Most Epic Boss Fights In Final Fantasy

Highlights

• Final Fantasy games offer epic boss battles, from colossal monsters to powerful villains like Kuja and Nekron.
• Each game has standout bosses, like Final Fantasy 8’s X-ATM092, with unique mechanics and impressive designs.
• The boss battles in Final Fantasy are visually stunning and challenging, creating memorable gaming experiences.

The Final Fantasy franchise has been around for over thirty years. Despite the fact that it has a tendency to reinvent itself with each new entry, the truth is, at this point, fans pretty much know what to expect. One of the hallmarks of the best Final Fantasy games is epic boss battles that test the player’s mettle, and, quite often, the power of the hardware the game was released on.

But not all boss fights are created equally. Give the player too many epic battles to fight through, and it can become a case of diminishing returns. Some of Final Fantasy‘s best boss battles are much smaller and more personal in scale, like Cloud’s and Zack’s duels against Sephiroth. That being said, each Final Fantasy game has at least a handful of epic boss battles designed to make the player’s eyes water.

9

The Weapons – Final Fantasy 7

Big And Brutal Foes That Make The Party Look Tiny

Final Fantasy 7 features a lot of great boss battles, but for most players, the battles against the monsters known as “Weapons” stand out as the most difficult. Gaia summoned these colossal monsters to protect the lifestream, and they are so big that they can be spotted from the world map, making them some of Final Fantasy‘s largest bosses.

There are four Weapons that the player can chase down and kill. Ultimate Weapon can fly and is fought aboard the Highwind, Ruby Weapon can be found in the desert next to the Gold Saucer, Diamond is found marching on Midgar, and Emerald Weapon stalks the ocean floor. Their sheer destructive power is shown off in several FMVs, with Diamond Weapon even managing to shrug off a hit from Midgar’s giant Sister Ray cannon. Fighting Diamond and Ultimate looks cool, but it isn’t that difficult. Emerald and Ruby, on the other hand, take a ton of preparation (and luck) to beat and will happily wipe out even max-level parties with ease. Even after all these years, the battles against Final Fantasy 7‘s Weapons are still incredibly epic to behold.

8

Kuja And Nekron – Final Fantasy 9

Hitting The Player With A Double Whammy

This might seem like a bit of a cheat, but Kuja and Nekron are both fought within moments of each other, and they’re both epic for similar reasons. In his normal form, Kuja was already one of the best-ever Final Fantasy villains. In his trance form, he’s just plain epic. Not only is his design really cool, but the boss battle music that accompanies him is awesome. He may not be that big, but he packs some visually impressive attacks, including Flare Star, an upgraded version of Flare. It’s these attacks combined with the music that make Kuja’s battle feel so impressive. It really feels like the party is fighting for the fate of the planet.

Then, Kuja is defeated, and Necron shows up. The opening to the battle has the entire party wiped out before the player chooses 4 characters to use in the upcoming fight. It’s an emotional scene that makes the Necron battle feel even more epic. Necron himself comes out of left field (he’s literally never mentioned prior to this fight), but he has an imposing design that makes it clear the player is fighting something godly. The most impressive thing about the battle, though, is Necron’s moves. His Grand Cross attack takes the form of a mini FMV and is planetary in scale, while his Neutron Ring move is also pretty impressive.

7

X-ATM092 – Final Fantasy 8

A Giant Robot Spider That Chases The Party

One of Final Fantasy 8‘s most memorable boss battles comes surprisingly early on. Towards the end of their mission in Dollet, Squall and his classmates run into Biggs, who activates X-ATM092, also known as Black Widow. This is a giant robotic spider that will chase the party all the way down the mountain and through. After their first battle against X-ATM092, which is unwinnable, the player can either choose to keep running or stand and fight.

X-ATM092 is arguably one of Final Fantasy‘s most underrated bosses. For an early-game boss, it has a ton of health, and its Ray-Bomb attack is both visually impressive and deadly. When it reaches 20% health, it will go into a self-repair sequence that quickly returns the robot to full health. The player must trigger this sequence five times within the same battle before X-ATM092 can finally be defeated. That’s a problem because the whole sequence is timed, and if the countdown reaches zero, it’s game over for Squall and co. An impressive design and unique mechanics make X-ATM092 one of Final Fantasy‘s most epic boss battles.

6

Bahamut – Final Fantasy 16

Fighting A Dragon God In Space

As a current-gen title that pushed the PS5 to its limits, it should come as no surprise that Final Fantasy 16 has its fair share of epic boss battles. One of the most visually impressive is against Bahamut, Final Fantasy‘s iconic dragon god. A lot of different versions of Bahamut have been seen over the years, but Final Fantasy 16‘s is easily one of the most powerful. His Zettaflare attack can supposedly destroy an entire planet (an attack that Clive totally tanks somehow).

