History ArmorPiercingQuestion / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/TalesOf''

--->'''Remiel''': The sacrifice of one single person, the Chosen, will bring 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 made into a sacrifice. [[spoiler: Mithos]] responds:
--->'''[[spoiler: Mithos]]''': No life should be born for the sole purpose of dying? [[PoweredByAForsakenChild What do you think those exspheres are that you're using?]]

*** 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.

'''Teagan:''' Did he also do what was best for ''your husband'', Your Majesty?\

* ''VideoGame/VengefulGuardianMoonrider'': During the dialogue before [[PlayerCharacter Moonrider]] fights [[BlowYouAway Stormdiver]], the latter calls out the former for staining his hands with the blood of patriots. Moonrider questions her if it's a good revolution when she has to oppress those who oppose her, and that her hands are even more soiled because of this. This causes her to [[DramaticEllipsis hesitate in her response]] and internally question her motives to the point where she hightails it out of the fight instead of dying when beaten [[spoiler:and later decides to saves Moonrider in the ending]].

** 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/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.]]

--->"If that were true, [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre then why do you look so sad?]]"

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': A Paragon Shepard has an absolutely ''brutal'' one to a racist asari CorruptCorporateExecutive on Illium, after she describes her alien-loving, high-achieving, prematurely-dead family:

'''Erinya:''' Yes, it is.\\
'''Shepard:''' Do you think they'd want you to do this? ''(Asari has a meltdown)''
** Shepard ends up on the receiving end of more than a few of these due to his-or-her [[EnemyMine affiliation]] with Cerberus throughout the second game. Even one of the game's minor villains gets to call bullshit on Shepard's holier-than-thou attitude because of this.

* 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.]]

*** The amazing scene in Chapter 7, when Hope finally musters up the guts to confront Snow about his mother's death (which he unwillingly contributed to) consists mainly of a barrage of armor-piercing questions that bring the resident IdiotHero [[HeroicBSOD onto his knees in despair]]. Said questions include "What happens when [[{{Determinator}} your actions]] end up ruining someone's life?" and "How do you pay for what you've done?"
*** A milder example occurs between Fang and Lightning earlier. Fang admits that all the events up to then, including Serah becoming a l'Cie, were because [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom she and Vanille woke up]]. Lightning is furious and punches Fang, only for her to ask "What did that do for you? Did punching me make you feel better?" and Lightning realizes that hitting someone in anger was not an answer or changed anything.
*** In Chapter 8, when Sazh is confronted with the fact that Vanille was at fault for causing his son to be turned into a Cocoon l'Cie. During this dramatic scene, Vanille apologizes in tears for causing this and begs Sazh to kill her to make up for his son's apparent death. Sazh counters with his own words.

---> '''Lumina:''' Are you really prepared to kill [[spoiler:Hope]]?

----> '''[[spoiler:Shadow Akane]]''': But what about the secretary who died? Did you ever stop to think what his family is going through?!...Not only did they lose a loved one, they have [[spoiler:mom's death]] over their heads! Did you forget that!? Or did you choose to forget on purpose!?

--->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?''

** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'':
** Lloyd and the party confront Remiel on what it ''really'' means for Colette to become an angel, and Sheena reveals 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]]):

** [[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 made into a sacrifice. [[spoiler: Mithos]] responds:

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

--->'''Yuri:''' How is this ''any different'' from what I’ve come to expect from the Empire?!

-->"Your father dabbled in powers beyond reckoning. Where is he... now?"

'''Noel:''' [[FantasticAesop What's so different about you?]]\\

--->'''Heather''': So you think you're one of the necessary ones?

* In ''VideoGame/TheCaligulaEffect'', during Kotaro's Character Episodes, he starts a profile to help people in need. However, his first client is [[spoiler:a friend of Kotaro's abusive cousin, Yuto]], who ask him to help [[spoiler:said cousin]]. Of course, after finding out, Kotaro is VERY reluctant to help him, which culminates later on, when [[spoiler:he outright refuses to help Yuto when he's in danger]]. The protagonist then asks a question that makes him stagger.

