History Main / LoneWolfBoss

** ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' has Francis, the third boss. He is not allied with Count Bleck; he's just some StrawFan who kidnapped your ExpositionFairy. Though he can appear in [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Castle Bleck]] if you're stupid enough to tell [[PaperThinDisguise an obviously disguised Mimi]] you'd rather not meet him. He still only ends up there because he was abducted.

* ''WebAnimation/GamingAllStars'': The vast majority of villains in ''The Ultimate Crossover'' and ''Remastered'' aren’t connected to or even ''aware'' of [[spoiler:[[GreaterScopeVillain Polygon]] [[VideoGame/PlaystationAllStarsBattleRoyale Man]] or [[VideoGame/StarFox Andross]]]]. The same could be said for ''2'', in which pretty much none of the antagonists have any affiliation with or knowledge of [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/EarthboundBeginnings Giygas]]]].

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'': Harm is the only villain that is not revealed to have been (and is permanently defeated before he is even known about by, let alone becomes) part of The Light throughout the show's two seasons.

!!Examples include:

* Benny and Clyde from ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' - they're not affiliated with any of the gangs working for Slick, and it's strongly implied that they fight Alex and Ryan solely because the latter two intruded on the former two's hangout.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

** In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency'', [[SuddenSequelHeelSyndrome ally-turned-villain]] Straizo is the only antagonist who isn't affiliated with the Nazis or the Pillar Men. He'd attacked Speedwagon and his companions to use their blood to activate the stone mask and become a vampire, but he didn't want to awaken Santviento, the Pillar Man inside the cave where he found the mask.
** In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'', the members of Team Bucciarati fight against members of the Hitman Team, who want to kidnap Trish (the girl Bucciarati's team is protecting) to help uncover the Boss of Passione's identity, and later [[spoiler:the Boss and his own personal assassins after they go rogue and plot to take him down]]. Sale and Zucchero are the only foes unaffiliated with either group, and are simply greedy mafiosi who want to steal Polpo's hidden treasure.
** Gwess from ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean'' is the only antagonist Stand user in the part to not be affiliated with the BigBad in any way. She even tried befriending Jolyne after she's defeated, although Jolyne wants none of it.

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Jabba the Hutt is a crime lord unaffiliated with TheEmpire. However, he's the main antagonist in Han Solo's personal story arc who plays a prominent role in ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi''.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'': The main antagonists of the game whom Solid Snake goes up against are the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad six members of FOXHOUND]], those being [[EvilTwin Liquid Snake]], [[TheGunslinger Revolver Ocelot]], [[PsychicPowers Psycho Mantis]], [[DeadlySniper Sniper Wolf]], [[MagicalNativeAmerican Vulcan Raven]], and [[MasterOfDisguise Decoy Octopus]]. The only boss fight that has nothing to do with them whatsoever is against [[CyborgNinja Grey Fox]], Snake's old brother-in-arms who was assumed dead after the [[VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake events of Zanzibarland]], and who merely wishes to challenge Snake one-on-one [[spoiler:while also secretly aiding him as Deepthroat.]]

** ''VideoGame/WarioLand2'': The Bubble King and Ghost bosses, which initially start by capturing the Big Bad (temporarily). Kind of their own antagonists, considering that beating them gets an alternate ending.

* Mystery G in ''Neo VideoGame/{{Contra}}''. He has no connection to the villains of the game, yet he's only there as a mini-boss in Mission 2 to make sure that Bill Rizer is the ultimate soldier. [[spoiler:He also pulls a HeroicSacrifice halfway through the game, depending on how good your performance was throughout the game.]]

Often overlaps with GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere, but while the Giant Space Flea From Nowhere comes from out of, well, nowhere, the Lone Wolf Boss is often established into the plot, and occasionally even plays a crucial role in some way, but has nothing to with the aims of the BigBad. Compare PlotIrrelevantVillain and VillainOfAnotherStory.

** In ''Mists of Pandaria'', King Lei Shen aka the "Thunder King" has been a threat to the non-Mogu inhabitants of Pandaria for millennia, but he is not related to/doesn't owe his power to/isn't corrupted by the malevolent spirits known as the Sha, which spawned from the essence of the slain Old God Y'Shaarj.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': Each ExpansionPack usually feature several raid dungeons the {{final boss}}es of which are connected to the expansion's own main threat/final boss. There are some exceptions:

** In the "Vanilla"/''Classic'' original game, Hakkar the Soulflayer is the only boss not related to either the Iron Dwarves/Ragnaros, the Black Dragonflight, the Qiraji or the Scourge. All of these have multiple dungeons or raids (or both) and long questlines, while Hakkar only has Zul'Gurub.

