Final Fantasy X/Monster Arena

The Monster Arena is a place at the far eastern side of the Calm Lands area where you can fight fiends from all over Spira. However, when you first get there, the old man running it says all of the fiends escaped. So, prepare to do a nice big tour of Spira collecting them for him again!

Capture Weapons

In order to "capture" a fiend, you need to land the killing blow with a weapon that has the Capture auto-ability. This cannot be customised; instead, you need to buy it from the guy running the Monster Arena for 9075 Gil (there's a capture weapon for every character). All of these weapons come with Capture and one empty slot for you to customise.

You can't capture a fiend by killing it with a spell from a character who has their capture weapon equipped, or by using an Overdrive on it. You can, however, use a skill (like Mug or Dark Buster) to capture them.

There are numerous abilities that will make capturing fiends (especially the tougher ones) a lot easier:

• Sensor will help you determine how much HP your opponent has left and so you know whether or not you can switch in a more powerful character and use an Overdrive or spell on it.
• Deathstrike helps a lot; very few fiends in the game are immune to instant death and killing an enemy with Deathstrike still counts as a capture. Most of the fiends from earlier parts of the game are too weak to survive one hit from your weapons at this point anyway, but it helps when capturing monsters from Mt. Gagazet, Inside Sin, or Omega Ruins.
• Piercing can be quite useful for characters whose weapons are naturally piercing; whereas a monster may take three hits from other characters the likes of Auron (or possibly Kimahri, depending on his Strength skill and whether or not you got him his capture weapon or not) can kill it in one.
• Counter-attack/Evade & Counter/Magic Counter is useful against later enemies and ambushes as it will allow you to counter an attack, and with weaker enemies, kill and capture them without even taking a turn. Again, this isn't much use against weaker fiends but against stronger ones it really helps.

The Fiends

Below is a list of all the fiends in each area or category (and their species type), and any other information about them.

Besaid

• Dingo (wolf)
• Condor (bird)
• Water Flan (flan)

Kilika Woods

• Dinonix (lizard)
• Killer Bee (bee)
• Yellow Element (element)
• Ragora (N/A)

Mi'ihen Highroad

• Mi'ihen Fang (wolf)
• Ipiria (lizard)
• Floating Eye (eye)
• White Element (element)
• Raldo (armoured mole)
• Vouivre (dragon)
• Bomb (bomb)
• Dual Horn (horned beast)

Note: Ipirias generally only appear along the Oldroad.

Mushroom Rock

• Raptor (lizard)
• Gandarewa (flying mage)
• Thunder Flan (flan)
• Red Element (element)
• Lamashtu (dragon)
• Funguar (fungus)
• Garuda (N/A)

Note: Thunder Flans also appear along Mi'ihen Oldroad.

Djose Road

• Garm (wolf)
• Simurgh (bird)
• Bite Bug (bee)
• Snow Flan (flan)
• Bunyip (armoured mole)
• Basilisk (N/A)
• Ochu (N/A)

Note: Simurghs and Basilisks generally only appear along the road leading away from the Battle Site. Ochus only appear along the main stretch of Djose Road.

Thunder Plains

• Melusine (lizard)
• Aerouge (flying mage)
• Buer (eye)
• Gold Element (element)
• Kusariqqu (dragon)
• Larva (N/A)
• Iron Giant (iron man)
• Qactuar (N/A)

Note: Iron Giants only appear in the northern section of the plains, and Qactuars appear more frequently after you've prayed at the Qactuar stones.

Macalania

• Snow Wolf (wolf)
• Iguion (lizard)
• Wasp (bee)
• Evil Eye (eye)
• Ice Flan (flan)
• Blue Element (element)
• Murussu (armoured mole)
• Mafdet (armoured mole)
• Xiphos (N/A)
• Chimera (N/A)

Note: Snow Wolves, Evil Eyes, Ice Flans and Mafdets appear in the Lake section, whereas the rest in the Forest part.

Bikanel

• Sand Wolf (wolf)
• Alcyone (bird)
• Mushussu (dragon)
• Zuu (N/A)
• Sand Worm (N/A)
• Cactuar (N/A)

Calm Lands

• Skoll (wolf)
• Nebiros (bee)
• Flame Flan (flan)
• Shred (armoured mole)
• Anacondaur (N/A)
• Ogre (N/A)
• Coeurl (N/A)
• Chimera Brain (N/A)
• Malboro (N/A)

Note: Ogres, Anacondaurs and Malboros appear more often in the northwest.

Sunken Cave

• Yowie (lizard)
• Imp (flying mage)
• Dark Element (element)
• Nidhogg (dragon)
• Thorn (fungus)
• Valaha (horned beast)
• Epaaj (N/A)
• Ghost (N/A)
• Tonberry (N/A)

Note: The Nidhogg and Imp also appear on Mt. Gagazet, and Tonberries are quite rare (search in the green room to the right of the chamber of the fayth to find the highest encounter rate).

Mt. Gagazet

• Bandersnatch (wolf)
• Ahriman (eye)
• Dark Flan (flan)
• Grenade (bomb)
• Grat (N/A)
• Grendel (horned beast)
• Bashura (N/A)
• Mandragora (N/A)
• Behemoth (N/A)
• Splasher (N/A)
• Achelous (N/A)
• Maelspike (N/A)

Note 1: Bashuras, Ahrimans, Grendels, Mandragoras and Behemoths also appear in Zanarkand Ruins, otherwise they are only encountered inside Mt. Gagazet.

Note 2: Splashers, Achelouses and Maelspikes are encountered in the underwater sections of Mt. Gagazet.

