The best boss fights in video games require you to take everything that you've learned in a game and apply them to a unique encounter. Memorable bosses can elevate a game to new heights. Other boss fights can actively hinder your enjoyment with a game. While there are tons of challenging bosses that feel both fair and incredibly rewarding when you finally topple them, there are others that wind up feeling cheap and annoying. We've rounded up 20 of the most aggravating boss fights in games. These bosses tested our patience rather than our skills.
Shao Kahn - Mortal Kombat
Mortal Kombat's resurrection in 2011 was a brilliant combination of old-school brawling layered on top of an enjoyable storyline, but the final battle with Shao Kahn was a sour note to end the game on. Kahn is simply the perfect warrior in Mortal Kombat, a calamity on two legs who could easy rip your health bar apart at close-range, close the distance in a nano-second, or skewer you with projectiles if you got too far away from him. What makes the fight aggravating is that the best way to defeat Kahn is to use cheap tactics, watering down the bruising combat appeal of the game in the process.
Omega Weapon - Final Fantasy VIII
Optional bosses have long been a part of Final Fantasy's tradition, with the various Weapon-class brutes scattered around the series presenting the ultimate challenge. In Final Fantasy VIII, the game's showdown with Ultimecia inside of her castle offered several boss fights, as well as a showdown with Omega Weapon if you knew where to look. With over a million HP, a maxed-out level, and some of the most powerful attacks in the game, Omega Weapon could wipe your party out before you'd even had a chance to cast your first spell. The reward for defeating it? A stack of AP for your Guardian Forces, and the Proof of Omega award that you could proudly show off to your friends.
Magneto - Marvel vs Capcom 2
Magnets, how the heck do they work? If you're Magneto in Marvel vs Capcom 2, the answer is painfully as the X-Men villain could shower you with an onslaught of overpowered special attacks and combos while he effortlessly built up his special meter. With a rushdown attack that was more unstoppable than the Juggernaut, Magneto was a force to be reckoned with when you encountered him.
Bed of Chaos - Dark Souls
Bed of Chaos is widely regarded as the worst boss in the Dark Souls trilogy, a nightmare of frustrating design that's at odds with the more polished foes of the rest of Dark Souls. Instead of using strategy and your wits to defeat the wooden monster, this boss fight relies far more on luck and wild flailing to best the beast. In a game where death can feel cheap, the Bed of Chaos fight feels like a discount on a buffet of misery, one that will regularly rob you of momentum. There's no real sense of winning in this fight, just survival.
Mike Tyson - Mike Tyson's Punch-Out
Every match in Punch-Out was a game of rhythm, a delicate dance of jabs and uppercuts that you'd have to memorize and react to if you wanted to turn Little Mac into a champion. Mike Tyson's rhythm in the game was something akin to an M1-Abrams tank on a ballroom dance floor while heavy metal was blasted around you, as the legendary heavyweight champion threw knockout blows at you. Forget about bombs, Tyson could throw quick knockout blows at you, his uppercuts were an extinction-level event, and an opening to fight back was rarer than a politician being honest. If you wanted to become the champion of the world, you were going to have to earn it in Punch-Out.
Jinpachi Mishima - Tekken 5
The biggest fights in Tekken games usually involve squaring off against someone of the Mishima bloodline, but nothing could prepare you for the cheap ferocity of dealing with Jinpachi Mishima in Tekken 5. With a beard sharp enough to poke someone's eye out and a belly inspired by the monster design of The Thing, this Mishima patriarch hit hard and fast with combos that would frequently stun-lock you. It's the belly-laser that made Jinpachi such a pain to deal with though, as it could wipe half your health away in a single hit. To make the showdown feel even cheaper, Jinpachi would combo-fire the attack, quickly finishing you off with maximum cheese.
Rugal Bernstein - King of Fighters '94
The boss of bosses, anyone who tangled with Rugal Bernstein would be in for a world of hurt. The master of the Genocide Cutter, Bernstein played like the sum total of other bosses introduced other SNK fighting games, but better. He was faster, stronger, and his special moves were designed to bankrupt you as you fed more coins into an arcade cabinet or had to explain to your parents why there was a Neo Geo CD-shaped hole in the wall. Again.
Hyperion - Returnal
Every single boss fight in Returnal was an intense showdown that would leave your DualSense controller caked in panic sweat, but Hyperion takes the time-loop cake when it comes to difficulty. An organ-playing nemesis that would drop a barrage of energy orbs on you the very second you made a mistake, Hyperion is relentless and merciless with its offense. It's admittedly a fight that you cannot help but marvel at thanks to the sheer spectacle on display, but once you've eventually beaten the alien phantasm, you'll likely never want to face it ever again.
The aircraft carrier landing strip - Top Gun
How deadly could 1,100 feet of military-grade steel be? In the Top Gun game on the NES, that landing strip was a temperamental metal jerk, one that was constantly shifting and moving out of range as you tried to land Maverick's fighter jet. A single mistake thanks to the constantly changing conditions could spell the end for you, as the sight of an F-117 jet crashing into the ocean or onto the battleship deck became a regular occurrence in that game.
Crawmerax the Invincible - Borderlands
The original Borderlands had no shortage of tough boss fights, but Crawmerax felt like pure vengeance for a seafood diet in its kaiju-sized frame. The title of "invincible" wasn't for show either, as the ludicrous health bar of the killer crustacean kept you on your toes for what felt like hours as you whittled it down to size, one bullet at a time. The reward for beating a boss that would become the template for the biggest baddiess in the Borderlands series? Kudos, and some of the best loot in the game.
