Final Fantasy is one of the biggest gaming franchises of all time, eclipsed only by greats like Pokémon and Mario when it comes to the number of titles sold. The series has been going strong since 1987, establishing a legacy for itself as one of the best JRPGs around. Each Final Fantasy game tells a different story with a cast of ever-changing characters, but common themes and elements that have become a staple of the franchise have never changed.

RELATED: Final Fantasy: The 25 Most Powerful Characters, Officially Ranked

One such common element is the inclusion of summons, who have been ever-present in the series ever since their introduction in Final Fantasy III. Everyone has their personal favorites when it comes to these absolute behemoths, but when it comes to sheer strength there's easily 10 incredibly powerful summons that eclipse pretty much everyone else in this regard.

10 Alexander

Summons that cast Holy are a dime-a-dozen in the Final Fantasy series, which is why Alexander is such a prized gem amongst the majority of the fanbase. Not only does his summon do a ton of damage across all of the games he's featured, but he also looks pretty cool while doing so.

RELATED: Final Fantasy XIV: Hannibal Buress Coaches Tom Holland in New Trailer

The fact that he's a living fortress makes him all the more imposing, and Final Fantasy XIV makes the most of this by introducing a raid that lets you fight this behemoth from the inside!

9 Phoenix

Phoenix has never been a damage dealer per se in the Final Fantasy series, but this particular summon isn't there just to deal damage — it's also there to help you out in a pinch.

Basically, along with an ample amount of fire damage, Phoenix also revives your KO'ed party members as well! A summon that allows for both offense and defense in one go is rare, which makes Phoenix all the more powerful.

8 Bahamut

The King Of Dragons had to make this list, and it's easy to see why this is the case — Bahamut's Mega Flare is consistently one of the most powerful attacks regardless of which game it's featured in.

More often than not, the party needs to prove themselves to Bahamut by engaging in a battle with him, which is incredibly entertaining and goes to show just how much the Final Fantasy series — and the fanbase too, for that matter — holds Bahamut in high esteem.

7 Odin

Another iconic — and perhaps the coolest-looking — summon from the Final Fantasy series, Odin is undoubtedly one of the most useful summons in the entire series.

His Zantetsuken can decimate enemies in one fell swoop, while his lance — Gungnir — can also deal sizeable damage if need be. Whatever attack Odin uses, you can rest assured that the battle will definitely swing in your favor if not end outright.

6 Eden

Eden Final Fantasy FF

The most powerful summon from Final Fantasy VIII simply had to make an appearance on this list.

Final Fantasy VIII's Guardian Forces are incredibly powerful and quite important when it comes to making your character stronger as well. Eden is the final Guardian Force that is hidden behind the sizeable challenge of Ultima Weapon.

Beating this superboss will net you the strongest Guardian Force in the entire game — an excellent reward in every sense of the word.

5 Ark

Ark is the most powerful eidolon in Final Fantasy IX without a shadow of a doubt. Although that should be expected, given the fact that you have to best one of the two hardest bosses in the game to get this summon in the first place.

The utility of this summon might be somewhat negated — given the fact that you have to beat the strongest enemies in the game to acquire it, in the first place — but it still doesn't take away from the fact that Ark has the highest base damage for any summon in the main game.

4 The Magus Sisters

Final Fantasy X truly introduced us to the sheer power that summons can put on display on a new generation of hardware. There are three summons in particular that absolutely go above and beyond usual power norms when it comes to displaying their strength.

The first such summon is the trio of The Magus Sisters. These sisters are very powerful... but they are somewhat unpredictable as well. Unlike your usual run-of-the-mill aeon, The Magus Sisters can't be commanded directly — rather, Yuna can only ask them to do certain things which they generally follow... with a few exceptions.

3 Anima

If one has to select the coolest summon out of the massive number of options in Final Fantasy, then Anima is the safest choice one can make in this regard. The story surrounding this particular aeon is also quite brilliant — Anima happens to be the trapped spirit of Seymour's mother who joins the party in an attempt to stop her son from making a grievous mistake.

Her Overdrive is especially brilliant, with Oblivion dealing the highest-possible damage of 1,599,984 if each hit reaches 99,999 damage! Along with this, her Pain ability can also cause instant death as well!

2 Knights Of The Round

Perhaps the most iconic summon from the most iconic game in the franchise, anyone who's played Final Fantasy VII and gone through the painstaking steps of attaining Knights Of The Round will vehemently agree with the placement of this summon on the list.

RELATED: Final Fantasy VII Remake Demo Leaks Confirm THAT Scene is Happening

This summon brings forth 13 knights, each of whom hit for massive damage. A single cast of Knights Of The Round is enough to fell every enemy in the game in one fell swoop. The only exceptions to this rule are the Weapon superbosses, the final boss, and — perhaps the most resilient of them all — Chocobos!

1 Yojimbo

While all the summons mentioned on this list might boast spectacular power, none of them come close to the one-hit maestro that is Yojimbo from Final Fantasy X. Summoning him might be an expensive ordeal, but all the gil you give to this mercenary is more than worth it simply because of one move — Zanmato.

Zanmato is easily the most powerful move in the entirely of Final Fantasy history, with its ability to eliminate every single enemy in the entire game — including the Dark Aeons and Penance — with one hit being unprecedented in the entire series.

NEXT: 25 Final Fantasy Memes That Will Choco-Blow Your Mind