History OneWingedAngel / SquareEnix

* The Franchise/FinalFantasy series has a ton of examples.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' had ''completely human'' bosses transform into monsters.
*** [[MonsterInHumanForm Monsters in human form]], actually. Also, a few of them just got bigger. Inverted with the FinalBoss, who is ''more'' humanoid in battle than on the map.

* This was brought to an extreme in ''{{SaGa}} Frontier'', which offered us 7 characters and '''7 final bosses'''. Unfortunately, Emelia's BigBad was ultimately a rather unimpressive human, so they [[AssPull gave us a boss from nowhere]] who was giant and could transform. In a fun twist, [[WordOfGod the creators of the game]] decided to [[{{Jossed}} crush fan theories]] by telling us that, no, [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere that boss really has no connection to anything up to that point.]] No, not even the [[MacGuffin hanging-plot-thread]] that the nice evil man told you to give to his lover as his dying wish.
** All the Bosses in the Romancing SaGa Trilogy had this: ''RomancingSaGa'' [[spoiler: Saruin had 2 forms: His second being his upper half of his body sticking out of a sphere while he grew extra appendages to his torso and back]] (in the remake anyway). ''RomancingSaGa2'' [[spoiler: The 7 Heroes gradually joined the amalgamated form every 6,000 HP dealt.]] ''RomancingSaGa3'' [[spoiler: The final boss: Destroyer changes to a more crazed, shinier form with more wings that could also change into four other forms representing the four Devil Lords, but only if the form chosen was that of a Devil Lord not defeated.]] The protagonists can transform too.

** Sephiroth from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', whose OminousLatinChanting {{Leitmotif}} is the TropeNamer (having one wing). He began as a human, then transformed into the aptly named Bizarro Sephiroth, a coccoon for what he intended to be his ultimate form, the angelic Safer Sephiroth. In the same game Hojo goes through two stages of mutations before dying.

[[caption-width-right:200:[[{{Mondegreen}} Belts! Fronds! Bean cherries! In a bed! Rabbit feet!]]]]

* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' beats Sephiroth out in both religious symbolism and overkill on its FinalBoss forms for its BigBad: He [[spoiler:turns into a giant serpent and then fuses with Joshua, who was doing a CrucifiedHeroShot, after which he turns into a ''five headed'' dragon that takes up the majority of both screens while holding your other two partners in his claws]]. In fact, most of the bosses turn into [[TheHeartless Noise]] during their boss fights.

* Ah, ''KingdomHearts''. The fight against Ansem has multiple phases, but he doesn't actually transform until you reach part 4 of the fight. Departing from the usual thing with bossess transforming, people tend to find his form when he first possess Riku harder, and his final form to be a pushover.

*** It also features quite a few of Disney's One Winged Angels, notably Maleficent and Jafar.

** ''Birth By Sleep'' notably [[AvertedTrope doesn't do this.]] Every character's final boss remains human. Vanitas simply takes off his helmet and pulls out a different keyblade for his 2nd stage; Master Xehanort [[spoiler: migrates into Terra's body, with the player taking control of Lingering Will]] for his 2nd fight; [[spoiler:Terranort]], the TrueFinalBoss, simply summons Xehanort's Guardian familiar from Kingdom Hearts for his last battle; and for Aqua's story, the final bosses are two different characters.

** ''358/2 Days'' brings us a One Winged Angel form for [[spoiler:Xion]]. It's...rather difficult to describe...It's sort of like an armored monstrous Nobody form of none other than ''Sora''. Interestingly, this is the form the boss assumes for [[SequentialBoss all four phases of the fight (which correspond to five Limits Sora learned in ''KH1:'' a combination of Ragnarok/Strike Raid, Sonic Blade, Ars Arcanaum, and Trinity Limit)]], with each phase bringing new weapons rather than new transformations and the final phase bringing [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever a bit of a growth spurt]] too.

