History Main / RunOrDie

* Both sides in ''LetsPlay/{{Dream}}'s'' Minecraft Manhunt like to run away from situations they don't like.

--> In the case of sonic attack, survival must mean every man for himself. Statistically, more people survive if they think only of themselves. Do not stop to rescue friends, relatives or loved ones, or you will inevitably die.
* From "Run (I Am a Natural Disaster)" by Music/GnarlsBarkley
-->Either run right now or you best get ready to die
-->You better move!
-->I said move!
-->Run away! Run away!
-->Run children! Run for your life!
-->Run away! Run away!
-->Run children! Oh!
-->Here it comes, said run!

* WebOriginal/TheBackrooms has Level !: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Run For Your Life!"]] with a very small chance wanderers may warp here by simply warping to a different level. There are 100% reliable methods to reach this level which is good for getting this level out of the way as once cleared, the wander won't be sent here again. That being said, the level has you chased by a horde of monsters (entities) and you must start running for your life to reach the exit door at the end of the gauntlet.

** The song ''Headphone Actor'' is about a teenage girl finding out via the radio that the world is about to end, and a voice coming from her headphones - ''her own voice'' - tells her to do this. [[spoiler:[[DownerEnding It's futile.]]]]

* Steel Inquisitors from ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}''. Nigh-invincible {{Blood Knight}}s who are definitely fighting at a higher SuperWeight than TheProtagonist. There's a fight against one at the end of the first book, and they remain the single biggest threat for the rest of the trilogy. One of Kelsier's {{Establishing Character Moment}}s comes when he riles one deliberately in order to draw its attention away from Vin, though even he escapes as quickly as possible after that.

* On the ''LetsPlay/DreamSMP'', when [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Schlatt]] exiles them from L'Manburg immediately after his inauguration, Tommy and Wilbur are suddenly faced with an armed crowd hellbent on killing them, while they're both unarmed and without gear. They immediately use their invisibility potions and bail through Tubbo's bunker. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for Wilbur, he was shot in the back by Punz while making his escape, taking his second canon life out of three in the process.]]

* The Agents from ''Film/TheMatrix'', providing the page quote. The sequels [[VillainDecay downgrade]] most of them to EliteMooks at best for Neo after he's become the One, though they still remain significant threats to humans other than him and [[BigBad Smith]] remains the most dangerous of them all. It's implied that no one ever managed to kill an Agent before the movie, but even if you do it's ''pointless'' because death is a NoSell to them: even if a normal non-Neo rebel manages to kill an Agent (taking it by surprise with a contact-shot to the head, luring it in front of a subway train, unloading a helicopter-mounted minigun at it, etc.) all this does is kill the bluepill human body they were downloaded into at the time. The actual Agent program then simply body-hops into another nearby bluepill human within a minute or two.

* ''ComicBook/CloneWarsAdventures:'' When Anakin Skywalker is summoned to a space station in "The Brink," he finds the corpses of a fellow Jedi and several clones. The SoleSurvivor who summoned him (another Jedi) says that the only rational strategy is leave immediately and blow up the station behind them. Anakin is unwilling to consider this strategy until his first run-in with the BlobMonster that killed everyone.
--> '''Anakin:''' Do these things have any weaknesses?
--> '''Serra Keto:''' If I knew that, [[AskAStupidQuestion I wouldn't have sent that distress call, now would I?]]

* This is pretty much the only option that most people have when [[Characters/BatmanLadyShiva Lady Shiva]] is after them. Even then, running isn't always enough, and one just has to hope against hope that she decides to spare them [[BlueAndOrangeMorality for her own inexplicable reasons.]]
* In ''ComicBook/RedRobin'' Tam Fox notes that these are her only options when the Council of Spiders shows up and starts brutally murdering the League of Assassins ninjas she's being held by. Luckily for her Tim figures out he needs to get back to her location and he manages to bring the cave down on the attacker's heads.

* During the Worldbreaker Hulk storyline for ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'', the Hulk encounters Darwin, [[ComicBook/XMen a mutant superhero]] with the power to [[AdaptativeAbility instantly manifest whatever superpower will let him survive a given conflict]]. Key distinction there being ''survive'', not ''win''. Faced with a vengeful Hulk, Darwin's X-Gene promptly kicks to life and teleports him one-way to the next state over.

In VideoGames, it may be a HopelessBossFight where dying doesn't result in the plot continuing. If the ''only'' option you ever have is running, then it's probably an EndlessRunningGame. Compare DontAskJustRun and IndyEscape.

* High-ranking demons in ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}''. Short of employing a DangerousForbiddenTechnique, they're {{Physical God}}s that can shrug off any attack and kill you with a snap of a finger.

