What's your personal ranking of the final bosses in the series? My list is:
1. Xemnas (KH2) — Probably don't need to explain myself on this one. Epic set pieces, epic music, epic progression, epic combat. Probably the most perfect final boss sequence in any game I've ever played. 'Nuf said.
2. Master Xehanort (KH3) – Underrated final fight imo. Hardest fight in the base game besides Dark Inferno (not saying much i know but yeah), beautiful locations, nice thematic tie-ins to the series (fighting on land, sea, and sky, fighting all thirteen replicas, trinity callback, etc.), and genuinely satisfying from a narrative perspective. Would have liked a giant phase to fit in with the first two main titles, but it still feels right without it.
2.5. The Data Org and Yozora (KH3 Limit Cut/Secret Episode) – Yeah, I'm doing DLC final fights too, why not? Immaculately designed fights, all of them. Yozora's battle was the most hyped the series has made me for an unknown character and for the future of the series since Lingering Will. Only complaint is that it sucks that Nomura locked main story content behind a gauntlet of superbosses. That's pretty petty. I know people can just look up cutscenes on Youtube, but I feel pity in my heart for people who spend years knocking their heads against a wall trying to beat all these guys just to progress the story on their own.
3. Ansem (KH1) – The classic. The end of the beginning. Blew my mind as a kid when I played it. Never finished a game before KH1, so going through the onslaught of bosses and the gigantic World of Chaos multi-battle was just peak hype at age 6. Only criticisms are the combat for WoC is kinda weak, and the transition from the second Ansem battle to the first WoC battle in the Void feels totally incongruous, like there were phases cut out in between (which, as anyone who's read some of Nomura's KH1 Ultimania interviews will know, is actually true).
3.5. Armored Xehanort (KH3 ReMIND) – You get to play as Kairi. That's pretty neat. And not a bad fight either.
4. Young Xehanort (DDD) (yes, I know he's not the actual final boss, just let me pretend for a bit) – I actually really liked the time stop mechanic. It provided a nice switch-up from the usual bosses, and it was nice fighting a version of this character that wasn't bullshit (*cough*MF*cough*). And he feels more like the final boss than the actual one (which is actually a weirdly re-occurring pattern in this franchise).
5. Xion (Days) (yes, I'm doing it again, just let me, we all know this fight is the de facto final boss anyway) – Need I say anything? Maybe not the most mechanically engaging final fight in the series, but damn if the emotional weight of that fight isn't etched in every KH fan's memory.
6. Marluxia (CoM) – Probably the only giant final boss outside of the main numbered games (not counting Xion of course). While I'm not the biggest fan of the card mechanics, I will say Marluxia's fight had the best music in the game and he was the coolest Org member to fight at that point. I really like the extra phase they added in ReCOM, especially with the added lore context we have for it now. It feels funny to look back on a time before KH2 when Marluxia was the biggest threat we knew of in the Organization.
7. Demon Tide (0.2) – I'll admit, my appreciation for this fight wore off after having to fight him so many times in KH3, but for a first time experience, it was pretty intense. Nothing like that sudden mid-fight phase switch with the skies turning red and the music drop. Top quality fight for what was basically a glorified tech demo.
8. Terra-Xehanort and Vanitas/Ventus-Vanitas and I guess Dark Hide 'cause why not (BBS, all sub-stories plus final episode) – I'm lumping all the final fights of BBS into one spot because I think they all share pretty similar pros and cons. Narratively speaking, they're great final fights. They all carry a lot of emotional weight and a healthy dose of nostalgia for the earlier games. But I think we can all agree, the fights are pretty janky. Especially Terra-Xehanort. Easily the most frustratingly designed main story boss in the entire series for me. Just a little too much BS for me to really love them like a lot of people do.
9. Riku (Days), Ansem (CoM), and Data-Roxas (Re coded) – Putting em all together here 'cause they all feel similar—cheaper reused versions of bosses that were much better in other games. Not much new mechanically to them, in fact a lot gets taken away and stripped down. No interesting phase changes, nothing to really switch it up on you.
10. Master Xehanort (MoM) – Idk. I mean, it's a fairly challenging song. Should I even count this as a final boss? Whatever.
11. Ephemer and Skuld (UX) – These guys get one spot above last purely for emotional value. Anyone who's read any of my takes on the mobile games knows I detest them with the blazing passionate fury of a trillion collapsing neutron stars. No real combat value to speak of. Hate the artstyle. Location is pretty lame for a final fight to a game that took almost ten years to complete. But decent emotional weight.
12. Hringhorn (Dark Road) – Everything I said about the UX fight minus the good stuff. We didn't even get to fight Baldr straight up. I actually think I might dislike the combat in DR more than UX tbh.
