The Final Fantasy games number well above twenty titles when including the spin offs and sequels. Just to run through the games would take several hundred hours, never mind exploring every nook and cranny of each world.

Could one human being feasibly become a walking encyclopedia of the famed RPG franchise? Probably, but it is not something any average person could accomplish.

For a lot of players, the secrets are what make the journeys worth it. Finding those hidden parts give a catharsis that the narrative alone could not supply.

Throughout all of the games, there are countless secret items littered about the world with the methods of obtaining them numbering almost as high.

For this list, we looked through the series to find the most well hidden items and the unique ways they can be retrieved. As one could imagine, narrowing this number down to twenty was no easy task, as each game alone could have its own list of interesting and rare collectibles.

To make this list, an item had to be either useful for some other purpose, be fun to get, or be so rare that only one or a few of them even exist.

Some of these are pretty tough to get, so if you put in the work to have these items in your own inventory, all the bragging rights belong to you.

For those that have not, the items can help people appreciate the creative thinking of the developers and the scope of each game's world.

With that said, here are the 20 Rare Hidden Items In Final Fantasy (And How To Find Them).

Final Fantasy VII - Knights Of The Round

The Knights of the Round, Final Fantasy VII

Being the first three dimensional Final Fantasy adventure, the team really went all out with the summon animations. Every monster that the player can call into battle performs its attack with a grandiose entrance.

The most magnificent of all these sequences has to be the Knights of the Round materia. It is only appropriate for this to be the case since it is the final summon and requires a lengthy side quest to reach.

The spell is the last of the materia in the Materia caves, being only accessible by Breeding a Gold Chocobo.

Once a Gold Chocobo is successfully in the player's hands, they will be able to traverse over the terrain that previously blocked them from the cave's entrance.

Final Fantasy XIII - Elixirs

Faultwarrens Final Fantasy XIII

One would not think to find Elixirs on this list. They are valuable, sure, but never in short supply or particularly difficult to accrue.

Final Fantasy XIII shakes things up a bit and only includes four throughout the entire 30+ hour campaign.

The first one can be found in the campaign. Keep your eyes peeled for it though, because if it is missed it becomes impossible to get.

The other three can be found by fully upgrading the Doctor's Codes.

The powerful healing item serves the same purpose it does in all the other titles, fully recovering a character's heal and magic (or TP in this case).

Given their scarcity, each usage must be done with careful consideration.

Final Fantasy XV - Hypno Crown

Final Fantasy XV Hypno Crown

The Hypno Crown, not to be confused with Futurama's Hypno Toad,  of the most recent numbered Final Fantasy drastically increases its wearer's magic.

Shops don't sell it, and there is only one that can be discovered in an optional dungeon.

The Costlemark Tower is an optional area in the Duscae region that can only be entered at night.

In the dungeon's sixty floors many items can be found, but perhaps the most valuable is the Hypno Crown - specifically, the accessory can be snatched up on the twenty sixth floor of the maze like tower.

It may not brainwash legions of fans into loving you like Hypno Toad can, but it still is an extremely useful.

Final Fantasy VI - Paladin Shield

Final Fantasy VI Paladin Shiel

The Paladin Shield is the most effective defensive item in Final Fantasy VI, but acquiring it takes perseverance.

Not only does it require a long quest, but it also involves fighting over two hundred fifty battles in a weakened state.

Before even thinking about the Paladin Shield, players must first fetch the cursed shield. To get this purposefully nerfed piece of equipment players must find Locke in the World of Ruin, and then bring him to Narshe.

The Cursed Shield awaits, but the journey is far from over.

Players must fight two hundred fifty five battles with the detrimental shield before it is transformed into the ultimate piece of defensive armor.

It is a long task, but well worth the effort.

Final Fantasy VII - Omnislash

deviantart.com/he11bringer

Every character in Final Fantasy VII has an ultimate limit break that requires some side quest to be completed in order to obtain.

Cloud's final move is called Omnislash, and those who want it better be ready for some fighting.

The Gold Saucer is a floating amusement park that holds numerous diversions from the main campaign, including a battle arena.

Omnislash is one of the prizes Cloud can buy with the tokens he wins from the matches. The price is obscenely high, forcing players to do the competition several times over.

After Obtaining Omnislash and a few other prize items, Cloud can participate in a special battle where the Final Attack materia can be won, along with other less useful key items.

Final Fantasy IX - Rank S Medal

FInal Fantasy IX Rank S Medal

Not every rare item in the series has a purpose on the battlefield. Sometimes they are simply a token of the player's hard work. Even if it does not have a use, the feeling of having it is satisfaction enough.

