Top 10 Surprise Bosses You Weren't Expecting to Fight
#10: Eveline
“Resident Evil 7: Biohazard” (2017) As soon as Ethan Winters makes it onto the Baker family estate, he has to contend with their madness and sickening mutations. Each member makes a strong first impression and keeps the fear riding high so that we, like him, didn’t see this little ol’ lady coming. First appearing as an elderly woman in a wheelchair, Eveline only shows up sporadically and usually humming some creepy tune. Eventually, the source of the Bakers’ transformations into villains is revealed to be a bio-organic weapon in the form of a little girl. Well, this girl is Eveline, who has been watching you through the eyes of the old woman the whole time. Right after this reveal, she transforms into a massive mold monster you have to fight.
#9: Chakravartin
“Asura’s Wrath” (2012) Overflowing with action and over-the-top boss battles, “Asura’s Wrath” follows a demi-god out for vengeance against the former allies who betrayed him. For the entire game, Capcom set this group of ne’er-do-wells up as the primary villains. And to be fair, they were. But then the studio issued DLC for players to reach its true ending, which revealed Chakravartin was pulling the strings all along. This God of creation manipulated all of the events of the base game to see if you were worthy of ruling a new world. Over-the-top is one thing, but none of us were expecting to fight the God of all things at the end.
#8: Frank Fontaine
“BioShock” (2007) Even though the fight didn’t measure up to expectations, it still came as a major shock that Frank Fontaine was the final boss of “BioShock.” The majority of the game pits you against Rapture’s founder, Andrew Ryan. And while Ryan is more than villainous, he merely stood in the spotlight while Fontaine manipulated and deceived us. Having faked his own death and taken on the persona of working class hero, Atlas, Fontaine went from two-bit player in the fall of Rapture to the outright cause. Following the now-iconic ‘Would You Kindly?’ twist, players then had to face a superpowered Fontaine, something that never would’ve occurred to us in the early hours when the character is simply part of the lore.
#7: Rick the Door Technician
“Star Wars Jedi: Survivor” (2023) “Star Wars” has a legacy of silly, one-off characters. Developer Respawn knew what it was doing when it made Rick the Door Technician as a boss. As Cal Kestis explores the Empire’s Nova Garon station, he’ll be met with an appropriate display of military might. However, what we weren’t expecting was a trooper with a boss-style health bar. As soon as Rick sees you, he’ll emit a battle cry and charge down the hallway. Except he has the same attributes as any cannon fodder tropper, which means he’s just as easy to put down. Clearly a joke boss, Rick has been celebrated by fans as a humorous surprise in an otherwise fairly serious plot.
#6: Lord Shimura
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“Ghost of Tsushima” (2020) When the Mongols bring terror to his home and kidnap his Uncle, Jin Sakai uses any means necessary to get rid of them. By the end of the game, the warrior is successful in bringing peace to the island, but there’s one last boss to face: the Uncle you worked so hard to rescue. Considering his actions to be dishonorable, Lord Shimura is ordered by Japan’s Shogun to kill his own nephew. We thought we might get to have a happy ending with Jin’s one remaining relative, but that wasn’t the case. Since Lord Shimura played such a big role in Jin’s life, and helped to drive the Mongols out after being rescued, we really didn’t want to cross swords with him.
#5: Hell House
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“Final Fantasy VII Remake” (2020) In the original “Final Fantasy VII,” the Hell House was a regular enemy you could find. But in the remake, it has been upgraded to boss status. Even if you were aware of the enemy in the original game, there’s no way anyone could’ve guessed a literal house to be the boss fight in Corneo Colosseum. “Final Fantasy” has featured more than its fair share of strange enemy designs, but this absurd reveal stopped us in our tracks. Despite its surprising design, the Hell House is actually quite strong. It can use a variety of elemental attacks, as well as silly ones like launching chairs at your party members or Hospitality, which sucks one of them inside.
#4: The Former
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“Control” (2019) Within the Federal Bureau of Control, players can find all manner of oddities that go against the laws of nature and reality. In one side quest, you’ll come across an agent keeping watch on what seems to be a regular refrigerator. But according to him, he must constantly watch it so that it doesn’t deviate. What he means by that exactly is made clear when you enter the cell and find a puddle of blood where he once sat. By touching the fridge, you’re transported to an alternate plane where a hulking cyclops with a light as an eye awaits. No matter what the Former ended up looking like though, none of us were expecting a boss tied to a fridge.
#3: Donkey Kong
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“Punch-Out!!” (2009) With a fifteen year gap in between entries, 2009’s “Punch-Out!!” brought its retro flair to the Wii’s motion-centric mechanics. Players loved facing the series’ memorable combatants with new style and gameplay. There was a hidden guest fighter no one was expecting, yet in hindsight is an absolute perfect fit. Donkey Kong appears as a random fighter in the ‘Mac’s Last Stand’ mode, which is only unlocked after completing both the Career and Title Defense modes. Naturally, he’s exceptionally powerful, with many attacks able to knock Mac down in one hit. Placing him in what is essentially an endless boss rush, where the order is completely randomized, was a great way to surprise players.
#2: Red
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“Pokémon Gold & Silver” (2000) Like many others that would follow it, the second generation “Pokémon” games stuck to the formula of its predecessors. But after beating all gym leaders and the Elite Four, players were surprised to gain access to the Kanto region from “Red” & “Blue.” You could then face the gym leaders of the previous games and enter Mt. Silver where high-level Pokémon awaited. Also lying in wait was Red, the trainer you controlled in the first adventure. It was a pure moment of childhood wonder to battle our former self, and he did not disappoint. With a team consisting of Pikachu, Snorlax, Espeon, Blastoise, Venusaur, and Charizard, Red served as the final test to becoming a Pokémon master.
#1: God
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“The Simpsons Game” (2007) EA’s take on the famous animated family is one extended meta joke with everyone being aware they’re in a game. When an alien invasion comes to Springfield, you might think the extraterrestrials are the big bads. When the family is told to stop their creator from destroying them, it leads you to think they must stop series creator Matt Groening. But the term ‘creator’ is used very literally, as the Simpsons must go up against God in the end. Not only is it a hysterical surprise to find that the Almighty serves as the final boss of the game, but you must also defeat him in a game of “Dance Dance Revolution.” A surprising boss with surprising mechanics? It simply can’t be topped.
