Line #83 Main/GoddamnedBats


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5	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/windwaker.png]]]]
6	[[caption-width-right:350:The player probably has the same expression as Link when dealing with these things.]]
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8	->''"Bats such as the Keese are frequently among the weakest enemies in video games. They make up for this fact by being the most annoying."''
9	-->-- '''[[MonsterCompendium Monster Manuel]]''', ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing''
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11	%% One quote on the main page, as many as you want on the quotes page.
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13	%% Please don't add "Not to be confused with The Goddamned Batman." We already did that joke.
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15
16	Weak enemies that exist primarily to annoy the player character. They probably aren't gonna ''kill'' you, but they're certainly going to harass you and slow you down, making it easier for something ''else'' to kill you.
17
18	Almost every video game has them. These are the enemies that are just a speed bump, even if they are not outright dangerous. They're not difficult to defeat, but because of the [[ZergRush frequency with which they appear]], they can become a significant hindrance to the player, and they usually don't give you enough of a reward to make fighting them truly worth it, either. Even the [[MadeOfExplodium explosion]] made by killing them is paltry compared to other enemies.
19
20	[[ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder They're the goddamn bats, man.]]
21
22	A key trait is that they generally don't pose too large of a threat on their own; they're more annoying than deadly. When an enemy starts posing an actual threat, then it's a case of DemonicSpiders and, in extreme cases, the BossInMookClothing.
23
24	Note that this designation applies to ''any'' type of ''non-threatening enemy'' whose purpose is to stall and harass the player. [=Goddamned=] Bats are common in {{Platformer}}s, where they enjoy [[LedgeBats disturbing precision jumping]].
25
26	They don't have to be bats. The best definition of the Goddamned Bats trope is that they are not only common enemies that will swarm you, and they are not only pathetically easy to kill on their own, but they take no skill to defeat, in [[RolePlayingGames RPGs]] they don't provide much (if any) experience or gold when beaten, and are sometimes flat-out annoying. These are often the enemies that will be found in the LevelOfTediousEnemies. A famous example of this is Zubat in the Pokemon series which were found in nearly every cave in the first 4 generations and liked to inflict various StatusEffects on the player before going down.
27
28	Other following factors can contribute to making an enemy a Goddamned Bat:
29
30	* Player having relatively large health bar, reducing the enemies' relative threat (and thus the need to exterminate them quickly) -- even if it's just ScratchDamage, [[DeathOfAThousandCuts enduring repeated hits adds up]].
31	* LedgeBats in platform games, which exist to exploit {{knockback}} and send the character off the nearest cliff.
32	* The enemy [[RespawningEnemies respawns]] quickly and/or in large numbers.
33	* If the player has a weapon with limited attack range or [[DenialOfDiagonalAttack can't shoot vertically or diagonally]], making it difficult to engage the bats especially if they [[AirborneMook fly out of reach]].
34	* The enemy is very fast, small, moves erratically, or is otherwise hard to hit.
35	* The enemy can [[BanditMook steal players' items]].
36	* They are unlikely to drop useful items, or never do.
37	* In defense-based games, the enemy has the ability to [[DungeonBypass spawn or sneak past your front lines]].
38	* Being able to easily inflict a [[StatusEffects Status Ailment]] that forces you to waste curative items, backtrack to a healer, or just deal with it until it wears off.
39
40	Occasionally, Goddamned Bats can be a result of the setting; for example, a [[UnderTheSea water level]] can inadvertently graft Goddamned Bats characteristics onto ''any'' enemy if the game has [[FakeDifficulty poor movement controls]].
41
42	[[BatOutOfHell Bats]] in video games tend to have many of these aforementioned traits, hence them naming the trope after a phrase from ''Literature/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas'' ("Wait'll you see those goddamned bats, man."); ''very'' common in caves and other dark areas yet are individually easy to defeat, their small size and fast movement makes them difficult to hit in real-time games (and turn-based games reflect this by giving them high evade rates), and since they fly the player is usually unable to hit them with melee attacks.
43
44	See GoddamnedBoss for bosses with these characteristics. Compare TheSwarm. For literal bats that God has damned, see BatOutOfHell.
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47	%% Please don't add "Not to be confused with The Goddamned Batman." We already did that joke.
