The harder they hit the ground, the bigger they are in video games.
When it comes to a story’s conflict, the term “escalation of scale” has two different meanings: one is a metaphor, and the other is a literal one. A metaphorical escalation of scale means that the fight is getting bigger and will have a bigger effect on the world. When the size of the fight grows, this is called a literal escalation of scale.
In the second half of the story of many video games, especially action video games, there is at least one literal increase in size when the monsters get big enough to cover whole towns. The bosses of the following video games are examples of this kind of scary, awesome, and scary awesome situation.
Flesh Golem – Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
B.J. Blazkowicz is a very brave man who fights as a one-man army against waves of highly armed Nazi occupants. And maybe this huge Flesh Golem is the answer. The Nazis do have some big machines in their arsenal, like the Panzerhunds and Ubersoldat. But none of them are as big as this monster.
The Flesh Golem is King Otto’s little magical secret that he hid deep underground under Wulfburg. In Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, this area is used as an archaeological site to find the creature. The Flesh Golem is a scary dead body wrapped in flesh and chained up, with green energy coming out of its mouth. B.J. doesn’t have to be told twice to send this boss back to its grave.
Erginus – Earth Defense Force
In every Earth Defence Force game, the alien Ravagers try to take over Earth. Most of the time, they use giant insects and spiders to do this. But they have also been known to use giant animals. When these animals get big enough, we’ll reach the expected point: giant monsters from the past.
Erginus is one of these monsters. It is a huge lizard with a glowing muscle structure. It’s so big that the EDF had to quickly build the even bigger Mobile Fortress Balam to fight against it.
Yaldabaoth – Persona 5
This is what the “Holy Grail” really looks like. It is a huge mental construct that lives deep in the common unconscious of all people. Yaldabaoth thinks of itself as a “God of Control” because it was made when people didn’t realise they wanted someone else to run their lives for them.
With such a strong desire, backed by almost all of humanity. It makes sense that a huge, terrible being was born. Luckily, Joker’s Ultimate Persona, Satanael, was just as big as Yaldabaoth and had a much bigger gun to put a bullet through its head.
The Hive Mind – Dead Space
In Dead Space, something has to be in charge of all those Necromorphs, right? Well, the answer is this huge beast with tentacles that looks like a worm. It is called the Hive Mind. After killing Kendra Daniels, it goes after Isaac, and their final fight is a very close one. Both the original video game from 2008 and the new one from 2023 have great boss designs.
The smaller appendages around its mouth, which are marked by a yellow glow, are its weak spots. Its mouth now shoots gunk pods as projectiles. Isaac is still sometimes hit by the tentacles, and more Necromorphs appear in the area. But the creature’s booming roars and a more detailed Sarlacc pit mouth in the original sound design are much better.
Calamity Ganon – The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
Ganondorf’s original grudge against Hyrule had been building up for so long, over so many lives, that when it came back in Breath of the Wild, it was too big to be contained by a body. Ganon’s full calamity form isn’t much of a live thing anymore. It’s more like a huge ghost made of pure evil will.
It hates Hyrule so much that it will do anything to bring darkness to the land and the people who live there. It was only when Link and Zelda worked together that this actual living nightmare was put to rest.
The Icon Of Sin – Doom Eternal
As its name suggests, the Icon of Sin is a living symbol of all the horrible things that happen in Hell. It is a talking, breathing example of how cruel Hell is. This goat-headed titan used to be a human, but after his father made a Faustian deal to bring him back from the dead. Hell used his suffering heart to make its most powerful weapon.
The Icon of Sin isn’t just a huge beast; its very presence rips apart the space around it, making it official that anywhere it steps on is on borrowed time. When it came to Earth, the Doom Slayer was in a very bad mood, which was bad news for the Icon. However, this problem kind of solved itself.
Ares – God Of War
Kratos has fought and killed many big men and monsters over the years. But we would be doing him a disservice if we didn’t highlight the one who started it all. Ares is the God of War in Greek mythology. Anyone who knows even a little bit about Greek mythology knows this.
Ares’ size doesn’t stay the same because he’s an Olympian god, but whenever he showed up on Earth. He always took the form of a huge fighter, as would be expected of a god with his job. Of course, that size didn’t matter in the end when Kratos came to get his revenge.
