Worst thing you can do is use Dispel on Zodiark, he will use Darkja a lot sooner. Shell reduces the chance of instant KO to 50%, or 75% if he has Faith active. He will use Reflect late on in the fight, so use the accessory that allows you to penetrate Reflect and use high-damage spells like Scathe. If you can get a Dark Matter in before he uses Paling you can finish him a lot quicker.

Shell Shield + Dark Mask can deal with the Darkja somewhat, as can White Mask from that other attack he uses, Using a high blocking shield and that dagger that improves evasion by 40 (I forget the name offhand) you can generally block his physical attack.

Either way, hes still a genuine pain to beat.

With the right setup, Zodiark isn't a problem.

But you should never judge a boss based on his appearance. Zodiark is pretty killer if you aren't prepared, especially after being weakened by the arduous trek through the Henne Mines, Part Two. Darkja's instant death is a nuisance, not to mention Palings and Magick Shields, hard-hitting attacks, etc.

It's been awhile since I played, and I don't recall having that much trouble with Zodiark either, but that was at level 99 for my entire party. So perhaps I'm not in a position to judge :/

And to Ultima, if you still haven't beaten Zodiark, by end-game Quickenings are basically suicide, because they won't be killing the higher-leveled bosses and all they do is run your MP dry.

Zodiark was a good challenge i must admit but I was extremely disappionted when I encountered him to find out that he is some retarded little fish-like creature on a machine

As for his attacks the only one i had trouble with was Darkja which managed to annhilate my main group (but then again i didnt have bubble belts at the time) but if yo uare over level 80 and have bubble belts Darkja should'nt be able to beat all 3

If you're referring to the damage inflicted by Darkja, Gabranth, then Demon Shields were my equipment of choice to turn that damage into health. Bubble Belts are always a great fallback accessory for when you don't have something you're equipping specifically (as in Genji Gloves or whatnot).

If you read the bestiary entry on Zodiark, it provides a good bit of insight as to why Zodiark looks so dimunitive.

Well at the point I was extremely low on cash so Demon Shields and other equipment at the time was unreachable for me