10 Infuriating Video Game Bosses NOBODY Beat First Time - Commenters' Edition
9. Dettlaff - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (2015)
The main antagonist of The Witcher 3's awe-inspiring expansion, Blood and Wine, is very much more than just a big scary thing for you to swing your sword at. Battling this extremely powerful enemy takes lightning reflexes, calmness under pressure, and more than a few lifesaving decoctions.
After hundreds of years of life on The Continent, the higher vampire Dettlaff van der Eretein crosses paths with Geralt of Rivia in the paradisiacal Duchy of Toussaint. While pursuing a contract on the so-called Beast of Beauclair, Geralt follows a string of murders that leads him to the elusive perpetrator. Except it's not a beast - it's a man. Who also happens to turn into a beast.
Like so many character quests in the Witcher series, Dettlaff's hostility depends on the choices Geralt has made up until this point. In most cases, though, you'll be gearing up for a fight, and a damn tough one at that.
The battle has multiple stages, each featuring Dettlaff in a less human and more dangerous form. If you endure until the final stage, you'll be thrust into a disgusting blood cave, where only by destroying the fleshy bulbs at the edges of the arena can Dettlaff be rendered vulnerable.
It's a lot to handle in one go, and if you don't have the potions, be prepared to get carved up like a jack-o-lantern on your first try.