In just about any video game, the final boss is meant to be the culmination of everything you’ve encountered thus far.
A good final boss should present major story payoffs, utilize a mix of gameplay elements you’ve encountered, be generally exciting and bombastic, or a combination of the three.
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I’m above slaying minions.
Unfortunately, notwithstanding the quality of the rest of their respective games, some final bosses don’t quite manage to stick the landing.
Whether it’s due to weird mechanical choices, a lack of narrative impact, or just being boring, some final bosses end up ending your game on a bit of a drab tone.
10Lucien Fairfax
At the end ofFable 2, Lord Lucien Fairfax, mad ruler of Albion, has taken the three prophesied heroes to the Spire with the intent of making a world-altering wish.
When you confront him, you successfully stop his ritual with your late sister’s music box, which was apparently a magic artifact.
Completely out of options, Lucien will plead desperately at you until you smack him off his perch with no further resistance, alaughably ineffectual villainto the end.
Amusingly, if you let Lucien ramble on long enough, your fellow hero Reaver will get tired of waiting and just shoot him.
9Frank Fontaine
BioShock’s strengths are in its quiet, tense moments, with vicious Splicers lurking in the dark.
Unfortunately, the last encounter of the game completely throws subtlety out the window, pitting you against a mutated Frank Fontaine.
There’s no particular strategy to the battle against Fontaine beyond just pummeling him with whatever guns and Plasmids you have handy.
Just repeat this process several times, using the Little Sister needle on him whenever he tries to recharge, and he goes down like a sack of potatoes.
8Elden Beast
Elden Ring
At the end ofElden Ring, after setting fire to the Erdtree to remove the roots blocking its insides, the Tarnished finally makes their way inside.
Within, they do battle with the husk of Radagon of the Golden Order, royal consort to the late Queen Marika.
It’s apretty great fight, which is why it’s disappointing that it’s not the last one. After defeating Radagon, the Elden Beast, a giant space worm from nowhere, pops up out of his corpse.
The Elden Beast lacks both Radagon’s narrative weight and cool design, and is just generally uninteresting to fight.
7Colonel Autumn
In the climax ofFallout 3’s last main story quest, you confront Colonel Augustus Autumn, commanding officer of the Enclave, at Project Purity.
If you happen to havehigh Charisma, you can actually speech-check him into leaving peacefully, which is honestly the more interesting option.
Otherwise, you engage him in a standard firefight alongside his two Power Armored thugs.
Autumn himself doesn’t have any particularly powerful weapons, packing only a pistol and laser pistol. There’s a good chance he’ll go down from a single shotgun blast.
After you deal with the thugs, that’s pretty much it for the Enclave.
Star Fox Adventures
The majority ofStar Fox Adventuresgives you the expectation that the final boss will be General Scales.
When Fox confronts Scales to liberate the last Krazoa spirit, though, Scales is ordered to stand down by a mysterious voice.
With the last spirit released, a giant Krazoa statue flies out of the temple, revealing it to be none other than Fox’s nemesis Andross. Apparently he was just… hanging out in there.
Rather than any of the melee combat abilities you’ve used thus far, the last encounter is relegated to a brief Arwing dogfight with Andross in space.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
ThroughoutThe Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’s story, the World Eater, Alduin, is hyped up as one of the oldest, most powerful dragons there is.
Unfortunately, when you finally confront him in the game’s final story quest in Sovngarde, you’ve already had plenty of experience slaying dragons.
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As long as you don’t stand directly in front of him, Alduin can’t really do much that you haven’t already seen from other dragons.
Even his most powerful ability, Meteor Storm, can be immediately undone with the Clear Skies shout.
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
Fresh off defeating Braska’s Final Aeon in the finale ofFinal Fantasy X, Tidus, Yuna, and company prepare to confront the creator of Sin, Yu Yevon.
If you were expecting some manner of powerful sorcerer or monster, he’s not that. Instead, he’s some kind of overgrown magic tick.
In addition to the disappointing reveal, all of your party members have permanent Auto Life cast on them, so this fight literally cannot be lost.
Maybe it was meant to be more of a victory lap than a proper fight, but it’s not a particularly exciting one.
3Monster-Ock
Spider-Man (2000)
Spider-Man
In the climax of the 2000Spider-Mangamefor the PS1, the Web-Head successfully defeats the masterminds of the symbiote invasion plan, Doctor Octopus and Carnage.
After the latter’s defeat, his symbiote runs off and merges with the unconscious Doc Ock, creating the terrifying, if somewhat boringly-named, Monster-Ock.
The idea of fighting a symbiote-powered Doc Ock sounds awesome, and it probably would be if you actuallygotto fight him.
Instead, all you can do is run away from Monster-Ock while he chases you up a long elevator shaft, making unpleasant gurgling threats the whole time.
2Titan Joker
Batman: Arkham Asylum
In any video game where youget to fight the Joker, you’d expect him to be a tricky, dirty combatant.
That’s definitely what you’d be led to expect as the last fight ofBatman: Arkham Asylum. Sadly, while you do get to fight Joker, it’s not in an enjoyable form.
With the Titan serum, Joker turns himself into a hulking brute, alternating between flailing his fists at Batman and siccing thugs on him.
For a game that had such famously fun stealth and strategic gameplay, it’s a frustratingly basic and uncomplicated encounter.
1Brock Mason
Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster
Two of the most entertaining aspects ofDead Risingare using whatever assorted junk you pick up as a weapon and the wacky fights againstthe human bosses.
The last boss of the game’s Overtime mode, DHS Special Forces leader Brock Mason, unfortunately bucks both of these trends.
Not only is the encounter not especially wacky or gimmicky, but you have to fight him completely bare-handed.
While Frank does have some amusing unarmed skills, being completely barred from your favorite weapons and tools kind of goes against the spirit of Dead Rising.
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