Top 30 Final Fantasy Villains - #12

#12 - Ultimecia
(Final Fantasy VIII)

Final Fantasy VIII is a game I started off hating, but grew to have a strange fondness for in spite of its numerous flaws. By the same token, while I initially wrote Ultimecia off as a weak villain, I became aware of her more effective traits and now consider her one of the better baddies in the series.

Ultimecia is a sorceress from the future, who has taken over the world and rules with an iron fist. However, she knows that she is destined to be defeated by a mercenary from the SeeD program thanks to time travel hijinks. As such, she appropriates a machine that allows her to transfer her consciousness into the past in order to possess a sorceress from that era- namely, Edea. She takes control of the military superpower Galbadia and uses its resources to wipe SeeD off the face of the earth, all the while continuing her grand plan to further send her mind into the past so, with the power of three sorceresses throughout time, she can compress time into a single moment for… uh… some reason.

Yeah, her motivations for achieving time compression are never explained very well. But that doesn’t really matter when she is quite possibly the scariest, most terrifying villain in the entire series. Every scene she is in is drenched in a dark, horrifying atmosphere. The scene late in the game where she possesses Rinoa is unsettling on every level, and while she is inhabiting the body of Edea, she gets up to some pretty nasty stuff.

The scene where she takes over Galbadia is a great example of how scary she is. She effortlessly immobilizes Rinoa in the middle of her (poorly thought out) attempt to depower her, proceeds to the podium where the President is, murders him right in front of the cheering crowd, and mind-controls the crowd to continue cheering while she gives an absolutely scathing “acceptance” speech condemning them for cheering her while they persecuted sorceresses in the past.

So it’s kind of a shame when you reach the end of the game and see her actual design is… incredibly silly. With those pointless wings, that exaggerated plunging neckline, those horns, her design is making Queen Amidala look subtle by comparison. Which is a real shame, as Edea’s design is utterly perfect. However, that is swiftly forgotten when she actually takes on the heroes personally, and in my humble opinion, she gives us the best final boss in the entire series.

She goes through multiple forms, creates a demonic beast from the repressed insecurity and self-loathing of the main character Squall, merging with it, before her absolutely horrifying final form shows up. In addition, you discover pretty quickly that A) your overpowered summons don’t work on her, and B) she has the power to destroy spells right out of your inventory, thus setting you on edge for the entire fight without making it unfair.

While she is a bit lacking in the backstory and motivation department, leaving most of it up to interpretation, she still manages to be a credible threat that lives up to the buildup and provides some legitimately disturbing moments throughout the game. And you could argue that her backstory being a mystery only adds to her terror. In any case, she easily earns the #12 spot on this list.