My Top 50 Most Memorable Final Fantasy Bosses: #30 to #21

Hey again and thanks for reading the third of five parts in my Top 50 Memorable Final Fantasy Bosses listing. Yesterday we covered from #40 to #31, and the day before we started from #50 to #41 so today we’ll countdown the next 10!

Remember, this will list will talk about spoilers, so if you’re worried about that, then don’t take the chance! Anyway, enjoy!

#30 – Jenova-BIRTH

Game: Final Fantasy VII

Other names: Jenova Birth

When do you fight him: Around halfway through Disc 1 (of 3)

Location: Cargo Ship en route to Costa Del Sol

HP: 4,900

Difficulty: 5

Jenova-BIRTH isn’t really one of those battles on this list because of how difficult they are, but certainly about how memorable they were from a storyline and visual perspective. Basically Jenova is Sephiroth’s mother, and you’re running after Sephiroth throughout the first half of the game. You know Sephiroth is bad news and that he’s incredibly powerful, so you know when you first see him it’s going to be something special.

This is the moment you see Sephiroth for the first time (or so it seemed, but that’s a tangent I’m not going to go down, if you know the story then it doesn’t need explaining). So you see THE Sephiroth on this Cargo Ship, after he has slaughtered all the men on the ship (which, thinking about it, is going to be INSANE in the remake). And you’re here face to face with him finally and he attacks you. And you’re like, here we go! And instead of fighting him, you go against Jenova, in a blue grotesque alien-like form. But it’s still an epic fight, going against Sephiroth’s mother for the first time, and hearing Jenova’s theme is also glorious. It’s just an amazing moment in an amazing game, and you’re really pumped for it when it happens, the first time round at least anyway.

#29 – Ultros

Game: Final Fantasy VI

Other names: Orthros

When do you fight him: Four times all on the World of Balance, so all in the first two thirds of the game

Location: First on the Lethe River, then at the Opera House, then in the Esper Caves and finally on the airship along with Typhon

HP: 22,000

Difficulty: 6

Note: You go against him four times, and his health is different each time. Above is the highest his health gets to, which is actually at the Esper Caves, the third time you go against him.

Ultros is also in my Top 50 Favourite Final Fantasy Characters list, getting to #14 which is pretty damn high. Fighting Ultros was just fun. So much fun. He’s one of the best comic relief characters in video game history and despite the fact that he is for the light-hearted parts of FF6, he can pack some punch if he wants to. But it’s his hilarious one liners, mid-battle and out of battle that makes him so memorable. His love for women, his hate for Sabin and just generally his tenacity in following your party to try and eat you and only to fail each time.  Back in 2010 when I did my Top 50 Final Fantasy Characters list I said that he needs to be used in other games in the series, similar to Gilgamesh is. It turns out he has started appearing in He truly is a memorable boss in the series.

#28 – Cagnazzo

Game: Final Fantasy IV

Other names: Kainazzo

When do you fight him: Probably about a third into the game

Location: Baron Castle

HP: 5,312

Difficulty: 6

When I played FF4 I was in my teens and had played quite a few of the more recent games by then. I had my doubts about the King of Baron being a protagonist but I could imagine those who played FF4 as a kid for the first time being fooled by him. When he turns into Cagnazzo it’s still quite something. Sometimes confirming your suspicious on a plot twist early can ruin the surprise, but Cagnazzo is a horrible creature, and visually he’s a heck of a monster. Battling him is not that hard, he goes down relatively easy, but regardless, when I think of FF4 and the memorable moments in the game, Cagnazzo disguising himself as the kind and the reveal of that moment always sticks with me. I always think back to how I’d have taken it, had I been around 8 or 9 years old, I probably would have been shocked, and that image just sticks with me.

#27 – Sinspawn Gui

Game: Final Fantasy X

Other names: None
When do you fight him: Twice straight after one another, around a third into the game
Location: Mushroom Rock Road
HP: 12,000
Difficulty: 7

I mentioned earlier that Seymour Flux is the true test to whether or not you’ve grinded your character’s stats well enough by Mg Gagazet, but Sinspawn Gui is also a major test far earlier in the game. The difference really is that Sinspawn Gui doesn’t offer the same threat that Seymour Flux does.

What he does offer though is a VERY long fight, if you’ve not levelled up quickly enough by that point. He’s a major step up from every other boss fight up until this point in the game, and it can take a good 30-45 minutes to take him down if you’re not advanced enough. I remember the first time I went against him, it did take this long, and it’s a heck of a slog. Not to mention the fact that after this fight you have to fight him a second time, it becomes a very memorable fight. At least the second time round he has half the HP and Seymour helps you and kicks ass with his spells! But yes, Sinspawn Gui lives long in the memory as a boss that’s tough to take down, and gives that true first test of FF10 in terms of boss fights.

