History GenreSavvy / VideoGames

** The Iron Bull serves as a warrior class, but is in fact a Qunari spy. Realizing that The Inquisition's Spymaster would quickly find that out he is up front about this.

** If you side with the mages and confront Alexius, at one point Alexius' son asks Alexius if he knows what he sounds like. Cue Dorian: "he sounds exactly like the sort of villainous cliche everyone expects us to be"

* Sans in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' is this, and on a large scale as well. [[spoiler:He'll catch players off-guard by starting with his turn, in contrast to other fights where enemies move after the player. His first attack is also very strong, which will catch players off guard further. He has a few opening lines before you fight him, but if you die to him and retry, he'll attack after his second last line to surprise you again. Sans also avoids almost every attack coming his way, and when he gives you the option to spare him, [[ISurrenderSuckers he'll hit you with an unavoidable attack]]. Finally, his special attack has him doing absolutely nothing, stretching out his turn so that you can't have yours.]]

* Sans in ''VideoGame/Undertale'' is this, and on a large scale as well. [[spoiler:He'll catch players off-guard by starting with his turn, in contrast to other fights where enemies move after the player. His first attack is also very strong, which will catch players off guard further. He has a few opening lines before you fight him, but if you die to him and retry, he'll attack after his second last line to surprise you again. Sans also avoids almost every attack coming his way, and when he gives you the option to spare him, [[ISurrenderSuckers he'll hit you with an unavoidable attack]]. Finally, his special attack has him doing absolutely nothing, stretching out his turn so that you can't have yours.]]

* Both Ben and Dan in ''VideoGame/BenThereDanThat'' and its sequel are aware at all times that they're in a [[AdventureGame point-and-click]], and specifically that it's one of the LucasArts school which doesn't punish the player with deaths or {{Unwinnable}} situations. This is frequently used to justify their more dangerous antics and their [[TooDumbToLive lack of any fear of death]], as well as Ben's [[KleptomaniacHero kleptomania]] and [[MoonLogicPuzzle deliberately trying to come up with convoluted ways of doing simple things]]. The aliens, however, are DangerouslyGenreSavvy, and reveal at the end of ''BenThereDanThat'' that their abduction of Ben and Dan and forcing them to go through a point-and-click adventure game was just there to [[YouAreTooLate keep them clicking about long enough for the aliens to enact their real evil plan.]]

%%* ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'': Sam & Max gradually grow into this throughout the [[TelltaleGames Telltale]] series, eventually reaching a point in

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' has a couple.
** --> '''Varric''': 'I don't like this'? [[TemptingFate That's right up there with 'What could possibly go wrong?'...]]
** --> [[spoiler:'''Zevran''']]: I assume you want to loot the camp, yes? Come talk to me when you are done.

** --> '''[[spoiler:Zevran]]: I assume you want to loot the camp, yes? Come talk to me when you are done.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' does this. Lightning and Hope [[SuspiciousVideogameGenerosity find a save station and a treasure sphere containing Ethersol]] (A usable item that restores the party's TP) just before entering a [[BossRoom large, open arena]]. Hope comments, " [[ThisIsGonnaSuck I get the feeling something bad is about to happen...]]"
** Another one: Hope knows that tired old tale of "Revenge is not going to solve anything." He doesn't care.

* The intro to ''VideoGame/AngryBirds2'' shows the birds were well-expecting the pigs stealing the eggs this time, and open fire on the stealing pig almost immediately.

* Geralt of ''VideoGame/TheWitcher''. He's well aware of traditional fantasy stories, and [[TheSnarkKnight of course being the kind of person he is]], sarcastically brings them up from time to time. He's also aware of the villain's excuses and lectures and tends to brush them aside in favour of cutting to the chase. That said, Geralt's knowledge of fantasy tropes aren't always PlayedForLaughs, sometimes they are very true: [[spoiler:in one quest to cure a man of [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent lycanthropy]], he comes across a variety of cures ranging from the folk (Wolf's aloe sewn into a shirt) to the scientific (a potion brewed from alchemy) and the corny fairy-tale classic, true love. Rather shockingly, it's the corny fairy-tale one that works]]. Even better, Geralt, being a professional monster-slayer, has been specially trained to see through the schemes of intelligent monsters such as [[WickedWitch devourers]] and [[OurVampiresAreDifferent bruxa]] who are GenreSavvy enough to play on misconceptions of the common folk regarding their exact nature. So, he's ''double GenreSavvy''.
* ''VideoGame/DiscworldNoir'': Some of the villains, [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality not that it surprises anyone.]]

