Awesome Bosses/Final Fantasy

One of many reasons for the Final Fantasy series' enduring popularity is its awesome boss fights. Here are some of the more memorable ones.

Multiple games

 * The Final Fantasy series in general deserves a nod because, any time you beat a boss in any game in the series, you get the same tune. Which seems like musical recycling at first, but after playing the games for a while, the victory theme takes on a whole new meaning. As Drew of Nintendo Power once said, "That simple melody may not seem like much, but its forever associated in my mind with some of the best moments of my gaming career. And you can't beat that."
 * Odin, especially in Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy V. When you beat him in both games, he gives his power in the form of a summon, in which he either wipes out all enemies on the screen or tosses the legendary lance Gunginir for heavy damage if the former fails. Although he does have somewhat low HP and a weakness to lightning-based magic, his fights are on a real time limit before he unleashes a party wide Zantetsuken. This could easily put him into That One Boss territory if his fights weren't such a refreshing change of pace and a fair challenge. That, and the fact that you're fighting Odin.
 * In Final Fantasy IV,  and would like to test Cecil's strength. Upon losing,
 * In Final Fantasy V, he's just hanging out in the decrepit, sealed-off basement of a castle that can only be accessed through a cave that has a few traps and enemies that can easily take out a decently leveled party in a few hits. And when you talk to him, he says he doesn't have time for you because he's busy and can only spare a single minute. Keep in mind that he's by himself in the bottom of a fortress. What happens when you exceed that minute fighting him? He calls time and instantly wipes out the party, giving you a Nonstandard Game Over. His bestiary entry says he's only level 2.

Final Fantasy IV

 * The rematch against the four elemental fiends, though That One Boss to some, can also be one of the most satisfying fights in the game. With the exception of Rubicante (whose cloak has fallen aside to make him vulnerable to magic attacks), all four are in their most powerful forms (Scarmiglione in his second form, Cagnazzo summoning water, and Barbariccia in a whirlwind (with no Kain to knock her out of it)), and the fight is set to the alternately tense and frantic Fiend Battle theme, making for one of the most intense fights in the game before Zeromus.

Final Fantasy V
"Gligamesh: Enough expository banter! Now we fight like men! And ladies! And ladies who dress like men! For Gilgamesh... it is morphing time!"
 * Gilgamesh is noteworthy for his theme music, his constant trash talk, and his constant running away from battle on the verge of defeat. His popularity is such that he cameos in nearly every subsequent entry in the series.
 * Cameos that are canon, mind you. Yes, even when he was retconned in as a Bonus Boss in some of the remakes.

"Gilgamesh: Hah! If I'd just left you in the lurch, I'd look like a jerk for all of history!
 * And then there's the point where he  A couple of quotes:

Gilgamesh: Oh really? Just try it, Baldy! You cannot even hold a birthday candle to the blazing flame of my winning spirit!"


 * Blazing flame of my winning spirit, huh?
 * Particularly well done in Final Fantasy XII, where you get to fight him twice and he uses all sorts of Shout Out weapons to other Final Fantasy games.
 * Exdeath really is an amazing final boss, and a hell of an underrated big bad. Without going into detail, Exdeath was a sorcererous entity that coalesced and gained from every unspeakable evil ever to be sealed away in a certain holy ground over the eons, given flesh by its own force of will. To put things in perspective, Sephiroth attempted to destroy the world after becoming godlike. Kefka tried the same, and succeeded. In broad strokes, Exdeath destroyed two worlds, then yanked every civilized nation on them into Hell- as part of his plan to gain ultimate power. And when you meet him for the final time, he easily shoulders into position as the last final boss in the series that lived up to his own hype when the chips were down, as anyone that managed to survive Grand Cross can attest.
 * Omega. V did it first. V did it best. Omega can arbitrarily remove your members from combat, has fast, powerful attacks, sterling defense, and is all around a tremendously difficult boss without serious levelling and very careful preparation- preparation most likely got off the Internet, so spare a thought for the poor players back in the '90's who learned the hard way by getting ground into paste a few times. Here's the kicker, though: the Bestiary lists Omega as Level 119, making him the only boss in the entire series to simply ignore the arbitrary level cap by force of his own sheer badness.
 * In the Advance version,

