Odin (Server)

This is one of the many worlds of FFXI. It was one of 20 servers activated upon the original release of FFXI in Japan.

ID Number: 11

Activation Date: May 16, 2002

History in the FF Series

Odin has maintained his reputation across the Final Fantasy series as a challenging armored knight atop an awesome steed, Sleipnir, wielding a sword reputed to cut anything in its path to pieces, be it monsters or even the game's characters. He would perform an instant death attack on all enemies. Sometimes, should the enemy be immune to a death move, Odin would deal non-elemental damage. He has appeared in Final Fantasy III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX. Odin is considered the 2nd most powerful of the top tier of Summons, second only to Bahamut. He has most commonly been depicted in bronze and silver armor, with his face completely masked except for the eyes and mouth, wearing a helmet with horns and a black or blue cape. He usually held a small, round shield in one hand and a large, powerful sword in the other hand. FFV was the exception to this, where he wore completely bronze armor, had a maroon cape and lacked a shield.

Odin was one of the Summons who had to be defeated in battle most of the time before he lent his power to the party. His battles usually had a time limit of a minute to a few minutes before he decimated the party. The only way to take Odin down was to deal a lot of damage in a short time (the Snoll Tzar and Time Bomb battles have a similar theme). The only appearances where he did not have to be fought to offer his power to the party were FFVI, VII, IX.

Virtually the entire time, Odin has been associated with ruined castle basements or is otherwise found deep in a remote, dark corner of some medieval structure (an association which probably led to people connecting him with Darkness, not to mention Odin developing a darker, more gothic or demonic appearance as the series wore on).

• In FFIII, Odin was found in Salonia's ruined basement, accessible only from underwater (Salonia was the largest city in FFIII's world, a city on the scale of Midgar [FFVII] or Esthar [FFVIII]). Once defeated, you could buy extra copies of Odin for 45,000 Gil in the magic shop in Forbidden Land Eureka. It was classified as Level 6 Summon Magic.
• In FFIV, he was the true King of Baron, slain by Cagnazzo (Kainazzo), the Emperor (Fiend) of Water, who took his place and led the Kingdom of Baron down a belligerant path. The King lived on in spirit though, on a throne deep in the basement of a remote corner of the castle. Whether he was a Summon masquerading as a human king or a human king who became a Summon spirit is not clear.
• In FFV, he resided in the rubble-filled basement of Bal Castle (home of Galuf) on World Two (though he only becomes accessible when World Three, the original world, is recreated).
• In FFVI, he was an Esper (a human transformed by the three Goddesses into a living weapon) who loved the queen of an unknown kingdom. He fought with an unknown sorcerer (presumably an Esper of a rival Goddess) and was turned to stone along with the queen. This castle, the Ancient Castle, would lay buried deep beneath mountains and only become accessible when subterranean passages open up when the world is reconfigured.
• In FFVII, he is a red Materia found in Shinra Mansion, a delapidated gothic estate in the gloomy town of Nibelheim, which lay in the foothills of the dark and jagged Nibel Mountains. The materia was located inside the mansion's safe.
• In FFVIII, Odin is a Semi-GF (a GF which cannot be junctioned and retains autonomy, randomly assisting the party) residing in the Centra Ruins, a gothic stone tower, a remnant of the Centra civilization which was obliterated during a Lunar Cry. When Odin later gets Slain by Seifer using his gunblade Hyperion, the 4-blade wielding Gilgamesh takes his place and his sword, Zantetsuken.
• In FFIX, Odin was a dark, imposing Eidolon who was associated with Dark Matter and who, when called by the Empire of Alexandria, completely destroyed the city of Cleyra along with all but a handful of its inhabitants, one of the four major nations of the Mist Continent. He could be obtained by Garnet later through purchasing Dark Matter at the Treno Auction House.

It should be noted in Final Fantasy VI, if the party visits the statue of the queen when in possession of the Odin Magicite, her statue will start crying and Odin will be transformed into Raiden, an unhelmeted individual with purple hair who uses "True Edge" (laughably translated as "Turf Edge" originally), an Instant Death attack with better odds of success and teaches the spell Quick.

Moves:

"Zantetsuken" (FF4,5,8,9), "Atom Edge" (FF3,6), "Steel-Bladed Sword" (FF7)- instant death attack on all enemies (FF3,4,5,6,7,8,9). If any enemies survive, deals non-elemental damage to them (FF9). Or sometimes it would deal non-elemental damage to all enemies (FF9) [death + damage ability only found when Odin's Sword ability is equipped and learned from Ancient Aroma. The damage-only ability only found in Trance state].

"Gungnir" (FF5), "Gunge Lance" (FF7)- deals physical damage to all enemies [only used if all enemies onscreen are Heavy-Type (FF5) or if all enemies cannot be dispatched by his attack] (FF5,7)

"Barrier"- casts Reflect on all allies (FF3) [what Carbuncle does in later FFs]

"Sword Cut"- physical attack on 1 enemy (FF3)

Attributes:

Offers Speed+1 Level Up Bonus; teaches Meteor (FF6)

• In FF8, will randomly appear after being defeated in battle. He cannot be summoned in a controllable manner. The actual odds were based on the party's collective Luck stats and the number of Death Spirits (items) in the inventory. Thus, Death Spirits were the closest thing to a Compatibility Item for Odin.
• In FF9, success rate of instant death landing was (# Ores in inventory/2)%.
• In FF7, gives Hidden-element to weapon/armor when linked with Elemental materia

Historical Background

In Norse mythology, Odin (Óðinn) was the chief of the Æsir (Norse gods). He was the god of wisdom, magic, the hunt, victory, poetry, and war. He was depicted as an old man having one eye with the other eye missing, a gray beard, staff or spear, and a wide-brim hat. Odin gave his left eye to Mimir at Mimisbrunnr (Mimir's Well), located beneath the 2nd root of the World Tree Yggdrasil, which runs through Jotunheim, in exchange for drinking from its waters of wisdom. He rides Sleipnir, an 8-legged horse. He also sent 2 ravens, Hugin and Munin ("thought" & "memory") to fly around the world every morning and come back to him reporting everything they saw and heard. Odin wielded the spear Gungnir, which could never miss its target and wore a golden ring called Draupnir. Odin's hall is Valhalla, which resides in Asgard (the world the Æsir live in), where he greats the dead who fell valiantly on the battlefield, the Einherjar, brought to Valhalla by Valkyries. From his throne, Hlidskjalf, he could see the entire universe. It should be noted Odin also had the power of shape-shifting and frequently went under disguise to test people or go unnoticed (similar to Zeus from Greek mythology). Odin defeated the mighty Frost Giant Ymir and created the world and humanity. He also brought poetry and the runes to humanity. At Ragnarok, Odin is destined to fight Fenrir and be slain by the beast. His Einherjar will do battle with the various forces of the opposition at that time. Odin's most well known son is Thor.