History Main / SuicidalOverconfidence

** ''Max Payne 2'' lampshades Max having the highest mobster body count ever by having Vladimir Lem capitalize on this by having Max help him out with against Vinnie Gognitti's mob war that Vinnie started. Despite Max's reputation, nobody seems to respect that Max is tearing through mobsters even better that in the first game. [[spoiler: However, we learn that Vladimir Lem is up to no good himself and Max Payne turns on him in Chapter 3 after being tipped off by Alfred Woden.]]

* In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 1'', in spite of the news going around that Max Payne is on the loose slaughtering mobsters and anybody in his way, the lowliest of thugs will try their hand at taking the player down. To be fair, plot-wise, there is a severe blizzard going on (disrupting communication equipment) and the game begins spawning EliteMooks regularly by the end of the game, and if you're not well-practiced in the game, you can die as easily as a minor mook. Still, within levels where the enemies have strong communication skills, even lowly street thugs will want of piece of Max, nevermind he's ripping through their ranks like a tornado.
** [[BigBad Nicole Horne]] [[LampshadeHanging lampshades this]] over a loudspeaker near the end of the game to her EliteMooks, telling them they are better trained and equipped than Max is, in spite of an off-screen complaint that "He is unstoppable."

** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment'' tried the other way: enemies will attack mechs they have the biggest chance of hitting... which means they mostly target the [[SuperRobot Super Robots]] (that means serious damage at best, and BRUTAL RAPE at worst) and battleships (attacking the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Archangel]] is [[TierInducedScrappy a good idea]]. The [[Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico Nadesico]]? [[GameBreaker Not so much]].) The result was a terribly easy game, with your supers plowing through enemy lines like butter. So yeah, they're better off targeting [[RealRobot reals]].

** Although in his case the overconfidence isn't quite suicidal since he's immortal. In the "Actually Ed the Undying" challenge path, where the player plays as Ed, he pulls himself back together to take revenge.
* [[VideoGame/MarvelHeroes Marvel Heroes Online]] has common instances where a basic mook looks around and says, "Thor just one-shotted a thirty-foot-tall sentinel. I think I'll take him down with my five-dollar pocketknife!"

* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'' features the Odogaron from World, which is essentially the Monster equivalent of a honey badger. It will take on a Radobaan, something twice its size, and Vaal Hazak, which is an Elder Dragon, a title only given to monsters capable of causing natural disasters. Averted in the former, however, as it is perfectly capable of taking down Radobaan with ease.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000: VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' has a Morale system, where [[MemeticMutation Squads Broken]] take more damage and deal less, encouraging players to pull them out of combat. However, without player intervention, these units will continue fighting and being slaughtered. True, such an automated response would detract from the player's control, but still... There is at least one mod that has created a fallback system for squads that get their Morale drained.
** In ''VideoGame/CompanyOfHeroes'' (made by the same developers), infantry units without rocket launchers or anti-tank grenades literally do no damage to tank units, yet will still attack them if they get into range.
*** The troops you are commanding will comment on this, with US rifle squads asking whether you are high when you order them to attack tanks, and the airborne yelling "Fire your rifles, we can distract them at least!"
** Both games encourage you to retreat if there is no chance of winning, since in ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'', a broken squad is really only good for running anyway (it actually gives them a movement speed boost). In ''Company of Heroes'', all infantry have a button to make them retreat back to your base. ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'''s sequel used the same system as ''Company of Heroes''. Both ''Company of Heroes'' and ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar 2'' have a suppression mechanic which will cause infantry squads to be suppressed and ineffective at firing back - so you should retreat them.
* In the ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' series (Particularly Empire and earlier), especially on higher difficulty, the campaign AI is essentially rabid. Portugal will break its alliance with your continent-spanning empire, attack you despite no chance of success, and refuse virtually any sensible peace treaty, even after you've slain five kings and are besieging their last settlement.

* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' custom maps have this problem. At least in ladder normal units together are well able to bring down enemy Heroes. In custom maps where there are unlimited stat-increasing tomes for purchase, enemies will still attack even if the Hero target has health in the tens of thousands and over 1000 DPS. Then again, it is reasonable for maps where the enemy units also scale to equally horrific levels.
** For example, in Custom Hero Line Wars, a typical melee hero will have several thousand armor, over 100k damage, and a maxed-out attack speed. But at that point in the game, the available monsters have gotten so strong they can often one hit you anyway.

** In VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresIII the AI gets somewhat more sensible. If you have trashed enough of a computer's economy and military they will offer to surrender.

* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'': Despite knowing what kind of terrors the Tenno are capable of, despite the demonstrable fact that a ''single'' Warframe can effortlessly slaughter hundreds of enemies, despite seeing some Tenno employing lost Orokin-era technology which can render them ''effectively immortal'', even the weakest level 1 grunts of the setting still try to fight you. For good reason, though: the Grineer are a fascistic military answering to corrupt ''Queens'' and their treatement of cowards and underperforming troops usually invovles execution, [[HumanResources followed by recycling the recently executed into protein derivatives]]. Meanwhile, the Corpus are driven by a mixture of [[TheAlmightyDollar corporate greed and religious fervor]] into fighting the Tenno, and the Infested and Sentients are practically bestial and react to threats with feral violence instead of any type of higher consideration.

* ''VideoGame/DeusEx''. Zigzagged. A terrorist with a knife will happily engage a security bot powerful enough to take down a hundred punks like him at the same time. But wounded enemies will, in general, flee, ''even bosses''.

*** Parodied in [[http://www.spookingtons.com/spresent001.html this comic]].

** Subverted once in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening'', wherein the Player Character has to face down a group of kidnappers. While it is possible to fight them all, if the Player Character reveals his or her identity several of them flee the scene (including one who jumps off the edge of the cliff rather than fight the player.)

** [[spoiler:Maya Brooks]], at the end of the ''Citadel'' DLC. The character in question, a former Cerberus agent with extreme proficiency in subterfuge and hacking, begins trying to break the omni-cuffs she's been detained with after the crew retakes the ''Normandy''. If the player fails to convince her to go into custody willingly,[[note]]by pointing out that their attempt to talk her down isn't for ''their'' safety, but ''hers''[[/note]] she breaks the encryption and tries to flee, despite the fact that (a) the Normandy is still in the air and has been retaken by the crew -- it was clear at this point that all of the CAT-6 mercenaries (barring the pilot) are either incapacitated or dead; (b) there are three of the strongest participants in the Reaper War still facing her, which may include Garrus, a.k.a. Archangel ([[spoiler:a fact she is likely aware of, given how she assembled the dossiers when [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 Shepard was resurrected]].]]) and[=/=]or one of several powerful biotics who are expressly said in the following party to be powerful enough to seize people and make them float without breaking a sweat; and (c) a ship's AI that is expressly said to have been restored and is back to normal operation, meaning she sees everything in the ship. As a result, [[spoiler:Brooks]] is unceremoniously shot dead by either Shepard or their squadmate, who [[AddingInsultToInjury twist the knife further]] by cracking a joke as she dies.

* In all ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'' games - though seen less often in the ''MechCommander'' tactical ones, where foes tend to be more, well, tactical - most enemies will throw themselves at you regardless of weight differences. A 20-ton ''Flea'' will charge into spitting distance to use its small lasers and machine guns, even if you're in an ''Atlas'' that weighs five times as much and could probably kill it with a single salvo at 600 meters. Only a few missions have enemies retreat when clearly outmatched, and this is usually only after a scripted tally is met. An early mission has the pilot of a small, 35-ton ''Owens'' challenge Specter and his entire lance of Battlemechs all by himself. Specter finds his chutzpah amusing. [[CurbStompBattle Briefly.]]

** Similarly, the otherwise unremarkable {{RTT}} ''Chicago 1930'' would sometimes have severely outgunned foes put their hands up.

* ''{{Wildstar}}'' has an interesting variation: several quest lines will culminate in finding and kicking the crap out of the most powerful creature in the area. While the boss of a clan is just another (strong) guy, killing the resident god of a tribe of primitives (for example) will result in the previously aggressive mobs leaving you alone unless you attack them directly.

** Occasionally averted in ''X3: TerranConflict''. Every once in a while somebody in a flight of fighters has a flash of brilliance and runs for his life.

-->'''Wrex:''' Anyone who fights us is either stupid or on Saren's payroll. Killing the latter is business. Killing the former is a favor to the universe.

-->'''Garrus:''' The Collectors managed to kill you once and all it did was piss you off. I can't imagine they'll stop you this time.

** The AI seems to favor attacking units who cannot counterattack first. This seems solid enough... until you unequip the weapons of a high defense unit, causing the AI to attack them even when they have no hope of damaging them. However, it is worth noting that the AI will also choose to attack really injured units even if they can counter-attack in [[{{VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance}} FE9]] or [[{{VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn}} FE10]], even if there is a healthy unit that can't counterattack within the same range.

