Line #52 Main/BackgroundBoss


1	%%%
2	%%
3	%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thank you!
4	%%
5	%%%
6	[[quoteright:256:[[VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/giant_baby_bowser.png]]]]
7	[[caption-width-right:256:When he [[MakeMyMonsterGrow gets big]], Baby Bowser isn't so cute anymore.]]
8
9	->'''[[TheHero X]]:''' Oh no, you're a WALL NOW!\
10	'''[[FinalBoss Sigma]]:''' That's right, X!
11	-->-- ''WebAnimation/SomethingAbout VideoGame/MegaManX''
12
13	In {{Platform Game}}s, you'll often meet a monumental boss who's about as large as the screen and stands in the background layer behind the platforms, facing toward the screen. It'll typically [[StationaryBoss stand stock-still]] while swinging its GiantHandsOfDoom or using a BreathWeapon or something. You may have to engage in a small ColossusClimb to reach its WeakSpot, (often its [[BoomHeadshot huge, grinning noggin]]), but in all cases the body of the boss (with obvious exception of its weak point and attacks) is not a threat even if the game features loose CollisionDamage and your character is a OneHitPointWonder.
14
15	In 3D games, these are much rarer due to the less obvious distinction between "foreground" and "background", but can still apply if the battle is fought at long range and it is (for whatever reason) impossible to actually close distance with the boss.
16
17	Due to the impressive difference in scale between these guys and everything else in the game, they are often the FinalBoss, or at least a ClimaxBoss. As such, '''beware of minor spoilers''' in these examples!
18	----
19	!!Examples:
20
21	[[foldercontrol]]
22
23	[[folder:[=2D=] and [=2½D=] examples]]
24	* Flash game ''VideoGame/AbobosBigAdventure'' turns the below NES ''Contra'' example into a BaitAndSwitchBoss, when [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Krang]] gets swallowed whole by a gigantic Franchise/{{Kirby}}, who becomes the true Background Boss.
25	* ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfLomax'' has every boss like this. At the end of the first three worlds, it's airships shooting rockets at you. At the end of the fourth world, it's Evil Ed who causes bombs and boulders to appear on the stage.
26	* In ''VideoGame/AdventureTime: Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!'', Stage 2 of the penultimate boss battle has you fighting a giant version of the Ice King as he looms in the background.
27	* ''VideoGame/AlienHominid'' has one of these for the penultimate boss.
28	* In ''VideoGame/{{Amagon}}'', the Hippo Demon first appears as a moving pair of eyes before the background fades to black and reveals its full face.
29	* [[GiantEnemyCrab Crabburn]] from ''VideoGame/ArcAngle''. It's so big that ''both the game and the player have to zoom out of the screen just to see the thing''. There's also the Sleeping Spire of the first stage, who [[HeWasRightThereAllAlong is part of the background]] in the second half of the level, and Highwayman, a bandit train-thing that attacks you from the background. Quite a few {{Mini Boss}}es and bosses do this too, as well as [[spoiler:Xero-Fin in his final attack phase]].
30	* In ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'', the boss of [[ShipLevel The Walter Raleigh]], T.R, activates an enormous battle machine with large mechanical arms to fight Ann from a distance which also fires projectiles. The WeakSpot opens up once it overheats from enough damage to its [[BodyArmorAsHitPoints armor]], allowing Ann to fire rockets into it.
31	* ''VideoGame/{{Battletoads}}'':
32	** The first boss of the original game [[InvertedTrope inverts]] this with a boss-view cam. Played straight with Robo-Manus' final boss fight in the UsefulNotes/GameBoy game.
33	** In ''VideoGame/BattleToads2020'', the trio battle the guardians watching over The Dark Queen from the outside after it interrupts their [[RockPaperScissors Toad-Sham-Bo]] game.
34	* In ''VideoGame/BinaryBoy'', there is a Skeleton Pirate which shoots cannonballs from the background, and there a Kraken boss in the next level (which doesn't actually attack you, but instead tries to squash you against the bulkheads by forcing the water level to rapidly rise up.
35	* ''VideoGame/BloodstainedCurseOfTheMoon'' has the Stage 3 boss, Valefor. His weak point is his head, which hovers high in the background, forcing you to climb over his other attacks to reach. There's also [[spoiler:the final boss, whose second form stays in the background as she throws things at you; again, you have to do some climbing to smack her head]].
36	%% Needs context * King Drool in ''[[VideoGame/{{Bonk}} Bonk's Revenge]]''.
