History FelonyMisdemeanor / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/BangaiO''[='s=] ExcusePlot revolves around the protagonists punishing a gang that smuggles '''fruit'''. ''Bangai-O Spirits'' doesn't even bother with the ExcusePlot, making new players [[FridgeLogic wonder why destroyed enemies leave behind fruit pickups]].
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'': The game begins when Bruce Wayne is violently arrested by [[PrivateMilitaryCompany TYGER Security]] goons and thrown into [[HellholePrison Arkham]] [[TheAlcatraz City]] for the heinous crime of... leading a peaceful protest to have the complex shut down[[note]][[BatmanGambit As with most things Batman]], this is AllAccordingToPlan[[/note]].

** This is a recurring trend throughout the series, relating to ArtificialStupidity as well as ShopliftAndDie. CityGuards will call you "criminal scum" and relentlessly pursue you to the ends of Tamriel, regardless of whether you've incurred a 5 gold bounty for stealing some loot or ''5000'' gold bounty for committing multiple murders. ''Skyrim'' takes steps to address this trope for the first time in the series in regards to bounties - If your bounty is low enough, they won't bother seeking you out and, should you speak to them first with a bounty, they can be convinced to let you go since you aren't worth their time.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'':
** In the addon "Broken Steel", there's a radio in the Jefferson Memorial. When you shut it down, all the Brotherhood of Steel soldiers inside it will try to kill you, even if you turn it on again. However, if they don't see you turning it off, they won't bother a second.
** ''Fallout 3'' and ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]'' are based off the same engine as the above ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion''. It makes sense that the local citizenry react the same way; although this does get rather irritating when you're going to, say, go activate Trudy's radio so you can fix it, you turn an inch too far or stop an inch too short, accidentally hit "steal glass mug" instead... And now have the entire bar trying to shoot you in the damn head as you're yelling at the screen "MY HAND SLIPPED, IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!"
** Related to this, everyone who sees you even ''look'' at something as seemingly insignificant as a coffee cup or pencil that doesn't belong to you (even if you don't actually select it) loudly makes it clear they're ready to throw down in an instant over it. People in this universe are paranoid about their random junk. This was thankfully removed in ''New Vegas''.
** If you ''pickpocket'' someone and get caught, they will just say "That doesn't belong to you!" and take it back (often with compensation). But if you take a bent tin can off the bar table, ''everyone'' wants you dead except your followers, who will always help you. So you can take Star Paladin Cross (good as good can be) into Megaton, steal some junk off a table, and she will gladly help you gun down ''all'' the not-exactly evil citizens.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}}'', in Junktown a Doctor name Doc Morbid (Seriously) is questionable in his ethics, he won't think twice about removing one of your eyes if you tick him off, and he has a butcher lab in his basement which he sells human meat to a trader saying it's Gecko Meat. Seems enough of a psychopath to kill right? Well, it turns out despite all that he is still a good Doctor regardless and the only Doctor in the city. So people will be pretty pissed if you kill him.
** If one gets the Good Karma ending for the inhabitants of the Sink in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', [[spoiler: the other residents of the Sink get fed up with the AxCrazy TokenEvilTeammate, the Toaster, and [[ElectrifiedBathtub throwing him in the tub]]. [[DyingDeclarationOfHate His response]] is this - he declares that the sink will rue the day they have bread - '''and no way to toast it!''']].
** In the series backstory, it’s mentioned that the last President of the United States prior to the apocalypse was impeached for ''jaywalking''. Though in this case its all but explicitly stated that the jaywalking thing was just an excuse; the ''real'' reason Congress wanted him out of office was that he pretty much kicked off the whole conflict by ordering the annexation of Canada.
* ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'':
** In the series (especially in the [[VideoGame/HitmanCodename47 first two]] [[VideoGame/Hitman2SilentAssassin games]]), guards will generally attack you with deadly force the moment your cover is blown. Now, this may be justified for your more murderous activities, but in ''Hitman 2: Silent Assassin'', guards everywhere passionately hate ''runners''. Run by a guard too closely? Expect to get shot in the head two seconds later, no questions asked.
** Likewise, you're in a party posing as a guest, you go to the back room or kitchen without permission, you get shot on sight. Those are some trigger-happy guards. This kind of behavior is mitigated in ''[[VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney Blood Money]]''.

