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| 3 | %% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks! |
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| 6 | |
| 7 | Back to [[SuperDrowningSkills Main]]. |
| 8 | ---- |
| 9 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 10 | |
| 11 | [[folder:Action]] |
| 12 | * The lake in ''VideoGame/AlanWake'' is home to an EldritchAbomination with a personal grudge against the protagonist. In general, any liquid other than coffee is to be avoided. |
| 13 | * 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. |
| 14 | * ''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. |
| 15 | * ''VideoGame/{{Bomberman}}'': The White Bomber has this problem. For the most part, if he gets into deep water, he's toast. |
| 16 | ** 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. |
| 17 | ** 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, or as the Golden Bomber. |
| 18 | ** 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). |
| 19 | ** ''Super Bomberman 2'' had this issue too: If he takes too long on a temporary platform and falls into the water, he dies. |
| 20 | ** Averted in ''Pocket Bomberman'', where he can swim just fine. |
| 21 | * In ''Circus Caper'' for the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, falling in the water is an automatic GameOver. |
| 22 | * 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. |
| 23 | * Arthur of ''VideoGame/GhostsNGoblins'' sinks like a rock in tiny streams and puddles. |
| 24 | * ''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. |
| 25 | * In ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade: The Action Game'', Indy has to cross pools of inexplicably deadly water by jumping between overhanging ropes. |
| 26 | -->'''WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd''': How is Indiana Jones such a wimp that he can't set foot in water more shallow than a kiddie pool? |
| 27 | * In ''VideoGame/KrutTheMythicWings'' you drown instantly the moment you hit water covering over your head. Partially justified as you're a Krut - an eagle-headed BIrdPeople with wings, where your wings when drenched together with your armour will drag you to death. |
| 28 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Overcooked}},'' water functions the same as a bottomless pit -- if you fall in, you vanish and must wait 5 seconds to respawn. |
| 29 | * In ''VideoGame/RoboWarrior'', unless you have a Life Ring equipped to allow you to WalkOnWater, you can only wade through it for about one second before you drown and die. |
| 30 | * Miranda from ''VideoGame/SteelHarbinger'' dies instantly from falling into saline water, though it's because she's a former human converted into a half-mechanical murder-machine by the alien pods. |
| 31 | * The ambulance in ''VideoGame/TheStretchers'' is unable to move on water and immediately gets teleported to dry land if it lands in the sea. However, this [[SubvertedTrope stops being a problem]] once it gains the hovercraft upgrade late into the game. |
| 32 | [[/folder]] |
| 33 | |
| 34 | [[folder:Action-Adventure]] |
| 35 | * ''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. |
| 36 | * Anyone can drown in ''VideoGame/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheBurningEarth'', even Katara and Aang who can control water. |
| 37 | * 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 other games in the series, landing in water causes Batman to fire his grapnel gun and pull himself to the nearest solid surface. Justified in that the Batsuit, being as armored as it is, likely does not allow one to swim very well. |
| 38 | * 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. |
| 39 | * In ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'': |
| 40 | ** 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. |
| 41 | ** 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.]] |
| 42 | ** Apparently water is the antithesis of metal and [[spoiler:Drowned Ophelia]] very much lives up to [[spoiler:her]] name. |
| 43 | ** 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.]] |
| 44 | * Buffy is the freaking Vampire Slayer, yet in both ''VideoGame/BuffyTheVampireSlayer2002'' and ''VideoGame/BuffyTheVampireSlayerChaosBleeds'', she drowns if the water's more than ankle deep. |
| 45 | * ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': |
| 46 | ** It has been a gag across the series that the Belmont clan has trained for generations to fight Dracula and his minions, but have never learned to swim. Most of the earlier action platformer games (''Franchise/{{Castlevania}} [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaI I]]-[[VideoGame/SuperCastlevaniaIV IV]]'') feature water that will kill you instantly if you fall into it. Which can be depressingly common considering the [[GoddamnedBats numerous enemies]] that will knock you back into a pit. |
| 47 | ** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaBloodlines'' has water in the Atlantis Shrine that, in a variation, won't kill you instantly if it goes over your head, but you will take a lot of damage. |
| 48 | ** ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaIISimonsQuest'' has moats within towns that can be quite aggravating to cross in what are supposed to be safe havens from the dangers in the wilds. An important gameplay element also involves 'parting water' to get to the next area, which is depicted as the screen scrolling down, revealing the pathway hidden under the water, which will still kill you if you fall in before using the crystal to reveal the path. |
| 49 | ** These hazards are still present in most fan remakes, meaning the very victims of these watery deathtraps wish to visit their childhood miseries upon us to this day. Dracula's Shadow deserves special mention for managing to have water that insta-kills you, and water that you can wade through, with no clues given as to which is which. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QouE-JHDq0 "Death puddles... Not acid, not lava, not a giant toothy maw... But H20?"]] |
| 50 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania 64}}'' and ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaLegacyOfDarkness'' {{Handwave}} the inability to swim by having the protagonists remark that the water has been "poisoned by the evil of the castle". (The steam that rises whenever you fall in seems to suggest a more malicious chemical at work.) |
| 51 | ** Alucard's allergic to the old [=H2O=] in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaSymphonyOfTheNight''. It gradually erodes your HP until you get the Holy Symbol; this is a nod to old vampire lore (''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' likes these; see also Walter and Isaac having red hair per traditional Romanian 'how to tell a vampire on sight' cues) that states that the fangity ones cannot cross running water. |
| 52 | * In both the NES and Game Boy games of ''VideoGame/DickTracyBandai'', 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 Platform/SegaMasterSystem and Platform/MegaDrive versions, complete with a DeadHatShot for the [=MegaDrive=] version of the game. |
| 53 | * ''VideoGame/FroggersJourneyTheForgottenRelic'': In typical fashion, Frogger cannot swim and falling into any water will cost him some health and send him back to the last checkpoint. However, if Frogger has the Scuba gear equipped, jumping into water will instead allow him to safely access underwater areas, potentially leading to hidden paths or treasures. |
| 54 | * 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. |
| 55 | * The ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' for the Platform/SegaGenesis'': |
| 56 | ** 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. |
| 57 | ** 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. |
| 58 | * ''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. |
| 59 | * In the ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' series: |
| 60 | ** Both protagonists at first can be destroyed by water not due to fear but due to [[OurVampiresAreDifferent their nature]]. Later Raziel lost this vulnerability after consuming the soul of his vampire brother Rahab. |
| 61 | ** Another Vampire protagonist, Rayne of ''VideoGame/{{Bloodrayne}}'' has the same problem, for the same reason. She doesn't actually "drown" so to speak (considering that there isn't any body of water in the game that goes over her head), but any contact with water will quickly burn her to death. |
| 62 | ** In the original ''Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen'', Kain eventually gained a Mist form that would allow him to at least cross bodies of water. |
| 63 | * ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': |
| 64 | ** 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. |
| 65 | ** In certain games, such as ''Link's Awakening'', ''The Wind Waker'' and ''Twilight Princess'', non-water-based {{mooks}} die the moment they touch water. |
| 66 | ** ''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''. |
| 67 | ** ''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. |
| 68 | ** ''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. |
| 69 | ** 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. |
| 70 | ** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': |
| 71 | *** 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. |
| 72 | *** 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. |
| 73 | * ''VideoGame/LittleBigAdventure''. |
