History Main / GameplayAllyImmortality

* Lampshaded in ''Battlefield: Bad Company''. Your NPC squadmates will say things like "Ow, my face! Can't believe I made it!" when they are hit.

* {{NPC}}s in ''VideoGame/Decision'' that you bring with you and that are necessary to the mission don't die, they just fall to the ground and stay there until you come near them and there are no enemies around. Non-critical [=NPCs=] are entirely vulnerable (and it's quite possible to come across their mangled corpses before you even had a chance to rescue them).

* ''VideoGame/{{Sacred}}'' features several unkillable escorts, most notably Wilbur (who joins you fairly early in the first chapter). You can swap out their weapons and/or shields (but not, strangely, their armor) so that they can get kills faster, but you generally don't have to worry too much about them. If one of these [=NPCs=] gets 'killed', they just lie on the ground with stars spinning over their heads for about a minute, then get up with about 25% of their hit points restored. It's important to note that only [=NPCs=] relevant to the main plot have Plot Armor -- anyone you have to watch on an EscortMission can die, and likely will. I've had to reload many games when someone I had to babysit ran up to a demon (or whatever) and just stood there saying "Take my picture" while it chewed their nipples off.

condition), who will merely "retreat" under the same conditions that an ordinary recruit would die.

* In ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'', losing Welkin (and sometimes Alicia) is a game over, and regular recruitable characters are subject to PermaDeath if they're captured by the enemy or left for dead on the field, but then you have the plot-critical playable characters (Rosie, Largo, Zaka, and Alicia when her death isn't an instant-lose
* ''VideoGame/WarhammerDarkOmen'' and Shadow of the Horned Rat, had certain warriors with important dialogue join your warband to help advance the plot. Not only could they not be killed permanently, they also costed NO MONEY!!!!! which almost guaranteed that you stick them in a fight. They aren't immune to damage but even if they got slaughtered in a battle, they'd be up in perfect shape for any upcoming battle so long as you win - they didn't even spend any time on the injured roster. So feel free to charge that lone Elf ranger into a ravening horde of Black Orcs or a Skaven Warpfire Thrower team.

A game world with compelling characters and a deep plot runs into a certain problem when death is included in the equation. If the enemies were able to kill the [=NPCs=] at any time, then the game would have to [[MultipleEndings adjust the plot]] to believably account for [[DroppedABridgeOnHim their]] [[KilledOffForReal absence]]. This often proves technically unfeasable, especially with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

A game world with compelling characters and a deep plot runs into a certain problem when death is included in the equation. If the enemies were able to kill the [=NPCs=] at any time, then the game would have to [[MultipleEndings adjust the plot]] to believably account for their [[KilledOffForReal absence]]. This often proves technically unfeasable, especially with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

* ''VideoGame/DeusEx''
** All important allied characters in the first game are unkillable. A lot of the generic UNATCO troopers in the early levels are immortal as well, though only in areas without enemy presence. However, the game also had a few memorable exceptions: among all the invincible UNATCO soldiers after the first mission is a single vulnerable one, and killing him gets you some extra dialogue with Manderley. Much more importantly, [[spoiler: you can kill Anna during the confrontation with Lebedev]].
** The sequel, ''[[VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar Invisible War]]'' had several immortal [=NPCs=] as well, but it also de-emphasized the issue by segregating the player from them. A lot of conversations with plot-relevant characters took place over video screens and across unbreakable walls. There was also areas where all your weapons are deactivated, thereby preventing you from attacking plot important characters prematurely. However, even if you glitch your way through and have your weapons still active, everybody in the area is still invincible anyway.

* In ''DisasterDayOfCrisis'', the main character's girlfriend Iris is immune to any damage and cannot die in levels where the player is escorting her. That is, until the levels where she is being chased by a lava stream or being swept away downstream in a river, where you have to keep up with her and keep her from getting killed by the environment or suffer a game over.

* All important allied characters in ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' are unkillable. A lot of the generic UNATCO troopers in the early levels are immortal as well, though only in areas without enemy presence. However, the game also had a few memorable exceptions: among all the invincible UNATCO soldiers after the first mission is a single vulnerable one, and killing him gets you some extra dialogue with Manderley. Much more importantly, [[spoiler: you can kill Anna during the confrontation with Lebedev]].
** The sequel, ''[[VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar Invisible War]]'' had several immortal [=NPCs=] as well, but it also de-emphasized the issue by segregating the player from them. A lot of conversations with plot-relevant characters took place over video screens and across unbreakable walls.
*** There was also areas where all your weapons are deactivated, thereby preventing you from attacking plot important characters prematurely. However, even if you glitch your way through and have your weapons still active, everybody in the area is still invincible anyway.

** ActionGirl[=/=]MissionControl Corporal Tequila briefly joins you in ''VideoGame/AlienVsPredator2010'' for about 1/3 of Level 4 and Level 5 and helps you fight about a dozen or so of Weyland's Combat Androids and the Xenomorphs. She's entirely invincible.

