Skyward Sword HD has some of the top bosses in the entire Zelda franchise. Not only are they fun, but they are difficult when playing them through for the first time. When you don’t know what to do, they can be especially tricky. The one thing we love about Skyward Sword HD’s bosses is both the variety, a bit of difficulty, and the amount of fun they are. Not all of them are super hard, but they are harder than the bosses in both Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker, its 3D predecessor. So let’s jump into this and look at who are the best bosses in Skyward Sword HD.
5. Pyroclastic Fiend Scaldera
Scaldera is a very interesting boss which is almost a copy of King Dodongo from Ocarina of Time, though with a twist. Scaldera can be either incredibly easy or somewhat difficult depending on your playthrough. I’ve done two playthroughs of the game and in the first playthrough he was very simple. When I played him a second time though, he constantly hid his eye behind the pieces of rock that were not blown up. This can be frustrating, but the sword combat is a puzzle within itself. It’s an excellent boss fight and well deserved as the fifth-best boss in Skyward Sword HD.
4. Ancient Automaton Koloktos
If this were any other game, Koloktos would be ranked higher. That’s how good of a boss fight this is. It’s not only challenging, but it’s a lot of fun. It utilizes a brand new item to the Zelda series, the whip, which may not sound so much fun, but trust me: it’s a blast. The whip is utilized brilliantly in this game and even better in this battle to the death. The thing is, the top three boss battles are in a class of their own, so there really was no room, hence the ranking. But don’t let rankings fool you: this boss battle is excellent and one of the best in the Zelda franchise.
3. Demon Lord Ghirahim Fight # 2
The second fight with Ghirahim is one of the best. It’s more difficult than the first, though if you already know how to fight him, he’s not incredibly difficult…but he can still be hard. The fight is slightly different this time around and definitely not as easy as the first battle versus Ghirahim, which was fairly simple. There are two phases: The first is where he follows your sword, protected in certain areas by magical entities (I don’t know what they’re called), and you have to not only swing in the precise direction but make sure not to hit any of Ghirahim’s magic. If you do, this will protect him. In the second phase of the fight, Ghirahim will either surround you by magic or shoot magic at you in various directions. You either need to do spin attacks (horizontal and vertical), slash the magic back at him in the angle he projects it at you, or simply parry it with your shield. In cases where he does long-term attacks, the latter is the best choice. Then he jumps up in the air and charges you by jumping. You have to dash, he gets momentarily stuck if he misses you, and you let him have it. It may sound easy, but in practice, it definitely isn’t. It’s one of the best fights in Zelda history with one of the greatest Zelda villains of all-time, who needs to make a return, hopefully in Breath of the Wild 2.
2. Demon Lord Ghirahim Fight #3
The final Ghirahim fight is the most epic. If you’re playing it for the first time, it is definitely the most difficult battle of them all. It consists of three phases; In the first phase, you attempt to knock Ghirahim off of the ledge of his “plunge.” In the second phase, you play a bit of tennis with him with the magic he hurls at you, just like you do with Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time and Agahnim in A Link to the Past. The final phase takes the most patience. Ghirahim takes out an enormous sword and you must swing at it in order to break it. If you take concentrated, patient swings, and then take out Ghirahim’s diamond in his chest after breaking the sword, you’re fine. If you simply hack away like crazy you will die. This version of Ghirahim requires a great amount of patience and is one of the greatest boss battles in the history of Zelda with one of the greatest villains in the history of the franchise, save two (Ganondorf and Demise.) This is the best Ghirahim fight which is why it cements its spot as the number two boss battle in Skyward Sword HD.
Demise
The final boss battle in Skyward Sword HD is epic in both scope and scale. Demise isn’t that difficult if you know how to fight him, but even by that same token, he’s not easy and you can still fall prey to him even if you know how to beat him (this has happened to me before.) Having the Hylian Shield from Boss Rush mode from the Thunder Dragon is a must. If you don’t, your shield will break. Demise’s attacks are quicker than anticipated, and if you don’t parry them at just the right moment, you will get hit, and Demise’s hits hurt dearly. The first phase of the battle consists of parrying Demise’s attacks and attacking him when he’s temporarily vulnerable. You have to be patient though. If you swing your sword at him non-stop, you will die very quickly. Take a few swings at him at then go back to parrying. If you do this, he’ll fall pretty quickly.
But wait! There’s a second phase. Demise’s second phase is very atmospheric, with both the music and visuals to boot. It utilizes the Skyward Strike, though with lightning bolts, and Demise uses them as well. While you can also access the lightning, it can be difficult; at times, Demise will charge you so quickly that you have no time to react. It is at this time that I pull out an invincibility potion to get me through this phase of the battle, although that’s on Hero Mode with double damage. Still, he does massive damage regardless. You can sidestep his “Skyward Strike” and hit him with your own, charge him, and hit him endlessly until he recovers. The battle is so atmospheric. Next to Ocarina of Time Ganondorf/Ganon, this is easily the best, if not beating out Ganondorf as the best, boss battle in the Zelda franchise. There is a reason why Demise is at the top of the bosses in Skyward Sword HD and Zelda as a whole.