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The QuickJump QuickList: Gaming's 10 most bad-ass bosses yet |
Listed in: PS3, Wii, PSP, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, PC Gaming Tags: Capcom, Guerrilla, Hideo Kojima, Hollywood, Super Mario

You may love 'em or hate 'em but let's face it, the contributions of bosses to gaming are almost as important as those of the good guys themselves. In this edition of the QuickList, we're honoring the cream of the crop among the bad guys. The criteria? We scrutinized each based on what he had to offer and what he does best. Whether it's style, toughness or infamy, we took them by what they had to offer and we found 10 left standing. Again, this is all subjective and your opinions are as good as ours. Here they are:
10. The Polar Bear (Ice Climber)- After hours of grueling debates on the subject of whether he's even a boss or not, the Ice Climber Polar Bear has eked his way to a cliff-hanging tenth spot on this list. There's not a lot to say about him in terms of difficulty, but gamers from the past know what time it is when they see the hot, red briefs over the off-white fur. It means you're taking too long to climb and he'll force-advance the level with a jumping fart.
Usually, there's no problem getting to his face and pounding his toes with a mallet, but when playing with a friend or sibling, it sparks an unfriendly war of who gets to nail him. The only way to make sure that you do the honors is to sabotage your partner with guerrilla tactics like unorthodox body checks and busting the floors where they stand. We won't be surprised to hear about domestic violence resulting from this scenario.
9. Super Bison (Street Fighter EX2)- This guy doesn't even have a storyline to his name but his arsenal more than makes up for it. Think of a fighter whose special moves damage like super moves, and whose super moves feel like Level 3 finishers, and you'll get an idea of what it's like to fight him. Add to that an unforgiving AI and you'll realize that you'll have to play a darn-near perfect game to come out on top.
7. Celia and Lede (Final Fantasy Tactics)- Don't expect them to win any popularity contests any time soon, but anyone who's ever played the original Final Fantasy Tactics will understand why they're here. Celia and Lede are Marquis Elmdor's twin assassins who have the deadliest abilities put together in one package. What's amazing about these two is that they don't need insanely high HP's or stellar attack damage. What they lack in stats, they make up for in skills.
These girls can Charm, Kill or Stop you with 100 percent accuracy at any given time if you're not wearing the right gear. Chances are that you won't be prepared for your fight against them if you haven't read FAQs in advance. It's not hard to figure out what to do when you've got them scouted but in terms of surprise butt-kicks, they're among the very best.
6. Mike Tyson (Mike Tyson's Punch Out)- His voice in real life sounds cute and he'll even give you a wink or two in the game, but be careful because that doesn't mean he likes you. The wink is actually a sign that your world is about to end with a right hook that floors you faster than you can say "don't bite my ear."
4. Nemesis (Resident Evil 3)- He's tall, tough, carries a rocket launcher and yes, he's freaking ugly. Give it up for Capcom for the paranoia that they caused us during our first run at the game. Not a bad showing at the big screen too if you compare him with other game villains who made it to Hollywood.
3. Bowser (Super Mario series)- He may never have had the luck to beat a fat, red plumber but you gotta hand it to Bowser because he just doesn't quit. With some 20 years under his belt, he's still the terrifyingly lovable boss whom we all hope will do a number on Mario one of these days. Overall, we'll give him an F for success rate and an A for effort and longevity.
Just what kind of influence does he wield? For one thing, he dominated message boards at a time when a lot of people were still using dial-up connections. We may all hate him for what he did to Aerith, but let's face it, he's the bad-ass who set the gold standard for the adjective.
1.FOX-HOUND (Metal Gear Solid)- We were a bit hesitant to place an entire group on top of this list but we just had to. It's a phenomenon that happened once before in our hot babes list with the girls of Dead or Alive and in the interest of fairness, we decided to have it again. Team QJ recognizes just what trend-setting impact these guys had on the business and that places them on top. We'd rather do that than take them as individuals and have them dominate the top ten.
Whether you're fighting the innovative battle against Psycho Mantis, pondering the motives of Revolver Ocelot or enjoying Liquid Snake's Aussie-ish accent, it won't take long to realize the genius of Hideo Kojima at work. All the fights are class acts in terms of personality and methodology, making each one a poignant and impossible to forget.
