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Final Fantasy VIII/Timeline

Many Years Ago

 * Hyne, a sorcerer/deity, becomes the father of humanity. He gives a part of his power to the sorceresses. The sorceresses' power is passed on through the generations; when one dies, another must take over for her. Only certain people have the potential to become sorceresses.

4000 Years Ago

 * The time of the Centra civilization. Centra founds two empires; Dollet to the west and Esthar to the east. Dollet begins to excel in military might, while Esthar begins to prosper scientifically.

80 Years Ago

 * The Lunar Cry, a phenomenon wherein the Moon becomes oversaturated with monsters, who erupt towards Earth in a tide of destruction, strikes the Centra civilization. It is utterly destroyed (and a huge crater forms in the middle of it). The Centra's mobile shelters (giant buildings which move through a force of science and/or magic) are mostly ruined, with only two still remaining, both in the Dollet Empire.
 * The Esthar people begin to rebuild its scientific society, but Dollet is splintered into the countries (more like city-states) of Dollet, Galbadia, and Timber.

19 Years Ago

 * A girl named Ellone is born in Winhill. She has the power to send her consciousness backwards in time.

18 Years Ago

 * Sorceress Adel has an iron grip on the country of Esthar, and she pits it in a war against Galbadia, led by President Deling, a dictator. Galbadia fights heated battles against Esthar, as well as against its peaceful neighbor Timber; Galbadia takes over Timber and captures it. The fathers of two men named Zone and Watts, the heads of a resistance faction named the Forest Owls, are killed after Timber's capture. Soon, a number of copycat rebel factions begin cropping up, all without a single successful coup to their name. Zone and Watts take over the Forest Owls from their fathers.
 * A number of scientists and researchers, disheartened by Galbadia's motives, leave to start their own town they called Fishermans Horizon (FH), dedicated to pacifism.
 * Adel discovers the existence of the Crystal Pillar, a stone from the Moon capable of reacting from a certain position on the Earth (within the Esthar continent) to cause a Lunar Cry. She orders a special enclosure called Lunatic Pandora to be built around it. The Pandora seals the Lunar Cry's abilities, but it can also cause a Lunar Cry at any time.
 * Dr. Odine, a slightly manic professor, begins experiments on magical beings known as Guardian Forces (GFs). He discovers that they can be harnessed (Junctioned) to human minds, which allows humans to use magic, or, more accurately, para-magic. He also studies the sorceresses' powers, and creates Odine-brand jewelry which is capable of inhibiting those powers.
 * Three Galbadian soldiers, Laguna, Kiros, and Ward, return to Deling City from an assignment. They check out the bar at the Galbadia Hotel, where Laguna is treated to a performance by Julia, a pianist. Julia invites Laguna to her room, where a flustered Laguna tells her of his desire to become a journalist. Julia tells him that she has wanted to field-record herself, but has never been able to come up with lyrics, until that night.
 * Julia writes the song Eyes On Me about Laguna. She later marries General Caraway of Galbadia, and they have a daughter named Rinoa.
 * Laguna, Kiros, and Ward are sent to the Centra Excavation Site to patrol. They lose their way and come up against a battalion of Esthar soldiers. They are trapped and only manage to escape by jumping off a huge cliff. Laguna manages to come away unharmed, but Kiros and Ward are badly injured. Ward loses his voice permanently.

17 Years Ago

 * Sorceress Adel orders the Esthar troops to search for any possible successors to her, whom she wishes to keep in her custody. Many girls are taken. They attempt to take a girl named Ellone from Winhill as well; though they fail, her parents are killed. She is taken into custody and raised by a woman named Raine.
 * Ward takes up a job as janitor in the D-District Prison, a Galbadian political jail. Kiros roams around as a vagabond, and Laguna finds meaning in the small Galbadian town of Winhill, formerly assailed by Esthar. He meets up with Raine, takes up a job defeating the monsters that roam around the village, and eventually falls in love with Raine and marries her.
 * Kiros finds Laguna in Winhill and joins him for a while in his job. Eventually Laguna goes on to pursue his dream of working for Timber Maniacs, a large magazine.
 * Laguna returns to Winhill. Soon afterwards, Ellone is captured by the Esthar soldiers (she is a candidate for sorceress inheritance) despite his efforts. He chases after Ellone towards Esthar, but the journey is long. To make ends meet, he and Kiros find side work as extras in a movie company's filming in Trabia Canyon, where they are unfortunately assailed by a real dragon!
 * On his way to Esthar, Laguna falls off a cliff and is taken in by the Shumi tribe, who nurses him back to health after about six months. In the meantime he has a profound effect on the tribe, and attempts to teach the Moombas to speak (they manage to say his name).
 * While Laguna is searching for Ellone, Raine gives birth to a son named Squall.
 * Laguna reaches the Lunatic Pandora Laboratory in Esthar, where he is captured and forced to provide hard labour for the experiments of Dr. Odine. He meets up with more Moombas here. Kiros and Ward rescue him, and together they beat Ellone's location from Dr. Odine and rescue her as well. Before they get her, though, Odine manages to imprint Ellone's brain wave patterns onto his computer, leading him to create a machine that simulates her time-spanning powers. He calls the machine the Ellone Junction Machine.
 * Laguna joins up with a rebellion against Sorceress Adel, and hatches an ingenious plan to get rid of her. Though they cannot harm her physically, they trick her into a special sealing container, which they then launch into space, to be continually monitored by Esthar's space station. The container's antitransmission waves cause constant worldwide radio static from this point forward. As part of the plan, they dump the Crystal Pillar from Lunatic Pandora into the ocean to prevent the Lunar Cry from occurring.
 * Laguna is elected President of Esthar, and decides to shut Esthar up from the rest of the world; partly in penance for their war, partly because he believes the rest of the world is not ready for Esthar's scientific knowledge yet. Kiros and Ward stay on as his assistants.
 * Laguna sends Ellone back to Winhill, but Raine later dies in unspecified circumstances, leaving her nowhere to go. She's sent to the orphanage of Edea and Cid Kramer. Squall goes there as well.

13 Years Ago

 * Ultimecia, a sorceress from the future, arrives from the Time Compression (see later) and perishes; she is succeeded by Edea Kramer. Cid and Edea realize the evil she could cause. They come up with a plan for a military academy where students would be trained to fight the sorceress's forces. They call the school Garden, and its graduates SeeDs. (Possibly the future Squall tells Edea these things via a closed time loop, but the ending's a bit vague as to whether that scene is real or not.) Cid receives funding for the venture from the mafioso-like NORG, a Shumi Villager. Three Gardens are set up; Balamb Garden, Trabia Garden, and Galbadia Garden. Balamb and Galbadia are built over old Centra Shelters. NORG sets himself up as the "Garden Master" and dwells at the lowest level of Balamb Garden. His minions are stationed throughout the Garden, making sure Cid does what he's supposed to.
 * All the children from the orphanage are later recruited into Garden. Squall, Zell, Seifer, and Quistis end up at Balamb Garden (where Cid becomes headmaster), Selphie goes to Trabia Garden, and Irvine to Galbadia Garden.
 * Edea trains her own small section of SeeDs, called White SeeDs. She realizes Ellone's potential as a sorceress and her special time-spanning power, and gives them their mission: to protect Ellone at all costs. They are given their own ship and separate from the other SeeDs.
 * Julia Heartilly (Caraway) is killed in a car accident.

