History Main / TrueFinalBoss

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* The NES version of ''DoubleDragon II'' only allows the player to fight the Mysterious Warrior if they're playing on the "Supreme Master" difficulty setting. Playing the game on the normal "Warrior" difficulty will simply end with the player fighting their own clone, who was the original final boss in the arcade version.

If the reward for beating this guy ''isn't'' the GoldenEnding (or some sort of huge bonus feature), there will be great rage.

* In addition to the BulletHell examples listed above, {{Touhou}} has two of these in its first FightingGame [[GaidenGame side story]] ''Immaterial And Missing Power''. With only two exceptions, each character's story mode let's you fight Yukari if you beat the previous five stages without continuing, and then let's you fight Suika if you don't continue against Yukari. (If you don't fight Yukari you get a bad ending, and if you beat Yukari but don't fight Suika you get another bad ending). Naturally, the two characters without True Final Bosses are...Yukari and Suika.

**** Actually, ''God Mode'' TLB is easier than ultra-mode TLB. There are some videos of people beating it without losing a life or a bomb.

** ''{{Persona 4}}'' has two of these. If you screw up and get the worst ending, the FinalBoss is [[spoiler: Kunino-Sagiri]], the Good (or Neutral) ending has [[spoiler: Ameno-Sagiri]], and if you [[GuideDangIt actually manage to get the True ending]], you fight [[ManBehindTheMan The Man Behind The Man Behind The Man]], [[spoiler: Izanami.]]

*** Technically, Iori or Kyo are just [[BonusBoss bonus bosses]] and the game can be completed without them. Omega Rugal could also fall as a bonus boss. A better example for this trope, however, would be 2003 where, depending on how you defeat [[CloningBlues Kusanagi]], will make you fight either Adelheid or Mukai.

* Ganbare Goemon 3 lets you fight the recurring Kabuki if you collect all the health power-ups.

* ''Romancing SaGa: Minstrel's Song'' has an optional True Final Boss. If you manage [[spoiler:to acquire all ten Fatestones (something that requires quite a bit of planning and cannot be accomplished until you have cleared the game at least twice), you can offer them all up to the final boss,]] vastly increasing his powers.
** Actually, [[spoiler:offering up ''any'' Fatestones will increase his powers, usually in a way appropriate to the Stone/s offered.]] However, the jump in strength for each stone beyond the fifth gets larger and larger, and the jump to the tenth is what makes 10FS Saruin a True Final Boss.

** Hentai shooter ''Sentimental Shooting'' takes this one step further: Finish a stage (any stage) without using your time freeze and without losing a life, a bonus boss would appear to blow you to smithereens. Level boss stages are the only exception to this rule.

* ''[[KingdomHearts Kingdom Hearts]] [[KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth By Sleep]]'' has three scenarios for the three main characters, each with their own FinalBosses. The TrueFinalBoss though is fought in the Final Episode [[spoiler:as Aqua, fighting desperately against the crazed BigBad Xehanort [[GrandTheftMe possessing her friend Terra's body.]]

* ''[[KingdomHearts]] [[KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Birth By SLeep]]'' has three scenarios for the three main characters, each with their own FinalBosses. The TrueFinalBoss though is fought in the Final Episode [[spoiler:as Aqua, fighting desperately against the crazed BigBad Xehanort [[GrandTheftMe possessing her friend Terra's body.]]

** ''{{Persona 4}}'' does this TWICE. At first, it looks like the final boss is [[spoiler:Kunino-Sagiri, aka Taro Namatame. If you don't toss him into the TV]], eventually you discover the true final boss is [[spoiler:resident bumbling detective Toru Adachi and a random godly entity called Ameno-Sagiri]]. But [[spoiler:if you go to the Junes food court after saying your goodbyes]], it turns out the true mastermind behind everything is [[spoiler:the gas station attendant you met at the beginning of the game, aka Izanami. And yeah, you fight her at the end of the true final dungeon]]. Whew.

* ''[[AceCombat Ace Combat Zero]]'' plays with this: If you've beaten the game enough to unlock the highest difficulty setting, and the SP Mission "[[BossRush The Gauntlet]]", and played that mission on said highest difficulty setting, and defeated ThatOneBoss, Espada Squadron, in less than 1 minute, when the game's penultimate boss, Wizard Squadron appears, and then just before you can fight Wizard Squadron, a single F-22 Raptor appears and utterly slaughters Wizard Squadron, in all of about 15 seconds. Then that F-22 sets his sights on you. Good luck with [[ShoutOut Mobius 1]], Cipher.