** Averted in [[{{VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar}} FE4]], where enemies will not attack units if they have 0% hit rate, and in that game, any successful attack will deal at least one hit point of damage.

* ''VideoGame/HaloInfinite'': Hilariously {{Lampshades}} this in a rare line of EnemyChatter:
--> '''[[TheGoomba Grunt]]:''' Come on out! I've got a death wish!

* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'': Your character never ''looks'' very powerful at first glance, but not even the lowest {{mook}} seems to back down even if they know beforehand you're on the level of an Elder, or even if they've witnessed you punching a few of their friends through nearby walls, equipped a Desert Eagle, or made a few of them explode by boiling all the blood in their bodies.

** [[spoiler:Maya Brooks]], at the end of the ''Citadel'' DLC. The character in question, a former Cerberus agent with extreme proficiency in subterfuge and hacking, begins trying to break the omni-cuffs she's been detained with after the crew retakes the ''Normandy''. If the player fails to convince her to go into custody willingly, she breaks the encryption and tries to flee, despite the fact that (a) the Normandy is still in the air and has been retaken by the crew -- it was clear at this point that all of the CAT-6 mercenaries (barring the pilot) are either incapacitated or dead; (b) there are three of the strongest participants in the Reaper War still facing her, which may include Garrus, a.k.a. Archangel ([[spoiler:a fact she is likely aware of, given how she assembled the dossiers when [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 Shepard was resurrected]].]]) and[=/=]or one of several powerful biotics who are expressly said in the following party to be powerful enough to seize people and make them float without breaking a sweat; and (c) a ship's AI that is expressly said to have been restored and is back to normal operation, meaning she sees everything in the ship. As a result, [[spoiler:Brooks]] is unceremoniously shot dead by either Shepard or their squadmate, who [[AddingInsultToInjury twist the knife further]] by cracking a joke as she dies.

** In this case, it's mostly justified, though. You can't know how strong a trainer's Pokémon are before you fight them, and even the wild Pokémon are technically just attacking a random human who decided to intrude in their tall grass.

* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'', the enemies will generally avoid engaging you in combat if they are weaker than you, although Unique Monsters and most plot-related non-boss enemies will attack you on sight no matter what.

* In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 1'', in spite of the news going around that Max Payne is on the loose slaughtering mobsters and anybody in his way, the lowliest of thugs will try their hand at taking the player down. To be fair, plot-wise, there is a severe blizzard going on (disrupting communication equipment) and the game begins spawning EliteMooks regularly by the end of the game, and if you're not well-practiced in the game, you can die as easily as a minor mook.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleOfAges'', at some point you may be attacked by Queen Ambi's palace guards, who are just humans doing their jobs. When defeated they automatically retreat instead of dying explosively as monsters do.

Some games do try to avert this by having lower level enemies run away after a round or two. This may be justified in a story as a case of MuggingTheMonster if the protagonist doesn't seem formidable because they are WeakButSkilled or are a PintsizedPowerhouse in a setting where MusclesAreMeaningless. May be due to SpitefulAI. See also LeeroyJenkins and ArtificialStupidity.

* Banzai Chargers in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar'' count, as they'll recklessly charge towards any nearby US Marines, even when they're outnumbered and outgunned. Of course, they usually end up killed one way or another, either by you or your AI teammates. It's perfectly Justified though, because the Japanese forces would often attack US forces in desperation when cornered.

* The worst offender is likely ''VideoGame/TheDarkness'', where the player has demonic, flesh-eating tentacles growing out of him. Despite this, the enemies all don't seem that worried. Interestingly, whipping out your tentacles during battle DOES scare foes, but not arriving at a fight with them already equipped. It's the startle factor. When an empowered human charge across the room to you with CombatTentacles, you start shooting. When the guy you thought was an easy target suddenly sprouts a pair of extra arms and charges, you might get a bit unnerved.

** The second expansion added a planetary surrender feature... but only if the attacker is the same species or have sufficiently researched the alien culture. Even then, they often end up insisting to be wiped out anyway, especially if the population is large. Considering the game still doesn't feature ground combat so the only way to reduce the population is orbital bombardment and biological weapons, they really should know better.

** Taken to ridiculous extremes in the Death Knight starting areas, where you get a quest to kill hapless villagers. At low health, they start begging you to spare them, saying they have a sick grandma at home or five kids that will die without them. This would normally be refreshing, but they ''keep attacking you while simultaneously asking you not to hurt them.'' To be fair: they are members of a creepy cult, albeit low level ones.
* The mooks of ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' not only won't attack if you're more than three levels above them, but they'll also ''act as if you don't exist'' until you attack them, perhaps in a vain hope that you will go away.

