The bosses that you fight in video games receive far more care and attention than the regular enemies that you battle throughout the story. This is because developers know that memorable bosses (and the struggle to overcome them) will help to cement the game in the player’s mind.
You may not remember each individual encounter with gangs of thugs in the Arkham games, but you most certainly will remember the amazing battles against Mr. Freeze and Scarecrow that tested all of your skill as a player.
The same holds true for the incredibly difficult bosses in the Dark Souls series and the weird looking Final Fantasy bosses and their religious iconography.
It’s for this reason that very few bosses are cut from video games. It’s one thing to scrap a grunt enemy or a level design that isn’t working, but bosses take too much planning and work for their existence to easily be scrapped.
There are a few bosses that have been left on the cutting room floor by various video game developers over the years and we cannot help but wonder why, as their inclusion would only have improved the final product.
We are here today to uncover the amazing bosses that were scrapped and left buried in the code of their video games, from the Gym Leader who was almost one of the best trainers in the world to the diseases that would have threatened the cast of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Here are the 20 Cut Video Game Bosses That Were Way Better Than What We Got!
Misty In Pokémon Gold & Silver
One of the biggest surprises in Pokémon Gold & Silver was the ability to return to Kanto from Pokémon Red & Blue and challenging the Gym Leaders in that region.
The Gym Leaders of Kanto remained mostly the same in Pokémon Gold & Silver, with the exception of Giovanni and Koga, who were replaced by Blue and Janine.
An older version of Misty appears as the leader of the Cerulean City Gym in Pokémon Gold & Silver, but she was meant to have a much loftier position at one point in development.
The leaked prototype build of Pokémon Gold & Silver revealed that Misty had taken Agatha’s place on the Elite Four and would have been one of the final opponents in the game.
Gojira In Fallout: New Vegas
The wastelands of Fallout: New Vegas are home to some terrifying creatures, with deathclaws and super mutants seemingly waiting around every corner to tear you apart.
The most powerful creature in Fallout: New Vegas cannot be seen in normal gameplay. This behemoth is known as Gojira (which is the Japanese name of Godzilla) and it is a massive fire gecko that can annihilate any creature in the game.
Gojira possesses a fire breath that deals over three-thousand points of damage per second, which means that it can vaporize any other creature in the game within moments.
Gojira was originally intended to be a joke character, who was created by the animators so that they could set it loose in the wasteland.
It’s a shame that it was never saved for an optional final showdown, though you can always make this happen with the use of mods.
The Great One Beast In Bloodborne
Bloodborne gives the player the chance to journey through dungeons that have no relation to the main story of the game. These are referred to as Chalice Dungeons and the players can access specific ones with the aid of certain codes.
It seems that the developers of Bloodborne used the Chalice Dungeons for debugging purposes, as there are unused boss battles that are found within incomplete areas within these dungeons.
It’s possible to encounter a powerful unused boss, known as the Great One Beast, within a Chalice Dungeon.
The Great One Beast is a massive wolf with blood red eyes that fights with its great speed and massive claws, which means that the player needs to play defensively in order to dodge its attacks.
You can encounter the Great One Beast using a specific glyph, but be careful, as the fact that it’s unfinished means that it may glitch your game.
Undead King Jar-Eel In Dark Souls
The Dark Souls series is known for its incredibly difficult boss battles, which now act as a right of passage in the eyes of some gamers. Can you truly call yourself a gamer if you haven’t defeated the likes of the Capra Demon or Seath the Scaleless?
FromSoftware put a lot of effort into each Dark Souls boss, which is why there are very few unused bosses within the files of the game.
The exception to this is Undead King Jar-Eel, who is a powerful darkwraith from the original Dark Souls.
Undead King Jar-Eel was intended to be a boss within the New Londo Ruins, yet he was cut at a late point in development.
There are unused dialogue files within the game which suggest that Undead King Jar-Eel was part of a quest involving Ingward.
It’s possible to add Undead King Jar-Eel back into the PC version of Dark Souls with the aid of mods.
Centaur Xemnas In Kingdom Hearts
The bosses in the early Kingdom Hearts games were known to incite violence against controllers due to how brutally difficult they could be.
It seems that Xemnas from Kingdom Hearts II was meant to be far more difficult than he ended up being, as he was originally planned to transform into two unused giant forms that have only survived as concept art.
These forms were meant to be similar to Xemnas’ Dragon form, which did make it into the game.
Xemnas’ first unused form was that of a Nobody that was bigger than a city. This form was called King and it was adorned with a massive silver crown.
Once the King form had been defeated, Xemnas would transform into his Kentauros form, which was an even bigger Nobody that resembled a colossal centaur.
Hades & The Grim Reaper In Final Fantasy IX
The creators of Final Fantasy IX had a problem when it came to designing the final boss of the game. It would have made sense for Kuja to have been the end boss of Final Fantasy IX, as he was the antagonist throughout the game, but he apparently didn’t look weird enough for the people at Squaresoft.
