Bloodborne was the first post-Dark Souls departure from FromSoftware. While the game is in a very similar vein to Dark Souls, it takes place in another time, place, and even genre. The gameplay is far more panicked and fast-paced too. That said, it still has many similarities to both Dark and Demon’s Souls. One of those is the focus on difficult boss battles.
Bloodborne has them in abundance, and they’re arguably more frightening than any of the same in Dark Souls. Monstrosities from the edge of human imagining are out in force to kill the player’s hunter in Bloodborne. But these truly stack up in terms of difficulty, originality, and gameplay design. Expect Bloodborne spoilers throughout this article.
13 Mergo’s Wet Nurse Watches Over The Sleeping God
Mergo’s Wet Nurse is one of the possible final bosses of Bloodborne. It is a mysterious figure that attacks the Hunter when they make it to the top of Mergo’s Loft in the heart of the Nightmare of Mensis. Who or what Mergo is exactly is one of the central mysteries of the game, but Mergo is believed to be one of the Great Old Ones.
Mergo is an unsettling figure capable of turning invisible, creating short-lived copies of itself, and all-around making a bloody mess of the player. The mystery and design of this creature make it very memorable and among the best Bloodborne bosses.
12 Vicar Amelia Is A Humble Faithful Who Turns Into A Beast
Vicar Amelia is an early milestone of Bloodborne, as she is considered the first “major” boss who triggers a lot of areas of the game to unlock. She is also an unsettling creature not too dissimilar to the Cleric Beast. Unlike the Cleric Beast, you get to see Vicar Amelia before she transforms into the horrifying creature she becomes.
Vicar Amelia is no pushover and poses a greater challenge than either Father Gascoigne or the Cleric Beast. Her design is more striking in how alien it is to any earthly animal as well as the brilliant white fur. Throughout the fight, Amelia holds onto her golden pendant even as she viciously attacks the Hunter.
11 Yharnam, Pthumerian Queen Is A Mysterious Figure At The Heart Of It All
Yharnam, Pthumerian Queen is a boss hidden deep within the Chalice Dungeons that are accessible from the Hunter’s Dream. It takes a lot of slogging through the Chalice Dungeons to get to Yarnham, and they are easily the weakest part of Bloodborne. However, the Yharnam, Pthumerian Queen boss fight is a nice reward for diving into the dungeons (and is required to unlock all Bloodborne trophies).
The specifics of who Yharnam was are shrouded in mystery beyond her being Pthumerian and likely the name inspiration for the city of Yharnam. A vision of her appears at the top of Mergo’s Loft just before the Mergo’s Wet Nurse boss battle, which has heavy implications for how significant Queen Yharnam is to this interpersonal deity drama that is Bloodborne. Queen Yharnam is among the harder boss fights in the game too, as her attacks are uniquely dangerous and aggressive.
10 Father Gascoigne Is A Figure Out Of Shakespearean Tragedy
Father Gascoigne is something of an outlier in terms of Bloodborne bosses, as Gascoigne only turns into a monster halfway through the fight - and isn’t all that grotesque a monster either considering what else is in the game. Gascoigne is another hunter, but the beast blood within his veins turns him into a werewolf-like beast midway through the struggle.
The real hook with Gascoigne, however, is the familial drama that the player can discover while exploring Yharnam, and it makes Gascoigne one of the best Bloodborne bosses. Gascoigne’s daughter is holed up in their home and asks the player for help. Unfortunately, there is no good ending for Gascoigne’s daughter, as giving her any direction leads to her demise, adding to the melancholy and heartbreak of Bloodborne.
9 The Cleric Beast Is The Game’s First Otherworldly Monstrosity
The Cleric Beast truly sets the tone for Bloodborne, as it’s one of the first bosses that the player can face alongside Father Gascoigne. You can hear the Cleric Beast’s unsettling cry while progressing through Yharnam and finally encounter the Cleric Beast on a bridge later on.
The Beast looks lupine like many of the mob monsters in Yharnam, but it’s deformed and bloody in ways unexpected. There’s something more than lycanthropy causing the Cleric Beast’s appearance, and it hints at some of the deeper and more Lovecraftian veins running through Bloodborne.
8 Gehrman, The First Hunter Is Your Mentor And Prison Warden
Gehrman is a potential final boss for the player. He is a mentor that guides the player through the Hunter’s Dream alongside the Living Doll. However, Gehrman is more mysterious and sinister. In the end, Gehrman gives the player an option between letting him slay them or fighting to retain the memories of the night. If the player chooses the latter, they must fight Gehrman.
