Summons have become a mainstay of the Final Fantasy series ever since their first appearance in Final Fantasy III. These iconic beasts, often inspired by gods and demons from real-world mythologies, can be called upon to aid the player in battle. Able to unleash powerful offensive and defensive attacks, they are an invaluable tool in a player’s arsenal. Their role in the series has evolved significantly over the years, with modern entries frequently weaving them into the game’s main narrative. If you are a regular fan of the series, you may have noticed that these majestic monsters have gone by several names throughout its history.
While some of the earlier installments simply refer to them as “summoned monsters,” many of the later ones dub them either “aeons,” “eikons,” “eidolons,” or “espers.” This discrepancy seems to only be present in the English translations, however, as the Japanese terminology remains relatively consistent–often referring to them as shōkanjū (召喚獣, lit. “summoned beasts.”) As an avid fan of the franchise myself, I thought it might be fun to look back through each entry and pinpoint where and in what ways they differ—giving my theories why along the way.
Part One: The Pixel Era
Spirits of the Underworld
Final Fantasy III was released in Japan for the Famicom (a.k.a. the NES) in 1990. It introduced the “job system” which allowed the player to assign different roles, known as “jobs,” to the game’s four main characters. Jobs were bestowed to the player upon visiting the world’s four elemental crystals. One such job was the Evoker (幻術師, Genjutsushi, lit. “Conjurer”)–a magic user who could summon powerful monsters into battle using summon magic (召喚魔法, shōkan mahō.) An evolved form of the Evoker, the Summoner (魔界幻士, Makaigenshi, lit. “Demon World Conjurer,”) was unlocked upon reaching the Earth Crystal–the fourth and final crystal in the game. Summon magic, like black and white magic, could be purchased in shops in various towns across the map. The only exceptions were the spells for Bahamut, Odin and Leviathan, who were optional bosses the player had to defeat to obtain–unless, of course, you knew the location of a secret shop.
Little is mentioned about the summons in-game, only ever being referenced as spells or by the collective term “summon magic.” The game’s manual, however, actually refers to them as “monsters” (モンスター, monsuta-)–specifically using the English loanword. I was also able to dig up the official strategy guide published by NTT Publishing, which further describes them as “spirits of the underworld” (冥界の精霊, meikai no seirei,) with Ifrit and Shiva being the spirits of fire and ice, respectively.
Slightly off-topic, but the guide also reveals that magic in the world of FFIII is contained in orbs, reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII’s materia. So the black and white circles next to each spell on the menu screen must be visual representations of these orbs, not just a way of denoting the type of magic. Incidentally, the orb containing the spirit of the Chocobo is noted as the weakest of the bunch, only having been developed for training purposes–poor guy.
FFIII would not receive an official English translation until it was remade for the Nintendo DS in 2006–16 years after its original release. The English translator for the project, Aziz Hinoshita, also notably worked on Final Fantasy X alongside Alexander O. Smith in 2001. In this version, shōkan mahō (召喚魔法, lit. “summon magic”) is translated as “summoning spell.”
Over a decade later, in 2021, a remaster of the original Famicom version was released as part of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection. The collection included entries I-VI all in their original pixelated glory. FFIII, in particular, not only received remastered visuals, but a reworked translation by Paula Kaye Gerhold and Dan Gidion, too–with Hinoshita overseeing the project as a manager. Interestingly, the remaster instead translates shōkan mahō as “summon magic.” While it is usually common practice to retain legacy translations–i.e. translations that have already been established–perhaps a change was made to better match the length of the Japanese text. For reference, “召喚魔法” is 4 full-width characters while “summoning spell” is 15 half-width characters. ”Summon magic” only cuts back on 3 letters, but it can still make a huge difference visually or when space is limited. It also gives it a stronger connection to black and white magic–concepts the fanbase would have already been familiar with.
The Feymarch–Land of the Eidolons
Final Fantasy IV was released for the Super Famicom (a.k.a. the SNES) in 1991. It would initially come to North America as “Final Fantasy II”–given that Final Fantasy II and III had yet to be released in the West. It was the first game in the series to make a character’s job an intrinsic part of their identity–instead of something the player could adjust at any time. With this, came the series’ second biggest playable roster with 12 main characters–instead of the typical four.
One of the earliest characters to join the party is Rydia, a summoner (召喚士, shōkanshi) from the village of Mist. As a summoner, Rydia is able to call forth powerful monsters known as genjū (幻獣, lit. “phantom beasts.”) Most of the game’s summons are unlocked through story progression, but several appear as optional bosses whom the player must defeat to obtain. This included Bahamut, Odin and Leviathan who had previously fulfilled this role in FFIII. Unlike FFIII, however, in which the summons were largely inconsequential to the plot, the summons of FFIV are markedly more involved. The party’s first encounter with Leviathan is even the catalyst for a major turning point in Rydia’s character arc. They also have a more significant presence in its world, living below the planet’s crust, in a region called the “Genkai” (幻界, lit. “World of the Phantoms.”)
