Cuphead is built almost entirely around boss fights, and the order you tackle them shapes how the difficulty curve feels. The base game holds 28 bosses, while The Delicious Last Course adds 12 more, for a total of 40. Most fights run across multiple phases, where the boss changes form and attack pattern after taking enough damage.
Quick answer: Work through the isles in order. Inkwell Isle One starts with The Root Pack, Goopy Le Grande, and Cagney Carnation; beating Cagney unlocks the Die House and the path forward. Each isle opens new bosses as you defeat the ones in front of them, ending with King Dice and The Devil in Inkwell Hell, and Chef Saltbaker in the DLC.
Inkwell Isle One bosses in order
Three bosses are open from the start: The Root Pack, Goopy Le Grande, and Cagney Carnation. The other two unlock as you clear them. Defeating Cagney Carnation opens the Die House.
| Boss | Level | Phases | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Root Pack | Botanic Panic! | 3 | Ribby and Croaks |
| Goopy Le Grande | Ruse of an Ooze | 3 | Hilda Berg |
| Hilda Berg | Threatenin' Zeppelin | 2 | Cagney Carnation |
| Cagney Carnation | Floral Fury | 2 | The Die House |
| Ribby and Croaks | Clip Joint Calamity | 3 | First Mausoleum |
The Root Pack: Fight the potato first, ducking or moving aside as it spits dirt and a parryable pink worm. The onion drops teardrops from the top of the screen, so shift left or right when one lines up over you. For the carrot, stand directly beneath it and fire up; when it rubs its forehead, move in a straight line and its telekinetic waves miss every time.
Goopy Le Grande: He hops across the arena and jumps over you if you stand beside him. When he squashes down, he is winding up a punch you can crouch under. His final form is a giant tombstone that slides side to side on a fixed route, so just avoid being underneath when it slams.
Cagney Carnation: One of the first real walls in the game. Stay on the left and center ladybug platforms for room to dodge, and stay airborne since some attacks strip the soil beneath the platforms.
Inkwell Isle Two bosses in order
Baroness Von Bon Bon, Beppi The Clown, and Djimmi The Great are available immediately after you enter the isle. Grim Matchstick and Wally Warbles unlock from beating Beppi and the Baroness, or by taking a shortcut.
| Boss | Level | Phases | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baroness Von Bon Bon | Sugarland Shimmy | 2 | Wally Warbles |
| Beppi The Clown | Carnival Kerfuffle | 4 | Grim Matchstick |
| Djimmi The Great | Pyramid Peril | 5 | Second Mausoleum |
| Grim Matchstick | Fiery Frolic | 3 | — |
| Wally Warbles | Aviary Action | 3 | — |
Baroness Von Bon Bon: Her first phase sends out randomized candy minions one at a time, each with its own moveset. Move as little as possible in the tight arena and save your special moves for the final phase against the Baroness in her moving castle.
Djimmi The Great: This is the first flying plane stage, and it has the most phases of any boss at five. Shoot the face sections of the columns, fly through the middle of his figure-eight projectiles, and focus on his hat during the puppet phase since it fires multidirectional bullets. For the three rotating pyramids, stay diagonal to whichever eye opens to avoid its cross-shaped beam.
Inkwell Isle Three bosses in order
Rumor Honeybottoms and Captain Brineybeard open the isle. From there the path branches through Dr. Kahl's Robot and Cala Maria toward Sally Stageplay, then Werner Werman and the Phantom Express. Beating the Phantom Express grants access to Inkwell Hell.
| Boss | Level | Phases | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rumor Honeybottoms | Honeycomb Herald | 2 | Dr. Kahl's Robot |
| Captain Brineybeard | Shootin N' Lootin | 2 | Cala Maria |
| Dr. Kahl's Robot | Junkyard Jive! | 3 | Sally Stageplay |
| Cala Maria | High Seas Hi-Jinx! | 3 | Sally Stageplay |
| Sally Stageplay | Dramatic Fanatic | 4 | Werner Werman, Phantom Express |
| Werner Werman | Murine Corps | 3 | — |
| Phantom Express | Railroad Wrath | 4 | Inkwell Hell |
Sally Stageplay: Stay mobile to avoid her angled dive kicks, teleports, and thrown projectiles. Hop over her charging minions, and use the pink star hovering above her giant wave to vault over it. In the final phase, she drops roses from above while a spinning umbrella crosses the bottom, so dash over the umbrella and keep firing.
