So for me a great Dark Souls boss needs to be something or someone interesting, something whose existence tells a story, and who is engaging and fun to fight. For me it's rarely the hardest bosses or the ones I struggled with the most, but my favorite Dark Souls boss is Ludwig.

I got to Ludwig seriously under leveled and half his attacks would one shot me. He'd miss me off I'd go somewhere else, get a little stronger, go bad, get mad at his seemingly random first phase like "this shit is unfair!!" but also gradually just got to KNOW him. There's just that sweet thing that happens when you get to a boss just a little to early and you gotta really KNOW them. Then you beat the motherfucker and you get that just... glorious cutscene of Ludwig grabbing on to his humanity for a moment, the transformation, the... horse neigh... oh god ANOTHER form??

And of course phase 2 isn't that hard but like that moment of awe and greed and like... the sad, but almost goofy moment of humanity like gosh. The neigh feels so important. That little bit of awkwardness. Stuff in Fromsoft games are rarely allowed to be Too Cool. Ludwig has descended to beasthood. There is a degree of dignity he can't regain... but that lack of dignity, as goofy as it is, makes him ACTING like Ludwig the holy blade more powerful. He's not "healed". He's a horrible mutant creature with a melted face and goofy horse noises. But he can, for a moment, despite all the weight of what has befallen him, show some of that old spark.

Beautiful. Favorite boss. Maria and Orphan also rule. That DLC has some killer bosses.

Just real quick to run through some stuff...
Love Margit/Morgott. He's such a tragic character. He has the vision of what he thinks he should do. He thinks he's the only left who cares. He's cursed, marked and ugly, yet again, carries so much dignity despite this. I love how he's such a soft gate keeper for the early game of Elden Ring. You could get him early, but he's gonna beat your ass with a stick if you're not ready.

Hoarah Loux rules and is as "cool" as bosses are allowed to be for me. As indulgent as I'll let myself be. How he respects Morgott. How he talks with his really weird, kinda corny Conan accent. How his cool lion, not a weapon, but something that forces dignity upon him. We are civilized here. We wear clothes. We fight with weapons.

But then he kills Serosh, shreds his clothes, drops his weapons, sheds his dignity.

... but it's a false dignity. He returns to his true self, which has a dignity all it's own. Then he hits you with pro wrestling moves. What a fucking Real One.

From DS3, Lorian and Lothric stick in my head a lot because they just feel thematically neat? They have a cool gimmick? They look great, they have the whole 'powerful yet pitiful thing going'.

From DS3 I'm also a sucker for Wolnir even though he kinda sucks just what a great, shocking visual.

DS2 I have a love hate relationship with Smelter Demon. Kinda the same "Ah, my old foe" feeling I have with Ludwig but less cool. Haven't played the DLC. I didn't like DS2 too much at the time but I'll replay it at some point and re-evaluate things.

DS1... doesn't have great bosses? It's kinda a weird transition point from DeS. People will say Artorias but eh.... Gaping Dragon. Quelaag as a #2. Gaping dragon is just so shocking, so goofy, so thematically relevant and like.. a push over? But that's fine.

Demon's Souls? Tower Knight I feel like is the like paragon of that era of Boss. Visually shocking, gimmicky, and with a relevant arena. A moment more than a huge, challenging skill test. Love the bosses in this game in general though. Shout outs to **Astraea **though. The bossfight "sucks", but as a moment, visually, verbally, VIBES??? Fucking S Tier shit.

Do what you will. Take your precious demon soul

Okay so what DON'T I like?

Gael sucks. Like a weird scrawny side character turning out to be the most important dude in the lore feels corny, but IS the type of shit From can do and pull off. But he problem is he's cool. He looks like a corny ass "cool" MOBA character from like the early 2010s. He has the big swelling epic music!! Random lightning!!! Oh a repeating cross bow and magic rings and like.... Ultimately he's just another "circle to the left boss" that I almost oneshotted.

Gael sucks because he wants to be Epic and I have no time for that shit.

Also kinda hate Midir and Manus but mostly because they're HP sponges. But that's just a taste thing.

Controversial pick? I think Malenia sucks. I think she's SO COOL. I love her. But her boss fight tries so hard to be challenging but ends up just over centralizing Waterfowl Dance. Remove that one move, and now shes actually kinda an easy boss with a scary gimmick. At a certain point I was like...

I know how to fight the rest of her? So do I grind until I get lucky with Waterfowl Dances? Do I learn the real precise dodge for upclose Dance? Do I play super lame instead where I can keep distance and deal with the attack in a more consistent way?

... Or do i summon a mimic tear and stunlock her into oblivion?

I decided I had better things to do. To oblivion~ A great thing about Elden Ring is how it gives you a lot of ways to just go "nah, not feeling this one".

Okay I know purists will insist it's something different but I want to talk about Genichiro.

Genichiro is the current leader of Ashina. When you first see him, he just looks important with his armor and his bow and his whole demeanor. He (probably) summarily kicks your ass and puts an end to the escape attempt that starts off the game.

You fight to reach the pinnacle of his castle. And as you do, you realize Ashina is weak. Its regular soldiers are thin and underfed. Their mighty gatekeeper is an old man, no longer who he once was. Its ninjas and spies just kind of idly sit on the rooftops. They're counting on a bull with flaming hay bales attached to its horns to do anything. This is no longer the mighty power that seized its own independence decades ago. The only person who seems to be worth a damn at trying to stem the bleeding is a weird guy in a mask. The first part of the game is all about fighting past everything to make it to the top of the tower of Ashina castle. This is the highest point, where Genichiro's power is centered. There he is, powerlessly begging a 12 year old to make him immortal. His only plan for if the 12 year old says no is to beg harder.

Genichiro challenges you to a fight because he wants to keep an unarmed 12 year old in his power. He still has his armor and bow but his dignified air is gone. When he's beat, he strips off his armor. He is small and lean, his skin blackened from burns. His hair is messy and unkempt. His eyes look like he's cornered and desperate.

In the same way he believes that the Ashina's traditional defenses cannot stop the country from being assimilated, he also believes that he can't win just using traditional Ashina swordsmanship. Genichiro needs heresy and mysticism. He needs immortality.

This pursuit has ruined his body and it's ruining his country. He shows you bigger tricks, but all of them have simple counters. The heretical arts aren't helping and all Genichiro feels he can do is double down on them. He's a loser.