History Main / RecurringBossTemplate

** ''VideoGame/MegaManX''. Sigma. Two- to three-stage boss, first with a robot body with [[StarWars lightsaber]]/[[{{Wolverine}} twin claws]]/[[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica a spiked throwing shield]]/[[GrimReaper energy scythe]]/whatever, then more on the level of OneWingedAngel variants.

** Tutorial bosses could be exempted. Those are designed to teach people to wait despite being turn-based.

** ''Kirby'' games traditionally have [[WhenTreesAttack Whispy Woods]] as a boss, but if he doesn't appear, and sometimes even if he does, you can bet there will be some tall, tree-like object with a similar appearance, name, and attack pattern. Examples include [[VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror King Golem]], [[VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn Wicked Willow]], [[VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack Floaty Woods]], [[VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe Flowery Woods]], [[VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot Clanky Woods]], [[VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies Yggy Woods, and Parallel Woods]].

** There's an entire archetype of "Knight" bosses, from the four so far with Knight in their name, to slightly more esoteric ones like Metal General and Security Force.
** The series seems to love using either limbless cyclopean {{Eldritch Abomination}}s or TeleportSpam wizards as the final bosses, the first example being Nightmare in ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure''. Starting with Drawcia in ''VideoGame/KirbyCanvasCurse'', these bosses often share identical attacks involving raining balls of paint (or some equivalent) and firing beams out of portals. They also tend to share one of her attacks where she grows huge and fiery, then charges into Kirby. Marx and his Soul variant from ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' have some recurring attacks as well; namely, his attack where he sends out four cutters and the one where he splits into two balls of energy and has them charge across the arena individually.''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', which was also originated by HAL Laboratories, also uses some of these patterns with Master Hand, Crazy Hand, [[spoiler:Tabuu]], Galeem, and [[spoiler:Dharkon]].

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' usually has one of two things for a final boss (though not necessarily the TrueFinalBoss), either a giant walking robot, as seen in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'', ''VideoGame/SonicAndKnuckles'', ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', ''VideoGame/SonicRush'', and ''VideoGame/SonicAdvance2'' (though there it can't move), or the final boss is a flying serpent like robot, as seen in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'', and ''VideoGame/SonicColours''. The TrueFinalBoss is usually a fight where you use [[EleventhHourSuperpower Super Sonic]]. As such, you are always invincible, and you merely need to chase/get to the boss while keeping hold of as many rings as possible. These bosses generally involve merely dashing forwards and slamming either yourself or one of its own attacks into it, regardless of whether it's one of Eggman's machines or an EldritchAbomination.

** The series seems to love using either limbless cyclopean {{Eldritch Abomination}}s or TeleportSpam wizards as the final bosses, the first example being Nightmare in ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure''. Starting with Drawcia in ''VideoGame/KirbyCanvasCurse'', these bosses often share identical attacks involving raining balls of paint (or some equivalent) and firing beams out of portals. ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', which was also originated by HAL Laboratories, also uses this pattern with Master Hand, Crazy Hand, [[spoiler:Tabuu]], Galeem, and [[spoiler:Dharkon]].

** The ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series for the Nintendo handhelds take pride in using ghostly, (most of the time) purple final bosses [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Cackletta Soul,]] [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime Elder Princess Shroob,]] [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Dark Bowser.]]) [[spoiler:And Bowser getting possessed/mind controlled/fused with/whatever else by the BigBad ([[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Bowletta,]] [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime Shrowser,]] [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam Dreamy Bowser,]] [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam Shiny RoboBowser]].)]] And every game in the series has a Wiggler boss (the Swiggler from ''Partners in Time'' being a Shroob variation), which will have a ShockwaveStomp.

** The ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series for the Nintendo handhelds take pride in using ghostly, (most of the time) purple final bosses [[spoiler([[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Cackletta Soul,]] [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime Elder Princess Shroob,]] [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Dark Bowser.]]) [[spoiler:And Bowser getting possessed/mind controlled/fused with/whatever else by the BigBad ([[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Bowletta,]] [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime Shrowser,]] [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam Dreamy Bowser,]] [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam Shiny RoboBowser]].)]] And every game in the series has a Wiggler boss (the Swiggler from ''Partners in Time'' being a Shroob variation), which will have a ShockwaveStomp.