* The title character of ''EatLeadTheReturnOfMattHazard'' is not only savvy about every genre he's ever been in, but he's savvy about every other game genre, too. He also has MediumAwareness, and these are half of what he uses to get through his situation. The other half, of course, is lots of guns.
* Apart from the whole "evil unkillable vampires" part and stuff of which she is by necessity very genre savvy, [[CloudCuckoolander Arcueid]] of ''{{Tsukihime}}'' also surprisingly displays some genre savviness in regards to relationships. Arcueid notes that Shiki sure is acting nice to everyone else, he says that he ''is'' nice to everyone... except her. You idiot! She's thrilled (but can't quite grasp why), because she recognizes him as being a {{tsundere}} -- and therefore making her the love interest!

* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar 2'' starts with the Blood Ravens realizing all they need to win the war is one player character.

* Guillo of ''VideoGame/BatenKaitosOrigins'' displays genre-savviness throughout the game, questioning good guys who turn out to be villains, realizing when something has come "too easily," and knowing to run away before the inevitable [[HopelessBossFight "doomed to lose"]] boss fights.

* ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'': Sam & Max gradually grow into this throughout the [[TelltaleGames Telltale]] series, eventually reaching a point in

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', When the player is getting close to completing all of the Riddler's Challenges, the Riddler accuses Batman of cheating, and that he is looking up the hidden locations on the internet.

* In ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'', an AdventureGame series, Graham recalls his father's sage advice, "[[ItMayHelpYouOnYourQuest Take anything that isn't nailed down.]]"

* The developers for ''{{Spore}}'' knew that [[FreudWasRight when given artistic freedom, people will naturally deviate towards pornographic material]], and put in measures so people would not be forced to run into peoples' penis-monsters when exploring the player-made content.

* Henry of ''NoMoreHeroes'' is made of this trope. He correctly identifies himself as main character Travis' mysterious foil and just goes on from there.
** Travis picks up some of it once ''Desperate Struggle'' starts, but the king of the trope is the final boss. When Travis can't figure out his motives, the boss snaps, pointing out that [[spoiler:YouKilledMyFather]] is a staple of every genre known to man -- "''Shakespeare'', for God's sake!"
* Guillo of ''BatenKaitos Origins'' displays genre-savviness throughout the game, questioning good guys who turn out to be villains, realizing when something has come "too easily," and knowing to run away before the inevitable [[HopelessBossFight "doomed to lose"]] boss fights.

* In ''BrutalLegend'', Eddie shows a degree of genre savvy right off the bat when he sees a Twisted Coil Battle Nun from behind. "All right. I'm supposed to think you're a nun, but I know you're really some big ugly demon, so let's have it! (she turns and roars in his face) HAH! I knew it! Big, ugly demon."
** Eddie is definitely among the best examples of this trope in any video game story, quite fittingly as he is sort of ''TrappedInTVLand'', except it's Heavy Metal Land and he likes it there far better than his original world.

* In ''ZettaiHeroProject'', pretty much everyone is aware of what cliches to keep track of, apparently because HenshinHero shows are based on real life for them. But their CrowningMomentOfAwesome comes when Darkdeath Evilman unleashes a series of energy blasts that land in countless cities across the world, causing mass destruction. [[spoiler:Each and every one of those locations was evacuated, because they were all the buildings and landmarks that are always destroyed in movies. There were no casualties at all.]]
* Both Ben and Dan in ''BenThereDanThat'' and its sequel are aware at all times that they're in a [[AdventureGame point-and-click]], and specifically that it's one of the LucasArts school which doesn't punish the player with deaths or {{Unwinnable}} situations. This is frequently used to justify their more dangerous antics and their [[TooDumbToLive lack of any fear of death]], as well as Ben's [[KleptomaniacHero kleptomania]] and [[MoonLogicPuzzle deliberately trying to come up with convoluted ways of doing simple things]]. The aliens, however, are DangerouslyGenreSavvy, and reveal at the end of ''BenThereDanThat'' that their abduction of Ben and Dan and forcing them to go through a point-and-click adventure game was just there to [[YouAreTooLate keep them clicking about long enough for the aliens to enact their real evil plan.]]
* Kouin in EienNoAselia realizes that being perfectly willing to kill to save his girlfriend makes him less sympathetic than the angsty Yuuto, which means he can't be TheHero. Yuuto himself edges close on occasion.
* In ''SaintsRowTheThird'', The Saints often {{Lampshade}} and discuss tropes such as help arriving after two waves of SWAT teams and mentioning how they think Loren wouldn't be so cliche as to hide on the top floor of the tallest building of the city "like a criminal mastermind".

