Summon

File:Stitch.jpg

Stitch, one of the Summonable characters from Kingdom Hearts II.

A Summon is a special character that can be magically called on to aid Sora in the Kingdom Hearts series. They have been present in all released games so far, although the mechanics of using them differ from game to game.

Game Differences

File:FairyGodMother.jpg

The Fairy Godmother helps Sora unlock four of the Summons in the original Kingdom Hearts.

Kingdom Hearts

In the original Kingdom Hearts, most of the summons are obtained by finding special gems in various Worlds. The gems can then be given to the Fairy Godmother, staying at Merlin's House in Traverse Town; she uses her magic to restore their spirit and release their power, thus making the summon avaliable. All of these summons are victims of the Heartless' quest to destroy the Worlds. As explained by the Fairy Godmother, the summoning gems are the crystallized forms of strong, good-hearted denizens that did not fall victim to the darkness during the destruction of their worlds, and so are able to be called into battle for a limited time.

Two summons, Genie and Tinker Bell, are allies from Worlds Sora has visited, and join him of their own free will upon locking the Keyhole of their world. They do not need to be released by the Fairy Godmother before they can be used.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories there are Summon Cards that Sora obtains during his ascend in Castle Oblivion. Some Magic Cards enable Sora to perform summons. These cards are created from Sora's memories, so the summons are the same ones from Kingdom Hearts, with the addition of Cloud.

Kingdom Hearts II

In Kingdom Hearts II, summons come from special charms found scattered throughout the worlds, which Sora can immediately use without having to unlock them. The charms from Kingdom Hearts II work differently than the summon gems from Kingdom Hearts. While most of the summon spells on the first game gave a temporary body to the soul contained within the gem, the charm actually teleports the summonable character directly from their world.

Summon Mechanics

Kingdom Hearts

The Summon menu in Kingdom Hearts is located within the Magic menu during battle. Each summon requires a specific amount of MP to be performed, and the summon lasts until its MP bar is fully consumed (or until the player dismissed it manually). In order to perform a summon the player needs to have two friends in the battle with and they both must be conscious. This means that Sora cannot perform summons during battles he is fighting alone, or when one or both of his allies are knocked unconscious.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

In Chain of Memories, once Sora plays that specific summon's card, the summoned character will appear, perform one or more attacks/actions (depending on the amount of cards stocked) and immediately disappear.

Kingdom Hearts II

The Summon menu was given its own area in the Command Menu in Kingdom Hearts II because of the inclusion of a second menu that could be accessed during battle. In addition, Kingdom Hearts II summons no longer require MP to be summoned; they now use the Drive Gauge to count down their time instead, and again the player must have two friends in battle in order to perform a summon.

List of Summons

Kingdom Hearts

• Simba: From the Earthshine Gem obtained from Leon during the second visit to Traverse Town.
• Genie: Genie joins the party after sealing Agrabah's Keyhole.
• Dumbo: From the Watergleam Gem found inside Monstro.
• Bambi: From the Naturespark Gem obtained after returning the first set of pages to Pooh's book.
• Tinker Bell: She joins the party after sealing Neverland's Keyhole.
• Mushu: From the Fireglow Gem obtained after defeating Maleficent in her Dragon form.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

• Simba: Leon gives Sora the Simba card after he completes his tutorial.
• Genie: Genie gives Sora his card after he completes the Agrabah floor.
• Cloud: Cloud gives Sora his card after he completes the Olympus Coliseum floor.
• Tinker Bell: Tinker Bell gives her card to Sora after he completes the Neverland floor.
• Dumbo: Sora obtains his card after completing the Monstro floor.
• Mushu: Key to Rewards room on the Hollow Bastion floor.
• Bambi: Sora obtain his card after completing the 100 Acre Wood floor.

Kingdom Hearts II

• Chicken Little: Merlin gives Sora and co. the Baseball Charm after he tells them about Pooh's book.
• Genie: Genie gives Sora the Lamp Charm after his first visit to Agrabah.
• Stitch: The Ukulele Charm is in a chest in Ansem's Study during the second visit to Hollow Bastion.
• Peter Pan and Tinker Bell: The Feather Charm is in a chest in the Ship Graveyard during the second visit to Port Royal.

Trivia

• In the series, all summons have been Disney characters, with the exception of Cloud in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.

• Genie and Tinker Bell are the only characters to appear as Summons in all three of the main games.

• Peter Pan and Simba are the only characters to appear as Summons and Party Members in the main games.

• Mushu is a Summon in the first game, but becomes a secondary character in Kingdom Hearts II.

• The ultimate Summon from the Final Fantasy video game series, Bahamut, was intended to be included Kingdom Hearts, but was cut before the final release. Through hacking, it is possible to gain a "Bahamut" option in the Summon menu; however, it is an incomplete summon, and therefore will freeze the game if selected.

• The main purpose of the Summons were to add in any extra Disney Movies.