* [[VideoGame/MarvelHeroes Marvel Heroes Online]] has common instances where a basic mook looks around and says, "Thor just one-shotted a thirty-foot-tall sentinel. I think I'll take him down with my five dollar pocketknife!"

* Every map in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' is littered with punks who have nothing better to do than stand around and accost a passing Jedi master, Sith lord, war hero, etc., (or worse, several of them at once) who would really rather just be getting on with their business. Experienced players have come up with numerous strategies to avoid these mobs, because they're little more than speed bumps.

** Both games encourage you to retreat if there is no chance on winning, since in ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'', a broken squad is really only good for running anyway (it actually gives them a movement speed boost). In ''Company of Heroes'', all infantry have a button to make them retreat back to your base. ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'''s sequel used the same system as ''Company of Heroes''. Both ''Company of Heroes'' and ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar 2'' have a suppression mechanic which will cause infantry squads to be suppressed and ineffective at firing back - so you should retreat them.

** For example, in Custom Hero Line Wars, a typical melee hero will have several thousand armor, over 100k damage, and a maxed out attack speed. But at that point in the game, the available monsters have gotten so strong they can often one hit you anyway.

** Later, a lower level group of adventurers tries to kill you for a reward and your magic items. [[ScrewThisImOutOfHere Some of the party will leave]] if you point out [[MuggingTheMonster a few of the much more imposing threats you've already defeated]], at which point the rest attack and get effortlessly wiped out.

** Though removed from the original release, a third party patch restores a situation where a spoiled, effete noble is travelling Sigil's slums, provoking the largely helpless residents into [[DuelToTheDeath duels to the death]]. Should the player converse with him, the noble sneers at the group in a misguided effort to do the same. Should you accept, and unless the [=PCs=] are drastically underleveled for the point in which he appears, the noble is soundly crushed.

*** In a certain quest, a Mandalorian previously under Canderous' command seeks revenge on him. He brings two mercenaries to the battle to back him up, both pretty weak against a Jedi. You can talk the Mandalorian out of seeking revenge, [[spoiler:at which point he commits suicide]], and ''despite the employer who hired them no longer paying them to do anything'', the two mercenaries will then proceed to rush to their near instantaneous deaths for no reason whatsoever.

*** Ladies and gentleman, [[http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Maurice_Jondrelle Maurice Jondrelle]]. He's an optional NPC follower who may join you during "The Blessings of Nature" quest and if he's with you at the goal you get an alternate option for finishing it. But good luck getting him there alive without cheating (or fast traveling). He is essentially a civilian monk, unarmed, unarmored, lacking in any of the control commands that normal followers have (i.e. "Wait here.") and utterly devoid of survival instincts or actual combat ability. None of this stops him from attempting to box anything that attacks the player: bears, sabre cats, giants, aforementioned huge dragons... He'll also attack the player if he is told the purpose of the trip was to wound the sacred tree of Kynareth. He's a very devout follower and couldn't just watch you casually desecrate one of his goddess' creations, but it's still pretty suicidal of him.

** Kai Leng definitely fits the "over-confidence" part, considering himself far better than Shepard (he's good, but he's not ''that'' good; he only managed to walk away from his first direct fight with Shepard because he had the presence of mind to being a ''gunship'' to the fight) and he cheats like crazy when he does fight Shepard). His boss, [[WorthyOpponent who holds Shepard is extremely high regard despite being enemies]], tells him not to underestimate Shepard but he may as well be talking to a brick wall. He even takes being compared to him/her as an insult to his skills. Shepard relishes in flinging this in Leng's face during their final fight, noting that he ran away from every fight and royally pissing Leng off (not that this makes him fight any better). When Shep finally puts him on the ground, they add insult to injury by not even bothering to finish him off. Leng [[TooDumbToLive still doesn't get the hint]] and tries to attack Shepard when his back is turned...who promptly dodges/breaks his sword and stabs him in the gut, putting Leng down for good and not-so-politely [[AndThisIsFor reminding Leng of what he did to deserve this.]]

* Enemies in the ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'' series will always attack you regardless of your strength, attacks or anything else. Even the ones right at the start who can't stand up to a single hit from anything gotten after the first quarter of the game. The only exceptions are Gold Beanies, which like the Amazy Dayzees in ''VideoGame/PaperMario'', flee from battle as quickly as possible.

* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt''. Nearly every single bandit you come across thinks they could best Geralt, a highly-skilled monster slayer whose profession is known across the entire continent, only to be subsequently pulverized. To quote Geralt's jab at the matter: "Why men throw their lives away attacking an armed witcher... I'll never know. Something wrong with my face?"

* The various games in the ''VideoGame/XWing'' series all feature TIE fighters which are, famously, unshielded and with very little hull strength, making them little more than a flying ball with a pilot, engines and lasers. This is supposed to be an in-universe trait of the Empire, whose availability of manpower and industrial capability are effectively limitless and which therefore has little regard for the lives of individual soldiers and their mass-scale-built fighters. However, lore-wise TIE corps make up for their lack of endurance by swarming their enemies with overwhelming numbers, and that doesn't really happen in the games - most fights will have a proportion of two to three times the [=TIEs=] to heavily shielded Rebellion fighters, which is just unfair. Think this will stop the Imperial fighters from doing head-on runs against you? Think again...

** The various sequels actually change this from game to game. ''Advance Wars'' itself had a penchant for hunting down loaded [=APCs=], with the apparent goal of trying to kill two units with one attack, and a loaded APC was wonderful bait, since you are risking only 6000 cash of units, which may not even die, to lure out an enemy unit that might otherwise do over 10,000 cash in damage to another, more vital unit. Later games skipped this, but still prioritized hunting down infantry attempting to capture cities or factories (which is generally quite smart, but still exploitable). ''Days of Ruin'' actually saw enemy units that simply refuse to attack your units if it would require running within range of two or more artillery units, or other units which could easily counter it (which would make it a suicidal attack). This depends somewhat on the AI package they are working with, however.

*** In fact, the AI is so enamored by the idea of attacking units which cannot counterattack that in several games of the series, they will prioritise attacking units which are currently holding weapons with only one or two uses left in order to set up a unit which can't counterattack for other enemies. However, they don't take into account any other weapons which the unit may have on them (and which they will automatically swap to using when their equipped one breaks).

* The AI in many, if not all, SD Gundam G Generation games is overly confident and needlessly aggressive, to the point where it thinks having 20 Magella Tanks surround and bombard one Level 100 Trans-Am Raiser (GN Sword III) with regular WWII-style cannon shells is a good idea... On the off chance that one attack should hit, both Trans-Am Raisers (GN Sword II and GN Sword III) have an ability that allows it no '''''nullify any damage dealt to it'''''. Granted, it can't counter attack when using this ability, which is probably for the better, as it would go through all it's EN pretty fast.

** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsJudgment'' tried the other way : enemies will attack mechs they have the biggest chance of hitting... which means they mostly target the [[SuperRobot Super Robots]] (that means serious damage at best, and BRUTAL RAPE at worst) and battleships (attacking the [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Archangel]] is [[TierInducedScrappy a good idea]]. The [[Anime/MartianSuccessorNadesico Nadesico]]? [[GameBreaker Not so much]].) The result was a terribly easy game, with your supers plowing through enemy lines like butter. So yeah, they're better off targeting [[RealRobot reals]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Battletech}}'' AI opponents have no way to withdraw from a battle or even eject from their 'mechs, and will fight your lance to the death no matter how badly they're outgunned. This is especially egregious given [[AllThereInTheManual the game's set in the 'classic' 3025 era]]; lorewise battlemechs are rare and difficult to repair (''especially'' in the Periphery) and most battles are fought by proxy using HiredGuns (your character being one as well). Ejecting from your 'mech and ransoming it back from your opponent is extremely common InUniverse when neither side has a personal stake in the battle, yet the AI is unable to do it.

** Sometimes NPC extras' overconfidence reaches hilarious levels. You may accidentally brush past someone's car in your own (stolen) car and if you stop they might come out and drag you out of your car to start a fist fight. Even if you're holding a semi automatic shotgun, they don't show the slightest sign of hesitation until you ''point it at them.''

* ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' is no stranger to this trope. Even better is the Ronin's attempt to do a full frontal assault on Aisha's funeral, taunting Johnny Gat, and then thinking they can take both Gat and The Boss in a straight up fight. It does not end well.

* ''Videogame/{{Yakuza}}'' has street punks walking up to you, challenging you to a fight if you're in their turf. They often have you outnumbered, but even so, you have random street punks harassing a not-harmless-looking clearly-a-Yakuza, or even worse solo fighters challenging built-like-a-shit-brickhouse-on-steroids Saejima.
** This is Justified half the time because Kiryu and buddies often find themselves on the wrong side of the local yakuza family, who send out low level thugs to rough them up. This is despite how legendary Kiryu is by the later games, having crushed the [[spoiler: Tojo Clan Chairman]] single-handedly multiple times and even [[spoiler: ''became'' the Chairman at one point]]. The few times he ''isn't'' being hunted is this Trope.

