History Main / LegacyBossBattle

In those cases, the boss rarely changes its tactics and techniques, as the intent is to preserve their original battle to begin with. At best, you may see a new move or two, but otherwise the whole thing is relatively unchanged. Sometimes, the recycling happens because the developers wanted to cut costs or had little time to come up something more unique. Other times, the battle is just popular enough to be considered tradition.

Compare and contrast DegradedBoss, RecurringBossTemplate, PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo, HijackedByGanon, SuddenSequelHeelSyndrome. NostalgiaLevel is the level version.

Compare and contrast DegradedBoss, RecurringBossTemplate, PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo, HijackedByGanon, SuddenSequelHeelSyndrome. NostalgiaLevel is the Level version.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManX6'': Dynamo appears again as a RecurringBoss, even if he has no real bearing in the plot. He's exclusive to the secret routes you can take, but only after dealing with High-Max or Nightmare Zero, so he's mostly there to give you a way to obtain better [[GameplayGrading ranks]] (and equips as result).

* Geese Howard in the ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' series. To date he's been in every game in the series except ''Fatal Fury 2'' and ''VideoGame/GarouMarkOfTheWolves'', and of those, only ''one'' has him as not as a boss or a final boss. Usually, they use a "Nightmare" version of him to justify his appearances, seeing that he's canonically supposed to be dead.

* Geese Howard in the ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' series. To date he's been in every game in the series except ''Fatal Fury 2'' and ''VideoGame/GarouMarkOfTheWolves'' and of those games he's been in, only ''one'' has him as not as a boss or a final boss.

Of important note is that most Legacy Bosses are only fightable in the post-game or side areas, and have little to no role in the plot, making them closer to a reward, EasterEgg or just a way to tug your nostalgia strings (for this reason, they are generally [[DifficultySpike much harder]] than the original boss fight). If they ''do'' appear in the main path, then they are likely a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere and the game will only do the bare minimum to justify their presence.

Of important note is that most Legacy Bosses are only fightable in the post-game or side areas, and have little to no role in the plot, making them closer to a reward, EasterEgg or just a way to tug your nostalgia strings. For this reason, they are generally [[DifficultySpike much harder]] than the original boss fight. If they ''do'' appear in the main path, then they are likely a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere and the game will only do the bare minimum to justify their presence.

Of important note is that most Legacy Bosses are only fightable in the post-game or side areas, and have little to no role in the plot, making them closer to a reward, EasterEgg or just a way to tug your nostalgia strings. For this reason, they are generally [[DifficultySpike much harder]] than the original boss fight. If they ''do'' appear in the main path, then they are likely a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere and the game will just do the bare minimum to justify their presence.

Of important note is that most Legacy Bosses are only fightable in the post-game or side areas, and have little to no role in the plot, making them closer to a reward, EasterEgg or just a way to tug your nostalgia strings. For this reason, they are generally [[DifficultySpike much harder]] than the original boss fight. If they ''do'' appear in the main path, then they are likely a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere and the game will just do the bare minimum to justify their presence.

A Legacy Boss Battle is a boss from one game that appears as a boss in a later installment as a throwback, often as an OptionalBoss or {{Superboss}}.

A Legacy Boss Battle is a boss from one game that appears as a boss in a later installment, often as an OptionalBoss or {{Superboss}}.

Of important note is that most Legacy Bosses are only fightable in the post-game or side areas, and have little to no role in the plot, making them closer to a reward, EasterEgg or just a way to tug your nostalgia strings. If they do appear in the main path, then they are likely a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere and the game will do bare minimum to justify their presence. For this reason, they are generally [[DifficultySpike much harder]] than the original boss fight.

Of important note is that most Legacy Bosses are only fightable in the post-game or side areas, and have little to no role in the plot, making them closer to a reward, EasterEgg or just a way to tug your nostalgia strings. For this reason, they are generally [[DifficultySpike much harder]] than the original boss fight.

In those cases, the boss rarely changes its tactics and techniques, as the intent is to preserve their original battle to begin with. At best, you may see a new move or two, but otherwise the whole thing is relatively unchanged. Sometimes, the recycling happens because the developers wanted to cut costs or had little time to come up something more unique. Othertimes, the battle is just tradition.

In those cases, the boss rarely changes its tactics and techniques, as the intent is to preserve their original battle to begin with. At best, you may see a new move or two, but otherwise the whole thing is relatively unchanged. Sometimes, the recycling happens because the developers wanted to cut costs or had little time to come up something more unique.

In those cases, the boss rarely changes its tactics and techniques, as the intent is to preserve their original battle to begin with. Sometimes, the recycling happens because the developers wanted to cut costs or had little time to come up something more unique.

* ''VideoGame/MegamanStarForce'', being made by the same people and a sequel to ''Battle Network'', of course has some bosses who reoccur through the series.

