Bosses in Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice are special, powerful Enemies that do not respawn. Bosses are encountered throughout the game and feature special movesets, increased health, and unique mechanics. Some bosses may be optional, whilst others must be defeated to continue through the game. Most Bosses have several red markers next to their Vitality bar which must be removed before the Boss can be killed, each of which requires a Deathblow; a Boss' Vitality and Posture is fully restored in between Deathblows, and some Bosses can gain additional moves or abilities as each Deathblow marker is removed. Immediately after the final Deathblow marker is removed, a Boss must be finished off with a special Finisher Deathblow, which is performed like a regular Deathblow but involves Sekiro performing a special finisher animation unique to each boss.
Boss Deathblows
The only way to remove these Deathblow markers is by completely depleting the Posture or Vitality of said Boss and then performing a deathblow. In general, Posture damage accrues far more quickly on humanoid bosses since they frequently Guard, while Vitality damage accrues far more quickly on more bestial bosses since they do not, but the enemy is rendered vulnerable to a Deathblow regardless of which one you deplete.
Since you can perform a Deathblow on a Boss even when it is at full health, and because Posture damage accrues quickly, it is generally advisable to focus on Posture damage in the vast majority of fights; that said, lowering a bosses health lowers its posture regeneration (see the Posture page for details), so you may still want to damage the boss - in fact, a few bosses require this. Accruing Posture damage generally requires you to repeatedly Deflect a boss's regular attacks, but because some attacks cannot be Deflected, you will have to learn to dodge them, either by using Step Dodge, Jumps, or even the Grappling Hook. Additionally, you can also deal significant Posture damage by performing the appropriate counter to Perilous Attacks (see that page for details). Blocked (not Deflected) attacks also deal moderate posture damage to the defender, so forcing a boss to block repeatedly can also slowly build Posture damage, though this is much slower than the above methods - but it can also accrue Vitality damage as well.
Boss arenas, when entered, generally block off the pathways to progression and/or retreat with a silvery mist, though selecting Quit Game from the pause menu will drop the player off in a safe area outside the boss arena and restart the fight, allowing the user to try again from the beginning (after resting at a Sculptor's Idol to replenish resurrection charges and consumables).
Bosses & Mini-Bosses
Mini-Bosses function almost identically to Bosses, as in they have one or more deathblow markers which must be removed, though they do not require the final Finisher Deathblow. The fights may also be dramatically easier due to their often simpler movesets, and some mini-boss battle arenas can be escaped mid-fight or skipped by walking around them. Mini-bosses are not counted towards the Trophy/Achievement for defeating all bosses.
All Sekiro Bosses Guide
Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa
A fearsome opponent riding a sturdy mount and brandishing a long-reaching polearm.
Folding Screen Monkeys
Illusionary monkeys that can be defeated by taking advantage of their senses.
Guardian Ape
This colossal ape sits in its watering hole, tending to the Flower in order to attract a mate.
Isshin, the Sword Saint
A master of both blade and spear. It will take all of Sekiro's skills to defeat him.
Inner Father
A boss variation of the Owl (Father). This boss is only encountered in the Gauntlets of Strength.
Inner Genichiro
A boss variation of Genichiro Ashina. This boss is only encountered in the Gauntlets of Strength.
Inner Isshin
A boss variation of Isshin, the Sword Saint. This boss is only encountered in the Gauntlets of Strength.
General Naomori Kawarada
A general of the Ashina army; Kawarada is a nodachi-wielding samurai located near the Ashina Outskirts Wall - Gate Path Sculptor's Idol found in the Ashina Outskirts.
Chained Ogre
Men who have long since lost themselves to bloodlust and a deep hunger for violence, many of them needing to be imprisoned or bound to keep others safe. Their strength and fury, though indiscriminate, has been co-opted by both sides of the conflict between the Ashina clan and the Interior Ministry.
General Tenzen Yamauchi
A general of the Ashina army; Yamauchi is a nodachi-wielding samurai located in the courtyard found slightly past the Outskirts Wall - Stairway Sculptor's Idol.
Shinobi Hunter Enshin of Misen
A skilled Shinobi hunter armed with a spear that is ready to pierce through any and all Shinobi it crosses its path with. He works as a mercenary with the bandits attacking the Hirata Estate.
