Eidolon (Type-0)

Eidolons are the name for summoned monsters in Final Fantasy Type-0, and were created by the Dominion of Rubrum using the power of the Vermilion Bird Crystal.
They serve the same military purpose as siege weapons and war machines, and are used by Rubrum to counter the Militesi Empire's advanced weapons technology. In addition to their standard forms, Eidolons boast higher ranks and forms, giving them more destructive potential and utilization.
Following the deployment of the crystal jammer, only the members of Class Zero retain the ability to summon these creatures, though they can only do so by sacrificing their life force, removing them from battle for the remainder of the mission. As such, they are best used for last resort attacks.
==Rubicus==
;Sil. XIX , 339 RG Rubrum: Implementation of Eidolons
After their embarrassing performance against the royal army's wyverns, the dominion legions began searching for something stronger than the magic they had relied upon until then. What they found were the Eidolons.
Sorcery designated the Eidolons as a type of weapon, but they were not created at Akademeia, and these beasts of war were not exactly magic. Each Eidolon possessed its own intellect and its own will. They appeared when summoned—not from anywhere in Orience, but from another realm—and after a set period of time, they vanished. Unlike spells developed in Sorcery, the Eidolons could only be deployed by forging a covenant via summoning portal—and in exchange for their services, the Eidolon demand the summoners' life energy.
It is said that the discovery and implementation of Eidolons can be attributed to the efforts of the Archsorceress at the time, but the psychomagical principles behind the Eidolons remain unclear to this day. Compared with Concordian wyverns, who similarly possess their own intellects but were most certainly born of the Crystal's power, there is still much yet to be understood in regard to the nature of the Eidolons.
According to legend, as if responding to the dominion's demand for more power, the first Eidolon summoned was even more formidable than a l'Cie. Rubrum deployed this Eidolon to Lorica, and after long and drawn-out battle, the Eidolon finally managed to topple the Black Tortoise l'Cie. However, this Eidolon required massive amounts of life energy, and the dominion foolishly sacrificed the lives of many innocent legionaries to this end.
Because of this incident, dominion officials sealed away this first mighty Eidolon as anathema, and Rubrum decided to forge covenants with more agreeable beasts of war. Many facets of the Eidolons remain unclear, but once a covenant has been forged, anyone can summon that beast of war through a portal. Thus, the Eidolons immediately secured a spot as the dominion's primary offensive tool, and in the year 339, Rubrum formed its first summoning regiment.
==Story==
The people of Rubrum revere Eidolons as gods of war and guardian deities of Rubrum. Summon magic is studied in the Sorcery Division of Akademeia, which is also the instance that grants summoning permits. The head of Sorcery, Archsorceress Arecia Al-Rashia, has a personal Eidolon, Bahamut ZERO, of which not even other high-ranking Sorcery officials are privy to details about. All that is known is that its abilities are on a different level than those of the dominion's other Eidolons.
Summoning Eidolons if no small feat, as it requires special skill and magic ability, as well as every last ounce of the summoner's strength: the exertion of performing the ritual kills the summoner, although there exists a classification of Eidolons known as "Special Eidolons" developed to Arecia that don't require the sacrifice of the conjurer to summon.
The ability to deploy Eidolons makes the Rubrum army a formidable opponent, and the Militesi Empire has developed its magitek armor teknology specifically to encounter Rubrum's magic and Eidolons. The latest MA developed for fighting Eidolons is the Militesi Colossus.
Eidolons were discovered in 339 by the Sorcery Division of Akademeia that learned to forge covenants with them and create magical portals to momentarily summon them to Orience from another realm to fight in behalf of their summoner. The first Eidolon Sorcery summoned was said to be stronger than even the l'Cie, but due to the massive quantities of life energy summoning this Eidolon required, dominion officials sealed it away.
On the border between Milites and Rubrum, the Meroë Region was plagued with conflicts. In 343 a border dispute sparked a war that became a contest between magic and mechs. The dominion's spells had little effect on the empire's magitek armor, and the imperial forces outnumbered the legions. Rubrum's front lines collapsed, and the empire nearly routed the dominion out of Meroë.
