History Main / GetBackHereBoss

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[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_bowser_mobile_battle.png]]]]

* The [[ThatOneBoss infamous]] Water Dragons from ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'', who emerge from [[BottomlessPit instant-death]] [[SuperDrowningSkills water]] to immediately breathe fire that [[{{Knockback}} knocks you off]] of one of three small platforms [[OneHitKO to your doom]], and then dive back in without giving you any fair chance to hit them once you're through cowering from their attack. What makes it worse is that they have almost no pattern whatsoever, meaning you can't predict where they'll appear of which direction they'll be facing, so you can't try and outsmart them and attack from behind. Your only chance is to walk to the opposite edge of the center platform, hoping that the [[AttackItsWeakPoint dragon head]] will either be high enough to hit with the Axe or that your whip will be timed just right as it drops back down to make contact with it. And you have to be as careful as possible because, thanks to the aforementioned MalevolentArchitecture if you screw up even once you have to do this ALL. THE FUCK. OVER AGAIN.

* [[TheGeneralissimo General]] [[TheCaligula Mikiel]] from ''VideoGame/Strider2014'' will attack Hiryu from afar, and dash away as soon as he's approached, forcing the player to chase him throughout three rooms before he hops into his HoverTank and begins the actual boss fight.

* ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'': Sekiro is required to defeat the Folding Screen Monkeys in order for him to reach [[spoiler:the Inner Sanctum of Senpou Temple, to receive the Mortal Blade given by the Divine Child Of Rejuvenation.]] However, instead of the usual mini-boss/boss battle requiring Wolf to use his combat skills, he'll have to use his stealth and traversal skills in order to catch and kill these monkeys; they're far more agile than Wolf, but their only means of fighting back is summoning rather weak monkey apparitions that function more as speed bumps than actual threats. As a result, this "boss battle" is more of a cat-and-mouse game simulator; you most likely won't die, but your sanity probably will.

* This is the behavior of [[strike:[[IAmNotShazam Jaws]]]] [[strike:Bruce]] the great white shark in LJN's ''Jaws'' for the NES. When you encounter the shark, he will roam lazily around in the regular shooting stage screen that ensues, and once the regular enemies have all come and gone, if you haven't depleted his life meter, you go back to the ocean map, and he recovers some of his hit points.
* Sanctus from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'' fits this trope. To make it worse, as well as putting up with his endless taunting while he plays keep-away, you have to attack him to break his shield (dodging projectile fire all the way), and if you fail to do this he attempts to attack then regenerates his shields, forcing you to begin the sequence again. Luckily, he's the [[BreatherBoss easiest]] [[AntiClimaxBoss non-tutorial boss]] in the game.
* Denkou from ''VideoGame/AstroBoyOmegaFactor'' does nothing but run away and leave behind bombs with increasingly short fuses. For added fun, she's invisible, so the player must deactivate devices before chasing is even possible.

* Some boss characters in ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}} 6'''s "Scenario Campaign" will appear mid-stage for a quick fight, and then quickly get away when their life gets dangerously low. The one who applies this trope best is Ganryu, however, who attempts this ''twice'' before the final true end-of-stage battle.

* Hector Rodriguez, while not a boss per se, is the last of three targets you're required to kill in ''VideoGame/BioShock'''s Fort Frolic level. He doesn't show up until you've come back out from the back room, and immediately gets up and runs off, tossing molotovs behind him in an attempt to block the way.
* Inverted with the Big Daddy in ''BioShockInfinite/BurialAtSea''. As it's a LightningBruiser, the player will usually spend a ''lot'' of time running away from it. Lucky for the Big Daddy, its drill can be fired forward, impaled into the player, and pulled back again.
* In ''{{VideoGame/Destiny}}'''s The Dark Below DLC, the player has to fight Omnigul, a [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Hive]] Wizard. She spends most of the Strike fleeing from the player and summoning Mooks. It is not until she gets to a very small, two layer room underground that you actually have a chance to fight her, with her summoning Knights and Acolytes [[BulletHell all the while.]]
* Obnoxious monster players in ''VideoGame/{{Evolve}}'' play like a mix of the first and second versions. They run and hide as soon as they see the hunters, fighting only when necessary and fleeing again as soon as they get the chance.

