Gruntilda (Banjo-Kazooie)

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Do not be fooled by her condescending babble, this wicked witch puts up one hell of a battle!

Gruntilda (also known as Grunty) is the main antagonist and boss fight of Banjo-Kazooie. She is the main boss of Gruntilda's Castle, is the fourth and final major boss and is overall the eighth and final boss of the entire game, fought on the top of her castle.

While the character herself has been well-received, the battle with Gruntilda has been meant with negative feedback from players, and it is considered infamous for its frustrating qualities.

Why She Sucks as a Boss

1. The fact that this boss comes right after Grunty’s Furnace Fun, which was already too much of a Difficulty Spike to begin with.
2. Being the final boss, Gruntilda has an arsenal of attacks that are hard to avoid, as unlike the previous bosses who each only have one attack (with the exeption of Boom Box as he has two different attacks), Gruntilda has three different attacks.
   1. Dash: Gruntilda will dash at you while riding her broomstick, which can be somewhat hard to avoid.
   2. Fireballs: Gruntilda can launch fireballs at you, which is can be easy to dodge, but Gruntilda will aim the fireball at you.
   3. Homing Energy Stars: Gruntilda can launch clear light green star-shaped energy blasts which aim where you're about to go, perhaps the most infamous part of the fight.
3. Unlike the previous bosses in the game, this boss has FIVE phases. Yep, you heard us right, there's five phases in her battle, and they’re mostly hard:
   1. In the first phase, Gruntilda will dash through the entire arena on her broomstick, which is sort of easy to avoid, however you’ll most likely have to play with camera throughout this phase.
      • On top of this, each time Banjo and Kazooie hit Gruntilda, she will throw fireballs at you, which are easy to avoid, but for first time players it could catch them off guard.
   2. In the second phase, Gruntilda will constantly throw fireballs at you 4 times, which could be easy to avoid, but for each subsequent hit, she throw the meteors at a much faster pace, making them sort of hard to avoid.
      • On top of this, in order to even hit the witch, you have to shoot eggs at her, which isn't as easy as it sounds, considering that she's riding her broomstick a bit far away from the arena.
   3. In the third phase, Gruntilda will spend most of the phase flying above the arena, and when she stops, she throws fireballs at you. You need to fly charge into her as Kazooie to hit her, but the only problem are the sluggish & slightly clunky flight controls.
      • Also if you’re not careful with the fly charge, you could either bump into something or even fall to your death by accident.
   4. In the fourth phase, Gruntilda will create a magic shield around her, and 4 statues of Jinglalings will appear, for which you have to shoot eggs into the holes in order to activate them, which is both tedious and very frustrating, because Gruntilda will constantly throw a bunch of fireballs at you as Banjo and Kazooie progress.
   5. In the fifth phase, the broomstick will be destroyed, but her shield is still active and after seconds of her throwing fireballs at you, a giant statue of The Great Jinglaling appear, in which you shoot eggs into each of the 4 holes on the sides in order to activate it for the finishing blow, which is also tedious and frustrating for the same reason as said for the fourth phase.
4. She spends about a quarter of the battle flying on her broomstick, making it hard to hit her.
5. Around the arena is a bottomless pit, so if Banjo and Kazooie happen to fall, they lose a life.
6. Oh, those freaking energy stars that Gruntilda shoots each time you defeat her in a phase, not only are they hard and fast to avoid, but they will also follow you each time you try to run away from them, as described in reason #2.
7. The arena, pictured above, is somewhat small, making it even harder to avoid any of Grintilda's attacks.
8. Being the final boss, Gruntilda has a lot of HP with inconsistent hit-points to boot. (In order: 4 + 12 + 4 + 4 + 11 = a grand total 35 hit-points!!!) To put it simply, your hands will be full & you'll need a lot of time. Read: too much time on your hands.
9. If you Banjo and Kazooie lose against Gruntilda, you have to start the entire battle all over again.
10. Gruntilda will constantly taunt them throughout the battle each time she hits you, and she never shuts up.

Redeeming Qualities

1. Gruntilda is still a beloved villain in the Rare fandom.
2. Her defeat is very satisfying.
3. You get a wonderful ending after the battle.
4. The theme that plays during this battle is great.
5. The arena fight Gruntilda in is nice.
6. The attack that finished off Gruntilda became Banjo-Kazooie’s Final Smash in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, providing wondrous fanservice (& probably also painful memories) in the process.

Tips

1. Be sure you have lots of health, honey combs, and lives if you can.
2. Be sure you have plenty of red feathers because you’re going to need them for the third phase.
3. Use the Wonder Feather when Gruntilda uses her Homeing Energy Stars as Banjo will not get damaged.
4. Wait until Gruntilda is done attacking before shooting eggs at her, as it will leave her open. As for the fifth phase, wait until she’s done attacking as well, as she will stop for a matter of seconds, which will give you enough time to fill in the holes of the statue.