Leviathan (Final Fantasy IX)

Leviathan is an eidolon in Final Fantasy IX who can be acquired as a summon for Dagger. It is a Water-elemental summon who takes the form of a sea serpent.
==History==
Leviathan was an eidolon that manifested to protect the crystal of Gaia. The summoners have known of it presumably for centuries, as it appeared on a mural on the Eidolon Wall in Madain Sari, the summoners' village on the Outer Continent. As the summoners left the Mist Continent 500 years ago, summon magic fell into legend among the Mist Continent populace. It is presumed that Leviathan was discovered sometime after this time, as it is an eidolon the summoners failed to call forth, and thus it was locked away at an "eidolon cave" in the base of the Iifa Tree on the Outer Continent.
Ten years ago, Garland ordered Kuja to destroy Madain Sari with the Invincible, killing most summoners. A young summoner girl and her mother escaped on a small boat, but the mother died during the long voyage to the Mist Continent. The boat was found near Alexandria, and the girl was adopted by the royal family as she greatly resembled the recently-perished Princess Garnet except for the horn on her head, which the king ordered removed. The girl had lost her memories during the voyage, and grew up as Garnet never learning she was adopted. 
After the king passed, Queen Brahne became power-hungry and wanted to conquer the Mist Continent with the aid of eidolons extracted from Garnet and with a new army of black mages. Her eidolons stolen from her, Garnet escaped Alexandria Castle with her new friends and traveled to the Outer Continent to look for Kuja, who had supplied Brahne with the knowledge of eidolons and black mages. While on the Outer Continent Garnet learned about her true identity and discovered Leviathan's "eidolon cave", a statue of the sea serpent.
When Brahne took her fleet to the Outer Continent to dispose of Kuja, he stole Brahne's eidolon and turned it against her. Garnet wanted to save her adoptive mother and rushed to Leviathan's abode to pray for the eidolon to help her. She received Leviathan's jewel, but Garnet was crestfallen to realize the eidolon in the statue was a water eidolon that would wipe out opposition with a tidal wave, and thus not suitable for saving her naval-bound mother.
Later on, the party can travel to Daguerreo, a town of scholars whose library has a mysteriously inexhaustible spring, and a Leviathan monument that can turn ore into aquamarine. The scholars surmise a water god resides there.
==Characteristics==
Leviathan is a sea serpent with a long snake-like body and wings that resemble fish fins. It is blue-green and purple and has a dragon-like face with appendages that resemble fins. Though in most Final Fantasy games, Leviathan is the "king of the sea", in Leviathan's concept art it is referred to as a queen.
Leviathan is implied to be a fiercely independent or difficult-to-control eidolon, as it was locked away, the summoners who had discovered it having sealed it away after failing to harness its power. However, when Princess Garnet prays on Leviathan's statue on its resting place, the eidolon responds to her pleas and agrees to lend her its power.
==Gameplay==
===Summon===
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Leviathan costs 168 MP to summon before Garnet/Dagger loses her eidolons, and 42 MP after learned from a piece of Aquamarine for 40 AP. Leviathan is not one of the eidolons Dagger has originally, so she can only use the 168 MP version if one manipulates their save file to give her Leviathan early.
One Aquamarine is obtained as part of the story during the First Battle of the Iifa Tree, and more are available from using a Dead Pepper where Shimmering Island used to be in the endgame while riding Choco (x10), from stealing from Quina (Mirror), and from converting four Ores on the shrine in Daguerreo.
Leviathan's attack, Tsunami, deals Water damage to all enemies.
The attacks and spell power for Dagger's summons are based on item stock and length of animation, the short version being weaker. When Dagger summons during her Trance, there is a random chance the summon will reappear during the battle for zero MP cost, but the animation will always be the short version, and item stock "bonuses" will be disregarded. The summon will reappear in intervals to repeatedly damage the enemy until a new eidolon is summoned or until Dagger exits Trance, is KO'd, or ejected.
The formula used to determine the amount of damage an eidolon does during its full animation is as follows:
:Base = Summon Power - Target's Magic Defense
:Bonus = Magic ... [(Level + Magic) / 8] + 1
:Damage = Base * Bonus
If the eidolon is summoned and does its half animation, the formula changes to as follows:
:Damage = [((Base * Bonus) * 2) / 3]
Leviathan's spell power for the full animation equals 59+# of Aquamarine in stock. The spell power for the short animation is 63.
The first time a summon is called in battle the full animation plays. Afterward, there is a 33% or 10% chance to get the full animation again based on the following:
:If MP < (Summon MP Cost * 2), the chance of full animation is:
:Random number between 0...255 >= 170, use full animation
:Otherwise, the chance of full animation is:
:Random number between 0...255 >= 230, use full animation
MP in these calculations refers to the MP before the cost is subtracted. The value used for Summon MP Cost is unaffected by Half MP.
The Bonus in the above damage calculation for Tsunami can be boosted by 50% by equipping Dagger with Golden Hairpin, Golden Skullcap, or Pearl Rouge. Equipping multiples of these items at once does not stack.
The Boost ability makes the summon always do the full animation, but it costs many Magic Stones and takes a long time to learn from the Pumice Piece.
Leviathan is an especially useful eidolon against enemies weak to water and magical damage in general. Summoning Leviathan earns the Surf's Up achievement in the mobile and Steam versions.
===Tetra Master===
Leviathan has an eidolon-type card for Tetra Master, which can be obtained late into the game. In Treno, Straight Shooter Shak and Eidolon Master may use it. In Memoria, Strong Phantom uses it in the Lost Memory area.
==Behind the scenes==
Leviathan is mentioned in an old memo written by Hironobu Sakaguchi for the development of Final Fantasy IX. Upon their first meeting Princess Garnet would have rushed past Zidane and "a thief" (Blank in the final game), and while the thief would have focused on Garnet's chest being slightly revealed in her formal dress, Zidane would take notice of the pendant she was wearing: "No, no, she was wearing the pendant of the summons permitted by only royalty. Deep blue stone... 'The Legend of Leviathan', was it Princess Garnet?" This could refer to Garnet's royal pendant being the summoning jewel for Leviathan in the early story drafts. In the final game, Garnet is unaware the pendant is a fragment of Alexander's summoning jewel.
==Gallery==
Leviathan FFIX Art 2.jpg|Concept artwork.
Leviathan from FFIX Remastered.png|Tsunami.
Leviathan summons a tidal wave from FFIX Remastered.png|Tsunami.
FFIX Tsunami Summon.png|Tsunami.
==Etymology==
==Citations==
Category:Eidolons in Final Fantasy IX