37	* A very interesting example in ''VideoGame/CannonDancer'': While the FinalBoss Slaver is actually faced normally sized, there's also a huge image of her in the background ''and it actually'' performs the attacks against Kirin. This image is first seen fully, but as Slaver's health depletes, it starts getting closer and closer to the screen until only its angry face covers the whole background.
38	* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'':
39	** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'': Dracula's third form.
40	** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'': Dracula as well.
41	** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow'': Balore and Graham's final form (similar to ''Symphony'').
42	** Dracula's second form in ''Vampire Killer''.
43	** Dracula's final form in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaTheAdventureReBirth''.
44	* Giga Gaia from ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''. [[FinalBoss Lavos]]' exterior is also too big to fit the screen.
45	* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' provides several examples:
46	** The Stages 2, 3 and 4 bosses of the [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] port of ''Contra''.
47	** The Stage 3 boss of the arcade version of ''Super Contra'', and the Stage 7 boss of the NES version.
48	** The stage 3 boss of ''VideoGame/ContraIIITheAlienWars''.
49	** The stage 4 and 7 bosses of ''VideoGame/Contra4''.
50	** The stage 1 mid-boss of ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps'', as well as the bosses from both second stages.
51	** The boss of Stage 2-1 in ''VideoGame/ContraShatteredSoldier'' first attacks you from the background, then moves into your plane.
52	%%* The [[MakeMyMonsterGrow Giant Wolf]] from ''Open Surge''.
53	* ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'': [[FinalBoss The Devil]] spends the first phase of the fight on his throne in the background, reaching into the foreground to do various attacks. Taken further during his second phase and onward, where his giant head takes up most of the background.
54	* The final boss of the second ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' ''VideoGame/PrinnyCanIReallyBeTheHero'' spin off game. One happens later through the game. You finally catch the culprit and he uses his SummonMagic to call out the Elemental Dispatcher...which appears to be rather busy at the moment. Still, the fight ensues with the Elemental chatting someone on the phone while nonchalantly providing aid to your enemy. It's hilarious to watch since she is just as big as the castle you are in and she couldn't just be bothered to just finish the fight in an instant.
55	* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'':
56	** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong94'': The absolutely very last fight with the ape involves him transforming into a very "kingly" foe.
57	** ''VideoGame/DKJungleClimber'' features King K. Rool increased in size with the power of the [[MineralMacGuffin Crystal Bananas]].
58	** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'': In the GBA port, you've got the boss Kerozene (added to K Rool's Keep/Stronghold Showdown as a boss). You can see it [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PmJ0-rx_Ks&feature=player_detailpage#t=516s here]].
59	** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble'': Squirt's Showdown, Bleak's House, and [[spoiler:the Nautilus]]. Squirt rests behind a waterfall, Bleak flings snowballs at you from atop a hill, and in [[spoiler: the Nautilus, K. Rool alternates between hovering back and forth in the background and coming up front]].
60	** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'': The castle boss is a wooden mockup of K.Rool held behind the castle's parapets. The only way to attack it is by launching your Kongs out of a barrel cannon.
61	** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'': [[spoiler:Tiki Tong]] is one [[spoiler:up until you destroy his hands]], as he first heeps his head in the background, safe from your attacks.
62	* In ''VideoGame/DrawnToLife: The Next Chapter'', the [[spoiler:Giant Robosa]] [[ThatOneBoss is partially this]].
63	* Both of the Red Dragons you fight in Capcom's ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsChroniclesOfMystara'' games are of this form.
64	* ''VideoGame/DynamiteHeaddy'': Spinderella, and Trouble Bruin in the flying level. Spinderella gets bonus points for putting ''you'' in the background for some of the time.
65	* In ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'', the terrifying final boss, Giygas, ''is'' the background. He manifests as a warping storm of evil that takes up the whole background.
66	* ''VideoGame/ExtrapowerStarResistance'': Stage 1 boss Undata returns in stage 5, having [[MakeMyMonsterGrow been embiggened by dark energy]] once more. As the player ascends the Shakun Star central compuer tower, Undata is visible through the glass behind it, too big to fully fit on screen. His massive [[ThisIsADrill drill arms]] stab through the sides and let his assault-type Clay Kids pour in. The player has to dodge his drills and subsequent attacks while doing enough damage to the drills to repel them.
67	%% Needs context * Every single villain in ''VideoGame/GIJoe''.
68	* ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'':
69	** The third-to-last boss of ''Gradius Gaiden'', the [[GiantMook Heavy Ducker]], occasionally swoops into the background and tries to assault you from there with shots.