* Blizzard showed themselves to be almost DangerouslyGenreSavvy when it came to developing ''VideoGame/{{Diablo III}}'' - they knew that in the multiplayer option, just about every characters' stats would be the ''exact same'' as one another with little if any deviation at all. So they knew that since {{Munchkin}}s would eventually force everyone to follow the "best" build, to simply make all the stats determined at level-up anyways.

* [[{{VideoGame/Deadspace}} Isaac Clarke]] has become INCREDIBLY genre savvy in regards to Necromorph outbreaks. But hey, surviving three games of ZombieApocalypse '''{{IN SPACE}}''' will do that to you.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'':
** In the Red/Blue versions, Gengar, the main antagonist, is very GenreSavvy. He knows just how to get rid of the villain and his plan works perfectly - almost.
** Alakazam and Xatu also appeared to fit this trope, simply because of their ESP powers. Alakazam, however, was [[spoiler: WrongGenreSavvy.]]
** In the second game, Grovyle, and each of the villains was dangerously Genre Savvy.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Ghetsis from ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' is well aware of the series FantasyGunControl, which is a major part of his plan.
** Misty from ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' would also have a bit of this. It's more so if you enjoyed a curb-stomp battle against her in ''VideoGame/PokemonRedBlueAndYellow'', which is possible if you had Bulbasaur and Pikachu. In G/S/Crystal, however, Misty knew that you would bring in an Electric Pokemon, and brought out a Quagisire who knows Earthquake. She also knew you would bring in a Grass Pokemon as well, and has taught her Starmie and Lapras Ice-type moves.
** Many gym leaders as of late are as Genre Savvy as Misty. For example, in ''Videogame/PokemonXAndY'', Viola, the very first Gym Leader, specializes in Bug-types. Should be walk in the park for those who chose Fennekin as their starter, right? As it turns out, she knew well ahead that Bug-types are weak against Fire-types, so her very first Pokémon is a Surskit, a Bug/'''Water'''-type. She's also content with telling said Surskit to use Water-Sport which weakens fire-type moves even further. Grant, the Rock-type Gym Leader, has a Dragon/Rock type as one of his two Pokémon on his team. This type combination's weak to neither Grass-types nor Water-types due to the Dragon-type's resistance canceling out the Rock-type's vulnerability, so you can't just use Water-type moves or Grass-type moves and expect them to be super effective on said Pokémon. The other Pokémon? An ''Ice''/rock-type. Ice-type moves deal super effective damage to Grass-types. Said Pokémon has Aurora Beam, an Ice-type move. In addition, its ability turns it's Take Down move into an Ice-type. In other words, half of the Pokémon's move set will deal super-effective damage to Grass-types.
*** The very fact that the above two Gym Leaders actually use some wits to counter weakness itself is an act of being savvy, because you never expect gym leaders to use such strategy this early. [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Misty]] and [[VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver Bugsy]] can be curb-stomped with Grass/Electric and Fire/Flying/Rock respectively. Even [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Leonora]] (who is considered as ThatOneBoss) doesn't have anything to specifically counter against Rock or Fighting type.
** The first truly savvy gym leader was Falkner, the first leader you face in Gold/Silver. Despite being a flying-type gym, the TM move he gives you (and has on all his mons) is Mud-Slap, a ground-type move which is super-effective against the Rock- and Electric- types you would normally deploy against Flying. The fact that he uses the half-normal Pidgey series nullifies the ability to use ghosts as well. He's not considered ThatOneBoss because it is easy to powerlevel beyond him and win by brute force, but the only way to defeat him through typing is, ironically, by [[IfYouCantBeatThemJoinThem using flyers of your own]].

* ''PrincessWaltz'' is a good H-game not just because of its elements that work, but because it gleefully lampshades its own cliches. It's really hard to hate this game for following the stock conventions of its own genres when they cleverly keep poking fun at them at the same time. In fact, the BigBad and The PluckyComicRelief are walking fonts of GenreSavvy hilarity.
* ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic IV'' includes a sympathetic undead king who gets his underling to draw up plans for invading a neighbouring kingdom -- and them sends the plans to that kingdom, so they can fix the holes in their defenses. He explains that even though invading his neighbour would make him the most powerful ruler in the entire world, that would just mean [[GondorCallsForAid everyone else would unite their forces to take him down]].
** He later promotes a zombie to Captain and takes the trouble to learn his name for showing the sense and initiative to find out exactly what an enemy's ArtifactOfDoom did (saving his life in the process), and figures out that there must be a reason why no one has ever activated each of five {{MacGuffin}}s. He then takes [[SacrificialLamb appropriate precautions]].

