The Eikon battles in Final Fantasy 16 are incredible spectacles that showcase the full power of the godly entities that the characters are able to use to wreak havoc across the countryside. Among these, however, is one fight that has instant classic written all over it, as the Eikon Ifrit Risen manages to withstand Bahamut's Zettaflare, crossing a milestone set for a protagonist back in Kingdom Hearts 3.
This fight against Bahamut isn't the first time that the Final Fantasy series has shown off the all-power Zettaflare, as it has in recent years become a staple way to show the incredible power of certain characters. The most notable exception of these uses of the ability before Final Fantasy 16, however, comes hilariously from Donald Duck in Kingdom Hearts 3.
Donald Duck as the Strongest Mage in Square Enix History
At the start of the final confrontation against Xehanort and his Real Organization XIII in Kingdom Hearts 3, a young Terranort forces the guardians of light on their back foot, essentially setting up to kill them before the fight proper even kicks off. To even the odds, Donald Duck arrives to cast Zettaflare directly into Terranort's face, seemingly destroying him outright, as he's not seen again in that timeline after that point. While there's a lot of additional context to keep in mind in this whole scenario, the point is that Donald is somehow able to cast a spell so powerful that only a godly being like Bahamut had previously been able to achieve anything close.
This completely shuts down any question of whom the stronger mage is among the Kingdom Hearts party, as Sora has previously tried to profess that his own skill with magic beats out Donald. Beyond that, though, this places Donald Duck's power in the Kingdom Hearts series above any other protagonist Square Enix has made, which especially absurd when considering that he is technically a Red Mage. However, as impressive as this feat is, Final Fantasy 16's Rosfield brothers Clive and Joshua manage to combine their strength to completely overtake what had previously been the strongest attack in the series.
Clive and Joshua Knock the Zettaflare Back at Bahamut
In the fight against Bahamut, Clive and Joshua join their Eikons together to become Ifrit Risen, giving them a massive power boost and temporarily combining their beings into one. This is what gives them the ability to withstand every attack that Bahamut throws at them, including the Zettaflare right at the end of the fight. It makes for an incredible spectacle that sets Final Fantasy 16's Ifrit Risen high as one of the most powerful characters in the history of Final Fantasy and Square Enix for having survived the attack.
However, Ifrit Risen goes one step beyond simply surviving the Zettaflare and actually repels the attack completely, flying into it head on and coming out the other side unscathed. This is what makes Clive and Joshua's combined Eikon stronger than Donald Duck ever was in Kingdom Hearts when they overpower this legendary spell. Of course, that does come with the caveat that the Rosfields had to fuse their two separate Eikons together in order to power through the Zettaflare as Ifrit Risen, and likely wouldn't have been able to do it without priming.
On the other hand, Clive and Joshua were only strong enough to survive the Zettaflare in their Eikon forms, which compares interestingly to what it took for Donald Duck to cast the spell in the first place. Donald's last-ditch effort to stop Terranort came at a steep cost, draining him of his own life force and sending his heart adrift, so Sora had to save him from Kingdom Hearts 3's mysterious Lich. While Clive and Joshua couldn't accomplish the task on their own and survive, Donald couldn't even survive casting the spell, leaving both sides with heavy caveats for the limits of their power.
Final Fantasy 16 is available now for PS5.
