It’s not exactly a secret that Skyrim is a pretty big game, so it follows that such a massive world would have its fair share of hidden wonders, right?
Of course it does – as it transpires, there are a fair few hidden bosses lurking within the mountains, dungeons, and towns of Skyrim. Let’s take a look at some now…
Vulthuryrol
Arguably the funkiest looking dragon of all time (and probably the best known ‘hidden’ boss here), the strangely named Vulturyol can be summoned in Blackreach – but you’ll need the Unrelenting Force shout handy.
Brilliantly, you can actually hide from him while he causes hell in Blackreach, killing everything in sight while you do nothing to help – it’s certainly more entertaining than straight up killing him.
Vulturyol can only be summoned once per playthrough, so choose your moment wisely.
Karstaag
Part car, part stag, all killer – the mighty Karstaag can only be found by players who’ve picked up the excellent Dragonborn DLC.
This frosty fiend can be fought by picking up his skull from the glacial cave (great name) and then heading over the ruins of Castle Karstaag, where placing the skull upon his throne will summon the spectral form.
That’s a lot of effort to go to just to get smacked around by the ghost of a frost giant, but whatever floats your boat.
The Reaper
Baby, don’t fear The Reaper. See what I did there? No? Let’s move on.
This cheeky chappy is exclusive to the Dawnguard DLC and can only be tackled after picking up three reaper gem fragments from the soul cairn.
After placing the three fragments on his altar, you can do battle with him a few bonemen cronies… bonies, if you like. I’ll see myself out.
The Ebony Warrior
This might surprise you, but not everyone who played Skyrim actually took the time to get to level 80. Those who did will have been sought out by the Ebony Warrior.
After the Ebony Warrior gives you a location, and essentially starts beef with you, all you have to do is track him down and start the fight.
I say ‘all you have to do’ – in reality, the Ebony Warrior is probably the toughest motherfucker in all of Skyrim. Make sure you load up on potions, and maybe bring a follower to help out.
Personally, I don’t think I ever encountered any of these guys. Clearly I’m below average, and it’s high time I headed back to Skyrim to take ’em down.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.