Bahamut (Final Fantasy VIII)

Bahamut is a non-elemental optional Guardian Force in Final Fantasy VIII. He is a blue dragon who shoots energy from its mouth. A late-game GF, he doesn't learn any junction abilities naturally, and is the first GF to learn Stat+60% support abilities. He is the first GF in the roster to learn an ability that has the junctioner gain HP by walking on the field, and the only GF to learn Auto-Protect naturally. His unique abilities include the ability to get rare drops from enemies more frequently (although because of the way item drop mechanics work in Final Fantasy VIII the ability can be detrimental), and the ability to create the highest level magic spells in the game.
==Profile==
Bahamut is a steel blue dragon, though the underside of his wings is dark red. He has spikes at the tips of his wings, a long tail, and sharp claws and horns. He is one of the few Guardian Forces to speak to the party.
==Obtained==
Bahamut is fought as a boss in the Deep Sea Research Center, the party acquiring him as a Guardian Force after the battle. Deep Sea Research Center is a hidden dungeon located in the lower left corner of the world map. The player must land the Ragnarok on it to enter.
There is a flashing blue pillar in the middle of the first room. If the core is in the middle of a pulse and the party moves, they enter a fixed encounter against a random enemy formation. When the party approaches the core, a voice asks a question (So you wish to challenge me?). If answered correctly (It's not our will to fight), the party will fight a Ruby Dragon, and if the party wins, the next question (Begging me for mercy?) has the correct answer "Never".
If the party answers correctly they will fight another Ruby Dragon (this battle is an unavoidable back attack), but if any questions are answered incorrectly the party will be warped back to the entrance and they will have to start over again. The player can bring a low health Quistis and use her Degenerator Limit Break to defeat the Ruby Dragons easily.
The trick is that the final question (Damned imbeciles. Why do you wish to fight?) has a hidden answer, below the main two (revealed to be "It's our nature"). Taking the hidden option initiates a battle against Bahamut.
Obtaining Bahamut in the Steam version earns the achievement Bahamut.
==Battle==
thumb|right|335 px
Bahamut's Mega Flare summon is a non-elemental attack that damages all enemies and ignores the targets' Spirit stat. Bahamut's summon time is 22.1s, which, according to the Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania, allows the player to boost its damage to around 230% of normal damage using a regular PlayStation controller.
Its damage is calculated as follows:
:Damage = 70 \times Level / 10 + 55 + 30
:Damage = Damage \times (265) / 8 
:Damage = Damage \times 55 / 256 
:Damage = Damage \times Boost / 100 
:Damage = Damage \times (100 + SummonMagBonus) / 100 
Mega Flare shares similar sound effects with Quezacotl's Thunder Storm, Shiva's Diamond Dust, and Ifrit's Hell Fire.
===Compatibility===
The charge time for summoning depends on the compatibility between the summoner and the GF as well as the Battle Speed. The greater the compatibility, the less time it takes to summon. Compatibility can be boosted with compatibility boosting items, by casting magic of the same element as the Guardian Force (or "forbidden magic" in Bahamut's case) and by summoning the GF during battle. Compatibility is usually reduced by using "opposing" magic to the GF's element and other summons, but Bahamut doesn't have an opposite GF or magic; his compatibility value only drops by a small amount if the junctioner summons another GF or uses other GF compatibility items than Bahamut's. Uniquely, Bahamut's compatibility item is a very rare item, which is thus best used for refining rather than for boosting his compatibility.
Compatibility Chart	Compatibility Chart 	Compatibility Chart
Summon Effect 	Bahamut +20, Every other GF -1.6 	
Compatibility Items	Shaman Stone +3.2 (-1.6 for others), LuvLuvG +20.2 	
Casting Magic 	Apocalypse +0.2, Flare +0.2, Holy +0.2, Meteor +0.2, Quake +0.2, Tornado +0.2, Ultima +0.2	
The below values are the base compatibility values with all playable characters at the start of the game. Although Seifer and Edea cannot junction Bahamut in a normal playthrough, a compatibility values still exist for them.
