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| 11 | %% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1614414830078578300 |
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| 14 | [[quoteright:300:[[VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pmttyd_cortez_battle_3_phases.png]]]] |
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| 16 | ->''"You fool! You can't just beat the ultimate form, there's always an '''ultimate''' ultimate form waiting! Don't you know anything?"'' |
| 17 | -->-- '''Creator/{{Gackt}}''', ''Webcomic/ManlyGuysDoingManlyThings'' |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Multiple large-scale fights in a row. Most common with a boss who morphs in shape (where multiple areas must be [[DidntNeedThoseAnyway disabled]] to do real damage on the controlling target, see also: OneWingedAngel), although it sometimes happens with separate bosses. The game may or may not be nice enough to replenish your health in between the fights, but a major danger is using important items or techniques too early in the fight. With sequential bosses that are multiple fights against the same creature, occasionally [[VictoryFakeout the game will try to trick you into thinking that the first fight was the only one]], showing victory animations and so on. |
| 20 | |
| 21 | This trope is VERY common with a {{final boss}}. The number of stages will often be [[RuleOfThree three]]. |
| 22 | |
| 23 | 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 ''Sequential Dual Bosses'', though those are blessedly rare for now... |
| 24 | |
| 25 | Compare BossRush (where more than one past enemy is fought in a sequential order), BossBonanza (where there are multiple new bosses in a row) and TurnsRed. |
| 26 | ---- |
| 27 | !!Example subpages: |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[index]] |
| 30 | * SequentialBoss/PlatformGame |
| 31 | * SequentialBoss/RolePlayingGame |
| 32 | * Other: |
| 33 | ** ''SequentialBoss/{{Cuphead}}'' |
| 34 | [[/index]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | !!Other examples: |
| 37 | |
| 38 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 39 | |
| 40 | [[folder:Action Games]] |
| 41 | * The four horsemen of ''VideoGame/{{Apocalypse}}'' fits under this trope perfectly. |
| 42 | ** Death begins by [[FlunkyBoss summoning hordes of zombies]], which Kincaid must defeat while shooting back. Once Death realize zombies aren't going to cut it, he then plunges his scythe into the floor electrifying the surrounding area, which Kincaid must dodge while observing his attack patterns, before fighting Kincaid up close. |
| 43 | ** Plague begins with trapping Kincaid in three platforms, the middle which contains a fire-spewing disco ball which Kincaid must dodge the flames (by jumping between platforms) while shooting Plague. Once Plague's life is down, she ditches the disco ball attack and uses her ranged acid instead, before ultimately deciding to corner Kincaid in one single large platform, where she will pursue him relentlessly. |
| 44 | ** War uneleashes a few easy-to-destroy turrents, before facing Kincaid personally with his ShoulderCannon, in addition to a {{BFS}} if Kincaid gets too close. Once Kincaid wipes out most of War's health, War then [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever enlarges himself to fifty-foot]], turning into an AdvancingBossOfDoom. |
| 45 | ** Beast is a DamageSpongeBoss with multiple healthbars Kincaid must deplete. In each of his form he have different abilities; it starts with fireballs (first lifebar), and then a repeated ShockwaveStomp where Beast leaps all over the place with each landing resulting in a shockwave that Kincaid must jump to avoid, before finally fighting Kincaid from up close. |
| 46 | * ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'' has several of these. |
| 47 | ** The first one is Wyzen in Chapters 4 and 5. Asura starts fighting Wyzen at normal size, then fights his over 100 meters tall Vajra form, then his ''planet''-sized Gongen form. |
| 48 | ** When fighting Deus, you first go at him with Asura, then Yasha, and then use Asura again. |
| 49 | ** When fighting Gohma Vlitra [[spoiler:for the last time,]] he first sprouts out other Gohma to fight, then you fight [[spoiler:one of his Orochi heads, then eventually start fighting all of them, and then its main face, then the true form of Vlitra in the Earth's core.]] |
| 50 | ** When fighting against Yasha [[spoiler:for the final time, Asura and Yasha start off on a massive tower, then flash back to a training fight between the two as you fall down the tower, then fight Yasha in his Unlimited mode.]] |
| 51 | ** Then there's the final fight with [[spoiler:Chakravartin, where you fight his giant intergalactic form, then a smaller version in Naraka, then his Human form, then his Creator form, then a coup de grace QTE battle with him.]] |
| 52 | * ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'': Fortitudo, Temperantia, Sapientia, the last fight against Jeanne, and the TrueFinalBoss all qualify due to their multi-layered life meters (each of them color-coded) and phases. You know you're in the last phase of a fight if the LifeMeter of the boss is yellow (and inflicting damage leaves the affected part empty with color black, indicating that there are no more layers of health left). |
| 53 | * Parodied in the web game ''VideoGame/ChibiKnight'': after you defeat the last boss, the Demon Beast, he explodes and you have to fight what's left of him, [[GoForTheEye the Demon Eye]]. However, it does absolutely nothing and you can kick it around as you please before it dies! |
| 54 | * Lance in ''VideoGame/ContraShatteredSoldier''. And Mission 6 consists almost entirely of a sequential boss fight against the Relic of Morai's many forms. If you complete the game up to here with an S ranking, you get to fight the disappointingly easy TrueFinalBoss. |
| 55 | * Green from ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'' boasts a grand total of ''seven'' forms with the power of his transforming mech, Seven Force. Sure, you only have to face a couple of them on easy, but harder difficulties have you facing the full set, back to back. He comes back later on using all the forms in conjunction with each other, but this one plays out more like a standard boss battle. |
| 56 | * In the first ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'' game, you [[spoiler:fight Ares. Then he sucks you into a portal where you find your "family" and must donate your health to them while being attacked by versions of yourself. THEN, you fight Ares again, only without any of your upgraded weapons or magic.]] |
| 57 | * ''VideoGame/KrutTheMythicWings'' have it's FinalBoss, Zurah the stone ogre warlord, who needs to be fought either twice or thrice, depending on how you see it. Firstly you fight off his minions, including a rock golem, while avoiding his attacks from the background as the kaiju-sized Zurah hurls rocks at you while fending off your fellow Krut and Garuda allies. And then you fight Zurah for the first time, and defeat him only for Zurah to bail as your armor unleashes it's true potential, including granting you a Sword Beam-Beam Spam attack. You then move to the following area to fight Zurah, this being the last time. |
| 58 | * The final fight in ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' against the [[spoiler:Mega-Smith]] takes place over three rounds, each stage damaging him more each time. |
| 59 | * ''VideoGame/MetalSlug 4'' is full of sequential bosses, for some reason. With the exception being The Iron and Sea Satan, the other 4 bosses plays it completely straight: |
| 60 | ** [[CoolAirship Brave Gurerrier]] attacks you on a rooftop, where you must firstly destroy it's dorsal section which has cannons and unloads bouncing bombs on you, then the middle part which has missile launchers, and then it's front which tries to eliminate you with a gatling gun. |
| 61 | ** Toschka Dalanue is a Pillbox Tower containing five segments that you must destroy one at a time. Every level have it's own armaments, may it be turrets, [[ClownCarBase sections that unload mooks]] or fireball launchers. With the top piloted by [[TheDragon Allan O'Neil]], having a bomb dispenser and a giant cannon borrowed from the Big Shiee from the second game. |
| 62 | ** [[MechanicalMonster Big John]] is a robotic head which firstly unloads a grappling claw from above, and then a cannon that drops purple fireballs, before showing it's true face and sics missiles and poisoned bubbles on you. |
| 63 | ** The FinalBoss, [[StationaryBoss Amadeus Mother Computer]], is a control center that first unleash two different giant robots (one at a time; the first has gatling cannons and a sawblade while the second can launch {{AttackDrone}}s), before taking you on directly with it's final form flanked by the base's laser turrets and robot mooks. |
| 64 | * ''VideoGame/SARSearchAndRescue'' have it's FinalBoss, the mutant abomination source you fought in a pool of blood which needs to be killed twice. You kill it the first time, causing it to break into chunks of flesh as it sinks into the pool... [[BodyHorror then the mutation takes effect, stitching those chunks into a grotesque new form]]. With a new health bar and all that. |
| 65 | * ''VideoGame/{{Spyborgs}}'': |
| 66 | ** Lieutenant Colt, the boss of the volcano base, is an ex-Spyborg who first fights like a MirrorBoss, being the same size as the individual Spyborg heroes. Defeat him and he falls into the lava pool in the arena's middle... only it turns out his cybernetic modifications allowed him to survive extreme heat, where he then climbs out inside a massive mecha (resembling a KingMook version of the crab-like Quad Hunters). Cue second phase of his fight. |
| 67 | ** Jackal, when faced as a Final Boss, first pilots his Skull Mecha on the Spyborgs, and a Stationary Boss (being a gigantic mechanical skull attached to a wall). Defeat it and the mecha's skull part suddenly detaches and grows mechanical, scorpion-like legs as well as a robitc stinger, and must be fought all over again. |
| 68 | * The final battle with Dr. Tongue in ''VideoGame/ZombiesAteMyNeighbors'' includes two forms: one against [[ThatOneBoss the spider form fought in a previous level]], and one where he turns into a giant head. |
| 69 | [[/folder]] |
| 70 | |
| 71 | [[folder:Action-Adventure Games]] |
