Phoenix (Final Fantasy IX)

Causes Fire damage to all enemies, and all party members recover from KO.

In-game description

Phoenix is an eidolon in Final Fantasy IX who can be acquired as a summon for Eiko. It is a Fire-elemental summon who takes the form of a large fiery bird. Phoenix can be the first eidolon Eiko is summons, as when she joins the party, the player may already have a Phoenix Pinion in their inventory; if she summons in battle before the party reaches Madain Sari, the others express their surprise at the feat. Unlike most eidolons, Phoenix lacks a Tetra Master card in Final Fantasy IX.

History[]

Phoenix was an eidolon that manifested to protect the crystal of Gaia. The practice of summoning it presumably went back centuries, as Phoenix appeared on a mural on the Eidolon Wall in Madain Sari, the summoners' village on the Outer Continent. As the summoners left the Mist Continent 500 years ago, summon magic fell into legend among the Mist Continent populace.

Ten years ago, Garland ordered Kuja to destroy Madain Sari with the Invincible, killing most summoners. The few survivors had a child, a young girl, but all her elders perished one by one until she was the only summoner left. Eiko thus made a living in the ruins of Madain Sari with only the local moogles for companions. She kept the art of summon magic alive by herself, and resorted to stealing food from the dwarven village of Conde Petie for sustenance. On one such heist a group of travelers from the Mist Continent caught her: Zidane, Dagger, Vivi, and Quina. Eiko showed them hospitality in a bid to not be alone anymore, and the travelers were amazed that she could summon eidolons like Dagger could, who was unfamiliar with the eidolons Eiko could call forth. Equipping a phoenix pinion, Eiko learned to summon Phoenix into battle. Eiko joined the others in the struggle against Kuja's schemes, who kidnapped Eiko to extract her eidolons. The procedure failed, and so Phoenix stays with Eiko until the end.

Characteristics[]

Phoenix is a colorful bird with large golden wings and a long tail plumes. The wings are fantastically big in comparison to the body, and the primaries are golden yellow with red tips, while the scapulars are green, purple, and red. The Phoenix's chest has purple plumage, and its tail feathers are longer than it is tall, trailing behind it when the rises up into the air. The bird has an eye-spotted tail resembling the plumage of the real world peacock.

Whether the common revival items, Phoenix Downs, are related to the eidolon incarnation is unknown. Phoenix is the only eidolon whose "associated item" is not a rock or a jewel of some kind.

Gameplay[]

Phoenix costs 32 MP to summon and is learned from a Phoenix Pinion for 40 AP. Phoenix Pinions are fairly common, and so the party probably already has one by the time they meet Eiko. They can be synthesized from a Phoenix Down and a Gysahl Green at Hades in Memoria. Some can be found in the following locations: Alexandria (disc 1, disc 3), Alexandria Castle, Dali, Lindblum (disc 2), Cleyra, Conde Petie, Madain Sari, and as treasure in Chocobo Hot and Cold.

Phoenix Pinions can be stolen from the following enemies: Abadon (B), Amdusias (A), Axolotl, Behemoth (Weapon Shop), Behemoth (Memoria), Blazer Beetle, Catoblepas, Crawler, Fang, Gargoyle, Garuda, Ghost, Gigan Toad (B), Gnoll, Hecteyes, Hedgehog Pie, Lady Bug, Land Worm, Maliris - Crystal World, Mandragora, Nymph, Ochu, Ogre (A), Ogre (B), Python, Shell Dragon (B), Soldier - Cleyra, Soldier - Alexandria, Tonberry, Torama, Vepal, Veteran, and Zuu. Phoenix Pinions drop from certain bosses: Soulcage, Kraken, and Lich. Thus, if the player hasn't got one when they first meet Eiko, progressing the story and fighting the Soulcage at the Iifa Tree will gain one.

Phoenix's attack, Rebirth Flame, deals Fire damage to all enemies and revives KO'd allies. If the party is wiped out when Eiko is in the party, there is a chance Phoenix is auto-summoned to prevent a Game Over. The chance of this happening is greater the more Phoenix Pinions the party has in their inventory.

Rebirth Flame deals fire damage to all opponents, and revives fallen party members restoring their HP equal to:

HP Recovery = ((Target's Spirit + 30) * Target's Max HP) / 100^[1]

Restored HP is doubled if Concentrate is equipped.

Phoenix is randomly summoned automatically if Eiko is in the party and the party is annihilated. This rate is proportional to the amount of Phoenix Pinions the party has in the inventory.

The formula for the percentage chance is given by:

Appearance Chance = (No. of Phoenix Pinion/256) * 100%^[1]

Since the maximum number of Phoenix Pinions one can keep in the inventory is 99, the maximum percent chance that Phoenix can appear using the above formula is:

Appearance Chance = 99/256 * 100% = 38.671875% = 38.7%^[1]

When Phoenix is summoned automatically to save the player from a Game Over, it has a different summon animation, deals no damage to enemies, and uses no MP.

The Fire damage on the enemies is calculated thusly:^[1]

${\displaystyle Base = 40 - Target's~Magic~Defense}$

${\displaystyle Bonus = Magic ... [(Level + Magic) / 8] + Magic}$

${\displaystyle Damage = Base \times Bonus}$

The Bonus in the calculation can be boosted by 50% by equipping Eiko with Red Hat or Cachusha. Equipping both at once does not stack.

Phoenix is an especially useful eidolon for reviving, as it is the only means of reviving multiple fallen allies at once. However, this would require for Eiko to be among the last ones standing, which likely requires some luck on her part, as she is not among the most durable members. Ifrit deals stronger fire damage to enemies than Phoenix with a full summon animation, but Phoenix beats out the damage against Ifrit's short summon animation, and thus may be preferable unless the player is using Boost. Phoenix's auto-summon has a chance of reviving the party from an impending Game Over, and so Eiko who knows Phoenix may be a good party member against tough bosses. Though Eiko may have Phoenix for the battle against Soulcage, it is best to not summon it directly in this battle, as it sets the boss on fire and causes it to counter with powerful fire-elemental winds. (The auto-summon is fine, however.)

Summoning Phoenix normally earns the Rise from the Ashes achievement in the mobile and Steam versions.

Other appearances[]

Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia[]

Phoenix and its ability, Rebirth Flame, are Eiko's LD Ability.

Gallery[]

Rebirth Flame.

Automatic Rebirth Flame.

Etymology[]

[view · edit · purge]In Greek mythology, a phoenix or phenix (Greek: φοῖνιξ phoinix; Latin: phoenix, phœnix, fenix) is a long-lived bird that is cyclically regenerated or reborn. Associated with the sun, a phoenix obtains new life by arising from the ashes of its predecessor. According to some sources, the phoenix dies in a show of flames and combustion, although there are other sources that claim that the legendary bird dies and simply decomposes before being born again. According to some texts, the phoenix could live over 1,400 years before rebirth.

Citations[]