Present

 * Ultimecia reaches her mind across time and finally begins controlling Sorceress Edea. Her goal is to compress time into a single state, a state in which only Ultimecia may survive. By this time Garden has become more or less a center for training mercenaries (the need arose due to financial concerns) and their true purpose has been forgotten. Regretfully Cid begins to prepare to fight against his wife, but delays, hoping she will prove stronger than the sorceress' will which pervades her.
 * Edea schemes to take over Galbadia herself. She does so by ingratiating herself with Vinzer Deling, Galbadia's dictator of a president. He resolves to announce his new friendship with Edea via satellite dish, a technology not in use since the radio silence began 18 years back. However, the only remaining radio receiver/transmitter is in the city of Dollet. He orders his army to take it by force and repair the transmitter.
 * Rinoa runs away from her father in Deling City and travels to Timber, where she becomes embroiled in the Forest Owls, one of the many rebel factions hoping to gain independence from Galbadia.
 * Continual Junctioning of a GF is found to have decaying effects on human memory. Soon, Squall and everyone else at Balamb and Trabia Gardens completely forget their childhood at the orphanage.
 * Selphie is transferred from Trabia Garden to Balamb Garden.
 * Ellone is also taken to Balamb Garden for an unspecified reason.
 * In Balamb Garden, Seifer eventually is shown to be a brash and unpredictable student. He fails the SeeD field test twice through failure of following orders. Oddly enough, he is appointed head of the student disciplinary committee, aided by two cronies, Fujin and Raijin. Squall (the youngest of the orphanage children) proves to be a moody and introverted student with great skill in the gunblade, rivaling that of Seifer. Quistis is a prodigy and becomes a SeeD at age 17 and an instructor a year later.
 * Squall and Seifer (both students of Quistis) hurt each other in a fight with real gunblades; both bear facial scars for life. The next day is Squall's SeeD field test. Before doing so, he needs to visit the Fire Cavern, acquire the GF, Ifrit, who dwells there, and return within a set time. Quistis accompanies him there.
 * The next day is Squall's SeeD field test. Xu, a senior SeeD, shows the scenario. The city of Dollet is under siege by Galbadia, and SeeD has been hired to stop it. The captain of Squall's team (which includes Zell) is Seifer. Though far from happy about the situation, Squall does what's expected of him. They travel to nearby Balamb City, where their water transports are readied.
 * The team is ordered to defeat the forces in their way and wait in the central square. They do so, but Seifer gets impatient and goes to scout out ahead. Squall and Zell follow him (he is their leader, after all). They reach the communications tower, where Seifer runs off on his own. Selphie arrives at this point to deliver a message: the order to retreat within 30 minutes. They follow Seifer and try to stop Major Biggs and Lieutenant Wedge of the Galbadian army from activating the comm tower, but are unsuccessful.
 * Biggs sics the X-ATM092, a huge spider-like robot, on the SeeDs. They are chased through the streets of Dollet, and arrive at the shore. Quistis finally puts the monster robot to rest by hitting it with a few hundred rounds from the machine gun mounted on the getaway water transport.
 * Biggs and Wedge are demoted due to their incompetence in the Dollet comm tower fiasco.
 * Only Squall, Zell, Selphie, and another student named Nida pass their SeeD test; Seifer fails yet again for his disobeyance of orders. Selphie asks Squall to join the School Festival Committee; Squall is noncommitant. The big SeeD dance is that night.
 * Rinoa travels to Balamb Garden to ask Cid to help the Forest Owls for free; Cid likes her proposal and agrees. Squall meets her there as well, and despite his protests and inability to dance, they have a memorable one on the dance floor. Quistis approaches Squall and tells him to meet her at the Training Center.
 * There, Quistis shows Squall where students hang out after hours. She tells him her instructor's licence has been revoked, mainly due to Seifer's rebellion, and that she's just a normal SeeD now. Squall doesn't particularly care, though. On the way out, they find Ellone being attacked by some of the monsters kept in the Training Center (though Squall doesn't recognize her because of his memory loss). After the battle, she is taken away by her White SeeD bodyguards.
 * Squall's first SeeD mission (he travels with Zell and Selphie) is to Timber, where he is to aid Rinoa. (Cid gives him a Magical Lamp as well; using it causes a fight with GF Diablos. Beating Diablos lets you Junction him.) On the way, however, he falls into a stupor due to the abilities of Ellone. Ellone has the power to take someone's mind into the past; she places him and his two friends in the eyes of Laguna, Kiros, and Ward (the scene involving Julia). They wake up, confused, and continue to Timber.
 * Rinoa, Squall, Zell, and Selphie execute a daring attempt to kidnap President Deling as he travels to Deling City on a train. They make an elaborate dummy President complete with recorded voice, and a dummy car which they exchange for the real one in a complicated maneuver. They approach the President only to find he was a fake. The real one is already safe in Timber, where he's traveled to make an announcement on the newly-restored Dollet communications system.
 * Deling makes the announcement, but is attacked by Seifer, who escaped from Garden by himself. Quistis arrives to galvanize the SeeDs into stopping Seifer. As they confront him, Zell mistakenly lets slip the fact that Seifer was part of SeeD. The President and Seifer both escape. Seifer is met by Sorceress Edea, however, and she takes him away to be her "knight" (a.k.a. henchman).
 * Cid and NORG decide not to wait any longer, and send to Martine, Headmaster of Galbadia Garden, to tell him of a plan to assassinate Edea. The Deling City contact will be Rinoa's father, General Caraway. The plan is to include a sharpshooter from Galbadia Garden; however, Martine modifies it to include the visiting SeeDs from Balamb, in order to shift the blame (should the plan fail) onto Balamb Garden.
 * Squall, his SeeD friends, and Rinoa's Forest Owls are all being searched for. They escape to the East Academy Station on the way to Galbadia Garden. Zone and Watts, Rinoa's two sidekicks, don't have tickets, but they manage to escape anyhow. They are later picked up by Edea's White SeeD Ship and stow away on it.
 * In the forest on the way to Galbadia Garden, they fall into another stupor, and another Laguna dream sequence occurs (this time the one involving the Centra Excavation Site).
 * Quistis finds Martine, who calls them to the Reception Room. On the way there they meet Fujin and Raijin, who have been sent by Cid to deliver the assassination message. They're also looking for Seifer.
 * Irvine, Galbadia's sharpshooter, joins Squall and group. They take a train to Deling City. They try to get into Caraway's mansion, but are stopped by his guard, who has orders to send them on a test before the assassination attempt goes through. They are to go to the Tomb of the Unknown King and retrieve the ID number of the last SeeD who attempted to enter. They do so, and also find a twin GF, Minotaur and Sacred, who fight them. When they are beaten, the Brothers allow themselves to be Junctioned.
 * They return to Deling City and present themselves to General Caraway, Rinoa's father. He forbids Rinoa from going on the mission, and outlines the mission to the five SeeDs. There is a parade in Edea's honor being held that night. Squall and Irvine are the sniper team, who wait at the roof of the Presidential Residence. The gateway team (Quistis, Selphie, and Zell) are to get into the gateway mechanism at the Arch of Triumph and trap Edea inside the gates when she goes through during the parade. Once she's trapped, Irvine fires his shot; if it fails, Squall backs him up in hand-to-hand combat.
 * Squall, Irvine, and Caraway leave to their positions. Rinoa suggests using Dr. Odine's patented Sorceress-inhibiting jewelry to stop Edea, but Quistis ridicules Rinoa. Rinoa resolves to do it herself, and runs out of Caraway's Mansion to the Presidential Residence, where she climbs to the top. In the meantime, Quistis regrets her harsh words and goes back to Caraway's Mansion with Zell and Selphie in tow, but are trapped by a paranoid Caraway's machinations when the door locks on them instead of Rinoa!
 * Rinoa approaches Edea with the locket, but Edea hits her with a magical blast. Rinoa is dazed as Edea makes her speech to the masses, where she proclaims that a new reign of terror would begin. Saying so, she murders Deling by stabbing him with her claw-like hands. Edea brings two stone dragons to life, and they attack Rinoa. Squall and Irvine quickly make their way to the top of the Presidential Residence to defeat the beasts. Once Rinoa is safe, they head to the roof.
 * Quistis and the others find a secret passage into the Deling City Sewers, which they follow back to the Arch of Triumph just in time to trap Edea with the gate. Irvine gets cold feet and almost is unable to fire, but Squall convinces him by telling him to pretend it's just a signal, not an assassination bullet. Irvine fires accurately, but the bullet is deflected by Edea. Squall jumps down from the building, grabs a nearby car, smashes it into the gate, jumps through, and confronts Edea. He is stopped by Seifer, who is at Edea's right-hand side.
 * Squall defeats Seifer and fights Edea (Irvine and Rinoa arrive to help him), but Edea lets loose with an ice attack which impales Squall straight through. He falls to oblivion. Edea heals him and Seifer takes him (plus Quistis, Selphie, Zell, and Rinoa) to the D-District Prison where he intends to interrogate him. While unconscious, Squall and Quistis have another Laguna dream sequence, this time in Winhill. Zell also dreams of Ward being a janitor in the same prison he finds himself in when he awakes.
 * With President Deling dead, Edea takes over control of Galbadia. Her first intended act is to shoot a barrage of missiles at the Gardens. She has an excellent excuse for doing so as well: Seifer's attack of the President in Timber. Missiles are targeted at Trabia Garden and Balamb Garden.
 * Irvine is employed by Caraway to rescue Rinoa (and ONLY Rinoa) from the prison. Rinoa goes, but when she finds out about it she's pissed, and makes Irvine go back.
 * Moombas are employed as hard labour in the prison; one of them brings food to the cell where Zell, Quistis, and Selphie are imprisoned. The nearby guard strikes him, and Zell beats him up. Zell decides to break out and get everyone's weapons back, and he proceeds to do so. Now-Lieutenant Biggs and Private Wedge enter the room to teach them a lesson for beating up the guards before, but are met by fully-armed prisoners who give them the once-over before making a break for it.
 * Squall is tortured by Seifer, who wishes to know the true meaning of SeeD (he figures with Squall a SeeD, he would know). Squall, though, doesn't know anything besides the mercenary facet of SeeD, and is tortured in vain. He is saved by Zell and the others with their newly recovered weapons, and the help of the Moombas. Squall is astonished when he hears the only word they can pronounce, "Laguna".
 * Zell helps the rest take a nearby transportation device to the bottom level of the prison; however, they come across a dead end when they realize that the entire prison is submerged in sand. Irvine chooses that moment to rescue them from the guards, Rinoa in tow. After a few short words, Irvine staves off the guards and heads to the lowest floor to find transportation out of the prison, and Squall heads for the topmost floor.
 * There, he manages to get to the opening leading outside, but he finds it only leads to another section of the prison. However, the prison then begins churning itself into the sand! Squall manages to escape being buried in it by hanging onto a rafter (previously a bridge). Somehow everyone comes out okay, and they steal a dune buggy to hop it out of there.
 * The first batch of missiles is fired at Trabia Garden, heavily damaging it. To attempt to stop the next batch headed for Balamb Garden, the party splits up. Selphie heads to the Missile Base to try to stop them from launching, and Squall heads for Balamb Garden to warn them of the impending danger. He hijacks a nearby train to do so.
 * Selphie and the others wear the uniforms found in the stolen buggy to gain admittance to the Missile Base (an ID card allows them access inside). They do some running back and forth to try to confuse people, gain access to the power room and shut off the power (it doesn't work), help to move a missile into place, and finally gain access to the missile system. They set the error ratio as high as it can go (just in case), then run into the central base, beat up some guards, and set the self-destruct sequence for the base to go. They are unable to stop the missiles completely, though, and they are shot off towards Balamb Garden. Before the SeeDs can escape, they are attacked by a giant robot. They manage to heavily damage it, and climb in to escape the blast. But the robot goes nuts (the controls are fused) and they find themselves stuck inside it as it rumbles across the ocean!
 * Squall arrives in Balamb Garden to find it in turmoil: NORG is looking for Cid, intending to hand him to Edea before she can destroy the Garden. Cid is hiding in his office, and the student body is split between those with the Garden Master and Cid. Squall manages to find Xu and informs her of the missile attack; she takes him to Cid. Cid tells him that the Garden used to be a Centra Shelter, which has unknown properties. He allows him to go to MD Level to try to figure out these properties and if they can be used to avert the attack. Squall manages to find the central control which turns the Garden into a mobile building! It moves out of its previous position and narrowly averts the missiles.
 * While students try to figure out how to steer the Garden, Squall is called to the B1 level, where NORG lives. NORG berates them for ruining his plans and attacks them. Squall defeats NORG, who dies. (Later, Shumi villagers visit Balamb Garden to apologize for NORG's actions.)
 * Squall meets Cid, who finally tells him the true meaning of SeeD, to defeat the sorceress. They are then met by a mysterious ship, the White SeeD Ship. Fulfilling their purpose, they take Ellone from the Garden. Squall is confused and wishes to learn more about his dreams with Laguna, but Ellone refuses to tell him anything more than the fact that they were in the past and that she was trying to change it.
 * The ship is later met by Galbadian ships, who do battle with them. However, during the battle, an Estharian rescue mission sent by Laguna also enters the fray. Ellone goes with them to Esthar.
 * Balamb Garden, out of control, crashes into Fishermans Horizon (FH). Mayor Dobe is annoyed that the SeeDs are here (he hates fighting). His fears come true when Galbadia attacks FH, looking for Ellone. He tries to reason with the soldiers, but comes very close to being killed. He is saved by Squall. However, the huge machine which Selphie and her cohorts are in arrives on the scene and attacks Squall! Squall manages to destroy it and Selphie finally comes out.
 * While repairs are being enacted on the Garden by FH's technicians, Selphie stages a concert where she, Quistis, Irvine, and Zell play the instruments. Rinoa approaches Squall and takes him there. She tells him that he can't depend on just himself all the time, and that his friends are there to help him when he needs it.
 * Back in the Garden, Nida (the fourth new SeeD member and now pilot of the Garden) is told to go to Balamb City. If Galbadia is looking for Ellone in port towns, that's the next logical place to go. They arrive to find it under Galbadian control.
 * Squall claims to have information about Ellone, and the Galbadian officers let him through. He goes on a search for a man they call the "captain", whom he finally finds to be Raijin! Raijin attacks him by Seifer's orders, then calls in the "commander", Fujin, to help as well. Squall defeats them and they run away, freeing Balamb from Galbadia's grasp.
 * Selphie now asks Cid if they can go to Trabia Garden; he complies. They find it a wreck. They meet in a destroyed basketball court. Irvine begins to talk about his childhood, and the memories of the other SeeDs now slowly come out; they remember the orphanage, Ellone, and Edea, whom they all called "Matron". Still, they resolve to defeat Edea for the good of the world.
 * They decide to travel back to the orphanage, only to meet Galbadia Garden also on the move! Cid, fearing both possible outcomes of the battle (losing his SeeDs or losing his wife) flees to the ruins of the orphanage. Galbadia invades Balamb via high-tech airborne soldiers. Zell heads to the Quad to stave off the enemy, but a collision causes Rinoa to fall off the edge, hanging on by her hands. Zell runs off to find Squall and some way to save Rinoa. Before Squall can do so, he's asked to find a missing child. He finds him on the third floor, but is suddenly attacked by another airborne Galbadian soldier, who pins him to the wall.
 * In desperation, Squall kicks out the emergency door behind him and they both fly out the window. Squall defeats him and grabs his jet pack, rescuing Rinoa on the way down. He and Rinoa (later joined by the other SeeDs) head into Galbadia Garden. They meet Raijin and Fujin, who finally decide that Seifer's gone too far, and to let Squall take care of him. They finally come up against Seifer, and defeat him. He crawls off to Edea, resolved to protect her, and is defeated once more. They finally come up against Edea and defeat her for good.
 * Edea loses her sorceress powers in the battle, but is succeeded by Rinoa, who now becomes a sorcererss. Ultimecia wastes no time in controlling her (but the control isn't as complete as Edea's, since Rinoa isn't really ready yet). Rinoa whispers to Seifer that she is now in charge, and tells him to salvage the Lunatic Pandora, which Ultimecia intends to use to cause a Lunar Cry and use it to bring Adel's body back to earth. Rinoa then falls into a deep coma.
 * Edea returns to her orphanage and reunites with her husband Cid at the orphanage. She apologizes for her actions, but tells them she doesn't know how to heal Rinoa. Squall goes back to the infirmary to spend time with Rinoa, and falls into another Laguna dream sequence (the Trabia Canyon one) - but in this one Ellone actually speaks with him. Upon awakening, he realizes that perhaps Ellone can find a way to save Rinoa. He goes back to Edea, who presents Squall with a letter to give the White SeeDs in an effort to retrieve Ellone from them.
 * The White SeeDs tell Squall that Ellone was taken to Esthar. Squall resolves to head there. The only way to do so is via a bridge from FH, and that's where Squall heads. He is met by the other SeeDs and Edea, who joins him to go to Esthar. She tells him to ask Dr. Odine about Rinoa; he might know something.
 * They reach the continent of Esthar, but can't see any cities. They enter the Great Salt Lake, a dried-up water body. They eventually discover a hidden opening into the huge shield that hides the enormous Esthar City from the rest of the world. They are taken on a futuristic elevator to the city, but on the way down are subjected to the final Laguna dream sequence (in the Lunatic Pandora lab and Odine's lab).
 * They come to Dr. Odine, who says that Ellone is in outer space at the moment, and Squall must travel there to meet her. He goes to the Lunar Launch Pad near Esthar City, and he, Rinoa, and one other blast up to the Lunar Base. He leaves Zell to take over down on Earth. Laguna is apparently already in space, inspecting Adel's seal.
 * Zell returns to Dr. Odine to discover that Galbadia's taken over the Lunatic Pandora and is piloting it to Tears' Point, the location where the Lunar Cry will take place. Zell and his friends attempt to board Lunatic Pandora as it passes through Esthar City. They manage to get aboard, but are kicked off soon after.
 * Squall finds Ellone, but before he can ask her to save Rinoa, Rinoa is taken over by Ultimecia yet again. She opens the first of Adel's seals on the space station, then dons a space suit to reach the seal physically and release the second one. She does so at the same time that the Lunatic Pandora reaches Tears' Point and unleashes a Lunar Cry. Adel is borne to Earth by the force of the descending monsters and lands in Lunatic Pandora. Ultimecia then leaves Rinoa for dead.
 * The Lunar Base begins to collapse because of the monsters, and Squall and the rest (including Ellone and Piet, the head of the Lunar Base, and Laguna) escape in a pod. He asks Ellone to let him see Rinoa's memories; she does so, and he finds out that Rinoa is the sorceress candidate and is taken over by Ultimecia. However, Squall refuses to let Rinoa die in space, and puts on his own space suit to find her.
 * Squall reaches her, but his oxygen is not enough to get back to the pod. He luckily stumbles across the Ragnarok, the dragon-ship used to carry Adel into space. The atmospheric controls still work, and he and Rinoa can breathe again. After clearing the spaceship of aliens, they start back towards Earth, sharing a romantic moment while in space.
 * When they land on Earth, Rinoa is captured (albeit willingly) by the Estharians and taken to the Sorceress Memorial, a place to seal Rinoa, similar to Adel's (but without the necessity of being taken into space, since she isn't a full-fledged sorceress). Squall lets them take her, knowing it's best for the world. However, Quistis arrives and berates him for letting Rinoa go. He heads back to the Sorceress Memorial and saves Rinoa before she is put into her cryogenic chamber.
 * They travel to Edea in the ruins of her Orphanage. Squall resolves to defeat Ultimecia so that Rinoa won't be possessed again. While there, Squall receives a transmission from Esthar City: the President has a plan to defeat Ultimecia, and he wants SeeD to do it. They travel to Esthar City to be greeted by the President, who to Squall's total surprise is Laguna. He and Dr. Odine have hatched a complicated plan. To defeat Ultimecia they would have to actually travel to the future to fight her. But time travel is technically impossible...
 * The idea is that Ultimecia needs Ellone's powers to travel further back in time (the machine she's using, an advanced version of the Ellone Junction Machine, has limits as to how far back it can go), and a sorceress to possess. Right now Adel is the strongest of the two surviving sorceresses, so that's who Ultimecia wants to possess, which would be catastrophic. Squall needs to defeat Adel to force Ultimecia to possess Rinoa instead. Then Ellone would take both Ultimecia's and Rinoa's minds back in time using her powers, allowing Ultimecia to compress time. She would then return Rinoa and Ultimecia to their proper times. Once time is compressed, the SeeDs can travel down it to any point, including Ultimecia's future.
 * They take the Ragnarok and smash into the Lunatic Pandora, entering it from within. They find Raijin and Fujin protecting Seifer again. Squall defeats them, and they run inside to find Seifer. They defeat him, and Raijin and Fujin come in one last time and try to dissuade him from his imaginary quest. He doesn't listen to them; he steals Rinoa and rushes to Adel's room.
 * Adel takes Rinoa hostage, but Squall manages to defeat her without harming Rinoa. Ellone then carries out Laguna's plan, and time compression occurs. Ultimecia's castle appears. Squall finds his way through it and confronts Ultimecia. She Junctions herself to Griever (the "ultimate GF"), but Squall finally manages to defeat both Griever and the sorceress.
 * Squall finds himself adrift in time. He arrives 13 years in the past to see Ultimecia dying and being succeeded by Edea, then is set adrift again; only his love for Rinoa helps him to reach home again. A huge party takes place in Balamb Garden, Edea and Cid take over again as head of the Garden, and everyone ends up happy.

