History Main / SequentialBoss

[[folder:Platform Games]]
* [[BigBad Bagular]] in ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman Hero}}'' has three forms with no breaks in between (besides a cutscene after beating the first form and another after the second). Also, your score will keep ticking down throughout each of the forms.
* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'': In each game except (ironically, considering the name) ''Grunty's Revenge'', Gruntilda challenges the bear and bird in a multi-phase showdown. In ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'', Lord Woo Fak Fak and Weldar have two phases each as well (the former opens his eyes during the second phase, and the latter electrifies the floor after the end of his first). Other apparent examples, like Targitzan, Old King Coal and Mingy Jongo, actually invoke DidntNeedThoseAnyway instead; their tactics remain the same otherwise.
* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'':
** Haybot is fought in two phases: When he's covered in a pile of haystack, and when his robotic body is exposed.
** In the rematch against the wasp army, Conker has to shoot the incoming wasps during the first phase, and then escape with the stolen beehive while dodging the last three wasps' stings in the second.
** The Experiment is fought in three phases: He and the Little Girl shoot a downpour of bullets in the first, fire a continuous energy laser in the second, and shoot missiles in the third.
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry''
** The final boss of the first ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'' is King K. Rool. After you defeat him, [[CreditsGag fake credits]] roll by. After the credits, the boss gets up for a second go.
** The final boss of ''Videogame/DonkeyKong64'' is a five-round boxing match with K. Rool, with each round featuring a different playable character.
* Kevin and ACE, both of the bosses in ''VideoGame/Gamer2'', have to be defeated twice during their respective fights.
* ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'':
** The Guy has two forms with six increasingly overpowered methods of attack. The game actually tries to trick you into thinking you've won halfway through, right before it gets insane.
** The Koopa Clown Car fight earlier in the game pits you against Bowser, Wart, and Wily in sequence.
* ''VideoGame/TheJungleBook'' has the Witch Doctor, a boss that consists of 3 monkeys standing on top of each other, and carrying a large wooden shield. First, you have to fight him while they are working together, walking from left to right and throwing projectiles at you. When that is done, they split up (with each monkey taking a part of the shield with him) and Mowgli has to defeat them each separately.
* ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' games will have anything from two-to-four boss battles in a row for the Final Confrontation.
** ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'':
*** The Arena (mini-)game is a BossRush with limited healing.
*** [[VideoGameRemake Super Star Ultra]] introduced Helper to Hero, [[ADayintheLimelight which is basically the Arena, but using the Helpers for each copy power instead of Kirby]].
*** And then there's the True Arena, a NintendoHard ten-round BossRush with all of the upgraded "Revenge" bosses from Revenge of the King as well as [[spoiler:Masked Dedede, Wham-Bam Jewel, Galacta Knight, and the brand-new Marx Soul]] with even less healing than the first Arena.
** ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'':
*** The fourth boss, Ado, summons the Ice Dragon, Sweet Stuff, Mr. Shine and Mr. Bright, and Kracko, right before Ado charges. Ado only takes a slide or exhale to beat, but some of the ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2'' bosses are rather tough.
*** The last boss, [=DeDeDe=], is identical to the last boss of the previous game, except he doesn't TurnRed, but after you put his life to zero, [[spoiler:he starts flying and has really scary attacks. If you had all the Heart-Stars when you beat him, you unlock the TrueFinalBoss. Once you enter, you fight Dark Matter, the last boss of the previous game. After you finally defeat him, the screen flashes and the True True Final Boss appears out of nowhere. He splits parts of himself open to shoot blood at you, and he could do it from the background, causing the blood to hit the screen. After you take all his HP down, his Iris rips out in incredibly gory manner and you have to fight him again, and this time he's bleeding and chases you.]] And this is a KIRBY game.
** The final battles of ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror''. There are four ''different'' forms ([[spoiler:including the fight with Dark Meta Knight]]), but the second of those must be defeated ''four times over''.
** The FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards'', Miracle Matter, plays with this. Like the final bosses of ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror'', it has seven forms. Instead of going one after one, it alternates between each form. Defeating each form destroys Miracle Matter. So far, however, the final battles of ''Amazing Mirror'' and Miracle Matter are tied for the most forms in the series, despite being done differently.
** The final boss of ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' has three parts to it. [[spoiler:First a Shmup battle with the Lor Starcutter, who uses techniques Kabula, Dark Matter, and Zero used with its own moves. Then, Magolor is fought, who takes his lead mainly from Marx. After that, he goes into a second form that looks like Dark Mind and can use Super Abilities at will. Also, in Extra Mode, the Metal General becomes one of these, summoning Dedede's Humongous Mecha HR-D3 after he's defeated and piloting it. HR-D3 itself has two forms.]]
** In ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'', the final battles consist of [[spoiler:a two-part battle with a mind-controlled King Dedede, Queen Sectonia, then after a brief interlude, a two-part battle with the queen's OneWingedAngel form. The game's equivalent to extra mode, ''Dededetour!'', skips Masked Dedede for fairly obvious reasons, but instead has Queen Sectonia DX followed by Shadow Dedede and then Dark Meta Knight.]] [[BossRush The True Arena]] gives [[spoiler:Sectonia's final form, now dubbed Soul of Sectonia, an additional phase.]]
** ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'':
*** The second boss, Holo Defense API, is a clear callback to Ado and like her recreates four previous bosses: Kracko, a pair of Doomers, the Ice Dragon (again) and Coily Rattler.
*** The game ends with fights against [[spoiler:Mecha Knight+, President Haltmann, then three forms of Star Dream. In ''Meta Knightmare Returns'', there's President Haltmann 2.0, Dark Matter Clone, Sectonia Clone, and finally Galacta Knight.]] In the True Arena [[spoiler:the Dark Matter and Sectonia clones]] are fought back-to-back with no rest in between [[spoiler:and Star Dream Soul OS, like Soul of Sectonia, now has a fourth form]].
** ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'':
*** King Dedede's boss fight will have him start off normally, but once roughly half of his health is gone, he will [[MusclesAreMeaningful become incredibly muscular]] and changes his entire strategy. Kracko also starts off normally, before dividing himself in two, larger Krackos known as Twin Kracko.
*** The endgame has a rematch against [[spoiler:Zan Partizanne]], a two-phase fight with [[spoiler:Hyness]], [[spoiler:and a ''four''-phase fight with Void Termina.]] Unlike [[spoiler:Queen Sectonia and Star Dream, Void Termina has four forms even in the normal game (and there is no rest between any of them),]] and while he does not have an extra form in the Ultimate Choice, [[spoiler:its highest difficulty, Soul Melter, has an overall more difficult variation of his fight, as he has more attacks, stronger versions of preexisting attacks, and an even harder version of his final form, which is renamed Void Soul. And ''then'' when the 4.0 update introduced [[HarderThanHard Soul Melter EX difficulty]], he becomes even stronger in the preceding three forms, with the final form replaced with a being simply called Void.]]
*** The sub-game "Guest Star ????" has the same bosses as the story's endgame, but replaces [[spoiler: Void Termina]] with [[spoiler: [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth Morpho Knight]].]] And the Version 4.0 update brings us "Heroes in Another Dimension", which changes up the fight against Kracko; the first phase is against the Twin Krackos, then the second is against a single, merged, ''enormous'' Big Kracko. In addition, [[spoiler: the endgame consists of a two-phased fight against Corrupt Hyness, then immediately followed by fighting [[WolfpackBoss all Three Mage Sisters at once]].]]
** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand''
*** The endgame consists of [[spoiler: a two-phased battle with [[EvilMask Forgo]] [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Dedede]], followed immediately by a fight against [[KingOfBeasts Leongar]], then [[BlobMonster Fecto Forgo]], and finally [[UltimateLifeForm Fecto Elfilis]].]]
*** In the extra mode "Isolated Isles", [[spoiler: the last level consists of a two-phased fight against Forgo Leon, where he's BrainwashedAndCrazy in the first phase and straight up [[DemonicPossession possessed]] by Forgo in the second. Immediately following ''that'' is a battle against Morpho Knight, with no room to rest in-between.]] Finally, within [[BossRush the Colosseum]] is the challenge [[spoiler: Ultimate Cup Z and its TrueFinalBoss, Chaos Elfilis, which gains an additional phase akin to the series' traditional Soul battles.]]
* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'' raises the roof with a five-stage FinalBoss battle, with no saves ''or'' health recharges.
