History Main / RecurringBoss

* UnknownRival [[strike:Vyers, the Dark Adonis]] Mid-Boss from the first ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea}}'' is fought a total of ''five times''. Though he's treated like a GoldfishPoopGang in-story, he's actually a legitimate threat every time.
** ''Disgaea 2'' has Axel, the Dark Hero. He is not, as his name may imply, a vicious murdering bastard, but a former rock star. Mid-Boss also makes an amusing optional cameo.

* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'', you fight Metal Face/[[spoiler: Mumkhar]] a total of four times throughout the story.

** ''[[VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny Tales Of Destiny 2]]'' has you fight Barbatos Goetia three times in the story, and two more times as a BonusBoss.

* King Bulblin from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess''. You have at least four encounters with the hulking brute throughout the game. After he is beaten the final time, he decides that [[IFightForTheStrongestSide he admires anyone tough enough to defeat him so consistently]], and he simply hands you a key and walks off.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' has you fighting both Ghirahim and The Imprisoned [[RuleOfThree three times each]].

** Bowser himself is a recurring bad guy in many Mario games. The original game had you fighting him no less than eight times, with the eighth and final Bowser being the genuine article (all the other Bowsers being mooks of his transformed through his magic). You fight him three times in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' as with both ''Galaxy'' games.

** Nearly every boss in ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine Sunshine]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Galaxy]]'' appeared at least twice. And there's [[BreatherBoss Topmaniac]] from the latter, who appeared FOUR times for no real reason (two normal battles, one daredevil run and one speedrun).
** Birdo is in almost every level of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2''. In fact, two of the major bosses (Mouser and Tryclide) are also fought twice each.

* Big John, the T. rex-looking first boss from ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe 2'', comes back at least twice as a SubBoss. And wears a PaperThinDisguise as "Big Lee", who spends the better part of a minute denying he's really Big John before proving a BaitAndSwitchBoss. You DO get to fight him a second time... except it's shapeshifting robot Miss Bloody Rachel. He finally gets his rematch with you in ''Red Hot Rumble''.
** Also Captain Blue in the first game.
* Ridley serves in this capacity for the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series as a whole. He's made in appearance near the end of almost every game in the franchise, and has even shown up twice in two of them.
** The only games Ridley doesn't show up in some form are ''[[VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus Metroid II]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MetroidPrime Metroid Prime 2]]'' and ''Metroid Prime Hunters''. The only enemies/bosses to appear in more games are the eponymous Metroids. Strangely enough, if you count cameo appearances the only non-Metroid enemies that give Ridley a run for his money are Sidehoppers, which are fairly minor enemies and can be hardly considered to be iconic or anything (they appear as enemies in 4 games and have cameos in 2 others, while Ridley appears in 7 games in total).
** You must fight Ridley 3 times in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime 3'': He harasses you while you're using Morph Ball to navigate between towers the first time, then you fight him while plummeting down a shaft, and finally when attacking the third seed, where he's powered up by Phazon and labelled 'Omega Ridley'.
** The SA-X from ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' is the second variety. Some encounters are avoidable entirely as long as Samus doesn't expose herself, but the later ones always force you to run away. It can be stunned with Ice Missiles, but only briefly.
*** The security robot from Fusion is the first variety.
** ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' has this flying anomalacris creature called the Rheodigan. Appears out of nowhere, fires seeker missiles at you, and all sorts of crazy shit. After the fourth fight, he finally dies and gives up the Seeker Missiles. In the end of the PlayableEpilogue, you have an enemy rush before the final boss. THERE ARE ANOTHER TWO OF THE RHEODIGAN. Thankfully, they die there and then.

** Perhaps the most notable example is Gilgamesh from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', whom you fight a grand total of FIVE times, though usually as a gag battle. Each appearance involves humorous dialogue, followed by Gilgamesh making some sort of excuse for leaving and at one point leaving his sidekick to "deal with" your party. During the fourth battle, he whips out the piddly [[JokeItem Excalipur]], which he'd mistaken for Excalibur, causing [[BigBad Exdeath]] to send him to the Void. Later, in the void, he recognizes your characters during the fifth encounter and even [[spoiler:[[TakingYouWithme sacrifices himself]] to save your party from a later boss.]]