Far Future

 * Ultimecia, the sorceress of the era, uses one of Dr. Odine's items to transfer her mind into the past. She can possess sorceresses of other times and force them to do her bidding. She plots to enter time compression, a state in which time is fused and only she can exist. She first takes over the mind of Sorceress Edea...

Side Quests

 * The Shumi Village is in the Trabi Continent. The Shumi are building a statue of Laguna, a man who impressed them greatly. They tell Squall that the furry Moomba are the forms that Shumi evolve to. Squall talks to the Elder, who asks him to help finish the statue. He finds the five necessary stones, and he is rewarded with a Phoenix Pinion.
 * Squall is then enlisted to bring the Shumi Artisan to help with the statue, but he is reluctant to do so. The owner of the repair shop in FH gives Squall a Moomba Doll with a recording of his voice; the recording reminds the Artisan of his true calling and he agrees to help with the statue.
 * The Centra Ruins is home to Odin, a GF who appears randomly at the start of battles to destroy the enemies. Once Squall gains Odin's help by defeating him, he may also enlist the help of the Tonberry King by defeating enough Tonberries in the Ruins.
 * If Squall does have Odin's help by the final Seifer battle, Odin will attempt to destroy Seifer, but Seifer will chop him in two. However, Odin's Zantetsuken blade will be caught by Gilgamesh, arriving from the Cleft of Dimension, who defeats Seifer and takes over Odin's position as a randomly-arriving GF.
 * There are six Chocobo Forests around the world. Completing the puzzles therein allow you to call a Chocobo to ride whenever you want. Once all six are completed, visiting the forest-bound Chocobo Sanctuary lets you get a Chicobo card.
 * Balamb Garden is home to the Card Club Group, a bunch of expert card players. Beating Jack allows you to play Club, then Diamond (a pair of girls), then Spade. Heart is actually Xu, and the Card King ends up being Quistis! Most of the higher-level CC Group members have rare cards. There's also a Joker who upgrades your Battle Meter when you beat him. Beating all the CC members has another effect: when you regain the Ragnarok in the time-compressed world, they'll be on board.
 * Tears' Point is home to a magical item called Solomon's Ring. Using the ring when you have six Malboro Tentacles, Steel Pipes, and Remedy+s summons GF Doomtrain to you.
 * An island near Centra is home to the Cactuar King; beating him will let you summon GF Cactuar.
 * The Deep Sea Research Center is a hidden area in the middle of the sea. Bahamut lives on the top floor, and beating him lets you summon him. After he is defeated, a hole opens up to the floors beneath. Using the remaining energy wisely allows you to enter an area infested with high-level monsters; at the end of it is the Ultima Weapon. Beating that nets you 100 Ultima Stones, plus you can draw GF Eden from it.
 * There are four places where you will sight a UFO in battle. You will then fight the UFO itself. After beating it you'll find its owner, PuPu, wandering around the Balamb Garden area. If you give it five Elixirs, it'll give you its rare PuPu card.
 * Two islands are home to hugely difficult monsters and rare Draw Points: the Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell.
 * Obel Lake in the Timber region is home to a shadow. Throwing a rock at it will make it converse with you; it'll ask you to find a monkey. Once done that, it'll give you hints about hidden treasure. Piecing together all the hints leads to a canyon north of Esthar. Many stone faces direct Squall confusingly to the treasure, a Three Stars item. Another hint from the shadow leads to Minde Isle, which has a Luck-J Scroll.
 * The Card Queen, originally in Balamb, changes her location when you lose rare cards to her. Once you do, you can win them back from her father and son in Dollet. Finding her and beating her can be tough, though.
 * A portal near Ultimecia's Castle in the time-compressed world leads back to the real world. You can use a Chocobo to regain the Ragnarok, and the CC Group will inhabit it if you beat them all.

Source

 * Final Fantasy VIII Story at the Final Fantasy Compendium

title: Final Fantasy VIII/Timeline


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Final Fantasy VIII/Squall Leonhart

Combat
Garden: Balamb

Weapon: Gunblade

Character
In a large game such as Final Fantasy VIII, having the main character be a brooding, cold, serious-to-a-fault loner has had its effect on the populace of gamers in some very different ways. Squall's personality has been the sole reason people hate FFVIII, it has also been quite the opposite. In my experience, I was fascinated with playing a main character so distant, numb and internal as Squall Leonhart; I belong to the crowd who enjoys his antiheroism. I will not spoil but I will say this: Squall is not static. Not in the least. But his shifts are subtle and deeply internalized, a quality that embodies much of how I found myself deriving satisfaction from FFVIII; it's what you invest in these characters that reaps rewards. For example, only but a few times does Squall ever really let you know. Some would argue that this makes FFVIII weak, I would retort that it's better writing, there but never overstated, at least it's not being spoonfed to you like much of the fodder plots and static characters the game industry churns out. As you play, FFVIII makes it clear that it is certainly a character tale and in the Final Fantasy tradition, possessed of a wide ensemble cast.

