History Main / ThrowTheMookAtThem

* ''VideoGame/SuperMario64DS'' has only Yoshi as a playable character at the start. As such, he cannot punch enemies, but he can swallow them to stock up on eggs to throw. Both King Bob-omb and Goomboss could not be beaten if they did not have their respective mooks to fuel Yoshi for eggs. If anyone other than Yoshi fights Goomboss, the fight will be slightly different in that you have to punch Goombas into Goomboss in order to hurt him.

* For obvious reasons, the ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' games frequently feature bosses that spawn mooks for the player to hurl back at them using Kirby's default powers, most notably Kracko. Some of the games where Kirby [[MegaManning steals enemies' abilities]] use a variant in which some bosses that spawn enemies with especially suitable powers. However, there are plenty of {{subver|tedTrope}}sions featuring bosses who spawn mooks that give the player [[PoisonMushroom useless powers like Sleep]] or powers that are [[PowerUpLetDown utterly ineffective]] in that particular battle.

* ''{{Solatorobo}}'': The main gameplay mechanic is to damage enemies by hurling them into each other.

* ''WarioWorld'': The Angler Mangler miniboss is completely invulnerable save for its lure, which dangles out of reach. The trick is to wait for it to summon a Barrel Buster mook, stun it, and do a SpinningPiledriver under the lure, which sends it flying up, hitting the lure.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManZX Advent'': A partial example - Hedgeshock can summon robot mouse flunkies. He can normally be hurt by anything, but there's an achievement for using nothing but the mouse flunkies to hurt her - by knocking them at her with the right powerup.

* In ''Videogame/GodOfWar'', some {{Mook}}s can be thrown to other Mooks ForMassiveDamage when you use your GrappleMove against them, Kratos will automatically aim at the closest other Mook in front of him, with the "targeting reticule" being a PillarOfLight.

** [[GiantEnemyCrab Volcanicrab]] will literally take no damage from any of your attacks initially. [[ActionBomb Bomb mooks]] appear eventually, however, which can flip him over to strike his underside [[ForMassiveDamage for massive damage.]]

* In ''MegaMan7'''s Wily Stages, one method for defeating the turtle tank boss involves using the Danger Wrap weapon to bounce its mini-turtle mooks into is beak ForMassiveDamage. However, most players find it more practical to defeat the boss more conventionally.
* ''MegaManZX Advent'': A partial example - Hedgeshock can summon robot mouse flunkies. He can normally be hurt by anything, but there's an achievement for using nothing but the mouse flunkies to hurt her - by knocking them at her with the right powerup.
* The fan game ''MushroomKingdomFusion'' occasionally offers variants of its source games' bosses who veer into this, such as a version of [[SuperMarioBros2 Mouser]] who tosses Bob-omb enemies or a variant of [[SuperMarioLand King Totomesu]] with lots of hit points and an unusual vulnerability to the exploding Koopa variants that spawn endlessly during the battle.

** ''{{Kirby}}'''s bread and butter abilities include inhaling an enemy and spitting it to another (when he doesn't [[PowerCopying copy that enemy]]).

'''Note:''' In boss fights, the mooks '''have''' to be thrown or punted (or launched from a cannon/catapult/etc.) in order to count for this trope. Mooks being "mind controlled" into attacking the Boss is HelpfulMook. Controlling the mooks to attack the boss is BigDumbBody.

Outside bosses, some puzzles provide you with mooks for you to use as bombs to destroy objects or walls if they are {{Action Bomb}}s. There are obviously other ingenious variations of this, like them being normal mooks that you can throw to other mooks to make them both fall off a ledge or simply just damage them.

* The SuperNintendo game ''VideoGame/TheNinjaWarriors'' had the FinalBoss in a crab cannon like the Turtles in Time Shredder Boss, except in the background rather than the foreground. The outer shell was impervious to attacks aside from mook tosses.

* subverted in ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder''. Usually this kind of thing works on the godmodder at least once. It's still useful, but not in the way you'd expect. If there's a tough enemy that just won't take damage, throw him at the godmodder and he takes tons of damage.

Basically, when a boss has a weakness based on his accompanying mooks being used against him. It can come in various forms, such as that [[GrievousHarmWithABody the mooks are thrown back at the boss]] or that their attacks are reflected onto him. Please note that it only fits the trope if the mooks are directly beneficial to the player. It is not a weakness if they just [[BossArenaRecovery refill your life bar]] or keep you [[ShieldedCoreBoss separated from the boss]] (defeating them leading up to a chance to hit the boss).

'''Note:''' In boss fights, the mooks '''have''' to be thrown or punted (or launched from a cannon/catapult/etc.) in order to count for this trope. Mooks being "mind controlled" into attacking the Boss is HelpfulMook. controlling the mooks to attack the boss is BigDumbBody.

The mooks in both cases here are often RespawningEnemies. Because if they don't respawn, it would render the puzzle/boss a MarathonBoss at best, or make it {{Unwinnable}} at worse.

Having a GrappleMove is often obligatory (you can't throw what you can't grab). Sister trope of BossArenaIdiocy. Compare TennisBoss for when the boss' attacks can be thrown back at them. Subtrope of TacticalSuicideBoss, since the boss would be invincible if it didn't have/spawn minions around. Related to FlunkyBoss, it's also listed there as a "variation".

* The SNES version of ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesTurtlesInTime'' features a boss battle like this, against Shredder, at the end of the Technodrome level. Shredder sits safely in the cockpit of a crab canon, where the turtles can't reach him. So they chuck his own soldiers at him, literally reducing them to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qc6r5YRkNE cannon fodder]].

