History AwesomeBosses / TheLegendOfZelda

* Molgera, thanks partially to its [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlF0-Qs2xkI theme song]].

* The battles against Vah Ruta and Vah Naboris are considered highlights of the game thanks to the fast pace brought about by riding Sidon and a Sand Seal respectively, the catchy and energetic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2Jk1FAXENs musical]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4aB4d0Cwag tracks]] that play during both, and because the fact that the Zora and Gerudo arcs are more fleshed out than the other two (particularly when it comes to the character arcs of Sidon and Riju, who help you fight these bosses) gives the player more narrative satisfaction when fighting

* Yuga is [[DudeLooksLikeALady horribly effeminate]] and [[AmbiguouslyGay camp as shit]] [[spoiler:and [[HijackingCthulhu hijacks]] ''[[BiggerBad Ganon]]''. Round one, Hilda vines up the walls like freaking [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Maleficent]], which means no wall-merging, which means this fight is almost right out of ''Link to the Past''. Then round two starts out as a game of [[TennisBoss Dead Man's Volley]], except he wall-merges right after the win - and Zelda gives you the ''Bow of Light''. That's right, you have to attack this guy ''while you're a painting''. First you get in behind him and shoot him in the back; he falls out, and you slash him. Then, another round of Volley. Then you shoot him in the ''face'', and while he's stunned, you go around and ''then'' shoot him in the back; he falls out and you slash him. Then he adds a ''second shot'' during the Volley, and you're ButtonMashing trying to keep up with this. Then he goes in, and tries to ''tackle you'' for trying to shoot him in the face. So you turn around, fire, and your shot ''circles the room and'' '''[[ExactlyWhatIAimedAt shoots him in the back]]'''. Then he falls out, and one more swing and you feel like a Hylia-damned ''hero''.]]

* The Ganon battle in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker Wind Waker]]'' takes place [[spoiler:in the middle of a flooding Hyrule]] and features a kimono-clad Ganon with two swords while Princess Zelda hijacks your bow so she can participate in the fight. And Link finishes the battle by jumping up in the air and [[spoiler:''ramming the Master Sword into Ganondorf's forehead'']]! And then Ganondorf [[spoiler: turns to stone]], but not before he utters some of [[FamousLastWords the most epic last words ever:]]

* The Gohdan fight. Maybe it's the combination of weapons you need to use, but also the music is awesome. Also, because it's right after Tower of the Gods.

* Gohma. You enter the boss room to find out what has been messing with [[EverythingsBetterWithDragons Valoo]]. At first, you just see Valoo's tail dangling through a hole in the ceiling over a pool of lava. Then, a massive scorpion rises from the lava, and you have to get rid of its armor by ''bringing the roof down on it''. As the first boss in the game, it's pretty awesome.

* The giant Octorok in the ice temple.

* Koloktos. Topping off [[BestLevelEver the Ancient Cistern]], he is a six-armed mechanical torso that seems easy at first. Use the [[WhipItGood whip]] to tear its arms off, then AttackItsWeakPoint to damage it. [[StrictlyFormula Same old Zelda]]. [[OhCrap Then it stands up]], puts a metal cage over its weak point, and pulls out [[{{BFS}} six swords the size of Link.]] And then it's chasing you around, slicing and smashing everything in sight. Oh, and [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies summoning zombies.]] How do you beat him? You whip off an arm, pick up that giant sword, [[AnArmAndALeg cut his other arms and legs off,]] and smash that cage to bits. He basically marks the point where Skyward Sword stops being great and [[SoCoolItsAwesome starts kicking ass.]] The moment when you realize you can just ''wield'' one of those swords is amazing. You target one and get Fi's analysis, and she says that despite their size, Link should be able to wield them. The first thought through your mind is "can I really do this?" And then, when you dismember three arms with one swing, your next thought is "Holy crap! This is really happening!"

* The Darknuts. One of the few enemies in the game tough and strong enough to draw out the full extent of the techniques you've learned, you're able to engage them in an extremely epic one-on-one duel in the main quest as you slowly wear down their armor before, like the Iron Knuckle, they become fairly agile without losing a lick of strength or defensive ability, fighting like watered-down versions of [[spoiler: Ganondorf's final form]]. Add in the fact that having to beat three to four of them at once to clear the BonusLevelOfHell is much, much harder than any of the temple bosses if you don't just chuck bombs and run away, and they easily qualify for the most {{Badass}} of Ganondorf's forces.

