Suicidal Overconfidence: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

In video games, the difference in power between different characters can usually be accurately gauged by comparing their physical and skill statistics and the qualities of their equipment. Even so, antagonists will usually be unable to size up the protagonists and determine that the latter are at a massive advantage. Even though there is nothing compelling them to attack, they will usually express their belief in their own superiority, attack and promptly get slaughtered.

Some games do try to [[Averted Trope|avert this]] by having lower level enemies run away after a round or two. This may be justified in a story if the protagonist doesn't seem formidable because they are [[Weak but Skilled]] or are a [[Pint-Sized Powerhouse]] in a setting where [[Muscles Are Meaningless]]. May be due to [[Spiteful AI]]. See also [[Leeroy Jenkins]] and [[Artificial Stupidity]].

 

 

{{examples}}

=== [[First-Person Shooter]] ===

* The worst offender is likely ''[[The Darkness]]'', where the player has demonic, flesh-eating tentacles growing out of him. Despite this, the enemies all don't seem that worried.

** It's the startle factor. When a empowered human charges across the room to you with [[Combat Tentacles]], you start shooting. When the guy you thought was a easy target suddenly sprouts a pair of extra arms and charges, you might get a bit unnerved.

* Justified in ''[[BioShock (series)]]'' for most of the game; the Splicers will continue to leap out and attack you because they are clearly being driven insane by their mind breaking addiction to a chemical that allows for genetic engineering, which they can get a hit of ''in your blood''. However, averted after you {{spoiler|disguise yourself as a Big Daddy}}, unless you are {{spoiler|protecting a Little Sister}}, the splicers will avoid you.

* ''[[Deadlock]]'' and its sequel had this in spades. Enemy races would attack super-defended fortresslike cities belonging to a player several tech-levels higher than their own, with attack forces so puny they couldn't even scratch the paint on the automatic defense turrets. Races owning two or three cities would declare war (with angry-sounding messages from their representatives) against players owning ''the rest of the world''. The representatives of enemy races would even just occasionally pop up and randomly insult you, uncaring that a mere twitch of the finger would be enough to send them and their entire civilization to extinction.

* In ''[[Master of Orion]]'', the AI players will eventually declare war on another empire (yours or an AI empire) with complete disregard for the strengths of the respective empires. Particularly in the second game, at higher difficulty levels [[NPC]] empires will refuse to surrender even if their empire consists of only one population point on a planet blockaded by a fleet of warships that can [[Earthshattering Kaboom|turn the world into a rubble pile]] and [[Final Solution|eliminate the offending empire entirely]].

 

=== [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPGs]] ===