* The battle with [[PhysicalGod Hermes]] in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'' is spent mostly just trying to catch up to him, all the while he taunts and mocks you for being slow. When you finally catch him, he [[AnticlimaxBoss doesn't put up much of a fight]], but on the plus side, you make him ''[[KarmicDeath eat]]'' those words...

* All enemies marked as "Ranger" in ''Divinity 2'' will always flee when in range of your Melee, which makes them rather ''DemonicSpiders'' when they can [[StandardStatusEffect stun and poison]] you while fleeing, although that's only when they are surrounded by other allies who are more than willing to get in your face with stronger attacks and block your pursuit.
* ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' (and by extension, all warriors games), whenever the defeat condition is allowing a specific enemy to retreat, the most well-known example being Liu Bei from The Battle of Changban. While all enemies, including these, will usually stop to fend you off, they'll sometimes ignore you and keep running for the escape point, usually bringing you through other officers in the process. In fact, this is why 6's version of Changban is so difficult if you're doing the "Kill no Peasants" sub-mission.
* [[AnIcePerson The Ice King]] from ''VideoGame/CastleCrashers''. A type two with ''ice physics''. ''(gives game middle finger)''

* In ''VideoGame/LostSoulsMUD'', the most notorious offender on this count is Finwe, who, if seriously wounded, is perfectly willing and able to teleport himself to an extraplanar refuge and heal up before continuing battle.

** The Teleportation power pool. Nothing to prevent it (except stunning) and it gets very annoying when your enemy vanishes in a flash. In [=PvP=], you can at least predict where the foe's gone, because PC teleportation is limited by line of sight. Then, you meet those blasted Sky Raider Porters, [=NPCs=] who can [[TeleportSpam teleport through walls - preferably at the other end of the area]].

* The giant mole in ''VideoGame/RuneScape''. For an added bonus, it will put out your light source if it is an open flame.
* Nearly every raid boss in ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' (and many non-raid monsters as well) have the ability to summon whoever is on the top of their hate list to ensure that the player can't run away. It doesn't matter how far away they are in the zone either.
* Ghostring in ''VideoGame/RagnarokOnline'' will teleport when his health reaches a low enough level, then continues to teleport whenever he spots a player. He's also invisible 90% of the time.

* In ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2'', FinalBoss Jaffar will run away from you as long as you're strong enough to kill him.

* Jackle in the first ''[[VideoGame/NightsIntoDreams NiGHTS]]'' game pulls this, flying backwards and throwing cards at you.
* The first boss in ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'', Moskito, does this.
* Mzrmr from ''VideoGame/EternalDaughter'' is of the third type. At the beginning of the battle, he rises up off the screen, and will only descend in order to revive the two [[FlunkyBoss flunky bosses]] after you've killed them, then immediately ascend again.
* The dragon Tor Chi behaves this way in ''VideoGame/LegendOfKay''. Thankfully, you don't have to kill him. You "only" have to survive his fire long enough to convince him that you're not a rat.
* The fight against Dr. Neo Cortex in ''Videogame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack''. The whole fight, he's trying to run away from you with the crystals, and you have to chase him through an obstacle course. [[TimeLimitBoss Let him get to the end and you lose a life.]]
* ''VideoGame/MegaManAndBass'' has an ''incredibly'' frustrating battle against [[ThatOneBoss King Plane]], a [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill heavily-armed]] battle jet flying backward down an endless corridor while all you have to fight it on are rocket boards flying over a bottomless pit. To make matters worse, you have to keep jumping up and down on the platforms from different heights. Oh... and King Plane can ''smash'' them with its fists- ''and'' flash bombs that '''''blind''''' you so you can't even see where you're leaping! Worst of all: it's got a photon laser you have to shoot and break, or it will annihilate your health with one hit! It's bad enough as Bass, but a NIGHTMARE as Mega Man.
* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'':
** Meanwhile, ''VideoGame/RatchetDeadlocked'' plays it straight with Shellshock, who you fight on Kronos. Every time his health gets dangerously low, he flies away. While your missions on this planet consist of opening an arena and then returning to it, he fights you twice outside of the arena, and then four more times inside of it in the final mission.
* ''VideoGame/BitTrip'' has the final boss of RUNNER. You have a final platform challenge while advancing your way until you FINALLY get to {{Goomba Stomp}} the boss.
* In the "Chinless Blunder" level in ''VideoGame/TheFairlyOddparentsBreakinDaRules'', Country Boy functions as this.