** [[spoiler:Seymour]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' is of the third variety.
*** ''FFX'' also features the second variety in an optional boss fight (for the second optional summon), although the fight mechanics are completely different.

** Don't forget the ''rest'' of the Oracle Knights, for that matter... Dist is the only one who never has a moment where [[NotQuiteDead you think he's dead]] [[NeverFoundTheBody but you aren't quite sure what happened]] (and actually ''survives'' the game). Sync meanwhile is fought once in a set of ruins with [[DualBoss Largo]], another time in the core where [[NotQuiteDead he apparently gets knocked off the Tartarus]], then is the penultimate boss in the final dungeon. Legretta is fought once early in the game, again on the mountains and [[NeverFoundTheBody apparently gets swept off the mountain along with Arietta and Largo in an avalanche]], then again in the final dungeon. Largo was once fought with Sync, then again with Legretta and Arietta, and finally later (but not the final dungeon!). Arietta is fought ''first'' of the Oracle knights, then [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment again with Legretta and Largo]], and finally much later in the game.
*** It's also important that Asch was also an Oracle Knight, but was only fought twice. However, that's mostly because of [[GuestStarPartyMember his role]] [[HeelFaceTurn in the story.]]

* Belome in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG''.
** Croco in the same game as well.
* The ''VideoGame/WildARMs'' games use this ''constantly'', with the third game being the worst contender (practically every significant boss is fought at least three times). The fourth game is the only one that avoided this trope, by giving the main antagonists so many members you only need to fight each of them once; on the other hand, this made half of them immediately forgettable.

* ''VideoGame/AtelierIris2TheAzothOfDestiny'' has Chaos, TheRival with the twin to [[TheHero Felt's]] sword.
** Despite being optional, Punis Taro, Jiro, and Kichi in almost every AtelierSeries game are of the third variety.

* Xenogears has the persistant Ramsus. Swearing to defeat the hero we fight him, on foot, in a submarine type mecha, in his AceCustom mech, in his AceCustom mech transformed into an Omnigear, and finally in the omnigear of the BigBad (Ramsus is not the FinalBoss, he simply no longer needed it and Ramsus can use any Omnigear due to his genes). With him for all but that last two is his assitant Miang who we also fight twice on her own (one time she's in disguise so the Party doesn't know its her). Ramsus also has a subordinate Domina, and her squad of 3 other soldiers. You fight Domina in a ship, in a submarine mech, in her own mech, in her own mech alongside her squad, her entire squad on foot, and finally in one giant mech piloted by all 4 of them. All these bosses are either with Ramsus himself or on his orders.

* All but one of the ''VideoGame/RType'' games has included Dobkeratops as a boss. Gomander and its invincible Outslays make frequent appearances as well, as does Gaines, the human-shaped robot with a {{BFG}} who seems to exist to get killed halfway through the first stage.
** Don't forget the [[BattleshipRaid Giant Battleship]].

* Several bosses in ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' come back with different bullet patterns, either in the same game or in later games, but the prize for most recurring boss goes to Rin Kaenbyou, who shows up in ''Subterranean Animism'' as the stage 4 midboss (twice!), stage 5 midboss, stage 5 boss, and stage 6 midboss.
** Another recurring boss is Nue Houjuu, who is the [[spoiler:Stage 4 midboss, Stage 6 midboss, and]] BonusBoss of ''Unidentified Fantastical Object'', [[spoiler:and the Extra Stage midboss in ''Ten Desires''.]]

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'' also has Vamp, who comes back from [[spoiler:a cutscene death, his Harrier being shot down, a firefight, and a sniper duel]] in that order.
*** Not to mention that in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'', [[spoiler:his boss battle requires you to use a special syringe to finish him, or else he'll keep coming back to life.]]

