[[quoteright:320:[[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Sonic_3__Knuckles000_8590.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:320:[[VideoGameCrueltyPotential Can you share it with Tails?]]]]

Simply put, air bubbles that float up from the sea floor in games with an OxygenMeter. Grabbing them restores some or all of your OxygenMeter.

Exactly how they're made underwater, and contain enough oxygen to allow the character to breathe longer, is virtually never elaborated on. [[MST3KMantra You just have to not worry about it too much]], because chances are, you'll need these bubbles either way to keep yourself from drowning when you're underwater. Most often, they tend to be spaced through water-based levels as designated stops to breathe while submerged for long periods.

If the character is somehow able to breathe underwater in ways that should actually be impossible for them to do (such as a human character with an overall lack of any scuba gear), then you have SuperNotDrowningSkills, instead.

Common in VideoGames where there's no other way to survive underwater besides surfacing for air. Compare with ArtificialGill.
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!!Examples:
%%Please place examples alphabetically.

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Action Adventure Games]]
* ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice'' has underwater sections where you need to seek oxygen periodically. There's no visible oxygen meter, but after a while without air, Alice will drown. Air is stored inside the Turtle's shell, although since this is Wonderland, the details of how this all works are fairly irrelevant - it works because Alice expects it to work. Oxygen bubbles up from underwater plants and some vents, or occasionally for no visible reason.
* The ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin'' games occasionally feature oxygenated currents and oxygen bubbles trapped in underwater caves; they show up as giant bubbles on Ecco's sonar map in the first two games. Shelled Ones (clams) kind of ''look'' like they're giving you oxygenated bubbles, but these are actually for replenishing health. [[PoisonMushroom Just watch out for poisonous Shelled Ones.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' has these for its underwater segments, as well as poisoned purple bubbles that drain a ton of your breath meter, almost assuring you'll drown if you don't surface ASAP.
* ''VideoGame/AnUntitledStory'' features oxygen bubbles in [[UnderTheSea DeepDive]], although their purpose is more for bouncing off from, especially since there are much more reliable jets of oxygen found in the same area that don't take a while to appear.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Adventure Games]]
* ''VideoGame/BluePortJSummerSkyPrelude'' feature these (in a surprising rarity for this game considering the SignatureStyle of [[Creator/FoxEye its developer]]). The girls can gobble up air leaks to refill their OxygenMeter. Typically, these air leaks don't appear unless you've dived so deeply into the ocean that the air leaks end up being the only practical way that your character can avoid drowning, because otherwise, surfacing would be too far away for any of them to reach in time.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:First-Person Shooter]]
* In the underwater levels of ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'', Duke can replenish his oxygen meter by swimming through air bubbles rising from ruptured pipes. There is even a BossFight where you have to dart between ammo dump and bubbles while avoiding the boss' attacks and shooting at it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Platform Games]]
* ''VideoGame/FortyWinks'' has underwater vents that spew breathable bubbles. Just running through them is not enough, however; you have to linger on them to get a full-sized gulp of air.
* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'': One area in [[DownTheDrain Clanker's Cavern]] has a huge pit you need to swim into, but it's very, very deep. A friendly fish named Gloop appears down there who spits out oxygenated bubbles. He appears nowhere else, however, making him a [[UniqueEnemy Unique]] HelpfulMook. [[VideoGame/BanjoTooie The sequel]] takes it to the extreme in Jolly Roger's Lagoon: Mumbo's magic oxygenates ''all the water in the level'', removing the need for the air meter entirely for that level.
* ''VideoGame/{{Karoshi}} 2.0'': Oxygen bubbles pop up in an underwater level. This being a game about comitting suicide, you're supposed to avoid them so that you can die.
* ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet 2'' has bubble generators which you can swim by for bonus air.
* ''VideoGame/KirbyMassAttack'' has those bubbles since it's one of the few games where Kirby cannot breathe underwater infinitely.
* ''VideoGame/Rayman2TheGreatEscape'' normally uses Blue Lums to restore air underwater, but Carmen the Whale produces air bubbles that work identically. ''[[VideoGameRemake Rayman Revolution]]'' replaces the Blue Lums with bubble vents.
* Every 2D game in ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' (plus ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'', ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'', ''VideoGame/SonicColors'', and ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'') that contains a water level of some kind features spots that spawn air bubbles that Sonic would have to breathe in to avoid drowning. In some games (such as [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1 the]] [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 orig]][[VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles inals]]), the breathable bubbles would appear at irregular intervals, sometimes forcing a drowning Sonic to desperately wait for one. This is remedied in ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'', where there is a Water Shield that, should Sonic, Tails or Knuckles have it on, will eliminate the need for breathing in the bubbles.
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** While coins in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'' somehow gave you some of your air/health back, inhaling an air bubble would fill it up completely.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' and [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 its sequel]] also have air bubbles.
