The Best Boss Battle in Every Zelda Game

Fun fact: when Ganondorf bursts forth from the rubble at the end of Ocarina of time, he was originally going to transform into a literal giant that you were going to have to climb the body of to reach his weak point instead of a pig demon. The reason they didn't go with that idea was because of Hardware limitations, but they eventually used it in Super Mario galaxy.

Gotta say, props to you, Zeltik. It's gotta be tough being a Zelda channel right now. With BOTW2 delayed, and no other new games or ports on the horizon, mining the series or any more content has gotta be tough.

There’s one boss in BOTW that you forgot to mention, that is both terrifying and hard to beat… Flowerblight Ganon cannot be underestimated

EVERYTHING about the Ganondorf fight from OOT is dripping with atmosphere and presentation. My favorite detail has to do with hitting Ganondorf with the light arrow - Instead of other creatures which just vanish from the light, the arrow's energy EXPLODES out from Ganondorf, orbits around him for a moment, and then rushes back into his body to hit him a SECOND time. Like the Force of Good itself will not suffer Ganondorf's evil reign any longer. He yells out this awesome two-part gut-punch sound as the light hits him and then just crumples to the ground. But the BEST part? On the original hardware, the particle effects from hitting Ganondorf with the light arrow are so intense that it actually lags your game for about one second - which ends up looking like completely intended slow-mo at the moment of impact! Even the LAG makes the battle more cinematic, as if the universe itself ordained the fight to be epic!

I know they were more mini bosses... But the Iron Knuckles from OC/MM are my favorites.

I'd say TP has the best bosses-per-capita of any of the Zelda games, they're all so fun and creative

As much as I like all the bosses from TP, I always look forward to the final fight with Ganondorf. A four phase final boss, each one with its own style. First, the classic Dead Man's Volley with puppet Zelda, then a beast on beast battle with demon beast Ganon, then an awesome horseback fight partnering with Zelda, and finally the one on one duel with Ganondorf himself with an awesome final blow and death scene for the iconic villain. Each phase with an epic and memorable BGM to go with them, and an increase in stakes as the phases progress. Just thinking about it is making me want to dig up my copy of TP and challenge the King of Evil again.

I loved the Helmaroc King from TWW. It starts off as this giant, almost untouchable monster that takes your sister Aryll away to the Forsaken Fortress. When you arrive at the beginning of the game, it finds you, hauls you away right in front of your sister's eyes, and proceeds to fling you far away into the ocean. When you return for the second time, you are able to finally rescue your sister, thanks only to the pirates distracting it just long enough. As the music grows from heartwarming to serious, you see the massive bird flying across the sky just at the pirates retreat with your sister and other captives. This time, Link is prepared to fight this monster bird, and after a long battle, the Helmaroc King is finally destroyed, exploding into a mass of darkness and feathers as the searchlights all focus on its final moments.

I’ll die on the hill that Zant is one of the best bosses throughout the entire series. You finally confront what you believe is the big bad of the game in a tense 1v1. And you warp through different points of the game which forces you to utilize most of the weapons you’ve acquired throughout the game. Then ones he’s had enough, a 1 on 1 sword fight showdown. It really feels like a great concluding fight only to find out he’s not even the big bad. Also I love how he goes from this intimidating godlike being of twilight, to being like a disturbingly quirky maniac during the fight

I would argue the best boss in Wind Waker is Helmaroc King. This thing is the reason Aryll was kidnapped, and by extension, the reason why you’re on this adventure in the first place. Finally being able to bash its skull in is a reward in and of itself, but the buildup is absolutely fantastic. If Gohdan was the test to prove he’s the hero, Helmaroc King is the practical application of it.

I've always hated vatti, but in a good way. He was very difficult and took a while to beat him, but eventually I did it. 12 bottles of Lon Lon milk later but I did it.

Koloktos is everything that a Zelda boss should be: a little challenging, creative usage of the dungeon item, and a fun fight. It really stands out how you literally overpower him when you grab the giant sword. Top 3 favorite Zelda boss, easy

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the Bellumbeck fight from Phantom Hourglass. The parasitic nature of Bellum brought to new heights with the horrifying possession of your companion hits hard when you've grown attached to the character. Also the music is great, and fighting on the wrecks of the Phantom Ship is a really climatic setting for the end of the game.

