History BossInMookClothing / FinalFantasy

** Everyone's Grudge in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' is based on the amount of Tonberries killed, and only them. Since you can't exactly switch out for another character solo, there's a quest in the game that allows you to reset the "Tonberry Hate". You'll need it, as some BonusBoss Tonberries can use Everyone's Rancor, which hits for 50 HP for every Tonberry killed. While Everyone's Grudge can be annoying most of the time, not resetting hate before facing a Tonberry with Rancor any time is suicidal.[[/folder]]

* Yans. Cute little lambs that proceed to Comet and Meteor you to death. Thankfully, they're only found in one optional area. Unfortunately, if you want to be able to melee [[BonusBoss Ozma]], you're going to have to go there to get the last friendly monster encounter (who also happens to be a Yan), making the risk necessary. Since Ozma is the simplest source of the pumice...

* In any ''Zodiac'' version, the Archaeoaevises in the [[BonusDungeon Zertinan Caverns]] take the cake over every single other non-boss or non-mark in the entire game. In the original version, they were somewhat unremarkable by the time you'd be strong enough to go down and kill [[BonusBoss the Lightning esper, Adrammelech]], in the Athroza Quicksands room, with these located somewhere close by in the Balamka Fault room. Not so now, where instead of the mid-10k HP they had originally, the WEAKEST ones have ''161,622'' hitpoints...and the strongest ones, which are [[OhCrap level 99]], have '''[[MarathonBoss 961,622]]'''. That's right, the strongest Archaeoaevises have almost as much HP as THE STRONGEST NON-CLAN MARK IN THE ENTIRE GAME. And they like to spam [[ThatOneAttack Curse]], which sets you with Disease (prevents healing), Sap (constant gradual HP loss) and Poison (the usual suspect), among other statuses, and deal extreme damage with all their attacks. Outside of the XIII games and the [=MMOs=], these are likely the strongest non-boss enemies in the entire ''franchise''. And you have to kill them for their Emperor Scales if you want the powerful Durandal sword, as they otherwise can only be stolen from rare, one-time enemies like Deathgaze. Good god.

* ''XV'' features various forms of random encounters, one of which is are the imperial dropships that with drop off varying types of imperial forces. The troops dropped gradually increase in strength as the party defeats them, and players can quickly find themselves overwhelmed when the dropships suddenly start dropping swarms of LightningBruiser Magitek Assassins. They can also rarely drop the MA-X series mechs, which are normally boss encounters in imperial bases. Like the normal troops, the MA-X mechs gradually improve until they culminate in MA-X Angelus-0, one of the games [[BonusBoss superbosses]].

* There's also Wild Saurian (which shows up in the ''first open area of the game''), the Werewolf (second area this time), Dive Talon (shows up early, but you can get a DiscOneNuke from it), and the Entites. The Wild Saurians can eat the wolves in the area, which adds to their overall HP and ''actually allow it to level up''.
* The Elementals can count since they're usually of a much higher level then the players in areas they are found in, and will aggressively attack the player if they so much as whiffed even a scent of magic in their area. Even White Magic will cause them to go Aggro. They also are immune to all elements, except their own, [[ElementalRockPaperScissors which they of course absorb]]. They also take around 1/2 damage from physical attacks. Though they are vulnerable to their opposing element.

The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' franchise has several repeat offenders - identical or similar monsters that appear in multiple games.

* The Tot Aevis from the Merged World brings this trope to mind. The enemy itself appears in a plot-related, but ultimately optional dungeon. While most enemies have between 2.000 to 4,000 HP, rendering them killable in a short time, the Tot Aevis has 33,000 HP, more than the boss of the dungeon that contains it. It can make use of a wind attack that targets all of the party and has a single target attack which can inflict Petrify. The reward when killing it is 7 ABP, more than the multiple enemy formations in the dungeon, second only to the boss, but otherwise gives nothing else, no EXP, Items, or Gil.

** Another case of the Brachiosaur breaking with tradition is in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', where it appears as the biggest [=FATE=] boss in the Diadem. And we do mean the ''biggest''. On the other hand, if for some reason you think it's just going to be another Notorious Monster, [[CurbStompBattle you've got another thing coming]].
* Many games have the Behemoth in this role. This is actually an example of DegradedBoss, as well, as the Behemoth debuted as a boss in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', but is a recurring ultra-strong "regular" enemy in much of the rest of the series, and even in later parts. Some incarnations have it counter most physical hits with one of their own, and counter magic attacks with Flare or Meteor.