* The various squadmates in ''VideoGame/AliensColonialMarines'' (Keyes, O'Neal, Bella and/or Reid) are completely invincible - and can be attacked by multiple xenomorphs without going down - when they are part of the player's party in normal gameplay.* Lampshaded in ''Battlefield: Bad Company''. Your NPC squadmates will say things like "Ow, my face! Can't believe I made it!" when they are hit.

* The various squadmates in ''VideoGame/AlienColonialMarines'' (Keyes, O'Neal, Bella and/or Reid) are completely invincible - and can be attacked by multiple xenomorphs without going down - when they are part of the player's party in normal gameplay.* Lampshaded in ''Battlefield: Bad Company''. Your NPC squadmates will say things like "Ow, my face! Can't believe I made it!" when they are hit.

* Lampshaded in ''Battlefield: Bad Company''. Your NPC squadmates will say things like "Ow, my face! Can't believe I made it!" when they are hit.

'''HK-47''': Observation: It does seem unlikely, master, but I have observed that you - allies included - seem to be able to recover from the most grievous of injuries, and quickly as well.

* In ''VideoGame/BlazingAngels'', your allies are invulnerable to your attacks. However, at the end of certain missions, you can see that they have a smoke trail behind your plane, indicating that while being hit with eight air to ground rockets and dozens of thirty millimeter bullets (which kills most enemies in the game in less than a second) isn't enough to damage them visibly, a few machinegun rounds fired off by the enemy is enough to set them on fire.
* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor2010'' turns this trope up to 11 where you can even stab your allies without them ever flinching a muscle.

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'' granted Sergeant Johnson immortality. You could literally ''keep chucking grenades'' at him and he would just stare at you, and if you did it for long enough he'd eventually ask what you were doing.
*** At one point in the first level, Sergeant, as he is affectionately known, tells Master Chief "That, or he can hide behind me." A surprisingly viable tactic!
*** This is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] as a {{Retcon}} later on, when it's revealed that Johnson was a [[SuperSoldier first-generation Spartan]].
** Miranda Keyes also shares Johnson's complete invulnerability, so have fun using her as a stress ball whenever she's around on a mission.
** Same goes for Johnson's Covenant counterpart Rtas "Half-Jaw" 'Vadumee. You can keep striking him in the back, which would be an instant-kill for anything else, and although his shield can be seen dissipating he stays alive.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' plot-important allies ''can'' be killed, but they'll stand back up in about ten seconds like nothing happened. You can even loot their weapons, including an infinite-ammo SPARTAN laser at one point. There's even a glitch that allows you to do this with a certain character after he's been KilledOffForReal.
** In the original trilogy, many minor recurring [=NPCs=], such as Sgt. Stacker, are killable, but they'll show up again later like nothing ever happened. This even applied to Johnson back in the original ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved''.
** 343 Guilty Spark is also invincible, despite how much the player may want to turn him to scrap (which is even lampshaded in the novelization ''Literature/HaloTheFlood''). It carries over to [[spoiler:when he turns hostile in ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'']], but finally disappears during [[spoiler: his boss fight in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'']].
** In ''VideoGame/HaloReach'', all five of the player's fellow Noble Team teammates are invincible during gameplay (although their shields can be depleted). This can be seen as rather ironic, as all but one of them [[spoiler: are killed in cutscenes by the end of the game]]. There's also a minor Army sergeant in "Exodus" who's invincible because he has plot-related dialogue.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}''[='s=] ''Spartan Ops'', you're occasionally teamed up with [[VideoGameAI AI-controlled]] Spartans who sometimes happen to be invincible.
** In ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'', your computer-controlled teammates can die if they're not revived in time, but they'll still respawn after each fight.