** In {{Touhou}}, you can reach a final boss and get a Normal ending if you win with some continues (but not too many), but to reach the ''real'' final boss, you first have to beat the Stage 5 boss on a no continue run, or else you can't even reach the correct final stage. and once you reach the true final stage, you have to go through ''that'' with no continues, or you get a bad end. (you can usually use a Continue by adding 30 minutes to the "time" counter, but if you lose all lives in Final B, that's an instant game over.)
*** The time counter is Imperishable Night only. It adds an hour. Every other game from 6 onwards has either three continues or infinite but it auto-selects 'no' after three deaths
** It was the same way in ''Touhou'' 4, Lotus Land Story. The 2nd game was similar, except you could continue if you ran out of lives, you get a bad ending if you do though.

* ''{{Contra}}: Shattered Soldier'' has two true final boss fights. The first, if you complete the first five missions with an A ranking, is a SequentialBoss fight with the "Relic of Moirai", then if you manage to achieve and maintain an S ranking through there, you get to fight his Very Definitely Final Form (although this is quite a bit easier than the previous forms).

** The spinoff series ''Gargoyle's Quest'' had ''two'' of these in the third game, ''Demon's Crest'' for SNES. If you collect every crest and item, the final boss, Phalanx, would reveal a new form far more challenging than the previous ones. If you beat this and sat through the credits, you got a password unlocking an even harder final boss, [[ThatOneBoss Dark Demon]], who could be defeated for a different ending.

** The spinoff series ''Gargoyle's Quest'' had a hidden final boss in the third game, ''Demon's Crest'' for SNES. If you beat Phalanx after collecting all the crests and items, he would reveal a final form far more challenging than the previous ones. If you beat this and sat through the credits, you got a password unlocking an even harder final boss, [[ThatOneBoss Dark Demon]], who could be defeated for a different ending.

** The spinoff series ''Gargoyle's Quest'' had a hidden final boss in the third game, ''Demon's Crest'' for SNES. If you beat Phalanx after collecting all the crests and items, you got a password unlocking the ''real'' final boss, [[ThatOneBoss Dark Demon]].

If the reward for beating this guy ''isn't'' the GoldenEnding (or some sort of huge bonus feature) there will be great rage.

If the reward for beating this guy ''isn't'' the GoldenEnding (or some sort of huge BonusFeature,) there will be great rage.

* In the video game ''[[{{Godzilla}} Godzilla: Unleashed]]'' the final boss turns out to be not Orga (like in the previous game), but [[spoiler:Spacegodzilla.]]

* BulletHell shooters take the cake for this, featuring impossible bosses such as [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTn0I3xnVMc Hibachi the mecha-bee]] from the ''DonPachi'' series or EnfanteTerrible [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8JmfCYmtHo Flandre Scarlet]] from the ''{{Touhou}}'' games (both pictured above). And to even reach them you have to play their games with ''no continues''.
** Speaking of ''Touhou'', in ''Imperishable Night'', you can reach a final boss and get a Normal ending if you win with some continues (but not too many), but to reach the ''real'' final boss, you first have to beat the Stage 5 boss on a no continue run, or else you can't even reach the correct final stage. and once you reach the true final stage, you have to go through ''that'' with no continues, or you get a bad end. (you can usually use a Continue by adding 30 minutes to the "time" counter, but if you lose all lives in Final B, that's an instant game over.)

** ''Star Force 3'' just gets weird with this. As normal, getting every star lets you fight the super form of the final boss. However, inputting [[GuideDangIt secret]] passwords lets you fight your Rival's new super form, and the super forms of the BonusBoss, the BonusBoss of the last game, and one of the new bosses. After all of that, you can fight the final boss's super SUPER form... as a random encounter. Not only that, but if you go through a long gauntlet of Wi-Fi matches (which is hard with all of the DCers), you can fight yet another secret boss and earn a secret star. SoYeah.

** Hentai shooter ''Sentimental Shooting'' takes this one step further: Finish a stage (any stage) without using your time freeze and without losing a life, a bonus boss would appear to blow you to smithereens. Level boss stages are the only exception to this rule. OrSoIHeard.