Best Zelda Bosses Of All Time Friv 0

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For as long as Link has been adventuring his way through the land of Hyrule, there have been harrowing boss battles to match. The best Zelda bosses cleverly utilize the unique qualities of the equipment found in their corresponding dungeon, putting your skills to the test or forcing you to think about the new mechanics in a creative new way. And since the Zelda series is steeped in lore with consistent monster types, we've seen lots of different interpretations of similar creatures, or even super-sized versions of standard enemy types. Part of the joy of a new Zelda game is discovering all the ways that Nintendo has reimagined Zelda enemies and how to deal with them using your new array of equipment.

The series has been going on for more than 35 years so it's chock full of inventive, harrowing, and brilliantly designed bosses. It would be almost impossible to rank them all, so we've selected just over a dozen of our absolute favorites. These are the best Zelda bosses of all time, presented in no particular order.

Here's hoping the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom adds even more memorable boss fights to the list. Be sure to read our Tears of the Kingdom preorder guide as we quickly approach its launch. And for more on The Legend of Zelda, check out our ranking of the best Zelda games, along with our favorite Zelda dungeons.

Blind the Thief (A Link to the Past)

Blind the Thief is one of the greatest fake-outs in the Zelda series. On a quest to rescue the seven maidens who have formed a living seal around Ganon in the Dark World, Link discovers the Maiden sitting in plain sight in Thieves' Town, rather than encapsulated in crystal like the prior Maidens. After a little handiwork with a bomb to create a makeshift skylight, you can guide this Maiden into the sunlight to expose her true form, Blind the Thief. Blind's Dark World form is a creepy demon head floating on a ghostly body. The ensuing boss battle is Zelda by way of bullet hell shooters, as you slash at the disembodied head while dodging a barrage of fireballs. After defeating Blind you discover the real Maiden, of course, but the expectation-subverting puzzle was half the fun.

Ganon (Ocarina of Time)

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is prototypical by today's standards, but its final battle against Ganon set the standard for epic final encounters in the burgeoning 3D era. After defeating Ganondorf, King of Thieves in an encounter that recalled your earlier fight against Phantom Ganon, he transformed into the monstrous pig-monster we all know and love to hate. The newly empowered Ganon towered over Link to an incredible degree, and as the final battle dodging his massive dual blades was a real test of skill for the then-new Z-Targeting system. When he was finally brought down to earth, it felt very satisfying to slash away at his monster face until evil was vanquished.

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Helmasaur King (A Link to the Past)

The Dark World in Link to the Past starts with one of the less useful items, the Magic Hammer, making for a somewhat underwhelming start--even if it is very fun to squish down those pegs you see sitting around the overworld. But it's made worth it for the encounter with the Helmasaur King. A giant lizard creature with a swaying, barbed tail is protected with a tough mask that almost none of your weapons can penetrate. Bombs do the trick, but it just feels better to whack away with your hammer, chipping away pieces until the mask breaks entirely and exposes its weak point. From there the boss battle is a walk in the park, but this one gets kudos for taking an otherwise very limited utility item and making it the most satisfying way to crack into his shell.

Dark Link (Ocarina of Time)

Dark Link has appeared across several Zelda incarnations, but the sub-boss appearance in the Ocarina of Time Water Temple is the most memorable. At the time it was a reference to the final boss encounter of Zelda 2, translated to a 3D space with thoughtfulness and grace. Dark Link appears on a shimmering pool of shallow water, and his attacks echo your own arsenal of moves. In a particularly nice touch, Dark Link's life total will mirror your own, even if you've expanded your health bar with extra heart pieces. It's an evocative concept and Ocarina of Time was the first time it really nailed the feeling of a demonic doppelganger.

Dodongo (The Legend of Zelda)

The Dodongo is a classic Zelda boss that occasionally moonlights as a standard dungeon enemy, but we have to give credit to the very first appearance for standardizing the inventive concept. Dodongo is always heavily armored in such a way that most of your weapons are useless, and the only way to defeat it is to trick it into swallowing a bomb carefully placed directly in its path. The original Legend of Zelda imagined it looking like a Triceratops, which made enough sense with its heavy armor plating. Subsequent games have reimagined it as a more fantastical lizard creature, but all of them have retained the core concept of a thick armored hide that can only be destroyed from within.

