Zantetsuken ( ability ) Zantetsuken , also known as Steel - Bladed Sword and Atom Edge , or by a shortened name Zantetsu or Z - Sword , is Odin ' s signature attack in the " Final Fantasy " series , and shares its name with his sword . Zantetsuken typically causes instant death to all targets , or does very high damage . In some games , Zantetsuken has an upgrade called Shin - Zantetsuken , which has a higher success rate . When used Odin appears and dashes past enemies , slashing them with his sword . The enemy sprites / models bisect and slide apart before fading , a death animation usually unique to Zantetsuken . The attack can fail in some games . Appearances . " Final Fantasy III " . When fought as an enemy , Odin will use Zantetsuken to do heavy damage to the party . Zantetsuken is also his strongest attack as a summon , and instantly kills all enemies . " Final Fantasy IV " . The bosses Odin and Lunar Odin will both raise their sword as a warning before attacking with Zantetsuken , doing approximately five thousand damage to the entire party . When summoned by Rydia , Odin uses Zantetsuken to dispatch all enemies . The success of Odin inflicting death is based on Rydia ' s Wisdom / 2 , meaning the highest hit rate is 49 % , though moving Rydia to Slot 1 will increase this to 61 % . In the original American SNES version , Odin ' s attack was called Z - Sword when he was fought , and the name of his attack when summoned was not specified . This was because the developers could not fit the entire word Zantetsuken in the available text box . " Final Fantasy IV - Interlude - " . Zantetsuken is Odin ' s attack when summoned and functions identically to its " Final Fantasy IV " appearance . Odin is possessed by Maenad during the final tale , but he regains his control when he sees Ceodore , Rosa , and Kain . He rejoins Rydia as an Eidolon , and uses Zantetsuken when summoned . Zantetsuken is also used by the boss Gilgamesh in the Wii and PSP versions , though it only attempts to KO one character , In the mobile and Steam versions , the superboss Lunar Odin uses Zantetsuken as his signature ability . " Final Fantasy V " . Odin will use Zantetsuken regularly during the battle against him , but its power is lower than usual , and only does approximately a thousand damage to the party . When summoned , he uses Zantetsuken to kill all enemies if they are non - heavy . If there are heavy targets , Odin throws Gungnir at them for physical damage . Although it is overall not a good idea to use one - hit - kill moves on bosses , Odin ' s Zantetsuken attack can , in fact , one - shot the final boss ' s back portion , but only if used through the Magic Lamp ; otherwise Odin will use Gungnir instead . " Final Fantasy VI " . Odin uses Zantetsuken ( Atom Edge in the Super Nintendo version ) when summoned , attempting to kill all enemies instantly for a cost of 70 MP , it has a success rate of 110 . It works against the undead and will stall an enemy ' s final attack one turn but it will fail on targets immune to Death . Odin uses Zantetsuken in a cutscene in the Ancient Castle to slice a group of enemies , but is bested when an unknown sorcerer confronts him and is immune to the attack . Odin uses Zantetsuken to kill all enemies when summoned as an esper . The Zantetsuken sword has a 25 % chance of slicing enemies , and it works against the undead . The enemy Desert Hare , found around South Figaro , sometimes casts Cure , Cura or Esuna upon party members , in particular the party member that defeated them . If dispatched instantly by Zantetsuken , the Desert Hare will still use magic on a party member despite being off - screen and technically dead . " Final Fantasy VII " . Odin uses Steel Bladed Sword when summoned to kill all enemies . If used against an enemy that is immune to instant death , he will use a non - elemental attack called Gunge Lance . " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " . Odin uses Zantetsuken to kill all enemies when summoned . It has a very high rate of success , as only a few enemies are immune to instant death . Unlike other summons , the level of the summon makes no difference . Zantetsuken is a level 8 Independent Materia that boosts the chance for Odin to appear in the DMW . It begins at 5x , and increases by 1x each level up to 9x . It is a reward for Mission 9 - 6 - 1 and can be bought from Bone Village Commerce . " Final Fantasy VIII " . " Final Fantasy VIII " was the first English release to use the attack ' s proper name , which has carried over to remakes of earlier games . When fought in the Centra Ruins , Odin will use Zantetsuken to instantly kill the party when the timer expires . After he is defeated , Odin will appear at random at the start of a battle and use Zantetsuken to kill all enemies . This version of the attack features the characters for " Zantetsuken " ( Zan Tetsu Ken ) in the animation , which appear as Odin ' s attack is shown three times from three different angles . Thus Zantetsuken never misses , but Odin never appears against Grats , Vysage s , Lefty , Righty , Cactuars , Tonberries , Esthar Soldier ( Terminator ) , UFO ? , PuPu , and bosses ( the one exception is detailed below ) . When the party faces Seifer aboard the Lunatic Pandora , Odin will appear to use Zantetsuken against him , but Seifer will use Zantetsuken Reverse to counter the attack and bisect Odin . Though Odin perishes , Gilgamesh emerges from a dimensional portal and takes hold of the Zantetsuken , emerging later in the battle to defeat Seifer . Gilgamesh will then use Zantetsuken as one of his four random attacks when he appears in battle , to the same effect as Odin ' s attack . Gilgamesh has a 24 . 