Esper ( Final Fantasy XII ) The Espers in " Final Fantasy XII " are powerful beings created by the Occuria . The Espers that join the player ' s side are those spurned by their creators ; twelve for having rebelled , and a thirteenth for being too powerful . Most of the Espers are based on the Lucavi in " Final Fantasy Tactics " or other past bosses of previous " Final Fantasy " games . Five Espers first appeared as Totema in " Final Fantasy Tactics Advance " , and all but two reappear in " " as Yarhi . Lastly , all Espers return in " " as Scions . Recruiting every Esper in " Final Fantasy XII " adds Belias ' s sprite on the Sky Pirate ' s Den and awards the player with the rank of High Summoner . Story . The scions that would become the Espers were created by the Occuria . While the exact number is never revealed , there are at least 24 scions , with each zodiac sign having a light and dark representative . Proud of her power and status , and believing herself superior to her creators , the highest ranking Esper , Ultima , rose up against the gods . Rallying the scions of darkness , the Espers attacked their creators , but even with their combined force , the twelve Espers were defeated and banished to the darkest reaches of Ivalice . Sealed in the Mist , they could only walk among mortals if called by a summoner via their glyphs . A thirteenth scion , Zodiark , was bound by the gods for fear of his power . Unlike the rest of his brethren he is not known to have harbored rebellious desire . It is unknown how long the Espers have been sealed away , but since Dynast - King Raithwall possessed the glyph of Belias it is thought they have been sealed away at least since the era of the Dynast King . Ashe ' s party comes to the Tomb of Raithwall seeking the Dawn Shard to prove Ashe ' s royal lineage . She enlists the help of sky pirate Balthier with promises of the Dynast - King ' s treasure . Before the party reaches Dawn Shard ' s chamber they enter an area thick in Mist and Belias attacks the party . Defeated , the Esper yields and lends its power to the party , but Balthier is disappointed in learning Raithwall ' s treasure was an Esper rather than something of monetary value . The party finds more Espers in places thick in Mist , such as the Zertinan Caverns , Garamsythe Waterway and Necrohol of Nabudis . Many Espers guard locations associated with the Occuria , such as Mateus in Stilshrine of Miriam where the Occurian - forged Sword of Kings is hidden away , Shemhazai guarding the area within the Great Crystal where a waystone to the Occurian realm lies , and Hashmal in the Pharos , built by the Occuria to house the Sun - Cryst . On the party ' s way to the Giruvegan the party must summon Belias to open the gate to the Occurian city . List of Espers . There are thirteen available Espers . Five are obtained in the main story ; the other eight , represented in " italics " , are found through sidequest s . Espers require Mist Charges equal to their level to summon . Scions of Light and Darkness . The following is a list of scions , their associated zodiac signs , and element . It is never stated if Ultima and Zodiark are the Scions of Darkness or Light , but we never see the mentioned Scions of Light regardless . Level One Espers . Level 1 Espers take a single Mist Gauge to summon . Belias , the Gigas . Belias is a bestial Fire Esper who guards the Dawn Shard in the Tomb of Raithwall , and is likely the party ' s first Esper . Belias is the only Esper that must be summoned during the main storyline , to open the gate to the Ancient City of Giruvegan . He fries enemies with Painflare unless the foes absorb Fire . His ultimate attack is Hellfire , perishing enemies in a devastating fire . In " Final Fantasy XII International " Painflare ' s power was boosted and Belias can also cast Fira and Cura and has the Piercing Magic augment . Mateus , the Corrupt . Mateus is found in the Stilshrine of Miriam , guarding the Sword of Kings . Mateus is an aquatic creature with multiple limbs wielding a trident with a goddess chained to his chest he uses as a living shield . He freezes enemies with Flash - Freeze unless they absorb ice . His ultimate attack is Frostwave , charging his trident to his enemies and into a crystallized ice before it shatters . He heals his summoner when they are low on health . In the " Final Fantasy XII International " Flash - Freeze ' s power has been boosted , Mateus can cast Blizzara and has gained the Null Vitality augment . Adrammelech , the Wroth . Adrammelech is an optional Esper found in the depths of Zertinan Caverns , in Athroza Quicksands , closest from Ozmone Plain . He is a winged Lightning Esper that resembles a goat with hooves and a goat ' s head . Adrammelech shocks his foes with Flash Arc unless they absorb Lightning . His ultimate attack is Judgment Bolt , where he releases bolts of electricity . He uses Bio against foes that absorb Lightning and heals his summoner when they are low on health . In " Final Fantasy XII International " Flash Arc ' s power has been boosted , Adrammelech casts Cura instead of Curaga , and has gained the Null Vitality augment . Zalera , the Death Seraph . Zalera is an optional Esper that resides in the deepest reaches of the Barheim Passage . He is a winged skeleton , imbued with the power of death , with a shamaness on his right arm to command impure souls under his doing . The party must obtain the Barheim Key in the Dalmasca Estersand to find him . Zalera destroys foes with the Kill ability , and casts Holy and Shock . His ultimate attack is Condemnation , whereupon the shamaness ' s cries summon dead souls with Zalera hurling them at the enemy . It instantly kills all enemies with fewer than 9 , 999 max HP ( 6 , 999 HP for those with the Damage Resist augment ) , and those with more are hit with non - elemental damage that can break the damage limit . In " Final Fantasy XII International " Zalera no longer casts Holy or Shock . Instead he has Cura , Warp , and Death . He no longer absorbs Holy - elemental attacks and Condemnation ' s damage is randomly generated . Level Two Espers . Level 2 Espers take two Mist Gauges to summon . Shemhazai , the Whisperer . Shemhazai is found in the depths of the Ancient City of Giruvegan in the Gate of Fire area . She is described as a half - woman , half - horse that utilizes soul energy . She attacks foes with Devour Soul , a non - elemental attack whose damage is calculated the same as the item Knot of Rust . Shemhazai ' s ultimate attack is the Soul Purge , where she shoots soul energy from her guns , creating an explosion . It deals damage by the same calculation as the item Dark Matter , meaning its damage cap is 60 , 000 , making it the second most powerful single attack in " Final Fantasy XII " , only bested by Zeromus ' s Big Bang . In " Final Fantasy XII International " , Shemhazai can cast Shock and Curaja and has gained the Null Vitality and Piercing Magick augments . Hashmal , Bringer of Order . Hashmal is a leonine Earth Esper found in Pharos at Ridorana . He shakes his enemies up with Roxxor unless they absorb Earth damage , and his ultimate attack is Gaia ' s Wrath where Hashmal sends enemies into the depths of the earth before erupting like a volcano to deal massive damage . In " Final Fantasy XII International " Hashmal can cast Curaja and Graviga , and has gained the Null Vitality and Piercing Magick augments . Cúchulainn , the Impure . Cúchulainn is an optional Esper residing in the central area of Garamsythe Waterway . He is a venomous and grotesque monster with an engorged body , draining life energy with his poison . Cúchulainn drains the HP of his enemies with Malaise unless they are undead , and his ultimate attack is Blight , using vines emerging from his spine to absorb life into a desert of poison . If there are no enemies around when he is summoned , Cúchulainn uses Curaja that ignores the party ' s Reflect status . When attacked Cúchulainn counterattacks . In " Final Fantasy XII International " , Cúchulainn gains Bio and the Null Vitality augment . Zeromus , the Condemner . Zeromus is an optional Esper hiding away in a secret area of the Stilshrine of Miriam . He has the appearance of a crab due to his massive " claw " , and wields power over gravity . He is the second largest Esper after a winged Zodiark , as his length is measured by his long tail . Zeromus attacks his foes with Gravity Well and his ultimate attack is Big Bang where he uses his claw to charge up gravity power destroying his enemies . Both attacks ' damage depends on Zeromus ' s HP , Big Bang having the potential to deal tens of thousands of damage . In " Final Fantasy XII International " , Zeromus can cast Scourge and Curaja and has gained the Piercing Magick augment . Exodus , the Judge - Sal . Exodus is an optional Esper making his abode at the highest reaches of the Mosphoran Highwaste . Exodus commands celestial bodies , attacking his foes with Comet and his ultimate attack Meteor , whereupon Exodus sends two comets from the ends of his scales to the sky summoning a giant meteor . Both deal random non - elemental damage . In " Final Fantasy XII International " Exodus can cast Curaja and Ardor , and has gained Null Vitality and Piercing Magick augments . Level Three Espers . Level 3 Espers take all three Mist Gauges to summon . Famfrit , the Darkening Cloud . Famfrit is a Water Esper summoned by Dr . Cid at the summit of Pharos at Ridorana . Famfrit carries an ewer of water with which he creates giant waves . Famfrit splashes his enemies with Briny Cannonade unless they absorb Water . His ultimate attack is Tsunami where he uses the ewer to douse his enemies . In " Final Fantasy XII International " Famfrit can cast Renew and has Null Vitality and Piercing Magick augments . Chaos , Walker of the Wheel . Chaos is an optional Wind Esper sealed in the center of Necrohol of Nabudis , in the Cloister of the Highborn . He has the appearance of a bull and sits atop