Best Video Game Final Bosses

Final bosses in video games have come a long way since the early days of gaming. As gaming technology has advanced and game design has evolved, final bosses have become more intricate and diverse in their designs. These climactic encounters have also become more cinematic, incorporating elaborate cutscenes, dramatic music, and visually stunning animations to heighten the emotional impact and sense of epicness in these battles.

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Final bosses also incorporate narrative elements and emotional stakes, leading to the ending of certain video games turning into bittersweet moments. While it's pretty easy to mess up these encounters, the best final bosses thankfully do a great job of making for a powerful and satisfying conclusion to some of the greatest video games ever made.

Updated July 12, 2024 by Ritwik Mitra: Most games that want to leave a strong impression on the player typically cap off the experience with a boss fight that exemplifies everything great about the game in question.

The best final bosses understand this assignment and help players achieve a sense of accomplishment as they use everything they've learned to beat these powerful antagonists and send them packing. The challenge, cinematic flair, and design all play a vital role in ensuring that players enjoy these tough encounters and have to earn the right to see the credits.

1 Wheatley

Shooting A Portal At The Moon Is A Feeling That Can't Be Put Into Words

Portal 2 is a sequel to a surprise in The Orange Box that pleased many fans. They expected Valve to blow everyone's expectations out of the water as always, and Portal 2 certainly didn't disappoint in this regard. The game's introduction of Wheatley made everyone think that this bumbling robot was a good character, only for him to lose his sense of reason after acquiring a level of power he couldn't have imagined.

This prompts Chell and GLaDOS to team up, with this unlikely alliance engaging in a battle against Wheatley near the end of the game. Players must use corrupted cores to "damage" Wheatley, but he still doesn't learn his lesson and refuses to let go. As the roof caves in, the player sees the moon and shoots a portal at it, sending this rogue AI into space to reflect on his barbaric actions. It makes for a great ending to one of the best boss fights in gaming history.

2 Senator Armstrong

An Extremely Challenging Final Fight With An Incredible Soundtrack To Accompany It

No one knew they wanted a hack-and-slash Metal Gear game until Revengeance slapped them in the face with some of the best combat ever seen in the IP. Every boss fight is a spectacle for the ages, with a cybernetically enhanced Raiden using his sword to slice and dice his way through numerous enemies and bosses. However, nothing will prepare players for the toughness of the final boss, who is a cut above every other encounter in the game.

Senator Armstrong uses nanomachines to enhance his strength and shows just how out of his league Raiden is when he no-sells a flurry of punches as the soundtrack kicks into high gear. It's one of the best final bosses in a video game that ups the ante and has become an enduring facet of gaming pop culture.

3 Royce

A Mirror Boss Fight That Starts On An Epic Note

Before becoming well and truly mainstream with the launch of Hades, Supergiant Games were busy carving out a reputation for themselves by combining narrative and gameplay into an entertaining package every time. Bastion was a huge debut title for the developers who used everything they learned from this title to develop Transistor. Players control a mute singer named Red with the eponymous talking sword who must fight their way through the Process before eventually making their way to the final boss of the game.

Royce is no joke, showing that he can use the power of Turn just like Red from the get-go by enabling his abilities and turning this battle into a race for who can deplete the opponent's health bar over and over again. As Royce slowly loses access to most of his abilities with each defeat, he becomes savage and more grueling to fight, culminating in a satisfying end to one of gaming's best boss fights before the emotional final moments rear their head.

4 Nyx Avatar

Ryoji's True Form Signals The Start Of The Apocalypse That SEES Tries To Fight Against

Persona 3 Reload is a near-perfect remake of the original game. The attempts to retain the original plot's pacing and the manner in which the game's cheeriness clashes with some of the game's darker moments can be jarring at times, but everything is forgiven once players listen to the incredible soundtrack and talk to a suite of memorable characters who have aged like a fine wine.

The final boss of this game is Nyx, a version of Ryoji that will signal the end of humanity. What follows is a drawn-out, emotional boss fight where Nyx's Avatar cycles through all available arcana before landing on Death, forcing the heroes to make a final stand to prevent the world from being destroyed. Ultimately, the protagonist sacrifices himself to perform the Great Seal, staying alive just long enough to fulfill his promise to his friends before passing away peacefully.

