Contractual Boss Immunity: Difference between revisions
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{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* ''[[Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?]]'' is an [[RPG Mechanics Verse]], and this trope appears in the final two episodes of the first season. Considering what it took to actually summon that particular Floor Boss, it's no surprise that everyone's usual finishing moves wouldn't work against him.
==
* In the ''[[Percy Jackson]]'' novels, death is not permanent for the monsters of Greek Mythology (like Medusa, the Hydra, the Minotaur, and so forth); if killed, they are imprisoned in Tartaurus for a few centuries, and then reborn. This, of course, is the in-universe explanation for how they can be featured in the series as villains in the first place, as most were slain by the great heroes of that era.
* In ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' golems are flat-out immune to spells that allow spell resistance unless otherwise stated, and even then, it usually either slows it or heals/hastes it. Oh, and we can't forget epic-level golems! The Mithral Golem is only DE-HASTED by an actual slow spell, and the Adamantine Golem is straight-up immune to everything (most epic monsters have a ton of immunities on their own). Even this though doesn't stop creative wizards who can bypass the immunities by not targeting the golem itself. Image creating illusions like silent image (mindless creatures don't have the reasoning capacity to disregard out of hand the river dancing gnolls that just appeared), buffing the meatshield and simply "greater invisibility"ing past them are all accepted methods to defeat golems.▼
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''
▲**
*** In 3rd Edition onward, this is simplfied by assigning types to monsters and stating that certain types are immune to certain things. For example, Contructs (of which golems are a part of) are immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, morale effects) even if they do have an intelligence score, poison, sleep-causing effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, death effects, necromancy effects, critical hits, nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, or energy drain, any effect that requires a Fortitude save, unless said effect works on nonliving objects. On the other hand, they cannot be healed (naturally or by magic, but they can be repaired), cannot be raised from the dead (because they were never alive to begin with) and while they cannot be killed by massive damage, they are immediately destroyed when reduced to 0 hp or less.
** But then any wizard can bypass SR if they're properly prepared, and there's a ton of spells that ignore SR anyways.
** There's also the psion-killer (psions basically being wizards using MP instead of [[Vancian Magic]]), a golem specifically designed, as one might infer, to kill psions (and by extension wizards/sorcerers).
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* ''[[Feng Shui]]'' has this built into the system. Enemies are divided into two tiers: [[Mook]]s and 'Named Characters'. Named characters (which include the Player Characters, [[The Dragon]], The [[Big Bad]], and other bosses) have [[Hit Points]] and are resistant or flat-out immune to many effects that instantly fell Mooks.
==
* In several ''[[Metroid]]'' games, there exists a "Speed Booster" item that acts as an instant kill to practicaly anything it touches. However, in ''[[Metroid Fusion]]'' {{spoiler|the SA-X}}, which was probably intended to be undefeatable, cannot be damaged by it (or by the derived ability called the Shinespark, which has the same effect on enemies as the Speed Booster).▼
** Same thing with Screw Attack. It instakills normal enemies but doesn't work on any boss. It is not completely useless, but generally only causes very little damage to the boss and you take some damage yourself or it has to be very precisely aimed (in this cases, though, it does deal MASSIVE DAMAGE).▼
* Bosses in ''[[No More Heroes]]'' are completely immune to regular attacks, unless they are struck during specific times during their attacks.▼
* In ''[[Cave Story]]'', [[Robot Girl|Curly Brace]]'s Air Tank generates a bubble shield that protects her from A) drowning and B) your Missile Launcher.▼
* The bosses of the [[Downloadable Content|DLC]] "special stages" in ''[[Mega Man 10]]'' are completely immune to all of the secondary boss weapons (which you automatically receive when you begin the stage). Giving them no special weakness would have been one thing, but it's irritating that you can't even access those weapons' interesting attack patterns doing normal damage.▼
* The final boss in ''[[Infamous (video game series)|In Famous]]'' has this in spades. On easy mode all your attacks work, and he can be beaten quickly, and on normal mode your strongest doesn't work, but he can still be killed easily. On the [[Nintendo Hard]] mode? At least one of your skills will be below maximum level (assuming you chose an option to get a ton of XP), and all but your NORMAL ZAP and one (relatively weak) evil move work on him. Considering the sheer number of ways he can one hit you if you're at less than full health? Painful fight to say the least. Can take over an hour, not counting the inevitable dozens of retries.▼
* The end boss in ''[[Prototype 2]]'' has a bad case of this - he cycles between being immune to each of your five attack types without warning, and doesn't let the player fly around or consume lesser enemies in a game based on using mobility, healing breaks and stealth.▼
* In the first ''[[Syphon Filter]]
** The sequel's fully-armored final boss is immune to all weapons. Defeating him requires using an auto-shotgun to knock him into a helicopter's blades.▼
* The [[Ludicrous Gibs|Harmonic]] [[One Hit KO|Combos]] of ''[[Jade Empire]]'' don't work on boss characters.▼
* In the ''[[Kirby]]'' games, bosses and minibosses generally cannot be inhaled, because they're bigger than Kirby.
