History HonorBeforeReason / Videogames

** Alistair in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' has a lot of this going on. Being a Grey Warden, he considers it part of his duty.

* In ''VideoGame/SpiderManMilesMorales'', Miles goes out of his way to save the life of [[TheBrute Rhino]], who's an insane BloodKnight that was trying to kill him minutes prior, after the Tinkerer tries to kill him for insulting her. As a result, the two fail to obtain the evidence they need to take down [[EvilInc Roxxon]] and Tinkerer gets fed up with him and gives him a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown, preventing him from [[PoorCommunicationKills telling her that]] her EvilPlan would destroy Harlem.

** Then there's "House Pegh", a.k.a. [[FanNickname "House Pratfall"]][[invoked]]. Emperor Kahless breaks away from a covert infiltration mission that is going surprisingly well because he sees an Iconian on a security camera and wants to challenge it to honorable combat. T'Ket at first ignores the idiot, then basically toys with Kahless for a while until [[spoiler:B'Eler {{technobabble}}s away T'Ket's NighInvulnerability. Instead of pressing his unearned advantage home, Kahless cuts off T'Ket's arm then starts monologuing about honor, giving T'Ket time to recover and vape Kahless. And then the "mighty Klingon warriors" of House Pegh, supposedly the Empire's covert ops arm, ''panic and run for their lives''.]]

* ''VideoGame/DeadToRights'' has this as preamble for the boss fight against Rafshoon Diggs. Diggs has [[PlayerCharacter Jack Slate]] dead to rights (so to speak) in a prison gas chamber with a gun pointed at his head, but Jack taunts him by prodding him of his failed boxing career where he couldn't even cheat right, and it eventually annoys Diggs so much that he tosses the gun away and engages in GoodOldFisticuffs. Halfway through his health bar, [[ZigZaggingTrope he does wisen up a bit]] by turning on the poison gas while putting on a gas mask, additionally turning the brawl into a battle for oxygen, though the gun he had is weirdly nowhere to be seen.

* ''VideoGame/DeadToRights'' has this as preamble for the boss fight against Rafshoon Diggs. Diggs has [[PlayerCharacter Jack Slate]] dead to rights (so to speak) in a prison gas chamber with a gun pointed at his head, but Jack taunts him by prodding him of his failed boxing career where he couldn't even cheat right, and it eventually annoys Diggs so much that he tosses the gun away and engages in GoodOldFisticuffs. Halfway through his health bar, [[ZigZaggingTrope he does wisen up a bit]] by turning on the poison gas while putting on a gas mask, additionally turning the brawl into a battle for oxygen (though the gun he had is weirdly nowhere to be seen).

* Darth Thanaton, the BigBad of the [[VillainProtagonist Sith Inquisitor]] storyline in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' takes this trope and runs with it off the highest cliff possible. He [[TheFriendNobodyLikes never received the respect of his peers]] due to his low upbringing and InsufferableGenius demeanor, and as a result adopted a stubborn [[AppealToTradition adherence to Sith tradition]] as a thinly-veiled [[InferioritySuperiorityComplex overcompensation to validate himself]]. As a result not only does he annoy everyone around him by never shutting up about tradition, he ''actively sabotages their own war effort'' through his staunch refusal to innovate to the point that the entire storyline revolves around recruiting people sick of him to help you with your KlingonPromotion. A Light side Inquisitor can even tell him [[CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot they don't even need to be enemies if he'd only stop trying to kill them]], but he insists that tradition demands their death [[FatalFlaw and ends up getting himself killed for it]].

* Luke, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Tales of the Abyss}},'' starts off as being extremely self-centered and arrogant, but later he becomes near-suicidally selfless in an attempt to make up for his previous behavior, and holds true to the strength and ideals of humanity, opposing the fatalist views of the game's antagonists.

** As seen in the ''Mercenaries'' series, there are some MechWarriors who take the opposite position: caring mostly just about the money and without much care for allegiances, they have a rather dim view of losing their skin to honour and tend to take more reasoned positions. However, they are a minority in the universe.
** After disobeying orders in a previous mission in ''MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy'', the next mission consists of your commander challenging you to a DuelToTheDeath for your insubordination. Instead of the usual video mission briefing, you instead get audio of your commander's commander chewing him out before the duel for letting his ego get in the way of Ghost Bear's mission.

