How about that Necron?

[Xanatos]

From what I've seen not many think highly about Final Fantasy's IX final boss Necron, many think of him as one of the lamest villains, some would dare to say that he was completely unnecessary to the game, forcibly put there just to tests players skills and the game would be much better without him leaving Kuja as the final boss.

I have a completely different opinion, I see him as a perfect final boss, after all there would be a major plot hole if it wasn't for him. Sure he didn't appear through the game nor was he a mastermind like Ultimecia and Zeromune, he barely even had a personality but he was an important part of the game. If there's a crystal that represents all of life on both Gaia and Terra there must be something that represents death and that's exactly what Necron is. By destroying the crystal Kuja indeed destroyed life just like he promised, the one who failed was death itself, Necron, as the heroes managed to stop him. Necron doesn't need to have personality, nor does he have to apear through the game as most of the villains do, he appear just in the time and he was important part of the story, an important part both Gaia and Terra.

Anyways, any thoughts on Necron, was he really unnecessary like the majority think. Please, I would like to see your opinions on this matter...

[loaf]

I never thought of Necron being a horrible final boss. I knew why he was put into the game.

[winterborn86]

I didn't like him , I think it should of just been left with Kuja as the final boss, the end was the 1st time Necron was even mentioned, totally annoying, I didn't get the point of having him, also he is a total pain I only beat him once out of sheer damn luck, and never managed to do it again, as far as I'm concerned as soon as I've kicked Kuja's butt it's game finished lol

[Dodie16]

The way I think about it now, Dr. Manhattan Necron was just another thing that was yet another throwback to the past games in the series. Lots of other previous FF final bosses (and a few other JRPG final bosses as well) have done the same thing, where the guy you thought was the main and final villain/confrontation turned out to be just the appetizer to the bigger and more powerful baddie (I'm looking at YOU Cloud of Darkness... )

I'll admit that the first time playing it, I thought it was sort of cheap that it happened, because once I had finally gotten past Kuja, I thought the game would be over, then realize that there's yet ANOTHER boss I had to face? After playing the older games in the series though, I got used to having the whole "SURPRISE!!!! GAME'S NOT OVER YET!" thing happen, so now I'm just sort of "meh" to the whole idea.

P.S.- Ultimecia wasn't a mastermind. She was just a bitch, IMO.

[Xithor]

I liked Necron, especially more than Ultimecia, she was just annoying throughout the entire game.

Spoiler: I see Necron the same as Yu Yevon was in Final Fantasy X. Behind the scenes and pulling strings and you don't know your true enemy until the very last minute. Necron in a sense pulled the story together and essentially gave the reasons as to why things were happening like the Mist spreading across the whole world.

Plus it was Final Fantasy going back to it's roots, even the game was advertised as "the return of the crystal" or "the crystal comes back" something to that effect lol. But overall liked Necron

[Xanatos]

I didn't like him , I think it should of just been left with Kuja as the final boss, the end was the 1st time Necron was even mentioned, totally annoying, I didn't get the point of having him, also he is a total pain I only beat him once out of sheer damn luck, and never managed to do it again, as far as I'm concerned as soon as I've kicked Kuja's butt it's game finished lol

That's the problem, usually those who didn't understand why Necron appeared or why SquareEnix bothered putting him in this game end up hating him. But what's there to understand, it's simple we have life and death. Necron is death and the crystal is life, by destroying the crystal what's left.

I guess they could come up with the end where Kuja fails to destroy the crystal, but that would be an epic fail in my book. Why? Well, it seems not many people have noticed but Square Enix had plans for Necron right from the start, the earlier Final Fantasy games showed us the world where crystals were important, they showed what exactly happens if the crystals disappear. The worlds would be thrown into chaos, slowly but surely loosing life. Destroying the crystal in Final Fantasy IX had the same effects, only in this game Necron was the one who would wipe out Gaia if it weren't for Zidane's gang.

As for his difficulty that's completely different problem, it's not just you, many complain about his difficulty which is strange since I found him to be quite easy even on low levels, I suppose you haven't fought Ozma.

Spoiler: I see Necron the same as Yu Yevon was in Final Fantasy X. Behind the scenes and pulling strings and you don't know your true enemy until the very last minute. Necron in a sense pulled the story together and essentially gave the reasons as to why things were happening like the Mist spreading across the whole world.

It seems you didn't quite understand what Necron really is, as I said he wasn't mastermind as Zeromune and Ultimecia were, he didn't pull the strings which means he wasn't responsible for any of the events during the game, including the mist. He's death itself, and death doesn't appear until life ends, he appeared only when crystal was destroyed just to fulfill his duty.

[Ralz]

I was almost certain Kuja was the final boss. Everything was set up so perfectly.

Then shocking moment #78, Necron is the true final boss. I did feel in the dark when he first appeared. I remember looking all over the game again for any remote mention of him. I think I read one theory where Soulcage was connected to it or something, but I'm not sure.

It was an enjoyable battle. Not to mention it captures the FF final boss feel. Big mofo comes and tries to obliterate you. This big mofo comes after you kill the little mofo. Even though I think it used status ailments... LAME.