As Square was yet to establish a dedicated localization team at the time, the translation of FFIV was primarily handled by Kaoru Moriyama, a staff member who happened to speak English. Unfortunately, the translation became infamous among North American fans for its clunky and unnatural dialogue. The line “You spoony bard!” was so memorable, in fact, that it became an inside joke referenced in several English versions of entries to come, including Final Fantasy X, XIV, and even the third game in the Ace Attorney series–a completely different franchise.
Nevertheless, it’s undeniable that there were more factors at play than simply a non-native’s attempt at an English translation. As Moriyama herself noted in an article for the magazine, Lost Levels, the SNES game cartridges had severely limited memory. Given that English often requires twice as many letters as Japanese to convey the same meaning, any translations would have had to be heavily truncated to accommodate. Additionally, the game’s director, Hironobu Sakaguchi, apparently only realized the importance of a good English translation until after the game’s poor reception. This likely meant not enough time or resources were allocated to its production.
In Moriyama’s translation, summons are called “summoned monsters” with the name of their homeland translated to “Land of the Summoned Monsters.” Interestingly, it seems shōkanshi (召喚士)–which English-speaking fans will know as “summoners”–were originally called “callers.”
A PlayStation port was later released in North America in 2001. It came as part of a compilation alongside Chrono Trigger, titled “Final Fantasy Chronicles.” A similar compilation, instead titled “Final Fantasy Anthology,” was released in Europe a year later. The port featured an updated translation that considerably improved the flow of dialogue. The term “caller” was also changed to “summoner,” as this would have become the standard translation since Final Fantasy V in 1999. “Land of the Summoned Monsters” was also refined to “Land of Summons.” Unfortunately, no translators seem to be credited for its translation. *
*EDIT: The localization staff credits for the PS1 port can actually be found at the back of the game’s manual. It looks like there were two translators who worked on the project, Ryosuke Taketomi (Lead) and Brody Phillips. Huge thank you to fellow translator, Liz Bushouse, for pointing this out!
The same team to handle FFIII’s remake for the DS in 2006 would also return to remake FFIV in 2007. In this version, our beloved “summoned monsters” would receive a drastically new name, “Eidolons.” While seemingly out of left field, this translation would have already appeared in Final Fantasy IX in 2000. Since the two games had separate translation teams, this initially seemed to be a coincidence. After doing some digging, however, I realized that the translator credited in the DS remake, Tom Slattery, is the same translator who would go on to translate Final Fantasy XIII alongside Philip Bright–which, incidentally, also uses the term “Eidolon” for its summons. Perhaps he was a fan of FFIX?
But why change a perfectly good translation? Well, not only does the new name cut back on letters, offering a more flexible translation, but it also better reflects the original meaning of the Japanese. Genjū (幻獣,) as stated earlier, literally translates to “phantom beasts”–“phantom” meaning an apparition or ghost. “Eidolon,” on the other hand, comes from Ancient Greek and means basically the same thing–a phantom or spirit.
Slattery also came up with an entirely original name for their homeland–the “Feymarch.” “Fey” meaning fairy, a type of supernatural being in European folklore, and “march,” a term used in medieval Europe to denote a borderland between two realms. Though it deviates slightly in meaning, I would argue this translation also better reflects the Japanese. “Land of the Summoned Monsters,” and indeed “Land of Summons,” both work as a translation of Genkai (幻界, lit. “World of the Phantoms.”) However, these translations become more of a description than a name. This is perhaps most evident in the screenshots below, where Rydia’s explanation of the realm becomes redundant in the SNES translation. Genkai (幻界) is a made-up name in Japanese, so ideally its translation should be, too.
The Pixel Remaster (2021) seemingly reverts these changes, instead roughly basing its translations on the PS1 port. Perhaps this decision was made so that the remaster not only recreated the visual aesthetic of the era, but the dialogue as well.
The Last of the Wind Drakes
Final Fantasy V was released for the Super Famicom in Japan in 1992. It marked the return of the job system previously introduced in Final Fantasy III. Again, jobs were bestowed to the player upon visiting the world’s four elemental crystals. In this entry, however, the Genjutsushi (幻術師, lit. “Conjurer”) and its evolved form, the Makaigenshi (魔界幻士, lit. “Demon World Conjurer,”) were replaced with the Shōkanshi (召喚士, lit. “Summoner”)–a term that had been introduced with Rydia in FFIV. To Western audiences, however, it would seem as though only the Evoker job (幻術師, Genjutsushi) had been dropped, as both “Makaigenshi” (魔界幻士) and “Shōkanshi” (召喚士) had been translated as “Summoner” in their respective games.
