History Main / SetSwordsToStun

* In ''MortalKombat: Deadly Alliance'', though, some characters had an "Impale" feature for their weapons, which allowed you to, well... impale the enemy with your weapon, causing them to leak blood and reduce their health gradually at the expense of losing the ability to use your weapons for the rest of the round.

* Particularly bad in ''TheKingOfFighters'' games, as many characters have attacks that could level a building, yet leave no lasting damage anyway. One ''really'' nasty example is Orochi (a god), who can apparently ''steal and destroy his opponent's soul'', yet if said opponent is not KO'd by this attack then they can still get up and fight, despite the fact that they should be a hollow shell. [[WhipItGood Whip]] has a gun and, in some games, it doesn't even deal damage. She has another one as an HSDM and at least deals a good amount of damage. Other characters even have missiles, lasers, a gigantic drill, an iron ball... Hell even the flames should be enough to deal third-degree burns but don't.
* Another frequent offender is Zero from the ''MegaManX'' series. It's especially noticeable in his own games, where most enemies have a special animation for being cut in half by his Z-Saber. Okay -- so why didn't that happen until [[CriticalExistenceFailure the final hit]]? Because the kill shot is always the final hit.

* Justified by Marvel Comics' Black Knight. He sometimes uses a photonic sword which cuts through inanimate objects like a solid blade would, but acts like a high-powered taser when used on humans.
* In the ''{{Tekken}}'' series, characters frequently suffer broken arms, legs, necks, etc., dislocated shoulders, hyper-extended joints, crushed gonads, and occasional impalement, only to get back up off the floor and jump back into battle. Unless the round is over.
* In ''[[{{Darkstalkers}} Darkstalkers 3]]'', certain attacks by each character ''can'' kill, by slicing the opponent in half... but only if they're the last blow in the last round. If it's not, the killing effect is seen regardless but the damage done to the characters' bodies is instantly fixed in a cartoony manner, like for example the upper body of the character being cleaved clean off, only for it to perform a quick somersault and land back on the waist with no lasting damage. Likewise, these attacks don't always line up with what ''should'' be fatal - Bulleta/B.B. Hood's throat-slit grab is, understandably, fatal, but her various guns, missiles, and mines ''aren't''.

** The Japanese version of {{Fist Of The North Star}}: Ken's Rage also had the same KO counter, despite the fact that dozens of {{Mook}}s are turned into red paste or getting cut up into ribbons every time you use a [[LimitBreak Signature Move]] on them or hit them with a heavy attack, and even when you don't, they leave a large pool of blood under them as they collapse. Changed in the US/PAL version where the counter now reads "Kills", although the trophy/achievement icons are unchanged and still read "KO".

** "Electrode, Explosion!"
* The High Frequency Blade in ''[[MetalGearSolid Metal Gear Solid 2]]'' is ''lethal'', inasmuch as Raiden can kill any human enemy with it (the reason that it takes several strokes to kill is that the enemies from that point in the game wear extremely heavy armor.) However, he can reverse his grip so that he smacks foes around with the dull edge instead of slicing them to kibble, knocking them out in order to allow the player to complete a "No Enemies Killed" play-through. You still kill them if you stab, though.

* ''SuperRobotWars'' can't seem to decide on how lethal the attacks are. Defeating a given character, so they explode entirely, may result in that character dying, that character ejecting, that character running away. There are missions in which you 'capture' an enemy unit by bringing it down below 10%... and in the same mission you capture another unit by blowing it up completely. Additionally, there are some characters with weapons designed to cleave battleships in single strikes, but you still won't necessarily kill targets with it. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in one of chapters in OG2, [[BadAssAbnormal Kyousuke]] deliver his [[SpamAttack "Trump Card"]] against [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Wodan]] in his [[SuperRobot Thrudgelmir]]... ''to the cockpit section no less''! and every protagonist gasped how Wodan still Alive from these. To be fair, Wodan is a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot cyborg zombie samurai]].
** Play straight in SuperRobotWarsL, "killing" boss unit won't show animation of it get destroyed. They simply escape afterward for most of time, explode only if it's actually destroyed in plot.

* Similarly, ''TimeKillers'' allowed you to perform instant amputations and decapitation moves that could end a fight in one blow. However, only decapitation was fatal. This got even more extreme in the SpiritualSuccessor ''Bloodstorm'', where you could cut your opponent in ''half'', but again, only decapitation was fatal. The game would actually credit you if you somehow managed to win a fight without any limbs at all.

