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Video Game Boss Battles That Are Nearly Impossible To Beat

Video Game Boss Battles That Are Nearly Impossible To Beat March 12, 2018

unbeatable video game bosses

At Obsev, we love video games just like you do. But there are some bosses that are so hard, they make me want to set my consoles on fire. And then there are the boss battles that are literally impossible. The designers intentionally made them unwinnable, to make us think outside the box. (Or sometimes just to be rude). So here are some unbeatable video game bosses battles we'll always remember for driving us completely insane.

Anubis

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Konami / GitHub

Jehuty, the mech you control in Zone of the Enders, is no push-over. But it’s nothing compared to Anubis, the game’s final boss, who is actually, literally, 100% impossible to beat. The best you can do is avoid damage when you face him, but his teleporting is next-level fast and every hit he does land is an skullcrusher. Kind of a sad way to end the game, but at least you have your memories of early wins to warm your broken robot armor.    

Zeus

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Sony / GitHub
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Kratos first fights Zeus in God of War II, shortly after becoming the new god of war. He’s tricked by Zeus into draining his god-power into the Blade of Olympus, and the thunder god, taking the blade for himself, attacks Kratos in his weakened state. Kratos is absolutely pathetic during this fight, limply swinging his chain-blades like they’re heavy, wet noodles. He’s quickly cast down to Hades, but manages to escape and exacts his bloody patricidal vengeance against the almighty Zeus. 

The Sorrow

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Konami / GitHub

The Sorrow is less of a boss, to be honest, and more of a storytelling device/gimmick. In Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, he floats in front of you as you wade up a river while ghosts of past enemies reach out and try to grab you. It’s really not a “fight” in any way, shape, or form, but you can still take damage – and, in fact, you have to in order to progress. Dying allows you to take a revival pill, which is the only way to move forward in the game. Here’s blood in your eye!    

Walter

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Konami / Giant Bomb

Silent Hill 4 was a bit of a sleeper in the series, but the main villain Walter Sullivan was a pretty frightening figure, especially as he chased you relentlessly over the entire back half of the game. All you could do was slow him down up until the very end, and if he caught you, you were in for a world of hurt. Also from SH4 are the ghosts, who appear in certain areas and damage you just by getting close and can’t be killed. There are a few special swords in the game that can be used to pin some of the ghosts down though, which might not be a permanent solution but is still strangely satisfying.    

Vile

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Capcom / GitHub
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The first level of Mega Man X is a tutorial stage designed to handhold you through the basics of blue bombing. You run, you jump, you shoot a few slow moving baddie robots. Then you get to the end boss – and he almost instantly knocks you down to a single life bar. Turns out this is Vile, the game’s ultimate bad guy, and like the villain that he is he takes a moment to laugh at his certain victory. That’s when Mega Man’s frival Zero shows up to save the day in the nick of time, freeing MM and kicking Vile to the curb. 

Sephiroth

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Square Enix
In the Final Fantasy/Disney mash-up series Kingdom Hearts, Sephiroth is truly the worst of both worlds, especially when you have the option to face him in the first game. For starters, you have to face him by yourself with no support from your team. Then there’s the fact that he’s insanely nasty, with lightning-quick timing, stacks on stacks on stacks of health, plus a sword that’s literally as long as three swords (and hits as hard as ten). Fighting him was optional, but not if you wanted bragging rights with the other JRPG/Disney crossover crowd.    

Seth

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Eidos / Tomb Raider Forums
The Tomb Raider series has been around for quite some time, and Lara Croft has been all over the known world by now. In Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, she squares off against the god Seth, who is completely impervious to any weapon and hurls bolts of lightning while flying around the arena. Like many seemingly “unbeatable” boss battles, this one is actually an environment puzzle in disguise. The answer isn’t to kill the boss, but to trap Seth back behind an ancient magic seal. Sometimes you just have to do some exploring to find the solution. 

Pyramid Head

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Konami / Critical Tea Time
[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] No doubt the most iconic character from the Silent Hill series, Pyramid Head first appears early in the second entry, complete with his signature triangular helmet and bloody butcher’s apron, staring menacingly at the main character James through a set of steel bars. During your first “fight,” he stalks you slowly dragging a gigantic knife as you scurry between corners, your precious handgun ammo pinging harmlessly off his headgear. If you can hold out long enough, PH will eventually leave…only to return later on with a new faster, longer spear – and a twin brother!    

