Granite

Granite (グラニト) is a Venus Djinni found throughout the Golden Sun series.

Granite is the second Venus Djinni in the original Golden Sun, and can also be acquired in Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Although it is not the party's second Venus Djinni in The Lost Age, Granite is still ordered as the second Venus Djinni when equipped to characters. Because it is not available until after most other Venus Djinn can be found, however, the separate Djinn list viewable with the Select button from the status screen lists Granite and all other Venus Djinn from Golden Sun after all of the Djinn introduced in The Lost Age. According to this order, Granite is the thirteenth Venus Djinni in The Lost Age rather than the second, but this order has no influence elsewhere in the game.

In Dark Dawn, Granite appears as one of the "extra Djinn" in the Djinn Guide because of its temporary appearance in the earliest stage of the game.

Basic description
When Set, Granite increases its Adept's base HP by 9, base Defense by 2, base Agility by 1, and base Luck by 1.

When Granite is unleashed in battle, the user produces an effect that reduces all damage the entire party would take for the rest of the current turn by 50%. This effect has the "strikes first" property, meaning it will be the first performed action in a given turn regardless of the agility rating of the user and any other combatant in battle.

In Golden Sun and The Lost Age, Granite's unleash animation visually resembles the user summoning a glowing, transparent image of a Venus Djinni that hovers above the party while an array of glowing yellow energy orbs enters into each Adept, and a small, transparent "wall" in front of each Adept briefly flashes. In Dark Dawn, once the user summons the 3D model of Granite, it hovers around briefly as bricks of orange granite fall from the sky and line up to form a wall in front of the party briefly.

Locations
Golden Sun: Granite is visible in the town of Kolima, fenced in a small enclosure next to one of the tree-houses, and you cannot reach it from the outside. To reach it, go behind the tree-house and walk down, so that you enter a secret back door into a small room. Follow the ladder down into an underground cave trail (which has random battles), and follow the trail to climb back out above ground to where the Djinni is, ready for grabbing.

Golden Sun: The Lost Age: Players can transfer data from Golden Sun to The Lost Age, but even if they don't, Granite will be among the Djinn Isaac's party has with them when they join forces with Felix's party late in the game.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn: Granite is one of the six Djinn that Isaac and Garet loan Matthew and Karis while in Tanglewood, meaning that the player may use it while exploring Tanglewood, the Abandoned Mine beyond that, and the Tangle Bloom boss fight at the end. After this, Granite and the other Djinn are permanently returned to Isaac and Garet for the rest of the game.

Analysis
General: Granite is one of several Djinn that cuts total damage the party takes this turn by a large amount, and does so with increased priority, which can make it a powerful defensive measure. However, while halving all damage the party takes is a strong effect, the other similar Djinn cut all damage to even lower amounts - especially Flash and Chasm - which makes them outclass Granite later in each game.

By game
Golden Sun: Granite is extremely useful from the moment it is collected all the way up to the end of the game, because of a very reliable damage-reduction effect. It is typically used in boss encounters, and can give your party a much needed cushion against enemy damage while other Adepts of your party focus on healing dangerously low-health party members. Much later in the game, the Mars Djinni Flash provides a much stronger version of the same effect, but even then Granite is not necessarily considered "obsoleted to uselessness", as both Djinn can be used and alternated between.

Golden Sun: The Lost Age: When Isaac's party joins Felix's party along with their returning Djinn, Granite tends to get more ignored because of the presence of Mercury Djinni Shade, which is essentially a slightly stronger Granite to better complement Flash. If the game is being played with the Adepts in their respective mono-elemental classes, then a Venus Adept using Granite essentially limits his "proper" role as a damage dealer, while Shade is somewhat of a better fit on Mercury Adepts, which are somewhat more oriented toward healing.

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn: In the short period of time Granite is available to Matthew and Karis in Tanglewood and the Abandoned Mine, Granite's damage-halving effect is not really necessary because damage inflicted to the Adepts is very low to begin with. The only purpose to Unleashing it is to put it on Standby for a summon like Cybele. In the main game, the Venus Djinni Bark is identical to Granite in function.

Name Origin
Granite is a type of igneous rock. Granite is almost always large, hard, and tough, so it is often used in construction. These characteristics may be why the Djinni Granite was given defensive abilities.