As far as difficulty curves go, Final Fantasy has never been particularly consistent as a franchise. There’s a fairly large disparity in quality between the three Famicom entries (Final Fantasy 1 through 3), and the SNES games range from varying shades of easy (4 & 6) to occasionally challenging (5).

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The PS1 era follows suit in this regard, with Final Fantasy 7, 8, and 9 being all over the place in terms of difficulty, but Final Fantasy 7 is arguably the easiest of the three. While a relatively easy RPG in general, Final Fantasy 7 has its fair share of challenging boss fights to keep Cloud on his toes.

Updated on April 12, 2024, by Ritwik Mitra:With Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth making waves, it's easy to get lost in the spectacle and not acknowledge the game that started it all. The original Final Fantasy 7 was a landmark moment in video gaming, letting people get lost in what is easily one of the greatest JRPGs ever made, helping the genre break new ground in the West and continue to deliver excellent gaming experiences to this day. During a player's adventure across the fascinating world of Final Fantasy 7, they are bound to stumble upon certain bosses who can pose a massive challenge if they are unprepared to deal with their relentless assault.

13 Lost Number

A Powerful Boss That Relies On Two Different Damage Types

Lost Number is especially worth fighting ASAP for anyone using Red XIII in their party – as the boss drops his ultimate Limit, Cosmo Memory – but Lost Number jumps between physical attacks and magic attacks, with its two sides working in conjunction with each other. This can result in the battle turning into complete chaos, but it's worth fighting through it.

After enough damage, the Lost Number will exclusively start using one style of attack– while something of a mercy, Lost Number will still be quite the heavy hitter here, so it's best to finish the fight as soon as humanly possible.

12 Midgar Zolom

An Almost Impossible Encounter For Early Game Players To Survive

In the grand scheme of things, the Midgar Zolom isn't too difficult. As far as the story is concerned, the party isn't even expected to fight it. The story pushes Cloud towards catching a Chocobo and just zooming right by the Midgar Zolom instead. Those who stop to fight it, however, will quickly find themselves painfully under-leveled.

Generously, losing to the Midgar Zolom doesn't actually trigger a Game Over and instead kicks the party back to the overworld. It's also worth noting that it is possible to beat the Midgar Zolom here, but it's incredibly difficult and requires a keen understanding of the mechanics a fresh player likely won't have at this point in the story.

11 Jenova-BIRTH

A Powerful Story Boss That Applies Stop To Party Members

When players board the ship to head to Costa del Sol, they have no idea what's in store for them. After a fairly light-hearted sequence where they explore the ship and interact with their party members in disguise, a sudden roadblock hits when almost everyone in the crew is done away with by a mysterious entity.

It's here that players interact with Sephiroth for the first time in the main timeline, who proceeds to unleash one of Jenova's body parts on the party. The fight against Jenova Birth is unnerving and pretty challenging to boot, especially when it casts Stop on a party member and renders them useless for quite some time.

10 Schizo

A Combination Of Two Different Elemental Foes

Schizo is fought very suddenly in Gaea's Cliff and is surprisingly sturdy to boot. Any players who miss the healing spring right before Schizo might find themselves panicking, especially since this boss is deceptively hard. At first glance, the creature seems easy enough to deal with, but the two heads it has both have different attributes, with the left using ice and the right using fire.

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Using spells with the All Materia can be particularly dangerous in this fight. It's also worth noting that this is one of the first boss battles after Aerith leaves the party. Considering how overpowered Healing Wind is, players might find themselves hurting for convenient healing, and this battle will likely have them scrambling to reorganize their playstyle in order to survive.

9 Bizarro-Sephiroth

A Boss That Can Be Approached Differently Depending On The Player's Actions

Bizarro-Sephiroth is one of the coolest endgame boss fights in gaming, and this is largely due to its hidden mechanics. Depending on how well the player makes it through Final Fantasy 7, Bizarro-Sephiroth (the final boss' first form) will not only be buffed, but the player will be allowed to take multiple parties with them in the final battle.

The default is the standard one party, but it's possible to fight Bizzaro-Sephiroth with two or three parties, depending on if Yuffie & Vincent are recruited, the result of the fight with Jenova-SYNTHESIS, and party level. Bizarro-Sephiroth also influences another boss fight, but more on that will be discussed later.

8 Rapps

Becomes Even More Dangerous Due To The Party's Lack Of Materia

Depending on when exactly players choose to go to Wutai (and if they have Yuffie in the party), they can potentially be greeted with one of Final Fantasy 7's single hardest set pieces. Upon landing in Wutai with Yuffie recruited, Shinra infantrymen will ambush the party, only for Yuffie to rob everyone blind of their Materia.

The path to Wutai is long and dangerous, with Cloud refusing to let the party leave until they get the Materia back, and the side quest ultimately ends with a boss fight against Rapps, one of Don Corneo's pets. Without Materia, this already hard boss is even harder as its Aero3 will also do around 1.5k damage, something that is hard to get around without access to magic.

