Video games are often centered around their characters. They tell stories that focus on powerful, larger-than-life figures coming into conflict with one another. Plenty of video games are defined by their heroes. As the player character, their protagonists have to be distinctive, likable, and often epic.
However, most video game heroes need enemies to face. Some video game bosses go above mere obstacles into fan-favorite parts of the game themselves. Some go on to be one of their games' most distinctive figures, at least as well-known to fans as the hero.
10 Dragonslayer Ornstein & Executioner Smough
Dark Souls
Dark Souls is infamous for its difficulty, to the point of becoming the measuring stick for fair challenges in video games. Most fans agree that this difficulty reaches its peak at the end of Anor Londo when the player has to face off against Dragonslayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough.
It's a legendarily difficult fight and one of Dark Souls' biggest roadblocks. At the same time, it's fair and exhilarating. The player is outnumbered and outgunned, but they can use the battlefield to their advantage and focus fire on one foe. Ornstein and Smough have become popular Dark Souls symbols due to their difficulty, fun factor, and place in the story.
9 Sephiroth
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII is one of the most beloved JRPGs ever made. Rarely for the genre, it's a pop culture touchstone in its own right. Even those who haven't played it are well aware of the game. Aside from its main character, Cloud Strife, Final Fantasy VII is best known for its antagonist, Sephiroth.
Sephiroth is a popular internet figure, both in the eyes of series fans and detractors. His long-haired, sword-wielding, and often shirtless design have left him instantly recognizable. He's known for his cool factor, his importance to Final Fantasy VII's story, and his legendary final boss theme, "One-Winged Angel."
8 Lady Dimitrescu
Resident Evil Village
Resident Evil games are known for their larger-than-life characters, especially their protagonists. Resident Evil Village presents a rare case where a villain eclipses the hero. Ethan Winters is deliberately an ordinary everyman, designed to be relatable to the audience. Resident Evil Village's Lady Dimitrescu has become the most-recognized symbol of the game by far.
Lady Dimitrescu isn't Resident Evil Village's final villain. She's actually the first proper boss the player fights, leaving the game after its first act. Nonetheless, much of the game's pre-release buzz centered around her. She's notable for her design and voice acting, with her sex appeal becoming notorious. She also spearheads Resident Evil Village's unique slide toward gothic horror among Resident Evil games.
7 Blue
Pokémon Red & Blue
The Pokémon games each have a villainous team enacting some evil plot to do with Pokémon. The first two titles, Pokémon Red & Blue, have the iconic Team Rocket who have gone on to become franchise characters. However, nobody from Team Rocket, even their leader Giovanni, is as distinctive a boss as Blue.
Blue is the player character's rival. He starts his Pokémon Trainer journey at the same time as them. He's one step ahead of them throughout the game, culminating in defeating the Elite Four barely ahead of the player. When players finally beat him once and for all and become Pokémon Champion, it's Pokémon Red & Blue's most iconic moment.
6 Edelgard Von Hresvelg
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Fire Emblem: Three Houses doesn't have many clear-cut heroes and villains. It has four sides in its war, each of which has its sympathetic aspects and flaws. However, Edelgard von Hresvelg is a climactic boss fight in three of Three Houses' four routes, serving as the final boss on Azure Moon.
No character is as definitive to Fire Emblem: Three Houses as Edelgard, not even protagonist Byleth. She's prominent in every route because her actions drive the plot. She's also the game's most widely discussed and debated character, much more than its other lead characters.
5 Sans
Undertale
Undertale has become iconic for its humor and its deconstruction of video game conventions. Sans the skeleton is by far the most important character in these parts of the game. He offers constant commentary on video game tropes and clichés, as well as providing absurdist humor and some of the game's most iconic quotes.
Sans is only a boss on Undertale's Genocide route. However, he more than proves his worth. He's infamous for being the game's hardest boss due to his sidestepping of traditional video game mechanics. Undertale has plenty of iconic and beloved characters, but none are so central to the game's tone and style as Sans.
4 Malenia, Blade Of Miquella
Elden Ring has taken the iconic difficulty and gameplay of Dark Souls and exposed it to the wider world. In doing so, it has opened up plenty of dialogue about the nature of challenges in gaming. Malenia, Blade of Miquella is an optional boss found in one of Elden Ring's final endings. However, she's become a flashpoint for all conversations about the game.
Malenia, Blade of Miquella is made from the ground up to be extremely tough. She has immense hit points, two full boss forms, and the infamous Waterfowl Dance attack. On top of that, her design and history with Starscourge Radahn have made her a favorite of lore fans as well. Even though Malenis is an optional boss, she's become infamous to gamers as one of Elden Ring's most notable figures.
3 Calamity Ganon
The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a very open-ended game that allows players to roam the open world of Hyrule and find their own path through the game instead of sticking to a traditional one-direction script. Their only direct goal is to reach Hyrule Castle and slay Calamity Ganon.
This makes Calamity Ganon essential to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Even though he isn't fought until the very end, Ganon's presence looms large over the game in a very literal sense. Ganon has had many iconic forms throughout The Legend of Zelda's history, but none have defined an entire game in the way Calamity Ganon does Breath of the Wild.
2 Phalanx
Shadow Of The Colossus
Years after its release, Shadow of the Colossus still stands out from other games. Its minimalist storytelling and artistic presentation give it a unique feeling, while its gameplay is iconic and thrilling. No boss encapsulates everything that fans love in Shadow of the Colossus as well as Phalanx.
Phalanx is far from the first foe the player encounters in Shadow of the Colossus. It's the thirteenth of the titular Colossi. However, it's become the best remembered for several factors. Its beautiful design and shocking entrance eclipse most other Colossi. In addition, its lack of counterattacks hammers home the game's message of killing defenseless creatures. Phalanx sums up Shadow of the Colossus in one short encounter.
1 Psycho Mantis
Metal Gear Solid
Psycho Mantis isn't the final boss in Metal Gear Solid, nor is he the strangest foe encountered across the series' many games. However, his encounter plays out in such a unique and entertaining way that he's become symbolic not just for the first game, but for the franchise as a whole.
Psycho Mantis cannot be fought conventionally in Metal Gear Solid. His psychic powers reach as far as the player's PlayStation, reading their memory card and their controller inputs. Psycho Mantis encapsulates everything fans love about Metal Gear Solid, from its unashamed weirdness to its use of gameplay to enhance its avant-garde storytelling.