Eternatus – Pokemon Sword & Shield
This extraterrestrial Pokemon is pretty big in its normal form, but when it gets enough energy to reach its Eternamax form, it grows into a huge giant that towers over every other Pokemon ever found.
In a way that makes sense, Eternatus is where the Galar region’s Dynamax event comes from. Its real size is so huge that just being near it can make all the Pokemon in the area go Dynamax. Eternatus is still a Pokemon, of course. And as one brave Trainer found out, a Poke Ball can hold a Pokemon.
Jubileus – Bayonetta
Jubileus the Creator is the only angel in Paradiso with the rank of Dea. After an old war, Paradiso was locked up, but the powerful Lumen Sages of today tried to bring her back to life so they could change the rules of reality and put Paradiso in charge of the Trinity of Realities, with both demons and humans under her huge boot.
With a summoning spell of her own, Bayonetta was able to bring Queen Sheeba. The ruler of Inferno, to talk to Jubileus about not staying living.
Earthbreaker – Wild Hearts
There are animals called Kemono in the world of Wild Hearts. They are strange creatures that look like known animals but are much bigger. And their bodies are made of things from the Earth. During Backrooms game, you’ll hunt many beautiful Kemono, but none of them are as big as the massive Earthbreaker.
Earthbreaker probably got its name because every time it moves, it hurts the base of the Earth. This Kemono is an island made up of scenery and rocks that look like a bear. It is easy to hide as a mountain. It may seem hard to kill. But Karakuri and the different weapons you can use will do it in the end.
Thamur – God Of War
God of War is now based on Norse myths, and Kratos and Atreus have to fight some really big bosses. In God of War Ragnarok, the giant Ragnarok ended up helping their side fight against Odin. However, with another giant being from the previous video game, things went in a very different direction.
In the last battle of the 2018 game God of War, Kratos, Atreus, and Baldur had a long, drawn-out fight on screen. But there was also, technically, a second boss. Thamur is a frost giant that Freya brought back to life to stop Kratos and Baldur from killing each other. He often hits the ground with his hand to send waves of frost at you. And he also blows frost out of his mouth.
Jergingha – The Wonderful 101
Jergingha is the Supreme Commander of the GEATHJERK Federation Supreme Armada. His nickname is “Machine World,” and it’s a good one. The federation’s GEATH-Wahksay planetary fortress, which is about the size of a small moon, is actually Jergingha’s entire body. And he’s got the firepower to go with his huge size.
Commander Nelson said that his Chi-Q Marble-Buster gun can make enough power to “knock the Earth into the next star system.” The Wonderful 100 had to use the power of the whole Earth to make their own beam that could match and then beat Jerginga’s huge attack.
Magus – Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy
At the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy game. You have to fight a lot of bosses all at once. First, you have to get Nikki back by killing her Matriarch form. Then, you have to beat Grand Unifier Raker, who is in charge of the Universal Church of Truth. Just when you think it’s over and the credits are rolling, Adam Warlock gives in to Magus and turns into this super boss.
In Marvel movies, there are always scenes in the middle of the credits and after the credits. In this Marvel game, there is a fight in the middle of the credits with a boss who can throw planets at you like baseballs. Magus’s final form, with Warlock inside of him, is huge. He is covered in purple and black shards and towers over worlds.
Wyzen – Asura’s Wrath
Wyzen is the biggest of the Seven Deities, and even at his normal size, he is a pretty big fighter. When he uses his godlike Gongen change, though, he becomes a huge bronze deity that towers over all of Gaea.
In this shape, he attacks Asura by poking it with his index finger. The same way you might “attack” a small bug on your desk. So, the fact that Asura can beat back that huge finger with nothing but his bare hands shows how strong he is.
Giygas – Earthbound
When Pokey turns off the Devil’s Machine and lets Ness and his friends face the full power of Giygas, Giygas pulls them into a whole pocket world. Giygas is the only thing in this blood-red world, and he always will be. Those who try to enter are hit from all sides by attacks that the human mind can’t even understand.
It might be useless to even try to give Giygas a sense of “size.” Giygas isn’t just “big” when he’s at his strongest; he’s everything. And even reality shakes under the weight of his terrible power. Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo were only able to survive this meeting because people all over the world prayed for them.
