History Main / CriticalExistenceFailure

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[[caption-width-right:315:[[PrecisionFStrike Fuck]], all I did was bump the building!]]

* Taken to extremes in ''Anime/SwordArtOnline'' during the Aincrad arc: players will remain alive so long as they don't die in the game, but after their HP reaches 0, the moment their avatar vanishes, the player will be hit with a high-powered microwave pulse to their brain, killing them instantly.

Compare ExactTimeToFailure and InstantCooldown, for more general examples of unrealistically sudden transitions from "perfectly OK" to "totally dead"; NoOntologicalInertia; and StrongFleshWeakSteel. Contrast the ChunkySalsaRule; DidntNeedThoseAnyway; FullHealthBonus; and SubsystemDamage, where losing HitPoints does adversely affect the owner's ability to fight back. See also AttackAttackAttack, which this trope can encourage or at least give the appearance of; and TheLastStraw, when a proverbial straw breaks the camel's back. If something is damaged and changes to look the part but otherwise behaves or functions the same, you're looking at ShowsDamage. Although named similarly, is not related to CriticalResearchFailure.

[[caption-width-right:315:Fuck, all I did was bump the building!]]

Compare ExactTimeToFailure and InstantCooldown, for more general examples of unrealistically sudden transitions from "perfectly OK" to "totally dead"; NoOntologicalInertia; and StrongFleshWeakSteel. Contrast the ChunkySalsaRule; DidntNeedThoseAnyway; FullHealthBonus; and SubsystemDamage, where losing HitPoints does adversely affect the owner's ability to fight back. See also AttackAttackAttack, which this trope can encourage or at least give the appearance of; and TheLastStraw, when a proverbial straw breaks the camel's back. If something is damaged and changes to look the part but otherwise behaves or functions the same, you're looking at ShowsDamage.

Most of this is a [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality function of fair gameplay]], especially in fighting games where making a character weaker over time would just [[UnstableEquilibrium make them progressively more vulnerable and susceptible to damage]]. This trope enables comeback victories which are more dramatic than one side holding the advantage for an entire game, and avoids a situation where an early setback makes it pointless to keep trying because defeat is assured. Of course, this same trope is what makes CherryTapping both viable to use and humiliating to have done to you. CEF also allows [[ViolationOfCommonSense certain tactics]] that would be downright crazy in RealLife to work in the game (e.g. using explosions for a makeshift {{rocket jump}} because you have enough HP to survive the explosion, bunny-hopping to reduce total damage taken, or running into suppressing fire to either act as a shield for the guys behind you or just get close enough to use a OneHitKill weapon). Furthermore, when each unit can keep attacking at full effectiveness until its HP hits zero, the player is incentivized to make their units focus fire on one enemy at a time in order to quickly reduce the opponent's damage-dealing potential. In real life situations such as fighter plane and tank battles, it’s normally more efficient for each vehicle to engage a different enemy to avoid wasting munitions on overkill, and destroy (or almost as good, disable) more enemies more quickly.

This could have a flimsy justification for armoured vehicles -- anything which doesn't penetrate its armour arguably would not adversely affect its performance. (The same principle also applies to DeflectorShields.) However, because of the simplified nature of damage calculations, it's entirely possible for, say, an armored vehicle to sustain an anti-tank missile to its unarmored back and still keep fighting with a few HitPoints remaining, when in RealLife it would easily [[SubsystemDamage cripple the vehicle]] and/or kill the occupants in the process.