Juzou the Drunkard
A former sumo wrestler with drinking problems, Juzou became the leader of a group of bandits that attacked the Hirata Estate.
Blazing Bull
A bull held within the gatehouse of Ashina Castle, with a bundle of burning tinder tied atop its horns. This bull cannot only ram its foes with immense force but also set them ablaze should they be foolish enough to take it head-on.
General Kuranosuke Matsumoto
A general of the Ashina army; Matsumoto can be found giving an inspiring speech to his men on the steps leading up to Ashina Castle.
Seven Ashina Spears - Shikibu Toshikatsu Yamauchi
One of the Seven Ashina Spears: a group of samurai who were personally awarded their weapons for the integral role they played in the Coup planned by Isshin Ashina. Yamauchi can be found in loitering in front of the building where Sekiro first attempted to rescue the Divine Heir in the Ashina Reservoir.
Lone Shadow Longswordsman
Lone Shadows are the Interior Ministry's most trusted agents; the Longswordman is a man in search of a cowardly shinobi rumored to have sought refuge in a well after shamefully failing in his oath-bound duty.
Ashina Elite - Jinsuke Saze
A master of the Ashina Style developed by Isshin Ashina and his clan; he can be found in quiet meditation within the Dojo of Ashina Castle, every swipe of his blade seemingly striking twice in the same moment.
Snake Eyes Shirahagi
One of a pair of elite snipers stationed in the Gun Fort; Shirahagi belongs to the Snake Eyes: an elite group of women stationed able to pierce distant targets with their mighty flint cannons and phenomenal vision. She guards the Poison Pools located beneath the Gun Fort in the Sunken Valley, her time spent among the noxious fumes of the place having inured her to the ancient weakness of her ancestors.
Tokujiro the Glutton
A Elite enemy found at Ashina Depths: after the hidden forest Idol when heading to the left up some branches.
O'Rin of the Water
First appears to be an innocent lady at Mibu Village, will be provoked to attack.
Shichimen Warrior
A mysterious enemy with the power of inflict terror, encountered in Abandoned Dungeon, Ashina Depths and Fountainhead Palace.
Lone Shadow Vilehand
Lone Shadows are the Interior Ministry's most trusted agents; Vilehand, an accomplished swordsman and practitioner of poison-based martial arts, can be found accompanied by another nameless Long Shadow Shinobi in the Dojo of Ashina Castle after the Interior Ministry attempts to kidnap Kuro, the Divine Heir from the Ashina clan.
Lone Shadow Masanaga the Spear-bearer
Lone Shadows are the Interior Ministry's most trusted agents; Masanaga and his trio of shinobi wolves can be found mourning the death of another Lone Shadow found within the Serpent Shrine of Ashina Castle. The group appears after the Interior Ministry attempts to kidnap Kuro, the Divine Heir from the Ashina clan.
Armored Warrior
A warrior clad in heavy platemail armor with no visible weak points; he seems to be guarding the only passage leading deeper into Senpou Temple, and wields a massive claymore in battle. He and his son Robert have come across the seas from the South in order to seek the Waters of Rejuvenation rumored to reside within Senpou.
Snake Eyes Shirafuji
One of a pair of elite snipers stationed in the Gun Fort; Shirahagi belongs to the Snake Eyes: an elite group of women stationed able to pierce distant targets with their mighty flint cannons and phenomenal vision. She guards the upper-most reaches of the Gun Fort from all that would threaten it, and can be found standing beneath a giant statue of the Buddhe located in a cavern slightly past the Ashina Depths Sculptor's Idol.
Sakura Bull of the Palace
A giant bull Found at Fountainhead Temple area, by taking a left turn from the Flower Viewing Stage Sculptor's Idol.
Seven Ashina Spears - Shume Masaji Oniwa
One of the Seven Ashina Spears: a group of samurai who were personally awarded their weapons for the integral role they played in the Coup planned by Isshin Ashina. Oniwa can be found discussing plans to take back the castle with Genichiro and surviving members of his forces near the Ashina Reservoir Sculptor's Idol after the Interior Ministry enters their final phase of attack on Ashina Castle.
