Top Ten Recurring Bosses 

"The three Trails fans in my audience" Thanks, Josh, I am Trails fan in your audience number #3 and I am pleased to hear you talk about McBurn. Well, about Trails in general but... Yeah, specifically McBurn. You can figure out why-

Some villains/bosses really don't know the meaning of the words stay down. These baddies don't always have great fights but when they do they're usually unique and different to their previous encounter or game.

Listen, there's a reason why Ridley is known as "The Cunning God of Death" in the Metroid franchise... *Having a title like that is just **_ASKING_** for Recurring Boss status*

We all knew Gilgamesh (Final Fantasy) was going to be on this list somewhere. It's literally canon all his reoccurring appearances is via rift shenanigans that allows him to appear in various games from FF5 to Stranger of Paradise to Dissidia and more. Gilgamesh: Playable Character, Summon, Boss, Super Boss, Collector and so much more lol!

Dragaux from Ring Fit Adventure. Congratulations @joshscorcher for beign, possibly, the first youtuber to ever put this specific boss from this specific game ina top ten boss list. Im impressed cause this one was totally unexpected. I haven't seen anyone ever mention anything from Ring Fit Adventure in a very, very, very, very, VERY long time.

Whenever a boss appears in more then one game it can mean a lot of things, either the devs got a little lazy, they gave the boss new moves to spice things up, or they did to show the persistence of said bosses.

Kuze in Yakuza 0, not only are almost all his fights are great, you see his character change throughout the game, going from being a unlikeable bastard to an actually respectable person.

Josh: All of them. Piccolo: ALL of them? Kale: ALL OF THEM! Man, that really got me. Also, number 1 was awesome. Give that game some more love!

As much as she sadly falls under the "Shows up too much with little change" bit. I still love Risky Boots from Shantae. Whether she's your first boss, your begrudging ally or your final boss, she's always a fun fight, always a threat and always a fun time when she pops up on screen. The original, Risky's Revenge, 1/2 Genie Hero. She's great in all of them.

Honorable Mentions: *Big Daddys - Bioshock Series -Before you can harvest or save the Little Sisters, you gotta contend with the Big Daddys that are guarding them. And these old-timey diving suits don't let up. I was disappointed that I couldn't use the drill arm in the first game, but pleased they let me use it in Bioshock 2. *Arfoire (Pronounced R-4) - Hyperdimension Neptunia -You fight her multiple times before you even learn her name. All culminating in the final boss where she turns into a dragon. Heck, Arfoire also pops up as a boss in the sequels. *Prince Vorkken - The Wonderful 101 -Does the Nyurkzfat ally with a dizzbong? *Odio - Live A Live -No matter how many reincarnations across different time periods, you will fight Odio in some shape, name, or form. *Nemesis - Resident Evil 3 -There's a reason why the box art is centered on him.

Don't think I ever expected Ring Fit in a countdown that had nothing to do with health... Also, nice choice of Junko sprite. (And yes, her occurrence does bring a lot of despair-induced groans. That's probably *why* she keeps coming back.)

I can't put into words how happy I am to see you talk about the Trails series

A star walks into a black hole but doesn't seen phased. The black hole then turns to the star and says, "I don't think you understand the gravity of this situation."

The Trails fans in Josh's audience: Um, there is like 8 of us.

Regarding Gilgamesh "dimension hopping for some reason," it's due to how his part in FFV ends. He Self-Destructs within the Cleft of Dimensions, the space between worlds. He basically took the walls between worlds and, at least for himself, blew them to smithereens.

Dracula in Casltevania will always hype me up no matter how many times we've "defeated" him. Its cool to see him try new forms and approaches in each title, even if some are rather underwhelming

I remember I saw a comment on Dedede in Forgotten Land, it said that when Dedede is possesed he shows his true power, that normally he's just lazy to give it his all, which to stand against Kirby isn't a joke. When he picked that pillar, which is pure carved stone, and run and jump and swing it that fast made me thought "is he really THAT strong?".