In many of the later Zelda games, I actually like a lot of the mini-bosses way more than their corresponding actual bosses

I freaking loved Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. How people view them so poorly is beyond me. A lot of the fights were fantastic, and customizing the ship and train was too awesome!

For me for Wind Waker, I love the final Ganon fight just because of everything that leads up to it and how it ends. You just defeated (the admittedly disappointing and silly) Puppet Ganon and had to climb up a massive rope, scaling a tower to reach Ganondorf. Once you arrive, The Hero of Winds is exhausted as he watches Ganondorf monologue to himself about why he's doing all of this before lunging at him and beating him senseless, taking his Triforce of Courage and completing the full Triforce. He only loses because Daphnes manages to steal his wish which is to fully erase Hyrule in the flood so the last battle takes place as the ocean is literally coming down around you. Luckily, you're not alone as Tetra has woken up and uses your bow and light arrows and you fight alongside her. This already makes it an epic final battle, Ganondorf has lost every chance he's had now and he already took what he needed so now he's out for blood but you're not fighting alone. But what makes this better is it really shows off what makes this take on Ganondorf cool, he learns. Throughout Wind Waker, Ganondorf was shown to be intelligent, actually taking steps to stop the hero instead of just sitting on his ass. Even when The Hero of Winds gets the Master Sword, its not a victory as Ganondorf has already depowered it so its just a cool looking but dull edged weapon and the only reason Ganondorf didn't even prevent him from getting it is because it sealed his powers so The Hero of Winds played right into his hands and since he didn't have the Triforce, there was no reason to spare him this time so he would be dead without Valoo and the Rito. Even when The Hero of Winds brings the Master Sword to its former glory, Ganondorf has already stolen Zelda and essentially sets up a string of physically taxing challenges so by the time The Hero of Winds even gets to him, he's too tired to properly fight. Ganon ONLY loses because he took too long with touching the Triforce, his only mistake. So this is a very SMART take on Ganon, so when you are finally fighting him, of course he learns. He gets shot three times by the light arrows while being distracted so what does he do? Knocks Zelda out to take her out of the fight. Even when she wakes up, he still learns from earlier and jumps out of the way when the light arrow is fired. The only reason he's defeated is because Tetra was clever and used The Hero of Wind's mirror shield intelligently and if Link didn't kill him when he did, he likely would have adapted to this as well. So this fight just works well with how Ganondorf was portrayed and how does it end? The Hero of Winds, a very cartoony and silly Link, jumps into the air and plunges the Master Sword into Ganondorf's skull. Unlike Twilight Princess, Ganondorf doesn't even get a moment to stand in defiance at his death, he just gets a moment of comfort feeling the wind and then dies, turning to stone as his body is washed away in a flood forever. Such a cool boss fight, a cool sword fight, working together with Tetra, Ganondorf adapting to your tactics and one of the most brutal kills in a game that was usually kid friendly, its great. Honestly if it wasn't for the Puppet Ganon lead up, it'd be perfect but I hate how stupid Puppet Ganon looks which is disappointing because its cool how after you defeat the first phase, it acts all triumphant until the music grows sinister as it transforms again. A cool subversion of expecations but I can't get over the googly eyes and the stupid way its mouth opens and closes.

My favorite boss fight overall is Demise. I remember dyeing so many times but once you get the hang of it the fight isn’t too difficult. The scene is just so maxing and the battle is epic. Especially the second phase with lightning. The duel is very important to the whole series too some can say it’s the birth of Ganon. I also like how it seems very similar to the the final duel in Twilight Princess. My second is so the whole duel of Ganon(dorf) in Ocarina. From fighting Ganondorf to fleeing the crumbling castle to fight the one and only Ganon.

The Hero of Winds is by far my favorite Link. No Holy Quest or anything like that. Nope just a kid that dumb bird shouldn’t have fucked around and found out with. That and ascending a Divine Tower and forcing the Goddesses to acknowledge him. Simply amazing

Oot twinrova will always have a place in my heart, because I remember 7 year old me with my 3DS up at seven in the morning, looking back and forth between the guide I found for the boss and trying attempt after attempt after attempt.

“Giant armored spiders, ancient witches, dark gods,… avodcados” 💀