History Main / PreexistingEncounters

** ''FinalFantasyIV'' has three set encounters with a Behemoth on one-square-wide paths in Bahamut's lair. Unlike the set FF1 encounters though, these disappear once you've won them once.

* [[ThisIsSparta EVERY. SINGLE. NON-ESSENTIAL. ENCOUNTER.]] In StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime. Also, they are all ActuallyFourMooks.
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* ''DragonQuestIX'' has some, different for the series. However, similar to ''SuperMarioRPG'', one enemy on the screen represented a party, or a single monster. This made hunting those elusive MetalSlime a ''lot'' easier, at least until the Tower of Nod where the ''King'' metal slimes hid in groups. However, on the downside, they ''chased you'', which certainly didn't make it any easier to avoid them. (And later on, you ran into enemies who block your way)

* ''SuperMarioRPG: Legend of the Seven Stars'' has enemies walking around, but like the PC a single enemy represents the whole party.

* ''CodeLyoko: Fall of X.A.N.A.'': Nearly every single battle is unavoidable because the monsters don't move on the field until the player (whose character is a "[[SuperDeformed Sooper Deformed]]" variation of one of the Lyoko Warriors from the series) enters a monster's detection area, which is guaranteed to cover the whole width of the path that you must go to the target of a mission, usually a Tower or a certain teleporter. As soon as you enter the field, the monster moves to you (surprisingly, except for Megatanks, but battle still ensues when triggered) and you enter the battle. The only skippable monsters usually guard alternate paths (which almost always lead to item-containing Data Packs, some of which contain vital Plug-ins (equippable items that require points to activate, similar to Badges in ''PaperMario'', except that point upgrades are automatic) or powerful items). Most battles can be seen coming, except for certain boss battles, where the boss hides offscreen until the battle is triggered. And all battles in this game are RPG-style, rather than the action-based battles of the first two games.

** ''PaperMario'' games has the monsters walk around in plain sight, with contact leading to combat. They can be avoided entirely, or the player can opt for a First Strike (leading to a bit of extra damage) by jumping on the enemy or hitting them with the hammer or certain partner skills. Some badges also provided other options. One of them would instantly defeat weak enemies if you hit them on the field, while another would stun the first enemy instead of damaging it.

* In ''[[DotHackGUGames Project .hack and .hack Conglomerate]]'' games (that is, first four IMOQ games and the GU games), all encounters are never random and can be seen clearly, though GU is less random than IMOQ. In IMOQ, enemies are represented by glyphs and while monsters correspond to area levels and keyword, it is still quite a surprise. In GU, all enemies are out in plain sight, going on a pre-existing path. Whether or not you want to engage or skip it is entirely your choice...to an extent. The way the Areas are mapped, usually consisting separate "islands" or "rooms" connected by paths, you may or may not be able to avoid enemies from seeing you and hence avoid battle (except for the wide open IMOQ Fields).

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* Numerous trainers in the ''{{Pokemon}}'' games are entirely avoidable, and legendaries (except for the free roaming kinds) appear as sprites on the screen that the player has to walk up to to initiate the fight, and most can be ignored completely (though, with the exception of ''Gold'' and ''Silver'', players generally have to encounter the Pokémon on the box of the game being played if it's legendary).
** And Ruby and Sapphire, for the same reasons as Gold and Silver.

* The ''HarryPotter'' game for Game Boy Color. Enemies are represented as sparkling blue clouds.

* ''FinalFantasyXIII'' has visible encounters as well. Some enemies can't be avoidable when they completely block your path. Preemptive strikes occur when you approach the enemy from behind without alerting them.

* The fight is a mandatory (oftn plot-dictated) event occuring at this point in the level or game design -- which, as a rule, includes most {{Boss Battle}}s.

In addition to RandomEncounters, in which a fight can happen at any time, either in a dungeon-type area, or on the overworld, PreexistingEncounters are those that you can see coming. The two types are:

'''Set Encounters'''-- In which the fights are completely unavoidable, either because of level design or game design. Every non- Optional Boss Fight is this, of course.

'''Skippable Encounters''' -- In which the enemies are represented as sprites on the screen and battles only begin when you collide or get close enough to them. Sort of a mid-way point between Random and Set Encounters, since while the monsters are always in roughly the same place, you don't HAVE to fight them.

By definition, any BossBattle that is not a SkippableBoss is a preexisting encounter, so don't bother listing them.

** And Ruby and Sapphire, for the same reasons as Gold ans Silver.

* ''DragonAge: Origins'' uses this, but for good reason. Enemies scale with your party's average level, and since stat do have caps in that game, grinding to level 99 makes all of the enemies nigh impossible to defeat since theirs don't.

* ''DragonQuestIX'' is the first of the main series to use this. Enemies spawn from the ground and will go after or avoid you depending on your level and you can choose to fight them or not. They show up as single sprites as you know who you're going to fight and other enemies may show up along too. This makes it easy if you want to fight MetalSlimes or collect a random drop item during a fetch quest.

* ''DragonQuestIX'' is the first in the main series to use this. Enemies spawn from the ground and will go after or avoid you depending on your level and you can choose to fight them or not. They show up as single sprites as you know who you're going to fight and other enemies may show up along too. This makes it easy if you want to fight MetalSlimes or collect a random drop item during a fetch quest.

* ''DragonAge: Origins'' uses this, but for good reason. Enemies scale with your party's average level, and since stat do have caps in that game, grinding to level 99 makes all of the enemies nigh impossible to defeat since their's don't.

* ''ParasiteEve 2''

* Numerous trainers in the ''{{Pokemon}}'' games are entirely avoidable, and legendaries (Except for the free roaming kinds) appear as sprites on the screen that the player has to walk up to to initiate the fight, and most can be ignored completely.

