LogFAQs > #951491501

32 - Chaos Witch Quelaag (DS1)
Amazing Chest Ahead! Quelaag makes quite an entrance, and memes/horny-jail aside, the contrast of the "beautiful maiden" upper body and "hideous hell-spider" lower body makes for one of the most visually striking boss designs in Souls. She is also mechanically the most complicated boss you've fought so far on your Souls journey, forcing you to dodge the wide swings of her blade while paying careful mind to the lava the spider half spews (not to mention the devastating AoE explosion, certain to teach you a lesson the hard way). The heartbreaking discovery of her dying sister behind her adds emotional complications to her as well.

31 - Iudex Gundyr (DS3)
Dark Souls 3 wastes no time teaching you to expect the unexpected. Drawing the sword from Gundyr to wake him up is a really cool moment, and the fight itself is a fitting tutorial for dodging heavy blows... and then the writhing Pus of Man erupts from him, turning the battle on its head and likely sending even an experienced Souls player into a bit of a panic. This all makes for the best opening boss fight in the trilogy (granted, DS2 doesn't really have a "tutorial boss," so it's between Iudex and Asylum) and a fitting teaser for the horrors to come in Lothric.

30 - Smelter Demon (DS2)
This boss's big brother, the Blue Smelter Demon, earned a bottom ten spot on the list for being derivative, having a DoT effect for the crime of simply standing near him, and featuring one of the worst runs back in the trilogy. Fortunately, the base Smelter Demon found in Iron Keep has no such problems. This boss's moveset is punishing if you aren't careful, but he provides a great mid-game challenge that might stonewall unfamiliar players for a bit as they learn his safe openings. Once he powers himself up mid-fight, you're in for an intense clash as you try to extinguish the Old Iron King's killer for good.

29 - Vordt of the Boreal Valley (DS3)
If you compare and contrast the first "real" bosses at the end of each game's first area (Taurus Demon, Last Giant, and Vordt), this hunched over dog-like manbeast stands head and shoulders above the rest -- pun intended. While Vordt would have been a little too much as a tutorial boss, he provides a healthy amount of early-game challenge without really breaking your spirit. He introduces the Frostbite mechanic that you'll see plenty throughout your journey and most likely will serve as the one to teach any newcomers that you probably don't need to ALWAYS be locked on. Staying behind/under him and rolling past his attacks should make quick work of him, but he's still got a nice quick pace to his fight and is an almost perfectly tuned battle for this stage. Plus, he teases all the rest of the "fun times" associated with the Boreal Valley well in advance.

28 - Aava, the Kings Pet (DS2 - Crown of the Ivory King)
Similarly to what I said about Blue Smelter vs. regular Smelter, the only reason Lud & Zallen found themselves so low on the list was because of an atrocious corpse run and being a repeat fight with an awkward mechanic. Even moreso than the Smelter Demon, though, Aava's base fight is just a total blast. If you're keeping score at home, there's only one non-dragon beast fight left on the list, so I hold Aava in quite high regard. This tiger will mess you up good and proper if you aren't paying attention to its moves and learning your openings, but once you're in the swing of it, the fight becomes a thrilling challenge to not mess up before you deplete Aava's huge health pool. Add in the fun twist of her being invisible if you don't heed the warnings to turn back before having the necessary item and you've got a winner.

27 - Old Demon King (DS3)
This boss really put me through my paces back on my first ever playthrough back in the day. I didn't struggle quite as hard this time, but he's still got a pretty large moveset that will kill you in a big hurry if you aren't careful. I appreciate the addition of some (very) deadly pyromancy to this guy, preventing him from being just another big demon with a hammer and making you think on your feet. They did a great job in his design and his abilities of making him feel more "noble" than your typical demon. My favorite aspect of the fight, however, is when he lets out that last desperate burst of flame and then feebly struggles to stand back up as he awaits death. Only Dark Souls could non-verbally make you feel so guilty for the extinction of demons.

26 - Darklurker (DS2)
Still keeping score at home? Then you'll notice that Darklurker here is the highest rated boss in all of Dark Souls 2!.. well, the base game, at least. I'd heard a lot about this fella and never fought him back in the day, since he is gated beyond a rather difficult covenant to figure out on your own. I will say that while I do think he is indeed the best fight in the base game, I was not so impressed that this is particularly high praise. Learning how to handle and dodge his spells was more fun than the rather routine sword dodging, and splitting in two halfway through the fight was a nice trick. This clearly was lifted and used to inspire the Pontiff Sulyvahn battle, which you'll notice has not yet been ranked. Credit where it's due, perhaps having beaten Sulyvahn years back at DS3 launch sucked a little impact away from Darklurker. All that said, if it sounds like I'm unimpressed it's only because I'd had Darklurker hyped up a bit. He's still a fun, challenging boss. The major problem that keeps him from going any higher is that his corpse run is absolute bullshit -- you have to spend an effigy every single time just for the privilege of attempting him? Not to mention getting past the invader-style enemies that you HAVE to kill? It's a total nightmare that drags him down considerably.

25 - Black Dragon Kalameet (DS1 - Artorias of the Abyss)
Before Midir came for the title, we had the OG "enormous dragon that uses dark magic as well as fire that you have to weaken before you can fight him for real at the bottom of a valley," and his name was Kalameet. The gimmick of getting Gough to shoot him down is one of the more memorable sequences of my experience, and he puts up a hell of a fight. I love the red eye attack that places the double-digit ailment on you. Kalameet is intimidating as heck and slaying him truly makes you feel like one of the knights of legend.

24 - Dragonslayer Armor (DS3)
Now THIS is how you incorporate an Ornstein reference without just literally having you fight Ornstein again like DS2. With clear visual cues, the player is obviously reminded of Ornstein, but you've got a whole new moveset to learn here. Dodging around his shield (which he can really ruin your day with) looking for openings is a genuine challenge, but you're not sure whether to be grateful or fearful when he swaps to the two-handed approach. The fight is made all the more challenging by those hideously disturbing pilgrim butterflies shooting... whatever the hell they're shooting at you, and the implication that they've animated this abandoned suit of armor raises a lot of questions that I'm still not certain I know the answers to.

23 - Oceiros, the Consumed King (DS3)
Souls bosses aren't known for their chattiness, so Oceiros makes up for it by talking enough for all of them combined. This gibbering madman is a creepy homage to Seath, and his appearance and the invisible baby he is clutching will send you to YouTube for answers quicker than you can say "VaatiVidya." As a battle, Oceiros does a reverse Ludwig impression from Bloodborne, beginning as a man (of sorts) and then becoming a deranged beast. The whole thing makes for a great fight and an extremely memorable setpiece.

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-Shred