These Are The Hardest Boss Fights In Legend Of Zelda History

The Legend of Zelda series is a household name in the gaming industry and one of Nintendo's most recognizable IPs. With several entries and spin-offs in the series, Zelda players have experienced countless challenges to overcome, monsters to slay, and secrets to uncover. One of the series' focal points are its dungeons, and they are all uniquely designed. While dungeon aesthetics may vary depending on which Zelda game a player decides to tackle, each temple consists of a final challenge, and that is its boss.

Bosses in the Zelda series are memorable for a variety of reasons. Some may enjoy the absolute satisfaction of severing Koloktos' limbs with a giant blade in Skyward Sword, while others will never forget the atmospheric sword duel with Ganondorf in The Wind Waker. However, some bosses may be unforgettable due to how absolutely hellish they are to defeat. Here are some of the toughest ones in the series that have pushed the limits of Zelda players.

This erratic worm from A Link to the Past is infamously known for how absolutely annoying it is to fight it. Moldorm itself doesn't require much thought: All the player has to do is strike away at its tail. The main issues with this fight are Moldorm's unpredictable movements and the arena it takes place in. Moldorm moves quite fast and is very difficult to pin down. And the more the player strikes away at Moldorm's weak point, the more chaotically it moves.

Moldorm's movement ties into the arena because the entire area is surrounded by pits that will cause the player to fall down one floor below Moldorm. Should Moldorm bump the player into these holes, the player has to climb the stairs back up to the boss fight. But it gets even worse. When the player comes back up to Moldorm's lair, the entire fight starts all over again, with the boss at full health. No matter how many times you hit Moldorm in the previous encounter, it all goes out the window when the player climbs back up the stairs. Moldorm is truly a nightmare to deal with.

Puppet Gannon is the penultimate fight in The Wind Waker, just before Link takes on Ganondorf himself. Puppet Ganon consists of three separate phases, with Ganon taking on a different form for each one. The first shape is Ganon's classic pig-beast form that requires the player to cut the strings hanging from the ceiling so they can shoot at a glowing blue orb on his tail with Light Arrows. Ganon's second form is a spider that hops up to the ceiling, forcing the player to use the water's reflection to see where his abdomen, which hosts the blue orb, will land.

The third form is arguably the most challenging. Ganon turns into a giant snake that moves so quickly and unpredictably that it even puts Moldorm to shame. And the worst part is that the orb that the player has to snipe with Light Arrows is on the tail, which also moves extremely fast. Players can shoot at Ganon's face to briefly stun him or drop a piece of bait to get him to stay in one specific area. But even then, there's only a very small time window to get a good shot in.

Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link is arguably one of the hardest games in the entire series. The game's clunky combat system and its unforgiving game over mechanic that forces the player back to the start of the overworld is truly meant for those looking for a challenge. This spike in difficulty is also reflected in the game's final boss, Dark Link, the shadow version of the iconic hero. Dark Link fights in exactly the same way as Link, except his strikes are swift and hard to read

While the player only needs to get in eight good hits on Dark Link to win the fight, it's the timing that makes this fight difficult. Dark Link can not only hit back quickly, but he can also defend against any ill-timed strikes from the player. There is a way to "cheese" the fight by crouching into the left corner of the screen and stabbing away. Additionally, casting the shield spell before entering the fight will alleviate some of the difficulty involved. But only the truly skilled will be able to take this guy down without any tricks.