* [[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Kyle Katarn]] (at least in ''VideoGame/JediAcademy'') is genre savvy, lampshading tropes such as the fact that [[LockedDoor the console for opening a door is probably hidden in some room twelve floors up]] and that [[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling Luke Skywalker]] ''[[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling always]]'' [[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling senses a disturbance in the Force]].
** He's like this to a lesser extent in ''Jedi Outcast,'' too. [[DoesntTrustThoseGuys Never trust a bartender with bad grammar.]]
*** He also finishes one of his mission objectives (disabling the Doomgiver's shields) during Galek's monologue.
** In a lesser example, he always knows how to find keys.

** Many of the {{NPC}}s in the game tend to be genre savvy: civilians will complain about they can't walk down the street without someone trying to snatch their purse, kidnap them, or try to use them in strange rituals. And some of the villains are equally savvy; at least one fragment of dialogue for a low-level gangbanger references the endless-loop purse tug-of-war animation with a "No, really! I actually got the purse!"
*** In the same vein of the low-level gang member, a cry for help on part of the {{NPC}} struggling for her purse shows some degree of GenreSavvy as well, recognizing that since crying out about getting mugged won't summon help quickly enough, she yells that there's a fire instead.
**** This is advice given to people in the real world too.
** The pamphleteer in front of City Hall will sometimes say things like "Burn Perez Park to the ground! [[ScrappyLevel It's full of monsters and impossible to find your way around!]]"
* In ''ArmyOfTwo'', neither Rios nor Salem are particularly fazed by being [[OneManArmy sent in on missions to retake aircraft carriers or blast their way past the entirety of the People's Liberation Army,]] and at the endgame, they [[spoiler: take on practically all of the biggest PMC in the world without blinking.]] When confronting PsychoForHire Phillip Clyde, they don't even act surprised at his stream of increasingly irrational descriptions of what he's going to do to their corpses -- [[FreudianExcuse they assume he had a messed up childhood]].

* Midna in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' is rather genre savvy (half because she's TheImp + DeadpanSnarker; half probably to make up for how [[StopHelpingMe ridiculously obvious her predecessor, Navi's, hints were]]).
-->'''Midna:''' [[KleptomaniacHero Look at that open window... this village is full of idiots.]]
* Cole from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'' might just be the most GenreSavvy villain the series ever had and goes out of his way to eliminate every single trope that could probably make his master's GrandTheftMe on Princess Zelda's part go wrong, from FightingFromTheInside (he removes her spirit first) to AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs (He didn't attempt to take over Hyrule Castle, like every other villain in the series would have done). The one mistake he makes, pulling a [[spoiler: YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness on Byrne]], was finally his downfall.

* [[MsFanservice Rouge the Bat]] takes an abrupt turn to the Genre Savvy in ''[[SonicChronicles Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood]]'', LampshadeHanging everything from the convenient findability of the series' GreenRocks to the [[TalkLikeAPirate nonsensical dialects]] of [[SpaceIsAnOcean space brigands]].
** It should also be noted that Sonic himself is also this. With the amount of times he's lampshaded tropes in the games, he fits well. Example being in ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' he knew right away that the amusement park was just a front for Eggman's evil plot.
*** A perfect example; "Experience has taught me to investigate anything that glows."
** Then there's Knuckles, who eventually realized that no matter ''how'' carefully he defended the Chaos Emeralds, eventually they'd be stolen ''anyway'', and so just hangs around doing his own thing until he gets word they've been stolen, at which point he goes to get them back.
** ''[[VideoGame/SonicBoom Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric]]'' has several GenreSavvy characters.
*** Sonic, as usual, has his moments of recognizing when things are off. For instance, he sees the Tidal Crystal at the entrance of the Purification Plant, saying that seeing such a valuable item at the entrance "never happens".
*** Knuckles also has some savvy moments, which is unusual for the DumbMuscle stereotype he was presented as. He points out that door opening without needing to knock means bad things are ahead, and he even snarks at Sonic when he acts like the pile of rocks in the Pit are a dead end.
*** '''Amy Rose''' joins in on the fun this time. She tells Sonic, twice, not to open the door to Lyric's Tomb, due to having a bad feeling about the place, she pressures Cliff into telling them about Lyric when he recognizes that their "tomb with a giant snake in it" was meant to be a prison, and she sticks to Sonic like glue whenever he tries to [[IWorkAlone do something heroic by himself]].
*** Even Eggman gets in on it. After two encounters with Lyric stealing robots from under him, he recognized that his Egg-O-Matic never tipped him out, and built a manually controlled mech to fight Lyric with. [[spoiler:He even services said mech instead of building a new robot, [[VillainousRescue using it to snipe Lyric]] in his alleged moment of triumph.]]