** [[AntiVillain Radi Jaeger]] if fought twice, first as an optional WarmupBoss, and ''much'' later as the penultimate boss. And no, he didn't [[VillainForgotToLevelGrind forget to level grind.]] [[NintendoHard Have fun.]]

** Bowser himself is a recurring bad guy in many Mario games. You fight him three times in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' as with both ''Galaxy'' games.

* Similarly, [[ThatOneBoss Death]] is always a recurring sub-boss prior to kicking Dracula's ass back into the afterlife in ''{{Castlevania}}''.
* Reala from ''[[NiGHTSIntoDreams NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams]]'' does this as the first variety.

* Montross from ''StarWarsBountyHunter''.
* Catwoman in ''LegoBatman: The Video Game'' is a recurring boss. She appears several times in one level, and each time you more or less only have to hit her once.

* Heavyweight enemies in ''ZenoClash''. They're not the only boss, but they seem to be a good 75%.
* ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}'''s love affair with Striders. Notably, while they're all exactly the same creature/mech, they fit different boss tropes pretty much every time.

* In ''HaloReach'', the Field Marshal runs off and sends his Zealot underlings after you the first time you meet him [[CutsceneBoss in a cutscene]] near the end of Winter Contingency, later, you fight him for a moment after he kills Kat in New Alexandria, before he escapes again, only in the last mission is he beatable.
* The Big Sisters from VideoGame/{{BioShock 2}} were originally going to be a single enemy that runs off instead of dying when the fight's over, but playtesters complained that this was unsatisfying. The lack of any material payoff in a game where looting slain enemies is a core part of gameplay -- especially considering how many resources it takes to bring her down -- probably didn't help either.

* ''TimeCrisis'' has Wild Dog, who appears in every numbered installment of the series. Oddly enough, he's the ''only'' reoccurring character.

* ''WorldOfWarcraft'' has the Lich King himself as this during the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Players face him multiple times as they level through Northrend, culminating in a the single-player quest Tirion's Gambit, then the 5-player dungeon Halls of Reflection, and finally the actual raid encounter in Icecrown Citadel.

* Nezikchened in ''{{Runescape}}'' is this, as you fight him three times throughout the course of one quest. There's also Sigmund as well, who is also fought three times throughout three different quests.

* Break Man [[spoiler:who is actually Proto Man]] in ''VideoGame/MegaMan3''.
** The Mega Man Killers first showed up individually in each of the first four ''GB'' games. Then you fight all of them again in ''5 GB''. [[spoiler:And now, after a long disappearance, they're, barring Quint, showing up in ''10'' as the Special Stage bosses.]]

** The Yellow Devil has been so recurring that he's even crossed over some of the sub-series. Along his classic series appearance in ''1'', ''3'', ''8''(as Green Devil), ''&Bass'' (ditto), ''V'' (as Dark Moon), ''Power Fighter'' series and ''Adventures'' (as New Yellow Devil); he's also a boss in ''X5'' (as Shadow Devil) and the ''Zero'' series (as Rainbow Devil).
** High Max of ''VideoGame/MegaManX 6'' is invincible in the intro stage and requires two particular attacks in order to defeat him when you meet him again. ([[FakeDifficulty Unfortunately]], you're also able to encounter him later ''without'' having acquired the requisite attacks, leading to a HopelessBossFight that merely ends in a GameOver.)
** In ''X5'' there's Dynamo, a bounty hunter who is hired to stall the heroes as they try to prevent the [[ColonyDrop Eurasia Colony]] from falling onto Earth. He teleports out when his health bar runs out, only to reappear a while later until he flees for good. He's also in X6, but only as an optional boss.
** And of course, there's the infamous Vile, starting off as [[HopelessBossFight unbeatable]] in his first introduction in X1, only to be defeated in the BigBad's final fortress. He shows up after being resurrected in both ''X3 and ''X8'', fuelled by his hatred of the Hunters and X in particular.
** [[PunnyName Bit & Byte]] come back in X3 if you [[GuideDangIt don't kill them with a specific weapon]].
** The X-Hunters in 'X2'' are fought a second time in the final fortress, two of three in their OneWingedAngel forms.
** Colonel in ''X4'' is fought twice in X's story path, his first battle being replaced by a cutscene in Zero's.

