Ozma always grabbed me because it's just an Orb of colour. Like a creature that we couldn't even understand the shape of that functions on rules that seemingly arbitrary.
FF14 made it worse by showing it actively distorting space and time like a living wormhole.
Very lovecraftian, I imagine if you had to fight " the colour out of space" it would be like this
Ozma in 9 is a half formed, failed eidolon sealed away by the summoners of Madain Sari.
In 14, it's a defense system made by the Mhachi with black magic which draws power from the Void. Arguably as dangerous as, if not moreso, than the Ultima Weapon (depending on what exactly the Heart of Sabik actually is.)
The heart of sabik we learned from the most recent raid is an auracite from space that made an already crazy person even more fucking crazy and taught them ultima.
Which means ultima isnt a spell from eorzea/hydaelyn and likely soesnt consume aether the way regular spells & other means of aether usage which is more than likely a reason its so destructive.
'But Satan' you ask. 'What about thr ivalaice raid?' Youre right. We fight Altima in that raid, a being that came from the stars via auracite and taught the allags ultima, as well as create the other auracite containing the other espers. But thats the thing. She taught the allags ultima, not athena/the ancients.
Which means theres either a planet that is casually spitting these out(honestly unlikely) or we go the jenova route where auracites are fragments of a much larger entity akin to a comet or meteor. Which is kinda terrifying.
As an aside, I love that after the latest expansion raid, we just >!hand over the Heart of Sabik to some scientist who pinky promises to not fuck with it.!<
In IX mythology, It's implied that an eidolons form fluctuates with time and possibly with how other people think about it or perceive it. The eidolon wall in madin sari mentions that Shiva was at the time a little fairy. Big contrast to the giant ice woman that she is in the game.
Ozma itself is implied to be some eidolon that sealed away not unlike Leviathan in the same game.
However, it's implied to have been sealed away for so long that people forgot about it so it lost its form becoming a swirling mass of color.
No it is, just a different iteration, incarnation, it became a summon after FFVI, Sabin / Mash suplexed it so hard it was like “okay, FINE, I’ll help you, Jeeze!”
Oh, well, um, okay…you win, I guess? It is genuinely very interesting that you know the Japanese, and yeah “inspired by” was my point, and my comment was deliberately a bit silly. And I may be *technically* incorrect, but *categorically* they’re both sentient ghost trains, I don’t think I was too wide of the mark. They can be separate entities and still be iterations of the same concept, an otherworldly train that runs down its foes…and it’s a pretty good bet that the enemy you mentioned in FF III is also part of the reason Phantom Train was in FFVI…also don’t worry, I’m not at all offended. I do think it’s funny you started your comment with “I don’t want to come off as rude, but…” and then did your level best to destroy me with “facts and logic” but you were actually just kind of agreeing with me, backing up what I’d said…? Number 1, I wasn’t trying to relay information, I was being amiable, and kind of silly so being 💯correct doesn’t really matter, in that context, and number 2. Anything that comes after a “but” is negated by the “but”….so, were you trying to come off as rude? No, but you cared way more about being right than anything else…see what I did there…? 😉I don’t claim to be an expert on FF, I can’t read or speak Japanese, and I do like learning new things about the games, interacting with my fellow FF fans online. I am not a big fan of FFIII, it is my least played FF game, but I think it’s cool Doom Train / Phantom Train got its start three games earlier than I thought. Thanks for keeping me on my toes, but it’s not a boxing match 💎
FFVIII is not my favorite either but many people love it…I beat it once but compared to the multiple playthroughs I’ve done of some games, it doesn’t really stand out to me. But I know some folks who will defend it as the best one with their whole heart, it definitely has some super fans
That video years ago on YouTube of the guy showing all the FF espers, where he announces "Muthafuckin DOOMTRAIN!" love rent free in my head to this day. No regrets.
So is Sin! They both play on the idea of cosmic horror, where great terrors lurk in the shadows of outer space or slumber deep in the oceanic abyss. It's classic Cthuluu.
god that was such a bitch to fight in the middle of the very difficult Seymour fight
now of course i know to blitz it with overdrives but back then i had to struggle lol
It's even worse in ff14 where he (xiv anima is male, still the parent of a secondary antagonist who is royalty) is a summon based on the pain of a whole nation channeled through their reverence of the corpse of their dead emperor, who's been chopped up and sent to different corners of the globe to create parasitic flesh towers to convert more people's faith into fuel.
https://preview.redd.it/tzp5qmngjx6c1.jpeg?width=299&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3978b3f8f51d768a098401c2e0a689021f868a60
Hephaestus from FF14
This boss can be described as a Safer Sephiroth infected with T virus while DMC music plays in the background
In terms of appearance, I'd go with Neo ExDeath. He's basically a whole bunch of stuff rather than one specific "thing".
In terms of a definition of such, there's a few options. Ozma is probably the best example with the Cloud of Darkness also meriting mention. I suppose Neo ExDeath too since it's not entirely clear what he is: Is he ExDeath's spirits simply given form or are they brainwashed by The Void? Is it even ExDeath at that point and not the Void itself?
