Boss Guide (Patapon 1)
Patapon 1 has 11 boss encounters. Five of them come in pairs, a base creature and a stronger cousin fought in its own separate mission, and Gorl stands alone as the final boss. Every boss telegraphs its attacks, so learn the tell, switch to Defend or Retreat, then punish the recovery window with Charge into Attack. You can replay any boss after beating it to farm materials, and each win raises that boss's level by one.
Patapon 1 has 11 boss encounters spread across the campaign. Five of them come in families: Dodonga and Majidonga, Zaknel and Dokaknel, Gaeen and Dogaeen, Ciokina and Cioking, Shookle and Shooshookle. Each member is a separate boss in its own mission with its own level counter, not the same fight rerun. Gorl has no counterpart.
You can replay any boss after beating it to farm materials and equipment. Every defeat raises that boss's level by one, up to a cap of Level 100, displayed as a Star.
Every boss follows a pattern of telegraphed attacks. Learn the tell, switch to Defend or Retreat, then punish during the recovery window with Attack or Charge into Attack.
General Boss Tips
Before jumping into individual bosses:
- Fever Mode is mandatory. Your damage output without Fever is too low for most bosses past the early game. Build your combo on the approach and do not lose it.
- Watch the boss animation, not your army. When the boss shifts its stance or charges up, that is your cue to Defend or Retreat. Your Patapons handle themselves during the response phase.
- Stagger farming. Bosses drop materials when staggered, and stagger rate is a real stat, shown as CNC (concussion) on your equipment screens. Weapons and Rarepons each contribute to it. Use low-damage weapons with high-CNC Rarepons so the boss survives long enough to be staggered repeatedly. See Materials and Farming for the detailed setup.
- The Earthquake Miracle staggers most bosses. This is the single most useful farming tool in the game and it is easy to overlook. Get it from Cioking.
- Stews help. Use the cooking minigame (Simmer Slurp) before tough fights. A King's Stew gives a noticeable stat boost to your entire army.
- Boss health scales linearly. Every boss follows the formula:
Level 1 Base HP + (HP Per Level x (Current Level - 1)). In Patapon 1, higher levels inflate stats and nothing else. Bosses gain no new attacks, and timing windows stay the same. That is a genuine difference from Patapon 2, where most bosses gain an extra attack at Level 10. - Higher levels do change your rewards, though. Drop quality improves as boss level climbs, and some bosses stop leaving recoverable caps once they are high enough.
Some players report that at 60fps the remaster applies sustained fire-breath damage roughly twice as fast as the PSP original did, most noticeably on Dokaknel. This has not been acknowledged by the developer and does not appear in any patch note through 1.0.9, so treat it as a community observation and not a documented bug. It does not change the counterplay: Defend is still the recommended answer to fire breath in Patapon 1, and Retreat is the fallback when you cannot get the shields up in time.
Boss HP Scaling Table
Boss health pools scale linearly based on level, following Level 1 Base HP + (HP Per Level x (Current Level - 1)). These figures come from a memory read of the PSP release, which is the only published Patapon HP data. Boss HP is never shown on screen.
| Boss | Level 1 Base HP | HP Per Level |
|---|---|---|
| Dodonga | 3,500 | +3,500 |
| Majidonga | 4,000 | +4,000 |
| Zaknel | 4,500 | +2,250 |
| Dokaknel | 6,000 | +3,000 |
| Gaeen | 5,500 | +2,200 |
| Dogaeen | 7,000 | +2,800 |
| Ciokina | 5,500 | +1,650 |
| Cioking | 8,000 | +2,400 |
| Shookle | 10,000 | +5,000 |
| Shooshookle | 20,000 | +10,000 |
| Gorl | 30,000 | +3,000 |
Dodonga
Type: Fire Dragon | Difficulty: ★☆☆☆☆
Your first real boss. Dodonga is a dinosaur that breathes fire, devours units, and headbutts. It is also the easiest boss in the game to kill repeatedly, which makes it the most valuable early item source.
