The Final Fantasy series has a rich library of fantastic monster designs. Many of them are cool, some of them are funny, and most of them are charming. However, there are a few that are downright unsettling. The uncanny horrors are the kinds of monsters that make you feel a little uncomfortable while you fight them.Whether it be due to their massive size, or their otherworldly look, or maybe by how overwhelmingly powerful they are, these monsters are able to stand out and distinguish themselves as being disproportionately frightening. Final Fantasy may not be a series known for its horrifying creatures, but they certainly have a few in the back pocket.
10 Belias - Final Fantasy Tactics
Belias is one of the Lucavi demons you fight during the Final Fantasy Tactics campaign. While not the scariest looking creature in the game (that is probably the bloated horror Cúchulainn), once you start fighting this brute the intimidation factor starts to ramp up. Easily the hardest fight in the story campaign, Belias is capable of petrifying you, silencing you, and confusing you.
He also hits like a truck. It doesn't help that in the first phase of this fight before you need to fight Belias himself, Ramza will have to duel Weigraf one-on-one (and no, he doesn't get a chance to heal afterward). Basically, if you don't think Belias is scary now, you will once you fight him.
9 Janova Dreamweaver - Final Fantasy 7: Remake
In the original game, Jenova was scarier as an idea than she was as an actual boss. When you finally encounter her, she is just a mess of polygons and she doesn't really create a fearful sensation.
However, the Jenova Dreamweaver fight in Final Fantasy 7 Remake adds a little more fuel to the fire. The otherworldly elements her body is composed of are in high resolution in the remake, which gives her design some much-needed visual panache. It does a better job nailing that eldritch horror quality that they were probably going for in the original title.
8 Queen Of Eblan - Final Fantasy 4
There is something about chimeric monsters with human faces that are deeply disturbing. Snakes are, of course, something that humans are wary of. Especially if you live in a place where there are venomous snakes. So, a snake with a human face is already something that is unnerving.
Pair that with the indistinguishable clumps, lumps, and tendrils that line her serpentine body and you get something that seems to almost venture into body horror. All of that is just the visual aspect; there is also the tragic quality of the Queen Of Eblan having once been a regular human being. It is all so unsettling.
7 Rogue Axeman - Final Fantasy 15
Some people may forget this, but Final Fantasy 15 actually has an entire section where the game switches genres and focuses exclusively on horror. You play an unarmed Noctis, and you are hunted by the Rogue Axemen. These malfunctioning magitek soldiers limp around in an unnatural, jerky, puppet-like manner.
As you are all alone, and without any equipment, the game encourages you to hide and stealth your way past them. So the atmosphere also gives these guys a bit of a horror boost. Chapter 13 didn't work for everyone, but it is unquestionably one of the scarier Final Fantasy sections you are going to encounter. The Axeman are definitely a big part of that.
6 Exdeath - Final Fantasy 5
Throughout the series, Exdeath has made several appearances, but his design in Final Fantasy 5 is the most cosmic horror he ever gets. The surface of his body is a mess of intertwined tendrils and teeth. It almost looks like Exdeath has been turned inside out, as the tendrils have a visceral appearance to them.
While you are fighting Exdeath's giant head, its body can be seen coiling off into the distance. It looks like a giant, cosmic worm. It is all a little uncanny and unsettling. The way a good cosmic entity should be, making him a great climactic boss. Exdeath is easily one of the scariest trees you will ever encounter.
5 Iron Giant - Final Fantasy 15
The Iron Giant has been around for a long time. Typically, I would categorize this enemy as being pretty "cool". I wouldn't have said scary; not until Final Fantasy 15, that is. You see, the battle screen in the older Final Fantasy games didn't really do large enemies justice. Range didn't mean much, and something being big didn't make it tough.
However, the first time one of these hulking, iron monstrosities introduces themselves in Final Fantasy 15 you see how truly massive these things are. It is hard to not feel a little intimidated. There will be people who may decide to just hop back into the car and take another route. It is hard to blame them.
4 Gerogero - Final Fantasy 8
Gerogero is innately somewhat unnerving. It is basically a giant, deformed humanoid creature. It appears to have some of its organs on the outside of the body, which is super gross (famously, they recolored these organs so that they would look less like organs for the North American release).
However, as disturbing as Gerogero is, he is at his most unsettling when he is acting as a doppelganger for the president. You fight him in this human form as he awkwardly jerks around, flailing his limbs unnaturally. Both forms of Gerogero deserve credit for combining to make a generally perturbing boss encounter.
3 Calcobrena - Final Fantasy 4
The reason dolls can be so creepy is probably linked to their lifeless appearance. They feel so close to being real, but something is distinctly off. Basically, all dolls live in the uncanny valley. So, Calca and Brina were already creepy.
When they fuse into the giant, lumbering, monstrosity known as Calcobrena, they officially stumble into being officially disturbing. It is hard to look at this horror and not get some pretty strong Akira vibes. It feels like there are a fair number of oddities in Final Fantasy 4, but this one probably takes the cake.
2 Unknown - Final Fantasy 5
Holy moly, where did these horrors come from? For those unfamiliar, the Unknown monsters come in a few flavors in Final Fantasy 5. One is a series of skeleton torsos extending down from the ceiling, another looks like a giant exposed internal organ, another is a Cronenberg-esque nightmare that has vomited all over itself, and there is another otherworldly snake creature (which also looks like something made by Cronenberg).
All of these monsters appear to be completely at odds with the rest of the bestiary. They would make other appearances in the series, but they were never as horrifying as they were in Final Fantasy 5. Someone on the Final Fantasy design team was in a dark place when they designed these creatures.
1 Zone Eater - FF6
In general, giant worms the size of tanker trucks that have rows of sharp teeth are horrifying. The Zone Eater will absolutely make quite the impression the first time you encounter it in the desert.
Then, once it starts eating your party members, the true fear will really set in. Of course, famously, the consequence for having your entire party consumed is not actually particularly dire, but you don't know that the first time you bump into the Zone Eater.