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10->'''Barry''': [Lucia] knew when [the Tyrant] was nearby!\
11'''Leon''': Barry, they're always nearby. You got lucky when you only had to fight yours TWICE. Did you hear about Jill's? She lost count, Barry. She. Lost. Count.
12-->-- '''Opendork's''' [[http://lparchive.org/Resident-Evil-Gaiden/Update%203/ Let's Play]] of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilGaiden''
13
14A boss who you have to face several times (usually [[RuleOfThree three]]) over the course of the game, though not in [[SequentialBoss back-to-back battles]].
15
16'''There's a few ways it can go:'''
17* [[VillainExitStageLeft The boss flees when defeated]], only to come back later (presumably after some LevelGrinding).
18* The boss is [[HopelessBossFight unbeatable in their first appearance(s)]], and the players must either flee or survive their attacks; they can only be fought back and defeated in the final showdown.
19* The player(s) actually kill the boss, only for them to be resurrected later on by some means and come back for another go. This isn't much different from facing distinct bosses, but may help refine the scope of the story.
20* The nature of the conflict doesn't require a lethal outcome.
21* The boss is actually part of a species or a rank, so multiple versions of them can exist.
22
23For the first two cases, the same tricks and tactics will usually work to defeat the boss each time -- though frequently, the player will not be able to execute the required trick in the early appearances (especially if it's a HopelessBossFight). Alternatively, the boss may announce during a later confrontation that he has gained an immunity to whatever beat him last time.
24
25Any version can turn out to be the FinalBoss in their most powerful form, depending on how the boss relates to the surrounding plot; alternately, the decisive final battle against this boss may be held back as a {{Superboss}} or even a TrueFinalBoss.
26
27In action games, they often take the form of an ImplacableMan. He may end up suffering a RasputinianDeath.
28
29Compare GoldfishPoopGang, a comic-relief antagonist (or group of antagonists) that show up repeatedly and are often Recurring Bosses. Compare LegacyBossBattle, a boss that recurs throughout multiple installments of a series rather than a single game. Compare DegradedBoss, which is when a boss recurs, but are no longer a boss when they do. VaryingTacticsBoss is a SubTrope in which the boss character has a completely new strategy every time they show up.
30
31May also be TheRival.
32----
33!!Examples:
34[[foldercontrol]]
35
36[[folder:Action Adventure]]
37* ''VideoGame/ANNOMutationem'': There are two bosses fought twice. [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent The Varanus]] is first encountered as a hologram for the TrainingBoss of the tutorial segment, it later returns as a WaterfrontBossBattle within its confinement cell at The Consortium's base. [[BloodKnight Absalom]] first fights at Freeway 42 to see what Ann is capable of, he later returns partway into The Consortium's [[ElaborateUndergroundBase underground base]] to challenge Ann once more.
38* The [=DomZ=] Serpent in ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil.'' While the method of beating it remains the same each time, its movement pattern changes each time to reflect the mobility of your overworld vehicle. It's also one of the animals you need to photograph, but if you don't nab it in a fight, it isn't [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost for good]]--the skeletal remains of one serpent are found in a cave, and you can photograph them.
39* Balrog in ''VideoGame/CaveStory''. He's mainly a comic relief character, but he is a challenge in battle. Hell, three of the first four boss fights are against Balrog.
40* The Prototype Mutant from ''VideoGame/ChaosHeat'', a hulking mutant abomination, is fought thrice in the game. After it appears in a bio-lab and it's defeated, the game goes on where you fight off some more enemies, including two other bosses, before the Prototype suddenly returns in the control center for a rematch. You defeat it again, only to face the same boss in the next immediate area, the docking bay, for the third and last time.
41* ''VideoGame/{{Eastward}}'': Solomon is the only boss fought several times during the game where he each pilots a MiniMecha to battle.
42* ''VideoGame/ExtrapowerGiantFist'': Depending on the player character, in the form of their rival fight. Zophy, Wolf, Blackberry and Coma all have the potential to be fought multiple times, going all out for their final fights.
43* Tablet of ''VideoGame/GraffitiKingdom'' turns up in the middle of every other stage [[spoiler:until he kills his father and becomes the final boss.]]
44* In ''VideoGame/InfamousSecondSon'', protagonist Delsin Rowe faces DUP boss, Brooke Augustine, four times over the course of the game, not including cut scenes.
45* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro'':
46** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroTheEternalNight'': The Assassin is fought twice during the course of the game, without including the boss fights with the functionally identical Dreadwing Riders in the Underground Grove and Pirate Fleet.
47** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroDawnOfTheDragon'': The golem is fought across the first level and later on in the middle of the game, during the siege of Warfang.
48* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
49** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'': All bosses except the final one return at several later points, although only two do so as more than minibosses.
50*** Level 4: Manhandla, boss of the third dungeon, returns as a miniboss.
51*** Level 5: Three Dodongos show up for a miniboss battle, where a single one served as the final boss of the second dungeon.
52*** Level 6: The two-headed dragon boss of the fourth dungeon, Gleeok, shows up as a miniboss sporting a third head.
53*** Level 7: The fifth dungeon's boss, Digdogger, returns for a miniboss battle, followed later on by another trio of Dodongos. Later still, another Digdogger appears, and this one splits into three during the battle. Finally, the boss of this level is Aquamentus, the boss of the first dungeon.
54*** Level 8: A total of three Manhandlas appear in this dungeon, as do two Gohmas which, due to the LawOfChromaticSuperiority, require three times as many hits to defeat as the one that served as the final boss of the sixth dungeon. The final boss is a four-headed Gleeok, which first appeared in two-headed form as the boss of Level 4.
55** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'':
56*** Armos Knight is the Dungeon Boss of the Eastern Palace, and he returns as the first Mini-Boss of Ganon's Tower. In that battle, the arena is a Frictionless Ice floor.
57*** The trio of Lanmolas are the bosses of the Desert Palace and the second boss for Ganon's Tower. They are accompanied by a stone statue that shoots lasers at Link.
58*** Moldorm is the boss of the Tower of Hera, and the third and last miniboss of Ganon's Tower. The layout of the arena is different, and falling would potentially land Link in some spikes.
59** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'':
60*** A Stalfos MiniBoss in the Catfish's Maw dungeon is the first variety. After you've defeated him once, he seems to become terrified of you and flees. At one point he steals the dungeon treasure from its chest and leaves a note in its place. You have to search out three more rooms like the one he was originally fought in and take him on three more times; the first two end the same way, with him fleeing in terror, before the final fight has him finally decide to fight to the end. Once you beat him the fourth time he drops the dungeon treasure.
61*** Several other minibosses, including Hinox, Rover, the Dodongo Snakes and Hydrosoar, are encountered as multiple separate instances in several dungeons in the game.
62** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'': Vire appears as the MiniBoss of the sixth dungeon in both games. He flees the first time, but when you [[OldSaveBonus import your completed game from one to the other]], he dies the second time.
63** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': King Bulblin, an overworld MiniBoss. You have four encounters with the hulking brute throughout the game. The first two are horseback battles, while the last two are on foot. After he is beaten the final time, he decides that [[IFightForTheStrongestSide he admires anyone tough enough to defeat him so consistently]], and he simply hands you a key and walks off.
64** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' has you fighting both Ghirahim and The Imprisoned [[RuleOfThree three times each]].
65** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'': [[BigBad Yuga]] is fought three times. Once in the Eastern Palace, then a second time in Hyrule Castle, and then a third time at the end of the game.
66** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': Justified with the overworld bosses (Hinox, Stalnox, Talus and Molduga), as there happen to be multiple specimens of them across the massive overworld of Hyrule, thus being frequent species of monsters instead of unique entities; an NPC even keeps track of how many of them you've defeated (counting jointly the Hinoxes and Stalnoxes in their case). This also applies to the Guardian Scout [[MiniBoss minibosses]] that guard the Shrines based on Tests of Strength, coming in up to three variations depending on the test's difficulty. Lastly, with The Champions' Ballad DLC, the Divine Beast bosses are fought a second time each.
67** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom'': Master Kohga battles Link four times. Each fight has him utilizing a machine that concurs with a LandSeaSky motif. He first drives a vehicle equipped with spikes, then rides a flying plane to attack Link from above, the third battle involves a wooden boat on a river. The last battle eschews from the formula, it's a construct battle.
68%%* ''VideoGame/NiGHTSJourneyOfDreams'': Reala does this as the first variety.
69* ''VideoGame/NoStraightRoads'': DK West is fought in optional encounters three times throughout the game, and takes this to its logical extreme by always initiating the battle in the exact same back alley. [[spoiler:He ultimately fits the fourth variety, once Mayday convinces him and Zuke to reconcile.]]
70* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'': You fight Orochi three times, first time in [[spoiler:the present]], second time in [[spoiler:the past]], and the third and final time in [[spoiler:the Ark of Yamato]]. Now technically, Orochi's [[spoiler:first and third battles are (chronologically) after Orochi's first defeat (his second battle -- in the past)]]. Another example is the Bandit Spider: An optional creature very similar to the Spider Queen (the game's first boss) fought three separate times in hidden grottos where MultiMookMelee fights also take place.
71* ''VideoGame/Onimusha2SamuraisDestiny'' has Gogandantess "Greatest Swordsman of all the Demons", who hounds the player and challenges him to a dual 3 times before you can finally shut him up.
72* ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'', nearly every single boss type is used multiple times, usually with different stats and slight move set variations. Counting the Gauntlets of Strength, only ''two'' bosses are never reused: the Armored Warrior and O'Rin of the Water. Discounting the Gauntlets, there are ten bosses that never get reused: the two already mentioned plus Gyoubu Masataka Oniwa, Lady Butterfly, Folding Screen Monkeys, Emma, Isshin Ashina, Sword Saint Isshin,[[note]]They're the same character but different bosses with different models and move sets.[[/note]] the Divine Dragon, and the Demon of Hatred.
73* ''VideoGame/TombRaiderI'': Pierre [=DuPont=] shows up frequently in the Greece levels to shoot at Lara. He cannot be killed until his last appearance; before that he can take an infinite number of bullets. Lara, on the other hand, cannot, so you can only run away.
74* ''VideoGame/TheWonderful101'': Prince Vorkken is fought four times throughout the game. Always taking place on a flying ship.
75* ''VideoGame/{{Xeodrifter}}'': The game's boss fights are all against the same species of large alien creature, the only difference being their colors. Each encounter adds a new attack to the creature's roster.
76* ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'':
77** The series has a few of these, though ''[[VideoGame/Yakuza1 Yakuza Kiwami]]'' easily has the best example with Goro Majima, who can easily be fought dozens of times over the course of the game, to the point that the fights are part of their own mechanic (called "Majima Everywhere").
78** ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' has Daisuke Kuze, whom Kiryu crosses paths and fists with five times over the course of the game.
79** ''VideoGame/LikeADragonIshin'' has Okada Izo, whom Ryoma has to fight three times near the beginning of the game and then one more time near the end.
80* ''VideoGame/ZanZarahTheHiddenPortal'': Seamus the elf sees the protagonist as his [[TheRival rival]] after his father picks her over him as his successor in pixie hunting. He keeps coming after her throughout the game with more and more powerful fairy sets.
81[[/folder]]
82
83[[folder:Action Game]]
84* In ''VideoGame/DantesInferno'', the Circle of Fraud is bookended by fights against [[KingMook Malacoda]], who has the abilities of both a demon and a [[EvilLivingFlames fire minion]].
85* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'':
86** Every boss in the original ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry1'' is of the first variety, fought exactly three times. Most bosses are the first type, except for the final boss, who is the third type (and his fights are [[SequentialBoss one after the other]]). The EvilCounterpart Nelo Angelo's fights are spaced out evenly along the plot, while the other three bosses each have their three fights in relatively short (though not immediate) succession. In addition, Nightmare has an attack which forces you to fight weaker versions of killed bosses, allowing them to recur more than three times. ''Devil May Cry 3'' also has Vergil and, the Special Edition, Jester, who you fight three times each.
87** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry2'' has Phantom reappear at about the same point in both Dante and Lucia's missions as well.
88** A puzzle in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening'' requires the player to defeat bosses from earlier in the game to advance. The puzzle element is choosing which bosses to fight, and navigating the area's AlienGeometries. No explanation is offered as to how these bosses came to be alive again. Presumably [[AWizardDidIt a demon did it]].
89** In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'', every boss except two ([[spoiler:Credo and The Savior]]) is fought multiple times in the same playthrough, though little if anything is changed about the subsequent battles except your playable character. Agnus sets the record for having ''four'' battles, two of them being re-fights with the same character.
90** In ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'', you have to fight BigBad Urizen five times: in the Prologue and Missions 8, 10, 12, and 17. [[spoiler:Then he merges with V to become Vergil once again, and Vergil goes at you twice more. Counting all of his separate forms (Nelo Angelo, Vergil, and Urizen), Vergil is the most recurrent boss in the series, with 13 fights.]]
91* Joseph from ''VideoGame/EvilGenome'' is fought thrice, each time using the same methods where he uses his [[DoubleWeapon two-sided laser sword]] to rough you up. He bails the first two times; on his third defeat he then goes OneWingedAngel into a giant form of himself.
92* In ''VideoGame/GodHand'' almost every boss in the game is fought at least twice. The game also features arena challenges, many of whom involve fighting bosses from the main story. (Including [[spoiler:yourself]].)
93* ''VideoGame/Killer7'': Ayame Blackburn, a kidnapped woman who is roleplaying as an anime superhero, is fought twice (both in the fourth chapter, Encounter). The first fight takes place in a wide, empty parking area beyond an amusement park where your bullets only inflict damage as long as she runs past a light post (she's invincible in the dark); while the second takes place inside a narrow garage where you have to keep an eye on what door opens so you can shoot her. However, the chapter's final boss is someone else (Curtis Blackburn, the man who kidnapped Ayame).
94* Catwoman in ''VideoGame/LegoBatman''. She appears several times throughout her personally dedicated level, taking a few hits each time before moving on, until you reach her proper boss fight.
95* Ryu's Doppelganger from ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden III'' for the NES is fought twice. Once at the end of Act V and again in Act VI.
96* In ''VideoGame/PN03'', Sonnenblume first appears in a HopelessBossFight at the end of the first mission, then in beatable form at the end of the third. Orchidee, the robo-centipede thing, and Loewenzahn, the doom-buggy, both gain new attacks, Orchidee goes SpiderTank OneWingedAngel after its centipede form is defeated the second time, while Loewenzahn II becomes a [[ThePhoenix robotic phoenix]].
97* Octostriker in the first ''VideoGame/Splatoon1'' is fought four times in the story mode. The levels where it appears are numbered last in their respective worlds, preceding the boss levels.
98%% Needs Context * Montross from ''VideoGame/StarWarsBountyHunter''.
