History ArmorPiercingQuestion / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOdyssey'': Downplayed. Creator/{{Socrates}} is a major character, and every conversation with him involves lots of pointed questions designed to force people to think, even if that requires Socrates to contradict what he just said thirty seconds ago. The one thing everyone agrees on is that talking to him is a pain in the ass.

-->[[spoiler:'''Chara:''' You want to go back. [[YouBastard You want to go back to the world, you destroyed. It was you who pushed everyting to its edge. It was you who led the world to its destruction. ...You think you are above consequences.]]\\

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'', Asbel's biggest CrowningMomentOfAwesome comes when he asks "AndThenWhat" to the villain. The FinalBoss is ranting about how [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters humans are evil]], and how he's going to KillEmAll. Asbel promptly turns this into an Armor-Piercing Question by asking "[[{{Deconstruction}} Okay, then what? If you kill everybody, you'll be totally alone, and you and everything in the entire world will die. You really want that?]]" The BigBad is silent for a {{Beat}}, then basically throws a tantrum and begins the final boss battle proper. [[spoiler:After defeating him, Asbel shows Lambda that there's another way by proving that HumansAreSpecial.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'' has one from the finale of the goblin quests. The god of war has possessed your friend, Zanik. During the fight, she can regenerate indefinitely thanks to said god's power. At one point, she says she has to kill you because humans are the enemy. The player asks her: "But am ''I'', personally, ''your'' enemy?"

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': "Does this unit have a soul?" Which, depending on [[spoiler:whether or not you end the war that started with the same question,]] makes this an extremely Armor Piercing Question.

--> '''[[AllLovingHero Noel]]''': "I've never seen a... [[LittleBitBeastly beastkin]], before, so I..."
--> '''[[TheSmartGuy Tsubaki]]''': "And, I've never seen a live squirrel, either..."
--> '''[[CuteMonsterGirl Makoto]]''': "That has nothing to do with it. [[FantasticRacism I'm completely different from you guys]]."
--> '''Noel''': "[[FantasticAesop What's so different about you?]]"
--> '''Makoto''': "Different? Uh... The difference..." *{{beat}}* "...I'm not..." *begins crying* "I'm ''not'' different from anyone else! I'M NOT! I wanna be the same! I just wanted to be the same..."

--> '''Dalish Warden''': You administer blessings to Elves?
--> '''Priestess''': Of course. The Maker accepts all those who would hear him.
--> '''Dalish Warden''': And does he ''steal'' the Homeland of those who don't?

--> '''Anora''': Did you kill [[TheGoodKing Cailan]]?
--> '''Loghain''': ...[[NeverMyFault Cailan's death was his own doing.]]

--> '''Miraak''': [[YouBastard Do you ever wonder if it hurts? To have one's soul ripped out like that?]]

---> '''Sazh:''' "You think you die, and that's that? You think you die and everything'll be sugar and rainbows?!"

-->" You... will remember me, won't you, Father? [[spoiler:Even once the Cynthia of this world is born?]]"

--->'''Maribelle''': "I could bring you to [[UnproblematicProstitution an establishment where a pack of lovely ladies wait on you]]."
--->'''Lon'qu''': "[[NotDistractedByTheSexy Pass.]] ...Wait. [[NotSoAboveItAll How would you]] know about such a place?

'''Darko Brevic:''' (laughing) A thousand.\\
'''Niko Bellic:''' (Close to tears) You killed my friends for one thousand dollars?\\
'''Darko Brevic:''' (laughing) How much do YOU charge to kill someone?\\
'''Niko Bellic:''' (pauses) You ruined me, you fuck!]]

-->'''Trevor''': Let me just ask you something, alright, something I've been thinking about. Up in North Yankton, exactly ''who'' was buried in your place?

---> '''Cross''': ''With all the historical knowledge stored in your data banks... Do you really believe, continuing as it has been, the human race can actually survive on its own?''
---> '''GAIA''': ''The odds against that are astronomical. Very well, Doctor, I will allow you to conduct your experiments, but I will also start my own.''

-->'''The Exile:''' [[spoiler:Sion]]... Your life... Was it worth living?\\
'''[[spoiler:Darth Sion:]]''' ...It was not. No matter how many Jedi I killed... No matter how many lay broken at my feet... The pain would not end. [[WhoWantsToLiveForever I am glad to be rid of this place]].

-->'''Shepard:''' They sound like wonderful people. The galaxy is lesser for their loss.\\

'''Shepard:''' Do you think they'd want you to do this? (*Asari has a meltdown*)

-->[[spoiler:'''The Illusive Man:''' "We don't have to destroy them! I can end this war! I can '''control''' them, Shepard!"]]\\
'''Shepard:''' "Are you willing to [[spoiler:stake humanity's existence on it?]]"\\
[[spoiler:'''The Illusive Man:''' "[[FreakOut I... I...]]"]]

