Quezacotl (Final Fantasy VIII)

Quezacotl is one of the first two Guardian Forces available in Final Fantasy VIII. It is a Thunder-elemental bird-like being. Its name is shortened from "Quetzalcoatl" to "Quezacotl" in order to fit into the nine-character length limit for Guardian Force names. It also makes appearances in other games in the series.
It learns HP-J, Vit-J and Mag-J naturally, as well as elemental attack and defense junctions. Its unique command is Card Mod, which lets the player turn enemies into Triple Triad cards, and its refine abilities let the player make Thunder and Wind magic from items, mid level magic from low level spells, and various items from Triple Triad cards.
==Profile==
Quezacotl is a pale green winged creature with darker yellow wing-tips and darker green patterns around its body. It has no legs, but has an elaborate tail. Though bird-like, its body appears smooth rather than feathery.
==Obtained==
Quezacotl is obtained by entering the tutorials from Squall's desk in the classroom at the very beginning of the game. If Squall does not access the tutorial before leaving Balamb Garden for the first time, Quistis will give both Quezacotl and Shiva to Squall before reaching the world map (in the Japanese version, Squall and Quistis will leave without any GF if Squall did not access the tutorial before).
Obtaining Quezacotl in the Steam version earns the player the achievement Quezacotl.
==Battle==
thumb|right|335 px
Quezacotl's attack, Thunder Storm, is a Thunder-elemental attack that damages all enemies. Quezacotl's summon time is 13.3s, which, according to the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania, allows the player to boost its damage to around 180% of normal damage using a regular PlayStation controller.
Its damage is calculated as follows:
:Damage = 60 \times Level / 10 + 44 
:Damage = Damage \times (265 - TargetSpr) / 8 
:Damage = Damage \times 44 / 256 
:Damage = Damage \times Boost / 100 
:Damage = Damage \times (100 + SummonMagBonus) / 100 
:Damage = Damage \times (900 - ElemDef) / 100:
Elemental Defense starts at 800 (0%), 900 nullifies damage and 1000 absorbs it. If an enemy is shown to be weak against an element, its Elemental Defense is below 800. If damage becomes negative (due to high Elemental Defense), the target is healed by that amount.
===Compatibility===
The charge time for summoning depends on the compatibility between the character and the GF and the Battle Speed. The greater the compatibility, the less time it takes to summon. Compatibility can be boosted with compatibility boosting items, by casting magic that is the same element as the Guardian Force and by summoning the GF during battle. Compatibility is reduced by using "opposing" magic to the GF's element and other summons.
Compatibility Chart	Compatibility Chart 	Compatibility Chart
Summon Effect 	Quezacotl +20, Leviathan -10, Every other GF -1.6 	
Compatibility Items	Dynamo Stone +3.2, LuvLuv G +20.2 	
Casting Magic 	Thunder +1, Thundara +2, Thundaga +2.4, Aero +0.2, Tornado +0.6, Water, -0.8	
The below values are the base compatibility values with all playable characters at the start of the game.
