Line #260 Main/PreFinalBoss


1	%% This page is Spoilers Off.
2
3	Hooray! TheHero has reached the BigBad's dungeon, and it's time for the final battle. He opens the door to begin the final confrontation...and sees the Big Bad and TheDragon standing there, waiting for him. The Big Bad sics his second-in-command on the heroes, and after a long fight, the heroes come out on top...then the Big Bad himself becomes enraged, and the true FinalBoss battle begins.
4
5	This is the Pre-Final Boss in a nutshell. It doesn't even have to be The Dragon followed by the Big Bad; any boss that is fought immediately before the final confrontation qualifies. In fact, it might even be the Big Bad themselves, or at least a character who appears to be the Big Bad, but then TheManBehindTheMan shows up, or some evil entity the Big Bad was trying to use demonstrates that EvilIsNotAToy, and ''they'' become the final boss. Sometimes, the Pre-Final Boss will have [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere seemingly no relation to the plot]].
6
7	Another variant is for the penultimate boss of the game to be followed up by a [[PostFinalLevel final level that contains nothing except for the last boss,]] or alternatively a [[SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity final rest area with the last boss straight ahead]].
8
9	The difficulty of said boss fight tends to vary from game to game: though they're usually a rank down from the final boss, games with cases of SchizophrenicDifficulty could have these types of bosses be anywhere from laughably easy to a ThatOneBoss that's significantly harder than the actual final boss of the game.
10
11	The first form of an OneWingedAngel final boss does ''not'' count; in order for it to be this trope, it must be an entirely different boss.
12
13	It may be part of a BossBonanza, where the final dungeon has many bosses. Contrast PostFinalBoss.
14
15	'''Due to the climactic nature of this trope, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff ALL SPOILERS ARE UNMARKED.]]''' [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Don't say we didn't warn you.]]
16	----
17	!!Examples:
18
19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	[[folder:Action]]
22	* ''VideoGame/NinjaShadowOfDarkness'': In the final level, Kurosawa's battle with the Warlord who summoned the Shadow Demon and plays the role of TheHeavy for most of the game is immediately followed by the FinalBoss, the Shadow Demon himself.
23	* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheCloneWars'': During the final battle, the player has to defeat Dooku's bounty hunter [[TheDragon Cydon Prax]] before they face the FinalBoss, the Dark Reaper.
24	[[/folder]]
25
26	[[folder:Action Adventure]]
27	* ''VideoGame/BlasterMasterZeroIII'': On the way through Area X, you fought all the other MA pilots at their strongest, and the one last roadblock before the final boss is Leibniz with a brand new Garuda Rising. It's just as fast as the old model, but it has way more health, leaves itself vulnerable for only a short time, recovery items are hard to get, and it has a OneHitKill DesperationAttack up its sleeve if you manage to remove all its health bars. And you have to fight this monster using your underpowered Metal Attacker. The final boss is a ZeroEffortBoss... if you're playing as [[DuelingPlayerCharacters Jason]].
28	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''
29	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'': The final dungeon has Link defeating a Patra MiniBoss right before taking on Ganon himself (and unlike the Patra he finds earlier in the dungeon, this one makes the orbit of the surrounding minions shift gradually, making it tricker to approach safely).
30	** ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'': At the end of the Great Palace, you must fight a red (or blue, when its weakness is discovered) bird named {{Thunderbird}} before the final battle with [[MirrorBoss Link's Shadow]].
31	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': The final dungeon concludes with a rematch against Agahnim, who's been antagonizing Link and Zelda for the entire game up to this point. However, defeating him causes him to revert to his true form, Ganon, who Link chases after and fights just moments later.
32	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'': The Linked Ending has Link facing off Twinrova, before she sacrifices herself to revive Ganon.
33	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'': Ganon first uses a giant puppet (Puppet Ganon) to wear Link down before their fight.
34	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': Ganondorf first uses Zelda's possessed body to fight Link before directly confronting him immediately after.
35	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'': After Bellum's initial defeat in its true form, the demonic squid entity proceeds to possess the Ghost Ship. Immediately after Link and Linebeck defeat the ship, Bellum possesses Linebeck himself as the FinalBoss.
36	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'': Link and Zelda has to defeat the Demon Train before proceeding to challenge Malladus (and, indirectly, Chancellor Cole) in the climax. This is justified, because the evildoers are awaiting them within the Train, and their battle's first phase takes place above the frontmost wagon.
37	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'': Ghirahim has to be defeated one last time (in the past version of Sealed Grounds) before Link can challenge the actual final boss (Demise). Also a case of YouCantThwartStageOne, since Link's original plan was to defeat Ghirahim quicker to ''prevent'' Demise's full awakening.
38	* ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'':
39	** ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'' has Luigi face the Tough Possessor to retrieve the final shard of the eponymous Dark Moon, and then King Boo who aims to turn him into a painting like he did with Mario before.
40	** ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion3'': Hellen Gravely is the owner of [[HellHotel The Last Resort]] and the one who set King Boo free. Luigi faces her on the hotel's top floor. After her defeat, all that remains is an obstacle-free climb to the roof, then the fight with King Boo.
41	* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
42	** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'':
43	*** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'': Samus has to defeat Meta Ridley before she can go inside the Impact Crater to face off against Metroid Prime.
44	*** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'': Samus defeats the Emperor Ing before facing off against Dark Samus for the last time.
45	*** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'': Samus has to fight Dark Samus before facing the corrupted Aurora Unit 313.
46	** ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'': Samus fights an X Parasite-possessed golden Chozo soldier implied to have once been Raven Beak's second in command before facing the evil Chozo himself.
47	* ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'':
48	** On the Shura path, Emma serves as the last boss before fighting Isshin Ashina.
49	** On the Immortal Severance, Purification, and Dragon's Homecoming paths, a revived Genichiro Ashina once again battles Wolf, but after defeating him, he uses a second Mortal Blade to bring Isshin Ashina back from the dead, forcing Wolf to fight him as the final boss.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Beat 'em Up]]
53	* ''VideoGame/AbobosBigAdventure'': Kirby, the boss of Contrabobo, is fought immediately before the final battle with Little Mac in [[BossOnlyLevel Punchabobo.]]
54	* ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfBayouBilly'': You must fight Godfather Gordon, who is immediately followed by [[DragonTheirFeet his bodyguards,]] before you rescue Annabelle.
55	* The final stage of ''VideoGame/DarkJudgement'' have you facing two bosses in a row; Franks, TheDragon who's surrounded by hordes and hordes of mooks, which you defeat, and then the kingpin and last boss, Hazel, in the next room who will fight you ''alone''.
56	* ''VideoGame/DoubleDragonII (NES)''
57	** At the end of Stage 8, Billy and/or Jimmy must fight a MirrorBoss (or mirror ''bosses'' if both players are alive) before moving on to [[BossOnlyLevel "The Final Confrontation."]]
58	** The third game on the NES pits you against three MightyGlacier mummies before the final battle with [[SdrawkcabName Princess Noiram.]]
59	** The arcade version of the second game also has an example; at the end of the rather short final level, you must take down [[BossBonanza all of the bosses from the previous levels, only they're in pairs now.]] You also have to fight the machine-gun toting Willy before the final boss appears.
60	** The NES version of the first game [[DemotedToDragon makes Willy the penultimate boss before Jimmy.]]
61	* ''VideoGame/TheSimpsons'': The final level begins with a fight against Smithers. Immediately after he is defeated, Mr. Burns bursts into the room as the actual final boss.
62	* ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'': At the end of the second game, you must fight Mr. X's bodyguard, Shiva, before he fights you himself.
63	* ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheArcadeGame'': The final stage has you fight Krang, with Shredder immediately following up afterward.
64	* ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTheManhattanProject'': In the final level, Krang's Spaceship, Krang has to be fought again before the final boss, Super Shredder.
65	* ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTurtlesInTime'': Much like with the first arcade game, Krang is fought just before the final showdown with Shredder.
66	* ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesShreddersRevenge'': Yet again, the penultimate boss is Krang piloting the Statue of Tyranny, followed by one last fight against Super Shredder.