Attack patterns:
- Fire breath. Dodonga stops moving and tilts its head up toward the sky before exhaling a continuous stream of fire. Defend through it.
- Devour. Dodonga lowers its head flat against the ground and wags its tail slightly, then lunges forward to consume a single unit. At low levels it leaves the unit's cap behind, so you can revive that Patapon afterwards for some Ka-ching and two materials. Once Dodonga is high enough level it stops leaving caps, and the loss becomes permanent.
- Headbutt. Dodonga lowers its head near the ground and then swings it upward, sending any Patapon in range flying. This causes heavy knockback and breaks your combo.
Strategy: Attack during safe windows and Defend when Dodonga winds up. Yaripons and Yumipons deal damage safely from range. If a cap drops far away, do not panic: wait at the results screen and your convoys will collect it.
Recommended army: Tatepon + Yaripon + Yumipon
Majidonga
Type: Fire Dragon (Upgraded) | Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆
Majidonga attacks exactly like Dodonga, only stronger. It shares the same three moves with no additions, so the fight is the same shape with tighter margins.
What actually changes:
- Devour eats the cap. This is the real difference between the two, and it matters more than the raw stat increase. Where Dodonga leaves a recoverable cap at lower levels, Majidonga consumes the Patapon and its cap, so any unit it swallows is gone for good. Keep your expensive Rarepons out of reach.
Beating Majidonga gives you the Don Drum and the Rain Miracle.
Recommended army: Tatepon + Yaripon + Yumipon
Zaknel
Type: Desert Worm | Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆
A giant worm covered in plants and trees, and the guardian of Kibapon's Memory.
Attack patterns:
- Body Slam. Zaknel rears up and drops its bulk onto your army.
- Fire Breath. Zaknel curls into a backwards "S" shape, which is your tell, then breathes a sustained jet of fire. Defend.
- Earthquake. Zaknel shakes the ground, staggering your line.
Zaknel resists fire and takes extra damage from ice and sleep. There is no spit projectile and no tail slam.
Strategy: Yumipons shine here. Zaknel sits at awkward distances that melee units struggle with, but archers reach it from safety. Watch for the backwards "S" and get shields up.
Recommended army: Tatepon + Yumipon + Megapon
Dokaknel
Type: Desert Worm (Upgraded) | Difficulty: ★★★☆☆
Faster and stronger than Zaknel, with the same three-move shape: Body Slam, Scorching Breath and Worm Earthquake.
Dokaknel's Scorching Breath is the attack most often reported as hitting harder than expected in the remaster. Defend early instead of trying to out-react it.
The rolling burrow attack, Worm Wheel, belongs to the later games, not the Patapon 1 fight.
Recommended army: Tatepon + Yumipon + Megapon
Gaeen
Type: Stone Giant | Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆
A huge wooden goliath built by an ancient civilization, with a massive upper body and a lolling tongue.
Attack patterns:
- Arm Slam. Gaeen brings an arm down on your line. This comes out noticeably faster than its other moves and can one-shot some of your Patapons, so it is the one to respect.
- Knockback. A cupped-hands haymaker that throws your army backwards.
- Laser Eye. A thin red beam that sweeps across and can set your Patapons alight. This out-ranges Retreat, so backing away does not save you. Defend instead.
Strategy: Gaeen is highly resistant to critical hits, so crit-focused Rarepons are wasted here. Use Charge into Attack during recovery periods.
Recommended army: Tatepon + Yaripon + Kibapon
Dogaeen
Type: Stone Giant (Upgraded) | Difficulty: ★★★★☆
A stronger Gaeen with blue markings and larger protrusions. Its three moves are Sledge Slam, Repel Attack and the same Laser Eye.
Dogaeen is one of the better sources of Level 4 materials in the game, dropping Mytheerial, Magic Alloy and Awesome Alloy.
