Line #29 Main/TrickBoss


1	[[quoteright:265:[[Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/oh_no_kraid_2.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:265:[[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Not pictured:]] [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs Real Fake]] [[http://brawlinthefamily.keenspot.com/comic/185-ametroidadventure/ Kraid.]]]]
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4	At the end of an area, you think you've dealt with the real boss... but wait! You've merely taken out a stand-in; the real boss was waiting for you to get done with it.
5
6	Trick Bosses are usually suspiciously easy, the reason being that the game doesn't want you to screw yourself over on the fake guy before the real one shows up.
7
8	A different form of Trick Boss is the type that's actually a challenge... but is a Trick Boss by story definition, as the real boss just wanted to sap your power before moving in. Occasionally, [[VictoryFakeout a fake victory message would show up to catch you off guard]].
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10	Not to be confused with the boss [[PuzzleBoss you beat with a trick]]. Often overlaps with SequentialBoss. If the ''real'' boss takes down the fake one for you, it's a BaitAndSwitchBoss.
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12	Minor spoilers ahoy.
13	----
14	!!Examples:
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16	* One of the best examples appears in ''VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders: The Second Runner'' when you find what you think is Anubis, the mech of the BigBad, beneath an enemy installation. Oddly, it's missing its iconic wings. After beating it like a red-headed stepchild for a few rounds, you realize [[spoiler:it's a fake being remotely piloted with your love interest Ken trapped inside it. Nohman promptly appears in the ''real'' Anubis, blows away Leo's Vic Viper and hits you with a KillSat, leading to the (very difficult) REAL boss fight against him.]]
17	* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' has several of these. There's a fake Flea before the real one attacks in Magus's castle, and the Golem Boss (who never attacks the heroes at all) before battling Dalton on the Blackbird.
18	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
19	** The Vampire in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' has 156 HP, which is less than some normal enemies you've faced by that point. In his case, he's a decoy for Lich, the first Elemental Fiend and a much bigger threat. The Vampire soon becomes a DegradedBoss.
20	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has an example of the latter type of Trick Boss, with the Calcabrina in the dwarf castle. It's a particularly nasty example in the DS version, since Calcabrina can easily kill or seriously injure your characters with just one hit, and if Cecil goes into the following battle against Golbez with anything less than about half his health, that battle is {{Unwinnable}}. Another variant is Scarmiglione. He goes down fast, then tells you, "Ah yes, you've given me a fine death! A fine death indeed! And only in death can you know the true terror of Scarmiglione!" [[OneWingedAngel Presto, instant undead monstrosity.]]
21	** In an odd instance in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', Gilgamesh serves as both the trick boss ''and'' the real boss during one of the several battles with him. In this case, he starts the battle doing minimal damage, and essentially just letting you whack at him. Then, he fakes you out with what ''looks'' like an end-of-battle dialogue before casting protect, shell, and haste on himself and challenging you for real.
22	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'' has the fake President Deling. Simple enough, low HP and attack. He bites to attack... okay, that's weird, but nothing to worry about. Then he starts convulsing and "morphs" into the real boss, Gerogero -- a giant vomiting zombie that loves status attacks but ''really'' hates Ifrit. Your fire-tossing buddy with Boost can turn this into a {{Breather Boss}}. And Gerogero becomes even more of a joke when you realize that you can [[ReviveKillsZombie kill it with a Phoenix Down.]] They cost 500 Gil apiece.
23	** A frequent occurrence in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''. The general rule of thumb is that if you find yourself saying "Hey, that was surprisingly easy." after a boss battle, it was probably the first stage of a SequentialBoss. The end bosses of Chapters 3 and 4 are typical examples. (For 3's, the fact that its EnemyScan says it uses "powerful lightning based attacks" and it goes down before it uses any should clue you in, while 4's first form is essentially a tutorial on using the Saboteur role.) For the Warmechs in Chapters 7 and 9, [[spoiler:you actually end up fighting ''two'' of them!]]
24	* Franchise/SuperMarioBros:
25	** Main Series:
26	*** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'': You fight a fake Bowser in world 8-4 before the real one. It happens once again in World D-4.
27	*** ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' has you fight Bowser in the final level, who's suspiciously easy for being the so called 'final boss', attacking just like he did in the NES days (there's Bowser on a bridge, that sort of thing). Until you realize that [[spoiler:Peach is really Kamek in a PaperThinDisguise, Kamek sprinkles some magic spell on Bowser, and in a just like ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' way, [[MakeMyMonsterGrow Bowser becomes about fifty feet tall]] and starts chasing you through the castle in a climactic escape sequence]]. ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'' is very similar in that regard, except [[spoiler:this time, the giant Bowser is a BackgroundBoss]].
28	*** Both ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU'' and ''VideoGame/NewSuperLuigiU'' (which have the same final boss) have this in their own way. You come across Bowser standing on a bridge in the final castle. Once you break the bridge, drop Bowser, and leave, [[spoiler:Bowser Jr. shows up in his Clown Car with Kamek attached and turns Bowser into a giant, who you fight by stealing Jr.'s Clown Car and bashing Bowser on the head with it]].