** ''358/2 Days'' brings us a One Winged Angel form for [[spoiler:Xion]]. It's...rather difficult to describe...It's sort of like an armored monstrous Nobody form of none other than ''Sora''. Interestingly, this is the form the boss assumes for [[SequentialBoss all four phases of the fight]], with each phase bringing new weapons rather than new transformations and the final phase bringing [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever a bit of a growth spurt]] too.

* ''ParasiteEve'' has this for Eve, the main antagonist. She starts off by possessing the body of a woman, changes into a slightly disturbing form by having a giant fin instead of feet, long arms with sharp claws, and crazy hair. By the time you see her near the end of the game, she becomes a multi-breasted bloated monstrosity as she prepares to give birth to the Ultimate Being, which changes slightly when you fight her for the last time, but she also changes form from here by becoming an almost angelic figure once her HP gets low enough.

* SquareEnix probably loves this trope even more then Disney does. It's almost a rule that Square-Enix games MUST have a giant transforming final boss(if that was not already evident from the fact that it has its own dedicated huge category).

* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' beats Sephiroth out in both religious symbolism and overkill on its FinalBoss forms for its BigBad: He [[spoiler:turns into a giant serpent and then fuses with Joshua who was making some sort of cross, after which he turns into a ''five headed'' dragon that takes up the majority of both screens while holding your other two partners in his claws]]. In fact, most of the bosses turn into [[TheHeartless Noise]] during their boss fights.

** Sephiroth from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', whose OminousLatinChanting {{Leitmotif}} is the TropeNamer(literally having one wing). He began as a human, then transformed into the aptly named Bizarro Sephiroth, a coccoon for what he intended to be his ultimate form, the angelic Safer Sephiroth. In the same game Hojo goes through two stages of mutations before dying.

*** The third expansion features three bosses back to back in the final battle, though the final one, [[spoiler: Alexander]], pretty much takes over the fight himself after you deal enough damage to [[spoiler:the Prince who is piloting his current body]]. This is played a bit more straight in the first expansion, Rise of the Zilart when [[spoiler: Eald'narche is knocked off his floating platform and his eyepatch comes off, revealing a glowing eye and he starts flying for the rest of the fight]]. Lady Lilith [[spoiler: plays this traditionally straight, going from her normal attire to [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101209085514/ffxi/images/1/1b/Lilith_Ascendant.png Lilith Ascendant]] for Round 2.]]

** The protagonist accomplishes this as well in the first game, with her ultimate attack(of the two pure attacks in the game)'Liberation', the form being quite literally angelic, but in a biological manner. [[spoiler:And of course, the 'secret boss' from the first one manages the -same- form. Only she remains in it throughout the fight.]]

* It's pretty much a tradition in the ''DragonQuest'' series for the final boss to have more than one form, starting with the Dragonlord[=/=]Dracolord[=/=]King Dragon in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI''. To date, the only two final bosses in the series that ''don't'' follow this trope are Malroth in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestII'' and Zoma in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII''.

* ''ParasiteEve'' has this for Eve, the main antagonist. She starts off by possessing the body of a woman, changes into a slightly disturbing form by having a giant fin instead of feet, long arms with sharp claws, and crazy hair. By the time you see her near the end of the game, she becomes [[HighOctaneNightmareFuel a multi-breasted bloated monstrosity]] as she prepares to give birth to the Ultimate Being, which changes slightly when you fight her for the last time, but she also changes form from here by becoming an almost angelic figure once her HP gets low enough.

*** The third expansion features three bosses back to back in the final battle, though the final one, [[spoiler: Alexander]], pretty much takes over the fight himself after you deal enough damage to [[spoiler:the Prince who is piloting his current body]]. This is played a bit more straight in the first expansion, Rise of the Zilart when [[spoiler: Eald'narche is knocked off his floating platform and his eyepatch comes off, revealing a glowing eye and he starts flying for the rest of the fight]]. What Lady Lilith and Atomos are up to in Wings of the Goddess remains to be seen.

** The 'Dragon of Fire' fight in ''ChronoCross''. While the first time you fight him he's fairly small and humanoid, partway through the second fight he will change into an even larger (and cooler) dragon in the style of muscle growth.