#26 – Gerogero

Game: Final Fantasy VIII
Other names: Fake President Deling, Fake President
When do you fight him: Around halfway through Disc 1 (of 4)
Location: On the train (in Timber)
HP: 3,650

Difficulty: 6

Note: All enemies on FF8 have varying stats depending on what level you are. For the sake of this listing I’ll be putting down the maximum HP that the boss can have.

Gerogero is one ugly mother. Honestly, in my opinion when it comes to the grotesque monsters of the whole series, Gerogero is up there with the worst looking. It’s one of the reasons why he is so high in my Most Memorable Bosses list. Another reason is because he actually is quite a difficult battle, or at least he is if you’re not experienced with FF8. I’d rate him at a 7 instead of a 6 if you couldn’t just use a Phoenix Down on him and he’ll KO instantly! It’s a tactic I’ve never used actually but it’s worth mentioning. If you do go down the hard route then he has a lot of HP and his attacks can hit hard. He uses loads of status attacks like Silence and Berserk, and his “Brrawghh!” move can put your characters on Slow, Curse, and Blind. Using Esuna or Remedies makes these statuses go away but they do slow you right down. In a nutshell he’s a pain to deal with if you slog with him, but mostly he’s a really ugly, horrific monster that lives long in the memory as one of the most grotesque monsters in Final Fantasy history.

#25 – Guard Scorpion

Game: Final Fantasy VII
Other names: None
When do you fight him: First boss of the game
Location: Sector 1 Reactor
HP: 800

Difficulty: 6

For so many people – this is where it all began. It certainly did for me. So many people played their first RPG as Final Fantasy VII. Other people say this is the best RPG game of all time. No matter what you may or may not think, you can’t argue that you don’t know who Guard Scorpion is, if you’re a Final Fantasy fan. The first boss of the biggest FF game of all time.

Is he that special? Certainly not. He’s a big machine and he’s quite easy to defeat. But he’s certainly memorable because he’s the first one for so many people. Of course, the most famous thing about Guard Scorpion is the mistranslation that I, and many people fell for. "Attack while it's tail's up!", Cloud says. So I, and many people did. And a huge laser attack fell upon us, crippling our HP. I actually did lose this battle the first time I tried. Then I did the opposite to what they say, and low and behold, Guard Scorpion doesn’t attack me. It’s a strange mistranslation that caught so many people, but it doesn’t matter, it’s still funny. So it’s the symbolism behind Guard Scorpion that leads him to being halfway on my Top 50 listing, rather than the fight itself. Other than that laser he’s very easy to defeat.

#24 – Bahamut

Game: Final Fantasy VIII

Other names: None

When do you fight him: Completely optional, towards the end of Disc 3 or on Disc 4 (of 4)

Location: Deep Sea Research Center

HP: 90,000

Difficulty: 7

Note: All enemies on FF8 have varying stats depending on what level you are. For the sake of this listing I’ll be putting down the maximum HP that the boss can have.

Again this isn’t specifically about the boss fight as it is more about the enigma surrounding the boss fight. Getting to Bahamut is a task in itself, and when do you go against him he’s a tough fight. Basically you have the option to go to the Deep Sea Research Center, which is on an island on the corner of the World Map. You can only access it with the Ragnarok airship. When you get there the first room inside of the centre has a large blue light, and every time to step closer to it you have random battles. After a certain few steps, a voice asks you some questions, and if you answer correctly, you have to battle Ruby Dragons (which are very tough in themselves), if you answer incorrectly you have to start again. After three or four sets of questions, and you’re finally close to the blue light, you get to battle the mysterious creature asking the questions – which turns out to be Bahamut. It’s just very ominous and it gives you chills – it’s certainly memorable.

As for the fight, he is tough as I said, but if you’ve cleared the Ruby Dragons you should be able to deal with him as well. For the record I love Bahamut, he’s such a cool dragon, and FF8 Bahamut looks incredible, or at least, by 1998 graphics standards he did!

