History Main / InjuredPlayerCharacterStage

* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'': The second half of the Science Center at the University of Eastern Colorado is heavily restricted due to [[spoiler:Joel getting impaled]]. Although there are only a handful of enemies to deal with, the player is reduced to stumbling around and shooting their pistol. No switching guns, no crafting, no using items, nothing. The HUD is removed as well, and the [[InterfaceScrew screen will fade in and out of darkness]] [[spoiler:representing Joel being on the verge of passing out from blood loss]].

A sister trope of (and often overlapping with) ExpositoryGameplayLimitation. See also ControllableHelplessness, IntoxicationMechanic and NoGearLevel. Compare/contrast PlotlineDeath, where a playable character is injured so badly by the story, they are no longer playable at all (and dead). A possible manifestation of YouCanBarelyStand. SubTrope of InjuredSelfDrag.

* The short segment where you play as Elro in VideoGame/{{Iconoclasts}} is after [[spoiler:Black rips his arm off]] so he is slowly limping around and barely leaves the ground when jumping. Despite this he manages to have an awesome boss fight at the end of the section.

* Near the end of ''VideoGame/BioShock1'', [[spoiler: Fontaine]] tells your heart to stop working but it's a "stubborn muscle" as he calls it, and it just amounts to reducing your maximum health for the level.

A sister trope of (and often overlapping with) ExpositoryGameplayLimitation. See also ControllableHelplessness, IntoxicationMechanic and NoGearLevel. Compare/contrast PlotlineDeath, where a playable character is injured so badly by the story, they are no longer playable at all (and dead). A possible manifestation of YouCanBarelyStand.

** At the end of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', Shepard's armor is broken, and most of his/her skin is badly burned. You must then limp to your destination, shooting a few enemies on the way with only your pistol. After this Shepard then has to drag themselves to the final two sequences of the game, which take an appropriately agonizing amount of time to do.

[[folder:Rougelike]]

!Examples:

* The Inquisitor gets one in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' after the battle at Haven. The rest of your people have evacuated, and the town has been buried under an avalanche; you only survive by being knocked into an underground cellar. Most of the rest of the level consists of you slowly hobbling forward through the blinding dark and snow, trying to catch up with the army before you freeze to death.

* Downplayed ''[[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky]]''. The last boss of the third special Episode has Sunflora and Loudred start the battle with the Burned status effect. Though it doesn't matter much as the damage accumulated via the status effect is neligible at best and the battle can be completed in less than 20 turns if the player is fast enough. Plus if you have a Rawest berry on hand, you can heal it right away.

* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearRising'' Raiden gets his arm lopped off when getting the [[HopelessBossFight living crap kicked out of his metallic ass]] by Jetstream Sam. You get to fight a bit longer but the screen flickers, Raiden can barely manage one slow awkward slash and can only stagger around, and Sam just keeps his distance and taunts you.

** Towards the end of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', Raiden is captured and has his clothes and items taken from him. He is forced to sneak through the next section naked and unable to defend himself, and contracts a cold due to the low temperatures which causes him to sneeze periodically, which can alert nearby guards.
** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'', Snake gets captured and shot in the eye, permanently blinding him. Thereafter for the rest of the game, if the player enters first-person view mode, the extreme right-hand side of the screen will be darkened and the depth perception will be inaccurate compared to beforehand. This is taken even further in the remake of the game for the 3DS: the 3D effect is disabled when entering first-person view mode after Snake gets shot in the eye.

** Toward the end of Chapter 6, [[spoiler:Arthur gets ambushed and injured by Micah Bell while in his final stages of TB. You have to fight off Micah for as long as you can, and if you went with John, you'll have to crawl over to Micah's revolver in the final part of the fight ''[[AdvancingBossOfBoom while he's chasing after you]]''; if you went for the loot, you'll have to dodge his {{Finishing Move}}s via [[KnifeNut knife attack]] (though, depending on your [[KarmaMeter honor]], Arthur will either get a few more cuts and stab wounds (low) or none at all (high)).]]