--> ''Because I am not great or powerful like you, I spent 80% of my life just running away. Hundreds, no, thousands of times I have run, and because I have, I can be even more sure: Now is the time to run!"

* In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', this initially looks like the only possible chance the Enterprise crew has to survive their first encounter with the Borg. It is {{subverted|Trope}} when the Borg are shown to be capable of running just a little faster and slowing the Enterprise down.

** Basically, AuthorityGrantsAsskicking is usually in effect among both pirates and the Marines. Pre-TimeSkip, any rank below Captain was little more than a {{Mook|s}}, while a Captain would be a tough one-on-one fight for most of the Straw Hats. A Vice-Admiral could beat an individual crew member, but could be taken down by most or all of the crew working together. A full Admiral? ''Run. Just '''run'''.

* In the various ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' films, this is about the only thing the heroes can do against the most dangerous dinosaurs, particularly the ''UsefulNotes/TyrannosaurusRex''.

In VideoGames, may be a HopelessBossFight where dying doesn't result in the plot continuing. If the ''only'' option you ever have is running, then it's probably an EndlessRunningGame. Compare DontAskJustRun and IndyEscape.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Every enemy in ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent''. You have no means of self-defense, so if you encounter a monster, your only hope is to run as fast as you can and hide until the monster stops chasing you.
* At the end of the prologue in ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'', the beginning-level PlayerCharacter and their mid-level mentor Gorion are ambushed by the BigBad Sarevok and some minions. Gorion stays to fight while telling the PlayerCharacter to flee, which they do. He kills or disables the others and holds off Sarevok for a while, but hasn't really got a chance. When you actually fight Sarevok at the end of the game, at least he's got only about two to two and a half times your levels...
* ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine'': You had better run away from "Bendy." In Chapter 1, you're safe because he's behind something that is boarded up (though considering his strength and his teleportation abilities, it's unclear why he doesn't chase you). You still have to run away because the entire studio is being flooded, which is possibly Bendy's doing anyway. In Chapter 2, Sammy Lawrence summons him. [[spoiler: As you're trying to escape, he shows up in a jump scare by using a pool of ink to teleport directly in front of you]]. In Chapter 3, he will teleport around the levels you're [[FetchQuest doing "Alice's" errands]] on and you need to hide. Even if you manage to unlock the tommy gun, there's no damage it can deal him. In Chapter 4, he doesn't come after you, but a fight between him and the Projectionist shows what happens to ''strong'' characters who don't run or hide from "Bendy."
* ''VideoGame/BloodyZombies'' have a zombie horde of around a hundred in population showing up near the Tower of London, far too many for you to fight, and your only option is running like crazy and find a way to activate the bridge so you can get away. Your character actually lampshades it aloud onscreen:
--> "Can't take them all, leg it! Run... run... '''RUN!'''"
* The ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' DLC Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage features a sidemission that partially subverts this. It requires you to allow a fiery badass skag to chase you in a rough circle across the map as exercise. You can kill it as easily as any other badass skag (which may not be that easy depending on the difficulty mode), but that will piss off Tina, its owner, and fail the mission, requiring you to start it over. The mission objectives for each waypoint humorously play this straight.
-->''FOR THE LOVE OF TORGUE, RUN FASTER!!''
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty2'': The mission "Outnumbered and Outgunned" starts with an attempt to hold position when faced with an Afrika Korps attack, but quickly devolves into a chaotic retreat by the British from the town of Toujane as the Germans overwhelm any attempt at defense. The main objective throughout the mission after the first turret section can be surmised as "get the heck out of there".
* ''VideoGame/ClockTower2'': When you hear [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSMKSrnJtIo this]], you run for dear life until you find either a place to hide or a means to drive him away.
* At a couple points in ''VideoGame/Condemned2Bloodshot'', the interface itself says "'''RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!'''", most memorably [[spoiler:when you first encounter the [[BearsAreBadNews rabid grizzly bear]]]].
* ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' has plenty of these levels throughout the series, running from giant boulders and giant polar bears and that’s just the early games.
* ''VideoGame/DarkEcho'': Some levels involve the player trying to outrun [[ZergRush an increasingly large mass of enemies,]] [[OhCrap all converging on the player.]]
* ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar: Retribution'': The second level of the campaign sics a ''[[TankGoodness Baneblade]]'' on your heroes before there's any chance to bring troops. It also handily serves to introduce the "Fall Back" mechanic (your units move a lot faster towards the closest rally point, but are uncontrollable), as well as the CastFromMoney revival when one hero is inevitably killed. The Baneblade keeps pursuing you until the very end of the level, where you hack some heavy turrets to turn it into scrap.
* The survivors can't do any damage to a killer in ''Videogame/DeadByDaylight'', at most stunning them with a barricade or flashlight. They also run slower than the killers, forcing them to rely on misdirection and quick wits to outsmart them.
* ''VideoGame/DeadSpace''
