Everything you’ve been working toward comes together in the final fight, and the bosses lived up to your hopes.
When it comes to video games, bosses are something that has been around since the beginning. As the final task that stops you from moving forward on your journey, bosses make for some of the most memorable moments in video games.
Because they are such a classic, there are a lot of new and old ones to choose from. Most of the time, the best fights are against people who are close to the main character or who you’re the only one who can stop them. It can even be more general at times; what matters most is that they stick in your mind.
Pyre – Oralech
A lot of people don’t know that Pyre is one of Supergiant’s best games. This is not only their best game, but also one of the best games ever. It really shows that games are an art form when every decision and character feels natural and fits into the whole. This is brought out a lot by Oralech, the main bad guy who you don’t see until the very end of the game.
He turned into an angry monster that roams the Downside after being betrayed by the people he wanted to help. In the final match against him, the higher stakes make it as much about your choice as it is about your skill. Will it cost you more to let him go than to save your people? Or keep him locked up to protect your own freedom and lower the chances of a peaceful revolution?
Tears Of The Kingdom – The Demon King
After being away for a long time since Twilight Princess, Ganondorf finally came back in Tears of the Kingdom, full of energy and water to quench your thirst. For most of the game, he’s more of a scary presence, with his injured body rising to unknown heights. Most of the time, he shows up in images of the past.
When you get to the end, this changes. Ganondorf heals himself and then fights you one-on-one in the Depths of Hyrule. Yes, but just one stage isn’t enough. He wakes up his hidden power and calls up ghosts to protect you. Still, we need even more power. He uses up the Secret Stone and turns into the Demon Dragon. The end of the Demon King’s rule is finally marked by a dance across the air of Hyrule.
- In this final fight, Ganondorf has three stages. The life bar on the second stage is so long that it almost goes off the screen.
Metroid Dread – Raven Beak
It’s hard to say what exactly a Metroidvania game is today because there are so many of them. In many ways, Metroid Dread built on the best parts of previous games. However, it also did enough with movement and story to go in a new direction, which we talk about in our review. And Metroid games have always had great boss fights, but Dread takes them to a whole new level.
The battle against Raven Beak is strong. You know that he will be your final meeting from the start, but that doesn’t lessen its impact. He has many steps, and each one tests your skills. Huge lasers, dramatic camera views, and landscapes that change all the time keep Samus moving. And it all comes together in a moment that changes how we think about Samus as a character.
- You can use our guide to help you with Raven Beak because it can be a tough fight.
Resident Evil 5 – The Boulder (And Wesker)
The boss fights in Resident Evil aren’t famous like they are in many of the other games on this list. Now and then there are some fun or creative ones, but a lot of them just become “shoot the glowing spot,” which makes most of the normal enemies more exciting. But with Resident Evil 5, the series turned into a full-on action game.
It came out around the same time as a lot of quick time events. Even though Resident Evil 5 has a lot of problems, you can’t deny that it changed the way people think about games. You have to fight in a huge volcano and jump over gaps to avoid dying from the heat in order to reach your real enemy, The Boulder, who can only be defeated by Chris Redfield. Still, Chris breaks down the rock into dust with good QTEs. Wesker is somewhere there too.
Fun fact: even though the game is designed to be played with a friend, the final fight is much harder when you play with a friend because the QTEs are tougher. Yes, even the rock.
The Wonderful 101 – Jergingha
Right now, you may have noticed that PlatinumGames has a lot of games on this list. Platinum is very good at making final bosses that stand out, but that’s because their fighting system is already very satisfying. The Wonderful 101 was a game that a lot of people missed because it was only available on Wii U at first and had an overhead camera for a character-action game.
But the Wonderful 101 is one of the happiest and most interesting games out there. Every fight is a show, but the final one against Jergingha is the one that everyone will remember. It’s jam-packed with mechs, RPG elements, silly conversation, QTEs, and just about anything else you can think of. It’s the most exciting moment in video games, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously either.
The Wonderful 101 is one of Kamiya’s “superhero trilogy” books, along with Beautiful Joe and Project GG.
