History AwesomeBosses / FinalFantasy

* In a crossover with Final Fantasy Tactics, one of the bosses on that list comes back, bigger and badder: Argath. In full Lucavi form, Argath is the final boss of the Royal City of Rabanastre. Not only is he massively entertaining to fight, he introduces new InterfaceScrew mechanics never before seen in XIV, and is ChewingTheScenery through the whole fight. All this while remaster music from Tactics (specifically, [[ClimaxBoss Ultima's Transformation]]) plays.

** 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:

* 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 Oricalcum, 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.
* ''Both'' of the fights against Dr. Cid in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''. The first for hilarity value, especially that attack where takes out [[{{BFG}} the biggest damn]] [[GatlingGood gatling gun you've ever seen in your life]], holds it in a ''very'' [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything suggestive position]] before opening fire into your party, laughing like a maniac the whole time. The second fight atop the [[MarathonLevel Pharos]] was very dramatic from a story perspective as well, and it doesn't hurt that Cid summons an esper against you halfway through.

** Particularly well done in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', where you get to fight him twice and he uses all sorts of ShoutOut weapons to other ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games. The fact that he is voiced by Bender from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' in the English dub adds to this as well.

* Gilgamesh is noteworthy for his theme music, his constant {{trash talk}}, and his constant [[VillainExitStageLeft running away from battle on the verge of defeat]]. His popularity is such that he cameos in nearly every subsequent entry in the series.

* 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 '90's 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]].]]

---> "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 bretheren, and befoul their rest with the profanity of your continued existance... 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."
** And AFTER Kaiser, we get the Omega Weapon, which is Kaiser turned up to [[UpToEleven 12!!]]

* ''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 ''CrisisCore.'' 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.

* '''ODIN'''. He appears and slices through anything in his path. Giant possessed pieces of armor almost immune to physical attacks included. To get him, he'll give you 20 minutes to reach and defeat him, while he just ''waits ''. Take too long and no one will remember you existed. ''He even mocks you if you try to leave his tomb.''

* 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.

* 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 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 "[[http://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.

* [[spoiler: Ifrit is a glorious ClimaxBoss. With greater agility than you might expect, he is a graceful, beautiful fire demon. When you deplete his health, Bahamut comes in and attacks. Ifrit dodges everything, but is opened up to an attack from Noctis that breaks a horn. He keeps going for Round 2 though! Stronger, faster, and with an occasional immunity to damage, you need to be skilled and strategic to beat him again. Oh, and you can counter a big jump attack from him and slam him into the ground. He is finally finished off when Shiva freezes him with Diamond Dust and shatters him with a kiss. Yes. Two Summons were needed to beat him. Making this even better, if you pay attention to the Mythology, Ifrit is the GreaterScopeVillain of the game, originally responsible for the [[TheCorruption Starscourge]], making the fate of the [[AdaptationalVillainy least likable incarnation]] of Ifrit very cathartic.]]
* [[spoiler: [[BigBad Ardyn Izunia]] (or [[MagnificentBastard Ardyn Lucis Caelum]], if you prefer) is a DuelBoss that mimics most of Noctis’ abilities, including weapon summoning, warping and magic. Now you know how your enemies felt. You need to be clever here. Ardyn doesn’t leave himself open for long so you need to make good use of evasive and hit and run tactics, paying attention to when he’s using magic and when to use Warp Strikes to interrupt his own warping attacks. Eventually, he wants to see your full power. So, bringing back the EleventhHourSuperpower from the Leviathan fight, Noctis and Ardyn use their Armigers to fly though the city, replete with VisualEffectsOfAwesome (props to the visual wizards at SE for pulling that one off) and lay into each other with all they have. Eventually, both hurt and tired, they resort to a “war of attrition”, limping towards each other and swinging their swords, culminating in Noctis hitting with each Royal Arm in succession to finally end the fight. While a little more understated than some other fights in the game, especially at the end, it’s a very appropriate FinalBoss and, shockingly, Ardyn doesn’t go OneWingedAngel! He didn’t need to be any more of a badass.]]

