Boss Arena Idiocy: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:BossArenaIdiocy.jpg|link=Brawl in the Family|
{{quote|''"If I must use a monster too tough for the Hero's weaponry to hurt, I will never put it in a room with weapons, devices or explosives which CAN hurt it."''
|'''[[All the Tropes Additional Evil Overlord Vows]]''' }}
{{quote|''"You can't win! This suit is impervious to everything, save for conveniently placed lava crystals."''|'''Killbane during the final battle of ''[[Saints Row]] The Third'''''}}
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{{examples}}
* ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'':
** Practically every fight against Bowser in platformers is like this. Most blatant example is in ''[[Super Mario 64]]'', where Bowser has learned to recover from the bottomless pits/lava that usually defeated him in the past and would be completely invincible if it weren't for the floating mines surrounding his arena that Mario has to go suicidally out of his way to be hurt by.
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** In the the first ''[[Super Mario Bros. (video game)|Super Mario Bros]]'', Bowser (and each of the fakes) stands on a bridge. On the other side of the bridge is an axe. If Mario can pass Bowser and get the axe, the bridge and Bowser fall and you win. Classic.
*** Lampshaded in ''[[Brawl in the Family]]'', as seen in the picture above.
** Even worse in ''[[New Super Mario Bros.]]'' where the fight is the same, but the axe is replaced by a large button with a skull on it.
** ''[[Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]''; Second Giant Bowser boss. You have to knock it into the water.
*** Inverted in the very next Giant Bowser fight where you, as Bowser, have to beat the enemy before you get led onto a collapsing bridge over a bottomless pit (which gives you an [[Nonstandard Game Over|instant Game Over]] if you reach it).
** In the Western ''[[Super Mario Bros. 2]]'', Wart can only be killed by having vegetables thrown in his mouth. He has a machine in his throne room that shoots vegetables. He also opens his mouth a lot. Wart is not very smart. And apparently [[Justified Trope|there's a reason.]] Wart stole the Nightmare Machine and reprogrammed it to bolster his army. Problem is, the thing has a mind of its own and it decides to help kill Wart.
** King Totomesu, the first boss of ''[[Super Mario Land]]'', has a boss stage that looks just like Bowser's, and can be defeated in the same manner - either run under him when he jumps so that you can hit the button behind him, or pelt him with five Superballs.
** The tradition is continued in ''[[Super Mario 3D Land]]''. Like ''[[New Super Mario Bros.]]'', it's a button, only this time ''it has his insignia on it!''
** ''[[Something]]'':
*** The boss of the Chateau du Vent has plenty of throw blocks in its arena. If these blocks were replaced with an ordinary platform, the boss fight would be impossible.
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** In the original ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', [[Implacable Man|Liquid Snake]] can't be defeated through normal means and you don't have access to weapons while fighting him. Conveniently, despite having hours to prepare for the battle, he chose to stage the fight on top of a Metal Gear with nothing to prevent him falling off. [[Implacable Man|Not that falling off stops him for long.]]
* ''Zelda'' has plenty of examples.
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages
*** ''Seasons'': The Dodongo fight is like the original, but you need to use the Power Bracelet to throw him into the spikes after he swallows the bomb. Why are there spikes there? There's also the random giant metal spike ball in the area of the fifth boss, Digdogger. Good thing you got those Magnetic Gloves beforehand, and no, the spike ball doesn't reappear later. Both Agahnim and the Poe Sisters would have fared better if they didn't fight in areas with torches.
*** ''Ages'': Smog adverts this by making you play a 'game', changing the arena to try to get his separate parts together. The game, being more puzzle-orintated than Seasons, avoids this.
** ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
*** The game's Gohma incarnation fights you in an arena filled with giant, hammer wielding statues, the only way to kill it and the only such devices in the game.
*** Dangoro, the Goron miniboss from [[Death Mountain]], is also this.
*** The boss of the Arbiter's Grounds chooses to fight you in a circular room that conveniently has grooves spiraling up it, allowing Link to ride up on the disk item he has found and attack.
** Fraaz from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks|Spirit Tracks]]'' takes a rather different approach; upon noticing that Link has been using the two torches in his chamber to damage him, [[Dangerously Genre Savvy|he simply reaches over and smashes them apart.]] And then [[Tactical Suicide Boss|he starts using attacks that can be used as replacements for the torches to damage him]], making it only a little harder than before.