One of the best things about this boss battle is the mechanics. The players get to control both Clive and Joshua in their respective Eikon forms, Ifrit and Phoenix. Each form offers a different gameplay experience, but the battle really peaks when they merge and transform into Ifrit Risen. Ifrit Risen and Bahamut battling in space makes for one of the most stunning fights to ever take place in a Final Fantasy game.

5

Sin – Final Fantasy 10

Fighting A Giant Monster On An Airship

In Final Fantasy 10, Sin is a giant flying whale-monster that crops up once in a while to make life unpleasant for the people of Spira. A summoner must then go on a pilgrimage, collect all the Aeons (summons), sacrifice themselves to defeat Sin, and begin a period known as the Calm. Near the end of the game, the party decides that Yuna sacrificing herself is a dumb idea, so Tidus suggests they shoot Sin out of the sky using their giant airship instead.

The result is a really epic boss battle that does an excellent job of capturing the sheer scale of Sin. The player must use long-range party members and spellcasters to pelt attacks at Sin while periodically launching rocket barrages at the monster from the airship. It’s Final Fantasy 10‘s most unique battle, and it’s a lot of fun. However powerful the party members are, they will still look like ants next to Sin. The battle ends with the party flying into the monster’s mouth, where a recreation of Zanarkand can be found.

4

The Shinra Army – Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core

Zack Takes On An Entire Army

Most boss battles task the player with fighting either one single enemy or, at most, one boss backed up by a handful of minions. The final fight in Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core, however, has Zack facing off against Shinra’s entire army. In gameplay terms, that means fighting endlessly respawning Shinra grunts while several attack helicopters fire HP-decimating homing missiles at Zack from afar.

As the fight drags on, and both the player and Zack become increasingly exhausted, the battle starts to feel like an interactive cutscene. A badly injured Zack can barely move, and the DMV slots (which the player would usually use to get out of a tough spot) begin to bug out. It doesn’t matter how over-leveled Zack is or how good the player is; this is simply a boss battle battle that they can’t win. The result is one of Final Fantasy‘s best endings.

3

Ardyn – Final Fantasy 15

A Shonen Level Boss Fight

Final Fantasy 15 is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to epic boss battles. There’s the battle where Noctis fights the giant serpent Leviathan while flying over the flooded city of Altissia, the battle where he fights the skyscraper-sized Titan, and the battle where he and friends kill an adamantoise that’s been pretending to be a mountain the entire game. The most epic battle, however, is arguably the final fight against Ardyn.

Fought after exploring Insomnia, the Ardyn fight gets off to a slow start. Noctis and Ardyn start off by slugging it out in the streets of Insomnia. Ardyn is fast and has some cool royal arms and martial arts attacks, but it’s nothing overly impressive. Once Ardyn is defeated in this stage, however, the real fight begins. The villain heals himself and flies into the skies above Insomnia. In a battle that looks like it’s straight out of a shonen anime, Noctis and Ardyn fly through the skies shooting at each other with vastly upgraded Armiger attacks. It’s a flashy fight, and things move so fast that it can be hard to keep track of what’s going on. Do enough damage, however, and Ardyn will land, sparking a third, short phase of the fight that ends with Noctis finishing Ardyn off with the royal arms.

2

Safer-Sephiroth – Final Fantasy 7

Sephiroth’s Planet-Destroying Form

Final Fantasy 7 ends with a series of escalating boss battles in the Northern Cave. Straight after defeating Jenova-Synthesis and Bizarro-Sephiroth, the party runs into Sephiroth’s ultimate form, Safer-Sephiroth. It might have a weird name, but this form comes with a nice angelic look and a terrifying arsenal of attacks. The setting, an endless void at the end of the world, is also suitably epic.

This is one of Final Fantasy 7‘s hardest boss fights. Most of his attacks hit like a train and cause nasty status effects. His most impressive attack (and another reason why this battle is so epic) is Super Nova. This incredibly lengthy attack has Sephiroth summoning a massive comet from outside the Milky Way that destroys most of the Solar System’s planets before smashing into the party. A boss who can wipe out most of the solar system with a single attack more than deserves to be referred to as “epic.”

1

Kefka – Final Fantasy 6

An Evil Clown Who Is Accompanied By Beautiful Visuals And Tense Music

Final Fantasy 6‘s final fight against Kefka is proof that fancy 3D graphics aren’t needed for a boss battle to be epic. Beating an evil clown may not sound particularly epic (unless one has coulrophobia), but the battle against Kefka isn’t one quickly forgotten.

For a start, it’s not easy reaching him, as the party first has to ascend the Statue of the Gods. By the time they reach Kefka, he has used his endless hatred for all life to turn himself into the God of Magic. That means he’s now much bigger in stature and resembles an ancient Greek god, packing both angel and demon wings. The sprite work is amazingly detailed and pushes the limits of the art style. His attacks are also impressively rendered, with Forsaken, his ultimate move, being particularly well-animated. The coolest part of the battle, though, is the musical theme that plays throughout it, “Dancing Mad,” which really ups the tempo, making the battle feel even more tense.