Awesome Bosses/Other Games: Difference between revisions

* The Rancor in ''[[Lego Star Wars|Lego Star Wars 2]]''. It was awesome. Also, [[Dual Boss|Two Vaders!]].

** The big finale of the original trilogy. You fight Palpatine, with all his crazy acrobatic skills displayed in Revenge of the Sith. Oh, and to make it fit with the co-op gameplay style? Vader achieves his redemption a little earlier and teams up with his son to fight the Emperor. That's right, two generations of Skywalkers dueling against the [[Big Bad]] of the whole Star Wars saga. They changed it, now it's ''awesome.''

** Another cool boss fight in Lego games would be Kraken in ''Lego Pirates Of The Caribbean''.

*** From the same game, Blackbeard. The way you fight him is also pretty dang unique ({{spoiler|using the Fountain Of Youth's waters to give his health to his dying daughter}}).

** The Scarab Battle from ''[[Halo]]'' 2. While not technically a boss, when combined with the bgm, and all the other marines rallying behind Master Chief, bringing it down is surely an ego boost for many.

*** This is followed up in ''Halo 3'', where there are no less than ''three'' Scarab battles, which combine both [[Best Boss Ever]] and [[Best Level Ever]] in varying amounts. You get to fight a Scarab on ATVs with Rocket Launchers, then you get to fight a Scarab at the conclusion of a massive tank battle. What could possibly top that? Oh yeah, [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|fighting]] ''[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|two]]'' [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Scarabs in the midst of a massive aerial battle]].

** The final colossus is a titanic and menacing colossus fought on a stormy night, which hurls devastating bolts of energy at you from range. You have dash from cover to cover and dive into trenches even to approach it, then you have to climb it. And while the entire game is about climbing colossi, this is almost unquestionably the greatest challenge in the game- it's not as much of a puzzle as some of the other colossi, it's simply ''hard-'' and unbelievably awesome. He also has some of the most [[Crowning Music of Awesome|epic music]] in the history of epic music in the entertainment industry.

*** It's even more intense if you decide to ditch the whole cover thing and do [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLF3bZ48Qzs this].

** Although to some people they were [[That One Boss]], thanks to Beat's lousy defense.

** Also, {{spoiler|Draco Cantus}} is pretty awesome. It's {{spoiler|the only one-player fight in the game, because your partners are ''part of it'', and once you get its health down to zero, [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Neku and his partners do a four-way fusion, at which point he summons a giant Player Pin symbol and fires a]] [[Wave Motion Beam]] [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|from it.]]}}

*** This one also counts for another reason, since it's an upgrade of the first true 'boss' Noise you fought way back in early week 1. Back then, You had only half a clue what's going on, a few weak pins, no stat-ups, and you were still coming to terms with the combat system, creating a grueling fight out of something you ''know'' should be simple. When you see this thing again, you have a full suite of high-level abilities, stats that look much more impressive both on paper and in practice, and you've got combat down pat. Fighting this thing again on proper terms is ''very'' satisfying.

** Panthera Cantus in Another Day. A very challenging fight and a test of your skill without being a [[Marathon Boss]].

** Viy is worth a mention just for the [[Wave Motion Gun|giant laser]] [[Eye Beams]] out of nowhere. They strike quickly, fill 2/3 of the screen, destroy platforms, and even vaporize the little helper demons keeping his eye open. The [[HSQ]] goes through the roof during that fight. Also, he finally makes the otherwise useless [[Cherry Tapping|throwing knives]] useful.

** From the earlier part of the game, Ellmac surely counts. Not particularly hard, he's a ''giant frilled lizard'' that chases after you in a [[Minecart Madness]] segment with an awesome musical theme while you shoot shurikens in his mouth.

* The Boss fight against [[Smug Snake|Sakaki]] in ''[[.hack|.hack//GU]]'' is very cathartic, and was a tough fight that makes you glad you were badass enough to beat the shit out of this creep.

** The crown jewel of ''GU'''s boss fights, though, is undoubtedly the Cubia Core, especially if you don't go overboard on level grinding beforehand. The intensity never lets up thanks to the never-ending tide of [[Multi Mook Melee|respawning gomoras]], which can do quite a bit to keep you from doing significant damage to the arms or the core and turn the fight into a frantic battle of attrition demanding every single trick in the book for you to come out on top, all the while your ears are assailed by the [[Crowning Music of Awesome|mind-numbingly awesome tunes]] of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoWtIbF4yRc Full Force.] It ''more'' than makes up for the crap boss fights and pathetic combat system of the original quartet all by itself.

** Azure Kite is always a blast. Especially the final duel against him and the other Azure Knights in ''Redemption''. You are fighting the digital reincarnations of Kite, Orca, and Balmung, in the Hulle Granz Cathedral, with Azure Kite's amazingly epic [[Leitmotif]] playing throughout.

* Super Shredder from ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]] 3'': The Manhattan Project.

* ''[[God Hand]]'' is basically MADE of Best Bosses Ever. It's also made of [[That One Boss]]. [[Nintendo Hard|Whimper.]]

** [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/3/19/ This comic] perfectly sums up the general feel of the situation.

** The boss fights of are pretty much Kratos writing a [[Kill Bill|The Bride-style list]] from a mythology textbook and working his way through it. Perseus, Theseus, The Kraken, Icarus...the list of mythological figures cut down by our favorite [[Complete Monster]] [[Badass]] goes on and on. And he's not even halfway done yet.

** The final battle against {{spoiler|Peresephone}} in ''Chains of Olympus'' is similarly awe-inspiring. {{spoiler|You're fighting the ''goddess of the underworld'' inside the tower that ''holds the world together''. At one point, you even have to scale ''Atlas himself'' when Peresephone knocks you out of the tower.}}

** ''III'' naturally starts on a high, if wet note with Poseidon. Not the dude covered in [[Tron Lines]] from the previous game, but a huge construct of rock and seawater you have to fight with Gaia's help, culminating in {{spoiler|riding a [[Megaton Punch]] from Gaia to force Poseidon out, and then beating him to death from ''his'' Point of View.}}

** Then there's her father, Thanatos. After rescuing Deimos and giving him the Arms of Sparta, Kratos joins him to fight ''the God of Death''. {{spoiler|Deimos is eventually killed by Thanatos during the fight.}} [[Unstoppable Rage|You almost feel bad for what's about to happen to Thanatos after that.]] But it was ''awesome''.

* Although it was the only boss fight in the game, the battle between Ico and the Shadow Queen in ''ICO'' was immensely gripping and tense, right up to the moment when Ico drove the spirit sword right into her dark heart!

** Saturos alone atop the Mercury Lighthouse, not only is the battle simply amazing, but the [[Crowning Music of Awesome|battle theme]] that accompanies it should be considered the national anthem for boss battle music.

** Agatio and Karst atop Jupiter Lighthouse from the sequel. They split your party, and the first few turns are struggling to survive. When your party is complete, the battle turns barely in your favor. Barely. Made more epic by the fact that this is one of two battles in the game in which losing doesn't make you have to start over.

* The dragon bosses from ''Legend of the Dragoon'', not only was the divine dragon incredibly difficult since you couldn't use dragoons, but the sea dragon is awesome for its sheer massiveness.

** The Virage in the Valley of Corrupted Gravity. The [[Crowning Music of Awesome]] is horribly desperate, and makes you think you're about to lose no matter '''how''' well you're doing. Every Virage is kind of a Crowning Boss, actually.

* Lord Bane of ''[[Puzzle Quest]]: Challenge Of The Warlords'': He will kick your ass fast. He will kick your ass hard, with 4 devastating spells, each requiring only 5 of ''one'' type of mana. So when you manage to return the favor, the sense of satisfaction is major. Particularly if you didn't take time out to load up on uber-spells like Berserk Rage, Stone Gaze, and/or Death Gaze.

* Ricardo Di­az from ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]: Vice City''. Boy, is he [[Made of Iron]] (it takes 5 headshots with the sniper rifle to take him out!), but the resulting scene is so awesome it's well worth the pain.

** Halfway through the second ''[[Zone of the Enders]]'' game, one enters a mech fight against Vic Viper. [[Gradius|Yes, THAT Vic Viper.]]

** Also worthy of mention are Inhert, where half of the fight is conducted in pitch darkness, and Zakat, the planetoid-sized genocidal superweapon.

** To elaborate further on the sheer epic of that duel: stage 7 is basically one long boss fight against Raiwat Virgo (angelic [[Humongous Mecha]]), in which, partway through, the boss delivers a [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]] that even your reflection shield-equipped fighter cannot possibly withstand, then the [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower]] comes into play and you gain the ability to survive just about ''everything the increasingly-desperate Virgo throws at you'', including the aforementioned beatdown, and [[Wave Motion Gun]] blasts so huge that they cover the screen! Stage 8, described above, just increases the awesome further.

** On the subject of Kamui: ALLTYNEX. A [[Master Computer]] that appears to also be a [[Reality Warper]], as it teleports you to other arenas and summons lesser bosses to fight you before engaging you directly by creating colorful hexagons that fire various weapons at you. Plus the boss itself [[Rule of Cool|looks really cool]] and has [[Crowning Music of Awesome]] playing in the background.

*** Playing the third Training Mode (ie, Challenge Mode) version of that fight has you fight him on foot. Man vs mech.

* The first fight with Nelo Angelo (a.k.a. {{spoiler|Vergil}}) in ''[[Devil May Cry]]''. His introduction is badass as all hell, and after [[That One Boss]] Phantom, a down-and-dirty sword fight is just the thing to cleanse the system.

** Every one of the Nelo fights, actually. Most DMC bosses that you face like to do patterns on you. Nelo fights like you, can do moves like you, and if you are not at the very top of your game, he ''will'' hand you your ass. Especially during the final showdown with him, where he brings [[That One Attack|those swords]] into play.