| 72 | * ''VideoGame/{{Aquaria}}'''s final boss, [[spoiler:The Creator]], fits this trope to a T. First, he appears as a 'perfect' humanoid figure sitting on a throne. Then, his face falls off and he grows tentacles and chases you. Then, he turns into a monster, flees, and you have to track him down by [[spoiler:listening to the background music]]. ''Then'', he becomes a 'lite' version of the first form, which you defeat by singing in the correct sequence. When you win there, he falls on his side and it looks like you've won, but then you're warped to the final battlefield and have to face him as he truly is: [[spoiler:a god]]. |
| 73 | * ''VideoGame/AstralChain'': |
| 74 | ** [[spoiler:Jena Anderson]] has three forms, though you get access to HQ and a motorcycle segment between the first and second forms. |
| 75 | ** [[spoiler:The FinalBoss, Noah,]] starts with a platforming segment reminiscent of those from Jena's final form, then pits you against its core. After its defeat, its berserk remains attack you as [[spoiler:Noah Prime, who becomes Final Noah Prime when it's down to roughly 40% health]]. |
| 76 | * Subverted and parodied in the first ''VideoGame/BloodRayne'' game. The final boss of Act 2 is a 10-foot tall Nazi cyborg. After you drain his health bar to zero and he collapses, he stands back up again, raises his arms high into the air, and screams "You can't defeat me THAT easily!"... then promptly falls over dead. Rayne even makes a snarky comment about this. |
| 77 | * ''VideoGame/BunnyMustDie'': |
| 78 | ** FinalBoss [[spoiler:Chelsea]] has a whopping seven distinct stages. |
| 79 | ** Septentrion Pleiades has five stages, but this fight happens back to back with [[spoiler:possessed Bunny]], who also has three stages and is directly followed by yet another three-stage boss (whose second stage is fortunately [[HopelessBossFight unbeatable]]). The game even gives you an [[CosmeticAward award]] if you manage to finish all those fights without ever running out of HP. |
| 80 | * ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' series: |
| 81 | ** Nearly every ''Castlevania'' game ends with a two-stage Dracula battle. Typically, the first half is against Dracula in a humanoid form, and the second is a [[OneWingedAngel hulking, demonic form called "True Dracula"]]. ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'' went even further, with a two-stage Grim Reaper battle and a three-stage Dracula battle; both versions of Stage 7 end with the Mummies, Cyclops, and Gargoyle being released from coffins in succession by the Evil Flame. |
| 82 | ** In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'', due to its flashback prologue, the game ''begins'' with the two-stage Dracula battle from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood''. |
| 83 | ** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaTheDraculaXChronicles'', which gives you the same two forms as in ''Rondo of Blood'', but then gives you the TRUE FORM ([[MemeticMutation and despair!]]) for a THIRD Dracula fight. |
| 84 | ** Another strange example is in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia'', where Dracula does have two forms, but instead of the second form being a [[OneWingedAngel demon thing]], [[spoiler:the second form renders the first form in 3-D.]] |
| 85 | ** ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow Aria of Sorrow]]'' had a two-stage fight with [[spoiler:Graham]] for the normal ending. Beating him with the three souls that best represent Dracula's powers (Giant Bat, Succubus, and Flame Demon) equipped let you progress further in the game to fight [[spoiler:[[TrueFinalBoss Chaos]] so you don't [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie turn into Dracula]] (losing to him [[ItsAWonderfulFailure causes exactly that to happen]])]] in another two-stage battle. |
| 86 | ** ''Grimoire of Souls'' has another example with two different bosses: the first time you manage to defeat [[BodyOfBodies Legion]], you are subsequently ambushed by [[spoiler:[[RogueProtagonist Soma Cruz]]]] and have to fend him off as well. In subsequent fights, the second boss is not fought. |
| 87 | * ''VideoGame/CaveStory'': |
| 88 | ** At the end of the game, you fight [[TheDragon Misery]], then fight [[BigBad The Doctor]], who is himself a two-part boss fight, then fight the ''real'' final boss, who's backed up with two flunkies. There's no saving or recovery in between, but [[GuideDangIt if you know how]], it's possible to get partially healed right before the last one. |
| 89 | ** The BonusLevelOfHell is even worse: [[spoiler:You fight the Heavy Press, which can do a lot of damage if you mess up, and instantly kill you in its death throes, then get some decidedly-less-than-generous SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity before going on to the [[TrueFinalBoss secret final boss]], which has ''four'' stages, each one of which can kill you in under six hits with a BossArenaRecovery that's more likely to cause more damage than it is to heal you]], and all of this is at the end of the longest and hardest level in the game without a save point. |
| 90 | * The ''[[VideoGame/FamilyGuyVideoGame Family Guy Video Game!]]'' has the Giant Chicken as the final boss, naturally. The battle takes place in seven different areas, with the chicken gaining additional abilities between most of the scenery changes. |
| 91 | * ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro'': |
| 92 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroANewBeginning'': |
| 93 | *** After his health bar is depleted for the first time, the Ice King ditches his sword and shield for a glaive and becomes more aggressive. After it's depleted again, he takes back the sword, starts calling upon more varied attacks, and keeps his magic barrier up much more often. |
| 94 | *** After her health bar is depleted twice, Cynder stops circling overhead and switches to hovering in place while launching fireballs at Spyro. |
| 95 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroTheEternalNight'': |
| 96 | *** Skabb, Scratch and Sniff fought in three stages. First, Skabb limits himself to launching his retractable hook hand at Spyro. After his health bar is depleted, it refills and they start shooting cannonballs and missiles. After it's depleted again, they flee altogether and have to be tracked down across the pirate fleet, at which point they're fought one final time and start using magical attacks and calling other Skavengers to assist them. |
| 97 | *** In the first phase of his battle, Gaul battles by trying to impale Spyro with flying leaps, occasionally teleporting across the boss arena and firing off a flaming projectile after rematerializing. After his health bar is depleted for the first time and he and Spyro fall through the arena's floor, he loses his scimitars and starts alternating between a SpinAttack and firing {{Eye Beam}}s. |
| 98 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroDawnOfTheDragon'': |
| 99 | *** 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. |
| 100 | *** In his battle's first phase, Malefor simply hovers in place and shoots fireballs at Spyro and Cynder. After his health is depleted, an ActionCommand sequence ensues to dodge his counterattacks and he enters a second phase where he acts much the same as before, but also uses new aether- and ice-based projectiles. Depleting his health again leads to a second action command sequence and the third and final phase, where he surrounds himself with a shield impervious to everything but Spyro and Cynder's Fury breath. |
| 101 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': |
| 102 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'': The Shadow Nightmare, the FinalBoss, has six sequential forms (although the last two forms can be [[OneHitKill one-shotted with the right weapons]]). |
| 103 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'': Several: |
| 104 | *** Barinade has four phases, starting the battle attached to the ceiling, then surrounded by some of its [[FlunkyBoss Bari]], then moving around with the ''rest'' of its Bari, and finally moving more quickly while firing electricity. |
| 105 | *** Phantom Ganon is first fought as he rides his stallion through the room's paintings, then as he floats around the room by himself. |
| 106 | *** Twinrova begins as a DualBoss, before the two witches fuse into a single entity for the second phase. |
| 107 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'': The final battle with Majora in the moon features [[RuleOfThree three]] forms, named "Majora's Mask," "Majora's Incarnation," and [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Majora's Wrath"]]. |
| 108 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleOfAges'': When battling Veran, 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. If it's a linked game, you then go on to face Twinrova and Ganon, thus mixing this trope with BossBonanza. |
| 109 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' has two: |
| 110 | *** The first boss, Gohma. In the first phase, Link has to make the rocky ceiling fall over her to gradually break her exoskeleton. After three falls, the second phase begins and Link is ready to properly inflict damage to the boss. |
| 111 | *** Puppet Ganon takes exactly three forms: The actual puppet, then a spider, and finally a Moldorm-like caterpillar. |
| 112 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'': Vaati 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.]] |
| 113 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': |
| 114 | *** The game does this for every boss except the second, in some cases even tricking you (and Link) into thinking the battle is over. In the majority of cases, the first phase is about merely weakening the boss's defenses with the item you found in the dungeon, while in the second phase you use that item in conjunction with the sword to incapacitate the boss and deal actual damage. |
| 115 | *** Played for laughs with Armogohma, whose second form is merely its eyeball on a tiny spider body, which runs ''away'' from you and dies very easily (all while a sillier version of the first phase's boss music plays). |
| 116 | *** Zant himself is a FinalExamBoss with minor variations (namely, that he mimicks the behavior of some bosses and minibosses, and that he warps Link into a previous location at the start of a new phase). |
