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The Five Most Forgettable Final Fantasy Summons
Summoned monsters provide some of the most memorable moments in the Final Fantasy series. All fans remember the first time they saw Bahamut use megaflare, or watched the Knights of the Round take their turns dealing damage. Some of these monsters and their signature attacks have grown into iconic parts of the franchise...but this list focuses on those who have faded away into obscurity. Maybe their special moves just went unused, or maybe they looked lame and had stupid effects. Whatever the explanation, these are top five summons that players are likely to forget.
Asura (Final Fantasy IV)
Not all summons need to cast elaborate and powerful spells...but they should at least be predictable. Asura randomly casts one of three white magic spells (Curaga, Raise, and Protect) on the party. Without being able to select the spell that fits your situation, the MP that you spend summoning her is better spent on more reliable outcomes. As a result, she often sits unused in Rydia's list of available allies.
Remora (Final Fantasy V)
Look, I don't know what to tell you – it's a swarm of fish that doesn't even do any damage (they lower an enemy's speed instead). No thanks. If I were I summoner, I wouldn't admit to knowing this trick.
Cactuar (Final Fantasy VIII)
No one can say that the Cactuar isn't a classic Final Fantasy creature, but its appearance as a summoned monster barely even registers on the coolness scale. He pops up to the sound of a crazy whistle, then does his 1,000 needles attack that series fans have seen multiple times. Lame! As a side note, another good candidate from Final Fantasy VIII is the Tonberry, but the goofy "doink" text box is too funny to forget.
Madeen (Final Fantasy IX)
This is a weird one, because the beast looks cool, and its attack is powerful. However, Madeen isn't the longest or the most powerful summon in the game (an honor belonging to Ark). Plus, only Eiko is able to use this summon...and she's basically the party's second-string summoner. Add on to that the fact that Madeen does not appear in any subsequent Final Fantasy games, and you have a summoned monster that just doesn't stand out.
All of them (Final Fantasy XIII)
The idea of Sazh driving a robot-turned-racecar is just too much. Thankfully, the core combat of Final Fantasy XIII is so good that players rarely need to summon these ridiculous contraptions. Most fans are actively trying to forget the idea of classic Final Fantasy summons like Alexander and Shiva turning into vehicles. Apparently Square Enix decided to forget about them as well; the whole concept was ditched in Final Fantasy XIII-2 in favor of a monster-capturing mechanic.
(Video clips uploaded by YouTube users NinjaPhoeniX, FFWiki, and afcmark15)
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