Line #10 DemonicSpiders/FinalFantasy


1	These DemonicSpiders in the [[RunningGag maxilla-chompingly popular]] ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series will make you glad you brought plenty of Phoenix Downs.
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3	[[foldercontrol]]
4	!![[Characters/FinalFantasyRecurringMonsters Enemies occurring in multiple games]]
5	[[folder:Malboros]]
6	Their SignatureMove Bad Breath inflicts various status ailments, usually all of them, and they're very good at keeping you from doing anything at all until they kill you, if you're unprepared.
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8	* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' four Great Malboros spawn on the ''first'' floor of the Second-To-Last Dungeon. They can kill the entire party before the player can even cast Esuna/Recover. And Esuna is '''not''' 100% effective, anyway.
9	* The Count Malboros in the Lair of the Father in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' are made worse by the fact that you only have two party members, one of whom has a pitiful 190 MP. He's also your healer, as your other party member can't use white magic. You also ''can't escape from a battle with one''. You will cry.
10	* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', Malboros almost always act first unless someone in your party has Initiative equipped, and they always open with Bad Breath. Unless and until you can use the Junction system to make your characters immune to, at a bare minimum, Berserk and Confuse, running into a Malboro is entirely likely to result in the player watching helplessly as the party slaughters one another or dies a slow death to time-delayed petrification, poison, and the Malboro's acid spit.
11	* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' you only have to fight Great Malboros one at a time. But the Great Malboros that infest the [[BonusDungeon Omega Ruins]] ''always'' get to act first, and have an 80% chance of casting Bad Breath in their first turn. The only reliable way to survive them is to keep someone in your active party equipped with a First Strike weapon. If you're ambushed with Bad Breath, and you don't have any resistant armor or a weapon with First Strike equipped, it's entirely possible to die without being able to act at all.
12	* Rather tellingly, ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXVI'' has a Morbol as a starter boss that gets defeated by a fifteen year old Clive in the game's prologue, as a way of showing off the game's SerialEscalation from the start.
13	[[/folder]]
14
15	[[folder:Tonberries]]
16	They're slow, sure, and you can run away, but if they get close, a party member is pretty much going to die in one shot. The savvy player knows to always have a character that almost never gets the final blow on an enemy--Tonberry's SignatureMove, Grudge or Everyone's Grudge, does damage based on the number of kills that character has had. Have a healer that almost never gets the final blow, and Tonberry can't do a thing to them, leaving them free to set up/revive the others. Unfortunately, in some installments, they also have an ability called "Chef's Knife", which '''will''' kill you deader than dead if Everyone's Grudge doesn't work.
17	----
18	* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', Tonberries (called Pugs in the translation) were even worse. Grudge didn't exist yet, so Tonberry's signature move was instead an attack called Step Mine, which did damage based on the number of steps you have taken. While this usually isn't too bad, it has the side effect of removing Vanish status, allowing Tonberry to hit you with his ridiculously powerful Knife (Cleaver) attacks. Try to attack with magic, and he counters with a Holy (Pearl) spell. Try to imp him, and he gains automatic critical hits. And to win the best armor in the game (a Minerva Bustier for Terra or Celes, which you only have a 12.5% chance of getting from ''just one''), you have to fight three at once.
19	* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', Master Tonberries appear as a random encounter in the final dungeon. As noted above, they can one-shot you if you've killed a lot of enemies, and they have a large amount of HP. The trickiest thing about them is, they can be Morphed to obtain Ribbons, which many players who know about it would want to do to get a third Ribbon for their party (or worse, three if they missed the ones at Temple of the Ancients and Gaea's Cliff), given that Sephiroth's Super Nova, an attack that does 15/16 fractional damage, also has a chance of confusing you, which is a very deadly combination and can lead to a bitter defeat if you're unlucky. Morphing does very little damage and has to kill the enemy to actually turn them into an item, so to get a Ribbon from them you have to get their HP low enough that you can Morph them relatively quickly, but not low enough to kill them before you can use Morph. The worst part of this is, Sense doesn't work on them so you can never tell how much HP they have left and have to guess or keep track of how many attacks it takes to kill them, likely requiring you to kill at least one the regular way first. This is all while facing their Everyone's Grudge, requiring you to use a lot of Phoenix Downs in the course of the battle/s (though you could retreat and restock afterwards).
20	* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', the one thing you could use to "hide" from many other encounters in-game was your summons. You try summoning an aeon in front of a Tonberry, the little guy makes a clay effigy of it and stabs it with the knife, insta-killing it.
21	* Mentioning Tonberries around veteran FF players will generally provoke the same reaction as Murlocs for a [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft WoW]] player. Despite this, several FF Fans were disappointed with the lack of Tonberries in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', and the weakening of Tonberries in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2''.
22	** Those who complained about Tonberries being weak in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' must not have made it to the lower reaches of the [[BonusDungeon Via Infinito]], where [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever Mega Tonberries]] start showing up. Just to start, they're so Mega that they're not only visible on the regular dungeon crawling screens, ''they literally fill the entire screen''. They ''can'' be avoided, but only with extreme wall hugging/jumping maneuvers and it's often not readily apparent from the camera angles. When you do engage them? These suckers are just as Mega in battle, coming in at level 90 stock at minimum (99 when Oversouled), have ridiculously high HP, Strength, and Magic stats, and unlike every other Tonberry known to Final Fantasy, are extremely fast. The Oversouled ones also come with a version of Karma that does not only an assload of damage, but also Stone status...unless you're immune to Stone, in which case you instead get unblockable Confusion. Confusion in X-2 is ESPECIALLY dangerous; not only can your party members whack each other to death, they'll randomly use skills and items on random enemies and allies. That Megalixir you're saving for the next boss? Prepare to kiss it goodbye. The first time you run into one of these big boys, it will very likely be by accident, and you WILL die. Fortunately, there's actually a relatively quick and easy way to kill them, but it involves [[CrazyPrepared careful planning]] around a specific accessory/Dressphere/Garment Grid combo. Even then, it's risky and not always foolproof, as it requires one of your characters to be at perpetually low HP to execute a DesperationAttack. And then the trick got nerfed in the PAL and International versions.
23	** Bonus points for sadism: Oversouled Mega Tonberries are the only source for the ultra-powerful Blue Bullet ability "Cry in the Night". For the player that wants everything...
24	** And masochistic points: Fighting in the Monster Arena in the International and HD versions of the game can pit you up against many late-game enemies. If you delve into it, be prepared to fight a Mega Tonberry ages before you hit Chapter 5. It does make getting Cry in the Night easier, as you can freely fight it after you (almost certainly) die against it the first time.
