The phrase "escalation of scale" has two different meanings when it comes to a story conflict: a metaphorical meaning and a literal meaning. A metaphorical escalation of scale means that the conflict is for greater stakes and will have a greater impact on the world in which it takes place. A literal escalation of scale is when the conflict becomes physically bigger.
In many games, but particularly action games, at least one literal escalation of scale awaits you in the back half of the story when the monsters get big enough to eclipse entire cities. The following video game bosses are examples of this terrifying, awesome, and terrifyingly awesome kind of situation.
Updated May 3, 2023, by Dennis Moiseyev: Video games always love throwing some of the biggest bosses imaginable at you to add some challenge and create impressive finales. But there are also truly notable ones standing even taller than skyscrapers, and now some more have been inducted into this club.
15 Flesh Golem - Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
B.J. Blazkowicz is an incredibly courageous man going up against waves of heavily armed Nazi occupants as a tropey one-man army. And perhaps this Flesh Golem behemoth explains it. The Nazis indeed have some big machines in their armory, such as the Panzerhunds and Ubersoldats, but they're certainly nothing compared to this monster.
The Flesh Golem is King Otto's little supernatural secret hidden deep underground beneath Wulfburg, which becomes an archeological site in Wolfenstein: The Old Blood to recover the creature. A ghoulish mummified body wrapped in flesh and chain-bound with green energy emanating from its mouth, the Flesh Golem is one boss B.J. doesn't need to be told twice to send back to its grave.
14 Erginus - Earth Defense Force
While the alien Ravagers that seek to conquer the Earth in every Earth Defense Force game typically prefer to make use of giant insects and arachnids, they have been known to deploy giant reptiles on occasion as well. When these reptiles reach a sufficient size, we hit the expected point: old-fashioned giant monsters.
Erginus is one such monster, a gigantic reptile creature covered in a glowing muscular structure. It's so big that the EDF had to develop the equally-gigantic Mobile Fortress Balam in a hurry just to counter it.
13 Yaldabaoth - Persona 5
This is the true form of the 'Holy Grail,' an enormous cognitive construct dwelling in the depths of humanity's collective unconscious. Yaldabaoth fancies itself a 'God of Control,' as it was created by humanity's unconscious desire to have someone else govern their lives for them.
Such a powerful desire, empowered by nearly all of humanity, understandably gave rise to a massive, terrible being. Luckily, Joker's Ultimate Persona, Satanael, ended up being just as large as Yaldabaoth, and with a much larger gun to put a bullet through its head.
12 The Hive Mind - Dead Space
All those Necromorphs in Dead Space have to be under the control of something, right? Well, the answer is this humongous, worm-like tentacled beast called the Hive Mind. After crushing Kendra Daniels, Isaac is its next target, and it proves quite the close-quarters final fight. And its boss design is equally terrific across the 2008 game and the 2023 remake.
The weak spots highlighted by a yellow glow are the smaller appendages surrounding its mouth, and the mouth now shoots out projectiles of gunk pods. The tentacles still slam down on Isaac occasionally, and secondary Necromorphs spawn in the area. However, the original sound design of the creature's bellowing roars and a more detailed Sarlacc pit mouth is much better done.
11 Calamity Ganon - The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
Ganondorf's original grudge against Hyrule had been festering for so many years, over the course of so many lifetimes, that when it manifested again in Breath of the Wild, it could no longer be contained by a physical form. Ganon, in his full calamity form, is barely even a living thing anymore, but rather an enormous specter of pure evil will.
Its hatred of Hyrule is so single-minded, it will stop at nothing to consume the land and its people in darkness. It was only thanks to the combined efforts of Link and Zelda that this literal living nightmare was put to rest.
10 The Icon Of Sin - Doom Eternal
As its name no doubt implies, the Icon of Sin is mortal suffering made flesh, a walking, breathing testament to the infinite cruelties of Hell. Tragically, this goat-headed titan used to be a human, but after his father made a Faustian bargain to revive him from the dead, Hell took full advantage of his tortured heart to create its ultimate weapon.
The Icon of Sin isn't just a massive beast; its very presence rends the surrounding space, guaranteeing that anywhere it sets foot is officially on borrowed time. Unfortunately for the Icon, the Doom Slayer was in an especially bad mood when it showed up on Earth, so that problem just kind of worked itself out.
9 Ares - God Of War
Kratos has fought (and beheaded) numerous giant men and monsters over the years, but we would be remiss if we didn't spotlight the one that set all of that in motion. Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with Greek mythology knows Ares, the God of War.
As an Olympian god, Ares' size isn't static, but whenever he appeared on the surface of the Earth, he made a habit of doing so in the form of a gigantic warrior, fitting a being of his particular office. Of course, that size ultimately meant nothing when Kratos showed up to claim his pound of flesh.
