V🌠ideo games often use a simple, hooking formula: to beat the final boss and save the day, you have to work for it. In most games, you unlock the final boss only after completing the required levels. Some games, however, allow you to fight the final boss from the beginning of the game. Defeating the final boss is often impossible or incredibly challenging; in order to beat the powerful antagonist, you must strengthen your avatar and your own gaming abilities. Hardcore players ign♓ore this formula and head straight for the boss.

Sadly, some bosses on this list are impossible to beat right away. Even though you can fight them, you can’t defeat them unless you improve your stats. Turn-based combat prevents you from avoiding attacks, s൩o the bosses easily defeat you. Nonetheless, we love that we can immediately fight these bosses. You 🎉can challenge yourself whenever you like, and you can track your progress based on how you fare against the final boss.

Fortunately, the majority of bosses on this list are beatable. Defeating the final boss right away is extremely difficult but nonetheless possible. Hardcore gamers appreciate these final bosses: instead of forcing players through linear stories, the developers allow you to test your skills and skip parts of the game. If you’re looking for a challenge, these games offer the perfect opportunity to hone your speedrunning capabilities. People might call you crazy for fighting🍷 the final boss right away, but they’ll be that much more impressed when you defeat that boss.

15 💜 C🌞alamity Ganon (The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild)

Breath of the Wild returns to the roots of the franchise with challenging gameplay, an open world, and a non-linear storyline. Both the original Legend of Zelda game and Breath of the Wild present dungeons in a nonlinear order—although the 1986 game saves the final dungeon for the end. You may only fight Ganon afteܫr completing the other 8 d🌜ungeons.

In Breath of the Wild, you can ba💖ttle Calamity Ganon anytime. If you want to challenge yourself, ignore the storyline and head straight for Hyrule Castle. Many players don’t realize they can do this because the characters point you away from Hyrule⛦ Castle toward the dungeons.

If you skip the dungeons to fight Calamity Ganon, the dungeon bosses await. You have to push through five bo♐sses to speedrun the game and save Zelda in a timely fashion.

14 Dagot🎃h Ur (The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowin𒀰d)

Daཧgoth Ur awaits within the Red Mountain, guarding the Heart of Lorkhan—an ancient artifact that grants Dagoth immortality and incredible power. You may ba♉ttle Dagoth whenever you like, although only the best players can defeat him without leveling up.

While you can beat Dagoth’s first stage anytime, you sadly cannot kill him. In his second stage, Dagoth guards the Heart of Lorkhan—which makes him invincible. In order to beat Morrowind, you must evade Dagoth and shatter the Heart. You can only destroy th🔯e Heart by completing the main storyline and acquiring Wraithguard, Sunder, and Keening—three Dwemer tools created specifically to manipulate the Heart.

Even though you can’t beat Morrowind right away, you can fi🌳ght Dagoth anytime—and defeating him early on is just as impressive as beating the game.

13 B🐻hunive🤪lze (Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII)

Lightning Returns challenges all players with a time🐻 limit: after thirteen in-game days (thirteen hours in the real world), the world ends. At this point, you have the choice to either restart the game or enter the final dungeon, where you confront Bhunivelze and prevent the apocalypse. If you restart the game, you keep your stats, abilities, and equipment, so players can make the game easier if they so desire. You may also extend the time limit by a day and can occasionally stop time with Chronostasis.

Players looking for a chall🌠enge can fight Bhunivelze on their first playthrough—or even as soon as they ꦯstart playing. You can fast-forward to the apocalypse by sleeping at inns. However, Bhunivelze is incredibly powerful: you’ll need to increase your stats or use a New Game Plus to defeat him.

12 The Ender Dragon (Minecraft꧑)

Focusing on open-world exploration, Minecraft lacks a story or a traditional final boss. However, Minecraft still makes some areas harder than others—and none are more difficult than The E🐷nd. The most powerful enemy in the game, the Ender Dragon, awaits within The End.

To access The End, you must activate an En🔴d Portal with 12 Eyes of Ender. End Portals await in dangerous Strongholds, and you must fight powerful enemies in order to craft the E🦄yes of Ender.

Only brave, skilled players successfully enter The End at the beginning of the game—but that’s only half the challenge. The powerful Ender Dragon awaits, along with other dangerous monsters. If you manage to conquer The End and its difficult boss, you can truly say you’ve beaten Minecraft.