5 Safer-Sephiroth

An Epic Confrontation Against A Terrifying Version Of Sephiroth

The release of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has allowed fans to enjoy the charming story of this legendary game once again with a fresh coat of paint. Of course, in the eyes of many, nothing comes close to matching the brilliance of the original title, which continues to hold its own even now.

The final stretch of the game is as harrowing as they come, with players having to fight Jenova-SYNTHESIS and then Bizarro-Sephiroth before taking on Safer-Sephiroth. This final boss is incredibly challenging, accompanied by one of the greatest pieces of music in gaming history that continues to be iconic to this day. Safer-Sephiroth has access to a range of dangerous abilities that can cause players a lot of trouble, but Supernova is one of the most intimidating. This attack takes two minutes for Sephiroth to perform and showcases a meteor crashing through multiple planets before eventually colliding with the party. Though there is technically one more battle to be fought after defeating Safer-Sephiroth, it is impossible for Cloud to lose, making the confrontation with Safer-Sephiroth the true final boss of the game.

6 Ganondorf

The Final Boss Of Tears Of The Kingdom Stretches The Health Bar Beyond Its Limits

If there was one thing that fans criticized about Breath of the Wild, it's how disappointing the final boss is if players pursue the main quest as intended and shave off the boss' health bar to half. Tears of the Kingdom rectifies this in the best way possible, letting players fight off against a version of Ganondorf so powerful that he shatters the usual limitations of a health bar.

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This makes for a challenging confrontation, with Ganondorf using the moveset of the Phantom Ganons with increased speed and power. The fact that he can nail perfect dodges and punish Link for being complacent makes this one of the most epic final encounters, and taking out his dragon form is leagues ahead of the same concept Breath of the Wild toyed around with when Link had to "fight" against Dark Beast Ganon.

7 Gwyn, Lord Of Cinder

An Emotional Climax To One Of The Best Action RPGs Ever Made

Gwyn is the final boss of the original Dark Souls game and is known for his surprisingly emotional and atmospheric battle. The Lord of Cinder is a formidable opponent with a fast and aggressive fighting style, wielding a massive flaming sword that is pretty intimidating to behold.

Gwyn's lore is genuinely tragic, and players aware of this key figure in Dark Souls will enjoy the additional depth to this battle. Beating him is key to unlocking the paths towards the two endings in the game.

8 Flowey

The Final Boss Of The Neutral Route That Transcends The Fourth Wall

Flowey is a seemingly cute creature in Undertale who actually sports a sinister demeanor and constantly hounds the player every step of the way. Fittingly enough, the final boss fight against this foe is as chaotic as one would expect from such a villainous figure.

The battle against Flowey is a multi-phase encounter that involves dodging various attacks and manipulating the game's mechanics to survive. Flowey breaks the fourth wall, engaging with the player directly and challenging their expectations, making for a memorable and meta experience that is unlike any other battle in the series.

9 Kefka

A Jester Who Becomes A Divine Being After Appropriating The Powers Of The Warring Triad

Kefka is the main antagonist and final boss of Final Fantasy 6, known for his sadistic and maniacal personality. The final battle against this psychotic jester is an epic showdown with multiple phases, each featuring unique attacks and abilities before players finally encounter his godly form.

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The encounter is challenging and requires careful strategy and preparation to defeat. The music heightens the emotional nature of this battle even more, and "Dancing Mad" is considered by many as one of the greatest video game songs of all time.

10 Saren

A Conflicted Spectre Who Gets Indoctrinated By Sovereign And The Reapers

Saren is the primary antagonist of the first Mass Effect game, being manipulated by the Reapers to do their bidding. As a rogue Spectre, Saren possesses immense power and is a formidable opponent, but he can actually be talked down in the final battle if players have high enough Paragon or Renegade points.

This effectively allows players to skip the first phase of the battle, although the second phase is still active and pretty challenging. Players will need to employ all their skills while also staying alert for the important decisions that they'll have to make soon after.