* In the Post-Honkai Odyssey mode of ''[[Honkai Impact 3rd]]''
* Happens in ''[[Soul Calibur
** Likewise, in ''[[Soul Calibur
* In ''Guilty Gear XX AC'',
* ''Firestarter'' gave special abilities (aka Artifacts) that gave a significant boost. You couldn't use them during boss fights, but special abilities already in use (incuding one that slows all enemies) weren't stopped.▼
* In ''[[Heretic]]'' and ''[[Hexen]]'', if an attack would guarantee a one-hit kill or render the enemy as good as dead (such as by transforming them into something weak), boss monsters are either completely immune to it (in the case of special effects) or take a negligible amount of damage (in the case of literal one hit kills).▼
** On the subject of the engine, the {{spoiler|Icon of Sin}} of [[Doom]] 2 is outright invincible to every weapon except the rocket launcher. INCLUDING the [[BFG]]-9000. It is only that specific boss, though - you can kill the {{spoiler|Spider Mastermind}} in the original game at point blank with the BFG with one shot.▼
* In the first two ''[[Turok (series)|Turok]]'' games, the Nuke Weapon is useless against bosses. It can, however, be used to destroy Primagen's flyers at the end of ''Turok 2''.▼
* ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution|Deus Ex Human Revolution]]'': The bosses you have to kill usually can counter Takedowns. Jaron Namir is an exception, but only if you catch him immediately after he does a wall-mantle.▼
* Sanchez, the first boss-type enemy in ''[[Soldier of Fortune]] II'', is immune to bullets and can only be killed by electrocution.▼
=== Role-Playing Games ===
* ''[[Eternal Darkness]]'' really only has two true boss battles. The first is immune to bullets and impossible to reach with melee attacks and has to be killed by magic cast at just the right times. The second is mostly immune to everything, except assaults on his relic of power and attacks from spirits of those who came before. Until the very end, of course.
* Boss-type creatures in ''[[Albion]]'' are immune to most paralyzation and disintegration spells. There is one spell of each type that circumvents this immunity, potentially making the game [[Unwinnable]], as one of the bosses carries a [[Plot Coupon]] that gets disintegrated along as well. The last boss is immune to everything (except Steal Life and lightning based spells), but you don't have to actually beat it.
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* Subverted in ''[[Monster Girl Quest Paradox]]''. While bosses are more status-resistant than normal enemies, they never have blanket immunity to all status effects. Even [[Bonus Boss|Bonus Bosses]] are vulnerable to one or two, and many strategies for defeating them exploit this.
=== Shooters ===
▲== Video Games: Action ==
* Some games, usually on-rails shooters like ''[[Star Fox (series)|Star FOX]]'', have area-effect attacks designed to destroy all on-screen enemies, but will only significantly damage bosses.▼
* It's very common for [[Bullet Hell]] shooters to have the [[Bonus Boss]]es and/or [[True Final Boss]]es become invincible when the player bombs, taking no damage from the bomb or any of the players shots until the effect of the bomb ends. Generally, a barrier of some sort will be placed around the boss to show when this is occurring, although other things have been known to occur to indicate that the boss simply is not taking any damage (for example in ESP.Ra.De the boss literally leaves the screen). Sometimes the standard [[Final Boss]] gets this type of invincibility as well when they're on their [[Turns Red|final pattern]]. [[CAVE]] and [[Touhou Project]] games are prime examples of this.▼
* A few weapons in the [[PlayStation 2]] ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'' games. The Zodiac and RYNOCIRATOR are one-hit weapons against normal opponents, but take off very little if any HP from bosses.▼
▲* In several ''[[Metroid]]'' games, there exists a "Speed Booster" item that acts as an instant kill to practicaly anything it touches. However, in ''[[Metroid Fusion]]'' {{spoiler|the SA-X}}, which was probably intended to be undefeatable, cannot be damaged by it (or by the derived ability called the Shinespark, which has the same effect on enemies as the Speed Booster).