#23 – Gi Nattak (and two Soul Fires)

Game: Final Fantasy VII

Other names: None
When do you fight him: Around two thirds through Disc 1 (of 3)
Location: Cave of the Gi
HP: 5,500
Difficulty: 6

Like Gerogero, this is an undead boss that you can defeat in one hit by using a curative item on him. So again I’d rate the difficulty 7 if it wasn’t for the fact that an X-Potion will do the trick. But! BUT! I didn’t know that for a long time, so he’s definitely a memorable boss for me. In fact, in terms of FF7 bosses, he was a massive stumbling block that I struggled to get past. I don’t know why but I really did struggle on him. It’s probably the combination of him and the Soul Fires together. The Soul Fires constantly cast Fire2 on you, and sometimes possess your characters and use it on them multiple times. Gi Nattak has a strong physical attack too which can easily take out a character if they aren’t healed up. There’s nothing specifically special other than that, but for a novice RPG player playing his first Final Fantasy game, he gave me a heck of a challenge and thus is very memorable in my eyes.

#22 – Sin

Game: Final Fantasy X
Other names: Jecht, Braska’s Final Aeon, Overdrive Sin
When do you fight him: Technically throughout the game, the epic battle happens towards the end of the game
Location: On the airship
HP: 140,000

Difficulty: 6

Note: As stated you technically go against Sin, or at least parts of him, multiple times. Above is the highest his health gets to, which is the final time you fight him.

This article is mainly about the boss fight rather than Sin in itself. There’s so much to talk about when it comes to Sin you might as well just play the game if you weren’t aware of it. But in a nutshell, you see Sin throughout the game and he wreaks havoc across the world of Spira, and has done for 1000 years.

When you actually take the fight to Sin towards the end of the game, it’s pretty damn epic. You first have to take apart his arms, one by one, and then that’s when the real fight begins. He has so much energy that he literally, draws your airship towards him and threatens to blast it away with a gigantic ball of energy. That happens over a period of time and until that actually happens, you have to defeat him. If he blasts that ball of energy, it’s Game Over. So it’s a race against the clock and you literally have to throw everything including the kitchen sink at him before he opens his mouth.

Depending on how much grinding you have done, 140,000 is a lot of HP to take down in a short space of time. I can’t say I’ve actually lost this battle however, every time I’ve gotten to this part of the game I’ve been strong enough to deal with him, hence the 6/10 difficulty rating. But it’s still epic, and seeing him defeated is a memorable moment in itself, and to be fair, considering how much you’ve wanted to take the fight to Sin throughout the game, the payoff is well worth it.

#21 – Elvoret

Game: Final Fantasy VIII
Other names: None
When do you fight him: He’s the third boss in the game
Location: Dollet Communication Tower
HP: 3,523

Difficulty: 7

Note: All enemies on FF8 have varying stats depending on what level you are. For the sake of this listing I’ll be putting down the maximum HP that the boss can have.

You’d think that when you play FF8 for the first time, you’d play some storyline, go against your first boss, progress a bit further and go against the second boss and it’d be relatively easy up until that point. But no. That’s not the case.

Elvoret is a Grade A bastard. Why Squaresoft decided to make the second boss in the game so hard I really don’t know. It’s not necessarily that he’s super dooper hard, but he packs some punch. His Storm Breath attack cripples your party’s HP. It’s just harsh. I mean you can deal with him relatively well – luckily you can Draw Double magic off him so you can use Double spells on the party and against him.

But on top of his harsh Storm Breath attack is his HP. Why on earth did they give him so much HP for only the second boss of the game?? It may not look like a lot but when you’re attacking for around 80HP per attack, and your GFs are wasting around 300HP, he can take a while to bring down, when you’re constantly healing on top of that too. It’s just a harsh battle, so early on in the game. It took me ages to take Elvoret down the first time I went against him, and it takes even longer if you’re trying to Draw 100 Doubles for every character too. It’s just harsh, unnecessarily harsh, but it certainly is memorable. Bastard.

30 down, 20 to go. Join me tomorrow for Part 4 when we reveal what memorable bosses I rank from #20 to #11!

Click here for Part 4, counting from #20 to #11.
Click here for Part 5, counting from #10 to #1.

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My Top 50 Most Memorable Final Fantasy Bosses: #40 to #31

Hi there and welcome back to my Top 50 Memorable Final Fantasy Bosses listing. Yesterday we  covered from #50 to #41 so today we’ll countdown the next 10!Remember, this will list will talk about spoilers, so if you’re worried about that, then don’t take the chance! Anyway, enjoy!

#40 – Phantom Train

Game: Final Fantasy VI

Other names: GhostTrain, G.Train

When do you fight him: Around a third of the way through the game

Location: Phantom Train

HP: 1,900

Difficulty: 5

This boss wasn’t that difficult, but my word it was memorable! The whole Phantom Train part of the game is fucked up actually, very little of it makes sense until you get to the end of the journey. But what happens on the train and then when you go against the damn thing is just weird. I’d love to know how they’d do it if they remade the game! What makes this battle so memorable? Well not only do you go against a damn train, but, well, Sabin can suplex the damn thing! Give it a go if you’ve not done it before, it’s hilarious! How many games can you say that you battle a train? It’s just great, and definitely memorable!