** For that matter, ''any time'' Dante, Vergil or Nero crosses swords with another human-sized, humanoid enemy, {{spoiler|including each other}}, the [[Bishonen Line|resulting fight is guaranteed to be]] '''[[Bishonen Line|awesome]]'''.

* Speaking of Capcom games, the ''[[Onimusha]]'' series has several that are worth mentioning. Fortinbras, the final boss from the first game is a fantastic battle against a demon version of [[A God Am I]]. If you were lucky enough to grab the [[Infinity+1 Sword|Bishamon Sword]] beforehand, you're in for a real treat.

** Following that, all three [[Master Swordsman|Gogandantess]] fights from the second game qualify but the third ''Onimusha'' game is where the boss fights ''really'' shine. Not only do you finally get to fight [[Mad Scientist|Guildenstern]], a bad guy who you've wanted to slice and dice for three games straight, but also [[Evil Overlord|Lord]] [[Big Bad|Nobunaga]]. ''Twice'' in a human([[Evil Makes You Monstrous|ish]]) form and once more in a "[[One-Winged Angel|One Winged Demon]]" form. The only time you and he went head-to-head previously was in a single demon form in the previous game before you fought a giant golden statue that fired spiky masks at you.

** Dulcis in Fundo: {{spoiler|Fortinbras the God of Light. You have to take down his gargantuan, White Serpent form first using the powers of the God of Darkness while flying in the air and slashing him with his sword. The following battle with his human avatar is probably the most difficult and awesome fight of the series.}}

* [[Cain and Abel|Gunstar Green]] from ''[[Gunstar Heroes]]''. First you fight against him and the huge transforming Seven Force robot in an [[Sequential Boss|epic]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOCRCEAhluo high-speed underground battle]. Then a reprisal battle against him with you at the helm of a massive, heavily-armed spaceship. Finally, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UJ--NjV2iI he faces the heroes mano-a-mano], taking on both gun-wielding heroes with his ''bare hands'' and actually kicking your asses around the map if you don't stay sharp. Throughout it all he's never less than poised and in control, coolly acknowledging your victory even as his mecha explodes around him.

** The Seven Force fight gets better on higher difficulties. Seven Force always starts in the human-shaped Solider Force...but on Easy, you fight two more forms after that, four more in Normal, and on Hard Mode ''you fight a grueling marathon battle against all seven forms,'' each with about as much health to them as Pink's mecha in one of the other stages. All this, and you fight him while riding a gravity-defying mine-cart, constantly worrying about whether you should be clinging to the floor ''or the ceiling'' to avoid the myriad attacks of each form.

*** The GBA sequel ''Gunstar Super Heroes'' pretty much reprises all of this, except in the rematch with Green, he doesn't hesitate to use his Seven Force forms mid-battle. The end result? A ninja teleporting behind your back, turning into a giant urchin, rolling at you, then leaping into the air and transforming into a giant crossbow. It's extremely hectic, pushes the system itself to its limits, and the whole fight is framed by a [[Crowning Music of Awesome|minimalistic, yet heroic, theme.]]

** And in Zed's case, because the man sure knows how to make an entrance.

* Adahan from ''[[Ristar]]'', another example of the sheer fun resulting from fighting in an endless vertical shaft, with the bonus of showing up early enough to take on before the game gets hard enough that you ''really'' wish you could save your game or earn a password...

** How about [[Eternal Engine|Automaton's]] boss? It's against a large, brutish, ogre-like alien with cyber-armor. No stategies here, just headbutt! Occasionally, he faints, and you have to headbutt a CRANE ARM to cause damage to it. About halfway through the fight, it even shoots HADOUKENS at you!

** If you can think of another song that has the term 'chocolate starfish' in its lyrics...

** The dialogue in that fight's the icing on the [[Memetic Mutation|you-know-what.]]

** The fight with GLaDOS at the end of the Prelude mod is even more epic, spanning the ''entire building'' and not featuring one god damn [[Nintendo Hard]] fling puzzle (the same, sadly, could not be said of the ''rest'' of the mod).

* The final portion of the Chapter 5 boss, Tageri, in ''[[Ikaruga]]''. The most awesome instance of [[Playing Tennis With the Boss]] ever.

** To elaborate: {{spoiler|Paula has already reached out to everyone the party met on Earth, but Giygas hasn't been defeated. She prays again, but she doesn't know who else to reach out to. Her call is absorbed by the darkness because you're fighting Giygas, the embodiment of evil itself, in a dimension of absolute darkness. Paula prays one last time for someone to help them; the player, yes, ''you'', the person playing the game, begins to pray for them and destroys Giygas.}}

** So many bosses in ''Mother3''. Whether it was [[Robot Maid|Li'l Miss Marshmallow]] "spilling hot tea" on you or [[Dreadful Musician|Lord Passion]] "making you cry by playing a sad song", almost all the bosses are worth mentioning!

*** The entire final [[Boss Rush]]. First, you go up against the Natural Killer Cyborg, an enemy so massive its sprite completely fills up the screen. Then, you go through the {{spoiler|Porky Bots}}, a horde of minibosses. Then, you come up against {{spoiler|Porky himself}}, who you've undoubtedly wanted to beat up ever since you found out he was behind everything (and is gloriously hard to boot). Finally, you get to the final boss, who is covered below.

* Any game where [[Street Fighter|Akuma]] is a boss usually has a fun, albeit difficult fight with him. Akuma's AI is noted to be the one most similar to a real human player's, so the challenge comes from outfoxing him.

** Similarly, Cardia from ''New Blood''. Not particularly hard, but the fact that it transforms into a glowing jellyfish monster right on cue to the [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] just seals the deal.

* Honestly, ANY multiplayer-focused FPS with a [[Duel Boss]] botmatch at high difficulty is the nexus of both powerful [[That One Boss]] and [[Awesome/Game Bosses|Best Boss Ever]] feelings. On the one hand, the repeated drubbings you get tend to feel pretty cheap, on the other, actually beating them DOES make you feel God-Like.

* ''Another Century's Episode 3'' features an absolutely incredible final boss battle with the Shin Dragon from ''Shin [[Getter Robo]] Armageddon''. This is due, in no small part, to the massive size of the mech and the [[Save Both Worldsincredible|stage]] in which you fight it. The Buster Ark from ACE 2 deserves mention as well, quite simply for being the hardest fight in that game by far, as well as the true [[Final Boss]].

** To explain why the [[ACE 3]] fight was so awesome, it's because you're in between two alternate Earths being pulled towards each other into a collision, and between you and salvation is a city-sized dragon-like mecha who is to scale. And you are to scale, and chances are you might be in a 4 meter tall bug mecha.

* ''beatmania IIDX 15 DJ TROOPERS'''s "Military Splash" extra stages represent your performance in the song with a shooter-like duel with a giant boss figure in the song background window. Hitting notes fires lasers at the boss to deplete its HP, while missing notes causes the boss to hit you. For full effect though, you'll need to be playing one of these songs in Expert mode or with the Hard gauge (both of which make you fail the song if the life gauge falls to 0%), because when you finish the song, the boss dies (regardless of HP left; a full combo will completely reduce it to 0), signifying that you survived the entire song.

* Even though the rest of the game was okay, the best part in ''Star Wars: [[The Force Unleashed]]'' is the boss fight against an entire FRIGGIN' Star Destroyer.

** The battle against the Star Destroyer is at least an awesome concept, if executed poorly. Darth Vader, on the other hand, pulled off both concept ''and'' execution.

** Both the Emperor ''and'' Darth Vader; you fight the latter at the end, then for your final boss fight you choose between one of them by moving towards and attacking one or the other. Warning: if you choose Vader you not only get the Dark Side ending, but he's [[Nintendo Hard]].

* In ''[[Star Wars]]: Rogue Squadron II'', the first time you get to go head-to-head against an insanely huge Star Destroyer in your dinky lil' B-Wing is... memorable to say the least.

** It gets better. A later mission has you versing ''two'' Star Destroyers at the same time, with hordes of TIE fighters exploding everything around you (literally; you and possibly your two wingmates are the only Rebel fighters remaining at the end of the mission). A similar mission in ''Rogue Squadron III'' goes even further, tasking you with disabling ''three'' Star Destroyers only to launch an attack run against the freaking ''Executor'', a ship at the ''very least'' eight times the size of a Star Destroyer, ending with you [[Ramming Always Works|ramming into it's command bridge, causing it to crash into the Death Star]]. Absolutely incredible.

** [[Two Words]]: [[Star Wars|Imperial]] [[Humongous Mecha|Walkers]]. Everything's better with tow cable!

** Starscream. You get to fight him twice, being kept on your toes a lot of the time by his dashing sword attack, almost unavoidable semi-[[Wave Motion Gun]] laser cannon blasts and his aerial missile barrages against which the only real defence was to transform to vehicle mode and drive like hell. The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH67e9Qh-TI kick-ass battle music] adds to the awesome. And in his first appearance, he [[Unflinching Walk|unflinchingly walks]] [[Out of the Inferno|out of an aircraft hangar that just blew up around him]].

** Then comes the ACTUAL fight with Trypticon, which is just as awesome. And of course, five levels before in the Decepticon campaign, you have the fight between Megatron and the last line of Autobot defense, Omega Supreme...the game has other bosses besides those two, but they pale in comparison.

* The fight against Skeith in the first ''[[.hack|.hack//]]'' game. Especially if you've read the books and seen the first anime up to this point. Nobody has ''ever'' managed to win against this thing. Skeith ''is'' [[Mind Rape]] personified, and it requires an entirely new type of playing up to that point. All the Phases after this is just more of the same copying it. Skeith is so badass that the protagonist of the next series ''is'' Skeith, [[Enemy Within|more]] or [[Super-Powered Evil Side|less.]]