The dominion's First Independent Summoning Regiment summoned Ifrit to drive back the imperial army and led the dominion to victory. This convinced Rubrum that the Eidolons were more powerful than magic, and Sorcery set out to research methods to implement and effectively utilize Eidolon units.
Steeled and strengthened through centuries of war, each Crystal-State had developed formidable fighting forces convincing each head-of-state of the possibility of unifying Orience under one banner. The waning of the Crystals' power drove the four state leaders to expedite their war efforts, even if extracting energy from the Crystals exacerbated their deterioration. Fearing the weakening of the Crystals to be permanent, each nation sought to annihilate the others.
During the Great Orience War Concordia launched an assault on Rubrum's rear guard, and the dominion responded by summoning the Verboten Eidolon Leviathan, escalating the war. As the struggle continued, each nation's Crystal began deteriorating even more rapidly due to the replenishment the weapons, armor, and magic and through the creation of l'Cie. As the power of all four Crystals was waning, on Ventusmens IV in the year 359, the four nations ordered a ceasefire and began preparations for a peace treaty.
When Militesi Empire breaks the Pax Codex and attacks Rubrum in 842, they deploy two crystal jammers to disable the Vermilion Bird Crystal, rendering Rubrum's Crystal-powered shields useless and making its soldiers unable to use magic. Rubrum summons Bahamut but it is shot out of the sky by airships. Cadets that would become known as Class Zero are sent to deal with the problem and disable the jammer and face off against Qun'mi Tru'e, the White Tiger Crystal Secundus l'Cie who was operating one of the crystal jammers. To her surprise, Class Zero summon Odin, a Special Eidolon, against her, and annihilate her and her troops, driving them out of the city.
Impressed by the cadets' prowess Class Zero is officially registered at Akademeia and deployed to the battlefield to help reclaim the areas lost to the empire. During "The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold", Class Zero faces off against Channelgates that had fallen in imperial command and the Golems they summon. The dominion army has installed Channelgates in nearly all of its strongholds. When an intruder approaches, the Channelgate will automatically generate a portal and call forth a powerful Eidolons. Although summoning usually requires a human being to sacrifice his or her life, scientists in Sorcery developed a way to freeze summoning portals in their early stages and then reactivate them using time manipulation magic. However, resuming the summoning process requires an immense amount of energy, and the entire security system will shut down when one severs the power supply.
During this mission Class Zero get permission to summon Ifrit, and after felling commander Qator Bashtar, get permission for Shiva as well. Other Akademeia cadets resent Class Zero for their preferential treatment, as Eidolons are forbidden for most other classes, although Class Second has a regiment specifically for summoning Bahamut. Arecia Al-Rashia, Akademeia's archsorceress and Class Zero's assembler and benefactor, has the power to resurrect Class Zero cadets if they die, however, as summoning an Eidolon costs a person their life. Therefore, Class Zero can be allowed to summon Eidolons without losing any cadets as long as Arecia will revive them afterward, and Class Zero keeps collecting more summoning permits as reward for successful missions.
After Queen Andoria of the Kingdom of Concordia is assassinated, her successor, the King of Concordia, allies with the empire. Now facing the simultaneous wrath of two Crystal-States, Rubrum calls the Consortium of Eight to a meeting to decide how to handle it. To everyone's surprise Chancellor Khalia Chival VI announces that the Vermilion Bird Crystal Secundus l'Cie Lady Caetuna wills to summon a Verboten Eidolon should the Militesi-Concordian coalition try and invade Rubrum. The other consortium members are shocked as no one has summoned a Verboten Eidolon for centuries.
Central Command prepares for the upcoming showdown against joint Militesi-Concordian forces. The plan is to send Class Zero with Lord Zhuyu to fight off the Concordian dragons, and send the rest of Rubrum's legionaries, and Akademeia cadets and trainees, to the Militesi border for Lady Caetuna to summon a Verboten Eidolon. Two l'Cie taking part in Rubrum's military operations is unheard of, and many see it as a sign of the dominion's, and thus the Vermilion Bird Crystal's, desperation, as by now all the other Crystals of Orience have been subjugated by the empire that has devised a machine to enslave them.
