Animal abuse in video games

[OKeijiDragon]

Have you ever noticed any animal abuse in video games?

I know that in some games like Mega Man Legends where you can do more then just kick dogs. In fact, in its Japanese counterpart, Rockman DASH,

(This video is almost full of annotations that save me the trouble of describing everything in complete detail.)

There's more too. In many Zelda games you can strike at the Cuccos (The chickens) out of amusement. Though, they'll practically curse you with a flurry of them after your cruel ass.

Also, in the MOTHER/EarthBound series, you can strikes stray dogs, crows, etc. with a baseball bat. Even though its in self-defense. Plus, in MOTHER 3, there's a character that shocks his monkey servant out of amusement.

What kind of examples of "animal abuse" do you spot in video games nowadays and before?

Edited March 8, 2009 by Keiji Dragon

[Thirsty Pocket]

Super Mario World's Yoshi.

Press A and B at the same time to initiate "Ejection mode" ...Mario would rather sacrifice Yoshi then go down the pit with him.

Apparently the story behind Donkey Kong is that Jump Man ( Mario ) had a pet gorilla that he would abuse, and it escaped and kidnapped his girlfriend, Pauline.

In the Legend of Zelda, the Wind Waker, I get my jollies by throwing Pigs off of cliffs.

Pokemon.

[Indigo Rush]

You can abuse the heck out of Chao. You can even kill them.

[Badnik Zero]

Rolling up animals in Katamari Damacy.

It's not really a problem, most games punish you for beating on animals for no reason.

[Sega DogTagz]

You can abuse the heck out of Chao. You can even kill them.

Why Sonic Team allowed Gamma to “lock-on” to Chao I’ll never know. That dude was the reaper of death and my Chao avoided him at all costs.

Anyway in CoD4, the enemy would often release dogs after you which you had to kill before they could kill you. Not really animal abuse (more so self-defense) but there is a segment of the game where you are

given the choice to avoid a wild dog or kill it. The latter piece of work could be considered abuse and would invoke the wrath of a pack of the beasts to punish you for your crime.

[Thirsty Pocket]

I have not played much of the game, but in EarthWorm Jim, one of the first things you do is send a Cow flying through the air...

[pooshoes]

Killing rats and crows in Metal Gear Solid ends in a lulzy codec call from either the General or Naomi (I forget), reminding Snake that he wasn't sent to Shadow Moses as an exterminator/scarecrow.

[CtW]

Fable lets you kick chickens about and keeps a record of the farthest distance you've kicked a chicken, if memory serves.

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion lets you take your sword, warhammer, axe, fire spell, etc. to any dogs, sheep, or horses you feel like killing. (I once killed every sheep in the game, in fact.) You can kill wolves, bears, and mountain lions, too, but since they're hostile you don't have much choice unless you have a paralyze or calm spell to use on them. Oblivion's expansion has enemies called skinned hounds which could be considered post-abuse I guess, but they're really more of a zombie-ish thing.

Destroy All Humans! lets you kill cows in various ways.

Edited March 8, 2009 by Cipher

[LATER BUDDY]

In lots of Sonic games, you can drown this one particular hedgehog if you wish...

In Okami, I like grabbing cats and flinging them off the edge, XD. The appear right back though, .

I guess any game where you the playable character would technically be considered animal cruelty if you suck at the game, XD.

-Blur

[Badnik Zero]

In lots of Sonic games, you can drown this one particular hedgehog if you wish...

Let's not forget Tails dying in every imaginable way during any playthrough of Sonic 2.

[Patticus]

You can also shoot harmless birds flying overhead in Metroid Prime. However, some games where there could be animal abuse specifically don't allow it - Call of Juarez will shut itself down if you try too many times to shoot a horse or dog or an innocent creature like that, and before it does that the character won't even shoot it, he'll protest and say "No!" and the crosshair turns into a big red X.