Seath The Scaleless

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Namco Bandai / GitHub
Dark Souls is known for being brutal, but the fact that you HAVE to die in order to beat the dragon boss, Seath the Scaleless, is just completely contrary to basic video game logic. When you first find the giant worm in the Crystal Cave region, you won’t be able to damage him, so the best thing to do is just let him kill you (hopefully you spent your souls beforehand). You’ll wake up in a prison cell afterwards, then you can go show Seath what killing someone for good looks like. 

Ridley

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Nintendo / GitHub
You can’t beat Ridley, captain of the space pirates and long-time rival of Samus Aran, at least not when you first find the beast stealing a container in the opening of Super Metroid. If you’re very quick and very careful, you can actually do enough damage to make Ridley drop his loot, but it’s a small victory, as he quickly scoops the metroid up again and flies off, no worse for the wear. Next time, Space Pirate!    

Red Light Of Death

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Konami / Livedoor
[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] Sometimes it’s not what you see, but what you don’t see that’s the scariest thing. That seems to be the idea behind the Red Light of Death that follows you through the narrow halls of a haunted house in Silent Hill 3. By this point, you’ve seen some truly gruesome flesh creatures, but the RLoD will kill you instantly if it catches up with you. No fighting, no bargaining, no questions, just dead. Hard to argue with that kind of effectiveness.

Bowser

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Nintendo / GitHub
Bowser has been Mario’s nefarious antagonist for decades, but the mustachioed plumber has almost always had the upper hand on the overgrown turtle. That is, until the debut of Paper Mario for the Nintendo GameCube, when ol’ King Koopa gets his claws on a Star Rod and turns himself totally invincible. Only with the power of the Peach Beam can Mario and company break the spell and save the day.    

Psycho Mantis

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Konami / GitHub
This classic fight goes back to the days of the original PlayStation. In the first Metal Gear Solid, the stealth assassin Solid Snake soon finds himself up against the levitating, mind-reading Psycho Mantis. Apart from messing with your controller and making it difficult to move, the psychic’s wildest trick is analyzing your PS1 memory card and spouting random facts about the other games you’ve played. Nowadays this doesn’t have quite the same impact, but as a kid in the 90s, it was a total headtrip.    

Kain

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Square Enix / GitHub
[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] Final Fantasy IV has tons of awesome characters, but Kain, with his sick armor, brooding disposition, and signature Jump ability, just might be the most kickass of all. He starts off as a member of your party, then suddenly goes missing, only to show up a little later as an unstoppable boss. Turns out he’s not in his right mind, and he soon rejoins the group, but not before dishing out some truly brutal punishment from the pointy end of his spear.    

Lich King

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Blizzard Entertainment / HD Qualls
Hearthstone is an online card game based on World of Warcraft, and the prologue of the Knights of the Frozen Throne expansion pits you against a familiar character from the WoW universe: The Lich King, lord of death. The deck is stacked against you, with the LK playing incredible cards and you getting stuck with high-cost garbage. After your inevitable demise, The Lich King resurrects you in the form of a Death Knight, and the games really begin in earnest.    

Nadine

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Naughty Dog / GitHub
Quick, elegant, and deadly – that’s Nadine from Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. Nate, our fearless hero, fights her twice, and she kicks his butt into next Tuesday on both occasions. It’s quite the eye-opener in a game that’s usually not known for its combat difficulty, and in the first fight, you can’t even land so much as a single counterattack on the venomous viper. She’s that good.    

Mother Brain

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Nintendo / GitHub
[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] The Mother Brain in Super Metroid is indestructible and sports a killer laser beam which she loves shooting directly at Samus. When she gets our hero down to one health, Mother Brain is suddenly attacked by a baby metroid who drains her of her power, then restores Samus with that same power. The Mother Brain unfortunately kills the baby metroid, but Samus gets a powered-up beam and blasts the MB into oblivion, mother or no.    

