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These bosses range from obsessed monsters who relentlessly chase the players to powerful beings who view players as nothing more than cockroaches. All of them hammer in some kind of bitter and compelling rivalry into the players’ minds and also provide a nice surprise for when they appear once more. Surely, players won’t mind fighting these bosses again.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead
8 The Pursuer – Dark Souls 2
Speaking of rivalry, the Pursuer is one mean boss in Dark Souls 2 who just can’t quit. He’s as persistent as the players and only exists for one thing: to hunt down some zombie who think they can climb their way up the social ladder. As such, the Pursuer is one of the toughest early game bosses in Dark Souls 2 — a troublesome brick wall.
Just when the players thought they were safe from his red eyes and thick armor, he comes back via eagle for a rematch. And after that, he starts getting desperate and joins in a boss fight in hopes of foiling the players. In a last-ditch effort to win, he even brings a friend to tag team the players.
7 Margit/Morgott – Elden Ring
Like the Pursuer, Margit from Elden Ring is an early game brick wall that filters out the player base. Turns out Margit was merely a weaker projection of a stronger boss, Morgott. He’s the real deal and a king who’s too busy with other tasks to even deal with another zombie with big dreams (and foolish ambitions).
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The fun part about meeting him again or fighting him in both forms is that he goes all out on the eloquent insults. His colorful and arrogant prose can be summed up as: “give up and die, noob.” It’s hard to be angry against such a principled and venerable enemy; he even allowed the players to become strong first for a fairer fight.
6 Pyramid Head – Silent Hill 2
The reason why Silent Hill 2 is generally regarded as better than the first game is partly due to this walking horror. Pyramid Head is a freaky sleep paralysis demon straight out of a fever dream and the worst part is that the boss fights against him usually just involves the players running like a scared toddler.
Even with all the means of fighting or hurting him later on in the game, Pyramid Head is still one of the creepiest video game monsters the imagination allows. This unholy union between a polyhedron and serial killers is the stuff of nightmares for any person regardless of age.
5 Jack Baker – Resident Evil 7
While on the topic of immortal horror monsters that persistently chase around the protagonists, Resident Evil has likely mastered that mechanic. Both Nemesis and Mister X are strong contenders here but their cultural impact is dampened by either their generic looks or dry personalities. Thus, Jack Baker of Resident Evil 7 takes the cake here.
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He’s like Jack Nicholson in The Shining except he likely underwent 66 satanic rituals to be reborn and is now a decaying zombie on steroids. And what makes him less boring than the two tall men in a trenchcoat of previous games is that he can actually be decimated early. So he comes back in any way he can until he’s just a giant blob of rotting flesh for one more round.
4 Baldur – God Of War (2018)
Since God of War (2018) isn’t a revenge story, it made more sense to introduce the big bad boss right away. That would be Baldur, Odin and Freyja’s problematic son. In-game, he has a fixation on the bald Greek god and his son. Somehow it was a match made in heaven.
Kratos was an unstoppable force and Baldur was an immovable object since he literally cannot die (for most of the game). That’s why Baldur’s constant appearance and interruptions have always been puzzles as players try to subconsciously anticipate ways of permanently defeating him as they progress through the game.
3 Dahaka – Prince Of Persia: Warrior Within
Similar to Baldur, the Dahaka is a mostly unkillable beast in Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. But its appearance in this game is more poetic as the Dahaka is more or less a consequence of the Prince toying with the Sands of Time. The Prince escaped certain death and the Dahaka made sure to correct this tampering with the universe’s constant rule.
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Hence, the Dahaka typically appears whenever the Prince messes with time. They’re mostly chasing sequences that put horror games to shame since even the Prince is powerless against such an omnipotent being. Adding to the fear factor is the fact that the Dahaka speaks and shouts threats in reverse.
2 Liquid Snake – Metal Gear Solid
Liquid Snake is the evil mirror image of Solid Snake (who’d have guessed?) and appeared not only multiple times in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes but also throughout the franchise. He mostly acts as an ominous shadow to Solid Snake, waiting for a chance to strike and when he does find it, players can bet that there’s a dramatic cutscene preceding it.
Because Liquid Snake has always held bitter resentment towards Solid Snake since the latter obtained their “father’s” dominant genes. Liquid framed himself as a villain in his mindset as early as childhood. That means his rivalry with Solid Snake can also count as a continuation of his hatred toward Big Boss.
1 Genichiro Ashina – Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
Some bosses are just there to show the players how much they have to train and get stronger before they can achieve the same level. Genichiro Ashina of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice exists to impose that on the players. He’s the very first boss of the game and the fight was meant to be unwinnable (save for the most skilled); players were meant to lose.
Even if they won, Genichiro does Sekiro dirty and cuts off his hand then leaves him for dead. From that point on, players were already given a motivation for revenge apart from having to rescue a kid. Eventually, they would get another shot at fighting Genichiro and finally serve him some cold steel.
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