** The [[ImplacableMan Hunter]] in the first game. You can attack it if you want, but it won't have any effect beyond briefly slowing him down. In order to escape, you have to lead it to the appropriate place to turn it into a [[HumanPopsicle Mutant Alien Zombie Popsicle]]; later on you have to do the whole thing ''again'', but this time you get to KillItWithFire.
** ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'' starts with this: Isaac is bound in a straitjacket, so his only option is to run the hell away from the necromorphs trying to kill him. Averted later, however: while there are battles that are ''more sensical'' to run from, you can fight any and everything that you come across, and because of closed room traps, you frequently are required to.
* ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'': If you see Lu Bu, run away. Players new to the series will doubtlessly be cut down as though they were a mook. He is the most powerful character in the series, and once he shows up, your only hope of survival is running away and completing the mission objective before he catches up. It's technically possible to beat him any time he appears, but you'll need a high-level character with a good weapon. And if he appears during the final battle of a character's story, he's usually just an ordinary (but tough) boss.
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' opens with the player in Helgen as it's attacked by a dragon. There's no hope of fighting it, since being a condemned (possible) criminal, you have no weapons, magic, or armor, your hands are bound so you cannot use the weapons of those who die against the dragon, and it's invincible anyway. And if you stay in the open long enough, it'll kill everything else then notice and come after you. [[spoiler:Said dragon turns out to be none other than Alduin, the BigBad himself, and he had come to Helgen to kill you specifically]].
* If you happen to come across Chester, a ventriloquist dummy dressed up in a business suit in ''VideoGame/EmilyWantsToPlay'', the first thing you have to do is to run to the next room before he catches you.
* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'': One Greek campaign mission starts you on a small island. The island's resources are only there to get you a few boats so you can leave, as an unstoppable army makes landfall soon after.
* Anyone who's played the ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' games long enough to encounter a [[BeefGate FOE]] (which [[NintendoHard isn't very long]]) will tell you that unless you're massively overleveled for the floor you're on, you ''run the hell away'' from them. One particular case in ''Heroes of Lagaard'' is [[BonusBoss Salamox]], who's nest you need to steal a MacGuffin from for a mission early on in the game. The chancellor, as well as the game itself, warn you that if you try to fight past it, you will die. [[CurbStompBattle They aren't kidding.]]
* ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'':
** The game has your advisors freak out the first time they spot an FOE and beg you to run if you get caught. They aren't being overly cautious - you need to be at levels appropriate for midway through the next ''labyrinth'' before an FOE becomes less of a struggle.
** There's a special story example in the Old Doll, a special FOE which appears in the Evil Spirit Club. There are a few enemies which chase the party, but only the Old Doll will do it across multiple rooms. [[OhCrap And it's faster than you.]] Faced with it chasing them, the party have no choice but to run like hell and try to find a way to trap it. [[spoiler:You actually ''have'' to get into a fight with it in order to trap it, as in order to lure it into the trap you have to let it get close enough that it ''will'' catch up. Unless you're on a New Game+, you can't kill it - you have to escape from the battle and ''keep running''.]]
* If at any point in ''VideoGame/{{Evolve}}'' you are the last hunter alive, this is a necessary gameplay mechanic. While certain hunters may be able to evade or slow the monster down for a while, the only real recourse it to survive long enough for the rest of your team to respawn.
* ''VideoGame/EXTRAPOWERAttackOfDarkforce'': At one point Blackberry and Kurogane make their way into one of the attack ships of the Dark Force fleet. Unfortunately they're found out, and CoDragons Mensouma and Undaita are on-board. Either one can kill the heroes in a turn or two, so the only thing to do is to run and find an escape as the bosses give chase, crashing through walls or melting into the floor to pursue.
* After the planetary shield drops in ''F.A.K.K.[[superscript:2]]'', tough new enemies appear and Julie straight up declares that fighting them with her current weapons is futile. They technically can be killed, but it requires the better part of your current arsenal's ammo cap to down even one, so it's pretty awesome when [[SoLastSeason your shiny new toys later in the game can grind them to hamburger]].
* In ''Videogame/Fallout4'', during an early mission for the Railroad, Deacon gives the player this advice regarding Coursers, elite model [[KillerRobot synths]]. Generation 1 and 2 synths are obviously-mechanical (though [[EverythingIsAnIPodInTheFuture sleek, white, and rounded]] as opposed to the RetroFuture look of other robots) and are deployed as MechaMooks, while gen 3 models are indistinguishable from humans and used to gather intelligence in the wasteland. Coursers are gen 3s that are programmed purely for combat -- basically making them an {{Expy}} for Franchise/{{Terminator}}s -- and they are every free synth's worst nightmare, charged with hunting them down and taking them back to be "retained" by the Institute.
* ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' final boss ghosts are like this whenever you encounter them prior to the end of the game. All of the games have a sequence where the main character must just run the hell away from the invincible ghost, lest she catch you and end your game instantly (interestingly, with the exception of the Kusabi, all of these ghosts are female). The third game has the FinalBoss as a {{random encounter|s}} throughout (hint:RUN!), and also reintroduces the Kusabi from ''II'' in the [[NostalgiaLevel Minakami Village]] areas. Though you can fight him off once or twice, it's really a better idea to just flee. [[BossInMookClothing He's freaking tough.]]
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** Bahamut from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII''. You encounter him very early in the game, and if you don't run then he'll kill you on turn one.