Mario – Bowser
Even though Mario’s smug face is deserving of a beating, he is the sad main character of the self-centered series that bears his name. There are a lot of different types of media that Mario controls, which can be disturbing. But his feud with Bowser is always at the center of it all.
Mario is in love with Peach and saves her. What a great trio! Bowser is also to be infatuated with about Peach and takes her away. Peach, who just wants to be left alone. No matter how much Mario and Bowser fight at the end of most games, they should just kiss and make up.
Minecraft – The Ender Dragon
The original idea behind Minecraft was a simple one: stay alive through the night and build anything you could think of. It wasn’t what anyone would have thought would happen with this kind of game getting a story, but it has since led to a lot of media projects that do have stories.
The game also has its own (admittedly simple) story, which ends with a hilariously good final fight. You meet the Ender Dragon across the void when you get to the area that is named “End.” She drops an egg and the credits roll after a thrilling fight with the huge beast. Also, some people say Minecraft never ends.
Dragon’s Dogma – Grigori And The Seneschal
Dragon’s Dogma is truly special because it combines character-based action games with role-playing games and a party system that is different for each player. There is no one way to play the game, and every fight is a physical feast because of all of that.
After you catch Grigori, the main dragon, he tells you many things about the world, like who you’re in love with. It’s not easy to beat him because the battle takes place in a huge, constantly changing field. But it doesn’t end there. Beating Grigori starts a story after the game in which you fight the Seneschal, who is in charge of the world. This is fun on its own, but the theme really hits home in a new game plus when the Seneschal is another person or even you.
- The fight with Grigori is more like a movie showdown than a real test. The same is mostly true for the Seneschal, but it’s important to remember that during a New Game Plus cycle, the Seneschal and their pawn will have a different job than you did during your first game.
Before Grigori makes his choice, you should check out our picks for the best love stories in Dragon’s Dogma, unless you’re happy with the blacksmith as your true love.
Fallout – The Master
It’s hard to separate Fallout from its modern version, which turns it into a cynical icon and a mascot that probably doesn’t fully understand its own themes and style. But the original set a standard. The first Fallout game came out in 1997. It was an overhead view, and the writing was very critical of the games that it was based on.
It was also the game that brought RPGs back to life in the West, and its final boss, The Master, was a great example of that. It’s interesting to call them a boss because it sounds like you have to fight them. Yes, you could do that, but you could also just use your sharp tongue to tell them that their whole plan is wrong and will fail. That being said, when was the last time a game let you talk a boss to death?
- The Master has more than 500 HP and can call on Mutants to help him all the time, so talking him to death is really the best thing you can do.
- You will need at least 7 Intelligence and to have read Vree’s Autopsy Report ahead of time.
Okami – Yami
You know, have you ever thought about how few games have tried to make an experience like Zelda and how even fewer have been successful? Okami is the answer. It pays a lot of respect to the games that inspired it while also making its own beautiful path. The game’s beautiful art is enough to make it last forever.
It seems like the final boss is the best way to show it all. They are different from most of the other bosses in the game in that they are more mechanical than legendary, but that makes them even scarier. When it comes to pure gameplay, Yami isn’t the best boss in the game. This is how everyone in the world comes together to help you beat them, and it requires you to use all your skills, which are made stronger by the people who praise you. Heck, it even makes Issun likeable for one scene.
Mortal Kombat – Shao Kahn
Mortal Kombat is one of the most popular fighting games of all time, even though some of its older games were some of the goriest ever and caused a lot of controversy. The stories are probably a lot better than you think they are. It’s a huge series. Still, most of the games have one thing in common.
Kahn Shao. He’s pretty much the face of the series, even though he wasn’t presented until the second game and is only the final boss sometimes. He is known for being ridiculously cruel and has been the final boss more times than any other figure. It was and still is a huge accomplishment to beat him because he makes fun of you whenever he’s not fighting you.
- Iconic for being hard, Shao Kahn. You can only really save yourself by being really good at the game or finding a character who can cheese him. Have fun!
Hades – Hades
There have been roguelikes and roguelites since, well, after Rogue came out in 1980. The idea is easy but hard to follow: when you die, you lose some or all of your progress. These kinds of games have made a lot of hard games, but Supergiant turned them into an amazing way to tell a story.