| 74 | ** It's amazing how the hero doesn't drown when stepping into small patches of water that can be found in caves, or when walking in the rain without an umbrella. Then again, not being able to swim did not prevent him from stopping the BigBad and saving his home planet. Perhaps he just doesn't have enough time for practicing swimming. |
| 75 | ** The eponymous Twinsen of [[VideoGame/LittleBigAdventure Twinsen's Odyssey]] uses this trope in [[ExaggeratedTrope the extreme]]. Not only will he drown instantly in any lake or ocean that is more than ankle-deep, but he will also sink like an anchor in a ''hotel swimming pool'' that is probably shallower than he is tall. |
| 76 | ** This carries over into the sequel, even though he lives on a small island. |
| 77 | * 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. |
| 78 | * ''VideoGame/{{Messiah}}'': Generally, if anyone so much as brushes against liquid, they die instantly. |
| 79 | * ''VideoGame/MissionImpossible1990'': Water exists as an alternative to the numerous BottomlessPits, and you traverse platforms above them in Stage 1, a base hidden in a sewer, and the first part of Stage 6, the final hideout on an island in the Mediterranean. Falling in the water will instantly result in the loss of your agent. |
| 80 | * ''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. |
| 81 | * Both entires of ''VideoGame/NightmareCreatures'' sees you losing a life the literal ''second'' you fall in water. However, the same can be said for most monsters (except the Thames Creatures). |
| 82 | * ''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. |
| 83 | * In the ''VideoGame/{{Overlord}}'' series, any non-blue Minion will drown nearly instantly if sent into water. The [[PlayerCharacter Overlord]] himself will wade through waist-high water and refuse to enter any water deeper than that, since he would probably sink like an anvil chained to a boulder. |
| 84 | * 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. |
| 85 | * ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'': {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d: |
| 86 | ** 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. |
| 87 | ** 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. |
| 88 | ** ''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. |
| 89 | * In ''Rastan'', if the hero falls into the water, he's history. |
| 90 | * ''VideoGame/ReignOfFire''. Entering ANY body of water will cause your vehicle's health to drop like a rock. Perhaps the humans couldn't find any steel anymore so they instead build tanks out of bread that's been spray-painted black? This is even WORSE when you consider getting wet is the only way to stop yourself from dying in seconds if you get lit on fire, and since you're fighting ''dragons'' and all the whole time, you get lit on fire a LOT. |
| 91 | * 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. |
| 92 | %%* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'' on the NES: Really only comes into play on the Freedom Island part of the map, and some of the underground caverns. |
| 93 | * ''VideoGame/SingularStone'' : All characters who don't have the Air Ball item (only Luka has this at start) took constant 1/4 damage of their max HP if they fall into deep water bodies. Thankfully they have MercyInvincibility that gives the player a chance to save themselves if they manage to get out of water fast enough. |
| 94 | * ''VideoGame/{{Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles|1989}}'': Thankfully, you don't lose a life if you fall into the water in the sewers of Stage 3, but the Turtles still get whisked away by the seemingly weak current, to reappear on the overworld close to the entrance. This is rather jarring considering they could swim underwater perfectly fine in the previous stage. Made worse in the Amiga Port, where you are treated as losing a life if you fall in the water, and are 'caught.' |
| 95 | * In the video game tie-in to ''VideoGame/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. |
| 96 | * In ''Anime/TransformersArmada'' the game, shallow water will not hurt you, but the further you go in, the faster it drains you heath to the point that deep enough water will instantly kill you. |
| 97 | * While not deadly, in the game version of ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'', only one level has water, a flier-only level, and the game will not let you touch it. If you let yourself fall into it, you automatically start hovering. |
| 98 | [[/folder]] |
| 99 | |
| 100 | [[folder:Adventure]] |
| 101 | * ''VideoGame/{{Bug|1995}}'' 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]]. |
| 102 | * ''VideoGame/BugToo'' 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. |
| 103 | * Justified in ''VideoGame/CallOfCthulhuDarkCornersOfTheEarth'', as all the deep waters in the game are cold (the game occurred in winter on the [[LovecraftCountry New England]] coast) and stormy seas. |
| 104 | * ''VideoGame/ChicoryAColorfulTale'': Despite gaining the ability to swim through paint, Pizza can't swim in actual bodies of water until they unlock the ability to do so because falling into one instantly teleports them back to dry land. |
| 105 | * 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''. |
| 106 | * ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'': |
| 107 | ** Among [[EverythingTryingToKillYou the many ways he can die]] in the first ''[[VideoGame/KingsQuestI King's Quest]]'', if Sir Graham walks too close to the castle moat at the start of the game, he will immediately fall in and drown unless [[GuideDangIt you know that you can]] type "swim" the parser to make Graham start treading water, saving his life if you do it quickly enough. Except in those places where the water has hazardous currents, or alligators. |
| 108 | ** In ''VideoGame/KingsQuestII'', Graham will swim automatically upon entering water. However, by ''VideoGame/KingsQuestV'' he has forgotten how to swim entirely. This is {{Handwave}}d by the water being "too cold", or the current being too strong. |
| 109 | ** His son Prince Alexander fared no better: he can swim just fine in ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIII'', but not in ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVI''. Although there is a ''strong'' emphasis in the mythos of his location, the Land of the Green Isles, that an extremely strong current runs around the islands, creating an insurmountable undertow that will drag people far out to sea and drown them; only the best navigators can steer through them on a ship. |
| 110 | ** Most Creator/{{Sierra}} adventure games were very unfriendly in this regard. Laura Bow and Roger Wilco also had their fair share of either drowning deaths or being attacked by something living in a body of water anytime they got close to it. |
| 111 | ** ''VideoGame/QuestForGlory'' has cautiously stayed away from scenes where swimming could be required (except for the fifth game). On the other hand, ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest2TheVengeance'' has a scuba scene, and ''VideoGame/EcoQuest'' plays almost entirely underwater. |
| 112 | * In ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry 2'', if you walk into the pool and don't type "swim" quickly enough, you drown and get a [[HaveANiceDeath mocking message explaining it.]] Getting it right is needed to win the game. |
| 113 | * In ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals'', if Larry or Patti just walk into the sea at a seashore, it is instantly "game over" as they drown. |
| 114 | * As an {{Anvilicious}} safety tip for young players, setting out in any canoe or motorboat without first ''adding a life jacket to your inventory'' [[CantGetAwayWithNuthin causes instant (off-camera) death by drowning]] in ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'' games. Same for bicycling without a helmet, for that matter. |
| 115 | * 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. |
| 116 | * Played straight in the original ''VideoGame/{{Pitfall}}'', but in the second game, Harry has SuperNotDrowningSkills. |
| 117 | * The controllable character, Mars, from ''VideoGame/ShiningWisdom'' can't swim at all. Justified as he is always in armour but what makes it annoying is that the player is required to wade through knee-high water throughout the course of the game; the only way to tell is that the water is a slightly lighter hue of blue and enemies can easily knock you into deeper water. |
| 118 | * Played with in ''VideoGame/{{Stray|2022}}'': The cat has enough common sense to [[DefiedTrope 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. |
| 119 | * ''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. |
| 120 | * In ''VideoGame/UltimaIX'', the Avatar dies when entering the deep water blocking the way between islands. |
| 121 | [[/folder]] |
| 122 | |
| 123 | [[folder:Driving]] |
| 124 | * 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. |
| 125 | * Prior to ''VideoGame/MarioKart7'', any game in the ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' series treats any reasonably deep body of water as a bottomless pit, with shallow water being safe but speed-unfriendly. Even in ''Mario Kart 7'' and ''[[VideoGame/MarioKart8 8]]'', there are some courses where water is a no-no (such as Daisy Hills and Electrodome). In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioKart'', players have only a few seconds to drive out of deep water before Lakitu is forced to pick them up. |
| 126 | * In ''VideoGame/AutoDestruct'', driving into any body of water so much as ankle-deep results in a "Mission Failed". |
| 127 | [[/folder]] |
| 128 | |
| 129 | [[folder:Fighting]] |
