5 Strongest Final Fantasy Characters You’ve Never Heard Of, Ranked

Everybody knows Cloud, Sin, and Lightning, but some of the most overpowered Final Fantasy characters are found in spin-offs, sequels, remasters, and forgotten gems. Unless somebody has played everything Square Enix’s franchise has to offer, they almost certainly have missed out on at least a couple of villains or beings who can destroy planets or even worse. Final Fantasy‘s hidden powerhouses.

Forget about Sephiroth or Clive, let’s spotlight a couple of characters who never truly got their moment to shine, despite having more than enough power to take on any of the main heroes or even villains. These Final Fantasy characters are true monsters, at least in the lore.

5

Shuyin Is A Vengeful Ghost With Planetary-Level Power

The Power Of Love, Grief, And Hatred

• Game: Final Fantasy 10-2
• Main Villain
• Almost destroys Spira

Square Enix almost never releases direct sequels, but the developer made an exception with Final Fantasy 10-2. To be honest, the game is pretty divisive, with the story almost going down a magical girl route that comes out of left field; however, the dressphere system is fantastic, and the combat is quite fun. Also, Shuyin is a pretty good villain in his own right, and he deserves to be part of a more visible entry.

An ancient spirit born out of grief when his loved one, Lenne, was killed in front of him during the Machina War, Shuyin became a vengeful spirit fueled by pure hatred for Spira and its inhabitants. As a manifestation of a lingering consciousness, he possesses unique, terrifying spiritual properties that are not bound by a physical body. Shuyin can possess people if they feel enough hatred in their hearts, basically turning himself into a spiritual parasite. Through this ability, he weaponizes factions against one another, plunging the world into chaos.

In battle, Shuyin is fairly difficult since most of his attacks are just Tidus’ overdrive moves, but he is stronger in the lore. His most dangerous weapon is Vegnagun, a doomsday device that can be piloted only by a select few, including Shuyin.

4

Jade Weapon Is A Terrifying Anti-Virus

The Strongest Final Fantasy Weapon That Time Forgot

Image via Square Enix

• Game: Before Crisis -Final Fantasy 7-
• Post-Game Superboss (kind of, it’s weird).
• Basically impossible to fight nowadays

To be frank, I could just include the strongest bosses in Before Crisis -Final Fantasy 7- and call it a day, simply due to the mobile game’s obscurity. A Japan exclusive that was meant to release in North America but never did due to incompatible devices, Before Crisis takes place a few years before the events of FF7 and revolves around the Turks. From what I’ve heard and seen, it was a respectable RPG for its era and platform, and it’s a shame most of us will never get to play it.

Released in chapters, the campaign’s final boss, Zirconiade, is an incredibly powerful summon that could eradicate Gaia, and it only appears in Before Crisis. Initially, I was going to include Zirconiade, but Before Crisis actually released a post-game boss called Jade Weapon, a device created to destroy Zirconiade that ended up with no purpose following the summon’s defeat; consequently, it turned its attention to the Turks. I don’t know much about this enemy, to be honest, but it is basically Before Crisis‘ superboss and the main enemy of the Weapon Mode.

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3

Enuo Controls The Void

A Big Bad Final Fantasy Superboss Who Is Even Stronger In The Lore

• Introduced in Final Fantasy 5‘s lore
• Superboss in Final Fantasy 5 Advance
• First image is from Final Fantasy 5‘s smartphone launch. The other two images are from FF14‘s “Dawntrail” expansion

Despite mechanically being the easiest of the three superbosses in Final Fantasy 5 Advance, Enuo is 100% the strongest character in not only FF5‘s lore but also the entire franchise. A historical figure in the 1992 game, Enuo basically wrote the playbook that the main villain, Exdeath, follows, and the copycat is nowhere near as strong as the original.

Seeking ultimate power (like any good evil sorcerer), Enuo entered into a terrifying covenant with the cosmos: he surrendered his own physical immortality in exchange for complete, absolute mastery over The Void. The latter is essentially a multidimensional abyss that cannot be wiped out and predates reality itself. He was so overpowered, the warriors of old needed to split the planet into two physical dimensions and seal the Interdimental Rift.

As most “power corrupts” stories go, Enuo’s hunger becomes his weakness, as his lack of a physical presence makes him vulnerable to the Void itself. He ended up consumed by his own antimatter rift. In Final Fantasy 5 Advance, Enuo’s superboss fight is challenging but manageable, although it doesn’t quite measure up to his mythos.

2

Final Fantasy 11’s Cloud of Darkness Is The Void

The Literal End Of The Line

• Appears in a bunch of games
• Final boss of Final Fantasy 11‘s “Rhapsodies of Vana’diel” storyline
• Only the first image is the FF11 version. Other images are from Final Fantasy 14, Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, and Final Fantasy 3.

If you consider yourself a die-hard Final Fantasy fan, you probably know Cloud of Darkness from either FF3 or FFXIV, where it serves as both a story and raid boss. Alternatively, you might know it as a Warrior of Chaos from the Dissidia games or as a boss in one of the other spin-offs like All the Bravest or Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call.

Honestly, I could have included a few of the above since they are fairly obscure, but I opted for the Final Fantasy 11 version because Cloud of Darkness is the core storyline’s epic final boss, and I doubt many new players are discovering the MMO nowadays. This character regularly has an almost Lovecraftian aspect, but the FF11 version is by far the most primeval, transcending summons to become a concept. Do not mistake it for FF3‘s final boss.

The manifestation of cosmic emptiness, Cloud of Darkness is essentially The Void that Enou controls, and it is way more powerful than the sorcerer. Literally representing the end of the game, Cloud of Darkness shows up when the balance between the forces of light and dark stagnates. It is the end of times and the return to the void.

You fight only a fragment of the Cloud of Darkness in FF11, as defeating the cosmic state of this scale would be pretty much impossible.

1

Bhunivelze Is The Creator Of Worlds

Meh Boss Fight, Incredible Lore

• Mentioned in Final Fantasy 13
• Final boss of Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy 13 and the Fabula Nova Crystallis saga

Here we are: the strongest obscure Final Fantasy character. Out of everyone, Bhunivelze might be the most controversial, and I almost left this god-ish figure out of the running. Firstly, he is the final boss of Fabula Nova Crystallis, aka the Final Fantasy 13 trilogy, serving as the last fight in Lightning Returns. Secondly, his actual battle is underwhelming, and he doesn’t present all that much of a challenge.

The thing is, Lightning Returns might be the most ignored modern release in the franchise, especially for a mainline entry. More importantly, Bhunivelze’s fight doesn’t do justice to his lore, a deity who can craft and shape worlds, with a couple of exceptions. When he wakes up from a deep slumber to find the universe corrupted by Chaos, he doesn’t try to fix it but instead plans to delete it so he can create a new one from scratch.

He manipulates reality like an author rewriting a page, casually discarding entire planets as minor battery sources to power his divine ascension. Yes, Lightning punches Bhunivelze in the face and defeats him fairly easily, but she is basically a goddess by that point.