* The whole point of ''VideoGame/GuardiansCrusade'' is to return a baby monster to its home in God's Tower. Although the aptly-named Baby ''can'' die in battle, if you end up winning the battle, Baby will be automatically revived at the end of it. Of course, he'll hate you for letting him die...
* In ''VideoGame/XWingAlliance'' there are some missions in which certain AI-controlled craft will never go below 1% hull integrity. In the last mission, which puts the player in control of the Millennium Falcon during the attack on the second Death Star, there is an X-Wing escorting you that is exempt from destruction in this manner, presumably because it is piloted by an important SW character. (Likely to be [[BadassNormal Wedge Antilles]].)
* In ''VideoGame/HalfLife2: Episode 1 & 2'' Alyx isn't exactly invincible, but (unlike you) her health regenerates extremely rapidly, making it unlikely for her to die unless you deliberately sit back and let her get mobbed by multiple enemies. Most named allies in the game are the same way, and the game designers try to engineer situations where this isn't actually shown and pull it off for the most part.
** The [[BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine Abbot and Costello pair]] in ''Episode 2'' can, according to commentary, hold their own against the Antlion horde. You, however, will get your face chewed off.
* Several ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games feature AI partner characters who can do most of the same things the player can, and can get killed numerous times (often due to [[ArtificialStupidity wandering into hazards]]) only to [[StayingAlive come back a short time later]]. The classic form of this, made famous by ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' and ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'', is an option where you can play as Sonic and have Tails following you invulnerably and with the capacity to be controlled by another player instead of the AI; this makes boss fights a lot easier if you have a friend playing with you, or can position Sonic somewhere safe and pick up the second controller yourself, as you can have Tails attack the boss without worrying about taking damage.
** This has been abused in the "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y5syE67H68 Tails Abuse]]" series of videos, where Tails is shown [[VideogameCrueltyPotential getting hurt/killed multiple times only to come back for more pain]].
** Brutally parodied in [[http://www.dorkly.com/video/22718/dorkly-bits-tails-cant-die this]] ''[[WebAnimation/DorklyOriginals Dorkly Bits]]'' video.
** Used as a plot point in WebAnimation/SonicForHire [[spoiler: unsuccessfully]].
*** Parodied in a later episode where a bunch of Facehuggers attack him and a Chestburster comes from his chest, but Tails doesn't die.
* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', you allies will get up a few minutes after losing all their health. If you lose all your health, however, it's an instant game over. The in-game justification for this is glossed over ''very'' quickly, but basically boils down to your partners simply being knocked out, and Sora ''losing his heart'' any time he dies. Because the Heartless/Nobodies are very vulnerable to the Keyblade, they don't take any chances.
** The occasional {{NPC}}s such as Cloud and Leon that help you fight Heartless during events. While they can be hit, they seem to be invulnerable, and will pretty much kill all the enemies for you.
** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', your own Dream Eaters ''can'' die off for good by running out of HP and not receiving assistance, the temporary ones you can call to your side using friend portals are completely indestructible and simply get knocked around by attacks.
** For a laugh, in the first game's fight against Maleficent's dragon form, you can simply climb the branches to get as high up as you can and let Donald and Goofy do the whole fight for you (useful, as she can be quite hard unless you're diligent about leveling up).
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' the AI controlled allies can't get KilledOffForReal, but merely be knocked out, unlike your party members proper.
** Unless you have to [[EscortMission keep them alive]] as part of the mission objective. (Goddammit, [[ScrappyLevel Rafa]]!)
* Played painfully straight in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVII'', in which the weakest of {{Guest Star Party Member}}s can potentially soak up more damage than the final boss, although the AI is suspiciously good about hitting you rather than them.

* ''VideoGame/UnchartedDrakesFortune'', has several areas where you fight alongside Sully or Elena, and while ''you'' die quite easily -- often from a single hit -- they can pointedly ignore direct hits from grenade-launchers. Too bad [[ATeamFiring they almost never hit the enemy]]...
* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' series: No members of your party (even the [[PlayerCharacter PC]]) actually "die" in combat (even after being blown up by grenades and lit on fire), instead merely collapsing in pain. They can be brought back into the battle with the correct healing technique, and they will struggle back to their feet with 1[[HitPoints HP]] once all combat ends, but if all of your party members are knocked out it's game over. One party member even had a chance to get up right after getting "killed" as his special ability.
** This was one of the few games where even your character could do this--you only got a game over if your whole party was killed. Of course for many boss fights, the game usually found some way to immobilize your teammates (usually by sith who put your friends in stasis, why only your two friends, and not all three is unexplained). Judging by the later lightsaber sound effects during the game over black out screen, it's implied that if you lose, whoever you were fighting will go on to kill your immobilized teammates.
** You can use your party members to clear mines...
** The same goes for ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' and its first expansion (it is, however, not true for the second expansion, where dead party members would stay dead unless [[DeathIsCheap resurrected]].)

* ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' plays this game. Story [[PlayerCharacter PCs]] will be able to rise again if allies are around and enemies are not. One character notably has to block Arkantos's team from getting to him to make a HeroicSacrifice.
** ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII'' has its heroes operate similarly but they at least [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] it by by complaining about their pain in a borderline plea for euthanasia ("Every moment I live is agony.")
* Zig-zagged by ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar''. The game has partners which can be controlled by a second player, or the AI if the second controller isn't used. While they have the same amount of health as Kirby himself (which makes them much tougher than most of the enemies with the same form, but still mortal), they can't die from falling into bottomless pits or being crushed by scrolling levels since they just warp to Kirby when they go offscreen, and if they lose all of their health, they can be turned back into the ability, then back into themselves in a few moments. Also, when they run out of health there's a short window of time in which they can run into an enemy with an ability and get turned into the respective partner with full health. Finally, they can share health items with Kirby.
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'' subverts this trope during the Subspace Emissary in co-op. Player 2 can fall off the stage and be put back on it, but if an enemy attacks the player and they get pushed too far off screen, it counts as a KO. And when you get caught in a non-escapable battle, falling off the stage still counts as a KO for player 2.
* In ''VideoGame/PaperMario'', Mario's partners have no health meters; if they are struck by enemy attacks, they are merely incapacitated for a few turns. The same is not true in the sequels.
* In ''VideoGame/MickeyMousecapade'', the player controls Mickey and Minnie ''simultaneously'', and Minnie never takes damage from anything that isn't a BottomlessPit. In some situations, separating the duo and attacking with Minnie makes dying next to impossible.
* Pretty much every First Person Shooter made by Raven Software uses this for important NPC allies. ''VideoGame/StarTrekEliteForce'', ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune 2'', ''VideoGame/QuakeIV'', etc (although the Rhino Squad marines in Quake 4 CAN die on the hardest difficulty setting, reverting several levels of the game into [[EscortMission escort missions]].)
** In ''[=SoF=] 2'', friendly soldiers can't be killed by enemies, they CAN be killed by friendly fire, and if that happens, you spontaneously die as well.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/TimeSplittersFuturePerfect''; all of Cortez's sidekicks ''seem'' to be immune to gunfire, but will in fact eventually drop dead after taking too many hits from anything - ''even you''. There are also areas where a sidekick will suddenly sprout a health bar, forcing you to [[EscortMission watch their back]] while they perform a task while suddenly becoming [[MadeOfPlasticine unfathomably weaker]].
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' included a few escort quests, most notably one near the beginning of the game where you must take Princess Zelda through a variety of dangerous environments to the Sanctuary. Fortunately, she's invincible, with monsters passing right through her - her only apparent sign of corporeal existence is her assistance with pushing a bookcase.
** In the final battle of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', other than a scripted moment where she is KO'ed, Zelda cannot be harmed during the battle (though she does wince in pain); you can't kill her, even if you repeatedly slash her with the Master Sword.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' has a couple of characters who follow you for a while, including love interest Marin. Not only do all attacks pass through her, she can somehow keep up with your Pegasus Boots, make jumps you need the Roc's Feather for, and (if you do a little SequenceBreaking) ''walk on water'' when you're swimming.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'', Zelda gains the ability to control phantoms, which are giant armored knights. She can't be killed, but some attacks will stun her, she'll panic from the sight of rats, and [[spoiler: the final boss can take control of her and make her attack you.]]
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the four allies who help you board the Divine Beasts cannot be harmed by either you or the Divine Beasts.
* Your fellow heroes in ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'' are immortal, much to the annoyance of people who'd really like to off the deplorable Reaver.
* All important allied characters in ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' are unkillable. A lot of the generic UNATCO troopers in the early levels are immortal as well, though only in areas without enemy presence. However, the game also had a few memorable exceptions: among all the invincible UNATCO soldiers after the first mission is a single vulnerable one, and killing him gets you some extra dialogue with Manderley. Much more importantly, [[spoiler: you can kill Anna during the confrontation with Lebedev]].
** The sequel, ''[[VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar Invisible War]]'' had several immortal [=NPCs=] as well, but it also de-emphasized the issue by segregating the player from them. A lot of conversations with plot-relevant characters took place over video screens and across unbreakable walls.
*** There was also areas where all your weapons are deactivated, thereby preventing you from attacking plot important characters prematurely. However, even if you glitch your way through and have your weapons still active, everybody in the area is still invincible anyway.
* Eileen in ''VideoGame/SilentHill4'' can't die, but she does take damage, and that will affect whether she survives the final battle or not.
* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', all the characters are subject to this, except for Commander Shepard (the player character, whose death results in GameOver). This sometimes becomes rather silly, as NPC's cannot be directly shot, (Except with the spray-bullet shotgun) and never react to weapons fire in any way. Even detonating a grenade an inch in front of your direct superiour merits not a flicker of an eyebrow.
* In ''Franchise/FireEmblem'', where death is permanent, most allies not under the players control will simply be injured and leave the fight if they run out of health instead of dying. ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' has a level with Kurth, who is believed at this point to be a civilian with no combat skills. He does, however, have much more health and defense than any of the player's characters. This means he can be used as an effective guard (albeit one that doesn't fight back).
* Some guest characters in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' simply can't be killed, just reduced to 1 hitpoint. They usually stop attacking in this case unless you heal them, but they can still be attacked by enemies.
** Enemies will actually prioritize guest characters that are still able to fight but can't be reduced below 1 HP, so an entirely valid tactic is to use a potion or healing spell on those characters to restore the bare minimum HP, and then letting the enemy attack them. It only works if they are within the enemy's attack range, and when they are reduced to 1 HP, the AI starts ignoring them again, making for a delicate balancing act.
* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando'', your NPC allies weren't any more immortal than you. Interestingly subverted though, in that it wasn't an instant game over if you the player died, only when all 4 members were dead. Just as you could revive them if they dropped, the NPC's could revive you if they survived the firefight, or if you gave the order to break cover and revive you on the spot. Of course, none of the squad is quite dead at that point, generally groaning piteously and trying to stand; when it happens to you, you can look around and order a squadmate over. Enemies just ignored you, and you couldn't shoot.
* Curly in ''VideoGame/CaveStory'', during the last part of the Labyrinth. It especially helps that she wields the Machine Gun (or Polar Star if you swapped weapons with her when you were given the chance) and can take out enemies for you.
* This trope is a ''plot point'' in the videogame-based webcomic ''Webcomic/KidRadd''.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure'', your character has various temporary allies who provide backup or just follow him around. They're all immune to damage. The VideoGameRemake, ''VideoGame/SwordOfMana'', changed this -- and fortunately thought to provide some AI control in case you don't ''want'' your ally {{Leeroy Jenkins}}ing himself to death all the time. However, this didn't remove the silly factor so much as move it: when an ally dies, he or she follows you around as a ghost, and is instantly revived if you touch a health-refill statue.
* Pets and guests in the Flash-based RPG ''VideoGame/AdventureQuest'' can't be targeted by enemy attacks. As a result, any ally that can heal your character is extremely helpful.
** HandWaved in the ''VideoGame/DragonFable'' Design Notes, which say that {{NPC}}s taste funny. Though DF does have occasional boss monsters that ''will'' attack your allies, they're few and far between.

* ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'':
** ''VideoGame/SuikodenI'' averts this in a few cases, leading to some HilariousInHindsight deaths, such as If you get everyone's favorite JerkAss [[spoiler: Luc]] killed well before the role [[spoiler: he plays as BigBad of ''VideoGame/SuikodenIII'' .]]
** In ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'', a character who is killed during one of the [[UnexpectedGameplayChange real-time war battles]] is KilledOffForReal and lost, making it impossible to gain OneHundredPercentCompletion... ''except'' if the character is an important storyline character (read: has at least one line in future cutscenes), in which case they'll manage to retreat to safety.
** This also appeared in ''VideoGame/SuikodenTactics'': plot-vital characters ''never'' have to worry about {{permadeath}}; no matter how much punishment they take, they'll simply [[NonLethalKO retreat]]. Everyone else, however, has a chance of dying on the battlefield -- with the only real forewarning you get how their 'defeated' quote changes to a FinalSpeech. However, not everyone you'd ''expect'' to have this immortality actually ''receives'' it...
* Hewie, the cute dog in ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'', can't truly die in Normal mode, unless you KickTheDog a little too much, causing a cutscene death later in the game and giving you the [[MultipleEndings worst possible ending]]. He can be knocked out, but Fiona can massage and pet him until he wakes up. In Hard mode, if Hewie gets knocked out, he dies for good and the [[GameOver ''Acta est Fabula'']] will greet you presently.
* In ''VideoGame/InfiniteUndiscovery'' all friendly characters except your main party are invulnerable to all damage, except during one EscortMission. It's possible to win some boss battles simply by staying away and waiting for your invincible allies to beat it.
* ''VideoGame/{{Sacred}}'' features several unkillable escorts, most notably Wilbur (who joins you fairly early in the first chapter). You can swap out their weapons and/or shields (but not, strangely, their armor) so that they can get kills faster, but you generally don't have to worry too much about them. If one of these [=NPCs=] gets 'killed', they just lie on the ground with stars spinning over their heads for about a minute, then get up with about 25% of their hit points restored. It's important to note that only [=NPCs=] relevant to the main plot have Plot Armor -- anyone you have to watch on an EscortMission can die, and likely will. I've had to reload many games when someone I had to babysit ran up to a demon (or whatever) and just stood there saying "Take my picture" while it chewed their nipples off.
* The Breath of Winter expansion pack for the original ''VideoGame/{{Spellforce}}'' featured, in the early stages, Grim and Lena, who would follow you around everywhere and never, never die, even if surrounded by a dozen melee-focused opponents. Although, unusually for this trope, they began limping and ended up pretty much useless if their health bars went into the red, but a quick healing spell would get them back up to continue cruising through [[strike: their]] your opponents.
* In ''VideoGame/CliveBarkersJericho'', the game ends if every member of the Jericho Squad dies. However, if a few of them have died during battle but the player manages to finish the battle, the incapacitated squad members usually get right back up again, even without the intervention of Ross' or Rawlings' healing powers.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}''. After you find [[spoiler:your Dad]], he sets off to Rivet City, which is about half a map away. On foot. If you decide to take a walk with him, you get to watch him take the highway into D.C., right through everything from raiders carrying missile launchers to super mutant masters with miniguns, wearing nothing but his jumpsuit - and "become unconscious" over and over again... [[DeathIsCheap just to get up half a minute later and continue on his merry way]]. [[spoiler:And to make the trope even more fitting, all this so later the plot can kill him anyway.]]

** In addition to Dr. Li, important characters include all children, [[spoiler: Jonas while you are 10 or 16 years old - further following the example of being invincible until he needs to die]], and one Robobrain in [[spoiler: Vault 112]] - which has exactly two lines of dialogue.

* In ''VideoGame/GuildWars'', the {{Escort Mission}}s of the original campaigns, despite the ease of [[DeathIsCheap resurrection]] for party members, would automatically be failed if your ward or ally was killed. However, since the [[ExpansionPack Eye of the North]] included gigantic dungeons that are almost impossible to complete without a few party wipes, allied {{NPC}}s would automatically resurrect themselves when there were no monsters in the area, and apparently without any death penalty (game mechanic that temporarily reduced stats for dying).