* In one of the final Missions of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', Niko Bellic finally accomplishes his reason behind moving from "the Old Country" to Liberty City. [[spoiler:He's finally tracked down his old war buddy (and the word "buddy" is used loosely) that sold out their troop and resulted in almost their entire squad being slaughtered like pigs, all so the traitor could get money to buy drugs with.]] Needless to say, in the conversation that follows As shown below), an armor piercer is shot at Niko, that actually affects him... for about five seconds.

** Obviously [[HeroicMime Gordon doesn't react]], so we don't know if it was armor-piercing for him; but it does potentially get the ''player'' thinking.

-->'''Yuthura:''' I wanted to use the Force to free the other slaves I knew, to fight for what I knew was right. The Jedi restrained me until I couldn't stand it any more. They claim the dark side is evil, but that isn't so. Sometimes anger and hatred are deserved and right. Sometimes things change because of it.\\

'''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.

* "What can change the nature of a man?", a riddle asked by the [[WickedWitch Night Hag]] Ravel Puzzlewell, in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment''. Ravel killed all those who couldn't give the right answer. [[spoiler:As it turns out, ''her'' right answer wasn't a 'what' but a 'who': She only wants The Nameless One's answer, because the first incarnation was the one who gave her the question in the first place and she still hasn't found an answer herself. The question essentially drove Ravel to mull over it [[TimeAbyss for an unknown number of millennia]] and slowly drove her mad.]]

** 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/GuiltyGear'' ''Xrd'' has a string of these delivered to [[spoiler:Sol Badguy]]. The receiver seems hit very hard by all that's said, but [[spoiler:ultimately it's beneficial for Sol because it kicks off the start of some much-needed positive CharacterDevelopment]].

* 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]].

* In ''VideoGame/TheCaligulaEffect'', during Kotaro's Character Episodes, he starts a profile to help people in need. However, his first client is [[spoiler:a friend of Kotaro's abusive cousin, Yuto]], who ask him to help [[spoiler:said cousin]]. Of course, after finding out, Kotaro is VERY reluctant to help him, which culminates later on, when [[spoiler:he outrights refuse to help Yuto when he's in danger]]. The protagonist then asks a question that makes him stagger.

* ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' features the [[GoldenEnding Leave ending]] where James converses with [[spoiler:his dead wife Mary for the final time]]. Buried under an ocean of self-inflicted guilt, James apologies for allowing [[TheLostLenore Mary]] to die, [[HeroicSelfDeprecation but then backtracks by ashamedly "admitting" aloud that he himself was responsible for allowing it to happen]], claiming that [[spoiler:him [[MercyKill putting her out of her misery]]]] was born out of a selfish desire to have his life back. [[spoiler:Mary]] responds with a heart-wrenchingly honest remark that unveils the facade.
-->"If that were true, [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre then why do you look so sad?]]"
* It's really unfortunate that this isn't a straight example, because the question isn't directly aimed at the person it's meant for. However, in ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'', Heather gives an utterly cutting question when she finds and reads [[TheFundamentalist Leonard Wolf's]] journal, in which he rants that "the world is teeming with unnecessary people."
-->'''Heather''': So you think you're one of the necessary ones?

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'', Mateus, [[DiscOneFinalBoss the last of the Totema guarding the crystals that Marche needs to destroy in order to go home]], briefly assumes Mewt's form and asks Marche if his life will get any better if he goes back home. It's especially poignant because it sounds very much like something the real Mewt would say.

* 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:

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII''
** The amazing scene in Chapter 7, when Hope finally musters up the guts to confront Snow about his mother's death (which he unwillingly contributed to) consists mainly of a barrage of armor-piercing questions that bring the resident IdiotHero [[HeroicBSOD onto his knees in despair]]. Said questions include "What happens when [[{{Determinator}} your actions]] end up ruining someone's life?" and "How do you pay for what you've done?"
** A milder example occurs between Fang and Lightning earlier. Fang admits that all the events up to then, including Serah becoming a l'Cie, were because [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom she and Vanille woke up]]. Lightning is furious and punches Fang, only for her to ask "What did that do for you? Did punching me make you feel better?" and Lightning realizes that hitting someone in anger was not an answer or changed anything.
** In Chapter 8, when Sazh is confronted with the fact that Vanille was at fault for causing his son to be turned into a Cocoon l'Cie. During this dramatic scene, Vanille apologizes in tears for causing this and begs Sazh to kill her to make up for his son's apparent death. Sazh counters with his own words.

