History SuperDrowningSkills / Videogames

* Inverted and defied in ''VideoGame/{{Stray}}'': The cat has enough common sense to avoid touching any body of water deeper than their paws, but the parasitic Zurks ''don't'' as they're too focused on eating anything they come across.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'' this doesn't exist for you, it exists for everyone else. NPC’s die on contact with water, conscious npc’s can be knocked in with wind blast level 1, walking a possessed person into water or throwing them in with 'pull'. Unconscious NPC’s can also die if they are being carried when the player goes into the water as the player automatically drops whatever they are carrying at this point. If a badly placed unconscious NPC falls in water it will kill them,failing a Clean Hands ([[PacifistRun no kill]]) run, something a player may only find out at the end of a level.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'' this doesn't exist for you, it exists for everyone else. NPC’s die on contact with water, conscious npc’s can be knocked in with wind blast level 1, walking a possessed person into water or throwing them in with 'pull'. Unconscious NPC’s can also die if they are being carried when the player goes into the water as the player automatically drops whatever they are carrying at this point. If a badly placed unconscious NPC falls in water it will kill them,failing a Clean Hands ([[PacifistRun no kill]]) run, something a player may only find out at the end of a level.

** Likewise, in ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'', falling in the water where you fight Benny and Clyde instantly kills you, regardless of how much stamina you had.

* Apparently, the heroes in ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' never learned how to swim. Falling in the water where you fight Benny and Clyde instantly kills you, regardless of how much stamina you had.

* ''VideoGame/LEGOTheLordOfTheRings'' has all characters flail around in water for a few seconds, and then instantly "die". The only water you can survive in is ford-level. Even ''Gollum'' can't swim, despite him swimming frequently in canon.
* However, it's ''VideoGame/LEGOJurassicWorld'' that takes the cake in this regard. In the game your characters cannot swim at all: they flail around and sink if the water goes even an inch above their head. Now not only are these characters who are able to swim in the movies the game is representing, but when you actually get to the part in ''Film/JurassicParkIII'' where the survivors end up in the water, ''[[GameplayAndStorySegregation suddenly they can swim just fine during the cutscene]]''. Of course, even after that if you dare to enter the water, you sink like a rock tied to an even heavier rock.
* In ''VideoGame/LegoDimensions'', [[Film/{{Gremlins}} Gizmo]] and [[Film/TheWizardOfOz the Wicked Witch]] both die when they come into contact with water, as they did in their original appearances. Additionally, exiting a submersible vehicle while playing as a character without the "Dive" ability will cause them to flail around a bit and then break into pieces. There's also a portion of the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' level pack in which water behaves as it does in the ''Sonic'' games, [[ThatOneLevel modeled after a level in which drowning was notoriously easy to do.]]

* Justified in ''VideoGame/BeaconOfHope''. Beacon is a [[Main/AnimateInanimateObbject sentient desk lamp]]. Touching water will make him short-circuit and die.

* In ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'', your characters can freely swim as long as their SprintMeter doesn't run dry, but most enemies will instantly keel over if they go into water deep enough. This is a bit more believable for [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent hilichurls]] and other primitive monsters than it is for the clearly human Fatui, Treasure Hoarders, and Nobushi, who should logically be better swimmers but will flail about and perish all the same. The only normal-sized enemies who can't be killed this way are Cryo Slimes and Cryo Abyss Mages, as their [[AnIcePerson ice powers]] cause water under them to freeze.

* In ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'', your characters can freely swim as long as their SprintMeter doesn't run dry, but most enemies will instantly keel over if they go into water deep enough. This is a bit more believable for [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent hilichurls]] and other primitive monsters than it is for the clearly human Fatui, Treasure Hoarders, and Nobushi, who should logically be better swimmers but will flail about and perish all the same.

** Downplayed in ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'': your character can swim, but only for all of 3 seconds before they start flailing about. Fortunately, all that happens is that they respawn on nearby dry land. They will, however, lose various items from their satchel if drowning causes them to black out. Probably justified since they aren't supposed to cross deep water before getting access to Basculegion. After he becomes available, you'll be prompted to press A to access him and avoid drowning.

** Downplayed in ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'': your character can swim, but only for all of 3 seconds before they start flailing about. Fortunately, all that happens is that they respawn on nearby dry land. They will, however, lose various items from their satchel. Probably justified since they aren’t supposed to cross deep water before getting access to Basculegion. After he becomes available, you’ll be prompted to press A to access him and avoid drowning.

** Downplayed in ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'': your character can swim, but only for all of 3 seconds before they start flailing about. Fortunately, all that happens is that they respawn on nearby dry land.

* In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', the shoreline represents a ledge to you: you can't so much as wade in the shallow area of water. [[AbilityRequiredToProceed You need to have a Pokémon with Surf in order to get past it.]] Yet there are numerous Swimmer trainers populating every sea route. And [[SuperNotDrowningSkills they never leave the route.]]

* In the video game tie-in to ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'', if any character touches the water, they instantly die (which may be justified, because they are toys). Also, Woody can drown in [[RiseToTheChallenge coffee that is filling the bedroom]] in the Bonnie's House level.

** Note that the Holy Symbol's FanNickname is [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything the Holy Snorkel.]] The art is very clearly something you'd expect to see in a dive shop rather than a church.

* In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', the shoreline represents a ledge to you: you can't so much as wade in the shallow area of water. You need to have a Pokemon with Surf in order to get past it, making it a BrokenBridge. Yet there are numerous Swimmer trainers populating every sea route. And [[SuperNotDrowningSkills they never leave the route.]]

** In ''VideoGame/CrashBandicootNSaneTrilogy'', going into water as Coco has the same effect as doing so with Crash, but she can ordinarily tread water just fine in contrast to him in her jet ski levels. She'll still drown in the rising water in "Tomb Wader", but not if she falls into the narrow pits on the floor when the water level lowers. She also seems to avert ElectrifiedBathtub, as she's not killed by her laptop shorting out.
** In ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot4ItsAboutTime'', not only do Crash and Coco drown in water if they fall into it, but Tawna, an ActionGirl, mind you, ''also'' drowns. Dingodile's also drowns when he falls into water, which is especially baffling as he is half-crocodile, and crocodiles are supposed to be excellent swimmers. Cortex also drowns immediately when falling in the water of his first playable level Fossil Fueled, though his only other interaction with water is in the freezing-cold Ship Happens, which will instead turn him into a block of ice like it does to Crash and Coco.

* Lok, even though he is logically stronger than his partner Tak, loses a life if he falls into water in ''VideoGame/TakTheGreatJujuChallenge'', while Tak can [[SuperNotDrowningSkills swim in it just fine]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Vixen}}'', an ancient platformer on the Amiga would have the female Tarzan like player drown in a few seconds if she fell into water.

* In ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'', your characters can freely swim as long as their SprintMeter doesn't run dry, but most enemies will instantly keel over if they go into water deep enough. This is a bit more believable for [[OurGoblinsAreDifferent hilichurls]] and other primitive monsters than it is for the clearly human Fatui, who should logically be better swimmers but will flail about and perish all the same.

* The title character of ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' in her first game, where falling into water is equivalent to falling into a {{Bottomless Pit|s}}. She's learned how to swim by ''Risky's Revenge''.

* In ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'', your characters can freely swim as long as their SprintMeter doesn't run dry, but most enemies will instantly keel over if they go into water deep enough.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Overcooked}},'' water functions the same as a bottomless pit--if you fall in, you vanish and must wait 5 seconds to respawn.

** In ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIIIDraculasCurse'' he swims about as well as everyone else - which is to say he sinks like a rock.

** Zig-zagged with the way that bodies of actual water works in the game, which is introduced in Season 5 — in most rounds, your Fall Guy can safely walk in shallow pools of water, and the most that they can do is slowing you down. However, in Stompin' Ground, the entire arena is surrounded by a lake of water, and players who get knocked out of the ring and fall into the water are instantly eliminated.

