Antlion

The Antlion is an Emblem Heartless that is found in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. It is one of the bosses at Agrabah.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
Though not seen, it is mentioned by Saïx when he planned to send Xion to deal with it during her time unable to wield the Keyblade, and Roxas to slay a Bully Dog. Axel was later sent to "keep it out of trouble", falling on his behind running after it.

Roxas is sent to eliminate an unidentified giant Heartless that has surfaced in the desert and seems to be the source of Agrabah's mysterious sandstorms. When he arrives at Agrabah, he encounters this Heartless, but defeats it in no time.

In the manga, Genie helps Roxas and Xion defeat the Antlion by holding it still to stop its rotating.

Design
The Antlion is a massive, seemingly mechanical Heartless with a round, egg-shaped body comprised of several rotating rings. Each of these rings are white with black and yellow highlights, and each is lined by multiple, rectangular pillars. Most of these pillars are steel blue, though two on the first ring are a patchwork coloration of gold and copper. The Antlion’s rear sports a grey turbine that it uses for locomotion. Its neck is black and gold, while its comparatively small head is roughly spherical and white. Its head sports glowing yellow eyes, a large, jagged mouth, and two short "horns". It also has two large, steel blue and gold mandibles on the sides of its head. Its Heartless emblem is between its eyes.

In the Final Fantasy series, an Antlion is a type of subterranean monster based on the insect of the same name. A real-world antlion's larval state is very similar to the Antlion Heartless.

Strategy
This Heartless starts out traveling half submerged in the sand. If you prefer to keep your distance, it is best to attack it with Fire or Thundaga; otherwise, move in close, preferably just in front of the moving Heartless, and use powerful Blizzard magic, like high-level Bizzara. Eventually, it will escape by diving into the sand. When it surfaces, it will attack with narrow shockwaves of sand. These can be easily avoided by climbing on top of one of the ruins, or by standing on the far side of one. After a few waves, it will charge at you. If you are on a ruin, the Antlion will charge right into it, and it will be stunned and vulnerable to attack. Eventually it regains consciousness and tosses cube-shaped bombs before it sinks back down and starts traveling in the sand again.

After it has taken sufficient damage, it rises out of the sand completely, surrounding itself with a protective whirlwind. It will move around the field, dropping cube-shaped bombs, which can be blocked or avoided. Before the bombs explode, knock them back into the whirlwind to cause damage. Additionally, it will try to ram into you, damaging you with the whirlwind. This attack can be blocked or avoided. Once the Antlion sustains enough damage from the bombs, it drops its whirlwind shield and falls to the ground, stunned. Use this time to move in and launch Blizzard spells or attack its head. After it recovers, it reforms its whirlwind shield, and the process continues.

Starting from the second time it raises its shield, the Antlion will also attack with an energy beam, which should be avoided. When it charges its beam, a purple aura surrounds its head. Keep moving to the left or the right until it fires the beam to avoid it. Moving in close will also allow you to stay out of the beam's range.

Should you hit low HP, do not hesitate to use the Limit Break. A good time to use it is after it drops its Aero shield. Heal periodically, and the Antlion should fall rather quickly.

Another strategy is to load up on Thundaga and Blizzara magic since the Antlion is very weak to those two elements. Use Thundaga at the start of the fight until the Antlion sinks and rises to shoot the sand pillars. While it does that, as soon as possible, get on top of the closest ruin you can find and rain down all of your Thundaga casts. The Antlion will then chase you, but then ram into the ruin, dazing itself. Jump down, get as close as you can, and shoot it with Blizzara before it wakes up. Make sure not to miss with Blizzara because it locks down your magic if you miss.

Attacks

 * Sand Waves: Creates dangerous waves of sand.
 * Lunge: Lunges forward at high speed.
 * Whirlwind Shield: Tries to hit players with its whirlwind shield.
 * Bombs: tosses cube-shaped bombs at players.
 * Laser: Shoots a large, red laser from its mouth.