Flunky Boss: Difference between revisions

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* Many, many boss battles in ''[[Cave Story]]'' are of this type. The battle with the Undead Core actually has ''two'' levels of this, as one of the flunkies is itself a [[Mook Maker]].

** This is because the gameplay mechanics are made such that any boss battle which does not involve either enemies who drop powerups or bullets which are treated as enemies and drop powerups would be terribly unforgiving, weakening your weapons after you take a few hits. While quite a few bosses don't do this, they're generally easy ones, with the notable exception of [[Big Bad|the Doctor]].

* The [[Warmup Boss]], first real boss, and final boss of ''[[Beyond Good & Evil (video game)|Beyond Good and Evil]]'' are all Flunky Bosses. For the first two bosses, the flunkies essentially serve to give you something to do while the boss readies its ~~attack--they~~ consist mostly of harmless, low-power [[Mooks]]. In the final boss, you get hit with multi-stage, [[Shapeshifter Guilt Trip|guilt-tripping]] baddies that do manage to pose a serious threat, and must be utilized to both attack the boss and to advance the fight in general.

* The [[Warmup Boss]], first real boss, and final boss of ''[[Beyond Good & Evil (video game)|Beyond Good and Evil]]'' are all Flunky Bosses. For the first two bosses, the flunkies essentially serve to give you something to do while the boss readies its attack—they consist mostly of harmless, low-power [[Mooks]]. In the final boss, you get hit with multi-stage, [[Shapeshifter Guilt Trip|guilt-tripping]] baddies that do manage to pose a serious threat, and must be utilized to both attack the boss and to advance the fight in general.

* Every boss in the ''[[Nicktoons Unite!]]'' series but the final boss of the fourth game, ''Globs of Doom'', is this. Though the second bosses of ''Nicktoons Unite'' and ''Globs of Doom'' ([[SpongeBob SquarePants|Plankton]]'s [[Giant Enemy Crab]] mecha and [[Invader Zim|GIR]] gone crazy and stuff again respectively) are of the "sit back until you kill their mooks" variations. Hell, [[The Fairly Odd Parents|Mr. Crocker]] even shouts out for "guards, GUARDS!" or that he "wishes for ASSISTANCE!" when summoning enemies.

* In ''[[Overlord]]'': Oberon, Sir William, Khan, {{spoiler|the Wizard}}, and {{spoiler|the Forgotten God}}. Other than the fact that you [[Player Character|play as him]], the [[Evil Overlord|titular Overlord]] fits the qualifications as well.

* Natia in ''[[Bomberman|Bomberman Hero]]'' falls somewhere between this and [[Dual Boss]]~~--or~~ more likely, combines the two. The first time you face her, she's accompanied by Cronus, who seems to be on equal footing with her, but must be defeated before you can damage her (although she'll float around and be a nuisance during the Cronus battle unless you hit her platform with a few bombs, fitting this trope. The second time, she again has an equal in the form of a second Natia, but the trope applies in full force as an endless supply of miniature Cronuses will fall from the ceiling and try to interfere with your battle.

* Natia in ''[[Bomberman|Bomberman Hero]]'' falls somewhere between this and [[Dual Boss]]—or more likely, combines the two. The first time you face her, she's accompanied by Cronus, who seems to be on equal footing with her, but must be defeated before you can damage her (although she'll float around and be a nuisance during the Cronus battle unless you hit her platform with a few bombs, fitting this trope. The second time, she again has an equal in the form of a second Natia, but the trope applies in full force as an endless supply of miniature Cronuses will fall from the ceiling and try to interfere with your battle.

* Bad Girl in [[No More Heroes]] has an [[That One Attack|annoying habit]] of batting her gimp minions at you.

* Most of the bosses in [[Transformers: War for Cybertron]] do this. The most notable is the boss fight against Soundwave in the Autobot campaign. He hides behind an energy shield while activating automated turrets and then sending out one of his familiar minions (Frenzy, Rumble, and Laserbeak) to attack you. Taking out the minions is the key to beating him, as the only time he leaves the safety of his energy shield is to retrieve the body of a fallen minion.

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*** Her boss, Gecko Moria, also qualifies. After losing his entire crew in battle, he decides [[Zombie Apocalypse|to create a new, unkillable, crew,]] and rely solely on their power. It's not until his [[Villainous Breakdown]] that he does any fighting himself.

