The ones I can think of were already posted.
I like how I googled Hooktail to post her and it lead me to your post xDAll the best ones have been mentioned but I always liked Hooktail from TTYD. I know there are mini-bosses before that point but I always considered Hooktail to be the first proper boss.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/ec/Paper-mario-thousand-year-door-1.jpg
Always liked how it tried to trick you halfway through the battle too, pretty unique.
The original also had a classic first boss:http://gamingmemoirs.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Sonic-2-Emerald-Hill-Zone-Boss.gif
This one will always be nostalgic for me, because Sonic 2 was probably the first videogame I ever played.
![JIxjr1j.png](http://i.imgur.com/JIxjr1j.png)