* ''ChronoTrigger'' contains at least four instances of this, in various forms: Masa and Mune combine to form a hulking beast, [[spoiler: Queen Zeal]] becomes a giant, crowned mask and gloves with increased magical power, and Lavos [[spoiler: does it twice]].

** Sephiroth from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', whose OminousLatinChanting {{Leitmotif}} is the TropeNamer. He began as a human, then transformed into the aptly named Bizarro Sephiroth, a coccoon for what he intended to be his ultimate form, the angelic Safer Sephiroth. In the same game Hojo goes through two stages of mutations before dying.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'', had ''completely human'' bosses transform into monsters.

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'', almost all bosses you face have OneWingedAngel forms, even if they were ''completely human'' before you face them.

* It's pretty much a tradition in the ''DragonQuest'' series for the final boss to have more than one form, starting with the Dragonlord[=/=]Dracolord[=/=]King Dragon in ''DragonQuestI''. To date, the only two final bosses in the series that ''don't'' follow this trope are Malroth in ''DragonQuestII'' and Zoma in ''DragonQuestIII''.
** ''DragonQuestVII'' is an unsual example in that while the final boss is a four-stage fight, only the second stage is a OneWingedAngel. Third and fourth stage are the final boss ''[[BodyHorror melting]]''.
** Special mention must also go to Dhoulmagus of ''DragonQuestVIII'', who is a [[spoiler: mid-boss]] who does this.
** A particularly odd case was the final boss of ''DragonQuestIV'', Psaro the Manslayer,[[spoiler: having discovered the secret of evolution]] gradually loses body parts in the first half of the fight, then grows new limbs, ending with a completely different form from his first, [[spoiler:which was itself completely different from his human form, and eerily similar to a previous boss]], complete with new battle music.

** The TropeNamer is Sephiroth from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', who had either three or four forms depending on how you count (angel wings factored heavily into the changes, hence the title of the BGM and this article, although there's actually more than one in most of 'em), as well as Jenova in her various mutant alien forms, Hojo turning himself into several different mutated monster forms before dying, Vincent Valentine having four different forms as his limit breaks, and if you really want to look too deeply at things, the WEAPONs can be seen as the Planet's own attempt at a One-Winged Angel.
*** ''[[OminousLatinChanting Estuans interius ira vehementi...]]''
** [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI The original]] ''FinalFantasy'' had Garland, who transformed from a human knight into a gigantic demon.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' had Zemus the Lunarian wizard transform into the demonic insectoid Zeromus, which transforms into a more boney form when the heroes shine the light of the MineralMacGuffin on him. Various bosses also do similar things- the Asura and Leviathan transform from human to, well, Asura and Leviathan, a human boss turns his arm to snakes, the Dark Elf transforms into a dragon, and several monsters show up on the map as hooded, cloaked figures, although if that is actual transformation or weird map sprites is unclear.
** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV FFV]]'' had Exdeath ''twice'', first into his true form of an evil tree, and then into a hodgepodge of various monsters out of the Void when he learns that EvilIsNotAToy.

** ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI FFVI]]'' had Kefka (who had angelic wings in his final form, [[spoiler: along with diabolic wings, and a pair that was a fusion of the two. This was probably a play off of Christian angelic mythos (Seraphim have six wings), designed to further highlight Kefka's actually [[AGodAmI being God]] (capitalization intended) at that point.]] The heroine Terra also has her own transformation, where she invokes her Esper heritage and gets purple glowy fur.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' had the fake president turn into a zombie. And Ultimecia, who just gets ''weird'' looking.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' had Kuja going into Trance, that game's LimitBreak SuperMode; he gets reddish purple fur.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' had [[spoiler:Yunalesca, Seymour, AND Jecht]] all turn into various indescribably monstrous forms .

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' had [[spoiler: Vayne]] turn into a gigantic clockwork dragon with the help of his rebel Occuria pal.

** ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' is quite possibly the '''hugest''' example of this trope. Two of the four main male characters become ''literal'' one wing angels - ''one of which is black-winged and the other is white-winged.'' (One of the ones who doesn't is Sephiroth - he saves it for the next game.) There are even several varieties of ''mooks'' and ''monsters'' who suddenly get one wing blooming out of their backs (they're genetically derived from the abovementioned two), [[FridgeLogic ''all'' of which who can apparently fly with only one big, feathery wing.]] The second half of the game feels like the monsters from the first half decided to reappear after having visited a grand Unpaired Attachable Wings clearance sale. It reaches a point where you expect ''everything'' that isn't a robot to have a bizarre feathery wing graft. In fact, the protagonist you play as should logically at some point sprout a wing as well. Thankfully, he saves it for the ending cinematic.
*** Angeal, who gets his One Wing very early, apparently is annoyed at all the competition - [[spoiler: when it comes time for his boss fight, he goes back to basics and mutates himself into a horrible, monstrous chimera. With one wing. Then again, he was doing it ''explicitly'' to force Zack into killing him, so... this one's kinda meta.]]

** In the ''DissidiaFinalFantasy'' games, every character has an "EX Form"; for many of the villain characters, it's their OneWingedAngel form. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]], for instance, gains his 'God of Magic' appearance, and [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII the Emperor]] assumes his 'Emperor of Hell' form. Ironically, as a result of loading issues, Sephiroth doesn't assume his 'Safer Sephiroth' form from [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII his game]], instead taking on his Kingdom Hearts single-black-wing look. Similarly, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV Exdeath]] doesn't use his [[spoiler: Neo]] form as his EX Mode. Instead, it shows up as an alternate costume in the {{prequel}}. Its default setting is based on artwork - when ''it'' goes EX Mode, its colours change to match the actual game sprite.

* Ah, ''KingdomHearts''. In the second, Xemnas fights you as himself, as a ''spaceship'', as a suit of armour hurling everything he can at you (including the landscape) while sitting on a throne, himself ''again'' with different powers and a zebra suit, and very likely some other things we've forgotten.
** The fight against Ansem has multiple phases, but he actually transform until you reach part 4 of the fight. Departing from the usual thing with bossess transforming, people tend to find his form when he first possess Riku harder, and his final form to be a pushover.
** In addition, in ''KingdomHeartsII'', Sora can assume various more powerful forms to fight enemies including a [[TheHeartless Heartless]][[CursedWithAwesome -esque]] SuperpoweredEvilSide and a benevolent [[SuperMode "Final Form"]].
** The Xemnas battle has eight phases: the first rush to the spaceship, the ''second'' rush to the spaceship, the spaceship engines, the spaceship core, Xemnas on the throne with a big sword, the Xemnas dragon, Xemnas on the throne ''again'', and Zebra Xemnas. Unlike his Heartless counterpart, Xemnas doesn't actually physically transform: he simply goes through several different outfit changes and makes use of his Dragon-esque space ship. This is presumably because only the most powerful Nobodies can maintain a humanoid appearance, so by not going all EldritchAbomination on us, [[BishonenLine Xemnas is actually setting himself apart from the average mook]]. (Of course, WhatMeasureIsANonHuman still kicks in. Due to the whole Nobody thing.)

** Birth By Sleep notably [[AvertedTrope doesn't do this.]] Every character's final boss remains human. Vanitas simply takes off his helmet and pulls out a different keyblade for his 2nd stage; Master Xehanort [[spoiler: migrates into Terra's body, with the player taking control of Lingering Will]] for his 2nd fight; [[spoiler:Terranort]], the TrueFinalBoss, simply summons Xehanort's heartless familiar from Kingdom Hearts for his last battle; and for Aqua's story, the final bosses are two different characters.

** ''{{Final Fantasy X-2}}'' inverts the trope. Each of your party members finds a unique Dressphere which allows her to become [[GameBreaker a huge multi-target monstrosity - essentially a Boss - for a limited time]].