The Final Fantasy series is considered by many to be one of the most legendary and important gaming franchises of all time, in no small part due to the massive role it played in turning the JRPG genre into a mainstream genre that is still going strong to this day, even after the increased focus on real-time combat as opposed to its turn-based roots.

Of course, it would be impossible to talk about the Final Fantasy series as a whole without acknowledging the massive — and rather obvious — importance of the first game, which kickstarted the entire series as we know it and single-handedly pulled Square from the jaws of obsolescence.

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The first game was also one of the hardest games in the entire series, and subsequent remakes had to tone down on this difficulty in subsequent re-releases. However, even after this nerf, the game is still full to the brim with some of the toughest monsters in the series. Keeping this in mind, here are ten of the hardest monsters to fight in the original Final Fantasy.

10 Marilith

Marilith from Final Fantasy

The Four Fiends have become the stuff of legends in the first Final Fantasy series, and this is mainly because this iconic group of four tough monsters was featured for the first time from the very start of the Final Fantasy series.

Out of all these Four Fiends, one has to point out Marilith as the easiest boss of this group. While she might be statistically stronger than the boss that came before her, the players have surpassed harder challenges in the game, making Marilith somewhat of a breeze in comparison.

9 Lich

Lich from Final Fantasy

The Lich is the first member of the Four Fiends that players have to encounter, and the fight itself is easily the most challenging enemies that players will have faced up to that point.

The Lich pulls no punches with his attacks, forcing players to change up strategies on the fly and figure out the enemy's weaknesses as soon as possible unless they become the unfortunate victim of a premature Game Over.

8 Tiamat

Tiamat from Final Fantasy

The last Fiend out of the four that players have to battle in Final Fantasy is definitely no pushover, but players should ideally be quite powerful and well-versed with the battle system by the time they end up facing off against this boss.

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So, while Tiamat might certainly boast some impressive firepower, it still doesn't hold a candle to the world of hurt that the player will inflict upon him.

7 Kraken

Kraken from Final Fantasy

Out of all the Four Fiends, the Kraken is the one that truly packs a punch and can leave all party members in a tight spot if the player doesn't follow a strategy well in advance.

For someone who should ideally be proficient with the Water element, it's actually the physical attacks of Kraken that one needs to watch out for. A party with two dedicated mages will definitely need to be protected as much as possible, lest the player finds themselves with party members that just die in mere seconds.

6 Chaos

Chaos from Final Fantasy

The final boss of Final Fantasy is also one of the most iconic figures in the series, with modern Final Fantasy players recognizing this particular figure from the Dissidia series, in particular.

Chaos is by no means an easy boss fight — players need to bring their A-game in battle and dish as much damage as possible so that this horrifying monstrosity can be taken care of once and for all.

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It's indicative of just how powerful this boss really is that the rest of the monsters on this list are present as end-game bosses present in the subsequent re-releases of Final Fantasy.

5 Atomos

Atomos from Final Fantasy

Atomos is a boss that initially appears in Final Fantasy V for the first time. This boss is no pushover, either in that game or in the original Final Fantasy as well.

The fact that he can instantly kill a character with his Wormhole attack makes him enough of a danger that players need to be on their A-game at all times, lest they find themselves facing an inevitable loss.

4 Typhon

Typhon from Final Fantasy

Initially appearing in Final Fantasy VI, Typhon is not an enemy that should be taken lightly at all. The fact of the matter is that this enemy can put the enemy in a world of hurt if they choose to take him lightly.

While Atomos' attack can be negated with NulDeath, the same is not true for Typhon, making him a wild card that can easily destroy the strategy of most players in seconds. The player needs to be ready with a host of revival spells if they wish to get through this encounter without facing too many problems.

3 Death Gaze

Death Gaze from Final Fantasy

Another boss from Final Fantasy VI makes an appearance in the re-release of Final Fantasy. Death Gaze might have a low hit-rate with most of his insta-death spells, but that doesn't mean players should take him lightly at all.

Most of Death Gaze's normal spells can hit for a ton of damage, forcing players into a corner if they haven't buffed their party's defense enough to weather the storm without having to waste turns healing themselves.

2 Shinryu

Shinryu from Final Fantasy

Shinryu is an infamous superboss that has appeared in numerous Final Fantasy games, and it's only fitting that its inclusion in the post-game dungeon of Final Fantasy's re-release would also prove to be quite a challenge indeed.

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In fact, Shinryu was actually the hardest boss in the Dawn of Souls' re-release of Final Fantasy... before another superboss was added to make proceedings even harder.

1 Chronodia

Chronodia from Final Fantasy

Chronodia is one of the few unique bosses whose power level actually depends on how many Seals the player has activated in the final dungeon... but don't be lulled into a false sense of security here — all versions of this boss can completely destroy an unprepared player.

Fighting this boss can prove to be somewhat frustrating (especially if the version in question is the most powerful one) but players who don't panic and follow the appropriate strategy will be able to defeat the strongest monster in the first Final Fantasy.

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