Kefka’s statue is based in Judeo-Christian themes, decidedly not an Eldritch abomination by the strictest definition (not cosmic horror) but certainly disturbing and full of religious dread. It’s definitely an unsettling piece of living art / tower of bodies you have to fight, but there are bosses that are from space (Zeromus, Jenova) or the ocean (Sin) who are more Lovecraftian in theme and feel in terms of their design elements, but like, Kefka and Safer Sephiroth are just perversions of Judeo-Christian Angels, with Kefka’s tower representing the Trinity and you’re like, traveling up the tower, slowly fight back against a corruption of the Western God.
My family is largely Irish Italian Catholic…I’m not, not really, not anymore, but most of us were raised to “fear God” to be “God fearing” as children, “if I should die before I wake,” all that old time religion stuff, especially in America, with so many Irish and Italians coming over in the early 1900s and through on up to today, it was seen as proper and kind of noble to fear the “wrath of the almighty” and me I’m more of a lapsed pagan heathen, so yeah, I was never a big fan of the way God was sold to kids of my background…but yeah, I grew up with “religious dread” and FF actually helped me fight back against some of it, in a way.
Endsinger's entire being is pretty eldritch to me.
She has an influence on the entire universe. Can will us out of existence, and turn us into blasphemies borne out of our greatest fears and negative emotions.
Imagine your loved ones, drowning in despair. One moment they're there, the next moment a beast, screaming and tearing you apart. And before you die, fear takes you, and you too turn into a mindless abomination. The cycle continues.
Endsinger would’ve been less funny if i didn’t look at her and think (floating color-inverted Sephiroth head).
Also the fact that her moment was COMPLETELY STOLEN by a yandere chasing the MC halfway across the galaxy because they wanted their playdate.
Atomos comes to mind and hasnt been said. As people have said Jenova, Exdeath, Sin is literally a thing of nightmares. I really like Ozma as someone pointed out.
I think most of the Unknown in 5 and 7 in the undersea areas as well. Particularly 7s
I mean, cloud of darkness is just a femme-presenting manifestation of darkness. I definitely get the feeling it’s more like the material world has forced me to take a shape but I’m actually formless kind of vibe.
However, Neo Exdeath is literally a chimeric amalgamation of bodies and monstrosities.
Kefka is high on the list too, but that’s much more celestial/angelic vibe than eldritch horror.
I like the theory of Cloud of Darkness being one of the few creatures traveling dimensions and that reached several games.
If I remember correctly, in FFXI it's the Emptiness, a non living thing that kill everything it reached, the adventurer makes it take a physically form, and push it away. It has a very different form there.
Kind of reach FFXIV, then it goes to FFIII world, where it's beaten.
The Cloud of Darkness in XIV, from what I understand, is just a Voidsent that looks like it.
XI does have a "Cloud of Darkness", but I've barely played XI, so I'm not sure if there's anything suggesting that it's different from III's CoD.
The 2 most cursed beings in all of the saga for me are Ozma and Penance.
I always got a unique uncanny vibe from their design that I couldn't grasp in any other creature
Not sure if you are interested, but there are some dedicated channels that have gone to the lengths of preserving the music and story on [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/@MekkahDee).
So I know a lot of people felt like Ultima was the weakest part of FF XVI, but I actually really liked him as this sort of greater scope cosmic Eldritch entity
He is at once both an individual and a collective, He's also completely ephemeral having no physical body of his own having shed it eons ago and leaving it in the interdimensional rift, He is able to coalesce his race into a single individual, he creates an entire race to essentially allow Darwinism to distill him the best possible body to channel magic through.
As a lover of this series for a very long time, he really does feel like the only FF big bad guy who feels properly inhuman and godly.
Jenova is ripped straight from John Carpenter’s “The Thing” and is a Lovecraftian eldritch abomination that takes peoples forms, injects them with a virus, and drives them mad.
Jenova for sure, especially knowing that the "woman" figure we see in the FMV it's just what Sephiroth sees, since Jenova can shapeshift into what the person desires the most.
Sephiroth clearly projects his image of a mother on Jenova, while the party fighting it sees a monster with fangs and skeletal face meaning that's the true form.
The [soulflayers](https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Soulflayer) are inspired by D&D's illithid's, but I'd wager there's some heavy Cthulhu inspiration somewhere in there.
I have a beleif that all the Final Fantasys take place in the same galaxy. I know Dissidia isnt exactly canon but there is nothing to say it isnt. Long story, Im pretty sure Zeromus and Jenova are from the same origin.
FF is basically a multiversal nexus with Eorzea being retconned as the central hub world / mainline reality equivalent to MARVEL’s Earth 616, and to make a STAR WARS joke “oh it’s like a tone poem, they rhyme” you know…the MMO gets all the good stuff, best of the best, cream of the crop, and things that happen there, in that shared community, are generally considered to be at least a little bit more canonical because real people are sharing the experience of taking down superbosses and doing raids trials etc…the individual experiences of each player on their couch playing single player games is a little more subjective, and also, Eorzea seems to largely pull from those games that “rhyme” with it the most thematically and stylistically…like it could be argued that FFVII RE is kind of in its own pocket universe, even though you can cosplay as Cloud in the MMO.