Ashina Elite - Ujinari Mizuo
A master of the Ashina Style developed by Isshin Ashina and his clan; Mizuo can be found in the small dojo located underneath the room where the Tengu guarding Isshin Ashina once stood before the forces of the Interior Ministry began their final assault on Ashina Castle. His loyalty—or bloodlust—has driven him to the brink of madness.
Shigekichi of the Red Guard
An Elite enemy Found after the Ashina Outskirts - Stairway Idol on the way to the Underbridge Valley Idol, after Ashina Castle has been invaded for the second time.
Mini-Boss List
Anonymousfew mini bosses missing, 2nd chained ogre after castle attack, lone shadow and drunkard from fathers memory of hirata estate.
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Is the mini boss list in order? i swear snake eyes appeared much later
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And where is this blue guy with moveset of the chained ogre near feeding grounds idol?
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Where's Emma, the Gentle Blade? Pretty sure she's a boss too.
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Does headless give you a prayer bead because I don’t want to fight him because he is terrifying, but if he does then I’ll need to
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The artist name is John Devlin https://mobile.twitter.com/johndevlinart
It only took 2 years for the artist to get credit in this page hmmmmmmmmm
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Mano eu só queria saber aonde encontro essas obras de artes, queria encontrar a imagem completa ;-;
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Emma hyper-armoring through attacks as she performs her grab is the most ridiculous thing I saw in Sekiro.
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It would have been nice if they added some indicator that shows when a boss's poise near breaking, like a unique guard animation or something. That way, you can tell how close you are to beating them even going HUDless.
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Who made these artworks? They look very dope. Strongly shows the character of each boss.
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It was a torture but now I have done every *big* boss accept for Isshin Asshina. Guess I need to go in a ng+
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If someone was able to determine and add the level of vitality and posture (and also the posture regen speed) of each boss, it would be great. As a newbie or also as a veteran, it would be interesting. It would help to determine if you should target preferentially their HP or their posture. Clearly, Genichiro has a relative low posture, even in NG+7, so you can target his posture right from the start. Conversely, Demon of hatred or the Owl have massive posture and I Always kill them by decrerasing their vitality. Then you have some "balance" bosses, like Isshin, I experience that I HAVE TO first decrease his vitality and then it becomes possible to kill him by Breaking his posture, so you need a complete strategy against him and use all your skills.
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I am trying to 100% this game and omg im alredy on my 3ed playthorgh
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No fat drunk?... That side of story line leads to REALLY important prosthetic upgrade...
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Where is the boss on top of Ashina Castle? The dude that turns into a zombie like dude with lightning.
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A cool idea for a boss and would also be a cool Easter egg. If they had some hidden ninja boss and modelled him after Rikimaru from Activision’s Tenchu series. Aim to make him the ultimate challenge of the game.
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Does anyone have a good looking illustration for Emma? Also maybe a purple version for the first corrupted monk fight.
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For all the debate about the difficulty of these bosses honestly looking back there are harder ones. Nothing in this game felt as hard as Bloodborne’s Orphan of Kos, Laurence First Vicar, or even God of War’s Valkyrie Queen
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Has anyone noticed a recurring theme here where you fight almost every miniboss 'twice' via identical or similar twins ? Red Eye Ogre is fought 3 times (but the last time times he doesn't have red eyes). Juzo the Drunkard has a twin brother in the Hidden Forest. The early game Generals return in Ashina Castle in the late game. Blazing Bull has an identical counterpart in Fountainhead Palace at the back of the house. There are two Long-Arm Centipedes one in Senpou Temple and another in the Gun Fort. You 'kill' the Great Serpent two times. And of course Genichiro is fought twice also. I kind of like it because it shows you how much you have improved your skills whenever you encounter the second counterpart to a miniboss.
POLL!
I replaced the game pictures with custom artwork. What do you all think? Like for YAY and dislike for NAY - if everyone likes it I'll get artwork for the mini bosses and remaining bosses as well. And if you want to fund this venture, remember to sign up for VIP: https://fextralife.com/be-a-vip
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Im confused Ive kill every boss and the attack power you should have from just killing bosses is around 17 or 16 how do I do emma and isshin ashina while I didn't go for shura ending and Im at the end of the game all I have left is demon of hatred and the sword saint someone help.
