Final Fantasy's guardian forces are not only a formidable presense in the game they have appeared time and again in the series. Their names are names of supreme power, mightiness, and omnipotence. These fierce summoned spirits are in fact related to the Gods of humankind's antiquity. Those invincible forces that controlled the destiny of civilizations and the fate of men. They were honored and simultaneously feared. Their names evoke great adoration and utter fear. A nation would rise in the name of their gods and goddesses and overpower another nation in belief that they were serving the prevailing will of their creators. Final Fantasy's guardian forces have themselves been always hanging around, waiting to be called upon again and again, much in the way we humans once called upon or summoned them to provide fortitude and strengh and to provide clarity to a mysterious world filled with magical forces. Some of the guardian forces were legendary and mythical beasts that people once believe existed. They inscribed these legends upon stone tablets, papyrus, on the side of temples, upon linen scrolls, and though oral tradition.

The following information is various research I've accumulated on the real "Guardian Forces" that have littered the many various cultures of humanity thoughout the timeline. If I found something interesting, that probably relates to Final Fantasy, I underlined it. Have fun

Odin, also called Wodan, Woden, or Wotan, one of the principal gods in Norse mythology. His exact nature and role, however, are difficult to determine because of the complex picture of him given by the wealth of archaeological and literary sources. The Roman historian Tacitus stated that the Teutons worshiped Mercury; and because dies Mercurii ("Mercury's day") was identified with Wednesday ("Woden's day"), there is little doubt that the god Woden (the earlier form of Odin) was meant. Though Woden was worshiped preeminently, there is not sufficient evidence of his cult to show whether it was practiced by all the Teutonic tribes or to enable conclusions to be drawn about the nature of the god. Later literary sources, however, indicate that at the end of the pre-Christian period Odin was the principal god in Scandinavia.

From earliest times Odin was a war god, and he appeared in heroic literature as the protector of heroes; fallen warriors joined him in Valhalla. The wolf and the raven were dedicated to him. His magical horse, Sleipnir, had eight legs, teeth inscribed with runes, and the ability to gallop through the air and over the sea. Odin was the great magician among the gods and was associated with runes. He was also the god of poets. In outward appearance he was a tall, old man, with flowing beard and only one eye (the other he gave in exchange for wisdom). He was usually depicted wearing a cloak and a wide-brimmed hat and carrying a spear.

Fenrir also called Fenris�lfr, monstrous wolf of Norse mythology. He was the son of the demoniac god Loki and a giantess, Angerboda. Fearing Fenrir's strength and knowing that only evil could be expected of him, the gods bound him with a magical chain made of the sound of a cat's footsteps, the beard of a woman, the breath of fish, and other occult elements. When the chain was placed upon him, Fenrir bit off the hand of the god Tyr. He was gagged with a sword and was destined to lie bound to a rock until the Ragnar�k (Doomsday), when he will break his bonds and fall upon the gods. According to one version of the myth, Fenrir will devour the sun, and in the Ragnar�k he will fight against the chief god Odin and swallow him. Odin's son Vidar will avenge his father, stabbing the wolf to the heart according to one account and tearing his jaws asunder according to another. Fenrir figures prominently in Norwegian and Icelandic poetry of the 10th and 11th centuries, and the poets speak apprehensively of the day when he will break loose.

Greek A�DES ("THE UNSEEN"), also called PLUTO, OR PLUTON ("the Rich"), in Greek religion, son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea, and brother of the deities Zeus and Poseidon. After Cronus was killed, the kingdom of the underworld fell by lot to Hades. There he ruled with his queen, Persephone, over the infernal powers and over the dead, in what was often called "the House of Hades," or simply Hades. Though he supervised the trial and punishment of the wicked after death, he was not normally one of the judges in the underworld; nor did he personally torture the guilty, a task assigned to the Furies (Erinyes). Hades was depicted as stern and pitiless, unmoved (like death itself) by prayer or sacrifice. Forbidding and aloof, he never quite emerges as a distinct personality from the shadowy darkness of his realm, not even in the myth of his abduction of

Siren in Greek mythology, a creature half bird and half woman who lured sailors to destruction by the sweetness of her song. According to Homer there were two Sirens on an island in the western sea between Aeaea and the rocks of Scylla. Later the number was usually increased to three, and they were located on the west coast of Italy, near Naples. They were variously said to be the daughters of the sea god Phorcys or of the river god Achelous.

