History Main / EliteMooks

* ''Fanfic/LinkedInLifeAndLove'': Roman mentions that while most of the White Fang are stupid kids who just have guns and unlocked [[SoulPower Auras]], there are quite a few who have Huntsmen-level training, and even a few Academy graduates. Due to their identical uniforms and masks, [[BossInMooksClothing there is no way to tell the difference before a fight breaks out]].

* Both ''Film/{{Equilibrium}}'' and ''Film/{{Ultraviolet}}'' feature the hero battling a group of several unique-looking Mooks armed with katanas, just before the final fight with the BigBad. These guys are either Elite Mooks, or complete idiots, for fighting only with swords in a world where everyone is equipped with automatic weapons. In any case they don't do noticeably better against the hero than all the previous Mooks...i.e. they all get killed in about 6 or 7 seconds.

* After realizing that his regular mooks just weren't cutting it, ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' Season Three BigBad, [[DiabolicalMastermind Brother Blood]], replaced them with completely mechanical copies of Titans member ComicBook/{{Cyborg}}. The Titans still managed to take them down, but it took a lot of strategizing and improvising where ordinary mooks would have just been effortlessly blasted through.

*** Strength and fighting ability varies among Orcs, and the bigger Orcs tend to gather into units of Big' Uns to bash more heads together. One unit of Orcs in any given army can become Big' Uns, receiving a bonus to Weapon Skill and Strength to signify that they are tougher and stronger than the average boyz. Beyond that there are the Black Orcs, the toughest and hardest-hitting line infantry in the Orc roster.

** ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000Killteam'': The Doom Squad[[note]]not to be confused with the DoomTroops trope[[/note]] upgrade for Brute squads in the 4th Edition version represents enemy troops who have been specially trained for close combat, making them more powerful than your average Mook. In-game these powerful troops have superior close combat stats to other Brute squads.

** '"TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'': Strahd's personal brand of skeletons and zombies have a number of advantages over the typical kind, namely a HealingFactor that makes them ''extremely'' hard to kill.

** The Doom Squad[[note]]not to be confused with the DoomTroops trope[[/note]] upgrade for Brute squads in the 4th Edition Warhammer 40,000 version of ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000Killteam'' represent enemy troops who had been specially trained for close combat, making them more powerful than your average Mook. In-game these powerful troops had superior close combat stats to other Brute squads.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'' has, among other things, Tir Ghosts, Aztechnology's Leopard Guards, Ares Firewatch Teams, and Renraku's Red Samurai.
* Creator/GamesWorkshop games:

*** Elite choices vary between specialized units tailored for a specific purpose, to simply better armed and more expensive versions of the army's [[JackOfAllStats core troops]], Space Marines have Veterans, Chaos Space Marines have Chosen, Orks have nobs (elite boyz), Eldar have Dire Avengers (elite guardians), Dark Eldar have Trueborn (elite raiders), Necrons have Immortals (elite warriors), and so on and so on. All the Chaos Gods have daemons like this.
*** From a fluff perspective, All Space Marines qualify compared to the Imperial Guardsmen and PDF Forces who do the bulk of the Imperium's fighting. The Eldar Aspect Warriors also perform similar roles for their people.

** ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'':
*** Special and Rare choices. Every army has at least one unit that is effectively one unit of normal infantry, just better trained, better equipped, less likely to run, SpikesOfVillainy for the evil races, and with a [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast badass sounding name]]. Compare Chosen to "normal" [[HeavilyArmoredMook Chaos Warriors]], Stormvermin to bog-standard Clanrats, High Elf Coast Guard to the High Elf Spearmen...etc. The more intimidating the name, the faster you have to run away from them.
*** Probably the single most hardcore elite unit in the game are High Elf Phoenix Guard. A special order of warriors who guard the Shrine of Asuryan, each one has been personally blessed by the god and granted knowledge of how and when they're going to die, making them utterly fearless in battle. They also take up a vow of silence to never reveal any of the secret knowledge stored deep within the shrine.

* [[LouisCypher Lucius]] on ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'' has a supply of [[ALoadOfBull Minotaur]]-like enforcers, which are powerful enough to subdue even [[EnfantTerrible Heloise]].

** They also had the Ginyu Force, who were a specialized team of their strongest underlings, and usually very effective in getting their jobs done ([[QuirkyMinibossSquad goofiness notwithstanding]]).

* ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': Sburb, the reality-warping game into which the characters are drawn, populates its Lands with a variety of enemies for players to battle. Imps are the weakest and most common of these, and the characters usually mow through them by the dozens -- until Jade meets an Uranium Imp that has gained RealityWarper powers from Jade's godlike guardian Bequerel being added into the pool of traits that Sburb's enemies can be given. The resulting enemy constantly pulses and flickers with power and easily battles Jade to a standstill, and is only defeated when Bequerel steps in himself.

* The seven Disaster Masters from ''Webcomic/CucumberQuest'' who serve directly under the [[BigBad Nightmare Knight]] are each stationed in one of the seven kingdoms of Dreamside, causing havoc for the heroes. Each one is more stronger than the one before, and their powers are corruptions of the theme of the kingdom they're based in, from the first, a giant monstrous [[GiantSquid squid]] [[DumbMuscle Splashmaster]] of the Ripple Kingdom, to the seventh, the [[KnightOfCerebus eldritch and ominous]] [[AIIsACrapShoot Glitchmaster]] of the Space Kingdom.
* ''{{Webcomic/Sarilho}}'': We're told as early as chapter one that Nikita, a soldier, is very good at leading a team.