** The final battle of Episode 2. Easily the most epic encounter in the entire Half Life series.

*** Gordon Freeman versus the Strider Army. Who will win? The fifty-foot tall, heavily armed monstrosities? Or the ''theoretical physicist?''

** The fact that you spend half the boss fight flying doesn't hurt either. But there's also Lord Woo Fak Fak, more fun when you realise you can fight him in submarine mode. And then the final boss, a witch in a giant [[This Is a Drill|drill]] [[Tank Goodness|tank]] who gives you trivia questions in mid-battle! (and the trivia level before as well, with hundreds of questions that stretch your knowledge of the game to the limit)

** The first time Banjo and Kazooie fought Gruntilda, at the end of the first game, was pretty awesome as well. She has all the tactics of a [[Final Exam Boss]], forcing you to use practically every move you've learned at your disposal just to survive. Including the epic phase of the fight where Banjo and Kazooie take to the sky and ''dogfight'' her. And the Jinjonator. Oh dear lord, the Jinjonator.

* The [[Climax Boss]] battle against Luca Blight in ''[[Suikoden II]]'', often voted as one of the most memorable boss battles in RPG history. Finally taking down this [[Complete Monster|psychotic bastard]] is satisfying enough, but pelting him with countless arrows, battling him three times with three squads of your most powerful characters, pelting him with more arrows, and ''then'' defeating him in a one on one duel is [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|just unbelievable]].

** There's also Lord Gorudo, late in the game. After the evil bastard {{spoiler|hits Nanami with an arrow, possibly giving her a fatal injury}}, the hero and his former best friend Jowy, who were enemies but moments ago, are QUITE pissed, and team up to whip his ass to hell and back.

* Any game in which the [[Rage Against the Heavens|final battle]] is against the Christian [[God]] automatically qualifies, but among the most notable is the one in the first ''[[Shadow Hearts]]'' game (especially because of ''[[Crowning Music of Awesome|Imbroglio]]''.

* Also in ''[[Shadow Hearts]]'' was the final [[Duel Boss]] against Fox Face, helped a lot by [[Tear Jerker|the scene that comes before it]]. There's also [[Screw Destiny|Atman]].

** In ''Covenant'', we have the battle with Astaroth. After a truly awesome [[Shut UP, Hannibal]], "Astaroth", the best song in the game, starts playing and the throwdown begins.

** Then there's the five-part battle against the final boss, {{spoiler|The Creator,}} who is basically a [[Physical God]]. It all culminates with you {{spoiler|and your boyfriend}} facing off against a [[One-Winged Angel|towering, twisted monstrosity]] with some of the [[Crowning Music of Awesome|best music in a game filled with excellent music]]. The final phase isn't really all that difficult (the hardest part is probably the second phase), but the sheer scope of the battle makes it pure awesome anyway.

* The huge battle against [[Godzilla|Kojira]] at the end of the Japan area in ''Destroy All Humans 2''. First you chase a giant, energy-spewing Godzilla lookalike across the countryside, avoiding its attacks and trying to zap it with your saucer's piddly weaponry before ending up in the middle of the city. You then have to ''destroy all the buildings in the city before she has a chance to'' to prevent her from healing while trying to avoid her huge salvos of energy missiles, and then you have to land and chase her about on foot while shooting her with your disintegrator ray. All while the Japanese army is sending out huge battalions of soldiers and laser-equipped tanks to deal with the both of you and your character makes snarky remarks about how unfair her healing is.

* ''[[No More Heroes]]'', given its boss-centric storyline and gameplay, is loaded with numerous thrilling, quirky fights. Read to follow.

** Dr. Peace? He stands on the pitching mound of a baseball stadium, effortlessly parrying your lightsaber with his trusty six-shooters, which he also casually fires at you, while music plays which can only be described as 'Wild West Techno.' And his introductory song, his other Crowning Music of Awesome can be played [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PYMZVuse4U here].

** Destroyman is a complete psychopath. And he has machine gun nipples, and a crotch cannon. It's no wonder {{spoiler|they brought him back in the sequel. The sequel's incarnation, incidentally, takes place in a large warehouse with an upper area, and the boss himself now consists of his two seperated halves.}}

** Harvey Moiseiwitsch Volodarskii, a stage magician armed with [[Dual-Wielding]] [[Laser Blade|LaserBlades]], death traps, and [[Interface Screw]].

** {{spoiler|Jeanne}} is fast to the point of hilarity and can counter your grab moves. She is also one of the only times when {{spoiler|charged strikes are}} really effective.

** {{spoiler|Henry}} is the exact boss you've been waiting for. A beam claymore, high flying martial arts, plenty of health, and an [[Meteor Move|awesome instant kill]]. {{spoiler|You fight your twin brother as a boss with the same basic attacks.}}

** Margaret Moonlight, an elegant gothic lolita armed with a laser guided sniper rifle dual scythes. Seems they really weren't holding back the crazy in this game. And her crowning music of awesome, a [[Reason You Suck Speech|song insulting both Travis and the average gamer]].

** Matt Helms, a horror movie [[Pastiche]], with an flamethrower-axe and molotov cocktails. The battle area seems small at first, but is mostly completely destructible.

** The Rank Three, Captain Vladimir is a former Soviet cosmonaut who had been lost in space for who-knows-how-long with robotic tentacle arms. And a goddamn [[Kill Sat]].

** The fight against Alice Twilight, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMl3Mlsjhzc features one of the most tragic finales to a boss fight ever.]

* Jack Mathers, the Stage 2 boss of ''[[Time Crisis]] 4''. Captain Rush teams up with you and ''wrestles him'' throughout the battle. The final boss battle, which has you in a last-ditch effort to destroy the [[Big Bad]] on top of a {{spoiler|human pyramid and stop squadrons of unmanned bombers from nuking major U.S. cities}}, would qualify too, if it weren't for the fact that the ending of this boss battle is [[Always Close]]. But it does make up for that with [[Ominous Latin Chanting]].

** The first boss, Marcus Black, is worthy of note: after pursuing him in the streets of a big city while he's on a truck, you're in an helicopter and the enemy's tanks try to stop you in all manners, you finally blow his truck's tires with a sniper rifle making it slip and fall down. [[No One Could Survive That]], right? WRONG: the boss literally blows his way out of the truck and says "You want it? Then come over here and... take it!" before starting to shoot you with AN ANTI-TANK RIFLE. Cue guitar riffs, boss fight and [[Stuff Blowing Up]].

* Curtis Blackburn in ''Killer7''. '''MOST AWESOME SHOOTOUT EVER.'''

** Gotta add in Ayame Blackburn, sebaibu!

** The final mission in ''[[Ace Combat]] Zero''. One on one dogfight? Check. Super-advanced enemy fighter? Check. [[Crowning Music of Awesome|Crazy Spanish guitar of awesome?]] Check. {{spoiler|The fact that you're fighting against someone established as your best friend in the war?}} ''Super Check''.

** Also, on the topic of ''[[Ace Combat]]'', the second last and last missions of ''[[Ace Combat]] 5'' are amazing, though lacking in a specific boss.

** The XB-0 Hresvelgr in ''Ace Combat Zero''. [[Continuity Nod|By extension]], the P-1112 Aigaion and its escorts in ''Ace Combat 6''.

** The battles against Gaspard are also pretty damn awesome.

** And that's not even counting the fact that he has possibly [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGSt2FsJOdI&translated=1 the single most destructive attack animation of any game, ever]. [[Final Fantasy VII|Super Nova?]] Puh-lease.

* In a rather (tragically) unknown PSX RPG, ''Legend of Legaia'', the final boss fight. {{spoiler|After making your way through the body of the Juggernaut/Cort fusion which took over Rim Elm, you meet the now completely deformed Cort. Made even more awesome if you saved those uber summons you just got till this battle and are fully decked out in the Ra-Seru equipment found in the dungeon.}}

* Any of the [[Humongous Mecha|Impact]] battles from the N64 ''[[Ganbare Goemon|Mystical Ninja]]'' game, but especially the giant peach spaceship.

* ''Legacy of Kain: Defiance''- Kain Vs Raziel. You switch between playing as both during the fight, which is awesome enough. Throw in the fact that this is the climactic fight the series has been building to since Soul Reaver 1, that both have the Reaver (in their previous two fights Kain, then Raziel had the Reaver respectively), allowing for an even duel, plus the terrific vocal performances of Messuers Simon Templeman (Kain) and Michael Bell (Raziel), and you have one hell of a dramatic fight. Add in the fact that the actual gameplay is awesome (two telekinetic swordsmen slashing it up in a gothic cathedral) and the awesomeness quotient is of the scale.

** The boss fights from ''Soul Reaver'' (at least, most of them... oddly enough, the fights against Kain were the least interesting in a lot of ways) were all great because they all involve using the bosses' environment in some way against them, although the challenge pretty much goes out of all of them once you figure out how you're supposed to wipe them out. They also have awesome intro sequences...in one, the boss has turned into a giant immobile insect whose body is gradually engulfing the building and you walk into some weird organic-looking halls before actually getting to him. In another, you climb a spiral set of "steps" in the spectral realm to emerge above the water and go back into the real world, to find the water you were just in contains a giant shark-monster.

** Let that sink in for a moment. You fight ''an entire planet.''

** EVERY boss fight in S&P is fucking awesome.

** The crown, though, must go to the fight with the Core. The boss that drowns you as one of its attacks. The rising water was used amazingly well here as a gameplay element, especially seeing as it impedes your movement. All this backed by [[Crowning Music of Awesome]].