* In ''Videogame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'', Jetstream Sam decides not to give a monologue unlike other bosses of the series, stating that both him and Raiden have heard enough speeches about ideals at this point.

** Nick in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'''s Dead Center campaign asks the other survivors if they were bitten, knowing that the infection is being spread from zombies biting people.

* ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'': Sam & Max gradually grow into this throughout the [[TelltaleGames Telltale]] series, eventually reaching a point in ''Moai Better Blues'' where Max correctly guesses that the sea monkeys' prophecy about their messiah has [[TheThreeTrials three distinct requirements that the duo will have to fulfill in order to progress]]. The sea monkeys themselves, being GenreBlind, take his seemingly omniscient guess as evidence that he might be their messiah.
** After a certain point, Max seems to have simply descended into being a FourthWallObserver. He suggests at one point switching to the RhythmGame genre to take down the Samulacra, and instantly jumps on the opportunity to do a FetchQuest later on.
*** ''[[InsistentTerminology Doggelgangers]]!!!''
* In ''NeverwinterNights'', besides of making more explicable efforts to stop the plague, the BigGood and his minions set up an academy to train heroes to save the city. Of course, [[PlayerCharacter one of them]] does. However, this goes beyond any reasoning that might actually make sense in the game world, and seems more like a bad excuse to set up the ProtagonistWithoutAPast.
* Carth's smelling a rat about the whole mission in the first ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' game could be interpreted as Genre Savviness, as could a lot of Atton's behavior in the sequel. In-universe, it's mostly explained as both of them being Force sensitive.
* In ''VideoGame/UnchartedDrakesFortune'', Nathan Drake invariably ends up in gunfights consisting of several waves of goons. Every so often, Drake will ask to himself "Where do these guys keep coming from?".
** In the second game, ''Among Thieves'', Drake in one level has to retrieve an ally from a broken elevator. As he does so, Drake tells himself "I swear to God, [[spoiler:if there's a zombie around the next corner...". Mutant Spaniards, or "zombies", were a special foe from the first game, in a level where Drake again had to rescue a friend from a small compartment.]]

* In ''LegacyOfKain: Defiance'', Kain shows his level of savvy, likely stemming from several centuries of living, in the Citadel of the Ancients. He encounters a series of very well-proportioned statues with dangerous looking swords, and monologues to himself that there was no way in Hell they wouldn't attack at some point.

** In ''Origins'', Batman can overhear a conversation between two mooks. Both are GenreSavvy in their own way- after one mook suggests that his buddy distract Batman so he can sneak up behind him, the buddy says he's just going to run away next time he sees Batman. The first correctly points out that sort of fear is why Batman keeps winning...and the second correctly says, "No, he keeps winning because he's stronger, smarter and faster than us."
* In ''[[ModernWarfare Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2]]'', in the second-to-last-mission, Soap and Price go on an assassination mission. Once the target realizes that Price is coming after him, he orders a full evacuation of his base and tells his men to simply hold off the heroes until he can escape. An entire military base vs. two men, and the guy knows it's futile to actually try to kill them.
* In ''{{Singularity}}'', Nikolai Demichev is smart enough to keep plans for the [[spoiler: Singularity Reactor, and rebuilds it after the heroes blow it up]]. He also never forgets that time travel is possible. Thus, when confronted with two American Marines in modern-day uniforms even though there hasn't been an American military for about fifty years [[spoiler:because the timeline has been altered so the USSR conquered the world in the sixties]], he knows exactly what's going on, and doesn't waste time wondering how the two men have become crazy enough to believe the things they're talking about.
-->'''Devlin:''' Name, rank and serial number is all you're getting from us, ''Ivan.'' Now, I want to speak to someone from our embassy.
-->'''Demichev:''' You will find that impossible, for a variety of reasons...