Most of this is a [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality function of fair gameplay]], especially in fighting games where making a character weaker over time would just [[UnstableEquilibrium make them progressively more vulnerable and susceptible to damage]]. This trope enables comeback victories which are more dramatic than one side holding the advantage for an entire game, and avoids a situation where an early setback makes it pointless to keep trying because defeat is assured. Of course, this same trope is what makes CherryTapping both viable to use and humiliating to have done to you. CEF also allows [[ViolationOfCommonSense certain tactics]] that would be downright crazy in RealLife to work in the game (e.g. using explosions for a makeshift {{rocket jump}} because you have enough HP to survive the explosion, bunny-hopping to reduce total damage taken, or running into suppressing fire to either act as a shield for the guys behind you or just get close enough to use a OneHitKill weapon). Furthermore, when each unit can keep attacking at full effectiveness until its HP hits zero, the player is incentivized to make their units focus fire on one enemy at a time in order to quickly reduce the opponent's damage-dealing potential; in real life situations such as fighter plane and tank battles, it’s normally more efficient for each vehicle to engage a different enemy to avoid wasting munitions on overkill, and destroy (or almost as good, disable) more enemies more quickly.

Most of this is a [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality function of fair gameplay]], especially in fighting games where making a character weaker over time would just [[UnstableEquilibrium make them progressively more vulnerable and susceptible to damage]]. This trope enables comeback victories which are more dramatic than one side holding the advantage for an entire game, and avoids a situation where an early setback makes it pointless to keep trying because defeat is assured. Of course, this same trope is what makes CherryTapping both viable to use and humiliating to have done to you. CEF also allows [[ViolationOfCommonSense certain tactics]] that would be downright crazy in RealLife to work in the game (e.g. using explosions for a makeshift {{rocket jump}} because you have enough HP to survive the explosion, bunny-hopping to reduce total damage taken, or running into suppressing fire to either act as a shield for the guys behind you or just get close enough to use a OneHitKill weapon). Furthermore, when each unit can keep attacking at full effectiveness until its HP hits zero, the player is incentivized to make their units focus fire on one enemy at a time in order to quickly reduce the opponent's damage-dealing potential; in real life situations such as fighter plane and tank battles, it’s normally more efficient for each vehicle to engage a different enemy to avoid wasting munitions on overkill, and kill or at least disable more enemies more quickly.

Most of this is a [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality function of fair gameplay]], especially in fighting games where making a character weaker over time would just [[UnstableEquilibrium make them progressively more vulnerable and susceptible to damage]]. This trope enables comeback victories which are more dramatic than one side holding the advantage for an entire game, and avoids a situation where an early setback makes it pointless to keep trying because defeat is assured. Of course, this same trope is what makes CherryTapping both viable to use and humiliating to have done to you. CEF also allows [[ViolationOfCommonSense certain tactics]] that would be downright crazy in RealLife to work in the game (e.g. using explosions for a makeshift {{rocket jump}} because you have enough HP to survive the explosion, bunny-hopping to reduce total damage taken, or running into suppressing fire to either act as a shield for the guys behind you or just get close enough to use a OneHitKill weapon). Furthermore, when each unit can keep attacking at full effectiveness until its HP hits zero, the player is incentivized to make their units focus fire on one enemy at a time, in order to quickly reduce the opponent's damage-dealing potential; in real life situations such as fighter plane and tank battles, it’s normally more efficient for each vehicle to engage a different enemy to avoid wasting munitions on overkill, and kill or at least disable more enemies more quickly.

Most of this is a [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality function of fair gameplay]], especially in fighting games where making a character weaker over time would just [[UnstableEquilibrium make them progressively more vulnerable and susceptible to damage]]. This trope enables comeback victories which are more dramatic than one side holding the advantage for an entire game, and avoids a situation where an early setback makes it pointless to keep trying because defeat is assured. Of course, this same trope is what makes CherryTapping both viable to use and humiliating to have done to you. CEF also allows [[ViolationOfCommonSense certain tactics]] that would be downright crazy in RealLife to work in the game (e.g. using explosions for a makeshift {{rocket jump}} because you have enough HP to survive the explosion, bunny-hopping to reduce total damage taken, or running into suppressing fire to either act as a shield for the guys behind you or just get close enough to use a OneHitKill weapon). Furthermore, making each unit able to keep attacking at full effectiveness until its HP hits zero encourages ganging up on one enemy at a time to quickly reduce the opponent's damage-dealing potential; in real life situations such as fighter plane and tank battles, it’s normally more efficient for each vehicle to engage a different enemy to avoid wasting munitions on overkill, and disable more enemies more quickly.

