History Main / BossVulnerability

%%* Most bosses in the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games.
* Most [[RolePlayingGame Role-Playing Games]] use this type by their very nature, though other types do crop up sometimes.

* Every boss in ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' is always vulnerable, except for [[spoiler:Iosa]]'s second form (wait it out) and the {{final boss}} (mixed). However, if you don't have any big guns, Proxima and the final boss become full Wait Them Out examples.

* Most bosses in ''VideoGame/HeroCore''.
* Ridley and Mother Brain in the ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' games.
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry''.
* Every boss in ''VideoGame/EternalDaughter'' except for the final one, which must be waited out.
** The FinalBoss requires you to go through a short but difficult series of actions in order to make him vulnerable, at which point you can hit him once before having to make him vulnerable again. [[MarathonBoss It's a long fight]].
%%* Most bosses in ''VideoGame/LaMulana''.
%%* Most bosses in ''VideoGame/CaveStory''.
* The most common boss-type in the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series. Almost every boss falls into this, and the ones that don't usually need to be waited out.
* The second phase of the fight with Skeldritch in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks''.
* Both Omega Supreme's and Trypticon's first phase in ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron''. The former constantly attacks while you're trying to destroy all of his turrets, and the latter unleashes a near non-stop swath of destruction while the player has to time shooting power cells next to his weapon systems to overheat them.
* Most bosses in 2D ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games are always vulnerable (with a few exceptions) but either can't be reached immediately, or are protected by their attacks. Usually it's not safe to try attacking, and is better to wait them out, but in some cases [[SpeedRun impatient gamers]] can exploit MercyInvincibility to get all the hits in very quickly at the expense of their rings.
* In contrast to [[AttackItsWeakPoint the other bosses]], the lion-boar mammal in ''VideoGame/ChimeraBeast'' is fully vulnerable.
* In ''VideoGame/GriefSyndrome'', a ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' BeatEmUp, most [[EldritchAbomination Witches]] blur the line, but fall on this side by being ''almost'' always attackable. [[GardenOfEvil Gertrud]] and [[SandWorm Charlotte]] have jumping attacks which take them off the screen, but otherwise can always be hit. [[DoppelgangerSpin Kirsten]] switches places with her decoys fairly regularly, but can always be hit when she isn't in that animation. [[CastingAShadow Elsa Maria]] goes underground to move, but comes right back up.
* Most bosses in ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'', ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' (and its sequels), and ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' work like this, though quite a few have [[AttackItsWeakpoint spots where attacks will do more damage]].
* The Blights and most overworld bosses in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild''. [[SandWorm Molduga]] is an exception to this though.
* Most of the bosses in ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' are constantly vulnerable; the difficulty lies in continuing to attack their hitbox while dodging their attacks.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}}'', where the Heresiarch casts a barrier spell that makes him invulnerable and reflects most attacks. While two classes have an attack that can pierce the barrier, Baratus (the fighter) does not.
* Most bosses in the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' games.

* The Liquid Metal Processor and the final form of the [[FinalBoss Cruiser Tetron]] in ''VideoGame/HeroCore''.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has the first boss, the Mist Dragon, which can only be attacked when it is not in its mist form (the game tells you this, after you get hit with a nasty ice attack, if you try).
** This is copied by Wingraptor in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', [=Ymir/Whelk=] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', and Guard Scorpion in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. Like Mist Dragon, each of them serves as both first boss, and tutorial for the realtime battle system.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' has a few bosses (and regular enemies) that are practically invulnerable until they are [[BreakMeter staggered]].
** Lots of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' bosses, though after you max out the crystarium, many of the [[BonusBoss mission marks]] go down faster if you just go all out instead of trying to work out a stagger.
* Most bosses in the ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' games.
* The Cloud Child in ''VideoGame/TheSpiritEngine2'' has a separate life bar that acts as a shield. Once you reduce it to zero, the cloud child will be stunned until the shield regenerates to full, during which you can attack its main life bar.
** The first form of the FinalBoss is also invincible until a certain amount of time has passed. Its second and third forms are also difficult to damage until you destroy at least one of its [[FlunkyBoss flunkies]], since they'll block your hits otherwise.
* Every boss in ''VideoGame/LyleInCubeSector'', except for the semifinal one, which is always vulnerable.
* The FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/EternalDaughter''.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', Shadow Rise cannot be damaged, but halfway through the fight, she leaves and you end up fighting Shadow Teddie instead.
* Most bosses in the 3D ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games, as well as those in the ''VideoGame/SonicRush'' series, though there are a few bosses that subvert it.
* Most in ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'', although some sections and bosses are Type 1. Thankfully, their vulnerable sections tend to be frequent.
* A few bosses in ''Mega Man'' fall into this category, notably ones that can fly out of your reach such as Gyro Man in ''VideoGame/MegaMan5'' (unless you have Gravity Hold).
* The Batomys in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' is only vulnerable the round immediately after it's fired its main cannon and exposes its radiators to cool down.
* Most bosses in the ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Legend of Zelda]]'' series are this, with most of the exceptions being in the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI first]] [[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink two]] games (and the aforementioned Skeldritch round 2), which are always vulnerable. Typically, you have to use the item you just got in the current dungeon to make the boss vulnerable to your sword.
* Both Omega Supreme and Trypticon's second phases in ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron''. For Omega Supreme, you need to stay alive until a power cell comes up from the ground, then corrupt it (and, thus, him) with Dark Energon before he can be hurt. With Trypticon, you need to wait out his bombardment and the Dark Energon parasites until Trypticon exposes the heat vents in his chest.

