Bosses are aggressive, resilient enemies that offer a substantial challenge to players. Defeating a boss is usually instrumental in advancing the game in some way or another, for example, granting the player a new material for a pickaxe of a higher tier. Each has its own particular way of being summoned. For example, most bosses have associated summoning items that can be used to spawn them manually under certain conditions, while there are others that will appear after the player interacts in a certain way with the environment. Event bosses will only appear during their respective events and leave when the event ends. Mini-bosses also exist and appear only during special events, expressing the same amount of difficulty as many normal bosses. Their health has a huge range: On Classic Mode it ranges from 1,000 to 273,000.
Most bosses and mini-bosses can pass through blocks of all types, with the exception of King Slime, Queen Slime, Lepus, Turkor the Ungrateful's body, and the Flying Dutchman.
For all non-event bosses, with the exception of the Lunatic Cultist, status messages will appear when that boss is about to spawn or has already spawned. Upon spawning, its particular theme music plays. During events, bosses and mini-bosses can appear multiple times and have no distinct spawn message. In the case of wave events like the Pumpkin and Frost Moons and the Old One's Army, status messages that appear at the start of each wave can indicate whether or not a certain boss or mini-boss will appear. Defeating a non-event boss concludes with a congratulatory message and several reward items.
On the 
PC, 
Console, 
Mobile, 
Old Chinese, 
tModLoader, and 
tModLoader Legacy versions, bosses will appear on the minimap, each with an individual map icon. On the PC, Console, Mobile, and tModLoader versions, a boss health bar will appear on the screen. (Note that it will only show the health of the most recently-attacked boss, if there are multiple. This is most prevalent when fighting The Twins.)
- However, bosses will still appear as the standard purple blob that signifies enemies on the
Old-gen console version. - Bosses do not have their own banners.
All enemies that can spawn naturally have a better chance of spawning if the player stands near a placed Water Candle or while under the effects of a Battle Potion.
Quick Answers
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Pre-Hardmode Bosses
These are the first bosses the player can encounter. Usually, defeating one of these bosses will give the player items and materials necessary to progress in the game, eventually leading to Hardmode. Although there are 8 pre-Hardmode bosses, only 7 can be spawned in the same world, as Eater of Worlds is exclusive to worlds containing the Corruption, and Brain of Cthulhu is exclusive to worlds containing the Crimson (assuming the player does not place an alternate evil in the same world as the other one, e.g. via seeds from another world or seeds purchased from the Dryad NPC in Hardmode, and does not use a Drunk world seed).
- Summoned with a Slime Crown
Music: Boss 1
For elaborate strategies on defeating King Slime, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:King Slime strategies.
King Slime is a giant blue slime with 2,000 / 2,800 / 3,570 health. It is summoned with a Slime Crown, or after killing 150 (75 if it has already been killed) slimes during a Slime Rain, or can also rarely appear in the outer thirds of the map completely by itself.
On the PC, Console, Mobile, Old Chinese, tModLoader, and tModLoader Legacy versions, King Slime can teleport to the player if it gets trapped or if the player gets out of reach for too long.
King Slime does not provide access to game-advancing items upon defeat, but outside Expert Mode will drop one Gold Coin, one or two piece(s) of Ninja clothes, and one of several slime-related items.
In Expert Mode (and Master Mode), King Slime can summon Spiked Slimes, that are similar to the Spiked Jungle Slime and Spiked Ice Slime.
- Summoned with a Suspicious Looking Eye
Music: Boss 1
For elaborate strategies on defeating Eye of Cthulhu, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Eye of Cthulhu strategies.
Eye of Cthulhu is a huge eyeball with 2,800 / 3,640 / 4,641 health. It has a 33.33*1/3 (33.33%) chance of spawning at the beginning of each night once a player in the world has 200 max health or more and over 10 defense, and there are 3 or more NPCs living in houses. It will continue to do so until defeated for the first time. It can also be summoned by using a Suspicious Looking Eye at night. If not defeated by the player by the end of the night, it will travel upwards and despawn. This is generally the first boss a player must face. It travels through blocks, and spawns Servants of Cthulhu.
In Expert Mode (and Master Mode), the Eye of Cthulhu will do a fast chain dash in its second form, using the attack more often the lower health it has. The chain dash attack will also scale in aggressiveness the same way. This can lead to it dashing almost continually at high velocity at very low health.
- Summoned with Worm Food or by breaking 3 Shadow Orbs
Music: Boss 1
For elaborate strategies on defeating Eater of Worlds, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Eater of Worlds strategies.
Eater of Worlds is a colossal worm with 10,050 / 15,120 / 19,224 health in total on the PC, Console, Mobile, and tModLoader versions, and 7,500 health on the 
Old-gen console, 
Windows Phone, Old Chinese, 
, and tModLoader Legacy versions. It spawns after every third Shadow Orb is broken or after Worm Food is used. Shadow Orbs are found in the Corruption chasms, surrounded by Ebonstone, which requires a pickaxe with 65% pickaxe power or higher to mine, although explosives or Purification Powder can be used to bypass this. Once within range, Shadow Orbs can be destroyed with a hammer or explosives. The Eater of Worlds can only be summoned in the Corruption, and can be summoned at any time of the day. If it manages to escape the Corruption, it will flee and disappear.
