History Main / MarathonBoss

* In the ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' mode ''Mann vs. Machine'', several of the Giant Robots come across as this. Particular mention should go to the Black Box Giant Soldier, who not only has a huge amount of HP, but 'heals on hit'. Not only do players have to drain his health, they have to avoid even getting hit. There are also other robots running around with the bomb, making it even more difficult.

* In the video game-themed ''Series/KamenRiderExAid'', the two secondary Riders Brave and Snipe finally settle their mutual score with [[TheDragon Graphite]] to advance to the final boss of the real-life game they have to beat to stop the spread of the Bugster virus once and for all. Their 2-v-1 lasts from ''night all the way till the daytime'' until the two Riders finally scrape the win, though they don't deal the finishing blow, saving that for their ally, the only official player of the game, and therefore, the only one who can properly clear each boss.
* In ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'', the Source of Chaos, ''[[FictionalVideoGame Horizon's]]'' FinalBoss in early installments, is this. To top it off, one of the characters is famous for having beaten it ''on his own'', which took even longer. The timeframe for the latter accomplishment is seven hours.

* ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'': The final boss fight with [[spoiler:Demonhead Mobster Kingpin]] took up over half the comic, spawning an absurd number of fresh HP gauges at one point; being that the comic was a parody of EasternRPG[=s=], this was very likely an AffectionateParody of the trope. Lampshaded by Problem Sleuth himself in his StronglyWordedLetter to the final boss.
* In ''Film/{{Stardust}}'', the final fight with Lamia and her sisters. [[spoiler: First, Septimus fights Empusa and kills her. Second, Lamia kills Septimus. Third, Tristan sets the wolves on Mormo which kill her. At this point, the fight between Tristan and Lamia begins. Lamia, unable to use magic on Tristan due to his magic flower, throws stuff at him instead but he strikes her with lightning. Then she reanimates Septimus's corpse to fight Tristan, until he crushes it under a chandelier (though it takes [[RuleOfThree three tries]]). Then she attacks with a knife, before releasing Yvaine, seemingly admitting defeat - but then reveals it to be a trick to eat Yvaine's heart in prime condition and attacks them a final time. Only now is Yvaine able to unleash an energy explosion, [[PowerOfLove powered by her love for Tristan]], which finally destroys the evil witch once and for all.]]

* Real life example: Many of the animals early humans preyed upon before the invention of ranged weapons that allow us to safely kill them from a distance, particularly most Ice Age megafauna, and even some wildlife still preyed upon by a few select hunter-gatherer tribes today, require the hunters [[SuperPersistentPredator to constantly chase their prey for many hours]] until it is exhausted to the point that the prey can no longer escape.

** ''Perfect Cherry Blossom'' has [[{{Superboss}} Yukari Yakumo]], who takes ''over 10 minutes'' to defeat, and over 15 minutes if you try to time out her attacks (say, to graze for score). Many shmups take about 20-30 minutes to complete, total. And to even ''get'' to Yukari, you have to beat the [[{{Superboss}} Extra boss]] Ran Yakumo. ''Twice.'' You see, Yukari's not ''PCB'''s Extra boss. She's the Phantasm boss. No other 'Touhou'' game ''has'' a Phantasm stage.

** Typically, the last spellcard in any game is absurdly long. The average spellcard lasts about 15-20 seconds, 45 if you're going for the timeout. Final spellcards can last ''two and a half minutes.'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1MR9jOpH94 Kanako Yasaka's final card is particularly terrifying.]] Once again, Yukari takes the cake. Her [[{{Superboss}} optional]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKz5BJXWDYQ Last Word spellcard]] in ''Imperishable Night'' is an extended version of the aforementioned last spellcard in ''PCB''. Except you're not even allowed to bomb ''at all.''

** In the original Famicom/NES version, Chaos is much easier to defeat by virtue of only having 4000 HP. However, he still qualifies, as the previous boss, Tiamat, only had ''2000'' HP.