I don't hate him, I just wanted a better understanding of what he was doing. Did Necron teleport them to his location or did they just pop there? If the former, why did he bring them? If the latter, couldn't he have just off'd them when they were out cold? I don't know. At least the theme is awesome.

[Xithor]

It seems you didn't quite understand what Necron really is, as I said he wasn't mastermind as Zeromune and Ultimecia were, he didn't pull the strings which means he wasn't responsible for any of the events during the game, including the mist. He's death itself, and death doesn't appear until life ends, he appeared only when crystal was destroyed just to fulfill his duty.

Oh alright my mistake, I thought he was behind it all along but in fact he is just doing his job of destroying the world and creating it anew after the crystal was destroyed. That makes sense now. And the crystal was destroyed because of Kuja's actions and so to revert the chain of events that Kuja had set off by destroying the crystal and summoning Necron, Zidane and co had to defeat Death itself to save the world. Makes that battle even more enjoyable because the dialogue did confuse me a little bit. I'll have to go back and pay closer attention to exactly what Necron was saying trying to explain his purpose.

[Zidane77]

I think Necron was all right, pretty fun final boss actually. I got why he was in the game and it was good that he wasn't more than this.
He was not hard but still a little challenge.
The only real challenges in this game are Ozma and the Yans ( which i don't like)

[Xithor]

I think Necron was all right, pretty fun final boss actually. I got why he was in the game and it was good that he wasn't more than this.
He was not hard but still a little challenge.
The only real challenges in this game are Ozma and the Yans ( which i don't like)

I would argue that the Yans are one of the most difficult regularly encountered opponents in all of the Final Fantasy series. You think you got them beat but if you inflict 9999 damage then boom you get snorted out. Talk about frustrating

[Zidane77]

I would argue that the Yans are one of the most difficult regularly encountered opponents in all of the Final Fantasy series. You think you got them beat but if you inflict 9999 damage then boom you get snorted out. Talk about frustrating

I agree, if there's a status effect to inflict on them, i think that's the most secure way.

[Storm]

I found him interesting, as it was unexpected that there would be a final final boss (err... if that makes much sense) after Trance Kuja, the guy we all knew we were questing to defeat. It is a classic Final Fantasy theme, that everything must return to the void, and IX was a great reminice of the early games, with gameplay and storytelling more reminiscent of VII and VIII.

Necron is IX's version of Chaos/ Cloud of Darkness/ Zeromus/ ExDeath, and I thought he was an important final encounter. He looks awesome too, and the eerie music when he appears just tops the whole thing off.

[Xithor]

I agree, if there's a status effect to inflict on them, i think that's the most secure way.

They way I beat them is Garnet summoning Atomos with 99 Amethyst's in stock and the Boost ability lets her hit all of them (whether it be one or three) for 9,999 damage. Then I have one of three characters in my party to kill them Freya with Dragon's Crest, Steiner with Shock, or Vivi with Auto-Reflect and Reflect x2 abilities equipped and bounce Flare off of himself which all inflict 9,999 damage. That takes care of two of the Yans so with a group of three just use Zidane's Soul Blade with the Ultimate Weapon equipped and it puts the last Yan to sleep before he gets killed too lol

I found him interesting, as it was unexpected that there would be a final final boss (err... if that makes much sense) after Trance Kuja, the guy we all knew we were questing to defeat. It is a classic Final Fantasy theme, that everything must return to the void, and IX was a great reminice of the early games, with gameplay and storytelling more reminiscent of VII and VIII.

Necron is IX's version of Chaos/ Cloud of Darkness/ Zeromus/ ExDeath, and I thought he was an important final encounter. He looks awesome too, and the eerie music when he appears just tops the whole thing off.

I could not agree more with you Storm, everything about the final boss was a throwback to the old Final Fantasies and I really appreciated it from Square. The music truly made the last encounter one on an epic scale. Although I didn't understand the need for Necron the first play through I can tell it was a well thought out plot line by Square, another bulls eye

[Ragtime]

Well I wasn't too fond of him. I mean, when I first saw hime, I was like "WTF!?" He/She/It came out of nowhere. He wasn't all too relevant to the story, so I don't really know why he was added into it.

I reckon they added Nercon because every final boss in an FF is massive, a mutant and/or transforms to their true/strongest state(e.g Kefka, Sephiroth, Jecht etc). Kuja had already reached the state of Trance long before the final battle so he couldn't really transform into anything futher so they needed that all-powerful titan for a final boss.

And I don't know about the rest of you, but I lol'd at SE's homage to Yoda.

[Xithor]

Hahaha I didn't even notice that Ragtime lol very perceptive you are, good catch on that one.

[Master Garland]

I like Necron and he is well implemented into the game if you pay attention to the little details in the games dialogue.