99[[/folder]]
100
101[[folder:Beat 'em Up]]
102* Dash Kobayashi from ''VideoGame/JitsuSquad'' is fought thrice in the game. Firstly in the second level, a BattleAmongstTheFlames in Hero's ruined hometown after being destroyed by Dash. Later in Infernia, as the heroes attempts escaping via LavaSurfing, Dash suddenly appears for a rematch, which is a lot harder because the battle runs automatically, and despite the heroes dropping Dash into lava, the villain appears a ''third'' time... to kill one of his underlings, Shade, in a YouHaveFailedMe moment before challenging the heroes. The third fight have Dash's boss, the demon Origami, appearing as well, and both Dash and Origami will form a DualBoss against the heroes.
103* ''VideoGame/TeenTitans2'': In contrast to [[VideoGame/TeenTitans2005 the previous Game Boy Advance tie-in]] to ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' having each boss fight being against a different opponent (Gizmo, Jinx and Mammoth, with a BossRush against all three in the penultimate level and Brother Blood serving as the final boss), every boss fight except for the final confrontation with The Brain is against either General Immortus or Monsieur Mallah.
104* With the exceptions of Shockwave, Kickback, and Skywarp, every Decepticon faced as a boss in ''VideoGame/TransformersDevastation'' is fought at least twice.
105[[/folder]]
106
107[[folder:Driving Game]]
108* ''VideoGame/InitialDArcadeStage'' has Takumi Fujiwara, the protagonist of the source manga and anime. You first encounter him as a WarmUpBoss on Myougi (Version 1-3) or Lake Akina (''4'' and ''5''), then later as ThatOneBoss on his home course Akina, and once more as a FinalBoss on the last course of whatever game you're playing.
109* ''VideoGame/RidgeRacer'' has [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Soldat Crinale]] and [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Kamata Angelus]] (nicknamed "13th Racing" and "White Angel") throughout the series. The Crinale resembles a sports prototype, dons a matte black livery with decals inspired by Hell and demons, and is usually [[DifficultButAwesome very difficult to drive but incredibly fast upon mastering it]]; the Angelus is a FIA GT sport homologated car lookalike with a white livery and Heaven-themed decals, and is noted for [[MasterOfAll its complete lack of weaknesses]].
110[[/folder]]
111
112[[folder:Fighting Game]]
113* In the first ''VideoGame/MightyMorphinPowerRangersSega'' game for the UsefulNotes/GameGear, [[TheDragon Goldar]]'s role in the game is closer to his role in the actual show than in the SNES or Genesis versions, appearing as a [[MiniBoss Mid-Level Boss]] in the King Sphinx, Evil Green Ranger, and Polluticorn levels (also growing alongside the former two bosses in those levels), retreating once the player has gotten his health down to a certain amount. In the final level, he appears at the end of a BossRush against all the monsters fought in the game, where the Rangers must bring his health down to zero this time before Rita orders him to get into [[HumongousMecha Cyclopsis]] and finish them off once and for all.
114* Several in ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Calibur III]]'''s Chronicles of the Sword mode, all of the first variety. Girardot and Abelia are fought twice near the beginning and the end of the story, whereas characters like [[SNKBoss Hyle]] and [[spoiler:Chester]] are fought three times, and Luna is fought ''four'' times before joining you as an EleventhHourSuperpower.
115[[/folder]]
116
117[[folder:First-Person Shooter]]
118* The Big Sisters from ''VideoGame/{{BioShock 2}}'' were originally going to be a single enemy that runs off instead of dying when the fight's over, but playtesters complained that this was unsatisfying. The lack of any material payoff in a game where looting slain enemies is a core part of gameplay -- especially considering how many resources it takes to bring her down -- probably didn't help either.
119* ''VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga'':
120** Desann, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/JediKnightIIJediOutcast'', is the second variety. At the point you first fight him in the story, Kyle [[BagOfSpilling has abandoned his Force abilities]] out of fear of falling to the Dark Side, meaning he's completely and totally outmatched by Desann - he doesn't even really directly attack you so much as let you kill yourself with your own deflected blaster shots, when he's not pushing and pulling you around the arena with the Force. [[spoiler:His [[TheDragon Dragon]], Tavion, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere retreats completely]] when Kyle defeats her later but returns for the sequel, ''VideoGame/JediKnightJediAcademy'', as the new Big Bad, proving to have been of the first variety. She is now much stronger, and when you think she's done for in the Light Side ending path, you find she's got the tendencies of the ''third'' variety.]] And ''she'' now has a Dragon of her own, who is the first type.
121** Boba Fett himself appears as a boss in both the original ''VideoGame/DarkForces'' and a late-game BossOnlyLevel of ''Jedi Academy''.
122* Anna and Gunther in ''VideoGame/DeusEx''. Anna's a RecurringBoss if you run away from her first boss fight, battling her for real later on. However, the fight's not really hopeless: You can stand your ground and kill Anna, and you never have to fight her again. There's also an earlier scene in which her usual NPC invulnerability is rescinded, though that's really only a boss fight if you opt to kill her while her guard is down. Note that Anna is a SkippableBoss all three times: You can simply not attack her the first time, you might get captured before the second (though there's no reason to do so intentionally), and you can learn a passcode that kills her instantly before the third. Like Anna, Gunther can be a RecurringBoss. Like Anna's, Gunther's fights are skippable. Unlike Anna, Gunther really ''is'' a HopelessBossFight in the first encounter: You either surrender in dialogue or get captured when he kicks the stuffing out of you. You can still use the "kill phrase" trick in the second if you make the right choices in game, though.
123* ''VideoGame/DreadTemplar'' has the Hell Knight who's the first boss, and returns in a later stage with a more powerful weapon at his disposal. Appropriately, his rematch level is called "You Again!"
124* ''VideoGame/{{Geist}}'': Three bosses in the game are fought more than once each: An unnamed Creature (in chapters 1, 6 and 7), a mercenary called Cord (in chapters 2 and 3), and a shelled crustacean (in chapters 4 and 7). In fact, they're the only bosses faced prior to chapter 8, but they do change tactics in each fight and the respective battlefields also add to the differentiation.
125* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'''s love affair with Striders. Notably, while they're all exactly the same creature/mech, they fit different boss tropes every time due to the very different resources ''you'' have at your disposal, and the varied arenas they appear in, with each encounter - particularly, they go from an enemy you take out [[BossRush half a dozen of]] near the end of ''Half-Life 2'' to one being the FinalBoss of ''Episode One''.
126* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
127** In ''VideoGame/HaloReach'', the Field Marshal runs off and sends his Zealot underlings after you the first time you meet him [[CutsceneBoss in a cutscene]] near the end of "Winter Contingency". Later, you shoot at him for a moment after he kills Kat in "New Alexandria", before he escapes again. Only in the last mission are you able to fight and kill him.
128** The Warden Eternal from ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'' has [[FightingAShadow one mind, and a million bodies]], so it's no surprise that he comes back. Eventually, the Warden starts throwing [[DualBoss multiple instances of himself]] at the player, and only the help of a friendly character stops him from just teleporting in enough bodies to bury the player under a mountain of robots.
129* The indie, low-budget fantasy game ''VideoGame/HandsOfNecromancy'' has ''three'' bosses, and all of them are the same guy, fought in the exact same pattern. Turns out they're actually brothers.
130* Technically, the Special Infected in ''Videogame/Left4Dead'' and [[Videogame/Left4Dead2 its sequel]], as you fight them in various points throughout the game. Special mention goes to the Witch and Tank, the toughest by far in terms of health (the strongest of the regular Special Infected, the Charger, has 600 health; the Witch has 1,000 and the Tank has, depending on difficulty or mode, between 3,000 to ''8'',000) and the strongest in terms of damage, which are in turn the rarest in terms of spawning, typically seeing only one per chapter compared to the relatively-nonstop deluge of the other Special Infected. There are, however, exceptions, mostly for Tanks, who spawn at set intervals during finales - one at the halfway point, one just before the end, and then another one as the rescue vehicle is arriving in a last-ditch effort to stop the Survivors - and at least one guaranteed spawn during a regular level in The Sacrifice, complete with a unique character skin.
131* ''VideoGame/MegaMan8BitDeathmatch'' has Mega Man?, who you fight three times throughout the story. He serves as a WarmUpBoss midway through Chapter 1, where his attacks are easily dodged and you have access to two weapons that can make quick work of him. You fight him again in Chapter 3, where things at first ''seem'' to be the same, but he turns out to be able to use the weapons found in the arena as well, and the arena is littered with traps. In Chapter 5, you only have the buster, while he has a veritable arsenal on call in addition to a chargeable buster -- [[PlayingWithFire Flame Sword]], [[TeleportSpam Centaur Flash]], [[ArmorPiercingAttack Yamato Spear]], and [[ThePowerOfTheSun Pharaoh Shot]], plus Wire Adaptor to chase you down. [[spoiler:He shows up once again in Chapter 6, [[BaitAndSwitchBoss only to be unceremoniously killed off by Dr. Wily when he arrives piloting Gamma]]]].
132* The Makron in ''VideoGame/QuakeIV'' is fought twice. The first time, he's unbeatable and captures you to be Stroggified.
133* ''VideoGame/{{Ultrakill}}'':
134** [[MirrorBoss V2]] is first encountered at the end of the Limbo layer, where [[KnowWhenToFoldEm it flees after V1 defeats it]] (leaving the [[ExplosivePunch Knuckleblaster]] arm behind). It is encountered again at the end of the Greed layer, where after reducing its health to half [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere it tries to flee once more]] through a hole in the wall. V1 does not feel like letting V2 escape a second time, though, and pursues its red counterpart down the wall of the pyramid they were fighting in. The fight culminates in V2 falling to [[LudicrousGibs its gory death]], with only the [[GrapplingHookPistol Whiplash]] arm left behind for V1 to collect.
135** V1 first meets [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Gabriel]] at the end of the Gluttony layer, where he serves as the final boss of Act I. Though he gives a good fight, Gabriel is ultimately forced to retreat after V1 puts up more resistance than he expected. [[SoreLoser He does]] ''[[SoreLoser not]]'' [[SoreLoser take to losing very well]], and [[WeWillMeetAgain swears to crush V1 in their rematch]]. Said rematch takes place at the end of the Heresy layer, where Gabriel once more serves as the final boss of Act II. While he spends half of the fight [[UnstoppableRage enraged]] at V1 for humiliating him, [[BloodKnight he somehow grows to enjoy the fight during the second half]], [[WhatIsThisFeeling something that confuses him greatly]]. After V1 defeats him again, rather than get mad [[GracefulLoser he accepts his defeat]] and takes his leave to [[ContemplateOurNavels reflect on his actions]]. If [[spoiler:his murdering the {{Council|OfAngels}}, [[YourDaysAreNumbered knowledge of his impending death]] and [[TheLastDance subsequent return to Hell]] in the ensuing cutscene]] are any indication, [[BackForTheFinale he's poised to return for Act III]].
136* ''VideoGame/{{Unreal}}'':
137** The Warlord from the original game appears two times -- once in a castle (from where he teleports before you get the chance to kill him) and the second time in a [[TheMotherShip mothership]]. If you do manage to kill the Warlord the first time, nothing changes - he still appears later on. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen It was also planned]] to include him in one of the first levels as a teaser, where he flies away before the player could attack him.
138** In the expansion ''Unreal: Return to Na Pali'', the Warlord appears once again, but it is explained that [[FacelessGoons it's a different one]].
139** The Titans also typically act as boss encounters, but are different creatures in every one.
140* Heavyweight enemies in ''VideoGame/ZenoClash''. They're not the only boss, but they seem to be a good 75%.
141[[/folder]]
142
143[[folder:Hack and Slash]]
144* Recurring rival bosses are a trend in the ''Bayonetta'' series:
145** The first ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' has Jeanne, whom you'll fight plenty of times. [[spoiler:And in the MonsterArena, you'll fight her even MORE often.]] As a fellow Umbra Witch with similar abilities as Bayonetta, she also doubles as a MirrorBoss.
146** ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta 2}}'' has the Masked Lumen being fought three times over the course of the main story. The BigBad, [[spoiler:Loptr]], is also fought three times in three different forms: His projection, his younger self, and his main self.
147** In ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta 3}}'', Strider takes the role. Both Bayonetta and Viola fight him at least twice each.
148* ''VideoGame/BloodySpell''
149** The Bloodthirster (a gigantic reptilian demon with horns and a powerful tail) needs to be fought at least ''seven'' times. It gets an upgrade from the fourth encounter onwards with you fighting [[LawOfChromaticSuperiority a stronger red version of the regular version]], and at least one of the last encounters sees you facing [[DualBoss two Bloodthirsters]].
150** Lu Ting-han is fought twice, though the first time occurs as mercy on your part - having mistaken ''you'' as a traitor, Lu Ting-han attacks you on sight until you defeat him; he then demands you kill him, but your refusal leads to him reacting with a DontYouDarePityMe... he finally buys it that you're ''not'' a traitor after you defeat and spares him a second time.
151* You fight Keith, your traitorous ex-comrade, thrice in ''VideoGame/NanoBreaker''. And he gets increasingly stronger and harder with each battle.
152[[/folder]]
153
154[[folder:Light Gun Game]]
155* ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'': The Magician, the FinalBoss of the first game, is brought back as a second-to-final boss in the second one, and then as a {{Superboss}} in the fourth one.
156* ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'':
157** The game has Wild Dog, who appears in every numbered installment of the series. Oddly enough, he's the ''only'' recurring character.
158** Jakov Kinsky attacks you several times throughout the first act of the second game, then you finally take him down in a proper boss fight at the end of the stage.
159** In the ''Time Crisis'' imitator ''Endgame'', it has Westermann who only appears three times in the story mode.
160[[/folder]]
161
162[[folder:Mecha Game]]
163* ''VideoGame/ArmoredCoreVIFiresOfRubicon'':
164** A second [=AH12=] HC helicopter [[spoiler:makes a surprise appearance at the end of "Survey the Uninhabited Floating City", alongside some backup]].
165** A second Balteus is fought in [[spoiler:"Destroy the Drive Block", the penultimate mission of the "Liberator of Rubicon" path, where the Balteus was salvaged by Arquebus and rebuilt into a piloted craft for V.II Snail]].
166** A second pair of Ekdromoi and a second CATAPHRACT [[spoiler:serve as the {{Wolfpack Boss}}s of "Obstruct the Mandatory Inspection"]].
167** A second Smart Cleaner is fought in [[spoiler:"Destroy the Drive Block", the penultimate mission of the "Liberator of Rubicon" path]].
168** During [[spoiler:the final boss fight against ALLMIND on the "Alea Iacta Est" path]], two phase two Sea Spiders appear as backup for the boss.
169[[/folder]]
170
171[[folder:[=MMORPGs=]]]
172* The Nemesis system in ''VideoGame/ChampionsOnline'' means you actually get to CREATE your own recurring Boss, as well as determine his powerset, personality, minions, and the minions' power type. And if you finally defeat him for good, you get to create another, or bring the previous nemesis back for another go!
173* In ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'':
174** One plot arc has you fighting the Envoy of Shadows (a powerful demon) multiple times. Even if you defeat him, he's still around after the mission. It's explained in-game that in order to send him packing for good, you have to learn his true name; after you manage that, his final ClimaxBoss defeat signals the end of the arc.