a pedestal commanding four swords to do his bidding . Chaos halves the highest HP enemy ' s HP with Whirlwind and attacks foes with elemental weaknesses with elemental magick that ignore enemies ' Reflect status . His ultimate attack is Tornado where Chaos utilizes his swords to send his foes into a whirlwind . The attack damages his foes 90 % of their max HP . Both attacks are capped at 9 , 999 damage . In " Final Fantasy XII International " , Chaos only retains Aeroga from his previous abilities , but can now cast Renew ; Whirlwind and Tornado no longer do percentage damage . Ultima , the High Seraph . Ultima is an optional Holy Esper who makes her abode at the bottom of the Great Crystal . She is the one who rallied the other eleven Espers to rise against their creators . She is adorned in gold and white robes with six wings . Her dress hides an all - powerful cannon that renders holy light . Her basic attack is Redemption , a powerful Holy - elemental attack . If a foe absorbs Holy , she will use Flare that ignores enemies ' Reflect status . Her ultimate attack is Eschaton that blasts all enemies with a ray of Holy - elemental light . In " Final Fantasy XII International " , Ultima can cast Holy and Renew and gains Null Vitality and Null Weather & Terrain Effects . Her damage is also no longer capped at 9 , 999 . Zodiark , Keeper of Precepts . Zodiark is an optional Dark Esper sealed in the deepest reaches of the Henne Mines . He is the strongest of Espers and a serpentine monster able to sprout wings . He is the only Esper not part of the rebellion against the gods . Zodiark punishes his foes with the Dark - elemental Banish Ray , and if his enemies absorb Dark he uses Flare , and if there are multiple enemies he uses Scathe . His spells ignore enemies ' Reflect status and take no charge time to execute . His ultimate attack is Final Eclipse that ends in an explosion that deals fixed 50 , 000 damage , and unlike most other Esper attacks , Final Eclipse is unaffected by Reverse . In " Final Fantasy XII International " Zodiark can no longer cast Flare , but can cast Renew and Hastega . Final Eclipse ' s damage has been boosted to 60 , 000 and he gains the Null Vitality augment . Gameplay . Obtaining . Espers must be defeated in battle to obtain them . Espers attack as soon as the party arrives in the area they reside in , and often players cannot leave until they defeat the Esper . Once an Esper has been defeated , it appears on the License Board and any character can purchase its license . Espers are assigned to a specific character and once one has bought the Esper ' s license it disappears from everybody else ' s boards . In " Final Fantasy XII International Zodiac Job System " Esper licenses can be used to reach locked abilities on jobs ' License Boards , thus giving more of an element of strategy whom to assign the Esper . Espers are some of the toughest bosses in the game , and some of the battles have handicaps that seal some of the party ' s abilities . As all Espers in the game are of the Dark scion , some are flanked by undead . Summoning . The party member who has an Esper ' s license can summon it by expending a number of Mist Gauges . Summoning an Esper is similar to using a Quickening ; the Lv1 Espers take one gauge to summon , whereas the Lv3 Espers take all three . Summoning an Esper is instantaneous and when an Esper is summoned the two other party members disappear . The normal music is replaced by the Esper ' s battle music as long as the Esper is present . An Esper ' s level is identical to its summoner ' s , yet Espers have fixed Attack , Defense and Magick Resist ( as if wearing the same " equipment " ) . Espers cannot trigger traps even if they are ground - based , like Belias , Cúchulainn , Shemhazai and Hashmal . Each summon lasts maximum of one minute and thirty seconds and ends when either the summoner or the Esper dies , or the Esper uses its ultimate move . The ultimate attacks are area - effect attacks and target the enemy with the highest max HP . In the original " Final Fantasy XII " the Esper follows its own gambits , which the player can ' t set . In this sense , Espers work much like guest s . In " Final Fantasy XII International " summons last a maximum of four minutes and ten seconds . Also , the player can directly control the Espers and toggle their gambits , but not modify them . Espers ' attacks never deal hit combos or critical hits . Espers can cast magicks even without MP , meaning the player can Syphon their MP freely . Espers are immune to almost all status ailments , which can give a strategic advantage against enemies like Carrot , because whenever an Esper is on the battlefield the enemies tend to focus their attacks on it . The Dead character glitch can be triggered if a character dies during an Esper ' s dismiss animation . Stats . The Espers level up along with their summoner and thus their stats grow . The stat growth is fixed , as there are no random elements involved . Musical