Top Ten Brawler Bosses 

In the immortal words of Gray Fox, "Hand to hand! It is the basis of all combat! Only a fool trusts his life to a weapon!"

“One last fist bump.” Oh, I see what you did there.

Mr. Sandman, Steps in the ring Make him the strongest, the beatdown he'll bring Give him his gloves, and watch as he towers Then tell him that his champion days are over Sandman, he went to town But then in came Mac, to take him down He had trained, and stepped up to bat Mr. Sandman, then hit the mat

AND THEN COMES THE GIANT FIST!!!

Fun Fact, courtesy of Bumbles McFumbles: Out of Bald Bull, Super Macho Man, and Mr. Sandman, Sandman is the only boxer in the Wii version of Punch Out to have ZERO RULE INFRACTIONS.

Kazuya's sneaker collection has been canon since Tekken 1. No really look it up. And since in his ending he's conquered the world, he's got time and resources to finally finish that collection. Bottom line, don't let Kazuya see you walking around in fake Jordans

FYI about Sandman, surviving the Tyson wink barrage by evasion, he tires out, the ONLY time you get to punch him across the face multiple times, gaining free stars for a free triple star punch which is SO DAMN SATISFYING!! If you haven't tried it, you need to

Honestly the fight between Liquid Ocelot and Old Snake hurts my soul because in the entire fight we see two war weary souls carrying out the ideals of dead legacies borne of blood, lies and conflict and seeing them finally come to a head all the while "Old Snake" plays in the background and not going to lie watching them look at each other as they inject the last of their stimulants into each other makes me think it shows their acceptance of their ill-fate and wanted one last bout to find out who was truly was right in their paths to achieve peace. Maybe its a stretch but MGS4 actually made me cry with how many gut punches the game gave made me appreciate the series so much more.

Sometimes it all boils down to good old fisticuffs.

Swords? Guns? Magic? NAH, USE FIST

0:29 Gotta love that Josh’s “huh” was there while the song starts. XD 4:36 The Taco Bell sound. XD Fun fact: The reason Mr. Sandman is the final boss of Punch-Out Wii is that the developers want the final boss to be a contrast to the rest of the cast. Mr. Sandman’s more serious and intimidating personality makes a perfect final boss compared to the more sillier Super Macho Man.

fun fact about Mr.Sandman - after the Mike Tyson license ended and Punch-Out needed a new final boss, it was Mr. Sandman that took Iron Mike's place.

I have to admit, I loved the intro to the Mr Sandman entry

"Yes, it's 4" Good to finally hear someone say that, Josh.

I believe that April 1st, 2024, we'll get Ghost Bosses or perhaps Troll / Cheater Bosses.

The Blacker Baron from Anarchy Reigns definitely counts, bonus points for his "Days of Old" theme. The Turks from Final Fantasy 7 have several excellent boss fights in both Remake and Rebirth and fighting them with Tifa is particularly satisfying. Then we've got fighting game bosses like Kazuya Mishima from Tekken. They can work since fisticuffs are the name of the game for those as well.

"I got all the weapons I need right here!" *Closes fists*

Mr Sandman: Just hear me out, what if Balrog was more of a clean fighter?

Explaining MSG lore:and then this is connected to this and this and this AND THIS! People:*pulls up THAT crazy man meme*

My honorable mentions: The Bride (Ms Splosion Man) Out of all the Punch-Out references there are in games, this is by far the weirdest. Mike Tyson/Mr Dream (Punch Out NES) Y’know, all Mike Tyson did was bite somebody’s ear off and now they don’t even give him any credit anymore. Ribby And Croaks (Cuphead) While you mostly use finger guns rather than bare knuckles, these two frogs are prepared to punch your lights out.

Glad to see Mr. Sandman on here. Even demoting him to Major League Champ in SPO couldn't hide his ferocity, being far more dangerous than Super Bogus Man. - Bane in Arkham Origins is one of my favorite and toughest brawler fights, beginning in an isolated room before exploding onto a snowy rooftop once Bane throws off his coat and starts using his Venom to pump up. They actually invented a plot reason for Bane to be less capable and stupider in Asylum and City, but here he's at his absolute physical peak, and it's heavily implied if the policia hadn't shown up Bane would have won the first battle despite Batman using electrified gauntlets.

