Pandemona is a one-of-a-kind Triple Triad card in Final Fantasy VIII used to play the minigame and for turning into items with Quezacotl's Card Mod. Pandemona is the ninety-third card in the inventory and the fifth Level 9 card. It depicts the Pandemona Guardian Force drawn from Fujin in Balamb Town. The card is called "Pandemona" even if the player renames the GF.
As a Level 9 GF card, Pandemona has good values and has one A, which represents the value 10 for the minigame and is unbeatable without special rules. Its value placements may also be useful for games that use Same and/or Plus. It is a wind-elemental card, which comes into effect with the Elemental rule in play. Placing Pandemona on a tile with the matching tornado symbol boosts its values by +1. The increased values are disregarded for Same/Plus calculations, but do count toward Combo mechanics.
Obtain[]
Balamb Hotel Owner and his daughter play with the same deck.
Pandemona is held by the Balamb Hotel Owner, but he will not play cards until after the town has been liberated as part of the story. During the lockdown, if the player helps Big Bad Rascal sneak past the guards, the hotel owner's daughter (in the house next to Zell's) will play Pandemona until after the town is freed, allowing the player to get the Pandemona card slightly earlier. This is the one time the player can get the card before the GF itself. After returning to the now free town, the player can find the hotel owner outside his establishment. If he is with the girl he will play his cards and may use Pandemona. If the girl is at the old man's house, she may have it instead. Both the hotelier and his daughter play with Balamb region rules.
If the player completed the Card Club quest before the point of no return (fighting the boss atop the Lunatic Pandora), the club members will appear aboard the Ragnarok in the endgame, from whom the player can win all Level 8–10 cards they do not currently hold in their deck, even the cards they had modified before. This allows the player to modify the Pandemona card and then win it back.
Card Mod[]
The Pandemona card refines into 100 Windmills, which refine into Tornado spells and are needed for some weapon modifications. However, there are other ways to procure Windmills, such as the common Abyss Worm cards, and 100 is more than the player will ever need. By the time Pandemona becomes available, the player may be able to already draw Tornadoes from enemies.
Physical version[]
In 1999, following the release of Final Fantasy VIII in Japan, Bandai produced a full set of collectible Triple Triad cards in Final Fantasy VIII Carddass Masters Perfect Visuals. The set was made up of the 110 cards as seen in the game along with 72 artwork cards and a collector's edition playing mat. The cards have a blue side and a red side. The cards have become a rare collector's item.