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*****. I went for the ashina ending forgot to go back for this boss ugh
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Does someone know, if I need to kill every Headless and Shichiman Warrior or if it's enough to kill one of each kind?
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For those who don't wish to play the game more than once (god knows why, this game is amazing) to get all endings, you can back up your data before making the choice, if playing on PC the save location is C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Sekiro simply copy everything into a new folder and get the Shura ending, the restore the game and then side with Kuro, do this and then back up your save each time you want to get a different ending.
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Is there any point in doing the Return ending other than getting the achievement? The Purification ending gets you the true Owl fight and the Shura ending gets you the Emma and Isshin fights.
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so wait you can't fight Emma or Isshin unless you betray Kuro? and can't fight Owl unless you side with Kuro...? grr, I don't like the fact I can't fight all bosses in one playthrough.
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PLEASE go back to chronological order for when you encountered them.
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Please add the first encounter with the monk, that also counts as a boss fight.
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Will I get the trophy if I beat all bosses but not on the same save?
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Just a little tip, most of the mini bosses are stunned by the firecrackers so its invaluable against them.
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Shigekichi of the Red Guard doesn't appear until the final phase of Ashina Castle. Change it bruh
- Anonymous
You can fight the giant blue guy by the great carp, not sure if he counts as a mini boss but I think he does.
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OH OH OH if you forget to kill the shichimen shaman that appears after the headless ape fight and kill the great carp before hand,dont worry,if you do the 2nd headless ape boss encounter in sunken valley,that very same shaman will spawn there after you leave and reload.I got the malcontent's ring from her!?!? Did I do good coach?!
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apparently the boss in the lake in the old grave area is the headless
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Headless Ape gives an attack memory, 2 prayer beads and a Ninjutsu so should be a boss not a mini-boss
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missing the swordsman that calls the wolves in the second run of hinata estate (where owl was in first pass) in the mini boss section
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Where is the apparition type Corrupted Monk from Ashina Depths? I'm stuck on her right now and there aren't many walkthroughs or guides for that specific mini-boss.
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If you are hunting the all bosses killed trophy, do killing them through different playthroughs count or does it all have to be in one game run?
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So, do you go directly to NG+ when you kill the final boss or of you have to activate the option?
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There is another Ashina Elite with red eyes under Isshin's watchtower room during the last phase of Ashina Castle
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Missing the secret fight against The Owl in the alternate Hirtata Estate, the 2nd headless ape fight at the poison pools, and the False Corrupted Monk at the end of Mibu village.
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You can fight the ape boss again in the cave in the depths of ashina on the posion pool. after defeating the snakeeye there go behind her in the cave and turn left before you jump down. There is a grapling hook on the left top side
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Yo! No clue how to add pages. But Lone Shadow Vilehand is a miniboss and the strategy for phase two could be sneaking up to the guy on the left and using the puppeteer jutsu. that basically skips the first phase since it is two on one. mind tho that your puppet does deal damage to you. so keep the enemy sandwitched and poke at him!
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Additional Mini-Boos, "Long Arm Centipede Giraffe". Sunken Valley - Gun Fort
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Too many humanoids in the damn game to fight against. I hope that a future DLC balances that out with other kinds of enemies.
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Additional Mini-Boss, "Lone Shadow Vilehand", a rogue type NPC which uses poisoned weapons. Upper Tower - Ashina Dojo.
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I don't think the General and the Orge count as bosses. You can even stealth kill the General. Idk about Juzou.
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My first time playing Sekiro. If you're having the same problem as me (defeating mini-bosses) maybe this tip can help you like it helped me. The big problem with minibosses, in my opinion, is not them but the enemy order that is close to them. It seems silly and noob, but if you don't want to stress too much, depending on the mini-boss you can go behind and give him a critique behind his back and finish with the first life. Then there's only one life left to kill him. It depends on the miniboss, you can still climb on top of places and when he's not watching you jump and do another critical hit, killing him without even having to fight him. Another way would be to eliminate enemy by enemy and then fight him alone. But this strategy often ends up being more difficult and tiring. Never fight a miniboss with enemy orders nearby. eh, I lost to die
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