-->[[spoiler:'''Mordin:''' "[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness I MADE A MISTAKE!]]"]]

-->'''Javik''': Stand in the ashes of a ''trillion'' dead souls, and ask the ghosts if "honor" matters! *{{beat}}* ...that silence is your answer.

'''Max Payne:''' [narrating] The things I want, by Max Payne. A whisky, a smoke, for the sun to shine. I want to sleep to forget, to rewrite the past, my wife and baby girl back, unlimited ammo and a license to kill. More than anything at that moment, I wanted her.

--> '''Gaius:''' "Yes, to try and live a satisfying life. How do you think one can achieve that? Do you even know?"
--> '''Jude:''' "W-well..."

-->[[spoiler:'''Sin''': "It's almost like you're telling me I shouldn't trust anybody, or just go be a grumpy, lonely bounty hunter."]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Sol''': ...!]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Sin''': Your world must be real small. You could at least try and make some friends. I think you'd like it, honestly.]]

-->'''[[{{Jerkass}} Beclem]]''': Going to help him [Wakka]? I'm not going to wait much longer.\\
'''Yuna''': You want to see it burn that badly?\\
'''Beclem''': ''(gasps at her question, but tries to regain his composure)'' It's... for the safety of the village.

-->[[spoiler:'''Chara''': You want to go back.]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Chara''': [[YouBastard You want to go back to the world, you destroyed.]]]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Chara''': It was you who pushed everyting to its edge.]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Chara''': It was you who led the world to its destruction.]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Chara''': ...You think you are above consequences.]]\\

--> '''Kerrigan:''' You were the only one who ever believed in me. Do you still believe in me?

*** At least one LetsPlay of the game suggests that the ArmorPiercingResponse to Breen's question is [[spoiler:[[HopeBringer hope]]]].
*** Another possible response — one which Gordon should think of easily, if he's as smart as we're meant to believe — is that Breen's question is fallacious, since it's predicated on the idea that creation is innately good and destruction is innately bad. One could just as easily ask what Breen has created, and any honest answer would reveal that he's created a lot of misery, death, and suffering, which obviously is ''not'' good. One could also ask Breen what he has destroyed, and an honest answer would be that [[Hypocrite he's destroyed far more than Gordon could ever hope to]].

* Delivered by [[BigBad Doctor Breen]] in the penultimate level of ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', and repeated, [[spoiler:posthumously]], at the beginning of ''Half-Life 2: Episode 1''.
-->''"Tell me, Dr. Freeman. If you can. You have destroyed so much. What is it exactly that you have created? Can you name even one thing?"''
** Obviously [[HeroicMime Gordon doesn't react]], but it does get the player thinking.

[[spoiler:'''Mordin:''' "[[OOCIsSeriousBusiness I MADE A MISTAKE!]]"]]

** A particularly harrowing one can be asked of [[spoiler:Mordin Solus]], leading to OOCIsSeriousBusiness. [[spoiler:Shepard reminds Mordin that he had defended the genophage and his role in modifying it whenever he was asked, and that he had to be talked into saving Maelon's data, before asking him why he changed his mind about it now. Mordin says, "I MADE A MISTAKE!"]]

* VideoGame/Fallout4 has a few, one of the most notable being [[spoiler:when you're trying to spare Danse during the quest Blind Betrayal. You can ask Elder Maxson "You're comparing Danse to a nuclear bomb?" while it doesn't exactly change his IrrationalHatred or Danse, it does make him stumble over his words for a second.]]

* Delivered by [[BigBad Doctor Breen]] in the penultimate level of ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}'', and repeated, [[spoiler:posthumously]], at the beginning of ''Half-Life 2: Episode 1''.

** Notably, it is not asked by or to the player character: [[{{Foil}} Ulysses]] asked it of the Think Tank. This almost caused disaster: [[spoiler: it led to the Think Tank trying to break out of the Big Empty rather than being more-or-less confined there]].

-->" You... will remember me, won't you, Father? [[spoiler: Even once the Cynthia of this world is born?]]"

*** At least one LetsPlay of the game suggests that the ArmorPiercingResponse to Breen's question is [[spoiler: [[HopeBringer hope]]]].
* In ''VideoGame/IllusionsOfLoyalty'', it's ''"Ideals? A few flimsy ideals were worth all this? How many died, Brother?"'' The protagonist, Julius Logan, asks this to his brother, Bruce, the night before his execution, and he can only say that he’s not afraid of death, which Logan scoffs at. [[spoiler: In the end, Bruce’s ghost asks the same question of Julius, after his actions in the service of the opposite ideal have ''also'' caused him to end up in the very same cell, on the eve of his execution. The reply is also the same.]]