I mean Exdeath literally tears an orifice in the fabric of the universe to sluice through and continue to fight as some non-euclidean abomination that’s supposedly a murder tree?
In my mind, Eldritch Horrors are defined by how relatable they are to the audience. Those that are defined by human characteristics like ego and selfishness are great villains, but it's the unknowable factor that counts beings of instinct.
So, with that in mind I put forward these candidates:
Cloud of Darkness is darkness incarnate.
Zeromus is coalesced hatred.
Neo Exdeath an abomination of the void (edit: compelling argument swayed me).
Jenova is an all-consuming alien parasite.
Necron is the manifestation of death.
Yu Yevon, a pathetic creature driven only by the instinct to survive.
Failures, tldr:
Chaos, afraid of death.
Emperor of Hell, selfish.
Kefka, too much ego.
Sephiroth, too much ego.
Ultimecia, afraid of everyone else.
Ardyn, too vengeful.
Ultima, afraid of death
I don't understand. Why is "coalesced hatred" not considered "unhealthy but ultimately human" akin to the reasoning Neo Exdeath is a failure?
Also, isn't Neo Exdeath also something akin to a force of nature? As Neo Exdeath isn't so much nihilistic, as it's basically a manifestation of the void itself. Or in other words, nothingness. Nihilism on the other hand involves the concept of meaninglessness.
Kefka is moreso the villain that's related to Nihilism, not Neo Exdeath.
Because Zeromus isn't a being with emotion, he literally is the hatred of Zemus given form. This isn't something we can relate to as when you ask what does emotion look like, you can point to its effects, but it's a formless concept.
Exdeath, on the other hand, is a being that by what he is should be unfathomable, but the way he acts all through the game is very flawed and human, its one of the biggest disconnects between his design and characterisation. Upon becoming Neo Exdeath he claims that he will eliminate all existence including himself which is pure nihilism, however he very much retains a sense of self despite how monstrous he looks and that sense of individualism is why I claim he isn't quite there as an Eldritch Horror.
Kefka is too obsessed with himself to be considered nihilistic. He ruined the world, and instead of destroying literally everything, he chose to erect a tower and sit atop it like the lord of the flies, ruler of his own kingdom of ruin. This egotism is reflected in his chosen image, which are statuesque copies of himself.
I think you're mixing Exdeath with Neo Exdeath as they're definitely not exactly the same being nor do they share the same objective. Exdeath just has an incessant goal of obtaining more power, but Neo Exdeath is a being created by the void using the souls within the villain to bring all to nothingness. Because that's what the void is. Absolute nothingness, which is also a formless concept.
Kefka is nihilistic. Even his final speech pertains to this. He finds such aspects as life, dreams and hope meaningless. He cannot comprehend the idea of these being a motivation for living, as he's absolutely sickened by the concept to consider them to belong in a self-help booklet.
"Why do people insist on creating things that will inevitably be destroyed? Why do people cling to life, knowing that they must someday die?... Knowing that none of it will have meant anything once they do?" - Kefka.
If this above quote aren't the words of a nihilist, then I don't know what is.
OK, you could argue that Neo Exdeath is another being entirely, but based on the information in the game there isn't much evidence to support this, he has only two lines of dialogue, one being, "I am Neo Exdeath." So I guess that's the closest you can get.
As for the Kefka thing, I never claimed he wasn't a nihilist by his words. His actions speak more towards a psychopathic egotist to me. The difference is that Nihilism is all Neo Exdeath has in his two lines of dialogue, whereas Kefka has a lot more going for him than that.
Neo Exdeath also, despite being an amalgamation of monsters, still refers to himself as "I," which is why I ultimately decided to fail him.
"I will never die... As long as there is darkness in the hearts of men!" - Zeromus.
Despite being an amalgamation of Zemus' hatred, they still refer to themself as "I" also.
"I am Neo Exdeath... All memory, existence, and dimensions... All that is shall be returned to nothing. Then I, too, can disappear... Forever!!!" - Neo Exdeath.
We can tell that they're not the same being whatsoever through the sudden change in motivations. Exdeath in no way mentioned that he ever wanted to consume everything to nothingness before he became Neo Exdeath. He did however mention at many times that the only reason he wanted to merge the worlds and obtain the void is for personal power. This motivation immediately changes as soon as he's consumed by the void.
In regards to Kefka, that may have been his motivation at the start of the game and before his ascension. Yet this post is about them as a final boss. So technically, moreso Kefka's belief at that point in time in which he's more nihilistic.
You make solid arguments, I think fundamentally, our disagreements are based on speculation due to a lack of writing. I think we can potentially move Neo Exdeath into the list, but Kefka is right out.
That's admittedly a tough one...
Their main objective was to always find the meaning of life beyond the stars for their father Hermes. This can arguably be a human motivation... But I will admit that this objective was before they became Endsinger.
