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 (divine beasts)  (the "Divine Beasts") 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 Spirits' watch. The demons' power still leaked out of their stones, but the Mana Spirits purified it and turned it into a benevolent energy.

In Seiken Densetsu 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 soul per stone. Then, the heroes' party (formed by three of the six available protagonists) starts a quest to save Mana. They defeat many of the Great Evils' servants, they manage to obtain the eight elemental magics 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 Beasts 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 cancel or at least to restrain this increase of power, leading to the final battle of the game.

The party can fight the first seven God Beasts in any order they want. (They are found at the same place that the Mana Stone imprisoning them once were.) However, 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 resembles a dragon with two vulture-like heads. The battle takes place in the skies with the heroes riding Flammie: the White Dragon of Mana, and the main mean of transport in the Seiken Densetsu series. The scenery changes whenever Dangaard loses 1/4 of its life points.

Dangaard is not very hard to defeat but the battle is very long. It unsurprisingly uses almost every Wind/Thunder based attacks, including the level 1 spell Air Blast, the level 2 spell Thunder Storm and the level 3 spell Stun Wind, which it can cast on every target, thus increasing the spell's might. Its most dangerous attack is called Air Slasher and deals huge damage to the entire party. It can also use the spell Speed Up whose effects are obvious and cast the Thunder magic on your weapons, which heals it whenever you strike with it, instead of dealing damage. Cast the Earth magic on your weapons and use all the Earth based spells you can cast in order to defeat him. If you do not have useful Earth magic, use the corresponding items. Attacking it the normal way makes the battle 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. Do not take it lightly though, it can pose a serious threat. It resembes 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 between its two fists and tossing him/her violently on the ground. It uses Earth based attacks including the level 1, 2 and 3 spells Diamond Missile, Earthquake and Stone Cloud. As usual, if it casts a spell on every 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 their targets. 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/Thunder based spell you know.

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

Fiegmund resembles a huge, dragon-like amphibian beast. It can jump and spit damaging snowflakes. It uses Water/Ice based attacks, including the level 1, 2 and 3 spells: Ice Smash, Mega Splash and Cold Blaze, which it can cast on every 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 Ice magic on your weapons to heal itself if you strike it, which need to be dispelled. Cast 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 resembles a flying, bird-like dragon head, surrounded by flames. It moves quickly and does not 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 its disposal. Its three spells are Fireball, Explode and Blaze Wall, which he often casts on every targets. Its most powerful attack is the very dangerous 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/Ice based attacks.

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

This huge, demonic Halloween Pumpkin has many life points and can put up a tough challenge. It often uses bothersome 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 magic is not very useful as Mispolm is weak to the Moon element and there are no available 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 repeatedly, 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 to heal itself.

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

One of the most powerful and dangerous God Beasts, this giant, humanoid were-goat 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 are not easy to dodge. It also obviously uses Moon Based spells and attacks, including Body Change which shrinks its target's size 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 Howl, 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 are almost no damaging Wood based available attacks, so strike it repeatedly with Wood infused weapons instead. If it casts the Moon magic on your weapons, dispel it or you will heal Dolan. If it casts 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 strength 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 colour is not very hard to defeat but you still have to remain cautious. It often vanishes and reappears and can only be attacked when it is materialized. It can also fire balls of light that deal very little damage on all your characters. Not only It can cast the magic of Light on your weapons to heal itself when you strike it, but it also casts a healing spell, so make sure that every life-points it regains is lost in the following minutes. It uses the level 1 Light Based spell Holy Ball and level 2 Saint Beam, which it can cast on every target. It also uses the powerful attack Geyseblast, which strikes the entire party, and the very dangerous Prisoner (deals high damage and turns your characters into harmless Moogles, which needs to be cured). 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 of all the God Beasts. It's worth nothing to note that it is referred to as the God Beast of Darkness, while it wields the element of Shadow, putting emphasis on its evil nature.

As Shade tells the party when he meets them, Zable Fahr was released from its Mana Stone long ago by the Dark Prince. 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); in short the place where the main villain has his lair.

Zable Fahr (Level 46 . Life-Points 5413 for each secondary head, 10714 for the main head)

The battle against Zable Fahr is the longest and hardest of all the eight battles against the God Beasts. The platform where you fight the demon is very small, leaving little room for dodging and the God Beast is much more powerful than the others. First, you'll face the two demonic heads on the left and the right. When you defeat them, Zable Fahr's real face appears and revives the other two. From then on, focus only on the main head, because if you destroy the secondary ones again, they'll be revived once more.

The secondary heads can bite, spit fire and swallow one of your characters. Every head use Shadow based attacks; such as the level 1 spell Evil Gate and the level 2 Dark Force, which they can cast on every target. They also use the fearsome level 3 Death Spell (which instantly kills its target if his/her level is inferior or to Zable Fahr's) and cast the Shadow magic on your weapons for healing purpose. Finally, they can hinder your characters with the spells Anti Magic and Black Curse. Zable Fahr's main head can summons Great Demons and use the very dangerous attack Hell Cross, which strikes the whole party and deals considerable damage. Infuse your weapons with the Light magic and use all your Light based attacks. Be sure to have resurecting items or characters at level at least 46 and to heal very often.

Zable Fahr (Brutal Mario)
Zable Fahr also appears as a boss in the unofficial, hack game Super Kitiku Mario or Brutal Mario.

The battle is very similar as in the real game, taking place on a very small platform and facing first the God Beast's two secondary heads before fighting all three faces alltogether. The blue secondary head on the left of the screen mostly attacks by biting with its demonic tongue, on which Mario must jump to deal damage. The other head fires an arrow-shaped energy blast that Mario must strike with his Cloak to reflect them back. Both head can also spit a continuous stream of fire that can only dodged by crouching. When Zable Fahr's real head appears, Mario must jump as high as possible so that the head on the left will harm the main one with its demonic tongue. The real face attacks by making huge coloured crosses of energy fall from the sky, (an obvious reference to the attack Hell Cross in the real game) make Bob-Ombs fall from the sky on a parachute and by casting a spell. Knocking the Bob-Ombs while they are descending apparently also deals damage.