* In ''VideoGame/GriefSyndrome'', the two hardest bosses get a bit of FakeDifficulty from this. [[FinalBoss Walpurgis Night]] has three phases most of the time (with a fourth KaizoTrap phase before the final vulnerable phase), and she is only vulnerable during one of these phases. [[BonusBoss Oktavia von Sekendorf]] likes to pull a DoppelgangerSpin which makes her nigh-impossible to hit when she's ''not'' attacking, and fades into the background for one of her attacks.
* King K. Rool is often this in the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' series, as are a few other bosses where you have to wait for barrels to be dropped first before you can attack. Boss Dumb Drum is this taken to its extreme; you don't actually attack him at all, you should wait out his attacks until he eventually explodes (except in the GBA version, where he just acts like other examples of this boss type).
* This is a fairly common setup for bosses in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' [[GameMod ROM hacks]].
** Almost every boss in ''VideoGame/BrutalMario'' works this way, to the point some hackers call such boss 'carol bosses', after the name of ''Brutal Mario''[='=]s creator.
** Most bosses in the ''Scarlet Devil Mario'' series are like this, with the player having to wait until they generate a Goomba or Koopa to be able to hurt them.
** The final boss of ''ASPE Mario'', some of the ''VIP'' series bosses, and most fights in ''Super Mario LD'' are also like this, with the player only being able to damage the boss when it drops a random throw block after every three or four attacks.

* Most bosses in the ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series are either this or always vulnerable.
* The FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' is ''technically'' vulnerable to most of your weapons, though even the [[InfinityMinusOneSword MPFB Devastator]] is not going to get you very far. The most effective way to injure him is to wait out his attacks until he uses a powerful ChargedAttack, then [[TennisBoss reflect it back at him]].
* Pinstripe Potoro in ''Videogame/CrashBandicoot1996'' is a mix. He's vulnerable at any point when not firing his gun (and technically vulnerable before then but you'd get torn to pieces trying), but only for the first three of six hits. For the last three, he becomes invincible, and you have to wait for his gun to jam.
* [[spoiler:Corbenik]] in Project Franchise/DotHack. [[spoiler:Despite having glitched/"infinite" HP, your attacks still deal normal damage. In reality, all three of its forms have 7000 HP. The second one will put up Ultimate Defense partway through the battle, which makes him invincible until the plot kicks in.]]
* Ghirahim from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword''. While he's not exactly immune to any of your attacks, he's a master swordsman and can easily block slow or sloppy attacks. You'll have to be smart about how you swing your Wiimote in order to get past his defenses. This gets subverted somewhat for your final battle with Ghirahim; the first phase is a RingOutBoss, while the second phase is type 2.
* In ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'', some bosses are vulnerable at all times (usually early bosses), some are only vulnerable after certain conditions (such as Fire Leo), and some are perpetually vulnerable but can be stunned for a longer combination of attacks.
* The [[FinalBoss final boss]] of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}} FES: The Answer'' normally has a decent amount of defense, but after stopping its "Dark Embrace" attack, it will be unable to move for a turn. During this turn, it will take ''much'' more damage from anything.
* ''[[VideoGame/ShadowWarrior2013 Shadow Warrior]]'''s bosses tend toward this. The glowing parts of their armor need to be hammered with gunfire until the Ki Line is exposed in order to destroy that part of the armor. Destroying all of the armor destroys the boss.
* [[FinalBoss Giygas]] in ''VideoGame/CognitiveDissonance'' is technically Always Vulnerable, but has such astronomically high defense that even with the game allowing your attacks to actually reduce his HP (unlike in ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' or ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994''), [[PuzzleBoss it's functionally impossible to beat him with brute force alone]]. There are five ways to end the fight with some semblance of victory, all of which require the fight to progress to the point where Gieuge, the boss's previous form, goes OneWingedAngel, and which method is used determines [[MultipleEndings the ending]] the player receives. Without spoiling any details of the endings, the ways to win are:

* The final boss in ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' has three phases that uses a mixture of always vulnerable and waiting it out. The first phase has an energy shield that renders him completely immune to damage until he's parried, but you have to wait for an attack to parry. The shield initially takes damage until it turns from blue to red, but if the first phase lasts long enough he activates an orange shield that blocks everything, forcing you to dodge and wait. The second and third phases have the boss always open to attack, but he's also constantly attacking Samus, requiring you to dodge attacks while attacking back when given the chance.

* [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=]]] in ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'', who is also a PuzzleBoss.
* [[spoiler:Dark Cecil]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''. Kind of a given, since it's the TropeNamer for SheatheYourSword.
* The tentacles in ''VideoGame/HalfLife1''. They are a PuzzleBoss immune to weapons that takes some running and turning on fuel and electricity to defeat.

* A rather odd variation in ''VideoGame/DarkChronicle'': The TrueFinalBoss, [[spoiler:Dark Element]], changes its color between red and blue every so often during your fight. When it's red, only Max can hurt it. When it's blue, only Monica can hurt it. Unfortunately, it's never vulnerable to the Ridepod or its [[GameBreaker Nova Cannon]].
* The Grand Mother from ''VideoGame/HeroCore'' is a bit of an odd example. It's completely invincible until you destroy its flunkies a few times, at which point it [[TurnsRed goes berserk]] and loses its invincibility entirely.

** Same for the Gargantua, though it is vulnerable to explosives and energy weapons. The first time it is encountered though, the players arsenal is most likely insufficent to defeat it.

* [[FinalBoss Giygas]] in ''VideoGame/CognitiveDissonance'' is technically Always Vulnerable, but has such astronomically high defense that even with the game allowing your attacks to actually reduce his HP (unlike in ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' or ''VideoGame/EarthBound''), [[PuzzleBoss it's functionally impossible to beat him with brute force alone]]. There are five ways to end the fight with some semblance of victory, all of which require the fight to progress to the point where Gieuge, the boss's previous form, goes OneWingedAngel, and which method is used determines [[MultipleEndings the ending]] the player receives. Without spoiling any details of the endings, the ways to win are:

* The final boss in ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' has three phases that uses a mixture of always vulnerable and waiting it out. The first and last phase has the boss open to attack but are also constantly attacking Samus, requiring the player to dodge attacks while attacking back when given the chance. The second phase has the boss completely immune to damage, so the player has to avoid their attacks and wait for an opportunity to parry and attack to initiate a quick time event.

* The Blights and most overworld bosses in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild''. Molduga is an exception to this though.

'''Always Vulnerable'''
The boss is susceptible to damage at all times, and usually attacks relentlessly. This type can be difficult due to the fact that the player must concentrate on both avoiding the boss' attacks and hurting the boss at the same time.

May be a DamageSpongeBoss or perhaps a RushBoss. May or may not receive MercyInvincibility when you hit it, depending on the genre.

'''Wait Them Out'''
The boss cannot be harmed by any means until a certain amount of time has passed or a certain action is performed, at which point they will become vulnerable for a short period of time. This type can be easier due to the fact that you only have to concentrate on survival, and not have to balance offense and defense. However, it can be annoying if you miss the window of opportunity, since you will have to go through the attack pattern again before getting a chance at another shot.

AttackItsWeakPoint and TacticalSuicideBoss are common tropes for this type. HoldTheLine may be involved if exposing the vulnerability is time-based.

'''Mixed'''
A mix of the above. The boss is technically vulnerable at all times, but can become stunned or otherwise more susceptible to the player character's attacks. This may happen after a certain time has elapsed, or a special action or actions may be required.

A BarrierChangeBoss may classify under this or the "Wait Them Out" variety, but that depends on the player's ability to attack its weakness or the conditions that trigger the barrier change.

'''Miscellaneous'''
Any boss that doesn't fit into any of the above categories. These are likely to be SheatheYourSword battles, {{Puzzle Boss}}es, or some other type of atypical battle.

AttackItsWeakPoint and TacticalSuicideBoss are common tropes for this type.

* Most of the bosses in ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' are like this.

* Most bosses in the 3D ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games, as well as those in the ''VideoGame/SonicRush'' series, though there are a few bosses that subvert it.