#39 – Gizmaluke

 

Game: Final Fantasy IX

Other names: Master Gizmaluke

When do you fight him: Towards the end of Disc 1 (of 4)

Location: Gizmaluke’s Grotto

HP: 3,175

Difficulty: 8

Now this is a hard boss, definitely the hardest boss of Disc 1. He’s fast and hit hard, and it’s hard to attack him if you’re constantly healing! His main two attacks are either hitting you with his tail for around 200 HP, a lot at that point in the game, or using Water, which can hit all of you for moderate damage. If you use magic on him, he’ll counter with Silence, so that’s Vivi and Quina partly disabled at least temporarily. He’s just a bastard to deal with and can easy knock out your party if you dilly dally for too long. This is what makes him memorable, although he’s a monstrous entity as well to look at.

#38 – Atma Weapon

Game: Final Fantasy VI

Other names: Ultima Weapon, AtmaWeapon

When do you fight him: Penultimate boss on the World of Balance (so around half way or two thirds through the game)

Location: Floating Continent

HP: 24,000

Difficulty: 6

I didn’t know until I researched to do this listing but the boss on Kefka’s Tower at the end is actually an older, more ancient Atma/Ultima, so technically they’re not the same boss. Either way Atma was a badass looking monster. He is tough, don’t get me wrong, but I’ve never had too much of a problem with him. He has a heck of a lot of HP though, for a boss at this point of the game. So while he’s not that difficult to beat, you still get a lot of satisfaction in defeating him, knowing he was at one point on of the most powerful creatures on the planet. There’s a reason why he’s considered to be the last boss on the World of Balance (he isn’t, Nelapa is, but everyone forgets about him), he’s very majestic and has that aura about him.

#37 – Godo

Game: Final Fantasy VII

Other names: Godo Kisaragi
When do you fight him: Completely optional, only available towards the end of Disc 1 and through Disc 2 (of 3) if you recruit Yuffie and go to Wutai
Location: Wutai

HP: 10,000

Difficulty: 7

Godo for me can be a heck of a challenge, and due to the fact that he has given me problems on occasion, combined with the fact that you can’t get Game Over in this battle makes it very memorable for me. Unlike most bosses, Godo can be taken down in many different ways because he’s actually not immune to that many status effects. You can use Poison on him, although I don’t often use that tactic. My preferred tactic is to use Magic Hammer on him, and take out all his HP. After that all he can do is use Beast Sword which wastes around 250HP, so is quite easily manageable. But he has lots of ways to hurt you with moves such as Trine and Mini, which can be troublesome, not to mention the fact that with Cure2 he can cure over 1000HP whenever he wants to which is a pain in the ass. It’s a tough slog either way, because it’s only Yuffie that can be used in this battle, and 10,000 HP is a lot to take down with only one person.

#36 – Calcabrina

 

Game: Final Fantasy IV
Other names: Calca and Brina, Calcobrena, Calbrina, Calbrena
When do you fight him: Around two thirds through the game
Location: Dwarven Castle

HP: 5,315

Difficulty: 6

Generally speaking Calcabrina isn’t too difficult. Basically you start the fight with a load of dolls called Calca and Brina, that have come to life in the Dwarven Castle. They belonged to the dwarven princess. Unless you’re able to defeat all the Calca and Brina dolls quickly enough, they’ll merge into one massive purple doll hell bent on destroying you. What makes this fight memorable isn’t really that it’s a hard boss to take down, but it’s just how creepy the whole thing is. I’m not really one to be scared of dolls, but they do creep me out. The music certainly doesn’t help, in fact a large reason why the battle is so memorable is because of that damn music. It’s all good though, because at least the battle shouldn’t give many people too much trouble.

#35 – Black Waltz 3

Game: Final Fantasy IX
Other names: None
When do you fight him: Two thirds through Disc 1, first boss of Disc 2 (of 4)

Location: Cargo Ship, Train tracks en route to Treno

HP: 1,292

Difficulty: 6

Any boss that you go against more than once gives them half a chance to appear on this list. The three Black Waltzes are all memorable in different ways but the third one is the only one you go against more than once, on top of the fact that he has the most dialogue and is, well, the most volatile by far, makes him definitely at the forefront when it comes to who will be remembered most. It’s quite sad really, he’s just a puppet controlled by Zorn and Thorn to kill anyone that gets in his way from his objective of bringing Dagger back home. He’s not terribly difficult mind, in either battle, although he can cause problems if you let him. But generally speaking you should be fine in taking him down, but yes, he’s an extremely angry puppet that won’t leave you alone until you put him out of his misery.

