History Main / EdgeGravity

* In the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series, platforms over bottomless pits (at least the ones that'd be 'out of bounds') simply have a convenient invisible wall to stop you falling off the edge. This is very, very noticeable in Somnom Woods in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDream Team Dream Team]]'', which mostly takes place on a cliff but has nowhere you can actually fall off except where there's land below.

* In the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series, platforms over bottomless pits (at least the ones that'd be 'out of bounds') simply have a convenient invisible wall to stop you falling off the edge. This is very, very noticeable in Somnom Woods in Dream Team, which mostly takes place on a cliff but has nowhere you can actually fall off except where there's land below.

* ''VideoGame/ToeJamAndEarl'' (the first one) averts this; your player will teeter for a while before caving into the player's commands and falling off. If they're using running or rocket shoes though, they'll take a big leap instead.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bug}}!'' has this, on platforms with edge "borders". You can't walk or jump off a bordered side of a platform, unless you did a high jump (via a spring, or by GoombaSpringboard).

[[quoteright:350:https:[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 //static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sonic_2_hd_remake_2_teeter.png]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sonic_2_hd_remake_teetering.png]]]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'', most of the time.

* Seen in RealLife in this New York Times video {{https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000004882589/ten-meter-tower.html}}. Even with water underneath, people stop multiple times upon walking to the edge, and only ever step or jump off with considerable effort.

* Seen in RealLife in [[{{https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000004882589/ten-meter-tower.html}} this New York Times video]]. Even with water underneath, people stop multiple times upon walking to the edge, and only ever step or jump off with considerable effort.

* Link in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' will, if forced to walk off an edge, usually grab the edge and hold on for dear life. This makes it difficult sometimes to get him to actually jump off when you want him to, such as if jumping to a lower level in an area.
** Additionally, in most top-down Zelda games past the original, Link will stumble a little at the edges of pits, giving the player a chance to get back onto safe ground. Especially amusing was the fact that this applied to all pit-type spaces, resulting in Link stumbling on thin air.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSpiritTracks'', you are actually attracted to lethally empty voids, and approaching any edges in the game is a mortally bad idea. Unless you want to jump to a different platform, which is only accomplished by running at the edge at high speed. Yeah, it's pretty dumb.
** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'' pits will actively pull you in so strongly that, as soon as you out a single pixel on the void, running directly in the other direction at max speed may still not save you.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', there's actually ''no'' Edge Gravity, which means even if you're walking slowly, you can still accidentally fall off a ledge. Especially frustrating when you're trying to jump off of a tower, as they have holes near the edges which you can fall through when trying to jump off.

* ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'': The game has mild edge gravity on edges from which falling would do moderate to severe damage: Wander instinctively backs up from them if he isn't running fast, but you can get him to go over them by jumping. (Of course, that's not always a good idea...) Wander's horse Agro also exhibits this. He might jump off of a small cliff ledge if you charge him immediately beforehand, though this may result in a temporary limp. Anything above a certain height and he'll refuse to jump every time, scrambling to a halt or turning away at the last second.

* Several ''VideoGames/SonicTheHedgehog'' games use this trope.

*** Similarly, in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'' pits will actively pull you in so strongly that, as soon as you out a single pixel on the void, running directly in the other direction at max speed may still not save you.

* ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'' has mild edge gravity on edges from which falling would do moderate to severe damage: Wander instinctively backs up from them if he isn't running fast, but you can get him to go over them by jumping. (Of course, that's not always a good idea...)
** Wander's horse Agro also exhibits this. He might jump off of a small cliff ledge if you charge him immediately beforehand, though this may result in a temporary limp. Anything above a certain height and he'll refuse to jump every time, scrambling to a halt or turning away at the last second.

** Edge gravity is oddly variable in the series. A character performing a dash attack or an evasive maneuver has infinite edge gravity; however, a walking or running character has almost none (which is good, as it allows for air-based edge-guarding); certain attacks have no edge gravity (which can actually cause suicides, as with Fox's and Captain Falcon's side specials); and in some cases pressing Down + A for a Down Smash while on the edge will often cause the character to instead Fast Fall into a Down Air off the edge, which is invariably fatal. Can be avoided via C-Sticking, but still annoying.
*** In the UsefulNotes/WiiU[=/=]3DS version running over the edge results in a sort of 'rolling off' manoeuvre where the character moves smoothly instead of awkwardly dropping.