11 𝓀 ⛦ Magusar (Soul Sacrifice)

At the end of Soul Sacrifice, you have the choice to spare Magusar or sacrifice him.𒐪 If you save him, Magusar ungratefully battles you for all eternity. Your character eventually perishes and becomes the new Librom, passing their knowledge to a new hero who must continue fighting Magusar.

If you sacrifice Magusar, the world returns to its original, peaceful state—but you receive♍ Magusar’s curse. It’s unclear whethe🥀r you’ll maintain control or turn into a new Magusar.

Soul Sacrifice includes a third, secret ending before the finale. You can actually fight Magusar at any point before the finale, and by defeating him you earn the alternate 🧔ending. Magusar dies and 🌟you don’t inherit his curse, but the world stays broken.

10 𒅌 Sigma (Mega Man X5) 💞

Before the final world of Mega Man X5, you can play through 8 stages. The game encourages you to complete these stages first🌜, for they make you more powerful. They also increase your chances of obtaining the “good” ending. For every stage you complete, you have a higher probability of blowing up Eurasia. If you don’t destroy Eurasia, the floating continent crashes into Earth and spreads the Maverick virus across the world. Zero turns into a Maverick, and the world suffers.

If you don’t care about the ending or the challenge, you can attack Eurasia right away. You shoot the 🌱Enigma cannon and subsequently launch a shuttle at Eurasia. If neither are successful, Zero turns into a Maverick and fights you alongside Sigma.

9 Feral Ch🌠aos (Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy) ꦫ

Even though you defeat Chaos in the first ending of Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, he returns stronger than ever as Feral Chaos. Players♋ looking for a challenge can play past t꧅he main storyline to confront Feral Chaos—or they can fight Feral Chaos at the beginning of the game.

During the game’s tutorial, the moogle leading the tutorial asks if you’ve “already mastered Dissidia.” You can answer with either “Well, I wouldn’t say that…” o🐼r “I am a master!” If you choose the latter answer, the moogle teleports you to Feral Chaos—who can kill ♛you in one hit thanks to his high level. Afterward, the moogle lectures you about overconfidence and ends the tutorial.

Only the best players can defeat the insanely difficult final boss and call themselves true Dissidia masters.

8 𝐆 Gandohar (Two Worlds)

In the plotline of Two Worlds, Gandohar pretends to be your friend until the end of the game. He betrays you, revealing his t🎀rue identity as the mastermind who kidnapped Kira, your sister. After t𒁏his plot twist, you battle Gandohar atop a ritualistic pentagram, and the final cutscene shows him dying within the pentagram.

If you already know of Gandohar’s villainy, you can skip the storyline and battle Gandohar𝓡 right away. You first meet Gandohar outside a village. If you attack Gandohar and draw him into the village, he attacks back and enrages the villagers. Dozens of villagers come to your aid; sev🍌eral usually die during the fight, but they nonetheless overpower Gandohar.

No matter when you fight Gandohar, you instantly win the game by killing him. Despite this flexible mechanic, Two Worlds only has one ending—so Gandohar dies inside the pentagram no mಌatter where you kill him.

7 Cruiser Tetron (Hero Core)ꦗ 🌊

Hero Core takes place entirely wit༺hin Cruiser Tetron’s asteroid base. You can battle Tetron at any time, or you ca🌃n explore the base, fight enemies, and level up. While exploring, you can also find the 10 computers hidden throughout the base, which unlock the game’s “true” ending.

In the standard end꧃ing, Flip Hero defeats Tetron as he has many times before. Tetron will return, and the endless cycle w﷽ill continue. If you activate the 10 computers, Flip Hero gains the power to permanently destroy Tetron—at the cost of his own life. Flip Hero and Tetron die together as the base explodes, ending their eternal fight once and for all.

If🐭 you want to keep Flip Hero alive and challenge yourself⛎, you can fight Tetron right away.

6 Raksha (Soul Nomad & The Wo🐽r꧅ld Eaters)

Soul Nomad & the World Eaters uses gameplay to show how power corrupts all. With access to Gig’s power, you can defeat the final boss from the beginning—but if you rely too much on Gig, he takes over your body and destroys the ဣworld. If you want to protect the world, you must spend a long time gathering allies and almost ne🐷ver using Gig’s power.

If you rely on Gig and follow the Demon Path, you encounter the final boss rꦛight away. Raksha lives within Levin as Gig lives within you—and if you let Gig corrupt you, Raksha also corrupts Levin. After an early battle with Levin, Raksha transforms and flees. With Gig’s power, you can easily defeat Raksha’s armies, the other World Eaters, and finally Raksha himself.