* In ''Film/Dune2021'' we have the Sardaukar, who are this to the normal House Harkonnen troops. A small phalanx of Atreides soldiers are able to hold an entire Harkonnen unit before the Sardaukar arrive and effortlessly mow them down. [[spoiler:They are also able to kill two major characters: Dr. Kynes and Duncan Idaho. They later meet their match in the Fremen, who are able to ambush and fight them ''without shields'']]. They also receive a different characterization from [[Literature/{{Dune}} the book]] or [[Film/Dune1984 the 1984 version]], begin a ProudWarriorRaceGuy with a violent warrior cult, in their introduction scene is in an empty wasteland of a planet, begin bathed by blood from HumanSacrifice under eerie throat-singing chants.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* The ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' games have these in the form of the enemy aces, both individual and ace squadrons such as Yellow Squadron (''04'') or Strigon Team (''6''), who in a first playthrough will be flying better planes (until late game when the player can afford better) and are better pilots; in ''04'''s "Shattered Skies" mission the Yellow Squadron are present but extremely hard to hit - actually landing a shot on one will [[OhCrap trigger special dialogue]] and prompt them to retreat. The Mook half partially comes from the fact that these pilots are usually never individually identified (in ''04'' [[spoiler:whichever Yellow is shot down at Stonehenge is deemed to be Yellow 4, and Yellow 13's fate is sealed at Farbanti by the player having to shoot down all the Yellows there]]), but the ''Ace Combat 6'' Assault Records has individual Strigon profiles unlock after you shoot down Strigons in certain missions.
* ''VideoGame/AdventureQuest'': Elite enemies are 20 levels or so above their normal versions. Sometimes, enemies may look the same and have the same attacks, but may have updated names and descriptions for their elite variants.
* ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires'' usually had one or two units unique to your chosen faction, as opposed to the generic [[AntiCavalry spearmen]], [[AnnoyingArrows archers]] and swordsmen everyone had with practically identical sprites. Unsurprisingle, these units would always be the elite mooks, whether it's Spanish Conquistadores, Teutonic Knights or Aztec Eagle Warriors.
* ''VideoGame/AgeOfWar'' had the heavy cavalry and the infantry Royal Guard units as the Elite Mooks of each race. High and Dark Elves also had their elite archers to compensate for slow unit spawn rate.
* Like in examples above, various heavy cavalry and infantry usually fulfilled this role in ''VideoGame/AgeOfWonders''. However, the units were anything but comparable for each faction -- for instance, the human knight was a lot weaker than the elven one, which was compensated by them having gunpowder troops as ranged Elite Mooks.
* ''VideoGame/AIWarFleetCommand:'' and ''AI War 2'': If one counts the regular starships both you and the AI throw around as mooks, then one could count two tiers of these: Guardians, who pick a strategy and stick to it potently and are usually found by the handful after the first few planets, and Dire Guardians, who are ''far'' stronger and are practically boss fights in the earlier parts of the game, outsizing even your flagships. Royalist-type [=AIs=] are characterized by having significantly more of both, and making them stronger to boot; this makes them one of the hardest types to face, as waves get extremely dangerous once they can start sending the big stuff and their planets are ironclad and need endless attrition to claim.
* ''VideoGame/AkatsukiBlitzkampf'' has the Elektrosoldats, who are the [[spoiler: [[CloningBlues cloned]]]] PraetorianGuard of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Gessellschaft Society]] and are equipped with [[spoiler: copies of the game's {{MacGuffin}}s, the Blitz Engine]]. One of them is a playable character [[spoiler: and [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters seeks to break free from the group]]]].
* ''VideoGame/AlanWake'' had the tough Assault Taken with [[ChainsawGood chainsaws and axes]] as well as Elite Taken that had extremely thick layer of darkness over them and could turn themselves invisible. ''VideoGame/AlanWakesAmericanNightmare'' also had the Splitters (Taken that would split into two when exposed to light), Taken with darkness grenades and Taken that could temporarily turn themselves into flocks of crows.
* ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol'' has special elite soldiers intermixed with the regular mooks. These are visible if one looks closely, as they'll have a gray "endurance" meter over their health meter and are noticeably tougher, more aggressive, and better-armed. Al-Samaad's elite soldiers are notable by their red balaclavas/scarves, while Deus Vult's elites are more noticeable by their body armor instead of generic suits or dark muscle shirts, and VCI elites can be spotted wearing berets and no balaclavas. Some of the more professional elites are harder to notice because they all wear the same uniform (CPA, G22, and Alpha Protocol agents) while others are harder to spot because they have no actual uniform (Russian Mafia and Triads).
* ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice'':
** The cards sent after you evolve throughout the game. The simplest Club guards only fought with spears, while Spades also had a weak ranged attack. Diamonds had chainsaw-like polearms and fired Roboteching projectiles. The Hearts were not only the toughest, but they had missile-like ranged attacks.
** There were also the Army Ants corporals. Unlike their underlings, they didn't have guns, but instead had greater health, more powerful melee attacks and grenades.
** ''VideoGame/AliceMadnessReturns'' only had the weak Zombie Cards and the [[HeavilyArmoredMook Armored Cards]], which were much tougher and could counter-attack, needing to be attacked at specific times. There were also the [[BladeOnAStick naginata-wielding]] Daimyo wasps (elites of regular samurai wasps), and the [[ShieldBearingMook plate-carrying Madcaps]]. For the ruins, there were [[GiantMook Menacing Ruins]] and [[BossInMookClothing Colossal Ruins]].
* ''VideoGame/Area51FPS'' had the Illuminati [=RedOps=] troops, which commanded the regular Illuminati [=TacOps=] groups. They were better armored and had more powerful assault rifles.
* In the Excel-based ''VideoGame/ArenaXlsm'', Succubi have an upgraded version named Demonic Temptress, while Wraiths are likewise an elite version of Spooky Ghosts.
* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' series:
** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' has various grades of guards, with the best [[HeavilyArmoredMook wearing the most armour]] and possessing all the abilities of a full-powered Altaïr. CounterAttack, grab, grab break...they can do it all.
** ''2'' diversifies it into the FragileSpeedster Agiles who can catch up in LeParkour (normal guards can freerun but can't keep up when Ezio's going full speed), the BladeOnAStick-wielding Seekers and the {{Heavily Armored| Mook}} MightyGlacier Brutes who can smash through Ezio's defence.
** ''Brotherhood'' adds even more varieties. Arquebusiers have stronger ranged attacks than the normal crossbowmen, cavalry are difficult to fight in melee or counter - though they [[WeaksauceWeakness fall off easily enough if you just stand your ground to defend]] -- and Papal Guards are {{Kung Fu Proof| Mook}} {{Lightning Bruiser}}s with a SwordAndGun.
** ''Revelations'' replaces the Papal Guards with the Janissaries, who are even more Kung Fu Proof by being able to survive killstreaks.
** ''3'' has the Highlanders/Grenadiers with their giant axes and ability to counter normal attacks, KnifeNut Scouts that can counter disarms or guard breakers and the Hessian Jagers who can counter almost all melee attacks.
** All games from [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII II]] onwards have guard types called "Elite", but ironically these are some of the weakest guards in the game (ranking only above militia).
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'':
** In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', there are the High Security inmates, who attack you with knives and electrical sticks. The [[MiniBoss Titan Enhanced goons]] also qualify.
** In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', there is a team of Elite Mooks called Tyger, which are the top mercenary group of Ex-Special Forces that were specially trained to go head to head against Batman. Well, in-universe, anyway. They are, most of the time, as easy to defeat as other Mooks. There are also inmates armed with knives (or broken bottles) and electrical sticks, and new enemies [[ShieldBearingMook using shields]] or body armor. They aren't exactly elite fighters anymore (any mook can pick up a knife dropped by another one, for example), but they ''are'' harder to beat.
** In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'', the [[BadassArmy Arkham Knight Militia]] may be the best example in the Arkham series. While the regular foot soldiers are just as easy to take out as the regular goons, and some enemy types, like the [[GiantMook Brutes]], can be found in other criminal teams, there are some exclusive enemies within the Militia that can overwhelm Batman, such as the Medics (who not only can heal other soldiers, but supercharge them as well), the Combat Experts (who fight like the League of Shadows assassins), and in the predator missions, the powerful Minigunners, which are hulking soldiers that are completely immune to silent takedowns, and carry miniguns. Some Militia exclusive soldiers do have camo suits that enables them to hide from Batman's detective vision, and some soldiers can track down batman if he uses detective vision. They are also seen as this in-universe, as the villains invested 3 billion dollars for them, and are trained by the Arkham Knight to go up against Batman.
* ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany 2'''s singleplayer campaign actually points out the presence of Elite Mooks in the loading screen hints before the mission Zero Dark Thirty, warning the player that they are better equipped and have faster reaction time than average troops. They show up about midway through the level, in the form of [[BigBad Kirilenko's]] green-clad personal guards. They're no more durable than most mooks, but they are, indeed, faster, and carry some weapons that are normally available only to the player.
* Partway through ''VideoGame/BattleZone1998'''s Soviet campaign, the standard American NSDF forces are replaced by the Black Dog squadron which fields heavily upgraded and [[NoseArt customized]] tanks compared to the rank-and-file NSDF troops. The Black Dogs [[LeaveNoSurvivors are far more brutal in their tactics]]. In the sequel, AI commanders will upgrade their forces once they have the tech base and resources to do so; ISDF tanks replace AT-Stabber cannons with more deadly SP-Stabbers, while the Scions get DeflectorShields.
* ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' firstly has the Ardors: an upgrade over the basic Affinity angels but still weak, unless they're [[ManOnFire wreathed in flames]]. Then there are Joys, which have a similar fighting style to Bayonetta herself and later on [[BossInMookClothing Grace and Glory]]. These have the even tougher Gracious and Glorious appear at higher difficulties.
* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' has the Champion versions of virtually every enemy. These usually are larger and of a different colour and have doubled health, damage (always a whole heart instead of the usual half heart) or both. Bosses also have Champion versions, but those typically sacrifice one stat or ability in exchange for a different one, and can be easier, harder, or about the same difficulty as the original boss.
** There are also the improved variations of many enemy types. While some are simple stat increases (Large Red Flies) or come at expense of other stats (Red Boom Flies exploding into a longer-ranged but less damaging SpreadShot instead of exploding on death), others are unquestionable improvements. Examples include [[DefeatEqualsExplosion Explosive]] [[DemonicSpiders Leeches]], Angelic Babies (triple SpreadShot instead of a normal one & better health) and Psychic Maws (fire homing projectiles instead of normal ones).
** An update to the original version of the game (provided you have the ''Wrath of the Lamb'' expansion) introduces "Eternal" white/pinkish variations, which are this trope taken UpToEleven. The only upside is that they can drop Eternal Hearts, which can permanently increase your maximum health.
* ''VideoGame/BioShock'':
** The [[BossInMooksClothing Big Daddies]] in ''VideoGame/BioShock1'', which were split into the [[ThisIsADrill drill-wielding]], melee-only Bouncers, and Rosies, who deployed proximity mines and used rivet guns. There were also [[SuperpoweredMooks Houdini Splicers]] who [[TeleportSpam teleported around]] and shot [[PlayingWithFire fire]] or [[AnIcePerson ice]], as well as Spider Splicers that avoided attacks by dancing on the ceiling. Later in the games, elite versions of Big Daddies can be found; they are stronger, faster, and tougher than regular Big Daddies.
** ''VideoGame/BioShock2'' introduces Rumbler Big Daddies, which had heat-seeking rocket launchers and deployed mini-turrets. Its ''Minerva's Den'' DLC had Lancer Big Daddies with Ion Lasers and [[BlindedByTheLight Ion Flash]]. Finally, it had Brute Splicers, which are essentially the Splicer equivalent to Bouncers: they lack the drill and aren't as tough, but are faster, can jump around and throw the objects on the level at you.
** ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' had the Handymen cyborgs, which behaved much like Brute Splicers and had their exposed hearts as a weak point. Then, there also were the Firemen (throw easily dodged fireballs and have close-range flaming ShockwaveStomp), [[HeavilyArmoredMook Beasts]] with rocket launchers, [[MoreDakka peppergrinder-using]] Motorised Patriots and [[TeleportSpam Ravens Of Our Lady]].
* The all-red {{Mooks}} in the ''VideoGame/{{Boktai}}'' series that will randomly replace an enemy in a level sometimes. They move around like a bat out of hell, can kill you in only a couple of hits, have tons of [=HPs=], and are better off avoided since you ''get no rewards whatsoever for actually killing them''.[[note]] Other than quite a bit of ExperiencePoints. However, by the time you can defeat them without wailing on them for half an hour, the PlayerCharacter is generally strong enough to defeat the FinalBoss.[[/note]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' gives Elite Mooks the label of "Badass" in front of their enemy type. Your first NewGamePlus with a character has these enemies labelled Bad Mutha, a second time labels them as "Superbad". In the sequel, they're generally known as "Super Badass" or "Ultimate Super Badass".
* ''VideoGame/TheBureauXCOMDeclassified'' had the Elite variants of basic Outsiders, Snipers and [[InvisibilityCloak Phantoms]], all with better weapons and [[DeflectorShields regenerating shields]]. Then there was the elite version of [[GiantMook Mutons]], which used a jetpack to rapidly close the distance and had a powerful GroundPound attack with it. Finally, there were the [[BossInMookClothing Shield, Tech and Psion Commanders]], which were especially well-protected and could buff everyone with DeflectorShields, create turrets/drones or [[MindControl control]] one of your squadmates, respectively.
* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2'', the last three missions involve fighting against [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Shadow Company]], an elite unit of mercenaries commanded by General Shepherd. They wear all-black uniforms, heavy body armor, and carry advanced weapons, and all of their communications are tight, terse, and professional, all of which emphasizes that they are very dangerous opponents. Compared with enemies in earlier levels, they respond faster, shoot more accurately, and take a couple more shots to kill.
* In ''VideoGame/COD2SpanishCivilWarMod'', enemies armed with submachine guns and hand grenades can become a real nuisance, especially when attacking in large groups.
* ''VideoGame/ChickenWarrior'' had the higher-level chickens of regular types appear as that level's elite mooks. Often those were [[HeavilyArmoredMook better armored]], but not always. On higher levels there were also the [[SuperpoweredMooks various mages]] and the bomb-throwers, though the latter were [[FakeUltimateMook rather easy to avoid]].
* In ''Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick: VideoGame/AssaultOnDarkAthena'', the Mercs in red armor with red googles encountered towards the end of the game are insanely well armored (taking almost a full clip of assault rifle fire to kill), but most players won't even notice since by that point in the game you're given a OneHitKill rifle with unlimited ammo.
* Every long-running enemy group in ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' has these (the Council goes from random raw recruits to elite special forces to enhanced super-soldiers to superhuman monstrosities and robots).
* In ''[[http://www.stickpage.com/combofactorygameplay.shtml Combo Factory]]'', there are the red stick figures, which stand out because of their bright color. They have more health, use more elaborate attacks, and behave more aggressively than the standard stick figures.
* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'':
** The main games had the NOD Black Hand as one of these, being tough, disciplined and equipped with flamethrowers, while the GDI has Zone Troopers soldiers in [[PoweredArmor Power Armor]].
** ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerGenerals'' has the USA faction comprised entirely of these. The basic infantry, air and tank units are the US Army {{Ranger}} (the only infantry that can clear houses) [[GlassCannon F-22 Raptors]] and [=M1A2=] Abrams (called the [[AKA47 Crusader]] in the game), which are all superior, but more expensive than their nearest counterparts.
* ''Condemned'':
** In ''VideoGame/CondemnedCriminalOrigins'', the so-called Oro appeared in game's finishing levels. These were humans who had their larynx replaced with metal attachment, allowing for [[MakeMeWannaShout ultrasonic attacks]] on top of their elite weapons and training. Earlier on, any enemy with a gun acted as one when compared to other homeless with crowbars and bats.
** ''VideoGame/Condemned2Bloodshot'' also had a museum level with homeless wearing parts of the medieval armor suits ([[HeavilyArmoredMook some getting entire suits for themselves]] and equipped with swords and battleaxes.
* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'':
** The Bratgirls from ''VideoGame/CrashOfTheTitans'', which have a lot of health (Although the dropkick can still kill them in 1 hit) and can do a lot of damage with their attacks, especially their megaphone attack which also dizzies you. In Mind Over Mutant however, they have been significantly downgraded, not having nearly as much health and doing much less damage.
** The [[SmellySkunk Stenches]] in ''VideoGame/CrashMindOverMutant''.
* ''VideoGame/CrueltySquad'' provides several different types, all of them painful:
** Some mooks are simply better armored than the others. Nothing fancy, but they can really screw up your day if you're using a lighter weapon.
** Psykers inflict an InterfaceScrew and empty your ammo - a death sentence if they're accompanied by a squad of normal mooks.
** Shocktroopers are the best armored non-special mooks, who look distinctive in their red bouncysuits. They can take more than a few rounds of machine gun fire.
** Finally, Necromechs, towering zombies with twin machine guns. Getting close to them is near-instant death.
* ''VideoGame/CryostasisSleepOfReason'' had the firearm-using monsters appear more frequently later in the game, including a parka-wearing giant who dual-wielded [=PPSh=] submachineguns. There were also the extremely tough frozen spider enemies and the once-humanoid monsters that have grown moth-like wings.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' has the Balder Knights (also known as Elite Undead Soldiers) starting from Undead Parish. While most Undead Soldiers you face so far aren't much of a threat, Balder Knights intend to shock newbies into a much more careful playing style, as the swordsman-type Knights wield their iconic Balder Shield with rapid attacks from their Balder Straight Swords, while Fencer-type Knights are even faster, and are able to parry you, with usually disastrous consequences if they do. In NG+ onwards, stories of Balder Fencers one-hit-KO-ing experienced, but careless players abound.
** Hollow Undead are even more of a pushover, especially past the first few levels. Come to Duke's Archives, and you'll be greeted with Crystallized Hollows. Heavy defense against physical attacks, nigh-invulnerable to magic, and usually backed up by StatusBuff-capable Channelers, themselves an example of BossInMookClothing. Due to the narrow walkways of the Archives, getting sniped by a powered-up Crystal Hollow Archer can instantly kill you, especially when you have your back exposed from fighting others.
* ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' had the Enhanced versions of all its Necromorphs: these were always jet-black and much tougher than the normal ones. It also had Twitchers, which behaved much like Slashers, but were unnaturally fast due to the Stasis implant getting digested wrong by the Necromorph organism.
* ''VideoGame/DeBlob'' had the Inkies equipped with rocket launchers, which were pretty much the only enemy type that presented a decent threat to your character, mainly because the {{Knockback}} could sent him straight down the BottomlessPits.
* ''VideoGame/{{Descent}}'' had the Hulk series of robots. Small Hulks and Medium Hulks are standard mooks, but the normally-brown Mediums have a PaletteSwap: the Red Hulk. This guy was the bane of many players of the game, as he had three times the health of a normal Medium and fired Homing Missiles as well. A very common foe from mid-to-late levels. (And the Red Hulk's elite version, the Fusion Hulk, was a full-blown BossInMookClothing.) Class 1 Platform robots were a mere nuisance, but the green variety fired triple missile bursts rather than lasers, making it extremely dangerous. And finally, both Medium Hulks and [[DemonicSpiders Class 1 Drillers]] had [[InvisibleMonsters cloaked versions]], which in the Driller's case actually had ''more'' health than the standard in addition to being invisible.
* Literal elite monsters in the ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' series, which was handed down to its spiritual successor ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. They have a golden border around their portrait and are much tougher than their normal counterparts. How much more depends on the setting. Outdoor elites might be killed by a single character of the same level, although it's much more difficult, while dungeon monsters are designed to be a threat for a full group or even a raid (up to 40 players).
** The players themselves could be a form of this. Raid dungeons consist of a group of 10, 25, or 40 players. Many of the raids feature the raiders as a small but powerful strike force clearing the way for the standard soldiers to get through.
* Each of the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' installments had these: from the Abyss in ''[=DMC3=]'' to Dream Runners in the ''[=DmC=]'' remake.
* The underwater level in ''VideoGame/{{Dex}}'' features the elite clone sentries.
* ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'' had the Watch Officers, which had helmets (made some headshots impossible) , better fighting skills and pistols. Overseers then appear as elite mooks to all Watch Guards. They always had better fighting skills, carried either pistols or grenades with them and had the full face-protecting masks. There are the infamous Tallboys, which were immune to just about everything and had great health. Finally, the ''Knife of Dunwall'' DownloadableContent added Butchers with huge circular saws that dealt insane damage with them and could fire bone chips (or something of a kind) from them as a ranged attack. A shot to the [[FlamethrowerBackfire fuel tank]] would take them out, but they could also [[SpinToDeflectStuff deflect projectiles with their blades]]!
** The game also has a fair share of SuperpoweredMooks. There are Music Box Overseers, which [[AntiMagic disabled all Corvo's powers]] with their music, could generate [[ShockwaveStomp Shockwaves]] and could only be killed by leg or [[InTheBack back attacks]] due to music boxes themselves being bulletproof. Then the Daud's Assassins, which teleported around, threw knives at you and had great fighting skills. Finally, ''Brigmore's Witches'' had the titular witches, which, amongst other spells, had [[MakeMeWannaShout damaging screams]], could drain life from you and whose elites summoned roots from the ground to trap your character.
* ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry'':