Waging war on two fronts, the dominion forces summon Bahamut and Odin to vanquish the Concordian wyverns, but when the Azure Dragon Crystal Primus l'Cie Soryu appears its breath attack annihilates the dominion's Eidolons. The Vermilion Bird Crystal deploys Zhuyu to intercept it, and while the two l'Cie do battle the forces of Concordia and Rubrum engage with Class Zero eventually facing off against Shinryu Celestia. If they perish against the Five-Star Dragon, Arecia summons Bahamut ZERO to annihilate Celestia with its Tera Flare.
On the western front the dominion forces are being driven back until Lady Caetuna summons the Verboten Eidolon Alexander. Its summoning takes time and energy and thus cadets from Akademeia and the commanding officer Kurasame Susaya relinquish their phantoma to complete the summoning. While Caetuna performs the summoning the rest of the dominion legionaries defend their position with summoning squads in the fray. When Gilgamesh appears he defeats the dominion's Ifrits. Alexander decimates the imperial forces with its Divine Light, but the summoning also kills Kurasame and all the cadets who aided Caetuna, who enters crystal stasis, having served the Crystal's Will.
When Tempus Finis commences the cadets head to the Pandæmonium, and can no longer summon Eidolons as they are cut off from the power of the Vermilion Bird Crystal, and are no longer revived by Arecia should they fall. After the cadets fell the Rursan Arbiter as mortals, Arecia decides to abandon her experiment to find Etro's gate with the Agito, and departs from Orience. As the light of the Crystals fades, it is unknown whether anyone would be able to summon Eidolons anymore.
==Gameplay==
Eidolons have their own levels and abilities, and level up much quicker than party members. They are only assigned at the start of missions, with some missions disallowing access to them. During the mission, pressing the two assigned buttons for 0.4 seconds opens a portal, summoning the Eidolon below the active leader at the cost of the summoner's life. The Eidolon can be controlled just like the active party leader, or switched away with another party member where it will act on its own, but it cannot be switched back to.
Eidolons will only remain for a limited amount of time per summon, and they cannot be revived if they run out of HP. They can only be healed by recovery portals while they're not active, with exceptions to the HP-recovering attacks of the Diabolos class, and any Eidolons with Auto-Regen. Several Eidolon abilities cost MP to use, but they passively recover MP at a rate of 4.4-4.6% per second, which can occasionally be upgraded further. In the HD remaster, Eidolon attacks can break the 9999 damage limit.
Eidolons cannot dodge naturally, obtain phantoma, or switch abilities. Despite being unaffected by positive status effects, the same applies to negative ones, and they aren't punished for failing a Special Order. Some Eidolons have the auto-ability Automaton, meaning they will choose their own commands, so the player must then switch active leaders to control the party again.
Once the summon expires, the Eidolon vanishes and is replaced by the KO'd active party leader. Different Eidolons require different spaces to summon. Trying to open a portal in a space too narrow will fail. Bahamut and Odin require large spaces, but Shiva is more lithe and can be summoned in narrower spaces. Some Eidolons are too large to even fit through passageways, and their inability to draw phantoma will delay enemy corpses from despawning, thus delaying more enemies from appearing, and therefore causing passage barriers to take longer to vanish. The player should take this into consideration when deciding what Eidolon to take on missions.
There are times when the Eidolons will automatically summon and fight on behalf of KO'd characters. After the summon time has ended, the Eidolon will eventually revive all KO'd characters, but will be unavailable for the rest of the mission in return.
Although an in-game Trainee NPC mentions that magic can't bring back summoners from the dead (which complies with the game's canon), both the Raise and Reraise spells can be abused to summon Eidolons repeatedly, though these deaths still penalize the mission's grade at the end. If a cadet summons an Eidolon while under Reraise, the sacrificed cadet will be revived after the Eidolon is dismissed.
==List of Eidolons==
Eidolons are categorized by six primary classes, and in each class are stronger incarnations of that Eidolon.
===Ifrit-class===
Name	Summoning Radius	Summon Duration	How to unlock 	How to unlock
 	1,5m 	75s - 95s 	Talk to Koharu during the mission The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold. 	Talk to Koharu during the mission The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold.
 	 	 	| 	|
 	Blazing Strike 	Eruption 	Meteor Strike 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	1,5m 	45s - 75s 	Complete the Expert Trial United Front on Officer difficulty. 	Complete the Expert Trial United Front on Officer difficulty.
 	 	 	 	