** In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The
*** Gohma is invulnerable to grapple and sword attacks, because she is shielded by a thick layer of armour. Handily, the boss fight takes place in a cavern with a weak ceiling and a dragon's tail poking through it. Putting a little bit of weight on the tail causes part of the roof to crash down, destroying her armour.
* ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]'':
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** In the boss fight for the [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World|Ice Mountain Zone]] from ''[[Sonic Advance]]'', Robotnik is moving along the top of the arena, just barely out of your reach. [[Underwater Boss Battle|You're under water for the duration of the fight,]] so [[Oxygen Meter|if you stay under for too long]], you'll drown. Robotnik would've been impossible to defeat if it weren't for him sending icebergs down your way, which you can jump onto and use to both damage him and get a breath of fresh air.
** ''[[Shadow the Hedgehog]]'' isn't immune either. Dr. Eggman's "latest and greatest invention" includes buttons that couldn't possibly benefit him, most notably the ones that trigger Shadow Fever. It may have been used in order to power up those Shadow androids he made, but he really should have had the foresight to disable that feature when the real Shadow showed up.
* Why would Dracula have crosses, holy water, and other vampire-killing tools in his castle? This seems a problem for him in ''every'' ''[[Castlevania]]'' game.
* Several times in ''[[Resident Evil]]''.
** The T-078 Tyrant in ''[[Resident Evil Code: Veronica]]'' has a distinct advantage in the enclosed space of the plane, only to be defeated thanks to a lone crate in the cargo hold.
** In ''[[Resident Evil 4]]'' Salazar's Right Hand (i.e. one of his two main servants) has several liquid nitrogen tanks that slow him down and make him vulnerable in his area, and when you fight two El Gigantes there's a lava trap you can use to kill one, but it technically isn't required in any way.
** In ''[[Resident Evil 5]]'', the second boss battle against Wesker. It's oddly convenient that he can't see you in the dark, and you just so happen to be fighting him in an arena with easily-located light switches!
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** The Mega Titan is [[Nigh Invulnerable]] unless he gets knocked into the convenient electrical barriers on either side of his boss arena. The Spark ability works, though.
** As does the Beam ability. If you're adequately prepared, he's actually one of the easier bosses in the game.
* In ''[[Psi-Ops: The
* ''[[Iji]]'':
** It starts with this as early as the first boss. The turrets that pop up on occasion do a lot of damage to the boss, with the added incentive that you want to deal with them quickly to prevent them from shooting you. The Komato Sentinel would probably wipe the floor with Iji if not for the conveniently located electrified pads she can knock it into, and the initial form of [[Nigh Invulnerable|Iosa The Invincible]] is very hard to kill without using the lasers in her chamber. Enforced because ''[[Iji]]'' has an experience system that lets you build combat abilities or more stealth/exploration oriented skills. Thus, to prevent players taking a noncombative route from getting stonewalled, nearly every boss is a [[Puzzle Boss]].
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** Almost all boss battles in ''Crash of the Titans'' are only winnable because the bad guys are considerate enough to [[Flunky Boss|populate the arena with weaker Titans]], so you can capture something capable of hurting the main boss.
** In ''Crash Mind Over Mutant,'' the boss fight against Evil Crunch and N. Brio has the boss in a decrepit weapons factory - next to a conveyor belt steadily supplying TNT Crates, which are the only thing capable of blowing up Crunch's cannons. Then, later on, when facing a mutated Cortex, the boss is defeated by taking control of Cortex and spinning a screw out of the ground then body slamming the self-destruct switch for the Space Station the fight occurs on. The screw in the ground is only uncovered when Cortex's defenses and minions are defeated.
* In the first ''[[Sly Cooper]]'' game, Cooper fights Muggshot (who again, is impervious to Cooper's
* Being a game composed entirely of boss battles, ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]'' naturally employs this trope.
** A memorable example is the eighth Colossus (Kuromori, the lizard), who you fight in a ruined Colosseum. He has incredibly powerful lightning attacks, and there is no way to damage him at first. If he stood still, he would be invincible. But, if you aggravate him and hide, you can get him to climb the walls to try to hunt you, at which point you can shoot him to make him fall down, leaving him vulnerable.
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** Also memorable is the 16th Colossus, Malus. His lightning attack is even more powerful and has strong knockback. Although he holds the high ground in his arena, the arena is also filled with defensive walls and tunnels you can hide in, to approach his blind spot.
