Top 10 Hardest Video Game Bosses

A great boss fight does not just check your reflexes. It raids your patience, empties your healing items, and starts charging rent in your head after the tenth failed attempt.

These are the battles that make you study patterns like you are cramming for finals, only the final exam has lasers, frame-perfect dodges, and absolutely no sympathy. One mistake can turn a promising run into a tragic little slideshow of your character collapsing again. Beautiful. Horrible. Somehow addictive.

The hardest video game bosses force you to earn every inch. You learn, adjust, fail, mutter something unprintable, then try again because quitting now would mean the boss wins twice. Cast your vote for the fights that made victory feel less like beating a game and more like surviving a personal feud with the developers.

The Top Ten

Queen Larsa - Mushihimesama Futari

Although she's no slouch either in the Black Label edition of the game, the original Ultra difficulty of this boss is so much harder that it's ridiculous.
Hey, nice small hitbox you have there. But I have an entire health bar, you know that? Oh, and here are your bullets, have fun. It just gets worse when she goes into the hidden second phase of the fight, which requires you to go through all stages before fighting Larsa without dying. I will repeat that in synonymous words: NO MISS, PERFECT, NO DEATHS, NO EXCEPTIONS!
It gets even better. True! Larsa has all the more bullet hell to rain on you, and an entire health bar for her final attack! Jesus, this boss deserves first place, but you people should check out Inbachi from DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou. She's much harder. Oh, and that game is made by the same company that made this game. So yeah, have fun!
Sans - Undertale

Sans, or Sans the Skeleton, is a character in the 2015 RPG Undertale, created by Toby Fox. He is a lazy, pun-loving skeleton who serves as a supporting protagonist in the "Pacifist" and "Neutral" routes of the game, and a heroic antagonist and final boss in the "Genocide" route. Sans is known for his... read more

The most challenging part of the game is defeating him. In order to unlock the genocide ending, you are required to eliminate every friend you have made, including Sans. Deep down, you don't actually want him to die. He has the ability to make you feel guilty before, during, and after his defeat. His final words can bring tears to your eyes. If you don't feel remorseful when you defeat Sans, then either you played the genocide route first or there is something seriously wrong with you.
P.S.
It's intriguing how in the pacifist mode, I strongly desired Flowey's demise, but in the genocide route, there is a sense of remorse for killing him.
P.P.S.
Flowey is also an extremely challenging boss and deserves a place on this list.
Mike Tyson - Punch-Out!!

This isn't even close. Although I never grew up with the original game, Mike Tyson's Punch-Out! might be the game I'm most proud of completing.
There are several difficult fights in the game, but they're nothing compared to Iron Mike. Scratch that, no other video game boss compares. You literally need to be perfect to beat Tyson, and sometimes perfection isn't even enough. If you make a single mistake, such as a mistimed dodge or a misplaced punch, you're done. Tyson's punches literally send you to the floor every time. If this happens three times, you're out, and even if you get knocked down once, it's very unlikely that you'll win after that.
Beating Mike Tyson in this game is like trying to beat the real Mike Tyson in his prime. You need near-perfection, in addition to a ton of practice and a little bit of luck. Fortunately, this game's password system allowed me to get a lot of practice against Iron Mike, and eventually, I finally beat him.
I've beaten him a handful of other times after beating him for the first time, but he's still the hardest boss I've ever faced. But with that status, the victories against him are some of my proudest moments as a gamer, especially beating him in one continuous run without using passwords.
That's why the Tyson fight is so great despite its insane difficulty. The feeling of satisfaction and pride when you beat him is second to none.
Sephiroth - Kingdom Hearts

Sephiroth is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the role-playing video game Final Fantasy VII developed by Square. He is a former SOLDIER operative who becomes mentally unstable and seeks to destroy the world. Sephiroth is considered one of the most iconic villains in video game history... read more

Sin Harvest and his weapon Masamune can kill you. If you do get a few hits on him before he casts Sin Harvest, heal up fast before he rushes to you, and you're dead if you don't do it. If he repeats, repeat my process too. All-out attack him with your best if he doesn't repeat his strike chain.

Holy wow, this guy is insane! I feel very proud of myself for beating him, even though it tortured my soul. Just keep trying, guys, and you will feel a great deal of accomplishment when he is defeated.

