Favorite Video Game Bosses

Every gamer knows the grief associated with reaching a mid-game or final boss along with the pure elation that comes from defeating them. While some video game bosses instill fear, others invite exploration, and the most well-conceived boss battles ALWAYS leave the player feeling rewarded for their effort. From Mother Brain to Bowser, the final fight with Fontaine to that last confrontation with a Colossus, this list is dedicated to the most bad-ass bosses in gaming! Rank your favorite fights below!

Filter coming soon.

Real-Time Results(actually, partially randomized placeholder data for now)

  • 1 image/svg+xml
    Psycho Mantis
    Ranked by 43 users
    245 +10
  • 2 image/svg+xml
    GLaDOS
    Ranked by 46 users
    238 -56
  • 3 image/svg+xml
    The Boss
    Ranked by 30 users
    212 +77
  • 4 image/svg+xml
    Ganondorf
    Ranked by 37 users
    205 +56
  • 5 image/svg+xml
    Bowser
    Ranked by 38 users
    174 +75
  • 6 image/svg+xml
    The End
    Ranked by 28 users
    139 +39
  • 7 image/svg+xml
    Sephiroth
    Ranked by 24 users
    100 +34
  • 8 image/svg+xml
    Kefka Palazzo
    Ranked by 18 users
    99 +54
  • 9 image/svg+xml
    Phalanx
    Ranked by 16 users
    97 +23
  • 10 image/svg+xml
    Xemnas
    Ranked by 13 users
    97 +86
  • 11 image/svg+xml
    Revolver Ocelot
    Ranked by 17 users
    94 +23
  • 12 image/svg+xml
    Wheatley
    Ranked by 21 users
    88 -61
  • 13 image/svg+xml
    Dracula Vlad Ţepeş
    Ranked by 17 users
    85 +36
  • 14 image/svg+xml
    Dr. Ivo Robotnik
    Ranked by 20 users
    81 -2
  • 15 image/svg+xml
    Scarecrow
    Ranked by 16 users
    73 -43
  • 16 image/svg+xml
    Nyx Avatar
    Ranked by 12 users
    68 +45
  • 17 image/svg+xml
    Big Daddy
    Ranked by 11 users
    60 +54
  • 18 image/svg+xml
    Mr. Freeze
    Ranked by 13 users
    59 +75
  • 19 image/svg+xml
    Pyramid Head
    Ranked by 17 users
    57 +72
  • 20 image/svg+xml
    Red
    Ranked by 13 users
    56 +75

Conversations

  • 7 years ago
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    There badly needs to be a "boss encounters" list. There are at least 4 separate games I can think of where Sephiroth is a boss, also the Zeus fight in God of War II was great, whereas the GoWIII fight was atrociously bad.
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    • Ed Kick
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      Ed Kick
      Editing … I've mentioned numerous times that there needs to be a Villains list and a bosses list the current one is a jumbled mess of both.
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    • Silent Gamer
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      Silent Gamer
      Editing … We should make a page to rank in "List suggestions"
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    • Pudding
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    • Silent Gamer
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      Silent Gamer
      Editing … I shall rank it when I am on my computer :)
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    • Ed Kick
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      Ed Kick
      Editing … That list is listed near the top of my anticipated lists list. And if the list for most anticipated lists list was longer like it needs to be. I could list more lists on the most anticipated lists list and the favorite boss fight list would be higher on the anticipated lists list and get a better chance of becoming an actual list only to become another list where we can't list enough things.
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  • 7 years ago
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    There are entire video games with more bosses than this list could fit.
    There are eight gym leaders in each Pokemon game, plus the elite four and the champion (not to mention the villainous characters and rivals).
    Shadow of the Colossus has sixteen colossi.
    Shit site.
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  • 7 years ago
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    @Pape Badiane, should this list and Favorite Pokemon be sorted under Gaming > Characters?
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  • 8 years ago
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    I love that Luca Blight has only 4 votes as of writing this, but has 40 points. That means all 4 of us ranked him dead on number 1. He was that memorable. That asshole just refused to die.
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  • 9 years ago
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    @Pape Badiane, could we pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaaase separate this list into two lists - Favorite Boss Characters and Favorite Boss Battles/Encounters, 'cause I'm looking at my own list and I find myself confused by it and, because of that, I'm not enjoying the list itself or ranking pages in it.

    I'm actually thinking of scrapping the list altogether and not making a new one...

    There is a situation of where I don't like the boss, but I love the encounter and vice versa and to have both of these bosses appear on the same list is bizarre to me, to say the least. Also, I'd like to rank (MGS4 spoiler up ahead) SpoilerRex vs. Ray fight, but I can't in this current list and it's one of my favorite boss encounters... :(
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    • Erektionsite
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      Erektionsite
      Editing … There there, it will all be okay :c
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    • Pudding
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    • WoodrowShigeru
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      WoodrowShigeru
      Editing … There can be also several encounters with the same boss character in one game. Or over several games. So we really should have Boss Encounters imo. — Though I don't quite get what Favorite Boss (character) would be, for you, then. Can you give an example of a boss chara that is likable while their encounter isn't? Would it be just a "Favorite Fictional Character who happens to be a Boss in a video game" list, like a "Favorite Fictional Pirates" list or "Favorite TV Show Detectives" list?
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    • Pudding
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      Pudding
      Editing … Joker from Batman: AA is a brilliant boss with an atrocious boss fight. I'd say that he's the prime example of that. Selvaria Bles and GLaDOS on the other hand have OK boss fights, but they're far more compelling as characters and I have several others. Obviously the lists would overlap in some cases, but that's still a better solution imo than what we have now.
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    • Erektionsite
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      Erektionsite
      Editing … "Can you give an example of a boss chara that is likable while their encounter isn't? " I think #SHODAN is a great example of that. Her as a boss character is pure genius, easily one of the best villains in video games, but the actual boss encounter is pretty underwhelming.
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    • WoodrowShigeru
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      WoodrowShigeru
      Editing … I still don't quite understand what you guys mean with "boss" if neither "boss encounter" nor "villain". It seems like you're defining "boss character" as "a villain specifically in a video game". Why do VG villains get an extra name? What about villains in literature or comic books? If that's what it is, I don't agree with that meaning.
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    • Rich .
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      Rich .
      Editing … I wouldn't mind a separate gaming villains list but the bosses list can be fixed right now regardless. We shouldn't be ranking characters, we should be ranking the encounters so we need an option to add boss encounters to the database. Obviously it's easier just to use the database we already have and make do with characters but I agree with Pudding, the list doesn't make sense this way.
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    • Papissama
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      Papissama
      Editing … I'll look into it with Woody :)
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    • Rich .
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      Rich .
      Editing … I do like how Pudding was the one to raise the point but Pape still replies to Shige instead :p
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    • Pudding
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      Pudding
      Editing … Shige, yeah, poor naming on my part. I guess Fav Video Game Villains was more in line of what I had in mind with the other list and then we could go with Movie/Literature/Comics Villains and so on or we could go with a merged list for all the villains. I just want a Fav Boss Encounter list. 'at's all... :I
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  • 9 years ago
    Saved!
    This list is about our favourite video game bosses, but do we pick the bosses based on the character or the actual boss fights themselves? (or a mixture of both?) I didn't really think about this at first and just put a mixture of both as I had thought they would both apply here, but it makes me wonder if others have asked themselves this question.
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  • 9 years ago
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    Big Daddies aren't bosses. >_>
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  • 10 years ago
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    and how is Nemesis not present?
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  • 10 years ago
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    No Dark Souls bosses? WTF mate
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  • 10 years ago
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    This list is missing a lot of bosses.
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