** Sonic doesn't automatically die jumping into water (unless its a pitfall trap); the nightmare comes from ''getting out'' of the water, before he drowns - made difficult due to the removal of his speed and lack of fine control when submerged. The 3D games, however, with a few exceptions, tend to treat water as bottomless pits, to the point where, in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', Sonic dies in knee-deep water that he could easily walk out of.

* In ''VideoGame/PaperMario'', bodies of water have {{Invisible Wall}}s... until you find Sushie, and use special docks to cross the water.
* In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', if Mario falls into water, even a fountain or swimming pool, he leaps out again after getting bitten by a large, carnivorous and apparently mechanical fish. Later on, he is [[CursedWithAwesome cursed with the ability to turn into a paper boat]], letting him cross the water.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma'' jumping or falling into a body of water deeper than your character's head summons [[FogOfDoom The]] [[NonMaliciousMonster Brine]], which mercifully doesn't kill you. You simply get spit back out onto nearby dry land some time later. However, your followers and all other characters are killed on contact.
* Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/DarkenedSkye'', a game that frequently breaks the fourth wall. On first encountering water, the heroine exchanges a conversation with her sarcastic sidekick, culminating with the line, "YES! I'm a warrior-hero-adventurer-goddess who CAN'T SWIM."

* Generally averted throughout ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series through various means. Early games, starting with ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'', essentially treat going into the water the same as running. The only differences are that your character "bobs" up and down in water, and you cannot use weapons. Starting with ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', the series allows you to swim across the surface without issue, but going underwater brings up an OxygenMeter. When it depletes, you start taking damage rather quickly. (''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' hides the oxygen meter, but the concept is still present.) Each of these games also play with the SoftWater trope. Fall damage is only applied when you hit the ''bottom'' of a body of water. This means that, as long as the water is deep enough, you can survive a fall from any height without taking damage.
* The ''VideoGame/KingsField'' games have a non-submergeable hero - made that much worse by his tendency to travel about the world in a first-person viewpoint and the world's equally obnoxious tendency to have open wells and rivers just lying about with no thought given to safety fences. Jumping into the ocean doesn't do you any better. What's more fun is that there are often paths you must take in the shallow water, where the only way to make sure that you don't step off the trail and instantly drown is to practically watch your own feet, leaving you exposed to enemies coming at you from other directions to knock you off your narrow, partially submerged path.
* In ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', the shoreline represents a ledge to you: you can't so much as wade in the shallow area of water. You need to have a Pokemon with Surf in order to get past it, making it a BrokenBridge. Yet there are numerous Swimmer trainers populating every sea route. And [[SuperNotDrowningSkills they never leave the route.]]

* In ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'', water is nothing but a mere {{Bottomless Pit|s}} that kills you instantly, except on the shore within melee range of the Hydra in Darkroot Basin, and the bottom of Blighttown - yet that part is toxic.
* If a character in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates'' walks into water deeper than their chin, they drown.
* The PC can happily splash around in shallow water in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', but anything above knee-height is apparently fatal. (Notably, while you get a low health bar from jumping/falling off cliffs, deep water sends you back to shore unharmed but coughing and retching.)
* In ''VideoGame/GenshinImpact'', your characters can freely swim as long as their SprintMeter doesn't run dry, but most enemies will instantly keel over if they go into water deep enough.

** The heroes of the earlier games (from [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoClassic the original]] to ''[[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity Vice City]]''), who are amongst other things highly skilled speedboat racers, can't swim. This seems to be a common problem in their world, where even the most lavishly appointed swimming pool is about two feet deep. The manuals say oil spill, shark attacks, blah blah blah. [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas CJ,]] [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCityStories Vic,]] [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV Niko,]] [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheLostAndDamned Johnny,]] [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheBalladOfGayTony Luis,]] [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV Franklin, Michael, and Trevor,]] however, all avert this trope. CJ, ironically, claims at one point to suffer from [[WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes hydrophobia.]] CJ's girlfriends, as well as recruited gang members, can also swim, which makes it hard to dispose of them once all their benefits/the player's patience are used up. Everyone else in the game drowns in -seconds-. Cops are not smart enough to avoid leaping in after the player, and often [[TooDumbToLive drive trucks straight into the water]].

* Due to being A) a cowboy (and thus not likely to know how to swim) and B) in a desert where all the open water is either filthy and/or incredibly fast, John Marston of ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' doesn't last more than a second in water. However in the prequel, ''Videogame/RedDeadRedemption2'', Arthur is capable of swimming, unlike his predecessor. [[spoiler:John in the PlayableEpilogue retains his inability to swim]].
* ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs'' grants main character Wei Shen the unique ability to swim in water. The citizens of Hong Kong, however, are not so lucky. They die instantly upon touching water, before they're even fully submerged. This leads to some humorous kills by shoving NPC's into the ocean and watching them ragdoll as soon as their feet touch the shore.

* A Deus Ex Machina reprieve from Superhuman Drowning: in ''VideoGame/TotalOverdose: A Gunslinger's Tale in Mexico'', falling, jumping, or even wading too deeply into water resulted in the character Ram flailing a few moments before being rescued with a teleport to nearby land and the admonishment: "This isn't a diving game!"
* Anyone who manages to fall off of the rail bridge near Dodge City in ''VideoGame/{{Gun}}'', only 10 metres or less above water level, is told that they are dead due to drowning. This is a form of {{Bottomless Pit|s}} mechanic, too.

* In ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans'' everyone, both Crypto and his enemies, dies instantly if they fall in water. You can drop cars, trucks, and tanks into what must be fairly shallow ponds and streams all day long, but they just never seem to get full.
* In the 1.4.2 update of ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', slimes could spawn at night in swamp biomes. However, they can't swim, so it's quite likely that they will jump in deep water and eventually drown.

* In ''{{VideoGame/Foxhole}}'''s Early Access alpha, bodies of water are less deadly pools to drown in and more ''bottomless pit''. You die but the game shows you plummeting off the map.

* ''VideoGame/SteelBattalion'': Your VT can wade through shallow water, but take one step into deep water and your VT will sink, with the cockpit flooding in the process. If you don't eject, the pilot drowns and your save file gets erased!

* Your guests can't swim in the first two ''VideoGame/RollercoasterTycoon'' games, so if they fall into the water they have to be lifted out manually by the player. Though, for some reason, it's much more satisfying to watch your paying customers drown.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Pilotwings}}'', going waist-deep in water pulls you under and kills you. Unless you're using the Jumble Hopper in ''64'', which averts this trope by having you [[WalkOnWater land on the surface of the water]], but with a 2-point penalty.
* [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in ''VideoGame/SlimeRancher'', as the slime sea is described as being made of the same thing as the slimes. Beatrix can swim just fine in fresh water found in the [[JungleJapes Moss Blanket]] and the [[AbandonedMine Indigo Quarry.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/ThiefTheDarkProject'' and ''VideoGame/ThiefIITheMetalAge'' the anti-hero Garrett could swim, and used this skill to infiltrate buildings through sewers and reach a lost underground city. In ''VideoGame/ThiefDeadlyShadows'', he [[BagOfSpilling lacks this skill]] and will in fact drown on contact with water. This is probably a consequence of the developers having added a ability to switch between a first- and third-person perspective and not bothering to make swimming animations for the latter. Interestingly, Garrett was the only character in the ''Thief'' games who normally swam; that meant deep water was usually a safe place to flee to. (There were some exceptions; Craymen and Water Mages couldn't drown.) Luring enemies into drowning themselves was a way to [[TechnicalPacifist kill them without violating the "no kills allowed" requirement on higher difficulty levels]], and also an excellent way to stop zombies, which usually need explosive ordinance to permanently put down.
** The first two ''Thief'' games even drew the line between enemies drowning themselves and Garrett actually making them drown by knocking them unconscious and then leaving them in water. He could swim carrying unconscious bodies without having them die, possibly through means that are [[KissOfLife best not thought too much about]], but dumping an unconscious body into a pool would eventually cause it to drown, and you'd fail the mission if Garrett wasn't allowed to kill anyone.
** Instant drowning became a bug in one of the first game's missions. When you had to rescue the high priest of the Hammerites, he would instantly die if he contact water. The intent of the mission was to use the raft, but the game would sometimes detect water contact if you placed him on the raft while it was moving.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' does this, but with a hint of LampshadeHanging. While Snake swims very well, his enemies don't, and can be killed easily by knocking them into water. Interrogating one can often result in a perky, "The lot of us! We can't swim!"
* Raiden can swim extremely well in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohDvQGGZzfI&feature=related In fact, Raiden is quite proud of his ability to swim.]] However, the bacterial tank in which the Vamp boss battle takes place is filled with a special kind of water in which he will sink instantly and drown. Vamp himself can swim like a dolphin in it, though.
* When ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'' added shoving to Mr. 47's repertoire of attacks, it was the [=NPCs=] that gained super drowning skills. You can kill people instantly just by pushing them into a ''fountain'' or a ''swimming pool''. Granted, one person in the entire game can actually swim and thus survive a fall into a tank of water. Unfortunately, that tank also houses a [[SharkPool very hungry shark]]. HilarityEnsues.