** In ''Mists of Pandaria'', King Lei Shen aka the "Thunder King" has been a threat to the non-Mogu inhabitants of Pandaria for millennia, but he is not related/doesn't owe his power to/isn't corrupted by the malevolent spirits known as the Sha.

** In the "Vanilla"/''Classic'', Hakkar the Soulflayer is the only boss not related to either the Iron Dwarves/Ragnaros, the Black Dragonflight, the Qiraji or the Scourge. All of these have multiple dungeons or raids (or both) and long questlines, while Hakkar only has Zul'Gurub.

** In the "Vanilla"/''Classic'', Hakkar the Soulflayer is the only boss not related to either the Iron Dwarves/Ragnaros, the Black Dragonflight, the Qiraji or the Scourge. All of these have multiple dungeons or raids (or both), while Hakkar only has Zul'Gurub.

* In ''VideoGame/MegaManX6'', Dynamo isn't helping Gate and his Nightmare Investigators, nor X and the maverick hunters; he's just there to gather some nightmare souls (which on this game would be something like Experience points) to make himself stronger.

* ''VideoGame/DonaldDuckGoinQuackers'': Depending on which version of the game, the first boss or most of the bosses aren't affiliated with the final boss and BigBad Merlock (the one exception being the Game Boy Advance version, where Merlock is the only boss faced in the game):

* Brady Culture in the first episode of ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'' is the only antagonist not working for [[spoiler: Hugh Bliss.]]

** Mayor Leonard from ''Covenant''simply wanted to get his hands into the fabled treasure located under Granny Lott's house. He hired the protagonists to get ride of the sole obstacle in his way: a masked vigilante known as Grand Papillon.

* The boss Kandar (also known as Robbin' Hood in some localizations) appears in several ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' games, and he's usually a thief who has no connection whatsoever to the BigBad, except in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'' where [[spoiler: the main villain hired him to attack the protagonist.]]

* Most killers in ''VisualNovel/SuperDanganronpaAnother2'' tend to be members of ''Void''. All except the culprits of Case 3: [[spoiler: the [[CreepyTwins Otonokoji twins]] [[ManchurianAgent Hibiki]] and [[TheSociopath Kanade]]]].

*** [[spoiler: Lockhart]] is just working to improve his own position, and has nothing to do with the heir of Slytherin.

* ''WebAnimation/GamingAllStars'': The vast majority of villains in ''The Ultimate Crossover'' and ''Remastered'' aren’t connected to or even ''aware'' of [[spoiler: [[GreaterScopeVillain Polygon]] [[VideoGame/PlaystationAllStarsBattleRoyale Man]] or [[VideoGame/StarFox Andross]]]]. The same could be said for ''2'', in which pretty much none of the antagonists have any affiliation with or knowledge of [[spoiler: [[VideoGame/EarthboundBeginnings Giygas]]]].

A BossBattle, ArcVillain, or other minor villain that isn't teamed up/associated with or even [[EvilVersusEvil opposing]] the BigBad, but is instead a lone wolf. They aren’t anyone's lackey; they’re a villain on their own.

* Dante plays this role in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4''. Nero thinks he is the Big Bad at first, since the first thing he does is interrupting a sermon and killing the local pope. He's actually just here to get Yamato back and discover what the Order of the Sword (for which Nero works) is up to. Then Nero discovers that the Not Quite Dead Pope in question is the real Big Bad, so Dante sort of becomes an AloofAlly.

** Mayor Kevin from the first game is responsible for the grotesque monsters that appear at night in Bistritz. He claims they're merely a biproduct of his research in turning lead into gold.

** Roy [=MacManus=] is an Irish ganster who now controls Chicago after Al Capone ended in Alcatraz. His unrequired crush on Capone's sister Edna drives much of the Chicago arc.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'', Chapter 6 involves the player fighting some bandits in the Firene-Brodia border, and Chapter 13 involves a battle with bandits in Solm. Neither group is tied to the main antagonists- the Fell Dragon Sombron, the Elusian army(which worships him) or the Corrupted(his mindless minions).