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This is when a Video Game boss isn't teamed up or associated with the Big Bad. He's a lone wolf and isn't the main antagonist's Mook. He is an antagonist all on his own.

This is relatively common in RPGs, where the player party often winds up just running into bosses that just happen to be at the end of caves, attacking a town, guarding MacGuffins, etc.

Sometimes overlaps with Giant Space Flea From Nowhere.

Examples include:


  • The Great Mighty Poo from Conkers Bad Fur Day isn't aligned with the Panther King.
  • Quite a few bosses from Super Mario Galaxy.
  • All of the bosses in Sly Cooper 3 aside from Dr. M's mutant creatures.
  • Bull from Ty the Tasmanian Tiger.
  • The Ox in the Metropolis level in Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage.
  • Rayquaza from Super Smash Bros Brawl.
  • On Mega Man X6 , Dynamo isn't either helping Gate and his Nightmare Investigators, nor X and the maverick hunters, he's just there to gather some Nightmare souls(which on this game would be something like Expderience points) to make himself stronger.
    • Many of the bosses in X5. Of the normal 8 bosses, two (Spike Rosered and Dark Necrobat) are connected to Sigma, and two others (Burn Dinorex and Spiral Pegasus) are from previous enemy group Repliforce. The rest are a motley crew of random criminals X must exterminate.
  • Dante plays this role in Devil May Cry 4 (and he is That One Boss to boot). Nero thinks he is the Big Bad at first, since the first thing he does is interrupting a sermon and killing the local pope. He's actually just here to get Yamato back and discover what the Order of the Sword (for which Nero works) is up to. Then Nero discovers that the Not Quite Dead Pope in question is the real Big Bad, so Dante sort of becomes an Aloof Ally.
  • In the first Viewtiful Joe, Alastor was affiliated with JADOW, but didn't really care for their plans (even after explaining them in meticulous detail by reading the game's script aloud); he (as a Noble Demon Blood Knight) was only concerned with fighting strong opponents like the eponymous hero. In both Viewtiful Joe 2 and Double Trouble, he reappears, unaffiliated with either game's villainous organizations (GEDOW and MADOW) and is again only there to seek a rematch with Joe.
  • Jr. Troopa in Paper Mario.
  • The Bubble King and Ghost bosses from Wario Land 2, which initially start by capturing the Big Bad (temporarily). Kind of their own antagonists considering that beating them gets an alternate ending.
  • Many examples also exist in the Mario and Luigi series, like Popple from Superstar Saga, possibly Trunkle from the same game, Bowser in all three games, Durmite/whatever in Bowser's Inside Story, the Tower of Yikk (second giant Bowser boss) in the same game, Mom Piranha and the Piranha Bean in Superstar Saga, Mrs Thwomp in Partners in Time and Broque Monsieur in Bowser's Inside Story have no connection to the Big Bad whatsoever, and most have no connection to the storyline at all.
  • Angela the Thief isn't connected to Captain Qwark in Ratchet and Clank: Going Commando.
  • Fire Emblem: Battles against random bandits not affiliated with the story's main villains are ubiquitous.
  • Most of the enemies in the Baldur's Gate games have nothing to do with the main enemy, being interested in you because of who you are or just having their own plans you wander into.
  • Your rivals in Pokémon. They're not allied at all with the villainous team that are the main big bads of the game, but they challenge you anyway to test their strength. On that note, the Gym Leaders and Elite Four (and Champion) would also count, and the rival isn't related to them, either. This would obviously also apply to the Legendary Pokemon.
  • Most killers in Danganronpa aren't linked to the main villains, or are even against them. It's easier to name the exceptions, these being Sakura Ogami, who killed herself to atone for her role as The Mole, Mikan Tsumiki, though it later turns out that ALL of the characters were brainwashed by Junko (she was still the only one working under Junko's direct orders), and Tsumugi Shirogane, who was actually the puppet Mastermind set up by Team Danganronpa.
  • Shiva in Streets of Rage 4 isn't affiliated with the new Syndicate (he's actually AGAINST it because of its abuse of animals); instead deciding to simply fight Axel and co for old times sake.

Non-Video Game Examples Include:[]

  • Harry Potter: Aragog isn't a minion of Voldemort.
  • Eureka: Most villains aren't affiliated with Beverly Barlowe.
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