Minecraft Franchise Boss Tier List

Mojang has featured 19 major bosses across the different games in the Minecraft franchise, with the count going over 50 if mini-bosses are included as well. It’s natural that there are some that aren’t particularly great or creative, but nevertheless, a few of the Minecraft franchise’s top boss fights show great design.

Along with Minecraft itself, Mojang has added other franchise games over the years. Two of these, Minecraft Dungeons and Minecraft Legends, made good waves, even if not on par with the original. For those unaware, the former is an isometric, hack-and-slash dungeon crawler video game, while the latter is an action title with a focus on tactics and base-building. As the difference in genres would suggest, their gameplay designs are pretty distinct. Nevertheless, some of their various bosses are a cut above the rest.

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S Tier Minecraft Franchise Bosses

Wither from Minecraft
Arch-Illager from Minecraft Dungeons
Vengeful Heart of Ender from Minecraft Dungeons

The Wither is easily the most popular boss in Minecraft. It is overshadowed by the Ender Dragon since it is completely optional, so beginners might not know how to defeat Minecraft‘s Wither boss (or even that it exists). Nevertheless, it is a fantastic mob. Gathering skulls from Nether Fortresses in order to spawn the Wither is a challenge in itself. Then the fight: the Java Edition’s Wither is a bit “soft,” whereas the Bedrock Edition’s version is the stuff of nightmares due to stronger attacks and a bigger moveset. Even the Warden, as invincible as it may be, is easier to face than the Wither.

The Arch-Illager’s story adds a wonderful emotional element to Minecraft Dungeons. A young orphaned illager exiled, surviving against all odds, learned to use the Orb of Dominance to rule over others. One might not expect it from a Minecraft game, but Archie belongs in the pantheon of relatable video game villains with good stories. Aside from this, its character and combat design are stellar as well. The projectile orbs, the vindicators and pillagers summoned, teleportation, and more, make this one of the best Minecraft franchise boss fights. What’s more, its “defeat” launches another amazing boss battle, the Heart of Ender.

The Echoing Void DLC’s Vengeful Heart of Ender is the final form of the Orb of Dominance. It is technically Minecraft Dungeons’ biggest boss in the sense that it sets up the campaign and manipulates the downtrodden Archie into becoming the ruthless Arch-Illager. Thus, its impact on the story cannot be overstated. Meanwhile, its boss battle is a significant upgrade over the Heart of Ender from the base game. The moveset, the visual elements of the enemy and the arena, the excellent soundtrack playing in the background; everything is beyond reproach. It is, very easily, the best boss fight in all of Minecraft Dungeons, and a great example of what Mojang can deliver.

A Tier Minecraft Franchise Bosses

Ender Dragon from Minecraft
Warden from Minecraft
Mooshroom Monstrosity from Minecraft Dungeons
The Great Hog from Minecraft Legends
The Beast from Minecraft Legends

The Ender Dragon is the “final boss” in Minecraft. The lore here is pretty simple: it rules The End dimension and needs to be killed. The combat is simple in design too. All players have to do is use arrows to destroy End Crystals to stop the Ender Dragon from healing, and hit the dragon when it comes close. While the combat and the art design are pretty simple, it’s still A-tier because it’s good fun to fight alongside friends. Moreover, it gatekeeps players’ access to the End Cities and the Elytra, which is the ultimate adventuring gear.

The Warden is similar, though it’s not technically a boss since it doesn’t come with a visible health bar and the loot it drops is simply not worth the effort. Nevertheless, its design and overall presence are what bumps it up to the A-tier of the Minecraft franchise’s top bosses. The fact that it navigates by sound and causes the Darkness effect, not to mention its voiceover, is quite scary. It’s also almost invincible, and will easily kill players in two-to-three hits, even if they have Minecraft‘s strongest armor enchantments equipped. They can also avoid it if they are silent, or distract it and run away. The Ancient City that it comes from is also a great biome to explore. Overall, the Warden is an excellent monster, but not much of a “boss”.

