The 20 HARDEST RPG Bosses of the Century So Far

Flemeth “Dragon Age: Origins” (2009)

It wouldn’t be a fantasy game without at least one fight against a dragon. Unfortunately for the Grey Warden and company, Flemeth is not your typical fire-breathing lizard. Should you choose to follow Morrigan’s personal questline, you’re tasked with eliminating her witchy mother upon discovering that her designs for her daughter are far more nefarious than originally thought. Slaying an old woman in the middle of a swamp? No problem. That is until Flemeth showcases her shapeshifting ability, and becomes a High Dragon, a creature that you and your party are likely woefully unprepared to face, what with the staggering health pool, tail whips and abundance of far-reaching flames!

The Countess “Darkest Dungeon” (2016)

What do you get when you combine a Victorian seductress with an eldritch mosquito? An unholy combination guaranteed to haunt your nightmares. As the final challenge of the already excruciatingly difficult Crimson Court DLC, the Countess will bleed your entire team dry. Hacking away at her humanoid form is all well and good, but when she goes full Bloodlust Mode, you’d best ready yourselves. She can attack several times in a row, stun multiple party members at once, as well as infect you with parasite eggs that will act as icky, insectoid time-bombs as the fight goes on. Gross and gruelling in equal measure.

Maria “Nioh” (2017)

Hard to believe that between all the demons and legendary warriors taken straight out of history, the deadliest foe might just be this dainty madam. But rest assured, Maria IS deadly. And unless you’re ready to bring it, she’ll turn you into a pin cushion before you can blink. Her speed is unparalleled, staggering her is all but impossible, and she’ll enchant her blade to unleash twice the damage. Back her into a corner and she’ll slip past you to deliver the killing blow, so best not rest on your laurels lest you get the full Spanish Inquisition treatment.

Redscale Apocalypse Dragon “Metaphor ReFantazio” (2024)

Ah, superbosses. Every turn-based RPG has them, and they’re often the bane of every player’s existence. This particular dragon is no exception. Only available on new game plus, you might think you’re ready to face any challenge after unlocking the best weapons and grinding all your archetypes to their max level, but rest assured, they don’t call this the apocalypse dragon for the sake of hyperbole. Aside from having zero weaknesses, the list of abilities to its name is absurd – from permanently increasing the amount of turns it gains, every kind of elemental attack, stat debuffs, and the cherry on top – spamming one final move near the end of the battle that will consistently dish out 9999 points of damage to the entire party. Lovely.

Sans “Undertale” (2015)

Go the route of genocide – and you’re going to have a bad time. That’s what every player experienced when they found Sans waiting for them at the end of Undertale’s darkest path. Go out of your way to kill every monster in the underground, and you’ll be met with the unrelenting fury of this once chill skele-bro. In an instant, Sans turns the whole screen into the ninth level of bullet hell, bending the game’s meta and framework to his will, and forcing you to become a platform god if you want to have any chance of beating him. Mind you, the arduousness of the fight is the point, why should you get off easy after committing such atrocities?

Galdera, the Fallen “Octopath Traveler II” (2023)

Oh, you thought you’d seen the last of this superboss? Well, think again. Returning as a secret, optional fight, this second incarnation of Galdera is just as lethal as he was in the first game, only now with inflated stats. Between the multiple phases, summoning additional appendages with their own health bars, as well as having no shortage of ways to permanently remove your party from the battlefield, Galdera can easily wipe your team of eight unless you’re prepared to counter and mitigate every world-ending attack every step of the way.

Timewyrm “Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age” (2017)

Turns out the definitive version of this beloved title didn’t just come with plenty of lush bonus material, but a superboss waiting to truly test your skills. Just getting to the Timewyrm is a gauntlet in of itself, as it demands you conquer the Hall of Remembrance, which features the final bosses of previous Dragon Quest games, all before fighting the End of Time – a terrifying boss in its own right. And yet the Timewyrm soars atop them all. Having to fight against both its head and tail as separate entities is bad enough, but with its massive damage output, status effects and nasty tendency to double the mana expense of your skills, this wyrm will break all but the most battle-hardened.

