Summary
The Legend of Zeldaseries offersa huge variety of boss battles for its players to experience; from bizarre creatures, to skilled human-like opponents, and even the Demon King himself, Ganondorf,Linkhas been tasked with facing countless different enemies throughout the years, but this franchise’s giant bosses stand out more than any other.
Whenever Link has to take down an enormous opponent in a unique and epic way, it always results in some of the most memorable playable segments in the series. Not to mention that these imposing monsters usually have impeccable designs and impressive technology behind them. There are a lot of surprisingly big bosses inThe Legend of Zeldaseries, but how do the largest ones stack up against each other?
Despite its more colorful art style,The Wind Wakerdid not shy away from making its cartoony version of Link face off against huge and intimidating bosses. If anything, this contrast made them even more terrifying, and this is especially evident in the battle against the Boss of the Wind Temple,Molgera.
This is a gigantic worm that can both swim in the sand and fly through the air of its boss arena, and its bizarre design is reminiscent of the infamous sand worms from theDuneseries. Molgera’s size makes Link look so tiny in comparison, which makes its inevitable defeat all the more satisfying.
While there have been many skeletal enemies inThe Legend of Zeldafranchise,StallordfromTwilight Princessis definitely one of the most iconic and memorable examples yet. This is not only because of its amazing boss battle, but also because of its sheer size and intimidating appearance.
Also known as the Twilit Fossil, this boss seems to be the corpse of an unknown large monster who Zant resurrects with his dark magic. Stallord takes up most of its boss arena, something that is fascinating because only half of its body can be seen by the player. After Link destroys its spine, Stallord’s flying head becomes the target of the fight’s second phas. Its head is still big enough to devour Link in just one bite, so even without its body, Stallord is still one of the franchise’s larges bosses.
The developers over at Nintendo have always been proficient at making good use of the innovative technology in their hardware. For example,Phantom Hourglassused the Nintendo DS in really clever ways,like using its double screen to portray the impressive size of some of its bosses. The Ancient Stone Soldier,Eox,is the most memorable example.
The moment that Link enters its arena, Eox’s size is immediately evident by the fact that he takes up both of the Nintendo DS’s screens. It should be noted that this is the same Toon Link fromThe Wind Waker, which makes this enormous stone creature even more intimidating. However, using the Hammer to launch Link through the air as he slowly breaks through Eox’s defenses ends up being really fun.
The spiritual sequel toPhantom HourglasswasSpirit Tracks, which was also released on the Nintendo DS two years later. This meant that the developers had enough timeto fully embrace the technology of the console in order to do bigger and better things, with an emphasis on “bigger”. This is especially true when it comes to its bosses and, as a result, the Lava Lord,Cragma, is the largest one between these two titles.
Similarly to Eox, this is a gigantic rock golem that makes Link look like a tiny bug in comparison because it takes up both screens of the DS. But that’s where the comparisons end, because Cragma is much bigger and more intimidating than its counterpart from the previous game, mainly because it’s also made up of lava and magma. Cragma is so incredibly big that Link needs to use an entire mine cart rail system in order to damage it, which results in a gloriously epic encounter.
Most fans who have playedSkyward Swordwill groan at the mere mention of this boss’ name:The Imprisoned, a large creature that has to be fought on three separate occasions with little-to-no variation, which can get really repetitive. Regardless of its gameplay shortcomings,there’s no denying that The Imprisoned is a really imposing boss.
Its design may seem simplistic at first, but it’s also surprisingly unnerving. Not to mention that this creature is relentless, as it will try to reach the Sealed Temple over and over. When facing The Imprisoned as Link, its sheer size is immediately evident, since not only does Link have to climb up to its enormous head in order to damage it, but he’s also smaller than the beast’s toes, which he has to destroy in order to start climbing it in the first place. To make things even worse, The Imprisoned will evolve in each subsequent rematch, gaining additional limbs and even gaining the ability to fly, becoming a true monster in the process.
As it can be seen throughout this list,The Legend of Zeldafranchise is no stranger to large bosses, but being able to fight these enormous creatures at their size is not something that players can experience very often. This is precisely why the Giant Masked Insect,Twinmoldisone of the most memorable bosses inMajora’s Mask.
These two huge flying centipede-like insects can be faced as regular-sized Link, which immediately makes their impressive size all the more noticeable. However, the real way the game wants players to defeat Twinmold is by wearing the Giant’s Mask, since this is the only point in the adventure that its powers can be used. With this mask, Link can grow to an enormous size, meaning that he can face these worms in a fair match. This is a titanic battle of epic proportions that could only exist thanks to Twinmold’s enormous size.
The final confrontation between Link and Calamity Ganon is slowly built up throughout the events ofBreath of the Wild.So, things get quite intense when Link finally arrives at Hyrule Castle in order to take down this evil being. During the first phase, Calamity Ganon transforms a big and terrifying monster, but things get even crazier during the second (and final) phase.
Dark Beast Ganonisa huge boar-like monster who can emit powerful beams of darkness that can obliterate Link. The best part of this battle is that Ganon’s incredible size makes good use of both the vast fields and the horse-riding mechanics ofBreath of the Wild. After all, this is such a big and open-ended game that it would’ve been a shame if the final boss was relegated to a small indoor room.The sheer size of Dark Beast Ganon is completely appropriate for the game, and it doesn’t make the fight any less threatening.
When it comes to the final boss of an open worldLegend of Zeldagame, it seemed like Dark Beast Ganon could never be topped. At least, that’s what most players thought, until the release ofTears of the Kingdom.This sequel not only delivered an even more epic final battle,but it’s also the home to what’s possibly the largest boss in the entire franchise:The Demon Dragon.
After Ganondorf desperately consumed his own Secret Stone, he became this powerful dragon of titanic size. Since the Demon Dragon is fought in the skies of Hyrule, not only the fight’s huge sense of scale is immediately palpable, but the gigantic open world of this game is put to perfect use. The Demon Dragon is obviously terrifying because of its design and size, and Link looks extremely tiny in comparison, but if this battle wasn’t already epic enough, Link gets assistance from the Light Dragon (who is actually Princess Zelda herself), making this final encounter even more legendary than it already was. It’s unlikely that a battle with proportions this massive will ever be topped in a future installment, but people said the same thing aboutBreath of the Wildonly a few short years ago.