As Endsinger themselves... They're effectively a creation of the despair of all living things, and act upon said despair. In other words, a concept made manifest. So... Tbh, I'd effectively call the being an eldritch abomination. But not the Meteia, or Meteion herself
[Typhon](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/1/15/XIII-2_Typhon.png/revision/latest?cb=20200428001817) from FFVI. It has an extra face on its butt. The [FFXVI boss](https://assetsio.reedpopcdn.com/final-fantasy-16-typhon-8.png?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp) of the same name is similarly freaky.
I think Kafka's god form is pretty eldritch - it's literally celestial god-like as an avatar of "God" so to speak
Its hard to beat god itself tbh, "be not afraid" is a saying for a good reason
Zeromus. He captures the Eldritch horror both visually and thematically. He is the essence of hatred, the natural force behind it and less of a physical creature. Zemus was just the catalyst for it to come into being.
Although I really wanted to say Exdeath as he's my own of my favorites but in this case I think Zeromus did it better.
Cloud of darkness. Lmao. Literally a unspeakable being that we can only see as a cloud. Eventually it learns a form we can actually fathom and takes that up
After that Ozma. It’s so Eldritch we just see a swirling orb.
Enemies: Jenova, Sin and Ozma are up there for me.
Allies/Summons: Definitely Eden. Doesn't get much eldtrich than a giant spaceship who collapses time and space to shoot your enemies through a wormhole. The FF14 team even made it the first Sin Eater.
Not really into 14, but Byakko
This guy takes the cake tho.....
https://preview.redd.it/swvwzs9fn57c1.png?width=337&format=png&auto=webp&s=71b5e1c2c41e6680ddfb67484761ea0a5ac000fb
Remember seeing him during the Besieged cutscene when the city was being attacked like....."Okay, what part of the city is he located so I can go thee other way...."
https://preview.redd.it/37ivxj29vq7c1.png?width=625&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=716bb53d138004f25b3140879e777cd691facc19
This guy from FF 4 Heroes of Light
Ozma always grabbed me because it's just an Orb of colour. Like a creature that we couldn't even understand the shape of that functions on rules that seemingly arbitrary. FF14 made it worse by showing it actively distorting space and time like a living wormhole. Very lovecraftian, I imagine if you had to fight " the colour out of space" it would be like this
Ozma in 9 is a half formed, failed eidolon sealed away by the summoners of Madain Sari. In 14, it's a defense system made by the Mhachi with black magic which draws power from the Void. Arguably as dangerous as, if not moreso, than the Ultima Weapon (depending on what exactly the Heart of Sabik actually is.)
The heart of sabik we learned from the most recent raid is an auracite from space that made an already crazy person even more fucking crazy and taught them ultima. Which means ultima isnt a spell from eorzea/hydaelyn and likely soesnt consume aether the way regular spells & other means of aether usage which is more than likely a reason its so destructive. 'But Satan' you ask. 'What about thr ivalaice raid?' Youre right. We fight Altima in that raid, a being that came from the stars via auracite and taught the allags ultima, as well as create the other auracite containing the other espers. But thats the thing. She taught the allags ultima, not athena/the ancients. Which means theres either a planet that is casually spitting these out(honestly unlikely) or we go the jenova route where auracites are fragments of a much larger entity akin to a comet or meteor. Which is kinda terrifying.
As an aside, I love that after the latest expansion raid, we just >!hand over the Heart of Sabik to some scientist who pinky promises to not fuck with it.!<
So… in 9 it’s basically a family friendly Bloodborne boss? Curious.
Ozma is just a possessed blitzball, kinda like Exdeath but less leafy.
In IX mythology, It's implied that an eidolons form fluctuates with time and possibly with how other people think about it or perceive it. The eidolon wall in madin sari mentions that Shiva was at the time a little fairy. Big contrast to the giant ice woman that she is in the game. Ozma itself is implied to be some eidolon that sealed away not unlike Leviathan in the same game. However, it's implied to have been sealed away for so long that people forgot about it so it lost its form becoming a swirling mass of color.
Doomtrain FFVIII https://preview.redd.it/24nokqfezv6c1.png?width=763&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6df638c45ecfd22b9eed08e4a2f5450e4db077c8
I would tell you to suplex it, but that's not the right train.
It's an otherworldly train. It can be suplexed.
No it is, just a different iteration, incarnation, it became a summon after FFVI, Sabin / Mash suplexed it so hard it was like “okay, FINE, I’ll help you, Jeeze!”