Kusabi

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Konami / Zero Wiki
In Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly, the Kusabi is extremely powerful ghost in the form of a shrieking, wizened old man. Whenever he appears, the only thing you can do is run for your life. If he catches you, it’s an instant death, and the music that plays when he’s nearby is enough to stop your heart in your chest. It’s bad enough that your only weapon is a camera, and now even that won’t help. 

Jabberwock

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: American McGee / GitHub

In American McGee's Alice, there’s just no way to defeat the Jabberwock the first time you encounter him. The real point of the battle is simply to survive by running around, dodging his attacks and stalling for time until the Gryphon shows up and drives away the Jabberwock, at least for the time being. The next time you face the Jabberwock, he’ll be able to use his flying ability, which makes the fight much more difficult, but patience and perseverance will win the day.

Demon Wall

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Square Enix / GitHub
[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] The Final Fantasy series has a long history of including tough monsters called “Demon Walls,” but the versions found in Final Fantasy XII just might be the most terrifying. When you first enter the Tomb of Raithwall, you’ll soon be attacked by one of these stone sentries, and if you choose to fight, you’re in for a real challenge. Common wisdom says to run away from this battle, but as soon as you do, another Demon Wall will beset you. This second battle is non-optional, though it’s considerably easier than the first encounter, especially if you can chain quickenings at this point in the game.    

Handsome Dragon

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Gearbox / GitHub
Borderlands 2 had its fair share of big, bad bosses, but in the Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep expansion, you can find an honest-to-God unbeatable monster just outside the gate to Flamerock Refuge. While Tina narrates a game of Bunkers & Badasses, she’ll cause a dragon to appear out of nowhere to fight the Vault Hunters. Your weapons are utterly useless, and its special attack can instantly send your whole team into crisis mode. Thankfully, Tina soon calls off the Dragon and replaces it with a more reasonable, killable boss.    

Emerald Weapon

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Square Enix / Hudson River Blue
When you first get the opportunity to drive a submarine in Final Fantasy VII, there’s a good chance you’ll run into a big green manta raybot meandering across the ocean floor. And if you do, odds are almost certain you’ll be seeing the “Game Over” screen seconds later. The Emerald Weapon is a total powerhouse capable of killing your whole party with ease. Not only does the mech sport a bottomless barrage of heat-seeking missiles, but unless you have a piece of Underwater materia equipped, you’re up against a twenty minute time limit, the silent killer. 

Fortune

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Konami / GitHub
[dx_custom_adunit desktop_id="RTK_K67O" mobile_id="RTK_5yk0"] Fortune is featured in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty for the PS2, and she’s completely unscratchable. Shoot her direction, and bullets bounce away from her. Toss a grenade her way, and watch it fizzle in the air, a guaranteed dud. The only way to survive this fight was to run out the clock, then dash for the elevator once it arrived. At least we got to listen to some righteous background saxophone all the while.

Beatrix

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Square Enix / GitHub
General Beatrix is a finest warrior in the fearsome army of Alexandria. And no wonder – she’s completely unbeatable! Every time you fight her in Final Fantasy IX, she never fails to end each battle with a move that reduces all members of your party to one health. And she does this three times! Later on, she does make up for it a bit by joining your party temporarily, though she noticeably lacks her trademark invincibility. Maybe she just got lazy when she switched sides?    

C'thun

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Blizzard Entertainment / GitHub
World of Warcraft is full of nigh-impossible bosses, but this big sack of eyeballs was an especially tough customer. In January 2006, C’thun was patched into the game, and players couldn’t wait to try their luck against the Old God and his endlessly regenerating tentacles. There was just one problem – the boss was unbeatable, even with the highest level gear then available. Turned out the only ones who could topple C’thun were the developers, who soon implemented a number of hot fixes that made the primordial monstrosity fair game, even if he did still boast nearly a million hit points. Eyes on the prize!    

You

video game bosses
IMAGE BY: Sony / GitHub
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 If you reach the end of Shadow of the Colossus, you will have basically been invincible, because all the monsters have fallen to your sword…which, as the game tries hard to point out, makes you the actual monster. It’s a bit of a cheat, but the real unbeatable boss of the game is the player. As shadow warriors swarm around your character Wander, sealing away your limitless power, you can hack and slash at them to your heart’s content, but the true power comes in putting down the sword in the first place.

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