67	* ''VideoGame/ViolentStorm'': at the end of the final level, you catch up with [[TheDragon Red Freddy]] and fight him. After he is defeated, the true final boss, [[BigBad Lord Geld]], turns out to have been sitting on his chair just off screen, and now gets up to fight you himself.
68	* ''VideoGame/XMen'': On the final level, after fighting through a BossRush of the previous levels' bosses (generally facing two or three at the same time), you get to Magneto. However, once you beat "him," it's revealed to be Mystique and you then have to face Magneto himself.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Fighting Game]]
72	* Seen a lot in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' series:
73	** First seen in "The Orochi Saga": ''KOF '95'' has Saisyu Kusanagi (Kyo's father) as the mid-boss, but he's being [[MindControl mind-controlled by Rugal]], ''KOF '96'' has Chizuru Kagura (who sponsored the KOF tournament as a way to get information about Orochi) before fighting one of his heralds, Goenitz; and in ''KOF '97'' when The New Faces Team revealed their true colors ([[RedIsViolent literally]]) as the other heralds of Orochi and who were the ones who reincarnated him in the present (via SelfSacrificeScheme).
74	** Later in "The NESTS Saga", it's only used in ''KOF 2001'' where before getting to NESTS' leader Igniz, you have to defeat Original Zero first, with [[AssistCharacter the help]] of Krizalid (who somehow survived after the end of ''KOF '99''), Ron (renegade master of Lin and NESTS' ally) and Glugan (Zero's pet, a black lion).
75	** ''KOF: Maximum Impact 2'' has [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth Luise Meyrink]], who tries to persuade the player to abandon their quest to fight [[HumanAlien Jivatma]].
76	** ''KOF XIV'' has you fight Antonov, the champion and sponsor of the latest KOF, with [[HumanoidAbomination Verse]] showing up as the actual final boss after Antonov is defeated.
77	** ''KOF XV'' has Re Verse, another form of the aforementioned Verse, as your opponent before the final boss Otoma=Raga.
78	* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'':
79	** The first four games have a sub-boss to fight just before your final opponent. ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1992'' and ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4'' have Goro before Shang Tsung and Shinnok respectively, ''VideoGame/MortalKombatII'' has Kintaro before Shao Kahn, and ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'' has Motaro before Shao Kahn.
80	** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' has Goro ''or'' Kintaro before Shao Kahn.
81	* ''VideoGame/RedEarth'': [[AnimatedArmor Blade]] is the penultimate challenge facing all four heroes before they can take the fight to [[SorcerousOverlord Scion]]. If playing as [[BeastMan Leo]], how you take down Blade determines [[MultipleEndings which ending you get]].
82	* ''Franchise/StreetFighter'': Usually seen when TheDragon fights the player before the FinalBoss emerges. Seen in [[VideoGame/StreetFighterI the first game]] where Adon, Sagat's disciple, is the fighter to defeat before getting to his master and actual champion of the tournament; in the [[VideoGame/StreetFighterII the second game]] where the player has to defeat not one, [[CoDragons but three Dragons]] (Balrog, Vega, and Sagat) before getting to M. Bison; and ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha Alpha 3]]'' where you have to defeat Balrog and/or [[DualBoss Juni and Juli]] (with a few exceptions; most notably, [[TheHero Ryu]] has [[TheRival Ken]] as his penultimate opponent) before getting to M. Bison again.
83	* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'':
84	** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros64'': In 1P mode, The Fighting Polygon team are fought collectively on Battlefield before facing off Master Hand on Final Destination.
85	** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'':
86	*** In Classic Mode, the player faces off an opponent in metal form on Battlefield before facing off Master Hand (and Crazy Hand if reached under certain conditions).
87	*** In Adventure Mode, the fight against Giant Bowser/[[spoiler:Or Giga Bowser if reached under certain condition]] on Final Destination is preceded by a face-off against Metal Mario (and Metal Luigi if you unlock his non-metallic counterpart) on Battlefield.
88	*** In Event Match, a face-off against Master Hand and Crazy Hand is the penultimate event before facing off against Giga Bowser, Ganondorf, and Mewtwo in the final.
89	** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'':
90	*** In Classic Mode, the player faces three random opponents before Master Hand (and Crazy Hand if reached under certain conditions) crashes in.
91	*** In Event Match, a face-off against Bowser, Ganondorf, and King Dedede (the {{Big Bad}}s of their respective franchises) is the penultimate event before facing off against Snake, Sonic, and Giant Mario (the mascot of their respective companies) in the final.
92	** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'':
93	*** In Classic Mode, the player faces the Fighting Mii Team on Battlefield before facing Master Hand, Crazy Hand, and Master Core (depending on the difficulty set).
94	*** Similar to ''Brawl'', Event Match has a face-off against Bowser, Ganondorf, and King Dedede (the {{Big Bad}}s of their respective franchises) as the penultimate event before facing off against Mario, Sonic, Pac-Man, and Mega Man (the mascot of their respective companies) in the final.
95	** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'': This happens at the end of certain character routes in Classic Mode. Mega Man faces Dr. Mario and then Mewtwo one right after the other. Pikachu and the Pokémon Trainer battle Mewtwo as well, but it is followed by Master Hand. And Hero faces Robin and then a giant Charizard immediately after.
96	* This is standard procedure in ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'':
97	** The first two games and the first ''Tag Tournament'' game have a "rival" character fought in Stage 7. What character you choose to play will determine which rival you fight; for instance, playing as Nina means that you will face Anna as your rival.
98	** The second, third, fifth, sixth, seventh, and the second ''Tag Tournament'' games all feature a fixed boss character fought just before the final boss. The second has Kazuya (or Heihachi if you play as Kazuya himself, or Jun if you play as Devil or Angel); the third has Heihachi (or Jin if you play as Heihachi); the fifth has Devil Jin; the sixth has NANCY-[=MI847J=] ([[OptionalBoss who doesn't have to be beaten to advance]]) followed by Jin; the seventh has Heihachi (or Jin if you play good enough); and the second ''Tag Tournament'' has Jinpachi/Heihachi, followed by a solo round against Ogre.
99	[[/folder]]
100
101	[[folder:First Person Shooters]]
102	* In the Predator campaign of ''VideoGame/AliensVsPredator2'', you fight the Alien Queen (well, one of them anyway) just before the final fight with the Predator's personal nemesis, General Rykov in an exosuit.
103	* In the Alien campaign of ''VideoGame/AliensVsPredator2010'', you fight a pair of Predator Youngbloods before the final boss fight with the Predator Elite.
104	* ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'':
105	** In the main story, Handsome Jack himself serves this role, fighting you personally and in the process buying time for the Vault Key to charge up, allowing him to then sic The Warrior on you as the actual final battle once you defeat him.
106	** PlayedForLaughs in the ''Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt'' DLC. As you make your way onboard the crashed Hyperion ship, Professor Nakayama forces you to fight the Jackenstein monster if you want to get to him. After a challenging fight against the monster, Professor Nakayama tells you to prepare yourself to fight him...only for him to trip, fall down the stairs, and [[TheUnfought die in the process]].
107	* In the first ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'' you fight the previously invincible 60 foot tall alien exosuit encountered a couple levels prior, but when you finally kill it the massive alien battleship rises out of the ocean to serve as the ''real'' final boss fight.
108	* ''VideoGame/Doom64'' has you kill a Cyberdemon (two on the higher difficulties) in order to be teleported to the Mother Demon's arena.
109	* ''VideoGame/{{Dusk}}'' has a MirrorBoss fight with cult leader Jakob just before the final boss fight with EldritchAbomination Nyarlathotep.
110	* ''VideoGame/KillingTime'' has you being chased throughout the mansion by Set (an ImplacableMan of the "constantly reviving" variety) before the final boss fight with Tess[=/=]Isis.
111	* In ''VideoGame/KingpinLifeOfCrime'' you fight your arch-enemy Nikki Blanco immediately before confronting the Kingpin himself. Though killing Nikki Blanco was the entire point of the game, and your character just decides he might as well kill the Kingpin too while he's in the neighborhood.
112	* ''VideoGame/{{Geist}}'' combines this with BossBonanza, because the endgame pits you against ''three'' different bosses back to back: Two golem statues that serve as the guardians of the final chamber's entrance, then Alexander Volks who is the BigBad, and the demon possessing him (and the GreaterScopeVillain).
