History AwesomeBosses / FinalFantasy

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII

* The battle against [[OneWingedAngel Safer Sephiroth]]. A genuinely climactic battle that [[DynamicDifficulty increases in difficulty the better the player has done in the game]], and a memorable battle song.
* Bizarro Sephiroth is notable because it is the very first time in the game you actually get to fight Sephiroth in a genuine boss battle, and right after a truly rousing speech by Cloud, nonetheless. The [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic awesome]] boss music counts as well. To make it even better, you get to fight him with your entire team (assuming you fulfill a few, fairly easy conditions prior), making the battle even more exciting.
* The one on one fight with Sephiroth may be a ForegoneVictory, but for some, that just makes it even ''more'' awesome: Sephiroth has a measly 1 HP, and Cloud's Limit Meter just filled up and allowed him access to Omnislash, even if he doesn't have the move equipped; the former SOLDIER is ''not'' getting out of this unscathed. After two back-to-back fights against him in stronger forms, as well as ''everything'' he did throughout the game, [[CatharsisFactor it's immensely satisfying to watch Cloud cut the madman to ribbons.]] Heck, you don't even have to grant him that level of respect; you could just hit him with a basic slash, or even let him attack you, only for ''Cloud's counter'' to finish the job.

* ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' is largely cited as the main reason to get a PSP. Some would cite the battle with Sephiroth as the main reason to get ''Crisis Core.'' It's tough, it's an intense ClimaxBoss, and it's a sword duel between TheAce and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'''s ultimate BigBad. The only thing that could have made the fight better was if the latest remix of ''One Winged Angel'' played during the actual fight, and not during the rather silly "defeat him before he pushes you off the edge" fight.

* The final boss of Patch 5.3's story is Elidibus as the Warrior of Light. Not you, but the goddamn original Yoshitaka Amano designed [[VideoGame/FinalFantasy1 Warrior of Light]]! He brings everything to the table to destroy you, the Warrior of Darkness, once and for all while "[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic To the Edge]]" plays as a TriumphantReprise to Shadowbringers' main theme. At the 45% mark, he sends the party to the void where everyone has to PressXToNotDie and break out of their chains to get back to the fight. Just as he thinks it's over, the party is not only summoned back, but endorsed by what is essentially the ghost of Emet-Selch! WoL!Elidibus busts out a LEVEL 4 LIMIT BREAK![[note]]Players can only go to Level 3 at most[[/note]] and continues to send everything at you from the souls of heroes and even weaponizing limit breaks from melee and ranged classes until he finally goes down!

[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Chaos_3715.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:256:This is only the beginning...]]

** Cameos that are ''canon,'' mind you. Yes, even when he was {{retcon}}ned in as a BonusBoss in some of the remakes.

* If you want to talk about the remake, two words: [[BonusBoss Kaiser Dragon]]. He comes at the end of a long, deep, and difficult BonusDungeon after you kill souped-up versions of the Eight Dragons. Then you fight him amidst a ''field of flames'', while [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Battle to the Death]], the secondary boss theme, plays. And you can pull out all the stops to fight him and it still feels like a struggle, and it feels so satisfying when you win. Multiple phases, massive health, all of the best attacks in the game. He's basically everything that makes Ultima Weapon cool and then cranked up to 11. Kaiser Dragon is boss all other bosses aspire to be. Oh! he also has an awesome pre-battle quote.

* The one nice thing about the Guardian Force magic system was, there were ''lots'' of optional awesome bosses to fight. Bahamut, Tonberry King, Ultima Weapon and giant Cactuar were all pretty badass, and so was Griever. And then there was [[BonusBoss Omega Weapon]]...

* Though not a boss battle, the series staple Adamantoise returns with a big upgrade... a [[BossInMookClothing REALLY big]] upgrade of ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'' proportions. Without proper planning, this will literally be a CurbStompBattle. Taking this guy down requires taking its legs out so it can fall down, and then beating the crap out of its face (rinse and repeat, if you don't finish it before it stands again). It's a fun fight and is highly rewarding if you're lucky enough. And then the [[BonusBoss Long Guis]] show up...

** Gilgamesh has been in the world of every other ''Final Fantasy'' since ''V'', but his appearance in Orience is finally a decent fight that isn't turn-based, BonusBoss unfair, or both. He's decked out in legendary Black Tortoise Armour that soaks up everything Class Zero can throw at it, and he's swinging a "[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Garland]], eat your heart out"-sized BFS that will one-shot you at the recommended level. And this applies for ''both'' the original fight with him ''and'' the fight using Machina-as-Incognitus.