* Gnasty Gnorc of the ''SpyroTheDragon'' games is a special case. He doesn't appear more than once in the same game, but he's appeared in multiple games (the first and fifth). Ripto is the same case, except he appeared in the second and fourth games.

* The thug leader in ''RatchetAndClankGoingCommando''.
** [=ShellShock=] from ''RatchetDeadlocked'' requires you to face him almost five times in the same level before he finally succumbs to you.
* In most 2-D ''SonicTheHedgehog'' games, Doctor Robotnik/Eggman is an extreme example of this. Not only is he a boss in every game, but the boss of almost every level therein; other bosses are the exception rather than the rule. He runs away after his vehicle is destroyed, and has a new one ready by the next encounter.
* Big John, the T. rex-looking first boss from ''ViewtifulJoe 2'', comes back at least twice as a SubBoss. And wears a PaperThinDisguise as "Big Lee", who spends the better part of a minute denying he's really Big John before proving a BaitAndSwitchBoss. You DO get to fight him a second time... except it's shapeshifting robot Miss Bloody Rachel. He finally gets his rematch with you in ''Red Hot Rumble''.

* Ridley serves in this capacity for the ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'' series as a whole. He's made in appearance near the end of almost every game in the franchise, and has even shown up twice in two of them.
** The only games Ridley doesn't show up in some form are ''Metroid 2'', ''Metroid Prime 2'' and ''Metroid Prime Hunters''. The only enemies/bosses to appear in more games are the eponymous Metroids. Strangely enough, if you count cameo appearances the only non-Metroid enemies that give Ridley a run for his money are Sidehoppers, which are fairly minor enemies and can be hardly considered to be iconic or anything (they appear as enemies in 4 games and have cameos in 2 others, while Ridley appears in 7 games in total).

** SA-X from ''[[VideoGame/{{Metroid}} Metroid Fusion]]'' is the second variety. Some encounters are avoidable entirely as long as Samus doesn't expose herself, but the later ones always force you to run away. It can be stunned with Ice Missiles, but only briefly.

* Crunch Bandicoot from ''Videogame/CrashBandicootTheWrathOfCortex'' is of the third variety, showing up about five times including the [[FinalBoss final stage]].

* The Empress Bulbax in ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}} 2''. She's generally the first boss you'll fight at the start of the game; she reappears much later in two other holes. In your second and third encounters with her, she becomes a FlunkyBoss capable of summoning the fragile-but-deadly (to your Pikmin, that is) Bulbax Larvae. While her "main" attack (rolling) remains the same, the addition of {{Mooks}} makes you change your strategy.

** Beatrix in ''VideoGame/{{Final Fantasy IX}}'' is of the second variety.
** [[spoiler:Seymour]] from ''VideoGame/{{Final Fantasy X}}'' is of the third variety.

* TheRival in near-every ''{{Pokemon}}'' game.
** Including the leader of TheSyndicate in each of the ''{{Pokemon}}'' games and a few protege trainers.
** N in Black and White is unique in that his party is assembled primarily from Mons that can be found in the nearby areas, and completely different every time.
* It's a tradition of the ''TalesSeries'' to have at least one recurring boss in each game.

* ''VideoGame/{{Tales of Symphonia}}'':

* ''VideoGame/{{Tales of Vesperia}}'' features Zagi, who uses the [[PsychoForHire first]] and [[BloodKnight third]] forms. You fight Zagi a total of ''five'' times throughout the game. (Six if you include the "Sidequest dungeon".) And no matter how many times he's tossed off a boat or had his arm blown up, he just does not back down.