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', if you have the human noble story and tell Arl Howe that you're going to kill his wife and daughter, he will respond, "Isn't that precious? Is this where I lament the monster I helped create? Let me show you how it's done: I made your mother kiss my feet before she died, it was the last thing your father saw. Meet my sword, and change that." Unfortunately he's not genre savvy enough to know not to mess with the Warden.
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', Snarky!Hawke repeatedly demonstrates throughout the game, that they are perfectly aware of what [[WretchedHive type]] of city [[CityOfAdventure Kirkwall]] is and what role they play.
--> '''Hawke''': Someday I would like to go one ''week'' without meeting an insane blood mage, just one week!
** Merrill plays with this trope. On the one hand, she underestimates the dangers of BloodMagic, particularly the consequences they can have on other people. On the other hand, she ''is'' aware that BloodMagic is dangerous and that she is making a DealWithTheDevil, which puts her light-years ahead of most blood mages.
** Varric also demonstrates this throughout the game, though one has to wonder how much is embellishment on his part, since he's the narrator.
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' reveals that Varric's savvy nature was not just embellishment. He repeatedly demonstrates in dialogue that he has a keen understanding of how stories work and lampshades a number of different parts of the game through this.

* In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRenegade'', after [[OneManArmy Havoc]] manages to board the plane and fight off Sakura just before take-off, Sakura immediately radios the crew NOT to attack him (too late, ''he'' has attacked them).

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has Legion, a mobile platform for a race of artificial intelligences who download themselves into cyborg bodies. He explains the entire metaplot of the series in a single comment when he explains how his faction of his race have chosen to create their own future rather than use the technology of others. Adopting the EldritchAbomination's seemingly benign technology will undermine their independence and cause their society to develop along lines someone else has chosen. It may be a metaphor for cultural imperialism or a SpaceWhaleAesop depending on your point of view.
** In the first game on Noveria, the Peak 15 facility has suddenly been overrun by murderous insect. Even though he has no idea what they are and where they come from, the chief of security doesn't seem very suprised. After all, ''"Labs like these exist to do stupid crap that gets people killed."''
** There's also the DLC ''Lair of the Shadow Broker,'' and the banter between Shepard and Liara regarding merc tactics.
-->'''Liara:''' The drones are disorganized. They'd be more effective if they all attacked at once.
-->'''Shepard:''' Please don't give the mercs ideas.
-->'''Liara:''' The next wave looks like a big one.
-->'''Shepard:''' You just ''had'' to give them tactical advice.
-->'''Liara:''' But now there'll be fewer left to deal with inside.
-->'''Shepard:''' Keep dreaming, T'Soni.
** One of the most genre savvy moments of the series comes after [[spoiler: Saren's death]], either from combat or [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath a self-inflicted gunshot wound]]. After Shepard opens the relays around the Citadel, s/he sends the squadmates down to "make sure he's dead." One of the party members will then put a round clean through his skull, [[spoiler: although it doesn't stop him from getting up again anyway]].
** With a few slight lapses, Shepard (renegade or [[GoodIsNotDumb paragon]]) has shown him/herself to be consistently GenreSavvy throughout the entire series so far. A good counterpoint to the DangerouslyGenreSavvy [[EldritchAbomination Reapers]] and [[MagnificentBastard Illusive Man]].
*** A good example of Shepard's lapsing into WrongGenreSavvy is during ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', when during a high-speed car chase, Shepard genuinely asks what kinds of guns a ''taxi'' has! In fairness, you could easily argue that all this does is prove that Shepard has become very much aware of their status as a CosmicPlaything and become ProperlyParanoid as a result. Taxi's armed with guns? Given what they've faced, that's the ''least'' absurd.
*** By the third game, Shepard has gotten so familiar with the setup of these games as to deliberately try and sound out the psychology of new squad members in as much detail as possible, to the point of asking an AI companion [[spoiler:EDI]] if they have a designer who could be considered a warped father figure just to presage any of the parental issues that haunt a statistically improbable number of the franchise's characters.
* ''VideoGame/DoubleSwitch'': After being attacked by a mummy who turned out to be [[spoiler: Eddie]] a few times, three people hurry to Brutus's room. Why? Because they decided that they need a gun to shoot their attacker, and since they know Brutus has had dealings with the Mafia, they figure who better to come to for a gun? They didn't get a gun, but at least they tried, didn't they?
* In one mission in ''VideoGame/FreeSpace'', you lead a raid on a Shivan supply depot. After the first two transports grab their cargo, two more show up to snag the last two. When the first one grabs his container, it promptly [[StuffBlowingUp explodes,]] killing the transport. The other transport refuses to grab the last container, knowing that it's set to explode. Command forces the transport to do it anyway. Guess what happens next.
* Towards the end of HuntedTheDemonsForge Caddoc notes that, "Chanting is never a good thing" And it isn't,
* In ''SaintsRowTheThird'', Loren captures Gat, Shaundi and Boss, and offers them membership in the Syndicate. They turn him down. He immediately tells his men to kill them. What's more, he doesn't stop even after the Saints jump out of the airplane they were in. As a matter of fact, he [[spoiler: kills Johnny Gat]] and uses this information to enrage the Saints, possibly to get at their emotions and make them slip up. It works, especially with Shaundi.
** Matt Miller is noticeably afraid of the Saints, and is well aware of what they're capable of, to the point where he [[spoiler: wisely considers just paying the Saints off instead of fighting them in one mission.]]
** The Saints as well, they often {{Lampshade}} and discuss tropes such as help arriving after two waves of SWAT teams and mentioning how they think Loren wouldn't be so cliche as to hide on the top floor of the tallest building of the city "like a criminal mastermind".
* A lot of people in ''VideoGame/{{Super Robot Wars Z}}2'' especially in ''Sasei-Hen'' are quite genre savvy, especially when events from the end of ''CodeGeass'' happens. [[spoiler: When Schneitzel reveals Zero's identity depending on your option somebody (Roger or Duo depending on player's choice) will point out why they should still trust him, not Schneizel and later, when in one route Lelouch becomes Emperor, almost entire cast knows him well enough to know he has a plan.]]

