[center]Regarding The Summons[/center]

I have put a serious amount of work into not only the Summons, and how they fit into this story, but also the lore and stories behind them all. Fundamentally speaking, this series of stories is about them. They consume a large portion of the plot in the first 5 stories. They will be the consistent characters in every story, and this is because they are not just spells or incantations, conjured to retire one's foes. They are Deities; Gods and founders of the world. I played with many ideas, so many, trying to (as with most of this project) make it perfect in every aspect and right. In the end, I felt it was so fitting, ultimately right for them. Not only have they felt like deity figures to me this whole time, some being inspired by deity figures (Odin, for example), but they even, some of them, have elemental foundations or attributes. Does God of Fire suit Ifrit, or Goddess of Frost suit Shiva? Hell yes! And after I assembled a [starter] pantheon of sorts, it was as though I'd stumbled upon something Square and Mr. Sakaguchi had placed there all along. A little insider-Easter egg they'd been working on for 8 games, it made so much sense, and fit together so perfectly. The main summons of the first 8 games made a perfect set of deities to form the foundation of a stage that could host multiple epics of legendary calibur using the beauty and genius of Final Fantasy principles and influences. That's how I gave this story and series a purpose, an anchor, if you will. The summons were the key to taking this from the concept for 1 story, to a 5+ part epic series. And the process of building the summon system all started with Bahamut.

Let me take you back to '87, share with you a nugget of FF history. FFI has just dropped on the NES. At this point, there are no summons. They won't come until FFIII. But, who's this big, blue, badass dragon who periodically helps me throughout the storyline, watching over my quest like some sort of guardian? Bahamut! And he just upgraded my party's classes for them... You're radical, B-man, like totally far-out dude!

Indeed, before the summons themselves, at square 1 when it all, this epic, wild journey began, Bahamut was there. And in many of those early games he was the most powerful summon on the roster. Even in Tactics, he's the strongest of the bunch.

In fitting fashion, Bahamut is the oldest, most powerful God. He is THE God of Gods; creator of worlds. But in creating the world, Bahamut needed assistance when it came to certain things, or at least you could say it made things a lot easier. So Bahamut created Greater Gods to govern over the forces of the world, and help give it life.

To govern time and the principles that would contain the world (physics); Ramuh, the wise and powerful sage.

To rule over the conflicting forces of darkness and light;. Hades, sorcerer of destruction and weaver of shadows. And Alexander, holy knight of purity and justice.

To represent the conflict between them, and the neutral, ruthless nature of war; Odin, the mounted warlord. 

To rule the soil and rock; Titan, the mighty giant.

To rule flame and ember; Ifrit, beast of hellfire.

To rule water and ice; the twins, Shiva and Siren, beautiful and fierce.

To rule thunder, most powerful and volatile of all elements; Palidor, great wyvern of thunder.

To rule the sky and winds; Sylph, soft wispmother of the night skies.

Together, Bahamut and his ten Greater Gods created the world, and all of it's creatures. But [b]five very special species[/b] were created. These creatures were of greater quality and potential than all of the others.

First, showing the others how, Bahamut created what is now known as The Tribe of Sobral.

Then Odin butted in and tried his hand, creating regular men which can be found all over the world in great numbers. (Ramuh then proceeded to shorten their lifespan as compared to that of the White Mage, or far superior "Sobral"(Bahamai, meaning child of Bahamut, or Bobaloo, child of the dragon)).

Alexander (displeased and annoyed with Odin and his creations), created the superior White Mages. 

Now Hades came forward from the vast darkness, grinning at his brother Alexander, no doubt intending to upstage him. He created a race of men second only to the Bahamai. A race with a vast physical, mental, and mystical capacity. The Black Mage. (This upset Alexander, but his resolve and confidence in his children remained, and they rose to become the dominant, most powerful race of men for a long era in those beginning times. But after The Great War, their empire collapsed, leaving most of them slaves which have faded anonymously into bloodlines all over the world. This has left hundreds of millions of part-White Mage people living oblivious to their gifts and potential.)

Last to create his men was Ramuh, who in typical fashion, mulled over the task for an extended period of time. When he was finally done, the Time Mages were born. A race that would ultimately be the greatest of them all. Living for thousands of years. Having access to a well and scope of power so great, it can be entrusted to only the chosen few. Having acute, other-worldly senses. They live in seclusion, rarely making outside contact.

An era passes which sees mortal men grow and flourish. But the first serious problem comes in the form of a rebellious, destructive god.

Palidor's wild, violent, unpredictable nature draws much mortal and god attention. Great thunder storms smash the world, often for days, sometimes weeks on end. Something must be done, and coming as no surprise Ramuh steps up to the task.

He steals dominion over thunder by turning Palidor into a staff which he uses to wield his power.

Things return to normal again.

But the hands of gods grow restless when idle. Again Bahamut teaches the young Gods how to use his gifts.

Being the oldest and strongest of the group, he created two offspring, all more powerful than any other God.

Neo Bahamut, Guardian of the Sun.

Lunar Bahamut, Guardian of the Moon.

But Bahamut also, for reasons which will never be known, created Chaos Bahamut by purging some of the evil and darkness from himself (for he was equal parts "good" and "evil", light and dark).

[i]After The Great War, Lunar Bahamut and Chaos Bahamut became Bahamut ZERO to protect the world from anything like that happening again. Bahamut ZERO is the most powerful force in the universe. A space-dwelling dragon of immense size and power.[/i]

Each Greater God created Lesser Gods to act as servants, slaves, pets, or messengers.

From his blade, Alexander created Crusader, mighty and brave paladin. 
He also [after The Great War] created Knights Of The Round([i]there once was twelve...[/I]) from the souls of Bahamut's chosen heroes who had proven themselves during or before The Great War. 

Hades created Diablos, fiend and warlock of the underworld, from the darkness of the underworld. Later, he created Doomtrain, train of the damned, from the forlorn souls of the dead. 

Odin created Gilgamesh, the mystic and masterful warrior, from the fiery soul of Sleipnir, his horse, and the essence of the warrior from Gungnir, his sword.

Ramuh created Quezicotl, another great wyvern of thunder, from [[i]Palidor[/i]] his staff.

Ifrit created Phoenix, fiercely burning bird of prey, from a great breath of fire.

Titan created Golem, giagantic guardian of stone, from a chunk of rock from the earth.

Shiva created Icen, great frost serpent, from a lock of her hair (Icen was killed in the Great War).

Siren created Leviathan, great sea serpent, from a lock of her hair, as her sister created Icen.

Sylph created Typhoon, wild and furious whirlwind, from a raging tornado.

The lore and history of the Summons will be explored in further detail in Final Fantasy IV, a story some of you will get the chance to participate in. New Summons will also be introduced in Final Fantasy IV, including Cactuar, Knights of The Round([i]now 15 with many more yet to be seen...[/I]) and Hades will make his debut.