** In ''{{Chain of Memories}}'', numerous members of Organization XIII are fought numerous times. At least in Sora mode - You fight Vexen a third time in Riku mode, and Zexion and Lexaeus are fought only once. But the king of this trope is ''Riku Replica'', who is, over the course of Sora's and Riku's story, is fought a total of ''six'' times.
** ''{{Birth By Sleep}}'' has Vanitas who's probably a quarter of the bosses in the game. In Aqua and Ven's paths he's fought 3 times each, including both of their final boss fights. Terra only fights him once, but as a DualBoss with Xenahort.
** Hades is practically a recurring boss throughout the entire series; one of the few villains who continuously pesters Sora (and the keyblader users for that matter) besides Maleficent and Pete. But if bosses who're fought multiple times in the series count as a RecurringBoss, we'd be here all day just reading the examples.

* In ''BatenKaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean'', Giacomo and his crew appear several times as bosses, even forcing two difficult fights sequentially (to the annoyance of many gamers). They've even got their own [[{{Leitmotif}} theme music]], "Chaotic Dance."

* In ''BatenKaitos Origins'', the heroes have to face one boss, the Lord of the Lava Caves, three times in about ten minutes of game. Notable because the (otherwise serious) heroes [[LampshadeHanging hang lampshades]] all over the encounter, complaining bitterly about how difficult the boss is and how annoying the repetitive fights are, and even stomping spitefully on his corpse when he goes down for good.
* As pictured, Jr. Troopa appears multiple times in ''VideoGame/PaperMario''. He's actually a fairly difficult and ingenious foe, adjusting his weaknesses with each encounter, but Mario and his companions don't take him seriously at all, and he's often the butt of jokes. In the final dungeon, he actually prevents another boss [[spoiler: The Koopa Bros.]] from recurring in order to get in another shot at you.

** Similarly, Popple is fought four times in ''[[VideoGame/MarioandLuigiSuperstarSaga Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]],'' though only once by himself. Bowser is fought four times as well: once as a Tutorial Boss, twice as "Rookie" alongside Popple, [[spoiler:and once when possessed by [[BigBad Cackletta.]]]]
** Lord Crump is your first battle in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', and is fought thrice later, twice in a HumongousMecha. (The second HumongousMecha is basically an upgraded model of the first one, making ''that'' a RecurringBoss as well.)
*** From the same game, there's [[spoiler:Doopliss]], whom you have to fight over and over again as you run back and forth from Twilight Town to Creepy Steeple.
** Midbus fulfills this role in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]'', being fought three times total. [[spoiler:This is also how many times you fight Bowser, which is strange when you consider that he's one of the playable characters. One of those times is as a BonusBoss, however.]]
* One of the bosses on Ellen's path in ''{{Persona 2}}: Eternal Punishment'' is a recurring vision of her "stalker". He attacks several times, becoming more and more damaged and bandaged up each time.

* The ''{{Wild ARMs}}'' games use this ''constantly'', with the third game being the worst contender (practically every significant boss is fought at least three times). The fourth game is the only one that avoided this trope, by giving the main antagonists so many members you only need to fight each of them once; on the other hand, this made half of them immediately forgettable.

* ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'''s Darth Sion is fought once as a HopelessBossFight before you have to defeat him numerous times before he finally dies.

* In the ''Rockman.EXE'' games (''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork''), every game after Battle Network 2 had Forte (Bass) as a 2nd-to-last boss OR as a secret final boss. In Battle Network 2, you would have to fight him before you fight Gospel, and later, you fight his real version in the secret area, which you cannot "jack out of" until you get back to the point where you entered it. In Battle Network 3, you fight him before Alpha, as well as in yet another secret area where you actually help fund his recovery in a bug frag trade machine. In ,4 he appears in Undernet 5 after beating the game about 3 times and disturbing his "statue". In 5, he is in yet another secret area called the Nebula Area after completing what they call a "liberation mission" in area 6 and getting a time between 25-40 seconds busting the navis in that area. In 6, he appears in the Undernet (where he is in a stone monument) and then a harder form in the Graveyard area, then a supercharged version in the Underground area, in which he sports a Gregar (Or could also be Gospel, as they were both made from bugs, much like the Bass from Network 2) head or a Falzar head depending on your version.