** Despite taking place in a tropical seaside resort, ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' only has these bubbles appear in one specific instance: [[UnderwaterBossBattle the battle against Eely-Mouth]].
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'', you can find air bubbles in both the Lake Kingdom and Seaside Kingdom. They're not as necessary, since you can also use the game's Capture mechanic to possess a Cheep-Cheep, allowing you to not only breathe underwater but maneuver more easily.
* ''VideoGame/{{Vexx}}'' has bubbles in [[UnderTheSea The Below]] (and a side-area in Dragonreach) that refill your air. Vexx can hold his breath a long time without them, though.
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' has such bubbles in its underwater sections, usually released from a treasure chest or a scaphander helmet. There also are continuous strems of small bubbles at some key points of the stages.
* ''VideoGame/FreedomPlanet'' has bubbles in some of the water sections which will expand and allow you to breathe as long as you're standing in them. Similar to ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'', the Water Shield will also allow you to breathe normally underwater [[spoiler:and in otherwise deoxygenated areas, such as the section of Final Dreadnought where Brevon vents the atmosphere to try and take out the heroes]].
* ''VideoGame/YookaLaylee'' takes this to new heights with one of Yooka's moves, an oxygenated underwater ''fart'' that fully envelopes himself and Laylee, and gives the duo access to their on-land moveset underwater.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Rime}}'', bubbles appear on some kind of of tube-like creature. They're replenished a few seconds after being used, so you can spend an arbitrary amount of time underwater if you don't get lost or stuck.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Party Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/SonicShuffle'', the first board, [[PalmtreePanic Emerald Coast]], has underwater sections. Sonic and his friends can only spend five turns underwater, and if they drown, they lose a turn. Fortunately, there are air bubble spaces that they can land on to refill their oxygen meters.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Puzzle Games]]
* One of the puzzles in ''The Time Warp of VideoGame/DrBrain'' had you controlling a lungfish in an underwater maze. As you swam, your oxygen would gradually run out, but you could refill it by sucking up bubbles or by finding air pockets.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Role-Playing Games]]
* The underwater area in ''VideoGame/MOTHER3'' features an OxygenMeter refilled not by bubbles, but big-lipped mermen who deliver oxygen via a kiss. Everyone stands around blushing afterwards. One of these oxygen supply "machines" also appears later in the Empire Porky Building, this time as a centaur, just for laughs.
* The Kelp Reef in ''VideoGame/WanderingHamster'' features large bubbles you can walk into to reset the timer representing your OxygenMeter and keep it from counting down.
* In ''VideoGame/AWitchsTale'' when Liddell is under the sea, she'll constantly take minor damage and lose air until she finds air bubbles.
* The gimmick of [=NapalmMan's=][=/=][=TomahawkMan's=] stage in ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork5TeamColonelAndTeamProtoMan'' is that the ship's computer area is flooded, so you can grab these to refill your OxygenMeter.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[=MMORPGs=]]]
* ''VideoGame/ClubPenguin'': During the Aqua Grabber minigame, the player pilots a machine underwater in order to collect, depending on the level, pearls or soda cans. The player has to inhale air bubbles every now to avoid a drowning-caused game over.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Elsword}}'', bubble vents are found in one single dungeon (the second one, specifically) of Hamel. Like the ''VideoGame/FortyWinks'' example above, just walking through it won't suffice; the player has to stand there for a few moments to refill the OxygenMeter based on how much has been drained.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'''s Royal City of Rabanastre raid has the first boss flood the arena, giving players stacks of Breathless that [[OneHitKill instantly KO]] once they reach 10. To avoid this, players kill the Flume Toad adds that conveniently appear at the same time and stand in the bubbles they leave behind.
* Some areas in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' have fissures which spew enough oxygen for your character to breathe underwater.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roguelikes]]
* In ''VideoGame/NetHack'' the Elemental Plane of Water has randomly moving air bubbles that you can walk in. Being turn-based, much of the level involves waiting for the bubbles to move to the exit.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfMajEyal'' has a few underwater levels with stationary (and depletable) bubbles that you have to travel between to avoid suffocation.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Survival Games]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Grounded}}'', the pond has an aeration hose running through parts of it, occasionally releasing bubbles of oxygen. Given that its purpose is aeration, it's not surprising the hose releases pure oxygen. The bubbles in question are naturally tiny (only a few millimeter in diameter), but given [[IncredibleShrinkingMan the size of the protagonists]], that's plenty.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Subnautica}}'', there exists a species of "brain coral" that, according to its scan data, metabolizes carbon dioxide from the water to build its shell and releases the waste oxygen in a form that, by coincidence, the player's air tanks are equipped to make use of. Downplayed in that only a set amount of oxygen is provided per bubble; you usually need to catch multiple bubbles to fully refill your tank.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:WideOpenSandbox]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'':
** Doors cannot be waterlogged, meaning they can be placed underwater to create pockets of air. Such pockets also occasionally show up naturally due to glitches. Since water won't flow ''through'' the block either, it's possible to make a deadfall trap look like a waterfall.
** Magma blocks create columns of air bubbles when placed underwater. Unfortunately, they also pull your character down to the seafloor (and can destroy boats if you're not careful) and will [[LavaIsBoilingKoolAid deal a bit of damage if you touch them]], so they're not a perfect way for exploring the ocean. Conversely, soul sand can create bubble columns that push entities upwards.
[[/folder]]

