Zeus Cannon

The Zeus Cannon is a space-borne super weapon in Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The brainchild of General Douglas Hein, it was built to obliterate the Phantoms' nest in the Leonid Meteor.
An Olympic-class Assault Space Station, the Zeus Cannon is equipped with two heliotron devices; 6 million ampere class helical type nuclear fusion furnace as a power source. The heliotrons can generate a 120 gigajoule magnetic field inside the Zeus Cannon's barrel (acceleration chamber).
==Story==
The Zeus Cannon was conceived by the United States Military Force (USMF) in 2055 during the construction of the barrier cities around the world and its the planning halted the construction of many barrier cities. The outer framework was completed six years later, but tests on the Zeus Cannon's internal workings continued on for five years. General Hein wanted to use it to destroy the Phantoms' nest, but the United Nations Security Council had chosen to follow Dr. Sid's proposal for a less drastic method.
To persuade the council, Hein goes to the New York Barrier City's barrier station and orders his men to disable the shields. The Phantoms enter the city and travel the energy streams, causing a major infestation. The council, believing the Phantoms had become immune to the shields, authorize the use of the Zeus Cannon.
Hein travels to the Zeus Cannon and begins powering the weapon, pointing it towards the Leonid Meteor. The first shot destroys the meteor but awakens the Proto-phantom, which grows more powerful with each shot. Desperate, Hein orders a continued bombardment despite the station being unable to sustain such an assault. The Zeus Cannon reaches overload capacity and its reactors explode, destroying the station and killing everyone onboard.
==Locales==
;Control Habitat:
A spherical hub where all of the station's functions and operations are controlled. The habitat is located within a magnetic field gauge. As such it has no contact points with the station frame, thus it is protected from the nuclear/spiritual energy emission and shock.
;Manual Control Room:
Titled the "Sarpedion" chamber, the cannon's manual functions can be accessed here.
;Shuttle Docking:
Located just below the habitat, specific shuttles that are shielded from the station's radiation can dock and board the station from these points.
;Zeus Cannon:
Making up the majority of the station, the original design was to have included consecutive firing capability up to 200 times. However, in the pre-critical launch test conducted in 2063, a series of malfunctions occurred, such as expansion of material by heat inside the acceleration chamber, warping of the station's orbital path due to the launch shock wave/recoil, numerous cracks on the cooling system pipeline, and coolant leaks.
The expansion of material caused by the difference of temperatures inside the barrel, the contraction rate, and launch shock wave, were noted as substantial dangers and capable of destroying the barrel with only a few launches.
==Gallery==
TSW Early Zeus Cannon 2.jpg|Early concept art.
TSW Early Zeus Cannon.jpg|Early concept art.
HeinZeusdetail.jpg|Screeshot.
TSWScreenshot110.jpg|Screeshot.
TSWScreenshot111.jpg|Screeshot.
TSWScreenshot113.jpg|Screeshot.
TSWScreenshot114.jpg|Screeshot.
TSWScreenshot121.jpg|Screeshot.
TSWScreenshot115.jpg|Screeshot.
TSWScreenshot134.jpg|Screeshot.
TSWScreenshot146.jpg|Screeshot.
TSWScreenshot132.jpg|Screeshot.
==Etymology==
Sarpedion is the name of one of Zeus' sons in Greek mythology. He was killed in the battle of Troy.
==Trivia==
*A 100km radius around the Zeus is a restricted area where unshielded shuttles and soldiers cannot enter due to the risk of being exposed to radiation of nuclear/spiritual energy from the reactive nuclear thrusters and giant OVO tank.
*According to crew commentary, the space station shots were some of the first shots created for the film.
*Despite the station's design specifically being to not resemble the Death Star from the Star Wars films, homage to the Star Wars space station was made through the Zeus's spherical habitat crushing Hein.
*Many of the space station crew models were retextured and re-costumed models of the film's main cast.
*According to crew commentary, all of the lists on the control room screens, at one stage, feature song titles.
Category:Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Category:Technology