| 130 | * In the first two ''VideoGame/DoubleDragon'' games, the main character(s) sink like stones if they fall in the water. The enemies do as well, and a common strategy is to use your more powerful attacks to knock enemies backwards into the water. Though beware, as the tougher enemies (Abobo in the first game, Bolo in the second) have a back drop grapple that they use to toss you behind them, often into the drink. |
| 131 | * ''VideoGame/MortalKombatMythologiesSubZero'', has a water level and the whole puzzle is to get through it without drowning, because Sub-Zero can't swim. |
| 132 | * In both ''Manga/{{Naruto}}: Rise of a Ninja'' and its sequel ''Naruto: The Broken Bond'', if any of the characters land in water, they vanish in a cloud of smoke and reappear on the shore, usually complaining about getting wet. |
| 133 | * In all versions of both ''[[VideoGame/KunioKun Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun]]'' and its first localization ''Renegade'', falling into the harbor in Mission 2 will kill anybody, including the player, regardless of how much strength they have left. |
| 134 | * In ''VideoGame/RiverCityRansom'', falling in the water where you fight Benny and Clyde instantly kills you, regardless of how much stamina you had. |
| 135 | * In the ''Anime/SailorMoon R'' [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames video game]], falling into the water in the raft stage meant you lost 25% of your total health. Even Sailor Mercury can drown in water. |
| 136 | * Certain stages in the ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries SoulCalibur]]'' games feature Ring Outs, and some of these involve knocking your opponent into a body of water. Doing this instantly wins you the round. |
| 137 | * ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'': |
| 138 | ** 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]]. |
| 139 | ** In ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'', ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU Wii U]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]'', every character can swim in water for a limited time, after which they'll start thrashing about wildly before sinking straight down. The amount of time is different for each character, with Sonic's being the shortest. |
| 140 | ** In ''Ultimate'', some characters will instantly start thrashing and take minor damage when they enter water, namely Sonic (due to his inability to swim), the Inklings (due to their bodies dissolving in water), Charizard, and Incineroar ([[ElementalRockPaperScissors because they're Fire-type Pokémon]]). |
| 141 | [[/folder]] |
| 142 | |
| 143 | [[folder:First-Person Shooter]] |
| 144 | * ''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. |
| 145 | * 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. |
| 146 | * ''VideoGame/{{Deathloop}}'' partially justifies this. It's not that Colt can't swim; it's that Blackreef is an arctic island, and deep water is a fast path to death by hypothermia. |
| 147 | * 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. |
| 148 | * ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' uses an interesting variant. Gordon can swim just fine despite wearing a heavy [[PoweredArmor HEV Suit]], but try to swim in the oceans and [[BorderPatrol leeches will pick the flesh off your bones]] in seconds. There's also an entire chapter dedicated to traversing several rivers out of the city on an airboat, not because Gordon couldn't swim himself if he really needed to, but because any given section of the river's water [[HazardousWater actively damages him if he touches it directly]]. Also, several enemies will get stuck in water and die. Curiously, lone headcrabs will drown in seconds, but headcrab zombies seem content to lie underwater indefinitely, regardless of its toxicity. |
| 149 | * Although you cannot drown in ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' (you're wearing self-contained PoweredArmor that lets you traverse hard vacuum without a problem), it's shown that Spartans can't swim either (after all, they weigh over half a ton). The Chief sinks to the bottom of pools in ''[[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved Halo 1]]'', and ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'' has a cutscene of him being knocked into a lake and sinking like a rock. This makes a certain amount of sense until you notice that if you are killed and your corpse lands in water, it will float gently down the river (apparently dead Spartans can be used as flotation devices). Some areas, such as in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'''s early levels, have bodies of water that insta-kill Spartans if they so much as touch them, as a form of GravityBarrier. However, oddly enough, one instance of ''Halo 3''[='s=] first playable level has you able to walk around in a large pool of water for as long as you want, with only minimal effects to your vision and speed. You can even run after schools of fish. |
| 150 | * ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' averts this while the sequel plays it more straight. |
| 151 | ** In the first game, you will start to drown if you are underwater for too long. In ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'', this applies as well but only if you are ducking under the water or are incapacitated under it. Having your body waist-deep submerged in the water in the sequel resulted in instant death, while shallow water up your ankles results in a noteworthy speed penalty. |
| 152 | ** The infected lack the survivors' speed penalty in shallow water, but they too possess severe reactions to waist-deep water. This is made especially confusing and annoying as newer players always learn the hard way in Swamp Fever that even if they are still in "ghost mode" and they don't technically exist yet, attempting to traverse waist-deep water again causes instant death. |
| 153 | ** Further made annoying in that some rare instances, the game's "AI Director" will spawn common infected DEEP UNDER WATER. |
| 154 | * ''VideoGame/MetroExodus:'' There are three possible outcomes if you fall in the water: |
| 155 | ## You thrash around for a bit, then pull yourself out at a spot of the game's choosing. |
| 156 | ## You thrash around for a bit, then an [=NPC=] pulls you out at a spot of the game's choosing. |
| 157 | ## You die. |
| 158 | * 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. |
| 159 | * 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. |
| 160 | * 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. |
| 161 | * ''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. |
| 162 | * 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. |
| 163 | * {{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. |
| 164 | * Thankfully, totally avoided in ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', for the simple reason that, as a vampire, you don't need to breathe. |
| 165 | [[/folder]] |
| 166 | |
| 167 | [[folder:Hack and Slash]] |
| 168 | * In ''VideoGame/DarkMessiah'', the player can swim, but the enemies drown instantly if knocked into water. |
| 169 | * In the game ''VideoGame/DieByTheSword'', the character remains upright with his head above water when falling into the water, can barely move, and dies in a few seconds, after which he falls to the bottom of the water. This might be partially explained by his heavy shield and sword, but the short duration of him sinking and how little he can move in the water makes it unrealistic. |
| 170 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Magicka}}'' wizards can't swim, so you have to freeze the water instead. This also applies to enemies, even Deep Ones ''which spawn by climbing out of water.'' |
| 171 | * 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]]. |
| 172 | [[/folder]] |
| 173 | |
| 174 | [[folder:MMO]] |
| 175 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Aion}}'', you play an immortal angelic being who, despite being able to fly, apparently never learned how to swim. Most "lakes" are knee-high pools that you can run through, but you start to drown as soon as the water goes over your head. Thankfully Creator/NCsoft seem to be aware of how ridiculous this is and have shown characters swimming in their planned development trailer. There's no date on when this will be implemented, though, and no information on whether characters will only be able to swim in certain areas or not. |
| 176 | * In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline'', the player cannot drown in shallow water, but will immediately die in deep water from a Slaughterfish attack, with the hint, "Stay out of deep water." |
| 177 | * 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. Alphinaud makes an effort to avert this later on, as he can swim a couple hundred yalms to the Confederacy's toll-isle by 3.2, but Urianger would rather learn to WalkOnWater by magic than learn to swim. |
| 178 | * ''VideoGame/LegoUniverse'' plays with this. When you jump in the water, it looks for a second like your character will swim... until three seconds later, when a shark's already eaten your character. Of course, if the shark didn't pop up to eat you, you'd be stuck in the sea with nowhere to swim to and no way back up, so you'd have to [[NonLethalKO smash]] your character anyway. |
| 179 | * ''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. |
| 180 | * ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' has the same problem as ''Aion'' where, rather than swim, your character will just tread water until it's over their head and die extremely quickly. |
