A robot manufactured by Shinra’s Advanced Weaponry Division at Professor Hojo’s request. It restrains targets with its tentacle-like appendages, then abducts them with drones.
Enemy Intel
The Grasptropod is a boss in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth fought in Chapter 6, "Fool's Paradise" in Costa del Sol. It is controlled by Professor Hojo.
The player cannot select their party for the fight, and instead must choose between joining Aerith and Barret or Tifa and Red XIII. The chosen duo will have their affection for Cloud increased.
Pre-Battle[]
The Grasptropod appears.
Prior to the boss fight, the beach of Costa del Sol will be swarmed by Experimental Varghidpolis sent by Hojo, which will assimilate the black-robed men to create Necrotic Entities and Daemonic Entities.
The party will spread out to fend them off and Cloud must choose who to aid: Aerith and Barret or Tifa and Red XIII. Whichever duo is chosen will lead to a fight against a Necrotic Entity, a Daemonic Entity and a Shrieker. After defeating the enemies, the duo that wasn't chosen will be captured by Hojo, and the remaining party members will then fight the Grasptropod.
Battle[]
Like most mechanical enemies, the Grasptropod is weak against 
Lightning.
This fight is divided in two phases, but second phase will only trigger once enough time has passed (approximately 3 minutes) and the boss HP is depleted to 60%. However, it is not possible to deplete the boss HP to the phase two threshold before the timer is finished; its HP will be locked to 60% until then and will stop taking damage, in addition to becoming immune to stagger even if the gauge is full.
The Grasptropod releases the Experimental Varghidpolis.
Phase 1[]
The Grasptropod has a large variety of attacks. Against characters far away, it'll use Pulse Blaster, barraging them with energy projectiles.
The boss' frontal tentacles are attached with drills, which are used in two attacks: Drill Run has it charging towards the player-controlled character; if this attack connects, it'll launch the player high in the air. Tentadrill has the boss hitting in front of it with its tentacles repeatedly.
Laser Saber is a stationary 360° spin attack where two of its tentacles sprout large energy blades. This attack is often used if party members are within melee range. The boss will also often use this after successfully hitting with Drill Run.
If the boss is surrounded by two or more characters, it'll often use Eerie Soundwave, emiting a blast from its speakers which Hojo uses to taunt the party; this attack hits in a large radius around the boss, and launches the party away.
Grasptropod's retrieval pods.
Sublimated Toxin has it emit a toxic gas in a radius around it that can inflict party members with 
Poison, while Silencing Solvent spills a mist in front of it that can inflict 
Silence.
During phase one, the boss will use Subject Rerieval every minute on a random party member that isn't Cloud. This will encase them in an energy barrier and remove them from battle permanently. Once both party members have been retrieved, Cloud will fight alone. After another minute, Cloud will be targeted by it too, but a cutscene will play where Yuffie releases him. The rest of the battle is fought with Cloud alone.
Phase 2[]
After the cutscene with Yuffie plays, and the Grasptropod's HP reaches around 60%, phase two will begin. A large cannon on its head will appear, and the cylinder on the left and right side of its body will become targetable. The boss will continue to use all previous attacks but also gains access to new ones.
Grapstropod's phase 2.
The Grasptropod will almost always start this phase with Breakneck Spin, extending its tentacles and rapidly spinning towards Cloud. This attack cannot be blocked and deals massive damage. However, once the boss stops spinning, it'll overheat and stop moving, becoming pressured and vulnerable to damage for a few seconds.
The boss' most dangerous attack is Sonic Cannon, where it'll fire a massive sound blast from the cannon on its head and spin in place. This attack cannot be blocked and deals massive damage.
Its Drill Run is now improved and will extend the energy blades from Laser Saber to deal more damage. The boss can launch blasts high in the air that explode on the ground, dealing damage on contact while also creating residual pools that inflict different status ailments: Disruptive Ammo causes 
Defaith, Disarming Ammo causes 
Debrave and Enervating Ammo causes 
Deprotect.
Strategy[]
Inflicting enough damage or landing synergy skills and synergy abilities will pressure it. After a certain amount of time, it will use missiles and drones to capture targets. After using Breakneck Spin, it will overheat, rendering it temporarily inoperative.
Enemy Intel's assess information
Setting the equipment of the desired party members beforehand is important to prepare for this fight, especially Cloud's. Choosing Aerith and Barret is generally a better option since Aerith's Arcane Ward will persist in the battlefield even after she's removed from the fight.
Since Cloud will fight the boss alone for the vast majority of the battle, it's important to equip him with the best armor and materia to improve his survivability, such as 
Healing Materia, 
HP Up Materia, Steadfast Block Materia and Precision Defense Focus Materia. To exploit the boss' elemental weakness Lightning Materia as well the 
Ramuh Materia are important. It's recommended to save Ramuh for the third phase.
The player can also use the Plasma Discharge build, by equipping Cloud with the 
Enemy Skill Materia and the Steal Materia and repeatedly use Mug, which refunds ATB, meaning the player will be constantly triggering the electric pulses from Plasma Discharge and rack up damage very fast.
It's important that Cloud does not fall in battle, because if the other party members are targeted by Subject Retrieval while he's down, it'll result in a game over.
Despite its vast arsenal of abilities, the many of the boss attacks can be avoided (such as Sublimated Toxin and Silencing Solvent) or blocked (such as Drill Run and Laser Saber). Cloud can effectively counter its melee attacks while in Punisher Mode, and if timed correctly can perfect parry while countering.
On the second phase it's imperative to fight the boss near the corners of the arena. That's because it makes easier to avoid Breakneck Spin by running away as the boss is approaching, and then dodging sideways once it charges. Against Sonic Cannon, the player can remain in melee range and run around the boss to avoid the attack.
Hard Mode[]
The Grasptropod doesn't employ any attacks on the hard difficulty, but it deals significantly more damage. Both Breakneck Spin and Sonic Cannon can deal over 2000 damage. The same strategies from normal mode apply.
With access to endgame materia, the player can prioritize buffing Cloud with the other two party members, to bestow him buffs such as 
Barrier and 
Manaward (from 
Manawall), 
Protect, 
Shell, 
Haste and 
Regen. In addition, with the Enemy Skill Materia, Sonic Boom grants both 
Bravery and 
Faith.
Choosing Aerith and Barret is even more useful in hard mode since if equipped with ATB Boost Materia and First Strike Materia (or the Chocoking's Cape), Aerith can rapidly drop Arcane Ward as well Radiant Ward so Cloud can dual cast Thundaga while invincible.
Linking multiple copies of Lightning Materia with 
Magic Focus Materia, Magic Efficiency Materia and MP Absorption Materia will maximize the damage from these spells while ensuring Cloud's MP pool remain healthy. Linking with Magnify Materia is also useful for phase two in order to destroy both cylinders more easily.
The Plasma Discharge build still works, and can be made even more powerful by linking the Steal Materia with HP Absorption Materia, as well equipping the Darkside Materia, and linking Lightning Materia with Elemental Materia on Cloud's weapon, to further boost his damage.
Defeating the Grasptropod on Hard Mode for the first time grants Tifa's The Way of the Fist Vol. X.
Gallery[]
Musical themes[]
The track that plays in the fight is called "Grasptropod", which is composed by Tadayoshi Makino.
Etymology[]
In the English localization, owing to its snail-like appearance and its ability to "grab" the party members, a pun is made by combining grasp with gastropod (Greco-Latin for "stomach-foot"), the scientific group that includes snails.