You read that right.
It would be ridiculous to rank every single boss in Elden Ring. There are over 300 enemies that could count as bosses, but a good number of them repeat in some form. Speedrunners go with all 165 enemies that have their own boss health bar and name. If you cut out the similar ones from their list, you’re left with 107. That’s reasonable enough for me. Let’s rank them.
The ranks below were not democratically decided by every member of the PC Gamer team who has played Elden Ring, because there’d have been no one left to run the website while we argued. This is my ranking. Some of these bosses gave me a lot of trouble, but they might not have for you. It’s a vibes-based criteria that takes into account my first impression of each boss and how much they’ve sat with me since finishing the game.
I’ve added comments on several bosses throughout the list and I went deep on the top 10. And just to get this out of the way early: I’m sorry Radahn fans.
Shoutout to Reddit user Oriflamme (opens in new tab) for putting together a list of all 165 bosses, and special thanks to YouTubers Esoterickk (opens in new tab), Ongbal (opens in new tab), Shirrako (opens in new tab), and the Boss Fight Database (opens in new tab) whose libraries of boss footage we link to extensively in this piece.#107-101107. Cemetery Shade
Like fighting a twig in a world of trees.106. Necromancer Garris
Who is this man, I’ve never seen him before in my life.105. Putrid Crystallian Trio
Just an absolute bear of a fight, and adding scarlet rot and a wolfpack setup to these guys‘ poise break mechanic feels like being bullied.104. Putrid Grave Warden Duelist
Are you not entertained? No, I’m not you two-bit mediocre excuse for a myrmidon!103. Ancient Hero of Zamor
They should stay ancient, if you ask me. „Ancient Hero of Making Me Snore“ more like.102. Leonine Misbegotten
He’d be pretty forgettable, if it wasn’t for his breathtakingly gorgeous arena.101. Mohg, The Omen
Poser!#100-91100. Elemer of the Briar
Aldi brand Kirk, Knight of Thorns.99. Royal Revenant
We’ve all had at least one terrible, awful, no-good experience with one of these uggos.98. Scaly Misbegotten
Elden Ring pretty cleverly reuses elite enemies as early game bosses, but this one is pretty throwaway.97. Godefroy The Grafted
FromSoftware put this guy in as a joke so absolutely nobody remembers all the names that sound the same.96. Grave Warden Duelist
Not to be confused with the Putrid Grave Warden Duelist, a Grave Warden Duelist past its expiration date.95. Onyx Lord
For such a sick name, this fight isn’t as cool as it should be.94. Perfumer Tricia / Misbegotten Warrior
It’s like Beauty and the Beast but some dope with a vacant stare and awful outfit comes in and murders them with Eleonara’s Poleblade.93. Putrid Avatar
Getting their money’s worth and then some with that Asylum Demon moveset.92. Stonedigger Troll
For all the big troll guys in Elden ring, this one they actually gave a boss health bar is pretty forgettable.91. Crucible Knight
I love the Crucible Knight design but these guys were rude to me as a baby Elden Ring player.#90-8190. Godskin Duo
Every FromSoftware game has a group fight that tests your patience, and these two idiots are worse than all of them.89. Kindred of Rot
Never make me fight a house centipede again.88. Miranda the Blighted Bloom
Another pretty disposable upjumped elite enemy. You can’t fool me!87. Omenkiller
Capra Demon, what have they done to you! Where are your bulging muscles and six-pack abs???86. Omenkiller / Miranda
Whenever I meet a couple I’m always like „So which one of you is the Omenkiller and which one is Miranda?“85. Sanguine Noble
Thanks for the Bloody Helice, nerd, now go run back to the Mohgwyn Palace and cry to Mohg about it!84. Adan, Thief of Fire
An utterly strange non-sequitur of a boss fight. Bite-sized Smough.83. Battlemage Hugues
Battlemage „Huge Snorefest“ but the Gavel of Haima is an absolutely hilarious ability.82. Bols, Carian Knight