| 117 | *** Ganondorf's battle consists of a fight with [[spoiler:Puppet Zelda]], then Beast Ganon, then Ganondorf on a horse, and finally Ganondorf himself in a SwordFight. And all of this takes place in direct succession of one-another. |
| 118 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'': With the exception of Scaldera and the Imprisoned, every boss 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). As a special case, [[spoiler:Ghirahim in his third and final fight has ''three'' phases: One where he has to confronted in RingOutBoss form, followed by one where he uses revamped versions of his classic attacks (plus a new one that can be deflected in TennisBoss form), and finally one where Link has to shatter his enlarged weapon to expose his weak point]]. |
| 119 | ** ''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. Also, if you go after Calamity Ganon before defeating all the Blight Ganons, you'll need to fight each one you haven't faced yet before getting to the Calamity. So, if you don't fight any of them, that's ''four'' boss fights in a row before the FinalBoss.]] |
| 120 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'': Each of the bosses fought in the Temples has two phases, with the second having it either attack more aggressively or add new moves; in all cases, the transition always happens when the LifeMeter drops to half or under. The FinalBoss Ganondorf has ''three'' phases, with the third one having him go OneWingedAngel. |
| 121 | * ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'': |
| 122 | ** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'': The final boss has two phases: the first phase has you attack it with whichever Beam it's currently weak to, 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. |
| 123 | ** ''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]]). |
| 124 | ** ''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]]. |
| 125 | ** ''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. |
| 126 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'': Mother Brain has three 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. |
| 127 | ** ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' has the SA-X when you finally get to fight it. First there's the regular Varia Suit-sized version you've been avoiding the entire time. Hit that with your charged up Wave Beam, and you get a giant monstrosity that can't shoot you but can somehow jump anywhere in the room incredibly fast... Fortunately it stands still for a second every now and then and Screw Attack does work too (although it's a double-edged sword since it also hurts yourself...) |
| 128 | * ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'': The FinalBoss, Jasper Batt Jr., has three phases. In the first, he's driving a hovering car and attempts to run over Travis; in the second, he takes a tall, muscular form and gains several attacks, including a sequence of teleport punches that are difficult to dodge; in the third, he inflates his body so much that only his belly can be hurted, and gains slow yet powerful attacks (though they're easy to avoid). |
| 129 | * ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII'': |
| 130 | ** Sonic Juice is first fought in an RPG-like format, and he actually intends the whole battle to last like this. But Travis can then destroy the interface that regulates the battle and the two proceed to fight in a more conventional manner in the next phase. |
| 131 | ** Jess Baptiste VI (a.k.a. FU) has two phases. In the first, he's fought in his standard humanoid form, and his whole body is protected by energy rings that repel all attacks and only dispel for less than a second right after he performs an attack. In the second, Travis fights him from his surreal OneWingedAngel body, having to hit his attacking limb while dodging lasers that appear periodically. |
| 132 | * ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' has this with the {{Climax Boss}}es as well as the FinalBoss: |
| 133 | ** Orochi has two: In the first, the seal that protects him has to be broken once the serpent heads have been incapacitated. In the second, with the seal broken, Amaterasu can now slay the heads one by one. |
| 134 | ** Ninetails has two: One in which it behaves as an AsteroidsMonster and you have to slay the foxes that represent the tails, and another in which one tail remains and the boss is now attacking Amaterasu in a faster-paced duel. |
| 135 | ** The FinalBoss example is [[spoiler:Yami the Lord of Darkness]], whom you fight five times, all the while [[spoiler: regaining your Celestial Brush techniques, which Yami zapped out of Amaterasu at the start of the fight]]. It has to be mentioned though, that [[spoiler:Yami's first four forms aren't that different, being a different variety of ball each time]]. When you face him in ''VideoGame/TatsunokoVsCapcom'', he does the same thing, but with only three forms. |
| 136 | * All of the Wii ''Franchise/OnePiece'' games have at least one of those. |
| 137 | ** ''[[VideoGame/OnePieceUnlimitedAdventure Unlimited Adventure]]'' has two. |
| 138 | *** You fight against Rob Lucci twice in a row (once in human form and once in leopard form). |
| 139 | *** At the end of the game, you fight the Evil Guardian, who upon defeat transforms into the Evil Master Beast. |
| 140 | ** ''[[VideoGame/OnePieceUnlimitedCruise Unlimited Cruise]]'': |
| 141 | *** Episode 1 has a fight against the cowardly Spandam and a bunch of Marine flunkies, followed immediately by a fight against Aokiji. |
| 142 | *** Episode 2 has one of these for its final fight. After defeating Yami's first form (a large golemlike creature), he transforms into a much nastier creature composed of tree roots and darkness. |
| 143 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Sundered}}'', the final bosses for the Resist and Embrace paths each have two forms. In the former case, [[spoiler:the player defeats Nyarlathotep, only for the Shining Trapezohedron to fuse with it and revive it for round two]]. In the latter case, [[spoiler:the player’s doppelganger goes OneWingedAngel and turns into Humanity]]. |
| 144 | * The ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' series always ends with these, usually a string of people on the BigBadEnsemble. |
| 145 | ** ''VideoGame/Yakuza1'': [[spoiler: Kiryu defeats [[CorruptPolitician Kyohei Jingu]] in a long GetBackHereBoss battle, then faces off with [[EvilFormerFriend Akira Nishikiyama]].]] |
| 146 | ** ''VideoGame/Yakuza2'': [[spoiler: Kiryu has his long-awaited showdown with [[BloodKnight Ryuji Goda]], then fights [[GreaterScopeVillain Daejin Kim]] and [[FlunkyBoss his goons]]. After a string of twists and deaths, Goda then gets back up and the two have a DuelToTheDeath.]] |
| 147 | ** ''VideoGame/Yakuza3'': [[spoiler: Kiryu fights [[WesternTerrorists Andre Richardson]], followed by [[BigBad Yoshitaka Mine]].]] |
| 148 | ** ''VideoGame/Yakuza4'': [[spoiler: The protagonists lure every remaining villain to Millennium Tower and pair off to fight them. Akiyama fights [[TheMole Hideaki Arai]], Saejima fights [[KillerRabbit Takeshi Kido]], Kiryu beats the temporarily defecting [[TheLeader Daigo Dojima]] back to his senses, and finally, Tanimura defeats [[DirtyCop Seishiro Munakata]].]] |
| 149 | ** ''VideoGame/Yakuza5'': [[spoiler: Saejima and [[BadassInDistress Majima]] are forced to fight nearly to the death by the BigBad. Shinada then fights [[ManipulativeBastard Shigeki Baba]], Akiyama fights [[TheDragon Kamon Kanai]], and Kiryu finally battles [[DragonInChief Masato Aizawa]].]] |
| 150 | ** ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'': [[spoiler: Majima faces [[TheHedonist Hiroki Awano]] at the end of his raid on Dojima's headquarters, then fights [[ProfessionalKiller Lao Gui]] immediately afterward. The game then cuts back to Kiryu, who has a long and brutal battle with [[TheHeavy Keiji Shibusawa]].]] |
| 151 | ** ''VideoGame/Yakuza6'': [[spoiler: Kiryu beats down [[FlunkyBoss an army of yakuza]] led by [[TheDragon Kanji Koshimizu]], then has his showdown with [[EvilCounterpart Tsuneo Iwami]], which is also the FinalBoss of his multi-game story arc.]] |
| 152 | ** ''VideoGame/LikeADragonGaidenTheManWhoErasedHisName'': [[spoiler: Kiryu faces off against [[ArcVillain Kosei Shishido]] and [[PsychoSupporter Homare Nishitani III]] at a construction site, then heads to the Omi Alliance headquarters where he fights a horde of rioting yakuza after Watase and Daigo disband the Tojo Clan and Omi Alliance. Then Shishido returns, serving as the TrueFinalBoss of Kiryu's story.]] |
| 153 | [[/folder]] |
| 154 | |
| 155 | [[folder:Card Games]] |
| 156 | * VideoGame/{{Hearthstone}}: Several bosses in the singleplayer content, usually those at the end of various adventure wings, will have you fight a different enemy with their own health and armor pool once you beat the first one. Sometimes the opponent's deck changes to match. Other bosses will switch hero powers once you reach a certain threshold, taking the fight in a completely different direction. |
| 157 | ** Depleting Kel'Thuzad's armor causes him to forcibly end the player's turn, summon a pair of minions, and replace his original hero power (which freezes and damages the player's hero) with a new one that lets him steal the player's minions. If you take too long to break his armor and are somehow not dead, Kel'Thuzad will go into the next phase anyway. |
| 158 | ** Defeating Majordomo Executus causes Ragnaros to replace him. |
| 159 | ** Depleting Nefarian's armor when fighting him at the end of Blackrock Mountain causes him to have Onyxia replace him while he harasses you with fireballs [[RunningGag from above]]. Beat Onyxia and he comes back down to fight you proper. |
| 160 | ** When engaging Malchezaar at the end of One Night in Karazhan, the player takes the wrong portal and faces Nazra Wildaxe first. After her defeat, Moroes finds the right portal and you fight Malchezaar proper. |
| 161 | ** Depleting Professor Putricide's armor for the first time causes him to change his Hero Power and get a new portrait and another set of armor. Depleting this second amount of armor lets him take his final phase. His deck doesn't change the whole time. |
