Warmup Boss

The "test" boss or Mini Boss that appears at the end of the first level, the end of Noob Cave, or immediately after the tutorial. Notable because the player has been fighting nothing but helpless weaklings until now, and this is the player's first taste of "real" combat, in the sense that this is an enemy that actually has a fighting chance to kill you (although the fight is invariably quite easy).

Has a high probability of showing up at the end of A Taste of Power. Sometimes used as the first encounter with the Goldfish Poop Gang. The antithesis of the Warmup Boss is the "Wake-Up Call" Boss. See also Breather Boss, for when a boss of this level of challenge shows up later in the game and is expected to be harder.

Examples of Warmup Boss include:
  • The first boss of Don Pachi can be beaten just by CHARGIN UR LAZER!!! once and watching the 'multi assault tank' blow up!
  • Final Fantasy IV, V, VI, and VII all have an initial boss that switches between an attack form and a defense form. When in the latter form, the player is instructed to withhold attacks until it changes back—thus, it serves as a tutorial for the Active Time Battle system that Final Fantasy IV introduced.
    • A translation mistake ends up making the FFVII version quite difficult if you aren't paying attention (or don't read the mini-walkthrough section in the manual)
    • In Final Fantasy XIII, the Shiva Sisters serve as this for the Eidolin battles. These are basically Puzzle Bosses with a time limit where you can't win by attacking alone. You need to use Libra to figure out the strategy that 'impresses' them. In this case, Shiva "Yields to those who defend against attacks". The battle can be quite easily one simply by shifting to Sentinel and spamming SteelGuard, and even if you run into trouble, the boss heals you. So really, the fight is just there to get you used to Eidolon battles, and you will need to, as the next one won't be so easy...
  • The Parasite Queen in the Space Pirate ship in the beginning of Metroid Prime.
    • Compared to the rest of Echoes, the Alpha Splinter is pretty easy. His first form is actually harder than his second, mostly because its first form's charge attacks are considerably harder to dodge than the second form's, plus the second form gains an attack that is pretty easy to dodge.
    • In the third Prime game, you fight a Space Pirate knight tricked out with Phazon armor that can only be hurt by deflecting its shots.
    • In Super Metroid, the first enemy you face is an old enemy, Ridley. Unfortunately, you're at minimum strength and he's a giant flying Space Pirate dragon. Thankfully, he flies off after either of you takes too much damage.(more likely you)
    • Kraid in his Super Metroid and Metroid Zero Mission appearance. His attacks aren't terribly damaging and he dies pretty quickly to missiles. Don't forget that he is massive, and this is compared to Ridley, who is much smaller than Kraid, yet possess more strength and health than him. Doesn't really apply to Zero Mission's hard mode, though.
  • The Darkside Heartless at the end of Sora's dream in Kingdom Hearts and its Nobody counterpart Twilight Thorn in Roxas' dream in the sequel.
    • At the end of the Birth by Sleep tutorial level in which you play as Ventus, you'll have the option of fighting either Terra or Aqua in a practice duel.
  • Klikk in Final Fantasy X. One might also argue for Sinspawn Ammes, but, considering that it can't kill Tidus and Auron, it doesn't quite fit the trope.
  • The Hammer Brothers in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars.
  • The Goomba King in Paper Mario.
  • The fight against the Vault bandits in Golden Sun. Despite being potentially able to defeat the party, they're just glorified mooks, and the fight against them was the first plot-relevant fight that was actually winnable.
  • Klungo in Banjo-Tooie, who also serves as the Goldfish Poop Gang.
  • Mother 3 has something like this in the form of the Mole Cricket, the only enemy you fight in the Prologue. Nicely subverted/lampshaded in that he comes back toward the end of the game, demanding a rematch, but his stats are exactly the same.
    • Aside from having maxed-out speed, probably so that you can see just how weak he still is before your first attack annihilates him.
    • The Reconstructed Caribou you fight early in the first chapter is also a fairly easy boss, unless you've been avoiding fights.
    • EarthBound had the fight with Starman Jr., where Buzz Buzz basically did all the work for you.