* Present in all of the ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'' games:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOjZXM1IYEM LittleBigPlanet 1]] [[labelnote:The Boss]]The battle is against the Collector's mechs. The first mech moves back and forth above the area before slamming down and trying to kill Sackboy with the spikes it has on the bottom. There is a Creature Brain on each side that the player has to hit when the boss slams down. After hitting both of the brains, the boss creates two more, and begins shooting electricity when it's above the battlefield. After destroying those brains, the first mech is killed. The platform Sackboy is on goes up to a second mech. This one tries to squish Sackboy with his fists and spawns enemies that sweep an electric bar above them. After killing those enemies, he will resume punching. There are two Creature Brains on both sides of both fists. After hitting those brains, the fists open to reveal two more Brains. Sackboy must hit those when the fists slam down. After doing that, the fists break apart and the mech loses them. He now moves back and forth and shoots electricity to the sides. After doing this for a moment, he jumps up and slams down, causing electric blocks to fall down from the ceiling. He has 7 Brains. 2 can be hit when the mech is moving back and forth, two can be hit when the mech compresses and stays still, and 3 require a block that falls down after the boss slams down. After hitting all of the brains, the second mech is defeated and the battle is over.[[/labelnote]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWgk_JO5EwA&t=9m32s LittleBigPlanet 2]] [[labelnote:The Boss]]This battle is against the Negativitron. At first, you are using the Hamstertron 2000 in a half-pipe area, avoiding the Negativitron's lasers and hitting the brains that spawn on top of his head. After hitting 5 brains, the Negativitron retreats through the ceiling and a path opens to the next segment. Upon entering the path, your Hamstertron self-destructs and you fall onto a platform with Bounce Pads and a Grappling Hook. The Negativitron bursts in from the left wall and begins sucking platforms from the right side of the screen into his mouth. The platforms have sponge on the bottom and Bounce Pads on the top, and you have to survive until Higginbotham shoots a missile into the Negativitron's mouth, at which point it closes and a brain on top of his head can be hit. After hitting four brains, the Negativitron retreats through the wall he burst in through, and two paths on the ground (leading to the same area) open. Upon entering the path, your Grappling Hook is replaced with a set of Grabinators, and the Negativitron bursts through the ceiling. He fires lasers in a pattern that increases in speed each time you hit him, before eventually trying to crush you with his face. While he does, either Da Vinci or Victoria will give you a cake to throw at his brain, and after hitting four more brains, you're warped to a place with a single brain on a piece of jelly floating in the air. Upon popping this brain, the Negativitron is defeated.[[/labelnote]]
* The second ''VideoGame/MakeAGoodMegaManLevelContest'' features several:
** Haunt Man starts his battle by possessing a knight statue. Once that's destroyed, he then goes into a wizard statue... and once ''that's'' destroyed, all that's left is Haunt Man himself, a ZeroEffortBoss whose sole attack is easily avoided.
** Seven Force (yes, like the ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'' mech) has seven forms and as many health bars, though they each take slightly more damage than the average boss.
** Wily Machine SWORD has two health bars. The first health bar is like a regular Wily fight, but the second is effectively four forms, each taking a quarter of the health bar, as it [[spoiler:recycles the gimmick from "Identity Crisis" and forces Mega Man to transform each time a quarter of its health is taken off.]]
** [[spoiler:Absolute Zero]] has four forms with one health bar each. The first two are difficult and flashy, as befits the TrueFinalBoss. [[spoiler:The third form turns out to be a ClippedWingAngel that can only do 1 point of damage with its attacks, and the final form can't do anything to hurt you.]]
* Essentially every ''Franchise/MegaMan'' game has had this type of final boss.
** [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Dr. Wily]] (switched ships)
** [[VideoGame/MegaManX Sigma]] (switched bodies)
** [[VideoGame/MegaManZero Copy-X, Elpizo, Omega, and Dr. Weil]] (activated their OneWingedAngel; while Omega takes it one step further by [[spoiler:emerging from the wrecked remains of his transformed PoweredArmor]] for Round 3).
** ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' takes the cake in that Serpent has two forms, but his second form has ''three phases'' where he loses old attacks, gains new ones, and switches up where his [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak spot]] is with each one of his three life bars knocked off.
** There's also Morph Moth from ''VideoGame/MegaManX2'', who starts out as a chrysalis, then becomes a moth after half his health is gone.
** ''VideoGame/MegaManV'''s final boss. First you fight the four forms of the Wily Machine (each of the arms individually, the Wily Machine proper, and then the Wily Capsule), and ''then'' you fight [[spoiler:Sunstar]]. He only has one health bar, but he has three forms to whittle down (and no weaknesses, either). That's two bosses with seven phases between them.
* All three ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' games for the NES had multi-form bosses in the final battle, usually consisting of three separate phases.
* The final boss of ''VideoGame/RainbowIslands'' is a giant bubble dragon that turns into a skeleton after defeat. The skeleton's bones crumble and the remaining skull is a giant Skel-Monsta which you have to defeat.
* The final bosses in the first three ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'' games were sequential.
** ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'': Mr. Dark assaults you for a bit, then disappears and sics three mash-ups of the previous bosses on you.
** ''VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape'': You fight Golgroth on the Crow's Nest, then both of you fall into a lava-filled chamber for Round 2.
** ''VideoGame/Rayman3HoodlumHavoc'': The battle against [[spoiler:Reflux]] gets [[MarathonBoss a bit ridiculous]]. First, you fight his normal form, then he [[OneWingedAngel transforms into a giant, warty monster]]. After that, he grows some wings and you have to work your way up to his level and shoot missiles at him. ''Then'', you have a dogfight with him and, finally, use the same plane to kill a ton of Hoodlums before they regenerate his health.
* ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity'':
** After you knock Pharaoh Man down to a low amount of HP in his stage, he goes berserk, destroying his arena in the process. He then receives power from the pyramid to heal himself, activates the pyramid's curse, and fights you again.
** After beating Joe Ni-Nin Va All, he blows up and turns into 2 Sniper Joes.
** After beating Snatchman, he steals 4 of your weapons to become a more complete MirrorBoss.
* ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight''. Tinker Knight at first appears to just be a poor coward who runs around and throws wrenches. His second phase? [[spoiler: '''[[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill A GIANT TANK THAT SHOOTS BOMBS AND MISSILES!]]''']]
* Several times in the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' series.
** ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Sonic 2]]'' ended with a fight against Silver Sonic, and then Robotnik's HumongousMecha. [[OneHitPointWonder With no rings for either fight.]]
** In ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sonic 3]]'', Launch Base Zone ends with three fights against Robotnik, in three different vehicles, with nothing but a cutscene between them.\\
Oddly, when the this level is played as part of ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'', you only fight two of these bosses. Sonic and Tails skip the third, while Knuckles skips the first.
