Line #30 Main/ProtectionMission


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9	[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/BattleCity https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tankforcetask.png]]]]
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11	A cross between EscortMission and HoldTheLine where you're staying in one place and protect a stationary object or NPC while enemies pour in and attack your charge. Usually, you either have to protect them for a specific period of time, or just kill all the enemies.
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13	It doesn't have to be one object. Sometimes it's an array of objects, and if a certain number are destroyed, you fail. These missions often have an explicit NoHarmRequirement that outlines just how much damage (if any...) the target is allowed to take before mission is deemed a failure. Players will often get a GameplayGrading depending on how well the target was protected.
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15	Tend to be easier than classic {{Escort Mission}}s, since you do not have to worry about the [[ArtificialStupidity idiot escortees]] blundering into danger. And apparently trying to make you think TheComputerIsACheatingBastard or AIIsACrapshoot.
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17	See also TowerDefense games, where you're generally tasked to protect a stationary object.
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19	!!Examples:
20	[[foldercontrol]]
21
22	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
23	* Basic ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure [=IM1=] ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Immortal_Storm_(module) The Immortal Storm]]''. A PlayerCharacter must act as a defender against the attacks of Spectral Hounds as his Hierarch uses an artifact to stop the title storm.
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26	[[folder:Video Games]]
27	* ''VideoGame/AceCombat'':
28	** It's a series tradition to be assigned a mission to shoot down a flight of enemy bombers about to destroy [[BackFromTheBrink the last allied base]], usually in the first mission.
29	** ''VideoGame/AceCombat04ShatteredSkies'': In the mission "[[TitleDrop Shattered Skies]]", [[PlayerCharacter Mobius One]] is tasked with defending Riass Space Center while the crew on the ground attempt to launch a spy satellite. You're only up against fighters trying to secure air superiority, until bombers attempt to attack the base halfway through the mission.
30	** ''VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar'':
31	*** White Bird (Part I) is similar to the above-mentioned Shattered skies, protecting a launch facility from enemy attack. Though instead of fighters and bombers, the enemy this time is air-dropped tanks and cruise missiles.
32	*** Chain Reaction tasks the player with protecting a civilian airport from a few squadrons of fighter-bombers... only to discover they were a distraction while Yuktobanian tanks begin attacking the airport by coming out of transport planes on the runway disguised as airliners.
33	*** Journey Home starts out a simple ceremonial flight [[TemptingFate with no combat expected]]... until Yuktobanian planes begin attacking you and the crowded sports stadium the Vice President is speaking at. Fortunately, your planes were armed just in case.
34	* ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'' has a few in campaigns. In the El Cid one, one of your goals is actually to defend the ''body'' of El Cid because it was propped up on a horse to [[OfCorpseHesAlive convince people he was still alive]]. And yes, a dead body has hit points. Don't ask how. In almost any other scenario though, you're more likely to protect weaker cities or buildings.
35	* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'': one of the class quests for the paladin stronghold involves guarding a civilian from assassination attempts, until her father comes to relieve you from the duty. Thing is, her alleged father comes in abruptly in the mid of the night, without any signs of identification except his claim about what he is, therefore he could be as well a spy in disguise. The player has 50% chances of him being the true father or not, and must decide whether or not delivering the civilian or fighting him. If he's the true father and you kill him, or if he's a spy and you let him take the girl you're guarding, the mission fails. You can [[spoiler:use the spell "detect evil", which paladins get in abundance as a special ability, to check if he's evil (spy) or not (real father)]].
36	* ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'' had a mission involving protecting a pig from incoming sharks.
37	* ''VideoGame/BattleCity'' series. Player has to protect the bird located in the bottom middle of the field from enemy tanks while staying alive as well.
38	* In ''VideoGame/BattlestarGalacticaOnline'', you can call in mining ships to handle resource-bearing planetoids. The payoff from these is greater than spending an equal amount of time doing normal {{Asteroid Min\|ers}}ing. However, the game spawns mooks to go after the mining ships, as well as creating an indicator on the sector map that may attract enemy players. Of course, you can invert this by going out and hunting enemy mining ships.
39	* ''VideoGame/Bioshock2'' has ADAM gathers, where the player must keep a crowd of splicers away from a Little Sister while she gathers ADAM from a corpse. While the splicers won't kill the sister if they get close, they will interrupt the gathering process.
