History Main / MetalSlime

This trope is named after the Metal Slime from the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series. Despite being most common in {{RPG}}s, a Metal Slime can appear in games of other genres. Not to be confused with ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'', although finding ''those'' is a [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill fun reward in and of itself]] (especially if you manage to find the Neo Geo versions).

* ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'': Iridescent Flint Beetles are invincible, randomly appear, scurry around, then burrow back underground. If you can make a thrown pikmin land on its back, it will drop pellets and nectar. Skilled players can get multiple payouts from the same bug, but never more than three. The sequel keeps the Flint Beetle and adds two cousins: The Iridescent Glint Beetle, which has a shiny golden shell and drops a Treasure or multiple sprays when hit; and the Doodlebug, which can drop sprays, pellets, or nectar, but periodically releases poisonous gas that can kill Pikmin.

*** Novistadors. Earlier versions can turn completely invisible and have an attack that involves vomiting highly damaging acid on Leon's face, while the later version gain a pair of wings in lieu of being invisible but still retain the same acid attack and are a pain in the ass to shoot but thankfully are a OneHitPointWonder when in flight. Their reward? They drop "eyes", which are precious gems that can be applied to another treasure you find which, if completed with all three different types of eyes, can be sold for an ''obscene'' amount of cash. The Gems themselves are also worth something too. They only appear in the bowels of the castle, and will completely disappear when you destroy their nest just a few scenes later, and the gem color is completely random, sometimes forcing you to either sell the item for greatly reduced cash, or wait until NewGamePlus to get another shot at the ultra-rare Blue Eye.[[note]]You're only guaranteed ''one'' Blue Eye per playthrough, found if you destroy the Novistadores nest.[[/note]]

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'': While they fail criterion three (they don't disappear and make the spoils un-gettable), there are the gold versions of any common Mook. Only certain Kinstone fusions unlock them, and then you have to hunt them down in some treacherous (or tedious) spots in the overworld. When you find them, you'll discover them to be (a) lightning fast, (b) super aggressive, (c) requiring a boss-level amount of hits to kill, and (d) typically surrounded by several of their standard kin. But you'll get 200 rupees out of it, and ''The Minish Cap'' is a game that actually has a use for rupees.

* ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'' has two creatures that qualify--the Speedy Spirits (or Blue Ghosts) and the Gold Mice.

*** The game has the Garradors. They drop a ton of cash upon their defeat. Upping the ante further, one Garrador that spawns in a cage actually guards a treasure chest with a very valuable piece of ShopFodder in it, and predictably, it's pretty hard to get the item without killing the Garrador first. Garradors appear about four times in the entire game ([[UniqueEnemy one of which]] is a ''[[HeavilyArmoredMook heavy Garrador]]''). Unlike Regenerators, who also share the aforementioned traits, defeating Garradors (or even damaging them) is almost never absolutely necessary, to the point where running from them is easier than fighting them thanks to the Garradors' crippling blindness.

*** Blupees, creatures that resemble glowing blue rabbits. If you manage to shoot them with an arrow before they run away and disappear they'll give you a random amount of rupees -- in a game where rupees almost never drop from enemies.

* There are several notable Metal Slimes in ''[[Website/GaiaOnline zOMG]]''. The first is the Ring Box, which is a rare version of the Pink Giftbox Monster (which in itself is a ChestMonster). They fly very fast, and have higher HP than normal Giftboxes. Defeating them nets you several rare rings. The other Metal Slime is more of a BonusBoss. The Landshark appears randomly, deals a ton of damage, and is one of the only CL 10 monsters in the game. But it also drops the Surfboard Fin loot item, which is extremely rare.

Given the nature of the Metal Slime, it can be a major target for players working on an EliteTweak or HundredPercentCompletion. If an item/cash-type Metal Slime ends up having an esoteric weakness that gives the player a decent chance of killing it — or if the rewards are ''just that good'' — it can also become a PinataEnemy. Should the Metal Slime only exist in one area of the game or exist in numbers in only that area, said area immediately qualifies as a PeninsulaOfPowerLeveling.

Most of the time, the enemy will give the reward for its defeat, making the challenge to kill it before it escapes. A variation is an enemy that kills itself such as an ActionBomb that [[VideoGameStealing is lucrative to steal from]] or a useful {{Mon}} — in this case, the issue could be that the enemy dies before you have the chance to catch it or relieve it of its InfinityMinusOneSword or RareCandy.