29	** ''Mario'' [=RPGs=]
30	*** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' has one of these in Barrel Volcano. You assume the Czar Dragon to be an arc-ending boss (it's even a SequentialBoss), but, when you try to claim your PlotCoupon from behind it, it's snatched away by [[spoiler:The Axem Rangers]].
31	*** In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'', [[spoiler:Bowletta (Cackletta's spirit inside Bowser's body)]] is the latter type of Trick Boss. She's not terribly hard, but your HP ''will'' [[HPToOne be all but wiped out]] in the battle's aftermath, so don't use up your healing items!
32	*** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'' has [[spoiler:the Elder Princess Shroob, who was sealed inside the Cobalt Star and got released from it after you beat the ''first'' Princess Shroob]].
33	*** In ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'', before you battle The Koopa Bros in chapter 1, you have to battle them in a very unconvincing Bowser mecha.
34	*** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' has [[spoiler:Doopliss]]. He's actually at the physical end of the area, just like a boss would normally be. He turns into a shadowy duplicate of Mario in the middle of your fight with him. After you beat him, it looks like the normal end to a chapter, with Mario getting the Crystal Star and a recap of the events of the chapter... [[spoiler:but then the scene returns to the "duplicate" Mario, who is actually the real one. The rest of the chapter revolves around Mario trying to get his body back from the enemy, including a boss battle against him in which he has all your partners on his side.]]
35	* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
36	** ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'': After you've destroyed 33 Metroids, you'll need to traverse a looping tunnel and fight a Metroid in the middle in order to clear the lava blocking off progress. The Metroid in question is just a simple Alpha Metroid. After destroying it, the usual earthquake occurs, but upon returning to the main tunnel, you'll discover that instead of sinking, the obstructing fluid has actually risen, trapping you in the looping tunnel. Backtracking to where you fought the Alpha Metroid, you end up having to battle the first Omega Metroid in the game before you can progress for real. This also happens in the remake ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'', only the Alpha Metroid is replaced by a Zeta Metroid, and instead of an earthquake the fluid's level rise occurs after you deposit the previously defeated Metroid's DNA into the required spot.
37	** ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' has a tiny version of the boss Kraid in the room before you fight the real, two-TV-screens-tall Kraid. This is both an "easy" Trick Boss and a {{Homage}} to the original Kraid from the first ''VideoGame/Metroid1'' game. Also, since (like real bosses, though not as much) he [[SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity dumps large amounts of health and ammo when he dies]], the fake Kraid also serves to replenish your strength for the real thing. There's also a fake Kraid wandering around the lower sections of Kraid's Hideout in the original ''Metroid''. He can be taken out with a mere single missile and has a different palette, but otherwise looks the same as the real deal.
38	* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}''
39	** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' does a similar trick with the boss Scylla -- at first pitting you against a giant serpent (complete with the room-sealing doors of a usual boss fight) before you reach the end of her lair and find it was just one of her hydra-like heads.
40	** There's also one in the remake of ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood'': a single Water Hydra with the usual boss life bar threatens you, but when you kill it and climb above it, you find out it was just one head of the four-headed Hydra, and to take the monster out you must destroy its heart.
41	** In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaDawnOfSorrow'', Paranoia is a reasonably human-sized boss that [[AmbushingEnemy comes out of a mirror]], throws knives at you, and occasionally retreats into his mirror to shoot well-reflected lasers. Beating him isn't very difficult, and you don't even have to [[ScrappyMechanic draw a symbol]] to do it. In the next room, a giant mirror covers most of the wall, and you'd better believe Paranoia takes advantage of this for his sudden rematch.
42	** Also in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDissonance'', you enter the boss room, oddly with a single Peeping Eye enemy inside. After quickly dispatching it, you wander around the room for a bit... until a GIANT peeping eye boss comes into view, and the boss music kicks into gear.
43	* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'', the final boss of Sora's story, Marluxia, has you fight a double of himself before entering a vast room and mounting a large Nobody creature. This is an inversion, as the fight with Marluxia by himself is ''much'' harder than the final fight against his big spaceship thingy. The remake of the game adds an additional form that lives up to its role as the final boss, however.
44	* In ''VideoGame/MegaMan3'', the first Dr. Wily you face is [[ActuallyADoombot actually a robot]]. He is also the main antagonist of the next three games; however, he doesn't show up until after you defeat Dr. Cossack, [[spoiler:Dark]] Man, and Mr. X, respectively. This is reversed in ''VideoGame/MegaManV'', where Dr. Wily is ''not'' the final boss, but rather Sunstar, an ancient weapon he found who [[spoiler:attacks Dr. Wily so he can get a piece of Mega Man]].
45	* The 2004 incarnation of ''VideoGame/TheBardsTale'' played this for laughs. After slaying a harmless cellar rat in one strike (and receiving a sarcastic congratulation from the Narrator), the Bard is immediately attacked and set aflame by a monstrous ''12-foot tall, fire-breathing'' rat.
46	* Balzack in the fourth chapter of ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV''. He uses powerful magic, but is easily neutralized with the Sphere of Silence. In the Platform/PlayStation and Platform/NintendoDS remakes of the game, [[MusicalSpoiler he doesn't get the standard "boss music" treatment]]... [[spoiler:his boss, Marquis de Leon]], ''does'', and [[HopelessBossFight your party has no shot of beating him at their current level]].
