Was Necron really a terrible Final Boss?

Final Fantasy 9 is celebrated for many reasons, it's final boss Necron is not one of them. In this episode we explore how Hironobu Sakaguchi's final Final Fantasy game sought to create characters based on thematic trajectories rather than narrative ones, and what that meant for the emotive but oft-confused conclusion of the game, encapsulated by the wild appearance of Necron after we defeat Kuja.
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In this Final Fantasy lore episode we'll cover the following topics:
Final Fantasy 9 story explained
FF9 story conclusion with Kuja being replaced by Necron
Final Fantasy IX and existentialism
Thank you for supporting Alleyway Jack
#alleywayjack #finalfantasy #FF9

[@calahoon22]

Possibly something that could have set this up a bit better is to have a character ask what would happen if the crystal was destroyed in the lead up to the final battle. Not saying the characters would know about Necron but it would certainly put the question forward which is then answered by Necrons appearance

[@torsion7214]

I remember saying as much in a past comment. Fighting the personification of the central themes of the game is not really "out of nowhere". Even a Necron enjoyer has to admit it failed to resonate with most players, though.

[@milemile4813]

In hindsight it makes sense, but you can't tell me you expected Necron to show up at the end. No one can.

[@Laezar1]

@@milemile4813 I mean, you don't have to expect it for it to be good? I didn't expect ultimecia to summon griever or yu yevon to be a parasitic insect thingy, hell I didn't expect the timeloop plot in FF1 and that the final boss would be garland. Of course nobody expects necron but as long as it makes sense and strengthen the themes of the game I don't see the issue? Gamers will go : "videogame are art" and in the same breath be like "symbolism?! in my game?! how dare!" Funny enough the original plan was for Hades to be the final boss, which is basically the same concept, being the god of the dead. Clearly they thought it was a bit weak and decided to go for something more cosmic horror style so they knew what they were going for.

[@AkaiAzul]

The thing with Necron is essentially what's already been said. It's more the lack of build up. Garland in FF1 becoming Chaos works because, for its time, got 5 whole text boxes to build up what's going on. Necron was not Kuja becoming Death or Necron, it just came out of nowhere. It's like if in FF7, after beating Sephiroth, you fight the physical manifestation of Trauma.

[@milemile4813]

​@@Laezar1 I never said it was bad. I said it was completely unexpected and that nobody can convince me that they actually expected Necron after Kuja. Yu Yevon, makes more sense cause you actually hear that word like a 1000 times only to discover its an actual parasite. Its a twist. Necron has none of that. A complete abstraction. And I love IX to death, it was my first FF. My point - Necron = completely unexpected. In hindsight yeah, cool idea. When you experience it for the first time, complete nonsense.

[@Argonisgema]

@@AkaiAzul Don't you kind of do that in remake?

[@Zeikier]

Since FF9 is such a love letter to the series as a whole up to that point i can see Necron as a reference to final bosses like Zemus and Cloud of Darkness, who are driving forces behind the primary antagonist until their reveal. I can see Necron (or their original name "The Darkness of Eternity") being a take on that concept but exploring the thematic like you said. I was never bothered by Necron and never understood why they were under so much more scrutiny. Even if i did take issue i would be placated by the sick fight theme and tough final challenge.

[@DarthJF]

I was definitely puzzled by Necron playing the game as a kid, but when I replayed IX couple years ago I found myself appreciating him as a thematic final boss who embodies a concept that the characters have been fighting against through the whole game in their personal struggles of whether to embrace life or despair. The final fight against Necron just takes that struggle and actualises it into a JRPG boss fight. But yeah, all that went way over my head when I was younger and I suspect the same is true for a lot of IX's playerbase.

[@costby1105]

Also Given that Kuja was in ways meant to be a reflection of all the main Final Fantasy antagonists prior and at this point he most resembles Xande from Final Fantasy III it makes sense that he would accidentally summon something dire.