When I first fought him at level 30, he instant KO'd me. Then I fought him at level 50, when I was about to beat the game, and he killed me in 2 hits! I beat him in Kingdom Hearts 2, but in that one, he is easier. I lost the game, but if I find it, he is going down!
Tabuu - Super Smash Bros. Brawl

People who say this boss isn't hard are either lying or have already played the game so much that it's second nature to them. Which can be said about any video game boss if you play the game enough times. On intense difficulty, this boss is ridiculous.

It took me 5 weeks to beat this one guy! I kept trying and trying, and within 5 weeks, I found and unlocked him, and then in 5 more weeks, I finally beat this guy! This guy is seriously hard to beat. By the way, when I won, I used Kirby and Zelda the most because Sonic was a little weak.
Absolute Virtue - Final Fantasy XI

This boss had to be patched because it caused major health problems for people since it took more than an entire day to defeat without rest. Whoever thought it was a good idea to make a boss that takes more than 24 hours to defeat nonstop is either a sadistic monster or an idiot with no regard for basic human health.

How is this not #1?! An average encounter with it is around 28 to 30 hours long! That's not including the number of times you'll be dying to him because he can destroy your entire party in one attack.
The Shadow Queen - Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

The Shadow Queen is the final boss and overarching antagonist of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, released in 2004. She is widely regarded as one of the most difficult and memorable bosses in the Paper Mario series. The Shadow Queen attempts to engulf the world in darkness and is sealed away behind... read more

The devil's reincarnation in video games is this monster. She has a ton of deadly attacks and grows hands that can kill you. Plus, she has a huge arsenal of attacks and has two forms. Altogether, she has 300 HP! The second form is invincible for a few turns. Agh! I hate this creep!

With all the attacks she has, she stumped me for a long time. Her having health-absorbing hands didn't help.

Compared to almost every other boss in the game, the Shadow Queen is a monstrous challenge.
Isshin - Sekiro
Masked Devil (Jacquio) - Ninja Gaiden

The Jaquio was absolutely ridiculous. Jashin is also challenging, and if you die on either of them, you need to go all the way back to 6-1!
Orphan of Kos - Bloodborne

How is this guy below Tabuu?! Really?! A guy that has an insane pool of health, is the most aggressive thing you've ever seen, hits like a nuclear warhead, is hard to dodge, and can clear the arena in seconds, is easier than a guy whose only threatening attack is when he spreads his wings and uses a nearly unavoidable AoE attack? Really?! Unbelievable.

Well, he's voted to be the hardest boss in the entire Dark Souls Bloodborne franchise by the community. Yup, even harder than Ornstein and Smough. Nigh on undodgeable lightning storm, relentless combos, bombards the entire map with explosives.
A boss that goes from 0 to 60 mph in 2 seconds and never slows down. Should be at least top 5 in this list.

The Newcomers

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Shadow Milk Cookie - Cookie Run: Kingdom

Shadow Milk Cookie is a major antagonist from the video game Cookie Run: Kingdom, known as the leader of the Beast Cookies and the "Master of Deceit" who seeks to reclaim Pure Vanilla Cookie's Soul Jam. He is a Magic-type character who was initially an NPC but became playable in the "Spire of Shadows" update, known for his manipulative nature, power over deceit, and distinct appearance with mismatched eyes and blue doug
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Twisted Dandy - Dandy's World

Twisted dandy is a Lethal toon from the Roblox Game Dandy's world, and If you didn't buy from Dandy, you get one of the hardest bosses to survive.

The Contenders

Shao Kahn - Mortal Kombat Trilogy

This man is cheap. He won't give you a chance to fight, and his attacks do like 900% damage. Plus, he has high damage resistance, meaning he's harder to kill than others. Not to mention, he taunts you during the fight, so your ego also dies!

Shao Kahn should be much higher here. He was strong, powerful, and almost unbeatable. I said "almost" because I beat him 3 times in MK 2 using Kitana, Mileena, and Scorpion. It looked like a real holiday because he seemed so strong.