47	* ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'':
48	** [[spoiler:The final boss]] in ''2''. [[spoiler:After dealing enough damage to the Dai-Manji, it is beamed up into the Rugname Mothership... and subsequently used as a death ray by it.]]
49	** At the end of ''Metal Slug 3'', [[spoiler:on defeating General Morden's Hi-Do helicopter, the General is revealed to be a Mars Person in disguise. You then have about a half-hour of playtime to go before facing the true final boss, Rootmars.]]
50	** In the mostly unknown Metal Slug 3D, [[spoiler:the first boss is a giant cyborg, Lugus. If you empty its life bar, [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose it still shrugs off your bullets and blasts you to oblivion...]]]] or at least he tries the latter before [[spoiler:its supposed broken "brother", Lieu, shows up and absorbs it, becoming the final boss '''and''' level]].
51	** The Invader Queen in the sixth game. You've made your way through hordes of evil aliens, saved your former enemies (the Mars People), even fought a BrainwashedAndCrazy member of your group... but the BigBad is enclosed in a sort of membrane-bubble-egg thing, can't move or attack, and can only summon fewer mooks, while you're armed with the titular tank and ex-enemy soldiers help you a bit too. The bubble bursts, the soldiers cheer you up, epic music plays... until the Queen's eyes glow insanely, shooting lasers that fry your allies, and the monster starts crawling towards you. Epic battle ensues.
52	* Did [=GlaDOS=] seem suspiciously easy to defeat in [[spoiler:the first half of]] ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''? [[spoiler:[[FaceHeelTurn Don't worry]] [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity about that]].]]
53	* Several in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', such as Ingvar The Plunderer in Utgarde Keep. After you defeat him, a Valkyr will come and resurrect him as an undead, and you have to kill him again.
54	** On Heroic mode, Lockmaw in the Lost City of the Tol'Vir becomes this. After he's defeated, Augh, who had previously harassed your party during the fight with him, steals the treasure and must be defeated before you can loot Lockmaw. Thankfully, you can heal yourselves and even try again without having to defeat Lockmaw again if you wipe.
55	** In the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, the final boss, the Old God C'Thun, appears as an enormous eyeball, floating above a glowing pool of shadow. When the eye is defeated, C'Thun's true body rises out of the ground and starts eating people.
56	** On Heroic mode, after defeating Cho'gall in the Twilight Bastion, the ground will collapse under the party, delivering them to the Sinestra.
57	** And on Mythic mode for Highmaul, just when you've defeated Imperator Mar'gok, an alterate-universe version of Cho'gall shows up, kills Mar'gok, and attacks the party.
58	* In Red's Scenario in ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier'', there is a [[BossRush rush]] in the final mission. You first kill the "leader" of Black X, which just turns out to be a pawn for Dr. Klein; you then fight souped up versions of the Story bosses over again under Dr. Klein's command, and after defeating them, the real boss shows up.
59	* In Alan Dean Foster's 1984 novelisation of the game ''Literature/{{Shadowkeep}}'', once the heroes have defeated the Boss, they realize that the giant statue at the back of the room isn't really a statue.
60	* For ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'', [[spoiler:beating Lyon only released the Demon Lord]]. ''Path of Radiance'' showed a strange variant when [[spoiler:killing Ashnard on Hard Mode only caused him to open up the SealedEvilInACan and become an even bigger, scarier final boss]].
61	* ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}} [=ReBirth=]''[='=]s Stage 4 boss starts off as the Stage 1 boss with seemingly no difference. Once you destroy all the barriers guarding its [[AttackItsWeakPoint core]], it zooms forward, flies into the background, flips to show its other side, comes back around, regenerates its core barriers, and proceeds to fight you again, this time with more [[BeamSpam lasers]] and a nasty attack in which it fires two containment lasers and sweeps the screen vertically.
62	* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
63	** The FinalBoss of the Knuckles route in ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'' is Mecha Sonic, who isn't exactly a challenging boss. Then, after you seemingly defeat him and he shuts down, he reactivates all of sudden, dashes towards the Master Emerald and gets charged with its power, becoming ''[[GoldenSuperMode Super]]'' Mecha Sonic. Cue the ''real'' FinalBoss battle.
64	** Played with at the end of ''VideoGame/SonicAdvance'' when you first face Robotnik piloting the bosses from [[GreenHillZone the first levels]] of ''Sonic 1'' and ''Sonic 2'', which are [[WarmupBoss obviously very easy]], before he takes you on in the real final boss. Obviously this is a homage to the earlier games.
65	** In ''VideoGame/SonicForces'', the boss fight against Eggman as Classic Sonic seems easy enough, as it's a copy of the wrecking-ball bot from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1''. Sonic defeats him in a few hits, and Eggman flies upwards...to board the '''''[[VideoGame/SonicUnleashed Egg]] [[HumongousMecha Dragoon]]'''''!