Werner Werman: Use the pink launch pads to hop his tin-can tank charge in phase one. When he jacks himself between two levels, avoid sharing his level and watch the spinning bottle caps along the side. The final cat phase only threatens you on the side where its arm reaches, so keep shooting its head while dodging falling debris.
Inkwell Hell: King Dice and The Devil
Inkwell Hell opens with King Dice, but reaching him means clearing a gauntlet of nine mini-bosses on his board first. Defeating King Dice unlocks the final boss, The Devil.
| Order | Mini-boss |
|---|---|
| 1 | Tipsy Troop |
| 2 | Chips Bettigan |
| 3 | Mr. Wheezy |
| 4 | Pip and Dot |
| 5 | Hopus Pocus |
| 6 | Phear Lap |
| 7 | Pirouletta |
| 8 | Mangosteen |
| 9 | Mr. Chimes |
Mangosteen: This floating 8-ball is the trickiest mini-boss in the run-up to King Dice. It fires only occasionally, but its chalk cues are unpredictable. Stay on the far left or right, since jumping into it costs health and knocks you off balance. Stand underneath for faster kills if you can read the cues.
King Dice and The Devil: King Dice's level is All Bets Are Off!, and The Devil's is One Hell Of A Time, a four-phase final fight. Neither can be attempted on Simple Mode, so a full clear of the base game requires Regular difficulty.
Inkwell Isle Four bosses (The Delicious Last Course)
The DLC bosses guard ingredients for the Wondertart. Glumstone The Giant and the Moonshine Mob are open immediately. Each ingredient you earn pushes you toward the final betrayal by Chef Saltbaker.
| Boss | Level | Phases | Ingredient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glumstone The Giant | Gnome Way Out | 3 | Gnome Berries |
| Moonshine Mob | Bootlegger Boogie | 3 | Distillery Dough |
| Mortimer Freeze | Snow Cult Scuffle | 3 | Icy Sugar Cubes |
| Esther Winchester | High-Noon Hoopla | 4 | Desert Limes |
| The Howling Aces | Doggone Dogfight | 3 | Pineapple Mint |
| Chef Saltbaker | A Dish To Die For | 3 | Final boss |
Glumstone unlocks Mortimer Freeze, and the Moonshine Mob unlocks Esther Winchester. The Howling Aces open after you beat either Mortimer Freeze or Esther Winchester, or by taking a shortcut. Like the other final bosses, Chef Saltbaker cannot be fought on Simple Mode.
There is also a secret pair, Angel and Devil, fought in the hidden level One Hell Of A Dream. You unlock it by equipping the Broken Relic charm and solving the graveyard puzzle.
The King's Leap parry bosses
The King's Leap is a separate set of five chess-themed bosses, the King of Games' champions. These fights are parry-only, so each one comes down to hitting the correct pink target instead of shooting.
| Order | Champion | How to defeat |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Pawns | Parry every pawn that has a head. |
| 2 | The Knight | Parry his plume whenever he lowers his guard. |
| 3 | The Bishop | Blow out all the candles, then parry him. |
| 4 | The Rook | Parry the pink heads from his grindstone and throw them back. |
| 5 | The Queen | Parry the cannon fuses to launch cannonballs at her. |
You will know a fight is won when the boss locks into its unique defeat animation, and the announcer calls out "Knockout!". If you go down instead, the "YOU DIED!" screen and a mocking Death Card appear, showing roughly how far through the phases you got. Use that progress marker to learn each pattern, since recognizing a boss's cycle is what turns nearly every fight in the game from punishing to manageable.