Well, they do say honesty is the best policy.
Ever since they delved into fighting games, SNK has been proving time and time again why the full name of the trope is "SNK boss syndrome". Behold! open/close all folders
The King of Fighters series
- The SNK boss by which all others are defined is Rugal Bernstein from The King of Fighters '94. His first form is cake, but once round 2 starts and that tux comes off, pray. He uses a variation of Geese Howard's Reppuken and Wolfgang Krauser's Kaiser Wave which goes through all other projectiles and has priority over everything. Unlike Krauser, to whom Kaiser Wave is a desperation move, to Rugal it is a regular special move. He also has a move named Dark Barrier which reflects your projectiles. He also has a desperation move named God Press, which he does not need power gauge or low health to use. Finally he has his infamous Genocide Cutter, which he uses with reckless abandon. (Nowadays it's more his standard "dragon punch" style move, but it still has a huge hitbox). It can shave off anywhere from 40 to 80 percent of your lifebar, depending on whether the computer wills it to be so since all damage in older SNK games is completely randomized. He's easily-hit with most Jump Kicks, but they do so little damage that even this go-to attack won't win easily and has a risk of being countered with a Genocide Cutter. His only weakness is that when he starts to power up, unlike all other opponents in the game, he will not stop until he is fully powered up, which does give you an opening. But if he is fully powered up, even a blocked Reppuuken will take away a significant amount of health.
- The series upped the ante considerably in '95 with Saisyu Kusanagi followed by Omega Rugal.note :
- Saisyu's moveset is essentially Kyo's own moveset in turbo, but his strength wasn't up to the par for an SNK Boss. However, his AI actively reads your button inputs and counters you instantly. Thanks to that, he's harder than Omega Rugal, and that's saying something.
- Omega Rugal is... the same Rugal from '94, but with white hair, no shirt, dark skin, a large Omega symbol branded into his back, and a super move called Gigantic Pressure a Super Special Move version of God Press that does more damage. To make matters worse, he isn't fought separately from Saisyu and is instead considered round 2 of the same fight, meaning that all the damage and lost team members you sustained against Saisyu will carry over into your fight with Rugal.
- '96 had two bosses in a row with Chizuru Kagura and Goenitz,note and there's also a Boss Team consisting of Fatal Fury regulars Geese and Krauser as well as Mr. Big from Art of Fighting.
- Chizuru is pretty dangerous if you don't time well. Her anti-air attack is insanely powerful and can wipe out 40% of your life in just one combo. Attacking her directly doesn't work as she can counter with the aforementioned anti-air move. Thankfully there's a consistent strategy for defeating her— simply jump her before she can even use the attack and then lay into her with everything you've got. As a result, this fight is a living hell for characters who aren't particularly agile (except Chang and his handheld wrecking ball).
- Goenitz is difficult to hit, let alone beat. If the computer felt like it, Goenitz could be completely unbeatable by any means. He has a wind barrier, the Yonokaze (also known as "Koko desu ka?" after what he says when using it, roughly meaning "here maybe?"), which can come out directly in front of your character, can't be rolled through and blocks all projectiles. It could also appear anywhere between you and Goenitz, meaning that rushing towards him or approaching him just increases the chance of you running straight into a tornado and looking like an idiot. The only thing capable of breaking it was Leona's rushing slash kick. Also, if somehow Yonokaze spawns exactly in front of Goenitz, you will get blown away. Oh, and if the AI goes into a loop and does it repeatedly, you cannot approach him in any way whatsoever because its recovery is too fast. Yes, Goenitz can potentially chip you to death via a blockstun infinite. Also, while every other character has to charge their super meter to maximum in order to use their super moves, he doesn't. Yep, just like Krauser in Fatal Fury 2, he's allowed to spam his supers as many times as he feels like with no cost. One of these supers is a command grab that can grab you from almost a full character length away and occurs instantly, with no startup at all to warn you. The other is a highly damaging combo super that takes away half your life normally, but if he uses it while his super meter is fully charged it aautomatically becomes the SDM version by default as if his lifebar were red, and it takes away 70-80% of your lifebar. Thankfully, unlike Rugal in KOF '95, he is his own fight.
- '97 had Orochi Iori (or Leona), the Orochi Team, and then Orochi himselfnote , all in a row.
- To start, Orochi Iori is roughly twice as fast and twice as strong. With him moving around so quickly it's easy to confuse players. When you play as him, his defense is severely weakened, and you'll be horribly surprised at exactly how hard it is to control him since he's so fast that you need to input everything you do just as fast.
- Similarly, Orochi Leona's speed and strength is just as big and has new animations that give her priority over several moves (such as her new all-fours run animation, which now lets her go underneath fireballs).
- Next, there's the Orochi Team. Orochi Chris and Orochi Shermie aren't that hard, but when you face Orochi Yashiro, you'll realize that he's a block whore, meaning that most of the time you will find him blocking almost all of your attacks. And then he'll toss you around since his new movelist includes several throws. Ew.
- And then there's Orochi. He has the best projectile in the series by far. He also has an attack similar in function to Goenitz's Yonokaze, though he does not use it as extensively. Finally he has a super called Marukare (Rounding Reaper), a screen-filler attack: it basically turns him into an open Ark of the Covenant. Block it, and you will take unusually high damage for a blocked attack. Don't block it, and you're gone. However, unlike the other bosses on the list, Orochi's AI was poor; had it been at the level of the previous bosses, combined with vicious priority attacks, Orochi would have been near unbeatable. Then again, by the time the player reached for Orochi, s/he had faced several SNK minibosses already; so it'd be just cruel to have Orochi as one too.
- Then came '98, which had Omega Rugal once again. This time, he has a whole slew of new moves, such as the fusion of Kaiser Wave and Reppuken called the Gravity Smash (with nasty priority, and covering his body when he charged it, making it hard to hit him out of it) a replacement for God Press called Vanishing Rush (which is what it sounds like, complete with being fast enough that you barely have a moment to react to it), his Destruction Omega super move (a grab that does ridiculous amounts of damage), a devastating super called the Rugal Execution (which drains your health at a very rapid rate) and an update of the Genocide Cutter, the Dark Genocide, which is a 3-hit version of the original.