* In ''VideoGame/LegendOfLegaia'', Noa has very low stats in the beginning of the game, but is joined by the wolf Terra, who cannot be killed. It is possible to take advantage of easy level grinding during this time.
* ''VideoGame/WingCommander'': In some games and missions, {{NPC}}s can die (complete with funeral scene), while in others they eject to be available the very next mission... or at least remain available until [[PlotlineDeath they're doomed by the plot]].
* Happens in two ways in the ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic'' series. Although you can kill any NPC walking around town, all the quest givers and important story characters are in houses or other buildings where you cannot attack. Second, you can hire {{NPC}}s to travel with you and give you buffs, but no matter how much of a beating you take, they are never harmed.
* Lampshaded in ''Battlefield: Bad Company''. Your NPC squadmates will say things like "Ow, my face! Can't believe I made it!" when they are hit.

* Your NPC allies in ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'' can't die, either from enemy fire or you shooting them, but you do take a point penalty for shooting them (-1,000 for Captain Rush in ''Time Crisis 4'', -5,000 for Christy in ''II'' and Alicia in ''3''.)
* In ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'', losing Welkin (and sometimes Alicia) is a game over, and regular recruitable characters are subject to PermaDeath if they're captured by the enemy or left for dead on the field, but then you have the plot-critical playable characters (Rosie, Largo, Zaka, and Alicia when her death isn't an instant-lose condition), who will merely "retreat" under the same conditions that an ordinary recruit would die.
* The major ally in ''VideoGame/{{BioShock 2}}'' is of the same enemy type as some of the DemonicSpiders, with the exception of being invincible outside of exploits and glitches.
* ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' features this when you first talk to the Lutece Twins. Not only will shooting a pistol into their faces have no effect, but they even mock you for doing so. [[spoiler: Later, you find out that there's a good reason that shooting them has no effect.]]
--> ''Each line is after you try to shoot one of them:''
--> '''Rosalind''': "Missed."
--> '''Rosalind''': "Missed again."
--> '''Robert''': "You really shouldn't squander your ammunition or your friends when you have little of either."
--> '''Rosalind''': "Four out of five?"
--> '''Rosalind''': "And another miss."
** During combat Elizabeth is invisible to (and invincible against) all enemies.
* In the video game for ''Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen'' in most escort missions the escortee dies when hit with enough fire. However, when you escort Ironhide (one of the only mission where you actually have NPC allies) he will take damage to a certain point and then will become effectively immortal.
* In ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'', the old survivors in The Passing's finale are completely immune to damage. Shooting them does nothing. It is strange that they are invincible, considering that the zombies outright ignore them and target only your group.
* In ''VideoGame/FreedomFighters2003'' the fellow guerrilla fighters that the main character (Chris Stone) can recruit are essentially invincible. If they are downed by enemy fire, they only require a single medpack a piece to get them back into the action, and they're practically immune to friendly fire.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}: Warhead'', there are a couple sections where you have a friendly team of U.S. Nanosuit Soldiers escorting you through an area. Although they can be knocked down if they take enough damage, they'll get back up again after a couple dozen seconds no worse for wear. Possibility due to a glitch, there's a very specific circumstance where they can die if they get grabbed and thrown by the giant alien robot boss. They all reappear next to you good as new once you transition to the next map, though.
* ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'' has a small, but surprisingly satisfying exploit in the HQ/hub/training level. The hanger has a box that you can grab. Naturally, you can take this anywhere, including the firing range where the tests for all the weapons take place. This room is separated from a smaller area where scientists are watching you testing the weapons. Usually the door separating you from them can't be opened during a test and you obviously can't take weapons out with you. However, you can position the aforementioned box in front of where the door slides allows you to shoot any of the weapons at the scientists outside. Aside from blood stains and arrows sticking out of their body (and the lights blown out if you used explosives) they show absolutely no sign that they were ever hurt.
** However, one of them will occasionally say "Just... leave me alone, would you?"
* In pretty much every ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' game, while your allies could get killed as easy as anything, a quick trip to Lord British (or someone else filling the role) is all that's needed to get them back on their feet. The main character gets the same benefit - even saving the effort of hauling back the corpses. DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist, indeed.
* A few missions in ''VideoGame/JediAcademy'' have the player fight alongside legendary badass Kyle Katarn. As you might imagine, he's insanely difficult to kill, as the game gave him superhuman reflexes, near full Force power, and more than double the HP of the Final Boss. Mooks can't kill him; the only way he can ever die is if you're unfortunate enough to encounter a [[GameBreakingBug Game-Breaker Glitch]] which causes Kyle to accidentally treat you as an enemy. (This has one of two outcomes: You die, or you manage to kill him after an insane amount of effort, in which you [[EscortMission are rewarded for your effort by failing the mission for letting your ally die.]])
** He can also get stuck in a giant trash compactor at one point. You are killed within a few seconds in such cases; the Badass survives considerably longer, but ultimately his HP run out.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Strife}}'', shopkeepers and plot-essential characters, the Front's leader Macil and the Oracle, can't be killed [[spoiler: before you're supposed to be able to kill them]], even though you can shoot everyone around them. However, a number of other [=NPCs=] that you need to progress can be killed, often [[DevelopersForesight dropping the item you require or having a switch that opens the path they were meant to]].
* Ciel in the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' series, whenever she appears in an EscortMission. When she gets hit, she still reacts as if taking damage, but she never dies no matter how many times she gets hit. Letting her get hit only reduces your score for that mission.
* While defending the cabin with Luis in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', Luis is impervious to all Ganado attack. He'll also toss you ammo and health to keep you in the game too. If you ''shoot'' him enough times, though, he won't take too kindly to that and [[NonstandardGameOver demonstrate that you don't have his invulnerability]].
** On your first playthrough of the game you will spend much time and effort [[EscortMission babysitting]] Ashley to prevent her from being hacked to death by mutants or being grabbed and carted off by mad cultists. However, an unlockable costume dresses her in a full suit of plate mail. This makes her completely immune to damage and also makes her so heavy that enemies cannot pick her up to abduct her.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations'' and ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'' both play this trope straight (provided you're on single player), seemingly in response to complaints about Sheva Alomar being responsible for [[ArtificialStupidity 95% of the deaths and losses, and 100% of the frustration]] in [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil5 her game]]. The trade-off, of course, is your partner either cannot use guns or cannot use them with much effectiveness.
* ''VideoGame/FrontMissionEvolved'' makes all allies invulnerable and gives them BottomlessMagazines, so they will ''eventually'' clear a map by themselves... if you wait long enough. [[CutscenePowerToTheMax Outside of cutscenes their aim is atrocious]].