Wood Man - Mega Man 2
In a game filled with memorable bosses, Wood Man stands out from the pack in Mega Man 2 for being a challenging nightmare to deal with. Nimble on his feet, Wood Man's leaf shield and projectiles alone made him tough to deal with, but with the ability to shower the stage with deadly leaves as well, the encounter left little room for error. Best left for last, the only real strategy for quickly dealing with Wood Man was to grab the Atomic Fire ability from the Heat Man fight and introduce some chaotic climate change to the battle.
Sephiroth - Kingdom Hearts 2
The only thing more difficult than the Sephiroth boss fight in Kingdom Hearts 2 is trying to make sense of the game's convoluted plot. For anyone who found themselves being regularly slashed to ribbons by the Final Fantasy VII antagonist, that might have been a better use of their time as Sephiroth was capable of ending a fight with just a handful of moves. His Masamune sword had a ridiculous range, and combined with the more limited movement options of the sequel, dodging those attacks was a real challenge. On top of that, the one-winged angel threw magic at you, could pierce you from across the stage, and close the gap by teleporting in for a quick kill. The only real positive to enduring this fight was that you'd get to hear Sephiroth's terrific theme music play while you were getting impaled by him.
Skolas - Destiny
Skolas may be a forgotten opponent in the era of Destiny 2, but for a time, this Fallen boss was a nightmare to deal with. A chunky health bar and an army of minions who would swarm you was to be expected in regular Destiny, but the final boss of the House of Wolves expansion had an extra trick up his sleeve that allowed him to deal extra damage thanks to the Arc Burn modifier. The Prison of Elders was littered with dead Guardians who couldn't withstand the onslaught of high-powered Arc damage flung at them, and it got so bad that developer Bungie eventually had to remove those modifiers so that players actually had a chance to win.
Akuma - Super Street Fighter II Turbo
When Akuma made his presence known by wiping Street Fighter's resident big baddie out in mere seconds, you knew you were in for a tough time. Able to launch multiple hadoukens from an aerial position, mess up your timing with teleports, and land a ludicrous amount of damage on you with an impressive combo, Akuma was a boss that had transcended the limits of what characters were capable of within the confines of Street Fighter II. Positioned as a reward for players who had done well throughout the game, the only people who appreciated him were arcade owners who watched the game gobble up quarters as players fell before Akuma's overwhelming might.
Yoda - Soulcalibur 4
One of the big draws for Soulcalibur 4 was the chance to wield a lightsaber as a Star Wars icon. PlayStation 3 owners got Darth Vader, while Xbox 360 users got Yoda. Both platforms also received misery, as fighting Yoda was an infuriating exercise that allowed the little green devil to weave through your attacks and clobber you. Yoda didn't just have a hitbox the size of the Higgs Boson particle, he had speed and agility on his side as well, making him one of the toughest characters to deal with as he bounced around the arena and delivered punishing blows to your shins. That's enough aggravation to turn anyone to the dark side of fighting games.
Armadillo Boss - Ninja Gaiden II
On the surface, the Armadillo boss fight from Ninja Gaiden II looks and feels like a straight-forward battle. Speed, agility, and striking at highlighted weakpoints were part of the Ninja Gaiden package, but the battle had one last ace up its armored sleeve when you landed a killing blow. With its last breath the Armadillo exploded, and unless you were blocking at that precise moment, it was game over and time to repeat the battle. It's an infuriating trick played on you, one that was so despised that it was removed from the game in future remakes and remasters.
Marauder - Doom Eternal
After ripping and tearing through the hordes of hell for several hours, Doom Eternal threw a curveball at players with the introduction of the Marauder. A demonic challenge, the Marauder has a counter to every single one of your attacks, reflexes that could break the speed of light barrier, and a window of opportunity to deal some damage back to him that could only be measured with an atomic clock. All that, and phantom hounds which results in an opponent that robs the game of momentum. While a Marauder fight is interesting, it's also one that requires a completely different strategy and throws all the muscle memory you'd accumulated during your hellish trek right out of the window. On top of that, Doom Eternal would also throw multiple Marauders at you in some stages, for an extra kick in the pants.
The Nameless King - Dark Souls 3
If ever there was going to be a boss fight responsible for record sales in the console controller department, it was going to be the encounter with the Nameless King in Dark Souls 3. A giant of a man who could launch unpredictable attacks at you while his dragon familiar attempted to roast you, the second phase of this fight is even more challenging as the Nameless King summons lightning and attempts to run you through with his spear. You'll need to duck, dodge, and weave through this fight as you pick away at the monarch in one of the most brutal fights in Dark Souls history that holds nothing back.
Godskin Duo - Elden Ring
Forget about the Ornsetin and Smough, because the Godskin duo has usurped that pair as the toughest duo that From Software has ever created. They may share a health bar, but the Godskin duo won't hesitate to split yours in half with punishing attacks and blinding speed as they zero in on you. What makes this fight particularly cheap, is that both bosses need to be vanquished within seconds of each other, because if you linger too long, one of the defeated warriors will revive the other one. It's a battle where you'll have to use your cheesiest techniques to win, and one that has already become infamous amongst Elden Ring fans for its deadly design.
Shadow of Yharnam - Bloodborne
Bloodborne is a game that emphasizes high-risk for high rewards, but that aggressive style was put to the test when facing the Shadow of Yharnam. Not one but three formidable foes with three unique offensive styles, the shadows are brutal bosses that require you to employ the age-old technique of running away to dodge their constant attacks. It's almost impossible to take out one shadow without the other two pouncing on you, with this fight being a protracted war of attrition that only becomes more lethal when the trio transforms into more monstrous adversaries.
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