History Main / HeroTrackingFailure

* During Operation Desert Storm, the Americans deployed the much-hyped Patriot missile defense batteries in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Israel, in order to knock down incoming [[DeathFromAbove Scud]] missiles launched by the Iraqis. Two problems: 1) The Patriot wasn't actually designed as an anti-''missile'' system, but rather as an AntiAir system, being hastily modified to engage incoming Theater Ballistic Missiles. 2) Due to a bug in the system clock, the targeting computer became increasingly unable to accurately plot firing solutions to engage targets the longer it was in operation, and because the threat could have appeared at any time, the systems were operating almost constantly. A patch was released, and the clock could be reset by rebooting the system, but this still led to at least one failure to intercept an incoming missile before it could hit a barracks.

* Any time Franchise/{{Batman}} gets shot at (really, in any media, but the Franchise/{{DCAU}} is {{egregious}} about it).

* In ''{{Ink}}'', the Storytellers can ''teleport'', but still can't catch Ink.

* The Paris gun was built by the Germans in WWI to, well, bombard Paris. The only problem was that the distance between the gun and Paris was large enough for the Coriolis effect to come into action. The Coriolis effect is when the rotation of the earth affects trajectory calculations. So, while neither the gun nor Paris was moving, the fired shell took some time to land, while the earth kept rotating, causing the shell to go off target...
** Of course, all they did after that was correct the shot and then they started hitting Paris pretty accurately. That being said, they were hitting ''Paris'', that is, lobbing shells to randomly land somewhere in the city of Paris, rather than hitting anything more specific than that. Aside from one shot that collapsed a church roof on the congregation below, it was an terrifying nuisance.

** Of course, all they did after that was correct the shot and then they started hitting Paris pretty accurately.
** Meanwhile, when the Germans tried to make similar corrections for V1 Buzz Bomb strikes against London, using reports from their spies in Britain, they instead were given [[FeedTheMole increasingly less accurate information]], due to their spies having been found [[DoubleAgent and flipped by the Allies]]. Which means the British managed to ''invoke'' this trope.
* During Operation Desert Storm, the Americans deployed the much-hyped Patriot missile defense batteries in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Israel, in order to knock down incoming [[DeathFromAbove Scud]] missiles launched by the Iraqis. Two problems: 1) The Patriot wasn't actually designed as an anti-''missile'' system, but rather as an AntiAir system, being hastily modified to engage incoming Theater Ballistic Missiles. 2) Due to a bug in the system clock, the targeting computer became increasingly unable to accurately plot firing solutions to engage targets. A patch was released, and the clock could be reset by rebooting the system, but this still led to at least one failure to intercept an incoming missile before it could hit a barracks.

** A rather odd example in ''Attack of the Clones'': Jango Fett fires continuous rapid shots at Obi-Wan's ship for nearly a minute and appears to right on the bead, but somehow hundreds of bolts hit every spot around the ship without making a scratch.

* In the episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' where life becomes like a video game and Fry is fighting off an alien invasion styled after ''SpaceInvaders'', Fry finds himself unable to defeat the last ship due to this trope. The invading aliens even point his error out to him after landing.

** TheFlash, meanwhile, gets hit a surprisingly large number of times, despite having SuperSpeed. This is usually the result of his enemies wising up and either firing in a wild spread or [[LeadTheTarget firing well ahead of the Flash]] so that he runs into an explosion. This makes sense because if they just aimed at Flash, he wouldn't be there when their ammo reached the spot where he was when they pulled the trigger.

* In ''[[WebOriginal/StarWreck Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning]]'' [[GeneralFailure Pirk]] decides to personally fire the light balls at the ''Excavator'' without using the targeting computer, and miss with all the shots because he failed to lead the target. When his error is noted, he [[WhatAnIdiot complains that the computer he switched off should have done it for him]].

* Captain Pirk screws up the killing shot in the epic battle of ''[[WebOriginal/StarWreck Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning]]'' by failing to lead his shots. He's of the opinion that the computer ought to do it for him....despite [[TooDumbToLive turning off the aiming computers less than a minute ago.]]

* ''PowerRangers'' and ''SuperSentai'' villains consistently hit near the ''feet'' of the charging enemy.

* In ''CodeGeass'', Suzaku outruns an automatic machinegun guarding a narrow hallway. They try to justify it by saying the camera has a slight delay, but there's no reason it couldn't have been programmed to lead the target.

A subtrope of ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy. Also, see PlotArmor.

A subtrope of ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy.

You may also notice the tendency for NearMisses to be shown by the bullets hitting the ground just behind the hero's feet, even when the shooter does not have the sort of elevated position that would make it appropriate for all missed shots to immediately hit the ground. Admittedly, [[RuleOfCool a spray of sparks/dust following the hero one step behind them is more dramatic than bullets disappearing into the background]], but it only adds to the absurdity of the scene.

This sometimes happens to bad guys too, but it's generally more often seen with heroes, as they can't possibly be hit and shredded to bloody pulp in a shower of lead. When it does happen to baddies, the shooters usually manage to get their act together in the end.

* In ''WorldOfTanks'', depending on the tanks involved, tanks are often able to move faster than an opponent's turret can track, plus the shot takes a finite amount of time to get to target. "Jinking" when running away from or moving toward another tank helps to avoid being hit, and smaller tanks with faster turning turrets can fight heavy tanks by circle-strafing while the heavy tank can't get its gun on target.

* ''{{Ultraviolet}}'' has several such scenes, but none is more blatant than when the heroine is on a gravity-defying motorcycle and running from two helicopter gunships armed with miniguns. Thousands of bullets are spewed in her direction, and they seemingly manage to hit everywhere - including ahead! - except from where she currently is.

* Carmelita in ''Franchise/SlyCooper'', less because of any AI limitation and more to make her feel like an AdvancingBossOfDoom.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' 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.

* 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.

* Averted in [[VideoGame/Betrayer]], where ranged enemies can track the player, requiring the player to quickly move in the opposite direction at the last minute to dodge.

* Averted in VideoGame/Betrayer, where ranged enemies can track the player, requiring the player to quickly move in the opposite direction at the last minute to dodge.

* Averted in Betrayer, where ranged enemies can track the player, requiring the player to quickly move in the opposite direction at the last minute to dodge.

* In the non-canon ''Manga/DragonBall Z'' movie "The World's Strongest," TheDragon [[RobotReveal turns his arm into a]] [[GatlingGood minigun]] and fires at Krillin, who {{Wall Run}}s away from it, the villain's gunfire trailing him by a good couple inches all the way.

* Other villain tracking example: in chapter 21 of ''StarWarsCloneWars'', 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.