History Main / BaitAndSwitchBoss

* Happens ''twice'' in succession during the climactic episodes of ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}''. KnightTemplar [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] Nerissa was BigBad for most of the season, but near the end former BigBad Phobos returns, steals her AmplifierArtifact, and seals her inside it, resuming his EvilOverlord throne. [[spoiler:And then in the last episode, Phobos's previously loyal [[TheDragon Dragon]] Cedric senses opportunity, goes all ScaledUp, and ''eats'' both Phobos and the artifact, acquiring both Phobos's throne and nearly limitless power.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/RickandMorty'', in “Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender”, the plot is building up to an epic fight with Rick, Morty and the Vindicators against this powerful villain known as “World Ender”, but just as soon as the they enter his main base, they stumble across his whole army brutally slaughtered, and later they find Worldender’s dying corpse, hanging from his guts. As Rick is quick to call the mission off, Morty points out that there must be a bigger enemy in their path, as soon as the base is locked shut, the heroes are trapped, and a monitors reveals a pre-recorded video of the culprit behind this trap, Rick while he was blackout-drunk. So now. The Vindicators are trapped in this Saw-like puzzle, or else they’ll die.

* The Demon would chase the kids themself, until, Huey would figure out that Scrooge was never kidnapped, as it was all an act to teach the kids that he hates parties, as the spirit themself was the spirit of Duckworth.

** In the [[Manga/DragonBall original series]], for the past 30 or so episodes of the Red Ribbon Army arc, the ultimate antagonist has been built up as Commander Red. Then when Goku begins raiding the Army HQ, Red reveals that he's been gathering the Dragon Balls for the sole purpose of making himself taller rather than world conquest. [[DisappointedByTheMotive Disgusted that their leader wasted everyone's lives and resources over such a meager pursuit]], [[TheDragon 2nd-in-command]] Adviser Black [[TheStarscream shoots Red dead]] just minutes before Goku arrives, leaving the final showdown to occur between the two of them instead.

* Chapter 10 of ''FanFic/SonicGenerationsFriendshipIsTimeless'' makes you think that VideoGame/{{Sonic|The Hedgehog}} will be battling [[TheRival Shadow]] like [[VideoGame/SonicGenerations in the original game]], [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere but then]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Queen Chrysalis]] [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere and her army of changelings show up]]... Shadow having a question mark next to his name in the chapter title is kind of a hint to this.

* Subverted in ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', when they capture the mole's boss, and it's someone whose wife is being held hostage. [[spoiler:Double subverted when the team realizes that he had killed his own wife and ''was'' the actual BigBad.]]
** NCIS had another example similar to the SVU example above: the woman who stabbed her ex-fiance in the opening is arrested in about 5 minutes...only for a woman in the crowd to attack Ducky, kickstarting the main plot.

!!Examples:

