Ultimecia (final boss)

The third and final form of Ultimecia is the final boss of Final Fantasy VIII. After her Guardian Force, Griever, is destroyed, Ultimecia emerges from the void in her most powerful form, ready to complete time compression. She is in the process of absorbing all of existence, with stars and planets from across the space-time continuum being sucked into her body.
The theme of the battle is "The Extreme".
==Stats==
== Battle ==
Ultimecia can cast Flare, Holy, Meteor, and Ultima, dispel any positive statuses the party cast upon themselves, instantly kill Guardian Forces, remove an entire spellstock from a character's inventory (even if it is junctioned to a stat), and reduce the entire team's HP to 1 with her Hell's Judgment spell.
Once she reveals her lower half, Ultimecia draws Apocalypse from it and begins to cast it upon the party. Apocalypse is a spell even more powerful than Ultima, and it can cause damage in the range of 8,000 HP or higher if the party is not protected by Shell or invincibility. While her lower half is revealed, she will otherwise only use Hell's Judgment, but can still destroy stocked magic.
After Ultimecia uses her first Apocalypse spell, the party can stop Ultimecia from using it by destroying her lower half. If her lower half is destroyed, Ultimecia will begin to cast powerful Ultima and Meteor spells and might cast Ultima or Meteor right after using Hell's Judgment.
If attacked with Dispel, she counterattacks with Claw Counterattack. Both her physical attacks always critical, but Claw Counterattack is weaker and never misses.
Once Ultimecia runs out of HP, she will begin speaking. She can still attack the party at this point, so the battle is not over. The party must attack her for at least 100 damage to make her say her next line, and she will fall after the fifth attack. Upon her defeat, Ultimecia will fall, exploding in a massive sequence of colorful light.
=== Strategy ===
After Ultimecia reveals her lower half, the player needs to heal the party or use a Holy War as she may cast Apocalypse instantly after drawing it.
A good strategy to defeat Ultimecia's lower half is to have Irvine on Aura, and pound away with Armor Shot.
To defeat Ultimecia, the party best stick with Limit Breaks for everybody (except perhaps Selphie). It is wise to have Selphie as the healer, and she can also Triple-cast Ultima until Ultimecia reveals her lower half. Once Ultimecia's lower half is a target, Selphie can draw Apocalypse from it and then Triple-cast it back on Ultimecia. If her lower half is destroyed, the player should heal everybody to avoid being killed by Meteor or Ultima on her next turn.
A quick way is to have all three of the party members stand by until Ultimecia uses Hell's Judgment. With everybody's HP at one, two characters can use Limit Breaks while the last heals either by Triple-Casting Curaga, or using a Megalixir (or via White Wind, if the third party member is Quistis). There is little risk in this strategy before Ultimecia reveals her lower-half, because her only other attacks are single-targeting. It is unnecessary to use Hell's Judgment to gain Limit Breaks as long as the player can keep the party in Aura status, but Ultimecia might destroy all of the Aura magic in the party's inventory. If Quistis is in the party when Hell's Judgment is cast, a good idea is to have her cast Mighty Guard which—with all party members at 1 HP—will likely cast Haste, Regen, Float and Aura in addition to Shell and Protect.
==Other appearances==
===Pictlogica Final Fantasy===
==Behind the scenes==
Part of the field of stars in the background during the fight is actually part of Ultimecia herself, emphasizing she is absorbing space and time during the fight. When viewed in a third party program, zooming out in scan, and during some attack animations when the camera zooms out far enough, the edge of her dress can be seen extending under and behind the party, the underside red to match the rest of her outfit.
The Final Fantasy X aeon Anima resembles Ultimecia's final form, as the two have an upper and a lower part, and Ultimecia's lower part is displayed in a similar position to Anima's upper part.
== Gallery ==
Ultimecia Final FFVIII Color Art.jpg|Concept art.
Ultimecia finalform.jpg|Ultimecia's final form.
FFVIII Hell's Judgment.png|Hell's Judgement.
Ultimecia final form blow away magic from FFVIII Remastered.png|Blow away magic.
== Related enemies ==
* Ultimecia (First form)
* Griever
* Ultimecia (Griever form)
de:Artemisia (Endgegner)
it:Artemisia (boss finale)
Category:Bosses in Final Fantasy VIII
Category:Final bosses