** In-game, the characters are ''very'' savvy. They typically notice traps before they're in danger of springing them ("This looks suspicious...") ...before the players spring them anyway, because [[BadAss they can handle it]]. The characters also pre-empt the reveal of the boss of Act 2 by basically saying [[spoiler:to the child Emperor of Keijistan]] "we know it's you, Belial; stop screwing around".
* In the VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas add-on Honest Hearts, White Bird, the Sorrow tribe shaman, is player savvy enough to give you this gem with an [[NamedWeapon unique weapon]]:
---> White Bird "Use well. Or sell to curio trader. Either way, says much about you."
** And in the main game, Veronica and Arcade Gannon know what companions are for.
---> '''Veronica''' "You're making me carry the heavy stuff aren't you?"
---> '''Arcade''' "Sure. Just don't treat me like a pack brahmin okay?"
* In the soon-to-be-released iPhone game ''DemonSouls'' (not to be confused with the Playstation title of the same name), you play as Thunder, a spear fisherman who lives in a small fishing village. He ends up fighting demons at every turn, grabbing artifacts, and the like. He actually becomes more genre-savvy as the story goes on, eventually saying at one point, "Anyone wanna bet there's going to be demons waiting for us right after I grab this artifact?"
** He isn't surprised when he turns out to be right.
* In ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'', [[TheHero Stocke]] regularly figures out plot developments and motivations like this, especially during sidequests. Among other things, as soon as [[spoiler:Raynie]] starts explaining that "[[IHaveThisFriend So there's this guy...]]" he immediately asks if she's in love with the guy, and when a [[LargeHam very melodramatic]] soldier tries to send the party on a FetchQuest but doesn't know the location of the targets, Stocke hazards a guess that the soldier pawned them for cash, prompting a "H-How did you know!?"
* Like in ''VideoGame/MegaMan4'', Dr. Wily [[VillainExitStageLeft exits stage left]] in an escape pod when you beat the Wily Machine. Unlike that game, however, [[spoiler:Mega Man immediately uses [[SmartBomb Wish Star]] on him]] in ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity''.
** Speaking of Megaman... By ''Videogame/MegamanAndBass'', Wily knows that he can't beat Megaman because their universe runs on some variation of RightMakesMight. [[spoiler:Though his plan to use King as a WellIntentionedExtremist is far from waterproof as it requires very little conversation for him to perform a HeelFaceTurn.]]
* The game SpecOpsTheLine itself is genre savvy. It knows every cliche, trope, and power fantasy that goes into the modern military shooters which FollowTheLeader, ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty: VideoGame/ModernWarfare''. The devs knew exactly what the players were thinking when they took one look at the washed-out, grim-man-with-a-gun cover. Then it sucker-punches the player, turning out to be more like [[spoiler: ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' or ''Literature/HeartOfDarkness'']] than a heroic military adventure.
* In the Silent Talon mission of ''VideoGame/GhostRecon: Future Soldier'', one of your teammates says that the mission is going well, which prompts another to reprimand him for jinxing it.
* Mia in ''VideoGame/DuelSaviorDestiny'' is rather genre savvy regarding tsunderes. During Lily's route, she tries begging her to treat Taiga as a normal teammate and to calm down the aggression against him. This isn't because she wants them to get along, but rather because she's perfectly aware that the longer Lily keeps it up the bigger the dere flip will be later, something she's [[ClingyJealousGirl convinced]] will win over her brother.
* Mr. Torgue of the DLC bearing his name in ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' is normally not the brightest bulb, but he's more aware of what's going on than you'd expect.
-->'''Mr. Torgue:''' NOW THAT YOU'VE IMPRESSED PYRO PETE, HE'S GONNA GIVE YOU THAT SPONSOR HE KIDNAPPED, EXCEPT HE'LL DOUBLE CROSS YOU, AND YOU'LL HAVE TO KILL HIM, AND IT'LL BE AWESOME! ANYTHING YOU WANT TO ADD, PETE?
-->'''Pyro Pete:''' Uh, no, You, uh... covered it. Thanks... for that.
-->'''Mr. Torgue''' YOU ARE WELCOME!
* [[Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaVivid Vivio and Einhart]] in ''VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable: The Gears of Destiny'' quickly realize that they've been thrown back into the past and spends most of their time in the game trying to avoid everyone since you aren't supposed to let people know about the future in TimeTravel stories lest you screw up the timeline.