* In ''VideoGame/AgeOfWonders'' you can use transports and certain enchantments to move troops across water. If the transport is destroyed or the magic dispelled before they reach land, any without innate swimming will drown.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'', Ellie's inability to swim is a major element of game mechanics. Sometimes you'll have to spend several minutes in an area trying to find a way to get her across a small body of water that Joel can easily swim across in seconds. Often this involves finding a floating object that she can climb onto, and then pushing it across the water to the other side.

* Virmire in the first ''Franchise/MassEffect'' game is a tropical planet, and Shepard's mission starts with a long beachfront drive through ankle deep water. Your path is guided by jagged rocks to stop you straying into the darker coloured water. Of course, that doesn't stop Shepard from getting out and stepping from the clear, shallow stuff into the dark deep, and sinking like a rock. According to Garrus in ''3'', turians can't swim - their bodies are too dense.
-->'''Garrus:''' You obviously haven't seen turians swim. It's a lot of flailing and splashing interrupted by occasional bouts of drowning.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Infernal}}'', Lennox dies if he falls into water. It might be less annoying if he wasn't explicitly stated to have gotten to the level where it's most likely to be a problem by ''swimming'' there.

* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Mercenaries}} Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction]]'', the PlayerCharacter can wade in shallow water, but going into water that's more than waist deep will result in their health being rapidly drained.

* ''VideoGame/HiddenAndDangerous'' handles this in the worst possible method ever. Depending on the ''level'' you can freely move in waist deep water, or will die if you're so much as ankle deep.
* ''VideoGame/ArmyMen'', especially in ''Sarge's Heroes'', will only instantly die to three things: flamethrower, sniper round to the head, and getting a toe wet.

* In the [[VideoGame/MissionImpossibleKonami NES adaptation]] of ''Series/MissionImpossible'', your heroes will instantly die if they so much as fall into the water in the first and last missions.

** Averted in ''Neo Bomberman'', which has world 2 set in levels where Bomberman can (and has to) go underwater. Bomberman doesn't swim, however - he just walks. Also, his bombs turn into bottom naval mines while underwater (which functions exactly the same as normal bombs, only they can't attack creatures on land).

* In ''Circus Caper'' for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, falling in the water is an automatic GameOver.
* In ''Arc Doors'' for the Commodore 64, the protagonist is a frog and yet drowns instantly on contact with water. This is justified in the intro--when an evil wizard transformed the protagonist into a frog, he made sure to take away his swimming abilities as well.

* Played with in ''VideoGame/DaemonXMachina'': the [[AppliedPhlebotinum femto]]-absorbing qualities of water means that any [[MiniMecha Arsenal]] that falls into the ocean will sink like a rock. The good news is that Arsenal cockpits are vacuum-sealed and come with emergency beacons and enough oxygen that the pilot will likely survive. The bad news is that a sunk Arsenal is effectively put out of commission, so falling into water instantly results in mission failure.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Overcooked}},'' water functions the same as a bottomless pit--if you fall in, you vanish and must wait 5 seconds to respawn.

%%* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' on the NES: Really only comes into play on the Freedom Island part of the map, and some of the underground caverns.
* ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'': {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d:
** It's written into the story that Raz and all his family were [[GypsyCurse cursed by a psychic to die in water]]. Getting too close to water causes a giant watery hand to reach out, grab Raz, and pull him under to his death. One world even includes a cardboard hand coming out of an equally cardboard "ocean" during a stage play, drowning Raz in fake water.
** Milla makes a comment about this if Raz falls into the water in her mental world which also isn't real water. She'll ask if he wants to talk about it after the test is done.
** ''VideoGame/Psychonauts2'' elaborates on the curse. [[spoiler:There isn't one, the idea of a curse was implanted into Raz's grandmother's mind as a means of suppressing a dangerous side of her with extremely powerful hydrokinesis.]] After beating the game, the watery hand that once tries to drown Raz now harmlessly lifts him back to dry land. He still can't swim, but now he won't take damage from falling into the water.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** A drowning system is used in some of the two-dimensional games until Link acquires a pair of Flippers, usually to keep the player from [[SequenceBreaking going places they shouldn't yet]]. One example of when this trope ''should'' have been used is in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening Link's Awakening]]'', in which it was originally possible to make the game {{Unwinnable}} because you jumped across a moat you shouldn't have crossed yet.
** In certain games, such as ''Link's Awakening'', ''The Wind Waker'' and ''Twilight Princess'', non-water-based {{mooks}} die the moment they touch water.
** ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'': Falling into water pits will kill Link instantly. The only body of water he can walk into is that leading to the Sea Palace (the fifth dungeon), and he still needs the Water Boots from another dungeon to do it. Water similarly acts as BottomlessPits in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDIGames''.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'': Link can transform into a Goron. The game states that since Gorons are basically living rocks, they sink like them as well. With the Deku Mask, Link can skip across water a few times, but if he runs out of skips before touching dry land again, he sinks like a rock.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'': Downplayed. Link can swim, but not indefinitely; if he's still in deep water when the on-screen timer runs out, he will drown.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks Spirit Tracks]]'', falling into water is the same as falling into a pit or lava. How Link forgot how to swim between ''The Wind Waker'' and ''Phantom Hourglass'' is a mystery.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'':
*** Downplayed. Link can swim fine, but only as long as his stamina meter lasts; if he's still in the water when he runs out, he drowns. Though he can keep eating stamina-restoring food to refill the meter, sooner or later his food reserves will run out.
*** Enemies approach this to various degrees. Lizalfos can swim indefinitely, while Hinoxes can swim for a while but eventually drown. Bokoblins, Moblins, [[BlobMonster Chuchus]] and [[DemBones Stal-type monsters]], however, can neither swim nor float; if they enter water that's deep enough for Link to swim in they will instantly drown and die.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastNinja'', despite being able to somersault with ease, drowns instantly on contact with water. He can't even grab the bank/log he had just fallen off to slow his demise. Made even more ridiculous when the water he's falling into is a little creek less than two meters across, which couldn't be more than knee-deep.
* ''VideoGame/NeopetsTheDarkestFaerie'': The heroes can't swim in anything above knee-deep. However, in most levels it's impossible to tell the difference between a creek and a raging river. In addition, there are some places where falling into the water will just knock off some of your health, and some places where it will kill you outright and send you back to your most recent save point. Again, there's no way to tell the difference between the two until it happens.
* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'' treats water (and with an upgrade, [[LavaIsBoilingKoolAid lava]]) like a cursed zone, you can't go 45 seconds in the water or you'll die. It's later averted when you acquire the Water Tablet, literally letting you WalkOnWater. Ammy is given SuperNotDrowningSkills when she swims in Mermaid Springs, but the second you swim away from that, she gets her normal drowning skills back.
* In ''VideoGame/PredatorConcreteJungle'', if you fall/jump/lean in the water you instantly die, only to reappear seconds later a few feet away from where you descended to a watery doom. {{Justified|Trope}}, since with his armor and all the predator weighs about half a ton.

* ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesGrimm'' will die the moment he lands in water. But considering the sorts of things he turns it into, like lava and vomit, perhaps it isn't so surprising.
* In the 2003 game of ''{{VideoGame/The Hobbit|2003}}'', if Bilbo sets foot in any water over two inches deep, he dies. (Tolkien explicitly established in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' that most Hobbits never learn how to swim.) Rather than making it a form of InsurmountableWaistHeightFence, the developers saw fit to create entire segments based on waterfalls, rivers, cataracts, whirlpools, and the like. Given that the game was an unabashed ''Zelda'' clone made this more jarring, as you can swim in most of those games.
* The ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' for the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis'':
** Dr. Grant will drown and die instantly if he touches the 50 cm deep water on the river level. His trademark [[DeadHatShot hat floats on top of the water]], mocking you after you've drowned.
** The raptor fares no better, and you are at least [[LampshadeHanging warned that "raptors cannot swim"]] in the intro to the naturally water-filled sewer level.
* The trio of player characters in ''VideoGame/{{Mercenaries}}'' are MadeOfIron badasses who are accustomed to using practically any weapon and [[UniversalDriversLicense drive/fly any vehicle]]. Somehow, despite years of special forces training, they have no clue how to swim. The sequel corrected this, with the players being able to swim across the water's surface fairly easily.
* If you send Batman jumping off a cliff into water in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', it cuts to a short clip of him grumpily getting back up and out. If you send Batman into the water while in Killer Croc's lair, it's game over for you and dinner time for Croc.
* In the NES series ''VideoGame/StarTropics'' and its sequel: ''Zoda's Revenge: VideoGame/StarTropics II'', the protagonist, Mike Jones, apparently can't swim, as jumping into water instantly kills him.
* In both the NES and Game Boy versions ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'', the self-titled character also has Super Drowning Skills. Though it only takes a half-point of health in the NES game, it is more severe in the Game Boy version. In the pier portions of stages 3 and 5, Dick Tracy will instantly drown the moment he falls into water. The same thing happens in the UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem and UsefulNotes/MegaDrive versions, complete with a DeadHatShot for the [=MegaDrive=] version of the game.
* In ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'':
** If Eddie, [[spoiler:Drowned Ophelia]], [[spoiler:Doviculus]], your car, or any unit so much as TOUCHES water they slowly take damage. The deeper the water, the more rapid the damage. This results in standard death animations, often with a case of gibbing. Landing in deep water in the campaign mode results in instant death.
** Averted in some way in multiplayer and in later battles since [[spoiler:Eddie, Drowned Ophelia, and Doviculus can fly indefinitely as long as they've got a stage.]]
** Apparently water is the antithesis of metal and [[spoiler:Drowned Ophelia]] very much lives up to [[spoiler:her]] name.
** This becomes very confusing when [[spoiler: Eddie not only swims to the bottom of the Sea of Black Tears in the finale cutscene, but fights off its tentacles and holds his breath for an extremely long time.]]

* Anyone can drown in ''VideoGame/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheBurningEarth'', even Katara and Aang who can control water.
* [[VideoGame/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Buffy]] is the freaking Vampire Slayer, yet if the water's more than ankle deep, she drowns in both of her console games.
* In the video game tie-in to WesternAnimation/ToyStory3, if any character touches the water, they instantly die (which may be justified, because they are toys). Also, Woody can drown in [[RiseToTheChallenge coffee that is filling the bedroom]] in the Bonnie's House level.
* In ''Rastan'', if the hero falls into the water, he's history.
* In the first ''VideoGame/BlasterMaster'', in a ridiculous example, Jason instantly drowns in the overhead sections of Area 4. He can swim in the side-scrolling portions without drowning, including Area 4.
* ''VideoGame/{{Messiah}}'': Generally, if anyone so much as brushes against liquid, they die instantly.

* ''VideoGame/UltimaVIII: Pagan'' was notorious for this, as falling into any body of water, including water right next to the shore or even the Tenebrae water fountain, would kill you instantly. In fact, throwing or knocking any object into the water would destroy it. This is handwaved by the fact that the seas are the realm of the Lurker, the Titan of Water, who claims any victims that enter her territory. The irony of this is that the Avatar was in fact rescued from drowning after the Guardian dumped him into the sea in the intro sequence, but apparently that can only happen once. [[http://www.it-he.org/u8_beren.htm This site]] has an interesting exploit involving the use of water to destroy things in the game.
* In ''VideoGame/UltimaIX'', the Avatar dies when entering the deep water blocking the way between islands.
* The goblin-like Minions of the titular ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'' have this one. The Overlord himself can wade through any water he comes across and will not enter anything deeper, but his Minions are much shorter and flail around amusingly before drowning. Only the Blue Minions can cross water, and they can also save their brethren, if managed correctly.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bug}}'' had [[BubblegloopSwamp Splot]]. Touching the swamp water was ''instant death'', not even MercyInvincibility would save Bug from drowning. Making things frustrating was that the next level was ''[[UnderTheSea Quaria]]'', and Bug could [[SuperNotDrowningSkills do fine without any harm whatsoever]].
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Bug}} Bug Too!]]'' justified this in the levels with water, since falling in would make Bug get eaten by Splot's swamp worm boss from the previous game.
* Justified in ''VideoGame/CallOfCthulhuDarkCornersOfTheEarth'', as all the deep waters in the game are cold (the game occured in winter on the [[LovecraftCountry New England]] coast) and stormy seas.

* The text-based game of ''{{VideoGame/The Hobbit|1982}}'' had this issue, though in each case where it was possible to enter the water it was [[JustifiedTrope justified]]--albeit in annoying ways. The black river that makes Bilbo doze off and drown is the least problematic. If Bilbo jumps into the raging river instead of using a barrel, he will be swept helplessly into a portcullis and drowned; this takes a turn or two but is more annoying because other characters are apt to jump in without your permission and become stuck. Finally, there is a bog in which Bilbo can sink; Thorin, if present, will object to standing around in the bog and drowning, but there is ''no way out''.

* The original ''VideoGame/{{Driver}}'' has no accessible bodies of water to speak of. In ''VideoGame/{{Driver}} 2'', the bottom of the skybox is depicted as deep water, and acts like a {{Bottomless Pit|s}}, you also "drown" if you wade into knee-deep water. Subverted in the third game, in which Tanner can swim, but drowns if he stays in the water too long.

* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'':
** Water in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee Melee]]'' is treated as a bottomless pit that doesn't break your fall. This is also the case for the stages in ''3DS'' that feature water, such as [[VideoGame/AnimalCrossing Tortimer Island]].
** In ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'', ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU 3DS/Wii U]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]'', every character has an individual limited amount of time they can swim in water, with Sonic having the shortest swimming time by a fair margin. In ''Ultimate''; Sonic, Inkling, Charizard and Incineroar now take damage in water.

* At least in the first two ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' games, the main character(s) sink like stones if they fall in the water.
* Apparently, the heroes in ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'' never learned how to swim. Falling in the water where you fight Benny and Clyde instantly kills you, regardless of how much stamina you had.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Nightfire}}'', you can swim in the single player mode (without moving your arms at all, but still). However, in split-screen multiplayer, water equals instant death... even in the same level you were swimming in on single player.

