Superboss
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A Superboss is a term referring to an optional boss in the Final Fantasy series that is typically very powerful, normally even more so than the game's final boss, and generally give either large amounts of experience, rare items, or both. They usually are found deep at the end of optional dungeons, or can only be found after a long series of sidequests. They usually have no bearing on the storyline, and their existence is rarely explained. Likewise, the rewards gained from defeating a superboss are often not particularly useful; sometimes they give a key item as a proof of defeating the boss; as the player must already be extraordinarily skilled to defeat the boss in the first place, they thus have no need for further battle enhancements afterwards. Superbosses simply exist to challenge the player and give them something to do once the main storyline is finished.
Appearances
Edit
Final FantasyEdit
Shinryu and Omega in the Lifespring Grotto, and Death Gaze in the Whisperwind Cove, are the superbosses that appear in the Dawn of Souls and the 20th Anniversary editions.
Final Fantasy IIEdit
Ultima Weapon appears as a superboss in the Dawn of Souls version.
Final Fantasy IIIEdit
Iron Giant, a superboss in the Nintendo DS and iOS versions, can be found at the bottom of the optional "??? Dungeon", which is only available after unlocking the Mognet side quest.
Final Fantasy IVEdit
In the DS version, Geryon and Proto-Babil are the superbosses. They can be faced in New Game Plus after stealing the Dark Matter from Zeromus during the first playthrough. Proto-Babil can be fought on the Moon's Surface, while Geryon can be fought either at the Giant of Babil or at Mount Ordeals.
Final Fantasy IV: The After YearsEdit
Added by KelciusThe After Years has a total of three optional superbosses located in the Depths including Omega and Lord Dragon (otherwise known as Shinryu) from Final Fantasy V, and the Ultima Weapon from Final Fantasy VI. They have some different attack patterns and abilities. The player obtains powerful equipment after defeating them.
In The Complete Collection for the PSP, a new post-game boss called Lost Babil was added. The player must talk with Challengeway at the secret location on the True Moon to fight it. They must assemble three parties to fight three seperate bosses, which consists of Lost Babil's torso, head and CPU. This could be seen as a reference or reappearance of previous superboss Proto-Babil.
Final Fantasy VEdit
The original game included the first two superbosses to appear in the series, Omega and Shinryu. The Advance version adds stronger versions of these bosses, Omega Mk.II and Neo Shinryu, in the optional Sealed Temple dungeon. The final boss of the dungeon is also the final superboss, Enuo.
Final Fantasy VIEdit
Originally, CzarDragon was stated to be the superboss in Final Fantasy VI, but was dropped for unconfirmed reasons prior to the game's SNES release.
Exclusive to the game's Advance port, the Kaiser Dragon, a finished version of the dummied boss CzarDragon, awaits the player in the heart of the Dragons' Den after the player has defeated the eight dragons found within. Once Kaiser Dragon has been defeated, the true superboss of this game Omega Weapon will appear in its place.
Final Fantasy VIIEdit
The North American, European, and International versions of Final Fantasy VII feature two new powerful superbosses:
The Emerald Weapon, which appears at the Bottom of the Sea at random locations, grants the player a key item that can be traded into (some of) the most powerful Materia in the game.
The Ruby Weapon, found by making contact with its head as it is sticking out of the sand in the Corel Desert near the Gold Saucer, grants the player a key item that can be traded into the most useful mount Chocobo in the game.
Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII-Edit
Minerva is an optional superboss and the final mission of the Great Cavern of Wonders group, Mission 9-6-6.
Final Fantasy VIIIEdit
The Omega Weapon is fought at Ultimecia Castle, and Ultima Weapon is found at the bottom of the Deep Sea Research Center.
Final Fantasy IXEdit
Ozma is found in the Chocobo's Air Garden after completing most of the Chocobo Hot and Cold side quest. In order to be able to hit it with physical attacks, all of the Friendly Enemies must have been given their requested gem.
Final Fantasy XEdit
In the Omega Ruins, the bosses, Ultima Weapon and Omega Weapon, can be found. They are, however, relatively weak, and many of the Monster Arena creations are stronger than them, especially Nemesis.
The International and PAL versions include the Dark Aeons, and once all of them have been defeated, the strongest superboss, Penance, appears in the Calm Lands.
Final Fantasy X-2Edit
In Final Fantasy X-2, the girls can gain access to Via Infinito through Bevelle. Many unsent characters became powerful fiends in the dungeon, with the strongest being Trema, a former denizen of Yevon. Angra Mainyu in Bikanel Desert can be fought multiple times during routine dig sessions, and can be fought and finally defeated after completing a certain quest. While not considered a superboss by some, he is strong enough to be considered as one.