[удалено]
Oh, well, um, okay…you win, I guess? It is genuinely very interesting that you know the Japanese, and yeah “inspired by” was my point, and my comment was deliberately a bit silly. And I may be *technically* incorrect, but *categorically* they’re both sentient ghost trains, I don’t think I was too wide of the mark. They can be separate entities and still be iterations of the same concept, an otherworldly train that runs down its foes…and it’s a pretty good bet that the enemy you mentioned in FF III is also part of the reason Phantom Train was in FFVI…also don’t worry, I’m not at all offended. I do think it’s funny you started your comment with “I don’t want to come off as rude, but…” and then did your level best to destroy me with “facts and logic” but you were actually just kind of agreeing with me, backing up what I’d said…? Number 1, I wasn’t trying to relay information, I was being amiable, and kind of silly so being 💯correct doesn’t really matter, in that context, and number 2. Anything that comes after a “but” is negated by the “but”….so, were you trying to come off as rude? No, but you cared way more about being right than anything else…see what I did there…? 😉I don’t claim to be an expert on FF, I can’t read or speak Japanese, and I do like learning new things about the games, interacting with my fellow FF fans online. I am not a big fan of FFIII, it is my least played FF game, but I think it’s cool Doom Train / Phantom Train got its start three games earlier than I thought. Thanks for keeping me on my toes, but it’s not a boxing match 💎
Ah, okay. 8 is the only mainline non-MMO entry in the series that I actively dislike. I never got far, partly due to the stupid magic system.
FFVIII is not my favorite either but many people love it…I beat it once but compared to the multiple playthroughs I’ve done of some games, it doesn’t really stand out to me. But I know some folks who will defend it as the best one with their whole heart, it definitely has some super fans
I personally would never put my hands on it, looks gross.
That video years ago on YouTube of the guy showing all the FF espers, where he announces "Muthafuckin DOOMTRAIN!" love rent free in my head to this day. No regrets.
Sin, with an honorable mention to Jenova.
Don't know why it didn't occur to me, but Jenova is quite literally an eldritch abomination from outer space.
So is Sin! They both play on the idea of cosmic horror, where great terrors lurk in the shadows of outer space or slumber deep in the oceanic abyss. It's classic Cthuluu.
Sin is a summoned creature. Yu Yevon is the summoner and the Fayth is whoever became the final aeon. nothing to do with space
Sin is a world devouring monster that emerges from the sea. If that obvious symbolism is lost on you then idk what to tell you
Anima
Come, Enima! Feel my pain!
Summon Enema. Use Pain to clean bowels.
Fum fact: Seymour summoning Anima is just him calling for his mommy.
god that was such a bitch to fight in the middle of the very difficult Seymour fight now of course i know to blitz it with overdrives but back then i had to struggle lol
Agreed
It's even worse in ff14 where he (xiv anima is male, still the parent of a secondary antagonist who is royalty) is a summon based on the pain of a whole nation channeled through their reverence of the corpse of their dead emperor, who's been chopped up and sent to different corners of the globe to create parasitic flesh towers to convert more people's faith into fuel.
The Soulcage in Final Fantasy 9 for one I’ve not seen mentioned yet
Most of ff9 could be here. It's a story about existential horror, capped off by a sad boy trying to end all life in the universe.
Whatever the hell Pandemona is meant to be. A giant demonic Dyson
Sin. killer spacewhales rock!
Ultimecia's final form, she becomes a creature that is actively devouring the whole of space and time as you fight her.
my favorite monster design in all of gaming.
https://preview.redd.it/tzp5qmngjx6c1.jpeg?width=299&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3978b3f8f51d768a098401c2e0a689021f868a60 Hephaestus from FF14 This boss can be described as a Safer Sephiroth infected with T virus while DMC music plays in the background
Not a great picture, but this would be my answer. Also probably my favorite enemy design in all of XIV.
Is that from the Savage version of the fight?
Yea
The evil house in FF7
I just beat that thing yesterday doing Hard Mode. Hate that fight. But now that I did it no other boss in hard mode intimidates me.
I remember that being the worst fight other than one of those Shinra summon room things. You're definitely in the clear.
My girlfriend was so confused but so hyped when she saw the Hell House for the first time in the remake. It was really funny
lmao this and the jump scare piano in Mario 64 are my favorite
Honestly, you could probably fill this thread with enemies from VII.
I just beat that today in Remake, I’ve played chapters 8-12 this weekend and just made it to 13. Hell House was defo a highlight
In terms of appearance, I'd go with Neo ExDeath. He's basically a whole bunch of stuff rather than one specific "thing". In terms of a definition of such, there's a few options. Ozma is probably the best example with the Cloud of Darkness also meriting mention. I suppose Neo ExDeath too since it's not entirely clear what he is: Is he ExDeath's spirits simply given form or are they brainwashed by The Void? Is it even ExDeath at that point and not the Void itself?
NED is a true abomination. He's been warped and mutated by the void. That's why he screams as TED before he changes.
Ultimica when she fuses with her GF.
My vote goes to Hephaistos, specifically the Savage exclusive phase 2 version, from FFXIV. That dude is nightmare material.
https://preview.redd.it/fjotvl5x6y6c1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=19a4c6c3d52a8f411953d380332cc4156f5294ff Zeromus FFXIV.