* One of the most notorious offenders is the Warmech (Death Machine); the series' first-ever {{Superboss}} wore mook clothing. It has as many hit points as the penultimate boss, and its abilities range from powerful physical attacks to literally [[NukeEm nuking the party]] on the spot. Famously, it only has a 1/64 chance of appearing, in a single area, which also contains a really long bridge ready to trigger a random encounter. Those aware of [=WarMECH=] usually walk across that bridge with held breath.
** It's actually ''worse'' in the VideoGameRemake - they doubled its hitpoints (thanks, TechnologyMarchesOn) and it regenerates 100 hit points per round (due to its high defenses, even knocking off 100 hit points per round is something you won't do until much later than your first potential encounter with it)[[labelnote:*]]The regeneration was something that was ''supposed'' to happen in the original version, but [[GoodBadBugs didn't]][[/labelnote]]. In both the original and the remake, people find it more difficult than the FinalBoss. That being said, thanks to SequelDifficultyDrop, it's really just keeping pace with the buffs the players got.

[[folder:Final Fantasy IV and The After years]]

* Everything in the Lunar Subterrane. The last two floors are also applicable to the original SNES version. The really fun part? A lot of enemies encountered on these floors actually have the boss music playing during their fights. LampshadeHanging much?

* Chimera Brain in Edge's Challenge Dungeon. It opens every battle with Frost Blast, which {{One Hit Kill}}s 4 out of your 5 party members and critically injures the fifth. If it gets a surprise attack on you, just reload the game, because there is absolutely nothing you can do to survive. Did we mention that it has a '''75%''' chance of a surprise attack?

* Brachiosaurs, found in the same area as Tyrannosaurs, are even more powerful, at 46,050 HP, and not only can it use Meteor, but also Ultima, the most powerful spell in the game. They give a lot of experience and very useful items... IF you are able to kill them, which may require using Ultima yourself. Ribbons can be stolen from them but this is nearly impossible, where the final boss can easily have a Megalixir stolen from him.
* There's also the Fiend Dragon, found in the final dungeon. It's rare, but if you run into it, you have to deal with a monster that not only packs high HP and powerful magic but also is the only monster in the game (aside from the Final Boss) to have Heartless Angel, which reduces everyone's HP to 1. It then likes to follow up with Southern Cross, which also hits everybody, and will probably wipe out the whole party. Oh, and you can encounter ''two'' of them at the same time. Isn't that fun?
* The Intangir on Triangle Island in the World of Balance. It has auto-Vanish, a staggering 32,000 HP, absorbs all elements, and is immune to almost every status effect. Most of the time, it doesn't do anything, but if you try to get the Vanish off it so you can actually hit it, it'll smack your party with Meteo and disappear again. The only legitimate way to beat it is to cast Stop on it, beat on it, wait for it to let you know that Stop has worn off by hitting you with Meteo, recover from Meteo, and repeat necessary. When you finally bring him down, he will hit whoever killed him with Meteo, which is a guaranteed kill if it connects. You gain no experience for beating him, but you do get a whopping 10 Magic Points. [[GoodBadBugs The Vanish/Doom trick]] works well against the Intangir since it's already invisible, though it will still hit whoever cast Doom with Meteo - and of course this only works in the SNES version.

* The notorious Midgar Zolom. Not only is it stronger than just about everything you faced up to the point it appears, it uses an attack (Beta) that will (literally) nuke your party. The silver lining? Enemy Skill Materia can make Beta your DiscOneNuke (if you survive it, assuming you survived long enough for him to cast it). Otherwise, you have to get a chocobo just to avoid dealing with the beast.

* The Malboro, in possibly its deadliest incarnation in the entire franchise. Unlike its counterparts in [=FF4=] and [=FF6=] (where Bad Breath was single target) or [=FF7=] (where it didn't inflict that many statuses and wasn't used that often), this incarnation's Bad Breath absolutely cripples the entire party with almost every negative status in the book (including slow-petrify) and is always used on its first turn. Defeating it requires either a lucky first hit with [[LimitBreak Degenerator]], or a specialized character with immunity to berserk, confuse and sleep ready to throw Remedies. Even then, there's nothing stopping it from ''using Bad Breath again.''

