This is the first of three overviews on failure of metals. Here, brittle and ductile failure under monotonic loadings are addressed within the context of the local approach to fracture. In this approach, focus is on linking microstructure, physical mechanisms and overall fracture properties. The part on brittle fracture focuses on cleavage and also covers intergranular fracture of ferritic steels. The analysis of cleavage concerns both BCC metals and HCP metals with emphasis laid on the former. After a recollection of the Beremin model, particular attention is given to multiple barrier extensions and the crossing of grain boundaries. The part on ductile fracture encompasses the two modes of failure by void coalescence or plastic instability. Although a universal theory of ductile fracture is still lacking, this part contains a comprehensive coverage of the topic balancing phenomenology and mechanisms on one hand and microstructure-based modeling and simulation on the other hand, with application examples provided.