[@Argorox]

An embodiment of death is a perfect final boss for FF9, but the problem was the execution. FF9 has a perfect mechanism as part of it's plot to explain an entity like Necron: eidolons. Eidolons are creatures born from a planet's crystal created from the memories of the souls that return to it. It makes sense that an embodiment of death could be born this way; it could even be born from Kuja's very wish for the end of all life. In fact the original concept for the final boss was Hades, which is essentially an eidolon of death. But instead Necron is just some random alien that endeavors to return the universe to 0 and was drawn to Gaia by Kuja's despair.

[@veghesther3204]

Yes even at lv 99 its a BRUTAL fight IF it EVER uses Grand Cross at all.

[@Nerwrax15]

Always thought it was blown out proportion. While we never figure out what Necron is as a entity, I don't think we're suppose to, he's never brought up because not even the characters in-universe knows what he is and how could they? The only way he springs up is if The Crystal is destroyed and assumedly that has never happened before until Kuja does it. All we know is that life is suppose to "end" if the crystal is destroyed, Necron is simply the Method that is responsible for ending the world due to the crystal being destroyed. I'd personally find it more egregious IF Necron showed up and proclaimed that he was the true villain all along and he planned everything to free himself from the crystal so he can destroy the world. But thats not what happens. Effectively Kuja successfully launches a nuke and the party now need to physically fight that nuke before it has a chance to blow up. At least Necron is nice enough to banter with us and tries to explain WHY it is if not exactly WHAT it is. While we know who Sephiroth is, his final form literally comes out of nowhere and with no explaination, you beat Bizzaro, get a black screen and literally jumped scared into the Safer Sephiroth boss fight with zero explaination or setup.

[@jairekambui7738]

Do jrpgs ever explain the boss transformations of villains? It’s kind of unnecessary, it’s the classic thing of “this isn’t even my final form” until it is. If nothing else, it’s usually a lot of visual symbolism. All we need to know is that the character has achieved a level of power that is related to their physical appearance. Necron has a lot of thematic weight, but the entity just appears after a somewhat scripted final fight against Kuja. It’s not bad, just a different approach. Final Fantasy typically doesn’t do final bosses like this, so it’s definitely interesting to discuss what they were going for here and why they didn’t think Kuja would be sufficient as the final boss.

[@ikeillue8385]

Here is the thing though. Having a villain that embodies the themes, and a narratively satisfying villain are not mutually exclusive things. The fact is, they could have had Necron filling that roll of the thematic end boss, but also have a narrative thread going through it, to make it satisfying. A great example of this is Sephiroth. He has the narrative thread that is leading the players throughout the entire game, even before you are even introduced to Sephiroth his presence is felt. At the same time, the themes of FFVII are all about identity, and Sephiroth personifies that. Not only does the loss of his own identity start the issues involving Jenova, but then he finds his own identity, and through doing so he gains god like power, and attempts to use that power to remove everyone else's identities, effectively making everyone just a part of himself. So you have both the thematic and the narrative right there. In FF9, sure the thematic aspect is there, but the narrative aspect is non existent.

[@Jester_Jean]

Well said. All this took was like a few bits and pieces of information in the world about Necron as an Entity. Heck, even Hyne in VIII gets more lore than necron

[@Rex113-bz5yj]

I never really had a problem with Necron. I always felt like he fit in perfectly with the overall themes and tone of FF9. I actually liked how he comes out of nowhere. It’s like he’s some sort of eldritch being who was always been there but is beyond the understanding of mortals. The very personification of death and nihilism itself.

[@michaelhowell2809]

My first place ended with stinier in trance inflicted with bs and my team K.O. By God, his final swing won the battle. Just turned 36, and I'll never forget that moment regardless of the design of the boss

[@n3onkn1ght]

Squaresoft should've just called the final boss Hades, like they were going to. Everybody would've gotten it. But instead they went with a weird esoteric name that had no cultural significance and everybody complained it made no sense.

[@mtownboi4ya]

Necron was definitely strange. FF has amazing way of characterization, motives, and etc. Necron really came out of nowhere, imo

[@funlesbian]

It's kind of an opposite deus ex-machina, where instead of God manifesting suddenly to solve all conflicts, he becomes the conflict.