* Pretty much anything that pops out of the spacial anomalies can easily wipe your party if you don't know exactly how to handle it. The Metal Gigantuar can easily wipe your party with 10,000 Needles, which in ''XIII-2'' hits the entire party. Kanna Kamuy can Daze, Poison, and Deprotect at will, and then chomp you to death easily. Tonberries start out fairly manageable, but grow more and more powerful as the fight drags on, and ''will'' unleash a TotalPartyKill attack if you take too long.

* Similar to FATE bosses are hunts. These are something of EliteMooks that can spawn in several locations around the map, forcing players to track them down. B-rank hunts are soloable by max level characters and the target of a weekly mission. A-rank and S-ranks spawn on timer, with additional special conditions for S-ranks, and are much tougher, requiring at least full party for A-ranks and alliances for S-ranks. Trying to take one of these on by yourself, unless you're really overleveled and it's only an A-rank, will end in a swift death.

* One of the most notorious offenders is the [=WarMECH=] (Death Machine); the series' first-ever BonusBoss wore mook clothing. It has as many hit points as the penultimate boss, and its abilities range from powerful physical attacks to literally [[NukeEm nuking the party]] on the spot. Famously, it only has a 1/64 chance of appearing, in a single area, which also contains a really long bridge ready to trigger a random encounter. Those aware of [=WarMECH=] usually walk across that bridge with held breath.

* The Gray Coeurl is a random encounter. The Gray Coeurl is also a random encounter, and is considerably more difficult than the Gray Coeurl. They share the same name, sprite and location.

Rare Monsters, which show up among the normal fights on the world map but are boss-tough. Generally, though, they only come after you if you attack them first.
----

* Similar to FATE bosses are hunts. These are something of EliteMooks that can spawn in several locations around the map, forcing players to track them down. B-rank hunts are soloable by max level characters and the target of a weekly mission. A-rank and S-ranks spawn on timer, with additional special conditions for S-ranks, and are much tougher, requiring at least full party for A-ranks and alliances for S-ranks. Trying to take one of these on by yourself, unless you're really overleveled, will end in a swift death.

* The Gray Coeurl enemy as a random encounter. It also has the Gray Coeurl enemy as a random encounter, which is considerably more difficult than the Gray Coeurl. They share the same name, sprite and location.

* Mantodea's other stats aren't anything special, but its regular old attack can wipe out most characters in a single hit.

* The Intangir on Triangle Island in the World of Balance. It has auto-Vanish, a staggering 32,000 HP, absorbs all elements, and is immune to almost every status effect. Most of the time, it doesn't do anything, but if you try to get the Vanish off it so you can actually hit it, it'll smack your party with Meteor and disappear again. The only legitimate way to beat it is to cast Stop on it, beat on it, heal yourself after Stop wears off, and repeat as necessary. When you finally bring him down, he will hit whoever killed him with Meteor, which is a guaranteed kill if it connects. You gain no experience for beating him, but you do get a whopping 10 Magic Points. [[GoodBadBugs The Vanish/Doom trick]] works well against the Intangir since it's already invisible, though it will still hit whoever cast Doom with Meteo.

* The Brachioraidos is a recurring one in the series. Its looks and translated name have changed drastically with each installment, making it hard to notice. Its appearances in order have been:

* Many ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games have the Behemoth in this role. This is actually an example of DegradedBoss, as well, as the Behemoth debuted as a boss in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', but is a recurring ultra-strong "regular" enemy in much of the rest of the series, and even in later parts of [=Final Fantasy II=] itself. Some incarnations have it counter most physical hits with one of their own, and counter magic attacks with Flare or Meteor.

* ''Videogame/FinalFantasyV'': The Tonberry in Istory Falls makes its debut appearance in this game...and it has as much HP as ''Leviathan, the boss of the area''.

** The Earthgift Shrine bonus dungeon has Abyss Worms. Higher Attack than the four bosses (and the four Fiends!), no magic weakness, and such a high M Def as to make your Mages practically useless. Good luck.

* Right near the beginning of the game, Sand Worms, which you can encounter very early in the game, between Mist and Kaipo, at a time when Cecil's your only party member. Sand Worms can take about ten hits from Cecil at this point in the game and can deal ~200 damage to him when he'll likely only have ~300 HP. What makes this particular encounter worse is the fact Sand Worms are fairly easy in the original SNES version that you may have played if you're playing the DS version, and you may not have realized yet how much harder the remake is. You will when that Sand Worm completely annihilates you.

