History Main / ReactorBoss

* The ''Film/{{Batman}}'' game for the NES had the Machine Intelligence System and the Dual-Container Alarm as the bosses of the second and fourth stages, respectively.

** ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'' has one of these [[spoiler: as its TrueFinalBoss, which is actually an on-foot version of the aforementioned Heart of Nova fight]]. You need to lower the shield around the core by destroying the pylons around it, but once that's done, the core itself will come after Kirby and proves to be far more threatening then its outer defenses.

* The first three levels of each planet in ''VideoGame/{{Descent}} II'', and all but two of the levels in ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}'' featured reactor "bosses"; after destroying them you had a limited time to find the exit and escape. However, these battles were hardly anticlimactic: as there was generally a [[FlunkyBoss huge number of guard robots]] in the same room as the reactor, and the reactor itself wasn't defenseless, as it fired slow-moving but very powerful energy blasts of its own.

* ''VideoGame/GangGarrison2'' has an original gamemode not in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', where the goal is to destroy the enemy team's generator while defending your own.

[[caption-width-right:256:...then ''[[SelfDestructMechanism get out before it blows!]]'']]

* The final battle in ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}: The Ark of Napishtim'' is against the core of the titular WeatherControlMachine.

* The sixth boss of ''ChimeraBeast'' has your [[HordeOfAlienLocusts eater]] [[VillainProtagonist character]] attacking humanity, culminating in a fight against a nuclear reactor. From the outside.

[[caption-width-right:256:...then ''[[SelfDestructMechanism get out before it blows!!!]]'']]

See also CoresAndTurretsBoss. Very common in a ShootEmUp. This is a common justification for a LoadBearingBoss.

* ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'''s final battle consists of you trying to destroy the 4 cooling vents in your starship's engine room, in order to make the ship's reactor melt down and obliterate Halo. Meanwhile, Flood and Sentinels are attacking you the entire time you're running around the engine room trying to do this. In an oblique way, the final battle is against Guilty Spark, since he and his Sentinels are in the engine room trying to stop you, and defeating him is the reason you're trying to nuke Halo in the first place.

** In the level "Tip of the Spear" from ''VideoGame/HaloReach'', your main objective is to take down the Spire by blowing its core.

** And in Milky Way Wishes, you have an ''UnexpectedShmupLevel'' inside NOVA ending with you destroying his heart.

* VideoGame/MightAndMagic VI plays with this trope. The final quest is to enter the main Kreegan hive, destroy the reactor, and (preferably, though you can skip this step [[NonStandardGameOver and get an alternate game-over video for the trouble]]) perform a ritual that'll keep the resulting explosion from destroying the ''world'' rather than merely the hive. You fight through hordes of Kreegan and their confusing architecture, destroy the Kreegan reactor in a suspiciously easy battle... and are promptly teleported to right in front of the Kreegan Hive Queen, the ''actual'' final boss of the game, backed up by a horde of lesser Kreegan.

* ''VideoGame/XMen2CloneWars'' on the SegaGenesis featured this on the second level (The Sentinel Factory). There was even a [[ChekhovsGun conveniently placed emergency exit]] that you passed halfway through the level.

* ''Gate of Thunder'' had the reactor of the enemy space station as the FinalBoss.

* ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}'' ends with you blowing up the Citadel's main {{teleporter|sAndTransporters}}. It's a TimedMission because you're trying to prevent Breen from teleporting away, and two gunships come in to shoot at you, but the teleporter itself does not move or defend itself.
* The objective of Guild-VS-Guild gameplay in RagnarokOnline is to destroy the enemy guild's Empirium Crystal, which is the core of the castle.

* ''[[VideoGame/RaySeries RayStorm]]'' has the final boss. Beating it causes the colony to explode and [[ColonyDrop drop into]] a [[HurlItIntoTheSun nearby sun]], destroying any threat of the Secilian Empire... and killing loads of innocent lives in the process.

* The arcade rail shooter ''Starblade'' has ''two'' of these. ''Galaxian³'', which is basically a six-player ''Starblade'', has one as a {{Time|LimitBoss}}d FinalBoss.