Speaking of Ridley my favorite battles with him are the Meta Ridley fights in Prime 1 and Prime 3. Especially since it's so satisfying to blast him again and again after you get all of the Chozo artifacts!

Fun Fact: Outside of the obvious Sumerian legend, FF’s Gilgamesh is also based on a real legendary warrior monk named Benkei. According to legends, he collected up to 999 swords from people he defeated. He carries a huge arsenals of weapons, but is best remembered as a master of the Naginata Gilgamesh in FF also love collecting swords and his main weapon is a Naginata in his earliest appearances

Also you 'fight' Perfect chaos in Mario and Sonic at the winter olympics duing the figure skating- where they do the music the right way around and it's honestly pretty hype.

I loved the shade you threw on Gilbert, he deserves it

Chaos also appears as a "boss" in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter games... in figure skating. And it's awesome to do.

Fun fact about Rathalos AND Final Fantasy. In Final Fantasy 14 you can actually fight Rathalos as a boss and it'll give you mega potions. In the first phase it acts as a normal boss, then you have to deal with adds (one of which you have to hide behind to not wipe). Then in the second phase he enrages and the only way you can heal is using your limited supply of 10 mega potions. And each attack he does on you is the same he does ingame, even stunning you if he connects. Then when you finally defeat him you can loot both his body, and tail if severed, and bring the mats to a vendor to buy an outfit.

Solid picks as I am surprised that Chaos is on the list and also King Dedede. My recurring battles I love are Dr. Neo Cortex, N. Gin & Dingodile from Crash Bandicoot, Dr. Nefarious (& maybe Captain Qwark) from Ratchet & Clank, Venom (possible could be Doctor Octopus, Shocker & Rhino) from the Spider-Man games & General Serpentine from Freedom Planet 1 & 2.

Balder from Bayonetta is perfection. The masked versions are mechanically rich with spectacle, while the sagee fights are emotionally packed.

Number 9: Actually, I did know about his Peace Walker cameo. Thank you Somecallmejohnny. Number 6: Minus Prime 4, we probably might not see Ridley again. Number 2: I always took the change in music as a form of fake out. You thought you won, only ha!

what truely makes the fights against ridley so impresive is that really, for a long time fan of the series, without ever having him say a word, just thru actions and appearences we understand who he is, what he is, and why samus hates him, and indeed that she DOES hate him (her body language when he gets away in the frigate during the opener of prime 1 says alot)

Dr. Nefarious from the Ratchet & Clank franchise should have been on this list. Throughout the franchise you fight him 4 times (5 if you include Emperor Nefarious in Rift Apart). Each time the fight has multiple stages and truly tests your skills. Should at least have been an honorable mention.

Fun Fact about Chaos... There's still a "Reoccurance" that Chaos had that wasn't even mentioned! In Mario & Sonic Olympic Winter Games 2010, He shows up in an Icy Variant at the final act of the Dream Figure Skating's Sonic Routine. There, you have to use Figure Skating spins to spin attack Chaos a few times... before Pirouetting on him to make him EXPLODE!!! The funniest part? The counterpart in Mario has no equivalent. It's a Boss Fight inside of a Spin-Off Mario & Sonic game... of ALL PLACES. WHERE YOU FIGHT WITH FIGURE SKATING. Jesus christ.

After going with this series for so long, and with him already tackling final bosses before he began this series, one must wonder… How the hell is he gonna end it?

Finally Josh talked about Trails Series :3

When I saw "recurring bosses", my head immediately thought of Crimson 1 from Project Wingman. With each fight against him and his squad, he falls further into insanity, culminating in the final battle with him after he effectively nukes his own country just to get your attention.

Finally someone else who knows about the LoH series! My mom got me Cold Steel 1 and 2 for Christmas one year and I went back and played all the other games. Love this series so much.

