A grotesque fiend that has taken up residence in one of Junon’s inlets. It is capable of lifting even giant boulders with its preternatural psychokinetic skills. Using its tentacles, it siphons off the brains of anything that wanders into its domain.
Enemy Intel
Mindflayer is an optional boss in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth that can be fought in the Junon Region, as part of the "Classified Intel: The Whisperer in the Darkness". The player may only fight it after completing all four Lifesprings in the region for Chadley's World Intel.
The Mindflayer can later be fought in Chadley's Combat Simulator in Biological Intel: Head Case where the player needs to defeat it before defeating two Experimental Vargidpolis, a challenge that is notorious for its puzzling nature because you have to worry about not targeting the other two enemies or having them kill themselves with their Self-Immolation ability.
The Mindflayer is a recurring type of enemy in the Final Fantasy series, but did not appear in the Final Fantasy VII series until this game.
Stats[]
Battle[]
The Mindflayer is an elusive creature capable of teleporting around the battlefield. It will usually reappear right next to a player character and attack, but it may also fire multiple orbs of shadowflame from a distance, or shoot small rocks.
Its abilities usually depend on the player position and how many characters are near each other. Against groups, it will often use Astral Apprehension, where it conjures lightning in a radius. If its target is close, it will often use Sinister Seizure, attempting to grab the victim and shock them. If the target is very far, it will use one of two attacks: Accursed Orb fires a large sphere of shadow that explodes in contact; while Eldritch Horror has it shooting a long range energy beam.
After the boss has been staggered once, it will use Telekinesis, lifting large rocks from the ground and shooting them at the victim; the rocks will persist in the battlefield. Immediately after, the boss will teleport to the center of the arena and begin casting Psychotic Break, where it will begin building up energy for around 10 seconds, and then release a massive explosion that deals 9999 damage to all characters; this attack cannot be resisted or blocked, but the player may take refuge behind the rocks lifted from Telekinesis to avoid the damage. The rocks will be destroyed in the explosion but the characters will not take damage. Eventually it will use Telekinesis and Psychotic Break again.
The Mindflayer has no elemental weaknesses and resists magic.
Strategy[]
The Mindflayer is notoriously difficult to flinch and stagger, as it can only be pressured when hit with synergy skills and synergy abilities. However, most of its attacks have long casts and are telegraphed, being easy to avoid or block.
An effective team to fight alongside Cloud is Barret and Tifa (or Red XIII). Since the Mindflayer resists magic, Aerith is less useful in this fight, but can still be used as a healer if necessary. Barret and Tifa can generate a lot of ATB to build-up the synergy charges and pressure the Mindflayer. In addition, 
Steadfast Block Materia is useful to help generate more ATB.
The player can effectively prevent the boss from using Telekinesis by using synergy abilities when it begins casting, which will pressure it. The boss will use the attack after recovering, however.
Hard Mode[]
The creature has a distinct feature in the hard difficulty, where its special abilities save for Telekinesis and Psychotic Break will create a clone that will mimic the attack, effectively doubling its damage output.
With access to endgame materia and equipment, even magic builds can be used, despite the boss's natural resistance to magic, as 
Magic Focus Materia can be stacked for devastating effects.
Aerith can be equipped with 
ATB Boost Materia, First Strike Materia, and the Choco King's Cape to quickly cast all her wards in succession to bombard the boss with spells. ATB Ward should be cast first, followed by Arcane Ward; placing the Radiant Ward is optional, but it is valuable since it makes characters invincible while casting magic.
If the player waits to fight this boss later after recruiting Yuffie, she can use her Brumal Form on top of ATB Ward to quickly build up the whole party's ATB, making easier to unleash synergy abilities back-to-back and cripple the Mindflayer. The ATB Assist Materia can be equipped on Yuffie to further grant more ATB to the allies.
Gallery[]
Etymology[]
Mindflayers, or "Illithids," are a race found in Dungeons & Dragons. They appear humanoid, with heads that resemble octopuses, and frequently are found in the Underdark. They have fearsome psychic powers, subsist on a diet comprised of the brain tissue of sapient beings, and often enslave other races.