You're not the boss of me!

I find myself, while listening to the still-catchy boss theme from Final Fantasy IV, wondering about the etymology of the term "boss" as it applies to videogames.

It's easy to see how, in the early days of gaming, a powerful enemy at the end of a stage might actually be the boss of a gang of villains. Games like River City Ransom, Streets of Rage, Bad Dudes, and a whole host of others involve criminal gangs and syndicates which are led by a head honcho, a mastermind, a "boss." Certainly "boss" is the most accurate term for, say, Mr. X from Streets of Rage or Slick from River City Ransom. It's also obvious that Bowser is the "boss" of his goomba/koopa army, and Dr. Robotnik is the "boss" of his arsenal of robots (I guess...).

But jump forward a generation in games. How is the Whelk, the first "boss battle" of Final Fantasy VI, the boss of anything? It's a mindless minion. What about the Mist Dragon in FFIV? It's not really in charge of the monsters in the cave it occupies.

I suppose that ultimately, the final boss is usually the mastermind of whatever conflict the game is centered around (trying to think of an exception here, knowing there is one, not readily coming up with it, though). I suppose, then, that all the final battles of particular dungeons/caves/fortresses/areas are microcosmically related to this final adversary.

Take a look at the Wikipedia entry if you're interested... Lots of theory but very little etymology. Oh well.