70	** The giant Moai head in ''Gradius Rebirth''. In order to defeat it, you have to destroy the core when it pops out of the head and starts bouncing around, all the while dodging smaller Moai heads and the lightning that generates when the core hits the ceiling or floor.
71	* Walpurgisnacht at the end of the ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' spinoff game ''Grief Syndrome''.
72	* ''VideoGame/HeartOfDarkness'': TheMaster in the final chapter floats around tossing the occasional {{Fireball\|s}} at you. You can't harm him, though, and once you beat the last of his shadowy spawn he politely exits the screen.
73	* ''VideoGame/HiddenDragonLegend'': Dark Raven's penultimate puppet, a gigantic {{Steampunk}} giant robot, attacks you from the background, and you hurt it by sending puppet mooks in the foregroundtowards the robot's core. Damage it enough and it collapses forward allowing you to finish it off.
74	* [[spoiler:General Tor]] of ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' jumps back and forth from foreground to back, with his most devastating attacks unleashed when he's in the background. He can only be injured when he's in the foreground, though.
75	* Similar to the above, M.A.C.E. from ''VideoGame/{{Intrusion 2}}'' will jump into the background and fire out a huge laser and MacrossMissileMassacre spam, while immune to attacks...unless he uses yellow missiles, [[TennisBoss which can be shot back at him to harm him]].
76	* ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'': Both Mike Tyson and [[spoiler:The Guy's second form]]. Interestingly, Tyson is one of the first bosses you can fight.
77	** When you traverse the NostalgiaLevel in ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuyGaiden'', Bald Bull takes Tyson's place.
78	* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' has several examples of this:
79	** Fatty Whale in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' can leap at you from way in the background to create a rising wall of water.
80	** ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' has Wham Bam Rock. ''[[UpdatedRerelease Kirby Super Star Ultra]]'' also has [[spoiler:Wham Bam Jewel]].
81	** Partial examples: Adeline from ''[[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3 Dream Land 3]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards The Crystal Shards]]''. She is [[ArtInitiatesLife an artist whose drawings come to life]], and most of the battle is actually against previous Kirby boss characters that she summons while she hides behind her easel. Adeleine only comes out to assault Kirby personally at the very end, at which point a single attack defeats her.
82	** Many of the end-of-planet bosses in ''Crystal Shards'' do this (though Adeleine is end-of-stage).
83	** ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' has [[spoiler:HR-D3]], which spends a lot of the time in the background attacking you with its fists (that can attacked for damage) and projectiles.
84	*** ''Deluxe'' adds [[spoiler: the Master Crown, which stays in the background for the majority of its fight. The only way you can attack it is via damaging the roots it sends out in one of its attacks.]]
85	** Every single boss in ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' spends time in the background for some of their attacks. The final boss in particular remains like this for almost the entirety of the battle, exclusively using AttackDrones (which are also what you need to attack) to fight you until the last phase.
86	* ''VideoGame/LaMulana'':
87	** One of the last boss villain's slightly more disturbing forms.
88	** Tiamat in the remake.
89	%% Needs context * Belial, the [[DiscOneFinalBoss Episode 2 boss]], from ''VideoGame/{{Lemegeton}}''.
90	* In ''VideoGame/MonsterParty'', the BigBad and FinalBoss fills up the background of the room he is fought in.
91	* ''VideoGame/LilasSkyArk'': The Slug Cat God rears up above and behind the little islet on which he's encountered, standing against the sky.
92	* ''Franchise/MegaMan'':
93	** Several bosses in the original ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' series were coded as background objects, due to the limitations of the NES graphics engine, but the best example is probably Gamma, the final boss of ''VideoGame/MegaMan3''. Only the very top of its head was vulnerable (and only to [[ElementalRockPaperScissors two weapons]]), and aside from its weak spot and its hands, it didn't inflict CollisionDamage.
94	** ''VideoGame/MegaManX1'' and ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX5 X5]]'' have the last form of Sigma be one of these, with only the head and the two claws being foreground objects. (The ''X5'' example is even a direct CallBack to the aforementioned Gamma, as [[spoiler:Dr. Wily himself was responsible for creating Sigma's battle body]].) ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX2 X2]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX3 X3]]'' pit you against similar bosses at the end of the introductory stage, though they're [[WarmUpBoss much less of an obstacle]].
95	** Rangda Bangda is a series-wide RecurringBoss in different forms (first in ''X1'', then ''X5'' and lastly in ''[[VideoGame/MegaManZero4 Zero 4]]'' as Randam Bandam), ''is'' the background.