The game begins among Squall's last year at Balamb Garden, the Gardens (Trabia, Galbadia, and Balamb) being schools that educate kids how to live, survive, and learn in a world that is unnaturally overpopulated with strange, malevolent creatures. They are high school and college rolled into one, they are the only forms of higher education and weapons training in the world of FFVIII.

Squall has a bit of a rivalry going with another student, Seifer. Squall keeps to his introverted self, focuses on his gunblade skills and is quickly becoming one of the top martial artists in the school. Seifer, arrogant and hot-tempered, is in his fifth year, having failed to graduate the year prior.

Squall and Seifer are the only two at the school using a very difficult weapon, the gunblade. They enjoy sparring, sometimes to injury, and it is in this way that their rivalry shows it's nature as a meeting of opposites.

I would like to comment further on this idea: FFVIII is very much a game of characters playing opposites, and the marketing for the game supports this theory. Pairings include:

Squall / Seifer

Squall / Laguna

Squall / Rinoa

These appear to be the three main pairings and work to form the bed of relationships in which Squall's personal story sits.

Finally, more than anything else, it is important to note here that Squall Leonhart does not desire the company of anyone. He believes that people get in the way, that they need saving, and that for this reason, someone always gets hurt. Better to avoid such problems as such a stance has served him well over the years. That is until he meets the free spirited Rinoa Heartilly and falls in love with her and opens up more.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Final Fantasy VIII/Squall Leonhart


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Final Fantasy VIII/Rinoa Heartilly

Combat
Weapon: Blaster Edge

Limit Break: Combine (using her best friend, Angelo), or Angel Wing (A Limit Break sort of like Berserk, except with supreme magic power.)

Character
Outspoken, spirited, emotional and compassionate (and a bit immature, which sort of gives her the nickname "Princess"), Rinoa is in many ways the polar opposite of the cold and antisocial Squall; in fact, she was at one time romantically involved with his long-standing rival Seifer Almasy. Although their personalities do clash at first, Squall and Rinoa gradually fall in love, and their relationship is a major focus of the game's storyline. Nevertheless, Rinoa has proven to be extremely stubborn towards her ideas and will push another person's buttons until she gets her way. Unfortunately, Squall is the only person she knows that is actually willing enough to shut her off. Ironically, he gives in later in the game.

As the game progresses, Rinoa will appear during Squall's Graduation Dance as the mysterious young woman who pulls him into the dance. Nonetheless, destiny has it that they meet again, in the Timber on the Forest Owl's hideout. Wanting to free Timber from Deling City's rule would prove to be an uphill battle, which drags in Squall and the other SeeDs. From there, Rinoa would not stop until Timber is freed and will soon follow Squall and the rest of the SeeDs on their journey.

Of course, with two polar opposites meet, mayhem is caused. Rinoa and Squall, obviously, do not get along at first, just because they just can't see each other's views. Rinoa keeps plugging away at Squall, and Squall keeps giving her the "cold shoulder". However, as the game progresses, Squall soon realizes how much he doesn't want to be alone, especially with someone like Rinoa by his side. And that's when things start to warm up a little. Rinoa had already fallen in love with Squall, even though it's not noticeable at first. Opening Squall deeper and deeper, Rinoa would soon show her feeling towards him, especially after the "Oath" they have near Edea's Garden. Unfortunately for Rinoa, opening Squall would be like opening a 5000 page novel, and only scratching the surface.

Keep in mind, Squall lets Rinoa have his favorite lion-ring of Griever. Something she was willing to return, but Squall would refuse and let her keep. Kind of like a mini gift from Squall's heart. Also, Rinoa would be saved by Squall twice: once from a clipped of cliff on the Balamb Garden and another when she has lost all hope in outer space. Adds points to Squall, doesn't it? Not to mention, Squall stops Rinoa from being frozen after she becomes a sorceress.

There have been rumors that Rinoa should have been with Seifer, but as the game did conclude, Rinoa had chosen Squall (and vice-versa,) and leaving a ending that anyone can guess on. Many fanfictions have been made on Rinoa and Squall's romance, but as much as I could tell, love is superior in this story.

title: Final Fantasy VIII/Rinoa Heartilly


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Final Fantasy VIII/Zell Dincht

Zell Dincht is one of the playable characters. He has spiky blonde hair and a loud and energetic personality.

title: Final Fantasy VIII/Zell Dincht


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Final Fantasy VIII/Headmaster Martine

He was the headmaster of Galbadia Garden. Martine is responsible for giving the order to Squall and the others to assassinate the sorceress. Martine said that Balamb and Galbadia Garden agreed to it, but he lied, it was really a last hope try to assasinate Edea. He retired to Fisherman's Horizon after the mission having quit his job as headmaster.

title: Final Fantasy VIII/Headmaster Martine


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Final Fantasy VIII/Raine Leonhart

Raine Leonhart is Laguna's love interest/wife. She is the mother of Squall Leonhart.

title: Final Fantasy VIII/Raine Leonhart


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Final Fantasy VIII/Xu

Xu is among the many students at Balamb Garden during the events of Final Fantasy VIII. Though only a minor character, she pops up quite often throughout the game. She has dark hair and is always seen wearing her SeeD uniform. Later in the game (if one continues the Triple Triad side-story against Balamb Garden's best CC players), it is revealed that Xu is also the famous CC's "Heart".

title: Final Fantasy VIII/Xu


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Final Fantasy VIII/Quezacotl

How To Obtain
Quezacotl can be obtained in the First Disk of the game. Once you gain control of Squall in his classroom on the second floor, log on to Squall's study panel in the back of the class. Select the option Tutorial and the GF will be automatically received.

Special Attack
Thunder Storm - Deals lightning damage to all damage. Effective against machine and robotic enemies.

Useful Abilities
Card Mod: Allows you to turn cards that you have collected into useful items. Mid Mag-RF: Allows you to upgrade low-level spells into mid-level spells.

Real Life Influence
The name Quezacotl appears to be a reference to Quetzalcoatl, a feathered serpent in Aztec mythology.

title: Final Fantasy VIII/Quezacotl


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Final Fantasy VIII/Shiva

Walkthrough
Shiva.

Special Attack: Diamond Dust

Element: Ice

Real Life Influence
The name Shiva is a likely reference to Shiva, the Hindu deity of destruction, among other topics.

title: Final Fantasy VIII/Shiva


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Final Fantasy VIII/Ifrit

How To Obtain
Defeat Ifrit at the end of the Fire Cavern.

Special Attack
Hell Fire- Deals fire damage to all enemies.

Useful Ability
Ammo-RF

Real Life Influence
Ifrit is likely based on Ifrit, a demon in Islamic mythology.

title: Final Fantasy VIII/Ifrit


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Final Fantasy VIII/Siren

The Siren, a quite powerful GF can be drawn (using GF draw ability from GF junction) from Elvoret during the fight with it on the communication tower (disc I) before escaping from indestrustable X-ATM092.

If you have forgotten to draw it from Elvoret, you can either draw it from from Tri-Point in the Wind Cellar of the Ultimecia's Castle (disc IV).

It's special power is "Silent Sound" that causes a little non-elemental damage against enemies (rarely on bosses) plus 'silence'.

title: Final Fantasy VIII/Siren


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Final Fantasy VIII/The Brothers

Special attack: Brotherly Love

Sacred lovingly catapauls Minitaur skyward after lifting the ground from under his foes. The two coliide in air.

Deals earth damage to all enemies.

title: Final Fantasy VIII/The Brothers


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Final Fantasy VIII/Diablos

Name: Diablos

How to obtain: Use the magical lamp from Headmaster Cid.

Name of move: Dark Messenger

Move type: None ( damage done determined by Diablos' level)

Useful Abilities: Mug, Enc-None, Time Mag-RF, and ST Mag-RF

title: Final Fantasy VIII/Diablos


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Final Fantasy VIII/Carbuncle

How To Obtain: After Edea makes her speech in Deling City, two creatures will melt from stone on an adjacent building, jump onto the ground, and leap behind rooftop where the speech took place. Draw from any of the two Iguins.

Special Attack: Ruby Light - Casts reflect on all the party

Useful Ability: Auto-Reflect

title: Final Fantasy VIII/Carbuncle


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Final Fantasy VIII/Pandemona

How To Obtain

Pandemona can be obtained by drawing from Fujin, during the battle with Fujin and Raijin in Balamb. Special Attack

Tornado Zone - Absorb all enemies into a bag attached on left shoulder, and blow them out. Does wind elemental damage to all enemies.

Useful Abilities

Spd-J: Junction spells to Speed. Spd+40%: Automatically increase character's gauge bar filling speed.

title: Final Fantasy VIII/Pandemona


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Final Fantasy X-2/Sphere Break

Sphere Break is a minigame within the role-playing game Final Fantasy X-2. A bit like Sudoku, the game has a numerical grid that has to be dealt with using a set of rules. The mechanics of the minigame are purely mathematical, relying on sums and multiplications; the aim is to create the most multiples of a "core number" by combining numbers of the 16 coins on the board.

Coins
Coins are numbered from 1 to 9 and possess several different attributes that can help you in the Final Fantasy X-2 or in the Sphere Break Minigame itself (Free magic Item, Free potions, Echo, + coins, quota multipliers,...)

Core Break
A Core Break happens when the player selects coins that added to each other form a sum that is a multiple of the number rolled by the Core Sphere. The player with the coins has to obtain a Core Break in a set limit of time or he loses the game. A core break ends a turn in the game.

Center Coins / Entry Coins
The player playing against the dealer (owner of the core sphere) selects 4 coins to bet. They will be his entry coins and will be placed in the center. During the game, every time the dealer rolls a number on the core sphere, his opponent has to pick at least one entry coin to start his turn.

Border Coins
At each turn, a number of coins between 0 to 12 coins surrounds the center coins and the core sphere. The player uses them to make a Core break. At each turn, any coin not used in a core break is increased in value by one. If it had a value of 9 before, it is removed from play as they cannot be a value of ten. Coins used in a core break are also removed. Empty spaces are filled (or not) randomly, with a new coin valued from 1 to 9.

Game mechanics

 * 1) Like a dice, the dealer makes his Core Sphere produce a number from 1 to 9 for a set number of turns, i.e. 20 turns
 * 2) For each turn, the player has to use at least one of his center coins which on the tournament of Final Fantasy X-2 are preset 1,2,3 and 5 with multiplier Echo
 * 3) Each turn has a set time limit from (60 seconds, 30 seconds..) and the player has to produce a multiple of the Core Sphere within it. If he fails he loses the game and also loses the center coins he bet
 * 4) Each game has a "Quota", i.e. a set number of coins that needs to be used in the games set umber of turns. If all turns are used and the player did not complete his quota he loses the game and also loses the center coins he bet
 * By using the multipliers and other coin attributes players can beat dealers with very difficult Core Spheres. The current champion Shinra has a quota of 100 coins that has to be obtained in just 15 turns with a time limit per turn of 45 seconds.

