History Main / CriticalFailure

** [[UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch Mr. Game & Watch]] has a hammer attack that has nine different effects. If he holds up a one, he damages himself and inflicts ScratchDamage on his target (who won't even flinch).

** The magical mishap rules, however, are ''awful''. There are pages and pages of possible side-effects, ranging from repetitive ("caster worships and entire body is branded with the symbol of god X" for every possible god, spanning 8 pages) to childish humour ("caster grows a piece of fruit from their dickhole/cuntpipe every ten days") to game-breaking stupidity ("nearest two nations declare war on each other", [[MercyKilling DEATH OF EVERY LIVING THING]]) - and of course "roll for 1d20 other effects".

If being used on everything from swordplay to rock climbing, it may be a game mechanic meant to show the inherent danger in messing about with such dangerous things. Perhaps it's described as the unseen weak chink in the armour or the sudden gust of wind or [[JerkassGods the gods just being dicks]] that day. When used only on particular items or actions, it could be used to show how they are the riskier choice or contain some particular special power that must be paid off for with a special risk (see AwesomeButImpractical and DifficultButAwesome).

* In Franchise/{{Pokemon}}, while many basic attack moves (Scratch, etc.) have 100% accuracy, many high-powered moves have accuracies in the 80-90% range, making them occasionally fail to inflict damage. The "Jump Kick" family of moves in particular will backfire and damage the user if the attack misses (for any reason).

* In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' game ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', you can interrupt most of the Elite Mooks' super attacks (the ones where they glow blue and white with wisps of energy surrounding them) by using the correct subweapon (Bombs for Moblins, Boomerang for Darknuts and Stalmasters, Hookshot for Aeralfos & Fiery Aeralfos, Hammer for Blins, Bow for everything else) on them during their windup. This will result in a Magic Misfire, when involving either actual spells or fire-breathing. It will hit surrounding enemies and leave the enemy captain stunned with its weakpoint exposed for an extended period of time.

* A side story of ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' in which Ellen hosts her first [=DnD=]-type tabletop game results in Nanase [[https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/wie-063 jokingly rolling]] to determine how well her character descends a flight of stairs, having previously established that she's careful around stairs. [[TemptingFate Naturally]], she rolls a 1, and falls down them. In defiance of probability, the rolls that the other players make in reaction to this (whether attempting to catch Nanase's character or to ''do nothing at all'') [[https://www.egscomics.com/egsnp/ also come up as 1s.]] Justin, being employed by the game shop where this campaign is taking place, maintains that their dice are probably not cursed.

The weapon of choice for the KillerGameMaster, the bane of the {{Munchkin}}, and the source of mirth for TheLoonie, ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''' '''unofficial''' [[PopularGameVariant utilization of it as the roll of a 1 on a D20]][[note]]the actual rules merely have the 1 as auto-fail, and only on certain rolls like attacks and saves (as a side note, those same rolls are also the only ones for which a natural 20 is an automatic success)[[/note]] is the [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]] and [[TropeMakers Trope Maker]] for many tabletop and video games based on role-playing. However, it has often been a factor in games of luck for much of time. The attempts of Game Masters to explain ''how'' a particular RandomNumberGod-decreed critical failure 'happened' regularly stretch plausibility to make it an EpicFail for the character responsible.

-->-- '''Red Mage''', ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', "[[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/06/17/episode-430-very-long-range/ Very Long Range]]"

** Due to the fact that [[WritersCannotDoMath Game Designers Have No Sense of Statistics]], the [[TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness OWOD]] system made you ''more'' likely to botch on very difficult rolls if you had a large number of dice to roll, as illustrated [[http://wiki.white-wolf.com/worldofdarkness/index.php?title=Probability_Math#Botching.2C_Second_Edition here]] and [[http://millercommamatt.com/journal/index.php/2008/11/16/probabilities-in-the-white-wolf-role-pla#more175 here]]. Thankfully Revised Edition reduced this problem, as a botch required a 1 plus no successes at all (even if your successes are all cancelled by 1's, it's still just a failure).

* In ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater'', Black Mage makes an attempt (well, one of many) to kill his allies by [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/06/15/episode-429-several-birds-one-hadoken/ blowing up a volcano they're standing next to]]. Too bad [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2004/06/17/episode-430-very-long-range/ he misses completely]]. Yes, he misses [[EpicFail a friggin']] ''[[EpicFail mountain]]''. Lampshaded by Red Mage in the latter comic.