The Greek hero Odysseus, advised by the sorceress Circe, escaped the danger of their song by stopping the ears of his crew with wax so that they were deaf to the Sirens; yet he was able to hear the music and had himself tied to the mast so that he could not steer the ship out of course. Another story relates that when the Argonauts sailed that way, Orpheus sang so divinely that none of them listened to the Sirens. In later legend, after one or other of these failures the Sirens committed suicide. In art they appeared first as birds with the heads of women, later as women, sometimes winged, with bird legs.

The Sirens seem to have evolved from a primitive tale of the perils of early exploration combined with an Oriental image of a bird-woman. Anthropologists explain the Oriental image as a soul-bird--i.e., a winged ghost that stole the living to share its fate. In that respect the Sirens had affinities with the Harpies.

Hebrew LIVYATAN, in Jewish mythology, a primordial sea serpent. Its source is in prebiblical Mesopotamian myth, especially that of the sea monster in the Ugaritic myth of Baal (see Yamm). In the Old Testament, Leviathan appears in Psalms 74:14 as a multiheaded sea serpent that is killed by God and given as food to the Hebrews in the wilderness. In Isaiah 27:1, Leviathan is a serpent and a symbol of Israel's enemies, who will be slain by God. In Job 41, it is a sea monster and a symbol of God's power of creation.

also spelled SIWA, OR SHIVA, one of the main deities of Hinduism, worshiped as the paramount lord by the Saiva (Shaivite) sects of India (see Saivism). Siva (Sanskrit: "Auspicious One") is one of the most complex gods of India, embodying seemingly contradictory qualities. He is both the destroyer and the restorer, the great ascetic and the symbol of sensuality, the benevolent herdsman of souls and the wrathful avenger. Though some of the combinations of roles may be explained by Siva's identification with earlier mythological figures, they also arise from a tendency in Hinduism to combine complementary qualities in a single ambiguous figure.

Siva's female consort is known under various manifestations as Uma, Sati, Parvati, Durga, and Kali (Siva is also sometimes paired with the supreme goddess, Sakti). The divine couple, together with their sons--the six-headed Skanda and the elephant-headed Ganesa--are said to dwell on Mount Kailasa in the Himalayas. Siva's mount and animal image is the bull Nandi; a sculpture of Nandi sits opposite the main sanctuary of every Siva temple. In temples and in private shrines Siva is worshiped in his fundamental form of the linga, or phallus.

Siva is usually depicted in painting and sculpture as white or ash-coloured, with a blue neck (from holding in his throat the poison thrown up at the churning of the cosmic ocean, which threatened to destroy humankind), his hair arranged in a coil of matted locks (jatamakuta) and adorned with the crescent moon and the Ganges (according to legend he brought the Ganges River to earth by allowing her to trickle through his hair, thus breaking her fall). He has three eyes, the third eye bestowing inward vision but capable of burning destruction when focused outward. He wears a garland of skulls and a serpent around his neck and carries in his two (sometimes four) hands a deerskin, a trident, a small hand drum, or a club with a skull at the end.

Siva is represented in a variety of forms: in a pacific mood with his consort Parvati and son Skanda, as the cosmic dancer (Nataraja), as a naked ascetic, as a mendicant beggar, as a yogin, and as the androgynous union of Siva and his consort in one body, half-male and half-female (Ardhanarisvara). Among his common epithets are Sambhu ("Benignant"), Sankara ("Beneficent"), Pasupati ("Lord of Beasts"), Mahesa ("Great Lord"), and Mahadeva ("Great God").