** In ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sonic and Knuckles]]'', Death Egg Zone ends with a fight against a PuzzleBoss, then a two-stage fight against the Great Eggman Robo, and finally a chase sequence where you have to destroy Robotnik's escape pod. (Sonic can also fight a TrueFinalBoss immediately after this if he gathers the Chaos Emeralds over the course of the game, but it's counted as a separate level.) Meanwhile, Knuckles' game ends in Sky Sanctuary Zone, fighting Mecha Sonic and then Super Mecha Sonic.
** In ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogTripleTrouble Sonic Triple Trouble]]'', the game's final level, [[EternalEngine Atomic Destroyer Zone]] Act 3, has five separate boss phases: first [[RobotMe Metal Sonic]], then after a short platforming segment and a checkpoint, four machines piloted by Eggman — a [[HoppingMachine spring pod machine]], a flamethrower machine, an electric machine, and then a laser trap room with the boss pod circling through pipes on both sides of the room.
** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' does it weird: once you've depleted the final boss's life meter... it comes back with another life meter. It's a bit tougher, but otherwise nothing's changed except the music.
** In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', the player must fight the Biolizard directly before the [=FinalHazard=]. However, the two battles are not particularly connected other than being sequential, and how well you do on the Biolizard has no bearing on the difficulty of the [=FinalHazard=]. Similarly, you face the Egg Golem with Sonic immediately after battling King Boom Boo with Knuckles.
** ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' plays it straight with Metal Madness/Metal Overlord, a four-stage boss.
** ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' does it again with the Egg Dragoon and Dark Gaia (the latter being a three-stage fight).
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** The final battle against Bowser in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' is divided into three phases. In the first, Bowser simply throws Mechakoopas at Mario; in the second, he starts dropping enormous lead balls before throwing the Mechakoopas; in the third, Bowser gets furious and continuously tries to squash Mario or Luigi with the Clown Car, only occasionally throwing Mechakoopas. In all cases, Mario or Luigi has to [[TacticalSuicideBoss throw back the Mechakoopas]].
** Wario is the final boss of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'', and challenges Mario in three phases: He uses his brute force in the first, uses the Bunny powerup to hover and try to squash Mario from the top in the second, and uses the Fire Flower powerup to throw fireballs at him in the third.
** The final boss battle against Bowser at the end of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', which starts off with Bowser turning into a rock (which later inspired the rock power-up from [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 the sequel)]] and charging at you, and Mario/Luigi actually had to spin his face to defeat him, then Bowser curls up into his shell and starts charging at you again, but this time, because of the spikes on his shell, Mario/Luigi actually had to slap rubber plants onto Bowser to knock him out, and finally Bowser starts chasing you, and as a result you have to lure him into a puddle of lava to make his tail catch fire, then spin him to take him down completely!
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', the final battle has two parts, with the first being a harder version of the first two Bowser duels.
** The final Bowser battle in ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'', where Mario and Bowser start chasing each other through the hallways of the castle. During the fight, Bowser mostly resorts to shooting fire out of his mouth, and [[spoiler:then for some reason [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong he starts throwing barrels at Mario]]]]. The remainder of the battle has Bowser shooting plasma jets at Mario, before finally being thrown into a pit of lava and being hit on the head by a boulder mid-air.
** ''VideoGame/WarioLand The Shake Dimension'''s Final Boss (The Shake King) has multiple stages in the battle, with two or three stages in the first battle, each adding a few more attacks, then straight after the real final battle with the deadly energy beam and lightning attacks found normally against OneWingedAngel type final bosses.
* Every boss in the NES game ''VideoGame/WackyRaces1991'' has two phases; they enter their second phase after they're down to exactly half HP, from there they use new, more aggressive attack patterns.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Role-Playing Games]]
* ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos'' combines this with the DualBoss to have you fight the three generals all at the same time -- and then again immediately afterwards with no time to heal/save.
* In ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'', nearly all of the late-game bosses have multiple phases – usually two or three, but sometimes as many as four.
** The ''Piece of Legion'' is an AsteroidsMonster that splits in half each time you defeat it, gradually turning from a singular enemy into a WolfPackBoss.
** The ''Scrapped Avatars'' also start the battle as a unit, before desyncing and fighting you as five separate foes.
** ''[[HumongousMecha Wolfram ALPHA]]'' has to be fought piece-by-piece – first his legs, then his arms, and finally his head and shoulder-mounted turrets.
** When you finally fight ''[[spoiler:Arianna]]'', she morphs through four different forms as [[spoiler:the First Internet code corrupts her into a monster]]. In the third stage, she briefly regains control, just long enough to heal you before unleashing her final transformation.
** The final boss, ''[[spoiler:STORM]]'', has to be chased and fought three times as it tries to escape, with each phase separated by a minigame. (First an UnexpectedShmupLevel, and then a [[RiseToTheChallenge vertical platforming challenge]]).
* The ''Chrono'' series:
** In ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', Masa and Mune are fought as individual entities at first, only to fuse into one big monster in the latter half of the fight.
** Slash, one of Magus's top henchmen, first attacks unarmed, but when defeated, eqips his sword, which makes the second portion of the battle significantly harder.
--->'''Slash:''' (at the beginning of the second stage) Now, let's get to business.
** Magus himself starts off the battle in his infamous [[BarrierChangeBoss Barrier Change]] mode, only to later discard it and just begin constantly casting Dark Matter, his most powerful spell.
** Near the end of the game you fight Queen Zeal. At first you should take her out in her plain human form, then get the Mammoth Machine out of the way, and then deal with Zeal's OneWingedAngel form. And then, of course, there's Lavos, the FinalBoss consisting of four different stages: a BossRush, a plain Lavos shell fight, then two fights with its Outer and Inner Cores respectively.
** ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' features the Dragon God/Fused Dragons, who has ''seven'' different forms (though they all look the same): one form for each [[ElementalRockPaperScissors Elemental Color]] in the game, except White, which gets two forms.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'' has Ornstein and Smough, who start out as a DualBoss. When you kill one of them, the other one absorbs their power to bring themselves back to full health and gain some of their fallen partner's abilities. Smough's hammer becomes charged with lightning and his butt-stomp, which used to be your best chance to run in and get some damage on him, now creates a highly damaging lightning shockwave with a surprisingly large radius. Ornstein becomes giant, gains a lightning butt-stomp of his own (with a smaller radius), and can now use a grab attack that is guaranteed to be a OneHitKill to anyone who doesn't have tons of health or lightning resistance.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' has a couple. The first being the Abyss Watchers, who are fought as a WolfPackBoss (no pun intended) during the first phase where the player has to kill them all while they fight amongst themselves. Then after that a cutscene plays where a single Watcher absorbs the blood of his brothers, wreathing his sword in flame and becoming more of a proper boss. Later on is the King of Storms, a massive drake with a knight riding on top of it. After the drake is killed the knight steps off of it, absorbs it to gain lightning powers and reveals his true title, the Nameless King, and proves that he is far stronger than when was riding on his dragon mount. Then there is the FinalBoss [[spoiler: The Soul of Cinder]] who uses a variety of different movesets during his first phase, such as that of a knight, a pyromancer, a sorcerer, and others. Then when he first seems defeated he stands back up [[spoiler: three familiar notes play, and he becomes an improved version of the FinalBoss of the first game, Gwyn, Lord of Cinder]].
* The final boss of ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga 2'' has five different forms, each aligned with a different element.
* ''VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten'' spoofs this with Death King Hugo. After defeating him, Valvatorez warns the party that [[VictoryFakeout they shouldn't bother to celebrate]], because there's ''at least'' two OneWingedAngel transformations coming up. [[spoiler:It's then subverted, as Hugo admits to having lost the strength to do the requisite transformations long ago.]]
* ''Franchise/DotHack'' has Corbenik, who may well take the cake for most bizarre forms ever: he starts out as a giant seed, then he turns into a leaf, and when that doesn't work he becomes a GiantEyeOfDoom.
* The ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series is even more fond of this than the Final Fantasy series; three of the first four {{Big Bad}}s were sequential boss fights.
** In the original ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'' game for the NES, when you first fight the Dragonlord, he has a humanoid appearance. When you beat him, he morphs into his much tougher true dragon form.
** In the final boss level of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'' (or Dragon Warrior III in the states), first the party must fight Barabombus, with heavy defense but weak attack, then Baragonus, with high attack and no defense, then the party must face Zoma, the FinalBoss ([[BonusBoss though you can fight several heretofore unreferenced bosses when you beat the game once.]])
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'' is the most iconic example of this entire trope, with the final fight against Necrosaro, a ''seven-part'' boss battle where he starts by looking like prior boss Estark, only for the player to hack off his arms one by one, followed by his head, after which he simply grows a new face on his stomach, and regrows all his limbs...including his head. Needless to say, nearly every change to his body corresponds to changes in his tactics.
