History Main / InstakillMook

** Beloved and Valiance have a grab attack which puts you into a SmashingSurvival {{QTE}} if you don't dodge it: Fail the QTE and it's instant death.

** A few bosses such as Iustitia has QTE which will instantly kill you if you don't react in time.

** Enemy snipers (AI or human-controlled) are often the bane of the player's existence, mandating stealth if you have no chance to fight back, flushing them out with grenades or explosives, counter-fire to force a retreat, and so forth. However, their high-powered rifles can be an instant kill if they land a shot.

* In just about every FPS where enemies can wield a rocket launcher, a direct hit turns the player into LudicrousGibs. Even in games where this isn't true, rockets do more damage to the player than most other enemy weapons in a given game, and can only be survived if one has max health and armor.

** [[ShockAndAwe Electricity]] can kill the eponymous Pikmin instantly, so any enemy attack based on this element is lethal. Same with bombs and any other explosive attack. Good thing Yellow Pikmin can use bombs in the first game and resist electricity in the second. Also, in the third, electricity is nerfed so that it can only stun non-yellow Pikmin.
** ''VideoGame/Pikmin2'': During the later fights with the [[MookMaker Empress]] [[FlunkyBoss Bulblax]], there's her offspring, the Bulborb Larvae. They die in one hit even from a captain, but also kill Pikmin in one hit, as well as deal a good chunk of damage to the captains, and they do it ''fast''. Given how the Empress Bulblax also constantly gives birth to the little buggers, they can become deadly if left unchecked, so having one captain on Larva cleanup duty while the other uses Pikmin to attack the boss herself is not a bad idea.

* Gorgons in ''VideoGame/{{ADOM}}'' breathe petrification gas. Guess [[TakenForGranite what it does]] if you don't have resistance. Some monsters, such as emperor liches, cast Death Ray. There seems to be a deliberate {{aversion}}, however, for monsters that just do a lot of damage (usually due to being out of the player character's league): massive blows from enemies frequently knock you down from near full health to exactly 1 HP instead of 0, as if there's a built-in protection against insta-killing. Mind you, if it was a really big monster, you'll probably be stunned and bleeding also. Well, at least you'll have time for one last prayer before bleeding out. (That's a game mechanic, actually. You can pray to be healed and maybe survive.)

** ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' and ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' features a number of enemies capable of casting Petrification and Diamondization, respectively. Getting hit with this PSI (described in ''[=EarthBound=]'' as the enemy "glar[ing] with its eerie eye") counts as an instant kill for the target; getting one's entire party Petrified/Diamondized will result in an instant Game Over. Conversely, in ''[=EarthBound=]'' it's possible (via confusing the enemy or using Poo's Mirror ability) to have an enemy Diamondize either another enemy or ''themselves''; this includes bosses capable of Diamondization. A Petrified/Diamondized party member will drag behind the rest of the party as a dead weight, appearing as a static sprite (when Petrified) or an orange anthropomorphic gemstone (when Diamondized), just as a reminder that they're definitely not gonna contribute to a fight anytime soon. A Diamondized enemy, meanwhile, will stay on the battlefield during a fight, but will be counted by the game as defeated and will disappear from the overworld as normal after the fight; if the last enemy defeated in battle is done so via Diamondization, it'll create [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxi5FE3j0uE an amusing situation]] where they'll stay on-screen while the game displays the standard victory text. Petrification and Diamondization can be cured via healers, PSI Healing γ, or (in ''[=EarthBound=]'') PSI Healing Ω, making them slightly different than an actual instant kill move - after the effect is healed, the team member's HP is the same as it was before.

[[folder: Action RPG]]

** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', Deathclaws have a new instant-kill NeckSnap move, which PowerArmor protects against, while an Assaultron's WaveMotionGun will immediately [[DisintegratorRay reduce the Sole Survivor to ashes]] even if they are in Power Armor. Additionally, Deathclaws can also stab you in the gut if they grab you, but they seem to only be willing to do it if your HP is low enough.

[[folder: Action Adventure]]

[[folder: Beat 'em up]]
* VideoGame/DragonsCrown has one in the form of the KillerRabbit, if you get hit by the rabbit's attack while it TurnsRed, it deals damage equal to the player's maximum HP bar. And to emphasize this, an x-ray of a cracked skull appears over your character. So, the only means to survive this is by NOT getting touched by it (or if your HP is above the maximum).