** You fight him in what looks like a floor made of water in the sky. You sword duel him in a fairly normal matter until you knock him to the ground the first time. [[spoiler: Then he gets to his feet, summons and lightning storm, and engulfs his sword in lightning. You then have to charge your own sword with lightning and stun him with electrified Skyward Strikes while avoiding his own Skyward Strikes and vicious charge attacks.]] Truly, one of ''Zelda'''s most epic final battles.
** ''[[SelfImposedChallenge Or]]'' you can duel him ''without'' relying on the [[spoiler:electrified [[TitleDrop Skyward]] Strike, which is likely considering that [[GuideDangIt nothing tells you that you can use it]].]] If this ''does'' happen, it can be really intense, because you can only get an opening by [[spoiler:either evading his strikes at close range or timing the Shield Bash to deflect Demise's strikes three times, then quickly counterattacking.]] Very tough, very nerve-wracking, and yet ''really satisfying'' if you succeed.

** ''[[SelfImposedChallenge Or]]'' you can duel him ''without'' relying on the [[spoiler:electrified [[TitleDrop Skyward]] Strike, which is likely considering that [[GuideDangIt nothing tells you that you can use it]].]] If this ''does'' happen, it can be really intense, because you can only get an opening by [[spoiler:timing the Shield Bash to deflect Demise's strikes three times, then quickly counterattacking.]] Very tough, very nerve-wracking, and yet ''really satisfying'' if you succeed.

* The game's final boss [[spoiler: Demise]] is one hell of a throwdown too. You fight him in what looks like a floor made of water in the sky. You sword duel him in a fairly normal matter until you knock him to the ground the first time. [[spoiler: Then he gets to his feet, summons and lightning storm, and engulfs his sword in lightning. You then have to charge your own sword with lightning and stun him with electrified Skyward Strikes while avoiding his own Skyward Strikes and vicious charge attacks.]] Truly, one of ''Zelda'''s most epic final battles.
** ''[[SelfImposedChallenge Or]]'' you can duel him ''without'' relying on the [[spoiler:electrified [[TitleDrop Skyward]] Strike, which is likely considering that [[GuideDangIt nothing tells you that you can use it]].]] If this ''does'' happen, it can be really intense, because you can only get an opening by [[spoiler:timing the Shield Bash to deflect Demise's strikes three times, then quickly counter-attacking.]] Very tough, very nerve-wracking, and yet ''really satisfying'' if you succeed.

* The game's final boss [[spoiler: Demise]] is one hell of a throwdown too. You fight him in what looks like a floor made of water in the sky. You sword duel him in a fairly normal matter until you knock him to the ground the first time. [[spoiler: Then he gets to his feet, summons and lightning storm, and engulfs his sword in lightning. You then have to charge your own sword with lightning and stun him with electrified Skyward Strikes while avoiding his own Skyward Strikes and vicious charge attacks.]] Truly, one of ''Zelda'''s most epic final battles. ''[[SelfImposedChallenge Or]]'' you can duel him ''without'' relying on the [[spoiler:electrified [[TitleDrop Skyward]] Strike, which is likely considering that [[GuideDangIt nothing tells you that you can use it]].]]

** The Bellum boss battles become even more awesome when you must use the Phantom Hourglass to ''stop time'' in order to hit him. Even better is the final battle, when you have to use your FairyCompanion's first person view on the lower screen to spot when his weak spot is hittable!

** Though they're pretty easy if you [[spoiler:use Bombchus]].
** OR when you [[spoiler:use the shield without Z-targeting and stab his knees full of holes]].
** In ''[=OoT=]'', casting the Nayru's Love spell is also fun. It costs a buttload of MP and doesn't prevent the monsters from knocking you down, but it makes you completely immune to damage until the spell wears off. (Unfortunately it also interferes with the use of magic arrows...)
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', the Bunny Hood allows you to run rings around those guys, which makes it a rather fun game of 'stab the big guy in the back'.

* Fraaz is a Keese-like creature that can use both fire and "icy fire" to attack, and has probably one of the catchiest boss themes from the game (sharing parts of it with Cragma's theme). Pair in that it uses the boomerang much better than the fight against Blaaz in Phantom Hourglass and that the boss is a considerable step up in difficulty from Stagnox and it definitely earns a place.

* Fraaz is a Keese-like creature that can use both fire and "icy fire" to attack, and has probably one of the catchiest boss themes from the game (sharing parts of it with Cragma's theme). Pair in that it uses the boomerang much better than the fight against Blaaz and that the boss is a considerable step up in difficulty from Stagnox and it definitely earns a place.