* Omega. ''V'' did it first. ''V'' did it best. Omega can arbitrarily remove your members from combat, has fast, powerful attacks, sterling defense, and is all around a tremendously difficult boss without serious levelling and very careful preparation- preparation most likely got off the Internet, so spare a thought for the poor players back in the '90s who learned the hard way by getting ground into paste a few times. Here's the kicker, though: the Bestiary lists Omega as ''Level 119,'' making him the only boss in the entire series to simply ''ignore'' the arbitrary level cap by force of his own [[MemeticMutation sheer]] badness. In the ''Advance'' version, it's revealed in one of the bonus dungeons that you fought only ''one'' of ''many'' Omegas, as there is a level filled with them! The kicker is that the level in question contains an upgraded [[UpToEleven Omega MKII]].

* And AFTER Kaiser, we get the Omega Weapon, which is Kaiser turned up to [[UpToEleven 12!!]]

** Cameos that are ''canon,'' mind you. Yes, even when he was [[RetCon retconned in as a]] BonusBoss in some of the remakes.

--->'''Gilgamesh:''' Hah! If I'd just left you in the lurch, I'd look like a jerk for all of history!
--->'''Gilgamesh:''' Oh really? Just try it, Baldy! You cannot even hold a birthday candle to the blazing flame of my winning spirit!

--> "Humans and your insatiable greed. Your lust for power leads always to a lust for blood. This is a sanctuary for wayward souls... What business have you filthy creatures here? You slaughter my brethren and befoul their rest with the profanity of your continued existence... In the name of all dragonkind, I will give you the death you desire... I am the dealer of destruction... I am the font from which fear flows... I am Kaiser, and your time is at an end."

* Kimahri's [[DuelBoss Duel]]/DualBoss fight against Biran and Yenke. [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic Mostly for the fact that "Servants of the Mountain" continues to play during the fight]], but also because it was extremely cathartic to beat the crap out of them after all the stupid abuse they put Kimahri through during the game. Also, Biran and Yenke's stats are determined by Kimahri's at the time, so they pose a challenge regardless of how much you've been powering him up. The fact that you can steal most of the Blue Magic in the game from them instead of resorting to the usual "use Lancet on every goddamn enemy you run across" nonsense also helps. Along with some Lv 3 Key Spheres.

* After a couple minor cameos in ''VIII'' and ''IX'', this is the game that solidified Gilgamesh's popularity in the fandom thanks to the glorious boss battles with him. First, he gets a remix of "Clash on the Big Bridge", one of the few bosses in the entire game to get his own personal battle theme. Second, he's voiced by Creator/JohnDimaggio, who brings his LargeHam tendencies to life like never before. Third, he ups the ante from wielding famous weapons in his past appearances, by wielding (counterfeit copies of) the iconic weapons of past ''Final Fantasy'' protagonists, namely the Buster Sword, the Revolver, the Orichalcum, and the Brotherhood, as well as the Zantetsuken, the Tournesol, and the Wyrmhero Blade of ''Dragon Quest''. Finally, both fights with him are genuinely challenging even into the late game. This all adds up to a perfect storm of an epic boss fight.

* As the GrandFinale for ''Final Fantasy XIV'''s original storyline, ''Endwalker'' goes all out for boss confrontations. Establishing that everything is on the table, [[spoiler: Zodiark]] is the ''[[DiscOneFinalBoss first]]'' trial boss of the expansion. Living up to their reputation, the fight is chock full of wide [=AOE=]s that can easily wipe a party that isn't vigilant in staying mobile while frequently shifting the arena in addition to raid-wide nukes that will have healers and tanks needing to unload their entire arsenal to keep the party up. With all the buildup and lore over the previous decade, that this fight is commonly viewed as ThatOneBoss [[WhamEpisode and at such an early point in the expansion]] hammers home just how all the stops have been pulled out in ''Endwalker''.

* The one on one fight with Sephiroth is also worth a mention despite being a ForegoneVictory. For some, that just makes it even ''more'' awesome: Sephiroth has a measly 1 HP, and Cloud's Limit Meter just filled up and allowed him access to Omnislash, even if he doesn't have the move equipped; the former SOLDIER is ''not'' getting out of this unscathed. After two back-to-back fights against him in stronger forms, as well as ''everything'' he did throughout the game, [[CatharsisFactor it's immensely satisfying to watch Cloud cut the madman to ribbons.]] Heck, you don't even have to grant him that level of respect; you could just hit him with a basic slash, or even let him attack you, only for ''Cloud's counter'' to finish the job.

