10 Video Game Boss Battles Who Tricked You Into Thinking You'd Won
It's not over yet.
We've all played hundreds if not thousands of boss fights throughout our gaming careers, but honestly, how many of them do anything but stick to the prescribed formula?
The overwhelming majority of video game boss battles are governed by some simple rules: memorise their attack patterns, wait for your moment to strike, and rinse and repeat until their health bar is no more.
It's a widespread blueprint precisely because it works so well, but every so often, developers decide to have a little fun with the well-worn tropes of the video game boss fight.
And so, occasionally bosses will appear to go down for the count, only to pull a fast one and re-emerge for one more round, perhaps even rocking a new set of powers to test players' skills.
When the boss fell for the first time, many players felt a sense of relief, perhaps even putting the controller down for a breather, only to find themselves suddenly back in the fight against a boss that wasn't quite ready to die yet.
Needless to say, by the time you finally ended them for real, you were only too happy to see their permanently lifeless corpse...
10. Guardian Ape - Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
No points for guessing that a FromSoftware game would end up on this list - and it won't be the only one.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice features one especially tricksy boss fight when players battle the Guardian Ape.
Those who manage to successfully skirt the giant, lumbering creature's devastating attacks may find themselves able to land some blows and even use their sword to cut the beast's head clean off.
That wasn't so bad, right? Wrong.
About 10 seconds after the headless monster falls down dead sans-noggin, with the game already crediting you with a shinobi execution, the Guardian Ape will clamber back to its feet and restart the fight, while still clutching its damn severed head.
It's a major "holy s**t" moment coming from a developer that's made an art out of them, ensuring that even the most savvy Dark Souls players were caught off-guard by this cheekily grotesque feat of resurrection.