| 181 | * In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', while player characters have an OxygenMeter and/or SuperNotDrowningSkills, there are a couple instances where you can summon [=NPCs=] underwater only for them to drown in short order. In particular, in ''Warlords of Draenor'', if you have a barn in your garrison, you can trap wild animals, and once they're caught the farmer from your barn will come to collect them. If you caught them in water deep enough to swim in - particularly likely if you're hunting riverbeasts, which are as semiaquatic as their name suggests - said NPC will proceed to drown almost instantly. Fortunately, it doesn't have any impact on the beast's capture. The same thing apparently happens to Nat Pagle if he's called to a place underwater, which is even less reasonable as he's a living legend famed for his skill ''as a fisherman''. |
| 182 | [[/folder]] |
| 183 | |
| 184 | [[folder:Party Games]] |
| 185 | * ''VideoGame/FallGuysUltimateKnockout'': |
| 186 | ** If you so much as touch the pool of slime at the bottom of certain rounds, you're instantly eliminated and removed from the stage. (Only Slime Climb makes this clear, since in other rounds with slime, you can't dip your toe in it, you can only fall bodily into the goop.) |
| 187 | ** 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. |
| 188 | [[/folder]] |
| 189 | |
| 190 | [[folder:Platformer]] |
| 191 | * 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. |
| 192 | * ''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. |
| 193 | * ''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. |
| 194 | * In the 1994 ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' video game adaptations, neither of the characters can swim and will drown if they fall in. |
| 195 | * 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. |
| 196 | * Justified in ''VideoGame/BeaconOfHope''. Beacon is a [[Main/AnimateInanimateObject sentient desk lamp]]. Touching water will make him short-circuit and die. |
| 197 | * 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. |
| 198 | * ''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. |
| 199 | * ''VideoGame/BlackTheFall'': If [[PlayerCharacter the worker]] set foot in any body of water, his entire body will sink into it in about a second, and then you'll have to respawn. |
| 200 | * 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. |
| 201 | * In ''{{VideoGame/Bubsy}}'', because CatsHateWater, you can only guess what happens if the titular character falls into water. |
| 202 | * In the NintendoHard arcade game ''VideoGame/CaptainSilver'', the protagonist can drown minutes into the first level by falling into a water fountain that appears to be about one foot deep. Later levels in the game use lakes or oceans for this instead. |
| 203 | * ''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. |
| 204 | * ''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. |
| 205 | * In ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'': |
| 206 | ** In the games, falling into water kills you, even in ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot3Warped'' which features rooms filled with water that rises and falls, which makes you wonder why Crash can't just wait for the water to lower before dying instantly. |
| 207 | ** In ''[[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot3Warped Crash 3]]'', Coco has been shown to swim if her jet ski blows up. FridgeLogic kicks in at ''VideoGame/CrashBandicootTheWrathOfCortex'' where falling into deep water ''causes her to instantly panic and drown''. The worst part? Most of Coco's levels in that game are filled with water. |
| 208 | ** ''[[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack Crash 2]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/CrashBandicoot3Warped 3]]'' have also made Crash panic before drowning. In his only level in ''Wrath of Cortex'' with deep-enough water, Crash will drown in at least one second in and float to the surface, motionless. At least ''3'' and ''Wrath of Cortex'' also {{avert|edTrope}} this by containing a few UnderTheSea levels where Crash wears some scuba gear. |
| 209 | ** In the singleplayer mode of ''VideoGame/CrashTagTeamRacing'', bodies of water are treated as BottomlessPits, but in at least two of the [[TheManyDeathsOfYou Die-O-Rama]] clips Crash is shown to be able to swim. |
| 210 | ** In ''VideoGame/CrashBandicootNSaneTrilogy'', going into water as Coco has the same effect as doing so with Crash, but she'll ordinarily simply float on the surface until she respawns. 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. |
| 211 | ** 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 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. |
| 212 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Croc}}: Legend of the Gobbos'', Croc, who is a crocodile, can swim in certain pools of water (you enter a special level). Most pools of water, however, are in the ice world, where it's implied to be extremely cold, and does damage to Croc instead. Of course, there's the FridgeLogic of why cold water hurts him while running around [[AccessoryWearingCartoonAnimal wearing nothing but a backpack]] in snow and ice ''doesn't'' have any ill effects... |
| 213 | * ''VideoGame/CrossbowWarriorTheLegendOfWilliamTell'': If [[PlayerCharacter William Tell]] falls into water, it's a game over. |
| 214 | * 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.) |
| 215 | * ''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]]. |
| 216 | * 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. |
| 217 | * 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. |
| 218 | * Upon falling into water in ''VideoGame/DisneysKimPossible3TeamPossible'', the player either respawns or dies depending on how much health they've already depleted. |
| 219 | * 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. |
| 220 | ** ''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.) |
| 221 | ** ''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''. |
| 222 | ** 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. |
| 223 | ** Surprisingly averted in the spinoff game ''Bubble Dizzy'', which takes place UnderTheSea and gives Dizzy an OxygenMeter. |
| 224 | * ''Franchise/DonkeyKong'': |
| 225 | ** 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. |
| 226 | ** In ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongLandIII'', 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. |
| 227 | * ''[[VideoGame/DrJekyllAndMrHydeNES Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde]]'': in the NES game, Hyde can fall into water while passing over a bridge and instantly die. |
| 228 | * 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.]] |
| 229 | * 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. |
| 230 | * ''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. |
| 231 | * 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=]. |
| 232 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Frogger}}'', the main character -- a frog -- dies on contact with water. ''Frogger II: Threeedeep!'' handwaves this trope just for the opening screen, which is UnderTheSea. Some versions {{handwave}} this by saying the currents are too fast and strong for the poor frog. Later installments in the series say it's due to a childhood accident in which he nearly drowned, [[VoodooShark which makes even less]] sense since a "child" frog is a tadpole. |
| 233 | * ''VideoGame/GarfieldsNightmare'': Being a cat who hates water, Garfield will lose a life if he falls onto a lake moat. |
| 234 | * 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. |
| 235 | * ''VideoGame/HaikuTheRobot'': Initially, Haiku lacks the ability to swim and dies instantly upon falling in water or touching a waterfall. After getting the Sealant Treatment upgrade, however, this is no longer the case. |
| 236 | * 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. |
| 237 | * 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. |
| 238 | * 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. |
| 239 | * ''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. |
| 240 | * Semi-justified in ''VideoGame/KittyMayCry'', where you lose a life instantly from stepping in water. [[CatsHateWater You are a cat, after all]]. |
| 241 | * The freeware PC games ''VideoGame/{{Knytt}}'' and ''VideoGame/KnyttStories'' by Creator/{{Nifflas}} give this weakness to their protagonists. [=NPCs=] can still swim without issue. |
| 242 | * In ''VideoGame/LaMulana'', water just sucks away at your health bar (like lava) until you get an item. The remake handwaves (and justifies) this by pointing out that the water is poisonous. |
| 243 | * 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. |
| 244 | * ''VideoGame/TheLegendaryAxe'' has water pits that you don't drown in, just fall through like BottomlessPits made of air. |
| 245 | * ''VideoGame/LEGOAdaptationGame'': |
| 246 | ** ''VideoGame/LEGOStarWars II: The Original Trilogy'': If Luke, or any other character who's not an astromech droid, steps in Dagobah's waters, they immediately sink and die. Later games would add a proper swimming mechanic. |
| 247 | ** ''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. |
| 248 | ** 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. |
| 249 | ** 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.]] |
| 250 | ** In ''LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga'', your character doesn't drown, per se, but walking too far into any body of water will cause them to disassemble and then reassemble closer to shore. |
| 251 | * 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? |
| 252 | * ''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. |