There's several from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''.
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[[folder:Final Fantasy X and [=X-2=]]]

''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' has a whole slew of these called Rare Monsters. They show up among the normal fights on the world map but are boss-tough. Generally, though, they only come after you if you attack them first.

* Starting with Chapter 11, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' has a bunch. Ochus, Tyrants, and Juggernauts all fit the bill well enough, but the absolute perfect examples are the Adamantoise and relatives. If you attack one of them as soon as you get to Chapter 11, it will [[TotalPartyKill step on you]]. Thankfully, they're quite docile and easy enough to avoid.
** King Behemoth. They're rather common in Pulse, often seen prowling around and sometimes fighting other enemies. What makes them so hard? They have a TON of hp, and they also take quite a while to stagger. Get him down to half health, and he instantly heals up to full health and stands on his hind legs. He's even harder to stagger now, and does a brutal physical attack that will kill anyone but a guarding Sentinel, as well as casting an AreaOfEffect lightning effect that will probably kill your Medic or Ravager. He's possible to kill in Chapter 11, but only barely, and you need a lot of patience.
** Even earlier, in Chapter 5, Scalebeasts and Wyverns. It is possible to defeat them, but they are pretty powerful, and you can barely do any damage to them until they're staggered. While the game recommends avoiding them, and you can make use of the climate control orbs to do so, there is one Scalebeast guarding a chest, and you have to defeat it if you want what's in that chest.

* Raspatil, an Undying Cie'th appearing in Oerba 400 AF, definitely counts. It has over three million HP, hits incredibly hard, and can summon other monsters, including [[DemonicSpiders Wladislaus]]. If you go for completing the bestiary, it'll probably be one of the last fights you have.

* All of the Last Ones could be considered this, as well, being far stronger versions of monsters that only show up once you've defeated a huge number of their species, and visually only distinguished by their pure pink color scheme. Almost every monster species in the game has one, including the aforementioned giant monsters, who tend to be much tougher than most actual boss fights in the game. They're also actually treated like bosses, in that you're graded on how quickly you can defeat them.

* The Malboro, in possibly its deadliest incarnation in the entire franchise. Unlike its counterparts in FF4 and FF6 (where Bad Breath was single target) or FF7 (where it didn't inflict that many statuses and wasn't used that often), this incarnation's Bad Breath absolutely cripples the entire party with almost every negative status in the book (including slow-petrify) and is always used on its first turn. Defeating it requires either a lucky first hit with [[LimitBreak Degenerator]], or a specialized character with immunity to berserk, confuse and sleep ready to throw Remedies. Even then, there's nothing stopping it from ''using Bad Breath again.''

* The [[TyrannosaurusRex T-Rexaur]]. The game even tells you that "It's better to run if you encounter one". However, if you hit it with Blind (or better yet, Death), it goes down pretty easily. Junctioning Sleep and Blizzara are an even better way, and suitable for wearing it down -- though remember that in this game, a LowLevelRun is usually the way to go.

** Everyone's Grudge in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' is based on the amount of Tonberries killed, and only them. Since you can't exactly switch out for another character solo, there's a quest in the game that allows you to reset the "Tonberry Hate". You'll need it, as some BonusBoss Tonberries can use Everyone's Rancor, which hits for 50 HP for every Tonberry killed. While Everyone's Grudge can be annoying most of the time, not resetting hate before facing a Tonberry with Rancor any time is suicidal.