Eater of Worlds is a large worm-type enemy that travels through tiles, and is made up of multiple sections that can each attack separately when cut off. To defeat it, every section must be brought down to less than two body parts to be killed (the smallest possible section is a head and a tail with no body pieces). Due to how helpful Corruption gear is, this will probably be the second boss faced in worlds that have Corruption, rather than those who have Crimson.
Eater of Worlds is the only source of Shadow Scales in the game, and it drops large amounts of Demonite Ore. The Demonite Ore can be sold for almost 10 per stack of 99, making this technically the best pre-Hardmode boss for farming in the game.
In Expert Mode, the boss is able to shoot dark-green projectiles at the player called Vile Spit, similar to those fired from Corruptors, another Corruption-exclusive enemy. In worlds with For the worthy or Get fixed boi seeds, if a segment is defeated it will spawn a giant Eater of Souls.
- Summoned with a Bloody Spine or by breaking 3 Crimson Hearts
Music: Boss 3
For elaborate strategies on defeating Brain of Cthulhu, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Brain of Cthulhu strategies.
Brain of Cthulhu is a large, flying brain with a mere 1,250 / 2,125 / 2,709 health, giving it the lowest amount of health out of any boss. It spawns for every third Crimson Heart that is broken or immediately after a Bloody Spine is used. Crimson Hearts are found in the Crimson's chasms, surrounded by Crimstone, which can be bypassed with the same methods Ebonstone can. However, some of the pockets containing these will generate open. Once within range, Crimson Hearts can be destroyed with a Hammer or any explosive. It can only be summoned in the Crimson, but at any time of day.
Brain of Cthulhu has two forms. In the first form, the brain cannot be harmed, and Creepers will float around it. After all of these are killed, the Brain of Cthulhu will go into its second form, where it will teleport more frantically and move a lot faster. Brain of Cthulhu's second form attacks by ramming into the player, like the second form of Eye of Cthulhu. Unlike most other bosses, the Brain of Cthulhu is not immune to knockback.
Brain of Cthulhu is the only source of Tissue Samples in the game (other than the Creepers spawned while fighting it), and drops a large amount of Crimtane Ore, which are the Crimson equivalents to the Corruption items Shadow Scale and Demonite Ore, respectively.
In Expert Mode, in Brain of Cthulhu's second form, it will start creating illusions of itself to charge at the player. The lower the Brain of Cthulhu's health gets, the less obvious the illusions become, to the point where they will look exactly like the real Brain of Cthulhu.
- Summoned with an Abeemination or by breaking a Larva
Music: Boss 5
For elaborate strategies on defeating Queen Bee, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Queen Bee strategies.
Queen Bee is an enormous bee with 3,400 / 4,760 / 6,069 health. It is summoned by destroying a Larva, encased within the walls of Bee Hives located in the Underground Jungle, or by the use of an Abeemination anywhere in the Jungle biome. It is the only source of Bee Wax in the game.
Queen Bee alternates between charging at the player, hovering above them whilst spawning Bees, and moving left and right whilst shooting stingers. In Expert Mode, the rate at which it charges the player gets faster the more damage it takes.
Defeating Queen Bee will allow the Witch Doctor to spawn; other than this, it does not advance the game in a major sense, though defeating it does provide some decent loot that can further help the player prepare for other boss battles, such as against the Wall of Flesh. One such weapon is the Beenade, which is extremely effective when fighting the Wall of Flesh.
- Summoned by activating the Old Man's curse or by killing the Clothier with a Clothier Voodoo Doll equipped
Music: Boss 1
For elaborate strategies on defeating Skeletron, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Skeletron strategies.
Skeletron is a large skeletal head with 4,400 / 8,800 / 11,220 health and two hands. It is initially summoned by speaking to the Old Man NPC at the entrance of the Dungeon and activating his curse at night, but can be summoned again by killing the Clothier while equipped with the Clothier Voodoo Doll at night.
Skeletron will alternate between attacking the player with its hands and performing a spinning attack. Its hands can be attacked and defeated to make the battle easier, although this is not required. If it has not been defeated before the night is over, Skeletron will spin at a high speed, dealing very large amounts of damage that usually kill the player in one hit, until either it is defeated or all players are dead.
In Expert Mode, Skeletron's head is more resistant to damage until its hands are destroyed. Once one hand is destroyed, it will start shooting homing skulls at the player. It is also much faster. Its hands inflict the Slow debuff, and its head inflicts Bleeding. If the player gets caught by its head-spin attack, Skeletron can "stun-lock" them, a lethal situation that can only be escaped by high mobility, e.g. with a hook.
Defeating Skeletron will stop Dungeon Guardians from spawning, allowing free access to the Dungeon.
- Summoned with a Deer Thing
Music: Deerclops
For elaborate strategies on defeating Deerclops, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Deerclops strategies.