A sample game

 * Quota: 30 coins, Turns: 20 turns, Time limit per turn: 60 seconds (a very easy game with low quota, lots of turns and large time limit per turn)
 * 1 - For the first turn, the dealer rolls out a number from 1-9, i.e. 7
 * In his first turn the player needs to find a multiple of 7 by adding the center coins (1,2,3, and 5 with multiplier echo) and the 0-12 border coins (randomly set).
 * Here the player could just use center coins (2+5) but this is not to the player's advantage because center coins do not add any coins to the quota of 30 coins he has to use before his 20 turns are complete. The player has to pick one center coin, so let's pick 2 (Sum=2)
 * Now the player looks at the border coins and tries to get as many border coins he can to make a multiple of the core sphere's 7. Since he already picked a 2 the maximum sum of the border coins he can pick has to be either 5 or 12 or 19 etc... to yield a multiple of 7 such as 7 or 14 or 21 etc...
 * The player picks 3 border coins: 8, 8 and 3 making his total Sum = 2 + 8 + 8 + 3 = 21 and obtains a successful turn, i.e., a sphere break
 * His quota is now equal to 3 coins and his multiplier was 3 because he closed the turn with 21 which is 3 * 7 . The multiplier is important because one of his center coins has the multiplier echo attribute and will help augment the player's quota in his next turn
 * 2 - On the second turn the Core Sphere rolls a 1 which is good for the dealer and bad for the player
 * Faced with a 1 from the core sphere the player is forced to pick only center coins, as any number he picks will be a multiple of 1 and he has to start by picking a center coin. This means he will not get any extra coins to add to his quota this turn.
 * As noted above, any center coin (1,2,3 and 5) will end the turn. A clever player would use the multiplier echo to his advantage here and pick the 3 center coin. This will make his multiplier for his second turn to be equal 3 which is what 3 * 1 amounts to.
 * Note that the turn ends with the same multiplier as the last turn: 3. This means the player has a multiplier echo
 * The turn ends with a quota of 3 (no border coins were added) and a multiplier echo of 1
 * 3 - For the 3rd turn the Core sphere rolls a 2
 * A clever player would pick his mandatory center coin to be odd because any coin that is even will end his turn. Our player picks 1
 * For the border coins, our player can now keep on picking odd coins but to take advantage of the multiplier echo he needs to stop when his sum totals 6 which is 3 * 2 and gives him another multiplier echo.
 * Our player picks a 5 border coin making his sum equal 1+5 = 6 and making another multiplier echo
 * The turn ends with a quota of 4 plus the echo bonus of 2 * his quota on this turn which is 2*1, giving him a total quota of 6 and a new multiplier echo of 2
 * 4-20 - The game proceeds until either all 20 turns are completed or the quota of 30 coins is fulfilled. If the player fulfills his quota before the end of 20 turns he wins the game and all the prizes yielded by the border coin attributes.

title: Final Fantasy X-2/Sphere Break


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Final Fantasy XI/Character Guide

FFXI Races
In Final Fantasy XI there are 5 different races to choose from, each with their own unique advantages and disadvantages. All of them (except for Mithra and Galka) can be played as a male or female character and can, to an extent, be customized in appearance. However, the selection for these customizations is much smaller than it is in other MMORPGs, and therefore you are bound to run into several characters who look exactly like yours.

Hume
The Hume tends to be the most popular choice, as they are the only human-looking race. They are also a completely balanced character, having no particular strengths or weaknesses. Some argue that the Hume is the best race for playing multi-purpose jobs such as Red Mage.

Galka
The Galka, technically not having a gender, are huge and generally thought of to all be male. Their high vitality and HP make them perfect for tank jobs such as Warrior or Paladin, and their above average dexterity and strength make them good melee damage dealers. Having the lowest MP pool out of all of the races, Galkans tend to stay away from the mage jobs. The Galka have a unique ability similar to the Mithra's; they can enjoy the boosts of any raw meat.

Elvaan
The Elvaan are a tall race (It's argued whether the average Elvaan or Galka height is taller) that have high vitality and strength, but in exchange have poor dexterity and agility. Elvaan are well-suited to playing Paladin, Warrior and Ranger, although they can hold their own with other melee jobs.

FFXI Jobs
Final Fantasy XI has an unique job system (or class system) with two distinguishing features. First, after completing a certain quest each character can have both a main job and a support job. The support job grants the character all its abilities and stat bonuses, but its level is capped at half the main job level. Second, all characters can change main and support jobs at any time in certain locations in the game. A character can only gain experience points for their current main job, and must level support jobs separately. A character's stats will only be affected by its current main and support jobs, with the exception of merit points that can be gained after the maximum level of 75 is attained.

There are 6 basic jobs in Final Fantasy XI: Black Mage, Monk, Red Mage, Thief, Warrior and White Mage. There are also 9 advanced jobs which can be individually quested at level 30 in any job. Three of the advanced jobs require the Rise of the Zilart expansion pack, and there are rumors of new jobs to be coming with the Treasures of Aht Urhgan expansion.

Black Mage
As in all Final Fantasy games, Black Mage's main focus is magical attack. The main attributes affecting this job are intelligence and MP. Equipment can also be used to boost magic attack bonus and the amount of mp gained while resting. Spells are not learned at certain levels. You have to buy them at a magic shop, clearly. Same applies for any other jobs that use spells.

Monk
The monk is a melee damage dealer proficient in the use of hand-to-hand weapons such as katars and patas. Aside from weapon proficiency, Monks are unique in that they are the only job that can guard (halving physical damage from an attack) or counter (nullify an attack and deal damage).

Red Mage
Red Mage is usually the best solo job, with a combination of healing and attack magic, a proficiency with swords as well as the refresh spell to restore magic points over time. Red Mages specialize in enfeebling magic, drawing on both intelligence and mind to slow, blind, paralyze, etc. their foes.

Thief
The thief is the master of backstabbing, and use their sneak attack ability to deal large amounts of damage if positioned correctly. Thieves also get an ability called trick attack which tricks the enemy into thinking another character dealt the following attack. The combination of these two abilities can make for excellent hate management, but only if used carefully. Thief has proficiency with daggers, although they can make good use of crossbows as well. The ideal sub job for a thief is to use ninja for Utsusemi: Ichi and Utsusemi: Ni for pulling but also for dual knives for more damage.

Warrior
Warrior is the most balanced of melee jobs. They can load up on attack gear and be a respectable damage dealer, or load up on defensive gear and be a tank. Their strongest weapon proficiency is with axes (two handed and one handed), but they can do well with a variety of other weapons if needed. I recommend you to use a one hand axe so you can equip a shield as well. Warrior is quite possibly the most mis-played job in the early levels, because they start with a sword rather than an axe or great axe.

White Mage
As with all Final Fantasy games, White Mages are the best at healing. A high mind stat can marginally boost their healing spells, and increase the accuracy of their paralyze and slow spells, but a large MP pool is more important in the long run. White mages are also in charge of removing negative status ailments such as poison or paralysis, which often keeps the job from being incredibly dull. White Mages are useful in the end game due to their Raise III spell which greatly reduces the experience points lost on death.

Bard
Bard is a support job, similar to Red Mage in a party situation. They sing songs for the party or against the enemy, and can eventually boost any resistance or strength in the game. The number of concurrent songs is limited, however, so most of the time accuracy and attack songs are used. Like Red Mages, Bards can easily get party invites, but the job can get repetitive.

Beast Master
Beast Master is very different from all other jobs because it is usually played solo or in small groups, rather than the traditional group of six. Beast Masters have the ability to charm some monsters, and to have them attack other things. This job is very slow before level 35, and even after that it can have a hard time in a crowded area. Still, Beast Master is near Red Mage in terms of solo ability, because it can charm some powerful monsters.

Dark Knight
Dark Knight is somewhat like a cross between Warrior and Black Mage. Their highest weapon proficiency is scythe, although great sword is at least as good for most of the game. Dark Knights rely on dark magic spells to drain the stats of its enemy, effectively buffing themselves and debuffing the enemy at the same time. Dark Knights are also able to drain HP and MP, to save themselves some resting time.

Dragoon
The dragoon is a melee damage dealer that primarily uses a polearm. Their distinguishing feature is the wyvern they can summon to fight alongside them. Aside from attacking, the wyvern will also perform certain actions depending on the Dragoon's support job. For example, if a Dragoon/White Mage with low HP casts a spell, his wyvern will use a healing breath to heal him.

This job requires the Rise of the Zilart expansion.

Ninja
Ninjas get special spells called ninjutsu which require the use of items in the inventory. Most notably, the utsusemi ninjutsu will give the caster copy image, so they can get attacked three times without taking damage. At level 37, Ninjas get a second utsusemi which can be used with the first to blink tank, which involves holding hate without taking any damage. Other ninjutsu can debuff the enemy, deal elemental damage or make the caster invisible. Due to the use of items with ninjutsu, Ninja is arguably the most expensive job.

This job requires the Rise of the Zilart expansion.

Paladin
The Paladin is somewhat like a mix between a Warrior and a White Mage, and is almost exclusively used as a tank job, with Warrior as the support job. Their highest weapon proficiency is in the sword, and they also have the highest shield skill. Of all the tank jobs, Paladins are desirable because they are and bring an extra MP pool to the party.

If you ever become a Paladin, PLEASE do not yell at the Red Mages for [refresh]... DON'T or they wont give it to you...

Ranger
Ranger is usually considered a melee job, although they are most effective at a short distance with a ranged weapon. Rangers have equal proficiency in bows, crossbows and guns, and their melee weapons are selected based on stat bonuses alone. Because ammo is a finite resource in Final Fantasy XI, Ranger is arguably the second most expensive job.

Samurai
Samurai are the masters of weaponskills, and specialize in the great katana. Samurai are known for their meditate ability which generates tech points (TP) without having to attack anything. Samurai are also somewhat proficient with a bow, and with a Ranger support job they can use the powerful sidewinder weaponskill. (the ability to use ranged weaponskills are limited to Ranger as a main job, solely)

This job requires the Rise of the Zilart expansion.

Summoner
Summoners have low physical stats, and have no offensive or healing spells of their own. Instead, they rely on summoned avatars and spirits to do their work for them. A summoner's avatars must be quested and defeated before they can be used, and gain abilities as the summoner levels up. At level 70, summoners become a formidable damage dealer due to the abilities their avatars get at that level, although avatars can only use abilities once per minute. In general, summoners use the White Mage support job so they can assist in healing while not summoning or resting.

title: Final Fantasy XI/Character Guide


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Final Fantasy XI/Combat

Combat
As in many RPGs, combat is at the core of Final Fantasy XI. There are several different ways one can enjoy the battle.

 * Fighting normal monsters for experience, items, or skill improvement.

 * Burning Circle Notorious Monster fights, a battle within a controlled arena with special conditions such as level and party size limits.