* The ''HarryPotter'' game for Game Boy Color. Enemies are represented as sparkling blue clouds.

* ''[[TheLEgendOfZelda Zelda II]]'' has certain squares on the overworld map that lead to a monster battle when stepped on, no matter what. There's a particularly annoying series of them near Death Mountain that you need to pass in order to reach the last part of the game.
** If your timing is just right, you can lure an enemy onto those squares and get off with a much easier encounter.
* ''CodeLyoko: Fall of X.A.N.A.'': Nearly every single battle is unavoidable because the monsters don't move on the field until the player (whose character is a "[[SuperDeformed Sooper Deformed]]" variation of one of the Lyoko Warriors from the series) enters a monster's detection area, which is guaranteed to cover the whole width of the path that you must go to the target of a mission, usually a Tower or a certain teleporter. As soon as you enter the field, the monster moves to you (suprisingly, except for Megatanks, but battle still ensues when triggered) and you enter the battle. The only skippable monsters usually guard alternate paths (which almost always lead to item-containing Data Packs, some of which contain vital Plug-ins (equippable items that require points to activate, similar to Badges in PaperMario, except that point upgrades are automatic) or powerful items). Most battles can be seen coming, except for certain boss battles, where the boss hides offscreen until the battle is triggered. And all battles in this game are RPG-style, rather than the action-based battles of the first two games.
* A good number of the fights in ''Crisis Core: FinalFantasyVII'' are like this, with the rest being RandomEncounters. The first dungeon uses them almost exclusively.

* DragonAge: Origins uses this, but for good reason. Enemies scale with your party's average level, and since stat do have caps in that game, grinding to level 99 makes all of the enemies nigh impossible to defeat since their's don't.

* in ''TheWorldEndsWithYou'', you fight Noise by scanning your surroundings with the Player Pin and then touching those red monstrous-looking symbols to begin battle. In essence, battles that don't advance the story or clear out invisible walls are completely optional, though you miss out on pins, EXP, and PP if you decide not to battle a lot. This can make things very difficult later; even on easy mode, the final boss essentially becomes a HopelessBossFight.

* The fifth game in the BreathOfFire series, ''Dragon Quarter'', got rid of random encounters and had the enemies appear on screen. It distinguished itself from other games that do this by encouraging you to use bait and traps to lure the enemies into better positions for you to attack them.
* In ''TheElderScrolls IV: Oblivion''; enemies may be concealed by terrain or vegetation, but often can be seen at a distance, and indeed may not see the character, giving the player the chance for a missile attack or just to flee undetected.
** This also holds true for ''The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind,'' though the sheer number of Cliff Racers you face can make it seem like you're fighting random encounters every step.

* {{Lufia}} II has enemies visible on the screen in dungeons, allowing you to avoid them if you wish. You can also stun them with arrows to dart past them with ease. Some of the enemies move in unusual set patterns, others can teleport around the room, and some puzzles even require you to lure monsters onto switches. There's even one puzzle that has you bet on which monster will win a race!

* With the exception of the situations mentioned under "Set Encounters", the standard for battles in ''Zelda II'' is that, while walking off-road, enemy sprites will appear and move about the map, and if you can avoid them then you won't go to the battle screen.

* ''Robotrek'' on the SNES has normal enemies usually meandering around the environment. If they see the player they will usually speed up and give chase. Any time the enemies touch the player's sides or back, they get the first move in battle. Though there are also a handful of mandatory, non-boss encounters.

* In ''Septerra Core: Legacy of the Ancients'', every battle is a set encounter. Worse, if you leave the map and have to backtrack later, every encounter is respawned in the exact same location. Some battles are skippable only if there's multiple ways to get to the destination, and even then, there's almost always at least one encounter on each route.
* Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers are not only preexisting, but limited. Almost all of them are avoidable.
* In [[DotHack Project .hack and .hack Conglomerate]] games (that is, first four IMOQ games and the GU games), all encounters are never random and can be seen clearly, though GU is less random than IMOQ. In IMOQ, enemies are represented by glyphs and while monsters correspond to area levels and keyword, it is still quite a surprise. In GU, all enemies are out in plain sight, going on a pre-existing path. Whether or not you want to engage or skip it is entirely your choice...to an extent. The way the Areas are mapped, usually consisting separate "islands" or "rooms" connected by paths, you may or may not be able to avoid enemies from seeing you and hence avoid battle (except for the wide open IMOQ Fields).
* The ''Legend of Heroes'' games, recently remade for PSP, have their "random" encounters wandering around the overworld. They'll home in on you at close range, but if you're careful, you can pretty much avoid them completely.

* The Harry Potter game for Game Boy Color. Enemies are represented as sparkling blue clouds.

* {{Freelancer}} has encounters set as 'Patrol Paths' which can be from any faction, although the factions they belong to are easy to deduce because of location and whether they're neutral, friendly or hostile.

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It should be noted that many games have a mix of two or more of the encounter styles, depending on the area you're in. See RoamingEnemy for when the gap between this and RandomEncounters is bridged somewhat. Also, InescapableAmbush and TeleportingKeycardSquad.

It should be noted that many games have a mix of two or more of the encounter styles, depending on the area you're in. See RoamingEnemy for when the gap between this and RandomEncounters is bridged somewhat.

* In ''MegamanBattleNetwork 5'', there are image data of some Navis on some places on the Net. The player could freely fight the image data any time they wanted to.
** In all the games, [=V2=]/Alpha boss rematches are invisible encounters set at specific points on the overworld, usually on a random dead end. You can actually tell when you have it right - MegaMan will return to his standing position right before the FightWoosh rather than freeze in the middle of a step.