History Main / DegradedBoss

** A twist occurs in the first two games for the NES: the Malice Four from the first ''Ninja Gaiden'' appears in ''Ninja Gaiden II'' as mooks who are literal clones of the originals created by Ashtar. The clones are the same size as Ryu and are killed with a single strike like other regular mooks.
** Done both in-game and in-story in ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos''. The basic {{Mooks}} you first fight are in fact clones of the first boss of the original game. Clones of the games subsequent three bosses also appear, usually in GiantMook form, though Kelberos comes back in full Boss form.

* This happens quite often in ''VideoGame/SpiderManAndVenomMaximumCarnage'' for the SNES, most notably with the two [[PrehensileHair long-haired]] girls who act as the boss of the first stage and quickly become annoyingly common enemies.

* This happens quite often in ''[[VideoGame/MaximumCarnage Spider-Man and Venom: Maximum Carnage]]'' for the SNES, most notably with the two [[PrehensileHair long-haired]] girls who act as the boss of the first stage and quickly become annoyingly common enemies.

* Most bosses in ''VideoGame/ShuihuzhuanLiangshanYingxiong'' returns as common enemies, notably the first stage's DualBoss, Zhang-San and Li-Shi, becomes regular mooks, while the corrupt Abbot, Magistrate and BattleButler gets recycled into lesser enemies.

* All the bosses except the last in ''VideoGame/{{Fishgun}}''. The Big Boy (a giant sentient peach who repeatedly tries flattening you with a RollingAttack), Big Girl (a living pear with a ChestBlaster) and Sour Boy (a sentient lemon that tries chomping you down) all returns as common enemies, who still retains the abilities of their boss counterparts. In the case of Sour Boy, you're cornered by a dozen mook lemons the very ''second'' the boss is killed!

* ''VideoGame/EternityTheLastUnicorn'''s first boss, the Undead Warmonger, returns as GiantMook foes. There's also the two MiniBoss, a pair of sorceresses who returns as regular enemies in the last stage.

* In ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest'', the "elemental orb" boss from the Ginso Tree becomes a common enemy in and near TheVeryDefinetelyFinalDungeon.

* ''VideoGame/GunfighterTheLegendOfJesseJames'' has Jack Carson's personal guards, professional killers in black overcoats who appears in the first stage as a WolfpackBoss (four more shows up in the LocomotiveLevel as another boss) and later as EliteMook enemies. Be warned that even as mooks, they're deadshots who can hit Jesse with ease.

* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII''.

** Debustega was the strongest of the Ikustega in the second area and was the second boss of the game. [[spoiler:Bolbox, the Final Boss, summons a pink copy of him during the fight with him. Debustega is the only boss to be given this treatment, as the other creatures summoned by Bolbox are stronger variants of regular enemies]].

* ''VideoGame/Haven2020''

* ''VideoGame/TheBattleCats'' uses this liberally. Almost every enemy in the game, even the former [[FinalBoss final]] or {{Superboss}}es, will show up again later in the game, either in [[ZergRush greater numbers]] or [[TookALevelInBadass under a greater strength magnification.]] As an example, [[WakeUpCallBoss Teacher Bun Bun]] appears as the final boss of [[NoobCave Empire of Cats]], but becomes quite common later on (either himself, or as a [[UndergroundMonkey variant]]) as a beefy EliteMook.

* In ''Literature/TheJenkinsverse'', the Hunter [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership Alpha-of-Alphas]] reserves the species' most advanced cybernetic enhancements for itself, turning it into a house-sized juggernaut able to take on the entire [[SuperSoldier HEAT]] at once. After it's defeated by HEAT and [[TheStarscream usurped by the Alpha Builder]], these enhancements are distributed to Alphas and Betas in the field, turning the latter into sentient tanks and making the former able to go toe-to-toe with HEAT operators [[spoiler:and even ''win''.]]

** ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger''/''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'' had a two-tier Mook system. One of the EliteMooks actually served as a MonsterOfTheWeek in an early episode. By the time the heroes came onto their own, the EliteMooks didn't appear stronger than their regular counterparts.

* Inverted with the Uber Soldat in ''VideoGame/ReturnToCastleWolfenstein'', as you first fight a prototype Mook version, then a tougher boss version. Then played straight when the Uber version itself becomes a normal enemy alongside the Proto Soldats.

