Shiva (Final Fantasy VIII)

Shiva is an Ice-elemental Guardian Force in Final Fantasy VIII. She is one of the two initial Guardian Forces together with Quezacotl. It is implied that she knows Ifrit, as he will comment on her if the player summons her in the battle against him.
Shiva learns Str-J, Vit-J and Spr-J, elemental attack and defense junctions, as well as support abilities that boost the equipper's Vitality and Spirit. Her unique abilities are Doom, which places a death sentence countdown on the target, and the refine ability that lets one make Ice and Water spells from items.
==Profile==
Shiva is a blue-skinned woman with golden hairlike appendages flowing from her head. Spikes like icicles protrude from her hips, elbows and behind her knees. She is barefoot, and her hands, feet, hips and intimate regions are covered in dark blue patterns. She has a human-like face and sharp elf-like ears.
==Obtained==
Shiva is available as one of two default Guardian Forces assigned to Squall Leonhart at the start of the game. She is obtained by accessing the tutorial section of Squall's Study Panel in his desk. 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 Shiva in the Steam version earns the player the achievement Shiva.
==Battle==
thumb|left|335 px
Shiva's attack, Diamond Dust, is an Ice-elemental attack that damages all enemies. Her summon time is 12.9s, 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 = 62 \times Level / 10 + 43
:Damage = Damage \times (265 - TargetSpr) / 8
:Damage = Damage \times 43 / 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 	Shiva +20, Ifrit -10, Every other GF -1.6 	
Compatibility Items	Arctic Wind +1.6, North Wind +3.2, LuvLuv G +20.2 	
Casting Magic 	Blizzard +1, Blizzara +2, Blizzaga +2.4, Fire -0.8, Fira -1, Firaga -1.2	
The below values are the base compatibility values with all playable characters at the start of the game.
Party member	Compatibility
Squall 	570
Quistis 	640
Zell 	540
Selphie 	590
Rinoa 	650
Irvine 	580
Seifer 	480
Edea 	750
===Stats===
The following table represents the base stats:
Level	HP 	Attack Power
1 	298 	263
10 	734 	564
20 	1,226	897
30 	1,726	1,230
40 	2,234	1,564
50 	2,750	1,897
60 	3,274	2,230
70 	3,806	2,563
80 	4,346	2,897
90 	4,894	3,230
100 	5,450	3,563
==Abilities==
Abilities learned naturally by Shiva are listed below:
Ability 	AP 	Prerequisite
Str-J 	50 	None
Vit-J 	50 	None
Spr-J 	(Already learned)	(Already learned)
Elem-Atk-J 	160 	Str-J
Elem-Def-J 	100 	Spr+20%
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)
Doom 	60 	Shiva Lv10
Ability 	AP 	Prerequisite
Vit+20% 	60 	Vit-J
Vit+40% 	120	Vit+20%
Spr+20% 	60 	None
Spr+40% 	120	Spr+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
I Mag-RF 	30 	None
A good use for Shiva's I Mag-RF refine ability early on is to fight Fastitocalon-Fs on the beaches of Balamb and turn their spoils of Water Crystals into Water spells, a powerful magic early in the game.
==Triple Triad==
Shiva is a Level 8 GF Card in Triple Triad used for playing the minigame and for turning into 100 North Winds with Quezacotl's Card Mod. It is obtained by trading The Girl Next Door magazine with Zone for free on the White SeeD Ship.
==Other appearances==
===Dissidia Final Fantasy (2008) and Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy===
Shiva appears as a summon. When summoned, she uses Diamond Dust, "freezing" the opponent's Bravery Points. Shiva's automatic summon, which summons her immediately when the user is attacked by an HP attack, shows her Final Fantasy VIII artwork.
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.
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
==Gallery==
Shiva FFVIII Sketch.jpg|Concept art
8b-shiva.jpg|Concept art.
Shiva summoned in FFVIII Remastered.png|Shiva summoned in Final Fantasy VIII Remastered.
FFVIII Diamond Dust.png|Diamond Dust.
Ffviii shiva action figure color.JPG|Final Fantasy VIII Shiva in a colored action figure.
Ffviii shiva action figure clear.JPG|Final Fantasy VIII Shiva in a clear action figure.
==Etymology==
There is a possibility the name was simply the Japanese way of pronouncing the word "shiver", given her icy nature. Another possibility is the reference to the Slavic goddess Živa, the goddess of love and fertility.
==Citations==
Category:Guardian Forces in Final Fantasy VIII
de:Shiva (FFVIII)