[[folder: First Person Shooter]]

** The game [[{{Downplayed}} downplays]] this with the armor system, even on HarderThanHard. Still, the hardest difficulty setting makes all enemy attacks devastating plus health & armor is scarce in later levels, making hits a major blow to the player.

[[folder: Platformer]]

[[folder: Real Time Strategy]]

[[folder: Role Playing Game]]

[[folder: Roguelikes]]

[[folder: Shoot 'em up]]

[[folder: Survival Game]]

[[folder: Survival Horror]]

* In ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark1992'', being caught by angry ghosts or the Chthonian spells instant death for the PlayerCharacter. They're also {{Invincible Minor Minion}}s, so your only choice is to avoid them.

* In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 3'', sniper shots and rocket-propelled grenades are guaranteed instadeath with no Last Man Standing opportunity.

[[folder: Turn Based Strategy]]

[[folder: Wide Open Sandbox]]

->'''Palutena''': Uh-oh, there's an Orne around you, Pit.\\
'''Pit''': Are you talking about the floating skull?\\
'''Palutena''': Yes, the slightest touch from one of those will annihilate you.\\
'''Pit''': That sounds painful. Not to mention totally unfair!

* ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars: Dual Strike'': Oozium 238 are BlobMonster enemies with a move speed of 1 and cannot perform normal attacks or counterattacks. However, they heavily resist non-small arms fire and attack by moving onto a unit, instantly consuming them regardless of health or defense.
* ''VideoGame/Disgaea2CursedMemories'': The Male Samurai, when under 25% health, has a 20% chance to deliver a fatal blow with their regular attack. One under the player's control can get the kill chance up to 45%, thanks to a Lover Innocent.
* ''VideoGame/Disgaea5AllianceOfVengeance'': Ninja units under the control of the AI have a chance to instantly kill any of your units with each attack they use, regardless of whether the attack would deal any damage at all. This ability goes [[GuideDangIt undocumented]] in-game itself, which makes for a heart-stopper when one of your best units gets unceremoniously offed.

* Multiple in the ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'' series.

* ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars: Dual Strike'': Oozium 238 are BlobMonster enemies with a move speed of 1 and cannot perform normal attacks or counterattacks. However, they heavily resist against non-small arms fire and attack by moving onto a unit, instantly consuming them regardless of health or defense.

* In just about every FPS where enemies can wield a rocket launcher, a direct hit turns the player into LudicrousGibs.

** Throughout the series, there are fish enemies called Boss Bass or Cheep Chomps. These enemies often devour Mario in one bite, even in the ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBros'' series, where every other enemy just knocks off his powerup.

* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'': Instead of directly attacking the player, Basilisks spray a gas that inflicts the instantly-lethal [[TakenForGranite Curse status]] if the player is exposed to it for too long. How long "too long" is can be surprisingly short in this case.

** Perhaps the best example of this is [[BossInMookClothing the Warden]]. Its melee attack disables shields and will insta-kill players wearing any less than enchanted diamond armor, and its ranged attack, while less powerful, ignores shields and armor and can't be dodged, making it a one or two-hit kill.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Doom}} II'', if the [[FinalBoss Icon of Sin]] spawns an enemy on top of the player, it will instantly kill them via TeleFrag, even if GodMode is enabled.

* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdysseyVBeyondTheMyth'' has the Stardust, a bead-like entity that will self-destruct to instantly kill a party character in the turn when it takes any sort of damage, and appears in the BonusDungeon.

* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'': The fifth game has the Stardust, a bead-like entity that will self-destruct to instantly kill a party character in the turn when it takes any sort of damage, and appears in the BonusDungeon. In the sixth game, the Archpixie has an instakill move as a ''standard'' attack (this enemy appeared first in the original game, but its main skill there is [[TakenForGranite Petrify]] instead), which is why it only appears in a post-game MiniDungeon.

* ''VideoGame/{{Nethack}}'' players use the term ''gnome with a wand of death'', which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Monsters that can use items are randomly generated with items with some chance, or they can pick up items from the ground. So there is always a small chance that a low level enemy (be it a gnome, orc, or something similar) has a wand of death (or some other powerful item) that can kill you in one hit.
* ''Caverns of Zoarre'' has the "poison" or "paralysis"-style enemies (e.g. giant spiders or gelatinous cubes) all around the dungeon that, if you are unprotected, will instantly kill you if they hit with their abilities.