Benevodons

''"The Goddess of Mana felled eight incarnations of disaster, that guided the world to destruction, the God Beasts, with the Sword of Mana, and sealed them in eight stones. And as the Darkness left, the world was created." ''- segment of the Game's introduction

The Benevodons, called the God Beasts in the unofficial translation, are eight highly powerful and destructive elemental demons, who serves as bosses and as a central plot device in the game Seiken Densetsu 3. They are the demonic alter-egos of the eight elemental Spirits of Mana who were created before the world was fully formed, probably by the Archdemon of the Underworld, when the Goddess of Mana created the eight spirits. They spreaded destruction and misery all over, until the Mana Goddess sealed them in eight conic stones, and placed them under the Mana Spirit's watch. The demon's power still leaked out of the stone, but the Mana Spirits purified it and turned it into a benevolent energy.

In Seiken Densestsu 3, the Three Great Evils of Mana (the Dark Prince, the Dragon Emperor and the Masked Mage) want to unleash them and use their power. To do so, they order their servants to manipulate one nation against another and start a worldwide war, draining the Mana Power which sustains the World of Mana in the process. The three factions eventually manage to lift the seal on each Mana Stone, by tributing one human soul per stone. Then, the heroes party (formed by three of the six available protagonists) starts a quest to save Mana. They obtain the eight elemental magic from the Mana Spirits and reach the Mana Holyland. Unfortunately, the Mana Goddess has lost almost all her power and cannot help them. She gives them the holy Sword of Mana, but one of the Three Great Evils (the one selected as the game's Final Boss, through the choice of the first protagonist) gets rid of the other two and his servants coerce the party to relinquish the Sword. The villains then use the Sword of Mana to set the God Beast free and the party must reach them and destroy them before they regain their full power and go on a rampage.

The party manage to destroy all the God Beasts but this was in fact what the game's villain wanted all along. When a God Beast is slain, its power is transfered into the Sword of Mana, left free for the the villain to absorb it and to surpass the Goddess' power. However, the Goddess uses her remaining strenghts to cancell or at least to restrain this increase of power, leadong to the final battle of the game.

The party can fight the first seven God Beasts in any order they want, but with each God Beast slain, the monsters in the dungeon where the next God Beast is foud gain two levels, meaning that the next demon will be harder to reach. Then they have to find and to defeat the last and strongest one: Zable Fahr, the God Beast of Darkness.

Dangaard, God Beast of Wind
'''Level 29. Life-Points 21136'''

This God Beast is the weakest in terms of level but it has the highest number of life-points. It ressembles a dragon with two vulture-like heads. The battle takes place in the skies with the heroes riding Flammy: the White Dragon of Mana, and the main mean of transport in the Seiken Densetsu franchise. The battle is divided in four stages during which the scenery changes.

Dangaard isn't very hard to defeat but the battle is very long. It unsurprisingly uses almost every Wind or Lightning based attacks, including the three spells Air Blast, Thunder Storm and Stun Wind (each spell is stronger than the previous one) which it can cast on every target, increasing the spell's strenght. Its most dangerous attack is called Air Slasher and deals huge damage to the entire party. It can use the spell Speed Up whose effects are obvious and cast the Thunder magic on your weapons, which heals it whenever you strike. Cast the Earth magic on your weapons and use all the Earth based spells you can cast in order to defeat him. If you don't have usefull Earth magic, use the corresponding items. Attacking it the normal way is much longer.

Land Umber, God Beast of Earth
'''Level 37. Life-Points 9839'''

Contrary to Dangaard, Land Umber is very powerful but it has low life-points. Don't take it lightly though, it can be very dangerous. It ressembes a huge floating stone golem with a pointed body and two separated hands, which it uses to deliver very strong physical attacks: by squeezing a character or worse, by crushing him/her betweeen its two fists and tossing him violently on the ground. It uses Earth based attacks including the spells Diamond Missile, Earthquake and Stone Cloud. Once again, each spell is on a higher lever of power than the previous, and if it casts a spell on all targets, the spell gets stronger. Also, its most powerful attack: Hypercannon deals crippling damages to the whole party. Beware as its attacks,(especially Stone Cloud) may petrify its target. Use curing spells or items when this happens. It can also cast the Earth magic on your weapons to be healed by your blows. Cast the Thunder magic on your weapons and use every Wind or Thunder based spell you know.

Fiegmund, God Beast of Water
'''Level 31. Life-Points 11518'''

Fiegmund ressembles a huge, dragon-like amphibian beast. It can jump and spit damaging snowflakes. It uses Ice and Water based attcks, including the spells: Ice Smash, Mega Splash and Cold Blaze, (in order of strenght) which it can cast on all targets. It uses two super attacks that strikes the whole party, namely Icicle and the fearsome Ice Craddle. Beware as its attack can turn your characters into snowmen, which need to be cured. When it dives in the water and appears below the platform, only spells can reach it. Just like the others, it will try to cast the Water magic on your weapons to heal itself if you strike it, which need tobe dispelled. Use the Fire magic on your weapons and attack it with Fire based spells.

