History ArmorPiercingQuestion / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'': Lightning tells Lumina her plans to [[spoiler:betray and kill [[EvilGod Bhunivelze]]]] at the end of the world, a plan that Lumina loves. As she's praising it, Lumina mentions how Lightning would also be betraying [[spoiler:Hope]] and asks her if she even considered the situation. Something Lightning can't answer.
---> '''Lumina:''' Are you really prepared to kill [[spoiler:Hope]]?
---> '''Lightning:''' (scoffs) [[NonAnswer You think I'm not?]]
---> '''Lumina:''' You answered a question with a question. ''That's'' an evasion.

* 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." It's the start of some much needed character development for Yuna.
** Tidus has this inverted onto him early on in the game. After finding out that Sin always comes back, Tidus asks what the point of a summoner's pilgrimage is if Sin just comes back every time. Yuna turns this around on Tidus by saying that what peace they get is worth it. [[spoiler:However, that's before learning that Sin comes back ''because'' of the pilgrimage. Once Yuna finds that out, she [[ScrewDestiny decides to find another way]].]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'' has this about burning the Besaid Village Temple:
-->'''[[{{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.

* ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'': When the Phantom Thieves try to pull their standard ShutUpHannibal moment against the BigBad, he simply asks if they could have saved him [[spoiler: from his [[AbusiveParents father]]]]. At no point before or after his boss battle can anybody come up with a rebuttal.

* In The Reaper ending in VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077 where V kills themself, a compilation of voice messages are shown. [[spoiler:However, the most scathing one has to be from Kerry Eurodyne, who looks visibly disappointed in their actions and soon questions the most armor-piercing question out of all the companions.]]

** Played for laughs and [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar censorship dodging]] between Lon'qu and Maribelle:

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' after the TimeSkip, Dimitri has gone insane from his desire for revenge for the Tragedy of Duscur, in which his father, stepmother and many others were killed, and wants [[spoiler:Edelgard, the supposed perpetrator]] dead. When [[PlayerCharacter Byleth]] becomes concerned about Dimitri's actions, he asks them this question [[spoiler:about the person who killed Byleth's father]], and the player can agree or disagree.

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': "Does this unit have a soul?" Which, depending on [[spoiler:how you end the war that started with the same question,]] makes this an extremely Armor Piercing Question.

*** 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''''']].

* In ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'', Juno Eclipse asks Starkiller why he defied his master Darth Vader and saved her. Starkiller awkwardly answers that he needed her to fly his ship, but she retorts that they both know that isn't true. This foreshadows that Starkiller has feelings for Juno, and that he is slowly becoming a hero instead of Darth Vader's servant.

--->'''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?]]
** [[spoiler: Mithos]] also drops one on the party after TheReveal of who he really is, Lloyd gives a speech about how everyone who has been born should be allowed to live and nobody should be a made into a sacrifice. [[spoiler: Mithos]] responds:

* In ''VideoGame/SandsOfDestruction'', Morte is out to destroy the world and [[LoveMakesYouDumb Kyrie has agreed to help her because he fell for her within five minutes of meeting her]]. Elephas Rex eventually points out to Kyrie that if Morte succeeds in destroying the world, they won't be able to be together. He then leaves Kyrie to figure out for himself exactly what he should do and whether he should continue assisting the World Annihilation Front. [[spoiler:Kyrie eventually decides Morte's safety is more important to him than their being together, and asks Naja to kill him so his power couldn't be used to destroy the world.]]

-->[[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.]]]]

** Another example of this occurs later in the game, when Elise runs of during a sour conversation with Rean. He runs around the campus checks with his classmates to see if they have come across her, [[WhatTheHellHero with a few of them chastising him for his words that led to the event in question]], and when he reaches Laura, he explains his case to her, explaining the rationale of what he said[[note]]Rean was [[AdoptedIntoRoyalty a commoner adopted by a noble family]], which he believes is why unfit to be the next baron.[[/note]] Though she understands his situation, Laura asks Rean if he, while swearing to his sister, that he's not merely attempting to escape the lifestyle he was given. The question shocks Rean into silence, but Laura is quick to drop the issue, feeling it's not her place to pry in his affairs when she has her own problems to deal with, the main one being [[spoiler: her inability to accept Fie's background as a Jaeger.]]

* In The Reaper ending in VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077 where V kills themself, a compilation of voice messages are shown. [[spoiler:However, the most scathing one has to be from Kerry Eurodyne, which looks visibly disappointed in his actions and soon questions whether V killed themself because they "don't give a fuck about their friends."]]

