The 11 Hardest 'Demon Souls' Bosses

Chaotic in his attack patterns, unpredictable in his movement, and just plain erratic as a boss, Flamelurker perfectly encompasses the sadistic and masochistic ideology FromSoftware takes as a video game developer and wonderfully showcases how badly they want to obliterate the Slayer of Demons. There is essentially no way to possibly know what, when, or where the Flamelurker is or where his attacks are going to be coming from because not even the Flamelurker himself has no idea what it's going to do. This chaotic battle makes every pounce, smash, swipe and blast feel exponentially more dangerous because players almost never have any idea what could possibly come next. 

A culmination of every trial and tribulation that players have faced up to this point, the epic conclusion to the first-ever entry in the Soulsborne franchise, and arguably the hardest boss Demon's Souls has to offer, the battle against Old King Allant is one of the most iconic and momentous the franchise has to offer. The Old King slowly walks toward players as the battle begins, but the proceeding fight offers the most complex variety of any fight throughout the game. Mad dashes and wind slashes only amplify some of the most staggering combos the game has to offer, lightning-quick speed and aggression only elevate the fear instilled in players, and an attack that steals the players' Souls undoubtedly proves that the onslaught that is about to come will be remembered for all time.

The originator of the Gank Boss, the battle between the Slayer of Demons and the Maneater is one of the most annoying, iconic, frustrating, and just plain ridiculous battles the Soulsborne franchise has to offer. With arguably the worst AI of any character in the Soulsborne franchise, Slayers will have essentially no idea what to expect when they enter this boss arena. At times they will float aimlessly in the sky and disengage with Slayers, they will become unbearably aggressive and knock Slayers off the ludicrously long, suspended walkway, forcing them to fall to their death and restart the entire battle. For those who are fortunate enough to defeat the Maneater in a timely manner, fret not, because a second is on the way! For those who didn't defeat the first quickly enough, a world of hurt is undoubtedly heading their way.

From the second this gargantuan foe enters the battlefield, Slayers of Demons all but know they are in for a world of hurt, however, when the horde of archers come in to lend the already terrifying Tower Knight a helping hand, the devastation of what's about to come truly sets in. One of the most epic fights that Demon's Souls have to offer, the battle against the Tower Knight is as fun and horrifying as they come. Vital to survival, Slayers will need to fend off and defeat all the archers who come into the battlefield if they wish to have any hope of survival. Of course, this is much easier said than done, as the lumbering knight will blast soul's arrows at you while you attempt to do so. Once they are taken care of, however, the battle becomes slightly easier, but only slightly. The Knight's massive AOE attacks make it nearly impossible to get near him, which is a bit of a problem as that is the only way to take this behemoth down.

The origin of the trademarked Soulsborne knife fight, the battle against Penetrator more than lives up to the hype that surrounds this now iconic form of battle in the franchise. The challenge of Penetrator doesn't merely begin at the boss arena, that would be far too simple. Instead, Slayers must defeat at least one archdemon and then traverse arguably the most difficult level in the entire game. Once both of these daunting tasks are complete and Slayers have entered his boss arena, the battle truly begins. This rhythmic fight against Penetrator offers numerous slashes and lunges to go along with numerous variations of all of these separate attacks just to keep Slayers on their toes. The Penetrator also has a daunting and gargantuan penetrating spear attack that will massacre those who get too close. This first run at the iconic knife fight in the Soulsborne franchise is as iconic as it is devastating. 

While many franchises see the tutorial as a way to slowly introduce players to new gameplay mechanics, show players the ropes, and perhaps even give the player a nice easy warm-up fight to get their toes wet, Demon's Souls opted to take the exact opposite of this approach, and have players face off against one of the hardest bosses in the game right off the bat. The Vanguard Demon has a plethora of advantages that none of the other bosses in Demon's Souls have. All slayers go into this fight with possibly the least amount of resources they enter any fight with, little to no healing items, levels, bonuses, or even weapons. This, needless to say, would make any fight quite difficult, but when you mirror these factors in with Vanguard's massive attack radius and insane AOE attacks, survival is key, as Slayers only have one chance to win this fight.