Recommended army: Tatepon + Yumipon + Megapon (ranged for safety)
Ciokina
Type: Sleep Crab | Difficulty: ★★★☆☆
A large orange crab with oversized claws and eyes on stalks. Despite the volcanic setting, Ciokina has no fire attacks at all. Its element is Sleep.
Attack patterns:
- Claw Slash. The claws snap alternately. At higher levels this can kill Hatapon in one hit, which is the main way this fight ends badly.
- Sleepy Bubbles. The claws snap simultaneously. That is your tell for the difference. Blows bubbles that put your Patapons to sleep.
- Pincer Throw. Grabs a Patapon and throws it. This kills instantly but leaves the cap, so you can recover the unit.
Strategy: Bring sleep resistance, not fire resistance. Watch whether the claws move together or alternately, because that single detail tells you whether to brace for damage or for sleep. Ciokina drops meats plus Super Cedar.
Recommended army: Tatepon + Yumipon + Megapon
Cioking
Type: Sleep Crab (Upgraded) | Difficulty: ★★★★☆
A crimson, spike-studded Cioking with the same three moves: Claw Slash, Sleepy Bubbles and Throw. Its Throw does not leave a cap, so a unit it kills is gone.
There is no crab charge and no fire eruption in this fight.
Cioking is very easy to stagger. That is one of its defining weaknesses and it makes Cioking a strong farming target. Beating it also gives you the Earthquake Miracle, which staggers most bosses and becomes the backbone of your late-game farming.
Recommended army: Tatepon + Yumipon + Megapon
Shookle
Type: Carnivorous Plant | Difficulty: ★★★☆☆
Not a slug. Shookle is a giant carnivorous plant with a vase-shaped body, a thorny stalk and three long clawed vines. Its element is Sleep, and there is no poison anywhere in Patapon 1.
Attack patterns:
- Triple Devour. The three vines grab up to three Patapons at once and drop them into the mouth. Note that Shookle cannot grab Dekapons or Megapons.
- Sleepy Gas. Puts your army to sleep. Sleeping units cannot act until hit or until it wears off.
- Involuntary Spores. Released automatically whenever you stagger it, so heavy stagger pressure has a cost here.
- Body Stomp. A heavy drop that can kill Hatapon outright.
Strategy: Bring sleep resistance. There is no damage-over-time to out-heal and nothing for Rain to wash off, so play it as a grab-and-sleep fight and not an attrition one. Shookle drops vegetables, which makes it the boss you farm for Simmer Slurp ingredients.
Recommended army: Tatepon + Yaripon + Yumipon
Shooshookle
Type: Carnivorous Plant (Upgraded) | Difficulty: ★★★★☆
A blue, thornier Shooshookle with more HP and a wider move list: Sleeping Gas, Heavy Jump, Stagger Retaliation, Triple Devour and Spike Sprout.
Beating it gives you the Storm Miracle, which combines Rain and Tailwind.
Recommended army: Tatepon + Yumipon + Megapon
Shooshookle punishes staggering directly through Stagger Retaliation, which is unusual for Patapon 1 and works against the low-damage stagger-farm setup you use everywhere else. If you are farming it, expect to take damage every time the stagger lands.
Gorl
Type: Demon (Final Boss) | Difficulty: ★★★★★
Gorl is the final boss of Patapon 1 and the primary endgame farming target for Level 4 materials. He is a demon from the Underworld, not a Zigoton. Queen Kharma sold the Zigotons' souls to him. The Zigoton general is Gong the Hawkeye.
He has two forms and four attacks total, two per form. The forms are interchangeable and not a one-way gate: he transforms into Beast Form after taking heavy damage and can transform back to Dragon Form later. There are no separate health bars, and it is possible to kill him while he is still in Dragon Form.
Dragon Form:
- Dark Fireball. Gorl puts a hand out in front of him and charges visible energy, then throws a black ball of flame for heavy fire damage. Defend.