* ''VideoGame/WarhammerDarkOmen'' and Shadow of the Horned Rat, had certain warriors with important dialogue join your warband to help advance the plot. Not only could they not be killed permanently, they also costed NO MONEY!!!!! which almost guaranteed that you stick them in a fight. They aren't immune to damage but even if they got slaughtered in a battle, they'd be up in perfect shape for any upcoming battle so long as you win - they didn't even spend any time on the injured roster. So feel free to charge that lone Elf ranger into a ravening horde of Black Orcs or a Skaven Warpfire Thrower team.
* ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' has Leah, Decard Cain, Tyrael, and Adria occasionally join in the fight against evil directly, accompanying the human players and their NPC companions on their quest and taking the fight directly to the enemy. To avoid being a slow-paced EscortMission, this trope is applied. This also happens when the player first meets each of the Companions throughout the story; the HUD distinguishes invulnerable characters by simply not giving them a health bar display.
* Named NPC allies in ''VideoGame/{{Freelancer}}'' are generally immortal in missions where they appear. They'll take damage down to roughly about 10%, at which point the game no longer counts damage against them. It is good to keep them in one piece, [[SubsystemDamage to keep their weapons from being blown off]], so they can contribute to the battle.
* In the ''[[Videogame/{{X}} X-Universe]]'', plot important ships cannot be killed or [[BoardingParty boarded]]. The [[MileLongShip Argon One]] in ''X3: Reunion'', for example, cannot be brought lower than 93% health with friendly fire. A GoodBadBug in early versions of ''X3: Terran Conflict'' allowed the player to acquire a [[SpaceTrucker freighter]] that never had its invulnerability flag removed after the pilot ejects, giving them a completely indestructible and [[ActualPacifist completely unarmed ship]]; better practice your [[RammingAlwaysWorks ramming skills]].

* In ''Videogame/Doom2016'', attempting to shoot Samuel Hayden when you finally meet him will simply have his personal DeflectorShield absorb the attack and him telling you to save your ammo.
* Black Cat is invincible in ''VideoGame/Spiderman2''. In fights were she's involved, the player can hang back and let her win it for them.

A game world with compelling characters and a deep plot runs into a certain problem when death is included in the equation. If the enemies were able to kill the NPCs at any time, then the game would have to [[MultipleEndings adjust the plot]] to believably account for their [[KilledOffForReal absence]]. This often proves technically unfeasable, especially with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

A game world with compelling characters and a deep plot runs into a certain problem when death is included in the equation. If the enemies were able to [[FinalDeath kill the NPCs]] at any time, then the game would have to [[MultipleEndings adjust the plot]] to believably account for their [[KilledOffForReal absence]]. This often proves technically unfeasable, especially with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters.

** This also appeared in ''VideoGame/SuikodenTactics'': plot-vital characters ''never'' have to worry about FinalDeath; no matter how much punishment they take, they'll simply [[NonLethalKO retreat]]. Everyone else, however, has a chance of dying on the battlefield -- with the only real forewarning you get how their 'defeated' quote changes to a FinalSpeech. However, not everyone you'd ''expect'' to have this immortality actually ''receives'' it...

** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has this in full effect for all of your companions, [[FinalDeath unless you play in Hardcore mode]]. There are a few exceptions though. In particular, the quest Birds of a Feather can result in the death of [[spoiler:Cass]] if you comply with the Van Graffs' orders.

*** Hardcore FinalDeath also applies to the ''Dead Money'' companions, although they are story-essential. To avoid an {{unwinnable}} situation, their [[ExplosiveLeash explosive collars]] are linked to the Courier's, so [[HostageSpiritLink their death results in his/hers]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}: Warhead'', there are a couple sections where you have a friendly team of U.S. Nanosuit Soldiers escorting you through an area. Although they can be knocked down if they take enough damage, they'll get back up again after a couple dozen seconds no worse for wear. Possibility due to a glitch, there's a very specific circumstance where they can suffer FinalDeath if they get grabbed and thrown by the giant alien robot boss. They all reappear next to you good as new once you transition to the next map, though.

** This also appeared in ''VideoGame/SuikodenTactics'': plot-vital characters ''never'' have to worry about FinalDeath; no matter how much punishment they take, they'll simply [[NonLethalKO retreat]]. Everyone else, however, has a chance of dying on the battlefield -- with the only real forewarning you get how their 'defeated' quote changes to FamousLastWords. However, not everyone you'd ''expect'' to have this immortality actually ''receives'' it...

* In ''VideoGame/FreedomFighters'' the fellow guerrilla fighters that the main character (Chris Stone) can recruit are essentially invincible. If they are downed by enemy fire, they only require a single medpack a piece to get them back into the action, and they're practically immune to friendly fire.

** In the final battle of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'', other than a scripted moment where she is KO'ed, Zelda cannot be harmed during the battle (though she does wince in pain); you can't kill her, even if you repeatedly slash her with the Master Sword. [[AnnoyingVideoGameHelper SHE, on the other hand...]]

** First seen in ''VideoGame/RainbowSix: Vegas'' and ''StarWars: Republic Commando''. Unreal Engine games really seem to love recycling this particular bit of code.

-> '''Jedi Exile''': ''"But to get back up after being that wounded?"''
-> '''HK-47''': ''"Observation: It does seem unlikely, master, but I have observed that you - allies included - seem to be able to recover from the most grievous of injuries, and quickly as well."''

* ''VideoGame/FrontMission Evolved'' makes all allies invulnerable and gives them BottomlessMagazines, so they will ''eventually'' clear a map by themselves... if you wait long enough. [[CutscenePowerToTheMax Outside of cutscenes their aim is atrocious]].

* The 2D ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games where you can play as Sonic and have Tails following you, Tails can get killed numerous times but still [[StayingAlive come back a short time later]]. This made boss fights a lot easier if you had a friend playing with you as you could have Tails attack the boss without worrying about taking damage.
** This is true for the partner characters in 3D games ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' and ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'' as well.

* ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' had partners which could be controlled by a second player. While they have the same amount of health as Kirby himself (which makes them much tougher than most of the enemies with the same form, though), they can't die from falling into bottomless pits or being crushed by scrolling levels (they just warp to Kirby) and if they lose all health, they can still be turned back into the ability and be reformed instantly. Or they can run into an enemy with an ability and get turned into the respective partner with full health. Finally, they can share health items with Kirby.
* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'' partially follows this trope during the Subspace Emissary in co-op. Player 2 can fall off the stage and be put back on it, but if an enemy attacks the player and they get pushed too far off screen, it counts as a KO. When you get caught in an non escapable battle, falling off the stage still counts as a KO for player 2.

* In ''VideoGame/MickeyMousecapade'', the player controls Mickey and Minnie ''simultaneously'', and Minnie never takes damage. Separating them in a few situations (like a boss fight with Pete) and attacking with Minnie makes dying impossible.
** Except, Minnie can die from falling into a BottomlessPit, and if so, [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou Mickey commits suicide by jumping in too.]]

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' and [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII its sequel]], you allies will get up a few minutes after losing all their health. If you lose all your health, however, it's an instant game over. The in-game justification for this is glossed over ''very'' quickly, but basically boils down to your partners simply being knocked out, and Sora ''losing his heart'' any time he dies. Because the Heartless/Nobodies are very vulnerable to the Keyblade, they don't take any chances.

** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3D'', your own Dream Eaters ''can'' die off for good by running out of HP and not receiving assistance, the temporary ones you can call to your side using friend portals are completely indestructible and simply get knocked around by attacks.

* In ''VideoGame/CliveBarkersJericho'', the game ends if every member of the Jericho Squad dies. However, if a few of them have died during battle but the player manages to finish the battle, the incapacitaed squad members usually get right back up again, even without the intervention of Ross' or Rawlings' healing powers.

*** One companion that is invincible regardless of game settings is the ''Lonesome Road'' version of ED-E, since you can't complete the storyline without him.

*** Roxie the cyberdog in ''Old World Blues'' can die even in Casual mode, but can be recreated indefinitely.