Top 10 Hardest Optional Bosses Everyone Skips

“Hades” (2020)

In “Hades,” players are taught to fear their imposing father. But as it turns out, it’s the ferryman of the dead we should all be afraid of. Charon usually acts as a merchant. But after beating the final boss once, you’ll occasionally spot a bag of 300 Obols in his shop. Money ain’t free, though, and an annoyed Charon will kick off the fight when you take it. For someone so ancient, Charon moves with startling speed. His wave attacks cover a lot of ground, and his oar packs a surprising punch. The fight’s difficulty can vary depending on how many power-ups you’ve gathered along the way. Regardless, it’s a tricky bout and we’d just as soon leave the man’s money alone.

“Dark Souls III” (2016)

FromSoftware’s catalog overflows with brutal boss fights, both optional and required. When it comes to the “Dark Souls” series, we’re good with never fighting the Nameless King again for the rest of our lives. The first phase is just plain unfair as the King rides around on his pet Wyvern, trying to stomp you or burn you to a crisp. Many of these attacks come from out of nowhere since the camera is too close-up to include the beast’s full body. But even after that, the King himself is just ast frustrating. He’s a lot faster than you’d expect. And his moveset perfectly shows why he’s the King, especially his lightning attacks.

“God of War” (2018)

The fight against the Valkyrie Queen may be well-known by this point. But we have a feeling most players never got a chance to beat her. Even getting to the fight is a major uphill battle. You must first find and defeat eight other Valkyries, most of which will claim victory over you at least once. If you don’t give up, Sigrun will probably make you since she compiles most features of the others into one gloriously maddening package. You’ll need to constantly switch between blocking, parrying, and attacking at the proper moments to stand a chance. Even then, frequent deaths are a guarantee.

“Hollow Knight: Godmaster” (2018)

“Hollow Knight” is a fairly hard Metroidvania and its final boss, the Radiance, is a pain and a half to deal with. So when one of the game’s expansions, “Godmaster,” gave us the chance to fight an even harder version of her, many of us simply said, “No, thanks.” To even get to her, you have to defeat five boss rushes without dying. We shouldn’t have to tell you how difficult that can be. Absolute Radiance uses the same attacks as her predecessor, they’re just a bit worse. All of her moves deal more damage while her range attacks come with more projectiles. She makes the familiar seem unfamiliar, and she’s fought across six phases.

“Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion” (2018)

When Nintendo released the Octo Expansion for “Splatoon 2,” it capped everything off with a fight against a brainwashed Agent 3. Across four phases, you’ll have every single “Splatoon” skill put to the test…and it isn’t even the fight we’re talking about. Because as bad as Sanitized Agent 3 is, the optional rematch is multiplied tenfold. Inner Agent 3 comes with an extra phase, but that’s far from the only increase in difficulty. They’re able to dodge your attacks with ease, as well as unleash their own with higher accuracy and a variety of weaponry. No matter how good you are online, this fight will make you question it.

“Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice” (2019)

The name of this boss is pretty accurate considering ‘Hatred’ is a dominating emotion during its fight. After beating the Divine Dragon and returning to the Sculptor’s Idol of Ashina Outskirts, you’ll get the opportunity to face this boss. But we’d really recommend that you don’t, unless you want to rage that is. The Demon of Hatred may be a bit slow, but he makes up for it with a wide range of deadly attacks, many of which are fire-based and have different ranges. It’s fairly easy for the Demon to deplete your health in just a few blows, though you can only whittle away at his.

“Final Fantasy XII” (2006)

The “Final Fantasy” franchise has some of the hardest optional bosses in gaming history. And while many players likely skip out on most of them, Yiazmat from “Final Fantasy XII” is on a whole other level of tedium. With 50 million HP, you have your work cut out for you even if you’re as strong as you can possibly be. At half health, Yiazmat will reduce the damage it takes, while at ⅕ health, it increases its already impressive damage output. It also uses a move towards the end of its life that can reflect your own healing spells onto it. This fight can take hours at a time, so we can’t blame any players that didn’t want to commit to it.

“Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind” (2020)

Like “Final Fantasy,” the “Kingdom Hearts” series has many optional boss fights that are tough enough to dissuade most players from attempting them. Yozora is the latest of the bunch, fought at the end of the third game’s “Re Mind” DLC. After completing the main story bit, you’ll unlock the option to face thirteen bosses. There’s no indicator that a secret fight against the mysterious Yozora unlocks afterwards. Even still, he has a reputation. He’s wicked fast, can teleport, has a variety of ranged and melee attacks, and can possibly steal your health and items. Of course, being a secret boss in an RPG, he’s also incredibly durable and frighteningly strong.

“Persona 3” (2007)

Atlus added the Velvet Room’s attendant, Elizabeth, as a secret boss for New Game Plus players. But only those with the utmost patience should attempt fighting her and even then, who needs this kind of hassle? There’s a laundry list of rules to follow not present in other fights. You must fight her without any allies, you can’t use Personas or accessories that negate her attacks, nor those that reflect them. If you break one of her rules, she fully heals herself before insta-killing you. She also fully heals once her health drops below a certain point and cycles through different Personas each turn, forcing you to adapt on the fly…if you can.

“Megami Tensei” Series (1987-)

Clearly, JRPGs are a haven of challenging, optional bosses. And no boss is more worthy of skipping than the Demi-Fiend from the “Megami Tensei” series. Originally the protagonist of the third game, the Demi-Fiend shows up in a handful of other entries as a boss. If you begin one of his fights with an ability that counters him, the Demi-Fiend insta-kills you. That’s not a fluke, either, as he has another insta-kill attack he can use during combat on top of all the other powerful ones. He’ll also heal once he gets down to half his health bar and spawn another minion every time you get rid of one. These fights are only meant for players who really want to put themselves through the ringer.

Which optional boss do you skip every time? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe for more great gaming videos!