Pokémon Who do you feel is the “final boss?”

[Your Local Wild Child]

I think that Gamefreak at first intended the champion to be the final boss of the games. It’s been a long-standing tradition to fight the champion last in the main play throughs (though I know some games are different). However, more often than not it feels like the real final boss is the cover legendary and the champion is just kind of a wrap-up (ESPECIALLY in UsUm). Does anyone else feel the same way?

 

[Lancelot]

Definitely depends on the game. Swoshi being a good example cause the box legends definitely aren’t the final boss and they did a pretty good job building up Leon as Undefeated, but as you said the box legend feels like it is in USUM

Black and White the villain team was definitely the final boss, and similarly I feel like team flare were in XY cause Diantha was boring

Gen1-4 definitely feel like the champion is the main boss though. Other than maybe Rayquaza in gen 3

Post automatically merged: Jul 23, 2020

I guess Red could be in gen 2 though

 

[virtualpet]

I'd say based on story
Gen 1 - Champion
Gen 2 - Champion
Gen 3 - Version legendary
Gen 4 - Version legendary
Gen 5 - Villain Team Leader
Gen 6 - Version legendary
Gen 7 - Villain Team Leader for SuMo / Legendary for USUM
Gen 8 - Champion

 

[Belle T]

It typically feels like the Elite 4 + Champion are intended to be the final gauntlet for the game's primary campaign. They usually take place after the battling or catching the version legendary, and it's only after defeating them that the credits roll. It's also the point in the game where your rival (or rivals) begin to finally realize how completely garbage they are at Pokémon battles and immediately decide to start worshiping the ground you walk on. So it feels like in terms of narrative, you're supposed to see the champion as the final boss, the one where all the loose ends in the plot come together and are tied up. At least for the main campaign, not the post-game.

But in practice, the elite 4 and the champion are rarely much harder than, say, any of the gym leaders. There are occasional battles I've had with the Elite 4 where it was genuinely kind of tense and stressful, but usually not that much more so. So as final bosses go, they tend to be kind of underwhelming. They might feel a little better in spite of this if they were more neatly woven into the game's plot, but they rarely are.

 

[azaleastouch]

maybe the real final boss was the friends we made along the way.

 

[Cosmic_Crossfade]

I'm guessing we are talking about Pokémon, yes?

If that is the case, then I would have to say that, over the many years of playing Pokémon since my childhood, I always felt that the one "final boss battle" that gave me chills, was my memory of battling Red at Mt. Silver. I felt that, by throwing us a curveball and giving us a challenge with the very character whom we played as ourselves in Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow, it was a surprise I wasn't expecting and gave it much more of a personal challenge of sorts, if you will, to defeat the character who you personally had a connectin with. He gave off a very intimidating feel as the music was energy emitting as well.

While in most cases I consider the "final boss" to be the Champion (unless there is post story) however it seems to me they put more effort into the Champions as opposed to the Team Leaders. In Pokemon Sword/Shield, there was no Team Leader since Chairman Rose was considered the "Big Bad" this time. However, his battle felt more like a final "boss battle" personally to me compared to the Champion.

 

[sleepydreepy]

I feel like beating the Villain Boss is definitely a turning point in the story, and battling and defeating the Champion feels like a victory lap. That being said, because you battle the Champion last (and they are usually the highest level trainer in the game), I voted for the Champion.

 

[DarthGohan1]

 

[Mr_Persona]

the cover legendary but it depends on the game

 

[Pondo]

These are from my experience:

Gen 1 through Gen 3 & their remakes (FRLG/HGSS/ORAS): E4/Champion (Looking at you, Steven mf Stone)
Sinnoh: Galactic Admins & Cyrus
Gen 5: GHETSIS
Gen 6 & regular Sun & Moon: Legendary Pokémon
USUM: Ultra Necrozma (aka the sweeper of teams)
Gen 8: uhh Oleana, bc i didn’t really have trouble with anyone else in that game & her garbodor was just annoying to deal w/

 

[xSuperMario64x]

i would say the champion is usually the "final boss" to me so i voted for that, but there are a few other trainers that feel more like a "final boss" (such as Red in the Johto games).

 

[LuchaSloth]

Depends on the game. Some feel like the league or the master...and others have a "final fight" after that...such as Red. Usually, though...I'd say that it's whoever you fight before the credits roll.

 

[Miss Misty]

Like others have said, it depends on the game. Of the games I've played through completely:

- Blue in RBY
- Red in GSC/HGSS
- Steven in RSE/ORAS (different circumstances between RS and E but it's still Steven)
- Cynthia in DPPt
- Ghetsis in BW
- Lusamine in SuMo (her battle in the ultra dimension was more memorable than the entire elite 4 put together)

 

[Jam86]

i've always seen the champion as the final boss, it's like once u beat them, u have finished the main story

i've never beaten cynthia so for me she is like the ultimate boss stage in pokemon games ☆

 

[~Kilza~]

I feel like for almost all the games, the "final boss" is the champion. My metric for this is partially due to one of the main objectives in the game being to become the champion of the region in the first place, but it's also mainly due to it being when the credits end up playing, as that is when the game can be considered done (ignoring any post-game stuff). As such, for all but one game it's always after the champion (or, uh, in the case of SM/USUM, the "champion challenger" as it were). Really, the lone exception to this rule is BW, due to Ghetsis being the last person you face to both conclude the story and to have the credits roll, but otherwise it's always been the champion for me.