Quetzalc�atl (from Nahuatl quetzalli, "tail feather of the quetzal bird [Pharomachrus mocinno]," and coatl, "snake"), the Feathered Serpent, one of the major deities of the ancient Mexican pantheon. Representations of a feathered snake occur as early as the Teotihuac�n civilization (3rd to 8th century AD) on the central plateau. At that time, Quetzalc�atl seems to have been conceived as a vegetation god--an earth and water deity closely associated with the rain god Tlaloc.

With the immigration of Nahua-speaking tribes from the north, Quetzalc�atl's cult underwent drastic changes. The subsequent Toltec culture (9th through 12th centuries), centred at the city of Tula, emphasized war and human sacrifice linked with the worship of heavenly bodies. Quetzalc�atl became the god of the morning and evening star, and his temple was the centre of ceremonial life in Tula.

In Aztec times (14th through 16th centuries) Quetzalc�atl was revered as the patron of priests, the inventor of the calendar and of books, and the protector of goldsmiths and other craftsmen; he was also identified with the planet Venus. As the morning and evening star, Quetzalc�atl was the symbol of death and resurrection. With his companion Xolotl, a dog-headed god, he was said to have descended to the underground hell of Mictlan to gather the bones of the ancient dead. Those bones he anointed with his own blood, giving birth to the men who inhabit the present universe.

One important body of myths describes Quetzalc�atl as the priest-king of Tula, the capital of the Toltecs. He never offered human victims, only snakes, birds, and butterflies. But the god of the night sky, Tezcatlipoca, expelled him from Tula by performing feats of black magic. Quetzalc�atl wandered down to the coast of the "divine water" (the Atlantic Ocean) and then immolated himself on a pyre, emerging as the planet Venus. According to another version, he embarked upon a raft made of snakes and disappeared beyond the eastern horizon.

The legend of the victory of Tezcatlipoca over the Feathered Serpent probably reflects historical fact. The first century of the Toltec civilization was dominated by the Teotihuac�n culture, with its inspired ideals of priestly rule and peaceful behaviour. The pressure of the northern immigrants brought about a social and religious revolution, with a military ruling class seizing power from the priests. Quetzalc�atl's defeat symbolized the downfall of the Classic theocracy. His sea voyage to the east should probably be connected with the invasion of Yucat�n by the Itz�, a tribe that showed strong Toltec features. Quetzalc�atl's calendar name was Ce Acatl (One Reed). The belief that he would return from the east in a One Reed year led the Aztec sovereign Montezuma II to regard the Spanish conqueror Hern�n Cort�s and his comrades as divine envoys, because 1519, the year in which they landed on the Mexican Gulf coast, was a One Reed year.

In addition to his guise as a plumed serpent, Quetzalc�atl was often represented as a man with a beard; as Eh�catl, the wind god, he was shown with a mask with two protruding tubes (through which the wind blew) and a conical hat typical of the Huastec tribe of northeastern Mexico. The temple of Quetzalc�atl at Tenochtitl�n, the Aztec capital, was a round building, a shape that fitted the god's personality as Eh�catl. Circular temples were believed to please Eh�catl because they offered no sharp obstacles to the wind. Round monuments occur particularly often in Huastec territory.

Quetzalc�atl ruled over the days that bore the name eh�catl ("wind") and over the eighteenth 13-day series of the ritual calendar. He was also the ninth of the 13 gods of the daytime hours. Although he was generally listed as one of the first-rank deities, no ceremonial month was dedicated to his cult.

As the god of learning, of writing, and of books, Quetzalc�atl was particularly venerated in the calmecac, religious colleges annexed to the temples, in which the future priests and the sons of the nobility were educated. Outside of Tenochtitl�n, the main centre of Quetzalc�atl's cult was Cholula, on the Puebla plateau.

Carbuncle in medicine, a type of inflammatory staphylococcal infection of the skin. A carbuncle typically consists of two or more interconnected boils called furuncles; these are painful red nodules that form yellowish heads which burst to release pus and dead tissue. Carbuncles, however, are larger than furuncles, generally involve deeper layers of the skin, and have multiple openings for the drainage of pus. They occur most often in hairy skin areas or areas that are subject to friction--e.g., the back of the neck, the armpits, and the buttocks.