1. Xemnas (KH2) — Probably don't need to explain myself on this one. Epic set pieces, epic music, epic progression, epic combat. Probably the most perfect final boss sequence in any game I've ever played. 'Nuf said.
2. Master Xehanort (KH3) – Underrated final fight imo. Hardest fight in the base game besides Dark Inferno (not saying much i know but yeah), beautiful locations, nice thematic tie-ins to the series (fighting on land, sea, and sky, fighting all thirteen replicas, trinity callback, etc.), and genuinely satisfying from a narrative perspective. Would have liked a giant phase to fit in with the first two main titles, but it still feels right without it.
2.5. The Data Org and Yozora (KH3 Limit Cut/Secret Episode) – Yeah, I'm doing DLC final fights too, why not? Immaculately designed fights, all of them. Yozora's battle was the most hyped the series has made me for an unknown character and for the future of the series since Lingering Will. Only complaint is that it sucks that Nomura locked main story content behind a gauntlet of superbosses. That's pretty petty. I know people can just look up cutscenes on Youtube, but I feel pity in my heart for people who spend years knocking their heads against a wall trying to beat all these guys just to progress the story on their own.
3. Ansem (KH1) – The classic. The end of the beginning. Blew my mind as a kid when I played it. Never finished a game before KH1, so going through the onslaught of bosses and the gigantic World of Chaos multi-battle was just peak hype at age 6. Only criticisms are the combat for WoC is kinda weak, and the transition from the second Ansem battle to the first WoC battle in the Void feels totally incongruous, like there were phases cut out in between (which, as anyone who's read some of Nomura's KH1 Ultimania interviews will know, is actually true).
3.5. Armored Xehanort (KH3 ReMIND) – You get to play as Kairi. That's pretty neat. And not a bad fight either.
4. Young Xehanort (DDD) (yes, I know he's not the actual final boss, just let me pretend for a bit) – I actually really liked the time stop mechanic. It provided a nice switch-up from the usual bosses, and it was nice fighting a version of this character that wasn't bullshit (*cough*MF*cough*). And he feels more like the final boss than the actual one (which is actually a weirdly re-occurring pattern in this franchise).
5. Xion (Days) (yes, I'm doing it again, just let me, we all know this fight is the de facto final boss anyway) – Need I say anything? Maybe not the most mechanically engaging final fight in the series, but damn if the emotional weight of that fight isn't etched in every KH fan's memory.
6. Marluxia (CoM) – Probably the only giant final boss outside of the main numbered games (not counting Xion of course). While I'm not the biggest fan of the card mechanics, I will say Marluxia's fight had the best music in the game and he was the coolest Org member to fight at that point. I really like the extra phase they added in ReCOM, especially with the added lore context we have for it now. It feels funny to look back on a time before KH2 when Marluxia was the biggest threat we knew of in the Organization.
7. Demon Tide (0.2) – I'll admit, my appreciation for this fight wore off after having to fight him so many times in KH3, but for a first time experience, it was pretty intense. Nothing like that sudden mid-fight phase switch with the skies turning red and the music drop. Top quality fight for what was basically a glorified tech demo.
8. Terra-Xehanort and Vanitas/Ventus-Vanitas and I guess Dark Hide 'cause why not (BBS, all sub-stories plus final episode) – I'm lumping all the final fights of BBS into one spot because I think they all share pretty similar pros and cons. Narratively speaking, they're great final fights. They all carry a lot of emotional weight and a healthy dose of nostalgia for the earlier games. But I think we can all agree, the fights are pretty janky. Especially Terra-Xehanort. Easily the most frustratingly designed main story boss in the entire series for me. Just a little too much BS for me to really love them like a lot of people do.
9. Riku (Days), Ansem (CoM), and Data-Roxas (Re coded) – Putting em all together here 'cause they all feel similar—cheaper reused versions of bosses that were much better in other games. Not much new mechanically to them, in fact a lot gets taken away and stripped down. No interesting phase changes, nothing to really switch it up on you.
10. Master Xehanort (MoM) – Idk. I mean, it's a fairly challenging song. Should I even count this as a final boss? Whatever.
11. Ephemer and Skuld (UX) – These guys get one spot above last purely for emotional value. Anyone who's read any of my takes on the mobile games knows I detest them with the blazing passionate fury of a trillion collapsing neutron stars. No real combat value to speak of. Hate the artstyle. Location is pretty lame for a final fight to a game that took almost ten years to complete. But decent emotional weight.
12. Hringhorn (Dark Road) – Everything I said about the UX fight minus the good stuff. We didn't even get to fight Baldr straight up. I actually think I might dislike the combat in DR more than UX tbh.