* The Seer Council in ''[[VideoGame/DawnOfWar Dawn of War II: Retribution]]'' is this combined with FlunkyBoss. Your goal is to kill all members of the Council, who themselves just stand there, but they have a good swarm of {{mooks}} to keep you busy and a Warp Spider Exarch who starts teleporting them away as soon as your forces get close. Killing the Exarch is the only way to pin them down long enough to go for the kill. [[spoiler: Which is revealed as a NiceJobBreakingItHero moment in the next mission.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey Etrian Odyssey III]]'''s first stratum boss, Narmer, will flee after losing half its health. Your party will need to use various passages around the area in order to bring it to bay.

* Croco from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG''.
** A variant in that you only need to chase him long enough to initiate the fight. Once you catch him good and proper, he'll stick around until he runs off for your victory.
* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'':
** The third Giant Bowser battle in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story]]'' is against the Fawful Express, a train that is constantly moving away from Bowser. It stops occasionally to refuel, which is when you can damage it. If you can't defeat it before it reaches a bridge, you automatically lose and have to start the battle over.
** The fourth Giant Luigi battle in ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'' is against [[spoiler:the Zeekeeper]], who constantly flees from Luigi into dimensional rifts and stuff, forcing Luigi to have to counter his attacks to get a chance to fight back. Of course standing still and letting [[spoiler:the Zeekeeper]] flee wouldn't be an option because he comes back to do swooping attacks and firing energy projectiles at you.
** Antasma does this when assisting Dreamy Mario as one of the attacks. He taunts Mario with Peach into giving chase while sending invincible Dreamy Mario clones after you and spitting purple smoke to obscure your vision.
** Torkscrew has an attack where he steals one of the bros and forces him to drop coins, while you have to jump over and doge land mines.
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': Inverted with the boss battle with Undyne during the Pacifist/Neutral Route. The player has the option to leave the arena and run away from Undyne once their heart turns red again, prompting her to chase you and re-initiate the fight.

* On that note, cavalry and horse archers in ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade'' will ''not'' stand and fight. Lancers charge into battle, then charge away, then repeat, while horse archers try to play helicopter as long as their arrows last.
** Fighting any Cavalry Archers very quickly turns into one of these in ''VideoGame/MountAndBlade'' if you don't have a ranged weapon or aren't properly skilled in horseback archery. If you're on foot, you can't really catch up with them and they won't get close enough for you to hit them beyond abusing the "invisible wall of doom". If you're on horseback, they're going to just keep running away from you taking potshots until one of you dies. And their horses are almost always either faster or more manueverable than yours.
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' has Dragons, which circle around, hover, and only occasionally land in order to attack. Even when they ''do'' land, it's usually out of range of melee weapons, and even sometimes in an area the Dragonborn can't reach by any means, to say nothing of doing so before the dragon takes off again.

* [[spoiler: Naoya]] from ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'', as the first boss fight in [[MultipleEndings Atsuro's Route]] on Day 7. To win, you have to defeat him. Simple? Heck no, there's a bunch of [=COMPs=] lying around, spawning demons unless you picked them up. Then, [[spoiler:Naoya]] can simply throws ''more'' [=COMPs=] if you take too long. Oh and guess what? [[spoiler: Naoya]] got Devil Speed (7 Movement) and Phantasma (teleportation) to move around.
* ''VideoGame/VagrantStory'': The final boss. '''SO MUCH'''. Your only chance of hitting him is when he stops to attack ''you''.
* [[spoiler:Tela Vasir]] from ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'''s "Lair of the Shadow Broker" DLC. She's the only enemy in the game who can use the Vanguard's Biotic Charge ability, which essentially allows her to teleport to the opposite side of the battle area (or to ''you'') every few seconds.