Deerclops is a large, upright, one eyed deer with 7,000 / 11,900 / 15,172 health. It can spawn at midnight during a Blizzard if one player in the world has at least either 9 defense or 200 health. If Deerclops has previously been defeated in the world, there is only a 25*1/4 (25%) chance of this occurring. It can be summoned by using a Deer Thing at any time while in the Snow biome.
Deerclops has four / five attacks:
- If it is close to the player, Deerclops will smash the ground, summoning a wave of Ice Spikes that quickly travels torwards the player. Every third consecutive wave does not go as far, but spreads in both directions. Ice Spikes freeze the player briefly.
- If it is not close enough to its target to use the Ice Spikes attack, Deerclops will scoop and then throw numerous chunks of debris into the air that fall back down. These ice chunks can pass through blocks.
- Deerclops will occasionally stand in place and roar, inflicting the Slow debuff on all players within 50 tiles[1] for 12 / 24 / 30 seconds, unless they are already affected by the debuff.
- If the player is above Deerclops for enough time, it will summon five Shadow Hands around the player.
- In Expert Mode, Shadow Hands will be periodically summoned that either move forwards slowly, move forwards quickly and curve, or spin in place. Shadow Hands are summoned more frequently as Deerclops' health gets lower. Shadow Hands predict the player's movements.
Notes:
- Deerclops cannot pass through solid blocks, but if the player is above it and Deerclops cannot reach them, it will quickly rise through the blocks to reach the player.
- If the player is more than 30 tiles away, two reddish, semi-transparent images of Deerclops will begin spinning around it, and it becomes immune to all damage.
- If Deerclops is significantly offscreen, it will wander back and forth without directly seeking the player.
- If all players are dead or there are none nearby, Deerclops will wander around instead of immediately despawning. This will happen until a player gets close to the boss, at which point the fight will resume as normal.
- Once one in-game day (24 real-world minutes) has passed since Deerclops' spawn, it will despawn as soon as no players are near. Leaving and re-entering the world will also cause it to despawn.
- Summoned by throwing a Guide Voodoo Doll into lava
Music: Boss 2
For elaborate strategies on defeating Wall of Flesh, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Wall of Flesh strategies.
Wall of Flesh is a towering wall that spans the entire screen height. It has 8,000 / 11,200 / 14,280 health. It is summoned by throwing a Guide Voodoo Doll into a pool of lava while the Guide is alive. Defeating it will irreversibly initiate Hardmode in the world. It can drop several powerful items, one of them being the guaranteed drop Pwnhammer which can be used to break Demon Altars or Crimson Altars in order to spawn various game-advancing Hardmode ores.
Upon summoning Wall of Flesh, the player will be afflicted with the Horrified debuff, which prevents fleeing from the battle – any attempt to do so will result in severe damage via The Tongue or instant death if the player tries to teleport away, and the debuff will not be removed until either the player or the Wall of Flesh is killed. Wall of Flesh will then sweep across the map, moving faster as its health gets lower. It must be killed before it reaches the end of the map, otherwise it will despawn and any living players in the Underworld will instantly die. Additionally, Wall of Flesh's eyes fire lasers, with the rate of fire increasing as it takes damage. Its mouth burps Leeches that will chase the player, and it has small mouths attached to it called The Hungry, which will also move toward and damage the player.
In Expert Mode, Wall of Flesh will greatly increase its movement speed as its health decreases, eventually surpassing even players riding the Bunny Mount or horse mounts in movement speed. The Hungry will rapidly respawn, thus seemingly blocking the wall from attacks, and can deal significant damage themselves. The faster Wall of Flesh moves and the quicker The Hungry respawn, the more the player will have to focus on dealing damage and moving across a decent terrain.
Hardmode bosses
Hardmode bosses are significantly stronger than previous bosses.
- Summoned with a Gelatin Crystal
Music: Queen Slime
For elaborate strategies on defeating Queen Slime, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Queen Slime strategies.
Queen Slime is a giant slime with 18,000 / 28,800 / 36,720 health. It is available to battle at the start of Hardmode, and is summoned from Gelatin Crystals in the Underground Hallow. It is an optional boss fight and is a small gap to challenge before facing the mechanical bosses, warranting equipment upgrades and other items. There is a very strong resemblance to the pre-Hardmode King Slime, and is one of two Hallowed bosses featured in the game.
As it takes damage it spawns Crystal Slimes, Bouncy Slimes, and Heavenly Slimes to aid it. While its first form is straightforward with attack patterns similar to that of King Slime's, the second form poses much more of a threat as the boss begins to fly in the air, shooting projectiles from above.
- Summoned with a Mechanical Eye
Music: Boss 2
For elaborate strategies on defeating The Twins, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:The Twins strategies.
The Twins are a pair of cybernetic Eyes of Cthulhu. They exist as two individual entities, known as Retinazer and Spazmatism, with the former having 20,000 / 30,000 / 38,250 health and the latter having 23,000 / 34,500 / 43,987 health. The Twins are summoned using a Mechanical Eye at night. It is worth noting that they will gain defense in their second forms, unlike the Eye of Cthulhu.
