, who worship Zodiark, are named after the Scions of Light mentioned in the Espers' profiles.