* In some cases, Cactuars can be a pain. They typically have the maximum evasion rate and throw 1000 needles at your party. Then they have the nerve to run away. But if you defeat one, you're usually well rewarded.
** Some Cactuars in the games, especially the ones in FFX are even worse than the regular ones. Qactuar for the weaker, 1000 needles at one of your party. Then the Cactuar for the actual pain in the arse. The Cactuars in FFX will do a ''10,000 needle'' attack that leaves one of your characters dead unless you break the HP limit with a customized armor, which is nearly impossible to do as you will be facing one before you can get the items required. And then there are the ones in the Monster Arena that use [[UpToEleven 99,999 Needles]]...
* If you're a ways into a Final Fantasy game and you find a one-eyed floating bat thing, run. While their names are never really consistent (Ahriman/Veteran, Doom-Eye, Blood Eye, etc), they have one thing in common; instant-death attacks. Thanks to [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard the computer being a cheating bastard]], the [[UselessUsefulSpell useless useful spell rule]] usually doesn't apply. This includes straight up instant death, a form of Russian roulette (never lands on the caster for some reason), and some form of death countdown attack.
** There is a trick for taking them down safely in ''FFIX'', though. If you do nothing before they use their Roulette attack, it will [[HoistByHisOwnPetard end up targetting themselves]].
* Malboros and their more dangerous upgrade Great Malboros. They have a lot of hit points and usually hit hard normally, but the thing that makes them most dangerous is their "Bad Breath" move. Bad Breath can inflict so many different status ailments with ''one move'' that an unprepared party can wind up killing each other instead, if they aren't outright defeated by something like [[TakenForGranite Petrify]] or an Instant Death countdown.
** Great Malboros in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', particularly in the [[BonusDungeon Omega Ruins]]. All encounters with Great Malboros in the Omega Ruins will be "Ambushed!" encounters; if you don't have First Strike in any of your characters' equipment, prepare to face anything from a mere normal attack to the dreaded Bad Breath, which will leave you with a blinded, Berserked, Confused, and poisoned party that tries to kill each other but can't and ends up wiped out in four turns thanks to poison [[TookALevelInBadass taking a level in badass]] in ''X''.
[[/folder]]

* There's a type of FATE (a randomly spawning timed event on the main maps that players can do for extra XP) that acts like a boss fight, but most of the time they're just souped up regular mooks. You can usually solo these in lower levels. However, sprinkled throughout the game are boss [=FATEs=] that are way tougher than the average boss FATE and grant unique rewards and achievements on their defeat. These [=FATEs=] require anything from a full party to several alliances to defeat, and unlike Hunts, [=FATEs=]enforce level sync, meaning you can't simply outlevel them. If "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJSM4tAeEAA Torn from the Heavens]]" or especially "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyfTDbc57E0 Thunderer]]" starts playing when you enter a FATE, you're going to want to ask for help.

* There's a type of FATE (a randomly spawning timed event on the main maps that players can do for extra XP) that acts like a boss fight, but most of the time they're just souped up regular mooks. You can usually solo these in lower levels. However, sprinkled throughout the game are boss [=FATEs=] that are way tougher than the average boss FATE, generally signified by their unique BattleThemeMusic. These [=FATEs=] require anything from a full party to several alliances to defeat, and will grant achievements and unique rewards upon their defeat.

* There's a type of FATE (a randomly spawning timed event on the main maps that players can do for extra XP) that acts like a boss fight, but most of the time they're just souped up regular mooks. You can usually solo these in lower levels. There's also the rarer "World FATE" introduced in Stormblood that has a unique enemy to fight and acts more like a traditional boss, just that it appears on the main maps.
* Similar to the World [=FATEs=] are the Rank A and S hunts. These are something of EliteMooks that wander around a specific area on the map. Trying to take one of these on by yourself, unless you're really overleveled, is likely to end in a swift death.

* A Tyrannosaur has 12,770 hit points and can cast Meteor, one of the strongest magic attacks in the game.

* Many ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games have the Behemoth in this role. This is actually an example of DegradedBoss, as well, as the Behemoth debuted as a boss in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', but is a recurring ultra-strong "regular" enemy in much of the rest of the series, and even in later parts of [=Final Fantasy II=] itself.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' as the Brachiosaur. Based on the ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brachiosaurus Brachiosaurus]]''. It casts Meteor, Ultima, Snort and has over 46,000 HP. Don't even try to cut its MP with Osmose or Rasp to neutralize the former two spells; it has over 51,000 of it.

* In ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII''

!! ''Final Fantasy'' in general

* One of the most notorious offenders is the [=WarMECH=] (later translated as "Death Machine", [[GrandfatherClause then back to WarMECH]]); the series' first-ever BonusBoss wore mook clothing. It has as many hit points as the penultimate boss, and its abilities range from powerful physical attacks to literally [[NukeEm nuking the party]] on the spot. Famously, it only has a 1/64 chance of appearing, in a single area, which also contains a really long bridge ready to trigger a random encounter. Those aware of [=WarMECH=] usually walk across that bridge with held breath.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' has the Dragons in the Crystal Tower. Harder than most bosses, but they can drop [[LethalJokeCharacter Onion equipment]]. They come in Yellow, Green and Red variations. The only thing stronger than red dragons is the final boss, and the Bonus boss added into the DS version.

''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' for the DS, in general, has a lot of these, adding to the already NintendoHard nature of the game.

