History Main / CutsceneBoss

Compare CoupDeGraceCutscene, where the BossBattle itself was fully interactive, but a cutscene is used to depict the killing blow. See also TheUnfought.

* At the end of the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' clone ''VideoGame/ElViento'', the final boss is neither Bishop Henry, leader of the evil cult, nor [[EldritchAbomination Hastur]], the elder god they were trying to summon. Instead, once you kill the witch the cult was intending to sacrifice to summon Hastur, the cult's plans are foiled and Henry is shown led away in chains.

* In the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version of ''VideoGame/LegoStarWars: The Complete Saga'', there's a particularly bad example. When you complete the first level of ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'', it rushes through the scenes on Greivous' ship and shows a ''very'' short scene where Count Dooku dies. It's just the beheading. That's all.

* ''Final Zone II'''s BigBad, Ruman, is executed by Bowie in the [[AWinnerIsYou underwhelmingly short ending cutscene]].

** [[DiscOneFinalBoss Al-Asad]] in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 1'' is brutally interrogated before being shot. In the finale, you are immobilized by an explosion, watch helplessly as your squad mates die, get a GunshipRescue, and then Captain Price slides you a pistol and you gun down Zakhaev.
** [[spoiler: General Shepherd]] from ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'', stabs [[PlayerCharacter Soap]] in the chest and then gives Price a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. You watch this happen, and then (slowly and agonizingly) [[LodgedBladeRecycling pull the blade out of your chest]], and throw it into his eye.
** In ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 3'', Makarov is beaten, smashed through a glass ceiling, and is hanged.

* The 2008 reboot of ''VideoGame/{{Turok}}'' at least handled this in a semi-original way that actually managed to be reasonably organic. The final fight with the BigBad is a QTE knife-fight (similar to the one from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' against Krauser), but failing a QTE doesn't kill you instantly, it just changes the fight slightly so that the flow of the fight goes against you instead of for you. The fight lasts several [=QTEs=], and varies quite a bit depending of which [=QTEs=] you win and which ones you lose.

* The final fight in ''VideoGame/Uncharted3DrakesDeception'' is an interesting example, as it's primarily a series of quick-time-event mini-cutscenes, but they're context-sensitive and mixed into a normal gameplay fistfight (basically every 2 or 3 punches triggers a [=QTE=] cutscene). It's like they took the final fight from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'' and made it even more [=QTE=] heavy.

** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' has a surprising aversion - if you catch up to [=DeFalco=] in the mission "Karma" before he escapes, you get to blast him in a straight-up firefight. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Naturally, he has as much health as a common mook]]. Played straight with BigBad Raul Menendez, though, who you knock down in the final interactable sequence in the game after sliding down rubble and kill his allies in the room--including [=DeFalco=] if he survived up to this point--and then you're given the option to kill or arrest him. There were also earlier encounters with Menendez which are totally uninteractable, further playing it straight.

* Subverted at the start of ''VideoGame/Stinkoman20X6''. Stinkoman destroys Tampo's body, but Tampo's brain is an actual boss fight.

* In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 3'', there's Neves (the leader of Crachá Preto) who [[spoiler: holds Max at gunpoint and then gets shot by Passos]], his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Milo Regos who is defeated by PressXToNotDie and [[spoiler: Victor Branco]] who you don't fight in person, only blow up his plane from underneath him and then have a conversation.

* Subverted at the end of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', right at the bottom of the lunar subterrane, when the party comes face to face with [[spoiler:[[BigBad Zemus]], a cutscene starts and Zemus is killed by a former player character and an NPC. But before the victory can be celebrated, the embodiment of Zemus' hate attacks the party, providing a suitably brutal final boss fight.]]

* At the end of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', Link defeating [[spoiler:[[PostFinalBoss Dark Beast Ganon]] causes it to assume the pure, enraged form of Calamity Ganon and finally release [[BarrierMaiden Zelda]]. She uses her divine powers to seal it away once and for all.]]

** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' has a surprising aversion - if you catch up to [=DeFalco=] in the mission "Karma" before he escapes, you get to blast him in a straight-up firefight. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome Naturally, he has as much health as a common mook]].