[Satan]

Counterpoint: In Twisted Metal, the only pedestrian you couldn't run over was the dog in the suburbs. The manual said it's because they're "not that sick".

[Kernel Machinegun]

You can also use cats as silencers for your guns in Postal 2 and they die off eventually.

It's a very senselessly violent game, however it has this black humor flowing through it.

[Mollfie]

Its just a game, I doubt most people here would actually abuse real animals. Just as most people who play FPS, fighters, or any violent games wouldnt actually go out and kill people. Its just the nutjobs that do and thats not because of video games.

[Sega DogTagz]

^ agreed. Videogames get a way too bad a rep with their involvement into illegal/immoral behavior.

Edited March 8, 2009 by Sega DogTagz

[CtW]

Its just a game, I doubt most people here would actually abuse real animals. Just as most people who play FPS, fighters, or any violent games wouldnt actually go out and kill people. Its just the nutjobs that do and thats not because of video games.

Agreed. I mean I would never electrocute a sheep and use it's corpse to store weaponry in real life, (though a taxidermy sheep container does sound interesting... ) but I'm fine with doing it in a game.

[Mollfie]

^ exactly lol, I love animals I won't even kill bugs but I don't see an issue with smacking a chicken around in a game. It's not real.

[7Force]

Postal 2 has some pretty sick animal abuse in that. You can shoot dogs or cats and even stick the cats on your gun and fire them at people heck you can even set them on fire.

Yes its wrong but sorta funny at the same time.

[Mollfie]

^ rofl I love Postal XD it's so stupid and violent

[Scorch]

You can abuse the heck out of Chao. You can even kill them.

You can? I didn't know that was possible. If so, I would have done that long ago, since I happen to hate Chao.

[Gabz Girl]

You can stomp and kill innocent widdle turtles in the Mario games. Mushrooms don't count. 8(

Anima cruelty in video games is fine, afterall they're just computer thingies. So long it's not done in really bad taste, I don't mind it. XP

Ok, that was mostly hilarious, sorry. XD;;; Just the yowling cats falling from the sky and the end where they looked more like burnt human babies made me laugh.

EDIT: Wait...you can actually kill Chao? O.O I never knew that. I thought you could only scar them for life and make them hate you.

Edited March 8, 2009 by Gabz Girl

[Max Gene]

I believe the original DC games had an HP amount, and they would die when it hit zero, or so they claimed. In the gamecube ones, you were limited to drastically reducing their lifespan.

[OKeijiDragon]

Oh yes another example is Duck Hunt. How could I fail to remember the quintessential duck hunting game?

[Max Gene]

Save the ducks/chickens/kitties/whales, kill the people. Why hasn't anyone mentioned Bowser, who's some form of lab turtle gone awry? No one ever sticks up for the cruel results of evil experiments...

[Vertekins]

EDIT: Wait...you can actually kill Chao? O.O I never knew that. I thought you could only scar them for life and make them hate you.

I do know that if you use a Chao as a punchbag and starve it, it will die. When the time comes, the Chao looks sad and it's ball above it's head turns into a swirl. It encases itself in a gray coccoon then disappears forever. Comparitively, a reincarnating Chao will encase itself in a pink coccoon and will leave it's egg behind. The reincarnated hatchling with have stats at one tenth of their original value and if it had a medal or jewel on it's belly from it's previous life, it will keep that.

Chao abuse can be pretty whack. Chao will run and scream if the abusing character is nearby (Though their scream sounds pretty hilarious) and if the Chao has been hit enough, it'll sit down and move it's head around with dizzy spiral eyes then grab it as if it has a headache.

Animal abuse in videogames? I know in that PS2 game 'A Dog's Life', it's possible to pick up a cat in the dog's mouth and shake it around savagely.

Heck, in SONIC '06 I swear you can attack the realistic dog's that are around Soleanna and they'll whine or bark.

Edited March 8, 2009 by Verte