Forget Sephiroth, This Is The Best Hidden Kingdom Hearts Boss Ever

Kingdom Hearts has always been a strange series, bringing all the melodrama of a teen drama and the high-stakes adventuring of a Final Fantasy game to the cartoonish worlds of Disney Animation. It’s also given the series a sense of undeniable charm that even the most overwrought character motivation can’t erase. It’s hard to get too down in the dumps about the potential darkness in all souls when Mickey Mouse is also around, talking about the importance of friendship while using a Keyblade to fight off armies.

The series is best when it finds the perfect fusion between the two elements, combining the massive action with the Disney characters. One of the greatest examples of this might have slipped right past most players, however, given that it was a bonus boss in a spin-off game initially released for the 3DS in 2012. With Kingdom Hearts 4 currently in development, it would be great to see the game learn some key lessons from the franchise’s best deep-cut pull.

How Kingdom Hearts Players Can Face Off With Julius

The Kingdom Hearts games have typically included bonus boss battles like Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII or Monstro from Pinocchio, but the best of these encounters in the series remains Julius, a reference to a little-seen cult classic Mickey Mouse cartoon. Julius is one of the bonus bosses that players encounter in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. After the main story has been completed, Sora or Riku can discover Julius while in Traverse Town’s Fountain Plaza. Clambering out of the sewers, the huking Julius will face off with the player in a sudden, chaotic battle. The massive Frankenstein-esque take on Pete is the toughest boss in the game by design, with incredibly powerful attacks, surprisingly quick mobility, and a series of devastating grabs that can inflict status afflictions like poison and confusion on the player.

Even bringing the boss down to half health only makes the fight harder, as he gains lightning power-ups for his punches. Defeating Julius is an endeavor befitting such a massive threat, with players expected to have hit at least level 60 — on top of gaining all the spells, equipment, and experience from the main game — to stand any chance against the behemoth. Even a single successful hit from Julius can leave Sora low on health, increasing the tension. Just as quickly as he appears, Julius will retreat if he’s defeated, something Sora even comments on if he’s the character players were using in the battle.

Julius Is One Of The Best Disney Deep Cuts In Kingdom Hearts

While Kingdom Hearts has always pulled from Disney films for levels and characters, Julius is one of the most unexpected pulls in the franchise’s history. Julius has only appeared once, in the theatrical short Runaway Brain. Shown before theatrical screenings of A Kid in King Arthur’s Court in 1995, the short follows Mickey Mouse as he takes a “job” for Dr. Frankenollie that he doesn’t realize entails giving up his brain for the mad scientist’s experiments. This creation turns out to be Julius, with the short following a brief body swap between the two before Mickey fights Julius to save Minnie Mouse.

The short was controversial upon release, with some Disney fans torn about the darker humor of the short, while others embraced the experimentation of the format. Although the short was nominated for an Academy Award, it has remained relatively obscure. It’s only gotten a handful of home releases as part of larger Mickey Mouse retrospective releases, and Julius has been largely left out of subsequent cartoons. This makes Julius’ inclusion in Kingdom Hearts all the more surprising — and exciting — for animation fans.

Kingdom Hearts 4 Should Take Inspiration From The Julius Battle

The combination of Square Enix’s fantasy worldbuilding and the established settings of Disney has always been one of the real appeals of the Kingdom Hearts series. Getting to explore movie settings and fight alongside the likes of Hercules, Mulan, and more has been a core element of the gameplay since it began. However, the franchise also has a tendency to revisit the same characters while leaning more heavily into more well-known settings.

It makes sense to visit the worlds that a broader audience would be engaged with, like settings based on the likes of Toy Story and The Lion King. However, Julius speaks to the fun that can come with bringing back more obscure concepts and films out of the Disney Vault, surprising players with deep cuts that they may not expect. It has the dual benefit of expanding the world of Kingdom Hearts in new ways while also introducing players to characters and films they might have missed out on otherwise.

With Kingdom Hearts 4 currently in the works, one way the developers could help make the game stand out more from previous entries would be to lean into that quality. Send players to worlds based on more obscure titles that could naturally fit new game mechanics into the experience. Getting power-ups from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, solar surfing like in Treasure Planet, or facing off with threats like Magica from DuckTales or Bulba from Darkwing Duck could be a terrific way to incorporate fresh elements and challenges into the series. Julius is one of the best uses of a secret boss in the Kingdom Hearts series and could serve as an ideal example of what the franchise can do with more obscure elements.