** The "Guardian" mecha in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' is used as BorderPatrol. You can finally fight and defeat it in the endgame.
** The spider robot during the Dollet mission in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', which appears unexpectedly and chases the party all the way back to the evacuation point. It doesn't have a particularly powerful offense, but it's impossible to kill (except at [[GuideDangIt one point]]) and it appears during a TimedMission so you can't waste too much time fighting it.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
** In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', as soon as [[TheDreaded Galzus]] steps out of the castle in chapter 6, it's time to haul ass in the other direction. Your units at this point have no business even starting to fight a swordfighter with [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown Astra]], [[DamageIncreasingDebuff Luna]], and the three most relevant combat stats maxed out. (Besides, killing him with [[LordBritishPostulate precipitous RNG abuse]] now prevents you from [[spoiler:recruiting him at the end of the game]].) The trick is in finding time to visit the houses in town for loot, and not letting your party get log-jammed too much trying to escape, before Galzus starts hunting you down.
** Similar to Galzus, Vaida in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Blazing Blade]]'' first appears as a ridiculously overpowered enemy thanks to her Spear being enchanted with [[BigBad Nergal's]] magic. It's highly recommended that you stay out of her attack range and focus on defense, since the mission only requires you to survive for 12 turns rather than defeat every enemy. And also like Galzus, while she is killable if you're clever and/or over-levelled enough, [[spoiler: doing so prevents you from recruiting her later on]].
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'': Stepping past a certain threshold in chapter 11 prompts [[HeroKiller the Black Knight]] to mosey onto the field. Due to his stats and literal PlotArmor making him a [[ImplacableMan walking force of death]], it'd be best to run to the escape point. Subverted the next time he pops up in chapter 24, where he will stand at the start of the map and just observe so long as no one goes into his range. [[spoiler:Can possibly be played straight again when the time comes for Ike to [[DuelBoss duel with him]] - if his stats are simply not good enough to survive 5 turns with the Knight, you have the option of just booking it.]]
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'': Once you reach the prison in Prologue 4, the Sable Knights arrive. They're all Level 11 [[MightyGlacier knights]], when you'll be lucky to have a Level ''6'' character. In-universe, Malledus suggests leaving a decoy to draw them off (and you have to in order to open the door to the end of the map). They ''can'' be kept from arriving at all by killing Gordin instead of recruiting him, which given his miserable growths isn't a loss, but otherwise, ''run''.
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' has Chapter 12 of the ''Birthright'' route, when after a failed assassination attempt on Garon, Corrin's party is forced to retreat. Xander, who's hunting Corrin down, is too strong to defeat at this point, and the player must get Corrin to the escape tile.
** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'': Episode 4 of the ''Cindered Shadows'' sidestory has the party pursued by a Guardian Golem after retrieving the Chalice of Beginnings. The golem has staggeringly high stats that make fighting it head-on hopeless; the goal of the map is to cut your way through the phantom soldiers summoned alongside it and escape to safety before the gates close and trap you in with it.
* ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon F.3.A.R]]'' features the appropriately named multiplayer mode [[PrecisionFStrike "Fucking Run"]], in which you must... well... run to escape a supernatural Wall of Death and reach safe zones. Fans and critics alike praised the mode for being downright ''intense''.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'' with the Serpent bossfight. It can be fought as soon as you enter its lair, but it regenerates 200 HP per turn (there's only one other boss who regenerates that much, the horrifying Dullahan BonusBoss). Going through the dungeon to shine light onto it weakens it until it eventually regenerates a much more reasonable 30 HP.
* ''VideoGame/GuildWars'':
** In ''Prophecies'', the last part of the "Great Northern Wall" mission has the character running away from a large group of Charr.
** Later, one mission has you running from an army of Mursaat. If you attempt to fight, the party will die in ''seconds'', due to the Mursaats' ridiculously powerful Spectral Agony attack. It is only after you have your armor "Infused" with spells to neutralize that attack that you can fight them on equal terms.
** In Eye of the North, the quests in Kamadan, Kaineng, and Lion's Arch that take the character to the Eye of the North areas end with the player running away from destroyer groups.
* Invoked in ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' when you first encounter [[TheVirus the Flood]]. After the cutscene introducing them, the game changes your mission objectives to, quite simply, "Escape!". You can ''try'' to kill every Flood you see, but the cost in health and ammo will be high; you're better off running from most of them and fighting only when you can't avoid it.
* ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'': In the game where the player is used to killing everyone on a floor before moving onto the next batch of TheMafiya, some missions are eventually interrupted by heavily armed S.W.A.T teams each wearing a BulletproofVest. The objective then becomes to sneak out past them while they are distracted.
* In ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot'', [[BookEnds levels 1-1 and 6-8 both end with Kirby getting chased down by a mechanized Whispy Woods]], and you have to flee to safety to the left. [[spoiler:If you defy the trope to stand and fight, he's actually killable; he drops the first Gold Sticker in 1-1 and the final Code Cube in 6-8.]]
* ''VideoGame/LetItDie'': If you stay on any floor too long, the Jackal Gang will arrive - each one is ''Level 200'' and has a corresponding fully-upgraded set of gear to match. They become killable if you can get close enough to their level - until you reach floor 42 and they skyrocket to '''Level 300'''.