- The Updated Re-release of '98, Ultimate Match, has Orochi, Goenitz, AND Omega Rugal as bosses. Which one you encounter depends on how many super finishes you get on your opponents. All 3 of them have increased stamina and increased damage, with a simple combo easily doing over 60% of your health!
- The boss who was changed the most was Goenitz, who is even CHEAPER than in '96. A majority of his normal moves have been updated, while also adding a new command attack, a new special move, and vastly upgraded super attacks. His Yonokaze has been updated to have shorter recovery times determined by how close it is to him, with the light punch version's recovery being almost nonexistent, making it even more spam happy than it was in '96. It can also hit you while you're knocked down, which the CPU usually does after landing any of his other specials. His nasty updated Arms: Ice Shelter Alms/Defacement move where he slices you with air can now trap you similar to Ryo's Zanretsuken, dealing a ridiculous amount of damage. His new special is an extremely fast but blockable command grab, which is difficult to react to when dealing with his other moves. Oh, and his updated SDM moves can easily do about 60% of your health in damage.
- Orochi has been revamped from his original incarnation and now has a crouching animation, along with updated normals and several of his original moves switched around. He possesses some of the fastest and longest normals in the game such as his sweep, and his former Genocide Cutter-esque normal is now a special move, which shares a ridiculous amount of startup invincibility with the hard kick version. His light pillar move has similar properties to Goenitz's Yonokaze, such as the ability to hit you on the ground. Due to the buff in damage for all bosses, his projectile can easily do damage equivalent to a super and can be followed by another projectile, making only rolls the only viable way to get through. And even that's not reliable, because he follows up with his Marukare screen filler super right after your roll ends which still does ridiculous damage. Oh, and if you're positioned exactly in the middle of the screen and don't block when he uses it, it does double the amount of hits and damage. 50% plus 50% equals 100%. Yes, it instantly kills you if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time.
- Omega Rugal is roughly the same as before, except slightly faster. Oh, but his hard punch version of his Vanishing Rush got a nasty upgrade: it can now set up the opponent in a juggle state, which can be followed up with any of his specials or one of his hard-hitting supers.
- Krizalid was the boss in '99. He had a pansy first form like Rugal, with a 2-hit projectile that would win over your projectiles. In round 2, he burns off the coat, and starts spamming a tornado kick attack, the Typhoon Rage, which has priority over everything, and Lethal Impact, which looks like an axe kick, but can hit high, overhead, low, as a command throw, OR counterthrow! In short, projectiles and throws are the only things that one move could not counter... and he sometimes spammed it if you closed in on him. Oh and projectiles? Those are countered by Typhoon Rage, sending them back at the player similar to Rugal's Dark Barrier, though at least that move was specifically made for that. His supers, at max level, do 90 percent of your health bar!
- It should be noted that SNK themselves consider Krizalid their most unforgiving boss.
- If you managed to score a certain amount of points after defeating Krizalid, then you'll end up in an extra fight against either Iori Yagami or the real Kyo Kusanagi depending on how much you have. Both are noticeably tougher to beat than Krizalid (which is really saying something), Kyo moreso, due to their AI being cranked up a notch. Kyo in particular will respond almost instantaneously to whatever you do and use his SDM whenever he has the best opportunity.
- Clone Zero in 2000 had a screen-filling super that did 60+ percent damage and could easily Guard Break your characters with his Cutter Arts, which did multiple hits whether it was the special or super version. Also, his Shadow Arts are fully invincible during their long startups. Gladly, his AI was relatively bad, so he remained relatively easy.
- 2001 brought two SNK bosses.
- Original Zero is the same as his clone, except for the fact that he already has 3 strikers to make up for the lack of moves that Clone Zero had: Ron, (a "Guard Breaking Striker") Krizalid, and a huge black lion named Glaugan, mainly to differentiate him from his clone. Again, he suffers from the same Achilles' Heel as Krizalid and Clone Zero.
- And, finally, we come to Igniz. Fireballs with absolute priority, cheap whip attacks which have ridiculously long range and could lead to infinites which he will use if he ever feels like it, can cancel ALL of his moves (except DMs) into EVERYTHING (including a DM) and has a super called Brutal God Project where he rushes you, pins you in the corner, whips you, hits you with the edges of his cape, does one of his own supers within this super, and finally engulfs you in a ball of energy, the whole combo doing roughly 80 percent damage!
. The AI also uses the Sagittarius Blade infinite for cheap wins. If a player selects him, Igniz can infinite from everything. (The player in the video used cheats to decrease 1P Igniz's damage, and Igniz naturally has more defense than a normal character.) He also earns one point for Overkill: most multi-hit attacks are interrupted when the target is knocked out (or they continue, but the victim falls) but for Igniz, if you are with only 1 HP and are struck with his Brutal God Project... you will take the whole attack until he allows you to give your KO scream. It's possible to defeat him, but you have to play his own game for that. Whatever the case, Lord have mercy if you attempt to beat him at Level 8 difficulty.
- To conclude the NESTS saga, we have 2002, which has, by far, the cheapest version of Rugal to date: One-Hit Kill combos by the dozen, the return of Reppuken, 3 Kaiser Wave variants (the last of which is unblockable and the first of which comes out faster than the speed of light), a new 4-hit Genocide Cutter...To make up for it, his MAX2 is a series of Kaiser Waves named Kaiser Phoenix which are horribly inaccurate. Unfortunately, it STILL does a sickening amount of damage. And in the unlikely event you Dodge Roll in front of Rugal when he's charging a Kaiser Wave, it'll STILL hit you while he's charging! And if that wasn't enough, there's a Game-Breaking Bug with the Kaiser Wave. If he happens to release it at just the right moment that you come out of the Dodge Roll, it hovers. FOREVER. So basically he would have this one ball of energy floating behind his ass (or in front of his crotch, if you managed to switch sides) until he launches another Kaiser Wave (HSDM included), or grabs you (supers included, but check out what happens when you do his Gigantic Pressure) It's like Benimaru's hovering lightning ball HSDM, but evil, never ending and guaranteed OHKO.
- The good thing on all of this, though, is the fact that Rugal's AI in 2002 is extremely predictable, as a player denotes in this video. Nearly all of Rugal's actions play exactly like a script, with things like him always following a light Beads Destruction with Genocide Cutter, using Genocide Cutter after using a fireball whenever the player presses a button while he's sprinting (and attempting to always grab the player if he sprints close enough), always attempting to block on wakeup to the point where if you keep attacking he'll just stand there until you Guard Break him, and many other things that, with smart play and good combos, turn him from a nearly unbeatable boss to a literal joke.
