A Field Guide to Final Fantasy's Creatures and Monsters/Monsters/B/Behemoth

In many of the Final Fantasy games, the Behemoth is a large, purple beast that uses horns and high level magic to kill its opponents. It is named after a Biblical creature from the Book of Job. Behemoths are typically found in the final area of a game.

It first appeared as a boss in Final Fantasy II's Coliseum, and has been a series staple ever since. When attacking, it normally dashes on all fours, but when returning to an idle state it will usually stand upright. In battle, it rarely attacks of its own volition, but will counterattack any hit with a powerful horn rush and thunder magic attacks. A more powerful version of the Behemoth named King Behemoth is a major enemy in the latter stages of many Final Fantasy games, especially if Behemoth was seen mid-way through the game. King Behemoths enjoy large stat advantages over normal Behemoths, and are often characterized by their large size (25ft when standing) and grey color. Behemoth often counterattacks with meteorological spells, examples include the counterattack Storm in Final Fantasy IV and Meteor in Final Fantasy V, Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy X.

In Final Fantasy XII, the behemoth is a slight alteration of the Werewolf monster's structure, making it roughly the same height as the player's party. However, a high-end mark hunt called Behemoth King is a colossal version of their more original look, and is a unique monster for the game.

Behemoth has been in all numbered installments (including the online "XI" installment) except the first one. It also appears in Chocobo's Dungeon 2, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Chocobo Racing, Chocobo Land: A Game of Dice, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, "Final Fantasy Tactics A2", Kingdom Hearts, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, and Itadaki Street Portable.

Unusually, in Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, rather than being one of the most powerful monsters, Behemoth is the very first enemy fought, during the introductory battle.

In Final Fantasy VI, the Intangir is an invisible variation of Behemoth that cannot be attacked physically. When attacked with magic it uses a powerful counterattack before casting Sleep on itself again. (This may be because it is a creature of dreams) In Final Fantasy X a special monster could be created called Catoblepas through the Monster Arena. This variation of Behemoth is a special challenge and extremely tough. In Final Fantasy II: Soul of Rebirth, a secondary story for Final Fantasy II: Dawn of Souls for the Game Boy Advance, A palette swap of Behemoth is used for the Ultima Weapon which guards the Ultima Scroll. In Final Fantasy XII Behemoths are a class of monsters, generally similar previous incarnations except that they are bipedal and more humanoid looking. Only the Behemoth King bears similarity to the previos games' depictions.

In Final Fantasy IV, Behemoths guard Bahamut and Zemus, appear to more closely resemble Eastern Dragons. They rarely attack the party, but counter-attack with devastating power to any melee or magical attack.

List of game appearances
Other appearances:
 * Final Fantasy II (Origins) as Behemoth (Boss) and King Behemoth (Boss)
 * Final Fantasy II (Dawn of Souls) as Behemoth (Boss), King Behemoth (Boss), Dark Behemoth, and Ultima Weapon (Boss)
 * Final Fantasy III as Behemoth and KBehemoth
 * Final Fantasy IV as Behemoth
 * Final Fantasy IV Advance as Behemoth and Behemoth King
 * Final Fantasy V as Kuzer and BehemoKing
 * Final Fantasy V Advance as Kuza Beast, Behemoth, and King Behemoth.
 * Final Fantasy VI as Intangir, Behemoth, SrBehemoth (Boss), and GtBehemoth
 * Final Fantasy VII as Behemoth and King Behemoth
 * Final Fantasy VIII as Behemoth and Catoplebas (Boss)
 * Final Fantasy IX as Behemoth and  Catobalepas (in unknown continent)
 * Final Fantasy X as Behemoth-class Fiends: Behemoth, Behemoth King and Catoblepas
 * Final Fantasy X-2 as Behemoth-class Fiends: Behemoth and Humbaba (Boss)
 * Final Fantasy XI as Behemoth, King Behemoth, Chlevnik, Kaiser Behemoth and Kronprinz Behemoth.
 * Final Fantasy XII as Behemoth-Class Giants: Behemoth, Reaver High Reaver, Werewolf, Zaghnal, Yeti, Alteci, Catoblepas, Humbaba, Humbaba Mistant, and Fenrir. The Behemoth King, the only one to remain four-legged, is the only Behemoth to keep its original beast form.
 * Final Fantasy Tactics as Behemoth, King Behemoth, and Dark Behemoth
 * Final Fantasy Mystic Quest as Behemoth and Gorgon
 * Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles as Behemoth
 * Chocobo Racing as Behemoth
 * Kingdom Hearts as Behemoth