The Mooshroom Monstrosity comes with an insane health pool. When this is paired with its simple yet challenging moveset, there’s no question why it is easily one of the toughest Minecraft bosses around. Its ground smashes hamper melee attacks, killing so many spawned mooshrooms takes time and effort, and its hard-hitting projectiles are like Contra dialed up to an 11.

The Great Hog is Minecraft Legends’ final boss, and the difficulty is spot on. The Great Hog may not deliver one of the toughest boss fights of recent years, but it’s not to be taken lightly. The spear throws, the spear spin and dash attacks, the enemy summons; everything is good. Moves like spawning a ring of fire and using its staff to summon lightning are easily the most difficult yet fun parts of this Minecraft boss fight.

The Beast, meanwhile, is possibly the most demented boss in the entire Minecraft franchise. For most of Minecraft Legends, it’s oblivious to what’s going on and is deadset on going after other prey. When the mob does make it to the Overworld, it wastes no time in displaying how powerful yet crazed it is. It’s a very unique enemy in the game, really testing a player’s strategy and building abilities.

The key part here is that the Beast wrecks structures that don’t have appropriate protection. As such, it becomes imperative that players overwhelm it with a large army and have the strongest defensive buildings in Minecraft Legends as well. The fact that it can dash long distances, summon enemies for help, and even disappear and attack another village if not killed that very night, makes it a really tough but interesting Minecraft franchise boss to take on.

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B Tier Minecraft Franchise Bosses

Ancient Guardian from Minecraft Dungeons
Treetop Whisperer from Minecraft Dungeons

The Ancient Guardian is the boss of Minecraft Dungeons’ Hidden Depths DLC. What earns it an entry on this list is not just the boss battle, but also the overall context: the expansion takes place in the ocean. This change of pace is refreshing to say the least. It adds to the number of things that players must consider in the Minecraft dungeon-crawler.

The Ancient Guardian’s fight itself is good, and the start where it breaks a wall to enter sets the tone pretty much immediately. The moveset is simple enough here: it shoots beams at players, spawns Elder Guardian mini-bosses, and uses the ground slam and spikes as other key attacks. However, while the fight is a bit simple, there is a decent challenge with the oxygen control stacked on it. The overall arena and the ambiance further help bring it to par.

The Treetop Whisperer boss fight may not be to everyone’s tastes, but it is notable in its own ways. The arena is beautiful and also varied enough that players have enough room to move around, yet need to be careful of the pitfalls. This is what makes it all worth it. The attacks it uses, especially the vine traps, add to the overall difficulty. The Treetop Whisperer Minecraft boss is slow enough that it is easy to stay out of its range; the enchanted leapleaf henchmen it summons aren’t particularly tough either. Overall, the challenge level is okay, and dealing with this boss fight can be easy using armor enchantments in Minecraft Dungeons.

C Tier Minecraft Franchise Bosses

The Unbreakable from Minecraft Legends
The Devourer from Minecraft Legends

The Unbreakable is as close to a proper thuggish piglin as one can imagine. It is plenty strong, and facing it without adequate preparations and an army can easily backfire. The fight itself is decent: the creature uses its gauntlet as a flamethrower, does good melee damage, draws lava out of the ground, and even throws off magma cubes. However, what makes this overall Minecraft boss fight weaker is that the Unbreakable isn’t particularly mobile. As such, it’s quite easy to overhelm it with a big army of Minecraft Legends‘ iron golems and whatnot. While its background lore is okay, the overall moveset and weakness stop it from really making a mark.

The Devourer is much the same. The crystal bursting from its back, regular retreats, acid vomit, spitting, melee smashes, and such are good overall attacks in this game that hit quite hard. As such, the Devourer boss fight in Minecraft Legends can be pretty frustrating if players aren’t well-prepared for ranged combat; resorting to combat from range makes this encounter extremely easy. When adding on that the arena and biome aren’t particularly interesting either, the Devourer finds itself at the bottom of the Minecraft boss pecking order,