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Degraded Boss: Difference between revisions
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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.DegradedBoss 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.DegradedBoss, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license) |
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<!-- %% neoYTPism edit: On a sidenote, I PMed vgfmak on youtube about the use of the above page quotation; vgfmak said he/she was okay with it. -->
The boss in a video game, or on rare occasion VG series, who, after you defeat him/her/it, returns multiple times - but not as a boss, but as a [[Giant Mook|regular enemy]] (sometimes more than one appearing at once). Sometimes, the boss you fought is the "strongest" of the monsters; sometimes you've attained a new weapon which is [[Elemental Rock
Sometimes confused with [[Villain Decay]]. The two may overlap, however, if [[The Man Behind the Man]] pops up and reveals that there are multiple copies of his previously-unique underling. In narrative, this looks a lot like the [[Conservation of Ninjutsu]]. Sometimes results in [[Villain Forgot to Level Grind]]. Not to be confused with the [[Boss in Mook Clothing]]. Compare with [[Boss Rush]] where previous Bosses return as Bosses in rapid succession.
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See [[Recurring Boss]] for examples where they don't get degraded.
{{examples
== [[Action Adventure]] ==
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** Multi-game example: Dark Link has taken many different roles, including, but not limited to, [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere|surprise final boss]] in ''[[Zelda II the Adventure of Link (Video Game)|Adventure of Link]]'', mini-boss in ''[[The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]'', merely appearing in a cut scene in ''[[The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess]]'', several easily defeated [[Mooks]] created by a boss in ''[[The Legend of Zelda Oracle Games (Video Game)|Oracle of Ages]]'', [[The Dragon]] of ''[[The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Adventures (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Adventures]]'', and [[Bonus Boss]] in ''Spirit Tracks''.
** Two of the mini-bosses in ''[[The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks]]'' actually appear again as regular enemies ''within their own dungeons'' (specifically, they're Snapper, the whip-wielding guy from the Ocean Temple, and Heatoise, the giant tortoise from the Fire Temple). In both cases, the dungeon item you get from the first battle makes the later ones much easier.
** In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Video Game)|Skyward Sword]]'', Moldarach plays the trope straight (boss in the third dungeon, miniboss in the Shipyard), while Moldorms zigzag it. One appears as a sporadic, optional enemy in a grotto from the Fire Sanctuary, but the next one is fought as a miniboss later in the same dungeon. The ones found afterwards (one in a grotto during the [[Stealth Based Mission]] in Eldin Volcano and another in the grotto of a certain island in the Sky) are regular enemies, but other two are minibosses in the final dungeon.
* Happens twice in ''Onimusha''. Reynaldo, who is set up as a mini-boss but is quickly revealed to be a really tough (and regenerating/self-duplicating) mook. Then there's Volchiman, who you must first fight as ninja girl Kaede, who is significantly weaker than main character Samonosuke; later on you may encounter two Volchiman at once. However, there's also Marcellus, whose prototype you face first. The real deal is a much, much more difficult opponent - probably more so than final boss Fortinbras.
* Almost every single miniboss in ''[[Killer 7]]'' becomes this, since the miniboss battles are meant to introduce a new type of Heaven Smile for the next chapter.
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* Another inversion: Fritz the Firing Train in ''Iron Tank'' first appears as a [[Giant Mook]]-type encounter, ie without the ominous boss music, then later as a proper boss encounter.
== [[Beat
* Done a lot in old beat'em-up arcade games. Examples: ''[[Double Dragon]]'', ''Cadillacs and Dinosaurs'', ''Ninja Combat'', and ''Arabian Nights''. Often, the first boss you face will also be the first [[Giant Mook]].
** As does the ''[[Streets of Rage]]'' series with some of their boss characters. Lampshaded in Streets of Rage 2, with the weaker mook version of the boss "R. Bear" being called "[[Overlord, Jr.|Bear Jr.]]"
*** ''2'' takes it pretty quickly, too. After beating the twin robot bosses in Stage 7, the very first enemies you fight in Stage 8 are two more.
** Averted by the original ''[[Final Fight]]'' and its SNES sequels: the bosses are unique to each stage and none of them actually reappear once they're defeated.
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* Typically this will happen in fighting games if the endgame of the previous title in the series caused the main boss to lose their standing and are forced to fight against whoever took over to get it back. For the sequel, they will then become a playable cast member as they are considered a "participant" rather than the "organizer". Examples include ''[[Tekken]]'''s Heihachi Mishima between the first and second games (then again between the fourth and fifth games), Cervantes de Leon after ''[[Soul Series|Soul Blade]]'', and Gaia after the first ''[[Battle Arena Toshinden]]''.