** The most notably tough enemy is the [=EvilMask=]/Deathmask. Deathmasks start off an encounter by casting Wall/Reflect on themselves, then on your party. They then bounce very powerful spells like Holy and Flare off of themselves and bounce Cure3/Curaga spells off of you onto themselves. They have a whopping 37,000 HP and decent evasiveness and are very tough to run from. The DS version makes this worse by giving it Laser Barrage, an attack that deals large amounts of damage to your whole party. Oh, and they're incredibly common, too.

* ''Videogame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' has the Gray Coeurl enemy as a random encounter. It also has the Gray Coeurl enemy as a random encounter, which is considerably more difficult than the Gray Coeurl. They share the same name, sprite and location.
** From the same game, Chimera Brain in Edge's Challenge Dungeon. It opens every battle with Frost Blast, which {{One Hit Kill}}s 4 out of your 5 party members and critically injures the fifth. If it gets a surprise attack on you, just reload the game, because there is absolutely nothing you can do to survive. Did we mention that it has a '''75%''' chance of a surprise attack?

''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' has ''tons'' of examples. Super enemies in this game are usually characterized by exceptionally high defensive stats, forcing you to rely on otherwise unorthodox strategies.

* Also, the Tonberry in Istory Falls makes its debut appearance in this game...and it has as much HP as ''Leviathan, the boss of the area''.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has the [[TyrannosaurusRex T-Rexaur]]. The game even tells you that "It's better to run if you encounter one". However, if you hit it with Blind (or better yet, Death), it goes down pretty easily. Junctioning Sleep and Blizzara are an even better way, and suitable for wearing it down -- though remember that in this game, a LowLevelRun is usually the way to go.
** There are a handful, including Elnoyles and Ruby Dragon. Both have very high stats or any monster that could also be encountered in Islands Closest to Heaven and Hell.

* Yans from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. Cute little lambs that proceed to Comet and Meteor you to death. Thankfully, they're only found in one optional area. Unfortunately, if you want to be able to melee [[BonusBoss Ozma]], you're going to have to go there to get the last friendly monster encounter (who also happens to be a Yan), making the risk necessary. Since Ozma is the simplest source of the pumice...

!!''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2''
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' has a lot of these enemies (you're supposed to use Yuna's Summons against them, but you're not required to). In the final dungeon, about half of the enemies have either powerful party-hitting attacks, a lot of status immunities, the ability to inflict tons of bad status effects, or some combination of the above. And they all have over 40,000 HP.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' has Azi Dahaka, which guards the electric gates that block the way to Vegnagun at the end of the game. Screw up on ''one'' note, get frustrated with the entire puzzle, and then try to go through the barrier thingy anyway? Yeah, bad idea. Only good thing about that monster is you can run away from it.
** A lesser example is Aeshma in the prior area. It has relatively high HP for that area, made all the more noticeable by its unbreakable barrier that prevents all physical damage, meaning no [[GameBreaker critical health Cat-Nip'd Trigger Happy gunner]] can save you. And while you CAN escape, it won`t help if it hits you with Emblem of Thanatos, which does boss-level damage (well over 1,000) and is the first sign that it's more trouble than it's worth as it appears as a normal enemy.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' has a whole slew of these called Rare Monsters. They show up among the normal fights on the world map but are boss-tough. Generally, though, they only come after you if you attack them first.
** There's also Wild Saurian (which shows up in the ''first open area of the game''), the Werewolf (second area this time), Dive Talon (shows up early, but you can get a DiscOneNuke from it), and the Entites. The Wild Saurians can eat the wolves in the area, which adds to their overall HP and ''actually allow it to level up''.
** The Elementals can count since they're usually of a much higher level then the players in areas they are found in, and will aggressively attack the player if they so much as whiffed even a scent of magic in their area. Even White Magic will cause them to go Aggro. They also are immune to all elements, except their own, [[ElementalRockPaperScissors which they of course absorb]]. They also take around 1/2 damage from physical attacks. Though they are vulnerable to their opposing element.
** In any ''Zodiac'' version, the Archaeoaevises in the [[BonusDungeon Zertinan Caverns]] take the cake over every single other non-boss or non-mark in the entire game. In the original version, they were somewhat unremarkable by the time you'd be strong enough to go down and kill [[BonusBoss the Lightning esper, Adrammelech]], in the Athroza Quicksands room, with these located somewhere close by in the Balamka Fault room. Not so now, where instead of the mid-10k HP they had originally, the WEAKEST ones have ''161,622'' hitpoints...and the strongest ones, which are [[OhCrap level 99]], have '''[[MarathonBoss 961,622]]'''. That's right, the strongest Archaeoaevises have almost as much HP as THE STRONGEST NON-CLAN MARK IN THE ENTIRE GAME. And they like to spam [[ThatOneAttack Curse]], which sets you with Disease (prevents healing), Sap (constant gradual HP loss) and Poison (the usual suspect), among other statuses, and deal extreme damage with all their attacks. Outside of the XIII games and the [=MMOs=], these are likely the strongest non-boss enemies in the entire ''franchise''. And you have to kill them for their Emperor Scales if you want the powerful Durandal sword, as they otherwise can only be stolen from rare, one-time enemies like Deathgaze. Good god.