Bols just wanted to kick it and drink some Bawls (guarana-infused energy drink) in his Evergaol and you came in and kicked his face in.81. Cleanrot Knight
A great elite-tier enemy but a meh boss fight. Mug this one for their handy Winged Sword Insignia talisman.#80-7180. Crucible Knight / Misbegotten Warrior
Most people miss this fight if they do Ranni’s questline (opens in new tab), but it’s surprisingly well designed.79. Crucible Knight Ordovis / Crucible Knight
Can’t say it any better than the immortal @dril (opens in new tab).78. Demi-Human Chief
After the Demi-Human revolution there will be neither chief nor servant, only equals.77. Frenzied Duelist
Our highest-ranked version of Elden Ring’s little gladiator guys. Nice effort, my dudes but you only amount to #77.76. Godfrey, First Elden Lord (golden shade)
Golden Godfrey is all the way down here because his regular form isn’t a whole lot better.75. Great Wrym Theodorix
Not sure what’s so „great“ about Theodorix. At least your cousin dropped Moonveil when I mugged them!74. Guardian Golem
Again, I fought so many of these guys out in the open world I forgot they made a boss version.73. Putrid Tree Spirit
Our highest ranked „Putrid“ guy and our lowest ranked „Tree Spirit“ guy. Be prepared to see a lot more of this beautiful face.72. Abductor Virgins
I think that’s a baby in there, which is pretty metal. Presumably the DLC will see the addition of Abductor Chads.71. Alabaster Lord
This entry remains as a monument to FromSoftware’s capricious cruelty to archivists such as myself. The evergaol boss known as „Onyx Lord“ was originally called „Alabaster Lord,“ preserved here in this Fextralife (opens in new tab) guide from close to launch. He was since patched and renamed to Onyx Lord, so for our detailed thoughts please see entry #95. The absurdity of this renaming snafu has catapulted the forgotten Alabaster Lord to spot #71 in our list.#70-6170. Black Knife Assassin
Stylish animations can only get you so far.69. Bloodhound Knight Darriwil
Off-brand Knight Artorias from Dark Souls. 68. Commander O’Neil
Just a stinky man in his stinky swamp. There is a fun lore implication that he’s the son of later-game Cleanrot commander and moveset clone Niall.67. Crucible Knight Siluria
It’s our old friend the Crucible Knight, now with spiffy new stag helmet and a spear that looks like a chandelier! Siluria, by virtue of being a later game boss, is free of the psychic weight of the normal Crucible Knights spanking us over and over again in Limgrave.66. Crystalian Ringblade
A serviceable iteration of the Crystalian boss, but your first time puzzling out their unique stagger mechanic will always be the fun one.65. Flying Dragon Greyll
A solidly middle-of-the-pack, no frills, lunch pail dragon fight. Nothing to see here folks.64. Glintstone Dragon Smarag
A lot of people’s first introduction to dragons that cast magic at you.63. Godskin Apostle
The Waluigi to the Noble’s Wario, I will never not love these freaky little guys.62. Godskin Noble
The Godskin Noble’s boss room is more evocative than the fight itself. The Wario to Godskin Apostle’s Waluigi, „plump sort ahead.“61. Night’s Cavalry
These Lord of the Rings rejects are neat until you kill their horse and they immediately summon another one.#60-5160. Royal Knight Loretta
Sorry, Loretta, I didn’t want to hurt you, but you seriously can’t aim with that magic bow.59. Alecto, Black Knife Ringleader
Alecto gave me the gift of Tiche, one of the best Spirit Ashes in the game.58. Beast of Farum Azula
Another „later game enemy as early game boss,“ but a tantalizing glimpse of one of the coolest endgame areas, with weird lore implications for how it connects to Limgrave.57. Bell Bearing Hunter
Spoilers, but it’s our old friend Elmer Fudd of the Briar, invading you at night near merchants‘ shops. An extremely fun conceit for reusing a cool boss moveset, but how many times do we have to teach you this lesson old man (opens in new tab)?56.
