Ghirahim and Demise final boss fight walkthrough – Zelda: Skyward Sword HD guide (2024)

With the power of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD’s Triforce, you’re finally ready to take on the final fights of the game.

In this Skyward Sword HD Ghirahim and Demise boss fight walkthrough, we’ll guide you through all of the phases of the final battles of the game. First, you’ll face Ghirahim again. Once he’s defeated, you’ll face Demise to finish the game.

Table of contents

• Sealed Grounds
• Demon Lord Ghirahim final boss fight
• Phase 1
• Phase 2
• Phase 3
• Prepare for the final fight
• Demise final boss fight
• Phase 1
• Phase 2

Sealed Grounds

Before you get to the actual fights, you’ve got a bit of walking to do first. Ghirahim makes it so you have to decend the entire ramp into the Sealed Grounds and fills it with enemies.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

From the Sealed Temple, head outside and follow the ramp down. You’ll fight your way through wave after wave of Bokoblins, a few Moblins, and a couple Stalfos. There’s a lot of them — like 10 real-world minutes worth. Just keep hacking away until you reach the bottom.

Demon Lord Ghirahim final boss fight

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

After a lot of monologuing, Demon Lord Ghirahim will take his final form. He’ll also give you hints about how to defeat him. Specifically, drive him to the edge and fall to his doom.

Phase 1

The first phase of your fight against Demon Lord Ghirahim takes place on a series of magical platforms.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Your job is to hit him and drive him to the edge of the platform. Shield Bashing works well to parry his punches and open him up to further attack.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Once you drive him to the edge, he’ll fall off the platform to the next one down. Deliver a Fatal Blow to the gem in his chest.

For the second and third platforms, his hands will glow with purple energy. Attack from a direction they’re not blocking to sneak in your hits. Drive him to the edge and knock him off.

Repeat this process three times to return to solid ground.

Phase 2

For the second phase, Ghirahim draws his sword.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Stay close to him. Shield Bash his attacks to open up his guard. Jab your sword into the gem on his chest. Attacks from other directions won’t work. You’ll only damage him by stabbing forward.

He’ll periodically summon daggers and magic attacks, but your goal is always the same.

Phase 3

For the final phase of the fight, Ghirahim will summon a much larger sword.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Your goal this time is to chop through it. Stay close and keep blocking his attacks. More importantly, keep swinging at him. When he holds his sword out to block, attack it perpendicularly to hack through. He’ll change the direction he’s holding it occasionally, so keep an eye on him.

When the sword is destroyed, unload on him directly. A couple of times through this process, and he’ll fall.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

You’ll get a long cutscene with Demise. Afterward, save at the new Sealed Grounds bird statue.

Prepare for the final fight

The entrance to the Demise boss fight is the swirling black portal in the center of the Sealed Grounds. You don’t have to go in right away, though.

There’s a stool up in the Sealed Temple if you just need to heal some hearts. If you need to refill your potions, step through the Time Gate to return to the present and fly back to Skyloft.

When you’re ready, travel back to the past and descend to the bottom of the Sealed Grounds.

Demise boss fight

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

At the center of the Sealed Grounds, step into the swirling portal to begin the final boss fight against Demise

Phase 1

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

The first phase of your fight is all about blocking. Stay close to Demise. Shield Bash his attacks and swing your sword once. If you score enough parries in a row, he’ll be stunned for a second and you can hit him several times in a row.

You’ll need to hit him a lot, but just keep parrying and don’t rush.

Phase 2

The second phase of the Demise boss fight involves a lot of lightning and Skyward Strikes.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Demise has his own version of Skyward Strikes that you’ll need to dodge. You can’t charge your own Skyward Strikes like you normally do, though. Instead, you’ll need to hold your sword up and catch a bolt of lightning.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Whenever you catch lightning, throw it at Demise. If you hit him, he’ll be stunned for a few seconds. Get in close and deal as much damage as you can. If you happen to throw it at the same time as he throws his, they’ll neutralize each other and you don’t have to worry about getting hit.

The biggest attack you’ll need to watch for is Demise’s charge attack. It deals a lot of damage and kills the momentum of the fight. Whenever Demise charges, backflip away (hold ZL to lock on, hold back on the left thumbstick, and hit A).

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Keep holding your sword up to catch lightning. Hit Demise with this version of a Skyward Strike, and then close in to hack away. You’ll eventually knock him onto his back. If you try to deliver a Fatal Blow the first time, you’ll miss.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

You’ll have to knock him down a few times. Keep dealing damage the same way. Keep trying to deliver a Fatal Blow until you land one and finally defeat Demise.

Watch the final cutscenes and celebrate your victory.

After the credits, you’ll be able to chose to restart in Hero Mode, but you won’t be able to go back to complete any side quests or find any Goddess Cubes.