6 % chance of using Zantetsuken , in addition to the chance of Gilgamesh appearing at all . " Final Fantasy IX " . Zantetsuken is Odin ' s summon attack when he is called into battle . It normally kills all enemies , but if Dagger is equipped with the Odin ' s Sword support ability , learned for 50 AP from the Ancient Aroma , Zantetsuken will change into Gungnir that damages enemies that survive its instant kill . Zantetsuken ' s success rate increases as the party acquires more Ore , but this decreases the damage done by Gungnir if the instant kill fails . ( See Summon ( Final Fantasy IX ) # Mechanics for damage formulae . ) During Zantetsuken ' s short animation Gungnir falls from the sky on the enemies , even if the attack is still called Zantetsuken . " Final Fantasy X - 2 " . The Samurai dressphere has two abilities based on Odin ' s trademark attack : Zantetsu , which has a chance to instantly kill a single target in the same manner as Zanmato in " Final Fantasy X " , and Shin - Zantetsu , which inflicts instant death on all enemies . Zantetsuken is an unique ability that can be used by any character when using the Samurai dressphere as the main dress . It costs 4 MP to use . It has a chance of instantly defeating an enemy , having no effect if missed . It has a range of one tile ahead of the character . " Final Fantasy XI " . Zantetsuken is Odin ' s ultimate attack when he is battled in the last chamber of Einherjar , which he uses at ~ 9 % health . It will instantly kill any players in range , unless they / heal , which can prevent instant death ( but not damage ) . This can prove difficult for those tanking Odin , since physical melee damage taken causes the / heal command to cancel itself , rendering them open to the attack during the window of opportunity for Zantetsuken to actually execute . Zantetsuken is also the name of Odin ' s Blood Pact when summoned by players through Astral Flow ; the attack functions similarly as it would against players , instantly killing applicable targets within range . Against a Notorious Monster , however , it will instead deal a high amount of damage . Odin ' s special attack is Zantetsuken , which does heavy damage to all enemies in front of him and knocks them back as well . " Final Fantasy XIII " . In Gestalt Mode , Odin transforms into a horse and Lightning splits his sword , also known as Zantetsuken , into two and wields them while riding him . Lightning can perform Zantetsuken while riding Odin , and the attack ' s strength has different levels . It has a chance to instantly kill the opponent , but is not a status like in other games ; therefore no enemy is immune to the attack . Whether or not Zantetsuken kills the enemy is determined by Odin ' s physical attack power and the current chain bonus . Zantetsuken raises the stagger gauge by a various amount based on level prior to dealing damage : If the enemy has less HP than the solution , it dies . If the instant kill fails , it deals fairly low damage instead . " Final Fantasy XIII - 2 " . Zantetsuken appears as a Feral Link ability for Twilight Odin . Zantetsuken can also be used by Gilgamesh in the Coliseum . " Final Fantasy XIV " . Odin is part of a FATE , recurring group event . Zantetsuken is his special attack which he will execute below ~ 5 % HP . If Odin is not killed before the cast is finished the attack kills everyone currently participating in the FATE . In the instanced Odin encounter that debuted at FFXIV FanFest 2014 , Odin will use Shin - Zantetsuken at around 15 % remaining HP , requiring players to defeat Odin before the cast is finished , similar to the FATE version . " Final Fantasy Type - 0 " . Zantetsuken is an attack performed by the Eidolon Odin . A player must sacrifice a character ' s to summon Odin , who can then use three powerful attacks , of which Zantetsuken is the most powerful , slicing enemies in half , instantly killing them . The attack can be charged to increase the chance of success , though it won ' t work against certain enemies . When charging , the player must hold the button and the percentage the attack has charged flashes on the screen in purple . The player can still move while charging . Odin ' s upgraded version , Grimnir , uses Shin - Zantetsuken , which has higher chance of success . " Final Fantasy Dimensions " . Zantetsuken is an ability used by the Eidolon Odin . It requires 54 MP to use and often kills all enemies but it can miss several foes . Zantetsuken is also used by Odin during the battle to acquire the summon . The attack may instant - kill some characters while leaving the others in Critical state . " Dissidia Final Fantasy " ( 2008 ) . Odin uses Zantetsuken when summoned . The attack attempts to instantly cause a Brave Break to the opponent , with a 50 % success rate . " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " . Lightning uses Zantetsuken as the final blow of her EX Burst . Zantetsuken also appears as Odin ' s summon abilities , having the same effect as in the original " Dissidia " . " Theatrhythm Final Fantasy " . Zantetsuken returns as Odin ' s signature attack and is used when he is summoned in battle stages . " Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade " . Zantetsuken appears in the Odin summon stone , which appears as a event reward in " Final Fantasy III " Saronia Castle Mysteries event . When charged and summoned in an All - Out Attack , Odin uses Zantetsuken . " Final Fantasy All the Bravest " . Zantetsuken is the ability that Odin uses when summoned by Krile during battle . " Final Fantasy Trading Card Game " . Odin ' s cards allude to his Zantetsuken ability , having various effects that instantly Break a Forward of the player ' s choosing when Odin is played . Non - " Final Fantasy " guest appearances . " Kingdom Hearts " . The move appears in all games of the series except ' . It is a powerful attack that deals damage and has a chance to instantly destroy enemies it strikes . The exception is ' , where Zantetsuken instantly breaks the opponent ' s card regardless of level and renders it unreloadable for the rest of the battle . In " " , " Zantetsu Counter " appears as an ability , which allows to counter with Zantetsuken after blocking an attack . also features Zantetsuken as a combo finish allowing Sora to instantly eliminate weak targets .