The Guardian Force

Summons return once again, this time the form of Guardian Forces. They actually play a bigger role in Final Fantasy VIII than they ever have in the past: now, when you summon a Guardian Force, they're not just there for a single turn, they'll fight for you turn after turn as you issue commands.

In many ways, they almost play as a replacement to materia from Final Fantasy VII: not only can they fight for you in battles, but they'll also help to determine which abilities you can use in and off the battle field.

Junctioning

There may seem to be a bit of a learning curve when you first start junctioning, but it's actually quite simple once you get used to it. First, you'll need to junction a Guardian Force to a given character. After the GF is junctioned, you'll be able to junction magic to different stats for the given character. You can either do this manually and take into account the surroundings and possible impacts of your decisions, or just set it for automatic and let your fate rest in the hands of the dice.

When assigning abilities, make sure to give almost every character the Draw command; it'll be quite useful not only for the actual battle, but also to stock up on magic to junction later on. At least one person in your group should be able to use Items and Magic.

Growth

Guardian Forces, just like the characters they're attached to, grow. As your characters level up, so will your Guardian Forces. This allows them to learn new abilities, and increases their HP and Attack power.

When a battle's over, you'll receive a screen that shows how much experience and AP you've gained. Experience plays into leveling both the Guardian Forces and your characters. AP is used to teach new abilities to a Guardian Force. You'll only earn AP if a Guardian Force was junctioned to a character in the battle.

Affinity

Guardian Forces in Final Fantasy VII are almost like pets: they'll grow attached to characters that like them. There are a number of ways to increase the Compatibility of any GF with any character, and they range from using a certain elemental spell to finding and using certain items. However, the easiest and best way is even more simple: if you continue to summon the GF, the compatibility will increase.

The higher the compatibility, the faster the Guardian Force will show up in battle. If you intend on using the Guardian Force at all (especially during boss battles), you should definitely have your compatibility pretty high- 750 or so would be a bare minimum, but the closer to 1,000 you can get, the better.

Customization

An item called Amnesia Greens can be found that will allow a Guardian Force to "forget" and ability. At first this may seem pretty odd; why would you want to forget an ability? Actually, this may prove to be very useful: you can forget abilities and replace them with one of your choosing by finding the right items.

Missed a Guardian Force?

If you miss out on drawing a Guardian Force during battle, don't worry: during disc four, you can draw them from the appropriate enemy in Ultimecia's Castle. Siren can be drawn from Tri-Point, Leviathan from Trauma, Pandemona from Red Giant, Carbuncle from Krysta, Cerberus from Gargantua, Alexander from Catoblepas, and Eden from Tiamat.

Primary Guardian Forces

01 - Quezacotl

02 - Shiva

03 - Ifrit

04 - Siren

05 - Brothers

06 - Diablos

07 - Carbuncle

08 - Leviathan

09 - Pandemona

10 - Cerberus

11 - Alexander

12 - Doomtrain

13 - Bahamut

14 - Cactaur

15 - Tonberry

16 - Eden

Secondary Guardian Forces

Odin - Once inside the Centra Ruins, find and defeat Odin. Once you do, he'll join your party. Odin isn't a Guardian Force that you can control: he'll randomly appear during the start of some battles. Odin will appear roughly in one out of every ten (non boss) battles and instantly destroy the enemies on the field by slicing them in half with his Zantetsuken.

Phoenix - Phoenix can be summoned only by using the Phoenix Pinion in battle. Once you've summoned Phoenix, there's a chance he'll show up when your parties in trouble.

Boko the Chocobo - After solving at least one of the Chocobo Forest puzzles, use a Gysahl Green during a battle. Boko the Chocobo will appear and attack the enemies.

MiniMog - By using Mog's Amulet, a GF can learn the MiniMog ability. When he's called upon, MiniMog will appear and dance. This will restore all of your GF's HP. This becomes more and more useful as you go further into the game.

Moomba - Use a Friendship item during a battle and a Moomba will come to your rescue and attack the enemies.

