Zodiark (Final Fantasy XII)

Zodiark, Keeper of Precepts is an optional level three Esper in Final Fantasy XII. He dwells in the Henne Mines in the hidden Special Charter Dig area.
His license costs 200 LP, and he requires three Mist Charges to summon.
Zodiark is unlocked in the Sky Pirate's Den in the Clan Primer by defeating him, earning the title Zodiac Knight.
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==Profile==
The Esper of Dark, Zodiark represents the zodiac sign of Ophiuchus, the Serpent Holder. Zodiark is indeed a serpent, in the form that Ophiuchus is most commonly associated with: a snake. From his power of Dark, his color sign is black. Zodiark is also referred to as the Ashlesha Ascendant, which is the Sanskrit name of its zodiac sign as used in Jyotish (Hindu) astrology.
Zodiark is based on a secret summon in Final Fantasy Tactics, associated with the thirteenth auralith. Zodiark returns in Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings in its second form as a non-elemental ranged Rank III summon. His twelve wings may be a reference to the 12 Espers corresponding to the horoscope signs.
==Obtained==
Zodiark is located in the Henne Mines, in the Special Charter Dig area. To unlock the Special Dig site, the player must collect at least ten Espers, go to Jahara and speak to Geomancer Yugelu. He will unlock the gate to the Phase 2 Dig, which leads to the Special Charter Dig area. Zodiark is found at the very end. The path to Zodiark is littered with strong foes, but the player can use the Immobilize glitch to avoid them.
As the Immobilize glitch requires the party leader to be a decent distance away from the rest of the party, the trek will still be difficult. Fleeing is not suggested, as certain enemies can transport to the space in front of a character, and if there are many teleporting enemies the player's path may become blocked. Without a correctly trained party, the trek to Zodiark can be harder than the Esper itself.
When found, Zodiark is fought as a boss, and once defeated, his license can be purchased for 200 LP.
During the boss fight, among the items the player can steal from Zodiark is the rare Serpentarius gem needed in making the Tournesol weapon.
===Unlocked abilities in Zodiac versions===
Esper licenses sometimes unlock licenses that could not otherwise be reached. Zodiark's license will appear on all boards, but once chosen by a character, will disappear from the other boards. In The Zodiac Age version, the player can choose two license boards for each playable character, and activated licenses are activated on both boards if present.
Zodiark allows access to the following licenses on these boards:
*Archer: Infuse, 1000 Needles
*Machinist: +390 HP
*Monk: White Magick 13 (Renew)
*Red Battlemage: Greatswords 4 (Ragnarok)
*Bushi: Heavy Armor 9, 10, 11 (Giant's Helmet, Carabineer Mail, Dragon Helm, Dragon Mail, Magepower Shishak, Maximillian)
*Knight: +390 HP, Revive, Excalipur
*Time Battlemage: Swords 9 (Durandal, Simha)
*White Mage: Greatswords 1 (Claymore)
==Battle==
Zodiark costs three Mist Charges to summon.
===Abilities===
320px|right|Final Eclipse
;Banish Ray
A Dark-elemental attack and Zodiark's basic offensive spell. Banish Ray is exceptionally powerful against any enemies that do not resist Dark-elemental attacks.
;Final Eclipse
A non-elemental attack and Zodiark's ultimate attack. In an eclipse, Zodiark falls into a calm sea. An egg rises to the surface, and Zodiark hatches to reveal his second form, a serpent with vast, feathered wings. Folding his wings around his body, he draws energy from his surroundings and spreads his wings wide, filling them with power and obliterating his surroundings. As he flies off into space, with the energy of the eclipse charged in his body, Zodiark flies to the targeted enemy, and destroys the fabric of reality itself in a catastrophic explosion.
Final Eclipse deals 50,000 base damage (60,000 in the Zodiac versions), making it one of the most powerful attacks. Enemies with the Reduce Damage augment, such as Yiazmat, will instead take 35,000 damage (or 42,000 damage). Unlike most other Esper attacks, Final Eclipse is unaffected by Reverse.
===Gambit information===
;Zodiac
Priority	Condition 	Action
1 	Summoner: status = Petrify	Final Eclipse
2 	Foe: Dark-vulnerable 	Banish Ray
3 	Foe: nearest visible 	Attack
4 	Ally: HP < 100% 	Renew
;Original
Priority	Condition 	Action
1 	Summoner: status = Petrify	Final Eclipse
2 	Foe: more than one present	Scathe
3 	Foe: Dark-absorb 	Flare
4 	Foe: Dark-weak 	Banish Ray
5 	Foe: nearest visible 	Banish Ray
===Stats===
Stat 	FFXII	Zodiac
Attack 	201 	201
Defense 	61 	67
Magick Defense	40 	62
;Zodiac
In The Zodiac Age, the HP values are tripled.