The game's International version also includes the boss Major Numerus, a four-headed snake on par with other superbosses. Meanwhile, although not quite as powerful, a fiend-version of Shinra titled Strongest Shinra is also a superboss.
Final Fantasy XIEdit
Due to the nature of Final Fantasy XI being an MMORPG, virtually all in-game encounters are optional, including the main storyline and the final boss. However, there still exist a few event bosses and High Notorious Monsters that have been regarded as the most challenging encounters in the game. This list has changed over the years, being as the game constantly evolves and new content will undoubtedly influence the difficulty of older ones.
Of the High Notorious Monsters (HNMs) in Vana'diel, the current reigning superboss would be Absolute Virtue from Chains of Promathia. It was notorious for being undefeatable without using some form of exploit as all prior successful methods of defeating it were patched out because it had not been killed the "proper way". Although it remained undefeated for years, within 2 months after the Level 80 cap raise, Absolute Virtue was finally defeated legitimately, but still poses a considerable challenge without the right alliance set-up.
Notable former HNM superbosses are Kirin, the first HNM that initially took nearly 2 hours to defeat, and Pandemonium Warden, which had its difficulty reduced due to it taking far too long to kill (a linkshell fighting for eighteen hours could not defeat it), an incident which generated a wave of bad press in gaming media circles.
Added by BlueGoobbueDynamis Lord, the final boss of Dynamis, is the greatest event superboss in Final Fantasy XI. It initially required a minimum of 40 players to defeat under a very specific strategy (Red Mages using Chainspell Stun) which is still the main viable strategy used to defeat him to this day. Without this, the Dynamis Lord is capable of annihilating entire alliances of players with just a single use of its many special attacks, the most damaging of which is Oblivion Smash.
Other battlefields known for their extreme difficulty include "Divine Might", a battlefield that pits an alliance against the Ark Angels, "Waking the Beast", where one must face off against Carbuncle Prime and the 6 celestial avatars, as well as "The Wyrmking Descends", which is a battlefield against the Wyrmking Bahamut and his wyrm minions.
Final Fantasy XIIEdit
The Hell Wyrm can be fought in the Sochen Cave Palace after the conclusion of the Wyrm Philosopher side quest. However, the Hell Wyrm is considered a mere prelude to the game's hardest superboss, Yiazmat.
Added by LiCobraOmega Mark XII is a less difficult superboss that can only be accessed once the Mark for Yiazmat has been accepted.
Also, there are the light and dark Espers, Ultima - who is found at the very top of the Great Crystal - and Zodiark - who is found at the very end of the sealed area of the Henne Mines. Both are extremely difficult due to high defense and devastating attacks.
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant WingsEdit
Yiazmat returns once again, this time sheltered within the dark confines of Midlight's Deep. Though not as powerful as its Final Fantasy XII incarnation, Yiazmat has gained the Elemental affinity of Lightning and has retained most of its devastating attacks. It is a Ranged unit.
If the player completes all missions, the final boss and all of his minions will be on LV99, making for the game's hardest battle.
Final Fantasy XIIIEdit
Vercingetorix is the final Cie'th Stone mission. For his mission to become available, the player must have defeated Missions 27 to 51. Vercingetorix is a flying Undying with 15,840,000 HP. Defeating Vercingetorix, and as such completing all missions, earns the player the Galuf's Grail Achievement/Trophy and the Exorcist Achievement/Trophy for defeating the final Undying Cie'th.
Another superboss is Long Gui, a massive Adamantortoise who becomes available once the player has completed all of the fal'Cie Titan's trials as well as missions 56-62, at which point every oretoise on the Archylte Steppe except one will become a Long Gui or a Shaolong Gui. Long Gui has 16,200,000 HP, while its two front legs have 1,080,000 HP each. Disabling its legs is highly recommended, as doing so renders it defenseless, but they eventually recover. Defeating Long Gui typically requires disabling its legs at least twice. Defeating Long Gui earns the player the Adamant Will achievement/trophy.
Final Fantasy XIII-2Edit
The two most powerful enemies in the Archylte Steppe could be considered superbosses: The Long Gui from Final Fantasy XIII returns with the highest HP in the game, excluding Gilgamesh, at 4,160,000. Another enemy, Yomi, is similar in appearance to, and uses the same battle tactics as Vercingetorix from the original game. One of the Undying, it's a one of a kind Cie'th. Defeating it along with the Long Gui, Ochu, and Immortal will award the player the Big Game Hunter Achievement/Trophy.