* In ''[[NeverwinterNights2 Neverwinter Nights 2]]'' characters don't die, they merely go unconscious. This makes one wonder why the King of Shadows, despite being an ancient evil capable of destroying entire civilizations, seems utterly incapable of killing your gang of misfits.
* ''DeadFantasy'' by Monty Oum. The girls are beating the crap out of each other with swords, [[{{NinjaGaiden}} Rachel]] has her War Hammer, Yuna is using guns, and the Final Fantasy girls in general are using potent magic. What do they have to show for this? Not even a bruise.

* ''{{BlazBlue}}'': Calamity Trigger, ironically, subverts the hell out of this - each and every fight that the players play can not only results in a character's death, but can be argued to be canonically possible as well. The reason? [[spoiler: The entire game is stuck in an insanely long GroundhogDayLoop. Any killed characters simply return once the loop resets.]] This being said, the particular brilliance of this won't be present in the sequel, Continuum Shift. It'll be interesting to see what happens there.
** This varies. In story mode quite a few characters survive the battles against other characters (indeed some of the alternative plot lines can only be accessed by losing certain battles). In fact some characters are canonically "defeated" by having the player character hold their own in the battle (even though they still have to be beaten the same way). For example Rachel ''never'' suffers any harm from being defeated and either leaves or kicks the character out of her garden when she's met in story mode, Arakune always flees or is spared at the end of a battle (or Litchi appears and talks down whoever defeated him) while the best any character can hope for while fighting Nu-13 is to survive long enough to note that their attacks haven't been doing anything before being killed [[spoiler: Or suffer a FateWorseThanDeath in Ragna's case]]. The most amusing example is probably Bang (who every other character treats as an annoyance), who fails to beat ''anyone'' (sometimes justified, for example; by Ragna basically muttering about how [[ILetYouWin he let Bang defeat him]] so he wouldn't have to kill him).

* [[ScrappyMechanic Annoyingly enough]], all the melee weapons in the first ''{{Gothic}}'' were set to stun forcing you to administer a coup de gras to every last motherfucker you downed (crossbows and magic were lethal, and [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman monsters]] were exempt from that rule). It was rectified in the second game - the AI deduced whether you could possibly wish the opponent alive or not and adjusted weapon's lethality accordingly.

** Also note that they have the uber medical system. My basic assumption is that someone is slapping them with some sort of teleport system recall chip that sends them directly to the zigg's hospital wing.
** In addition, it is easy to explain any of that within character. I have a broad-sword user that wields something called the "Morpheus Blade" which doesn't really damage living beings but puts them to sleep. Archers can explain it as blunt tipped arrows. Anything energy oriented can be dialed down easily enough: fire can be re-explained as heat blasts which induce unconsciousness, lightning blast can be dialed down to taser. IE, up to the player....granted, my character Blood Rose is generally viewed as lethal by me.

* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheap_Ass_Games Cheap Ass Games]] features ''Spree'', a game where looters with guns raid a mall for the best presents this Christmas. Being shot only makes you "fall down." You get up shortly thereafter. There are no health meters or character wounds.

* [[ScrappyMechanic Annoyingly enough]], all the melee weapons in the first ''{{Gothic}}'' were set to stun forcing you to administer Coup De Gras to every last motherfucker you downed (crossbows and magic were lethal, and [[WhatMeasureIsNothuman monsters]] were exempt from that rule). It was rectified in the second game - the AI deduced whether you could possibly wish the opponent alive or not and adjusted weapon's lethality accordingly.

* ''HeroClix'' characters are KOd at the end of their dials. It doesn't matter what you're using on them, from powers named "Blades/Claws/Fangs" or "Big Uzi" or even "Death Comes Swiftly", whatever it is that hits you, it just knocks you out.
* CheapAssGames features ''Spree'', a game where looters with guns raid a mall for the best presents this Christmas. Being shot only makes you "fall down." You get up shortly thereafter. There are no health meters or character wounds.

* Played straight and averted in ''[[{{Ptitlecxc8y4qc}} Elder Scrolls: Oblivion]]'', with story/quest important characters merely being "knocked unconcious" rather than killed, no matter if they got mauled by a bear, gored by a minotaur, or gutted by bandits. You can ''try'' to kill them, but that'll just piss them off. Non-vital characters are all fair game though.

* Played straight and averted in ''[[{{Ptitlecxc8y4qc}}Elder Scrolls: Oblivion]]'', with story/quest important characters merely being "knocked unconcious" rather than killed, no matter if they got mauled by a bear, gored by a minotaur, or gutted by bandits. You can ''try'' to kill them, but that'll just piss them off. Non-vital characters are all fair game though.

* Played staight and averted in ''{{Ptitlecxc8y4qc}}'', with story/quest important characters merely being "knocked unconcious" rather than killed, no matter if they got mauled by a bear, gored by a minotaur, or gutted by bandits. You can ''try'' to kill them, but that'll just piss them off. Non-vital characters are all fair game though.