96	** Eregion, the first boss of ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'', fought near the very start of the introductory level. This fight is a SkippableBoss, however, and the player can opt to move forward and avoid its attacks instead. Either way, it becomes a proper boss at the end, but now it's on the foreground.
97	** ''VideoGame/MegaManX6'' features a background miniboss in Illumina, fought in the Weapons Center. You spend much of the level dodging its attacks (and those of the enemies) while trying to reach and destroy two large power cables; destroying the second cable causes Illumina to self-destruct.
98	** The WarmupBoss Crabs-Y in ''VideoGame/MegaManX8'' is fought in three battles. In the second battle it's hiding behind a waterfall while using its detachable pincers to attack.
99	* Many bosses in the ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' series of games are of this type. ''Metal Slug 5'' had a rather awesome final battle in the form of a gargantuan flying demon wielding a scythe. The first phase of the FinalBoss battle in ''7'' has the Kraken sitting in the distance while it remotely controls its tentacles to attack you. Kraken will only choose a more direct assault once all its tentacles are destroyed, beginning the second phase.
100	* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
101	** ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'' has the Diggernaut, a HumongousMecha that uses giant crushers, [[SlowLaser Frickin]] [[EyeBeams Eye Lasers]] and a VacuumMouth to try and kill Samus with. Among other things, Samus has to [[ColossusClimb climb into its crushers]] (and later, onto its eye) and destroy them with bombs.
102	** ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'': Experiment No. Z-57 spends much of its battle lurking in the background, and is only vulnerable when its head is in the same plane as Samus.
103	* In ''VideoGame/MuramasaTheDemonBlade'', the final boss of the [[MultipleEndings standard ending]] to Momohime's story is a giant statue of the guardian of heaven, Fudo-Myoo. As two lesser deities try to attack you, you must disrupt the barrier protecting various parts of Fudo-Myoo's body by destroying the lesser deities. It's made harder by the fact that large rocks are constantly threatening to crush you and the two deities have some powerful attacks that they will happily unleash upon you.
104	* ''VideoGame/NinjaSenki'' : The dragon boss at the end of Scene 8 behaves much like one.
105	* ''VideoGame/NoituLove'':
106	** The battle against the enormous Omega Darn in the original game. The battle takes place on a helicopter circling around the boss, and to defeat it you must fire super missiles at it while avoiding the rockets, lasers and lightning it shoots at you.
107	** Penultimate Tango in ''Noitu Love 2''.
108	* In the flash game ''Project Inthri 3'', the boss Nemor has four forms. In the third form, he becomes a huge background boss with two phases. The first phase consists of him trying to crush you with his fists, and the second phase has him firing bullets from his eyes and trying trying to hit you with lightning strikes.
109	* Mephistos from ''VideoGame/{{Purple}}'' goes this after [[MakeMyMonsterGrow growing disproportionally]].
110	* The first boss of ''VideoGame/RType III'' would assault the player with shots in the background, coming into the player's plane of view to unleash a MacrossMissileMassacre.
111	* HumongousMecha Coyote in ''Road Runner's Death Valley Rally''.
112	* ''VideoGame/RockmanCX'', in a clear ShoutOut to the ''Yoshi's Island'' example used as the page image, has the final boss, [[spoiler:Dr. Light]], grow to massive proportions to fight Rockman CX. The fight works very similar to that example, requiring use of the Power Bomb or Print Cutter in order to be able to do any damage to him at all.
113	* In ''VideoGame/{{Rosenkreuzstilette}} Freudenstachel'', [[spoiler:the first Iris Stage boss is -- surprise -- Count Michael Zeppelin, who attacks Freudia (and Pamela) from the background and serves as a BreatherBoss for ThatOneLevel.]]
114	* The final boss Bruford from ''VideoGame/RunSaber'' is merged with his lair's walls, and as such is always in the background. In order to damage him, one needs to strike at two specific weak points on his body.
115	* ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'':
116	** In the Lava Reef Act 2 boss, Eggman initially behaves this way by launching missiles at you from a distance until you reach the dueling point.
117	** The first form of the Death Egg boss for Sonic tries to crush you with his mechanical fingers.
118	* ''VideoGame/{{Spawn}}'' for the SNES has Malebolgia hanging around in the background, tossing lightning bolts as you fight the real boss, the Mad One. Fortunately, Malebolgia doesn't seem to care much if he hits you or Mad One and will damage him for you if you stay out of the way.
119	* ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage 4'': The final boss fight against the Y Siblings has you fight both of them normally until you knock one of them down to zero health, at which point that sibling will jump off the background of the stage and rise up piloting a HumongousMecha to attack you.