  • Every House of the Dead game has a boss with an easily visible weakpoint and revealing movements, so that the player can get the weakpoint system of the bosses down.
    • This also goes for its spiritual clone/parody Carn Evil, which unfortunately still does not have a home release. Although sometimes you had to listen to their quotes.
  • The boss of Emerald Hill Zone in Sonic 2, arguably the easiest boss in a 16-bit Sonic game. It's no wonder why Cybershell dubbed it the "Pathetic-Mobile".
    • The same contraption makes a comeback in Sonic Advance as sort of a Shout-Out to the aforementioned game, but it was sad that it only took four hits to destroy.
    • In the Game Gear version of the first Sonic the Hedgehog game, the Green Hill Zone boss is even easier, as it just floats around at different heights. The only thing it does that even arguably constitutes an attack is floating across the bottom of the screen, and even then it's more like an invitation to attack.
    • The boss of Green Hill in the Genesis version wasn't much tougher, as all it did was attack with an easily-dodgeable wrecking ball.
    • Sonic CD's boss in Palmtree Panic is a contender for easiest boss ever that requires some challenge. As in, you can't just attack it whenever. You have to wait for Eggman to lower his bumper guards. And then after you hit him, you can hit him again pretty much any time. Did I mention he only takes 3 hits to beat?
      • Also if you run to the right hand side of the screen, you'll be behind him when he lands and can avoid the bumper guards altogether. He can then be defeated in about two seconds.
  • No More Heroes starts off with the first ranked match against Death Metal. In terms of characterization and hostility he's up there with the rest of the game's bosses, but quite simple to defeat. Lampshaded in that Travis seems aware that he's just a warmup boss and spends half of the battle giving an internal monologue that suggests he's not paying any attention to the fight.
  • Glass Joe in Punch-Out!!.
  • The first encounter with flying mutant toaster Balrog in Cave Story, and if that wasn't easy enough, he even asks you if you want to fight him (and if you say no, he'll run off). You'll meet him again, three or four, in more difficult forms, but compared to the other bosses in the game (e.g. Monster X, the Core or the Doctor), all of his forms are enough of a pushover to make him qualify as a permanent Warmup Boss.
  • Vidarr in Tales of Symphonia, is your typical JRPG first boss, which easily puts him in this category, particularly since his most powerful attack is telegraphed a mile away. However, on higher difficulties, he potentially can kill... your CPU allies. His attacks are still telegraphed a mile away. If you also have a New Game+ option that reduces your EXP and set the difficulty to Mania, he becomes a serious Damage Sponge Boss, and if you cast a mid- or high-level spell at just the right time, Kratos won't show up, leaving you with no healer and no room for error. Chances are, he still won't kill a player-controlled character, even with all that Self-Imposed Challenge added on.
  • The Mega Man X and Zero series love intro bosses that are both huge and pathetically easy. In fact, the bigger the boss, the easier it is (X2 being the ultimate proof).
  • The "Rogue Jedi" (actually Kento Marek, the father of the main character) serves this kind of role in The Force Unleashed.
  • Garam from Battle Clash and its sequel, Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge. Even though Guido's got a souped-up version of his mecha in Metal Combat, a few well-placed Charge Shots (as few as two if you're playing as Carol) can bring him down in less than ten seconds.
  • The random bandit leader encountered in the first mission of Fire Emblem 7 (the first one released Stateside) definitely qualifies. It's a tutorial chapter, he is at a disadvantage in the weapons triangle, and the RNG is even rigged to let you win and get a specific set of stat gains upon leveling up.
  • In all three Mario & Luigi games so far, Bowser is the very first opponent you fight (well, in the case of Partners in Time it was Baby Bowser, but still...), and you learn the bare basics of battling while fighting solo (Luigi is only at the sidelines at every occasion).
    • Junior Shrooboid was the Warmup Boss for Adult Mario in Partners in time.
  • The Dobkeratops at the end of the first stage of R-Type is a pushover. Despite its size and frightening appearance, its attacks are easy to dodge, and it can be taken down in mere seconds.
  • Devil May Cry 4 uses the series' main character, Dante, as a warmup boss for the new playable character, Nero.
