I was going to suggest this one. I died many times in the tower my first playthrough. But by the end of the game they were three shot by my Archer rogue.
I was expecting this one to be on the list. The first one was just "Oh what the **** is this? How am I supposed to kill it?" Later you fight several at once without bigger problems.
The Doomhunter from DOOM Eternal comes to mind. Watching one get rebuilt and assembled over the course of an entire level led me to believe that this would be a unique enemy. Then in the late game one pops up practically every encounter
id were pretty good at this back in the day. Knee deep in the dead's boss the bruiser brothers became normal enemies pretty quickly, the Barons of Hell. Heretic and Hexen also brought back D'Sparil's mount, the green chaos serpents. Nothing like seeing an intimidating "boss" become a normal encounter for the rest of the game.
Inversely though, the marauder also gets the regular enemy treatment, but are just as tough as they were introduced, except as regular enemy, you get to dodge them and other enemies at the same time. :V
The Capra Demons in Demon Ruins aren't actually weaker. They have the exact same amount of health as the boss Capra Demon. It's just levelling up and having more space that makes the difference
I always thought Big Daddies from Bioshock kind of deserves a spot too! They had such a build up and then it became basic enemies after Atlas directs you to kill the first one.
While these cases are very much demotions for the enemy, I actually like it a lot from a game design perspective. Making a previously high tier boss into a goon can really bring a sense of improvement for the player if done right. Like this thing they worked so hard to deal with is now just a minor annoyance due to their growth (kinda like Ellie treating the Bloater as an annoyance, actually.) Bonus points if nothing about the boss changed from the initial fight, health bars especially.
Yeah it is kinda annoying the regular enemy variety of bosses often lacking the 2nd and/or 3rd phase changes. Or having alot less health or just are not the same enemy by not having certain attacks the boss version had
this is literally genichiro from sekiro you fight him 3 times as a way of showing your progress in the game. the first time he kicks your ass. the second time it's an even fight. and the third time it takes like two seconds to kill him.
There's the Trolls in Kingdoms of Amalur. One of them is the tutorial boss, with a health bar and everything. Later, in Alabastra, stronger versions of them are just kinda everywhere
Dragon age origins- the Ogre The first boss fight after the origin stories, so the first one everyone will face (and often the first one people die on) becomes such a standard enemy by the end of the game, that there's an area full of ogres who each only need one hit to kill.
I remember! They got done really a downgrade. From "I hit you from across the floor because the hell is balancing a boss fight" to "mommy I don't wanna be here anymore"
@@astrisperspecto4130 idk I kinda like it, shows you actually getting stronger. What's he point in me gaining 20 lvls and a bunch of abilities/allies only to die to the same enemy I died to lvl1. I hate that shit, I get there needs to be a challenge, but that's why u make variants. Ie "elites,champions"
I was going to bring up the Broodmother, which shows up again in Awakening, but that's certainly a better option. The first ogre is so hard to deal with, and it just becomes a normal (albeit challenging) enemy.
I love the subtle storytelling in Metroid Prime when you encounter stronger enemies when backtracking. In the case of the Sheegoths, it shows that with the resident Sheegoth dead, new ones are moving in to claim its territory.
The Ogre in Dragon Age Origins, the first one you face your party consists of your Warden, Alister, a circle mage, and a random guard. The boss battle is quite challenging but from then on out Ogres become as trivial as any other dark spawn.
I always wanted to know if that Ogre had different stats than the rest in the game. Because if it's just us having shitty tier 1 weapons/armor and slaughtering the later ones with epic loot, is that a downgrade or us just getting better?
Need to do a reverse list of basic enemies that were upgreaded to boss status. Sodier of Godrick from Elden Ring and Rick the Door Technichian from Jedi Survivor are a good start
(I think) by technicality, the Vigilante from Pizza Tower would be a regular enemy upgradeed to a boss, since Cheeselimes (what the Vigilante is), if I remember correctly, are literally one of the first things you fight in the game. Then, suddenly boom upgraded Cheeselime.
The Shadows of Yharnam in Bloodborne had an even more dramatic demotion than the BSB. They went from mandatory bosses in the mid-game to regular mobs in the late game.
Well the Blood-starved does appear as a boss in Chalices, even sometimes roaming, so at least they have that going for them, but I wouldn't say the roaming Shadows are much more of a pushover without multiple phases then blood river blood-starved beast. Question is how is it much more starved and weak, when it literally lives in a river of blood.
The weird thing is I feel like the later version are a different enemy entirely. While similar, they lake the snake aspect as well as the transformation, which made the bosses stand out as a different type. The Blood-starved Beast encountered later I feel is the same type of enemy, just not as powerful. This is just my feel and opinion though.
@@demonsmoke1788 nah, the bloodstarved beast you encounter later does not add the poison effect on itself to poison you when you get close. So it does lack some features the original boss has. Mainly because it has no 2nd or 3rd phase
@@cherrydragon3120 and run through them like they aren't even there. The pigs are the real threat on that level and those aren't that difficult. In hindsight, FromSoftware must have intended that to be a farming area. That's the ultimate demotion.
All the Mass Effect games seem to love doing this: the Krogan Battlemaster from ME1, the Praetorian from ME2, the Ascendant from ME:A, and I'm pretty sure there are a few more.
Actually, there's only 2 Praetorians in ME 2: Horizon and the Collector ship. Both of them are fatally weak to playing Ring Around the Rosie around local scenery.
The Vampire from the original Final Fantasy has the biggest fall from grace I've ever personally experienced. He's a sort of mini boss for the first of the "main bosses" in the game and the only reason he is even kind of a challenge is because there are several tough fights before you get to him and resources are limited. (literally no such thing as a Phoenix down in the NES original, someone dies you either have to push on without them or drag your ass back to town to revive them, which isn't an option in the town you just came from since the vampire destroyed the clinic) but you beat the vampire and move much further in the game and realize that not only do other versions of the exact same monster start appearing in random encounters, but there are two or three variants that are far stronger and they are all regular enemies too. The Vampire "boss" in the Earth cavern was basically Dan Habiki....constantly in search of someone weaker than himself. 😂😂😂
I'm just glad Tents were a thing in this game! I still remember being turned to stone the first time and not having SOFT. being able to restart at the beginning of the dungeon saved me a lot of trouble!
Astos as well, the dark elf monster type is common and there are worse variants out there. And yeah, NES Final Fantasy was painfully unfair, with limited items, super limited spells, only 16 equipment spots, period, a couple of stats that just don’t work, etc.
@@Kilthan2050 I thought about Astos too but he at least had that Death spell he usually threw right at the start of the fight. But yeah....there were underlings in his own castle that would have kicked his ass if he had managed to get the key from the Elf Prince. 😂😂😂
Ahh yes, Final Fantasy 1 from NES... The originator of my obsession with keeping all characters in a party at the exact same EXP so they all level at the same time. Where winning a fight with 1 party member dead or stoned meant gameover to me! Vampire definitely qualifies for this list, though I don't think Astos, as mentioned by other commenters, does on the technicality that there is never another enemy actually named Astos unlike vampires, which become so common you can encounter up to 9 at once later.
