Shiva is a boss in Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. She is encountered in Palom's Tale, but cannot be defeated. She is encountered again in the Gathering Tale in the depths of Lodestone Cavern in the Crystal Chamber. It is necessary to fight her to progress in the story, but if the player wants Rydia to obtain her as a summon, the player will have to be careful not to kill her.
If Shiva joins Rydia as her summon, it will not appear in the list of Bestiary.
Stats[]
Battle[]
Diamond Dust (PSP).
Since Shiva has high HP, it will be difficult to defeat her, even more so if she is wanted as a summon, in which case Shiva's HP will have to be lowered enough for Rydia to state she has stopped attacking. With her high HP it is difficult to indicate how close she is to death, but a good way to tell when Shiva's HP gets close to low enough for Rydia to recruit her is when Shiva starts using Blizzaga every turn. Eventually, Rydia points out Shiva has stopped attacking. When this happens, the party must not attack and just wait, because if Shiva is attacked again, she will counter with Diamond Dust.
After waiting for a while Shiva will talk to Rydia, and will become available as a summon. If the player wants to kill her instead (although it is highly recommended to recruit her), she will use Diamond Dust as a counter after every attack.
Strategy[]
Shiva in the iOS version.
There are two Black Mages in the party and at least one of them knows Firaga. Rydia and the Man in Black should cast the strongest fire spells they have while Edge uses Heal Pill to keep members' HP up. Luca can't do a tremendous amount of damage and thus should use the Attack command, or if Edge's Heal Pill is not enough, heal with potions on her turn. Using Sylph to heal is inadvisable as it will not do enough damage to heal the party for a significant amount.
After Shiva starts using Blizzaga every turn Rydia should stop with the spells. A good move is to use Sylph, if it has been obtained before the fight. Alternatively, if the Recovery Rod has been obtained, the Man in Black or Rydia can equip it and use it to cast Cura on the party.
If the player wants to kill Shiva rather than recruit her as a summon, the Man in Black can keep using Firaga on her.
Etymology[]
Shiva (also spelled Śiva) is a Hindu god. The Hindu Shiva once saved the world by consuming poison, giving him blue skin around the area of the neck and throat. Shiva is a male god, but can merge with his consort Parvati to become Ardhanari, an androgynous Hindu god of duality. Shiva is the god of destruction along with Vishnu, who is the god of preservation, and Brahma, the god of creation. Together they are the three principle deities of the Trimurti (Hindu Triad). It is believed he periodically destroys the world, then recreates it.
Shiva has different human forms, males and females. When he was in his avatar form, he spent most of his times in the Himalayan snow mountain. Shiva in the Final Fantasy series is likely inspired by one of his female avatars.
The Japanese pronunciation "Shiba" could refer to the English word "shiver", which in Japanese would sound like "shi-ba" or "shi-va".