* Any of the giant battles in ''[[Naruto]] Ultimate Ninja Storm''. You have Naruto vs Gamabunta, Naruto vs Gaara and Shukaku, and Tsunade vs Orochimaru and Manda. All of them are awesome, definitely the highlights of the mission mode.

* The final boss of ''[[Dragon Quest]] 8'', {{spoiler|Rhapthorne}}, is an epic battle in and of itself. The first fight vs him has you fighting vs a little {{spoiler|fat roly-poly characture of a demon with a pipsqueek voice}}, the second battle has you forced to fight him {{spoiler|on top of the goddess of light [[Shout-Out|from a previous DragonQuest game, Ramia/Godbird Empyrea]]}}. The only thing that detracts from the fight is the fact that his English voice sounds like [[Narm|a Disney villain with bad sinuses.]]

** The bonus boss, {{spoiler|Dragovian Lord}} is also pretty epic. You fight him several times, each time he gives you 1 item out of a set pool, and the next time you fight him he gets stronger. Until the last time, when you fight the first 7 forms and an 8th final form, all in a row, without healing.

** Made even more awesome if [[Self-Imposed Challenge|you don't use]] [[Limit Break|Over Weapon]] or Syrinx's [[Game Breaker|Wave]] shot to cheese through these bosses.

** ''Segagaga'' for the Dreamcast parodies the TF bosses with a [[Shoot'Em Up]] that ends with you fighting a Sega SG-1000...which then morphs into a Mark III (aka Master System)...then a Genesis (complete with Sega CD and 32X addons)...and finally a Saturn. All the boss forms except for the Saturn consist of the system shooting sprites from its various games (the Mark III fires off Fantasy Zone bosses for example). All this punctuated by truly epic boss music.

** Also O2-JOY from the first Noitu Love. From his unreachable perch he's completely invincible, so how do you beat him? Bang keys at random on the piano until you piss him off enough that he drops his guard!

* Quite a few bosses in ''[[Mischief Makers]]'' qualify, but Lunar deserves special mention. Your character rides on the back of a tiny thrill-seeking kitten (only makes slightly more sense in context), while Lunar gives chase in some sort of huge panther motorcycle thing; especially awesome when he screams "EAT LEAD!!!" and fires a machine gun at you, [[Evil Laugh|laughing maniacally.]]

*** [[Narm Charm|THROUGH FIRE, JUSTICE IS SERVED!!]]

** The final boss should also qualify. What other game lets you grab a 50-foot tall robot by the foot, effortlessly lift it into the air, slam it into the floor like you're beating out a rug, and toss it into the background?

** Unfortunately, the latter three will be missed by most players since 3-7 and 3-13 end after a certain amount of turns and 3-E ends after 80 deaths between the three armies, and in all cases the boss is at the back of the map. But if you're fast enough you also get {{spoiler|Black Knight}} Yeah! in 3-7 and {{spoiler|Kurthnaga}} Yeah! and {{spoiler|Nailah}} Yeah! in 3-E.

* ''[[Blue Dragon]]'' has a notable boss fight part way through Disc 2. Whilst working through what is - easily - the biggest dungeon in the game at that point whilst set to a 1-hour time limit, the party re-encounter [[The Dragon|the final boss of Disc 1]] and his four assistants - all 5 of which are robots who had been destroyed in the last dungeon of Disc 1, one at a time. This time? You get an epic cutscene, then face the four assistants in a 5 v 4 battle where the enemy AI works together with a beautiful set of teamwork attacks, after which you get to re-fight [[The Dragon]] who is riding a GIANT FLOATING CANNON. Mere words cannot express how awesome this fight actually is.

** There's nothing quite like skipping through their intro cutscenes (especially on <s>Fortuna</s> Fichina) and shooting them down before they even break formation.

** Also, the train conductor on <s>Macbeth</s> [[Macbeth|The Scottish Planet]], who taunts you all throughout the level. His Mechbeth can become [[That One Boss]], but this can be averted by sending the train crashing into the weapons factory, which is the most satisfying feeling ever and still probably the #1 moment in controller rumbling history. (And yes, the [[Shakespeare]] reference ''was'' absolutely necessary--[[All There in the Manual|supplementary material says]] that Andross tore down a ''Birnam Wood'' to build that weapons factory there.)

** Drakor from ''Star Fox Adventures'' is an absolute blast to fight. It resembles a first-person rail shooter, in stark and abrupt contrast to the third-person Zelda-esque adventuring that you've been doing the whole time up to this point, but the whole fight is really quite fun and it leaves you with a great feeling of exhiliration and satisfaction after it's done.

*** Drakor's fine but the finest hour of ''Star Fox Adventures'' will ''always'' be the battle against the Red-Eyes King. A truly enormous, building-sized T-Rex hunting in the enclosed labyrinth of a sacred temple? Fuck yes. Plus the creature is so massive it is completely immune to ALL of Fox's attacks, requiring you to trick it into stepping into an electrode trap and then throw a bomb at it. And it's tough enough to survive multiple bombs to the face. Bringing this beastie down will truly make you feel like a [[Badass]].

** ''Resident Evil 3'''s Nemesis. As if the fact that his name's in the title doesn't hint that he's a tough bastard, he pretty much ruins your day constantly throughout the game. Near the end, where you're in the Dead Factory, ''he literally won't stop until you blast his limbs and head off''. The fight where he mutates into a giant monstrosity's also memorable, since you finally get to kill him. With a railgun the size of a truck.

** And from ''Resident Evil 4'', we have {{spoiler|Jack Krauser}}: coming nearly immediately after another taxing boss fight, this epic three-parter boss fight is the one everyone remembers. Crazy ambushes? Check. Rambo-esque traps? Check. Crazy awesome quick time events? Oh yes. Your knife, normally a desperation weapon, doing as much damage as a magnum? Or how abut his super-human abilities, the fact that his primarily weapons are a knife an exploding bow, grenades and a machine gun, or him entering his One-Winged Angel from as he sets up explosives, giving you a time limit that, while generous, truly kicks up the adrenaline. Combine this with over-the top machismo and enough [[Foe Yay]] and two way motivation rants with Leon, and it's enough to make any gamer squeal with delight.

* ''[[Gaia Online|zOMG!]]'' has this with the second boss, the OMGWTF. After fighting your way through a graveyard, you come to the gate. When you approach, you're forced to fight a small army of [[OM Gs]]. Then the boss comes out. Part dragon, part scorpion, part [http://www.gaiaonline.com/marketplace/itemdetail/1586 hat]. And it wants you gone. Just because words can't properly describe how awesome a dracoscorpiohat is, here's [http://zomg.wikia.com/wiki/Image:OMGWTF.png a picture]. Besides looking awesome, it's the first really tough enemy you'll face in the game, so defeating it for the first time really gives you a sense of achievement.

** And then you reach "[[Fan Nickname|The Endboss]]". The buildup in the last few stages of Chapter One is a positive infodump that calls back about a dozen different aspects of the [[Gaia Online]] plot-manga from several years ago, and the chapter boss itself must be seen to be believed. It is also ''extremely'' difficult to beat (even in Easy Mode) without being [[That One Boss|overbearing]], but rather awe-inspiring, which makes it completely satisfying when the last explosions fade and you teleport back to Barton Town for your rewards.

* ''[[Silent Hill]] 2'', Pyramid Head. Whether it's the [[Hopeless Boss Fight]] (in which he can't be damaged), whether it's when he becomes [[That One Boss]] (in which there's suddenly ''two of them''), or whether it's simply fleeing from him in the Labyrinth, it's easy to see why this utterly terrifying monster (literally and figuratively) of an [[Implacable Man]] is one of the most iconic elements of the series.

* Just about any time that Giacomo, Ayme, or Folon show up in ''[[Baten Kaitos]]: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean''. The battles against the three of them (especially the last time, immediately after you beat them they recover and you have to fight them a second time) are the best, but solo Giacomo near the beginning of the game can be [[That One Boss]], and solo Folon is pretty cool, too, if only because he's so funny. (He acts like a clown, he has blue skin and a blue-and-red mohawk, and one of his main attacks is called "Worg Laser". What's not to love?) Just to top it off, there's the boss theme, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B64f48ewdo Chaotic Dance], complete with incomprehensible lyrics.

** There's something about "The True Mirror", because when it shows up again in ''[[Prequel|Origins]]'', it's fully orchestrated to lend a feeling of ''awesome'' to the fight with {{spoiler|Baelheit, also subtly alluding to the fact that he's the real spiriter}}. Seriously, the entire three-part confrontation is epic: first, he takes out Sagi's allies, [[Duel Boss|forcing Sagi into a one-on-one swordfight]]; when Sagi starts gaining ground, he goes into a [[Motive Rant]] explaining his [[Freudian Excuse|sordid history]], which Sagi finally interrupts by essentially saying "[[Shut UP, Hannibal]]!"; and finally, Sagi's allies regroup and stand with him for the real fight, during which the boss uses {{spoiler|[[Continuity Nod|the same kind of special spiriter finishers Kalas used in the first game]]}}. It's almost a shame {{spoiler|that [[The Man Behind the Man]] has to stab him in the back right then, because the fight with him had no chance of living up to such an amazing confrontation with the [[Big Bad]] you had been fighting for most of the game.}}

*** That, and the fight against {{spoiler|Shanath}}. Everything about this fight was incredible - the fact that [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKPxXRbYl6s&fmt=18 Iconoclasm] was playing in the background, the fact that the [[Player Punch|player]] had ''wanted to kill'' ''[[Complete Monster|this guy]]'' for '''ages''', the fact that you get to use [[Infinity+1 Sword|your new attack]] on him...really, any descriptions of this fight just don't do the emotions justice.