Party member	Compatibility
Squall 	580
Quistis 	620
Zell 	600
Selphie 	580
Rinoa 	640
Irvine 	640
Seifer 	500
Edea 	760
===Stats===
The following table represents the base stats:
Level	HP 	Attack Power
1 	300 	275
10 	754 	572
20 	1,266	902
30 	1,786	1,232
40 	2,314	1,562
50 	2,850	1,892
60 	3,394	2,222
70 	3,949	2,552
80 	4,506	2,882
90 	5,074	3,212
100 	5,650	3,542
==Abilities==
Abilities learned naturally by Quezacotl are listed below:
Ability 	AP 	Prerequisite
HP-J 	50 	None
Vit-J 	50 	None
Mag-J 	(Already learned)	(Already learned)
Elem-Atk-J 	160 	Mag+20%
Elem-Def-J 	100 	Vit-J
Elem-Def-Jx2	130 	Elem-Def-J
Magic 	(Already learned)	(Already learned)
GF 	(Already learned)	(Already learned)
Draw 	(Already learned)	(Already learned)
Item 	(Already learned)	(Already learned)
Card 	40 	None
Ability 	AP 	Prerequisite
Mag+20% 	60 	None
Mag+40% 	120	Mag+20%
SumMag+10%	40 	None
SumMag+20%	70 	SumMag+10%
SumMag+30%	140	SumMag+20%
GFHP+10% 	40 	None
GFHP+20% 	70 	GFHP+10%
Boost 	10 	None
T Mag-RF 	30 	None
Mid Mag-RF	60 	T Mag-RF
Card Mod 	80 	Card
==Triple Triad==
Quezacotl is a lightning-elemental Level 8 GF Card in Triple Triad used for playing the minigame and for turning into 100 Dynamo Stones with the Card Mod. It is won from Mayor Dobe in Fishermans Horizon.
==Other appearances==
===Pictlogica Final Fantasy===
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
Quetzalcoatl appears as a Rank 4 Summoning ability and a boss.
===Final Fantasy Trading Card Game===
Quezacotl appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as Lightning-elemental Summon cards.
Quezacotl TCG.png|Quezacotl [13-146U] Chapter series card.
Quezacotl 6-092C from FFTCG Opus.jpg|Quezacotl [6-092C] Opus series card.
=== Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers ===
Quetzacotl is the final boss in the dungeon Akademia Anyder.
==Behind the scenes==
Quezacotl is invaluable if the player wants to permanently defeat X-ATM092 during the Siege of Dollet. Its refine abilities let the player make high level Thunder magic which X-ATM92 is weak to, and it allows elemental attack junctions to boost the power of physical attacks by junctioning Thunder magic. It also deals good damage to X-ATM092 if summoned, although simply casting magic is faster.
Squall's magic attacks in Dissidia Final Fantasy games focus primarily on ice and thunder spells, which may allude to the two Guardian Forces he has at the start of Final Fantasy VIII, Shiva and Quezacotl.
In the 2000 film version of Charlie's Angels, two boys are playing Final Fantasy VIII and are controlling Squall and Quistis in a battle in the Training Center. They are battling two Grats, Squall is seen preparing to summon Quezacotl. The Thunder Storm name appears at the top of the screen before changing view point, but the attack is not shown.
When summoning Quezacotl in the PC versions of the game, the first three of Thunder Storm's four sound effects are strangely replaced with the audio for summoning Phoenix. This is fixed in the Remastered release.
==Gallery==
FFVIII Boost.png|Quezacotl being boosted.
Quezacotl FFVIII Sketch.jpg|Concept sketch.
Quezacotl FFVIII Portrait Art.jpg|Menu portrait artwork.
Quezacotl FFVIII Art.png|Quezacotl artwork.
Quezacotl-ffviii.png|3D Model.
Quezacotl.jpg|Quezacotl summoned.
FFVIII Thunderstorm.png|Thunderstorm.
FFVIII GF Menu 2.png|Quezacotl in the menu.
FFRK Thunderstorm.png|Summon version in Final Fantasy Record Keeper.
FFRK Mad Quezacotl FFVIII.png|Boss sprite in Final Fantasy Record Keeper.
==Etymology==
Quezacotl's name in Final Fantasy VIII was shortened from Quetzalcoatl due to name size constraints. It is known as "Golgotha" in the French translation and "Quetzal" in the Spanish and Italian translations.
Quezacotl's French name, Golgotha, is interpreted as "Place of the Skull", and is the name of a hill beyond ancient Jerusalem as attested in the Gospels of the New Testament. It is written that Jesus of Nazareth was escorted to the summit with two thieves so that his crucifixion would be carried out.
==Citations==
Category:Guardian Forces in Final Fantasy VIII
de:Quezacotl