66	* ''VideoGame/StarFox'':
67	** The pilot of the Meteo Crusher pretends to surrender in ''VideoGame/StarFox64''. The trick doesn't fool a lot of players, considering that the ship still has half its shields when the pilot "admits defeat". There's also Spyborg in Sector X, which has you drain its lifebar, then refills it for its second form. Though the savvy player will catch onto its lifebar immediately emptying when it reaches half-health.
68	** The [[VideoGame/StarFox1 original]] has Phantron, the Venom Guardian of Path 1. In the second fight, it is VERY easy to beat. Then, you beat it, and take a good look at the health bar and notice that sliver of remaining health. Phantron then [[OneWingedAngel grows legs and the music starts over with a]] ScareChord... needless to say, Phantron becomes Path 1's ThatOneBoss at this point.
69	* Mr. X in ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage 3''[='=]s 5th stage. [[spoiler:After wasting his minions, the top half of him [[NightmareFuel burns off]] to reveal that it's a robotic clone of Mr. X. The real Mr. X lies in stage 7, having been reduced to a brain.]]
70	* ''VideoGame/HenryHatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure'' has one of these. [[spoiler:Unlike the Weaselby fight in 4-6, Weaselby in 5-6 is incredibly frail. It's only then that Weaselby loses his top, so to speak, reveals that Cole is the {{Man Behind The Man}} (little crybaby), and then Cole breaks out The Machine to show his teacher that he is more than capable of handling himself.]]
71	* ''[[{{VideoGame/Zuma}} Zuma's Revenge!]]'' has this with the final boss. He has 10 or so hearts, and hitting him takes them all away and begins rolling the credits in a rather [[StylisticSuck bland]] manner. Then they get interrupted by the ''real'' final boss. Turns out, the guy you just "fought" was only his chef.
72	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
73	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'' has [[spoiler:Dongorongo. The battle is fought with Link and Gongoron, in which Link is stuck on one side of a sand pit, and Link has to wait until Gongoron knocks the boss over to attack. After you defeat it, the door leading to the pure metal opens, a bridge appears, and Gongoron leaves to get the pure metal for you.]] After you cross the bridge, the boss gets up. Cue the second phase of the battle.
74	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' has [[spoiler:Levias, who is revealed to be controlled by another creature known as Bilocyte]]. The former is presented as a huge threat during the first phase of the battle, but once the latter is exposed, the rest of the fight is about killing it to cure the infected character. It helps that ''both'' have BossSubtitles.
75	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
76	** In ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', after you defeat Nascour, your team is fully healed, and you have to face [[spoiler:Evice, AKA Mayor Es Cade]].
77	** It should also be noted that [[spoiler:Evice's]] Pokemon are '''abnormally''' high leveled compared to all of the past enemies, as all of the enemies before only hold Pokemon up to the level 40 range. Nascour's Pokemon are in the level 50 range and [[spoiler:Evice's]] Pokemon are on the '''level 60''' range. To make things worse, he will actually attempt to Skill Swap Slaking with Slowking which can easily cause him to wipe out the entire party, and his Salamence is nothing to laugh at.
78	** Despite [[NonindicativeName the name]], the [[FinalBoss Elite]] [[SequentialBoss Four]] actually consists of ''five'' bosses, the last of whom is the Pokémon League Champion. You have to defeat all five in a row to beat the game. Particularly in the first generation, the existence of a fifth boss was a surprise, [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle revealed only after you defeat the first four]]. The Champion is always someone you've met before, but it was a particularly big deal in the first generation because the Champion was [[spoiler:TheRival]].
79	** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', you already know who the Champion is before you enter the league. Then you find out [[spoiler:N beat him]], forcing you to face SEVEN bosses instead of the usual five. Of course, [[GottaCatchThemAll you're not supposed to]] ''[[GottaCatchThemAll defeat]]'' [[GottaCatchThemAll one of them.]] And then as soon as you've beaten N, the ''real'' Final Boss and Team Plasma leader, [[spoiler:Ghetsis]], comes at you. A Trick Boss who replaces another Trick Boss (who was also a BaitAndSwitchBoss).
80	* In ''VideoGame/TheNightmareBeforeChristmasOogiesRevenge'', there's a type-2 twist. You end up going through what appears to be TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon (complete with death-traps, a fight against the QuirkyMinibossSquad, AND a mid-level duel with a GiantSpider), and then take on Oogie Boogie himself in his iconic casino. [[spoiler:Surprise! It's really his LivingShadow there to keep you distracted while he works out a plot to kill Sandy Claws and take over all the holidays.]] (Although the fact that you [[InterfaceSpoiler haven't used all the Holiday Doors]] yet is a clue-in.)
81	* In ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe 2'', Alastor (after [[BaitAndSwitchBoss taking care of]] Big John) has ''way'' less life than you'd expect for the difficulty level you're playing on. [[spoiler:And once defeated, the [[ArtifactOfDoom Black Film]] powers him up for another, harder, go.]]
82	* ''VideoGame/CaptainAmericaAndTheAvengers'':
83	** Red Skull is ridiculously easy to deal with, but once you deplete his lifebar, "he" turns into a huge robot with a vast array of attacks that battles you while the real Red Skull watches cackling in the safety of an impervious [[spoiler:(until the beaten robot falls onto it)]] glass dome.