[@itstherudy]

I was initially a bit disappointed w/ the end boss in FF9, as well (though not as much as w/ Yu Yevon in FFX), but I was able to look past the seemingly abruptness of this final foe not only cuz the entire game had been superb, but I had figured Necron was the origin crystal that had been floating behind Kuja, corrupted by Kuja's despair & thus reawakened to end everything. Though Necron cannot be fully destroyed, as it says upon defeat, it does seem to absorb & respond to strong emotions as it did w/ Kuja's resolve to end everything & then w/ the party's determination to live. Necron has the same rings floating around it as the crystal did & it even looks like the crystal when it closes its colossal "wings." If this is indeed true, then Necron has been present since the very beginning as the very symbol in FF9's logo. 💎 🤯

[@BuffetCrayfish]

Well said, and it fits the crystal themes of every FF in the series from my understanding

[@hawkbirdtree3660]

To me, Necron is Sakaguchi telling the player “bye everyone, this is the final fantasy”, and fighting him is the player saying “NEVER!!!”

[@1SpicyMeataball]

I guess one could argue that Necron is the driving force...personification? of the despair and nihilism that Kuja falls to when he realizes he is destined to die. Zidane and Vivi are the antithesis of that world view. But yes. Necron could have been done better but as far as final bosses go, I don't mind it.

[@zackc5973]

Necron is the personification of destruction of all of existance summoned when Kuja destroys the crystal at the end of the fight or rather the "creator and destroyer of the universe" (You actually see the crystal being destroyed) From what I understand the fight is metaphorical rather than literal. (Sorta like when Roxas and Sora has a fight in Soras head in KH2) basically the supreme being (Necron) sees Zidane and cos will to live and desides not to destroy all of existence. (Thats 100% my interpretation of the whole thing) this battle of the wills is represented by the ingame fight. Also, I've heard Necron isnt as confusing or was eluded to at least in the original translation. But have no reference to back that up.

[@dragonfangalexander]

Anyone saying Necron comes out of nowhere basically skipped all important dialogue in the game. The whole theme of the game is both life and how to deal with death and mortality. In fact you could argue that Necron is one, if not, the most themetic final boss of the whole franchise.

[@ikeillue8385]

There is a difference between being thematic, and being narratively satisfying. In addition, those two things are not mutually exclusive. Necron absolutely is an incredibly thematic boss. But that doesn't change the fact that he just comes out of nowhere at the end, when the narrative has already wrapped up.

[@Jester_Jean]

None of that dialogue mentioned Necron as an entity. This could have been solved with some legends, folklore and book entries here and there.

[@LawsonPhoenix89]

I never flinched at Necron's appearance. Always thought it ruled.

[@connorlarkinbass]

same!

[@andrewbailey4657]

He shows up, quotes Yoda, and attacks you. He's even worse than Dark Force in the treasure chest from Phantasy Star 3

[@NymphieJP]

It comes out of nowhere, that’s why people don’t like it. It has basically nothing to do with the plot itself. Just because it suits the themes doesn’t make it any better. Claptrap is designed to be annoying, that doesn’t make him not annoying. FF9 is an amazing game though. I love it lol

[@ItalianAvalanche]

It was kind of weird but I liked it. Kuja was a good fight and I like how he was basically successful at destroying the Crystal which the party then had to fix. I liked it but I understand why many players didn’t.

[@ItalianAvalanche]

I think it would have been cooler if they had showed the crystal get destroyed and Necron emerge from the crystal and they probably could have added more literary mention of the crystals throughout the game like they did with the Eidolons.

