Honestly, is there anything worse than a boss with the ability to heal themselves? Boss encounters can be some of the tensest and most frustrating moments in video games, and this is only made 10x worse when, in what seems to be the final seconds of the fight, the boss suddenly heals themselves, taking things right back to square one.
Having said that, managing to finally overcome a boss that heals themselves makes defeating them feel even more rewarding. Certain franchises, like the Soulsborne series, are even known for creating the hardest boss encounters possible, and feature multiple bosses with the ability to self-heal.
10 Bloodborne: Vicar Amelia
Vicar Amelia represents a massive peak in difficulty between the beginning of Bloodborne and the rest of its campaign. And, as far as bosses that spam heal go, Vicar Amelia is arguably one of the most notorious bosses in this respect in any video game, ever. Amelia will pretty much heal with wild abandon once her health gets down past 50%, which makes the fight even more challenging than it already was.
Fortunately, there are ways to disrupt Amelia's rhythm and stop her from turning the battle into an hour-long heal fest. For example, players can use Numbing Mist on her, which will temporarily block her from being able to use her healing spell.
9 Elden Ring: Malenia
One of the most formidable bosses from Elden Ring, and a character with considerable lore surrounding her, Malenia is renowned as probably one of the hardest enemies to defeat in the entire Soulsborne franchise to beat, which is certainly saying something.
A large part of this is due to her healing abilities. Not only does Malenia heal most of her health when the second phase of the battle begins, but she also heals some of her health every time she hits the player, even if the hit is fully blocked with a shield. It's no wonder finally defeating her feels like such a massive accomplishment.
8 Pokemon: Elite Four Bosses
The Elite Four make up the four most powerful trainers in any Pokemon game, apart from Sword and Shield. And, apart from how much stronger they are than most other trainers players encounter in the Pokemon franchise, another thing that sets the Elite Four apart is how liberally they tend to heal their Pokemon throughout the battle.
Generally speaking, each Elite Four trainer will have at least a handful of Full Restore potions at their disposal to use. This can make taking them out pretty difficult unless players are able to basically one-shot each of their Pokemon, or simply wait for them to run out of Full Restores to use.
7 Dark Souls 2: Fume Knight
While not as well-known as bosses like Ornstein and Smough or the Orphan of Kos, Fume Knight, who players can encounter as part of Dark Souls 2's Crown Of The Old Iron King DLC, is renowned as being one of the toughest bosses in the franchise.
Not only does Fume Knight deal considerable damage and have a wide moveset that players need to learn if they want to hope to be able to beat him, but his Ashen Idols scattered around the arena where players fight him will also heal his HP if they aren't destroyed first, making an already very challenging fight even harder.
6 Dark Souls 3: Lothric and Lorian
A notoriously challenging dual boss battle, Lothric and Lorian are a nimble duo that teleport around their arena with wild abandon, perform a range of ranged and up-close magic and melee attacks, and, yes, have the ability to heal themselves.
Or, rather, it's Lothric who has the ability to heal Lorian once the latter's health has been sufficiently depleted. This can result in a very frustrating boss encounter - the Twin Princes are so mobile that actually being able to hit them at all can be challenging, and, if players manage to do so, then Lothric can simply heal Lorian before they both jump back into the fray.
5 Cyberpunk 2077: Sandayu Oda
One of the most formidable bosses in Cyberpunk 2077, Sandayu Oda is a powerful Cyberninja that players need to take out as part of the mission Play It Safe. Many of the game's boss encounters involve fighting the leaders of the gang warfare that plagues Night City, but Oda is actually affiliated with the Arasaka megacorporation instead.
Oda has the ability to heal himself throughout the fight, and, to make matters worse, he will also become invisible when doing so, making it even more challenging for players to anticipate and intercept his attempts to heal. If Oda starts running away from the player at any point in the fight, this is usually because he's looking for a place to hide and recover his health, so this is the perfect time to step in and finish him off.
4 Paper Mario 64: Bowser
The final boss in Paper Mario 64 is, perhaps unsurprisingly, Bowser. The Mario games have plenty of iterations of Bowser with various, sometimes odd, powers, and, in Paper Mario 64, Bowser is able to heal himself. So, players need to be careful and pick their moments and be as patient as possible in this particular encounter - getting overzealous can easily result in Bowser surprising the player, and, given his ability to heal, it tends to be more of a drawn-out affair.
While it may feel like Bowser has the ability to heal constantly in this battle, it's worth noting that he is actually only able to heal a maximum of three times. So, if players can be patient enough, they can whittle his health down and eventually take him out.
3 Kingdom Hearts: Clayton
Encountered in the Deep Jungle world of Kingdom Hearts, Clayton is a challenging boss to take down for many players in large part due to his ability to heal himself.
Clayton uses potions to heal, which players can intercept by using a ranged attack. He's also fairly mobile and has a tendency to jump around the arena where players encounter him, which makes the battle all the more challenging, too. However, if players manage to keep an eye on him and stop him from healing whenever possible, Clayton should go down reasonably quickly.
2 Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen: Mewtwo
The mysterious and darkly powerful Mewtwo is known for being one of the most sought-after and destructive Pokemon in the entirety of franchise's world that only a handful of other Pokemon could hope to be able to beat.
In Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen, players can find and attempt to catch Mewtwo in the Cerulean Cave. After navigating through the cave successfully, players will come across the level 70 Mewtwo, who, in addition to its powerful attacking moves, can also perform Recover to heal itself. So, after struggling to whittle Mewtwo's health down enough to be able to attempt to catch it, the Pokemon can simply perform Recover to gain back the majority of its HP.
1 Dark Souls 3: Sister Friede
Players can take on Sister Friede as part of Dark Souls 3's Ashes of Ariandel DLC in what is easily one of the hardest fights in the game. Friede is plenty challenging on her own - she turns invisible, jumps around like there's no tomorrow, and packs a punch, too - but players need to contend with Father Ariandel, who joins the fray in the second phase of the boss battle.
And, if that wasn't challenging enough, Friede is also able to heal in parts of the battle. If players notice her doing this, they should make a beeline for Ariandel and attack him, as this negates the effect of her healing miracle.