84	** At the end of ''VideoGame/XMen'', Magneto seems to be a pushover at first, but it's actually Mystique in disguise; once you defeat her, you have to fight the ''true'' Magneto, in all his glory, and he is a ''terror''. (Especially if Mystique tricked you into using your Mutant Attacks, which are in limited supply, especially since you likely used a lot of them in the BossRush in the final level.)
85	* The second-to-last Soviet mission in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3''. In the first part of the mission, you are supposed to backstab the Allies' forces coming to the peace conference, which is, by all means, suspiciously easy for a late game mission. After you wipe out the Allies, however... [[spoiler:Cherdenko decides that YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness and wishes to get rid of you because [[HeKnowsTooMuch you know too much]].]]
86	* ''VideoGame/WarioWareTwisted'' has an epic version of this for Kat & Ana's boss. You are a spaceship shooting fingers to pick (and destroy) noses (picking noses is a staple for the series). The boss appears to be a giant nose with a set of eyes above it. Destroy this nose and the pupils will fly out of the "eyes" and the "eyes" will move down, revealing that they were just nostrils for an even bigger nose.
87	* ''VideoGame/DrawnToLife'': The Next Chapter has a pirate-version of an average {{mook}} as the first boss. You can simply kill him in one hit, just like you did to all of his comrades earlier. Well, guess what? [[spoiler:His ghost (who is three times your size) appears and sends small armies of ghost {{mooks}} your way.]] [[ThatOneBoss Good luck.]]
88	* In ''VideoGame/OnimushaDawnOfDreams'', [[spoiler:Fortinbras]] appears in giant snake monster form and Soki has to fight him in full on Black Oni mode. Normally, this would be the end of it, [[spoiler:until Fortinbras reveals he was just messing with you to get rid of Soki's ace in his sleeve, appearing in human form for the real final battle against the entire cast, which is way harder.]]
89	* The ''Literature/NESGodzillaCreepypasta'' has [[spoiler:Not-Ghidorah replaced by a Dorat which gets taken down by two slashes from Solomon. Then Chimera shows up.]]
90	* The battle against the Queen of Hearts in ''VideoGame/AmericanMcgeesAlice''. [[spoiler:Turns out the boss you thought was the Queen was just a puppet... that the real Queen was wearing on one of her ''tentacles''.]]
91	* ''VideoGame/ALLTYNEXSecond'' pulls a monster of a switch [[spoiler:in the final stage. The game pits you against ALLTYNEX, the BigBad [[AIIsACrapShoot rogue]] MasterComputer. After defeating it, it then summons the true FinalBoss, Satariel, from an AlternateUniverse.]]
92	* In the Xbox 360 mode of ''[[VideoGame/DonPachi DoDonPachi Saidaioujou]]'', [[spoiler:you fight both Hibachi and Inbachi. Once you defeat Hibachi, she will suddenly get shot down by a laser from behind and you will fight Inbachi shortly after.]]
93	* ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead 4'''s final boss, [[AnIcePerson The World]], [[OneWingedAngel transforms]] into its Type Gamma form after its initial lifebar is depleted.
94	* At the end of ''VideoGame/TriggerheartExelica'''s second stage, the BossWarningSiren sounds and a large ship appears, but the boss music doesn't start yet, hinting that this is not the real boss.
95	* In ''VideoGame/{{Quake II}}'', after defeating what appears to be the Makron, you find that it was just his HumongousMecha, then the fight with the real Makron begins.
96	* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' has this in the A scenario's second fight with G. After defeating its easy initial form, it transforms into a six-legged LightningBruiser with MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily, becoming ThatOneBoss.
97	* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'' has a similar example where you briefly fight Alexia's first form a second time before she completely goes OneWingedAngel.
98	* ''VideoGame/DarkCloud'' has Toan's ally Osmond (a space astronaut/engineer) create a colossal military cyborg to combat the terrifying Dark Genie, who actually takes the form of a funny-looking fat monster with an immature personality to boot. It effortlessly beats the Genie up, shrugs off its strongest attack, then fires a laser that instantly kills it... oh wait, that "Dark Genie" was just a mouse that absorbed some of the real deal's abilities! The real deal is an immortal shapeless deity that uses its power to just tie the cyborg up and blow it away...
99	* ''VideoGame/{{PN03}}'':
100	** In Mission 9, after beating Orchidee II and taking the elevator down to the next room, the boss's remains drop from the ceiling and [[OneWingedAngel reform]] into a SpiderTank.
101	** In the final mission, upon depleting Löwenzahn II's lifebar down to a third, in case you didn't notice, it breaks down and falls into the central pit like the first one, only to rise from the ashes as a robotic [[ThePhoenix phoenix]]. Luckily, unlike Orchidee II, its life bar doesn't refill for this form.
102	* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIV'':
103	** The "Dance of the Dead" quest. You're just going around destroying Macabre hordes, and you get down to the last one. Save your game before fighting it, because [[spoiler:when you defeat it, Fiend David shows up to tear you a new one]].