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49
50	[[noreallife]]
51	----
52	!!Examples
53
54	[[index]]
55	* GoddamnedBats/ActionAdventure
56	** ''GoddamnedBats/{{Castlevania}}''
57	** ''GoddamnedBats/TheLegendOfZelda''
58	** ''GoddamnedBats/{{Metroid}}''
59	** ''GoddamnedBats/MegaMan''
60	** ''GoddamnedBats/{{Terraria}}''
61	* GoddamnedBats/AdventureGame
62	* GoddamnedBats/BeatEmUp
63	* GoddamnedBats/CollectibleCardGame
64	* GoddamnedBats/DrivingGame
65	* GoddamnedBats/FightingGame
66	* GoddamnedBats/FirstPersonShooter
67	* GoddamnedBats/ThirdPersonShooter
68	* GoddamnedBats/InteractiveFiction
69	* GoddamnedBats/MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame
70	* GoddamnedBats/PlatformGame
71	* GoddamnedBats/PuzzleGame
72	* GoddamnedBats/RealTimeStrategy
73	** ''GoddamnedBats/{{Arknights}}''
74	** ''GoddamnedBats/IronMarines''
75	** ''GoddamnedBats/KingdomRush''
76	** ''GoddamnedBats/PlantsVsZombies''
77	** ''GoddamnedBats/TheBattleCats''
78	* GoddamnedBats/{{Roguelike}}
79	** ''GoddamnedBats/TheBindingOfIsaac''
80	* GoddamnedBats/RolePlayingGame
81	** ''GoddamnedBats/FinalFantasy''
82	** ''GoddamnedBats/{{Pokemon}}''
83	* GoddamnedBats/ShootEmUps
84	* GoddamnedBats/SimulationGame
85	** ''[[GoddamnedBats/AnimalCrossing Animal Crossing]]''
86	* GoddamnedBats/StealthBasedGame
87	* GoddamnedBats/SurvivalHorror
88	* GoddamnedBats/TabletopGames
89	** GoddamnedBats/ArkhamHorrorTheCardGame
90	* GoddamnedBats/TurnBasedStrategy
91	[[/index]]
92
93	[[folder:Other Game Genres]]
94	* ''VideoGame/FZero99'': The Lucky Bumper is a mechanic specifically designed to turn a dead player into an annoyance. The mechanic is that if a player Crashes Out, there is a chance they will respawn as a Lucky Bumper, appearing in front of the pack in a blue car with the camera facing backwards and getting up to 30 seconds to ram into as many other vehicles as possible to earn a bonus point for each vehicle they collide with. The Lucky Bumper drives at a fixed speed, allowing the player to only control its steering and Spin Attack. Due to being able to see every player behind them, Lucky Bumper players have the opportunity to absolutely ruin other players' days by shoving them around the track and disrupting their flow for nominal gain other than cathartic value. An extremely unfortunate player can even wind up dead because of a Lucky Bumper swerving into their path at low health and pushing them into a barrier or other hazard.
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Non-Video Game]]
98	[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
99	* ''Manga/OnePiece'' has Gecko Moria whose main method of 'attack' is to hide behind a cloud of regenerating shadow bats as hard as bricks and run away when his opponent's not looking. Cue the protagonist spending the entire fight wandering around the forest looking for his enemy.
100	** Even earlier in the series, we have the Millions and Billions of Baroque Works during the Alabasta Arc. They're not exactly a threat, as we see the Straw Hats - as well as Tashigi of the Marines - take them out quite easily (at one point, Vivi downs a whole squad of them), but they're definitely a very, very dangerous problem when time in a factor throughout the arc and they're preventing the group from stopping the war.
101	* The White Zetsu from ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' are this in straight-up battle, due to their main skills being infiltration and assassination.
102	* In ''Literature/GoblinSlayer'', Goblins are the weakest monsters, and mainly appear in quests meant for rookies. With the size and strength (and, apparently, the brain) of a child, they would be no problem for new, inexperienced adventurers at all... if there weren't so damn many of them! Problem is, these beasts [[ExplosiveBreeder multiply like crazy]], and being able to kill them with one or two hits doesn't help much if every fallen goblin is replaced by two others. That's why the [[CharacterTitle titular]] [[HisNameReallyIsBarkeep Goblin Slayer]] seeks to kill every single goblin he can find.
103	* ''Anime/IsekaiQuartet'': During the final round of the Field Day, Vanir and Pandora's Actor uses their magic to create countless of minions, which then form their own quartets to fight against Class 1 & 2.
104	* ''Anime/WonderEggPriority'' has the Seeno Evils, small demonic creatures wielding sharp knives. They're no real threat to Ai and her allies, as they die in one hit and can't deal any damage that they [[HealingFactor won't immediately recover from]] ([[HeroicRRoD until they return to reality, at least]]). There's a ''ton'' of them, and they pose a very real threat to whoever it is Ai is trying to protect, so invariably, swarms of them have to be fought off before they can battle the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Wonder Killer]].
105
106	[[AC: ComicBooks]]
107	* In ''[[Franchise/TheDCU DC storyline]]'' [[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 "This Is not My Life"]], [[MadScientist Professor Ivo]] sends swarms of mechanical rats after the [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} main character]] and her friends. Ivo's mini-robots can't damage Kara, but they ''can'' kill her friends, and they succeed in slowing her down.
108
109	[[AC: FanWorks]]
110	* In ''Fanfic/TheKeysStandAlone: The Soft World'', John and George are attacked by a swarm of robotic bats. The narrative even refers to them as "goddamned bats."
111	* In ''Fanfic/HoennWars'', Ricky's trainees are really sick of his Diglett sinking them into the ground.
