The Final Fantasy series is essentially a video game equivalent of a tabletop role-playing game. In fact, the first game in the series needed to be edited for its Western release, as people were worried about a lawsuit from the creators of Dungeons & Dungeons. The Final Fantasy games were heavily inspired by tabletop RPGs and as such, follow similar rules. These rules can be bent and broken as much as the player wants, without having to deal with an ornery Dungeon Master packing up his books and storming out of the room.
The bosses in the Final Fantasy games are designed to be far more powerful than the player. This is usually done by giving them immunity to status effects and instant kill attacks. There are some bosses which are given weaknesses that the player can exploit to their benefit. There are also game mechanics which can be exploited so that you can crush the boss monster with a single move that the programmers weren't expecting you to use.
We are here today to reveal the weaknesses of some of the most powerful bosses in the Final Fantasy series. The designers never intended for them to be taken down in the first round, but you can if you know what you are doing. From the killer of Red XIII's father, to the true scourge of Spira...
Here are Fifteen Final Fantasy Bosses That You Can Beat In One Hit!
15 Gi Nattak (Final Fantasy VII)
In Final Fantasy VII, Red XIII believes that his father was a coward, who ran away from battle, and abandoned his family. No one bothers to tell him the truth until Cloud Strife and the members of AVALANCHE show up. Red XIII's father, Seto, was actually poisoned while battling members of the evil Gi Tribe and he was transformed into a stone statue. Red XIII then howls, which causes the statue of Seto to cry, implying that he may still be alive and entombed within the stone.
Before Red XIII learns the truth of his father's fate, he has to battle the undead leader of the Gi Tribe, called Gi Nattak. This battle can last all of five seconds, as a single Phoenix Down will kill Gi Nattak.
14 The Spirits Of Yuguewood (Final Fantasy Tactics)
The forests of Ivalice are a pretty bad place to end up in. We say this because every forest stage in Final Fantasy Tactics is filled with undead creatures and monsters. Ramza can't go for a walk in the woods without needing to put down the vengeful spirits of the dead.
When the party needs to travel to Riovanes Castle, they have to take a shortcut through the Yuguewood. This means that you have to fight a party of powerful undead monsters. There is a simple way to end this battle in one move. Bring a Calculator (also known as an Arithmetician) with you into battle. If you crunch the numbers, you can make them cast a map-wide healing or revival spell, which will wipe out the undead and have no effect on your allies.
13 The Dark King (Final Fantasy Mystic Quest)
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest was an attempt by Squaresoft to make a JRPG that would be easy enough for American audiences to understand. The game they created ended up being too easy, which caused it to be criticized by fans and reviewers alike. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest does have its fans, who can at least appreciate its kick ass soundtrack.
The end boss of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest is the Dark King. He can easily be taken care of by exploiting an overflow glitch. This is what happens when a game rolls over its numbers and ends up coming up with an incredibly high number. If you cast the Cure spell on the Dark King, then it will cause an overflow glitch, which will cause enough damage to kill him in a single hit.
12 Ultimecia (Final Fantasy VIII)
Ultimecia is a Sorceress from the future who is attempting to take control of all time. It is up to the cast of Final Fantasy VIII to travel to the future and destroy her before she can complete her plan.
There are numerous ways to break Final Fantasy VIII's combat system so that every fight becomes a joke. You don't even need to try that hard with the end boss of the game. In order to beat Ultimecia's final form in a single move, all you need to do is keep cycling through Selphie's Slots limit break, until she lands on a move called "The End".
The End will finish any battle in the game, except when you are fighting an undead creature. Ultimecia is very much alive, which makes her susceptible to The End.
11 The Weapon Monsters (Final Fantasy VII)
Emerald and Ruby Weapon from Final Fantasy VII are the first names people think of when the term "Superboss" is mentioned. Superboss is the name given to boss monsters that exist outside of the main story and are even more powerful than the actual end boss of the game. Those who were introduced to JRPGs through Final Fantasy VII likely tried their luck against these behemoths and most were sent to the game over screen.
The secret to defeating these bosses lies with Cait Sith: the character who everyone hates. It is possible to line up three faces on Cait Sith's Slots limit break, which will activate the Game Over ability. This will kill both Emerald and Ruby Weapon in a single turn.
10 Tiamat (Final Fantasy I)
The world of the first Final Fantasy game is ravaged by the Four Fiends, who sealed away the elements. Lich destroyed the soil and stopped things from growing, Marilith made the flames die out, Kraken stopped the waves from moving and Tiamat prevented the wind from blowing. Each of these bosses is a mighty opponent in battle and will test your abilities to the max. You will get to battle these bosses again at the end of the game after they have become considerably stronger.
Tiamat is the exception to this. Due to a programming oversight, she can be killed by the BANE spell in a single hit in the original version of Final Fantasy. This was fixed in later versions of the game.
9 The Phantom Train (Final Fantasy VI)
The battle against the Phantom Train has become infamous among fans of Final Fantasy VI. This is due to an oversight regarding Sabin's Blitz moves. Sabin is a monk, who possesses a special Blitz ability. This requires the player to input fighting game-style commands, in order to make him pull off special moves. One of these is the Suplex, which involves Sabin picking up the enemy and performing a flying suplex. The Phantom Train is the only boss that is susceptible to this move, which means that Sabin can rip a train off its tracks and suplex it into the ground as if he were John Cena from the planet Krypton.
The Suplex won't finish off the Phantom Train in one hit. All you need to use is a single Phoenix Down.