| 162 | ** The fight with the Lich King at the end of Icecrown Citadel starts relatively normally, barring an unfair spell that may rig the fight against you. Once the Lich King hits turn 7, he equips Frostmourne, turns immune, and replaces his board with Trapped Souls, and you have to defeat every one of them to proceed (however, he will not play cards in this phase). Once the souls are liberated, the final phase commences, where his Hero Power does increasing amounts of damage to your hero. Unlike other examples before, it is entirely possible to rush him down and beat him before turn 7, skipping the latter phases of the fight[[note]]technically also possible with Nefarian and Kel'thuzad (much more so with the former, since you're not on a timer) by one-shotting them through their armor, though it's much easier with the Lich King since his form changes aren't tied to health[[/note]]. |
| 163 | ** When facing off against George and Karl in the Dungeon Run, you have to fight through two opponents, each with their own health pool and Hero Power, who can also tag out mid-battle. |
| 164 | ** The Plague Lords in the Tombs of Terror all start with a massive 300 health and three separate phases with different decks and hero powers. Each time they lose 100 health, they will progress to the next phase, and their remaining health is kept between attempts. |
| 165 | * Several of the villains in ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' flip in a predictable 1-2 sequence, often (although not exclusively) when their first side's health runs out. That said, many other ones will flip multiple times in a game depending on various in-game triggers. |
| 166 | ** Both versions of Baron Blade initiate phase two of their evil plan when they run out of health. The first has a timed mission where you need to punch through his defences and stop him from [[ColonyDrop pulling the Moon into the Earth]], and if you can pull it off, he switches to his battlesuit and starts trying to punch you to death. The second is more direct: he keeps setting off big explosions until you defeat his first form, then fishes out his death ray. |
| 167 | ** Gloomweaver's Skinwalker variant flips to its Rotting God form when damaged sufficiently. In the second mode, Gloomweaver keeps damaging himself, but regains health for every target he destroys. |
| 168 | ** Spite has a first side that's basically enduring his buildup and coming to the rescue of his victims until he gets all his drugs out, at which point he flips and emits waves of damage again and again until either he dies or the heroes do. (It ''is'' possible to defeat him in his first form, but because he heals whenever he deals damage, it's fairly difficult.) His second form ''can'' change as the game goes on, if you get enough victims into the Safe House, but it doesn't have to...except on Challenge difficulty, which goes ''straight'' into the Skinwalker Gloomweaver fight for a potential four stages. |
| 169 | ** The Chairman starts out as just a fight against the Organisation and the Operative, but if you can take out enough Underbosses, he shifts to the side with an actual health bar and can be defeated. |
| 170 | ** Miss Information is invulnerable to damage and spams minor annoyances at you until you accumulate enough Clues, at which point she becomes vulnerable, if difficult. |
| 171 | ** The Dreamer starts out with her minions being the only problem, but flips if you can clean out those minions and starts lashing out with her powers directly. Because killing the Dreamer is a NonStandardGameOver because she's a literal child who means no harm but has powers that are running amok, the second phase is defeated by killing enough minions. |
| 172 | ** Infinitor's Heroic variant, if he runs out of health on his first side, forms a giant monster out of his powers and needs to be fought directly. |
| 173 | ** [=OblivAeon=] has the most phases of any villain on standard difficulty. His first form, which has 10,000 HP and an obscene number of damage buffs, goes away when the countdown runs out or you beat the condition on his Shield. His second form, which charges his environment-destroying death beam if the heroes aren't directly confronting him, has a more manageable (although still higher than any villain save Akash'Bhuta) 180 HP. His third, which is a brutal beatdown of constant card plays, has 120. [[spoiler:Then, if Rainek Kel'Voss is in play, he pulls a DragonAscendant and adds a ''fourth'' stage as you try to beat him.]] |
| 174 | * ''Franchise/YuGiOh'': |
| 175 | ** ''VideoGame/YuGiOhReshefOfDestruction'' for the GBA is littered with sequential battles, made worse in that the only way to replenish your health is to go back to the save point, which will reset many of the sequential encounters. The final battle against Sol Chevalsky and Reshef is especially cruel, as you have to batter your way past a combined 60,000 life points versus only 8,000 of your own, ''plus'' both opponents' decks have [[LuckBasedMission numerous ways to kill you in only a couple turns]]. |
| 176 | ** The final boss of ''Videogame/YuGiOhGXSpiritCaller'' must be fought three times, with him using a different deck for each. You ''can'' leave to do other things between each fight though. |
| 177 | ** The Guardians of the third and fifth Duel World in ''Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship 2008'' require the player to beat them in three and five consecutive Duels respectively, with their Life Points carrying over between Duels and no chance to save or edit their Deck in between. They do warn the player about this and give them ample time to prepare. |
| 178 | ** The penultimate boss of ''Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship 2009: Stardust Accelerator'' is a brutal sequence of duels against [[spoiler:four clones of you]]. Their Decks, especially the third and fourth opponents, are particularly brutal, and you cannot restore your LP, save, or change Decks in between. |
| 179 | ** The final boss of ''Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship 2010: Reverse of Arcadia'' combines this trope with FinalExamBoss as the player has to beat him in a race, a Tag Duel, a Turbo Duel, and finally a standard Duel. Fortunately the player can save and change their Decks in between. |
| 180 | ** The entire final chapter of ''Yu-Gi-Oh World Championship 2011: Over the Nexus'' uses the WRGP rules which combine this trope with BossBonanza. The player has to fight through multiple opponents in a row with their LP carried over in between and no chance to change Decks. Fortunately, the board state, hand, and Graveyard are preserved between fights to permit the player to utterly steamroll the opposition if they set up a big lead. The problem, however, starts with surmounting the ''opponent's'' board state. |
| 181 | [[/folder]] |
| 182 | |
| 183 | [[folder:Fighting Games]] |
| 184 | * ''VideoGame/EternalChampions'': The Eternal Champion faces you with an amazing ''five'' forms in total. |
| 185 | ** Playing the Sega CD ''Challenge From the Dark Side'' on the hardest setting? Prepare yourself for '''''nine each''''' from him ''and'' Dark Eternal Champion. |
| 186 | * ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters '97'' has ''five'' of these, or even ''six'' if some conditions are met. The first one is either [[spoiler: Orochi Iori]] if you don't have [[spoiler: Iori Yagami]] in your team, or [[spoiler: Orochi Leona]] if you do. He or she will be followed by [[spoiler: the empowered forms of the New Face Team: first you defeat Orochi Chris, then Orochi Shermie, and Orochi Yashiro at last]]. Not satisfied? Once they're defeated, [[spoiler: it's time to fight {{Orochi}} himself.]] And if you [[spoiler: fight as the Japan Team and defeat Orochi with Kyo Kusanagi]], this will unlock one last match [[spoiler: where Kyo fights Iori Yagami (as in, normal Iori without the Riot of the Blood)]] |
| 187 | * ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'': |
| 188 | ** Final boss Onslaught of the first game is just plain insane.\ |
| 189 | The first form is as tall as the screen, will teleport away whenever you try to hit him (especially if you try using a super-combo), and all his attacks are as powerful as super-combos. If you manage to beat the first form, he becomes even bigger, with his body floating at the background. You can't hit the body, you must aim for the small head, which usually requires super-jumps. Also, your health was not replenished after the first form. |
| 190 | ** The sequel game has the demon Abyss, who had three forms to defeat, each with different attack styles and weaknesses. |
| 191 | * ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'': |
| 192 | ** Ridiculously done in ''[[NarutoPathOfTheNinja Naruto: Path of the Ninja]]''. You fight the Sound Ninja trio '''four times in a row''', first with Sakura and Lee, then just Sakura, then Sakura and Shikamaru, and finally Sakura and Sasuke. They finally run off after that, or else they probably would've brought in every other character to fight with Sakura. |
| 193 | ** ''VideoGame/NarutoShippudenUltimateNinjaStorm2'' has these for ALL their boss fights. In order: |
| 194 | *** Kakashi vs Naruto and Sakura: A battle in the training field in standard play, followed up by a lake area where he shoots Water Dragons. If you avoid them or have Sakura knock him off his high point, he shoots fireballs and guns you down with Lightning Blades. |
| 195 | *** Deidara vs Gaara: A battle on top of the Kazekage's Mansion, dodging his explosive birds and spiders, waiting for opportunities to knock him off his bird and open a gourd of sandy whoopass. When you take a healthy chunk of his HP, an aerial chase ensues, where you have to again avoid his fire and pelt him with [[MoreDakka Sand Shuriken]]. |
| 196 | *** Orochimaru vs Naruto: Again, fairly normal until Naruto goes [[OneWingedAngel Four-Tailed Fox]] on Snaky. BeamSpam ensues. |
| 197 | * ''VideoGame/RanmaOneHalfHardBattle'': The first of the final bosses is Pantyhose Taro in his human form. After you beat him, you then fight him again, this time in his CursedWithAwesome form. |
| 198 | * ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsArcadeGame'' has two: |
| 199 | ** The first is a giant bowling ball late in the game that has four different forms, each one with a different type of attack. |
| 200 | ** The second is the game's [[BossOnlyLevel final level at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant]], which has you fight first Smithers, and then Mr. Burns in a giant robot, who additionally has ''five'' different forms. |
| 201 | * ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'': |