* In the first ''VideoGame/BrokenSwordShadowOfTheTemplars'', one location on a mountaintop has an inexplicable "walk off the edge" option. If you try it, George understandably refuses, so at first it looks like just another of the game's many joke options. However, not long afterwards, [[spoiler:you find yourself held at gunpoint by the same ledge, and the only way out is to distract the gunman (with a NotCompletelyUseless JokeItem, no less) and make a [[PressXToNotDie well-timed]] LeapOfFaith onto a [[CarCushion handy soft-topped Jeep]].]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Infamous}}'' has many edges that are impossible to cross unless you jump. You can't just walk onto the street from the sidewalk, you must make a five foot leap.

* ''VideoGame/InFamous'' has many edges that are impossible to cross unless you jump. You can't just walk onto the street from the sidewalk, you must make a five foot leap.

* ''VideoGame/InFamous'' has many edges that are impossible to cross unless you jump. You can't just walk onto the street from the sidewalk, you must make a five foot leap.

* ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'', the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' games, and ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' avert this completely. There is no tell when you're at a ledge or not and your character drops like a brick the moment you walk off one. Makes dark areas and narrow areas where enemies are attacking you particularly annoying. By contrast, ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'' introduces a jump button, which you can't go off a ledge without using.

* Several SonicTheHedgehog games use this trope.

* ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' and the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' games avert this completely. There is no tell when you're at a ledge or not and your character drops like a brick the moment you walk off one. Makes dark areas and narrow areas where enemies are attacking you particularly annoying.

** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' allows Sonic, Shadow, Knuckles, and Rouge to stop and teeter for a second if you steer them into an edge and they aren't rolling. Interesting in that they can go from crazy fast to full stop instantly, which you can't do manually.

* Astonishingly present in the second ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry'' game, where otherwise there are [[EverythingTryingToKillYou a lot of things that can kill you]]. You even get points for almost falling off the cliff, though they get taken away immediately afterwards.

* Nicely averted in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'' by making the Prince jump off the edge, spin around and dangle off the edge by his hands; this actually proves a useful maneuver when ducking wandering creatures, or dodging activated traps. It carries over to [[VideoGame/PrinceofPersiaWarriorWithin second]] and [[VideoGame/PrinceofPersiaTheTwoThrones third]] games in the trilogy.

* ''Film/DieHard'' is an especially {{egregious}} case. If you try to climb down the roof of the building on a rope, our hero refuses to do so saying he'd have to be desperate to try it, and yet he'll happily walk through an office window to his death. (Pointed out by WebVideo/TheAngryVideoGameNerd).

* ''ToeJamAndEarl'' (the first one) averts this; your player will teeter for a while before caving into the player's commands and falling off. If they're using running or rocket shoes though, they'll take a big leap instead.

* The eerie alternate world of ''Franchise/SilentHill'' is loaded with cutaway floors that are impossible to fall through. This was averted in ''SilentHill3'' where Heather will sometimes stop and teeter at the edge of a BottomlessPit, but other times lose her balance and drop to her death[[note]]the strength of it is dependent on the difficulty setting: in Easy it's almost impossible to fall off; on hard [[HarderThanHard or higher]], the edge of the floor might as well be coated in vaseline[[/note]]. Good way to skip the opening nightmare sequence if you're that kind of person.

* A very interesting version in the ''[[TonyHawkProSkater Tony Hawk]]'' games. When going vertical on your skateboard (or bike or what-have-you) you will frequently turn around corners, so that you come down perfectly - well, as long as there's ramp left to land on, anyway.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', there's actually ''no'' Edge Gravity, which means even if you're walking slowly, you can still accidentally fall off a ledge. Especially frustrating when you're trying to jump off of a tower, a they have holes near the edges which you can fall through when trying to jump off.