175** Over the course of the late game story arcs, you fight [[TheChessmaster Nemesis]] several times. Curiously, most of the time your contacts act like you've actually killed him (despite the game being NeverSayDie the rest of the time), but they always leave the bit of doubt that it really was Nemesis you killed. And then there's the possibility that it really is Nemesis '''EVERY''' time, but his consciousness is spread out over many different bodies.
176** One story arc also requires that you fight Mary [=MacComber=] -- and beat her, then the ''rest'' of her minions -- ten times in a row. Might qualify as a SequentialBoss, too.
177* ''Anime/DoraemonNobitasDinosaur'' has a 2006 DS Card Battle game (serving as a tie-in to the remake) where you control Nobita to take on Black Mask and his Dinosaur Riders (a group of {{evil poacher}}s hunting dinosaurs). The first boss, Tyrannorider Rex, is fought thrice, showing up later in the desert level and in the final stage, sandwiched between Black Mask and Dolmanstein.
178* Bosses in ''VideoGame/DragonNest'' tend to become EliteMooks and sometimes even end up as standard {{Mook}}s in higher leveled maps without losing any of their original power.
179* Jacoby Drexelhand from the introductory Korthos Island quests from ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline''. You first meet him as the NPC who opens the gate for you at Heyton's Rest, is revealed as the collaborator with the Sahuagin and the Devourer Cult in the instance appropriately titled The Collaborator, and after you dispatch him in that quest, he is brought back as an undead wight, who you have to kill again in the finale of Necromancer's Doom.
180* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', this is the modus operandi of the Primals. Primals are drawn into existence by belief, and then 'temper' those around them so that they worship the Primals unthinkingly. Even when they're destroyed temporarily, they keep getting brought back, and oftentimes stronger than ever.
181** From ''Heavensward'', we have Nidhogg, the dragon commanding the Dravanian dragon hoards against Ishgard. The first time he is fought is as a boss during The Aery dungeon. The second time is as a trial [[spoiler:after coming BackFromTheDead by possessing the dragoon Estinien]].
182** Zenos yae Galvus shows up repeatedly over the course of ''Stormblood''. The first two times, he pulls out just what he needs from his Ronco Peel-O-Matic knife rack. The third time, all the chips are down. [[spoiler: And then he fuses with Shinryu. He shows up a fourth time as an instance boss near the end of the MSQ (albeit with an [[GreaterScopeVillain Ascian]] controlling his corpse), then a fifth and final time at the end of ''Endwalker'' as another instance boss (no Asican possession this time).]]
183** Gilgamesh, a guest character from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', is fought twice over the course the 2.X Hildebrand questline: once on a Big Bridge, and again in a Big Keep. [[spoiler:He shows up a third time in Kugane Ohashi (another big bridge) in the 4.X Hildebrand questline after discarding his disguise as the mercenary samurai Yojimbo. If one is to count the boss fight in Kugane Castle when he fights in his Yojimbo disguise, that extends the count to four battles with Gilgamesh total.]]
184** Diabolos first appears as the boss of The Lost City of Amdapor in ''A Realm Reborn''. He fakes his death there and comes back for the ''Heavensward'' expansion's 24-man raids, serving as the final boss of Dun Scaith, where he dies. [[spoiler:Then he comes back two expansions later as The Diablo Armament, final boss of the ''Dalriada'' dungeon.]]
185* '''Every''' ''VideoGame/MarvelAvengersAlliance'' boss escapes in the end of the fight (either by teleportation, or because one of his goons created a distraction for them to flee). If not, they're later freed from prison by others.
186* Nezikchened in ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'' is this, as you fight him three times throughout the course of one quest. There's also Sigmund as well, who is also fought three times throughout three different quests. Regarding Nezikchened, after that quest, you can do While Guthix Sleeps, part of the larger story arc in the game. At one point, you are tracking down a wizard, and in his miscellaneous diary, he remarks that although the totem poles in the Kharazi Jungle have returned to normal (basically, what you did during the quest with Nezikchened), an ancient demon is still present, hinting that he might be coming back.
187* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'':
188** HK-47 and Revan: Imperial players fight both in The Foundry flashpoint. Darth Malgus rebuilds HK-47 and players from both sides fight him in The False Emperor flashpoint. Revan is the final boss of the Temple of Sacrifice operation; he summons HK-47 during the fight, and flees at the end. The PlayerCharacter and their allies track him down and finish him off.
189** Kephess is the end boss of the Explosive Conflict operation, then is resurrected as a cyborg by the Dread Masters and appears in the Terror From Beyond operation. Clones of Kephess are summoned during the Darth Brontes fight at the end of the Dread Fortress operation.
190** Dread Master Styrak is the final boss of the Scum and Villany operation, and Dread Master Brontes is the final boss of the Dread Fortress operation. The Dread Palace operation opens with individual fights against each of the four surviving Dread Masters (Bestia, Tyrans, Calphayus, and Raptus), then all four are fought at once, along with the spirits of Styrak and Brontes, for the final fight.
191** Tenebrae, Sith Emperor Vitiate, and Eternal Emperor Valkorion – all the same guy in multiple guises – appears as the final boss of the Jedi Knight story (Vitiate), a boss fight in Chapter XII of ''Knights of the Fallen Empire'' (Valkorion), the final boss of ''Knights of the Eternal Throne'' (Valkorion again), and the final boss of Echoes of Oblivion (all three forms).
192** Valkorion's children Arcann and Vaylin are both fought multiple times over the course of ''Knights of the Fallen Empire'' and ''Knights of the Eternal Throne''.
193** Darth Malgus was the final boss of The False Emperor flashpoint. After he returns, he's also the final boss of the Republic version of the Operation Meridian flashpoint.
194* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'':
195** The game has the Lich King himself as this during the ''Wrath of the Lich King'' expansion. Players face him multiple times as they level through Northrend, culminating in the single-player quest "Tirion's Gambit", then the 5-player dungeon Halls of Reflection, and finally the actual raid encounter in Icecrown Citadel.
196** The Blood Prince Council consists of three vampiric Darkfallen players killed in quests or dungeons earlier in the game, reanimated and empowered by the Orb. Two of them have abilities reminiscent of their strategy from the first time ([[PlayingWithFire Fireballs]] and [[CastingAShadow Shadowbolts]] for Taldaram and Keleseth respectively), but Valanar has bizarrely developed kinetic energy manipulation.
197** Grand Ma'da Ateena in Nazmir serves as this for the Horde. She flees from combat four times before finally dying during the fifth encounter at the end of the zone's storyline.
198[[/folder]]
199
200[[folder:Party Game]]
201* ''VideoGame/MarioPartyTheTop100'': Donkey Kong and Bowser both appear at multiple points during Minigame Island to challenge the player to minigames. While Donkey Kong's minigames feature him as the opponent, the player never gets a chance to fight back against Bowser until The Final Battle.
202[[/folder]]
203
204[[folder:Platform Game]]
205* ''VideoGame/BangOnBallsChronicles'': [[BigBad Bob Boss]] is fought at the end of each world. Downplayed, though, as the world are supposed to be movies in-universe, and he plays a different character each time.
206* ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'': Klungo is fought a total of three times: immediately after leaving the "training" level and entering the hub, a second time roughly halfway through the game, and a third right as the player enters the lair of the BigBad. As is par for the course in this game, the recurrence is Lampshaded by Banjo and Kazooie.
207* ''VideoGame/BombermanHero'' has Nitros, who's fought in the second area of each planet (except for Mazone, where he appears in the final area instead) and the BossRush at the end of the game, for a total of five fights.
208* In ''VideoGame/{{Catherine}}'', the boss "The Child" counts as this. Players would already notice that it doesn't disappear like the previous bosses and instead falls off the final level of the fourth stage. It reappears again as "Child with a Chainsaw" on the final level of the sixth stage, naturally to Vincent's horror.
209* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'': The swarm of Wankas (wasps) that persistently steal the Queen Bee's hive are fought twice during the game. It's only necessary to escape from them with the hive in the first case, while dodging the stings from the angry trio that leads the colony. The second time, however, Conker has to exterminate almost all of them before even trying to take the hive back to the Queen Bee (which in turn requires dodging the three leaders' attacks during the escape phase).
210* Deadeye Joe in ''VideoGame/ContraHardCorps'', depending on whether the player chooses to pursue him at the end of the first stage or not.
211* Crunch Bandicoot from ''VideoGame/CrashBandicootTheWrathOfCortex'' is of the third variety, showing up about five times including the [[FinalBoss final stage]].
212* Arma in ''VideoGame/DemonsCrest'', who Firebrand fights three times, each time dropping a different crest as a reward.
213* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'':
214** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1'': Two bosses fought early (Very Gnawty and Master Necky) return later, slightly faster and more difficult, but otherwise near exactly the same.
215** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'': Two of the bosses, Army Dillo and Dogadon, are fought twice each, their rematches giving more powerful and harder battles. Army Dillo is challenged in both fights by Donkey Kong, while Dogadon is challenged by Diddy in the first and by Chunky in the second.
216* Weasleby in ''VideoGame/HenryHatsworthInThePuzzlingAdventure''. He even has two different battle themes.
217* ''VideoGame/{{Iconoclasts}}'':
218** [[CorporateSamurai Silver Watchman]] shows up as a boss three times in the Tower, and he gets possessed by the boss of the Dark Cave.
219** [[TheDragon Agent Black]] gets two boss battles near the end of the game, [[spoiler:and a OneWingedAngel form for her rematch]].
220* [[ArchEnemy Asha]] returns twice in ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' after you first encounter him; the second time you cross paths he [[{{Anticlimax}} teleports away without attacking you]], but the last time he fights to the death. If you were hoping to [[CurbStompBattle nuke]] him again, too bad, he's now fast enough to [[BeyondTheImpossible dodge it despite the enclosed space]].
221* In ''VideoGame/KeithCourageInAlphaZones'', [[DegradedBoss the first boss later reappears as a mook,]] Stitch and Baron Chairman return as a DualBoss in Stage 5, and Mr. Roboto, ThatOneBoss, receives an upgraded PaletteSwap for the FinalBoss battle.
222* ''VideoGame/MarsupilamiHoobadventure'' contains [[DemBones the evil ghost]]. He's the only boss in the game, and is fought at the end of each world. Though calling his fights "Fights" are a bit of a stretch, as instead of fighting him, you instead [[GetBackHereBoss chase him through various platforming gauntlets]] until he stops to take a breath, and the Marsupilami you're currently playing as [[CutsceneBoss completely obliterates him]].
223* ''VideoGame/MasterOfDarkness'': The mastermind behind the evil haunting London, Count Massen, is fought three times in the game, being the boss of every stage from 3 onwards.
224* ''Franchise/MegaMan'':
225** Nearly every game throughout the entire franchise, especially the ''VideoGame/MegaManClassic'' and ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series, has players fight the Robot Masters[=/=]Mavericks [[BossRush a second time through during the final stages of the game]], albeit with access to all of the weapons and other upgrades they collected over the course of the game. Much like before the final stages, players can rematch the bosses in any order they choose.
226** Break Man (who is actually Proto Man) in ''VideoGame/MegaMan3''.
227** In his first appearance, Ballade had to be fought twice before the game ends. Interestingly, his second phase has been completely dropped in future games, with his battles using the second attack pattern, but his original appearance.
228** Bass in the ''Classic'' series. He's your WarmUpBoss in ''7'', before you later fight him one-on-one in Dr. Wily's first castle stage, then he merges with Treble in the second stage. Then you fight him again in Wily's castle in ''VideoGame/MegaMan8''.
229** High Max of ''VideoGame/MegaManX6'' is invincible in the intro stage and requires two particular attacks in order to defeat him when you meet him again. ([[FakeDifficulty Unfortunately]], you're also able to encounter him later ''without'' having acquired the requisite attacks, leading to a HopelessBossFight that merely ends in a GameOver.)
230** In ''X5'' there's Dynamo, a bounty hunter who is hired to stall the heroes as they try to prevent the [[ColonyDrop Eurasia Colony]] from falling onto Earth. He teleports out when his health bar runs out, only to reappear a while later until he flees for good. He's also in ''X6'', but only as an optional boss.
231** And of course, there's the infamous Vile, starting off as [[HopelessBossFight unbeatable]] in his first introduction in ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX1 X1]]'', only to be defeated in the BigBad's final fortress. He shows up after being resurrected in both ''X3'' and ''X8'', fueled by his hatred of the Hunters and X in particular. His appearance in ''X8'' deserves special mention, as he can be fought up to ''six times'' throughout the game. The first four are him randomly replacing the MultiMookMelee rooms found in most of the regular stages -- after that, he appears as the boss of the Jakob Elevator stage, and then finally as the miniboss of the final level.
232** [[PunnyName Bit & Byte]] come back in ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX3 X3]]'' if you [[GuideDangIt don't kill them with a specific weapon]].
233** The X-Hunters in ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX2 X2]]'' are fought a second time in the final fortress, two of three in their OneWingedAngel forms.
234** Colonel in ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX4 X4]]'' is fought twice in X's story path, his first battle being replaced by a cutscene in Zero's.
235** Prometheus and Pandora in ''VideoGame/MegaManZX'' are each fought individually before showing up together for a DualBoss fight as the penultimate battle. They then return in ''Advent'' to fight another DualBoss battle as the penultimate fight.
236** Shadow Man is a miniboss version of this trope in ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity''. He first shows up in 3 of the Robot Master Stages. He makes his last supposed appearance in Cossack Castle Stage, riding a kite.
237* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
238** ''VideoGame/Metroid1'' set the tradition in itself and subsequent games to have Ridley appear as a ClimaxBoss for the series as a whole. He's made in appearance near the end of almost every game in the franchise, and has even shown up twice in two of them. The only games Ridley doesn't show up in some form are ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'' (this is, even then, changed in the remake), ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'', ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidDread''.
239** ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'': As part of the game's premise, Samus has to exterminate all Metroids she encounters during her mission in [=SR388=], and all of them (save for the baby Metroids found in the last area, acting like a MultiMookMelee instead) are fought in MiniBoss form. The only unique bosses are Arachnus and Queen Metroid; the remake ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'' adds two more (Diggernaut and [[spoiler:Proteus Ridley]]).
240** ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' has the SA-X. Some encounters are avoidable entirely as long as Samus doesn't expose herself, but the later ones always force you to give yourself away to it and then flee. It can be stunned with Ice Missiles, but only briefly. Also in ''Fusion'', the B.O.X. security robot is the first variety. In the initial encounter it's merely gone rogue, and Samus does enough damage to expose its [[WetwareCPU organic components]] before it flees. It subsequently reappears much later in the game, having been taken over by [[TheAssimilator the X]].
241** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'': The eponymous monster Metroid Prime shows up as a final boss in all three home console games: as itself in the original game, and as Dark Samus afterwards. In ''Echoes'', in turn, you fight Dark Samus a total of three times.
242** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters'': Slench and Cretaphid are fought four times each, and every rematch increases their power and endurance. The rival Hunters can also challenge Samus more than once if she stands on their way (or viceversa).
243** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'':
244*** You must fight Meta Ridley three times: He harasses you while you're using Morph Ball to navigate between towers the first time, then you fight him while plummeting down a shaft, and finally when attacking the third Leviathan seed, where he's powered up by Phazon and labelled ''Omega Ridley''.
245*** The Berserker Lord is challenged twice: The first time occurs in GFS ''Olympus'' (being also the boss of this tutelary location), and the second in Elysia as a MiniBoss.
246*** Though it's a SkippableBoss in every instance, the Metroid Hatcher can be challenged up to three times over the course of the game: Pirate Homeworld, Norion, GFS ''Valhalla''.
247** ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'':
248*** Rheodigan, the flying anomalocarid alien, fights Samus ''four times'' in the story mode. After the fourth fight, it finally dies and gives up the Seeker Missiles. It's pushed even farther in the PlayableEpilogue, where you have an enemy rush before the post-final boss: there are ''two other Rheodigans'', but they die there and then.
249*** Nightmare both returns from ''Metroid Fusion'' and is fought twice within ''Other M.''
250*** The Mystery Creature turns out to set up a recurring boss, [[spoiler:because it's a younger form of Ridley, who is fought later.]]
251* Tsubai in ''VideoGame/PanzerBandit'' has a MiniBoss fight with a smaller lifebar midway through Stage 5, which he serves later in a full-fledged BossFight. Add to that his third fight as part of the end-game BossRush.
252* The Knight in the SNES version of ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia1'', initially encountered in Level 16, returns as a blue {{palette swap}} with more HP in Level 18.
253* All of the bosses in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2008'' have to be fought six times before they can be defeated for good.
254* The Dhaka in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin''; the only option is to escape until the very end, [[spoiler:where it serves as the TrueFinalBoss if you've achieved HundredPercentCompletion.]]
255* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank''
256** The Thug Leader in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando Going Commando]]'' is fought three times. The first battle is a helicopter battle, while the second and third are {{Marathon Boss}}es.
257** [=ShellShock=] from ''[[VideoGame/RatchetDeadlocked Deadlocked]]'' requires you to face him almost five times in the same arena before he finally succumbs to you.
258** Flint Vorselon in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureACrackInTime A Crack in Time]]'' can be fought three times, but only two are mandatory to beat the game. The final battle with him is as a {{Superboss}} after defeating the final boss.
259* Kurtz from ''VideoGame/RunSaber'' serves as a MiniBoss in Stages 2, 4, and 5.
260* The 2004 version of ''VideoGame/SabreWulf'' takes this to the point of exaggeration: you "fight" (or rather, [[TheJuggernaut run the hell away from]]) the titular beast at the end of ''every'' level as it chases you back to the start. It instantly kills anything besides you and it in the entire level, and runs much faster than you, but it can't turn around as fast as you can, so you can slow it down by repeatedly jumping over it. Incidentally, even if you trick it into falling down a hole, it'll be back again next level, no worse for wear.
261* In ''VideoGame/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents2004'', members of Olaf’s troupe such as the Bald Man and the White-Faced Women keep coming back to fight the children. The Hook-Handed Man acts as Olaf’s second-in-command and assists him in fighting the children, but he’s not an actual boss until the Marvelous Marriage.
262* In ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'', [[BigBad Dr. M]] is fought in a total of ''six'' battles, and is both the first and final bosses of the game.
263* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
264** In most 2-D games, Doctor Robotnik/Eggman is an extreme example of this. Not only is he a boss in every game, but the boss of almost every level therein; other bosses are the exception rather than the rule. He runs away after his vehicle is destroyed, and has a new one ready by the next encounter.
265** Certain boss vehicles also return quite regularly. The [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Emerald Hill Zone boss]] turns up in the final boss of ''VideoGame/{{Sonic Advance|Trilogy}}'', and the [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Metropolis Zone boss]] turns up in ''Sonic & Knuckles'', and gets a variant in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4''. Similarly ''Sonic 4'' also brings back the [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Casino Night Zone boss]], and the [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Labyrinth Zone boss]] and [[Videogame/SonicTheHedgehog Green Hill Zone boss]] who also turns up in [[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles Sky Sanctuary Zone]] and [[VideoGame/SonicAdvanceTrilogy X Zone]]. Similarly, Generations also brings back [[VideoGame/SonicAdventure Perfect Chaos]] (whose fight is almost identical), [[VideoGame/SonicUnleashed the Egg Dragoon]] and the [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Death Egg Robot]] who also reappears at the end of ''Sonic & Knuckles'' as part of the TrueFinalBoss, and at the end of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4'' as the FinalBoss, except in ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' it's merely [[DegradedBoss the first boss]].
266** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' has Chaos, who is fought multiple times across multiple characters' campaigns. Each time they are fought, their appearance changes as a result of the Chaos Emeralds they absorb.
267** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' has two recurrent boss battles between characters of each opposing side: Sonic VS. Shadow, and Tails VS. Eggman.
268** ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'' has the [[BigBad Deadly Six]], who are the only bosses in the game [[spoiler:(excluding Eggman as the final boss)]], and each member is fought three times throughout.
269* ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'':
270** Gnasty Gnorc is a special case. He doesn't appear more than once in the same game, but he's appeared in multiple games (the first and fifth). Ripto is the same case, except he appeared in the second and fourth games.
271** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroTheEternalNight'' has a great number of Dreadwing minibosses scattered throughout the entire game. One is a main boss, the Assassin, whom you fight twice, once in the first level and once in the last. You also fight Skabb twice during the Sky Pirates arc.
272* The first ''VideoGame/StriderArcade'' has Solo, who you fight twice (three times if you can't defeat him the first one). The sequel has Solo reprise it as a MiniBoss in two stages (his first fight now being [[SequentialBoss sequential]]), and has Hien become one in the PSX port exclusive Stage 0.
273* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
274** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' has you fighting Bowser no less than eight times, with the eighth and final Bowser being the genuine one (all the other Bowsers being mooks of his transformed through his magic).
275** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosTheLostLevels'': Bowser retains his role as the sole boss character Mario and Luigi face, this time in an increased total of twelve encounters (two real, ten fake).
276** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'': Birdo is fought in almost every level, though with some variations along the way: The pink specimen shoots eggs, the green and gray ones shoot fire, and the red one shoots both kinds of projectiles. Also, two of the major bosses (Mouser and Tryclide) are fought twice each.[[note]]In ''VideoGame/DokiDokiPanic'', Mouser is fought ''three'' times, but the third fight is replaced by Clawgrip in the ''Mario'' revision; in the ''Advance'' remake, the second Tryclide is replaced by the second Mouser fight, which in turn was moved from its original setting in favor of an all-new boss, Robirdo.[[/note]] Mouser has to be hit five times with his own bombs in the second fight (as opposed to only three in the first), while Tryclyde remains unchanged.
277** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'': Boom Boom guards every fortress except the one within the spiral mountain that connects the ground with the sky in World 5, and also guards the military levels in World 8. In the early fights, he jumps higher after being hit, while in the later ones he flies for a limited time before trying to charge at Mario and Luigi.
278** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'': Reznor serves as the miniboss fought at the end of each Fortress level. They are always fought in the same fashion (spitting fire at Mario and Luigi while riding a wooden carousel), but that's not an issue since there are only four Fortresses to begin with.
279** ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'': You fight Bowser three times, and the strategy is the same in all cases with some variations. In the first two fights, it's only necessary to throw him onto one of the explosive mines, and the reward is a key that opens a door leading to a new part of the Castle; in the third fight, Bowser can only be defeated after ''three'' explosions, and Mario's victory leads to Peach's liberation and the game's conclusion.
280** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'': Bowser Jr., under the Shadow Mario persona, is fought a total of 11 times (not counting his indirect participation in the Mecha-Bowser and Bowser battles). Once per main level, and four times in the HubLevel (in the latter fights, he's always carrying someone or something with him: Peach, Yoshi, Turbo Nozzle and Rocket Nozzle). Other bosses with more than one battle include the Polluted Piranha Plant (five times; it's defeated after three hits in the first three fights, while it takes six in the last two), Petey Piranha (twice) and Gooper Blooper (three times).
281** ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'': Bowser Jr. is fought in all Tower levels in the original ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros1'' (as well as alongside Bowser in the final battle), and in all Airship levels in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'' and ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosU''; his tactics do change in the majority of cases, keeping things fresh. The Koopalings are fought twice each in ''Wii'' (the first time as minibosses in the Towers, and the second as actual bosses in the Castles), Reznor recurs in all Tower levels in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros2'', and Boom Boom does in the majority of Tower levels in ''U''. Bowser himself is only fought more than once in the original ''New'' game (and one instance as Dry Bowser).
282** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'': Multiple bosses are fought more than once each, whether by way of a Prankster Comet challenge that remixes an existing mission, or by simply reappearing in a later level. Topmaniac in the first game stands out for appearing in up to ''four'' fights by using both methods (it first appears in Battlerock Galaxy and again in Dreadnought Galaxy, the first instances is then repeated by a [[OneHitPointWonder Daredevil Comet]] and the second by a [[TimedMission Speedy Comet]]). In both games, Bowser is fought three times, mirroring the case of ''Super Mario 64''.
283** ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DLand'': Boom Boom, Pom Pom and Bowser are the only bosses in the game, so it's expected for Mario and eventually Luigi to face them numerous times across the sixteen worlds. Also, in order to achieve HundredPercentCompletion and unlock the final BrutalBonusLevel, both plumbers have to complete all levels (including the ones with bosses) separately.
284** ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'': Boom Boom and Pom Pom reprise their role as recurring bosses, but the bigger catalogue of bosses reduces their frequency considerably (prior to the BossRush level in the 11th world, Boom Boom is only found in the respective Tank levels of Worlds 2 and 6, while Pom Pom is in the respective Train levels of Worlds 3 and 8). Bowser himself is fought in World 1 and 7, and once again in 8 under his debuting Meowser persona. In the mode ''Bowser's Fury'' added to the Switch version, this trope is invoked by Fury Bowser, since he's intended to appear periodically as Mario explore the islands of Lake Lapcat. The other bosses to have additional fights prior to the BossRush level are Boss Brolder, Prince Bully and Motley Bossblob (the two Hisstocrats are fought once each separarely, so they don't count).
285** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'': The Broodals are fought twice each during the run of the story: Topper in the Cap and Bowser Kingdoms, Hariet in the Sand and Bowser Kingdoms, Rango in the Lake and Snow Kingdoms, Spewart in the Wooded and Luncheon Kingdoms, and Madame Broode in the Cascade and Moon Kingdoms. Bowser, meanwhile, is fought twice: Once in Cloud Kingdom and again for the final battle in the Moon Kingdom. Afterwards, the next time they and all other bosses except Bowser are fought will be in the post-game worlds.
286** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBrosWonder'': Bowser Jr. serves as the boss of all the Palace levels, while the Bowser-shaped generator engine serve as the boss of the Battleship levels.
287** ''VideoGame/YoshisNewIsland'': [[EvilSorceror Kamek]] appears as the boss of every [[MiniDungeon mid-world fortress]], sharply contrasting the first two ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' games where he is TheUnfought and all mid-world fortresses have each its own mini-boss.
288** ''VideoGame/YoshisWoollyWorld'' features two recurring bosses: Big Montgomery the Monty Mole, and Knot-Wing the Koopa Paratroopa. Big Montgomery is fought every odd numbered fortress, Knot-Wing the even.
289** In ''VideoGame/WarioMasterOfDisguise'', Count Cannoli is fought a total of three times: Episodes 1, 2 and the start of 9. Carpaccio plays with the trope: He's challenged in a proper fight in Episode 4, then in a RacingMinigame at the end of Episode 9.
290* Big John, the ''T. rex''-looking first boss from ''VideoGame/ViewtifulJoe 2'', comes back at least twice as a SubBoss. And wears a PaperThinDisguise as "Big Lee", who spends the better part of a minute denying he's really Big John before proving a BaitAndSwitchBoss. You DO get to fight him a second time... except it's shapeshifting robot Miss Bloody Rachel. He finally gets his rematch with you in ''Red Hot Rumble''. Captain Blue does this in the first game.
291[[/folder]]
292
293[[folder:Real-Time Strategy]]
294* ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'':
295** The Imperial cruiser and carrier in the original game are Type 3 in their early appearances: you encounter a ship of each type in multiple missions, they are the most dangerous opponents every time (the cruiser due sheer firepower, the carrier due its ability to build other ships and because its escape often means automatic loss), and once you've killed them you only need to mop up. In the final mission they are degraded to TheDragon level, though, as the ''first two'' cruisers and the first carrier you face lead the enemy attack forces while the second carrier and the ''second three cruisers'' are guarding the BigBad's ship.
296** The Beast's Mothership in ''[[VideoGame/HomeworldCataclysm Cataclysm]]'' is a Type 2: you first encounter it at its weakest, when it's still just your original hangar module that you jettisoned when it got [[TheCorruption corrupted by the Beast]], but you have no idea what happened to it and don't dare to go near and have to run when [[TooDumbToLive a large Turanic-Taiidan Imperialist force doesn't listen your warnings and gets corrupted]]; the second time you meet it it's complete, and you are forced to run again when your newly-acquired [[WaveMotionGun Siege Cannon]] fails to disintegrate it due you having no idea of how it works; it's only at the third encounter that you can finally destroy it with the Siege Cannon, now fully operative thanks to help from its original builders.
297* ''VideoGame/Pikmin2'': The Empress Bulblax is generally the first boss you'll fight at the start of the game; she reappears much later in two other holes. In your second and third encounters with her, she becomes a FlunkyBoss capable of summoning the fragile-but-deadly (to your Pikmin, that is) Bulborb Larvae. While her "main" attack (rolling) remains the same, the addition of {{Mooks}} makes you change your strategy.
298* ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty'': One of the optional protoss missions pits you against Maar, a zerg/protoss hybrid that can't be killed by conventional means. Every time you defeat him he teleports back to his base, regenerates and comes at you again, getting stronger and stronger the longer this cycle continues. The only way to take him down permanently is to destroy the part of his base from where he draws his power.
299[[/folder]]
300
301[[folder:Role-Playing Game]]
302* Pison in ''VideoGame/The7thSaga''. Combined with PaletteSwap, as he becomes Red-Pison (yes, they actually call him this) and Metal-Pison.
303* ''VideoGame/AtelierIris2TheAzothOfDestiny'' has Chaos, TheRival with the twin to [[TheHero Felt's]] sword. And despite being optional, Punis Taro, Jiro, and Kichi in almost every ''VideoGame/AtelierSeries'' game are of the third variety.
304* ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos'':
305** In ''Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean'', Giacomo and his crew appear several times as bosses, even forcing two difficult fights sequentially (to the annoyance of many gamers). They've even got their own [[{{Leitmotif}} theme music]], "Chaotic Dance."