25	* The Tonberry in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' appears as a BaitAndSwitchBoss for a mark known as [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Zenobia the Butcher.]] [[OhCrap Tonberry is about 1000 times worse than she could have ever been.]] Basically, it starts off just stabbing various party members for a lot of damage with the added effect of dispelling all status-buffs with each and every stab. Then you'll slowly see messages like "Grudging Look" appear. When it reaches "Deep-seated Grudge", it deals massive damage to all party members, recovers all its HP, resets its [[BreakMeter Stagger meter]], ''doubles its resistances to all elements, and permanently raises its attack and magic stats.'' [[FromBadToWorse Oh, and it can do this up to 4 times.]] There's a reason its Stagger threshold is [[NumberOfTheBeast 666%]]. It's so bad most guides say the best strategy is to be overleveled enough to kill it before it gets a grudge off, or to abuse the mechanics of the attack by spamming [[BoringButPractical Death]] and waiting for it to stick.
26	** And the aforementioned Tonberry encounter is just a single one. A later mark puts you up against [[FromBadToWorse three at once]]. [[SarcasmMode Have fun]].
27	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' brings them back, and modifies the Grudge mechanics a bit. They start out stabbing everyone like before (and causing poison with every stab), but then you'll see 'Revenge' flash above its head, and it'll start using a more powerful attack called Sharpened Knife. Then, it upgrades to Grudge Knife with the message 'None are safe...', and finally Rancor Knife (always hits for 9,999 damage) with 'Vengeance is nigh!'. Survive all that without killing it, and it'll use Ultimate Grudge, which deals 66,666 damage to everyone on the field. Don Tonberries, meanwhile, can go into SuperMode if you leave them alive long enough, in which they cause hefty Wound damage and get heightened resistances. They're slightly less dangerous than the regular Tonberries, but still a serious threat.
28	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' has the standard Tonberries around, which aren't too bad, but then you start encounter stronger variants like Tonberry Knights or Sir Tonberries. Imagine a Tonberry, but flipping around the room with giant energy swords like [[Franchise/StarWars prequel-trilogy Yoda]], and that's what these guys are.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	!!Game-specific enemies
32	[[folder: Final Fantasy I]]
33	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI''
34	* Ghasts and Ghouls have a paralyzing attack, but the game doesn't give you any items to de-paralyze party members, and if you're ambushed by a whole crew of them (which usually only happens in or around [[ThatOneLevel the Marsh or Earth Caves]]), you can end up with your entire party paralyzed and unable to do anything, including the White Mage whose Harm spells are your general standby for dealing with these guys. If that happens, you're left with little choice but to pray that at least one of your party gets out of paralysis long enough to get the hell out before they [[TotalPartyKill kill the whole party]].
35	* Sorcerers (renamed [[http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Mindflayer_%28Final_Fantasy%29 Mindflayers]] in the remakes, because that's what they actually are). The entire Ice Cave is the hardest part of the game because of these bastards. At effectively the halfway point of the game, these ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' monsters do a 3-hit attack which does only about 1 damage per hit but has a chance of causing instant death on each hit. And [=ProRings=], which are supposed to protect you against stuff like this, wouldn't do anything even if you could have any at this point, because the Sorcerers' instant death attack isn't a spell. (The same is true in Dungeons and Dragons. Their brain extraction attack is not a death effect, so Death Ward doesn't help.) If that isn't bad enough, their other attack is their infamous psionic Mind Blast ability, which paralyzes the entire party, since they are silly enough to stand next to each other. (The effect is a 60 foot cone in Dungeons and Dragons, but just as capable of causing a TotalPartyKill.) That means they can paralyze your party, then pick you apart. They also come in groups of up to 3. You are supposed to flee from them-- unless you get ''ambushed'' by them, in which case you're lucky to even ''get'' to your first turn. They also happen to pop up in three other locations: the Castle of Ordeals, the Lufenian Sky Castle, and the next-to-last floor between Tiamat and [[FinalBoss Chaos]] in the [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Temple of Fiends, 2000 years ago]], where Sorcerers come in groups of up to ''seven''. Their paralysis and instant-death attacks are less likely to affect your party members at higher experience levels, but even in the final dungeon, they can still ruin your day if you get a bit unlucky.
36	* The Sorcerers' lesser kin, the Wizards/Piscodaemons, bear the distinction of being one of the very few enemies that you ''can't'' flee from. Ever.[[note]]An encounter of (usually) 4 of them is the "boss" of the Marsh Cave; due to primitive coding Wizards are simply programmed so you can't run from them regardless of the location, number of Wizards, other monsters, etc...to keep players from being able to skip the Marsh Cave boss fight[[/note]] Despite their name they don't have any special abilities at all - they just hit '''''hard'''''. When you first encounter them (in the infamous Marsh Cave, no less) Wizards can shred almost any class other than Fighters, and by the time you reach the Ice Cave, you randomly encounter Wizards in groups of up to seven. If you're unfortunate enough to lose party members to the Sorcerors, better hope the RandomNumberGod doesn't toss in the Wizards to finish the job.
37	* In the same dungeon, half the battles that don't involve Sorcerers tend to involve Dark Mages, who start their spell cycle with instant-death magic that has high accuracy against you at this point in the game, due to your party's relatively low levels. They're also tied with superboss Warmech for having the second-highest ambush rate in the game. In the remake, their spell cycle was changed to start with Firaga, a highly damaging spell that hits the entire party. Worse still, the only fire-resistant equipment available at this point in the game is the Ice Armor and Ice Shield (found in the same dungeon), which at this point can only be worn by Fighters; the rest of your party will be sitting ducks.
38	* Ghosts from the Sea Shrine. They can appear in groups up to five and have attack power nearly equal to that of the ''final boss'', and like their lesser cousins can also paralyze you when they hit. It's all too possible for most or all of your party to end up stunned while they hammer you into a fine paste, especially if you're surprise attacked. And worst of all, ''they cannot be run from''. Once you see a group of these guys, pull out your best attacks and pray that they don't stun you before you can move.
39	* Special mention goes to the Cockatrices and Pyrolisks that start showing up in the Earth Cave and Gulg Volcano respectively and show up in many dungeons after that. Pyrolisks have an [[OneHitKill instant death]] attack while Cockatrices have a [[TakenForGranite petrification]] attack that is just as deadly. They tend to appear in large groups and if they don't ambush the party, they still have a good chance of attacking before your mage can get off a group-hitting spell to wipe them out before they do the same to you...
40	** It's to the point that, due to his experiences with them in this game, LetsPlay/HCBailly hates cockatrices in ''any'' game, even ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', in which all of the cockatrices are either tame or some of the weakest enemies.
41	* In the GBA and PSP remakes, Abyss Worms are disproportionately more powerful and have more HP than the bosses in the dungeon they're in. If you run into them at the "intended" time, which is after the Earth Crystal, there's very little you can do. You also can never run away from them, making a TotalPartyKill all but assured.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder: Final Fantasy II]]
45	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII''
46	* The Death Riders in TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon also qualify, as they almost always hit multiple times with each attack, and the damage they do with ''each'' hit is directly proportional to your total amount of HP.