| 202 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' has Master Core, an amorphous mass of black matter that emerges from Master Hand at higher difficulty levels. The number of forms you fight through also depends on the difficulty, including in order; Master Giant, a large humanoid form; Master Beast, a quadruped dragon/scorpion hybrid; Master Edges, five swords attacking at once; and Master Shadow, a MirrorMatch. And finally a ZeroEffortBoss of the core itself. For the Wii U version, Master Core has one additional form (penultimate order-wise) that can only be fought at the highest difficulty levels: Master Fortress, an EldritchLocation ColossusClimb. |
| 203 | ** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': |
| 204 | *** The Final Rounds of certain Classic Mode routes pit you against multiple opponents in a row to invoke this trope. Mario and Captain Falcon must defeat Bowser, who then comes back as Giga Bowser; similarly, when Zelda defeats Ganondorf, he then transforms into Ganon. Bowser himself has the tables turned on him when Mario comes back from defeat as Metal Mario, without even a loading screen like the previous examples. And Kazura faces a clone of himself (standing in for Heihachi), who then comes back in Metal form. |
| 205 | *** Dracula has two phases. The iconic humanoid vampire form in the first (only his head can receive damage), and then his beastly form in the second. |
| 206 | * ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheArcadeGame'' ends with you fighting General Traag, Krang, and Shredder, all in a row -- though the latter two fights are fought in a final boss room that is actually considered a new stage on the NES version. |
| 207 | * Cue Ball/Parcs in ''VideoGame/UndercoverCops''. First, you fight his human disguise along with a few {{Mook}}s. After half of his lifebar is gone, his skin gets damaged and you fight his robotic form as he attempts to throw you in a trash compactor. |
| 208 | * ''VideoGame/ThemsFightinHerds'': The story mode has a few: |
| 209 | ** Arizona vs. Cuddles the Cobra: |
| 210 | *** First, it spits a rain of venom at you [[BackgroundBoss from the background]]. After surviving long enough, reaching the right side of the screen ends this phase. |
| 211 | *** Second, a wolf Predator appears, which you must defeat while still avoiding the venom rain. |
| 212 | *** Third, it alternates between spitting venom, attacking with its tail, and trying to bite you. When it bites, you must attack its head. |
| 213 | *** Fourth, you finally get to fight it head-on. In this phase, its only attack is to jump and then dive down on you. |
| 214 | *** Finally, you fight against it with its full moveset. |
| 215 | ** Arizona vs. Velvet: |
| 216 | *** First, you fight her in a normal 1 vs 1 match. |
| 217 | *** Second, you have to fight her again, except there's permanent wind pushing you away from her. |
| 218 | *** Finally, she creates an ice tornado around herself while still blowing you away. You have to reach her while dodging a barrage of projectile attacks. |
| 219 | [[/folder]] |
| 220 | |
| 221 | [[folder:First-Person Shooter]] |
| 222 | * The final boss in the main story of ''{{VideoGame/Borderlands The PreSequel}}'' is one of these: it starts out as a roughly human sized and shaped opponent who isn't very intimidating by that point in the game, aside from its ability to completely replenish its shields instantly up to two times. Then it assumes its OneWingedAngel form, which must be killed no less than three separate times and comes back with a different elemental type each time. On a related note: CrystalDragonJesus help you if you've specialized in only one type of elemental damage, [[LikeCannotCutLike and the boss matches it.]] |
| 223 | * The [[GameMod standalone mod/emulator Scoredoom]] invokes this in the face when it comes to the boss fights. Whereas before in vanilla ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' the player would have to take down a [[FinalBoss heavily armed]] and [[DamageSpongeBoss incredibly tough]] monster at the end of the episode, Scoredoom has the corpse give [[BossArenaRecovery a handful of ammo and health refills]] before respawning it as another, usually harder form. As the forms are usually (although not always) unconnected, this could be a one-level BossGame, the but the fact that the last level of the last (original) episode consists of around ten of the boss monsters back to back makes it obvious why the ammo, health, and power of some of the guns were increased to compensate. |
| 224 | * ''VideoGame/{{Heretic}}'''s final boss uses the same idea: D'Sparil starts out riding a fire-breathing serpent, then after you kill the mount he falls off and starts teleporting around, summoning monsters, and shooting stuff. |
| 225 | * ''VideoGame/NosferatuTheWrathOfMalachi'': The final battle makes you fight the Count, and then [[spoiler:Lord Malachi]] immediately after. |
| 226 | * ''VideoGame/QuakeII'''s final boss has two forms: the Makron riding some sort of monstrous cyborg mount, and then the Makron alone (with several weapons he wasn't using when mounted). |
| 227 | * Particularly annoying in ''VideoGame/RedFaction 2''. The final boss is your SuperSoldier commander piloting a MiniMecha. The mecha has an insane amount of health but its weapons are only of average power. After you blow it up, the boss jumps out to fight you on foot. The annoying part is that he fights with a one-hit-kill railgun, so if he manages to shoot you just once, you die and have to restart the level and fight the mech suit all over again (including sitting through the unskippable pre-boss cutscene). |
| 228 | * The first boss of ''VideoGame/{{Turok}}: Dinosaur Hunter'' is a sequential battle where the titular character has to blow up two Hummers, one after the other, before meeting the Longhunter in combat. All of the boss fights in the sequel, ''Turok 2: Seeds of Evil'', are sequential in that Turok will have to deal with random monsters before blowing up a specific part of the boss's body; the target on the body will shift as the boss fight proceeds. |
| 229 | [[/folder]] |
| 230 | |
| 231 | [[folder:Light Gun Games]] |
| 232 | * Most FinalBoss battles from the ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'' franchise plays this trope entirely straight. |
| 233 | ** Ernesto Diaz in ''2'' starts off assaulting you with a rocket launcher, then kidnaps your ally Christy to use as a HumanShield while he takes potshots at you with a pistol. If you damage Ernesto enough, he will throw Christy aside off a ledge, and as you save her from falling, Ernesto then hops on his KillSat and sics it on you. You will need to get past the satellite's defenses and finally put Ernesto down for good. |
| 234 | ** Giorgio Zott in '''3'''. He starts by DualWielding a sword and his gun on you, and you need to damage him enough before he decides to unleash three Tesla Tanks to back him up. After defeating the tanks, Zott changes his weapon to dual rocket launchers, where the subsequent gunfight is finally to the death. |
| 235 | ** [[spoiler: Robert Baxter]] from '''5''' attacks you with his katana, and then his guns, and throws mooks at you before unveiling his TransformingMecha that you must defeat. If you defeat said mecha, you finally squares off against him in a QuickTimeEvent that if performed correctly, ends with him getting shot off a ledge to his DisneyVillainDeath. |
| 236 | [[/folder]] |
| 237 | |
| 238 | [[folder:Massively Multiplayer Online RPG]] |
| 239 | * ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' does this once with Snaptooth, a particularly nasty member of the [[TheFairFolk Red Caps]] who only appears during the special holiday missions. In the Valentine's event, he first appears in the mission as a Lieutenant class Red Cap and is not very tough. Upon nearly being defeated, he pulls the trick that they sometimes pull and drives into the ground, only to pop back out larger and tougher as a Boss class. Then when he is nearly defeated again, he pulls the stunt for a second time and pops back out being even bigger and now an Elite Boss. |
| 240 | * ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'': |
| 241 | ** The Naughty Sorceress. Your character even exclaims at the last form, as a LampshadeHanging: [[spoiler:"Dang it!" you shout. "How many times do I have to kill you? This battle has taken over a half an hour and there's no save point!"]] |
| 242 | ** Also parodied in the battle against Ed the Undying, a mummy who has to be defeated seven times in a row and, as the name suggests, doesn't actually die, he's just too damaged to keep fighting. Ironically, each time you fight him, he has less HP than the previous time, to a ridiculously low amount in the last form. Shown as just [[ShowsDamage his skull loosely attached to his arm.]] |
| 243 | * ''VideoGame/MapleStory'' uses this trope quite a bit. |
| 244 | ** The {{Yakuza}} Boss of Showa Town in ''Maple Story''. When you first enter the TreasureRoom, he appears as [[ScaryBlackMan Bodyguard A]], a tough guy who uses Physical attacks. When defeated, he turns into [[GigglingVillain Bodyguard B]], who has a BFG and mana drain abilities. When he's beaten, he assumes his true form, a hulking, demonic bald guy in a kimono; while he's not as physically tough as A and B, he uses a variety of powerful magical attacks and debuffs. |
| 245 | ** Lotus is the final boss of the Black Heaven storyline. You must fight Lotus 3 times in a row to defeat him. He has psychic powers and is cybernetically enhanced. The first phase involves disconnecting Lotus from the Black Heaven by destroying the core, which sends robot mooks after you and shoots rotating lasers. Lotus starts fighting you in person in the second phase. In this phase, he can shoot energy balls that bounce around the map and summon large robot mooks to drop on your head, among other things. The third phase is mostly like the second phase, although Lotus is much more powerful. Also, he starts flying backwards into the backround to attack you from where you can't hit him. |
| 246 | ** Lucid has 2 phases. In the first phase, you must knock Lucid backwards, each time by [[MultipleLifeBars depleting a health bar]]. In the second phase, you must hit Lucid as much as you can as she [[PowerGivesYouWings flies]] [[CombatParkour across]] the map. |
| 247 | * ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' has a few of these: |