** After the [[Time Skip]], {{spoiler|Demalo Black's plan to take on the New World hinged on his becoming this. He tricked several pirate crews several times stronger than himself into becoming his followers by making them believe that he was Luffy, intending to use them to take out any threats that Luffy's reputation didn't scare away first.}}

* The third Greater Fiend in the [[Xbox]] version of ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'', Marbus is interesting about this. The first time you enter his realm, he taunts you, but rather than fight, summons a previously killed boss to fight you (Yep, he's a [[Flunky Boss]] that uses ''other bosses as flunkies''). You kill the boss and leave with a plot coupon, then return to face another previously defeated boss, then he just gets ticked off and finally attacks you, while summoning a seemingly infinite stream of lesser fiends in groups of three.

* The third Greater Fiend in the [[Xbox]] version of ''[[Ninja Gaiden]]'', Marbus is interesting about this. The first time you enter his realm, he taunts you, but rather than fight, summons a previously killed boss to fight you (Yep, he's a Flunky Boss that uses ''other bosses as flunkies''). You kill the boss and leave with a plot coupon, then return to face another previously defeated boss, then he just gets ticked off and finally attacks you, while summoning a seemingly infinite stream of lesser fiends in groups of three.

** He's not the only one, though; there's Masakado the samurai, second boss of the game. On difficulties above normal ''every'' boss has flunkies that drop by at every 25% of the life bar you knock off them.

* ''[[Batman: Arkham Asylum]]''. Pretty much all of 'em except [[Advancing Boss of Doom|Killer]] [[Marathon Boss|Croc]].

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* All the bosses in ''[[Battle City|Tank Force]]'' except the final boss have normal enemies fighting alongside it. These enemies must also be defeated to win the round.

== [[MMORPG~~|MMORPGs~~]] ==

== [[MMORPG]]s ==

* ''[[City of Villains]]'' lets you assume the role of one of these with the "Mastermind" player class.

** And in both that and ''[[City of Heroes]]'', the hardest foes are rarely found without at least a few Mooks on hand.

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== [[Platform Game]] ==

* The final boss of ''[[Jak and Daxter|Jak II]]'', which features the metalhead king and his underlings.

* ''[[Psychonauts]]'' has the Mega-Censor from the stage "Sasha's Shooting Gallery", and Jasper from "Gloria's Theater". The Hulking Lungfish mid-game boss may also ~~count--she~~ spits crawdads and sucker fish at you, but their threat level is so tiny as to almost be nonexistent.

* ''[[Psychonauts]]'' has the Mega-Censor from the stage "Sasha's Shooting Gallery", and Jasper from "Gloria's Theater". The Hulking Lungfish mid-game boss may also count—she spits crawdads and sucker fish at you, but their threat level is so tiny as to almost be nonexistent.

* ''[[Shinobi]]'' for the [[PlayStation 2]] plays with this one - every single boss functions this way, and while the player ''can'' ignore the minions and go straight for the boss [[Boring but Practical|and still win]], experienced players will wait around for minions to spawn and use them to build kill combos, as doing this will allow them to kill all but the first two bosses (yes, even the final boss) ''in a single hit''.

* The final fight with the vizier in ''[[Prince of Persia]]: The Sands of Time''. The vizier sends out several clones to fight in his stead. His actual body is pretty frail, dying within 2 sword strikes.

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== [[Real Time Strategy]] ==

* The [[Recurring Boss]] Empress Bulbax in ''[[Pikmin]] 2'' is a [[Flunky Boss]] in her second and third appearances. She continuously spawns Bulbax Larvae. While incredibly fragile (a single punch from one of your captains will turn them into slime), they are capable of instantly killing your Pikmin, and they're a nuisance to deal with.

* The [[Recurring Boss]] Empress Bulbax in ''[[Pikmin]] 2'' is a Flunky Boss in her second and third appearances. She continuously spawns Bulbax Larvae. While incredibly fragile (a single punch from one of your captains will turn them into slime), they are capable of instantly killing your Pikmin, and they're a nuisance to deal with.

