The Unfought/Playing With
Basic Trope: A major antagonist in a Video Game is never faced in battle for some reason.
- Straight: Duke Eugene Darrows has been a thorn in the heroes' sides ever since he joined Emperor Evulz. However, they never get a chance to fight him head-on during their quest.
- Exaggerated: Though it looks as though they'll be able to take out the Duke several times, he always manages to evade them and sic minions on them instead.
- Justified: Duke Darrows doesn't have any fighting skills and wouldn't stand much of a chance against the heroes, so he avoids a direct confrontation at all costs.
- Inverted: Duke Darrows is a badass who could dismantle the heroes with ease, so they must avoid fighting him at all costs.
- Every battle in the game is against Duke.
- Subverted: The heroes chase him down and take him on.
- Double Subverted: However, after the battle ends, the Duke they fought is revealed to a body double minion.
- Parodied: Duke Darrows looks like a total Badass but at the final boss fight he simply leaves and you fight a minor mook from the beginning of the game that Took a Level in Badass.
- Deconstructed: Duke Darrows ends up a Karma Houdini and the party ends up embittered that the man behind it all got away.
- Reconstructed: Sir Alexander has a change of heart and slays Darrow so the heroes won't have to deal with having human blood on their hands.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: All major antagonists are faced in battle.
- Enforced: The creators want to avoid an Anticlimax Boss, so they keep the player from ever fighting the Duke.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: ???
- Defied: Duke Darrows tries to run away. Rosemary chases after him swearing that she'll kill him painfully for what he did to her village. She catches up to him for a Duel Boss fight against him.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Played For Laughs: Duke Darrows is obviously a simpering coward who flees any sign of danger -- frequently tripping all over himself and even getting hurt in the process of running away.
- Played For Drama: The Duke betrayed Becky's homeland to The Empire, and she joined the heroes hoping for revenge. But he just keeps slipping through her fingers...
- Back to The Unfought