Take, for instance, the Rank S Medal from Final Fantasy IX.

Once it is bestowed upon Zidane and company there is nothing that can be done with it, but getting it in the first place means the player has collected numerous key items and opened countless treasure chests.

Some players may not see any reason to strive for a useless key item, but others get great fulfillment from the text appearing in their inventory signifying they have the rare item.

Final Fantasy IX - The Three Dark Matters

Final Fantasy IX Dark Matter

The Treno Auction House's function in Final Fantasy IX is fully explained in its title.

The player is able to place bids on items in an attempt to claim it for their own, winning it if Zidane's bid is the highest. One of the items up for auction is the extremely rare Dark Matter.

This isn't the only place where Dark Matter lies, but it is the only way to have one without a fight.

Two are with the super boss Ozma, who is waiting in the Eidolon cave for any player brave enough to face it.

Cherish each of them, because they are the only three that exist in all of Final Fantasy IX.

Final Fantasy XII - Dark Energy

Final Fantasy XII

Being one of the largest entries in a series known for its grandiose scope, it is easy to imagine the amount of rare items that can be discovered throughout Ivalice in Final Fantasy XII.

One of the most elusive items is Dark Energy.

While technically infinitely available, there is only one that can be gotten through trade. The Bazaar, not to be confused with the actual shops, will trade Dark Energy for a certain assortment of items.

After that, the only way to get more Dark Energy is by digging through treasure chests in certain areas with the Diamond Amulet, an accessory that yields rare loot from chests. Even then, its chances of popping up are extremely rare.

Final Fantasy - Teleport Stones

Final Fantasy I Nintendo Art

Relative to the games that followed it, Final Fantasy is a straightforward fare with few side quests.

With that being said, the world still possess an irresistible charm.

While slim on secrets, later releases of the game added a rare item that can be used to get the Warriors of Light out of sticky situations.

Teleport Stones are able to transport the party out of dungeons, which is an invaluable ability for those who venture into them unprepared.

Don't expect for the game to give the item out like candy though, as the life saving stones are only found on Purple Worms. The chances of dropping them are rare, making each use of it a strategic choice.

Final Fantasy IV - Pink Tail

Flan Princess Final Fantasy IV

The Adamant Armor will make even the toughest battles of Final Fantasy IV more manageable. As usual, no piece of equipment that useful is just given to the player without some sort of challenge.

The challenge in question is obtaining a Pink Tail.

The Pink Tail can be looted from a Flan Princess, an enemy which is only found in a particular area of the Lunar Subterrane.

As if finding the enemy was not enough, the odds of it dropping a Pink Tail are laughably low.

With enough patience, however, a Pink Tail will eventually be dropped. Bring the tail to the collector at the Adamant Isle Grotto and the armor will be gifted to Cecil and crew.

Final Fantasy V - Tinklebell

A party fighting horned boss Twintania in Final Fantasy 5.

This recurring weapon is also sometimes known as "Tinkerbell." It is not a particularly effective weapon, but it is the most powerful bell in the game none the less.

For those unaware, the bell is mainly utilized by the geomancer job class.

The only way to acquire this weapon in Final Fantasy V is by having the boss, Twintania, drop it.

It is only fought one time, which means that players determined to have the bell will probably end up resetting their console a few times.

Thankfully, Final Fantasy V Advanced added the Sealed Temple, whose Cloister of the dead section allows the player to fight Twintania as many times as they need in order to obtain Tinklebell

Final Fantasy III - Dream Harp

Some items are so well hidden that they cannot be retrieved through conventional means.

The Dream Harp from Final Fantasy III, for example, requires methods outside confines of video game law and logic - glitching.

In the original NES version of the game, players can glitch the weapon into existence by having ninety nine of a certain item, and then obtaining one more through a fight.

This will make the recently looted item another one entirely, maybe even the Dream Harp.

The weapon, usable by bards and ninjas, does no damage, but it does puts enemies to sleep.

When the game finally hit North American shores with the 3D remake, the Dream Harp was put into a shop.

Final Fantasy X - Sun Sigil

Final Fantasy X Sun Sigil Chocobo Racing

In Final Fantasy X, it is not enough to simply find each character's ultimate weapon.

Two additional items, a sigil and a crest, must be found in order to imbue each of them with their true power.

They usually require some task or mini game, and obtaining the Sun Sigil for Tidus' Caladbolg ended up being the bane of some people's existence.

This particular Sigil is won when Tidus finishes the Chocobo race on the Great Plain with a time of zero point zero seconds.

