Cuphead: All Bosses, Ranked By Difficulty

Cuphead blasted onto Windows and Xbox on September 29, 2017; releases on both the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 would soon follow. Since then, it has accrued quite the cult following and swept up several awards in the process. Cuphead, produced by Studio MDHR, is praised for its bright 1930s cartoon allusions, authentic and painstaking art style, and original jazz music.

While Cuphead boasts a slew of positive reviews and awards, it also hosts another, less amiable trait: being hard as heck. Because of that, we’ve ranked boss fights by difficulty and provided some quick tips. We can’t cover every point here, but we’ll be sure to give you enough to come out on top.

Updated January 4, 2025 by Emily McElroy: While Cuphead itself is now seven years old, its legacy is still enduring. Netflix’s The Cuphead Show! introduced this cast of lovable characters to a whole new group of gamers, which has caused a surge of interest in the original game. Looking to give it a shot? Here’s the hardest bosses in the brawl – and how to beat them.

28

The Root Pack

Digging In The Dirt

The Root Pack is composed of three foes. The potato will shoot balls of dirt at you. The rhythm will gradually pick up over the course of the fight. He cycles between spitting three balls of dirt and a pink (parryable) worm. Next, you are onto the crying onion. Fire away while keeping an eye on the top of the screen, if a teardrop is about to fall on top of you, shift to the left or the right.

Lastly, you must battle the carrot (it is every childhood dinner all over again). He has two attacks. He fires out homing carrots, these are slow and can be easily destroyed (especially with the spread shot). He also uses his mind powers to fire telekinetic waves at you. When you see him massaging his forehead, just move in a straight line (in either direction), the psychokinetic waves will miss you every time. Beyond that, just stand directly under him and fire up. You will make short work of him.

If you’re new to run and gun games, there’s no shame in grabbing things that help you. The Heart Charm, which increases health, is a great help while you learn the ropes.

27

Goopy Le Grande

Le Grande Battle

This goopy boy likes to hop around the screen. If you are beside him when he hops, he will jump right over you. When he squishes himself down, he is preparing to sock you with a big punch. This is where he will likely get you if you are unprepared. if you are beside him, you can just crouch and duck it.

He then levels up and does essentially all the same things. He still has his big punch, but this time it is even more obviously telegraphed (as he winds up for it); it is still duckable. Lastly, he will harass you from beyond the grave as a giant tombstone. He will slide from side to side; when he stops, he will slam himself face down into the ground. Just don’t be under him when he does.

Avoiding his tombstone attack is very easy, as it follows a set route.

26

Djimmi The Great

He’ll Need All Three Wishes

This is going to be the first stage where you fly your plane. When contending the columns, just shoot the sections with the face. When you get to Djimmi himself, he will be in a sarcophagus and firing projectiles that make a figure-eight pattern; just fly through the middle. When he turns into the big Cuphead puppet, all you really need to worry about is Djimmi’s hat (as it shoots a multidirectional bullet). The puppet’s bullets aren’t a concern as they are super slow.

Finally, there will be three rotating pyramids on the screen. When one of them opens their eye, it will fire a cross-shaped beam, so just be diagonal to the eye and you should be fine.

25

Ribby and Croaks

He Just Croaked

When fighting these pugilistic amphibians, you will start the battle contending with a barrage of fist-propelled projectiles and regurgitated flies. One of the frogs will eventually roll to the other side of the screen (dash over him as he does). You will then have to deal with two attacks from both sides. One will try to push you away while the other fires bouncing projectiles at you. Run toward the frog acting as a giant fan while firing, and hop over the projectiles as they approach you from behind.

In their final phase, they fuse into one and become a slot machine. Here a number of spiked platforms will approach you from its mouth. There are different patterns that involve them shooting balls and fire, but it is relatively easy to avoid all the different forms. Keep shooting, and you will walk away from this casino the winner.

Half the difficulty of Cuphead is learning to recognize patterns. Once you start to catch onto the patterns of bosses, the game becomes easy. Well. Easier.

24

Werner Werman

Achtung, Mein Maus!

The fight starts with you battling Werner using a tin can as a makeshift tank. Use the pink launch pads to hop over his charge attack and this form shouldn’t give you any problems. Next, he will be using a jack to raise and lower himself between two levels, if you are on the same level as him, you are bound to get burned. Watch out for the spinning bottle caps lining the side of the stage, they pop out sporadically.

Finally, the last stage of the fight is against a cat. As long as you aren’t on the same side of the stage as his outstretched arm, you should be fine. You will also need to dodge the debris falling from the ceiling, but that isn’t a big deal. Focus on shooting his head as all of this is happening, and you will rid yourself of this fallacious feline without breaking a sweat.

