History Main / TacticalSuicideBoss

** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1''
*** Star Light Zone's boss cannot be hit with Sonic's standard jump height. Instead the only way to damage the boss is to take advantage of the spike bombs he drops, either by using the seesaws in the arena to fling the bombs back at Eggman or using them as a counterweight to launch Sonic higher than his jump normally allows and do direct damage.

*** Likewise, the battle with Eggman in Carnival Night Zone comes down to being able to jump on him when he floats down to pick up the grounding orb he uses to generate a magnetic field (if he had a way to raise it back up to his ship without descending then he would be unstoppable). Once again, however, time proves to be your greatest adversary. The second act of Carnival Night is a MarathonLevel, and if you used up [[TimedMission too much of your allotted 10 minutes just getting to the boss]], you will lose a life. And this particular contraption of Eggman's gives Sonic some of the shortest, least frequent windows of opportunity to attack. Perhaps the good doctor had the right idea after all...

** ''VideoGame/SonicRush'':
*** While the [[FinalBoss Ghost Titan]] from ''Sonic Rush Adventure'' is already one of the most frustrating bosses in all of Sonic history, he would literally be literally invincible if he'd just stop shooting and only punched.
** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4''
*** The final boss of ''Episode I'' at E.G.G. Station is a throwback to the final boss of ''Sonic 2'' with a twist: after taking a certain amount of damage, the electrics in Eggman's robot start to short out and he becomes untouchable directly. The only way to expose him is to fling his detachable spiked arms back to him with a homing attack as they float down after being fired (after which Eggman's entire machine will stall and give you a chance to dole out some damage proper).

** The boss of Speed Jungle in ''VideoGame/SonicSuperstars'' primarily attacks by launching a claw on an extendible arm or shooting missiles and both of these attacks are the keys to damaging it.[[note]]The craft itself is immune to spin attacks[[/note]] When the claw arm is used it shoots across the stage at wherever the character was standing when it locked on, after which the character can climb the extended arm and the boss will try to lock on again. Get yourself high enough by doing this and eventually the claw arm will intersect Eggman's machine and damage it (this is most easily accomplished with Tails as he is able to fly up to Eggman's height rather than simply work his way up by waiting for enough arms to extend to put the character into range). Then for the missile phase it works similarly to the above-mentioned Heavy Gunner in that a barrage of missiles will fire out of the machine, one of which is blue and it can be bounced back into the boss to do damage.

** The boss of Speed Jungle in ''VideoGame/SonicSuperstars'' primarily attacks by launching a claw on an extendible arm or shooting missiles and both of these attacks are the keys to damaging it.[[note]]The craft itself is immune to spin attacks[[/note]] When the claw arm is used it shoots across the stage at wherever the character was standing when it locked on, after which the character can climb the extended arm. Get yourself high enough by doing this and eventually the claw arm will intersect Eggman's machine and damage it (this is most easily accomplished with Tails as he is able to fly up to Eggman's height rather than simply work his way up by waiting for enough arms to extend to put the character into range). Then for the missile phase it works similarly to the above-mentioned Heavy Gunner in that a barrage of missiles will fire out of the machine, one of which is blue and it can be bounced back into the boss to do damage.

** The boss of Speed Jungle in ''VideoGame/SonicSuperstars'' primarily attacks by launching a claw on an extendible arm or shooting missiles and both of these attacks are the keys to damaging it. When the claw arm is used it shoots across the stage at wherever the character was standing when it locked on, after which the character can climb the extended arm. Get yourself high enough by doing this and eventually the claw arm will intersect Eggman's machine and damage it (this is most easily accomplished with Tails as he is able to fly up to Eggman's height rather than simply work his way up by waiting for enough arms to extend to put the character into range). Then for the missile phase it works similarly to the above-mentioned Heavy Gunner in that a barrage of missiles will fire out of the machine, one of which is blue and it can be bounced back into the boss to do damage.

** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog''

** The final boss of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' is a huge mecha with a small hit area, and a claw that completely covers it. If Robotnik simply walked instead of flying into the air (he is extremely vulnerable upon landing, where he leans forward), he would be much harder to hit, [[DownplayedTrope but not outright invincible.]] [[note]] It is possible to hit him while he's walking, but it's incredibly risky, because Sonic ''barely'' jumps high enough to do so, and you will hit his arms if you miss. [[/note]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Bug}}'' had three of the bosses fall under this:

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': Some villains fall under odd variants of this trope.
** Redd White [[labelnote:Disclaimer]] [[ReverseWhodunnit Not a spoiler, because he is revealed at the beginning of the case]] [[/labelnote]] would have been a-OK if he wouldn't have attempted to humiliate Phoenix in court.
** [[spoiler:Manfred von Karma]] would have also gotten away with everything if he hadn't tried to [[spoiler:convict Edgeworth for a crime for which the statute of limitations was to expire on that day.]]

** [[spoiler:Queen Ga'ran]] can end the trial whenever she pleases, as demonstrated at the very beginning. Yet despite this, it ''never'' occurs to her until after [[spoiler:she is exposed as the murderer.]]

* ''VideoGame/GreyArea2023'': The second boss, the Clockwork Borbo, will occasionally attack with an energy orb. Unless you've collected all items in the previous chapter (which unlocks a different attack), the only way to damage the boss is by diving into that orb, sending it back. If it didn't use that attack, it would be completely invincible against a player who isn't going for OneHundredPercentCompletion.

** Iblis from ''[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Sonic 2006]]''. Silver has to kill it by reflecting its thrown rocks back at it, preferably before it manages to close the distance, [[BossArenaUrgency slam the platform three times and drop you to your death.]] Unfortunately, his AIRoulette makes it possible to reflect every rock he threw, and still die at the end because he spent so much time throwing shockwaves that you couldn't do anything with. This actually happened to [[{{Determinator}} Pokecapn]] in the infamous LetsPlay of the game.