* Dark Sun Gwyndolin in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' is this. He fights you within an endless hallway, shooting at you from a distance with his magic and arrows. When you get close to him he teleports further down the hallway.
** The hallway does actually have an end, which will let you pummel Gwyndolin into oblivion should you reach it, but because of the damage going out from both ends, you'll never be able to do this by accident.
* In the Ringed City DLC for ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', both the Demon Prince and Darkeater Midir have a bad habit of racing across the arena when you start hitting them...although the Prince tends to withdraw slightly in order to start murdering you anew, while more often than not Midir opens distance by ''trampling you underfoot'' and just not stopping while you get up. Midir is also a DamageSpongeBoss with more HP than the USS Nimitz, for added aggravation.
* Gin Ichimaru in the Bleach Tower in ''VideoGame/BleachTheThirdPhantom''. He gathers his spiritual pressure to increase his strength, and then runs away. He has Five mobility,which for most characters,is the highest they can go. Not to mention his absurdly high evasion,and the fact he has a Menos Grande guarding the entrance. That,and it takes two turns to even get to where he is with characters that have the same mobility. To add further insult, you have to beat him in five turns. Have fun.
* The Boss of the Battle of Karthal stage in ''[[VideoGame/MightAndMagic Might & Magic X: Legacy]]'' is Markus Wolf, who flees when he sees you. You have to fight your way past an army of Mooks and two other Bosses (it's possible to avoid one of them) before you finally corner him; when he finally fights you, [[OneHitPointWonder he'll collapse with one hit]], and your mission is completed.
* Micolash, Host of Nightmares from ''VideoGame/BloodBorne''. He is fought in a series of hallways and will run away when you get close, faster than you can catch him, all the while summoning marionettes to attack you. The only way to win is to herd him into dead ends and attack when he can't get away.
* Pazuzu in ''Videogame/FinalFantasyMysticQuest'', who stands in an elevator shaft in the middle of his tower and will ride the elevator away every time you attempt to fight him. He will only fight properly after you've hit the levers scattered throughout the tower which prevent it from stopping at certain floors.
* ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'' is slightly unusual, in that the ''final boss'' itself is one of these. In between each main phase of its battle, STORM flies deeper into the heart of its self-made hurricane, forcing the player to give chase through a series of GameplayRoulette minigame stages.

* ''[[VideoGame/{{Touhou}} Subterranean Animism]]'' tosses out the whole "defeatable" part and has [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Yuugi Hoshiguma]] sit there onscreen, still throwing [[BulletHell bullets]] at you. While the stage still progresses. Meaning you not only have to dodge the boss onscreen, but the {{Mooks}} from the sides as well.
** There's also stage 4 of ''Imperishable Night'', which has either Reimu or Marisa as the midboss and boss. It is the ONLY stage for which the boss' music plays at the midboss, and it continues playing as you're chasing them down through a horde of mooks (they don't return to the screen until the boss battle, though.)
** In the fangame ''Concealed the Conclusion'' Stage 4 has Chen and Ran zipping across the screen, taking potshots at you, stopping only once for a midboss spell card, until you reach Yukari (upon which point they return and start the boss battle proper alongside their master).
* In ''VideoGame/{{Rez}}'', Uranus (the fourth boss) runs away from the player in his humanoid form.

* Omen Deng from ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol''. You chase him around some scaffolds while defeating some mooks. Then, when you get to the end of this portion (by using the scaffolds to get around the giant statue in the middle of the room), you get to the actual boss fight with him in a more standard boss arena.
** It is possible (though just barely, and only with the right skills) to kill him before reaching the boss arena, which immediately triggers his "run away" script, and makes the subsequent battle child's play (just break through his armor and hit him once for victory). But given how ''hard'' it is to do this, even the blatantly unfair boss battle is the better way to go.
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' some of the Borgia Captains will make a break for it as soon as they know Ezio is in the area. Some other assassination targets in the series also do this.
** Some will be completely oblivious to the player's presence but [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard will instantly start fleeing as soon as you aim a projectile weapon at them...]]
** As early as the first game targets ran away. About half of Altaïr's targets will make a break for it if you let them, the rest will fight you with a legion of mooks. Neither is good.