** Any fight with [[Humanoid Abomination|Wiseman]], be it the first fight where he sics a ''dragon'' on you, {{spoiler|or the second one where he possesses Verus' body and turns into a full-fledged [[Eldritch Abomination]].}}

* The King of the Wild Hunt in ''[[The Witcher]]''. He's been tailing, menacing and even personally attacking Geralt throughout the game. When he makes his final appearance, he basically tells Geralt he's been his bitch the entire time. Fighting him is optional, but it gives Geralt the best lines, a thrilling fight, and the more crowning climax to the game.

** Berengar is another that deserves mention, coming as it does shortly after being knighted by a Goddess and given an [[Infinity+1 Sword]]. This is a character Geralt has been chasing and hearing shady reports about, and when finally found has been brusque, evasive, then openly provocative, lying and taunting. Also an optional fight; sparing him grants less satisfying lines and {{spoiler|he goes on to die rather lamely and inevitably during another boss fight Geralt must finish himself unless you are really really lucky.}}

* The battle with Courtney Gears in ''[[Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal]]''. A firefight with an insane robotic popstar on an MTV-esque stage while a remix of said robot's hit single "Death to Squishies" blares in the background? Awesomeness.

** The battles with Dr. Nefarious in both ''Up Your Arsenal'' AND ''[[Ratchet and Clank Future A Crack In Time|A Crack In Time]]''. He's one of the few you can't RYNO spam to death and he shoots freakin' laser beams and does all sorts of crazy stuff.

* {{spoiler|Garino Corsione}} in ''[[Gungrave]]: Overdose''. As the final boss of the game, you fight this guy in a '' {{spoiler|alien spaceship/cathedral....thing}}''. He constantly spouts [[A God Am I]]-esque lines while playing a friggin' ''advanced-tech pipe organ'', but what really makes this fight awesome is '''Unlimited Demolition'''. Whoever you're playing as gains a [[Eleventh-Hour Superpower|considerable power boost in that the Demolition Shot Gauge regenerates on its own]], allowing you to spam the uber Lv. 3 shots more often. During the second phase of the fight, when you empty the boss' life meter, you're treated to an epic boss fatality cutscene--''' {{spoiler|Triple. Final. Demolition. Shot.}}'''

* ''[[Deadly Creatures]]'' has one of the most awesome Final Bosses ever. Not only do you fight a man with a shotgun, despite being a three-inch scorpion. You also get to stab him in the balls with your stinger. Three times!

** The boss fight against the rattlesnake in chapter 9 begins with you (as a tarantula) encased in a ring of fire, trapped with the snake as it constantly tries to chow down on you. After hitting it enough times, you move to a vertical battle on the gas pump (which is ON FIRE AND ABOUT TO EXPLODE) and finally, you have a sequence where you have to dodge all the rattlesnake's final, desperate attacks against you, culminating in an epic dodge maneuver where the rattlesnake misses and ends up biting ''itself''; then, as you scuttle away, leaving the snake to writhe under its own fangs, the pump explodes. Hell yes.

** The RefleX Stage 7 boss fight is coded into ''Virgo 400K''. Your ship even gets the appearance of your ship back then!

** Add [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL7zWdDCtOE True Acala], [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7aOqHCP8es Sakra-Devanam Human Type], and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80dCdMDb73s Sunyata] to the list. Crowning Boss Maker of Awesome?

** Super Shredder is difficult but entertaining, with each of his attacks requiring a unique way to dodge (jump over the fire, stay on the ground when he shoots ice, avoid the green mutagenic fireball), and him only being open to attack after launching one of his attacks.

* ''[[Soul Series|Soul Calibur]]'' has the following:

* ''X-men Origins: Wolverine'', The Sentinel fight.

** That's nothing compared to the battle with Deadpool.

* ''[[Shadow Complex]]'' deserves a mention for its final boss. An entire lake drains away to reveal a huge gantry which has missile silos and launches an [[Airborne Aircraft Carrier]]. You can't attack it directly; your only option is to fight through the army of [[Spider Tank]] and [[Humongous Mecha|Strider Robot]] enemies and respawning soldiers to use the base's own missile silos against the carrier. It's pretty awesome. And in order to get one of the achievements, you've got to forsake the powered armor and other upgrades in the game and do this armed only with a pistol, grenades, [[Abnormal Ammo|a foam gun]] and the clothes on your back.

** "What do you mean, 'he's unstoppable?'" '''So''' satisfying...

* ''[[Super Robot Wars]]'', being made of Epic and Awesome by its very nature, manages to deliver a quite a few bossfights of this nature. Others verge on [[Nintendo Hard]].

* Bentley vs. Jean-Bison in ''[[Sly Cooper|Sly 2: Band of Thieves]]''. Since Bentley is a turtle and Jean-Bison is a, well, bison, Bentley can't hurt Jean directly. Luckily, the fight takes place in a sawmill, so Bentley can lead the lummox into jets of fire, spinning sawblades, and falling logs. The whole fight has a very [[Looney Tunes]] vibe to it.

** When talking epic boss battles in ''Sly 2'', we must mention the most greasy sweet boss of all:

'''Sly''': I have no idea what you're saying...and your suit sucks!<br />

** In ''Sly 1'', the final level sees you in a blink-and-you-die race up a [[Death Ray|GIANT DEATH RAY]] ''while'' it's collapsing into a [[Lethal Lava Land|lake of lava]] and pieces of it are falling down around you while some of it is shooting off electrical arcs. When you finally make it to the top, you fight a [[Humongous Mecha|giant evil robotic owl]] who taunts you the whole time while you're ''flying a jetpack armed with rockets'' and shooting pieces off of him.

*** How about all the other bosses of ''Sly 1'' in general? Well, except the first one, he's boring. Muggshot is a frantic [[Puzzle Boss]], Mz. Ruby throws the established pattern out the window by turning her fight into a rhythm minigame, and the Panda King adapts a constantly-evolving "Flame Fu" moveset to keep you down. {{spoiler|Also, you re-do the Panda King fight in ''Sly 3'' to help the Panda King into a [[Heel Face Turn]] to save his daughter and recruit him into the Cooper Gang.}}

** ''Sly 3'' has the pirate captain [[Le Fwee]], which sounds completely lame, but [[It Makes Sense in Context]]. One of Bentley's trademark [[What the Hell, Hero?]] plans has failed, this one involing a mind-controlled giant squid smashing [[Le Fwee]]'s crew while Bentley risks his life to rescue new team member (and Bentley's unrequited love) Penelope from her imprisonment. Well, the plan itself goes just fine, until [[Le Fwee]] himself threatens to kill Penelope. Sly whisks her away from danger, but Bentley falls out of his wheelchair, leaving him helpless before [[Le Fwee]]. However, Penelope comes to the rescue with a sword of her own, and stops [[Le Fwee]] from harming the turtle with a line that's equal parts [[Crowning Moment of Funny|funny]] and [[Crowning Moment of Heartwarming|heartwarming]]: "Nobody touches that turtle...''but me.''" What ensues is a madcap swashbuckling duel across the mast of [[Le Fwee]]'s pirate ship, followed by a touching cutscene where Bentley finally gets his girl. Of course, then you're informed that the above-mentioned Dimitri is going to join the Cooper Gang. The entire sequence is just a whirlwind of extremely awesome events, least of which being the sweet duel.

* In ''[[Chrome Hounds]]'', there's the Xbox Live Only "Unidentified Weapon Appears" mission, which is one of three examples of a Crowning Boss Fight of Awesome. They're kinda rare, but damn once you've done one, you'll feel awesome. Nothin' beats a [[Battleship Raid]] with 5 of your buddies.

* In ''[[Jagged Alliance]] 2'', about halfway through the game you get to fight {{spoiler|"Mike"}}, a fellow mercenary (the best recruitable merc from ''Jagged Alliance 1''). He's a a shameless opportunist, and is now hiring out his services to the enemy this time around, basically betraying his fellow mercenaries. In fact, each A.I.M Merc recruitable in the game (there are roughly 50 of them) has special spoken dialogue for when {{spoiler|Mike}} is spotted and for when {{spoiler|Mike}} is eliminated. He's extra bad-ass because he carries a very rare and powerful assault rifle (G11), which you'll definitely want to collect for yourself.

* The final sequence of ''[[Rez]]'' {{spoiler|(with the four minibosses and the big room)}}. That's an experience that no game will ever recreate.

** The Area 4 boss, where you chase a giant shapeshifting creature of cubes through corridors while the pounding rave tune "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiHIyqgAteI Rock is Sponge]" plays.

* There are plenty of ridiculously awesome fights in ''[[City of Heroes]]'':

** Player villains taking on {{spoiler|[[Rage Against the Mentor|their own chosen patron]] and eventually ''Lord Recluse himself''}}...

** Romulus Augustus empowered with the might of Nictus...

** Reichsman, who turns out to be {{spoiler|another [[Evil Twin]] of Statesman, who fought for [[Nazi Germany]] during World War II in an alternate universe}}. The Reichsman is so powerful that ''he is literally in a class of his own''. Whereas other enemies are classified from something as lowly as "Minion" to something as powerful as "Archvillain" or "Hero" or "Giant Monster," the Reichsman is "Reichsman". [[Oh Crap|If that doesn't instill fear in the hearts of a poorly put-together pick-up group...]]

** Shadow Destroyer, who, several times during the fight, {{spoiler|floats up and ''tears a rift in reality itself'', plunging the entire battlefield into the Lovecraftian Qliphothic realm, forcing the players to force it back, before they are destroyed by his increasingly powerful attacks, or the realm ''itself''.}}

** Therakiel, who shortly into the fight {{spoiler|moves it to the ground zero of the ''biblical apocalypse''. You can literally see, above and below you, the winged legions of heaven and hell circling towards the final confrontation which you are desperately trying to avert.}}

** And just for the awesomeness of his [[Large Ham]] delivery and sheer insanity, Foxbat has become a fan favorite as well.