113	* In ''VideoGame/JediKnightDarkForcesII'', the FinalBoss fight with Jerec is immediately preceded by a boss fight with Boc, Jerec's last remaining disciple. While Jerec is very much a MasterOfAll and very dangerous, Boc is more of an annoying roadblock on your way to the final fight whose fighting style is based more around evading your attacks and dragging the fight out. Immediately before Boc you also fight an AT-ST and its pilot at the end of the game's last non-boss level.
114	* In ''VideoGame/NecromundaHiredGun'' you fight a DuelBoss fight with TheRival the Shadow before the final boss fight with crime lord Silver Talon.
115	* ''VideoGame/JediKnightJediAcademy'' has you fight BigBad Tavion just before the game's actual final boss, Sith Lord Marka Ragnos on the Light Side path or Kyle Katarn on the Dark Side path.
116	* In the first ''VideoGame/{{Turok}}'' game, you fight Thunder, a cyborg T-Rex, immediately before the final boss fight with the Campaigner.
117	* ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'': Whoever didn't survive 1946 (Wyatt or Fergus) has [[BrainUploading their brain put into a robot]] and fights against BJ before he gets on to the game's BigBad, Deathshead.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Gamebooks]]
121	* ''Literature/FightingFantasy''. In several books, you will be confronting the lead villains, two or more of them, one after another. In any case where you're lacking the necessary items to bring down their SKILL or STAMINA stats, you're in for a tough fight!
122	** ''Literature/IslandOfTheLizardKing'': The final battle has you entering the Lizard King's fortress and making your way to its top for you to confront the King. The King merely sics his Black Lion (a powerful, unavoidable enemy with SKILL of 11) on you, and if you manage to defeat the lion, you will then face the Lizard King whose SKILL is 12 (if you have a [[FlamingSword Fire Sword]] and / or a pet monkey however, you can bring down the Lizard King's SKILL to a lower, much more reasonable level).
123	** The climax of ''Literature/CurseOfTheMummy'' have you battling against the Evil Pharaoh, Ankharis, who is a worshipper of the Evil Goddess Sithera. If you manage to defeat Ankharis and destroy him permanently, Sithera will gain a mortal form that possess a giant statue of herself and try to crush you on the spot, and you must do battle with the Goddess to win the game.
124	** ''Literature/BeneathNightmareCastle'': At the culmination of your adventure, before your final battle against Xakhaz, you will fight against a luminous warrior sentinel, who appears to be the Immortal Warrior Skarlos — only to be revealed to be a slug-like monster animating an armour, Xakhaz's most powerful creation, which you must destroy before the final battle against Xakhaz.
125	** The main quest of ''Literature/MasterOfChaos'' revolves around you competing against Naas, a powerful Dark Elf warrior and agent sent by the evil elves, to retrieve the Staff of Rulership from the Masterof Chaos, Shanzikuul. Should you reach Shanzikuul first, you will battle him to the death and retrieve the Staff, but before you can even catch your breath, Naas will catch up with you and challenge you to a final battle for the staff.
126	** ''Literature/LegendOfZagor'' have you finally confronting Zagor, the sorceror-turned-demon, in his chambers, but right before that battle, you will need to fight the War Dragon of Castle Argent — the most powerful of the dragons who destroyed the armies of humans occupying the castle years ago and the only one still remaining alive. By this point of the adventure, however, you ''should'' be prepared with the necessary artifacts to overcome these powerful opponents, one at a time.
127	** ''Literature/LegendOfTheShadowWarriors'' ends with your final battle against the Shadow Warriors — those which you haven't defeated during your adventure, where there will be at least one out of the original six remaining to confront you — which you must slay, one at a time, right before you fight Voivod.
128	** ''Literature/NightDragon'' has you racing against time to prevent the Night Dragon's awakening, and as you enter the dragon's lair, fighting off Draconic Stalkers and cultists, your final enemy in your way before confronting the Night Dragon will be against the Bone Stalker Mage — leader of the Night Dragon's Cult, your second-to-last battle before the titular dragon.
129	** ''Literature/BlackVeinProphecy'' ends with ''two'' PuzzleBoss fights in a row. You confront Feior the Warlord, your evil brother, in a MagicDuel, that ends with Feior's defeat and capture. But immediately after it ends, you will be abducted by the soul of Benzieval, your evil father, who forces you to relive your past as you are sealed alive by Benzieval for opposing his rule, and must find a way to outsmart your evil father to finally win the game.
130	** ''Literature/{{Bloodbones}}'' ends with you leading your army of resurrected skeletons to fight dreaded pirate Captain Cinnabar, which you defeat and uncover his sole weakness, being his SoulJar. But after destroying Cinnabar, you will then face Quezkari the Voodoo God, of whom Cinnabar and his crew is worshipping, and your final boss battle to win the book.
131	** ''Literature/ThePortOfPeril'' climaxes with you battling the resurrected Night Prince, Zanbar Bone, together with your allies Hakasan, Yaztromo and Nicodemus. As you eventually reach Zanbar, you must fight defeat the Quag-Shugguth, a lesser Demon who serves Zanbar, before battling Zanbar.
132	** ''Literature/HowlOfTheWerewolf'': Your final battle is against Count Varcolac, the Wulfen Lord, as both of you reveal your respective werewolf powers to the max and dukes it out. After Varcolac's defeat, the Wolf Demon, the ''true'' evil behind the forces of chaos plaguing Lupravia, shows up to claim your soul, and you must defeat the Wolf Demon to win the adventure.
133	** ''Literature/TowerOfDestruction'' ends with you fighting the Warlock Zeverin, who destroyed your hometown and your ArchEnemy for most of the adventure, but as soon as Zeverin is destroyed you will confront Relem the Demon, the true villain of the book and the source of Zeverin's powers, which you must banish into the Demon Realms in order to win.
134	** ''Literature/NightOfTheNecromancer'' have you finally catching up with the titular Necromancer, Count Unthank, just as he is finishing the ritual to sacrifice your sister Orianna to the powerful Shadow King for complete immortality. After you defeat Unthank, you will have to destroy the Shadow King as the final boss battle. You can, however, retrieve an important power-up from Unthank after defeating him, before confronting the Shadow King, which can make your final battle a lot easier.
135	** ''Literature/{{Spellbreaker}}'' have you fighting against the coven of Nazek, just as Nazek had unlocked the Casket of Souls and is unleashing the forces of evil into the world. As you seal the Casket, the most powerful demon of all, the Night Prince Kurakil, provides the ClimaxBoss fight of the book, and after you had defeated Kurakil you then confront Nazek as the true final battle.
136	** ''Literature/VaultOfTheVampire'' have you confronting the Vampire Lord, Count Reiner Heydrich, the most powerful vampire of Mauristania, resurrected from the dead by his sister, the sorceress Katarina Heydrich. After defeating Reiner, you then battle Katarina and wins the book by defeating both of them. The sequel, ''Literature/RevengeOfTheVampire'' brings back both Reiner and Katarina, but this time the positions are flipped - the final battle have you fighting Katarina first, and then Reiner.
137	** Subverted with ''Literature/DaggersOfDarkness'', considering the final confrontation against both bosses are actually ZeroEffortBoss battles. You confront the Evil Vizier Chinghiz, the man who inflicted the titular curse on you - but he gets KilledMidSentence when his daughter, Meghana-dur betrays him and stabs him InTheBack. You then confront Meghana-dur, by making a choice that will either kill you, or cause your curse to backfire and kill ''her'' instead. If you already have an earlier hint and knows which choice to make, the battle against both Chinghiz and Meghana then ends in 3 pages.
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Hack and Slash]]
141	* ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors 2'': This happens on the Battle of Wuzhang Plains for both sides. If the player is doing Shu's version, Sima Yi takes up the role, blocking them from entering Cao Cao's fort until his death. If the player is on Wei's side, Zhuge Liang will need to be killed before they can go into Liu Bei's fort.
142	* ''VideoGame/Hours2020'': While Ronin might seem like the final boss, considering the fact that his level is called the "grand finale", it is actually just the precursor of the ''actual'' final boss, Resident Mind.
