History Main / YouCallThatAWound

* The named characters of the ''CallOfDuty'' series can pretty much stand there all day, firing bullets and getting hosed by machine guns, grenades, and missiles. However, their tendency to stay behind cover and potshot at opponents rather than advance tended to balance out their invincibility.
** ''CallOfDuty 1'' & ''2'' had respawning [=NPCs=] (each with different names) as well as RespawningEnemies. Only certain main character [=NPCs=] in ''Call of Duty 4'' were completely invincible, [[spoiler:[[DownerEnding unless you consider the ending spoilers.]]]]

This trope's name comes from General Sturnn's build-completion quote in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}: DawnOfWar: [[ColonCancer Winter Assault]]'', which in the single-player campaign would only be spoken if he was killed in battle and rebuilt. The implication being that he was only wounded, brought back to base to be tended to, and [[BadassNormal stormed right back onto the battlefield as soon as he was conscious again]]. This quote was likely inspired by Arthur's fight with the Black Knight in ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' where the gradually dismembered Black Knight claims the loss of both arms is, "Just a flesh wound."

* In ''UnchartedDrakesFortune'', anytime you have an ally in a gunfight (usually Sully or Elena), they will never die. Semi-justified, in that a) they're usually taking cover, b) your opponents are all graduates of the ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy, and c) all the enemies are shooting at ''you'' anyway.

* Sephiroth in the Nibelheim flashback in ''FinalFantasyVII''. He's the one who'll revive ''you'', he's way above the level of anything you encounter, and, just in case that wasn't enough, he's invulnerable as well.

* In ''BuckRogers: Matrix Cubed'', a GoldBox PC game from 1992, if a plot-important scientist is lost in battle he reappears on the team's spaceship with a nonchalant "Oh, hi. Seems we got separated for a while there, huh?"

*** In ''FirstStrike'' this is explained. [[spoiler:He and others got on a pelican and flew into space, and met up with Master Chief's Longsword fighter. They then managed to board and take over a Covvie ship.]]

->''"You call that breaking my spine? [[TemptingFate You RED team ladies wouldn't know how to break a spine if -]] (snap) - AAAAAARRGGGHH MY SPIIIINE!!!"''
-->--'''The Soldier''', ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2 [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMfzUZNXRbE Meet The Sandvich]]''

* ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' (and Platinum) and ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' have some areas of the game where you are forced to team up with an NPC. Said NPC heals your team after every battle, but will sometimes attack and faint a Pokémon you want to catch. You can knock out the NPC Pokémon, but then you're left to face whatever attacks you on your own since all battles are double battles, and the NPC reappears the next battle anyway.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' have some areas of the game where you are forced to team up with an NPC. Said NPC heals your team after every battle, but will sometimes attack and faint a Pokémon you want to catch. You can knock out the NPC Pokémon, but then you're left to face whatever attacks you on your own since all battles are double battles, and the NPC reappears the next battle anyway.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' have some areas of the game where you are forced to team up with an NPC. Said NPC heals your team after every battle, but will sometimes attack and faint a Pokémon you want to catch. You can [[strike:kill]] knock out the NPC Pokémon, but then you're left to face whatever attacks you on your own since all battles are double battles, and it reappears the next battle anyway.

* In the ''MassEffect'' games, none of your party members can actually die during combat; they just pass out. [[spoiler:(Cutscenes, however, are a whole different story.)]] [[PlayerCharacter Shepard]] is [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou not quite as lucky]].

* Once you've unlocked the keep in ''BattleRealms'', all heroes killed during a mission can be re-summoned from it for a price and losing Kenji (or Greyback in the expansion) no longer [[HeroMustSurvive instantly fails the mission]]. In skirmish/multiplayer, the keep is needed to summon heroes in the first place.

* Just before the finale of ''{{Bioshock}}'' you're required to escort some Little Sisters through a gauntlet swarming with powerful enemies. However, even if one of them dies, another is spawned right away.

* In ''[[FireEmblem Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones]]'', one of your {{Crutch Character}}s will have more defense than attack of any enemy unit on the field, making him nigh ''invincible''. Of course, [[FaceHeelTurn you don't really get to keep him...]]

* Certain [=NPCs=] in ''VideoGame/GoldenEye1997'' and ''PerfectDark'' may or may not be killed. Killing them usually results in mission failure. When they can't be killed, they'll just shrug off bullets, literally. Even if they're bloody.

** Similarly, [[RobotBuddy Dog]] has an absurd amount of health instead of regenerating health, allowing him to among other things crush squads of Combine soliders, hurl [=APCs=], and ''[[CrowningMomentOfAwesome tear apart a goddamn Strider]]'' with no chance of dying.
*** It helps that all of Dog's fight sequences are scripted animations: he literally cannot lose, as there is nothing in the game that can stop these animations once they start.

