LogFAQs > #951527247

22 - Aldrich, Devourer of Gods (DS3)
Though it is admittedly as fanservicey as fanservice gets, the surprise return trip to Anor Londo is one of my favorite parts of DS3 (I do wish it were longer). It elevates itself beyond being just fanservice by the way the lore ties in, with Pontiff Sulyvahn ruling with an iron fist at the foot of the old cathedral, his alliance with Saint Aldrich leading to the cannibal quite literally feasting on the power of the gods. Realizing Aldrich was in the middle of eating Gwyndolin when you enter the old Ornstein & Smough arena was equal parts cool and dark. To top it off, Aldrich's mechanics are pretty tight too with a wide variety of abilities to keep you on your toes whether you're up close or at range -- those arrows are brutal! A unique fight that is a fitting finale for the Irithyll/Anor Londo chapter of the game.

21 - Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon (DS2 - Crown of the Sunken King)
As the final encounter in DS2's first DLC pack, Sinh checks a lot of boxes for a great Souls fight. Spectacle? Check, he's a big dragon, hard to mess that up too bad. Lore? Check, he was worshipped by the people of Shulva before being poisoned by Elana and accidentally unleashed by the greed of the Drakeblood Knights, leading to the ruin of the city. Combat? Check, given a strong balance of aerial maneuvering, a breath over his shoulder if you're hugging his side, and a breath straight down if you're staying under him, not to mention the poisonous aspects of many attacks. I don't see Sinh discussed much, but I believe he's the second best dragon fight in the trilogy by a fairly comfortable margin.

20 - Demon Prince (DS3 - The Ringed City)
While Sinh claims second place for dragon fights, the Demon Prince claims the top spot as daddy of all demon bosses. The opening portion against the Demon in Pain and the Demon from Below is challenging enough, prioritizing which one is enflamed and keeping the other at range. Of course, once you defeat them, you are treated to a reunion of the soul they were sharing between them, the Demon Prince that Lorian had slain in ages past. And man, what a badass Lorian must have been in his prime, because the Demon Prince does not mess around. He gets different attacks depending on which you kill first in phase one, but neither are a cakewalk and you will be punished for any greed. I personally managed to get him down in what was essentially a DPS race, because those fire attacks are no joke. Adding to the spectacle and "cool factor" is that if you look closely, the fight takes place in the ruins of the original Firelink Shrine and enter by jumping through an archtree. Gotta love it.

19 - Great Grey Wolf Sif (DS1)
The goodest boi in all of Souls can't really go much higher than this due to being outflanked mechanically by other beastly bosses in future installments, but Sif is just so iconic. The ambiance of his arena, the lore surrounding him and Artorias, and the heartbreaking limping towards the end of the fight make Sif one of the definitive Souls encounters. If you're masochistic enough to trigger the bonus cutscene by playing Artorias of the Abyss before tackling Sif, get your handkerchiefs ready and Prepare to Cry as you duel your old friend to the death for your sacred tasks.

18 - Four Kings (DS1)
Few areas in the trilogy are as disquieting and unnerving as New Londo Ruins, and they have a boss fight to match. Plunging into the blackness of the abyss and being greeted by nothing is such a tense moment, and the game makes you sweat it out. You don't land right in front of a King, and one doesn't spawn right away. It takes a second, and then off in the distance, you see him. While the Kings themselves don't have the world's most diverse moveset, it becomes a harrowing DPS race if you struggle to capitalize on your windows and start getting ganged up on. This fight is creepy and stressful and otherworldly in all the ways Souls does best.

17 - Dancer of the Boreal Valley (DS3)
If you have gotten proficient enough at rolling and dodging, the Dancer isn't a huge threat, but she is absolutely captivating in design. Her sickly fluid motions and hunched posture convey both grace and twisted perversion, and once she enters that second phase and begins whirling around the room, she truly lives up to her name as Dancer. Despite not needing many attempts to get past her, she sticks out in my mind as a prominent example of immediately resonant and iconic monster design, and even once you have her mechanics down pat, dancing with her is a blast.

16 - Sir Alonne (DS2 - Crown of the Old Iron King)
Another miserable corpse run from this DLC can't stop Sir Alonne from being one of the finer duels in the series. You'll notice a lot of high-end representation for duels against roughly human-sized foes, and Alonne clocks in at the bottom spot of the top tier as far as those are concerned. His moveset is not the hardest to learn -- he's punishing, but he's got some pretty clear openings if you aren't greedy -- but it's got some really fun timing to get down. Alonne's lore as an alienated ex-ally of the Iron King's is fascinating as well, as is the implication that, since you are in the memory of the Iron King when you fight him, you are reliving the Iron King tracking down and murdering his old friend. His boss room is, put simply, extremely dope as well.

15 - Soul of Cinder (DS3)
Rounding the corner and bringing us into the top fifteen is the Soul of Cinder, the final encounter of base DS3. There could be no more fitting ending than tackling an amalgamation of all the linkers of the fire -- no matter what kind of build you were, you can recognize your DS1 and DS2 characters in the moveset, and I think that is a simply wonderful way to represent the playerbase and the cycle itself as the final boss. Then, of course, you enter phase two, the familiar theme of Gwyn comes over the top of the music, and you engage one last time with the soul of the selfish, misguided lord who set the trilogy in motion. It is a moving and suitable conclusion to the main story, held out of the very top end only by not being a hugely compelling fight mechanically.

14 - Burnt Ivory King (DS3 - Crown of the Ivory King)
If this list was based only on presentation, the Burnt Ivory King would clock in top five without breaking a sweat. Stepping through the fog gate and plunging from icy Eleum Loyce directly into the heart of the Old Chaos is one of the premier nerd-chills moments in the entire trilogy, accompanied perfectly by the swoop of the camera and the shriek of the music. Exploring your way through the city to rescue the knights to help you take down their corrupted comrades is a really awesome and rewarding idea, unique to this fight, and then the King makes his entrance... and it is metal as hell. Taking him down after an introduction that would make Sauron blush feels great, and the lore of his character as one of the truly noble characters in our story makes the encounter all the more lovable. This guy made a daughter of Manus see that goodness was a worthy cause by loving her and trusting her despite knowing what she was. What a boss indeed.

13 - Ornstein & Smough (DS1)
I'm uncertain if not having O&S quite crack the top twelve will be considered heresy, but it's not for lack of impact. These two are the OGs when it comes to banging your head against the wall as a newcomer, and provide a truly potent challenge even all these years later as a wily vet. I love that you can pick your poison on which phase two you want by how you handle phase one (a bit like the Demon Prince, but with even more impact). They may have been outdone by later fights in the trilogy, but no one can take away their lasting legacy as absolutely definitive Souls bosses.

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-Shred