I played through the main story of Ring Fit and I have to say Dragaux wasn't really the biggest challenge. The biggest challenge were the stages you had to complete before even reaching him. I remember that on of his gym required you to do and hold around 40-50 squats which was just pure torture.

Gonna be honest I did not see that number one coming. Or that number two honestly. Surprised you of all people don't talk about a character named McBurn more often. Oh god if the next one is robots or AIs then you HAVE to include the one from Pokémon SV. That fight was amazing and the narrative was GUT WRENCHING. The one character you can't save!

I think it’s worth noting, Dedede’s actions in subspace emissary. With everything jumping around from one character, the next all sorts of antagonistic characters showing up and attacking others it’s very easy to not be able to tell who’s on whose side. Especially with Dedede grabbing some characters who’ve been turned into their figure form. And then you get the scene where he is putting badges with his face on them on the figurines. At first, it’s easy to think that it’s just kind of a vanity thing like he’s collecting them as trophies. But then when he realizes that he doesn’t have one for Luigi, he takes the badge that he had on himself, looks at it solemnly and then sighs before placing the badge on Luigi’s nose. All of this is then forgotten because the story starts picking up. But once the true villain reveals himself and one shots everybody the real purpose of Dedede’s plan reveals itself. When everybody that had a badge placed on them is suddenly revived. He had a contingency plan that he fully accepted, taking himself out of at the end there and was fully aware that it was a Hail Mary pass and was willing to sacrifice himself if it didn’t work. That is some epic twist and character development of an antagonist I’ve seen in a while.

Hot take but I REALLY enjoy Ridley's fight in Other M. Narrative aside, the actual fight feels like a good old fashioned throwdown between two nemeses with Ridley not being enhanced in any way this time and just Other M's gameplay style making it feel a touch more cinematic.

Janus Cascade of Wild Arms 3 personifies the persistent recurring rival as well as Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, and I love him for it. He progresses well over time, beginning as a mere train robber at the start of the game (as in the VERY first boss fight once you have your team). Then he acquires the Dark Spear and backstabs (of course) his gang, and the spear's power starts to turn his body into a demon, resulting in him getting progressively stronger and learning new moves for each fight, including one round where he's learned a new technique that one-shots your party resulting in a hopeless boss fight. THEN he drains the power from a Guardian Shrine and learns how to buff all his stats with it during battle. Finally, you grow strong enough to defeat him despite all the power-ups and strong moves he's gained... but not before he gets in one last backstab at his bosses and they backstab him... back. - EIGHT fights in total. A phenomenal effort from a man who believed that there is no afterlife and wanted to live forever by becoming the most infamous criminal of all time (actually logical in an Old West setting- the outlaws get remembered more than the lawmen who stop them). He should've stuck to robbing trains I guess.

"Man, I wonder if I should get into the Trails series." *listens to the #10 entry* "...nah, I'm okay."

One of my personal favorite examples of a recurring boss has to be Trilla/the Second Sister from Jedi Fallen Order. She is a contestant threat throughout the game, never relenting, taking you a bit more seriously each time, and by the end when Cal has gained surpassed his guilt and gained back all his skills, she is forced to retreat and holds absolutely nothing back in the final battle.

You missed one detail about Ridley that I think bumps it up a bit. In the 2D games especially, all the bosses have a puzzle element to them that you need to figure out in order to open their weak point. For example, shoot Kraid’s eyes to make him open his mouth and render him vulnerable to attacks. Shooting Crocomire does no damage, you have to push him into lava by shooting missiles at him. Their attacks don’t do as much damage as one would expect to be a bit more forgiving. Even Mother Brain has a puzzle element, simply getting to her is a challenge, and in Zero Mission her eye closes occasionally, removing that weak point for brief periods during the fight. Not Ridley. In the 2D games, he’s always vulnerable to damage, and he hits like a truck. Unlike every other boss in Metroid, Ridley is an all-out slugfest where you constantly hammer him with everything you’ve got until one of you goes gown.