* Koloktos. Topping off [[BestLevelEver the Ancient Cistern]], he is a six-armed mechanical torso that seems easy at first. Use the [[WhipItGood whip]] to tear its arms off, then {{attack its weak point}} to damage it. [[StrictlyFormula Same old Zelda]]. [[OhCrap Then it stands up]], puts a metal cage over its weak point, and pulls out [[{{BFS}} six swords the size of Link.]] And then it's chasing you around, slicing and smashing everything in sight. Oh, and [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies summoning zombies.]] How do you beat him? You whip off an arm, pick up that giant sword, [[AnArmAndALeg cut his other arms and legs off,]] and smash that cage to bits. He basically marks the point where Skyward Sword stops being great and [[SoCoolItsAwesome starts kicking ass.]] The moment when you realize you can just ''wield'' one of those swords is amazing. You target one and get Fi's analysis, and she says that despite their size, Link should be able to wield them. The first thought through your mind is "can I really do this?" And then, when you dismember three arms with one swing, your next thought is "Holy crap! This is really happening!"

* Koloktos. Topping off [[BestLevelEver the Ancient Cistern]], he is a six-armed mechanical torso that seems easy at first. Use the [[WhipItGood whip]] to tear its arms off, attack its weak point ForMassiveDamage. [[StrictlyFormula Same old Zelda]]. [[OhCrap Then it stands up]], puts a metal cage over its weak point, and pulls out [[{{BFS}} six swords the size of Link.]] And then it's chasing you around, slicing and smashing everything in sight. Oh, and [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies summoning zombies.]] How do you beat him? You whip off an arm, pick up that giant sword, [[AnArmAndALeg cut his other arms and legs off,]] and smash that cage to bits. He basically marks the point where Skyward Sword stops being great and [[SoCoolItsAwesome starts kicking ass.]] The moment when you realize you can just ''wield'' one of those swords is amazing. You target one and get Fi's analysis, and she says that despite their size, Link should be able to wield them. The first thought through your mind is "can I really do this?" And then, when you dismember three arms with one swing, your next thought is "Holy crap! This is really happening!"

* The Stalmaster is one hell of a DuelBoss.

** Stalblind, the boss of Thieves' Hideout. He's a skeletal {{Expy}} of Blind the Thief, except he's armed with a sword and shield. The shield is reflective, so at first you can merge with it to spring an attack on Stalblind. After a while, Stalbind will catch on to your strategy and ditch the shield, and it becomes a full-on sword fight, with Stalblind even having his own version of the spin attack. Once he's near death, he will use the same trick Blind before him used: [[DetachmentCombat detaching his own head]], which will fly around the arena spraying black mist while his body continues trying to chop you to pieces.
** Gemesaur King from the Dark Palace, an {{Expy}} of the original game's Helmasaur King. If you're a veteran of that game, do you think you're going to use your hammer to break his mask like you did before? Wrong. You gotta blow him up this time and [[GemEncrusted can collect rupees]] from his body while doing so. Once his mask breaks off, he will take advantage of the dungeon's new darkness mechanic and dim out the torches, making him [[LightningBruiser dangerously faster for his size]].
* In addition to the recycled or {{Expy}} bosses, this game has some original bosses as well. One such boss is Zaganaga of the Desert Palace. Of first note is getting to the boss himself. Unlike most of the Sage dungeons, Desert Palace is in Hyrule like in the original game (but not a Pendant dungeon, as that role is replaced by the House of Gales). Upon going through the dungeon's boss door, you go outside and take another portal to Lorule. Once you get back into Lorule, you find yourself battling Zaganaga himself in a [[WhackAMonster manner similar]] to [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Volvagia]] over a giant [[ForebodingArchitecture out-of-place]] quicksand pit sitting in the middle of [[SwampsAreEvil Misery Mire]].

* The third boss of ''Seasons'', Mothula from ''A Link to the Past'', is a frantic and fast-paced boss. Arguably the game's first truly challenging boss, it moves at a breakneck pace in tricky patterns. It also tries to knock you into a hole which leads you down into a dungeon, where you bounce back up and start the fight all over again, a la Moldorm (Link to the Past incarnation) or Link's Awakening's Evil Eagle.

* The Nightmare. It's a FinalExamBoss, but of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'''s most aggravating bosses, not ''Link's Awakening''. Then you realize: this is no ordinary Nightmare, this is ''[[FridgeBrilliance Link's personal Nightmare]]''.

