History Main / RegeneratingHealth

* A variation of regenerating health occurs in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' and ''Episodes 1'' and ''2'' where it's the [=NPCs=] Alyx Vance, Father Grigori and Barney Calhoun who have regenerating health, instead of the main player Gordon Freeman who has to rely on health and armor pickups/stations. It helps makes the missions they accompany you in a lot easier because it allows them to stay in a fight, but they can still die if they are overwhelmed by Combine/Zombies/etc.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' has damage represented by [[ShowsDamage how much enemy ink is covering the Inkling]]. Spending some time out of fire will slowly "clean up" the Inkling, but doing so while swimming in their own ink significantly speeds this up. The Octarian enemies in the single player campaign can also regen by staying out of the fire, but only a handful of them are capable of swimming in their ink to accelerate it. In ''VideoGame/Splatoon2[=:=] Octo Expansion'', [[spoiler:[[DuelingPlayerCharacters Agent 3]] also gets this -- painful when you first fight them, [[SNKBoss incredibly brutal]] in their BonusBoss fight]].

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' gives this standard on all characters, turns it UpToEleven and combines it with generally reduced health. Particularly at higher difficulty levels, battles mainly consist of popping out of cover for a few shots, almost dying, then ducking back down and waiting a few seconds to completely heal. The in-universe explanation is that your armor has an onboard computer that detects injuries and releases small quantities of medi-gel to compensate.

** ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime2Echoes'' has certain safe zones in Dark Aether. Not only would they protect you from the corrosive effects of Dark Aether's atmosphere but they also caused your energy tank to slowly recharge which made them useful, even after getting the Light Suit which was immune to corrosive effects.

* ''VideoGame/PunchOut'', released in early 1984, is the UrExample. After a boxer gets knocked down and gets up again, the health generates, though never back to full health.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', since the OxygenMeter was shared with the LifeMeter, you could heal completely by simply finding water over Mario's head and Swimming It Off (except for the [[GrimyWater chilly water]] in [[SlippySlideyIceWorld Snowman's Land]]). This was removed in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy''.

* ''Videogame/DevilMayCry'': activating the [[SuperMode Devil Trigger]] will make Dante (or most other playable characters) regenerate his health for as long as it's active. It also works similarly in Videogame/MarvelVsCapcom3.

* ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' has regenerating health and missiles by using the Concentration technique, which can be interrupted by attacks. You can restore missiles at any time, but to recover energy, your health has to be below a certain threshold (critical status mostly), and that takes longer than regaining missiles. Reserve Tanks allow you to recover more energy and at a higher threshold. This mechanic is vital, since you cannot regain health or ammo unless you use a save station.
* ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime 2'' has certain safe zones in Dark Aether. Not only would they protect you from the corrosive effects of Dark Aether's atmosphere but they also caused your energy tank to slowly recharge which made them useful, even after getting the Light Suit which was immune to corrosive effects.

* Optional in ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'' -- upon returning enough pages to Cheato the spell book, he will eventually give you the "HONEYBACK" cheat, which, when turned on, will let you recover health at a steady rate. Alternatively, the Snooze Pack ability, found in Grunty Industries and available whenever Banjo is solo. He jumps into his pack and ''sleeps it off’’.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Paladins}}'', every champion has regenerating health that activates when they're not taking damage or using their abilities. However, it takes a few seconds for it to kick in and the regeneration isn't very fast, so it's more practical to be healed by a Support champion unless you find a good place to hide. There is a Healing item that makes this effect stronger.

* ''VideoGame/{{Xenoblade}}'' slowly regenerates health during battle and regenerates faster after battle. Health-restoring items do not exist because they are unnecessary.

** ''VideoGame/AceCombatAssaultHorizon'' brings this mechanic to the series for the first time, including the reddening screen. Some fans were... most displeased. To offset this though, health regenerates very slowly and you can still be taken down with at most three missiles. Playing on Ace difficulty, however, disables regenerating health. The game also introduces a checkpoint system for the first time. While a welcome addition to long missions, damage taken while in Ace difficulty does not recover to 100% health, only to how much you had before the checkpoint. This very quickly devolves into UnwinnableByMistake territory, which is, adding to the entire TheyChangedItNowItSucks view for this game, is like throwing saltwater, sand, and burning ash to a festering, infected wound.

* ''VideoGame/PunchOut'', released in early 1984, is the UrExample. After a boxer gets knocked down and gets up again, his health generates, though never back to full health.

* In the original ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'', using a shootdodge efficiently allows Max's pain meter (life meter) to fill up entirely without killing him. He then limps for a bit as the meter slowly empties to a certain point, at which point he's fine. Normally, it's pretty cool. Abused, it allows Max to do things like ''dive into a grenade blast and walk it off''. Then it's ''really'' cool. The third game has the health gauge depicted as a silhouette that gets filled with red as you take damage. If it reaches the head, Max will regenerate just enough health to get it back below the neck as long as manage to stop taking damage before it gets completely full of red.

* ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' is a TropeMaker of this mechanic. In ''VideoGame/{{Ys}} I and II'', your HP regenerates when you stand in place outdoors or in cleared {{Boss Room}}s. Once you get the Heal Ring (or the Cape of Holy Spirit in ''II''), you can regenerate health in dungeons as well. Most of the later games also have some type of HP-regenerating item (which sometimes consumes MP).

** In the ''VideoGame/WingsOfLiberty'' campaign, Regenerative Biosteel is available from the Hyperion Lab as perk, mutually exclusive to the Cellular Reactor perk. The former allows mechanic units to regenerate while the later increases the starting and maximum energy of spell casters. The later is typically recommended however due to the questionable slow regeneration.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Starcraft}}'', Zerg units and structures regenerate health albeit at a rather slow rate.

** In ''Warcraft'' II, the Troll Berserkers can acquire the ability to slowly regenerate health.

* In ''VideoGame/FarCry: Instincts'', Jack Carver is a biochemically altered superhuman who regenerates most wounds very quickly. The rate of healing is proportional to the amount of adrenaline he has, however; if he's overusing his Feral Attack, Feral Run, or Feral Vision abilities, he's stuck with health that slowly creeps back up, while if his adrenaline is full, he can hide behind cover in a firefight and be fully healed in seconds.

* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}''. However, only the lower half of your LifeMeter will be regenerated, after which it doesn't regenerate any more. [[{{VideoGame/Prototype2}} The sequel]] includes upgrades that let you regenerate to 100%.

A SisterTrope to GradualRegeneration, RegeneratingShieldStaticHealth, RegeneratingMana. Compare/contrast RestingRecovery.

[[folder: Platformers]]