** Later, during the Coruscant battle from ''Revenge of the Sith'', Pete is told that "[[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0414.html the sky is so full of ships that you don't need to worry about finding targets.]]" [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0415.html When he fires]], he rolls a 1 and ''[[EpicFail misses everything in the entire battle.]]''
** During the climactic battle of Episode 3, [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0616.html a 1 causes Obi-Wan to slice up the magmashield regulator panel]], resulting in the entire facility falling into the lava. Pete, being Pete, appreciates the resulting mayhem.
** While fleeing Imperials in Episode 5, [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0991.html Jim rolls a 1 on a dexterity check while trying to win a coin toss]]. He fumbles the coin which ends up shorting out some of the cockpit's wiring.

** In [[http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=1017 another comic]], Aragorn rolls a 1 when the DM makes him roll for dismounting a Warg, which the DM interprets as a failure to dismount, sending the Warg flying off a cliff with Aragorn firmly on its back (although the DM had been plotting to arrange this for the entire battle).

* ''WebVideo/{{Aventures}}'' uses a D100 for checks, with anything between 96 and 100 being a Critical Fail (so the odds are still 1 out of 20). While the results vary (losing all one's mana while failing to cast a spell, losing one's eye, killing a little girl by {{Shield Bash}}ing her [[note]][[RunningGag "She's not dead!"]] claims the one responsible[[/note]], etc.), they are rarely lasting consequences to rolling one.

* ''WebVideo/DoorMonster'''s video "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b47zsPzTLI D&D: Bad Dice]]" has Kyle roll a ''very'' [[OverlyLongGag long string of these]], eventually filling the "Dice Jail" [[RandomNumberGod with the dice that had rolled them]].

The weapon of choice for the KillerGameMaster, the bane of the {{Munchkin}}, and the source of mirth for TheLoonie, ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons''[='=] '''unofficial''' [[HouseRules utilization of it as the roll of a 1 on a D20]][[note]]the actual rules merely have the 1 as auto-fail, and only on certain rolls like attacks and saves (as a side note, those same rolls are also the only ones for which a natural 20 is an automatic success)[[/note]] is the [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]] and [[TropeMakers Trope Maker]] for many tabletop and video games based on role-playing. However, it has often been a factor in games of luck for much of time. The attempts of Game Masters to explain ''how'' a particular RandomNumberGod-decreed critical failure 'happened' regularly stretch plausibility to make it an EpicFail for the character responsible.

** Despite the strong possibility that ''D&D'' is the TropeMaker, critical failures have ''never'' been more than an optional rule... but thousands of tables have added them to their HouseRules. The ''official'' rule for rolling a 1 on d20 varies by edition and the type of roll, but generally a 1 is either calculated normally, or at worst the natural 1 is just an automatic miss with no additional effects. There have been extensive {{flame war}}s, all the way back to the days when they had to be conducted by letter column, debating whether critical failures deserve a place in the game.

** Some [=GMs=] also invert this with a [[HouseRules house rule]] that rolling a 1 may mean you succeeded ''[[GoneHorriblyRight too]]'' [[GoneHorriblyRight well]]. Shooting a Commie mutant traitor sends their shattered remains flying back In ward through a wall, causing pipes to burst and release toxic chemicals... that sort of thing.

* In the ''Spells, Swords & Stealth'' books by Drew Hayes, the Bridge is a mysterious artifact that appears to link the world of the titular RPG game and the real world. In the "game world", the artifact is capable of affecting die rolls and causing critical failure, such as in the first novel, when the players try to ambush the [=NPCs=], who have recovered the artifact, but none of their attacks work due to this trope.

* In ''VideoGame/Wizard101'' this is known as "fizzling," where your spell fails to cast. Storm wizards are known to have higher fizzle rates than the other schools, but it's possible to cut down on your chances of this happening by upping your accuracy stat or casting an accuracy buff on yourself during battle.

''[motions for Cass to hand over his character sheet; Cass, not looking at him, reluctantly does so]''\\

** In [[TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragonsSecondEdition 2nd edition]], there were semi-official optional rules for critical hits and misses published by ''Dragon magazine'', where you would roll a percent and in general, the higher the number the more potent the effect. The funny thing is, both critical hits and critical failures used the same table — so it was entirely possible to decapitate yourself on a critical failure if you rolled exceptionally high on the table.

* ''TabletopGame/RoleMaster''

** The ''M.E.R.P. (TabletopGame/MiddleEarthRolePlaying)'' game is a variation of TabletopGame/RoleMaster, and has some interesting ones for critical failures covering everything from simply inconvenient, to embarrassing, to downright deadly, depending on actions taken and roll made on fumble chart. These can include dropping or breaking your weapon or failing to move, causing a critical strike to yourself, biting off your own tongue and swallowing it, tripping up and landing in an embarrassing position, shooting yourself in the foot, or falling and crushing your own skull and dying, and my personal favourite, for those fighting from a mount: “you drive the point of your weapon into the ground, pole vault 30 feet, and take a 'C' crush critical to yourself”.
* In the infamous ''TabletopGame/{{FATAL}}'' roleplaying game, "crucial fumbles" (1 or 2 on a d100) have surprisingly reasonable effects. Except the 1% chance that a god decides to kill the offending character, possibly by [[RocksFallEveryoneDies making the whole building collapse]].