* The vampire that Edward fights in ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' books it every time you encounter him until you go after his healing source.

* Though only a non-optional mini-boss fight, ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' has the fight with psychopath Cliff Hudson, who runs and hides in the service tunnels surrounding the store you fight him in, and only pops out to attack you.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', the Enderdragon flies away from you as soon as you LOOK at it. Good luck trying to shoot it with arrows...
** Although most speedrunners agree that the best strategy against Jean? is to [[LethalJokeItem explode ''beds'' in her face]] anyway.

* ''VideoGame/UltimateSpiderMan'' abuses this trope. Both as Spider-Man and Venom, you will almost always have to chase the enemy across UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity before finally fighting him/her, either because you have to catch up with the boss (Rhino), because the boss is escaping (Venom), or because the boss wants you to chase him (Electro and Beetle).

* ''VideoGame/{{Bully}}'' has a couple. There's the BossBattle against Davis White, who starts off with a lengthy chase before Jimmy traps him on a scaffold. And during the final fight against [[FinalBoss Gary]], you have to make your way across an obstacle course while he throws bricks at you. To a lesser extent the fights against Johnny Vincent and Edgar Munsen have chase sections as well.

* The ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' article "[[http://www.cracked.com/article_20043_5-famous-video-game-villains-who-are-actually-victim.html 5 Famous Video Game Villains (Who Are Actually the Victim)]]" discusses this briefly, when it's pointed out that Heavy Mole from ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' spends the entire battle trying to get away from Kirby, while Kirby is the one relentlessly chasing him.

*** The 8-bit version has the Bridge Zone boss, which pops out of water (your only chance to hit him), but he fires bullets at you. You could get him a few times before he goes under again, though.

* Some boss characters in ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}} 6'''s "Scenario Campaign" will appear mid-stage for a quick fight, and then quickly get away when their life gets dangerously low. The one who applies this trope best is Ganryu, hwoever, who attempts this ''twice'' before the final true end-of-stage battle.

* Ruger in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' will start to run away when you get close to him, and is the only boss in the game able to walk off the map. It's not necessary to fight him, but you get a nice wad of money for beating him.
* One request in ''VideoGame/SuikodenTactics'' has you chasing Cedric who is in possession of the True Holy rune, giving him the highest movement in the game at the cost of not being able to attack and he has terrible defense, why chase him then? He's a godly good medic and can manipulate the battle field like a boss, so it's worth it.

** A notable one in ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories Liberty City Stories]]'' had you chasing a FatBastard in a meat packing plant. You are restricted to using an [[AnAxToGrind ax]] and the only way to successfully strike him is to sneak up from behind. If you strike him or are seen he runs to a new hiding spot and is way faster than you.

** In ''358/2 Days'', the entire first half of Agrabah's boss involves trying to catch up to it while sand is slowing down your running speed. Once it reaches its last life bar things pick up, however.
** Ruler of the Sky and Emerald Serenade are notoriously hard to catch up with.

** Many Sonic games nowadays have this kind of battle as a standard boss, as it is very suited to the "Modern Sonic" gameplay style: three of the four bosses in ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheSecretRings'', half the bosses in ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'', and a third of the bosses plus the final boss in ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' (one pictured) are of the "running battle" variety, where you have to catch up to the boss to attack while also avoiding its counterattacks.

*** Wait, let's not forget Air Fleet! This time, it's the Dark Mission, but again, it can get away.

** [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI The first game]] has several bosses like this, including [[Disney/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]] (who stands on a platform that slides up and down the hallway), [[BonusBoss Phantom]] (who, in addition to [[DeaderThanDead slowly eliminating your party members for the rest of the battle]] AND only being damageable by a [[GuideDangIt somewhat complex strategy novice players may not get early on]], but is a '''complete pain to hit''' because you're [[IBelieveICanFly both flying every which way during the battle]]), [[Disney/{{Aladdin}} Jafar]] (who flies around the room in an impressive display of completely non-canonical powers), and [[Disney/{{Tarzan}} Clayton]] (who rides an invisible lizard).
** [[Disney/TheLionKing The hyenas]] in the sequel, since in order to get information out of them, you have to chase ''all three'' down and beat them up. And, if nothing else, they're damn fast (yet hella fun to chase after since there's no time limit).