* ''VideoGame/LiveALive''. The Behemoth, present in Cube's chapter, acts like the above trope: facing it doesn't even prompts you a HopelessBossFight, just a grim Game Over screen. Granted, this chapter is emulating a survival horror setting, and your PlayableCharacter, being a maintenance robot, is very ill-equipped for dealing with any kind of threats. To the point that the Behemoth can be defeated eventually, [[spoiler:but by an NPC, not you. Said NPC being an armed soldier tasked with this creature's escort, so it's justified plenty.]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline'', there's the Session Play Instance "The Fall Of Moria". You play as a dwarf alongside Durin and break down a cave wall to find Mithril. [[OhCrap Only to end up trapped, facing the Balrog]]. Yes, the same one that Gandalf fights in the future, mentioned above under Film. Your quest objective? ''Survive'' then, ''Escape''.
* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', the Reapers, at least in the Galaxy Map. As you explore the Galaxy looking for {{Plot Coupon}}s and War Assets, you run a risk of attracting the Reapers' attention every time you use your ship's sensors (without the sensors, you can't find anything). When the Reapers finally notice you, [[HellIsThatNoise the Reaper Horn blares]], and it's time to run. Getting caught by one of the Reapers is an automatic NonStandardGameOver, no matter how good of an AcePilot [[MemeticBadass Joker]] is. There are only three missions in the game where you can directly engage the Reapers, and it's always with some kind of outside help from allied forces.
* ''VideoGame/MegaMan8BitDeathmatch'' has the confrontation with [[spoiler:Evil Robot-possessed Sunstar.]] While you still have access to your weapons, the boss will NoSell everything you throw at them until they begin to charge up a big energy blast that envelops the entire room. The gate leading to outside the boss room opens up and you begin your escape from the [[spoiler:Wily Star]], dodging crumbling ceilings and the place falling apart along the way.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'': Randomly encountering a stronger version of a boss you've defeated in the past when you're not prepared for it is quite likely to become a case of this, as they tend to be ''much'' tougher than the previous version. In a rather sadistic design choice, the option to flee was removed in the fourth game, making it entirely possible to suddenly end up stuck in a battle with something that can kill you in one or two hits on top of potentially having more HP then the final boss. They weren't nice enough to make you not get a game over for losing, either.
* ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'':
** The [=E.M.M.I.=] from ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' are plated with some of the strongest stuff in the universe, and the second Samus encounters shrugs off several Power Beam shots and a Missile she fires at it before chasing after her. You will have to deal with seven of them total, the first of which is partially busted. If you have the Omega Cannon (and the Omega Stream for later E.M.M.I. encounters), find a long hallway and blast its face off with it; if not, this trope is in full effect.[[note]]You have a ''very'' narrow window when it catches you to Melee Counter it and escape while it reboots; blow it, and [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice Samus gets skewered]].[[/note]]
** In ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'', the SA-X is ridiculously overpowered compared to Samus, being comparable to your power level at the end of ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' [[note]]it came from the X within [[JustifiedTrope Samus' infected Power Suit components]][[/note]] and Samus being gimped by her new weakness to cold and a suit that doesn't protect her much. Your friendly AI commander actually gives you this instruction in as many words. As you progress through the game, you go from hiding, to running from, to preventing from following, and finally fighting at the very end of the game.
* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'': The Warden is a BossInMookClothing that spawns in the Deep Dark if a player activates a Sculk Shrieker too many times. It hits ''incredibly'' hard with its basic attack, [[DamageSpongeBoss has more health]] than the Ender Dragon and Wither ''combined'', and if it's angry towards the player can chase them down incredibly quickly while bypassing most obstacles that give other mobs pause. Should the player try to hide from its wrath, it also has a ranged attack in the form of a wall-piercing sonicboom that [[UnblockableAttack can't be blocked by shields or terrain]] and [[ArmorPiercingAttack bypasses all armor]]. If the player somehow manages to kill it, it [[StrongEnemiesLowRewards drops a paltry 5 exp and a Sculk Catalyst]] (which isn't too rare around the Deep Dark). The Warden is blind but can hear and smell the player, it can be distracted with thrown objects, and if it cannot detect the player for a while it will despawn, making distraction and sneaking away the only practical course of action against it.
* ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}''. The Chimera Factory. The [[OneHitKill Ultimate Chimera.]] If it touches you or any member of your party, that's it. No HopelessBossFight, just a cutscene where the Chimera chomps down and the screen quickly turns red before you get to the Game Over screen. [[spoiler:It shows up again on the bathroom floor of the Empire Porky Building, just to give you a JumpScare.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Oakwood}}'': In the event that she hasn't already managed to evade them in some other fashion without getting seen by them beforehand, the only option of survival available for player character Madison in the event she is successfully seen by any of the dinosaurs she encounters is to run as fast as she can and hope that she makes it to a safe location in time to avoid getting eaten.
* In ''VideoGame/{{OFF}}'', a few turns into your first fight with Enoch, the Batter will warn you that he's too huge, and urge you to flee. [[spoiler:When you do run, he begins chasing you down the hallway from his office, and the process is repeated if he catches you.]] Defeating him is technically possible, but he has 99999 HP (over eight times as much as [[BonusBoss Sugar]]) and higher Defense and Spirit than anything/anyone else in the game other than [[spoiler:Hugo]] and the Ballmen, but [[spoiler:Hugo]] doesn't attack you, and [[spoiler: you don't fight the Ballmen as the Batter.]] You get no experience/credits/items for attempting to fight him, and the game continues as though you fled.
