EarlyGame | The Top 15 Hardest Bosses In Video Games

About this list...

Today, it is time to think back to our greatest achievements. Beating a hard boss is, for many players, the most satisfying experience you can have while playing video games. We're here to rank the hardest boss fights from worst to best. We're going to take one boss per game, so if you feel like we missed a boss, it's because we think the one on the list is harder. Let us know in the comments if we somehow skipped the boss that devastated you!

15. Chronos – Hades

Although Hades 2 is still in Early Access, it still has an intense battle in store for you with the Titan of Time. You, of course, have to memorize his attack patterns to beat him, but you also have to use particularly strong builds. If you crank up your “Fear” count, it makes the challenge exponentially harder. A good starting point for this list.

14. Mike Tyson – Punch Out

Who would have guessed that the last boss of Mike Tyson's Punch Out would be Mike Tyson. He is big and durable, but his size doesn't impede his ability to whack you quickly. His speed is definitely one of the most surprising factors in this fight, and you will perish if you don't take it into account. Just be happy you don't have to fight him in real life.

13. Laxasia the Complete – Lies of P

Lies of P has a wide array of difficult bosses, but Laxasia the Complete takes the cake for being the most difficult one. You have to be adept with the parry system if you want to stand a chance against her first phase. In her second phase, she will launch multiple thunder projectiles at you. On top of that, she will teleport around the arena, which in combination with the projectiles makes for a pretty hard time.

12. Sephiroth – Kingdom Hearts 2

Sephiroth is powerful in every game, but he is definitely the most challenging in Kingdom Hearts 2, where he is an optional boss. His damage, reach, and speed make this task seem nearly impossible on your first tries. Couple that with the fact that this is a one-on-one fight, which means you get no help from Donald or Goofy.

11. Vergil – Devil May Cry 5

Vergil from Devil May Cry 5 takes the eleventh spot on this list on account of his second phase. The first phase is a pretty standard boss fight, and you can avoid his attacks with relative ease. Once he switches to his devil form is when things get interesting. The fight becomes a game of patience, which is uncommon for this series, where you have to wait out, dodge or parry his attacks for a tiny window to strike him. Not an easy boss, but nothing we haven't seen before.

10. Wizpig – Diddy Kong Racing

Diddy Kong Racing is obviously not an action game with conventional boss fights, but the final race against Wizpig is so hard that it makes this list. If you haven't mastered the janky flying or the green boost mechanics, you won't stand a chance. Wizpig hits you with an additional real life demoralization debuff by laughing hysterically during the race and every time you lose.

9. Nameless King – Dark Souls 3

If you wish to beat this fight, get ready to rage-quit many times. Beating his pet dragon, the King of the Storm, is hard enough, but you have to fight the Nameless King directly afterwards. He hits extremely hard, but isn't the fastest boss. If you're careful, you can avoid his attacks and chip his health bar down step by step, but if you lose your rhythm once, he will send you right back to the shadow realm.

8. Grim Matchstick – Cuphead

It is particularly hard to choose a boss from Cuphead, since this homage to old bullet hell platformers harbors some of the most spirit-breaking challenges known to man. Grim Matchstick really stood out for the cloud platform mechanic. The clouds you can stand on spawn randomly, which means that sometimes you have to tank a projectile or two because it's the only option available to you. His last phase adds so many moves and projectiles that the fight becomes one of the most exhausting concentration exercises you have ever seen in a video game.

7. Valkyrie Queen Sigrún – God of War

Any Valkyrie fight in God of War (2018) is challenging, but nothing comes close to the sheer terror of fighting Sigrún. She combines the movesets of all Valkyries, has a grab attack that is almost impossible to dodge and deals a ton of damage. The fight forces you to use everything at your disposal. Sigrún is definitely the hardest boss in any God of War game.

6. Absolute Radiance – Hollow Knight

If the Radiance wasn't enough for you, then jump into Hollow Knight's Expansion to experience the Absolute Radiance. Every attack is bigger and faster, while your options for platforming are minimal. It is basically a much harder version of the regular Radiance, but it is enough to make it one of the hardest video game bosses of all time.

5. Maneater – Demon's Souls

This fight is challenging not only because you face two enemies at once, but also because of the location. You face the Maneater on a narrow bridge, which makes it easy for you to roll or fall off and die. On top of that, he will summon another Maneater, making you fight two hard enemies at once. It's simple but feels disgustingly unfair in this scenario.

4. Sans – Undertale

The king of micromanagement is here! Sans really is an incredibly challenging boss fight, because of the minigames you have to complete with pixel perfect precision. What makes it even harder, is that you have to memorize it while dying countless times. Like many hard boss fights, the task is simple but insanely challenging.

3. Orphan of Kos – Bloodborne

The Bloodborne DLC “The Old Hunters” has some of the hardest fights in FromSoftware titles to this day. The Orphan of Kos is the hardest one, with its second phase. The first phase of the fight is hard but manageable with good parries, but in the second phase the boss becomes much more aggressive. I'm talking leap attacks from the other side of the arena and lightning strikes that keep you on your toes for the whole fight.

2. Sword Saint Isshin – Sekiro

Sword Saint Isshin may be the hardest video game boss of all time. Sekiro's game mechanics are difficult to master, and this slugfest of a fight pushes your skill to the absolute limit. This guy has four full phases, with changing attack patterns, lightning strikes and combo attacks that put you to sleep faster than you can blink. This one is for real masochists.

1. Radahn, Consort of Miquella – Elden Ring

FromSoftware outdid themselves with the Elden Ring DLC “Shadow of the Erdtree”. The final boss of this masterpiece is a familiar face, Radahn. This time you fight him in his prime and it shows. His attacks are relentless and have enormous reach. In his second phase, he adds holy light to many of his basic attacks, changing the dodge windows you have memorized for the first phase. The cherry on top is his cross slash attack, which you can only avoid by either standing in the perfect place and having frame perfect timing, or by running a particular setup that gives you invincibility frames on your backsteps. I would describe this boss as the hardest obstacle I had to overcome in all my years of gaming.