 * Ballista, combat against other players to further national conquest.

title: Final Fantasy XI/Combat


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Final Fantasy XI/Location Guide

Valdeaunia
The frozen northern island of Valdeaunia is often considered to be completely uninhabitable. Old evils cast long, dark shadows across the icy land, making Valdeaunia the home of the world's darkest powers. Most predominantly, the Xarcabard region could be considered the capital of the beastmen's war efforts, being the home of Castle Zvahl, which is in turn the stronghold of the enigmatic and malevolent Shadow Lord.

Xarcabard

Most feared and oppressive of all the land of Valdeaunia is the Xacabard region. Rumored to be so cold that even good and evil alike freeze instantly in its fiercest winds, it was also a natural place for the displaced beastraces and other monstrous creatures to make into their base of operations. From here, the Shadow Lord and his lieutenant demons plotted and still plot the destruction of the Enlightened Races, bearing a grudge that defies the ages. There are no indigenous peoples of Xarcabard, and if there was ever any settlement other than Castle Zvahl to speak of, it would be so ancient and timeless as to have been forgotten by the history of any race or nation on Vana'diel.

Castle Zvahl Baileys/Castle Zvahl Keep

A virtual city unto itself, Castle Zvahl is a massive structure that has origins far older than recorded history could accurately relate. While it is possible that it has always been the dwelling of the Shadow Lord and his hordes of beastmen lieutenants, the architecture is so unusual that it seems to hint at an even earlier purpose.

During the Crystal War, the great heroes of each nation stormed Castle Zvahl with their armies in tow, bringing a great deal of the interior into ruin. After slaying the Shadow Lord, they entombed his remains in the deepest recesses of the castle keep, hoping to place his dark legacy behind Vana'diel forever. This has only seemed to enhance the mystery behind the most recent uprisings lead by one who claims to be the very same being entombed within the castle.

Although not recognized by any of the Great Nations or the Grand Duchy as a national capital, the castle is home to legions of beastmen and their kin. During the Crystal War, many beings were reported within that defied conventional description or classification. These were labeled as "demons," and were among the most deadly of the Shadow Lord's army. Such affiliations have lead to the speculation that Castle Zvahl was intended as a home or worshipping site for the dark god Promathia.

Throne Room

The "Burning Circle" area for the Shadow Lord fight and the final Bastok mission. Located in Castle Zvahl Keep.

title: Final Fantasy XI/Location Guide


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)

This book has maps and pictures of all hidden areas in Spira but is not a game Walktrough. For a detailed Walkthrough see GameFAQs for Final Fantasy X or GameFAQs for Final Fantasy X-2. This is a more detailed look at the world of Spira, written with fanfiction writers and other Final Fantasy X or Final Fantasy X-2 fanatics in mind. People who write fanfiction for both FFX and FFX-2 often want to describe a place or someone from the game, but can't find any pictures on the web. Now they can.

Currency
Spira currently uses gil as its official currency, but evidence dug out in Bikanel Desert recently (FFX-2) indicates it may have used gold coins in the past. For notation we will use "G" for gil amounts.

Commerce
People in Spira can be seen weaving (Besaid), working in shops, bars and travel agencies, playing blitzball, raising chocobos, sailing boats, managing shoopufs and performing in a variety of entertainment shows. One assumes some Spira residents fish and grow produce to supply their fellow Spirans with consumable goods (like the fishing nets found in Besaid) and that there must be a market in every city/village.

Geography
The world of Spira is covered in large part with water, having only one large continent that spans from Spira's south pole—viewable in the distance in Besaid— to well above Spira's equator.

Climate
On the southern part of the continent, Spira's climate resembles the climate of the south pacific on Earth. The climate gets colder as one approaches Guadosalam, further to the north, as we can see by the clothing worn by the Guado and Bevelle natives. Macalania seems to be positioned at a high altitude, as vast icy areas can be seen on the road to Macalania Temple, yet ice is not present in the neighboring city of Bevelle. With the exception of the snowy high mountain trails of Mt. Gagazet, the northern tip of the continent seems to have a temperate or mildly warm climate since lighter clothing is worn by Yunalesca, Maechen and other Zanarkand natives and by the travel agency patrons on the Calm Lands.

Flora/Fauna
Spira has its own unique fauna, composed mainly of fiends, which are hostile monsters that attack any passerby. Other animals that can be seen in Spira are small monkeys, dogs, cats and chocobos and shoopuf. All plant species in Spira resemble the vegetation on Earth with three notable exceptions: The magical woods of Macalania Forest, the moon lilies of the Moonflow and the plant fiends, plant-like monsters such as the Ochu.

Cultural aspects
From Wikipedia: ''Many elements of Final Fantasy X are drawn from Japanese culture and folklore. The names of most of the main cast are drawn from either Okinawan or Ainu words ("Yuna" meaning "moon" in the former and "Wakka" "water" in the latter). The world of Spira itself is modeled on southeast asia, most notably with respect to its vegetation, topography, and architecture''.

Religion
The Teachings of Yevon—said to have been left by Yevon to his daughter, Lady Yunalesca—were implemented by Bevelle to maintain order through giving the people hope that Spira may someday be free of Sin should they atone for their "sins." Until Yuna exposed their lies, the Church of Yevon taught that machina were forbidden, that Sin was a result of humanity's pride and use of machina in the past, and that Sin could only be vanquished when humanity had attained purity and been cleansed of its past sins. Until then, it was said that only the ritual known as "the Final Summoning" would provide brief reprieves from Sin's terror (called "Calms").

Mythology
Like many of the precedent Final Fantasy games, the story lines of the role-playing games Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 borrow ideas and names from ancient mythological figures and from past and present cultures such as Indian, Roman, Greek and Arabian, but the two games also have their own distinct mythology. The concepts of magic, spiritual energy, the power of memories, and the spirituality of the people are heavily intertwined, and their effects manifest in a number of situations, including sporting events, religious practices, the technology used by Spirans and even in some of the native wildlife of the planet.

The Hymn of the Fayth—composed by Japanese composer Nobuo Uematsu—serves as a transitional song and an indicator of religious importance or solemnity. In actuality, the Hymn of the Fayth was originally an Al Bhed song sung in defiance of Yu Yevon. In the real world, the lyrics of the song require some deciphering to find their true meaning.

Entertainment

 * Blitzball
 * Sphere Break

Races / Ethnic Groups
Most intelligent beings in Spira belong to one of the five sentient humanoid races that inhabit the planet. The exception are the Cactuar, intelligent, talking cacti that can even move around Spira during certain stages of their lives. The Cactuars have been the protectors of Bikanel Desert for many generations.

Humanoids — Humanoids in Spira belong to one of the following five sentient races: Ronso, Guado, Hypello, Al Bhed and regular humans. Among Spira's regular humans there are several small ethnic subgroups that share some distinctive clothing and/or physical traits. Cactuar — The Cactuar are intelligent, talking cacti that appear in the games Final Fantasy X and its sequel, Final Fantasy X-2. They go through several life stages, including one where they are small mobile cacti.

Magical Beings
In Spira, we have the regular humanoid persons and animals that can be killed or die of natural causes, but we also have several magical classes of beings. There are two types of "immortal" beings that look, move and talk as living humans yet are not alive and cannot die: The unsent and the fayth. All five humanoid races can technically become either, depending on circumstance and the individuals in question. There are also two classes of magical fauna in Spira: the helpful Aeons and the aggressive fiends.

Places to go

 * 1) Besaid
 * 2) Kilika
 * 3) Luca
 * 4) Mi'hen Highroad
 * 5) Mushroom Rock
 * 6) Djose
 * 7) Moonflow
 * 8) Guadosalam
 * 9) Thunder Plains
 * 10) Macalania Woods
 * 11) Bevelle
 * 12) Calm Lands
 * 13) Mt. Gagazet
 * 14) Zanarkand

Calendar
For clarity's sake, we will divide Spira's calendar into two periods: before and after the events on first game of the series (FFX) take place, abbreviated as "BG" and "AG" respectively. Following this notation, FFX-2 takes place in the year AG 2 and the Bevelle/Zanarkand war takes place in year 1,000 BG.

Significant Events
One thousand years before the events of Final Fantasy X take place, the world of Spira was much different than what we see in the game. Zanarkand, now a dead city, was a vibrant metropolis with many skyscrapers and a thriving civilization of mages, lead by Summoner Yu Yevon. Bevelle was also a large, vibrant city, though at this time, its leaders were not preoccupied with the Church of Yevon, for they were actually enemies of both Yevon and Zanarkand.

A war began between Zanarkand and Bevelle, and Sin was born of an attempt by Yu Yevon to preserve his city, if only in memories. Sin destroyed all living things it encountered, but had been programmed to especially target advanced technology and large populations of people. Yu Yevon's daughter, Yunalesca, defeated Sin 1,000 years ago and brought temporary peace to Spira with the first Calm.

After Yunalesca, the title of "high summoner" was bestowed on summoners that were successful in defeating Sin. There are currently only 6 High Summoners known to have defeated Sin after Yunalesca:

 * Lord Gandof defeated Sin 400 years ago (400 BG), becoming the first high summoner since Yunalesca.
 * Lord Ohalland defeated Sin 230 years ago(230 BG).
 * Lady Yocun defeated Sin approximately 100 years ago (100 BG).
 * Lord Braska, Yuna's father, defeated Sin ten years before the events of FFX took place (10 BG).
 * Lady Yuna defeated Sin during FFX, bringing the Eternal Calm and becoming the last high summoner, and also defeated Vegnagun two years later during FFX-2 (AG 2).

Lost Cities
All large ruins share Zanarkand's distinctive architectural style, which differs widely from Spira's current style for cities such as Luca.

Dream City
In addition to the ruined cities, Spira also has Dream Zanarkand, Tidus' home town, which is shown as a very advanced technological city, featuring little to no magic.

City Ruins
After 1,000 years of Sin's attacks, as one might expect, the world of Spira plays host to the ruins of many old cities and buildings. They are the "lost cities of Spira":
 * 1) Zanarkand Ruins - A city dead for 1,000 years; not the same city as Tidus' home town of Dream Zanarkand.
 * 2) Moonflow river - Submerged city ruins
 * 3) Mi'hen Highroad - City ruins
 * 4) Bikanel Desert ruins
 * 5) Thunder Plains ruins
 * 6) Macalania Lake - Submerged city ruins
 * 7) Besaid ruins
 * 8) Calm Lands ruins
 * 9) Yadonoki Tower ruins - The tower explored in Last Mission

Temples
Each temple has a distinctive architectural style, and bears differences to that seen in the temple at Zanarkand. This can be easily explained in that the temples that are part of a summoner's pilgrimage were all built after Zanarkand fell, and were constructed by the Church of Yevon.

