Resident Evil Requiem: Hardest Bosses, Ranked

2 hours ago 1

Published Mar 5, 2026, 2:39 PM EST

Daniel has been playing games for entirely too many years, with his Steam library currently numbering nearly 750 games and counting. When he's not working or watching anime, he's either playing or thinking about games, constantly on the lookout for fascinating new gameplay styles and stories to experience. Daniel has previously written lists for TheGamer, as well as guides for GamerJournalist, and he currently covers tech topics on SlashGear.

While the moment-to-moment gameplay of Resident Evil Requiem is definitely its biggest highlight, we’d be remiss if we didn’t also highlight the game’s boss fights. While not the most plentiful compared to other action games, Requiem’s boss fights are still a lot of fun to experience, both for the setpieces that spark them off and the ensuing punch-up. There are always new and interesting horrific mutant monsters to put bullets in, after all.

Besides being generally entertaining, the bosses serve as something of a skill check, consistently ensuring you’ve been paying attention to the game’s mechanics and systems. Some of the bosses lean harder into this than others, requiring a more concentrated effort to fight them off, especially on the higher difficulty settings. No boss is unsurmountable, of course, but let’s just say that you’re a little more likely to become very familiar with Leon and Grace’s unique death animations when dealing with some than with others.

Major spoilers ahead!

10 The Chef

Quite a Slab of Beef

Notwithstanding her initial run-in with the Girl, the Chef is the first major stalker-type enemy Grace encounters in the care center. He’s not presented with much pomp or circumstance; he’s pounding away at a big hunk of meat in the kitchen, and when you pass by him, he starts stalking around the west wing, massive cleaver in hand. Technically, you don’t have to deal with the Chef if you don’t want to, though dispatching him does make the west wing easier to navigate.

As for fighting him, well, his whole shtick is that he’s a big guy with a cleaver. Dangerous, certainly, but not much to write home about. Popping him with the regular pistol won’t do much, but a couple of shots from Requiem will put him down fairly easily. If you can catch him passing by when entering the west wing, you can even sneak up and tag him with a hemolytic injector for an easy kill.

On Insanity difficulty, though, he’s much more resilient, requiring two full magazines worth of Requiem shots to deal with, which brings him a little more in line with a proper boss rather than a mere nuisance. Play things cautiously, even if you're used to him.

9 The Lickers

Leon’s Used to This

One of the most iconic monsters in the Resident Evil bestiary is the Licker, a mutant offshoot of the T-Virus zombies with an enlarged, animalistic frame and exposed skin. It can’t see, but it’s got an excellent sense of hearing, making it an effective predator. Grace encounters a gaggle of these things in ARK, but she’s not really equipped to fight them head-on. Leon, on the other hand, has done this song and dance before.

At a couple of points during his own journey through ARK, Leon is cornered by a group of Lickers and has to fight his way through. Compared to when he first encountered them back in Resident Evil 2, though, he’s more than prepared. Lickers are fast, and deal a lot of damage with their attacks, but they can be staggered fairly easily with a good shotgun blast. You can even parry their infamous tongue strike with your hatchet.

The only thing to worry about when fighting the Lickers is getting pinched on both sides, as you need to keep them grouped up to better keep them in check with your larger guns. As long as they’re all on one side, dealing with them isn’t too bad.

8 Plant 43

Umbrella Loves Its Plant Monsters

As far back as the original Raccoon City incident, Umbrella had been tinkering with plant-based mutants, some of which Leon has dealt with before. Apparently, at some point, one of those plants escaped the ARK and set up shop in the ruined caverns beneath the city, acting as a sort of unofficial guard dog. Good ol’ Umbrella, always letting its horrible experiments walk right out the door.

Leon encounters Plant 43 right before the entrance to ARK, having completely choked the undercity with its vines and buds. The core of the plant is very intimidating, with a large, fleshy maw and several tendrils, but actually fighting the thing isn’t all that difficult.

All you have to do is keep pumping bullets into that maw while it’s open, while casually sidestepping attacks from the tendrils. After you deal enough damage, a cache of explosives will tumble over right beneath it, ready to be lit up into a glorious fireball with a single bullet. Not a hard fight, but it has a spectacular payoff.

7 The Girl

The Hunter Becomes the Hunted

Throughout a large chunk of her sections, Grace is menaced by an oversized, mutated little girl, aptly referred to as “The Girl.” In her frightening initial encounters in the care center and underground, Grace can only repel the Girl by turning on lights or pelting her with molotovs, but after bringing Emily to the Water Treatment Plant, the only remaining recourse is to finally deal with this stubborn playmate.

The fight with the Girl is perhaps less of a “fight” and more of a “challenge,” in that, rather than fighting her directly, you need to avoid her attacks while activating the three power switches around the facility. There are still plenty of dark spots for her to hide in, but if you’ve got some molotovs in reserve, you can use them alongside the various work lights to fend her off while you throw the switches.

Once you’re back topside, you can power up the plant and open the roof shutter, filling the room with the morning sun. At this point, the Girl can’t even really fight back anymore; you can plug her a few times to put her down faster, but if you just wait a bit, the sunlight will melt her down.

6 Blister Borne

Try Not to Think About the Smell

After rescuing Grace and Emily after their helicopter crash, Leon sends them off to the Water Treatment Plant while he stays behind to mop up the walkers. Unfortunately, this particular group is headed up by a particularly large specimen called a Blister Borne, the natural endpoint for any multi-infected T-Virus zombie.

The Blister Borne is big and tanky, making it difficult to stagger with Leon’s regular weaponry. It does have several large, distinctive weak points in the form of orange, glowing pustules, which you can pop with a few well-placed shots or a melee attack. However, there’s a drawback to this: popping the pustules releases a cloud of viral mist that forces any nearby zombies to evolve into Blister Heads, turning mild hazards into full-on danger.