8 Emperor Mateus (Final Fantasy II)
This one technically requires you to use two moves, though the first is actually a beneficial spell rather than an attack, so it still counts.
Final Fantasy II introduced the Toad spell to the series. As the name suggests, this spell turns the opponent into a toad, which drastically lowers their stats and prevents the enemy from performing attacks. In Final Fantasy II, the Toad spell actually has an instant kill effect.
Most of the bosses in Final Fantasy II are immune to the Toad spell. There is a way around this, which allows you to kill most of the bosses in the game. The Wall spell is meant to increase the player's magical defense, but it also makes them susceptible to certain status effects. If you cast the Wall spell on the final boss of the game, it will make him vulnerable to Toad, which you can then use to kill him instantly.
7 Mahadeva (Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius)
Square Enix has put out some terrible Final Fantasy games on mobile devices. You had All The Bravest, which is commonly regarded as the worst Final Fantasy game of all time. Even calling All The Bravest a game is an insult, as all you did was tap the screen. There was also Final Fantasy Dimensions, which was a watered-down attempt at recreating one of the 16-bit Final Fantasy games.
One of the better Final Fantasy games released on mobile devices is called Final Fantasy Brave Exvius. One of the bosses in the game is a skeleton monster, called Mahadeva. You can take this boss down in a single round by using a Phoenix Down or a Raise spell, as they will kill it instantly.
6 The Bosses After You Find Setzer (Final Fantasy VI)
Final Fantasy VI is probably the buggiest game in the series. It seems to have been shipped early to meet a deadline, as there is evidence of cut content within the game's files, which were incorporated into the remake that was made for the Game Boy Advance. It is because of these bugs that Final Fantasy VI is a popular game played by speed runners, as there are numerous ways to cut the completion time down.
One of the most popular characters used by speed runners is Setzer. This is because his Slots ability can be manipulated. The game actually cheats and won't let you use Setzer's best abilities when you need them. It is possible to manipulate the Slots by using the Echo Screen item, as this will force the game to use Setzer's Joker Doom ability, which kills all of the enemies on the field. This can be used to kill most of the bosses in the game. If you level up your characters enough, you'll even be able to beat the final boss, Kefka, in one hit.
5 Adamantoise (Final Fantasy XV)
When Final Fantasy XV was being promoted, the people at Square Enix claimed that there was a boss that would take the player around 72 hours to beat. This boss turned out to be Adamantoise, who may be the biggest creature in the whole series. It takes a while to beat Adamantoise, but nowhere near 72 hours. This was clearly Square Enix lying to hype up the game, as they got into trouble when people got sick after they spent 18 hours fighting the Pandemonium Warden in Final Fantasy XI.
As Final Fantasy XV received more patches, the spells in the game became more powerful. If you are lucky, you can use Noctis' ring to kill Adamantoise with a single spell, ending the fight in around 72 seconds.
4 Gerogero (Final Fantasy VIII)
Final Fantasy VIII involves a mission where the main characters have to join up with a resistance group and capture the Galbadian President while he is traveling on a train. This involves a complicated set of plans, which requires connecting fake train cars and switching tracks. It turns out that the whole plan is pointless, as the man you capture is actually a decoy. The President has been replaced with a powerful undead monster, named Gerogero, who needed to have his red guts censored for the Western version of the game.
Gerogero might not be the best potential assassin, as he can be killed with a Phoenix Down or Life spell. He is also one of the few bosses in the game who is immune to The End, so don't try using that on him.
3 Soulcage (Final Fantasy IX)
It's rare that a Final Fantasy boss is named after an album by Sting, but that it is the case with the Soulcage in Final Fantasy IX. This is an undead plant monster that you battle within the Iifa Tree. The Soulcage is named after The Soul Cages, which is an album by Sting. We know this because this monster also showed up in Bahamut Lagoon, where it had a palette swap that was named after a different Sting album.
This is another undead boss. The Soulcage won't actually be killed by a Phoenix Down: it will only be dropped to a single hit point. You can kill it in one move by using an Elixir on it. Elixirs are pretty rare though, so you should probably just use a Phoenix Down and hit it once.
2 Wiegraf (Final Fantasy Tactics)
Wiegraf is the worst boss in Final Fantasy history. The reason for this is because you cannot go out and grind for more levels before taking him on, as the game requires you to save before entering the fight with him. If you don't have a backup save and cannot beat Wiegraf or his second form, then you have to restart the whole game.
The secret to taking down Wiegraf is by exploiting the Zodiac compatibility rules (which most players ignore) in order to give yourself an advantage. If you choose a job/equipment build that is focused on martial arts, then you will ignore his high defense and hit points. It is possible for Ramza to take down Wiegraf in a single punch!
1 All Of The Bosses (Except For The Final Ones) After You Acquire Yojimbo (Final Fantasy X)
Yojimbo is hands down the best summon in the Final Fantasy series. You can keep your Bahamut and Knights of the Round: Yojimbo is where it's at.
When you acquire the Yojimbo aeon, he will always ask you for money before attacking. This alters the percentage of what move he will use. If you give him a few million gil, then it will increase his chance of using the Zanmato attack, which will instantly kill anything it hits in the game, including bosses.
If you have money to spare, then you can use Yojimbo to take out all of the incredibly difficult post-game bosses in a single turn. The only bosses that can't be taken down by Yojimbo are the last couple (as you lose access to the aeons) and the underwater bosses that won't let you bring Yuna into battle.