7 Carry Armor

A Story Boss That Can Remove Two Party Members From The Battle

Throwing Bolt after Bolt at Carry Armor can potentially get the job done quickly enough if the party's Materia has been leveled enough (Bolt3 is what gamers should be looking for specifically), but that doesn't mean Carry Armor can't do some serious and nasty damage. Notably, Carry Armor can grab two of the players' party members, locking them in place while draining their health.

Carry Armor basically takes after Reno in this regard, but the former is far more dangerous than the latter. Considering the set piece sees the party going after Huge Materia, though, a challenging boss fight should be expected.

6 Safer-Sephiroth

The Final Boss Of The Game & One Of The Greatest Challenges In The Story

As is the case with Bizarro-Sephiroth, Safer-Sephiroth (the final boss' penultimate form) gains buffs based on how well one gets through the game – gaining health buffs for max-level characters along with some notable stat increases. Unlike Bizarro-Sephiroth, who offered the player multiple parties, Safer-Sephiroth tasks the player's core three characters with going in for the kill.

Safer-Sephiroth is hard in general, but his boss fight only gets tougher if the party is lacking in health. Equipping Magic Materia willy-nilly will result in those stat penalties coming back to bite the party– Safer Sephiroth hits hard, and even if he follows an attack pattern, it only takes one slip-up for him to be able to wipe the party.

5 Ultimate Weapon

An Optional Boss That Casts A Powerful Spell When Defeated

There are many unique bosses and the like that players need to defeat if they wish to get everyone's Ultimate Weapon. For Cloud, it's poetic that his powerful sword is held by none other than Ultimate Weapon, a powerful boss that can dish out some serious damage.

After a story encounter, the Weapon starts flying around the world at random. Players must fly around on the airship and locate this beast before engaging it in a ruthless battle that nets them Cloud's best weapon. Ultimate Weapon will flee if given the chance, but if players are strategic and gain some levels before trying to show this enemy who's boss, they will only require a few encounters to bring it down.

4 Demons Gate

A Difficulty-Spike That Requires Players To Be Quick

Demons Gate is notably the last boss players fight while Aerith is in the party, potentially resulting in the player losing Aerith's ultimate weapon in the process since she leaves with it (not that this is a problem). While that may be frustrating for completionists who like a comprehensive inventory, it is worth keeping Aerith equipped to the nines if only because Demons Gate is surprisingly hard.

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This is a difficulty spike that truly comes out of nowhere. The fact Demons Gate is just so fast and heavy-hitting makes it a challenging battle by design, but watching him gradually nudge toward the party adds an element of real-time tension that captures how hard the boss can be. If nothing else, it's a good note for Aerith to leave the party on.

3 Materia Keeper

A Story Boss With A Powerful Lightning Attack

On Mount Nibel, players encounter the Materia Keeper as the final boss of the dungeon. Suffice it to say, this boss is no slouch, featuring a wealth of powerful attacks that can take down an unaware party in no time.

Hell Combo hits like a truck, and Trine is a nightmare to deal with if players don't have any equipment that reduces, nullifies, or absorbs Lightning damage. This boss fight is a true test of the player's skill, and the fact that it's a mandatory battle makes it even more daunting to tackle.

2 Emerald Weapon

Deals More Damage Depending On The Amount Of Materia Equipped

The Weapon bosses are some of the most memorable in Final Fantasy 7, even if they aren't all particularly difficult. Diamond Weapon puts up a decent enough narrative challenge, but it isn't too daunting. Ultimate Weapon makes for a fun, lengthy fight, but it can be defeated with enough persistence. However, Emerald Weapon is a different beast entirely.

Exclusively fought underwater, the party needs to defeat Emerald WEAPON within 20 to 30 minutes. That seems more than generous for a boss fight, but the fact that there's a timer at all should put into perspective how grueling the fight with Emerald Weapon can be. Even fully prepared and at max level, this is a fight that can take a bit of time (lest one has access to Knights of the Round).

1 Ruby Weapon

Can Permanently Remove Party Members From The Battle

The single strongest enemy in Final Fantasy 7 and very likely the last challenge players will face in their playthrough, Ruby Weapon makes for one heck of a superboss. Though many fans consider Emerald Weapon to be the most difficult boss in the game, Ruby Weapon has a few more tricks up its sleeve than its underwater sibling.

Players will naturally fight Ruby Weapon during the late game, but this doesn't mean any Level 99 party can just walk in and dominate the battle. Even at max level, Ruby Weapon can be viciously hard, demanding players equip only the absolute best Materia at their disposal and encouraging them to take advantage of unorthodox strategies (entering the battle without a full party, for instance).

Final Fantasy 7

Platform(s)

PlayStation (Original) , PC , iOS , Android , Nintendo Switch , Xbox One , PS4

Released

January 31, 1997

Developer(s)

Square Enix

Genre(s)

RPG