| 248 | ** The [[JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind Dream Mentor]] quest boss has 4 forms which represent different aspects of Cyrisus' fear of combat. |
| 249 | ** The Recipe for Disaster quest has 6 sequential bosses at the end, although you can leave between battles. |
| 250 | ** The Kalphite Queen, a high-level raid boss, has 2 forms, an armored beetle that is immune to ranged and magic attacks, and a flying wasp that is (mostly) immune to melee attacks. |
| 251 | * ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': |
| 252 | ** The longest sequence is the Dark Portal dungeon, a retelling of a historical keypoint. The enemies come from portals, each of which is linked to a mini boss, with each sixth being linked to a real boss. The players have little time to rest between portals, although they are given a generous breather after each major boss, the ability to summon a guard to distract the enemies, and finally the quest target can take some beating if necessary. But since the portals open in a preset interval, you do need to keep up. |
| 253 | ** The Violet Hold instance in the expansion pack is almost exactly the same, except that the two first major bosses are random (the final boss is always the same). |
| 254 | ** Another variation is an event where a single player takes control over a demon to destroy the protective barrier around a demon portal. The catch here is that for the first two bosses, control is transferred after their defeat, forcing the player to adapt a new playstyle each. The third demon then fights 3 bosses in a row, while the other two have to deal with waves of mooks first. |
| 255 | ** Kael'thas Sunstrider, final boss of Tempest Keep in the ''Burning Crusade'' expansion, with no less than five distinct phases. First, you fight his four bodyguards one after another, then he animates a number of weapons to fight you, ''then'' he revives the bodyguards all at once. Only after their second demise do you actually get to fight him, and he himself goes into a PhlebotinumOverload phase when reduced to half health. |
| 256 | ** The Black Knight is perhaps the most straightforward example of the OneWingedAngel variant: He has to be killed three times, going from an undead to a skeleton to a ghost. Note that this battle is also after what could be considered a sequential battle comprised of three random bosses, which in tu- Oh, screw it. The entire instance is one damn sequence from beginning to end. |
| 257 | ** The final showdown with Deathwing in the finale of the Cataclysm expansion takes place over two separate encounters, each with multiple phases with different mechanics and loot. |
| 258 | * Many bosses in ''VideoGame/{{Wynncraft}}'' have multi-phase fights, but the Matryoshka Idol [[ExaggeratedTrope stands out]] from the rest for having ''ten'' phases. |
| 259 | [[/folder]] |
| 260 | |
| 261 | [[folder:Party Games]] |
| 262 | * ''VideoGame/MarioParty4'': Bowser, at the end of Story Mode. The battlefield is a cube-shaped planetoid of lava suspended in a void, and in each face the character has to pass a test (except the first, in which Bowser and the player's chosen character merely confront each other verbally alongside the two Koopa Kid servants). |
| 263 | ** First, the character has to cross several circular grounds surrounded by lava while also avoiding the dual fire beams expelled from jets in their centers. |
| 264 | ** In the next face, they have to GroundPound the tiles to form a 2x2 Koopa Kid's image, all while avoiding the projectiles dropped by the Koopa Kids themselves from their Clon Cars (fire cannonballs and tornadoes respectively). |
| 265 | ** In the next two faces, the character has to repeat the steps done respectively in the previous two. However, there will be more platforms to jump across in the jump challenge (and in some of them the jets will expel ''triple'' fire beams), and in the puzzle challenge you're now assembling an 3x3 picture showing Bowser's image while dodging a rapid fire boomerang thrown by the Koopa King. |
| 266 | ** In the sixth and final face, the character fights Bowser himself directly. There are five buttons in the ground's border, and it's necessary to press at least three of them to activate an electric field capable of hurting Bowser (he must be within the perimeter of the field, or else it won't work). After five hits, Bowser will be defeated. |
| 267 | * ''VideoGame/MarioParty5'': Even without counting the first two phases of the FinalBattle in Story Mode (where the player's character simply has to defeat Mechakoopas and dodge rings of fire respectively), Bowser won't go down in only one phase. |
| 268 | ** First, upon seeing the character still alive, will break the TV's screen out of rage and jump onto the battlefield to begin attacking them. He usually runs onto the character to hurt them and spew fire from his mouth, but from time to time he'll perform a GroundPound onto them; this last attack leaves a crack in the landing tile, so the character has to trick him into landing onto the same tile three times to make him fall down, though this also makes the rest of the floor crumble and take both combatants down. |
| 269 | ** In the second phase, Bowser enlarges himself and begins attacking with his fire breath as well as certain dark stones he throws at the character. If the fire heats the stones, these will turn into energy crystals, one of which can be picked by the character and thrown back at the Koopa King; however, they have to be grabbed quickly as Bowser will perform a ShockwaveStomp that wipes out all stones. If the character manages to land five hits with the crystallized stones, they'll defeat Bowser for good and win the fight. |
| 270 | * ''VideoGame/MarioParty8'': Bowser, fought at the end of the Star Battle Arena campaign, has three phases. In the first, Bowser is throwing fireballs at the player's character, who has to dodge them and then shake the Star Rod to charge it and land a hit onto the enemy. In the second phase, Bowser activates some extra cannons from his Koopa Clown Car, and these begin to shoot Bullet Bills that home at the character (their homing effect makes evasion more difficult). In the third and final phase, Bowser opens the Clown Car's mouth so it shoots laser beams like there's no tomorrow, requiring good reflexes to dodge them. The character has to retaliate the same way in all phases, however, by shaking the Star Rod to prepare a shot that aims straight at the Koopa King. The player has 5 HP, while Bowser had 10, so the battle is quite difficult (luckily, the game asks the player if they want to retry in case the character has all their LifeMeter depleted). |
| 271 | * ''VideoGame/MarioPartyDS'': Bowser, unlike the other bosses, changes tactics after he takes enough damage during the Final Boss battle. Prior to it, he wears the Megamorph Belt to turn into a spinning top made of blocks, with the weak point (a gold block with Bowser's face engraved) being near the, well, top; after shooting lots of fireballs, it loses momentum and the side with the weak point falls down, giving the player a chance to punch it several times. Afterwards, Bowser transforms into a 9x9 Rubik-style block arrangement, with the weak point being located in one of the sides; the character has to wait until that side is shown properly so the weak point can be reached and punched. Finally, Bowser transforms into a snake-shaped arrangement, with the weak point being the head; some of the other blocks will shoot fireballs, as will do the weak point for a while; the character has to wait until the right moment to hit it, and also watch out for the fire it may suddenly exhale to avoid taking damage. |
| 272 | [[/folder]] |
| 273 | |
| 274 | [[folder:Puzzle Games]] |
| 275 | * Freeware game ''VideoGame/{{Karoshi}}'' also had a five-stage final boss... or rather, [[spoiler:five final boss stages]]. |
| 276 | * The sequel, ''VideoGame/Karoshi2'', has four different final boss segments in the game, the first of which has you against the final boss eight times in a row, each in a different way. Talk about an extended ending! |
| 277 | * ''[[VideoGame/{{Zuma}} Zuma's Revenge]]''. First, you have to extinguish some torches while not dying. Then, you have to [[spoiler:fight his chef. Then, you get Fake Credits dumped on you, which then happens to have the REAL final boss drop onto it. Then, when you've got him halfway down, he's replaced by an evil bat thing. And then, just to rub salt in your wounds, you go through a Mirror Battle. Thankfully, if you've beaten the levels before this sequence, this probably will be a piece of cake]]. |
| 278 | [[/folder]] |
| 279 | |
| 280 | [[folder:Racing]] |
| 281 | * All 15 members of the Blacklist in ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedMostWanted'' (2005) are raced in Rival Challenges featuring multiple races in a row. The first 10 racers have 2 races, the following 4 have 3 races, and the FinalBoss has 5. |
| 282 | * In ''VideoGame/TestDrive Overdrive'', Vasily races the player throughout a long series of city races, followed by Donald in a same yet reverse order. This is the climax of the storyline that overlaps with DuelBoss. |
| 283 | * ''VideoGame/TokyoXtremeRacer'': |
| 284 | ** Starting with its fourth installment, ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer: Drift'' ([[LateExportForYou if you follow the Japanese release order]]), the series begun featuring a whole bunch of them per game. They all roughly work in the same way: the player will face one at a time, and after beating one will immediately be trust into a race with the next boss with no break, rinse and repeat until all bosses are defeated or the player loses. Should the latter happen, it's back to the beginning (in case of ''Drift/Kaido Battle'' games, going back to the parking area). |
| 285 | ** ''Tokyo Xtreme Racer 3'' features Osaka's FinalBoss team, DARTS, in particular its' second unit of Skyline GT-R drivers, as well as Nagoya's FinalBoss, D3. In spite of working differently due to allowing you to take breaks and return later, Osaka's NO LOSER and Nagoya's Genesis-R and Seeks are also considered bosses by the game. |
| 286 | ** ''Import Tuner Challenge'', features the Kurosaki brothers of the PHANTOM NINE. They'll very likely be the first members of the group the player will face. |
| 287 | [[/folder]] |
| 288 | |
| 289 | [[folder:Rhythm Games]] |