Xan Bie, God Beast of Fire
'''Level 35. Life-Points 11283'''

Xan Bie ressembles a flying, bird-like dragon head, surrounded by flames. It moves quickly and does'nt use much physical attacks but it can turn into a flaming tornado which can only be harmed by magic, and can separates its flames all around the arena, during which it can neither attack nor being attacked. Xan Bie can cast a spell to increase its offensive power and has many dangerous,Fire based attacks at his disposal. Its three spells are Fireball, Explode and Blaze Wall, which he oftens casts on every targets. Its most powerful attack is the very dangrous Gigaburn. Of course, it also casts the Fire Magic on your weapons to heal itself. Infuse your weapons with the power of Ice and use all your Water and Ice based attacks.

Mispolm, God Beast of Wood
'''Level 33. Life-Points 15408'''

This huge, demonic Halloween Pumpkin has many life points. It often uses spells that poisons your characters, or worse make them fall asleep so be sure to have many curing spells and items at your disposal. The two carnivorous plants are annoying as they try to bite or to swallow your characters, but you must ignore them as much as possible and concentrate on the demon's main body. Using spells isn't very useful as Mispolm is weak to the Moon element and there is no offensive Moon based spells. Worse, it can cast a Magic Barrier which sends back your own spells and deals damage. The best strategy is to infuse your weapons with the Moon magic and attack reapeteadly, which deals high damage and replenish your own life-points. Mispolm spits Pumpkins Bombs and uses special Wood based attacks that strikes your entire party, namely Grenade Bombs and the dangerous Killstinger. It can also cast the Wood Magic on your weapons.

Dolan, God Beast of Moon
'''Level 39. Life-Points 13351'''

One of the most powerful and dangerous God Beasts, this giant, humanoid weregoat attacks mostly with very strong and swifts claw swipes and stomping blows. You will have to heal a lot against this creature as its blows aren't that easy to dodge. It also obviously uses Moon Based spells and attacks, including Body Change which transforms its target and needs to be cured, and Half Vanish which reduces its target's maximum number of life-points in half. Beware also of its attacks Graviton Press and Spiral Moon, as they are very damaging and strike every character. These attacks coupled with Half Vanish can be even deadlier. There is almost no damaging Wood based available attack, so attack him repeatedly with Wood infused weapons instead. If it casts the Moon magic on your weapon, dispel it or you'll heal him. If it uses the Moon magic on its claws, its physical attacks will replenish its life-points, but this hopefully seldom happens. Beware as it can increase the strenght of its attacks with a spell.

Lightgazer, God Beast of Light
'''Level 40. Life-Points 15225'''

The wierdest and least threatening looking God Beast, this huge cloud-like, cyclops monster of variable color isn't very hard to defeat but remain cautious. It often vanishes and reappears and can only be attacked when it is materialized. He can also fires little damaging balls of light on your characters. Not only It can cast the magic of Light on your weapons to heal itself when you strike it, but it also heals with a spell, so make sure that every life-points it regains is lost in the following minutes. It uses the Light Based spells Holy Ball and (the stronger) Saint Beam, which it can cast on every target. It also uses the powerful attacks Prisoner (which turns your characters into harmless Moogles and need to be cured) and the dangerous Geyseblast, which strikes the entire party. Cast the Shadow magic on your weapons and use all your Shadow based attacks.

Zable Fahr, God Beast of Darkness
''"It wandered across the land, from country to country like a dark plague. Subverting the peaceful energy of the other Mana Stones, using them as instrument of death. The world had never seen such a catastrophe. Civilizations fell, countless lives were lost. [...] One day the God Beast simply vanished. Perhaps it left somewhere, satisfied that its job was done. Perhaps it exists in another world somewhere, in the form of another Mana Stone." ''- Shade, Mana Spirit of Shadow about Zable Fahr

Zable Fahr is the most powerful and the hardest to defeat of all the God Beasts. As Shade tells the party when he meets them, Zable Fahr was released from its Mana Stone long ago by the Dark Prince, the earthly avatar of the Archdemon and one of the Three Great Evils. Hopefully the Mana Goddess trapped the Dark Prince in the Underworld and sealed the God Beast in a different dimension. When the seven other demons are slain, the party will encounter and fight Zable Fahr in the Jungle of Illusions, (if Kevin or Carlie is the main character) the Glass Desert, (if Duran or Angela is the main character) or the Dark Cave. (if Hawk or Lise is the main character)