Golden Hydra

The Golden Hydra (おうごんりゅう, Ougon Ryuu) is an enemy which appears in Suikoden. It is the final boss of the game, and the transformed form of Barbarosa Rugner.

It is advisable to take out the leftmost head first as it has the ability to revive the other heads once they are destroyed. Following that, take out the right head, which uses powerful magic against your party and then turn your attention to the centre head. Be careful when attempting unite spells as together the three heads cover four elements, leaving many wide-ranged unite spells ineffective. Wind and Holy magic are the only elements that none of the heads are resilient to.

The right head boasts the highest PWR in the game, with 520, and the left head holds the highest MGC in the game, with 420. All three heads boast high MGC stats, however so if you're having trouble have characters with low MGC stats stay behind for this one. The right head also drops the most potch in the game, 200,000, not that you can spend it after the battle or anything.

Winning the battle is simply a matter of keeping your health topped up while focusing your attacks on one head at a time, rather than trying to evenly wear down all three together. As soon as you remove the first head, the pressure will alleviate and you can take down the other two heads at your leisure.

Information
In the final battle of the Gate Rune War, the Scarlet Moon Emperor Barbarosa, with the help of the Dragon King Sword, which had the Sovereign Rune embedded in its hilt, turned into a three headed Golden Hydra. Each of the heads held a fire, lightning and wind weakness, respectively. It could best be described as a very powerful and formidable enemy, and very difficult to beat, even with the best selection of warriors in the Toran Liberation Army.

Etymology
Gold refers to Barbarosa's title of the Golden Emperor. In Greek mythology, the Lernaean Hydra was a chthonic water beast that possessed many heads and for each head cut off it grew two more. It was killed by Heracles as part of his Twelve Labours.

Meanwhile, the use of りゅう as the word for dragon in the Golden Hydra's Japanese name seemingly reflects that the dragon is styled after Chinese rather than European dragons.

Trivia

 * Even though it is the final boss, the Golden Hydra doesn't have the highest HP of all of Suikoden's enemies. The Shell Venus has even more HP (15,000).
 * The Golden Hydra has the highest level and potch reward of any enemy in the game. However, after the battle the characters won't actually gain any level or potch.
 * The right head is, with the exception of Neclord in his invincible form, the only enemy in the game that is invulnerable to the lightning element.