  • Beyond Good and Evil throws you into a boss fight against a DomZ monster, after fighting off several of its flunkies. That teaches you about on foot combat. Not half an hour later, it throws you into a boss fight against a flying serpent, which teaches you about hovercraft combat.
  • In order to win your first Plot Coupon in Mushroom Men, you are thrown into a miniature "tournament" against a larger mushroom man, whom you must defeat. The hero, Pax, is... really, really confused and a little annoyed about having to fight someone out of the blue.
  • The first boss of Psychonauts is a relatively tame encounter with a giant, mutated Censor. It's mostly a matter of killing it until it dies. The REST of the bosses, on the other hand...
  • The boss of chapter 1 of Ikaruga. Still easy to die, but compared to the rest of the game, it's a cakewalk, especially if you fight conservatively.
  • In The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, the first boss, Gohma, is a complete pushover.
  • In The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, there is a Stone Talos and a Decayed Guardian on the Great Plateau where Link wakes up. These mini-bosses are tough opponents until you know the "trick" to beating them, but you can use them to practice the trick.
  • Bartholomew Kuma, the first boss of One Piece: Unlimited Cruise is kind of the first boss version of the Anticlimax Boss. Anyone who has read or watched One Piece knows how much of a scary Badass this guy is, and so when the fight actually starts, it's a surprise that the big guy turns out to be a complete pushover. Once you unlock him in multiplayer though, he regains his Badass status.
    • Smoker plays this role in Unlimited Adventure, and is similarly toned down from his fairly powerful canon incarnation.
  • Regardless of which route you take through Corneria in Star FOX 64, the level will end with a really easy boss. The one at the end of the Mission Accomplished Route is the same one as the first boss of the original game.
  • New players in City of Heroes generally end up in the former Scrappy Level The Hollows, and complete the Frostfire mission more than once. Although he has a few pets, he's a generally easy boss compared to the other Archvillain level foes that are found later on, and his level is awesome.
    • The Giant Shivan at the end of the Galaxy City tutorial is a more "standard" implementation of the trope.
  • Rollanratl in Wario Land: Shake It! is a Warmup Boss for anyone playing the game, with relatively easy to dodge attacks, and his main attack doing no actual damage. As is Spoiled Rotten in Wario Land 4, except when you have to kill it in 10 seconds on Super Hard mode.
  • When it comes to minibosses, the Kirby series has Mr. Frosty. His battle tactic consists entirely of screaming and running forwards. He always trips after running for a while. After getting up, he fires an incredibly-slow block of ice. Then, he restarts the pattern. For real bosses, there's Whispy Woods, who is defeated by his own apples.
    • Whispy is the first boss in almost every Kirby game.
  • While most of the enemies are pretty harmless in Kirby 64, the Warmup Boss takes the cake. You walk into a cabin, the door shuts, and a giant N-Z just stands still doing nothing. Since Kirby can't leave until he beats the thing to death and makes it explode, maybe this is his Start of Darkness...
  • I Wanna Be the Guy has Mike Tyson. He's not really easy so much as easier, but compared to any other boss he's cake.
  • Kisuke's first boss in Muramasa: The Demon Blade seems like this at first, until you deplete his first life bar... And realize that he has about four or five more.
    • Momohime's first boss more or less plays this straight, though.
  • Battle Garegga's first boss, Nose Lavaggin, is a bomber that can be easily defeated by continuously shooting at its center, especially with a ship that uses piercing shots. However, doing this instead of destroying the boss's many components means you miss out on hundreds of thousands of points that could contribute to an early 1-Up.
  • Do Don Pachi II: Bee Storms very first boss (who you face before you even start the first stage) is, of all things, the True Final Boss of DoDonPachi'. Fortunately, you only face his first form, and he goes down quickly without much resistance.
  • Winston Payne fills this role in the Ace Attorney series, pretty much making his reputation as a "rookie killer" an Informed Ability.
    • Frank Sahwit in the first game. You don't even have to press him.
  • "They call me Gato, I have metal joints. If you can beat me up, you'll earn 15 points."
  • The Ogre in Dragon Age: Origins, who later becomes a Degraded Boss.
    • The Ogre performs this duty again in Dragon Age II, but those who played the first game would remember how to fight them, so it's potentially not as bad.
