Bonus Boss nuances

Here is my old Route Boss draft. No examples, just description.

It is common knowledge that there are several games with Multiple Endings and/or Story Branching. More often than not, those games will keep track of every single choice you make while you play them, whether they are based on your morals or another factor.

And several times, those choices will take you to different paths, and as a consequence, different bosses.

Route Boss is a type of Optional Boss that is only encountered if the player chooses a specific route through the game. While it is not obligatory to fight them, fighting them is generally considered a perfectly valid path to take, and they are treated with the same importance as any other plot-relevant boss. Even though they are technically Optional, in most circumstances a Boss Fight cannot be avoided; you have to choose this or the other boss.

As stated above, Route Bosses are typically connected with Multiple Endings. For example, having to fight a specific boss can be a good indicator on whether you’re in route to the good or the bad ending. Other times, a Route Boss may not affect the outcome of the game, but it will affect something else in it, whether it is what kind of Power-Up you obtain or how a subplot is resolved.

At any rate, Route Bosses enhance a game’s Replay Value by providing an alternative and new challenge for any player who decides to make different choices in each playthrough. In fact, some players may choose to replay the game specifically to fight alternative bosses.

Subtrope of Optional Boss. Supertrope to True Final Boss. Not to be confused with Skippable Boss. Often overlaps with Multiple Endings and Story Branching.

SpaceBattles.com fanworks (unnoficial) index in my Sandbox.

So I was going through the page of one of the games I want to list in Route Boss, and I found a boss listed as Bonus Boss which joins you if you are on the Chaos route without fighting you. I'm confused.

SpaceBattles.com fanworks (unnoficial) index in my Sandbox.

Do you fight it on a different route? If so, then it's a Route Boss.

You can potentially fight it in a different route. However, you can't fight it in Chaos at all because he joins you.

Btw, I have started gathering Route Boss examples in my personal Sandbox. SMT is complex.

SpaceBattles.com fanworks (unnoficial) index in my Sandbox.

That sounds very much like a Route Boss to me, then.

What the character does on other routes is largely irrelevant, I think (save that they don't act as a boss-encounter). The only important thing is that they have a boss-encounter that's excluded from one or more routes, being included in only certain routes.

I suppose that another way that one might look at it is this: In a sense, it's not really the character that is being troped here, but rather the boss-encounter (or encounters) with them. If that encounter is route-restricted, then it's a Route Boss-encounter.

It's a Gameplay Trope (do we not have an index for this?), not a Characterisation Trope.

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Feb 13th 2021 at 12:23:30 PM

My Games & Writing

I believe you wanted to say Video Game Tropes. More specifically, there is Boss Battle index.

Edited by I--Vanya--I on Feb 13th 2021 at 7:04:47 PM

Vi: Well, it's not like we're getting attacked by a giant wasp spider guardian! | Leif: Never combine those words ever again.

I looked at Video Game Tropes, but that felt a little over-broad to me. After all, that index includes a variety of non-gameplay tropes.

The Boss Battle index would sort-of work, but that's ironically a little too specific for the index that I wanted to reference for the point that I was making.

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Feb 14th 2021 at 11:18:27 AM

My Games & Writing

I agree with adding Route Boss to those indexes though.

Btw, I'm trying to gather RPG examples on my Sandbox, should I post them on Sandbox.Route Boss? I also posted my original draft on too of the page.

SpaceBattles.com fanworks (unnoficial) index in my Sandbox.

Oh, of course—I do support that! They just weren't what I was looking for in the specific argument that I was making above.

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Feb 14th 2021 at 2:10:25 PM

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OK then, but what about Sandbox.Route Boss and my own draft?

SpaceBattles.com fanworks (unnoficial) index in my Sandbox.

I'm sorry, I haven't felt up to the critical reading that I would want to put into going through, comparing, and contrasting the two drafts. (My energy levels are a bit variable right now.) I may do so at some point soon, but I don't guarantee it. :/

My Games & Writing

At any rate, I should finish putting together all those RPG examples. I do have some ready, so, should I list them here or go straight to the sandbox?

