Basic Trope: A reward that you get for completing an incredibly hard challenge - that is irrelevant if you were skillful / patient / powerful enough to complete said challenge.
- Straight: In the RPG Tales of Troperia, beating the Superboss yields an awesome reward. However, by the time your party is strong enough to win the battle, the reward really has no use anymore.
- Exaggerated:
- Every enemy in the game yields a reward that is irrelevant if you're able to beat them.
- Defeating a certain boss gives you an item that is only useful when fighting that boss and at no other point in the game. Also, the boss can only be defeated once, and then it can never be fought again.
- Downplayed:
- The Superboss can be fought about three-quarters into the game, just enough time to see the reward get a bit of action.
- While still useful at the point it's gotten, there are other items that are easier to obtain and of equal, if not better, quality.
- There is a holo arena which allows for no consequence custom fights. There is no reward for it but you could theoretically try to fight multiple Superbosses with the legendary item.
- Justified:
- By the time your party is strong enough to take down the toughest enemies, there's not a lot that the game can give you at that point.
- The item can be used in the New Game Plus, where it actually HAS some use.
- Inverted:
- The game's first boss gives you an awesome item that is incredible no matter how strong you are.
- The Superboss gives you an item which can be used to lower your level, allowing you to challenge yourself against anything. It's only useful for skilled players who want to see what records they can set.
- Subverted:
- There's still some strong enemies left to use it on.
- The item opens a Bonus Dungeon.
- The item unlocks New Game Plus.
- Taking the item to the Final Boss fight unlocks a second phase as the True Final Boss that is even more difficult than the Superboss you had to fight to get it.
- Having the item in your inventory unlocks the Golden Ending.
- The reward gives access to the competition the game is made to promote.
- It serves as an Old Save Bonus for the sequel.
- Double Subverted:
- ...but if you're strong enough to beat the Superboss, you can beat the enemies without the item it gave you.
- ...and the reward for beating either the Bonus Dungeon or the New Game Plus is a useless medal.
- The Golden Ending shows your player character tearing the sword with nothing but their bare hands as if it were made of paper, showing just how little use it is to them.
- The competition ended ages ago.
- The company went bankrupt before the sequel got to the point where the bonus was actually included.
- Parodied: The Superboss gives you nothing but Shop Fodder, with the game giving you the justification that there's not much they can give you.
- Zig Zagged:
- How useful the item is is dependent on how you've set up your party.
- ...Or how high a level you are. If you're at level 1 or 99, it's a Game-Breaker. However, if you're at levels 40-60, it's useless.
- The item opens a Bonus Dungeon and the reward for beating it is a useless medal. That medal actually has to be delivered to a father and son named Bug and Error, respectively. The reward for this quest is... a magnifying glass.
- Averted:
- Either the item is relatively useful, or there is no reward.
- The reward is Bonus Materials - giving dedicated fans a reward which isn't gameplay mechanic related.
- Enforced:
- "All players love a really difficult challenge. We should add a boss just to mess with speed runners and completionists, and offer a chance for bragging rights."
- The reward for challenge 35 is an ad hoc replacement for content that couldn't be cleared by the legal team.
- Lampshaded: "Jeez, this Epic Sword of Awesomeness would've been a lot more useful fifty levels ago!"
- Invoked: The boss drops a weapon that is vastly inferior to what the player will likely have. NPCs will recognize the weapon as a legendary antique weapon, and praise the player for being able to retrieve it.
- Exploited: The bonus boss drops an inferior weapon. Having it in the players' inventory at a particular point in the story is required to get the Golden Ending.
- Defied:
- Knowing the Tales of Troperia series' bosses give terrible rewards and are incredibly difficult, the game's characters blatantly refuse to fight anything with more than two heads and three arms.
- The developers think that this trope is absolutely ridiculous, and don't add any powerful reward.
- Discussed: Claidheamh, The Big Guy, expresses his anger at how worthless the reward was.Claidheamh: "Urgh! This worthless, wee blade is all we get for our troubles!? How insultin'!"
- Conversed: "I finally beat Super Bahs after hours of fighting. And all the game gives me is a crappy Chalice of Ultimate Power? Like I really needed it."
- Implied: Sir Robert and his team go into the dungeon, but the camera doesn't follow them. Loud noises come out from the dungeon, but for some reason, it's followed by disappointed groans and enraged growls. Cue the team walking out with disappointment and rage in their faces. Claidheamh especially gives off a Death Glare at Sir Robert, wondering why the hell the former didn't kill the latter when given the chance.
Back to the absolutely USELESS Bragging Rights Reward after you beat the True Final Boss on the hardest difficulty with the Joke Character.