But thats in EVERY final fantasy the case. I've listed a couple in my own comment of FF13 where actual bosses had stronger varients later on that got the regular enemy treatment
Darknuts have appeared in probably a dozen games, but their appearances aren’t always used as mini-bosses between many of the titles, so I’d consider them only standard enemies in general.
The Ogre from Dragon Age Origins, the first time you fight it, it’s a proper, terrifying boss but later on, it’s a common bulky enemy that you can easily stomp on
For me, the Crow Tengu from Okami come to mind. I'm not sure if they count as bosses, but I thought they did when the Cutters turned into them and you have to save the sparrow girl from them, and then they just turn up wherever from that point on
Silent hill 3's second boss, missionary, is a great example of this. The creature responsible for your father's death that you fight on the rooftops, in the end multiple of them just roam the hallways of the final area. (Also happens in silent hill 2 with the abstract daddy fight)
Here's a two for one special: Werewolf and Minotaur in Castlevania Symphony of the Night. They appear as a boss duo when possessed Richter unleashes them on Alucard in the Colosseum. Later, they both appear separately as common enemies. As far as I can tell, they still have the same stats and attack patterns they did as bosses, but by the time you encounter them again, you'll have found so much better armor and weapons and leveled up so many times that they’re much less of a threat.
90's Beat-em-ups had tons of such instances. The Golden Axe series comes to mind with earlier level bosses becoming regular enemies in later stages (sometimes palette-swapped).
Ah yes, i am familiar with that one. Loved the Knight being a hard bossfight. Then in front of the castle and the final level before the bossfights there are 2 of the bastards and they're so much easier
I absolutely adore Ellen and her puns. Also, there are several Dark Souls enemies that go from bosses to mooks. Pinwheel at the end of the Tomb of Giants, there's a room with several of them, and the Taurus Demon, also in the Demon Ruins
There's a striga in Witcher III 😯, ran circles around the one in the first game until the sun came up, but then The Witcher 2 got to talked about Adda as if she's still alive (must import your save for the dialogue to be different). Always thought it was odd that Adda was dead in the default world state when the entire narration said Witchers prefer to lift curses
@@joenesvick7043 A lot of games that import saves will withhold some of the "good endings" from non-important worldstates to encourage people to buy the previous game(s).
The first boss in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is called Giant Wildclaw. After you beat it, you’ll find smaller enemies just called Wildclaws, and the first time I saw them, I went into fight or flight remembering what I had gone through trying to beat the boss. What’s worse is that Pristine Peaks and Terra Flora have their own Wildclaw variants, so there’s no escape. You can also get a Spark that will let you summon Wildclaws to fight _for_ you, and then it’s like, “Aw yeah.”
The grafted scion from Elden Ring also fits this list. First it’s a hulking mass of arms and legs and once you encounter them later it’s basically a major annoyance.
Zaghnol from FF9. You first face it as the boss of the Festival of the Hunt in Lindblum. Later, you face a giant antlion, and that boss becomes a regular enemy in the desert around Kuja's hidden palace. Both creatures are bosses in Disc One of the Mist Continent, but suffer demotions to everyday enemies on the Outer Continent in Disc Two and beyond.
@@marneus90 Derp. Been too long. Last system I had was a PS3, I don't have it on Windows, and the PS3 died. Forgot Cleyra wasn't on Disc One aside from you being able to visit beforehand and unable to climb it.
Cerberus, malicious face, mind-flayer and the swordsmachine from ultrakill. After their first appearances, they become common enemies that appear multiple times per level.
Great list. You should do one where the get demoted in the sequel. Like a boss in the first one an a sub boss or regular enemy in the sequel. Love your stuff
Slogra and Gaibon from Super Castlevania IV suffered the indignity of being demoted twice. In their original appearance they were some of the highest ranking bosses, coming just before Death and Dracula, and at least Slogra was a proper challenge. In their second game, Symphony of the Night, they were the very first boss you faced as Alucard, and a complete pushover. Then in a late-game area, they're just regular enemies who go down if you breathe on them and do single-digit damage.
If you ever do a commenter's version of this, may I mention the reaper leviathans are SCARY at first, but after killing one in subnautica, you feel VERY confident as to what you can take on next. At least you only have to kill these mini bosses once to keep them at bay
Frankly, it’s a commonly used mechanic that lets the game creators reuse assets. In the horror genre, it can _seem_ to be especially effective, but meh.
@@thesnep4757 Oh wow, then yeah that guy was a joke. Thought you meant the terrible scion sent specifically to kill me for the crime of enjoying these games lol
Andore (or Andre) from Final Fight should absolutely be on this list. The banshee from Mass Effect 3 and several other enemies from Bioware games could also be on this list.
That's how Maximum Carnage (and some other games) works, there's the guys with the umbrellas and the big guys with the clubs for example. They all come back as normal encounters after being bosses. Its just to introduce a new enemy type.
in Doom Eternal the Doom Hunter and the Marauder appear as the boss of the Doom Hunter Base and ARC complex levels. After that they reappear in some of the game's later levels as a normal enemy.
What about the jellyfish from Prey 2006. For half the game it was treated as this massive threat and one of the leaders of the alien Armada. Then you beat it in a massive boss fight. The very next level features dozens of them. You also get a new powerful upgrade to your gun, but it is part of the story to show just how little you are in comparison, and how the villains are letting you win
The Hell Vanguard in DMC3 was a fun one, has a great scream to announce itself and becomes more and more common as a regular enemy in higher difficulties.
Geodude and Onix from Pokemon Red and Blue. The first gym leader sends them out as bosses and, if you're a kid playing your first Pokemon game or even RPG like a lot of us playing on the game's release, they can actually be a little rough, especially if you didn't level up enough for your starter's elemental move. However, later in the games, there's caves full of both pokemon.
@@cherrydragon3120 Also worth noting that Bulbasaur in Gen I doesn't learn Vine Whip until *level 13* which, even if you only solo with Bulba to that point, not sure you can reach without grinding. Meanwhile, Squirtle is better off but Bubble is only a measly 20 BP in Gen I and Water Gun isn't until level 15, so Squirtle can't even reliably 3-shot Onix without level grinding.
If we're not looking at the same stats as the boss, then two comes to mind: -If memory serves right, in first Final Fantasy game your path gets blocked by a boss Vampire who later became a common mob that comes at you in groups but can be easy-ish (depends on your grind I suppose) deafeated -In a souls-like metroidvania Death's Gambit, the second boss - Owlking - appeares in later location, namely Amulvaro's Observatory, as a common enemy, that can be spawned even more times by things there. Yeah, it's smaller than boss version, but moveset stays the same. It might still be a challenge if you have to fight it alongside other enemy at the same time, but it shouldn't stay hard for long
One of the first times I ever noticed this was actually across multiple games in a series. In Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, the first boss is a really big G.U.N. mech who takes quite a bit of time to defeat as a newcomer to the game. Then that exact same model of mech is littered all throughout some levels of Shadow the Hedgehog as basic enemies, easily brought down in only a few hits.
How could you forget The Butcher from Diablo 1? The early level boss that yelled "AH! FRESH MEAT!" then killed you multiple times before you could beat him. Then you ran into hordes of them a few floors down!
Those aren't Butchers. They're Overlords. They lack the cleaver needed to be as dangerous as The Butcher. They're a sturdy bunch, but they have a slow attack speed.
