Final Fantasy: 25 Greatest Summons

Summons were far from essential in Final Fantasy IX, even though two of the eight playable characters could make use of them. Though they appear almighty in cutscenes throughout the game, which sees Brahne use Odin to destroy Cleyra and Atomos to wreak havoc on Lindblum before she attempts to use Bahamut on Kuja, their damage output in battle is quite feeble.

Madeen, believed to be the same (despite being gender swapped and having slightly different names in Japanese) as Maduin, who served as Terra’s unsummonable esper father in VI, is the last summon to be acquired on the game’s third disc, assuming that the sidequest necessary to obtain the gundam-esque Ark is completed.

This follows the revelation that Eiko’s ever-present companion, Mog, is an eidolon masquerading as a moogle and has watched over her since birth. It’s sweet and heartfelt and the Ribbon that enables her summoning to be learned likely stays equipped from that point (even if it lacks its usual protection to all status effects).

Blasting enemies with the always deadly holy element, Madeen is by far the most offensively useful of a largely subpar set of summons. Though not sourced from any identifiable form of mythology, she’s become a legend in her own right.