One of the best things about Final Fantasy 16 is the combat. Getting to plow through monsters in the field and in dungeons is always a thrill thanks to the skills at Clive’s disposal. It gets more fun when fighting bosses in the game and there are plenty to love.
Bosses are often one of the best parts of an RPG, especially in this series. This list in particular is going to ignore side bosses such as the Notorious Marks. Also, Eikons are a separate type of battle all their own. Even with those stipulations, there are a lot of bosses in Final Fantasy 16 to go through. So, which ones are going to give players the greatest challenge? There will be spoilers below.
8 Morbol
Morbol is the first big boss players are going to encounter in the game. There is a mini-boss before this but it is a lot weaker comparatively. Morbol, or Malboro, is a classic monster in this series and is typically some of the deadliest thanks to their “Bad Breath” attack. Thankfully, status ailments are not that big in this game, making it a lesser encounter than some other iterations like Final Fantasy 15. That doesn’t mean players are going to have an easy time with Morbol in Final Fantasy 16 either as they may still be getting used to the controls.
7 Imperial Cannonier
Imperial Cannonier may look like some simple heavy knight opposing Clive and his party in Final Fantasy 16 but he is much more than that. Players are going to have to fight him in two forms consecutively and both versions hit for a lot of damage. The big gimmick with this guy is his literal canon which he shoots Ether out of. He can blast beams at the party as well as use the canon to hop around for speed boosts. His area of effectiveness and his speed is why he can be so deadly.
6 Iron Giant
Iron Giant is another creature like Morbol that fans have grown to cry at when it appears. This hulking behemoth of a knight has a big sword and a spiked shield almost like a gauntlet. It is slow, which is a good thing for this boss fight, but it is not concerned with movement anyway.
However, the sword length gives it an advantage as it can slash down at Clive in Final Fantasy 16 or produce a beam to fire at him. It also has a lot of HP, so whittling it down to the very core is going to take a while.
5 Barnabas
Barnabas is the Dominant of the Eikon Odin in Final Fantasy 16. Unlike the other nefarious Eikons, players don’t have to fight the Odin form much. This final boss battle with him is very involved as there are several phases. Players begin with the help of Torgal, and then they lose him in the fight and must finish alone with Clive. Thankfully, Torgal doesn’t die because that would be too cruel even for this dark story. Barnabas has movement speed and the advantage of his sword strokes encompassing the entire battlefield, so players have got to keep on their toes.
4 Kupka
Kupka is also a Dominant in Final Fantasy 16 and he holds the Eikon Titan deep within his soul. Titan is the strongest physically of the Eikons, practically being carved out of the finest stone in the land. That makes Kupka just as strong in his human form and his punches will pack a wallop. This fight has two phases with the first being fairly easy in the throne room. Once the floor shatters and Kupka gets into the earth-laden basement, his powers will grow and that’s when players are going to have a rough time.
3 Garuda
Garuda is the Eikon of Wind in Final Fantasy 16, controlled by Benedikta. There is a boss fight before this against Benedikta wherein Clive absorbs the power of Garuda inside his body. After she realizes she cannot use magic anymore, Benedikta goes off of the deep end and creates this massive tornado.
That’s where the battle takes place, in the center of it, and Clive must fight Garuda in his human form. It’s one of the few instances where this happens in the game and it is a struggle thanks to Garuda's overbearing size and her mini tornados running amok.
2 Behemoth
Behemoth is one of the oldest monsters in the series having been conceptualized in the first Final Fantasy. It returns with a bang in this game as one of the last bosses before the first encounter with Ultima. Behemoth has an attack that can launch a giant meteor on the battlefield. If players get caught in the blast radius ring of the attack, they are probably going to die. Between tiny versions of meteors flying all over the place, and Behemoth’s size, players are going to have to work hard to not be stepped on or blasted into smithereens.
1 Ultima
The first true boss fight with Ultima is the hardest version of him and like most final bosses in the Final Fantasy series, there are many phases. After the battle, players are going to get a chance to breathe though. More side quests will even open up which is weird considering the game makes it feel like this is the final battle. Regardless of pacing, this form has an attack that can suck Clive in toward the center to instantly kill him. It’s a hard attack to avoid unless players are used to dodging and dashing away from battles.
Final Fantasy 16 was released on June 22, 2023, and is available on PS5.