* Gaff Gafgarion in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' also runs away when defeated, has the Dark Sword ability so he takes little damage if you're underleveled and your last battle is practically one-on-one. Boy, that's one nice arse to kick.
** Argath/Algus in the same game, because there is nothing more satisfying then finally getting to kill that smug, arrogant, bigoted bastard. This is made even better in the [[VideogameRemake PSP remake]], where he comes back as a zombie, and you get to kill him again.

* The final boss of the Alexander raid, [[spoiler: Alexander Prime]] is an amazing fight both in gameplay and in story. The fight begins quite average for the first half of it. It gets awesome at the halfway point where [[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 [[WorthyOpponent Worthy Opponents]] but also trying to help defeat the BigBad of the arc as well]].

* ''Both'' of the fights against Dr. Cid in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''. The first for hilarity value, especially that attack where takes out [[{{BFG}} the biggest damn]] [[GatlingGood gatling gun you've ever seen in your life]], holds it in a ''[[FreudWasRight very]]'' [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything suggestive position]] before opening fire into your party, laughing like a maniac the whole time. The second fight atop the [[MarathonLevel Pharos]] was very dramatic from a story perspective as well, and it doesn't hurt that Cid summons an esper against you halfway through.

* 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 '90's 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]] [[{{Badass}} badness]].

** To a lesser extent, so is the battle against JENOVA Birth. It occurs after the first real encounter between the team and Sephiroth, after a brief but effective build-up that created a really creepy atmosphere in this ship where the crew was slaughtered. (The ''Trail of Blood'' soundtrack striked again). The fight itself is decently challenging, as the boss has a lot more HP than the previous ones and hits harder. If you're not prepared enough, it can give you a very hard time...

** If you want to talk of 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.

* Say what you will about DirgeOfCerberus, but it had some awesome boss fights. The second match against [[MightyGlacier Azul The Cerulean]] in the slowly descending elevator and both fights with Weiss are intense and leave you feeling like the biggest badass when after you've cleared them.

* The final boss fight of ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesCrystalBearers 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.

* Though not a boss battle, the series staple Adamantoise returns with a big upgrade... a [[BossInMookClothing REALLY big]] upgrade of ''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...

* Let's just get this out of the way first: the simple fact that level is not an issue even to an inexperienced player, as long as you pay attention to the tutorial sessions, means that anything is awesome even if you're horrendously underlevelled if can land a Breaksight hit - and the fights that ''require'' Breaksight hits are awesome in their own right:

** Gilgamesh has been in the world of every other 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 [[AwesomeMusic Vermilion Fire]], each suck out one of his twelve phantoma until Gala, DefiantToTheEnd, drowns in his own pool of blood.]]

* Chaos is one awesome final boss. Besides the fact you're facing the BigBad of the original game and the implied BiggerBad of the ''entire series'', you face him [[RuleOfThree three times]], and each round he gets more berserk and powerful. And then you hear him call out "[[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever Shiver]], [[LimitBreak At the power]] [[OneWingedAngel of a god]]!" If there was an Awesome Moment trope for simple ''attacks'', [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjSZH4Osb9U Utter Chaos]] would be an entry.

* Definitely Bizarro Sephiroth as well, 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 Butt, nonetheless. The [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic awesome]] boss music counts as well.

* Definitely Bizarro Sephiroth as well, 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.

* 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 is also marks the second appearance of the Knights of the Round in the main line 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 Heavensward's main story quest [[spoler: King Thordan and his Twelve Knights is essentially the Knights of the Round Summon from Final Fantasy VII turned into a Primal Trial. This is also marks the second appearance of the Knights of the Round in the main line 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]].

** Particularly well done in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', where you get to fight him twice and he uses all sorts of ShoutOut weapons to other ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games. The fact that he is voiced by Bender from ''Futurama'' in the English dub adds to this as well.

** Particularly well done in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', where you get to fight him twice and he uses all sorts of ShoutOut weapons to other ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games. The fact that he is voiced by [[WesternAnimation/Futurama Bender]] in the English dub adds to this as well.