History Main / DefeatMeansPlayable

* ''VideoGame/{{Onechanbara}}''

* Some of the VideoGame/{{LEGO Adaptation Game}}s have part of their DoubleUnlock feature require beating a specific enemy before you can buy them. For some examples: beating mooks the first time and bosses the last time in story missions giving their buyables automatically: ''VideoGame/LegoIndianaJones 2'' needing you to slaughter hordes of mooks and rebuild dead bosses before punching them into surrendering, ''VideoGame/LegoTheLordOfTheRings'' and ''VideoGame/LegoPiratesOfTheCaribbean'' needing just punching them into submission, and ''VideoGame/LegoMarvelsAvengers'' having a few mini-boss battles where beating them grants their character token.

* The VideoGame/{{LEGO Adaptation Game}}s prior to ''LEGO Harry Potter''.

* In ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndSonicAtTheOlympicGames Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games]]'' on DS, this is generally how it goes in the Adventure Tours.

They may be a normal encounter during the course of the story, in which case you'll unlock them just by playing through the story, or they'll be a type of BonusBoss, in which case you'll have to track them down before you can fight them.

* Many Creator/NipponIchi {{Bonus Boss}}es become playable characters after you defeat them.

* ''VideoGame/GoatSimulator'': In the ''Goat MMO Simulator'' expansion, the king of Goatwind sends you on a quest to vanquish the tyrant Old Goat, who upon encountering you find out is actually a giant Tyrannosaurus Rex. Defeat it, and you unlock it as a Mutator with all of its destructive T-Rex power, available on all maps. [[spoiler:That said, "defeat" may be a strong word here, since Old Goat [[invoked]][[AntiClimaxBoss goes down in one hit and doesn't even seem to notice you]].]]

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' where you must decline a fight with Magus in order to have him join your party.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' uses this system. Meet certain conditions, and a fight against an unlockable character will start. Defeat them, and you'll unlock them.

** In the 2011 edition of ''WWE Smackdown Vs Raw'', the main roster characters who are unlocked via Universe mode must first be battled after fulfilling the unlock requirements. When this happens, Wrestling/VinceMcMahon appears and tells the wrestler you’re playing as they have another opponent to face before revealing the unlockable wrestler.
** Meanwhile, in the Road To Wrestlemania mode, there are several challenge matches that can be played under the right circumstances. Completing all the challenge matches on one route causes one of five Legends to appear in the green room at Wrestlemania- Wrestling/RickySteamboat, Wrestling/TerryFunk, Wrestling/TheRock, Wrestling/SteveAustin, or Vince himself. Speaking with the Legend initiates a match with them, though it is different depending on your opponent- Vince, for example, will wrestle you in a handicap match with Wrestling/DrewMcintyre and Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' starts using variants of this in the 4th to 6th games. Your new transformations, which are based on other Navis, are acquired after defeating those Navis in a boss fight first.
** ''Battle Network 5'' plays this trope more plainly by giving you manual control of those party members in the Liberation Mission that takes place after you beat them in a boss fight.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', Yuffie joins your party after you beat her in a fight.

* Each Esper of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' and Eidolon of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' must be fought before they can be used, though in both cases they're not playable so much as summonable party members.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' allows most monsters to be recruited after defeat, at which point they can be customized, leveled, and used in battle as a third party member.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has Umaro, who will join you if you defeat him as a boss and Mog is in your party.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', Tidus battles Yuna's guardian Kimahri in a mandatory boss fight, after which Kimahri becomes a playable party member.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'', the Creature Creator allows you to catch Fiends using a method not unlike that from ''Pokémon'', ''except'' most of them can be caught while your party is in the safety of the airship, ie. without any need for battling. An exception can be made to some Bosses (that ''do'' need to be beaten first) before they can be caught, including powerful {{Bonus Boss}}es Trema and Almighty Shinra.

* While this wasn't the case with the bosses in the original ''VideoGame/CrashTeamRacing''[[note]]the first four bosses require clearing the Gem Cups to unlock, and Nitrous Oxide isn't even playable ''at all''[[/note]], the [[VideoGame/CrashTeamRacingNitroFueled remake]] plays it more straight, rewarding the bosses as playable upon defeating them in their boss races, Oxide included.

* ''VideoGame/SpaceStationSiliconValley'' takes this to the extreme in the sense that it's a central game mechanic. Basically, you're the 3D platforming equivalent of a DittoFighter, and to play as enemies, you can kill them and take their bodies. To boot, you even start each level already possessing an enemy.

** This is one option to unlock the ''VideoGame/AlienHominid'' character, via clearing the UFO stage (the other option is by [[OldSaveBonus having save data of ''Alien Hominid'' on your console]]).

** The ''VideoGame/AlienHominid'' character can be obtained as a playable character via either clearing the UFO stage or by [[OldSaveBonus having save data of their game on your HDD]].

* In VideoGame/MegaManPoweredUp, defeating the Robot Masters using only the Mega Buster makes them playable, the excuse being that doing so simply damages them rather than outright destroy.

** This is also the case with Roo, the boxing kangaroo. If you beat the trainer without beating Roo first (difficult,since the trainer has about three times as many hitpoints) than Roo runs off and becomes a playable character. This is hinted at, by the fact that the trainer will periodically whip Roo.