*** You don't even have to go that far -- the rules for ''every single form of performance art'', be it music, slapstick, or whatever, say that on a critical failure you injure yourself and/or others. Meaning you can quite literally [[BrownNote sing someone to death]] or [[AccidentalMurder kick someone's face off]] after slipping on a BananaPeel.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** At one point, an enemy NPC (a deathtrooper) gets a critical failure that [[AchievementsInIgnorance manages to kill one of Pete’s characters]]; [[spoiler:while Chirrut is activating a fuel pump, the DM fumbles a roll and rules that a trooper shooting at him misses and hits an allied target adjacent to Chirrut. Except there aren’t any troopers near Chirrut. The only allied target near him is the pump he’s using. [[OhCrap Which is now full of highly flammable fuel]]. Cue [[StuffBlowingUp explosion]].]] As if that wasn’t humiliating enough, [[spoiler:Chirrut’s PsychicLink with his familiar Baze means he dies with him, meaning that trooper technically killed two PC’s with one bad roll.]]

* The ''WebComic/ParadoxSpace'' comic "Critical Miss" sees Eridan and Vriska {{LARP}}ing with magical dice, and in his attempts to defeat Vriska, Eridan manages to roll a whale who's only function is to loudly criticize him.

* In ''Podcast/AcquisitionsIncorporated'', Jerry has quite a reputation of rolling horrible. He even rolled critical failures back-to-back at the climax of season 2. Not that he's the only one to ever have bad rolls...
-->'''Creator/{{Wil|Wheaton}}:''' Oh yeah, so I run down the thing, and I land on top of the bear, and I, like, flip in the air, and then, as I'm coming down, I sort of, like, barrel-roll a little bit, and then I flip again, and then I come down here so I land just like this, so I'm flanking this guy. Yeah, and it's super-cool! And there's rock music playing while I do it, and I'm gleaming cubes on my way there, and as I come down, I use my Avenging Echo against him... ohhh, I rolled a 1.

* One ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'' special had the Imperial Palace bigwigs playing ''TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'', in which critical failures played a big part.
** In the starting scenario, with the party escorting a noble at the Imperial Zoo, the Emperor's character critically misses an assassin and so hits the noble instead, breaking his leg, Wamuudes critically ''hits'' the assassin with a thrown barrel of oil that splashes flammable liquid everywhere, including the now-crippled noble, and then Dorn critically fails his attempt to reinforce a damaged cage, allowing the dragon inside to stick its head out. The result: one deep-fried VIP.
** After the party is {{Mistaken For Murderer}}s, the Emperor's character crit-fails an attempt to persuade an NPC to let them hide in his caravan, so that another party member decides to kill the NPC instead.
** In a fight against an ogre, Wamuudes fails to reach his target with a charge, so the Emperor targets his ally with a spell to try to propel him into melee range. Instead he rolls a miscast, so Magnus as the DM rules that the Emperor's character mutates to have a freakishly long arm.
* One of the main points of ''Roleplay/RollToDodge'' is that everything is determined by the RandomNumberGod -- rolling a [[InstantWinCondition 6 or a 12 makes the Universe bend to your will]], whereas a 1 can result in EpicFail or [[CriticalExistenceFailure worse]].

* Elly from ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' has a 1 in 5 chance of having her ether spells fail. She is the only character whose ether attacks have such a property, which would make her a bit of a TierInducedScrappy... if it weren't for the fact that she's arguably already the game's biggest GameBreaker [[spoiler:at least while you have her.]]