[@RagnarokiaNG]

The real problem with Necron is Grand Cross causing instant gameovers if it feels like it even if you try to defend against every status effect

[@LUEcifer]

All the points you made about Kuja having a redemption arc could have easily occurred after defeating him without Necron being there at all. "I've realized the error of my ways" dialog or something during the fight as you beat his ass. You can try to justify the appearance of something completely random as the "big bad evil guy" at the end of the story, but no justification really excuses Necrons appearance for what it is: lazy/bad writing. It just sort of appears after you defeat the guy who's been the antagonist for the entire game. Not only that but it appears with some edge-lord dialog. I'd excuse Necron's appearance if Kuja was like, possessed by Necron or something and he alluded to his possession as you wear him down in the fight but nope - here's your random end game boss bro. Good storytelling involves building characters, which this game did incredibly well with just about the entire cast from the heroes to the villains. Foreshadowing. Lead-up. Overcoming adversities and fighting their own inner demons. The protagonists having a reason to fight the antagonist(s). Kuja ticked all those boxes by doing bad stuff and having reasons for doing it. Necron is just sort of "there" and wants to destroy for the sake of destroying which is one of the most boring things you can do from a storytelling perspective. Necrons appearance is the storytelling equivalent of "It was just a prank, bro!"

[@yuriperez1221]

Guys. What some of you don't get is : if a large portion of players need to watch a video of someone who put lots of time and effort to understand a game so they can better understand some element of this game, it is because this element was not properly developed, intentionally or not. If was like two or three people not getting what Necron was, fine. But I have seen this topic over and over for years and years. So it is not like lots and lots of people are dumb and unable to understand the game lore.

[@Laezar1]

I mean we're probably talking about the same people that don't understand the laugh scene in FFX. If people don't want to use their brain when engaging with media it's their loss, I think anyone who stops for a second and tries to genuinely figure out what the game is going for would have no problem understanding it, necron pretty much spells it out? If people didn't get it when they were teens fine, but if they grow up and still don't get it, they might be lacking curiosity in media beyond the surface level.

[@yuriperez1221]

I don't think we are talking about the same people, tbh. ​People not getting that laugh scene was really stupid 😂. But the thing about Necron is: yes, it is conceptually understandable and it explains why it is there, what it is going to do and how it interprets the game events. Yeah the name is very self-explanatory. But when it came many people were like "And who the fuck are you?" because the existence of such an entity or something is not previously hinted in game. Daguerreo would be a nice place to insert some info even if in a cryptic way. Or maybe Garland could suggest something. Maybe it wasn't hinted just because of some niihilistic subtext about the meaninglessness of life which the characters would confront and refute but anyway... @@Laezar1

[@Laezar1]

@@yuriperez1221 The way I see it it's more like it's existence is in itself a discovery the characters make. Like, they reach the start of time itself, highly doubtful anyone would have gotten there, and necron itself was sleeping or in a stasis of sorts. So yeah if anyone had any clue it existed it would have brought more questions lol. To me the twist is more that the universe itself at it's core is setup in a way that would validate Kuja, the fact that it's a force completely outside what was happening until now is what lends it more weight, it's some sort of universal constant of death and even then the characters choose to go against it. Yes the being itself wasn't hinted at but the themes are strong enough that having some amount of surprise and confusion at it's appearance isn't a bad thing, it's unusual but it's not a failure of what FF9 is going for. FF9 has flaws I just don't think Necron is one of them.

[@yuriperez1221]

@@Laezar1 I don't think it is like a terrible flaw or something that makes the ending anticlimatic or unrewarding. I just kind of understand why people may complain about it. I mean, it is kind of common for mythologies to have entities with similar roles as Necron probably has and I think FF9 had space for this kind of lore. But depending on the player the twist can be really effective, yes. They did something like that previously but I think Necron was the best version of it.

[@bebnofca]

That’s the comment which i’ve searched for

[@crustyhotdog7940]

The worst end-boss in any FF that I’ve played. That being said, if they do a remake it wouldn’t take much to reinforce the themes throughout the story to make it much more fitting for the finale. Even some subtle in-world lore pointing to such a being would be tremendously helpful.

[@dmann1982]

I remember there being a mention of Necron way before his showing up, I think it was on the Invincible during disc 3...

[@matthewhaighpoetry619]

This was really beautifully and intelligently discussed and made me see FF9 in a whole new light. Thank you!

[@MrJCMasterman]

Even though I’ve never played FFIX, Necron reminds me somewhat of the Harbinger of Fate that you face at the end of FFVII Remake, the very embodiment of the external forces like Gaia that seek to control the characters’ destinies. Triumphing over the specter of death in a game about cherishing the finiteness of life makes a lot of sense to me, and even more so when you see how the characters walk their own paths in the end.