* ''VideoGame/OtterIsland'': When you eventually come face-to-face with [[spoiler:the shapeshifting creature]], your only option is to run (as the game prompts) and find shelter, as you have no weapons or other means of defending yourself. You have to be speedy about it as well, because [[spoiler:the creature]] is almost as fast as you are and changes direction quickly to try and cut you off.
* ''Videogame/{{Outlast}}'': Before you even begin playing the actual game, you get a bit of expository text at the beginning that gives a little bit of background information on the PlayerCharacter Miles, and states, in no uncertain terms, that he cannot physically fight back against the threats he encounters, and that running and hiding are your only methods of survival. This is also true for the protagonists of the Whistleblower DLC and ''VideoGame/OutlastII'', Waylon and Blake respectively.
--> "You are not a fighter; to navigate the horrors of Mount Massive and expose the truth, your only choices are to run, hide, or die."
* The first two ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' games have Clefts. If examined, you'll be warned that sometimes there's no shame in running, as they have so much defense that you can potentially find yourself incapable of harming them at all without the right items or moves ready. The truest example of this would be the "Invincible" Tubba Blubba from the first game, as if you battle him prior to finding out his weakness, you'll be completely incapable of harming him, thus making escape your only option.
** The Iron Clefts in Chapter 3 of the second game have infinite defense, meaning they're invulnerable to anything except being bashed against each other. You have to run, then come back with Yoshi to defeat them.
** Doopliss from Chapter 4 of the second game becomes invincible after stealing Mario's body. You encounter him three times- once when returning to Twilight Town, again when leaving Twilight Town and once again when you return to Twiligh Town- but will be forced to run from him the first two times.
%%** There's one fight in the second game you can't win, though losing that one instead of running away doesn't result in Game Over anyway.
* In ''VideoGame/Persona3'', as you explore [[EvilTowerOfOminousness Tartarus]], if you linger too long on any given floor, TheGrimReaper will show up. He can be fought, but it's a very, very bad idea. One of Elizabeth's last Requests is to kill him; it's doable by that point, but unless you know how to cheat the system, you're still likely to die a few (dozen) times.
** The same thing happens in ''VideoGame/Persona4 Golden'', but somewhat differently: if you open 20 chests in a single dungeon run (without going back to the entrance), then you'll hear the chains rattling. From that point on, any chest ''may'' contain the Reaper as a BonusBoss, but the game is nice enough to warn you prior to opening the chest that it seems like a ''really'' bad idea. If you're foolish enough to open the chest without being ready, then you should probably run away. Or die.
** ''VideoGame/Persona5''; if you dick around too long on one floor and you start hearing chains, it's time to haul ass in the other direction. ([[WeaksauceWeakness Unless he's sick with the flu, in which case 72,050 free experience for you!]][[note]]But ''Persona 5 Royal'' fixed this so that the Reaper can't get the flu. Ever. Good luck![[/note]]) You ''really'' have to be trying for it, because the levels are short, and the timer is ''very'' long.
* ''VideoGame/Pikmin2'' features the [[MurderWater Waterwraith]] in one dungeon, which cannot be killed except with a Pikmin variety that cannot be brought in and can only be created at the last floor. Once it drops down, you haul ass to the exit.
* In ''VideoGame/PoppyPlaytime'', there are instances where you are being hunted down by the gigantic LivingToys in the Playtime Co. factory, and the [=GrabPack=] is ineffective against them as a weapon by itself. Your only chance at survival is to escape.
* ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin'' has your encounters with the Dahaka [[spoiler:except in the true ending, by which point you'll have a weapon that can kill it, and it becomes the TrueFinalBoss]]. All you can do is run away and try to find somewhere where it can't get to you.
* ''VideoGame/{{RATUZ}}'': The antagonist of the game is Prisoner Three, who was turned into a violent and deadly [[RatMen mutant rat]] by a serum. Most of the times he appears, he's [[InvincibleBoogeyman completely invulnerable]] and will relentlessly chase down [[PlayerCharacter Prisoner Five]], instantly killing him upon catching them or attacking him with his tail. The only times Five or his allies get to fight back is when Five manages to find a car to ram Three into a wall near the end, and [[spoiler:in a few of the MultipleEndings -- though this turns out to be futile in all except the GoldenEnding]].
* Nemesis and Tyrant T-101 come close to this in ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'', but you actually can fight them. The Ustanak in the sixth installment plays this ''very'' straight in his first appearance: When he shows up, you run your ass off. The remake of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' upgrades the Tyrant into an unstoppable stalker-type enemy. At best you can knock him down for ''eight seconds'', at the expense of enough ammo to render the game unwinnable on harder difficulties if you do it too much. Your only real option once he’s found you is to book it.
* ''Franchise/SilentHill'':
** The series' infamous Pyramid Head is an example in all of his incarnations. He's completely invincible to any form of attack the characters have access to. [[spoiler:Even when he is finally "defeated", it's less because anyone harmed him and more because his purpose was complete, so he committed suicide.]]
** ''VideoGame/SilentHillShatteredMemories'' has no combat at all. You are told early on that running away from the enemy monsters is your only means of escaping the Otherworld. You also have the ability to hide, but it's [[UselessUsefulStealth pretty darn useless]].
--->"You have to run, Daddy. You can't fight them. Run!"