Might be the only reason I didn't sell my PS3 yet. I can't accept that I am so close to beating the game, but I just can't beat the final boss. I can beat him 1 time once in a while, but not in a best 2 out of 3.
The Death Egg Robot - Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Strangely enough, Silver Sonic is the only difficult part of this stage once you get the hang of it (with Sonic at least). The Death Egg Robot always has a strategy for beating it.
1. He will try to crush you with his robot head. Move to the right corner of the area, then spin dash to the left when the target starts flashing faster.
2. He will attempt to shoot at you with his arms. Go to the far left of the arena, and they will be out of range.
3. Part 1 is repeated, but this time, when he lands, he will instead walk towards you. Jump almost right after he lands at the cockpit, then run to the left until he flies up again. (Repeat)

My first game was Sonic Classic Collection. It took me a while to get to the Death Egg Zone, but I had no idea what I was in for. It took me about six months to actually beat this boss. Once you memorize how to attack him, it's easy. I can now beat the whole stage in under 1:40.
Laraxia - Invasion

She has a lot of HP, spams projectiles that can't be absorbed, and moves around in a completely erratic manner. The level before her fight was also insanely difficult.
Emerald Weapon - Final Fantasy VII

Seriously?! This is only #64?! It should at least be #10!
Ornstein and Smough - Dark Souls

Jesus. These two complement each other perfectly. Pack a friend or die.

Any casual that thinks your average video game boss is hard, battle these gankers.

This is the hardest video game boss I've ever faced. Think Sephiroth is hard (he kinda is)? I know we have different opinions, but even if you summoned, you are a champion for beating these two.
All my hardest video game bosses come from the Soulsborne series (yes, Soulsborne, I'm not a casual for saying Soulsborne).
Marx Soul - Kirby Super Star Ultra

Hard and right after Galacta Knight as well, so if you fail, you go all the way back to the start of the true arena. And there are very limited healing supplies, so it's even harder to get back to where you were.

Sure, he is as disturbing as heck, and yeah, I agree GK is hard, but I gotta say I completely see why people think he's hard. He has a ton of attacks, his health is high, and if you don't have your favorite ability (mine is stone), then you can easily die! Plus, your health is low after the Galacta Knight battle. In conclusion, he's hard but not as much as GK.
Skolas - Destiny
Inbachi - DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou

Inbachi is what I consider to be one of the hardest, if not the hardest, bosses in video game history. Her attacks are nearly impossible to dodge, making most hardcore veterans have to use multiple continues just to beat her. I'm actually surprised that we have a boss even harder than Queen Larsa (Mushihimesama Futari).
By comparison, it is (barely) possible to beat Queen Larsa without any misses (and maybe bombs used). So, we all know that Tabuu (Super Smash Bros. Brawl) is like an easy opponent in comparison with Queen Larsa. Well, Queen Larsa is just like a tricky opponent in comparison with an insane boss known as Inbachi.
If Queen Larsa is extremely difficult, if not almost impossible to beat, then Inbachi is very close to being impossible to beat, which is why I consider her to be one of the hardest bosses in video game history.
Difficulty: Nearly Impossible
Alma - Ninja Gaiden Black

Her attacks take a good chunk of your health away. She's pretty quick, and it's really tough to hit her as well. Her pillar attacks can be really hard to avoid, depending on the difficulty.
Not to mention, she has a lot of health. This fight separated Ninjas from imposters.
Date Masamune - Nioh
Death - Castlevania

Just getting to this boss is hard. You have to kill two knights, nine whips each, while dodging an army of Medusa heads. Once you get past them, if you're not already almost dead, you have to fight him while dodging all his scythes. Good luck with that.

He's a pain, but try beating Galamoth without the lightning-absorbing circlet or the talisman, with a crapload of luck. Unless we're talking about the Death from the PS2 Castlevania, then he was hell. So were some of the LOS bosses, especially the final DLC boss.
Nameless King - Dark Souls III

How is this number 128? First, he flies at you with a dragon, where his only weakness is its head. If you lock on to him, you will not see a thing. The camera is your worst enemy! Not only that, if you stay under the dragon too long, it will go up in the air and breathe fire to the ground.
And it gets worse in the second phase! He buffs himself like Ornstein and Smough. All his attacks might be delayed, but they're extremely difficult to dodge. If you get hit once, get up and dodge fast and be lucky, or he'll stunlock you to death.
Velguarder - Mega Man X

Try it without upgrades and tell me.
Culex - Super Mario RPG
The Biolizard - Sonic Adventure 2

So many hours of gameplay to kill it. It took what seemed like forever. I am not going to fight this boss again. Too damn hard!

This was a fun challenge. What's Tabuu doing at number one? I beat him in no time. Fun game though. Get it.
Letters, letters.

This boss is hard. I remember getting stuck on him for 2 days before.