Final Fantasy VI
""Humans and your insatiable greed. Your lust for power leads always to a lust for blood. This is a sanctuary for wayward souls... What business have you filthy creatures here? You slaughter my bretheren, and befoul their rest with the profanity of your continued existance... In the name of all dragonkind, I will give you the death you desire... I am the dealer of destruction... I am the font from which fear flows... I am Kaiser, and your time is at an end.""
 * Final Fantasy VI had lots of fun boss fights, but Ultima Weapon (Atma Weapon in North America) was the coolest. It looks badass, has awesome, fitting music playing, one of the coolest boss quotes ever "My name is Ultima, I am power both ancient and unrivaled... I do not bleed, for I am but strength given form... Feeble creatures of flesh, your time is nigh!" Apart from that, it has a wide variety of attacks, the battle is hard, yet not frustrating or cheap, and the player can use a wide variety of strategies or builds. Its also very satisfying when beaten.
 * The Phantom Train. It's a steam train that carries the souls of the dead to the afterlife, and when your characters attempt to stop it from taking them to the afterlife, it bucks the party onto the rails and chases them. The party then proceeds to fight the boss while running away from it. It counts for a Crowning Moment for Sabin, too, since he can SUPLEX THE TRAIN.
 * The final fight with Kefka combines a multi-stage battle, beautiful and terrifying graphics, and Dancing Mad.
 * If you want to talk of the remake, two words: Kaiser Dragon. He comes at the end of a long, deep, and difficult Bonus Dungeon, after you kill souped-up versions of the Eight Dragons. Then you fight him amidst a field of flames, while Battle to the Death, the secondary boss theme, plays. And you can pull out all the stops to fight him and it still feels like a struggle, and it feels so satisfying when you win. Multiple phases, massive health, all of the best attacks in the game. He's basically everything that makes Ultima Weapon cool, and then cranked up to 11. Kaiser Dragon is boss all other bosses aspire to be. Oh! he also has an awesome pre-battle quote.


 * And AFTER Kaiser, we get the Omega Weapon, which is Kaiser turned up to 12!!
 * The defense of Narshe leading up to the battle with Kefka is pretty epic too. After being split up, your party reunites just in time to fight their way through ranks of imperials, and then you finally engage Kefka, who has been taunting you all game, in a proper battle.

Final Fantasy VII and spinoffs

 * The battle against Safer Sephiroth. A genuinely climatic battle that increases in difficulty the better the player has done in the game, and a memorable battle song.
 * Definitely Bizarro Sephiroth as well, notable because it is the very first time in the game you actually get to fight Sephiroth in a genuine boss battle, and right after a truly rousing speech by Cloud, nonetheless. The awesome boss music counts as well.
 * The one on one fight with Sephiroth is also worth a mention despite being a Foregone Victory.
 * Two words: Emerald Weapon. Probably the largest boss in Final Fantasy VII, and the second strongest. On top of it all, you're normally only given twenty minutes to whittle away his 1,000,000 HP. One of the most awesome and enjoyable boss battles from any RPG.
 * Diamond WEAPON. There's a lot at stake with this battle and the boss looks cool to boot. An awesome cutscene follows it too.
 * The optional boss fight with Lost Number in Shinra Mansion qualifies, if only because the player is still giddy with success at finally having gotten that damn safe open, as well as taking another step along the road to acquiring Vincent.
 * The fight against Professor Hojo was particularly memorable, as well. Most players were thrilled to give the bastard a thrashing for everything he did, and unless you were prepared for an onslaught of status attacks or horribly overpowered, his third form would kick your ass. The fact that they used JENOVA's battle theme for the fight made it all the more awesome.
 * The battle between JENOVA Life is particularly memorable, mostly due to the fact that it takes place directly after Aerith's death scene, and unlike most boss battles, the regular battle theme is replaced with Aerith's solemn theme tune.
 * Crisis Core is largely cited as the main reason to get a PSP. Some would cite the battle with Sephiroth as the main reason to get Crisis Core. It's tough, it's an intense Climax Boss, and it's a sword duel between The Ace and Final Fantasy VII's ultimate Big Bad. The only thing that could have made the fight better was if the latest remix of One Winged Angel played during the actual fight, and not during the rather silly "defeat him before he pushes you off the edge" fight.
 * Say what you will about Dirge of Cerberus, but it had some awesome boss fights. The second match against Azul The Cerulean in the slowly descending elevator and both fights with Weiss are intense and leave you feeling like the biggest badass when after you've cleared them.