40	* A number of missions in ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' are of this type. The last phase of one of Tiny Tina's missions requires protecting a generator from a stream of bandits; a mission in Opportunity requires protecting a hacked drone while it destroys Handsome Jack's statues; one of the Slab King's missions requires protecting generators hoisting Slab flags in hostile territory; a story mission requires protecting a beacon from waves of loaders.
41	* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts'' has one in the "Clockwork" mission where you need to defend Hesh as he hacks the data center of the Federation base. You get a turret, several mines, claymores and tear gas, along with your teammates to help as the enemies try to flank you.
42	* ''VideoGame/Centipede1998'': One of the most common sub-objectives in a level is to protect buildings in the area from the invading bugs.
43	* The first stage of ''VideoGame/ChaosHeat'' have an area where you need to cover one of your {{redshirt}}s for 30 seconds as he tries hacking his way through an electronically-locked door, just as a horde of {{Giant Spider}}s pops out of surrounding vents and attacks you from all sides. If the redshirt dies, you'll need to restart the area.
44	* The ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert'' franchise have more than one level where the player is tasked with defending instead of attacking. Notably, ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2'' has the mission in the Ural Mountains where they must defend a Soviet laboratory from a seemingly-endless horde of Allied invaders teleporting into the area thanks to the Allies recently developing the Chronosphere. The mission ends after fending off around fifteen waves of Allied units and destroying all invading forces.
45	* The mausoleum levels in ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'' are this. None of the {{Mooks}} can directly hurt you, but if they reach the urn in the center of the screen [[spoiler:where the Legendary Chalice is imprisoned]], it's an instant Game Over.
46	* Several times in ''VideoGame/Conduit2'', protagonist Michael Ford must protect the Free Drudge during the campaign.
47	* ''VideoGame/DemonHunterTheReturnOfTheWings'': An early mission in Infenro requires Gun to defend Dayl from waves of level 1 Varians until he finishes analyzing the firewall.
48	* Upon your second visit to China in ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'', [[PlayerCharacter Jensen]] and Malik are shot down by Belltower mercenaries and while Jensen managed to jump out, Malik stayed behind and they continue to shoot at her downed VTOL. If you can kill them and their robot quickly enough you earn the "Good Soul" achievement and save Malik's life, but if you abandon her or take too long the VTOL explodes, killing her.
49	* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4'':
50	** Secret Mission 6 requires you to kill all Chimera Seeds without letting any of them take over the lone Scarecrow.
51	** In the [[CreativeClosingCredits playable credits]], Nero has to protect Kyrie from a horde of Scarecrows within a given time in order to unlock the bonus ending cutscene.
52	* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': When you escape TheAlcatraz at the end of Act I, [[TheHeavy Dallis]]'s forces intercept your ship, forcing you to keep your AloofAlly Malady alive while she casts a spell for an ExtradimensionalEmergencyExit. You ''can'' win the fight outright and force Dallis to retreat, but you only get a CombatCompliment out of it before the scene proceeds as usual.
53	%%* A number of quests in ''VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline'' are this, including two of the quests of Korthos Island.
54	* ''VideoGame/FableII'' has quite a few of these, one where you have to protect Garth whilst he activates a gate.
55	* The ''VideoGame/FairyBloom'' series: Across both games, the player will be doing this:
56	** ''VideoGame/FairyBloom1'': Defending a plant in the center of the area from attackers.
57	** ''VideoGame/FairyBloomFreesia'': Vortexes of forest life energy must be defended in some levels. The first being in level 5.
58	* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' has you fend off a Legion raid at Bitter Springs during Boone's companion quest, "I Forgot to Remember to Forget".
59	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
60	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has a few parts like this. Once near the start of the game where you have to protect an unconscious Terra from Imperial troops, and again with a similar mechanic later on when you protect a frozen Esper from more Imperial troops.
61	** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', events called "[=FATEs=]" spawn at random times, and one type involves a selection of objects appearing out of nowhere that must be defended from ''hordes'' of attackers. While not too bad for tank characters, who can peel the monsters off the targets with their standard tanking abilities, there's a reason these specific [=FATEs=] are ignored even by players specifically grinding the other types of [=FATE=]. As with the obnoxious EscortMission [=FATEs=], there is a much less annoying leve version; protection leves are located in areas with no other monsters and generate only 1-2 enemies at a time, making them among the easiest available.