 	Blazing Strike 	Eruption 	Meteor Strike 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	0,9m 	75s 	Complete the SO objective "Destroy Brionac as quickly as possible using your active leader" during the mission Operation MA Demolition.	Complete the SO objective "Destroy Brionac as quickly as possible using your active leader" during the mission Operation MA Demolition.
 	 	 	 	
 	Blazing Strike 	Eruption 	— 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	1,5m 	50s-80s 	Complete the SO objective "Take down Mikazuchi using your active leader" during the mission The Battle of Judecca. 	Complete the SO objective "Take down Mikazuchi using your active leader" during the mission The Battle of Judecca.
 	 	 	 	
 	Blazing Strike 	Eruption 	Meteor Strike 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	2,1m 	90s 	Complete the Expert Trial A Charge on the Border on Officer difficulty. 	Complete the Expert Trial A Charge on the Border on Officer difficulty.
 	 	 	 	
 	Flaming Fist 	— 	— 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	0,9m 	50s-70s 	Complete the mission The Clash on Big Bridge on Agito difficulty 	Complete the mission The Clash on Big Bridge on Agito difficulty
 	 	 	 	
 	— 	Hellfire 	Meteor Mash 	—
 	 	 	 	
===Golem-class===
Name	Summoning Radius	Summon Duration	How to unlock 	How to unlock
 	2,2m 	120s - 130s 	Complete the mission The Infiltration of Iscah. 	Complete the mission The Infiltration of Iscah.
 	 	 	| 	|
 	Megaton Punch 	Ancients' Wrath	Gaia Stampede 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	2,2m 	160s - 200s 	Complete the mission Expelling the Empire on Officer difficulty. 	Complete the mission Expelling the Empire on Officer difficulty.
 	 	 	 	
 	Megaton Punch 	Ancients' Wrath	Gaia Stampede 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	3,0m 	70s-90s 	Complete the Expert Trial Colonel Faith's Revolt on Officer difficulty. 	Complete the Expert Trial Colonel Faith's Revolt on Officer difficulty.
 	 	 	 	
 	Megaton Punch 	— 	Gaia Stampede 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	2,2m 	70s-80s 	Complete the Code Crimson mission A Fog-Laden Foray on Officer difficulty (not possible during the first playthrough). 	Complete the Code Crimson mission A Fog-Laden Foray on Officer difficulty (not possible during the first playthrough).
 	 	 	 	
 	Megaton Punch 	Ancients' Wrath	Gaia Stampede 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	2,1m 	90s 	Complete the SO objective "The Crystal wills you to take down Golem" during the Code Crimson mission Machina's Struggle (not possible during the first playthrough).	Complete the SO objective "The Crystal wills you to take down Golem" during the Code Crimson mission Machina's Struggle (not possible during the first playthrough).
 	 	 	 	
 	Megaton Punch 	Ancients' Wrath	Gaia Stampede 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	0,9m 	50s-70s 	Complete the Expert Trial The Climactic Clash at Azurr on Officer difficulty. 	Complete the Expert Trial The Climactic Clash at Azurr on Officer difficulty.
 	 	 	 	
