In the real world, swimming is a skill that usually must be learned over a period of time - and that's just for swimming on the surface. Swimming underwater is another skill all on its own that must be learned, and even then, no human can stay under for more than a couple of minutes or so at the most without the aid of some special equipment, or some continuous training to boost lung capacity.
In fiction, however, this appears not to be the case. Video games are the biggest offender here. Any character that doesn't have Super Drowning Skills
has a completely natural ability to swim like a fish, even if they've lived out in someplace like a desert their entire life.
Usually, though, they must acquire some special outfit or equipment in order to be able to swim underwater - but once they do acquire it, they are immediately able to use it like a total pro,
and don't require any practice using it or moving around in the water with it whatsoever.
Then there's also the fact that in many video games, characters can swim and tread water for indefinite amounts of time without getting tired. In Real Life
, swimming exerts a great amount of physical strength and energy, and gets very, very exhausting after some time, even for Olympic Swimmers (the namesake of this trope). Of course, they're also capable of walking for hundreds of miles on dry land without a break either...
This may be a somewhat Acceptable Break from Reality
, however. If characters in video games had even remotely realistic swimming skills, it would take a lot of fun out of exploring underwater ruins
and such, and not to mention it would be extremely aggravating for players
Compare Super Not Drowning Skills
for holding your breath indefinitely. Contrast Super Drowning Skills
and Hazardous Water
. See also Water Is Air
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- in Paperinik New Adventures, Korinna swims at an incredible pace and seems to be able to hold her breath for incredible amounts of time.
- Averted with The Poseidon Adventure. Belle used to be a champion underwater swimmer, but she's years older now, and although she makes it through to the other side of the underwater area and saves the reverend, it's too much for her heart and she dies.
- In Percy Jackson and the Olympians, this is one of the powers that Percy has inherited from his father Poseidon, god of the sea.
- Poseidon is a Greek god, sometimes known as an Olympian. His son Percy is a literal Olympic Swimmer (in that he is descended from an Olympian, not actually competing in The Olympics).
- In the Assassin's Creed series, starting with the second game, the player character always has perfect swimming skills: never gets tired and never sinks no matter how much armor he or she is wearing. In Assassin's Creed III, the player can also swim in icy-cold water without suffering hypothermia or frostbite. There is a concession to realism in that you can only hold your breath underwater for a certain amount of time (in gameplay this grants total concealment from enemies) before having to come up for air. All other characters in the series have Super Drowning Skills.
- In Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 & 3, Tanya Adams can swim across any sized body of water without slowing down to sink a dreadnought with C4. A few other infantry units from all factions in 3 are this as well
- Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time: In contrast to the previous game, the hero and whatever allies s/he picks up can swim and even dive indefinitely despite their heavy equipment. An area in one dungeon is entirely swum.
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas allows the player to swim indefinitely and never grow tired the first time they ever jump in the water.
- Half Minute Hero: If Hero doesn't have a boat, he'll just swim across the ocean.
- Both Everquest and Everquest II have a breath mechanism, but beyond that swimming is just another movement mechanic. Both games have a Swimming skill but its only effect on the game is how fast you move when swimming. You can swim in any water forever without tiring or freezing, you can tread water forever and if you have any item or spell that eliminates the breath meter (underwater breathing or a Fishbone Earring or whatever) you can swim forever if you care to do it. In Everquest II you can swim from one continent to another if you have the time (zone edge mechanics block this behavior in Everquest).