Basic Trope: A Plot Twist where another character in the story has accomplished one of your mission objectives for you.
- Straight: Bob and co arrives at the stronghold of The Dragon Captain Badd, only to find out that Aloof Ally Jack has already offed him.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob and co arrives at The Very Definitely Final Dungeon to fight Emperor Evulz, only to find out that Aloof Ally Jack has already offed him.
- Every time you reach a Boss Battle, the other characters have already beaten it for you. When you reach one boss that makes a showy entrance, but is then mobbed by NPCs, you start thinking the game is just trying to annoy you.
- Downplayed: Bob and co arrive in Badd's chamber just in time to see Badd strike Aloof Ally Jack down, but not before Jack severely damages Badd/removes the armor covering Badd's weak point.
- Justified:
- Jack wants the MacGuffin that Badd/Evulz possess, which Bob and co also seek.
- You aren't the only one who Badd/Evulz has offended.
- Inverted:
- Jack bites off more than he can chew fighting a dragon, and drags Bob and co into helping him defeat said dragon when they pass nearby. Suddenly, Giant Space Flea from Nowhere!
- Alternately: Bob and co defeat the enemy, then Jack shows up stating he wanted to beat it and is told it's done already.
- Subverted:
- Badd gets up after Jack fells him, and now fights Bob and co.
- Alternately: because the MacGuffin Bob and co seek is now in Jack's hand, the fight is now Bob and co versus Jack.
- Double Subverted:
- Badd gets up, and promptly falls and dies from his injuries.
- Alternately: Badd gets up and kills Jack with a last shot before he dies. Bob and co escaped from the stronghold with the MacGuffin for zero effort.
- Parodied: Bob and co never get to fight any boss, because Jack keeps offing them all.
- Zig Zagged: Sometimes Jack kills the bosses before Bob and co arrive, otherwise it's Bob and co's job to kill the bosses.
- Averted: Bob and co do everything themselves.
- Enforced:
- "We need to show the players that this Jack guy is awesome beyond Bob and co's league."
- "We need to show that more than just Bob's unit is fighting this war."
- Lampshaded: "Well, at least that guy spared us the trouble offing this guy."
- Invoked: Bob and co rushes through an underground passage filled with high-level monsters, hoping that this time Jack will do the job defeating the high-level boss for them too.
- Exploited: Bob and co drop hints about which bosses they plan to kill soon.
- Defied: Bob and co spray Jack with sleep gas before they go fight a boss.
- Discussed: "You killed him? ...DAMMIT! I WANTED TO DO THAT!"
- Conversed: "Oh hey, that stuck-up jerk Jack acutally did something beside stand there and snark! That's nice."
- Deconstructed: Bob and co never level up since Jack gets all those humongous Experience Points from boss fights, leaving Bob and co underleveled.
- Reconstructed: The Man Behind the Man sends The Dragon to delay the heroes in order to successfully escape, but Jack manages to apprehend him while Bob and co fight The Dragon.
Nothing to do here, because things are Already Done for You.
