Holy Dragon (Final Fantasy VI)

The Holy Dragon is a boss in Final Fantasy VI. It is one of the Eight Dragons, and is the dragon of the Holy element. The Holy Dragon is found in the Cultists' Tower, in the treasure room in the third section. It is the easiest of the Eight Dragons to kill due to its simple attack pattern and low HP. As with the other dragons, it is re-fought in the Dragons' Den bonus dungeon in the Advance and smartphone releases.

First Battle
The Holy Dragon only attacks with the Holy spell, which can be reflected; if the party is equipped with Reflect Rings, the player cannot lose this battle. The Holy Dragon wastes turns casting Dispel to rid of the Reflect as well. Even though it only uses normal magic, it can be inflicted with Silence, rendering it immobilized for the rest of the battle. Although the Holy Dragon has no weakness, his HP is the lowest out of all the Eight Dragons.

The Holy Dragon is one of the few bosses to appear on the Veldt and have a Rage. As such, the Holy Lance, obtained by defeating the Holy Dragon, is obtained in such a way as to prevent the player from stocking up on them. Players can still attempt to steal Holy Lances, but as it is a rare steal, it'll take a good amount of luck.

Second Battle
The revived Holy Dragon fought in Dragons' Den is a much more potent opponent. It counters most attacks by casting Curaga on itself, healing for 6000+ damage, and has Auto-Regen healing it even more. It also has a chance to counter attacks with Heartless Angel, reducing the entire party to 1 HP. The Holy Dragon will attack several times a turn with Holy, Heavenly Wrath, a powerful physical attack, or Saintly Beam. Saintly Beam hits the entire party and cannot be reflected, so it has the potential to end the game instantly if used after Heartless Angel.

Only the Paladin's Shield, Cat-Ear Hood and Minerva Bustier provide protection from Holy-elemental damage, so bringing Terra, Celes, and/or Relm to the battle equipped with these armor pieces will provide much-needed protection. Another option is to bring Strago or Gogo to use the Force Field Lore. With luck or persistence, the Holy element will be negated, removing Holy and Saintly Beam as threats. From there, the player can cast Reflect on the Holy Dragon to neutralize its Curaga, and use non-elemental attacks that ignore Reflect while healing as needed from Heavenly Wrath and Heartless Angel. Reraise is recommended.

When the Holy Dragon is defeated, the party receives the Zanmato, Cyan's ultimate weapon.

First Battle
Attack Turns: 1st Turn: Holy (66%) or Nothing (33%)
 * Holy (66%) or Nothing (33%)
 * Holy (33%) or Nothing (66%)

If attacked by "Magic":
 * Target: All Characters
 * Dispel (66%)

Second Battle
At beginning of battle:
 * Display message: Holy Dragon calls for heavenly aid!

Attack Turns: 1st Turn: Saintly Beam (66%) or Nothing (33%)
 * Saintly Beam (66%) or Nothing (33%)
 * Saintly Beam (33%) or Nothing (66%)

2nd Turn: Attack (33%) or Heavenly Wrath (33%) or Nothing (33%)
 * Attack (33%) or Heavenly Wrath (33%) or Nothing (33%)
 * Heavenly Wrath (33%) or Nothing (66%)

If Timer >= 20:
 * 1st Turn: Saintly Beam (100%)
 * Saintly Beam (66%) or Holy (33%)
 * Saintly Beam (33%) or Holy (33%) or Nothing (33%)
 * 2nd Turn: Attack (100%)
 * Attack (100%)
 * Attack (33%) or Heavenly Wrath (33%) or Nothing (33%)
 * Attack (33%) or Heavenly Wrath (33%) or Nothing (33%)
 * Heavenly Wrath (33%) or Nothing (66%)

If attacked by anything:
 * Target: Self
 * Curaga (66%)
 * Target: Party
 * Heartless Angel (33%)

Trivia

 * The sprite that is shared between Holy Dragon, Dragon, Red Dragon, and Great Dragon is virtually identical to the sprite found in some of the Thunderh class dragons. Namely the Pontilac and General.
 * Along with the rest of the Eight Dragons, there exists text within the game code indicating that Holy Dragon would summon one of the other dragons in-battle to help fight the player. How this would be implemented is unknown; no actual coding for this feature exists.
 * On the Veldt, the Holy Dragon always appears right after the Behemoth King appears.

Related Enemies

 * Dragon
 * Red Dragon
 * Great Dragon
 * Blue Dragon
 * Earth Dragon
 * Gold Dragon
 * Ice Dragon
 * Skull Dragon
 * Storm Dragon

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