| 290 | * In Chapter VIII of ''VideoGame/{{Phigros}}'', the songs "The Chariot ~REVIIVAL~", "Retribution", and "DESTRUCTION 3,2,1" all have to be cleared back to back in order to unlock them. |
| 291 | [[/folder]] |
| 292 | |
| 293 | [[folder:Roguelike]] |
| 294 | * ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' has quite a few. There's handful among the normal bosses (The Four Horsemen, The Haunt, Brownie, ect), but the majority are the various "final" bosses. |
| 295 | ** [[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 grows giant offscreen, trying to stomp you while you have to attack his legs. |
| 296 | ** [[spoiler:Isaac]], added in ''Wrath of the Lamb'', is one as well. His first phase has him crying on the floor. At about 75% health, he stands up and gains a new attack pattern. At 50%, he grows wings and the ability to teleport, as well as another new attack set. |
| 297 | ** [[spoiler:???]] is the boss that follows [[spoiler:Isaac]], and has the same three phases as him, albeit with different attacks. |
| 298 | ** [[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 (of which there are three seperate waves), 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. |
| 299 | ** [[spoiler:Hush]], the {{Superboss}} from ''Afterbirth'' also counts. His first phase is a palette-swapped [[spoiler:???]], but defeating that reveals his [[BodyHorror true form]], which has five phases in which each of them he gains new attacks. |
| 300 | ** As of ''Afterbirth+'', Ultra Greed is this in Greedier Mode. [[spoiler:When his first form is destroyed, the gold statue he normally leaves behind [[NotQuiteDead comes alive and fights you]]]]. |
| 301 | ** In ''Repentance'', [[spoiler:the DiscOneFinalBoss, Mother]] starts with a fight against her peering over the top of the screen. Once she's down to about 50%, her head flies off and you need to fight it. |
| 302 | ** 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 defeating [[spoiler:Dogma]], you fight [[spoiler:the Four Ultra Horsemen]] one at a time, who are all dual-stage bosses like their basic versions (except for [[spoiler:Death]], who has only one stage. Finally, ''the'' TrueFinalBoss of the game as a whole, [[spoiler:The Beast]], is a lighter example, changing its attack pattern in its second phase, and then opting for a final charge towards you once it's nearly dead. |
| 303 | * In ''VideoGame/CryingSuns'', the final boss fight pits you against several battleships in a row. |
| 304 | * ''VideoGame/EnterTheGungeon'' saves this trait primarily for the strongest of bosses. |
| 305 | ** [[spoiler: High Dragun]] spends most of his battle using gigantic weapons and spewing out bullets. When down to the small amount of hp, he darkens in colour, gains glowing red eyes and only uses [[ThatOneAttack an attack that fills the screen with so much bullets only a few spots remain safe]]. [[spoiler: Should one go through a particularly obscure side quest, one is able to unlock a hidden third phase that amplifies the attacks of the first one considerably]]. |
| 306 | ** [[spoiler: Resourceful Rat]] is a hell of a {{Superboss}} that first goes toe-to-toe with protagonists in a gunfight himself, then unleashes a gigantic mech and finally engages in a punching match that plays nothing like the rest of the game. |
| 307 | ** [[spoiler: The Lich]], a TrueFinalBoss, engages in a truly epic and adrenaline-inducing showdown in his normal form, gigantic form and finally a smaller form that will teach you the true meaning of BulletHell. |
| 308 | [[/folder]] |
| 309 | |
| 310 | [[folder:Shoot 'em Up]] |
| 311 | * ''VideoGame/AbmneshiTheProphecy'' downplays this trope; bosses have many lifebars, but they don't change at all between forms, they just have different attacks. The final boss, Kelbris, and second TrueFinalBoss, Drowned, have '''sixteen''' lifebars. |
| 312 | * In ''VideoGame/BroodStar'', the titular FinalBoss fight is broken up into three distinct phases over three levels. First you fight the Brood Star's core at the end of the Core 2 level. Then it begins to flee, and you destroy its mammoth tail one segment at a time as you chase it out of the planet in a BossOnlyLevel. Then you square off against the main body of Brood Star as it flees into the depths of space in another BossOnlyLevel. |
| 313 | * Every boss in ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' is a sequential boss, to the point where it was given [[SequentialBoss/{{Cuphead}} its own page]]. |
| 314 | * All the bosses in ''VideoGame/DragonBlaze2000'' comes in at least two forms, including the first, where after defeating them once, they'll come back again, either in a MightyGlacier form far bigger than before, or as a slightly smaller but faster FragileSpeedster incarnation. The last boss notably needs to be defeated ''four times''. |
| 315 | * ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'': |
| 316 | ** ''III (Arcade)'' has [[OurWyvernsAreDifferent Wyvern]], a three-headed [[OurDragonsAreDifferent fiery dragon]] with a vulnerable [[AttackItsWeakPoint blue core]] in its first phase. After sustaining enough damage, Wyvern transforms into a serpentine [[AHeadAtEachEnd Amphisbaena-like]] dragon called Vulture Dragon that spews explosive fireballs from each end while wrapping around the Vic Viper. |
| 317 | ** The FinalBoss of ''Nemesis II: Return of the Hero'' battles the PlayerCharacter at its hangar in its first phase before fleeing the base and fires projectiles from its rear. |
| 318 | ** In ''Galaxies'', the first mid-boss of Stage 8 fights you three times, getting repairs and upgrades for its second and third forms. |
| 319 | ** ''Gradius V'' has Keeper's Core, a Gun Wall that makes artificial gravity wells that pull players off from the center as well as having three plasma ball-spraying turrets. Its second form launches the wall cannons that fire laser barricades to block the players from passing. |
| 320 | * Every boss in ''[[VideoGame/GundemoniumSeries Gundemonium Recollection]]'' has at least two forms, but the final boss has an amazing ''eleven''. The eleventh is fortunately the TrueFinalBoss and is only triggered under certain conditions, but you ''do'' have to deal with the rest on every playthrough, either by defeating them or managing to stay alive until the timer empties. |
| 321 | * The final boss of ''[[{{VideoGame/Gungrave}} Gungrave: Overdose]]'' has two phases. In the first phase, the boss is protected by a barrier, which your character must break through by destroying the three generators that flank the room. With the barrier gone, the boss moves to the second phase by creating some sort of [[AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield bizarre space]] and decides to [[LetsGetDangerous get dangerous]] by using [[TimeMaster time-based]] attacks against your character. |
| 322 | * Unlike the rest of the bosses in ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'', the final boss battle consists of three (technically four) opponents who are each taken down fairly quickly. [[spoiler: First, you must fight off two panthers at the same time using only a trophy as a melee weapon. Then, you must fight a ninja-esque bodyguard and take her out by throwing the trophy and performing an execution on her. Finally, you must fight the boss of TheMafiya himself, who sits at his desk and fires dual-wielded submachine guns at you]]. |
| 323 | * The final boss of ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}'' has four phases, and the last [[NoItemUseForYou disables your weapons]] and forces you to survive for a minute just by dodging. |
| 324 | * The FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/InTheHunt'' is a giant warhead rocket. The first segment [[FlunkyBoss spawns weak submarines]], the second fires out [[BulletHell lots]] of INDESTRUCTIBLE mines that block shots (in a game where most enemy projectiles in the game are destructible, this is ''bad news''), the third shoots out massive rockets, and the fourth does the mine storm AGAIN. Finally, you get to the main warhead that [[MacrossMissileMassacre spams missiles]]. If you had used any continues before this, you will get the good ending; otherwise, the bomb blows up along with your submarine. |
| 325 | * ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun'' has tons of them. One boss is where all its parts are sequential, some bosses themselves are sequential, and near the end of the game, you'll fight several bosses (some being sequential themselves) in a row without stages being in between them. |
| 326 | * ''VideoGame/{{Raiden}}'' is pretty fond of these. Every boss has multiple stages of combat based on difficulty. You transition between sequences by blasting the crap out of it and causing things to explode. After exploding, what's left of the boss transforms and resumes combat. This can happen up to ''ten times'' in later games like Raiden IV. |
| 327 | * ''VideoGame/RefleX'' has [[ClimaxBoss ZODIAC Virgo]], who has 5 phases. First phase is the introduction, before spreading its wings, destroying Human Virgo and initiating the next phase. After that it becomes a HopelessBossFight as it [[CurbStompBattle lays the beam smackdown on the Phoenix]], [[TheHeroDies killing the pilot]]. But then the Phoenix, [[MeaningfulName true to name]], springs back to life and returns the curbstomping tenfold, with you chasing Virgo as it flees, but fails as you destroy its thrusters forcing it to stand its ground. The final phase is you going to town on this mechanical menace, effortlessly blocking its [[WaveMotionGun screen-filling lasers]] and [[BulletHell a crapton of projectiles]] before finally destroying it. |
| 328 | * ''VideoGame/RigidForceAlpha'' has a three phase FinalBoss fight; first against the CORE Sentinel, then two rounds against the CORE Plasmoid [[FinalBossPreview previously encountered in Stage 2]]. |
| 329 | * ''VideoGame/SinAndPunishment2'' hads the Stage 2 boss, Armon Ritter, morphing through several rather strange-looking forms as you fought over the ocean. His final form is...a dolphin. |
| 330 | * TheDragon of ''VideoGame/SolDivide'', who battles you in a dragon mausoleum. He fights you as a normal, human-sized enemy at first, and after you beat him he then reveals his OneWingedAngel form as a DraconicHumanoid, with a new health bar. Defeat him once more, and he pulls out his trump card by absorbing the bones of dragons around him, turning into a gigantic dragon behemoth (how big? For the entire fight you'll see only his ''head''). Defeat him once more and you'll... face the TrueFinalBoss. Yeah, the last encounter can take up maybe a quarter of the overall gameplay. |