* In ''VideoGame/UltimaVIII Pagan'', any crime committed in the main city will cause the local law-enforcing sorcerer to be summoned, who will [[KangarooCourt promptly]] (and [[LudicrousGibs graphically]]) blow you to smithereens, [[CutsceneIncompetence without any means for self-defense or escape]]. Crimes may range from murder, assault or theft right down to [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking being rude to said sorcerer]].
* In ''VideoGame/GoldeneyeRogueAgent'', you can get unlocks by earning "rogue bonuses" which are awarded for particularly "evil" actions. Said actions are things like headshots, taking human shields, shooting ExplodingBarrels, hacking enemy turrets, etc... all things that are present in many other FPS and which an experienced player will already be doing by this point. Apparently, we were evil all this time, who knew?
* The dwarven justice system in ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress'' has values skewed along this trope's lines. Heinous crimes such as smashing nearly-valueless furniture or failing to manufacture the specific pointless trinket demanded by one of the fort's nobles can net a dwarf a month in prison (which is often a death sentence because feeding prisoners is a low-priority task[[note]]Though a well-designed prison can bypass those issues and make jail time a passing inconvenience rather than something more severe[[/note]]) or a "beating" by an officer of the fortress guard. The fortress guard assigned to deliver the beating will use whatever weapon he's carrying to full effect in the course of the beating, so if you've given your fortress guard battleaxes expect a fountain of blood and severed limbs to ensue. Conversely, outright murder is usually punished by a sentence of around 200 days in prison.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'':
** A lot of the "incidents" behind the {{Excuse Plot}}s fall into this trope, as apparently things like an unusual number of ghosts appearing, people having lots of parties, and lots of flowers blooming warrant going out and beating the crap out of whoever is responsible. This is mostly justified though, as [[{{Cloudcuckooland}} the denizens of Gensoukyou are varying degrees of loopy]] and will use any excuse for a fight.
** Interestingly, a number of "incidents" could be considered in the same category - "meteorological" - and could have also demonstrated either a failure of the Great Border or an ecological threat, both of which are terribly serious issues for a PocketDimension with a [[WeirdnessCensor undefined degree of filtration]] from the Outside World. The red mist, delayed Spring, an incorrect gibbous moon, a delayed Autumn, earthquakes, geysers, more red mist.
** Additionally, [[FantasticRacism being a youkai is a crime]], as far as [[ShrineMaiden Reimu]] is concerned.
--->'''Reimu:''' A ''youkai'' was just sitting there minding its own business. And it was enjoying a book, too! I tried to exterminate it with a surprise attack...
** The characters mostly don't consider these things heinous (Reimu kind of acts like she does, but she's a jerk); things have been set up so that reacting to something strange by going out and beating the shit out of everyone you meet is not only largely harmless but actually works towards preserving Gensoukyou.
* Sometime before the start of ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 2|Cursed Memories}}'', Etna abandoned Larharl and set out to become an Overlord stronger than him, because he committed the heinous crime of... eating her favorite pudding.
** An act so vile that, to make sure you agree with Etna, [[VisualNovel/DisgaeaInfinite a game was made to cover that!]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3|AbsenceOfJustice}}'', Almaz will have you know that he would ''never'' indulge in such perverse, vile temptations as... wearing matching outfits on dates with his crush, or getting her to make him a sandwich.
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': A downplayed example in ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' and their remakes; Cerulean City has a cop blocking the door to a house. He states that the house has been robbed, and that only Team Rocket could have committed such a heinous crime. Granted, robbery is a crime, and depending on how much they stole, it could be an actual felony, but the officer makes it sound like they burned down an orphanage.
* The sex scene in ''[[VideoGame/ChzoMythos 6 Days A Sacrifice]]'' was a combination of types 1 and 3 for Yahtzee, which he freely admitted in Quovak's LetsPlay of the series. Yahtzee intended it to be a sign that the protagonist and his fellow prisoner were at the end of their ropes and opting to let go of those metaphorical ropes entirely; the audience saw a romance scene between a neurotic woman and a guy with nearly every bone in his body broken, and promptly asked, "Yahtzee, what the hell?!"