* After disobeying orders in a previous mission in ''[[VideoGame/MechWarrior MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy]]'', the next mission consists of your commander challenging you to a DuelToTheDeath for your insubordination. Instead of the usual video mission briefing, you instead get audio of your commander's commander chewing him out before the duel for letting his ego get in the way of Ghost Bear's mission.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' series, Meta Knight will give you a sword in the favor of a fair fight, even when the fate of the universe is on the line. In one game, the two of you are on a damaged airship that is currently falling towards the ocean - and he'll wait a full thirty seconds for you to pick up the sword before deciding to attack you anyways. In another, the fact that his evil doppelganger doesn't throw you a sword is the first clue that it's not really him.

** Zig-zagged with curing the genophage. If Wrex is in charge, especially if Eve is still alive, the honourable path - playing fair with an old friend - is also the reasonable one, since they can keep the krogan pointed at the enemy and direct them toward a brighter future, while backstabbing them for salarian support will end in [[spoiler:Wrex dead, Mordin dead, and Clan Urdnot sitting the war out]]. If Wreav is in charge, especially if Eve is dead, curing the genophage - while still the noble thing to do - will ultimately end in either a massive krogan civil war, or a new Krogan Rebellions, and as a result the dishonourable option of backstabbing them becomes the most viable.

* Enforced with ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'''s KarmaMeter. Characters can earn Chivalry points from doing things like sparing prisoners and lowering taxes, or Dread by executing [=POWs=] and exploiting peasants, that's straightforward enough. But on the battlefield you're abiding by medieval codes of chivalry, so "good" strategies are limited to frontal assaults against an equally matched opponent. If you use flanking actions, shoot down foes with archers, charge units in the rear, or use spies to gather intelligence - you know, ''tactics'' - characters will quickly pick up "Cruel and Cunning" and other Dreaded traits.

** General is one of the all-time offenders of this trope, enacting a myriad of disasters because of the honorable name of Repliforce. He meets a [[TheManBehindTheCurtain cloaked figure]], never discovering he's really [[BigBad the most feared Maverick on the planet, Sigma]]. While he ''does'' refuse to buy into Sigma's advice to attack humanity, the claims that humanity would eventually turn on Repliforce out of fear clearly strike a chord in him. Worse, he is unaware [[DoubleAgent Magma Dragoon]] caused [[ColonyDrop Sky Lagoon to crash]] and [[InnocentBystander wipe out millions]]- he thinks it's an accident perpetrated by the Maverick Hunters. This unintentionally causes Repliforce to dishonor its namesake, the army to be decimated, and General to act on the doubts planted by Sigma and decide the ends justify the means. Worse, General has [[KillSat Final Weapon]], a doomsday space station geared for Armageddon he declares is only for self-defense, but the simple fact it exists at all, much less pointed ''down'' at Earth is just asking for trouble. After X/Zero gives him a well-deserved WhatTheHellHero speech (Zero even more angered, on the verge of a RoaringRampageOfRevenge), pulverizing half his steely body in the process, General cools down long enough to realize that acting in favor of NecessarilyEvil was a deadly mistake, and he has a HeelFaceTurn. However, Sigma's EvilPlan allowed him to hijack Final Weapon to trigger the EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. To stop it, General pulls a HeroicSacrifice, using his halfway-ruined body to block the weapon's laser strike, but doing so vaporizes him into space dust.
** While several characters show signs of this, nowhere is it more apparent than in Colonel. By stubbornly refusing to allow his forces to be questioned by the Hunters due to his [[{{Hubris}} pride]], he is hugely responsible for the Fourth Maverick War, which leaves himself, his sister and the rest of Repliforce dead. In fact, he is one of the few villains from that game who is ''completely unsympathetic'': in fact, his hair-trigger willingness to [[JumpOffTheSlipperySlope toboggan down the slippery slope]] all the way to all-out war against humanity ''[[NotHelpingYourCase absolutely justifies]]'' the "unfair Mavericks accusation" that got him so worked up in the first place. [[spoiler:It's justified, however, [[AllThereInTheManual as stated in the manual]]-- he was built without the supposed capability of compassion and pacifism that he was supposed to have (that part went into Iris), thus he lacked the capability of peaceful reasoning. The only time he ever relents on anything is when Iris shows up in person to stop him during his first duel with Zero]].