** For added effect, try yelling "SHORYUKEN!" every time you attack her.

** While many final bosses have some alternate form or transformation. Crosell {{spoiler|just gets back up and ''stops fucking around''}}

* In the ''Mana'' series:

** ''Legend of Mana'' gives us the battle with Irwin. World at stake? Check. Battle on top of the dragon he's trying awaken? Check. Epic music? Big Check.

** ''Seiken Densetsu 3'' gives us Dangaard, God-Beast of Wind. That the music is epic goes without saying. The real kicker is that you're fighting him in mid-air ON TOP OF YOUR PET DRAGON!

* In ''Hype: The Time Quest'', Mhasse is the only boss that really requires any tactical thinking.

* ''[[Space Channel 5]]'' has amazing bosses in the series, but there are two that really stand out from the rest. The first is King Purge, a primate like robot with speakers on it's hands, and you have to use the power of Michael Jackson to beat it. The second is Great Purge, where you sing the main theme song with the final boss.

* ''[[Contra]]''. [[Nintendo Hard|Red Falcon. Three Lives.]] Eff the [[Classic Cheat Code|Konami Code]].

* The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man fight from [[Ghostbusters]] The Video Game. Blasting away at a 50 foot marshmallowman ((who throws helicopters and spits marshmallow minons at you)) while dangling from the side of a building only being supported by two other human beings surely defines Crowning Boss of Awesome.

** It should be noted that this boss is the only boss that's 95% the same fight between the realistic style game and the cartoon style game.

* Even if ''[[Phantasy Star]] Universe'' isn't necessarily well-known for having awesome bosses, one has to admit that the battle against {{spoiler|Dulk Fakis' second form}} is pretty awesome. The battle takes place on a glowing platform in space with a panoramic view of the entire Gurhal system. Some of the boss' strategies are a nice homage to Dark Falz and Olga Flow from ''Online''. Oh, and the boss {{spoiler|''[[Slap-On-The-Wrist Nuke|fires a giant meteor at the stage and blows up the entire arena.]]''}}

* In the first ''[[Tenchu]]'' game, the first fight against Onikage definetly counts; on top of a Shogun's palace, on a moonlit night, with Onikage's awesome [[Leitmotif]]. So epic.

* The ''Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion'' expansion ''Knights of the Nine'' has a particularly epic final battle. After storming an enemy fortress with more allies than you ever have, continuing on solo, and defeating Umaril's physical form, you chase his soul to the afterlife, battle him miles above the Imperial City, and kill him enough that he stays dead.

* ''Mushihime-sama Futari'', [[True Final Boss]] aside, has the Stage 1 boss. You've been flying forward for nearly the whole stage, when all of a sudden, you drop down a cliff and ''a T-Rex-like dinosaur starts chasing after you.''

* ''Dragon Warrior Monsters'' for GBC, either version, but easier if you've got Cobi's... DARCK. That mofo would NOT go down! Frustrating and enjoyable, because once you've beaten his 4000 HP ass...you win.

** Of course, the DS sequel, Joker, had a [[Bonus Boss]] battle against a high-powered...um, Estark. Yes, the King of Monsters himself from ''Dragon Warrior IV''. The battle goes on for what feels like ages, with Estark having the usual array of high-powered Dragon Warrior boss powers. Of course, once it's all over, what happens? He joins your team, of course. Honorable mention goes to Captain Crow, pirate extraordinare, who you run into from time to time when navigating the islands of the Green Bays Archipelago, only for him to throw increasingly-tough monsters at you until he stops screwing around and fights you himself; the fact that this fight is repeatable costs it in the awesome department, especially if you have the aforementioned Estark on your team.

* ''Streets of Rage 2''. Shiva. An amazing example of a [[Dual Boss]]. A [[Duel Boss]] from the first game gives people nightmares, but they re-appear in the third game with a new look and a new set of moves. They are ironically easier to beat, and it's much faster paced and more manic.

* ''[[Gotcha Force]]'' has the final boss, which is basically where you and all of your allies are blown up to ENORMOUS size to fight a giant space station of death. It can be frustratingly difficult, but the pure joy of actually BEATING that boss is magnified once you finally do win.

** The final battle, versus {{spoiler|Jubileus}} [[Pronoun Trouble|himself/herself]] in the epilogue, which consists of you essentially fighting- and killing!- {{spoiler|GOD,}} ''[[Recycled in Space|in outer space!]]'' With ''nothing'' but your own skills! You finish her (Not a typo) off by {{spoiler|sucker punching her soul into the sun! The boss isn't even over after that. Bayonetta and Jeanne have to destroy the statue of Jubileus while it plummets toward earth.}} Best. Boss. Ever.

** What about your [[Evil Counterpart]], Jeanne, who in her last fight forces you to play hot potato with MISSILES? Or the [[Big Bad]], {{spoiler|Father Balder}}, who can a) fire on you with a [[Kill Sat]], b) throw SKYSCRAPERS at you (which Bayonetta headbutts back!), and c) can actually destroy some of your largest demons? For added fun, you finish him off with a {{spoiler|LIPSTICK TUBE TO THE FOREHEAD}} in [[Bullet Time]]!

** As stated above, the final battle against Jeanne. But it needs to go more in-depth. It's not just the hot potatoes. This was a fight that the game had building towards. Each fight against her forced you to utilize more and more of your skills and think more on your toes. If you try to win the fight by button-mashing on any difficulty higher than easy, you're going to get your ass handed to you. Like the fight against Jubileus, it requires you to use every bit of practice and skills you've accumulated over the course of the game and it is amazing.

* The new ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'' series has a few. Granted, the ''Ninja Gaiden'' series is infamous for being [[Nintendo Hard]], but Fiend Genshin ranks as one of the most fun and challenging bosses ever, particularly on [[Idiosyncratic Difficulty Levels|Master]] [[Harder Than Hard|Ninja]], where it's just you and the [[Worthy Opponent]] with a redonculously powerful set of moves in a nerve-wracking fight where a single mistake means your doom.

** CJ (Chief Justice) has his/her boss battle in a Cog Court of Law. It was metaphorically a great big case, where {{spoiler|you would go to the witness' stand and take evidence. The evidence is literally a scroll, that you throw into a big scale in the center of the court where you are supposed to make your side of the scale go to the bottom, where you would win the case.}}]

** CEO (Chief Executive Officer) has his boss battle in a ''Golf Club'' where you {{spoiler|are supposed to go on the tables and use seltzer bottles to try to squirt him into submission. You can also use the golf balls on the side of the stage to slow him down.}}

** And there's also {{spoiler|Lavos'}} final form, with the [[Amazing Technicolor Battlefield]] and awesome animation after awesome animation. Or Black/Rust Tyranno, basically fighting against a HUGE fire-breathing T-Rex.

** Or, considering this IS ''IWBTG'' we're talking about: From start, to start, to start, to start...

** He can even kill you in the ''intro speech'', when he {{spoiler|throws his wineglass at you. You have to jump over it.}}

*** Ninetails's surprise ability to de-inkify you with its own brush if you're too slow to draw your attacks is just one of the many aspects of that fight that made it one of the game's most memorable. There's also the emotional lead-up to the battle {{spoiler|After Ammy finds Himiko dead, Rao reveals she's now just the vessel of evil bent on plunging the world in darkness, and mockingly thanks Ammy for foolishly handing over the Fox Rods she needed to unleash Yami}} and the wonderfully dark atmosphere of the stage itself. Just have a listen to Ninetails's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdMFVSR7oNg awesome track]. It's extremely satisfying when Ninetails almost haughtily raises its lightning sword high up in the air like it's invincible, and you know exactly what to do...

** {{spoiler|Yami}}, just... ''''' {{spoiler|Yami}}'''''. You have to use ''[[Final Exam Boss|every single brush technique to fight him]]'', including the ones perceived as useless. In the last round {{spoiler|Ammy gets knocked out for the count and due to everyone's prayers ''gets restored her to her former glory.'' Cue howl, Intro music to one of the best boss tracks in this game. And the showdown with the final boss's final form.}}

** Also von Karma. Just... von Karma. Franziska wasn't that difficult and she could literally whip the judge into submission.

** The confrontation with {{spoiler|Embassador Quercus Alba}} in ''Ace Attorney Investigations''. Unlike past games, all the cases are related in some way, and thus all the tragic events, such as {{spoiler|Oliver being Amano's scape-goat and having to abandon his daughter, and the death of Kay's father}}, can be traced back to him. And God, does he put up one hell of a fight. No matter how many flaws and circustances you bring up pointing at him, he will always throw something back at you. Thus it is ''incredibly'' satisfying when he finally comes down.

** Goro's ''entrance'' deserves a mention. The match just before is a fight against two opponents, set in Goro's Lair. Once you beat the last guy, your points are tallied up...and then, with no transition, Goro roars and ''smashes through the ceiling and starts the fight.'' No announcer, no respite, just immediate ass-kicking.

** Another mention goes out to Onaga, the final boss of ''[[Mortal Kombat]]: Deception''. Let's see... he starts off every battle with a great roar, his grab is sheer awesome, and it takes place in a spike-laced arena where the six Kamidogu stand on pedestals circling it. {{spoiler|And with each one you break, Onaga gets a little easier to fight. On top of that, he ''notices'' when you approach one and ''rushes to stop you.''}} Whoever came up with that subtle touch is ''amazing.''

** The Final battle of ''[[Tales of Monkey Island]]'' is also terrifying. In theory, you know you don't have a health meter of any kind, but the fantastic voice acting will make you feel like you really can't take another hit.