* Nearly every boss in the ''[[Dawn of War]] II'' campaigns, with more difficult bosses spawning larger numbers and more powerful types of flunkies. Indeed, the main reason The Avatar and Bonesmasha are [[That One Boss|so frustrating]] is their tendency to summon ''bloody hordes'' of flunkies that include plenty of vehicles and elite soldiers.

== [[Roguelike]] ==

* The grand finale of ''[[Nethack]]'' features this over the final five planes; the Elemental Plane Of Air and the Astral Plane are by far the worst. Theoretically, the [[Horsemen of the Apocalypse|Riders]] are supposed to be the bosses, but the bigger problem is the sheer volume of [[Mooks]] and [[Mook Maker~~|Mook Makers~~]].

* The grand finale of ''[[Nethack]]'' features this over the final five planes; the Elemental Plane Of Air and the Astral Plane are by far the worst. Theoretically, the [[Horsemen of the Apocalypse|Riders]] are supposed to be the bosses, but the bigger problem is the sheer volume of [[Mooks]] and [[Mook Maker]]s.

* In ''[[Angband]]'', several of the uniques can summon monsters, and this can quickly get out of hand unless you make an anti-summoning corrior. Morgoth can even summon other uniques you haven't killed yet.

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** ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' has two bosses that will revive their baddies. Attacking them will be a waste of time.

** ''[[Final Fantasy XIII]]'' has two bosses (the final boss in Palum Polum and {{spoiler|Barthandelus}} where you're basically forced to kill the minions (you can kill them regularly, but they are nearly invulnerable and you face 5 enemies hitting you hard, making it very complicated)

* ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'' has Demyx. His weapon is a sitar, but while it's not as threatening as a sword, he uses it to conjure up watery clones of himself. There are a couple of ways he can do ~~this-- the~~ first isn't so scary. He'll usually just summon two or three of them, and they 'might' attack ~~you--but~~ most of the time, they float around aimlessly, basically just getting in your way as you're fighting him. You can even use the clones against him to attack him. Sounds like a good deal, right? Until he summons about fifty all at once, and you have to defeat all of them in forty seconds or less, or it's an instant game over.

* ''[[Kingdom Hearts II]]'' has Demyx. His weapon is a sitar, but while it's not as threatening as a sword, he uses it to conjure up watery clones of himself. There are a couple of ways he can do this—the first isn't so scary. He'll usually just summon two or three of them, and they 'might' attack you—but most of the time, they float around aimlessly, basically just getting in your way as you're fighting him. You can even use the clones against him to attack him. Sounds like a good deal, right? Until he summons about fifty all at once, and you have to defeat all of them in forty seconds or less, or it's an instant game over.

* ''[[Super Mario RPG]]: Legend of the Seven Stars'' loves these. Mack, Punchinello, Booster, Jonathan Jones (who converts to a [[Duel Boss]], challenging Mario to a one-on-one fight, when his flunkies are dead), Belome II, Megasmilax, Czar Dragon, Exor, and Smithy himself.

** ''[[Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'' also features a few of them. The most interesting example are beans spit at the plumbers. If you jump on them with the [[Action Command]], they roll back and turn into mooks. If you jump ''over'' them, they just roll offscreen. If you don't jump, you get hit, obviously, but that also prevents them.

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** Also played straight with {{spoiler|Real Tri-Edge}} who summons a different combination of three orbs at regular intervals. The orbs either, 1) Shoot light beams at you, 2) Make the boss invulnerable until you destroy it or 3) Heals him. Extra fun when he summons a combo with 2-3-3.

* Several bosses (and even some [[Demonic Spider|not-quite-bosses]]) in the ''[[Geneforge]]'' series continually make new creations until either they or you die. Unlike most examples, these creations generally [[No Ontological Inertia|stick around]] even after said flunky boss dies.

** From the same developers, ''[[Avernum]]'' and ''[[Avadon]]'' have a lot of these, too, although they're generally less likely to be summoners. The latter game has a particularly odd variant in [[Wake Up Call Boss|Zhossa Mindtaker]], who never attacks you directly during his first fight, instead calling it a "game"~~--you~~ earn a point every time you drop a flunky's HP to 1 and force him to heal it, he'll earn a point if his flunkies kill you and he devours your corpse. (And yes, that's pretty much how he phrases it.) Earn enough points, and he'll eventually flee, leaving his flunkies to die.