120	* The final boss of ''Super House of Dead Ninjas'', Abargus, takes up almost the entire screen.
121	* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
122	** This actually occurs in a rather subtle way in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld''. Bowser is actually not a sprite on the screen -- it's rendered as part of the background[[note]]which allows him to use [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mode_7 mode 7]] effects such as scaling and rotation, as explained in [[https://youtu.be/3FVN_Ze7bzw?t=1010 this video]][[/note]], making him a rather meta example of this trope.
123	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland'': Baby Bowser's amped-up magical form, as shown in the header picture. Unique in that he uses the powers of [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super FX]] to slowly stomp toward the foreground, looming larger and larger. Also unique in that instead of a ColossusClimb or other attempt to exploit his large geometry, the fight consists of the two of you shelling each other (with actual eggshells, no less) over long background distances. You need to use the shells to knock him back, or else he destroys the platform you're standing on.
124	** ''VideoGame/WarioLand'': [[VideoGame/WarioLandSuperMarioLand3 The first game]], ''VideoGame/VirtualBoyWarioLand'' and ''VideoGame/WarioLand3'' feature background final bosses -- respectively, a GenieInABottle, [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere another genie]], and [[spoiler:[[MonsterClown Rudy the Clown]]]].
125	** In ''VideoGame/YoshisIslandDS'', Bowser [[MakeMyMonsterGrow turns into this with Kamek's magic]]. but this time, he's right in front of you and just breathes fire and knocks boulders on you.
126	* Lil Horn (Also known as the Meat Golem) in ''[[VideoGame/MeatBoy Super Meat Boy]]''. Unlike most background bosses, Lil Horn is surprisingly easy: he has the same attack pattern no matter what.
127	* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsW'': The colossal Z-Master from ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'' is laid over the background of the stage. The unit that represents him in battle is placed on the tile that is his eye.
128	* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': Bowser's Final Smash has him briefly act as one of these, transforming into a giant Giga Bowser in the background of the stage and delivering a powerful punch.
129	* Gallagher, the final boss in ''[[VideoGame/{{Valis}} Super Valis IV]]'', starts off by launching some orbs of plasma at you from the background, before coming to fight you normally.
130	* [[VideoGame/TailsNightmare Tails' Nightmare 2]] has Tails Doll's final form. To hurt him, you have to fly up to his gem.
131	* ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTurtlesInTime'' [[InvertedTrope inverts]] this by featuring a Foreground Boss: Shredder manning a laser turret at the end of the Technodrome stage, with the battle presented from Shredder's point of view. The player defeated him by throwing his {{Mooks}} into the screen.
132	* The Moon Lord of ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' always appears in the background "behind" the player, and most of its body does not deal contact damage. The eyes, and the mouths where the eyes used to be after they fly out of its body, still deal damage on touch. These also happen to be the only locations of the Moon Lord that the player can damage.
133	* ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'' has Zolan, the werewolf, who is so large he dwarfs the tower which formerly held the mana crystal, his prison. Add to that his impressive claws and absurd special attacks and you can get ready to pack the healing magic out.
134	* The FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/WesternFront1914'' is a gigantic robot who attacks you while you're on a platform. The robot is so huge his upper body occupies the entire screen, and will spend the boss fight throwing projectiles at you from the back besides trying to smash you with fists.
135	* ''VideoGame/WorldsEndClub'': The FinalBoss, MAIK, stands within a shell around various platforms with its defenses shifting in to destroy the platforms and prevent further deletion to its data.
136	* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'': Ovis Cantus can barely fit on the screen... and that's just because he's ''crouching''. However, he still swings his arms and fires energy spheres in an attempt to squash the player.
137	[[/folder]]
138
139	[[folder:[=3D=] examples]]
140	%%* ''VideoGame/AliceMadnessReturns'': The Dollmaker.
141	* ''VideoGame/ApeEscape2'' has Giant Yellow Monkey. The entire battle is fought on his hands, and you have to wait until he brings you close to his face, at which point he attempts to inhale you, and, if this attack is successfully avoided, becomes open to attack. His weak point is his teeth. Knock all five out and you win.
142	* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'': Gruntilda assumes this role for part of the final battle, hovering outside the rim of the arena and throwing fireballs at you while you shoot eggs at her in four different spots.
143	* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'': The nightmare sequences work this way, with a variant; you can't let Scarecrow see you, or it's Game Over. Also, Poison Ivy attacks within her plants before attacking forward to hit Batman.