 	Megaton Punch 	— 	— 	—
 	 	 	 	
===Shiva-class===
Name	Summoning Radius	Summon Duration 	How to unlock 	How to unlock
 	0,7m 	90s-120s 	Complete the mission The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold on any difficulty. 	Complete the mission The Capture of Togoreth Stronghold on any difficulty.
 	 	 	| 	|
 	Icicle Twirl 	Winter Wonderland	Diamond Dust 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	0,6m 	45s-65s 	Complete the Code Crimson mission Operation Breakthrough on Officer difficulty (not possible during the first playthrough).	Complete the Code Crimson mission Operation Breakthrough on Officer difficulty (not possible during the first playthrough).
 	 	 	 	
 	— 	Winter Wonderland	Crystal Dust 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	0,4m 	120s 	Complete the Expert Trial Covering the Cadets on Agito difficulty. 	Complete the Expert Trial Covering the Cadets on Agito difficulty.
 	 	 	 	
 	Icicle Twirl 	— 	Crystal Dust 	—
 	 	 	 	
===Odin-class===
Name	Summoning Radius	Summon Duration 	How to unlock 	How to unlock
 	1,6m 	70s-110s 	Complete the mission The Clash on Big Bridge on Officer difficulty. 	Complete the mission The Clash on Big Bridge on Officer difficulty.
 	 	 	| 	|
 	Moonring Blade 	Zantetsuken 	Cavalier Charge 	Prance
 	 	 	 	
 	2,1m 	50s-60s 	Complete the Code Crimson mission Mission Under Ceasefire on Agito difficulty (not possible during the first playthrough).	Complete the Code Crimson mission Mission Under Ceasefire on Agito difficulty (not possible during the first playthrough).
 	 	 	 	
 	Moonring Blade 	Shin-Zantetsuken	Cavalier Charge 	Prance
 	 	 	 	
===Diabolos-class===
Name	Summoning Radius	Summon Duration	How to unlock 	How to unlock
 	0,8m 	90s-110s 	Complete the Expert Trial Operation Dragon Slayer on Officer difficulty. 	Complete the Expert Trial Operation Dragon Slayer on Officer difficulty.
 	 	 	| 	|
 	Shadow Strike 	Gravija Sphere 	— 	Dark Barrier
 	 	 	 	
 	0,4m 	75s-85s 	Complete the SO objective "Combat Trial: Deal at least 3500 damage to the Diepvern" during the Code Crimson mission Operation Vulturnus (not possible during the first playthrough).	Complete the SO objective "Combat Trial: Deal at least 3500 damage to the Diepvern" during the Code Crimson mission Operation Vulturnus (not possible during the first playthrough).
 	 	 	 	
 	Sinister Strike 	— 	— 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	1,0m 	110s-150s 	Complete the Expert Trial Dominating the Dragon's Nest on Officer difficulty. 	Complete the Expert Trial Dominating the Dragon's Nest on Officer difficulty.
 	 	 	 	
 	Shadow Strike 	Graviton 	— 	—
 	 	 	 	
===Bahamut-class===
Name	Summoning Radius	Summon Duration 	How to unlock 	How to unlock
 	3,0m 	50s-60s 	Complete the Code Crimson mission Operation Vulturnus on Officer difficulty (not possible during the first playthrough).	Complete the Code Crimson mission Operation Vulturnus on Officer difficulty (not possible during the first playthrough).
 	 	 	| 	|
 	Rush 	Mega Flare 	Shock Wave 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	3,0m 	35s-50s 	Complete the Expert Trial Colonel Faith's Revolt on Agito difficulty. 	Complete the Expert Trial Colonel Faith's Revolt on Agito difficulty.
 	 	 	 	
 	Rush 	Giga Flare 	Shock Wave 	—
 	 	 	 	
 	Unknown 	75s (actually until Shinryu Celestia is defeated)	Not available outside The Battle of Judecca. 	Not available outside The Battle of Judecca.
 	 	 	 	