While not literally plausible, it involves the player dodging an onslaught of birds and blitzballs while collecting as many balloons as possible.

Save for a talented few, this task took many players hours to accomplish.

Final Fantasy II - Blood Sword

Final Fantasy II

Even the strongest of villains have their weakness, and sometimes exploiting it is the only way to win the battle.

The last boss fight of Final Fantasy II can be a challenging bout if players did not find the Blood Sword beforehand.

The sword's potential importance in the last fight is not stressed, and it is in an innocuous location in Paul's house, a character who helps the party out from time to time throughout the adventure.

Strangely enough, up until the twentieth anniversary version on the Playstation Portable, there were two Blood Swords.

The second can be found in the dungeon of Castle Fynn, for any readers still rocking the NES or Playstation versions.

Final Fantasy VIII - Ribbon

Chocobo World

Long before smart phones had their companion apps and mini games, Final Fantasy VIII was ahead of the curb with the integration of the PocketStation peripheral.

With the device, players could play Chocobo World and earn items to use in the eighth Final Fantasy.

This was a cool feature, especially in 1999 when so few games had done something similar. It is a shame then, that the world outside of Japan could not experience it.

Not only that, but the functionality was left in the international versions, meaning the items that could only be unlocked with Chocobo World were completely unavailable to players.

Save for the PC version, where a virtual PocketStation is available, only those who still have the device can access the items.

Final Fantasy X-2 - Dark Matter

It is in classic RPG fashion to have great items in wait for players after they accomplish the most difficult challenge of a given game.

Once they do not need it anymore, they are allowed to have it. Final Fantasy X-2 is no different when it comes to Dark Matter.

The highly valuable item can only be obtained from Paragon and Trema. These two bosses are dueled in Via Infinito, the game's lengthy and arduous bonus dungeon.

Once obtained, it can be mixed to create the Miracle Drink, a super helpful concoction.

As great an item it is, the Dark Matter would have been way more helpful before the fights with Trema and Paragon, not after.

Final Fantasy IV - The Knife (or Spoon)

Final Fantasy IV World Map

The Kitchen Knife was known as the Spoon in older translations of the game, which leads one to wonder just how somebody could confuse the two utensils.

It is an extremely powerful throwing weapon, and is useful if the player is in a jam against a super boss or even in the final battle.

To obtain it, one must simply hit Yang with the frying pan in the Sylph Cave.

After doing this, they must return the pan to Yang's wife, where they will then be given the item.

In the Nintendo DS version it even becomes possible to equip the item as a weapon. However, Only Golbez can wield it, and he must be hacked into being playable

Final Fantasy Tactics - Cancer Stone

Final Fantasy Tactics key art featuring various members of the main cast.

Final Fantasy Tactics takes away freedom of movement, with exploration being reserved for the job tree and discovering new classes.

However, the developers still managed to drop in a few side quests, some of which yield rare items.

While the Stones play a pivotal role in the games plot, The Cancer Stone is the reward from an entirely optional quest. After fulfilling a few per-requisites, the player fights Construct 7 at the Nelveska Temple.

Defeating the hostile robot will net the stone.

The final point of this side quest is to return a key party member to their human form, as the stones are able to grant wishes, no matter how virtuous or vile they may be.

Final Fantasy XV - The Fourteenth Magic Flask

Final Fantasy XV - Noctis, Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto

Magic Flasks are key items scattered throughout the world utilized to improve magic. There are thirteen in total that one can get in a single play through, or at least that is what we've been led to believe.

Those who look hard enough will discover a fourteenth Magic Flask in the Galdin Quay beach starting in Chapter Nine.

That's not all - some players even managed to snag up a fifteenth Flask in one go due to a glitch when the game was updated to the 1.05 version.

It should be noted that with new game plus and chapter select the Flasks respawn, but retrieving every one in a single campaign is still a nice personal challenge.

Final Fantasy XIII - The Gold Watch

Final Fantasy XIII Vercingetroix

The first two thirds of Final Fantasy XIII have little in the way of side quests. Only when Lightning and friends make their way to the world below Cocoon, Gran Pulse, does the world open up for exploration.

The optional tasks come in the form of Cie'th Stone Missions, which typically involve defeating an enemy.

There are sixty four in all, and each one usually grants a small reward.

The final, and arguably the toughest, mission will net brave players the Gold Watch, an accessory useful for improving battle scores.

Unlocking the final Cie'th Stone itself is an arduous task. Defeating the boss that awaits, Vercingetorix, is a whole other feat of skill and strategy.

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What are some of your favorite rare items from the Final Fantasy series? Let us know in the comments!