Boss

A boss is a powerful, usually unique monster that is fought to accomplish an objective, be it the advancement or completion of a quest or minigame, or as part of a team player versus monster event. Many quests feature boss fights at their climaxes; such bosses are often the main antagonists of the quests or quest series, or are somehow related to the main antagonist(s). Some monsters that are commonly referred to as bosses are very powerful monsters that are commonly fought by teams of players in search of highly valuable drops. Many bosses have extremely high combat levels, and most of the strongest monsters in the game are bosses.

Dwarf multicannons often cannot be set up in the areas of many bosses. Others may have different restrictions; for example, only black equipment may be used to fight the tormented wraith, and Prayer cannot be used during the fights with the final bosses of Recipe for Disaster.

Independent high-level bosses
These are the most powerful bosses that do not share a lair or dungeon with other bosses. These are amongst the most powerful creatures in RuneScape and, with the exception of the Queen Black Dragon are mostly killed with a team.

God Wars Dungeon
For each warring deity in the God Wars Dungeon, there is a very powerful leader commonly referred to as a 'general'. Each general also has three bodyguards, one of which uses each style of combat: Melee, Magic and Ranged (with the exception of Nex having four bodyguards and they all use Magic). In addition to the 60 Strength or 60 Agility required to enter the God Wars Dungeon, each general's encampment has further requirements to enter.

Monastery of Ascension
The Legiones are extremely powerful members of the Order of Ascension. They may only be fought after their respective Keystone is obtained, which are dropped by other members of the order, and they themselves are capable of dropping them. They can be fought alone or with a Social slayer partner, and they are level 304, each having a special ability that makes them different from the rest, although they are all capable of throwing electricity on the floor, similar to Commander Zilyana in hard mode. They are capable of dropping signets for the Ascension crossbow and the Off-hand Ascension crossbow, level 90 dual-wielded crossbows.

Dagannoth Kings
Three level 303 Dagannoth Kings lair deep under Waterbirth Island. Altogether the Kings drop several unique items, such as Seercull, dragon hatchets, berserker rings and mud battlestaves. They also drop a variety of Fremennik-related arms and armour, such as archer helms and skeletal armour. They all have the Slayer category of Dagannoths.

Minigame bosses
Bosses that are fought during a minigame.

Distraction and Diversion bosses
Those bosses have restrictions on when they can be fought, or how many times they can be fought at any given time.

Quest bosses
A large number of quests involve and/or conclude with a battle against a powerful monster, which often is or is related to the quest's main antagonist. Except where otherwise noted, these bosses cannot be fought once their respective quests have been completed. However, many of them could be fought after in the Dominion Tower, after some other requirements have been met.

