If there’s anything our favorite JRPGs have, it’s infuriatingly hard boss fights – some of the hardest of any video game, period. There are so many that it’s really hard to narrow it down to just a few of them.
Over the years, there have been some boss encounters that feel brutal, mean, and just downright unfair. There are a few others that are worth mentioning though, even though they didn’t make the list, but maybe should have.
Suikoden 2’s Luca Blight is a good example. Three actions a round, splits your party up into smaller groups, and is a required fight. Not all of the bosses that made this list are, but you cannot progress without defeating Luca.
I also want to highlight the Demi-Fiend fights in SMT 5 and other SMT games. He’s always a brutal, near-impossible boss.
He can typically summon other demons, has a wealth of Almighty attacks, and a titanic amount of HP. He’s easily one of the most powerful/hardest boss fights in JRPGs. But which ones made the list?
Which boss fights stand out in JRPGs as the hardest challenges?
7) Seven Heroes Fusion (Romancing SaGa 2)
With the Romancing SaGa 2 remake coming soon, this is the perfect time to highlight one of the hardest JRPG boss battles of all time – Seven Heroes Fusion.
Fighting these bosses throughout the normal story is hard enough, but once you get to the end, you fight them all together as one. Visually, it looks like one FF5’s final boss, or the fleshy tower of Kefka boss gauntlet.
What makes this such a beastly struggle is the sheer power of its attacks, its health pool, and the fact that it can use every single signature/special attack of the seven heroes. It’s incredibly challenging – it’s like fighting every major boss in the game at one time.
The SaGa games are known for their difficulty and this one won’t let down fans who want something brutal to round out the game.
6) Timewyrm (Dragon Quest 11)
Timewyrm is Dragon Quest 11’s ultimate superboss. No boss in the game even comes close to defeating it. You can cheese it out with a few strategies, but even the best laid plans also require RNG for you to get lucky with.
For example, there are a few strategies that use invulnerability, via team-up moves. If you’re unlucky, the Timewyrm will immediately stop it.
This superboss can nullify all of your buffs, which eliminates all the preparation you did. It’s even worse if it decides it wants to go first before you.
There’s only so much preparation you can do. Even if you have tons of Pep Pops and Elfin Elixirs, it may simply not be enough. If you thought the regular bosses of the game were too easy, this is where all the challenge went.
5) Queen Zeal + Lavos, 12,000 BC (Chrono Trigger)
The Queen Zeal + Lavos boss rush in Chrono Trigger’s 12,000 BC is one of the hardest JRPG fights of all time, hands down. There are several places to fight Lavos, and this is the worst – he’s the most powerful here.
It’s not enough that you have to grind through the ridiculous Black Omen dungeon, and all the bosses there. But then you have to fight three phases of Queen Zeal, and then Lavos.
This JRPG boss fight got picked because of the length and challenge of the overall fight. Queen Zeal has the most frustrating spell in the entire game – and it’s not unique to her.
Halation brings your whole party to 1 hp, and if you’re unlucky, she’ll cast another spell/attack before you can react.
Once you fight three phases of her, then it’s time for Lavos, and his Destruction Rains from the Heavens can easily wipe your party. His forms are also infuriating, with the final one being very tricky in terms of which one you need to focus down.
If you’re playing Chrono Trigger the first time, don’t go this route, or this classic JRPG will make you suffer with an intensely difficult boss fight.
4) Giygas (EarthBound)
While EarthBound might be an adorable, charming, fun JRPG, it also houses so many challenging boss fights. Diamond Dog, the Police Chief, the Mall Boss.
But Giygas, the final boss is far and away more challenging, even if you know what to do. In its first phase, it’s completely invulnerable, and you have to batter Porky first through two annoying phases of combat.
Then, if you haven’t figured out the trick to beating him, he can very easily start one shotting party members. The sad thing in this JRPG boss fight is, even if you do know to have Paula pray every turn, he can still obliterate people with zero effort.
This fight felt unfair as a kid, and still does in 2024. If you didn’t pay attention in the Cave of the Past, this fight becomes miserable.
If you don’t have enough ways to resurrect party members, and keep Paula safe, you’ll have to start this fight all over again.
3) Galdera (Octopath Traveler)
Galdera, the Fallen may be optional, but they are the real final boss of Octopath Traveler. This fight is so frustrating that it can make people put down Octopath Traveler forever. Like Queen Zeal/Lavos, you have to fight your way through a ridiculous gauntlet to get to him, and also has a Halation-style move.
What makes his worse is it also steals your BP, and uses it to create a shield – as if the fight wasn’t frustrating enough. You also have to defeat his body parts to even damage the main boss, and it can inflict a ton of status ailments on top of that.
It can one-shot party members, deal devastating amounts of damage, and is one of the most unfair superbosses we’ve ever encountered, period. There aren’t too many JRPG boss fights that feel harder, or more brutal.
2) Penance (Final Fantasy 10)
Penance is one of Final Fantasy’s hardest superbosses, period. It has about 12 million HP and a plethora of incredibly powerful attacks, making it one of the most unpleasant JRPG boss fights of all time.
Technically you can one-shot this fight, via Yojimbo, but not everyone knows that, and it’s not exactly easy to get the perfect amount of gil to do just that.
It’s pretty much immune to everything, absorbs elemental magic, and has some truly terrifying attacks. Its two arms can repeatedly drain a character’s mana pool, and hits the whole party with a full mana drain when the second phase its.
Both of its arms have 500K hp, and will auto-revive after a few turns when killed.You want to kill them though – why? The Right Arm alone can use Calamity (Poisin, Silence, Darkness, Curse, Full Break), and can also use Mighty Guard.
Penance is worse than every single Dark Aeon in the game – this fight frankly, feels downright cruel. But if you’ve come this far, you may as well keep fighting.
1) Elizabeth (Persona 3 FES/Persona 3 Reload)
And you thought the Demi-Fiend was tough? Elizabeth is Persona 3’s hardest encounter, though you can defeat her in a few turns if you are prepared enough. In the vanilla game, she was one of the hardest JRPG bosses ever, and she’s still incredibly challenging to deal with in the recent remake.
Here’s a good example of what makes this boss so infuriating – she will hit your party with a 9,999 Megidolan attack immediately if you meet certain frustrating requirements. If you:
- Bring party members
- Equip the Omnipotent Orb
- Have a Persona that has any Nullify/Reflect/Absorb passive, and she’s about to use that elemental attack
- If a Persona you have equipped nullfies one of her attacks
- You use Tetrakarn/Makakarn (or their item equivalents)
- Try to defeat her using Armageddon
- You just take too long to defeat her during the fight
You have to do an intense amount of preparation to defeat Elizabeth in this JRPG – many players recommend not bothering until you’ve completed the game at least once, sometimes twice. She’s cruel and powerful, and this is easily one of the most ridiculous, difficult fights in all of role-playing games.
Whether required or optional, it’s always interesting to see what game developers come up with. While all the bosses on this list are difficult, it can feel incredibly satisfying to overcome these challenges.
