History Main / SoloCharacterRun

* In an odd turn of events, most generations of ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games are actually ''easier'' on a Solo Pokémon Run, as an over-leveled starter (or virtually any Pokémon) with a sufficiently versatile move set can overwhelm pretty much anything. After all, it's easy to ignore type disadvantages when you're thirty levels higher than anything else. The only "hitches" are that you'll need a few PP-restoring items for the Elite Four, and one or two more Pokémon [[UtilityPartyMember whose only purpose]] would be to hold [[AbilityRequiredToProceed mandatory HM moves]] (no starter Pokémon can learn all the required ones). ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' is the easiest game in the series to pull this off (outside the [[VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee Let's Go games]]) thanks to a location before the second gym that allows the patient to grind their 'mon all the way up to Level 100 with little fuss, and become ridiculously rich in the process. Even if you don't grind at all, it's still a better option than using a balanced party if you have any desire to complete the regional Pokedex.
** Generations V and VII bring back the "challenge" part of the solo character run. The [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Generation]] [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 V]] games features an AntiGrinding system wherein you receive less experience if your Mon is below the enemy's level, the reduction being proportional to the difference, making such a run harder to achieve in those games, even if it is still easier than a non-grinding playthrough with a balanced party. Meanwhile, [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Generation]] [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon VII]] is balanced around the use of Exp. Share, which gives full battle experience to every single Pokémon in your party regardless of participation. Meaning that there is no more naturally over-leveling your opponents by just sticking with a single Pokémon, leading to encounters with trainers that have multiple Pokémon that are just blatantly on-level with you, if not ''at higher levels'' if you haven't been constantly grinding to make up for the change. That said, it's still entirely possible - just not as easy as it has been.

* For players of portable ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' games up to ''Monster Hunter Portable 3rd'' who don't have access to local hunting buddies, as well as console players without a good Internet connection and players of ''4'' and ''4 Ultimate'' who don't have either, doing the multiplayer quests solo is the only option rather than a SelfImposedChallenge. Of course, there are some who can play with others but solo the quests anyway. Either way, the games will often allow the player to bring two helper characters instead of one to compensate, and the player can simply take four players' worth of supplies rather than having to share them. However, monsters in multiplayer quests have more HP than their story quest counterparts to account for multiple players, so expect to take longer to kill a particular monster.

[[quoteright:330:[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Solo1.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330:EverybodysDeadDave.]]

** This is only a SelfImposedChallenge for the Shaper class, and later Lifecrafter class, because Shaping skills are their specialty. Without creating mons, the benefits of Shaping specialization can be focused on healing and defensive buffing, but the build doesn't leave much in the way of direct damage ability.
** In fact, with the Agent class, this is actually a BETTER idea, because it means you don't have to share experience with creations that really won't do you any favours. Generally Agents only make creations for large scale battles where they can benefit from Meat Shields. Not having any creations also means a bigger essence pool, so it becomes much easier to use essence-gobbling spells like Augmentation, Essence Blade, or Aura of Flames.

* In an odd turn of events, most generations of ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games are actually ''easier'' on a Solo Pokémon Run, as an over-leveled starter (or virtually any Pokémon) with a sufficiently versatile move set can overwhelm pretty much anything. After all, it's easy to ignore type disadvantages when you're thirty levels higher than anything else. The only "hitches" are that you'll need a few PP-restoring items for the Elite Four, and one or two more Pokémon [[UtilityPartyMember whose only purpose]] would be to hold [[AbilityRequiredToProceed mandatory HM moves]] (no starter Pokémon can learn all the required ones). ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' is the easiest game in the series to pull this off (outside the [[VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee Let's Go games]]) thanks to a location before the second gym that allows the patient to grind their 'mon all the way up to Level 100 with little fuss, and become ridiculously rich in the process.
** Generations V and VII bring back the "challenge" part of the solo character run. The [[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Generation]] [[VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2 V]] games features an AntiGrinding system wherein you receive less experience if your Mon is below the enemy's level, the reduction being proportional to the difference. making such a run harder to achieve in those games. Meanwhile, [[VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon Generation]] [[VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon VII]] is balanced around the use of Exp. Share, which gives full battle experience to every single Pokémon in your party regardless of participation. Meaning that there is no more naturally over-leveling your opponents by just sticking with a single Pokémon, leading to encounters with trainers that have multiple Pokémon that are just blatantly on-level with you, if not ''at higher levels'' if you haven't been constantly grinding to make up for the change.

