Well, this is it. You've been all over The Sky and The Surface, fought Demon Lords, faced hordes of Bokoblins and gathered together all the powers, strength, skills and energy you need to face the final battle in Zelda: Skyward Sword HD. Before you engage Demise, make sure you've had your fill of all the various side quests and minigames and taken care of all outstanding elements of your game as once we step over the breach here, we ain't coming back.
Now that we've reached the final big bad of the game, you may be expecting some serious bother in order to finally strike him down, however, although this is certainly the toughest battle in the game it's also surprisingly short once Demise actually decides to shut his over-dramatic cakehole and start scrapping.
Let's see how we go about emptying this final fool, shall we?
Phase One
It may take you a few times to get used to the rhythm and speed with which Demise attacks but, once you've got a read on it, all you need to do here is get in close - staying at a distance leads to a powerful charging strike from your foe - and start slashing from left first and then to right. Your slashes are mostly going to hit Demise's sword here but towards the end of your combo, you should manage to get one or two hits in.
As soon as you see him move to counter, as soon as he seems likely to strike back, backflip out of there quick as you can in order to dodge whatever's coming. You can choose to shield bash here if you're skilful enough too, but missing this will see you hit hard for two hearts-worth of damage. We much prefer backflipping out of there and taking a slightly slower, safer approach.
You need to be patient and chip away in this manner. Make sure to dodge right back whenever you suspect he's going to strike, then get in, take some shots, land just one or two and get out again. It'll take you quite a few hits employing this strategy but it's a safe way to go about attacking him and soon enough he'll fall over before rising again to move into the next phase of the battle.
Phase Two
As if things weren't dramatic enough, the sky around the arena will now fill up with thunderous clouds and lightning and you'll be treated to some very atmospheric rain. You'll notice Demise is now holding his sword aloft in order to charge it via the electricity pulsing around above you both and you should take this as a signal to do exactly the same.
Get your Skyward Strike charged up and unleash it at him as quickly and as often as possible. You'll need to be careful here, keep at least some distance between you both, as Demise is flinging out charged shots of his own that you'll need to constantly avoid but once you manage to make contact with him the electrical current of your shot will have him convulsing on the spot and you can sprint in and absolutely hammer him with sword slashes.
Demise is going to fall to the floor here and you're going to be prompted to strike him with a fatal blow, however, you should ignore this and prepare to come again in the same manner as before because he'll only dodge your first attempt to strike him down this early. Once you've been through this pattern two more times, once you're prompted to strike him down for the third time, go for it, take him out, hit him with a fatal blow and he'll be defeated once and for all.
Congratulations, you've just defeated Demise and can now sit back, relax, maybe take off your boots and tunic, pour yourself a refreshing heart potion and enjoy the final cutscenes and credits!
Other Zelda: Skyward Sword HD Boss Guides
- Ghirahim (all three battles)
- Scaldera
- Moldarach
- The Imprisoned (all three battles)
- Koloktos
- Tentalus
- Bilocyte
- Demise
Now that you've beaten Demise, why not jump back to our Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD hub in order to find more boss guides and tips for the game?
There you'll find tips on the pros and cons of motion controls vs. analogue stick control, a list of the main differences between Skyward Sword on Switch and the Wii original, how to use , where to find the Moonlight Merchant and the Thunder Dragon, and how to beat every boss and minigame.
You'll also find guides for all heart piece locations, all goddess cubes, and where to find every Gratitude Crystal, every upgrade treasure, every bug, and every potion recipe to fill your bottles with.