* In ''GunstarHeroes'', you destroy one after docking with the spaceship.
* ''SuperStarWars'', ''Super Empire Strikes Back'' and ''Super Return of the Jedi'' had the Tractor Beam Generator, Carbonite Freezing Chamber and Endor Shield Generator as bosses.
* Many levels of ''{{PN03}}'', other than those ending with true boss battles or {{Multi Mook Melee}}s, have you destroy CAMS's energy cores, which are usually guarded by a number of {{sentry gun}}s.

* The ''{{Raiden}}'' series has the [[PowerCrystal crystal-powered]] Cranassian Fortress as the FinalBoss of most of the games.
* The final boss of ''Fester's Quest'' is the spaceships's core, which is defended by several turrets, as well as the core itself firing homing bullets.
* One possible path in ''RType Final'' has you facing off with the source of all the enemies in the game: a stationary generator which can spontaneously create every single type of enemy and object in-game.

* Instead of a straight-out duel against the BigBad, like in ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderLegend Legend]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderAniversary Anniversary]]'', in ''Franchise/TombRaider: Underworld'', the "final battle" is basically Lara running around the building-sized ForgottenSuperweapon dismantling it keystone by keystone, while the invincible BigBad [[spoiler: Natla]] flies around tossing fireballs at her.

* ''HaloCombatEvolved'''s final battle consists of you trying to destroy the 4 cooling vents in your starship's engine room, in order to make the ship's reactor melt down and obliterate Halo. Meanwhile, Flood and Sentinels are attacking you the entire time you're running around the engine room trying to do this. In an oblique way, the final battle is against Guilty Spark, since he and his Sentinels are in the engine room trying to stop you, and defeating him is the reason you're trying to nuke Halo in the first place.
** Similarly in the penultimate level of ''{{Halo 3}}'', you have to destroy the reactor of the Flood-infested High Charity, setting off a chain reaction to destroy the massive ship. Could be considered as a fight against the Gravemind itself, as the ship is literally covered wall-to-wall in Flood biomass.
** In the level "Tip of the Spear" from ''HaloReach'', your main objective is to take down the Spire by blowing its core.

* ''X-Men 2: Clone Wars'' on the SegaGenesis featured this on the second level (The Sentinel Factory). There was even a [[ChekhovsGun conveniently placed emergency exit]] that you passed halfway through the level.

* Inverted in ''CityOfHeroes'' where the final mission of one trial requires you to defend the reactor for 30 minutes. Generally considered one of the most boring missions in the game.

* Your final mission objective in ''[[FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.E.A.R.]]'' is to destroy the Origin Facility's main reactor. However, there's a final "confrontation" with Alma shortly after this.

* The first three levels of each planet in ''{{Descent}} II'', and all but two of the levels in ''{{Descent}}'' featured reactor "bosses"; after destroying them you had a limited time to find the exit and escape. However, these battles were hardly anticlimactic: as there was generally a [[FlunkyBoss huge number of guard robots]] in the same room as the reactor, and the reactor itself wasn't defenseless, as it fired slow-moving but very powerful energy blasts of its own.

* ''GangGarrison2'' has an original gamemode not in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'', where the goal is to destroy the enemy team's generator while defending your own.

* Chapters 15 and 16 of ''KidIcarusUprising'' (i.e. the [[spoiler: Aurum]] chapters) feature these. Pit even lampshades the lack of a traditional boss. Chapter 17's counts too, but with a twist: [[spoiler: you're technically fighting the Aurum Brain, but Pyrrhon is controling it. Or is it controling him...]]

This is usually done as an attempt to have a climactic action sequence while avoiding having an obvious FinalBoss battle, either because it wouldn't fit with the tone of the game, or because the design team's philosophy is that "boss battles are stupid".

It seems that the final battle in many First Person Shooters these days consists of you trying to blow up the enemy base's main reactor. This is usually done as an attempt to have a climactic action sequence while avoiding having an obvious FinalBoss battle, either because it wouldn't fit with the tone of the game, or because the design team's philosophy is that "boss battles are stupid".

[[caption-width-right:256:...then ''get out before it blows!!!'']]