The Final Fantasy series has become synonymous with its brutally hard boss fights, but while the majority of them pose a decent challenge that can be overcome with enough effort, there are some that go above and beyond in their difficulty. While their attacks and abilities can definitely contribute to this, another big factor that can affect how powerful a boss can be is their health points, which, in the case of Final Fantasy, can reach some ridiculous numbers.
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A lot of these high-HP bosses are optional, which makes sense since they could potentially make the main game too hard if they were included as part of the story. However, if players really want to test their might at taking down the toughest foes possible, then these are the enemies that they should be seeking out after completing the game, or even during a playthrough if they’re brave enough.
8 Attacus (Final Fantasy 13)
HP: 9,135,000
Final Fantasy 13 often gets a lot of flak for its linear game design, but once players reach Gran Pulse about halfway through the game, they are able to explore an open world that is filled with side missions and optional encounters. One of the final missions in this area is to slay the Behemoth King, but by the time Lightning and the party actually reach the target, they find out that the real enemy is actually a blade-wielding monster known only as Attacus.
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Because of Attacus’ insanely high HP bar, it is more or less guaranteed that the player will need to dedicate a lot of time to defeat him, but the battle can be made a little easier by using debuffs. Fang or Vanille are absolutely essential for this fight since they will be able to use their Saboteur Paradigms to lower the defense of Attacus, which can make the encounter much more manageable.
7 Nemesis (Final Fantasy 10)
HP: 10,000,000 HP
Also commonly known by fans as “Omega Gold”, Nemesis is a true force to be reckoned with, but if players feel confident enough in their abilities, they can take him on after defeating every other enemy in the Monster Arena and capturing 10 of every Fiend. However, it becomes apparent as soon as the fight begins why Nemesis is considered to be one of the toughest monsters in all of Final Fantasy 10, especially since it isn’t shy about unleashing the Ultima ability to keep the party off-balance.
To complement its aggressive fighting style, Nemesis also possesses a grand total of 10 million HP. Even with a fully leveled-up party and a stash full of weapons, Nemesis will still take a while to defeat, considering just how durable he is. The fight can admittedly be made much easier by using three Celestial Weapons and spamming Quick Hit, but considering not everyone will be on the hunt for these legendary weapons, it means that a lot of players won’t be so lucky.
6 Omega Mark XII (Final Fantasy 12 – Japanese Version)
HP: 10,370,699
Omega Mark XII is a boss whose body is fitted with a multitude of deadly weapons, and it will gladly use every single one of them to decimate its opponents. Its primary attack is a giant laser beam which is always guaranteed to kill a character with two hits, even if they have reached the maximum level, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to its powerful abilities. It’s also immune to every single status ailment, so there’s no hope in using spells to try and buy the party some time.
There really is no easy way out of this fight, players will simply need to dig their heels in, and make sure they have the right gear and equipment to make it out in one piece. Omega will at least only target one character who is closest to it, so it can be worth trying to continuously buff and revive the unfortunate party member who distracts it while the others whittle down its giant health bar from further away.
5 Penance (Final Fantasy 10)
HP: 12,000,000
Penance is one of the most mysterious bosses in all of Final Fantasy. While it will only appear once all the Dark Aeons have been defeated, Penance itself isn’t an Aeon, with it looking a lot more like a war machine than anything else. The fight with Penance is long, arduous, and incredibly intense as it will purposefully use attacks that inflict Slow on the party to ensure the characters don’t get any smart ideas to take it down too quickly.
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After the player finally manages to knock off 3 million health points from the boss, Penance will then enter its second phase where it not only gains Haste but also acquires the Immolation ability, which can completely drain the target of all their MP. Even if the party manages to eventually cut its HP down to a slither, Penance can still use Judgment Day which will deal 99,999 damage to all characters, leading to some very frustrating Game Overs.
4 Vercingetorix (Final Fantasy 13)
HP: 15,840,000
Vercingetorix’s massive HP number can make him seem very intimidating, and truthfully, if players haven’t already maxed out the Crystarium for their party, they might as well not even try taking him on, since removing all of his health will take literal hours to achieve. The time it takes to win this fight is especially important because Vercingetorix will cast Doom once the fight reaches the 30-minute mark. Doom gives the player a countdown to finish the fight, and if they fail, they will automatically be presented with a Game Over screen, so there really is no time to mess around.
Believe it or not, Poison is actually the most important ability in this fight since pairing it with physical attacks will be just about enough to overcome the beast in time before Doom is cast. Beating Vercingetorix is already difficult enough, but if the player wants the ultimate challenge, they should try beating it with a five-star rating on the results screen.
3 Long Gui (Final Fantasy 13)
HP: 16,2000,000
When the characters finally manage to reach Gran Pulse in Final Fantasy 13, they will be able to see the gigantic Adamantoise monsters lurking in the background, but Long Gui is essentially a bigger, stronger, and much more defensive version of these behemoths. A common strategy many people would use to defeat the regular Adamantoise is trying to pull off Vanille’s Instant Death, but since this doesn’t work on Long Gui, it makes the fight extremely challenging.
While his attacks are immensely powerful, especially the infamous Ground Stomp, Long Gui is luckily fairly slow in its movements, which does give the player at least a bit of time to strategize and apply their much-needed buffs to survive the battle. However, considering just how much health the monster actually has, it’s going to be a very long encounter, even with maxed-out character stats.
2 Aeronite (Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13)
HP: 38,500,000 (In Hard Mode)
It’s a very good thing that Lightning had become a literal goddess by the time of the final game in the Fabula Nova Crystallis trilogy because if she was still a mere mortal, she wouldn’t stand a chance against the ferocious dragon known as Aeronite. This Superboss will actually have a different amount of HP depending on the difficulty, but while it has less than 10 million in total on Easy, this is ramped up considerably for the brutal Hard mode.
Since Lightning is the only combatant in the battles that take place in this game, it means that the fight goes on for an incredibly long time, since she’s limited to the amount of damage she can actually deal. In order to even move Aeronite’s health bar at all, the player needs to try and Stagger it with heavy moves. In fact, Staggering is crucial to the fight, since if players don’t manage to use the mechanic multiple times in a row, Aeronite will simply flee the battle after getting bored with the encounter.
1 Yiazmat (Final Fantasy 12)
HP: 50,112,254
With well over 50 million total hit points, Yiazmat is by far the most durable boss in the entire Final Fantasy series, with it being physically impossible to beat the monster in less than a few hours. To put into perspective just how staggeringly powerful Yiazmat is, in order for the player to even have the chance of fighting it, they first need to beat the Hell Wyrm, which is a boss that already boasts over 8 million HP alone.
During the Yiazmat encounter within the Colosseum, players will notice that its health is so astronomically large, that its HP bar is actually split up into individual segments, each of them containing 1 million health points. Additionally, if the party somehow successfully drops Yiazmat’s HP below 50%, the total damage it receives will be reduced by a quarter, and if the characters try to get out of its attack range for a breather, it will start buffing itself to become even stronger.