Hades loves a lot of things, from the gods who are too good-looking to the conversation that never ends. This kind of game isn’t complete without tough bosses that test your skills and build, and it’s really cool to fight Hades at the end. At times, he’ll be easy for you to beat, and at other times, he’ll throw you back down the Styx. It’s always fun to take on him.
Metroid – Mother Brain
It’s funny that Metroid has been around since 1986, but some of its side-scrolling games are soft reboots or remakes of the first game. It shows that both the base is strong and that the games’ open-ended nature is always appealing.
Since a lot of the games are the same, it’s only natural that the final boss is also the same: Mother Brain. In the first game, Mother Brain is fought in a room with very accurate lasers. In Super Metroid, she changes into a new form that the Baby Metroid helps her beat. You have to see them so often that it feels like family. But hey, at least there’s a timed base escape at the end.
You can read our Explainer on the Metroids to learn more about them and why the Space Pirates want them so badly.
Hollow Knight – The Hollow Knight And The Radiance
When Hollow Knight came out, it blew everyone away. It has beautiful hand-drawn art, a strangely beautiful music, and a group of really cute characters. The style is like a Metroidvania, but it also adds a lot of new things to the genre. It’s also known for having tough battles, though.
Many people called Hollow Knight a Souls-like because of how hard it is, and the way it builds its world really shows that comparison. One example is the final battle with the Hollow Knight, which is amazing, but you can only really understand how sad it is. Even better, that knowledge is what will help you reach the real final boss, The Radiance. The final fight with them is unlike anything else in the game; it’s not an extra prize.
- In the first part of both bosses, the Hollow Knight and The Radiance, there is no save place. Keep this in mind so you don’t get careless.
- Because Radiance is so damn hard, we have a guide that can help you out.
Bayonetta – Jubileus
Fancy fights have always been a big part of character action games. The early days of Devil May Cry and its famous bosses, such as Phantom, the gods of God of War, and, of course, Bayonetta’s many huge angels. More than that, Bayonetta loves being over the top, and the game’s final boss lives up to that image.
Jubileus, the Creator, is a huge goddess who fits her size. Many people would fight by hitting their faces and bodies while standing on one stage, but she doesn’t do that. You’re stuck inside a big dome instead, going back and forth between different pieces of land while hitting Jubileus. It makes her feel like her size matters, which is what it does.
Final Fantasy 6 – Kefka
Many people think that Final Fantasy 7, which brought the series into 3D, was the most popular game in the series, but FF6 was the best game in terms of pixel art. Since Square Enix had already made a lot of games, they knew what they were doing and made a gem with one of their most famous bad guys.
Kefka is an awful monster. Kefka wasn’t born, he made himself. He wanted nothing more than pure chaos and did everything in a strangely amusing way. Since he wants to destroy everything, his amazing theme song “Dancing Mad” fits perfectly. His pure joy makes everything about him feel even more dangerous. From the music to the fight, he is a threat in every way.
Bloodborne – Moon Presence
The Souls games and their unique fighting may have brought FromSoftware new fame, but Bloodborne is still their best work. It’s such a scary world that it seems like the music, weapons, and monsters were all thought of when it was made. It’s not always a perfectly balanced experience, but it always feels like it was done so well.
That’s what makes the final boss so unique. Before you can even fight them, you have to find and eat three strange umbilical cords and beat Gehrman, who is already a very tough boss. At that point, you can face the moon itself. Even though they can lower your health to one point, they’re not that hard of a boss. They make people feel such awe and fear, which makes sense for an eldritch monster.
- The grab move that Moon Presence has is pretty scary, and it can lower your max HP for the rest of the fight. Besides this, Moon Presence isn’t very important.
Twilight Princess – Ganondorf
So many great things about video games got their start with The Legend of Zelda. With Breath of the Wild, they were changed even more. People were ready for something darker after the story of Ocarina of Time and the happier tone of Wind Waker. Twilight Princess gave them everything they wanted.
A big part of the game is about Midna and Zant in the Twilight Realm and how darkness is spreading through Hyrule. But Ganondorf is always close by, and it turns out that he is really in charge of everything. Few people will ever forget the final battle on horses across Hyrule Field, which ended with a one-on-one fight with the Dark Lord.