* ''Animation/BoBoiBoy'': In the series finale, it initially seems that the heroes will have to take on Ejo Jo again, who has new battle armor and 5 times the battle robots since they last fought him. However, Captain Kaizo makes his entry by swiftly decimating his robots, defeating Ejo Jo and forcing the latter's ship to crashland. Kaizo introduces himself by stating the purpose of his visit: to obtain the heroes' power bands. It takes one battle and a rematch in space for Kaizo to reveal that his team's mission is to find worthy wielders of the power bands, which by the time the finale ends, the main cast has proven themselves as such.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/AbobosBigAdventure'' first has Jaws being eaten by the larger Big Daddy. Later, just as it seems you are about to fight the giant Contra end-boss alien, [[spoiler:he gets inhaled by Kirby, and things get ''nuts'']].
* ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar'' has a secret boss that only appears on the hardest difficulty of the bonus mission if you can defeat a specific squadron under a certain amount of time. If you manage that feat, you're greeted with the squadron you would normally fight last, only for them all to be destroyed by the secret boss who then comes after you. [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies It's Mobius One.]]]]
* In ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'', Kimberly and One Eyed Doll decide to assist you in battling Chaos Lord Discordia. You battle your way to Discordia, but after defeating him and preventing him from summoning his Chaos Beast, Kimberly suddenly reveals that actually, ''she's'' the real Chaos Lord of the Mythsong saga, and Discordia was just a victim of her MindControl. And she's already got a Chaos Beast lined up for you to fight before you take her and the band on proper.
* ''[[VideoGame/AeroFighters Aero Fighters 2]]'' has something alike in the level that takes place in Australia, when a warship appears from behind you and starts attacking...just to be rammed and destroyed by the '''real''' boss: a [[BattleshipRaid far larger helicopter carrier-battleship]].
* In the final level of ''VideoGame/AlienVsPredatorCapcom'', you mow down your way to a fat colonel that is getting Aliens for the Weyland-Yutani company. After you take out his last mooks, he steps forward to face you...only to be impaled and torn in half by the Alien Queen, which you thought you killed three levels earlier and who isn't a StationaryBoss like she was earlier due to not being attached to her ovipositor anymore. Cue hellish final boss fight.
* ''VideoGame/ApeEscape 2'' has Hikaru/[[DubNameChange Jimmy]] finally meet Specter after defeating the Freaky Monkey Five. Specter talks about how he'll beat Hikaru with a powerful mecha...when Yellow Monkey, the one who ran after you beat him, appears again, and [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever is giant-size]]. After Yellow destroys the mecha because he's told not to eat more Vita-Z bananas, Specter [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere immediately bails out]] and leaves you to deal with the new problem.
* ''VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvolt'': After completing three of the six stages, you're thrown into a new mission, with a special boss icon and everything. Partway through the mission, you encounter Zonda, who uses [[AmbiguousGender xer]] illusion powers to flip the entire mission until right before the boss fight, where the illusion breaks. However, approaching the boss area reveals [[spoiler:that Copen, a human with a hatred for Adepts, has already defeated Zonda, and Copen replaces xem as the boss.]] [[spoiler:In the spin-off ''VideoGame/MightyGunvolt'', the inverse happens: Copen seems to be the final boss, only to be [[LaserGuidedKarma knocked out by Zonda]], giving the player a chance to finally face xem.]]
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' does this with the Electrocutioner. He gets a lengthy introduction movie with panning camera shots and dramatic music, an enormous health bar, [[ZeroEffortBoss and goes down in one hit]]. The level continues for a few more mook encounters and seems to have reached its end with Batman interrogating the Penguin, when the '''real''' boss, [[spoiler:Deathstroke]], shows up.
* ''VideoGame/BionicCommando Rearmed'':
** Generalissimo Killt is set up as the BigBad. When you meet him, he is immediately backstabbed by the newly-resurrected [[strike:Hitler]] "[[NoSwastikas Leader]]".
** Same in the original game, except [[strike:Hitler]] "Master-D" is somehow able to folgorate Killt from inside his resurrection chamber.
* ''VideoGame/BladedFury'' ends with you confronting Lord Tian, the main villain responsible for your current predicament... and turns out to be a frail, defenseless old man who can't put up a fight. But then he casts a spell and summons his ancestor, Tian Rangju, from the underworld; turns out his ancestor is a ''huge'', demonic creature several times larger than you, being the game's TrueFinalBoss.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/BlazBlue: Continuum Shift'', where one battle in Hakumen's Arcade Mode path seems to set you up against [[spoiler:Tager]], but then [[spoiler:Rachel]] appears...and then she only speaks briefly with Hakumen before making way for [[spoiler:Tager]], for real.
* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' has Commandant Steele yell at you for stealing artifacts the whole game, only to be replaced by a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere when she opens the vault.
* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'':
** In the second DLC, as you're about to fight Flyboy, Piston kills him so that ''he'' can fight you instead.
** Piston himself becomes a bait and switch boss soon after. The heroes go to fight Piston, only for him to summon a giant robot/T-Rex/monster truck that you have to fight instead.
* ''VideoGame/BugFables'':
** During Chapter 5, in the Wild Swamplands, Team Snakemouth is led to believe they are going to face a group of Leafbugs at the end of the swamp. However, a roar is heard, and [[CreepyCentipedes the Beast]], the true boss of the location, appears, sending Leafbugs fleeing and prompting Kabbu to initiate the fight, [[spoiler:him being determined to have his {{revenge}} on the Beast for killing his friends]].
** In Chapter 6, when Team Snakemouth participates in the Colosseum fight to convince the Termite royalty of their strength (to prove that they lost to the [[BigBad Wasp King]] not because of their weakness and convince them to help in stopping him), King Hector IV decides to sic a Primal Weevil on them as the final challenge (unaware that the team defeated it before). Just when the team is led to believe that they have to rematch the creature, [[spoiler:[[TheRival Zasp and Mothiva]] appear, kick the Primal Weevil away, intending to beat Team Snakemouth to hijack their mission (in spite of the fact that [[DidntThinkThisThrough their interference may sabotage the negotiation]], as Kabbu points out), and take over as the Colosseum's last challenge.]]
* In Creator/{{SNK}}'s ''VideoGame/BurikiOne'', you work your way up in the tournament and when you reach the final match, the guy you're supposed to be fighting is suddenly knocked through the entrance door (with said door flying off its hinges) and into the ring's steel cage before crumpling to the ground. Then an evil-looking guy with [[GoodScarsEvilScars scars]] all over his body slowly walks in, and then leaps straight into the ring in a single bound.
* In ''VideoGame/CastleCrashers'':
** When you reach the first boss fight, you first see a barbarian about twice the size of the regular {{Mooks}}. Then there's pounding on the door behind him and it falls onto him, as an even larger barbarian shows up — this one fills up nearly half the screen.
** In the Thieves' Forest, a grizzly bear attempts to attack your party, but an off-screen GiantMook, which is causing the ground to tremble with its footsteeps, freaks out the bear so much that he ''craps himself'' and retreats back into his bush. You run away from this boss in the next stage, [[SuperPersistentPredator then fight him for real in a later level.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' has a few.
** In ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaHarmonyOfDissonance Harmony of Dissonance]]'', you enter the boss room in a later part of the game, and see a Living Armour marching towards you. Looks exactly like the one you fought about twenty levels ago, only with a {{BFS}}...until it's destroyed in one hit by Talos, the real boss (the big armor that you ran away from at the start of the game).
** Another one in ''Harmony of Dissonance'' occurs when you walk into a boss room to find a Peeping Eye. Extremely weak enemy. Move a bit to the right, hero, and you'll find the ''real'' boss, a Peeping Big.
** Another version of Bait and Switch occurs in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaAriaOfSorrow''. You've pounded Death and Legion, two of the more intimidating bosses so far, and are expecting a good challenge in the Battle Arena stage. You enter the boss room, and the bats hanging on the roof form into...the Giant Bat? A common boss, but universally a low-level boss in ''Castlevania''. What's he doing this late a level? ...Until a massive hand comes out of the background and crushes the bat in its grip. Meet Balore, the real boss.
* In ''VideoGame/CaveStory'':
** You encounter a power switch that supplies power to the fans (which you need to activate) and something called "Malco." Turns out that Malco is the nearby security bot, which promptly prepares to kill you, before the RecurringBoss drops down out of the sky to take you on and lands on top of it.
** Later on, a major villain shows up and prepares to fight you, when the ground suddenly begins shaking. The villain remarks that she's no longer needed and teleports away as a giant monster bursts out of the ground.
* ''VideoGame/CliveBarkersUndying'' does this with the final boss fight, [[ZigZaggingTrope no less than four times!]] Here we go:
** First, you fight Bethany, who's been set up to be the final boss all through the game.
** After killing her, [[spoiler:your friend Jeremiah]] appears and reveals that [[TheManBehindTheMan he's been behind the whole thing]]! Looks like he's the final boss, but then Patrick just unceremoniously [[OffWithHisHead decapitates him]] [[TalkToTheFist mid-speech]]. Which results in the much-hyped [[EldritchAbomination Undying King]] being summoned, leaping out of the ground looking like a pissed-off mummy, as befit his name, only to disintegrate into powder upon hitting the ground. Only ''then'' does [[spoiler:the ''real'' Undying King (the Celtic King was just a {{human sacrifice}}) rise out of the ground in the form of some odd-EldritchAbomination-crab-spider-scorpion ''thing'']]. After him, the game ends.
* [[TheUnfought The Panther King]] from ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay''. At first, it looks like you're going to fight him at the end of the game's final level[[note]]which is not the StormingTheCastle-style level that one might expect from a confrontation with a king, but a bank heist with ''[[Film/TheMatrix Matrix]]'' [[BulletTime stunts]] — ''Conker's Bad Fur Day'' is weird like that[[/note]], but then a [[XenomorphXerox Xenomorph queen]] named Heinrich [[ChestBurster hatches out of his body]] (which was planned by [[TheStarscream Ze Professor]] to get rid of him), kills the Panther King, and as a result, the final boss battle actually pits Conker against her (this also means Ze Professor is bait-and-switched, as opening the vault to get the required suit ends up [[ThrownOutTheAirlock expelling the scientist to outer space]], meaning that Conker won't have to deal with him in-battle, either).
* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' series:
** ''Shattered Soldier'' has Mr. Heli-Robo, a TransformingMecha that chases the player throughout Mission 1. It eventually appears at the end of the stage, where it is promptly crushed by Slave Beast Taka, the actual boss. Mr. Heli Robo returns as a proper boss in Mission 6.
** In Stage 2 of ''Contra 4'', the player has to face a group of four enemy snipers in black who are tougher to kill than the regular {{mooks}}. When only one of the black-clad snipers remains, a tail suddenly grabs him and cuts him in half. Then the true boss rears his ugly head.
** In Stage 1 of ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising'', the first major enemy you fight is one of the game's standard mooks driving a rather bizarre CoolCar that can detach into two halves, and has an arsenal including [[ThisIsADrill a huge mining drill]] and [[KillItWithFire a flamethrower]]. After you deplete its life meter, the player and the boss go zooming off a cliff together...and the latter promptly gets devoured by a giant robotic sand worm named Lotus Wyrm (Kanechiku in the Japanese version), who fills in for the now-vacant position of stage boss. Subverted when [[spoiler:you take out the mecha-worm and move on — at the very end of the stage, when you've gotten back on a motor-bike, the camera cuts to the fallen worm...and the mook-driven CoolCar]] ''[[spoiler:rips its way out of the mecha-worm's body]]'' [[spoiler:to continue the fight]].
* In ''VideoGame/CrushCrush'', the girl unlocked after Bonnibel initially appears to be a purple-haired (and oddly eyeless) girl named Generica. However, when you view her introductory cutscene, she gets killed by a {{Yandere}} named [[VideoGame/YandereSimulator Ayano]], who takes her place afterwards.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'':
** In the "Artorias of the Abyss" DLC, traversing the [[TrappedInThePast Royal Wood]] leads you to a coliseum behind a fog gate. Upon entering, you are greeted with a menacing-looking gangly monster, seconds before he gets pounced on by the imposing figure of the HandicappedBadass Knight Artorias, who, having skewered the monster on his sword, proceeds to throw it at you and let out a deep roar.
** The Upper Undead Burg also has an example [[PlayingWithATrope where the "original" boss isn't killed or portrayed as weaker than its replacement (quite the opposite).]] The Hellkite Dragon [[{{Foreshadowing}} shows up briefly]] early in the level, which may lead a player to think it will be the level's boss. The Burg's actual boss, the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Taurus Demon]], by contrast has [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere nowhere near as much foreshadowing.]] Then, soon after defeating that, the Hellkite Dragon appears again...[[OhCrap only to demonstrate]] [[CurbStompBattle just why it's]] [[BeefGate not the actual level boss.]]
** Double Subverted by [[spoiler:Father Ariandel]] in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' [[spoiler:in the ''Ashes of Ariandel'' expansion]]. It seems like [[spoiler:Ariandel]] would be the boss when you step into his room, but then [[spoiler:[[BigBad Sister Friede]], the true villain]], comes down to fight you. But once you kill [[spoiler:her, Ariandel]] breaks his bonds, [[spoiler:[[DualBoss revives]] Friede]], and fights you. [[spoiler:And then he dies, leaving Friede to take the fight to a third round.]]
* ''Franchise/DeadSpace'':
** In ''VideoGame/DeadSpace1'', after [[spoiler:Kendra Daniels turns out to be working against Isaac, and ruins his only hope for escape, the player is supposed to grip the controller with rage. When you finally see her next on the destroyed colony, she's just on her way to leave...and is [[KarmicDeath smashed to bits by the Hive Mind]]]].
** In ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'', it looks like the majority of the game is leading up to a dramatic final confrontation with Tiedemann before you [[spoiler:destroy the Marker]]. Then you get there [[spoiler:and Tiedemann is already horribly mauled and barely able to stand, then proceeds to ''shoot you through the chest twice'' with Javelins. A quick-time-event lets you pull them out, steal the Javelin gun, and shank him in return.]] Game over, right? [[spoiler:Nope. You hallucinate about Nicole one more time, only now she wants to absorb you into the Marker body and mind and you have to [[BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind hallucinate-fight her in your psyche]], after which you sit down to accept your imminent demise as the station explodes.]] And ''then'' the credits roll. [[spoiler:And '''[[TheStinger then]]''' Ellie comes [[BigDamnHeroes crashing through the ceiling in a ship]] to rescue you.]]
* Used creatively in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4''. The boss of mission five appears to be two luminescent devils with ice powers, fought in a snowing courtyard, but as you fight them, they seem unusually pathetic, rarely ever attacking and doing little when they do. Damage them enough, though, and [[spoiler:a massive toad demon with ice powers will suddenly lunge out of the blizzard, trying to swallow you whole. He's the actual boss — the devils were just his lures]].
* ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'':
** At the end of 1-3, you find a typical Fat Minister, the likes of which you've been fighting as regular enemies before. At first, it looks like he would be the boss, but suddenly he gets stabbed from behind and thrown out by the real boss, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Penetrator]].
** Played the other way round with Maiden Astreaea. Her bodyguard, Garl Vinland, is a formidable fighter in his own right (though not near the class of the other bosses of the game). Once you kill him, Astraea is completely helpless and you can either slay her with a few hits, or talk to her, which results in her suicide. [[YouBastard Not without pointing out what you just did.]] She is supposed to be a heretic priest using demon powers, [[BeautifulVoid but the game doesn't tell you that]].
* The boss of the ''VideoGame/Destiny2'' strike "Tree of Probabilities" at first seems to be a massive Vex Minotaur, who promptly gets smashed to pieces by an equally massive Cabal Valus when the fight actually begins.
* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'':
** Inverted in Act II of ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}} II'', which plays up Baal as possibly being the final boss of the act, but instead you face the [[AllThereInTheManual Lesser Evil]] named Duriel (who is still a ''very'' tough boss, mind). Baal himself isn't confronted until the expansion.
** Near the end of ''VideoGame/DiabloIII''[='=]s Act IV, one of the "boss preview/warning" of sorts shows what seems to be [[spoiler:Imperius]] as the next boss, with earlier scenes highlighting a conflict between him and the Nephalem. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:Diablo reaches the Crystal Arch at about this time and begins extinguishing it, neutralizing every angel in the High Heavens and nipping this impending fight in the bud, meaning that Diablo becomes your final opponent]].
* Halfway through playing in single-player in ''VideoGame/DigimonBattleSpirit'', one of your next opponents may be blasted off the stage by Impmon before the battle can start. If you manage to defeat him and collect 300 D-Spirit in total by the end of the playthrough, you can then unlock Impmon as a playable character.
* ''VideoGame/DinoCrisis 2'' has you fighting and constantly running from a one-eyed T-Rex (who's justifiably pissed off, seeing as you and your team are the ones responsible for blowing up its eye). What's worse than fighting a T-Rex, you might ask? [[spoiler:Having that T-Rex corner the player about 3/4ths of the way into the game, only to be grabbed, tossed aside, and made into lunch by an even '''bigger''' dinosaur: Giganotosaurus.]] The "good" news? You get to fight (and more likely run from) it about two rooms later!
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'': Considering its name and level theme, K. Rool's Keep leads one to believe its boss will be K. Rool. Instead, the player gets just a cutscene in the SNES version and a different boss for the GBA version, while K. Rool waits in a secret world afterward.
* ''VideoGame/DragonsCrown'': In one stage's B-route, the players are tasked with stopping an evil cult from summoning the Demon King. They succeed with relative ease, banishing him before he can even leave the demon realm...only to be forced to face his [[TheDragon Dragon]], the Arch Demon.
* The Creator/{{Taito}} arcade game ''Dungeon Magic'' has a classic example of this. After chasing the evil wizard Venom through three scenarios, each of which ends with him escaping and leaving you to fight one of his minions, you face off with him. He summons a Demon Lord, which kills him in one blow, and ''then'' fights you.
* The first boss of ''VideoGame/DynamiteHeaddy'' shows up at the end of the second world with a new vehicle, only to be squashed by the real boss. He even remains stuck in the boss's underside for the whole fight.
* ''VideoGame/EXTRAPOWERStarResistance'': Sunny Day and Funny Face are the default bosses fought at the end of Stage 4. For certain player characters, Sunny and Funny will be introduced and maybe fought for a little, and then blown up by your rival fight boss as part of their own introduction.
* One of the first quests you can encounter in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' involves acquiring a suit of PoweredArmor and a [[MoreDakka minigun]] then using them to drive off some raiders that are besieging some refugees in an abandoned museum. Shortly after you acquire your new toys, a monstrous deathclaw appears and slaughters any of the raiders you haven't killed yet, and you must defeat it to advance the quest.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', [[spoiler:you arrive at the core of the moon just in time to see TheManBehindTheMan get defeated in a cutscene, only for his hatred to take form and become the FinalBoss]].
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', after retrieving one of the PlotCoupons, one of the BigBad's minions shows up, ready to fight you; only to be swept away (somewhat ) by [[spoiler:Leviathan]]. However, [[spoiler:nothing forces you to fight Leviathan now: You can proceed to the next dungeon and return there only when you want to unlock his Summon]].
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'':
** Early on, Squall and company run into [[GoldfishPoopGang Biggs and Wedge]] atop the Dollet Communication Tower. After depleting their health (a simple feat — they're only slightly better than normal Galbadian Soldiers and Elites), they get sucked up in a tornado as [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere Elvo]][[DegradedBoss ret]] gets annoyed at all the racket.
** Also inverted with a bait and switch ''ally''. If you've got Odin by the time you fight Seifer the last time, Odin shows up (which he never usually does in boss fights), attacks Seifer, and is killed(!). Later in the battle, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV Gilgamesh]] shows up and beats Seifer instantly for you, [[DiscardAndDraw and replaces Odin from then on]].
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' features an example in the beginning of the game. Tidus, the main character, battles several minor enemies who ambush him in the water. After he defeats two of them, a massive [[HopelessBossFight unbeatable]] (at that point) boss, Geosgaeno, kills the remaining enemy, and promptly attacks you.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' combines this trope with FluffyTheTerrible [[spoiler:with The Fury from the Necrohol of Nabudis. When entering the boss room, a huge behemoth greets the party...but it suddenly collapses and a [[KillerRabbit fuzzy little purple bunny]] shows up and the real battle takes place]].
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'':
** The trend is continued with [[EvilIsSexy Jihl]], although many agree that [[AssholeVictim she deserved it]] after some [[KickTheDog less than meritorious behavior]].
** In one of the side missions later in the game, your objective is to fight Zenobia, an Undying Cie'th — that is, a Cie'th holding onto immense hatred for the fal'Cie that cursed it. Zenobia rises from the ground, in all its BodyHorror glory, only to be [[spoiler:stabbed in the leg and killed instantly by a [[KillerRabbit Tonberry]], the real boss of the mission]]. Both Zenobia and Jihl are fightable in [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2 the sequel]], the former as a storyline boss and the latter as DLC.
** The last enemy you face during Titan's trials is one of the Undying, which kills the behemoth Titan had intended for you to fight.
* In the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series:
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'' does this in a few chapters.