The two eyes have different fighting styles. Retinazer focuses on shooting the player with Death Lasers like the Destroyer's Probes. Once it reaches 40% health, it will transform into its second form, replacing its pupil with a laser cannon. During this form, it will shoot lasers extremely fast, sometimes having the same fire rate as a Megashark.
The other eye, Spazmatism, focuses on slamming into the player and firing cursed flames. Once it reaches 40% health, it will transform into its second form, resembling a mechanical version of the Eye of Cthulhu's second form. It will deal a lot more damage, and the flames it shoots are more consistent like the Flamethrower instead of the Cursed Flames, but the flames will still inflict Cursed Inferno debuff on the player. The last Twin destroyed will drop all of the loot.
In Expert Mode, Retinazer will shoot lasers faster, and Spazmatism charges faster in its second form.
- Summoned with a Mechanical Worm
Music: Boss 3
For elaborate strategies on defeating The Destroyer, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:The Destroyer strategies.
The Destroyer is a colossal mechanized Eater of Worlds with 80,000 / 120,000 / 153,000 health. It is considered the easiest Hardmode boss by many players, despite having the second-highest health.
The Destroyer is summoned by crafting and using a Mechanical Worm anywhere, but can only be spawned at night.
Although it is similar to its pre-Hardmode counterpart, the Eater of Worlds, it has some key differences: it will not divide into smaller segments, will shoot lasers from its body if space is available, and will deploy Probes to attack once a segment is destroyed.
The Destroyer will shoot Death Lasers, increasing in attack speed as it loses health. Weapons that deal damage to multiple segments like Flails, Daedalus Stormbow, and the Demon Scythe are recommended, because they will hit multiple sections of The Destroyer at once.
In Expert Mode, The Destroyer's head can deal damage as high as 280 / 420, crippling the player if they are hit head-on.
- Summoned with a Mechanical Skull
Music: Boss 1
For elaborate strategies on defeating Skeletron Prime, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Skeletron Prime strategies.
Skeletron Prime is a weaponized mechanical variation of Skeletron, with the head alone having 28,000 / 42,000 / 53,550 health. Instead of two hands, it has four limbs – a vice, laser gun, saw, and cannon. With the head and all limbs combined, Skeletron Prime has 59,000 / 88,500 / 112,836 health.
Skeletron Prime can be summoned by using a Mechanical Skull at night.
Like Skeletron, only the head has to be defeated. It is more mobile than its predecessor, and it regularly flies off-screen, making targeting more difficult. It is also worth noting that when its head spins, its defense doubles from 24 to 48, unlike Skeletron, whose defense is dropped to 0 when spinning.
Skeletron Prime will drop Hallowed Bars and Souls of Fright upon being defeated, which are both used to craft many kinds of armor and tools. Like Skeletron, if Prime is not killed before the night ends, it will spin and target the player, generally killing the player in one hit, and will despawn afterwards.
In Expert Mode, Skeletron Prime moves significantly faster during its spinning attack, similarly to Skeletron.
- Summoned with an Ocram's Razor
Music: Boss 1 (Otherworldly)
The Mechdusa is an amalgamation of the 3 Mechanical bosses with 273000 / 348073 / 530073 health.
It can only be summoned with the Ocram's Razor on the "Everything" aka Get fixed boi World seed.
Mechdusa serves as an alternate fight route for the Mechanical Bosses, as the bosses cannot be fought separately on Everything-seeded worlds, instead forcing you to fight them all at once as Mechdusa. While it does not drop a trophy exclusive to that boss, there will be a chance that it drops the trophies of all four of its constituent bosses.
Despite not being the final boss of the game, Mechdusa has the highest health for any single boss. Even in Classic Mode, Mechdusa tops the Moon Lord's with roughly twice the amount of health.
- Summoned by destroying a Plantera's Bulb
Music: Plantera
For elaborate strategies on defeating Plantera, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Plantera strategies.
Plantera is an enormous flower with 30,000 / 42,000 / 53,549 health. It is spawned by destroying a Plantera's Bulb, which is found in the Underground Jungle after defeating all three mechanical bosses. If the player exits the Underground Jungle, Plantera becomes "enraged", gaining a significant boost to its stats.
Plantera has two forms. In its first form, it clings to solid blocks using vine-like hooks and fires Seeds (and eventually Poison Seeds). In its second form, Plantera has increased speed and moves more aggressively towards the player. It will also release numerous Plantera's Tentacle minions that are attached to the main body.
In Expert Mode, the seeds can go through walls and have slight homing, and extra Plantera's Tentacles are attached to each hook (3 on each) in its second form, adding up to approximately 9 tendrils.
Once Plantera is defeated, the Dungeon will automatically spawn stronger Hardmode enemies, such as the Paladin, and more varieties of loot can be dropped. Additionally, the spread of Crimson, Corruption and Hallow is slowed to half the speed it was Pre-Plantera fight.
- Summoned by using a Lihzahrd Power Cell at a Lihzahrd Altar
Music: Golem
For elaborate strategies on defeating Golem, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Golem strategies.
