Final Fantasy: 25 Greatest Summons

Mythology and folklore is a strange subject. The similarities between the gods and divine beings of different ancient cultures that had no awareness of or contact with each other is staggering, giving ammunition to proponents of theories about prehistorical contact.

The Phoenix, Greek-Egyptian in origin, has counterparts in Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Slavic and Middle Eastern legends and is one of the most instantly recognisable creatures of lore as a result of both this, its inclusion in the likes of Harry Potter and the common analogy of ‘rising from the ashes’ when extreme adversity is overcome.

The Phoenix’s most distinctive feature, bursting into flames upon death and being reborn from the ashes, makes it perfectly suited for the nature of Final Fantasy games, where it is utilised to revive knocked out members of the player party. In some of these it can be only be summoned directly, limiting its usefulness as the summoner must remain alive to call it.

In others it is a literal godsend, appearing (albeit randomly in all but VII, where a Materia combination can guarantee the fact) as a last resort and giving the player a second chance once all of their combatants have been defeated.

Seemingly set to play a huge role in XVI after sitting out of a number of instalments, Phoenix is seemingly (and ironically) being given a second life. We’re all for it.