#34 – Ba'Gamnan (with Gijuk, Bwagi, Rinok)

Game: Final Fantasy XII

Other names: None

When do you fight him: Quite early on in the game, as an optional battle towards the end of the game

Location: Lhusu Mines, Nam-Yensa Sandsea

HP: 3,983

Difficulty: 7

This entry specifically is for the fight in the Lhusu Mines. The optional battle afterwards isn’t that difficult.
I’ve talked about Ba’Gamnan in my “Top 50 Favourite Final Fantasy Characters” listing where he was coincidentally placed at #34 again. He’s just a horrible horrible dude, a bully, and a vicious huntsman. What I didn’t know until now is that you can actually fight and defeat Ba’Gamnan in the Lhusu Mines but I never even took the chance when I played through the game. He’s just so intense, so vile that when it tells you to run I just RAN. It’s quite an intense run from him and his sibling henchmen, because they are quite strong and can really hurt you if you’re slow in running away from them. Ba’Gamnan is one scary dude!

#33 – Seymour Flux (and Mortiorchis)

Game: Final Fantasy X

Other names: None
When do you fight him: Around three quarters of the way through the game
Location: Mt Gagazet

HP: 70,000

Difficulty: 8

When it comes to the battles of FF10 that people talk about being the most difficult, Seymour Flux is definitely one of those boss fights people mention a lot. This guy is a bastard. It’s definitely the hardest Seymour battle, the third of four battles against him. It’s a true test of how high you’ve levelled up, Seymour Flux. You can wing it through FF10 with relative ease without grinding or getting stronger on the Sphere Grid but this guy is the true test of if you’ve levelled up properly or not. Total Annihilation and Cross Cleave are both so devastating, if you have low HP you simply just won’t survive it. Lance of Atrophy sets you as a Zombie and if you’re not careful Mortiorchis will come in with the next move almost instantaneously by casting Full Life on you, giving an instant kill move. You can barely use Aeons because, like in all Seymour battles, he banishes them after one move. The one reprieve is that he’s weak to Poison, but otherwise, Seymour #3 is a heck of a battle, one so many people stumble on because if you’ve not grinded your character stats up high enough, it becomes almost impossible to win.

#32 – Emerald Weapon

Game: Final Fantasy VII
Other names: None
When do you fight him: Optional superboss available two thirds through Disc 2 and anytime on Disc 3 (of 3)

Location: In the sea in a variety of different locations, accessible via submarine

HP: 1,000,000

Difficulty: 9

I’d put a difficulty rating of 10 but in truth he’s actually stupidly easy with the right strategy. I’ve probably attempted Emerald Weapon a good half a dozen times with terribly strategies and he’s kicked my ass each time. But when I did beat him, I didn’t even get hit so it shows you how easy it can be if you get prepared as much as you can before taking him on.
Aire Tam Storm is the killer move really, it usually wastes 9999 on all characters, or at least it did with me. I’ve only just found out why though – it wastes 1111 for every materia you have so obviously most people completely load their characters with material, which is why it pretty much instantly obliterates the party. Other than Aire Tam Storm, Emerald Beam can pack some damage, but to be honest, it’s the Aire Tam Storm that’s the lethal move.

But if you use Knights of the Round combied with W-Summon, and then get another character to use Mime, then you’re pretty much sorted in terms of being able to inflict the damage to take him down. Also having Phoenix and Final Attack combined saves your party if you do get taken down. That’s the method I used but there are quite a few different ways to take him down. Also getting the Underwater material is imperative, because taking him down in 20 minutes may be problematic for some people.

But there’s no disputing that Emerald Weapon is badass, and incredibly memorable, for many gamers like myself, he was the first superboss that people ever encounted.

#31 – Odin

Game: Final Fantasy XIII
Other names: None
When do you fight him: Quite early on, certainly in the first third of the game

Location: Vile Peaks

HP: Unknown

Difficulty: 8

Like all of FF13’s Eidolon battles, you don’t have to defeat Odin to win, you simply have to fill his Gestalt bar. This is WAY easier said than done however. And because Odin is the first time you do one of these type of battles, it’s terribly overwhelming for a lot of gamers. It doesn’t make it very clear really what fills Gestalt bar unless you use Libra on him. Smacking him with loads of attacks won’t fill it up very fast – what fills it up fast is getting Lightning to heal Hope and by specifically doing combo attacks to hit Odin. Doing both at the same time is quite difficult, not to mention Odin’s attacks are devastating, and a lot of them are aimed at Hope who has lower HP.

