History Main / VulnerableCivilians

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', settlements can be attacked by Raiders, Gunners, or other monsters at any time, though Defense assets reduce the likelihood of this. Although merchants can only be knocked unconscious by NPC attacks, [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace the player can still accidentally kill them while they're down]], and one's death renders any [[InfinityPlusOneSword unique gear]] sold by them LostForever.

* There are a few ''GuildWars'' missions and quests where different types of civilian [=NPCs=] get attacked by monsters. They generally do very little damage and die quickly, with attack animations resembling punches and hits.

* The FireEmblem series uses this from time to time. Most notably in the [[FireEmblemJugdral Jugdral games]], which prominently featured a demonic cult that hunted down and sacrificed children. Interestingly, saving a civilian resulted in an automatic level-up in ''Genealogy of the Holy War''.

!!Examples:

* In the original ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life}}'', and its expansions, the player can kill just about everyone, including their fellow colleagues and security guards meant to help them. The only person that cannot be harmed is the mysterious and seemingly bulletproof G-Man.
* In [[VideoGame/{{BoilingPointRoadtoHell}} Boiling Point: Road to Hell]], the player is free to engage in hostilities against everybody in Realia. This includes the civilian faction. They're not completely harmless, 'tho- cross a certain line, and old grannies will start peppering you with grenades, which they carry in their handbags. It's a tough country, after all.
* Done in very strange ways in VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown: during terror missions, the aliens would often ignore your soldiers for the chance to kill a civilian, if they had to choose. And FridgeLogic rears its ugly head when you realize the aliens had ''hours'' to themselves from when you were alerted of the mission to your actual arrival on scene, and apparently waited for you to show up before starting the civvie killing. Psychological warfare?
* Done in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' when you're in areas where you can actually fight monsters. The [=NPCs=] (who generally tend to be adventurers themselves) can and do get into fights with monsters all on their own, while monsters will even pick fights with each other as predatory animals are wont to do in RealLife.
* Used in ''TheSaboteur''. The Nazi soldiers occupying Paris gladly abuse and execute civilians, often just for the hell of it. It gets sadistic (as expected of the Nazis) when German soldiers pass civilians on the street and proceed punch them and beat them up for no real reason other than that they can. And if the civilians fight back, or are simply witnesses to the abuse, they get shot down as they attempt to run away, or get arrested and sent to some unspeakable fate.
* Used in ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}''. The zombies of the zombie apocalypse will happily chow down on the hapless citizens of New York City. [[VideogameCrueltyPotential And you can kill them yourself,]] if you want to.
* In ''{{Crackdown}}'', jaywalking civilians can repeatedly get up after being struck by a car at high speed, provided that the driver is another civilian. However, they're very vulnerable in other ways - freaks specifically target civilians, for example.
* Mostly played straight in ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' -- the New York, Paris and Hong Kong levels are all full of [=NPCs=], and just about all of them can be hurt or killed... except for some plot-dependent characters such as Paul Denton and Walton Simons, who are invulnerable until the game decides otherwise.
* The invulnerabillity of the VideoGame/GoldenEye1997 civilians depends on the difficulty levels. Turning them from meat shields into bullet sponges... which the military doesn't seem to care about either way. Of course, hiding behind them is fine... but rolling them over in a tank is not. Eventually.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' uses a system similar to ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', where the smaller, open-area towns like Big Town, Canterbury Commons, Arefu, or Republic of Dave were occasionally subject to random monster attacks, which can result in the death of quest-related [=NPCs=]. In fact, monsters would sometimes spawn ''right inside the town itself''. At higher levels, this would often involve Yao Guai or Deathclaws, resulting in the death of everyone inside the town. Additionally, there are a number of named [=NPCs=], most notably the merchant caravans, that roam the wasteland and are likely to be eventually eaten by monsters. Especially the high-level monsters such as Albino Radscorpions from the ''Broken Steel'' DLC.
** In ''Point Lookout'', Madame Panada, one of the DLC's two merchants, has set up shop outdoors in the fairground ruins, leaving her a sitting duck for the hostile Tribals that spawn after you place the Cogwave Jammer. As with the caravan merchants, you can retrieve the key from her corpse to loot her inventory.
** Most ''Fallout 3'' [=NPCs=] central to morality-type quests cannot be killed, only knocked unconscious. For example, the NPC [[spoiler:Victoria Watts]] will start following your character around when her morality-type quest is activated, meaning she can turn up almost anywhere in an invulnerable state (as I discovered when accidentally [[spoiler:Mini-Nuking]] her [[spoiler:up north near Raven Rock]], assuming she was an attacker). These same [=NPCs=] often lose their invulnerability right after giving you the quest-specific message.
** All of the child [=NPCs=] in ''Fallout 3'' (those who aren't killed by scripted effects) are completely invulnerable.
** In previous ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' titles, any human can be killed: shopkeepers, random civilians, even children. Killing children makes everyone hate you and [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment can even draw bounty hunters after you]]. Also, killing people in your hometown can trigger a NonStandardGameOver. Unlike ''Fallout 3'', however, towns were never subject to random monster attacks.
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' fixes the monster spawning locations so that monsters no longer randomly spawn right in the middle of settlements. It's still possible for monsters(such as the Deathclaws near Sloan or Cazadores near Jacobstown) to chase you into town and kill the residents, though. As with ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', travelling and outdoor merchants, such as the 188 Trading Post and Grub & Gulp Rest Stop, are easy prey for Legionary Assassins, raiders, and other baddies. Often, they will [[LeeroyJenkins suicidally charge the enemy]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', settlements can be attacked by Raiders, Gunners, or other monsters at any time, though Defense assets reduce the likelihood of this. Although merchants can only be knocked unconscious by NPC attacks, [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace the player can still accidentally kill them while they're down]], and one's death renders any [[InfinityPlusOneSword unique gear]] sold by them LostForever.
* Played straight in ''{{Ultima}}: Martian Dreams'', where roaming monsters would attack and kill members of the Martian expedition if you left the doors to their houses open after visiting them. This made the game unwinnable, so you needed to remember to always close doors behind you to keep your buddies safe.
* Done in ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'', where every character (including major characters) could be killed, and most human settlements were subject to random mutant or bandit attacks. The only two exceptions are Barkeep and Sidorovich[[note]]Because of an oversight with a late game scene where you suddenly teleport back to his bunker for a few seconds, it's possible to kill him with a grenade, but from a gameplay standpoint this is actually just a copy of him.[[/note]], because they stay in bunkers where you can't draw weapons. Thus, it was entirely possible for quests to become unobtainable as major characters were killed in random shootouts.
* Used in the ''VideoGame/{{Crusader}}'' games. Friendly fire is in fact quite possible if there are enough enemies, and since there are [[NoOSHACompliance civilians present in many dangerous areas of the game]]... In fact in some cases you ''should'' shoot them, as some of them will try to sound the alarm when they see you. The closest the game gets to penalizing the player for killing civilians is the fact that in the second game, they don't have anything of value to loot from their corpses.
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', monsters never invade walled towns, but monsters that travel along the main road will attack travelling {{NPC}}s on the road as well as smaller settlements and farmsteads, if they spot an NPC working on their farm. Because all [=NPCs=] in ''Oblivion'' (except for patrolling imperial guards) are unique individuals (many of whom give sidequests) rather than randomly spawned characters, each NPC killed by monsters is one less person in the game world, who will not be replaced, and if they were part of a sidequest, their deaths make that quest unfinishable.
* Most of what was said about ''Oblivion'' above also applies to ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', with the added fact that a dragon can strike almost anywhere outdoors, including towns, and if you don't take it down quick then an NPC or two will most likely get caught in the crossfire and die. Some plot-critical [=NPCs=] are [[InvulnerableCivilians invulnerable]], but more often a family member, friend, or apprentice of the deceased will often take their place (if they were a shopkeeper or blacksmith or something), and those who knew them will now comment on what a tragic waste it was that their life was cut off.
* In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'', civilians (and their technician brethren) are very weak, they fire at their target for a few seconds then run around uncontrollably with their arms flailing for several more.
* There are a few ''GuildWars'' missions and quests where different types of civilian [=NPCs=] get attacked by monsters. They generally do very little damage and die quickly, with attack animations resembling punches and hits.
* ''{{Starcraft}}'' has a number of "civilian" and "scientist" units in some of the missions that are considered non-neutral units. They cannot attack at all, and have somewhat lower hit points than terran infantry units.
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', some mobs will attack critters (small creatures that won't battle and have very little HP like rabbits, etc). The game keeps most [=NPCs=] and mobs seperate by design (apart from the odd EscortMission) though.