47	* The Imps are this, constantly spamming "Confuse 16" on the party. In this game, Confusion does not wear off if you are hit and if your party happens to be dual-wielding, then they'll destroy each other. Your only chance to survive this is being immune to confusion. The problem is that there is only one piece of equipment at that point that can resist Confusion, the Imps come in packs of six or so, and they have extremely high speed. In addition, [[MarathonLevel this is one of the longest dungeons in the game, with three bosses, a fourth optional one,]] [[ThatOneLevel damaging floors and the just-as-demonic Devil's Bloom enemy, which casts the same Confusion 16 spell.]] Oh, and if you wear out your MP to the point where you can't cast Teleport fighting the Imps, Blooms and bosses and save your game after having beaten the [[PointOfNoReturn first part of the Dungeon]], get ready to [[UnwinnableByDesign start again from scratch.]] This is 3/4ths of the way through a game generally considered NintendoHard, even in the toned down port! Long story short, Imps are one of the worst parts of [[ThatOneLevel this whole level]].
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder: Final Fantasy III]]
51	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII''
52	* Anything that has the weakness "Dark Blade", at least in the DS remake. They are tough as nails, do quite a bit of damage, and you can't hit them normally if there's a gap in the row without them "Divide"ing and making a new one, not to mention they have another move called "Multiply". Guess what that one does? Thankfully, they don't Divide if hit with magic. They're even worse in the NES version. In the DS version, even with Dividing/Multiplying, only 3 can be onscreen at once, meaning it's difficult to become too overwhelmed. In the NES version? [[OhCrap There can be up to]] ''[[OhCrap six]]''.
53	* Nightmare from Goldor's Manor can inflict confuse, which can be dangerous for the party. If they're either alone or attacked with a pre-emptive strike, they're not ''too'' bad. If you're ''ambushed'' or caught by a back attack by them, though, and if there's either four or six of them, they ''will'' be a threat.
54	* The 3D remakes turned the Chimera Mages into this. In the [[ThatOneLevel Temple of Time]], already a difficult dungeon, they get an extra turn like all bosses do. If they use Lightning twice during their turn, expect a TotalPartyWipe, in a game where there's no saving inside dungeons.
55	[[/folder]]
56
57	[[folder: Final Fantasy IV]]
58	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''
59	* In the DS version, the player will encounter frequent spawns of Flame Dogs/Flame Hounds in The Tower of Babil. They are highly resistant to status effects and have tremendously powerful physical attacks. The pinnacle of their cheapness is a nasty AOE flame attack that can hit your lower HP characters for half their health. They can spawn one at a time, where they are manageable. But they can also spawn two at a time, along with another creature that can turn any of your party members to stone, which makes for a really harrowing battle. Worst of it is, they can spawn in groups of three, an encounter that is nigh impossible to even run away from, even for a party that just easily kicked the crap out of [[spoiler:Golbez]]. It usually starts with each one of them casting their AOE attack in rapid succession, resulting in multiple dead party members, with the survivor or survivors being devastated. If it's a surprise attack, you may as well reload the game. All this while being sufficiently leveled to tromp the ever living hell out of anything else the dungeon can throw at you.
60	** This also applies to the initial versions, to a lesser extent.
61	* Same game, Warlock/Dark Sages in the [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon underground of the Moon]]. Especially packs of three that surprise you. Blizzaga, Blizzaga, Blizzaga. DS, meet wall.
62	* The Red Giants/Armored Fiends, also in TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. They have Flamethrower (an absurdly powerful fire attack on the whole team), Beam (an even more absurdly powerful, non-elemental attack on one person), and most annoyingly, Self-Destruct, which will not only knock out whoever gets hit with it 90% of the time, but will also result in you receiving NO EXPERIENCE OR GIL for all your hard work. Annoyingly, their turn always seems to come up right after you get them under 9999 HP, at which point they will almost always Self-Destruct. The worst part? They're one of the carriers of the added Tail items that you can trade for nice equipment, but have a 0.4% drop rate. That means hours upon hours of fighting these bastards if you like to aim for 100% completion. They're fortunately vulnerable to Slow and Sap. And if you ''don't'' Lit-3/Thundaga them, they self-destruct less often.
63	* The Chimera Brain, also known as the Mantcore, from the already difficult [[ThatOneLevel Sealed Cave]]. Not only does it absorb all three basic elements (Ice, Fire, Thunder), but it also has some very powerful attacks such as Frost Blast. The best part about this? They can also appear after a Trap Door transforms, or appear with a group of other enemies.
64	* The Blue and Red Dragons of the last dungeon have devastating attacks that hit all party members, and worse yet, are not weak against the elements that fire- and ice-element monsters would be weak against. The blue ones aren't so bad-- they can be [[UselessUsefulSpell Stopped]], and Stop will always connect, leaving you to heal from Icestorm (a nasty hit-all ability) and beat on them at your leisure. The Red Dragons, however -- they have two attacks: a standard physical attack that will hit the tank for around 1000 points of damage, and Thermal Rays, which hits the entire party for around 2000 points of damage a piece. To put this in perspective: the tank will have (unless you [[GameBreaker augmented him]]) around 4500 HP. The [[SquishyWizard mages]] will have around 2500 HP. The Red Dragon is immune to Stop, but ''can'' be Slowed, and also Berserked to make him use only his physical attack (which will now hit for 2000 points of damage). The trouble is, though, that the person with access to Berserk and Slow is also the only person with access to the healing spells, so in practice, fights go like this: The Red Dragon casts Thermal Rays, everyone scrambles to heal and rezz, the healer finally gets an open turn, the player goes to select Slow or Berserk from the menu—the Red Dragon uses Thermal Rays AGAIN, the party drops everything to heal, rinse and repeat until death.
65	* The last dungeon also has the [=EvilMask=]/Wicked Mask/Deathmask. It has 37000 HP, more than almost any other random encounter enemy in the game, and casts Reflect on itself. It then proceeds to bounce spells such as Bio, Holy, and Flare off of itself and onto the party. In the DS version of the game, this is made even worse by the fact that they now know Laser Barrage, an attack that can hit the entire party for around 2000 damage. Thankfully, unlike the aforementioned Red Dragons, you can cast Stop on them.
66	** Fun thing about Deathmasks and the Dragon pairs? ''They play the boss music when you fight them.'' Even the ''game'' knows these guys define BossInMookClothing.
