From the moment players first pick up a game, they will start to get a feel for it and what they can expect down the line. Arguably one of the earliest moments in a game that can give players a good idea of what to expect throughout is that very first boss encounter.

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The first boss within a game will often serve as a final test of the skills that players have learned during the beginning tutorial missions. Plenty of games put their own spin on this otherwise quite standard part of gaming, often to establish further subversion as the game progresses.

10 God Of War (2018)

Scrawny Antagonist Proves Surprisingly Powerful

The first boss encounter in God Of War is with an arrogant but scrawny man who comes knocking at the home of Kratos, the imposing God Of War. Players would be forgiven for assuming that this man is nothing more than an easy target for Kratos, who has canonically demolished the Greek pantheon by this point.

But the scrawny man takes every punch that Kratos throws without showing an ounce of pain. That is because he is revealed to be Baldur, a Norse deity who is functionally invulnerable. This reveal, while not overly subversive, can still come as a surprise and is fundamental to the progression of the plot.

9 Baldur's Gate 3

Players Are Told Not To Fight The First Potential Boss

Baldur's Gate 3's tutorial segment takes place aboard a mind flayer nautiloid. At the end of this prologue, players reach the helm of the ship and have limited turns to reach and interact with a console in order to teleport the crashing ship. There is a cambion that stands in the player's way, but they are busy tangling with a mind flayer.

The subversion in this segment is that players are told not to fight the boss; instead, they must focus on reaching the console. Of course, establishing Baldur's Gate 3's modus operandi that players can do whatever they like, they are more than welcome to challenge the boss for his powerful weapon despite the warnings against it.

8 Elden Ring

First Bosses Are Surprisingly Powerful

Elden Ring is infamous for its terrifying and grueling boss fights. While other FromSoftware Soulslikes can be quite linear, Elden Ring is a more open-world game, making it a little hard to establish the specific first boss. It could refer to the end fight in the tutorial, which players reach by jumping into a chasm, The Soldier Of Godrick. It could even refer to the Grafted Scion, a strong enemy and the first one that players encounter. Players are expected to die to it, which could be a subversion, except it has become the standard in FromSoftware games.

More likely, it refers to either the Tree Sentinel or Margit. The Tree Sentinel is the first boss that players will see after leaving the Cave of Knowledge, and Margit is the first story boss that players are pointed toward. While players may be used to heading straight toward bosses, they will destroy new players with ease, establishing that Elden Ring may be more about careful exploration and gathering of power.

7 Inscryption

Surprise Mechanics Introduced During First Boss Fight

This unique game is a roguelike deckbuilder that manages to frequently subvert players' expectations regarding both genres. As players progress along the map, they will encounter multiple bosses. The first boss, challenged at the end of the forest segment, is the deranged Prospector. Facing him for the first time, players are likely to utilize their usual strategies until they have tipped the scales in their favor.

The first subversion is that the boss will, in fact, have a second phase, requiring players to tip the scales again. At this halfway point, the Prospector will reveal another surprise, turning any of the player's current cards on the board into gold. This establishes the conventions of boss fights within Inscryption, while also hinting that Inscryption is likely to continue to subvert these expectations.

6 Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Choice Of First Bosses, Potentially With Subversive Abilities

There are a few unique aspects to the first boss fight in Senua's Sacrifice that help to achieve the personal and psychological feelings that the game aims to evoke. The initial element is that players are faced with two boss encounters and can decide which one they tackle first. This is between Surt, a fire giant, and Valravn, an illusion god associated with ravens.

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This type of agency when choosing a first boss is a definite subversion. Although it is determinant whether Valravn is the first boss or the second, he can also be a subversive first boss encounter, as his fighting style involves illusions, and even reaching him requires the player to solve puzzles that will subvert their expectations of the environment.

5 Hollow Knight

First Boss Isn't What They Appear To Be

The first boss that players will encounter in the adorable but challenging bug-themed metroidvania, Hollow Knight, is the False Knight. While his name already suggests some subversion, the boss fight plays out much as the player might expect.

At least until the False Knight is defeated, at which point the imposing armored enemy is revealed to be nothing more than a maggot piloting a suit of armor. Even the head of his mace turns out to be a shelled bug. This unexpected reveal demonstrates Hollow Knight's reoccurring theme of the small and the innocent being corrupted and also suggests it will continue to subvert the player's expectations.

4 Final Fantasy 16

First Boss Fight Is Initially Out Of Context

The first boss fight in the latest Final Fantasy RPG is a highly subversive one. Usually, players are given some form of context before a boss fight, but Final Fantasy 16 players are almost immediately thrown into an unfamiliar battle situation, where they control a phoenix fighting the infamous Final Fantasy eikon, Ifrit. Players won't know the reason they are fighting Ifrit, but they will be forced to do so anyway.

This boss fight ends abruptly and is then promptly forgotten. That is until the end of the protagonist's childhood and the playable demo, when it is revealed that the phoenix is the player character's brother, and the fight is repeated, this time with some much-appreciated context. Along with the subversive beginning, it is unusual that a player's first fight turns out to not even be as the main player character.

3 Sifu

First Boss Fight Is Enacted As The Antagonist

Sifu is a fighting game full of subversive mechanics, given that the player character will age exponentially each time they die, with their age affecting their combat ability. The first boss fight establishes the subversive nature of the game's narrative, too. The player's tutorial boss seems quite typical until the player character administers the killing blow.

At this point, a cutscene reveals a child hiding in the cupboard, who has their throat slit. The child is magically saved and revealed to be the player character. The original character turns out to be the primary antagonist of the game, Yang, who killed the actual player character's father. It is very subversive to have a player's first boss fight be as the antagonist, establishing the revenge drive of the primary player character.

2 Undertale

First Boss Is A Loving Character That Players Are Punished For Killing

As an infamously subversive RPG, it is no surprise that the first boss fight in Undertale is suitably subversive. The tutorial boss, appropriately named Toriel, isn't a violent threat like every other entry on the list. Toriel is a loving mother, who wants nothing more than to protect the child protagonist.

Unfortunately, in order to progress, players will have to face her. Thankfully, players can show her mercy, using the game's unique mechanic to spare opponents. But for players who miss this subversive element, it can be all too easy to kill Toriel and face the traumatizing consequences.

1 God Of War: Ragnarok

Mini-Boss Is A Prominent Character, And Main Boss Has A Fake Game Over

The sequel to the previous God Of War entry,Ragnarok is even more subversive in its first boss fights. Although it may be considered a mini-boss, the first major fight is between Kratos and a rampaging bear, as he searches for his son, Atreus. The subversive narrative element is that the bear that Kratos is fighting just so happens to be Atreus, who has spontaneously discovered his ability to shapeshift into animals.

However, the fight against Thor can't be denied as a fully-fledged boss fight. This fight also has an infamously subversive moment, giving players a fake-out death. Thor kills Kratos, even taking players to a game over screen (which they can't leave), before using his lightning-infused hammer to revive Kratos in order to continue the thrilling battle.

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