| 331 | * Both ''VideoGame/{{Strikers 1945}}'' games (a.k.a just ''1945 I & II'') had sequential bosses ending each level. In the early levels they usually had two stages (first a regular battleship, tank, airplane and such, which then transforms to a HumongousMecha), later bosses usually have 3 or 4 stages (transforming from a mech to two smaller mechs and so on). |
| 332 | * ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' bosses always have multiple life bars, one for each bullet pattern they shoot. |
| 333 | ** Early bosses usually have at most 4, whereas final bosses have many: Kaguya Houraisan from the eighth game, for example, has 10 life bars on every difficulty, plus five optional [[DesperationAttack Last Spells]] after that. In the most extreme cases, bosses can have up to ''22'' life bars (these are exclusively reserved for the Extra Stages, though). |
| 334 | ** In ''Lotus Land Story'', you fight Gengetsu/Gengetu immediately after you defeat the first bonus boss, Mugetsu. |
| 335 | * Based on how well you're doing, ''VideoGame/TriggerheartExelica'' bosses can go from one phase to up to five phases. The better equipped you are (more lives, bombs, point items, and score), the [[DynamicDifficulty harder it gets]]. |
| 336 | * ''Trigonometry Wars'' has several examples, both of the different-lifebars-have-different-attacks kind and the more interesting kind. |
| 337 | ** ''Trigonometry Wars 4'' has its final boss, Idryo's Heart, who is fought first in a green mecha, which literally TurnsRed for the second phase, before finally fighting you alone. |
| 338 | ** In ''Trigonometry Wars 3 Redux: The Revengeoning'', Apollyon's Eye is fought immediately after Apollyon the Destroyer. And then in the second loop, this gets taken through the roof, as you then must fight Idryo the Creator, who herself has two forms. |
| 339 | [[/folder]] |
| 340 | |
| 341 | [[folder:Simulation Games]] |
| 342 | * ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar''. [[spoiler:Solo Wing Pixy's]] Morgan starts the fight off [[MemeticMutation firing its laser]]. When it gets damaged enough, it drops the [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]] and switches to the Multi-Purpose Burst Missile. For the third stage, it drops the MPBM too, but starts using an ECM system that forces you to [[AirJousting attack it from the front]] in order to damage it. |
| 343 | * ''VideoGame/TraumaCenter'': |
| 344 | ** Various late-game levels in the series have you operate on several patients in succession, each infected with a different type of the super-pathogen featured in the plot. Some of the more difficult levels choose to have a single patient infected with [[DualBoss two types of pathogen at once]]. |
| 345 | ** The Challenge missions in ''New Blood'' would have you operate on multiple patients in a row, with the vitals from the last carrying over to the next. Sort of justified in that it's supposed to be a VR simulation, not real operations. |
| 346 | [[/folder]] |
| 347 | |
| 348 | [[folder:Stealth-Based Games]] |
| 349 | * ''VideoGame/MetalGear'': |
| 350 | ** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', the player must fight Liquid Snake both in and on top of Metal Gear REX sequentially. |
| 351 | ** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', Raiden must fight a number of Metal Gear [=RAYs=] (the number depends on the difficulty selected); after a '''''long''''' (and [[MindScrew confusing]]) cutscene, the player must fight Solidus Snake. Without skipping anything, the whole thing probably takes upwards of a half hour. |
| 352 | ** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' Volgin is a very persistent opponent. First, you fight him hand to hand. Then he jumps in the Shagohod and chases you as you escape in a motorcycle. Then you blow up a bridge to sink the Shagohod into a river. Then it rises out of the river, and you strafe it in the motorcycle. ''Then'' you run around on foot, as in previous (or rather future) fights with Metal Gear. |
| 353 | [[/folder]] |
| 354 | |
| 355 | [[folder:Strategy RPG]] |
| 356 | * In the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series: |
| 357 | ** The final chapter of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' has you fighting [[spoiler:the Morphs of]] various bosses that were fought earlier in the story plus the previously [[TheUnfought unfought]] Brendan, in a specific order, before fighting Nergal. |
| 358 | ** Present in each route of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'': |
| 359 | *** ''Birthright'' ends with a final battle against Garon. [[spoiler:First, players fight him as an axe-wielding man. Afterwards, he transforms into a dragon.]] |
| 360 | *** In ''Conquest'', the final battle starts with [[spoiler:Garon, albiet appearing as a monster with melting flesh as a result of the Hoshidan throne revealing his true nature. After he is bested, the player has to fight Takumi, whose corpse was reanimated by the GreaterScopeVillain.]] |
| 361 | *** ''Revelation'' has Chapters 16 and 17 pit you against Hans and Iago respectively with no opportunity to save or restock. |
| 362 | *** ''Revelation'' ends with a final battle against the GreaterScopeVillain, [[spoiler:Anankos, who first appears as a giant stone mask before taking on the form of an EldritchAbomination dragon.]] |
| 363 | * ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' loves this, sometimes having both kinds at the same time. |
| 364 | ** One level of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration 2'' has you fighting [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAdvance Axel Almar]], [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3 Sikalog, Aguija]] (Sikalog and Aguika fight together), and finally [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3 Wendolo]]. |
| 365 | ** Level 29 from ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment'' is probably one of the longest stages in the game. It starts off pretty simple, just a couple sets of ''Anime/MazingerZ'' and ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'' mooks. Then an FMP boss shows up with a batch of reinforcements on the second enemy turn. Then on your third turn, Gauron shows up with a set of EliteMooks from Mazinger, and four Behemoths (One of which was a stage boss five levels ago.). Take out Gauron, and ''Zeorymer'''s Rose C'est La Vie of the Moon comes along as well. Defeat him, and the level rounds off with you fighting Baron Ashura. |
| 366 | ** The final level of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsDestiny''; You first have to defeat Ignus and his units, then Aquila and the reinforcements he brings. Then, in the second half of the mission, you have to defeat both Contagio and Umbra, who regain their HP when they are below 1/3 of their HP, and then you have to fight the machines of the 5 enemy generals all at once in addition to the final boss. By the way, you have to fight the final boss twice; he gains reinforcements after he is defeated the first time. |
| 367 | [[/folder]] |
| 368 | |
| 369 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 370 | * ''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. |
| 371 | ** The final boss of the module ''TabletopGame/CriticalRoleCallOfTheNetherdeep'' is this. [[spoiler:Alyxian the Apotheon faced nothing but cruelty and abuse for all his life because he was born under a wicked moon. When the players face him, they can either fight him the normal way, or attempt to comfort him and talk him down. Either way, he goes through three phases: Alyxian the Tormented, a monstrous EldritchAbomination lashing out at the world that hurt him; Alyxian the Callous, a cold angel devoid of emotion enacting twisted "justice" for his mistreatment; and finally, Alyxian the Dispossessed, a bitter old man who believes there is nothing left for him but death. Should the player kill him in his final phase, he dies for good. If they instead comfort him and assure him that the world still has a place for him, he becomes Alyxian the Absolved, an old man who still carries the love of life]]. |
| 372 | [[/folder]] |
| 373 | |
| 374 | [[folder:Third-Person Shooter]] |
| 375 | * Medusa is this in ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising''. She fights you normally, then gets chained in place, and her head comes off and flies around, attacking you. Then, [[spoiler:in chapter 25, Hades fights you in the Underworld, then several times in hyperspace or something using his "Battle Ensemble," then he fights you [=AGAIN=] on the surface, and then you have one last minigame-ish thing before you beat the game.]] |
| 376 | * The boss fight at Gall Spaceport in the ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheEmpire'' game. After Boba Fett's health is depleted, he falls into the docking bay -- and Fett's ship, ''Slave I'', immediately rises and starts firing at the player. |
| 377 | * ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'': |
| 378 | ** The final boss of [[VideoGame/Splatoon1 the first game]]'s Hero Mode has five stages, each of which has him adding a new weapon to his arsenal while stepping up the platforming challenge. |
| 379 | ** ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'': |
| 380 | *** The final boss has four stages. All four has him getting new attacks, but the last also grants the player character an EleventhHourSuperpower. |
| 381 | *** The {{Superboss}} of the ''Octo Expansion'' has five stages, and they're all very difficult on their own. |
| 382 | [[/folder]] |
| 383 | |
| 384 | [[folder:Other]] |
| 385 | * ''VideoGame/LoversInADangerousSpacetime'': |
| 386 | ** Orion begins its battle by walking along the edges of his chamber and attacking the ship with strikes of his clubs, leaving a fairly safe spot in the middle. At half health, his torso detaches from his legs and starts chasing the ship down, while the legs walk around independently and strike at the ship when it comes close. |
| 387 | ** When King Cepheus is killed, his body disintegrates but leave his eyes behind, which start flying around as distinct entities and chasing the ship while firing off streams of energy projectiles. |
| 388 | [[/folder]] |
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