How many bosses are in Elden Ring? Main, world & sub-bosses explained

Elden Ring is FromSoftware’s most expansive game yet with more tough bosses to take down than previous games. However, some of these bosses a repeated or considered sub-bosses, while others are madatory and connected to the overall story. Below we’ll take a look at this in more detail.

Elden Ring has established itself as FromSoftware’s crowning achivement, often considered to be one of the best Soulsborne games released to date. The game took the Dark Souls formula and gave it some Breath of the Wild for good measure.

As with previous Souls games, every nook and cranny of Elden Ring has complex lore associated with it and this includes all of the bosses, no matter how important or trivial. Each boss in the game has a well-thought-out story to tell, most involving some tragedy as to why they have become what they are.

Below, we’ll reveal how many bosses there are in Elden Ring, including listing all the main bosses and separating them from the repeated, lesser, or sub-bosses. Some main bosses are repeated later with their assets reused, so we’ll count them as sub-bosses the second, third, and even fourth time around.

Godric the Grafted, one of the earliest bosses in Elden Ring

List of all bosses in Elden Ring

Elden Ring has a total of 238 bosses. However, most of these mini-dungeon bosses, or bosses patrolling the open world, or repeats of major bosses. So, you’ll likely find yourself fighting many of the same bosses more than once, just under different circumstances.

While this may sound repetitive, the nature of these boss fights often changes, with some being fought in dungeons, out in the world, or some involving usage of (or not using) your horse the second time around, which changes the dynamic greatly.

For example, you’ll fight the Red Wolf of Radagon the first time around in a mandatory Legacy Dungeon – where you’re not allowed to use your horse. But you’ll fight variants of that boss again later where he’s surrounded by a wolf pack, but as it’s out in the open world, you’ll have access to your horse, making the fight much more fast-paced and very different from the first encounter.

Here’s a list of every mainline story boss you need to fight to progress in the story. If a boss is repeated later in some form we’ll make that clear next to the boss:

• Margit the Fell Omen(Repeated)
• Godrick the Grafted(Repeated)
• Red Wolf of Radagon(Repeated)
• Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
• Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
• Starscourge Radahn
• Godfrey, First Elden Lord
• Morgot, the Omen King
• Fire Giant
• Godskin Duo (Repeated)
• Maliketh, the Black Blade
• Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing
• Hoarah Loux / Godfrey, First Elden Lord
• Radagon of the Golden Order
• Elden Beast

There are also other important story bosses, these aren’t mandatory but will become so if you take a certain path. These are:

• Leonine Misbegotten
• Ancestor Spirit
• Magma Wyrm Makar
• Mimic Tear
• Royal Knight Loretta
• Regal Ancestor Spirit
• Dragonkin Soldier of Nokstella
• Valiant Gargoyles
• Astel, Naturalborn of the Void
• Godskin Noble
• Blaidd
• Dung Eater
• Baleful Shadow
• Elemer of the Briar
• Ensha
• Mohg, the Omen
• Commander O’Neal
• Commander Niall
• Dragonlord Placidusax
• Lichdragon Fortissax
• Mohg, Lord of Blood
• Millicent’s Sisters
• Tree Sentinel
• Draconic Tree Sentinel
• Patches, The Untethered
• Beast Clergyman
• Fia’s Champions

Sub bosses by location

While none of the below bosses are considered ‘main bosses’ none should be underestimated as some are just as difficult as the bosses on the two above lists – many even more so. However, each of these can be considered a sub or mini boss, located out in the world, at the end of a dungeon or side quest.

Here they all are, and bear in mind, that some of these may be repeated per region:

Some of these bosses are reskins are others, but don’t take any lightly, some are endgame versions of bosses you may have defeated earlier. Also, some are separate characters who share the same animations, and character models as other characters.

For example, Godefroy shares Godrick the Grafted’s moves and models but is technically one of his ancestors – and just as despicable. The good news is he doesn’t have a second stage, unlike Godrick.

Hopefully, this list of bosses in Elden Ring helps you on your journey as you unlock various weapons and experiment with different builds.

So, that’s all there is to know about how many bosses there are in Elden Ring.