Top 10 Final Boss Themes of All Time
The final boss theme is usually the best theme in the game. So good, we put them on a Top Ten list.Oh for crying out loud, One Winged Angel is way better than Dancing Mad!
This is way better than Dancing Mad!
Unlike most final bosses where you play as the hero defeating the ultimate villain, you play as the villain fighting against the last barrier between you and the world's destruction. This song really makes you feel as though everything is on the line.
This song has a great drop. From encountering Undyne the Undying to here, you are no longer the hero. You are the villain.
Before you all say "One Winged Angel is better than Dancing Mad," I want to address a few things real quick. I've played both games, and to me, Dancing Mad is slightly better than One Winged Angel.
Firstly, which is obvious: The theme has four phases. The first is fighting a giant demon, the second is fighting a man, the third is fighting angels, and the fourth and final is fighting Kefka himself as a god. Each phase was crafted masterfully with excellent pitch and pacing, fitting the tone of each fight very well.
Secondly, this is the theme for a man who wants to destroy the universe for almost no reason, only to cause destruction. Honestly, this theme suits Kefka as One Winged Angel suits Sephiroth.
Thirdly, the guy who made this theme had NO EXPERIENCE in music. He had never studied conducting or playing an instrument. He was just playing around with it, and we got this! He even said it himself in an interview. To add on top of how impressive that sounds, a reviewer complimented Dancing Mad, saying: "For a musician, the SNES sound engine is like an artist using Crayola crayons. Nobuo Uematsu used Crayola crayons to paint the Sistine Chapel." Now, we know the SNES's sound engine isn't anything to write home about compared to consoles of today, but the fact that Nobuo (the composer of Dancing Mad) made a masterpiece on a 30-year-old console when he had NO experience in music at the time is just tremendous!
I definitely recommend giving Dancing Mad a go. It's fine to have your own opinions, but to me, Dancing Mad will always remain one of the best final boss themes of all time!
This track is interesting because it mixes the tracks of those that are fused to become Super Dimentio: Dimentio, Luigi, and the Chaos Heart. Not to mention it just sounds AWESOME!
Do you find it weird that one half of the boss is Dimentio, but the other half is Luigi?
Better than SMG2 in my opinion. One of Mario's most dramatic themes.
My favorite final boss theme ever. So iconic and honestly beautiful. One of the most unique final boss themes too.
Just listen to it. That's all you need to do.
This theme makes you pumped up and feels just so epic. Wish the fight was longer.
The Newcomers
The instrumental version plays in the final boss of Frontiers. It's very epic.
The reasons this song works are so complex, and I could talk about it all day. In essence, it works because it's a pop song. The Splatoon universe is heavily materialistic, overindulgent, synthesized, commercial, and decadent. It's defined by pop trends, girl groups, fashion, and pop music.
The thumping bass and electronic, heavily synthesized instruments of this song are reminiscent of the whole 2010s "live while we're young, go all out on our last night on earth" genre of pop music - artificial, plastic, and completely manmade, but escapist and magical. When you write a song like that for a final boss, especially one whose sole purpose is to eliminate Inkling society because of its shallow, pop-infused nature, it adds a whole new level of stakes and meaning to it.
The final battle is literally paced around the music, which, in-game, is being blasted by speakers all around helicopters, so you're essentially drowning this villain in Inkling indulgence. And that's cool.
It rounds out its final minute with a remix of Ebb & Flow, one of the most prominent pop songs in the base game, a song that (as we learn in the DLC) means a lot to Pearl and Marina, the girl group who have accompanied the player up to this point. This version of it is a tinge more melancholy, as if to say, "We accept that Inkling society will never transcend its callous nature. But it's fun, and it's who we are, so if we die, we'll die partying." It's all just genius.
Maybe I'm looking too much into this, I don't know. The song does bop, though.
How the heck is this not number 1?! I mean Bowser, King Dedede, and Tabuu over this?! Bowser has amazing music and so does Dedede, but... this music even so, a Bowser theme over Rising Sun from Okami...
Ridiculous, over the top, absolutely silly, fits perfectly.
I would say you wouldn't be so expecting from an N64 game where you control a pink marshmallow, but this theme is the best.
Second best Kirby theme of all time. A piece of art, eerie and beautiful.
The amount of instruments and high-paced action in the music all for a secret final boss? Phenomenal.
A perfect representation of what a final boss theme is supposed to be.
My personal favorite final boss theme.
Best Final Destination theme. Has no business being as good as it is. If it were the final boss theme of any other game, it would be an undisputed top ten.
Truly encapsulates the ending of a journey and your struggle to save everyone you fought so hard to befriend.