* The sorcerer duel with Mordak in ''[[King's Quest V]]''. Graham is a ex-knight, not a sorcerer (that's Alex's department), and still manages to hand the guy his rear with some fast thinking and a borrowed wand. Another nomination is for Alex's duel with Alhazred in ''[[King's Quest VI]]''. Using a mostly useless sword and what had to be a crash course in sword fighting (he was raised a slave, after all), he manages to hold his own long enough for Cassima to break out the dagger she concealed in her robes and ''stab the guy in the back!''

* Another one from Sierra. ''[[Space Quest]] 4'''s fight against Vohaul. Holy crap. The [[Master Computer]] is on a countdown to self-destruct and Vohaul has pulled a [[Grand Theft Me]] against Roger's [[Kid From the Future]]. Roger, who isn't the most athletic of guys, is fighting ''hand to hand'' with his hijacked kid, manages to knock him back, gets the disk, manages to swap his kid back into his body and Vohaul to disk just as the counter runs down. Whew!

** Speaking of Mr. Sandman on the Wii game, try fighting him in Title Defense mode. He gains the ability to wink and QUICKLY follow it with an uppercut, sometimes doing this 5 times BEFORE he resumes his regular patterns. If you knock him down enough times, he'll fly into a rage where he'll do nothing BUT wink and uppercut for a whole minute! If you can survive the onslaught, Mr. Sandman tires out and you can punch him forever without him recovering AND gain stars at random, allowing you to put him down for good with a 3 star punch! Epic of the charts with this fight.

** {{spoiler|Or you can just jab him as soon as he winks. If you jab him in the eye he's winking with, you get a star, meaning you can easily knock him out 2-3 uppercuts into his onslaught. }}

** The Club Nintendo Premium match against Doc Louis, mainly the "Sparring" difficulty, where you really see Doc is more than a fat guy who keeps taking your bike.

** The Deadpool boss fight. Partly because he attacks an enemy, followed by one of '' your own allies'' on account of disturbing his vacation to look at the cherry blossoms. Partly because he proceeds to get angry at ''[[No Fourth Wall|the player]]'' for laughing at the fact he came to see the cherry blossoms, and announces that it's <s>boss battle time</s> '''"time for a little [[Boss Battle]],''' '''''SUCKERS!!"''''', and partly because you unlock him shortly after.

* ''[[Do Don Pachi]]'', or indeed any Cave game, is practically defined by soul-crushingly hard but extremely satisfying bosses. The [[True Final Boss|final boss]] Hibachi really kicks it into 11th gear (twice, given she has two forms) for your fight with her, which is appropriate, given that you have to play the game WITHOUT CONTINUES in order to reach her. Not only that, but the boss music from [[Do Don Pachi]] is enough to send shivers down the spine. It's just so epic and pulse-pounding. So memorable.

** Mr. Giga Bowser! After completing adventure mode on normal, no continues, 15 mins (most likely 1-2 lives left) you face this MONSTER of MONSTROUS proportions! {{spoiler|In SSBB you can actually control Giga Bowser as Bowser's Final Smash.}}

** {{spoiler|Tabuu}}, the final boss of the Subspace Emissary in SSBB. You're fighting {{spoiler|basically a hologram humanoid--think Fighting Wire Frames from Melee but on MAJOR 'roids. He's spent much of the game manipulating The Ancient Minister, AKA the ''playable'' ROB, into sacrificing his robotic brethren so that Tabuu can invade from Subspace.}} He's mind-controlling Master Hand, which, in a case of Fridge [[Mind Screw]], kind of implies he's '''the player''' (as Master Hand was in turn implied to be a child playing with his toys, which is effectively the player if usually minus the "child" part). At one point, he ''simultaneously one-shots the entire playable roster'', resulting in [[Nightmare Fuel]] when you go to save the game and '''ALL YOUR CHARACTER ICONS ARE ''GONE''.''' And that's just BEFORE you actually fight him, which involves instant teleport-explosions, throwing you with the chain he was using on Master Hand, various lasers (including one which involves him growing huge and his massive head approaching from the side of the stage) and, [[It Got Worse|oh yeah]], OFFWAVES. If you don't know how to spotdodge or roll with precise timing, or you're not playing a character that can stall offstage for a while, or you're on an Easy difficulty, it's an unavoidable kill. And with obligatory [[Crowning Music of Awesome]] to boot. Surprisingly, he's not that hard until you get to upper difficulties, since he moves slowly on lower ones (and his every move isn't an OHKO). SSE had a couple other epic fights, such as Rayquaza, Duon, Galleom, and Meta Ridley.

** And then ''MH Tri'' is released, and Jhen Mohran comes along. A dragon the size of Lao that swims in the sand. You get to fight him on a boat; a boat armed with cannons, ballista guns, and a dragonator (A giant clockwork spike). If this isn't enough, during the final segment of the fight, striking Jhen with the dragonator triggers a remix of the music heard while fighting Lao. And it's every bit as epic.

* ''Ape Escape: Pumped and Primed'' has a light feel to it, until you get to the final boss, a {{spoiler|Giant Face from hell, which is actually the core of the entire virtual world in which the tournament takes place.}} It's also the first and only boss to have multiple health bars. Coupled with the fact that it has more attacks then any other boss in the game, which deal a lot more damage, and it's [[That One Boss|One hell of a boss.]] Until you realize that Monkey Team's "Goliath Fist" special hits multiple times (due to it being so tall) for massive damage, and that it's mostly stationary...

* From the criminally unknown ''Breakdown'' for Xbox, there is the [[Climax Boss]], Solus. Every human enemy in the game involves using cover and the environment well, while the T'lan enemies require you to simply dodge the first hit and then beat the crap out of them before they can recover. Here, Solus is standing in the middle of an arena which is ''floating in mid-air'', and the last time you fought him he utterly curbstomped you and proceeded to stand in front of an exploding nuke without flinching. This time, you have exactly the same powers as he does, and the only way to beat him is to bring the fight to him in an awesome fistfight, countering his superspeed with your superspeed and dodging his energy blasts. The first time you knock him down, he congratulates you, since up until then ''he had never been knocked to the ground. Ever''. When you bring him down to roughly half his health, he simply shakes his head and declare "Your death was meant to be swift." before taking his performance up a notch.

* The criminally underrated PSX game ''[[Alundra]]'' has its fair share of excellent boss fights, including a duel against a crazed werewolf in plain view of the horrified village, running from an animated stone colossus, fighting a dream demon while simultaneously trying to keep the man whose mind you are in from being sucked into the abyss of its maw, or maybe just the way the final boss battle sees you win through the prayers of all the (rather few at that point) surviving villagers granting you strength... before you finally set him on fire.

** The demise of Doviculus makes the player really feel like a metal badass: DECAPITATIOOOOOOON!!

* ''[[Grand Chase]]'' has the Corrupted Divine Tree in the Forest of Life. Four heads in each corner to take out before the main body, constant mook summoning, and when all the heads go, ACID RAIN starts pouring down.

** Even better is the final boss himself, {{spoiler|The Black Baron himself}}. It comes out of complete nowhere for anyone playing hte game. But when they face {{spoiler|him}}, they realize that this person got Rank 1 because they're STRONG AS HELL. Unlike Kojack, who you fight in an underground secret base with motorbikes, you face {{spoiler|The Black Baron}} in a brutal fist-fight, on an arena on a tower, WAY up high in the sky, with the audience cheering in the background, while an incredibly laid-back song (which is fitting, considering who the final boss is), which is actually quite fitting for the final boss and refreshing to hear, plays in the background, stating how {{spoiler|Jack is cramping the Baron's style and he wants to basically pimp slap him in the face}}. If you get knocked out of the ring, you get bludgeoned with a spiked bat and then launched back into the ring.

*** It gets even more intense after you take down half the final boss' HP. IMMEDIATELY, the music shifts from the laid-back 'Look Pimpin' into 'So Cold', stating just how ticked off you made {{spoiler|him}}. The boss then gets a potential One-Hit KO, a lightning kick, and a rocket punch that can knock you out of the ring instantly. Throughout the fight, the clashes can be described as 'Multiple Cross-Counters', the two of you basically punching each other until {{spoiler|The Baron}} takes a bit too much damage and you slam the boss' head into the arena. And when you FINALLY drop {{spoiler|his}} health down to zero, you get the pleasure of home-running the boss into a dartboard to finish him.

* ''[[Odin Sphere]]'''s final book is basically a [[Boss Rush]] [[Best Boss Ever|of awesomeness]]. Bonus points to Levanthan, who is his own stage, and Darkova, for being such a tearjerker.

* Belgar, the final boss of Final Fight. While the battle is fun enough, the best part by far is punching the man who kidnapped your daughter (because let's face it, you're playing as Haggar, not Cody) ''through the windows of a skyscraper.''

* Classic ''Phantasy Star'' has a multitude of awesome fights, but ''Phantasy Star 4'' surely has the greatest bosses in the series. Including the new games.

** {{spoiler|Re Faze's Alys.}} The most painful way to get a killer spell ever...

* Pick pretty much any boss from ''[[Darksiders]]'', for example the "Payback's A Bitch" fight against Straga. A boss fight against a giant raging demon with a hammer the size of a large building who flings smaller enemies at you, ''all the while'' you're shooting portals to get to the back of his head and cut it open. Then there's the end cutscene when {{spoiler|you shoot a portal ''into his head'' and destroy him from the inside}}. Chills...

