You pass through a door into the next–and possibly final–area of the game. All is quiet and then the figure of your darkest dreams reveals itself. This supposedly fierce character stares you down as small, insignificant, and utterly stoppable. They laugh at the face of your plight to best them in combat. Finally, they charge you, but you are quicker. ‘Boss’ battles sure are a satisfying way to end a game, level, or sequence in spectacular style. They are meant to provide the height of challenge to the player after encountering the boss’s minions of varying capabilities throughout the game thus far.

Unfortunately, for all the best efforts of game developers to challenge players with intimidating and tough boss fights, it is easier said than done. A boss fight is meant to be the culmination of all of your progress thus far in the game and is typically placed to serve as a climactic moment for the player. Of course, some bosses are far more devious than others. It is the others that are the primary focus of this list.

For all of their might, many bosses may seem intimidating but are, in fact, completely useless in every sense of the word. They can look tough, agile, and brutal. They can be intelligent, cunning, and subversive. No matter how they look or act, when it finally comes to beating them, they go down quickly and easily–utterly useless in every sense of the word.

20 Halo 4 – The Didact

Halo 4’s primary antagonist was barely in the main game, often utilizing his voice as opposed to showing his face. However, less is more. He was built up from his introductory scene as a major villain, showing both telekinetic and telepathic powers against the Master Chief. In addition, he is also sighted as being a maniac who converted humans into digital soldiers for his army. When the Chief finally faces the Didact as the Earth is under attack, much of the exchange is in a cutscene. They speak briefly before Cortana, the Chief’s ally, puts a hold on the villain. This allows Chief, in a quicktime event (QTE), to place a grenade on the Didact, who staggers from the blast and falls into the destructive pit below. The whole exchange requires two player actions in total. The Didact is a joke.

19 Prince Of Persia: The Two Thrones – The Dark Prince

One of the most useless bosses in recent memory is also one of the most internal encounters in recent gaming history. In Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, the Prince must deal with the inner workings of his mind in his dark psyche’s alter ego, The Dark Prince. In order to beat the Dark Prince when he plunges deep into his subconscious, the Prince simply needs to leave the darkness behind by stepping into the light. Of course, this is after a fairly long sequence in which has the prince running through the inner workings of his subconscious being pursued by the Dark Prince. While the metaphor of a physical darkness to underlie the psychological one in the mind’s eye is apt for the conflict, it lacks a climactic sense of challenge typically relegated to important final encounters.

18 Assassin’s Creed – Al Mualim

In 2007’s Assassin’s Creed, players are tasked with assassinating 9 targets. The surprise tenth target is protagonist Altair’s mentor, Al Mualim, and final boss of the game. When you fight him, he is in possession of the MacGuffin, the fabled Apple of Eden, which will supposedly grant the wielder unimaginable power. This interaction with the Apple is built up over the course of the whole game, but when it is finally revealed in this fight, it feels under-utilized. In this sequence, Al Mualim uses the Apple to duplicate himself many times over. All Altair has to do is defeat all of the copies in a single fight to beat the game. Players who have put a lot of time into the game and been in similar circumstances with large crowds of enemies will find nothing new in this fight. It ultimately adds to the overall repetition of the first game.

17 Yoshi’s Story - Cloud N. Candy

In the Nintendo 64 game Yoshi’s Story, Cloud N. Candy is exactly what his name describes: a giant cloud of cotton candy with a big smile. He bounces into the scene with his orange sneakers, to cheerful music the entire time. Once he is entirely in the scene, he annunciates proudly, “Slurpity-slurp I’m so sweet, you can’t lick me! Burrrp!” Hilariously, that’s exactly what you do and it takes all of eight seconds to lick Cloud N. Candy into oblivion. Yoshi can lose health if Cloud N. Candy jumps on him, but that health can easily be restored thanks to our friendly neighbourhood dinosaur licking his foe. There are, however, some lingering questions: did the developers put in Cloud N. Candy’s dialogue as a way to misdirect players or did they want to get players to challenge Yoshi’s taste buds on this sweet antagonist?

16 Gears Of War – Corpser

When first introduced to the Corpser in the first chapter of the original Gears of War, it brings forth a childlike sense of dread. The entire ground trembles and a large emergence hole opens up for this spider-like hulk to roar in fury. The fight with this beast is reserved for the middle of the game, when Delta Squad goes underground to plant the resonator. Unfortunately, the promise of any real challenge for this anticipated fight is quickly dashed. All it entails is blasting the Corpser in the face with several shotgun blasts after easily dodging its legged attacks. Each time you shoot its face, the creature backs up closer into a pit of Imulsion. The fight ends when it falls in all the way. Adding insult to injury, the Corpser briefly re-surfaces to look at its attackers once more before being engulfed completely.

15 The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time – Gohma

Gohma is found on the ceiling in one of the sublevels of the Deku Tree Dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. For a boss in a Zelda game, Gohma is quite simple to beat: stun her in the eye when red, then move in for a few attacks from your sword. Of course, she may drop eggs for you to fight smaller versions while on the ceiling, but the challenge is negligible. In this case, Gohma serves as a good early boss in the game for players to get acclimated to the system, but let’s stop for a second: Gohma is a large and fiercely intimidating foe. After this boss fight, it may leave you wondering what exactly was intimidating about her at all.