* A version occurs in the DungeonKeeper series. Enemy creatures are 'knocked out' by such things as steel claws, [[ImprobableWeaponUser spiked balls hung from the horns]], [[ImprovisedWeapon hurled dwarves and imps]], [[{{BFS}} huge swords]] and generally lethal weaponry. This is so they can be dragged to your prisons, and used or abused [[strike: appropriately]]. However, if left untouched by your or enemy imps (which drag them back to their own base to recuperate) the creatures will actually die. So it's easy to assume that they are wounded too badly to keep fighting, but might survive given medical attention. In the first game, you can toggle whether enemies are stunned rather than killed on or off.
* Played staight and averted in ElderScrollsOblivion, with story/quest important characters merely being "knocked unconcious" rather than killed, no matter if they got mauled by a bear, gored by a minotaur, or gutted by bandits. You can ''try'' to kill them, but that'll just piss them off. Non-vital characters are all fair game though.
* DungeonsAndDragons had several iterations of this across its several editions.

* [[{{Exalted}} Alchemical Exalted]] can install a Charm that allows them to keep all members of their unit alive in a war, despite damage done to a unit. An upgrade- the ''Riot-Dispersion Attack'' submodule- allows them to extend this benefit to the enemy unit they're attacking.
* In the TeenTitans, Robin once gave Ravager a pair of literal "stun swords" so she could use her otherwise very lethal fighting techniques to the fullest without actually killing anybody.
* [[ScrappyMechanic Annoyingly enough]], all the melee weapons in the first {{Gothic}} were set to stun forcing you to administer Coup De Gras to every last motherfucker you downed (crossbows and magic were lethal, and [[WhatMeasureIsNothuman monsters]] were exempt from that rule). It was rectified in the second game - the AI deduced whether you could possibly wish the opponent alive or not and adjusted weapon's lethality accordingly.
* Mayfair Games' DC Heroes RPG featured two styles of gaming, one "gritty and realistic", and the other more in keeping with SilverAge mentality where nobody dies. This is spoofed in one of the modules where the characters are left at ground zero of a nuclear explosion, but it's all okay because of the game mode!
* HeroClix characters are KOd at the end of their dials. It doesn't matter what you're using on them, from powers named "Blades/Claws/Fangs" or "Big Uzi" or even "Death Comes Swiftly", whatever it is that hits you, it just knocks you out.
* CheapAssGames features Spree, a game where looters with guns raid a mall for the best presents this Christmas. Being shot only makes you "fall down." You get up shortly thereafter. There are no health meters or character wounds.

** KnightsOfTheOldRepublic treads the line a bit. Lightsabers are still the deadliest melee weapons by far, and can be used to break open doors and containers effortlessly, but many weapons and armors of this era are made with "cortosis weaves" that enables them to resist a saber being sliced right through them.

* ''Sword Of The Samurai 2'' is both an example and a subversion, in that, on Extreme mode, any hit from any weapon could kill you.

* MeltyBlood is a particularly strange case. The victory screens, the character portraits, the backgrounds, etc. can all show as much blood as they want to, but absolutely no blood comes out from anyone. Makes sense, they're all being punched and kicked... except by the characters that have claws and one in particular who uses a fruit knife to devastating effect.

* The ''Last Blade'' games follow the same mold as ''Samurai Shodown'', in that attacks can only be lethal on the last hit of the round, and some of the characters are surprised when slashing their foe to itty-bitties manages to kill them dead. Hibiki is downright horrified when she kills someone... [[EvilFeelsGood unless she does it too many times.]]

* {{BlazBlue}}: Calamity Trigger, ironically, subverts the hell out of this - each and every fight that the players play can not only results in a character's death, but can be argued to be canonically possible as well. The reason? [[spoiler: The entire game is stuck in an insanely long GroundhogDayLoop. Any killed characters simply return once the loop resets.]] This being said, the particular brilliance of this won't be present in the sequel, Continuum Shift. It'll be interesting to see what happens there.

** [[WMG/SoulSeries All their weapons are made of blunt aluminum]].

* In ''Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance'', though, some characters had an "Impale" feature for their weapons, which allowed you to, well... impale the enemy with your weapon, causing them to leak blood and reduce their health gradually at the expense of losing the ability to use your weapons for the rest of the round.
* The 'SuperSmashBros' series invokes this trope once per attack or thereabouts. Gameplay mechanics dictate that the characters can only die by falling, and so obviously fatal attacks like Marth's forward smash, Link's salad-spinner up-B attack, and Samus' max energy blast aren't nearly as deadly as one might think. The worst offender by far is Snake - he has bombs, missiles, grenades, rocket launchers, killer holds, you name it he's got it (though absolutely no guns, Nintendo was very insistent on that), to the point where the opponent should have already been reduced to his component molecules--what's that you say? He flew a few feet in the air? Darn. Of course, in the face of all the rest of the cartoon physics that SSB utilizes, this one actually doesn't stand out all that much.

