Sword-wielding villains are cool. Sword-wielding chicks with breastplates and ability to cast destructive spells are cooler. In the magnanimous world of Final Fantasy, female antagonists often hand down severe punishment more than their male counterparts for one good, frivolous reason – beating up females is not the right thing to do, isn’t it?

As if the likes of General Beatrix would listen to our pleas for a momentary ceasefire – if the likes of Tifa and Yuna can dish out serious pain then, this list would probably hit harder because Final Fantasy developers were virtually attached to give females a more complicated role as either an ensorceled magician or a knight with an insatiable thirst for human blood. Here’s a list of bad-ass female Final Fantasy meanies assigned to eliminate your party under violent circumstances.

5. Meliadoul Tingle (Final Fantasy Tactics) – Armed with a devotion to destroy all your equipment, Meliadoul, unfortunately, has only one chance to dispatch Ramza and company with her Mighty Sword ability. Flanking her may probably work but, you still have to worry about the female Ninja near the lower crate – what will you do if both armor and weapon have been already smashed to smithereens? Restart.

4. Cloud of Darkness (Final Fantasy III and Dissidia) – As stereotypical as it gets, females always play the enfeebled sorceress (take Diablo for example) though, once provoked, they can induce the most terrifying damage while depleting their mana along the process. Cloud of Darkness is far different than them: powerful beam-oriented abilities, a pair of tentacles for moderate physical damage and a half-naked persona gives the Bane of Life a modern definition on how female magic casters should look like.

3. Yunalesca (Final Fantasy X) – Remember the arduous journey at Zanarkand? Well, it turns out that the Sanctuary Keeper is nothing compared to what Yunalesca is in store for Tidus and gang. She was a summoner and chose Lord Zaon to become the host of the Final Summoning ritual, what more can you expect? Yunalesca is bad to the bones and her third form proves how dangerous an unsent female summoner can be? A demonic face protruding from her back with an annoying taste for Zombie spells, how scary. Mega Death with no zombie status? Now we’re all unsent, just like Yunalesca!

2. General Beatrix (Final Fantasy IX) – She once took out a hundred soldiers with a single strike of Save The Queen. The first three meetings with this feisty Alexandrian official only leads to automatic defeat thanks to her Stock Break and Climhazzard. As opposed to those gnarly, thick-bearded male knights of medieval origin, General Beatrix is the perfect example of a baby-faced killing machine programmed to keep your HP at 1.

1. Ultimecia (Final Fantasy VIII) – A powerful witch with control over time, what more can you ask for? If time isn’t on your side then, all hope is truly lost. Ultimecia is near omnipotent and just like Yunalesca, Squall and the others must fight her three forms without flinching. Easier said than done because she is unofficially hailed as the most difficult Final Fantasy storyline villain of all time, besting Sephiroth for the award.

I’m beginning to understand that Final Fantasy girls weren’t all created to for the eye candy, that’s for sure!

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