Golem is a large boss with a combined total of 60,000 / 90,000 / 114,749 health. It is summoned by using a Lihzahrd Power Cell at the Lihzahrd Altar in the Jungle Temple. In order to access the Jungle Temple, Plantera must be defeated to obtain the Temple Key.
Golem has two forms. During the first form, its two fists and its head can be attacked. Like Skeletron, destroying the fists is not needed, but can be helpful. Once the head's health is depleted, it begins flying above the body while shooting fireballs and eye beams, leaving the body open to attack. The body will jump around and punch madly in this form. Defeating the body will defeat Golem.
- Summoned by fishing in the Ocean biome with the Truffle Worm as bait
Music: Duke Fishron
For elaborate strategies on defeating Duke Fishron, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Duke Fishron strategies.
Duke Fishron is a mutant shark-pig-dragon hybrid with 60,000 / 78,000 / 99,450 health. It is summoned when a Truffle Worm is used as bait for fishing in the Ocean.
In its first form, Duke Fishron will attempt to ram the player five times before either firing explosive bubbles or summoning Sharknados. In its second form, Duke Fishron gains glowing eyes and a boost to attack and defense. Although its ramming attacks remain the same, instead of shooting bubbles directly at the player, it flies quickly around in circles, sending bubbles everywhere. Instead of summoning Sharknados in this form, Duke Fishron summons larger Cthulhunados. These remain in place until Duke Fishron is defeated.
In Expert Mode, when Duke Fishron drops below 15% (11700 / 14917) health, it enters its third form. In this form, the screen turns dark, Duke Fishron becomes invisible, and only its glowing eyes are visible. It teleports and tries to ram the player with high speed a few times, before it teleports again.
- Summoned by killing a Prismatic Lacewing
Music: Empress of Light
For elaborate strategies on defeating Empress of Light, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Empress of Light strategies.
Empress of Light is a Hallow-themed boss with 70,000 / 98,000 / 124,950 health. It can be summoned by killing a Prismatic Lacewing, and is one of two Hallowed bosses present in the game. This boss is meant to be a small gap in between Plantera and Golem, but can be fought later or skipped altogether, as it is an optional fight.
If the player fights it the moment it is available, they will face a major difficulty spike and numerous attack patterns. This boss can also be fought in the day, which will make it "enraged", greatly increasing its attack damage to an instant-kill, but will drop the Terraprisma once 100% of damage is dealt during the day.
For elaborate strategies on defeating Lunatic Cultist, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Lunatic Cultist strategies.
Lunatic Cultist is a comparably small boss with 32,000 / 48,000 / 99,450 health. It is summoned by killing the four cultists, which reside at the entrance of the Dungeon after Golem is defeated. When the Lunatic Cultist is defeated, the Lunar Events will begin.
Lunatic Cultist's attacks become more powerful as it loses health. The Lunatic Cultist flies around randomly, cycling between shooting fireballs, creating a ball which shoots lightning at the player, shooting a giant snowflake which shoots ice shards around it, shooting shadowflames, and shooting five destructible projectiles twice in a row. The Lunatic Cultist will also create fake copies of itself, which will summon a Phantasm Dragon when damaged. If a Phantasm Dragon is still alive and the player damages these copies, it will summon an Ancient Vision instead. Waiting too long to attack the real Lunatic Cultist will also cause the Phantasm Dragon or Ancient Vision to be summoned.
In Expert Mode, the Lunatic Cultist will spawn Ancient Dooms along with its other attacks.
- Summoned with a Celestial Sigil or by defeating the Celestial Pillars
Music: Moon Lord
For elaborate strategies on defeating Moon Lord, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Moon Lord strategies.
Moon Lord is the final boss of Terraria, and drops a majority of the endgame items, such as the Meowmere. It also drops Luminite, an ore used to craft many endgame armor sets and tools. It is summoned by defeating all four of the Celestial Pillars from the Lunar Events, or by using a Celestial Sigil. It has a combined health of 145,000 / 217,500 / 277,311, the second most health of any boss in the game.
Moon Lord has two hands and a head which must be killed by attacking the eyes on them, and when killed will release invincible True Eyes of Cthulhu. When the three eyes are destroyed, the Moon Lord's core opens up on its chest, which must then be destroyed to defeat the boss.
Moon Lord's hands shoot two projectiles at once which home onto the player, and summon phantom versions of True Eye of Cthulhu and throwing them at the player. Moon Lord's top eye will occasionally fire a Phantasmal Deathray that will sweep across the entire screen. Being very deadly to players, it can be avoided by hiding under solid blocks (it will pass through blocks on the PC, Console, Mobile, and tModLoader versions), or by trying to escape its wrath on a flying mount. When the True Eyes of Cthulhu are released, the places where they used to be will inflict minor contact damage. The True Eyes of Cthulhu will fire less damaging versions of many of the same attacks as they did when they were still enclosed within the Moon Lord.
In Expert Mode, Moon Lord's Phantasmal Deathray attack deals a lot more damage, enough to kill most players in one hit.
Event bosses
Event bosses are classified as mini-bosses, except for the Celestial Pillars.