* In ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' all generic enemies are vulnerable to your Hidden Blade (and in particular to being [[Counter Attack|counter]] [[One Hit KO|killed]]), but the penultimate and final boss are conveniently immune.▼
▲** Same thing with Screw Attack. It instakills normal enemies but doesn't work on any boss. It is not completely useless, but generally only causes very little damage to the boss and you take some damage yourself or it has to be very precisely aimed (in this cases, though, it does deal MASSIVE DAMAGE).
** Also played straight in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'': In addition to breaking free of grabs, the [[Kung Fu-Proof Mook|Kung Fu Proof Mooks]] and mini-bosses also can dodge or outright block counters; the final boss can as well. (There are two more story targets, but they're not so much bosses as "guys you have to kill without being detected, or mission failed.")▼
▲* Bosses in ''[[No More Heroes]]'' are completely immune to regular attacks, unless they are struck during specific times during their attacks.
* In ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', you can't break bosses' necks, nor can you slit their throats, and the KO is just minor incapacitation.▼
▲* In ''[[Cave Story]]'', [[Robot Girl|Curly Brace]]'s Air Tank generates a bubble shield that protects her from A) drowning and B) your Missile Launcher.
▲* The bosses of the [[Downloadable Content|DLC]] "special stages" in ''[[Mega Man 10]]'' are completely immune to all of the secondary boss weapons (which you automatically receive when you begin the stage). Giving them no special weakness would have been one thing, but it's irritating that you can't even access those weapons' interesting attack patterns doing normal damage.
▲* The final boss in ''[[Infamous (video game series)|In Famous]]'' has this in spades. On easy mode all your attacks work, and he can be beaten quickly, and on normal mode your strongest doesn't work, but he can still be killed easily. On the [[Nintendo Hard]] mode? At least one of your skills will be below maximum level (assuming you chose an option to get a ton of XP), and all but your NORMAL ZAP and one (relatively weak) evil move work on him. Considering the sheer number of ways he can one hit you if you're at less than full health? Painful fight to say the least. Can take over an hour, not counting the inevitable dozens of retries.
▲* The end boss in ''[[Prototype 2]]'' has a bad case of this - he cycles between being immune to each of your five attack types without warning, and doesn't let the player fly around or consume lesser enemies in a game based on using mobility, healing breaks and stealth.
▲* In ''[[Syphon Filter]] 1'', the [[Big Bad]] is mysteriously immune to all attacks except gas grenades. Likely [[Story-Driven Invulnerability]]. Justified with the second boss, Girdeux, who wears full body armor, except for his [[Exploding Barrels|flamethrower tank]].
▲** The sequel's fully-armored final boss is immune to all weapons. Defeating him requires using an auto-shotgun to knock him into a helicopter's blades.
▲* The [[Ludicrous Gibs|Harmonic]] [[One Hit KO|Combos]] of ''[[Jade Empire]]'' don't work on boss characters.
▲* In the ''[[Kirby]]'' games, bosses and minibosses generally cannot be inhaled, because they're bigger than Kirby. Meta Knight, however, is a little guy with cape and armor who is also immune to Kirby's ability. In the anime, Kirby tries to inhale him, but Meta Knight [[Won't Work On Me|just stands still]], saying that he has "special defenses".
▲* In ''[[Honkai Impact 3rd]]'''s A Post-Honkai Odyssey mode, quest targets will not be insta-killed by [[Back Stab]]s. Doing one will still inflict more damage than any standard hit, though, so it's still a good idea to open with one.
▲== Video Games: Fighter ==
▲* Happens in ''[[Soul Calibur]] III'' in some Quick Arena battles: sometimes the conditions for winning a match are such that normally powerful attacks become useless or not worth it. This happens even if the attack is known to do 90-100% damage most of the time (matches where an opponent must be bounced off a wall, hit with a soul charged attack, while taunting, etc etc).
▲** Likewise, in ''[[Soul Calibur]] IV'' it's not uncommon for bosses and tougher enemies to be equipped with the Auto Grapple Break and Auto Nullify Ringout skills.
▲* In ''Guilty Gear XX AC'', You can't activate an instant kill move against the final boss (believe me, you want to.)
▲== Video Games: FPS ==
▲* ''Firestarter'' gave special abilities (aka Artifacts) that gave a significant boost. You couldn't use them during boss fights, but special abilities already in use (incuding one that slows all enemies) weren't stopped.
▲* In ''[[Heretic]]'' and ''[[Hexen]]'', if an attack would guarantee a one-hit kill or render the enemy as good as dead (such as by transforming them into something weak), boss monsters are either completely immune to it (in the case of special effects) or take a negligible amount of damage (in the case of literal one hit kills).