144	* ''VideoGame/{{Bug\|1995}}'': Multiple bosses:
145	** The giant horned lizard stays in the background at all times, and you have to launch boulders at it.
146	** The giant octopus stays in the background, grabbing [[GrievousHarmWithABody fish and throwing them at you]] until you [[TennisBoss hit three of them back at him]].
147	** The [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti Abominable Snowbug]] chucks massive snowballs from the background for the first half of the fight, and again when it throws massive snowballs that split into five.
148	** [[BigBad Queen Cadavra]] spawns baby spiders from the background, and fires at the floor with her eight machine guns, before attempting to body slam Bug.
149	* ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}'': The bosses are the Clique leaders. For the Nerds, you do not fight the leader himself, as he obviously isn't able to hold his own against someone like Jimmy, who has up to that point beaten up three whole cliques (and probably a few prefects if you're lucky enough). Instead, he uses his inventions to get you at range, so the boss fight is actually taking out his inventions to force him to surrender once he has no weapons left.
150	* The FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness'' is (surprise surprise) Dracula. His second form tends to stay very far away from your platform and shoots at you. The only way to damage him is to hit him when he [[InvertedTrope slashes at you]] with his claws.
151	* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack'': The battle with N. Gin works this way. The boss will always attack Crash from the background, meaning the bandicoot will need to throw Wumpa fruit at him in order to inflict damage.
152	* ''VideoGame/DarkChronicle'': A partial example. The Dark Element sometimes materializes [[AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever much bigger than normal]] to sweep the arena with a laser attack.
153	* ''VideoGame/DantesInferno''" King Minos looms behind the courtroom platform and sends unbaptized infants to attack [[Creator/DanteAlighieri Dante]] until he gets upset enough to crash his head or hands into the battlefield. At that point, its time to AttackItsWeakPoint.
154	%%* ''VideoGame/DeadSpace1'': The final boss. Also, the Leviathan, in the middle of the game.
155	* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'': The castle boss is a wooden mockup of K. Rool held behind the castle's parapets. The only way to attack it is by launching your Kongs out of a barrel cannon.
156	* ''VideoGame/DoomII'': Rather than being a sprite like other monsters in the game, the final boss makes up one of the walls of the last chamber. Its attack method is to fire cubes at pre-determined locations, spawning monsters (which can {{telefrag}} you if you're not paying attention). The only way to win was to fire rockets through the small opening in his forehead. The boss reappears in one of the Master Levels, and also reprises the role of FinalBoss in both halves of ''VideoGame/FinalDoom''.
157	* ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'': The towering [[FinalBoss Icon of Sin]] fights the Doom Slayer around a platform, with it standing a good distance away and attacking using its long arms and projectiles while the Slayer chips away at its armor and flesh.
158	* ''[[VideoGame/DragonBallRagingBlast Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Tenkaichi]]'': The giant boss battles function like this. You either have to throw Ki blasts at them when they are far away, or wait for them to do a melee attack so you can attack them directly.
159	* ''VideoGame/ElShaddaiAscensionOfTheMetatron'' has the Fire Nephilim fought at the end of Chapter 5. Just like a normal Nephilim, but much bigger and much more dangerous. It's so big, Enoch cannot actually defeat it [[spoiler: it's eaten by a ''much bigger'' Nephilim that used to be one of the Watchers. Luckily, that one's not fought, it's vaporized in a cutscene]].
160	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': The first time you fight Sin, it's this. The boat that you're on is being dragged behind him by a harpoon in his fin, and it's impossible to touch him except with long range attacks (Wakka, magic, Aeons, etc.).
161	* ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'' has the battle against the Stormterror at the end of the first Archon Quest. The fight starts off as an aerial chase, but eventually becomes a standard boss fight with the primary challenge being evading the Stormterror's attacks and occasionally hitting it when weak points appear.
162	* ''VideoGame/GobletGrotto'' plays with this in the fridge level: once you get to the top, a giant Goblet Man will appear in the background and say "I could do with a chilled toad right about now!", but he doesn't actually attack you. A regular-sized hostile Goblet Man does appear in the fridge, but he goes down as easily as everyone else.
163	* ''VideoGame/GundamVsSeries'': The [[Anime/MobileFighterGGundam Colony Devil Gundam]] in ''Gundam vs. Gundam/Next''; its only vulnerable portion being the standard-sized torso mounted atop a giant Gundam head with a BreathWeapon. In addition to BeamSpam and throwing out lots of {{Assist Character}}s, it borrows from the 2D version of this trope and will occasionally summon gigantic fists to strike the map (though thankfully there is a warning indicator showing precisely where it's going to hit).