| 253 | * ''VideoGame/MegaMan8BitDeathmatch'': |
| 254 | ** 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. |
| 255 | ** ''[=MM2BUB=]'' has pits... In the water... Loads of pits... Enjoy. |
| 256 | ** 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. |
| 257 | * Samus of ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' fame sinks like a rock if she enters any liquid, be it water, lava, or harmful chemicals. While she can't drown due to her power suit, the latter two will kill her because they drain the life bar if she stays in them long enough. She also can't move around very well in most games until she gathers the proper suit upgrade (and some add one that lets her swim in lava as well). [[VideoGame/MetroidZeroMission The only time she's been out of her power suit]], she can't get to any type of liquid to test and see if she drowns. |
| 258 | * 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. |
| 259 | * {{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". |
| 260 | * ''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. |
| 261 | * ''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. |
| 262 | * Stranger can swim with ease in ''VideoGame/OddworldStrangersWrath'', yet knocking an enemy into water will cause them to ''dissolve'', clothes, weapons, and all. The only thing that survives is the Moolah they're carrying (which is always equal to their "dead" bounty, for some reason.) Storywise, it does bring up a few interesting points. 1) There are so many outlaws in the Mungo River Valley because said river is dried up, 2) The reason Sekto is making so much money selling bottled water is because no one wants to drink water with ''dead outlaw'' in it, and 3) [[spoiler:The Dam breaks at the end of the game, filling up the river... while also flooding the Clakker towns and outlaw hideouts.]] Strangely, only {{Mooks}} seem to be affected, though you never have the opportunity to shove a boss into the water in game. |
| 263 | * The "water=death" version is justified in ''VideoGame/OttoMatic'', where the main character is a primitive robot who short-circuits if he touches liquid. |
| 264 | * 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. |
| 265 | * 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). |
| 266 | * ''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. |
| 267 | * In ''VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape'', sometimes you can swim rather well, and sometimes (in supposedly "piranha-infested" water) you can't. |
| 268 | * In ''Rolo to the Rescue'', out of Rolo and friends, the beaver is the only one that can swim in water rather than drown. |
| 269 | * ''VideoGame/Shantae2002'': Falling into water is equivalent to falling into a {{Bottomless Pit|s}}. Shantae learns how to swim by ''VideoGame/ShantaeRiskysRevenge''. |
| 270 | * ''Franchise/TheSimpsons'': |
| 271 | ** 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. |
| 272 | ** Falling into the lakes in ''[[VideoGame/BartSimpsonsEscapeFromCampDeadly Escape from Camp Deadly]]'', also made by the same company, means instant death for Bart. |
| 273 | ** ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsHitAndRun'': Bodies of water are considered "void out" zones and treated like falling in to the pits in the game. Most bodies of water being hazards make sense, such as being far drops or a fast river, but this also goes for a normal swimming pool in Levels 1 and 4. |
| 274 | ** ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsGame'': In the Day of the Dolphin stage, both Bart and Lisa will drown if they fall in the water that surrounds the level. {{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. |
| 275 | * ''VideoGame/{{Skully}}'' justifies this trope where your character, a sentient ''skull'', is brought to life by magical clay. Falling in water washes off the magic, hence rapidly depleting your life, and while you can access {{golem}} forms you're still ''very'' vulnerable to water-based attacks because erosion. |
| 276 | * ''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. |
| 277 | * 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. |
| 278 | * In the Platform/Atari2600 version of ''VideoGame/SmurfRescueInGargamelsCastle'', there is a river that causes instant death to your Smurf if he doesn't jump over it. |
| 279 | * ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'': |
| 280 | ** While Sonic's inability to swim, and the [[HellIsThatNoise 'about to drown']] music is infamous among fans, he's still able to move around and stay underwater for some time for the vast majority of the 2D titles. One exception is the Bridge zone of ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog18Bit'', which features water that will instantly kill Sonic if he falls in. |
| 281 | ** The 3D games, 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. |
| 282 | ** 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. |
| 283 | ** ''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. |
| 284 | * 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. |
| 285 | * ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' |
| 286 | ** 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. |
| 287 | ** Amusingly, in ''VideoGame/SpiderMan2000'', water kills you outright. |
| 288 | * {{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. |
| 289 | * ''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. |
| 290 | * ''Franchise/SpyroTheDragon'': |
| 291 | ** In [[VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon1998 the first game]], touching water results in the loss of one hit point (out of a maximum of 4). In some cases, the water is inescapable, and the player is guaranteed to drown. |
| 292 | ** ''VideoGame/Spyro2RiptosRage'' and ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon'' introduces swimmable water in which Spyro [[SuperNotDrowningSkills cannot drown]]. Harmful water is still present in some levels which is differentiated by being opaque and is implied to be toxic. |
| 293 | ** The Super Drowning Skills return in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro''. All water in the first two games is the dreaded toxic ooze, except for a few shallow streams. Averted in ''Dawn of the Dragon'' where Spyro or Cynder will just hover above water until you fly them over to dry land. |
| 294 | ** It's played straight in the GBA Spyro games. If the titular protagonist so much as dips his foot in the water, he's history. |
| 295 | * ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': |
| 296 | ** 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. |
| 297 | ** ''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. |
| 298 | ** 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. |
| 299 | ** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'', Mario uses an OxygenMeter, but his dinosaur steed Yoshi is made of paint and will ''dissolve'' if he attempts to swim. |
| 300 | ** In ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii'', although it can't be seen normally, if a player hacks Yoshi to appear in a level he normally does not appear in and enters a water level (or just hacks water to be in a level where he does appear in), as soon as Yoshi touches the water, the player will automatically dismount and it isn't possible to get back onto him. |
| 301 | ** ''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''. |
| 302 | * 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]]. |
| 303 | * ''VideoGame/TazWanted'': Taz can't swim, which is especially noticeable in Looney Lagoon. |
| 304 | * ''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. |
| 305 | * 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. |
| 306 | * ''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. |
| 307 | * In ''VideoGame/WonderBoyIIITheDragonsTrap'', Hawk-Man takes damage just from touching water (though all other forms have SuperNotDrowningSkills). |
| 308 | [[/folder]] |
| 309 | |
| 310 | [[folder:Puzzle]] |
| 311 | * In the ''VideoGame/AdventuresOfLolo'' series, if an egg bridge collapses and Lolo is standing on it, he will drown instantly. |
| 312 | * ''VideoGame/ChipsChallenge'': By default, water is just another obstacle, requiring the right footwear to navigate. You can walk into the water, and die, one square away from land; but with flippers, Chip can swim without any issue. This also applies to all enemies except the gliders (which, true to their name, can hover to pass above water). |
| 313 | * 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. |
| 314 | * 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. |
| 315 | * 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. |
| 316 | * 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). |
| 317 | * 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. |
| 318 | * In ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'': |
| 319 | ** Chell is warned by [=GLaDOS=] that falling into the [[GrimyWater murky (and apparently toxic) water]] that is used in some of the puzzles would kill her instantly. Contrary to [=GLaDOS=]'s usual sarcastic tendencies, this is not a lie. {{Justified|Trope}} in that you don't encounter any water hazards until after you get the portal gun, which comes with a warning to [[NoWaterproofingInTheFuture avoid submerging it in water]]. Also justified in that the water is most definitely toxic. It deals damage when you fall in, evident from the way the screen flashes when Chell goes underwater, the same way it flashes when she gets hit by bullets. |