* Ronin leader Kazuo Akuji from ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' suffers a terminal case of this. His casual disrespect of a ''gaijin'' Ultor Executive whom he deems as beneath him backfires when that guy --Dane Vogel-- immediately gives crucial intel to the Saints in retaliation, and his insistence on an honorable katana duel against The Boss goes awry when it turns out The Boss is a CombatPragmatist who has no problem bringing a gun to a swordfight.

* Luke, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Tales of the Abyss}},'' starts off as being extremely self-centered and arrogant, but later he becomes near-suicidally selfless in an attempt to make up for his previous behavior, and holds true to the strength and ideals of humanity, opposing the fatalist views of the game's antagonists.
* The Half-Zatoichi in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' is a katana wielded by the Demoman and the Soldier. It is Honorbound, meaning that once you draw it, sheathing it without drawing blood will hurt you, but you regain a large amount of health when you kill with it.

* In the canonical ending of ''VideoGame/JediKnightDarkForcesII'', Kyle Katarn has Jerec disarmed and on his knees. Jerec tries to goad Kyle into killing him. Kyle responds by giving him his weapon back.

* The Arceans in ''VideoGame/GalacticCivilizations'' are all about honor, even at their own expense. This why, despite being generally nice enough guys to those who aren't their enemies, they are considered morally Neutral: honor is more important to them than any morality. A savvy player can exploit this to get the Arcean AI to do some very stupid things if they set things up properly.

* Both [[KnightTemplar Colonel]] and [[WellIntentionedExtremist General]] from ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'' have been duped into sending Repliforce to war with the world by [[ManipulativeBastard Sigma]], forcing X and Zero to stop them. Colonel foolishly becomes a MartyrWithoutACause, which has a ''horrific'' [[KillTheCutie repercussion]] if you're playing as Zero. [[spoiler:His sister Iris tries to exact [[RevengeBeforeReason a heartbroken revenge]] after being [[BreakTheCutie emotionally wrecked by the death of her brother]], and Zero, her beloved boyfriend, is forced to do her in (Similar to Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet, but Romeo still lives). Zero has a '''''stratospheric''''' HeroicBSOD as a result]].

** While several characters show signs of this, nowhere is it more apparent then in Colonel. By stubbornly refusing to allow his forces to be questioned by the Hunters due to his [[{{Hubris}} pride]], he is hugely responsible for the Fourth Maverick War, which leaves himself, his sister and the rest of Repliforce dead. In fact, he is one of the few villains from that game who is ''completely unsympathetic'': in fact, his hair-trigger willingness to [[JumpOffTheSlipperySlope toboggan down the slippery slope]] all the way to all-out war against humanity ''[[NotHelpingYourCase absolutely justifies]]'' the "unfair Mavericks accusation" that got him so worked up in the first place. [[spoiler:It's justified, however, [[AllThereInTheManual as stated in the manual]]-- he was built without the supposed capability of compassion and pacifism that he was supposed to have (that part went into Iris), thus he lacked the capability of peaceful reasoning. The only time he ever relents on anything is when Iris shows up in person to stop him during his first duel with Zero]].

