Summary
Kingdom Heartsis a series of high-octane action RPGs that is alsothe home to some of the most impressive boss battles in gaming history. These positive traits are a key aspect of this franchise’s identity and, as a result, Square Enix has used these encounters as opportunities to push each system’s hardware to their limits.
Throughout their adventures, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and their allies were tasked with taking down some gigantic behemoths. Whether they are Heartless, Nobodies, or even characters from iconic Disney movies, these fights are always some of the most memorable parts of each game. There are a good number of big bosses inKingdom Hearts, and these are the largest ones in the franchise.
InKingdom Hearts 1,Jafarused the magic lamp to turn himself into a Genie – just like he did inAladdin– but his transformation wasn’t all that remarkable. However, when he returned forKingdom Hearts2and turned into his mighty Genie form a second time, he appeared to be significantly bigger.
The sense of scale of the battle against Genie Jafar can immediately be seen by the fact that he’s floating above Agrabah,making this expansive Arabic city look minimal in comparison. His new size even extends to his fighting style, since he can attack Sora by throwing entire buildings at him. Unfortunately, Jafar is relatively easy to defeat, despite his imposing proportions.
9The Elemental Titans (Kingdom Hearts 1 & 3)
Enormous Beasts From Greek Mythology
Originating from the 1997 Disney movie,Hercules, theRock Titanand theIce Titanmake an appearance in the originalKingdom Heartsas optional bosses in Olympus Coliseum. As expected, theirincredible size was extremely impressive, especially for a PlayStation 2 game from 2002.
They reappear once again inKingdom Hearts 3alongside the remaining members of the group, theLava Titanand theTornado Titan. Their sense of scale was better conveyed this time around, not only because of the graphical improvement but because of the more ambitious set pieces of their respective boss fights. The Rock Titan can even be taken down by riding a rollercoaster, which adds a lot to the magic of the encounter.
8The Hydra (Kingdom Hearts 2)
Seven Serpentine Heads At The Same Time
The Titans were not the only giant beasts fromHerculesthat Sora and his friends had to fight, becauseKingdom Hearts 2also introduced theHydra, who somehow seemed to be even bigger than the four Titans (despite the opposite being true in the original film). This is most likely caused by the Hydra’s collection of heads that attack Sora at the same time.
Just like inHercules, the Hydra begins the encounter with one head, but it will grow more and more as Sora keeps cutting them off. Inevitably, the Hydra will end up with seven different deadly heads, making the boss fight feel even more overwhelming and challenging. Luckily for the player, Sora can get the assistance of Phil, Meg, and the Pegasus to take down this mighty multi-headed monster in an epic manner, worthy of a classic Greek tale.
InThe Little Mermaid, the villainousUrsulawields the power of King Triton’s trident to turn herself into a giant just before the climax of the film. This would become a recurring element of the character, and it was reflected in pretty much every single one of her appearances in theKingdom Heartsseries.
The most memorable encounter was her boss fight inKingdom Hearts 1, where she is so incredibly big that it feels like she can devour Sora with just one bite. But Ursula’s giant form reappeared in subsequent titles, likeKingdom Hearts 2andDream Drop Distance, where she managed to keep her reputation as one of the biggest and most intimidating Disney bosses in the franchise.
Ursula was the largest aquatic boss in the series for many years, untilKingdom Hearts 3introduced theKrakenfrom thePirates of the Caribbeanmovie franchise. Based on the classic mythological creature, this enormous monster can control its multiple tentacles to destroy numerous ships without problems.
In this game, Luxord calls upon the Kraken to give Sora and his friends trouble while they’re trying to face Davy Jones. Due to its size and aquatic nature, the beast can only be fought by driving a ship (although it later assists Jones during his battle). Similarly to the original movie, the Kraken is so enormous that only its squid-like tentacles can be seen, as the rest of its body hides underwater.
5Groundshaker (Kingdom Hearts 2)
A Giant Heartless Rampaging Through Pride Lands
TheHeartless are the most common typeof enemy inKingdom Hearts, and many memorable bosses are part of this species. There are Heartless of many different sizes, but some of the biggest ones have been the stars of really fun boss encounters. However, theGroundshakerfromKingdom Hearts 2is undoubtedly one of the largest ones so far.