Seeing bosses as regular enemies does 2 things: First, it feels me with a sense of awesomeness as I'm so much stronger that they've been demoted to regular enemies by the game, and later, to a pathetic pool of post-mortem. Second, it fills me with a sense of dread, as whatever is the boss subjugated this enemy to a lower rank (at least, in my head, the boss subjugates the former boss).
Barons of Hell in the original Doom. Two of them were the bosses in episode 1 where your best weapon was the rocket launcher, then they become regulars with the plasma gun or the bfg destroying them.
There's always the Hell Vanguards from DMC 3. Your first boss battle against one ends with it flying away, getting jobbed in a cutscene and suddenly they're just an occasional nuisance
I'd make a case for Metal Gear Ray in MG: SoL, you don't get him as a stand alone boss, but sure it is presented as a fearsome enemy, a killing nuclear machine, a better version of Rex (which you do fight as a boss on the previous game), but then you get near the end of the game and you drop them easily by the dozens, making the Ray unit look as a very weak machine.
Ah, I remember the days of the terrifying Behemoth from Kingdom Hearts. How it could nearly one-shot you with its lightning attack and crush you every other second! ...That was, until players realized you could just climb up onto its back and only get out of dodge when it does the lightning move. Needless to say, the developers realized it too, and started shoving into most of the final late-game gauntlets as something of a godsent easy wave to give you a reprieve from everything else.
Shouldn't there be at least a passing mention for every non-Story boss from the Bayonetta franchise? As in, the final level is effectively a Boss Rush mode, but without the health bar at the top of the screen.
When I saw the title of the video I thought “oh the Emperor Bulblax must be there”, and I got disappointed to not see hin in the list, he was the final boss in Pikmin 1, then turned into a regular boss in Pikmin 2 and now in Pikmin 4 is a regular enemy
Lynels in Breath of the Wild were one of the first ones I thought of. The Ploymus Mountain one was as scary as any Guardian my first time, but they become a total pushover after a while.
In the first stage of “Maximum Carnage”, by standing atop the stack of newspapers (or the spot where they had been) and spamming your webbing button when the boss music kicks in, Spidey will web both Lizzie and Dana when they enter the scene, crack their faces together over his head, and one-shot both bosses into unconsciousness. Or to put it another way, these two takes more effort to kill AFTER being demoted to standard mob enemies
Ngl like i always assumed that the clips of the videos were them playing or something but i definitely enjoy seeing them all playing around and not scripted just clearly having a good time :D
Its a little different, but the Legend of Zelda has many sub-bosses which get demoted to normies. The best example I can think of being the darknuts in Wind Waker, but there is also the Moldarach which is a boss which gets demoted to a mere subboss later on in Skyward Sword
Hades, the Inferno-Bomber. In the first playthrough of the game, a pair of them are the first boss event you encounter, and often most people's first death due to their very high hp compared to other enemies, unusual moveset, and area of effect attacks. Kill them, then go fight the real boss of the level, and you'll find that the next stage of the game features them by the dozens, in every room, with just as much hp and hitting just as hard. A suped up variant of them can also spawn as allies to the final boss.
Darksiders 1 has a number of boss/miniboss enemies become ordinary enemies later in the game. The best example I can think of is the first boss you fight after the tutorial (The buff blue demon) and later in the game, DS will throw multiples in with ordinary enemies. The first fight is tough because you have only 1 or 2 health bars and none of your powerful weapons or attacks are available. But by the time you fight multiple at once, you have a ton of health and strong weapons and attacks so it becomes quite easy.
There's multiple bosses that got demoted to enemies in doom eternal. I can't exactly remember them, but I'm pretty positive. Also one or two bosses in the first ever doom that got demoted
You could also look at some of the DOOM Eternal bosses for this list. 1) The Doom Hunter was a boss early on, but then becomes a regular enemy when you get more weapons. 2) The Gladiator/Marauder goes from the heavy shield to an Ardent shield, but is still the same fight. 3) The Maykrs make Drone versions of themselves.
13:27 Fun fact, if you stay here on the window rocks, you can kill the dogs that will remain at the top of the stairs with a long weapon. The boss might do the same for a couple of seconds, then jump at you and knock you down. But now being a 1v1, it's gonna just be a matter of dodging and hitting it in the back and going back again on that window platform thingy.
Among other games, modern Metroid games seem to love doing this. Metroid Dread has an incredibly hard Chozo Warrior fight. So when two show up not much later, it doesn’t feel like Samus is that much stronger. And then there’s the pair infected by the X Parasite later on.
Gotta mention Doom Eternal - the Marauder. Shows up as the boss of the end of a mid-game level, then returns several times to pressure the player. In The Ancient Gods, you even encounter two at once. Also, love the shirt, Ellen.
In Metroid Dread you have the Robot Chozo Soldiers. Okay, they're never complete pushovers (at least until the very end of the game), but the first one gets so much build up and is a major ramp up in difficulty, then later they can turn up as minibosses or you can even fight two at once.
What about El Gigante from Resident Evil 4? The first time you encounter it, it’s a full fledged boss, but later on you’re expected to fight more. In one encounter you have to deal with two at once.
Have always loved y’all’s content, cures insane amounts of boredom every time I watch a vid. Also, an example I know of is mezuki from nioh 2. Boss of the first stage originally, ( with a banger theme btw) but was later majorly reduced to being a normal enemy in not one, but like half of the main missions. On top of that, he’s not even the main threat for most of his appearances after the boss fight
Capra Demon showing up later is really good game design for an RPG. A boss enemy becomes easier for you as you level up. Shows how far you have come and how dangerous the world is since the boss was actually not special. Same with the Asylum Demon later on. They did this in the first Zelda where enemies like Manhandla, Gleeok, and Gohma become minibosses. They’re strategically placed. In Dark Souls’s case it’s also thematic and used to subtly build the world. FromSoft really likes to build their worlds in this way. No overt explanations, you have to look for it through vague item descriptions and the visuals.
FF X-2 isn't on XBox, but Shaq from the Cloister of Trials. She has a ton of HP, can one shot you with her NORMAL ATTACKS, and can petrify you through IMMUNITY and absolutely zero downgrades after she becomes a regular encounter on the lower floors after beating her. I 100% do not envy the people who faced her with the nerfed catnip in the re-master.
Borderlands 2 the first time you run into a Constructor it gets the full boss treatment with its own stage and a full crew of soldiers to back it up. A few main story missions later and you're facing multiple constructors as they spam out wave after wave of loaders, drones and missiles.
The centaurs in Tomb Raider Anniversary will always hold a loving but frustrating place in my heart. As someone who I got grounded for a B- back then, game privileges got revoked (for an AP class I might add) so when my mom faced these enemies and gave me the controller out of frustration, I was happy to play a game again. Then once I defeated them….she restarted the game. At my expression, she said now that she knows what to do, she should be able to do it. That didn’t work out so I was gifted the controller yet another time. Years later, I don’t let her forget it 😂
Scorn, the first boss in Knights of the Round later becomes an enemy named Tall Man. This game also contains the opposite of this trope, with Masked Man, who is later upgraded to Sky Walker and then the boss Phantom.