* [[TheBerserker Asura]] of ''AsurasWrath''. There are many cutscenes where a villain will pull a long winded TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, and naturally, you are presented with the option of [[TalkToTheFist interrupting]] it. Like the above example, he just doesn't want to hear their crap.
* Maleficent of ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'' is constantly shown advising the other Disney villains not to rely too heavily on the power of Darkness and the Heartless, or they will be consumed by it. She's proven correct time and time again throughout the story. However, later in the story, she boasts that she personally has nothing to fear from Darkness, because she's "the Mistress of All Evil". Ansem proves her wrong when he forcibly unlocks her heart, causing the Darkness to overwhelm her and consume her just as it had everyone else. Still, the fact that she had to be forced into accepting Darkness powers and did not do it herself puts her above most of the other villains in Genre Savviness.
* ''VideoGame/YuGiOhReshefOfDestruction'' has Pegasus, who hinders the player, Yugi, and Joey at every turn and takes special care to ensure Yami Yugi cannot be summoned.

* ''HeroesOfMightAndMagic IV'' includes a sympathetic undead king who gets his underling to draw up plans for invading a neighbouring kingdom -- and them sends the plans to that kingdom, so they can fix the holes in their defenses. He explains that even though invading his neighbour would make him the most powerful ruler in the entire world, that would just mean [[GondorCallsForAid everyone else would unite their forces to take him down]].

* ''CityOfHeroes'' has one involving the Trolls and the Tsoo: while interfering with a meeting between the two gangs, heroes will come across Mr. Ting, a Tsoo, complaining to the Troll leader, "Haven't you learned anything? [[RevealingCoverup When you kidnap people, capes show up.]]"

* A critical plot point in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'': [[spoiler: when you meet an American soldier in the Russian wilderness during the ColdWar, who is asking about Adam and says his code name is Snake, just give it a shot and tell him you're Eva. [[AdamAndOrEve Chances are very good this Adam guy has a partner by that name.]]]]

* ''DawnOfWar 2'' starts with the Blood Ravens realizing all they need to win the war is one player character.

* In ''{{Uncharted}}: Drake's Fortune'', Nathan Drake invariably ends up in gunfights consisting of several waves of goons. Every so often, Drake will ask to himself "Where do these guys keep coming from?".

* In one mission in FreeSpace, you lead a raid on a Shivan supply depot. After the first two transports grab their cargo, two more show up to snag the last two. When the first one grabs his container, it promptly [[StuffBlowingUp explodes,]] killing the transport. The other transport refuses to grab the last container, knowing that it's set to explode. Command forces the transport to do it anyway. Guess what happens next.

** Merrill plays with this trope. On the one hand, she underestimates the dangers of BloodMagic, particularly the consequences they can have on other people. On the other hand, she ''is'' aware that BloodMagic is dangerous and that she is making a DealWithTheDevil, which puts her light-years ahead of most blood mages.

*** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' reveals that Varric's savvy nature was not just embellishment. He repeatedly demonstrates in dialogue that he has a keen understanding of how stories work and lampshades a number of different parts of the game through this.

** In origins, Batman can overhear a conversation between two mooks. Both are GenreSavvy in their own way- after one mook suggests that his buddy distract Batman so he can sneak up behind him, the buddy says he's just going to run away. The first correctly points out that sort of fear is why Batman keeps winning...and the second correctly says, "No, he keeps winning because he's stronger, smarter and faster than us."