Cuphead: How To Beat The Devil

The final boss fight in Cuphead pits players against the Devil himself

The final boss fight in Cuphead pits you against The Devil himself, the one who started this entire mess. It’s time to earn your freedom back and finish up the game. However, The Devil is not going to make it easy for you. He’s going to throw everything he has at you, and you’re going to need to prove to him you’ve learned a considerable amount having gone through all of the bosses fights. Are you ready? Here’s a break down of what The Devil has for you, and what you’re going to need to take him down, once and for all.

The Devil

First Phase

The Devil sits on his throne with a pitchfork, eager to take you down.

His first signature attack is where he stretches his arms out and claps them together at the bottom of the screen. You’ll know it’s coming based on the fact his head turns into a ram. All you have to do is jump to avoid it, and you should do fine. After the first does attack, you should see a little purple minion running up from behind the pillars, and he’ll rush in to attack you. Firing at the minion should prompt him to disappear, but he’ll show back up again throughout the fight.

Another of The Devil’s attacks is where he spins his pitchfork around and summons six balls of fire in a circle, which fire down at you. One of these orbs is pink, allowing you to parry it as it comes down. The attack pattern can catch from six balls that fly at you, going across the screen, to four that bounce around. Of the spheres summoned, there should always be one pink one for you to parry.

The next attack you need to watch out for in this phase is when The Devil sprouts six arms, and his head detaches. The head flies up and becomes a spider, floating from the ceiling and smashing down on the left, middle, and right parts of the screen, depending on your location. Before each attack on the screen, the head flies away, so once it floats away from a section, you can remain in your spot safely. Anticipate when the head is going to come down again, and jump out of the way. You’ll want to make sure you don’t corner yourself in the process.

The final attack is where The Devil stretches his neck up off the screen. When he does this, he’s going to come crashing in from one side, making a curved ‘S’ formation with his neck. He’ll look eerily close to a dragon when performing this attack. Depending on what side the attack comes from, you’ll want to change the positioning. For example, if The Devil’s neck stretches out from the right side of the screen, you’ll want to move to the left of the throne where you can dodge this attack. If he comes from the left, you’ll want to go to the right of the throne.

Second Phase

Jump down into the second phase and face off against a massive, glowing Devil head.

There are five loose rocks you can jump between during this fight. Throughout the encounter, you’re going to want to watch for the fiery chips that are falling from the ceiling, because they’re going to land on the rocks. These chips are going to force you to move around, so you may want to stick to the middle three rocks during the fight to ensure you can jump to the left or the right whenever you need to.

There are only two attacks The Devil performs during this encounter: burning axes and bombs.

The bombs are to dodge, as they’re pink making them available for you to parry. As soon as they spawn, hit them with a parry and you should make short work of them. You cannot parry the axes, although they’re quick to dodge as they float towards you.

You’ll know one of these are going to spawn in as their respective symbols show up on The Devil’s eyes. Look for them in his pupil to anticipate the attack.

Third Phase

The third phase keeps you on the previous stage from the Second Phase. However, you’ll know you’ve reached the next section based on The Devil’s expression, as he’s going to look angry.

During this portion, you’re going to lose your two outside rocks. You’ll only have the three in the middle available to you. The two outer stones get replaced with floating purple minions The Devil brings in to assist him. They’re going to bob up and down on the screen, firing out skulls at you. Occasionally these skulls are going to be pink for you to parry them away. Not only are they firing skulls at you, but the burning chips are also still falling from the ceiling. There are also little blue demons floating at the top that will rush down at you, every so often.

You’ll want to take out the purple minions on the side, first. Taking them out should free you up to focus on the burning chips that are falling and the blue demons. Once both purple minions are gone, keep firing up at The Devil as possible. If you have your super available, this is the best time to use it, as it’s the most chaotic of the phases.

Final Phase

The final phase against the devil removes all of the loose stones, except for the middle one. At this point, due to your continual success, you’ll have broken The Devil’s spirit, and he’s now crying.

While most of the stage has been cleaned up, you still have to deal with the burning chips falling from above. You’ll notice these chips start falling at an even faster rate. To avoid them, you’ll need to parry The Devil’s tears and then land back on the single platform. You won’t have to do this too many times to defeat your adversary, and he’s already almost taken down. You’ll probably have to avoid three or four chips before The Devil submits, and you finish Cuphead.