** The ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series for the Nintendo handhelds take pride in using ghostly, (most of the time) purple final bosses. [[spoiler:And Bowser getting possessed/mind controlled/fused with/whatever else by the BigBad.]] And every game in the series has a Wiggler boss (the Swiggler from ''Partners in Time'' being a Shroob variation), which will have a ShockwaveStomp.

** [[PlayingTennisWithTheBoss Play tennis with Link]].
** Have an [[GoForTheEye eye as a weakness]].
** Are killed [[FeedItABomb by throwing bombs into their mouths]].

** The series seems to love using either limbless cyclopean {{Eldritch Abomination}}s or TeleportSpam wizards as the final bosses, the first example being Nightmare in ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure''. Starting with Drawcia in ''VideoGame/KirbyCanvasCurse'', these bosses often share identical attacks involving raining balls of paint (or some equivalent) and firing beams out of portals. ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros.'', which was also originated by HAL Laboratories, also uses this pattern with Master Hand, Crazy Hand, [[spoiler:Tabuu]], Galeem, and [[spoiler:Dharkon]].

** The series seems to love using either limbless cyclopean {{Eldritch Abomination}}s or TeleportSpam wizards as the final bosses, the first example being Nightmare in ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure''. Starting with Drawcia in ''VideoGame/KirbyCanvasCurse'', these bosses often share identical attacks involving raining balls of paint (or some equivalent) and firing beams out of portals. ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros.'', which was also originated by HAL Laboratories, also uses this pattern with Master Hand, Crazy Hand, [[spoiler:Tabuu]], Galeem, and [[spoiler:Dharkhon]].

** The series seems to love using either limbless cyclopean {{Eldritch Abomination}}s or TeleportSpam wizards as the final bosses. These bosses often have attacks involving raining balls of paint (or some equivalent) and firing beams out of portals. ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros.'', which was also made by HAL Laboratories, also uses this pattern with Master Hand, Crazy Hand and [[spoiler:Tabuu]].
** Kirby games traditionally have [[WhenTreesAttack Whispy Woods]] as a boss, but if he doesn't appear, and sometimes even if he does, you can bet there will be some tall, tree-like object with a similar appearance, name, and attack pattern. Examples include [[VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror King Golem]], [[VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn Wicked Willow]], [[VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack Floaty Woods]], [[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Whispy's Revenge]], [[VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe Flowery Woods]], [[VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot Clanky Woods]], [[VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies Yggy Woods, and Parallel Woods]].
** There's an entire archetype of "Knight" bosses, from the four so far with Knight in their name, to slightly more esoteric ones like Metal General.

** The series commonly uses a FinalBoss that takes a humanoid form, and [[PowerFloats floats around]] throwing energy at you, often named after [[TarotMotifs the most sinister-sounding tarot cards]]. Except for ''4'', in which the FinalBoss is a giant ice insect that has its lower body underground. This one is named after The World... yeah, [[ItMakesSenseInContext It Makes (Some) Sense In Context]].

** In games where the first boss is not Whispy Woods, it will be a tree with a similar appearance, name, and attack pattern.

** The ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series for the Nintendo handhelds take pride in using ghostly, (most of the time) purple final bosses. [[spoiler:And Bowser getting possessed/mind controlled/fused with/whatever else by the Big Bad.]] And every game in the series has a Wiggler boss (the Swiggler from ''Partners in Time'' being a Shroob variation), which will have a ShockwaveStomp.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' usually has one of two things for a final boss (though not necessarily the TrueFinalBoss), either a giant walking robot, as seen in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'', ''VideoGame/SonicAndKnuckles'', ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', ''VideoGame/SonicRush'', and ''VideoGame/SonicAdvance2'' (though there it can't move), or the final boss is a flying serpent like robot, as seen in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'', and ''VideoGame/SonicColours''. The TrueFinalBoss is usually a fight where you use [[EleventhHourSuperpower Super Sonic]]. As such, you are always invincible, and you merely need to chase/get to the boss while keeping hold of as many rings as possible. These bosses generally involve merely dashing forwards and slamming either yourself or one of its own attacks into it, regardless of whether it's one of Eggman's machines or an EldritchAbomination.