14 Dying Light – Kadir “Rais” Suleiman

Dying Light’s final boss, Rais, is anticipated throughout the game to be the toughest boss. As the game’s biggest antagonist, there is a certain definitive finality to a Rais’ treatment that is expected from most games. Unfortunately, like Halo 4, this final boss is relegated to a mediocre quick-time event. At least this time Rais’ QTE serves the greater good of the plot. That being said, this recent trend of giving the final bosses–the supposed toughest challenge in the game–a free pass simply to serve the story is a conflicting decision. On one level, it marks a well-written game, but on the other, it saps out the climactic feel that would otherwise leave the game to end on a higher note than it does here.

13 Fallout 3 – Colonel Autumn

Remember your first time using V.A.T.S. in Bethesda’s 2008 hit, Fallout 3? Of course you do. Do you remember that time you used it to take out the primary antagonist in the game? That’s right. In fact, Colonel Autumn can be dealt with quickly either through using the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System or by persuading him to abandon his military campaign altogether. The diversity of choice is a strong staple in any Bethesda game, but the way in which it is implemented here falls flat in a major way. Being able to take out the final boss of any game with automated targeting seems very cheap in relation to the wonderfully staggered pace of this game. Fallout 3 took a lot of bold risks when it released and it is a shame to see that this is one element that failed to deliver on its full potential.

12 Gears of War 2 – Lambent Brumak

As a way to throw everyone off at the end of Gears of War 2, Marcus and Dom hitch a ride on a Brumak to clear the locust from protecting the pillars underneath their city of Jacinto. However, their Brumak quickly gets infected with the Lambent parasite. They escape and decide to explode the Brumak, using its combustible Lambent body to act as a bomb to finish their objective. All you have to do for this game-ending boss is to simply hold the right trigger. It takes thirty seconds and is impossible to fail, despite being in a precariously hovering helicopter. This boss’s death triggers the ending cutscene of the game. The Lambent Brumak is utterly terrifying, but the ease of which it is killed leaves a lot to be desired.

11 Assassin’s Creed II – Rodrigo Borgia

At the end of Assassin’s Creed II, Ezio Auditore da Firenze catches up with the man who has orchestrated much of his and Italy’s misery: Templar Grandmaster Rodrigo Borgia. In the final battle, Ezio and Rodrigo have one of the most underwhelming fistfights in gaming at the entrance to the Vault of the First Civilization (which is under Vatican City, by the way). This is not to say that fistfights are generally boring, but the scene has so little depth to it. Yes, you want to beat the newly appointed Pope, but the whole scene lacks the emotional resonance of taking on a final boss in an epic game. Part of this reason is because Borgia’s fate is chained to history. Even though he may appear to have special powers, Borgia cannot outlast the boredom players will experience while engaging him in combat.

10 Final Fantasy VII – Sephiroth (Final Battle)

In Final Fantasy VII, you encounter and fight Sephiroth a couple of times. While all of these moments are memorable, none are perhaps more infamous than the divisive final battle. This is because it is possible to defeat the villain in one hit. Yes: one hit. After all previous fights being deeply personal affairs, Sephiroth can be vanquished with one blow using the limit break Omnislash. If you do not use the Omnislash, Sephiroth will strike you so that you are left with one point of health remaining. Fear not, though, as Cloud will automatically counter Sephiroth’s attack and end him once and for all. This battle is impossible to fail, making it both one of the most cinematic battles ever in a game, but also one of the biggest cop-outs. Sephiroth is not a useless character, but in this instance, his final fight leaves much to be desired.

9 Star Wars: Battlefront II – General Grievous

One of the more fascinating entries on this list is from the original Star Wars: Battlefront II, which focused heavily on the settings from Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and the clone wars (pre-animated show). Of all of the bosses from the famed Star Wars characters, none stands out as more of a pushover than the asthmatic General Grievous. It is actually possible to kill the General at his spawn point. If you do not though: don’t worry as his attacks are easy to avoid and he is easy to hit. The most disappointing thing about Grievous as a boss battle in this game is that he was a more dynamic and intimidating boss in the Revenge of the Sith tie-in game. The film portrayed a fascinating cyborg with a future duality to Darth Vader whereas this game treats him like a piece of bantha fodder.

8 Devil May Cry 2 – The Despair Embodied

The Despair Embodied is the final form of the final boss in Devil May Cry 2. After defeating Argosax the Chaos, which is literally the combined heads of previous bosses in the game and a couple from the previous game attached to a blob, the final form is revealed. The Despair Embodied is a fiery-looking horned angel, whose colour changes between orange, red, and accents of yellow. He is an extremely mobile boss compared to the last one, with jump attacks, teleportation, and a couple of other tricks. For all of its might, the Despair Embodied but is not terribly strong and can be beaten with very little effort from players who have made it this far in the game already. Dante is much faster than the creature and ends the simple boss with his charismatic wit and a shot from Ebony & Ivory.

