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Finally, a Boss "Final Boss Theme"-Themed List

Hey all. That Japanophiliac jackanape Hailinel couldn't do his final boss blog series this month (I can attest to how time-intensive a month-long daily blog series can get) so I've thrown together a composite of 30 final boss themes as a hopefully worthy substitute. We all need to celebrate our final boss fights somehow, consarnit.

I've tried to provide some context behind these tracks without including anything too spoilery, because I know how much the internet likes that, and although a list of 30 might necessitate a bit of padding here and there I've tried to represent a wide spectrum of styles and emotional tones. Each track is a testament to that respective game's unique personality, and that of its composer(s).

Because the current list system still doesn't allow you to embed links in individual entries, here's a handy YouTube playlist that you can all follow along with at home. It's just over 2 hours long, so have fun.

(One last thing: Make sure you don't look at the YouTube comments for these videos. Not because they have spoilers for the games they pertain to (they may well have) but because they're YouTube comments.)

List items

  • I hear starting with a showstopper is the way to go. Persona 3's dramatic theme for its absurdly long final boss is a bona fide classic which I'm sure you've all heard before. And if not, why not? "I don't have time for a 120 hour long anime highschool JRPG"? Pfft, that's not an excuse.

  • Yoshitaka Hirota adds a lot of weird, dark, almost industrial touches to Shadow Hearts' various battle themes. Covenant's "The 3 Karma" is one of his best in the way it highlights the antagonist's desperate nihilism - it's filled with anger and sadness. You might also want to check out the other tracks from the same game (especially those for the Astaroth and Amon fights). Or hell, just play it: it's one of the greatest PS2 RPGs ever made, after all.

  • Deceitful Wings is an amazing track. That the remix by S.S.H. still blows it away is a testament to that fellow's skill at arrangements. It's no secret (or at least it shouldn't be) that every Gust RPG has a great soundtrack.

  • Lost Odyssey's "Howl of the Departed" is another track where the anger is palpable. To say Lost Odyssey is overly emotional is an understatement, but the game's overt melancholy is put to better use in the soundtrack than it is in the plot and dialogue.

  • This list is rather JRPG-heavy so as a concession I've made every fifth track the final boss theme from a decidedly non-RPG vidya. DKC's final boss fight is full of surprises; the first being the incongruously cheery theme as you start the level, deceiving you into believing it's another regular stage. It morphs into its true form around the same time King K. Rool's first crown toss hits one of the apes in the face.

  • The Shadowlord isn't technically the final boss, but just go along with it for now. Any excuse to promote NieR's fantastic soundtrack again. It's sad music, but as all Nier fans know that's pretty much par for the course as far as the boss fights with the "evil" shades are concerned.

  • The overwhelming theme of Grandia II's final boss fight is catharsis. The final foe is a rather negligible one in the grand scheme of things and the heroes are eager to bring their very long and arduous journey to a conclusive end. And holy shit, what a journey. Put a few weeks aside before you jump into this one.

  • The Wild ARMs soundtracks are all a little special. How often do you hear Ennio Morricone flourishes in JRPG music? I love the wind sounds in this too.

  • The key to Ys' consistent popularity is that the series fully embraces its Action RPG roots and never lets up: wall-to-wall excitement and frantic boss battles. Ancient Disputation is simply one of many bombastic tracks from Ys SEVEN.

  • Marx just kind of turns up at the start of Super Star's final segment Milky Way Wishes to tell Kirby where to go and then turns up again at the end just as suddenly to usurp a whole bunch of cosmic power. The fight's similar to "Kirby's Adventure"'s Dark Matter, just with this manic theme music.

  • This twofer needs some explanation: Nisus plays when you meet main antagonist The Conqueror in combat for the first time during the game's finale. It's initially optimistic and orchestral, but quickly gets down to business.

