Final Fantasy

Alexander is a very popular recurring summon in the Final Fantasy series. His appearance is that of a gigantic robot and often doubles as a mobilised fortress. Alexander is usually quadrupedal (or, more accurately, tripedal as his body sometimes serves as a third ‘leg’ in place of hind legs), and by his posture it is assumed that he moves about with his weight on his front limbs like a gorilla or some sort of a Mecha King Kong.

Alexander’s signature ability is ‘Divine Judgement’ (also sometimes named as ‘Holy Judgement’ or ‘Justice’), and he casts Holy elemental damage on the enemies of the party. Amongst the pantheon of summons in the FF universe Alexander is one of the characters whose origins, and the logic behind his design, are most difficult to unravel. This article discusses some of the themes associated...

Anyone who has played Final Fantasy VI will be aware of a certain talkative, loveable, and yet terribly perverted purple octopus. The creature’s goofy teeth and mischievously sinister eyes make him one of the funniest, most iconic and expressive monster designs in the series. Although the party fights Ultros four times in the game, his role serves more as light comic-relief than as true sub-villain material for plotline importance. Whilst there will surely be some fans who are frustrated by the goofy character, Ultros has been so warmly received by other fans that he has since made several cameo appearances (and has even been retroactively inserted into remakes and re-releases of earlier FF titles). Ultros is something of an oddity within the FF franchise, and it isn’t always obvious where he hails from. Ultros has his namesake origins in Greek mythology, but other than a...

There are many familiar recurring creatures in the Final Fantasy universe whose return fans welcomely embrace. One of these creatures is the Carbuncle. Since its first proper appearance as a boss and summon in Final Fantasy V it has popped up numerous times as a helpful ally, usually known for casting the (sometimes) useful Reflect status effect on the player’s party, bouncing magic spells back towards the opponents. Final Fantasy XIV (and similarly FFXI) give the creature more attention, and it is gifted to the Arcanist class as a personal pet-companion (becoming Final Fantasy’s answer to Pikachu). Regardless of the varieties of the...