The 15 Finest Zelda Bosses, Ranked

We should admit: Zelda rankings are likely to look just a little samey, maybe with a number of spicy modifications based mostly on the individual. However you will by no means discover Breath of the Wild on the backside, or Tri Pressure Heroes on the high, even when the individual making that listing is the world’s most opposite list-maker.

So, we have been mixing issues up by celebrating the person successes that every Zelda sport has, and highlighting the unbelievable issues that may be present in every one (even when the remainder of the sport is a bit duff). We have already ranked each model of Fairy Fountain, ranked all of the devices that Hyperlink will get to play, and discovered the 15 finest dungeons within the sequence — and now, we’re onto boss battles!

Listed below are our 15 finest boss battles, with every thing from environment, puzzles, and the boss enviornment itself enjoying into our decisions. Be sure that to move down into the feedback part when you’re finished to inform us your favourites, or disagree with our decisions!

15. Tentalus (Skyward Sword)

We do love an atmospheric brawl, and Skyward Sword’s Sandship boss battle delivers in spades. The battle begins with an uncommon function for Zelda bosses — Hyperlink has to really get to the boss first, working by way of the ship’s corridors and dodging tentacles earlier than you even know what you are about to battle. Although the eventual reveal could be disappointing as a result of Tentalus seems extra like a Pixar character than a large monster, the continuing storm is frightening sufficient to claw again some respect for this factor.

In fact, with solely the one gigantic eye, it is not arduous to determine Tentalus’ weak spot, however the rhythm of destroying tentacles, beautiful the beast, then slashing its peepers with the sword is what Zelda fight is all about.

14. Bulblin King (Twilight Princess)

Whereas the Bulblin King may not be an all-out boss battle within the conventional Zelda sense, the truth that this large piggy man simply will not appear to die all through the sport (critically, who can survive being thrown off a bridge twice??) offers him greater than sufficient materials to face amongst the sequence’ extra memorable fights. Preventing the Bulblin King is sort of a single boss battle that lasts the length of your journey and there is not any large eye to hit, arms to poke, or mouth to chuck a bomb into!

The primary of those encounters sees Hyperlink engaged in a horseback slash-fest in Eldin Province earlier than shifting onto the Bridge of Eldin. The following joust battle calls on one among Twilight Princess’ finest mechanics and it has the epic rating and cutscenes as well. The next three encounters will see you concentrating on weak factors in armour with arrows and dodging large axe assaults. Between the completely different assault methods, threatening presence and the urge for this mini-boss to simply die already, it is massive Zelda fight in its purest kind.

13. Helmasaur King (A Hyperlink to the Previous)

Though Helmasaur King cannot actually maintain a candle to later Zelda bosses with their fancy gimmicks and their three dimensions and their 1080ps, he deserves a spot on this listing all the identical for his mask-based puzzle. As the primary boss within the Darkish World that you’re going to battle, he represents one thing way more sinister than the Hyrule you have come to know, and his gigantic masks (critically, it is greater than Hyperlink) leaves extra questions than it solutions.

Fortunately, with bombs and/or the Magic Hammer, you’ll be able to destroy the masks and weaken the King, permitting you to wail on his weak level (the face, duh) till he explodes like each different boss. At this level in Zelda, most bosses had been comparatively easy “hit them within the aspect/tail” affairs, so Helmasaur King’s helm was the primary inkling for a lot of Zelda lovers that bosses might be greater than only a greater, tougher model of the sport’s common goons.

12. Crayk (Phantom Hourglass)

Phantom Hourglass’ crabby boss exemplifies among the best (and infrequently, most irritating) issues about Phantom Hourglass: Its use of each of the DS screens to create attention-grabbing puzzles. Crayk can flip invisible, you see, and that makes him arduous to seek out (and hit, and kill), however the high display screen reveals Crayk’s viewpoint even when he is invisible — and it is as much as the participant to triangulate the boss’ location from his POV.

Though it may be tough for these with poor spatial reasoning, this boss battle stands out for its artistic and attention-grabbing gimmick all the identical. Zelda bosses have at all times been extra in regards to the puzzle than the punching, and Crayk is a superb instance. Good crayk, because the Irish say.

11. Parasite Arachnid Gohma (Ocarina of Time)

Gohma pops its creepy little arachnid head above the parapet in a number of Zelda video games, changing into extra of a good friend than an enemy (till we have now to tug its legs off and shoot it within the eye, a minimum of). Our selection of the perfect Gohma is Ocarina of Time’s model — though we do love Wind Waker’s dragon-botherer, too, however we won’t have two Gohmas on this listing — as a result of it is the very first boss battle in Ocarina of Time, and that means one thing.