* In ''[[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Sonic and the Black Knight]]'', you eventually have to defeat Sir Gawain (AKA Knuckles) in a duel. Knuckles is so ashamed of his loss to "a mere apprentice", he attempts to [[SlashedThroat slit his own throat on the spot]].
* Ronin leader Kazuo Akuji from ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' suffers a terminal case of this. His casual disrespect of a ''gaijin'' Ultor Executive whom he deems as beneath him backfires when that guy --Dane Vogel-- immediately gives crucial intel to the Saints in retaliation, and his insistence on an honorable katana duel against The Boss goes awry when it turns out The Boss is a CombatPragmatist who has no problem bringing a gun to a swordfight.
** This extends to his son, Shogo Akuji, as well. After Vogel gives away the intel mentioned above, Shogo crashes Aisha's funeral to fight The Boss and Johnny to make up for how the two of them humiliated his family. Johnny is clearly ''very'' angry about this, and gives him several chances to walk away, but Shogo insists on restoring his family's honor. Cue a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that ends with him being BuriedAlive.
* The White Knights of ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' apparently value the honour of a straight-up battle that would leave many of their number dead over the reasonable approach of sniping the enemy leader from above and behind, almost expelling the member of their order that [[CombatPragmatist took the latter approach]] to killing a dark magic-wielding enemy warlord.
** Pointedly averted by the Temple Knights of Saradomin, an order of holy paladins in the service of a god of honor and nobility, who nonetheless immediately recruited the aforementioned shooter on the basis that he ''did'' get the job done.
* The Arceans in ''VideoGame/GalacticCivilizations'' are all about honor, even at their own expense. This why, despite being generally nice enough guys to those who aren't their enemies, they are considered morally Neutral: honor is more important to them than any morality. A savvy player can exploit this to get the Arcean AI to do some very stupid things if they set things up properly.
* ''VideoGame/StarTrekOnline'': The Klingons, repeatedly, to IdiotBall levels. Might even qualify as a DeconstructedTrope.
** In the backstory they react to Federation condemnation of their unilateral invasion of the Gorn Hegemony by breaking off diplomatic relations and beginning attacks on Federation colonies. [[HistoryRepeats Just like they did before the Dominion War]].
** In the mission "Diplomatic Orders", a Klingon cruiser commander gets information that a Federation diplomat is really an Undine. Does he submit his findings to the Federation? No! He leads a deep-strike into Federation territory to kill the ambassador himself, and instead of coming out firing, he sacrifices the element of surprise to high-handedly demand that the Federation PC hand over the ambassador. The Fed PC reacts surprisingly well to this: instead of just blasting the idiot out of space on sight (remember, the Feds and Klinks have now ''been at war for four years'' and the Klingon is asking a Starfleet officer on an EscortMission to ''hand over his escortee to an enemy combatant''), he asks to see the Klingon's evidence, and the Klingon instead takes umbrage and attacks, and because he's up against a {{Plot Armor}}ed PlayerCharacter he dies completely pointlessly and Starfleet makes the kill against the Undine.
** Then there's "House Pegh", a.k.a. [[FanNickname "House Pratfall"]][[invoked]]. Emperor Kahless breaks away from a covert infiltration mission that is going surprisingly well because he sees an Iconian on a security camera and wants to challenge it to honorable combat. T'Ket at first ignores the idiot, then basically toys with Kahless for a while until [[spoiler:B'Eler {{technobabble}}s away T'Ket's NighInvulnerability. Instead of pressing his unearned advantage home, Kahless cuts off T'Ket's arm then starts monologuing about honor, giving T'Ket time to recover and vape Kahless. And then the "mighty Klingon warriors" of House Pegh, supposedly the Empire's covert ops arm, ''panic and run for their lives''.]]
* In the storyline of ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' Kotal Kahn, TheEmperor of all Outworld, permits a foreign emissary of no great importance to challenge him in TrialByCombat for the life of a petty thief. His decision to personally participate himself instead of using a champion is questionable, although it may have been a calculated risk given that he's [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking an incredibly deadly warrior]]. Less forgivable is that upon losing, he insists that the winner execute him as per ancient tradition, even though he's in the midst of a SuccessionCrisis and his death would give the throne to his hated, psychotic rival. He only survives because his opponent [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou needs him on the throne]] and demands his service instead.
* ''VideoGame/AlphadiaGenesis'': Walter, a knight from a neighboring kingdom who lost to TheHero, Fray, in a battle tournament, demands a rematch when they meet up again a year later and wants it ''now''! Never mind that they meet up in a crowded tavern and drawing his sword in the midst of civilians while on an official mission for his king would have tarnished his honor far more than a fair loss.
* A mission ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' has you sneaking aboard a large ship to free some Vietnamese hostages and then taking out the ringleader of the kidnappers. The player prior to the infiltration loses all of their weapons in a helicopter crash and when they confront the ringleader, he gives the player a sword so that the two of them can have an honorable fight to the death. However, nothing stops the player from swimming ashore and running to the nearest gun store to restock on weapons and going back to the mission area to blast the boss full of holes.