** The X Parasite in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' is normally scared of Samus once it's fake body has been destroyed, as [[ItCanThink it knows]] she can absorb them. Played with with the blue ice-infused X; because it knows ice is Samus' weakness, it will deliberately let her absorb it to hurt her. Once you get immunity to ice, the blue X will continue to dive bomb you for a few rooms before it realizes it doesn't work anymore and will switch to fleeing.

* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' couple of random enemies can just stop their car and ''[[TooDumbToLive get out of it]]'' after spotting Batman so they can kick his ass. However often when landing in the middle of the group some thugs will just run away rather than fight. When you're in the [[CoolCar Batmobile]] everyone outside of Arkham Knight's drones will just run, regardless whether they're on foot or in cars.

* In the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series, squads comprised of Grunts or groups of Grunts left over after the local Covenant heavies have been killed off will usually go into a blind panic and try to make a run for it when a power armored super soldier is bearing down on them. Jackals will also tend to fall back to stronger positions rather than voluntarily remain at a range that allows a Spartan to beat them into meat paste with his augmented fists of death. Elites, while generally confident, usually try to duck somewhere safe and [[RegeneratingHealth walk it off]] if their shields get dropped. On the other hand, Brutes and Hunters tend to lose their cool and become even more aggressive if the situation is turning against them, sometimes to their benefit but usually not. In ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'', Promethean Knights will sometimes teleport to cover if their health/shields are low, much to the frustration of players.

* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' has a WolfPackBoss that would be very difficult if not for the fact the others runaway once one dies. Also, Dark Pirate Commandos will flee if the fight takes to long. Ing will also avoid your [[InstantDeathRadius charged]] light beacons if you just turn one on without trying to trap one. ''Hunters'' final boss becomes more annoying by not adhering to this trope, should you unlock its extra phase. Other enemies in the series only opt not to attack at certain plot points, however, mostly playing this trope straight.

** Not completely played straight in DW. Subgenerals will flee as soon as their superior is killed. Everyone else stands around and lets you kill them, though, but it may also play into the fact that without their lead general, completely-demoralized troops become much less focused; as a result, they don't actively attack you unless provoked. Though in later ''Musou Warriors'' games, they actually give more various forms of behavior to the enemy AI mooks, which varies from them running away or like in older titles, not paying attention to your presence as effectively whenever you kill their leading officer.

* In later ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' games, killing squad leaders will cause all the {{mooks}} in that squad to stop fighting and run away, unless there's another squad leader or boss around.

** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal'' features plenty of examples, but also exceptions. The first curious reversal is that all the unimportant thugs and soldiers you encounter ''become'' tough enough to make your above-20 characters break a sweat (though often still no more than that), and also start attacking in groups big enough to apparently justify their confidence, so that you end up fighting small armies of nameless Mooks more powerful than most heroes in the setting and laden with magical equipment. Another is that characters who are actually much more powerful numbers-wise than yours and whom you can only beat by utilizing your entire party to its best advantage and simply playing smarter than the computer start respecting your player character as a powerful [[spoiler:"godchild" (literally) or demigod]]. Sometimes these are both combined so that one random lich no-one's ever heard of is level 30 but still afraid of you.

* In ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles'', the enemies will generally avoid engaging you in combat if they are weaker than you, although Unique Monsters and most plot related non-boss enemies will attack you on sight no matter what.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Drakensang}}'', at one point you may be assaulted by the power-hungry, vengeful militia leader of a small swampy village and his goons (who are all people from the village that you can talk to. If you manage to kill said boss first, all the other villagers will surrender to you and leave you alone. In the second game, during the big battle between Eiliff's men (that would include Eilif, your party and her three giant [[NeverSmileAtACrocodile Marus bodyguards]]) and Soorman's goons, the "goons" will eventually opt for running away and surrender after witnessing you mowing them all down like barley.

* In ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'', when encountering a relatively weak group of creatures, they will sometimes offer to join your army or run away instead of fighting (though in ''II'' the offer to join you variation can lead to this -- rejecting an offer ''always'' angers them to the point of attacking you, no matter how absurdly outmatched they are. ''III'' changed that -- the creatures might still attack you, but they can also decide to try to run away). A few, however, had AI classified as "savage"; they were ''always'' hostile no matter if they were twenty goblins and you had a thousand dragons in your army. In addition, enemy heroes tend to flee from superior armies -- if it's their turn, The AI always fires off their most powerful offensive spell before retreating, giving them the ability to decimate an army even if they can't win a single turn.