62	* ''VideoGame/FinalLegacy'' has the last remaining warship (or submarine, as the game is ambiguous on that point) defending a set of cities from missiles, while actively seeking out the missile launchers.
63	* Numerous examples from ''VideoGame/FireEmblem''. Most frequently, it's an incapacitated "Ally" NPC, or some other figure such as [[RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething Royals who aren't as talented as yours at fighting]]. While many missions are "Seize the throne", there are a few where it's inverted which would also fit this trope. Some of them are also [[LuckBasedMission Luck Based Missions]], since if you are unlucky, the character you are supposed to protect can get killed before you even have a chance to reach them -- most infamously, "Battle Before Dawn" in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade''.
64	* Protecting the American and Mexican presidents in ''VideoGame/GhostReconAdvancedWarfighter''.
65	* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'':
66	** The penultimate battle in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'', where Kratos (you) has to protect the memory of his wife and child against hordes of evil versions of himself. ItMakesSenseInContext, really!
67	** In ''VideoGame/GodOfWarII'', you have to protect a translator from a bunch of enemies so you can have him read some writing. Naturally, Kratos kills him immediately after.
68	** Averted in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'', twice. First there's the [[spoiler: Possidon princess]]. You don't have to protect her; she just sits there while you fight enemies. Of course Kratos kills her soon after that. The next comes late in the game with [[spoiler: Pandora.]] You think you have to protect her from enemies but she does a good job of evading them while kill them. Meaning she never gets hurt by enemies, ever. However there are times where she falls into death traps you have to get her out of before she's killed though.
69	* Occurs in ''VideoGame/GoldenEyeWii'' when you must protect Natalya from enemy gunfire while she tries to stop the Goldeneye satellite.
70	** Same with ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 64'', except it was much more frustrating.
71	* ''VideoGame/HalfLife'':
72	** Near the end of ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', Gordon has to protect a scientist from the invading Xen forces as he preps a teleporter to transport him into [[AnotherDimension Xen]].
73	** During the Uprising segment of ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', Alyx is occupied with deactivating Combine generators in order to weaken their influence in City 17. Gordon is tasked with protecting her from Overwatch soldiers as she works on one such generator.
74	** In the climax of ''Half-Life 2: Episode 2'', Gordon joins the effort to protect White Forest from being attacked by Striders. If even one of them gets a good shot at the satellite rocket scheduled for launch at the base, it's game over.
75	* ''VideoGame/{{inFAMOUS}}'' has a particularly harrowing mission involving protecting a medical crate. If you've started down the [[KarmaMeter Evil path]], the waves of baddies can be subdued with a little [[ChainLightning mass damage]]... but if you have Good Cole's abilities... well, be ready to restart the mission a couple times until you manage to take out the gunner trucks and rocket launchers before they make your crate go kablooey.
76	* The "Invasion Mode" in ''VideoGame/IslandWars'' is this. You need to protect your [[VideoGameLives palm trees]] on the island from getting destroyed by enemy attack, and the game is over if your trees are all destroyed or when you beat the final boss after 50 waves.
77	* At the climax of ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'', Silk Fox and Dawn Star (you control one) are defending a bridge while Kang the Mad sets up explosives.
78	* The main objective of ''VideoGame/KingAndBalloon'' is to protect the titular king from the hot air balloons that rain from the top of the screen and prevent them from kidnapping him. If a balloon manages to make it past your cannon and grab the king, it will attempt to fly away with him, but you can shoot it down to save him before it makes it offscreen.
79	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
80	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'' requires you to protect milk jugs on the back of a wagon from Romani Ranch [[ProductDeliveryOrdeal while they're being delivered to Clock Town]] for their sale in Milk Bar.
81	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'', at the end of the game, requires you to protect Zelda from the BigBad's attacks while she powers up. If she's hit, [[HostageSpiritLink you lose health]] and the boss's attack pattern resets.
82	* The ''Franchise/MassEffect'' games have several:
83	** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'':
84	*** Archangel's recruitment mission involves protecting him from three mercenary groups he has managed to piss off big time. He's not immobile and he fights back against attackers, but without your help, he's toast.