* This is the entire point of the Iron Man mode in ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}.'' You're completely barred from trading with other players, get no experience for partaking in battles where another player damaged the enemy you were fighting, and you don't get any drops from such a situation either, whether or not that player stays in combat for a while or just gets one hit in. There's also ''Hardcore'' Iron Man, where FinalDeath is applied if you don't have any of the items that grants a free revive (of which there are only two in the game) or would permanently switch your account to a normal Iron Man in your bank.

* Many of the ''VideoGame/{{Exile}}''/''VideoGame/{{Avernum}}'' games from Spiderweb Software are arguably easier in some respects with a solo character, as that character gets all the good loot (of which there is a strictly limited supply), all of the experience (a high-level character is much harder for monsters to kill than an equivalently-leveled character), and only a fourth of the available target space. The big problems come in finding inventory for all the loot Singletons, as they are called in ''Avernum'', are also extremely vulnerable to being wrapped in web by giant spiders. If the spiders continue spinning webs (and they will. They always do), a single character will get no turns at all, getting stuck in a zero-AP loop. Cue either an impossibly long death process or a Ctrl-Alt-Delete.

* Other than in generation V and VII, ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' is actually ''easier'' on a Solo Pokémon Run, since an over-leveled starter (or virtually any Pokémon) with a sufficiently versatile move set can overwhelm pretty much anything. Type disadvantages cease to matter when you're thirty levels higher than anything else. The only hitch is that you'll probably need a few PP-restoring items for the Elite Four, and a second or third Pokémon [[UtilityPartyMember whose only purpose]] is to hold [[AbilityRequiredToProceed mandatory HM moves]] (no starter Pokémon can learn all the required ones anyway). Generation V features an AntiGrinding system (which reduces the experience gained if your Mon is below the enemy's level, penalizing it more the bigger the difference), making such a run harder to achieve in those games. However, this didn't return for generation VI, making a solo Pokémon run easy once more. In fact, in ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' there's a place where you can grind your 'mon all the way up to Level 100 before the second gym (and get mountains of cash while you're at it), making the rest of the game from that point onward a complete joke.
** While still not having the reduced experience on generation V, generation VII managed to make its solo run the absolute hardest of them all. This is due to the fact that the game is now fully balanced around an Exp. Share that gives full battle experience to every single Pokémon in your party regardless of participation. This means there's now no benefits whatsoever to using just one Pokémon, and soloing ends up making the game hellishly hard in comparison to a regular playthrough as you'll now regularly find trainers with multiple Pokémon and especially Totem Pokémon that are just blatantly on level with you or straight up way higher if you haven't been constantly grinding. Encounter a proper type disadvantage and you'll have to get ready to get your ass kicked or spend an extra hour just grinding.

[[folder:MMORPGs]]

* Extremely common in the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series, especially ''VideoGame/Fallout1''. This is mostly because party [=NPCs=] in the first game did not level up and were liabilities due to friendly fire and obstructing doors or corridors. In fact, it is actually EASIER to complete the original games without help since "companions" had a notorious tendecy of shooting ''you'' accidentally, screwing up quest triggers, and dying inexplicably. Dogmeat was especially bad, as it was a challenge to get his limited AI to avoid being fried by door lasers - to the point that the second game reveals he canonically died to one.

* Other than in generation V and VII, ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' is actually ''easier'' on a Solo Pokemon Run, since an over-leveled starter (or virtually any Pokemon) with a sufficiently versatile move set can overwhelm pretty much anything. Type disadvantages cease to matter when you're thirty levels higher than anything else. The only hitch is that you'll probably need a few PP-restoring items for the Elite Four, and a second or third Pokémon [[UtilityPartyMember whose only purpose]] is to hold [[AbilityRequiredToProceed mandatory HM moves]] (no starter Pokemon can learn all the required ones anyway). Generation V features an AntiGrinding system (which reduces the experience gained if your Mon is below the enemy's level, penalizing it more the bigger the difference), making such a run harder to achieve in those games. However, this didn't return for generation VI, making a solo Pokémon run easy once more. In fact, in ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' there's a place where you can grind your 'mon all the way up to Level 100 before the second gym (and get mountains of cash while you're at it), making the rest of the game from that point onward a complete joke.
** While still not having the reduced exp on generation V, generation VII managed to make its solo run the absolute hardest of them all. This is due to the fact that the game is now fully balanced around an exp share that gives full battle exp to every single pokemon in your party regardless of participation. This means there's now no benefits whatsoever to using just one pokemon, and soloing ends up making the game hellishly hard in comparison to a regular playthrough as you'll now regularly find trainers with multiple pokemon and especially Totem Pokemon that are just blatantly on level with you or straight up way higher if you haven't been constantly grinding. Encounter a proper type disadvantage and you'll have to get ready to get your ass kicked or spend an extra hour just grinding.