Open Temples

 * 1) Besaid Temple - Valefor's fayth - No element
 * 2) Kilika Temple - Ifrit's fayth - Fire element
 * 3) Djose Temple - Ixion's aeon - Thunder element
 * 4) Macalania Temple - Shiva's aeon - Ice element
 * 5) Bevelle Temple - Bahamut's aeon - No element

Lost Temples

 * 1) Baaj Temple - Anima's fayth - No element
 * 2) Remien Temple - Magus Sisters' fayth - No element
 * 3) Floating Ruins - No fayth; only accessible in FFX-2; very distinctive architecture, possibly indicative of a Water element theme

Hidden Dungeons
There are fourteen dungeons that have been discovered so far in Spira:

Dungeons available in FFX

 * 1) Calm Lands Gorge - Cavern of the Stolen Fayth
 * 2) Omega Ruins - Omega Dungeon
 * 3) Bevelle - Underwater Dungeon - Via Purifico
 * 4) Gagazet Summit - Small Underwater/Cave dungeon

Additional dungeons available in FFX-2

 * 1) Mi'hen Highroad - Old Road; hover crashsite dungeon
 * 2) Zanarkand - Zanarkand Dungeon
 * 3) Floating Ruins - Small dungeon
 * 4) Chocobo Ranch dungeon
 * 5) Thunder Plains - Tower dungeon
 * 6) Thunder Plains - Dragon dungeon
 * 7) Bikanel Desert - Cactuar dungeon
 * 8) Mushroom Rock - Den of Woe
 * 9) Bevelle - Via Infinito
 * 10) Besaid - Wakka's Cave

Architecture
Many places in Spira have ruins showcasing a distinctive architectural style of tall round towers with pointed cones and a band of decorative runes around each cone. The tower colors resemble terracotta with decorations are usually blue/green and windows that tend to be circular. This architectural style is in stark contrast to that of modern Spiran settlements, indicating that the modern cities of Spira were probably built after the Machina War and the desolation of the machina cities, explaining why they have a very different style from that of Zanarkand and the other machina cities of the past. Different Architectural styles in Spira:


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Places/Besaid

Open Places

 * Besaid Village
 * Besaid Temple - Temple of Valefor
 * Besaid Beach
 * Beach Trail

Secret Places

 * Wakka's Dungeon
 * Besaid Ruins
 * Little cove and cave (from FFX chapter 1)


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Places/Kilika

Open Areas

 * Kilika Village
 * Kilika Harbor
 * Youth League Fort
 * Temple of Ifrit

Secret Areas

 * A small plateau overlooking the village and jungle where Cactuars like to hang out


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Places/Luca

Open Places

 * Blitzball Statium
 * Luca Bar
 * Luca Streets
 * Luca Theater
 * Luca Harbor - Docks 1-5

Secret Places

 * None found so far

Luca pictures:
,,


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Places/Mihen

Open Places

 * Mi'hen Highroad
 * Mi'hen Oldroad
 * Rin's Travel Agency

Secret Places

 * Mi'hen oldroad
 * Hover Crash site Dungeon


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Places/Mushroom Rock

Open Area

 * Summit: Mi'hen Operation HQ, Youth League HQ
 * Mushroom Rock Road
 * Summit trail

Secret Places

 * Den of Woe
 * Lord Mi'hen's statue


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Places/Djose

Open Areas

 * Djose Temple

Secret Areas

 * Djose Beach

Djose pictures:
,, , ,


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Places/Moonflow

Moonflow Pictures:
,, , , ,


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Places/Guadosalam

Open Areas

 * Guadosalam
 * Wood Clearing
 * Farplane

Secret Places

 * None found so far


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Places/Thunder Plains

Open Area

 * Thunder Plains Travel Agency
 * Thunder Plains

Secret Places

 * Thunder Dungeon 1 - Lightining Tower 9
 * Thunder Dungeon 2 - Dragon Dungeon


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Places/Macalania

Macalania Woods stand at the edge of te Macalania Lake. A temple sits atop the frozen lake

Open Areas

 * Macalania Woods Trail
 * Sky Trail
 * Camping site
 * Macalania Spring East (Su Te Da Ki Ne)
 * Travel Agency
 * Macalania Temple - Temple of Shiva
 * Frozen Lake & Icy trails to the teple

Secret Areas

 * Macalania Spring North (where they find the first Jechtsphere in FFX)
 * Macalania Lake bottom


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Places/Bevelle

Open Areas

 * Bevelle Highbridge
 * Bevele Temple

Secret Places

 * Via Purifico Sewer Dungeon
 * Via Infinito Cloister Dungeon
 * Bevelle Temple Underground


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Places/Calm Lands

Open Areas

 * Calm Lands
 * Cave of the Stolen Fayth
 * Chocobo Ranch / Monster Arena

Secret Areas

 * Remien Temple - Temple of Magus
 * Amazing Chocobo Dungeon


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Places/Gagazet

Open Areas

 * Mountain Trails
 * Gagazet Summit
 * Fayth Scar

Secret Areas

 * Floating Ruins

Mt. Gagazet:
,


text:
Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Places/Zanarkand Ruins

Open Areas

 * Trail to Zanarkand Dome
 * Zanarkand Dome

Secret Areas

 * Zanarkand Dungeon


text: Final Fantasy X/Shops and Merchants

title: Final Fantasy X/Shops and Merchants


text: Final Fantasy X/O'aka XXIII

title: Final Fantasy X/O'aka XXIII


text:
Final Fantasy X/Items and Key Times

Distillers
These force enemies to drop certain types of spheres.

Spheres
You use spheres to activate nodes on the Sphere Grid.

Miscellaneous Items
Most of these items are rare and you can only get them by winning or stealing during a battle. All of them can be used for Rikku's Overdrive, Mix.

title: Final Fantasy X/Items and Key Times


text:
Final Fantasy X/Blitzball

 * 1) Agents
 * 2) Techniques
 * 3) Stats and Strategies

title: Final Fantasy X/Blitzball


text: Final Fantasy X/Blitzball/Agents

title: Final Fantasy X/Blitzball/Agents


text: Final Fantasy X/Blitzball/Techniques

title: Final Fantasy X/Blitzball/Techniques


text:
Final Fantasy X/Aeons/Valefor

Location Found: Besaid

Valefor is the first Aeon that Yuna can summon, which you receive in Besaid after conquering the Cloister of Trials. She resembles a large eagle and stays afloat. Therefore enemies on the ground have a harder time hitting than with other Aeons. Although Valefor starts out as a useful asset to your party, when you get the other Aeons, she will probably end up weak. Valefor's damage will be able to exceed 9,999 once Yuna activates her Celestial Weapon, Nirvana.

Unique Attack

 * Sonic Wings
 * Non-elemental attack
 * Can Delay enemies

Overdrives
Valefor is the only Aeon with two Overdrives.

 * Energy Ray - The default Overdrive, in which Valefor shoots a ray of energy under the enemies, blowing up the ground under them.
 * Energy Blast - This is Valefor's more powerful Overdrive, with a longer recharge time that can be obtained by talking to a little girl with a pet dog in Besaid. Energy Blast is a lot more useful than Energy Ray. She will attack the enemies with a large energy beam through a spinning disc (often killing the subject).

title: Final Fantasy X/Aeons/Valefor


text:
Final Fantasy X/Aeons/Ifrit

Location Found: Kilika Temple

Unique Attack

 * Meteor Strike:
 * A Non-elemental attack.
 * It has a longer recovery time than a regular attack.
 * Long-range.
 * Penetrates Protect even though it is a physical attack.

Overdrive

 * Hellfire:
 * "Ifrit encases its foes in a swirling ball of fiery vengeance and detonates it for massive damage to all enemies. All of Ifrit's attacks can exceed 9999 HP damage once you have activated Wakka's legendary weapon, World Champion." - Final Fantasy X Official Strategy Guide.

title: Final Fantasy X/Aeons/Ifrit


text:
Final Fantasy X/Aeons/Ixion

Location Found: Djose Temple

Unique Attack

 * Aerospark:
 * Non-elemental damage
 * Negates magical effects: Protect, Shell, Reflect, Haste, Regen, NulBlaze, NulShock, NulTide, NulFrost

Overdrive

 * Thor's Hammer:
 * "Ixion envelops all enemies in a storming vortex, and then disintegrates it. Lightning-based elemental damage is inflicted against all enemies. Ixion can inflict more than 9999 HP damage once you've activated Kimahri's Spirit Lance." -Final Fantasy X Official Strategy Guide

title: Final Fantasy X/Aeons/Ixion


text:
Final Fantasy X/Aeons/Yojimbo

'''Location Found: Cavern of the Stolen Fayth

Yojimbo is one of the three optional powerful Aeons. He initially has a strong evasion level, but his health and defense is lower than average. You have to pay an amount of Gil for him to attack.

He will choose one of four attacks. The attack chosen depends on the game's evaluation of a sophisticated motivation function that depends on the Yojimbo-resistance level of the opponent, Gil payed relative to Gil wealth, a hidden compatibility level, whether or not Yojimbo is in overdrive,  and a random number generator. The moves are listed below, from least to most gil paid:

 * Daigoro, Yojimbo's pet dog who is summoned to attack.
 * Kozuka, throwing three daggers at the enemy for medium damage.
 * Wakizashi, an attack in which he throws three daggers that either hit one or all enemies.
 * Zanmato, an infallible 1-hit-kill attack. He draws a katana from the belly of hell, unsheathes its shimmering blade, casts away the scabbard, and lauches a spinning lateral slash at the enemies. A gust of wind will promptly decapitate them. This attack works on bosses too, either killing them or sending them into their next form!

All of Yojimbo's attacks are automatically Penetrating. You cannot teach Yojimbo any abilities. His Overdrive is only increase probability of using Zanmato.

"Yojimbo" is "bodyguard" in Japanese, fitting for a pay-per-kill aeon.

title: Final Fantasy X/Aeons/Yojimbo


text:
Final Fantasy X/Aeons/Anima

'''Location Found: Baaj Temple

Anima is Seymour's Aeon. Her first appearance is after the Blitzball game in Luca. Seymour also summons her in battle against you while at Macalania. However, you can also get this powerful Aeon to fight for you.

Obtaining Anima
You can obtain Anima by destroying the Destruction Sigil in each Cloister of Trials, then going to Baaj Temple, which can be found with the right coordinates. Once there, dive into the water from the rocks north of you, then swim towards the entrance of the temple to find...

Geosgano
HP: About 32.000 Sensor: Vurnerable to magic. Immune to: All negative effects, except for Poison. However, there is another way to inflict negative status on him... Attacks: Stone Punch - Physical damage and Petrification to one character. KO Punch - Physical damage and Death to one character. Eat - Will eat one character. Will copy ALL status effects, including positive ones. Will later spit character out, inflicting damage to all characters equal to the amount of HP the character had when he/she was eaten. If you use Struggle inside his belly, he will spit you out immediately meaning instant KO, I do not know if this means damage to the party too. If you kill him with someone in his belly, he will spit the character out inflicting 9999 damage to the party.

Strategy
This is the fiend that almost had Tidus for lunch in the beginning of the game, like Tidus said: "Payback time!" Death and Stoneproof armour is needed, trust me. At least use Stone Ward, because if you are petrified underwater, you will shatter and won't come back for the rest of the battle. First start out by inflicting Poison on Geosgano. I mixed up an Aqua Toxin with Rikku (Candle of Life, Fish Scale), because no one could use Bio. Then start inflicting status effects on one of your own characters. If one of your characters knows Cura(ga), inflict Zombie. I'd also recommend Slow. If Geosgano is zombified, cast Cura(ga)'s on him until he dies. Be sure not to kill him with a character in his belly! This will probably mean instant KO, which means you'll get Game Over. Good luck!

Attacks
Her special attack is "Pain". This attack inflicts damage and Death to the opponent. The first time you see Anima is after the Blitzball game that you get to play at Luca when all the fiends start attacking. That is also the first time you see "Pain".