* The FireEmblem series uses this from time to time. Most notably in the [[FireEmblemJugdral Jugdral games]], which prominently featured a demonic cult that hunted down and sacrificed children. Interestingly, saving a civilian resulted in an automatic level-up in ''Genealogy of the Holy War.''

* In ''Videogame/DarkSouls'' and ''Videogame/DarkSoulsII'', non-player characters won't draw aggro from enemies, but enemy attacks can still hurt and kill them. Your attacks can also hurt and kill them. In most cases doing so will raise your Sin level (a bad thing unless you really enjoy being invaded).
* Played with in ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' during some escort missions. If you attack an npc they won't take damage, but if an enemy hurts them enough to kill them it's mission over.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', settlements can be attacked by Raiders, Gunners, or other monsters at any time, though Defense assets reduce the likelihood of this. Caravan and outdoor merchants are just as vulnerable as in previous games, and one's death renders any [[InfinityPlusOneSword unique gear]] sold by them LostForever.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', settlements can be attacked by Raiders, Gunners, or other monsters at any time, though Defense assets reduce the likelihood of this. Caravan and outdoor merchants are just as vulnerable as in previous games.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', settlements can be attacked by raiders at any time, though Defense assets reduce the likelihood of this. Caravan merchants are just as vulnerable as in previous games.

