Video games have given players someincredible boss battles. Sometimes it’s an optional fight with a hidden opponent, and other times it’s the final battle with some twisted leader of a wicked organization. In the end, it doesn’t matter if they’re your greatest rival or some eldritch monster, all players want is a battle that’s fun, challenging, and incredible.
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However, sometimes you’re just not allowed to win a battle. Whether it’s a fight against an opponent that’s just too strong, or the dreaded win-in-the-game but lose-in-the-cutscene battle, some fights are made to lose. So, ready the white flag and check out some of the most notable battles where you’re meant to fail.
The following entries contain MAJOR spoilers.
10Kai Leng
Mass Effect 3
For a phenomenalRPGwith a wonderful cast of characters and storytelling,Mass Effect 3gets a lot of flak over its hindrances. The most obvious being the endings, the other being Kai Leng. The story treats him like he’s your equal, yet in the actual game, he’s kind of a hack. The only cool thing about this Discount-Vergil is that he’s voiced by Troy Baker.
When you encounter Kai Leng for the second time during the Priority: Thessia mission, you battle for control of an important alien artifact. Despite being a deadly assassin, he hides behind a gunship throughout most of the fight, and right when you’re about to beat him, he runs away with the artifact and there’s nothing you can do. He even has the gull to email you later claiming how he’s better. At the very least, you get to shut him up in your rematch.
9Goro Majima
Yakuza Kiwami
After being imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit, Kazuma Kiryu returns to the criminal underworld inYakuza Kiwami. But it seems someone was waiting for you, because the second you step foot in the city, Goro Majima challenges you to a fight. Unfortunately, ten years in prison has taken its toll on Kiryu.
Your health is reduced, you have limited attack options, and worst of all, Kiryu’s Dragon-style moves are gone. If that wasn’t enough, Majima goes all out, fighting like he’s the final boss with a health bar larger than his unhinged grin. Defeat is all but expected. Luckily, you get a chance to fight him again — multiple times. No joke, Majima is so obsessed with fighting you, he basically stalks you throughout the whole game, and you have to win if you want to recover Kiryu’s lost moves.
Kingdom Hearts 2
InKingdom Hearts 2, you encounter a whole cast of new and returning villains, and among their numbers is the wise-cracking Greek God himself, Hades, who’s still voiced by James Woods. During the adventure, Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy find themselves in the Underworld and encounter the villain. Even though you outnumber him, nothing seems to harm Hades. Because he’s not just any Disney villain, he’s the literal Lord of the Dead.
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So, of course, you can’t hurt the God of the Underworld when you’re fighting on his turf, because here, heroes are zeros. The boss fight is more about survival as your team flees Hades and his minions. Even when you face him again later, the fight is still unwinnable until Hercules comes to save you. Hades may be hilarious, but as a boss fight, he’s no joke. No wonder no one wants to die.
7Jetstream Sam
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Within a few minutes after starting the game,Metal Gear Risingestablishes just how quick and powerful Raiden is. Yet, despite cutting through multiple opponents and splitting a Metal Gear in half just a few moments ago, it isn’t until he meetsone of the best bosses of the Metal Gear seriesthat he encounters a real challenge.
In the first one-on-one sword fight of the game, you dual Jetstream Sam on a mobile train, only to learn he’s operating on a whole other level. Your attacks do little to faze him, while every blow he delivers sends you flying. Sam even has time to critique Raiden’s sword skills and ideology, right before he utterly decimates him. The upside is, after this mission, Raiden gets an upgrade with a new, more powerful cyborg body, and all it costs him is an arm, a leg, and an eye.
6Vanguard Demon
Demon’s Souls
If you’ve played the original orthe remake, you’re probably familiar with this three-eyed boss of Demon’s Souls. For every veteran Souls player, fighting the Vanguard Demon is almost a rite of passage — as is losing to him.