** From the same game, Nega Scott, who is a combination of this trope and [[That One Boss]].

* The remake of ''NBA Jam'' by EA Sports has the Magic Johnson boss battle. He's a literal one-man team.......because HE CAN TELEPORT! He'll lob the ball up and teleport to finish an alley-oop dunk, pass and teleport to where the ball is going, pump fake and teleport, and so on. What especially makes this so awesome is that the first time Magic pwns you, you'll be geeked out and amazed at how Magic effortlessly beat you. And you'll NEVER get frustrated. It takes time, but instead of thinking, "DAMMIT I LOST AGAIN" you think, "I'm getting there!"

* ''[[Splatterhouse]]'': The new remake features Biggy Man, an enemy with CHAINSAWS FOR HANDS!!! The fight starts out with you blasting him with a shotgun, before he disappears and drops you through the floor, separating you from your gun. Next, you have to duck and weave, avoiding his chainsaw attacks and hitting him between attacks. If he hits you with one of his attacks, he'll vanish and reappear, trying to cut you down from behind. During the final phase, you rip off one of his arms, then use his chainsaws against him, giving you a chance to pay him back for any difficulty this fight gave you, before finally going in for the big finish.

* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' has a couple. There's the thorian, a big creepy mind-controlling plant. The final fight against Saren. Then in the sequel, there's a few more. There's the Thresher Maw during Grunt's loyalty mission. {{spoiler|Tela Vasir}} during the Lair of the Shadow Broker is awesome, not to mention the fight against the Broker.

* The ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' class Nemeses, after which the [[Big Bad]] is anticlimactic. Everyone has their favorite.

** Gorgolok the Demonic Hellseal, with bone shields that must be shattered before using your newly acquired [[For Massive Damage|super-critical-bamming attack]].

* The final battle with Ripto in ''Spyro: Ripto's Rage''. The Ominous Latin Chorus, the orbs you've collected throughout the game can be used to unleash destructive power that both you AND the boss can use, and the finale where Ripto blasts the entire ground apart, converting it into a lava pool, forcing you and Ripto to use Golden Orb powerups to fly and shoot fireballs at each other.

* In ''[[Purple]]'', the final boss gets irritated by his health display, so he throws his Ultra Frisbee at it, cracking it and rendering it useless. You go through the rest of the battle with no indication whatsoever of how much health he has left.

* ''[[Tron Evolution]]'' has Abraxas. Man, he is actually [[Star Wars|Darth Vader]]! Covered in [[Tron Lines]]!

** There's also the [[Final Boss]] - the digitized abomination that Crown, Popoff, and Baza became when they digitized themselves. You're battling them ''inside'' the transit beam going back to the analog world on a series of floating platforms. The artwork is ''beautiful.''

* The second ''X-Men Legends'' game has Apocalypse as the final boss. On his own, he's not a pushover, but depending on how powerful your team is, he's not too hard either. [[It Got Worse|Then]] he summons his 4 Horsemen who you've beaten individually at the end of the previous 4 acts, turning it into a [[Battle Royale With Cheese]]. After one or two occasions of knocking his health down to zero, only for him to respawn almost instantly, do you realise that he's also a ''Puzzle Boss''. After using his machine to power yourself up the same way he has, you have to tear through mooks to smash up generators for his machine (as well as Apocalypse himself who teleports to it in order to guard it). Only once the machine is destroyed is the boss fight over.

* Play ''Tekken 6''. Arcade mode. Make it to [[SNK Boss|Azazel]]. Beat him. CELEBRATE!

* The ''[[Dad Series|Dadgame]]'' has several epic [[That One Boss|(and epically hard)]] bosses for a free flash game. The [[Humongous Mecha|gigantic Final Weapon]] {{spoiler|and its secret counterpart, Final Weapon X}}, sporting an arsenal that would make many a mech collapse in shame, including bombs, missiles, plasma bolts, lasers, [[Frickin' Laser Beams|more lasers,]] [[Up to Eleven|and even MORE lasers]], plus an [[Puzzle Boss|unorthodox way of defeating it compared to most other bosses?]] [[Self-Insert Fic|Saku]][[God Mode Sue|pen]], who fires gigantic beams and explosions at you? Phantom, a [[The Missingno|living glitch]], and also a [[Puzzle Boss]]? And Mecha-Death, who seems to have been made of superconcentrated awesome?

** The final fight with Asha also qualifies. After {{spoiler|trying to (and possibly even succeeding in) killing Iji's brother}}, being able to finally put him down for good is immensely satisfying, and the fight itself is suitably epic as well.

* The [[Final Boss]] of ''[[Dead Rising 2]]'' is an epic fist fight against the [[Big Bad]] on top of a building surrounded by a sea of zombies as an AC-130 blows holes in the building in the background. If you get knocked off the platform (and you often will), you have to cleave your way through zombies and avoid the AC-130's cannons to get back up while he shoots at you with his pistol. Alternatively, skip the epic battle and just [[Combat Pragmatist|have a shoot out with him if you bring a pair of sniper rifles and a bunch of healing items]], popping out of cover, getting a shot off, and rolling back in. Still fairly epic as you have to watch out for the zombies, the AC-130, and his pistol.

* The final boss of ''inFamous'' is one hell of an epic fight in a game loaded with them. You're put in a one-on-one duel with Kessler, the man responsible for the deaths of thousands and the destruction of your city (not to mention killing your girlfriend)in the middle of a huge crater you woke up in at the very beginning of the game. Kessler has powered up versions of all of your moves, plus it's hard to actually hit him since he'll [[Flash Step|teleport]] a few feet away everytime you shoot him unless it's during one of his moves. Beating him requires skill, patience, and liberal use of the dodge button.

* The bossfight against Rex Cavalier from ''[[Hellsinker]]'' is both a really [[Marathon Boss|long boss]] and very well thought out. All the while, [[Mickey Mousing]] is in full effect. As the fight goes on Rex changes attacks based on your performance, with everything from missiles to more lasers. And when he explodes and seems to be beaten, his Spirit Kernel takes over the fight in one last struggle while the music picks up and the background starts flying by very fast. And finally, in a last ditch attack, Rex tries to load over his spirit onto the protagonist. If you stop him it's on to the next stage; if he succeeds, however, you get a [[Nonstandard Game Over]] where your spirit gets corrupted and is slowly turned into the PRAYERS you have been fighting.

** Also you can't just use the Gargoyles, you have to rely on stealth techniques you may well overlook in favour of just glidebombing and vertical takedowns. It forces you to do what Batman does best: adapt, use brains, traps and creativity.

** The fight Bruce has with {{spoiler|Ra's Al Ghul}} while tripping on the {{spoiler|Blood of the Demon}} is nearly as good. It has some of the best (and most outlandish) visuals in the game ([[Visual Effects of Awesome|which is saying something]]), a tense atmosphere, and gives Batman the opportunity to counter attacks from over twenty opponents at the same time (He's normally capable of a mere three counters at the same time).

*** One word: {{spoiler|Clayface}}. Fighting this {{spoiler|[[Humanoid Abomination]]}} with {{spoiler|Talia's scimitar}}, while dodging its insane attacks and slicing up its [[Mooks]], while near a {{spoiler|Lazarus Pit}} involved in the awesome [[Finishing Move]] against this boss....it's awesome.

** Yes, beating Galactus with a team featuring Thor, Amaterasu, and Doctor Doom is pretty much impressive, but it's even more satisfying if you use [[Badass Normal]] characters like Chris Redfield, Captain America, or even Frank West to beat Galactus. Yep. [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|Friggin' epic.]]

* Reflux from ''[[Rayman]] 3: Hoodlum Havoc''. The champion of a race of feared warriors, who you have to battle in an underground arena surrounded by lava. While the rest of his people watches the fight. Who keeps hurling fireballs at you and calls down flaming rocks. Epic.

* Pick a fight with [[Parasite Eve|Eve]]. Any fight with [[Big Bad|Eve]]. But the two best have to be where you fight her while running from one side to the other on a flaming horse and buggy, and the final fight with her {{spoiler|at the wrecked remains of the Statue of Liberty}}. Especially the second one, where you get a great [[Shut UP, Hannibal]] moment against Eve and go on to what is easily the toughest boss battle in the game. And every fight with her is highlighted by the game's iconic operatic score.

** The third boss is a giant turkey that you can't even fight. The only thing you can do is run away while guiding Sackbots, swinging from giant platforms, and yanking on levers before you get stepped on.

** The fourth boss is a giant scorpion mech that you fight with a flying bee while shooting honey bullets. It tries to shoot you out of the sky with [[Frickin' Laser Beams]]. The [[Crowning Music of Awesome|awesome boss theme]] doesn't hurt either.

* Lucifer from ''[[Dantes Inferno]]''. Man, you fight SATAN himself! And you are only a human!

** King Minos is also cool. A giant half-man, half-serpent who guards the entrance to Hell. The last moment when you have to impale his head on a sharped-wheel is just... gosh, just play the game!

* The Passing from ''[[Left 4 Dead]] 2''. Sure, there's the entire fact that, in general, you get to make your own awesome boss fights thanks to the AI Director, but there's something about just getting to the bridge and seeing the {{spoiler|remaining}} original survivors in all their glory, making idle banter with the new four survivors before going down to start the generator. First off, having the original survivors not just stand there like complete goofs but actually take up positions and open fire on the Horde as they try and stop you is awesome unto itself, but having [[Action Survivor|Louis]], then normally cheery, optimistic, and most carefree of the survivors kill a ''Tank'' with a [[Big Freaking Gun|Browning .50 calibre machinegun]], ''all by himself'' is nothing short of [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|completely kickass]].

** Also, the Shroud Lord. This thing is hard (may even be the toughest boss in the game), has a ton of health, and a love of [[Beam Spam]] and [[Bullet Hell]], but between the epic music, the [[Climax Boss|context of the story]], and the fact that this thing and its minions have been dogging you for half the game, you'll be having too much fun to be frustrated.