'''Note:''' In boss fights, the mooks '''have''' to be thrown or punted (or launched from a cannon/catapult/etc.) in order to count for this trope. Mooks being "mind controlled" into attacking it's Boss is HelpfulMook. controlling the mooks to attack the boss is BigDumbBody.

** Gargantuan gathers energy by absorbing same-attribute matter from the outside. If it absorbs matter with different attributes, it will take damage and change its attribute. The player character wonders where to find the "matter", but as soon as the battle begins, mooks of the both attributes start appearing...

* ''WarioWorld'': The Angler Mangler miniboss is completely invulnerable save for its lure, which dangles out of reach. Thr trick is to wait for it to summon a Barrel Buster mook, stun it, and do a SpinningPiledriver under the lure, which sends it flying up, hitting the lure.

* In ''Videogame/DevilMayCry 4'', Mission 9 has The Containment Room. The "boss" is the glass which separates you and [[TheEvilGenius Agnus]], and the mooks are Gladius--basically [[LivingWeapon Flying Lizard Swords]]. You can go ahead and attack the glass itself, but you will do very little damage. the trick here is grab the critters with Buster and aim at the glass to throw it there.

* In ''Videogame/MetalGearSolid: VR Missions'', Puzzle mission 2 involves you having to play "domino" by pushing a {{Mook}} soldier off a VR ledge in order to kill the two Mooks below him who in turn fall onto another pair of mooks and so on until they're all dead. Note that failing to chain the domino effect makes the mission {{Unwinnable}} and you have to restart.

* The SNES version of ''TurtlesInTime'' features a boss battle like this, against Shredder, at the end of the Technodrome level. Shredder sits safely in the cockpit of a crab canon, where the turtles can't reach him. So they chuck his own soldiers at him, literally reducing them to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qc6r5YRkNE cannon fodder]].

Having a GrappleMove is often obligatory (you can't throw what you can't grab). Sister trope of {{Boss Arena Idiocy}}. Compare TennisBoss for when the boss' attacks can be thrown back at them. Subtrope of TacticalSuicideBoss, since the boss would be invincible if it didn't have/spawn minions around. Related to FlunkyBoss, it's also listed there as a "variation".

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess]]'', Diababa is regularly invincible to anything Link does to it when in its final phase. However, [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Ook swings in during the action of the boss fight for you to blow Bomblings into its face.]] [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that it had no control over the Bomblings being present, and that Ook provides them in a way that benefits you.
* Early on in the final boss battle of ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'', you can launch the mooks [[spoiler: that are disguised as P'jey]] at it.

* Various games of the ''[[VideoGame/YoshisIsland Yoshi's Island]]'' series have bosses that do this, all of which can be eaten to make eggs, which in turn can hurt the boss.
* ''[[VideoGame/SuperMario64DS Super Mario 64 DS]]'' has only Yoshi as a playable character at the start. As such, he cannot punch enemies, but he can swallow them to stock up on eggs to throw. Both King Bob-omb and Goomboss could not be beaten if they did not have their respective mooks to fuel Yoshi for eggs. If anyone other than Yoshi fights Goomboss, the fight will be slightly different in that you have to punch Goombas into Goomboss in order to hurt him.
* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' [[spoiler: and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'']] features the Bouldergeist, a ghost that encases itself within stone. Normally it would be invincible to Mario's attacks. However, during the fight it will occasionally throw a black rock at Mario, which will become a Bomb Boo, which in turn Mario can use against the Bouldergeist to break apart his stone casing. When it reaches its vulnerable phase, [[IdiotBall guess what it still intentionally spawns?]]

* For obvious reasons, the ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' games frequently feature bosses that spawn mooks for the player to hurl back at them using Kirby's default powers, most notably Kracko. Some of the games where Kirby [[MegaManning steals enemies' abilities]] use a variant in which some bosses that spawn enemies with especially suitable powers. However, there are plenty of [[SubvertedTrope subversions]] featuring bosses who spawn mooks that give the player [[PoisonMushroom useless powers like Sleep]] or powers that are [[PowerUpLetDown utterly ineffective]] in that particular battle.

** [[GiantEnemyCrab Volcanicrab]] will literally take no damage from any of your attacks initially. [[foldertionBomb Bomb mooks]] appear eventually, however, which can flip him over to strike his underside [[ForMassiveDamage for massive damage.]]

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** [[GiantEnemyCrab Volcanicrab]] will literally take no damage from any of your attacks initially. [[ActionBomb Bomb mooks]] appear eventually, however, which can flip him over to strike his underside [[ForMassiveDamage for massive damage.]]

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Sister trope of {{Boss Arena Idiocy}}. Compare TennisBoss for when the boss' attacks can be thrown back at them. Subtrope of TacticalSuicideBoss, since the boss would be invincible if it didn't have/spawn minions around. Related to FlunkyBoss, it's also listed there as a "variation".

The mooks in both cases here are often RespawningEnemies. Because if they don't respawn, it would render the puzzle/boss a MarathonBoss at best, or at worse, render it {{Unwinnable}}.

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Sister trope of {{Boss Arena Idiocy}}. Compare PlayingTennisWithTheBoss for when the boss' attacks can be thrown back at them. Subtrope of TacticalSuicideBoss, since the boss would be invincible if it didn't have/spawn minions around. Related to FlunkyBoss, it's also listed there as a "variation".