Your favourite boss in a video game

[Unspoken_Request]

Wait I just noticed that in my first post I forgot Kefka... I FORGOT FRIGGIN KEFKA.
The mad god is my favourite boss of all time in the FF series, at the rate Square Enix (used to be Squaresoft) is going I doubt they're capable of doing anything to top that now.

I was surprised no one had mentionned him yet. The fact that you need to set up three well-balanced parties to tackle him (and therefore use most of FFVI's large cast of characters) has always made him stand out as one of the best final boss I have played.

BG2: Kangaxx the Demi Lich

OOO-moded Oblivion has many great and extremely hard boss fights.

The best is probably Lord Volmyr, the Vampire Lord in Nornalhost. He is almost always invisible (casting detect life helps, but you cannot read his prompts and block him effectively), extremely fast and will disarm you with almost every hit. Moreover, he is surrounded by at least half a dozen Vampire Patriarch/Matriarch. Each of them would qualify as a boss in its own right.

 

[ecoho]

Wait I just noticed that in my first post I forgot Kefka... I FORGOT FRIGGIN KEFKA.
The mad god is my favourite boss of all time in the FF series, at the rate Square Enix (used to be Squaresoft) is going I doubt they're capable of doing anything to top that now.

Feast your ears.

dam you! I got to the second page think OMG NO ONE PUT DOWN KEFKA! but nooooo you had to jump back in and post it.....

oh well yeah Kefka is my choice because he's so freaking hard, so conniving, so evil that when you finally beat him it feels like you accomplished something truly heroic and note worthy.
if they remade this game now using the money they have(not changing any of the script) id buy it no matter the cost if only to fight this guy again.

 

[AmberSword]

snip

You expect me to wait for someone to post Kefka? Wait he says... Do I look like a waiter?

Jokes aside Kefka was easily the most Evil villain ever contrived in the FF universe, nothing can stop him. He has no empathy, no one else to hold him back, nothing! Literally pure mad EVIL. I love this guy!

He's just like the freaking Joker (Heath Ledger depiction in the Dark Knight), and only loses because the plot dictates it.

 

[SGT_Noobnuts]

First thing that comes to mind is Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising.

Seriously, probably one of the most adrenaline pumping fights in a game that pretty much defined what it meant to have awesome boss battles.

DAT SOUNDTRACK!

You beat me to the punch ya clever bastard >

This fight is so awesome that as a result of this clash of titans, Armstrong's magnificent profile now graces my username in all of his wondrous right-wing, footballin', "Nanomachines son!" glory!

Though staying on the subject of Metal Gear my favourite fight was with (of course) The End from Metal Gear Solid 3. Masterfully designed and freaking tense at times. Stalking an old man in a forest has never been so much fun before >:^D

 

[Evonisia]

Leviathan from Dead Space - not exactly a difficult boss, but it was pretty entertaining and it utilized the anti-grav of the game to a marvelous degree.

Oh yeah I remember that. The Leviathan fight is pretty much the only part of Dead Space I liked. The last boss can screw itself though.

OT: Many, many boss fights from WoW (Vanessa VanCleef, the Lich King and Alysrazor being strong contenders) and the sea boss from Bayonetta. Bloody hell that goes on for ages but every second is wonderful.

 

[AwesomeDave]

If we count MMO's, mine would be Ma'at from FFXI. You had to fight him to break your level 70 cap and your subjob got restricted. Also, he had the stats of whatever job you were, but at lvl 75, and he always has 75 monk as his subjob. Depending on your job, he could be rediculously difficult. Ive heard stories of people having to fight him over 20 times before they beat him, and you have to get a rare drop item from hard mobs each time you want to trigger the fight.

 

[Emanuele Ciriachi]

The Shadow Elf in Capcom's D&D Tower of Doom:

 

[Richard Dubbeld]

Artorias and Kalameet from Dark Souls: Artorias of the Abyss DLC are just fantastic. Amazing fun to try and tackle solo, one of my proudest moments in that game was beating Kalameet first time on my own.

Yeah the Abyss DLC has the best Bosses in the whole game. It has set an incredibly high standard in design despite how small it really is (+/-350MB).

 

[ecoho]

snip

You expect me to wait for someone to post Kefka? Wait he says... Do I look like a waiter?

Jokes aside Kefka was easily the most Evil villain ever contrived in the FF universe, nothing can stop him. He has no empathy, no one else to hold him back, nothing! Literally pure mad EVIL. I love this guy!

He's just like the freaking Joker (Heath Ledger depiction in the Dark Knight), and only loses because the plot dictates it.

no he lost because I had no life and was max level when fighting him (still killed me 6 times though)

Gotta say though there a few characters in games that I hated as much as Kefka (by that I mean love as a villain)the only one in resent memory was Taro Blood from SWTOR's bounty hunter story.

