History DealWithTheDevil / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/{{Guacamelee}}'''s main antagonist Carlos Calaca has one in his backstory. A famous sportsman in his life, made a deal with [[{{Satan}} El Diablo]] to fix his broken hand so he could participate in and win La Gran Charreada. However, just before he could claim the trophy, Diablo dragged him to the World of the Dead. Calaca [[{{Understatement}} did not take this well]], [[spoiler:turned El Diablo into a chicken]], and now plots to take over both life and death to make everyone [[GodhoodSeeker worship him]].

* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3'': A major plot point in the ''Hearts of Stone'' expansion. A noble by the name of Olgierd von Everec made a deal with a powerful demon known as [[spoiler: Gaunter O'Dimm]] in order to regain his fortune and keep his fiancee from being married off to another man, but later on refused to surrender his soul as part of the deal. Geralt is forced to make a [[LeonineContract deal with the demon in order to save his own life]], and in exchange has to help [[spoiler: O'Dimm]] fulfill the terms of the contract with von Everec. [[spoiler: Later on Geralt can learn how to banish O'Dimm by gambling for his and von Everec's souls, but if he fails they both die.]] This story is heavily inspired by an old Polish folk tale about a sorcerer named Pan Twardowski who makes a deal with Satan to gain magical powers and great knowledge, and tries to [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu scam Satan]] by adding a clause that says He can only claim his soul when he visits Rome - a place he never intends to visit. Many years later the man walks into an inn and finds Satan there, and Satan claims his soul. The inn was named Rzym, or "Rome".

* In Chapter 2 of ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'', [[spoiler:Spamton]]'s initial wager to Kris is presented analogously to one, offering them unspoken benefits in exchange for their SOUL. [[spoiler:Spamton himself]] is also stated to have undertook one in the past: [[spoiler:after ages of struggling as a failed salesman, he suddenly received immense fame and fortune with the help an unknown voice on the telephone. However, he did so at the cost of his friends, and saw everything crash down once he tried to "see too far," being reduced to an even lowlier position than before by the time he meets Kris]].

* In Chapter 2 of ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'', [[spoiler:Spamton]]'s initial wager to Kris is presented analogously to one, offering them unspoken benefits in exchange for their SOUL. [[spoiler:Spamton himself]] is also implied to have undertook one in the past: [[spoiler:after ages of struggling as a failed salesman, he suddenly received immense fame and fortune with the help an unknown voice on the telephone. However, he did so at the cost of his friends, and saw everything crash down once he tried to "see too far," being reduced to an even lowlier position than before by the time he meets Kris]].

** ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania 64}}'' offers a very interesting variation. In the Villa, the heroes encounter a demon salesman called Renon who offers to sell you potions and other items. (His stock is not very impressive compared to most merchants, but unlike most, his shop can be accessed from anywhere, using magical scrolls, making him somewhat of an asset.) However [[spoiler:he neglects to mention that spending more than 30,000 gold in his shop equals to selling your soul to the devil (that clause is technically written into the contract, but in a [[LoopholeAbuse demonic language that humans can't read]]), in which case Renon will be more than eager to claim his fee when the time comes. (If this happens, you have to fight him as a BonusBoss, and the contract is rendered void if you defeat him.)]]

* ''Videogame/{{Cuphead}}'': The game starts with Cuphead and his brother Mugman losing a game of Craps against the Devil. Just as he's set to kill them, they plead for their lives and he agrees to spare them in exchange for them tracking down and defeating his debtors, who make up the game's [[BossGame many, many boss fights]].

* In ''Videogame/{{Destiny}}'', there are multiple examples of this:

* When you finally confront the Dragon in ''Videogame/DragonsDogma'', he reveals that he's captured your "Beloved" as determined by the in-game Affinity System and offers you the choice of either facing him in battle or sacrificing your Beloved, in which he will willingly leave Gransys and leave you as an immortal with a claim to the Duchy. [[spoiler:He reveals that Edmun Dragonsbane, the current Duke of Gransys took the deal.]] However, accepting said deal results in a NonstandardGameOver.
* Before the story begins in ''VisualNovel/EienNoAselia'', Yuuto somehow managed to make a contract with Desire, a living weapon. The deal was that it would save his little sister's life, and when the time came Yuuto would wield it to destroy its enemy, Oath. Both swords are evil. Played with a little in that Desire never really gains the degree of control over Yuuto that it expected it to. [[spoiler:And that it dies before achieving its goal and lightens up a little at the end.]]

* ''Videogame/FallenLondon'': Any sort of deal with the Masters of the Bazaar that goes beyond purchasing stuff for actual money tends to resemble these, mostly because they have a bad case of BlueAndOrangeMorality and have no idea how humans work. Actual devils are a lot more straightforward; their deals are more or less monetary transactions where your soul's the currency.

* ''Videogame/AHatInTime'' exaggerates these to the point of parody with the Snatcher's utter inability to get anyone to do anything without a contract. Even things like simple community service or telling you to get the hell out of his forest are done through contract, all official enough to show up in your pause screen like RPG quests.

** ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda:''

* ''VideoGame/Pirate101'': One of the major antagonists of [[TheWildWest Cool Ranch]] is the Duck of Death, formerly known as William the Duck or English Bill, who made 2 deals with the Devil, one metaphorical and one literal. The first (metaphorical) deal was when he [[TheQuisling betrayed his kind to the Dogs of Marleybone when they promised him riches and titles]]. However, the Dogs [[ILied had no intention of keeping their end of the bargain]] and turned on him when their Steam engine failed. Bill decided to seek vengeance against the Dogs, who retaliated in kind and chased him to the world of Darkmoor. There, he made a second (literal) deal with an EldritchAbomination (Savvy [[VideoGame/{{Wizard101}} Wizard101]] players will recognize this being as [[spoiler:Old Cob]]) for great power in exchange for his soul.

* ''VideoGame/EvenForEternia'': All Umbra agree to give up a party of their memories to [[spoiler:Arisu]] in exchange for power, but Snow's deal seems to be different. [[spoiler:The story doesn't make it clear, but it's implied that Snow secretly struck a deal with Arisu to keep her memories in order to still get a chance to kill Rubellum, since she prioritizes killing Rubellum over Arisu in the last stretch of the game. This works out for Arisu, who knows that Rubellum will eventually oppose her once she learns the truth about Eternia.]]

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'': BigBad TheEmperor made a deal with Satan (and yes, [[{{Satan}} they do invoke him by name]] in the [[NoExportForYou Japanese]] [[AllThereInTheManual novelizations]]), offering his soul for the power to command the LegionsOfHell in order to TakeOverTheWorld. And when he is killed and Satan comes to collect...[[FaustianRebellion the Emperor uses this power to meet Satan in combat]] ''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu and kills him dead]]'', then goes on to ''[[HellHasNewManagement conquer hell itself]]''. And if you think ''that's'' CrazyAwesome? [[SerialEscalation He did the same thing in Heaven]].

*** A mage Hawke can also make a deal with Torpor, a sloth demon, while in the fade. In exchange for a reward they must help the demon possess the inexperienced Feynriel. If you do, Feynriel will become a dangerous abomination that will cause trouble for you later in the game.
*** The game also has two party members who have made such deals with all the best intentions:
*** [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Merrill]] made a deal with a demon to become a blood mage so that she could help her clan rebuild its former glory.
*** [[WellIntentionedExtremist Anders]] made a deal with the benevolent Fade spirit Justice; Justice could possess him, preventing Justice's death and augmenting Anders's powers...but, since Fade spirits are essentially creatures of emotion, his own anger at the Templars and the injustices he saw in the world corrupted Justice into a demon of Vengeance. Both end up suffering greatly for their poor judgment later.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'': Kratos makes a deal with Ares to save his life. Then Ares [[spoiler:tricks him into murdering his wife and daughter]]. (More) Killing ensues.
-->'''Kratos''': '''ARES!''' Destroy my enemies -- and my life is yours!
** Kratos manages to get out of this deal in a rather badass way -- by absorbing the power of Pandora's Box, growing to Godly size, and killing the hell out of Ares - becoming the new God of War.
** That said, he still ends up the loser. Driven to madness by what Ares had him do, he prays to the other Gods to make his nightmares stop. Athena agrees to forgive his deeds if he somehow stops Ares. After Kratos slays Ares, Athena honors the agreement and forgives his deeds. Unfortunately for Kratos, [[ExactWords she never agreed to stop his nightmares]]. This drives Kratos to suicide. [[spoiler: Which Athena refuses to let proceed - as there is an empty chair on Olympus for the new God of War.]]

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' starts with Link being recruited by a wicked-looking [[TheImp imp]] who will help you rescue your friends in return for retrieving [[SealedEvilInACan three forbidden artifacts sealed away by Hyrule's light spirits]]. [[spoiler:Subverted -- the imp, Midna, may ''look'' wicked, but she isn't. Well, not much]].

* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3'': A major plot point in the ''Hearts of Stone'' expansion. A noble by the name of Olgierd von Everec made a deal with a powerful demon known as [[spoiler: Gaunter O'Dimm]] in order to regain his fortune and keep his fiancee from being married off to another man, but later on refused to surrender his soul as part of the deal. Geralt is forced to make a [[LeonineContract deal with the demon in order to save his own life]], and in exchange has to help [[spoiler: O'Dimm]] fulfill the terms of the contract with von Everec. [[spoiler: Later on Geralt can learn how to banish O'Dimm by gambling for his and von Everec's souls, but if he fails they both die.]]
** This story is heavily inspired by an old Polish folk tale about a sorcerer named Pan Twardowski who makes a deal with Satan to gain magical powers and great knowledge, and tries to [[DidYouJustScamCthulhu scam Satan]] by adding a clause that says He can only claim his soul when he visits Rome - a place he never intends to visit. Many years later the man walks into an inn and finds Satan there, and Satan claims his soul. The inn was named Rzym, or "Rome".