*** The earliest example is in Chapter 3, where [[spoiler:Zephiel]] is sitting on the throne before he, Brunnya, and Narcian leave, leaving [[WakeUpCallBoss Slater]] to replace him.
*** When you go to free the Western Isles once and for all, Lord Arcard is sitting on the throne. When the chapter starts proper, he leaves and puts his and Narcian's subordinate, General Flaer, in charge...who then makes way for the Manakete Aine when he shows up.
** Also seen in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' in Ephraim's version of Chapter 10, after [[spoiler:Duessel defects]]. In the chapter preparation screen, it looks like you'll be facing against one of Grado's top generals, Selena...only for her to be replaced on the first turn by a much weaker boss named Beran. You do later face her for real, though.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' pulls this one off in the prologue of Part 3. The apparent boss of the chapter is Septimus, but he turns out to be a DirtyCoward and runs away after two turns (not nearly long enough to get in range to engage him), leaving his second-in-command Silvano to guard the level goal instead. Septimus is fought eight chapters later.
** Downplayed in chapter 9 of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''. [[ArcVillain Gangrel]] and [[DragonWithAnAgenda Aversa]] are both on the battlefield alongside the level boss Campari, but leave on Turn 1 and leave him to do the dirty work.
* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysWorld'' does this for its added content boss. It looks like it's going to be Purplegeist, but [[spoiler:Chica's Magic Rainbow, whose main trait is being as demeaning as possible, drops in and attacks you instead]].
* In ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed 2'':
** While [[spoiler:rescuing General Kota]] on Cato Neimoidia, you end up with him in a gladiator arena, surrounded by the corpses of countless warriors and wild beasts. Suddenly, a large gate nearby opens up, and out steps a rancor. Starkiller smirks and readies his blades...and then, from beneath the ground, a ''humongous'' hand reaches up, smashes the rancor into the ground, and pulls it under. And then said hand's owner comes out to play. Say hello to the Gorog.
** Zig-zagged in the first game, where Maris Brood looks like she's the boss, then introduces a rather large bull Rancor, then turns out to actually be tougher than the Rancor after it goes down.
* ''VideoGame/FurFighters'' has a rather humorous example. In the Space Station Meer, you bump into a [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Xenomorph]], but before the fight starts, a stereotypical lawyer barges in, claiming to represent 31st Century Films, and begins berating the game for breaking 35 different copyrights. The player character argues back, so the lawyer draws a gun and begins shooting at them.
* An early mine level of the ''VideoGame/GanbareGoemon'' game ''Goemon's Great Adventure'' has a boss setup on a bridge against a bigger version of the standard haniwa enemy, except the haniwa is instantly smashed by a giant skeletal hand from behind the bridge, and Goemon must then fight a gashadokuro (giant skeletons composed of starved bodies).
* In the beginning of ''VideoGame/GodOfWarChainsOfOlympus'', a cyclops armed with a gigantic club smashes through a door you're trying to open. You drive off his first attack, and then the massive Basilisk, the real first boss, nibbles the cyclops from outside the door and eats it. At least he leaves you his club to use on the big lizard.
* ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'':
** After fighting your way through an entire army, the boss warning sounds as you approach an invulnerable soldier who's just standing there and...swaying his torso around? The boss read-out identifies him as "Final Great Soldier", and lists his attack as "Love Love Dancing". After a few awkward seconds, the real boss, the BigBad's [[TheDragon Dragon]], shows up, chews him out, and tosses him aside. The whole boss warning/read-out sequence starts up again to herald the upcoming fight.
** When you face off with Grey, the BigBad, his evil scheme fails on him, and he gets blasted by the real boss, Golden Silver.
** Despite being a sequel, not a remake, the exact same things happen ''again'' in ''Gunstar Super Heroes''. The entire plot of ''Gunstar Super Heroes'' basically revolves around the exact same things as the original ''Gunstar Heroes'' happening ''again'', but with more story and explanation surrounding them this time.
* At the end of ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'', Zagreus finds himself face to face with Cerebus guarding the gates to the world of the living. At first, Zagreus acts like the two are going to face each other so he can get past, only for him to quickly admit that he could never hurt his beloved pet and instead detours to find a treat for Cerebus so he'll look the other way. It's only after this point that you come face to face with the real FinalBoss of the game, [[spoiler:Zagreus's father Hades.]]
* In ''VideoGame/HenryHatsworthInThePuzzlingAdventure'', the final boss is apparently your ArchEnemy Weasleby. However, [[spoiler:[[TrickBoss after beating on him for a while]], he suddenly starts twitching a whole bunch before his head pops off, with Henry's KidSidekick Cole coming out of his body. After a speech in which Cole reveals that ''[[TheDogWasTheMastermind he's]]'' the real BigBad, he summons out a massive Mech that he only managed to build thanks to [[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts all the money you've spent on upgrades in his store]].]]
* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'''s ''Godmaster'' campaign seemingly sets up a fight between you and Tiso midway through one of the [[BossRush Pantheons]]. They go so far as to give him an intro with a BattleCry and a [[BossSubtitles boss subtitle]], only for the poor sap to [[DroppedABridgeOnHim have a bridge dropped on him]] in the form of the ''actual'' boss of the room, a Brooding Mawlek. In the same pantheon, you're also poised to fight Hornet... who turns out to be an upgraded Nosk impersonating her.
* ''VideoGame/IttleDew1'': When you first enter the final room of the [[BonusDungeon Master Cave]], it looks like you'll be fighting a simple [[TheGoomba fishbun]]. Naturally, it gets replaced by something much more threatening.
* In ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheBoshy'', you beat [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]] at a Simon-like minigame and he grows bigger, apparently ready for round two. Suddenly, Meta Knight appears slicing Dedede in two and lunging at you...and before the fight can start, he is taken out by a [[Franchise/StreetFighter Hadouken]] from offscreen, heralding a boss fight against Ryu.
* In ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'', right before you enter the Palace of The Guy, the moon, which has been pestering you throughout the game, drops down from the sky to confront you...and then the real boss, the Mecha Dragon from ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'', beats it down and the real fight begins.
* In ''VideoGame/JadeCocoon 2'', all the non-story bosses are oversized versions of regular monsters, and before fighting a short FMV clip is played. In one of them, a large dragonfly buzzes at you menacingly. It looks a little out of place in the water world, and seems smaller than other bosses. It then gets eaten by a ''huge'' frog monster, who then attacks you.
* The Neon Boulevard penthouse stage from ''VideoGame/JitsuSquad''. After fighting your way through legions of mooks, you confront the unnamed boss, an overweight, unarmed man who can barely put up a fight, but before you can even attack the main villain, Lord Origami, appears personally to execute the boss for [[YouHaveFailedMe failing to capture the titular squad]]. Before sending the stage's actual boss, [[TheDragon his second-in-command Dash Kobayashi]].
* An Olympus Coliseum mission in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'' has you fighting in a tournament (which plays in the exact same way as the tournaments in the first ''VideoGame/{{Kingdom Hearts|I}}''). The final opponent there is Xigbar? Just wail out some of his lifebars and cue the uninvited appearance of the mission's boss: the Guard Armor from the first game. And when it seems like Xigbar will assist you in fighting it, he instead dumps you for the boss battle. That [[strike:clever]] little sneak.
* In ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'', Chapter 8 has Pit fight through the SpacePirates on his way to confront the Pirate Captain, only for a [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere space Kraken]] to show up out of nowhere, eat the Pirate Captain, and become the boss for the chapter.
* In ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'':
** There's a {{Optional|Boss}} PuzzleBoss called the Guy Made of Bees. His opening line is "We are Bees. We hate you." There's also a [[ChallengeRun special challenge path]] called Bees Hate You. Curiously, the Guy Made of Bees doesn't appear in his usual location during a Bees Hate You run. Given the page you're on, you've probably guessed that [[spoiler:he takes out the final, sausage-y form of the [[FinalBoss Naughty Sorceress]], [[TrueFinalBoss and you have to fight him instead]]]].
** Happens on the Avatar of Boris run — [[spoiler:the final form of the Naughty Sorceress is taken out by an Avatar of Sneaky Pete, who takes the opportunity to attempt revenge on Boris for stealing his thunder back in their mortal days]].
** In an Avatar of Jarlsberg run, [[spoiler:you find the Avatar of Boris has already defeated the Sorceress, and Jarlsberg seizes the opportunity to get revenge on Boris for being the JerkJock to Jarlsberg's nerd]].
** The Zombie Slayer challenge path ends with [[spoiler:you facing Rene C. Corman, mastermind behind the ZombieApocalypse plaguing the kingdom, instead of the Naughty Sorceress's final form]].
** Throughout the Heavy Rains challenge path, major boss fights get [[KillAndReplace killed and replaced]] by "sentient mimetic water" sent by the FinalBoss, the Rain King. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Except for Ed the Undying]], who gets right back up, beats his watery doppelganger back into the ground, and fights you as normal.]]
* The ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' series has some examples in recent games:
** In ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'', near the end of [[spoiler:Guest Star ????, the player defeats Hyness and [[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Galacta Knight]] appears out of a black hole. Instead of fighting him, his [[BossSubtitles introduction screen]] is immediately followed by a cutscene. The cutscene has a butterfly land on Galacta Knight's lance, and then the butterfly defeats Galacta Knight, absorbs his power and forms [[OptionalBoss Morpho Knight]].]]
** In ''VideoGame/SuperKirbyClash'', it initially appears that Team Kirby will fight [[spoiler:Parallel Nightmare]] for the final Story Quest at the Decisive Battlefield (the level's selection has his portrait shown), but [[spoiler:he instead opens a portal that summons King D-Mind. And like with Dark Taranza before him, King D-Mind turns against Parallel Nightmare, smacking him into the background before the battle starts. Unlike Dark Taranza, though, this doesn't kill Parallel Nightmare.]]
** At the end of [[spoiler:Isolated Isles: Forgo Dreams]] in ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'', the [[spoiler:Soul Forgo]] gets BossSubtitles, implying a full boss fight. However, much like in ''Kirby Star Allies'' above, [[spoiler:an innocuous butterfly floats by and absorbs Soul Forgo, revealing itself to be Morpho Knight.]]
* ''{{Subverted|Trope}}'' in ''VideoGame/LastScenario''. At the end of the DiscOneFinalDungeon, [[spoiler:Ortas, the guy who you'd been led to believe was the BigBad]], gets literally and figuratively stabbed InTheBack by [[spoiler:Castor]], who reveals that [[TheManBehindTheMan he's been manipulating him all along]]. Despite being mortally wounded, [[spoiler:Ortas]] [[{{Determinator}} gets back up and fights you anyway]].
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' does this in the fourth dungeon (which may seem like the final dungeon if you aren't familiar with the series tradition of having ''two'' sets of {{Mac Guffin}}s). BigBad Zant appears, but rather than facing Link directly, he just drives his sword into the skull of a dragon skeleton, animating the boss of the dungeon. Even then, you may think it's just his [[TheDragon Dragon]] and you'll be facing him [immediately] afterwards, but no.
* ''Videogame/{{Loom}}'' has several scenes foreshadowing Bishop Mandible as the BigBad and building up to a climactic confrontation with him as he captures you and takes you to his castle, to open up a portal to the realm of the dead. The leader of the undead, Chaos, [[EvilIsNotAToy promptly and messily one-shots him]] and takes his place as the ''actual'' BigBad.
-->''"I am Chaos. '''''Join me.'''''"''
* ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline'' has one in the quest "Tomb of Elendil": after wearing down the first boss for a while, he runs over and wakes up the real boss, a giant turtle that eats the first boss for waking him up.
* ''VideoGame/LunarDragonSong'' does this in reverse. [[spoiler:Before you ever see Ignatius or Lucia, you battle Ignatius's butt-fugly pet Gideon twice. In the second time, it is in the chamber of rebirth in his most powerful form possible. After the fight, Lucia is already transformed into Althena and she is killed trying to save Jian in his not-so noble and heroic submission. Just when Ignatius tries to kidnap Flora and attempt to prompt Jian and co into a battle, it turns out Ignatius slips and falls when the platform he stood on crumbles and [[DisneyVillainDeath he falls into the endless void below]]. Despite the game portraying Ignatius as the main villain and the whole point of collecting all four dragon rings, the player will never battle him ([[HopelessBossFight not including one earlier match before you collect the dragon rings]]) and it is implied that Gideon had been the final boss instead.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}: RED'', you return to the mysterious pyramid after being [[ViralTransformation mutated]] to confront Joshua, but you find that [[TheStarscream Michael]] has finished him off first. He escapes and has his Champion Metalloids fight you in an arena battle similar to "You Think You're Big Time?", then the last act of the game is spent pursuing him.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' made you think that the entire final battle was going to be against Saren while the fleet dealt with Sovereign. While it is possible to get into a final boss fight with Saren [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath or talk him into abandoning his plans and killing himself]], either way you get into a fight when Sovereign takes over Saren's body.
* ''Franchise/MegaMan''
** ''VideoGame/MegaManDrWilysRevenge'' does an interesting variation — at the end of Wily Castle, there is a room with four teleporters. Seasoned ''Mega Man'' players will assume this part to be [[BossRush rematches]] with the four Robot Masters fought earlier (lifted from ''VideoGame/MegaMan1''), but instead they lead to completely different Robot Masters (lifted from ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'').
** In an early dungeon in ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends 2'', the MacGuffin at the end of the dungeon is gone when you get there. This is not surprising, as you already fought a CowardlyBoss pursuing the same MacGuffin twice in the same dungeon. He then shows up behind you...and informs you that he doesn't have it, then leaves you to fight the boss that does.
** In ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 3'', Zero boards a missile headed for a populated city block, and was informed beforehand that [[TheDragon Omega]] was inside (the missile was a ploy for Omega to capture the Dark Elf). Before Zero can reach Omega however, he confronts the [[DualBoss Baby Elves]] instead, who were placed there by [[BigBad Dr. Weil]] as Omega's bodyguards, knowing all along that Zero would try to sabotage the missile.
** At the end of the fourth chapter in ''VideoGame/MegaMan8BitDeathmatch''[='=]s single-player campaign, it appears you're going to fight the Cockroach Twins, only for them to be stomped flat by the [[ThatOneBoss Metool Daddy]]. In version 5 B, this scene is replaced with the fact that you are originally going to fight an enemy from ''Mega Man 5'', but then the Cossack Catcher (piloted by a Metool) destroys it.
** At the end of the ''VideoGame/MegaMan6'' Chapter in version 5 B, [[spoiler:Mega Man? prepares to fight you one final time after every Robot Master is dealt with. His health meter fills up like normal, but when it fills up to half, Wily uses Gamma's fist to punch Mega Man?, killing Mega Man? instantly. Cue final battle against Gamma.]]
** In ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity'':
*** The final boss is set up to be [[spoiler:the alien from ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' before Mega Man climbs on a nearby structure and blasts it, revealing it to be a hologram (like in the original game). With this, Wily quickly distracts Mega Man long enough to flip a switch and trap Mega Man, stealing his weapons and E-Tanks to create the [[WolfPackBoss Petite Robot Masters]]]] .
*** For an example [[OptionalBoss that may or may not happen]], doing a NoDamageRun up through Wily 4 [[spoiler:has the third Chimerabot get [[DiagonalCut slashed]] by [[RecurringBoss Shadow Man]], revealing that [[ActuallyADoombot they were just holograms]]. The new boss [[ThatOneBoss is]] ''[[ThatOneBoss very]]'' [[ThatOneBoss hard]], but the reward for doing so turns every hit into a [[CriticalHit critical one]], making the rest of the game a breeze]].
** ''VideoGame/MakeAGoodMegaManLevelContest'': The second has two:
*** The Tier 7 boss appears to be Advertising/{{Pepsiman}} himself, but suddenly [[VideoGame/MegaMansChristmasCarol the Ghost of Christmas Future]] destroys him for fighting during his shift, and then attacks you for thinking you're mocking him.
*** The first Wily Star II stage boss appears to be [=CWU-01P=] from ''VideoGame/MegaMan1'', but before its health bar even fills up it gets blasted from off screen by the real boss, Mecha Bubble Man.
* ''VideoGame/MetalSlug X'': At the end, you get ready to face off against [[BigBad General Morden]], until the Dai-Manji (a spherical spaceship) appears and blows up the new craft Morden was planning to use, and kidnaps him. Thus begins the real [[SequentialBoss two-part]] FinalBoss battle.
* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters'': In one stage, the player is about to face a guardian who gets shot by Trace, a bounty hunter with a sniper-scope weapon.
** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'': This happens twice. Both times, you face off against an "alpha" version of a wild creature you've already faced before, but then it gets possessed by the Ing. Neither one is very far into the game.
** ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'': Zig-zagged at the end. You get mauled by the big nasty-looking Omega Metroid ''first'', then the SA-X, which you ''thought'' just died shows up... and gets destroyed in one shot (at least giving you the firepower to kill the original enemy).
* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagicVITheMandateOfHeaven'': The final quest is to destroy the reactor in the Kreegan Hive to destroy the hive...which turns out to be surprisingly easy if you have followed the main quest[[note]]the reactor is immune to damage from everything but one specific rare kind of weapon -- but an earlier quest was specifically about gathering enough of that kind of weapon to equip every one of your characters[[/note]], as while the reactor ''is'' a boss, having a somewhat dangerous attack and a fair bit of health and immunities, it's also a reactor -- i.e. stationary. [[spoiler:The ''real'' final boss is the Kreegan Hive Queen backed up by a horde of lesser Kreegan, who you get teleported in front of once you destroy the reactor and have to kill to get out.]]
* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' has three of these: [[spoiler:Boss #5, Letz Shake]], is taken out by [[spoiler:Henry (whom you don't fight until much later). This is played straight, with your character (and probably yourself) left angry and unfulfilled]]. Then, just before the fight with the final boss begins, [[spoiler:the real final boss punches straight through him, and one cutscene later, the real final battle begins]]. Then, after the final boss, you can watch the ending, where [[spoiler:an unnamed assassin kicks down the door while you're...[[ToiletHumor compromised]]. If you meet the requirements for the TrueFinalBoss, and select the 'real ending' option, he will then be chopped in half by the TrueFinalBoss (the aforementioned Henry), starting the fight]].
* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'' has more, numerically speaking. Out of the 51 ranked assassins in the United States, [[spoiler:numbers 49 through 26 are cheerleaders who work with the 25th ranked assassin, [[JerkJock Charlie MacDonald]], to form a HumongousMecha. Assassins ranked 22 through 11 are participating with Travis (ranked 23rd by this point) in a free-for-all battle where they are killed by the tenth ranked assassin, [[PersonOfMassDestruction Dr. Letz Shake]] (ironically, the brain from the machine that Letz Shake used in the last game). Finally, after Henry comes out of a coma thanks to Travis, he goes out and kills the fifth and sixth ranked bosses for Travis off-screen, giving the victories to Travis and sending him pictures of the aftermath; he also chides Travis for being upset about it because the game already has 15 bosses and more would be unreasonable.]] All in all, that's [[spoiler:39]] bosses that the player does not get to fight ([[spoiler:when Henry killed some assassins for Travis, he gave three names, but Travis only went from rank 7 to rank 5, which implies that either one of the bosses worked as a team with another, or attempted to reclaim Travis' current rank like Kimmy Howell beforehand. That or [[WritersCannotDoMath the creators just can't do math]]]]).
* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII'' continues the tradition:
** [[spoiler: Boss #3 Black Night Direction is murdered by Native Dancer, a beam-katana wielding masked ninja cyborg that hails from the future and claims to have a connection with Travis. He's fought instead.]]
** [[spoiler: Boss #4 Vanishing Point is offed by Kimmy Howell, Travis' insane fangirl from ''[[VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle Desperate Struggle]]'' now the freakish lovechild of ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' and ''Creator/ArianaGrande'' and an aspiring raked assassin who fights Travis instead.]]
** [[spoiler: Boss #7 Sniping Lee is blown to bits by Notorious, a masked pro wrestler super hero and WWWWW World Champion. Travis seems to be an admirer of him. Instead, the player ends up fighting a new incarnation of Destroyman, the boss from the original ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'', now a mass produced robot.]]
** [[spoiler: Boss #9 Paradox Bandit is killed by Fu himself. Travis ends up having a rematch with his brother Henry, now seemingly possessed by ''something''.]]
* ''VideoGame/NoStraightRoads'':
** On the leadup to Yinu's battle, you are lead to believe that she's the artist you have to fight to claim the district, and you indeed do so...for about the first third, at which point her frighteningly overprotective mother gets increasingly involved and you have to fight ''her'' instead. Downplayed in that Yinu herself does still contribute throughout the majority of the fight, and gets one last phase at the end all to herself after you defeat her mother.
** Robotic boy band 1010 is set up to be the boss of their district, only for it to quickly become clear that the fight is actually against the band's creator and manager, Neon J. He's the one with a health bar you have to damage to progress the fight, and by the last phase he takes over entirely, with 1010 themselves being reduced to getting used as weapons. Tellingly, after Neon J is introduced, he's treated as the true boss/NSR artist of the district for the rest of the game.
* ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII'':
