Okay so there's the trope "I am not left-handed" and it kind of describes this in some cases.
Basically a villain sometimes doesn't show their full power until it's s fight where they are actually in danger.
For example, Kisame in Naruto just looks like a guy with a big sword at first, and in the first 3/4th of the series nobody really gets to the point of fighting him seriously. Then when he has his real final fight he does all kinds of things like transforming into a shark and moving very fast.
Basically what I mean is when some villain is established, but you don't actually know their true power the whole time until the final battle with them where they go all out and use their true power.
They might even be fought earlier on and seem defeatable, only to later have their true fight where it turns out earlier on the heroes had zero chance to actually bring them this far the first time.
I can barely find any examples of this but I know it happens. The "I am not left-handed" trope page describes two great examples of this in the videogames section, but because a broad range of other things fall under that trope most of it is not relevant to what I mean.
''Nero does a form of this in his fight with Dante in Devil May Cry 4: he's been keeping his Devil Bringer hidden under the pretense that his arm is broken and he must carry it in a sling. He fights Dante for the majority of their first contact with his right arm hidden in the sling, and just when Dante has the upper hand and is about to run Nero through, he suddenly throws the sling off and blocks Dante's sword with his cursed arm, stopping Dante in his tracks.
Dante himself pulls this in the same game. The fight mentioned above works as the game's tutorial because Dante's not putting a whole lot of effort into it.note The next time he and Nero clash, the kid gloves are gone and it's considered by many to be the most difficult fight in the game.
Vergil also does this in 3. In the first fight against him, he stays in human form all the while. By the second fight, he pulls out the Devil Trigger after you damage him enough. In the third and final fight, he gets to use an even more powerful Super Mode on top of the previous one with deadly Secret A.I. Moves.''
and
In Talesof Symphonia Regal Bryant fights only using kicks, keeping his hands shackled. Late in the game, you find out firsthand that when he fought using his hands, he was as or more powerful then, than the team is currently, and that was without the Exspheres that allow them to be powerful.
If anyone has any more examples beyond what the "I am not left-handed" trope please add them here. I'd also like to discuss this type of moment and I wonder if anyone else just finds this kind of stuff very cool. :)
Edited by sophieexmachina on Sep 18th 2020 at 4:46:01 AM
Okay so there's the trope "I am not left-handed" and it kind of describes this in some cases.
Basically a villain sometimes doesn't show their full power until it's s fight where they are actually in danger.
For example, Kisame in Naruto just looks like a guy with a big sword at first, and in the first 3/4th of the series nobody really gets to the point of fighting him seriously. Then when he has his real final fight he does all kinds of things like transforming into a shark and moving very fast.
Basically what I mean is when some villain is established, but you don't actually know their true power the whole time until the final battle with them where they go all out and use their true power.
They might even be fought earlier on and seem defeatable, only to later have their true fight where it turns out earlier on the heroes had zero chance to actually bring them this far the first time.
I can barely find any examples of this but I know it happens. The "I am not left-handed" trope page describes two great examples of this in the videogames section, but because a broad range of other things fall under that trope most of it is not relevant to what I mean.
''Nero does a form of this in his fight with Dante in Devil May Cry 4: he's been keeping his Devil Bringer hidden under the pretense that his arm is broken and he must carry it in a sling. He fights Dante for the majority of their first contact with his right arm hidden in the sling, and just when Dante has the upper hand and is about to run Nero through, he suddenly throws the sling off and blocks Dante's sword with his cursed arm, stopping Dante in his tracks. Dante himself pulls this in the same game. The fight mentioned above works as the game's tutorial because Dante's not putting a whole lot of effort into it.note The next time he and Nero clash, the kid gloves are gone and it's considered by many to be the most difficult fight in the game. Vergil also does this in 3. In the first fight against him, he stays in human form all the while. By the second fight, he pulls out the Devil Trigger after you damage him enough. In the third and final fight, he gets to use an even more powerful Super Mode on top of the previous one with deadly Secret A.I. Moves.''
and
In Talesof Symphonia Regal Bryant fights only using kicks, keeping his hands shackled. Late in the game, you find out firsthand that when he fought using his hands, he was as or more powerful then, than the team is currently, and that was without the Exspheres that allow them to be powerful.
If anyone has any more examples beyond what the "I am not left-handed" trope please add them here. I'd also like to discuss this type of moment and I wonder if anyone else just finds this kind of stuff very cool. :)
Edited by sophieexmachina on Sep 18th 2020 at 4:46:01 AM