Kingdom Hearts 2 – Xemnas
Kingdom Hearts is one of those series that is very hard to get into, even though all of the games are now very easy to get. Having said that, it depends a lot on our memories of our youth and our love of older Disney movies. The sequel quickly moves away from that, but Sora always feels like your youth.
The final fight in Basket Random looks and feels like it was made up by a kid to be an epic finale. You can jump across buildings and cut them in half, fight Xemnas with lightsabers, block millions of lasers at once, fly all over the place, and beat huge monsters. And in the end, friendship is what beats him.
Pokemon – Cynthia
Nobody can say for sure if they remember the first Pokémon games or if they are more up to date on the latest games. There is one group that many people really care about: Gen Four, especially Platinum. Lovely music, famous Pokemon, and beautiful places. Cynthia, on the other hand, might be most striking.
Like most Pokemon, you meet her a lot of times before she tells you she’s the winner, which isn’t really a surprise. Still, she is known as one of the hardest to deal with. Her theme makes your heart race, and her Garchomp destroys many teams. If you thought you could get away from her, she even shows up in other games.
- There is a full guide on how to beat Cynthia, but in short, you’ll need a variety of Pokemon, such as fairy, grass, ice, and fire, to beat her.
- A Garchomp in particular is a big threat, but strangely enough, your own Garchomp can help you beat them.
God Of War (2018) – Baldur
The God of War series has always been popular, with Kratos, the series’ main character, being a pure slaughter machine. But in the newest game, he’s a more mellow character who wants to leave all the slaughter behind. That kind of thing would never just fall off of him, though.
In the land of Norse myth, Kratos meets the Stranger Baldur, who becomes an enemy that can’t be killed until the very end, when he feels pain again and can die. The fight is inexplicable, and Baldur and Freya try to harm you while you’re thrown across the stage. It’s kind of like Kratos’ own past, which makes Baldur’s death more peaceful than it would have been otherwise.
Nier: Automata – The Final Boss Rush
A lot of people love Nier: Automata, and the figures that say they’re perfect logical beings change into something more…human. In a way, it’s so different from ours, but there are always connections. And in the middle of all that emotional turmoil is a beautiful battle system that makes every fight fun.
With so many threats that just want to be there, it can almost feel wrong to enjoy a good system. But that’s what you do at the end of Automata. The Red Girls are two figures in Ko-Shi and Ro-shi. Then there is the final fight where you have to choose a side. Even if the fighting is great, you will be mentally hurt when you’re done.
- Your decisions have everything to do with who you fight in the final battle. You should know how to beat them though if you’ve played as either character before. Try not to cry.
Undertale – Omega Flowey
Nothing quite compares to how Undertale changed the way people talk on the internet. Undertale takes a lot from older games like Earthbound and a lot of other games with strange names. It almost feels like the developers knew ahead of time how the game would be played.
Take Flowey as an example. That friendly but pushy training guide seems a little inexplicable. They’re also probably the first final boss most players will face, just for fun. Not at all the same. When you fight Flowey, they don’t look like Flowey at all. Instead, they look like an unholy mess of Photoshop edits. It’s a pretty big twist that people won’t soon forget.
Assassin’s Creed 2 – The Pope
There’s a lot to say about Assassin’s Creed’s direction, but many fans say that Assassin’s Creed 2 is the best game in the series. It’s a huge building on top of the original’s small base.
People really care about Ezio and his desire for payback because the story spans almost 40 years. His own goals change over time and become more selfless by the end. Because in the end, he doesn’t even want to get rid of the pope, the man who ruined him. He offers him a simple fistfight instead, to show him that they are all equal on earth and that the pope is not some kind of being above everyone else.
Metal Gear Rising – Senator Armstrong
The Metal Gear series has never really stuck to the rules. It’s always been a very meta-narrative that is always aware of what’s going on around it, and its bosses are no different. They range from normal bosses with heavy themes to bosses that can actually die of old age.
