Ark (Final Fantasy IX)

Ark is Dagger's ultimate eidolon in Final Fantasy IX. It is a Shadow-elemental summon who takes the form of an airship with a dragon's head at the helm and a blade, which can transform into a mecha. It is the only eidolon that appears in a boss battle, though whether the boss incarnation and the eidolon incarnation are one and the same is ambiguous.
Ark has the longest summon animation in Final Fantasy IX and is also the strongest eidolon, though the damage cap remains at 9999. Ark is the only eidolon whose associated jewel, Lapis Lazuli, is not the one used to learn it as an add-on.
==History==
Eidolons are beings that manifested to protect the crystal of Gaia. However, Ark appears associated with Terra rather than Gaia, making its appearance as an eidolon rather mysterious. Ark did not appear on the Eidolon Wall in Madain Sari, and thus appears to be an eidolon that the summoner tribe was unfamiliar with.
Ark guarded the Gulug Stone in Oeilvert, an ancient Terran archive. As eidolons were born of people's collective imaginings, most often based on myths and legends as in the case with Gaia's eidolons, Ark may be based on Terran memories of an ultimate warship as told in the Oeilvert records. Another link is how the appears on the emblem that appears in "eye" of the Invincible when it activates, is the same as the one in Ark's laser pattern. Whether Ark was conjured by Gaia's or Terra's crystal is ambiguous, as eidolons are beings created by the crystal to be its protectors, however, the crystal of Terra is said to be too weak to manifest them.Final Fantasy IX Ultimania p.41–42
Whether the Ark fought in Oeilvert and the one learned as an eidolon are the same being is ambiguous, as the Ark protecting the Gulug Stone never transformed. Zidane Tribal and his friends learned of Terra's civilization and their efforts in building the ultimate battleship from the archives, until finding the Gulug Stone in the bottom of the complex. Ark appeared as they were about to take the stone, but Zidane and his friends bested it in battle and returned to Desert Palace. They handed over the Gulug Stone to Kuja, who left for Mount Gulug with Eiko Carol as hostage to look for an eidolon stronger than Alexander; if the Ark that appears in Oeilvert is the eidolon Ark, then ironically, had Kuja not sent Zidane to Oeilvert to claim the Gulug Stone, he might have found an eidolon to rival Alexander like his plan was.
Garnet lived her life as the princess of Alexandria, never knowing she was adopted and actually of the summoners' tribe from Madain Sari. She learned of her true heritage during her travels with Zidane, and came to embrace it as well as her innate ability to call forth eidolons. When she acquired the rare stone Pumice, she learned to summon her most powerful eidolon, Ark, a futuristic transforming battleship that destroys opponents with laser beams.
==Characteristics==
Ark is an airship with a dragon's head at the helm, and a colossal blade. It can transform into a robot and is capable of spaceflight and attacks with a barrage of red lasers. It is thus markedly different from the presentation of the rest of the Gaian eidolons, and appears to be linked to the futuristic otherworld of Terra, a world far ahead of Gaia technologically. Oeilvert has records of the Terran civilization's endeavors to build the ultimate warship, though this seems to refer to the Invincible, which does not resemble the Ark.
Other aspects linking Ark to Terra are the red moon featuring during its summoning, and the triangular pattern its lasers draw on the ground being the emblem of Terra that appears in many locations associated with the planet. The emblem is surrounded by glyph-like language that appears throughout Terran related artifacts.
Ark could be seen as Terra's equivalent to Gaia's Alexander, their elements mirroring: Ark is Shadow-elemental, Alexander is Holy-elemental; both are mechanical, being feared as ancient weapons and summons, with Alexander being an immobile megalithic fortress while Ark manifests as an airship that can transform into a robot. They share the theme of Heaven and Earth, Ark being airborne and Alexander being earthbound. Both represent their respective worlds of origin and their names relate to a theme of judgment and punishment, with Alexander known for its attack, Divine Judgment (though not named in Final Fantasy IX as Alexander is not summonable by the player), while Ark's original attack name in Japanese was Dark Fate. In the English localization its attack name is "Eternal Darkness".