themes . Battles against Espers are accompanied with " Esper Battle " , composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto . It is the second track in disc 3 of the . It plays immediately after the Esper approaches the party . The intro starts with a series of militaristic beats , accompanied by wind instruments , and later joined with a female choir . Intermittently , the choir goes louder , joined with voices of the male choir . The choir is switched occasionally with loud brass and strings , and reaches climax with all instruments beating together to the martial tune . An arrangement of this theme appears in " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " and it and the original are available in the arcade version . When summoning an Esper into battle , the track " Esper " plays . Composed by Hitoshi Sakimoto , it is the second track in disc 4 of the original soundtrack . It is a variation of the " Esper Battle " , with a higher tempo making it fast - paced and a bit chaotic . The choir also joins in with a higher note . Development . " Final Fantasy X " was the first game where the summons are more like playable party members than plain special attacks . The freely traversed environment set its own challenges for recreating that in " Final Fantasy XII " , and in the end the developers did not have enough time to perfect the system until the International version where Espers become fully controllable rather than following an AI . Other appearances . " Final Fantasy XII " Manga . In the manga version of " Final Fantasy XII " the Esper ' s glyph marks itself on the summoner ' s body as a sign of its servitude to him / her . Ashe ' s group enters the Tomb of Raithwall and to Belias ' s chamber and Basch , Vossler , Fran and Balthier battle Belias while Ashe , Vaan and Penelo try to enter the door the Esper was guarding to get the Dawn Shard . Vaan wishes to assist in fighting Belias , but Ashe tells him their mission to retrieve the Dawn Shard takes priority . Vaan is displeased with Ashe ' s attitude towards power and her friends , and leaves her to retrieve the nethicite herself . Ashe returns to protect Vaan before Belias can strike him down , and the group defeats it , Belias ' s glyph marking the back of Ashe ' s hand . The group is captured to Ghis ' s Dreadnought " Leviathan " where Ashe enters a trance - like state and summons Belias against Ghis . As the Dawn Shard ' s reaction causes a chain of system failures and explosions through the airship , Ashe awakens from her trance and sees her arm where Belias ' s glyph appeared has grown bulbous and deformed . She dismisses Belias , causing her arm to be cut to a stump below the elbow . " " . Most of the Espers from " Final Fantasy XII " return in " Final Fantasy XII : Revenant Wings " , and the party must unlock them on the Ring of Pacts to summon them ; most must be defeated as bosses before they appear on the ring , and grant Quickenings to the party members upon being defeated . The only Espers not to return are Adrammelech and Zeromus . The returning Espers are level 3 Espers , meaning only one can be summoned at a time , apart from the sole level 2 Cúchulainn . No series ' trademark summons appeared in " Final Fantasy XII " , but in " Final Fantasy XII : Revenant Wings " the Espers appear alongside series staple summons like Bahamut and Odin . " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " . Among the new summons added are Ultima and Zalera from " Final Fantasy XII " . Ultima ' s Eschaton grants Stage Bravery to the player after being struck by a EX Break or Assist Break for a short period of time , and she can be purchased at the special Moogle Shop at Cornelia for 150 KP as a limited offer after earning 1 , 800 KP total . Zalera is bought from a Moogle Shop in the northwestern continent for 120 KP . When equipped , his Condemnation will activate once the enemy has 9999 BRV and instantly inflicts Break status on them . " Pictlogica Final Fantasy " . Some of the Espers appear as enemies . " Final Fantasy Record Keeper " . Some of the Espers from " Final Fantasy XII " appear as enemies . " Final Fantasy Trading Card Game " . The Espers from " Final Fantasy XII " on cards . Etymology . Most of the names of the scions have something to do with angels , in both Judaism and Christianity . For the etymology of the Scions of Darkness , see their corresponding articles . A name with a hidden meaning is Emet - Selch , the scion of light . His title is " The Angel of Truth . " " Emet - Selch " in Hebrew means " Your Truth . " Nabriales , another Scion of Light , is a name of an angel in Jewish mythology . It is pronounced in Hebrew as " Nabriel . " Fandaniel matches the basic template of angel names in Judaism , as the " - el " suffix in hebrew means " god " and is usually at the end of many angel names , to mark their superior connection to God . Some of the Espers take their name after a main antagonist from the first five games in the series :