Bosses are a staple of the Soulsborne Series, famous for repeatedly making us slam our heads against the desk as we shout, just one more attempt!

What’s so special about these bosses is the adversity that we face, making us stronger and more confident every step of the journey.

From Ancient Gods to formidable warriors straight from legend, these bosses paint the world in wonderful colors and force us to step up our game.

Of course, when making games like these, it’s natural that not every boss can be a smash hit, and what’s worse is when these sloppily-crafted bosses have multiple phases that drag the fight on and on.

This list will cover some of the most eyerollingly annoying and sigh-inducing multi-phase bosses that FromSoftware has to offer.

This list, in pure SoulsBorne fashion, will only cover Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls 1-3, and Bloodborne.

10 Curse-Rotted Greatwood

That’s One Overgrown Weed

The Curse-Rotted Greatwood earns the number ten spot since it actually has a pretty unique design, yet is held back by a number of factors.

Dark Souls III is well known for having some pretty tricky bosses, though this one is more of a gimmick.

This huge tree is pretty much invincible save for the little pustules growing around its body. Burst enough, and you’ll fall through the floor only to fight its second stage.

If we ignore the fact that there are a bunch of cheap enemies that annoy you during the fight, the battle ultimately boils down to a waiting game. Circle the tree and wait for an opening, dash in and try not to get crushed. At least this slippery sapling is optional.

9 Micolash, Host of the Nightmare

Level 99 Agility

Here we have another boss with a fantastic concept, yet frustrating execution. In all honesty, you’ll spend most of the time in this combat running around hallways dodging constantly spawning enemies instead of actually fighting.

Micolash likes to run, that’s for sure. And he’ll have you running around in confusion for longer than it’ll take you to defeat even the most difficult Bloodborne boss.

While he has some great voice lines, and in theory the fight is interesting, his move set is pretty lackluster and this boss ends up being more of a chore than an interesting puzzle.

He gets bonus points for having a super-cool head cage though.

8 Dragon God

Hide and Seek: Dragon Style

Demon’s Souls is pretty famous for its gimmicky bosses, but in truth, there’s none more groan-worthy than the Dragon God.

To anyone who’s played a decent number of Souls games, you’ll be used to incredible dragon fights, like Midir and Sinh, where you take down terrifying beasts that’ll make your hands shake. This is not one of them.

While the Dragon God may look awe-inspiring, the fight boils down to you breaking a bunch of rubble and pressing two buttons. No really, that’s it.

From the trailer, you may have expected an ultimate battle of sorts. But hiding behind pillars and bopping some God on the chin doesn’t really cut it for me.

7 Deacons of the Deep

You Can Keep The Doll

A room of evil Priests? It’s a no from me, boss. While this fight may seem difficult on paper, in reality, it’s simply more annoying due to the amount of enemies that occupy the space.

In this fight, you need to look out for the Deacon who is glowing red. When you kill him, then you need to find the next one and so on. Once you get halfway, the true Deacon will spawn surrounded by even more enemies.

Oftentimes you’ll find yourself swarmed and unable to move, while you’re getting bonked on the head and roasted by fireballs.

While it is satisfying to bring a huge weapon and take down a bunch of mobs at once, there aren’t really a lot of interesting mechanics at play here. The boss is a bit of a “mash roll to win” kind of ordeal.

6 Royal Rat Authority

Rabid, Toxic Rats… Lovely

Hmm, I’m sensing a theme here: bosses that have a bunch of extra mobs accompanying them. Not the most fun in the world, that’s for sure.

The Royal Rat/Dog Authority is a pain simply because he’ll jump on you as you’re trying to fight the irritating rats that accompany him. What’s more, you’ll probably have another battle trying to wrestle with Dark Souls 2’s camera.

This fight is kind of like a worse version of Sif from Dark Souls. His moves are similar, the way you kill him is similar, he’s not exactly pretty to look at, and he doesn’t inspire the same kind of emotion that you get from putting Sif to rest.