* The one on one fight with Sephiroth is also worth a mention despite being a ForegoneVictory. For some, that just makes it even ''more'' awesome: Sephiroth has a measly 1 HP, and Cloud's Limit Meter just filled up and allowed him access to Omnislash, even if he doesn't have the move equipped; the former SOLDIER is ''not'' getting out of this unscathed. After two back-to-back fights against him in stronger forms, as well as ''everything'' he did throughout the game, [[CatharsisFactor it's immensely satisfying to watch Cloud cut the madman to ribbons.]]

* The one on one fight with Sephiroth is also worth a mention despite being a ForegoneVictory.

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', he's the former king of Baron and would like to test Cecil's strength. Upon losing, [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments he takes solace in the fact that Baron will be led and watched over by capable hands.]

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', [[spoiler: he's the former king of Baron]] and would like to test Cecil's strength. Upon losing, [[spoiler: [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments he takes solace in the fact that Baron will be led and watched over by capable hands.]] ]]

** And then there's the point where he [[spoiler: has his BigDamnHero moment, complete with [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic "Clash on the Big Bridge"]] playing, and shrugging Necrophobe's attacks off as if they were mere trifles. He then promptly reveals that he wants to be friends with Bartz and the gang, says [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments a few lines of encouragement and praise for each of the characters]], basically tells Necrophobe to shove it, and does a HeroicSacrifice to take him out in one blow. Needless to say, many manly tears were wept.]] A couple of quotes:

* Omega. ''V'' did it first. ''V'' did it best. Omega can arbitrarily remove your members from combat, has fast, powerful attacks, sterling defense, and is all around a tremendously difficult boss without serious levelling and very careful preparation- preparation most likely got off the Internet, so spare a thought for the poor players back in the '90s who learned the hard way by getting ground into paste a few times. Here's the kicker, though: the Bestiary lists Omega as ''Level 119,'' making him the only boss in the entire series to simply ''ignore'' the arbitrary level cap by force of his own [[MemeticMutation sheer]] badness. In the ''Advance'' version, [[spoiler: it's revealed in one of the bonus dungeons that you fought only ''one'' of ''many'' Omegas, as there is a level filled with them! The kicker is that the level in question contains an upgraded [[UpToEleven Omega MKII]].]]

* The one nice thing about the Guardian Force magic system was, there were ''lots'' of optional awesome bosses to fight. Bahamut, Tonberry King, Ultima Weapon and giant Cactuar were all pretty badass, and so was Griever. And then there was [[spoiler: [[BonusBoss Omega Weapon]]]]...

* [[spoiler: Yunalesca]]. Sure, she's also ThatOneBoss, but that just makes battling through her three forms even more exciting, especially when set to "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDdDaZuMWko Challenge]]", one of the best boss battle themes in the game. The cutscene before the battle also contains Yuna's ScrewDestiny SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome and Auron's RousingSpeech.

* The boss battles with [[spoiler:Sin's fins and its core]], right down to [[spoiler:Cid's airship using its cannons to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu shoot off its fins]]]]. And ''then'' you watch the monstrosity come crashing down...

** What makes the fight ''truly'' satisfying, however, is obtaining Anima (who is basically [[spoiler:Seymour's ''own mother'']]) beforehand, and summoning her during the fight. Do so for an absolutely priceless reaction. Bonus points if you Grand Summon her and she proceeds to one-shot him with Oblivion.

* The final boss battle with [[spoiler:Jecht]]. This one is also backed by SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic. And the cutscene after you beat him is a definite TearJerker.

* Promathia at the end of the Chains of Promathia expansion, if only because of the absolutely gorgeous fight arena, the Empyreal Paradox. Fighting miles above Vana'diel against a tough (but not NintendoHard) boss, and, for those who consider Prishe TheScrappy, this fight gives her a nice chance to get RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap, since she not only breaks Promathia's shields, but if she does die, unlike a lot of other NPC assists in other boss fights, including the other NPC in that same fight, [[spoiler: Selt'haus]], not only does the fight not end of she does drop, but you can raise her and she'll be able to jump right back into the fight. And the closing song should qualify for SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic.

* Barthandelus, [[spoiler:Galenth Dysley's real form]]. The scene starts out with Jihl, the {{Jerkass}} who [[TheComputerShallTauntYou taunted and tortured Sahz with his feelings for his son]], stepping up to protect Galenth Dysley. Time to get that bitch back! But before the party lays the smackdown her, she is dismissed [[spoiler:with magic to the back of the head, fired by Dysley. He then starts to float in the air, murdering everybody that isn't your team. After some dialogue, he merges with the mysterious white owl that has been following you around, going OneWingedAngel as "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usf3-SD4XyQ Fighting Fate]] begins.]] He delivers an IAmTheNoun declaration and a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech and promptly destroys any unprepared team. And then you get the second fight in Oerba, which is also awesome.