[[folder: Action Adventure ]]

[[folder: First Person Shooter ]]

* TheEndTimesVermintide is heavily inspired by Left 4 Dead, only with the skaven of Warhammer standing in for the Infected and set in the Warhammer world. Naturally, solo runs as self-imposed challenges were inevitable. They range from "easy unless you slip up and get caught by a special rat" on the appropriately named Easy difficulty to harder than juggling dynamite blindfolded on the appropriately named [[HarderThanHard Cataclysm difficulty]].

[[folder: Hack And Slash ]]

[[folder: MMORP Gs ]]

[[folder: Platformers ]]

[[folder: Roguelike ]]

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[[folder: Turn Based Strategy ]]

[[folder: Turn Based Tactics ]]

[[folder: Other Media ]]

* Other than in generation V, ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' is actually ''easier'' on a Solo Pokemon Run, since an over-leveled starter (or virtually any Pokemon) with a sufficiently versatile move set can overwhelm pretty much anything. Type disadvantages cease to matter when you're thirty levels higher than anything else. The only hitch is that you'll probably need a few PP-restoring items for the Elite Four, and a second or third Pokémon [[UtilityPartyMember whose only purpose]] is to hold [[AbilityRequiredToProceed mandatory HM moves]] (no starter Pokemon can learn all the required ones anyway). Generation V features an AntiGrinding system (which reduces the experience gained if your Mon is below the enemy's level, penalizing it more the bigger the difference), making such a run harder to achieve in those games. However, this didn't return for generation VI, making a solo Pokémon run easy once more. In fact, in ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' there's a place where you can grind your 'mon all the way up to Level 100 before the second gym (and get mountains of cash while you're at it), making the rest of the game from that point onward a complete joke.

* This is a fairly popular challenge in the Thrill Tower/[=ScareScraper=] mode of ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'', where the higher difficulty levels are pretty much explicitly designed for groups of players yet the option to try them solo always remains. Some popular examples including beating 25 floors of Expert Mode on your own (which is extremely hard due to the high amount of enemies and their high amounts of health) and attempting to beat much more than in Endless Mode (some people have somehow managed over a HUNDRED floors on their own despite all the psychotic ghosts needing to be defeated on each one).

** This is very popular in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI''. A solo Fighter is regarded as easiest. Black Belt is not difficult when massively overleveled, Red Mage has both good offense and defense plus multi-targeting black magic, White Mage has the advantage of the [=RUSE=] (Blink) spell, and Black Mage has multi-targeting black magic starting from the third town. By far the hardest, Thief has to grind halfway to the level cap (with poor offense and defense the whole time) before being able to have a CHANCE to defeat the fourth mini-boss. Nobody has ever gotten past the fifth one.

* Through the use of console commands, people have tried solo runs in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' by kicking bots from the game and had various levels of success. Valve seemed to have noticed and introduced a [[GameMod mutation]] for ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' called Last Man on Earth, where you play alone against only special infected and can only be knocked down once [[LastChanceHitPoint before true death applies]]. Other mutations that allow a player to solo are Lone Gunman, The LastSamurai, and all variants of All Alone.

[[AC:ActionAdventure]]

[[AC:FirstPersonShooter]]

[[AC:HackAndSlash]]

[[AC:{{MMORPG}}s]]

[[AC:Platformers]]

[[AC:Roguelike]]

[[AC:RolePlayingGame]]

* Other than in generation V, ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' is actually ''easier'' on a Solo Pokemon Run, since an over-leveled starter (or virtually any Pokemon) with a sufficiently versatile move set can overwhelm pretty much anything. Type disadvantages cease to matter when you're thirty levels higher than anything else. The only hitch is that you'll probably need a few PP-restoring items for the Elite Four, and a second or third Pokémon [[UtilityPartyMember whose only purpose]] is to hold [[AbilityRequiredToProceed mandatory HM moves]] (no starter Pokemon can learn all the required ones anyway). Generation V features an AntiGrinding system (which reduces the experience gained if your Mon is below the enemy's level, penalizing it more the bigger the difference), making such a run harder to achieve in those games. However, this didn't return for generation VI, making a solo Pokémon run easy once more. In fact, in ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' there's a place where you can grind your 'mon all the way up to Level 100 before the second gym (and get mountains of cash while you're at it), making the rest of the game from that point onward a complete joke.