Plus, did I mention, extra rats?

5 The Witch of Hemwick

Double, Double, Toil And Trouble

While multi-phase bosses can be fantastic, sometimes in cases like this, they just leave me confused.

One might expect a boss to power up, like Ornstein and Smough or transform entirely, radicalizing the fight, and keeping you on your toes. Then it’s almost like fighting two bosses in one. Curse you Maliketh!

However, here, you get the worst example of a multi-phase boss. Once you kill one witch, well… here’s another one. And she’s just as slow and boring as the first.

It’s frustrating because the vibes and the arena of this fight are great, stalked by these shadow figures as you frantically search for the Witch. But when you find her, it’s a letdown, and by the time you slay this boss, you may be left just as deflated as me.

4 Twin Dragonriders

Dragonriders? Where Are The Dragons?

The first Dragonrider has always been a bit of a meme, with the easiest way of defeating him simply by watching him jump off the arena to his watery doom.

But wait for it… Now there are two! The Dragonriders have always been slow and clunky, but at this stage of the game, this fight really is a joke.

Both enemies barely have any health and by the time you face them, you will have encountered far fiercer foes.

If you inflict enough damage on the first Dragonrider, the second should eventually jump down to greet you, yet if anything, this makes the fight even easier, as you get hit both at the same time.

This fight really just seems like a copy-paste job, where the dev team couldn’t think of any other ideas.

3 Maneaters

Fly, Fly, Fly Away.

Another dual boss. I know, I know, this is the last one I swear. The Maneaters fall in every place that the Bell Gargoyles from Dark Souls 1 succeed.

This is another classic, “I’m at low health, now I’ll summon another duplicate boss”, kind of fight.

But where Dark Souls 1 summons a unique ranged gargoyle, previously damaged, here you get basically the same enemy. The tail cut isn’t as cool, and the spacing isn’t as satisfying.

And what’s more, the main annoyance you’ll face in this fight isn’t even the boss, it’s the ledge that you’ll undoubtedly roll off of when trying to dodge. That’s if you’re not waiting for the boss to come back after flying away, of course.

If they had created two unique Maneaters with alternating mechanics, this fight could have been really interesting, but as it is, it’s a letdown for sure.

2 Celestial Emissary

Bobbleheads From The Stars

The bigger they are, the harder they fall. This boss found that out the hard way. This honestly has to be one of the easiest and most ridiculous boss fights in Bloodborne.

In a game that’s full of bloodcurdling roars from horrific mutated beasts and cosmic horror abominations, this is a bit of an anomaly.

Initially, upon entering the arena, you won’t know which enemy is the real boss until you whack them all, and the true one shoots up in size.

Of course, now he just looks doubly as goofy, and he doesn’t do a whole lot of damage either. You can either slice at his legs while the others waddle around, or lead him back to the entrance and cheese from the arches.

It’s another example of a boss that has its difficulty artificially increased by having a bunch of minions attacking you at once. And even then, it’s still not hard.

1 Bed of Chaos

The Legendary Marathon Run-Back

Dark Souls 1 doesn’t have many multi-stage boss fights, but the ones that exist are usually pretty epic.

Of course, where there are highs, there are lows. And when I say low, we are really plumbing the depths of despair here folks.

The Bed of Chaos is universally one of the most despised bosses in the entirety of the Soulsborne catalogue, even hated by veterans who can beat the game blindfolded.

Where do I begin? The horrendous run back through Lost Izalith. The sweeping arms that throw you off the map. The floor that crumbles beneath you. The annoying little branch you have to land on in the centre, or perhaps the towering pillars of deadly flame.

This boss only has 1 HP, yet three whole stages? Bonkers.

This flailing tree joins its cousin, the Curse-Rotted Greatwood, as some of the most annoying, undamageable “vulnerable spot” bosses in the entire franchise. And I, for one, am never happier than when I put that little bug in the heart of the tree to rest.