History YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle / VideoGames

*** Also before that, Chapter 7 has you being blasted to the [[SpaceZone moon]] to find the last Crystal Star at the X-Naut Fortress. You've managed to wrest it from Lord Crump and his new and improved Magnus Von Grapple 2.0, but if Princess Peach ''was'' here, where is she now? [[spoiler:Grodus already took her to the [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Palace of Shadow]]?! That ''cannot'' be a good sign!]]

** The phrase was actually used in an [[Script/SuperMarioBros1991 early draft]] of the 1993 ''[[Film/SuperMarioBros1993 Super Mario Bros.]]'' movie.

* In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', you've defeated Bowser and Kammy after beating Grodus, it must be over right? Not so fast, bucko! It seems that Grodus has survived and has taken Peach to a secret chamber! [[DemonicPossession Things can't get any worse, right?]] '''''[[MemeticMutation WRONG!!]]'''''
** Before that, Chapter 4 has you ascend [[BigBoosHaunt Creepy Steeple]] to stop a curse turning the villagers into pigs, and fight a name-unknown ghost who copies you. [[MetaGuy Goombella]] [[LampshadeHanging even notes how quick that went]]... wait... [[GrandTheftMe why am I a shadow?]]

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' series:
** This trope [[TropeNamers gets its name]] from [[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1 the original game]] with the Mushroom Retainers (Toads) saying the well known line that ''actually'' goes: ''"[[BeamMeUpScotty Thank you Mario! But our Princess is in another castle!]]"'', forcing you to go through four more stages and seven more worlds. In context, though, both parties know this, but the guy's confused why you took a detour to help out instead of making a beeline straight for Bowser. Then the Princess also symbolically does this at the end of the game by informing Mario that he was finally successful but there's [[NewGamePlus another quest]] waiting for him. (Actually the same game with all goombas replaced by beetles and the enemies moving faster.) This also happens in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'', where you also have to play through the game seven more times to reach the final four worlds and the true ending.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'': Parodied when the Princess herself says it as a joke. Also, the entire World 8 is technically this trope. Your original mission was to save the kings of seven different kingdoms from Bowser. You do that and you're supposed to think the game's over, only to find out that while you've been out saving kings, Bowser has taken the princess and you must travel to his world to save her.

** In ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros1'', Bowser Jr. actually drags Princess Peach from one castle to the next (which is subject to quite a bit of FridgeLogic of its own). A variation of this happens near the end where you defeat the "final" castle, only for a new path to suddenly reveal itself and lead the way to the true final castle.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'' has Mario rescue a fake princess after every boss, which quickly turned into a monster (based on the theme of the world) and ran off.
** World 8 of ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'' has a castle level at what looks like the end of its map. After beating Bowser, it turns out the "Peach" Mario saw was really just a cardboard cutout. Bowser flies off with the real Peach, and it turns out World 8 is the only world in the game with two overworld sections. Downplayed in that there are only two more levels after World 8-Castle 1.
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'', once the seventh and final Sprixie is saved, Bowser pulls back the red victory screen, recaptures all seven Sprixies at once, and takes them to the real final world.
** Played for laughs in ''VideoGame/NESRemix'', during the mission where the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' incarnation of Princess Peach has to rescue her ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' counterpart after the battle with Bowser. Upon entering the room, [=SMB3=] Peach tells [=SMB2=] Peach that she is in another castle.
** In ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'', after defeating Bowser as usual (either with fireballs or by collapsing a bridge under him), Mario looks up at the cage where Peach is being held, until she turns around and reveals herself to be Kamek. Bowser then rises out of the lava, super-sized, and chases Mario through the rest of the castle.

*** And then along comes Repentance. Boasting an alternate path to the descent into the basement, you fight through the Downpour, Mines, and Mausoleum, completing a few puzzles to unlock a special knife and the new VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, The Corpse, and the new TrueFinalBoss "Mother". [[spoiler: And then it turns out that "Mother" isn't even the TrueFinalBoss, and you have to complete a '''different puzzle entirely''' to find Dad's Note and ascend through the floors you've conquered until you reach [[WhereItAllBegan Home]] and fight the embodiment of Christianity's [[TheFundamentalist Fundamentalism]], [[SnowyScreenOfDeath Dog]][[AngelicAbomination ma]]. And then, when you kill it, it gives you an item named after it so you can fight and kill the [[Literature/BookOfRevelation Uber-Harbingers and the Beast of Revelation]], which unlocks an ending that [[TheEndingChangesEverything changes everything you thought you knew about the game]].]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Braid}}'' has this message at the end of every world except for the last one, where it turns out that [[spoiler:the princess was running away from ''you'' all along.]] Played with in World 4, where time advances when your character walks towards the right side of the screen, reverses when you walk to the left, and freezes when you stand still, causing the message to end up "Sorry, but the princess is in another... hey, where are you going?"

* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot4ItsAboutTime'': So you defeated Neo Cortex and prevented him from taking over the world? Too bad, now you have to stop N. Tropy from [[OmnicidalManiac destroying the entire multiverse.]] And then after that, you have to do a snack run. And after ''that'' [[spoiler: you've got to follow Cortex into the past to stop him from erasing Crash Bandicoot from existence.]]

** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'': After allying with either the rebel mages or the templars, you close the Breach, supposedly fulfilling the goal of the game. However, it comes off as anticlimactic, and it's obviously too early into the plot for it to be the end. Then [[spoiler:Corypheus reveals himself and attacks Haven]].

** In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'', The Hero and his friends gather their resources to bring Dread Fiend Murdaw to heel. [[spoiler: Not only is the original Murdaw you confront actually the King of Somnia under a curse, the real Murdaw is not the only Dread Fiend]].

*** Great job, you resurrected the Almighty! [[spoiler:Wait a minute... he is not the real Almighty. He is the Demon King in disguise]].
*** After you've [[spoiler:restored all the islands/continents that the Demon King sealed away and solved all the pressing crises in each location]], you finally track down the Demon King himself and defeat him in combat, ensuring peace and prosperity for the newly restored world... except you haven't even gotten to Disc 2 yet.

** In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestXI'', you've traveled the whole map -- twice -- in your quest, defeated Mordegon, and returned peace to the land; but the postgame opens by presenting the possibility of [[spoiler:going back in time to prevent his rise to power -- and the HeroicSacrifice of one of your party members -- in the first place]]. Follow through on that, and there's yet another problem looming: [[spoiler:in the original timeline, you saw Mordegon destroy something that he felt threatened his reign. Now with Mordegon down, the other evil makes his move unopposed.]]
** Done with '''style''' in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters: Caravan Heart'': [[spoiler: You beat the BigBad, causing him to flee the (good) High Demon Lord [[BodySnatcher he was possessing]], only... [[NeverFoundTheBody he ... fled... right?]] [[FromBadToWorse Whoops.]] After the credits, you see the 4 other (good) Demon Lords who helped you out throughout the game floating in the darkness... then the darkness sprouts a hideous face. Cue the hero having to run screaming back to the Alternate Universe to sort that little mess out....]]

** One quest has a kid who was summoning an assassin to kill an evil orphanage director who beats and starves the kids and even refuses to let people adopt them. So even though you aren't an assassin, you can kill her anyway, the kids rejoice and the one who issued the quest gives you his most prized possession... quest over right? Actually it turns out that since you weren't an actual assassin, you took a mark that was rightfully theirs and they are pissed. So it's either join their guild or die, [[TakeAThirdOption or take down the entire guild killing them all]]. Regardless, joining them starts an entire long chain of quests which ultimately ends with [[spoiler: you killing the Emperor of Tamriel himself]].

* In ''VideoGame/TheFlameInTheFlood'', you finally make it to the "evacuation site" at Angel Yards, though [[FissionMailed Scout nearly drowns in the process]]. It turns out [[spoiler: A.N.G.E.L. Yard is [[HomeworldEvacuation a space center]], and the only rocket left is long out of commission.]] Scout's only option left is to keep going down river and hope she makes it to "the Kingdom".

* ''VideoGame/{{Killer7}}'' pulls this off at the end of Smile, Part 1. The whole level has various characters building up this chapter as the big climactic finish, and when you finally get to the end of the stage, instead of finding the person you were looking for, you instead find two shadowy figures ([[spoiler:Young Harman and Dmitri Nightmare]]) who just dismissively tell you he's not here and you should go somewhere else.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'': When you think all you have to do is free the Four Giants and stop the moon by summoning them in Clock Tower, it turns out [[spoiler:you'll have to defeat Majora's Mask as well]].

** ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'': The visit to Meridian. Ryder and squad fight their way through hordes of kett, along with the Big Bad's main henchwoman, learn a few shocking facts, and find... [[spoiler:they're not actually at Meridian, they're just at the control hub. The real Meridian is A: ''Much bigger'', and B: Missing, thanks to its creators suffering a case of "OhCrap Let's get out of here!" After a quest of figuring out where it's gotten to, it looks like everything's going to work out... only for the Archon to suddenly steal the ''Hyperion'', SAM, and Ryder's sibling, and nearly kill Ryder in the process.]]

* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'': It seems like you're finally the number one assassin; finally defeating everyone else. Time to use the potty... then before you know it, an assassin busts in and cuts your head off. Unless you get the good ending, where the assassin is killed and you have to fight [[spoiler:your brother]].

* The entire second half of ''VideoGame/OnimushaDawnOfDreams'' is heavy on this: the hero manage to infiltrate the Genma base in Osaka and destroy the Dark Stone kept there? Claudius reveals that it was almost out of juice anyway, making the victory pointless. You breach into the Shimabara facility and destroy the other Dark Stone alongside Claudius and Rosencrantz? By the time you do so the Omen Star is close enough, so even without the Dark Stone the Star will land in Kyoto before the heroes can make it back to it. Finally, the Onimusha head to Nagoya Castle, planning to use the teleport device there to reach Kyoto... [[spoiler: Only for Ophelia to seal the machine, forcing Minokichi to sacrifice his life to teleport everyone to the Akechi Tomb in Kyoto.]]

** ''VideoGame/Persona5'': Masayoshi Shido is the head of TheConspiracy, the guy who got you on probation for ''his'' crime, and a personal enemy of several other teammates. Surely ''he's'' gotta be the FinalBoss, right? Except TheConspiracy ''keeps going'' after you take him down. Cue [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Mementos Depths]] and a showdown with the GreaterScopeVillain, the Holy Grail/[[spoiler:Yaldabaoth/"Igor"]], who at one point [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall flat-out says]] "the game isn't over yet".

* ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar'': "The Bright Lord" mission presents itself as the endgame and urges you to complete all side-missions as the very nature of the game changes after you complete it. [[spoiler: ... and turns out, Talion (read: You) is abandoned by his wraith Celebrimbor, who was also animating his corpse after he was executed [[VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor in the previous game]]]]. He saves himself from dying by [[spoiler:putting on Isildur's ring]]. Point is they weren't kidding, some of your abilities are permanently changed, [[PermanentlyMissableContent you can't go back to do the sidequests]], and you must complete the Shadow Wars Siege quests in the PlayableEpilogue to get the true ending.
* At the end of ''[[VideoGame/{{Shockwave}} Shockwave: Operation Jumpgate]]'', the Omaha has successfully pushed the invading aliens out of the Sol System and back through the eponymous jumpgate. All seems well until the last thirty seconds or so of the ending cutscene: [[spoiler: The Omaha's commander, believing the jumpgate's existence to be too great a risk, decides to disobey her orders and destroy it. The Omaha gets a single shot off before the jumpgate's automated defenses retaliate, blasting the Omaha to hell and back, causing it to fall through the gate itself to parts unknown]]. This is picked up on in ''Shockwave 2''.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': Happens twice in World of Light. [[spoiler:It seems like you've defeated Galeem, and you are right. However, the sky cracks open to reveal Galeem's counterpart Dharkon and his army of Crazy Hands, meaning that your adventure is far from over]]. Then, after you [[spoiler:defeat Dharkon, a new rift appears and now you have to prevent light and darkness from overthrowing each other]].

*** At the end of the game, you fight Ganondorf and seemingly kill him. It's over, right? {{Not quite|Dead}}. Ganondorf then [[TakingYouWithMe tries to destroy the remains of his castle with you in it]]. But that was easy to escape. But as one final twist, Ganon turns into a huge [[OneWingedAngel demon-pig-thing]].

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'', the dragon master Lance is set up as the final boss. [[ItWasHisSled As even casual fans know by now]], he isn't; the true champion is Blue/Green/Gary/Asshat/[[HelloInsertNameHere Whatever the heck you named him]]. Likewise, in [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver the sequel]], both Lance and Blue are set up as the final boss at separate points, with Lance qualifying as a DiscOneFinalBoss as well. There is actually little indication that the the true final boss awaits [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome at the top of Mt. Silver, where you meet a trainer that greets you with "......"]]. Cue the collective shock of millions of children during the height of the Pokémon craze as they face [[PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo Red, the player character from the original games]], with the highest-leveled mons in the entire series.[[note]]Red briefly lost the "highest level" crown to the Sinnoh rival in ''VideoGame/PokemonPlatinum'', but regained the title in the remakes of ''Gold and Silver''.[[/note]]

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendArceus'', you quell the last Noble Pokémon and climb to the top of Mt. Coronet to confront Dialga [=/=] Palkia and close the space-time rift hovering over Hisui... until the morning after, when it turns out the rift has gotten ''worse'' and everyone's blaming you for it.