143	* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII'': [[spoiler:Despite being the #1 ranking Galactic Superhero and Travis' primary target, FU is actually the penultimate boss of the game. Damon is the one who serves as the FinalBoss.]]
144	[[/folder]]
145
146	[[folder:Light Gun Game]]
147	* ''VideoGame/Alien3TheGun'': The final level ends with the player facing against the strongest of all Xenomorphs, the Alien Dragon, which is finally defeated by drenching in liquid nitrogen, whereupon it shatters and dies. But immediately ''after'' the Alien Dragon's demise, the player gets confronted by the true FinalBoss — a Weyland-Yutani enforcer (simply called "[[NoNameGiven An Unidentified Man]]") who is the only BadassNormal human boss for the whole game and repeatedly tries to kill the player with a flamethrower-grenade launcher combo attack. After the enforcer is killed, ''then'' the game finally ends.
148	* ''VideoGame/CarnEvil'': At the end of the final level, you finally confront the evil Ludwig von Tökkentäkker on his airship. After an EvilLaugh, Tökkentäkker summons his lackey Umlaut to fight you. It's not until you defeat Umlaut that you get to fight Tökkentäkker himself, although Umlaut does go down [[FragileSpeedster fairly quickly]].
149	* ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'': The final stage of the second game have the players battling VSSE's main nemesis, Wild Dog, as the second-to-last boss, which they defeat. It's followed immediately by the last boss, Ernesto Diaz, who sics a KillSat on the players.
150	[[/folder]]
151
152	[[folder:Platformer]]
153	* ''VideoGame/BatmanSunsoft'' has you fighting an extremely tedious boss named Firebug at the top of the tower before the final fight against the Joker.
154	* ''VideoGame/BattleKidFortressOfPeril'': After defeating the seventh boss, Zedd, you will travel through a teleporter, followed by 2 rooms. (One has an enemy, but it dies in one shot.) After walking through these rooms, you will come face-to-face with the dreaded Super Mech.
155	* In the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem version of ''VideoGame/CastleOfIllusion Starring WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse'', Mickey has to fight a dragon before the final battle against Mizrabel.
156	* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' likes this trope.
157	** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood'': After defeating Shaft's ghost, you will go to the final stage, which is a BossOnlyLevel with Dracula.
158	** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight'' also does this, except it's the real Shaft and not his ghost that you fight before Dracula.
159	** ''VideoGame/SuperCastlevaniaIV'' [[ExaggeratedTrope exaggerates]] this. You must might ''three'' unique bosses (Slogra, Gaibon, and Death) one after another before you reach Dracula.
160	** If you're playing for the good ending in ''Harmony of Dissonance,'' Dracula's Wrath will appear after Maxim is "killed".
161	** If you're playing for the good ending in ''Portrait Of Ruin,'' you will fight Brauner at the end of the game. When he is defeated, Death appears, and starts pointing and laughing; you've just fallen for his BatmanGambit, allowing him to revive Dracula.
162	** ''Bloodlines'' does this as well, with The Grim Reaper, followed by Medusa/Elizabeth Bartley, and then a three-stage battle with Dracula.
163	* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'' has Master Necky Snr. (or in the GBA remake, Master Necky ''[[DualBoss and]]'' Master Necky Snr.), the boss of Chimp Caverns, the final world. Unlike the sequels, King K. Rool doesn't get a world of his own; his boss stage is located on the main overworld map otherwise used to travel between worlds.
164	* ''VideoGame/GalGuardiansDemonPurge'' has a rematch against regular Kurona as the final stage of the castle, followed by a short platforming section in a dimensional rift before challenging the actual final boss Adult Kurona, the first phase of which is actually against a minion while she lounges in the background.
165	* Frequently appears in ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' games, usually with a DiscOneFinalBoss twist:
166	** King Dedede himself is fought just before the actual final battle in ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' and ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand2''. In the first game, he turns out to be trying to prevent the ''real'' BigBad, Nightmare, from corrupting the Fountain of Dreams, while in the latter game he's the victim of the DemonicPossession via Dark Matter. However, if the player did not [[GottaCatchThemAll collect all the Rainbow Drops]] in ''2'', he will end up being the FinalBoss, with the bad ending playing.
167	** In ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'', before the final confrontation with Marx, the player has to destroy Galactic Nova Nucleus in an UnexpectedShmupLevel.
168	** In ''VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand3'', collecting all the Heart Stars and defeating the possessed King Dedede unlocks the BossOnlyLevel Hyper Zone, where Kirby faces off with Dark Matter. After defeating it, he immediately fights the TrueFinalBoss, Zero.
169	** In ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror'', Kirby has to fight Dark Meta Knight inside the Dimensional Mirror. After his destruction, Kirby is immediately sucked through a portal to fight the true BigBad, Dark Mind.
170	** ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'':
171	*** Right before the final confrontation with Magolor in Another Dimension, he summons his personal spaceship, Lor Starcutter, to fight the heroes riding Landia in the UnexpectedShmupLevel.
172	*** In the ''Magolor Epilogue'', Magolor faces off the Crowned Doomer after the Master Crown merges with it and consumes the Gem Apple Seed. However, after Magolor defeats the Crowned Doomer, the crown then merges with the Gem Apple Seed, creating a crowned Gem Apple Tree, setting the stage for the FinalBattle.
173	** In ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'':
174	*** Taranza faces Kirby in the end of the Royal Road, where he brainwashes [[DistressedDude King Dedede]], turning him into the Masked Dedede. After Dedede's defeat, Taranza summons Queen Sectonia, the true BigBad of the game, who promptly [[YouHaveFailedMe blasts him with her magic for his failure]] before facing Kirby as the FinalBoss of the game.
175	*** The Dededetour Extra Mode has ''Sectonia herself'', alongside Shadow Dedede (who emerges from the Dimension Mirror after it makes its unexpected appearance). After Dedede defeats his dark counterpart, he enters the Mirror World and faces off the [[GreaterScopeVillain true mastermind]] of the game: Dark Meta Knight.
176	** ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'': Before the final confrontation, the secretary Susie unleashes the Mecha Knight+ to fight Kirby. After his defeat, the President Haltmann reveals himself, dismisses Susie and then fights Kirby as the DiscOneFinalBoss. After ''that'', he tries to use the Star Dream, but at the last moment, Susie steals his controller, resulting in the Star Dream gaining sentience and setting off to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy all organic life]]. After that, Kirby, using the Robobot Armor provided to him by Susie and taking [[EleventhHourSuperpower the Halberd Mode]] from copying Meta Knight's Halberd, sets off to fight the Star Dream, the real FinalBoss of the game.
177	** ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'':
178	*** DoubleSubverted in the main story mode. Before the fight with Hyness, [[TheDragon Zan Partizanne]] appears to prevent Kirby and his friends from stopping the ritual. After that, Hyness appears to fight the heroes himself, and after his defeat, he [[HumanSacrifice sacrifices his generals and then himself]] to the Jamba Heart, releasing Void Termina, the DestroyerDeity trapped within the Jamba Heart, which is fought as the real FinalBoss of the game.
179	*** In the "Heroes in Another Dimension" mode, the team fights the Corrupt Hyness in the final stage. After his defeat, the Three Mage-Sisters appear to [[AvengingTheVillain avenge his defeat]], fought as the true {{Final Boss}}es of the mode.
180	** ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'': Fecto Forgo is the penultimate boss of the game, with Fecto Efilis right after.
181	* ''[[VideoGame/{{Klonoa}} Klonoa: Door to Phantomile]]'' and the Wii remake have Klonoa fight the BigBad, Ghadius, at the end of the ''[[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Moon Kingdom, Cress]]''. Even after being defeated however, Ghadius still manages to successfully unleash Nahatomb, forcing Klonoa and his allies to fight the perfect Nightmare to save Phantomile.
182	* ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'': The standard classic formula always has a boss fight right after the BossRush that ends with the villain escaping and you having to chase after them for the actual final boss fight.
183	* ''VideoGame/MegaManX'':
184	** ''VideoGame/MegaManX1'': Upon reaching Sigma, the maverick leader has Velguarder fight X before fighting the maverick hunter himself.