* ''XIII-2'' has you fighting [[spoiler:three Bahamuts at the same time in the final battle. Awesome.]]
* And ''Lightning Returns'' tops everything with its final battle [[spoiler: against GOD ALMIGHTY!]] With some of the [[SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome best visuals ever seen in the entire franchise.]] One word: '''[[SerialEscalation Hypernova.]]'''

* The final boss of Heavensward's main story quest [[spoiler: King Thordan and his Twelve Knights is essentially the Knights of the Round Summon from ''Final Fantasy VII'' turned into a Primal Trial. This also marks the second appearance of the Knights of the Round in the mainline ''Final Fantasy'' games. It gets insane when Thordan activates Ultimate End, which is pretty much an endurance attack where the party has to last several minutes of the Knights unleashing their strongest attacks in an AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield, culminating in Thordan and his knights combining their powers for one attack. And if you survive it? Thordan is left with a permanent crippling debuff]].

* The final boss of the Alexander raid, [[spoiler: Alexander Prime]] is an amazing fight both in gameplay and in story. The fight is quite average for the first half. It then gets awesome as [[spoiler: it summons its HumongousMecha body to use Divine Judgement and after the party survives this, Alexander activates its second form, which is a straight callback to ''Final Fantasy IX''. After this Alexander starts spamming TimeStandsStill powers in addition to its light attacks. At the last quarter of the fight Alexander sends the party to the past to prevent their allies from getting killed by Alexander in the BadFuture. Then the final phase of the fight Alexander summons the previously mentioned body in addition to its Prime body. Throughout the fight not only is Alexander treating the party as {{Worthy Opponent}}s but also trying to help defeat the BigBad of the arc as well]].
* One of the new primals added in the Stormblood expansion, Susano, is quite memorable. His BoisterousBruiser tendencies aside, the phase transition features him [[spoiler:growing huge, drawing a [[{{BFS}} sword the size of the arena]], and bringing it down on the party...only to have a tank single-handedly block the sword while the rest of the party attacks it.]] It's not for nothing that videos exist where [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance Rules of Nature]]]] is played over that part of the fight.
* The final boss of Stormblood, [[spoiler:Shinryu]]. The identity of the boss is awesome enough for the first phase of the fight, but the transition to the final phase where [[spoiler:he ''decides that the sky is too small to contain the battle'', destroys the platform you're fighting on and takes you to an AmazingTechnicolourBattlefield which, as the name "protostar" suggests, may be ''a newborn world'']], accompanied by an [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic epic]] VictoriousChorus... the whole thing is just so very Franchise/FinalFantasy.

* The boss of The Twinning can be thought of as a meta-sequel to the Alexander Prime fight; [[spoiler:not only is it the Garlond Ironworks' take on Alexander Prime itself, but it incorporates many of the mechanics from that fight with a twist: time stops for ''its'' attacks. To top it off, the music you fight to it is The Primals' rendition of "Locus"]].

** Last, but absolutely not least, is [[spoiler:[=9S=], who appears to be in the throes of madness from the insane climax of ''Automata'', fighting you with hacked Machine Lifeforms and throwing everything he's got at you, up to and including ''[[NukeEm goddamn ballistic missiles]]'']]. All the while, the fight is accompanied by an epic, yet hauntingly beautiful, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVAgd9dbYIs battle theme]] that combines the ''Final Fantasy'' prelude with "Weight of the World" from ''Automata''. [[spoiler: And then the kicker comes in the next part that he was GoodAllAlong.]]