- To add on this, here's the same player absolutely obliterating Rugal with every character in the game, including ones that weren't even in the original game! The Catharsis Factor alone should vindicate every player who's spent loads of coins trying to beat him.
- To add on this, here's the same player absolutely obliterating
- The good thing on all of this, though, is the fact that Rugal's AI in 2002 is extremely predictable, as a player denotes in this video
- The remake of 2002, Unlimited Match, has all of the NESTS Saga bosses: Krizalid, Clone Zero, Original Zero, Igniz, AND Rugal! As per usual, all the bosses do decreased damage when playing as them.
- Krizalid is, surprisingly, the most broken out of them all: he builds his super meter extremely fast, has horrid infinites, insane juggles and his MAX2 (Lightning Disaster, a full-screen attack that sends a bunch of lasers into the air) can hit you while you're on the ground and he can even juggle into it.
- Clone Zero, despite having no 0-stock infinites outside of Max Mode unlike the other NESTS bosses, is still very much broken. His cape slashing attacks have insane meter gain even on block, his infamous "farting" attack has ridiculous invincibility frames, and his shadow attack also has ridiculous invincibility frames and is super-cancelable, resulting in absolutely ridiculous damage. His new MAX2 (Anryuuten Hazaki, a Shun Goku Satsu-esque attack) does decent damage as do all his other moves.
- Original Zero is decently balanced, but can be considered cheap because he's much faster than in 2001, and with some effort he can spam his Krizalid striker to juggle you forever. His MAX2, Kyou Hoshi Mikaijin, is essentially Clone Zero's, but with the addition of assistance from his Strikers, starting with Ron whacking your soul from your body and culminating with all three strikers ganging up to beat the tar out of said soul.
- Igniz is exactly the same as he was in 2001. Unfortunately, this means he still has his Sagittarius Blade (QCF+ HP) infinite. (While his A step C step infinite is removed.) His new MAX2 (Disintegrational Universe) is undoubtedly the most visually impressive - he traps you in a curse seal, which encases you inside a black orb that Igniz turns into a galaxy/nebula, and Igniz makes said galaxy/nebula explode. This particular move is no exception from the cheap rule: It WILL hit if your character is just touching the ground, and as this video demonstrates, it bypasses any and all invincibility frames, including invincibility normally granted from other HSDMs. And the move is unaffected by damage scaling, meaning it will ALWAYS take off around 40% of your lifebar.
- And if you did not lose more than 2 teammates after beating the final stage (which consists of one of the first 4 aforementioned bosses), you enter a special battle against Rugal. He's roughly the same as 2002, and that means he has increased stamina for his boss version. But his Beads Destructor now bounces you off the wall, his Kaiser Phoenix is more accurate and hits you while you're on the ground, (though as a trade off, its damage output is pathetic) and his AI is also much smarter: it doesn't spam Kaiser Wave as much, but remember that one glitch from the video above this entry? Yeah, it's still there. Oh, and continues are disabled, so if you lose the match it's Game Over.
- Unlimited Match also brought back Nightmare Geese, and gave him all sorts of enhancements to his moveset that made him the pinnacle of overpowered: Lightning fast Reppukens, Shippukens that had no recovery time and could be fired TWICE IN A ROW, a Double Shippuken which much like its Fatal Fury: Real Bout Special version can be used twice, thus FOUR SHIPPUKENS, worse still considering it lacks the slight delay the RBS version had meaning a bombardment of them from a Griefer is likely, a Jaeiken that led into a juggle, the "Claw" Raging Storm that can now OTG, and many other edits that make this version of Geese one of the cheapest SNK bosses out there. He also has a new MAX2 where he takes off his shirt and starts building a huge Reppuken, which he promptly blasts you with after it's reached roughly quadruple size (The activation's reminiscent of his lesser known Raising Dead End super from Fatal Fury Wild Ambition). Couple all of that with the literally psychic AI that predicts every input you do and naturally responds with the correct counter for your offense and you have one of the most unbeatable bosses in SNK's history. Not only that, but you have to BEAT HIM in the last Expert Challenge in Challenge Mode to unlock everything. Good luck. Oh, and to even unlock the challenge to fight Nightmare Geese? You have to pass a challenge that puts you up against ALL the NESTS bosses AND Omega Rugal, all in a row, survival-style. And Nightmare Geese is STILL harder. Thankfully, SNK decided to have at least a small amount of mercy for people who want to unlock everything but don't have super powers at fighting games: If you fail enough challenges, the game will still gradually unlock things for you.
- Neowave was only released in Japan and Europe on PS2 and on Xbox in the US, and is essentially a tech demo for the Atomiswave hardware. There are no post-match quotes or endings and everything is pretty much recycled from KOF 2002... except for the unique-to-this-game version of Young Geese: Priority over everything and with more tricks than a clown's pocket; he's capable of finishing you off even if you have 3/4 of your health. To make matters worse, the CPU version's Deadly Rave super is completely unblockable. Makes the Art of Fighting 2 version look like Karnov.
- 2003 brings not one, not two, but three of them.
- If you didn't finish Mid-Boss Kusanagi with at least a DM, you get the bad ending and fight Rugal's son Adelheid. Adel not only inherited his father's moves and essence of badass (Sans villainy, he's more of an honorable chap), but also his SNK Boss Syndrome. He lacks his father's Kaiser Wave until XI, but his Reppukyaku comes out very fast, his God Press is unblockable (including the Gigantic Pressure) and hits even if only his back touches you, and the Genocide Cutter is now a super which does a ridiculous amount of damage.
- If you manage to fulfill the condition to the true ending though, you'll get to fight Chizuru and Maki Kagura as the penultimate boss. While Chizuru uses Doppleganger Attack, Maki spams it. You'll start the fight against Chizuru, but if she ever switches to Maki, good luck. She has the strongest command grab in KOF Boss history: she grabs you, then knocks you down, and then calls Chizuru to hit you with her move that seals all your special moves. That One Attack also cuts out 35% of your health. Of course, this is not even a super. It's a special move. She is considered harder than Mukai because of the AI and the ridiculous invincibility frames on her illusion attacks. That is saying something.