- Event initiated with an Eternia Crystal
For elaborate strategies on defeating Dark Mage, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Dark Mage § Tips and Guide:Old One's Army strategies.
Dark Mage is a mini-boss that appears during the final wave of the Old One's Army Tier 1 event. It has three attacks, from hurling dark energy at the player, to summoning a rune which heals nearby enemies in its vicinity or summoning multiple Old One's Skeletons around it.
- Event initiated with an Eternia Crystal
For elaborate strategies on defeating Ogre, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Ogre § Tips and Guide:Old One's Army strategies.
Ogre is a mini-boss that appears during the final wave of the Old One's Army Tier 2 event. The mini-boss has three attacks, consisting of flinging snot at its targets inflicting Oozed, leaping in the air creating a damaging shockwave when landing, and swinging its large club at enemies in front of it.
- Event initiated with an Eternia Crystal
For elaborate strategies on defeating Betsy, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Betsy § Tips and Guide:Old One's Army strategies.
Betsy is a boss that appears during the final wave of the Old One's Army Tier 3 event. The wyvern attacks in similar manner to Duke Fishron, dashing at the player and spiting streams of flames. It also has different attacks as well, launching fireballs at its targets and summoning two Etherian Wyverns alongside it.
- Event initiated with a Pirate Map
For elaborate strategies on defeating Flying Dutchman, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Flying Dutchman § Tips.
Flying Dutchman is the mini-boss of the Pirate Invasion. It will initially spawn after 65% of the invasion is completed. It spawns various Pirate enemies to attack the player, and has four cannons which fire cannonballs at that must be destroyed before it can die, similar to the Martian Saucer. The Flying Dutchman does not disappear after the invasion is over, but it will explode if it has not been engaged before said ending occurs. Several Flying Dutchmen can appear at once.
- Event initiated with a Pumpkin Moon
Medallion
For elaborate strategies on defeating Mourning Wood, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Mourning Wood § Tips and Guide:Pumpkin Moon strategies.
Mourning Wood is a mini-boss that spawns during the Pumpkin Moon. It shoots flaming projectiles at the player which pass through blocks. It also spits a jet of flaming spikes out of its head which stay on the ground for a while, dealing fire damage on contact.
- Event initiated with a Pumpkin Moon
Medallion
For elaborate strategies on defeating Pumpking, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Pumpking § Tips and Guide:Pumpkin Moon strategies.
Pumpking is the second and final mini-boss in the Pumpkin Moon event. Multiple Pumpkings can be out at the same time, up to six at the final fifteenth wave (or even more in multiplayer). The mini-boss possesses two arms with scythes which swing and fire projectiles at the player, similarly to Skeletron. It cycles through modes of attack from swinging at the player to firing jets of flaming spikes, indicated by the face carved in the pumpkin it uses as a head.
- Event initiated with a Naughty Present
For elaborate strategies on defeating Everscream, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Everscream § Tips and Guide:Frost Moon strategies.
Everscream is a mini-boss that can be found during the Frost Moon event. Its attacks alter between firing pine needle projectiles, and dropping bouncing ornaments on the ground that burst into shards.
- Event initiated with a Naughty Present
For elaborate strategies on defeating Santa-NK1, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Santa-NK1 § Tips and Guide:Frost Moon strategies.
Santa-NK1 is a mini-boss that appears during the Frost Moon event. It attacks by rapidly firing bullets from its chain gun at the player, launching presents that rain and parachute from the sky and shooting rockets at the player which pass through blocks. Its face disappears to reveal a robotic one during its second form.
- Event initiated with a Naughty Present
For elaborate strategies on defeating Ice Queen, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Ice Queen § Tips and Guide:Frost Moon strategies.
Ice Queen is the third and final mini-boss that appears during the Frost Moon event. Multiple Ice Queens can spawn during the event. Its attacks involve spinning rapidly firing ice bolts in several directions, and shooting multiple ice waves at the player.
- Event initiated by letting a Martian Probe escape after a player is detected
For elaborate strategies on defeating Martian Saucer, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Martian Saucer § Tips.
Martian Saucer is a large flying mini-boss that spawns during the Martian Madness event. It has two forms, the first form requiring its turrets to be destroyed before its core can be damaged. During its first form, the saucer cycles through three attacks, wherein it either fires a barrage of lasers at the player, fires homing rockets or attempts to disintegrate the player with a large laser from its bottom. In Expert Mode (all difficulties on Old Chinese and tModLoader Legacy), once the turrets have been downed, the mini-boss begins to quickly chase the player, rapidly sweeping and firing its death ray upon them.
- Event initiated by defeating Lunatic Cultist
For elaborate strategies on defeating Solar Pillar, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Lunar Events strategies.
Solar Pillar is one of the four bosses that spawn during the Lunar Events that start once the Lunatic Cultist has been defeated.
After all 4 Celestial Pillars are defeated, the Moon Lord will spawn.