Though he is beatable, it’s a guarantee every first-time player will die here, as the game wants them to. This fight is considered a tutorial boss in teaching players the fundamentals of the game, and the first lesson is all bosses are not to be underestimated. Every future Soulslike game since has expanded on the rules, but the main factors can all be traced back to the battle with the Vanguard Demon: you are going to die to the bosses, and you’ll lose your souls when you do, but that’s okay because you’ll get stronger the further you get.
The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
Poor Geralt has it rough during the events of the secondWitchergame. Framed for the death of King Foltest and deemed a kingslayer, Geralt’s only chance of proving his innocence is to hunt down the true killer, Letho, another Witcher like him.
Tracking him to the Flotsam Forest, the two Witchers engage in a battle of swords and magic. Letho more than proves to be a match for Geralt in an intense fight. Unfortunately, once you cut his health down by half, the battle ends with a cutscene. Because of plot armor, you lose the fight as Letho knocks you back and escapes. Though this game is full of choices, you have no option but to take the loss. If Letho died here, the story would be over and several plot points inThe Witcher 3wouldn’t happen.
Devil May Cry 5
This enormous mess of power and tentacles is the main antagonist ofDevil May Cry 5, Urizen, and the first boss you encounter in the game’s prologue. After witnessing him decimate the Legendary Demon Hunter Dante like he’s nothing, you’re expected to fight Urizen as Nero with only one arm, and a sword and pistol.
With limited options, this fight is usually over in under a minute. The funny thing is there’s an ending if you do beat him in the prologue, but most players can only do it on replay mode. Thankfully, Nero gets a chance at a rematch later with a new arm and better upgrades. Another fight that ends in defeat. In the end, it takes Dante awakening his Sin Devil Trigger form to defeat Urizen. Twice. Give Urizen credit — he was certainly motivated.
3Darth Vader
Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
There are all kinds of villains and boss battles throughout theStar Warsgames, and in Jedi Fallen Order, players encounter some of the toughest ever seen. In the final confrontation with the main antagonist, the Second Sister, Cal Kestis proves the force is strong with him and prevails. Suddenly, a new challenger appears.
Out of the shadows, Darth Vader emerges and steals the battle and the kill, striking down the Second Sister and engaging the player in an epic showdown. Sadly, although you’re the main character of Jedi Fallen Order, you’re not the main character of the Star Wars franchise. Attempting to engage Vader will only result in an instant death. In other words, every enemy you’ve fought until now has only possessed a sliver of the power that Darth Vader has. All you can do is repel the Sith Lord while fleeing to your ship.
2Micah Bell
He’s the legendary rat ofRed Dead Redemption 2, the most hated character in the story, and hands downone of the biggest traitors in gaming: Micah Bell. This loss stings. Despite Arthur Morgan’s best efforts to keep his loved ones safe, all while suffering from tuberculosis, everything falls apart. And it’s all because of Micah.
In a big showdown, Arthur and Micah fight to the death on a mountain. Were Arthur at the top of his health, he easily could have taken Micah down. Unfortunately, between his dwindling health and fighting for so long, Arthur will die in this battle. How he dies depends on the player’s final choices and honor level, yet this is a loss that hurts since Micah gets away. The good news is you spend the next portion of the game avenging Arthur as John Marston, finally taking down Micah in the coolest mission of the game.
This entry might be cheating since RDR2 is not known for boss battles. However, since Micah was the final bad guy players wanted to fight, we’re counting it as a losing boss fight.
Chrono Trigger
The classicChrono Triggeris hailed as one of the best RPGs of all time for its characters, story, music, and art style. Given how time travel is one of the main factors about the game, you travel across the ages building up your team to save the world from the impending doom of Lavos, an almost Lovecraftian creature.
Here’s the thing. Unlike other RPGs at the time, you have the option to fight Lavos whenever you want. But such an attempt will only lead to a defeat and a bad ending. The game encourages you to play through the story, getting stronger along the way. However, even when the story has you facing Lavos during Ocean Palace, the battle inevitably ends in defeat, with the main hero sacrificing himself to save his friends. Not to worry. You get your chance at Lavos later — and his multiple forms.
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