History Main / BossRoom

* In ''VideoGame/AxiomVerge'', red doors usually (but not always) indicate a boss room on the other side, especially when placed opposite a normal door to a SavePoint. The larger boss rooms will have the camera pan out when the player enters. They are colored red on the map.

* The Boss Rooms in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' all feature the same largely-identical colonnaded antechamber and a WarpPoint back to the first floor. Of course, it also helps that your MissionControl tells you when to expect a BossBattle in advance a few floors before that (and continues to do so [[AnnoyingVideoGameHelper every other floor thereafter]]).

* ''Franchise/DeusEx'' has made use of this trope multiple times:

* In ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', the secret level for Episode 3 looks exactly like the map for Mission 1, until you get to the end of the level, and step on what you think is the exit teleporter. A wall drops instead, exposing a Cyberdemon ([[DegradedBoss the really tough boss of Episode 2]], who is also fought in a similar area), and the key card you need to acquire is behind him, so you either have to kill him or run well enough to get past him, steal the key and leave.
** While the Cyberdemon here is still every bit as powerful as the encounter in Episode 2, this "rematch" can potentially be made easier due to the fact that Episode 3 gives you access to ''{{t|ropeNamer}}he'' {{BFG}}. But said BFG is hidden away in the levels before, it's quite possible to fight him again without it. [[OhCrap In which case...]]
** Not to mention the eighth mission of each episode.
** ''Doom II: Hell on Earth'' has [=MAP20:=] Gotcha!, with an extremely large room with two pillars in the center. Upon entering the room, the pillars lower to reveal both a Cyberdemon ''and'' a Spider Mastermind. Played with in that it's actually set up for you to [[SetAMookToKillAMook deliberately invoke a battle between the two]], after which you can kill the weakened victor.

** ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin'' has a large chamber behind the throne room that is entirely unlike any other room in the game -- a giant, flat stone table, in the middle of a stream running through a cave, with no walls or other climbable spots. Three separate boss fights take place here.

* In the first ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' games, boss rooms lie behind significant-looking double doors and are shaped to fit the player's entire viewing area. They ''are'' the perfect place to take a little [[RegeneratingHealth health-regenerating]] rest after the boss has been defeated.
* ''VideoGame/YouHaveToBurnTheRope'', as a parody of boss battles, has this as the only room.

** In ''VideoGame/TwilightPrincess'''s Arbiter's Grounds, both the boss and miniboss aren't immediately visible: The boss room has a house-sized dragon skull that doesn't do anything until Zant reanimates it), while the miniboss room only has a very big sword tied to the floor with lots of ofuda-carrying ropes that just screams [[SchmuckBait DO NOT CUT THESE ROPES]].

** An earlier boss battle against the bandit leader Twinblade takes places in a circular clearing, with lesser bandits forming an edge.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has a purple barrier signifying entry to the boss room. When the fighters have stepped onto the boss' room. A countdown of 15 seconds will commence. For those that haven't reached the boss' room by the end of the 15 seconds timer. The room will be sealed off. Only way of getting entry, is if all fighters (except you) have lost the fight. This later however, was rectified as a message would ask you if you would like to join in the battle.

** The level itself is usually also a clear hint that you are about to fight a boss. There are the typical castles in the 2D games (often with a big door leading into the BossRoom), the rather surreal Bowser levels in ''Super Mario 64'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy''... although the 3D games at least spread bosses among the normal star objectives aswell. Depending on the star, it can be more or less obvious from the start.

** While the Cyberdemon here is still every bit as powerful as the encounter in Episode 2, this "rematch" can potentially be made easier due to the fact that Episode 3 gives you access to ''[[TropeNamer the]]'' {{BFG}}. But said BFG is hidden away in the levels before, it's quite possible to fight him again without it. [[OhCrap In which case...]]