** Krushas in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry1''. Donkey Kong is the only one who can defeat them. Diddy can't do anything to them. ''Grey'' Krushas, however, can't be beaten without barrels.
** Krunchas in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry2DiddysKongQuest'' can only be defeated with either a barrel, an Animal Buddy, or both Diddy and Dixie working together (by having one [[FastballSpecial throw the other]] at them). Anything else will make them TurnRed, and hitting them again in that state will make you ''[[CollisionDamage take]]'' the hit instead.
** ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountry3DixieKongsDoubleTrouble'' has Krumple, this iteration's "strong" Kremling. Dixie is completely powerless against him; Kiddy can trounce him with a GoombaStomp.
* The Arch-Viles of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' are Elite Mook that can summon or resurrect lesser mooks. There also the invisible Specters and Hell Knights. ''Doom 2'' has Arachnotrons with plasma cannons, chaingun-using Heavy Weapon Dudes, Mancubi, Revenants, and more.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'':
** The Darkspawn Alphas, which often act as mini-bosses. Interestingly, genlocks, which were the weakest darkspawn in-universe, had the most interesting and challenging Alphas. While Shriek and Ogre Alphas only had boosted-up stats on their side, and Hurlock Alphas were no different from humanoid Two-Handed captains, Genlock Alphas had many extra skills, and the archer variety knew the entire skill tree, being the only archers in the game to do so.
** Similarly, any enemy with a name highlighted in yellow was usually an elite variety. For animalistic monsters this only meant boosted-up stats, while human and demon enemies typically had extra skills on their side. Most common human Elite was either a Heavily Armored Two-Handed mook or similarly heavily-armored shield-using Champion.
** Any enemy with a specialisation, whether Berserker, Assassin or Arcane Warrior, was always going to be one of these.
* ''VideoGame/DragonsCrown'' has the Elite Enemies, PaletteSwap versions of normal {{Mooks}} with higher stats, additional skills, and immunity from getting [[GrievousHarmWithABody thrown by dwarves]]. The [[BossInMookClothing Assassins]] in particular are considered by many to be harder than several of the bosses in the game. They are however, still vulnerable to status attacks bosses are immune to, such as [[OneHitKO Extinction]] and [[BewitchedAmphibians Curse]].
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'''s [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon final dungeon]] is guarded by the deadliest, [[DemonicSpiders most demonic]] variations of the Mooks you've faced: Knight Aberrants, Knight Abhorrents, Blue Dragons, Dread Dragons, etc. They have high defense stats, deal massive damage, and have the most devastating spells, such as Snooze (Knight Aberrants have both this and Fizzle, preventing you from using your own Fizzle), Midheal and Sizzle (the Armored Knight has ''both Midheal and Sizzle''). If you aren't sufficiently [[LevelGrinding leveled up]], you can kiss your ass goodbye here. Some of these are invincible to magic. And sometimes, the only winning move is not to fight.
* ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper 2'': The Royal Guard are a late-game enemy unit, distinguished from the regular Guard by their {{purple|IsPowerful}} outfits and stronger combat statistics. Although they don't have the MagicKnight powers of some other late-game units, they're good enough {{Lightning Bruiser}}s to be worth [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil torturing into joining you]].
* ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'':
** In ''Dynasty Warriors 6'', enemy generals will sometimes be accompanied by nameless Lieutenants. This can lead to the odd situation where you [[CurbStompBattle curb stomp]] the general himelf, and then immediately find yourself getting slapped around by his elite goons.
** ''Dynasty Warriors 8'' has "Mobile Unit Captains" and "Unit Commanders" that have slightly more health than foot soldiers and, visually, are only distinguishable by their having titles over their heads and by the Unit Commanders having {{BFS}}s.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** Many of the series' [[OurDemonsAreDifferent lesser Daedra]] serve the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Daedric Princes]] as {{Mooks}}, but the more powerful lesser Daedra fully qualify as this. Some notable examples:
*** Mehrunes Dagon, the Daedric Prince of [[DestroyerDeity Destruction]], has a number of lesser Daedra who serve him in a variety of ways. They range from CannonFodder Scamps, to his LegionsOfHell Dremora, to GiantMook Daedroths. The most powerful of his servants are the Xivilai, gigantic humanoid Daedra, of whom even a single one can turn the tide of battle. Even among the Dremora, the [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority higher-ranking]] individuals are much more powerful than their lower-ranking kin [[BossInMookClothing while not being all that different in appearance]]. Each are prevalent throughout ''Oblivion''.
*** [[GodOfEvil Molag Bal]], Daedric Prince of [[TheCorrupter Domination and Corruption]], is primarily served by the Daedroths, a [[NeverSmileAtACrocodile crocodilian]] form of lesser Daedra who themselves are {{Giant Mook}}s. His most elite servants (as seen in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline Online]]'') are the Daedric Titans, which he created by corrupting [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]] and replacing their [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Aedric]] souls with Daedric ones. In addition to the powerful traits they share with true dragons, they can use a "crude imitation" of the "true" [[LanguageOfMagic Thu'um]], possessing the ability to [[MakeMeWannaShout speak a spell]] of flaming essence-drain that can debilitate an opponent with a single word.
** Umaril the Unfeathered, the [[AbusivePrecursors Ayleid]] sorcerer-king who ruled the Ayleid Empire during the [[SlaveLiberation Alessian Revolt]], had some. He had them armed with special weapons he "wrought" but held them back until [[EternalHero Pelinal]] [[TheBerserker Whitestrake]] charged the [[TheTower White-Gold Tower]] on his own. Armed with these weapons, his elite mooks were able to make Pelinal bleed for the first time. Despite this, Pelinal is still able to bring down Umaril, but Pelinal is slain as well. (Umaril later returns in ''Oblivion'''s ''Knights of the Nine'' expansion as the BigBad, and has the Daedric Prince Meridia's Aurorans in this role.)
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', deranged PhysicalGod BigBad Dagoth Ur is served by his Ash Vampires in this role. Each are the most powerful of his minions and a few have been trusted to guard the [[ArtifactOfDoom Tools of Kagrenac]].
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', in addition to the Daedric examples above, has several powerful enemy types which qualify. The [[EliteZombie Headless Zombie]] is one of the more infamous.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' has Forsworn Briarhearts and Draugr Deathlords, who can take off a good 60% of a mage's health with one melee hit. If you meet one of the latter early on and you don't have a follower, expect the worst.
* ''VideoGame/EndlessSky'' has the Marauders, a faction of SpacePirates who use heavily modified versions of existing ships with state‑of‑art technology, to lethal effect for the poorly prepared. They'll teach you [[KillerRabbit to fear even non‑combat ships like Arrow or Bounder]], and if you do gain the upper hand, they may self-destruct their ships to prevent being looted, unlike regular pirates.
* In ''VideoGame/TheEndTimesVermintide'', the vast majority of Skaven are Slaves and Clanrats (hordes of easily defeated enemies who mob, swarm, and flank the players), but the Stormvermin (heavily-armored Skaven who are actually skilled at fighting), Poison Wind Globediers (Skaven that throw poison grenades), Ratling Gunners (Skaven with miniguns), Gutter Runners (ninja Skaven), and Packmasters (trapper Skaven) serve as Elite Mooks. The Rat Ogre (giant mutant Skaven) serves as a boss. If this sounds like a ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' version of ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', well, it's sort of; the Skaven types are all taken straight from the original tabletop game, but their mechanics in ''Vermintide'' are a [=L4D=]-inspired PragmaticAdaptation of how they functioned in the tabletop.
* ''Creator/TomClancy's VideoGame/EndWar'' has them. How? The player's army, stated to be the best taken and bunched up from all the other elite forces of their root military, and TheCavalry commonly in other circumstances.
* Get far enough in ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' and you'll encounter a strangely skeletal pterodactyl-like creature ambling towards you with its wings hanging like a cloak. These are Gatekeepers, only named in outside sources because resident doctor Maximillian Roivas is never in a position to [[MonsterCompendium perform an autopsy]] of one. Their wings act as a shield, forcing you to either run behind them to attack or wait until they try and attack ''you'' to get a hit in, and they're able to summon lesser mooks if you give them the opportunity.
* ''VideoGame/EternalDaughter'' had some of these. There were the elite Dungaga soldiers, including ones with [[ShieldBearingMook shields]] and more advanced wild-roaming enemies, like the [[DemBones skeletons]] that would throw [[BallisticBone bones]] at you.
* The Genedisruptor Parasites in ''VideoGame/{{Evolva}}''. Appearing only during the two last levels, not only they are [[GiantMook significantly larger than any other mook]] (to the point that their small version is about the same size than standard mooks), but they can also take a lot of damage, and their main attack is a beam that drains life fast ''and'' confuses your Genohunters (if the affected Genohunter is the one being controlled, it inverts the controls; on non-controlled Genohunters, it makes them start attacking each other).
* The ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'' games have these. The [[VideoGame/FableI first]] has the "Minion" monster, large armored monstrosities that can give even an experienced fighter a run for his money.
* ''VideoGame/FableII'' has the Spire Guards. justified, as most spire guards are either mercs hired from champions of The Crucible, or just have their memories and identity ripped apart and become unthinking brutes.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
** Back in the [[VideoGame/{{Fallout}} original game]], we have the Nightkin, a variant of the super mutants, that served as the elite wing of The Master's army, were smarter than the other supermutants, and were trained to use stealth boys to [[StealthyMook cloak themselves and ambush their enemies]]. They return in ''New Vegas'', but have been reduced to scattered bands and their prolonged use of stealth boys, has taken a toll on their minds, destroying the intelligence vantage they may of had, but they are still very deadly.
** The regular, non-[[GiantMook Behemoth]] Super Mutants in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' come in three kinds: Super Mutant, Super Mutant Brute and Super Mutant Master, each one with ascending HP and weapon capabilities respectively. Plain Super Mutants aren't armored and usually only carry hunting rifles and melee weapons, Masters are all armored and carry either assault rifles, missile launchers, or miniguns, and Brutes are both armored and unarmored and carry a variety of weapons. ''Broken Steel'' adds a fourth rank, the Overlords, 13-foot tall mutants who have no armor but make up for it with HP approaching that of a Behemoth and universally wield {{BFG}}s such as Tri-Beam Laser Rifles and Gatling Lasers.
** The Enclave as a whole, could be seen as this towards other human enemies; their foot-soldiers wear PoweredArmor (albeit relatively weak power armor that can penetrated by repeated hits from AP rifle rounds) and they wield powerful energy weapons like laser and plasma rifles and heavy weapons like mini-guns and missile launchers. The ''Broken Steel'' DLC also has the Enclave Hellfire soldiers, with fire-resistant armor and Heavy Incinerators.
** The Enclave's Squad Sigma are ''[[InformedAttribute allegedly this]]''; they are in-charge of guarding [[BaseOnWheels the Enclave's Mobile Base Crawler]] and are very well armed and armored, but don't have anything that sets them apart from the rank-and-file troops, not even cosmetically.
** The Operation Anchorage DLC introduces the Crimson Dragoons, pre-war Chinese special forces, that wear [[StealthyMook stealth armor to cloak themselves]], usually attack with swords, and have superior speed to other enemies. Some of them also serve as snipers.
** The Feral Ghouls also have different varieties, that could be seen as this: Roamers, Reavers, and Glowing Ones. The Roamers essentially being former soldiers, who happened to be wearing their Armour when Ghoulified, the Reavers being more bulkier versions with higher speed, stronger attacks, and more health, while the Glowing Ones, are Ghouls who soaked up so much radiation, their practically a walking nuclear battery, that can use radiation based attacks, while healing its fellow Ghouls.
** In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', the major factions have their elite mooks as well. The NCR has their [[TheGunslinger Rangers]], elite scouts, armed with various mid to high level weapons (from high-caliber lever action rifles to assault rifles to sniper rifles) that are better trained and have more health than the regular troopers on top of wearing better armor, ''[[GasMaskMooks Veteran Rangers]]'', who use high-end firearms like the anti-material rifle and nearly as heavily armored as low-end PoweredArmor troops, the Heavy Troopers, who use [[{{BFG}} big guns]] such as light machine guns and stripped-down versions of [[PoweredArmor Brotherhood of Steel armor]], and First Recon Snipers, the best marksmen in the NCR. Caesar's Legion meanwhile has the Centurions, who command other forces of the Legion in battle and are equipped with the best weapons and armor that the Legion can provide (usually marksman carbines and anti-materiel rifles), the PraetorianGuard, who use high-end unarmed-class weapons, and to a lesser extent, Veteran Legionaries and Prime Legionaries, who have superior stats and weapons to the normal recruits.
** Also from ''New Vegas'' are the Powder Ganger bodyguards, who protect Eddie, their leader. Unlike other Powder Gangers, who are only armed with dynamite, pistols, single-barrel shotguns, and bolt action rifles and occasionally wear guard armor, these guys all wear armor and are armed with laser pistols and sub-machine guns, making them very deadly to early players in close quarters. The West Vegas Powder Gangers defending a pair of homesteads are likewise armed with [[EnergyWeapon energy weapons]] and are statistically similar to the bodyguards, [[VillainForgotToLevelGrind but will probably be vastly outmatched by the time they're encountered]].
** Depending on the player's actions, [[spoiler:the Mojave Chapter of the Brotherhood of Steel, [[TheRemnant the Enclave Remnants]], the Boomers, and the Great Khans]] can all become this to the NCR, Securitrons, or Caesar's Legion during the climax of the game.
** In ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', most mooks have [[UndergroundMonkey Legendary variations]], more frequently appearing the higher the difficulty setting, which are [[BossInMookClothing much tougher and stronger than the standard versions]], and if not defeated in one go, they will TurnRed and regain their HP for a second wind. To compensate for the trouble of having to bring down their health twice, they will always drop a Legendary weapon or armor item.
** Also in ''4'', every major player in the Commonwealth has something that qualifies. The Brotherhood of Steel have their classic Brotherhood Knights and Paladins clad from head to toe in tough PoweredArmor; the Institute have the Coursers, which are basically Franchise/{{Terminator}} {{Exp|y}}ies with ludicrous stats and {{Badass Longcoat}}s; and the Railroad have their Heavies, who weave armour into their clothes and carry huge steam-powered nailguns. The [[WeHelpTheHelpless Minutemen]] (who are basically the player's personal Elite Mooks) don't have an equivalent, but are typically backed by the Player, and in the lategame, can deploy everything from their own Power Armored elites to below Sentry Bots. All of the below Sentry Bots And replace the mortars with ''nuclear'' mortars if you want. Even raiders have survivalist and veterans, the latter of which can border on BossInMookClothing in mid-level areas.
** There's also the Sentry Bot. While similar in appearance to the ones from ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]'' (which on their own were no pushover) these take "overkill" to a new level. Standing taller than a human in [[PoweredArmor Power Armor]], they can be armed with dual [[GatlingGood Miniguns]], [[BeamSpam Gatling Lasers]], [[MacrossMissileMassacre Missile Launchers]] or even [[ThrowDownTheBomblet Bomb Mortars]]. They start out with "only" 850 health (more than five times that of a super mutant), but bulk up to having over 1300 health, making them by far the toughest robotic enemy in the game. They're also heavily armored (to the point of surviving a ''mini nuke blast''), [[LightningBruiser can outrun the player]], and have a self - destruct. Their only "weakness" is they have to stop every thirty seconds to cool down (guns produce a lot of heat), exposing their [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak point]] - but surviving to that point is a challenge. The only reliable way to take one of these down is either to snipe at it from a distance, or shoot it point - blank with a Gatling Laser. Then run - they explode after being killed, as one more giant "screw you" to whoever brought the thing down. There's a reason the loading screen hint describes it as "The most dangerous robot ever created."
*** And if that wasn't enough, the ''Automatron'' DLC adds additional variants, ranging from weaker (at around 550 health) up to 1500. [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill And just to prove that it can get worse]], the robots generated are modular, so if you're ''really'' unlucky, you can get a sentry bot with the [[OneHitKO Insta - Kill]] [[EyeBeams Eye - Laser]] of an Assaultron. [[UpToEleven Theoretically]] you could even get a ''Missile Launching, Laser Shooting , Stealth - Equipped, Armored Sentry Bot with Dual Bomb Mortars.'' Yeah, you should be scared.
* ''Franchise/FarCry'':
** Elite Guard mercenaries in the [[VideoGame/FarCry1 first game]] are this for the human enemies, as they're all equipped with [=OICWs=] and automatic shotguns, are smarter than the grunts (and harder to sneak up on), and wear such heavy armor that their torsos are outright immune to basic assault rifle fire. For the trigens, there are [[SuperpoweredMooks invisible mutants]] that could only be seen through the night-vision goggles and the tall, rocket-launcher wielding mutants.
** In ''VideoGame/FarCry3'', this overlaps with HeavilyArmoredMook. The "Heavy" enemies wear high-grade bulletproof masks that take entire clips to shoot off, while the Flamer enemies have even more armor and are immune to fire. This makes them extremely hard to snipe, but the Heavies don't cover the backs of their heads, and both enemies can be susceptible to a simple Takedown if you select a specific Heavy Takedown skill.
** ''VideoGame/FarCry4'' has the Hunters. Forget the goons you slaughter with an air of boredom - unlike the rest of the Royal Army, they respect the traditional ways of Kyrat and are trained extensively in that way of war. They have this horrifying ability to not only NoSell all your favourite tactics, but ''[[ArtificialBrilliance use them all against you]]''. They're functionally immune to tagging and radar except for a brief period before they fade back into the brush, and they can see you through the thick foliage, so no stealth for you. They use bows at long range which inflict terrible injuries on you without giving away their positions. They pull that classic first-person-shooter move of shooting anything that explodes that you happen to be standing near. They can even charm animals into attacking you, even the ones ''you'' try to lure to them. When Hunters turn up, you very quickly go from being the predator to being the prey. There's also an armored variety that show up during the fight with [[spoiler: [[TheDragon Yuma]]]].
** Also from ''4'' are the Royal Guard, that consists mostly of Chinese born mercenaries. They are first encountered when the player gets access to Northern Kyrat. They use superior tactics, utilize heavier body armor, utilize Heavy troopers of both the flamethrower and machine gun varieties more often, drive around in more heavily armed vehicles, carry more powerful weapons compared to the Royal Army and generally carry themselves with more professionalism.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** Promoted enemies in general, which possess higher stats than their standard counterparts, better weapons, and often additional skills. They can serve as a borderline BossInMookClothing early on, but in the lategame, tend to be encountered about as often as high-leveled versions of their standard counterparts. They do provide increased XP when defeated, though.
** Among enemy types themselves, this role tends to fall to the stronger direct-combat classes, such as the speedy, hard-hitting, and highly accurate Mercenaries and the super-mobile, incredibly tanky Wyvern Riders.
* ''VideoGame/{{Genji}}'': the Heishi Samurai go from being the [[DegradedBoss first storyline boss]] to being an uncommon but powerful enemy, usually found leading squads of Heishi Soldiers, and sporting a new variant armed with a spear rather than a sword. Ditto for their corrupted counterparts in chapter 3.
* ''VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima'' has several, starting with the [[spoiler:Straw Hat ronin]] who have a higher health pool and can devastate your HP with rapid strikes if you don't learn how to parry them back. Later in the game, you encounter mooks who dress in gold, then green, who have not only hit harder and have more HP, but they have extra abilities, like flaming swords.
* ''VideoGame/{{Gift|2001}}'': Light and Dark Guardians, Burners and Blue Burners.
* ''VideoGame/GobletGrotto'' had a parody of this with the Ultra Skeletons, which had unnaturally thick rib cages and could be observing knitting extra bones into their chest to keep it up. However, they were no different from regular skeletons and [[OneHitPointWonder still died in one hit]]. One skeleton also discussed the SortingAlgorithmOfEvil as typically faced in strategies.
-->'''Ultra Skeleton:''' The double skeleton is equal to two normal skeletons. Triple skeleton is equel to three. But Quadruple Skeleton is only equal to three skeletons again. Why? [[FakeUltimateMook That is the riddle of the Quadruple Skeleton.]]
* In ''VideoGame/GodHand'', there are two basic elite types: the "tall" model and the "fat" model. Both are much harder to send flying and have a lot more health.
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' had these in every game. The most famous examples are probably the Satyrs from ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'' and Sirens from ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWarAscension Ascension]]''.
* ''VideoGame/{{GoldenEye|1997}}'' often broke out the Elite Mooks during a high-alert situation, for example, in ''[=GoldenEye=]'', once the ScriptedEvent alarm goes off after hacking the mainframes in Severnaya, endless waves of smart, quick, heavily armed elite guards are spawned (get out of there!).
* The Coop Quests in ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'' feature enemies that you encounter in other story quests as typical "weak mobs". In this mode, not only do they have increased health, attack, and defense, they also have more skills and abilities to make the battle harder. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as the Coop Quests are made for multi-party battles, and it would be difficult for a beginner to fight these mooks alone.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'':