[@ytgytgy]

I appreciate Necron even if it isn't explained and comes very last second. I've always thought Necron as the "final defender program" of planet Terra and its ability to reproduce by using other planets, as it was trying to do with Gaia. Necron's face is similar to the masks at Ipsens Castle that explain Terra, and of course Necron is bright blue which is similar to the colors of Terra.

[@RocketGameCorner.]

So, I wouldve been 9, maybe 10, during my first IX playthrough and, honestly, Necron did not seem strange at all 😂 I guess maybe because we'd fought Hades before, another death god, and Necron's visual design didnt seem particularly outlandish compared to any of the Memoria bosses, and there is a high density of bosses at that point; Idk, I just thought 'oh, okay, another boss, why not?'. It was only when I got older and the internet told me Necron was weird that I saw why, but I've never had a problem with its inclusion personally.

[@zalden2565]

Skimming through the comments, no one seems to be talking about the early days of FF. For me, I was a fan from the start. I knew about Chaos, the Dark Cloud, and Zeromus before I played FF9. I immediately saw this as a call back to those final bosses that just kinda appeared out of nowhere. I seem to remember Orphan from FF13 being this way too, but my memories after FF10 are all foggy-like. I got too close to Sin, sorry…

[@chainclaw07]

5:55 the thing is going from the micro self perspective of life and death to the macro perspective of reality/the universes existence or non-existence not only doesn't translate well. but it also is a huge leap in scope - it's basically if Iron man in the first mcu movie fought Eternity, the marvel character.... not a mortal, like Thanos but the cosmic deity/entity of the entire universe... even if you spent 22 movies, you'd have to introduce concepts like they did in Dr.Strange to even start grasping the perspective... wait that's a really good analogy actually. Dormammu from Dr.Stranges first movie, is a dimensional being. imagine if you had iron man level perspective from before 2012 avengers and in the last 20 minutes of that movie, Tony Stark went up against Dormammu - no magic, just his iron man suit.... see how that doesn't mesh that well conceptually...

[@ValCary-y6p]

Well i remembered necron showing up was jarring and weird i do understand the themes and rhe concepts but i still think it was an a*spull, i expected for the creators of the android garland to awaken and finish the job, their failed creation couldn't do as a last desperate attemot to preserve the lives of their people. The terran leader. But its all good😅 thanks for the vid

[@jamesalexandre2104]

I always thought garland was nercon as it could be a nope as he was the final boss in ff1 as chaos.

[@clearspira]

Why does Necron's final form have a female body?

[@johnmoon6200]

Absolutely he was he was wtf boss coming out of no where. He was basically equivalent to ultima to ffxvi

[@crazymulatto8981]

Yes, Necron pretty much comes out of left field, but I honestly liked him as a boss. I thought the suprise was a good thing, and even being at the max level, he's still pretty damn hard to beat.

[@flareinc7413]

Excellent analysis! Very much agreeing w this ^^

[@henrywilcox1000]

I don't think Necron is out-of-the-blue at all; Kuja casts a spell which brings the party to a near death experience, and Necron is the manifestation of 'fighting off' off the near death experience. I think the only way they could have more effectively foreshadowed it is by alluding to the idea that the party would basically be come to the brink of death throughout the game, perhaps in active time events stating this, and in the events revealing backgrounds featuring the floating colosseum I think it just goes over most peoples eads

[@WolfmanXD]

My only argument is that you say that final fantasy final bosses have always followed a predictable path, but that's not true. Final fantasy 3 and 4 the final bosses come out of nowhere too. Even final fantasy 1, the final boss is literally just the first boss again but with a power boost. No indicator of that at all.

[@williamlafond1319]

FF9 as a strong penchant toward emotions. Lots of bosses seem to be out of nowhere, notably more those that are taken from mythology. And let's be honest, this is a great game, I love it, but it does have its flaws. People that work 80-90 hours a week do not always make rational decisions.

[@pennypeach7616]

Not only an odd random boss, the boss was way too easy.