[[folder: Shoot'em Up]]
* ''[[VideoGame/ExtrapowerStarResistance EXTRAPOWER Star Resistance]]'': Dark Force isn't fought in-story until ''[[VideoGame/ExtrapowerAttackOfDarkforce Attack of Darkforce]]'', which this game is the prequel to, but he can be fought here as an optional SuperBoss in the BossRush mode.
* The original forms of Mandler is fought several times throughout the ''VideoGame/TerraCresta'' series, including ''VideoGame/SolCresta''. In both ''Terra Cresta II'' and ''Sol Cresta'', it now has a OneWingedAngel form for the final battle.
[[/folder]]

* ''VideoGame/MegamanX6'': Dynamo appears again as a RecurringBoss, even if he has no real bearing in the plot. He's exclusive to the secret routes you can take, but only afterdealing with High-Max or Nightmare Zero, so he's mostly there to give you a way to get better [[GameplayGrading ranks]] (and equips as result).

* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'': Destroyman is fought in every main game as a story boss, returning as the cybernetic twins New Destroyman in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'' and as Destroyman True Face in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII''. There's generally no reason for this since he's a pretty minor foe in the grand scheme of things, and his moveset does not change much in-between releases (at least from I to II).

In those cases, the boss rarely changes its tactics and techniques, as the intent is to preserve their original battle to begin with. Sometimes, the recycling happens the developers wanted to cut costs or had little time to come up something more unique.

In those cases, the boss rarely changes its tactics and techniques, as the intent is to preserve their original battle to begin with. Sometimes, the recycling happens the developers wanted to cut costs or had little time to come up something more unique. Remakes in particular love to do this, adding bosses from the original entries' sequels as a form of CallForward. If the boss' game of origin is from another franchise, then these might be {{Mythology Gag}}s or {{Lawyer Friendly Cameo}}s as well.

In those cases, the boss rarely changes its tactics and techniques, as the intent is to preserve their original battle to begin with. Sometimes, they are just recycled because the developers wanted to cut costs or had little time to come up something more unique. Remakes in particular love to do this, adding bosses from the original entries' sequels as a form of CallForward. If the boss' game of origin is from another franchise, then these might be {{Mythology Gag}}s or {{Lawyer Friendly Cameo}}s as well.

If the boss' game of origin is from another franchise, then these might be {{Mythology Gag}}s or {{Lawyer Friendly Cameo}}s as well. Sometimes, they are just recycled because the developers wanted to cut costs or had little time to come up something more unique. Remakes in particular love to do this, adding bosses from the original entries' sequels as a form of CallForward.

* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'': Destroyman is fought in every main game as a story boss, returning as the cybernetic twins New Destroyman in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2DesperateStruggle'' and as Destroyman True Face in ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroesIII''. There's generally no reason for this since he's a pretty minor foe in the grand scheme of things,

* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'': Ridley, a SpacePirate pterodactyl/dragon-thing, has made an appearance for a boss fight in every game in the franchise except for four.[[note]]''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'', ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'', ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters'', and ''VideoGame/MetroidDread''[[/note]] His moveset also tends to barely change, featuring the same fireballs and tailswings he is famous for. His appearance in ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'' (a remake of ''Return of Samus'') is perhaps the straightest example of this, as he was not in the original game at all, but reappears as [[spoiler:the TrueFinalBoss]] even if it doesn't make much sense in the long run.

* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'': Ridley, a SpacePirate pterodactyl/dragon-thing, has made an appearance for a boss fight in every game in the franchise except for four.[[note]]''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'', ''VideoGame/MetroidIIReturnOfSamus'', ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters'', and ''VideoGame/MetroidDread''[[/note]] His moveset also tends to barely change. His appearance in ''VideoGame/MetroidSamusReturns'' (a remake of ''Return of Samus'') is perhaps the straightest example of this, as he was not in the original game at all, but reappears as [[spoiler:the TrueFinalBoss]] even if it doesn't make much sense in the long run.

If the boss' game of origin is from another franchise, then these might be {{Mythology Gag}}s or {{Lawyer Friendly Cameo}}s as well. Sometimes, they are just recycled because the developers wanted to cut costs or had little time to come up something more unique. BigBad FinalBoss examples generally don't qualify, unless the fight feels more familiar than the context would indicate.

A Legacy Boss Battle is a boss from one game that appears as a boss in a later installment, often as a {{Superboss}} and as a result generally [[DifficultySpike much harder]] than the original boss fight.

If the boss' game of origin is from another franchise, then these might be {{Mythology Gag}}s or {{Lawyer Friendly Cameo}}s as well. Sometimes, they are just recycled because the developers wanted to cut costs or had little time to come up something more unique.

Of important note is that most Legacy Bosses are only fightable in the post-game or side areas, and have little to no role in the plot, making them closer to a reward, EasterEgg or just a way to tug your nostalgia strings. So BigBad FinalBoss examples generally don't qualify, unless the fight feels more familiar than the context would indicate.