** The Illusive Man's reaction to seeing Shepard after they storm [[spoiler:the Cerberus base]].
--->'''The Illusive Man''': Shepard. ''You're in my chair.''
** In the ''Citadel'' DLC after locking them in an air-tight tank to suffocate, attempting to steal the Normandy and stealing their identity, what is it that [[spoiler:Shepard's clone]] does [[ItsPersonal that really pisses Shepard off?]] Messing with their hamster.
* Bounties can be like this in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption.'' If your horse accidentally knocks someone down in front of witnesses, vigilantes will shoot you dead to collect that $5 bounty.
* In all of the ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' games, you can murder people on the street and no one would notice. But God help you if you so much as scratch a police car...
** While we're at it, most of the series comes off as the [[LogicalExtreme ultimate]] [[InvertedTrope inversion]] of this trope. You can do whatever you want. Just whatever. Stealing cars, commit mass murder on a public lane, cause damage of cataclysmic proportions on a main highway, Kill the entire police department, shoot down multiple helicopters, enter a military zone, hijack a jet, ride the aforementioned vehicle above the goddamned city and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking vandalize a graffiti]]. If a cop somehow manages to arrest you, you WILL be punished. Just hope you like 6 hours of your life and less than 1000$ as a fine. This whole thing seems to be just an egregious case of {{GameplayAndStorySegregation}}, though.

* Type 3 crops up in episode 4 of ''VideoGame/WallaceAndGromitsGrandAdventures'', "The Bogey Man", where Miss Flitt and her stuffy aunt treat ''golf'' as a soul-scarring, life-destroying vice akin to alcoholism, and distribute tracts showing a man going mad with frustration as he struggles in vain to master the game. [[spoiler: Which turn out to be part of the solution to a puzzle.]]

** In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', the Boss and Pierce treat BigBad Zinyak butchering Biz Markie's "Just a Friend" by singing it in an opera-style voice as an equal if not greater crime than any of his actual villainy (invading Earth, abducting many noteworthy humans for his personal collection and trapping them in virtual reality simulations of their own personal IronicHell, [[spoiler:blowing up Earth with the rest of humanity still on it]], etc).
* ''VideoGame/{{Elite}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/EliteDangerous'', one of the regular public service station announcements is "Loitering is a crime, punishable by death. Please ensure you have authorization before entering the docking bay.". They're not kidding about the death thing.
* In ''VideoGame/TheFeebleFiles'', the totalitarian Omni Corporation's directives are an absolute ''minefield'' of those. For instance, if Feeble attempts to talk to a police officer in a simple attempt to start a friendly conversation, the officer is quick to twist his innocent intents into a big enough of an affront towards the Corporation and [[BigBad [=OmniBrain=]]] to consider it justified to send him for personality restructuring; the only reason he doesn't is because he chose to be "merciful" that time. Also, if one of the Happiness Robots catches you being unhappy for any reason, then he has no qualms about [[DisproportionateRetribution erasing you from existence on the spot]].
* PlayedForLaughs in ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' ''Dual Strike''. Tag-teamed [=COs=] have an affinity rating based on how well they work together (e.g. [[ShipTease Eagle and Sami]] have the highest bonus in the game), which gives firepower bonuses. Some characters get along so badly they get firepower ''penalties'' instead of bonuses when teaming up. Examples include Olaf and Lash ([[DoomedHometown she destroyed his hometown]]), Hawke and any Green Earth [=CO=] (he led a brutal invasion of Green Earth in the last game) and any Allied Nations [=CO=] and the BigBad. Which two [=COs=] have a worse Tag Affinity than all of the above, a whopping ''35% firepower penalty''? Rachel and Koal. The reason? ''He insulted her face''.
* In the second game of the ''VideoGame/TyTheTasmanianTiger'' series, what is Ty concerned about upon finding out that Boss Cass and his diplomats are above the law as long as they are there on official Cassopolis business? Double parking, opening other people's mail and leaving the milk out.
* Due to its dystopian-like setting, almost any action in ''VideoGame/FreedomWars'' can be considered as a violation of the People's Charter. Simply talking to another person or running for a certain amount of time is enough to add a few years to one's sentence. And that's not accounting the fact that ''being alive'' is worth a million years of penal servitude.
* ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara: Samurai Heroes''. [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity Ishida Mitsunari]]'s [[StoryBranching Blue Path]] is set into motion when Mitsunari suddenly remembers that he once fought someone who mouthed off about his lord in his presence. When informed that the man in question (Date Masamune) is still alive, Mitsunari immediately decides to suspend his RoaringRampageOfRevenge against his ArchEnemy (who ''killed'' said lord) just so he can hunt down the vile insulter first. Masamune's reaction when Mitsunari finally catches up to him is one of bemused disbelief that anyone could be ''that'' determined over a petty insult.
* ''VideoGame/LegendsOfValour'': The player could easily be arrested for "acting suspiciously".

