Those "Two Hands with a Big Head sometimes" bosses

[Ikagura]

Why were they popular in Nintendo games?

I cannot recall many non-Nintendo bosses with that archetype.

 

[Xdqwerty]

 

[DunkeyKong]

Mazaal from Minish Cap

 

[Glimbo]

Don't know why it's so popular other than it's easy to design and make.
Non-Nintendo game that has one is Valis IV.

 

[HextarVigar]

So when they say they're going to fist you, it's less creepy.

 

[goregoregoregoregoregore]

So when they say they're going to fist you, it's less creepy.

Or more endearing......

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24]

Necrodeus from Kirby Mass Attack…

And Wham Bam Rock from Kirby SuperStar, who looks very questionable now that I see him as an adult.

 

[Raziya The Seeker]

My best guess on why is that it's easier to just keep the face as part of the background, and create sprites for the hands? That way, one can create the illusion of fighting a giant monster. From the NES days, the trope must've stuck.

I don't have any personal examples of this, but I second @Xdqwerty and their upload of Git's video.

EDIT: Well, there was that Mega Man X boss, Rangda Bangda, but he's a face. I forget if he's in the Git video or not.

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[DanCalibur]

I used to make my toys fight each other as a kid and sometimes they ended up fighting my hand. That's my canonical explanation for Smash Bros' Masterhand, just a kid playing with his toys.

 

[Xdqwerty]

I used to make my toys fight each other as a kid and sometimes they ended up fighting my hand. That's my canonical explanation for Smash Bros' Masterhand, just a kid playing with his toys.

That makes sense considering the opening scene of smash 64

 

[Gorse]

View attachment 43150

I really like this guy's upgraded form from Kirby Super Star Ultra:

He's made of diamonds! I like that you don't really see his body, either – it makes that fight really mysterious and ambiguous. WHAT DOES HE REALLY LOOK LIKE?????? Good boss for a game about exploring dark caves.

Also, gotta love the final boss fight from Sonic 3&K:

You know that you can beat this guy really quickly by revving up a spindash between his fingers? That's a little tip from your ol' pal Gorse.

 

[TamagotchiTamaHero24]

I used to make my toys fight each other as a kid and sometimes they ended up fighting my hand. That's my canonical explanation for Smash Bros' Masterhand, just a kid playing with his toys.

AAAAAA!!! So did I! Though, I would usually have my arm included, meaning my hands were like wild snakes with faces that could split apart and stuff.

 

[Yousef's iconYousef]

Why were they popular in Nintendo games?

I cannot recall many non-Nintendo bosses with that archetype.

View attachment 43141

They exist but really hard to name too. I personally can’t stand them.
So I sit.

 

[Raziya The Seeker]

AAAAAA!!! So did I! Though, I would usually have my arm included, meaning my hands were like wild snakes with faces that could split apart and stuff.

I can't quite recall doing so myself, but when you mention snakes? It remembered using a stapler-remover as some kind of cobra-head monster a couple times as a kidlet. Used it to chomp some clay figures I made.

I am so glad West of Loathing had the same idea.

 

[Gorse]

It remembered using a stapler-remover as some kind of cobra-head monster a couple times as a kidlet.

I DID THIS TOO!!! Except I always thought of them as alligators or crocodiles. But still! Those things have the best shape ever.

You know what's also great? Using your mom or your sister's hair-clip things as giant venus flytrap mouths. If these objects ever come to life, I'm screwed.

 

[UnDubious]

As others have pointed out, they were a staple of 2D games in general and not limited to Nintendo. It's really because it was one way to make large, impressive looking bosses within the technical limitations of the time. Most of the boss doesn't move, it's probably a background layer and only the hands are sprites, but you see all of it as the boss. Typically those giant bosses had the simplest patterns. Then it became a classic type of boss that you could do, basically, which is why we still see them.

 

[cjl8336]

Yeah they seem to like this type of boss
Here is another Sonic example

 

[Adrastia]

Bongo Bongo from Ocarina of Time. Nightmare fuel. Imagine waking up to this hanging over your bed at night.



Castoth from Illusion of Gaia. I used to waste so many herbs on him and have to reset.

As others have pointed out, they were a staple of 2D games in general and not limited to Nintendo. It's really because it was one way to make large, impressive looking bosses within the technical limitations of the time. Most of the boss doesn't move, it's probably a background layer and only the hands are sprites, but you see all of it as the boss. Typically those giant bosses had the simplest patterns.

I kinda miss this trend. Hacking away at giant monster hands and waiting for the vulnerable head or other part to pop back out. Some more modern games still have this mechanic though. Like the Ys Origin version of Gelady.

 

[UnDubious]

Speaking of Ys, the main bosses in Falcom's Nayuta tend to be very large and involve some kind of clever method to damage them. They're like a more varied and evolved form of the hand bosses.

 

[trickybus]

Nintendo is a safe haven for secret hand fetishists?

 

[Don Patch]

Bongo Bongo from Ocarina of Time. Nightmare fuel. Imagine waking up to this hanging over your bed at night.

View attachment 43223

Castoth from Illusion of Gaia. I used to waste so many herbs on him and have to reset.

View attachment 43226



I kinda miss this trend. Hacking away at giant monster hands and waiting for the vulnerable head or other part to pop back out. Some more modern games still have this mechanic though. Like the Ys Origin version of Gelady.

View attachment 43229

Came here to post the Illusion of Gaia one.

 

[Bakuma1997]

My 3 guesses:


Intimitadion factor: Your sprite of a One Man Army being the size of the smallest fingernail of a behemoth all of a sudden will scare anyone

Resource saving: Making a simple trio of sprites instead of the whole body of, Say, a dragon, was more time, space and art saving in the long run

And the one that makes sense to me the most, one Nintendo designer was