The Like a Dragon and Judgment games have some of the best brawler bosses ever. And Sleeping Dogs has some really good brawler bosses as well.

that's three incarnations of Odio covered on this channel. the first two is OD-10 in his Top Ten AI Bosses and Odo in his Prehistoric Boss Lists. what's left is Ode Iou from the Edo Japan chapter, The Great Inko from the Near Future chapter, Odie O'Bright from the Present Day chapter, and O.Dio from the Wild West Chapter.

There has to be at least one Yakuza entry

For the Live a Live entry, I figured Odie O'Bright would be more likely to be just a pure brawler. Ou Di Wan Lee seems more like a martial arts boss than a brawler boss.

I'd better see Hoarah Loux on here as the obligatory Souls entry!

8:46 “deceased mother” well this age is poorly here’s the shocking thing to all of this turns out Jun has been alive all this time if you check out her arcade mode which has a canonical explanation as to what happened to her during the event of Tekken 3

There's a point of being angry where you either run out of energy to sustain the rage, or you cross into the realm of "Cold Fury", where you're still absolutely livid, but you're also in complete control and all your fury is directed at the cause of your anger.

Ghost Bosses next time?? Oh, HECK YEAH!!!!!!

Ari got you there in the intro segment, you DO tend to lean on the RPGs, not that i have room to talk. XD

I find the lack of Azel from God Hand and Hourah Loux from Elden Ring bothering. Former is pretty much the best brawler fight in the character action genre as it puts every aspect of God Hand's mechanics to test, both punishing bad player habits and rewarding those who have learned the systems and their rules. The latter is a bare fist fighter in a weapon and magic focused action rpg, and his grab attacks launch you up into the sky. Also technically Demi-Fiend is somewhat of a brawler and being known as the guy who punched god to death has some stature to it. Not that it was the abrahamic god, but still a creator god with power over the universe, so somewhat comparable and intended as such.

Here's an idea for a video that I just noticed you never did even though I could swear you did but turns out it was just a false memorey: Top Ten Pirate Bosses

"Hand-to-hand. It is the basis of all combat. Only a fool trust their lives to a weapon".

Rogue Assassin, from Fate/Samurai Remnant. This is one of those fights that has been building up for some time throughout the series. According to Li Shuwen in Extella, the younger Servant we had seen so far is the *weaker* version in comparison to the older Shuwen. We wouldn't see old Li Shuwen until Grand Order Part 2, and we'd have to wait until Samurai Remnant to fight the old man as a brawler. Right from the start, your team is at a disadvantage. Iori wants to understand his enemies to defeat them, but Rogue Assassin is Li Shuwen summoned 200 years before his birth so there is no records to read or people to gather intel. Fortunately he's a martial artist and you have at least a god fighting alongside you. *Unfortunately* he will be famous for needing No Second Strike and he's living up to it right now.

I am very surprised that you didn’t have Rude from Final Fantasy 7 on this list, from how well his fights have been in Remake and Rebirth. From his synergy with his partners that he does do battle with despite not wielding a weapon. From his interesting moral standpoint where despite serving Shinra, he still has a moral compass he tries to operate by. Not to mention the fun fact that in the OG, if you have Tifa in your party, he won’t fight you at a couple of points in the game.

Also I feel like Brawler is a little too broad a descriptor. Often Brawler refers to someone who simply fights really aggressively and with raw power akin to a Street Fighter with no real style or technique compared to a Martial Artist who has an actual style behind their techinques.

I know for sure the next countdown is “Illusion” Bosses (which doesn’t sound or seem that different from “Mindscrew” Bosses), but judging from what he mentioned about Kiryu, I know for a fact we’re getting “Player” Bosses (one of my most requested suggestions to Josh) in the near future…

kinda cool to hear the way i beat jene as high skill. didn't even realise there was another strategy than just timing your attacks right.

Pretty much every boss in FFVII was a brawler boss

Odie O Bright from Live A Live is definitely one of these! Or Galacta Knight from Super Kirby Clash if that probably counts.

I'm happy at least King K. Rool is the number thing... That's nice

17:11 -17:20 this is my favorite part Also Ghost Bosses is gonna be interesting

Calgar: "I CAST FIST!!!" As for my personal favorite brawler bosses. Aizawa from Yakuza 5. This dude was a monster, Amon sized health bars, an injured Kiryu and he knows where to hit and of course one of the best final boss themes, Battle for the Dream. Zeus God of War 3. The big bad of the original Greek story and it was an absolute slug fest. Hell it ends with Kratos beating Zeus' soul back into hit body till he was nothing but a pile of giblets.

Ah yes, the fighting type boss list. Edit: And based on the teaser in the end next list will be ghost type.