*** Partly justified as Malus can't move and can't destroy either the walls or the tunnels. He tries.
* Most of the boss battles in ''[[Donkey Kong 64]]'' have a random, convenient,
* ''[[Mega Man and Bass]]''' [[Playing with Fire|Burner Man]] decides to fight the titular heroes in an arena blocked off by two pits of spikes (which usually are a [[One-Hit Kill]], but will simply damage Burner Man for about 1/4 his total health). Although Burner Man himself is at least smart enough to avoid the pits while he's dashing around and trying to hit you, if the player brought along Cold Wall (Burner Man's [[Kryptonite Factor]]), and slides it into him...
** Cut Man, from the very first ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' game, is weak against Guts Man's power. Guts Man's power is simply being very, very strong. Mega Man can use this strength to lift giant brick blocks and throw them away or at enemies. And for a literal case of [[Elemental Rock-Paper-Scissors]], guess who's got a few brick blocks in his arena for no particular reason?
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** It subverts this hard in the Mr. Freeze fight: Freeze didn't design his hijacked lair (an old GCPD forensics unit), but once you've used the environment to land a stealth attack on him he promptly alters it via his suit's mechanisms so you can't use that trick again. You need to find about seven different methods of weakening him.
** However {{spoiler|Clayface's}} boss fight resembles this. One of his attacks is to roll into Batman: if done right, you can have him roll into the explosives set in the corners of the room and severely weaken him.
* ''[[Quake (series)|Quake]]'' has at least two of these. The first chapter boss is completely immune to all damage apart from two adjustable columns that can shoot lightning between them. The final boss is impervious to everything except [[Buffy-Speak|a floaty teleporty]] [[Metasyntactic Variable|doohickey]]. Neither of these unique architectural features can be found anywhere else in the game.
* In ''[[Spyro the Dragon|Spyro]] 2'', the boss Crush combines this with [[Tactical Suicide Boss]]. He fights you in an arena where using his giant club sends debris falling on him from the ceiling, the only thing that injures him. He has plenty of other attacks as well, but if you annoy him he'll keep using his club.
** In ''Attack of the Rhynocs'', Ripto is defeated by leading him into destroying the three statues throughout his throne room.
* In ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'', you fight Hercules in an arena you've already used for dozens of battles. Every single time before and after, it was completely empty, just a flat ring. For the Hercules fight, it's filled with barrels that you need to get rid of the hero aura which makes him invincible. The barrels being provided may be justified by the fact that it's more of a friendly practice match than anything else and Hercules is giving Sora sporting chance. There is, however, no explanation for why a wooden barrel is able to weaken Hercules so much.
* [[PlayStation|PS1]]/N64 [[Spider-Man (2000 video game)|Spider-Man]]:
** The [[Beat'Em Up]] was chock full of such examples, but the most blatant is the penultimate boss fight of the game against the symbiote Carnage. As Spidey tells you, a symbiote is weak against fire and supersonic frequencies, so naturally the room you fight Carnage in has a massive sonic bubble in the middle (presumably built by Dr. Octopus as a failsafe against Carnage) for you to knock him in. Other such examples include the fight against Doc Ock (with convenient "disable forcefield" buttons lowered to the arena one-by-one) and the Rhino boss fight ([[Bullfight Boss|with electric pistons for the Rhino to charge into and electrocute himself with]]). The sequel lampshaded this, even, with the final battle against Hyper Electro where, after you trick the pure energy final boss into zapping one of the several generators in the area, which sucks his energy away and makes him physical again so he can be attacked, Spidey quips "Man, you'd think a guy would learn after a while!", or with "Remember kids, good always wins because [[Evil Is Dumb]]!" {{spoiler|This turns against you if didn't destroy the electric tower, which will refill all of Electro's HP. Being that it takes up half the area, you should feel
** Also in the sequel, the second fight with Sandman (the first being [[Hopeless Boss Fight|impossible to win]]) takes place in a construction site, which seems logical until you spot [[Kill It with Water|the open plumbing]].
* The final boss of the ''[[Prince of Persia]]: Two Thrones'', Vizier can manipulate matter telekinetically and at the first stage of the battle he tosses debris at you which is perfectly understandable. Then he makes debris revolve around the arena trying to run you over with them which is also perfectly understandable. Finally he soars high into the air where he would be completely unreachable for you... if it wasn't for the debris that he, completely unintentionally, of course, arranges as a contrived obstacle course.
