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[[quoteright:250:[[VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3 http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Flying_Goombas_7225.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:250:And you thought mosquitos were annoying...]]

Simply put, a Mook that flies, floats, or hovers, due to either having wings, a propulsion system, or supernatural powers. They may stay out of the player's reach, and will attack him from their advantageous position. Furthermore, due to their freedom in the air, they may tend to dodge rather well.

Because of this, they can be considered GoddamnedBats or, in worse cases, DemonicSpiders, especially in games where your character has DenialOfDiagonalAttack or takes {{Knockback}} (see LedgeBats for this case). Can be a type of KungFuProofMook if they're especially hard to hit normally.

These guys usually tend to do one of the following:
* Try to knock the player back via CollisionDamage or by diving into them.
* Stay out of the player's reach and shoot them or drop bombs (or Mooks) from above.

Airborne Mooks in Platform Games, usually those that try to knock the player over, are considered a huge annoyance, ''especially'' if they're [[LedgeBats the kind whose sole purpose is to knock the player]] into a BottomlessPit.

Airborne Mooks in FPS games or Action games may be smart enough to strafe around the player, making them harder to hit. Other than that, they use the same strategies above.

RPG games will tend to have these guys as {{Fragile Speedster}}s. They'll usually have a high speed and evade rate, making them a [[GoddamnedBats pain in the ass to hit]]. Thankfully, they probably won't have high HitPoints, and will go down quickly if you ''do'' hit them. In the case where they do have high HitPoints ''and'' a high evade rate (and maybe some very damaging attacks), you're fighting a DemonicSpider.

If these things appear in a TowerDefence game (especially those where you have to divert the mooks' path), they'll usually have the ability to take a [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard short cut]] and [[DungeonBypass fly over your towers to their goal]]. Certain types of towers will not work on them either.

Your best bet against an AirborneMook is, obviously, to use an AntiAir attack against them, as they'll usually be weak to it or are unable to avoid it.