* In ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' and ''VideoGame/XCOM2,'' enemies enemies travel in groups of 3-5 called pods. If the player manages to wipe out all but one enemy in a pod within a turn, then the survivor will usually make a run for it and join the nearest undiscovered pod. Of course, this doesn't apply to mindless animals like [[DemonicSpiders Chryssalids,]] [[TheBerserker Muton Berserkers,]] or legitimately are a match for the player's entire squad, like the [[BossInMookClothing Sectopod.]]

** Thanks to the mind reading feature, it's quite clear that all these people are idiots.

* ''VideoGame/WayOfTheSamurai 2'' averts this in a fashion quite similar to ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'' (though years earlier). You are just some random wandering Ronin, so it's understandable that a band of Yakuza thugs think they can take you on, but after you've sliced a few of them in halves with well-placed counter-attacks, the rest become frazzled, hesitating in their attacks and losing their style, thus making them even easier to counter. Depending on how overwhelming your display of swordsmanship is, the last one or two may flee outright, and any seriously-injured mook is liable to try and make a run for it.

* In ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'', when encountering a relatively weak group of creatures, they will sometimes offer to join your army or run away instead of fighting. A few, however, had AI classified as "savage"; they were ''always'' hostile no matter if they were twenty goblins and you had a thousand dragons in your army. In addition, enemy heroes tend to flee from superior armies -- if it's their turn, The AI always fires off their most powerful offensive spell before retreating, giving them the ability to decimate an army even if they can't win a single turn.

* Played straight in ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'', but averted in ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors''. In DW enemy privates will stay around so long as there's someone to fight. In SW, killing their officer will send the remaining four or so footmen fleeing.

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* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}: VideoGame/DawnOfWar'' has a Morale system, where [[MemeticMutation Squads Broken]] take more damage and deal less, encouraging players to pull them out of combat. However, without player intervention, these units will continue fighting and being slaughtered. True, such an automated response would detract from the player's control, but still... There is at least one mod that has created a fallback system for squads that get their Morale drained.

* Historically, ''VideoGame/DungeonCrawlStoneSoup'' mostly averted this trope. Monsters that were at low HP would become afraid and flee, possibly firing ranged attacks at you in their retreat. However, this was judged as violating the RuleOfFun and removed, so now the game plays the trope straight. The only monster "fleeing" that still exists is for [[BearsAreBadNews bears]], who when afraid will promptly use BerserkerRage and come right back at you.

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* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Diablo}} Diablo II]]'', when you defeat the [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness evil council]] in Kurast, their [[{{Mooks}} Zealots]] only run away from you at that point onward.

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** ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 3}}'' continues to make weak enemies flee from you, and dashing into them will either defeat them instantly or stun them long enough for a free back attack. Enemies who are instantly defeated don't grant EXP or items anymore, though.

** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal'' features plenty of examples, but also exceptions. The first curious reversal is that all the unimportant thugs and soldiers you encounter ''become'' tough enough to make your above-20 characters break a sweat (though often still no more than that), and also start attacking in groups big enough to apparently justify their confidence, so that you end up fighting small armies of nameless Mooks more powerful than most heroes in the setting and laden with magical equipment. Another is that characters who are actually much more powerful numbers-wise than yours and whom you can only beat by utilizing your entire party to its best advantage and simply playing smarter than the computer start respecting your player character as a powerful [[spoiler: "godchild" (literally) or demigod]]. Sometimes these are both combined so that one random lich no-one's ever heard of is level 30 but still afraid of you.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}}'', ''[[VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}} 2]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}} 4]]'', a heavily injured enemy will try to flee. With the emphasis on try.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'', the enemies will generally avoid engaging you in combat if they are weaker than you, although Unique Monsters and most plot related non-boss enemies will attack you on sight no matter what.

* ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'': The small enemies will run away from the huge Bowser without even bothering to fight (and get crushed in one hit when he walks into them)... but they've actually got better stats the giant monsters wandering around that are quite willing to charge into battle with pretty much everything that moves. It's to give Mario and Luigi a chance to level up when they return to the same areas later.