Party member	Compatibility
Squall 	520
Quistis 	510
Zell 	500
Selphie 	560
Rinoa 	580
Irvine 	520
Seifer 	240
Edea 	700
=== Stats ===
The Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania incorrectly shows Doomtrain's Attack Power as Bahamut's and vice versa. The following table represents the correct figures:
Level	HP 	Attack Power
35 	3,274	2,028
40 	3,714	2,509
50 	4,600	2,990
60 	5,494	3,471
70 	6,396	3,953
80 	7,306	4,434
90 	8,224	4,915
100 	9,150	5,396
== Abilities ==
Abilities learned naturally by Bahamut are listed below:
Ability 	AP 	Prerequisite
Abilityx4 	(Already learned)	(Already learned)
Magic 	(Already learned)	(Already learned)
GF 	(Already learned)	(Already learned)
Draw 	(Already learned)	(Already learned)
Item 	(Already learned)	(Already learned)
Str+60% 	(Already learned)	(Already learned)
Mag+60% 	(Already learned)	(Already learned)
Mug 	200 	None
Move-HP Up 	200 	None
Auto-Protect	250 	None
Expendx2-1 	250 	None
Ability 	AP 	Prerequisite
Rare Item 	250 	None
SumMag+10% 	40 	None
SumMag+20% 	70 	SumMag+10%
SumMag+30% 	140 	SumMag+20%
SumMag+40% 	200 	SumMag+30%
GFHP+10% 	40 	None
GFHP+20% 	70 	GFHP+10%
GFHP+30% 	140 	GFHP+20%
GFHP+40% 	200 	GFHP+30%
Boost 	10 	None
Forbid Mag-RF	(Already learned)	(Already learned)
==Boss==
:Bahamut: I am... Bahamut
:Squall: The Great GF... Bahamut
:Bahamut: GF? I...
:Bahamut: Using my powers... it is you humans I fear
Bahamut's physical attack is Claw Swipe and he uses Stop, Thundaga and Tornado. His special attack is Mega Flare, a non-elemental attack that ignores the party's Spirit stat that Bahamut can cast twice in a row. Bahamut is susceptible to Darkness.
== Triple Triad ==
Bahamut is a Level 9 GF Card in Triple Triad used for playing the minigame and for turning into 100 Megalixirs with Quezacotl's Card Mod. The card drops from the Bahamut boss. Because the Deep Sea Research Center is available in the endgame, the player could forgo fighting Bahamut until they can play cards against the Card Club onboard the Ragnarok and win Bahamut's card this way. The player can't have two Bahamut cards if they already got one before fighting him as a boss, however, the card drop from the boss is just never added to the inventory.
==Other appearances==
===Pictlogica Final Fantasy===
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
Bahamut from Final Fantasy VIII appears as a boss.
===Mobius Final Fantasy===
The Final Fantasy VIII incarnation of Bahamut appeared as a fire-elemental Mage ability card for players to summon during the Final Fantasy VIII collaboration events. It allowed player characters to perform the Guardian Force: Fire Mage ability, which dealt fire damage to enemies within an area of effect. Additionally, the attack drew three fire elemental orbs, along with granting the Flameforce and Resist Water buffs on the user.
==Gallery==
Bahamut FFVIII Portrait.jpg|Concept art for menu portrait.
8b-bahamut.jpg|Bahamut's concept art for Final Fantasy VIII.
Megaflare1.png|Bahamut flying.
Megaflare2.png|Bahamut spinning.
Megaflare3.png|Bahamut readying Mega Flare.
FFVIII Mega Flare.jpg|Bahamut unleashing Mega Flare.
Megaflare4.png|Mega Flare.
FFVIII Mega Flare.png|Mega Flare.
Storyboard bahamut.jpg|Concept art of Mega Flare.
TranscendentArtistsCollectionFinalFantasyVIII2.jpg|Transcendent Artists Collection
Bahamut-statue-FFVIII.jpg|Statue by Kotobukiya.
==Etymology==
==Citations==
Category:Guardian Forces in Final Fantasy VIII
Category:Dragons