* The Golden Minnow in ''VideoGame/FeedingFrenzy'' and its sequel is a rare and very elusive fish (a glowing golden PaletteSwap of the game's smallest fish) which when caught allow the playable fish to instantly gain a size.

A Metal Slime is a specific [[SubTrope variant]] of the GoddamnedBats — it is more annoying than deadly.[[note]]When you think about it, this is because the "standard" Metal Slime typically act in a relatively intelligent fashion, [[SensingYouAreOutmatched realizing that they are outclassed]] and fleeing with both their valuables and their lives. Again, an enemy that specializes in beating [[PlayerCharacter PCs] to a pulp rather than withstanding their attacks and getting out of Dodge is a BossInMookClothing, not a MetalSlime.[[/note]] Though most Metal Slimes lack significant offensive output, enemies are only excluded from this trope due to power level if they pose a significant threat to a party at the appropriate [[CharacterLevel level]] for the zone.

A Metal Slime is a specific [[SubTrope variant]] of the GoddamnedBats — it is more annoying than deadly.[[note]]When you think about it, this is because the "standard" Metal Slime typically act in a relatively intelligent fashion, [[SensingYouAreOutmatched realizing that they are outclassed]] and fleeing with both their valuables and their lives. Again, an enemy that specializes in beating PCs to a pulp rather than withstanding their attacks and getting out of Dodge is a BossInMookClothing, not a MetalSlime.[[/note]] Though most Metal Slimes lack significant offensive output, enemies are only excluded from this trope due to power level if they pose a significant threat to a party at the appropriate [[CharacterLevel level]] for the zone.

* The enemy has a reasonably reliable way to end combat before the player can defeat it and get the reward, whether it be running away, a special ability, or a feature of the zone that it appears in. In games with PreexistingEncounters, this trait may manifest as the enemy avoiding the party in order to prevent the beginning of combat proper. As a result, it is difficult to obtain the reward from the enemy. As a corollary to this, a Metal Slime cannot also be a [[BossBattle boss]], generally speaking.

Most of the time, the enemy will give the reward for its defeat, making the challenge to kill it before it escapes. A variation is an enemy that kills itself such as an ActionBomb that [[VideoGameStealing is lucrative to steal from]] or a useful {{Mon}}--in this case, the issue could be that the enemy dies before you have the chance to catch it or relieve it of its InfinityMinusOneSword or RareCandy.

A Metal Slime is a specific [[SubTrope variant]] of the GoddamnedBats--it is more annoying than deadly.[[note]]When you think about it, this is because the "standard" Metal Slime typically act in a relatively intelligent fashion, realizing that they are outclassed and fleeing with both their valuables and their lives.[[/note]] Though most Metal Slimes lack significant offensive output, enemies are only excluded from this trope due to power level if they pose a significant threat to a party at the appropriate [[CharacterLevel level]] for the zone.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'''s randomized treasure dungeons (The Aquapolis, Canals of Uznair and Dungeons of Lyhe Ghiah) all have an uncommon chance of spawning additional creatures mid-fight. Sometimes these simply take the form of a giant cyclops or yeti to keep you on your toes, but other times the creatures are cute and harmless things like goblins or walking vegetables, that must be killed before they can flee - or in some cases, killed in a specific order. Managing to do so before they can get away will reward the party with bonus gil, elemental crystals, or furniture items.

* Gold Beetles in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' only appear for a brief moment in one specific part of each level, and vanish just as quickly. Destroying one nets you a huge amount of points for your score, which go a long way to earning a better rank for certain level requirements.
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** Koopa Troopas, despite being common enemies in the series, rarely appear in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''. Not only can they not hurt Mario at all, they run away the minute they spot him. Stomping on them punts them out of their shells and you can use their shell to slide across the ground to defeat enemies and even slide up slopes. Defeating the Koopa itself makes it drop a blue coin, which is worth 5 coins and is helpful for OneHundredPercentCompletion since 100 coins gets you a star for that level.
** Yellow birds in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' are ''very'' rare, and spraying them with water or Yoshi Juice to kill them is the only way get their Shine Sprites. Slightly more common are the blue birds, which yield blue coins (necessary to get more Shine Sprites).
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'': The Starbag is encountered in only a few areas, and at first you can only see its footprints traveling across the ground. It is otherwise invisible. Approaching it causes it to run away from you. If you spin-attack just ahead of the footprints, you'll expose the enemy, who will get stunned. You can then defeat it with another spin-attack to get a shower of several dozen Star Bits.
** The Moneybag and Coin Coffer enemies in various ''Mario'' games. Upon being sighted they run away from the player, and they drop some kind of reward upon being defeated. Moneybags also appear in the ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' series.