85	*** There's a short sidequest where you find a badly injured sole survivor of a quarian ship crash and protect her from attacking varren until your shuttle shows up to pull you out of there. If she dies, you lose.
86	*** There's also the sidequest you get fairly early on, which involves landing on a planet to retrieve twenty boxes of valuable cargo. Trouble is, once you arrive, a bunch of YMIR Mechs move in and start destroying said cargo. The relative success of the mission is determined by how many boxes you manage to keep from being destroyed.
87	*** Variation in the Overlord DLC: the final boss consists of shooting little holographic spheres sliding toward the VI core. If you don't kill them fast enough, then the rogue VI will upload itself to the Normandy, resulting in a NonStandardGameOver. Basically this has you protecting your own ship from a hacking attempt.
88	*** At one point in DLC mission "Arrival", you have to keep batarians from killing Amanda as she hacks into a console.
89	** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', during the Tuchanka: Bomb mission, the final battle involves you preventing Cerberus forces from attacking Victus as he disarms the bomb.
90	* The second of the mid-game missions in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero2'' contains a segment toward the end where Zero must protect Ciel as she disarms a bomb, which takes 90 seconds. The enemies coming after you two are quite weak, [[ZergRush but there are a lot of them]].
91	* ''VideoGame/MetalWarriors'': The fourth mission revolves around Stone protecting his fleet's spaceship from the incoming enemies that aim to destroy it. The background ShowsDamage, so defeating each enemy ASAP is important (and when none remains, the mission is cleared).
92	* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'' has a mission on Elysia during which you have to kill all the Space Pirates and their ships before they destroy the Spire Pod, which is carrying [[NitroExpress the bomb that you need to destroy the shield protecting the Leviathan Seed]]. You're standing ''on'' the Spire while it's being attacked, so the life of Samus is at risk too.
93	%%* There are a few of these in ''VideoGame/MiniRobotWars'' as "[[MiniGame Mission Stages]]"
94	* The classic arcade game ''VideoGame/MissileCommand''. "Defend Your Cities!" A few other games for the Platform/Atari2600, Imagic's ''VideoGame/{{Atlantis}}'' and U.S. Games' ''M.A.D.'', are also based around the same premise.
95	* In both of the ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' games, there is a mission where the player has to defend a stationary objective. In the first one, the player's Marine squad has to protect a M1 Abrams tank that has been disabled. If the enemy get close enough, they'll use satchel charges to blow it up. In the second game, the player's squad has to defend a portable hard drive as it downloads the contents of a terrorist leader's computers while dozens of mercenaries rappel in by helicopter to try and destroy it.
96	* A boss fight in ''VideoGame/NappleTaleArsiaInDaydream'' is based around freeing Treant, a WiseTree character, from a parasitic monster that is causing it to grow bombs instead of fruit. Treant serves up bombs for the heroine to [[TennisBoss knock into the boss]], but the bombs can hurt Treant as well.
97	%%* Several missions in ''VideoGame/NarutoUzumakiChronicles'' are like this.
98	* ''VideoGame/NobodySavesTheWorld'':
99	** One side quest tasks Nobody with protecting an artifact hunter on the other side of a fence using ranged attacks, starting over if they run out of health.
100	** In the final battle, [[spoiler:Nobody has to keep Randy protected so he can charge up his spell to make the Calamity vulnerable. Any hit on Randy will drain his spell charge, and if he loses all his health, his charge empties, his health refills, and the wave starts over]].
101	* Pops up a few times in the tactical strategy ''VideoGame/{{Odium}}''. Four times you have to kill the enemies before they kill a stationary NPC (who, of course, just stands there while enemies attack him). Once you have to protect some security monitors (why do the mindless monsters have an apparent temporary grudge against them is unexplained.)
102	* ''VideoGame/{{Onmyoji\|2016}}'': Kingyo-hime's skin dungeon where she takes over as your onmyōji. Letting her fall in battle ''makes you lose instantly'' whether your other shikigami have fallen or not, effectively turning the battles into protecting her.
103	* In ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'', when infiltrating Jails, the Thieves come across locked doors that require Futaba to hack them open, which also requires them to protect her from attacking Shadows until she's finished.
