Final Fantasyis an RPG series known for some of its climactic final bosses. Even for RPGs, they can drag on a bit through multiple forms although nothing can compare to another one of Square Enix’s franchises,Kingdom Hearts. References to Ansem aside, not every villain in theFinal Fantasygames gets boss battles.
If they don’t, typically they were just a puppet for the real villain to betray later in the game. Then some characters fit more of a rivalry role than a villain role. So, who has been snubbed over time inFinal Fantasy? There will be spoilers breaking down villains who never got a boss battle.
Emperors are typically the final villain in an RPG, movie, and so on. Emperor Gestahl fromFinal Fantasy 6definitely looked like a menacing foe and he manipulated the heroes well. For example, he brought The Returners to his banquet hall in the ruse of signing a peace treaty only to turn the tables shortly thereafter.
While cunning, Emperor Gestahl made one large mistake in trusting Kefka: a villainous clown whose temper was almost as outrageous as his laugh. Hungry for strength, Kefka killed him and usurped power over the entire world and also sunk it into anage of apocalypse. Some believe Emperor Gestahl had a redemption arc by reappearing as Gogo but Square Enix never confirmed these theories. Also, even as Gogo, he was never a boss.
Tseng is a member ofThe Turks inFinal Fantasy 7and seemingly the boss of the operation beyond Rufus who gave the full orders. Rude, Reno, and Elena were bosses throughout the game but Tseng got stabbed and seemingly died via Sephiroth’s interference early on. Eventually, Tseng finally got to be a boss viaFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth.
OtherFinal Fantasy 7characters haven’t received boss fights yet even in the remake series. President Shinra, for example, was a menace during the Midgar chapter of the game but he too got wasted via Sephiroth. The best they did for him inFinal Fantasy 7 Remakewas give him a golden gun. Zangan, Tifa’s teacher, would have been a fun optional boss too even though he wasn’t a villain.
Vinzer Deling is the perfect example of a corrupt politician who did not learn his place. He’s the President of Galbadia inFinal Fantasy 8, the rival school to Balamb Garden, the school that the main characterSquall is from. In typical RPG fashion, Vinzer wants to conquer the world by building an all-powerful army through his country’s school.
He aligns himself with Edea, a powerful sorceress, which eventually leads to his downfall as she kills Vinzer. It’s the same mistake that Emperor Gestahl made with Kefka inFinal Fantasy 6. Technically, players do fight Vinzer but it’s a doppelgänger called Fake President which turns into a monster on a train. It wouldn’t have made much sense to fight the real Vinzer inFinal Fantasy 8since he had no battle skills.
Queen Brahne is the established main villain in this classic RPG for at least two discs of the experience. She’s the mother ofGarnet/Dagger inFinal Fantasy 9who struggles with trying to stop her mom and she used to be so sweet. Then one day she wanted nothing more than to storm other kingdoms and steal their power.
Players eventually learn that she was manipulated by Kuja to wage war who ultimately becomes the main villain of the game after Queen Brahne is killed unceremoniously. She never gets a big boss battle but at least Queen Brahne died being able to apologize to her daughter. It didn’t bring any of the people she slaughtered back with her apology but families are complicated needless to say.
Yo Mika is a respected member of society inFinal Fantasy 10. He’s the High Maester of the game’s religion Yevon, so basically Yo Mika is the Pope of Spira. As the game goes on, it’s apparent that Yevon is not all that it’s cracked up to be, especially Seymour, a devoted Summoner to the religion, who eventually kidnaps Yuna and forces her to marry him.Tidus and the othersrescue Yuna and kill Seymour, and then Yo Mika throws a fit and threatens to cut Yuna off from Yevon.
He’s hiding secrets of the world, including what Sin is to the rebirth cycle. Also, Yo Mika died a long time ago and was an Unsent like Auron. Instead of fighting the party, Yo Mika eventually just peaces out. Unsent characters can turn into Fiends, so Yo Mika could have definitely been a cool boss.
Final Fantasy 16was unapologetically trying to pay homage to Game of Thrones. Anabella Rosfield, for example, had big Cersei Lannister energy from that show except that she didn’t have a relationship with her brother: thank god. Instead, she was one of the worst moms alive.
In the game’s flashback intro, Anabella betrays her husband, the king, to ally herself with a king from another nation. She burns down her home and gets her son,Clive who is the main character ofFinal Fantasy 16, thrown into slavery. She goes into a fit of rage when her other son, Joshua, dies during this sequence. As evil as she is, she doesn’t get a boss battle. She takes her own life after finding out Joshua lived and couldn’t handle the guilt of what she did all those years ago.