** [=UFO=]s in ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' take one shot at you then fly off screen -- and unlike every other enemy in the game, if they escape or are killed they won't return until the game is reset. [[PowerCopying Eating them, however, gets you the powerful [=UFO=] ability.]]
** Golden Waddle Dees from ''VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad'' and Sneak Sacks in ''[[VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn Epic Yarn]]''. The former is unreasonably fast and will [[TooDumbToLive sprint straight over the edge of a bottomless pit]] if you don't trap it quickly enough, while the latter moves at a speed slightly faster than Kirby can run at and will disappear if not killed in time. They leave behind treasure chests and dozens of beads, respectively.
** Carry Dees fill a similar role to Golden Waddle Dees in ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' and ''VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe'' except they drop keys instead of treasure chests. Again if you don't catch them quickly [[TooDumbToLive they will sprint into the nearest bottomless pit]].
* The Mole and [=Mole2=] enemies in ''VideoGame/MegaManNetworkTransmission'', which one of them only appears for a limited time before running away in a certain area of Legendary WWW Area with each visit. Deleting the brown-colored counterpart can reward players with a [=Recov300=], the best Recov chip in the game, while its pink-colored counterpart can reward the [=PopUp=] chip, the game's strongest Invis type chip.

* ''VideoGame/{{Elona}}'''s Bells have great evasion, move very fast, and vanish after a few turns. The Gold Bells drop large amounts of gold, while Silver/Platinum (depending on the version) Bells drop Platinum coins or [[GlobalCurrencyException small medals]] (one of the few unlimited sources of them in the game). The most reliable way of killing them is poison, since they take several actions for each of your turns, which greatly multiplies the damage they take, or magic darts, since they're ranged and never miss.

* Jetpack SantaClaus in ''VideoGame/ToeJamAndEarl'' will occasionally appear, fussing over his sack. If you're lucky to see him from far away enough, you have a chance of sneaking up on him from behind (a mechanic no other enemy in the game uses) and get a few presents for your trouble. Otherwise, off into the wild blue yonder he goes.
* In ''VideoGame/ZettaiHeroProject: Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman'', there are Metal Cacti, enemies that run away really fast, and ''require'' you to corner them to get any hits in.
* ''VideoGame/TheGuidedFateParadox'': Gold Crabs, which always run away from you and have ridiculous evade; however, if you manage to kill it, you gain a buttload of experience and money. There are also versions that drop Apples upon defeat.

** Rainbow Slimes only spawn in the Hallow during rain, and are extremely rare even then. They drop the Rainbow Bricks.

** "Pinky" is a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin bright pink]] slime that randomly spawns during the day. It has ten times the HP of the basic Green Slime (150 vs. 14), is smaller, and suffers double from knockback (hit it with an axe and watch it fly), but is otherwise the same other than the fact that it drops gold coins when killed. (To put that in perspective: 100 copper coins make one silver coin; 100 silver coins make one gold. Green slimes drop about 20-50 copper coins. Pinky drops the equivalent of 10,000 copper coins.) It also drops the special pink gel, which can be used to craft bouncy items as well as {{Molotov Cocktail}}s and restoration potions.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'': There are slime enemies known as Chus which come in various colors, [[AsteroidsMonster combine with each other to form larger chus and divide when attacked]] and leave Chu Jelly behind when defeated. What the Chu Jelly does depends on the color of the Chu that dropped it (red ones restore health, yellow ones act as lantern oil, purple ones have a random effect from healing you fully to damaging you upon consumption etc.). The rarest kind is the Rare Chu, which is a pearly color and sparkles. The Chu jelly that this kind drops acts as the Great Fairy's Tears (a bottled item that not only fully heals you but also doubles your attack temporarily), usually you can only hold one bottle of Great Fairy's Tears at a time, but you can have a bottle of Rare Chu Jelly while having a bottle of Great Fairies' Tears. Obtaining Rare Chu Jelly is extremely difficult because not only do they spawn very rarely, but they almost always spawn with other chus to combine with, and Chus always take on the more common Chu's color. Even if you manage to kill the Rare Chu first, you need to scoop up the Chu Jelly while having dozens of other Chus swarming you.