| 320 | --->'''[=GLaDOS=]''': Please note that we have added a consequence for failure. Any contact with the chamber floor will result in an "unsatisfactory" mark on your official testing record, followed by death. Good luck! |
| 321 | ** This trope also applies to the co-op robots in the [[VideoGame/Portal2 sequel]]. Instead of just dying, they [[HollywoodDrowning flail in the water for a second]] before [[StuffBlowingUp exploding]]. This is again [[JustifiedTrope justified]], as they're robots who were not designed to be waterproof, and may in fact have been designed ''not'' to be waterproof so that the testing hazards remain effective. |
| 322 | * ''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. |
| 323 | * ''Videogame/TeslaTheWeatherMan'' has Tesla take damage whenever he falls into water. This is {{Hand Wave}}d by pointing out that he's wearing lots of electrical gadgetry. |
| 324 | * In ''VideoGame/ThomasWasAlone'', only Claire (the big blue square) can swim. Anyone else will drown upon touching the water, forcing them to respawn at the closest checkpoint. |
| 325 | [[/folder]] |
| 326 | |
| 327 | [[folder:Real Time Strategy]] |
| 328 | * 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. |
| 329 | * 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. |
| 330 | * 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. |
| 331 | * Pilots who bail out of their aircraft over water or soldiers who fall off a bridge in the ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' game series die ''instantly'' upon contact with the surface (the only exceptions being Tanya and Navy [=SEALs=] in ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2 Red Alert 2]]''). |
| 332 | ** The first game does not contain any such logics, though. They were first implemented in [[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert the first Red Alert game]], where moving away a water transport while a tank is entering it will cause the tank to instantly sink into the water. Strangely enough, the logic was not implemented for infantry; moving away the transport while a soldier is entering it ''leaves the soldier standing on the water''. Given the fact they did implement it for vehicles, this is a pretty odd oversight. Not to mention, an exploitable bug. |
| 333 | ** Boris, Tanya's Soviet counterpart notes in a mission parallel to one where Tanya has to swim that he won't swim and demands a transport. Apparently he's just lazy. |
| 334 | ** Justified in the German version as every soldier besides the special ones (like Tanya, etc.) were made into cyborgs to make the game less violent. |
| 335 | ** The background materials for ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3 Red Alert 3]]'' explain that the Soviets deliberately do not train their soldiers in swimming in order to reduce desertions. On the other hand, Natasha doesn't seem to mind swimming in cold water. |
| 336 | ** ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSun Tiberian Sun]]'' claims that most of Earth's waterways have been overtaken by Tiberium making travel by ship impossible. Considering Tiberium's ToxicPhlebotinum status, the lack of swimmers is understandable. |
| 337 | ** Infamously, the Core Defender from Tiberian Sun's Expansion pack Fire Storm can be destroyed by luring it onto a bridge, then blowing up both ends before it can get off. It's apparently immune to EMP and the Ion Cannon, but not waterproof. |
| 338 | * In ''VideoGame/LordMonarch'', any units, who stands on bridge, which is being demolished, will drown instantly. |
| 339 | * ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'': Every Pikmin (except for the blue and ice 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. |
| 340 | * ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'': The [[AirborneMook Balloon Zombie]] will normally land safely on the ground once his balloon is popped. However, if he's over a Pool lane when this happens, he disappears immediately, presumably drowning in the water. |
| 341 | * ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies2ItsAboutTime'': Most plants will instantly sink into Big Wave Beach's water if they lack a Lily Pad to stand on. The inverse happens with Tangle Kelp, which dies if it's ''not'' in water. The only plants that can survive on both land and water are amphibious ones like Guacodile and Lily Pad itself, or those that float like Rotobaga, Ghost Pepper, or Caulipower. |
| 342 | * In ''[[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness]]'', if a mage casts a [[ForcedTransformation Baleful Polymorph]] 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. |
| 343 | * ''VideoGame/WarWind'': No matter which race you choose, 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. |
| 344 | [[/folder]] |
| 345 | |
| 346 | [[folder:Roguelike]] |
| 347 | * ''[[VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery ADOM]]'' inflicts drowning damage the instant you enter water. It has a swimming skill to sometimes prevent damage. The "bridge building" skill and ice magic can make water crossable without swimming, which is required at one point. |
| 348 | * In the Roguelike game ''VideoGame/AlphaMan'', without the proper items, the player quickly loses hitpoints and drowns in water. |
| 349 | * In ''VideoGame/IntoTheBreach'', knocking a non-flying Vek into a tile with water instantly kills them. Only boss strength Vek are immune to drowning, although it disables their attack. |
| 350 | * 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. |
| 351 | [[/folder]] |
| 352 | |
| 353 | [[folder:RPG]] |
| 354 | * ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'': All deep water is classified by the game as a "chasm", meaning anyone or anything that gets pushed into it dies instantly. This includes you, even if you're carrying little weight and have high Athletics. |
| 355 | * 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." |
| 356 | * 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. |
| 357 | * 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.) |
| 358 | * 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. |
| 359 | * ''VideoGame/{{Drakkhen}}'' takes place on a perfectly square shaped continent that is bordered by a vast ocean to the south, and one region contains a ludicrous number of lakes and rivers, which makes it very vexing to navigate because your characters will sink and die in any water in a matter of seconds. The SNES version, at least, offered a ludicrous solution: make your characters walk off the screen. They only sunk when visible, so making them exit would un-sink them. While this was time consuming as the game would keep trying to show them until you cleared the water, one likes to imagine a group of four super drowners wading across the ocean to reach the continent in the first place. |
| 360 | * 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. |
| 361 | * In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'': |
| 362 | ** There are two whole races who, for no apparent reason, physically can't enter water, although they could in the first game. This is despite the fact that water in the game is never more than ankle-deep. The only logical explanation is that they needed the walk on water boots to have a purpose once it became possible to take normal actions while standing in water. It's actually around waist deep for humans, making it about mouth height for moogles, one of the two races that cant enter water. |
| 363 | ** This also applied to Cid, Babus, and Ezel if you managed to recruit them to your clan in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance''. They cannot, without any reason whatsoever, enter water unless you give them the Feather Boots. One fan theorized that the programmers simply didn't bother creating sprites for them when they entered water. The Tonberry enemies in the same game had the Galmia Shoes effect; ignore height but unable to enter water. Once you had your own Galmia Shoes, anyone wearing it could not enter water. |
| 364 | ** And in ''Advance'', you can't use any abilities while in water for no adequately explored reason. Meanwhile, in the original ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'', all units are able to enter the waist-high water and perform actions in it. Unless, of course, the water is than two panels (around neck-high) deep, then they can't use abilities. |
| 365 | * If a character in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesRingOfFates'' walks into water deeper than their chin, they drown. |
| 366 | * 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, Nobushi, etc. who should logically be better swimmers but will flail about and perish all the same. The only normal-sized land-based 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, and Hydro Mimics, who just hover over it, although destroying the shields of the Abyss Mages will make them drown. This is subverted in Fontaine, where making contact with the the Statue of the Seven there not only grants you the ability to swim indefinitely but also dive underwater there. |
| 367 | * 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. |
| 368 | * Luther from the ''VideoGame/LandsOfLore'' series, has super drowning skills and the design of rivers makes it impossible to climb out most of the time. His larger form, fortunately, can wade through water that would quickly trap and kill his other two forms. |
| 369 | * ''VideoGame/MassEffect'': On Virmire, if the Mako drives into the water up to its hubcaps it's an instant game over. |
| 370 | * ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': A conversation with Garrus on the Citadel reveals that turians apparently can't swim. Specifically he says that for turians, swimming involves a lot of flailing and screaming interrupted by occassional bouts of drowning. |