112	* ''Fanfic/PokemonTheOriginOfSpecies'': Humorously lampshaded in-universe when Blue lists off the Pokemon that can be found in Mount Moon.
113	-->'''Blue:''' Nothing really competitive, (starts ticking them off on his fingers) Zubat, Geodude, Sandshrew, Zubat, Paras, the rare Clefairy, Zubat, lower down there's Chingling, Absol, Bronzor, Zubat, Makuhita and if you're super lucky, Zubat.
114	* In ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''/''Franchise/SailorMoon'' crossover [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/380988/1/PARAGON "Paragon,"]] the Monsters of the Week are protected by packs of clay troll-like creatures called Ur-Golems. They aren't particularly tough, especially if the main goon's attention is focused somewhere else, but they're irritating to fight your way through.
115
116	[[AC:FilmsLiveAction]]
117	* In ''Film/WandaNevada'', Wanda climbs down a cliff with a rope around her face to search a cave for gold. An owl flies out of the cave and flaps aggressively in her face, causing her to fall. Beau manages to grab onto the rope before she falls too far and laboriously hauls her back up.
118
119	[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
120	* The flocks of birds in both the book and film of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings''. Specifically the ''crebain'', used by Saruman as his eyes and ears to track down the Fellowship in the high mountains. In both portrayals, Aragorn realizes the danger of the flocking crows and has the fellowship stamp out fires and go to cover. (In the film, the crebain detect the fellowship and give Saruman the information he needs to turn the mountain passes against them).
121
122	[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
123	* {{Piranha\|Problem}}s became this in an episode of ''Series/RiverMonsters'', in which Jeremy constantly caught piranhas, when he wasn't just having his bait stolen.
124	* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', [[RefugeInAudacity the hippies]] act as this when the group plays an important video game created by Pierce's elitist father.
125	* In ''Franchise/WalkingWith'', Nigel regards the sea scorpions as a nuisance. They can't swallow him whole or cut him in half, but they can and do bother him, and their pincers are sharp. And painful.
126
127	[[AC:WebComics]]
128	* ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}'' has [[http://mspaintadventures.com/?s=6&p=004566 imps,]] [[FromBadToWorse which become]] [[spoiler:[[BossInMookClothing Bosses in Mooks Clothing]] after Jade prototypes her kernelsprite]].
129	* In ''Webcomic/MoonCrest24'', Morchego regurgitates bat-like creatures to attack Daniel.
130	* ''Webcomic/AdventureDennis'' is attacked by bats at least once per level/chapter.
131	* In ''Webcomic/{{Tellurion}}'', Robot emerges from the sea covered in [[https://tellurion.ca/projects/g1QV8?album_id=77988 flesh-eating worms and crustaceans]]. To any normal person the experience would be somewhere between disgusting and terrifying. To the Robot its just annoying.
132
133	[[AC:WebOriginal]]
134	* There's a scene in the PlayByPost game ''Roleplay/WhatTimeIsItMrWolf'' in which the protagonist opens the door to the attic...and is swarmed by bats. The other characters, all children, laugh at him for it. The protagonist is understandably miffed since everything up to that point has been trying to kill him.
135	* In ''WebAnimation/SpriggsAHalo3Machinima'', Lt. Hammer considers the Grey Suits to be this.
136	-->'''Hammer''': They breed you morons like rodents, don't they?
137	* The "Fel-dogs" of ''WebVideo/TalesFromMyDDCampaign''. They have a bit of DR that nobody's weapons seem to get around, [[HealingFactor Fast Heal]], and most obnoxiously of all, they inflict 1d6 negative energy backlash damage every time you hit them in melee. Not all that hard to kill, but each fight eats a bit of the party's healing resources due to their attacks and backlash damage.
138	* ''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd'' is the TropeNamer, and he absolutely hates these, and has had many long rants against them in the many NintendoHard games he reviews. Bats being the most common offender, but other similar annoyances (like [[LedgeBats the Medusa heads]] in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaI'') get lambasted for all the reasons on this page as well. But with a lot of fucks, shits, and descriptions of fecal matter.
139
140	[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
141	* A [[WesternAnimation/GeorgeOfTheJungle Tom Slick]] cartoon had Tom in Transylvanian race and he quips "Oh, rats! Bats!" upon beeing attacked by the winged creatures.
142	* WesternAnimation/ScoobyDoo and his teenage buddies are constantly beseiged by bats. In "Decoy For A Dognapper," Shaggy and Velma are flailing away trying to avoid a flock of bats and Shaggy quips that they'd call that dance "the [[{{Pun}} Batusi!"]]
143	* The ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'' episode "Duckula Meets Frankenstoat" has Dr. Frankenstoat having created a machine that will make a flock of bats--a flock of cricket bats with vampire wings.
144	* The BX-series Commando Droids from ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' are a downplayed example. They're certainly threatening to non-Force sensitive combatants like the Clone Troopers, but are a nuisance to Jedi at best.
145	[[/folder]]

Context Main / GoddamnedBats