* Bradley in ''{{Dubloon}}''. The first time you see him, he's a {{hopeless boss fight}}, but on subsequent encounters, he escapes before you can kill him, and then [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking he moves up a rank]]. [[VillainForgotToLevelGrind Or at least he's supposed to]].
* When you play ''{{Lufia}}'' series, expect to fight Gades at least twice. In the first time, you can't beat him (not without doing way too much grinding anyway.) The second time is when you fight and beat him [[DiscOneFinalBoss thinking he's final boss]], there's also likely the third time where he's resurrected and fight you in the final dungeon as a part of a BossRush.

* In ''XenobladeChronicles'', you fight Metal Face/[[spoiler: Mumkhar]] a total of four times throughout the story.
* Pison in ''The7thSaga''. Combined with PaletteSwap, as he becomes Red-Pison (yes, they actually call him this) and Metal-Pison.

* In ''{{NetHack}}'', once you [[spoiler:Either kill the Wizard of Yendor or perform the Invocation Ritual]], the [[spoiler:Wizard of Yendor will, even if you kill him, every number of turns, be able to resurrect, and is guaranteed to reappear on the Plane of Earth]].

* Big Core in ''{{Gradius}}''. It's the boss of Stages 1-4 in the original, and comes back every now and then in subsequent installments for [[BossRush Boss Rushes]]. By ''Gradius V'', it's [[DegradedBoss become nothing more than a medium-sized regular enemy]].

* All but one of the ''{{R-Type}}'' games has included Dobkeratops as a boss. Gomander and its invincible Outslays make frequent appearances as well, as does Gaines, the human-shaped robot with a {{BFG}} who seems to exist to get killed halfway through the first stage.

* ''BattleGaregga'' has Nose Lavaggin (Stage 1 boss) and Mad Ball (Stage 2 boss) appear again in Stage 5. And then the endboss of Stage 5, Black Heart, makes a second appearance in Stage 7. And in the SpiritualSuccessor, ''Armed Police Batrider'', Black Heart not only appears in its original form, but also a second time within that game in its mk. II form!

* The FinalBoss of ''{{Descent}} II'' returns with a vengeance in the Vertigo Series ExpansionPack.
* ''AceCombat'' loves this:
** ''AceCombat04ShatteredSkies'' has Yellow Squadron.
** ''AceCombat5TheUnsungWar'' has Grabacr Squadron.
** ''AceCombat6FiresOfLiberation'' has Strigon Squadron.
** ''AceCombatXSkiesOfDeception'' has Fenrir Squadron.
** ''AceCombatJointAssault'' has Varcolac Squadron.

* ''{{Tenchu}}'' has Onikage, who started in the first game, being fought a total of 3 times in Stages 6, 9 and 10. He returns in ''2'' and ''Wrath of Heaven'', serving as a boss twice in each one.

* Carlito in ''{{Dead Rising}}'' in so much as, if you want the [[strike:good]] [[MultipleEndings "best" ending]], you have to fight him three times.

* Llednar Twem from ''FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' is of the second variety.
** Klesta from ''FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' is of the first variety.

* UnknownRival [[strike:Vyers, the Dark Adonis]] Mid-Boss from the first ''{{Disgaea}}'' is fought a total of ''five times''. Though he's treated like a GoldfishPoopGang in-story, he's actually a legitimate threat every time.

* Several bosses in ''TacticsOgre'', depending on which path you go through.

* Pretty much ''every'' boss apart from the final bosses in the ''SuperRobotWars OriginalGeneration'', though you can [[NonLethalKO shoot them down]] before they retreat if you reduce their hit points to just above the point where they'd retreat, then use a really powerful attack.