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* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' plays this trope straight. Every time you visit Freeside, expect to get attacked by a naked mugger with a pathetic melee weapon. Even late in the game, when you have powered armor, incredibly powerful weapons, and a pair of lethal followers for backup, [[TooDumbToLive they still think it's a good idea to try to take your lunch money]]. Of course, if someone's jumping at you naked in the desert, he's ''probably'' not playing with a full deck. Furthermore, many people in Freeside are as poor as they can get ([[ReducedToRatBurgers resorting to eating raw molerat]]), so probably they have nothing to lose and lots to gain anyway. Still, this is pretty much an egregious example as you have already [[TookALevelInBadass taken several levels in badassery]] after journeying your way in the game and these knuckleheads have as much good excuse as that of a Powder Ganger, whose faction likewise doesn't have any legitimate reason to harass regular folks other than [[ForTheEvulz for the sheer hell of it]].

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', non-enemy NPC's, and some creatures will only ever attack if the player attacks them first. A handful of creatures will actually run away if the player approaches. Sometimes, enemies will flee combat if their health gets low. However, there are ''very'' few NPC's or creatures that display this behavior - most are ludicrously aggressive and will always fight to the death. Even if the player obviously very powerful and they do not stand a chance.

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' plays this trope straight. Every time you visit Freeside, expect to get attacked by a naked mugger with a pathetic melee weapon. Even late in the game, when you have powered armor, incredible weapons, and pair of lethal followers for backup, [[TooDumbToLive they still think it's a good idea to try to take your lunch money]]. Of course, if someone's jumping at you naked in the desert, he's ''probably'' not playing with a full deck. Furthermore, many people in Freeside are as poor as they can get ([[ReducedToRatBurgers resorting to eating raw molerat]]), so probably they have nothing to lose and lots to gain anyway. Still, this is pretty much an egregious example as you have already [[TookALevelInBadass taken several levels in badassery]] after journeying your way in the game and these knuckleheads have as much good excuse as that of a Powder Ganger, whose faction likewise doesn't have any legitimate reason to harass regular folks other than [[ForTheEvulz for the sheer hell of it]].

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'':

** [[spoiler:Maya Brooks]], at the end of the ''Citadel'' DLC. The character in question, a former Cerberus agent with extreme proficiency in subterfuge and hacking, begins trying to break the omni-cuffs she's been detained with after the crew retakes the ''Normandy''. If the player fails to convince her to go into custody willingly, she breaks the encryption and tries to flee, despite the fact that (a) the Normandy is still in the air and has been retaken by the crew -- it was clear at this point that all of the CAT-6 mercenaries (barring the pilot) are either incapacitated or dead; (b) there are three of the strongest participants in the Reaper War still facing her, which may include Garrus, a.k.a. Archangel ([[spoiler:a fact she is likely aware of, given how she assembled the dossiers when [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 Shepard was resurrected]].) and[=/=]or one of several powerful biotics who are expressly said in the following party to be powerful enough to seize people and make them float without breaking a sweat; and (c) a ship's AI that is expressly said to have been restored and is back to normal operation, meaning she sees everything in the ship. As a result, [[spoiler:Brooks]] is unceremoniously shot dead by either Shepard or their squadmate, who [[AddingInsultToInjury twist the knife further]] by cracking a joke as she dies.

** Justified in VideoGame/MassEffect3; every enemy, from Cerberus to the Geth to the Husks, is [[BrainwashedAndCrazy indoctrinated]] by the Reapers or [[spoiler: The Illusive Man.]] The only enemies who aren't are the few [[HumongousMecha Reaper Destroyers]] you fight and [[SmugSnake Kai]] [[SmallNameBigEgo Leng,]] and them attacking you is completely justified by their personalities; they're all very ignorant.
*** Kai Leng definitely fits the "over-confidence" part, considering himself far better than Shepard (he's good, but he's not ''that'' good; he only managed to walk away from his first direct fight with Shepard because he had the presence of mind to being a ''gunship'' to the fight) and he cheats like crazy when he does fight Shepard). His boss, [[WorthyOpponent who holds Shepard is extremely high regard despite being enemies]], tells him not to underestimate Shepard but he may as well be talking to a brick wall. He even takes being compared to him/her as an insult to his skills. Shepard relishes in flinging this in Leng's face during their final fight, noting that he ran away from every fight and royally pissing Leng off (not that this makes him fight any better). When Shep finally puts him on the ground, they add insult to injury by not even bothering to finish him off. Leng [[TooDumbToLive still doesn't get the hint]] and tries to attack Shepard when his back is turned...who promptly dodges/breaks his sword and stabs him in the gut, putting Leng down for good and not-so-politely [[AndThisIsFor reminding Leng of what he did to deserve this.]]