Nice list! Other brawler bosses I can think of are the one from Sync from Tales of the Abyss, Han Yu Kim from True Crime and of course the final boss from Assasins Creed 2 😛 1: La li lu le lo, jokes aside one of the best final bosses and Metal Gear bosses. 2: Really good boss (this boss has appeared many times on different lists so I don´t really have more things to say) 4: One of my favourite No more Heroes bosses 7: One of the best fighting game bosses. The build up to this boss was superb. It will be hard for others fighting game to make a better boss fight than this because this was something special. 8: Not so much fists in this fight, but it was 10: Great first boss and a great final boss

I think is time for JUDGEMENT

My prediction Black Baron (Mad World)

Been wanting top ten fighting game bosses since forever,but a brawler bosses from different genres,now you have my attention. Now there’s only top ten Robot/Mechanical/Mecha bosses.

Well, I got myself some birthday gifts today in the mail, and I'm getting some belated birthday gifts tomorrow including the Kill Count on The Silence of the Lambs, and this countdown, all I gotta say is LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!

*IT HAS TO BE THIS WAY INTENSIFIES*

The past week hasn’t been the best, thanks for the great new list 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 Thanks for the new video Josh and *please* go hug your furbabies all 💙🐱💙

I'm a simple man, I see Blacker Baron from Anarchy Reigns in the thumbnail. I very much like

5:20 I didn't see that reference coming.

I hope one day we get an airship bosses list. Like boss fights that are on airships or about airships.

Brachydios better be here please. If just a honorary mention.

For those wondering, Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions, having originated in ancient Persia. It contains both monotheistic and dualistic elements, and many scholars believe Zoroastrianism influenced the belief systems of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Time to prep the Flying, Psychic, and Fairy types on your team.

Top Ten Boss Rematches

Damn man, I look forward to every single Top 10 you come out with

Possible entrys Persona: Shadow Kanji or Shido Pokemon: Fighting Gym Leaders KH: Lexeaus Batman: Bane Edit: Only one of my choices is in though I was thinking of Either Korrina or Brawly.

One of my favorite examples of a good old-fashioned hand-to-hand boss has to be Nega from Gravity Circuit. Having this guy who seemed like the world’s most obvious twist villain show up in the end game levels, only to reveal himself as a previous version of your player character legitimately blew my mind the first time playing, and facing off against a boss that’s equally matched in terms of skill sets is great… well, it would be if it were harder, since it’s one of the easier fights in the game. Just watch out for his Last Resort.

The boss is in this list were good examples of brawlers. You did amazing on this video. 👍🏾🔥💯❤️😄

1:22 Anubis, WTF?! Anubis, currently fleeing atop AMMIT: Not taking any chances! I'm out of here, *AND YOU SHOULD TOO!!!*

The last video I saw of your was the "Top 10 Dynasty Warriors" one. I think that was 5-6 years ago. I'm real glad to have stumbled onto your channel, again, man! And give my regards to the missus! Haha! 😛

Top 10 gaming mechs

BARON ON THE THUMBNAIL LETS GOOOOOOOOO!

That clip of the Risryn fight in the intro was the most exposure Absolver has had in years and I'm both sad and here for it. At least Yang got an honorable mention.

Persona 5 and it's updated Royal port have some fun examples of brawler bosses. First you have Shido's Samael form, where he ditches the Char Aznable cosplay and just basically tries to go Senator Armstrong on the Phantom Thieves. Granted, he doesn't fight with only his fists in this form, so his barehanded approach isn't quite as impressive as others mentioned. Then you have Maruki's final "fight" in Royal's climax, where both he and Joker are steadily losing their Persona powers due to the Metaverse finally collapsing, and instead just having a fist fight above an abyss. Of course, this fight can't really be lost, and it's mostly symbolic with Maruki simply needing to vent his pent up frustrations... by punching a teenager in a collapsing dreamscape born from humanity's collective subconscious.

“The bosses will be a little transparent” So Invisibility Bosses, got it.

Don't forget the opening animation for Mr. Sandman in Title Defense; the guy sees a poster of Little Mac and flies into a berserk fury he turned an entire building into his punching bag and demolished it by punching it.

There's something I just love about these kind of fights. Just pure fists and style!

Nothing like a good round of Fisticuffs to get the blood pumping!