* [[TheGeneralissimo General]] [[TheCaligula Mikiel]] from ''VideoGame/{{Strider}}'' (2014 version) will attack Hiryu from afar, and dash away as soon as he's approached, forcing the player to chase him throughout three rooms before he hops into his HoverTank and begins the actual boss fight.

* Vamp from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' does this.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_bowser_mobile_battle.png]]

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[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/SonicColors https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/saniccoolars_5939.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:But why doesn't the ship [[AcrophobicBird just fly up]]? [[OneDimensionalThinking Or sideways]]?]]

** Cracked actually mocks this by implying that Trevelyan from the movie would ''never'' stoop to such antics and calling the game version a pussy.

* Not a boss or even an enemy, but the bunny in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' definitely counts... and you have to catch him. Twice, if memory serves. And there are more of them in the DS remake.
** And never, EVER grab the monkey, unless you feel like chasing him around to get your hat back.
*** One of the stars on Tall Tall Mountain requires you to catch him, though, and like the bunny, he jumps away as soon as you get close. Unlike the bunny, however, he's slightly easier to catch, as he tends to jump over your head instead of just dodging sideways. This allows you to predict his landing and grab him with a quick power dive.
** The bunny minigame returns with a Star Bunny several times in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', in the demo as well as several other galaxies. Fortunately, this time they can be slowed with Star Bits. It only appears once in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'', however.

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** Eggman does it in Labyrinth Zone from the first ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1''; you're lucky to get more than 2 shots at him (1 before the obstacle course & 1 after) before he buggers off. [[SubvertedTrope However,]] this time, you win just by surviving his obstacle course.

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* In ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter 1'', you chase after Aramov while [[CorridorCubbyholeRun dodging trains]] in a [[RailroadTracksOfDoom subway tunnel]].
* In ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'', one can find the War Horse wandering the fields. The game will alert the player, and the player will be forced to chase it down. Since it runs in any direction it wants, the player has to try their best to keep up. The player also has to be on a horse to even stand a chance of catching it. This makes it more complicated as not only do you have to catch it, but you have to also jump off your own horse and grab that horse right away before it turns away. Killing it removes the chance of getting it, so wasting bullets wastes a good horse.

* In ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'', some missions require you to arrest all enemies on the map. This is a problem when facing the Casters for the Circle of Thorns, who will run after you give them a good whack, requiring you to chase them through what is basically a maze, and you will probably run into a SECOND group of enemies while chasing the one survivor from the first. This is even more irritating when facing the Cabal, who do the same thing but can fly, allowing them to run to high places very quickly. Attempting to ignore these enemies only means they will find you later on, usually as you're down to half health after moving on to the next mob. Finally, in PvP battles, players who can fly do this to those who can't, allowing them to heal and sneer at the grounded player. This is where the power Gravity Control comes in handy...
** The Teleportation power pool. Nothing to prevent it (except stunning) and it gets very annoying when your enemy vanishes in a flash. In PvP, you can at least predict where the foe's gone, because PC teleportation is limited by line of sight. Then, you meet those blasted Sky Raider Porters, [=NPCs=] who can [[TeleportSpam teleport through walls - preferably at the other end of the area]].

* The battle with [[PhysicalGod Hermes]] in ''VideoGame/GodOfWar 3'' is spent mostly just trying to catch up to him, all the while he taunts and mocks you for being slow. When you finally catch him, he [[AnticlimaxBoss doesn't put up much of a fight]], but on the plus side, you make him ''[[KarmicDeath eat]]'' those words...