104	* ''VideoGame/Pikmin4'' introduces the Lumiknoll which are special structures that come from the ground in places your Onions have touched down. They are the only way to propagate the [[MasterOfAll Glow Pikmin]] as well as the [[FindTheCure glow sap]] which can cure Leaflings. However, the Lumiknolls have to last til morning intact before they can produce it and on PNF-404 [[NiceDayDeadlyNight the various organisms grow even more ferocious]]. Not only that, but the Lumiknoll itself [[LuringInPrey glows brightly to lure these creatures]] so they can (hopefully) be defeated and reduced to glow pellets to procreate the Glow Pikmin. Thus, the player is frequently tasked with using [[CanineCompanion Oatachi]] and the Glow Pikmin to guard the Luminknoll from the vicious, nocturnal fauna long enough for the glow sap to be produced.
105	* ''VideoGame/PointBlank1994'':
106	** The series in general has the "Protect [[SeriesMascot Dr. Dan and Dr. Don]] from the _____" stages, where you must shoot enemies to prevent them from knocking out the mascot you're protecting until the timer reaches 0.
107	** ''Point Blank 2'' has "Defend Earth from [=UFOs=]", where you must hold off an AlienInvasion by shooting the [=UFOs=]; the larger ones [[AsteroidsMonster split into four smaller UFOs when shot]]. If a single UFO goes below the screen, it's stage failed for both players.
108	* Chapter 26 of ''[[VideoGame/ProjectXZone Project X Zone 2]]'' has you defending the Dragonturtle from enemy attacks on four sides. You have to deal with [[VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}} Pyron and Lord Raptor]], [[Franchise/DotHack Skeith and Azure Kite]], and [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry1 Nelo Angelo]] and waves of enemies surrounding them. If any of the enemies or bosses touches the Dragonturtle, it's an instant GameOver.
109	* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}''
110	** At one point, you protect a room blocked by a reinforced glass barrier while an ally works there, and later a deployed toxin pump designed to flush out underground infected.
111	** Interesting variant would be the collection of biomatter outside of a hive that the military shows up to destroy. As long as you collect quickly enough, you may not even have to touch the military due the pair of hunters defending the hive against both them and you.
112	* ''VideoGame/Prototype2'' has one where you will need to defend a downed helicopter with a plot-important person inside. In this case, considering you intend to [[spoiler:consume him]] anyway, it makes little sense that you can't just pluck him out and get it over with instead of defending him first.
113	* Almost every level in ''VideoGame/RawData'' involves you protecting one or more data cores from waves of robots. If the player character dies, they respawn and lose points. Only the loss of a core results in a game-over.
114	* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'':
115	** There's one of the BSAA members, Josh, inputing a code in order to turn on the power for the elevator for him, Chris and Sheva to escape on. You also have to do it again. He even [[LampshadeHanging remarks how much of a pain it is for you]].
116	** The second half of the Water Room in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'', where you must protect Ashley from respawning Zealots with sniper cover while she hits a pair of switches to raise a bridge.
117	* A (rather frustratingly difficult, at least compared to the rest of the game) battle towards the end of ''VideoGame/SakuraWars: [[VideoGame/SakuraWarsSoLongMyLove So Long, My Love]]'' has the party of [=PCs=] protecting various vital parts of an airship they're on.
118	* ''VideoGame/SierraOps'': If the player investigates the DistressSignal coming from Rhines, you will have to defend the UTV's dry-docked flagship ''Beerkelium'' from a squadron of enemy ships.
119	* In ''VideoGame/{{Solatorobo}}'', during Red's JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind, the software begins by creating a warmup for him from his memories. He winds up defending Elh from a bunch of bugs, seeing as that's what he considered the most laughably easy thing to come up with. A later simulation reuses the "don't let the bugs near Elh" objective, but that one was [[spoiler:a RescueRomance situation [[ShipperOnDeck specifically set up by Merveille]].]]
120	* Protecting Hawk while he disarms a nuclear bomb in ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune''.
121	* A recurring challenge in ''VideoGame/SpidermanShatteredDimensions'' is keeping {{NPC}}s alive while they open the next stage for you (after which, presumably, they escape). In the 2099 world, this is often a TwoKeyedLock, so you need to defend ''both'' [=NPCs=] simultaneously.