306** Giacomo also appears several times in ''Origins'' (complete with a remixed "Chaotic Dance"), though he's rather less threatening and stops showing up near the end of Disc 1.
307** It also features outer dimensional worm creatures which break through where reality is weak, or something along those lines. Also, one of the supporting bad guys turns into a [[EyesDoNotBelongThere crotch-eyed abomination]] which gets [[PaletteSwap mirrored in one]] of the optional {{sidequest}}s [[ShiftingSandLand in the desert.]]
308** In ''Baten Kaitos Origins'', the heroes have to face one boss, the Lord of the Lava Caves, three times in about ten minutes of game. Notable because the (otherwise serious) heroes [[LampshadeHanging hang lampshades]] all over the encounter, complaining bitterly about how difficult the boss is and how annoying the repetitive fights are, and even stomping spitefully on his corpse when he goes down for good.
309* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'': almost all of the bosses, their reuses usually coming in the Chalice Dungeons. The only bosses in the base game who don't get reused are these nine: Gehrman, the Moon Presence, Mergo's Wet Nurse, Queen Yharnam, Martyr Logarius, the One Reborn, Vicar Amelia, Father Gascoigne, and the Cleric Beast (who ''is'' reused with modifications in the DLC, as Laurence's first phase).
310* The ''VideoGame/BreathOfFire'' series has several examples:
311** ''VideoGame/{{Breath of Fire|I}}'' has the Knight and General bosses being fought atleast twice, and then one more time in their OneWingedAngel form. Other bosses who are fought twice are [=RugaX=], Mothra and Cerl.
312** ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireII'' has Barubary/Barbaroi and the Goldfly, fought two and three times respectively. FinalBoss Deathevans fights you twice, his first fight being just a ZeroEffortBoss.
313** ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireIII'' has the "Horse Brothers" Balio and Sunder, a DualBoss: the first battle against them is [[HopelessBossFight unwinnable]], the second can be won (but can also be lost without getting a Game Over), and it's in the third battle where you finally get rid of them for good. Garr as well, being fought twice (the first of which is also [[HopelessBossFight unwinnable]]).
314** Bosch in ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireDragonQuarter''. Including his dragonized form, he is fought at least three times.
315* ''VideoGame/BugFables'':
316** Mothiva and Zasp, the rival exploration team that tries to take away Team Snakemouth's fame, are fought twice in the game: first time in the Golden Hills in Chapter 2, and the second time in the Termite Colosseum in Chapter 6, where they are much stronger than before.
317** [[BigBad The Wasp King]] is also fought twice: first time at the beginning of the Chapter 5 in a HopelessBossFight, and the second time as the FinalBoss of the game, with [[OneWingedAngel an upgraded form]].
318** Cenn and Pisci, the thug duo from the "Explorer Check!" sidequest, are fought twice: first time in the Ant Kingdom, where they immediately run for it, and later they have to be refought in their hideout near the Explorers' Association.
319** General Ultimax is fought twice, first as the last battle of Chapter 5 with a pair of [[EliteMooks elite]] Wasp soldiers, then as the main boss of Chapter 6 [[spoiler:spending most of the battle in the ULTIMAX Tank.]]
320* ''VideoGame/TheCaligulaEffect'' has Wicked, who's fought three times (once as a DuelBoss, a second time with your whole party, and a third time as part of the endgame BossBonanza [[DualBoss alongside Mirei]]). ''[[UpdatedRerelease Overdose]]'' adds Stork, who's fought ''four'' times; three times in his dungeon, and a fourth also as part of the endgame.
321* Solt and Peppor in ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' are the first type. Your first several fights with them serve primarily to teach you about the combat system as they make horrible tactical mistakes. Eventually, you fight them in a sidequest and they're actually almost difficult.
322* The Asylum Demon, Stray Demon, and Demon Firesage in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' are practically identical, though the Stray Demon and Demon Firesage add powerful fire attacks to their repertoire. Taurus Demons, Capra Demons, Moonlight Butterflies, Pinwheels, Bell Gargoyles, and Sanctuary Guardians also show up multiple times, first as solo bosses and then as minibosses. And Kirk, Knight of the Thorns, is the only NPC to invade you more than once.
323* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'' has the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pursuer]], whom you fight as a boss early in the game and returns to fight you again in multiple locations throughout Drangleic. [[NewGamePlus NG+]] kicks things up a notch by having you fight two Pursuers at once in Drangleic Castle.
324* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' has Crystal Sages, Dragonslayer Armors, Deacons of the Deep, Fire Demons, and Lothric Wyverns, who show up in both boss and non-boss forms throughout the game but with essentially identical behavior.
325* In ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga 2'', you fight [[QuirkyMinibossSquad Earth, Air, and Heaven]] twice as you make your way through Karma Society. After this, Earth shows up by himself for a third fight in the E.G.G. [[spoiler:where you find he has [[EatenAlive devoured Air and Heaven]] and his demon form has transformed into Abaddon]].
326* In ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'', the Godwoken encounter the {{Kraken|AndLeviathan}} three times. In the prologue, it's an unstoppable CutsceneBoss who shipwrecks them. In the final Act, it's an OptionalBoss that they can intercept and drive off. Finally, it breaches TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon from the Void to deliver a WolfpackBoss to the final fight.
327* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
328** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIII'': You fight Baramos once at the end of the Disc-One Final Dungeon, before fighting his soul and bones each separately as The Very Definitely Final Dungeon draws to a close.
329** [[BigBad Rhapthorne]] from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII''. Counting the [[SealedEvilInACan different people he possesses,]] you fight [[DiscOneFinalBoss Dhoulmagus]], then an [[OneWingedAngel upgraded form]] of Dhoulmagus, then [[spoiler:Jessica after she's been possessed]], then Sir Leopold. And though Marcello resists Rhapthorne, he's still using Rhapthorne's staff against you, so he counts. Then you finally go fight the man himself in [[ClippedWingAngel tiny baby mode]], and then battle two different stages of him in the final boss battle. All told, that's having to beat him ''[[ArcNumber eight]] times'' before he finally goes down.
330* Bradley in ''VideoGame/{{Dubloon}}''. The first time you see him, he's a HopelessBossFight, but on subsequent encounters, he escapes before you can kill him, and then [[RankUp he moves up a rank]]. [[VillainForgotToLevelGrind Or at least he's supposed to]].
331* ''[[VideoGame/{{Mother}} EarthBound Series]]'':
332** In ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'', Master Belch returns to fight Ness and his friends once again under the new name of Master Barf. This is {{Lampshaded}} better in the Japanese original, where his new name translates as "Return of Belch."
333** ''VideoGame/Mother3'': After falling from Thunder Tower, Fassad returns with musical horns attached. He battles Lucas at one of the needles, then returns in the sewers of New Pork City for one last fight.
334* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'' reuses nearly every boss and miniboss, to varying degrees.
335** Major bosses associated with an achievement are either never reused, or only reused once or twice. If they are reused, the earlier appearance will usually only be able to employ a small fraction of their overall move set (on top of being much weaker) to keep the fights distinct. It's not too noticeable as their move sets are roughly twice as big as a regular boss's anyway. In-universe, it'll be explained that either the boss is simply a very rare type of being rather than a specific individual, or if it is a specific individual, that you were either FightingAShadow or their relative who looks/fights like them. Totally unique bosses include Malenia, Rennala, Radahn, Rykard, the God-Devouring Serpent, the Fire Giant, Placidusax, Radagon, Hoarah Loux,[[note]]He's technically the same character as Godfrey, but they're different bosses with completely distinct move sets and models.[[/note]] Maliketh,[[note]]Same story as Hoarah Loux: technically the same character as the Beast Clergyman, but is distinct as an actual boss.[[/note]] and the Elden Beast (these eleven are uniquely never reused). Bosses reused once or twice with their move sets usually significantly expanded in the stronger fight include Fortissax/Lansseax, Commanders O'Neill/Niall, Blaidd/Baleful Shadow, Godrick/Godefroy, Ancestor Spirits, Dragonkin Soldiers, Red Wolves of Radagon, Mimic Tears, Astels, Fallingstar Beasts, Godfrey, Loretta, Mohg, Morgott/Margit, and the Beast Clergyman. The invader-type bosses[[note]]Like Adan, Moongrum, Esgar, Fia's Champions, Necromancer Garris, Patches, Sir Gideon Ofnir, and Esgar.[[/note]] are with one exception (Vyke) also never reused, though they're lacking in uniqueness in the first place.
336** Some bosses who don't fit the above definition have two or three variants with slightly different move sets and are overall used four or five times, but their move sets are not as complex as major bosses (even with variants considered) and they usually don't much story relevance. Lore-wise they're usually just rare classes of beings rather than specific individuals. These include Godskin Apostles, Godskin Nobles, Magma Wyrms, Bell-Bearing Hunters/Elemer of the Briar, Deathbirds, Death Rite Birds, Tree Sentinels/Draconic Tree Sentinels, Tibia Mariners, Demi-Human Queens, and Valiant Gargoyles/Black Blade Kindred.
337** Field/Dungeon bosses are reused constantly (over ten for some types), usually also have two or three variants, and show up as minibosses later in the game (i.e. they're as strong or stronger than they always were but they're not treated as bosses because they don't get their own arenas or screen-spanning health bars). However, they're still distinct from the dozens of mere DegradedBoss types[[note]]Like Trolls, Demi-Human Chiefs, Beastmen, Battlemages, Pumpkin Heads, Bloodhound Knights, Grave Warden Duelists, Sanguine Nobles, Guardian Golems, and Cleanrot Knights.[[/note]] because more often than not they don't respawn. These bosses include Leonine Misbegotten/Warriors/Crusaders, Cemetery Shades, Lion Guardians, wyvern-type Dragons, Erdtree Burial Watchdogs, Onyx/Alabaster Lords, Grafted Scions, Black Knives, Tree Crucible Knights, Axe Crucible Knights, Crystalians, Tree Spirits, Erdtree Avatars, and Night's Cavalry.
338* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' is quite fond of these:
339** Gilgamesh from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', whom you fight a grand total of FIVE times, though usually as a gag battle. Each appearance involves humorous dialogue, followed by Gilgamesh making some sort of excuse for leaving and at one point leaving his sidekick to "deal with" your party. During the fourth battle, he whips out the piddly [[JokeItem Excalipur]], which he'd mistaken for Excalibur, causing [[BigBad Exdeath]] to send him to the Void. Later, in the void, he recognizes your characters during the fifth encounter and even [[spoiler:[[TakingYouWithme sacrifices himself]] to save your party from a later boss.]]
340** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'', you must fight the [[BigBad four fiends]] again in the final dungeon.
341** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'', there is a second fight against Count Borghen. [[spoiler:When he said SeeYouInHell, he ''meant'' it.]] And you fight him ''again'' in the Soul of Rebirth mode, [[spoiler:this time in ''Heaven''.]]
342** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'':
343*** Kefka starts as a joke battle in Sabin's scenario, then a boss battle in Narshe, another short scripted battle at the Cave of the Sealed Gate, yet another (easy) boss fight where you get to play as [[GuestStarPartyMember General Leo]], and finally the final boss as a god.
344*** Ultros is fought four times in the same game - once in Lete River, once in the Opera House, once in the Cave on Crescent Island, and once in the air.
345*** An optional boss, Humbaba, has to be fought four times: the first is a HopelessBossFight as Terra solo, the second immediately afterwards with your normal party, the third is also with normal party (which ends with it ejecting two party members out of the battle) and the last immediately after with the remaining two party members plus Terra in permanent [[SuperMode Trance]].
346*** ''VI'' also has Deathgaze, which will flee whenever it receives damage, forcing the party to hunt it down in the airship again and repeat fighting it until it's finally defeated for good. Though optional, it's required to beat if the player wants to get the Bahamut summon.
347** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'':
348*** There's [[QuirkyMinibossSquad the Turks]], who you are forced to fight twice, plus three optional boss fights with them.
349*** Jenova is fought four times throughout the game: once aboard the Cargo Ship (Jenova-BIRTH), once at the City of the Ancients (Jenova-LIFE), once at the Whirlwind Maze (Jenova-DEATH), and once just prior to the final boss (Jenova-SYNTHESIS).
350*** The Ultima Weapon is also fought several times, though it is a {{Superboss}}.
351** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', there's [[ThoseTwoGuys Biggs and Wedge]] (who are fought twice), Fujin and Rajin(also twice), [[spoiler:Edea(twice) and Seifer(''four'' times)]]
352** Beatrix in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' is of the second variety (fought thrice). Black Waltz no. 3 is also fought twice. Zorn and Thorn are fought twice (though the second time they [[spoiler:are merged into Meltigemini]]). Finally Kuja is fought twice.
353** [[spoiler:Seymour]] from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' is of the third variety. ''FFX'' also features the second variety in an optional boss fight (for the second optional summon), although the fight mechanics are completely different.
354** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'', Judge Gabranth and Doctor Cid are both fought twice. Ba'gamnan and his cronies are also fought twice, though the second fight is an optional hunt.
355** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'', the Proudclad (piloted by Rosch) is fought twice and [[spoiler:Barthandelus is fought three times]].
356** The new reigning king of this trope in Final Fantasy is ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'''s [[spoiler:BigBad, Caius]]. If one counts [[MultipleEndings Paradox Endings]] and [[OneWingedAngel his transformations]] as well as the battles with him as his normal self, he is fought no less than ''eleven times''. Add the times he's fought in the Requiem of the Goddess DLC, it's [[ArcNumber thirteen]] times.
357* In the ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'' series:
358** In the series overall, the Mercury Djinni Serac and the {{Optional Boss}}es Star Magician and Dullahan can be fought once each in ''The Lost Age'' and ''Dark Dawn''.
359** Saturos and Menardi in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun1''. The first encounter is a HopelessBossFight. Next, you fight just a weakened Saturos on the Mercury Lighthouse. Finally, you have to [[DualBoss fight them both]] on the [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Venus Lighthouse]]. After being defeated at the Venus Lighthouse, they merge to become a very big dragon.
360** In ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'', Karst and Agatio are fought twice: once at the top of Jupiter Lighthouse, and [[spoiler:once in the bowels of Mars Lighthouse after [[ForcedTransformation being involuntarily transformed into Fire Dragons]]]].
361** In ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'', Blados and Chalis are fought twice: once in the bowels of the Belinsk Ruins, and once at the top of Apollo Sanctum.
362* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
363** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' has Darkside, who is fought three times: during the tutorial, after you complete Destiny Islands, and just before the final boss fight against Ansem.
364** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'', Axel and Larxene are both fought two times. Vexen is fought three times (twice in Sora's story and once in Riku's). However, the king of this trope is ''Riku Replica'', who, over the course of Sora's and Riku's story, is fought a total of ''six'' times.
365** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'':
366*** Axel is fought twice by Roxas, first in the Struggle arena and later in the Old Mansion.
367*** Hades. When you first meet him, he is impervious to your attacks and you're forced to flee while he hurls fireballs at you. Becomes beatable later, being fought and defeated in the second visit to the Colosseum, then again at the end of two of the Colosseum cups.