An oldie but a goodie, the Wizards in Final Fantasy 1 protect the Crown in the Marsh cave, which is a huge fight at the time, but then they show up as normal monsters later in the Earth and Ice caves.
I suppose you could argue Dr Salvador in Resident Evil 4 also fell victim to this. When he first appears in the village fight he is treated as and comes across as a “big deal”. But as the game goes on, not only does he keep appearing a few more times, but as you upgrade your weapons it steadily becomes easier to defeat him. And then of course, there’s when you unlock the P.R.L. 412…
Speaking of the bloater, they don't have armor on their feet, five shots from the revolver on a bloaters feet has them a lifeless corpse, this is very handy on higher difficulties, especially if you've ran out of Molotov's
Why does this video reminds me of "X Play from G4" so much. It was a tv series on cable dedicated and promoted the gaming community. First episode 1998, ended 2022.
Baramos from Dragon Quest 3. You spend hours grinding through dungeons and monsters to prepare your party for the climactic battle only to discover he was a relatively low ranking demon in the big bad's army. Your party is fighting hordes of identical fiends by the endgame.
Castlevania has a few titles where they reuse bosses from earlier in the game as late game standard enemies. Aria of Sorrow's first couple of boss fights went like this, with the Creaking Skull, Manticore, Great Armor and Big Golem all reappearing later in the game as standard enemies.
You can't forget Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, with not one, not two, not even three, but four bosses that turn to enemies. The Creaking Skull, Manticore, Great Armor and even Big Golem, they all turn into basic enemies later
The Doomhunter (floating platform) and Doomslayer (horns and axe) come to mind also. They went from epic battles and tests of strength to casual add-ons for larger battles. It DID make you feel like a complete badass though, because you learn to simply outclass them once you know their mechanics
Just to unlock a memory: in "The Punisher" 1993 videogame for Sega Mega Drive, the first boss is Scully, who in the comics is a gangster and a karate master. After you shoot him in the face at the end of a boss battle on a speeding bus... more of him appear later on, nerfed down to pure cannon fodder.
The Yeti thrall in Tomb Raider Underworld. First appears alone as a boss fight and later, after Lara gets her hands on Mjolnir, you slaughter a large horde of thralls, including several more Yeti thralls
I'm currently playing through Nioh for the first time, and I've just hit the part of the game where it starts doing this. Onryoki and Nue, who first showed up as end-stage bosses (and both of whom I had a hell of a time defeating), are now just sort of wandering around as normal enemies in later missions. Fortunately so far I've only had to fight one of them at a time, though I'm given to understand that that won't be the case forever... *shudder*
What about Fable? I can think of twice it did that. At the end of the Darkwood Trader Escort quest a Troll pops out of the ground and attacks you. Later in the game these things can pop out of the ground in the middle of serene fields, or their bigger brother might, and by the time you’ve gotten a strong weapon and significantly higher stacks you can just run up to it, whack it 3 times with your swords and get right back to business. Also in the rescue mission in Hobbe Cave you have a boss encounter with a Water Nymph which is can cause quite a bit of trouble until several level increases and equipment upgrades later they become so underwhelming you’ll encounter 2 at once every time you casually pass through Darkwood!
The Igglanova from Phantasy Star 4. It the very first boss of the game and is honestly a pretty well designed fight from a story-telling perspective. Later, when we are of a significantly higher level, we encounter another one in the form of a boss fight and the following cutscene addresses that we've gotten stronger and it was easy to beat. After which, we go to their spawning grounds where, unsurprisingly, it - and upgraded versions - are regular enemies.
Don’t know if this counts, but almost all the bosses in Shovel Knight. As you progress through the story, these bosses get their own stages, own cutscenes, and dramatic sequences. At the end of the game though, they all just become a series of enemies you have to face in a row like cannon fodder.
Delsabers in PSOBB. In Normal, they are hard when you don't have enough Attack Accuracy, as they can dodge/shield attacks. Later, when your shots are strong enough to melt them after exhausting their dodge ability, they send multiple, which just means more kiting and exhausting and melting.
The Ogres in Dragon Age Origins. They started as intimidating bosses, then got rapidly demoted to standard baddies pretty quickly
Ngl the one in this Inquisition DLC where you go into the underground (The descent? Maybe. Idk for sure) was pretty tough though
I was going to suggest this one. I died many times in the tower my first playthrough. But by the end of the game they were three shot by my Archer rogue.
I was expecting this one to be on the list. The first one was just "Oh what the **** is this? How am I supposed to kill it?" Later you fight several at once without bigger problems.
This.
@@darkhorse989 ha same
I was like "Oh, ogre. Cool, haven't seen them for a while, this will be a breeze" and got flatten in seconds xD
The Doomhunter from DOOM Eternal comes to mind. Watching one get rebuilt and assembled over the course of an entire level led me to believe that this would be a unique enemy. Then in the late game one pops up practically every encounter
id were pretty good at this back in the day. Knee deep in the dead's boss the bruiser brothers became normal enemies pretty quickly, the Barons of Hell. Heretic and Hexen also brought back D'Sparil's mount, the green chaos serpents. Nothing like seeing an intimidating "boss" become a normal encounter for the rest of the game.
Inversely though, the marauder also gets the regular enemy treatment, but are just as tough as they were introduced, except as regular enemy, you get to dodge them and other enemies at the same time. :V
Same with the marauder and a few more enemies.
@@madinfects Baron of hell had pretty much the same treatment in the old games
I still think not having the Marauder and Doom Hunter as unique recurring characters was a missed opportunity.
The Capra Demons in Demon Ruins aren't actually weaker. They have the exact same amount of health as the boss Capra Demon. It's just levelling up and having more space that makes the difference
the capra demon was never the boss, the room was the boss.
Also, no dogs
@@damp2269 So if the room was the boss, what rank does Tommy Wiseau have?
@@damp2269 It's actually descent with space and no dogs
@@sergentboucherie touche
I always thought Big Daddies from Bioshock kind of deserves a spot too! They had such a build up and then it became basic enemies after Atlas directs you to kill the first one.
exactly i’ve already commented something like this but honestly I found myself killing them for fun or because I was mildly annoyed by their footsteps
While these cases are very much demotions for the enemy, I actually like it a lot from a game design perspective. Making a previously high tier boss into a goon can really bring a sense of improvement for the player if done right. Like this thing they worked so hard to deal with is now just a minor annoyance due to their growth (kinda like Ellie treating the Bloater as an annoyance, actually.) Bonus points if nothing about the boss changed from the initial fight, health bars especially.
Yeah it is kinda annoying the regular enemy variety of bosses often lacking the 2nd and/or 3rd phase changes. Or having alot less health or just are not the same enemy by not having certain attacks the boss version had
this is literally genichiro from sekiro you fight him 3 times as a way of showing your progress in the game. the first time he kicks your ass. the second time it's an even fight. and the third time it takes like two seconds to kill him.
There's the Trolls in Kingdoms of Amalur. One of them is the tutorial boss, with a health bar and everything. Later, in Alabastra, stronger versions of them are just kinda everywhere
Dragon age origins- the Ogre
The first boss fight after the origin stories, so the first one everyone will face (and often the first one people die on) becomes such a standard enemy by the end of the game, that there's an area full of ogres who each only need one hit to kill.
I remember! They got done really a downgrade.