** Finally, you meet... The Compound, which plays out like the Machine Lifeforms are about to give birth to Adam. It's a BodyOfBodies that wouldn't look out of place as a Legion in ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', and that's just Phase 1. The real kicker is the final boss of this raid... [[spoiler: Compound 2P, a giant version of 2P made up entirely of androids fused together to resemble her, including her SWORD!]] While she's fought, her theme is called "Torn from the Heavens/The Dark Colossus Destroys All (Medley)."
* The final boss of Patch 5.3's story is [[spoiler: Elidibus as the Warrior of Light. Not you, but the goddamn original Yoshitaka Amano designed [[VideoGame/FinalFantasy1 Warrior of Light]]]]! He brings everything to the table to destroy you, the Warrior of Darkness, once and for all while "[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic To the Edge]]" plays as a TriumphantReprise to Shadowbringers' main theme. At the 45% mark, he sends the party to the void where everyone has to PressXToNotDie and break out of their chains to get back to the fight. Just as he thinks it's over, the party is not only summoned back, but endorsed by what is essentially the ghost of Emet-Selch! WoL!Elidibus busts out a LEVEL 4 LIMIT BREAK![[note]]Players can only go to Level 3 at most[[/note]] and continues to send everything at you from the souls of heroes and even weaponizing limit breaks from melee and ranged classes until he finally goes down!
* The boss of the level 70 Blue Mage questline, [[spoiler:Gogo the Mimic]], opens the fight by copying and chaining together the abilities of most of the previous bosses in the Masked Carnivale in deadly ways, such as casting Ultros' Imp Spell with the incurable Doom spell. However, once the fight reaches its second phase, [[spoiler:Gogo]] stops playing around, copying attacks from raid bosses like Exdeath while hitting the player with hard hitting debuffs that will kill them instantly if they're not careful. Blue Mages will need to make use of a wide variety of defensive abilities just to survive some of his attacks including a few that must be shielded with Diamondback. In the end, [[spoiler:Gogo]] is a really efficient FinalExamBoss not just for his particular questline or the Carnivale, but for the Blue Mage job as a whole.

* Leviathan gets this because of the epic [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic music]] and the fact that Noctis [[spoiler: temporarily gets use of the Royal Arms, even the ones he hasn't obtained yet]].

* The final boss fight of ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesTheCrystalBearers Crystal Bearers]]'' was incredibly awesome. Layle [[spoiler: faces off against Jegran, who's transformed a battleship into what in-game called the [[OneWingedAngel "Jegran Armor"]], a [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever massive crystal/robot hybrid]]. Boss fights against something so huge are always fun]]. Better still, Layle [[spoiler: gets a [[SuperMode spiffy new form]] that enables him to [[SkySurfing fly around the sky via surfing on a large crystal]], and his [[GravityMaster Crystal Bearer powers]] get SUPERCHARGED to where he can take the mooks that show up during the fight and annihilate them ''just by throwing them once''. Plus, he can tear the Jegran Armor's armor off. He can even tear a cannon off of it for use AGAINST it!]] And then eventually [[spoiler: the Jegran Armor creates a massive arm that can kill you in two hits. Unless you're using accessories that increase your Defense or some such]]... All in all, an epic boss fight to end a decent game.

** Shinryu Celestia, the Cie'th-esque dragon that the Azure Dragon l'Cie Celestia becomes, is as horrendously overpowered as the name Shinryu deserves, and she's flying around a ''frozen cloud'' in dark skies to the point that you will only [[ByTheLightsOfTheirEyes see the lights of her eyes]] until she tries to eat you - and she ''will'' outright swallow you whole. [[spoiler:If you fail to Breaksight her enough times before all ten of your selected Classmates Zero are down, Arecia calls in ''Bahamut ZERO'', providing the Bahamut-versus-Shinryu fight that everyone has been waiting for. The finisher is a ''thunder of Bahamut dragons'' bombarding Celestia with so many Mega Flares that only six-to-nine hits register and they ''all break the damage cap''.]]
** Gilgamesh has been in the world of every other ''Final Fantasy'' since ''V'', but his appearance in Orience is finally a decent fight that isn't turn-based, BonusBoss unfair, or both. He's decked out in legendary Black Tortoise Armour that soaks up everything Class Zero can throw at it, and he's swinging a "[[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy Garland]], eat your heart out"-sized BFS that will one-shot you at the recommended level. And this applies for ''both'' the original fight with him ''and'' [[spoiler:the fight using Machina-as-Incognitus]].
** The final boss [[spoiler:Cid Aulstyne as the Rursan Arbiter]] is impossible to lose. This does ''[[DefiedTrope not]]'' make it [[AnticlimaxBoss anticlimactic]], as it requires some proper strategy to win and is chock-full of awesome visuals. [[spoiler:The twelve core Classmates Zero, backed by Machina and Rem's [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic "Vermilion Fire"]], each suck out one of his twelve phantoma until Gala, DefiantToTheEnd, drowns in his own pool of blood.]]

* The Puppet's Bunker, the second part of "[=YoRHa=]: Dark Apocalype" not only brings in callbacks to more of ''Nier Automata,'' but to the rest of the ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'' series.

** Finally, you meet... The Compound, which plays out like the Machine Lifeforms are about to give birth to Adam. It's a BodyOfBodies that wouldn't look out of place as a Legion in ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'', and that's just Phase 1. The real kicker is the final boss of this raid... [[spoiler: Compound 2P, a giant version of 2P made up entirely of androids fused together to resemble her, including her SWORD! While she's fought, her theme is called "Torn from the Heavens/The Dark Colossus Destroys All (Medley)."