Gilgamesh - During disc three, if you've already gained Odin, Gilgamesh will begin to appear randomly. Like Odin, you won't be able to control him. Gilgamesh, however, isn't just restricted to showing up at the start of a battle, and he can also appear during boss fights. Gilgamesh will use a separate attack based on which of his four weapons he decides to use. Okay, now i will describe all of the guardian force.

 Primary Guardian Forces

Quezacotl

Element: Thunder
GF's Attack: Thunder Storm
Starting Level: 1
Starting HP : 300 

Once Quezacotl is summoned the elements of the skies are rained down upon your opponets. It supercharges itself with the energy of thunder while its wings are closed and once its wings are spread the enemy is struck by huge bolts of lightning from storm clouds above.

Ability Highlights: Early on in the game, Card may be quite useful to give you an extra edge in Triple Triad games. Card Mod becomes very useful in mid and late game; it can help Quistis learn Blue Magic, assist in getting items for upgrading weapons, and help you get rare items you wouldn't otherwise be able to find.

Found At: Access Squall's study desk in the classroom in Balamb Garden. Select "tutorial" and you'll recieve Quezacotl.

Shiva

Element: Ice
GF's Attack: Diamond Dust
Starting Level: 1
Starting HP : 300

A huge spike of Ice embeds itself onto the ground and Shiva shatters the ice around her, breaking free and gathering mosture from the air around her. Using this energy she hails ice upon the opponents, encaging them in an avalance of a clear iceberg.

Ability Highlights: Vitality+ and Spirit+ may be somewhat useful in early-game. Doom could be useful before you have a chance to draw (or refine) Death spells.

Found At: Access Squall's study desk in the classroom in Balamb Garden. Select "tutorial" and you'll recieve Shiva.

Ifrit

Element: Fire
GF's Attack: Hell Fire
Starting Level: 1
Starting HP : 305

A torrent of flames from Hell gush from the ground and Ifrit lands in a sphere of fire. Ifrit jumps into the air and rains fire, lava and flaming boulders down upon your foes.

Ability Highlights: Ifrit will give you an early chance to have HP-J, which really is a must-have. Str Bonus could be great if you decide to learn it early on; you'll have a character with an increasingly large strength base as they level up.

Found At: Ifrit is located in the Fire Cavern. He'll join your party after you defeat him.

Siren

Element: None (cast Silence)
GF's Attack: Silent Voice
Starting Level: 3
Starting HP : 391

The heavens open and an angelic harp player appears on a rock in the distance. As she plays her tune and stream of energy passes over your foe, silencing them and a wave overtakes them causing moderate damage.

Ability Highlights: Siren has one of the abilities you're sure to find about the most useful in the game: Move-Find. With it, you'll be able to find hidden Draw and Save points. Treatment could be useful to cure abnormal status effects.

Found At: Draw during the boss fight Elvoret on the top of the Communications Tower in Dollet.

Brother

Element: Earth
GF's Attack: Brotherly Love
Starting Level: 7
Starting HP : 670

Minitaur and Sacred, as Brothers, replaced Titan as the summon representing the earth element.

Ability Highlights: Learn HP Bonus as soon as possible, if you get it early enough, you may be able to recieve huge benefits; you'll get an additioanl 30 HP every time a character levels up. HP+ also helps.

Found At: The Brothers can be found in the Tomb of the Unknown King. You'll face a two stage boss fight (one of the Brothers by himself, and then both together) and they'll join your party.

Diablos

Element: None
GF's Attack: Dark Messenger
Starting Level: 9
Starting HP : 730

A legion of bats coverge upon a dark ball of gravity. Diablos emerges from the sphere and sends the gravity ball down upon your enemy, crushing them and taking away a percentage of their max HP dependant upon the level of your GF.

Ability Highlights: Mug is very, very useful; you'll recieve plenty of extra items, sometimes items you wouldn't even be able to find normally. Abilityx3 should also prove to be a nice asset for any character.

Found At: Talk with Cid before leaving towards Timber and he'll hand over a Magical Lamp. Go to the inventory screen and use the lamp to be teleported to a battle with Diablos. If you defeat him, he'll join your party.