* In ''RepublicCommando'', if one of your 3 buddies bites the dust, you just have to use your [[MagicalDefibrillator zapping thingy]] and they're back up on their feet. You can also order your teammates to revive eachother. Even if you loose all your health, you're only incapacitated. Your teammates will [[ArtificialBrilliance not blindly try to revive you. But if the opportunity arises, one will run towards your body and zap you while the others give cover]]. You can also order them to wait until the coast is clear or you can order them to revive you against all odds.

* In ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSeries Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun]]'', super-units like the Mammoth MK II and the Cyborg Commando can just be rebuilt if they're destroyed (though you can only have one per map, and they're expensive).

* All of the commander units from any of the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}: DawnOfWar'' games can be rebuilt if killed in battle. Though they cost a lot of requisition, they are usually worth it, due to the fact that AuthorityEqualsAsskicking.

** ''DawnOfWar 2'' loves this trope as well - when command units are "killed", they simply fall over and writhe around until resuscitated, either by an allied commander or by simply purchasing them again. Amusingly, this will happen even if the attack that felled them levels the building they're hiding in and liquidates the squad that accompanied them!
* In ''CommandAndConquer Generals'', the hero units for each faction can die quite easily if cornered by things unhealthy to them (sometimes, each other), but can simply be ordered anew from the Barracks. It's implied (schizophrenically) in ''Zero Hour'' that "Black Lotus" actually designates a category of hacker rather than being a name, but Jarmen Kell and Colonel Burton get no such handwave...
* In ''CommandAndConquer Tiberium Sun'', super-units like the Mammoth MK II and the Cyborg Commando can just be rebuilt if they're destroyed (though you can only have one per map, and they're expensive).
* In ''{{Warcraft}} 3'' single-player missions, [[PlotArmor characters essential to the plot couldn't be killed permanently]] but could be revived. In Multi-player, [[HeroUnit Hero Units]] were treated the same way. A notable exception to this was the single-player [[DungeonCrawling dungeon crawling missions]], in which [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou a plot essential character's death is a lose condition]].

-->--''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''

This trope's name comes from General Sturnn's build-completion quote in ''{{Warhammer 40000}}: DawnOfWar: [[ColonCancer Winter Assault]]'', which in the single-player campaign would only be spoken if he was killed in battle and rebuilt. The implication being that he was only wounded, brought back to base to be tended to, and [[BadassNormal stormed right back onto the battlefield as soon as he was conscious again]]. This quote was likely inspired by Arthur's fight with the Black Knight in ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' where the gradually dismembered Black Knight claims the loss of both arms is, "Just a flesh wound."

** ''CallOfDuty 1'' & ''2'' had respawning [=NPCs=] (each with different names) as well as [[RespawningEnemies respawning enemies]]. Only certain main character [=NPCs=] in ''Call of Duty 4'' were completely invincible, [[spoiler:[[DownerEnding unless you consider the ending spoilers.]]]]

* In ''{{Scribblenauts}}'', Longcat, Blob, and Priest can't die. (The only way you can kill a blob is [[KillItWithFire with fire]]) You also can't destroy a church. Tacgnol, Priestess, Nun, and God can die, however. As a result, because Priest is the only humanoid out of these three, Priest equipped with a Chainsaw with Earth Magic used on it is one of the best things to use when you want to kill something. Humorously, you can drop a Priest in lava and he'll just keep screaming forever and never die. How's that for {{Videogame Cruelty Potential}}?
** Priests, like all humanoids, can be "killed" by being turned into frogs by witches and ghouls by vampires. Strangely enough, vampires are repelled and can be killed by holy objects, such as a cross, but aren't afraid of priests.

* All of the commander units from any of the ''{{Warhammer 40000}}: DawnOfWar'' games can be rebuilt if killed in battle. Though they cost a lot of requisition, they are usually worth it, due to the fact that AuthorityEqualsAsskicking.

** ''{{Dawn of War}} 2'' loves this trope as well - when command units are "killed", they simply fall over and writhe around until resuscitated, either by an allied commander or by simply purchasing them again. Amusingly, this will happen even if the attack that felled them levels the building they're hiding in and liquidates the squad that accompanied them!

* In ''{{Warcraft}} 3'' single-player missions, [[PlotArmor characters essential to the plot couldn't be killed permanently]] but could be revived. In Multi-player, [[HeroUnit Hero Units]] were treated the same way. A notable exception to this was the single-player [[DungeonCrawling dungeon crawling missions]], in which [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou a plot essential character's death is a lose condition]].

* In ''Fallout 3'' and ''Fallout: New Vegas'', your companions can die, (Only on hardcore for New Vegas). But if you've spent a few level ups with them, it will take you almost forever to kill them, and even then Dogmeat will die fighting them. Dogmeat is the one exception to the rule. He dies pretty easily.