7 Bioshock – Frank Fontaine

2007’s Bioshock was a literal game changer in game narrative for its immersive hub-worlds and gripping characters. It is not, however, completely faultless. The largest gripe with many players is that the final boss is pretty bland… and easy. This is not to say that he does not put up a decent fight, but he is definitely not as interesting or as difficult as he could have been. Battling Frank Fontaine is fairly straightforward: shoot him as often as you can until his health bar drops and then drain him of his Adam (power). Wash, rinse, and repeat. Players needed to drain Fontaine four times and you immediately drain him to trigger the fight. So, in reality, this fight is deceptively easy. The interspersed splicers offer a decent variety to the fight, but it still serves as a very traditional boss fight.

6 Mass Effect 2 – The Human Reaper

After a tense run-in with the Collectors, Commander Shepard and their squad follow tubes running liquefied humans into the central chamber of the base. What they discover is a massive Human-Reaper hybrid in a larval state. Regardless of the recently transpired events on the station, Shepard’s team is forced to fight the monstrosity. Fortunately, parts of the tubes running the liquid into the suspended hybrid expose every so often, revealing the glowing orange goo. All that is required of players to trigger these openings is to shoot the Reaper’s glowing eyes until they can get a clean shot at one of the four tubes. Once all are done, the Human Reaper falls to its doom. In actuality, this scene is literally cutting the strings off a puppet… albeit, a highly mechanized and dangerous one.

5 Gears Of War 4 – The Hive Beast

The unnamed Hive Beast is one of the more fascinating creatures in the newest Gears of War game. It looks like huge cross between a rotten fish and a disgruntled cockroach. The fight begins with having to deal with easy-to-dodge projectiles from its protruding tentacles. Fortunately, you are in a Mech suit and only need to concern yourself with basic dodging and shooting. You go through stapling each one of its tentacles to the ground so that the beast rips off in trying to get free. Then, using a downed helicopter’s propeller, you slice off its legs and gut its chest. The gyrating propeller also acts as a good shield for the beast’s projectiles, which are its main source of attack. The fight takes about five to ten minutes. While it is longer than many fights on this list, it is exceptionally easy for such a fearsome-looking beast.

4 Spider-Man 2 - Mysterio (Final Encounter)

In the movie tie-in game, Spider-Man 2, Peter Parker faces off with more than just Doc Ock. Among the most notorious and memorable encounters in the game is Mysterio. After Spider-Man publically embarrasses special effects wizard Quentin Beck, Beck takes on the role of Mysterio and attacks civilians at a theatre and then attacks the Statue of Liberty. A short while later, Spider-Man catches up with Mysterio trying to rob a Speedy Mart. Mysterio’s health bar triples in size as he taunts Spider-Man. Given all previous knowledge and experience with him, this is going to be a tough fight. Wrong: all Spider-Man needs to do is punch Mysterio once for all of his health to drop and helmet to fall off revealing Beck. To add insult to injury, the shamed effects artist will keep bragging about his power if you wait to deliver your single blow.

3 Halo 3 – 343 Guilty Spark

After the Master Chief and Sergeant Johnson inform 343 Guilty Spark of their plans to activate the new Halo array, the monitor mortally wounds the sergeant. Seeing Spark take offensive action against those he believes are wronging him is a major step for the character. The fight starts immediately Master Chief is forced to hold his ground (as in dodge simple shots taken at him) until Johnson fires off a beam with his Spartan Laser weapon. He then hands it to the Chief who only needs to fire it 3 more times at 343 Guilty Spark in order to kill him. What’s curious is that Spark never comes across as strong in the series–usually serving more as a nuisance with a grudge since his Halo ring was destroyed in Combat Evolved. The fight requires a little more dexterity than Halo 4’s Didact, but is still extremely simplistic in execution.

2 Crash Bandicoot - Papu Papu

After dealing with the five opening levels of the original Crash Bandicoot, players are treated with the first boss fight of the game: Papu Papu. Crash arrives in Papu Papu’s hut, wakes him up, and then must defend himself from getting hit by the villain’s staff. The staff is used in two capacities: to spin around the room and trip Crash or to slam him across the head if Crash stays in the same spot for too long. There is, however, Papu Papu’s main weakness: if Crash jumps on his head, this tribal villain will lose a large chunk of health. The fight easily lasts under 1 minute. While not as intimidating as many other bosses on this list, Papu Papu serves as a solid introductory boss to the original Crash Bandicoot.

1 Fable II – Lucien Fairfax

Among the more notorious entries on this list, Fable II’s end fight with Lucien is…well, not really a fight at all. You absorb Lucien’s power into the music box, which is an important object throughout the game. Then, just as Lucien is performing his villainous monologue, the player is given the option to shoot him. If the player chooses to do so, you beat the main boss. Hilariously, if the player chooses not to shoot Lucien, one of your companions, Reaver will do it for you. This effectively means that you can beat the final boss without attacking him directly at all. Lucien has been built up the whole game as the central villain with devious intentions. He tried killing you as a child and succeeded in killing your sister. This is one villain not to be messed with… unless you have a gun with one shot apparently.