All Guardian Forces Locations in Final Fantasy VIII

Completing the ruins within time limit

Upon entering the ruins, a timer begins. The party must find a series of red gemstones and place them in the eyes of statues to acquire the secret code to access the room where Odin is fought; if they cannot do this before the timer ends, they must start over. The quest is easier with the Enc-None ability equipped (learned by Diablos).

Proceeding up into the ruins, there are two gargoyles: one at the entrance leading to Odin, and one on top of the ruins. The entrance to Odin is unlocked by inputting a five-digit code. The player must climb above to the second gargoyle and retrieve the code and two gems to be placed on the first gargoyle. The player then enters the code once the gems have been placed on the first gargoyle, and the entrance is opened.

If the timer runs out before the party encounters Odin, he seemingly kills the party (The heavens hath decreed thy fate. PERISH BY MY SWORD!), before the player is presented with options to “Try again” (which boots the player from the ruins with all the progress intact) or “Game over” (which results in a Game Over).

Odin Fight

Reaching Odin’s room allows the party to challenge him. The timer keeps ticking by during the battle, so to get more time the player can exit after opening the door to Odin’s chamber and the timer will begin from the start upon reentering the ruins. Odin will not attack, but will annihilate the party with Zantetsuken if they run out of time. Odin has many good spells to draw. The battle being timed alludes to Final Fantasy V whose Odin was faced under similar conditions.

Defeating Odin within the time limit recruits him as a pseudo-Guardian Force. He cannot be junctioned, but will appear randomly to vanquish random opponents. Acquiring Odin is needed to recruit Gilgamesh at the point of no return.

Quest: Obtaining Bahamut

Details: There is a flashing blue pillar in the middle of the first room. If the core is in the middle of a pulse and the party moves, they enter a random battle. When the party approaches the core, a voice asks them a question (So you wish to challenge me?). If answered correctly (It’s not our will to fight), the party will fight a Ruby Dragon, and if the party wins, the next question (Begging me for mercy?) is asked, and the correct answer is “Never”.

If the party answers correctly they will fight another Ruby Dragon (this battle is an unavoidable back attack), but if any are answered incorrectly the party will be warped back to the entrance and they will have to start over again. The player can bring a low health Quistis and use her Degenerator Limit Break to defeat the Ruby Dragons easily.

The trick is that on the final question (Damned imbeciles. Why do you wish to fight?), there is a hidden answer, below the main two (revealed to be “It’s our nature”). If the hidden option is selected, Squall and the party will fight the Guardian Force Bahamut.

The player may attempt to fight and obtain the GF Diablos as an optional GF after using the Magic Lamp.

An optional Guardian Force obtained from the Tomb of the Unknown King.

When infiltrating Galbadia Garden, the player may attempt to fight and defeat Cerberus to obtain him as an optional GF.

He can be found in the Galbadia Garden main hall during the Battle of the Gardens. He must be defeated in combat for him to join. If the player misses him, he can be drawn from Gargantua in Ultimecia Castle. Cerberus’s attack is called Counter Rockets and casts Double and Triple on all party members. Because of his Auto-Haste and Spd Junction abilities, he is useful for quick magic users. His Expendx2-1 ability makes Double only use one spell instead of two. Along with these, Cerberus also has the Alert ability, which makes the party immune to back-attacks (bar fixed encounters). Cerberus cannot refine anything.

Can be drawn from either Ultima Weapon in the Deep Sea Research Center or Tiamat in Ultimecia Castle. She is the most powerful GF in the game. Her attack is a galactic scale attack called Eternal Breath, and she can easily exceed 9,999 points of damage. Due to the attack’s long duration, maxing out Eden’s Boost is relatively easy. She has the previous abilities Mad Rush and Darkside as well as a new one, Devour, which can be used to eat enemies. She also has Expendx3-1, which only uses one magic instead of three for Triple. She can refine items into GF ability items.

Details: Quezacotl is one of the first two Guardian Forces available in Final Fantasy VIII. It is a Thunder-elemental bird-like being. Its name is shortened from “Quetzalcoatl” to Quezacotl due to the character limit. Though it also appears in some other games, Quezacotl’s main appearance is in Final Fantasy VIII in which it debuted.

Abilities: It learns HP-J, VIT-J and Mag-J naturally, as well as elemental attack and defense junctions. Its unique command is Card Mod, which lets the player turn enemies into Triple Triad cards, and its refine abilities let the player make Thunder and Wind magic from items, mid level magic from low level spells, and various items from Triple Triad cards.

