The Legend of Zelda series has a strong history of amazing dungeons with bosses that perfectly end cap the experience. Figures like Zant and Ghirahim are icons in their respective games, and other bosses are so beloved that they feature in four or more different entries.

Related: The Correct Order To Play Every 2D Zelda Game

There are still many lesser known bosses, however. Some you might have forgotten, or maybe you've never played their game to begin with. The handheld games in particular have several bosses that have never been on a home console, and you deserve to meet a few of them.

10 Dera Zol

Dera Zol looking very handsome in The Legend of Zelda Four Swords video game

Four Swords may be the least played Zelda game. It's hard to tell, because it was only bundled with the A Link to the Past Game Boy cartridge. So on paper it sold well, but no one had four friends with this thing to play it. A shame, because you missed this absolute lad.

Dera Zol is the guardian of Talus Cave, and he's a total push over, but what he lacks in competency, he makes up for in style. All he does is bob around the arena hoping to do some damage to you. No one has heard of this boss, and fewer have faced him, but now you can at least look at him and smile.

9 Pumpkin Head

Pumkin Head looming forward in the Oracle of Ages Zelda video game

Pumpkin head is another silly boss, and they're just delightful. He's the first boss of Oracle of Ages, and he's never reappeared. It's worth noting that the final bosses of the handheld games get a little intense at times, so enjoy the levity while it lasts.

Pumpkin Head is controlled by a small sprite that lives inside the pumpkin. They do very little to attack you, and their proper title is Mr. Head! Is this guy even a boss? He literally doesn't attack you unless you stand right in front of him. To be completely honest, this guy is just hanging out, and we ruin that.

8 Eox

Eox percieved as leaning due to his height in The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass the video game

Eox is a towering stone construct that guards Mutoh's Temple in Phantom Hourglass, and he puts in his work to justify the split screen gimmick of the DS games. You'll launch yourself into the air to reach his weak spots, which chip away parts of his body to reveal the wooden frame structure underneath, before finally destorying his head.

Related: Most Unique Boss Fights In Zelda History

A similar concept is revisited in the Spirit Tracks boss, Cragma, where instead of launching yourself to hit weak spots, you ride a minecrart around them. Seeing the scale of both of these bosses split between the two screens of the DS is definitely worth it.

7 Bellum

Bellum flying in The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass the video game

The handheld games get weird with their bosses sometimes, and none show that off better than perhaps Bellum, the phantom, demon, squid who possesses a feeble ship captain for his final battle against good and evil. Was that a good idea? Did it pay off for Bellum? Absolutely not.

Phantom Hourglass gets some disdain for the repetitive Temple of the Ocean King, but the bosses have character. The mood of Bellum's fight is also pretty awesome, with it being on a stranded platform in the middle of a raging sea amidst a thunderstorm. Despite Bellum's choice of who he possesses, it is harrowing having to possibly strike down Linebeck to save the world.

6 Byrne

Byrne and Alfonzo clashing weapons in The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks the video game

Byrne is not the final boss of Spirit Tracks, but he is better than them. Malladus may be a Demon King, but Byrne has a character arc! That is rare for Zelda, and even rarer for the handhelds.

Byrne is an apprentice Lokomo who falls to Malladus' side in a bid for power. He's cast out from the Lokomo, and when he helps resurrect Malladus, his request is rejected. Finally, after some reflection, it's Byrne who tells Link the final steps necessary in defeating his former boss.

5 General Onox

General Onox and his dragon form in The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Seasons the video game

The Oracle games are severely underrated, and it's a shame more of their bosses haven't been faced by fans. This goes double for the final bosses, who are fought in a stamina-draining three phases.

General Onox is a sick and cruel man, who takes pleasure in torturing the Oracle of Seasons in front of Link. You finally get to take your aggression out on him in an all out brawl, before he humbly turns himself into a dragon for you to slay.

4 Veran

Veran posing stoically in The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages the video game

Veran is the more interesting boss between her and Onox, being the final boss of Oracle of Ages. Her plan involved going back in time under the guise of the Oracle Nayru to befriend the Queen and use her position of power to establish her reign for all time. That's efficient, in a very scary sort of way.

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The boss fight is also done in three phases. In the first two phases, she is completely in control of Nayru, and you have to stun her to attack Veran. Once you think you have her beat, she grabs Link and pulls him back into a crumbling castle where you face her final shape-shifting form.

3 Gyorg Pair

The Gyorg Pair flying through the clouds in The Minish Cap Zelda game

So much can be said about The Minish Cap. It's a beautiful and emotionally moving story, and the scenery is awe-inspiring, despite being on the Game Boy Advance. The game's art style reaches a pinnacle in the Palace of Winds, as your soar through the clouds, jumping between platforms to fight the Gyorg Pair.

The scenery and scale of the bosses does a lot to sell the intensity of being hundreds of miles in the sky. You have to create multiple clones of Link to cover a large enough area to actually bother these things, and getting to use the Rocs Cape again is always a treat.

2 Yuga

Yuga loking over his shoulder with a portrait in hand in A Link Between Worlds the Zelda game

Yuga is the first and technically final boss of A Link Between Worlds, and boy is he a creep. He spends way too long fawning over the paintings of princesses he's created/stolen, and joining bodies with the king of all pig demons really doesn't make him look any better.

The story that unfolds around this little rat is nonetheless interesting. He's the Lorule equivalent of Ganondorf, and he taunts you from the very beginning of the game. He's always a step ahead of you, and it's endlessly satisfying seeing him lose the battle against Ganondorf in the end.

1 Vaati Reborn

Vaati teleporting away from Links sword swing in the Minish Cap Zelda game

Vaati is the king of the handheld bosses, and the fact that he's in Four Swords Adventures, which is a console game, won't keep him from that title. Vaati's true form, and Vaati Reborn, are only ever fought in The Minish Cap, and they're by far the best versions of him.

You're given a strict time limit to fight Vaati Reborn, and if you can't beat him fast enough, the game concludes with his total victory. It's a hard fight too, with Vaati teleporting around, shooting lasers, fire, and circling projectiles. It's a shame this is the only time we ever see the true Picori form of Vaati. Next: It's Time For A New 2D Zelda Game