Introduction to Top 10 Final Battles

A climax is defined as "the point of greatest intensity or force in an ascending series or progression."  In any story in any medium, it's the point where the plot goes all-out and the ultimate conflict plays out before the final resolution.  It's what you likely remember the most when you walk out of a movie or finish reading a book, assuming there weren't any awkward moments that eventually became more remembered than anything else in the story it came from.

They can be done through a grand battle like the destruction of the Death Star in Star Wars or can even be a conflict of wits and unfolding plans like in Death Note or A Most Wanted Man.
But game stories have always had a preference for combat to keep the player interested, involved and empowered.  In fact it's rather hard to think of many games with stories to tell that don't have combat of some sort in them.

So when you have games based around combat and need an ultimate escalation for a story, you end up with a climax of the action-packed variety, such as the aforementioned Death Star destruction.  Unlike movies, however, game climaxes also act as a final challenge for the player, with buildup in the written sense along with a buildup of the player's power and skills.  When done right, they're an empowering, amazing way to end a game with a bang and leave a lasting impression.

When done wrong....

Like anything, everyone has their favorite final bosses from all sorts of games across the generations, and like any action gamer, I've experienced a lot of the biggest and best there are.  While the real final part of the Mortal Kombat Fighting Game Camp post is in progress, I will be sharing the 10 greatest of these epic clashes I have ever experienced.  Rather than write a half-assed listicle with a few sentences for each, every one will have its own post detailing every aspect of it: the music, challenge and a complete overview of the context as well as the inevitable phases they go through, among other things.

Needless to say though, every single one will be a spoiler.  Even the names of some are, which is why each post will be titled by the game they're from and not the bosses.

My only rule in choosing these battles are that they are limited to one game per franchise.  I could probably put more than one boss from the Final Fantasy series in it, but top 10s such as these should be diverse.
Keep in mind that these are all by modern-day standards.  I'm sure defeating Bowser by removing the bridge from underneath him was amazing or iconic back in the day, but this is 2015.  We have better.