Final Fantasy is a JRPG franchise that has deeply embedded its roots into gaming history as we know it. To this day, every single time one is asked to mention some of the most popular JRPG games around, then you can safely bet that at least one Final Fantasy game will be mentioned in some form or the other. After all, the fact of the matter is that this series has some of the best titles in the entirety of gaming, let alone the JRPG genre itself. The sheer number of classic elements in this series has elevated its stature to an entirely new level, unlike anything ever seen before.
Speaking of classic elements, it's time to get down to brass tacks and talk about one of the most iconic aspects of Final Fantasy games. Yep, you guessed it right — we're talking about none other than the summons themselves. After all, who doesn't remember the first time they summoned the legendary Ifrit, Shiva, or Ramuh to rain down elemental destruction upon their foes? Of course, that doesn't even come close to the legendary Bahamut and his incredibly devastating power.
However, one needs to remember that the Final Fantasy series has a lot of summons, some more remarkable than the rest. This list brings to light ten summons from the series that have been forgotten over time due to multiple reasons, with everything from uninteresting powers to minimal usage being a few of the factors that have played into their obsolescence.
10 Diabolos
It's sad that most people don't tend to take the name of Diabolos when talking about the coolest summons in the series. We say this because this summon is absolutely hypnotic to look at, especially in Final Fantasy VIII.
However, in terms of utility, Diabolos isn't really all that great. Its gravity-elemental damage means that only a set percentage of damage is done to the enemy, which entails that you'll never finish off anyone with this summon.
9 Asura
In Final Fantasy IV, Asura has a pretty crazy and interesting backstory. She's the queen of the Eidolons and rules over them in the Feymarch. Obtaining her is quite an achievement, but her powers aren't really all that great since she only has curative powers and casts one of three things at random — Protect, Raise, or Curaga.
She's been notably absent from other Final Fantasy games ever since for no rhyme or reason.
8 Remora
Talk about an absolutely useless summon. Remora was so inconsequential as a summon in Final Fantasy V that it ended up being nothing more than a common enemy in later iterations of the series.
This summon only costs 2MP and performs the amazing task of... paralyzing an enemy. Yep, you heard that right. This is legit the only thing Remora is capable of in the game.
7 Hades
When most people mention Hades in the context of the Final Fantasy games, the first thing that comes to the mind of most gamers is the fact that he's a superboss in Final Fantasy IX.
However, what most people tend to forget is that Hades is also a summon in Final Fantasy VII that can inflict numerous status effects on the enemy, making him highly useful as a result.
6 Kujata
Speaking of Final Fantasy VII, it's time to talk about another summon from this series that not many people remember nowadays. We're talking about Kujata, the summon that uses a multi-elemental attack to decimate parties.
However, this summon wasn't really all that useful. If an enemy can negate or absorb a particular element, then the entire attack pretty much went to waste.
5 Brothers
Time to move on to Final Fantasy VIII again and talk about an absolutely adorable summon that is optional to boot. The journey to get Brothers is quite memorable, and the actual summon itself is halfway decent as well.
The problem with Brothers is that its damage doesn't really compare to the rest of the Guardian Forces. This, coupled with the fact that earth damage is always a risky business in any Final Fantasy game, made Brothers pretty obsolete in the long run.
4 Pandemona
Speaking of Final Fantasy VIII, it's time to talk about a GF that is arguably the most inconsequential GF in the entire game. During the fight against Fujin and Raijin in the game, the player can draw this creature from the former.
If that wasn't unremarkable enough as is, Pandemona doesn't hold a candle to some of the other GFs in the game that are objectively better in every sense of the word.
3 Ixion
Yuna's aeons are an absolute treat to summon, and most of them have been etched into the minds of anyone who had the privilege of playing Final Fantasy X. However, even the most ardent of players tend to forget about the aeon Ixion, who — while certainly useful in some situations — becomes pretty inconsequential at a point.
After all, receiving the summons of Anima and Bahamut pretty much make any other summon obsolete, for the most part.
2 Bismarck
Water-elemental summons aren't exactly all that abundant — or prominent, for that matter — in the Final Fantasy series. Most of the attention goes to the elements of Fire, Ice, and Thunder, which are generally utilized the most in these games.
This is probably one of the major reasons why Bismarck didn't really break any ground after being included in Final Fantasy VI. The sad part is that, in the Advance version of the game, he's not even the best water-elemental summon anymore. Instead, he gets replaced by the OG water-elemental summon — Leviathan.
1 Crusader
On paper, Crusader should ideally be one of the best summons in Final Fantasy VI. Its attack boasts an incredible spell power of 190, which is the highest in the game, save for Kefka's Forsaken and Gilgamesh's Enkidu abilities.
However, where this summon completely crashes and burns is in terms of its utility. The fact is that Crusader's Cleasing ability attacks both the enemies and the player party as well! Unless you have Reraise on your party or incredibly high magical defense, you're bound to get a game over after summoning this beast.