In video games, a boss is a significantly powerful non-player character created as an opponent to players. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight. Bosses are generally far stronger than other opponents the players have faced up to that point in a game. Boss battles are generally seen at climax points of particular sections of games, such as at the end of a level or stage or guarding a specific objective. A miniboss is a boss weaker or less significant than the main boss in the same area or level, though usually more powerful than the standard opponents and often fought alongside them. A superboss is generally much more powerful than the bosses encountered as part of the main game's plot and is often an optional encounter. A final boss is often the main antagonist of a game's story and the defeat of that character usually provides a positive conclusion to the game. A boss rush is a stage where players face multiple previous bosses again in succession.
Metafiction is a form of fiction that emphasizes its own narrative structure in a way that inherently reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and story-telling, and works of metafiction directly or indirectly draw attention to their status as artifacts. Metafiction is frequently used as a form of parody or a tool to undermine literary conventions and explore the relationship between literature and reality, life, and art.
Sephiroth is a fictional character from the Final Fantasy video game series developed by Square and the main antagonist of the Final Fantasy VII, the seventh game of the series. He is a mutated human, formed from the cells of an alien lifeform and an unwanted fetus. A former soldier of the megacorporation Shinra and the coworker of Zack Fair as well as the superior of main protagonist Cloud Strife, he possesses superhuman physiology as a result of an experiment in which Shinra injected him with cells from the extraterrestrial lifeform Jenova when he was still a fetus. Upon discovering this, Sephiroth becomes consumed by rage and decides to take control of the Planet by harnessing its life force and annihilating all life on it in order to become a god amidst the destruction. Sephiroth's background and role in the story are expanded upon in the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. Additionally, he appears as a guest character in other video games and media, such as a recurring boss in the Kingdom Hearts series and as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Cynthia, known in Japan as Shirona, is a character in the 2006 video games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. She is a character who appears at various points in the game, before being encountered as the Champion of the Elite Four, the final challenge of the game. She has since appeared in other games, including re-releases of Diamond and Pearl, accompanied by her Garchomp. She also appears in the Pokémon Adventures manga and Pokémon anime in a similar capacity. In the anime, she reappeared as part of a tournament of Champions, facing off against protagonist Ash Ketchum.
Clicker Heroes is an idle game that was developed by American independent studio Playsaurus. It was originally released for browsers in 2014, for mobile devices in 2015, and for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles in 2017. The game is a spinoff of Playsaurus's earlier game Cloudstone, from which it uses many graphic elements.
Undertale is a 2015 2D role-playing video game created by American indie developer Toby Fox. The player controls a child who has fallen into the Underground: a large, secluded region under the surface of the Earth, separated by a magical barrier. The player meets various monsters during the journey back to the surface, although some monsters might engage the player in a fight. The combat system involves the player navigating through mini-bullet hell attacks by the opponent. They can opt to pacify or subdue monsters in order to spare them instead of killing them. These choices affect the game, with the dialogue, characters, and story changing based on outcomes.
Flowey the Flower is a fictional character and the primary antagonist of the 2015 video game Undertale, developed by Toby Fox. The first NPC the player encounters in the game, Flowey initially appears as a friendly and helpful talking flower, but quickly reveals himself to be a megalomaniacal sadist with more sinister goals. Towards the end of the game, if the player is on the "True Pacifist" route, it is revealed that Flowey is the non-empathic reincarnation of Asriel Dreemurr, the son of Toriel and Asgore and former prince of the Underground.
The Aquatic Adventure of the Last Human is a 2D metroidvania action-adventure video game. Developed by YCJY, the game was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux in January 2016. Ports for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, developed by Stage Clear Studios, were released in January 2018, followed by a Nintendo Switch port in January 2019.
Toriel is a character introduced in the 2015 role-playing video game Undertale, acting as the first area boss. A motherly figure created as an embodiment of excessive video game tutorials, she is a member of the monster race with hanging ears, small horns, white fur, and a purple robe. The player can choose to kill her or convince her to stop fighting, which affects the way the story plays out. She also appears in Deltarune in a different role.