  • ...and Schismogenesis is what happens when the final boss decides to get serious and start nuking unions left and right in a red-tinged berserk state. It's a clever touch: throughout the game a more encouraging battle theme will take over once the player's party has managed to tip the scales in their favor (a bit like Skies of Arcadia). The far more menacing Schismogenesis is the Conqueror tipping the scales in HIS favor instead.

  • I've thrown in a few games I have yet to play for a bit of color. I mean, I definitely haven't tried everything worth playing out there (and, deep down, I hope I never run out of games on the horizon). Radiant Historia's "An Earnest Desire of Grey" is tinged with sadness. I'd love to find out why someday.

  • I'm also planning to play the third Mario & Luigi sometime soon, preferably before the fourth one comes out. I hear this theme a lot during VGCW matches, and it always makes me feel guilty that I've sat on the game this long.

  • All right, I'm cheating a little here. Sonic 3's Big Arms boss fight music is just fine on its own, but its Sonic Generations remix is outstanding. It trumps the hell out of my next favorite, Sonic 2's Death Egg.

  • It was hard to decide between Terranigma and Illusion of Gaia's respective Dark Gaia end boss themes, but IoG tipped it for me due to nostalgia more than anything else. I'd easily recommend both games if you've not yet delved into Quintet's SNES output. Check out that SNES percussion!

  • And here we go, Persona 4's trio of possible end boss themes (depending on your ending). There's a hint in "A New World Fool"'s title that something is amiss if this was the last fight you saw - clearly not all is as it initially seems.

  • The Almighty is my personal favorite of these three Persona 4 tracks and - like Grandia II's final boss theme - seems to represent more than anything the catharsis of finally discovering the culprit and putting the issue of the Midnight Channel murders to rest...

  • ...well, not quite. The Genesis is the actual, definitive final boss theme. Love the wonderful touch of an oppressive dirge that finally falls away to P4's rousing theme - like a ray of sunshine breaking through the obfuscating haze. Metaphorically speaking, of course.

  • Screw Jeff.

  • I could happily fill this entire list with Gust music. I just might. I generally find boss music with lyrics to be a bit silly, but there's no denying the power of Mana Khemia's Stigmata. Were you to translate the lyrics, they're actually some pretty dark stuff.

  • Nothing really remarkable here; just another great end boss track. Considering Monolith Soft's involvement with the Baten Kaitos games, it's not surprising.

  • Eh, I figured I'd better throw in another Final Fantasy theme. Got 12 minutes to spare? Listen to the most incredible piece of Final Fantasy music ever composed then. I mean, unless you have something better to do.

  • Meridian Dance is a melancholy climax to a superb SNES RPG, but you wouldn't know it from this upbeat tune. Secret of Mana was the first JRPG I ever played and it was a hell of an introduction.

  • I needed to give props to Baranowsky somewhere on here. What with the Tim Follinses and David Wises of the world long since breaking from video games to work on other projects, we kind of need another distinctive musical talent to take over. Either Isaac's mysterious final boss (they seem to change it every update) or Super Meat Boy's final encounter with Dr. Fetus works here - this decision was largely a coin toss.

  • Hey, what a shock, Xenoblade Chronicles has fantastic music from start to finish. I also hear bears are prone to defecate in forested areas.

  • I will defend Final Fantasy Mystic Quest to my dying breath but it straight up does not deserve the soundtrack it has. Why does it get to sound better than every other SNES Final Fantasy? Really doesn't seem fair at all.

  • Giygas's theme is an unusual example of a final boss track that isn't supposed to pump you up but rather intimidate you until you become a quivering pile of jelly. It is downright eerie and malevolent, and not necessarily in a fun way.

  • Super Mario RPG's final boss fight music isn't as memorable as some of its other tunes, but it's another staple of VGCW that I can rarely get out of my head these days. Feel free to blame Baz McMahon for a major chunk of this list if you'd like. I know I do.

  • Ah, Wizpig. Every part of David Wise's Diddy Kong Racing soundtrack is sublime, but Wizpig's mischievous theme music takes the cake and runs off with it at a speed entirely incongruous with its cake-bloated physique.

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