67	** Speaking of pairs, the GBA and PSP versions of the game add a twist to the Deathmasks in the [[BonusDungeon Lunar Ruins]]: They can show up alongside a Behemoth. Against solitary Deathmasks, one can take advantage of their party-wide Reflect-casting to bounce your own attack spells onto it. Doing that with a Behemoth in the picture, however, runs the risk of the spell hitting the beast instead of the mask, which will very likely draw a Maelstrom counter and drop everyone's HPToOne, setting you up for a quick finisher from the Wicked Mask. Hope you like physical attacks and healing with items!
68	* In the Cave of Summons/Passage of the Eidolons, there are many mean monsters found there, but two stand out as particular offenders. Arachne will kill you with her rampant use of Quake, but if you have Rosa casting Float on every floor (as you would have to do in this dungeon), you can avert that. Mini Satana (known as Fiend in the SNES version and Imp in the DS version), however, is a worse offender. Mini Satanas like to use Confuse as a counterattack to ''everything'', not unlike the Imps found in the GBA version of ''Final Fantasy II'' and their use of Confuse XVI. To add insult to injury, they're paired with Warriors, who will gang up on you with their powerful physical attacks.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder: Final Fantasy V]]
72	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV''
73	* Skull Eaters. While they are a great source of AP and frequently run (and yes, you get the AP even if they flee), they're also nearly impossible to damage, faster than a bat out of hell, casting magic on the causes them to multiply, and inflict over 1000 HP of damage at a point in the game you're likely to have about 600. And if you survive this, their aforementioned attack confuses you. Depending purely on the RandomNumberGod, an encounter with one of these can either be free AP or spell total doom for your party.
74	* The D.Chimera, found only in one small patch of desert. Your first encounter with one is likely to involve [[ThatOneAttack Aqua Rake]] and [[TotalPartyKill four very dead Warriors Of Light]]. Even their regular attack (never mind the stronger alternate attack they have) is enough to OneHitKO a party member when you first pass by. It is possible to avoid the desert altogether, but odds are you'll either miss the one Karnak villager who warns you of it or not take the warning seriously enough. Hope you saved!
75	* [[DiscOneFinalDungeon Exdeath's Castle]] is full of them, and they're often found in configurations making it difficult to put together an effective strategy. For example, one encounter has a Dark Warlock (low health and defense, but start by casting status ailments and move on to instant death spells) with an Adamantite Golem (a magic resistant SmashMook) and a Reflect Mage (otherwise weak enemy with auto-Reflect status). Once you get higher up the castle, you start running into dragons. Red Dragons have a nasty fire attack and regenerate when hit by Level 5 Death, but an ice weakness makes them manageable. Blue Dragons have ''two'' nasty ice attacks, and for some reason no fire weakness. Yellow Dragons have a weaker but still painful thunder attack, but nasty physical attacks and a ton of hitpoints.
76	* The Gil Turtle. At the time you encounter it, you don't have nearly the XP or skills to defeat it. And it lures you in with a hallway that gives small amounts of Gil that double with each step you take. It has amazing HP, hits very very hard, has poison, is very fast, and makes short work of your party. It'll take quite a bit of reloading and messing around with available skills to defeat this bastard. It's vulnerable to ice and is somewhat undead, so good luck with that! Especially since you'll have to face it again in the BonusDungeon.
77	* Basically any enemy that can afflict Confuse or instant death could fall into this category.
78	[[/folder]]
79
80	[[folder: Final Fantasy VI]]
81	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI''
82	%%%
83	%%%Monsters have been sorted into roughly the order they'd be encountered in the game
84	%%%
85	* The Slam/Veil Dancers in [[ThatOneLevel Zozo]]. When they are alone, they cast Ice 2/Blizzara, Fire 2/Fira, and Bolt 2/Thundara, which can either one-shot a single character or ravage your entire party. In groups, they also carry a move that puts a party member to [[StatusEffects sleep]]. However, a lone Slam Dancer is very useful for restoring Celes's MP for free.
86	* Literally every monster on the FloatingContinent. Honestly, it'll be hard picking which is the worst, because ''they're all bad'':
87	** Ninjas love to hit the entire party with powerful elemental attacks and you can't run from encounters including them.
88	** The Behemoths have powerful physical attacks as well as ''Meteor''.
89	** Dragons can not only use Revenge Blast to dish out crazy damage, but can use Snort/Sneeze to remove party members from battle, leaving the remaining two open to a pummeling. Even worse, if you Rasp away their MP to stop Revenge Blast, they start using Tail, which is almost as bad.
90	** The Brainpans will Stop multiple party members (through Smirk), leaving them open to tremendous damage from everything else, and one-shot them with 1000 Needles/Blow Fish.
91	** Misfits will shred you with Lifeshaver (although you can turn that against them with Gaia Gear).
92	** Wirey Dragons have high offense and defense, lots of hitpoints, ''no'' weak points[[note]]except for Relm's Sketch of all things -- sketching a Platinum Dragon casts Cyclonic and takes away 90% of their hitpoints[[/note]], and attack in groups of 3.
93	** Apocryphas/Apokryphos are usually pretty benign, but when one of them is the only enemy on the field it breaks out Level 3 Confuse, Level 4 Flare, and ''Level 5 Death''. Level 4 Flare hits for about 1200, which is going to one-shot you if you're not obscenely overleveled.
94	** And the ChestMonster you find early on, Gigantos, hits harder than [[DiscOneFinalBoss Atma Weapon]].
95	* Two of the three monsters in the Collapsing House. You're on a six minute time limit to get in, grab the kid, and get out; however, the place is loaded with some crazy powerful items you'll want to snag. However, several of the chests are {{Chest Monster}}s, the Scorpions come in groups of three and inflict [[YourDaysAreNumbered Doom/Condemned]] status, and Zokkas/Hermit Crabs can inflict [[TakenForGranite Petrify]] with their final attack -- which wouldn't be so bad except that since Celes is likely to be the only member of the party at the time, getting petrified is an instant game over.
96	* The Orog / Borghese in Darill's Tomb. They can use Zombie Touch twice in a single turn, and they counterattack with Zombie Touch as well. They usually attack in pairs. If you don't have something equipped to protect from Zombie status, they can zombify your whole party for a game over before you can blink.
97	* There's also the Soul Dancers in Jidoor. They throw knives, which ignore both row and defense. Even the lowly Dagger/Dirk, when Thrown, hits for around 800 damage. And the longer the fight goes, the stronger the knives they throw are. Spend too much time and they'll be throwing high end knives that hit for the 9999 damage cap. It's even worse if they're accompanied by Crushers. Crushers have an unusually high physical attack, a special move that is a triple-damage physical attack, and, when alone, they have a chance of countering ''everything'' with Lifeshaver, which drains a large amount of your hitpoints and restores that same amount of theirs. Crushers aren't quite demonic spiders on their own, but the combination of Blade/Soul Dancers and Crushers is hellacious.