* Most bosses in 2D ''SonicTheHedgehog'' games are always vulnerable (with a few exceptions) but either can't be reached immediately, or are protected by their attacks. Usually it's not safe to try attacking, and is better to wait them out, but in some cases [[SpeedRun impatient gamers]] can exploit MercyInvincibility to get all the hits in very quickly at the expense of their rings.

* In ''VideoGame/GriefSyndrome'', a ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' BeatEmUp, most [[EldritchAbomination Witches]] blur the line, but fall on this side by being ''almost'' always attackable. [[GardenOfEvil Gertrud]] and [[SandWorm Charlotte]] have jumping attacks which take them off the screen, but otherwise can always be hit. [[DoppelgangerSpin Kirsten]] switches places with her decoys fairly regularly, but can always be hit when she isn't in that animation. [[CastingAShadow Elsa Maria]] goes underground to move, but comes right back up. And [[FinalBoss Walpurgis Nacht]] occasionally goes into the background to attack from there, but eventually moves back to the foreground. The only boss who is vulnerable the entire time is [[BonusBoss Oktavia]], but she’s ThatOneBoss to compensate.

* In ''VideoGame/GriefSyndrome'', a ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' BeatEmUp, most [[EldritchAbomination Witches]] blur the line, but fall on this side by being ''almost'' always attackable. [[GardenOfEvil Gertrud]] and [[SandWorm Charlotte]] have jumping attacks which take them off the screen, but otherwise can always be hit. [[[DoppelgangerSpin Kirsten]] switches places with her decoys fairly regularly, but can always be hit when she isn't in that animation. [[CastingAShadow Elsamaria]] goes underground to move, but comes right back up.

** Normal Ending: Lose to Giygas; progressing the plot is far is considered a sufficient victory by the plot, [[spoiler:even though all of the protagonists die]].

* In ''VideoGame/GriefSyndrome'', a ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' BeatEmUp, most [[EldritchAbomination Witches]] blur the line, but fall on this side by being ''almost'' always attackable. [[GardenOfEvil Gertrud]] and [[SandWorm Charlotte]] have jumping attacks which take them off the screen, but otherwise can always be hit. [[[DoppelgangerSpin Kirsten]] switches places with her decoys fairly regularly, but can always be hit when she isn't in that animation. [[DarkIsEdgy Elsamaria]] goes underground to move, but comes right back up.

* The bosses in ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' are like this.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}}'', where the Heresiarch casts a barrier spell that makes him invulnerable and reflects most attacks. While two classes have an attack that pierce the barrier, Baratus (the fighter) does not.

* Most bosses in the 3D ''SonicTheHedgehog'' games, as well as those in the Sonic Rush series, though there are a few bosses that subvert it.

* Both Omega Supreme and Trypticon's second phases in ''VideoGame/TransformersWarForCybertron''. For Omega Supreme, you need to stay alive until a power cell comes up from the ground then corrupt it (and, thus, him) with Dark Energon before he can be hurt. With Trypticon, you need to wait out his bombardment and the Dark Energon parasites until Trypticon exposes the heat vents in his chest.
* ''VideoGame/ChimeraBeast'' has three. The first boss (two lamprey things) are only vulnerable when they expose their heads to attack, the third (a GiantFlyer) can only be damaged when it opened its mouth to attack, and the fourth (an alien croc) could only be harmed when his head was out of the water ''and'' his mouth was opened.
* In ''VideoGame/GriefSyndrome'', the two hardest bosses get a bit of FakeDifficulty from this. [[FinalBoss Walpurgis Night]] has three phases most of the time (with a fourth KaizoTrap phase before the final vulnerable phase) only one of which she is vulnerable during. [[BonusBoss Oktavia von Sekendorf]] likes to pull a DoppelgangerSpin which makes her nigh-impossible to hit when she's ''not'' attacking, and fades into the background for one of her attacks.
* King K Rool is often this in the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'' series, as are a few other bosses where you have to wait for barrels to be dropped first before you can attack. Boss Dumb Drum is this taken to its extreme; you don't actually attack him at all, you should wait out his attacks until he eventually explodes (except in the GBA version where he just acts like other examples of this boss type).

** Almost every boss in ''VideoGame/BrutalMario'' works this way, to the point some hackers call such boss 'carol bosses', after the name of ''Brutal Mario'''s creator.

* In ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe'', some bosses are vulnerable at all time (usually early bosses), some are only vulnerable after certain conditions (such as Fire Leo), and some are perpetually vulnerable but can be stunned for a longer combination of attacks.
* The [[FinalBoss final boss]] of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}} FES: The Answer'' normally has a decent amount of defense, but after stopping its "Dark Embrace" attack, it will be unable to move for a turn. During this turn, it will take MUCH more damage from anything.