* Every boss in the original ''DevilMayCry'' is of the first variety, fought exactly three times. Most bosses are the first type, except for the final boss, who is the third type (and his fights are [[SequentialBoss one after the other]]). The EvilCounterpart Nelo Angelo's fights are spaced out evenly along the plot, while the other three bosses each have their three fights in relatively short (though not immediate) succession. In addition, Nightmare has an attack which forces you to fight weaker versions of killed bosses, allowing them to recur more than three times. ''Devil May Cry 3'' also has Vergil and Jester, who you fight three times each.

* In ''GodHand'' almost every boss in the game is fought at least twice. The game also features arena challenges, many of whom involve fighting bosses from the main story. (Including [[spoiler:yourself]].)
* Ryu's Doppelganger from ''NinjaGaiden III'' for the NES is fought twice. Once at the end of Act V and again in Act VI.
* In ''{{PN 03}}'', Sonnenblume first appears in a HopelessBossFight at the end of the first mission, then in beatable form at the end of the third. Orchidee, the robo-centipede thing, and Loewenzahn, the doom-buggy, both gain new attacks, Orchidee goes SpiderTank OneWingedAngel after its centipede form is defeated the second time, while Loewenzahn II becomes a [[ThePhoenix robotic phoenix]].

* Desann, the BigBad of ''[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Jedi Outcast]]'', is the second variety. [[spoiler:His [[TheDragon Dragon]], Tavion, returns for the sequel, Jedi Academy, as the BigBad, proving to have been of the first variety. She is now much stronger, and when you think she's done for, you find she's got the tendencies of the ''third'' variety.]]
** And ''she'' now has a [[TheDragon Dragon]] of her own, who is the second type.
* The eponymous monster of the ''MetroidPrime'' series shows up as a final boss in all three games, most often in its "Dark Samus" form. In ''Echoes'', you fight Dark Samus a total of three times.

* DevilMayCry 3 has Vergil, whom you'll fight 3 times.

* Bowser Junior, in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'', is the type who runs off after every fight, while his papa is the type who gets resurrected.

** Nearly every boss in ''64'', ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine Sunshine]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy Galaxy]]'' appeared at least twice. And there's [[BreatherBoss Topmaniac]] from the latter, who appeared FOUR times for no real reason (two normal battles, one daredevil run and one speedrun).

-->-- Opendork's [[http://fromearth.net/LetsPlay/Resident%20Evil%20Gaiden/Update%203/index.html Let's Play]] of ''Franchise/ResidentEvil Gaiden''

* Saturos and Menardi in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun''. The first encounter is a HopelessBossFight. Next, you fight just [[ClimaxBoss a weakened Saturos]] on the Mercury Lighthouse[[note]]No, really, he's explicitly weaker than normal - the Mercury energy of the Mercury Lighthouse interferes with Saturos's Mars Psynergy.[[/note]] [[FinalBoss Finally]], you have to [[DualBoss fight them both]] on the [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Venus Lighthouse]]. After being defeated at the Venus Lighthouse, [[FusionDance they merge]] [[SequentialBoss to become a]] [[OneWingedAngel big-ass dragon]] (and, no, [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere there was]] ''[[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere no]]'' [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere prior indication]] that they could do this).

* Saturos and Menardi in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun''. The first encounter is a HopelessBossFight. Next, you fight just [[ClimaxBoss a weakened Saturos]] on the Mercury Lighthouse[[hottip:.:No, really, he's explicitly weaker than normal - the Mercury energy of the Mercury Lighthouse interferes with Saturos's Mars Psynergy.]] [[FinalBoss Finally]], you have to [[DualBoss fight them both]] on the [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Venus Lighthouse]]. After being defeated at the Venus Lighthouse, [[FusionDance they merge]] [[SequentialBoss to become a]] [[OneWingedAngel big-ass dragon]] (and, no, [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere there was]] ''[[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere no]]'' [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere prior indication]] that they could do this).

