History Main / SavageSetpiece

* ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' has sleeping bugs that sleep unless you a) get too close to them or b) attack them. You can find out which is which by looking at their eyes. The ones with half open eyes have the lighter slumber.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'', if you attack [=NPCs=] with your sword, the fires next to them start flinging fireballs at you.

See also HeroicNeutral and AwakeningTheSleepingGiant for story/characterization version of this trope. Compare HelpfulMook and ShopliftAndDie. Often overlaps with KillerRabbit.

** Downplayed with the [[https://megaman.fandom.com/wiki/Norieibi Norieibi]] a fish-like Reaverbot with two different sizes. The small Norieibis are content to swim around calmly, but if you attack any of them, all the Norieibis would start to attack you. The large Norieibis, however, are hostile by default and they fire missiles at you.

** The [[https://megaman.fandom.com/wiki/Mandomantal Mansomantal]] is a Reaverbot resembling a manta-ray. It's a harmless critter [[HelpfulMook serving as a moving platform]], and you can ride on it to reach the treasure chests on the pillars. Normally, it doesn't attack you and you only get hurt when you are in its path, but if you keep attacking it, it would eventually start to attack you with electric orbs before falling down.

This creature normally doesn't look or act like an enemy, and [[EverythingTryingToKillYou unlike everything else]], it's not interested in your blood. It's simply there to provide flavor. However, if you attack it or otherwise provoke it, it will turn on you and dish out the hurt.

See also HeroicNeutral and AwakeningTheSleepingGiant for story/characterization version of this trope. Compare HelpfulMook and ShopliftAndDie.

** Wolves behave with a similar pack instinct, except you can also tame them so that they'll gang up on monsters that attack you.

* The Zombie Pigman from ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' will even walk right up to you ''and look at you'' without attacking. When you attack him, not only does he attack full-on with his sword, but any other Pigmen in range come in swinging, and on the normal difficulty, they can take off a quarter of your maximum health with one hit. The game actually encourages you to attack them by making them drop gold nuggets, which is more fun than mining for gold and arguably faster. Wolves behave with a similar pack instinct, except you can also tame them so that they'll gang up on monsters that attack you. Spiders are hostile at night, but turn into this in the sunlight, albeit without the group attack. However, due to how the AI works, you can kill them without fear of reprisal by maneuvering them into harmful obstacles like cacti, nudging them off cliffs, or starting a fire ''under their feet''.
** The Endermen are a weird case because they define "provocation" as "looking directly at them." However, so long as you keep your crosshairs away from their noodly torsos, they'll just wander peacefully around [[BanditMook carrying their blocks]].

* For a short time, ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' had [[https://wow.gamepedia.com/Gamon Gamon]] in the Horde capital. He was originally level 13 and frequently killed by Horde players for no reason. However, just before the Cataclysm expansion, Gamon was [[TookALevelInBadass raised to level 85]], past the previous expansion's level limit, allowing him to deal enough damage to one-hit players attacking him. Gamon's status as a savage setpiece disappeared as Cataclysm released, allowing players to reach level 85.

* ''Videogame/{{Kirby}}'': The Scarfies are recurring adorable mooks who simply float in the air, being completely still. However, if Kirby try to [[VacuumMouth inhale]] them, they'll suddenly turn into hideous cyclopean critters who try to bite Kirby. Subverted in some games where sometimes they'll slowly drift towards Kirby (with the same hideous face) if he turns his back on them.

* ''VideoGame/Metro2033'' has the Librarians. If they're alerted to your presence, you can successfully stare them down, and they'll leave without bothering you. They'll only attack if you attack first, or you turn your back on them.

* Stuart Smith's ''VideoGame/AdventureConstructionSet'' had "Aggressive Neutral" as a possible AI setting for creatures. This type of creature will move around on its own, but won't attack unless the player (or some other Aggressive creature) hits it first. It then swaps to either "Aggressive Friend" (if an Enemy hit it) or "Aggressive Enemy" (if you did). Given the incredibly bad aim characters tend to have with missile weapons, accidentally triggering them is not difficult.

* In ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'', the Witch does nothing besides moan, sob and cue creepy music. If you attack her in any way (be it by bullet, melee, explosion or fire), get too close to her, shine your flashlight at her for long, and in some cases, look at her too long, she'll get startled, which means she'll run at you faster than a survivor can run when not under the effects of an epinephrine boost (although [[KillItWithFire not when she's on fire, then she's slower]]), claw the offender for either an instant incap or, on higher difficulties, a OneHitKill, and if said offender is incapped, she'll rake ''furiously'' at them. In some versions she'll rampage against the the other party members, too, out of sheer spite, and in all cases, she'll switch targets if another survivor [[ManOnFire lights her up]]. Sneaking past is the preferrable option, although the Director is often smart enough to spawn her at a chokepoint with no way around, and vanilla bots don't have enough AI to run past her one at a time, and that often forces the player to kill her by any means possible. While she's a {{Demonic Spider|s}} when all four Survivors are together, in any game mode where the player is alone, making stealth ''far'' more manageable, she's rarely more than an annoyance and a slowdown in pace, even less so than the Spitter.
** A particular example of this: the sugar mill. Even a single Survivor might have trouble weaving through dozens of the bitches.[[note]]This is an AscendedGlitch; the Director had an odd tendency to roll a lot of Witches for the area, and the designers decided it was worth hardcoding.[[/note]]

* In the jungle stage of ''{{VideoGame/Contra}} Hard Corps'', there's an apatosaurus whose back you land on after defeating one of the stage's minibosses. You have to walk up his neck and over his head to move on, but if you shoot his face, he'll unleash a stream of white-hot plasma DEATH out of his nose. In the Japanese version where you could take up to 3 hits before dying, this is the only attack in the game that kills you instantly.

* ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' has a turtle-like creature and its adorable babies in a certain room in Maridia. While they're normally utterly harmless, if you attack the little ones, [[MamaBear the mother will immediately spin around in her shell after you.]] This is how you can reach an item upgrade before acquiring the Space Jump.

** Multiple franchise installments have the Cuccos, vicious birds who many old-school gamers can recognize by name as being this trope. In every game they appear in and are attackable they'll gang up on Link and viciously destroy him should he poke them with his sword one too many times.

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'', if you attack [=NPCs=] with your sword, the fires next to them start flinging fireballs at you.

* ''Videogame/{{Kirby}}'': The Scarfies are recurring adorable mooks who simply float in the air, being completely still. However, if Kirby try to [[VacuumMouth inhale]] them, they'll suddenly turn into hideous cyclopean critters who try to bite Kirby. Subverted in some games where sometimes they'll slowly drift towards Kirby (with the same hideous face) if he turns his back on them.

Compare HelpfulMook and ShopliftAndDie.

* ''VideoGame/{{Pikmin}}'' has sleeping bugs that sleep unless you a) get too close to them or b) attack them. You can find out which is which by looking at their eyes. The ones with half open eyes have the lighter slumber.

** Similarly, the Long Guis and Shaolong Guis in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' ignore you completely unless you deliberately pick a fight with them. They don't show up nearly as early as the FFXII example, but they are very powerful for when you first encounter them. By the postgame of XIII, however, you'll be farming them if you want to achieve OneHundredPercentCompletion.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has a neutral NPC named [[http://www.wowhead.com/npc=6466#comments:id=1200166 Gamon]] in the Horde capital. He used to be the general beating doll, then apparently TookALevelInBadass and can now deal enough damage to one-hit players attacking him.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'' is absolutely ''lousy'' with these; the world is filled to the brim with monsters, a number of whom won't attack you unless you provoke them. The enormous Millesaurs are the earliest example. They're some of the largest and most powerful enemies in the game, but will ignore you as long as you leave them alone. The most extreme example is the game's BonusBoss; it's completely non-hostile. But if you attack it, it's the single most powerful enemy in the game.

* ''Super {{Metroid}}'' has a turtle-like creature and its adorable babies in a certain room in Maridia. While they're normally utterly harmless, if you attack the little ones, [[MamaBear the mother will immediately spin around in her shell after you.]] This is how you can reach an item upgrade before acquiring the Space Jump.

** The Elementals and Entites too. They appear in a variety of locations, all the same level regardless of region (so in some places they're overpowered and in others remarkably weak). Unfortunatly, casting magic anywhere near them will also set them off.

* ''VideoGame/Pikmin'' has sleeping bugs that sleep unless you a) get too close to them or b) attack them. You can find out which is which by looking at their eyes. The ones with half open eyes have the lighter slumber.

* Pikmin has sleeping bugs that sleep unless you a) get too close to them or b) attack them. You can find out which is which by looking at their eyes. The ones with half open eyes have the lighter slumber.

* ''Zelda''

* In ''VideoGame/TheElderscrollsIIIMorrowind'', the netch are non-aggressive animals resembling large flying jellyfish, but they can easily dispatch a low level character if provoked, especially the females.

* ''GuildWars2'' has a substantial amount of neutral fauna, ranging from roving herds of moa to lumbering oakhearts. They typically will not actively engage anyone, but if hit by anything (players or enemy mobs), they will defend themselves.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'' is absolutely ''lousy'' with these; the world is filled to the brim with monsters, a number of whom won't attack you unless you provoke them. The enormous Millesaurs are the earliest example. They're some of the largest and most powerful enemies in the game, but will ignore you as long as you leave them alone. The most extreme example is the game's BonusBoss; it's completely non-hostile. But if you attack it, it's the single most powerful enemy in the game.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Age of Empires|I}}'', elephants (except for King Elephants) only attack if you hurt them first. While they're dangerous to hunt as a result, you can safely ignore them. This is a big contrast to lions and crocodiles.
** Also, wild boars in VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII. Attempting to hunt one for food will likely end up with a few dead villagers (and boar) as a result.
* The Big Daddies basically fill this role in ''VideoGame/BioShock1''. They'll lumber past ignoring you all day long, but if you take a shot at them (or their Little Sister) they won't stop until one of you is dead. But if you do kill them, you can capture the Little Sister and loot their bodies for money and weapons.