185	** In ''VideoGame/MegaManX2'': If X didn't collect all of Zero's parts, Sigma brings the resurrected Zero to the final confrontation and X has to defeat Zero first. (If X did collect all the parts, Sigma has a fake Zero that is quickly destroyed when the real Zero makes his entrance.)
186	* ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'': All three games in the original NES trilogy end with three boss fights.
187	** The first game puts you against Ryu's demonically possessed father, followed by Jaquio. Finally, the SealedEvilInACan wakes up, and must be defeated for good.
188	** The second game puts you against [[BackFromTheDead Jaquio]] again. He is then revived ''again'' and must be defeated a third time! The final boss is very similar to the final boss of the first game, funnily enough.
189	** The third game has you confronting two forms of Clancy after his betrayal. Then, Foster shows up in a giant ship.
190	* In ''VideoGame/{{Ristar}}'', the titular shooting star faces off against [[TheDragon Inonis]] in the Eyebar-555 before the final battle against Kaiser Greedy himself.
191	* ''VideoGame/RocketKnightAdventures'':
192	** In the original game, Sparkster faces off against [[EvilCounterpart Axel Gear]] a third time in the Pig Star. After Sparkster defeats Axel, he battles the Pig Star Computer, the game's final boss.
193	** In ''Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2'', Sparkster faces off against Axel once again in the heart of King Gedol's castle. After Sparkster defeats Axel, he battles King Gedol, the game's final boss.
194	* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
195	** [[BossOnlyLevel The Death Egg Zone]] in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' only has two bosses: Mecha Sonic, followed by the Death Egg Robot.
196	** In ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehogTripleTrouble'', Act Three of [[EternalEngine Atomic Destroyer Zone]] begins with a battle against [[RobotMe Metal Sonic]]. After Metal is defeated, Sonic or Tails comes across a sleeping [[TheDragon Nack the Weasel]], and when he awakens, it seems like he is going to be fought one last time, but then [[BaitAndSwitchBoss Nack panics and runs away from Dr. Eggman]], who serves as the game's final boss.
197	* ''VideoGame/Stinkoman20X6'' ends with a battle against Z Sabre, who upon his defeat summons his significantly stronger pet Mecha-Trogador as a last resort.
198	* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
199	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'': In castle 8-4 (and the true final level, D-4), you will encounter "Bowser's Brother" (A blue palette-swap of Bowser, sometimes called "Bruce") shortly before reaching the real Bowser.
200	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'': After collecting the orb to open the hawk head that leads to the final boss...it starts flashing and becomes hostile, flying around the room in an attempt to ram you. After you defeat it, you can enter its mouth to start the fight against Wart.
201	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'': The last level has Mario fight Biokinton (a {{Cumulonemesis}} monster) right before BigBad Tatanga.
202	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'': Shortly before Mario exits the Moon Kingdom's crater to access the chapel where Bowser is planning to consumate his marriage with Peach, he has to defeat Madame Broode.
203	* In ''VideoGame/TinyToonAdventuresBustersHiddenTreasure'', just before the final battle with Montana Max's giant robot, Buster faces off against [[AndCallHimGeorge Elmyra Duff]]. Subverted in that Buster has to evade Elmyra rather than fight her, as if she catches him, [[OneHitKill he instantly loses a life]].
204	* ''VideoGame/{{Wario}}'' series:
205	** In ''VideoGame/WarioWorld'', [[GhostPirate Captain Skull]]'s BossOnlyLevel is the last thing that needs to be completed before fighting the [[ArtifactOfDoom black jewel]].
206	** Large Fry from ''VideoGame/WarioLandShakeIt'' is the boss of the final proper world, Quiver Cliffs. After that, all that's left is Shakedown Schooner, which only contains the final battle against the Shake King.
207	[[/folder]]
208
209	[[folder:Puzzle Game]]
210	* ''VideoGame/KirbysAvalanche'': Meta Knight is the last enemy standing between Kirby and the FinalBoss, King Dedede.
211	* No matter which character you choose to play as in ''VideoGame/MagicalTetrisChallenge'', the Big Bad Wolf will always be fought before Pete.
212	* Parodied and double subverted in ''VideoGame/{{Zuma}}'s Revenge''. After completing level 60, you end up in a small level with 4 torches, and the game tells you to extinguish them. After doing so, you will face a boss that has twice as much health as the other bosses...except [[SubvertedTrope it dies in one hit.]] You then get the to see the ending credits...until the [[YourPrincessIsinAnotherCastle REAL final boss appears.]]
213	[[/folder]]
214
215	[[folder:Roguelikes]]
216	* The final DLC of ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'', ''Repentance'', has one in the form of Dogma, a boss which Isaac only fights after making the Ascent back through the game's levels and reaching Home. Dogma represents the Christian broadcasting and televangelists that drove Isaac's mom religiously insane and started the suffering and self-loathing that would ultmately lead to Isaac's death, meaning that it's [[GreaterScopeVillain done more to cause the story of Isaac than any other boss in the entire game]]. And it's only the beginning of the BossBonanza that ultimately ends with Isaac facing down the Beast, the TrueFinalBoss of the DLC and the game in general.
217	* ''VideoGame/CultOfTheLamb'': If the player chooses to defy [[GodOfTheDead The One Who Waits]] at the end of the game, they need to fight his attendants [[CoDragons Baal and Aym]] before facing the TrueFinalBoss himself.
218	* ''{{VideoGame/Revita}}''
219	** On the fifth (and in most runs, final) area the [[HopelessBossFight unbeatable]] [[WarmupBoss tutorial boss]] Enigma seemingly returns to act as the final boss, breaking the naming convention of all previous bosses being named after the first four of the FiveStagesOfGrief. Except that upon beating Enigma, you're met with the actual final boss, Acceptance.
220	** However in a 5 Lucent Shard run or higher, there is a sixth area with a new final boss Mother. Except, after beating three phases of increasing difficulty, the kid is then taken to the real final boss: Regret
221	[[/folder]]
222
223	[[folder:Role-Playing Game]]
224	* ''VideoGame/BarkleyShutUpAndJamGaiden'': The heroes board the Necron 5 spacecraft to confront the mysterious leader of B.L.O.O.D.M.O.S.E.S., only to find Michael Jordan blocking their path. Charles Barkley must face Jordan one last time before his party can proceed to the real final battle.
225	* The end of ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIV'' is a SequentialBoss. The first one, however, is a DuelBoss that doesn't require you to win (although it ''is'' possible to get a GameOver here). After that is a lengthy scene that, depending on the player's choices, would result in a different FinalBoss and ending. The "canon" ending would have you face two more proper boss battles afterwards.
226	* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' takes a unique spin on this trope. Because Lavos can be fought as soon as the party gains access to the End of Time, practically ''any'' boss battle from the R Series onward can become the game's pre-final boss. A more straightforward example occurs if the player chooses to fight Lavos through the Black Omen, in which case the party fights [[TheDragon Queen Zeal]] immediately before confronting Lavos himself.
227	* ''VideoGame/CosmicStarHeroine'': Before the final fight with [[MechanicalAbomination Eternity]], the true BigBad of the game, the party initially fights the [[EvilFormerFriend Integrated Arete]], who [[ManInTheMachine uploaded herself into the Eternity's schemes]]. After her defeat, the machine explodes, killing her, after which her posthumous message plays that her integration allowed her cybernetics to upload the ComputerVirus into the Eternity's schemes, making it vulnerable enough to defeat.
228	* ''VideoGame/CthulhuSavesTheWorld'': On the top of [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon R'lyeh]], Cthulhu and his party face [[EvilKnockoff Golthulhu]], a golem duplicate of Cthulhu that intends to fulfill his template's role and destroy the world. After its defeat, the party teleports into [[FinalBossNewDimension Azathoth's realm]], where they fight the final boss of the game, Azathoth himself.
229	* In ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'', the Throne of Want is guarded by a DualBoss, Throne Watcher and Throne Defender, two enemies with not much lore behind them. Unusually, they are technically a separate fight from the real final boss, Nashandra, who only appears after you acquired the Giant's Kinship after defeating the Giant Lord, so it's possible to avert this trope if you choose to fight them early. With ''Scholar of the First Sin'', Nashandra herself gets demoted to Pre-Final Boss, with Aldia acting as the true final boss.
