10 Video Game Boss Fights That Broke The Rules
A boss should be something the game controls... right??
Boss fights are a cornerstone of most action-orientated video games, and it's not unfair to say that most of them stick to a pretty rigid formula - one way or another, hack away at a giant health bar until the big bad boss is dead.
And so, those boss battles which dare to stray from typicality are all the more alluring as a result, proving what brilliance can be produced when developers dare to do something different with a most basic aspect of the medium.
These 10 boss fights all ripped the rule book up and forged ahead on their own, bucking convention with their fiercely singular encounters which asked players to switch-up their styles and think a little differently about what a boss fight should be.
With just one unfortunate, near-game-breaking exception on this list, these boss fights all proved what great encounter design truly is, while also confirming just how tough it is to innovate in this well-trod area.
Boss fights that deviate from the norm this aggressively only come around every now and then, so when you experience them, make sure to savour them...
10. Famed Mimic Gogo - Final Fantasy V
The Final Fantasy franchise has featured plenty of gimmicky boss fights over the years where players are encouraged to take a right-brained approach to defeat the enemy before them.
But even then, Final Fantasy V's Famed Mimic Gogo is a major outlier in that all the player has to do in order to progress through the fight is...a whole lotta nothing.
Those who immediately strike him will find that Gogo hits back with massive attacks which cause 9,999 damage - basically, traditional combat is a one-way trip to the grave for all but the most skilled players.
But Gogo does give players a cute little hint in the pre-battle banter when he says, "Could you imitate me, you'd certainly win."
And because Gogo is doing nothing but standing on the spot, that's all you need to do also. After about a minute of failing to select an option, Gogo will praise you for mimicking him before banishing himself and handing over the crystal shard for the Mime job.
It's completely antithetical to the ethos of Final Fantasy, RPGs, and video games in general, but for once the pacifist route truly is the easiest.