* The AI in ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'' is infamous because North Korean soldiers die several seconds after touching water (even if their heads never go below the surface). This doesn't stop them from happily charging into the ocean to chase your character, however. Averted with vehicles: A fun trick in multiplayer was driving an anti-aircraft tank underwater. It would continue to be fully functional until the top of the radar dish was underwater, turning a tank sized target into a hitbox that would make even [[VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 Oddjob]] jealous.
* This is a major weakness of the Trigens in ''VideoGame/FarCry1''. It is excusable because [[{{Handwave}} they are weird mutants who conceivably play by their own rules]], whereas the enemies in ''Crysis'' are supposed to be human soldiers.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Painkiller}}'', so much as stepping in a puddle of water causes the player to instantly die. Drag a toe into it and you're gone, regardless of that perfectly safe log you tried to reach.

* Thankfully, totally avoided in ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', for the simple reason that, as a vampire, you don't need to breathe.
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'' wins a prize. In Multiplayer, you can end up as one of the SEAL's, and still instantly ragdoll when hitting the water and the camera shifts to third person, appearing as though they were dead to begin with. Makes you wonder how they passed BUD/S in the first place. The waist-deep pool area in the map Raid, on the other hand, is ok to wade through.
* ''VideoGame/QuakeII'' features this for the AI. Any Strogg unit that somehow finds itself falling into water will immediately sink like a rock and begin to drown... despite them all being more machine than anything else! What does make sense is when they fall in lava and die -- this was uncommon to see in classic FPS games; usually the enemies would continue to behave as usual whether they were submerged or on any form of damaging floor.
* Entering a deep body of water in ''VideoGame/ShadowWarrior2013'' is particularly jarring: Instant death in the form of Lo Wang's death scream and blood splattering across the screen.
* {{Inverted}} in ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh''. The only places with water-like pools are pools of ''[[HealingSpring energy]]'' and standing in them fills up Jet's energy bar.
* Large bodies of water in ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' are generally used as boundaries for maps. Falling into them will instantly kill every hero. Examples of maps that feature them include Rialto, Volskaya Industries and Château Guillard.

* In ''VideoGame/DarkMessiah'', the player can swim, but the enemies drown instantly if knocked into water.
* In ''VideoGame/OrcAttackFlatulentRebellion'', none of the orcs can swim. If they fall into large bodies of water, their health will start draining fast. Should [[BlindSeer Master Muck]] fall in a river, [[OneHitKill he'll die instantly]].

* ''VideoGame/PlanetSide 1'''s soldiers are about as buoyant as a lump of iron (granted, they ''are'' wearing PoweredArmor). Players "swimming" will simply wade across the bottom of the lake/ocean at a crawl until they run out of oxygen and die. Non-amphibious vehicles with sealed cockpits allow you to survive longer, but the vast majority of vehicles will flood and cease functioning after mere seconds; only the ANT and [[HumongousMecha BattleFrame Robotics]] could reliably operate underwater. Played even more straight in ''Planetside 2'' - players die the instant they get past knee-deep water (generally only in the out-of-bounds area, however), or touch Heyoka Chemical Plant's GrimyWater. When the GrimyWater was first introduced, much fun was to be had baiting Vanu Sovereignty HoverTank players into the water, as the tanks could hover over water in the original game but ''not'' in the sequel, where they drop like a rock in water like any other tank.

* Averted for the player in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', as [[SuperNotDrowningSkills they can swim indefinitely]]: the biggest danger from being in water is simply being unable to fight back if you draw aggro from a monster (extremely rare as it is for monsters to be close enough to water to follow you out onto it, and anything actually in the water can't hurt you - even the sharks are essentially moving props that don't react to you), and you are given an enchantment in ''Stormblood'' that allows you to breathe underwater, opening up sub-aquatic exploration. Some story characters, on the other hand, are noted for being unable to swim -- namely, Alphinaud and Urianger.

* ''VideoGame/CrossbowWarriorTheLegendOfWilliamTell'': If [[PlayerCharacter William Tell]] falls into water, it's a game over.
* In ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin'', the Prince is never shown to actually swim, as there are no pools deep enough in the Fortress, but the enemies, being composed of the Sands of Time, will instantly die and dissolve when exposed to water. This includes the seemingly unstoppable Dahaka, though he does try to defy the laws of nature. The only downside of this is that you get no weapons or Sand from a 'drowned' enemy, but can still use this to your advantage if you enter the Garden Tower with a proper sidearm, and throw the attacking enemies in the central pool (they won't step into it on their own, the AI is good enough).
* The little child from ''VideoGame/{{Limbo}}'' will automatically drown if he submerges his head in water for more than a second. This may have something to do with the water in Limbo-world, but given how little backstory you get, who knows?
* ''VideoGame/WonderBoy1'' of the first game and ''[[VideoGame/WonderBoyIIIMonsterLair Monster Lair]]'' not only couldn't swim, but seemed to have a very violent allergy to water; as soon as he touched it [[DeathThrows he died spectacularly]]. The NES game series that was [[SpiritualSuccessor modeled after it]], ''VideoGame/AdventureIsland'', did this to Master Higgins in the first game. Subsequent games in the series added [[UnderTheSea underwater levels]], allowing Higgins to swim freely.
* In ''VideoGame/WonderBoyIIITheDragonsTrap'', Hawk-Man takes damage just from touching water (though all other forms have SuperNotDrowningSkills).
* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''VideoGame/MysteryQuest'' for the NES, where touching water without an SOS raft triggers a NonstandardGameOver, with a water background and the words "Hao Can Not Swim; Game Over".

* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', Mario generally has SuperNotDrowningSkills in water levels and can stay underwater forever ([[TimedMission level timer]] permitting). In regular levels, though, water-filled pits are still BottomlessPits. Particularly perplexing are the "island" levels in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' where he ''can'' swim in the water...but if he goes too deep (below the bottom of the screen) he automatically dies.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' is the only game in the mainline series where none of the characters can swim. Both the bodies of water in World 4 and the pits where any waterfall heads into mean instant death.
** In the first ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'', Water is nothing but a {{Bottomless Pit|s}} and kills Mario if he falls in. In 2-3, he uses the Marine Pop to go underwater. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand2SixGoldenCoins'', he is back to having SuperNotDrowningSkills.
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'', Mario uses an OxygenMeter, but his dinosaur steed Yoshi is made of paint and will ''dissolve'' if he attempts to swim.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' featured a non-lethal variation of this: If Bee Mario falls into any body of water (or even touches a raindrop), he'll [[DePower lose that powerup]]. The exact same is true with the Cloud Flower from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2''.