** ''VideoGame/SilentHillDownpour'' channels the Otherworld Chases of Shattered Memories with the Void chases; when it appears you pull a 180 and run, throwing anything you can in its path to slow it down.
* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' has "ZERO", a robot that pursues Amy Rose and her avian companion "Birdie" throughout her stages. With the exception of their final encounter as a boss, "ZERO" cannot be defeated: hitting it with Amy's hammer will knock it over, but it will eventually get back up; and it will keep getting up more quickly the more it is hit until it becomes impervious to Amy's hammer strikes. The only way to survive an encounter with "ZERO" is to high-tail it to the end of the stage.
* ''VideoGame/SonicFrontiers'' has the [[OurTitansAreDifferent Titans]]. Sonic's attempt to fight the first one head-on became a CurbStompBattle, since he can only defeat them in his SuperMode. So when the other Titans attack him while stripped of the Chaos Emeralds, he resorts to escaping before they can kill him.
* ''VideoGame/SpiderMan2000'' features Monster Ock as the game's final "boss", which is used very loosely, because to beat him, there's only thing you can do, run and webswing out as fast as you can before the base completely blows up, or you die.
* In ''VideoGame/SpookysJumpScareMansion'', your only real option when faced with one of the Specimens (other than the harmless Specimen 01) is to keep running until you lose it. You eventually get an axe, but its effectiveness ranges from barely flinching a foe to stunning it for a room to ''[[NiceJobBreakingItHero mutating it into a stronger form]]''.
* In a secret mission in ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIWingsOfLiberty'', you awaken [[spoiler:a Protoss/Zerg hybrid]] just after setting the base's generators to overload. You don't have the firepower to take it down (and even if you did, it's invincible), so you're forced to run from it as you try to make your escape from the secret base. For the most part, it's an AdvancingBossOfDoom, and it's possible to slow it down [[spoiler:using an alien-tech "Chrono Rift Device"]], and other delaying actions are also possible. At one point, however, the invincible foe disappears from sensors, which [[NothingIsScarier is actually worse than knowing where it is]]; when it inevitably reappears, it does so ''very'' close to you.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'':
** In one of the third round of missions in ''[[VideoGame/DarkForcesSaga Jedi Academy]]'', a mutated rancor appears and you have to run away from it through the entire level (while fighting dozens of dark Jedi) until you can achieve an environmental kill. In an earlier level, you have to help prisoners escape from a rancor pit, usually by leading the rancor away from their group while they Run Or Die.
** The FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/StarWarsJediFallenOrder'' is [[spoiler: Darth Vader himself. Since Vader is in his prime and the player character is an ex-Padawan who only recently regained access to his Force abilities, nothing the player does to Vader slows him down for more than a few seconds. He doesn't even have a health bar, as if to emphasize that fighting him is a death sentence. The only thing left to do is turn and run while Vader slowly follows after you, [[PersonOfMassDestruction shredding the scenery and pathway ahead]] with but a thought.]]
* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny'': In the UsefulNotes/{{P|layStation2}}S2 remake, if you run around in one place with all your party members set to Auto for grinding purposes, bonus boss and ''Tales Of Destiny 2'' antagonist Barbatos Goetia will eventually show up and exclaim that he's giving you the choice to run away or die. He's not kidding, since even if you ''do'' somehow manage to get his HP to zero, he'll just keep on fighting.
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' has a Hell Lord monster infesting one area of the Slyph Mountain. If encountered, it will casts a powerful summon spell to kill off an entire party in one blow, forcing you to keep retreating until you solve a dungeon puzzle to get rid of it. Fortunately, running away from it is pretty easy to do.
* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'':
** On a typical match, if you see a Pyro taunting with the phlogistinator, in the middle of battle, and the weapon is glowing, run away. The Pyro is literally invincible until the taunt is finished, and when it's finished the Pyro will unleash [[CriticalHit crits]]. Which means if you're dumb enough to stay right next to him, you die. Pretty much instantly. Your body will become ashes.
** You are doing good on the game and you turn around a corner and see... An ubercharged Heavy. What makes this worse is the visual effect that it gives to both the Medic and his partner, which is their entire body with it's team color with a very, very terrifying eye and expression.
* In the penultimate level of ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', your objective is to survive being chased by a werewolf. In this universe, werewolves are highly resistant to vampiric powers and they ''despise'' the species. Gameplay-wise, this means your powers and weapons are useless. Even worse, the werewolf ''ignores'' the console codes that make you invulnerable and invisible. Your only recourse is to run and try to survive the four minute countdown. [[spoiler: There ''is'' an alternative way to put the werewolf down, however.]]
* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'': In the second level of the Blood Elf campaign, you start with several barely-defended bases on the mainland that are immediately attacked by vastly more numerous and fully-upgraded undead forces.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'':
** In the dungeon Halls of Reflection, after beating a couple preliminary bosses the final "boss" consists of running from the Lich King until help arrives. Unlike most examples, escaping requires defeating enemies so that your companion(Jaina for the Alliance, Sylvanas for the Horde) can break down the ice barriers barring your way.)
** At the end of the starting zone for ''Warlords of Draenor'', [[AdaptationalVillainy Grommash]] [[BigBad Hellscream]] sends the entire Iron Horde after you and your allies. The only option left is to run for the docks at max speed before the rest of the army arrives.
[[/folder]]