* ''[[Rayman
** In the first ''Rayman'' Mr. Stone can't be hurt at all by your attacks, and even the smaller rock men are [[Invincible Minor Minion
* ''Xena: Warrior Princess'' has at least 3 such bosses. The first one is a Cyclops blocking your way. You are at a high cliff and the guy reaches from below, grabs the ledge with one hand and uses the other to smash you if you try to bypass him (why he doesn't try to climb up the cliff is beyond me). All attacks against him are useless. The solution? Keep slashing the hand grabbing the ledge and he'll fall off the cliff. Idiotic indeed. The second one is an invincible (to swords and chakram) fire breathing giant dragon that can only be killed by dropping stalactites on it. Admittedly, said stalactites are not unique to this level, you do get to make use of them to bypass obstacles in
* The Medusa boss in Hercules can only be killed by running around and hide behind shields mounted on the wall to reflect its gaze.
* In ''[[Devil May Cry]]'', the battle with Nightmare. He first appears as a completely invulnerable pool of black goo which swallows Dante up if he touches it. Hitting the switches that surround the arena enough causes him to take on a more solid form which, while more dangerous, is also vulnerable after it attacks.
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** The Vorticon Commander can be killed with blaster fire. It takes [[Made of Iron|over 100 shots]], but doing so nets you a few extra [[Scoring Points|Teddy Bears]] that are otherwise blocked off by the fallen block.
* The {{spoiler|Queen}} in ''[[Ico]]'' saw fit to decorate {{spoiler|her throne room}} with movable, mystical stone pillars that nullify {{spoiler|her instant-petrification spell}}. All it takes is for Ico to drag them around the room and hide behind them at regular intervals until he can get close enough to {{spoiler|take the sword she's vulnerable to and stab her with it}}.
* In ''[[Luigi's
* Boolossus returns in ''[[Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon]]'' and ambushes Luigi in an arena surrounded by a railway track with an oversized toy train with a drill at its front and cars shaped like cages. {{spoiler|You can pop Boolossus on the drill and this time you need to grab and throw all the little boos in the cages.}}
* ''[[Luigi's Mansion 3]]'' has several examples:
** Dr. Potter fights Luigi with his potted carnivorous plant in a place with several objects it can get its jaws stuck on and a circular saw Luigi can grab and use.
** Captain Fishook is out of reach of Luigi's usual tactics when immersed in his ship and trying to swallow him whole, except he can swallow other things, like the explosive barrels his crew keeps throwing everywhere.
** Johnny Deepend is safe from harm in the middle of his swimming pool, until Gooigi reaches the control panel to drain it.
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]'': the only way you can defeat the rogue computer GLaDOS is by manipulating incoming rocket fire through portals to hit her. Though GlaDOS has so far been shown to have control over all the systems in the entire facility, she notes that her morality core, which you destroyed, "must have had some ancillary responsibilities" and thus she is unable to deactivate the turret.
** In addition, the only effort GLaDOS makes to disarm Chell right before trying to kill her is tell her to drop it, claiming that she can only gain the promised reward (as in, cake) if she has both hands free. Of course, the Portal Gun is required to escape certain death, and Chell has been warned by now that [[The Cake Is a Lie]], so it is doubtful by then that most players would fall for it.
* ''[[Portal 2]]'':
** It initially averts this; GLaDOS has learned from the last time and presents you instead with what would be a completely lethal trap, if you and Wheatley hadn't {{spoiler|sabotaged her turret and neurotoxin production during your earlier romp through the facility}}.
** Likewise, although {{spoiler|Wheatley}} claims to have studied footage of GLaDOS' defeat and doesn't make the same mistakes, he makes entirely different mistakes instead, building his "lair" near convenient gel tubes and hurling bombs at you instead of waiting for the neurotoxin to do its work. Mostly justified though, as {{spoiler|he has been well established as being [[Too Dumb to Live|deeply, deeply stupid]]. Plus, he wants the satisfaction of killing you before the entire place explodes. It's also subverted in that he ''does'' have one final surprise in store if you beat him, perhaps his triumphant moment of [[Genre Savviness]], and it's not his fault that it doesn't work.}} He also tries turning the bombs off after you hit him the first time, but he's apparently too damaged to do so, like GLaDOS above.
** The room you fight in has no viable portal surfaces (your only method of attack) before Conversion Gel tubes start bursting, so his plan was ''almost'' airtight. Unfortunately, ''somebody'' was stupid enough to try throwing bombs at someone standing behind a Conversion Gel tube, causing it to spray everywhere. After the sprinkler system activates and wash away the gel he even comments on how he should have triggered it himself if only he had known it would work (or been able to turn them on, given his state at the time).