Her Overdrive is "Oblivion". If used, Anima takes enemies into oblivion (hence the name). Inside Oblivion, she breaks the chains that ties her hands down and delivers hit after hit. This means that you don't need Break Damage Limit to inflict a lot of damage with this Overdrive.

When you first get Anima, she comes with all elemental Black Magic spells, plus Bio and Death. She also comes with a lot of status inflicting attacks, including Zombie Attack.

Looks
If you have ever seen the first Lord of the Rings Anima's lower half looks like the ring hunters (the guys with the black hoods) when Frodo puts on the ring. It doesnt look exactly like them but they look some what the same.

title: Final Fantasy X/Aeons/Anima


text:
Final Fantasy X/Aeons/Magus Sisters

To obtain the Magus Sisters, the two seals in front of the door to the chamber of the Fayth in Remiem Temple must be broken by using the Flower Sceptre and Blossom Crown. The Flower Sceptre can be obtained by defeating the first five of Belgemine's Aeons (up to and including Bahamut), who conveniently stands in the middle of Remiem. The Blossom Crown is awarded at the Monster Arena for capturing at least one of every fiend from ../../Mt. Gagazet/.

After getting the two items, approach the chamber of the Fayth at the back of Remiem temple to break the seals and get your three new Aeons, Cindy, Sandy and Mindy. You can enter the chamber again to receive a Luck Sphere.

In general, the Magus Sisters will have the highest stats of all the Aeons (particularly Sandy's strength and Cindy's HP), and as all three fight at once, will be a good choice for tackling the monster arena at lower levels. The catch is that you can't directly control the Aeon's actions, but only really 'advise' them i.e. choose whether to attack, cast offensive magic, support magic and so on.

Unique Attack

 * Sandy's Razzia
 * Does about 1.5 times normal attack damage.

 * Cindy's Camisade
 * Does about 1.5 times normal attack damage.

 * Mindy's Passado
 * Attacks at 10% power 15 times to give 1.5 times normal attack damage, however as a multi-attack the damage can be significantly increased if your normal attacks would be over 99999 and if you have a high luck stat (causing critical hits).

Overdrive

 * Delta Attack
 * This attack hits six times for high damage (based on your magic stats). It is performed by selecting "Combine Powers" when all three sisters' Overdrive bars are full.

title: Final Fantasy X/Aeons/Magus Sisters


text:
Final Fantasy X/Walkthrough/We called it Sin

When the game opens, one thing that you have to do before you can continue on to the second screen where you control your character, is talk to the 2 girls that are together, and the 3 boys that are together (using X). This has confused many people, where they don't know what to do. By talking with them, you will initiate 2 different cutscenes, one with each group of people, and in doing so you can name your character (default Tidus) and move on to the next screen.


text:
Final Fantasy X/Secrets and Sidequests/Remiem Temple

Remiem Temple is a hidden area in the Calm Lands, available as soon as you have trained a chocobo. To train a chocobo, approach the trainer near the cliff (look at the Chocobo Trainer section for more information). Once you have the chocobo, go up towards the entrance of Macalania Woods. Here, on the east from the entrance, is a Chocobo Feather. After approaching this and pressing X, you will jump to a hill. Enter the area up ahead. You are know at Remiem Temple.

Belgemine
The summoner Belgemine will appear in Remiem Temple after defeating her at the Calm Lands. Here, Yuna and her can have an Aeon duel. In order to unlock the Magus Sisters, you must defeat all the Aeons, including the hidden Aeons, Yojimbo and Anima. To get Yuna's Moon Sigil, you must also defeat the Magus Sisters and then send Belgemine.

Aeon Battles
Below are strategies on defeating Belgemine's Aeons.

BOSS BATTLE: Valefor
HP: 20,000

Valefor is the easiest Aeon. If you can't beat it, you should probably train Yuna a little more. If you have the secret Aeons at this point, Valefor can be killed in an instant. Otherwise summon Ixion or Shiva (Ifrit's a little too slow for Valefor, although it is possible) and keep up a constant stream of attacks. If you are injured to greatly, heal the Aeon with their own Black Magic. If Valefor goes in to Overdrive, use shield. Valefor will attack with Energy Ray and then, afterward, Energy Blast, so your Aeons may not be able to withstand. If that is the case, summon another elemental Aeon. If you want to defeat Valefor quickly, summon your Aeons and boost them in to Overdrive. Two Overdrives and another strong attack should give you victory.

BOSS BATTLE: Ifrit
HP: 28,000

Ifrit is easy enough. If you've got the secret aeons, just summon and pound away with Blizzaga until it dies. If you don't have the secret aeons, you could substitute Bahamut for Anima (although it wouldn't work as good because of Bahamut's lower stats). Or, you could just summon Shiva, healing yourself and hurting Ifrit with Blizzard, and wethering yourself in to Overdrive.


text:
Final Fantasy X/Secrets and Sidequests/Macalania Woods

When I got to Remiem temple and did the Chocobo race against the King of Chocobos and won, getting the cloudy mirror for my efforts, I was really confused. What was this for? At this point I should probably mention that I tamed the chocobos in the Calm Lands (so I could get to that plateau where I couldn't reach on foot) before I got to the beast arena or whatever it is, so I didn't know anything about how some treasure chests/portals/etc. could only be oppened by the Celestial Mirror. Anyways, I got on-line and looked it up and asked a friend what it was for, and here's my summary, along with how to get the Cloudy Mirror un-clouded so that it can become the Celestial Mirror.

The Cloudy Mirror becomes the Celestial Mirror when you bring it to the place in the Macalania Woods where the little boy says it 'feels different.' Of course, to do this, you have to talk to the family (which at first consists of only a mommy and a little boy), who mentions that the dad was suppossed to meet the father there, but they haven't seen them in a long time. Facing the family, turn right and follow the path out (towards the Calm Lands). Keep following it straight on the next screen, past the guard who says that the road to Bevelle is blocked and that the guard is on full alert. On the screen after that, turn up and enter the grove to where the party met up after the Via Purifico dungeon (I think). There you'll find the dad, and if you talked to the family first, an option will come up after a little bit of dialogue giving you a choice whether or not to tell him about the family waiting for him. Tell him. Then he runs off, after thanking you. Follow him back to the site, where you find that the little boy is missing now. There should be a shiny path somewhere on the screen, which seems to run through the sky. Go up it and keep walking for a couple of screens until you get to one where there's a 'Y' in the path. Take the fork that leads to the right, or up, whichever you prefer to think of it as. Whichever one you choose, if you get to another screen, you chose the wrong one and I described it wrong. Anyways, at the top of the path the little boy is waiting for you, and you have a small dialogue where the boy mentions something about the air feeling different. It will ask you if you want to use the Cloudy Mirror; say yes. There will be a flash of light and when it clears you have the Celestial Mirror!

As for what the Celestial Mirror does, I haven't made it very far into the game, BUT I do know it is the key to getting the whole team's Celestial Weapons (Ex: Nirvana, which Yuna gets from the beast Arena or whatever in the Calm Lands after capturing one of each type of monster present there). They have four slots, one of which is occupied by a 'no AP' option. Why you need these weapons, or would even WANT them, as they don't allow you to gain experience, I don't know... but I'm guessing it's important - it may even have something to do with the mysterious 'perfect ending' I've been hearing so much about...


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Final Fantasy X/Secrets and Sidequest/Secret World Map Locations

Baaj Temple

 * Location of Lulu's legendary Weapon, the Onion Knight.
 * Location of Anima, a hidden, powerful Aeon.

Sanubia Desert

 * Location of Tidus's Ascalon:
 * Has the Double AP ability.

Besaid Falls

 * Location of Kimahri's Dragoon Lance.

Mi'ihen Ruins

 * Location of Rikku's Sonar.

Battle Site

 * Location of Lulu's Phantom Bangle
 * Absorbs three types of elemental attacks.

Omega Ruins

 * Location of Ultima Weapon and Omega Weapon, two of the hardest fiends in the game.
 * Location of:
 * Al Bhed Primer vol. XXVI
 * 1x Teleport Sphere
 * 1x Magic Sphere
 * 1x Friend Sphere


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Illustrated Guide to the world of Spira (FFX and FFX-2)/Hidden Dungeons

There are 14 dungeons in the world of FFX and FFX2. Dungeons in Spira vary very little in style, most of them look like ancient stone temples with a hint of Ancient Egyptian stonework. Notable exceptions are Bevelle Cloister, Bevelle's underwater maze and the cave dungeons on Omega Ruins and the Den of Woe. Mt. Gagazet has a very unique cave dungeon with some parts submerged under water.

Bevelle - Bevelle Cloister Dungeon - Via Infinito
Can be explored only on Final Fantasy X-2. The dungeon is located at the right side of the Temple, 1st floor. It has several game goodies and solves some game story mysteries such as the whereabouts of Trema, the first leader of the New Yevon faction. Trema can be found on the 101st floor of the dungeon. Optional

Omega Ruins - Omega Dungeon
Can be explored only on Final Fantasy X. The dungeon is located in an unexplored part of Spira, at the Easternmost part of Spira's large continent. It has several game goodies. Optional

Calm Lands Gorge - Cave of the Stolen Fayth
Can be explored on both games. The dungeon is located in the northern part of the Calm Lands. It has several game goodies. Optional on FFX, mandatory on FFX2 plus the power up for Paine's special dressphere

Mushroom Rock - Den of Woe
Can be explored only on Final Fantasy X-2. Several game goodies. Optional.

Mi'hen - Hover Crash site Dungeon
Can be explored only on Final Fantasy X-2. The dungeon is located at the base of the Highroad bridges, where a hover crashes in chapter 3. It has several game goodies. Optional

Besaid - Wakka's Cave
The cave where Wakka goes on to look for his parent's sphere on Final Fantasy X-2. No goodies, Mandatory

Bevelle - Underwater dungeon - Via Purifico
Can be explored only on Final Fantasy X. It is a large underground sewer full of fiends. Tidus and the rest of the guardians are thrown there by Kinoc and Seymour. No game goodies. Mandatory

Gagazet Summit - Small Underwater/cave dungeon
Can be explored only on Final Fantasy X. No game goodies. Mandatory

Amazing Chocobo Dungeon
Can be explored only on Final Fantasy X-2. The dungeon is located at the back of Clasko's Chocobo Ranch in the Calm Lands. It has several game goodies. Optional

Thunder Plains - Tower Dungeon
Can be explored only on Final Fantasy X-2. The dungeon is located at the base of the 9th calibration tower, across the lake. It has several game goodies. Optional

Thunder Plains - Dragon Dungeon
Can be explored only on Final Fantasy X-2. The dungeon is located at the Southwest end of the plains. No game goodies. Mandatory

Bikanel Desert - Cactuar Dungeon
Can be explored only on Final Fantasy X-2. The dungeon is located in a cave on the back area of the Cactuar Nation. No game goodies. Optional

Zanarkand - Zanarkand Dungeon
Can be explored only on Final Fantasy X-2. No game goodies. Mandatory

Floating Ruins - Small dungeon
Can be explored only on Final Fantasy X-2. Some game goodies. Mandatory