98	* The standard physical attacks of [[SlayingMantis Mantodea]] will likely do over 3000 damage, killing any character that isn't significantly overleveled. You can first encounter them when your maximum HP is around 2000 or so. They're also found in conjunction with Sprinters, who are pretty benign on their own but who'll cast White Wind and heal the Mantodeas. [[note]]Mantodeas were intended to have a relatively inaccurate attack to make up for their power, but in the SNES version the accuracy bug did away with this.[[/note]]
99	* Phase, a PaletteSwap of Brainpan in the Phoenix Cave. Like Ninjas, you can't run away from them, ''ever''. They frequently use Blow Fish as an occasional counter to ''everything''. Adding to that, they can sometimes be paired up with Zeveaks/Parasouls, who can confuse you, and Necromancers, who have an annoying (at best) tendency to slap the Zombie status on unsuspecting party members and, when alone, will start to use Death/Doom, Banish/X-Zone, and Flare spells. It's these bastards that may be the ''real'' reason why the Phoenix Cave is ThatOneLevel.
100	* The Fanatics' Tower is difficult on its own, but two of its' denizens in particular are tough to deal with. L.20 Magics love to cast X-Zone, which is an instant death attack that ignores the reflect rings you'll be wearing. If you get in a fight with more than one of them and they cast Banish multiple times in a row, you're staring a Game Over in the face. It doesn't help that they have inherent Reflect status, and no elemental weaknesses to take advantage of. Then there's L.90 Magics. They cast two damage spells, Meteor and Merton/Meltdown, which likewise cut through your Reflect Rings and will likely kill you if you don't cast Stop or Bserk/Berserk on them. The problem? Both Stop and Bserk are reflectable, and Level 90 Magic has inherent Reflect status too! The other problem? Meltdown damages everything in a battle, friend or foe, but the L.90 Magics ''absorb'' both fire and wind elemental, so Meltdown heals them!
101	* Many enemies in Kefka's Tower counts:
102	** The Death Machine (Sky Base), which counters any attack with up to four uses of Blaster, a One-Hit KO attack that can hit the party. It has a low hit rate, but with four uses the odds are not looking good for it to miss all four times...
103	** The Scullion. It can inflict Doom on you via Gamma Rays and spams Wave Cannon and Atomic Ray, two powerful Thunder and Fire elemental attacks.
104	** [=InnoSent=] (Innoc) is probably the worst. It attacks in threes and open every battle with each of them using Brainblast to potentially Confuse three party members ('''''HORRIBLY''''' dangerous at this point in the game). Then they spend their time spamming Plasma, a powerful single-hit Lightning attack, or Freezing Dust, which freezes a party member. And every fifth turn they can use Lv.? Holy, which will hurt if it hits.
105	** The Retainer (Yojimbo). A relatively inconspicuous foe, low HP, only uses physical attacks and Wind Slash...then you kill it. When it dies, it always uses Tradeoff (Eye for an Eye in later translations) on the party member that dealt the final blow, inflicting Instant Death. It can be blocked like a physical blow, fortunately, so hope you have high Evasion (or Mblock on SNES or PSX) because it ignores Instant Death protection.
106	** The Fiend Dragon (Doom Drgn) likes to spam the powerful attack Southern Cross, and it has a one in three chance to counterattack with Heartless Angel, a spell that reduces everyone's hitpoints to 1. And with 18K hitpoints, no elemental weaknesses, and immunity to all detrimental status effects, there's no easy way to fight these things. They're bad enough on their own, but if you're unlucky enough to get attacked by a pair of them, it's arguably the most difficult non-boss battle in the game. The only upside is that they only appear in one tiny room and that you can run from them.
107	** The Outsider and the Cherry (Madame) are a pair of demonic spiders designed to work together to increase the level of demonicity. The former have auto haste and love to spam throwing weapons while the latter has access to powerful spells such as meteor and white wind, which is a healing spell that targets all allies and its caster. What makes this fight even more annoying is that it is very difficult to escape. Fortunately. Outsiders are not immune to instant death attacks so Banish/X-Zone has a good chance of removing them.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII]]
111	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''
112	* Griffins (encountered in Cosmo Area), while not particularly difficult to kill, can suck a significant amount of MP from all party members, and will usually do so at least once before you kill them.
113	* Evilheads, the bats that accompany Icicles in Gaea's Cliff are faster than you and have two really damaging attacks, but the kicker is that they cheat: they have a 25% chance of setting their Evasion stat to 255 when attacked, making them capable of avoiding even Vincent's perfect-accuracy attacks.
114	* The Thunderbirds that live in the Wutai area mountains. They have a powerful attack -- Lightning -- that does around 375 damage to your entire party. You can face up to four Thunderbirds in one go. If they all employ the attack in a row, you're going to die, and there's very little you can do about it. It's even worse if you first meet them during the Wutai sidequest, which probably ''is'' when you'll first meet them. You've been stripped of all your materia, so you have to rely on physical attacks and potions for healing - and they can easily deal damage faster than you can heal it with potions.
115
116	!! ''[[VideoGame/CrisisCore Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII]]''
117	* Depending on how well you're equipped, any enemy who can invoke Stop, Stun or instant Death on the protagonist can quickly become one of these during the game's many side missions. Oh, so you didn't have that one accessory equipped? Time to either start over or watch helplessly as your enemies pummel you to death and THEN start over!
118	* Tomahawk Boomerang, Mace Boomerang, or any other cutscene-style attack that's undodgeable. One of Bahamut's forms is particularly aggravating, as it will not only knock a solid chunk of your HP away, but also reduce your MP and AP to 0, so you can't heal or even dodge his next attack.
119	* And then there's the mover type enemies who A) have ridiculously high defense; if you're hitting for, say, 3000 on average, you'll do about '''100''' to the movers; and B) have the isanely difficult to dodge Delta Attack, which is enough to kill you at a fairly high level.
120	** There are also enemies in the game that are invincible to almost anything short of limit breaks, which happen pretty much randomly. More power if they have life-draining attacks, like G Devastators.
121	* Dispel doesn't sound harmful on its own, until you realise that by the time you encounter enemies who can Dispel you'll almost certainly be needing those (M)Barriers, and that those Dispel-casters can pack a good punch on their own, like those nasty G Paladins.
