Just going to leave this here:

@beachthunder: that's weird, I always remembered sword minotaur much much larger than the other two

The final boss is my favourite fight: the rain, the darkness, the journey, your accumulated emotions having made it finally, the sheer scale, the unbelievably epic music, the climb, and again, that goddamn musical mastery surrounding you.

My favourite design? They're all so good, but I really, really dig Avion. When you first see him perched and start to realize what's required of you after the chase begins, it's the first time the game makes you feel like an ingenious hunter. Giant predatory birds are the scariest shit, also.

Phaedra is my favourite boss pattern/solution, because it relies on you outsmarting it first; actually flanking him, hiding, and taking advantage of his dangly face pieces.

Some of the ones they never ended up using look dope too, look:

@brunothethird: There is some in game footage of those.

The only one I had problem with was Argus. I had to look up how to beat him.

@kiwikuku: That was so good, thank you! I live for these secrets dug up by mega fans. What a special game this was/is.

The spider, phoenix thing, monkey, and worm bosses would've been great. I wish Bluepoint had maybe fixed them up and included them, or released them as DLC. I wonder if Kow Otani started any music on them... I feel like a kid again, speculating about a game from '05.

I'm not sure the bird (Avion) was actually my favorite to fight, ever, but it played host to one of the defining moments of my gaming life so it will likely always take this poll by default. The first time I came up against most of the Colossi they turned into long, 40-60 minute fights against the grip meter and my ability to figure out where I was supposed to stab them or what their pattern was. This fight was all grip meter, having beaten it quite efficiently in the years since I'm not sure exactly what it was, maybe just not realizing the lizards gave you extra grip yet.

Any way, one of the points at which I lost my grip was at one of the highest points of the bird's arc, as it was twisting and looping back towards the water. I fell basically from wing to wing as it was rolling, it clipped me with the other wing and sort of flipped me back towards itself, and I caught a grip of the backside of the wing with just enough grip to climb back on and stand up as it leveled out. I was so exhilirated and stoked that I took off towards where I thought the next weak point was and jumped at it trying to be super dramatic, only for the bird to change course again and me to go crashing into the lake.

Those colossus names still aren't canon, right? Those are just fan-created?

Anyway, I like them all for the most part, but if I was pressed to pick, I'd probably choose "Argus," the turtle, and the bird. Sort of surprised to see Phalanx so high up; there's not much to the fight, really, and it never fights back, but I guess that's why it's notable and memorable to a lot of players, isn't it? :)

I actually had no idea these were fan made, I just saw them on the SOTC wiki.

I think Phalanx is a favorite because of its size and the fact that you kill it high in the sky. It's like the bird but bigger

I picked Hydrus. That fight where you're constantly waiting for him to emerge from the lake still sticks in my mind as one of the most terrifying and intense boss fights ever. The 2 flying Colossi are close seconds, though.