* The ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games [[SuperSpeed naturally]] has numerous examples of this trope.
** Eggman does it in Labyrinth Zone from the first ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog''; you're lucky to get more than 2 shots at him (1 before the obstacle course & 1 after) before he buggers off. [[SubvertedTrope However,]] this time, you win just by surviving his obstacle course.

* ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'': Sekiro is required to defeat the Folding Screen Monkeys in order for him to reach [[spoiler:the Inner Sanctum of Senpou Temple, to receive the Mortal Blade given by the Divine Child Of Rejuvenation.]] However, instead of the usual mini-boss/boss battle requiring Sekiro to use his combat skills, he'll have to use his stealth and traversal skills in order to catch and kill these monkeys; they're more agile than Sekiro and rather perceptive to boot, but their only means of fighting back is summoning rather weak monkey apparitions that function more as speed bumps than actual threats. As a result, this "boss battle" is more of a cat-and-mouse game simulator; you most likely won't die, but your sanity probably will.

* ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'': Sekiro is required to defeat the Folding Screen Monkeys in order for him to reach [[spoiler:the Inner Sanctum of Senpou Temple, to receive the Mortal Blade given by the Divine Child Of Rejuvenation.]] However, instead of the usual mini-boss/boss battle requiring Sekiro to use his combat skills, he'll have to use his stealth and traversal skills in order to catch and kill these monkeys; they're faster than Sekiro and perceptive to boot, but their only means of fighting back is summoning rather weak monkey apparitions that function more as speed bumps than actual threats. As a result, this "boss battle" is more of a cat-and-mouse game simulator; you most likely won't die, but your sanity probably will.

* ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'': Sekiro is required to defeat the Folding Screen Monkeys in order for him to reach [[spoiler:the Inner Sanctum of Senpou Temple, to receive the Mortal Blade given by the Divine Child Of Rejuvenation.]] However, instead of the usual mini-boss/boss battle requiring Sekiro to use his combat skills, he'll have to use his stealth and traversal skills in order to catch and kill these monkeys, as their only means of fighting back is summoning rather weak monkey apparitions that function more as speed bumps than actual threats. As a result, this "boss battle" is more of a cat-and-mouse game simulator; you most likely won't die, but your sanity probably will.

* ''VideoGame/{{Sekiro Shadows Die Twice}}'': Sekiro is required to defeat the Folding Screen Monkeys in order for him to reach [[spoiler: the Inner Sanctum of Senpou Temple, to receive the Mortal Blade given by the Divine Child Of Rejuvenation.]] Instead of the usual mini-boss/boss battle requiring Sekiro to use his skills of fighting, however, he'll have to use stealth AND chasing around in order to kill these [[spoiler: four]] monkeys. This "boss battle" is more of a cat and mouse chase simulator as a result, and if the Folding Screen Monkeys are startled, two Apparition Monkeys will be summoned to further frustrate you. You most likely won't die, but your sanity probably will.

* ''VideoGame/{{Sekiro Shadows Die Twice}}'': Sekiro is required to defeat the Folding Screen Monkeys in order for him to reach [[spoiler: the Inner Sanctum of Senpou Temple, to receive the Mortal Blade given by the Divine Child Of Rejuvenation.]] Instead of the usual mini-boss/boss battle requiring Sekiro to use his skills of fighting, however, he'll have to use stealth AND chasing around in order to kill these [[spoiler: four]] monkeys. This "boss battle" is more of a cat and mouse chase simulator as a result, and if the Folding Screen Monkeys are startled, two Apparition Monkeys will be summoned to further frustrate you. You most likely won't die, but you sanity probably will.

* Invoked by ''players'' in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' in order to deal with some of the more monstrously powerful Notorious Monsters in that game. The original strategy to fight [[BonusBoss Kirin]] was a perfect example. In order to keep Kirin from ''really'' unloading on them with his most powerful attacks, the main tank would run their ass in circles around the area Kirin was fought, while debuffers would keep Gravity on Kirin to slow his movement speed. Square Enix started developing NMs with "Draw-In" that would, er, [[ShapedLikeItself draw in]] potentially everyone on the hate list, if the player on the top of the hate list got too far away, in order to make players vary their strategies.