From "I hit you from across the floor because the hell is balancing a boss fight" to "mommy I don't wanna be here anymore"
"Enchantment!"
Well, in Dragon Age 2 they kill your sibling.
@@astrisperspecto4130 idk I kinda like it, shows you actually getting stronger. What's he point in me gaining 20 lvls and a bunch of abilities/allies only to die to the same enemy I died to lvl1. I hate that shit, I get there needs to be a challenge, but that's why u make variants. Ie "elites,champions"
I was going to bring up the Broodmother, which shows up again in Awakening, but that's certainly a better option. The first ogre is so hard to deal with, and it just becomes a normal (albeit challenging) enemy.
I love the subtle storytelling in Metroid Prime when you encounter stronger enemies when backtracking. In the case of the Sheegoths, it shows that with the resident Sheegoth dead, new ones are moving in to claim its territory.
Literal Environmental Storytelling. Need more stuff like that.
The Ogre in Dragon Age Origins, the first one you face your party consists of your Warden, Alister, a circle mage, and a random guard. The boss battle is quite challenging but from then on out Ogres become as trivial as any other dark spawn.
I always wanted to know if that Ogre had different stats than the rest in the game. Because if it's just us having shitty tier 1 weapons/armor and slaughtering the later ones with epic loot, is that a downgrade or us just getting better?
Need to do a reverse list of basic enemies that were upgreaded to boss status. Sodier of Godrick from Elden Ring and Rick the Door Technichian from Jedi Survivor are a good start
Some Minish Cap bosses could qualify here.
(I think) by technicality, the Vigilante from Pizza Tower would be a regular enemy upgradeed to a boss, since Cheeselimes (what the Vigilante is), if I remember correctly, are literally one of the first things you fight in the game. Then, suddenly boom upgraded Cheeselime.
Big Daddy in Burial at Sea part 1 is another example.
The Sergeant from Warframe, he's just a random Corpus Crewman upgraded (and I use the term VERY loosely) to boss status
@@firehedgehog1446ehhhh, kind of
The Shadows of Yharnam in Bloodborne had an even more dramatic demotion than the BSB. They went from mandatory bosses in the mid-game to regular mobs in the late game.
Well the Blood-starved does appear as a boss in Chalices, even sometimes roaming, so at least they have that going for them, but I wouldn't say the roaming Shadows are much more of a pushover without multiple phases then blood river blood-starved beast. Question is how is it much more starved and weak, when it literally lives in a river of blood.
The weird thing is I feel like the later version are a different enemy entirely. While similar, they lake the snake aspect as well as the transformation, which made the bosses stand out as a different type. The Blood-starved Beast encountered later I feel is the same type of enemy, just not as powerful. This is just my feel and opinion though.
My god those guys got demoted to the point where in the nightmare of mensis you encounter like a dozen of them in the Same area.
@@demonsmoke1788 nah, the bloodstarved beast you encounter later does not add the poison effect on itself to poison you when you get close. So it does lack some features the original boss has. Mainly because it has no 2nd or 3rd phase
@@cherrydragon3120 and run through them like they aren't even there. The pigs are the real threat on that level and those aren't that difficult. In hindsight, FromSoftware must have intended that to be a farming area. That's the ultimate demotion.
In bloodborne the Shadow Of Yharnam are a pain as a boss but then you have an area full of them juste before mergo's wet nurse.
The Brutes from Mass Effect, the first time it was a boss battle, then they just start appearing as harder but still beatable mooks.
All the Mass Effect games seem to love doing this: the Krogan Battlemaster from ME1, the Praetorian from ME2, the Ascendant from ME:A, and I'm pretty sure there are a few more.
ME3 also has the Atlas
Vanguard with maxed cool down can just gorilla bash them to nothing without even using a gun
Actually, there's only 2 Praetorians in ME 2: Horizon and the Collector ship. Both of them are fatally weak to playing Ring Around the Rosie around local scenery.
I believe banshees from ME3 also qualify here too, unless I'm mixing the regular game up with the MP.
The Vampire from the original Final Fantasy has the biggest fall from grace I've ever personally experienced. He's a sort of mini boss for the first of the "main bosses" in the game and the only reason he is even kind of a challenge is because there are several tough fights before you get to him and resources are limited. (literally no such thing as a Phoenix down in the NES original, someone dies you either have to push on without them or drag your ass back to town to revive them, which isn't an option in the town you just came from since the vampire destroyed the clinic) but you beat the vampire and move much further in the game and realize that not only do other versions of the exact same monster start appearing in random encounters, but there are two or three variants that are far stronger and they are all regular enemies too. The Vampire "boss" in the Earth cavern was basically Dan Habiki....constantly in search of someone weaker than himself. 😂😂😂
I'm just glad Tents were a thing in this game! I still remember being turned to stone the first time and not having SOFT. being able to restart at the beginning of the dungeon saved me a lot of trouble!
Astos as well, the dark elf monster type is common and there are worse variants out there.
And yeah, NES Final Fantasy was painfully unfair, with limited items, super limited spells, only 16 equipment spots, period, a couple of stats that just don’t work, etc.
@@Kilthan2050 I thought about Astos too but he at least had that Death spell he usually threw right at the start of the fight. But yeah....there were underlings in his own castle that would have kicked his ass if he had managed to get the key from the Elf Prince. 😂😂😂
Ahh yes, Final Fantasy 1 from NES... The originator of my obsession with keeping all characters in a party at the exact same EXP so they all level at the same time. Where winning a fight with 1 party member dead or stoned meant gameover to me!
Vampire definitely qualifies for this list, though I don't think Astos, as mentioned by other commenters, does on the technicality that there is never another enemy actually named Astos unlike vampires, which become so common you can encounter up to 9 at once later.
But thats in EVERY final fantasy the case.
I've listed a couple in my own comment of FF13 where actual bosses had stronger varients later on that got the regular enemy treatment
Darknuts, being a boss who turns into a regular enemy is pretty much their whole thing throughout the Zelda franchise.
They were just a normal enemy in the first one
@@skeletorgames8641 uh huh, but in Wind Waker and Twilight Princess?
Darknuts have appeared in probably a dozen games, but their appearances aren’t always used as mini-bosses between many of the titles, so I’d consider them only standard enemies in general.
The Ogre from Dragon Age Origins, the first time you fight it, it’s a proper, terrifying boss but later on, it’s a common bulky enemy that you can easily stomp on
I personally find the ogre from Shrek to be much more terrifying
For me, the Crow Tengu from Okami come to mind. I'm not sure if they count as bosses, but I thought they did when the Cutters turned into them and you have to save the sparrow girl from them, and then they just turn up wherever from that point on
Silent hill 3's second boss, missionary, is a great example of this. The creature responsible for your father's death that you fight on the rooftops, in the end multiple of them just roam the hallways of the final area. (Also happens in silent hill 2 with the abstract daddy fight)
I think pyramid head might even count, as one time you fight 2 at the same time, and theyre wielding spears instead of the giant knife you stole.
@@jaredcrabb fairly sure you can't kill it in Nowhere. And the spear ones are still a boss fight so I don't think it counts.
@@DemstarAus And they end up killing one another^
You are also free to ignore the Missionaries.