* In The Reaper ending in VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077 where V kills themself, a compilation of voice messages are shown. However, the most scathing one has to be from Kerry Eurodyne, which looks visibly disappointed in his actions and soon questions whether V killed themself because they "don't give a fuck about their friends."

* In ''VideoGame/AceCombat7SkiesUnknown'', Ionela starts her TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Dr. Schroeder with one after finding out the truth about his work, [[spoiler:which was to give Erusea advanced drone technology to use against Osea to avenge his homeland of Belka]]:
-->'''Ionela:''' Is this [[spoiler:for Belka? Or]] for Erusea?

** Furthermore, The Nameless One's final answer can be used in part of a WorldOfCardboardSpeech to defeat the [[BigBad The Transcendent One]].

* Played for awesome in ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt''. One possible encounter in Novigrad has a priest giving an anti-Witcher speech to an assembled crowd. One possible option is to ask the priest how many people he has saved from monsters. The priest is reduced to a stammering mess and, just to pile on the humiliation, his own crowd insult him and disperse. [[spoiler:This causes him to send assassins after you later, but they're no real challenge so it's still worth it]].

--->'''[[spoiler: Mithos]]''': No life should be born for the sole purpose of dying? [[PoweredByTheForsakenChild What do you think those exspheres are that you're using?]]

** 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]]):

* 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 of Danse, it does make him stumble over his words for a second.]]

** Another example of this occurs later in the game, when Elise runs of during a sour conversation with Rean. He runs around the campus checks with his classmates to see if they have come across her, [[WhatTheHellHero with a few of them chastising him for his words that led to the event in question]], and when he reaches Laura, he explains his case to her, explaining the rationale of what he said[[note]]Rean was [[AdoptedIntoNobility a commoner adopted by a noble family]], which he believes is why unfit to be the next baron.[[/note]] Though she understands his situation, Laura asks Rean if he, while swearing to his sister, that he's not merely attempting to escape the lifestyle he was given. The question shocks Rean into silence, but Laura is quick to drop the issue, feeling it's not her place to pry in his affairs when she has her own problems to deal with, the main one being [[spoiler: her inability to accept Fie's background as a Jaeger.]]

** Another example of this occurs later in the game, when Elise runs of during a sour conversation with Rean. He runs around the campus checks with his classmates to see if they have come across her, [[WhatTheHellHero with a few of them chastising him for his words that led to the event in question]], and when he reaches Laura, he explains his case to her, explaining the rationale of what he said[[note]]Rean was adopted by a noble family, which he believes is why unfit to be the next baron.[[/note]] Though she understands his situation, Laura asks Rean if he, while swearing to his sister, that he's not merely attempting to escape the lifestyle he was given. The question shocks Rean into silence, but Laura is quick to drop the issue, feeling it's not her place to pry in his affairs when she has her own problems to deal with, the main one being [[spoiler: her inability to accept Fie's background as a Jeager.]]

* Delivered by [[BigBad Dr. Breen]] in the penultimate level of ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', and repeated, [[spoiler:posthumously]], at the beginning of ''Half-Life 2: Episode One''.
-->"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?''"

*** After witnessing Yuri kill Cumore, Flynn and him get into an argument over whether or not Yuri was justified in killing him. Near the end of the argument, Flynn tries asking him a question, but Yuri quickly {{defies}} this by giving him an [[ArmorPiercingResponse answer that momentarily leaves him speechless]].

** {{Defied}} in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia''. After witnessing Yuri kill Cumore, Flynn and him get into an argument over whether or not Yuri was justified in killing him. Near the end of the argument, Flynn tries asking him a question, but Yuri quickly gives him an [[ArmorPiercingResponse answer that momentarily leaves him speechless]].

-->'''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?]]
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'' proves that one should not try to ask one of these questions to [[BigBad King Gaius]] by attempting to point out a hypocritical aspect of his actions. He will retort with one himself and it will work much better.
-->'''Gaius:''' Yes, to try and live a satisfying life. How do you think one can achieve that? Do you even know?\\

** 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 "one day, you're going to die. 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.

-->'''Flynn:''' So I’m supposed to sit by while you intend to dirty your hands?\\

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'', Asbel's biggest SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome 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.]]
* 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]]):

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'' proves that one should not try to ask one of these questions to [[BigBad King Gaius]] by attempting to point out a hypocritical aspect of his actions. He will retort with one himself and it will work much better.

* 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.

Yes No
** 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?]]"]]