!!Non-VideoGame examples:

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood'', Jonathan is dragged into a lake by a zombie to prevent him from unleashing his Ripple (which requires breathing). Jonathan then realizes that from the way the lake was formed, the bottom must contain pockets of air, since it's bubbling up now and then, and dives down to extract enough air to fill his lungs with. Exactly how he could be sure that the air was breathable after being trapped for centuries under a lake is not mentioned.
* ''Manga/DrStone'' features an extended sequence of this at one point. [[spoiler:During the Treasure Island arc, most of the good guys are petrified and thrown into the ocean. Ryusui tries to restore Taiju, but realizes that the revival fluid will just dissipate uselessly in the water, so he uses the mouthpiece of his oxygen tank to create a pocket of air around Taiju's body so he can administer the fluid. After being revived, Taiju sucks a big lungful of air from the bubbles coming out of the mouthpiece, not from the mouthpiece itself, before setting to work getting Kaseki out of the seabed.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/TheGirlFromTheSea'': While [[RhymingNames Keltie]] the {{Selkie|sAndWereseals}} can't control the water itself in any of her forms, she can bestow a cloak of air bubbles that protects against drowning.
* In the ''ComicBook/PocketGod'' story arc, "A Tribe Called Quest", the pygmies encounter a tribe of anthropomorphic crustaceans called Bubble Breathers. True to their name, they blow bubbles with their oxygenated saliva. The pygmies use these bubbles when their oxygen tanks go empty.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' supplementary comic "Deep Trouble," Star, Marco, Pony Head, and several others are in bubbles while in the Underwater Kingdom.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* In ''Zelda and the Manacle of Cahla'', while Zelda wears the Pearl Mask to traverse underwater areas, her magic owl sidekick Groo encases himself in a bubble. [[BlatantLies Which he totally knew he could do]].
* In the ''Fanfic/PonyPOVSeries,'' this is how Derpy got her cutie mark. As a filly, her mother tried to kill her by having her fly over a river while wearing a heavy "good luck necklace". She fell in, but used bubbles caught in her wing feathers to breathe until she could get to the surface. Her own interpretation of her cutie mark is that her bubbles represent how she does her best to never give up.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]
* ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022'': In a nod to the games, Sonic sucks in an air bubble when underwater [[spoiler:trying to free the trapped Knuckles.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'' introduces the Bubble-Head Charm, a spell which makes the user wear the bubble.
* In ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', part of Percy's MakingASplash powers include creating bubbles of breathable air underwater. Percy doesn't need them himself, but it's very useful for his non-water breathing companions.
%% * Following on from the games ''Literature/SonicTheHedgehogInRobotniksLaboratory'' has Sonic and Tails doing this while stuck on an underwater slope that leads into a cave. %%"Doing this" could mean *anything*.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:TabletopGames]]
* In TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons, the Elemental Plane of Water contains enormous air bubbles that non-aquatic residents occupy - since the plane lacks gravity, the bubbles don't move much. The air comes from the Elemental Plane of Air, since the planes occasionally interact.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theme Parks]]
* In the former ''Ride/JimmyNeutronsNicktoonBlast'' attraction at [[Ride/UniversalStudios Universal Studios Florida]], in the scene where Jimmy and Carl splash into Bikini Bottom, they are wearing oxygenated bubbles around their heads, hence why they are able to breathe.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' episode, "[[Recap/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehogS01E29RobotnikJr Robotnik Jr.]]", the titular robot traps Sonic in a sewer. In a nod to the underwater levels of the video games, Sonic breathes in air bubbles to avoid drowning. In this particular case, the bubbles even allow him to ''talk'' underwater.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Team Avatar and their allies sneak up on the Fire Nation with a submarine approach. But Appa can't fit in a sub, so Katara creates a bubble around his head to trap some air.
* ''WesternAnimation/BigBlue'': Human characters in the show's setting wear bubbles instead of diving helmets.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Some types of diving beetle (and one diving spider) trap a thin layer of air against their bodies and use these to breathe. The spider even makes an underwater web to trap air in, allowing it to live most of its life underwater.
* Subverted by fish tank bubblers. They do indeed help to keep the water more oxygenated, but they do so by encouraging the surface water to move around more, rather than the bubbles themselves adding oxygen.
[[/folder]]
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