Basic Trope: A major antagonist is never faced in battle for some reason.
- Straight: Duke Eugene Darrows has been a thorn in the heroes' sides ever since he joined Emperor Evulz. However, they never get a chance to fight him head-on during their quest.
- Exaggerated: Though it looks as though they'll be able to take out the Duke several times, he always manages to evade them and sic minions on them instead.
- Downplayed:
- Duke fights the heroes with a vehicle, but never directly.
- Only an impersonator of Duke is fought. The real one ends up killed shortly after his ringer is defeated.
- Duke Eugene Darrows is faced in battle alongside a pair of Recurring Bosses, but is never fought in a separate battle.
- While Duke is fought, he transforms into a monster that's nothing like his original self before the battle, even though he displayed fighting ability in his original form.
- Justified:
- Duke Darrows doesn't have any fighting skills and wouldn't stand much of a chance against the heroes, so he avoids a direct confrontation at all costs.
- Duke is, in fact, on what would end up being the heroes' side, as well as Evulz for once. Halfway through, shortly before the heroes catch up with Duke, a major reveal is shown, changing sides dramatically with the heroes actually agreeing with Evulz, and by extension Duke, removing a need to fight.
- Duke Darrows is a Non-Action Big Bad.
- Duke isn't really a person. He's actually a disguise designed to be able to be put on by many people of the same height and weight. The heroes don't find this out until later, when they think they may finally be able to face him.
- Duke is killed by the real Big Bad before the heroes can get to him.
- Duke's death is just the beginning of the story.
- Inverted:
- Duke Darrows is a badass who could dismantle the heroes with ease, so they must avoid fighting him at all costs.
- Every battle in the game is against Duke.
- Duke Darrows is a Giant Space Flea from Nowhere. No context or build up whatsoever, but the heroes still have to fight him.
- Subverted:
- The heroes chase Duke down and take him on.
- The credits roll, and the boss fight with Duke takes place afterwards.
- Double Subverted:
- However, after the battle ends, the Duke they fought is revealed to be a body double minion.
- Except this turns into a Cutscene Boss.
- Parodied:
- Duke Darrows looks like a total badass, but at the final boss fight he simply leaves, and the heroes fight a minor mook from the beginning of the story that Took a Level in Badass.
- Duke Darrows is actively trying to fight the heroes, but they never have time for him.
- Zig Zagged: There are several routes in a game's story. In one of them, the heroes end up on the same side as Darrows. In another, he looks like he'll get used as a diversion, but gets executed for letting the heroes reach the final sanctum, and finally in one route.
- Averted: All major antagonists are faced in battle.
- Enforced:
- In a video game, the creators want to avoid an Anticlimax Boss, so they keep the player from ever fighting Duke.
- It is difficult to conceive how a fight with Duke would play out.
- It's a licensed game where the characters in the original work didn't fight the Big Bad directly, and the studio wanted to be true to the source. (Or just couldn't figure out how to add the scene.)
- Technical limitations make the boss impractical despite being so integral to the story.
- Lampshaded: "Damn it! When will we get to face him?!" "I don't think we will."
- Invoked: Duke Darrows makes sure to operate remotely so he can never be accessed.
- Exploited: Duke Darrows can't be fought and he knows it. He never wields any weapons nor and wears no armor. Instead he shows up in outfits that would be lethally impractical for anyone else and taunts the heroes unceasingly.
- Defied: Duke Darrows tries to run away. Rosemary chases after him swearing that she'll kill him painfully for what he did to her village. She catches up to him for a Duel Boss fight against him.
- Discussed: "Duke Darrows always seems to leave when we're about to fight him. Maybe he doesn't want to fight us for some reason..."
- Conversed: "Is he going to be one of those bad guys that always runs away and never fights? I hate those guys!"
- Deconstructed: Duke Darrows ends up a Karma Houdini and the party ends up embittered that the man behind it all got away.
- Reconstructed:
- Sir Alexander has a change of heart and slays Duke, so the heroes won't have to deal with having human blood on their hands.
- Duke ends up as a Self-Disposing Villain after a risky escape attempt.
- Played for Laughs: Duke Darrows is obviously a simpering coward who flees any sign of danger — frequently tripping all over himself and even getting hurt in the process of running away.
- Played for Drama: The Duke betrayed Becky's homeland to The Empire, and she joined the heroes hoping for revenge. But he just keeps slipping through her fingers...
Back to The Unfought.