122	* When mooks start throwing Flare around willy-nilly, it's time to start building towards that HP+ 999% materia.[[note]]While going for a HP+ 999% materia is an excellent idea anyway, Flare (and Ultima!) can actually be dodged. There are ''plenty'' of opportunities to learn the timing, and doing so makes these mobs (and the bonus boss) much more manageable.[[/note]]
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder: Final Fantasy X and [=X-2=]]]
126	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''
127	* The worst Demonic Spiders of the game are the Demonoliths in the final dungeon on your way to [[spoiler:Jecht]] and the Behemoth Kings. The Demonoliths counter most attacks with Pharaoh's Curse, which gives you a crap load of status effects that are basically undodgeable, and the Behemoths cast the powerful Meteor spell when they're killed which will more than likely kill you too unless you have an aeon out. And to top off the Demonoliths, they rarely show up alone. They almost always show up in pairs or trios. It doesn't help that they possess the attack power of your average endgame [[BossInMookClothing boss]]. Oh, and to top it off, they can use an attack that inflicts [[TakenForGranite Petrify]] on [[TotalPartyKill your entire party.]] [[ThisIsGonnaSuck Have fun.]]
128	* Then there are the birds in [[ThatOneSidequest that freaking chocobo race minigame]], which can't be classed as an environmental hazard because hazards aren't ''spiteful''. That they swerve to hit you is bad enough. That they add three seconds to your time is awful. That a chocobo dodges like a truck is horrifying, and that they can keep you stunned in place long enough for ''another'' bird to smack you in the face is ''unforgivable''. There's a reason no-one likes that minigame.
129
130	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2''
131	* The Armour, Gel and Coeurl type enemies are capable of reducing characters to 1HP, regardless of initial HP and defence.
132	* Taken one step further with Queen Coeurls. Instead of reducing characters to 1HP, her Death Blast ability inflicts '''max HP -- 1''' to a character. Which means that if the character lost a single HP earlier in the fight, she will be KO'd. During Clasko's mission in Chapter 2, you have to face two of them in two different fights: Yevon helps you if you are unlucky and the other fiend in the fight enters Oversoul, as it will take some time to kill, which gives the Queen ample time to wreck you (and makes it that much harder to stay fully healed to survive the Blasts). Special mention goes to the second fight, where the accompanying lizard in Oversoul can inflict ''Slow and Confuse'' when attacking, and gains an ability that deals as much damage as he suffered. Unless you were grinding like a mad(wo)man, you will have half of its HP, which means that it can ''also'' OneHitKill your characters.
133	* Any enemy capable of inflicting Confuse is incredibly dangerous, as the afflicted character can use random abilities and items on random targets.
134	* The Killer Hound can OneHitKO as it pleases.
135	* Mushroom Cloud, which appears only on floors 81+ in [[BrutalBonusLevel Via Infinito]] and Creature Creator Cups in International and Remaster versions. Innocuous at first, especially with all DegradedBoss enemies roaming around ... until it casts Pernicious Powder which is Marlboro's Bad Breath ''on steroids'' as it also reduces offensive stats to one sixth, that is if it doesn't kill your team outright. And should you survive, it will follow with ''Ultima''. On the other hand, in later versions of the game you can capture it and Pernicious Powder is [[GameBreaker just as effective]] against everything in the game, including all Bonus Bosses.
136	[[/folder]]
137
138	[[folder: Final Fantasy XII]]
139	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''
140	* Anything with the move Curse has the potential to become one of these. Curse inflicts Poison (health drops in chunks at fixed intervals), Sap (health steadily drains at a surprising rate), Confusion (the character attacks themselves or allies), and Disease (Current HP=Max HP, meaning the character cannot be healed until Disease is removed. If a Diseased character dies, when they are rezzed they will have a grand total of 1HP and the Disease status effect still in place, meaning that Disease must be removed and then the character can be healed. Disease cannot be removed with Esuna, the StatusEffects remover, but only with the spell Cleanse, the item Vaccine, or the Remedy item, ''if'' the player has unlocked that ability for the Remedy). Curse targets all characters. Curse cannot be blocked. Curse will never miss -- not even the Malboros' breath attacks are given that luxury. The monsters that wield Curse either come in packs, so that they can make short work of the reeling party before you can rid yourself of the effects, or are giant undead dragons with flunkies who will also use Curse. The only thing to do is to equip your party with Confusion-preventing accessories (you DID remember to buy them, right...?) once you see Curse coming (if you see it in time), have them fling Remedies at each other (you DID remember to upgrade them and buy a ton of them, right...?), and pray that the command-priority-programming is kind to you.
141	* The Shield Wyrms in the Cerobi Steppe don't use cheap tricks like Curse -- they will beat the shit out of you ''legitimately'' (for the most part). They're a regular enemy, and there are TONS of them in the various Steppe zones -- but they have over sixty-''thousand'' HP, more than any other regular monster in the game and more than a fair few of the bosses, marks, and rare monsters too. The HP is complemented by high defense and magic defense stats, and the ability to further augment those stats, ''and'' the ability to regain a third of the life bar with an unblockable, virtually unstoppable move called Restore. And offensively? It's a hard hitter with many area-of-effect moves, including the -aga spells and Breath, which can inflict Sap, plus its normal physical can inflict Petrify and combo with frequency. And -- this cannot be stressed enough -- they're ''everywhere''. Can't throw a stone in Cerobi without hitting (and subsequently aggroing) one of these. And Cerobi Steppe is a ''big'' area. To say it gets aggravating is an understatement. At least they're susceptible to Oiling and Blinding, so you can oil/blind them up and roast them with fire magic, chuckling at their puny defense. They are also susceptible to instant death, which means you can just equip the Nihopaloa and toss a phoenix down at them. Then again, [[GameBreaker everything is weak to the Nihopaloa]].
142	* The goddamn Reavers in [[BonusDungeon Pharos Penumbra]]. At level sixty they can smack a third of your health bar away and have a nasty habit of walking into battle with Haste and/or Protect (and sometimes Bravery) and a habit of chucking magical Technicks at your party whenever they get low on health. And they always come in groups of three or more. And you need to kill ''tons'' of them to advance the dungeon.
143	* The toughest sections of the game are the sections of The Great Crystal unlocked after getting the Treaty Blade; Pharos Subterra, after beating Cid the second time; and the parts of Henne Mines unlocked by the Garif after acquiring 10 espers. Pretty much ''everything'' in those areas are demonic spiders; near-infinitely respawning zombie/skeleton armies, various spirits with the aforementioned Curse ability, Dragons and Behemoths that make up some of the toughest non-bosses around, and downright ''evil'' architecture. If it works at all, your minimap is going to be of little use, and if you get lost, chances are you'll run into spiders with depressing regularity. The deepest reaches of Lhusu Mines are nearly as bad.
144	* Baknamys in the optional levels [[ThatOneLevel Necrohol of Nabudis]] and Nabreus Deadlands have a pretty high evasion. It can make a return trip to Pharos seem faster for level grinding for the final boss than Nabreus Deadlands.