Gohma (The Wind Waker)

The Gohma has been a recurring boss since the first Legend of Zelda game, but its appearance in The Wind Waker recontextualizes it as Link intervening slightly in a clash of titans. The giant creature, which looks like a centipede mixed with a scarab, occupies a huge lava pool. None of Link's weapons seem to scratch it, but a swaying tail hangs precariously over the battlefield. Instead of doing battle with Gohma directly, Link tugs on the tail. The added weight makes the stone platform overhead collapse onto the Gohma's head, cracking its defenses. After a few rounds of this its soft inner workings are exposed and he can defeat the beast.

Genie (Link's Awakening)

Link's Awakening is an oddity in the Zelda canon, in part because its dreamlike setting brings in such strange characters and enemies. This is a Zelda game that includes Goombas and a Chain Chomp. So the Genie boss of Bottle Grotto is, to put it mildly, very strange. It's a cackling clown-like specter who lives in a bottle and tosses fireballs at you. The sheer mechanical simplicity of the boss encounter, though, is what earns it a spot on this list. The Genie spends time mocking you and pointing out that he's invulnerable thanks to his bottle, and wouldn't you know it, this dungeon just gave you a glove that lets you pick up heavy objects. After smashing the bottle against the wall he'll grow enraged and attack that much harder, giving a tidbit of story context to an otherwise very story-light encounter.

Koloktos (Skyward Sword)

The boss of the Ancient Cistern is a collection of loose golden limbs held together by dark magic that sizzles between its seams. Seemingly inspired by Indiana Jones, this battle in the midst of a tomb-like setting relies on Link's whip. After tempting Koloktos to slap at him and dodging out of the way, you can grab onto a limb with the whip and yank it away, breaking away his protections to expose the beating heart that his hands were guarding. Aside from being a precise skill-testing exercise with tons of personality, Koloktos is also just beautiful to look at, taking full advantage of the stylized art for its shimmering gold body parts.

Evil Eagle (Link's Awakening)

Evil Eagle is another uncharacteristic choice from Link's Awakening. It almost seems like a Mega Man battle, especially with a flapping wing attack that can knock you clear off the map and back into the Eagle's Tower. And while most of the side-scrolling segments in Link's Awakening are little interstitials between pieces of the proper dungeon, Evil Eagle takes place entirely within this perspective. It's an unusually action-packed battle that reminds players that even when you're nearing the end of a Zelda game, Nintendo can still surprise you with its inventiveness.

Fyrus (Twilight Princess)

Twilight Princess took the series in a darker new direction, and that was clearly illustrated in the intro to the Fyrus, the Twilit Igniter. Upon entering the boss room Link saw Fyrus held prisoner in the darkness, bound by chains and breathing heavily. Upon detecting Link, it reenergizes and lights itself ablaze, breaking the chains and chasing Link down, wielding those same chains as weapons. From there the battle requires some quick thinking and reflexes--you have to blind the beast with an arrow to the head, and then as it stumbles around blindly, you equip the Iron Boots to plant yourself in the ground and hang on tight to his chains to trip him.

Arrghus (A Link to the Past)

The floating squid-like creature that guards the Swamp Palace is another, like the Helmasaur King, that needs your specialized new equipment to expose the weak point. This time, though, the giant eye creature is surrounded by a nest of its young, forcing you to pull them away one by one using the Hookshot. Grabbing ghoulies with the hook and then slashing away at them one by one until Arrghus is exposed just feels great, and makes the entire battle feel both tense and fulfilling once you peel back the layers.

Stallord (Twilight Princess)

One of the few Zelda bosses to center around use of a mount, of sorts, Stallord takes full advantage of your new Spinner mode of conveyance. The massive set of dragon bones rises out of the sand but has a weak spine that you can ram into with the Spinner to set it off. From there it starts producing bony minions that act like plinko pegs, bounding off from one to another as you try to connect with the spine again. After enough hits it goes down, but it all seems just a little too neat and tidy--until the disembodied head rises again and starts breathing fire. Then you'll need to pull off some fancy Spinner-riding as you pivot from track to track dodging its attacks and getting in close enough to do damage, eventually defeating the bony beast.

Goht (Majora’s Mask)

The Ocarina of Time sequel is known for its Link-transforming mask abilities, which led to some memorable boss fights. Among them Goht reigns supreme, a giant mechanical bull-like creature that charges in circles around a battlefield far too quickly for you to dodge by normal means. Instead, you have to don the Goron mask and roll like one of the rock creatures. By chasing Goht around the circle as well, you can gain ground and attack it from behind. It shows what Zelda does best, by taking the power-ups you've already been using and recontextualizing them in an exciting new way.