▲** On the subject of the engine, the {{spoiler|Icon of Sin}} of [[Doom]] 2 is outright invincible to every weapon except the rocket launcher. INCLUDING the [[BFG]]-9000. It is only that specific boss, though - you can kill the {{spoiler|Spider Mastermind}} in the original game at point blank with the BFG with one shot.
▲* In the first two ''[[Turok (series)|Turok]]'' games, the Nuke Weapon is useless against bosses. It can, however, be used to destroy Primagen's flyers at the end of ''Turok 2''.
▲* ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution|Deus Ex Human Revolution]]'': The bosses you have to kill usually can counter Takedowns. Jaron Namir is an exception, but only if you catch him immediately after he does a wall-mantle.
▲* Sanchez, the first boss-type enemy in ''[[Soldier of Fortune]] II'', is immune to bullets and can only be killed by electrocution.
== Video Games: Strategy ==▼
* ''[[Command & Conquer]]'' plays this straight; in the GDI campaign, you can't one shot the temple of Nod with the Ion Cannon. The rest of the series made sure you can't knock out the superweapon building or construction yard with only one superweapon attack, but the rest of the base used to power these weapons were fair game.
** ''Tiberian Sun's'' expansion ''Firestorm'' had a curious glitch in the last mission of the game. While a single [[Kill Sat|Ion Cannon]] blast won't destroy the mission objective, it can destroy the firestorm generator protecting it. Doing so bypasses the entire sidequest of having to capture the relay stations to shut the core off. In addition, while the Core Defender is resistant to all attacks, it was still programmed as a base land unit, so if you destroyed the bridge it was on while it was over water, it just dies due to the game not knowing what to do with a unit dropped into water.
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** Assassins, in the games that have the class, are able to randomly [[Single-Stroke Battle|kill their opponent instantly]], even if the attack would otherwise have dealt 0 damage. In the [[Fire Emblem Elibe|GBA]] [[Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones|games]] everything but the final boss is fair game to be assassinated, but as of ''[[Fire Emblem Tellius|Path of Radiance]]'', all enemies classified as bosses have contracted the immunity.
* In ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'', bosses and some leaders of enemy armies usually have ribbons marked by their names. Said ribbons make them immune to the ''laws'' that are constantly hounding your own characters (and any enemies without ribbons by their names). Characters who break the laws badly enough are carted off to jail - a "mission failed" scenario if it happens to main character Marche - and enemies without ribbons will never deliberately break the laws. But thanks to the ribbons, bosses can (and will) do anything they want without penalty.
▲== Video Games: Shooters ==
▲* Some games, usually on-rails shooters like ''[[Star Fox (series)|Star FOX]]'', have area-effect attacks designed to destroy all on-screen enemies, but will only significantly damage bosses.
▲* It's very common for [[Bullet Hell]] shooters to have the [[Bonus Boss]]es and/or [[True Final Boss]]es become invincible when the player bombs, taking no damage from the bomb or any of the players shots until the effect of the bomb ends. Generally, a barrier of some sort will be placed around the boss to show when this is occurring, although other things have been known to occur to indicate that the boss simply is not taking any damage (for example in ESP.Ra.De the boss literally leaves the screen). Sometimes the standard [[Final Boss]] gets this type of invincibility as well when they're on their [[Turns Red|final pattern]]. [[CAVE]] and [[Touhou Project]] games are prime examples of this.
▲* A few weapons in the [[PlayStation 2]] ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'' games. The Zodiac and RYNOCIRATOR are one-hit weapons against normal opponents, but take off very little if any HP from bosses.
▲== Video Games: Stealth ==
▲* In ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' all generic enemies are vulnerable to your Hidden Blade (and in particular to being [[Counter Attack|counter]] [[One Hit KO|killed]]), but the penultimate and final boss are conveniently immune.
▲** Also played straight in ''[[Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood]]'': In addition to breaking free of grabs, the [[Kung Fu-Proof Mook|Kung Fu Proof Mooks]] and mini-bosses also can dodge or outright block counters; the final boss can as well. (There are two more story targets, but they're not so much bosses as "guys you have to kill without being detected, or mission failed.")
▲* In ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', you can't break bosses' necks, nor can you slit their throats, and the KO is just minor incapacitation.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Boss Battle]]▼
[[Category:The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard]]
[[Category:Laws and Formulas]]▼
[[Category:Plot Armor]]
▲[[Category:Laws and Formulas]]
▲[[Category:Boss Battle]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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