Ya gotta look into Ultrakill once you revisit this. 2 Brawlers for secret bosses *IN AN FREAKIN FPS* And they absolutely kick your ass. The best sign of that is that to unlock them, you gotta beat every level before them P-erfectly, and that is not a requrement. *It's a warning*

HE SHOWED MADWORLD YEEEEESSSS!!!🍊🍊🍊🍊

I'm so happy to see Urban Reign clips in this!

22:04 Oooo Master Quest or Dark Star Edition Paper Mario mods An idea that I had for a video is: Top Ten Easy or Hard Bosses. Basically bosses that you can make either easy or hard….without exploits. 2 examples: 1. Airbuster from FF7Remake. During the trek through the 2nd Bombing Mission, you have a chance to pull items off of the Airbuster in order to make the fight easier, but if you want to, you can choose not to grab anything and have a brutal battle with it instead. 2. Dimitrii Blinov from Dawn of Sorrow. Despite being an early game boss, his ability to copy any attack applies to almost anything in game including the penultimate boss’s Soul. His copying is limited because this game allows your souls to get straight as you have more of them up to Level 9 in some cases. Dimitrii however can only use Level 1 abilities. Meaning that he is either an absolute joke or a monster. The problem with it though is that because he is an early game boss, in order to see just how much he can copy, you have to play New Game +

Few more honorable mentions to add: Tanya from library of ruina. Proof that furries can be some scary badass mfs when they want to be Ricardo, limbus company. MY HAIR COUPOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNSSSSSS!!!!!! The primes, ultrakill. You have to get perfect ranks on every level in their respective acts, and you have to beat the previous one to access the next. Not only that, but they legit fight exactly like fighting game bosses

Hopefully, there will be a Top 10 Fighting Game Series in the future. Not the NEAR future, as I’m sure you’ve already got other things planned out.

Ahh Urban Reign a national treasure that was

Dunno other people's opinions on MK11 Aftermath, but there was that final battle between Fire God Liu Kang vs Time Keeper Shang Tsung (after taking Kronika's power). They first fought in MK1 (original MK1) which saved Earthrealm in the Mortal Kombat series, and it ends with the two fighting each other, with the winner being decided by whomever you chose to play as. Wish it played the Mortal Kombat theme though.

Ngl it's a bit of a shame you didn't put in Godfrey in this list. The sudden twist that he was Horah Loux and starts throwing hands in a Souls game is amazingly done. Also the fact that after fighting through gimmicks like Maliketh, the god skin duo, fire giant, and SIR GIDEON OFNIR, THE ALL KNOWING! He, for having one of the most straightforward movesets in the game, is hilarious for the penultimate boss.

23:16 ‘Could’ve fooled me, I’d just think you meant Punished Snake.

Love the video Josh next count down hint: sooooo top 10 ghost bosses

So is not a martial art, right?

Nergigante, and I see you've come to play. Well, go ahead punk, and make my day!

I have never seen that Master fight in Paper Mario before, what the hell?

I expected Hugo Kupka or Walter the Direwolf to show up

One game I'd put in the honourable mentions, removing Maylene from the list possibly, is Virgil from The Warriors. Starts with you throwing Molotov's at him, before he moves to a side room as the warehouse you're in starts to burn down. He's a cheap boss who one hit stuns you after you spot him hiding. Once you've done enough damage, he runs to the third and final room, where you just beat his ass down. It ends with a cutscene, where you throw one last Molotov directly onto him.

Number 0: Maximum Games formely named Modus Games for firing literally Mane6 team resulting Thems Fighting Herds to cancel story mode while grinding the game to the ground.

Nice song!

1:20 Better Question, when will Kratos fight the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

I'm surprised that Rekka from Hi-fi Rush didn't make the list.

Was expecting some bosses from side-scrolling beat 'em up games being on that list.

Kind of disappointed to not see Horax Loux on here, still a good list.

17:13 Mr Sandman KO Sounds 1-??? 2- Mario (64) 3- Roblox 4-??? 5-??? 6- Sonic 7- Crash Bandicoot 8-??? 9-??? 10- Minecraft 11- ??? 12- Street Fighter 2 (Who here knows the ones I don't know?)

yes the kiryu fight was amazing.

next time: Top 10 Ghost Bosses

Yeah, I expected Like a Dragon to be in there. I would have gone with Daisaku Kuze, from 0, but, well, can't beat the Dragon.

Fun fact with number 3….you can make it even harder. If you unlock champions mode it makes all attacks knock you down in one hit. You get 3-4 maybe 5 if your a button mashing god mistakes. Anymore then that and your going to sleep

4:35 I wonder if he will consider redecorating...