History Main / NoDamageRun

[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pretty much what it says]]: A variation of the SelfImposedChallenge where the goal is to win with no damage, or at least no deaths (which is commonly referred to as "Hardcore Mode" and is sometimes directly supported as part of the game's coding). This usually requires a ''lot'' of experience with the game in question, and due to the randomness/unpredictability of many games it can be ''very'' challenging, if not impossible. Virtually impossible in [[RolePlayingGame [=RPGs=]]] (due to RandomEncounters and ScratchDamage), for example, and exceedingly difficult in the higher levels of {{Fighting Game}}s (where ''someone'' is bound to hit you ''once'' with a [[ScratchDamage weak punch]]) and [[FirstPersonShooter First Person Shooters]].

* In ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia]]'', each boss yields a special [[CosmeticAward Medal]] if defeated without taking any hits, making this a game-encouraged challenge. It's even easier when you get the Death Ring, which boosts your stats absurdly (meaning less hits needed to kill a boss), but kills you if you take even a single hit while it's equipped (which makes retrying easier).[[note]]Taking damage from [[CastFromHitPoints using a certain set of glyphs]] doesn't count as taking a hit, so you can use them all you want without having to worry about the medal or the Death Ring.[[/note]]
* This is part of the reason why the Combat School missions are so damn hard in ''VideoGame/MetalSlug 7'': In order to get the best possible score, you not only have to clear the challenge in the fastest time, but do it without dying once. In a ShootEmUp where your character is a OneHitPointWonder.

* If you don't die any time during ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' it is revealed that Marin escaped the DreamWorld.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' games have traditionally made no damage running part of the requirement for getting some {{Bragging Rights Reward}}s.
** A bonus mission in DMC 3 requires you to defeat a patch of enemies untouched to receive one [[HeartContainer blue orb fragment]].
** ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 3'' had a difficulty based on this, ''Heaven or Hell'' where both the [[OneHitPointWonder player and the enemies die in one hit]]. DMC 4 had ''two'', the aforementioned difficulty from 3, and ''Hell and Hell'' where [[NintendoHard you die in one hit,]] but the enemies don't [[UpToEleven and are based on the hardest "normal" difficulty]].

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' had "Daredevil Comets", requiring you to complete one of the level's challenges (often a BossBattle) as a OneHitPointWonder. The game's ThatOneBoss, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OLZL1r3w3U Bouldergeist]], and the Daredevil run through [[LethalLavaLand Melty Molten Galaxy]] deserve [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OisJWfVn_C0 special mention]].
** VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 brings the Daredevil Comets back, and then takes it UpToEleven with the very last star, a challenge called [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=745zKLijKg8 The Perfect Run]].
* One of the bosses in ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' gives you a CosmeticAward when killing it with no damage taken. Of course, no damage runs are fairly common in that game.
** Especially in the Wii version's "Hard" mode which removes all {{Heart Container}}s from the game, against enemies that do increasing amounts of damage.

** Similarly, ''VideoGame/MushihimeSama Futari Black Label'' has a TrueFinalBoss that can only be challenged by completing the entire game on God Mode ([[IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels the hardest difficulty level]]) up to that point on a single life.

* Required in ''[[VideoGame/MeatBoy Super Meat Boy]]'' for a series of achievements titled "Iron Boy" runs, which require you to complete an entire world without dying. The achievements start out relatively easy with the first few worlds, but eventually get harder, going all the way up to Impossible Boy, which requires you to beat [[BrutalBonusLevel the Cotton Alley Dark World]] without dying, which is somewhat of an inhuman feat, considering the game's difficulty. Only 0.1% percent of all Steam users who have the game also have this achievement, and a good majority of them are cheaters.
** Although, depending on the world that is being played, the game will let players use alternate characters (with the exceptions of [[VideoGame/{{Minecraft}} Steve?]] and Meat Ninja) for the run, and let players play levels out of order, so it's more flexible with this trope than other games.
** VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac also has achievements for it, and you get a notification in-game in the form of an unlock. They also have "Boy" titles: Basement (Basement/Cellar floors with no damage), Spelunker (Caves), Darkness (Depths/Necropolis), and [[spoiler: Momma's (Womb/Utero)]] Boy for each chapter. Darkness is currently the hardest to get. It's practically game-imposed with Judas, Samson, [[spoiler:???]] and [[spoiler: The Lost in ''Rebirth'']]: the first two only have one heart to start, the third has no natural health and must live off rarer heart drops that always stack but never refill, meaning that during a run of bad drops you can take very few hits, the final one can't collect any hearts whatsoever, turning him into the game's only OneHitPointWonder.