- Mukai, the True Final Boss from the same game, has a full screen LDM that turns you to stone for a free hit, which activates in 2 frames (second fastest full screen LDM in KOF Series with activation time of 1/30 second). His stone throwing move literally plows through any other projectile except K's sunglasses throw LDM. His stone pillar moves break your guard if you block two of them, and he has a command grab that grabs you and turns you to stone as well. To make it more frustrating, he has auto-guard in any normal move he uses with strong punch or strong kick. Fortunately, the AI never exploits his infinite that is ridiculously easy to do.
- Magaki from XI seems to be SNK's way of saying "we gave up trying to think of ways to mess with you, so here's a boss that throws more projectiles than a bleeding Touhou Project character... while you have no grazing option."note He loves abusing his fireballs, to the point where there will be lots of them flying everywhere including ones that disappear halfway and reappear behind you. Then there are also the large, semi-invisible ones that move in an arc towards you. Said fireballs also happen to be 100% invincible, moving nonstop and crushing all projectiles, even super ones. Then his psychedelic pink full screen-filler attack that will hurt your eyes the first few times (you'll get used to it). It's hard as hell to even get close to him, and if you do, he'll probably just throw you right back with his little invincible frontal explosion whenever he feels like it.
- XII had no proper boss character, despite rumors, but XIII gives us two: Saiki and Evil Ash.
- Saiki is the leader of Those From The Past. Before the fight begins, he changes into a naked red demon with a blacked out face. He is an amazing block whore (except against some projectiles) and counters any and everything thrown at him by abusing projectiles that freeze you solid. He also has a command grab where he freezes time and stabs you in the chest several times, which still lets the timer run down. He also has a super version of this move that sucks you in if you're too close and instantly stuns you. And of course, he wouldn't be a proper SNK boss without a screen-filling attack, which just so happens to be his NeoMAX. A Neo MAX that disregards the rules and lets him do it with only 1 meter. He's also got some moves involving dark flames, too, which is a grab in ranged form. And just after you beat him, and you think it can't get any worse...
- Then you fight Evil Ash, the True Final Boss. The fight takes place in a completely white void and Ash is completely covered in black flames. If you think this is only a powered-up Ash, you're wrong. This is Ash fused with Saiki with the projectile spam of Goenitz, the AI of Rugal, and a screen filling super that makes Orochi proud. It's the second strongest screen-filler move SNK ever made, and it that fills the screen instantly. SNK pretty much lost their minds when it came down to the difficulty of Evil Ash. Unlike Saiki, who at least lets up on the fireballs, Evil Ash's fireballs have no recovery, and according to a movelist found out by hacking him in the PC leak of the Arcade version, they do not require charging either. That's right, all the CPU inputs is Back, Forward+Punch at super fast speeds. His AI is also psychic and he counters everything you do with a Flash Kick. Then he walks away and goes right back to spamming. By far the most infuriating part about him is that he has not one, but TWO NeoMAXes. One of them is the aforementioned screen-filler, and the other is Ash's normal command grab NeoMAX...followed up by Germinal. You heard right - he adds on damage to an already damaging NeoMAX, AND disables your specials in the process. He has some weaknesses, though: the screen filler doesn't do too much damage to guard and, in spite of his supers, he cannot Max Cancel like a normal player... which is a blessing. Also, for some reason, neither Evil Ash nor Saiki seem to properly counter Mr. Karate's Shoran Kyaku rushing command grab - even at the hardest level, they always fall for it and take the damage to the face, which makes them disarmingly easy to beat for anyone maining Mr. Karate, especially since Shoran Kyaku can be spammed due to Mr. Karate always landing exactly within range to do it again immediately. The same is true for Vice's Splash command grab, and Goro Daimon's light Jiraishin, which are slightly less accurate and more unsafe... but neither boss punishes a miss unless they feel like it, which is (thankfully) very rarely. Have fun!
- Subverted with The King of Fighters XIV as both Antonov and Verse have no overpowered special moves or super moves. Instead, they don't require any meter to use those moves and Verse in particular makes good use of his infinite supers. He also uses some very complex combos on normal difficulty, which other characters can be seen doing only on higher difficulties. He also has a fist stomp move that has ridiculous priority that will take down any jumping approach and it comes pretty quick.
- And then came XV, SNK's way of apologizing the players... for the disappointment of the XIV bosses. While Antonov this time is just a regular selectable player and Verse is nowhere to be seen, the game gave us two in the forms of Isla's Enemy Without Re Versenote and the True Final Boss Otoma=Raga.
- Re Verse is a surprising subversion, being just as much of a pushover as its previous incarnation was back in XIV and lacking any overpowered special or super attacks other than a Life Drain grab. In fact, it's possible to defeat it in a single round without losing any of your members, even on the default difficulty.
- Otoma=Raga, on the other hand, brings back some of the old cheese via screen-filling crystal pillars that deal a huge amount of damage. She even lacks a crouch animation like most of the bosses from the past sagas did. She has such a blatantly overpowered defense that the best way to get damage is to spam low jabs until her guard breaks, opening her up for a combo. And, if you happen to defeat her, she revives herself with red crystals to 1/3rd of her health bar and DOUBLES her damage and defenses, to the point where a strong normal/command normal into Climax does less than 20% damage on her second form (when it usually does 55-60% of a regular character's health bar). The game also emphasizes finishing the game with EVERY teamnote , so, you know, have fun. The one saving grace against Otoma=Raga is that she lacks combo potential and the ability to jump. This incidentally makes her vulnerable to sweeps and command grabs, making grapplers such as Shermie and Clark a good choice against her. Her AI lacks the ability to utilize her tools well, and she's wasteful with her meter use.
- And then SNK went a step further by adding a Boss Challenge Mode. This also reveals Omega Rugal is back for real this time. His AI is specifically described as "the CPU from Hell" and has specific buffs that his playable version does not have. For one, his Genocide Cutter is completely invincible and will beat out every other attack in the game clean barring certain Climaxes. Second, he has a new special move called Violent Ray which is a high projectile that travels slowly and covers a significant space above him, giving him another option to prevent the player from simply jumping over his Reppukens. Thirdly, he has a boss-exclusive counter super called Dead Mount Press where he walks forward menacingly, surrounded by a red aura. If he makes contact on a grounded character for any reason, he will go into a 0-frame command grab for immense damage. He's also immune to projectiles in this state. His AI also has extensive combo knowledge, meaning letting Rugal combo will equate to potentially half of your life gone in a flash. Finally, Timing Out is not an option, as since the challenge is to actually beat him, the win will default to Rugal. That said, he doesn't regain any lost health in between rounds, and many of his moves have long recovery. Some AI quirks can be exploited against him too (he tends to always jump if possible when a command grab is used, which lets characters like Maxima bait him into hits since he tends to do multiple jumps for longer command grabs, and his tendency to use projectiles at a distance can open him up for projectile supers like Krohnen's). Plus certain Climax moves can circumvent or even activate against his Dead Mount Press, such as Heidern's.