7:00 oh! Rathalos is also a boss you can fight in ffxiv: stormblood, and theres also an extreme fight of it that can give you it as a mount!

I think it would be funny if Josh made a list of top ten repeated entries. But then again it would probably end up consisting mostly of Kingdom Hearts.

I literally went jumping in excitement when the Trails series was in this top 10. Glad to see more appreciation to the series. I love the series so much, the world building and the characters are fantastic.

TRAILS! I am all for Josh spreading Trails propaganda on the channel. I need to hear his thoughts on some of the other recurring antagonists

Imagine fighting a muscular dragon more times in one game than fighting a reincarnation of a demon across a franchise

As one of those Trails fans I did enjoy all the details you put into that entry. Also I did get you reference to Campanella’s punching bag, best friend, and perhaps more with Gilbert. Appears in game one only to be punching bag for the entire series.

Now Josh is a recurring hero that I always love seeing return. 10: Wait, a game series with lore more complicated than Kingdom Hearts? Not touching that. Though McBURN is an awesome name. (Almost Every Human Boss (Trails of Cold Steel)) 9: So many countdowns and he's never been talked about (to my knowledge) on this channel. Thank you for finally changing that (Rathalos (Monster Hunter)). 8: Even though he doesn't show up nearly enough, my favorite boss from Paper Mario (as a guy who hasn't been able to play any Paper Mario games) is Dimentio. (Jr Troopa/Lord Crump (Paper Mario)) 7: I'll take a joke from Wambu for this one. "A warrior desires a sword. And a sword. And a sword. And a-" (Gilgamesh (Final Fantasy)) 6: He's been too quiet lately. He's planning something... (Ridley (Metroid)) 5: And yet, canonically, they keep getting beaten by the new generation. Still love them, though. (Red/Blue (Pokemon)) 4: When we got Vergil as a recurring villain? Jackpot. :) (Vergil (Devil May Cry)) 3: I'm more of a Meta Knight guy, but I agree that Dedede has better character development. (King Dedede (Kirby)) 2: When Josh mentioned Sonic, I was expecting Metal, but then I remembered that one of the bigger factors is having bosses show up multiple times in one game. And boy, does Chaos fit that perfectly. (Chaos (Sonic)) 1: I am... I have no words. (Dragaux (Ring Fit Adventure))

"So, your Bowsers, Ganons, Willys and *Junkos* won't be showing up on the list anytime soon" I feel like one of these is not like the others

Honorable mention to Wicked Killington from the Darksiders seires, a secret boss that's a British zombie with a top hat and a cane. I'm pretty sure he's the only character to appear in all 3 games aside from Vulgrim (and ignoring characters just being mentioned).

I was so hoping you'd mention Gilbert XD

Always love these videos. Here's an idea, how about top ten boss fights where you have to fight two or more bosses at once?

My personal favourite has to be gruntilda and klungo for only one reason You see them get hurt from each encounter (which is rare for Villains at the time, and even now) from a human, to a skeleton, to a head in a mech for grunty and klungo crying about his wife leaving him It makes each encounter more unique And memorable and it really shows how dedicated they are to kill the bear-bird duo Imagine if eggman couldnt survive his mech blowing up on him and next time you see him his face is half Burnt two-face style, and it just keeps getting worse

Huh, how very interesting, I have been searching for a list like this, so i appreciate you making your own, I can see your reasoning with pretty much all of these, this was a very well done List, I will look forward to the next one. Speaking of which, based on what was said at the end there, didn’t you already do a Smart Bosses list?

Honestly, I love fighting Arfoire in the Neptunia series. Even if she was only the main villain in the first game and was only the final boss in the second game. But the banter with her is amusing to me. Especially in VII where Neptunia breaks the fourth wall by even mentioning the anime

I was really hoping for Jr. Troopa, and of course Josh delivered!