Level	Max HP 	Max MP 	Strength	Magic	Vitality	Speed
1 	4,635-4,636	296-300	36 	47 	26 	26
10 	4,837-4,872	350-390	42 	53 	28 	28
20 	5,205-5,304	430-530	48 	59 	31 	30
30 	5,677-5,862	512-674	54 	65 	34 	33
40 	6,124-6,390	612-854	60 	71 	36 	35
50 	6,838-7,237	698-999	66 	77 	39 	37
60 	7,468-7,984	788-999	72 	83 	42 	40
70 	7,825-8,404	838-999	78 	89 	45 	42
80 	8,238-8,890	898-999	84 	95 	47 	44
90 	8,800-9,556	938-999	90 	99 	50 	47
99 	9,435-9,999	956-999	96 	99 	53 	49
;Original
Level	Max HP 	Max MP 	Strength	Magic	Vitality	Speed
1 	3,090-3,091	23-25 	60 	45 	26 	26
10 	3,225-3,248	50-70 	66 	51 	28 	28
20 	3,470-3,536	90-140 	72 	57 	30 	30
30 	3,785-3,908	131-212	78 	63 	33 	33
40 	4,083-4,260	181-302	84 	69 	35 	35
50 	4,559-4,825	224-378	90 	75 	37 	37
60 	4,979-5,323	264-448	94 	81 	40 	40
70 	5,217-5,603	294-498	99 	87 	42 	42
80 	5,492-5,927	324-548	99 	93 	44 	44
90 	5,867-6,371	344-578	99 	99 	47 	47
99 	6,290-6,873	353-587	99 	99 	49 	49
===Actions===
;Zodiac
Name 	Range	Target 	 	Type 	Element	Power
Attack 	2 	Single 	30	Physical	None 	201
Renew 	10 	Circle 10	23	Magick 	None 	－
Scathe 	10 	Circle 8 	23	Magick 	None 	190
Hastega 	10 	Circle 10	23	Magick 	None 	－
Banish Ray 	12 	Single 	15	Magick 	Dark 	240
Final Eclipse	12 	Circle 10	0 	Magick 	None 	－
;Original
Name 	Range	Target 	 	Type 	Element	Power
Flare 	10 	Single 	30	Magick	None 	163
Scathe 	10 	Circle 6	30	Magick	None 	190
Banish Ray 	12 	Single 	16	Magick	Dark 	240
Final Eclipse	12 	Circle 8	35	Magick	None 	－
===Status effects===
*Protect
*Shell
*Haste
*Faith
*Libra
===Augments===
*Ignore Vitality (Zodiac only)
*Ignore Reflect
*Magick CT0
*Ignore Weather & Landscape (Zodiac only)
==Boss==
Zodiark is fought in the special dig site of the Henne Mines and also fought in Stage 97 of the Trial Mode in the Zodiac versions. His special move is Darkja, a powerful Dark-elemental cinematic attack that has a chance to instantly KO a target, and can inflict Blind on a character even if they are KO'd. He starts the battle with Reflect, Protect, Shell, and Haste. Zodiark's Banish Ray usually inflicts 9,999 damage. At half HP Zodiark erects a Magick Wall, making him immune to magick attacks for two minutes. At quarter health Zodiark begins using Shift to change his elemental weakness. When Zodiark's HP is HP Critical, his attacks grow stronger and faster and Darkja is used more often. When his HP is almost gone. Zodiark's Battle Cry will make his attack stronger. Once Zodiark puts up the physical paling, physical attacks will be useless from then on, as Zodiark will only erect it again as soon as it falls.
==Glyph==
A different glyph is used for Zodiark in official publications than the one that appears inside his seal in the game itself. 
In The Zodiac Age, the alternate glyph is used as icon for Zodiark's license on the License Board. 
The alternate glyph appears in Final Fantasy XII Scenario Ultimania, and the BradyGames and Piggyback guides in English. This suggests that Zodiark's glyph was changed mid-development, and the guides use the original one, which ended up unused. The two versions are similar, but the alternate glyph is mirrored horizontally and flipped, whereas the glyph used in the game is mirrored vertically, the same the other Espers' glyphs.
Elidibus uses the middle part of Zodiark's glyph as his Ascian sigil in Final Fantasy XIV . The "alternate glyph" appears in a texture on the moon's surface in a Final Fantasy XIV cutscene at the end of 3.0, but is obscure in the cutscene itself because it is viewed from ground level.
==Gallery==
Zodiark Glyph.jpg|Seal.
Zodiark-FFXII-TZA.png
Final-Eclipse-FFXII-TZA.jpg|Final Eclipse.
FFXII Final Eclipse 1.png|Final Eclipse.
Zodiark final eclipse.jpg|Final Eclipse.
Zodiark final eclipse2.jpg|Final Eclipse.
Zodiark-ffxii-sprite.png|Sky Pirate's Den sprite.
==Etymology and symbolism==
Zodiark could be an amalgam of words zodiac and ark.
Zodiark is also referred to as the Ashlesha Ascendant, which is the Sanskrit name of its zodiac sign as used in Jyotish (Hindu) astrology.
Zodiark was formerly known as Serpentarius. The rare gem, which can be stolen from Zodiark, refers to this.
Zodiark's second form—that of a snake with feathered wings—may be loosely based on the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, who is represented as a feathered snake. Also, in some legends, Quetzalcoatl is related to the Sun and is tasked with the creation of mankind. This seems to oppose Zodiark, who is adept at destruction.
Zodiark also resembles archaic depictions of Seraphim in that it is a serpent with many wings, although Seraphim conventionally only have six. Six-winged beings are prevalent throughout the series, including Kefka Palazzo's final form, and Garuda, and Siren from Final Fantasy XIV.
Category:Espers in Final Fantasy XII