** Throné's first chapter sets up a DualBoss fight versus [[TheMole Scaracci]] and Diamante at the latter's mansion. Once you get there, though, you find that [[spoiler:Pirro has already killed both of them, and he instead provides the boss fight.]]
** Agnea's final chapter has La'mani show up for a rematch, making it seem like he might be the final boss before Agnea takes the stage at the Festival of Grace. However, [[spoiler:Veronica comes in and knocks him out, with the real final battle being a dance battle [[SeriousBusiness (treated as an actual boss battle)]] with Dolcinaea.]]
* ''VideoGame/OnePieceUnlimitedCruise Episode 2'' plays this pretty straight with the battle against Donquixote Doflamingo. At first, it looks like you're going to fight against Bellamy, the relatively weak and easily dispatched villain from the Jaya arc. All of a sudden, a pink arm rises from the boss container and takes control of Bellamy. This is followed by the rest of Doflamingo's body.
* ''VideoGame/OnePieceUnlimitedWorldRed'' has themed levels based on the locales of major arcs from the show, each of which has that area's ArcVillain as the main antagonist. There are a couple of points, though, where they get replaced at the last minute by someone a bit bigger on ''One Piece'''s Badass Scale.
* ''VideoGame/Persona4'' involves the party fighting Shadow Rise, who makes herself impossible to hit and eventually unleashes a devastating attack when low on health. Then Teddie jumps in taking the damage of the attack for himself. Afterwards, his Shadow Teddie counterpart awakens, initiating the second boss battle.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'': You fought the Elite Four and even Lance appears to set you up as the champion so all is well. Right? Nope! You WOULD have been the champion, but your rival beat you to the punch, so now you have to go beat him to obtain the title!
** ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'': [[spoiler:So, you've defeated the Elite Four and are on your way to challenge the Champion. Not easy by any means, but at least you know what to expect! You heal up your Pokemon and ascend the staircase...wait, what's N doing here? [[YouCantThwartStageOne Oh crap!]] At least you know who the Final Boss is now, though! Wait, ''Ghetsis''?! ''[[TrickBoss Oh crap...!]]'']]
** ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon'' does this a few times.
*** The first is the third trial, where Totem Wishiwashi seems to be assembling itself into its dreaded School Forme (which is what happened in ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon''), [[spoiler: only for Totem Araquanid to go and pull a ''Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo'' and blast all of the Wishiwashi away.]]
*** You beat the Elite Four and sit on the Champion's throne, [[spoiler: you think that the FinalBoss is Kukui (again, like Wishiwashi this was what happened in ''Sun and Moon''). Nope! Hau takes Kukui's place as the final opponent before the player becomes Champion.]]
* Done in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin'' in the TrueFinalBoss ending. If you got all the health upgrades, as you prepare for [[spoiler:a second battle with Kaileena, the Dahaka attacks again, but by this point, you have a weapon that can harm it, so you and Kaileena team up to kill it]]. Earlier in the game, you're about to confront the Crow on an outside ledge, but it just then gets killed by the Dahaka, and yet another EscapeSequence begins.
* In ''VideoGame/ThePunisherCapcom'', Frank Castle and Nick Fury spend the first two stages running after mafia boss Bruno Costa, eventually cornering him and setting up for a not so intimidating boss battle. Suddenly, a laser sweeps away Bruno and his henchmen in a single hit, and a huge robot sent by the Kingpin engages the player instead.
* In ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoTetris'', we are lead to believe that [[spoiler: Ex is the FinalBoss of the game. Nope. That's Tee, and it even happens again in the bonus chapter 10, Tee ends up as the last opponent you play against. Also serves as some clever BookEnds as Tee is the first character you play as in the game. In the final challange of the main story, you are playing as Ringo. The first challange, you are playing as Tee against Ringo.]]
* In ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2016'', [[spoiler:near the end of the game, Nefarious turns Drek into a sheep and sends him to a crash course to the recently constructed "New Quartu". The heroes learn about this later.]]
* ''VideoGame/RocketKnightAdventures'' for Genesis had you finally get into the evil pig space station and lay some smackdown on the Pig Emperor. Except he's a robotic impersonator, and once you beat him, you find out the real boss is an ancient malevolent computer.
* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'': The boss battle against the GiantSpider Araxxor has four phases and as you progress through the fight you move further into the area with each phase. When you reach the final phase and move with Araxxor to the final platform, Araxxor's even nastier mate, Araxxi, drops down and eats Araxxor and takes his places as your opponent.
* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Salamander}} Salamander 2]]'', the sequel to Salamander (known as Life Force in the United States), you encounter the first boss of the first game, [[BrainMonster Brain Golem]], at the end of the first stage. A few seconds later, Golem is gobbled up by a gigantic serpent-like creature. You then end up fighting this giant serpent instead as the boss proper. It is possible to actually destroy Golem for a large sum of points before the serpent kills it, but you need to have acquired a specific weapon type, have enough Options, and be constantly pounding on it.
* ''Shienryu'' aka ''Steel Dragon'' aka ''Geki-Oh'' has this with the FinalBoss, where you first fight the red [[HumongousMecha demon mecha]] from the game's [[SpiritualSuccessor spiritual predecessor]] ''Daioh'', only for it to be destroyed by a WaveMotionGun blast from a [[BulletHell much tougher]] [[RedOniBlueOni blue mecha]].
* ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves'' builds Arpeggio up as the main villain. Then during the final level, [[spoiler:Neyla]] betrays him and takes over as the real BigBad of the game.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}'', Red finally wises up and answers the third guardian's riddle, gaining the last piece of the Flute without having to fight him. However, at that exact moment, Blanck shows up and a boss battle against him ensues.
* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** In ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'', when you reach [[FinalBoss Sky Sanctuary]] with Knuckles, it looks like you're going to fight the Eggrobo yet again, shortly before [[TheDragon Mecha Sonic]] shows up and destroys it (by accident, but still!).
** In ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogTripleTrouble'', after you defeat Metal Sonic in act three of [[EternalEngine Atomic Destroyer Zone]], a sleeping Fang the Sniper awakens and it seems like you're going to fight him one last time, but then he panics and runs away from the true final boss, Dr. Robotnik.
** In ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4'' ''Episode 2'', the first boss seems to be a rehash off the [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Aquatic Ruin Zone boss]], right before a ''giant flower robot serpent thing'' pops out of the background. Seeing as one of the major complaints of the first episode was boss rehashing, [[PlayingWithATrope it's obvious why this happened]].
** In ''VideoGame/SonicColors'', Eggman tries to use mind control to force a fight between Sonic and Tails, but when the device he's using breaks down, he's got a regular boss ready to go.
** 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]]'''''!
* This happens twice with General Scales in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures''.
** The first example is in [=CloudRunner Fortress=], when Fox catches up with Scales in the dungeon's vault; just as the protagonist readies the staff to fight his enemy, Scales tells the [=Sharpclaws=] following him to flee with the [[PlotCoupon second Spellstone]] Fox is looking for. Since Scales knows Fox is looking for it, this buys him time to teleport away, forcing Fox to instead pursue the Sharpclaws (who are driving Speeders to flee, as does Fox) in a WolfpackBoss battle.
** Near the end of the game, you've barely begun fighting General Scales when the real final boss has him give up the Krazoa Spirit (killing Scales when he resists). He doesn't reveal himself until after the last Krazoa Spirit is in place -- [[spoiler:surprise, surprise; [[HijackedByGanon it's Andross]]]].
* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', a group mission features a {{boarding party}} of the players' faction (Galactic Republic or Sith Empire) fighting to reclaim a cruiser from some rogue [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Mandalorians]]. As you approach a group of enemies rallying around a huge war droid, a boarding pod punches through the hull, crushing the Mandalorians and bringing in a boarding party fighting for the other faction. Naturally, you have to fight them.
* ''VideoGame/SteelAssault'' have you confronting a seemingly unarmed Major Harris in a control room with a chasm in the middle. Harris dies in one hit, only for you to find out you just hit a {{hologram}} - cue the ''real'' Harris appearing on the chasm's other side, and sending two gigantic robots to fight you as the boss.
* ''Franchise/StreetFighter'':
** ''Super VideoGame/StreetFighterII Turbo'' normally has you fight M. Bison for the final showdown. But if you've beaten the game without losing a single round, Bison is taken out in one shot by Akuma, [[TrueFinalBoss who becomes your final opponent]]. Also happens in the first ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'', the first ''VideoGame/StreetFighterEX'', and ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII: Second Impact''.
** In ''Alpha 2'', each character has a secret rival who will interrupt one of the scheduled matches if the player fulfills certain conditions.
** Played for laughs in ''Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo'', where after defeating all of the other characters, a pumped up [[JokeCharacter Dan Hibiki]] stands up as the final boss...and then Akuma pops out kicking Dan's ass and making him flee in tears, facing you with a nasty evil grin. For those of you who don't know, Dan is the [[VideoGame/PunchOut Glass Joe]] of the game.
** Also played with in ''Alpha 3''. Sometimes when you fight [[RichBitch Karin]], Sakura's rival, the pre-match animation will show her muscled butler waiting to fight you instead -- then Karin throws a pot at him, he runs off, and she gets ready to fight.
* ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage:'' At the end of Stage 5 in the second game, the boss music immediately starts and replaces the main stage theme (rather than the usual fade out-fade in), and waiting for you is Big Ben (more than one in higher difficulty settings). An earlier incarnation of him in the first game was a boss character, but in the second game he's just an EliteMook that appears as a miniboss half way through stages every now and then (in fact, he even appears earlier in Stage 5 being just that). But the way the boss fight of Stage 5 prepares itself, with Big Ben waiting there, you take a breather thinking it's just a BreatherBoss. [[BigNo You're wrong.]] Further up the stage, hiding out of sight, is R.Bear waiting for you. [[ThatOneBoss Get ready to lose a lot of lives.]]
* ''VideoGame/SuperCyborg'' have a battle against an AllWebbedUp monster called the Captured Bedlaah, stuck in the middle of a massive spider-web. Moments after you kill it, you then fight the Akhamafold Octopod, a GiantSpider far larger and stronger than the Bedlaah, who's royally pissed you exploded ''his lunch''.
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland'', when you get to the boss room in Baby Bowser's castle, it looks as though you are about to confront Kamek, but then Bowser wakes up, complains about the noise, and proceeds to stomp Kamek flat and kick him away. Kamek later shows up all fine just to provide a segue to the second phase of the battle and take Bowser away when he's defeated.
** In ''VideoGame/PaperMario'', has this during the penultimate boss fight at Bowser's Castle, where the last Bowser Door won't allow Mario to pass unless he defeats the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Koopa Bros.]], the bosses of the first Chapter. They claim they've gotten far stronger since their last fight, but don't get a chance to show it; before a fight can even start, [[RecurringBoss Jr. Troopa]], who has been hounding Mario ever since the beginning of the game, charges in and knocks them all aside, demanding one last battle with Mario. This leaves the Bowser Door confused since it's not sure whether to count beating Jr. Troopa as having beaten the Koopa Bros. by proxy, eventually giving up on rationalizing it out of frustration and just letting Mario pass.
** At the end of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', just right before you even get to {{B|igBad}}owser, you see [[OverlordJr Bowser Jr.]] once more, but instead of fighting him, he simply flies away in his spaceship, and as a result you actually end up fighting Bowser directly.
* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsX'': In Scenario 24: The Great Hero, it seems [[Anime/ShinMazinger Count Brocken]] is the boss of the scenario. Suddenly, the Ghostfire V9 shows up and kills Brocken with ease. As it turns out, the Ghostfire V9 is possessed by the soul of a Mycenae Empire soldier. This soul wants Koji dead, resulting in a HopelessBossFight for Koji and the others.
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'': You'll initially just face the usual adversary of Master Hand at the end of Classic Mode. As you increase the intensity level, his unhinged counterpart Crazy Hand will eventually start tagging along, and the duo's HP will increase, which has been the norm since ''Melee''. However, once you hit 5.1 intensity or higher, after you reduce their HP a little, they'll abruptly be replaced by [[EldritchAbomination Master Core]], who bursts out of the former in a rather disturbing manner, while the latter inexplicably disintegrates.
* ''Tiny Barbarian DX'' has a doozy happening at the end of the apparent final level of Episode 4: the titular BarbarianHero enters the ceremonial chamber of the cult leader who kidnapped his damsel, and as you leap towards expecting an epic boss fight, [[spoiler: he immediately gets zapped in mid-air by [[OutsideContextProblem the tractor beam of a spaceship that was stationed there]], and gets whisked away. The damsel is so understandably frustrated by this that [[DamselOutOfDistress she breaks away from and decks her captor, then walks away]], setting up a TimeSkip for the next level]].
* In Chapter 5 of ''VideoGame/TokyoXanadu'', the Abyss Hound, an Elder Greed that Kou and Mitsuki defeated earlier, appears in a later dungeon, guarding a cage that Asuka is locked in. However, a different Greed, the Chaos Raven, suddenly descends from the sky and destroys the Abyss Hound before going up against the party.
* In ''VideoGame/TouhouShinpirokuUrbanLegendInLimbo'''s [=PS4=] version, it looks like the final boss of Reisen's Story Mode is [[spoiler:the main character, Reimu Hakurei. But then, all of a sudden, Reimu mysteriously vanishes and is replaced by Fujiwara no Moukou. This turns out to be a SequelHook to ''VideoGame/TouhouHyouibanaAntinomyOfCommonFlowers''.]]
* ''VideoGame/TowerOfTheSorcerer'': The boss of the undead zone is just a ring of big bats! Sure, there are eight of them, but by that point they'll probably go down in one hit each, before they even get a chance to strike back. And then, when you confidently step forward, a cutscene merges them all into a monstrously powerful vampire that will probably end you if you haven't collected every power-up the zone has to offer (including a hidden one).
* The entire plot of ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'' builds up to a final confrontation against Thorne, the 12-foot-tall BigBad Super-Virus...and when you finally get to his inner sanctum, [[spoiler:you see him being unceremoniously killed by the regular-sized ICP Kernel (the leader of the game's {{Mook|s}} cops), who out of nowhere decides to fight you too while he's at it]]. The rest of the game is also a case of a HalfwayPlotSwitch, as the last several levels has you chasing after greedy corporate hackers after an entire game of battling TheVirus.
* The final boss of ''[[VideoGame/CrudeBuster Two Crude Dudes]]'' was the evil scientist who'd unleashed all those hideous mutants upon post-apocalyptic New York. He's hilariously easy to beat the crap out of and throw around like a ragdoll...until he suddenly mutates into [[OneWingedAngel a gigantic asskicking monstrosity]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Ultrakill}}'': For a little while, you get to fight [[spoiler:the initial boss of [[BrutalBonusLevel P-2]], the Flesh Panopticon]]. However, after depleting only a quarter of its health, [[spoiler:Sisyphus Prime breaks out of it on his own and challenges you to a battle]].
* The final stage of ''VideoGame/UltraXWeapons'' have you fighting Fire-Draco (a one-shot monster from ''Series/UltramanEighty''), and after you win... you're attacked by the ''real'' FinalBoss, the iconic ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' monster Zetton (who's the series' most powerful kaiju at that point of the franchise).
* In ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'', Ashley interrupts a scene where [[spoiler:[[SmugSnake Rosencrantz]] is beating up [[AntiVillain Sydney]], demanding that Sydney teaches him mastery of the dark and berating him for choosing Ashley as his 'apprentice.' It looks like he's going to be the next boss fight...but then Sydney tricks him into discarding his weapon, and uses his dark magic to animate a statue sat against the wall, which crushes Rosencrantz with a giant sword. You end up fighting the statue instead]].
* ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe 2'' ends a later stage with yet another appearance by the RecurringBoss, [[GoldfishPoopGang Big John]], this time in a crappy CharlieBrownFromOuttaTown Creator/BruceLee disguise, Big Lee. His conversation with the heroes lasts for a good half-minute before he is taken down and replaced by the NobleDemon [[TheRival Rival]] Alastor from the first game. Oh, and did we mention that almost the exact thing happens in the next level, this time without even the excuse of being a different character? Almost immediately, the real boss, Frost Tiger, shows up, and [[KilledMidSentence cuts him down without a second thought before Big John is finished yammering]]. Unlike him, Frost Tiger has a hardcore attitude and is ''[[ThatOneBoss incredibly hard]]'' to defeat.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'': When you reach the Jackal's boss room and press the button that says "deploy Jackal", a lift rises from the floor, complete with warning lights...and reveals a small, kind of cute [[https://warframe.fandom.com/wiki/Test_MOA Test MOA.]] Then the ''actual'' Jackal, which is quite a bit bigger and way more menacing, drops from the ceiling, annihilating the poor MOA. It's even [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by your VoiceWithAnInternetConnection, the Lotus:
--> '''The Lotus:''' "I expected it to be...bigger."
* ''VideoGame/WildArms1'': The Gate Generator sets you up to fight [[MinionWithAnFInEvil Zed]] at the very end. Then [[EvilOverlord Zeikfried]] shows up, orders him to stand down so you have to fight him instead.
* ''VideoGame/WinBack'': First, Cecile, TheDragon, [[TheStarscream pulls a Starscream]] and kills the BigBad, Kenneth. Then Dan, TheMole and TheManBehindTheMan, shows up and shoots Cecile in revenge for his brother. Then you fight Dan as the apparently FinalBoss, but after you defeat him, it turns out that Cecile is NotQuiteDead, although he's an AntiClimaxBoss if you figure out how to get past the [[LaserHallway laser fences]].
* Happens in chapter 10 of ''VideoGame/TheWitchAndTheHundredKnight'' whereby in the Old City Ruins, Hundred Knight encounters a giant spider which for some unknown reason died on its own after a while. When the Hundred Knight tries to leave the area, a giant half-golem will serve as the actual boss fight.
* ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' tries to set you up expecting a rematch with [[spoiler:a [[BackFromTheDead back-to-the-undead Minamimoto]] -- which, judging by an [[HopelessBossFight earlier encounter]], would be undesirable. It turns out that someone knocks him out first, and when your partners start celebrating, Neku points out that someone capable of that is their next opponent and that they shouldn't get too comfortable]].
** Similarly, in the sequel ''VideoGame/NeoTheWorldEndsWithYou'', Shoka is set up as the boss of Week 2, Day 6, with the mission being to erase her and the majority of the day revolving around figuring out how to save Motoi from Shoka [[CurbStompBattle wiping the floor with him]]. [[spoiler:You end up fighting Motoi instead, after you find out how much of a ManipulativeBastard he is.]]
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'':
** In ''The Burning Crusade'', the apparent final boss of the Arcatraz dungeon is an insane blood elf who hides in a magical bubble and releases three random minibosses (and an obnoxious but allied gnome) from the cells around him. After defeating them, the "real" final boss, a SealedEvilInACan (a MindRape insect mage) (and presumably the reason the elf was crazy, given all that babbling about a "master"), is released; he kills the crazy elf rather swiftly, then moves on to you.
** The Trial of the Crusader raid has another, rather sad one. A gnome warlock named Wilfred Fizzlebang, rather confident about his abilities and his supposed immense power. He intends to summon a Doomguard (a rather powerful demon, but not ridiculously powerful, however). Instead, he accidentally summons Jaraxxus, Eredar Lord of the Burning Legion, and proceeds to attempt to convince Jaraxxus (who is about 20 times bigger than him) that HE, the gnome, is in charge here. Needless to say, [[EvilIsNotAToy he gets swiftly killed by Jaraxxus]], who then proceeds to blast away at the players.
*** This also applies to Jaraxxus when he appears as a card in ''VideoGame/HearthstoneHeroesOfWarcraft''. Once he is played, he replaces the hero who played him, which comes with advantages (he gets to summon powerful demons once per turn) and disadvantages (he starts with 15 health instead of the normal 30).
** In the ''Cataclysm'' expansion, there's another example of this in the Stonecore. The very first pull in the instance has you fight Milhouse Manastorm (incidentally the same gnome as in the Burning Crusade example above), who fights until he's at half health and runs to the next trash pull. Finally, you have him and his group of adds cornered, and he's channeling a powerful spell. But as soon as you engage him, a giant gyreworm named Corborus bursts out of nowhere, knocking the gnome and his group far away, never to be seen again. You fight the worm (who puts up a decent fight, especially on Heroic mode).
* In ''Anime/YuGiOh Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel'':
** Sometimes a nearby duelist with a story connection to the person you challenge will make your opponent go away and you'll have to fight them instead. An example would be Marik and Bakura or Mokuba and Seto Kaiba. You could try to challenge Bakura, but then Marik shows up out of nowhere and drives him away with possibly the worst excuse ever to trick someone with this line: "[[NotEvenBotheringWithAnExcuse If I recall correctly, there is something you need to take care of right away...you don't have the luxury of wasting any time here, correct.]]" This works and you face Marik.
** Every now and then, a Rare Hunter will show up to give an in-story example, and will replace any character.
** Any character that has an alternate ("Yami") form can do this to themselves. Yami Yugi and Yami Bakura are their default forms, but can switch out with Regular Yugi or Bakura. Marik can switch out with Yami Bakura, who is a lot more aggressive. These examples have minimal consequence, though, as they use the same decks.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Zuma}} Zuma's Revenge]]'' has the final boss, Zhaka Mu. After putting out the four torches, the mysterious cloaked figure reveals themselves to be a chicken-themed boss monster with an ''enormous'' health bar. [[spoiler:He goes down in one hit, and the credits roll, at which point it turns out he was really Zhaka Mu's chef, Drumstick Willie. Cue the ''real'' Zhaka Mu's entrance, and the toughest boss battle in the game. Funnily enough, on repeat play throughs, Willie doesn’t even try to hide the secret and after being hit, just tells you to enjoy the fake credits.]]