* [[FinalBoss Giygas]] in ''VideoGame/CognitiveDissonance'' is technically Always Vulnerable, but has such astronomically high defense that even with the game allowing your attacks to actually reduce his HP (unlike in ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' or ''VideoGame/EarthBound''), [[PuzzleBoss it's functionally impossible to beat him with brute force alone]]. There are five ways to end the fight with some semblance of victory, all of which require the fight to progress to the point where Gieuge, the boss's previous form, goes OneWingedAngel, and which method is used determines [[MultipleEndings the ending]] the player receives. Without spoiling any details of the endings, the ways to win are:
** Normal Ending: Lose to Giygas; progressing the plot is far is considered a sufficient victory by the plot, [[spoiler:even though all of the protagonists die]].
** Good Ending: Use PK Harmony to calm Giygas down and [[spoiler:restore Gieuge]], cutting the fight short without either side perishing.
** Secret Ending: Use Nightmare Empower to debuff Giygas's defense to manageable levels and whittle down his HP the old-fashioned way. This leads to an extra chapter instead of immediately ending the game.
** Paradox Ending: Use Song on Giygas, cutting the fight short and initiating [[TrueFinalBoss an alternative boss fight]] which is Always Vulnerable.
** Joke Ending: Use the ballpeen hammer to [[ArmorPiercingAttack ignore Giygas's defense stat entirely]] and whittle down his HP the old-fashioned way.

** The final boss of ''ASPE Mario'', some of the ''VIP'' series bosses and most fights in ''Super Mario LD'' are also like this, with the player only being able to damage the boss when it drops a random throw block after every three or four attacks.

* Every Phase [[spoiler:except Corbenik, which is mixed instead]] in Project Franchise/DotHack. The bosses take damage just fine -- their HP count is just glitched up, making them undefeatable. Data Draining them fixes this and also causes them to lose a lot of their special attacks, including their own Data Drain.

* Most bosses in the ''Zelda'' series are this, with most of the exceptions being in the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda first]] [[VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink two]] games (and the aforementioned Skeldritch round 2), which are always vulnerable. Typically, you have to use the item you just got in the current dungeon to make the boss vulnerable to your sword.

* ''Franchise/DevilMayCry''.

* Most bosses in the ''{{Mario}}'' games.

* The Grand Mother from ''HeroCore'' is a bit of an odd example. It's completely invincible until you destroy its flunkies a few times, at which point it [[TurnsRed goes berserk]] and loses its invincibility entirely.

* In ''GriefSyndrome'', a ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' BeatEmUp, most [[EldritchAbomination Witches]] blur the line, but fall on this side by being ''almost'' always attackable. [[GardenOfEvil Gertrud]] and [[SandWorm Charlotte]] have jumping attacks which take them off the screen, but otherwise can always be hit. [[[DoppelgangerSpin Kirsten]] switches places with her decoys fairly regularly, but can always be hit when she isn't in that animation. [[DarkIsEdgy Elsamaria]] goes underground to move, but comes right back up.

* In ''GriefSyndrome'', the two hardest bosses get a bit of FakeDifficulty from this. [[FinalBoss Walpurgis Night]] has three phases most of the time (with a fourth KaizoTrap phase before the final vulnerable phase) only one of which she is vulnerable during. [[BonusBoss Oktavia von Sekendorf]] likes to pull a DoppelgangerSpin which makes her nigh-impossible to hit when she's ''not'' attacking, and fades into the background for one of her attacks.

* The bosses in ''VideoGame/Cuphead'' are like this.

* Every boss in ''EternalDaughter'' except for the final one, which must be waited out.

* The FinalBoss of ''EternalDaughter''.

* In ''ViewtifulJoe'', some bosses are vulnerable at all time (usually early bosses), some are only vulnerable after certain conditions (such as Fire Leo), and some are perpetually vulnerable but can be stunned for a longer combination of attacks.

* Most bosses in ''VideoGame/{{La-Mulana}}''.
* Most bosses in ''VideoGame/CaveStory''.

* Every boss in ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'', except the final one which is mixed, and [[spoiler:Iosa]]'s second form, which must be waited out. However, if you wish to fight them without big guns (which you probably will on a pacifist run) Proxima and the final boss become full Wait Them Out examples.

* Most bosses in the ''KingdomHearts'' series are either this or mixed.

* Most bosses in the ''KingdomHearts'' series are either this or always vulnerable.