FromSoftware has managed to develop and release more than a handful of incredibly well-received games in a loose genre defined by the fandom as Soulsborne. These games are known for their tight combat, world-class world design, and challenging boss fights that make players question both their approach and strategies.
Bosses in FromSoftware games like Dark Souls or Bloodborne come in many different shapes and sizes, but dragons happen to be a type of creature that can be found numerous times. Some of these dragons are more spectacle than boss fights, but the hardest ones manage to challenge the player's skills and patience in a variety of ways.
8 Gaping Dragon (Dark Souls)
The original Dark Souls has some of the most twisted enemy and boss designs found throughout the entire trilogy. One such example is the horrid collection of bones referred to as the Gaping Dragon. Deep in the Depths players come across this monstrous winged beast that has the ability to fold back on itself as it displays a gaping maw of broken ribs.
The fight itself is pretty straightforward in terms of landing hits in open windows, but the lack of space in combination with its acid ponds and awkward movement of the dragon offers a rather challenging boss fight. At first glance, most players are rather confident they can take out the slumbering menace rather easily, but its big looping attacks can send people back to a bonfire in the blink of an eye.
7 Lichdragon Fortissax (Elden Ring)
Elden Ring and its large open world might be the FromSoftware game featuring the largest amount of dragon boss fights. There's even an area in The Lands Between where dragons function as normal enemies in a specified area. Lichdragons are a special species of dragon in Elden Ring that harness magic through electricity and provide an even tougher challenge. Lichdragon Fortissax specifically wields red lightning in the shape of two separate bidents.
If his menacing attacks don't leave the player frozen in place due to the moment, they'll likely be overcome with emotion due to this boss having arguably one of the best fight themes in all of Elden Ring. Who knows, the music might serve as a bit of inspiration and help people overcome the challenge that is Lichdragon Fortissax.
6 Sinh, The Slumbering Dragon (Dark Souls 2)
Dragons throughout FromSoftware's history have come in many different shapes and sizes. In Dark Souls 2 there happens to be a dragon by the name of Sinh, The Slumbering Dragon that lives with a giant spear through its chest. It'd seem like that'd limit its movement and effectiveness, but as it turns out Sinh's most powerful and punishing attacks come from when the beast is in flight.
Sinh's main advantage is that it attacks with odd timing in an attempt to catch the player off guard. Dodging and avoiding damage with invulnerability frames is key to overcoming Sinh. One wrong move and players will get staggered or stunned, which is followed by a punishing volley of flame or area of effect attacks.
5 Godrick the Grafted (Elden Ring)
Technically speaking Godrick, the Grafted isn't a dragon. During the second phase of his boss fight he manages to sever his own arm off his body and replaces it with the head of a dead dragon whose corpse was resting in the arena. It's part of what makes his move set in that second phase tough to deal with.
He drags the head in a sweeping motion, as it spews fire in an elongated area in front of him. This is one of several attacks where he utilizes the dragon head in order to inflict damage from both long-range and up close. FromSoftware loves to include dragon bosses in their games and Godrick, the Grafted has to be one of their more creative implementations of this fascination.
4 Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos (Bloodborne)
As brilliant as FromSoftware is as game designers and developers, they do have a set of patterns and preferences they tend to follow. One such pattern is the inclusion of at least one dragon-like boss in each of their games. In Bloodborne, the one boss who most closely qualifies as a dragon has to be Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos. What makes her tough to deal with is that she can both defend herself and land blows with surprising amounts of damage infliction.
It doesn't help that players will also often be battling the camera as well as it can create scenarios in which they have little to no vision of Ebrietas herself. In a game full of numerous difficult bosses, the monstrosity with both wings and a tail holds its own. Ebrietas may not officially be a dragon, but if one squints hard enough they might mistake her for one.
3 Dragonlord Placidusax (Elden Ring)
Facing a dragon with a single head is tough enough, so the idea of taking on a two-headed beast that blows yellow fire sounds like an insurmountable foe. Dragonlord Placidusax is a hidden boss that curious players can find in Crumble Farum Azula and serves as whatever the opposite is of rewarding the player for exploration. It also happens to cast down red lightning bolts if the fire-breathing sounded like it wasn't enough of an obstacle.
Through in that Dragonlord Placidusax can also teleport and it's hard to deny its place as one of the hardest dragon boss fights FromSoftware has ever created. Just be careful to not be caught off-guard by one of its delayed attacks.
2 Black Dragon Kalameet (Dark Souls)
It's one thing to have a difficult boss stand in the way of game progression, it's another to have it be both an optional and secret fight that the majority of people who played the game likely never encountered. Black Dragon Kalameet served as a stone wall of an encounter in Dark Souls' DLC content. In order to take him down players have to get in close and engage with him in order to avoid his long-range attacks that inflict serious damage.
That being said, they must also dodge his area of effect moves in a timely manner. The idea of fighting a dragon is scary because in addition to their size, they also have a variety of ways to inflict damage, and their ability to fly offers them unmatched maneuverability. FromSoftware managed to take all of those fears and condense them into a singular matchup against Black Dragon Kalameet.
1 Darkeater Midir (Dark Souls 3)
The thing that sets Darkeater Midir apart from every other dragon boss fight in FromSoftware's history is that it is both incredibly well-designed and extremely difficult, making it the perfect combination. Midir's attacks are hard to read as they don't have very long wind-ups, and though intuition might make one believe they should avoid direct confrontation, that might be the most viable strategy.
Many FromSoftware bosses have weak points that deal additional damage and with Midir, that point happens to be his face. The multiplier for this type of contact happens to be the doubling of damage. Thankfully he's an optional boss that can be avoided for those looking to simply complete Dark Souls 3.