A sub-boss is a powerful or semi-powerful monster fought as a prelude to the actual boss fight.
 * Agoroth is the leader of the Crassians and is fought in A Shadow over Ashdale. After the quest, he may be fought twice a week for Black pearls or coins.
 * Agrith Naar, a demon summoned to Gielinor by a group of Zamorakians, is fought at the end of Shadow of the Storm.
 * The Arzinian Avatar is the boss of Between a Rock....
 * Arrg is the strongest mountain troll in the game, and is the boss monster of Troll Romance.
 * The Balance Elemental is a Guthixian avatar that guards the Stone of Jas. It is one of the final boss monsters of the Grandmaster quest While Guthix Sleeps.
 * The Bandos Avatar is the final boss of The Chosen Commander. He is the Goblin High Priest under the control of the god Bandos.
 * The Banshee Mistress is the boss of Smoking Kills.
 * Barrelchest, a hulking artificial construct controlled by Mi-Gor, is the boss of The Great Brain Robbery.
 * Barrelchest Mk II, an improved version of the original Barrelchest, is fought at the beginning of A Clockwork Syringe.
 * A Black Demon controlled by Glough is the final challenge in The Grand Tree.
 * The Black Knight Titan is the scourge of the Fisher Realm and is fought during Holy Grail.
 * Bouncer is a powerful hellhound, the pet of General Khazard, and is fought during Fight Arena.
 * Its ghost is fought during The General's Shadow.
 * Char is a powerful Auspah fought at the end of the Master quest, The Firemaker's Curse
 * Chronozon is a demon who is the boss of Family Crest.
 * Count Draynor is a notorious vampyre who is the boss of Vampyre Slayer. He is one of the few free-to-play bosses.
 * The Culinaromancer is a powerful sorcerer who draws his power from food. He is the main antagonist of the Recipe for Disaster quest series, and is the final boss of its conclusion, Defeating the Culinaromancer.
 * Dad is a mountain troll who is fought during Troll Stronghold.
 * There are a few Dagannoth bosses:
 * The original Dagannoth Mother is the boss of Horror From The Deep.
 * Her offspring grows up to be the second Dagannoth Mother, which is the final boss of Blood Runs Deep.
 * Two Dagannoth Sentinels are fought near the end of Blood Runs Deep. They guard the lair of the new Dagannoth Mother.
 * Lensig, under the alias "Dawn", is a witch who is fought during The Death of Chivalry.
 * The decaying avatar, a failing Soul Wars avatar, is the sub-boss of the Grandmaster quest Nomad's Requiem.
 * Delrith is an ancient demon who was summoned to destroy Varrock; he is the boss of Demon Slayer. He is one of the few free-to-play bosses.
 * The Dramen Tree Spirit guards the dramen tree within Entrana Dungeon, and is the boss of Lost City. Because of the restrictions on Entrana, no weapons or armour may be used to fight the tree spirit.
 * Draugen is a spirit fought as part of The Fremennik Trials.
 * Elvarg is a green dragon who has decimated the island of Crandor, where she roosts. She is the final boss of Dragon Slayer, and is one of the few free-to-play bosses.
 * An Evil Spirit is the boss monster of Rum Deal.
 * The Fairy Godfather, along with his army of orks, is the final boss of Fairy Tale III - Orks Rift.
 * Ikadia the Exile, the elder leader of the chaos druids, the sub-boss of Birthright of the Dwarves.
 * Hreidmar is one of the final and strongest bosses of Birthright of the Dwarves.
 * Colonel Grimsson is the Butcher of Barendir, is the boss of King of the Dwarves. And is one of the final and strongest bosses of Birthright of the Dwarves.
 * Gadderanks is a human supporter of the vampyric regime in Morytania. He is fought during In Aid of the Myreque.
 * General Khazard can be optionally fought during Fight Arena.
 * The Giant Roc is a large avian fought atop Trollheim during My Arm's Big Adventure. He has the uncommon ability to knock players around the area with his massive wings.
 * A giant scarab is fought at the end of Contact!. Another, weaker scarab is fought close to the end of Dealing with Scabaras.
 * The Giant Sea Snake is the boss of Royal Trouble.
 * Glod is an enormous giant who resides in the cloud world above the magic beanstalk that players plant during Grim Tales; he is the quest's boss. He can disable prayers and force players towards or away from him.
 * The ice demon prowls the halls of the fortress at Ghorrock and is the boss of The Temple at Senntisten.
 * The Ice Troll King, leader of the ice trolls, is the boss of The Fremennik Isles.
 * The Jungle demon is a powerful demon who serves as the final boss of Monkey Madness.
 * A Khazard Ogre is one of the bosses of Fight Arena.
 * Koschei the Deathless is a Fremennik warrior who cannot be truly killed. He must be defeated in battle three times in a row as part of The Fremennik Trials.
 * While Lucien is present at the final battle during The Ritual of the Mahjarrat, players do not directly defeat him. Rather, he summons two enhanced ice titans and two ice demons that players battle.
 * Me, who takes the form of players who fight him or her, is fought at the end of Lunar Diplomacy.
 * Melzar the Mad is the keeper of Melzar's Maze. He is a sub-boss of Dragon Slayer.
 * A powerful Moss giant must be fought, without weapons, armour, or Prayer, to obtain the Consecration seed in Roving Elves.
 * Nezikchened is a black demon who is fought three times during Legends' Quest, including at the quest's climax.
 * Nial Swiftfling is a Fremennik warrior who was cursed and turned into a yeti. He is fought during Glorious Memories.
 * Nomad, the mysterious warden of the Soul Wars activity, is also the final boss of the Grandmaster quest Nomad's Requiem. He is extremely powerful and is widely regarded as one of the most difficult quest bosses to defeat in the game.
 * The Pest Queen is the mother of all pests, the scourges of the Void Knights. She is the final boss of the Grandmaster quest The Void Stares Back.
 * The Possessed Priest is the boss of Icthlarin's Little Helper.
 * The Sea Troll Queen, ruler of the sea trolls, is the final boss of Swan Song.
 * Sigmund is a supporter of H.A.M. who is fought in three quests: Death to the Dorgeshuun, Another Slice of H.A.M., and The Chosen Commander.
 * Sir Leye is a Temple Knight who cannot be defeated by any man alive. Thusly, he must be fought as a woman during Recruitment Drive.
 * Sir Mordred is the leader of the Renegade Knights and is fought during Merlin's Crystal.
 * Slagilith is an animated golem of rock who is fought during One Small Favour. It can be fought after the quest is complete.
 * Slash Bash is a strong zogre who is the boss of Zogre Flesh Eaters.
 * The Spirit Beast is the terror of the Spirit Realm. It cannot be fought by conventional means, but nonetheless serves as the bosses for Spirit of Summer and Summer's End. During Summer's End, the Spirit Beast has a combat level of 615; it is technically the strongest quest monster in the game.
 * Tarn Razorlor is a necromancer and is the boss of the miniquest The Lair of Tarn Razorlor.
 * Tolna is a young boy who succumbed to the evils of what later became known as the Dungeon of Tolna. He is the boss of A Soul's Bane, taking the form of a three-headed monster.
 * Treus Dayth, now a ghost, was a follower of Drakan who was sealed within the Abandoned Mine. He is the boss of Haunted Mine.
 * Ulfric is an undead Fremennik who is the boss of Olaf's Quest.
 * Vanstrom Klause, an elite vampyre, is the boss of The Branches of Darkmeyer.