I failed this battle many many times because just figuring out what to do was a task in itself, and then when you finally “get it”, it’s still a bastard. Odin has appeared in many Final Fantasy games and is usually badass, he’s certainly badass in FF13 but he’s so frustrating as a boss battle and that’s why for me this incarnation of him is the most memorable, certainly for boss fights anyway.

So that’s the end of Part 2. Come back for Part 2 tomorrow when I cross over the halfway point of the listing as we go from #30 to #21!

Click here for Part 3, counting from #30 to #21.
Click here for Part 4, counting from #20 to #11.
Click here for Part 5, counting from #10 to #1.

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My Top 50 Most Memorable Final Fantasy Bosses: #50 to #41

Hey there and welcome to another one of my Final Fantasy Listings. I’ve done quite a few pieces on Final Fantasy on this website, dating back to 2010 (not to mention game reviews too). My first piece was on article on “Why I Want a Final Fantasy VI Remake”, which is still a relevant read today, what with Final Fantasy VII now being remade. I did a “Favourite Final Fantasy Songs Mixtape” which is lovely to listen to if you had the time. In terms of listings I’ve done a “Top 50 Final Fantasy Locations” and a “Top 50 Final Fantasy Characters” list, which I think are both fun reads.

So what’s this listing about? Well as it says in the title, this is counting down my “Top 50 Memorable Final Fantasy Bosses”. There’s a difference between “favourite” and “memorable. Some bosses were an absolute pain in the arse and made me seethe with rage, so aren’t my favourites. But by saying “memorable” I think it covers both “favourites” and “difficult” somewhat.

Another difference with this listing is that I’m only really covering certain entries in the Final Fantasy series. I usually cover FF1-FF13 (with the exception of FF11) but in this series I’m not. I’m only covering the games that have bosses on it that are definitely memorable.

I saw somewhere else do a “Best Final Fantasy Bosses” list and agreed and disagreed with a lot of the choices in the article, so it’s compelled me to make my own list. Like my Top 50 Final Fantasy Locations listing I’ll post this over 5 days, 10 entries at a time. This will list will talk about spoilers, so if you’re worried about that, then don’t take the chance!

Now remember this is a biased list, so what I find to be memorable is definitely different to what you think is memorable. But either way, I hope to take you down memory lane with some of the most epic boss fights in Final Fantasy history, and put a personal take on each entry, by maybe talking about my personal experiences with them.

And finally, I’ve not played Final Fantasy XV yet so that’s why that game isn’t in this list. I hope to play it in the summer sometime.

So without further delay, here’s from #50 to #41!

#50 – Whelk

Game: Final Fantasy VI

Other names: Ymir

When do you fight him: First boss of the game

Location: Narshe Mines

HP: 1,600

Difficulty: 6

I thought I’d start the listing off with the first boss of Final Fantasy 6. Overall there’s nothing terribly fancy or epic about this fight, but you know what? If you’re not careful, Whelk can pack some damage if you time your attacks incorrectly. Whelk follows an attacking pattern that’s used in other “first boss” battles in the series (Guard Scorpion in FF7 is another example) where the counter attack is used as a tactic. If you attack Whelk when he tucks his head into his shell, he’ll attack you with Gigavolt which can waste a lot of HP. Other than that, he’s actually a very easy boss to deal with. But as I said, he’s memorable in the respect that FF6 was an incredible game and this was the first boss you encounter. I have actually died on Whelk before once I believe, and I probably played this game as a teenager for the first time, having completed FF7, FF8, FF9 and FF10 by then!

#49 – Carry Armor

Game: Final Fantasy VII

Other names: None

When do you fight him: Towards the end of Disc 2 (of 3)

Location: Underwater Reactor

HP: 24,000

Difficulty: 7

Is it just me or is this boss an absolute bastard?? I have a feeling I’m going to curse (or come close to cursing) a lot during this process of revealing my Top 50. Man I hated Carry Armor. By this time in the game you’ve gone against quite a few different machines and think, surely these guys are easy to defeat now right? Right?! But Carry Armor is just a pain in the ass. I can’t decide what I hated more, the fact that he could carry not one but TWO of your three person party at once, smashing them into his body until they KO and if he ends up KO-ing the one person remaining that’s Game Over. He also hits hard with his Lapis Laser attack to make things worse. At least he’s weak against lightning, but he does have some HP so does take some time to take down. You also have the dilemma of either taking him out by the core, or reducing the likelihood of getting grabbed by eliminating his arms. I just found this fight very difficult, maybe it’s just me, but I hate Carry Armor. Definitely memorable though!