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!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Action Games]]
* The {{goddamned b|ats}}irds from ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' cause heavy damage, if not knock the player into a pit.
* Quite a few examples in Run-and-Gun games:
** ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' has the dangerously annoying helicopters and missile aircrafts.
** ''VideoGame/AlienSoldier'' has those irritating flies which are hard to hit (except with the homing force).
** ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes'' has jetpack soldiers that drop bombs in Orange's stage.
** ''VideoGame/AlienHominid'' has helicopters and jetpack guys, both of which can take a lot of damage.
* Cacodemons, Lost Souls, and Pain Elementals in ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}''.
* ''AceCombat'' and ''AirForceDelta'' has the player swatting entire squadrons of enemy aircraft.
* The [[GoddamnedBats floating eyeballs]] and [[DemonicSpiders Beholders]] on the spaceship in ''Fester's Quest''.
* The helicopter-pack soldiers in ''VideoGame/BionicCommando''.
* ''VideoGame/GardenGnomeCarnage'' has sleighs. They float, and some of them drop gift-clad parachuting elves on you, but on the other hand, they can be helpful as they explode like a brick when they hit the ground, likely taking out some elves in the process.
* In the ''Garden Gnome Carnage'' spin-off ''VideoGame/HyperPrincessPitch'', they return. They shoot projectiles at you, and some of them only fly by, leaving you only short time to kill them, while others stay around and you have to destroy them.
* The Harpies from ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'', and the Flying Kleers, Floaters, Hellchicks, and Levitators from ''VideoGame/SeriousSam 2''. They all possess projectile attacks, whether they be fireballs (Flying Kleers), energy projectiles (Harpies, Floaters, Levitators) or ''bats'' (Hellchicks).
* ''VideoGame/MagicalWhipWizardsOfPhantasmalForest'' has bats, ghosts, jack-o'-lanterns, and dangling spiders. In fact, only knights and slimes are earthbound. It's a good thing some levels have infinite midair jump [[PowerUp power-ups]] hidden in them!
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' has jump/jet pack Elites and Brutes, as well as Sentinels and Drones.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Action RPGs]]
* Vespoids in the ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' series. They are essentially giant wasps that hover just out of reach of many of the game's weapons, before darting in, jabbing you with a stinger, and retreating. Couple this with the fact that the stinger can inflict paralysis on you, and will seemingly always do this when you're low on health/fighting a boss level enemy, and you will soon come to hate them.
** Also, they nearly always shatter when you DO kill them, leaving absolutely nothing to loot, making the whole exercise of killing them completely pointless (fortunately, Poison works fine if you need a body to carve).
** The fact that the developers have included quests based entirely on slaying large numbers of these things (an early quest has you slay 20. At this point in the game, it takes 3-5 hits to kill one of the things!) also accentuates the utter irritation they bring. However, at least they spawn almost infinitely in certain places, so you don't have to go looking everywhere for them.
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'' introduced the [[GoddamnBats Cliff Racer]], a flying enemy with a [[HitboxDissonance dysfunctional hitbox]] so reviled both in-game and in the series' {{fandom}} that it was driven out of Morrowind offscreen by an AscendedExtra character who was granted in-game fame because the fans took such a liking to him.
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' has Dragons, which can appear randomly to attack you as a BossInMookClothing. They fly about 2/3 the time, so they do count as this trope. Thankfully, you learn a shout that acts like an AntiAir, forcing them to land.
* The Giant Mosquitoes in the Blighttown swamp in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls''. Hard to hit, annoying things. They're easily killed by the even the weakest of attacks but here is the kicker; ''They endlessly respawn.''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Platform Games]]
* The ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros.'' games have: Lakitu, who flies out of normal range and drops [[TheSpiny spinies]] onto the player; Koopa Paratroopas, flying versions of the regular Mooks; and Bullet Bills, which try to [[RammingAlwaysWorks ram the player]], as some of the notable ones.
** Pictured above as the trope image is Paragoomba from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3''. Yellow ones fly high overhead to avoid Mario's attacks, while dropping Micro-Goombas that stick onto Mario and weigh him down. [[GoddamnedBats Definitely an annoyance whenever they appear]].
*** Infinite Adaptive Mario, a Java remake with self-adjusting difficulty, contains Para-Bullet Bills
* The ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series has quite a few, like the [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog Buzz]] [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006 Bom]][[VideoGame/SonicColors bers]] and [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 Buz]][[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog4 zers.]] They [[TooDumbToLive tended to fly within Sonic's attack range]], though, and most are rather easily dispatched.
* The ''VideoGame/MegaMan'' series had many MechaMooks that could fly. Some of the more irritating ones were "Pipi", a robotic bird carrying an egg which it drops. If the egg hits the ground, it would break into 8 or so mini-birds, which would then fly at Mega Man. Especially annoying were those "things" that lived in BottomlessPits which popped out from them as you jumped over, knocking you backwards and into the pit.