* In ''VideoGame/{{ULTRAKILL}}'', Every enemy introduced as a boss within the mid-layer levels eventually appears as a regular enemy deeper within Hell, or at least within the [[EndlessGame Cyber Grind]] survival mode.

* In ''VideoGame/{{ULTRAKILL}}'', all the enemies that appear as bosses in mid-layer levels appear as regular enemies later in the game or at least in cybergrind. The boss versions of the said enemies have more health.

* ''VideoGame/Pikmin2'': The Burrowing Snagret -- the boss of the third dungeon you visit -- appears as a regular enemy later on in the game (and not that much later), and often in pairs. The Emperor Bulblax, which was the FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/Pikmin2001'', appears also as a boss in one dungeon, but later on occur as mere mini-bosses and in pairs. The Beady Long Legs, the boss of what is likely to be the fourth dungeon, appears in the overworld after Day 30.

*** Some bosses from earlier in the game also show up later. If you revisit the Floating Ruins in later chapters, you will occasionally encounter Boris, the boss from the first mission there. He has exactly the same stats as last time, therefore making him much easier to defeat.

*** The BonusDungeon has a lot of these. In the 100-floor dungeon, you encounter bosses on every 20th floor, and after beating the 80th floor boss, all the level bosses you've beaten thus far will start showing up as normal enemies beyond the 81st floor. Considering how incredibly powerful they are (the last two have over '''10 times''' the HP of the final boss!), it's generally a VERY good idea to run if you run into them, as they're NOT worth the effort to beat a second time.

*** Ultima and Omega Weapon, usually {{Superboss}}es, have been relegated to random encounters for this game. Surprisingly, Omega is the easier of the two.
*** ''X-2'' also has bosses from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' return as regular encounters. Because the mechanics of the games are so different, they can be much easier or more difficult than you remember.

A {{boss|Battle}} who, after being defeated, returns later in the game, not as a boss, but as a regular enemy instead (sometimes more than one appearing at once). Sometimes, the boss you fought is the "strongest" of the monsters; sometimes you've attained a new weapon which is [[ElementalRockPaperScissors particularly effective against that boss]], or just leveled up enough that you're able to take on several at a time. In some games, later enemies will be [[PaletteSwap palette-swapped]] versions of the boss's sprite/model, and may actually be ''stronger'' than the original boss form. It makes you wonder why ''they're'' [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking not in charge]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'' plays around with this:
** Excluding the final boss Tchernobog, all the boss enemies in the original game appear as regular enemies in the episode(s) following their boss fight. Each one also has a subordinate version of themselves that first appears in the episode they're the boss of -- regular gargoyles appear from the beginning to foreshadow the stone gargoyle Cheogh, smaller spiders start appearing in the second episode for Shial, and hellhounds make their debut in the third episode to pave the way for Cerberus.
** The expansions both invert this in some manner. For the third-party ''Cryptic Passage'', while the subordinate enemies all show up at one point or another throughout the episode, the bosses themselves remain a one-time encounter at the very end of the episode, Shial and Cheogh as the BossRush and Cerberus, now [[MesACrowd two at once]], getting to be the final boss. The first-party ''Plasma Pak'', meanwhile, manages to make a challenging final boss out of yet another PaletteSwap of the bog-standard Cultist, of all things -- given [[LawOfChromaticSuperiority red robes]], a faster rate of fire, more health, and the ability to [[TurnsRed transform into a hideous beast]] when you kill him the first time.
** ''Blood II: The Chosen'' mixes it up. The final boss, as expected, doesn't have time to show up again (even in the expansion, which uses an entirely different final boss), while the Prophet from halfway through Chapter 1, the Behemoth from the end of Chapter 2, and the Death Shroud from early in Chapter 3 become more common enemies in later levels. The Naga from the end of Chapter 1, however, remains a one-time encounter, while the three Undead Chosen from the second level of the last chapter appear only one other time near the end of the expansion to act as a more spread-out boss rush, and Gideon takes more of a SequentialBoss route, fighting you in one form as the last boss of Chapter 3 before running away and fighting you again in OneWingedAngel form at the start of Chapter 4's first level.

* ''VideoGame/TheBattleCats'' uses this liberally. Almost every enemy in the game, even the former [[FinalBoss final]] or {{Superboss}}es, will show up again later in the game, either in [[ZergRush greater numbers]] or [[TookALevelInBadass under a greater strength magnification.]] One particularly notable example: [[TheDreaded Berserkory]] is introduced as a boss in his first appearance, with special music and [[FlunkyBoss only a few]] [[FragileSpeedster Brollows]] [[FlunkyBoss for support]]. The very next level includes no less than ''three'' Berserkories, no less powerful than before.