Here's a two for one special: Werewolf and Minotaur in Castlevania Symphony of the Night. They appear as a boss duo when possessed Richter unleashes them on Alucard in the Colosseum. Later, they both appear separately as common enemies. As far as I can tell, they still have the same stats and attack patterns they did as bosses, but by the time you encounter them again, you'll have found so much better armor and weapons and leveled up so many times that they’re much less of a threat.
Then they drop steak and iron fist 😅
Also slogra and gaibon
90's Beat-em-ups had tons of such instances. The Golden Axe series comes to mind with earlier level bosses becoming regular enemies in later stages (sometimes palette-swapped).
Ah yes, i am familiar with that one. Loved the Knight being a hard bossfight. Then in front of the castle and the final level before the bossfights there are 2 of the bastards and they're so much easier
I absolutely adore Ellen and her puns. Also, there are several Dark Souls enemies that go from bosses to mooks. Pinwheel at the end of the Tomb of Giants, there's a room with several of them, and the Taurus Demon, also in the Demon Ruins
She makes me want to puke. Their “jokes” are pathetic
The strigga from Blood and Wine; the first special one is a boss, but by the end you are dealing with them fairly easily wihout too much trouble.
There's a striga in Witcher III 😯, ran circles around the one in the first game until the sun came up, but then The Witcher 2 got to talked about Adda as if she's still alive (must import your save for the dialogue to be different). Always thought it was odd that Adda was dead in the default world state when the entire narration said Witchers prefer to lift curses
@@joenesvick7043 A lot of games that import saves will withhold some of the "good endings" from non-important worldstates to encourage people to buy the previous game(s).
That sounds like a racist villain
Yo, that's their word.
The first boss in Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope is called Giant Wildclaw. After you beat it, you’ll find smaller enemies just called Wildclaws, and the first time I saw them, I went into fight or flight remembering what I had gone through trying to beat the boss. What’s worse is that Pristine Peaks and Terra Flora have their own Wildclaw variants, so there’s no escape. You can also get a Spark that will let you summon Wildclaws to fight _for_ you, and then it’s like, “Aw yeah.”
3:17 And he still dies anyway by violent hoof stomping. Now that was hilarious.
Lara's face immediately afterwards helps.
@@michaelandreipalon359 Indeed it does
The grafted scion from Elden Ring also fits this list. First it’s a hulking mass of arms and legs and once you encounter them later it’s basically a major annoyance.
Zaghnol from FF9. You first face it as the boss of the Festival of the Hunt in Lindblum. Later, you face a giant antlion, and that boss becomes a regular enemy in the desert around Kuja's hidden palace.
Both creatures are bosses in Disc One of the Mist Continent, but suffer demotions to everyday enemies on the Outer Continent in Disc Two and beyond.
Yes, the world needs more FF9 love
I remember the Antlion is definitely in disc 2. It's first fought in Cleyra, which is after the first disc change at the end of Burmecia
@@marneus90 Derp. Been too long. Last system I had was a PS3, I don't have it on Windows, and the PS3 died. Forgot Cleyra wasn't on Disc One aside from you being able to visit beforehand and unable to climb it.
Don't forget all 4 of the Chaos Guardians from Memoria. They become random encounters with less HP when you get to the Crystal World.
Cerberus, malicious face, mind-flayer and the swordsmachine from ultrakill. After their first appearances, they become common enemies that appear multiple times per level.
Great list. You should do one where the get demoted in the sequel. Like a boss in the first one an a sub boss or regular enemy in the sequel. Love your stuff
Lol yeah i mentioned that as well.
Bosses in 1 game and in the sequel being put as a regular Joe
In the original Castlevania, the giant bat, which was the boss of the first level, becomes a recurring enemy in the final level.
That you can mostly just avoid on the falling bridge.
The centaurs used to have a breath weapon like the Sheegoth but using it was making them a little hoarse.
Aaaayyy🎉
Slogra and Gaibon from Super Castlevania IV suffered the indignity of being demoted twice. In their original appearance they were some of the highest ranking bosses, coming just before Death and Dracula, and at least Slogra was a proper challenge. In their second game, Symphony of the Night, they were the very first boss you faced as Alucard, and a complete pushover. Then in a late-game area, they're just regular enemies who go down if you breathe on them and do single-digit damage.
If you ever do a commenter's version of this, may I mention the reaper leviathans are SCARY at first, but after killing one in subnautica, you feel VERY confident as to what you can take on next. At least you only have to kill these mini bosses once to keep them at bay
The Doom Hunter: you spend a whole level watching them build the "boss" and then they just show up everywhere after.
I feel like you could do this entire list, plus a reversed one just off of Elden Ring enemies alone
Frankly, it’s a commonly used mechanic that lets the game creators reuse assets. In the horror genre, it can _seem_ to be especially effective, but meh.
The tutorial boss is literally just a guy💀
@@alexoxotvI laughed when they show that "guy" and didn't even try to dodge or fight. The horrible grafted scion right?
@@bustinarant Tutorial boss would be God of Rick, also known as Soldier of Godrick.
@@thesnep4757 Oh wow, then yeah that guy was a joke. Thought you meant the terrible scion sent specifically to kill me for the crime of enjoying these games lol
Andore (or Andre) from Final Fight should absolutely be on this list. The banshee from Mass Effect 3 and several other enemies from Bioware games could also be on this list.
The Marauder from Doom Eternal - they don't get any easier but once you realize they are here to stay you learn to pop 'em early in the fight.
That's how Maximum Carnage (and some other games) works, there's the guys with the umbrellas and the big guys with the clubs for example. They all come back as normal encounters after being bosses. Its just to introduce a new enemy type.
in Doom Eternal the Doom Hunter and the Marauder appear as the boss of the Doom Hunter Base and ARC complex levels. After that they reappear in some of the game's later levels as a normal enemy.
Awesome video. The Stalfos in Ocarina of Time is another one of them. They were kind of a miniboss.
What about the jellyfish from Prey 2006. For half the game it was treated as this massive threat and one of the leaders of the alien Armada. Then you beat it in a massive boss fight. The very next level features dozens of them. You also get a new powerful upgrade to your gun, but it is part of the story to show just how little you are in comparison, and how the villains are letting you win
The Hell Vanguard in DMC3 was a fun one, has a great scream to announce itself and becomes more and more common as a regular enemy in higher difficulties.
"I've heard Samus changed her look. She now wears black and she dyed her hair. Plus she fought an ice reptile."
"Really?"
"Yeah, Sheegoth."
6 out of 10 pun. Too much build up for the punchline.
Boo!!!!😂
BOOO!!
(That was actually well done on the groan scale)
Took me a few seconds to get that.
Geodude and Onix from Pokemon Red and Blue. The first gym leader sends them out as bosses and, if you're a kid playing your first Pokemon game or even RPG like a lot of us playing on the game's release, they can actually be a little rough, especially if you didn't level up enough for your starter's elemental move. However, later in the games, there's caves full of both pokemon.
Ah yes brock is a tough first Gym leader, having High defense pokémon is hard if you got a charmander
@@cherrydragon3120 Also worth noting that Bulbasaur in Gen I doesn't learn Vine Whip until *level 13* which, even if you only solo with Bulba to that point, not sure you can reach without grinding. Meanwhile, Squirtle is better off but Bubble is only a measly 20 BP in Gen I and Water Gun isn't until level 15, so Squirtle can't even reliably 3-shot Onix without level grinding.