| 371 | * Handwaved in ''VideoGame/NieR'': water is scarce, so nobody wants to touch and risk polluting what little they have, which means no swimming lessons. Doesn't quite explain why Nier manages to drown in knee-deep water, but it's a start. |
| 372 | * Justified in ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'': [=YoRHa=] androids are too heavy to swim. Mercifully, falling into water doesn't kill you, as you return to dry land with only a slight loss of HP. |
| 373 | * In ''VideoGame/PaperMario'', bodies of water have {{Invisible Wall}}s... until you find Sushie, and use special docks to cross the water. |
| 374 | * 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. |
| 375 | * ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': |
| 376 | ** In the main games, 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 ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'', you can't swim in deep water until you unlock the ability to surf on Koraidon/Miraidon's back like in ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', but you're simply sent back to where you last stood instead of blacking out. |
| 377 | ** 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, but 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. |
| 378 | * ''VideoGame/ShadowCaster'': Most of the forms available to the player--including the base "human" form--drown underwater, losing health with varying degrees of rapidity. |
| 379 | [[/folder]] |
| 380 | |
| 381 | [[folder:Sandbox]] |
| 382 | * In ''VideoGame/ArkSurvivalEvolved'', one of the most low-risk methods for killing a wild ''Giganotosaurus'' is to lure it into deep water. Gigas have lousy base Stamina and Oxygen, so they tire out and sink quickly. |
| 383 | * 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. Though for some reason, swimming pools are exempt from this and Crypto can stay submerged in one all day long. [[VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans2020 The remake]] handwaves this by stating that the Furons' BizarreAlienBiology means bodies of water affect them like acid (which also means swimming pools are now deadly) and makes it so that Crypto's shield now prevents him from submerging and dying instantly, though the shield itself will quickly short out in contact with water; however, it does nothing to explain why humans still drop dead as soon as they touch water with their ankles. |
| 384 | * 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. |
| 385 | * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'': |
| 386 | ** 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]]. |
| 387 | ** Amusingly, Claude, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'', drowns when his crotch is submerged. Though the inability to swim is justified in-game by explaining that Liberty City's water supply is [[GrimyWater the most polluted on Earth]], to the degree that dying from being submerged waist deep in it may be fairly explained as being exposed to a large dose of a terrible poison or deadly bacteria. This is why you take damage when you so much as skim the water while trying to get out of your boat. |
| 388 | ** Tommy Vercetti from ''GTA: Vice City'' thrashes and flails most awfully before succumbing. Leaping from roof to roof or crawling out of a flaming upside down car is just fine. This is much more noticeable than in ''GTAIII'' because like Miami, Vice City is roughly 80% beach. Of course, there are supposed to be sharks in the waters surrounding Vice City, but that doesn't explain Vic Vance from the PSP spinoff game, who can swim there fine... until he gets tired (and once he completes enough of a certain side mission, he doesn't have to worry about that anymore). |
| 389 | ** Toni Cipriani in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoLibertyCityStories'', after CJ averted this for the first time in GTA history, plays the trope straight. Falling in any water will kill him as it does with the previously mentioned Claude and Tommy Vercetti. |
| 390 | * 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. |
| 391 | * The otherwise indestructible Hulk in ''VideoGame/TheIncredibleHulkUltimateDestruction'' appears to suffer from acute hydrophobia -- landing in water will cause the player to instantly lose control of the character as he automatically jumps back to the nearest shore. So does SpiritualSuccessor ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}''. Alex Mercer is too dense to swim, but he just jumps back out of water if he falls in. The standard Infected are not so lucky. |
| 392 | * {{Justified|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/InFamous''. |
| 393 | ** Cole probably could swim, but now he's got all his electricity powers, standing in any body of water larger than a puddle will cause him to blow a fuse and die. How long it takes varies depending on whether you stand in a fountain, or jump into the river. On the other hand, small bodies of water (such as puddles) doesn't seem to even annoy him. You can also fry other people standing in the same body of water as you. Also, launching enemies into the body of water surrounding the city will cause them to die instantly. Not the same case in the sewers, as they just stand waist-deep in sewage and keep firing at you. |
| 394 | ** While this was entirely justified in ''[=InFAMOUS=]'' and ''VideoGame/InFamous2'' given Cole's electrical powers, it's also present in ''[[VideoGame/InfamousSecondSon Second Son]]'', despite Delsin's powers having nothing to do with electricity. On the other hand, Delsin doesn't drown; he just treads water until you hit the button prompt to return to shore. |
| 395 | * In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', falling into the ocean results in an instant Game Over... despite this being around your base, where you'd expect your staff to be prepared for the occasional accidental dip. This is avoided elsewhere, as no matter how wide the rivers in your areas of operation are, the water is only ever ankle deep. |
| 396 | * 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. |
| 397 | * 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]]. |
| 398 | * ''VideoGame/SleepingDogs2012'' 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. |
| 399 | * 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!" |
| 400 | [[/folder]] |
| 401 | |
| 402 | [[folder:Shooters]] |
| 403 | * ''VideoGame/AdventuresOfDinoRiki'' has river crossings that serve as deathtraps if Dino Riki botches a jump. |
| 404 | * Gets justified in the ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' games: when falling in water in snowy stages, the death animation shows your character floating off frozen in an ice block, while in tropical water the death animation shows piranhas swarming them and stripping them to the bone. |
| 405 | * ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' |
| 406 | ** In ''[[DolledUpInstallment Contra Force]]'', falling into the water in Stage 2 results in instant death. |
| 407 | ** Same in ''Shattered Soldier''. Drowning into water in Stage 4 instantly kills you if you don't land on floating pads right. And the [[WaterfrontBossBattle boss fight section]] makes this trope even nastier. |
| 408 | [[/folder]] |
| 409 | |
| 410 | [[folder:Simulation]] |
| 411 | * The [=PS2=] ''VideoGame/ArmoredCore'' games were very guilty of this. Shallow pools aside, your mech would ''instantly and completely'' shut down and sink upon even the slightest contact with a large body of water. |
| 412 | * 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. |
| 413 | * 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. |
| 414 | * In ''VideoGame/TheSims1'', the characters can swim, but cannot climb out of a swimming pool without a ladder. Remove the ladder and they will just keep swimming until they tire out and drown. ''VideoGame/TheSims 2'' [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade]] on this: in the Pleasantview neighborhood, you'll see a little text saying Brandi Broke's husband died in a "suspicious pool ladder accident". |
| 415 | * Subverted in ''VideoGame/TheSims 3'' where they can, and usually will, climb out of the pool if you remove the ladder. Played straight in that some sims can now be hydrophobic, and fear their Super Drowning Skills to the point that some freak if they have to take a ''bubble bath''. |
| 416 | * In ''VideoGame/TheSimsMedieval'', Sims can't drown, but they also aren't given the option to swim at all. The closest they get to swimming is wading into the sea to fish. |
| 417 | * [[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.]] |
| 418 | * In the Creature Stage of VideoGame/{{Spore}}, this seems to be averted at first in that the creatures can swim in shallow water and do not drown, but straying past a certain distance from the beach causes a SeaMonster to pop out and eat them. |
| 419 | * ''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! |
| 420 | * In ''VideoGame/WorldOfTanks'', drowning is based on water depth: once the water is deep enough your tank starts to drown. This is fine most of the time, but it can mean that a super-heavy tank the size of a two story house like the O-I, KV-4, or Maus can drown while most of the tank is above water. |
| 421 | [[/folder]] |
| 422 | |
| 423 | [[folder:Sports]] |
| 424 | * Sonic's inability to swim is [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in ''VideoGame/MarioAndSonicAtTheOlympicGames'' where Sonic dons a lifejacket in order to compete in the swimming events. |
| 425 | [[/folder]] |
