History Main / HeroTrackingFailure

* In one QuicktimeEvent in ''TombRaider Anniversary'', [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=9AK6FOl34M8#t=163s Lara breaks free of her captor]] and runs toward another baddie, a [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy wangsta]] with GunsAkimbo SMGs. He actually aims at her face, then aims down at her legs. Of course, if the player fails the QTE, he hits and kills her anyway. In a later cutscene, he misses her by inches as she runs away, though at least he aims at her center mass. And then ''again'' at her feet a few seconds later.

* In the DoctorWho episode 'Victory of the Daleks', the Daleks, five of them, fail to shoot the Doctor who's in the process of running away....after it was proven a single Dalek could shoot down five planes in flight.

* In the first ArmoredCore game and its expansions, most weapons shoot directly at their target without compensating for movement at all, making fast enough opponents quite difficult to hit. In ArmoredCore 2 and its expansion it's the opposite, and shots compensate for distance and movement perfectly... assuming the target is moving in one direction at a constant velocity. In subsequent titles, there's usually some degree of compromise between the two methods.

* Averted hard by the better bots in programming game RoboCode---a lot of effort is put into analysing the movement patterns of targets and trying to guess where they're going to dodge to.

* Happens to Leavenworth Smedry in the ''AlcatrazSeries'' regularly. Since his power is to be late, he always takes longer to get to the point his opponents are shooting at than they expect it will.

->-- [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Lrrr]], [[SpellMyNameWithAThe RULER of the planet Omicron Persei 8]], ''{{Futurama}}''

* Any time Batman gets shot at (really, in any media, but TheDCAU is particularly [[TVTropesWikiDrinkingGame egregious]] about it).

* DieAnotherDay: Possibly the least-justifiable example of this in cinema history. The weapon is a laser. In space. And even though a few fractions of a degree are all that separate its firing angle from its target's location, it somehow can't catch him.
** Possible Justification: The laser was A)tracking the heat signature of the engines in the ''back'' of the vehicle, B)contending with a lightspeed+processing delay, and C)programmed by a moron.
** Also the fact that it was designed to make large sweeps on enemy troops rather than a solitary fast-moving vehicle.

[[AC: {{Live-Action TV}}]]
* ''PowerRangers'' and ''SuperSentai'' villains consistently hit near the ''feet'' of the charging enemy.
* In the dramatized battle of the "Navy SEAL vs. Israeli Commando" episode of ''DeadliestWarrior'', the SEAL leader runs in front of gunfire from three Commandos, all of which miss him by inches.

* DieAnotherDay: Possibly the least-justifiable example of this in cinema history. The weapon is a laser. In space. And even though a few fractions of a degree are all that seperate its firing angle from its target's location, it somehow can't catch him.

* ''{{Eve Online}}'' uses this trope to [[PVPBalanced balance]] slow, large, long-range ships against fast, small, short-range ships. If the target orbits a ship fast enough, the long-range turrets can't keep up.

* Other villain tracking example: in chapter 21 of [[StarWarsCloneWars Star Wars Clone Wars]], during the GunshipRescue moment, the ARC troopers don't seem to land a single shot on grievous, despite the ridiculous amount of dakka they have.

* A RealLife example in games: You. You're probably gonna be doing this alot when it comes to trueshot attacks in most games. Particularly RTS games.

* In the live-action movie adaption of NeilGaiman's novel ''{{Stardust}}'', in the final BossBattle, the head witch is hurling deadly spells and making rows of windows explode one window after another, but seems persistently unable to hit the running protagonists, even though they're running away in a straight line.

*** ''[[TheElderScrolls Oblivion]]'' is a particularly glaring example of the AI failing because it is leads you ''too'' consistently and perfectly. Spellcasting has an obvious startup animation, so it's easy to bluff the AI by twitching to one side just as a mage lobs their fireball.
*** The ''{{Battlezone}}'' series massively avert this trope. This troper saw Scion Warriors in [=BZ2=] track targets with their plasma cannons so well that circle-strafing is completely useless. On the other hand, consistently hitting them will cause them to cease fire, move a few meters then fire again. The catch is, they are never alone and considering that they have more or less the same capabilities as your tank does, TheComputerIsACheatingBastard. Though that may be explained away that even though your tank has a target indicator for non-hitscan weapons to aid you in hitting moving targets, nothing says AI-controlled units don't have it too.

* Also averted by the AI in ''TheElderScrolls'', where hostile spellcasters observe your movement and correct their aim accordingly. They can still be dodged, though, as the spells always move in a straight line and all Destruction effects but Shock are ''agonizingly'' slow.

* ''GhostInTheShell'' (the first movie) has the [=T08A2=] exapod think-tank, with two [[GatlingGood three-barreled rotary guns]] that can't seem to properly track major Kusanagi as she somersaults around.
** In one episode of StandAloneComplex during a flashback where she fought [[spoiler: Saito]] she's established to need a seperate program to use her improbable [[spoiler: (shooting an extremely skilled sniper's bolt action rifle round out of the air and taking [[ScopeSnipe out one of his eyes]] improbable)]] aiming skills at different ranges ([[spoiler: the fact that she's able to convince him she can't use them over medium ranges is how she defeated and [[DefeatMeansFriendship ultimatly recruited him]]]]). Even though they're different universes it's possible that the same explaination exists for fully automated weapons systems.

** Somewhat justified, as she ''is'' a cyborg. The SAC version reveals she has software for ImprobableAimingSkills, so it makes sense she has a similar software for avoiding enemy fire.
*** What makes less sense is that the cannons ''don't'', given that tracking things is their entire reason for existing.
*** Her therm-optic camouflage may have helped
**** She didn't even use the Thermoptic camouflage until the guns appeared to be out of ammo.
*** That was extreamly close range. Was the gun designed to shoot people 100m away? 500m away? I doubt it was designed to shoot people 5m away.

* Other villain tracking example: in chapter 21 of [[StarWarsCloneWars Star Wars Clone Wars]], during the [[BigDamnGunship Big Damn Gunship]] moment, the ARC troopers don't seem to land a single shot on grievous, despite the ridiculous amount of dakka they have.