History Main / CityGuards

* ''{{EvE Online}}'' has CONCORD, the neutral police force. If you attack an another player in high-security space without a [[strike:war declaration]]bribe, retribution is swift, deadly and unavoidable. In fact, successfully evading them is a bannable offense on the basis that [[NoOneCouldSurviveThat it all but requires hax to do so]]. Factions also maintain their own navies, but those are at least escapable, if not survivable.
* ''{{Everquest}} 2'' has guards in major cities. Some which are harder than high end raid bosses.

* Picking a lock with any other creature (even a cat) on screen in the original ''BaldursGate'' yields the delightful phrase 'Someone has noticed you. You heard the guards being summoned'. This would be followed up by high-level, well-equipped guards (though how powerful, exactly, depends on the in-game area you were in) showing up to confront you. Some of them can be bribed to go away, some just kill you.

* In a non-game example, this trope is deliberately subverted in the {{Discworld}}, where Creator/TerryPratchett's Ankh-Morpork City Watch take every associated trope [[UpToEleven up to and past eleven]]. This is reflected in the computer games based on the Discworld, such as ''DiscworldNoir''.

* RuneScape used these too...and were attackable. They weren't actually programmed the same way most City Guards are actually...and players would regularly kill them for experience. It's even been lampshaded how guards don't have a very long lifespan.

* ''WorldOfWarcraft'' has guards in every city and town (as well as invisible elite guards that only appear to opposite faction players). Guards will give you directions if you ask them, however in some cities (specifically the ones in Stormwind for starters) are rather unpleasant about this. The ones in Undercity basically demand to know what you want for talking to them. To sum it up, all guards are somewhat AxCrazy with FantasticRacism and will attack/kill players of the opposite faction on sight whether they're causing trouble or not.

* Each town in ''AnimalCrossing: Wild World'' has two armed canine guards at the north gate. You can't even leave your own town until you get friend codes. The trouble is that you can't get friend codes within the game; you have to get them from other players.

* ''[[VideoGame/PeasantsQuest Peasant's Quest]]'' has a guard guarding the mountain that leads to the final boss. In order to pass, you must prove that you are a peasant, which includes being on fire.

* ''{{Prototype}}'''s marines will almost always target you over the nearby infected horrors, even if you're just running away while Hunters [[Determinator chase you to the ends of the earth]]. Justified in that you are their primary target.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' has city guards wearing light armor, Imperial Legion soldiers wearing heavy armor; neither is superior to the player character, but they are seldom alone. Attack one, and more will come. Each one killed adds significantly to the bounty the character must pay off to avoid jail time. But you ''can'' kill them. It's even possible through underhanded methods (legitimate and not) to get them to attack ''other'' innocent [=NPCs=] on the street.
** For example by casting "Frenzy" on a person. The target goes crazy and starts attacking anybody nearby, the guards rush in and kill him. It's apparently perfectly legal to use magic that causes people to go berserk.
** Note, however, that in ''The Elder Scrolls,'' unlike in most video games, the city guards will always remember who you are. If you are wanted, they will try to apprehend you on sight. Given how much of the series is spent in cities, it is usually a good idea to just accept the fines or jail-time they offer you rather than fight them.

** They can always be very spiteful, too. And not to mention, 99.9% of Tamriel's citizens are above the law. If you provoke somebody into attacking you, the guards will simply tell you to "Move along outlander" or calmly say "Tell me outlander, what do you need?" when there's a Dunmer ''trying to punch your lights out''. If you try to sleep in town, you'll be sent ''right'' to jail, whereas they might get stuck trying to walk over somebody's unconscious body.

*** Let's get the joke out of the way now. Shooting a city guard in the knee with your bow does count as a crime.
*** If you are the Thane in a hold, you can sometimes get guards to look the other way in regards to some of your crimes, but you can only do this once. If you've done enough jobs to get Thieves' Guild influence in the hold, you can bribe a guard for half your bounty to make the problem go away.
*** In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCHYvLdHhn8very rare cases]], guards will [[ArtificialBrilliance stop to actually interrogate you if you linger near the scene of a murder]].

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', you have to [[StealthBasedMission sneak past them]] to get to Zelda. ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'' depicts them as [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy generally useless cowards]], although they thankfully never really get in your way either. Well, they ''try'' if you run around as Wolf in Hyrule Town...
** Don't forget ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' in which the guards wouldn't let you out of Clock Town in the beginning of the game (because you're trapped in the body of a young Deku Scrub). Later, when you're back to human form, they try to protest that it isn't safe for children, but then decide that this particular young child is carrying a sword, and therefore will be perfectly fine. Nice job, guys.
*** Keep in mind, at one point an old lady walks through a field in front of a guard when she is mugged and completely ignores her cries for help. If that weren't enough, after running around a bit the mugger escapes through ''the very door he is guarding''. It seems the ''only'' job these guys were hired for was keeping small children from going outside.
** Alternately, ''Twilight Princess'' assumes that all of the competent guards were killed off/imprisoned when Zant/Ganondorf secretly invaded Hyrule Castle, leaving only the [[TheGuardsMustBeCrazy bungling fools]] to stumble around castle town, unaware of why nobody's heard from HQ.
** Don't forget that in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast A Link to the Past]]'', the guards were in the employ of the villains -- ''they held their own princess captive'' and tried to arrest Link for it later. The oft-ignored guard on Hyrule Castle's battlements will comment on how [[JustifiedTrope most of the guards lost their minds]] since [[EvilChancellor Agahnim]] took over, and muses that it'll only be a matter of time before he's affected too.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap Minish Cap]]'', the guards stationed around Hyrule Town never antagonize Link and will comment on the king's strange behavior. You do have to sneak past the guards at Hyrule Castle in the later parts of the game, just like in ''Ocarina''... [[spoiler:[[TakenForGranite until they're all turned to stone.]]]]