** From the same developers, ''[[Avernum]]'' and ''[[Avadon]]'' have a lot of these, too, although they're generally less likely to be summoners. The latter game has a particularly odd variant in [[Wake Up Call Boss|Zhossa Mindtaker]], who never attacks you directly during his first fight, instead calling it a "game"—you earn a point every time you drop a flunky's HP to 1 and force him to heal it, he'll earn a point if his flunkies kill you and he devours your corpse. (And yes, that's pretty much how he phrases it.) Earn enough points, and he'll eventually flee, leaving his flunkies to die.

* Just about every one of the Desian Grand Cardinals from ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]''. Magnius just has some generic Desians, Kvar has the Energy Stones, Forcystus has the Exbones, and the second battle with Pronyma features the Idun. Also the Ktugach with its Ktugachlings, the Adulocia with its Amphitra, the Toize Valley Mine Defense System with its Orbits, and the Gatekeeper with Angel Swordians.

* A lot of bosses in ''[[Tales of Phantasia]]'' come with several mooks ([[Actually Four Mooks|out of nowhere]]) to aid them. Some of the bosses (such as Dhaos in the past) may even be helpless while their minions are still alive.

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* The Hanged Man in ''[[Persona 3]]'' spends half its attacks summoning minions. This can become very annoying, since the very existence of some of these minions will make the boss float above the battlefield, unable to be attacked.

** Almost every boss in ''[[Expansion Pack|The Answer]]'' comes with a few minions. Usually you'll have to abuse the combat system to stop them from ever attacking if you don't want to [[Nintendo Hard|die horribly]].

* ''[[Persona 4]]'' has Shadow Yukiko and Shadow Kanji, as well as the God Hand. Even some ordinary [[Mook~~|Mooks~~]] can summon minions.

* ''[[Persona 4]]'' has Shadow Yukiko and Shadow Kanji, as well as the God Hand. Even some ordinary [[Mook]]s can summon minions.

* ''Dengeki Gakuen RPG: Cross of Venus'' has an odd variation: The archer boss on the first visit to the ''[[Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu]]'' world will start sending out [[I Know Madden Kombat|soccer players]] when low on health. However, these versions are effectively invincible but they only perform their rushing attack 'till they run off-screen. And she sends out waves of them,giving the impression of a stampede. <s>No wonder why [[Shakugan no Shana|Shana]] is flat-chested.</s>

* Rather common in ''[[Mana Khemia]]''. Plenty of optional bosses do this, as well as the first boss and the final boss.

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* Nearly every stage 5 boss in the Windows ''[[Touhou]]'' games seems to have a gimmick: [[Bullet Time]], repositioning bullets, etc. For ''Subterranean Animism'', this trope seems to be Rin Kaenbyou's gimmick, as she is accompanied by various minor enemies for many of her spellcards, the worst being those creepy zombie fairies that burst into a shower of bullets when destroyed, only to revive again within seconds.

* The Cave Ceiling boss in the horizontal scrolling [[Shoot'Em Up]] ''[[Area 88|U.N. Squadron]]'' (SNES version). It's this large moving machine on the ceiling whose [[Attack Its Weak Point|weak point]] can only be attacked from below, and its downward flamethrower attacks shouldn't pose much trouble. The problem? There's a conveyor belt on the floor where homing missile launchers AND upward-firing flamethrowers will come in from both sides, making your life a ''[[Nintendo Hard|living hell]]''. Unsurprisingly, its [[That One Boss]].

* Nearly half the bosses in ''[[Hero Core]]''. Notably, the Reaper Drone takes this trope to its logical extreme, being able to use its flunkies as both shields and weapons ''simultaneously''. The Grand Mother is also this on multiple levels, as it spawns Mothers, which are themselves [[Mook Maker~~|Mook Makers~~]]. The Guardian also has statues in his room that come to live once you damage him enough, and the Liquid Metal Processor can only be harmed after its flunkies are destroyed.

* Nearly half the bosses in ''[[Hero Core]]''. Notably, the Reaper Drone takes this trope to its logical extreme, being able to use its flunkies as both shields and weapons ''simultaneously''. The Grand Mother is also this on multiple levels, as it spawns Mothers, which are themselves [[Mook Maker]]s. The Guardian also has statues in his room that come to live once you damage him enough, and the Liquid Metal Processor can only be harmed after its flunkies are destroyed.