* Goht is the source of much entertainment. Throughout most of the dungeon, you're climbing up a tower. When you get up to the very top, you enter Goht's chamber. Initially nothing seems odd about it, so you [[SchmuckBait go ahead and fire a fire arrow at the thing trapped in a block of ice]]. A huge mechanical bull bursts out, smashes the walls, and '''tramples Link''' before running off. Well then, it's on now, so Link puts on the Goron Mask and starts to roll after Goht. As you roll down the raceway, you realise that this track ''wraps around'' the entire central chamber. You're using the Goron roll at full power, and there are jars that contain magic powerups so you can keep going without stopping. As you wear the boss down, he'll start throwing rocks, stalactites, and even ''bombs'' at you, and after you keep hitting him, he doesn't just collapse, he keeps going until he ''runs into a wall'' causing rocks to fall on him. And since he appears in ''[[GroundhogDayLoop Majora's Mask]]'', you can just keep resetting time, fighting him over and over. And that's why Goht is one of the greatest Zelda bosses ever.

* The third boss of ''Seasons'', Mothula from ''A Link to the Past'', is a frantic and fast-paced boss. Arguably the game's first truly challenging boss, it moves at a breakneck pace in tricky patterns. It also tries to knock you into a hole which leads you down into a dungeon, where you bounce back up and start the fight all over again, a la Moldorm.
* The fifth boss of ''Seasons'', Digdogger, returns from the first game. The first thing you'll notice in this fight is that the sword doesn't scathe him. Then you notice a spiked ball perched atop one of the room's pillars. Naturally, that's your main weapon in this fight. In what is arguably the series's most faithful example of "using the dungeon's weapon to beat the boss", you use the magnet gloves to attract and repel the spiked ball, ramming it into the boss. Then Digdogger splits apart into a bunch of tiny Digdoggers, which you use the spiked ball to ''run over''.

* Yuga is [[DudeLooksLikeALady horribly effeminate]] and [[AmbiguouslyGay camp as shit]] [[spoiler:and [[HijackingCthulhu hijacks]] ''[[BiggerBad Ganon]]''. Round one, Hilda vines up the walls like freaking [[Franchise/KingdomHearts Maleficent]], which means no wall-merging, which means this fight is almost right out of ''Link to the Past''. Then round two starts out as a game of [[TennisBoss Dead Man's Volley]], except he wall-merges right after the win - and Zelda gives you the ''Bow of Light''. That's right, you have to attack this guy ''while you're a painting''. First you get in behind him and shoot him in the back; he falls out, and you slash him. Then, another round of Volley. Then you shoot him in the ''face'', and while he's stunned, you go around and ''then'' shoot him in the back; he falls out and you slash him. Then he adds a ''second shot'' during the Volley, and (let's be honest) you're all but ButtonMashing trying to keep up with this. Then he goes in, and tries to ''tackle you'' for trying to shoot him in the face. So you turn around, fire, and your shot ''circles the room and '''[[ExactlyWhatIAimedAt shoots him in the back]]'''.'' Then he falls out, and one more swing and you feel like a Hylia-damned ''hero''.]]

[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shadowlink_4959.jpg]]

* Anyone who has ever beaten ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle of Seasons]]'' will [[ThatOneBoss shudder at the name Dark Dragon.]] For those of you that haven't, he takes, for a GBC game, a ridiculous time to beat, deals moves that are almost unavoidable, and only appears [[spoiler:after you beat his difficult, but comparatively easy first form.]] Suffice to say, one feels like a god after beating him. Of course, if you're on a linked game, you still get to fight Twinrova and [[spoiler:Ganon]]. Luckily, you're able to heal beforehand.

* The Stalfos enemy makes for some pretty epic sword duels. If there's several in a room, and you Z-target one, the other ones will leave you two alone as you fight to the death.
** They one-upped that one with the Dinofols, a lizard clutching a similar sword and shield in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]''. There's two differences: Dinofols is much faster than any Stalfos-- faster than you, as a matter of fact-- oh, and ''it can breathe fire''. Exhilarating!

* Volvagia. It's a giant game of Whack-a-dragon!
** The music for both this battle and King Dodongo are [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic truly epic]]; setting the perfect mood for being trapped in a room with something very big and scary that wants you very ''dead''.

* The death of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojWVxBdBh6o&fmt=18 the Helmaroc King]] has to qualify. The boss (a giant bird) shrieks, begins to fly up into the air, the searchlights catch him in their beams, he reaches the apex of his rise, gives one last scream and ''pow'', all while the victory music plays throughout.
** More awesome because that bird is the thing that kidnapped Aryll, and you waited to kick its feathered behind for half the game. [[ItsPersonal Sweet, sweet taste of revenge]].