- Turns out Omega Rugal isn't the only returning boss looking for some payback. Season 2 adds Goenitz back into the fray, and he's more than happy to raise some hell. His Yonokaze is buffed immensely in terms of speed and recovery frames, his EX Yonokaze now fires two tornadoes in quick succession, the EX version of his teleport now instantly warps behind the opponent's head, he can now cancel the last hit of his Shin Aoihana into a teleport, and to top it all off he has a boss-exclusive super in the form of his Ibuki Nagayo HSDM from 2002. Once activated, he'll start sucking you in from full screen, and once you hit midscreen, he'll instantly vacuum you in and rip your lifebar in half. Though if you're lucky to be far away, he'll throw the tornado from far away. Block it, and you'll be immediately guard crushed. But you can roll out of it with no damage with precise timing. If he also gets you within the first few active frames of his EX Wanhyou Tokobuse, he will taunt you, which will give him around more than half meter, not that he needs it, mind you, since... As a callback to KOF '96, he has infinite super meter, even if he activates them from 0 meter. Although, his AI tends to react to anti-airs more than frequent after using a projectile (while jumping over it). So characters like Omega Rugal can bait the AI tremendously if they time their moves right.
- SNK bosses also crept their way into the Maximum Impact games, with Duke and Jivatma. As playable characters, both lose their special tricks with their super meters, but retain their Super Moves. (Though these require full bars to use).
- Duke had an unlimited Super Meter and a nigh-unblockable super move that instantly breaks your guard meter if you're lucky enough to block it.
- Jivatma had insane reach and a super move that damages you for 1/2 of your life bar (and he loves to use it just as you come down from a jump, so that you can't block). Oddly enough, he's actually easier to beat, because his super bar isn't at maximum all the time. (It just regenerates.)
- Regulation A, the update of Maximum Impact 2, has Duke, Jivatma, and Nightmare Geese as the final opponents. They subvert this trope entirely, having no extra traits whatsoever.
- The King of Fighters R2, for the Neo Geo Pocket Color, has Rugal as its final SNK Boss. His moveset and AI are almost the same as in 98.
- Speaking of portable KOF games, we mustn't forget The King of Fighters EX2: Howling Blood, whose end boss is a Brainwashed and Crazy kid named Sinobu Amou, who was part of an experiment by Gustav Munchausen to transplant Goenitz's soul for reincarnation. His AI isn't that hard, until Round 2 when he suddenly Turns Gold, becomes faster and more powerful, and starts hurling attacks from every single direction with absolute priority. Oh, and he changes elements from wind to lightning. You will HATE Sinobu, guaranteed. His winquote puts it perfectly into perspective:"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I BROKE YOU!!!"
- SNK Bosses have also crept into mobile games such as The King of Fighters All Star, moreso with the introduction of the aptly-named (and self-acknowledging) "Boss Syndrome" units. These are based on previously released boss characters who all share a Core effect bearing the same name. Said core grants them automatic Super Armour for three seconds after getting hit five times and allows them to build up the Power Gauge just by blocking. Oh, and they get a massive boost to their stats and reworked skills compared to their normal FES versions. Since it also employs Microtransactions, players can exploit this trope by beating and obtaining SNK Bosses with real money.
Fatal Fury series
- The Fatal Fury games predate all of SNK's previous games with Geese Howard.
- In the first game, he was armed with a projectile that could cut off a third of your health, has incredible priority, and a counter-throw he could use against any attack he chose (even when you were simply jumping at him he could grab you out of the air with said counter-throw), setting the boundaries to be later broken by Rugal. Nearly impossible to beat him without cheesing back. The AI can't block on the first frame of standing up, so getting even one knockdown guarantees you the round if you spam a special that knocks down on contact. The challenge is getting that one knockdown in the first place.
- In Real Bout Special, Geese returns as the game's True Final Boss only if you have a high enough score after beating Krauser. This incarnation, commonly known as Nightmare Geese to fans (And later officially christened that), really IS a nightmare (Figuratively and literally, since the battle is hinted to be one big nightmare). Not only do his Reppukens have absolute priority, but he can fire 2 Shippukens and 2 Double Shippukens (that's 4 Shippukens!) in the air! He's so broken that most of his Combos do 100% damage! This version introduced the claw version of his Raising/Raging Storm, which did a ridiculous amount of block damage, and he also has a newly super-powered version of his Thunder Break super from Real Bout...which is now unblockable while jumping and hits at random places across the arena, even hitting the extra lanes! Worse still, lose to him once and it's Game Over.
- Geese's half-brother, Wolfgang Krauser, shares some SNK Boss Syndrome, but only in his debut game: Fatal Fury 2. His AI is infuriating as all hell, and his moves hit incredibly hard. Oh, and his Kaiser wave isn't considered a desperation move, meaning that he can Kaiser Wave you at any time. Thankfully, he was significantly nerfed in Fatal Fury Special, the update to Fatal Fury 2.
- Garou: Mark of the Wolves inverts this, with the sub-boss (Grant) being the SNK Boss and the Final Boss (Kain R. Heinlein) being somewhat balancednote .
- Grant has several powerful attacks at his disposal which can decimate your health bar in mere seconds. Be especially wary if his T.O.P meter kicks in, because his moves will do extra damage, and you may end up getting killed by last-minute damage scaling.
- The final boss, Kain, is surprisingly easy...until Round 2 where he gets a full T.O.P meter for the rest of the match.
