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I am the wellspring of darkness, fed by Zemus's unbridled hate... I am He who is called Zeromus... I am he who knows naught but hate!
Zeromus
Zeromus is the final boss of Final Fantasy IV and the spirit and hatred of Zemus incarnate. Zeromus appears with three battle scripts, with only the third being possible to defeat. The party faces him in the Moon.
After Fusoya and Golbez defeat Zemus, Zeromus emerges from his corpse, proclaiming itself as Zemus's hatred. Fusoya and Golbez's attacks have no effect on Zeromus, and when Golbez tries to use the Crystal, the creature proclaims evil hearts cannot wield it, and attacks both with Meteor.
Everyone left at Mysidia prays for Cecil. Their prayers revive him and his party, and Golbez hands over the Crystal and beckons Cecil to use it. He does so, and Zeromus's invincibility disappears, revealing its true form.
In some versions, Zeromus is susceptible to the second form glitch.
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Stats
Script
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Easy Type 1st Form
Easy Type 2nd Form
Battle
Once Cecil uses the Crystal, given by Golbez, Zeromus becomes corporeal and the true battle begins. Zeromus has considerable prowess in magic; his signature moves include Big Bang, a powerful magic attack that deals around 1,900-2,600 damage to each party member and inflicts Sap. His Black Hole attack nullifies the party's magical benefits (it does not affect Zeromus himself), as well as a variety of other offensive magic.
Strategy
Zeromus appears in a non-corporeal form at the start of the fight, and will not attack and cannot be damaged. This is a good time to cast beneficial status effects. After Cecil uses the Crystal, Zeromus starts off with Big Bang. Rosa should use Curaja and revive any KO'd party members. Cecil should attack or, alternatively, use Elixirs, while Kain jumps. Rydia can use her summons, preferably Bahamut. Black Magic and Holy should be avoided, as they will be countered by Flare. Edge can attack or throw Fuma Shurikens or other powerful weapons, as they will not be needed when the battle is done.
When Zeromus begins to shake, it means he is preparing to use Big Bang. Using a White Magic, Black Magic spell, or item that actually hit Zeromus will trigger a counter Flare. If the player does it after he shakes, he will lose some of his Intellect. Doing this will nerf the upcoming Big Bang. So player's will have to time their spells or items accordingly. If Zeromus shakes again, his Intellect stat will be restored to normal, so the player will have to use a spell or items once again. The player will get a freebie shot the first time around before the very first Big Bang, any time before he uses it. Be warned, if he phase changes, the Bing Bang will be at full strength.
Nevertheless, Rosa should keep steady with the healing while the others unleash what they have against the boss.
Any reflected magic spell(s) will not trigger Zeromus Flare counter at all. Casting Reflect on a character and reflecting spells like Flare and Holy against him. If the player uses Holy directly on Zeromus, he will retaliate to said character with Whirl and they'll be KO'ed by Big Bang's Sap if they have been inflicted by it prior to casting Holy. It is advised not to cast Holy directly on Zeromus.
Another strategy is casting Berserk on all physical fighters. Berserked character(s) will get lot of turns and saves on ATB. When Zeromus uses Black Hole, the berserk character(s) will lose their Berserk status and will need to be reapplied once again.
AI script
2D
- Phase 1 (start of battle): Disrupt, Disrupt, Big Bang, switch to phase 2.
- Phase 2 (regular script): Disrupt, Disrupt, Big Bang, Black Hole, Disrupt, Disrupt, Big Bang, Bio, Black Hole, Disrupt, Disrupt, Big Bang, Black Hole (repeat until either phases 3 or 4 start).
- Phase 3 (see below): Disrupt, Disrupt, Big Bang, Black Hole, Flare, Disrupt, Disrupt, Disrupt, Big Bang (repeat until phase 4 starts).
- Phase 4 (uses when below 12,000 HP and phase 3 was activated beforehand): Random action, Meteor (repeat until dead).
"Disrupt" (SNES translation) is indicated by Zeromus shaking. Zeromus absorbs Flare, presumably to halt what would otherwise be the most efficient method of dealing magical damage.
If Zeromus has a turn while he is between 16,000-12,000 HP and in phase 2, he will refill his health to the max (this action is invisible to the player) and switch to phase 3. He will not do this if the party knocks his health below 12,000 HP before he can heal himself, thereby leaving him in phase 2.
Musical themes
"Zeromus" (originally Saigo no tatakai, "The Final Battle") plays during the final battle. It was rearranged and included in the Black Mages' second studio album The Black Mages II: The Skies Above.
Gallery
Etymology
Zeromus is an extended version of Zemus, which is Amharic for "Prayer". Perhaps because of the added 'Zero', it means "No Prayer".
Trivia
- In the Easy Type version, Zeromus appears with a different battle sprite for its third battle. While this sprite is only used in this version, the design is later reused in some later versions for the Zeromus EG enemy.