Blog post 2: "An ice queen or The Destroyer?"

Shiva as she appears in FFVIII

Heyo! It's me again, and welcome back to my blog. And this time, I'm gonna be talking about the other default Guardian Force: Shiva. Her debut started in Final Fantasy III as a summon but that's another story. Shiva also has her recurring move called "Diamond Dust" that has been carried ever since her debut, which is an attack that will deal major Ice damage to the enemy and Ifrit will say something if you summon her in his fight. However, Shiva is not a god from any mythology... At least, not as an ice queen, but as someone known as "The Destroyer". This "Destroyer" identity comes from the Hindu, which says that Shiva is one of the three most influential denominations in Hinduism. You could say I got a bit shocked after finding that out. I mean, the Final Fantasy Shiva is a woman and the Hindu Shiva was like the Ares of Hinduism. I can't really say I summon her a lot because most of the enemies in FFVIII have resistance to Ice but it's not that I never summoned her... The skills you get from her aren't that half bad either, because you don't receive Doom from a random GF. I didn't notice this quite early, but the damage of your magic also depends of the GF you're junctioned with. So if you cast Blizzaga while junctioned with Shiva can deal massive damage to one who is weak against Ice damage. But don't neglect the fact that you're still very vulnerable to Fire magic. The Hindu Shiva is portrayed as some badass guy who is in charge of death and destruction, as well as destroying ego in a positive sense.
More info about Hindu Shiva can be found here: http://www.sanatansociety.org/hindu_gods_and_goddesses/shiva.htm

Shiva from Hindu mythology

Moving on, if I were to rate Shiva from 1 out of 10 being the best summon, I'd give her a 6. Why? Because first of all, she's too common of a summon. Second, I'm not a magic person, so the stat boosts that she gives don't really do much for me. And lastly, she may have a lot of flaws, but she's quite reliable when fighting inside a dungeon that has a lot of monsters who are weak against her element. Now if you're going to ask if I have given a summon a 10/10 rating, then your question's gonna be answered in the next blog.