164	* ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'' and ''Gunstar Super Heroes'': The final bosses qualify, the second more so though as in the first game, The only time in the first game it goes into the background is when it uses the gems as weapons. Said Gems are weakpoints for both final bosses.
165	* ''VideoGame/JettRocket'': The second boss, Herzog Aisu, traps you on a narrow platform. You have to do a GroundPound on the giant flyswatter-type apparatus he attempts to squish you with to defeat him.
166	%%* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
167	%%** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'': One of Xemnas' modes does this initially.
168	%%** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'': Giant Ursula.
169	* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroDawnOfTheDragon'': The golem is usually fought in this fashion -- from his first encounter to his very last, where you have to climb several stories of building in order to finally bring the pain down on his massive hands.
170	%%* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': Bongo Bongo, boss of the Shadow Temple.
171	* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleOfSeasons'' sees Link fighting the last [[note]]unless your NewGamePlus has been HijackedByGanon[[/note]] boss -- a dark dragon -- in a side-view arena, requiring him to leap onto the dragon's claws to slash at its head. Since the ''Oracle'' games were developed by Creator/{{Capcom}}, this is typically seen as [[ShoutOut a nod to]] Sigma in ''VideoGame/MegaManX1''.
172	* ''VideoGame/{{Magicka}}'': The first Grimnir fight. You can see a giant hologram of him while fighting the mages he summons. After that, he fights the player, mano-o-mano.
173	* ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance'':
174	** At one point, you are going through the Skrull homeworld. Being in space, who should be calmly striding through the background but ComicBook/{{Galactus}}. You fight him at the very end of the level, but during it, you have to dodge his attacks and minions.
175	** ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance2'': One of the two Marvel Giant-Men (you fight one or the other, depending on who you sided with in the Civil War -- going Pro results in you fighting Goliath, whom the crazy Thor clone killed in the comics, while choosing Anti pits you against Yellowjacket).
176	* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
177	** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'':
178	*** If you do Grunt's loyalty mission, it ends with a fight against [[spoiler: a Thresher Maw]], which stays outside the arena and spits acid at you.
179	*** The FinalBoss is a [[spoiler: giant incomplete humanoid Reaper who can only be harmed by shooting at one of its four weak spots]].
180	** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'':
181	*** On Rannoch, the quarian homeworld, Shepard discovers that what s/he originally thought was a Reaper base is an actual Reaper. S/he decides to sync up his/her orbital targeting with the entire quarian fleet to blow the Reaper to hell. The fight has the Reaper in the background trying to hit Shepard with its beam while you paint its weak spots for the quarian fleet to hit.
182	*** Another Reaper appears during the battle of Earth, guarding [[spoiler:the Conduit]]. It is far in the background, but slowly moves closer. Not long after, [[spoiler:Harbinger appears behind the Conduit, where it stays and destroys the entire Alliance force. This is also a ScriptedBattle.]]
183	* ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'':
184	** The miniboss in Tornado Tonion's stage that follows you up the tower (he's in the center and you move around the outside of the tower), only his claws and head are vulnerable.
185	** Sigma's final form is an enormous body that's fought in space, with your characters on floating platforms. He teleports around and unleashes several varieties of projectiles both far away and up close, and has a rushing punch attack. X and Axl can shoot him at almost any distance, while Zero has to either reflect certain projectiles or wait till Sigma punches to score hits.
186	* ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'': [[spoiler:Metal Gear EXCELSUS]] keeps its main body in the background, and its weak points are its legs and blade arms.
187	* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' adventure maps:
188	** ''VideoGame/HerobrinesReturn'': Koragor is a fire giant who fights you from the background. He's much too big for you to fight head-on, so you instead have to shoot targets on his arms while he spews fireballs at the platforms you're standing on and [[FlunkyBoss summons Blazes]].
189	** ''VideoGame/Diversity2'' ends with a fight against [[spoiler:a giant mecha Wither]], which attacks from the background. It spews explosive projectiles at the platforms you're staying on, and can only be damaged by precise shots at its eyes.
190	** ''Diversity 3'''s Boss Battle branch takes place in the background, as [[spoiler:Stone]] launches attacks at you while you try to help [[spoiler:Steve]] break it. {{Zigzagged}}, as some [[SequentialBoss phases]] of the boss have you fighting mini-bosses head-on.
191	* ''VideoGame/OnimushaDawnOfDreams'': The first boss is a Genma Colossus fought in Kyoto, with the behemoth standing on a street and Soki on a rooftop reaching its waist. The boss can only be damaged after he tries to either slash at or punch Soki on the roof. After inflicting enough damage, the finisher cutscene will take place.