368*** Pete is fought twice in ''II'', first in the Underworld with the aid of Hercules, and three major fights in Timeless River. (Plus one fight in the optional Hades Paradox Cup.)
369*** Demyx has two boss fights, one in Olympus Coliseum (which is really just destroying the Forms he summons) and again in Hollow Bastion.
370** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'':
371*** Vanitas is probably a quarter of the bosses in the game. In Aqua and Ven's paths he's fought 3 times each, including both of their final boss fights. Terra only fights him once, but as a DualBoss with Xenahort.
372*** Braig is fought twice, once each in Terra's and Aqua's campaigns.
373** ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts02BirthBySleepAFragmentaryPassage'' has [[MirrorMonster Phantom]] [[EnemyWithout Aqua]], who is fought three times in the World Within and gets stronger with each battle. A fourth battle against her finishes off the [[{{Superboss}} optional]] Zodiac BossRush in the postgame.
374** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'':
375*** Vanitas does this again, being the only member of the Seekers of Darkness to be fought before the confrontation at Keyblade Graveyard. In addition to the fight there, he is also encountered in the Land of Departure, where you control Aqua.
376*** The Demon Tower is fought two separate times, both while you are playing as Riku.
377*** The Demon Tide is first fought in Twilight Town, though it gets cut short early. You get to fight it for real in the Keyblade Graveyard.
378** Hades is a recurring boss throughout the entire series; one of the few villains who continuously pesters Sora (and the Keyblade users for that matter) besides Maleficent and Pete. But if bosses who are fought multiple times in the series count as a Recurring Boss, we'd be here all day just reading the examples.
379* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfAmbrose'': Strife, a Halonian knight who [[FallenHero fell to evil]], is a boss in every game in the series except for ''VideoGame/KnightEternal'' and ''VideoGame/{{Absinthia}}''.
380* ''VideoGame/TheLastStory'': Terracor, Muruk and Nebirous are fought more than once. Other bosses, such as Berith and the swordman brothers who serve Zangurak, are fought a second time in Chapter 40 as part of the game's BossRush finale.
381* ''[[VideoGame/TrailsSeries The Legend of Heroes - Trails]]'': The Enforcers of [[NebulousEvilOrganisation Ouroboros]] are fought various times throughout each arc, including when they take part in a BossBonanza.
382* In the Prehistory chapter of ''VideoGame/LiveALive'', you fight Zaki three times (the first time with a full party and the other two being a DuelBoss for Pogo), though the third fight is interrupted by [[TerrifyingTyrannosaur Odo]].
383* The "Ichiban Saga" of ''VideoGame/LikeADragon'':
384** ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon''
385*** Reiji Ishioda is fought four times, though the first time you're mostly fighting the wrecking ball he's manning. You then fight him again in that same chapter alongside [[spoiler:Nanba]], then in the next chapter by himself, and then once again in the penultimate chapter alongside Mirror Face.
386*** Zheng and Akira Mabuchi are both fought three times, though the third fight for both of them is optional as it is a DualBoss fight that comes at the end of Zhao's Drink Links.
387** ''VideoGame/LikeADragonInfiniteWealth''
388*** Yutaka Yamai of ties with [[VideoGame/Yakuza0 Daisaku Kuze]] at ''five'' encounters in one game. Unlike Kuze, though, most of his fights happen within the first half of the game, as opposed to being more spread out.
389*** Dwight Méndez is fought once at the end of Chapter 4, and then two more times in the game's penultimate chapter.
390* When you play ''VideoGame/{{Lufia}}'' series, expect to fight Gades at least twice. In the first time, you can't beat him (not without doing way too much grinding anyway.) The second time is when you fight and beat him [[DiscOneFinalBoss thinking he's final boss]], there's also likely the third time where he's resurrected and fight you in the final dungeon as a part of a BossRush.
391* PlayedWith in the Game Gear version of ''VideoGame/MadouMonogatari II''. In it, you face Schezo several times...however, each new encounter ends up easier than the previous one due to him getting increasingly tired.
392* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series:
393** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga''
394*** Popple is fought four times, though only once by himself, the rest are {{Dual Boss}}es.
395*** Bowser is fought four times as well: once as a WarmUpBoss, twice as "Rookie" alongside Popple, and once when [[spoiler:possessed by Cackletta.]]
396** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory''
397*** Midbus fulfills this role, being fought three times total.
398*** This is also how many times you fight Bowser, which is strange when you consider that he's one of the playable characters. One of those times is as a {{Superboss}}, however, and said Bonus Boss [[spoiler:is a clone of Bowser, not the real deal]].
399** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'':
400*** Antasma is fought three times. The first time is in Luigi's dream as a tutorial boss, the second time is when he does a FusionDance with Bowser in Dream's Deep, and the third time is at the end of the game [[spoiler:as the second-to-last boss]].
401*** Bowser is also fought three times. The first fight is the aforementioned battle in Dream's Deep, the second fight is [[spoiler:a giant battle near the end of the game]], and the third fight is [[spoiler:the final boss of the game]].
402*** Kamek is, again, [[RuleOfThree fought three times]]. Though unlike the other recurring bosses, all of his fights occur in TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon.
403* Saren in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1''. You fight him once on Virmire, but he escapes. Then you fight him again on the Citadel. [[spoiler: Depending on if you convince him to commit suicide or not, you may not have to fight him the first time, but you'll definitely have to do the second fight when Sovereign burns out the organic parts of his body and animates his cybernetics.]]
404* Harbinger in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' blurs the line between this and EliteMook due to his near-constant use of VillainOverride. Any battle against his mooks that drags on long enough will have him "assuming direct control" of at least one of them to personally [[PerfectPlayAI make you his bitch]].
405* Both Bola and Claymore from ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends 2''; you have to face each boss pirate twice throughout the game.
406* ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'': Every game after ''[[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork2 Battle Network 2]]'' had Bass as a penultimate boss or as a secret final boss. In ''2'', you would have to fight him before you fight Gospel, and later, you fight his real version in the secret area, which you cannot "jack out of" until you get back to the point where you entered it. In ''3'', you fight him before Alpha, as well as in yet another secret area where you actually help fund his recovery in a bug frag trade machine. In ''4'' he appears in Undernet 5 after beating the game about 3 times and disturbing his "statue". In ''5'', he is in yet another secret area called the Nebula Area after completing a Liberation Mission in area 6 and getting a time between 25-40 seconds busting the Navis in that area. In ''6'', he appears in the Undernet (where he is in a stone monument) and then a harder form in the Graveyard area, then a supercharged version in the Underground area, in which he sports a Gregar or Falzar attack depending on your version. Also, in every single game, you also end up having to fight some, if not all of the storyline bosses again later in the game.
407* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagicClashOfHeroes'': Azexes serves as the boss of two chapters: The first in Irollan forest (fought there by Anwen), and the second in Inferno (fought there by Aidan).
408* Fassad/Yokuba in ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}''. He crosses paths with you about four times, though you only fight him twice.
409* Nearly every single boss in ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'' (with the exception of three bosses who are only fought in the endgame) are fought more than once throughout the game. [[TragicMonster Belial]] is the reigning champion of this, however, being fought by every single character in the game (though one of them is as part of a DuelBoss fight with one of the Three Wise Men.)
410* ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' series:
411** Original ''VideoGame/{{Paper Mario|64}}'':
412*** Bowser is fought twice in the game, once at the very beginning as a HopelessBossFight and the second time at the very end of the game where he is ''much'' more powerful than before.
413*** Jr. Troopa appears a grand total of six times. He's actually a fairly ingenious foe, adjusting his weaknesses with each encounter, but Mario and his companions don't take him seriously at all, and he's often the butt of jokes. In the final dungeon, he actually [[BaitAndSwitchBoss prevents the Koopa Bros. from recurring]] in order to get in another shot at you.
414*** {{Downplayed|Trope}} with the "Invincible" Tubba Blubba. He ''can'' be fought multiple times, but only one of them is actually necessary, and any other attempts at fighting him are {{Hopeless Boss Fight}}s where you can do nothing but run. The required fight doesn't occur until you find and defeat the real chapter boss, [[spoiler:his heart]], after which Tubba himself is a ZeroEffortBoss.
415** ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'':
416*** Lord Crump is the first battle in the game, and he is fought thrice later, twice in a HumongousMecha. The second HumongousMecha is an upgraded model of the first one, making ''that'' a Recurring Boss as well.
417*** After the initial battle with [[spoiler:Doopliss]] at the Creepy Steeple, you end up in a fight with him ''twice'' just outside Twilight Town, but these are {{Hopeless Boss Fight}}s in which ''neither'' side can inflict any damage on each other, and the only thing you can do is run away both times. Later, you confront him using [[KryptoniteFactor his real name]], after which you fight him once again, exactly where you fought him the first time, followed by ''one last'' fight with him in the final chapter.
418*** Bowser is fought twice: once during the middle of Chapter Three, and again right before the final boss fight [[spoiler: which winds up unintentionally giving enough time for the Shadow Queen to possess Peach.]]
419** In ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'', all of Count Bleck's minions are fought at least twice except for Nastasia, who is TheUnfought. [[TheBrute O'Chunks]] is fought the most with four fights.
420* Eve, the BigBad in ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'', is fought a grand total of four times with each fight giving her a different appearance and new powers. Each defeat Eve suffers only has her trying to convince the main character to join her side (since Eve and the protagonist share similar powers) and then flees when the offer is refused. In her final encounter, [[spoiler: she actually dies, though the TrueFinalBoss appears shortly afterwards and has to be fought multiple times as well to put it down for good.]]
421* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
422** One of the bosses on Ellen's path in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}: Eternal Punishment'' is a recurring vision of her "stalker". He attacks several times, becoming more and more damaged and bandaged up each time.
423** Jin and Takaya, of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', after the fight against them before fighting the Hanged Man, proceed to jump off a bridge. They come back prior to the last battle with Nyx.
424* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
425** In every game, TheRival will show up to battle you repeatedly throughout, with some games even having multiple rivals (''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' has no less than ''four''). Hop from ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' battles you the most frequently, on a whopping ''ten'' separate occasions - and that doesn't even include post-game content!
426** The leader of TheSyndicate tends to be battled repeatedly as well, with a few exceptions:
427*** In ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', TheRemnant of Team Rocket doesn't ''have'' a leader, only the four Executives, none of whom are fought more than twice.
428*** N in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' is unique in that his party is assembled primarily from Mons that can be found in the nearby areas, and is completely different every time. [[spoiler:Averted by [[TheManBehindTheMan Ghetsis]], who is only fought once.]]
429*** Averted in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'' and ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'', where the villainous teams' leaders are only fought once.
430** Larry from ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'' is both a Gym Leader ''and'' a member of the Elite Four, and therefore has to be battled twice in order to clear the Victory Road story path.
431* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'':
432** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiII'', Daleth is fought four times. He is first fought as the first huge plot boss of the game in which [[spoiler:he kills Beth]], but his later appearances are simple miniboss fights. After a fifth attempt at trying to ruin Aleph's life, he ends up dropping out of the plot. There's also another example -- one fought less, but more plot important: Zayin, at least on Neutral or Chaos. The first, required fight with him is as the boss of the Factory Prison. His second fight, exclusive to Neutral and Chaos, is against [[spoiler:his One Winged Angel form Satan, this game's leader of the Law faction who is fought as the penultimate boss of the game before YHVH]].
433** In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'', the Spectre comes back over and over, convinced you want to steal his Magatsuhi when you're just trying to pass through the Amala Network. Even at the end, when he invokes MakeMyMonsterGrow by absorbing several other Spectres, he would still have gotten away had his paranoia not gotten the best of him.
434* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia''
435** Ramirez is not only a recurring boss, he is the ''final'' boss, with two OneWingedAngel forms. That said, the two times you can fight him before the final encounter are optional {{Hopeless Boss Fight}}s, one you should skip and one you should engage if you want the best [[RedBaron Swashbuckler Rating]].
436** The BigBad, Galcian, technically only has one true boss fight, but you ''can'' battle him the first time you visit Valua. However, [[ShmuckBait you shouldn't]], [[HopelessBossFight you will not win]], and unlike the Ramirez battles, losing to Galcian is a GameOver.
437** Piastol, a {{Superboss}} exclusive to the ''Legends'' re-release, can be fought four times throughout the game.
438* ''VideoGame/SoaringMachinariae'': The Gravekeeper is fought three times in the game. The first two battles are merely warnings to leave the island, but she gets serious in the third battle, since this is her last chance to prevent them from making a wish in the Tower of Desire.
439* ''[[VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic]]'': Darth Sion is fought once as a HopelessBossFight before you have to defeat him numerous times before he finally dies.
440* ''[[VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars]]'':
441** Belome is fought twice, first by Mario alone in the Kero Sewers and then by the whole party at Land's End, gaining several more spells in the latter encounter.
442** Croco is also fought twice, in the Bandit Way and the Coal Mines, after stealing things from you. He simply opts to run away the third time you find him, and eventually decides that fighting you isn't worth the effort and turns into an NPC shopkeeper near the end of the game.
443* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'': It's a tradition of the series to have at least one recurring boss in each game.
444** ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' has you fight Dhaos a total of three times (Five if you count his additional forms in the final battle).
445** ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny2'' has you fight Barbatos Goetia three times in the story, and two more times as a {{Superboss}}.
446** ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'':
447*** Yggdrasil encompasses all of these elements. He's unbeatable in his first appearance, leaves during his second, and transforms during his final appearance. He can be beatable in his second fight, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cL-dp60MxE but you have to be max lvl and do it really fast.]]
448*** You must also fight [[spoiler:Kratos]] thrice and [[spoiler:Botta]] twice, who either don't care if they win or lose or just plain won't stay defeated. You can also face past versions of [[spoiler: Kratos]], Yuan, and a young form of Yggdrasil again [[RegionalBonus in the PS3 version of the game]] in a [[BonusLevel bonus dungeon]].
449*** Pronyma and [[spoiler:Sheena]]. The Sword Dancer is faced three times, but he's an OptionalBoss.
450*** The sequel has Alice and Decus, each of whom are fought first individually, then later act as one of the penultimate bosses as a DualBoss.
451** ''VideoGame/TalesOfRebirth'': The Four Stars appear in many variations through the game, but Saleh and Tohma are the ones you will be seeing most often. They are both faced three times: at the climax of act 1, you fight them together. They then attack you individually during Act 2 in order to foil the hero's plans. The final confrontation comes before the final dungeon, where they are joined by Militsa and Waldu for an epic 4 against 4 boss fight. If you haven't had enough of them, the bonus dungeon lets you fight the Four Stars all over again...only this time there's 8 of them in the fight!
452** ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'': The Oracle Knights will be hounding you most of the way:
453*** [[spoiler:Van Grants]]. Even though you defeat him in battle two-thirds into the game, he [[NeverFoundTheBody comes]] [[NotQuiteDead back]] as the FinalBoss.
