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Wiki Headlines 5th Feb: Echo Chamber Season 1 blooper reel on Youtube here 
Laconic Main Quotes main index Narrative
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I can't defeat Air Man. There are many different categories of bosses, some more memorable than others. There's the Giant Space Flea from Nowhere, there's the Climax Boss, the Final Boss...
And then, there's That One Boss. You know the one, the demonic torturer of a boss that gives you fits every time you play through the game. You're levelling up normally, plowing through every battle, until you reach this particular battle and meet a gruesome end repeatedly until eventually you Rage Quit or you go on the Internet looking for assistance. In the event that you stop by the game's message board, lo and behold, everyone else is having the exact same problem, with topics asking "how do I beat That One Boss?". Walkthroughs usually list the worst offenders as "the hardest boss in the game", and eventually, such a beast receives a reputation for being just that freaking hard.
Certain types of boss are not usually included in this consideration right off the bat: The Final Boss, Wake Up Call Boss, and Bonus Boss. People expect the Final Boss to be tough (usually), and the Bonus Boss is usually included solely to be difficult. Players will prepare for the Bonus Boss by overleveling, but for maximum frustration, That One Boss needs only to just show up out of nowhere, preferably having no place in the storyline beforehand.
They usually show up in RPGs, though they're not exclusive to them. Game designers will sometimes go out of their way to put them in, serving as a bottleneck to make sure you spend a couple hours Level Grinding before you go on to the next area.
Occasionally, the identity of That One Boss varies depending on an individual's playing style - bosses are often designed to have issues with one particular strategy, so one that requires another strategy can seriously hinder a gamer if they're not prepared to switch up their tactics. However, any easy tactics like Revive Kills Zombie disqualify a boss from being That One Boss... unless the 'revive' itself is impossible to find.
They are sometimes called the "brick wall boss", for obvious reasons.
Compare Demonic Spiders, which is more of a That One Random Encounter, as well as the Boss in Mook Clothing. We'll leave it up to you to decide which is worse. See also That One Sidequest and That One Level. Contrast Anti-Climax Boss, where the boss is underpowered/easy for story reasons (or despite them), and Breather Boss, where the boss is just pathetically easy unintentionally. For bosses that are not technically difficult, but are downright frustrating, see Goddamned Boss. For bosses that are deliberately impossible to beat, see Hopeless Boss Fight. If you're looking to read up on unfair bosses that the game seems to deliberately give every known advantage to, requiring you to either get by on luck or cheap gameplay, head on over to SNK Boss.
To sum it up. If the boss is difficult when you first get to him, but when you get enough skill (or understanding of the needed mechanics), it is easy on further playthroughs, it is merely a Wake Up Call Boss. If it requires a very unusual tactic to win, but dies easily to it, that is Revive Kills Zombie. It has to be much harder than expected for that point in the game, and remain that way every time you replay the game to qualify as That One Boss. In other words, this is the boss whose battle will haunt your nightmares every time you see his image or hear his name.
It is useful to note that, as its name implies, most videogames only have one That One Boss. If a game appears to have several candidates for the title — especially if every boss battle feels this way — you are probably looking at Boss Dissonance (of the Kirby variety), or a game that is just plain Nintendo Hard.
NOTE: Final Boss and Wake Up Call Boss cannot be That One Boss without being overly hard by their standards. Please do not nonchalantly add them as examples. An Early Bird Boss will almost always qualify as That One Boss as well, but for reasons of the player's weakness rather than the boss's strength, so those bosses are better placed in the Early Bird Boss article. Bonus Boss is completely banned from this page, as they are optional and they have to be overpowered. There is no measure for them.
Because there are so many examples of this trope, they have been categorized by genre for your viewing convenience.
I try to dodge his tornadoes, but he just kills me again. And even though I can get behind him I try to fight, but get blown away in the end. I shoot as fast as I can, But when I had to go against Air Man's tornado I was helpless again I'll try again, of course, but this is my plan: I'll keep my E-Tank in reserve just as long as I can! I can't defeat Air Man...
Miscellaneous Examples
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