Degraded Boss/Playing With

Basic Trope: A boss in a video game returns later as a regular enemy.

• Played Straight: Captain Shadowclaw appears as the boss of level one, but by level five is a regular recurring enemy.
• Exaggerated: Shadowclaw is fought as a boss in one room. In the next room, there are five of him acting as standard enemies.
• Downplayed: Shadowclaw doesn't return as an Mini Boss until the last level, and there's only one of him.
• Subverted: Recurring Boss
• Double Subverted: He's a Recurring Boss, then an enemy.
• Parodied: Shadowclaw was a Zero Effort Boss in the first place, so it's quite fitting.
• Deconstructed: As a standard enemy, Shadowclaw has to live through the gruelling life of the working class.
• Reconstructed: Shadowclaw returns at the end of the game as the final boss again.
• Lampshaded: "Weren't you a boss some time ago?"
• Invoked: Enemy recruitment is easier with someone who already has experience as a villain.
• Exploited: The Hero doesn't defeat Shadowclaw, knowing that he'd just come back as an enemy later anyway.
• Defied:
  • The Hero kills Shadowclaw at their first meeting.
  • Captain Shadowclaw averts Villain Forgot to Level Grind.
• Zig-zagged: Shadowclaw is a Recurring Boss in levels 1, 2 and 3, then a Mook in Levels 4 and 5, before being a boss again for Level 6.
• Played for Laughs: Shadowclaw keeps trying to monologue while an enemy before realizing that he is not in that position.
• Played for Drama: All of the minions that he treated like crap before hate him now that he's their equal.
• Justified: Members of the Five-Bad Band get no second chances and are demoted after one mistake.
• Inverted: Shadowclaw was a Mook at the beginning before being promoted to a boss.
• Averted: Shadowclaw never returns after his first appearance.
• Discussed: "It's weird how many people get demoted from villain to Mook, eh?"
• Conversed: "Will there ever be a villain who doesn't show up again later in the game?"

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