* In ''Manga/{{Gamaran}}'':
** At the beginning of the second part of the tournament, it seems that Gama's gonna fight the [[EpicFlail Kanasemanji School leader]] [[BaldOfEvil Muraku Matsumoto]], but then he decides to step back and let Gama fight with Saizou Fujibayashi, leader of the Tamagakushi Ninja School. In a slight subversion, Muraku is actually much more dangerous than Saizou, all things considered.
** During the later Muraku arc, Gama is protecting his wounded comrades against an assault corps of the Muhou Ryuu, and their leader prepares to enter the fray. However, he's killed by Muraku before he can even reach the battlefield, and the delayed duel between Muraku and Gama takes place.
** During the final arc, it seems that Gama has to defeat Jinsuke's strongest warrior Shungaku...but instead has to fight his disciple, [[spoiler: Eima Yakushiji]]. Again, the "bait" boss was arguably stronger.
** Zenmaru's final duel in the series is seemingly an [[HopelessBossFight hopeless]] DualBoss agaisnt his own AloofBigBrother Kai and his former, strongest senpai Mario Kujo. [[spoiler: However, Kujo turns out to be a traitor, Kai is actually honorable and both brothers end up fighting Mario, one after the other.]]
* ''Franchise/DragonBall'':
** In the [[Manga/DragonBall original series]], for the past 30 or so episodes of the Red Ribbon Army arc, the ultimate antagonist has been built up as Commander Red. Then when Goku begins raiding the Army HQ, Red reveals that he's been gathering the Dragon Balls for the sole purpose of making himself taller rather than world conquest. [[DisappointedByTheMotive Disgusted that their leader wasted everyone's lives and resources over such a meager pursuit]], [[TheDragon 2nd-in-command]] Adviser Black [[TheStarscream shoots Red dead]] just minutes before Goku arrives, leaving the final showdown to occur between the two of them instead.
** In ''Anime/DragonBallZ'', the Androids arc starts off with Android 19 and 20 (a.k.a. Gero) as starter antagonists, then 17 and 18 before finally ending to Cell as the Big Bad for the remainder of the arc.
** The entire Future Trunks Saga of ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' is built around defeating Goku Black and saving Future Trunks' world. In the end, the Final Boss ended up being [[spoiler:Merged Zamasu, the fusing of Future Zamasu and Goku Black]].