Necron was the final boss of Final Fantasy IX and he is regarded as one of the worst in the series, as he only existed to steal the spotlight from Kuja.
Hades was once planned to be the end boss of Final Fantasy IX, with the final battlefield sharing elements of his design.
Hades would make it into the game, but as a secret boss with no relation to the overall story.
Final Fantasy IX also has concept art for a final boss battle against the Grim Reaper itself, which was likely tied into the game’s overall theme of coming to terms with your own mortality.
The Illusive Man In Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect 3 had one of the most disappointing endings in video game history, to the point where the creators had to revise the ending with a patch in order to stem all of the complaints from the fans.
Mass Effect 3 doesn’t have a final boss in the conventional sense. The last encounter in the game involves talking down the Illusive Man, who has been almost totally assimilated by the Reapers.
There was originally going to be an actual boss battle against the Illusive Man at one point during the development of Mass Effect 3.
The developers have released concept art that shows a monstrous Reaper version of the Illusive Man that would have acted as the original final boss of the trilogy.
Crocomire In Metroid: Zero Mission
Crocomire is one of the bosses that you needed to defeat in Super Metroid in order to find the Grapple Beam.
In order to defeat Crocomire, you need to push it back into a pool of lava, while also avoiding being pushed back into a spike-covered wall.
Crocomire was once planned to appear in Metroid: Zero Mission, where you would have faced it in a similar fashion as the battle in Super Metroid.
It must have been cut at a late point in development, as a full set of character sprites for Crocomire exist within the files of Metroid: Zero Mission, and the fans have been able to add it back into the game with the use of a fan-made patch.
The Lost Dragons In Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VI was a notoriously glitchy game when it was first released. The numerous updates, remakes, and ports have fixed the most damaging problems with the game, but it’s still obvious that Final Fantasy VI was shipped in an incomplete state.
One of the major cuts in Final Fantasy VI happened to the post-game content.
The player was originally going to fight an incredibly powerful secret boss, called the Czar Dragon. This creature was tied into the Eight Legendary Dragons that the player battled throughout the game and would likely have been released when the seal on the dragons was broken.
The battles against the Eight Legendary Dragons were also meant to be more complex, with unused dialogue strings in the game suggesting that they would have possessed the ability to summon each other in battle.
Johnny & The Frog King In Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger is widely considered to be one of the greatest video games of all time. It was created by a so-called “Dream Team” of artists and developers, which meant that some of the best minds in the JRPG business came together to create their magnum opus on the Super Nintendo.
Chrono Trigger is a highly polished game and there isn’t much in terms of unused content. One of the exceptions to this is two cut boss battles that are found within the files of the game.
The first battle is against Johnny, who is the robotic transformer that you need to defeat in a race.
You were likely meant to battle Johnny before the race began. He exists in a mostly complete state within the files of the game.
The other cut boss battle is against the Frog King, who appeared as an enemy during one of Frog’s flashbacks and is defeated by Cyrus and his Nirvana Strike ability.
The Frog King was planned to reappear in the game, though he only exists in a partially complete state.
The Hydra In Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 had a tumultuous development that involved several delays and changes in direction. The fans were particularly annoyed with the fact that several features and segments shown during the 2003 E3 event that never made it into the final game.
Half-Life 2 was once meant to feature a powerful alien known as the Hydra. This creature consisted of several blue tentacles that could pierce an NPC with a single strike.
The Hydra and its level were shown off at E3 and it appeared in a lot of pre-release screenshots of Half-Life 2.
However, the developers decided to scrap it from the game, as they weren’t sure whether the encounter with the Hydra would be fun from a first-person perspective, as it was meant to be deadly and could quickly slay the player from behind without much warning.
The Chicken Monster In Silent Hill
One of the most common theories concerning the original Silent Hill is that all of the enemies and locations in the game are meant to be things that are scary to children, which is why the enemies include other children, doctors and nurses, and wild animals and insects.
There are several cut enemies in Silent Hill, with one being a horrifying boss that may have thrown a wrench into the childhood fears theory: unless kids are just really scared of chickens.
There is an unused boss in Silent Hill that looks like a giant skinless chicken that has similar proportions to a human.
This boss has quite a few animations but is still in a fairly incomplete state.
Fans aren’t sure where this boss would have appeared, as it could have shown up just about anywhere.
Chinaman & Old Boy In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty
In Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Raiden is pitted against the members of the Dead Cell unit, who were a group of powerful soldiers who had defected and become terrorists.
The members of Dead Cell managed to take over the Big Shell and secure Arsenal Gear, which meant that Raiden had to infiltrate the area and deal with them.
The Dead Cell unit was meant to include two other characters, who were scrapped at an early stage of development.
These unused members were called Chinaman and Old Boy, who still exist within the lore of the series, but were said to have passed away before the events of Sons of Liberty.