454*** Sync is fought once in a set of ruins with [[DualBoss Largo]], another time in the core where [[NotQuiteDead he apparently gets knocked off the Tartarus]], then is the penultimate boss in the final dungeon.
455*** Legretta is fought once early in the game, again on the mountains and [[NeverFoundTheBody apparently gets swept off the mountain along with Arietta and Largo in an avalanche]], then again in the final dungeon.
456*** Largo was once fought with Sync, then again with Legretta and Arietta, and finally later (but not the final dungeon!).
457*** Arietta is fought ''first'' of the Oracle knights, then [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment again with Legretta and Largo]], and finally much later in the game.
458** ''VideoGame/TalesOfInnocence'' started the trend of making a TalkativeLoon [[PsychoForHire assassin-like character with little motivation other than seeing things burn]] the RecurringBoss. Hasta and his inane ramblings have to be dealt with three times: once in the Garam volcano (which is an exhausting dungeon), then in the Northern Battlefield, and finally on the way to the final boss. In case you weren't already sick of him, Innocence R added at least one extra fight against him before recruiting Hermana. And in the he wishes to be reborn just to fight some more.
459** ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' features Zagi, who uses the [[PsychoForHire first]] and [[BloodKnight third]] forms. You fight Zagi a total of ''five'' times throughout the game. (Six if you include the "Sidequest dungeon".) And no matter how many times he's tossed off a boat or had his arm blown up, he just does not back down. Lampshaded by Estelle and Judith, who, by the final time he's encountered, tell him "Stop bothering us!" and "...Don't you ''ever'' die?"
460** ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' features Richard/Lambda. You fight him in his normal (albeit possessed) human form twice, OneWingedAngel humanoid form twice, a vision of Lambda as he first appeared once, and his true Lambda Angelus form as the final boss.
461** ''VideoGame/TalesOfHearts'': [[TheDragon Incarose]] is fought on two occasions in the DS version, and three in the Vita version. The first fight comes after she has made herself into a giant HateSink [[spoiler:and released Creed]]. The second fight, exclusive to the Vita version, pits Chalcedony solo against two of her bodies. Her last appearance is at the top of Beanstalk, where she is sufficiently powered up by fusing with the Seraph brothers to compensate for the loss of her bodies.
462** ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'':
463*** The Chimeriad are all fought in three battles each, save for Jiao, who only shows up for two battles. All four of them appear together in the arena as an optional battle, as well.
464*** Their boss Gaius also fights you three times; the first as a very powerful ClimaxBoss that you don't actually have to defeat (though you get some nice experience and loot for doing so), then as the penultimate boss, and one half of the FinalBoss [[DualBoss pair]]. The other half of that pair, Muzet, you fight twice in Jude's path and an additional time in Milla's.
465** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'', [[spoiler: [[SmugSnake Ridaeux]]]] can be fought as many as three times, (The first encounter being optional, but most people will pick it over the alternative for obvious reasons). [[BigBad Chronos]] is also fought on three occasions, and upgrades his tactics significantly with each encounter.
466* ''VideoGame/AVeryLongRopeToTheTopOfTheSky'' has two examples, both of which are the first variant.
467** Rutger is fought three times over the course of the story. [[spoiler:A version of him from another timeline can also be fought as a {{Superboss}} in the expert arena]].
468** Darius is fought twice over the course of the story, and can be fought once more in a final showdown as a {{Superboss}}.
469* The ''VideoGame/WildArms'' games use this ''constantly''.
470** The [[VideoGame/WildArms4 fourth game]] is the only one that avoided this trope, by giving the main antagonists so many members you only need to fight each of them once.
471** ''VideoGame/WildArms3'' is the worst contender, as practically every significant boss is fought at least three times. Janus, his two flunkies, the prophets, and the Schroedinger family are all fought multiple times through the game. Notable in that the prophets are at first fought one by one, but are also fought together, and [[OneWingedAngel in empowered forms]], while the Schroedingers only add new attacks and Maya changes up her routine.
472* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'', you fight Metal Face/[[spoiler: Mumkhar]] a total of five times throughout the story.
473* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'':
474** Ramsus, swearing to defeat the hero, is fought on foot, in a submarine type mecha, in his AceCustom mech, in his AceCustom mech transformed into an Omnigear, and finally in the Omnigear of the BigBad (Ramsus is not the FinalBoss, he simply no longer needed it and Ramsus can use any Omnigear due to his genes).
475** With Ramsus for all but his last two fights is his assitant Miang, who is also fought twice on her own (one time she's in disguise so the party doesn't know its her).
476** Ramsus also has a subordinate Dominia, and her squad of 3 other soldiers. You fight Dominia in a ship, in a submarine mech, in her own mech, in her own mech alongside her squad, her entire squad on foot, and finally in one giant mech piloted by all 4 of them. All these bosses are either with Ramsus himself or on his orders.
477[[/folder]]
478
479[[folder:Roguelike]]
480* In ''VideoGame/NetHack'', once you [[spoiler:Either kill the Wizard of Yendor or perform the Invocation Ritual]], the [[spoiler:Wizard of Yendor will, even if you kill him, every number of turns, be able to resurrect, and is guaranteed to reappear on the Plane of Earth]].
481[[/folder]]
482
483[[folder:Shoot 'em Up]]
484* ''VideoGame/BattleGaregga'' has Nose Lavagghin (Stage 1 boss) and Mad Ball (Stage 2 boss) appear again in Stage 5. And then the endboss of Stage 5, Black Heart, makes a second appearance in Stage 7. And in the SpiritualSuccessor, ''Armed Police Batrider'', Black Heart not only appears in its original form, but also a second time within that game in its MKII form!
485* In ''VideoGame/DonPachi,'' the first boss, called Suzaku, appears consecutively in ''[=DoDonPachi=]'', ''[=DaiOuJou=]'', ''[=DaiFukkatsu=]'' and ''[=SaiDaiOuJou=].'' Suzaku, a large gunship with twin cannons that hover alongside it, always appears in Stage 1 of all the ''[=DonPachi=]'' games since ''[=DoDonPachi=]''. Suzaku is introduced as the Stage 1 boss of ''[=DoDonPachi=]''. Then it returns as the Stage 1 boss of ''[=DaiOuJou=]'' which a much grittier and colorless design that fits the game's [[DarkerAndEdgier much darker]] nature (compared to DDP). ''Then'' it comes back again as the Stage 1 mid-boss of ''[=DaiFukkatsu=]'' with its original design. And '''''then''''' it makes its latest appearance as Stage 1 boss of ''[=SaiDaiOuJou=]'', with a much more futuristic, streamlined design and a red paint job (which fits with the meaning of Suzaku's name, "Vermilion Bird.").
486* ''[[VideoGame/ExtrapowerStarResistance EXTRAPOWER Star Resistance]]'': Undata and Mensouma are both fought multiple times in the game. Undata gets revived with dark energy, [[MakeMyMonsterGrow becoming bigger each time]]. Mensouma is chased off [[WeaksauceWeakness with detergent]] at the end of his first fight, to return as the PreFinalBoss.
487* Big Core in ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}''. It's the boss of Stages 1-4 in the original, and comes back every now and then in subsequent installments for [[BossRush Boss Rushes]]. By ''Gradius V'', it's [[DegradedBoss become nothing more than a medium-sized regular enemy]]. There's also Tetran from ''Salamander''.
488* Almost every boss (except the FinalBoss) in ''VideoGame/HeavyWeapon''. After beating through the first 9 levels and bosses, you are treated with a [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle plot twist cutscene]] in the middle. After that, you must go through the the [[ItstheSameNowItSucks same levels]] again as well as fight the same bosses from 1-9. This time, the bosses have more hit points and have new tricks up their sleeves.
489* In ''VideoGame/LegendaryWings'', save the FinalBoss, all other bosses are simply just variations on one another, with later ones having more cannons.
490* All but one of the ''VideoGame/RType'' games has included Dobkeratops as a boss. Gomander and its invincible Outslays make frequent appearances as well, as does Gaines, the human-shaped robot with a {{BFG}} who seems to exist to get killed halfway through the first stage. There's also the [[BattleshipRaid Giant Battleship]].
491* In ''[[VideoGame/NineteenFortyTwo 19XX: The War Against Destiny]]'', you encounter and battle a black stealth fighter in nearly every stage, culminating in him [[NukeEm launching nukes at your hometown]] and [[OneWingedAngel docking into a]] [[FinalBoss larger stealth bomber]].
492* Several bosses in ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' come back with different bullet patterns, either in the same game or in later games, but the prize for most recurring boss goes to Rin Kaenbyou, who shows up in ''Subterranean Animism'' as the stage 4 midboss (twice!), stage 5 midboss, stage 5 boss, and stage 6 midboss. Another recurring boss is Nue Houjuu, who is the [[spoiler:Stage 4 midboss, Stage 6 midboss, and]] {{Superboss}} of ''Unidentified Fantastical Object'', [[spoiler:and the Extra Stage midboss in ''Ten Desires''.]]
493* In ''VideoGame/StarFox'', Phantron and the Great Commander, the Route 1 and Route 3 bosses of Venom respectively, are both fought twice, first in orbit, then in OneWingedAngel form on the planet's surface.
494[[/folder]]
495
496[[folder:Simulation Game]]
497* ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' loves this. Most commonly the first and maybe encounter with a boss/squadron is {{hopeless|BossFight}}, but then later on you can damage them enough to send them running away, before typically finishing them once and for all near the end of the game. In order:
498** ''VideoGame/AceCombat2'' and its [[VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizonLegacy 3DS remake]] have the Z.O.E. planes. The original is noteworthy in that you ''do'' actually shoot them down every time, they just come back with a better plane; ''Legacy'' makes the first two flee upon taking enough damage, but then the last three are shot down normally.
499** ''VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies'' has Yellow Squadron. Untouchable the first time you see them, you can only hit them once to send them running away the next time, then the third time has you finally shoot one of them down to complete the mission. By the final stretch of the game they're showing up in every mission, and there's little note made of it except when they make a final stand in defense of their capital.
500** ''VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar'' has Grabacr Squadron. Nearly-untouchable the first time, then each half of the squadron ends up shot down twice each, once on their own, then coming back all at once for the finale.
501** ''VideoGame/AceCombat6FiresOfLiberation'' has Strigon Squadron. Notably, these guys don't have the kind of PlotArmor or sheer numbers the above two get at any point - you can shoot them down every time they show up, they'll just keep coming back.
502** ''VideoGame/AceCombatJointAssault'' has Varcolac Squadron. They don't show up as often as the others, but they still come back every time you shoot them down.
503* The FinalBoss of ''[[VideoGame/{{Descent}} Descent II]]'' returns with a vengeance in the Vertigo Series ExpansionPack.
504[[/folder]]
505
506[[folder:Sports Game]]
507* ''VideoGame/GolfStory'': You engage [[TheRival Lara]] in match play twice (once in a 2-vs-2 match, and again in a more conventional 1v1), unlike other opponents who each are only played against once.
508[[/folder]]
509
510[[folder:Stealth-Based Game]]
511* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
512** Liquid Snake in the original ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty Sons of Liberty]]'' serves as a mix of the second and third varieties. [[spoiler:He is defeated in a Hind D, Metal Gear REX, a fistfight, and a Jeep chase before finally succumbing to FOXDIE. In ''Sons of Liberty'', he is reincarnated as Revolver Ocelot's new arm.]]
513** In addition to Liquid, the player must fight against Sniper Wolf and Vulcan Raven twice in the original ''MGS''. A more subtle example is Revolver Ocelot - he flees after the fight and later returns to torture Snake.
514** Ocelot is fought in ''1'', ''3'', and ''4''. Oddly enough, [[TheManBehindTheMan despite his importance]] in ''2'', you never get the chance to fight him.
515** ''Metal Gear Solid 2'' also has Vamp, who comes back from [[spoiler:a cutscene death, his Harrier being shot down, an actual boss fight, and a sniper duel]] in that order. And in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', [[spoiler:his boss battle requires you to use a special syringe to finish him, or else he'll keep coming back to life.]]
516** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'' has the eponymous Peace Walker mech, which is fought a total of three times in the game, [[spoiler:although the third encounter is a ZeroEffortBoss]].
517* ''VideoGame/{{Tenchu}}'' has Onikage, who started in the first game, being fought a total of 3 times in Stages 6, 9 and 10. He returns in ''2'' and ''Wrath of Heaven'', serving as a boss twice in each one. ''Tenchu 2'' also has Genbu of the Four Lords of the Burning Dawn, which Ayame fights twice.
518[[/folder]]
519
520[[folder:Survival Horror]]
521* ''VideoGame/ClockTower1995'': After a certain point, Bobby has a chance of randomly appearing in every room, and he can be quite hard to get away from again.
522* Carlito in ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' in so much as, if you want the [[MultipleEndings "best" ending]], you have to fight him three times.
523* The Blind Demon in ''VideoGame/FatalFrameI'' is scripted to be fought ''7'' times in total.
524* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'': Each game has one, usually a Tyrant BOW.
525** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'', The Tyrant pulls a BackFromTheDead version, appearing as both the penultimate boss and final boss - unless you burn his body after the first time.
526** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'', William Birkin (aka "G") transforms from a simple overdeveloped humanoid in his first encounter to a hulking, deformed monster in his fifth and last form. Mr X is also encountered several times, but you're only forced to fight him once, though you can drop him in other encounters for ammo.
527** The titular Nemesis in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Nemesis'' is one of the most persistent ones. You usually have the option of fighting or running from him, and unlike other recurring bosses of the series, if you run away he's more than capable of chasing, and he's not limited to a single room, in fact he can chase Jill for quite a distance before she loses him. If you opt to defeat him when it's not strictly necessary, you can acquire a lot of good items (including two rapid-firing custom pistol and shotgun). You only have to actually fight him three times: in the middle of the game, near the end of the game as the penultimate boss, and as the FinalBoss.
528** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'' has another Tyrant pulling a BackFromTheDead (fought twice) and [[spoiler:Alexia]] (also fought twice).
529** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' has two odd examples, and a conventional one:
530*** Saddler is fought twice, but in different scenarios (he's the final boss for both Leon and Ada). Krauser is also fought twice: once in a [[PressXToNotDie QTE]] sequence and then several times in succession in chapter 5-3. [[spoiler:He then proves to be NotQuiteDead in ''Separate Ways'', where he's fought once again.]]
531*** Leon fights multiple Gigantes over the course of his mission, though each with an added twist: A conventional fight in 2-1 (the battle can be made easier if the dog from 1-1 was saved), a SkippableBoss in 2-2 (even if it's not skipped, there's a strategy that allows Leon to defeat him instantly), and a DualBoss in 4-2 (one of those two can be defeated quickly with a trap, though [[KaizoTrap it conveys a risk]]).
532** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' has Wesker, who is fought four separate times, each in a different fashion (DualBoss, PuzzleBoss, PressXToNotDie and FinalBoss).
533** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'' features the SpiritualSuccessor to the Nemesis with [[ImplacableMan Ustanak]]. You fight him in a warehouse, from the back of a helicopter, with a drilling machine in a mine, in the streets of China, in a lava pit, again with nothing more than your fists in the lava pit, and he still comes back for one final desparate attempt to kill you before being put down for good.