Carbuncle

Element: None (casts Reflect)
GF's Attack: Ruby Light
Starting Level: 16
Starting HP : 1,220

Carbuncle emerges from his burrow in the ground and emits a magical spell from the ruby upon his crown. A spectrum of light appears and casts reflect on each member of your party.

Ability Highlights: Vit Bonus is quite useful, it works in a way similar to HP Bonus with the Brothers; but instead of adding HP when you level, you'll get an extra point into Vitality. St-Atk-J and St-Def-J are somewhat rare and also useful.

Found At: Draw during the boss fight with the Iguions.

Leviathan

Element: Water
GF's Attack: Tsunami
Starting Level: 17
Starting HP : 1,349

A portal appears from another dimension and water begins to pour out, turning into the serpent Leviathan. The water serpent perches upon a rock and summons a massive tidal wave drowning your foes.

Ability Highlights: Leviathan's biggest highlight, of course, is Recover. You'll be able to completely restore the HP to a single character without using magic. This also works as an indirect immunity to silence. Spr Bonus could be useful if learned early on.

Found At: Draw during the boss fight with NORG.

Pandemona

Element: Wind
GF's Attack: Tornado Zone
Starting Level: 19
Starting HP : 1,442

Pandemona is the first true wind-elemental summon; Not Choco/Mog nor Typhoon.

Ability Highlights: Pandemona will certainly help if you intend on having an speedy characters; Spd-J, Spd+20/40% and Initiative will most definitely give you an edge in many battles.

Found At: Draw during the boss fight with Fujin and Raijin from Fujin.

Cerberus

Element: None (casts Double and Triple)
GF's Attack: Counter Rockets
Starting Level: 23
Starting HP : 1,490

Cerberus appears at the gates from beyond casting double and triple upon your party.

Ability Highlights: St-Atk-J and St-Def-Jx4 offer quite a few interesting possibilites, and may prove to be very worthwhile if you choose to use them. The speed bonuses will help quite a bit in battles.

Found At: Challenge Cerberus while you're in the main hall inside of Galbadia Garden. If you defeat him, he'll join your party.

Alexander

Element: Holy
GF's Attack: Holy Judgement
Starting Level: 25
Starting HP : 1,925

The mountains part and the machine of judgement, Alexander, appears to decimate your foes. It's shoulders open and beams of holy light rain down upon the enemy.

Ability Highlights: The Med LV Up ability may be quite useful during the UFO and Solomon Ring sidequests. You may find Revive helpful in late-game. Elem-Def-Jx4 is absolutely wonderful, but it may take quite a while to learn.

Found At: Draw during the boss fight with Edea inside Galbadia Garden.

Doomtrain

Element: Poison
GF's Attack: Runaway Train
Starting Level: 28
Starting HP : 2,521

The train of doom from beyond lays its rails in the path of your allies enemies. Doomtrain runs over the opponents and causes poison along with darkness, silence, berserk, sleep, doom, curse, petrify, confuse and VIT 0.

Ability Highlights: Junk Shop may become useful during disc four. Elem-Atk-J, St-Atk-J, St-Def-Jx4, and Elem-Def-Jx4 tend to be quite useful, and having them all on a single GF is just incredible.

Found At: Find the Solomon Ring at Tears' Point in Esthar. Then gather six of each of the following: Malboro Tentacle, Remedy+, and Steel Pipes. After collecting the items, use the ring. Doomtrain will accept the items and join your group.

Bahamut

Element: None
GF's Attack: Mega Flare
Starting Level: 35
Starting HP : 3,274

A dragon surfs beneath the clouds, rising to the background of a full moon. Bahumt then spreads his wings to slow his attack and rises straight into the air, drawing energy from within and launching massive nuclear attacks upon the enemy.

Ability Highlights: Rare Item is a must if you're into collecting everything in the game. Abilityx4 is one of the best Bahamut has to offer. A second Mug might be useful, too.

Found At: Once you've gained the Ragnarok, you can travel to the Deep Sea Research Center on the southwest corner of the world map. Once inside, you'll be able to answer Bahamut's questions. If you answer them correctly, you'll be able to fight him. If you win, he'll join your party.