23

Baroness Von Bon Bon

Queen Of Candy

Baroness Von Bon Bon is really several bosses in one, with her random desserts coming out one at a time, each with their own movesets. On the surface, this seems quite easy, but their variance can mean you’ll never have a consistent pattern you can practice against.

The best trick is to make sure you move as little as possible, as darting around the small arena can quickly lead you to lose your footing and accidentally run into damage. These minions also have low health, so try saving your special moves for the final stage where you fight the Baroness in her moving castle.

Much like the Baroness’s world, playing games is meant to be a sweet treat. If you’re growing frustrated with Cuphead, remember to take breaks.

22

Sally Stageplay

All The World’s A Stage(Play)

Sally actually fights quite a bit like everyone’s favorite Street Fighting contortionist: Dhalsim. She will jump into the air and do slow-moving dive kicks at an angle. She also likes to teleport and throw projectiles. Thankfully, this is all pretty easy to avoid if you stay mobile. Eventually, she will sick a barrage of minions on you. Here you are probably going to want to stay in place and hop over her mousy minions as they charge.

Her most potent attack is probably the giant wave she sends after you. Just make sure to use the pink star that hovers above it, and you will be able to vault over it with ease. Lastly, she will fly above you dropping roses while her spinning umbrella moves from side to side across the bottom of the screen. Just dash over the umbrella and keep firing at her (the seeking shot is a great weapon for this). She’ll be taking a bow in no time.

21

Hilda Berg

Oh, The Humanity

Much like the Baroness, there are tons of different forms that this boss can take, and each has unique moves, all leading up to a final fight against her crescent-moon form. These stages have a lot more health, and even a small plane stage in between that takes a huge number of additional hits.

The best trick is to use your specials on each Constellation mode, as you’ll usually get enough hits in her plane form to charge up a heavy strike. Once you reach the last stage, just try to hide at the back edge of the screen so you can easily plan around stars and UFOs trying to hit you in the middle of the sky.

Hilda’s Constellation mode is inspired by the Zodiac chart. See which ones you can spot!

20

Cagney Carnation

True Flower Power

This deadly spiked flower is one of the first serious challenges in the game, and for a good reason. Having the small ladybug platforms floating slightly above the ground makes it really hard to dodge certain moves, and she creates tons of small enemies that you might not even see while trying to rapidly strike her.

If you want a specific place to hide, it’s usually best to remain on the left and center platforms. This gives you enough time to dodge attacks coming from Cagney, but many of Cagney’s effects will eliminate the soil beneath the platforms, making it better to stay airborne as much as you can.

This boss can be difficult. Remember, practice makes perfect. Practice and time will lead to improvement.

19

Mangosteen

Make Way For Mangosteen

Most of the mini-boss fights in the lead-up to King Dice are fairly easy and straightforward, but Mangosteen near the end can be a bit more intimidating. This floating 8-ball only fires a few occasional hits, but the chalk cues flipping around can be really unpredictable with where they’re going to land.

The best way to beat this one easily is by staying on the left or right, as jumping into Magnosteen will cause you to take damage and lose your footing. If you want the battle to end faster, you can always try staying underneath him so that your bullets strike quicker, but this can also make dodging the chalk cues way harder.

18

King Dice

The Devil’s Right Hand Man

The climactic showdown with King Dice is deceptively quick, even though you’ll have to take down an army of mini-bosses on your way. That said, it’s hardly a walk in the park, as his army of playing cards and many other attacks fill up far more of the screen than nearly any other boss in the game.

A key trick with this powerful move is that you can parry pink playing cards multiple times, letting you stay more steady and avoid dodging rapidly while waiting to land on the ground again. That said, unless you’re going for a no-hit run, the real best way to beat King Dice is to make sure you have some spare health left. Being able to tank some hits can easily give you an opportunity to find a safe position.

Besides Mangosteen, most of King Dice’s minions are pretty straightforward. Most can even be skipped by careful timing of the dice.

17

Wally Warbles

A Broken Clock

Wally Warbles is as annoying as a broken alarm clock. Here’s a good way to stifle those cries for good. For Wally’s first phase, do your best to avoid the birds. The final form is probably the most difficult consistently.

Watch the bottom of the screen for Wally and the two small birds carrying him. He’s injured, but he’ll still fire bullets at you. The birds will fire tons of objects as well, and the pills they fire will split, so dodge them and continue to shoot every opportunity you can. If you’re confident in your skills, you can even take out your bombs to finish off this aggressive, avian threat.

16

Cala Maria

The Sinister Siren

Phase one shows Cala Maria boasting a vast array of attacks, but phase two is probably the most annoying because of one ability: petrification. In phase two, Cala Maria becomes the infamous Gorgon Medusa with the help of her electric eel friends. If you’re turned to stone, wriggle free and dodge the bullets.

