The Legend of Zelda franchise has produced some of the most famous and well-remembered boss fights in the video game world. The fights are not simply hack and slash, but often take some puzzle-solving. It is up to the player to discover the weakness of the enemy and how to best go about attacking that weakness.
Some boss fights are more satisfying to beat than others though. This could be because the music is awesome, the fight was incredibly cool looking, or the conclusion offers a good twist to the story. Or you just beat the boss in a very satisfying way. Here are ten of the best Legend of Zelda boss fights, ranked by how satisfying the bosses were to beat.
9 Gohma From Wind Waker
Gohma is the first boss of Wind Waker. The whole dungeon has the player climbing a volcano to reach the dragon on the top. However, when Link gets just below the dragon, there's this hideous bug monster in a pool of lava beneath it. It is just whaling on the dragon's tail. That creature is Gohma, and it has armor.
Stallord From Twilight Princess
This fight opens with one of the major villains of the title, Zant, reanimating a giant skeleton by stabbing it with a magic sword. In this fight, Link has to use his spinner not just to navigate around the sand, but also to use it as a weapon against this boss. The player uses the spinner to knock off three of Stallord's spinal vertebrae. The next phase has his floating head spit fire.
When you defeat it the sword flies off and explodes into a heart piece, so that is the cherry on top after an exciting large-scale fight.
8 Goht From Majora's Mask
Goht is the boss of Snowhead Temple. This monster runs around a race track arena and kicks up debris. Link has to turn into a Goron with a mask and chase it down, knock it down, and then wail on it.
The Goron you turn into is a recently dead folk hero of the Goron people. In defeating Goht, you are not only giving the Gorons a ray of hope in a dark world but you are also giving a folk hero a second chance to save his people.7 Argorok From Twilight Princess
First of all, this is an armored dragon. That already makes it a 10 out of 10 boss fight.
The climax of this battle has you use your newly acquired second claw shot to fly around the sky. Basically, you have become Spider-Man and has become an equal in flight to this dragon. How you damage the dragon is by grappling its back, which leads to one of the most epic scenes in this game. You get to ride a dragon through storm-swept skies as you hit it with the Master Sword.
6 Puppet Ganon From Wind Waker
This is the boss of Ganon's Tower, the final dungeon before you face Ganondorf himself. It has different phases in which it takes on different shapes based on the number of strings you have cut. Basically, its like a marionette and you need to cut the strings that control the puppet one by one.
Going out of this fight feels more like you conquered three different threats rather than one. After all that, you get to walk in to defeat Ganondorf with your head held high.
5 Stalblind From A Link Between Worlds
This fight makes the best use out of a Zelda games' core gimmick. That gimmick is Link's ability to transition from 3D space to 2D space has he turns himself into a piece of graffiti.
Stalblind has a sword and a shield. When you attack it, it will block with the shield. If Link becomes 2D on the shield, it loses sight of him and moves its shield aside to look for Link. That makes it so Link can exit the shield to get behind the boss and just start slashing.
4 Helmasaur King From A Link To The Past
This fight is simple, but satisfying. You have to piece by piece destroy the bosses helmet. You have to break apart its helmet before attack it with your sword.
While this boss has the "use recently found item to defeat boss" formula, few other bosses give you the raw and visceral sense of power from it. As the item you use in this is the hammer, and the core mechanic is to hit it really hard until its dead.
3 Twinrova From Ocarina Of Time
This fight is satisfying because it finally lets you sink your sword into the witch twins that have been plaguing you for so long. You start off by fighting the sisters as two separate entities, but then they become one singular unit.
The end of the fight gives a very satisfying conclusion in that the sisters' unity is torn apart and begin squabbling with each other.
2 Vaati From The Minish Cap
Like Stalblind, this fight makes excellent use of the two main gimmicks of The Minish Cap game. Vaati's magical volleys require you to use the four-sword to split yourself into four to simultaneously destroy his smaller eyes.
You also use the other main mechanic to diminish size and physically enter and destroy his own arms from within. These tactics make the fight feel like a true culmination of the abilities you got within the game. Defeating Vaati also triggers the end of the story.
1 Ganon From Twilight Princess
Of course, this list would not be complete without Ganondorf himself. His fight in Twilight Princess has a number of phases, each one feeling really climatic.
From horse riding to dueling on foot, there is a reason this Zelda game is known to be one of the darkest in tone. The fighting is all quite physical by the end, and it is reminiscent of Links' training throughout the game.