[[AC:ThirdPersonShooter]]

[[AC:TurnBasedStrategy]]

[[AC:TurnBasedTactics]]

[[AC:OtherMedia]]

** Better Infinity Engine games to try this trope with are the ''IcewindDale'' series. Trying it in the sequel is lunacy (doable, mind you, but still lunacy), because the Challenge Rating system ensures that you'll soon end up gaining as much XP solo as you would with a full party, although backup characters at level 1 (lowering the average level) who do no fighting can mitigate this to some degree.

* Possible to do in the Empires subset of ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' games, ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors 6 Empires'' outright rewards you for doing this for one battle on [[NintendoHard Master]] or the hard '''{{H|arderThanHard}}ELL''' difficulty (that's '''CHAOS''' for everyone outside Japan). needless to say, doing this for one battle on the higher difficulties is hard enough. Doing it for every battle on '''HELL''' puts you on par with [[MemeticBadass Lu]] [[ThatOneBoss Bu]], if only for the fact that your stats are not carried over between [[NewGamePlus consecutive games]] [[GlassCannon and you have a high chance of being 1-Hit-KO'd early on]].

* [[VideoGame/{{Trine}} Trine 2]] has an achievement for completing a level using just a single character of the trio.

* Extremely common among the ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' community. The series is well-suited to solos because a powerful character can dominate the battlefield, so if the player can get the character out of his early vulnerable levels intact, it's usually smooth sailing from there on out. The generally accepted rule is that only the selected character can deal damage -- other characters are allowed to open chests and doors, rescue, seize, or recruit as the player sees fit. Difficulty level ranges from the relatively easy (Ike solo in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Path of Radiance]]'') to the mind-bogglingly difficult (Colm solo in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'').
** The final bosses of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Blazing Sword]]'' almost entirely rule out this challenge for those titles because of their high stats and/or weapon properties. Likewise, a CrutchCharacter solo run in any game (save ''The Sacred Stones'') is unlikely to succeed.

** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral Thracia 776]]'' is borderline impossible to solo for two reasons: the Fatigue system [[labelnote:note]]You would need to stockpile a LOT of Stamina Drinks, or else your character would constantly be Fatigued and unable to fight[[/labelnote]], and enemy staff users [[labelnote:note]]Sleep and Berserk staves, as well as the final boss's Stone spell, have infinite range and last until either the map is beaten, or a Restore staff is used[[/labelnote]]. Leaf is immune to fatigue, mind you, but his relatively low stats and late promotion ensure that you are going to get [[NintendoHard a lot of game overs]].

* You want a really hard one of these? Try the original ''VideoGame/XCom'', sending only 1 soldier to each battlescape. Also, an achievement in ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' requires you to clear a UFO crash site with only one soldier... on Classic or Impossible difficulty. Yeah.

* Occasionally crops up in media about video games as well. ''LightNovel/AccelWorld'' references this in a couple of different ways. The Blue King is known as "Legend Slayer" for doing a solo-run against a Legendary-class monster (for reference, entire ''parties'' usually have a hard time taking on weaker opponents) and it's something of right of passage for characters who reach Level 7 to do one of these against lower ranked monsters in the Unlimited Field.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Tales|Series}}'' games are popular among elite players for soloing powerful bosses, as a cursory glance in Website/YouTube will tell you. Since the ''Tales'' games are action [=RPGs=] that emphasize blocking and dodging, this isn't as difficult as it sounds.

* Occasionally crops up in media about video games as well. ''LightNovel/AccelWorld'' references this in a couple of different ways. The Blue King in known as Legend Slayer for doing a solo-run against a Legendary class monster and its something of right of passage for characters who reach Level 7 to do one of these against lower ranked monsters in the Unlimited Field.