* Bribed referees in ''VideoGame/MutantFootballLeague'' will make up completely nonsensical penalties on the opposing team.
-->'''Referee:''' Look, Killadelpha Evils, you friended me a while back and I'm sick of your political posts on Facelessbook. They still don't have a dislike button, so have a 10 yard penalty instead.\\
'''Referee:''' Stupidity penalty on the New Yuck Tyrants for insisting that ''Music/{{Rush|Band}}'' is better than ''Music/LedZeppelin'', that's 10 yards.\\
'''Referee:''' 10 yard Unfashionable conduct penalty on the Scarolina Panzers, wearing Crocs and socks in public.\\
'''Referee:''' 10 yard penalty on the Karcass City Creeps because life is harsh, unfair, and punishing, and nobody brought me any [[FourTwentyBlazeIt substances]] to cope.\\
'''Referee:''' 10 yard penalty on the Grim Bay Attackers for watching those flat earth videos. You guys fell down a rabbit hole for idiots!
* ''Videogame/FullThrottle'': Subverted. Starting to make minivans seems like an odd but not particularly far-fetched step for a motorcycle manufacturer, but it has the bikers up in bloody arms. However, Corley Motors is the ''last'' motorcycle manufacturer in existence, and them halting production of motorbikes would be the same as condemning biker culture to a slow death.

** A lot of the "incidents" behind the {{Excuse Plot}}s fall into this trope, as apparently things like an unusual number of ghosts appearing, people having lots of parties, and lots of flowers blooming warrant going out and beating the crap out of whoever is responsible. This is mostly justified though, as the denizens of Gensoukyou are varying degrees of [[ChaoticNeutral batshit insane]] and will use any excuse for a fight.

** In the series (especially in the [[VideoGame/HitmanCodename47 first two]] [[VideoGame/Hitman2SilentAssassin games]]), guards will generally attack you with deadly force the moment your cover is blown. Now, this may be justified for your more murderous activities, but in ''[[VideoGame/Hitman2SilentAssassin Hitman 2]]'', guards everywhere passionately hate ''runners''. Run by a guard too closely? Expect to get shot in the head two seconds later, no questions asked.

** The Illusive Man's reaction to seeing Shepard after (s)he storms [[spoiler:the Cerberus base]].

** In the ''Citadel'' DLC after locking him/her in an air-tight tank to suffocate, attempting to steal the Normandy and stealing his/her identity, what is it that [[spoiler:Shepard's clone]] does [[ItsPersonal that really pisses Shepard off?]] Messing with his/her hamster.

'''Referee:''' Stupidity penalty on the New Yuck Tyrants for insisting that ''Music/{{Rush}}'' is better than ''Music/LedZeppelin'', that's 10 yards.\\

** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsArena Arena]]'' takes it UpToEleven. Committing literally ''any'' crime will cause guards to spawn out of nowhere. Think they'll simply arrest you? Think again. Whether you murder someone outright or simply fail to pick a lock, they will attempt to kill you without mercy.

** This is a recurring trend throughout the series, relating to ArtificialStupidity as well as ShopliftAndDie. CityGuards will call you "criminal scum" and relentlessly pursue you to the ends of Tamriel, regardless of whether you've incurred a 5 gold bounty for stealing some VendorTrash or ''5000'' gold bounty for committing multiple murders. ''Skyrim'' takes steps to address this trope for the first time in the series in regards to bounties - If your bounty is low enough, they won't bother seeking you out and, should you speak to them first with a bounty, they can be convinced to let you go since you aren't worth their time.

* In ''VideoGame/UltimaVIIIPagan'', any crime committed in the main city will cause the local law-enforcing sorcerer to be summoned, who will [[KangarooCourt promptly]] (and [[LudicrousGibs graphically]]) blow you to smithereens, [[CutsceneIncompetence without any means for self-defense or escape]]. Crimes may range from murder, assault or theft right down to [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking being rude to said sorcerer]].

'''Referee:''' 10 yard penalty on the Grim Bay Attackers for watching those flat earth videos. You guys fell down a rabbit hole for idiots!