* Neckies in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'', Flitters in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry 2'', and Knik-Knaks in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry 3''.
* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' features flying space pirates. And, of course, wasps!
* ''VideoGame/{{Bug}}!'' had at least one in each level, and they were usually very annoying to defeat.
* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' has a number of them, including demonic eyes and eaters of souls.
* ''VideoGame/CommanderKeen 4'' has Skypests. Can't shoot them, can only crush them with your pogo stick when they land.
* ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania|1986}}'' gives us the gorgon heads. They don't usually turn you to stone, but they do fly in a sine wave when you're on platforms. If the platforms are moving, they becomes DemonicSpiders rather quickly.
** A lot of the flying demon enemies in the ''Metroidvania'' entries also do this. The sheer amount of mid-air enemies makes the Axe subweapon very good in these games.
* ''VideoGame/JourneyToSilius'' has various robotic GoddamnedBats, hovering Xenomorph-like bots, and a DemonicSpider [[FanNickname known to some as]] the [=HumpBot=].
* ''VideoGame/{{Snailiad}}'' has, among others, the Sky Viper, Chirpy, Batty Bat, and Ghost Dandelion.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Role-Playing Games]]
* [[GoddamnedBats Goddamned Zubats]] from ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', or any Flying-type for that matter, although they weren't as annoying as the bats...
** Pokémon with the Levitate ability to dodge Ground-type attacks can count too, though Koffing/Weezing are probably the most annoying, having a high Defense, being able to poison you or blow up, and having only one weakness because Levitate removes its Ground weakness...
*** The Tynamo family is particularly nasty for this reason; its offensive stats are high enough that it can do more than stall, and its weakness to Ground attacks is annulled by its Levitate ability, effectively leaving it with ''none''. That is, unless Gastro Acid, Entrainment, Gravity, Mummy, or Mold Breaker come out to play.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' had some enemies with the flying status, which meant that you couldn't use melee attacks against them unless they were guns or bows/crossbows. Alternatively, one could just use magic on them without having to open up the inventory all the time.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' also had enemies with the "flying" status which could not be damaged by melee attacks. There were also bat enemies which had a 1/8 (later ones had 1/4) chance of completely avoiding a physical attack, making them literal GoddamnedBats.
* The ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series has them. Hammers and other low-hitting moves will not be able to hit these kinds of enemies, use your GoombaStomp instead. Bowser from ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Bowser's Inside Story]]'' has it pretty rough against the (very few) airborne enemies he fights - he is unable to attack them via any of his normal attacks.
* Flying Assault Drones and Rocket Drones in ''Franchise/MassEffect''. This also made them immune to most biotic attacks. They land eventually, though.
** A better example is the Geth Hoppers, although they don't fly, they're more mobile and spend more time above ground than the turrets.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Shoot 'Em Ups]]
* Many enemies in ShootEmUps are these. Thankfully, your PlayerCharacter can fly too, so it's not really much of a threat unless they have [[MadeOfIron lots of health]] and [[BulletHell spam bullets]].
* ''HeavyWeapon'' has your tank on the ground, and most of your enemies in the air. There are some ground-based enemies too, which can sometimes be more annoying than the aerial ones.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tower Defence]]
* The Balloon Zombie in ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies''.
* ''[[http://www.kongregate.com/games/HeroInteractive/bubble-tanks-tower-defense Bubble Tanks: Tower Defense]]'' has an odd variation -- in this game, the flying enemies are called "[[IntangibleMan Ghost]]" enemies. They pretty much act in the same way you'd expect a flying mook to in a TowerDefense game -- by [[DungeonBypass bypassing your towers]].
* Flying Aliens in ''TowerMadness''
* Two kinds of flying enemies appear in VideoGame/DefenseGridTheAwakening, one of which just has more health than the other. In any case, both of them are very dangerous as they are immune to some towers, and cores stolen by them ''cannot'' be replaced.
* ''DesktopTowerDefense'' has the appropriately-named "Flying" creep.
* ''VideoGame/MiniRobotWars'' has the [[TheGoomba Scout Helicopter]], [[FragileSpeedster Jetpacker]], [[CoolAirship Napalm Airship]], [[CoolPlane Hyper Jet]], [[InvisibleMonsters Ghost]] and [[GrimReaper Reaper]]. The good news is that they do not have much health compared to land-based mooks.
** During the NewGamePlus, many of the land-based enemy units get a helicopter attachment that allows them to travel in the air at a fast speed.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Turn Based Strategy]]
* ''VideoGame/{{X-COM}}'' has Floaters in the first game and an assortment of similar aliens in the sequels.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' throws Pegasus Riders, Wyvern Riders, and, occasionally, flying monsters at the players on a regular basis.
* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' includes a broad selection of flying units, both giant robots and more conventional aircrafts.
* NipponIchi strategy-RPG titles feature a variety of flying creatures, including angels, succubi, and assorted monsters.
[[/folder]]

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