* Many ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'' bosses fill this trope perfectly. In ''Soul Reaver'', Rahab's chamber consists of windows you have to break to shine sunlight on him, while Melchiah's chamber has retractible portcullises you have to lure him through to have them fall and hit his back. In ''Blood Omen 2'', Faustus stands atop furnaces in a room full of mist, which you can use to become invisible and sneak up close enough to turn the furnaces on and burn him. In ''Defiance'', Turel's chamber has four gongs that ring loudly and stun him when rung. The third boss of ''Blood Omen 2'', Sebastian, isn't so much Boss Arena Idiocy as it is he's plain
* ''[[Darksiders]]'' is ''full'' of this.
** The first boss, Tiamat, would be unbeatable if her arena wasn't surrounded with torches and bomb flowers. The second boss, the Griever, is defeated with a freight rail carrier that War can punch into her gut. Straga's own weapon and the floor of his own arena are both used to kill him.
** In the Griever's case, it's not technically her
* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' has several:
** It would be nearly impossible to defeat Anub'arak in the Crusader's Coliseum save for the conveniently placed frost orbs floating around his lair which, when knocked down, form icy patches on the floor that prevent his minions from burrowing and stun him when he runs into them.
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** The bosses in ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]'' were generally good about choosing locations that weren't potentially lethal towards them if utilized properly by Donkey and Diddy. The one glaringly obvious exception was Mangoruby, whose boss chamber contained three wheels with switches on them that, when pounded, would de-electrify Mangoruby's body and allow Donkey to [[Goomba Stomp]] her.
* Gol and Maia in ''[[Jak and Daxter The Precursor Legacy]]''. If they just removed the Blue Eco Launcher, their bombs would kill Jak in 20 seconds flat.
* ''[[Mortal Kombat: Deception]]'' features Onaga, who is stunned when you destroy (touch) one of six objects called kamidogu, which are the source of his power. Naturally, he places them along the fringes of the arena, spaced 60 degrees from each other.
* From ''[[MediEvil 2|Medi Evil 2]]'':
** The Last Elephant-bot enemy fought in the ''Freakshow'' can't be damaged by Dan's normal weapons, but the cranes can be used to crush it by dropping spare parts on it.
** The Count suffers from both this trope and [[Tactical Suicide Boss]]; the first stage of the fight requires you to use mirrors to reflect his spells back at him, and the second has you aligning them so that they reflect sunlight onto him, causing him to burn.
* [[Ōkami|Okami]] has several bosses like this. The [[Giant Spider|Spider Queen]] is completely immune to your attacks, her only weakness being her eyes inside her abdomen. But, oh, look! All around the arena are conveniently placed flowers that are here for no reason at all and that you can use to grab her hooks and open the Queen's abdomen, exposing her weak point! [[Kitsune|Kyuubi]], [[Dual Boss|Lechku & Nechku]] and [[Evil Overlord|Yami]]'s [[Boss Room
* Dagoth Ur of [[The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind|Morrowind]] fights you (after a short introduction where he grants you the first blow) in a room that also houses the source of his power, the destruction of which would make him mortal. Granted, he wouldn't have reason to expect you to be willing (or even know ''how'') to destroy that source, and he has to hang around the place anyhow to keep the Tribunal from sneaking in and renewing their power...
* ''[[Spiral Knights]]'': The Snarbolax is invincible unless the Beast Bell in his boss room is rung when he's close enough for it to stun him. The Roarmulus Twins are immune to Knights' weapons, but not their own missiles; the Twins are placed directly across from each other with switchable walls between them.
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* The Dragon God in ''[[Demon's Souls]]'' would be unbeatable...if it weren't seated right between two huge ballistas pointed at its shoulders.
* The boss of the theater level in ''[[Psychonauts]]'' is slightly smarter than most in that he destroys the spotlights once you've used them to stun him. He's still not smart enough for basic patern recognition, and ignores the other identical spotlights who are all within spitting distance of each other. Even after you succesfully used the first two on him, he doesn't think to destroy the third.
* In ''[[Beyond Good & Evil (video game)|Beyond Good
* Aaron from ''[[Clive Barker's Undying]]'' wields a chain that he uses as a whip against you. The only way to defeat him is to position yourself in front of one of the rings on the wall and dodge his attack. His chain will get trapped in the ring, and you can attack him while he's busy trying to get the chain out.
* There are two boss fights against armored vehicles in ''[[Alpha Protocol]]'', first against an [[Awesome Personnel Carrier]] and then later against a Blackhawk helicopter. Luckily, both fights take place in areas where someone just so happened to leave a bunch of shoulder-mounted missile launchers lying around.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Boss Battle]]
[[Category:Suspiciously Convenient Index]]
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