** The more elite policemen appear once you receive three or more stars. Firstly it's the SWAT in body armour and equipped Uzis, which arrive in helicopters or police trucks. Then come the extremely tough 4-wheel drives which carry four of the dreaded [[GovernmentAgencyOfFiction FIB]], whose [=MP5=]s make mince meat out of the PlayerCharacter in seconds (this step was removed in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV''). Finally, you have the military with long-range assault rifles and which will show up on tanks.
** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' also had similar levels during the battles for location dominance against other gangs. First wave has thugs equipped with same pistols and Uzis they always have. Second has shotguns and better guns. Third wave is equipped exclusively with [=AK=]-47s.
** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'' introduces N.O.O.S.E., a national police force, equipped with military gear and vehicles, to compensate for the military's absence.[[note]] They were excluded as part of IV's attempts at a more realistic world.[[/note]] They return in the fifth installment, but now with military being brought back as well.
** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' introduces the [[PrivateMilitaryContractor Merryweather Mercenaries]], a private military company, that serve as security for high-profile targets and eventually come after the protagonists, for robbing said targets [[spoiler: as well as pissing off [[BigBad one of their biggest shareholders]]]].
* ''VideoGame/GuildWars'': In Prophecies, the Mursaat fill this role compared to the white Mantle. In Factions, Shiro'ken are elite mooks compared to afflicted. In Nightfall, Margonites (and torment demons to an extent) act in this role compared to normal Kournan soldiers.
* Combine Elites in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', who wear white uniforms instead of the grey and black variety found in others, and have weapons with an "alternate fire" mode which can instantly disintegrate {{N|onPlayerCharacter}}PCs, whether RedShirt or {{Mook|s}}, are a mixed bag. InUniverse, they are a straight example, but in gameplay terms, they're closer to FakeUltimateMook: the dreaded pulse projectile only deals 15 damage to Gordon, they can't throw the grenades the ordinary Overwatch soldier is known and feared for using, and their health is negligibly higher than normal Overwatch.
* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
** The aptly-named Elites, the strongest forms of which are the black-ish-armored Spec-Ops types, who were the only Elites who used grenades in the earlier games (and boy, did they throw ''fast''), and can turn invisible in the later games; the white-armored Ultras with their insane durability (up to four or five sniper shots to the ''head'' in the highest difficulties), [[RegeneratingShieldsStaticHealth quickly-regenerating shields]], GunsAkimbo, and instant-death Energy Swords; and the Zealots (gold armor in the original trilogy, maroon since ''VideoGame/HaloReach''), who, depending on the game, can combine together any of the aforementioned features. These elite Elites (heh) also shoot faster and more accurately than their lesser comrades, and are much dodgier to boot.
** Other elite Elites (heheh) are the jet-packing Rangers, the gold-armored Generals in ''Reach'', and the also-golden Warriors introduced in ''VideoGame/Halo4''.
** Their {{Evil Counterpart}}s the Brutes are also this, the most powerful being the Brute Chieftains, who are heavily armored and shielded, wield either Gravity Hammers or [[{{BFG}} a super-heavy firearm]], come equipped with temporary invincibility shields, and can take about ''three'' grenades to the face on the highest difficulties before dying (if you could even make the stick, since in their earliest appearances, plasma and spike grenades would merely bounce off their armored sections). Other elite Brutes include Captains, Bodyguards, and Jumpers.
** ''VideoGame/Halo2'' had the ornately-armored Elite and Brute Honor Guards, which are the Prophets' PraetorianGuard.
** The higher-ranking Skirmishers (Murmillos, Commandos, and Champions) in ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' are both very durable and insanely agile; to make things worse, the Murmillos will use their dual arm-shields to prevent headshots.
** Even the [[CannonFodder Grunts]] have their elite variants in the Spec-Ops, Heavy, and Ultra Grunts, who were experts with grenades and {{BFG}}s (and could even use the basic plasma pistol well), and the Ultra's [[Creator/ThreeFourThreeIndustries 343i]]-era replacement, the Imperial. ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'' Firefight adds Grunt Bodyguards, who have recharging energy shields.
** ''Halo 2'' also had Sentinel Majors, gold Sentinels with more powerful blue beams who were the only variant to have shields in that game.
** ''VideoGame/Halo4''[='s=] version of the Promethean Knights, large mechanical warriors who can teleport across the field, are armed with fairly heavy weapons, and can be revived by Watchers. To top it off, they have their own elite models in the Lancer, Battlewagon, and Commander.
** In ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'', the Knights have been upgraded to full BossInMookClothing status; instead, the smaller and more humanoid Promethean Soldiers take their place as Elite Mooks. The Soldiers can teleport and even switch their weapons on the fly.
* Starting from second installment of ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'', some non-neutral units could have been upgraded, giving them better statistics, slightly altered appearance and sometimes completely new abilities that made a vast difference between them and the basic version. Green Dragons from the same game take this trope a level higher and can be upgraded twice from Red to Black Dragons. In III, V and VI all non-neutral units became upgradeable.
* The last level of ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'' features North Korean Special Forces soldiers called 718's. They are equipped with high-caliber weaponry and heavy body armour. allowing them to take 1 or 2 more bullets than standard NK goons. They also resemble the [[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Juggernauts]].
* ''VideoGame/HowToSurvive'' had the bloated zombies that [[DefeatEqualsExplosion exploded at death]] and soldier zombies wearing helmets and/or body armour that required leg shots to be defeated, as well as [[NonHumanUndead zombified wild animals]] and other variants.
* The aptly named Bastion Elite in ''VideoGame/{{Iconoclasts}}'' wear white breastplates over the standard grey uniform of One Concern troops, and possess heavier helmets with purple visors (over the standard troops' blue.) Instead of using a submachine-gun and grenades, their main weapon is evolved version of Robin's stun gun, whose bomb shots produce a fiery ShockwaveStomp running in both directions, while their primary shot is also powerful (though it can be deflected at them with a wrench.) They can also dodge shots and rapidly cover distance by sliding along the ground. However, a full burst from the Attacker's submachine gun still does far more damage, though it's easier for the player to dodge. As such, [[spoiler: the infighting between regular Attackers and Elites had a strict 1-1 ration, and by the end of the game, they are completely wiped out]].
* ''VideoGame/InFAMOUS'' had the more elite soldiers sent after you in the later parts of the game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' had the [[spoiler: Komato]] Berserkers and Assassins as the elite varieties of simple troopers. The former had great health, carried powerful Shocksplinters for ranged attacks and Resonance Deflectors up close, and would reflect the missiles in front of them back at you. The latter had [[FragileSpeedster a lot less health]], but [[TeleportSpam teleported around like crazy]], had great variety of powerful moves and would reflect explosive projectiles regardless of direction.
* ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance 2'' has [[BigBad Deidranna's]] Elite Guard, who have better stats and are far better equipped than her standard [[{{Mooks}} redshirts]]. Depending on your game-settings, and how much [[LevelGrinding gear and experience]] your own team has accumulated, they can be anything from CannonFodder to a major threat.
* ''VideoGame/JudgeDreddVsZombies'' had the bloated zombies that exploded at death (and could take other zombies with them, too), extremely tough "old man" zombies that survived ungodly amounts of punishment and the "leaper" zombies that would frequently make 2-3 metre jumps to get at your Judge.
* ''VideoGame/JusticeLeagueHeroesTheFlash'' has giant bomb-shooting robots. They also function as {{Giant Mook}}s.
* ''VideoGame/KaneAndLynch2DogDays'' had the Chinese riot police and military. Not only did those have advanced shotguns and assault rifles, but their body armour actually gave them more health than the player characters.
* ''VideoGame/KillerIsDead'' had the gold-plated Wires appear about halfway through the game and become more common from there. These were [[HeavilyArmoredMook much tougher than usual]] and often could only be killed while in the Adrenaline Rush mode.
* The first ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}}'' had the minigun-wielding troopers and nothing else. ''Killzone 2'' introduced the flamethrower troops and enemies with grenade launchers alongside varieties of more basic mooks. ''Killzone: Shadow Fall'' had scouts with radios who would summon support to them and the [[ShieldBearingMook troops with shotguns and riot shields]].
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'': Invisibles for pureblood heartless; devil-like heartless with wings and a big sword. They have the highest health of the non-boss enemies, have offensive and defensive stats equal to bosses, and are swift and aggressive. They are also the only non-boss enemies to have a desperation move, making them invulnerable until they strike. Angel Stars are elite mooks to the emblem heartless; also with powerful stats and magic attacks, immune to thunder, and can summon even more morning stars. Both heartless form very formidable groups, and are found in the endgame.
** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'': Neoshadows are the strongest enemies found in the endgame, and they have the highest valued cards and health. They are very accurate, relentless, and hit very hard if you can't cardbreak them in time, and they come in groups.
** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'': Nobodies bar the Dusks and Creepers are not very common, but they are stronger and much more unpredictable than the Heartless that the player finds everywhere else. The game's last world is filled almost exclusively with them. Sorcerer nobodies stand out, encountered only in the endgame, they are immune to most magic, have no reaction commands to exploit, and attacking them doesn't stop their deadly cube attacks. Sorcerers can be harder to deal with than most bosses even.
** ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'': Samurai Nobodies have as much HP as bosses and deal tons of damage with their attacks. They only show up in a few missions at The Castle That Never Was as a part of tests for Roxas, or attempt to subdue him during his escape from the Organization on Day 356.
** The rare Nightmares in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'' are simply a white PaletteSwap of the usual nightmare types, but have ''much'' higher stats, to the point where it's tough to cause more then ScratchDamage to them initially, plus they can always take a sizable chunk out of your health, even if you're considerably higher in level then them.
* ''VideoGame/{{Kuon}}'' after going through the frequent but weak Ghosts and Gaki, you'll soon run into bigger threats such as the Yamabito and the Adamushi, which have more health and dangerous attacks.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastStand'' had various heavily armored zombies (including [[ShieldBearingMook riot police zombies that could only be shot in the feet)]] and very fast zombies, as well as zombies smart enough to use actual weapons, including ''firearms''.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' has [[spoiler: Fireflies]] in its final level. Unlike all other human enemies, they are equipped with proper military-grade body armour and assault rifles (as well as some of your own weapons they took earlier). It is possible to [[OptionalStealth sneak past them]], though it's questionable as to whether you would want to.
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'':
** Beside the [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Common Infected]] (the average zombie of the ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'' kind), the game sometimes throws [[EliteZombie Special Infected]] at you. The most powerful ones are [[BossInMookClothing the Witch and the Tank]].
** The Uncommon Commons of ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' are Common Infected but with perks that make them tougher than average: Riot Infected in body armour that make them bulletproof everywhere except the back, Hazmat Infected in fireproof biohazard suits, Mudmen who crawl on all fours, move quickly in water and can [[InterfaceScrew blind the Survivors with mud]], Clown Infected whose squeaky shoes and noses attract other nearby zombies, and Worker Infected who won't follow pipe bombs/bile jars because they wear ear protection.
** "The Passing" {{D|ownloadableContent}}LC has the Fallen Survivor which drops useful supplies when killed, but is [[MadeOfIron very durable, having health rivaling the Witch]] and runs away when attacked.
* In ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKainSoulReaver'', vampire wraiths in the Spectral Realm and Revived Vampires in the Physical Realm can drain Raziel's health if they manage to land a hit on him.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro'':
** The first two games tend to have the common enemies (Apes and Skavengers) divided in three categories: small and weak mooks, bigger and slightly thougher Elite and rare, even bigger and much stronger commanders.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroDawnOfTheDragon'': The third game has the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orcs]], which tend to be common and not as easy to eliminate as the weak Grublins or Shadows, but still outmatched by stronger and bigger foes, such as Trolls. It also has "Elite Enemies" as optional, hidden but also extremely powerful variants of normal enemies wearing elemental-themed masks which must be removed with the proper breath weapon to make them vulnerable. Since they have their own health bar, they're more BossInMookClothing.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'': The Ball-and-Chain Soldier, much more durable than the generic types and his one attack can dish out heavy damage in early game. One of them even serves as a Mini-Boss guarding Princess Zelda herself.
** Both ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames'' have a lone Vire for a miniboss in their respective sixth dungeons, and it actually talks to Link (and seems to be a direct underling of the BigBad, rather than reporting to the dungeon boss). In other games in the series, Vires are just common mooks best known for [[AsteroidsMonster splitting into a pair of]] [[FragileSpeedster weaker enemies]] when hit with a weapon too weak to kill them in one hit--which is to say that such weaponry exists.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'': The Darknuts. Based on an enemy appearing in the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI original game]] that could not be attacked from the front, this version is fully armored, with a [[{{BFS}} huge flamberge]] and in some cases a shield, so they are very difficult to take in a head-on fight, and they hit like a truck. Parrying their attacks will cut off parts of their armor, but even without that it takes nearly twice as many hits as other types of mobs (and that's ''with'' a fully empowered Master Sword) to put them down for good. But what ''really'' puts them above the others is when they are disarmed; where other enemies will stand their ground when you come at them, Darknuts will actually ''evade''. If you come at them, they will jump back and out of range. Out of all the enemies you face short of bosses, darknuts are clearly the most heavily armed and armored as well as the most skilled.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' has green [[{{Mooks}} knights]] and blue knights that are half-again as strong as the green, and in [[spoiler:Lorule]] there are [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience red]] knights that are twice as strong as the blue knights.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'':
*** Some of the enemy types come in four different colors denoting strength, and as the game goes on, higher colors become more common. At the top of the list are silver enemies, which take a truckload of hits, almost always carry royal-tier weapons[[note]]the highest "regular" tier, outside of Hyrule Castle's royal guard weapons, Lynel gear, Guardian weapons from Test of Strength shrines, and Ancient weapons that are made at a special shop[[/note]], and drop valueable gemstones. The Master Mode DLC goes a step higher and adds gold counterparts to the enemies.
*** Lynels function similarly to the game's other overworld minibosses, but they're treated more like exceptionally strong enemies than bosses as they lack the giant health bar and name at the top of the screen that the "actual" minibosses do. Always seen alone, they are ''far'' more complex and difficult than any other enemy in the game, even including the overworld bosses, and are the only overworld enemies that use more than one type of weapon at a time.
*** Guardians are giant {{magitek}} structures taken over by Galamity Ganon in the game's present and are some of the most threatening enemies in the game thanks to their high-damaging, long-ranged laser beams. [[LightningBruiser They are fast, too.]] They are even used as the game's main way of deterring players from just rushing to Hyrule Castle at the start unless they really know what they're doing, since the whole Central Hyrule area has fully-functional Guardians roaming around.
** In ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'' they come in two groups:
*** The lower group of Elite Mooks have more health and are less numerous than the regular Mooks, but still don't put up much of a fight.
*** The higher group of Elite Mooks have far more health, have a variety of attacks, and can can actually block your attacks, forcing players to fight more strategically when facing them.
* ''VideoGame/LollipopChainsaw'' had the [[AirborneMook flying zombies]], singing ([[MakeMeWannaShout well, sorta]]) zombies and especially the cheerleader zombies. These were surprisingly acrobatic and could avoid most of your attacks by doing a handstand.
* ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline'' has signature, elite, elite master, and nemesis versions of mooks, each progressively more dangerous. Signatures can be found on the landscape; nemeses, with over 20 times normal health, are confined to raid dungeons, but are still nameless mooks.
** It's not really that indicative, though, at least between Elite Master and Nemesis. The player is about equal to a signature in health (less for some classes, like lore-masters), but are pushed up to about the strength of an elite by their advanced human brains and their much larger array of moves. A normal enemy has about 50% of your hitpoints and a swarm has about 25%. Generally, each level is about twice as powerful as the last, up to Elite Master. The line between Elite Master and Nemesis is INCREDIBLY blurry. In the first part of the Great Barrows, a 6-man instance, you fight an Elite Master who's REALLY tough, and you'll probably be wiped out several times. In the 6-man version of the fourth skirmish, Thievery and Mischief, you fight three nemeses at once as a boss with relative ease.
* ''VideoGame/LordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing Return of the King]]'' tie-in games had Uruk-Hai as the general Elite Mooks to weaker Orcs. They had the heavily armored variants, the crossbowmen (which dealt much greater damage at range than Orc archers and could throw fire bombs) and the Berserkers. Those dealt plenty of damage, had greater attack range than the player because of their scythes and could block most of your attacks and rapidly counter-attack. Orcs themselves also have the [[ShieldBearingMook shield-bearing variants]], which were immune to damage until the shield was broken, and the rapidly attacking DualWielding orcs.
* ''VideoGame/MajinAndTheForsakenKingdom'' had the the Dark Warrior Sergeants, which were stronger and tougher than regular Warriors, and would [[EnemySummoner continually summon more of them]]. There are also the [[BossInMookClothing Two-Face creatures]], which are immune to magic and have to be hit in [[AttackItsWeakPoint one specific spot]] to get defeated, requiring extensive teamwork between [[PlayerCharacter Tepeu]] and Majin. The hound-like creatures are elite [[PatrollingMook patrolling mooks]] due to them being able to sniff Tepeu out if [[OptionalStealth he's trying to sneak]] and being quite tough in a fight themselves.
* The penultimate level of the ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' trilogy has Admiral Tfear's personal guards, who are much tougher than the other soldiers you've been fighting and uniquely wear dark gray armor.
* The Elite Guards in ''VideoGame/MarkOfTheNinja''. They can't be stealth-killed, are good hand-to-hand fighters and constantly boast about their martial arts prowess.
* The geth of ''Franchise/MassEffect'' start off with your regular Geth Troopers, Rocket Troopers and Snipers, but as the [[VideoGame/MassEffect1 game]] progresses, Geth Shock Troopers and Destroyers start showing up as well as [[FragileSpeedster Geth Hoppers]]. Late in the game, GiantMook like Juggernauts and the [[BossInMookClothing pants-browningly potent Primes]] become present in nearly every encounter.
** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' Collectors supplement their standard drones with harder-hitting Assassins and more defensive-minded Guardians. Harbinger can convert any of them, even the bog standard drones, into an [[SuperpoweredMooks Even-More-Elite]] Mook by '[[VillainOverride taking over them itself]]'''. Also, [[BodyHorror Scions]], which are three husks gruesomely fused together, and can drain your shields in one shot. But the worst offender has to be [[BossInMookClothing the Praetorian]], a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot flying tank made up of THIRTY husks.]] Then, in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', under certain circumstances in multiplayer, Harbinger can possess Scions and Praetorians, turning them into a BossInMookClothing.
** The three mercenary gangs in the same game also had these. Blue Suns had the relatively weak Legionnaries and Centurions, who were tough but were equipped with slow-firing Vindicators. Eclipse had far more dangerous Engineers and biotic Vanguards, which were able to deploy drones and [=AoE=] attacks. These had more elite [[BossInMookClothing Operatives and Commandoes]]. Finally, Blood Pack had Krogan Warriors as its Elite troops, but they were [[MightyGlacier slow]] and restricted to short-range shotguns, making them [[FakeUltimateMook little better]] than their Vorcha Underlings.
** Cerberus in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' has this in the form of the Nemesis and Phantom units, elite specialists designed to work perfectly in tandem with one another: while one keeps you pinned down with the threat of sniper fire that can instantaneously destroy your shields, the other closes the distance so they can [[OneHitKill insta-kill you]] with their fancy swords. Phantoms also have the benefit of crazy-powerful handguns that can kill you long before they close the distance if you don't take cover, in addition to [[InvisibilityCloak cloaking devices]] and [[DodgeTheBullet fancy acrobatics]].
** The Reapers have their own variants, in the form of the [[GiantMook Brute]], a monstrosity with the body and strength of a [[BloodKnight krogan]], and the head and intelligence of a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy turian]], which results in lethal efficency, the [[InsectoidAlien Ravager]], a [[BeePeople rachni]] husk, repurposed to bring heavy fire onto enemies, and have it's babies brainlessly swarm you, and, worst of all, the [[EldritchAbomination Banshee]], a Reaper-fied [[DeathBySex Ardat-Yakshi]] asari, who can hit you with an attack that deals damage to you over time, [[TeleportSpam biotically rush you]], [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice pick you up, and gut you with their long claws that would make a]] [[VideoGame/Left4Dead Witch]] [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice jealous]], and get their name because of their [[HellIsThatNoise pants-wettingly horrifying scream.]] In the early stages, Marauders are built up as this, playing the role of coordination/enhancement units for the basic cannon-fodder Cannibals, but literally the next stage of the mission where they're introduced lets you meet your first Brute, and Marauders are instantly relegated to being little more than Cannibals with shields.
** The Asari are said to be this to the Turians. For the uninitiated, Asari are incredibly few in number due to... [[BoldlyComing um, the peculiarities of their reproduction]] and thus are dependent on the Turians to fill out the numbers, but their commandos are said to be the finest warriors in the entire galaxy due to their stealthiness, athleticism and biotic prowess - it's said that unless you're a [[MadeOfIron Krogan]] (or [[MemeticBadass Commander Shepard]]), a one-on-one fight with an Asari commando is tantamount to suicide. Unfortunately this bites them in the ass ''hard'' when the Reapers invade, as the Turians can't provide any support to Thessia due to pressures at home and the Asari's army of elite psychic light infantry [[CurbStompBattle get completely steamrolled by kilometre-long mecha Cthulhu]].
* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne3'' had the enemies clad in advanced body armour and helmets at the end of the game. These were tougher than the player and required more than one headshot to kill.
* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'':
** Starting with the fourth mission in ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorFrontline'', you encounter elite mooks with body armor who can take twice as much punishment as the normal mooks.
** ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorPacificAssault'' has the Special Naval Landing Forces, aka the Japanese Marines. Tougher to kill, having overall better AI, and having access to more automatic weapons than their Japanese Army counterparts, they're essentially an EvilCounterpart to the US Marines.
** The Waffen SS and Fallschirmjagers serve as this in ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorVanguard''.
** The Waffen Infantry and Officers in ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorAirborne'' are subversions. While on paper they're tougher than the Heer, they're [[FakeUltimateMook fake ultimate mooks]] that still go down as easily as their predecessors. The Senior Troopers and Storm Leaders play this trope straight, however, as do the Fallschirmjagers, Panzergrenadiers, and TheDreaded Nazi Storm Elites.
* The latter half of ''VideoGame/MegaManX8's'' final level gives us mass-produced copies of [[spoiler:'''''[[BigBad Sigma]]''''']].
* ''VideoGame/MercenaryKings'' had the incendiary and electrical versions of basic CLAW enemies (Patrol, Guard, Shield Guard) that have much greater health (particularly electrical ones) and inflict bonus damage of their element with each shot. There also similarly elite electric turrets, which have double their already considerate health and damage.
** There are two further elite versions of Shield Guards. One is Abductor, which is tougher and uses hostage as a shield, which means you have to get behind them if you don't want to lose bonus points. Second version is Charger, which doesn't shoot, but is very fast and runs at you in melee with a spiked shield.
* Many ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' games have several elite enemy soldiers in addition to the regular kind fought by the player throughout the course of each game.
** The original ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' have the Heavily Armed Troops, who wear full body armor and helmets. They are specifically said to be former members of Big Boss' elite guard (rather than VR-trained novices like the rest) and thus they have more hit points than the other troops.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' has the Hi-Tech Soldiers, who are members of Solidus Snake's private guard and appear only during the alert phase during the latter half of the Plant Chapter (specifically after Raiden contacts Ames). Later, when the player reaches Arsenal Gear, they'll encounter the Tengu Commandos, who are armed with ninja-like gear.
** The Ocelot Unit in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', as well as the flamethrower unit.
** The all-female Haven Troopers/F.R.O.G.S in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'', who are [[DistaffCounterpart female versions]] of the Tengu Commandos.
** The Skulls/Parasite Unit in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', who have superhuman abilities and a zombie-like appearance.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' has the longsword-wielding Custom Cyborgs that you must parry three times in a row to CounterAttack as well as the bombsuit-clad, [[DropTheHammer Hammer-Dropping]] Heavily Armed Cyborgs who have {{Unblockable Attack}}s. Both of them are also better-armored than normal and have InjuredVulnerability.
* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series:
** Elite Pirates in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime''.
** Ridley's "Ninja Space Pirate bodyguards" in ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid''.
** Fission Metroids.
* ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar'' has these in two variants. The first are the Olog Hai; a breed of intelligent trolls who are noticeably harder to take down than regular orcs. The second variant is seen with the Orc Captains. Some of them have the "Elite Gang" trait, which gives them a squad of specialized orcs based on their own class, but with an added bonus that makes them harder to kill.[[note]]For example, a Defender captain will get a squad of Elite Defenders, who possess indestructible shields.[[/note]]
* ''VideoGame/MirrorsEdge'' had the Anti-Runners, which were specifically trained to deal with Runners like you. As such, they could easily keep up with you, dealt great amount of damage and were immune to many of your moves.
* ''VideoGame/MobileSuitGundamClimaxUC'' has them. You fight waves of [[SuperPrototype F91]].
* ''VideoGame/MortalKombatShaolinMonks'':
** The [[FacelessGoons masked guards]], Shang Tsung's personnel PraetorianGuard who can be found at strategic points in the various levels and implied to be offshoots of the samurai and will NoSell all your attacks, unless you counter theirs first.
** The game also has [[DemonicSpiders The Shadow Priests]], who attack by summoning lightning down on you, firing energy balls, and using a magical choking attack that ''drains'' some of your health, can teleport, are immune to throw attacks and fatalities, can summon Tarkatan troops ''and'' buff them up with magic, and are often found guarding the portals you need to use to travel in pairs. Have fun.
** There are also the Red and Black Dragon Mercenaries you can find [[EnemyCivilWar battling each other]] in the wasteland, though [[EnemyMine they start working together]] for the "noble" cause of murdering you.
** Also there are the the demonic troops you find throughout Outworld, who are significantly tougher than the Tarkatans, wear armor, use magically enhanced weapons, and come in four different varieties: the BattleBoomerang wielding captains, magical crossbow wielding archers, the demon handlers who use a magical staff for both long range and close range attacks, and the Generals who wield ''flaming Naginatas''.
* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'': [[spoiler:In the ending, many of the fallen Earthrealm heroes have been [[ReforgedIntoAMinion transformed]] [[CameBackWrong into brainwashed revenants]] by Quan Chi and Shinnok, making them the Netherealm's PraetorianGuard so they'll be used in their invasion of Earthrealm in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX''. Liu Kang and Kitana voluntarily choose to become the CoDragons for Shinnok due to their intense hatred of a certain thunder god for condemning them to their FateWorseThanDeath]].
* ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/EarthboundBeginnings'' and ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'', Starmen serve as Giygas' elite minions, and are usually among the final enemies faced in those respective games.
** The varying ranks of Pig Soldiers in ''VideoGame/Mother3''.
* [[OurLichesAreDifferent Liches]] in ''VideoGame/NexusClash'' who summon Wights instead of shambling zombie hordes take an Elite Mooks approach. The summoner only ever gets a few of them, but they pack a ferocious punch and bypass many of the strategies used to fight horde-based undead.
* ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' has several different types. The most straightforward type are the "Enhanced" machines, who are colored black and red and have better overall specs then the standard models. Then there's the "Rampaging" machines, who appear after [[spoiler: Eve goes berserk, and starts causing other machines in the network to go berserk as well]] and look more broken and zombie-like, having an extra attack where they generate an electric field around themselves that causes contact damage. Finally, there's EMP attack units, who appear during Route C and can use EMP blasts to [[InterfaceScrew interfere with the player's HUD.]] Finally, there are unique non-respawning golden machines who appear in Route B and have [[DamageSpongeBoss absurd amounts of health, to the point that even hacking only takes small chunks off their life bar.]]
* ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'', which places super-ninja Ryu Hayabusa and Fiend-Hunter Rachel in the Vigoor Empire with the task of killing everything around them. The game expands upon the genre staple of tough, then tougher, than tougher monsters by arranging a pattern of leadership for all enemies, human, fiend, and mechanical.
* ''VideoGame/NinjaSenki'' had the Green Ninjas, which could alter their shuriken trajectory depending on your position and jumped up when throwing it to make it harder to hit them. There were also the Purple Ninjas which jumped around like crazy and could practically GoombaStomp ''you'' and the blue-colored demon heads, which gained a projectile attack in addition to their mobility.
* ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'' has their Risky Monsters (to be exact, the ones added by the "Add Risky Monsters" and "Change Dungeon" plans from the remakes), that are simple {{Palette Swaps}} of bosses, but are actually ''harder'' than most storyline bosses.
* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes2'' has the katana mooks, which have considerable health and actually know how to counter your attacks. Then there are the rarer ''laser katana'' mooks, which are tougher, more skilled and deal a lot more damage. Finally, there are the [[ChainsawGood chainsaw-wielding]] fat mooks, who don't block, but can take a lot of punishment before they flinch and [[UnskilledButStrong can carve huge chunks of health]] out of Travis' life meter.
* ''Franchise/{{Onimusha}}'': Across the tetralogy, common Genma tend to have stronger variants (usually with a different color scheme and moveset) which are harder to take down and deal more damage. Best seen in ''VideoGame/OnimushaDawnOfDreams'', where most of the enemies will have a stronger [[LawOfChromaticSuperiority red-clad variant]] later in the game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Outbreak}}'': In addition to the regular zombies, there are also bigger, nastier monsters.
* Koopatrols and the BonusBoss Anti-Guy in ''VideoGame/PaperMario''.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' has several standard mooks upgraded to Elite Mook status at various points in the game. However, none are more deadly than those encountered in the Pit of 100 Trials.
** Dry Bones and Koopatrols are upgraded to Dark Bones and Dark Koopatrols.
** All of the various piranha plant-type enemies pale in comparison to...the "Piranha Plant". The namesake enemy itself is in fact more deadly than any of its knockoffs.
** The Pider becomes the Arantula. The attack patterns are the same, but the damage is much greater.
** The Dark Wizzerd is formidable enough on its own, being an endgame enemy in itself. But if you go deep enough into the BonusDungeon, even ''it'' has upgraded forms. The Elite Wizzerd is a testament to how much the game hates you if you dare to get this far.
** While Amazy Dayzee "only" have 20 HP, they also have an attack power of 20 and can inflict Sleep.
* While it's difficult to ascribe normal gaming tropes to ''VideoGame/{{Pathologic}}'' due to its extreme realism, it still had several powerful variations on normal enemies. The arsonists you encounter at one point will throw their fire bombs that deal significant damage over time and some bandits will throw knives with extreme accuracy. Finally, if things go ''really'' wrong, the rebel soldiers will appear as the only other entities with [[OneHitKill firearms]].
* Near the end of the Datadyne Extraction level in ''VideoGame/PerfectDark'', Cassandra kills the lights and you have to fight her BodyguardBabes (who have night vision goggles) in the dark, which is quite frustrating on Perfect Agent difficulty. PD also has the Datadyne Shock Troops (better health, better AI, and sometimes better weapons) and female Datadyne guards (better AI and almost always better weapons).
** Unless you figured out to immediately hit the light switch to your left when the ambush begins, [[BlindedByTheLight blinding all of them by overloading their goggles.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/Persona3'', the enemies represented as "purple slimes" of one block are actually normal mooks encountered on the next block. Considering the level ranges being significant when exploring blocks, these kinds of enemies prove to be a challenge compared to the other enemies encountered on the current block.
** In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', each Palace usually has one type of enemy that is encountered alone and is several levels higher than other enemies, for example Archangels in the first Palace and Anubis in the fourth Palace. During later parts of the dungeons where you've started to catch up with their levels, they begin appearing in pairs instead.
** In ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'', each dungeon has an enemy type that appears alone and is considerably stronger than other enemies in the area. Examples include Burning Beetle in the first dungeon and Gorgeous King in the second. Not only they hit hard, they have tons of HP and also get to act twice per turn. In addition, they resist both [[OneHitKO Hama and Mudo spells]], which otherwise obliterate other random encounters.
* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'' had many special zombie varieties. Amongst many others, there was the Pole Jumper Zombie that would bypass the first plant, [[LightningBruiser Football Player zombie]], [[AirborneMook Balloon Zombie]], digger zombie that would destroy your defences from behind and Ice Machine Zombie that rolled over your plants and created pathways for bobsled zombies.
* ''VideoGame/PN03'''s Pilz, the most common mook, have several {{palette swap}}s, each tougher, more agile, and more intelligent than the previous. Additional sub-variations are armed with missile launchers or plasma cannons.
* In the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games, after going through enough Team Rocket (Magma, Aqua, Galactic...) [[{{Mooks}} Grunts]], you may run into an Executive, who often serves as a miniboss of sorts.
** Better examples are in the ''VideoGame/PokemonRanger'' games, where the original has Elite Mooks, the sequel has Mook-like Admins with higher ups, and ''Guardian Signs'' has [[spoiler:two levels of admin]].
** [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Team Flare]] fits the bill much better than previous teams, as its Admins are a generic class just like grunts; it's the scientists that are unique.
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', [[spoiler:Aether Foundation Employees are this compared to Team Skull Grunts. Unlike them and the Grunts of other evil teams in the series, who [[PoorPredictableRock tend to all use the same few Pokémon]], Aether's Employees have a wide variety of Pokémon at their disposal, all of which are a cut above the typical ComMons]].
** A somewhat different definition of 'mook', but Ace Trainer (Cooltrainer in earlier generations) class [=NPCs=] often appear in [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Victory Road]] and other high-level areas and use tougher Pokémon and superior tactics to most generic trainers. Their Japanese name ''is'' "Elite Trainer".
** It's not uncommon in most games for an unevolved Pokémon found on an earlier route to have an evolved form that shows up in the wild on later routes.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonCrystalKaizo'', a super-hard mode romhack, still has Cooltrainers embodying this trope, but additional examples comes from gym trainers, who uses Pokemon that the gym leaders might've used, and Team Rocket as an organization of elite criminals. The female rocket grunts count among their ranks, having some rarer or stronger Pokemon.
* [[StateSec Blackwatch]] soldiers are this compared to Marines in ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'', though functionally there's no difference. However, Blackwatch later introduce ''their own'' SuperPoweredMooks, called {{Super Soldier}}s.
** "The walkers" are this compared to "Infected Citizens". Unlike other examples of this trope, The walkers aren't threat to Alex even in large groups.
** ''VideoGame/Prototype2'' has the Brawlers for the Infected, the [[SuperSoldier Orions]] for Blackwatch, and eventually [[spoiler:the Evolved]]
* Story-wise, some of the terrorists in Tom Clancy's ''VideoGame/RainbowSixVegas'' are ex-Special Forces mercenaries, while others are simply Mexican criminals working for Irena Morales. However, in-game, there's no actual distinction between the groups, as they both use the same set of character models and uniforms, as well as the same A.I. and equipment.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}} Revolution'', the [[MechaMooks robot]] [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot pirates]] got steadily more elite depending upon colour scheme: from weakest to meanest, it goes green->purple->yellow->red->those idiots in barrels. (They get steadily less elite as your main attack gets more powerful, however.)
* ''VideoGame/RedFaction 2'' is an interesting case, as Elite Mooks are fought in the very ''beginning'' of the game(the prologue mission), and oddly disappear completely after the first few levels, where they're replaced by weaker, but more heavily armed, standard infantry. These "Sopot Elite Guards" wore metal armor and faceplates, could survive about twice as much damage as a standard Mook, and talked like Darth Vader. They make a comeback at the end of the game as Elite Nano Soldiers.
** The original''Red Faction''s Elite Guards, first seen in the Administration level, and later in Capek's lair and other high-security areas, had a different voice, spoke more aggressive catch phrases, moved and dodged faster and had much tougher armor than the standard Mooks. They also frequently wielded various {{BFG}}s.
* ''VideoGame/RememberMe'' had the Prison Enforcers, which were largely the same, but could perform a [[ManaDrain Brain Lock]] grappling attack and Reconversion Leapers, which were tougher than common Prowlers and immune to several of your skills. Then, there were [[ShieldBearingMook Heavy Enforcers]], Strangler Leapers that could become invisible at will and the aptly named [[BossInMookClothing Elite Enforcer]]s, which had the electrical armour that damaged ''you'' with every blow you land on them. Since the game has no RegeneratingHealth, this requires the exclusive use of health-regenerating moves on them.
* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'':
** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilRemake'' has Crimson Heads, which are formed from zombies that haven't been [[YourHeadAsplode beheaded]] or [[KillItWithFire incinerated]] after being slain. Compared to normal zombies, Crimson Heads are more aggressive, durable, stronger.
** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' has the Ganado Militia, which inhabit the FinalDungeon and are more intelligent, faster, and better armed than other mooks. Some wield large hammers, rocket launchers, or Gatling guns.
** In the same series, both ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations Revelations]]'' titles have "Raid Mode," a game within a game (and one that heavily breaks the fourth wall in the [[VideoGame/ResidentEvilRevelations2 second game]]). While the player will be constantly menaced by the same enemies from the game's main story (and in the sequel, enemies from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'', ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'', and the [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil1 first game]]), there are also "modified" enemies who are literally Elite versions of base enemies. Even worse, enemies who were already "minibosses" (like Iron Head or [=Re5=]' Executioner) can be further modified; some are 20 feet tall...and further, this perks can be randomly generated by another enemy perk called "Booster" which assigns a random perk to nearby enemies.
** The Ghost Survivors campaigns of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2Remake'' has a unique variation of zombie to contend with: "No Time To Mourn" has poisonous zombies that release toxic clouds when killed, "Runaway" has "Pale Heads" that can regenerate from most damage they take, and "Forgotten Soldier" has armored zombies that can only be harmed by shooting them in their unarmored body parts. "No Way Out" throws all three of these variants at the player at once.
* ''VideoGame/ReturnToCastleWolfenstein'': The {{stripperiffic}} female SS Paranormal Elite Guards. Later, there's the Waffen SS, Paratroopers who carry [=FG42=] rifles, and the heavy weapon-wielding Venom Troopers.
* In ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheKasai'', enemies wearing armor count as this; they're the same as normal enemies but are impervious to arrows, and take a few more hits to kill. Depending on which weapon you're using at the time and how lucky you are, "a few" can translate to "one" for a grand total of two hits.
* In ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' when killing certain monsters in the game, mostly high level monsters, there is a chance of an elite version of that monster spawning. Some of these monsters are already [[BossInMookClothing Bosses In Mook Clothing]] so their elite versions are extremely challenging.
* ''VideoGame/RyseSonOfRome'' had the enemy squad leaders, which had better fighting skills and required more elaborate combinations to defeat.
* In ''VideoGame/TheSaboteur'', we get the superior Nazi soldiers who use very powerful weapons and armor. Lucky for you, you get to use these weapons too.
* Throughout all the ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' games, your named Homies can be this, as they're generally tougher than random Saints members picked up off the street.
** ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'':
*** Each enemy group has its own particular Elite Mooks with unique weapons. Morning Star has sniper duos in helicopters, Luchadores have enemies with grenade launchers, Deckers have the agile, [[TeleportSpam teleporting]] [[VideoGame/AliceMadnessReturns Alice expies]] with Shock Hammers, and the police use either snipers in helicopters or [[ShieldBearingMook riot police]]. STAG's Elite Mooks carry the same laser rifles/shotguns as their basic soldiers, but are even [[HeavilyArmoredMook heavier armored]], and are the toughest troop in the game by far.
*** The Syndicate gangs will also throw out [[GiantMook Brutes]], which take a ''lot'' of damage to kill, can dish out a lot of it in return and will flip cars and obstacles around with ease. They can also potentially come armed with miniguns or flamethrowers. On the bright side, you get a FinishingMove for them that lets you stuff a grenade in their mouth, and flamethrower ones are subject to FlamethrowerBackfire. You also get a Brute of your own in their unwilling progenitor, GeniusBruiser Oleg.
** ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'''s equivalent of Brutes are the Wardens, who are spawned either during missions, while clearing Flashpoints or Hotspots, during training simulations or simply by getting six bars on your notoriety. They have high health, are typically protected by a shield that requires you to use your superpowers to briefly disable it and have various superpowers of their own. There also are lesser varieties of elites, such as the Specialists that also have Super Sprint and Jump, the [[HeavilyArmoredMook durable]] and grenade- or minigun-wielding [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} Murderbots]], or the immune unless you AttackItsWeakPoint Marauders.
* ''VideoGame/SekiroShadowsDieTwice'': Besides the actual bosses and minibosses, a number of standard enemies are also more than capable of holding their own against our shinobi protagonist Wolf:
** The most elite troops of the Ashina Clan are the highly agile Nightjar shinobi and exceptionally skilled samurai swordmasters protecting Ashina Castle.
** The toughest enemies in Senpou Temple are by far the monks wearing straw raincoats and wickerwork hats, whose acrobatic agility and immense skill with their double-bladed naginatas make them a challenge to face even just one-on-one.
** Beast-type enemies (roosters, lizards, etc.) can generally only take a couple of hits at most before going down. However, the white monkeys dual-wielding katanas are definitely in the running for the game's toughest non-boss enemies.
** The Interior Ministry troops as a whole are ''Sekiro''[='s=] toughest mooks, but the Lone Shadow shinobi are particularly dangerous, as even the non-miniboss ones will quickly (and literally) kick your ass if you haven't gotten the hang of dodging and deflecting attacks with sharp precision.
* The Macintosh game ''VideoGame/SensoryOverload'' had, in its later levels, elite guards who looked like Nazi officers and wielded machine guns, and cyborg soldiers who talked like Darth Vader and threw plasma balls (the same projectile as the Electrogun). The unnamed female [[TheDragon Dragon]] and FinalBoss was a slightly enhanced (faster, and with a melee attack) PaletteSwap of the cyborgs, i.e. a type of KingMook (or queen mook, if you will).
* ''VideoGame/SeriousSam'' had many such enemies.
** There were Beheaded Bombers which threw grenades non-stop and Beheaded Firecrackers, which were just like [[TheGoomba Beheaded Rocketeers]] but fired a SpreadShot of five instead of a single one. Adult Arachnids had a lot more health than Juveniles but were very rare. Finally, Biomechanoids Major were much tougher than Biomechanoids Minor and fired much more powerful missiles instead of lasers (though missiles were destructible).
** The Zorg Troopers and Commanders act as such to Beheaded Rocketeers and Firecrackers. They're still weak, but they possess doubled health, movement speed and fire two shots in a row instead of one (Commanders have double-damage SpreadShot lasers instead.)
* ''VideoGame/ShrekTheThird'' had the knights as armored and improved mooks. Both them and pirates also had shield-bearing elites. The prisoners also had [[ImprobableWeaponUser sharpened-spoon-wielding]] elites that performed some acrobatic [[SpinAttack spin attacks]] with them and dragon welps had high-flying white colored elites that could only be hit when they descended to attack. Finally, there were elite witches that summoned impenetrable force fields around them and required [[ThrowABarrelAtIt containers thrown at them]] to break through.
* ''Franchise/SilentHill'':
** The early games in the series feature tougher, faster, PaletteSwap (or not) versions of the enemies in certain areas (or when you're sucked into the mirror version of the town/area). For example the Night Flutters (Air Screamers, but more human-like and with their faces covered in worms), Worm Heads (upgrade of Groaner, the ubiquitous zombie dogs, but with a worm for a face), and Shadow Children (transparent version of gray children) in ''[[VideoGame/SilentHill1 SH1]]'', "nightmare nurses" in ''[[VideoGame/SilentHill2 SH2]]'', and "advanced Closers" in ''[[VideoGame/SilentHill3 SH3]]''.
** Before the trend largely came to an end with ''VideoGame/SilentHillOrigins'' and following games, ''VideoGame/SilentHill4'' had several prominent examples. There were "New Type" Gum Heads with greater health and frequently equipped with golf clubs. The dog-like Sniffers had more powerful Females and the Leeches in the Water Prison got a slightly tougher red variety.
* ''VideoGame/{{Sinjid}}'' has Mistwalkers, the foreign ninjas who kidnap your allies during the war arc. They are described as being incredibly deadly due to a very toxic poison they utilize, and they are excellent at their job; that poison will kill you in mere seconds if they hit you.
* ''VideoGame/{{Singularity}}'' had the better-armored and equipped Soviet soldiers appear later in the game, including ones with [[ShieldBearingMook riot shields]]. Then, there were the Zek mutants, which were much tougher than regular zombie-like creatures and more advanced ones could become invisible.
* In the ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' games, the Flashlight guards qualify as this. In the [[VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus first game]], stepping into their cone of light was more often than not instant death. While they were somewhat toned down starting with the [[VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves second game]], they are still much tougher than the regular guards.
* ''VideoGame/SniperElite'':
** ''VideoGame/SniperEliteV2'' has German and Soviet soldiers wearing trenchcoats. Compared to the standard infantry, they can soak up more damage, and usually carry automatic weapons and grenades with them.
** ''VideoGame/SniperEliteIII'' features German and Italian paratroopers, known simply as Elites. Compared to regular Afrika Korps or Italian Army soldiers, they're distinguished by their unique helmets, and are usually armed with better weaponry.
*** The "Save Churchill" DownloadableContent campaign features the Schutzvollstrecker Unit, a top-secret German Army unit whose members are armed with a SuperPrototype rocket launcher known as the Teufelsfeuer, a mix of the Panzerschreck and the [=MG42=]. They're distinguished by their dark gray uniforms and goggles.
** ''VideoGame/SniperElite4'' sees the return of the German Paratroopers, now known as the Jager Troops. They come in two variants. Regular Jagers carry Mkb. 42 (H) Assault rifles and Gewehr 43 rifles, while the Support Jagers carry the [=FG42=] light machine gun.
*** The "Deathstorm" DownloadableContent campaign brings back the Italian Paratroopers, distinguished from regular Italian troops by their green camo uniforms and overall better equipment. The Germans, meanwhile, get the Valkyrie Jager, an elite unit of paratroopers distinguished by their black uniforms and far better combat efficiency.
* The first ''VideoGame/SoldierOfFortune'' had the Order Troopers, and ''Double Helix'' had the Prometheus operatives. In ''Payback'', the BigBad's elite minions wear body armor similar to ''VideoGame/RainbowSix'' agents, and like all mooks on the final mission, inflict much more damage than in previous missions, and can easily [[OneHitKill kill you in one hit]] on Hard difficulty.
* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' had the very infamous Artificial Chaos. Enemies found in the later stages of the Ark levels, they are robotic versions of Chaos, the god of destruction. [[GoneHorriblyRight They may actually be more effective at destroying players than the original]], with tentacles striking you with blinding speed, and frightening accuracy, and their only weak spot is protected somewhat by eyebeams, or in mech cases, their aquatic bodies blocking homing missiles. You can punch them, but otherwise, you have a split second before they damage you. Variants for Sonic can split apart and explode, making it difficult to homing attack the weakspot. Unlike most elite mooks, they thankfully die in one hit like any other, but they are regarded as the ultimate DemonicSpiders of the Sonic Adventure franchise for a reason. The ''extremely rare'' Vulcan Fighters are Elite Mooks for G.U.N. They hover and do rapid fire gunshots unlike any other enemy, and are actually really difficult to homing attack without getting hurt. Only Tails and Shadow can very rarely encounter them in Mission Street or Radical Highway, depending if certain Jets pass by.
** ''VideoGame/SonicMania'' has the Hard-Boiled Heavies, five customized Eggrobos that serve as bosses in some zones.
* The 33rd Battalion in ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' had the Zulu Squad appear late in the game, whose members had advanced body armour and some of the best weapons.
* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'':
** The Twintacle Octotroopers, Octarian enemies that have two tentacles instead of one, are much stronger than their one-tentacled counterparts. Why is that? For one, they can use their free tentacle to {{Button Mash|ing}} their fire button.
** Octolings are already elite troops for the Octarian army, but among them there are those with silver tentacle hair with kelp in it, who are tougher than the regular Octolings.
* The second-to-last level in ''VideoGame/SplinterCell: ChaosTheory'' ends with Sam up against Shetland's personal bodyguards, about 8 elite Displace mercenaries equipped with facemasks and thermal goggles. These used to be the only enemies in the entire series who could see you in the dark (some enemies in the series, i.e. the Georgian Special Forces from the final mission in ''VideoGame/SplinterCell'', wear night-vision goggles, but still couldn't see you in the dark unless you move or are very close). Then came ''Conviction'' and [[spoiler: the enemy Splinter Cells]], who had sonar goggles that let them see Sam's Last Known Position through darkness and cover. ''Blacklist'' only ran with it.
* ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'':
** ''Shadow of Chernobyl'' has Spetsnaz special forces soldiers and Military Stalkers, who have the two best non-exosuit armors in the game.
** The general trend of late game introduction of elite mooks is subverted in STALKER - the player can encounter Spetsnaz in the first area of the game, in the Cordon by the Military Guard Post. Approximately two to three hours later, the PC can encounter them in Agroprom Research Facility if they hang around too long around after rescuing Mole from the military. At both times a PC will likely have a low end assault rifle/sub-machine gun and armour, leading to a quick death if they don't flee.
** In general, within the three games, any mook wearing a SEVA suit or [[PoweredArmor Exoskeleton]] is this, reinforced with their high-end weaponry.
** The [[CargoCult Monolith faction]] is comprised almost entirely of them, as they have access to almost all of the deadliest weapons in the games. This includes the dreaded [[MagneticWeapons Gauss Rifle]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}'' has elite versions of normal units, such as the Zerg Hunter Killers. These are buffed up Hydralisks with twice as much health and firepower as any normal Hydralisk.
** ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' takes this further, with mercenaries who not only have better damage and health to start with, and benefit from upgrades researched in-game, but in the single-player campaign armory and lab upgrades apply to units of the appropriate type as well, so Hammer Securities troops you pick up benefit from your Ultra-Capacitors, Vanadium Plating, Concussive Shells, and Kinetic Foam, as well as any of your bunkers' Neosteel Frames and Projectile Accelerators.
** In ''[[VideoGame/StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm Heart of the Swarm]]'', both sides can get in on the elite mookery. Each of the player's zerg strains can be upgraded [[DivergentCharacterEvolution in one of two ways]]; for instance, [[ZergRush basic zerglings]] can be upgraded to be [[WeHaveReserves even more numerous]] or to [[FragileSpeedster sprout wings that make them faster]]. You'll need these advantages when you storm Korhal and end up fighting against the Dominion's PraetorianGuard, the Sons of Korhal, who are equipped with fanatically-loyal versions of all the ''[[VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty Wings of Liberty]]'' mercenaries and many Terran units that originally lacked elite forms -- [[SerialEscalation including Thors and a fleet of elite Battlecruisers]].
* ''Franchise/StarWars'' games:
** In ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront2015'', "Honor Guard" or "Royal Guard" serve as this for the Rebels or the Empire, respectively. These units have increased health and spawn with rocket launchers normally reserved for on-site pick-ups, with the only cost being that they can only spawn when Leia or the Emperor in play, and even then only two can spawn at a time.
** In ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017'', players who accumulate enough points can spawn as a Reinforcement class trooper who is stronger than regular troopers and have special abilities based around either mobility (Aerial), heavy combat (Enforcers), or special tactics (Infiltrator).
** ''VideoGame/StarWarsJediFallenOrder'' has Purge Troopers who serve alongside the Inquisitors. While they lack force powers, they are more dangerous than the average stormtrooper and scout troopers thanks to their lightsaber-resistant armor, electrostaffs and heavy blasters.
* ''VideoGame/TheSuffering'' had the much tougher Slayer Captains appear halfway through the game, alongside regular Slayers requiring decapitations to stay down for good. ''The Suffering: Ties That Bind'' had Slayer, Burrower and Arsonist Captains, which required the use of Torque's monster form to be destroyed.
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** The infamous Hammer Brothers in most games.
** The Bandits in ''[[VideoGame/YoshisIsland Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island]]''.
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' hacks, Koopa Elites, originally from SMW YEAH!! (a game played by LetsPlay/{{raocow}})
* Throughout the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' series, there is a mode or stage where you engage in a MultiMookMelee, where you must defeat [[ConservationOfNinjutsu a band of relatively weak Mooks]]. However, from ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosMelee'' onwards, there is the "Cruel" variant of this mode which is like the "Endless" version except ''every enemy'' is extremely powerful and difficult to KO. Have fun defeating even ''one'' of them.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Syndicate}}'' (2012), you have Cayman Global liquid armour troopers with their DeflectorShields that need to be Breached, as well as the Specters who are InvisibilityCloak-bearing [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized Subverters.]] Cayman Global's reactive armour troopers and Eurocorp's electro armour troopers, with their multiple layers of shielding to be Breached and [[GatlingGood heavy]] [[EnergyWeapon firepower]], are more like BossInMookClothing or full minibosses.
* ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'':
** The first game had the Pharcom Elite Guards, and the second had the Agency [[TheMenInBlack Men in Black]] (instant max danger when they see you, sniper accuracy).
** ''Syphon Filter 2'' has the Emergency Defense Squad troops in the Agency Biolab Escape mission who have full armor and can be killed only with grenades. The FinalBoss, Chance, is a KingMook who has [[NighInvulnerability nigh-impenetrable]] armor that is completely impervious to normal weapons including grenades, making him a PuzzleBoss (his AchillesHeel is the helicopter's tail rotor).
* ''VideoGame/TearsToTiara2'' has the emperor's praetorian guard legions, both in game and in story. If not careful they can take out a tank character in two or three hits.
* The [[DemonicSpiders much-maligned Laser Soldiers]] in the final area of ''VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' NES.
* ''VideoGame/TimeCrisis'''s red-uniformed enemies have near 100% accuracy, making them DemonicSpiders. At least you get a warning when they're about to fire in ''2'' and beyond. In the first game, Sherudo and Wild Dog have white-uniformed [[PraetorianGuard bodyguards]]. There are also the heavy weapons soldiers(with machine guns, rocket launchers, and flamethrowers), and the gray commandos (second to the reds) in the later games.
* ''VideoGame/TimeShift'' had cybernetic Quantum Guards, who possess the same time-bending powers as the player.
* ''VideoGame/TotalWar'':
** In general, the more evolved units of each type (artillery, gunners, spearmen, light infantry, heavy infantry, light cavalry and in some games heavy cavalry + archers) are this to their basic versions. For instance, the Armored Sergeants in ''VideoGame/MedievalIITotalWar'' are Elite AntiCavalry mooks, the unique English Sherwood archers are Elite Archers, Scotland's Noble Pikemen are Elite Pikemen, etc.
** Any guard unit in ''VideoGame/NapoleonTotalWar'', but the Old Guard is this beyond all doubt. One unit alone is enough to give even a veteran strategist a hard time, and several units can make a whole army collapse. Fighting this unit head on will result in a player losing or in them losing a hefty chunk of their army in seconds unless they are outflanked, and players will suicide their cavalry at them just to stop them from firing. Even on Waterloo, where the British have the high ground, the Old Guard will really put them on the ropes.
** Ninjas in ''[[VideoGame/ShogunTotalWar Shogun]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TotalWarShogun2 Shogun 2]]''.
* ''VideoGame/TransformersFallOfCybertron'': The Combaticons are normally simply another CombiningMecha team (literally, they were Starscream's replacement for the Constructicons). In Fall of Cybetron, however, they TookALevelInBadass and are portrayed as Decepticon Special Forces.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Tyranny}}'', the Disfavoured are an EliteArmy while their counterpart the Scarlet Chorus are an ArmyOfThievesAndWhores made up mostly of SlaveMooks. Because they're all [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinists]] who believe in AsskickingEqualsAuthority, however, those mooks who make it to the top of the Chorus hierarchy are very, ''very'' good at individual combat. The [[AmazonBrigade Scarlet Furies]], [[PraetorianGuard Crimson Spears]] and [[BloodMagic Blood Chanters]] are the elite mooks of the Scarlet Chorus and are individually some of the hardest enemies in the game if you get on the Chorus' bad side.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}'' series typically has two variants of these. One resembles standard {{Mooks}} but with significantly tougher armor that allows them to withstand multiple headshots and prevents them from flinching from most attacks. The other variant carry powerful weapons, like sniper rifles, grenade launchers or rocket launchers, and can kill you in one hit if you're careless.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Unworthy}}'', [[spoiler: opening the cave entrance by burning the tree with Soulflame gloves]] reveals the elite versions of Crossbowmen and Halberdiers, the very first enemies you fought. Those Halberdiers' weapons are now charged with white Soulflame, while Crossbowmen get to shoot in [[AutomaticCrossbows bursts of three]], making both of them far more dangerous. That's not to mention the other elite enemies encountered earlier, from the [[ShieldBearingMook shielded]] [[GiantMook Sentinels]] and [[EvilIsDeathlyCold Death Speaker]] mages, to [[{{Golem}} Soulflame Knights]] and Venerable Archers (who are smart enough to [[FallingChandelierOfDoom shoot chandeliers' chains]] if you happen to be under them at the time). The final area's enemies, [[CorruptChurch Fathers]], are so fast and deal so much damage, they easily cross into the DemonicSpiders territory.
* Later in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'', the enemies become tougher and become labeled "Elite", the black-clad Imperial Guards even more so.
** There are also additional units during the main campaign called "Aces", which are [[NominalImportance named]] and are tougher than the standard Imperial soldier. Defeating one in combat will allow you to get a unique enemy weapon after you win the battle.
* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'': Numerous. The Grineer have elite lancers above their basic lancers, and the Corpus have elite crewmen above their regular crewmen. Technically any unit above the most basic lancers, crewmen, and chargers (for Infested) count. However, the most obvious are the Eximus units, which are regular units with heavily enhanced stats, health, and a special ability like energy drain or a frost aura.
* Typically, the 2nd or 3rd in command of a gang in ''VideoGame/TheWarriors'' will fall under this trope, having more health and strength than the common mook.
* ''VideoGame/{{Whiplash}}'': The Hazmat Hunters. They are the most powerful of the enemies and are considered Genron's elite force.
* In the ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' series, most of the games have the elite opponents either named and with personalities, flying unique ships, or both. The exceptions:
** The Drakhai, in ''VideoGame/WingCommander II''. Slightly better defensive stats for their ships, and an AI set one level above the regular opponents were the primary distinguishing characteristics, aside from their specific taunt "You cannot defeat the Drakhai" (ignoring that you regularly did just that).
** In addition to the few named opponents (other than Seether, which ones depended on [[spoiler: when you defect]], ''VideoGame/WingCommander IV'' also had nameless, generic "ace" pilots.
* Most enemy types in the ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' games start off as regular Mooks, but upgrade to Elite Mooks in higher level areas, then eventually to SuperpoweredMooks. Not to be confused with the actual Mook race in the game, which are approximately high-tech psychic Wookiees.
* ''VideoGame/Wolfenstein2009'' had the the PoweredArmor Nazi troopers who could only be defeated by having the two lamps on their back shot. Then, there were elite mutants, including one that was completely invisible.
* The Terran State in ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X3: Terran Conflict]]'' has the AGI Task Force (ATF) Elite Mooks. The ATF have their own fleet of entirely [[CoolStarShip unique ship designs]], carry ridiculously powerful missiles for their [[MacrossMissileMassacre missile frigates]], and ATF ships will ''never'' bail out or surrender. Other races typically have their plain "Military" ships making up their Elite Mooks - if you were to attack the [[FishPeople Boron]], for example, you'd mostly be attacking their poorly armed Police and Border Control ships before the military shows up with much better equipped ships.
** The ridiculously powerful missiles were actually a [[GoodBadBugs typo]]. Missile Frigates carry anti-fighter missiles, and anti-capital missiles. The former are swarm missiles, which break into 8 smaller warheads when launched. The latter are intended to much larger, much longer ranged, but single fire missiles. Terran and ATF versions however were accidentally designated as Swarm Missiles. This was corrected in ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X3: Albion Prelude]]''.
* In ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'', your soldiers will eventually start facing Elite Mutons and Heavy Floaters, the tougher and more heavily-armed versions of the Mutons and the Floaters, respectively. The Elite Mutons are described as the Etherials' PraetorianGuard. They carry Heavy Plasma weapons and use them like rifles.
* ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' has two tiers of this. [[PuppetState ADVENT]] has the Trooper, which is the most generic, weakest alien unit; these are quickly rendered obsolete first by more advanced troop classes, such as the Stun Lancer and Shieldbearer, who are then superceded by the Advanced and Elite versions of those same units. With two such tiers of elite distinction, the weak, generic Trooper often ends up phased out after just a couple of months. This also applies to the ADVENT MEC unit, which initially appears in a basic form, but has a much more dangerous Heavy variant.
* In ''VideoGame/YuGiOhCapsuleMonsterColiseum'', some duelists have their signature monsters, which they delay summoning normally and summon in a cutscene instead. Rex Raptor has Two-Headed King Rex, Bandit Keith has Barrel Dragon, and Seto Kaiba has his Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Zanac}}'', certain enemies only show up if the DynamicDifficulty is too high. Two particularly notable enemies include Lusters, which swoop down to the bottom of the screen to snipe you from behind, and a "mortar" enemy that shoots [[MacrossMissileMassacre an endless stream of missiles]] that is nearly impossible to overcome without a piercing weapon.
[[/folder]]