122	* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'''s ''Octo Expansion'' has two. There's Mission D08/J03 (Girl Power Station), where the player must protect an orb in the center of the stage from waves of Octolings for 90 seconds using their choice of bomb type and weapon, and Phase 6 of the escape sequence, where you must guide an energy core through a room filled with all sorts of enemies. The latter, while a bit annoying, has a few checkpoints to make that task a bit easier. The former is widely considered ThatOneLevel however, due to how much damage the AI opponents can do if you fail to take out each wave in time.
123	* ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}'':
124	** In the original, a few of the Zerg missions require you to protect a mysterious Chrysalis. Eventually it hatches, revealing [[spoiler:infested Kerrigan, who the Zerg had stolen in the penultimate mission of the Terran campaign]]. Only some of the missions technically count, as in the first few, it's small enough to be carried around by a Drone.
125	** In the sequel, you have to protect a laser drill while the Protoss send waves of troops against you. Fortunately, you get Siege Tanks in this mission, and you can aim the drill manually, making short work of any enemy unit that's not in the FogOfWar.
126	** Ariel Hanson's missions involve you protecting a fleet of refugees from a variety of threats as they seek out a new home world. These threats range from infested zombie-like Terrans to full-on Zerg assaults to a purification squad helmed by Executor Selendis.
127	** [[spoiler:The final mission has you protect the Xel'naga artifact as it prepares to expunge the Zerg influence from Char and de-infest Kerrigan. Naturally, she wants to wipe it out, and she will throw the kitchen sink at you to make certain you don't get to fire it off.]]
128	* The entire point of Sector Z in ''VideoGame/StarFox64'' is that the Great Fox [[TooDumbToLive just stops in the middle of nowhere]] while the enemy fires 6 large missiles in 1-2-3 sequences at it. Thankfully, you have plenty of time to destroy each missile, and they always come from the same direction. This mission is also paid homage to in Level 8 of ''Star Fox Assault'', when you have to protect the Orbital Gate from a lot more missiles coming from all different directions.
129	* ''VideoGame/StarWarsGalacticBattlegrounds'' has Monument victories, which involve building a huge and expensive structure and then guarding it for a while. The second mission in the final Wookiee campaign involves rebuilding the Government Tree, which uses the Wookiee Monument building, and then defending it from waves of Imperial troops, not helped by the Empire being a Tech Level higher than you. Expect to lose a ''lot'' of Anti-Air Troopers.
130	* Several levels in ''VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando'' become an impromptu protection mission when progressing forward requires you or your squadmate to hack a console in a room constantly attacked by hostiles, as your squad member cannot fight back when he's hacking.
131	* ''VideoGame/TotalAnnihilation'' features one in the Arm campaign, defending a large mine from attacking naval forces. It can rapidly become ThatOneLevel.
132	* ''VideoGame/TransformersDevastation'' has several sections where you must protect [[TheSmartGuy Wheeljack]] while he makes field repairs to something. His health regenerates when he's not taking damage, but on higher difficulty levels he's still fragile enough for it to be ThatOneLevel.
133	* Both the ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsFromZeroAndTrailsToAzure'' games from the ''VideoGame/TrailsSeries'' have missions in which you have to protect [=NPC=] characters that accompany them in battle. In any of these games, the first time this happens, you're provided with a warning that one of these characters being [=KOed=] is an automatic Game Over. At least one of these missions also requires that you not allow the [=NPCs=] to take any damage at all in order to earn bonus rank points, with this being [[GuideDangIt secret condition]]. Sometimes even just making sure they survive is easier said than done, especially on higher difficulty levels in which just one hit can take them out. Normally the accompanying [=NPCs=] will try to run towards the edge of the battlefield when it's their turn, but you can't always count on this. Occasionally they can even be helpful in battle such as having skills that can blind, though sometimes their getting close may do more harm than good. Thankfully, this mechanic was dropped in the third arc, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel''.
134	* A [[ThatOneLevel particularly frustrating mission]] of ''[[VideoGame/{{Tribes}} Tribes: Vengeance]]'' is centered around Victoria protecting Daniel from onrushing Blood Eagles while he extracts the data from an enemy computer. The main problem is that the location is very poorly suited for prolonged defense, your resources are painfully limited, and there is no backup whatsoever (except a few automatic turrets).