Final Fantasy VIII

 * The one nice thing about the Guardian Force magic system was, there were lots of optional awesome bosses to fight. Bahamut, Tonberry King, Ultima Weapon and giant Cactuar were all pretty badass, and so was Griever. And then there was ...
 * ODIN. He appears and slices through anything in his path. Giant possessed pieces of armor almost immune to physical attacks included. To get him, he'll give you 20 minutes to reach and defeat him, while he just waits . Take too long and no one will remember you existed. He even mocks you if you try to leave his tomb.
 * Both battles with Edea, particularly the second one at her homebase in Galbadia Garden.

Final Fantasy IX

 * In Final Fantasy IX, you finally get to fight Trance Kuja, who's ridiculously easy, but nevertheless beats you with Ultima. The player is lead into a state of WTF, and then suddenly the characters wake up in the afterworld and challenge what can only be some kind of god of death into a battle. The music alone makes the battle so awesome you're probably crying tears of joy, and in addition the boss is happily challenging if you haven't partaken any significant Level Grinding.
 * On the other hand, the fact that the boss comes out of absolutely nowhere in the story has made plenty of people pissed off. Even Zidane sounded annoyed at the development.
 * Normal Kuja as well. He's been built up as quite a villain for two whole discs, and now you finally get to do what you've been waiting to do for a LONG time now. There's no special boss music or anything, just the regular one--but arguably that makes it even cooler.
 * Any battle involving Beatrix. She was incredibly powerful, but the battles always provided a challenge for the player.

