10 Best Boss Fights In The Legend Of Zelda Franchise

Few characters in video gaming can claim as many monster scalps as Link. Hyrule’s perennial hero has embarked on many an adventure, and a hero’s epic journey would not be complete without slaying a plethora of terrifying fiends along the way.

The Zelda formula is tried and tested - there’ll be stuff to collect, kingdoms to save, and dungeons to conquer. No dungeon is complete, of course, without a fearsome boss lurking at its heart.

As much a part of the Zelda fabric as the master sword or the triforce, the rogue’s gallery of bosses can match up to any games series. There are creatures of all shapes and sizes, the majority of which are lovingly designed for maximum fearsome impact.

Conquering the bosses can be among the most rewarding parts of the games, taking all the skills and tools you’ve gathered and using them to batter an enemy many times your size. The finest battles of the series are as gripping and immersive as the game gets, throwing you into the role of the hero, pitting your strength and wits against the forces of evil.

Twilight Princess does a great job of building up a foul new antagonist: Zant, the usurper king who has taken over the twilight realm. The majority of the game builds up to the clash with this power crazed tyrant, and the battle itself doesn’t disappoint (the game somewhat undercuts the character by revealing Ganondorf as the real power, but we’ll forget that).

The confrontation with Zant takes the player on a whirlwind tour of the game so far. The skittish boss flits between the scenes of the hero’s previous confrontations with the dungeons’ bosses - accordingly Link must use the relevant weapon from the original battle in order to best the big bad.

The battle is appropriately epic in scope, and makes for one of the craziest boss fights in the Zelda canon. Gant, a particularly well developed antagonist, becomes increasingly unhinged as the fight progresses: the previously calm and composed dictator unravels completely as he realises just how badly he underestimated Link.

The final stage of the battle takes place on Hyrule field, and serves as a worthy conclusion to one of the best plotted Zelda games (though there’s one more fight to come). It’s great, cinematic stuff.