  • Similarly, Mass Effect 2 throws a YMIR mech at you in Freedom's Progress; it later goes on to turn up as a particularly tough enemy.
  • Art of Fighting started you off against Ryuhaku Todoh, an aikido practitioner with average strength and speed and exactly one special attack.
  • The first gym leader in every Pokémon game could be considered one of these. Since the first trainers you encounter beforehand tend to have extremely low-level bug Pokémon that can be beaten without much effort, the first gym leader is typically the first battle in which you're required to utilize strategy and type match-ups. However, if you chose the wrong starter Pokemon or rush in without having leveled up much, it could easily be a "Wake-Up Call" Boss.
  • The Magikoopa fight of Paper Mario qualifies, as it comes immediately after you get the Action Command function.
    • Even earlier than that—even before you get Action Commands—you fight Jr. Troopa, though it basically just boils down to "trade jumps back and forth."
    • The second game, Thousand-Year Door, also has the first fight with the Goldfish Poop Gang, Lord Crump. This time around, however, you have full use of action commands.
      • Blooper, the second boss of the same game, also applies to this trope. It is also the first boss to have a chance to beat the player.
  • Final Fantasy III's Land Turtle can be beaten fairly easily by equipping the gear you find in the cave and using Arctic Winds on it. He's slightly trickier in the DS remake, when Luneth fights alone, but is fairly simple; the Antarctic Wind will still chop off most of his health.
  • Petey Pirahna in Super Smash Bros Brawl: The Subspace Emissary. His attacks are slow, easily dodged, obviously telegraphed and he has three gigantic hitboxes. You also fight him as Kirby, which means that you can basically just get up in his face and deliver a continuous stream of pummelings during the fight. Once you know his painfully predictable pattern, it's very easy to not take a single percentage point of damage during the curbstomping you give him.
  • In most Pokémon games, the first battle against The Rival is this.
  • The Wood Man Guard and Shadow Fang are your introductory bosses for Vindictus, if you didn't fight the Giant Spider at the end of the tutorial stage.
  • Castlevania has a fair few. The giant bat is the most common, but Arthroverta in Order of Ecclesia is significantly easier than almost every boss in the game. It's easier than the first boss Portrait of Ruin to say the least, especially as Ecclesia is a fair bit harder overall.
  • Dino Piranha from Super Mario Galaxy.
  • The Fists of Grudge in Catherine, the first boss is relatively easy, not very fast, easy blocks to move, and the only special move she has is the ability to change blocks into very heavy blocks you can still move, just very slowly. Which can be undone with a powerup in the stage, no less. After this, though this being an Atlus Game, the bosses get much harder.
  • In Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, the first boss fight is the laughable Saber Dragon in Moonguile Forest. Even if you haven't gotten the hang of the card-based battle system, the dragon doesn't hit hard at all and has a crippling weakness to light and water. Granted, almost immediately afterwards it's followed up by the Lord of the Spring...
    • Origins has the umbra in Olgan's mansion. Sagi can't deal much damage to it...but you have Guillo, who is controlled by the AI. The whole battle basically boils down to 'keep Sagi alive until Guillo goes berserk and kills it'.
  • Prince of Persia: Though not a Boss Battle, the Mook guarding the exit route in the first level is the first enemy you should have to fight (though there is a way to get around him).
  • The Mad Bomber from Popful Mail. It has an easily predictable pattern, and takes only 10 hits to defeat with Mail's basic longsword.
  • Every Stage 1 boss in the Touhou series. They're the first spellcard users you encounter in the games, but their patterns are (usually) trivial to dodge. This sometimes extends to the Stage 2 boss, at least when they're not the "Wake-Up Call" Boss.
  • In World of Warcraft, the bosses in Ragefire Chasm, the first dungeon, have no noteworthy special abilities, and are only distinct from the trash by having more health and doing more damage. It allows people to ease into their roles in the dungeon.
  • Wyzen in Asura's Wrath has the easiest patterns in the game to look out for, along with being the first of the Asura's former allies to die. Even when he's the size of the planet he's still one of these.
  • Nine-Toes in Borderlands.
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