** Kravchenko in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' is a straight example. You merely watch as Woods grapples with him, Kravchenko arms a [[TakingYouWithMe grenade belt]], and then Woods tackles him out the window, saving your life at the [[HeroicSacrifice expense of his]].

* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Spectrobes}} Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals]]'', at the end, [[spoiler:you defeat Krux's two true dark spectrobes, he then summons a bigger true dark spectrobe, which is defeated by the emergence of the Ultimate Spectrobe Tindera from its previously broken Geo. You then face Krux himself. [[AnticlimaxBoss He's pitiful]]. [[SequelHook But you don't actually kill him.]] ]]

* In ''Videogame/AsurasWrath'', [[spoiler:[[TheStrategist Kalrow]], [[SissyVillain Sergei]] and [[TheDragon Olga]]]] are disposed of in cutscenes, though the former at least gets a QTE. Somewhat justified in that they seem to be more military commanders rather than warriors like the other deities.

* In ''VideoGame/BattlePrincessMadelyn'', the Baron of Germany boss fight ramps up just like any other...and then, right before the battle begins, he's killed off by another character. To add insult to injury, the responsible party is a ''child'' that had gone missing from the village earlier, and you were asked to find.

%% ** Larson in ''VideoGame/TombRaiderAnniversary''.

* Belial in ''VideoGame/{{Realms of The Haunting}}''. The first time at least...

** [[spoiler:Mick Cutler, leader of The Warden]] in ''Resistance 3'', is fought with a lot of QTE button presses. Likely justified, as there's nothing about him (aside from the potential of AuthorityEqualsAsskicking) that would make him any stronger than a standard mook, so the cutscene fight gives him something special. That said, if this fight is encountered with a friend in co-op, the [=QTEs=] are removed, turning him into just a literal Cutscene Boss.

* ''VideoGame/RedFactionII'' has one that is kind of similar to ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' but with less symbolism. You play as a soldier whose squad defects to the rebellion to take down the dictator Sopot. When you finally get to him it turns out that Authority doesn't Equal Asskicking. In fact he's unarmed. In the cutscene the protagonist holds him at gunpoint and escorts him to a catwalk under a launching rocket. Then your commanding officer reveals that he only wanted to overthrow Sopot to take his place and now you have to fight your way to him to have a real boss fight.

*** Much of the fight with the final boss is taken up by the cutscene of the Super Metroid attacking, then Mother Brain killing the Super Metroid, after which Samus gets the Hyper Beam and the fight becomes a Zero-Effort Boss.
*** The Super Metroid itself, which is completely invincible; it reduces Samus down to 1 HP and then flies off.

* The Wii and [=PS2=] versions of ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' have you fight some Nightmares during cutscenes... by pressing a sequence of buttons.
* In ''VideoGame/SonicForces'', [[spoiler: the Phantom Ruby copies of]] Chaos and Shadow get this treatment. Despite appearing quite often in the game's marketing and helping Infinite dish out a CurbStompBattle against Sonic, Chaos is simply defeated by the arrival of Classic Sonic, and Shadow is defeated by [[spoiler: the real Shadow.]]

* Sebastian [=LaCroix=] in the ending of ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' after you kill his [[TheDragon dragon]] the Sheriff: He simply isn't much for combat, and first tries his CompellingVoice on you, and when that fails, falling to his knees comboed with whining and simpering. Depending on your ending, the main character may [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown take this opportunity to give LaCroix a physical evaluation of his management style.]] [[spoiler:You don't get to kill him in the end: Either Ming Xiao or Strauss takes him away for execution, or the contents of the Ankharan Sarcophagus does him (and potentially you) in.]]

* [[spoiler:Roxas]] in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''. The UpdatedRerelease upgrades him to a full-fledged DuelBoss. Additionally there was [[WesternAnimation/PeterPan Captain Hook]] in ''358/2 Days'' as well as [[WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs The Queen]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{Cinderella}} Lady Tremaine]] in ''Birth by Sleep'' and [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney Frollo]] in ''Dream Drop Distance''.

** ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' used this trope for the Harley Quinn confrontation. After all the build up involving taking down an army of her {{Mooks}} she was taken down in a cutscene. Perhaps to avoid the dreaded sight of [[WouldntHitAGirl Batman hitting a girl]].