* The Yehat in ''VideoGame/StarControl''. In the second game you'll find they, formerly members of the Alliance of Free Stars as humans were, became BattleThralls as their Queen prefered to surrender to the Ur-Quan rather than being the first ruler in the dinasty's two thousand years to lose a battle. Their oath of loyalty to her means that, as much as [[ApologeticAttacker they dislike it]] they'll attack you [[spoiler:at least until you bring them an [[UpliftedSpecies Shofixti]], what will cause a civil war between those loyal to the Queen and those who think she acted dishonourably.]]
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** The ProudWarriorRace [[HornyVikings Nords]] place a high value on honor in their culture, which can, of course, lead to these issues. For instance, one of the core causes of the 4th Era Skyrim {{Civil War}} is that the secessionist Stormcloaks believe that the Empire sacrificed their honor and dignity by accepting the terms of the White-Gold Concordant with the [[AntiHumanAlliance Aldmeri Dominion]] to end the [[GreatOffscreenWar Great War]], particularly the provision outlawing Talos worship. ([[RealMenLoveJesus Talos is one of the most popular deities in modern Nord religion]].) On the other hand, Imperial loyalists among the Nords accept that the Empire (which was ''[[FounderOfTheKingdom founded by Talos]]'') has fallen on hard times, but believe that ''real'' honor means never abandoning an ally just because the going's gotten tough. Additionally, the Empire hasn't really bothered to even enforce those bans. Further, the Stormcloaks are painted as short-sighted in starting the Civil War, as both sides recognize that a second Great War with the Dominion is inevitable. Loyalists believe that a united Skyrim backing the Empire gives them the best chance of victory, while the Stormcloaks feel that a united Skyrim on its own has the best chance without being bogged down by the declining Empire.
** Throughout the series, this is a trait of some of the more intelligent varieties of [[OurDemonsAreDifferent lesser Daedra]], including the [[LegionsOfHell Dremora]] and [[AmazonBrigade Golden Saints]]. Both are {{Proud Warrior Race}}s with arrogance and [[PunyEarthlings superiority toward mortals]] as associated traits. They don't always think things through and [[LeeroyJenkins prefer to attack issues head-on]], which, [[EliteMooks despite their power]], isn't always the best course of action.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' reveals that Dragons have an extreme sense of honor that guides their every action. A ''real'' dragon in a losing fight is expected to FaceDeathWithDignity and keep fighting to the bitter end, and will also always respond to challenges, even if they're clearly being led into a trap. {{Justified|Trope}}, as [[DeathIsCheap dragons can only be permanently killed when another Dragon (or Dragonborn) absorbs their souls]], so they can afford to be a bit reckless. [[spoiler:When Alduin runs away from the [[PlayerCharacter Dragonborn]] after their first fight, it leads to many dragons questioning his authority; there's no shame in submitting to a superior foe, [[NoTrueScotsman but what kind of Dovah]] ''turns tail and flees'' when faced with one?]]
* Much of the backstory you learn about the nation of Ishgard in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' leans heavily on tradition and honor. The Machinist job quests shows how the elite and most soldiers in general use spears, arrows, and swords for weapons against the dragon horde, because they're seen as more honorable (because their ancestors fought dragons with such weapons) than using a gun. The elite see guns that could empower the lowborn/poor and fear that the status quo would change if the lower class could be on equal footing with the high class. The Leatherworker quests post level 50 has a businesswoman trying to convince the knights that using leather armor can give adequate protection against dragons and provide warmth against the cold whereas their steel armor restricts movement and only makes freezing outside worse for the wearer. The knights kept rejecting her offer since they see steel armor as the standard that worked for them for centuries.
* One of the playable factions in ''VideoGame/WayOfTheSamurai4'' is the Prajna Movement; a group of xenophobic nationalists who want nothing more than to prevent western culture from flowing into Japan. Despite knowing guns are superior to swords, they refuse to use them, as these are not weapons a true samurai would use in their eyes. Unfortunately for them, all other sides in the game's conflict have no qualms to use firearms.
* After disobeying orders in a previous mission in ''[[VideoGame/MechWarrior MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy]]'', the next mission consists of your commander challenging you to a DuelToTheDeath for your insubordination. Instead of the usual video mission briefing, you instead get audio of your commander's commander chewing him out before the duel for letting his ego get in the way of Ghost Bear's mission.
* Batman's no-killing policy in ''VideoGame/Injustice2'' has him being called out for it many times by the regime. Because Batman refuses to kill, villains like the Joker and Bane are free to run around causing chaos and kill anyone they want to and, according to the regime, can only be fought back with absolute power and order.
* This is one of the many causes for the backlash against ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM''. Samus encounters her former CO while on a mission, and even though she's no longer part of his squad she agrees to his request to keep her suit's many features [[BagOfSpilling deactivated]] unless he authorizes her to use them. Possibly reasonable for her advanced weaponry, but downright suicidal when it comes to her defenses, such as keeping her heat shields turned off while touring the LethalLavaLand. [[spoiler: Becomes less so toward the endgame, when she activates the Screw Attack and later the Power Bombs on her own.]]
* An utterly ''huge'' plot point in ''VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima'', as Jin was raised to follow a strict Samurai code of conduct that involves taking on one's opponent face to face and fighting fair. However, the invading Mongols he faces as an adult are very much [[CombatPragmatist combat pragmatists]], and Jin has to learn to adapt to more practical methods of fighting in order to defend his home, even though he doesn't approve of what he's doing.