Final Fantasy X

 * . Sure, she's also That One Boss, but that just makes battling through her three forms even more exciting, especially when set to "Challenge", one of the best boss battle themes in the game. The cutscene before the battle also contains Yuna's Screw Destiny Crowning Moment of Awesome and Auron's Rousing Speech.
 * Kimahri's Duel/DualBoss fight against Biran and Yenke. Mostly for the fact that "Servants of the Mountain" continues to play during the fight, but also because it was extremely cathartic to beat the crap out of them after all the stupid abuse they put Kimahri through during the game. Also, Biran and Yenke's stats are determined by Kimahri's at the time, so they pose a challenge regardless of how much you've been powering him up.
 * The fact that you can steal most of the Blue Magic in the game from them instead of resorting to the usual "use Lancet on every goddamn enemy you run across" nonsense also helps. Along with some Lv 3 Key Spheres.
 * The Sinspawn Gui fight. First, the backdrop: Gui appears at the end of the Mi'ihen Highroad/Mushroom Rock Road level/area, which she considers the point where the game hits its stride. Your party is mostly complete (six out of seven members), the mandatory expositing slows down some for development of the introduced plot and characters, you're free of that getting on boats nonsense and blitzball folderol, and things are basically just getting juicy. Sinspawn Gui is fought as part of a major event, Operation Mi'ihen, a colossal military undertaking with a heartrending aftermath. Gameplay-wise, Gui is also significant: the battle system in Final Fantasy X is such that every character has a specific niche to fill and allows you to swap all your six available characters out on the fly as needed, and Gui is the first boss whose stages and multiple targetable parts require you to take advantage of all your character's strengths and weaknesses to get to victory. Gui also hits hard enough and has enough health to pose a considerable challenge to a normally leveled party, without being so difficult that he turns into a controller-destroying nightmare. Plus, this fight is the first appearance of the game's serious-boss-music, Challenge, which is most definitely Crowning Music of Awesome. As if all this wasn't enough, you get to fight him again, though this time it's a Curb Stomp Battle designed to show off how awesomely powerful the villain is. Still awesome, though.
 * The boss battles with, right down to . And then you watch the monstrosity come crashing down...
 * Inside Sin, the final fight with Seymour. Yes, he's a Giant Space Flea From Nowhere, but the opportunity to bash his smug, psychotic face in that one last time, and send him so he finally stays dead, is a joy to be savored. Plus, this is on the way to the endgame, when your party is at its peak. If you have the right combination of powers, he goes down in a handful of rounds.
 * And if you've been killing time in the Monster Arena (and have weapons with Break Damage Limit), it's completely possible to oneshot him.
 * The optional (and only in some versions) Dark Aeons, or at least a few (Bahamut mainly) are pretty amazing. And of course, once they're all defeated you have the option of fighting an even stronger (yet unexplained) boss called Penance, set to the song that also plays against the very definitely final boss.
 * The final boss battle with . This one also wins Crowning Music of Awesome. And the cutscene after you beat is a definite Tear Jerker.
 * The battle against Evrae in the skies above Bevelle. The fight takes place atop your newly acquired airship, and in order to interrupt Yuna's wedding you need to kill the airborne dragon-like guardian of the city. What makes it so cool is the trigger command, which has Tidus or Rikku yell at Cid (the airship's pilot) to either pull away from the boss's airspace or close in accompanied by a great animation each time. You have to back out when Evrae gets ready to use Poison Breath, and only Wakka or Lulu (who's not too good due to halved magic damage) can hit him, but if you stay back long enough for Cid's turn to come around again, he fires a goddamn Macross Missile Massacre at the thing. And as your reward for bringing it down, you're treated to one of the best FMVs in the game.
 * For those of us who like Blitzball, there is the possibility (pretty much entirely determined by whether or not you got the Jecht Shot) of beating the Luca Goers, finally shutting up those smug bastards. Then there is the tournament win that nets you Wakka's ultimate weapon.

Final Fantasy XI

 * Final Fantasy XI has more than its fair share of memorable boss battles. In particular are the five Ark Angels, powerful avatars representing the strengths and flaws of each of the five playable races. Each possesses all spells and abilities for two different job classes, as well as their own unique and devastating attacks. You can fight them one at a time with a party of 6, but for the best challenge (and reward), you can go up against all five together at full power with an alliance of 18 people. The battle is challenging enough that even with a full alliance at the max level, a significant amount of skill, strategy, and teamwork is necessary for victory, but that makes success all the sweeter after such an arduous fight.
 * Promathia at the end of the Chains of Promathia expansion, if only because of the absolutely gorgeous fight arena, the Empyreal Paradox. Fighting miles above Vana'diel against a tough (but not Nintendo Hard) boss, and, for those who consider Prishe The Scrappy, this fight gives her a nice chance to get Rescued From the Scrappy Heap, since she not only breaks Promathia's shields, but if she does die, unlike a lot of other NPC assists in other boss fights, including the other NPC in that same fight,, not only does the fight not end of she does drop, but you can raise her and she'll be able to jump right back into the fight. And the closing song should qualify for Crowning Music of Awesome / Heartwarming.
 * Some of the Campaign related bosses are quite satisfying to fight as well, from Poisonhand Gnadgad (who can be tanked solo for quite a long time by a Paladin/Red Mage, no mean feat for most other campaign bosses) to ones from various story and Campaign assault missions.

Final Fantasy XII

 * Both of the fights against Dr. Cid in Final Fantasy XII. The first for hilarity value, especially that attack where takes out the biggest damn gatling gun you've ever seen in your life, holds it in a very suggestive position before opening fire into your party, laughing like a maniac the whole time. The second fight atop the Pharos was very dramatic from a story perspective as well, and it doesn't hurt that Cid summons an esper against you halfway through.
 * The Final Boss, the Undying. It is truly an epic showdown.
 * Most of the Esper battles, with the most triumphant being Chaos; when you enter his arena, he closes the doors behind you telekinetically by slowly pushing his hands together. It's one thing to make a grand entrance, but when you're not even the one coming in? Also, and your yardage may drift, but Yiazmat; if you have your gambits set just right, just watching your characters beat up on a holy dragon god who's so massive he could swallow them all whole at once is just so satisfying.
 * Deathgaze. After you accept the quest, it's possible that, when you are taking a skyferry, this boss appears and you have to fight him - on a crowded airship, with 7 possible, completely unique scenarios depending on the airship where you can walk around and talk to the scared people.