| 426 | |
| 427 | [[folder:Stealth]] |
| 428 | * The ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' series treats this particular subject with a dash of LampshadeHanging. |
| 429 | ** In the [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI original game]], Altaïr is a highly trained assassin who can murder a dozen people before breakfast but the game instantly "desynchronizes" if he falls into any water deeper than his knees. The [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII second game's]] manual lampshades this as a consequence of the story's FramingDevice: specifically, a glitch in the Animus 1.0's programming. |
| 430 | ** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' and subsequent games allow the protagonist, Ezio, to swim perfectly no matter how much armor he's wearing. However, none of the guards and civilians possess this ability and a very effective way to subtly murder people is to tackle, push, or throw them into water -- although this can also cause you to fail missions where the objective is not to kill anybody. This becomes doubly amusing when you realize that part of II is set in Venice. In the first game, guards who fell in water would visibly struggle to remain afloat; now anyone who isn't Ezio [[CriticalExistenceFailure dies the instant they hit the water]]. |
| 431 | ** WordOfGod notes: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmijLiOczpw "Guards are lousy swimmers! And their armour is really heavy. So they stay out of the water."]] |
| 432 | ** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' continues this trend. To the point to where this will more than likely become the #1 cause of death for any aspiring Assassin apprentices. |
| 433 | ** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'', the apprentices can thankfully no longer die due to drowning. They still can't swim, instead they merely despawn when they hit the water. Everyone else still drowns in the water. |
| 434 | ** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' continues this trend, with both protagonists fully capable of swimming. They appear to be the only characters ever to learn this skill. Anyone else who ventures past waist deep plunges under the surface like they have legs made of lead weights and die instantly. This MIGHT be acceptable for soldiers, who are carrying heavy packs and weapons, but if you nudge a fisherman who is dressed in light clothing and is only carrying a fishing rod? Same thing. Amusingly, this panics any other people in the area, who flee the waterfront as they apparently realize just how close to instant death they are. [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential As a bonus]], you get no penalty or warning for shoving people to their watery graves, unlike the threats of desyncronization that come if you outright shoot them. Just like with ''Revelations'', apprentices are immune to this, merely despawning instead of dying. |
| 435 | ** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'' Finally averts the trope by having everyone being able to swim, if they just fall into the water by themselves, and not shoved, or pulled off a ledge in an attack. Ironically, as many of the game's characters actually ''shouldn't'' know how to swim. |
| 436 | * 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. |
| 437 | * 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. |
| 438 | * In ''VideoGame/Hitman2016'' [=NPCs=] instantly die the second they try to pick something up that 47 threw into water, no matter how shallow. This includes in puddles so small they can otherwise walk right through them. |
| 439 | * ''VideoGame/MetalGear'': |
| 440 | ** 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. |
| 441 | ** ''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!" However, ''mud'' is just as fatal to Snake as water is to guards, making the Dremuchij swamp one of the most dangerous areas in the entire game: Snake can't swim, only wade through while gradually sinking, and if any part of his head touches it for ''any'' reason - including, say, being knocked on his ass by an Indian gavial and landing with his torso on mud - it's an instant death by drowning. |
| 442 | * ''VideoGame/{{Thief}}'': |
| 443 | ** 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. |
| 444 | ** The first two ''Thief'' games 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. |
| 445 | ** 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 came in contact with 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. |
| 446 | [[/folder]] |
| 447 | |
| 448 | [[folder:Strategy]] |
| 449 | * Hilariously, in the ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' series, naval units need fuel to remain afloat. If one runs out of fuel it doesn't just sink, but ''violently explodes''. This is in stark contrast to land units which, naturally, just lose the ability to move without fuel. |
| 450 | * 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. |
| 451 | * ''VideoGame/PopulousTheBeginning'' followers can drown instantly in the sea, rivers, swamps and occasionally dry land. So can the Shaman, despite her near god-like magical abilities. |
| 452 | ** ''VideoGame/{{Populous}}'' did the same, followers and enemies drown in any form of water. Some levels either used fatal water, but others simply made it harmful (making the flood ability less powerful since the AI would almost instantly recover.) Swamps were always instant kill. |
| 453 | ** ''All'' water in the SNES ''VideoGame/{{Populous}}'' game was harmful, and never fatal except Swamps (which aren't technically "water"). Water gradually reduces a unit's population (all of those guys on the screen repesent groups of people). When population = zero, the "guy" disappears. If a very-low population unit drops in the water for whatever reason, it merely ''looks'' like the water is fatal. Obviously, in some map types, the environment (and water) kills quicker than in other maps (namely the Snow and Ice maps vs Grassy Plains). |
| 454 | * In ''VideoGame/YggdraUnion'', only [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Undines]] can walk on water tiles. In some maps, water can be frozen with the card skill "Diamond Dust", letting every other unit walk on the created ice sheet. However, the ice melts after two turns, and any non-swimming units who are still on the ice will sink, killing them on the spot [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou (instantly game over if it's Yggdra or Milanor.)]] |
| 455 | [[/folder]] |
| 456 | |
| 457 | [[folder:Third-Person Shooter]] |
| 458 | * In ''VideoGame/GiantsCitizenKabuto'' the Meccaryns would be eaten by piranhas if they fell in the water (though it was possible to escape), while Delphi (a mer-woman) would heal while swimming. Kabuto meanwhile sank and died. |
| 459 | * 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. |
| 460 | * 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. |
| 461 | * 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. |
| 462 | -->'''Garrus:''' You obviously haven't seen turians swim. It's a lot of flailing and splashing interrupted by occasional bouts of drowning. |
| 463 | * There are some flooded areas in ''VideoGame/MDK2''. The water is deep, and if you fall in, you will drown. |
| 464 | * The HumongousMecha in ''VideoGame/MechAssault'' begin to flood and take damage when their torso is submerged underwater. |
| 465 | * 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. |
| 466 | * Inklings and Octolings in ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' die the second they even touch the water, despite being descendants of squids and octopi, respectively. [[LampshadeHanging The games make a bevy of jokes to remind the player of that fact whenever the topic of water comes up]]. Fan justification comes from players assuming that Inklings are, well, made of ink, while WordOfGod additionally theorizes that both species could also have thinner skin that doesn't handle the pressure change of entering water that well. [[spoiler:It's also {{deconstructed|Trope}}. The rising water levels of the world meant that there would be little room for both species to comfortably live on the surface, leading to the Great Turf War over remaining territory in the game's backstory.]] They retain this weakness to some extent in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', as falling in water damages them rather than instantly dissolving them. |
| 467 | -->'''Marina''': I can see it now. The sun, the breeze in my tentacles, a quick dip in the ocean...\ |
| 468 | '''Pearl''': Marina, did you forget that we LITERALLY DISSOLVE in the ocean or somethin'? |
| 469 | [[/folder]] |
| 470 | |
| 471 | [[folder:Turn-Based Strategy]] |
| 472 | * In ''VideoGame/FellSealArbitersMark'', most classes and monsters cannot swim. If a character without the ability to swim gets pushed into a body of water, they will drown instantly. |
| 473 | * The eponymous protagonists of the comedy turn-based ''VideoGame/{{Worms}}'' series can survive grenades, dynamite and point-blank shotgun blasts, but die instantly when contacting water. Most projectiles succumb as well, but a fast-moving bazooka shell can skip across the water. A fast-moving worm will skip across water, as well. Some of the later games introduce weapons such as water balloons, which cause water to spawn on the stage that doesn't instantly kill your worms, although they ''can'' drown if left underwater for too long. The water at the bottom of the stage will still instantly kill you though. |
| 474 | [[/folder]] |
| 475 |
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