* Minetown in ''{{Nethack}}'' has guards that will simply stand by and watch as you and its inhabitants try to kill each other, but God help you if you [[spoiler:dry up one of the town's two fountains]], in which case every last one of them will be out for your blood.
** Oh, they will also attack you if you directly assault a shopkeeper. [[spoiler: The key word being 'directly': If you anger the shopkeeper by zapping him with a wand or throwing things at him, the guards won't care, and any subsequent beating will apparently be considered self-defense.]]

*** Well if [[spoiler:you were the one who killed him,]] you probably won't have any trouble with some puny guards at that point.

->''"Let me guess, [[Memes/TheElderScrolls someone stole your sweetroll...]]"''
-->-- '''Guards''', ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''

* In the ''NeverwinterNights'' mod game ''ADanceWithRogues'', every city guard is single-handedly capable of killing you, and it's impossible to bribe or evade them if they either spot you committing a crime or someone ''else'' reports you to them. This necessitates the use of stealth over brute force, which is the focus of the game. The one leeway you're given is that they'll only give you a verbal warning if it's a minor crime (like walking around with your weapon unsheathed).

* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCHYvLdHhn8very rare cases]], guards will [[ArtificialBrilliance stop to actually interrogate you if you linger near the scene of a murder]].

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' manages to avoid some of the previous problems with the city guards. While they'll still chase you down and try to arrest you, you can still attempt to flee, as each of the holds (read: city/provinces) tracks crime separately. Kill a man in Riften, and the guards in Whiterun won't care. Also, if you commit a crime and leave the city, the guards ''will'' remember you; an overt crime that earns a bounty will cause them to arrest on sight, while a covert crime like thieving (without getting caught) will periodically result in a guard who will comment "Wait a minute, I know you...." If you stop to talk to said guard, he'll realize you're apparently behind that theft and try to arrest you.

*** Furthermore, if you are the Thane in a hold, you can sometimes get guards to look the other way in regards to some of your crimes.

->''"Let me guess, [[{{Jerkass}} someone stole your sweetroll...]]"''

* The ''VideoGame/{{X}}-Universe'' series has Space Police, which scan cargo bays for contraband and attack pirates. Their bigger brothers, the Border Patrol, keeps an eye on jumpgates leading to the other faction's sectors, and they use higher-end ships. [[PoliceAreUseless Both generally still get wiped out]] by {{Space Pirate}}s, because the Police apparently can't afford anything bigger than [[ScrappyWeapon Impulse Ray Emitter pea-shooters]].

* The ''VideoGame/{{X}}-Universe'' series has Space Police, which scan cargo bays for contraband and attack pirates. Their bigger brothers, the Border Patrol, keeps an eye on jumpgates leading to the other faction's sectors, and they use higher-end ships.

The CityGuards are the local authorities. They strut about between one tile square and another, looking busy, decked out in more armour than your [[FightInTheNude hero]] and generally acting superior.

CityGuards are a common form of the BrokenBridge, in which case they may well be {{Invincible Minor Minion}}s in order to make SequenceBreaking impossible.

* RuneScape used these too...and were attackable. They weren't actually programmed the same way most CityGuards are actually...and players would regularly kill them for experience. It's even been lampshaded how guards don't have a very long lifespan.

* In the ''{{Thief}}'' games, guards abound. Even if they'd be sympathetic to the plot you're trying to advance, who has the time to explain it to them? Besides, getting around them is the majority of the game's objectives, and even in Thief 3's between-mission sandbox, they're really no more a deterrent than citizens, whether you're playing as intended, Thief-like, or going berserk. They do have some amusing exchanges to eavesdrop.

->''"STOP! You violated the law! Pay the court a fine or serve your sentence!"''

** Averted at one point when the Blackwatch forces are told that defending a particular truck is their primary objective, and they immediately cease to attack you, [[VideogameCrueltyPotential even you start butchering them]][[ImAHumanitarian for health.]]

* ''{{Prototype}}''s marines will almost always target you over the nearby infected horrors, even if you're just running away while Hunters [[Determinator chase you to the ends of the earth]]. Justified in that you are their primary target.
** Averted at one point when the Blackwatch forces are told that defending a particular truck is their primary objective, and they immediately cease to attack you, [[VideogameCrueltyPotential even you start butchering them]][[I'mAHumanitarian for health.]]

->''"Let me guess, [[Jerkass someone stole your sweetroll...]]"''

** Guards vary on how helpful they are to players in need. Some guards, like Booty Bay Bruisers, will rush to your aid if you've got monsters after you. Other guards won't lift a finger unless the monster attacks ''them.'' Certain guards will react to PvP combat by killing everyone involved, even if one player didn't do anything. For awhile, this was a very common cause of {{Griefing}}.