A military canine serving as Rufus's personal guard dog. A one-off breed specially enhanced by Shinra's R&D Division, it follows its master's orders without hesitation, and will die to protect him.
Enemy Intel
Darkstar is a boss in Final Fantasy VII Remake who, along with his master Rufus, is fought by Cloud on the helipad of the Shinra Building during "The Showdown" section of Chapter 17 "Deliverance from Chaos". How much health Darkstar has also determines Rufus's battle style, and the aim is to defeat the dog before focusing taking his owner down.
Stats[]
Attacks[]
= Physical damage- = Magical damage
| Attack | Pic | Description | Block | KBKnockback |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bite
|
Bites Cloud. | |||
| Spear Whip
|
Whips with its tentacles. | |||
| Follow-Up
|
Attacks as a follow-up to Rufus's attack on Cloud. | |||
| Whirlwhip
|
Jumps and slams its tentacle onto Cloud. | |||
| Subdue
|
|
Glows red and pounces and binds Cloud, tossing him into the air for Rufus to follow up. | - | |
| Corkscrew
|
Glows red and charges while spinning. | |||
 Thunder
|
Casts  Thunder on Rufus' shotgun to enable his Thunderclap.
|
|||
| Curaga
|
Casts Curaga on Rufus.
|
- | - |
Battle[]
Darkstar will start the fight "linked" to Rufus through Heel. If Cloud attacks Darkstar non-stop, Rufus will intervene and retaliate with shotgun blasts. If any of Darkstar abilities hit Cloud directly, Rufus will use follow-ups to complement the damage. If Darkstar is too far away, Rufus will whistle to call him back to his side. All of Darkstars abilities will knock Cloud down if he is not blocking. Corkscrew, a spinning charge attack which covers large distance; Whirlwhip is a jumping attack which can hit Cloud from a distance; and Subdue is a grab attack that binds Cloud on the ground, and cannot be blocked.
After Darkstar loses 50% HP, the second phase starts, where Rufus' arsenal expands with new and powerful ranged attacks using his coins. Darkstar will be less aggressive in this phase, focusing on follow-ups should Rufus' abilities hit Cloud directly. When he uses Thunder on his owner's shotgun, this will prompt Rufus to use Thunderclap in lieu. If the player is attacking Rufus rather than Darkstar, the dog will heal his master with Curaga.
If Rufus and Darkstar's link is severed, Darkstar will be pressured. Rufus will use Heel to "re-link" them again once Darkstar recovers.
Strategy[]
Countering in Punisher Mode.
The player should focus in defeating Darkstar first. Cloud's attacks under Punisher Mode can be used to pressure him, and Cloud's guard can be used to counterattack Darkstar. Counterstance is also very useful to intercept all of Darkstar's abilities, save for Subdue. When Rufus uses Heel, Darkstar will not attack for a moment, and the player can engage with their own attacks rather than just counterattack.
As most of Darkstar's attacks are physical, Cloud can mitigate damage with Barrier. As there are no elemental weaknesses to exploit, linking 
Elemental Materia with 
Lightning Materia on Cloud's armor can be used to protect against Rufus's Thunderclap. Equipping 
Chakra Materia lets Cloud heal without using MP, useful for hard mode.
The fastest way to dispose of Darkstar is by using Triple Slash; this will instantly by sever the link between him and Rufus, and put the hound on a pressured state. The player can then simply use Focused Thrust in succession to stagger Darkstar. If Rufus tries to intervene, the player can block his attacks and use Triple Slash again to push him away.
Once Darkstar is defeated, the player can focus on Rufus.
Hard Mode[]
On the hard difficulty, while neither Rufus or Darkstar will employ any new abilities, Darkstar will be more aggresive and use Corkscrew and Subdue more often in the first phase, as well Thunder in the second phase to enable Rufus' Thunderclap.
Behind the scenes[]
In the Final Fantasy VII Remake art book, included with the game's special edition, the artwork for Darkstar has him named "Umbra".
Lead battle designer Kosuke Sakane wanted to use an image of Darkstar on Rufus Shinra's coin and was surprised and delighted when one of the designs which came back for it featured Darkstar.[1]
Gallery[]
_from_FFVII_Remake.png "Darkstar's Follow-Up (Think Fast) from FFVII Remake.png (4.13 MB)")