The first boss that came to mind for me was Pramid Head from Silent Hill 2. James deals with him around 4 to 5 times. The first "fight" is in a cutscene (not sure if that counts). The second is an actual fight but it's more "survive for a certain amount of time" than an actual fight. James runs into him again as a chase segment. There are certain non-story instances parts where he can pursue James but only if the player engages him first. Then James finally fights him and a second PH one more time. It's technically not the final boss but it's the one everyone remembers. This boss left such an impression and was so rich in lore that he became a fan favorite and poster child for the franchise (for better or worse).

Mild correction, you don't fight Gilgamesh in VIII. He actually helps you because Seifer kills Odin (and then Gilgamesh replaces Odin but tbh isn't nearly as good) and indirectly gives Gilgamesh the last sword he needs for his collection and then he mistakes Seifer for Bartz (somehow, but I'm not complaining, seeing Seifer get his butt kicked is always a highlight). In the greatest stroke of irony, this guy who acts as recurring boss in the series ends up KOing a boss that's recurring in this game.

Good video. I also agree with your choice of no. 1. I fought him more times than both main game and post game combine, just to keep up with my exercise

Week something of appreciating all the Ys footage Josh puts into these vids.

Legitimately cannot believe you put a underrated game boss as your number one pick. And I absolutely love it!

I'm so happy Zagi was acknowledged. He's who I think of in terms of recurring enemies. Also- Thanksgiving in the Sparta family? You think either Dante or Vergil have the patience (or money) to make a Thanksgiving spread? Nero maybe, but it'd devolve into a brawl so fast.

Lord Crump makes me think it's just Eggman trying to get away from Sonic

I expacted alot of things from this video, but number 1 was surely a suprise. Also Im gussing that next list are either ai/robotic or psychic bosses. Either way I cant wait to see them.

Finally!!!! A countdown Artist is talking about the Kiseki series!!!!!!

Great to know about these baddies you will be seeing plenty of!! That last one, wow! If you do a second list on this topic, definitely would include at least an honorable mention of Jake Baker (Or most of the Bakers) from Resident Evil 7. He just won't stay dead!!

For a future Top Ten Earth Elemental Bosses im curious but, does mud and clay include or not in this kind of theme? Like CLayface boss battles for example. Or if not is it going to focus more in rocks, sand and so on?

In V, you can actually "save" Gilgamesh: if you kill Necrophobe too fast, he doesn't show up. However, this means you miss your chance of stealing a piece of Genji equipment from him...

Here's an idea for a possible Boss Countdown; Top 10 Formerly Playable Bosses. Bosses that appeared as playable characters in a previous entry, but for whatever reason, end up becoming a boss in a future installment. Whether it be them testing the next protagonist, or they descended into villainy and you're the only one who can stop them, as long as they were a playable character in a previous entry it counts.

Okay that Legend of Heroes entry was great! And yeah McBurn is probably the biggest standout among the reoccurring fights. One of my personal favorite honestly...and yeah it's so easy to break the game with the unwinnable fights. Really do wish that the franchise got more attention, but nice to see it being acknowledged.

Man I can't wait for him to talk about Fatalis, the recurring boss of the Joshscorcher youtube channel's top 10 lists

Not to spoil anything, but the Number 1 spot is a jaw-dropper that even I didn't expect, no matter what I've seen.

I wasn't expecting dedede at all on the list after what he mentioned in the ridley entry about arch enemies, but it was a very welcome surprise.

I love that you added Gilgamesh, as much as I love Sephirtoth. I just always enjoyed Gilgamesh's silly personality and cool appearances not to mention HIS BANGER THEME

YES YEES! It does my heart well to see Trails,Paper Mario Lord Crump,Kirby’s King Dedede,Metroid’s Ridley ,Pokémon Red & Blue & Sonic’s Perfect Chaos in this list. Personal Picks Hubert from Three Houses ”I must retreat” dude’s loyal to the bitter end,Ganondorf/Ganon/Dhemise he Swore to duel for Eternity with The Princess with goddess blood & Hero & Master Hand the OG Crossover Final Boss.