Obtained: Quezacotl is obtained by entering the tutorials from Squall’s desk in the classroom at the very beginning of the game. If Squall does not access the tutorial before leaving Balamb Garden for the first time, Quistis will give both Quezacotl and Shiva to Squall before reaching the world map (in the Japanese version, Squall and Quistis will leave without any GF if Squall did not access the tutorial before).

Obtaining Quezacotl in the Steam version earns the player the achievement Quezacotl.

Details: Ifrit lives in the Fire Cavern, not far from Balamb Garden. It is the objective of the pre-SeeD exam to defeat Ifrit within a chosen time limit. Ifrit is the strongest storyline GF. He uses a fire attack called Hell Fire. Ifrit is useful due to its Strength increasing abilities such as Str+40% and Str Bonus. He can refine items into fire magic (plus Flare) and items into ammunition for Irvine’s Shot.

Obtaining: The first GF that can be drawn from an enemy. The player can draw her from Elvoret during the battle atop the Communications Tower in Dollet, or from Tri-Point in Ultimecia Castle if missed. She uses a non-elemental attack called Silent Voice that does moderate damage and induces Silence upon the enemies. Her Move-Find ability reveals hidden save/draw points and her Mag Bonus boosts the user’s Mag stat upon leveling up. Her Treatment ability cures all status ailments. She can refine items into Life magic, Life medicine, or tools (for upgrading and refining).

Can be drawn from the Iguions in Deling City before fighting Edea just before the end of the first disc, or from Krysta in Ultimecia Castle if missed. Carbuncle’s attack, Ruby Light, casts Reflect on the party. Carbuncle’s important abilities include Vit Bonus, Counter (enables counter-attacking), and Auto-Reflect, which automatically casts Reflect on the junctioned party member. It can refine recovery medicine from items.

Can be drawn from NORG on Disc 2 after opening his pod, or Trauma in Ultimecia Castle if missed. It uses a water elemental attack called Tsunami, which is also capable of ejecting enemies from the battlefield. Leviathan’s boost option is easier to get to max than the previous GFs’. It has useful abilities including Spr Bonus, Auto-Potion, and Recover. It can refine items into support magic or GF recovery medicine.

Can be drawn from either Fujin during the battle with Raijin and Fujin in Balamb or Red Giant in Ultimecia Castle. It attacks with a Wind-based move called Tornado Zone. Though not as powerful as other GFs, it is the first GF to give Speed increases. It also has Absorb, which takes HP from the enemy and gives it to the caster, and Initiative, which lets the junctioned character start the battle with the attack gauge full. Pandemona cannot refine anything.

A giant machine that must be drawn from either the second fight with Edea in Galbadia Garden or Catoblepas in Ultimecia Castle. He uses a holy attack called Holy Judgement, which is useful against undead enemies. Alexander has Revive, Med Data (doubles recovery items’ potency), and Med LV Up (levels up medicine). It can also refine mid-level magic into high-level magic.

Acquired by defeating the Jumbo Cactuar on Cactuar Island. His 1000 Needles attack does 1000 extra non-elemental damage for every ten levels he gains. He is notable because he has HP, Str, Vit, Mag, and Spr Bonuses. He also has Pandemona’s Initiative, Leviathan’s Auto-Potion, Cerberus’s Expendx2-1, Bahamut’s Move-HP UP, Brothers’ Defend, as well as his own Kamikaze. He also has Eva and Luck increases.

Joins after the party defeats Tonberry King, but to fight him, the player must defeat 20 Tonberries in Centra Ruins. His Chef’s Knife ability does minor non-elemental damage. He has the LV Down and LV Up abilities which decrease or increase the power of the enemy for decreased or added bonuses. He also has Initiative, Move-HP Up and Auto-Potion from previous GFs. He has four shop related abilities: Call Shop (visit a shop from the ability menu), Haggle (get a discount at shops), Sell-High (increase selling price), and Familiar (buy rare items in shop).

Shiva is available as one of two default Guardian Forces assigned to Squall Leonhart at the start of the game. She is obtained by accessing the tutorial section of Squall’s Study Panel in his desk. If Squall does not access the tutorial before leaving Balamb Garden for the first time, Quistis will give both Quezacotl and Shiva to Squall before reaching the world map (in the Japanese version, Squall and Quistis will leave without any GF if Squall did not access the tutorial before).

Obtaining Shiva in the Steam version earns the player the achievement Shiva.