534--->'''Jake:''' Christ almighty! What does it take to ''lose'' this guy!?
535** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations'' has Rachael Foley, who shows up a total of four times, although you only need to put her down the first time to get a PlotCoupon in the form of a key. As a possible homage to Nemesis, defeating her in subsequent encounters can yield powerful weapon upgrades.
536** In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard'', Jack Baker serves as an ImplacableMan who pursues Ethan during the early sections of the game. You fight him twice, the second being an epic chainsaw battle that seemingly kills him. [[spoiler:Nope! Jack returns later in the game for a final battle as a monstrous mold creature which Ethan finally puts down.]] His wife, Marguerite, is also fought twice.
537* ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'''s most famous monster, Pyramid Head, must be fought several times. The first time, he will leave after a predetermined time limit runs out (shooting him makes the clock run down faster). The second time, you must escape him by running down a very long hallway, and you can slow him with bullets but not kill him. The third time you see him, you just have to run around him in a giant maze. And, as the ultimate slap-in-the-face, in your final battle with him ([[DualBoss and this time, he brings a friend]]), the fight ends with him killing ''himself''.
538[[/folder]]
539
540[[folder:Third-Person Shooter]]
541* Budget TPS ''VideoGame/DeepBlackReloaded'' sees you facing the same SpiderTank boss at least ''seven'' times the entire game, with mostly cosmetic differences (the tank fights you alone, then with turrets for backup, with [[FlunkyBoss terrorist mooks]], later in an UnderwaterBossBattle, and so on). There's also a Gunship boss fought several times.
542* Mizar in ''VideoGame/JetForceGemini'' is fought twice: In a short, simple confrontation with Lupus at the middle of the game's story; and in a much longer, more difficult rematch with Juno in the finale.
543* In ''VideoGame/{{Vanquish}}'', the [[TransformingMecha KNRB-0 Argus]] is fought two more times after its first appearance in Act 1-3; as a DualBoss in Act 2-3, and once again as a solo boss in Act 4-2. The FinalBoss is a DualBoss version of the Bogey from Act 1-8.
544* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' has a few:
545** The most obvious example is Captain Vor, a Grineer commander with an interest in Orokin technology and the one who woke you up in the first place. He shows up as the game's first boss on Mercury, then later forms a [[DualBoss tag-team]] with Lieutenant Lech Kril on Phobos. [[spoiler:After getting killed, his Janus Key brought him back to life as Corrupted Vor, who will eventually appear in any Tower IV mission in the Void.]] Lech Kril also shows up as his own fight on Ceres.
546** Councillor Vay Hek is a high-ranking Grineer politician who's been involved with most of the Grineer-based events. He serves as the boss of Earth, but he's also the main antagonist of the first raid, the Law of Retribution (and its Nightmare Mode version).
547** There's also Alad V, the former head of Grineer Relations for the Corpus. He serves as the boss of Jupiter along with Zanuka, a dog-like robot that he crafted from the Warframes he captured. [[spoiler:Thanks to his experimentation with the Infested during the Breeding Grounds and Mutalist Incursions events, [[EvilIsNotAToy he began to succumb to the virus himself]]. As Mutalist Alad V, he can be fought on Eris with a special key.]]
548[[/folder]]
549
550[[folder:Tower Defense]]
551* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies2ItsAboutTime'' makes you fight Dr. Zomboss in the final level of each world.
552[[/folder]]
553
554[[folder:Turn-Based Strategy]]
555* UnknownRival Mid-Boss from the first ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea|HourOfDarkness}}'' is fought a total of ''five times''. Though he's treated like a GoldfishPoopGang in-story, he's actually a legitimate threat every time.
556* ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 2|CursedMemories}}'' has Axel, the Dark Hero. He is not, as his name may imply, a vicious murdering bastard, but a former rock star. Mid-Boss also makes an amusing optional cameo.
557* ''[[VideoGame/ExtrapowerAttackOfDarkforce EXTRAPOWER Attack of Darkforce]]'' has several, given the rivalries various factions have with the player characters. Undata especially fought more than most other bosses.
558* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'':
559** The first time you fight Wiegraf, he runs away; the second time, you mortally wound him and he makes a DealWithTheDevil to keep on living; the third time, he's been completely taken over by the demon, and the first part of the battle is a DuelBoss in which you have to defeat his human form before he drops his disguise.
560** Also, [[spoiler:Gaffgarion is fought three times; the first time, he turns on you in the beginning of the battle, the second is a normal fight, and the third time is a pseudo-DuelBoss (you have can still use allies in the fight, but they're trapped in another area until you use a switch to open a gate)]]. In [[UpdatedRerelease War of the Lions]], Argath (Algus in the [=PS1=] version) appears a second time late in the third chapter. Most of the Temple Knights, [[spoiler:Elmdor]], Celia, and Lede are all also fought twice.
561** Celia and Lede are fought three times. Well, if you count their first apperance (Castle Rooftop) a [[LuckBasedMission 'fight']].
562* Llednar Twem from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' is of the second variety.
563* Klesta from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' is of the first variety.
564** Illua, who is fought a total of three times.
565* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
566** Gharnef in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' is present on the map midway through the game, and you must simply survive him because it is a HopelessBossFight without Starlight. The second time, you can fight him for real after picking out the real Gharnef amongst [[SendInTheClones his doppelgangers]].
567** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' has Ishtar, who is considered [[ThatOneBoss That One]] by the fanbase and is fought '''THREE TIMES'''. On every occasion, she carries [[InfinityPlusOneSword Mjolnir]] and poses a very real threat of a OneHitKill if she lands an attack (which, with Mjolnir's +20 skl, she will). Oh, and she also has Adept, meaning the RandomNumberGod can screw you by giving Ishtar another attack when surviving two Mjolnirs to the face is PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE.
568** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' has a few:
569*** Galzus plays almost an identical role as the Black Knight: mysterious, frighteningly deadly OneManArmy whose occasional appearance forces your party to run in the opposite direction. He's not invincible, but for the better part of the game he's close enough to count. [[spoiler:Mercifully he can be recruited near the very end without having to deal with him directly.]]
570*** Saias turns up a couple times during the game, but as less of a boss and more of an incredible nuisance - thanks to having ''10'' authority stars, his mere presence pumps up the entire enemy force into DemonicSpiders until you do something to make him leave. [[spoiler:He also is recruitable late-game, but by then he has lost the overpowered buff.]]
571** Several [[CoDragons high-ranking enemies,]] such as Riev and Lyon, appear in a handful of chapters of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones,'' [[EnemySummoner calling monsters]] and leading armies from the rear, while a particularly strong monster or general leads individual troops. They will defend themselves if attacked, and if defeated, will [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose decide that they don't feel like dying early in the plot and leave,]] most of the time only giving [[{{Superboss}} heaps of experience.]]
572** The BlackKnight from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' appears on the map a total of three times throughout the game, but you don't possess the means to damage him until the third. The first two, he must be avoided, as he can easily kill anyone who steps into his attack range. In the sequel, ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', he appears as an enemy twice, and can be killed both times, though doing so the first time is both dangerous and pointless, since there is no reward for defeating him and you will be unable to recruit another character later in the game if you do.
573** Validar in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', under very unusual circumstances -- [[spoiler:the first time in the SpoilerOpening, his proper debut in Chapter 6, the rematch in chapter 23 where the Spoiler Opening took place, and then ''[[SequentialBoss again]]'' in that chapter where he [[TurnsRed finally takes the kid's gloves off]].]]
574** In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', almost all of the playable characters you turn against are this. The absolute king of this trope, however, is Takumi in ''Conquest'' -- you have to put the son of a bitch down on ''five separate occasions'', to the point where during the final fight with him [[spoiler:and the final battle in ''Conquest'' overall]], even [[spoiler:his own sane spirit]] just wants him to give up and die already. Xander is also technically fought five times in ''Birthright'', but is nowhere near as prominent of a threat as Takumi is for various reasons.[[note]]Xander is a CutsceneBoss in the Prologue and a WarmupBoss in Chapter 1. In Chapter 6, you temporarily get Ryoma to deal with him, in Chapter 12 he's a SkippableBoss on an escape map, and in Chapter 26 [[spoiler:he has crossed the DespairEventHorizon]] and has extremely poor stats for a boss that late in the game. While Takumi is theoretically skippable in Chapters 6 and 10, doing so in the former is impractical since you can only leave one survivor and he's one of the first enemies to reach you, while in the latter taking him out stops him from sabotaging your defensive line with a Dragon Vein.[[/note]] CoDragons Iago and Hans are also fought twice each in ''Birthright'', and [[spoiler:Arete]] is fought three times in ''Revelation''.
575** In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Echoes: Shadows of Valentia]]'', Slayde is promoted from a random one-off boss to this. He is fought three times in the game proper and once in DLC. {{Canon Foreigner}}s Fernand and Berkut are also fought on three separate occasions.
576** Many examples in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'':
577*** Hubert takes the cake here, as on Azure Moon you can fight him a whopping '''seven times'''. Yes, you saw that right. Oh, and whenever you fight him after the timeskip, prepare for VillainExitStageLeft when beating him on any encounter except his last.
578*** The [[SeeminglyHopelessBossFight Death Knight]] appears as a miniboss in no fewer than six chapters. The first four times he appears, he's an obstacle that exists to advertise the power of the Flame Emperor, until midway through the game, when he could be realistically defeated without exploiting a DiscOneNuke. Post-timeskip, he's fought once more on Azure Moon and twice more on Silver Snow and Verdant Wind, and you can even go another round with him if you recruit both Caspar and Mercedes and play their shared paralogue.
579*** Kostas, the bandit leader hired to attack the lords in the prologue, returns two chapters later with a chip on his shoulder, desperate to exact his revenge.
580*** On the Crimson Flower route, [[spoiler:Rhea]] is fought three times, including as the FinalBoss.
581*** On all routes other than Crimson Flower, Randolph and Ladislava are first fought as minor midbosses before coming back for a rematch a couple of chapters later.
582*** Every playable character other than [[TheHero Byleth]], Marianne, Alois, Shamir, [[DownloadableContent Anna, and the Ashen Wolves]] is fought in at least one battle in Part I, and then fought in a legitimate fight to the death in Part II if you didn't poach them on at least one route. Edelgard and Hubert deserve special mention, as one of them is tied with the Death Knight for most appearances as an enemy in one game depending on whether or not you count paralogues.
583*** Acheron (all routes) and Pallardó (Azure Moon and Verdant Wind) can be fought in Part I paralogues if Lorenz and Anna, respectively, are in your party, and are fought again in Part II.
584** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'':
585*** Ivy and Hortensia, the princesses of the kingdom of Elusia, are fought twice each during Chapters 7-10, along with their retainers. [[spoiler:Ivy's party pulls a HeelFaceTurn in Chapter 11, and Hortensia is fought once more in Chapter 14 (having been turned BrainwashedAndCrazy) before she has her own HeelFaceTurn, with Rosado and Goldmary following suit at the start of Chapter 16 after she convinces them that you're no longer enemies.]]
586*** The Four Hounds take center stage as antagonists starting with Chapter 11, but in their first appearance as bosses, they're a HopelessBossFight, and your objective is to outrun them as they use their stolen Emblem Rings against you. After you get to a point where you can start fighting back, they take turns as bosses across multiple chapters, beginning with Chapter 14.
587* Almost every boss apart from the final bosses in the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'', though you can [[NonLethalKO shoot them down]] before they retreat if you reduce their hit points to just above the point where they'd retreat, then use a really powerful attack.
588* [[Anime/TheBigO Jason Beck]], in every game in the ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ'' series so far. He's basically the [[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Yazan Gable]] of Z, which might as well be a CastingGag.
589* Several bosses in ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre'', depending on which path you go through.
590** ''Let us Cling Together'':
591*** On the Chaotic path, Oz, but this fight with him is a bit out of the way. In the neutral path, he doesn't escape.
592*** You fight Ganb throughout the ''entire'' game, with an optional way to recruit him in Chapter 4, along with several of his monsters.
593*** Martym in a sidequest. [[spoiler:He dies for real around the final boss]].
594** ''The Knight of Lodis'': You see Nichart several times throughout the story and you know you'll have to fight him... but then you finally do, while he taunts you with a nice spear during the fight. Except that when you beat him... he doesn't drop it, and he runs off with it. You do face him for real later on, but by the time he drops it, you might have had something better by then.
595* ''VideoGame/TearsToTiara2'': The AxCrazy Izebel and her subordinate Laelius. Izebel is impossible to kill in a straight-up fight on the first encounter on the hardest difficulty, being 7 to 10 levels higher than the player's party on top with her super high stats. Although you can kill her through a trick of the map. They both get gradually easier. [[TheBattleDidntCount But no matter how many times you beat them the story always pretends you just ran away until you face them the final time]].
596* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'':
597** Selvaria. The first two times you encounter her, she's invincible on account of her Valkyria powers. The [[RuleOfThree third time]], aptly named "Selvaria's Last Stand", she decides to fight you as a mortal woman. [[SmallGirlBigGun That doesn't make her]] [[ThatOneBoss any easier.]]
598** [[AntiVillain Radi Jaeger]] if fought twice, first as an optional WarmupBoss, and ''much'' later as the penultimate boss.
599** The aptly named [[EliteMook enemy ace]] Ty the Immortal, who comes back for three different missions even though he can be "killed" in each one.
600* ''VideoGame/{{XCOM 2}}'':
601** The three Alien Rulers introduced in the ''Alien Hunters'' DLC have a chance to crash any mission after you encounter the first Ruler. No encounter with them is a HopelessBossFight, and you can in fact get an Achievement for killing one in your first encounter with it, but otherwise they'll scrap with your troops for a few rounds, then summon a portal and leave the battlefield. The good news is, any damage you do them will carry over to your next encounter.
602** The Chosen in the ''War of the Chosen'' expansion are also persistent threats, since they possess ResurrectiveImmortality that lets them come back even if you kill them - and thanks to their AdaptiveAbility, you may find in your next encounter that they CameBackStrong. It takes a chain of Covert Actions to locate each Chosen's headquarters, find a way in, and launch a mission to put them down for good, but ItOnlyWorksOnce, and if you fail that assault, you'll be dealing with that particular Chosen for the rest of the campaign.
603[[/folder]]
604
605[[folder:Wide Open Sandbox]]
606* Inasmuch as a game like ''VideoGame/EndlessOcean'' has bosses, the second game features a few different head-to-head encounters with the maneating king of the great white sharks, Thanatos.
607* Invoked by the Nemesis System in ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfMordor'' and ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar'': defeated Uruk captains can survive to fight Talion again, sporting scars, bandages, and other blemishes from previous encounters with you. The only way to make sure they don't come back is to [[DecapitationRequired behead them]] (and that only works in ''Mordor''; decapitated Uruks in ''War'' can '''''still''''' come back!).
608[[/folder]]

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