- The boss of the PlayStation version of Real Bout Special, called Dominated Mind, has White, who is a parody of Alex from A Clockwork Orange, but instead of just being a mere sociopath he's a CRAZY motherfucker who can brainwash people with his rod. To start off, he doesn't crouch, backdash, run, or even jump, meaning you will never be able to predict what he's going to do next. Also, he has poison skull projectiles that go through everything (even Nightmare Geese's Reppukens!) and instantly dizzy you. His normal moves also cause a massive amount of hitstun, leading to infinites. Hell, even his poison skulls can lead to infinites. And if you deplete his health to the point where he can use his P-Power attack, better not jump because his P-Power move is a huge force field that takes off 3/4 of your life. He also has an S-Power super that slows you down. Oh, and if you do manage to beat him for good, he uses a secret P-Power move where he fires an unblockable explosive laser at you from his rod that instantly kills you unless you jump over it. His winpose through either all that cheap douchebaggery or that secret P-Power, in his winning round? He falls to the floor, laughing like a hyena. He tries to control himself, but can't, and just continues laughing at you while rolling on the ground like a little kid. White, you ASSHOLE!
- Speaking of Dominated Mind, its protagonist Alfred originally debuted in Real Bout 2 as a boss. While he can't use the line system like everyone else or do chain combos, he more than makes up for it by having his attacks do double damage, having a command throw that can be used on block and a super that takes large-ass chunks off your lifebar.
Art of Fighting series
- In Art of Fighting Mr. Big and Mr. Karate were hard enough. Geese Howard in Art of Fighting 2 made things worse.
- Mr. Karate is extremely susceptible to jump kicks, and can be beaten pretty easily by just repeatedly doing these off the wall. The problem is getting to him in the first place - even at the lowest difficulty, Mr. Big is ridiculously hard.
- Art of Fighting 2 is easily one of the hardest fighting games ever made as even on the easiest difficulty the AI is so difficult that basically every fight feels like an SNK boss and simply winning a round, let alone a match against the first opponent is an ordeal. And let us not forget that to even have the opportunity to fight Geese, the player must defeat every opponent without losing a round.
Samurai Shodown series
- Samurai Shodown introduces us to Shiro Tokisada Amakusa, who likes to bitchslap you into a corner and keep you there for an easy infinite. He also has 2 fireballs (one being unblockable), and he teleports like crazy and throws you as soon as he gets out of it. He also has a wall jump move where he flies off-screen, surrounds himself in energy, and crashes down on top of you like a meteor. If you beat him in Round 1, a cutscene occurs where he powers up and unleashes the powers of his dark god to make him stronger and also harder.
- Then came Mizuki Rashoujin in Samurai Shodown II, who had several moves that caused Interface Screw, or transformed you into a vulnerable PIG, in addition to using several of Amakusa's previous tactics.
- There is also the secret mid-boss, Kuroko the referee, who will either interrupt your playthrough randomly or challenge you if you kill your 6th, 8th, or 10th opponent in the match winning round with a super while there are 20 seconds or less on the clock. Not only can his weapon not be broken whatsoever, but he uses an assortment of moves from other SNK fighting games, but in turbo and on steroids. His damage output is beyond ridiculous and he will spam Ryo's Haou Shoukoken until the cows come home. And that's not even his super. His super is the Ryuko Ranbu mixed with Kim Kaphwan's Hou'ou Kyaku, and it takes away up to 70% of your lifebar! And if you lose to him, you cannot fight him again. He vanishes and you have to start the process over again to get him to challenge you.
- Zankuro Minazuki in Samurai Shodown III could literally kill you in 3 hits. And you need to win 3 rounds to defeat him while he only needs to win 2 to defeat you. Oh, and his Bust mode super move unleashes a screen-height wave that WILL KILL YOU IF IT HITS YOU WHILE YOU ARE IN THE AIR. Have fun with that...
- Samurai Shodown IV has you fight not one, nor two, but three bosses in sequence. The first is a CPU-only version of Amakusa with purple skin who is always in Bust mode (except if you also use a character who's in Bust mode when fighting him). This version of Amakusa, sometimes called Aku-Amakusa, is NOT the SNK boss of the game, however, as he's the same as the player version. Upon beating him, you fight the real SNK boss, Zankuro, for the 2nd time in the series. He's more intelligent this time around, and his Heavy Slash cuts off half of your health bar. Afterwards, it's a cakewalk when you fight your rival in one final battle.
- ...Unless you didn't get to Amakusa within a certain time window. You don't fight him or Zankuro, instead you fight your rival with the AI of an SNK Boss. Depending on who your character has as a rival, this can be very irritating. Making matters worse is that this particular fight leads to the bad ending of the game, in which both your character and their rival are presumed dead after Amakusa's castle explodes with the both of them still inside, so it's best not to waste too much time from within the main arcade mode of the game.
- Samurai Shodown 64: Yuga levitates, has teleporting slashes and grabs that she can use from any distance, and has access to a time stop, healing, teleportation, and a few annoying projectiles. Before Yuga, you fight Deku; the catch is that the Deku-Yuga team needs to win 2 rounds to defeat you, while you have to win a total of 3 rounds to defeat them (Sound familiar? You should, however, have to defeat Deku once to face Yuga). If you are defeated by Yuga and continue, you are going back to fighting Deku.
- Samurai Shodown 64 2 (Asura Zanmaden): In this game, Yuga's first form again has levitation, teleporting slashes, projectiles, the ability to snag the opponent's soul out of their body, and an energy shield. Her second form has the ability to turn her arms into weapons and stretch them across the entire screen, has access to all kinds of projectiles, beams and fire waves, the ability to slow the opponent's movement, and her super involves dropping an energy sphere which results in a nuke-comparable unblockable explosion, the shockwave from which covers almost the entire screen for major damage.
- Samurai Shodown: Warriors Rage (PS1): Main boss Oboro has no body you can attack, since you fight his giant levitating weapons instead. Those weapons are the only "character" in game which takes full advantage of 3D space flying here and there and attacking from various directions - while their own hitboxes (which you should attack to damage Oboro) are almost nonexistent.
- Samurai Shodown V and its mid boss Sankuro Yorozu carry on the proud tradition of SNK Boss cheapness: First off his takes way less damage from attacks, plus his special attacks involve calling in annoying helpers (the sliding girl isn't so bad, but the guy coming down from the sky does a sick amount of damage, and the grabbing guy from behind is usually coupled with a healing move that restores almost a quarter of Sankuro's life bar). Add to it that his super is apparently an instant kill. Add to it the fact that Sankuro is only the MID-BOSS... yeah, Samurai Shodown V has a bunch of SNK bosses.