 

[Vicarious Reality]

The pit worm in Opposing Force is what springs to mind

Not sure why

 

[havoc33]

My memory sucks, so I can't really recall all that many memorable boss fights. It's gotta make a real impression on me, otherwise it just fades. Played too many games, lol.. A few sticks out though:

Bowser from Super Mario World
Psycho Mantis from MGS
The End from MGS3
Phantom Ganon in Ocarina of Time (Forest temple)
Ganon last fight Ocarina of Time
Ultimecia in FF8 (so epic.. I never died, but it lasted HOURS)
Mother Brain from Super Metroid

I seem to remember that the Contra series had some pretty good ones as well. Zelda, MGS and Metroid in general has awesome boss fights.

 

[joest01]

Wow, I shall bookmark this thread. A lot of my favorites were mentioned here, so I have a hunch there is probably some treasures I am not aware of.

Here is a quick list from top of mind.
(I will keep old 16bit Castlevania and Metroid bosses out of it)

Souls Series: Artorias (Dark Souls), Allant(Demons), Mirror Knight (Dark 2)

Ninja Gaiden Series: Alma, any encounter with Zedonius , (Elizabet can go f herself!)

Metroid Prime Series: Ripley in Prime, Gandrayda in Prime3 Corruption

Persona 4: Margaret

No More Heroes: Holly Summers, Bad Girl

MGR:R : Monsoon

Honorable mention
Batman Arkham Asylum, not even a boss but the elevator fight on hard had a nice Ninja Gaiden feel to it

 

[Wasted]

Even though it was painfully easy, the fight against Lechku and Nechku from Okami sticks out to me. I love their designs and adore the boss music.

Spoiler

Too bad a super version of yourself shows up ands destroys them without you needing to touch the controller until the very end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_v5Kw7vK04

 

[Calcium]

The first two Klonoa games spring to mind, though picking a single boss from either is pretty hard. Baladium, Nahatomb, Cursed Leorina, and the King of Sorrow being top four. Both games had amazing music, though it's only a shame that the game is so easy going back to it.

Dark Mind from Kirby and the Amazing Mirror was pretty awesome too, though I just remebered the Sturm fight from Advanced Wars 2! Final mission of the campaign - you can choose any three COs to fight him, but chances are he'll wreck all of you at once. Might be a closer fight if he didn't have a ma-hoos-ive laser that decimates your central base every week... And the fact that his Meteor will destroy any concentrated resistence. The best hope is sneaking a bomber through his lines, but even that is easier said than done... considering you have a time-limit to complete it.

 

[happyninja42]

It would probably be a tie between the badguy in Vagrant Story (I forget his name, but it's blonde with no shirt and a metal arm), and Kesler from the first inFamous game. Since explaining why is spoilerific, I'll include them below

Vagrant Story:

Spoiler

Both of them aren't actually trying to destroy the world, but trying to forge a hero capable of handling a power in the right way. In Vagrant Story, it's very much like the movie The Order with Heath Ledger. The villain bears a heavy burden, and is tired of it, but he can't just give the burden, and the power with it, to anyone. He has to find someone worthy of it. So in the game he spends the entire time, testing the protagonist, tempting him with power, your classic "Mmmmuahahah!! Come to the dark side!! I am invincible!!" kind of stuff, but the whole time, he's counting on the hero refusing the offers, and overcoming them. In the end, he is happy to die, and to be freed of the dark power he had, and feels confident that the hero is a worthy custodian of the power, who won't use it poorly. I found that a very refreshing story when the game came out, to have such a Heel/Face turn in the villain, and to learn it was all orchestrated anyway.

inFamous

Spoiler

Pretty much the same reason as above for Vagrant, but with a slight spin to it. He's trying to forge a hero, and so he tests him. He grants him superpowers, and then locks him inside a citywide prison, with the people afraid and struggling to survive, while also battling a disease. Then, not only does he do this, he sets the citizens against the hero, by having the TV Hacker guy reveal that Cole is the cause of their troubles, and then proceeds to constantly send out little propoganda messages, vilifying Cole further. He's pushing him, trying to see if he will rise up and defend the city, even if the entire city is turned against him. And in the end, he's happy to finally die to Cole's attack, confident that he's prepared Cole as best he could, for what was to come next.


I just really liked those badguys, because they weren't really badguys. And others have said before that nobody think they're the villain in their own mind. They're the hero of their story. And when you actually flesh out an antagonist with a motivation that is understandable, and relatable, it makes for a more moving experience.