The summons themselves are called shōkanjū (召喚獣, lit. “summoned beasts”)–marking the first instance of the term in the franchise. Their role in the story is greatly diminished, however. Ifrit and Titan are the only summons unlocked through story progression–the rest are strictly optional. Titan, in particular, acts more as an obstacle in the player’s path than anything else. Phoenix and Slydra seem to be the only summons with a deeper connection to the plot, despite not being mandatory to collect. Phoenix is Lenna’s pet wind drake, Hiryu, reborn. He is granted to the player upon reaching the top of Phoenix Tower–a particularly arduous side dungeon. Syldra, on the other hand, is Faris’ pet sea dragon. The player can obtain her as a summon by visiting Pirates’ Hideout after a certain point in the story.
Much like FFIII, Final Fantasy V would not receive a Western release until several years after its Japanese debut. It first came to North America on the PlayStation in 1999. This was part of a compilation alongside Final Fantasy VI, titled “Final Fantasy Anthology.” The 2002 European edition of the same name would instead include Final Fantasy IV and V. “Summoned monster,” though initially used as a translation for genjū (幻獣, lit. “phantom beasts”) in FFIV, is now used as a translation for shōkanjū (召喚獣, lit. “summoned beasts.”) Unfortunately, as had been the case with FFIV’s PS1 port, no translators seem to be credited for its translation. **
**EDIT: The localization staff credits for the PS1 port can actually be found at the back of the game’s manual. Sho Endo and Alex Smith are credited as Translation Support for both games in the compilation, Final Fantasy V and VI. Again, huge thank you to Liz Bushouse for pointing this out!
The game would later be ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2006 with a new translation by Erin M. Ellis. Tom Slattery also worked on the project as a localization support. Several character names were also updated; notably Reina to Lenna, Hydra to Slydra and X-Death to Exdeath. The new romanizations for Lenna and Slydra now better aligning with their Japanese pronunciations, Rena (レナ) and Shirudora (シルドラ,) respectively. The term “summoned monster” remains unchanged, however. Given that summons were unrelated monsters the player collected along the way–instead of a unified kind as they were in FFIV–it perhaps made less sense to give them a name that might suggest otherwise. The game’s subsequent revamps, the mobile port in 2013 and the Pixel Remaster in 2021, would notably use the GBA’s translation over the PS1’s.
Half Human, Half Esper
Final Fantasy VI was released for the SNES in 1994–originally renumbered “Final Fantasy III” in North America. The game is set in a world where science and technology reign and magic is the stuff of legend–in stark contrast to previous installments. Given this context, the acquisition of magic is handled entirely differently from that of previous entries. Instead of being purchased in shops, like in most, or acquired as a character leveled, like in FFIV, magic in FFVI is learned through “magicite.” Magicite, or maseki (魔石, lit. “magic stones”) as they are called in Japanese, are the postmortem remains of FFVI’s summons. When equipped, a character is able to learn specific spells associated with that summon. For example, Ramuh’s magicite teaches the player Bolt and Bolt 2–later renamed Thunder and Thundara. (Also, Poison for some reason…) It also grants the ability to summon him, as with all magicite, but only once per battle.
Much like FFIV, the job system was again dropped in favour of characters whose “job” was a core part of their identity. For instance, of the game’s 14 playable characters, only Locke Cole–who fancies himself a treasure hunter–can steal from enemies. Given the entire cast is able to summon, however, no character can be said to fit the summoner archetype as Rydia did in FFIV. As a consequence, the term “summoner” never appears in the game.
Summons are again known as genjū (幻獣, lit. “phantom beasts,”) as they had been in FFIV and, in this installment, the plot heavily revolves around them. One thousand years prior to the beginning of the game, three gods, dubbed the “Warring Triad” (三闘神, Santōshin, lit. Three Warring Gods,) descended from the heavens and, fearing each other’s power, began to war with one another. Those caught in the crossfire were transformed into magic-wielding beasts and forced to act as soldiers for their cause. Humans later learned to wield magic from these beasts and became “magi” (魔導師, madōshi, lit. “sorcerers”) who also fought in the war. This war became known as the “War of the Magi” (魔大戦, Mataisen, lit. “Great Magic War.”) Later realizing the devastation they had caused, the gods freed the beasts they had created and sealed themselves in stone. To protect the world from further harm, the genjū (幻獣) hid the statues of their creators and ostracized themselves from the human world in a realm known as the Genjūkai (幻獣界, lit. “World of the Phantoms Beasts.”)