- Then there's the Final Boss, Gaoh Kyougoku Hinowanokami. Once you damage him enough to a certain point, he goes into an invincible demon armor mode and will charge at you constantly like a rhino, and you have to wait until the mode ends.
- And then, rounding out the previous two examples is Yumeji Kurokochi, Gaoh's Dragon. They are essentially Bust Mode Ukyo on steroids. They have a nodachi that can take off 3/4ths of his/her opponent's health bar in a single strike and an inescapable multi-hitting trap move that is almost as damaging, but much harder to avoid. And if that's not enough... they have the ability to transform into the other fighters and use their signature moves.
- Samurai Shodown V Special has you fight Amakusa, Zankuro, Gaoh, and Mizuki in sequence, but the only ones who really qualify as SNK Bosses are Zankuro and Mizuki because Amakusa's AI suffers from Artificial Stupidity, and Gaoh was heavily nerfed. Zankuro is even more intelligent than in IV, despite being balanced somewhat, and he has a new counter move that he uses all the time. Mizuki lost her Interface Screw moves, but got a whole lot of new non-screwy moves that still make her a cheap bitch.
- And in Samurai Shodown VI? Demon Gaoh, who's a bit of a Giant Space Flea from Nowhere, is the unplayable final boss you fight AFTER beating one of the above. He has several of Gaoh's more annoying moves, a fire explosion sweep that's really hard to get around, can bounce you off a wall and combo from it, has a Super move that all-out destroys your weapon and is invulnerable, a ridiculously fast charging super meter, and will not drop/break his own weapon no matter what you hit him with.
- Samurai Shodown SEN has Sub-Boss Draco, whose weapon is a rifle. This game goes for a slightly more realistic level of swordplay than the rest of the series (no wind fireballs here) so this is significant. His fighting style basically consists of backflipping out of your range, then raining destruction upon you for a crazy amount of time before he finally has to stop and reload.
- Subverted by Golba, the Final Boss, who fights with generic rapier attacks and an apparent lack of special moves.
- If you thought Verse was a disappointing blemish on SNK's track record, then the boss of Samurai Shodown 2019 will be more than happy to quash any doubts regarding them having lost their touch. Enter Shizuka Gozen. SNK was very clearly inspired by Bloody Marie when designing her gameplay, as she is immune to hitstun and tanks your most damaging attacks as if they were mere bee stings. Oh, and you cannot hit her normally with Super Special Moves or Issens, as she is immune to cutscene-based attacks. You have to damage her enough in order to remove her Powered Armor robe and reveal her true spiritual form in order to do those, and even if you do, those attacks deal significantly less damage than they would normally. Meanwhile, she floats above the ground making her immune to lows and spams telekinetic fan attacks at you from all ranges. She even has a command grab that tracks your position and can hit you from both sides.
- And if you think that's bad, she gets even worse in Round 2. Now she has PERMANENT Rage Explosion, which enhances her existing special moves and grants her access to not only more of them, but also TWO Weapon Flipping Techniques (whereas you only get one), a Super Special Move, and an Issen of her own. One of her WFTs is a FULL SCREEN LASER that cannot be dodged, deals insane chip damage, and that she uses at the start of the round. The other is a reversal that she uses mid-transformation which takes away 60% of your life and leaves your weapon right next to her while you get knocked all the way to the edge of the screen. The thing that takes the cake, however, is her Super Special Move. Not only does it start up instantly, but it crosses you up and utterly destroys your life bar, up to around 80% of it.
Crossovers
- Don't be fooled by how cute and lighthearted SNK Gals Fighters, a.k.a. "The Queen Of Fighters", looks, this is one of the toughest SNK fighters to date. Aside from the final boss Miss X (Iori dressed as a woman), there are two sub-bosses that need mentioning: Whip and Yuki.
- Whip has most of her moves from The King of Fighters '99, but also has a move that lets her swing up and stomp you to the ground. She'll even go as far as shooting you while you're down.
- Yuki, Kyo's girlfriend, looks harmless, and has no knowledge of martial arts whatsoever. But she's insanely fast and even uses a Big "NO!" for both offense and defense. One of her desperation attacks delivers 33 hits, the highest in the game. And another desperation has her eating a hamburger that replenishes her health! It seems that she went the Yuri way and took several levels in badass.
- SNK vs. Capcom: Match of the Millennium set the standard for the SNK and Capcom collaborative boss fights by pitting you, depending on what team your point character represents, against either Evil Ryu or Orochi Iori. Possibly due to the artificial method of their awakenings, they are the most blatantly overpowered versions of these characters. On top of what they usually gain over their normal counterparts, they gain a number of extra power-ups. Most obviously is that their respective fireballs are now oversized and multi-hit, acting like lv1 supers, and instantly stuffing your ranged options. They also hit like a Peterbilt and tank the same, getting more powerful this way the more teammates you bring to the fight. And while there is certainly sharper boss AI out there, they're not dumb either. They are competent at their kits and will use them properly against you. The Boss versions even have an advantage over the playable versions, as while the game breaking toolkits are made available to you, the playable versions have their damage output and health levels shuffled to resembling a playable Akuma.
- And then came SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos. If SNK Bosses in general are considered to be The Syndrome, then this game is to be considered The SNK Boss Epidemic. Starring, but not limited to: Serious Mr. Karate, Shin Akuma, Athena and Red Arremer.
- Zero, Goenitz and Geese Howard are SNK Sub Bosses. Run into the first one, you'll be shredded like a Maverick. Run into the second one and you'll be spinning round like a record. Run into the third one and prepare to be cheesed to death by his Deadly Rave.
- The SNK side final boss is a powered-up version of Mr. Karate, called "Serious Mr. Karate", which furthered his shenanigans. His health and damage are higher than pretty much all other characters, his moves have insane priority and most are invincible on startup, and pretty much all of them knock you back across the screen, nullifying all that hard work you had to do to even get close to him. Oh, and you know those huge fireballs (the Haoh-Sho-Koh-ken) the Kyokugen practitioners characters are fond of throwing? Yeah, he can do three of those. In a row. Normal Mr. Karate at least had it as an Exceed. Serious Mr. Karate has it as a special move that he can do at any time without losing a power stock. Also, his Ko'oh Ken functions much like his 2002 counterpart (He is Takuma after all)... but now they have huge range and come out very fast. And they nullify whatever comes across them. Most of his moves do take off quite a bit of guard meter and he can easily guard crush you although you can't do the same when you get to play as him in the console version. To finish, his supers count as special moves and his Exceed is completely unblockable, yet it has pretty poor priority and can be reversed by Iori and Kasumi's Exceeds.
