In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the elusive Tonberry King awaits in the ruins of Corel’s southern desert, but summoning this fearsome foe-and stealing his prized crown-is no simple feat. Only after unlocking the buggy and scanning all six Lifesprings in the region can you track down the King and engage in a high-stakes battle where timing and the Steal Materia are key to snatching the coveted Pristine Crown. Ready your party, dodge the King’s deadly lunges, and prepare for a quest that’s as thrilling as it is challenging-because Johnny’s seaside inn upgrade depends on it.
You won’t actually be able to complete this quest until you progress much farther in the game, so just keep heading toward the main scenario quests (indicated by the blue markers on your map) for now.
Below, we explain where to find the Tonberry King in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, as well as how to take it down in a fight.
Where to find the Tonberry King in FF7 Rebirth
The Tonberry King in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth can be found in the southern area of the Corel region, accessible only from Chapter 9 onward after acquiring the buggy vehicle. To unlock its location on the map, players must visit and scan all six Lifespring locations in Corel, which will then mark the Tonberry King as “Classified Intel: Heavy Lies the Crown” near a ruined arena in the southeast of the desert. This boss is part of the “Saga of the Seaside Inn” side quest given by Johnny, and players must defeat the Tonberry King and steal its crown using the Steal Materia to complete the quest successfully.
So, you won’t actually be able to get to the Tonberry King until after you start the open world exploration portion of Corel in Chapter 9. There will be a point where you get a new method of transportation that’ll make short work of the debris and water that blocked your way before. You’ll know once you get there – we won’t spoil you.
Before you can get the Tonberry King to show up, you’ll need to find and scan all six lifesprings in Corel. They’re in the locations we’ve circled below:
As usual with wellsprings, when you get close, a bird will appear and lead you to the spring.
Once you do, the Tonberry King will be here, south of Johnny:
How to beat the Tonberry King in FF7 Rebirth
To beat the Tonberry King in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, equip your party with Steal Materia on at least two characters, preferably those with high Luck, to ensure you can steal the crown when it drops. Use debuffing spells like debrave and elemental attacks such as Firaga to weaken the King, but avoid Stone as it is ineffective. Equip accessories like Safety Bit to protect against the King’s instant death attack, Tantrum, and Revival Earrings for quick recovery. Focus on dodging his attacks like Hopping Mad and Rancor while pressuring him to stagger and drop the crown. Once the crown falls, quickly use Steal on it before the King recovers it. After stealing the crown, continue attacking with powerful synergy and elemental spells until the Tonberry King is defeated.
Final Fantasy fans should already know what to expect from the Tonberry King: It’s going to stab you, instantly killing you. And yep, it still does that. The best thing to do is keep attacking it from behind while occasionally moving out to do ranged damage.
You’ll want to keep your distance, since it’ll let off occasional blasts in a circle around it, freezing you and setting you up for an easy stab. Some of its stabs are moves you can’t recover from – the knocked-out character will get a debuff that prevents you from using a Phoenix Down on it.
It’ll also summon smaller tonberries as well, and the same thing applies to them – keep dodging and don’t let them stabby stab you.
How to steal the Tonberry King Crown in FF7 Rebirth
To steal the Tonberry King Crown in FF7 Rebirth, you must first progress to Chapter 9 to access the southern area of Corel and complete the six Lifespring scans to unlock the Tonberry King’s location. The King appears as a Classified Intel boss in an old arena. During the battle, you need to pressure the Tonberry King by attacking it until it enters a pressured state, causing its crown to fall to the ground. Quickly target the crown with the Steal Materia-ideally equipped on a character with high Luck, such as Yuffie-to successfully steal the Pristine Crown before the King recovers it. Be careful not to kill the King before stealing the crown, as that will yield a lesser Mangled Crown. After stealing the crown, you can end the fight and return the crown to Johnny to complete the quest.
When it gets pressured, it’ll drop the crown during the fight, and you can use Steal on the crown itself, netting yourself a pristine crown to give to Johnny. If you don’t do this and end up killing it, you’ll get a marred crown (which you can still give to Johnny). If you kill it and want to go back and steal the crown, you can always fight it again by holding down the Triangle button in the arena.
Should you give Johnny the marred crown or pristine crown?
When deciding whether to give Johnny the marred crown or the pristine crown in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, it is best to aim for the pristine crown. The pristine crown is obtained by stealing it from the Tonberry King during the fight using Steal Materia when the King is in a pressured state. If you kill the Tonberry King without stealing the crown, you will receive the marred crown instead. While both crowns fulfill Johnny’s quest, the pristine crown looks better on Johnny’s desk and makes him much happier. Therefore, stealing the pristine crown is the preferred choice for a more satisfying completion of Johnny’s side quest.
If you give Johnny the marred crown, he questions its jankiness, but accepts it. If you give Johnny the pristine crown, he marvels in its beauty before skittering off back to his inn.
For your efforts, he’ll give you Queen’s Blood Card #134: J-Squad (which, yes, is a card of him and his clones).
You’ll also get a hefty chunk of EXP, and your relationship with Yuffie will grow. We didn’t notice any specific different reward based on which crown you gave him, but the crown is displayed on the front desk, so you can give Johnny the shiny pristine crown if you care about aesthetics.
After all of this, you can fast travel to his inn and it’ll be a home to all the collectables you’ve found on your journey. There’s also a mysterious glowing red chest that’s locked. While we’re sure this unlocks once you collect all 88 collectables, we can’t say for certain, since we aren’t even close to finding all of them.
The world of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is huge, but we have your back if you need help. We have a beginners guide, a rundown of side content rewards, a breakdown of the game’s length, and an explainer on how to plan ahead for your Gold Saucer date.
Where exactly is the Tonberry King hidden in Chapter 9
In Chapter 9 of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the Tonberry King is hidden in the southern area of the Corel region. To pinpoint its exact location, you must first activate all six Lifesprings in the Corel region. Once you’ve analyzed the Lifesprings, the Tonberry King will appear on the map as “Classified Intel: Heavy Lies the Crown”. Specifically, the Tonberry King is located in the southeastern part of the Corel region, within an old ruined arena, northeast of the Drainwater Drift Cache location and southeast of Fiend Intel 4: Death from Below.
What specific landmarks mark the Tonberry King’s hiding spot in Chapter 9
The Tonberry King’s hiding spot in Chapter 9 of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is marked by several specific landmarks in the southern Corel region. It is located near the eastern coast of southern Corel, directly north of a Mogstool and south of Johnny, who gives the side quest to steal the Tonberry King’s crown. The area is revealed after scanning all six Lifesprings in Corel, which unlocks the Classified Intel mission “Heavy Lies the Crown” on the map. The Tonberry King can be found in an old ruined arena in this southeastern desert area of Corel, northeast of the Drainwater Drift Cache and near the desert’s edge where Johnny stands.