Solar Pillar does not do much to attack the player, mainly summoning enemies instead, but it does cause solar fragments to rain non-stop from the sky. It is surrounded by a large, impenetrable force field until 100/150 of its minions have been slain. The enemies it spawns are melee-based. It is highly recommended to stay on the ground, as the Crawltipedes it spawns only target airborne players. After 100/150 minions are killed, the force field around it will dissipate, allowing players to attack it.
Solar Pillar spawns the following enemies:
- Event initiated by defeating Lunatic Cultist
For elaborate strategies on defeating Nebula Pillar, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Lunar Events strategies.
Nebula Pillar is one of the four bosses that spawn during the Lunar Events that start once the Lunatic Cultist has been defeated.
After all 4 Celestial Pillars are defeated, the Moon Lord will spawn.
Nebula Pillar does not do anything to attack the player, it spawns magic-based enemies. It is surrounded by a large impenetrable force field until at least 100/150 of its minions are slain. After the 100/150 minions are killed, the force field dissipates, allowing the player to attack it directly.
Nebula Pillar spawns the following enemies:
- Event initiated by defeating Lunatic Cultist
For elaborate strategies on defeating Vortex Pillar, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Lunar Events strategies.
Vortex Pillar is one of the four bosses that spawn during the Lunar Events that start once the Lunatic Cultist has been defeated.
After all 4 Celestial Pillars are defeated, the Moon Lord will spawn.
Vortex Pillar does not do much to attack the player, only occasionally spawning a Giant Magnet sphere sort of attack, similar to the Lunatic Cultist's one. It spawns ranged-based enemies. After 100/150 of its minions have been slain, the force field around it will dissipate, leaving it open to the player's attacks.
Vortex Pillar spawns the following enemies:
- Event initiated by defeating Lunatic Cultist
For elaborate strategies on defeating Stardust Pillar, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Lunar Events strategies.
Stardust Pillar is one of the four bosses that spawn during the Lunar Events that start once the Lunatic Cultist has been defeated.
After all 4 Celestial Pillars are defeated, the Moon Lord will spawn.
Stardust Pillar does not attack the player much, but it is the only pillar with a damaging enemy-spawning animation. It spawns summon-based enemies. As with the other pillars, it is surrounded by an impenetrable force field that is only broken when 100/150 or more of its minions are slain. Once the force field is broken, the player can attack the pillar at will.
Stardust Pillar spawns the following enemies:
Old-gen console, Windows Phone, and 3DS versions exclusive
- Summoned with a Suspicious Looking Skull
Music: Boss 5
For elaborate strategies on defeating Ocram, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Ocram strategies.
Ocram is a boss that exists on the Old-gen console, Windows Phone, and versions of Terraria. It is generally considered the most difficult boss of those versions. It is summoned by using a Suspicious Looking Skull.
The boss attacks by lunging at the player, firing barrages of lasers and summoning Servants of Ocram. After it has taken enough damage, it switches to its second form, increasing its attack rate and damage. Furthermore, its attacks are now initiated closer to the player.
Windows Phone and 3DS versions exclusive
- Summoned with a Suspicious Looking Egg
Music: Underground HallowBoss 1
For elaborate strategies on defeating Lepus, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Lepus strategies.
Lepus is a large, rabbit-like, Easter-themed boss exclusive to the Windows Phone and versions of Terraria. It is summoned with the Suspicious Looking Egg, which is dropped by Corrupt Bunnies and Diseaster Bunnies during the Easter season. Lepus itself will also drop a Suspicious Looking Egg on its death.
Lepus lays two types of Easter Eggs: small ones that hatch Diseaster Bunnies, and bigger ones that hatch another weaker Lepus. These eggs can be damaged and destroyed by the player before hatching. A maximum of 5 Lepus can be spawned from the large eggs laid by the original Lepus, and after there are five, no more large eggs will be laid. Only the last remaining Lepus will drop items. Its drops include the Suspicious Looking Egg, Egg Cannon, and Boots of Ostara.
- Summoned with a Cursed stuffing while a Pet Turkey is active
Music: Boss 1
For elaborate strategies on defeating Turkor the Ungrateful, including weapon and arena recommendations, see Guide:Turkor the Ungrateful strategies.
Turkor the Ungrateful is a Thanksgiving-themed boss exclusive to the Windows Phone and versions of Terraria. It is summoned with a Cursed stuffing while a Pet Turkey is active. Its drops include the Horn o' plenty, and a few Feathers.
Notes
- Boss classification is determined as follows:
- Bosses:
boss = truein Terraria's source code; - Mini-bosses: the other trophy-dropping characters.
- Bosses:
- The status messages that appear when the bosses are about to spawn are as follows:
- Eye of Cthulhu: "You feel an evil presence watching you..."
- Eater of Worlds and Brain of Cthulhu: "A horrible chill goes down your spine..." after the first and "Screams echo around you..." after the second Shadow Orb/Crimson Heart is broken. The third only produces a standard summon message.
- The Destroyer: "You feel vibrations from deep below..."
- The Twins: "This is going to be a terrible night..."
- Skeletron Prime: "The air is getting colder around you..."
- Moon Lord: "Impending doom approaches..."