- The Capcom side final boss is Shin Akuma, who's just as cheap. In this game, his supers that he used to have normally are considered special moves and take 0 super stocks to perform, with the exception of the Raging Demon (which is his regular form's Exceed). Worse still is that he has all the perks that Shin Akuma normally has (a full-screen Raging Demon and double air fireballs, insanely fast teleport with no recovery time). But the worst part is definitely his Exceed, the Misogi, which homes in on your character's position, comes out lightning fast, and is UNBLOCKABLE. You have to be really lucky or skilled to avoid/counter that move.
- Depending on how you did throughout the entire game prior to fighting either of the above, if you managed to beat Serious Mr. Karate, you go to Heaven to fight Athena. She's not Athena Asamiya, the psychic idol you all know and love from Psycho Soldier and The King of Fighters. No, this is goddess Athena from Athena, and she lives up to that old game's Nintendo Hard difficulty. All of her attacks count as supers but are actually special moves, much like Shin Akuma & Serious Mr. Karate. What makes her worse than both of them combined? All of them have absolute priority and do RIDICULOUS damage for special moves. Her Exceed is blockable, yes, but if she's already got you down to almost half of your first lifebar (which she will, guaranteed) and you don't block, it's an INSTANT KILL. To add insult to injury, when she wins she turns you into an animal.
- If you, instead, had to beat Shin Akuma, you go to Hell to fight the Red Arremer. At first it seems like he's balanced, but then he starts summoning strikers that paralyze you. Then he starts flying. Then he rams into you. Then he chews on you and then throws you. Then you die. Then you get turned into a lowly demon.
- The absolute worst part of both Athena and Red Arremer is that if you lose, you won't be able to try again and have to start over completely, much like Final Bison in the arcade version of Street Fighter Alpha 3. However, it's somewhat logical here, seeing as your character would never be able to fight again as an animal or small demon.
- What, you didn't think SNK would skimp on boss difficulty for their big Mascot Fighter, did you? All four bosses of NeoGeo Battle Coliseum (Neo-Dio, Mizuchi, (a clone of Orochi) King Leo and Goodman) have regenerating health, annoying attacks, and do an insane amount of damage.note
- King Leo abuses Nightmare, a counter where he goes black and any move that hit is countered with a small combo, like a motherfuck. If you get knocked down, there's a chance that he'll use his damaging Earth Chopper that comes out instantly sometimes as an anti-air, but also hit your fallen body. Additionally, his Dynamite Punch is also unblockable by normal means (Despite charging forward and then followed with a standing punch, it is actually a LOW attack and must be crouch-blocked. Damn You, Muscle Memory!). As King Lionnote , he loses his flaming kick special and King Upper.
- Mizuchi is basically Orochi with an added touch of Goenitz, meaning that he will abuse an energy pillar special which, while Orochi possessed it before, does not abuse it as much. As playable, he loses his ability to create 5-6 energy pillars at once.
- Neo-Dio teleports a lot and is an incredible block-whore. As playable, he loses his feather projectile and another move that held you in place.
- Goodman is basically Igniz mixed with Magaki from The King of Fighters XI, and uses a whip to control a weird flaming monkey spirit. He can control it for as long as he wants, in any direction. And his super move actually makes it stronger. You will hate Goodman. As playable, he remains the same, but cannot jump or crouch and you can't partner him up with anybody.
- SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy has Kukri, who upholds the proud tradition of having a horribly unfair AI that can and will catch the player and pulverize their lifebar with long combos. He also has access to a special item unavailable to players that grants him Super Armor and immunity to all status effects.
Other games
- Johann, in Rage of the Dragons, has fireballs that throw him backwards out of the way of almost anything coming over them. He also has absolute priority, takes no block damage, does ridiculous amounts of damage, and a prescient AI. Johann can also throw you (while inflicting a lot of damage) out of anything. Including a roll, a super move, and even another throw.
- King Leo is this in the Fu'un Seriesnote .
- King Leo served as the final boss, basically possessing faster, stronger versions of Lion's specials; his stage, unlike all the others, had only one platform of sorts so you couldn't exactly jaunt all over the place to avoid his attacks. Furthermore, he gains a super that King Lion does not: the aforementioned King Upper which is sure to knock you into a worse situation than before. Couple that with a faster weapon throw (Both normal and the God Breath variant) and King Leo is a VERY fearsome bastard. Take him lightly? How silly you are!
- King Leo was downgraded to sub-boss for Kizuna Encounter but STILL possessed all the deadly power he had in Savage Reign. the only difference being he swapped King Lion's God Breath for a stronger, faster variant called Thunder. His place as final boss is taken by Jyazu. While he at first appears to merely be a Gozu/Mezu headswap that uses their moveset, they're faster than normal, he has a deadly whirling dervish-like attack with his blades that sort of resembles Sonic the Hedgehog, he has a very Hundred Crack Fist-style SPECIAL attack, meaning he can abuse it and it takes off a lot of health and hits a lot, and a kick variant of said special, and his Desperation Attack summons an array of large fire pillars. And just to serve as a warning of how deadly he is, he appears to easily slay King Leo while still in bird form! Using the latter's own sword, no less!
- The final boss of NAM-1975 is not only what you'd expect of a typical SNK Boss (and he predates Geese Howard by a year!), but both continues and the ability for the second player to join in are disabled at the time they're ready to fight.
- Queen Memory in Twinkle Star Sprites is this. She's able to dodge everything you throw at her, can easily make chains to cancel out your boss attacks and is constantly spamming her most annoying EX attacks. And since there's no way to weaken her or slow her down unlike in later games of this genre (competitive Bullet Hell), you're gonna be in for a rough ride.
- King Famardy in King of the Monsters 2. He is ridiculously huge, moves very fast, can use the projectile attacks of every other bosses in the game and he is the only one that can hurt your character simply by touching you, whereas being touched by the others bosses would at least lock you in a random but potentially successful grapple.