- Lightning Sacrifice. Gorl places both hands in front of him and stares down your army. He then grabs a single Patapon and destroys it with lightning for 999 damage. The cap cannot be recovered.
Beast Form:
- Rush Tackle. Gorl retreats, then lunges forward and chomps. Afterwards he stays on the floor for a few seconds, and that is your best damage window in the whole fight.
- Dark Embers. Gorl crouches and spits dark bolts of fire that deal fire damage and put your Patapons to sleep.
Strategy: Gorl is weak to fire, so bring it. Keep Fever up, and use his post-Rush-Tackle recovery for Charge into Attack.
Lightning Sacrifice is survivable. When he grabs a unit you have three outs: Defend frees the trapped Patapon, staggering him makes him drop it, and Retreat dodges the grab outright. Acting beats accepting the loss.
Gorl preferentially grabs your strongest unit, so the common advice to put expendable Tatepons in front and keep your carries in the back does not protect them. What protects them is reacting to the two-hands-forward animation. If you are farming Gorl, expect to lose your best unit occasionally and budget for it.
Recommended army: Tatepon (Baasara or Mofeel) + Yumipon (Tikulee) + Megapon (Tikulee)
Boss Material Drops
Every boss drops materials when defeated and when staggered. Drop quality improves as the boss's level climbs, though every boss retains some chance at good materials even at Level 1.
| Boss | Materials It Drops |
|---|---|
| Dodonga | Dream Meat, minerals, branches, Magic Alloy |
| Majidonga | Minerals up to Mytheerial, branches up to Super Cedar |
| Zaknel / Dokaknel | Dream Meat, minerals, branches |
| Gaeen / Dogaeen | Stone, Hard Iron, Mytheerial, and the full alloy ladder up to Magic Alloy |
| Ciokina / Cioking | Meats (all tiers), Super Cedar, and Mytheerial from Cioking |
| Shookle / Shooshookle | Vegetables, Mytheerial, Super Cedar |
| Gorl | Mystery Meat, Mytheerial, Super Cedar, Magic Alloy |
Patapon 1 has five material categories: Meat, Mineral, Branch, Vegetable and Alloy. Hides, Bones and Fangs belong to Patapon 2 and no Patapon 1 boss drops them, so there is no Giant Hide or Divine Bone to hunt here. Divine equipment does not come from bosses either. You get it from the Fwoosh Famooze anvil minigame, covered in Minigames.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many bosses are in Patapon 1?
There are 11. Five come in families, a base creature and a stronger cousin fought in its own separate mission with its own level counter, and Gorl stands alone as the final boss.
Who is the hardest boss in Patapon 1?
Gorl, the demon final boss, rated five stars. His Lightning Sacrifice grab deals 999 damage and destroys the cap so the unit cannot be revived. You can still save that Patapon by using Defend to free it or by staggering Gorl into dropping it.
Should I Defend or Retreat against boss fire breath?
Defend. It is the recommended answer to fire breath in Patapon 1, with Retreat as the fallback when you cannot get shields up in time. Some players report fire damage ticking faster in the remaster than on PSP, but that is an unconfirmed community observation and it does not change the counterplay.
Which Patapon 1 boss is best for material farming?
Cioking, which is very easy to stagger, and Dodonga, which is the fastest boss to kill repeatedly. Beating Cioking also gives you the Earthquake Miracle, which staggers most bosses and is the single biggest upgrade to your farming.
Does replaying a boss at a higher level change its attacks?
No, not in Patapon 1. Health scales linearly and higher levels inflate stats only. What does change is your reward, since drop quality improves with level and some bosses stop leaving recoverable caps once they get high enough.
For the best farming strategies, see Materials and Farming.
What to Read Next
- Materials and Farming. Stagger farming for boss drops.
- Unit Classes and Rarepons. Compositions that survive each fight.
- Rhythm and Commands. Fever Mode and Miracle timing.
- Achievements. Boss unlocks and difficulty ratings.