* The jet bomber boss in the ''[[Raiden]]'' series sends waves of mini-jets after you, and the [[Base on Wheels|mobile fortress]] boss in the second game can spawn turrets.

== [[Stealth Based Game]] ==

* ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'': Most bosses (targets) have guards with them, although in many cases they can be bypassed through smart stealth/surprise. Played completely straight with {{spoiler|Al-Mualim}} and his [[Ancient Astronaut]] [[Phlebotinum]] which allows him to teleport and summon ghostly versions of himself and your other targets... or are they? The sequel inverts this with Ezio uses the same (or a similar) piece of [[Phlebotinum]] against the ''Pope'' and the [[Magic Staff|Papal Staff]]. ''Brotherhood'' uses this too with the final battle with {{spoiler|Cesare Borgia}}, where mooks will appear to aid {{spoiler|Cesare}} in every phase... for all the good that does, as he's immune to counter kills or kill streak executions unlike {{spoiler|[[Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep"|Il Carnefice]]}}. (In contrast, [[Praetorian Guard|Papal]] [[Elite Mook|Guards]] are immune to counter kills but ''not'' kill streaks, which actually makes them more survivable on their own.)

** Actually exploitable in ''AC2'' once you get the Poison ~~Blade -- time~~ the injection just right and get out of sight, and in his death throes the poisoned bodyguard may inadvertently kill the target for you, as several players have proved in gameplay videos.

** Actually exploitable in ''AC2'' once you get the Poison Blade—time the injection just right and get out of sight, and in his death throes the poisoned bodyguard may inadvertently kill the target for you, as several players have proved in gameplay videos.

** Ironically, ''Brotherhood'' essentially makes Ezio himself a Flunky ~~Boss -- from~~ late-Sequence 4 through Sequence 8 and in post-story free-roam, he can summon Assassin apprentices to make kills for him or to fight alongside him in Open Conflict... but if the player is not pressed for time, it's usually to make kills for Ezio.

** Ironically, ''Brotherhood'' essentially makes Ezio himself a Flunky Boss—from late-Sequence 4 through Sequence 8 and in post-story free-roam, he can summon Assassin apprentices to make kills for him or to fight alongside him in Open Conflict... but if the player is not pressed for time, it's usually to make kills for Ezio.

* In ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]'', [[Amazon Brigade|Crying Wolf, Screaming Mantis and Raging Raven]] are all examples. However, the first two would be laughably easy were it not for the regular enemies, while the latter is actually easier ''because'' of them.

** In [[Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker]] when you fight Armored Vehicles, Tanks and Choppers they are helped by Escorts. Also the Chrysalis and it's Kidnappers.

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** There are various Mooks conveniently loitering along the path of your pursuit of Vinnie Cognitti, who function in much the same way. (The level where you take on B.B. is similar, but he barely counts as a boss seeing as this is the level when you get the [[Infinity+1 Sword|Jackhammer]].)

** Jack Lupino has two henchmen flanking him when he deigns to join the fray... after about two ''dozen'' others have been whaling on you from two sides when you have no proper cover; it's actually a bit of a relief when he shows up, even if he is [[Made of Iron]] and [[Justified Trope|tripping out on V.]]

** The closest thing to a completely straight example are the Trio, three [[Mini Boss|Minibosses]] / [[Giant Mook~~|Giant Mooks~~]] spread across the level who have a couple of regular enemies lurking nearby. In the PC version you don't trigger the "[[Mini Boss]] defeated " flag until you kill these Mooks as well, not that you're likely to notice.

** The closest thing to a completely straight example are the Trio, three [[Mini Boss|Minibosses]] / [[Giant Mook]]s spread across the level who have a couple of regular enemies lurking nearby. In the PC version you don't trigger the "[[Mini Boss]] defeated " flag until you kill these Mooks as well, not that you're likely to notice.

* Every [[Boss Battle]] in ''[[Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard]]'' includes flunkies, except the ones that are [[Quick Time Event|Quicktime Events]].

* Stay Puff in [[Ghostbusters]] The game.