This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Working Title: No, this boss: From YKTTW
Necromas: Should there be a sub-trope for when the bait and switch boss seems to be solely for the purpose of saving your ass, since the original boss probably would have wiped the floor with you? Example: In Resident Evil 4, Salazer sends one of his two body guards to kill you. The guy is nigh invulnerable were it not for some conveniently placed canisters of liquid nitrogen to weaken him with (and even then, he takes a lot of ammo to kill). When an obvious boss fight is set up with Salazer, alongside his remaining body guard who appears to be identical to the one that was such a pain to kill (and there is no liquid nitrogen around this time), they instead let a zombie vagina plant thing (a staple of the RE series) eat them both to create a new boss that is a merger of all 3. So, Boss + Sub Boss that's already nigh invulnerable + Zombie Plant thing = ... the easiest boss fight in the game. This new boss can't even hurt you if you just stand in one place shooting it, and hitting the trigger commands to dodge his attacks every now and then.
Trigger Loaded: Being the one who created this trope in the first place, it occurs to me now that this has a lot of overlap with Trick Boss. The main difference seems to be that the fake boss in a Trick Boss is actively fought, while the fake boss in a Bait and Switch Boss doesn't even get a move in. As well, you often kill the trick boss yourself, while the Bait and Switch Boss kills the fake boss for you. Should probably enhance the definitions and move around some of the examples. Maybe lump as well. Thoughts?
Nezumi: Merging might be good, or clarifying the differences. But until then...
- It dates back to Symphony of the Night: in the boss room a big snake marked as "Scylla Wyrm" puts a very easy fight. Then, as you enter the next room, the water in it starts to rise and you must avoid being touched by it since water hurts Alucard; on the room above you find Scylla, who sends off several Scylla Wyrms to protect herself.
- Even in the remake of Rondo of Blood there's one: a single Water Hydra with the usual boss life bar threatens you, but when you kill it and climb above it you find out it was just one head of the four-headed Hydra, and to take the monster out you must destroy its heart.
Under current rules, these are Trick Bosses, not Bait and Switch Bosses. Despite the first fight actually being part of the larger boss, it isn't killed by the actual boss, and killing isn't what provokes the actual boss to show up, so it doesn't qualify under either version of Bait And Switch Boss. Scylla is already listed at the other page, moving Rondo of Blood.
- In Chrono Trigger you fight a creature with a regular enemy sprite, called "Flea?". After which, the real Flea shows up and the actual boss battle begins. The character who kills the false Flea sees ALL of his MP drained away, and you don't have the chance of restoring them before engaging the real Flea.
Nezumi: And another one that's actually a Trick Boss, and already covered over there. I think we need to lump these, simply because, even with the difference spelled out, people can't seem to recognize it.
