7 Video Game Protagonists Who Would Make Great Boss Fights

There are plenty of iconic video game protagonists who dominate every battlefield they walk into, surviving against absurd odds through sheer skill, strength, or stubborn narrative armor. But every once in a while, players find themselves wondering… what if they were on the other side of the health bar? What if that seemingly unstoppable force was an enemy to overcome, not the character the camera’s stuck behind?

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This list imagines what it would be like if some of gaming’s most beloved (and deadly) heroes flipped the script and became a boss fight. Not every protagonist would make a great boss, but the ones here? They’d be unforgettable fights—whether for their tactical brutality, overwhelming power, or sheer emotional weight.

7 Dante

The Boss Fight Would Have Style Rankings

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood, Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Violence

Dante isn’t just stylish—he invented style. Every move in Devil May Cry 5 feels like a guitar solo, and he’s the guy headbanging through it without missing a beat. Dante’s arsenal ranges from demonic gauntlets to literal motorcycles used as nunchucks; and yes, that’s just the warm-up.

As a boss, Dante would break every rule of traditional combat. He’d taunt mid-fight to boost his own power, cycle through four different fighting styles in seconds, pull out a shotgun, switch to a claymore mid-combo, and then summon a devil form that makes gravity optional.

Every phase would be more chaotic than the last, but always perfectly choreographed. The camera wouldn’t follow him; it would struggle to keep up. And worst of all, he’d rate the player’s performance. Nothing stings more than getting annihilated and then seeing a “C – Crazy” pop up on screen.

6 Lara Croft

Even Her Boss Fight Would Be Meticulously Documented In A Codex

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language

The 2013 Tomb Raider reboot didn’t just reintroduce Lara—it hardened her. Players watched as she evolved from stranded academic to ruthless survivor, building makeshift bows from scrap and learning to kill when every other option ran out. By the end, Lara had performed enough headshots, stealth takedowns, and explosive tricks to qualify as her own special ops unit.

As a boss, Lara would be a master of her terrain. Her fight would take place in a dense jungle, filled with traps she’d crafted in real-time, zip lines she uses to disappear, and elevated sniping points she rotates through like she’s playing tactical chess. Think guerilla warfare meets puzzle-solving meets total panic.

And don’t expect to get in close. The moment someone tries melee, she’s got a pickaxe ready—and it’s not used for climbing. Every phase of the fight would feel like chasing a shadow, only to realize she’s already flanked from behind.

5 Samus Aran

Samus Doesn’t Need To Speak, Her Arsenal Does It For Her

ESRB

T for Teen: Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence

There’s a reason bosses fear Samus more than she fears them. In Metroid Dread, she’s not just a bounty hunter. She’s a one-woman extinction event wrapped in an armored suit that only gets scarier the longer a fight goes on. Her boss fight would feel like chasing a freight train—except the train has missiles.

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She’d start the encounter in motion, never letting the player breathe. Morph Ball bombs to flush enemies out. Screw Attacks slicing through defenses. And when the player finally finds a rhythm, she’d enter her second phase: flash shift dashes, counters that punish mistimed hits, and Storm Missiles that track through cover like heat-seeking regret.

Her movements are mechanical, precise, and horrifyingly fast. The longer the fight lasts, the more tech she unlocks—until players are dodging plasma beams while praying for a checkpoint. And even then, they wouldn’t be safe.

4 Joel

Losing To Joel Would Hurt More Than Just Your HP

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language

There’s no mistaking Joel for a flashy fighter. No magic spells, no double jumps, no combos with twenty different inputs. Just a worn-out man with a revolver, a shiv, and the kind of determination that doesn’t blink. In The Last of Us, Joel survives not because he’s the strongest, but because he’s willing to go further than anyone else.

His boss fight wouldn’t be about spectacle. It’d be quiet. Intimate. Terrifying. Picture an abandoned building, flooded with shadows and creaking floors. One moment, nothing. The next, Joel is behind and has the player in a chokehold, whispering apologies before taking the shot.

His AI would mirror how players controlled him—crafting weapons mid-fight, throwing bottles to mislead, laying nail bombs near escape routes. There wouldn’t be music. Just breathing, and the slow realization that Joel isn’t trying to win. He’s trying to end it.

3 Geralt Of Rivia

No One Out-Parries The White Wolf

ESRB

M for Mature: Use of Alcohol, Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content

There’s a reason even the most powerful monsters hesitate when they smell wolf. Geralt is more than a swordsman—he’s a mutant honed by potions, experiments, and decades of battlefield trauma. In The Witcher 3, his duels are less about brute force and more about timing, preparation, and cold-blooded execution.

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Facing Geralt in a boss fight would feel like going toe-to-toe with a walking encyclopedia of murder. He’d open with Yrden to slow the player’s movement, then follow up with a flurry of fast strikes and a perfectly-timed Quen shield to absorb any retaliation. Poisoned blades? Absolutely. Bombs that stagger and blind? Naturally.

But what makes him terrifying isn’t just his tools—it’s how he adapts. Dodge too much, and he switches to wide, sweeping combos. Play too aggressively, and suddenly he’s flanking for a critical hit. The White Wolf doesn’t bark. He bites—and then he ends it.

2 Aloy

If She Can Solo A Mechanical T-Rex, What Chance Does Anyone Else Have?

Horizon Zero Dawn

Released

February 28, 2017

ESRB

T for Teen – Blood, Drug Reference, Language, Mild Sexual Themes, Violence

Aloy might’ve grown up as an outcast, but by the end of Horizon Zero Dawn, she’s a tactical genius armed with a thousand-year-old AI and a quiver full of science-fiction explosives. She doesn’t just fight machines—she dismantles them mid-battle, reverse-engineers their weapons, then uses those same weapons against their friends.

As a boss, she’d be a whirlwind of status effects and elemental mayhem. Frost traps locking movement. Shock wires that disable gear. Fire arrows that ignite swaths of the arena. Just when it seems like she’s pinned down, out comes the Ropecaster to immobilize whoever dared get too close.

More terrifyingly, she learns. Use one strategy too long, and she shifts. Focuses on weaknesses. Outsmarts, then overwhelms. Fighting her would feel like trying to beat an entire hunting lodge with a slingshot. Except she has the slingshot, and she knows how to kill with it.

1 Kratos

The Only Thing Stronger Than Kratos’ Rage Is His Final Phase

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language

There’s a reason this guy was a boss fight once—and it wasn’t even in his own game. Back in Mortal Kombat 9, Kratos was a secret opponent who could parry X-ray attacks with nothing but his arms and his fury. But in God of War (2018), he’s become something else entirely. Not just a war machine but a father dragging a lifetime of bloodshed behind him.

Imagine facing him at peak form, Leviathan Axe in one hand and Blades of Chaos wrapping around the arena like flaming vines. He wouldn’t just charge forward; he’d read attacks like he reads Greek tragedies—grimly, precisely. Players would need to dodge a whirlwind of elemental attacks while also figuring out when to parry his barehanded combos and when to run.

And just when it feels like he’s done? Cue Atreus joining in. A second phase where he supports Kratos with pinpoint shock arrows and status debuffs, all while yelling Norse insults that hit harder than the arrows themselves.

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