[@Bramhallthefifth]

im perfectly tolerant of necron as a final boss.. you do get a final showdown with kuja at the end of the game so it seems the biggest criticism is that there's still another boss afterwards, which i just dont really see as a game-ruining issue

[@Asteroid-rp2jg]

My problem with him is the low hp

[@improvwithlions4173]

I can't really get on board with Necron. FF9 stands out with its existentialist themes, but capping it off with a literal personification of your/Kuja's angst cheapens it somehow, in my view. I probably would have accepted it if they did anything to allude to its existence...like maybe the place they were fighting could have been established to be a place where the fabric of reality was thinner, or maybe the mist or Iifa Tree was gaining a mind of its own that was affected by Kuja's thoughts, and forming into a new entity. Maybe someone could have given a warning that Kuja or even Garland was inviting the attention of some eldritch god with their actions. IDK. It's been a few years since I finished 9 for the first time and I remember Necron really came outta nowhere, lol. EDIT: come to think of it, I'm not that fond of FFCC's end boss, either, even though it is very well established and hinted at throughout the game. I think it's more like taking such a malevolent, semi-abstract entity and slapping a health bar onto it always feels underwhelming to me. Something like Giygas where you can't just nuke him and you're just scrambling to hold on for dear life and pulling on all the stops feels more appropriate, even if it doesn't serve as a penultimate test of skill.

[@jairekambui7738]

I think the concept of Necron is great, just execution was off and there was no set up or establishment that the entity even existed. So while I understand necron, it’s a bit weaker of a final boss compared to an established character like Kuja. As far as I understand, Necron wasn’t even pulling Kuja’s strings, he really was just a thematic manifestation type of final boss. Feels more in line with a Persona or megami tensei series than FF which usually has the actual main villain as the final boss. Kuja is still a great villain though. This particular point I think is the weakest executed point of a great story.

[@mr.katain4095]

Terrible for me- not as in the character is terrible, but I hate fighting Necron. I can blast through the game pretty easily and get walled on this fight- no matter how many times I have played the game (at least a dozen). I always beat him, but it takes numerous attempts. I hate the randomness of Grand Cross, and sometimes he'll open up the fight by KO'ing 3 of my characters and it's a race to recover. For the record, I think (in no particular order) that Neo-Exdeath, Necron, Lady Yunalesca, and Seymour Flux are the most difficult fights in Final Fantasy games for a newcomer.

[@Laezar1]

They're all fights that punish you for not engaging with the systems of the game on a deeper level and for taking the path of least resistance so it makes sense. Though I do agree it's a failure of the franchise to have those bosses be so few and far between that you can still beat them like that and it's just frustrating. If you compare to something like shin megami tensei those aren't really that bad, but in SMT the game prepares you for the awful bosses, here the game condition you to not have to think too hard. So I agree that in a gameplay sense these type of bosses don't work super well although in a vacuum I'd say they're good bosses. I also don't like that they don't explain their mechanics very well and that you have to die to them to even get a chance to prepare, though again that's a broader FF problem.

[@makikuma91]

Yeah, he was. Just there to be huge and menacing.

[@GracefulTrumpet]

His name's Zidan(e). Not Zidayne.

[@zalden2565]

It’s Zee den 😁

[@reloadpsi]

The amount of cope for what a literal deus ex machina this final boss is makes me cringe a little. Necron wasn't even planned as the final boss originally; Hades was. I never did like the final disc of this game though. It felt like the devs were just cramming their last few assets and ideas in to meet a deadline.

[@blumiu2426]

The complaint about Ultimecia makes no sense considering it was the same situation as Sephiroth, just you didn't see a semblance of her. I truly do believe much of the complains toward later FF games came from the FF VII fanbase. They were notorious back on forums. Theory crafting wasn't as bad as it is now, but it was there, but pretty much wanting every game to be FF VII is the root of it. Necron was random, but it didn't bother me. He came out of nowhere and my only thought was that it needed a god to kill, so they pulled that guy out of the hat. He definitely was there for the theme and it was understood from the dialogue.