==Gameplay==
===Boss===
Ark is fought as a boss in the end of Oeilvert by Zidane and his party. The party should equip Clear Headed, as Ark tends to confuse the party with its propellers.
===Summon===
thumb|250px
Ark costs 320 MP to summon before Garnet/Dagger loses her eidolons, and 80 MP after learned from a piece of Pumice for 100 AP. Ark is not one of the eidolons Dagger has originally, so she can only use the 320 MP version if one manipulates their save file to give her Ark early.
One Pumice drops from the superboss Ozma, and it can also be synthesized at Hades's synthesis shop in Memoria for 50,000 gil and two Pumice Pieces. A Pumice Piece can be found in the "Outer Island 2" chocograph treasure, and drops from the Ark boss at Oeilvert. It can also be stolen from Ozma.
Defeating Ozma is the earliest the player can get the Pumice. Ozma can be fought as soon as the player has a flying Choco. It is the toughest enemy in the game, and so the player may struggle to beat it the earliest they can fight it.
Ark's attack, Eternal Darkness, deals severe Shadow 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 \times Bonus
If the eidolon is summoned and does its half animation, the formula changes to as follows:
:Damage = [((Base \times Bonus) \times 2) / 3]
Ark's spell power for the full animation equals 106+# of Lapis Lazuli in stock. The spell power for the short animation is 87.
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 Eternal Darkness can boosted by 50% by equipping Dagger with Mage's Hat, Light or Black Robe, Ancient Aroma, or Gold Choker. Equipping multiple 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. Ark has the longest summon animation—the full attack is almost two minutes, and the short animation is longer than most summons' long animations. 
Ark is an especially useful eidolon against enemies weak to shadow and magical damage in general. However, Ark cannot break the 9999 damage barrier, and if the player can reach the damage cap with an eidolon that costs less, like Odin or Atomos, they may be preferable. For dealing Shadow damage in particular, Vivi can also get Doomsday for a viable alternative to summoning Ark, though very late into the game, and it also affects the party, damaging them unless equipped with Shadow-nulling or -absorbing equipment. Summoning Ark earns the Firin' Mah Lazer achievement in the mobile and Steam versions.
===Tetra Master===
Ark has an eidolon-type card for Tetra Master, which can be obtained late into the game. Eidolon Master Leyra rarely plays it in the endgame in the Treno Card Stadium.
==Behind the scenes==
The Pumice item used to summon Ark has the same Japanese name as Final Fantasy's Levistone , which is used to raise the ancient airship from the Ryukahn Desert.
Ark's design is based on the eponymous robot from Cruise Chaser Blassty, a 1986 RPG developed by Square with anime studio Sunrise.
==Gallery==
Ark FFIX Art 2.jpg|Concept art for the airship form.
Ff9ark.jpg|Ark summoned and transformed.
Arks Eternal Darkness laser beam from FFIX Remastered.png|Eternal Darkness.
Ark-Eternal-Darkness-FFIX.png|Eternal Darkness.
FFIX Eternal Darkness.png|Eternal Darkness.
==Etymology and symbolism==
 This may relate to the place where Ark is fought, Oeilvert, the archive of that is left of the Terran civilization after most of it was destroyed. If Ark is the manifestation of what is left of Terran memories housed in the archive, it would also befit its name.
Its origins of coming from invaders from another world, being an airship of an advanced degree of technology, and its Dark-elemental affinity, likely hearken to the Japanese Edo Period-born concept of the black ships. How it is a robot, but described as "the beast from the dark", is also a wordplay on the suffix counter word -goki, where it is used to count machinery, but can also mean "strong demon" by homophone. Its name as Aku-Gouki, can be read as "Evil Strong Demon". This stems from outdated superstitions, including how such ships were related to demons of local myth, and to initial fears of such advanced technology, including how cameras stole souls and trains were untrustworthy explosive death traps.
Ark's summon attack is called Eternal Darkness in English, or Dark Fate in Japanese. The main theme of Final Fantasy IX is life and death, and the summon attack's name may relate to the latter. Its transformed appearance is also similar to what can be described as an "angel of death", a purpose that Garland conceived for Zidane and Kuja.
==Citations==
Category:Eidolons in Final Fantasy IX