Keep this up and eventually, it’s off with her head and on to phase three. In phase three, Cala Maria’s head tries to flee into a dangerous cave. Dodge the spike traps and skulls she launches at you while you continue to shoot. She’ll also turn you to stone here, so watch out for that. Keep your wits about you, and she’s as good as gone.

15

Mr. Chimes

The Chimes Of Doom

King Dice is a nuisance and a half. Though as the Devil’s right-hand man, this should be expected. The most difficult aspect of this fight is the potentially random nature of the mini-bosses. There are a total of 9 possible mini-bosses. You must defeat at least three of them before you can proceed to King Dice himself. Of these, one of the harder bosses comes from tile number 9.

Here you’ll face a cymbal monkey moved about by a mechanical claw, and also take flight in your plane for the first time in the King Dice marathon. Dodge the monkey and the music notes he fires from his cymbals as you shoot him. When the cards drop in the background, quickly flip over the matches and finish off that cymbal-toting simian.

14

Captain Brineybeard

Captain Of Chaos

In phase one, you have quite a few enemies to dodge, but they’re not too difficult once you learn their pattern. First is the barrel that looms menacingly overhead. Stop underneath it, and you’re as good as gone. Do your best to keep moving. Brineybeard himself has but one attack: an octopus cannon that fires bullets. Next is a shark, if you see a big fin in the background when Brineybeard whistles, get close to the boat to avoid being dinner.

If you see a submarine scope appear when he whistles, get ready to shoot down some vicious sea dogs. Don’t stick too close to the boat if they appear and keep on shooting. You’ll win in no time. The rest of the phases are simpler, just watch for cannonballs, and in phase three, DUCK if the ship opens its mouth. You’ll get hyper-beamed if you don’t.

13

Beppi The Clown

Creepy Clown Hours

Beppi goes through several carnival-themed transformations that shouldn’t give you too much trouble if you take your time and remember to parry when you can. Phase three, however, is a bit of a doozy. Let’s go over it. The coaster that appears in phase two is still here, so keep on dodging it when it shows up, but now Beppi is back and riding a carousel horse. If the horse is green, he’ll fire two horseshoes that weave up and down across the screen.

If the horse is yellow, he’ll shoot a rapid-fire of horseshoes in a long line. Dodge them and be careful as the yellow ones will come back to the middle of the stage and drop to the ground. In other words, you’ll need to spend this fight sticking to the left and right sides of the screen depending on the danger. Keep shooting Beppi and it’s time for phase four. Keep up these strategies and you’ll fell that horrendous harlequin.

12

Rumor Honeybottoms

The Queen Bee

The first two phases will find you testing your dodging skills as you try surviving the rising platforms, but phase three is where things get hairy. Get as much damage in here as you can because it’s gonna be hard to land hits once she’s on the attack. She transforms into a flying murder machine that fires homing fists from the bottom of the screen.

If you’ve got the Chaser you’re going to want to use it. Find a spot on the platforms that allows you to keep track of where the fists are exiting the screen so you can react in time if they come back and keep shooting her. After a bit of damage, it’s good riddance to the queen bee.

11

The Devil

The Devil Himself

All of your training has led you to this unique trickster, and it’s time to take him down. The first phase is the most difficult, as you’ll have to ignore him slightly and focus on the sides of the throne to figure out where they’ll come from. He has several stages with many moves, but making sure to study his different habits will let you breeze through the earlier stages with each attempt.

If you see The Devil’s pupils disappear, he’s getting ready to cast magic. He’ll spin his pitchfork and launch some homing, bouncing, and circling fireballs. In each of these attacks, there’s something you can parry, but if you can’t catch the parry, just do your best to jump and dodge.

The last stage of the Devil’s fight is the easiest and is essentially a victory lap. But don’t get cocky – make sure you keep blasting and jumping until the bitter end.

10

Phantom Express

Highway To Hell

This is another four-part fight, but we’ll cover the third because those piston dudes are all kinds of difficult. Phase three brings out two pistons you’ll need to slay. Slide your platform all the way to the right and hug the right wall. You should be safe here to shoot down the piston closest to you.

Also, watch out and shoot any ghosts that come to give you the spooks. Jump to shoot down the last piston and slide your platform all the way to the left in preparation for the final phase.

9

Grim Matchstick

A Grim Fight Indeed

We’ll level with you. This. Fight. Sucks. Here are a few pointers for you, but remember some elements of this fight are completely randomized and impossible to deal with, so you’ll mostly just have to be quick on your toes.

Do your best to dodge his attacks and keep an eye on the clouds. They are randomized, so there’s no pattern for you to remember. In phase three, stick low or high to avoid being roasted by his mighty dragon breath.

Grim Matchstick can be very difficult. Using add-ons can be very helpful. Make sure to grab some coins in the Run and Gun levels if you’re low.