Bahamut
The dragon king of Final Fantasy: ally, antagonist and summon across the series.
Bahamut is a recurring character in the Final Fantasy series. He first appears in the original game, where he helps the party upgrade its characters, and from Final Fantasy III onward he can be summoned to fight alongside the player. Across later entries he shifts roles, appearing as a supporting figure, an antagonist or a summon, and his form changes from game to game, with variants such as Neo Bahamut and Bahamut ZERO in Final Fantasy VII.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Final Fantasy
- First game
- Final Fantasy (1987)
- Designer
- Yoshitaka Amano (Final Fantasy III)
Lore & Background
Yoshitaka Amano designed Bahamut's look for Final Fantasy III, and Kazuko Shibuya turned that design into sprites. Amano did not know that the mythological Bahamut had a sheep's head; he drew the creature as a mechanical dragon and believes this shaped how Japanese audiences picture Bahamut. Critics generally rate him among the best summons in the series.
Reader's Guide
In Final Fantasy III the party must defeat Bahamut before he can be summoned. Final Fantasy XII has no Bahamut summon, but the Sky Fortress Bahamut is its final dungeon, and in Final Fantasy XIII he is summoned by Oerba Yun Fang.
In Final Fantasy IX, Bahamut is an eidolon that Queen Brahne turns on Kuja, who seizes control of it and uses it to kill her; Garnet and Eiko later summon Alexander to defeat it. In Final Fantasy X he appears as a young boy who guides Tidus through Spira before becoming an aeon that helps Yuna against Sin. In Final Fantasy XIV he is the primal known as the Dreadwyrm, whose rampage explains the changes between the original release and A Realm Reborn.
More in Mythos & History
Elsewhere in Final Fantasy
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