* ''Anime/KillLaKill'' sets up [[MasterSwordsman Uzu Sanageyama]] as the final opponent in the Naturals Election arc. When Ryuko steps up to fight him, however, [[spoiler:[[HumanoidAbomination Nui Harime]] drops from the sky, effortlessly destroys Sanageyama's uniform with her pinky finger, and sets herself up as the true opponent]].

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', everyone is originally led to believe that Franky is the main antagonist of the Water Seven arc, but then the WhamEpisode comes showing that [=CP9=] is the real enemy here. Franky, meanwhile, undergoes a FireForgedFriends experience and ends up joining the Straw Hats.
* In one of the bigger [[WhamEpisode Wham Episodes]] of ''Anime/HugttoPrettyCure'', it looks as if the Cures are about to fight the haughty Daigan, however, he is suddenly attacked and incapacitated by another debuting villain, Dr. Traum. Traum then does some upgrades to the MonsterOfTheWeek Daigan had summoned and has that attack the Cures. [[spoiler:Eventually, the Cures get a proper fight with Daigan in the HalloweenEpisode, so it’s no big deal.]]
* To stop a camp of orcs raiding nearby farming villages, Shibata Genzo of ''Manga/KemonoMichi'' strides right in and challenges their leader to a fight. A menacing orc with an eyepatch answers his challenge, and is promptly knocked aside by an even ''bigger'' orc.
* During the Magic Academy Arc of ''LightNovel/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'', Rudeus becomes the boss of two delinquent Beast girls Lynia and Pursena. This means trouble for Rudeus because when mating season for the Beast Races begins, dozens of potential suitors flock from all over the world to challenge him for the right to court the girls. Rudeus manages to defeat one suitor with ease, but decides to dodge all the others. When Rudeus believes they have cornered him at the library did he decide to finally face them all, only to learn someone else already took care of them for him: Demon Lord Badigadi, who ''also'' came to the academy to fight Rudeus, but for different reasons entirely.