** A Paragon Shepard can issue a rather massive one to [[spoiler: The Illusive Man]] in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''
-->[[spoiler: '''The Illusive Man:''' "We don't have to destroy them! I can end this war! I can '''control''' them, Shepard!"]]\\
'''Shepard:''' "Are you willing to [[spoiler: stake humanity's existence on it?]]"\\
[[spoiler: '''The Illusive Man:''' "[[FreakOut I...I...]]"]]
** A particularly harrowing one can be asked of [[spoiler: Mordin Solus]], leading to OOCIsSeriousBusiness. [[spoiler:Shepard reminds Mordin that he had defended the genophage and his role in modifying it whenever he was asked, and that he had to be talked into saving Maelon's data, before asking him why he changed his mind about it now. Mordin says, "I MADE A MISTAKE!"]]

*** Note that, when asked this question personally, the BigBad simply shrugs it off. However, the trope can still be played straight: the Nameless can ask him a series of Armor-Piercing Questions (starting, funnily enough, by asking after his actual armor), finally forcing him admit two things: [[spoiler: One, that he suffers as much as you do even though he's too stubborn to admit it. Two, that despite everything you've heard and done over the course of the game, '''''neither of you are immortal''''']].
*** There's '''''[[RuleOfThree another]]''''' way to do this, as well, if you [[spoiler: opened the bronze sphere]]. The question that's been following you around since before you heard the ArcWords, since the beginning of the game: "What is my *name*?" [[spoiler: The Transcendent One doesn't remember. Unfortunately for him, '''[[IKnowYourTrueName you do]]'''.]]

* This is Rabbi Stone's primary rhetorical tool [[spoiler: and weapon]] in Creator/WadjetEyeGames' ''VideoGame/TheShivah''.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', Lloyd and the party confront Remiel on what it ''really'' means for Colette to become an angel, and Sheena's reveal that [[spoiler: she comes from another world parallel to Sylvarant]]. When Lloyd protests about the angel transformation, Remiel has this to say (to which Lloyd [[VisibleSilence doesn't have an answer]]):

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', one is delivered by [[spoiler: Chara at the end of the genocide route]], though it's more of a statement than a question, it still has the intended effect.

** During Sans' judgement, if you've played through more than once [[spoiler: and killed Papyrus]] he asks if you should use any special power responsibly. If you answer "yes," he then asks [[spoiler:"[[AC:Then why'd you kill my brother?]]"]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' , one is delivered by [[spoiler: Chara at the end of the genocide route]], though it's more of a statement than a question, it still has the intended effect.

** During Sans' judgement, if you've played through more than once [[spoiler: and killed Papyrus]] he asks if you should use any special power responsibly. If you answer "yes," he then asks [[spoiler: "Then why'd you kill my brother?"]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'', [[spoiler:Futaba Sakura is given an armor-piercing ''quiz'' by her own Shadow to derive the exact nature of her self-loathing and the true face of her mother. Futaba is led to believe, prior to this, that her mother hated her and wished she would die; in reality, Wakaba Isshiki cared for Futaba as a mother should, and her "hateful" last words were a fabrication written by the legal team who tampered with the will at the Conspiracy's request.]]

* In ''VideoGame/TalesofSymphonia'', Lloyd and the party confront [[spoiler: Remiel]] on what it ''really'' means for Colette to become and Angel, and Sheena's reveal that [[spoiler: she comes from another world]]. When Lloyd protests about the Angel transformation, Remiel has this to say (to which Lloyd [[VisibleSilence doesn't have an answer]]):
--->'''[[spoiler: Remiel]]''': The sacrifice of one single person, the Chosen, will being salvation to world. Are you saying you would [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl choose one soul]] [[TheNeedsOfTheMany over the entire world?]]

** However, Milla does manage to briefly get Gaius to falter with such a question, suggesting that Gaius is NotSoStoic. During a MotiveRant, Gaius reveals that his plan is to gather all the world's superweapons to protect the weak and to keep the weapons out of the hands of those who would abuse them. Milla's response can be summed up as "since you're going to die one day, how are you so sure the next guy who takes the throne will have the same ideals that you do?" For the only time in the game, Gaius has no response.

** In the trailer for the Siege of Orgrimar patch, Taran Zhu comfronts Garrosh, who tells him that he confronts a force beyond reckoning. Taran Zhu's answer visibly upsets the Warchief.
--->"Your father dabbled in powers beyond reckoning. Where is he... now?"

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', when Yuna explains that Sin is mankind's punishment for using machina (machines), Tidus asks "was that such a bad thing, really?" Yuna's response can be summed up as "now that you mention it, maybe not."

* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' , one is delivered by [[spoiler:[[OmnicidalManiac Chara]] at the end of the genocide route]], though it's more of a statement than a question, it still has the intended effect.

*** At least one LetsPlay of the game suggests that the ArmorPiercingResponse to Breen's question is [[spoiler: hope]].

* ''MaxPayne2'':