** Bulk Detonators are one of the few things the dwarves fear, [[TheJuggernaut juggernauts]] that can blast anything caught in their InstantDeathRadius with pulses of fire, and when slain will detonate in a huge SphereOfDestruction that can finish off anything foolish enough to linger. ''Crassus'' Detonators are all of that too, but with the twist that the inside of said spherical crater will be coated with a layer of gold ore to mine. If lured into a narrow tunnel before being finished off, a single Crassus can produce more gold than several conventional missions -- but mining it all can be time-consuming, and put you at risk of attack by the stage's normal enemies.

** The Supply Drop update added Keybullet Kin: They spawn randomly in pregenerated rooms, and instead of shooting, they run away from the player and despawn after a short time, but they drop a (rare) key if you kill them.(If said Keybullet Kin somehow ends up jammed, you get double loot!... at the cost of having to deal even more damage to it)
** The Advanced Gungeons and Draguns update added the Chance Kin, who drops upon dying either a heart piece, some ammo or an armor piece. They're just like the Keybullet Kin, so be ready to chase them down!

* ''VideoGame/DeepRockGalactic'': Huuli Hoarders are giant purple shell-less snails with rare minerals sticking out of their bodies. The problem is they begin to run away screaming on the walls and ceiling when they see a dwarf; their velocity isn't nearly as troublesome as their ability to parkour to cover, combined with their relatively high health and short time to despawn. However, if you can ambush one all at once or catch one in a smooth room / on top of sticky goo, they go down very quickly.
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' has the Fallen Survivor in The Passing. They have as much health as a Witch,[[labelnote:*]]1000 HP[[/labelnote]] making it hard to take down. They are also fireproof and they always choose to flee when they take the slightest bit of damage. The reason you would bother fighting these Infected is because they can hold a mix of either first aid kits, pills, pipe bombs, or molotovs. A single swipe from a melee weapon is still enough to take them down, but their habit of running away usually puts of wall of zombies between you and their wonderful loot. Normally any item drop would be nice, but The Passing has lockers filled with infinite supplies of grenades and pills scattered throughout the first two chapters, so the only drop of real worth is the medkit, and it's not a guaranteed spawn.[[labelnote:+]]The finale features neither lockers nor Fallen Survivors.[[/labelnote]] When they appear in campaigns without lockers such as the reworked "No Mercy" as of the "The Last Stand" update, or [[GameMod custom campaigns]] like "Suicide Blitz 2" or "Day Break", their loot tends to be far more welcome.

* ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRogue'': Any NPC with red eyes has a Shapeshifter inside. Killing the host causes the Shapeshifter to pop out and run away at very high speed, but it will drop a lot of cash if killed. Fortunately, it has low HP and Cops are hostile to it. The same is true for [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters playing as a Shapeshifter.]]

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'':

** The Takkuri in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'', which drops a lot of money, but it not only has a lot of health but may also decide to steal one of your items and run away with it, forcing you to either play the Song of Time or wait until nighttime and buy it back from its owner for a massive sum of money to get it back.
** Blue Chus in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'' are ''very'' rare, to the point that only one can be found at a time in a few obscure islands (except in Crescent Island, which has two). Their Jelly collectibles are required to help Doc Bandam brew the Blue Potion in his shop in Windfall Island.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap The Minish Cap]]''. While they fail criterion three (they don’t disappear and make the spoils un-gettable), there are the gold versions of any common Mook. Only certain Kinstone fusions unlock them, and then you have to hunt them down in some treacherous (or tedious) spots in the overworld. When you find them, you’ll discover them to be (a) lightning fast, (b) super aggressive, (c) requiring a boss-level amount of hits to kill, and (d) typically surrounded by several of their standard kin. But you’ll get 200 rupees out of it, and ''Minish Cap'' is a game that actually has a use for rupees.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twilight Princess]]'', there are slime enemies known as Chus which come in various colors, [[AsteroidsMonster combine with each other to form larger chus and divide when attacked]] and leave Chu Jelly behind when defeated. What the Chu Jelly does depends on the color of the Chu that dropped it (red ones restore health, yellow ones act as lantern oil, purple ones have a random effect from healing you fully to damaging you upon consumption etc.). The rarest kind is the Rare Chu, which is a pearly color and sparkles. The Chu jelly that this kind drops acts as the Great Fairy's Tears (a bottled item that not only fully heals you but also doubles your attack temporarily), usually you can only hold one bottle of Great Fairy's Tears at a time, but you can have a bottle of Rare Chu Jelly while having a bottle of Great Fairies' Tears. Obtaining Rare Chu Jelly is extremely difficult because not only do they spawn very rarely, but they almost always spawn with other chus to combine with, and Chus always take on the more common Chu's color. Even if you manage to kill the Rare Chu first, you need to scoop up the Chu Jelly while having dozens of other Chus swarming you.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'': Blupees, which resemble glowing blue rabbits. If you manage to shoot them with an arrow before they run away and disappear they'll give you a random amount of rupees -- in a game where rupees almost never drop from enemies.