Due to their use as a magic acquisition mechanic, as well as perhaps their significance to the plot, there are a whopping 28 obtainable summons in the game. An additional 4 were later added in the GBA port. A good chunk are obtained through story progression, while others can be purchased from shops, or by beating them as optional bosses.
After FFIV had a less-than-favourable response in the Western market, Square decided to entrust an American translator, Ted Woolsey, with the translation of Final Fantasy VI. Unfortunately, several factors would lead to yet another controversial translation. In the 90’s, Nintendo of America had strict content policies, demanding topics like violence, sexuality, religion and profanity be avoided. Even the words “die” or “death” were prohibited. This made translating a game about a corrupt tyrant hell-bent on conquering the world understandably more difficult. He also struggled with the exact same cartridge space restrictions Moriyama had faced with FFIV. And, to top it all off, Woolsey was only given one month to translate the entire game.
Considering the circumstances, it’s hard to see Woolsey’s translation as anything less than impressive. I also have to wonder if it was these very restrictions that led him to use the term “esper” as a translation for genjū (幻獣, lit. “phantom beasts.”) At this point in the series, the term had only ever been translated as “summoned monster,” which was a whole 16 characters long. Creating a unique English term for the beasts allows for a more flexible translation, while also reclaiming some of the intrigue that may be lost in a literal one. In science fiction, the term “esper” typically refers to someone with psychic abilities, such as telepathy. It originates from the acronym ESP, standing for “extrasensory perception”–a term adopted in the 1930s by two botanists who were researching the subject at the time. While it could be argued psychic abilities do not necessarily fall under our stereotypical concept of magic, naming extraordinary creatures with special powers “espers” isn’t altogether far-fetched. The fact that espers were apparently once humans adds even more validity to the choice–though it’s perhaps unlikely Woolsey had the time to consider the lore so deeply given the time crunch. A neat coincidence nonetheless.
When first introduced, Genjūkai (幻獣界, lit. “World of the Phantoms Beasts”) is translated as “the Esper’s world.” The next line, however, reads “The Esper World.” This discrepancy was later fixed in the GBA port.
Like its predecessors, FFVI would receive a PS1 port in 1999. Woolsey’s translation was left mostly untouched, barring some enemy and item name changes. This included correcting “Vicks” to “Biggs,” the name of one of the soldiers with Terra at the beginning of the game. He and his subordinate, Wedge, are a reference to Biggs Darklighter and Wedge Antilles, two of Luke Skywalker’s fellow pilots from Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. Incidentally, the line below was also falsely attributed to “Vicks” (Biggs,) so this too was eventually fixed in the GBA port.
The game would later receive a GBA port in 2007. Tom Slattery, who had now worked on FFIV’s remake and the GBA port for FFV, would again return to revise the English translation for FFVI. Aided no doubt by the expanded cartridge space of the new console, this translation is a marked improvement. Additionally, missing information such as item, magic, and weapon descriptions were restored, including the character titles on the party menu screen. Several censorship-related translations were also updated thanks to laxer restrictions, including the weapon “Epee” to “Bastard Sword,” the boss “Doom Gaze” to “Death Gaze” and the white magic spell “Pearl” to “Holy.” Numerous lines of dialogue that had previously been censored were also reworked. A notable example being one of the guard’s lines in Celes’ torture scene which now explicitly mentions her execution, instead of coyly alluding to it.
Key lore terms, such as “esper” and “the Esper World” were left mostly unchanged, however. The only term I saw that got a significant update was the translation for Santōshin (三闘神, lit. “Three Warring Gods.”) While Woolsey’s translation simply dubs them “The Statues,” Slattery creatively coins the name “The Warring Triad.”
To Be Continued…
This project ended up being a far bigger undertaking than I anticipated, so I’ve decided to handle the series in chunks. In part one, we looked at the pixel era, Final Fantasy III-VI. In the second part, I hope to dive into the series’ renaissance, Final Fantasy VII-XII. Then for the final part, I’ll cover the modern era, Final Fantasy XIII-XVI. I tend to get carried away when I’m interested in something, so I may have covered more than was necessary… But hopefully, someone else out there found this interesting, too!
Anna Cairistiona 
3 responses to “Aeons, Eikons, and Espers: The Localization History Behind Final Fantasy’s Iconic Beasts (Part One)”
Thank you so much, this was fascinating!
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[…] Aeons, Eikons, and Espers: The Localization History Behind Final Fantasy’s Iconic Beasts (Part One… Anna Cairistiona explores the ever-changing history of and terminology for summons and summoning across different localizations of the 2D Final Fantasy games. […]
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This is a super-impressive and enjoyable write-up. Thank you!
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