History Main / MooksButNoBosses

Note this trope is about the absence of bosses ''in a genre where their presence is the norm''. An individual level with no bosses in a game where most or all the other levels have at least one each does not count as an example; ''all'' levels must be boss-less. {{Endless Game}}s and ConstructionAndManagementGames are generally bossless for obvious reasons, as well as {{Strategy Game}}s where the notion of "Boss Battle" is meaningless (potential aversions may be added as examples though). Not to confuse with WolfpackBoss, where a group of {{Mook}}s are the bosses in their own right. And of course, no need to list the games where there are no enemies in the first place.

* ''Videogame/BioShock2'' has no bosses, except for some EliteMooks like the Big Daddies and the Big Sisters (and even then the latter are only optional if you harvest/rescue all the Little Sisters), and the Wales brothers and Subject Omega, who are simply tougher versions of regular enemies, with more health and a posse of helpers.

* The ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series is known for this, with ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'' and ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'' being the only real exceptions. In particular, the boss fights in ''Halo 2'' were so highly criticized that Creator/{{Bungie}} decided to not put traditional boss fights in any of their subsequent games (with the possible exception of ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}''[='s=] Scarab fights, and the fight with the Monitor).

* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUsPart2'' downplays it, by having one unambiguous boss fight [[spoiler:The Rat King in the lower floors of the Hospital as Abby]].

** ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUsPart2'' downplays it, by having one unambiguous boss fight [[spoiler:The Rat King in the lower floors of the Hospital as Abby]] as well as two arguable examples similar to the one from the first game in the fights against [[spoiler:Ellie at the end of Abby’s part of the main story, and against Abby at the end of the epilogue.]]

* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' and ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' opts out of boss fights in exchange for finales involving huge hordes of the infected. These fights are often coupled with some other task (get from point A to point B, fill the car with gas, restart the generator, etc.) and while climactic, involve no real bosses. Granted you might get a few more Tanks or other special infected than usual, but since they can all be encountered at random intervals during normal levels, they can't really be considered bosses.

* Creator/{{SNK}}'s ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28sixKPgwNg T.N.K. III]]'' has a few GiantMook vehicles, but no traditional bosses, with the game cutting to a "Congraturation" message at the end of the last area. Averted in the NES adaptation, ''Iron Tank''.

* Most targets in the ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'' series go down just as easily as regular enemies, unless they are scripted or wearing body armor (Which doesn't help if they're being strangled from behind). The catch is to [[HardLevelsEasyBosses actually get to them]], which is more difficult than it sounds. In the earlier games major assassination targets were much tougher than regular Mooks, but could still be killed with a headshot or taken out stealthily. This has been downplayed in the most recent games starting with ''[[VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney Blood Money]]''. The ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'' game is the most extreme example, without a single assassination target that's any tougher than a normal Mook (with the exception of an Iron Man-expy in one of the bonus levels).

* ''Electroman'' by Epic Megagames.

* ''VideoGame/TheEndTimesVermintide'' features five heroes against Warhammer's Skaven in a mission-based game similar to ''VideoGame/Left4Dead''. Until its third DLC of missions, the only "bosses" were the usually one-per-level Rat Ogres, who are mindless mountains of muscle and hit points that berserk their way into the party, and the Storm Vermin Patrol, a group of heavily armed and armored EliteMooks who patrol together and are much easier to avoid than fight. The invasion's leader, a Grey Seer, cannot be fought directly at all, and beating him simply requires fulfilling level objectives while ignoring the Seer. The third DLC finally added a true boss in the clan's Chaos-infused chieftain.

* ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRogue'' only has mooks to deal with for any of your missions ([[ImmersiveSim and often not even those if you're clever]]) and considers it a victory just for reaching the Mayor's Village regardless of what happens there.

* ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRogue'' only has mooks to deal with for any of your missions ([[ImmersiveSim and often not even those if you're clever]]) and considers it a victory just for reaching the Mayor's Village regardless of what happens there. Even if you do consider the Mayor encounter, [[spoiler: it stills plays it completely straight since they're far weaker than most mooks and their elite mook Super Cop guards can be easily dispatched in a wide variety of ways. If you won the election then you don't even need to bother with what little fight there is, [[TheUnfought they just hand you the hat and walk away.]]]] In particular, the killer robot (which can show up as part of a random disaster) has all the hallmarks of a boss due to it having a massive amount of HP, attacking with infinite rockets and ability to track you anywhere, but in practice it's very easy to just run away from it and skip the fight altogether. Custom chunks can try to repurpose it into a proper boss fight by marking it as an owner of a locked steel door (thus requiring the player to kill it to get the key), but even that can be avoided by just finding some other way to open the door ([[NiceJobFixingItVillain including just pushing the robot itself into it somehow, triggering its "tear down any doors in the way" effect]]).

* ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRogue'' only has mooks to deal with for any of your missions ([[ImmersiveSim and often not even those if you're clever]]) and considers it a victory just for reaching the Mayor's Village regardless of what happens there. Even if you do consider the Mayor encounter, [[spoiler: it stills plays it completely straight since they're far weaker than most mooks and their elite mook Super Cop guards can be easily dispatched in a wide variety of ways. If you won the election then you don't even need to bother with what little fight there is, [[TheUnfought they just hand you the hat and walk away.]]]]
** Special mention should go to the killer robot which can show up as part of a random disaster. It has all the hallmarks of a boss due to it having a massive amount of HP, attacking with infinite rockets and ability to track you anywhere but in practice it's very easy to just run away from it and skip the fight altogether. Custom chunks can try to repurpose it into a proper boss fight by marking it as an owner of a locked steel door (thus requiring the player to kill it to get the key), but even that can be avoided by just finding some other way to open the door ([[NiceJobFixingItVillain including just pushing the robot itself into it somehow, triggering its "tear down any doors in the way" effect]]).

* ''VideoGame/FarCry2'' is a game consisting of Mooks and only Mooks, due to attempting to be more realistic than its mutant-battling predecessor. There aren't even any GiantMook or EliteMooks. Even the assassination targets are just bog-standard enemies. This is averted in ''VideoGame/FarCry'' and ''VideoGame/FarCry3'', which do have at least one or two traditional boss fights. ''VideoGame/FarCry4'' is filled with mooks, a few EliteMooks during specific missions, and two badass boss fights that have almost nothing to do with guns whatsoever.

* The ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' series has generally avoided boss fights and other elements that would conflict with its more realistic tone. There have been a couple of exceptions, though, namely Baron Sturmgeist in ''Frontline'' and the officer battles in ''European Assault''.

Note this trope is about the absence of bosses ''in a genre where their presence is the norm''. An individual level with no bosses in a game where most or all the other levels does not count as an example; ''all'' levels must be boss-less. {{Endless Game}}s and ConstructionAndManagementGames are generally bossless for obvious reasons, as well as {{Strategy Game}}s where the notion of "Boss Battle" is meaningless (potential aversions may be added as examples though). Not to confuse with WolfpackBoss, where a group of {{Mook}}s are the bosses in their own right. And of course, no need to list the games where there are no enemies in the first place.

* Every level in the ''VideoGame/CommanderKeen'' games is devoid of bosses, with the exception of the final level in the third (the Grand Intellect), fifth (the Shikadi Master) and [[GaidenGame spin-off]] episodes (Boobus Tuber).

* A large portion of ''VideoGame/ChipsChallenge'' is spent dodging, killing or even ''creating'' mooks (through a clone machine), but there's no boss in any of the 149 levels of the game. This also applies to the CC Level Pack {{Fan Sequel}}s as well as the official sequel.

* ''VideoGame/PathwaysIntoDarkness''' closest thing to a boss enemy is the "Big Blue Meanie", a unique BossInMookClothing encountered on the level "Need a Light?"

* ''VideoGame/{{Eversion}}'' has [[SugarWiki/{{Eversion}} no bosses]], [[spoiler:but it makes up for that with [[DarthWiki/{{Eversion}} its more famous attributes.]]]]

* ''VideoGame/MutantMudds'' has no bosses, instead focusing on the platforming levels. Once all of the {{Plot Coupon}}s are collected, [[spoiler:the Mudds are defeated, and the game is won.]]

* While ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest'' has plenty of enemies and combat techniques, the closest thing to a boss fight that exists in the game are escape sequences.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfKage'' has occasional encounters with EliteMooks, but no actual bosses, not even guarding the DamselInDistress in the palace. The only remotely boss-like enemy is the dual-sword-wielding guy encountered while escaping.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfKage'' has occasional encounters with EliteMooks, but no actual bosses, not even guarding the DamselInDistress in the palace.

* In ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia1'', Jaffar is the FinalBoss only in the sense that, unlike any other enemy, you have to kill him; he fights like all the other {{Mooks}}, and though he does have more health, that advantage is nullified by an [[DisneyVillainDeath obvious weakness]]. Only the SNES version has real {{Boss Battle}}s.

* ''Flipper 2: Flush The Goldfish'' is an infinite runner example, as the only boss you ever fight is the devil who kidnapped the kid (Flipper's owner) at the start, and even then it's played like the rest of the game.

* The fighting, even if present, is actually secondary to the action and the developers want to focus the intensity on other aspects, like the general atmosphere or the {{HSQ}} of the scenario.