Pandora is a Death World, even moreso with Hyperion at the helm. And even harder than even the harshest of Elite Mooks are its bosses, some of which we'll mention below as the hardest, harshest Borderlands 2 has to offer.
Note: Raid bosses, by definition, are Superbosses, so they're automatically disqualified for the trope.
Main game
- The main story mission "A Dam Fine Rescue" has two:
- Mad Mike, an unique enemy that appears in the "Bloodshot Stronghold" level after clearing the "Satan's Suckhole"note area, is utterly devastating regardless of which mode you play. He's a Damage-Sponge Boss, so we're off to a bad start. His rockets will put you near death even if you have full health and shields. Worse yet, he fires them off frequently and rapidly, so there's barely any time to hit him if you're waiting between volleys to shoot him! And worst of all? He will always spawn with a Legendary-tier Rocket Launcher, which is usually either the Mongol or the Badaboom. But if he gets a Norfleet, God help you. On Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode, you're better off just running straight to Roland and avoiding fighting him entirely, as not even a Slagga, Grog Nozzle or Magic Missile-slagged Mike can be shot down easily.
- W4R-D3N, the Constructor robot that kidnaps Roland is a nightmare if you don't have electric or corrosive weapons (neither of which are easily available at the level you fight it at on Normal mode) to handle both its shield and the masses of Loaders that it spawns on you. And if you get it down to no shield, it'll start spawning Badass Loaders, which are much tougher to kill. To top it off, if you take too long to kill it (which can easily happen if you take too many deaths against it), W4R-D3N will escape. You'll then have to fight it at the Friendship Gulag, where you'll have to deal with Loaders pepper-potting you from all directions and Surveyors replenishing W4R-D3N's shields in addition to the crap W4R-D3N spawns on top of you.
- Doc Mercy, the boss you fight as part of Dr. Zed's "X-Com-Municated" sidequest chain in "Three Horns - Divide", especially on TVHM. He has a shield that will block anything coming at him from the front — note that he's fought in a narrow corridor and is given the high ground at the beginning, so don't expect to be getting around it with your guns (unless you're playing Anarchy!Gaige). His arsenal consists of Transfusion grenades which seek you out and hit like a truck while healing him for the damage done, and an E-tech weapon which can kill you in about 3 hits. The only really feasible way to beat him solo as anyone other than Maya is to use explosive or elemental weapons while whittling him down from cover and sprinting in circles whenever he throws a grenade to hopefully outrun the worst of the grenade's blast. Or lead him to your vehicle and pump him full of rockets, since he does actually follow you further than the walls stopping you from driving in.
- The Gluttonous Thresher, who you need to fight as part of "Bright Lights, Future City", for the beacon to reconnect Sanctuary to the Fast Travel Network. Unless you're Anarchy Gaige and manage to get up close ASAP and throw a bunch of shotgun shells into its eyes, good luck. You'll probably die a few times at least to this thing, since it's a bullet sponge with a shield that periodically refills at a rapid rate on top of being a Thresher. On True and Ultimate Vault Hunter Modes, you're pretty much praying for the Thresher and the Loaders in the arena to target each other more than they target you.
- Slagged Bloodwing, fought at the climax of "Wildlife Preservation". If you aren't killed by her claws or divebombing, which are so fast and hit such a large area that dodging them often takes a small miracle, the skags will get you first.
- The Badass Pyre Thresher, a type of worm with a lot of tentacles. Whenever it emerges a large area is engulfed in fire, which will almost always break your shield and cause significant damage to your health. After this, it will immediately lash out at you with its tentacles, killing you. It will only emerge in places where you are in range of its fireball, and will retreat underground if you cause significant damage, only to emerge again and finish you off. Its sizable health bar is fully replenished on every respawn. Unless your gear has the raw DPS to kill it in two seconds, or there's a very specific kind of hiding place you can lurk in, you are not fighting it. You will instead be sprinting through its territory, hoping its explosion will knock you out of its tracking range, screaming profanities and prayers.
- Saturn. Near the end of the game, in the main story mission "Data Mining", the game has a quest that will send you to hack data from a secure location to find the location of the final battle. On the way there, in the "Arid Nexus - Badlands" level, an enemy robot the size of a skyscraper suddenly falls out of the sky, lands in front of you, and hands you your ass. If you step out of cover, it will launch waves of kamikaze drones at you. If you try to get to melee range, it will stomp on you. At all ranges, it will fire a solid wall of gunfire that can set you on fire. And if you try to run away by getting up to the bridge to your destination, it will jump up and chase you, shooting all the while. It also has more health than some of the bosses that you've faced thus far, and because it is armored, it's health bar is effectively much larger than it appears. And it has no weak points, which means no critical hits to speed up the process of killing it. What makes Saturn That One Boss is that it isn't announced, so you get no warning whatsoever that it's about to appear. Have fun!
Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty
- Big Sleep, one of the two Starter Villains (the other being the relatively easy Sandman) who you need to fight in "Hayter's Folly" for the second piece of the Compass at the climax of "Two Easy Pieces", especially on True Vault Hunter Mode. Sniping him from a distance is absolutely pointless since he is able to block your shots with his anchors. He can also pull you toward him in an instant and can shatter most shields in one hit, proceeding to beat you into a pulp afterward. Unless you have a decent rocket launcher to spam when you're downed, you'll be hearing that New-U Station mocking you quite a few times before you beat him.
Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage
- The Badassasaurus, the Final Boss of the DLC can be a goddamn monstrosity even for high levels, it is like a walking Badass Constructor launching missiles and fire all around at you while performing AOE attacks continuously to knock your aim off, not to mention it resists ALL elements (sans explosions, quite appropriately). Have fun!
- Badassasaurus Rex in TVHM takes to a demonic level and is quite possibly one of the hardest and most awfully designed bosses in the whole game. In addition to all the problems of regular Badassasaurus, it can reflect bullets straight back at you so you have to resort to taking quick pop shots then getting cover straight after. Pretty much every single one of its attacks will kill you instantly, and you can't run around the arena because it's too fast and will eventually just reach you.
Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt
- Jackenstein, the Final Boss of the DLC, is a nightmare for players soloing the game. Blowing up his shield cylinders is a cakewalk. The second half is a whole different story. Without the distraction of other teammates available, the only way a player can reliable hit his weak spot (which, like several bosses, is the only place he can be damaged) is to either suicidally run under him and get melee'd to death, or stand still through his entire shock volley and be electrocuted to death. Your only options are to either have a shockproof shield (which still doesn't help with the Loaders) or to climb into a less-than-obvious recess in the wall above where you enter the arena, and slowly whittle him down with potshots from the only safe cover in the fight.
Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep
- The Duke of Ork, the result of letting an Ork Warlord level up five times. Both versions of the Duke have obscenely damaging attacks, including a devastating long jump that covers a lot of ground quickly, and more HP than is strictly reasonable. While the Warlord Grug version in the Forest can be avoided once you've completed an early plot mission, the Warlord Turge version spawns in an area you basically can't avoid if you want to pass through the Mines of Avarice.
Commander Lilith and the Fight for Sanctuary
- The side-mission boss Lt. Hoffman (not to be confused by the Lieutenant Hoffman from the Captain Scarlett... DLC), who spawns at the Mt. Scarab Research Center after Hector was killed. He's a Badass New Pandora Sniper with a huge shield that has a horrible habit of refilling whenever he goes invisible.