230	* In ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'', the Twin Princes Lothric and Lorian are fought together as the final Lords of Cinder and are the last opponents standing in the way of the Ashen One reaching the First Flame and fighting the Soul of Cinder.
231	* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'' features one for each chapter:
232	** In Chapter 1, Rouxls Kaard forces the party to rematch K. Round as a last resort immediately before the fight against King.
233	** On the normal route of Chapter 2, the party fights against Queen and a hijacked Berdly just before the actual final battle against Giga Queen. Chapter 2's use of this trope is more deceptive compared to Chapter 1, with the Queen/Berdly fight being framed identically to the King fight (right down to taking place in a similarly-designed location), making the reveal that it's not ''quite'' the final battle of the chapter more of a twist.
234	* In ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'':
235	** In the first game, there is Ananta who is fought in the room before the final boss.
236	** In the second game, before the party can face off against [[PhysicalGod Brahman]], they're forced to fight the Solar Data of [[TheDreaded Meganada]].
237	* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
238	** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', whether you side with the mages or the Templars, you'll be forced to fight and kill First Enchanter Orsino as he crosses the DespairEventHorizon and turns himself into a Harvester. This is then followed by the true final boss fight against Knight-Commander Meredith. Unusually for the trope, however, Orsino is not actually Meredith's dragon -- in fact, they're on opposite sides. The initial plan was that you could skip the fight with Orsino if you sided with the mages, but this was changed in order to give the player another fight regardless of their story path.
239	** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', the trope is done a little differently in that you start out fighting the final boss Corypheus, while your ally deals with TheDragon (who is literally a dragon). Roughly halfway through your pursuit of Corypheus, however, your ally ''loses'' their fight, and the party must stop chasing the GetBackHereBoss in order to deal with the dragon themselves.
240	* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'': You have to fight Radagon right before the Elden Beast. And no, there is no checkpoint between them; you get no chance to replenish your resources, and if you lose to the Elden Beast, you'll have to fight Radagon again.
241	* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
242	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'':
243	*** The main quest has Dagoth Gilvoth, the most powerful of BigBad Dagoth Ur's seven "[[EliteMooks Ash Vampire]]" servants, in the area directly before you meet Dagoth Ur himself.
244	*** The ''Tribunal'' expansion pits you against the Imperfect, a giant MechaMook created to serve as a guardian by the supposedly deranged [[PhysicalGod Sotha Sil]]. In a major clue that something is not right, another destroyed Imperfect is in the room implying that someone else has already come along this way. After defeating it, you enter Sotha Sil's chamber to find that he has been DeadAllAlong and it's [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Almalexia]] who is the expansion's true BigBad.
245	*** The ''Bloodmoon'' expansion has the [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere Frost Giant Kaarstag]] as the final enemy before you encounter BigBad [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame huntmaster]] Hircine. He has RegeneratingHealth and a powerful 50% [[AttackReflector Spell Reflection]]. Depending on which "aspect" of Hircine's you choose to face, some consider Kaarstag to be the more challenging opponent.
246	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'':
247	*** Before facing Alduin in Sovngarde in the main quest, the Dragonborn must first do battle with the Nord god Tsun in front of the Whalebone Bridge in order to be granted entrance to the Hall of Valor.
248	*** For the ''Dawnguard'' expansion, the last proper boss fight before doing battle with Lord Harkon is with the Falmer vampire Arch-Curate Vyrthur in the Forgotten Vale located between Skyrim proper and High Rock's Western Reach.
249	* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyIIITheDrownedCity'' features, in the route where you side with the Abyssal King, a battle against Kujura in the final stratum that directly precedes the final boss (Deep Princess). The trope is averted in the route where you side with the Senatus, as the two final bosses (Automaton King and Olympia) are fought together in DualBoss form.
250	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
251	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has, depending on who you fight in the order you choose, a member of the Warring Triad. The last hurdle you need to face to get to [[BigBad Kefka]] will be a fight against Demon, Fiend or Goddess.
252	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'': Just before the party fights Sephiroth, they encounter and fight Jenova one last time in the form of Jenova-SYNTHESIS. Notably, the boss look different than the other encounters with Jenova and even has its distinct theme.
253	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'': Just before the party fights Sephiroth, they encounter and fight the Whispers of Fate in the form of Whisper Harbingers.
254	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'': [[BigBad Trance Kuja]] turns out to be this, as [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere Necron suddenly appears]] after beating him.
255	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': Right before you face Vayne in the climactic battle on Sky Fortress Bahamut, you are confronted one last time by Judge Magister Gabranth, who is still visibly wounded from your last encounter with him.
256	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'': Each expansion and, as of 6.1, the base game, ends with a dungeon followed immediately by the final boss trial.
257	*** ''A Realm Reborn'' has Nero tol Scaeva as the second boss of the Praetorium, followed by Gaius van Baelsar on foot as the final dungeon boss and piloting the Ultima Weapon as the final trial boss, with a [[PostFinalBoss Post-Final]] DuelBoss against Lahabrea afterwards.
258	*** ''Heavensward'' has you fight Lahabrea, Igeyorhm, and their [[FusionDance Ascian Prime]] form, then the Knights of the Round.
259	*** ''Stormblood'' has Aulus mal Asina as the second boss of the final dungeon, with Zenos yae Galvus as the final dungeon boss before he [[HijackingCthulhu possesses Shinryu]] and becomes the final boss as well.
260	*** ''Shadowbringers'' gives us the Terminus Beast Therion immediately before Hades.
261	*** ''Endwalker'' has the Last Mercy, Ra-La, A Primal like being summoned by the people of one of the Dead Worlds [[BigBad Meteion]] encountered. In turn, immediately after the fight with Meteion's ''Endsinger'' form, there's a [[PostFinalBoss Post-Final]] DuelBoss with Zenos yae Galvus. The Post-Launch Void Storyline has a Memoriate recreation of Golbez's original self Durante.
262	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'': Just before confronting Ardyn, Noctis and his party face off against either Ifrit alone (in the original version) or three Kings of Lucis after him (in the Royal Edition).
263	** The ''Final Fantasy Tactics'' series in the ''Franchise/IvaliceAlliance'' games:
264	*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' has Ramza's party fight against Hashmal, who is trying to revive his master Ultima through a blood sacrifice. When he is defeated, Hashmal kills himself and uses his own blood to bring back his master, whom you then face in a [[SequentialBoss two part battle]].
265	*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' has Marche's party face off against Llednar, who blocks their path in confronting Mewt. Once Llednar is defeated, the party approaches Mewt, but they get blocked by his (desire made real) mother who serves as the final boss in a [[SequentialBoss two part fight]].
266	*** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' sees Luso's party fight against Illua where she had been attempting to summon a demon from the rift to take over the world with. Despite her defeat, the demon is successfully summoned and serves as the final boss.
267	* ''VideoGame/GrimmsNotes'': Before the party could confront Chaos Archteller, he summons six of the game's major bosses as a last resort, with Chaos Andersen being the last one standing up between them.
268	* ''VideoGame/{{Ikenfell}}'': Being DrivenToMadness, Headmistress Aeldra kills Bax and attacks the player party. Afterwards, Bax's lover Ibn Oxley is traumatised and becomes the true final boss, slowly transforming into a monster over several stages of battle.
269	* ''VideoGame/JimmyAndThePulsatingMass'': Just before fighting the [[spoiler:titular antagonist]], you are pitted against [[spoiler:Possessed Buck]], who is absolutely ''brutal,'' combining the major strengths of most major bosses fought previously in order to pulp you into paste with hard-hitting attacks while he takes off into the air to ignore your melee strikes. [[spoiler:The Pulsating Mass]] itself isn't much of a challenge by comparison, even though you go up against it [[spoiler:with only two party members.]]
270	* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
271	** ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'': Young Xehanort is the ClimaxBoss with the actual final opponent of the game being the Ventus Nightmare; but the two-stage boss fight with Ansem in Riku’s story is the last boss before Young Xehanort. It all depends on whether the player regards Xehanort or the Nightmare as the final boss given how easy the latter is compared to the former.