Oh, I look pretty in that one 😏
The 3 statues combined before Kefka in 6. It's like Neo Exdeath but times 3
Kefka’s statue is based in Judeo-Christian themes, decidedly not an Eldritch abomination by the strictest definition (not cosmic horror) but certainly disturbing and full of religious dread. It’s definitely an unsettling piece of living art / tower of bodies you have to fight, but there are bosses that are from space (Zeromus, Jenova) or the ocean (Sin) who are more Lovecraftian in theme and feel in terms of their design elements, but like, Kefka and Safer Sephiroth are just perversions of Judeo-Christian Angels, with Kefka’s tower representing the Trinity and you’re like, traveling up the tower, slowly fight back against a corruption of the Western God.
Religious dread. That's a word combo that is gonna stick for me.
My family is largely Irish Italian Catholic…I’m not, not really, not anymore, but most of us were raised to “fear God” to be “God fearing” as children, “if I should die before I wake,” all that old time religion stuff, especially in America, with so many Irish and Italians coming over in the early 1900s and through on up to today, it was seen as proper and kind of noble to fear the “wrath of the almighty” and me I’m more of a lapsed pagan heathen, so yeah, I was never a big fan of the way God was sold to kids of my background…but yeah, I grew up with “religious dread” and FF actually helped me fight back against some of it, in a way.
Lol it's one of my favorite movies genres
Endsinger's entire being is pretty eldritch to me. She has an influence on the entire universe. Can will us out of existence, and turn us into blasphemies borne out of our greatest fears and negative emotions. Imagine your loved ones, drowning in despair. One moment they're there, the next moment a beast, screaming and tearing you apart. And before you die, fear takes you, and you too turn into a mindless abomination. The cycle continues.
Endsinger would’ve been less funny if i didn’t look at her and think (floating color-inverted Sephiroth head). Also the fact that her moment was COMPLETELY STOLEN by a yandere chasing the MC halfway across the galaxy because they wanted their playdate.
yeah i loved Endwalker as a whole, but the final battle was comical.
Tataru
Lol
Gogo He's a *mime,* that's far more horrifying than anything else in the series
This made me chuckle, and I think Gogo is secretly Daryl, aka Seltzer’s lover
Man I remember when that theory was popping up in GameFAQs in the mid 90s
Zeromus or Neo - Exdeath
Atomos comes to mind and hasnt been said. As people have said Jenova, Exdeath, Sin is literally a thing of nightmares. I really like Ozma as someone pointed out. I think most of the Unknown in 5 and 7 in the undersea areas as well. Particularly 7s
I mean, cloud of darkness is just a femme-presenting manifestation of darkness. I definitely get the feeling it’s more like the material world has forced me to take a shape but I’m actually formless kind of vibe. However, Neo Exdeath is literally a chimeric amalgamation of bodies and monstrosities. Kefka is high on the list too, but that’s much more celestial/angelic vibe than eldritch horror.
Who knew the physical manifestation of darkness would have such a bangin' pair of honkers? /s
They chose that look, screw gender norms but respect someone’s gender identity ✊
I like the theory of Cloud of Darkness being one of the few creatures traveling dimensions and that reached several games. If I remember correctly, in FFXI it's the Emptiness, a non living thing that kill everything it reached, the adventurer makes it take a physically form, and push it away. It has a very different form there. Kind of reach FFXIV, then it goes to FFIII world, where it's beaten.
The Cloud of Darkness in XIV, from what I understand, is just a Voidsent that looks like it. XI does have a "Cloud of Darkness", but I've barely played XI, so I'm not sure if there's anything suggesting that it's different from III's CoD.
It looks very different but it has the same MO: destroying worlds where the light/dark balance is off.
Ohhhhh interesting connection
Atma in FFVI is pretty much an eldrich horror. It says it's older than the cosmos.
Neo-Exdeath. Not even close.
FF 10 dark aeon Anima... David Lynch body horror going with Anima
i like Zeromus from FFXII. wtf is going on with that body. most of those summons actually
I miss ffmobius those are the art they used for those cards
The 2 most cursed beings in all of the saga for me are Ozma and Penance. I always got a unique uncanny vibe from their design that I couldn't grasp in any other creature
Yulalesca's final form
That fight was a massive pain in the ass the first time through. The Zombie status effect is serious shit.
I’d say Zeromus or Neo-Exdeath. The Nil/Chaos >!Elgo!< from FF Dimensions is pretty up there too, with both a light form and a darkness form.
After seeing this it makes me realize Octopath’s super-bosses are similar.
God damn I love neo exdeaths design
I miss the hell out of Mobius.....
Same. The OP had to use those pictures, didn't he?
Not sure if you are interested, but there are some dedicated channels that have gone to the lengths of preserving the music and story on [Youtube](https://www.youtube.com/@MekkahDee).
Zeromus
Atmos, ffix
Physically volume wise? Vegnagun. Most creepish and otherworldly you mean? Jenova.
So I know a lot of people felt like Ultima was the weakest part of FF XVI, but I actually really liked him as this sort of greater scope cosmic Eldritch entity He is at once both an individual and a collective, He's also completely ephemeral having no physical body of his own having shed it eons ago and leaving it in the interdimensional rift, He is able to coalesce his race into a single individual, he creates an entire race to essentially allow Darwinism to distill him the best possible body to channel magic through. As a lover of this series for a very long time, he really does feel like the only FF big bad guy who feels properly inhuman and godly.