* ''VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany 2]]'''s singleplayer campaign actually points out the presence of Elite Mooks in the loading screen hints before the mission Zero Dark Thirty, warning the player that they are better equipped and have faster reaction time than average troops. They show up about midway through the level, in the form of [[BigBad Kirilenko's]] green-clad personal guards. They're no more durable than most mooks, but they are, indeed, faster, and carry some weapons that are normally available only to the player.

** Remember the Balrog from Moria? In ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' we learn that it's kin not only acted as [[BigBad Morgoth]]'s elite troops, they're as powerful as Sauron himself.

* ''VideoGame/{{Dishonored}}'' had the Watch Officers, which had helmets (made some headshots impossible) , better fighting skills and pistols. Overseers then appear as elite mooks to all Watch Guards. They always had better fighting skills, carried either pistols or grenades with them and had the full face-protecting masks. There are the infamous Tallboys, which were immune to just about everything and had great health. Finally, ''Knife of Dunwall'' {{DLC}} added Butchers with huge circular saws that dealt insane damage with them and could fire bone chips (or something of a kind) from them as a ranged attack. A shot to the [[FlamethrowerBackfire fuel tank]] would take them out, but they could also [[SpinToDeflectStuff deflect projectiles with their blades]]!

** The Elite Praetorian Guards of Snoke in ''Film/TheLastJedi''. Clearly based on the Royal Guards from the original and prequel trilogy, [[spoiler:except they are actually trained to deal with Force users and give Rey and Kylo a run for their money. One of them even held their own and manages to get a couple hits in while fighting Rey one-on-one, while another comes surprisingly close to killing Kylo. Then again, given that Rey is UnskilledButStrong and has had literally zero training in lightsaber combat, that's not saying all that much]].