192	* ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'': Lord Avalugg destroys most of its boss arena when it wakes up, leaving the player stuck on a small jut of rock while the boss stands in the newly-formed crater. Since the player can neither retreat nor climb down to where Avalugg is, the battle is spent dodging his constant barrage of ice-based attacks and waiting for him to become exhausted enough for you to throw your Pokémon down at him, weaken him a bit, and prepare for the next onslaught.
193	* ''VideoGame/RememberMe'': The final boss is large (6-10 meters) and will attack by hitting you with its hands, creating projectiles and summoning other enemies. It is not possible to close distance with him until the finishing cutscene.
194	* ''VideoGame/{{Scaler}}'': The penultimate boss fight against Captain [[InSeriesNickname Buttbreath, er, Bootlick, er,]] [[DrillSergeantNasty Bootcamp]] portrays his lizard-form as a giant Leviathan head in the middle of an acid lake. You're forced to avoid his fireballs, fire breath, and attempts to [[JustEatHim eat you]] while occasionally transforming into the acid-spitting Fruzard to [[AttackItsWeakPoint shoot his eyes]].
195	* ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'': The final boss starts out like this, requiring you to dodge his rain of fire as you find a way to close in and begin your last ColossusClimb.
196	* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'': You fight the Egg Golem with both Sonic and Dr. Robotnik. The fight as Sonic is a good 3D example and features a ColossusClimb up retracting platforms on the Golem's back.
197	* ''VideoGame/{{Spyborgs}}'' have Eighty-Six, a KillerRobot clinging to a rooftop's edge and spamming it's projectile attacks, and you can only hit it when it sticks it's face into the foreground. There's also the FinalBoss Jackal's first form, a gigantic mechanical skull embedded into a wall and can only be hit by jumping and slashing.
198	* ''VideoGame/{{Strider}}'':
199	** ''VideoGame/StriderArcade'': The FinalBoss, Caduceus, is fought in space while Hiryu stands in a small platform in the foreground. It requires Hiryu to do a ColossusClimb through either of its arms to reach its weak point, the head. The Aluminium Hydra in Stage 2 also attacks from the center of the stage and is completely out-of-range, being vulnerable only when its heads try to attack Hiryu.
200	** ''VideoGame/Strider2014'' features two such bosses as well: The HoverTank "Tornado" remains always in the background as it peppers Hiryu with projectiles, becoming vulnerable only when it tries to ram him; and the FinalBoss [[spoiler:Meio Prime]] works in much the same way as Caduceus did, sans ColossusClimb.
201	%%* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'': {{B\|igBad}}owser, due to him spending the entire game as a giant.
202	* ''VideoGame/Transformers2004'': The fourth boss is Tidal Wave, a massive supercarrier that (before transforming into his robot mode) was [[HeWasRightThereAllAlong actually the very level you were exploring]].
203	* VideoGame/{{Ultrakill}}: The Corpse of King Minos is the gigantic Husk of the former ruler of Lust, whose main body is far away from the platform V1 is standing on. It tries to attack V1 through punching and slapping, and later in the phase, the parasites controlling the Corpse shoot at V1. Only when the boss is killed does its body enter the arena, revealing the exit elevator for the level.
204	* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'':
205	** Kologarn, a giant construct in the Ulduar raid of ''Wrath of the Lich King'' with CognizantLimb and EyeBeams.
206	** Kologarn's framework has served for several other ExpansionPack bosses since ''Wrath of the Lich King'', such as Sinestra in the Bastion of Twilight raid of ''Cataclysm'', Kromog in the Blackrock Foundry raid of ''Warlords of Draenor'', Krosus in the Nighthold raid of ''Legion'', the HumongousMecha of King Mechagon in the Operation Mechagon dungeon of ''Battle for Azeroth'' and Mueh'zala in the dungeon De Other Side of ''Shadowlands''.
207	** Deathwing spends most of the Madness of Deathwing encounter looking menacing in the background and not doing much else. The actual fight is based around destroying the [[CognizantLimbs tentacles he's holding onto the platforms with]] while [[FlunkyBoss fighting off the numerous adds he summons to stop you]]. It is only in the last phase of the fight, after all his tentacles are destroyed, that Deathwing's head falls into the player's reach and he becomes directly attackable.
208	%%* ''VideoGame/YsVITheArkOfNapishtim'': Orjugan. To damage it, you must hit its bombs back or use the flame magic.
209	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BackgroundBoss