Final Fantasy: 10 Hardest Summons To Unlock
These powerful Final Fantasy summons are very difficult to acquire!
Summons have been an integral part of the Final Fantasy DNA for almost as long as the series has been running. Sometimes they’re called Eidolons. Sometimes they’re called Eikons. Final Fantasy VIII dubbed them Guardian Forces, and according to that title’s story, they were so closely bonded with the characters they were Junctioned to that they inhabited their brains and affected their memories.
It's been quite a wild ride for Ifrit, Bahamut, Ramuh, Shiva, and the rest of the familiar gang of summon monsters throughout the series. If there’s a common thread though, it’s that they tend to be super powerful personifications of a given element (unless they’re non-elemental), and that summoning them causes great damage in battles.
They might be equipped by a Summoner, found as a Materia, or other special item. They might even be met in person. Sometimes this simply happens as part of the story’s progression, but other times there’s a tricky unlocking process. Here are some of the most difficult summons in the series to acquire.
10. Alexander: Final Fantasy VII
Alexander’s Judgment, quite famously, is the only Holy elemental attack the party has access to in the entire game (save for Materia combinations using it). The righteous warrior’s Summon Materia is one of the trickiest to acquire in the game, as there’s a limited window to get it and some rather obscure directions to follow in order to do so.
Alexander is found on the Great Glacier, an area Cloud and the party visit only once. They can find a map of this area beforehand, but it’s quite disorientating and difficult to follow. The player must first find the Hot Springs to the East, which Cloud will touch with his hands. Having done so, you must then traverse the snow field and continue moving to the East.
Eventually, you’ll enter a cave with a character known only as Snow, who will fear Cloud will touch her with his dirty hands and, outraged, attack. After her defeat, Snow will be gone and the Alexander Materia will be left on the ground.
In the process, it’s incredibly easy to take a wrong turn, and almost as easy to collapse in the cold (thus awakening in Holzoff’s small cabin) and interrupt your efforts. The process being so obscure, it’s difficult to see how players would have known how to do this before the advent of the Internet.