Hands down, the best part in the bunch was the moment Psycho Mantis reads your mind. It'll only take a matter of seconds to realize that he's actually reading your memory card, but it did get us all the first time around.
There you have it! Honorable mentions include Seven Force, Galamoth, The End, Vamp, Heihachi Mishima, Ruby and Emerald Weapons, SweetTooth and the giant fish thing from Balloon Fight. Who are on your lists?
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and he didn't even get a honorable mention?
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I'd like to see some real bad-asses next time. How about Kefka, the man that destroyed the world as it was known in FF6? Or even General RAAM from Gears of War, he's pretty hardcore.
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I'm a little dissapointed though. You put Sephiroth on here, but left off Kefka? I love FF7 as much as the next guy, but Sephiroth is pretty poor villan material. He kills a single girl (whoop de doo) and fails at becoming god / taking over the world. Compare that to Kefka's countless acts of villany throughout FF6, him pushing his way (quite literally) to becoming a god, and achieving godhood unlike Sephiroth.
Methinks this list needs more than a little tweaking.
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ganondorf? ridley?
and since when did become badass? he was pretty funny I think
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but i found fighting those metal gears in MGS2 hard as hell at first, cause i had no idea what i was doing (i wasnt paying to much attention and missed alot) but yeah the MGS games are tough when it comes to bosses
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Well, he did burn down Nibelheim, killing all those villagers, and he came back from the dead if only for a few minutes.
On another note, Kefka looks like a retarded clown.
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Sephiroth in KHII was difinitely the hardest boss EVER.
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9. Chance (Syphon Filter 2)
8. Shiva (Streets of Rage 3)
7. Umbra (Oblivion) OK she's not a boss but still badass
6. Any boss from Metal Slug (... Metal Slug)
5. The End (MGS 3)
4. Yazmat (FFXII)
3. Hind-D on extreme mode (MSG)
2. Sephiroth (FFVII)
1. Dark Aeons, Nemesis and Penance (FFX)
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and I agree, sephiroth wasn't that hard... I was thinking more along the lines of gabrielle celeste (or queen whats her face) from valkyrie profile lenneth..
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wat about dante?
wtf is liquid snake still doin on this list? WTF!
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10. M. Bison (Street Fighter Alpha 3)
9. Dario (Chrono Cross)
8. Bowser (Super Mario World)
7. Lavos (Chrono Trigger)
6. Culex (Supe Mario RPG)
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killer instinct!!!
cant believe he was forgotten!
hes the cheapest character i know
and took me days to beat him.
but when i actually could beat him
with ease i was beating everyone
i knew at that game just like eyedol did
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1. No matter how many times he is beaten, he always comes back as strong as before (well, until the game Aria Of Sorrow, in which case he has been reincarnated as Soma Cruz and chooses not to become the dark lord of his castle again).
2. Not many bosses can claim to own a rediculously large castle or successfully rule over their own undead army, and Dracula has an infinite supply of minions ranging from zombies to demons under his command.
3. Even outside the video game, the Dracula character is still famous and is the main villain in a variety of movies. How many video game villains can hold that claim?
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You are an idiot, sir.
Kefka looks retarded, period.
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Cheers QJ for yet another piece of useless, crappy and unintelligent piece of news.
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If you think Sephiroth from KHII was the hardest boss you've ever fought, then obviously you haven't been a gamer for very long.
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10.) Ganon (Zelda series)
9.) Goro (Mortal Kombat 2)
8.) Metal Gear Rays (Metal Gear Solid 2; Extreme Mode)
7.) The Pyramid Heads (Silent Hill)
6.) Ruby Weapon (Final Fantasy 7)
5.) The Final Colossi (Shadow of the Colossus)
4.) Sephiroth (Final Fantasy 7)
3.) The End (Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence)
I don't know if this counts, but...
2.) Legion (Castlevania)
And finally... The most badass boss I have ever confronted EVER!!!
1.) MUSHIHIMESAMA FUTARI (Mushihimesama [Japan])
If you've never got a chance to see this boss in action, this should make you reconsider doubting my decision.
Here's a vid to see it in action:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sQZuidKexBQ
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u simply just cannot dodge the fricking shots unless u spent 1000 quarters memorizing the moves in the first place
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