#48 – Tahaka

Game: Final Fantasy XIII

Other names: None

When do you fight him: Around two thirds of the way through the game

Location: Taejin's Tower

HP: 2,314,800

Difficulty: 6

As good as FF13 was, there wasn’t that many bosses that stand out too much. Sure, there were a few that “looked” the part but most of the battles remained the same. Maybe that’s a modern RPG thing but for me, the older games in the series created better boss battles generally. But Tahaka looked badass and was quite difficult to take down if you weren’t careful. Once you stagger him the battle does get a lot easier but he can pack a punch. He reminds me a lot of the Evrae battle in FF10 in the respect that they are both epic flying guardian monsters protecting something. I do think Tahaka looks that bit cooler than Evrae as well. Overall Tahaka stands out in FF13, a game who’s bosses don’t often live up to the hype.

#47 – Hilgigars

Game: Final Fantasy IX

Other names: Hill Gigas

When do you fight him: Towards the end of Disc 2 (of 4)

Location: Conde Petie Mountain Path
HP: 8,106
Difficulty: 6

What. A. Bastard. So, if you’re not familiar with FF9 there’s one thing that’s very different about this game than the others in this series. And that is that stealing can be a major part of the game. Usually in the Final Fantasy series stealing from enemies is a cool yet ineffective option in the game But in this game, nearly every single boss has items to steal that are worth your time. Some bosses have items that you can’t get for hours and hours of gameplay later. Hilgigars is one of those bosses.

You see, stealing being a big part of FF9 is both very good and very bad. It’s good because, for me, it’s a technique that allows hard work to be rewarded earlier by patiently waiting to get your items by trying to steal them over a period of time. But it’s very bad because certain bosses just won’t let go of certain items and it can be so frustrating waiting for the chance. Hilgigars has a Fairy Flute, an item that you can’t get until probably around a third of the way through Disc 3 (I’d say, around 10 hours of gameplay). So you really want to get this item if you can. It once took me a good 75 minutes of doing nothing but clicking on “Steal” over and over again, before I accidentally somehow killed the bastard and rage quit the game. There’s a 1/256 chance of you getting the Fairy Flute, and that’s with the “Bandit” ability on, who knows what the chances are otherwise! Putting into perspective, catching Mewtwo on Pokemon is easier (Using an Ultra Ball, catching Mewtwo while sleeping on Full HP is around 1/109 chance, so it’ll be a higher chance if his HP is low)!

So that’s why this boss is memorable, because otherwise he’s not that difficult; he packs some punch but not enough to cause a major challenge and his HP is relatively low. But still, Stealing from him is such a pain in the ass!!

 #46 – Ultimate Weapon

Game: Final Fantasy VII

Other names: None

When do you fight him: The middle of Disc 2, optional boss at the end of Disc 2 and Disc 3 (of 3)
Location: Mideel (mandatory), in the skies (multiple times, all optional)
HP: 100,000
Difficulty: 7

Tangent here – Ruby Weapon isn’t in this list. For me, Ruby Weapon was horrible but I mainly avoided him on my first few runs in the game until I was strong enough to be able to defeat him, so when I figured it out he was actually quite easy. So I didn’t quite fit him in this Top 50 list because for me, he wasn’t that memorable. I’m sure many of you disagree with me and that’s understandable.

Anyway, Ultimate Weapon for me was memorable in the sense that it was the first Weapon you go against in the game, but other than that he’s not much of a threat. His Ultima Beam attack really packs some serious damage when you go against him in Mideel, and he does provide some threat with it at that point in the game. Other than that he’s quite easy to take the battle to, as long as you’re healing your party. But yeah, he looks pretty badass but he does lack the nervous feeling I had when going against, say, Diamond Weapon and Emerald Weapon, which as you can imagine, are higher up in this list. He’s still cool though.

#45 – Dark Knight

Game: Final Fantasy IV

Other names: D.Knight, DarkKnight

When do you fight him: Around a third of the way through the game
Location: Mount Ordeals
HP: 4,520
Difficulty: 5

Now this might be embarrassing here but, the only reason why this boss is on this list is because of the fact that a teenage JohnnyMercyside didn’t know the definition of the word “sheath”. If you’ve not played FF4, then the story is simple. Cecil, the main character has decided to become a Paladin, a “holy” knight, but up until this point in the game has been using the Dark Arts as his method of training and is a Dark Knight. So to become a Paladin, he needs to battle the “dark side” of himself. This is a scripted battle, and all Dark Knight does is attack you with Darkness, otherwise what he says over and over again is “A True Paladin Will Sheath His Sword”.