->''Those lucky enough to meet one of these and defeat it before it dashes off will find it a very rewarding experience.''
-->-- '''''VideoGame/{{Dragon Quest IX}}'''''

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]'':
*** The elusive "silver" monsters. These baddies only show up if you've killed a sufficient number of their red, blue, and black/white kin, and can sometimes replace one member in a group of weaker monsters. They are quite dangerous with even the Silver [[{{Mooks}} Bokoblin]] being able to one-shot an underequipped or low-heart Link. However, killing them yields a large amount of loot, including valuable gemstones or powerful weapons making the effort well worth it.
*** Only with the Master Trials DLC, forget silver and go for the gold! Yes, they’re even stronger. The worst of the worst -- and as such, the ones with the best rewards -- are Golden Lynels. Normal Lynels are the worst DemonicSpiders of the franchise -- the strongest common enemy of every game they’re in, with massive durability and damage. How bad? In most Zelda games, you’re kept from SequenceBreaking by things like needing items you don’t get until later to enter certain dungeons. In the original NES game, ''two'' normal Lynels wandering outside are instead what keeps you away from one entrance. So it’s no surprise that every one of BOTW’s Golden Lynels has more health than the FinalBoss, and a speed and attack range that makes escape unlikely once you’ve got one on your tail. These things will rip off your head and spit down your neck, but ''if'' you can beat them, it’s well worth it.
*** Blupees, which resemble glowing blue rabbits. If you manage to shoot them with an arrow before they run away and disappear they'll give you a random amount of rupees -- in a game where rupees almost never drop from enemies.

A normal video game {{Mook}} is a monster that shows up regularly in large numbers, exhibits SuicidalOverconfidence, goes down in a [[HeroesPreferSwords sword strike]] [[FourIsDeath or four]], gives a little experience, and drops items that are either VendorTrash or subject to the AntidoteEffect. A Metal Slime is everything but normal: an uncommon monster with an uncommon reward that's uncommonly difficult to obtain from the monster before the battle ends.

* ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'' has the Tagamikazuchi, an [[ShockAndAwe electric]] wolf-like enemy that appears ''extremely'' rarely out on the field or in certain Emergency Quests and awards a ridiculous amount of EXP for killing it. It hits like a truck and has high defense on its body, but breaking the orbs on its head will neuter its defense. This also applies to its cousin, the golden Ikanekazuchi, who is similar but only takes ScratchDamage unless you break the orbs and instead of dropping lots of EXP, it drops VendorTrash that sells for larger amounts than most other item drops in the game and gives a shot at rare equipment.

*** The game has the Garradors. They drop a ton of cash upon their defeat. Upping the ante further, one Garrador that spawns in a cage actually guards a treasure chest with a very valuable piece of VendorTrash in it, and predictably, it's pretty hard to get the item without killing the Garrador first. Garradors appear about four times in the entire game ([[UniqueEnemy one of which]] is a ''[[HeavilyArmoredMook heavy Garrador]]''). Unlike Regenerators, who also share the aforementioned traits, defeating Garradors (or even damaging them) is almost never absolutely necessary, to the point where running from them is easier than fighting them thanks to the Garradors' crippling blindness.

* The Mole and [=Mole2=] enemies in ''VideoGame/MegaManNetworkTransmission'', which one of them only appears for a limited time before running away in a certain area of Legendary WWW Area with each visit. Deleting the brown-colored counterpart can reward players with a Recov300, the best Recov chip in the game, while its pink-colored counterpart can reward the [=PopUp=] chip, the game's strongest Invis type chip.