* In ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'', Thor spends some time fighting one of the three-thousand-foot-tall Celestials, Arishem the Judge, who threatens a planet Thor was on. Just after he finally gets Arishem's attention, Exitar the Exterminator, the even larger Celestial whose job it was to actually wipe out the dominant species on the planet (Arishem, per his name, only judged whether they should be wiped out), shows up.

* The first issue of ''ComicBook/RatQueens'' sees the Queens sent to clear out a goblin den. Then they're ambushed by an assassin, but as they square off he's squished by a thirty-foot-tall troll. The real boss fight ensues.

* Chapter 10 of ''FanFic/SonicGenerationsFriendshipIsTimeless'' makes you think that VideoGame/{{Sonic|The Hedgehog}} will be battling [[TheRival Shadow]] like [[VideoGame/SonicGenerations in the original game]], [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere but then]] [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Queen Chrysalis]] [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere and her army of changelings show up]]...
** Shadow having a question mark next to his name in the chapter title is kind of a hint to this.
* During the Invictus Arc of ''Fanfic/TheLastDaughter'', the [[Literature/{{Worm}} Simurgh]] tricks the Protectorate into thinking that it will attack Paris. As [[DisasterDominoes the]] [[MindRape nature]] of the Simurgh thins out the ranks considerably for Endbringer fights, the defenders are even less prepared than usual when ''[[TheJuggernaut Behemoth]]'' appears instead.

* Chapter 16B of ''Digimon Re: Tamers'' within ''Fanfic/CitadelOfTheHeart'', fittingly titled "Bait and Switch", reveals that [[spoiler:Brondramon as shown in Chapter 16 was not even real, nor was the damages it caused to the city; it was all a simulation ran by Jiang-yu on Grandis after the latter had been brought to him by Henry and Ryo, in circumstances that oddly match the description of Chapter 16's ending. It's quickly realized by Grandis that Enigma, the StarterVillain of the fic thus far, has always been the true threat from the beginning, because now it's been witnessed that [[YourMindMakesItReal Enigma's power]] is so immense that it can cause {{Reality Breaking Paradox}}es to occur by so much as being able to sense Enigma's presence nearby. As a result, everyone just ''barely'' avoided having Brondramon show up for real, and Enigma has now made itself Public Enemy #1 assuming it wasn't already this.]]
* ''Fanfic/MissingMiraculousLadybug'': Hawkmoth sends out an akumatizing butterfly targeting [[spoiler:the heartbroken Nino]], intending to exploit their outrage over a [[InternalReveal painful revelation]] that left them feeling betrayed. However, his intended target manages to talk it out and calm down before the butterfly can reach them. Unfortunately, there's ''another'' person nearby grabbling with their own emotional turmoil: [[spoiler:Alya, who's just gotten framed for [[WoundedGazelleGambit 'attacking' Lila]] and suspended]].
* ''Fanfic/MarriageOfHeavenAndHell'' begins to set up [[LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD the Rating Game with Riser Phenex]] in Volume 2. However, this time around, he declines because his sister, Ravel, had been kidnapped and the EngagementChallenge is instead to find and rescue her.

* The ''Series/LawAndOrder'' series has done this on several occasions; of course, it's easy to see coming when they manage to try and convict a person [[SpoiledByTheFormat in the first half hour]].
** In the season 5 finale of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', a male urophiliac potty-peeper who installs hidden cameras in ladies' bathrooms is quickly and easily apprehended by police. With an overwhelming pile of evidence incriminating him, he folds quickly, about a quarter of the way into the episode's length -- but not before offering up video footage of what turns out to be a ''far more disturbing'' crime, which becomes the ''actual'' plot of the episode.
** Some of {{the teaser}}s do this. In one example, the episode begins with a pretty young woman walking into her apartment building late at night. It's completely empty, and after she presses the button for the elevator, we see a young man staring at her from the shadows. The music plays ominously as he slowly approaches her...at which point the young woman turns around and cheerfully greets him. It turns out the two are neighbors who live in the same building! They even joke about his scaring her -- and that's when the elevator doors open to reveal a bloody body at the bottom of the shaft.

* This is what happens to [[SpacePirates the Raiders]], who were the DiscOneFinalBoss on ''Series/BabylonFive''. They're last seen on board their mothership, gloating about how between the ancient relic they've captured and the Centauri nobleman they're about to ransom, they're going to get enough money to buy a whole fleet of warships, rendering their losses in previous episodes inconsequential — and then a {{S|caryDogmaticAliens}}hadow warship drops out of hyperspace and vaporizes them with downright contemptuous ease.

* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' does this in Season 4. After dealing with the DiscOneFinalBoss, the season seems to be setting up [[AIIsACrapshoot Aida]] as its new BigBad. [[spoiler:Then it turns out that she was still loyally serving her creator, [[MadScientist Dr. Radcliffe]], who has been driven insane by the [[TomeOfEldritchLore Darkhold]].]]
** [[spoiler: And then [[GrewBeyondTheirProgramming Aida betrayed Radcliffe]] and went on to become the fourth season's final BigBad.]]
* ''Series/PersonOfInterest'''s first season finale has Alicia Corwin hunt down Finch and confront him, but before she can do anything she's shot dead by a recurring villain who proceeds to kidnap Finch.
* ''Series/OnceUponATimeInWonderland'': Episode 6 sees Alice walk into a brightly lit grove while trying to walk through the Black Forest. There she meets the creepily smiling Carpenter, who more literate fans will recognize as an unsavory type from "The Walrus and the Carpenter"... only for Alice to start forgetting everything and getting all... "mimsy" because of the Boro Grove, which is the real trouble of the episode.
* ''Franchise/SuperSentai''
** The penultimate episode of ''Series/NinpuuSentaiHurricaneger'' sees Tau Zant assume his [[OneWingedAngel Ultimate Form]], setting up a fight between him and the Hurricanegers. [[spoiler:Just as Tau Zant begins the final stage of his evil plan however, he's betrayed and killed by [[TheStarscream Sandaaru]], who promptly moves to finish off the Hurricanegers and their allies. Tau Zant does get a chance to fight the Hurricanegers in the finale when he's brought back by the Evil Will and becomes the FinalBoss.]]

* Generalissimo Killt is setup as the BigBad of ''VideoGame/BionicCommando Rearmed''. When you meet him, he is immediately backstabbed by the newly-resurrected [[strike:Hitler]] "[[NoSwastikas Leader]]".

* At the end of 1-3 in ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'', you find a typical Fat Minister, the likes of which you've been fighting as regular enemies before. At first, it looks like he would be the boss, but suddenly he gets stabbed from behind and thrown out by the real boss, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast The Penetrator]].

* Near the end of ''VideoGame/DiabloIII''[='=]s Act IV, one of the "boss preview/warning" of sorts shows what seems to be [[spoiler:Imperius]] as the next boss, with earlier scenes highlighting a conflict between him and the Nephalem. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:Diablo reaches the Crystal Arch at about this time and begins extinguishing it, neutralizing every angel in the High Heavens and nipping this impending fight in the bud, meaning that Diablo becomes your final opponent]].
** The previous game provides an inversion of the usual trope. Act II of ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}} II'' plays up Baal as possibly being the final boss of the act, but instead you face the [[AllThereInTheManual Lesser Evil]] named Duriel (who is still a ''very'' tough boss, mind). Baal himself isn't confronted until the expansion.

* Double Subverted by [[spoiler:Father Ariandel]] in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' [[spoiler:in the ''Ashes of Ariandel'' expansion]]. It seems like [[spoiler:Ariandel]] would be the boss when you step into his room, but then [[spoiler:[[BigBad Sister Friede]], the true villain]], comes down to fight you. But once you kill [[spoiler:her, Ariandel]] breaks his bonds, [[spoiler:[[DualBoss revives]] Friede]], and fights you. [[spoiler:And then he dies, leaving Friede to take the fight to a third round.]]

* One of the first quests you can encounter in ''Videogame/{{Fallout 4}}'' involves acquiring a suit of PoweredArmor and a [[MoreDakka minigun]] then using them to drive off some raiders that are besieging some refugees in an abandoned museum. Shortly after you acquire your new toys, a monstrous deathclaw appears and slaughters any of the raiders you haven't killed yet, and you must defeat it to advance the quest.

* Early on in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', Squall and company run into [[GoldfishPoopGang Biggs and Wedge]] atop the Dollet Communication Tower. After depleting their health (a simple feat — they're only slightly better than normal Galbadian Soldiers and Elites), they get sucked up in a tornado as [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere Elvo]][[DegradedBoss ret]] gets annoyed at all the racket.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' continues the trend with [[EvilIsSexy Jihl]], although many agree that [[AssholeVictim she deserved it]] after some [[KickTheDog less than meritorious behavior]].

* ''VideoGame/FurFighters'' has a rather humorous example. In the Space Station Meer, you bump into a [[Franchise/{{Alien}} Xenomorph]], but before the fight starts, [[AcceptableTargets a stereotypical lawyer]] barges in, claiming to represent 31st Century Films, and begins berating the game for breaking 35 different copyrights. The player character argues back, so the lawyer draws a gun and begins shooting at them.