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'' has Hephaestus. His "godly possession" {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this, as it unlocks a cheat that automatically completes quick-time events for you.
** Helios also. However, the worst offender for this trope in the game is Hera, who is literally killed in a regular cutscene with no player input whatsoever.

* For two thirds of ''VideoGame/BioShock1'', you're hunting down Andrew Ryan, TheLeader of the underwater city in which you're trapped and perpetrator of many crimes against you and your MissionControl. [[spoiler:When you finally meet him, he uses your TriggerPhrase on you in order to demonstrate how you've been {{brainwashed}}, [[PlayingWithPuppets demonstrates its chilling effect on you]] in a BreakingSpeech, and effectively ''commits [[SuicideByCop Suicide By]] ManchurianAgent'' while [[PunctuatedForEmphasis screaming his mantra in your face]], [[{{Deconstruction}} all in a non-interactive cutscene to show how hopeless and out of your own control you really are, while also affirming his Objectivist philosophy- if he's going to die, he'll die on his own terms, not Fontaine's.]]]] Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad-- it's ''extremely'' effective.

** The game also deliberately prepares you for a boss battle by [[SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity leaving ammo and med kits lying around before you find him.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Resistance}}'', after hearing about [[spoiler: the Angel]] for quite a while, you enter the room where one is being held... [[spoiler: only to open it and blast its brains out with a rifle in a cutscene.]]
** [[spoiler:Mick Cutler, leader of The Warden]] in ''[[VideoGame/{{Resistance}} Resistance 3]]'', is fought with a lot of QTE button presses. Likely justified, as there's nothing about him (aside from the potential of AuthorityEqualsAsskicking) that would make him any stronger than a standard mook, so the cutscene fight gives him something special. That said, if this fight is encountered with a friend in co-op, the [=QTEs=] are removed, turning him into just a literal Cutscene Boss.

** The final battle of ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'', as depicted in ''Another Century's Episode: R'', is just as bad if not worse. The original ''Macross'' finale was depicted in [=ACE2=] as two stages of chaotic battle with the Zentraedi horde before the final stage as described above. ''Frontier'''s final battle is all one stage, consisting of three or four RailShooter sequences sandwiched between several long unskippable {{Cut Scene}}s (which spawned the infamous "[[GratuitousEnglish NOT SKIP MOVIE]]" or "NSM" [[MemeticMutation meme]] in Japan) that show the battle playing out almost exactly as it did in the original anime, complete with Alto finishing BigBad [[spoiler:Grace O'Connor]] himself. Overall, the impact of non-''Frontier'' characters is entirely negligible, which is ComicallyMissingThePoint of ''ACE'' (and its progenitor ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'').

* [[spoiler:Saren]] from ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' is potentially a cutscene boss. If the player's persuasion skills are high enough, he can be convinced to commit suicide during the cutscene that takes place before the boss battle, completely avoiding the [[spoiler: second-to]] final battle.
** Arguably [[spoiler:Sovereign itself. While you do fight him controlling Saren's body as the FinalBoss, Sovereign's actual body is battled by the Alliance Fleet and the ''Normandy''. In fact, it's ''Joker'' who actually kills Sovereign, not Shepard and their team.]]
%% ** [[spoiler: Amanda Kenson]] from ''VideoGame/MassEffect2''.

** [[spoiler:The Illusive Man]] in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''. Depending on your previous choices, [[spoiler:he can be convinced to shoot himself or you will have to shoot him yourself.]]

* [[spoiler:Admiral Alfonso]] and [[spoiler:Empress Teodora]] in ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'', with both being a part of TheEmpire and all. You actually fight [[spoiler:Alfonso]] in a ship fight and two of his more dangerous {{Mooks}}, but given that he's a SmugSnake and can apparently fence judging from the cutscenes, it's infuriating to [[spoiler:see him die during the [[ApocalypseWow Rains of Destruction]] via crushing by a pillar.]] It's more implausible with [[spoiler:Teodora]] because she never actively does anything.

