How to Make a Video Game Boss

Step-by-Step Guide

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   Step 1: Make sure the boss fits with the current level's theme.

   No matter how far fetched the game is, it's much better if you make it fit with the level's theme.
   
   For example if the level is in a dense jungle no one's going to enjoy a fight against a whale.
   
   However, if the boss fight is in the ocean or some place filled with water (I.E.
   
   The stage in Kingdom Hearts:
   Birth By Sleep Final Mix's Monstro boss fight after being spat out), people will expect a whale or other sea creature to be the boss of the level.
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   Step 2: Make sure it's harder than the average enemy.

   If the level's common enemy is harder to defeat than the boss then it won't sit at all well.
   
   Also, make sure that the boss has more attacks than the common enemy. , If it's Level 1 don't make it impossible to beat but if it's the final boss don't make it a one-hit kill.
   
   However, each boss should have a weak spot (but not an obvious one if it's the final boss unless you're using a lock-on feature in your game). , This is especially true in war games such as Call of Duty.
   
   In that scenario do you really need a strong and heavily-armed German at the end of every mission? No, but some bosses can have multiple phases. , For example does the player have to do something within the arena to make the boss vulnerable, or can the player lock-on to the vulnerability? , This helps define the difference between a new enemy and an actual boss.
   
   If a boss is of the same type, it may help to use the same theme. , Normally every boss fight has the same music but the final boss, but this doesn't have to be true for your game.
   
   One of the easiest ways to go through with this is to make the music a remix of the regular level music. , This makes it tougher which is the point in a boss fight. , in Kingdom Hearts II, Sephiroth wants to steal your Keyblade via defeating you, so it's natural you'd want to thwart him even if it takes months, like it does with most people who use the Kingdom Key instead of the Ultima Weapon.) , There is no rule stating that every boss must appear at the end of every third level, and just because the level theme's is in a sewer, doesn't mean you can't give your rat boss some wings (after all, you could explain that waste in the sewers are tampering with the rat's biological DNA and thus, the reason why it is has wings!)
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   Step 3: How difficult the boss should be should depend on what point in the game it's encountered.

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   Step 4: Not every level has to have a boss.

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   Step 5: Sometimes make the boss fight complex.

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   Step 6: Make sure the music changes from the normal level tune to the boss tune.

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   Step 7: If possible make every boss' tune its own.

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   Step 8: Make sure as the boss' health gets lower it actually begins to vary its attacks.

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   Step 9: Give the player a reason to fight your boss

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    Step 10: this way the player will be more determined to thwart the boss

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    Step 11: even if the player still can't beat the boss after 8 solid hours of fighting (I.E.

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    Step 12: Don't restrict yourself when making the boss.

Detailed Guide

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