* ''VideoGame/EnchantedArms'' makes its FinalBoss [[spoiler:(the Infinity Devil Golem)]] go through at least three forms. It also has a HealingFactor.
* The ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series seems fond of these, having them for practically every FinalBoss starting with ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' later on barely has any bosses fought on their own or just once. Two of the Fiends have you fight their minions right before them, as does Golbez when you first fight him for real. The Fiend BossRush, as well.
** Archeoavis from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' is an interesting example. It appears as if he only has two forms - his only noticeable form change happens towards the end when he dies and comes back to life. However, if you keep careful watch of his health with Scan or use a particular instant death spell that [[UselessUsefulSpell surprisingly works on him]], you'll realize that he actually has ''four forms''. The other two forms are easy to miss because they all use the exact same sprite, and when one form is killed, there is no visual indication that it has died (except for the aforementioned last form).
** [[LaughingMad Kefka]] of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has four forms, the first three having CognizantLimbs.
** Ultimecia, the FinalBoss from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', starts relatively normal and quickly moves into sheer insanity. The distinct stages of the battle: 1) Fights our heroes in human form after mixing up what party members Squall fights alongside, 2) Summons [[TheDragon her badass Guardian Force]] to duke it out with you, 3) orders said Guardian Force to show you [[TurnsRed his true power]], gaining new abilities and SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic, 4) [[FusionDance merges]] with said Guardian Force, 5) continues to attack you after having her new body chopped down to nearly-human size, 6) appears to die, only to [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle reappear]] in OneWingedAngel form, and finally 7) the OneWingedAngel form with an ultimate attack (though not [[AwesomeButImpractical terribly ultimate,]] really). Even by the standards of Creator/SquareEnix, the fight sets a new level for sheer spectacle, not matched again until ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'':
*** Seymour Guado's first fight against the party is one of these. First he starts as a FlunkyBoss (said flunkies have the annoying habit of tossing Hi-Potions when anyone on their side is hurt) who will constantly cast powerful -- for that point -- elemental magic on your party, then he'll whip out [[EldritchAbomination Anima]] once the flunkies are dead and he's at 50% HP, and once she's dead, he'll start using the -ga level spells, which are a guaranteed OneHitKill on anyone who isn't [[BlackMage Lulu]] or using Nul-Spells. After this, he'll finally go down.
*** Lady Yunalesca (not the FinalBoss, but arguably the game's toughest ClimaxBoss) comes in three forms. First, she will pull out some very low-level attacks, cast drain spells on your party members, and counter all attacks with Blind (physical), Silence (magical), or Sleep (special -- e.g. Steal or Overdrives). Her second form becomes a little more monstrous, then alternates between spamming [[ReviveKillsZombie Zombie and Cure magic]]. Afterwards, she [[OneWingedAngel transforms into her monstrous third form]], and opens by casting Mega-Death, killing all but the Zombie-afflicted party members, then she will cycle through healing magic, zombie attacks, an attack that afflicts the party with a cocktail of ailments (including confusion!), drain, [[ManaDrain osmose]], and occasionally, Mega-Death ''again''. And, overall, she has 132,000 HP. Have fun, kids.
*** The party launches a full-scale assault on Sin's outer shell, weakening it by destroying the three power cores on its arms and back. All three fights are played in a row, with no chance to heal and with your positive status effects (i.e. Haste) not carrying over.
*** After the final PointOfNoReturn, you face Braska's Final Aeon, all of [[SummonMagic Yuna's Aeons]], and Yu Yevon in a row. The former is a large threat, but the latter 6 (9 if you got the optional Aeons) fights are a ForegoneVictory due to permanent Auto-Life status.
* Uncle Rupee in ''VideoGame/FreshlyPickedTinglesRosyRupeeland'' has a normal form, a green powered up form, an orange powered up form, a red powered up form, and finally a giant rupee head form.
* ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'':
** At the end of the first game, you must first fight [[DualBoss Saturos and Menardi]] and then, after a short (by ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' standards) cut scene, fight [[spoiler:the two of them [[FusionDance combined]] into a [[OneWingedAngel two-headed dragon]]]]. The inability to heal or replenish PP in between battles is the main reason the second battle is difficult at all, with the actual boss being weaker than the ones that proceed it.
** The Doom Dragon at the end of the second game is secretly a SequentialBoss, even if there's seemingly no interruption in the battle: Killing one of its heads actually replaces it with the version with one less head (so three phases total) to waste any further damage, as a counter to many players' AlphaStrike strategy of firing off every summon they have to one-shot or two-shot bosses.
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'': Considering it's a Creator/SquareEnix series, you kinda have to see it coming.
** The final battle against Ansem in the [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI first game]] has ''seven'' stages (all but the first three involving a thunder-spamming phallic face monster), or ten if you include the fights with the Heartless to get your comrades back. And you can't save between the fights. To wit: first you fight Ansem with your entire party. Then he summons Darkside, who Sora fights alone, and then he fights Sora (still alone) in the same form as before with a couple of new attacks. ''Then'' he goes OneWingedAngel, and everything from there is a BattleshipRaid against a monstrous living spaceship with a super-sized Ansem growing out of it.
** Marluxia has two in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'', and is given a third in the remake. Marluxia is notably the only member of Organization XIII besides Xemnas himself to have multiple stages, which is, of course, because he's the final boss of his game.
** Xemnas from ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''. Right after the first stage of the fight (where you duel him while he's DualWielding {{Laser Blade}}s), you have time to save and go elsewhere afterward, but it's completely back-to-back from then on. First there's the rush to Xemnas's floating fortress thing, then the two turbines, then the core, then Armored King Xemnas, [[AllYourPowersCombined wielding the weapons of the Org. XIII members that appear in this game]], then an attack on Xemnas' dragon-shaped HumongousMecha in rail-shooter style, then another round with Armored King Xemnas (dropping many of his attacks for [[RuleOfCool kickass skyscraper-destroying sequences]]), then finally one final fight with Xemnas himself, in Twilight form.
** The fight with [[spoiler:Xion]] in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'' has four stages. First, a winged armor in Wonderland. Second, a giant form in Halloween Town. Third, a four-armed version with four swords in Agrabah. And finally a titanic armor in [[spoiler:the skies of Twilight Town.]]
** Each episode of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' finishes with a sequential boss of some sort. Terra first fights Master Xehanort and Vanitas together, then Master Xehanort alone, then [[spoiler:Xehanort possessing Terra's body]] for the final battle. Ventus fights Vanitas, then fights him again, only unmasked and [[spoiler: wielding the X-Blade.]] Aqua fights Braig followed by [[spoiler:Ventus-Vanitas.]] Finally, the TrueFinalBoss of the game as a whole has two forms - [[spoiler: Terra-Xehanort, and Terra-Xehanort with the Guardian.]] Aside from final bosses, there's also Zack in Terra's story, who after his first battle removes his helmet and becomes ThatOneBoss for another round.
** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsCoded'''s final boss is the only one in the series that ''isn't'' a Sequential Boss, but [[spoiler:Sora's Heartless]] easily makes up for this with five forms: a Darkside, a dark version of Sora, ''several'' dark versions of Sora, ''several more'' dark versions of Sora, and finally, a [[TheGoomba Shadow]] that's a ZeroEffortBoss.
** [[spoiler:Riku]] faces a trio of boss fights at the end of ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', first going up against the [[spoiler:Anti Black Coat Nightmare]], followed by [[spoiler:Ansem and his OneWingedAngel form.]]
** While he doesn't go through any major transformations like his Heartless and his Nobody, Master Xehanort also pulls this trick in the final battle of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII''. [[spoiler:First, [[WolfpackBoss a fight against twelve Replica Xehanorts]] [[SharedLifeMeter (which thankfully share their HP)]] all across the city of Scala Ad Caelum. Then Xehanort merges with the replicas to form Armored Xehanort, who is first fought in Scala Ad Caelum folded into a cage, then in the sea below the town, and then an aerial battle in what remains of the town. His armor broken, all that remains is a battle against Master Xehanort, armed with the X-Blade and Kingdom Hearts itself.]]
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'',