*** And makes a weird, approving rumble when you do so, making it sound like he considers you a WorthyOpponent.
* The Death Sword, miniboss of the Arbiter's Grounds. You enter the room to find a [[{{BFS}} ginormous elongated cleaver]], tied down to the floor via ropes with prayer strips attached. It just screams "[[SealedEvilInACan Sealed Demon]], [[DontTouchItYouIdiot Do Not Touch]]", but [[ViolationOfCommonSense of course]] [[SchmuckBait you have to release it]], leaving you to fight a giant floating sword. The music is reminiscent of the Jaws theme as it slowly moves towards you...
** Of course, the thing isn't ''actually'' a floating sword; it has a wielder in the form of a seriously awesome, [[NightmareFuel if creepy as hell]], demon. But for the maximum effect, use your wolf senses before unsealing the demon, and you can see it there, holding the sword, just ''waiting'' for some fool to release it.
* Twilit Bloat (the [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere giant light bug from nowhere]]) can be incredibly fun for some players. There's something so satisfying about being confronted with a revolting, jiggling mass and pummeling the shit out of it.
** Playing this game blind makes it really awesome when you first knock it down. It's in the water, it's belly-up, it's got six creepy protrusions flailing about. You jump over to attack it, and you land on it. You try to attack the protrusions, but they just come back up. Then you remember that Wolf Link can leap through a good dozen targets in an instant, and you realize - this is goddamn '''Zelda'''. It doesn't matter that this thing came right the hell out of nowhere, you are going to kill it and it is going to feel awesome.

* Koloktos. Topping off [[BestLevelEver the Ancient Cistern]], he is a six-armed mechanical torso that seems easy at first. Use the [[WhipItGood whip]] to tear its arms off, attack its weak point ForMassiveDamage. [[StrictlyFormula Same old Zelda]]. [[OhCrap Then it stands up]], puts a metal cage over its weak point, and pulls out [[{{BFS}} six swords the size of Link.]] And then it's chasing you around, slicing and smashing everything in sight. Oh, and [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies summoning zombies.]] How do you beat him? You whip off an arm, pick up that giant sword, [[AnArmAndALeg cut his other arms and legs off,]] and smash that cage to bits. He basically marks the point where Skyward Sword stops being great and [[SoCoolItsAwesome starts kicking ass.]]
** The moment when you realize you can just ''wield'' one of those swords is amazing. You target one and get Fi's analysis, and she says that despite their size, Link should be able to wield them. The first thought through your mind is "can I really do this?" And then, when you dismember three arms with one swing, your next thought is "Holy crap! This is really happening!"

** Ghirahim's final form is an epic duel for the ages. After [[spoiler: taking his true form as a sword spirit]], Ghirahim lifts both you and him into the air on a floating platform. The fight then becomes a sequence of throwing Ghirahim off of a number of platforms, then [[ItsRainingMen plunging down on him from above with the Master Sword.]] When you finally reach the ground, Ghirahim [[LetsGetDangerous takes off the kid gloves]] and starts trying to lop your head off with a number of different swords, including a zweihander that you must literally ''slash to pieces'' in order to expose Ghirahim's weak point. And the part that makes this fight truly awesome? Thanks to the revolutionary motion controls, the one who does all of this is ''you''- you're not just playing Link. You ''are'' Link.
* The game's final boss [[spoiler: Demise]] is one hell of a throwdown too. You fight him in what looks like a floor made of water in the sky. You sword duel him in a fairly normal matter until you knock him to the ground the first time. [[spoiler: Then he gets to his feet, summons and lightning storm, and engulfs his sword in lightning. You then have to charge your own sword with lightning and stun him with electrified Skyward Strikes while avoiding his own Skyward Strikes and vicious charge attacks.]] Truly, one of ''Zelda'''s most epic final battles.
** ''[[SelfImposedChallenge Or]]'' you can duel him ''without'' relying on the [[spoiler:electrified [[TitleDrop Skyward]] Strike, which is likely considering that [[GuideDangIt nothing tells you that you can use it]].]]

** Gemesaur King from the Dark Palace, and {{Expy}} of the original game's Helmasaur King. If you're a veteran of that game, do you think you're going to use your hammer to break his mask like you did before? Wrong. You gotta blow him up this time and [[GemEncrusted can collect rupees]] from his body while doing so. Once his mask breaks off, he will take advantage of the dungeon's new darkness mechanic and dim out the torches, making him [[LightningBruiser dangerously faster for his size]].