135	* ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh'' has several, mostly in terms of guarding the AI [=Ma3a=] who is carrying the algorithms needed to run the digitizing laser (Jet's ticket back to analog). One of them is sniping rival security Programs from a tower, another is fending off [[TheCorruptor Thorne]] and his horde of virus-inflected Programs in a BarBrawl.
136	%%* ''VideoGame/{{Turok}}'': "You must save the totem, Turok!"
137	* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'': In the final mission, the object to be protected is ''the WorldTree''. Except you're not just protecting it -- you're protecting it while it gets rigged into a gigantic magical ''bomb'' meant for an archdemon. The mission is also fairly unique in that you get two allies with bases in front of the enemy's advance than you must try to aid to further protect the objective.
138	* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' features a few mission types revolving around protecting objects:
139	** "Defense" missions revolve around protecting an immobile unit, usually a cryopod, from waves of increasingly fiercer enemies. Every 5 waves you get an opportunity to extract and reap your rewards, but you can choose to continue fighting to get better rewards. In sorties, the unit you must protect is instead an operative who wanders randomly, but can be equipped with your secondary firearm and can be [[CombatResuscitation revived endlessly as long as their bleed-out timer doesn't run out]].
140	** "Mobile defense" missions involve carrying Lotus' datamass to three terminals, then protecting these terminals from enemies seeking to destroy it. The [[SpaceZone archwing variant]] of this mission has no datamass to carry; the Tenno must simply get from one satellite to another.
141	** "Excavation" missions sees Tenno running around the map to locate the excavation points, then both protecting the excavators and keeping them powered by power cells dropped from enemies. They can extract once at least one excavator finishes its job.
142	** The "pursuit" archwing mission ends with the players having to protect a hacked Grineer courier ship from being destroyed by Grineer forces, with some help from the courier itself.
143	** During each round of a "disruption" mission, the Tenno must loot keys from enemies to hack into conduits, then stop at least one [[ActionBomb demolyst]] from destroying them. When activated, these conduits grant either a positive effect which will remain for the duration of the round if the conduit is safe, or a negative effect which will remain for the duration of the round if the conduit gets destroyed.
144	** Orb Vallis is occasionally plagued by thermia fractures, which players can seal with coolant cannisters, a task made harder by Corpus goons dogpiling on any cannister the player will put on a fracture.
145	* Some of the missions in ''VideoGame/WingsOfGlory'' involve defending allied observation balloons from German fighter planes. The observation balloons have no defenses, can't move, and they explode after one or two hits. You also sometimes have to defend various military targets from enemy bombers, including your own Aerodrome.
146	* In ''VideoGame/WolfQuest'', one of the missions is to protect your pups from the hungry coyotes and bears. It gets more difficult when you must [[EscortMission move them to the summer hunting grounds]] and an [[DeathFromAbove eagle]] decides they look tasty.
147	* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has several of these. One where you have to protect a crystal from several waves of enemies, and another where you have to protect the Hourglass of Eternity, with some help from your future self. Later, you get to do it again, this time as the future self, helping your past self.
148	* [[ThatOneLevel The “Redemption” mission]] in ''VideoGame/XWing''. Protect the Corvette ''Korolev'' from a bunch of TIE Bombers as it transfers wounded troops to the medical frigate ''Redemption''. Oh, and they are launched by an Imperial frigate that pops in and out of hyperspace from different (generally opposite) sides of the engagement area. And escorted by flights of TIE Fighters. And any one of the bombers, if it gets close enough, carries enough torpedoes to kill the corvette. It’s infamous enough to show up as a much dreaded training simulation in [[Literature/XWingSeries the X-Wing novels]], where the pilots refer to it as the “Requiem” scenario.
149	* The Majima Construction minigame added in ''[[VideoGame/Yakuza2 Yakuza Kiwami 2]]'' plays out like this. You have control over up to 8 [[HeroUnit Hero Units]] that must defend a stationary construction material or equipment from waves of thugs.
150	* ''VideoGame/ZombieHorde2''. Every once in a while you have to protect a box from zombie attacks.
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153	[[folder:Webcomics]]
154	* The videogame-style comic ''Webcomic/{{Alastere}}'' has the main characters fight off a bunch of storm elementals, preventing them from attacking the engines of the airship they are on.
155	[[/folder]]

Context Main / ProtectionMission