Are the Twelve Primals too?

[Anonymoose]

Somebody mentioned that Atomos is a primal also, since in WoD we face Atomos Prime and that the crystal was actually Atomos?

Atomos has been confirmed to be a voidsent in the past. I suspect that a prime is in some unconfirmed way an essence from which a projection is established in an unconfirmed manner. In World of Darkness, the Prime (visually a crystal) was feeding aether to allow the Atomos to manifest.

[Genz]

You can summon anything if you have enough aether and enough faith/willpower/something.
For Dalamud, the goal of Louisoix wasn't to summon "the twelve gods", but only to gather a lot of aether and for that he needed every eorzean to focus their thought on the same thing, and it just happens that the concept of "the twelve gods" is something shared by all Eorzea.

"Primal" is just a name for anything summoned, but it also has some political meaning : we believe in gods, it's a good word so we're good, and they believe in primals so they're bad. ... even though Ifrit, Ramuh, Titan, etc. are simply the gods of each beastmen tribe.
And, that being said, I wouldn't call Shiva the goddess of a people. She looks more like the boss of a band of thugs. They just share a very strong belief in their ideal.

And there is this someone who crossed all Eorzea and helped all of its inhabitant with big and small tasks. I wonder what could happen if they all prayed for him/her...

[Fenral]

And there is this someone who crossed all Eorzea and helped all of its inhabitant with big and small tasks. I wonder what could happen if they all prayed for him/her...

Can we please have that as a solo boss? Please? A (repeatable) mirror boss based on your own equipped class and gear, and not just a tease like they did in that one storyline.

[Toranja]

No.

We know they are very similar in some aspects but can't tell what sets them apart. But we do know there are differences, even if it isn't just the fact Twelve are the Enlightened counterpart. We will have our answer in Heavensward as the Ascian lay the way for Ishgard to summon Halone.

If it hasn't been mentioned yet, I draw attention to the rather peculiar fact the Twelve speak with the living even when they aren't summoned. This was shown in the bonding quests.

[T2teddy]

Ok, cast your memory cells back to the day you created your characters! Remember the page where you had to select a 'guardian'? Well that was one of the 12! Each of the elements is shared by two of them, plus each astral or umbral moon is associated with one of our 12 Guardians of Eorzea.

Here's the list as well as where each one's prayer altars are located.

[Dererk]

Technically....NO Because for a deity to be called a primal it needs to be summand vie athear faith/worship and become a corporal being as in made flesh vie athear. They wernt fully aummand in the end of the 6th era only their power so no they aren't.

[Elladie]

I like the idea that Ramuh, Garuda and friends are the 'gods' of the beastmen in the same way that the Twelve are the 'gods' of the Eorzean people. Presumably this presupposes that - as Moose said - 'something' exists on another plane - the aetherial plane? - that is the essence of each of them. Summoning one of these essences creates a physical form that is what we call a Primal. The idea that gods are created by belief and prayer is one I've come across a few times in my reading on myth, religion and psychology (though whether those writers think that these gods can claim an actual reality in the way it seems they can in Hydaelyn is another question XD).

Presumably Zodiark and Hydaelyn herself are a notch up the ladder from the Twelve? And King Mog & Shiva a step down - maybe on the way to god-hood if the belief and prayer is strong enough, lasts long enough? What about Midgardsormr? His relationship to Hydaelyn fascinates me; I feel as though he talks to her almost as though they're equals. And Odin and Bahamut are Elder Primals just because of their longevity?
What happens to these 'gods' if belief and prayer in them diminishes?

[Yoohre_WildRiver]

What happens to these 'gods' if belief and prayer in them diminishes?

they would stay on the aether stream , forgotten forever! bound to roam in oblivion for eternity!

as far i i know from mainstory lore and smn quest, primals once defeated are returned to the aether source and only with enough crystals can they be fully summoned again. summoners can tap into this aether stream and channel into certain primals aether but since you dont have a massive amount of crystals you can only get an egi manifestation.

[Grayve]

I like the idea that Ramuh, Garuda and friends are the 'gods' of the beastmen in the same way that the Twelve are the 'gods' of the Eorzean people.

Yes, they all sitting around the Feymarch hanging together... Menphina, Shiva. and Garuda discuss how hard it is to find decent footwear, and Ifrit and Titan keep having to apologize to Halone and Rhalgr for missing triple triad night because they keep being summoned...

[VargasVermillion]

Technically....NO Because for a deity to be called a primal it needs to be summand vie athear faith/worship and become a corporal being as in made flesh vie athear. They wernt fully aummand in the end of the 6th era only their power so no they aren't.

Bahamut wasn't always a primal, more a historical being brought back to life. The twelve could be primals in the same sense. in fact most of the primals could be like this, Ramuh must have existed for a long time at least.