Tux fights the Yeti boss in SuperTux.

A boss is an enemy-based challenge (and a computer-controlled opponent in such a challenge) which is found in video games.^[1] A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight.^[2] Boss battles are generally seen at the climax of a particular section of the game, usually at the end of a stage or level, or guarding a specific objective, and the boss enemy is generally far stronger than the opponents the player has faced up to that point.^[3]

History [link]

The first interactive game to feature a boss was dnd, a 1975 role-playing video game for the PLATO system.^[4][5] One of the earliest dungeon crawls, dnd implemented many of the core concepts behind Dungeons & Dragons.^[5] The objective of the game is to retrieve an "Orb" from the bottommost dungeon.^[6] The orb is kept in a treasure room guarded by a high-level enemy named the Gold Dragon. Only by defeating the Dragon can the player claim the orb, complete the game, and be eligible to appear on the high score list.^[4]

The first arcade game to feature a boss was Galaxian, an early shoot 'em up developed by Namco in 1979, where aliens were often accompanied by a boss.^[7] Several more early examples appeared in 1980, including Sega's Samurai (1980), a beat 'em up fighting game where the player fought multiple opponents before proceeding to fight a master samurai;^[8] SNK's Sasuke vs Commander, a fixed shooter that featured game characters instead of spaceships and boss encounters against shinobi who had special abilities such as shooting flame;^[9] and the fixed space shooter Phoenix, where the player ship must fight a giant mothership in the fifth and final level.^[10]

Characteristics [link]

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Bosses are usually significantly superior to regular enemies, and are usually found at the end of a level or area.^[11] Most games also include a "final" boss, which is usually the main antagonist in the story, at the very end of the game. Some examples include Bowser from the Mario series and Doctor Wily from Mega Man. While most games include a mixture of boss opponents and regular opponents, some games have only regular opponents and some games have only bosses – for example, Shadow of the Colossus has no enemies other than bosses.^[12] In games such as Duke Nukem 3D, the first boss even reappears throughout the game as an uncommon enemy. However, they are weaker than the original. In a similar vein, a relatively powerful enemy may be introduced via a boss battle, but later appear as an uncommon but strong enemy, after the player has had a chance to find more powerful weaponry or a weakness it may have. An example of this is in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, where the game's second boss, the Giant Skeleton, reappears in later areas as a normal enemy, with the player even fighting two at once at one point.

Boss battles are typically seen as dramatic events. As such, they are usually characterized with unique music, and/or cutscenes before and after the boss battle. Recurring bosses and final bosses may have their own specific theme music, to distinguish them from other boss battles.

Some bosses require the player to defeat them in a certain way that may be unusual to normal attacks, such as requiring the player to use a certain weapon, such as in Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts, or hitting the boss in a certain area, termed a "weak point", such as in the Metroid series. Story-centered bosses of this type will sometimes require certain prerequisites to be performed during the fight for the player to succeed, such as a requirement that a partner must stay alive during the battle or sequence to be counted as a victory. The most common games that have these requirements are the games in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, which players can usually have a partner during a mission that they must protect; the final mission of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is an example of a boss battle that requires both a side character to remain alive and for additional actions to be taken in order to defeat him.

In some games, the boss returns after being defeated, sometimes in a new form with alternate attacks. This can repeat a certain number of times before the player faces their final and most powerful form. The Final Fantasy series is well known for this style of boss, often having as many as 5 phases in a single boss battle (Sorceress Ultimecia being this example; other FF villains such as Sephiroth and Vayne have from 2 to 4 stages). The Mega Man series of games also prominently display this, with the main villain (Doctor Wily; Sigma; Copy X, Elpizo, Omega, and Doctor Wiel) adopting a second and even third vehicle/body immediately after the first is destroyed to continue the fight.

As they can sustain a lot more damage than normal foes, bosses commonly have a health bar which is displayed either on/near them or in a specific location on the HUD, usually with their name or a portrait of them attached. In lieu of a health bar, some bosses, like those in the early Metroid games, change color, change attack patterns or, in the case of larger enemies, lose parts of their overall structure as they receive more and more damage. Although health bars or indicators were less common in the early days of video gaming, they are now found in many video game boss battles.^{[citation needed]}

Some games also feature a sequence of consecutive boss battles as an extra challenge, sometimes known as a "Boss Rush". Boss Rush modes often include a timer and record the time taken to defeat both the singular bosses and all the bosses as a whole. Occasionally, the Boss Rush may not be a "mode" at all, instead having previous bosses placed in the game a second time, sometimes with more powerful attacks and more demanding patterns. The Mega Man series is most famous for and possibly the instigator of the Boss Rush, as every game in every series has the player fight the bosses again in the final stages just before the final boss. Gradius III also features this. ^[13]

Types [link]

Miniboss [link]

A miniboss, also known as a middle boss, sub-boss, or midboss, is a boss smaller and usually weaker than the main boss in the area or level. Some minibosses are simply stronger versions of regular enemies, like in the Kirby games. Some well known video game characters who usually take the role of a miniboss are Dark Link (The Legend of Zelda series), Vile (Mega Man X series) and Allen O'Neil (Metal Slug) and Zhenfang (STORM). Minibosses are sometimes encountered later in the game as normal enemies.

Superboss [link]

A superboss is a type of boss most commonly found in Role-playing video games. They are considered optional enemies, though optional bosses are not all superbosses, and do not have to be defeated to complete the game. They are generally much more powerful than the bosses encountered as part of the main game's plot or quest, and often the player is required to complete a sidequest or the entire game to fight the superboss. For example, in Final Fantasy VII, the player may choose to seek out and fight the Ruby and Emerald Weapons. Some superbosses will take the place of the final boss if certain requirements are met. This is common in fighting games, including Reptile in Mortal Kombat and Akuma in Super Street Fighter II Turbo.

Some superbosses can also yield special items or skills that cannot be found any other way that can give a player a significant advantage during playthrough of the rest of the game, such as added experience or a superpowered weapon. The Ultima Weapon from Final Fantasy VIII is an example of this; players can draw the Eden summon monster from Ultima Weapon, which is the game's most powerful summon. Neither this summon nor the fight itself is required to complete the game, but getting them makes the game significantly easier than if the player goes without it. Another example is Dragon Quest VI's superboss Dark Dream, which if defeated quickly enough will then defeat the final boss Mortamor on the player's behalf.

Final Boss [link]

The final boss is the final opponent at the end of the game often takes the form of all Bosses, or takes the form of the strongest opponents. They are usually the main antagonists of the game. Final bosses usually have their own special music tracks that are more dramatic than the music for the other bosses. The final boss is often the final Level and after his/her defeat is often the end of the game. The levels they inhabit are usually heavily guarded by smaller enemies, making the route to the final boss difficult. It may also be that it is the final boss which appears after the completion of additional levels, or after finding a few items and hero gains a stronger form and fights with the ultimate true final boss. The first time it was used in Sonic & Knuckles. Although it is not common, some games make the final boss a character who is not the main antagonist. Some examples would be Bowser (Mario Series), Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda Series), General Alister Azimuth (Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time), Phantoon (Metroid: Other M), the Finalhazard (Sonic Adventure 2), Red (Pokémon Gold and Silver), Buckethead King Neptune (The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie), Clayface (Batman: Arkham City), Monster Ock (Spider-Man), Destructor (Futurama: The Game), and Satan (The Binding of Isaac)).

References [link]

External links [link]

• Top 10 Video game Bosses at GameSpot
• Retro Junk - Top 10 Bosses of the 2D Era at Retro Junk