How to Defeat Tonberry King & Get the Pristine Crown in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

In Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, Johnny has a quest that asks you to steal a Pristine Crown from the Tonberry King. Here is how to get a Pristine Crown in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth to complete the “The Saga of the Seaside Inn” quest in Corel.

Where to find Tonberry King in FFVII Rebirth – location

If you have just arrived at Corel in FFVII Rebirth, you may be confused when you can’t progress Johnny’s “The Saga of the Seaside Inn” side quest. During part two of the multi-step mission, Johnny will ask you to “Steal and Deliver the Tonberry King’s Crown.” The only problem is the game turns you away when you try to swim into the “Borderlands” section of the map. That is because you can’t access the Tonberry King encounter until after you have completed the Golden Saucer storyline in Chapter 8.

Once you’ve progressed past the Golden Saucer, you will eventually unlock the all-terrain Buggy vehicle, which gives you access to the Desert region. To unlock Tonberry King in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, you need to complete all six World Intel: Lifespring activities in Corel for Chadley. For your convenience, we have provided the locations of all six Corel Lifespring Intel on the maps below:

There are four Lifespring in the southern desert region of Corel here:

After you scan the sixth Lifespring, a cutscene will trigger, and Chadley will add the “Classified Intel: Heavy Lies the Crown” to your map. This is the long-awaited encounter with Tonberry King. The giant enemy can be found in an abandoned colosseum southeast of the map. You can find the exact location of the Tonberry King in FFVII Rebirth here:

How to steal Pristine Crown in FFVII Rebirth Tonberry King battle

Unlocking Tonberry King is only half the battle, as you must “steal” his crown for Johnny. Unfortunately, defeating the enemy isn’t enough, as you will get a “Marred Crown” instead. The battle itself is also pretty difficult, as Tonberry King has no weaknesses and can actually one-shot instakill Cloud with his dagger attack.

Below are the steps to get a Pristine Crown in FFVII Rebirth:

• Unlock the Classified Intel: Heavy Lies the Crown on your map by completing all six World Intel: Lifesprings in Corel.
• Equip Cloud or a party member like Yuffie with the Steal Materia.
• Battle Tonberry King and aggressively start attacking him with Cloud so that he can spam his Braver ability.
• After doing enough damage, Cloud’s Braver will knock the crown off Tonberry King’s head.
• Immediately swap to Yuffie or any party member with Steal Materia and use the Steal ability.
• After using Steal, select the Pristine Crown on the ground. This step is IMPORTANT. If you don’t specifically steal from the Pristine Crown, you won’t pick up the quest item.
• Now that you have the Pristine Crown, you can either defeat the Tonberry King or run from battle. However, the final step is to return to Johnny in Corel and give him the coveted treasure to complete the “The Saga of the Seaside Inn” side quest.

How to defeat Tonberry King in FF7 Rebirth

The trickiest step is knocking the Pristine Crown off Tonberry King’s head while also defeating him. This is because you have to stay alive long enough to do it. Throughout the battle, the Tonberry King can one-shot kill you if it hits you with its glowing purple dagger. Because of this, you must have another party member use a Phoenix Down or Revive Materia anytime Cloud is taken out. However, the easiest way to defeat the boss is to use the Safety Bit Accessory item on Cloud, which grants him immunity from Instant Death.

For where to find the item, check out our How to Get Safety Bit in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth guide. With Safety Bit equipped, Cloud can literally just slash away without taking any damage. If you don’t have this item, though, make sure you switch to another party member to revive your fallen teammate. If you are controlling Cloud, also make sure to constantly keep a safe distance from Tonberry King and spam the dodge button as much as possible.

To knock the Pristine Crown off Tonberry King’s head, build up Cloud’s ATB meter, and then spam his Braver ability as often as possible. Eventually, Cloud will knock the Pristine Crown right off its head. You won’t be able to miss this, as it’s a little mini cutscene in the middle of battle.

As soon as the Pristine Crown hits the ground, you need to immediately switch to a party member that has a Steal Materia equipped. In my playthrough, I used Yuffie. Whoever has it, make sure you select “Pristine Crown” from the action menu.

You need to act quickly during this step, as the Tonberry King will pick up the crown if he walks up to it in time. If done correctly, a cutscene will play out with your party member stealing the crown off the ground. After this, you will now have the Pristine Crown in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Congratulations! Make sure to return it to Johnny to give it to him. Or not. Your choice.

Should you give Johnny the Marred Crown in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth?

If you have failed to steal the Pristine Crown from the Tonberry King fight, you will notice that you still get the “Marred Crown” instead. So, what’s the difference between the two quest items? Should you give Johnny the Marred Crown in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth? Well, you are in luck because I’ve tested both items and have the answer.

It doesn’t actually matter which Crown you give Johnny in FFVII Rebirth. Yep, all that hard work to get the Pristine Crown, and you don’t actually get anything extra for it. If you give Johnny the Marred Crown, he will be disappointed initially, but he’ll spin a reason to like it. Ultimately, you get the same reward and EXP regardless of which Crown you give him.

The only difference that I noticed is that whichever Crown you give Johnny will be the one he displays as his “treasure” at the Seaside Inn in Coasta del Sol. So, purely for aesthetic reasons, you can choose to give Johnny the Pristine Crown.

Overall, the Tonberry King does not have any weaknesses in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. So, the best strategy for this is to hit him quickly and hard with Cloud’s Braver ability. But also make sure to move around a lot and dodge his instant-death attack. Once you have his crown knocked off his head, it’s just a quick steal, and you are good to go!

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is now available exclusively on PlayStation 5.