* Lickers from the ''Film/ResidentEvilFilmSeries''. In the [[Film/ResidentEvil2002 first movie]], a single licker is the last obstacle for Alice and the other heroes and takes an insane amount of punishment before it's eventually killed. The [[Film/ResidentEvilApocalypse second movie]] literally re-introduces Alice as a zombie-killing badass by having her kill three lickers in under two minutes. They're degraded even further with later films containing large numbers of lickers easily killed by the heroes.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'' are filled with degraded boss versions of bosses from earlier entries in the series. Facade goes from 6th dungeon boss in ''Link's Awakening'' to 2nd dungeon miniboss in ''Oracle of Seasons'', while ''Oracle of Seasons''[='=] fourth dungeon miniboss, Agunima, and ''Oracle of Ages''[='=] final one, the Blue Stalfos, are expies of ''Agahnim'', a major story villain from ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]''. On the other hand, the ''Oracle'' games also ''invert'' this trope with Vire, the sixth dungeon miniboss in both games, which uses the exact same sprite as a regular enemy from the final dungeon of ''Link's Awakening'' and similar tactics, though this miniboss version naturally takes a lot more hits and moves [[LightningBruiser even quicker.]] On top of that, Vires were ''very'' unremarkable enemies in the original Legend of Zelda, wandering around the room and splitting into two even more unremarkable bat enemies called Keese -- the weakest enemies in every game they're in -- if hit (at least, until you're powered up enough to take Vires out in one hit). This Vire is a fast flier with ''three'' types of attack, intelligent enough to try and dodge your sword, and who does much more damage than the original, and when you've finally defeated him, the two bat enemies he splits into are similarly much bigger of a nuisance than a Keese.

** In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'', you must rescue the princess from the Dragon early on. Later, dragons are all over the place. The Axe Knight also first appears as a boss guarding Erdrick's Armor, then as a recurring enemy in the FinalDungeon.
** In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestII'', Atlas, Pazuzu and Belial are [[BigBad Hargon]]'s three lieutenants. Later DQ games would recycle their designs as common enemies and mini-bosses.

* One of the first bosses in ''VideoGame/Prototype2'' is a customized gunship that has a ton of health and the unique ability to fire multiple salvos of missiles in a row (at the expense of having a CoolDown). More gunships don't show up until the third act and are noticeably weaker in all respects, even ignoring that you unlock the ability to instakill them at that point.

** ''The First Encounter'' has the Aludran Reptiloid, Highlander, which appears as a boss. When it reappears in subsequent installments of Serious Sam, it has been demoted to a mook. Ironically, in ''The Second Encounter'', they can actually withstand ''more'' punishment before dying than they did as a boss. It also follows a variation of ''Doom''[='=]s Baron of Hell/Hell Knight dichotomy, as a smaller and weaker Common variation later shows up in more frequent numbers.
** In ''Serious Sam 3'', the first Adult Arachnoid is counted as a boss. It subsequently appears as a normal enemy and soon a smaller version of them also appears. The same goes for the first Major Biomechanoid, Technopolip, Khnum, and Witch-Bride you encounter.

* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'':
** The bosses of the shareware episode of the first game, the Barons of Hell, become more common in the retail episodes. They're just as tough as they were as bosses, though the energy weapons (the plasma gun and the {{BFG}}) that you acquire later on make quick work of them.

** ''VideoGame/DoomII'' adds the Hell Knights, a PaletteSwap of the Baron with half the health [[GlassCannon but the same power]]. Combined with the addition of the double-barreled shotgun, they show up more than the Barons without unbalancing things too drastically. Also, the Arachnotrons are basically smaller versions of the Spider Mastermind with plasma cannons instead of a chaingun.

* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'': Both the Tube Foxes fought inside the Water Dragon and Ichiro, a shark monster found in the Sunken Ship, are introduced as mini-bosses, but can be fought again later in the games overworld as regular, albeit incredibly rare, enemies. The Spider Queen, the first boss of the game, also counts as the Bandit Spider enemies are fought in the same way and closely resemble her, but are not meant as bosses, just slightly tougher enemies.