* ''VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus''. When Sly hits the water, he flails helplessly, then loses what amounts to a life point and is tossed back to wherever he came from. If he doesn't have one left, he thrashes, then gives up, assumes "Captain Going Down With The Ship" position, and makes a resigned but dignified exit, stage down. Eventually, Sly retrieves Suzanne Cooper's Water Safety Technique, allowing him to recover from dunkings without penalty. In later games in the series, however, he [[BagOfSpilling decides to forget it]], as he still loses health on falling into the water. Adding to the problem, his companions are a turtle and a hippo, and neither of ''them'' can swim either. At least Bentley (the turtle) has the excuse in the third and fourth games that he's paralyzed from the waist down (and is in a wheelchair kitted out with lots of electrical equipment). One of the manuals actually lampshades this, with the characters saying "We really should have taken those swimming lessons back at the orphanage." None of the mooks can swim either, drowning as soon as they enter the water.
* The ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' games, tends to play with this trope.
** Sonic doesn't automatically die jumping into water (unless its a pitfall trap); the nightmare comes from ''getting out'' of the water, before he drowns - made difficult due to the removal of his speed and lack of fine control when submerged. The 3D games, however, with a few exceptions, tend to treat water as bottomless pits, to the point where, in ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'', Sonic dies in knee-deep water that he could easily walk out of.
** ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'' plays this straight by having the characters drown in water, with two exceptions: Hyper Sonic, who has SuperNotDrowningSkills; and the bubble shield which allows any character to breathe underwater.
** Funnily enough, come ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' he seemed to ''finally'' overcome this by learning how to jump infinitely underwater. Of course, come the immediate sequel, ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'', he's somehow forgotten how to do this.
** ''VideoGame/SonicBoom'' dances around the issue a bit. From what was seen, the "water" Sonic can't swim in is filled with all sorts of nasty chemicals, which would justify the "instant death on entry" response.
* While VideoGame/{{Kirby}} can swim just fine underwater (he even automatically dons a snorkel in later installments), if a non-aquatic enemy touches the water, they'll sink like a rock and die.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan''
** In ''VideoGame/SpiderMan2'', the eponymous character can swim, though the player never controls him while he does so; if the player lands Spidey in the water, the screen fades out then back into him reappearing near where he was when he fell in, complete with voiceover complaining about his suit getting wet. Especially in one of the heroic deeds you needed to do: saving people from a sinking boat. If you touch water in any fashion while carrying someone, you fail.
** Amusingly, in ''VideoGame/SpiderMan2000'', water kills you outright.
* In ''VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape'', sometimes you can swim rather well, and sometimes (in supposedly "piranha-infested" water) you can't.
* Lok, even though he is logically stronger than his partner Tak, loses a life if he falls into water in ''VideoGame/TakTheGreatJujuChallenge'', while Tak can [[SuperNotDrowningSkills swim in it just fine]].
* The title character of ''VideoGame/VoodooVince'' has this, with justification; the main character is a burlap voodoo doll, and burlap really '''does''' sink quite rapidly.
* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Prehistorik}} Prehistorik Man]]'', at first the character died in any hole, including water, in [[DeathThrows the same fashion he dies from any damage]]. But in the last levels, after being told you can't breathe in water, when falling into it... No, he doesn't swim either: he just sinks and drowns, but with a "drowning" sprite this time. Yes, this is a game where you actually ''learn to drown'', giving a new meaning to SuperDrowningSkills.
* ''VideoGame/CommanderKeen 4'' features a boy genius with an IQ of 314 who built his own laser gun, spacecraft, and intergalactic translator but never bothered to learn how to swim. Once you acquire scuba gear, he can then doggy paddle on the world map and stay underwater indefinitely in the game's one water level.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{Dizzy}}'' series, which were a fairly harsh series of platform-puzzle games, the protagonist was an egg. Since he was a good egg, he sank rather than floated. In most of the games, water was instantly fatal (and in the first three games, so were [[OneHitPointWonder any other hazards]]). A couple of games featured an aqualung (or similar equipment) which allowed you to breathe underwater indefinitely.
** ''Treasure Island Dizzy'' was the first one to have a "rubber snorkel". Annoyingly, it could easily be accidentally dropped underwater, as Dizzy's inventory was organized in a "first in, first out" manner. (Even worse, Dizzy has only one life in this game.)
** ''Spellbound Dizzy'' has an aqualung, and falling into water without it caused Dizzy to gradually lose energy instead of immediately dying. A similar system was used in ''Crystal Kingdom Dizzy''.
** In the PC game ''Fantastic Adventures of Dizzy'', a homage to the original 8-bit series, water is handled inconsistently: in some areas falling into water was handled as in ''Spellbound'' (you gradually lose energy, unless you have an aqualung); in others, water is instantly fatal, even ''with'' an aqualung.
** Surprisingly averted in the spinoff game ''Bubble Dizzy'', which takes place UnderTheSea and gives Dizzy an OxygenMeter.
* The "water=death" version is justified in ''VideoGame/OttoMatic'', where the main character is a primitive robot who short-circuits if he touches liquid.

* ''Franchise/TheSimpsons'':
** In ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsBartVsTheWorld'', if Bart falls into the water, he won't even try to get out, he will literally just stand there and drown. WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd noted that he's a depressed kid.
** Falling into the lakes in ''[[VideoGame/BartSimpsonsEscapeFromCampDeadly Escape from Camp Deadly]]'', also made by the same company, means instant death for Bart.
** ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsGame'' does the same thing. In the Day of the Dolphin stage, both Bart and Lisa will drown if they fall in. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by Comic Book Guy when he adds it to his list of video game cliches. This applies to all characters and any stage that features water.

* One of the ''VideoGame/LennyLoosejocks'' minigames, ''Billabong Bunyip Boomerang Bash'', justifies this trope in that the pools of water you have to jump over are apparently realty acid that will skeletonize you in seconds.
* In the Wii game ''VideoGame/DewysAdventure'', the hero will die instantly if he falls into water. This is justified as the hero is literally ''made of water'', so entering a large body of water causes him to "lose" himself.
* ''VideoGame/AladdinVirginGames'' had a scene where you had to cross a pond by jumping on the backs of flamingos. The flamingos, obviously, stand on the bottom, but if Aladdin touches the water he's history.
* ''VideoGame/TheLionKing'' video game, from the same publisher, had a scene early into the second level. It featured Simba jumping on giraffes' heads instead of Aladdin jumping on flamingos, but the premise is the same--giraffes stand on bottom, Simba dies instantly if he touches the water.
* A scene in ''VideoGame/AnotherWorld'' requires you to run away from a [[AdvancingWallOfDoom flood of water]]. If it catches you -- even by the thinnest of margins -- the game instantly cuts to a scene of you drowning. Same thing happens if you touch the waterfall that [[BrokenBridge blocks the path to the next stage]] before you drain the pool. Later averted when you have to swim through the area you flooded earlier, in which case you have Normal Drowning Skills.
* ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfRadGravity'': Contact with any body of liquid is instantly fatal. MercyInvincibility won't save you, either. Particularly annoying in the [[InterfaceScrew upside-down]] Turvia, where the water pits are guarded by [[GoddamnedBats goddamned flying sharks]] that attack you in midair.
* The freeware PC games ''VideoGame/{{Knytt}}'' and ''VideoGame/KnyttStories'' by Creator/{{Nifflas}} give this weakness to their protagonists. [=NPCs=] can still swim without issue.
* The title character of the freeware game ''DrGoo'' and its sequels has Super Drowning Skills.