So teenage me didn’t know what sheathing was so I just kept attacking and attacking and eventually I gave up. Over 4000 HP is a lot at this point in the game and I think I was attacking Dark Knight for a good 20-30 minutes. So eventually I gave up and checked online, only to find out that “sheathing your sword” was simply, not attacking! Well I was pretty pissed off with myself then wasn’t I?? So yes, simply put, this was memorable for me for that reason alone.

#44 – Plant Brain

Game: Final Fantasy IX

Other names: None

When do you fight him: First boss at the start of the game
Location: Evil Forest
HP: 916
Difficulty: 7

I was close to putting 8 down for difficulty because to be honest – this guy is really tough! I think of all the “first bosses” in all the Final Fantasy series this has to be one of the toughest if not. Sure you could argue that he’s not the “first boss” but for me he is and my logic is, this is the first time you hear the “boss battle” music. So there!

Anyway, he’s really tough. Mainly because of his Thunder attack, which wastes around 100 HP on all characters, and you only have around 150HP or thereabouts! Taking his health down isn’t too hard generally, but because you need to concentrate on healing your party, it’s not easy. And of course, being the first boss in the game makes him immediately memorable anyway. Still, he’s a bastard!

#43 – Penance

Game: Final Fantasy X
Other names: None

When do you fight him: Towards the end of the game, optional superboss

Location: Calm Lands (on the airship)
HP: 12,000,000
Difficulty: 10

This is one of the superbosses of Final Fantasy that I have not defeated. He’s also the only superboss on this listing that I have not defeated, so the likes of Yiazmat of FF12 and Vercingetorix of FF13 who I also haven’t defeated are not in this list. I can’t explain the logic behind putting Penance in other than the fact that, yes, I do believe he’s a more memorable boss than the other two (and others).

I have attempted to defeat Penance only once. I had a run through FF10 back on the original PS2 and basically used an X-Ploder cheat disc to give me unlimited items so I could scour the sphere grid however I pleased. But even then I couldn’t defeat him. I never really looked online for strategies so my tactics were probably completely wrong. But he is an extremely tough cookie and I do hope to be able to defeat him one day, and after all, it did take me a good 8 years to beat Ozma from FF9 so there’s hope yet! Penance is memorable in the way that he’s simply, the hardest boss of FF10. You have to defeat all the Dark Aeons before you get the chance to even fight him, and when you do he rises from the depths of the Calm Lands, so he’s pretty badass.

#42 – Belias

Game: Final Fantasy XII

Other names: The Gigas

When do you fight him: Quite early on in the game
Location: Tomb of Raithwall
HP: 15,943
Difficulty: 6

Again, like FF13, for me FF12 lacked that “epic” feeling you have when you go against bosses, but there are moments in the game. Going against Belias for the first time, the first Esper in the game was a tremendous feeling. I loved the cinematics involved in this fight; it just felt like you were trapped in a tornado of flames and in the middle was this massive beast stalking you. He wasn’t that difficult really overall, but the intensity in the fight was certainly there. It was a fun battle.

#41 – Griever

Game: Final Fantasy VIII

Other names: Whatever you want to call it at the end of Disc 2!

When do you fight him: Part of the final boss in the game
Location: Ultimecia’s Castle
HP: 115,950
Difficulty: 8

Note: All enemies on FF8 have varying stats depending on what level you are. For the sake of this listing I’ll be putting down the maximum HP that the boss can have.

This is actually the only boss on this list that you can name yourself. You can call him Assbutt if you wanted! No matter what you call him, he’s still a very tough cookie. Shockwave Pulsar destroyed me – hell – it obliterated me the first time I went against Griever. He’s the second of four parts of the Final boss battle and in fact, the only part on this listing. For me, if you can get past Griever, you should be able to complete the game because Ultimecia isn’t as difficult to deal with as Griever is. What I also love about this battle is the fact that Squall has special Renzokuken limit breaks for the battle that just look absolutely badass when triggered. Griever looks cool, is tough as hell and is the most memorable part of a decent but underwhelming final battle with Ultimecia.

So that’s Part 1, come back for Part 2 tomorrow when I countdown from #40 to #31!

Click here for Part 2, counting from #40 to #31.
Click here for Part 3, counting from #30 to #21.
Click here for Part 4, counting from #20 to #11.
Click here for Part 5, counting from #10 to #1.
 

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