* In the ''VideoGame/PrincessMaker'' games, Cube cites this as his reason to not get [[LoveInterest romantically involved]] with the daughter. He is merely a servant and bound to the father and daughter through his duty, and any overstepping would break that bond he holds dear. Even if the player succeeds to have the daughter married to Cube, he will still apologize to the father for marrying her, though he also admits that he's very happy.

** Then there's "House Pegh", a.k.a. [[FanNickname "House Pratfall"]] [[invoked]]. Emperor Kahless breaks away from a covert infiltration mission that is going surprisingly well because he sees an Iconian on a security camera and wants to challenge it to honorable combat. T'Ket at first ignores the idiot, then basically toys with Kahless for a while until [[spoiler:B'Eler {{technobabble}}s away T'Ket's NighInvulnerability. Instead of pressing his unearned advantage home, Kahless cuts off T'Ket's arm then starts monologuing about honor, giving T'Ket time to recover and vape Kahless. And then the "mighty Klingon warriors" of House Pegh, supposedly the Empire's covert ops arm, ''panic and run for their lives''.]]

** In the mission "Diplomatic Orders", a Klingon cruiser commander gets information that a Federation diplomat is really an Undine. Does he submit his findings to the Federation? No! He leads a deep-strike into Federation territory to kill the ambassador himself, and instead of coming out firing, he sacrifices the element of surprise to high-handedly demand that the Federation PC hand over the ambassador. The Fed PC reacts surprisingly well to this: instead of just blasting the idiot out of space on sight (remember, the Feds and Klinks have now '''been at war for four years'' and the Klingon is asking a Starfleet officer on an EscortMission to ''hand over his escortee to an enemy combatant''), he asks to see the Klingon's evidence, and the Klingon instead takes umbrage and attacks, and because he's up against a {{Plot Armor}}ed PlayerCharacter he dies completely pointlessly and Starfleet makes the kill against the Undine.

* In ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII The Onion Knight]] learns this as AnAesop, as, though it went against his otherwise perfectly rational motto of not taking on any foe he wasn't confident about, he found he had to fight on regardless if it meant [[DistressedDamsel rescuing]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Terra]].
** More precisely, he learns that while his perfectly logical fighting style is effective, it doesn't allow him to exceed the limits he sets on himself. Only by ignoring reason and logic can he find the power to succeed despite overwhelming odds. He stubbornly refuses to believe that it changes his fighting style, though:
---> '''Onion Knight''': Don't get me wrong, I still won't fight anyone I can't beat. So I guess I'll ''just have to beat you!''

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'':
** Early on, Tidus breaks a major religious taboo by entering the deepest part of a temple, a chamber normally only accessible by Summoners and their Guardians, in order to assist a summoner whose life may be in danger.
-->'''Priest''': The precepts must be obeyed!\\

** When Tidus later suggests the party hunts down a monstrous Chocobo Eater because "It's the right thing to do", Auron tells him his father, Jecht, often used exactly that phrase to convince his companions to selflessly help others, and if he did, it meant he was about to get them into a lot of trouble.

** The Zealots take this '''especially''' far in ''VideoGame/Halo2''. The WordOfGod at the time was that these officers had a honour code that prohibited them from using ranged weapons, and entering vehicles is considered cowardice. When you do get one as an ally, [[DevelopersForesight giving him a gun will just result in him running up to enemies and bludgeoning them with it, and he will stubbornly refuse to enter any vehicle]]. Of course, they're still more dangerous than their subordinates because they're 8 foot aliens with a one-hit kill weapon; on Heroic, which is as close to realistic difficulty, unless if several marines focus fire on a single Zealot, he ''will'' reach lunging distance before his shields drop and he ''will'' annihilate the group of marines by himself.