But Metal Gear Rising is an action game about a character, and even though it has sneaking elements, it feels very much like Metal Gear. Also, Senator Armstrong is a strong bad guy, both in a physical and symbolic sense. In Rising, the final fight where he just kicks you around and rants hysterically as you tear each other apart is so damn exciting.
Dark Souls – Gwyn
A lot of FromSoftware’s games, like Dark Souls, have places that you have to read about. At first, they might seem like any other dark dream, and then they lead to a sadder world. But at its core, Dark Souls is a tale of hope and never giving up. That things can get better in this sad world.
People praise Gwyn as a being almost like a god who drove out darkness and inaugurated a golden age of civilization. But that light kept going out, and the world kept moving without any plans toward a future that was bound to happen. The meeting with Gwyn is sad when it finally happens. Someone was so scared of the dark that they brought the whole world down with them.
Dark Souls’ world is meant to be mysterious, but we’ve gone into more detail about where the First Flame and the main character, Dark Soul, came from to help you understand the fight with Gwyn.
Majora’s Mask – Majora
A lot of people try to give The Legend of Zelda series a stricter schedule than it really has, but the stories show that the world does follow a cycle. At the end of almost every game, you have to fight Ganon in some way, whether he’s in his Gerudo form or as a big beast.
This isn’t true for Majora’s Mask. Not even Hyrule, not even Zelda, not even Ganondorf. There’s Majora, which takes place in Termina and shows how the end of the world is close. Skull Kid is just a slave. The actual multi-phase battle with Majora is weird, scary, and different from anything else Zelda has done before or since.
Would you like to wear the face of evil too? You can do that in Tears of the Kingdom, and our guide will help you find the exact spot where this evil mask sits.
Devil May Cry – Vergil
It started out as a test for Resident Evil 4, but now Devil May Cry is its own series with some of the most famous characters in video games, like Dante, who loves pizza and battles demons, and Vergil, who has very main-character-syndrome. Because a game isn’t fun without a good opponent.
Vergil has been in DMC since the beginning, but DMC3 was kind of like the beginning for all of them, so you fight him several times during the game. At the end, though, Vergil wants to fight again just to show that he’s better for no good reason. It’s so exciting to fight a boss who is just as strong as you after seeing you both get stronger over the course of the game.
Also, guess what? He’s back as the final boss in Devil May Cry 5, and he’s still a jerk.
- Vergil is also a playable character, so it’s not hard to learn how to do his moves. While he can easily block your moves and close the gap in an instant, it’s best to keep going on the attack to keep him busy.
You can play through Vergil’s story in Devil May Cry 5 if you ever want to know how he feels during a boss fight with Dante. It looks like Dante might be the real final boss.
Shadow Of The Colossus – Malus
It’s one of those really cool games that has influenced a lot of other games, but not many of them have been able to repeat the same emotional highs. A lot of games have given you mounts, big grounds, and huge enemies that you can climb. But not many have ever made you feel that bad.
Because the person you’re trying to save is more important to you than their life, you hunt down the 16 colossi of the valley. The final giant, Malus, and them won’t be in some great battle. You’ve now admitted that you’ve done something very wrong, and the trip to climb them and finish them off gives you plenty of time to think about that.
Final Fantasy 7 – Sephiroth
For every one of the many Final Fantasy games out there, there are just as many great bad guys. Even though some are better or don’t have as clear of a bad guy, they all have something to fight against. But Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7 is unique, and people all over the world remember him. In FF7 Remake, they even give you a big ending fight against him that feels like nothing more than fan service for his Advent Children version.
For its time, FF7 felt like a big change in how games told stories, and Sephiroth’s assassination of Aerith was a big event in pop culture. Cloud sees him as the bad guy, but he’s really just another victim of how heavily a company has become militarized. It is said that the second-to-last fight with the one-winged angel was legendary, but the final battle in Cloud’s mind, where he finally beat Sephiroth, is just as remembered.
- How you fight the last Jenova battle before Sephiroth’s final battle will actually change his stats. If you think you can handle it, try not to call up The Knights of the Round. If you do, Sephiroth will get even stronger.
- Sephiroth likes to punish Cloud a lot, but with our Final Fantasy 7 Remake guide, you should be able to cut down on that.