!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'', and ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII''

** Another example from XIII is the King Behemoth. They're rather common in Pulse, often seen prowling around and sometimes fighting other enemies. What makes them so hard? They have a TON of hp, and they also take quite a while to stagger. Get him down to half health, and he instantly heals up to full health and stands on his hind legs. He's even harder to stagger now, and does a brutal physical attack that will kill anyone but a guarding Sentinel, as well as casting an AreaOfEffect lightning effect that will probably kill your Medic or Ravager. He's possible to kill in Chapter 11, but only barely, and you need a lot of patience.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' has several. Raspatil, an Undying Cie'th appearing in Oerba 400 AF, definitely counts. It has over three million HP, hits incredibly hard, and can summon other monsters, including [[DemonicSpiders Wladislaus]]. If you go for completing the bestiary, it'll probably be one of the last fights you have.
** Pretty much anything that pops out of the spacial anomalies can easily wipe your party if you don't know exactly how to handle it. The Metal Gigantuar can easily wipe your party with 10,000 Needles, which in ''XIII-2'' hits the entire party. Kanna Kamuy can Daze, Poison, and Deprotect at will, and then chomp you to death easily. Tonberries start out fairly manageable, but grow more and more powerful as the fight drags on, and ''will'' unleash a TotalPartyKill attack if you take too long.
** In TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, one of the final platforms contains a fixed encounter with a Proto-Behemoth and two Schrodingers. The Proto-Behemoth unleashes devastatingly powerful physical attacks; even if nothing else in the dungeon gives your party any trouble, the behemoth is still a threat. Meanwhile, the Schrodingers will spam Deprotega until it sticks, and then join in the melee alongside the behemoth - they have high HP, many resistances, drain HP from you on attacking, and their Chain Gauge rises at a snail's pace even with a full Ravager setup [[note]]In fact, it takes less time for a full Commando setup to inflict DeathOfAThousandCuts, then it takes to actually stagger these little guys[[/note]]. If you can't evade them, this can be a tougher fight than the actual final boss.
* In ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'', every enemy in the large size group, such as the Chocobo Eater, Cyclops, and Dreadnaught, qualifies. They have massive amounts of HP, and often possess attacks that can potentially OHKO you if you don't guard them properly. A number of them are fought as mandatory battles at some point, but they appear as normal encounters in the same areas, as well.
** All of the Last Ones could be considered this, as well, being far stronger versions of monsters that only show up once you've defeated a huge number of their species, and visually only distinguished by their pure pink color scheme. Almost every monster species in the game has one, including the aforementioned giant monsters, who tend to be much tougher than most actual boss fights in the game. They're also actually treated like bosses, in that you're graded on how quickly you can defeat them.

* Manikins, which usually show up within Torsions. Some of them are no worse than tough monsters. But depending on what character they're copying, they can buff their allies up to full [=BRV=], shield themselves and their allies from all [=BRV=] damage, execute powerful full-party attacks, or raise their dodge and become unhittable killing machines.

* In the Second World, a moogle advises you to avoid a desert; heeding such advice awards you an enemy-free journey, but disregarding it sends you against the Sandcrawler, an enemy with very high HP. While its regular attacks don't do a whole lot of damage, it ''frequently'' uses Maelstrom to reduce your entire party's HP to single digits, leaving you at the brink of a TotalPartyKill. Then there's the Landcrawler in the Merged World, which has even more HP and, in addition to using Maelstrom frequently, uses Crush to deal heavy damage and inflict confusion on a single target.