Spoiler: The common theory of what it is and it's origin is that it's the core function the spiritual function so to speak of the Iifa tree. You are aware that when you defeat Soulcage the tree still emits 'Mist' from the roots. Soulcage was just the physical manifestation of the tree as Garland says 'all you saw was the front of the tree, not the core where its true identity lies' or something along those lines. So with that said we know there is still some being controlling the tree albeit a more powerful and mysterious being. Do you remember that when you beat Necron the Iifa tree begins a violent reaction? That is most likely because the true core being of the tree(Necron) was destroyed so as a result it can no longer exist. Yes, it is true that this game does not tell you this directly but as I mentioned the plot details kind of signify this to be true. But do not get me wrong I'm not saying that this is a undeniable fact just that it's probable.

[Discordius]

He is a good fight. All he needs to be.

[+ Revenant +]

A few spoilers ahead, so if you haven't beaten the game don't read on.




Technically no boss except Kuja was really necessary...it's all a matter of adding something special or unique to the experience. If a boss doesn't do that, he's just taking up the gamers' time and space on the disc. So I'm happy to say that Necron did in fact add something special. Of course Trance Kuja was the most compelling villain, but the game would have felt somehow incomplete if it just ended with us taking him down--especially since he wasn't terribly hard to beat if you could match his power. Necron was something else entirely.

I lean more toward Necron being death itself than being at the core of the Iifa Tree. Although it would make sense in some ways, you may recall that Garland created the tree in the first place. If he made the tree he must have decided how it worked as well, and I highly doubt he was capable of creating a being like Necron. Unless he was so desperate that he somehow made a deal with death to save Terra, I think the truth is a bit different. Xanatos' idea that the crystal was life and Necron death makes a lot more sense when I consider Necron's morbid musings, his fighting style, and his claiming to be immortal.

Though he may have been an homage to previous iffy final bosses who came out of nowhere, Necron had the greatest design of any boss in the game as well as some awesome attacks. Nothing you'd faced before could really prepare you for him, and he certainly felt like a real final boss to me. Plus his music was awesome, and at least he had a better name than "Ex-Death."


And Winterborn, some tips for you on beating Necron a second time and hopefully more...
--As far as levels go, have the most useful people at least in the mid-50s or so. Anything much less and one of his attacks can kill most of them outright.
--Equip the four people you're using with every anti-status effect ability you have. Without those you're pretty much dead. If there's any room left, equip Auto-Life or Auto-Haste. The only thing harder than surviving against Necron is keeping up with him.
--Necron fires off 2-3 attacks per turn, a rarity for most enemies. But he has a pretty reliable pattern. For a while he'll use basic spells or cast Blue Shockwave, which brings a character down to 1 HP. But then he'll cast the deadly combination of Grand Cross, an attempt to inflict every status effect in the book, and then Neutron Ring, which does a lot of regular damage to everyone. Right after that is when you want to attack him. The weaker people can throw healing spells and Elixirs around; the stronger ones can hit him with their best attacks. But be careful after that, because another Cross/Ring combo will be coming up.
--Necron has low defense. That's why he'll throw a ton of status effects at you and try to prop himself up with Shell and Protect; he wants you to be too busy keeping yourself alive to attack him. But if your characters are strong enough, you'll be able to pull this off. (You know he's the personification of death because he has a hard time killing you on his own; he needs handicaps and diseases to do his dirty work.)

[adamjr67]

I actually thought that Necron was a good final boss, I found the fight a lot easier than Ultemecia anyway and I also thought he was key to the plot.

[Coy261]

One time when i beat kuja after that i didn't fight necron but another time i did any thoughts?

[Discordius]

The way I think about it now, [Strike]
P.S.- Ultimecia wasn't a mastermind. She was just a bitch, IMO.

How are those incompatible? She's obviously both.

[Xithor]

One time when i beat kuja after that i didn't fight necron but another time i did any thoughts?

That's not possible, you have to face Necron before seeing the end of the game. Did the power go out or something before you could face Necron? There's no explanation for this that I can think of

[Coy261]

I dont think the power went out but maybe i ended up turning it off thinking it was the end but i do remember fighting Necron

[NeoArashi]

Necron was aweosme! I enver disliked him. Sure, at first, I though he was just a random, no-name final boss, but I've alays liked it that way. Seriously, in FFVII, as soon as you ever hear about sephiroth, it was WAY too obvious he'd be the final boss.)

I also love the way he tried to toy with Zidane's mind before the battle.

''Now mome... Enter the Zero World that you desire'' is, and will ALWAYS be the most epic and awesome quote a final boss will ever gets to say. And People claiming he was easy, I challenge you to fight him without any status ailment protection ability. Now it's going to be pure hell to defeat him, even with his low 56k HP.

And he's probably the only final boss that you never get to destroy (as he is immortal)

My only problem with Necron is his AI concerning his Blue Shockwave attack as shown in the video I made: YouTube - Final Fantasy IX - Againts Necron

[scorptatious]

How about that Necron?

All I can say about him is that he should get ****ed in the ass with a nintey-five inch pole.

Needless to say, my first experience with him (today) was pretty unpleasent.

[markandrewkinzett]

What I didn't get was you play through the whole game chasing Kuja and end up defeating him. Then Necron just appears out of nowhere with no heads up. What's up with that?!