272	** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'': The penultimate boss fight is against Ansem, Xemnas, and Young Xehanort, the three sub-commanders of the Organization who are all world-ending threats in their own right, but now serving as CoDragons to their leader and originator, Master Xehanort, who serves as the FinalBoss. This is done to give Sora and Riku closure with their most personal enemies to date before they move on to the final battle the series has been building to since the beginning, and to show how much more powerful the heroes have become that they can face three former Final Bosses at once and still triumph.
273	* ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]'' [=RPGs=]:
274	** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'', the Factory Chief [[DualBoss and his mechanical ally Gunyolk]] are the last obstacles before Smithy.
275	** ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series:
276	*** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' has a fight with [[BigBadWannabe Grodus]] before the final boss. With a surprise [[DynamicEntry drop in]] by [[DualBoss Bowser and Kammy Koopa]] immediately after Grodus [[SequentialBoss with no break in between]].
277	*** Count Bleck from ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario''. He appears to be the BigBad, but his subordinate Dimentio turns out to be TheManInFrontOfTheMan and goes OneWingedAngel. Ironically, Dimentio happens to seemingly be the penultimate boss before the heroes fight Bleck himself.
278	*** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'' has Mario and Kersti fighting Kamek one last time in Bowser's Sky Castle before taking on Bowser himself.
279	*** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioColorSplash'' has Roy Koopa as the last Koopaling (and the only one fought in Bowser's Castle) before Mario and Huey take on Black Bowser.
280	*** The Stapler from ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheOrigamiKing'' is the last member of the [[AnimateInanimateObject Legion of Stationery]] and the last fight before King Olly.
281	** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series:
282	*** Fawful from ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'' is Cackletta's [[TheDragon right-hand man]], and his final battle comes right before hers.
283	*** In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'', Once Princess Shroob is defeated, Mario and Luigi, along with their baby counterparts, battle Elder Princess Shroob after Baby Bowser unintentionally frees her from the Cobalt Star.
284	*** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'' has Fawful playing this role again, despite being the BigBad this time. After he absorbs half of the [[ArtifactOfDoom Dark Star]], Bowser defeats him, reducing him to a dark bug-like creature which is then absorbed by Dark Bowser. Dark Bowser and the Dark Star Core are the final bosses of the game.
285	*** Antasma from ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'', due to Bowser pulling a HijackedByGanon on him.
286	* ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'':
287	** ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork3WhiteAndBlue'' has you fighting Bass (a previously HopelessBossFight) immediately before fighting the final boss, Alpha (the defunct, dangerously unstable prototype of the Internet.)
288	** ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork4RedSunAndBlueMoon'' has the final boss, Duo (an OmnicidalManiac directing an asteroid to destroy Earth) pulling [=MegaMan's=] [[EnemyWithout dark side out of him,]] forcing him to overcome his inner darkness before facing Duo. As a result of this, Dark Chips are unusable in the following battle against Duo.
289	* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VI'': You are lead to believe that destroying the reactor of the Kreegan Hive will be the end of things, and once you actually reach it its integrated turret defences and your limited options for attacking it (it can ''only'' be damaged by blasters, which you have been warned about and was the entire reason for an earlier quest), combined with the fact that the Hive will be completely destroyed shortly after the reactor's destruction (another quest was to uncover a magical ritual that will limit it to merely the Hive and not the entire ''planet''), that does look plausible. Upon destroying the reactor, you are immediately teleported down to the floor of the room it is in, with a veritable horde of Kreegan appearing and a wall sliding to revealing the Kreegan Queen -- defeating her is necessary to be able to get out.
290	* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagicClashOfHeroes'': Aidan, due to having been corrupted by the Binding Blade. Right after he returns to normal upon his defeat to Godric, he turns against Azh Rafir in another battle and defeats him, which triggers Rafir transforming into Lord Bloodcrown, who is ''then'' challenged by Nadia in the real FinalBoss battle.
291	* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterRise'': In the final High Rank urgent quest, you first fight Wind Serpent Ibushi. Once you're about to slay it, the monster goes toward Thunder Serpent Narwa, which proceeds to absorb his lifeforce and become Narwa the Allmother. The hunter then has to defeat her in battle to truly end the quest.
292	* The ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'' trilogy's second and third installments indulge in this:
293	** ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}}'' has the first phase of the final battle consist of a fight against [[DualBoss both Giygas and Pokey Minch]]. However, Giygas is invincible in this phase and deflects all attacks directed at him, making Pokey the ''actual'' target of the fight (with Giygas functionally being nothing more than an extra turn for Pokey). It's only after defeating Pokey that the party is able to directly butt heads with Giygas himself.
294	** ''VideoGame/Mother3'' sees the party fight the game's BigBad, Porky (an older and more malevolent Pokey, who goes by his Japanese name in both the FanTranslation and the English release of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl''), just before the final battle against the Masked Man at the site of the seventh and final needle. An immediate giveaway that Porky isn't the final boss is the fact that he has to be defeated violently, whereas Giygas was defeated through the power of ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve in ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' and ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound\|1994}}''. Appropriately, the Masked Man's fight revolves around a similar battle of emotions.
295	* ''VideoGame/NeoTheWorldEndsWithYou'' has Shiba, the Game Master who's been set up as the main villain for the entire game, fought as the final boss at the end of Week 3. Except, once you beat him, you get one hell of a WhamEpisode where Kubo reveals himself as TheManInFrontOfTheMan and unleashes [[ClockRoaches Soul Pulvis]] on Shibuya to wipe it off the map. After Rindo Replays to get another chance at making things right, it is Soul Pulvis (in its [[ClippedWingAngel Phoenix Cantus]] form) that serves as the actual final boss.
296	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
297	** In the core series games up to ''[[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum]]'', the final member of the EliteFour is the last obstacle before fighting the Champion. Games after that (barring remakes) let the player challenge the Elite Four in any order, so the second-to-last boss isn't set in stone. In general, the Elite Four function as a BossBonanza variant of this, since they are all faced in succession. ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' is the only game in this era to avert this, with Lance being the DiscOneFinalBoss and [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Mt. Silver]] bridging the gap between the Kanto gym leaders and Red.
298	** ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'': After the climatic battle with N, the player immediately faces his adoptive father Ghetsis, the true final boss of the main story.
299	** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', the Champion Cup is interrupted right before the player's final battle with Leon by Chairman Rose awakening Eternatus, bringing about a second Darkest Day. Eternatus must be defeated and captured before the player can resume the Champion Cup, face Leon, and become the Champion.
300	** In ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'', the AI duplicate of the game's Professor forced by their programming to fight to keep the time machine on, faces the player with a team full of Paradox Pokémon in what seems like the final boss before it's revealed there's another level of security that hijacks the professor, locks all Poké Balls not registered to the professor and sics an aggressive member of the version mascot species on the player and friends. This leads to the true final boss being a semi-scripted DuelBoss between the player's Koraidon/Miraidon and their former tormenter.
301	** Nascour from ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'' is passed off as the BigBad until his defeat. Then Evice (AKA Es Cade, the [[TheDogWasTheMastermind mayor of Phenac City the player met at the beginning of the game]]) shows up, and it turns out he's the real boss.
302	** Eldes from ''VideoGame/PokemonXDGaleOfDarkness'' is the last fight before confronting Greevil and his Shadow Lugia. Eldes is one of Greevil's CoDragons, and also [[OverlordJr his son]].
303	* In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'', if on the Neutral or Chaos routes, you will fight Satan, YHVH's [[TheDragon Dragon]], before fighting YHVH Himself. If on Law, the Satan fight is skipped on account of being an ally of him. This same sequence of fights is repeated in ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIVApocalypse''.
304	* ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'':
305	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'': At the bottom of the sealed area below Grancel, the player's team faces off against the BigBad Colonel Alan Richard. After his defeat, however, his plans inadvertently awaken a massive ancient weapon called Reverie, which serves as the final boss.
306	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSkySecondChapter'': Much of the game is spent building up the player's eventual confrontation with TheDragon, Leonhardt the Bladelord. The penultimate battle against him serves as the resolution for [[ItsPersonalWithTheDragon Joshua]]'s character arc, before the proper final battle with the BigBad.