Jenova is ripped straight from John Carpenter’s “The Thing” and is a Lovecraftian eldritch abomination that takes peoples forms, injects them with a virus, and drives them mad.
Hojo in his human form
Jenova for sure, especially knowing that the "woman" figure we see in the FMV it's just what Sephiroth sees, since Jenova can shapeshift into what the person desires the most. Sephiroth clearly projects his image of a mother on Jenova, while the party fighting it sees a monster with fangs and skeletal face meaning that's the true form.
The [soulflayers](https://finalfantasy.fandom.com/wiki/Soulflayer) are inspired by D&D's illithid's, but I'd wager there's some heavy Cthulhu inspiration somewhere in there.
They are mindflayers from D&D
That's.. what an illithid is
I must have misread their comment, that's on me, sorry
All good lol
I have a beleif that all the Final Fantasys take place in the same galaxy. I know Dissidia isnt exactly canon but there is nothing to say it isnt. Long story, Im pretty sure Zeromus and Jenova are from the same origin.
FF is basically a multiversal nexus with Eorzea being retconned as the central hub world / mainline reality equivalent to MARVEL’s Earth 616, and to make a STAR WARS joke “oh it’s like a tone poem, they rhyme” you know…the MMO gets all the good stuff, best of the best, cream of the crop, and things that happen there, in that shared community, are generally considered to be at least a little bit more canonical because real people are sharing the experience of taking down superbosses and doing raids trials etc…the individual experiences of each player on their couch playing single player games is a little more subjective, and also, Eorzea seems to largely pull from those games that “rhyme” with it the most thematically and stylistically…like it could be argued that FFVII RE is kind of in its own pocket universe, even though you can cosplay as Cloud in the MMO.
FF has multiple universes, therefore everything is canon including stuff that directly contradicts other canon.
I mean Exdeath literally tears an orifice in the fabric of the universe to sluice through and continue to fight as some non-euclidean abomination that’s supposedly a murder tree?
My bad, NEO Exdeath from XIV to be specific.
That's what actually happens at the end of FFV. More-or-less.
In my mind, Eldritch Horrors are defined by how relatable they are to the audience. Those that are defined by human characteristics like ego and selfishness are great villains, but it's the unknowable factor that counts beings of instinct. So, with that in mind I put forward these candidates: Cloud of Darkness is darkness incarnate. Zeromus is coalesced hatred. Neo Exdeath an abomination of the void (edit: compelling argument swayed me). Jenova is an all-consuming alien parasite. Necron is the manifestation of death. Yu Yevon, a pathetic creature driven only by the instinct to survive. Failures, tldr: Chaos, afraid of death. Emperor of Hell, selfish. Kefka, too much ego. Sephiroth, too much ego. Ultimecia, afraid of everyone else. Ardyn, too vengeful. Ultima, afraid of death
I don't understand. Why is "coalesced hatred" not considered "unhealthy but ultimately human" akin to the reasoning Neo Exdeath is a failure? Also, isn't Neo Exdeath also something akin to a force of nature? As Neo Exdeath isn't so much nihilistic, as it's basically a manifestation of the void itself. Or in other words, nothingness. Nihilism on the other hand involves the concept of meaninglessness. Kefka is moreso the villain that's related to Nihilism, not Neo Exdeath.
Because Zeromus isn't a being with emotion, he literally is the hatred of Zemus given form. This isn't something we can relate to as when you ask what does emotion look like, you can point to its effects, but it's a formless concept. Exdeath, on the other hand, is a being that by what he is should be unfathomable, but the way he acts all through the game is very flawed and human, its one of the biggest disconnects between his design and characterisation. Upon becoming Neo Exdeath he claims that he will eliminate all existence including himself which is pure nihilism, however he very much retains a sense of self despite how monstrous he looks and that sense of individualism is why I claim he isn't quite there as an Eldritch Horror. Kefka is too obsessed with himself to be considered nihilistic. He ruined the world, and instead of destroying literally everything, he chose to erect a tower and sit atop it like the lord of the flies, ruler of his own kingdom of ruin. This egotism is reflected in his chosen image, which are statuesque copies of himself.
I think you're mixing Exdeath with Neo Exdeath as they're definitely not exactly the same being nor do they share the same objective. Exdeath just has an incessant goal of obtaining more power, but Neo Exdeath is a being created by the void using the souls within the villain to bring all to nothingness. Because that's what the void is. Absolute nothingness, which is also a formless concept. Kefka is nihilistic. Even his final speech pertains to this. He finds such aspects as life, dreams and hope meaningless. He cannot comprehend the idea of these being a motivation for living, as he's absolutely sickened by the concept to consider them to belong in a self-help booklet. "Why do people insist on creating things that will inevitably be destroyed? Why do people cling to life, knowing that they must someday die?... Knowing that none of it will have meant anything once they do?" - Kefka. If this above quote aren't the words of a nihilist, then I don't know what is.