Raphael “Baldur’s Gate 3” (2023)

They say better the devil you know…well, we know Raphael, and what a colossal pain in the D&D he can be if you challenge him. Should you choose to break into his House of Hope, the charmingly nefarious demon will be waiting to smite you as you try to make your escape. And he’s not alone. Along with an abundance of hellish minions and a couple of hard-hitting NPCs, Raphael and his posse can easily overwhelm, and that’s all before he shifts into his final form and really starts laying on the damage. There are so many moving parts to this battle it can often feel hopeless…if not for Raphael’s iconic song blasting in the background and spurring you on. We could listen to that on loop for eternity.

Fatalis “Monster Hunter World” (2018)

A longtime staple of the franchise, you know things are about to get taken up a notch when this lizard decides to get in on the action, and one of his most trying incarnations can be found in the depths of the Iceborne DLC. If you want to get your hands on some of the game’s best drip, then you’re going to have to take on the flames of Monster Hunter’s infamous black dragon, which is easier said than done given its immunity to stun, the small size of the arena, and the rapid rate at which it will douse you and your fellow hunters in flame. Tanky doesn’t even come close, so best make use of the environmental weaponry and start spamming smoke bombs like your life depends on it.

Telethia, the Endbringer “Xenoblade Chronicles X” (2015)

Even armed with a mecha, there are certain tyrants you just don’t want to mess with unless you are kitted out the wazoo. And even then, it may not be enough. With crazy health, various debuffs and bouts of invincibility, Telethia is a wall that can only be broken if you and your Skell are armed to the teeth with the fanciest of toys like the Zenith Cannon…and that’s if you’re engaged in aerial combat. Trying to wipe it out on solid ground is a whole other level of pain.

The Corpse of Alice Alisceon “Divinity: Original Sin 2“ (2017)

Sure, you can take the easy way out and lead this living corpse towards the local wizard who can one-shot her, but if you’re a true Godwoken, you’ll take her on fair and square. Just be prepared to get your ass barbecued. Poor ol’ Alice is obsessed with killing our shining lights and chooses to do so by blanketing as much of the surrounding area in flames. If you’re not trying to cheese it, then your best hope of not being reduced to ashes is to invoke Holy-moves such as Bless to keep her Aura of Pain at bay, and chugging back as many potions as possible!

Darkeater Midir “Dark Souls III” (2016)

Arguably the most devastating dragon to ever blaze its way into the modern gaming scene, when players discuss the soul-crushing difficulty spikes associated with Soulsborne DLC bosses, Midir can be found atop the mountain of Ashen corpses. With a health bar as vast as the Ringed City itself, there is no singular, easy way to best Midir – only, trial, error and a bunch of broken controllers. Despite its immense size, Midir can and will leap across the area, constantly forcing you to play catch up while he unleashes everything from flames to its own draconic death ray. Even if you do get up close, the damage dealt by its teeth and tail are crippling.

Yozora “Kingdom Hearts III” (2019)

Who is this kid? A digital construct? Yet ANOTHER copy of Sora? No idea, though if we’re being honest, we’re less concerned about how he fits into Kingdom Heart’s ever twisting narrative, and more trying not to get our ass handed to us, because Yozora has zero chill! He may not be a keyblade user but given how he can reduce all of Sora’s items to one, teleport at lightning speed, and launch Disnified drone strikes, he doesn’t exactly need them. We didn’t think it could get any more intense after taking on digital clones of Organisation 13, but Yozora quickly proved himself to be the new hotshot on the block…

Orphan of Kos “Bloodborne” (2015)

The pinnacle of FromSoftware’s foray into eldritch horror, the Orphan lives up to its namesake as the child born from the corpse of a space god, and it is mightily pissed. Unnerving doesn’t even come close. No matter how tooled up your Hunter is, squaring up to a screaming, monstrous foetus who uses an oversized placenta for a club is still going to shake you. The Orphan is a walking blitzkrieg of punishment, slamming around with its hideous weapon, lopping off explosives from its body, before calling down a literal storm during its second phase to electrocute the surrounding shoreline. The great ones and their spawn are not to be trifled with…