* ''VideoGame/BillyHatcherAndTheGiantEgg'' has most of the characters drown the instant they so much as ''touch'' water. However, it does offer you couple of [[StealthPun lifelines]] in certain levels--one power-up allows you to ride your EggMcGuffin around, allowing you to cross treacherous terrain (water included), and one {{Mon}} you can find to assist you has the power to swim. Get hit in the water, though, and it's Davy Jones' Locker for you anyway.
* {{Justified|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/SplosionMan'' -- the eponymous main character is made of fire. Less justified by the ordinary human scientists, who find water just as instantly fatal.
* The first three ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' games avoid this, although swimming too far out causes BorderPatrol to kill you. Daxter, however, can't swim in ''VideoGame/{{Daxter}}'', despite being shown swimming in a cutscene in ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander''. It's played straight in ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxterTheLostFrontier'' for no adequate reason.
* In the Flash game ''Eggy Easter'', the main character will immediately die if he lands in the water unless he collects the oxygen power-up.
* In the 1994 ''Film/{{The Jungle Book|1994}}'' video game adaptations, specifically, the Genesis and Super NES versions, Mowgli can't swim. Falling into water results in a watery grave for him.
* In both the 1989 NES and the 2009 Wii versions of VideoGame/ABoyAndHisBlob, the boy will drown the moment he falls into water. If he uses the blob to use the bubble ability, then he can safely traverse in water.
* In the PC shareware ''VideoGame/JillOfTheJungle'' games, Jill drowns instantly when she falls into water. Unless you turn into a fish, in which case you can't leave the water, unless you're swimming down (or up!) waterfalls.
* ''[[{{Creator/Nitrome}} Twang]]'' justifies this as part of TheReveal--[[spoiler:[[TheBet you made a bet]] that you could cross the ocean without using a vehicle and without getting wet.]]
* Justified in ''VideoGame/BionicCommando,'' as the hero has heavy mechanical parts that prevent him from swimming. However, this doesn't explain why he can still drown in some places while his head is still above the surface.
* ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'':
** In ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryReturns'', unlike their previous adventures, both Donkey and Diddy Kong can no longer swim. Falling into the water at any time results in you losing a life. In the sequel ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'', the Kongs can swim again, but when they go back to their island, which is now frozen, there's a level based on each world in ''Returns'', and the beach setting is back, but falling into the water is still deadly because it's too cold.
** In ''Donkey Kong Land III'', while the water that you were in Coco Channel doesn't harm Dixie or Kiddy Kong, however, if Squitter falls into it, he takes damage instantly. It's [[JustifiedTrope justified]] that most spiders can't swim.
* In ''VideoGame/MickeyMania'', Mickey takes damage from just touching the water in the ''Lonesome Ghosts'' and ''The Prince and the Pauper'' levels, even when it's only a few feet deep. It doesn't damage him when the water level is below his head, though.
* ''VideoGame/EpicMickey''. In the cartoon segments, getting in contact with water (such as from a moat or a fire hydrant) produces the same effect as getting burned from the paint thinner blotting Oswald's ruined world. This does make sense since Mickey is sort of made of paint.
* The title character from ''VideoGame/DangerousDave'' doesn't merely drown upon contact with water but violently explodes in a fireball that hovers above the water's surface. (The same effect occurs when Dave touches fire, yet jumping on the stars in the sky does not harm him one bit.)
* ''VideoGame/DarkCastle'' had log platforms floating in water in the "Fireball" levels, and falling in would kill you. The [[VideoGameRemake remake]] ''Color Dark Castle'' replaced this water with lava, which is [[ConvectionSchmonvection another trope entirely]].

* ''VideoGame/LEGOTheLordOfTheRings'' has all characters flail around in water for a few seconds, and then instantly "die". The only water you can survive in is ford-level. Even ''Gollum'' can't swim, despite him swimming frequently in canon.
* However, it's ''VideoGame/LEGOJurassicWorld'' that takes the cake in this regard. In the game your characters cannot swim at all: they flail around and sink if the water goes even an inch above their head. Now not only are these characters who are able to swim in the movies the game is representing, but when you actually get to the part in ''Film/JurassicParkIII'' where the survivors end up in the water, ''[[GameplayAndStorySegregation suddenly they can swim just fine during the cutscene]]''. Of course, even after that if you dare to enter the water, you sink like a rock tied to an even heavier rock.
* In ''VideoGame/LegoDimensions'', [[Film/{{Gremlins}} Gizmo]] and [[Film/TheWizardOfOz the Wicked Witch]] both die when they come into contact with water, as they did in their original appearances. Additionally, exiting a submersible vehicle while playing as a character without the "Dive" ability will cause them to flail around a bit and then break into pieces. There's also a portion of the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' level pack in which water behaves as it does in the ''Sonic'' games, [[ThatOneLevel modeled after a level in which drowning was notoriously easy to do.]]
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': ''[[VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsBattleForBikiniBottom Battle for Bikini Bottom]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheSpongeBobMovieGame The Movie]]'' games both give us this. If [=SpongeBob=] or Patrick so much as ''touch'' water or any liquid that [[UnderTheSea isn't the water that everybody lives in]], they jump out for a quick second back to land (or as close to land as possible). If they make contact with the liquid again... they drown. This can take effect in fountains as well. At the very least, this is consistent with their swimming ability in the show.
* ''VideoGame/NutsAndMilk'' for the NES has a body of water occupying the bottom of the screen. {{Waddling Head}}s can't swim in this game.
* In ''[[VideoGame/TakAndThePowerOfJuju Tak: The Great Juju Challenge]]'', Lok takes damage if he touches water, but not because he can't swim -- [[AnimalsHateHim fish]] ''[[AnimalsHateHim hate]]'' [[AnimalsHateHim him]], and will swarm him angrily as soon as he falls in. (Tak has no such troubles, unless the water is full of gators). However, when Lok's wearing the Lobster Suit, he can walk around underwater [[SuperNotDrowningSkills indefinitely]].
* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'' handles this several different ways. With a special gadget (O2 mask, etc.), Ratchet can swim [[SuperNotDrowningSkills indefinitely]]. In certain levels (poisonous water, lava, etc.) he has SuperDrowningSkills and sinks instantly. In still other levels with "normal" water, to force a certain path, entering the water will cause Ratchet to be quickly [[BorderPatrol devoured by a fish]]. As of ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankIntoTheNexus'', Ratchet has apparently developed Super Drowning Skills: he instantly sinks with a gurgling noise if he touches any water. This is despite the fact that he could swim in previous games, and the fact that he still pretty clearly has his oxygen mask (he uses it in an outer space level). This also means that ''lava'' in this game is less dangerous to him than water since the former just damages him instead of killing him outright.
* Randall from ''VideoGame/{{Deadlight}}'' can perform many amazing feats, such as leaping great distances across empty space, pulling himself up a ladder using only his arms, easily vaulting over parked cars and low obstacles, and [[BreadEggsMilkSquick chopping off zombie's heads with aplomb]]. Why can't he swim? We have no idea.
* In ''{{VideoGame/Bubsy}}'', because CatsHateWater, you can only guess what happens if the titular character falls into water.
* If Garfield falls into water in ''VideoGame/AWeekOfGarfield'', he will take massive damage for every millisecond he's in water.
* In the 1994 ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' video game adaptations, neither of the characters can swim and will drown if they fall in.
* In the original ''VideoGame/TheGreatGianaSisters'' and its DS/iOS remake, Giana dies instantly upon contact with water. This is especially irritating in the remake, as some of the water hazards in that game amount to mere puddles of water that don't even cover Giana's head. ''VideoGame/GianaSistersTwistedDreams'', in contrast, gives Giana SuperNotDrowningSkills.
* ''VideoGame/MegaMan8BitDeathmatch'':
** The game does this in some custom maps and in [=MM4DIV=]. Touch the water and you are gibbed instantly. Added to the fact over 50% of the map is WATER and the actual water in Dive Man's stage in ''VideoGame/MegaMan4'' could do you NO HARM, this takes absurd to a whole new level.
** ''[=MM2BUB=]'' has pits... In the water... Loads of pits... Enjoy.
** A single custom map has this "flushing" that happens in the water area, that covers 25% of the stage. What the flushing does? It causes damage to anyone in there, constantly. Also, this happens actively in pools of water within that same stage.
* In ''VideoGame/DuckTales'', Scrooge, a ''duck'' who is known for his ability to ''swim through gold coins'' (and can in-game in the [[VideoGameRemake Remastered version]]), can't swim in actual water. [[FridgeLogic Go figure.]]
* The title character of ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' in her first game, where falling into water is equivalent to falling into a {{Bottomless Pit|s}}. She's learned how to swim by ''Risky's Revenge''.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendaryAxe'' has water pits that you don't drown in, just fall through like BottomlessPits made of air.
* In the UsefulNotes/Atari2600 version of ''VideoGame/SmurfRescueInGargamelsCastle'', there is a river that causes instant death to your Smurf if he doesn't jump over it.
* In ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfLomax'', if the titular character falls into water, he can still jump out once if you're fast enough. Fall into water for the second time or don't jump out fast enough, and he'll drown.
* A general rule of thumb for ''VideoGame/TheFairlyOddparentsBreakinDaRules'' and its successor ''[[VideoGame/TheFairlyOddparentsShadowShowdown Shadow Showdown]]'': water = death. No exceptions. The latter game has a justification in "Take It on the Chin", as it's been polluted by [=H2Olga=].
* ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' plays with this. [[spoiler: Quote]] can drown if he spends 100 in-game seconds in water, which becomes important to remember in later parts of the Labyrinth and especially the boss fight against [[ThatOneBoss the Core]], but after Curly Brace gives him her air tank he gets SuperNotDrowningSkills.
* ''VideoGame/NeverAlone'' [[JustifiedTrope justifies]] this, being set in the Arctic during a blizzard. It makes ''sense'' that Nuna and her fox would not survive a dip in those icy waters.
* In ''Rolo to the Rescue'', out of Rolo and friends, the beaver is the only one that can swim in water rather than drown.
* ''[[VideoGame/GargoylesQuest Demon's Crest]]'': Firebrand takes continuous damage from water. Justified in that he's a creature of fire. Using the Crest of Water turns Firebrand into an aquatic gargoyle, granting him SuperNotDrowningSkills.
* ''VideoGame/KaoTheKangaroo'': Fall into a deep enough body of water, and Kao will drown instantly. Subverted in that if the water isn't very deep, Kao will extend his neck to ridiculous lengths to keep his head above the surface.
* Upon falling into water in ''VideoGame/DisneysKimPossible3TeamPossible'', the player either respawns or dies depending on how much health they've already depleted.
* ''VideoGame/TazWanted'': Taz can't swim, which is especially noticeable in Looney Lagoon.
* Downplayed in ''Videogame/LegendOfKay'' where the title character has a gauge limiting his time spent in the water, despite the fact that he only swims on the surface. When the gauge runs out Kay drowns, only to respawn on the closest surface with health lost.
* ''[[VideoGame/DrJekyllAndMrHyde Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde]]'': in the NES game, Hyde can fall into water while passing over a bridge and instantly die.
* Justified in ''VideoGame/TheSmurfsMissionVileaf'': during the intro, Hefty says that he actually can swim, but is told that the added weight of his Smurfizer will cause him, and by extension any of the other playable Smurfs, to sink to the bottom. Falling in water causes them to respawn near where they fell, sans half a health unit. None of the game's enemies will fare any better.

