From Garland to Chaos: All Bosses in Final Fantasy I

Garland is the very first boss players face off against in the original Final Fantasy and is somewhat of a tragic figure. He is a former knight of Corneria who decides to turn traitor and kidnap Princess Sarah, taking her to the abandoned Chaos Shrine just north of Corneria. As long as players level their party up to around level 2 or 3 and come with some offensive Black Magic spells in tow, the initial fight against Garland should prove to be no trouble at all.
HP – 106
Weaknesses – N/A

After returning Princess Sarah to Corneria and setting off on Final Fantasy‘s main adventure, players will first come to the port town of Pravoka in order to eventually make their way to Elfheim. The pirate captain Bikke is occupying the city of Pravoka and his crew is terrorizing the town, leading to the captain to challenge the Light Warriors and send his crew to do his dirty work. Players will fight 9 of Bikke’s pirates but they should prove no challenge for a party with adequate leveling and strength at this point in the game.
HP – 6
Weaknesses – N/A

After players make their way to the town of Elfheim, they’ll discover that the prince is suffering from a curse placing him in eternal slumber. Venturing to the castle just to the north will see players encounter the Elf King, who requests that the Light Warriors retrive his crown from the Marsh Cave just to the south. A group of menacing Piscodemons awaits the player just in front of the chest containing the crown, serving as the de facto boss fight of the game’s first proper dungeon.
HP – 84
Weaknesses – N/A

After players return the crown to the “Elf King”, he reveals himself to actually be the Dark Elf Astos, the very same evil elf responsible for placing the prince of Elfheim into his eternal slumber. He is also in possession of the witch Matoya’s Crystal Eye, which players will need to return to her in exchange for an item that will break the curse over the prince. The fight against Astos is one of the first truly challenging in the game thanks to his propensity to use the Death spell, instantly killing one of your party members. Casting preventative spells like Protect and stat-boosting spells like Temper will help make the fight more manageable.
HP – 168
Weaknesses – Hold/Bind

Players first face off against the Vampire in the Terra Cave before eventually coming face-to-face with the Fiend of Earth, Lich. While the local NPCs blame the rotting of the earth on the Vampire, the truth is that he simply is guarding the entrance to the lower levels of the Terra Cave where Lich resides. In addition to granting players access to the bottom levels of the dungeon so that they can defeat the Fiend of Earth, taking down the Vampire will award the Star Ruby that’s necessary to pass through the Giant’s Cave. As one might expect, the Vampire can be easily thwarted with fire and holy magic.
HP – 156
Weaknesses – Fire, Dia

Lich is the first of the four Fiends that the Light Warriors have to defeat in order to restore the land and break the time loop cursing the world. His arrival in the Terra Cave 200 years prior to the Light Warriors challenging him kickstarts a curse that turns the once lush and verdant Melmond area to a rocky, barren wasteland. Like the Vampire, he is weak to holy magic and flame spells, as well as strong physical attacks. Players should keep spells like Protect on constant rotation and have their White Mages cast Dia when they aren’t healing the party. The reward for defeating Lich is the restoration of the Earth Crystal as well as getting to meet the sages at Crescent Lake, who then gift the Light Warriors with the Canoe.
HP – 400
Weaknesses – Fire, Dia, Firaga, Diara

The Red Dragon is the first of four elemental dragon bosses in Final Fantasy I and is possibly the hardest of the four due to the strength of the party when they’re likely to first cross its path. Red Dragon awaits the party in front of the chest containing the Fire Armor in the lowest levels of Mt. Gulg, and it’s not even the final boss of the dungeon (which comes right afterwards). This particular dragon has a fire-elemental affinity and, as a result, is weak to ice spells.
HP – 248
Weaknesses – Ice

The second of the four Fiend bosses in Final Fantasy I is Marilith, the Fiend of Fire. Her arrival in Corneria coincides with that of Lich, and she assumes control over the crystal of fire in Mt. Gulg at the same time that Lich begins his decaying of Earth 200 years prior to the events of Final Fantasy. Status affliction spells such as Slow and Hold are excellent in the fight against Marilith as they have a high chance of success, and protecting the party against fire attacks is an absolute necessity. Other than status effects, Marilith is practically invulnerable to all elemental black magic.
HP – 600
Weaknesses – Paralysis

After fighting against Marilith and restoring the Fire Crystal it’s time for the party to seek out the Airship, meaning that a trip to the Ice Cavern is in order. Like his Fire Dragon contemporary, the White Dragon guards a powerful armor inside of a treasure chest on the bottom floor of the Ice Cavern, and even getting to the room can be tricky given the cracks in the floor all throughout the dungeon that cause the party to drop to lower levels. When fighting the White Dragon, use the best fire and lightning-elemental spells available and try to negate ice damage to any extent possible.
HP – 200
Weaknesses – Fire, Bolt

The actual boss guarding the Levistone inside of the Ice Cavern is the Evil Eye, who is strong against all elemental magic. The best bet for this fight is to have any of the Fighter classes in the party attack while a White Mage uses healing magic and protect to keep the party in good health. Defeating the Evil Eye rewards players with the Levistone, which they can then take to the desert just south of the Ice Cavern and use to reveal the Airship resting beneath the sands.
HP – 162
Weaknesses – N/A