** Rulan Prolik - if you accept Hulas' assassination contracts - takes no less than three separate forms: first, he impersonates your companion Jolee Bindo to battle you sword to sword; once you've knocked his health down far enough, he'll become a terentatek to try and crush you with raw muscle; finally, he'll flee and pretend to be a tach, forcing you to butcher your way through an entire troop of the monkey-like creatures to kill him.
** Played with in the final battle with Darth Malak. After storming his personal space station (which is huge), you fight through the expected mooks, and a boss battle with [[spoiler: Bastilla]] just before finally facing Darth Malak himself. He has a few tricks up his sleeves, though -- namely [[spoiler:a group of 8 pods containing captive Jedi. Whenever you get close to killing him, he will go drain one of them, and come back with full health and force power, giving him eight lives with which to fight you with.]] This would be VERY aggravating... [[spoiler:if you couldn't use them too.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'': [[spoiler:Dagran, whose evil side is revealed after you defeat Zangurak]], has three phases in the FinalBoss battle, and in each his size and threat level increase considerably.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'' went a little crazy with its SequentialBoss. Minor bosses like Urobolus and Doel have a few forms. [[FinalBoss Melbu Frahma]] goes through six generations, four of which fight back hard, and still needs a cutscene to actually die.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'':
** The final battle has three phases. [[spoiler:Round 1 sees the team face-off against a Panzer Soldat, and the last two phases has has Rean board the Ashen Knight to square off against S & C.]]
** In the second game, on top of facing members of Zephyr and Ouroboros, you'll be going against a brutal final boss, before heading into the game's 2nd intermission. [[spoiler:1) Rean and team will face Crow and Vita. 2) Rean challenges Crow to a Divine Knight battle. 3) Rean and team will be split into groups A & B squaring off with a helpless Cedric in his Vermillion Apocalypse mech. 4) Crow and Rean join forces to take care of the Vermillion Apocalypse in their Divine Knights.]]
** In ''Cold Steel III'', the dragon boss under Heimdallr has at least two forms: Old Class VII and New Class VII combine to form three groups. The first gets the dragon down to 70% health, the second to 40%, and the third gets it down to zero. This isn't enough to finish it, so you then fight against it in mechs. Now it's dead. Then a human enemy shows up, and you fight him too.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'' has this in the 2nd game. [[spoiler: The fighters will have to face Weissmann in his fallen angel form twice, with the 2nd bout involving a tail attaching itself to him.]]
* ''VideoGame/LostOdyssey'' The final fight has three phases. [[spoiler:First the Luminous Magic Beast. Followed by Gongora's normal form. Once the team takes down this phase, Jansen and the rest will shield Kaim and Sarah from the light mirror at the risk of their own life.]]
* ''VideoGame/ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlRevis'' features a combination of FlunkyBoss and SequentialBoss. Frequently in the {{Sidequest}}s, some Bosses are fought this way, where the player has to fight through a sequence of normal enemies before the Boss. For an example in the storyline, there's the ''very first Boss'' who is fought in the same way.
* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'':
** The final boss of ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' has two forms, but you begin the second form with [[HPToOne 1 HP]] on each of your characters.
** The final battles of ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' are also sequential; first you fight Princess Shroob herself, followed by [[spoiler:the two forms of the Elder Princess Shroob]].
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' has a variation of this with the final boss, alternating between Bowser and the Bros. at least twice.
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'' has Wiggler and Popple, two opponents fought directly after one another. Unlike many other examples, though, the latter boss is the easier one, so you should use your best items and attacks then instead of waiting for the second battle.
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPaperJam'' has the two Bowsers as the final boss, followed by [[spoiler:the two [[FusionDance transforming into]] Shiny [=RoboBowser=]]].
* ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series:
** Anytime enemy navis decided to gang up on the player, they have each battle after the last one is killed. While HP isn't restored, used chips are returned to the player's folder (which is done anyways after every fight). Disappointingly, the series never has two navis fought at the same time.
** The FinalBoss of ''Battle Network 3''. [[spoiler:Bass with 1000 HP, a shield that can only be taken off with an attack that does at least 100 damage in one go and restores itself fairly quickly, and some extremely devastating attacks; immediately followed by Alpha, also having 2000 hp, a regenerating barrier that absorbs damage before allowing Alpha's actual HP to be depleted, and some equally devastating attacks.]] The only thing between the two of them is a single cutscene, no healing, no saving, right back into the action.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter''. Sequential bosses are rare in the series (at most, you usually only have a regular large monster that attacks in a measured manner, then more quickly as it gets angry, and then sparingly as it gets tired), but they exist:
** Lao-Shan Lung, Shen Gaoren, Ceadeus, Jhen Mohran and Dah'ren Mohran all have an initial phase where they merely walk or swim around the corresponding threatened areas while attacking occasionally, and then a final phase where they attack you more actively. Failure to protect the area they're intending to destroy leads to a NonstandardGameOver, but you can drive them away if you manage to inflict enough damage to them before time runs out. This also applies to Ashen Lao-Shan Lung and Hallowed Jhen Mohran, but not Goldbeard Ceadeus (it has only one phase, but it's a MarathonBoss that ''cannot'' be repeled).
** Amatsu, Dalamadur, Gogmazios, Nakarkos and Ahtal-Ka all have two or more phases, changing their attack patterns as the respective fights evolve, and confront the hunter in one secluded area instead of multiple segmented areas. None of them can be repeled either (save for the first encounter against Nakarkos), so you must slay them before time runs out or you will fail.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' series:
** ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'':
*** The second boss, Franky. After admitting defeat, he immediately sends in his creation, Frankystein Mark II, to finish you off.
*** The last Sanctuary Guardian, Carbon Dog, transforms into [[ThatOneBoss Diamond Dog]] after taking enough damage.
*** The final fight has three forms, the first against Giygas [[spoiler:and Porky]] together, but Giygas has a permanent Shield-PSI Shield Beta combo up, being the only enemy in the game with one up, forcing you to attack [[spoiler:Porky]]. After beating him, he attempts to scare the party to death by deactivating the shield and letting Giygas attack. The next two forms are just against Giygas, but with different attack methods.
** In ''VideoGame/Mother3'', the last three bosses all play with this. The [[spoiler:Porky Bots]] use three different attack formations to defeat the party. The first is an all out assault, and then the second have them come one at a time while summoning weak enemies. The third formation is a CutsceneBoss. The FinalBoss, [[spoiler:Porky Minch himself]]. has one regular form, then a second form that ends immediately after two turns. The PostFinalBoss, [[spoiler:the Masked Man, now revealed to be Claus, starts regaining his memories later on in the fight, lowering his stats.]]
* The final book of ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'', ''Armageddon'', is a series of five boss fights. Good thing there's five playable characters, huh?
* In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', you fight Grodus directly before Bowser, with no chance to heal. Fortunately, leveling up in between restores your health entirely and there ''is'' a third boss right after (with two stages), but at least you get the chance to heal and save (or even [[TakeYourTime go back out and do some sidequests]]) before you tackle that one.
* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'':
** ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'': Yoyogi Park has two bosses back to back; [[spoiler:Sakahagi]] sics Girimekhala on you, and then takes you on himself after it fails to finish you off. You get no chance to heal in between the two, but fortunately, [[spoiler:Sakahagi]] [[BreatherBoss isn't as hard as Girimekhala]], and can easily be taken down in two turns.
** ''Nocturne'' also has [[spoiler:Ahriman and Baal Avatar]] in the final dungeon, the former of which disables certain moves before shifting into a normal battle and the latter of which summons two minions to heal and support her. Interestingly, the second one's second form can be completely skipped if one does enough damage in the first form, as the second form starts with [[spoiler:Baal Avatar]] being fully healed by one of the minions. Subverted with [[spoiler:Noah]] and FinalBoss [[spoiler:Kagutsuchi]] - while they have impressive form changes and gain quite a bit of HP ([[spoiler:Kagutsuchi]] in particular has more HP than anyone else except the TrueFinalBoss), they barely change between forms.
** The final boss of ''VideoGame/Persona3'' has a whopping ''fourteen'' forms [[spoiler:(not counting the human form the main characters knew him as earlier in the game)]]. While the first thirteen forms are relatively easy to defeat (differing mainly in their elemental weaknesses), the final form is quite difficult and can take at least half an hour to defeat for those who aren't using some sort of GameBreaker.
** The [[spoiler:fight against Masayohsi Shido]] in ''VideoGame/Persona5'' is the longest fight in the game, having a total of 5 phases with each having a lot of HP, though his first 3 phases is just fighting The Beast of Human Sacrifice, which later transforms into a bird, which transforms into a pyramid.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** The Elite Four and Champion battles at the end of every game.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' tops the other games with a sequence of Elite Four, the legendary dragon of your version, then the final two bosses, N and Ghetsis. You don't go near the League Champion until you face the Elite Four a second time. You do get to heal at times though.
** At least those let you ''save'' in between battles; ''VideoGame/PokemonRanger'' doesn't even give you ''that''. Made even worse by the fact that Entei, the FinalBoss, is so hard that it would still be nearly impossible to beat even if your health hadn't been drained by Raikou and Suicune.
** And those Legendary Beasts are at the ''end'' of the game. ''Shadows of Almia'' has [[EarlyBirdBoss that bloody Drapion]], before you get [[GameBreaker Steel-type Poke Assists]], and he is preceded by two Rhyhorn and then [[GoddamnedBats three Stunky]].
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', [[spoiler: first there's [[TheDogWasTheMastermind Pokémon Wielder Volo]] and his full party bordering Level 70. Immediately after, you fight Altered Forme [[SatanicArchetype Giratina]] at Level 70. Once you take its health down to zero, it goes OneWingedAngel and now you have to start over with Origin Forme Giratina. No between-battle healing or Master Ball to save you this time.]]
* ''VideoGame/RogueGalaxy'''s final boss has a lot of forms. Mother has two forms, then the Demon Battleship has EIGHT separate battles, one-on-one duels between every member of your party and one part of the final boss. If you screw up even ONCE, you have to do the whole damn thing all over again. ARGH.
* In the original [=SNES=] release of ''VideoGame/{{Romancing SaGa}}'', you have to fight the final boss's minions one by one and then fight all three at once -- all in the same place before confronting the final boss. In the [=PS2=] remake, you only have to fight one battle near the final boss's chamber -- unless you defeated them all individually in the final dungeon to get their treasures. Furthermore, the final boss is sequential in the remake only.
* ''VideoGame/{{SaGa Frontier}}'' has several of these, most notably Lute's final boss: a giant mech that slowly falls apart as you fight it. Others include Blue's fight with Satan (who continually switches between two different forms) and T260's battle with Genocide Heart. The sub-boss fights in Red's story where the party goes to an alternate dimension may also count.
* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'''s three final bosses are like this, with a variation -- the first and third forms are fought on foot, while the middle form is a ship battle.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'':
** You fight Smithy at the end, then a stronger version of Smithy.
** There is also the Czar Dragon, who changes from a typical fire dragon to a skeletal dragon after you beat on him enough.
* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' has two of them: In the penultimate dungeon, you have to fight [[spoiler:Lambda Richard]] and then [[spoiler:Emeraude]]. [[spoiler:Lambda Richard]] is ThatOneBoss, but [[spoiler:Emeraude]] is surprisingly easy, despite her constant [[TeleportSpam teleporting around]]. Then in the final dungeon you first fight [[spoiler:Lambda Richard ([[RecurringBoss again]])]] and finally [[spoiler:Lambda Angelus]].
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'':
*** The game contains a rather infamous string of three sequential bosses at the [[ClimaxBoss climax]] of its [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle fake ending]] (in actuality only about a third of the way through the game.) First up is [[spoiler:Remiel, who tries to eliminate the party after sealing Colette's soul. He's reasonably challenging, but no harder than an average boss up until that point.]] Once you deal with him, [[spoiler:Kratos reappears just in time to announce that he's [[TheMole been stringing you along the whole time]] and that he intends to deliver Colette to his superiors. While not set up as a HopelessBossFight, he would be extremely difficult to overcome with a fresh party, let alone one that's just finished a previous boss fight.]] Then, just to add insult to injury, whether or not the party manages to defeat him, ''his'' boss shows up and utterly destroys the party in a true HopelessBossFight. Naturally, there's no way to save or heal in between any of these encounters.
*** Done properly at the ''next'' [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle fake ending]] with a DualBoss (Pronyma and the two Idun) followed by a fight with the BigBad, Yggdrassil, [[spoiler:which doesn't actually lead to any closure, as he leaves when you knock off a quarter of his max HP.]] And again in the ''real'' [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon finale]], with two forms of [[spoiler:Mithos]].
*** This trick is also pulled at the Wind Seal where the party must fight a boss in order for Colette to release the seal. This battle, while not very hard, can be draining on your items. As the party is exiting the dungeon, Sheena attacks the party for a second, more difficult fight that is made harder due to the fact that you likely used many healing items earlier. Of course, this sequence would not be mentioned on this page if there was a save point present between the two points, so have fun fighting the first boss again if you lose to Sheena.
* The final boss of any route in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' plays with this quite a bit:
** The neutral route's battle against [[spoiler:Photoshop Flowey]] has the player alternating between trying ([[ThatOneBoss and most likely failing]]) to avoid everything [[spoiler:Flowey]] has at his immediate disposal and [[spoiler:reaching out to the six Human [=SOUL=]s]]. After [[spoiler:the [=SOUL=]s]] begin to help you, it's a matter of avoiding [[spoiler:Flowey's]] desperate attempts to kill you while slowly whittling him down.
** The True Pacifist final boss, [[spoiler:the newly-ressurected and newly-superpowered Asriel]], starts with avoiding all his newfound capabilities until [[spoiler:he reveals the Ultimate God of Hyperdeath form]]. Interestingly enough, he only uses ''one'' attack in this second form, but you'll find it balances out when [[spoiler:you have to SAVE your friends from his grasp]]. And despite all of that, the battle's easier than it sounds since [[spoiler:you automatically revive every time you die.]]
** The No Mercy final boss, [[spoiler:Sans]], is one of the greatest challenges in ''Undertale''. His battle is divided into two stages. The first one offers 13 attacks (unless you waste your turns) that are pretty linear but sure to overwhelm unprepared players. After this, [[spoiler:Sans offers to Spare you, but this is merely a trick to pull off a one-hit kill. Choose to Fight him some more, and enter a second stage where the attacks become more varied and difficult, and if you die you have to start all over again. The text in the battle menu even says: "''The REAL battle finally begins.''"]]
* ''VideoGame/UnlimitedSaga'': in addition to the antagonist of the Scenario, you also have to fight Chaos immediately afterward (4 forms), though you do recover some HP and LP. [[spoiler:This isn't even covering Mythe's Scenario, where you have to fight a Sequential Boss and then another powerful boss before even fighting Chaos.]]
* The final boss of ''VideoGame/WildArms3'' takes this SerialEscalation. Its final boss has a whopping ''eleven'' forms.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'': The final boss is four different fights in a row. First you fight the Vita, piloted by [[BigBad Luxaar]]. Then Luxaar [[TransformingMecha transforms]] the Vita into a more powerful form. Then a lengthy cutscene ensues, after which you fight a swarm of grotesque chimeras. After another cutscene, the chimeras merge with Luxaar [[spoiler:and Lao]] to form the actual final boss.
* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' has tons of these sequences. By far the worst is the battle with Ramsus and Miang's gears on Disc 2. The first boss has the ability to reduce all your gears to 1 HP instantly, forcing you to waste fuel healing, and is followed by one of the HARDEST bosses in the game, with no chance to recover.
[[/folder]]