There are a few ways you can tackle this fight, either trying to deal with the Blister Borne as fast as possible, or avoiding it and mopping up the zombies so you don’t have to deal with the Blister Heads. It’s a large-scale combat encounter, one that really keeps you on your toes. Hopefully, you don’t have too much trouble, because you’ll have to do it again in Raccoon City.

5 Chunk

Get This Man a Snickers

As part of his T-Virus research, Victor tinkered a bit with a couple of patients’ brains, removing their ability to feel satiated by food. This resulted in two distinctive mutants known as the “Chunks.” Grace encounters one in the east wing of the care center, which can be optionally dispatched with several Requiem bullets or hemolytic injectors, while Leon encounters the other in the attic in an unavoidable battle that can only be handled the old-fashioned way.

Leon’s battle against the second chunk takes place in an extremely cramped series of bending passageways. It’s too narrow to slip past Chunk, so you’re constantly on the backstep, looping him around the bend while you pump bullets into him, occasionally punctuated with a melee attack.

Chunk’s large frame makes him fairly slow, which gives you some extra time to maneuver around and look for supplies or ladders up to the higher level. If you can lure him under the upper level, you can even get the drop on him with your new shotgun and hatchet. Just make sure you don’t back yourself into a corner, because there’ll be no way out if you do.

4 Titan Spinner

Oh Yeah, Forgot About the Giant Spiders…

The original T-Virus research in the Arklay Mountains didn’t just yield zombies, it created all sorts of freaky mutant creatures. One type of critter that’s appeared sporadically throughout the Resident Evil series is oversized spiders, one of whom has made a home for itself in the blasted-out remains of Raccoon City. Leon encounters this spider, the Titan Spinner, shortly after entering the city, and immediately makes it angry.

After getting chased around a couple of abandoned buildings, the Titan Spinner corners Leon in an open area, and the fight proper begins. This thing may be big, but it’s quick and dexterous, and its only weak spot is on its backside, which you won’t see if it’s actively chasing you. Periodically, it’ll turn around, exposing the weak spot, but also begin launching its babies at you, making the tight confines even tighter and forcing you to mop them up with the hatchet.

Beating the Titan Spinner is mostly about staying on the move, hopping between the upper and lower levels and waiting for an opportunity to take pot shots at that big ol’ butt.

3 Victor Gideon

If He Doesn’t Kill You, His Monologuing Will

Assuming you make the correct choice and have Grace release Elpis, Leon will be cured of his Raccoon City Syndrome and Victor will kill Zeno, leaving the two of them as the last men standing. As you may have guessed, Victor is no normal man: his body is housing the latest generation of Nemesis parasite, creating a tentacle where his arm used to be.

In this final battle, Victor will alternate between lashing at you with his tentacle and creating shocking jolts with the ambient electricity, as well as crashing down from above. In true Nemesis fashion, he’ll even pull out an RPG and try to take a shot at you. His regular tentacle attacks can be parried, and if you stagger him while he’s holding the RPG, you can even grab it and use it against him.

After you beat him, though, he mutates into his full Nemesis form, body covered in pulsating pustules. This part isn’t that hard, thankfully; just shoot the pustules as they crop up and avoid the occasional swing from his tentacles, and he’ll finally do us all a favor and die.

2 The Commander

It’s Not Resident Evil Without a Melee Duel

Ever since Resident Evil 4, Leon’s had something of a habit of getting himself into knife’s edge melee duels with powerful soldiers, starting with his first tangle with Krauser. In Requiem, he gets into another of these scrapes with the unnamed Commander of Zeno’s soldiers. Not only does he have incredible reflexes approaching Zeno’s own, but his skill with a hatchet easily rivals Leon’s own.

Unlike most of the game’s bosses, the Commander won’t just stand there and take it while you plug away at him. He’s constantly ducking and weaving, attempting to get around behind you and deliver a powerful strike with his hatchet. Rather than using your guns, it’s better to engage him with your own hatchet, though this results in a delicate balancing act where you’re constantly parrying his attacks until you can get him on the backfoot. Afterward, you can deliver a few shots or slashes.

Midway through the fight, the Commander slices open a pipe, covering the room in steam and making it even harder to keep track of him. If you try to run away to reload or sharpen, he’ll start taking potshots at you, so you can’t leave him unattended for too long. It’s a high-impact fight that all but demands perfection with the hatchet mechanics.

1 Super Tyrant

He’s Still Givin’ to Ya

It’s not a visit to scenic Raccoon City if you’re not getting stalked by the hulking frame of one of Umbrella’s signature Tyrant mutants, lovingly referred to as “Mr. X” by Resident Evil fans. After catching up to Grace and Zeno, Leon is attacked by one such mutant, nearly identical in image to the one he fought all those years ago. It’s not Mr. X himself, as he blew up, so I’ve been calling this one “Mr. Z,” Nemesis being “Mr. Y,” of course.

Like his predecessor, Mr. Z stalks Leon through the ruins of R.P.D. single-mindedly before cornering him in a fenced-off chunk of road, tearing off his limiter coat and evolving into full Super Tyrant status. This is undoubtedly the game’s most intense fight; Mr. Z is incredibly agile for his size, shaves massive chunks of your health off with every attack, and has an endless supply of loose missiles and junked cars to chuck at you. About the only edge you have over him is that you can parry his tentacle swipes, though this eats up massive slabs of your hatchet’s durability.

All you can really do is keep plugging away at Mr. Z with every weapon you have, performing a melee attack when he gets staggered, and hope he has the courtesy to keel over before you run out of heals.