Players need to complete the Citadel of Trials in order to obtain the Rat Tail and use it to evolve their classes. The final test in the Citadel of Trials is a fight against the Dragon Zombie, and it’s not one to take lightly. Since the Dragon Zombie is technically an undead enemy it is weak to both fire and holy spells, but it also is capable of inflicting high damage on the party. In between having a White Mage casting restorative magic, make sure to have them use their Dia or Diara spells, and having a Black Mage to cast Fire or Firaga helps immensely as well. After defeating one in the Citadel of Trials, the Dragon Zombie reappears as a normal encounter in the game’s final dungeon (the return to the Chaos Shrine/Temple of Chaos).
HP – 268
Weaknesses – Fire, Dia, Firaga, Diara

The third and penultimate Fiend of the bosses in Final Fantasy I is the Kraken, who awaits the player on the lowest level of the Sunken Shrine. The Kraken’s arrival in Corneria 400 years ago is responsible for the disappearance of the Mermaids as well as the stilling of the oceans thanks to its control over the Crystal of Water. Kraken is much stronger than either Lich or Marilith, but having strong lightning-elemental spells can make the fight against him not nearly as trying. Using Protect and similar spells as well as hitting him with the Fighter class’ strongest attacks and any lightning spells available will see the fight over in a pinch.
HP – 800
Weaknesses – Bolt

The Blue Dragon is the final obstacle that players need to overcome in order to use the warp panel that transports them to the Flying Fortress. Of the dragon bosses in Final Fantasy I, the Blue Dragon is most definitely the easiest and, at this point in the game, should be manageable through just hitting it with physical attacks. Keep the party’s health high using the White Mage’s restorative magic and hit it repeatedly with melee attacks to fell the beast quickly and leave the Tower of Mirage.
HP – 454
Weaknesses – Fire

The Warmech is the notorious first secret boss in the series and, hands-down, the toughest encounter in Final Fantasy. Even getting to fight the Warmech is not a guarantee, as players can only encounter it through a random battle on the top floor of the Flying Fortress. The foe is strong against all magic and has high physical resistance, making the fight against the Warmech a true battle of attrition. Regularly casting Protect spells, Haste, and keeping the party’s health high through regular healing is a must, as is having Knights and other melee-focused classes boosted with Temper. If players happen to have a Black Wizard who knows the Flare spell, it’s the one semi-elemental spell that’s actually effective against the Warmech.
HP – 2000
Weaknesses – N/A

Tiamat is the last of the Four Fiends and, as one might expect, he is far and away the strongest of the Fiend bosses. Tiamat’s arrival in Corneria 400 years prior to the events of Final Fantasy is responsible for the loss of the Lufenian civilization, and he resides in their once proud Flying Fortress on the top floor. As the Fiend of wind, Tiamat is essentially strong against all elemental spells available to the Black Wizard. Instead of using magic attacks to bring her down, focus on having Fighter classes use their strongest attacks and boost them using spells like Temper and Haste. Defeating Tiamat will restore the Wind Crystal and allow the players to travel back in time to face off against the true antagonist of Final Fantasy I.

The Death Eye is essentially a somewhat more powerful version of the Evil Eye that players encounter before entering the basement to the Temple of Chaos. The fight should quickly be over as long as players use their strongest melee attacks against it, and the enemy stands no chance against a well-leveled party.
HP – 360
Weaknesses – Fire, Dia

As players make their way through the Temple of Chaos after traveling through time, they will work their way through different floors that each have an elemental affinity. The first of these is the Earth Floor, and the Fiend of Earth Lich awaits the party for a second confrontation in front of its exit. The same strategy as before applies, only now the Fiend has increased health and strength. One thing to note is that Lich is still weak against holy magic like Dia but no longer suffers from the same weakness against fire, meaning players will need to rely on other spells like Flare (which Lich can also cast).
HP – 500
Weaknesses – Fire, Dia

Marilith makes her second appearance courtesy of the Temple of Chaos’ second basement, the Fire Floor. Just like Lich, players need to defeat Marilith a second time before they can proceed to the next floor of the temple. She is still resistant to all elemental magic and is no longer weak to paralysis or similar status ailments, meaning physical attacks are the go-to route for felling the Fiend once and for all.
HP – 700
Weaknesses – N/A

Kraken’s return appearance is practically identical to that of his fellow Fiends in that he awaits players at the exit to the third floor of the Temple of Chaos and is no longer weak to bolt magic. He has significantly more HP and players will need to mostly rely on melee attacks in order to bring him down and proceed deeper into the Temple of Chaos.
HP – 900
Weaknesses – N/A

The last thing preventing players from reaching the last of the bosses in Final Fantasy I is a second showdown against Tiamat, who also now has a much larger HP pool and still is resistant to all elemental magic. Right before players fight Tiamat they can acquire the most powerful weapon in Final Fantasy on the fourth floor of the Temple of Chaos, the Masamune. With the second fight against Tiamat mostly depending on having strong melee attackers, getting this sword makes the second battle against the Fiend significantly easier.
HP – 1100
Weaknesses – N/A

Chaos is the primary antagonist of Final Fantasy and is actually the fallen knight Garland in his true form after traveling 2000 years into the past. There, he sends the Four Fiends into the future where they will eventually send his past self, Garland, 2000 years into the past. This creates the time loop that is ensaring the world of Corneria in a constant cycle of conflict and decay, and it’s up to the Light Warriors to break the cycle. The fight against Chaos is as difficult as one might imagine with the enemy being the final boss of the game. He has attacks that can immediately wipe the entire party, and in some cases success in the fight comes down to RNG more than anything. He is resistant to all magic and has incredibly powerful attacks, so the best bet is to keep healing and protective magic on a rotation while melee attackers do their best to bring him down.
HP – 2000
Weaknesses – N/A