* Used in the ''VideoGame/{{Crusader}}'' games. Friendly fire is in fact quite possible if there are enough enemies, and since there are [[NoOSHACompliance civilians present in many dangerous areas of the game]]...

* The invulnerabillity of the ''Goldeneye 64'' civilians depends on the difficulty levels. Turning them from meat shields into bullet sponges... which the military doesn't seem to care about either way. Of course, hiding behind them is fine... but rolling them over in a tank is not. Eventually.

* In Boiling Point: Road to Hell, the player is free to engage in hostilities against everybody in Realia. This includes the civilian faction. They're not completely harmless, 'tho- cross a certain line, and old grannies will start peppering you with grenades, which they carry in their handbags. It's a tough country, after all.

* Done in very strange ways in ''X-COM: Enemy Unknown'': During terror missions, the aliens would often ignore your soldiers for the chance to kill a civilian, if they had to choose. And FridgeLogic rears its ugly head when you realize the aliens had ''hours'' to themselves from when you were alerted of the mission to your actual arrival on scene, and apparently waited for you to show up before starting the civvie killing. Psychological warfare?

* Done in ''VideoGame/{{STALKER}}'', where every character (including major characters) could be killed, and most human settlements were subject to random mutant or bandit attacks. Thus, it was entirely possible for quests to become unobtainable as major characters were killed in random shootouts.

* In ''Videogame/DarkSouls'' and ''Videogame/DarkSoulsII'', non-player characters won't aggro enemies, but enemy attacks can still hurt and kill them. Your attacks can also hurt and kill them. In most cases doing so will raise your Sin level (a bad thing unless you really enjoy being invaded).

* ''Goldeneye'' for the N64. To such a point that using them as a meat shields becomes a viable survival tactic.

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' fixes the monster spawning locations so that monsters no longer randomly spawn right in the middle of settlements. It's still possible for monsters(such as the Deathclaws near Sloan) to chase you into town and kill the residents, though. As with ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', travelling and outdoor merchants, such as the 188 Trading Post and Grub & Gulp Rest Stop, are easy prey for Legionary Assassins, raiders, and other baddies. Often, they will [[LeeroyJenkins suicidally charge the enemy]].

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' fixes the monster spawning locations so that monsters no longer randomly spawn right in the middle of settlements. It's still possible for monsters to chase you into town and kill the residents, though. As with ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', travelling and outdoor merchants, such as the 188 Trading Post and Grub & Gulp Rest Stop, are easy prey for Legionary Assassins, raiders, and other baddies. Often, they will [[LeeroyJenkins suicidally charge the enemy]].

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' fixes the monster spawning locations so that monsters no longer randomly spawn right in the middle of settlements. It's still possible for monsters to chase you into town and kill the residents, though. As with ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', travelling and outdoor merchants(e.g. the 188 and Grub & Gulp) are easy prey for Legionary Assassins, raiders, and other baddies.

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' fixes the monster spawning locations so that monsters no longer randomly spawn right in the middle of settlements. It's still possible for monsters to chase you into town and kill the residents, though. As with ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', travelling and open-air merchants(e.g. the 188 and Grub & Gulp) are easy prey for Legionaries, Fiends, and other baddies.

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' fixes the monster spawning locations so that monsters no longer randomly spawn right in the middle of settlements. It's still possible for monsters to chase you into town and kill the residents, though, which is a common problem when you gain infamy with one or more of the major factions and have the hit squads coming after you.

* In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'', civilians are very weak and can get squished if they get in the way of a tank rush or the like.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' uses a system similar to ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'', where the smaller, open-area towns like Big Town, Canterbury Commons, Arefu, or Republic of Dave were occasionally subject to random monster attacks, which can result in the death of quest-related [=NPCs=]. In fact, monsters would sometimes spawn ''right inside the town itself''. At higher levels, this would often involve Yao Guai or Deathclaws, resulting in the death of everyone inside the town. Additionally, there are a number of named [=NPCs=], most notably the merchant caravans, that roam the wasteland and are likely to be eventually eaten by monsters. Especially the high-level monsters such as Albino Radscorpions from the ''Broken Steel'' DLC.

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' fixes the monster spawning locations so that monsters no longer randomly spawn right in the middle of settlements. It's still possible for monsters to chase you into town and kill the residents, though, which is a common problem when you gain infamy with one or more of the major factions and have hit squads chasing you.

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' fixes the monster spawning locations so that monsters no longer randomly spawn right in the middle of settlements. It's still possible for monsters to chase you into town and kill the residents, though.