While simple boils can be eliminated by the application of hot, moist dressings followed by washing with soap, carbuncles may have to be lanced and drained, a procedure that is often followed by antibiotic treatment. After the treatment, poor hygiene may lead to a recurrence.

carbuncle in mineralogy, a deep red, cabochon-cut almandine, which is an iron aluminum garnet.

Gilgamesh - the best known of all ancient Mesopotamian heroes. Numerous tales in the Akkadian language have been told about Gilgamesh, and the whole collection has been described as an odyssey--the odyssey of a king who did not want to die.

The fullest extant text of the Gilgamesh epic is on 12 incomplete Akkadian-language tablets found at Nineveh in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (reigned 668-627 BC). The gaps that occur in the tablets have been partly filled by various fragments found elsewhere in Mesopotamia and Anatolia. In addition, five short poems in the Sumerian language are known from tablets that were written during the first half of the 2nd millennium BC; the poems have been entitled "Gilgamesh and Huwawa," "Gilgamesh and the Bull of Heaven," "Gilgamesh and Agga of Kish," "Gilgamesh, Enkidu, and the Nether World," and "The Death of Gilgamesh."

The Gilgamesh of the poems and of the epic tablets was probably the Gilgamesh who ruled at Uruk in southern Mesopotamia sometime during the first half of the 3rd millennium BC and who was thus a contemporary of Agga, ruler of Kish; Gilgamesh of Uruk was also mentioned in the Sumerian list of kings as reigning after the flood. There is, however, no historical evidence for the exploits narrated in poems and epic.

The Ninevite version of the epic begins with a prologue in praise of Gilgamesh, part divine and part human, the great builder and warrior, knower of all things on land and sea. In order to curb Gilgamesh's seemingly harsh rule, the god Anu caused the creation of Enkidu, a wild man who at first lived among animals. Soon, however, Enkidu was initiated into the ways of city life and traveled to Uruk, where Gilgamesh awaited him. Tablet II describes a trial of strength between the two men in which Gilgamesh was the victor; thereafter, Enkidu was the friend and companion (in Sumerian texts, the servant) of Gilgamesh. In Tablets III-V the two men set out together against Huwawa (Humbaba), the divinely appointed guardian of a remote cedar forest, but the rest of the engagement is not recorded in the surviving fragments. In Tablet VI Gilgamesh, who had returned to Uruk, rejected the marriage proposal of Ishtar, the goddess of love, and then, with Enkidu's aid, killed the divine bull that she had sent to destroy him. Tablet VII begins with Enkidu's account of a dream in which the gods Anu, Ea, and Shamash decided that he must die for slaying the bull. Enkidu then fell ill and dreamed of the "house of dust" that awaited him. Gilgamesh's lament for his friend and the state funeral of Enkidu are narrated in Tablet VIII. Afterward, Gilgamesh made a dangerous journey (Tablets IX and X) in search of Utnapishtim, the survivor of the Babylonian flood, in order to learn from him how to escape death. He finally reached Utnapishtim, who told him the story of the flood and showed him where to find a plant that would renew youth (Tablet XI). But after Gilgamesh obtained the plant, it was seized by a serpent, and Gilgamesh unhappily returned to Uruk. An appendage to the epic, Tablet XII, related the loss of objects called pukku and mikku (perhaps "drum" and "drumstick") given to Gilgamesh by Ishtar. The epic ends with the return of the spirit of Enkidu, who promised to recover the objects and then gave a grim report on the underworld.

ifrit also spelled AFREET, AFRIT, AFRITE, OR EFREET, Arabic (MALE) 'IFRIT, or (female)'ifritah, in Islamic mythology, a class of infernal jinn (spirits below the level of angels and devils) noted for their strength and cunning. An ifrit is an enormous winged creature of smoke, either male or female, who lives underground and frequents ruins. Ifrits live in a society structured along ancient Arab tribal lines, complete with kings, tribes, and clans. They generally marry one another, but they can also marry humans. While ordinary weapons and forces have no power over them, they are susceptible to magic, which humans can use to kill them or to capture and enslave them. As with the jinn, an ifrit may be either a believer or an unbeliever, good or evil, but he is most often depicted as a wicked and ruthless being.