** One of the Checklist challenges is to defeat Level 3's boss with only 1 Kirby. Since pretty much every attack KO's a Kirby in one hit, this makes a no damage run a necessity.

* ''KingdomHearts''. Typically, the sorts of people who do this also import the [[UpdatedRerelease Final Mix]] games, and play them on [[HarderThanHard Critical]]. Blocking is mandatory.

** ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity'' has Strict Play, which is basically the same minus the achievement.

* To obtain the perfect ending in ''Videogame/CrashBandicoot1996'', you have to break all boxes in every stage without dying. This gets [[NintendoHard REALLY]] hard in the [[DifficultySpike later stages]]. This was no longer the case in the sequels.
** Though some levels in the sequels require you to go up ot a certain point without dying to unlock a DeathCourse. Also, [[Videogame/CrashBandicoot3Warped the third game]] introduced the time trials, where there are no Checkpoints but more Aku Aku crates to make up for it.

* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' has a Hardcore Mode that ''deletes the entire game world'' if the player dies. Since the entire point of the game is to explore the world and shape it through building, mining, and crafting, this can be a very painful experience if the player has been working on a world for a while, and has grown attached to it. Hardcore Mode also locks the game on the highest difficulty setting, maximizing the amount of damage dealt by monsters, and otherwise making survival as difficult as possible.
** As an extra kick, the game forces you to press the button that irrevocably deletes your world ''yourself,'' rather than doing it automatically upon your death. It simply doesn't give you any other options.
** Hardcore Mode was eventually made available for multiplayer servers in addition to single-player gameplay. In multiplayer, Hardcore Mode means that a player is ''permanently banned'' from the server if they die.

* The Papillion suit in ''[[{{PN03}} P.N.03]]'' turns Vanessa into a OneHitpointWonder - completing the game while wearing this means never taking a single hit.

* ''BitTrip'' games reward the player with a flashing rainbow PERFECT! on the high scores table for not missing a single beat or other collectible (later games add the requirement of not getting hit by specific projectiles). The difficulty of such a run depends on the game, but they are notoriously difficult, enough that [[http://commandervideo.com/perfects.html the official site recognizes anyone who manages to accomplish such a feat.]]

* In some ''WorldOfWarcraft'' quests, there are achievements for completing them without taking any damage, such as a quest in which you must retrieve an item from a collapsing and booby-trapped ruin. These are fairly challenging, but not quite as difficult as some of the examples listed above, since they tend to be shorter and the dangers are telegraphed more (such as a shadow where a rock is about to fall, or a red circle around an enemy area of effect attack).

* There is an achievement for a No Death Run in ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest''. Given that ending the game with a ''triple digit'' death count is downright ''easy'', this generally considered ThatOneAchievement, only possible to achieve through SaveScumming.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros. Melee'' requires this of you in Adventure mode to get an unlock. Using Donkey Kong makes it ''slightly'' easier.
** It's also a bonus if you don't take any damage during a stage (or a match). Combining it with PacifistRun gets the [[TrueNeutral Switzerland]] bonus.

* ''{{Painkiller}}'' has this as an optional card condition for Orphanage, the first level in the expansion pack ''Battle Out of Hell''.

* It is possible in some ''HogsOfWar'' missions, and you even get a nice medal for it, however, in the course of the single player game any pig that dies in more than two invidual battles is KilledOffForReal. It's nigh impossible to finish the entire game without losing at least a few good pigs.

* In the very first ''SuperMonkeyBall'', beating all 70 stages of Expert, Expert Extra, and Master in a single no-death no-warp run would actually be acknowledged by the game with a special message during the credits (which varied depending on which monkey you chose to play as). In addition, the Play Point values were set up so that such a feat would net you exactly 9,999 Play Points; die once or use a single warp to skip a level and you'll end up with less.

* ''NightStriker'' combines this with PacifistRun. You get a pacifist bonus at the end of a level if you complete it without getting hit, AND not firing any shots. Very hard to pull off, especially in later stages.
* Completing a mission map in ''Dragon Saga''[[note]]the game formerly known as ''Dragonica''[[/note]] without taking any damage earns you the "Fly like a Butterfly" medal, which boosts your maximum HP by 100 points when equipped.

* ''VideoGame/{{Darius}}burst Chronicle Saviours'' awards 3 million points for completing a Zone without taking any damage; this includes ''shield'' damage. AC Mode, a port of ''Dariusburst Another Chronicle'', has achievements for completing the hardest routes of Original and EX modes without taking any damage, and there's a 10 million point award for beating the game with no ships lost between all participating players, although that one allows taking damage, just not losing any lives.