* In ''VideoGame/StarFox 64'', temporary allies Bill and Katt are invincible. The other NPC allied units on Katina, not so much.

* In ''[[UnchartedDrakesFortune Uncharted: Drake's Fortune]]'', anytime you have an ally in a gunfight (usually Sully or Elena), they will never die. Semi-justified, in that a) they're usually taking cover, b) your opponents are all graduates of the ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy, and c) all the enemies are shooting at ''you'' anyway.

* In ''HalfLife2'', important NPC allies (Alyx, Barney, and Father Grigori) are all reasonably well armed, and although they have only slightly more hit points than standard enemy Mooks, their health regenerates incredibly rapidly, so much so that you almost never have to worry about them being killed, unless you do absolutely nothing and let them be mobbed by several enemies at once.

* In ''BuckRogers: Matrix Cubed'', a PC game from 1992, if a plot-important scientist is lost in battle he reappears on the team's spaceship with a nonchalant "Oh, hi. Seems we got separated for a while there, huh?"
* Frustratingly common while still being unreliable in ''{{Oblivion}}''. Anyone mandatory for the major plotlines will have a crown icon appear on mouseover, which means that no matter what beats them up, a few seconds later they'll stand back up and dust themselves off. Characters with the crown tend to lose it at unpredictable intervals whenever an obvious escort quest shows up or if they no longer are mandatory for the central plotline, and characters important for other plotlines don't tend to get the crown in the first place.
** At least it's not as bad as the previous game, ''Morrowind'', in which AnyoneCanDie.

* Guest characters in ''FinalFantasyXII'' can take very good care of themselves. They can be revived as normal, are usually stronger than the rest of the party and, in the case of Larsa, have an unlimited supply of hi-potions to dole out.
* ''PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' have some areas of the game where you are forced to team up with an NPC. Said NPC heals your team after every battle, but will sometimes attack and faint a Pokémon you want to catch. You can [[strike:kill]] knock out the NPC Pokémon, but then you're left to face whatever attacks you on your own since all battles are double battles, and it reappears the next battle anyway.
* In ''VampireBloodlines'', superstar Ash Rivers. The player can escort him through the Hollywood sewers to save him from some vampire hunters, but even if you fire your complete weapon arsenal into him until you run out of ammo, slice him with a sword and attack him with vampiric claws, that guy just won't die. So why the hell does he need an escort? Well, at least he can be killed when he reappears later in the game.

Important non-player characters are, well, ''important.'' So, when one of these characters enters combat, there's a number of possible ways that they can be treated during battle. Sometimes, a character's [[PlotlineDeath survival is plot dependent]]; in this case, the dreaded EscortMission takes place when it becomes the player's goal to safeguard Important Character X from harm. In other cases, such as real time strategy games, [[HeroMustSurvive Important Character X is a combat unit that can fight, but needs to survive the mission]], such as in ''{{Starcraft}}'' and ''AgeOfEmpires''. This effectively means the character needs to be both utilized as a resource and protected at the same time.

* Perhaps in response to complaints about killable plot-sensitive characters in ''AgeOfEmpires'', "hero" units in the ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology'' campaigns can be killed but are swiftly resurrected with a small amount of health as soon as no enemies are near them. In the standard games named heroes do not possess this ability but can repeatedly die and be purchased as long as the player has enough resources.
** This mechanic is also brought to the Hero characters in ''AgeOfEmpires 3'', who can't die permanently. On losing all their health, they collapse to the ground and can't do anything unless the player brings another unit to rescue them or pays a small gold ransom at a town center.

* In VideoGames/HegemonySeries, if any of your generals go down, they'll return to their hometown and like their wounds for a time. After a while, they're ready to go again.

* Certain [=NPCs=] in ''GoldenEye'' and ''PerfectDark'' may or may not be killed. Killing them usually results in mission failure. When they can't be killed, they'll just shrug off bullets, literally. Even if they're bloody.

* In ''HalfLife 2'', important NPC allies (Alyx, Barney, and Father Grigori) are all reasonably well armed, and although they have only slightly more hit points than standard enemy Mooks, their health regenerates incredibly rapidly, so much so that you almost never have to worry about them being killed, unless you do absolutely nothing and let them be mobbed by several enemies at once.

* Guest characters in ''{{Final Fantasy XII}}'' can take very good care of themselves. They can be revived as normal, are usually stronger than the rest of the party and, in the case of Larsa, have an unlimited supply of hi-potions to dole out.
* ''[=~Pokémon Diamond and Pearl~=]'' have some areas of the game where you are forced to team up with an NPC. Said NPC heals your team after every battle, but will sometimes attack and faint a Pokémon you want to catch. You can [[strike:kill]] knock out the NPC Pokémon, but then you're left to face whatever attacks you on your own since all battles are double battles, and it reappears the next battle anyway.