- As of 1.2.3, worlds generated in earlier versions, in which a player defeated all mechanical bosses before upgrading, will not have those bosses register as defeated; for instance, Plantera's Bulbs will not spawn, and the Steampunker will not arrive.
- There are currently 34 different/unique bosses (
31,29,19,21) in the game. - Many events and some locations have an enemy that is particularly difficult to defeat, yet is not classified as a boss. These include:
Enemy Environment Dungeon Guardian Dungeon prior to defeating Skeletron Hardmode Corrupt/Crimson/Hallowed/Jungle Mimic Their respective biome Wyvern Sky Paladin Dungeon Ice Golem Blizzard Sand Elemental Sandstorm Dreadnautilus Blood Moon fishing, despawns at dawn Hemogoblin Shark Blood Moon fishing Blood Eel Blood Moon fishing Mothron Solar Eclipse Nailhead Solar Eclipse Goblin Warlock Goblin Army Pirate Captain Pirate Invasion Headless Horseman Pumpkin Moon
Achievements
Challenger
History
- Desktop 1.4.4:
- Added Mechdusa.
- Desktop 1.4.3:
- Added Deerclops.
- Desktop 1.4.0.1:
- Added Queen Slime and Empress of Light.
- Martian Saucer is no longer considered a boss internally.
- Desktop 1.3.4: Added Dark Mage, Ogre and Betsy.
- Desktop 1.3.0.5: Added Celestial Sigil, used to summon Moon Lord.
- Desktop 1.3.0.1:
- Added Lunatic Cultist and Moon Lord.
- New mini-bosses for the Pirate Invasion, the Martian Madness and the Lunar Events.
- All regular bosses are more difficult and drop new items in Expert Mode.
- Desktop 1.2.4: Added Duke Fishron.
- Desktop 1.2.3.1:
- Mechanical bosses no longer spawn randomly if another boss is alive (multiple bosses can still be summoned manually).
- Hardmode bosses will no longer spawn if no player is above ground.
- Desktop 1.2.3:
- Various boss changes and/or bug fixes.
- Mechanical bosses are now slightly more difficult.
- Boss summoning items are no longer wasted by using them after that boss has spawned.
- Fixed a bug where numerous NPCs could spawn if you beat a hardmode boss in a non-Hardmode world.
- Desktop 1.2.1.2: Some Plantera and Destroyer changes.
- Desktop 1.2.1.1: Mechanical bosses will no longer spawn during Pumpkin Moons.
- Desktop 1.2.1: Reduced the chance for a mechanical boss summoning item to drop during Hardmode.
- Desktop 1.2.0.3:
- Hardmode Crimson, Corruption, and Hallow spread is now slowed after killing Plantera instead of any mechanical boss.
- Slightly increased chance for a Solar Eclipse to happen after defeating a mechanical boss.
- Desktop 1.2:
- Added 4 bosses: Brain of Cthulhu, Queen Bee, Plantera, and Golem.
- Each boss has a rare chance to drop a placeable boss trophy.
- Hardmode bosses have a chance to spawn on their own to help players progress through the game.
- Current hardmode bosses now do slightly less damage and have had their health decreased.
- Desktop 1.1: Added 4 bosses: Wall of Flesh, The Twins, The Destroyer, and Skeletron Prime (the three mechanical bosses are Hardmode upgrades of the original ones).
- Desktop 1.0.4: Added King Slime.
- Desktop-Release: Introduced Eye of Cthulhu, Eater of Worlds and Skeletron.
- Mobile 1.3.0.7: Removed Lepus and Turkor the Ungrateful.
- Mobile 1.1.6255: Added Turkor the Ungrateful.
- Mobile 1.1.91: Introduced Lepus.
- Pre-Hardmode Enemies
- Hardmode Enemies
- Event Enemies
- Bosses
- Critters
- Friendly NPCs
- Familiars
- Anomura Fungus
- Antlion
- Bat
- Bee
- Blood Crawler
- Crab
- Crimera
- Demon Eye
- Devourer
- Eater of Souls
- Face Monster
- Fungi Bulb
- Giant Worm
- Granite Elemental
- Granite Golem
- Harpy
- Hoplite
- Hornet
- Jellyfish
- Man Eater
- Meteor Head
- Mushi Ladybug
- Piranha
- Skeleton ()
- Shark (
- Orca
-
- Slime
- Snatcher
- Snow Flinx
- Tomb Crawler
- Undead Viking
- Vulture
- Wall Creeper
- Zombie
- Angler Fish
- Angry Trapper
- Arapaima
- Armored Skeleton
- Armored Viking
- Bat
- Black Recluse
- Blood Feeder
- Chaos Elemental ()
- Clinger
- Corruptor
- Derpling
- Digger
- Floaty Gross
- Gastropod ()
- Giant Fungi Bulb
- Giant Tortoise (
- Ice
-
- Herpling
- Ice Elemental
- Ichor Sticker
- Icy Merman
- Jellyfish
- Jungle Creeper
- Moss Hornet
- Pigron
- Pixie
- Possessed Armor
- Skeleton Archer
- Slime
- Unicorn
- Wandering Eye
- Werewolf
- Wraith
- Wolf