== [[First
* In the second ''[[Marathon (Video Game)|Marathon]]'' game, a [[King Mook|Mother of]] [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|All Hunters]] is fought as a boss on "If I had a rocket launcher...", then the final stage has at least three of them. On the ''Infinity'' level "You think you're big time?" they get re-promoted to boss status, and have homing projectiles this time. In ''2'', the [[King Mook]] version of the Cyborgs only appears once, while in ''Infinity'' it is a recurring enemy, although still rare.
* The Battlelord in ''[[Duke Nukem 3D (Video Game)|Duke Nukem 3D]]'', smaller and with less than a quarter of its hit points. Still a huge pain in the ass, however. Especially with those grenades it lobs. And then there's the fact that in one of the later chapters there's one level where you end up facing ''three at once''.
* The Serpent God and the Sumo in ''[[Shadow Warrior]]''.
* The climax of ''[[Half Life]] 2: Episode Two'' pits you against a small army of biomechanical tripods known as "Striders", several of which made your life a living hell in a certain battle in the original ''Half-Life 2'', and one of which was the ''actual'' boss of ''Half-Life 2: Episode One''. Oh, and this time they have Hunter support. This battle would be quite a bit harder if you didn't have {{spoiler|a car and a weapon that could [[One
** For that matter, the Hunters were introduced with one {{spoiler|nearly killing Alyx}}, and two or three of them was a boss battle early in the Episode. Two or three of them escort ''every Strider''. Fortunately, you have [[Car Fu|a weapon]] that can [[One
** There's also the Antlion Guardian--when you first meet it (when you're instructed not to kill it, not that you can anyway), it has a poison attack. When you later actually get to kill it, this is missing, making it only a [[Palette Swap]] of the Antlion Guard. Not that it needs any help killing you all the same.
* The Cyberdemon and Spider Mastermind boss monsters of the first ''[[Doom]]'' game return in the sequels as regular level monsters (though they're just as tough as they were as bosses), while the final bosses are upgraded to multiple-stories-high monster-spawning buildings. ''Doom 3'' then ''promoted'' the Cyberdemon back to boss status.
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** Also in the third game, the Atlas Mech is counted as an outright boss when encountered during Priority: Sur'Kesh and [[Downloadable Content|Priority: Eden Prime]]. They become more common in later missions though.
== [[Shoot
* Big Core in the ''[[Gradius]]'' series as a whole; they were the first game's [[Recurring Boss]] and came back for [[Boss Rush|Boss Rushes]] in subsequent games. In ''Gradius V'', they've been reduced to regular enemy status, appearing frequently in Stage 1, 3, and 7 and getting killed pretty quickly.
** Another level boss Gaw appeared in ''Life Force'' at the end of Stage 5. It appeared in ''Gradius II'''s [[Boss Rush]] before becoming a pre-stage enemy for the bio levels in ''Gaiden'' and ''V''.
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* The [http://deadspace.wikia.com/wiki/Tripod Tripod] from ''[[Dead Space 2 (Video Game)|Dead Space 2]]'' may be a challenge when you first fight it but it has to attack in increasing numbers to be a threat latter on. One actually runs away from its own boss fight.
== [[Third
* Similarly, in ''[[Gears of War]]'', the minigun-wielding Grinders in the second game are functionally weaker versions of the first game's final boss, General RAAM, with less health and no Kryll Shield. ''Story''-wise they're two entirely different beasts (RAAM being an ascended Theron Guard while Grinders are big dumb Boomers), but gameplay-wise they're very similar.
* In the 2004 ''[[Transformers Prelude to Energon|Transformers Armada]]'' game by Atari (Good luck finding it), the boss of Level One is a "Heavy Unit" wielding dual energy blasters, homing missiles, and a mean [[Shockwave Stomp]]. Oh, and you fight him in relatively close quarters (with some terrain for cover), too. He becomes a standard [[Giant Mook]] no later than than '''level two''', when the game reveals its true [[Nintendo Hard]] colors: They can ''survive'' one or two [[Boom Headshot|Boom Headshots]] from your [[Sniper Rifle]] (depending on your aim), and are frequently stationed out in wide open areas where they are free to launch their homing missiles at you from ''really'' long range. And that's not counting that nearby reinforcements will wonder what they're shooting at and start searching for you themselves. Fun game though.
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[[Category:Video Game Characters]]
[[Category:Degraded Boss]]
[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]
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