104	** "Corpse Disposal" has you fighting Corpses in Shinjuku. All of them go down without incident, [[spoiler:but upon killing the last Corpse and triggering quest completion, a Hunter shows up to discover that you've finished the quest for him. He gets furious and takes a Red Pill, transforming him into the demon Dullahan, who fights you immediately]].
105	** The final Terminal that the Terminal Guardian is protecting: [[spoiler:At first, he dispatches Barong and Rangda. Once those two are down, longtime ''Megami Tensei'' fans will realize why he picked those two specific demons: Because he then leaves and comes back with Shiva (the series-traditional result of fusing Barong and Rangda), who you fight next.]]
106	* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'': Like how in the first game you fight Michael on the Chaos route, Asura on Law, and both on Neutral and the Final Boss(es), this game has them replaced with Satan and Lucifer, respectively. However, [[ItWasHisSled as is well known by now]], neither are the Final Boss. After getting past whichever you have to fight, you must fight YHVH, AKA the SMT version of God Himself.
107	* ''VideoGame/{{Darius}} II'' has you fight the Japanese World War II ship ''Yamato'' at the end of the Earth stages. Destroy it to reveal the true endboss of the current stage: A giant hermit crab.
108	* ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'' has Tinker Knight, whose first phase is easy, especially if you one-shot him with a Mobile Gear. Once defeated, the ground collapses and you enter a new boss arena, where Tinker Knight is now driving a massive juggernaut called the Tinker Tank. He also repeats this trick during the BossRush in the penultimate level.
109	* The second level of the Jaleco shmup ''EDF'' has you perform a BattleshipRaid on an AirborneAircraftCarrier, only for the real boss to launch afterwards.
110	* In ''VideoGame/SilentScope'''s Highway level, after taking out Cobra and saving the President's daughter, he gets back up and hijacks a semi truck ''[[Film/TheTerminator Terminator]]'' [[ShoutOut style]].
111	* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'':
112	** In ''Super Contra'''s last stage (Stage 6 in the NES version), you fight an apparent FinalBoss accompanied by epic music and victory fanfare. But that was just the warmup for the real battle with Urania Devil Gaba/Jagger Froid, who is much tougher. (The NES version does not have the victory fanfare music after you defeat the fake boss.)
113	** In stage 3 of ''VideoGame/ContraIIITheAlienWars'', you fight a pair of robots at the end of the stage. After you beat them, the game becomes [[OhCrap suspiciously silent]] then the true boss, Big Fuzz rips open the wall and the boss music begins to play. If the player defeats the final boss Brain Organism Searle in hard mode, it will reassemble into Six Man Feromedos and reassume its attack until it is killed as well.
114	** In ''VideoGame/ContraShatteredSoldier'', [[spoiler:after you destroy the Relic of Moirai at S rank, it will explode and an escape scene will play, in which it will become into a CompositeCharacter of its human, frog and jellyfish forms, making it the true final boss and resume attacking until it too is killed.]]
115	** ''VideoGame/NeoContra'''s final boss acts in a similar manner; [[spoiler:If you get S Rank on stage 6 and defeat Project G, his remains will appear when you are descending to earth and attack you, and technically this is where the true fight against it starts, as the Project G of stage 6 simply requires you to cut all of his life support within 30 seconds.]]
116	* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'': One of the very first missions has you don a PoweredArmor and wield a [[GatlingGood Minigun]] to take down a bunch of raiders, including their leader Gristle. Gristle is stronger than the raiders, but he can't hurt you much thanks to your armor and falls quickly to your Minigun. Shortly after that, a [[LightningBruiser much stronger, faster, and tougher]] Deathclaw pops out of the sewers and serves as the actual boss (and your only warning that this will happen is an optional conversation with [[JunkieProphet Mama Murphy]]).
117	* In ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac: Afterbirth'', the battle with the DLC's {{Superboss}}, [[spoiler:Hush]], is set up like this. You first have to fight a boss that acts and fights in every way like [[spoiler:the Blue Baby from the Chest]]. But upon taking this boss apart, the gigantic true boss emerges and "Morituros" starts up, setting the stage for one of the most BulletHell-tastic battles of the entire game.
118	* The GameMod ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaacAntibirth'' does a similar thing to ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac: Afterbirth'' with [[spoiler:Mom]] in the Alternate Route [[spoiler:once you collect the three knife pieces]]. When you defeat the boss [[spoiler:and use the completed knife to open the fleshy door that appears, you have to fight a buffed version of Mom's Heart, but this time it has attacks that are even more of a BulletHell]]. Let's hope you didn't lose too much health on the first boss...
119	* ''VideoGame/XKaliber2097'': The battle with the fourth boss, Dr. Blast, starts with you against a very slow, old scientist who fires slow, short-range, bouncing pellets that do the lowest amount of damage in the game. After you get two or three hits in, Dr. Blast pauses, drinks a potion, and his health refills and he turns into a man-sized, flying scorpion, which you fight as the actual boss.