Raspatil is another powerful superboss found on the Ashensand of Oerba in 400 AF. The Cie'th boasts 3,666,000 HP and the ability to call other powerful Cie'th into battle, and defeating her awards the player 25,000 CP (the most of any enemy in the game) and the Fair Fighter Achievement/Trophy.
Square Enix also released several boss fights of relative difficulty as downloadable content. Notably, the recurring superbosses: Omega and Gilgamesh are two examples.
Final Fantasy TacticsEdit
Elidibus is a mysterious character similar to the Lucavi fought in the final level of the optional dungeon, Midlight's Deep. However, he is not significantly more difficult than the final boss, Ultima. The challenge comes from winning the battle while learning Zodiark and/or obtaining the Byblos.
Final Fantasy Tactics AdvanceEdit
The Corrupt Judges await as a post-final boss challenge. Though they are technically classified as superbosses, they exist in a gray area of this term, as this classification is based only on the fact that they are encountered after defeating the game's final boss, Li-Grim. Li-Grim, however, remains the game's most difficult boss.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the RiftEdit
The Upsilon class of enemy, one being the red Smoldering Incubus, a rather weak superboss, can be fought in the optional Heritor ability quest tackled before the final ability quest. However it is only a prelude to the game's true superboss, Magick Weapon, a possible incarnation of the Omega Weapon (it was built on the same model, like Smoldering Incubus, a possible incarnation of Ultima Weapon). It can be fought after defeating the Neukhia, the final boss. Clan Cinquleur members also are superbosses, as the second and third time the player encounters them, they are level 99 and are very difficult to defeat (albeit not as difficult as Magick Weapon). Other superbosses are the bosses of Brightmoon Tor side quest, and the clans of "The Final Mission", which encounter the party at level 99, and ban the summoning of Scions (they can still be summoned, but if the player uses one, they lose the judge's protection).
Vagrant StoryEdit
Asura appears as the superboss for Vagrant Story found at B3 of the Iron Maiden Dungeon. She is difficult to deal damage to and has the highest HP in the Game at 999. Story-wise she is the reason for the filling of the Iron Maiden with The Dark (and is also the namesake of the Dungeon) after being imprisoned and experimented on by Müllenkamp.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a KingEdit
Omega appears as the 50th floor boss in the optional DLC dungeon Infinity Spire. He is far more powerful than regular Infinity Spire floor bosses. He uses an attack called Wave Cannon that will hit every Adventure that is inside Infinity Spire for 1,000 damage, even if they are not fighting him (although any adventurer not in battle at the time cannot be knocked out by it). Defeating Omega rewards one of the Adventurers who survived the battle with the Omega Symbol, a level 50 necklace that adds +27 to all stats, as well as a regular medal for completing the floor.
A Wyrm appears as the 99th floor boss of the same dungeon. It is by far the most powerful opponent in the game. It is similar to Omega except even more powerful. It has an attack called Tidal Wave that will hit every adventurer in the dungeon for 3,000 damage. On defeat, one surviving Adventurer in the battle will get the Ragnarok Prime, a sword that gives +57 to all stats, as well as a regular medal for completing the floor.
These two superbosses are the only ones in the entire series the player does not get to fight directly.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of TimeEdit
Great Galdes, the final boss from Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates returns as a superboss in Echoes of Time. The battle is identical to the Ring of Fates encounter, although the difficulty is ramped up significantly.
Dissidia Final FantasyEdit
Inward Chaos is the final storyline and pits the player against all twenty-two playable characters of escalating level, ending with a battle with Chaos at Level 110. Opponents ranging from Level 100 to Level 150 can be fought in the Blackjack Course in the Duel Colosseum, including a Level 130 Chaos. At these levels opponents have much higher stats than the player's character, and due to being at a higher level gain a bonus to their base Bravery.
Dissidia 012 Final FantasyEdit
A Level 130 Feral Chaos with over a hundred thousand HP is fought as the final boss of the bonus storyline "Confessions of the Creator". A Level 95 Feral Chaos can be fought earlier in the same storyline as a manikin of the true boss.
Final Fantasy Legend IIEdit
The Haniwa functions as a Superboss similar to Warmech, in that it appears very rarely randomly in a certain area (the final area of the game) and is very dangerous, but is arguably not as powerful as the final boss. It can use Quake and Flare and can drop the powerful Seven Sword, which will occasionally use against the player in battle for damage in the high thousands. In the DS remake, the Haniwa is depicted as a real-sized haniwa, small enough to fit in one's hand, despite its superboss-esque statistics. The real-world haniwa were later used by Square as inspiration for the Cactuar.