* The {{Boss Room}}s in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' all feature the same largely-identical colonnaded antechamber and a WarpPoint back to the first floor. Of course, it also helps that your MissionControl tells you when to expect a BossBattle in advance a few floors before that (and continues to do so [[AnnoyingVideoGameHelper every other floor thereafter]]).
* Robot Masters in ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series even get pre-BossRoom hallways with ominously locking gates. The "Dr. W" sign can be seen outside many of these hallways when Wily's not [[HijackedByGanon hiding behind someone else]]. The pre-BossRoom hallway was originally designed as an obvious checkpoint, so that the player would be able to ready their special weapons and such. There were even enemies to get weapon energy from, if needed. However, starting with ''2'', all the pre-BossRoom hallways became ''very'' featureless, and are typically viewed as a brief though unnecessary breather before the boss. The original game was supposed to be on disk, and the long pre-boss chamber was to allow the game time to spin up and load the data for the boss battle. When they switched to cartridges this was no longer necessary so they did away with the enemies in subsequent games.

* The BossRoom of ''VideoGame/SilentHill4'' is large and symmetrical, but most of the space is taken up with a dramatic centerpiece, leaving the net combat effect of battling in a curved corridor.

* The ones in ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' are quite obvious, except [[spoiler:Krotera's]]. It's not like you wouldn't know anyway, though, since all of them are after the end of the level proper. Except Asha.
* The room where you fight the Joustasaurus in ''[[VideoGame/BackyardSports Backyard Skateboarding]]'' has all the qualities of a boss room...except it is small.

The room in a video game where the boss and the player exchange blows. Typically features an imposing entrance door, and decor fitting the boss villain's {{Motif|s}}.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' games make it painfully obvious with a huge door that is also locked, often with a big, mean looking, distinct keyhole that needs the dungeon's Big Key (or Master Key) to be opened, even though getting the Key can sometimes be pretty easy compared to actually getting to said door. To make it even more obvious, the room is marked with a skull once you pick up the compass.

** The original ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' didn't have the door to the boss room be any different from any other; the only clue the boss was in there was the sound of his roars.

** Despite having more open areas, ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' pulls this off, with most of the boss fights taking place on notable empty platform locations and sealing the player in during the fight. The most straightforward case is the Darkest Underground location under the Sand Kingdom, where the only way to go is forward, dropping to a large no-return circular platform, beneath a large statue head lodged in the ceiling. Of course, the platform is an arena, and the head comes crashing down as it is the boss, Knucklotec. Mollosque-Lanceur in the Seaside Kingdom completely averts this, however, since the entire map becomes the arena once his fight really starts.

* Despite having more open areas, ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' pulls this off, with most of the boss fights taking place on notable empty platform locations and sealing the player in during the fight. The most straightforward case is the Darkest Underground location under the Sand Kingdom, where the only way to go is forward, dropping to a large no-return circular platform, beneath a large statue head lodged in the ceiling. Of course, the platform is an arena, and the head comes crashing down as it is the boss, Knucklotec. Mollosque-Lanceur in the Seaside Kingdom completely averts this, however, since the entire map becomes the arena once his fight really starts.

[[TooDumbToLive That it's a perfect place to take a little rest!]]''"

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'': The room where you can actually fight the BigBad is about average for most dungeon chambers -- rather cramped considering his size and reach -- but it is symmetrical. The room where you finish him off is the massive interior of a volcano.

* Fights against Bowser in the ''SuperMarioBros'' games usually take place in a lava-filled room, or one with a bottomless pit. Normally these hazards are [[PuzzleBoss how he meets his demise]], except in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', where he'll simply jump back onto the platform after being tossed off it.

-->-- '''Gordon Frohman''', ''{{Concerned}}''

* The room where you fight the Joustasaurus in ''[[BackyardSports Backyard Skateboarding]]'' has all the qualities of a boss room...except it is small.

** ''VideoGame/TwilightPrincess'' has an surprise aversion of the circular motifs with the snow dungeon's miniboss. The room is circular on the minimap, but when you enter it, you're restricted to a very tight corridor, facing an entirely armored LizardMan wielding an EpicFlail (the room appears to have been some kind of storage for the cannon that are littered around the place).