Not everybody’s first Zelda expertise was Ocarina of Time, in fact, however the gigantic leap between earlier Linkcarnations like Zelda I, Zelda II, and Hyperlink’s Awakening and Nintendo’s 3D N64 masterpiece was so gigantic that this felt like a primary Zelda expertise all the identical. And Gohma is Hyperlink’s first “issues simply acquired actual” second, after battling all of the creepy-crawlies inside the Deku Tree’s tummy. The second Gohma looms over the tiny Little one Hyperlink, you already know this sport is gonna be SCARY.

10. Phantom Ganon (Ocarina of Time)

The Forest Temple is one among our favorite dungeons, so it is sensible that Phantom Ganon can be one among our favorite bosses — partly as a result of it is an thrilling introduction to the villain of the sport (aside from the bit the place he nicks Zelda, obvs), and partly as a result of horses very hardly ever get to be evil in video video games.

When he is not leaping out and in of the haunted work on the wall, Phantom Ganon will experience his evil ghost horse instantly at Hyperlink, and it is as much as the participant to detect which one is the real-fake-Ganon earlier than it is too late (which you are able to do by discovering the one which’s a barely lighter color). The haunted work theme tie this boss battle properly in with one other couple of N64 gems that use cursed art work — Tremendous Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie. Should have been one thing within the water.

9. Puppet Ganon (Wind Waker)

You’ve got lastly discovered Zelda, and you’ve got discovered Ganon, too — however you will not get the denouement simply but, as Ganon makes the marginally odd selection to remodel right into a terrifying puppet that desires Toon Hyperlink lifeless. You may want to chop his strings, assault his weak level tail, after which he’ll drop to the bottom like a dull marionette. Straightforward, proper? You may assume so — however it is a Zelda boss, and so they by no means simply have one section, do they?

After his puppet kind, you will need to battle Puppet Spider Ganon, after which Puppet… Snake Factor Ganon. All have the identical glowing orb on the tail because the weak spot, however every one requires a distinct technique to defeat. However all that puppet combating was only a distraction so Ganon may get away, dangit!

8. Talus (Breath of the Wild)

A left-field selection, to make certain, however BOTW is an unconventional Zelda — and so are its bosses. With out correct dungeons and chapters like different Zelda video games, most of the fights that might be thought-about boss battles happen in particular areas as an alternative, just like the Lynel within the Colosseum, the Guardians round Hyrule Citadel, and the Hinox at Eventide Island.

Of all of those larger-than-life mini-bosses, we just like the Talus household the perfect, together with all its variants (Frost, Igneo, Luminous). Why? As a result of they take the perfect elements of Zelda bosses, the puzzley, weak-spot-finding thriller that you must resolve, and mix it with the perfect a part of Breath of the Wild — with the ability to sort out issues from a number of instructions, with a number of weapons and expertise at your disposal. Fireplace Bomb Arrows on the rock on the Talus’ again, plant bombs and set them off at a distance, Stasis the Talus and Hammer at it whereas it is nonetheless, or try to climb up the factor whereas it swings at you and slash together with your sword.

It helps that the primary time you ever discover a Talus is a momentous and memorable event, because the pile of rocks you thought is likely to be a Korok puzzle turns right into a formidable foe earlier than your eyes. What a second.

7. Stalblind (A Hyperlink Between Worlds)

A Hyperlink Between Worlds was a sport all about squishing Hyperlink down into the second dimension, so it is no nice shock that ALBW’s best boss used that mechanic to full impact.

Stalblind is simply a big Stalfos, however he is acquired a matchingly massive protect on him — sufficiently big, actually, to suit a sure two-dimensional Hyrulian lad on it. The humour within the animation of the Stalblind not with the ability to discover Hyperlink is extremely nicely finished, and with the ability to sneakily drop behind him to provide him a few fast bum-stabs is brill, too. If something, we want the mechanic lasted a bit longer, as a result of it is solely the primary of his three phases — and the opposite two are fairly spinoff, in case you ask us.

6. Massive Inexperienced Chuchu (Minish Cap)

A Chuchu? These little blobs? The Zelda equal of Mario‘s Goombas and Dragon Quest‘s Slimes? How may this goopy lad make it into the Corridor of Boss Fame? It is exactly as a result of the Chuchu is an inoffensively tame little creature that this Minish Cap boss battle caught with us. “What if probably the most pathetic man was a giant man” is the type of heel-turn plot twist deserving of its personal film — the bullied changing into the bully.

