You can apparently spare the bosses in Sifu, making way for alternate endings

Sifu, by developer Sloclap, is a game about vengeance. Left for dead by the former pupils of your master and father, you spend eight years preparing for revenge. Most players in their first run of the game will likely kill the five former students. After all, revenge is a dish best served cold. Apparently that doesn’t have to be the case. In an act of mercy most humble, you can seemingly spare the bosses in Sifu and get alternative endings that way.

I played through Sifu over the course of last week. And I left no one to tell the tale. The ending I received wasn’t particularly optimistic, and I assumed there were more. But I wasn’t sure how to get it (or them). I assumed you had to beat the game at the youngest possible age, a feat I wasn’t quite ready to attempt. But as shared by YouTuber justas, and spotted by Reddit user luiscamancho619, all you need to do is spare the bosses of Sifu.

Justas uploaded a brief video on YouTube while explaining what had to be done. The video in question showed the end of the boss battle against Fajar, The Botanist, but it ended far differently than I remember. According to Justas, you can spare any boss’ life by getting “to their second stage and break their structure twice.” On the second break, you get the option to let them live. I never knew. If it went by too fast in the video, at the 0:37 mark there’s a dialogue option that reads: “Spare.”

Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for a late pizza

When you spare the bosses in Sifu, justas writes that you’re able to earn alternate endings. Yes, not just one. According to them, letting the bosses live awards you with a “good ending.” And getting both endings unlocks a secret ending. I believe the second ending is the “bad” one, in which you pummel your way through the game leaving the corpses of the former pupils in your wake.

This new information certainly adds to the replayability of the game, which is already all about replayability. I can also foresee some passivist runs in the near future. What other secrets is Sifu hiding? A true master never reveals everything, they say.