307	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSkyTheThird'': For the final battles, the player's party of sixteen is split into four teams of four, with three of those four teams facing off against the BigBad's three strongest minions — recreations of Reverie, Ragnard, and Pater-Mater -- before the fourth team fights the BigBad itself.
308	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsToAzure'': The penultimate boss of the game is the leader of the Crois clan of alchemists, Mariabell Crois, who gives the heroes a good fight before unleashing her clan's thousand-year alchemy project, Azure Demiourgos.
309	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' ''II'': Like the Second Chapter example, much of the game is spent building up Rean's rematch with TheDragon, Crow Armbrust. After Rean wins their [[HumongousMecha Divine Knight]] duel, Crow peacefully surrenders, spurring a pissed-off [[BigBad Duke Cayenne]] into unleashing the Vermillion Apocalypse to serve as the proper final boss.
310	* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'':
311	** For much of the game, most monsters speak about King Asgore as the one in charge of holding several human souls which would be used to break the barrier containing monsterkind. When you eventually defeat him in a Neutral Run however, he is killed off by Flowey, who then takes the human souls to gain control over the timeline. However, unless the player performs a True Reset, only the first Neutral Run will have Flowey as the FinalBoss: he won't attack on any other Neutral Run due to remembering the effects of the previous route. In those routes, Asgore actually is the FinalBoss.
312	** In the Genocide Route, before fighting Sans the Skeleton, you confront Mettaton NEO. However, in a parody of this trope, [[AntiClimaxBoss he goes down in one hit]].
313	* ''VideoGame/WildArms3'': Beatrice is this to her creation, Nega Filgaia.
314	* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' has you fight [[TheDragon Dickson]] on top of [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Prison Island]] rather than [[BigBad Zanza]], who the player last saw entering Prison Island as it sank into the Bionis. Only after beating Dickson is it revealed that Zanza is actually hanging out in space, where Shulk and friends immediately go for the final battle.
315	* ''VideoGame/Yakuza1'': Kyohei Jingu, the CorruptPolitician who wants the ten billion yen that's the central conflict of the game, is fought right before Kiryu's sworn brother turned ArchEnemy, Akira Nishikiyama.
316	[[/folder]]
317
318	[[folder:Simulation Game]]
319	* In mission 19 of ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'', the Oseans and the Conservative Eruseans launch an assault on the Lighthouse, where the remaining Erusean Radicals have holed up. After taking the remaining Radical pilots and their drone escorts, the Arsenal Bird Liberty arrives, and after its destroyed by Trigger, the Radical Eruseans surrender to the Oseans and the Conservative Eruseans. However, immediately after the Liberty is destroyed, two [=UCAVs=] named Hugin and Munin arrive, and wipe out a large number of allied forces around the Lighthouse, and with the satellite network destroyed, the two drones can't receive new orders to stand down. The survivors then rally behind Trigger to stop Hugin and Munin from using the Lighthouse to transmit their data to automated drone factories across Usea that would start a RobotWar against humanity.
320	[[/folder]]
321
322	[[folder:Shoot 'em Up]]
323	* Level 6 of ''Alpha Mission II'' has the player fight a giant warship made up of parts and weapons from all other bosses fought until that point, after which the player is transported to a BossOnlyLevel against BigBad Fulvar.
324	* ''[[VideoGame/ExtrapowerStarResistance EXTRAPOWER Star Resistance]]'' has Mensouma, the last boss fought before the final Stage 6 sequence.
325	* ''VideoGame/StarFox64'': Regardless of the path taken to Venom, there will be a boss fight right before Andross, with the path chosen determining which boss it is. On the path from Bolse, it's Golemech. On the path from Area 6, it's Star Wolf.
326	* ''VideoGame/TaleSpinCapcom'': Baloo fights Don Karnage in the Tri-Wing Terror just before the final battle against the Iron Vulture.
327	* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'': In some games, the bosses of Stage 5 tend to re-appear again in Stage 6 as a mid-boss right before the FinalBoss, usually in a desperate attempt to prevent the player from proceeding any further. Some notable examples include Sakuya Izayoi in ''[[VideoGame/TouhouKoumakyouTheEmbodimentOfScarletDevil The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil]]'', Youmu Konpaku in ''[[VideoGame/TouhouYouyoumuPerfectCherryBlossom Perfect Cherry Blosson]]'', and Rin "Orin" Kaenbyou in ''[[VideoGame/TouhouChireidenSubterraneanAnimism Subterranean Animism]]''.
328	* ''VideoGame/UltraXWeapons'': The final level culminates with the battle against Fire-Draco, which the title screen claims to be the stage boss of the final level. But the moment Fire-Draco goes down...surprise! The game's ''true'' FinalBoss, Zetton, shows up for the final confrontation.
329	[[/folder]]
330
331	[[folder:Survival Horror]]
332	* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'': In the final stage of ''Separate Ways'', Ada has to defeat Jack Krauser, who is revealed to have survived his defeat to Leon, and then confront the FinalBoss, (Saddler).
333	[[/folder]]
334
335	[[folder:Third-Person Shooter]]
336	* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'': The climax of the ''Octo Expansion'' concludes with a MirrorBoss fight against a brainwashed Agent 3 that is followed immediately with the fight against a doomsday machine controlled by Commander Tartar (the BigBad of the expansion's story).
337	[[/folder]]
338
339	[[folder:Turn-Based Strategy]]
340	* ''Franchise/FireEmblem''
341	** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'': On the good ending route, Yahn, the last Fire Dragon on Elibe, serves as the boss of the first part of the final map, which then transitions to the fight with Idunn after he is defeated.
342	** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', the Azure Moon and Crimson Flower, respectively the Blue Lions route and the version of the Black Eagles route in which you side with Edelgard, have two-part final maps. Hubert is the boss of the penultimate Azure Moon map, a siege of the Imperial capital of Enbarr, before Edelgard is fought in the last map. On the Crimson Flower route, Dimitri is the main boss of the penultimate map, although Seiros, Dedue, and Sylvain and Mercedes(or their Kingdom General stand-ins) must be defeated, and the Immaculate One is the boss of the final map.
343	* ''VideoGame/Disgaea5AllianceOfVengeance'': The BigBad of the game, Void Dark, is the game's penultimate boss. After his defeat, he reveals the whole reason he started the war was to gather enough power to resurrect his sister, Liezerota, and warns that all the energy he loses control of after his death can destroy the entire Netherworlds if it isn't stopped. His lingering evil energy possesses his sister, who becomes the final boss.
344	* The ''War of the Chosen'' expansion to ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' revolves around three [[RecurringBoss recurring bosses]], the titular Chosen. Each of them has a chain of missions that opens up an opportunity to kill them off for good, but ItOnlyWorksOnce. Any Chosen you haven't dealt with permanently by the time you embark on the final mission will show up one last time right before the actual FinalBattle, decked out in special armor and stronger than ever. If more than one are still alive, they effectively become a QuirkyMinibossSquad that can cause you no end of trouble, especially since they're fought after you've battled your way through a huge number of EliteMooks already. Needless to say that you should make damn sure the Chosen are out of the picture before you initiate the endgame.
345	* ''VideoGame/TriangleStrategy'': The Morality ending has Kamsell serve as the final obstacle before freeing the enslaved Roselle and leaving Norzelia. After he's defeated, the party makes it to the Great Falls without incident... and then along comes [[EvilOldFolks Idore]], hellbent on keeping the Roselle in slavery, to provide one last boss fight.
346	[[/folder]]
347
348	[[folder:Wide Open Sandbox]]
349	* ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}'': Before the final boss with the Heart of Ruin, the player ends up facing Asra Nox in a rematch. After her defeat, she leaves, but not before taunting the player for the last time about how the Ruin will destroy everything except humanity; then the Heart of Ruin awakens, facing the player in the final battle.
350	* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOrigins'': The BigBad Flavius Metellus / The Lion is the penultimate boss of the game, with only his second-in-command Lucius Septimius / The Jackal being left after him.
351	* ''VideoGame/GhostReconBreakpoint'': Almost every BigBad confrontation in the main game and its DLC campaigns is preceded by a boss fight against a Behemoth mecha. Nomad even lampshades this at the end of ''Operation Motherland'', noting how unoriginal it's starting to become.
352	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PreFinalBoss