Bismarck (Server)

This is one of the many worlds of FFXI. It was activated to alleviate overcrowding on the other servers. Its original population consisted of players world shifted from Carbuncle, Valefor, Quetzalcoatl, and Unicorn Servers. On January 14, 2003, the populations of Ixion and Kirin Servers were merged with the population of Bismarck before being deactivated. Ixion was originally created with players world shifted from Phoenix, Sylph, Odin, and Ifrit Servers, and Kirin was originally created with players world shifted from Bahamut, Shiva, Siren, Ragnarok Servers. Seraph was merged into Bismarck as of the March 2010 update.

ID Number: 24

Activation Date: December 19, 2002

History in the FF Series
Final Fantasy VI Bismarck (JP/GBA), Bismark (EN SNES/PS1) Bismarck first appears in Final Fantasy VI as the Water-element summon, filling the spot usually held by Leviathan. Bismarck is a giant, blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). It attacks by flooding the battlefield and swimming by with great speed, generating many bubbles. It is found suspended in a water-filled tube in the Magitek Research Facility in Vector. Along with its fellow Espers, it chooses to convert itself into Magicite so that its power may assist the heroes rather than be subjected to more experimentation by the Empire.

Final Fantasy XIII Bismarck appears in Final Fantasy XIII as the Pulse fal'Cie that protects the waters and creatures of the Sulyya Springs. If discovered by the party, it summons many sea creatures to fight in its place, and swims away, never to be seen again by the player. Like in Final Fantasy VI, Bismarck resembles a giant, blue whale.

Final Fantasy: Unlimited In FF:Unlimited anime, Kaze summons Bismarck using the following Soil Charge Triad:
 * 1) Grinding and devouring rocks... Shark Gray!
 * 2) The soil that drinks thirst... Water Blue!
 * 3) That which can even feed on empty space... Crusher White!

Moves:

"Breach Blast (GBA) / Sea Song (SNES/PS1)"- deals Water-element damage to all enemies (FFVI)

Attributes:

Final Fantasy VI

Offers Vigor+2 Level Up Bonus

Teaches Fire, Blizzard, Thunder, Raise

Historical Background
While the most common association seen with the word Bismarck is that of 19th century Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck, who formed modern Germany (see for comprehensive info), the creature Bismarck is probably named after one of the largest warships ever to sail the seas, the Bismarck (which in turn is named after Otto von Bismarck. Thus, Bismarck the whale is named indirectly after the Prussian politician). This German battleship ironically only sailed for one mission and was only operational during World War II for 10 days, May 18, 1941 to May 27, 1941. However, in that time it managed to sink the flagship of the British Royal Navy, the HMS Hood. The destruction of the Hood resulted in the British sending every available ship to take down the Bismarck, sinking it and its crew of 2200 roughly 650km west of the western shore of France in the Atlantic Ocean. It was not the largest warship ever though, that honor would fall to the 2 Yamato-class warships of Japan in WWII, the Yamato and the Musashi.