Garuda appear in a couple Final Fantasy titles, some appearances more notable than others. The first appearance of anything refered to as a Garuda was in Final Fantasy III as a winged humanoid enemy. Garuda next appears in Final Fantasy VII as a bird-like creature with human arms, then in Final Fantasy IX as a strange, kite-like winged beek with a tail. In Final Fantasy X Garuda is a large bird-like enemy similar to a Ka. It is only in Final Fantasy XI that Garuda first appears as a summoned creature.
Garuda as seen in FFXI.
The Summon
Final Fantasy XI
Garuda appears in Final Fantasy XI as one of the 6 prime avatars. Garuda is the avatar which represents wind in the game. She can cast a number of Air-based spells and abilities in addition to using her claws to physically damage enemies. Perhaps one of her more commonly used abilities is Aerial Armor, which gives every member of the party the effect of Blink, or Hastega which obviously grants haste to every member of the party, but she also does have limited abilities which allow her to heal party members.
Abilities
| Level | Name | MP | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Areal Blast | All | Massive Damage - Two-hour |
| 1 | Claw | 7 | Physical Claw Attack Weapon skill |
| 10 | Aero II | 24 | Wind-based Elemental Spell dealing moderate damage |
| 25 | Aerial Armor | 92 | Gives all Party members the effect of Blink |
| 36 | Whispering Wind | 92 | Moderate Heal to all members of the Party. |
| 48 | Hastega | 112 | Gives all Party members the effect of Haste. |
| 60 | Aero IV | 118 | Wind-based Elemental Spell dealing massive damage |
| 70 | Predator Claws | 164 | Three-hit, Wind-Elemental Weapon skill |
Mythological Origins
Garuda is one of the many gods of Hinduism, and one of the three principle animal dieties. The other two are Ganesha, a man with an elephant head, and Hunuman, a monkey god. Garuda is the king of birds and a symbol of ethical strength. His, as Garuda is seen as male in Hindu religion, appearance is that of a man with the head and wings of an eagle, not unlike an angel. He is seen as a conqueror of obsticles and a powerful symbol of curing poison and desease.
Garuda appears also as a demon in a set of 69 illustration by Jacques-Albin-Simon Collin de Plancy. He was an illustrator, writer, and demonologist of the 19th Century.
Garuda also appears in Buddhist Mythology as a race of bird-like divine creatures. These Garuda are enemies of another race known as Nagas, being snake-like creatures. In Indonesia, Garuda is synonymous Phoenix.
Appearances
- Final Fantasy III
- Final Fantasy VII
- Final Fantasy IX
- Final Fantasy X
- Final Fantasy XI
- Final Fantasy Mystic Quest