** Henchman 1, another Monarch follower, appears to be one; he's better-equipped and notably more skilled than the other henchmen. 21 and 24, {{Mauve Shirt}}s and savvy to this trope, immediately agree he's going to get taken down.

* ''[[VideoGame/BattlefieldBadCompany Battlefield: Bad Company 2]]'''s singleplayer campaign actually points out the presence of Elite Mooks in the loading screen hints before the mission Zero Dark Thirty, warning the player that they are better equipped and have faster reaction time than average troops. They show up about midway through the level, in the form of [[BigBad Kirilenko's]] green-clad personal guards. They're no more durable than most mooks, but they are, indeed, faster, and carry some weapons that are normally available only to the player.
** And the SPECACT [[DownloadableContent DLC]] lets you become the Elite Mook in MP!

* In ''[[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Call of Cuty: Modern Warfare 2]]'', the last three missions involve fighting against [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Shadow Company]], an elite unit of mercenaries commanded by General Shepherd. They wear all-black uniforms, heavy body armor, and carry advanced weapons, and all of their communications are tight, terse, and professional, all of which emphasizes that they are very dangerous opponents. Compared with enemies in earlier levels, they respond faster, shoot more accurately, and take a couple more shots to kill.

* The last level of ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'' features North Korean Special Forces soldiers called 718's. They are equipped with high-caliber weaponry and heavy body armour. allowing them to take 1 or 2 more bullets than standard NK goons. They also resemble the [[VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare Juggernauts]].

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': The Eight Bullets of the [[TheYakuza Shie Hassaikai]] are essentially this. They do not seem to occupy a place much higher than [[{{Mooks}} normal grunts]] in their structure, but they are definitely far stronger and much more dangerous since they don't care whether they live or die.