** IV, V, and VI all have bosses who rely heavily on Quake and may have abiltiies to remove Float (The White Dragon, Catastrophe, and the Dirt Dragon, respectively).
** IV has several bosses in the form of "main boss and two flunkies," such as Baigan, the Magus Sisters, and the CPU. For these bosses, it is unwise to kill off (both of) the flunkies first: not only will they be revived to full health by the main boss, but in the case of the CPU, said revival is accompanied by a devastating attack. VIII takes the formula and changes it up a bit: in fights such as the NORG Pod and Mobile Type-8, [[InvincibleMinorMinion the flunkies are invulnerable,]] serving mainly as sources of Muggable items and Drawable magic for the player in addition to whatever they do for their bosses.

** Most games are guaranteed to end with a melee battle. You can ''try'' to shoot The Boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'', but she'll deflect your bullets, strip you of your gun and force you into CQC. It's not just melee battles, either. There is almost always the following;
** Battle against a giant robot that must be taken down with missiles (Metal Gear Rex/Metal Gear Rays/The Shagohod/Metal Gear Ray/[[spoiler: Metal Gear Sahelanthropus]])

** Battle against someone in a maze like area (Vulcan Raven/Fatman/The Fury/Raging Raven/Eli [[spoiler: aka Liquid Snake]])

* Several boss's gimmick(s) have actually been reused in different expansion packs in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. Such as, for example:

** Gruul petrifies the party and shatters them if they're too close. Later in Wrath, another boss does the same thing. In Cataclysm, Ozruk does the same thing ''again''.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' usually has one of two things for a final boss (though not necessarily the TrueFinalBoss), either a giant walking robot, as seen in ''Sonic2'', ''VideoGame/SonicAndKnuckles'', ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', ''VideoGame/SonicRush'' and ''VideoGame/SonicAdvance2'' (though there it can't move), or the final boss is a flying serpent like robot as seen in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', ''Sonic06'' ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' and ''VideoGame/SonicColours''. The TrueFinalBoss is usually a fight where you use [[EleventhHourSuperpower Super Sonic]]. As such you are always invincible, and you merely need to chase/get to the boss while keeping hold of as many rings as possible. These bosses generally involve merely dashing forwards and slamming either yourself, or one of it's own attacks into it, regardless of whether it's one of Eggman's machines, or an EldritchAbomination.
* The ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' series tends to have the final boss be a non-traditional, underplayed boss fight with a tragic character, in direct opposition to the common "epic" final bosses in most games. This was initially averted in Dark Souls 2 with [[spoiler: Nashandra]]; [[spoiler:Vendrick]] fits the mold perfectly but is a BonusBoss instead. Scholar of the First Sin changes this however, with [[spoiler:Aldia]], the TrueFinalBoss.

** In games where the first boss is not Whispy Woods, it will be a tree with a similar appearance, name and attack pattern.

** The series commonly uses a FinalBoss that takes a humanoid form, and floats around throwing energy at you, often named after [[TarotMotifs the most sinister sounding tarot cards]]. Except for 4 which is a giant ice insect that has its lower body underground. This one is named after The World... yeah, [[ItMakesSenseInContext It Makes (Some) Sense In Context]].

** The ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series for the Nintendo handhelds take pride in using ghostly, (most of the time) purple final bosses. [[spoiler:And Bowser getting possessed/mind controlled/fused with/whatever else by the Big Bad.]] And every game in the series has a Wiggler boss (the Swiggler from Partners in Time being a Shroob variation). And all have a ShockwaveStomp.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' has frequently bosses that either:

* ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'' games tend to involve {{Recurring Boss}}es, but near their ends they have variations on a "gun wall" boss, variations on a boss whose legs the player must duck and weave through, and variations on the organic AnticlimaxBoss.

** There a similarities among the bosses at the start of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''. You know, the ones where you have to refrain from attacking halfway through the battle.
** Tutorial bosses could be exempted. Those are designed to teach people to wait despite being turn based.
** IV, V and VI all have bosses who rely heavily on Quake and may have abiltiies to remove Float (The White Dragon, Catastrophe and the Dirt Dragon, respectively).

* ''Franchise/MetalGear'':

* The first boss battle in a ''{{Raiden}}'' game is usually against a duo of machine, with one appearing slightly before the other.

* Several boss's gimmick(s) have actually been reused in different expansion packs in ''WorldOfWarcraft''. Such as, for example:

* The ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' series seems to love using either limbless cyclopean {{Eldritch Abomination}}s or TeleportSpam wizards as the final bosses. These bosses often have attacks involving raining balls of paint (or some equivalent) and firing beams out of portals. ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros.'', which was also made by HAL Laboratories, also uses this pattern with Master Hand, Crazy Hand and [[spoiler:Tabuu]].