* ''VideoGame/{{Darius}}burst Chronicle Saviours'' awards 3 million points for completing a Zone without taking any damage; this includes ''shield'' damage. AC Mode, a port of ''Dariusburst Another Chronicle'', has achievements for completing the hardest routes of Original and EX modes without taking any damage.

* ''VideoGame/{{Darius}}burst Chronicle Saviours'' awards 3 million points for completing a Zone without taking any damage; this includes ''shield'' damage.

* ''LittleBigPlanet'' has the "No Lives Lost" challenge available in all levels, also known as "acing" a level. Get through an entire level without dying once (including use of the Try Again command if you get stuck in a level), and you get some extra [[CollectionSidequest goodies]] at the Scoreboard. Required to get OneHundredPercentCompletion in Story Mode, because completion is measured by how many items you've collected in all levels, and items given by No Lives Lost definitely count. Some levels, like Survival Challenges, are literally impossible to do this, because to finish you MUST die somehow (usually part of the challenge, like collect Score Bubbles while staying out of the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Horrible Gas]]), but these aren't counted in this; you just have to complete the Survival Challenge levels to add to your completion percentage. Player-made levels have this option, so the creators can give extra gifts to players who are really good at their levels, but these aren't required for 100% completion.

* In order to reach the true ending of ''[[SoulSeries Soul Calibur III]]'', the player must complete a No Death Run with at most ''one'' ring out.

* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' has a Hardcore Mode that ''deletes the entire game world'' if the player dies. Since the entire point of the game is to explore the world and shape it through building ([[CaptainObvious and mining, and crafting]]), this can be a very painful experience if the player has been working on a world for a while, and has grown attached to it. Hardcore Mode also locks the game on the highest difficulty setting, maximizing the amount of damage dealt by monsters, and otherwise making survival as difficult as possible.

* Finishing the original NES version of NinjaGaiden is [[NintendoHard already difficult enough as it is.]] Completing it in a single life is widely considered one of the hardest gaming challenges you will ever undertake in your gaming career.

* Several VideoGame/{{LEGO Adaptation Game}}s have this. There's an achievement for doing this in one level of ''LegoIndianaJones'', and achievements for EVERY level in ''Lego StarWars II'': The Original Trilogy.

** Similarly, ''VideoGame/MushihimeSama Futari Black Label'' has a TrueFinalBoss that can only be challenged by completing the entire game on [[IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels God Mode]] up to that point on a single life.

** Similarly, ''VideoGame/MushihimeSama Futari Black Label'' has a TrueFinalBoss that can only be challenged by completing the entire game on [[God Mode IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels]] up to that point on a single life.

** Similarly, ''VideoGame/MushihimeSama Futari Black Label'' has a TrueFinalBoss that can only be challenged by completing the entire game on God Mode (no, not ''that'' GodMode) up to that point on a single life.

* This is part of the reason why the Combat School missions are so damn hard in ''MetalSlug 7'': In order to get the best possible score, you not only have to clear the challenge in the fastest time, but do it without dying once. In a ShootEmUp where your character is a OneHitPointWonder.

* There is an achievement for a No Death Run in ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest''. Given that ending the game with a ''triple digit'' death count is downright ''easy'', this generally considered ThatOneAchievement, generally only possible to achieve through SaveScumming.

* Similar to ''[[VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy IWBtG]]'', only much less difficult, is ''VideoGame/RocketKnightAdventures''' Hard mode. The default difficulty is Easy, by the way.

* Similar to ''[[VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy IWBtG]]'', only much less difficult, is ''RocketKnightAdventures''' Hard mode. The default difficulty is Easy, by the way.

Still another variant, especially used among the ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' community, is the "Maximum Minimum Health" run, where the player attempts the level on [[IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels "Ultra-Violence" or "Nightmare" mode]]. Their score is the lowest health they had at any point in the level, or, if they didn't take any damage, their final health at the end of the level.

* In the ''VideoGame/PokemonPeaceSquad'' games, there's always at least one Special Mission (always a 4) that requires you to get through the stage unscathed. A number of these involve using a character that's elderly. Special mention goes to Mission 4 of Death Castle in Chaos Adventure, where Pryce must get through a gauntlet of enemies and deathtraps to reach the end.

** VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac also has achievements for it, and you get a notification in-game in the form of an unlock. They also have "Boy" titles: Basement (Basement/Cellar floors with no damage), Spelunker (Caves), Darkness (Depths/Necropolis), and [[spoiler: Momma's (Womb/Utero)]] Boy for each chapter. Darkness is currently the hardest to get. It's practically game-imposed with Judas, Samson, and [[spoiler:???]]: the first two only have one heart to start, the last one has no natural health and must live off rarer heart drops that always stack but never refill, meaning that during a run of bad drops you can take very few hits.