Inside Sin

• Exoray (fungus)
• Wraith (N/A)
• Gemini A (iron man)
• Gemini B (iron man)
• Demonolith (N/A)
• Great Malboro (N/A)
• Barbatos (N/A)
• Adamantoise (N/A)
• Behemoth King (N/A)

Note 1: Demonoliths, Great Malboros and Barbatoses are only encountered in the "City of the Dead" section of Sin.

Note 2: Geminis always come in pairs, one of them carries a sword, the other a club. Both count as a unique fiend, so you have to capture both types in order to complete the list.

Omega Ruins

• Zaurus (lizard)
• Floating Death (eye)
• Black Element (element)
• Halma (armoured mole)
• Puroboros (bomb)
• Spirit (N/A)
• Machea (N/A)
• Master Coeurl (N/A)
• Master Tonberry (N/A)
• Varuna (N/A)

Note 1: Great Malboros will appear here; however, unlike the ones Inside Sin, these will always ambush you and their first move is always Bad Breath, so watch out.

Note 2: Demonoliths and Adamantoises will appear here too; more often on the second area of the ruins (the series of platforms leading to Omega Weapon).

Area Conquest

These are unlocked for capturing at least one of every fiend in a particular area.

• Stratoavis - Besaid
• Malboro Menace - Kilika
• Kottos - Mi'ihen Highroad
• Coeurlregina - Mushroom Rock Road
• Jormungand - Djose Road
• Cactuar King - Thunder Plains
• Espada - Macalania
• Abyss Worm - Bikanel
• Chimerageist - Calm Lands
• Don Tonberry - Sunken Cave
• Catoblepas - Mt. Gagazet
• Abbadon - Inside Sin
• Vorban - Omega Ruins

Species Conquest

These are unlocked for getting a capturing a specific amount of all of a species of fiend.

• Fenrir - 3 of all wolves (Dingo, Mi'ihen Fang, Garm, Snow Wolf, Sand Wolf, Skoll, Bandersnatch)
• Ornitholestes - 3 of all lizards (Dinonix, Ipiria, Raptor, Melusine, Iguion, Yowie, Zaurus)
• Pteryx - 4 of all birds (Condor, Simurgh, Alycone)
• Hornet - 4 of all bees (Killer Bee, Bite Bug, Wasp, Nebiros)
• Vidatu - 4 of all flying mages (Gandarewa, Aerouge and Imp)
• One-Eye - 4 of all flying eyeballs (Floating Eye, Buer, Evil Eye, Ahriman, Floating Death)
• Jumbo Flan - 3 of all flans (Water Flan, Thunder Flan, Snow Flan, Ice Flan, Flame Flan, Dark Flan)
• Nega Elemental - 3 of all elements (Yellow Element, White Element, Red Element, Gold Element, Blue Element, Dark Element, Black Element)
• Tanket - 3 of all armoured moles (Raldo, Bunyip, Murussu, Mafdet, Shred, Halma)
• Fafnir - 4 of all dragons (Vouivre, Lamashtu, Kusariqqu, Mushussu, Nidhogg)
• Sleep Sprout - 5 of all fungi (Funguar, Thorn, Exoray)
• Bomb King - 5 of all bombs (Bomb, Grenade, Puroboros)
• Juggernaut - 5 of all horned beasts (Dual Horn, Valaha, Grendel)
• Ironclad - 10 of all iron men (Iron Giant, Gemini A, Gemini B)

Original

These are unlocked when specific conditions are met.

• Earth Eater - capture all the fiends from 2 different areas
• Greater Sphere - conquer 2 species
• Catastrophe - capture all the fiends from 6 different areas
• Th'uban - conquer 6 species
• Neslug - capture 1 of every fiend (or, conquer all areas)
• Ultima Buster - capture 5 of every fiend
• Shinryu - capture 2 of each fiend in the underwater section of Mt. Gagazet
• Nemesis - capture 10 of every fiend and defeat all of the other arena creations

Prizes

You get specific prizes for unlocking Area, Species, and Original Creations:

Area:

• Stratoavis - Stamina Tonic x99
• Malboro Menace - Poison Fang x99
• Kottos - Soul Spring x99
• Coeurlregina - Candle of Life x99
• Jormungand - Petrify Grenade x99
• Cactuar King - Chocobo Wing x99
• Espada - Shining Gem x60
• Abyss Worm - Shadow Gem x99
• Chimerageist - Farplane Wind x60
• Don Tonberry - Silver Hourglass x40
• Catoblepas - Blossom Crown
• Abaddon - Lunar Curtain x99
• Vorban - Designer Wallet x60

Species:

• Fenrir - Chocobo Feather x99
• Ornitholestes - Stamina Spring x99
• Pteryx - Mega Phoenix x99
• Hornet - Mana Tonic x60
• Vidatu - Mana Spring x99
• One-Eye - Stamina Tablet x60
• Jumbo Flan - Twin Stars x60
• Nega Elemental - Star Curtain x99
• Tanket - Gold Hourglass x99
• Fafnir - Purifying Salt x99
• Sleep Sprout - Healing Spring x99
• Bomb King - Turbo Ether x60
• Juggernaut - Light Curtain x99
• Ironclad - Mana Tablet x60

Original:

• Earth Eater - Three Stars x60
• Greater Sphere - Supreme Gem x60
• Catastrophe - Door to Tommorow x99
• Th'uban - Gambler's Spirit x99
• Neslug - Winning Formula x99
• Ultima Buster - Dark Matter x99
• Shinryu - Megalixir x30
• Nemesis - Master Sphere x10