120	* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'': If you go to the Throne of Want when you're supposed to, which is ''after'' obtaining the Giant's Kinship, then after defeating DualBoss Throne Defender and Throne Watcher, the FinalBoss will enter the arena through the fog wall and start the battle with you immediately. For this reason, many players opt to take care of Defender and Watcher first, to avoid two boss fights in a row. [[spoiler:Of course, if ''Scholar of the First Sin'' is installed and the right conditions are met, the TrueFinalBoss pulls this after the FinalBoss regardless, leading to a possible ''three'' boss fights in a row.]] Mind you, this is possibly a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] as the Watcher and Defender are arguably much harder than [[AnticlimaxBoss what follows]].
121	* ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'':
122	** ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'':
123	*** In the "Revenge of Meta Knight" subgame, one stage's boss appears to be [[WhenTreesAttack Whispy Woods]], the classic WarmUpBoss who was already fought in "Spring Breeze". Once you trounce him again, the floor gives away to bring Kirby to the real boss: Twin Woods, a fight with [[DualBoss two Whispys]] that drop more dangerous projectiles.
124	*** In ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'' (the DS remake of ''Super Star''), one of the new BossRush modes, "Helper to Hero", ends with a fight against Wham Bam Rock, the FinalBoss of "The Great Cave Offensive". Once it's beaten, [[spoiler:Wham Bam Jewel, the actual Final Boss of the mode, appears]].
125	** ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'': The final boss is Dark Matter, who only has one form this time around. [[spoiler: Upon defeating Dark Matter, Kirby is attacked by Zero, Dark Matter's ''[[ManBehindTheMan boss]]'', who has very... [[BloodyMurder interesting]] attacks.]]
126	** ''VideoGame/TeamKirbyClashDeluxe'': [[spoiler:The final boss appears to be Dark Taranza. After he's defeated in only one phase, he summons the Black Mirror, which summons King D-Mind. Afterwards, King D-Mind immediately turns against Dark Taranza and kills him, replacing him for the rest of the battle.]]
127	** ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'':
128	*** The game first pulls the same trick as ''Super Star''; the boss of Falluna Moon is made out to be Whispy Woods (who is the first boss of this game as well), but after beating him, the camera pans away to lead Kirby to Yggy Woods, an UpgradedBoss version of Whispy with stronger attacks.
129	*** The boss fight against Kracko on Gabbel Moon, who [[DualBoss divides in two]] after an unusually quick first fight. In the extra mode "Heroes in Another Dimension", [[spoiler:Parallel Kracko mixes it up by starting as two weak clouds before combining into a stronger giant one]].
130	*** One final example is during the penultimate fight of the game against [[BigBad Hyness]]. For a maniacal cult leader, he fights fairly tamely, attacking with predictable shadow orbs and a few elemental moves. Then you empty his health bar and [[spoiler:knock off his hood, revealing his bizarre face]]; this causes him to go berserk and start the second part of the battle, where he [[spoiler:drains the life of the Three Mage-Sisters and uses them as puppets]], leading to much stronger and crazier attacks.
131	** ''VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash'': Similar to ''Team Kirby Clash Deluxe'', [[spoiler:after you seeemingly defeat Parallel Nightmare in The Final Battle, he gets up and summons a dimensional rift. The being he summoned, revealed to be the Aeon Hero (who you may better know as Galacta Knight) cuts down Parallel Nightmare, seemingly killing him. Aeon Hero then replaces Parallel Nightmare's Revenge for the remainder of the battle.]]
132	* ''VideoGame/ShantaeAndThePiratesCurse'': You may think you've defeated the {{Cyclops}} [[ManEatingPlant Plant]] when it [[DefeatEqualsExplosion explodes]], but that was [[TurnsRed just the first phase]]. Then the eyeball [[HyperDestructiveBouncingBall bounces wildly around the room]], only stopping to fire its EyeBeam.
133	* ''VideoGame/NoituLove 2: Devolution'': The boss of Level 3 starts as a DuelingPlayerCharacters situation, where you fight Rilo Doppelori if you're playing as Xoda Rap or Almond, and you instead fight Xoda if you're playing as Rilo. The battle only lasts until the boss character's health bar is half-empty, at which point the Sea Serpent robot (a mini-boss from earlier in the level that fled after its protective mask broke) interrupts the fight by launching the fighters onto a water wheel spinning down a river; it proceeds to blast away the character you were fighting, leaving the Sea Serpent as the real stage boss. Notably, the rival fight is much more difficult than the Sea Serpent rematch, so the half-health interruption works to balance it out.
134	* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagicVI'': The final quest is to destroy the reactor in the Kreegan hive. It ''can'' defend itself using ranged attacks and it does take quite a few hits, but it is entirely possible to snipe it and avoid retaliation in realtime battle mode by remaining behind the entrance, leaving the impression the real boss was the hordes of Kreegan you killed to get to the reactor. They you destroy the reactor and instantly get teleported to the middle of the large, open room the reactor was in, with walls sliding up to reveal the ''real'' final boss, the Kreegan Queen, and a veritable horde of lesser Kreegan...
135	* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'': Soul Master goes through a spectacular death throes sequence and leaves behind an upgrade pickup, only to return in full TurnsRed mode.
136	* ''VideoGame/Persona5'': The battle against Junya Bael Kaneshiro starts by having him fight on foot and the mid-boss theme "Keeper of Lust" plays. He is also quite weak in this form. Then, after you beat him, he unleashes a giant piggy bank robot called "Piggytron" and the real boss music "Blooming Villain" plays.