* At the end of ''Dungeons & Dragons: Warriors of the Eternal Sun'', you don't kill the Burrower that had driven Duke Hector Barrik and his people insane. You just have to reach the [[EldritchAbomination Burrower's]] lair and use a scroll to summon the Immortal [[BigGood Ka the Preserver]] and he kills the Burrower. Justified in that Burrowers are pretty much invincible by any other means.
** The real final boss of this game is the pyrohydra that your party fights just before the Burrower. The pyrohydra itself can be a bit of an AnticlimaxBoss despite being able to spam attacks that reliably hit characters of maximum armour class due to the amount of space in the dungeon it's fought in.

* ''VideoGame/{{Tenchu}}: Fatal Shadows'' had a boss who could either be fought normally if you finished the level through one door, or who you killed in one hit in a cut-scene if you finished the level through a different door. Considering the boss is ThatOneBoss who continually spams attacks which knock off a good portion of your health, being able to kill him in a cut-scene was a relief. (Although it earned you less points.)
** The original Tenchu had the corrupt minister. Ayame would insult him then proceed to fight him normally, but if you were playing as Rikimaru, he'd convince the minister to [[spoiler: die with honor and commit {{Seppuku}}]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Wet}}'''s final boss battle with [[TheDragon Tarantula]] and [[BigBad Pelham]] turns out to be just [[PressXToNotDie a series of quick-time events]]. A sad departure from the intense gameplay of the rest of the game, and a serious letdown considering the RoaringRampageOfRevenge that Rubi was pretty much on for much of it.

* [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Dante]] parody Helter Skelter of ''Videogame/NoMoreHeroes'' is killed by Travis in the intro. An E3 demo did feature the actual fight, and the sequel starts off with a fight against his brother, Skelter Helter.

** Arguably [[spoiler:Sovereign itself. While you do fight him controlling Saren's body as the FinalBoss, Sovereign's actual body is battled by the Alliance Fleet and the ''Normandy''. In fact, it's ''Joker'' who actually kills Sovereign, not Shepard and his team.]]

** Same goes to the [[spoiler:the Ur-Didact]] in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'', who is taken out via a quick-time event.

* The final leg of the Next-Gen ''VideoGame/BionicCommando'' builds up to two dramatic confrontations -- Groeder and [[spoiler: Super Joe]]. Groeder lives up to the build-up... but [[spoiler: You beat Super Joe in a cutscene after a neat PressXToNotDie sequence to get to him.]]
** Similarly, earlier on in the game you enter a circle of statues that practically promises a boss fight. Instead, a cutscene boss is defeated, non-interactive, and the protagonist just walks away not having done any fighting during the level.

** ''VideoGame/Psychonauts2'': [[spoiler:In the final level Fatherland Follies, Gristol is defeated in his own brain by Lili beating him up with a metal case.]]

* In ''[[{{VideoGame/Spectrobes}} Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals]]'', at the end, [[spoiler: you defeat Krux's two true dark spectrobes, he then summons a bigger true dark spectrobe, which is defeated by the emergence of the Ultimate Spectrobe Tindera from its previously broken Geo. You then face Krux himself. [[AnticlimaxBoss He's pitiful]]. [[SequelHook But you don't actually kill him.]] ]]

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%% * [[spoiler: Vharley]] in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia''.

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* ''{{VideoGame/Wet}}'''s final boss battle with [[TheDragon Tarantula]] and [[BigBad Pelham]] turns out to be just [[PressXToNotDie a series of quick-time events]]. A sad departure from the intense gameplay of the rest of the game, and a serious letdown considering the RoaringRampageOfRevenge that Rubi was pretty much on for much of it.

** [[spoiler:Songbird]] is also killed in a cutscene, though in this case it's not Booker who does the deed. [[spoiler:Elizabeth teleports all three of them to the Rapture of ''Videogame/BioShock1'', but drops Songbird in the depths outside. Songbird's AchillesHeel is water pressure (being designed for high atmosphere, he had trouble with being even a dozen feet underwater), so he dies quite quickly at the bottom of the ocean]].

* In the DS version of LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, there's a particularly bad example. When you complete the first level of Episode III, It rushes through the scenes on Greivous' ship and shows a ''very'' short scene where Count Dooku dies. It's just the beheading. That's all.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' begins with a cut scene of Mario fighting Bowser on his airship. [[FinalBossPreview Bowser wins by knocking Mario off]], sending him to the first playable area of the game.