The rare appearance of the term ifrit in the Qur'an (the sacred scripture of Islam) and in Hadith (eyewitness narratives recounting Muhammad's words, actions, or approbations) is always in the phrase "the ifrit of the jinn" and probably means "rebellious." The word subsequently came to refer to an entire class of formidable, rebellious beings, but, in the confused world of chthonic (underworld) spirits, it was difficult to differentiate one from another. The ifrit thus became virtually indistinguishable from the marid, also a wicked and rebellious demon. See also jinni.

Phoenix - in Greek mythology, son of Amyntor, king of Thessalian Hellas. After a violent quarrel Amyntor cursed him with childlessness, and Phoenix escaped to Peleus (king of the Myrmidons in Thessaly), who made him responsible for the upbringing of his son Achilles. Phoenix accompanied the young Achilles to Troy and was one of the envoys who tried to reconcile him with Agamemnon, chief commander of the Greek forces, after Agamemnon and Achilles had quarreled.

In another version, Amyntor blinded his son, whose sight was later restored by Chiron.

in the Old Testament Book of Genesis, biblical earthly paradise inhabited by the first created man and woman, Adam and Eve, prior to their expulsion for disobeying the commandments of God. It is also called in Genesis the Garden of Yahweh, the God of Israel, and, in Ezekiel, the Garden of God. The term Eden probably is derived from the Akkadian word edinu, borrowed from the Sumerian eden, meaning "plain."

According to the Genesis story of the creation and fall of man, out of Eden, east of Israel rivers flowed to the four corners of the world. Similar stories in Sumerian records indicate that an earthly paradise theme belonged to the mythology of the ancient Middle East.

The story of the Garden of Eden is a theological use of mythological themes to explain human progression from a state of innocence and bliss to the present human condition of knowledge of sin, misery, and death.

fabulous bird of ancient legend. When it reached 500 years of age it burned itself on a pyre from whose ashes another phoenix arose. It commonly appears in literature as a symbol of death and resurrection.

Giant bull with four thousand eyes, mouths, ears, nostrils, and feet. It was one of the creatures that held the world upon its back.

Bahamut - Extraordinarily large fish of Arabic mythology that is afloat in a fathomless sea. A giant bull, Kujata, lays upon its back, and upon that bull is a ruby mountain. Upon the ruby mountain is an angel, then the six hells, then the earth, then the seven heavens at the very top. The Bahamut was so large and immense that human eyes cannot bear it.

one of the most widely worshipped Hindu deities, the embodiment of chivalry and virtue. Although there are three Ramas mentioned in Indian tradition (Parasurama, Balarama, and Ramacandra), the name is specifically associated with Ramacandra, the seventh incarnation (avatara) of Lord Vishnu (Visnu). It is possible that Rama was an actual historical figure, a tribal hero of ancient India who was later deified. His story is told briefly in the Mahabharata ("Great Epic of the Bharata Dynasty") and at great length in the Ramayana (; "Romance of Rama").

References to Rama as an incarnation of Vishnu appear in the early centuries AD; there was, however, probably no special worship of him before the 11th century, and it was not until the 14th and 15th centuries that distinct sects appeared venerating him as the supreme god (see Ramananda). Rama's popularity was increased greatly by the retelling of the Sanskrit epics in the vernaculars, such as Tulsidas' celebrated Hindi version, the Ramcaritmanas ("Sacred Lake of the Acts of Rama").

Rama and Krishna (also an incarnation of Vishnu) were the two most popular recipients of adoration from the bhakti (devotional) cults that swept the country during that time. Whereas Krishna is adored for his mischievous pranks and amorous dalliances, Rama is conceived as a model of reason, right action, and desirable virtues. Temples to Rama faced by shrines to his monkey devotee Hanuman are widespread throughout India. Rama's name is a popular form of greeting among friends ("Ram! Ram!"), and Rama is the deity most invoked at death.