* Another ubiquitous example is ''VideoGame/TheLostVikings''. Even though most of the liquids are lava, sludge or acid, the vikings can't swim in regular water either. In the sequel, one of them gets cybernetic aqualungs.
* VideoGame/{{Lemmings}} die immediately on touching water. Then again, they also die immediately on [[EverythingTryingToKillYou touching everything else]]. And it isn't always ordinary water; there's also lava and (in ''Oh No More Lemmings''), deadly vines, and mysterious bubbly stuff, although all of these act just like the water that's actually water anyways. The non-water water at least has reason -- even if it's just "well, we don't have weird bubble stuff on Earth, who's to say it wouldn't kill you" -- for falling into it to be immediately lethal, though perhaps in [[ConvectionSchmonvection different ways]] than causing instant drowning.
* In ''VideoGame/ChipsChallenge'', water is just another obstacle, requiring the right footwear to navigate. You can walk into the water, and die, one square away from land. Unless you have flippers. That makes it all better.

* Pheus from puzzle platformer ''Pheus and Mor'' dies instantly if he touches any water whatsoever. The only way he can cross anything too big to jump over is by ''standing on the back'' of his dog Mor.
* In the ''VideoGame/AdventuresOfLolo'' series, if an egg bridge collapses and Lolo is standing on it, he will drown instantly.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Gruntz}}'', the titular gruntz normally avoid falling into water for a good reason (though there's a rare tool allowing them to swim). But if they do fall into water, they drown instantly.
* Most Lizards in ''VideoGame/{{Nibblers}}'' will drown instantly if they are over a water tile. Exceptions include Turtles and Crocodiles (can swim), Mud Lizards (only appear on a mud tile, and would retreat into the mud pending a cascade), and Blizards (will [[AnIcePerson freeze water tiles into ice tiles]] if they cross one).
* ''VideoGame/SpellingJungle'': If a boulder/snowball sinks under Wali, or a Killer Whale swims out from under him, he drowns automatically. The All-Terrain Vehicle in ''Spelling Jungle'' also sinks as soon as it hits the water.

* In ''VideoGame/BattalionWars'', when a vehicle is driven into water, it can drive fine, but if the water is too deep, it floods the engine cavity, and the vehicle takes damage until it either explodes, or is back on dry land.

* In ''[[Videogame/BattleZone1998 Battlezone II: Combat Commander]]'', HoverTank and HumongousMecha units can fly over or walk through water indefinitely, but treaded units will start taking damage the instant they touch water even though they are environmentally sealed against the vacuum of space and hellish volcanic environments. Scion players have taken to using the Sonic Wave, an AttackReflector weapon, to shove enemy tanks into deep water where they will explode within seconds.
* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness]]'', if a mage casts a BalefulPolymorph spell, which changes living beings into sheep (if over land), and targets a dragon or Griffin Rider over water, the sheep is never shown, it instantly drowns. No units in a sunk transport ever survive, not even unarmored units like peasants or mages. Or the many people presumably manning battleships or dreadnoughts.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Colobot}}'', aside from the one robot who's specifically designed for driving underwater, all robots will explode instantly if they get submerged any deeper than the height of one's ankles.
* In ''VideoGame/LordMonarch'', any units, who stands on bridge, which is being demolished, will drown instantly.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Nethack}}'', with appropriate magical assistance your character can jump or levitate over water, [[PowerupMount saddle and ride a tamed winged creature]] as it flies over water, [[VoluntaryShapeshifting polymorph yourself into a flying or water-based monster]], WalkOnWater, build a bridge of ice or stone across water, or even [[SuperNotDrowningSkills survive without air]] and thus [[WalkDontSwim walk along the bottom]] ''underwater'', but s/he can ''never'' learn to swim. If you fall in and there's land next to you, some of your possessions get soaked and you scramble out. If no land is available, you drown.

** Same in ''[[SequelDifficultySpike Shattered Soldier]]''. Drowning into water in Stage 4 instantly kills you if you don't land on floating pads right. And the [[UnderwaterBossBattle boss fight section]] makes this trope even nastier.

** While deep water doesn't outright kill him instantly in ''Bomberman Hero'', falling into water would cause you to lose a life point and throw you skyward so you can get to dry land. This only on the standard stages, however, as he can traverse underwater with the Bomber Marine gear.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'':
** The White Bomber had this problem. This is lampshaded in ''Bomberman 64: The Second Attack'', when Pommy taunts him about not crawling through a pipe filled with running water.
** It gets even worse when you visit the water planet Aquanet, and Pommy comments on how an underwater town must be full of treasure, but because Bomberman can't swim, they can't go check it out.
** Also in ''Bomberman Hero'', falling into water would cause you to lose a life point and throw you back to the nearest piece of land.

* Every VideoGame/{{Pikmin}} (except for the blue ones) will drown in seconds if they enter a body of water. Olimar has a chance to rescue them, by calling them back to him, but the chance that a Pikmin still drowns is pretty high. Also, the blue Pikmin can help save its drowning brethren. Olimar himself can't drown, since he's wearing a spacesuit. In the games after the first, their aversion to water is shown to be so strong that if some enemies simply splash them with it, it'll send them scurrying about in such a panic that they'll soon ''die'' if you don't calm them down by whistling at them.
* No matter which race you choose in ''VideoGame/WarWind'', almost all of your units will need bridges, boats, or flying/hovering vehicles to cross even the smallest water obstacles. Should the bridge or vehicle be destroyed, all passengers die instantly. Averted by the Frogmen, specialized diver units used by the Marines, which can swim and even stay underwater for an infinite amount of time.