If we're not looking at the same stats as the boss, then two comes to mind:
-If memory serves right, in first Final Fantasy game your path gets blocked by a boss Vampire who later became a common mob that comes at you in groups but can be easy-ish (depends on your grind I suppose) deafeated
-In a souls-like metroidvania Death's Gambit, the second boss - Owlking - appeares in later location, namely Amulvaro's Observatory, as a common enemy, that can be spawned even more times by things there. Yeah, it's smaller than boss version, but moveset stays the same. It might still be a challenge if you have to fight it alongside other enemy at the same time, but it shouldn't stay hard for long
One of the first times I ever noticed this was actually across multiple games in a series. In Sonic Adventure 2 Battle, the first boss is a really big G.U.N. mech who takes quite a bit of time to defeat as a newcomer to the game. Then that exact same model of mech is littered all throughout some levels of Shadow the Hedgehog as basic enemies, easily brought down in only a few hits.
How could you forget The Butcher from Diablo 1? The early level boss that yelled "AH! FRESH MEAT!" then killed you multiple times before you could beat him. Then you ran into hordes of them a few floors down!
Even just reading the "fresh meat" line made me hear it again and sent a chill down my spine.
@@daviddaugherty2816 EXACTLY!
Those aren't Butchers. They're Overlords. They lack the cleaver needed to be as dangerous as The Butcher. They're a sturdy bunch, but they have a slow attack speed.
@@Bluesit32 they're just weaker versions of the Butcher.
Seeing bosses as regular enemies does 2 things: First, it feels me with a sense of awesomeness as I'm so much stronger that they've been demoted to regular enemies by the game, and later, to a pathetic pool of post-mortem. Second, it fills me with a sense of dread, as whatever is the boss subjugated this enemy to a lower rank (at least, in my head, the boss subjugates the former boss).
The bird boss from Pikmin comes back as a regular enemy in later levels
Barons of Hell in the original Doom. Two of them were the bosses in episode 1 where your best weapon was the rocket launcher, then they become regulars with the plasma gun or the bfg destroying them.
What about Doom Eternal? The Marauder and Doom Hunter just started randomly appearing
Average gamers worst nightmare!
Love this style of content. Your humour always comes across so well.
There's always the Hell Vanguards from DMC 3. Your first boss battle against one ends with it flying away, getting jobbed in a cutscene and suddenly they're just an occasional nuisance
I'd make a case for Metal Gear Ray in MG: SoL, you don't get him as a stand alone boss, but sure it is presented as a fearsome enemy, a killing nuclear machine, a better version of Rex (which you do fight as a boss on the previous game), but then you get near the end of the game and you drop them easily by the dozens, making the Ray unit look as a very weak machine.
Ah, I remember the days of the terrifying Behemoth from Kingdom Hearts. How it could nearly one-shot you with its lightning attack and crush you every other second! ...That was, until players realized you could just climb up onto its back and only get out of dodge when it does the lightning move. Needless to say, the developers realized it too, and started shoving into most of the final late-game gauntlets as something of a godsent easy wave to give you a reprieve from everything else.
Shouldn't there be at least a passing mention for every non-Story boss from the Bayonetta franchise? As in, the final level is effectively a Boss Rush mode, but without the health bar at the top of the screen.
When I saw the title of the video I thought “oh the Emperor Bulblax must be there”, and I got disappointed to not see hin in the list, he was the final boss in Pikmin 1, then turned into a regular boss in Pikmin 2 and now in Pikmin 4 is a regular enemy
Lynels in Breath of the Wild were one of the first ones I thought of. The Ploymus Mountain one was as scary as any Guardian my first time, but they become a total pushover after a while.
In the first stage of “Maximum Carnage”, by standing atop the stack of newspapers (or the spot where they had been) and spamming your webbing button when the boss music kicks in, Spidey will web both Lizzie and Dana when they enter the scene, crack their faces together over his head, and one-shot both bosses into unconsciousness. Or to put it another way, these two takes more effort to kill AFTER being demoted to standard mob enemies
Ngl like i always assumed that the clips of the videos were them playing or something but i definitely enjoy seeing them all playing around and not scripted just clearly having a good time :D
Its a little different, but the Legend of Zelda has many sub-bosses which get demoted to normies. The best example I can think of being the darknuts in Wind Waker, but there is also the Moldarach which is a boss which gets demoted to a mere subboss later on in Skyward Sword
I’ve been watching outside Xbox since y’all first started in like 2011/12 and yes you’ve been doing it for a long time and I appreciate you guys
Ultrakill has the Malicious Face and Cerberus, both of whom turn into usual enemies after the first encounter. Don't get any easier though.
Hades, the Inferno-Bomber. In the first playthrough of the game, a pair of them are the first boss event you encounter, and often most people's first death due to their very high hp compared to other enemies, unusual moveset, and area of effect attacks.
Kill them, then go fight the real boss of the level, and you'll find that the next stage of the game features them by the dozens, in every room, with just as much hp and hitting just as hard. A suped up variant of them can also spawn as allies to the final boss.
Darksiders 1 has a number of boss/miniboss enemies become ordinary enemies later in the game. The best example I can think of is the first boss you fight after the tutorial (The buff blue demon) and later in the game, DS will throw multiples in with ordinary enemies. The first fight is tough because you have only 1 or 2 health bars and none of your powerful weapons or attacks are available. But by the time you fight multiple at once, you have a ton of health and strong weapons and attacks so it becomes quite easy.
There's multiple bosses that got demoted to enemies in doom eternal. I can't exactly remember them, but I'm pretty positive. Also one or two bosses in the first ever doom that got demoted
The Barons of Hell from episode 1 and Cyberdemon from episode 2 became regular enemies but their abilities weren't nerfed
You could also look at some of the DOOM Eternal bosses for this list. 1) The Doom Hunter was a boss early on, but then becomes a regular enemy when you get more weapons. 2) The Gladiator/Marauder goes from the heavy shield to an Ardent shield, but is still the same fight. 3) The Maykrs make Drone versions of themselves.
Omega from Final Fantasy X in X-2. Still a tough random encounter I ran away from but not a boss.
13:27 Fun fact, if you stay here on the window rocks, you can kill the dogs that will remain at the top of the stairs with a long weapon. The boss might do the same for a couple of seconds, then jump at you and knock you down. But now being a 1v1, it's gonna just be a matter of dodging and hitting it in the back and going back again on that window platform thingy.
Ichiro from Okami is presented as the Sunken Ship's boss and is then encountered and much easier to defeat later on, once you upgrade a bit.
Among other games, modern Metroid games seem to love doing this. Metroid Dread has an incredibly hard Chozo Warrior fight. So when two show up not much later, it doesn’t feel like Samus is that much stronger. And then there’s the pair infected by the X Parasite later on.
Gotta mention Doom Eternal - the Marauder. Shows up as the boss of the end of a mid-game level, then returns several times to pressure the player. In The Ancient Gods, you even encounter two at once.
Also, love the shirt, Ellen.
In Metroid Dread you have the Robot Chozo Soldiers. Okay, they're never complete pushovers (at least until the very end of the game), but the first one gets so much build up and is a major ramp up in difficulty, then later they can turn up as minibosses or you can even fight two at once.