From the primary moments that the Chuchu slime begins drip-drip-driping from the ceiling, to the final second of toppling the top-heavy boss and going to city with the Picori Sword, this boss battle is one for the ages. Although he be however small, he’s fierce.

5. Ganondorf (Wind Waker)

This final conflict between Hyperlink and his best enemy could take quite a lot of its cues from the identical battle in Ocarina of Time, but it surely stands out due to its poignant storytelling and its setting. After crusing the seas, amassing the Triforce, befriending/dropping/discovering Tetra, and unearthing the drowned land of Hyrule, you lastly attain the head of the story: A ultimate battle with Ganondorf.

This showdown follows a replay of the bosses you have met to date (albeit simpler variations) and Puppet Ganon, all of which contribute to the sensation that that is going to be one epic battle. And, in contrast to many different boss battles in Zelda’s previous, it takes place in a brightly-lit underwater enviornment, because the tides rush in to sink Hyrule perpetually. After which there’s Ganon’s ultimate line: “The wind… it’s blowing…” What a option to make us really feel a twinge of pity for the evil pig-guy.

4. Darkish Hyperlink (Ocarina of Time)

Do you bear in mind the way you felt the primary time you met (and fought) Darkish Hyperlink? Regardless of solely being a mini-boss of the Water Temple, Darkish Hyperlink is much extra attention-grabbing than the precise boss, and that is not simply as a result of Morpha seems to be a pile of sentient, offended goo.

No, Darkish Hyperlink is the perfect as a result of he represents Hyperlink’s psyche, trapping him in a world that stretches off to the horizon just like the Rom the Vacuous Spider battle in Bloodborne — a liminal area past time and past assist, the place your worst enemy is your worst self. Right here in Hyperlink Limbo, there’s simply an exit, a tree, Hyperlink, and himself, like some form of avant-garde staging of Ready for Godot the place all of the dialogue is changed by HYA HUH HEEEEYAH be careful UH HA HA hey HRGH HUH HYAAAA. To be trustworthy, we might watch that.

3. Stallord (Twilight Princess)

Stallord is undoubtedly one of many extra “gimmicky” boss encounters in Twilight Princess (or any Zelda sport for that matter), but it surely stays immediately memorable due to the concentrate on the Spinner merchandise, acquired earlier within the ‘Arbiter’s Grounds’ dungeon.

Like most Zelda bosses, Stallord consists of two phases: the primary has you circling a sand pit atop your trusty Spinner earlier than launching your self in direction of Stallord, dodging enemies alongside the way in which and slamming into the large skeleton’s backbone, regularly chipping away on the brittle bone. The second section has you leaping from wall to wall as you get nearer to Stallord, who’s now a large, floating head full with projectile fireballs – good. When you’re in a position to knock Stallord all the way down to the bottom, you might have a brief window wherein to launch a sequence of fundamental assaults on the evil sword thingy that Zant casually jammed into its head. What a meany!

It is a comparatively easy battle, all informed, however stays one of the crucial cinematic and thrilling in Zelda’s historical past.

2. Twinrova (Ocarina of Time)

If we have been twin sisters with opposing elemental magic, we might merely select to not be in the identical room. That actually looks like elemental magic 101, does it not? You would not make a Charmander and Squirtle hand around in a small room until you actually needed two lifeless pets in your arms.

However, we won’t assist however be glad that Kotake and Koume determined that the perfect plan of action was to battle a man with a Mirror Defend by taking pictures eminently reflectable beams of elemental magic at him, as a result of it makes for a correct good battle with some wonderful sound results. Pacifism is the perfect protection, certainly. Properly, pacifism and well-judged angles.

Arguably the perfect a part of the battle is the tip, for the reason that two witches will each be seen floating off to the afterlife collectively, arguing about which one among them is older. It is all very Muppet Christmas Carol.

1. Koloktos (Skyward Sword)

Skyward Sword’s finest boss can be the climax of Skyward Sword’s finest dungeon, the Historical Cistern, with all of its Buddhist afterlife theming that culminates in Hyperlink’s “awakening”. Ho ho, see what we did there? Anyway, Koloktos is a huge, six-armed automaton that was designed to guard the Historical Cistern, however turned corrupted, main Hyperlink to exterminate it as soon as and for all.

Though Koloktos’ weak level, his massive pink gem of a tummy, is a really by-the-numbers Zelda boss design (the one approach it might be extra so is that if it was a watch), it is using the Whip that makes this battle thrilling and completely different. In any case, the Whip is one among Skyward Sword’s extra distinctive gadgets, and utilizing it to wrench off Koloktos’ arms feels satisfyingly tactile and weighty.