145	* Rare game. Occasionally, at random, you will encounter a monster that is ''much'' stronger than others of its kind in the area, verging on a BossInMookClothing. Some of them are non-hostile, but others will attack you on the spur of the moment, and most of them can eat an entire Quickening chain without flinching. The Bull Croc you can find in the Shred in the Ozmone Plain is a particularly unpleasant example, since a) it absorbs the damage from the best dagger available at that stage, which can be a rather rude surprise; b) it turns up with a truckload of buffs; c) you are more than likely mainly going there for a Hunt, meaning you can ill-afford serious damage; and d) ''another'' rare game creature, the Aeros, frequents ''the same area''.
146	[[/folder]]
147
148	[[folder: Final Fantasy XIII Trilogy]]
149	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''
150	* The game allows just about anything that can kill a character from full HP to be a demonic spider. Why? Because if the "lead" character falls, ''regardless'' of the other characters, it's game over. So all it takes is for three enemies to "randomly" decide to gang up on the main character, and there's really nothing you can do to prevent reloading. Thankfully, DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist.
151	* A lot of monsters in Chapter 11 qualify, unless you've done some serious LevelGrinding. The Behemoth Kings seem easy at first, but right before they die they stand up, heal all of their HP and gain powerful area of effect magic, as well as a devastating single-target physical attack.
152	* The infinitely aggravating Vetalas. They put up an 'inertial barrier' at the start of the fight, which reduces all attacks to ScratchDamage ''at best'' and doesn't go away until they're staggered -- and they stagger excruciatingly slowly. While you grind up the chain gauge, they don't sit idle; they use Multicast to cram powerful magic down your throat and laugh at your puny attacks. And their PaletteSwap, Raktavija, is worse in nearly every way, mostly because you can't get a Preemptive Strike ''[[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard even if you use a Deceptisol]]''.
153	* The Scalebeasts in the Sunleth Waterscapes, which are so powerful for this point in the story that the game actively advises you to avoid fighting them -- except some of them guard treasure chests with unique accessories. If you can get a Preemptive Strike on them, it makes the fights easier, but they're still much more powerful than anything you've faced.
154	* The Boxed Phalanx and variants thereof. They're tough as nails and hit hard, but that's not the worst. They appear with Hoplites, which up to this point have been fairly weak enemies, and have an ability that can cast every buff in the game on the Hoplites, turning them into DemonicSpiders themselves. They have an attack that hits multiple members of your party. And should you decide to kill off its Hoplites first, it will summon up to five more. They can easily overwhelm a Sentinel's defenses, assuming they don't decide to ignore the sentinel altogether and go after your party leader. Thank God they're vulnerable to status ailments.
155	* The Falco Velocycles that show up in Palumpolum. They have a special move called [[GatlingGood Gatling Gun]] that attacks their target with a massive wave of projectiles. Gatling Gun ''will'' kill anything that isn't Sentinel Snow -- and even if you're in that Role, you have to use Mediguard/Steelguard before they fire, because it can still kill a max-HP-up-to-that-point Snow, just barely.
156	* The Rangdas you encounter in Chapter 11 don't seem too bad, with a serious susceptibility to Fog, but if you leave them alone too long, they use Summon, which tends to bring in a Behemoth King. Have fun with that.
157	* The Sanctum Inquisitrixes, ridiculously fast, resilient, and aggressive enemies you run into in Chapter 12. Not only do they attack fast enough to repeatedly kick you out of your attacks, but they can also cast Bravery and Haste on themselves. Getting Vigilance on yourself or Curse on them will help, but good luck even getting one spell off before they kick your Saboteur or Synergist's teeth in.
158	* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon also has a mini-boss ([[DegradedBoss that also shows up in normal fights shortly after you fight it]]) called Wladislaus. The fact that it's faster than lightning ([[{{Pun}} much to her annoyance]]) and hits like a truck is bad enough, but then it unleashes its special attack, Mounting Contempt. This move first inflicts Deprotect and Deshell and removes buffs (focusing first on the ever-useful Haste), THEN piles on enough single-target damage to inflict an easy OneHitKill on anything that isn't a Sentinel. One of the hardest fights in the final dungeon is an encounter with a Wladislaus and a Sanctum Templar, which hits hard enough on its own, making it more than capable of finishing off a character that by some miracles survives Mounting Contempt.
159	* Dagonites, found in TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. They start off by using a move that gives them the Vigilance, Haste, Veil, and Enwater buffs, then they start spamming a move called Rush, which knocks whoever gets hit by it down. And they come in packs of three or four, meaning you'll get to watch your characters fly into the air, land, get up, prepare to use an attack, and get knocked in the air again. Rinse and repeat until your whole party is dead. And they also show up with Sacrifices, which will bombard you with Anathema and Death, just in case you feel that you might get the upper hand at any point.
160	* Flowering Cactuars. When you first engage them, they use Parting Dance, which unleashes a ''massive clusterfuck'' of -aga spells. If you survive that, they run. And they come in groups of up to five.
161	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2''
162	* Ispusteke. They're a PaletteSwap of Vetala, except with a unique and inexcusably rare drop -- the Blaster's Sapphire, which improves a Ravager's chain bonus.
163	* Wladislaus returns, found in the same area as Ispusteke (Archylte Steppe, set to thunderstorm). While it's significantly weaker than its previous incarnation, it still has powerful physical attacks, and Mounting Contempt is still horrifyingly lethal.
164	* Proto-behemoths, found in TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon. They appear in one encounter near the end, or they can be summoned by the Mimis. If one of them gets summoned by a Mimi, then you have a swarm of smaller enemies to deal with, alongside the Behemoth. When they appear as an actual encounter, they're flanked by two Schrodingers, who can cast Esuna and Deprotega ''and'' drain HP from Serah and Noel, boosting the behemoth's already powerful attacks and making it extremely difficult to kill anything in the fight.
165	* Feral Behemoths in Yaschas Massif 010 AF, when you first arrive. You have to stay inside the spotlights to keep them from running the Mog Clock down, and if you try fighting them, they can easily smash the entire party. And then, in 01X AF, you have the Narasimha, a rare albino Behemoth that is even stronger than the Feral Behemoth. If you have the misfortune of encountering one of those during your first visit, you'd better run.
166	!!''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII''
167	* The most glaring example are the Meonektons. Nothing more than some low-rate enemies in ''XIII-2'', they now come back with a vengeance. The Meonektons now feature resistance against physical attacks and magical attacks. Their special move, Eerie Soundwave, gives off a plethora of status ailments. But the worst part is what happens when they ''do'' manage to get you with the status ailments: they become ''absolutely berserk'' with their attacks. Not only they start throwing Ruinga spells out like nobody's business, they are also fond of throwing Deathscythe, Rush, and Force Darts (which is quick and interrupts whatever you're doing). Without the right setups, such as a Saboteur-like one, or the right timing of hitting it with high-powered elemental attacks during the charge-up to Eerie Soundwave, it can easily be a frustrating battle. But what makes this enemy a Demonic Spider is that they always spawn at 4-6AM, replacing every enemy for that time. Worse still, later days spawn them in groups of two, making the battle that much harder.