137	* The first three bosses of ''VideoGame/{{Persona Q2 New Cinema Labyrinth}}'' are basically trick bosses. This is basically three out of the five bosses in the game.
138	** The first boss you fight is Kamoshidaman, a superhero figure resembling the well-hated [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil rapist teacher]] in ''Persona 5'', but isn't a rapist, instead a pure-breed bully. After the party executes their heist to remove the statue that acts as his power source, he beocomes so weak the the P3 female protagonist can just trample on top of him and his attacks do a pitiful '''1''' damage. When you think everything is over, he suddenly pulls off a pair of carrots, surrounds himself in a BattleAura made of films and transforms into a monstrous wererabbit OneWingedAngel form. This form not only resists everything until the carrots that he uses as {{BFG}}s are removed, the carrots have '''ridiculous''' amounts of HP and can kill a party member instantly. After all of them are removed, he will have a Fire weakness which he will shield if he is downed and will use physical attacks that can still OHKO party members.
139	** The second boss you fight is Yosukesaurus, a herbivore dinosaur that has been driven into despair by his comrades and [[SanitySlippage transforms into a carnivorus dinosaur resembling Shadow Yosuke]]. Defeating Yosukesaurus does not end the battle and he will continue attacking as long as the other Herbivore Dinosaurs are alive.
140	** When the party explores the third Labyrinth, they will fight a robot Commander resembling Shuji Ikutsuki which appears to be the ruler of the reality. After he was defeated, the Commander continues to broadcast that irregulars are going into a rampage, and it turns out that he was nothing other than a puppet, and TheManBehindTheMan was an AI resembling a hologram Ikutsuki head, and that is the true governor of this reality.
141	* ''VideoGame/MushihimeSama'':
142	** The first game's TrueFinalBoss, Aki, explodes and rewards a point bonus at the end of his main phase, but then [[SongsInTheKeyOfPanic a new music piece]], "Requiem of the Sky", starts up and the boss unleashes his final BulletHell assault.
143	** Queen Larsa from the sequel is much worse, having three full life bars and a final attack that makes the first game's TFB look like child's play.
144	* In the arcade version of ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonII'', the second fight with Burnov has him dematerialize and leave his mask behind like with the first fight, only for him to rematerialize for one more round. In the NES version, he does this in all of his appearances.
145	* At the end of ''VideoGame/{{Axelay}}'', similar to the aforementioned ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' examples, upon initially defeating the FinalBoss, the Stage Clear fanfare plays, but the boss is NotQuiteDead, and the fight continues while escaping the CollapsingLair, accompanied by a BossRemix of the weapons select/stage clear theme.
146	* Despite its incredibly bare plot, ''[=NeuroVoider=]'' still manages to have this in its final battle. Once you defeat the Master Neurovoider, [[SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity there are several items to pick up]], like in every other boss fight. [[spoiler:Then FAT.32, [[TreacherousAdvisor the game's tutor]], proceeds to steal its main body and attack you.]]
147	* In ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'', when Shriek's life meter is nearly depleted, it disappears and she feigns a retreat, only to return and completely destroy the arena platform, starting the battle's final phase where Ori must continually Bash off the storm of projectiles to avoid falling into the abyss.
148	* In ''VideoGame/RigidForceAlpha'''s second stage, you encounter a CORE Plasmoid, which flees after its life bar is depleted, then you fight the stage's actual boss, Project Behemoth. During the rematch with the Plasmoid as the FinalBoss, it apparently explodes in defeat yet again, only to [[MultipleLifeBars gain a new life bar]] and [[MakeMyMonsterGrow start growing in size]], increasingly limiting the player's room to move.
149	* ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' series:
150	** In ''VideoGame/YsIVTheDawnOfYs'', after defeating Arem's normal and [[SuperMode "super"]] forms, he bursts through the floor as a giant BlobMonster, which fortunately is a pushover compared to the previous phases.
151	** In ''VideoGame/YsSeven'', after you have defeated the Maiden of Demise and are preparing to celebrate your victory, a giant [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abomination]] [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere shows up out of nowhere]].
152	* Rennala in ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' is an interesting example - in the first phase you fight Rennala herself, who has gone insane and simply floats around aimlessly while her gibbering students barely try to fight back. The real fight begins when Ranni steps in and creates a projection of Rennala in her prime, as an extremely powerful sorceress who commands numerous high level spells against you.
153	* ''Videogame/{{ULTRAKILL}}:'' Downplayed, but the Flesh Panopticon applies thanks to the precedent set one BrutalBonusLevel before by the Flesh Prison. The Prison was a boss by itself, and once defeated its prisoner proved even worse. The Panopticon indeed has a brutal array of attacks and techniques... but the moment it tries to heal like the Prison once did, its own prisoner takes the distraction and ''rips his way out'', instantly ending the fight and moving on to the next. Thus you learn that ''this'' [[spoiler:Prime Soul]] is far worse than the last.
154	-->'''[[spoiler:Sisyphus Prime]]:''' ''THIS'' PRISON... TO HOLD... '''ME!?'''

Context Main / TrickBoss