When it comes to video games, DeadlyDodging is nearly a sub-trope, as is TennisBoss. Sister trope to AttackItsWeakPoint. See also BossArenaIdiocy. When a boss deliberately sacrifices itself ''as'' a tactic or a method of attacking, that's ActionBomb or TakingYouWithMe instead.

* Ditto in ''VideoGame/RType''.

* The Omnidroid machines in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'' can only be hurt by their own claws. That said, the new model is smart enough to not attack itself voluntarily.

*** Averted with Thunderblight Ganon. The boss will perpetually spam its magnetic lightning attack, until the player figures out to levitate its magnetized beams back at it. After getting hit once by its own lightning, Thunderblight will cease to use the attack.
*** It's also averted with Hinoxes. Their [[{{Cyclops}} one eye]] is a [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak point]], and hitting them in the eye stuns them. However, once they reach half health, they will start covering their eye with a hand if you aim an arrow there, making it harder to exploit the weakness.

** Averted in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'' with Thunderblight Ganon. The boss will perpetually spam its magnetic lightning attack, until the player figures out to levitate its magnetized beams back at it. After getting hit once by its own lightning, Thunderblight will cease to use the attack.

* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'': At the end of the first game, where you face two Barons of Hell, there is a bug in the game where there is an attack that will cause a Baron to think the attacker is... himself. If you've already killed the other one, you can just stop and watch as he proceeds to claw himself, ''and'' cry out in pain over the attacks, until he dies and you win. It is hilarious when it happens.

** ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxterThePrecursorLegacy'': The Dark Eco Plant spawns little mooks that, when killed, make it ''open its leaves so you can stand on them, while presenting you with its weak point''.

** ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'': The Precursor robot has arguably the most suicidal move of them all: it can only be damaged if you shoot explosive mine carts (normally too high to shoot) to drop them on it, so it naturally creates pillars of rock that let you get high enough. To a lesser extent, this is present in both of Erol's fights. In the first one, he sends in explosive drones that you hit to send them back up towards him; in the second one, he uses a laser attack that exposes the weak point on the back of his mech's head.

-->-- '''Creator/SunTzu'''

** ''Monster Hunter Freedom Unite 2'': The Nargacuga has a tail slam that, while powerful, will lodge its tail spikes in the ground for a good amount of time, leaving it far more vulnerable then its other attacks do.

** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise'': Narwa the Thunder Serpent is a floating, lightning-powered dragon whose magnetic field causes massive amounts of ChunkyUpdraft whenever it uses any of its stronger attacks. Not only does this keep providing players with cover and platforms to dodge said strong attacks and attack its weak points more easily, the battle takes place in an ancient fortress and the updraft often unearthes ''fully functional siege weapons'', up to and including a Dragonator. If it didn't use any of those moves and stuck to the more basic ones, it could probably defeat any hunter simply through sheer attrition thanks to [[DamageSpongeBoss its utterly massive health pool]].

* ''VideoGame/PokemonFireRedAndLeafGreen:'' Sometimes the Champion Blue's Blastoise would use Rain Dance...even when the opponent right at the field is an electric type pokemon that knows Thunder, a superpowerful electric type attack with low accuracy that becomes maximum whenever Rain Dance is activated.

** The [[BonusBoss Century Toad]] has a hard shell around its head and is nearly always facing towards you. Attacking its softer body is technically possible, but it's a crapshoot. So the main method of causing damage to it is feeding it bombs when it tries to eat you.

* Two of the {{Bonus Boss}}es in the Flash RPG ''VideoGame/{{Sonny}}'' do this. Omen has a move that makes both his next attack and yours much more deadly; if you already have a shield in place, you can hit him for massive damage while absorbing his attack. Dr. Herregods is even more egregious; he has one million hit points, and once you've knocked off a thousand or so he will heal himself for ''two million'' hit points. [[spoiler: Too bad you have a move that reverses damage and healing.]]

* In ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'', Elder Baldurs are an enemy type that you are ''required'' to kill in the early game. Disregarding equipment upgrades you can't obtain until much later, your sole means of damaging them is the Vengeful Spirit spell, which is therefore an AbilityRequiredToProceed. However, even a full [[ManaMeter Soul Vessel]] won't let you cast it enough times to kill one of them. The way to replenish Soul in mid-combat is by performing melee attacks... which Elder Baldur {{No Sell}}s. However, it sometimes will [[MookMaker spit out a Baldur]] instead of acid, and those can be conveniently Nailed and converted to more Soul.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' at the end of the first game, where you face two Barons of Hell, there is a bug in the game where there is an attack that will cause a Baron to think the attacker is... himself. If you've already killed the other one, you can just stop and watch as he proceeds to claw himself, ''and'' cry out in pain over the attacks, until he dies and you win. It is hilarious when it happens.

** [[spoiler:Quercus Alba]] makes it very clear that he can leave whenever he pleases, but sticks around anyway because he finds it amusing to fuck with Edgeworth and company. (He does in fact does try to leave a couple of times, only to get distracted by someone interjecting out of nowhere. ''Four times.)''

In video games, it's quite common for a boss to only be vulnerable at a particular time. It's one thing if it's due to the boss needing to catch their breath every so often or the like. But sometimes, it's just because a given attack leaves them open. Maybe it exposes a {{weak spot}} while preparing the giant laser, maybe their attacks double as weapons or platforms that the player can use to reach their target, maybe on occasion it decides to just stand there laughing at you with its defenses down, or maybe [[BullfightBoss it will keep charging head on into walls]] until it dies.