168	* Both the Chocobo Eater and the Earth Eater. These deranged, belly-mouthed, legless koalas are not only infamously strong, they're rather common and spawn rather frequently. Chocobo Eaters, when angered, has the tendency to throw out very strong elemental attacks (fire and ice together), while Earth Eaters force you on the defensive with their buffs and status ailment-inducing attacks [[note]]Thankfully, the former can be stolen with the right Auto-Abilities, and the latter can be dodged entirely by using Evade 2-3 times after the prompt shows up, as opposed to simple guarding which will eventually stick the ailments on Lightning.[[/note]]. Not to forget, both of them have a very powerful "swallowing" attack which interrupts whatever Lightning does at the moment (unless she guards immediately beforehand) and thus can very often kill her in a single hit.
169	[[/folder]]
170
171	[[folder: Final Fantasy XIV]]
172	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''
173	* Bees are commonly occurring enemies that catch many a player off guard with their Final Sting attack, [[TakingYouWithMe which deals massive damage at the cost of killing the user]]. Of particular note are the Temple Bees in the Sunken Temple of Qarn, whose Final Sting [[PercentDamageAttack deals damage equal to 80% of the target's maximum HP]]. Even max level characters running Qarn unsynced can be nearly instakilled by a pair of level 35 bees if they aren't careful.
174	[[/folder]]
175
176	[[folder: Final Fantasy XV]]
177	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV''
178	* Duscae is home to Coeurls, [[PantheraAwesome giant cats]] that can instant [[OneHitKill kill you]] or your [[TotalPartyKill whole party]] by throwing their whiskers up in the air. It can be dodged, but have fun encountering them 20 levels too early, in a side quest that spawns quest-related items in a zone where one or two of them can spawn.
179	** This is to say nothing of the hunt where you fight ''five'' Coeurls at once. Or the one where you fight three ''Elder'' Coeurls.
180	* Necromancers, mid-level monsters that can be a pain for underleveled parties. They have loads of HP, instant death attacks, and a beam attack that can [[TakenForGranite petrify]] multiple targets. Better hope you have a lot of Gold Needles when you meet them.
181	* The Galvanades in Costlemark Tower. They absorb lightning damage, have powerful lightning-based attacks that can cause the [[DamageOverTime Shocked status]], and swell with each passing second until they explode (hitting them will reduce their size), causing massive damage in a wide area and spawning up to three Thunder Bombs...at least one of which will turn into a new Galvanade. Moreover, they always appear alongside [[GoddamnedBats nuisance monsters]], so have fun singling out and killing the Galvanades before they fill the entire room.
182	[[/folder]]
183
184	[[folder: Final Fantasy Tactics]]
185	!! ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics''
186	* The toughness of the non-story battles [[LevelScaling scale with Ramza's level]], so if you LevelGrind too much you'll find yourself facing some seriously frightening opponents. Bariaus Hill in particular is home to a veritable army of Chocobos, Tauros, Behemoths (who have instant kill abilities), and ''Dragons''.
187	* Some of the rare non-story battles can be an absolute bear. The most talked about of these is the 11-Monk battle on Grog Hill. For those unfamiliar with the game, Monks have the most versatile skill-set in the game, having high attack, a ranged move (that hits multiple people), a 100% hit move, a healing move, a revival move and a move to get rid of status effects, all of which have no charge time. In addition they have decent speed and range and can be pretty dangerous one at a time. Oh, and, they're all wearing gear that makes their ranged move ''heal each other''. They can knock you down and stand themselves back up using the same command. And do. When there are twice as many on the map as you have people in your team at the same or higher level than your highest leveled character, be prepared to die and die horribly.
188	* Chocobos near the beginning of the game can act as DemonicSpiders on their own, having higher attack and movement than any of your beginning classes, a counter attack that you won't be able to get until later on without ample grinding, and healing to boot. Needless to say, running into a pack of these during the first few levels of the game spells instant death. Later on they are demoted to merely GoddamnBats as they are still annoying, but far outclassed by the stronger classes in the game. However, Red Chocobos and Black Chocobos remain DemonicSpiders until the end of the game, the later having a powerful physical attack, a strong ranged attack, the ability to cure most status ailments, and the ability to fly, and the former having a high hitting 100% ranged move with no charge time. Coupled with high speed they can easily take out a healer or wizard before anyone on your team gets a chance to move.
189	[[/folder]]
190
191	!!Others
192	* ''[[VideoGame/ChocobosDungeon Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon]]'': Mandras. They have a projectile special attack which is '''stronger''' than their normal attack, and they can still use it from melee range. And if you are in melee, they can use their other special to inflict Sleep -- luckily this also affects monsters next to them, but they don't need the backup as they can typically survive two or three hits. Finally, they're a fairly common enemy and show up from an early point in the game, so you '''will''' experience them before you have ranged attacks or status defenses.
193	* ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure Final Fantasy Adventure]]'': There are all sorts of enemies that can inflict status effects, but none are worse than ''Moogle''. Upon being Moogled, you lose the ability to do anything but move, ''and'' your defense drops to 0. Defense is ''extremely'' important in this game; with 0 defense, you can be killed in a single hit if you never leveled up stamina. Enemies that can inflict Moogle must be engaged with an escape route in mind. Your best bet is moving between rooms until the effect wears off.
194	* ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasyOperaOmnia'': Enemies from the Floating Eye family will counter-attack any non-fatal HP attack with Gaze, which has a high chance of inflicting paralysis. This will slow down any attempt to kill them as player's will try to build enough Brave for a one-hit KO. Them resisting Melee damage, the most common damage source, doesn't help matters. The Evil Eye enemy in particular has all these attributes plus an attack called Cursed Lullaby, which halves the victim's current Brave, and applies the Curse debuff, which halves initial and maximum Brave, in effect making it impossible for them to one-hit KO them and guaranteeing that Gaze triggers.
195	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyThe4HeroesOfLight'': The Imps and Arps. They like to spam an all-party attack that causes sleep and then you get to watch while they gang up on a single party member and whittle their health down to zero with their otherwise fairly weak physical attack. Oh, also their attacks occasionally cause paralysis.
196	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyMysticQuest'': Any enemy that can use status-effect attacks, but ''especially'' ones that can cause Stone, are going to be a mess to deal with. While you steadily accumulate immunity to status effects, Benjamin can't get immunity to Stone until shortly before the end of the game, and there are plenty of enemies willing to take advantage of that. Special mention has to go to the Iflytes and Sthenos that appear in and around Lava Dome, who can hit with Stone and Paralyze; it's all too likely (nearly ''guaranteed'') that you'll get in at least one fight where both party members are turned to stone before you even get a turn.

Context DemonicSpiders / FinalFantasy