** The 3.5 ''Dragon Compendium'' includes expanded rules for what happens when rolling a 1 or a 20 on an attack roll. The critical failures are rather amusing. And that quote from Red Mage at the top of the page is a very good reason to never enforce these rules. Especially the ''Dragon Compendium'' version.
** In 2nd edition, there were semi-official optional rules for critical hits and misses published by Dragon magazine, where you would roll a percent and in general, the higher the number the more potent the effect. The funny thing is, both critical hits and critical failures used the same table — so it was entirely possible to decapitate yourself on a critical failure if you rolled exceptionally high on the table.
** In the third edition (and variants), automatic failure on a roll of 1 applies only to attack rolls and saving throws. Skill checks ''do not'' result in an automatic failure when rolling a 1, nor an automatic success when rolling a 20 — making it impossible for most people to (say) balance on a single cobweb, but also preventing them from garroting themselves while tying their shoes.
** In the 5th Edition, this is partially inverted by Halflings. Their Halfling Luck racial feature allows them to reroll any 1 on any D20 they roll (unless they roll a second 1 on the reroll). This means that rolling a 1 can be more beneficial to Halflings than rolling other "automatic" failure rolls like 2s, 3s, or 4s. This is particularly helpful if a given DM enforces critical failures.
*** The Fifth Edition (silly) source book, Acquisition Incorporated, includes the spell "Jim's Magical Missile." On a 1, the missiles fly back and hit the caster.
** ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'', D&D spin-off created when fourth edition proved very controversial with fans, has differed between editions.
*** First Edition's official rules followed 3.5 rules; a natural 1 did nothing but guarantee a failed attack roll or saving throw. On a skill check, results were calculated normally. A house rule allowed a skill check on a natural 1 to be resolved as if a -10 was rolled. An ''optional'' critical hit and fumble deck existed, and with the same pros and cons as any other critical hit and fumble table.
*** Second Edition uses four grades of outcome. If you exceed the DC (including AC) of any roll by 10, you critically succeed. If you fail by 10, you critically fail. Otherwise, check success and failure normally. Rolling a natural 20 raises your level of success by one level, and rolling a natural 1 lowers your level of success by one. This means that at the extreme edges of the table, you could critically fail on a 1-19, and fail on a 20, or succeed on a 1, and critically succeed on a 2-20. Mind you, these would be extraordinary circumstances, like if a 2nd level character picked a fight with a 17th level monster or a 19th level character disarming a level 4 trap. Such events would almost never come up in actual gameplay because at that point the encounter is a foregone conclusion. Playing it out would waste the player's and GameMaster's time.
*** Generally, in Pathfinder Second Edition, critical failures are costly. Critically failing a save means you usually take double damage and worse penalties from status effects. Critically failing a skill roll usually leads to worse outcomes than a normal failure. Critically failing Medicine, for example, means you apply ComicallyIneptHealing and injure your target, while critically failing a Diplomacy check to make a Request generally offends the target and causes them to become more hostile to you. Critically failing an attack roll does nothing for standard attacks, but for attacks like Grapple and Trip, may cause you to be hoisted by your own petard.

* Primrose (and anyone with the Dancer job) in ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'' can use Bewildering Grace to one of a bevy of beneficial effects, such as dealing damage, restoring health, increasing the Experience/JP/Gold gain from the battle and turning the enemy into a [[MetalSlime Cait]]...and then again it might fully heal the enemy and buff their attack and defense stats or ''leave everyone in the party with zero MP and PP and [[HPToOne only one HP]]''. And if you're using it multiple times in a row, after this happens you could get an effect that deals ScratchDamage to your party, ensuring everyone instantly dies.

Not to be confused with CriticalDissonance, which is when critics' opinions on a work fail to match the general public's, and CriticalResearchFailure, which is when a factual mistake is made.

** While most fighters simply get dizzy when their shield breaks, Jigglypuff is unique in that when its shield is broken, it immediately launches upward and right off the screen if it isn't stopped by a platform overhead. Essentially, it self-destructs, and it's a trait that no one is envious off.

** Getting a Goldeen from a Pokeball, as all it does is flop around uselessly. [[note]]Goldeen is a somewhat odd choice for this, as it's a perfectly respectable pokemon in its home games; the other Gen 1 fish pokemon, Magikarp, would have been a more logical choice, as it really is completely useless (at least [[MagikarpPower until it levels up]]).[[/note]]

** During the Kamino arc, Corey makes the near-fatal mistake of trying to ''quick''-draw his lightsaber instead of just pulling it out like normal. Because quick-drawing is a specific skill, he has to make a roll for it... and, [[MurphysLaw naturally]], that Corey rolls a 1 and the DM rules that Luke accidentally ''left his lightsaber back on the ship''.

** During the Kamino arc, Corey makes the near-fatal mistake of trying to ''quick''-draw his lightsaber instead of just pulling it out like normal. Because quick-drawing is a specific skill, he has to make a roll for it... and, [[UsefulNotes/MurphysLaw naturally]], that Corey rolls a 1 and the DM rules that Luke accidentally ''left his lightsaber back on the ship''.

** During the Kamino arc, Corey makes the near-fatal mistake of trying to ''quick''-draw his lightsaber instead of just pulling it out like normal. Because quick-drawing is a specific skill, he has to make a roll for it... and, [[MurphysLaw naturally]], that Corey rolls a 1 and the DM rules that Luke accidentally ''left his lightsaber back on the ship''.

* ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon'': Every character, hero or monster, has a maximum accuracy of 95% (90% in previous versions); no matter how high you increase your character's accuracy, there is always a 5% chance they will miss. In the same vein, if you increase a hero's dodge chance to supernatural levels (110%, above the accuracy of the average ''boss'' attack and theoretically impossible to hit at all), enemies will still have a ~10% chance to hit your supposedly invincible character.

-->'''Thief:''' Not that I'm complaining, but...