8 Eternatus - Pokemon Sword & Shield
In its base state, this extra-terrestrial Pokemon is rather large, but when it absorbs enough energy to reach its Eternamax form, it becomes a gargantuan titan, easily dwarfing any other Pokemon ever discovered in sheer verticality.
Fittingly, Eternatus is the source of the Dynamax phenomenon that occurs in the Galar region. Its true size is so prodigious, its mere presence can make Pokemon around the region spontaneously Dynamax. Of course, Eternatus is still a Pokemon. And as one intrepid Trainer found out, if it's a Pokemon, a Poke Ball can hold it.
7 Jubileus - Bayonetta
Jubileus the Creator is the lone Dea-class angel of Paradiso's hierarchy. Originally imprisoned after an ancient war, the modern-day Lumen Sages, mad with power, attempted to revive her in an effort to rewrite the rules of reality and place Paradiso firmly in charge of the Trinity of Realities, with both demons and humans under her gigantic boot.
With a last-minute summoning spell of her own, though, Bayonetta was able to call forth Queen Sheeba, ruler of Inferno, to gently dissuade Jubileus from being alive.
6 Earthbreaker - Wild Hearts
In the fantasy world of Wild Hearts, there roam creatures called Kemono. They're extraordinary beasts resembling familiar animals but on a more giant scale, and their biology is constructed of the elements from the Earth. There are many magnificent Kemono you'll be hunting throughout the game, but none match the size of the mountainous Earthbreaker.
Earthbreaker probably gets its name due to the fact it likely damages the Earth's crust every time it moves. This Kemono formed of terrain and rock resembling a bear is its own island mass and can easily camouflage as a mountain. It may seem impossible to take down, but it ultimately will with the unique options of weapons and Karakuri.
5 Thamur - God Of War
The new Norse mythology direction for God of War features its share of enormous bosses for Kratos and Atreus to overcome. Though the giant Ragnarok ended up helping their side in the fight against Odin in God of War Ragnarok, things played out much differently with another giant being from the previous game.
The final battle in 2018's God of War saw Kratos and Atreus having a long, drawn-out cinematic brawl with Baldur. But, technically, there was also a second boss. This frost giant named Thamur, who Freya resurrected as a ploy to thwart Kratos and Baldur from killing each other, often slams his fist on the ground to send waves of frost at you and also blows frost out of his mouth.
4 Jergingha - The Wonderful 101
The Supreme Commander of the GEATHJERK Federation Supreme Armada, Jergingha bears the epithet of "Machine World," and it's an apt one; the federation's GEATH-Wahksay planetary fortress, roughly the size of a small moon, is actually Jergingha's entire body, and he's got the firepower to go with his enormous size.
His Chi-Q Marble-Buster cannon can produce enough energy to, in Commander Nelson's words, knock the Earth into the next star system. The Wonderful 100 had to draw on the power of the entire Earth to create a beam of their own to match, and eventually exceed, Jerginga's massive attack.
3 Magus - Marvel's Guardians Of The Galaxy
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The final moments of the Guardians of the Galaxy game really hit you with a whiplash of final boss battles. First, you'll need to get Nikki back by destroying her Matriarch form, then defeat Grand Unifier Raker, the Universal Church of Truth's leader. Just when you think it's finally over and the credits are rolling, Adam Warlock succumbs to Magus and turns into this Superdome of a boss.
Marvel movies always have mid-credits and post-credits scenes, but this Marvel game gives you a mid-credits battle with a boss who happens to be capable of throwing planets at you like baseballs. Magus is extremely gigantic in his final form possessing Warlock, covered in purple and black shards, and towering over planets.
2 Wyzen - Asura's Wrath
The largest member of the Seven Deities, Wyzen is already a rather large combatant even at normal size. When he activates his godlike Gongen transformation, however, he looms over the entirety of Gaea as a massive bronze deity.
In this form, he attacks Asura by simply poking at the planet with his index finger, much in the same way you would "attack" a small bug on your desk. It is a testament, then, to Asura's own strength when he successfully beats back that gargantuan finger using nothing but his bare hands.
1 Giygas - Earthbound
When Pokey deactivates the Devil's Machine and lets Giygas' full strength loose upon Ness and his friends, Giygas sucks them into an entire pocket dimension. In this blood-red realm, Giygas is all there is, and all there ever will be, and those that dare to enter are bludgeoned from all sides by attacks the human mind cannot even comprehend.
To even attempt to ascribe the notion of 'size' to Giygas may be pointless. At his peak, Giygas isn't just 'big,' he is everything, and reality itself shudders at the weight of his terrible might. It was only thanks to the prayers of the people around the world that Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo were able to come back from this encounter alive.