In sculpture, Rama is represented as a standing figure, holding an arrow in his right hand and a bow in his left. His image in a shrine or temple is almost invariably attended by figures of his wife Sita, his favourite half-brother Laksmana, and his monkey devotee Hanuman. In painting, he is depicted dark in colour (indicating his affinity with Lord Vishnu), with princely adornments and the kirita-makuta (tall conical cap) on his head indicating his royal status. Rama's exploits were depicted with great sympathy by Rajasthani and Pahari, both of whom were painters of the 17th and 18th centuries.

Typhon is the offspring of Gaia and Tartarus. His mate is Echidna and both were so fearful that when the gods saw them they changed into animals and fled in terror. Typhon's hundred, horrible heads touched the stars, venom dripped from his evil eyes, and lava and red-hot stones poured from his gaping mouths. Hissing like a hundred snakes and roaring like a hundred lions, he tore up whole mountains and threw them at the gods.

Zeus soon regained his courage and turned, and when the other gods saw him taking his stand, they came back to help him fight the monster. A terrible battle raged, and hardly a living creature was left on Earth. But Zeus was fated to win, and as Typhon tore up huge Mount Aetna to hurl at the gods, Zeus struck it with a hundred well-aimed thunderbolts and the mountain fell back, pinning Typhon underneath. There the monster lies to this very day, belching fire, lava and smoke through the top of the mountain.

Echidna, his hideous mate, escaped destruction. She cowered in a cave, protecting Typhon's offspring, and Zeus let them live as a challenge to future heroes. Echidna and Typhon's children are the Nemean Lion, Cerberus, Ladon, the Chimera, the Sphinx, and the Hydra.

In Greek mythology, the three-headed watchdog who guards the entrance to the lower world, the Hades. It is a child of the giant Typhon and Echidna, a monstrous creature herself, being half woman and half snake.

Originally, the dog was portrayed having fifty or hundred heads but was later pictured with only three heads (and sometimes with the tail of a serpent). Cerberus permitted new spirits to enter the realm of dead, but allowed none of them to leave. Only a few ever managed to sneak past the creature, among which Orpheus, who lulled it to sleep by playing his lyre, and Heracles, who brought it to the land of the living for a while (being the last of his Twelve Labors).

In Roman mythology, the Trojan prince Aeneas and Psyche were able to pacify it with honey cake.

Before he ascended the throne of Crete, Minos struggled with his brothers for the right to rule. Minos prayed to Poseidon to send him a snow-white bull, as a sign of approval by the gods for his reign. He promised to sacrifice the bull as an offering, and as a symbol of subservience. A beautiful white bull rose from the sea, but when Minos saw it, he coveted it for himself. He assumed that Poseidon would not mind, so he kept it and sacrificed the best specimen from his herd instead. When Poseidon learned about the deceit, he made Pasipha, Minos' wife, fall madly in love with the bull. She had Daedalus, the famous architect, make a wooden cow for her. Pasipha climbed into the decoy and fooled the white bull. The offspring of their lovemaking was a monster called the Minotaur. The creature had the head and tail of a bull on the body of a man. It caused such terror and destruction on Crete that Daedalus was summoned again, but this time by Minos himself. He ordered the architect to build a gigantic, intricate labyrinth from which escape would be impossible. The Minotaur was captured and locked in the labyrinth. Every year for nine years, seven youths and maidens came as tribute from Athens. These young people were also locked in the labyrinth for the Minotaur to feast upon.

When the Greek hero Theseus reached Athens, he learned of the Minotaur and the sacrifices, and wanted to end this. He volunteered to go to Crete as one of the victims. Upon his arrival in Crete, he met Ariadne, Minos's daughter, who fell in love with him. She promised she would provide the means to escape from the maze if he agreed to marry her. When Theseus did, she gave him a simple ball of thread, which he was to fasten close to the entrance of the maze. He made his way through the maze, while unwinding the thread, and he stumbled upon the sleeping Minotaur. He beat it to death and led the others back to the entrance by following the thread

The word "devil" is, in European languages, a corruption of the Greek diabolos, meaning "adversary, prosecutor", which is in turn a translation of the Hebrew Satan. In the plural is was also used in medieval theology to denote Satan's attending spirits.

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