Olmec (Classic)

A cultist guides some cavemen in worship of the giant idol...

The Giant Head is the final boss of Spelunky. It is located in the final Area, after Area 4.

Statistics

Health: Cannot be harmed

Damage: Infinite (Instant Kill on touching side or bottom while moving)

Size: Huge (4x4)

Corpse?: No

Stunnable?: No

Special: Jumps and destroys blocks underneath it. Shoots clusters of yellow energy that transform into enemies when they hit the floor.

Strategy

...which promptly goes homicidally insane.

The Giant Head is very similar to the final boss of Super Mario Bros. 3. It cannot be damaged, and touching anywhere on it while it's moving will cause you to die. There is one safe spot on the boss - that being the very top of the head. Standing there will allow you to reach the treasure in the upper parts of the level without use of a rope. The only way to kill it is to destroy the floor underneath it and force it to jump in the lava, which will kill it. This process can be expedited with bombs or Sticky Bombs.

Be forewarned: killing the Head only causes a door to appear at the far right side of the level. You still need to get to it in order to win the game; be sure you have some means of getting out of the pit the boss digs.

Inspiration

The final boss is called "Olmec" in some places in the source code, indicating the boss is inspired by the colossal heads of the Olmec civilization.

It may also be a reference to the Nickelodeon Game Show "Legends of the Hidden Temple", which was hosted and narrarated by a giant animatronic talking Olmec head simply named Olmec.