Most Emotionally-Charged Boss Fights

[bigfatcarp93]

Now here should be a fun topic: what boss battle in a game has had you more, not only invested, but feeling more complex emotions, be they hate, pity, whatever, towards the boss? I'm talking bosses who you really, truly wanted to die, or on the flip side, ones who were such complex, sympathetic characters that you truly didn't want to have to fight them. Or any combination thereof!

 

[Auron225]

Good question;

The only one that comes to mind right now is Bahamut in FFX-2. It was unexpected, but very emotional. In a game that was pretty light-hearted up until that point, it certainly kicked up the feels - particularly with Yuna's reaction to it appearing.

 

[Sniper Team 4]

There have been a few, but I can't remember any of them at the moment save for one.

The Mad Prince from Suikoden II, Luca. That guy was crazy, and they did an excellent job of making me what to end his life. I hated him, and when the fight finally came, I was pumped to put him down.

But man, that fight. It takes three different groups to beat him, and each battle is crazy intense. I was impressed at how tough they made him, and I really felt like I was fighting the monster that he really was. And then, after you beat him, he's still not defeated. It literally takes a freaking army to bring him down, and he knows it. His final words are something like, "Take a look around. It took all of this to kill me."
He was truly a boss fight worthy of the title 'boss'.

 

[MysticSlayer]

The first would be the Dickson fight from Xenoblade Chronicles:

Spoiler

This game did an excellent of job of getting me to like Dickson despite occasional hints that he was hiding something. Even with that understanding, I still often thought that he was hiding it for the party's own good. When it turned out that he was a traitor, it was very hard to accept, considering I had just been excited to see him only a few hours before that and even made the comment about how much I loved seeing him arrive at all the right moments.

Then the game decided that, because he was now a villain, it needed to make the player hate him, and despite having only a few hours to do that before the fight against him, it pulled it off magnificently. But the, just to complicate matters, there was a rather touching conversation right before the fight about all the great times Shulk had had with Dickson over the years. It really left me feeling conflicted. I hated him for everything he had done over the last few hours, but I still loved him for from the 120+ hours that had preceded that. It left me feeling incredibly conflicted throughout the fight where I enjoyed the feel of every attack ripping through him but also couldn't shake a feeling of sadness that I was going to have to kill him.

There were quite a few other emotionally-charged battles in that game including Metal Face/Mumkhar, Face Nemesis/Fiora, Egil, and Lorithia; but the fight against Dickson certainly as the best in that regard.

The other would be the final Zagi fight in Tales of Vesperia:

Spoiler

What turned into sort of a running gag throughout the game eventually led me to hate Zagi. He always seemed to show up at just the right moment to ensure maximum annoyance from the fights that you would have against him. Having him appear one final time on the push to Duke, I had absolutely had it with him. I don't think I've ever wanted to take a boss down as badly as I did him.

But then the game, seeming to understand my hatred of him, decided to spend the next five minutes after the fight giving me reason to feel sympathy for him...and it worked. Combined the dark aesthetics of the dungeon and lack of music, I was pretty much beating myself up over how much I enjoyed beating him one last time. Yeah, the emotions weren't entirely wrapped up in the fight itself, but it still was one of the more memorable boss fights I've had in a game for that reason.

 

[gorfias]

I played FF10 years ago. Fighting Sin and the guy that tried to "marry" the main girl character was pretty emotionally investing. I bought MGS4 but haven't done this yet, but looks like it fits your description:

 

[Julian Andres Ponce De Leon]

souls borne saga, really, every final boss, like gwyn, aldia, doran and gerhman... i almost cried every single time with the theme rejected hero with good intentions... and the music, oh the music just blow my mind in this games!

 

[Fappy]

Gwyn probably takes the cake for me. Gerhman was good too, but it takes a lot more understanding of the lore to really get why the fight with him is so moving. Gwyn's is self explanatory if you paid any attention to the game at all.

Dagoth Ur is a great one too, mostly due to the conversation you have before the final battle. It's a Greek tragedy, basically.

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

I know it's a relatively new game and a lot of people are probably sick of hearing about it by this point, but Undertale's boss encounters are all very emotionally charged.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I know it's a relatively new game and a lot of people are probably sick of hearing about it by this point, but Undertale's boss encounters are all very emotionally charged.

I hear it's the Best. Game. Ever!

OT: I'll put in a vote for Planescape Torment. Now there's an atypical boss battle.

 

[deleted+75193]

DELETED

 

[Malfrun]

It wasn't really fight in the end but killing Vaas in Farcry 3 was good because the whole game you'd been made to hate him, in the end you just wanted to put him down.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Hell, pick any of the Colossus. The first one is always a trip. But my favorite will always be Phalanx, because it's just so...epic. in every sense of the word.

Maybe the Final 4 from Pokemon? Or the hand in Smash bros?

What about the final sequence in Left 4 Dead games? Do those count? Holding out against an endless horde in a rock concert is pretty stressful.

Oh, I know! The first Big Daddy in the Medical Pavilion in Bioshock. That was so tense and exciting.

 

[RJ 17]

Gerhman was good too, but it takes a lot more understanding of the lore to really get why the fight with him is so moving.

I liked it because the fight was almost like some duel straight out of an anime...I love the move where Gerhman floats up into the air to do a massive swipe with his scythe that sends the flower petals flying into the air. :3

For my own nominations...

The fight against Edge's parents in FF4. It'd be one thing if they were just mindless monsters...but the fact that they "wake up" and get to see the abominations they've become and then kill themselves. Yeah...that's pretty rough.

For that matter, I always get a bit "feelsy" during the last fight in FF4 when all your comrades from across the game "send you their wishes" to resurrect your party and give them full heals. When Polum and Porum show up I almost always shed a tear or two.

Moments like that are why I'll go to my grave saying that FF4 is the best FF. :3

 

[Elfgore]

snip

Spoiler: The past should stay dead...

Newcomer, much like the song title, the past should stay dead here. Any thread past thirty days is considered dead and should not be posted in. In the future, feel free to create your own thread on a topic that's too old.

@Everyone else who posted after him: Silly gooses, you all should know to check dates.