Final Fantasy XIII

 * Barthadelus, . The scene starts out with Jihl, the Jerkass who taunted and tortured Sahz with his feelings for his son, stepping up to protect Galenth Dysley. Time to get that bitch back! But before the party lays the smackdown her, she is dismissed He delivers an I Am the Noun declaration and a The Reason You Suck Speech and promptly destroys any unprepared team.
 * The airship boss battle definitely deserves a spot. It's just Lightning, Hope, and Fang (no Humongous Mecha or BFG) versus a warship! Back the battle with kickass Eidolons and you're in for a good time. And when you think about it, this game turned the airship from "ally" to adversary, much like XII did with the Cid of Ivalice.
 * Though not a boss battle, the series staple Adamantoise returns with a big upgrade... a REALLY big upgrade of Shadow of the Colossus proportions. Without proper planning, this will literally be a Curb Stomp Battle. Taking this guy down requires taking its legs out so it can fall down, and then beating the crap out of its face (rinse and repeat, if you don't finish it before it stands again). It's a fun fight and is highly rewarding if you're lucky enough. And then the Long Guis show up...

Final Fantasy Tactics series

 * Gaff Gafgarion in Final Fantasy Tactics also runs away when defeated, has the Dark Sword ability so he takes little damage if you're underleveled and your last battle is practically one-on-one. Boy, that's one nice arse to kick.
 * Argath/Algus in the same game, because there is nothing more satisfying then finally getting to kill that smug, arrogant, bigoted bastard. This is made even better in the PSP remake, where he comes back as a zombie, and you get to kill him again.
 * As far as Tactics is concerned, the fight with Marquis Elmdor and his arm-candy assassins on the roof of Riovanes is an example of a boss fight that is truly tense, frantic, and emotionally powerful... and you know you're outclassed.
 * The preceding fight against Wiegraf, consisting of memorable dialogue punctuated by a one-on-one duel against a foe (on average) only marginally better than yourself (rather than being hideously outmatched or hideously outmatching the boss), is one of the most monumental in at least the Final Fantasy series. The whole Riovanes series of battles, though a much dreaded Difficulty Spike or That One Boss to some, is to others essentially a nonstop Crowning Moment.
 * In Tactics Advance 2, the final boss is a daring fight in which you're fighting on the boss itself. It's a nice mutli-part boss without being too frustrating or counter-intuitive, and it has many powerful attacks without any that would annihilate your party like the previous game's final boss did.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles series

 * The final boss fight of Crystal Bearers was incredibly awesome. Layle . Better still, Layle   And then eventually  ... All in all, an epic boss fight to end a decent game.

Dissidia Final Fantasy

 * All of the Destiny Odyssey final bosses, easily.
 * It's hard to deny Chaos is one awesome final boss. Besides the fact you're facing the Big Bad of the original game and the implied Bigger Bad of the entire series, you face him three times, and each round he gets more berserk and powerful. And then you hear him call out "Shiver, At the power of a god!" If there was a Crowning Moment trope for simple attacks, Utter Chaos would be an entry.
 * Then in the prequel you get Feral Chaos, who is even berserk and powerful than the original, the music is the game's Crowning Music of Awesome, and you fight him using your own personal Five Man Band of any characters you like.

Chocobos Dungeon

 * The Boss battles in Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobos Dungeon are amazingly well done, especially when you consider that Chocobo's Dungeon is a Roguelike and boss battles in those kinds of games tend to be back and forth hitting each other. The four Guardian bosses either fly around randomly or use knock-back attacks and often have very flashy charge-up attacks, something that most regular enemies use. Oh, and the music helps too.