Gehrman, being the First Hunter, has a big hand in causing the events of Bloodborne, and there is a lot of lore in the game and Old Hunters DLC that shine a light on some of Gehrman’s sins that led to Bloodborne.
7 The Amygdala Has Many Arms And Many Atrocities At Its Disposal
The Amygdala is a variety of Great One that fights the player in the Nightmare Frontier. This multi-armed monstrosity is a brutal boss capable of unleashing energy blasts and shaking the very ground beneath the player’s feet. If damaged enough, the Amygdala even breaks off a pair of its own arms and uses them as weapons.
There are other Amygdala throughout the world of Bloodborne. They are actually invisible until the player gains enough Insight, and one Amygdala is responsible for pulling the player into the Nightmare Frontier in the first place.
6 The One Reborn Is A Failed Attempt At A God
A big part of the Bloodborne lore is the Church and Hunters working to turn a human into a Great One. An attempt at this is the One Reborn, a horrid amalgamation of corpses turned into a giant monster all its own.
In another masterstroke of gameplay-as-story, the One Reborn is actually a fairly easy fight that is unable to defend itself without help from nearby sorceresses. Despite its life and still-considerable power, the One Reborn is a failure and doesn’t reach the power of a true Great One.
5 Lady Maria Of The Astral Clocktower Is A Regretful Hunter
Lady Maria is only encountered in the Old Hunters DLC of Bloodborne. She is a skilled and powerful hunter encountered in the titular Astral Clocktower. She is also the inspiration for the Living Doll in the Hunter’s Dream.
Both gameplay and lore are responsible for Lady Maria’s position on this list. The fight itself is difficult and gripping, and Maria’s backstory implies things both horrible and heartbreaking. She and Gehrman are responsible for a wretched sin involving the Fishing Hamlet and the Great One known as Kos. The specifics, as always, are up to interpretation. Also, her sword is later found in the Fishing Hamlet and is one of the best dexterity-based weapons in the game.
4 The Moon Presence Is (Possibly) The Secret Puppet Master Behind It All
The Moon Presence is another potential final boss for Bloodborne. It only appears upon the player consuming three “Third of Umbilical Cord” and defeating Gehrman, the First Hunter. This leads to many interpretations of course, but the main implication seems to be that the Moon Presence is attempting to prevent the cycle of the Hunter’s Dream.
It’s a relatively easy fight, as the Moon Presence itself seems to be a malformed thing weakened by the years. Despite that, the character has a great and unsettling design, and its mysterious position in the lore is rife for player theorization.
3 Orphan Of Kos Is A Child Mourning Its Mother
The Orphan of Kos is the final boss of the Old Hunters DLC, and it also has a lot of lore theories surrounding it. Despite the shape of its parent, Kos, this creature is surprisingly humanoid and actually resembles Gehrman in the face.
The gameplay, visual design, and melancholy music come together to make this fight an unforgettable experience. It’s also one of the most difficult fights of Bloodborne. It’s a foe that inspires fear, sympathy, and, of course, rage, and that’s an impressive mixture of emotions to evoke from a player.
2 Ebrietas, Daughter Of The Cosmos Is A God Held Captive
Ebrietas is an optional boss fairly hidden away in the Upper Cathedral Ward. Ebrietas is another Great One that seems to be emaciated and weakened, though that is hard to tell given that Great One’s otherworldly anatomy. That said, it seems that the Healing Church has a Great One of its very own.
That lore, the Cthulhu-esque design of Ebrietas, and a brutal boss battle make Ebrietas easily one of the greatest boss battles of Bloodborne. Even though Ebrietas is weakened by captivity, it’s still a force to be reckoned with.
1 Ludwig The Accursed/Holy Blade Is A Parable Warning Against Bloodthirst
The greatest boss battle of Bloodborne actually comes from the Old Hunters DLC. Ludwig the Accursed is a former hunter mutated and fused with his steed lying within the Hunter’s Nightmare. Ludwig has lost his sanity to his bestial curse and immediately attacks the player on site. Ludwig is easily among the best Bloodborne bosses and among the best of all “Soulsborne” bosses.
However, Ludwig is grounded by his Moonlight Greatsword, and that transforms Ludwig into Ludwig the Holy Blade midway through the fight. Ludwig’s combat style becomes more elegant and skillful during this phase. Even upon defeat, Ludwig’s head lies in a pile of gore and continues to speak.
Furthermore, it can’t be stressed enough that Ludwig’s soundtrack by Nobuyoshi Suzuki is among the greatest in all the Soulsborne games.
NEXT: The Best Outfits In Bloodborne