* The ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' series seems to love using either limbless cyclopean {{Eldritch Abomination}}s or TeleportSpam wizards as the final bosses. ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros.'', which was also made by HAL Laboratories, also uses this pattern with Master Hand, Crazy Hand and [[spoiler:Tabuu]].

*** Every time you fight Bowser in the series, the battle is some variant of the battles against him in the original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' (the ones with the bridge and the axe).

** ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' and ''MegaManZX''. Various characters. A human form, followed by a OneWingedAngel. Reversed for Omega and [[spoiler:Albert]].

** They dropped the TarotMotifs entirely for ''VIdeoGame/TheHouseOfTheDeadOverkill''. So, the final boss of that game is simply named "Mother"... which is pretty fitting, in an extremely [[BodyHorror creepy]], [[VasquezAlwaysDies misogynistic]], [[FreudWasRight Freudian]], and just overall {{Squick}}-laden way.

** Bowser also has a habit of fighting Mario in arenas with fragile floors that he can be tricked into breaking. First seen in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'', but makes a comeback in ''MarioParty 5'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy''.

** Bowser also has a habit of fighting Mario in arenas with fragile floors that he can be tricked into breaking. First seen in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'', but makes a comeback in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy''.

* The ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' series seems to love using either limbless cyclopean {{Eldritch Abomination}}s or TeleportSpam wizards as the final bosses.
** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros.'', which was also made by HAL Laboratories, also uses this pattern with Master Hand, Crazy Hand and [[spoiler:Tabuu]].
* ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'' commonly uses a FinalBoss that takes a humanoid form, and floats around throwing energy at you, often named after [[TarotMotifs the most sinister sounding tarot cards]].
** Except for 4 which is a giant ice insect that has its lower body underground. This one is named after The World... yeah, [[ItMakesSenseInContext It Makes (Some) Sense In Context]].
** They dropped the TarotMotifs entirely for ''VIdeoGame/TheHouseOfTheDeadOverkill'' (which is really, really disappointing.) So, the final boss of that game is simply named "Mother"... which is pretty fitting, in an extremely [[BodyHorror creepy]], [[VasquezAlwaysDies misogynistic]], [[FreudWasRight Freudian]], and just overall {{Squick}}-laden way.
* The ''MarioAndLuigi'' series for the Nintendo handhelds take pride in using ghostly, (most of the time) purple final bosses. [[spoiler:And Bowser getting possessed/mind controlled/fused with/whatever else by the Big Bad.]]
** And every game in the series has a Wiggler boss (the Swiggler from Partners in Time being a Shroob variation). And all have a ShockwaveStomp.
** The Koopalings in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' take their cues from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' (especially with the magic scepter attacks), with a dash of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' for good measure.
** Every time you fight Bowser in the ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' series, the battle is some variant of the battles against him in the original ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' (the ones with the bridge and the axe). [[spoiler:Yes, even the final battle.]]

** Also: Shoot the Core!
* And let's not forget how similar those bosses at the start of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' were. You know, the ones where you have to refrain from attacking halfway through the battle?

** Final Fantasy is really the king of this trope, from the Demon Wall to Bahamut to those giant eye-balls with bat-wings (usually called Ahrimans), pretty much every game will have at least a handful of bosses that are (at the very least) homages to recurring types or specific enemies of previous games.

* ''VideoGame/MegaMan''. Doctor Wily. Big, two-stage mecha with TeleportSpam second stage.

* ''Franchise/MetalGear'' games are guaranteed to end with a melee battle. You can ''try'' to shoot The Boss in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'', but she'll deflect your bullets, strip you of your gun and force you into CQC. It's not just melee battles, either. There is almost always the following;

* KingdomHearts has several of these, most notably the giant "leader" boss who summons lesser foes from the ground and the "armor" boss who's made up of mechanized limbs that attack both together and separately.

** [[SpaceWhale Great Thing]]. A sperm whale with a load of cannons attached to it, and often the FinalBoss in every Darius game he's appeared in. Not to mention he's usually [[ThatOneBoss incredibly difficult]] in each game he's in. In Darius Twin, he's an optional second-to-last boss, and is the only boss to have his own specialized music separate from the normal boss music.