* ''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.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', During Nanako's Social Link, Nanako wonders if her father doesn't think of her as his "real" daughter, and so [[WhenYouComingHomeDad doesn't spend time with her]]. The best response is "Did he say that?"
* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4 Arena}}'', Kanji gets one from Chie during his story mode. Kanji assumes he's dreaming, and it later turns out that the BigBad altered his senses so that he heard something different than what was actually said, but Kanji has to admit this question hits home.
-->'''Chie''': Kanji-kun, have you ever honestly told anyone that you hate being misunderstood?
* 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.]]
* ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'':
** In the fourth Jail, the Monarch, [[spoiler:Zenkichi's daughter Akane's Shadow]], calls out Zenkichi on being forced to abandon his investigation into [[spoiler:his wife Aoi]]'s death in a drunk driving accident to protect his daughter, even though an innocent person was used as a scapegoat and killed.
---> '''[[spoiler:Shadow Akane]]''': But what about the secretary who died? Did you ever stop to think what his family is going through?!...Not only did they lose a loved one, they have [[spoiler:mom's death]] over their heads! Did you forget that!? Or did you choose to forget on purpose!?
** 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 ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', the final boss, Xemnas, addresses both Sora and Riku during the battle: "Sora, are you certain you can trust Riku? Riku, are you sure you are not jealous of Sora?" Although Xemnas fails to undermine Sora's trust, his words have an effect on Riku; after the battle, Riku recants his earlier statement that he had always thought he was better than Sora, finally admitting that he had actually been jealous.

* ''VideoGame/Persona5Strikers'':
** In the fourth Jail, the Monarch, [[spoiler:Zenkichi's daughter Akane's Shadow]], calls out Zenkichi on being forced to abandon his investigation into [[spoiler:his wife Aoi]]'s death in a drunk driving accident to protect his daughter, even though an innocent person was used as a scapegoat and killed.
--> '''[[spoiler:Shadow Akane]]''': But what about the secretary who died? Did you ever stop to think what his family is going through?!...Not only did they lose a loved one, they have [[spoiler:mom's death]] over their heads! Did you forget that!? Or did you choose to forget on purpose!?
** 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 ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', During Nanako's Social Link, Nanako wonders if her father doesn't think of her as his "real" daughter, and so [[WhenYouComingHomeDad doesn't spend time with her]]. The best response is "Did he say that?"
* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4 Arena}}'', Kanji gets one from Chie during his story mode. Kanji assumes he's dreaming, and it later turns out that the BigBad altered his senses so that he heard something different than what was actually said, but Kanji has to admit this question hits home.
-->'''Chie''': Kanji-kun, have you ever honestly told anyone that you hate being misunderstood?
* 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/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.

-->'''[[{{Jerkass}} Beclem]]:''' Going to help him [Wakka]? I'm not going to wait much longer.\\

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

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'', Mateus, [[DiscOneFinalBoss the last of the Totema guarding the crystals that Marche needs to destroy in order to go home]], briefly assumes Mewt's form and asks Marche if his life will get any better if he goes back home. It's especially poignant because it sounds very much like something the real Mewt would say.
-->'''Mewt''': What's so great about going back? Why go home at all?\\
'''Marche''': Mewt…\\
'''Mewt''': Will [[DisappearedDad your dad]] come back, Marche?
* ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' features the [[GoldenEnding Leave ending]] where James converses with [[spoiler:his dead wife Mary for the final time]]. Buried under an ocean of self-inflicted guilt, James apologies for allowing [[TheLostLenore Mary]] to die, [[HeroicSelfDeprecation but then backtracks by ashamedly "admitting" aloud that he himself was responsible for allowing it to happen]], claiming that [[spoiler:him [[MercyKill putting her out of her misery]]]] was born out of a selfish desire to have his life back. [[spoiler:Mary]] responds with a heartwrenchingly honest remark that unveils the facade.