* Many of the ''VideoGame/{{Exile}}''/''VideoGame/{{Avernum}}'' games from Spiderweb Software are arguably easier in some respects with a solo character, as that character gets all the good loot (of which there is a strictly limited supply), all of the experience (a high-level character is much harder for monsters to kill than an equivalently-leveled character), and only a fourth of the available target space. The big problems come in figuring out your skill distribution.
** Singletons, as they are called in ''Avernum'', are also extremely vulnerable to being wrapped in web by giant spiders. If the spiders continue spinning webs (and they will. They always do), a single character will get no turns at all, getting stuck in a zero-AP loop. Cue either an impossibly long death process or a Ctrl-Alt-Delete.
** Actually, skill distribution isn't that much of a problem since you'll be getting a whole party's experience worth for just one guy early on, and later on you can buy potions that award skill points. The real problem is inventory space: in ''Exile'' it's often a good idea to give up armor and helmets after a certain point so as to be able to carry more loot.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' has seen a number of attempts using Cecil (the only possible one, as the party is far more fluid than later ''Final Fantasy'' games). The usual strategy is using Bacchus (an item that causes Berserk) to get through boss fights. [[ThatOneBoss The Demon Wall]] is the usual choke point.
*** Only Cecil is possible, unless of course one uses patch codes of one form or another. It's quite possible, though mages will have a rough time. As, in some versions, bosses that are fought without a magic user in the party, such as Barbariccia and the Dark Imp, are totally immune to spells.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has a variation, with people only following this as long the required character is around, meaning someone that joins early and rejoins early like the Figaro twins is the "closest" to the feel of the challenge. [[AttackAttackAttack Umaro]] is considered to be the only one that can't win it, [[TierInducedScrappy for obvious reasons]].
*** One specific variation is to use Celes, Edgar, and Setzer (the only three characters forced back into your party in the second half of the game) and have them each do a solo run through the final dungeon, which requires splitting into three parties.

** [=SCRs=] are ridiculously easy in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', thanks to the ease of pulling off {{LimitBreak}}s. Lionheart, "Armageddon Fist," Acid, Invincible Moon...it's all good.
*** Another reason is that there is no limit to the number of Guardian Forces you can assign to a single character...thus, it is entirely possible to have a level 10 Squall with 9999 HP that hits for thousands damage about one third into the game.
** Accomplished with most of the cast from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', even to the point of a solo Yuna playthrough with no Summons.
*** Note that there is one boss fight exception if you use Yuna for this challenge, unless you are absolutely insane. (You'd have to be pretty insane to play Yuna Only, No Summons, No Sphere Grid, etc. anyways. It's been done, though.)
*** A solo run is made slightly easier in this game by the way the level and skill system works. With enough grinding, any character can learn anything they would need by traveling into the Sphere Grid sections belonging to other party members. The only thing that can't be learned by everyone is Yuna's summoning ability.
*** One particular BonusBoss, Shinryuu, is actually easier to do solo than with a full party. In the same vein as the aforementioned Ruby WEAPON, it cannot use its [[UnblockableAttack unblockable]] party-member-removing attack Eraser if only one character is alive.
** Compared to the above, solo runs in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' are ''insultingly'' easy. Every character has access to every weapon and ability; the characters are all relatively balanced in terms of stats, so picking one will not give you a huge disadvantage over picking another; the Zodiac Spear is just as easy to get and will break the game all the way to Giruvegan; and once you get the Reverse spell, which converts all damage to hit points (and all healing spells to damage) you are ''invincible.'' Combinine this with a low-level run or a No License Board run, however, and suddenly it becomes a ''real'' challenge.
*** A low-level run (allowing the use of the License Board) gets a little easier once the player reaches the Stilshrine of Miriam - there is a chest in the temple that can contain the Firefly accessory, which causes a character to gain 0 exp when equipped, while still allowing that character to gain JP. This at least makes it easier to fight without the fear of accidentally levelling characters up.

* A player known by the handle "Sydney Prime" is attempting to play ''VideoGame/RuneScape'' - an MMORPG, of all things - solo. ''[=RuneScape=]'' has no convenient permalink system, but inputting Sydney Prime into the ''[=RuneScape=]'' forum thread search will suffice.
** This is actually the entire point of the Iron Man mode. You're completely barred from trading with other players, get no experience for partaking in battles where another player damaged the enemy you were fighting, and you don't get any drops from such a situation either, whether or not that player stays in combat for a while or just gets one hit in. There's also ''Hardcore'' Iron Man, where FinalDeath is applied if you don't have any of the items that grants a free revive (of which there are only two in the game) or would permanently switch your account to a normal Iron Man in your bank.