10 Genius Ways To Beat Video Game Bosses You Totally Missed

Ever since Mario, when confronted with Bowser at the end of 1-4, simply thought "sod this" and instead made a beeline for the handily-placed axe, video game heroes have been devising ingenious solutions to best their bête noirs. More often than not, the biggest of baddies can be sent to their makers not with an abundance of brawn, but brains. In many cases, there's no other way.

Sometimes however, David really does just have to say "it is what it is" as he goes toe to ginormous toenail with his proverbial Goliath. For these bosses, you just have to grit your teeth and get on with it, relying on a huge dose of brute force, not to mention a sizeable dollop of luck. There's no other option.

Or is there?

Maybe. If you're smart enough - or perhaps stupid enough - to try them, there might just be another, easier solution lurking inches beyond the box. They might not be the most noble victories, but who cares? After all, history is written by the victor. We're pretty sure Mario told Princess Peach he battered Bowser black and blue, rather than legging it past him like the plumbery poltroon that he is.

This shortcut to beating the Forbidden Wood's ferocious fauna in sea-faring Zelda romp The Wind Waker is so smart that it took fourteen years to be discovered.

The usual way to wilt demonic plant Kalle Demos is to send Link's boomerang flinging at its ceiling-clinging tentacles, followed by the typical tactic of flailing your sword wildly at the flower exposed within. But there's a much, much easier way.

Plants love to drink up water, but too much of it kills them - especially if it has magical purifying properties. A solitary drop of the mystical Forest Water is enough to make Kalle Demos wither and die in seconds. What does it say about gamers that they took so long to think about watering a plant?