* In the ''Samurai Showdown'' series, only the last strike of the round can be fatal.

** 4th edition finally simplified it all by allowing a player to declare whether a monster is killed or unconscious when reducing its hit points to zero. [[MST3KMantra Just let the players make up a reason for why it works]].

* [[PokeMon Level 80 CHARIZARD used Blast Burn! Enemy CATERPIE fainted...]]

* ''SuperRobotWars'' can't seem to decide on how lethal the attacks are. Defeating a given character, so they explode entirely, may result in that character dying, that character ejecting, that character running away. There are missions in which you 'capture' an enemy unit by bringing it down below 10%... and in the same mission you capture another unit by blowing it up completely. Additionally, there are some characters with weapons designed to cleave battleships in single strikes, but you still won't necessarily kill targets with it. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in one of chapters in OG2, [[BadAssAbnormal Kyousuke]] deliver his [[SpamAttack "Trump Card"]] against [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Wodan]] in his [[SuperRobot Thrudgelmir]]... ''to the cockpit section no less''! and every protagonist gasped how Wodan still Alive from these. To be fair, Wodan is a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot cyborg zombie samurai]].

You've defeated your opponent in armed combat, swords and all. As you land the final blow, the announcer shouts, "K.O.!"

Something's wrong there, no?

A character in a fighting game is not "dead", he's just... [[NonLethalKO unconscious]]... even though you've been hitting him with a sword for 30 seconds... and broken both his arms... and ''impaled'' him on your blade before kicking him off at least twice. For that matter, why are ''you'' still alive, after being whacked in the head with his axe a few times? It seems all that stuff saying you should NeverBringAKnifeToAFistFight was complete baloney. Well, except for the not dying part.

* A version occurs in the DungeonKeeper series. Enemy creatures are 'knocked out' by such things as steel claws, [[ImprobableWeaponUser spiked balls hung from the horns]], [[ImprovisedWeapon hurled dwarves and imps]], [[{{BFS}} huge swords]] and generally lethal weaponry. This is so they can be dragged to your prisons, and used or abused [[strike: appropriately]]. In the first game, you can toggle whether enemies are stunned rather than killed on or off, giving it some [[JustifiedTrope justification]].

* ''SuperRobotWars'' can't seem to decide on how lethal the attacks are. Defeating a given character, so they explode entirely, may result in that character dying, that character ejecting, that character running away. There are missions in which you 'capture' an enemy unit by bringing it down below 10%... and in the same mission you capture another unit by blowing it up completely. Additionally, there are some characters with weapons designed to cleave battleships in single strikes, but you still won't necessarily kill targets with it. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in one of chapters in OG2, [[BadAssAbnormal Kyousuke]] deliver his [[SpamAttack "Trump Card"]] against [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Wodan]] in his [[SuperRobot Sledgeimir]]... ''to the cockpit section no less''! and every protagonist gasped how Wodan still Alive from these. To be fair, Wodan is a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot cyborg zombie samurai]].

** The Japanese version of {{FistOfTheNorthStar}}: Ken's Rage also had the same KO counter, despite the fact that dozens of {{Mook}}s are turned into red paste or getting cut up into ribbons every time you use a [[LimitBreak Signature Move]] on them or hit them with a heavy attack, and even when you don't, they leave a large pool of blood under them as they collapse. Changed in the US/PAL version where the counter now reads "Kills", although the trophy/achievement icons are unchanged and still read "KO".

** The Japanese version of FistOfTheNorthStar : Ken's Rage also had the same KO counter, despite the fact that dozens of {{Mook}}s are turned into red paste or getting cut up into ribbons every time you use a [[LimitBreak Signature Move]] on them or hit them with a heavy attack, and even when you don't, they leave a large pool of blood under them as they collapse. Changed in the US/PAL version where the counter now reads "Kills", although the trophy/achievement icons are unchanged and still read "KO".

** Later ''Dark Forces'' games went back to the usual patheticness, but toggling some settings in their .CFG will cause lightsabers to be instant-kill weapons that dismember their victims even when not being swung.

* DungeonsAndDragons had several iterations of this across its several editions. One of the first specifically applied to subduing dragons rather than actually wounding them, and 2nd edition featured an optional "non-lethal" damage rule in exchange for an attack penalty (since you're purposely using your weapon wrong in order to ''not'' seriously harm your enemy). 4th edition simplified it all by allowing a player to declare whether a monster is killed or unconscious when reducing its hit points to zero, making it possible to stun enemies with swords, arrows, and even fire.