* Bradley in ''{{Dubloon}}''. The first time you see him, he's a {{hopeless boss fight}}, but on subsequent encounters, he escapes before you can kill him, and then [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking he moves up a rank]][[hottip:* :[[VillainForgotToLevelGrind Or at least he's supposed to be.]].

*** From the same game, there's Doopliss, whom you have to fight over and over again as you run back and forth from Twilight Town to Creepy Steeple.

* Bowser Junior, in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'', is the first type, while his papa is the third type.

** Also the Bowser 7 other kids appear in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''.
** As well as Birdo in every level of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2''. In fact, two of the major bosses (Mouser and Tryclide) are also fought twice each.

* Harbinger in ''MassEffect2'' blurs the line between this and EliteMook due to his near-constant use of VillainOverride. Any battle against his mooks that drags on long enough will have him "assuming direct control" of at least one of them to personally [[PerfectPlayAI make you his bitch]].

* Big John, the T. rex-looking first boss from ''ViewtifulJoe 2'', comes back at least twice as a SubBoss. And wears a PaperThinDisguise as "Big Lee", who spends the better part of a minute denying he's really Big John before proving a BaitAndSwitchBoss.

*** It's also important that Asch was also an Oracle Knight, but was only fought twice. However, that's mostly because of [[GuestStarPartyMember his role]] [[HeelFaceTurn in the story.]

*** It's also important that Asch was also an Oracle Knight, but was only fought twice. However, that's mostly because of [[GuestStarPartyMember his role]] [[HeelFaceTurn in the story.]]

* {{Bayonetta}} has Jeanne, whom you'll fight plenty of times. [[spoiler:And in the MonsterArena, you'll fight her even MORE often.]]

Though, unlike the GoldfishPoopGang, he is an actual threat each time.

* Gharnef in ''FireEmblem'' is present on the map midway through the game, and you must simply survive him because it is a HopelessBossFight without Starlight. The second time, you can fight him for real after picking out the real Gharnef amongst [[SendInTheClones his doppelgangers]].
** And, in fact, he can be skipped. In the original NES ''FireEmblem'', this can result in the game becoming {{Unwinnable}}. In the DS remake, if you skipped him and Tiki is dead, then you get sent to chapter 24x, where [[spoiler:Nagi]] will join the party and Marth gets a weaker Falchion.

** ''[[FireEmblemJugdral Thracia 776]]'' has a few:
*** Galzus plays almost an identical role as the Black Knight: mysterious, frighteningly deadly OneManArmy whose occasional appearance forces your party to run in the opposite direction. He's not invincible, but for the better part of the game he's close enough to count. [[spoiler:Mercifully he can be recruited near the very end without having to deal with him directly.]]
*** Saias turns up a couple times during the game, but as less of a boss and more of an incredible nuisance - thanks to having ''10'' authority stars, his mere presence pumps up the entire enemy force into DemonicSpiders until you do something to make him leave. [[spoiler:He also is recruitable late-game, but by then he has lost the overpowered buff.]]
** Validar in ''[[FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', under very unusual circumstances - [[spoiler:the first time in the SpoilerOpening, his proper debut in chapter 6, the rematch in chapter 23 where the Spoiler Opening took place, and then ''[[SequentialBoss again]]'' in that chapter where he [[TurnsRed finally takes the kid's gloves off]].]]

* Gharnef in ''FireEmblem'' is present on the stage once, and you must simply survive him because it is a HopelessBossFight without Starlight. The second time, you can fight him for real after finding the real Gharnef amongst the Doppelgangers.
** And, in fact, he can be skipped. In the original ''FireEmblem'', this can result in the game becoming {{Unwinnable}}, but in the remake, if you skipped it and don't have Tiki, then Nagi will join the party

* As pictured, Jr. Troopa appears multiple times in ''VideoGame/PaperMario''. He's actually a fairly difficult and ingenious foe, adjusting his weaknesses with each encounter, but Mario and his companions don't take him seriously at all, and he's often the butt of jokes. In the final dungeon, he actually prevents another boss (The Koopa Bros.) from recurring in order to get in another shot at you.