12 Final Fantasy 2 (1988)
The very first version of Malboro’s weren’t quite as fierce as their modern counterparts. For one: they could not yet use “Bad Breath” to inflict multiple status ailments on all party members simultaneously. Of course, that didn’t make them total pushovers.
Moreover, there were multiple species of Malboro in FF2 like the Malboro Terra and Malboro Menace. This suggests that some Malboro might have adapted to live in water or on land. They were a great foundation for what would become one of the best Final Fantasy enemies.
11 Final Fantasy 6 (1994)
Curiously named Oscars at first, these Malboros were the first to use “Bad Breath” a.k.a. “Sour Mouth” in battle. However, they only used it once the stronger enemies in the fight had been defeated. Again, stronger versions known as the Malboro Menace or Great Malboro appeared.
These also absorbed all elemental attacks with the exception of their weakness: Fire. Confusion also worked as a great way to cause a Malboro to eject itself from battle with its “Snort” attack. Though still dangerous, these Malboros were, by far, not the scariest or most difficult to beat.
10 Final Fantasy 4 (1991)
Continuing the tradition of multiple species, FF4 and FF4: The After Years introduced many types of Malboro including:
The art style took the most risks in terms of color palette in this game with many color variations. There are not only traditionally green Malboros, but purple, yellow, blue, red, and more.
9 Final Fantasy 9 (2000)
Some fans critique FF9 for its more optimistic, youthful approach to story-telling. But the Malboros still look as nightmare-inducing with their enormous gullet full of sharp teeth. However, they don’t appear until very late in the game on Pandemonium.
The thing that makes them much easier compared to other iterations is that their “Bad Breath” hits just one character. Dealing with them is a breeze vs. other versions.
8 Final Fantasy 15 (2015)
As if the concept wasn’t terrifying enough, FF15 realizes Malboros in a way they’ve never been realized before. The excruciatingly massive scale of these monsters is truly jaw-dropping. There are a few variants known as Malbodoom, Malboro Brat, and Malboro Sprout.
But one Malboro, Li’l Malbuddy, is even a cartoon character with his own TV show. The enormous, drooling, slithering enemies are not nearly as cute. The lore surrounding them in FF15 echoes that of FF2 with some species having marine roots and others performing cross-continental migrations. HP numbers ranged from 35,000 to more than 100,000 HP which puts them solidly in the middle in terms of difficulty.
7 Final Fantasy 7 (1997)
FF7 crystallized what the series was all about: incredible characters, a great story, and fearsome enemies. This included the frightening Malboro found in a few places around the World Map. “Bad Breath” appears more often after it goes below 50 percent HP, but it only uses the attack around three times in a fight.
The material combination system in FF7 revamped the way that players could approach Malboro fights. Having immunity to status effects meant that Cait Sith could more easily learn “Bad Breath”. Of course, this Malboro still put serious fear into many a player when the game first released. FF7 Remake debuted its Malboro, but only as an optional boss for now.
6 Final Fantasy 10 (2001)
Like earlier games, the tenth entry into the franchise features three types of Malboro: regular, Great, and the Menace. Of course, the Menace only appears in the Monster Arena as an optional fight. The color palette changed a bit for this game after remaining pretty constant, as well. Instead of a bright green color, the Malboro featured dark, sewage-like green skin with orange tips at their tentacles. The teeth also appeared more barb-like and even more numerous. The Great Malboro looks almost arcane with its teal skin and tan etchings.
Curiously, this Malboro’s “Bad Breath” is on a counter that increases by 1 with an attack or by 2 with fire-elemental damage. Aeons are immune to status ailments, though, so that makes the strategy against Malboros a bit of a non-starter in FF10. In Final Fantasy X-2 from 2003, the Malboros look the same, still use “Bad Breath”, and the Gun Mage (Blue Mage) job can learn the skill. These do have considerably less HP than their counterparts in FF10 with just 6,171 vs. 27,000.
5 Final Fantasy 14 (2013)
The ever-popular MMO offers tons of unique characters from Moogles to Minions. But Malboros are not a common sight in the game and are, in fact, not called Malboros. As with other games, these creatures are called both Morbols and (the weaker version) Stropers.
But the “Bad Breath” attack remains intact, affecting a large area with devastating effects. Their appearance is no longer as plant-like but returned to the eldritch roots of former designs.
4 Final Fantasy 11 (2006)
Final Fantasy 14 has long since replaced FF11 as the MMO option for fans. But the game was a great stepping stone for the developers and included Malboro enemies. But, in FF11, Malboro was just the name of one enemy of a bigger family of monsters known as Morbol.
The family used a variety of “breath” attacks including one that caused immediate death to all players within a certain area. Fun fact: “Morbol” means “land octopuses” and the monster design in FF11 resembled that intent much more than past designs.
3 Final Fantasy Crisis Core
Found in the area known as Banora Underground, these Malboros are very similar to the ones found in the original FF7. However, this title introduced some of that FF2 and FF4 flavor with multiple species of Malboro. The trick is that they have different stats and attacks.
2 Final Fantasy 8 (1999)
Malboros are everywhere in FF8 from the plains around Esthar to the islands closest to Heaven and Hell. Nine out of ten times, they will use “Bad Breath” on the first turn, as well. Though fearsome, these Malboros drop the very useful item “Malboro Tentacles”.
1 Final Fantasy 12 (2006)
FF12 marked a serious departure in many ways from the franchise’s established formula. However, the game did return to the tradition of including multiple variants on the traditional Malboro. The designs varied with the monsters taking on more of a plant-based aesthetic than octopus or eldritch creature. Here’s a full list of the different sub-species:
Malboros don’t appear in FF1, FF3, FF5, or FF13; one can only hope that FF16 keeps up the tradition of including these smelly, wiggly terror.
NEXT: Final Fantasy 12: Every Main Character’s Age, Height, and Birth Year
