Cloud of Darkness

The Cloud of Darkness is the Final Boss of Final Fantasy III. It is summoned accidentally from the Dark World by Xande, and decides to return the world to a state of nothingness. The heroes must pursue it back into the Dark World and defeat it after Xande is defeated. They encounter it twice: first in a battle they cannot win, and second at the very end of the game, where it's beatable.

Battle
Note: for DS remake only.

One way of battling this enemy is just attacking the Cloud of Darkness' main body. But an easier way is attacking the right tentacle to rid the nuisance of using its Lightning attack. Both of the two tentacles around the Cloud of Darkness have immunity against either physical or magical attacks. The right tentacles is completely immune to physical attacks but not magic. The left seems invulnerable to regular spells, but Bahamut's Megaflare, Leviathan's Tidal Wave, and Shurikens can damage it. The left tentacle is also highly vulnerable to physical attacks. The Cloud of Darkness can use Bad Breath to hamper the party unless the characters are equipped with Ribbons or Aegis Shields. Otherwise, only its physical attacks pose an actual threat, until it starts to use Particle Beam.

A Devout is highly recommended for this battle due to their ability to use high level white magic often (unlike the Sage), including Curaja and Arise. Also, they can support the entire party with Protect or cast Holy on the Cloud of Darkness. However,Protect can only be cast on one person per turn so that strategy is optional. Warriors can use their Advance ability to deal heavy damage to either the right tentacle or the Cloud of Darkness; Ninjas are useful for their Throw ability and they can also inflict massive physical damage to the Cloud of Darkness while dual-wielding the Masamune and Muramasa.

Related Enemies

 * Xande

Other Appearances
The Totema Famfrit from Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and the Esper Famfrit are loosely based on the Cloud of Darkness.