** ''[[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Sonic and the Black Knight]]'', too. Complete with ending credits before it's revealed that the "Princess" has been in another castle all along.
** ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'': the goal of Crisis City Act 1 gets stolen under your eyes in the most trollish way possible.

* Played for laughs at the end of ''[[{{VideoGame/Zuma}} Zuma's Revenge]]'' when the fake "final boss" dies in one hit, followed by partial fake credits, only for the ''real'' boss to reveal that you'd actually just "defeated" his ''cook''. After that, you get to fight his "final form," followed by his ''true'' final form, followed (and completed) by a dark mirror version of your character.

** In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'', The Hero and his friends gather their resources to bring Dreadfiend Murdaw to heel. [[spoiler: Not only is the original Murdaw you confront actually the King of Somnia under a curse, the real Murdaw is not the only Dreadfiend]].

*** The Nottagen plot pulls this ''twice''. First off it seems you've rescued the town... yet dispelling the gloom blocking out the sun caused a plant monster to wake up and destroy the town again. Then when you save the town from the plant, hellworms invade and destroy the town. All in all, the town is very well named (for those who don't get it, "Not again!").
*** You ''finally'' made it back to Dharma/Alltrades Abbey... oh wait, now they built an arena. [[LampshadeHanging In an impossibly short amount of time -- the characters are just as surprised as the player is.]]

*** After you've [[spoiler:restored all the islands/continents that the Demon Lord sealed away and solved all the pressing crises in each location]], you finally track down the Demon Lord himself and defeat him in combat, ensuring peace and prosperity for the newly restored world... except you haven't even gotten to Disc 2 yet.

** ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'': Kirby and company retrieve the broken parts of the Lor Starcutter in the span of five worlds. Then Magolor takes them to his hometown of Halcandra, where they must retrieve the Master Crown. Cue Level 6 and 7.

** The ''VideoGame/KirbyBattleRoyale'' Championship Battle (available after you fill the Platinum League's gauge) plays like Qualifier Battles, albeit more intense, with King Dedede and one of his Soldier Waddle Dees as your opponents. Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee win, but King Dedede gets angry and orders Kirby to face him in a 1-on-3 Battle Arena match. After Kirby wins ''that'', an even angrier Dedede forces him into one final battle... with the Dededestroyer Z. Only after all that is done that the ending rolls.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': Hooray! You defeated Galeem, the BigBad of Adventure Mode. Surely, the heroes now stand triumphant- [[WhamShot Wait a minute]], is that a goddamn ''crack in the sky''?

* One quest in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' has the player traipsing deep within an undead-infested tomb to retrieve the legendary Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. At the end, you finally reach the coffin itself, to discover nothing more than a note from 'a friend' telling you they've already taken the Horn, and want you to meet them.

* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VI'' pulls this twice in quick succession. For the first half of the game you're trying to speak with the Oracle, which requires the approval of all six lords of the land. After running all their quests, it turns out that one council member is still voting no in defiance of his lord's wishes, and you have to run ''another'' quest to expose him as TheMole.
** Then, after meeting the Oracle, she won't speak to you until after you've run four tough dungeons. (The reason being that the Oracle is actually an ancient supercomputer that has been sabotaged. The four dungeons contain spare parts that you need to repair it.)

** In the mission "Heat" from ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 1'', you fall back from the advancing Ultranationalists to the planned LZ at the farm, only to find out it's too hot due to SAM's, then you have to push back through the lines to get to the new LZ at the bottom of the hill.

** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'''s FinalBoss starts playing Fake "Kredits" right before he TurnsRed.

** Episode 3's secret level "Warrens": it's an ''exact copy'' of the episode's first level, "Hell Keep", right down to weapon and monster placement, except significantly easier as you start with more than just the pistol. When you reach the end of the level, the teleporter doesn't bring you to the stat counter - it drops a bunch of walls, revealing new areas filled with new monsters - such as [[OhCrap the Cyberdemon standing directly in front of you]].

** A much better example would be Episode 3's secret level "Warrens": it's an ''exact copy'' of the episode's first level, "Hell Keep", right down to weapon and monster placement, except significantly easier as you start with more than just the pistol. When you reach the end of the level, the teleporter doesn't bring you to the stat counter - it drops a bunch of walls, revealing new areas filled with new monsters - such as [[OhCrap the Cyberdemon standing directly in front of you]].

** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'' had one of the first fakeouts of the series. After defeating Baramos, returning to the king, and watching a celebration in your honor (this being a common ending theme for DQ games), Zoma suddenly nukes the partygoers and challenges you to come to his world. It's especially effective since your characters are quite powerful by this point, you've (most likely) explored the entire world map, and even have a means of flight. This set up the ''Dragon Quest'' tradition of traveling to a LostWorld in the final act, though sometimes this is done without a [[DiscOneFinalBoss fake final boss]].

* In ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesShreddersRevenge'', the initial goal is to prevent the Foot Clan from reassembling Krang's android body. Most early levels have Krang's head seen in the boss arena, only for it to get snactched away somehow after the boss is defeated. Then, both it ''and'' Krang's torso get dragged along until they're finally carried by flying Tubular Transports. Krang's legs are also taken this way, so they can only be followed until [[YouCantTwartPhaseOne the body's completed in Baxter Stockman's lab and later teleported to Krang in Dimension X]].

* In ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesShreddersRevenge'', the initial goal is to prevent the Foot Clan from reassembling Krang's android body. Most early levels have Krang's head seen in the boss arena, only for it to get snactched away somehow after the boss is defeated. Then, both it ''and'' Krang's torso get dragged along until they're finally carried by flying Tubular Transports. Krang's legs are also taken this way, so they can only be followed until [[YouCannotStopPhaseOne the body's completed in Baxter Stockman's lab and later teleported to Krang in Dimension X]].

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'': When you think all you have to do is free the Four Giants and stop the moon by summoning them in CLock Tower, it turns out [[spoiler:you'll have to defeat Majora's Mask as well]].

** Something similar happens in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' with the spiritual stones and the eponymous ocarina. Now all you've got to do is open the Door of Time and pull out the Master Sword, right? Turns out [[MacGuffinDeliveryService Ganondorf was counting on you to do just that]] so that he could waltz right into the Sacred Realm and get his hands on the Triforce. Of course, [[FridgeLogic why would they bother throwing in the Master Sword if you're not going to use it]]?
** Also at the end of ''[=OoT=]'', you fight Ganondorf and seemingly kill him. It's over, right? {{Not quite|Dead}}. Ganondorf then [[TakingYouWithMe tries to destroy the remains of his castle with you in it]]. But that was easy to escape. But as one final twist, Ganon turns into a huge [[OneWingedAngel demon-pig-thing]].
** In ''Majora's Mask,'' when you think all you have to do is collect the four masks and stop the moon, you then have to fight Majora.
** The second assault on Forsaken Fortress in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''. Complete it and you've saved your sister, but are only halfway through the game and have a Ganon to defeat.
** Played with in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', as Zelda is going to the same dungeons... Link just keeps missing her several times, but makes eye contact with her twice. And then, at the end Link has destroyed the Imprisoned, Zelda is awakened, and everyone gets a happy reunion... until Ghirahim shows up, incapacitates everyone, kidnaps Zelda, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking mocks Groose's hair]].
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast''. You've collected the three {{Plot Coupon}}s, retrieved the SwordOfPlotAdvancement, and stormed the castle. Now all that's left is to defeat this evil wizard guy, but that ends up being the hardest part: Agahnim, during the battle, sends Link to the Dark World, and the latter is told by Sahasrahla that he has to rescue seven maidens there. Up to that point, Link had only completed one third of his quest.

*** This one is at least foreshadowed: Ganondorf's spirit was split into four pieces, and Cia freed three of them before the game starts. The fourth one is sealed by the Master Sword, but the heroes have Link draw it anyway, because it's the one weapon strong enough to beat Cia. Lana is confident that the magic of the place will hold Ganondorf's spirit in check by itself. Yeah, she was wrong.

* ''VideoGame/RhythmHeavenMegamix'' does this twice; after completing Lush Tower and the rest of the towers in Lush Woods respectively.

** ''VideoGame/RhythmHeavenMegamix'' does this twice; after completing Lush Tower and the rest of the towers in Lush Woods respectively.

** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', DamselInDistress [[ThePresidentsDaughter Ashley Graham]] gets recaptured three times after her first rescue. One of these instances leads to a very literal case when Leon eaches the final part of Salazar's castle looking for her, only for Salazar himself to tell him that Ashley was taken to the military island.