* And in ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheBoshi'', you beat [[Franchise/{{Kirby}} King Dedede]] at a Simon-like minigame and he grows bigger, apparently ready for round two. Suddenly, Meta Knight appears slicing Dedede in two and lunging at you...and before the fight can start, he is taken out by a [[Franchise/StreetFighter Hadouken]] from offscreen, heralding a boss fight against Ryu.

* In ''WesternAnimation/WolverineAndTheXMen2009'', a little mutant girl is released from a stasis box by Juggernaut. The first (apart from the manner of keeping her in stasis) way of demonstrating her powers? She flings said [[TheJuggernaut Totally Unstoppable Juggernaut]] a few miles away, knocking him out completely.

* In ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'', Aggregor is the BigBad for most of the first season, and later, [[spoiler:he's within inches of acquiring PhysicalGod levels of power when a desperate Kevin powers up directly from the Ultimatrix and beats him to a pulp -- but thanks to how Kevin's powers work, suffers from [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity great insanity]] in the process, becoming a villain again ''and'' BigBad to boot.]]
* [[spoiler:Doctor Frankenwagon and his Monster]] from ''[[WesternAnimation/PixarShorts Monster Truck Mater]]''.
* Creator/GregWeisman seems to be becoming fond of these. In addition to the ''WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' examples above, the second season of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' builds up [[LegionOfDoom the Light]] and [[ScaryDogmaticAliens the Reach]] as a BigBadDuumvirate, with the former led (more-or-less) by ComicBook/VandalSavage and the latter by [[ManipulativeBastard the Reach Ambassador]]. As of the season's penultimate episode, the Light [[spoiler:has suffered a major setback, with many of its members captured, incapacitated, or forced to [[VillainExitStageLeft withdraw from the field]]]], and after a string of failures results in the Ambassador having a VillainousBreakdown [[spoiler:[[TheDragon Black Beetle]] forcibly removes him from command, takes over as head of the Reach invasion force, and decides to destroy the Earth, cementing him as the final villain for the season]].
* In the Netflix animated series ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'', during a trip to the marshlands of Florida, our heroes [[MacGuffin questing for an important stone]] run afoul of a bad Troll known as the Fake-King Blungo. Despite what the flow of the episode seems to dictate, this fake king sticks around just long enough to non-lethally antagonize one of our heroes for a bit, before quickly and unceremoniously getting [[AlwaysABiggerFish petrified by the much more menacing and pertinent threat of Angor Rot]] and his poisoned dagger. He takes over as the main threat for the remainder of the episode.
* One ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode, "[[Recap/SpongebobSquarepantsS2E19JellyfishHunterTheFryCookGames The Fry Cook Games]]", has Plankton call in the Chum Bucket's contestant. In walks an absolutely enormous individual...who's carrying the real contestant, Patrick, on his back.
* Throughout the first season and most of the second season, the main recurring threat in ''WesternAnimation/StretchArmstrongAndTheFlexFighters'' is Stretch Monster/[[spoiler:Jonathan Rook]], who keeps the heroes in their toes. During the last four episodes of the series, [[spoiler: the Tech Men take over Rook Unlimited and its resources to enact their EvilPlan, with Rook's head of security, Malcolm Kane, being revealed as their leader]].
* Throughout the final season of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', it was looking like things were building up to Twilight and her friends taking on Grogar as the final antagonist of the series. [[spoiler:Then, in the finale, Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow double-cross Grogar and use the Bewitching Bell to steal his magic...revealing that he had actually been Discord in disguise, who had actually been setting up the villains for Twilight to defeat so that she could gain the confidence needed to rule Equestria. As a result, this meant that the villainous trio were the true final threat of the series]].

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' continues the trend with [[EvilIsSexy Jihl]], although many agree that [[AssholeVictim she]] [[KickTheSonOfABitch deserved it]] after some [[KickTheDog less than meritorious behavior]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/StreetFighter'' [[WebAnimation/YoutubePoop Youtube Poop]] ''Leet Fighters'', [[WebAnimation/TheFrolloShow a spinoff to the Frollo Show]], while Guile and M. Bison were in Hell during the episode "Daring Death", they accidentally free Hans Frollo from a prison cell. Hans then breaks open the cell next to him before escaping. That prisoner that was broke free was [[Manga/LuckyStar Konata]] who was killed and eaten on a pizza by Guile and Bison in the first episode. She rants about getting revenge on them and starts powering up...[[spoiler: only for [[UsefulNotes/McDonalds Ronald McDonald]] to arrive behind her and snap her neck, and then ''he'' starts to transform.]] Fortunately, Guile and Bison [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere abandon ship]] and escape through Hell via [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Gaston]]'s spring. In the next episode, Konata peeks through a window of the Leet Fighters' apartment, still wanting payback. [[spoiler:She's quickly taken out again -- albeit accidentally -- this time by Mormon Jesus, who is then swept aside by T. Hawk. Luckily, he's friendly.]]

* ''VideoGame/OctopathTravelerII'': Throné's first chapter sets up a DualBoss fight versus [[TheMole Scaracci]] and Diamante at the latter's mansion. Once you get there, though, you find that [[spoiler:Pirro has already killed both of them, and he instead provides the boss fight.]]

* ''VideoGame/MetalSlug2X'': At the end, you get ready to face off against [[BigBad General Morden]], until the Dai-Manji (a spherical spaceship) appears and blows up the new craft Morden was planning to use, and kidnaps him. Thus begins the real [[SequentialBoss two-part]] FinalBoss battle.

* ''VideoGame/NeoTheWorldEndsWithYou'': Shoka is set up as the boss of Week 2, Day 6, with the mission being to erase her and the majority of the day revolving around figuring out how to save Motoi from Shoka [[CurbStompBattle wiping the floor with him]]. [[spoiler:You end up fighting Motoi instead, after you find out how much of a ManipulativeBastard he is.]]

* ''VideoGame/OnePieceUnlimitedWorldRed'' has themed levels based on the locales of major arcs from the show, each of which has that area's ArcVillain as the main antagonist. There are a couple of points, though, where they get replaced at the last minute by someone a bit bigger on One Piece's Badass Scale.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' has this during the penultimate boss fight at Bowser's Castle, where the last Bowser Door won't allow Mario to pass unless he defeats the Koopa Bros., the bosses of the first Chapter. They claim they've gotten far stronger since their last fight, but don't get a chance to show it; before a fight can even start, Jr. Troopa, who has been hounding Mario ever since the beginning of the game, charges in and knocks them all aside, demanding one last battle with Mario. This leaves the Bowser Door confused since it's not sure whether to count beating Jr. Troopa as having beaten the Koopa Bros. by proxy, eventually giving up on rationalizing it out of frustration and just letting Mario pass.

** In ''VideoGame/PaperMario'', what you expect to be a rematch against the [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Koopa Bros.]] is interrupted when all four of them get knocked out by RecurringBoss Jr. Troopa, who demands one last fight from you.

* During the Magic Academy Arc of ''LightNovel/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'', Rufeus becomes the boss of two delinquent Beast girls Lynia and Pursena. This means trouble for Rudeus because when mating season for the Beast Races begins, dozens of potential suitors flock from all over the world to challenge him for the right to court the girls. Rudeus manages to defeat one suitor with ease, but decides to dodge all the others. When Rudeus believes they have cornered him at the library did he decide to finally face them all, only to learn someone else already took care of them for him: Demon Lord Badigadi, who ''also'' came to the academy to fight Rudeus, but for different reasons entirely.

** Also seen in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' in Ephraim's version of Chapter 10, after [[spoiler:Duessel defects]]. In the chapter preparation screen, it looks like you'll be facing against one of Grado's top generals, Selena...only for her to be replaced on the first turn by a much weaker boss named Beran. You do later face her for real, though, and she's ThatOneBoss at that.

The real boss could be a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere. It could also be TheManBehindTheMan, but it isn't a requirement that the real boss is in any way the real leader or in greater authority, aside from his [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking presumed rank]]. If the new boss is a familiar face, then the story just got HijackedByGanon. If the bait boss isn't killed upon being replaced, you might end up fighting them for real later on.

** The second ''VideoGame/MakeAGoodMegaManLevelContest'' has two:

* At the end of ''VideoGame/MetalSlug 2/X'', you get ready to face off against [[BigBad General Morden]], until the Dai-Manji (a spherical spaceship) appears and blows up the new craft Morden was planning to use, and kidnaps him. Thus begins the real [[SequentialBoss two-part]] FinalBoss battle.

** This happens twice in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes''. Both times, you face off against an "alpha" version of a wild creature you've already faced before, but then it gets possessed by the Ing. Neither one is very far into the game.
** Zig-zagged at the end of ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion''. You get mauled by the big nasty-looking Omega Metroid ''first'', then the SA-X, which you ''thought'' just died shows up...and gets destroyed in one shot (at least giving you the firepower to kill the original enemy).
* The final quest in ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VI'' is to destroy the reactor in the Kreegan Hive to destroy the hive...which turns out to be surprisingly easy if you have followed the main quest[[note]]the reactor is immune to damage from everything but one specific rare kind of weapon -- but an earlier quest was specifically about gathering enough of that kind of weapon to equip every one of your characters[[/note]], as while the reactor ''is'' a boss, having a somewhat dangerous attack and a fair bit of health and immunities, it's also a reactor -- i.e. stationary. [[spoiler:The ''real'' final boss is the Kreegan Hive Queen backed up by a horde of lesser Kreegan, who you get teleported in front of once you destroy the reactor and have to kill to get out.]]
* In ''VideoGame/NeoTheWorldEndsWithYou'', Shoka is set up as the boss of Week 2, Day 6, with the mission being to erase her and the majority of the day revolving around figuring out how to save Motoi from Shoka [[CurbStompBattle wiping the floor with him]]. [[spoiler:You end up fighting Motoi instead, after you find out how much of a ManipulativeBastard he is.]]

** There's a {{Bonus|Boss}} PuzzleBoss called the Guy Made of Bees. His opening line is "We are Bees. We hate you." There's also a [[ChallengeRun special challenge path]] called Bees Hate You. Curiously, the Guy Made of Bees doesn't appear in his usual location during a Bees Hate You run. Given the page you're on, you've probably guessed that [[spoiler:he takes out the final, sausage-y form of the [[FinalBoss Naughty Sorceress]], [[TrueFinalBoss and you have to fight him instead]]]].

** In ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'', near the end of [[spoiler:Guest Star ????, the player defeats Hyness and [[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Galacta Knight]] appears out of a black hole. Instead of fighting him, his [[BossSubtitles introduction screen]] is immediately followed by a cutscene. The cutscene has a butterfly land on Galacta Knight's lance, and then the butterfly defeats Galacta Knight, absorbs his power and forms [[BonusBoss Morpho Knight]].]]

*** For an example [[BonusBoss that may or may not happen]], doing a NoDamageRun up through Wily 4 [[spoiler:has the third Chimerabot get [[DiagonalCut slashed]] by [[RecurringBoss Shadow Man]], revealing that [[ActuallyADoombot they were just holograms]]. The new boss [[ThatOneBoss is]] ''[[ThatOneBoss very]]'' [[ThatOneBoss hard]], but the reward for doing so turns every hit into a [[CriticalHit critical one]], making the rest of the game a breeze]].

** [[spoiler: Boss #7 Sniper Lee is blown to bits by Notorious, a masked pro wrestler super hero and WWWWW World Champion. Travis seems to be an admirer of him. Instead, the player ends up fighting a new incarnation of Destroyman, the boss from the original ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'', now a mass produced robot.]]