When the dark ghosts of Scar fused, this titanic Heartless was born, and it began its rampage through the vast fields of the Pride Lands, so it had to be defeated by the combined efforts of both Sora and Simba. The Groundshaker’s incredible size is apparent the moment the battle begins, as Lion Sora looks remarkably tiny when he’s running around its enormous feet. It makes sense that this Heartless is so large, as it’s evident that its design is based on big animals, like elephants, rhinoceros, and dinosaurs.
4World Of Chaos (Kingdom Hearts)
The Chaotic Final Opponent Of Sora’s First Adventure
At the end of the adventure,Ansem, Seeker of Darkness harnessed the power of darkness to fuse himself with a gigantic Heartlessthat has a striking design, which in turn is reminiscent of a battleship. Its name isWorld of Chaos, and together they became the largest boss of the first game in the series.
The ship-like design of this creature is no coincidence since the entire fight is structured around it. With the power of flight, Sora has to slowly destroy different parts of its body before reaching and facing Ansem at the very top. The World of Chaos is so colossal that he almost doesn’t fit the screen, and he played a key role in making the final battle of this game feel as legendary and memorable as it is.
3Colossus Pyramid & Omega Machina (Kingdom Hearts 3)
Taking Down Titanic Fortresses In Space
Kingdom Hearts 3improved on the Gummi Ship segments from previous installments by turning it into a huge open-world adventure that is filled to the brim with menacing enemies, including bosses. Among this cast of crazy space battles, there are two giant Gummi Heartless that stand out more than anything else: TheColossus Pyramidand its enhanced form, theOmega Machina.
These are basically gigantic fortresses floating in space that are made up of multiple smaller parts, including lasers, command towers, bridges, engines, and more. Similarly to World of Chaos, the player has to use the Gummi Ship proficiently to slowly destroy each part. And considering that the Gummi Ship itself looks minute in comparison to them, it’s quite evident that Colossus Pyramid and Omega Machina are very huge. If it wasn’t for his signature spaceship, Sora wouldn’t even stand a chance by himself.
2Xemnas’ Dragon (Kingdom Hearts 2)
Xehanort’s Other Half Also Summoned A Giant Beast In His Final Battle
Just like Ansem before him, Xemnas used the power of the titular Kingdom Hearts at the end ofKingdom Hearts 2to become more powerful, to the point that he even gained the ability to summon a mysterious dragon-like Nobody that he could use to both fly around and assault his enemies.Xemnas’ Dragonis one of the most intimidating behemoths of the franchise, as it basically looks like a large skyscraper in and of itself, but its actual magnitude can be truly felt when it flies around in the empty void that is Kingdom Hearts.
During the second phase of this final battle, Sora & Riku have to avoid multiple buildings that are thrown their way while also destroying the solid defenses of this gigantic dragon,all while Xemnas is sitting on its head, resulting in an intense yet epic encounter. Not only is Xemnas’ Dragon one of the biggest bosses in the series, but what’s even more interesting is that it ended up being the replacement of a potentially larger form of Xemnas that was eventually cut from the game.
1Demon Tide (Kingdom Hearts 3)
The Biggest Heartless Is Made Up Of One Of The Smallest Heartless
Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage -introduced a new type of Heartless called theDemon Tide, a huge mass of Shadows that move and attack in unison in the shape of a wave. This fascinating new boss was brought back forKingdom Hearts 3during the final clash at Keyblade Graveyard. Only this time it grew to be significantly bigger and stronger.
This version of the Demon Tide becomes an insurmountably big storm of Shadowsthat overcame the Guardians of Light in power and almost killed them all if it wasn’t for Sora’s Power of Waking. This enemy is so massive that it changed the entire weather of the Keyblade Graveyard, as Shadows can be seen relentlessly raining down on the world. Furthermore, the full size of the Demon Tide could only be grasped by the player when Sora used the power of fallen Keyblade wielders to face and defeat it, which proved that it was significantly larger than any other boss in all ofKingdom Hearts.