Chinaman’s boss battle was meant to involve an underwater section, which allowed him to animate the dragon tattoo on his chest. This battle was reworked and given to Vamp.
We don’t know much about Old Boy’s role in Sons of Liberty, but we do know that he was reworked into The Boss and The End in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
The Priestess In Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is an unusual game, in that a lot of material was taken out at the last minute, as the developers wanted to save content for an upcoming sequel.
This included gutting the entire ending of the game and replacing it with a glorified “To Be Continued…” screen.
One element of Soul Reaver that didn’t make it into the final version of the game was the existence of a vampire-worshiping cult within the last human city.
This cult would have been led by a woman, known as the Priestess, who would have summoned monsters for Raziel to battle during their fight.
The original plan was for Raziel to gain the Possession ability after defeating the Priestess.
The Koopalings In Super Princess Peach
The Koopalings were originally presented as being the seven children of Bowser, but this has been retconned, with Bowser Jr. now being the only official child of Bowser.
The Koopalings have been recurring antagonists throughout the Mario series and have usually acted as the end of level bosses across the different worlds in each game.
It seems that the Koopalings were planned to be the antagonists in Super Princess Peach for the Nintendo DS.
There are unused character sprites for all seven of them within the files of the game.
It’s unknown why they were cut from the game at such a late stage in development.
The Sky Dragon In Sonic Adventure
The Sky Chase level in the original Sonic Adventure involves Sonic and Tails pursuing Dr. Eggman’s Egg Carrier in the Tornado plane.
The pre-release screenshots of Sonic Adventure showed a mechanical dragon in the Sky Chase level, which the player would have presumably needed to have fought at some point.
It’s possible to add this dragon back into Sonic Adventure using a cheat device, but it lacks the crucial programming needed to fight it as an actual boss.
The sky dragon doesn’t have any attack animations that can be accessed, nor can it be harmed by the player.
In its current state, it can only chase Sonic and Tails through the level without actually threatening them.
Meta-Kraid In Metroid Prime
Kraid is a recurring villain in the early games in the Metroid series. Kraid was a massive lizard-like creature that dwarfed Samus in stature.
Kraid was planned to appear in Metroid Prime in the form of Meta-Kraid. He was intended to be the original boss of the Phazon Mines section of the game.
In order to defeat Meta-Kraid, the player would need to drop pieces of the scenery onto his head in order to smash his metal helmet.
This would eventually result in a second phase where Meta-Kraid would fire massive spears from his belly at Samus.
The reason why Meta-Kraid was cut from Metroid Prime was due to a lack of development time and his lack of relevance to the story.
We can only hope that Kraid will finally reappear in the upcoming Metroid Prime 4 for the Nintendo Switch.
Devil Joker In Persona 2
In the world of the Persona 2 games, the power of rumor is something that is tangible. It’s possible for a rumor to become reality, which is something that plays a key role in the story of Persona 2: Innocent Sin and Persona 2: Eternal Punishment.
In Persona 2: Innocent Sin, there is a moment when a civilian refers to Joker (the villain of the game) as an angel, while another person refers to him as a devil.
This was meant to be part of a quest to unlock a new form for the boss battle against Joker, as he originally only appears as “Angel Joker.”
There was going to be a different fight, where he took on the form of “Devil Joker.”
A sprite for Devil Joker exists within the files of Persona 2: Innocent Sin, but it’s never used in the game.
Hilda & Hilbert In Pokémon Black 2 & White 2
The fight against Red at the end of Pokémon Gold & Silver is considered to be the high point of the series by many fans.
The fact that you had a chance to challenge the character you were playing in the previous game makes the battle personal, as you try and overcome the most powerful trainer in the series.
It seems that Pokémon Black 2 & White 2 were once planning on trying to recapture the magic of the battle against Red, as you were once going to be able to battle Hilda and Hilbert, the protagonists of Pokémon Black & White, in the game’s tournament mode.
Hilda and Hilbert were cut at an early point in development, as only dialogue files for their battle quotes exist within the games.
This is a shame, as a battle against the previous protagonists would have acted as an awesome sendoff to the Unova games.
The Viruses In Super Smash Bros. For Wii U
In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, there are several powerful boss monsters that will appear on certain stages and attack the players.
These stage bosses include the Yellow Devil from Mega Man, the Dark Emperor from Find Mii, Ridley from the Metroid series, and Metal Face from Xenoblade Chronicles.
There were plans for a fifth stage boss to appear in the game, but they were scrapped at an early point in development.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U was once planned to have a stage based on Dr. Mario, which would have included the three Viruses as stage bosses.
The menu icons for the Viruses still exist within the files of the game, which are included alongside other pieces of unused character art for the other stage bosses and the different forms of Master Core.
Which of these bosses do you wish you could face? Do you know of any other video game bosses that were cut in development? Let us know in the comments!