!!Non-Video Game Examples

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': Greatwyrms and ancient dragon turtles are classified as mythic monsters in 5th edition, which means they have a second phase baked into them. When they hit 0 hit points for the first time in an encounter, they immediately recover most of their health, recharge their breath weapons, replenish their uses of legendary resistance, and gain extra legendary action options.
[[/folder]]

!!Examples:

*** In the extra mode "Isolated Isles", [[spoiler: the last level consists of a two-phased fight against Forgo Leon, where he's BrainwashedAndCrazy in the first phase and straight up [[DemonicPossession possessed]] by Forgo in the second. Immediately following ''that'' is a fighting against Morpho Knight, with no room to rest in-between.]] Finally, within [[BossRush the Colosseum]] is the challenge [[spoiler: Ultimate Cup Z and its TrueFinalBoss, Chaos Elfilis, which gains an additional phase akin to the series' traditional Soul battles.]]

If you're fighting multiple bosses ''at the same time'', then that's a [[DualBoss different]] [[WolfpackBoss story]]. Needless to say, CrystalDragonJesus help you if you have ''[[UpToEleven Sequential Dual Bosses]]'', though those are blessedly rare for now...

* The final boss of ''VideoGame/WildArms3'' takes this SerialEscalation. Its final boss has a whopping ''eleven'' forms... making this a ''literal'' case of taking it UpToEleven.

* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' has Ornstein and Smough, who start out as a DualBoss. When you kill one of them, the other one absorbs their power to bring themselves back to full health and gain some of their fallen partner's abilities. Smough's hammer becomes charged with lightning and his butt-stomp, which used to be your best chance to run in and get some damage on him, now creates a highly damaging lightning shockwave with a surprisingly large radius. Ornstein becomes giant, gains a lightning butt-stomp of his own (with a smaller radius), and can now use a grab attack that is guaranteed to be a OneHitKill to anyone who doesn't have tons of health or lightning resistance.

** ''VideoGame/EarthBound'':

** The No Mercy final boss, [[spoiler:Sans]], is one of the greatest challenges in Undertale. His battle is divided into two stages. The first one offers 13 attacks (unless you waste your turns) that are pretty linear but sure to overwhelm unprepared players. After this, [[spoiler:Sans offers to Spare you, but this is merely a trick to pull off a one-hit kill. Choose to Fight him some more, and enter a second stage where the attacks become more varied and difficult, and if you die you have to start all over again. The text in the battle menu even says: "''The REAL battle finally begins.''"]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' bosses always have multiple life bars, one for each bullet pattern they shoot.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}''

*** The endgame has a rematch against [[spoiler:Zan Partizanne]], a two-phase fight with [[spoiler:Hyness]], [[spoiler:and a ''four''-phase fight with Void Termina.]] Unlike [[spoiler:Queen Sectonia and Star Dream, Void Termina has four forms even in the normal game (and there is no rest between any of them),]] and while he does not have an extra form in the Ultimate Choice, [[spoiler:its highest difficulty, Soul Melter, has an overall more difficult variation of his fight, as he has more attacks, stronger versions of preexisting attacks, and an even harder version of his final form, which is renamed Void Soul.]]

* ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight''. Tinker Knight at first appears to just be a poor coward who runs around and throws wrenches. His second phase? [[spoiler: '''[[NoKillLikeOverkill A GIANT TANK THAT SHOOTS BOMBS AND MISSILES]]''']]

* At the end of the first ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'', you must first fight [[DualBoss Saturos and Menardi]] and then, after a short (by ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' standards) cut scene, fight [[spoiler:the two of them [[FusionDance combined]] into a [[OneWingedAngel two-headed dragon]]]]. The inability to heal or replenish PP in between battles is the main reason the second battle is difficult at all, with the actual boss being weaker than the ones that proceed it.

* Every boss in the NES game ''WesternAnimation/WackyRaces'' has two phases; they enter their second phase after they're down to exactly half HP, from there they use new, more aggressive attack patterns.

* ''VideoGame/Maplestory'' uses this trope quite a bit.

** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'': The final boss has two phases: the first phase is basically the same thing with increasing shifts to different weaknesses, and the second phase requires you to switch visors to locate the phasing Prime and blast it with the Phazon Beam.

* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'': In each game except (ironically, considering the name) ''Grunty's Revenge'', Gruntilda challenges the bear and bird in a multi-phase showdown. In ''''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'', Lord Woo Fak Fak and Weldar have two phases each as well (the former opens his eyes during the second phase, and the latter electrifies the floor after the end of his first). Other apparent examples, like Targitzan, Old King Coal and Mingy Jongo, actually invoke DidntNeedThoseAnyway instead; their tactics remain the same otherwise.

* There was a slight aversion of this trope in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', in the final battle with Darth Malak. After storming his personal space station (which is huge), you fight through the expected mooks, and a boss battle just before finally facing Darth Malak himself. He has a few tricks up his sleeves, though -- namely [[spoiler:a group of 8 pods containing captive Jedi. Whenever you get close to killing him, he will go drain one of them, and come back with full health and force power, giving him eight lives with which to fight you with.]] This would be VERY aggravating... [[spoiler:if you couldn't use them too.]]

* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'': In each game except (ironically, considering the name) ''Grunty's Revenge'', Gruntilda challenges the bear and bird in a multi-phase showdown. In ''Tooie'', Lord Woo Fak Fak and Weldar have two phases each as well (the former opens his eyes during the second phase, and the latter electrifies the floor after the end of his first). Other apparent examples, like Targitzan, Old King Coal and Mingy Jongo, actually invoke DidntNeedThoseAnyway instead; their tactics remain the same otherwise.
* Haybot in ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' is fought in two phases: When he's covered in a pile of haystack, and when his robotic body is exposed.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': The Blight Ganons all have two phases, with the second phase seeing them adding new attacks to their strategies and in one instance altering the BossRoom. [[spoiler:The FinalBoss uses two layers of this: not only is the initial Calamity Ganon fight split into two phases much like the Blight Ganons, it also precedes the Dark Beast Ganon fight.]]

** In ''[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sonic and Knuckles]]'', Death Egg Zone ends with a fight against a PuzzleBoss, then a two-stage fight against the Great Eggman Robo, and finally a chase sequence where you have to destroy Robotnik's escape pod. (Sonic can also fight a TrueFinalBoss immediately after this, but it's counted as a separate level.) Meanwhile, Knuckles' game ends in Sky Sanctuary Zone, fighting Mecha Sonic and then Super Mecha Sonic.

** [[spoiler:Satan]] was the original sequential boss, as well as the original TrueFinalBoss of the game. His first phase is a fight against [[DegradedBoss The Fallen]], after which he would reveal himself. After his first form is defeated, he flies up and tries to stomp you and you have to attack his legs.

** [[spoiler:Mega Satan]] from ''Rebirth'' is probably the largest example. After his first form is defeated, he sends waves of [[DegradedBoss bosses]] to fight you. After clearing each wave, you repeat the first phase again before finishing with his hyper-powered OneWingedAngel mode. If you count each boss wave as a separate phase, he has ''seven'' phases in total.
** [[spoiler:Hush]], the BonusBoss from ''Afterbirth'' also counts. His first phase is a palette-swapped [[spoiler:???]], but defeating that reveals his [[BodyHorror true form]].

** The TrueFinalBoss is a BossRush against ''six'' of these. First you take on [[spoiler:Dogma]], who starts attached to the television. Once you break it, he turns into an AngelicAbomination. After that, you fight the Four Ultra Horsemen one at a time, who are all dual-stage bosses like their basic versions. Finally, the final boss [[spoiler:The Beast]] is a lighter example, changing its attack patterns once it's nearly dead.

*** After his initial health bars are depleted, the Conductor starts driving much faster, crossing through his arena's perpendicular tracks instead of only circling its perimeter, and blasting fire from his engine.

*** The golem is fought in three phases.
*** In the first one, Spyro and Cynder are inside a building while it tries to swat at them with its good arm. The player must strike at its hand enough to stun it and cause it lean against the building, allowing Spyro and Cynder to attack its head.
*** After this is done twice and its lower jaw destroyed, it climbs to the top of the building at starts to fight with powerful blows and punches from its good and artificial arms alike, which release spherical shockwaves. Spyro and Cynder must again strike at its hands until it's stunned, then climb up its arm and crack open its skull to expose the dark crystal within.
*** The third plays out largely like the second, except that it now also shoots fireballs from the hole in its head. This time, after climbing back up to its head, Spyro and Cynder destroy the crystal and finally bring an end to the monster.

*** The third plays out largely like the second, except that it now also shoots fireballs from the hold in its head. This time, after climbing back up to its head, Spyro and Cynder destroy the crystal and finally bring an end to the monster.

** With the exception of Scaldera and The Imprisoned, every boss in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' has two phases. The miniboss Stalmaster has two as well (it only uses two arms in the first, and all four of them in the second).

** The Shadow Nightmares, the FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'', has six forms (although the last two forms can be [[OneHitKill one-shotted with the right weapons]]).
** Several in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'':

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'': Veran from ''Oracle of Ages'' probably comes second after Nightmare, and none of her forms are one-hits. You have to fight Veran-possessing-Ambi, Veran's "True Form (and despair!)", and her final battle (in which she shapeshifts between three forms), one after the other, without healing. And if it's a linked game, you then go on to face Twinrova and Ganon, thus mixing this trope with BossBonanza.

** Vaati from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'' does not like to die. His first form is a humanoid boss version of Patra, and his second form is a giant eye. He appears to die after this, bringing down the castle with him, but just Link is almost to safety, a ''third'' form appears that looks like another giant eye, this time with arms. Woe be to you if you used up all of your potions and fairies already. [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords And even then, he's not dead yet.]]

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the Blight Ganons all have two phases, with the second phase seeing them adding new attacks to their strategies and in one instance altering the BossRoom. [[spoiler:The FinalBoss uses two layers of this: not only is the initial Calamity Ganon fight split into two phases much like the Blight Ganons, it also precedes the Dark Beast Ganon fight.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series:
** The final boss of ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' has two phases: the first phase is basically the same thing with increasing shifts to different weaknesses, and the second phase requires you to switch visors to locate the phasing Prime and blast it with the Phazon Beam.
** In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'', all Temple Guardians are of this type. Amorbis has three phases (one where you figth one large worm, one where you fight two and one where you fight three), Chykka has two phases (one as a larva and one as an adult), Quadraxis has three (one in its complete form, one when the main body is disabled and only the head module is attacking, and one when only the module itself remains), and Emperor Ing has three as well (one when it's just an enlarged Inglet, one when it's a chrysalis, and one when it's a grown adult). Dark Samus, in her FinalBoss rematch, has two phases as well (one where she fights like she has done in the previous fights, and another where she relies on a Phazon field to periodically shoot Phazon renmants to Samus, [[TennisBoss who has to throw them back at her]]).
** In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'', Gandrayda has four phases (one when she transforms into enemies, one when she transforms interchangeably into Rundas and Ghor, one when she transforms into Samus, and one when she attacks while using Hypermode). Omega Ridley has three phases, having a different weak point in each (its mouth, its chest's carapace, and the chest itself). Lastly, in the final area, you fight [[spoiler:Aurora 313 right after putting down Dark Samus, and has two forms: complete and floating severed head]].
** In ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'', Diggernaut, Metroid Queen and [[spoiler:Proteus Ridley]] have three phases each. In all cases, the fought boss adds new attacks and becomes harder to hit upon each phase.
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'', Mother Brain has 3 different phases. First you fight her like in the first game, as just the brain protected by turrets and zeebetite barriers. After you beat her and examine the body, she rises out of the floor on a robotic body. After dealing enough damage to her, she'll use an extremely powerful attack to reduce you to low health, after which the Metroid hatchling shows up to save the day. But then she comes back to life again, albeit this time she's a ZeroEffortBoss thanks to the Hyper Beam. And then you have to escape the planet before it blows up.

* ''TabeltopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': Greatwyrms and ancient dragon turtles are classified as mythic monsters in 5th edition, which means they have a second phase baked into them. When they hit 0 hit points for the first time in an encounter, they immediately recover most of their health, recharge their breath weapons, replenish their uses of legendary resistance, and gain extra legendary action options.

** The final boss of ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon 2}}'' has four stages; all four has him getting new attacks, but the last also grants the player character an EleventhHourSuperpower.

[[quoteright:340:[[VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pmttyd_cortez_battle_3_phases.png]]]]