Just a little fun fact regarding your comment on how Lego should do more content with Sonic (it's a strong rumor, so definitely take this information with a grain of salt), Lego is actually planning to release some sets based on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise later this year, possibly becoming an actual theme, and releasing multiple waves of sets, if the rumors are anything to go by. Just a simple fun fact from a fan of both Lego and Sonic the Hedgehog, as well as loyal subscriber, awesome work on the video, can't wait to see more in the future!!

Some of these recurring bosses are pretty awesome to keep coming back to! Also I agree, the four hounds are one of the few truly good parts of the story in Fire Emblem Engage. Love the gameplay, indifferent to the story but honestly I can see myself coming back to this game more than 3 houses despite that game being better overall!

"The three Trails fans in my audience will get that one" You're right, I did get that one 😆

My pick? Crimson 1 from Project Wingman. At first starts out as a boss you have to retreat from. Second time you actually beat some of his wingmen and force him to retreat, something he is none too happy about. Third time he has clearly started to become obsessed with taking you down and going increasingly unhinged. And the the fourth and final time as the final boss, now piloting a powerful prototype plane, the titular Project Wingman, in a brutal boss battle where he has clearly gone way off the deep end before finally putting him down for good.

Love this music for the perfect chaos fight!!!

11:28 I was was about to say that's not counting his Brave Exvius fights XD

When you started talking about Dragaux I jokingly though the answer would be 50 times. I was not expecting to be off by 1!

I'm only 5 minutes in and I already appreciate the JelloApocolypse "So this is Basically Trails of Cold Steel" Video

And of course GlaDos cameos in. Whenever she's involved, someone's in for a taxing series of tests. I'll bake the cake and prepare the confetti, while you enjoy having your brain slowly melt under the strain. Good luck~! 👍🤞😝

Cool video Josh.

So… am I the only one who’s surprised we haven’t had a robot/machine themed boss countdown yet?

Good news Josh, Lego sonic is going to be a full fledged theme. Five sets are set to release this summer, with one of them being the death egg.

*Dracula is revived again* Current Belmont: How many times do we have to teach you this lesson, old man?

how ironic that the number 1 in this list require you to not sit on your ass but actually do exercises to beat. the game should come with a label saying: "disclaimer, this game will make you fit by the end credits"

Off the top of my head, I wanna say the adventurers from Skul: The Hero Slayer are my favorite recurring bosses. Six bosses you can fight during each run of this roguelike game, each encounter adding an adventurer until it's 3 bosses at once. Then the 4th fight is against one adventurer who gets a massive buff and moveset change. In the Dark Mirror update, they add an extra adventurer to the first 3 fights to grant a background effect to shake things up. What makes me like them is how they're basically a standard RPG party consisting of a cleric, archer, warrior, mage, thief, and a hero parody. Works with the game's motif of playing on the monsters' side. Besides them, Jr Troopa from Paper Mario is also a favorite for each battle adding a new trick the battle system uses until his final fight uses all of them.

Wasn't expecting a RingFit inclusion on a countdown! Also, that GLaDOS cameo at the end has me wonder if we're getting a Portal-related list soon...

Was expecting the Sonic one to be Metal Sonic, but fair enough

Okay, props to whichever editor snuck in the Book of Mario clips during the Paper Mario segment. I did a double take.

We now have LEGO Sonic, Josh. And I will happily collect all sets as the fan that I am.

I feel like that Virgil could be a good entry, specifically in DMC 3 with him getting stronger and new devil arms he acquires.

Nice touch with GlaDOS there! 😹

27:57 don’t worry Josh, there’s a rumor that we are gonna get some later this year.

12:51 "Hail to the Cunning God of Death" ~ A lyric set from a Ridley Boss theme cover with Lyrics here on RU-vid

Josh is talking about TRAILS!! WHOO!!!! Of course he's talking about McBurn :D

To all these bosses I take the wise words once said by mister Frederick Krueger: “Why won’t you D I E?!?!”