Most of this is a [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality function of fair gameplay]], especially in fighting games where making a character weaker over time would just [[UnstableEquilibrium make them progressively more vulnerable and susceptible to damage]]. Of course, that doesn't make CherryTapping any less painful. It also allows [[ViolationOfCommonSense certain tactics]] that would be downright crazy in RealLife to work in the game (e.g. using explosions for a makeshift {{rocket jump}} because you have enough HP to survive the explosion, bunny-hopping to reduce total damage taken, or running into suppressing fire to either act as a shield for the guys behind you or just get close enough to use a OneHitKill weapon).

''If you are looking for the trope about having one's existence entirely erased from the time-space continuum, try RetGone.'' Despite the titles, someone doesn't have to literally suffer from this to be an example of SuspectExistenceFailure or AuthorExistenceFailure.

''If you are looking for the trope about having one's existence entirely erased from the time-space continuum, try RetGone.''

''If you are looking for the trope about having one's existence entirely erased from the time-space continuum, try RetGone. Also not to be confused with AuthorExistenceFailure.''

Video game characters on average are [[HowMuchMoreCanHeTake incredibly tough]]. No matter how much you get hurt or what it is that's doing the damage, the worst you'll show for it is [[ShowsDamage blood decals on your suit]]. You laugh as UniversalPoison does five points of damage per step, you shrug off the flying chainsaw robots [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank using your blood to make abstract art]] like nothing, and you're perfectly fine as long as you have at least one {{Hit Point|s}} left. However, if something removes that last point, even if it was [[ScratchDamage an apple falling on your head]], it will cause you to experience Critical Existence Failure and keel over like you had a [[Manga/DeathNote sudden inexplicable heart attack]].

'''Given that this is nearly a {{Universal Trope|s}}, only aversions and notable examples go here.'''

!!Aversions, inversions, subversions and notable examples

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]

[[caption-width-right:315:[[PrecisionFStrike Fuck]], all I did was bump the building!]]

Compare ExactTimeToFailure and InstantCooldown, for more general examples of unrealistically sudden transitions from "perfectly OK" to "totally dead"; NoOntologicalInertia; and StrongFleshWeakSteel. Contrast the ChunkySalsaRule; DidntNeedThoseAnyway; and SubsystemDamage, where losing HitPoints does adversely affect the owner's ability to fight back. See also AttackAttackAttack, which this trope can encourage or at least give the appearance of; and TheLastStraw, when a proverbial straw breaks the camel's back. If something is damaged and changes to look the part but otherwise behaves or functions the same, you're looking at ShowsDamage.

Compare ExactTimeToFailure, for more general examples of unrealistically sudden transitions from "perfectly OK" to "totally dead"; NoOntologicalInertia; and StrongFleshWeakSteel. Contrast the ChunkySalsaRule; DidntNeedThoseAnyway; and SubsystemDamage, where losing HitPoints does adversely affect the owner's ability to fight back. See also AttackAttackAttack, which this trope can encourage or at least give the appearance of; and TheLastStraw, when a proverbial straw breaks the camel's back. If something is damaged and changes to look the part but otherwise behaves or functions the same, you're looking at ShowsDamage.

Video game characters on average are [[SuperToughness incredibly tough]]. No matter how much you get hurt or what it is that's doing the damage, the worst you'll show for it is [[ShowsDamage blood decals on your suit]]. You laugh as UniversalPoison does five points of damage per step, you shrug off the flying chainsaw robots [[OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank using your blood to make abstract art]] like nothing, and you're perfectly fine as long as you have at least one {{Hit Point|s}} left. However, if something removes that last point, even if it was [[ScratchDamage an apple falling on your head]], it will cause you to experience Critical Existence Failure and keel over like you had a [[Manga/DeathNote sudden inexplicable heart attack]].

[[caption-width-right:315:Dammit, all I did was bump the building!]]