Bosses

Bosses are sometimes referred to as "the Ultimate Lifeforms" or "Guardians" and can be found in boss arenas.

What Defines a Boss
Lore wise, bosses are the creatures used within the ARKs to test if survivors are worthy of ascension and are extremely powerful.

Bosses are separated by 2 subcategories: Guardians and Overseers, which are used by the ARKs to test a survivor's strength and have various key features that makes them distinct.

Guardians
Guardians are extremely powerful creatures used to test the survivor and are usually distinct in that:


 * They will always be fought within arenas.
 * They will always spawn minions to aid them in battle.
 * They will always have 3 variations with 2 of the 3 being color coded to match the difficulty whereas the Gamma variations will be the original boss's design.
 * They will all be within ARKs.
 * They can be summoned from the Obelisks, supply drops and loot crates depending on the map.

They consist of the, , , and .

Overseers
There are also the Overseers which are similar to the Guardians with the main thing separating them being:


 * They are immensely powerful.
 * They can completely control the ARKs and the creatures within them (Including the Guardians).
 * They can see everything that happens within their respective Arks as shown within explorer notes.
 * They are the things that make the ARKs function and work properly. When they are completely destroyed the ARK will start to self destruct.
 * They all have Tek caves.

Only the and  fall under the Overseer category.

Dungeon Bosses
On Mobile (separate canon) the dungeons have many guardian bosses, usually variants of regular animals that need to be defeated to acquire element and Tek.


 * , female variant of Argentavis that produces fire and possesses ability to blast target with wings.
 * , female variant of Broodmother and a smaller version, summons Araneomorphus minions.
 * , female and larger version of Beelzebufo with Meganeura minions.
 * , a larger version of Megapithecus, just like it has Gigantopithecus and mesopithecus minions.
 * , a larger and more powerful version of the Dung Beetle, has dung beetle minions.
 * , a larger and more powerful variant of the Dodo with stunning capabilities.
 * , a larger and more powerful variant of Chalicotherium.
 * , a larger and more powerful version of Doedicurus.
 * , a stronger version of Cnidaria capable of cloning itself when health lowers.
 * , the only tamable boss, resembling a male fiery Unicorn and is aggressive. Can only be defeated through taming it with the carrots it drops.

Misconceptions
THIS PART CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR GENESIS: PART 1 SO IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS DON'T LOOK AT THE GENESIS SUBSECTION.

There are also 2 different categories of bosses which are different in both gameplay and lore from the Ark bosses.

1. Titans are completely separate from bosses but are often mistaken to be bosses. They consist of the, , and /, for more information on them click the link above labeled Titans or the one within this sentence.

2. The 5 Master AI and The Master Controller which are used within the Genesis Simulation. The Master AI function similarly to Overseers however they are creatures like the Guardians and are highly intelligent like the Overseers sharing traits from both the Ark Boss subcategories. The Master Controller appears to function similarly to the Overseer as it controls everything including the Master AI. To some extent, however, it seems that it is not as necessary as the Overseers are, since the Master AI themselves are extremely intelligent. In fact the Corrupted Master Controller could not fully control everything as he couldn't turn off like the other 4 Master AI and is only partially capable of running the Genesis Simulation. It also appears that it can't Transform into the 5 Master AI in the way the Overseers can transform into their Ark's respective Guardians. There appears to be 2 different kinds of Master Controllers: The original Master Controller which controlled and ran the Genesis Simulation alongside the 5 Master AI and the Corrupted Master Controller which was the Master Controller version of Rockwell, which hacked into the Genesis Simulation taking control of it similarly to how Rockwell took control of Aberration and turned off 4 of the 5 Master AI with only Moeder left, who outsmarted Rockwell by shutting herself down and preventing him from turning her off as he did the other 4 Master AI.

3. controls some part of the Genesis Ship in Genesis: Part 2. While he has functions similar to that of an Overseer, he does not have full reign over the ship, indefinitely stuck at a corner on one ring of the Ship. This only seemingly corrupt the entirety of one of the ring, shaping to his own desire whilst his entire innards erodes and transmogrify the interior of said ring, turning nearly all parts of the interior ship into his fleshy innards, with creatures such as, and such guarding said innards, along with frequent presence of the tentacles. He does not have full reign over the other ring or control the ship's destination since it was stuck under a constant travel loop. Much like his previous form at Aberration ARK, he is deeply rooted within the terminus of the ship, unable to move at all and relies on others to do his bidding.

Why there are different categories of Bosses
This tab was created to clear up confusion within the community as to why bosses are separated into categories and what makes them fit into a certain category while not fitting into others.

There are 4 main categories of bosses within Ark that branch out specifically because of lore and gameplay.

Do note that all of them regardless of category are all bosses and share a few similarities, such as Health Bars and having Trophy Heads. However, they are categorized for much deeper reasons both gameplay and story wise.


 * 1) Ark bosses (or Guardians) are the bosses used on the Island, Scorched Earth and Aberration all of which are within separate Arks and in lore are used specifically to help train survivors to ascend to earth to help kill the Titans and cleanse the Corruption. They were created as a result of the Titans decimating the planet. (More information can be seen above on what defines a boss.)
 * 2) Titans are massive and powerful creatures and are the cause for the story of Ark as they along with an army of corrupted creatures killed billions of humans forcing them to retreat into space. Their origins are not completely known, but it is implied they could have accidentally been created by extreme exposure to Element (in a manner similar to Rockwell’s transformation).  They are different in that all of them spawn above level 999 and are world bosses. They all also share the trait of being massive in size.
 * 3) Master AI are creatures used within the Genesis Simulation and are closer to the traditional Ark bosses. For instance, just like the Ark bosses the Master AI are also used to help humanity. However, they are separate from Ark bosses as they are used for a different purpose called "The Arrival." Whereas Ark bosses are used to train survivors to eliminate the Titans and Corruption, the Master AI are not used within an Ark but the Genesis Simulation.
 * 4) Rockwell, whilst having similar behavior to that of an Overseer, is not strictly considered to be one, but instead acts as a parasitic controller to the Genesis Ship rather than inside an ARK. Much like Master AI, his sole purpose was to attempt to reshape the world to his liking, hence his phrase "This is to be my world, the first of many...".

List of Bosses
Bosse Jefes Bosses Bosses pt-br:Chefes Боссы Bosses