Neo Bahamut is a Summon Materia in Final Fantasy VII. It summons Neo Bahamut, who performs Giga Flare, a non-elemental attack that deals significant damage to all opponents and ignores their Magic def. Neo Bahamut is the second tier Bahamut strain, above the basic Bahamut, and below Bahamut ZERO.
Neo Bahamut can be summoned by Tifa in the 1997 demo version of Final Fantasy VII.
Obtained[]
The Neo Bahamut Materia is found in the Whirlwind Maze during "That Which Waits in the Northernmost Reaches", lying on the ground. If it is not picked up here, it is permanently missed, because the Whirlwind Maze is unrevisitable. If the player misses Neo Bahamut then collects all four Huge Materia, the Bahamut ZERO Materia will not become available later.
Stats[]
Growth[]
- See the Summon sequence here.
| Level | AP required |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0 |
| 2 | 30000 |
| 3 | 80000 |
| 4 | 140000 |
| 4 | 200000 |
Ability[]
| Ability | MP cost | Power | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giga Flare | 140 | 80 | High non-elemental damage to all enemies. Ignores Magic def. |
Use[]
Giga Flare.
Summoning Neo Bahamut costs 140 MP, and causes him to perform Giga Flare. This attack is stronger than Bahamut's Mega Flare, and similarly deals a significant amount of non-elemental damage on all enemies, which cannot be reflected and ignores the magic defense of enemies, at 5x the base magic damage.
Neo Bahamut is one of the most powerful summons, outclassed by only a few acquired later. As it ignores the magic defense of enemies and its damage is not elemental, no enemies resist its damage, making it universally useful. It is extremely powerful once obtained, until more powerful Summon Materia are found, namely the Bahamut ZERO.
Due to its versatility Neo Bahamut is a good choice to link with Support Materia. HP Absorb will heal the summoner after Giga Flare deals damage, while MP Absorb can mitigate Neo Bahamut's huge MP cost. Neo Bahamut can also be combined with MP Turbo or Quadra Magic to deal even greater damage.
Equipping the Neo Bahamut Materia comes with significant stat changes. It brings -10% HP, but +10% MP, +2 Magic, and +2 Magic def. The HP change is a considerable drawback, but it provides no penalties to other stats, meaning it can be used by any character. Nonetheless, Bahamut is best given to characters with a high Magic stat to maximize its damage, including Cloud, Red XIII, Yuffie, Cait Sith, and Vincent. Barret is also a great choice for the Neo Bahamut Materia, as it can hold a large amount of AP, which his Missing Score ultimate weapon benefits greatly from, and he has naturally high HP.
Etymology[]
Neo is a prefix from the ancient Greek word for "new" or "young".
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.