Ozma “Final Fantasy IX” (2000)

Ah yes, Final Fantasy’s very own spinning beach ball of doom. Even compared to the embodiment of life and death that is Necron, Ozma is in a different league. Its elemental barrages will constantly pinpoint your party’s weaknesses, it has access to the hardest hitting attacks in the game including level 5 Death and Meteor, and will heal itself while simultaneously casting AOE damage en mass, unless you go out of your way to complete certain side-quests beforehand. It may not get as much recognition as other behemoths in the franchise, but you can’t say you’ve tussled with the fantasy muscle until you’ve taken on Ozma and its spherical supremacy.

Simon “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” (2025)

You may think you’re a master of parrying. You may think you’re able to conquer the best the Canvas can throw at you. Trust us, you are not prepared for Simon. Corrupted by various painters, the former Expeditioner went from a simple soul to a hulking swordsman with strength in spades. Across three unrelenting phases, Simon’s sword slashes will shred your team unless you’re able to avoid or endure his onslaught, made all the worse by how any characters that fall in battle can be removed from play with no hope of being revived. With an awe-inspiring back-drop, killer music and enough challenge to make a Souls game blush, Simon is epic in every sense of the word.

Promised Consort Radahn “Elden Ring” (2022)

Returning from the dead to deliver a generational beatdown, Radahn’s resurrection proved to be so earth-shatteringly difficult that arguments could be made that he stands tall as the hardest Soulsborne boss to date. In his first phase alone, he can cripple you with the force of his swords, not to mention his fondness for busting out both blood and gravity magic. It’s certainly a hurdle to overcome, but nothing compares to his second phase, where Miquella will appear, offer his aid, and turn his consort into a one-man destroyer of worlds. Every attack now comes with an aftershock of Holy damage, his classic meteor slam makes a grandiose comeback, and Miquella can even one shot you by making you fall madly in love with him. Yikes.

Elizabeth “Persona 3” (2006)

By now, we’re all aware that the attendees to the Velvet Room make up for the hardest secret bosses to stem from this beloved JRPG juggernaut, and among the roster, few pack as much of a wallop as Elizabeth. It’s not just that you have to fight her solo and she has a collection of Personas that hit way too damn hard, it’s that her fight has unstated rules that will undo your every attempt unless you figure them out for yourself. Got a Persona that repels or negates damage? You’re gonna get nuked. Use the all powerful Armageddon attack? You’re gonna get nuked. Take more than fifty turns to finish the fight? NUKED! And even if you follow these rules, there’s every chance Elizabeth will steamroll you unless your summons are at their apex.

Demi-Fiend “Shin Megami Tensei V” (2021)

Possibly the most famous face in the entirety of Megami Tensei, the Demi-Fiend was already one of the franchise’s strongest protagonists, so it only makes sense he would be one of its most dangerous bosses. It isn’t just a case of finding a way to survive the never-ending gauntlet of insta-kill skills, but also land a hit, on account that if he’s not nullifying certain types of damage, the Demi-Fiend’s naturally high resistances ensure that you’re in for a scrap. And he’s not alone, since, like the player, he’ll also be summoning demons to help pile on the damage. And if you take too long to take one of those out, he’ll call down another instant death bombardment. No rest for the wicked.

Penance “Final Fantasy X” (2001)

There are superbosses, and there is THE superboss. Should you defeat all of the Dark Aeons, you’re granted the chance to face this menacing monolith. With twelve million health points to its name, Penance is an absolute unit, and that’s even if you exclude its two independent arms, both tanks in their own right that frankly make Syn look like a push over. Fail to deal enough damage in time, and there’s every chance you’re going to be on the wrong end of its Judgement Day attack, which will decimate all of your health and mana in a single go. Best make sure you have those Celestial Weapons primed!

Which of these bosses had you reaching for a guide? Let us know in the comments!