** Basically, AuthorityEqualsAsskicking is usually in effect among both pirates and the Marines. Pre-TimeSkip, any rank below Captain was little more than a {{Mook|s}}, while a Captain would be a tough one-on-one fight for most of the Straw Hats. A Vice-Admiral could beat an individual crew member, but could be taken down by most or all of the crew working together. A full Admiral? ''Run. Just '''run'''.

* In ''Literature/TheZombieKnight'', hearing that TheDragon of [[ReligionOfEvil Abolish]] was coming caused a [[TheAlliance Vanguard]] general ([[AsskickingEqualsAuthority herself no slouch]]) and her squad to instantly abandon the country they were defending, even though backup was less than a day away. [[TheDreaded They talk about him like a freaking natural disaster]].

* ''Franchise/CrashBandicoot'' has plenty of these levels throughout the series, running from giant boulders and giant polar bears and that’s just the early games.

* In ''Fanfic/AvatarOfVictory'', the being known as the Meretsegger is the most powerful death spirit on Tuchanka, the Krogan DeathWorld homeworld. The response of ''Shepard'', the ''Avatar'', to seeing it is to run away screaming. Even the ''[[ProudWarriorRaceGuy krogan]]'' don't bother to try fighting it - as they see it, you are either dumb or suicidal enough to stay and fight (and, implicitly, die), or smart enough to run.