Quests with multiple bosses
Some quests have several boss monsters that must be defeated, usually one after the other.
 * The World Wakes
 * Do No Evil features three powerful bosses: Leeuni, Ayuni and Eruni. Each uses different combat styles and have unique powers.
 * Spirits of the Elid has three bosses: The black golem, grey golem and white golem.
 * Desert Treasure has four Zamorakian warriors as bosses: Dessous, Kamil, Fareed and Damis.
 * During Land of the Goblins, five undead goblin priests must be defeated: Snothead, Snailfeet, Mosschin, Redeyes and Strongbones.
 * The Recipe for Disaster quest series culminates in the final subquest, Defeating the Culinaromancer. Six bosses must be defeated: Agrith Na-Na, Flambeed, Karamel, Dessourt, Gelatinnoth Mother and the Culinaromancer himself. Each of these bosses except for the Culinaromancer is a play on another boss of one of the quests required to finish Recipe for Disaster.
 * During Dream Mentor, four boss monsters are fought, in order: The Inadequacy, The Everlasting, The Untouchable and The Illusive.
 * There is a miniquest, titled the Desert Slayer Dungeon miniquest, that is available after completing Smoking Kills. Four boss versions of Slayer monsters are fought: The monstrous cave crawler, the basilisk boss, the mightiest turoth and the kurask overlord.
 * During Ritual of the Mahjarrat, General Khazard must be first defeated, and then the player battles two Enhanced ice titans together and then two ice demons at once.
 * During The Elder Kiln, a very large number of monsters must be defeated, though not all at once: two TzHaar-Ket (Hardened), two TzHaar-Xil (Hardened), TzHaar-Ket-Yit'tal, twelve lava monsters, three TokTz-Ket-Dill, two Ket-Zek, Yt-MejKot, TokHaar-Hur, TokHaar-Xil, TokHaar-Ket, TokHaar-Mej and the TokHaar-Ket Champion.

Dominion Tower
On 1 November 2011, Jagex released the Dominion Tower, a minigame that allows players to fight bosses from quests they have completed. Players can fight up to 60 unique boss monsters from previous quests, including Nomad, the Pest Queen, Zenevivia, the Balance Elemental, and many others.

Dungeoneering bosses
At the end of each floor of Daemonheim is a powerful boss monster that must be defeated in order to complete the dungeon. The levels and strengths of these bosses vary according to a combination of factors, including the dungeon's size and complexity rating, but otherwise they will always have the same qualities. Kal'Ger the Warmonger's strongest version is level 750 and is the highest in Daemonheim.

Boss