Cactuar

Element: None
GF's Attack: 1,000 Needles
Starting Level: 20
Starting HP : 1,766

An innocent cactuar pops out of the screen... jumps in the air... and throws a barrage of needles to the enemies dealing damage depending on his level.

Ability Highlights: Cactuar's primary benefit is the five Bonus abilities. They'll allow you to customize your characters quite a bit.

Found At: Travel to the Cactaur Island east of the Cetra Ruins. In the desert, you'll see a small green enemy appear randomly. Use the Ragnarok to land on the island and chase him down. Defeat him and he'll join your team.

Tonberry

Element: None
GF's Attack: Chef's Knife
Starting Level: 30
Starting HP : 2,596

 Calling upon the Tonberry brings him from a hole in the earth, lighting his latern to guide his way as the surroundings darken. His attack only does damage to one enemy and isn't as powerful as some other stronger GF's, however he does have some very useful abilities.


Ability Highlights: If you tend to buy quite a bit from shops, Tonberry will quickly become a favorite GF of yours. Familiar adds items to every shop, a few of which can be hard to find. Call Shop lets you visit any shop you've been to in the past.

Found At: Defeat 18+ Tonberries and the Tonberry King will appear. Defeat him and he will join your team.

Eden

Element: None
GF's Attack: Eternal Breath
Starting Level: 30
Starting HP : 4,786

A being of another world causes catastrophic damage to any foes that dares stand in it's path. Transforming the planet into its own portal it shoots the enemies into a superconcentrated beam into the superhot center of the galaxy causing a a reaction of apocolyptic proportions.

Ability Highlights: Devour is interesting, but not very practical unless you plan on spending a lot of time on the game; eating the right characters enough times can absolutely max out every character's stats.

Found At: If you've defeated Bahamut in the Deep Sea Research Center, you'll be able to travel deeper under the water. Below the surface you'll run into Ultima Weapon. Draw Eden from Ultima Weapon.

Secondary Guardian Forces

Odin

 Once you obtain Odin inside the Cetra Ruins, he will appear randomly at the beginning of battle. His attack, Zantetsuken, cuts all enemies in half except for bosses

Location: Centra Ruins

How To Acquire: Defeat Odin in the optional boss battle before the timer ends.

Side Notes: I think, based from experience, Odin appears more often when all your characters HP are at critical.

Gilgamesh

Attack: Zantetsuken, Masamune, Excalibur, Excalipur (poor)

Zantetsuken - Instant death attack to all enemies.
Masamune - Non-elemental attack to all enemies.
Excalibur - Non-elemental attack to all enemies.
Excalipur - The "poor" version of Excalibur.

How To Acquire: On disc 3, where you fight with Seifer for the last time, Odin will come out and use his Zantetsuken. But it has been killed before Odin did. After the death of the Odin, his sword will swing to the sky and being hold by Gilgamesh.

Boco

Deals fire dame to all enemies.

Use a Ghyssal Green in battle to call for his help

Mini Mog

Use the Minimog command, which you can learn from the item called, Mog's Armlet. Whe nyou summon him, he will heal the HP of your GFs a little.

Mog's Armlet can only be acquired in the Chocobo World mini-game, which is available only via the Pocketstation or in the PC version of the game.

Moomba

Weak non-elemental attack to an enemy.

Becomes available by playing Chocobo World mini-game, which can be accessed only via the Pocketstation or in the PC version of the game.

Phoenix

You do not actually summon Phoenix. Instead, he will randomly appear in battle whenever your party is wiped out.

To be able to make her appear, you must finish the Shumi Village sidequest to be rewarded with Phoenix Pinion item. Use it in battle and from that time on, Phoenix will have a chance to appear and revive your suppposed Game Over game.

Griever

He was described as the "most powerful GF", but that is barely a truth.

Attack: Shockvave Pulsar

Non-elemental attack to all. (The same as the ultimate Limit Break of Quistis). Other attacks Doom, Demi, Pain, Gravija, Draw as well as the ability to blow away your spells... Meaning, you will lose your spells, including its junction effect.

How To Acquire: Ultimecia is the only one who can use him. 

Side Notes: Griever is the name of Squall's ring.