Robot Chicken soldiers? Pfft yeah, whatever you say dude
What about El Gigante from Resident Evil 4? The first time you encounter it, it’s a full fledged boss, but later on you’re expected to fight more. In one encounter you have to deal with two at once.
Have always loved y’all’s content, cures insane amounts of boredom every time I watch a vid. Also, an example I know of is mezuki from nioh 2. Boss of the first stage originally, ( with a banger theme btw) but was later majorly reduced to being a normal enemy in not one, but like half of the main missions. On top of that, he’s not even the main threat for most of his appearances after the boss fight
Capra Demon showing up later is really good game design for an RPG. A boss enemy becomes easier for you as you level up. Shows how far you have come and how dangerous the world is since the boss was actually not special. Same with the Asylum Demon later on.
They did this in the first Zelda where enemies like Manhandla, Gleeok, and Gohma become minibosses.
They’re strategically placed. In Dark Souls’s case it’s also thematic and used to subtly build the world. FromSoft really likes to build their worlds in this way. No overt explanations, you have to look for it through vague item descriptions and the visuals.
FF X-2 isn't on XBox, but Shaq from the Cloister of Trials. She has a ton of HP, can one shot you with her NORMAL ATTACKS, and can petrify you through IMMUNITY and absolutely zero downgrades after she becomes a regular encounter on the lower floors after beating her. I 100% do not envy the people who faced her with the nerfed catnip in the re-master.
Borderlands 2 the first time you run into a Constructor it gets the full boss treatment with its own stage and a full crew of soldiers to back it up. A few main story missions later and you're facing multiple constructors as they spam out wave after wave of loaders, drones and missiles.
The centaurs in Tomb Raider Anniversary will always hold a loving but frustrating place in my heart. As someone who I got grounded for a B- back then, game privileges got revoked (for an AP class I might add) so when my mom faced these enemies and gave me the controller out of frustration, I was happy to play a game again. Then once I defeated them….she restarted the game. At my expression, she said now that she knows what to do, she should be able to do it. That didn’t work out so I was gifted the controller yet another time. Years later, I don’t let her forget it 😂
Scorn, the first boss in Knights of the Round later becomes an enemy named Tall Man. This game also contains the opposite of this trope, with Masked Man, who is later upgraded to Sky Walker and then the boss Phantom.
An oldie but a goodie, the Wizards in Final Fantasy 1 protect the Crown in the Marsh cave, which is a huge fight at the time, but then they show up as normal monsters later in the Earth and Ice caves.
I agree with Ellen, that pun was an oldie but goodie. It really was the centaur of the video.
I suppose you could argue Dr Salvador in Resident Evil 4 also fell victim to this. When he first appears in the village fight he is treated as and comes across as a “big deal”. But as the game goes on, not only does he keep appearing a few more times, but as you upgrade your weapons it steadily becomes easier to defeat him. And then of course, there’s when you unlock the P.R.L. 412…
Speaking of the bloater, they don't have armor on their feet, five shots from the revolver on a bloaters feet has them a lifeless corpse, this is very handy on higher difficulties, especially if you've ran out of Molotov's
Why does this video reminds me of "X Play from G4" so much.
It was a tv series on cable dedicated and promoted the gaming community.
First episode 1998, ended 2022.
"Why did i just die?!"🤣
That has to be one of the most hilarious things in video games!🤣
Baramos from Dragon Quest 3. You spend hours grinding through dungeons and monsters to prepare your party for the climactic battle only to discover he was a relatively low ranking demon in the big bad's army. Your party is fighting hordes of identical fiends by the endgame.
The alligator in Manhunter. After growing into an adult and elder shark, you quickly go from being munched on by alligators to thrashing em.
Then there's Rick the Door Technician who got promoted from enemy to boss because of his sheer dedication.
Castlevania has a few titles where they reuse bosses from earlier in the game as late game standard enemies.
Aria of Sorrow's first couple of boss fights went like this, with the Creaking Skull, Manticore, Great Armor and Big Golem all reappearing later in the game as standard enemies.
You can't forget Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow, with not one, not two, not even three, but four bosses that turn to enemies. The Creaking Skull, Manticore, Great Armor and even Big Golem, they all turn into basic enemies later
The Doomhunter (floating platform) and Doomslayer (horns and axe) come to mind also. They went from epic battles and tests of strength to casual add-ons for larger battles. It DID make you feel like a complete badass though, because you learn to simply outclass them once you know their mechanics
"Horns and axe" are called Marauders.
Doom Slayer is the guy you play as.
@@Karak-_- I knew I was wrong too 😂 I just knew someone would get it and explain it
@@MortarMike You played me like a damm fiddle and I solute you for that.
Just to unlock a memory: in "The Punisher" 1993 videogame for Sega Mega Drive, the first boss is Scully, who in the comics is a gangster and a karate master. After you shoot him in the face at the end of a boss battle on a speeding bus... more of him appear later on, nerfed down to pure cannon fodder.
The Yeti thrall in Tomb Raider Underworld. First appears alone as a boss fight and later, after Lara gets her hands on Mjolnir, you slaughter a large horde of thralls, including several more Yeti thralls
I'm currently playing through Nioh for the first time, and I've just hit the part of the game where it starts doing this. Onryoki and Nue, who first showed up as end-stage bosses (and both of whom I had a hell of a time defeating), are now just sort of wandering around as normal enemies in later missions. Fortunately so far I've only had to fight one of them at a time, though I'm given to understand that that won't be the case forever... *shudder*
What about Fable? I can think of twice it did that. At the end of the Darkwood Trader Escort quest a Troll pops out of the ground and attacks you. Later in the game these things can pop out of the ground in the middle of serene fields, or their bigger brother might, and by the time you’ve gotten a strong weapon and significantly higher stacks you can just run up to it, whack it 3 times with your swords and get right back to business. Also in the rescue mission in Hobbe Cave you have a boss encounter with a Water Nymph which is can cause quite a bit of trouble until several level increases and equipment upgrades later they become so underwhelming you’ll encounter 2 at once every time you casually pass through Darkwood!
The Vengefly King in Hollow Knight. One of the first bosses you can fight, then just casually sitting in the Colosseum of Fools.
The Igglanova from Phantasy Star 4. It the very first boss of the game and is honestly a pretty well designed fight from a story-telling perspective. Later, when we are of a significantly higher level, we encounter another one in the form of a boss fight and the following cutscene addresses that we've gotten stronger and it was easy to beat. After which, we go to their spawning grounds where, unsurprisingly, it - and upgraded versions - are regular enemies.
Don’t know if this counts, but almost all the bosses in Shovel Knight. As you progress through the story, these bosses get their own stages, own cutscenes, and dramatic sequences. At the end of the game though, they all just become a series of enemies you have to face in a row like cannon fodder.
Delsabers in PSOBB. In Normal, they are hard when you don't have enough Attack Accuracy, as they can dodge/shield attacks. Later, when your shots are strong enough to melt them after exhausting their dodge ability, they send multiple, which just means more kiting and exhausting and melting.
Fun fact with Lizzie and Dana, if you get in between them you can if timed right you can smash them repeatedly on each other until defeated.