SpaceBattles.com fanworks (unnoficial) index in my Sandbox.

It's not my sandbox, so I'm not in a position to give or withhold permission, I'm afraid.

My Games & Writing

Just FYI, nobody needs my permission to edit that sandbox. You want to add something or tweak the description? Go for it.

Shouldn't that be taken to Trope Launch Pad instead? You'll get better chances of suggestions there.

Well, we now have two potential descriptions to decide between.

Plus, it makes some sense to me to approach TLP with something reasonably solid, to reduce the likelihood of bombing. Thus it seems like a good idea to do a first pass here in the thread, and only then move over to TLP.

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Feb 15th 2021 at 6:56:59 PM

My Games & Writing

Seconded. I have quite a bit in my personal sandbox that I'm working on.

SpaceBattles.com fanworks (unnoficial) index in my Sandbox.

Okay, I went through Primis' sandbox and performed an editing pass.

Sorry that it took so long for me to get to it! ^^;

@Lermis: I took a quick look at your sandbox—am I correct in taking it that you don't have a prospective description there? (Or did I miss it somewhere? ^^; )

If so, should we perhaps merge your examples into Primis' sandbox, so that we're working in just one place?

My Games & Writing

Yeah, you missed it. It's right at the top of page 6 of this thread. And I've posted it earlier in a folder.

I'm alright with merging stuff, it's just that some examples are incomplete.

Edited by Lermis on Feb 26th 2021 at 7:18:35 PM

SpaceBattles.com fanworks (unnoficial) index in my Sandbox.

Ah, I see, sorry! For some reason I thought that it was included in your sandbox. I've made a mental note to take a look at your version at some point, then!

As to the examples, fair enough! I don't suppose that there's a great hurry just yet.

Hmm... Although it also occurs to me that, if we're taking this to the Trope Launch Pad, we could perhaps just start with the complete examples and add further as we go. The trope will presumably not be launched immediately, after all.

Edited by ArsThaumaturgis on Feb 26th 2021 at 9:01:35 PM

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Obviously. I imagine there are far more examples than the one franchise I'm familiar with. But it would be best if we nailed down the description and scope, first.

SpaceBattles.com fanworks (unnoficial) index in my Sandbox.

Alright, I have another case for vouching for Optional Boss to be its own separate trope: Genshin Impact.

Since that game is open-world, many of its bosses are optional and are only required for character level-up materials. They're currently labelled under Bonus Boss, but none of them are truly hard enough to qualify under that trope's definition of a Superboss (with one exception I'll talk about later). Here's a list of all Genshin bosses and their statuses.

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• Stormterror/Dvalin: (Prologue Boss, Mandatory in Main Story, Rematches Optional)
• Childe: (Chapter 1 Boss, Mandatory in Main Story, Rematches Optional)
• Anemo Hypostasis: (World Boss, Optional)
• Electro Hypostasis: (World Boss, Optional)
• Geo Hypostasis: (World Boss, Optional)
• Cryo Regisvine: (World Boss, Optional)
• Pyro Regisvine: (World Boss, Optional)
• Oceanid: (World Boss, Optional)
• Andrius the North Wolf: (World Boss, Mandatory in Razor's Story Quest, Rematches Optional, the closest thing this game has to a Superboss due to how difficult he is to take down when compared to the chapter bosses)
• Primo Geovishap: (World Boss, Optional)

Edited by DivineFlame100 on Mar 1st 2021 at 9:03:57 AM

That is a good argument for it, I think.

I do stand by my feeling that "Optional Boss" makes sense as a supertrope to the various more-specific tropes that we've been discussing here, including Super Boss.

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So basically we all agree that Optional Boss is for examples that don't fit in any of the subtropes?

SpaceBattles.com fanworks (unnoficial) index in my Sandbox.

Pretty much.