Deltarune is a role-playing video game developed by Toby Fox. The player controls a human teenager, Kris, who is destined to save the world together with Susie, a monster, and Ralsei, a prince from the Dark World. During their quest to seal the Dark Fountains prophesied to end the world, the group makes both friends and foes. The combat system is turn-based and uses bullet hell mechanics. Similar to Undertale, enemy encounters can be resolved peacefully or through violence.
Sans is a character in the 2015 video game Undertale. He is the brother of Papyrus and initially appears as a friendly NPC with an easy-going, laid-back personality. Sans is also featured in the 2018 video game Deltarune, where he can only be found at his shop, which is a remodeled version of Grillby's Diner from the original game. Sans was created by Toby Fox with support from the artist Temmie Chang. The character's name is based on the Comic Sans font, which is used for most of his in-game dialogue. This sans typeface was replaced with a "cutesy irreverent typeface" in the Japanese version of the game.
Undertale Soundtrack is a soundtrack album by Toby Fox, released in 2015 for the video game Undertale.
Undyne is a character in the 2015 video game Undertale. She is a monster who serves as the captain of the Royal Guard of the Underground under its king, Asgore. She is initially an antagonist to the player-character, the human, but depending on the human's actions, she may become their ally. She is reluctant to befriend the human, but through persistence by the player, eventually realizes that they were a good person. If the human makes a point of killing every monster possible, Undyne will transform into Undyne the Undying, vowing to destroy the human in order to save humans, monsters, and all other life from their actions. She is a lesbian, revealed to be in love with Alphys.
The fantasy role-playing video game Undertale, developed by Toby Fox, takes place in a universe where monsters once coexisted with humans, but have long since been forgotten in modern times. Its main character is a human child who falls into the Underground, a large cave below Mount Ebott where human wizards trapped the monsters following an ancient war and from which they seek to escape. Its spiritual sequel, Deltarune, is an anagram of Undertale, and takes place in a parallel universe featuring many of the same characters. In Deltarune's universe, humans and monsters still coexist in the modern day. The main character, Kris, discovers the Dark World, an alternate realm inhabited by Darkners, which are beings brought to life from objects originally from the Light World. They embark on a quest to close the Dark Fountains before darkness overtakes the real world.
W. D. Gaster is a character from the 2015 video game Undertale. He cannot normally be encountered in the game, and is never discussed directly as part of the game's main narrative. Players can only encounter events related to him either by luck or by modifying certain game files. A sprite from one of these events, internally named "Mystery Man", is generally used to portray W. D. Gaster, though the sprite's connection to the character is unconfirmed.
Undertale Yellow is a 2023 2D role-playing video game released on Game Jolt for Microsoft Windows on December 9, 2023. Developed by Team Undertale Yellow as a fan-made prequel to Undertale, the game follows a human child named Clover, who possesses the yellow soul from Undertale, as they journey on an unfamiliar path to the surface after falling into the monster-inhabited Underground. The game received generally positive reviews upon release.
Alphys is a character in the 2015 video game Undertale. She is a bisexual reptilian monster who serves as a scientist under the leader of the Underground, Asgore, and is a fan of anime and manga. She is also a friend to Mettaton, a robot, and the captain of the Royal Guard, Undyne, who eventually becomes her girlfriend. She suffers from social anxiety, depression, and self-harm tendencies, and the depiction of her struggles with these have been the subject of praise and commentary by critics. She watches the player-character throughout the game, offering guidance at some point, though with limited benefit. She is revealed to have dark secrets, including ones that relate to experimentation. She also appears in Deltarune in a different role.
Papyrus is a character introduced in the 2015 video game Undertale. He is a skeleton with a large ego who aspires to join the Royal Guard, and also the brother of Sans and friend of Undyne. He is eternally optimistic, and despite wanting to capture the human to prove himself, finds himself befriending the human instead. He does not appear in Deltarune, but has been alluded to. He was created by Toby Fox with support from Temmie Chang. He was originally envisioned as a creepy person who wears a fedora and has no redeeming qualities, though Fox did not like this idea, so he scrapped it. His character communicates with the papyrus typeface, which had to be changed to a "faux hand-drawn vertical script" when translated into Japanese.