* Much of the backstory you learn about the nation of Ishgard in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' leans heavily on tradition and honor. The Machinist job quests shows how the elite and most soldiers in general use spears, arrows, and swords for weapons against the dragon horde because they're are seen as more honorable (because their ancestors fought dragons with such weapons) than using a gun. The elite see guns that could empower the lowborn/poor and fear that the status quo would change if the lower class could be on equal footing with the high class. The Leatherworker quests post level 50 has a businesswoman trying to convince the knights that using leather armor can give adequate protection against dragons and provide warmth against the cold whereas their steel armor restricts movement and only makes freezing outside worse for the wearer. The knights kept rejecting her offer since they see steel armor as the standard that worked for them for centuries.
* One of the playable factions in ''VideoGame/WayOfTheSamurai4'' is the Prajna Movement; a group of xenophobic nationalists who want nothing more than to prevent western culture flowing into Japan. Despite knowing guns are superior to swords, they refuse to use them, as these are not weapons a true samurai would use in their eyes. Unfortunately for them, all other sides in the game's conflict have no qualms to use firearms.

* Batman's no killing policy in ''VideoGame/Injustice2'' has him being called out for it many times by the regime. Because Batman refuses to kill, villains like the Joker and Bane are free to run around causing chaos and kill anyone they want to and, according to the regime, can only be fought back with absolute power and order.

* The Yehat in ''StarControl''. In the second game you'll find they, formerly members of the Alliance of Free Stars as humans were, became BattleThralls as their Queen prefered to surrender to the Ur-Quan rather than being the first ruler in the dinasty's two thousand years to lose a battle. Their oath of loyalty to her means that, as much as [[ApologeticAttacker they dislike it]] they'll attack you [[spoiler:at least until you bring them an [[UpliftedSpecies Shofixti]], what will cause a civil war between those loyal to the Queen and those who think she acted dishonourably.]]

** General is one of the all-time offenders of this trope, enacting a myriad of disasters because of the honorable name of Repliforce. He meets a [[TheManBehindTheCurtain cloaked figure]], never discovering he's really [[BigBad the most feared Maverick on the planet, Sigma]]. While he ''does'' refuse to buy into Sigma's advice to attack humanity, the claims that humanity would eventually turn on Repliforce out of fear clearly strike a cord in him. Worse, he is unaware [[DoubleAgent Magma Dragoon]] caused [[ColonyDrop Sky Lagoon to crash]] and [[InnocentBystander wipe out millions]]- he thinks it's an accident perpetrated by the Maverick Hunters. This unintentionally causes Repliforce to dishonor its namesake, the army to be decimated, and General to act on the doubts planted by Sigma and decide the ends justify the means. Worse, General has [[KillSat Final Weapon]], a doomsday space station geared for Armageddon he declares is only for self-defense, but the simple fact it exists at all, much less pointed ''down'' at Earth is just asking for trouble. After X/Zero gives him a well-deserved WhatTheHellHero speech (Zero even more angered, on the verge of a RoaringRampageOfRevenge), pulverizing half his steely body in the process, General cools down long enough to realize that acting in favor of NecessarilyEvil was a deadly mistake, and he has a HeelFaceTurn. However, Sigma's EvilPlan allowed him to hijack Final Weapon to trigger the EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. To stop it, General pulls a HeroicSacrifice, using his halfway-ruined body to block the weapon's laser strike, but doing so vaporizes him into space dust.

* In a rare ''villainous'' example of this trope, in ''Weaponlord'', it has been prophecied that on the night that the moon bleeds, the BigBad Zarak will be killed by the Weaponlord, whose identity is unknown except for the clue that he/she was born under the Warrior's Moon. Zarak's lieutenants advise him to pull a Herod and simply slaughter all the infants born under that moon, but Zarak instead decides to wait until the Weaponlord is grown up, and then face his prophecied killer fair-and-square in single combat to see if the prophecy will really work. [[spoiler:This gets Zarak killed if you play anyone but him, and if you play Zarak himself, it is revealed that Zarak ''himself'' was born under a Warrior's Moon, and since he killed the ''previous'' BigBad, Zarak ''himself'' becomes the Weaponlord]].