 	Grand Buster 	Tera Flare 	— 	—
 	 	 	 	
==Verboten Eidolons==
Immensely powerful Eidolons, known as Verboten Eidolons , cannot be controlled by the player. According to the description in the game and the official novel, these Eidolons can only be summoned by a l'Cie. The process of summoning takes six hours to complete and requires the l'Cie along with a couple of thousand outstanding sorcerers to sacrifice themselves. Once summoned, these Eidolons are able to destroy entire armies.
Below are the Verboten Eidolons mentioned in the story. Out of these, Alexander is the only one to appear in the game:
*Alexander
*Ramuh
*Leviathan
*Knights of the Round
The first ever Eidolon summoned is said to have been stronger than a l'Cie but to have required the life energy of untold numbers of dominion legions, and for this reason its summoning was prohibited after the first time it was used against Lorica and its Black Tortoise l'Cie. It is unknown what Eidolon it was, but it fits the description of a Verboten Eidolon.
==Behind the scenes==
The first Eidolon made for the game was Ifrit, who was intended to be depicted as brutal, wild and berserk. Ifrit shares its concept art with that of his Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- counterpart. At this time the team still played with the idea of making the Eidolons playable in real-time, and looked at the summoning video they made first of an Ifrit NPC summoned that acted on its own. The team had the feeling it was not the beast they wanted him to be as he did not seem feral enough. When the team tried to make Ifrit playable for the first time, Tabata, who was trying it out, clicked the button and Ifrit made a powerful attack. This impressed Tabata so that he decided they should try to overcome the technical limitations to make the Eidolons playable.
One day Yusuke Naora was walking out in Tokyo, and saw a cat that had been struck by a car and killed. The corpse was surrounded by other cats nudging and licking it. This harrowing experience inspired Naora to portray the connection between the students of Class Zero, both between themselves and with their Eidolons, and the pain of death and war. This is reflected in the key art featuring Machina and Rem next to a slain Bahamut.
Unlike Final Fantasy XIII, where Eidolons are mechanical and messengers of Etro, the Eidolons in Type-0 are more organic in appearance. However, they still have gear and cog-like designs on their person somewhere. This is a major theme in Orience and may still imply some attachment to Etro as they are said to be called forth from another realm.
==Gallery==
;Screenshots
Bahamut-Fires-Type0-HD.png|Bahamut during Capital Liberation.
Bahamut-Downed-Type0-HD.png|Bahamut during Capital Liberation.
Odin2-Type-0-HD.png|Odin during Capital Liberation.
Bahamut-Type-0-HD.png|Bahamut during the First Battle of Judecca.
Odin-Type-0-HD.png|Odin during the First Battle of Judecca.
Alexander-Summon-Type-0-HD.png|Alexander during the Clash on Big Bridge.
;Artwork
FFT0 Golem Concept Art.png|Golem.
FFT0 Ifrit Concept Art.png|Ifrit.
FFT0 Shiva Concept Art.png|Shiva.
FFT0 Odin Concept Art.png|Odin.
OdinWeaponsArt-Type0.png|Odin's sword.
FFT0 Diabolos Concept Art.png|Diabolos.
FFT0 Bahamut Concept Art.png|Bahamut.
FFT0 KSSSnH 015b.png|Machina with a dead Bahamut.
FFT0 Bahamut Reishiki Concept Art.png|Bahamut Zero.
Alexander_Type-0_concept_art.png|Alexander.
AlexanderFoot-Type0.png|Alexander's foot.
AlexanderStoryboard-Type0.png|Storyboard of Alexander's summoning.
AlexanderEntranceArt-Type0.png|Platform where Alexander is summoned.
;Unused Eidolons
FFT0 Phoenix Concept Art.png|Phoenix.
NemesisBeforeTransformation-Type0.png|Nemesis before transformation.
FFT0 Nemesis Concept Art.png|Nemesis.
NemesisTransformation-Type0.png|Nemesis's transformation.
FFT0 Pandemonium Concept Art.png|Pandemonium.
FFT0 Typhon Concept Art.png|Typhon.
==Etymology==
Verboten is German for forbidden, with particular emphasis of being forbidden by an authority.
==Citations==
ru:Эйдолон (Type-0)
Category:Eidolons in Final Fantasy Type-0
Category:Summons