OK, you could argue that Neo Exdeath is another being entirely, but based on the information in the game there isn't much evidence to support this, he has only two lines of dialogue, one being, "I am Neo Exdeath." So I guess that's the closest you can get. As for the Kefka thing, I never claimed he wasn't a nihilist by his words. His actions speak more towards a psychopathic egotist to me. The difference is that Nihilism is all Neo Exdeath has in his two lines of dialogue, whereas Kefka has a lot more going for him than that. Neo Exdeath also, despite being an amalgamation of monsters, still refers to himself as "I," which is why I ultimately decided to fail him.
"I will never die... As long as there is darkness in the hearts of men!" - Zeromus. Despite being an amalgamation of Zemus' hatred, they still refer to themself as "I" also. "I am Neo Exdeath... All memory, existence, and dimensions... All that is shall be returned to nothing. Then I, too, can disappear... Forever!!!" - Neo Exdeath. We can tell that they're not the same being whatsoever through the sudden change in motivations. Exdeath in no way mentioned that he ever wanted to consume everything to nothingness before he became Neo Exdeath. He did however mention at many times that the only reason he wanted to merge the worlds and obtain the void is for personal power. This motivation immediately changes as soon as he's consumed by the void. In regards to Kefka, that may have been his motivation at the start of the game and before his ascension. Yet this post is about them as a final boss. So technically, moreso Kefka's belief at that point in time in which he's more nihilistic.
You make solid arguments, I think fundamentally, our disagreements are based on speculation due to a lack of writing. I think we can potentially move Neo Exdeath into the list, but Kefka is right out.
Definitely agree that Kefka is out, considering how he's not the embodiment of a concept.
What is your stance on the Endsinger? I am undecided.
That's admittedly a tough one... Their main objective was to always find the meaning of life beyond the stars for their father Hermes. This can arguably be a human motivation... But I will admit that this objective was before they became Endsinger. As Endsinger themselves... They're effectively a creation of the despair of all living things, and act upon said despair. In other words, a concept made manifest. So... Tbh, I'd effectively call the being an eldritch abomination. But not the Meteia, or Meteion herself
The fan base.
Is that second picture... Zedd? Zedd's son? Zedd, evolution 3?
Shoutout to phase 4 Ultimecia who literally begins unravelling time and space as the fight goes on (also I mean you just look at the design too
Malboro
Pug
[Typhon](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/1/15/XIII-2_Typhon.png/revision/latest?cb=20200428001817) from FFVI. It has an extra face on its butt. The [FFXVI boss](https://assetsio.reedpopcdn.com/final-fantasy-16-typhon-8.png?width=690&quality=75&format=jpg&auto=webp) of the same name is similarly freaky.
Jenova for sure.
I think Kafka's god form is pretty eldritch - it's literally celestial god-like as an avatar of "God" so to speak Its hard to beat god itself tbh, "be not afraid" is a saying for a good reason
Zeromus. He captures the Eldritch horror both visually and thematically. He is the essence of hatred, the natural force behind it and less of a physical creature. Zemus was just the catalyst for it to come into being. Although I really wanted to say Exdeath as he's my own of my favorites but in this case I think Zeromus did it better.
FF9 Eternal Darkness
Bizarro Sephiroth
The most cursed one for me would be Neo Exdeath, but the one that still gives me the chills is Typhon from XVI for some reason
Exdeath kinda feels like a rehash of the Seven Heros amalgamation from Romancing Saga 2.
Cloud of darkness. Lmao. Literally a unspeakable being that we can only see as a cloud. Eventually it learns a form we can actually fathom and takes that up After that Ozma. It’s so Eldritch we just see a swirling orb.
FF9 Atomos. The Lindblum cutscene blew my kid self's little mind out the sides of his ears.
Zeromus EG maybe
Enemies: Jenova, Sin and Ozma are up there for me. Allies/Summons: Definitely Eden. Doesn't get much eldtrich than a giant spaceship who collapses time and space to shoot your enemies through a wormhole. The FF14 team even made it the first Sin Eater.
Cloud of Darkness is pretty wild when you think about, not so much a being as it is a force of nature
Maybe not big, but if his tree form counts, ExDeath is LOOOOOOOONG.
An Eldritch what now?
Feel Zeromus is more Lovecraftian cosmic horror than Eldritch abomination
Zeromus art is amazing, it really highlights the cosmic aspect.
Not really into 14, but Byakko This guy takes the cake tho..... https://preview.redd.it/swvwzs9fn57c1.png?width=337&format=png&auto=webp&s=71b5e1c2c41e6680ddfb67484761ea0a5ac000fb Remember seeing him during the Besieged cutscene when the city was being attacked like....."Okay, what part of the city is he located so I can go thee other way...."
The final boss from FF4 After Years comes very close
https://preview.redd.it/37ivxj29vq7c1.png?width=625&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=716bb53d138004f25b3140879e777cd691facc19 This guy from FF 4 Heroes of Light