The innovations that the Final Fantasy franchise has brought to the RPG genre is immeasurable. Final Fantasy titles are still viewed as event games and they garner some of the biggest excitement out of any long-running franchises. Nearly all of the titles are standouts, but Final Fantasy 6 is an especially important and unique entry in the series.
Final Fantasy 6 takes a lot of risks and is the final Super Nintendo entry in the series. It’s also the home for some very memorable boss battles. Accordingly, here are the 5 most powerful bosses in Final Fantasy 6 and the 5 weakest.
10 Strongest: Ultros (Third Fight)
Ultros is a low-tier recurring character that's mostly played for laughs and the party has to fight him a total of four times. However, it's due to how Final Fantasy 6 plays with the audience's expectations with their use of this character that he's able to become a real challenge during the third fight against him.
The biggest trick against Ultros is to be patient and avoid using magic. Doing so leads to Ultros' powerful counter spells. Additionally, his high HP and powerful moves actually make the third Ultros fight a bit of a challenge if he's not properly handled.
9 Weakest: Phantom Train
Final Fantasy titles always have a skill for pairing together two disparate ideas to come up with an unusual enemy. Final Fantasy 6's Phantom Train seems more like an enemy that's suited for a Zelda game, but it makes for a strange detour. It's bizarre to fight against a supernatural undead engine, but the franchise has done weirder things.
Due to the boss' undead status, this is a scenario where the use of a Phoenix Down will kill Phantom Train in one shot. However, even if players don't want to go that route, Sabin's Meteor Strike is also highly effective.
8 Strongest: Storm Dragon
The Storm Dragon is one of the eight legendary dragons that must be defeated in Final Fantasy 6. However, despite how the Storm Dragon is the first of the pack that's encountered, he's easily the most difficult challenge of the lot. Storm Dragon makes his presence known at Mt. Zozo and as his name indicates the dragon utilizes wind-based attacks. These are able to hurt the entire party at once, plus his Wing attack can basically annihilate the party. Add to that a very high HP and Storm Dragon is a real challenge.
7 Weakest: Humbaba
Humbaba is a good old stereotypical demon that needs to be faced in the World of Ruin after Kefka causes the cataclysm and releases a wealth of monsters. Humbaba puts on a big show and players actually have to face off against Humbaba four times (although it’s really only two). He becomes a recurring presence in the game, but despite his demeanor, he's not that much of a challenge. He's very susceptible to attacks like Bio and Poison, so leaning into those techniques will quickly take care of him.
6 Strongest: Magic Master
Part of what makes Final Fantasy 6 such an entertaining title in the series is how Kefka is able to so effectively influence the world. Magic Master is reached at the top of the Cultists' Tower and is very much a representation of the obsessive devotion to Kefka. As his name indicates, Magic Master just spams powerful elemental attacks. He also frequently changes his own weaknesses with Barrier Change, which makes things unpredictable. The worst thing about Magic Master is that whenever he's defeated he'll unleash Ultima on the party, which is something that needs to be properly accounted for.
5 Weakest: Hell's Rider
Hell's Rider certainly has an intimidating name, but he's really just used as a fancy distraction that's meant to wear the party down before facing off against the real threat, Kefka. Hell's Rider is really nothing on his own and although he features an interesting gimmick that switches the rows of party members, it really doesn't make that much of a difference in the end. He’s also weak against fire, so it’s easy to gain an advantage n this fight. The biggest challenge of Hell's Rider is the mental aspect and that he's just the prelude to something heavier.
4 Strongest: Kefka
Final Fantasy 6 marks a rare exception in the series where the villain is actually able to achieve their goal on some level. Kefka achieves the seemingly impossible and he ascends to become the God of Magic and is set on ending all existence in favor of a clean slate. That's a scope grander than most bosses. The final Kefka fight features several phases, all of which are difficult, but the final one features an onslaught of Forsaken and Meteor against the party. As grueling as this final battle is, at least Kefka's theme, "Dancing Mad" is an absolute banger.
3 Weakest: Ifrit And Shiva
Ifrit and Shiva are two powerful espers that are faced in the Magitek Research Facility. They’re previously seen as allies to Kefka, but it’s no coincidence that they’re encountered in a garbage chute since he goes on to consider them to be useless trash. Ifrit and Shiva need to be fought together, which is a pain, but these are very stereotypical bosses. Ifrit is fire-based and incredibly weak to ice attacks and Shiva is the opposite. Playing into those weaknesses easily takes them out of the picture.
2 Strongest: Ultima Weapon
Ultima Weapon is by far the strongest boss in all of Final Fantasy 6 and there's nothing about the guy that's not intimidating. This beast is said to be "strength given form," and he has an equally important backstory about being created 1000 years ago for the purpose of mass destruction. Ultima Weapon is less a villain than it is a living bomb that can't be reasoned with. Ultima Weapon is an absolute gauntlet and the boss has three phases, each of which ramp up the difficulty. He's far from impossible, but he makes Kefka look like a joke.
1 Weakest: Inferno
Inferno is a ghastly boss that's reached in Kefka's Tower. He's accompanied by his two arms, Ketu and Rahu, and when they all work in tandem he's particularly powerful and can easily petrify the party with Delta Attack. Inferno dishes out lots of strong lightning-based attacks, but he's also weak to the same thing. A wealth of Thundaga renders Inferno into an easy battle, but an even smarter play is to equip the party with Reflect Rings. This means that all of Inferno's own lightning attacks will just backfire on himself.