*** Inverted; each character's {{Shadow|Archetype}}, [[BeneathTheMask the other self]], first manifests as their voice with a MagnificentBastard air either [[WhatTheHellHero confronting]] them about not [[BystanderSyndrome standing up for others or themselves]], or commenting that they had been waiting for them, and offering them a "contract", which results in the Shadow becoming a [[FightingSpirit Persona]] in exchange for unleashing their [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge rage and hatred on the world that wronged them]]. However since Shadows are [[BeneathTheMask part of them]] and Persona are Shadows given form by [[HeroicWillpower the strength of heart]], it basically means [[HeroicVow it is a contract with themselves]] to no longer compromise who they are, which is what gaining a persona essentially is. Case in point: [[LadyOfWar Makoto]] [[JumpedAtTheCall gains her Persona]] after being [[RageBreakingPoint pushed around one to many times by one of the villains]]. She is far happier and more well adjusted after this and decides to make her own path instead of just doing what is expected of her.

* This is how most of the bosses in the ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'' games become bosses in the first place. The FMians need to physically bond with humans in order to affect things on Earth. They'll often find humans at their MomentOfWeakness and offer to grant them power to achieve their wish. Once merged, the FMians use their new human puppets to run rampant until Mega Man steps in. Even this incarnation of Mega Man is born from a Deal. Geo Stellar ends up agreeing to become Omega-Xis' host and fight off the FMians hunting him in exchange for information about his DisappearedDad.

** In the ''Battle for Azeroth'' expansion, Horde players get to make their own deals with Bwonsamdi, the Loa of Death, in Zandalar's Nazmir subzone. As a price for his help, Bwonsamdi asks for one million souls, though given the kill count of the [[OneManArmy average PC]], he could have reasonably tacked on a few more zeroes without complaint. [[spoiler:King Rastakhan makes his own pact with Bwonsamdi as well, even binding his whole bloodline to Bwonsamdi.]]

** Subverted with the Warlock class in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', as Warlocks don't make contracts with demons, but rather enslave them. However, the [[PlayerCharacter Adventurers]] can make a deal with a demon in the ''Legion'' expansion.

** ''VideoGame/WildArmsMillionMemories'' gives us a doozy. Not only does he coerce the Prophets into working for him as payment for saving their lives, he convinces ''Rudy'', of all people, to join forces with him to take down Mother. Rudy knows a team up is a bad idea but cannot see any other option, so agrees. Thankfully, Siegfried's desire to protect Filgaia from Mother is genuine, and extends to him shielding Rudy from her attacks and sacrificing himself to ensure the heroes have a chance at winning.]]

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', [[spoiler:choosing to side with [[MegaCorp Arasaka]] (and by association, [[BigBad Saburo Arasaka]]) leads to some of V's friends shunning him or her, in particular Misty [[YouBastard for working with the people that killed Jackie just to save their own skin]] and Johnny Silverhand, the latter of which tells V that they'll regret it and [[SellOut that they chose wrong]]. Sure enough, Arasaka can't save V anyway and the only options are to live out what's left of their life and die, or get uploaded into the "Secure Your Soul" program and eventually get a new body once technology advances enough to make it possible. The latter option does have ''some'' hope assuming that Arasaka upholds their end of the deal, but the former is a complete DownerEnding because V [[AllForNothing betrayed Johnny and his/her friends for nothing]], culminating with them [[TragicKeepsake throwing away the bullet necklace in anger and despair]]. Said ending is fittingly called "The Devil".]]

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', [[spoiler:choosing to side with Arasaka leads to some of V's friends shunning him or her, in particular Misty [[YouBastard for working with the people that killed Jackie just to save their own skin]] and Johnny Silverhand, the latter of which tells V that they'll regret it and [[SellOut that they chose wrong]]. Sure enough, Arasaka can't save V anyway and the only options are to live out what's left of their life and die, or get uploaded into the "Secure Your Soul" program and eventually get a new body once technology advances enough to make it possible. The latter option does have ''some'' hope assuming that Arasaka upholds their end of the deal, but the former is a complete DownerEnding because V [[AllForNothing betrayed Johnny and his/her friends for nothing]], culminating with them [[TragicKeepsake throwing away the bullet necklace in anger and despair]]. Said ending is fittingly called "The Devil".]]

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', [[spoiler:choosing to side with Arasaka leads to some of V's friends shunning him or her, in particular Misty [[YouBastard for working with the people that killed Jackie just to save their own skin]] and Johnny Silverhand, the latter of which tells V that they'll regret it and [[SellOut that they chose wrong]]. Sure enough, Arasaka can't save V anyway and the only options are to live out what's left of their life and die, or get uploaded into the "Secure Your Soul" program and eventually get a new body once technology advances enough to make it possible. The latter option does have ''some'' hope assuming that Arasaka upholds their end of the deal, but the former is a complete DownerEnding because V [[AllForNothing betrayed Johnny and his/her friends for nothing]], culminating with them [[TragicKeepsake throwing away the bullet necklace in anger]]. Said ending is fittingly called "The Devil".]]

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', [[spoiler:choosing to side with Arasaka leads to some of V's friends shunning him or her, in particular Misty [[YouBastard for working with the people that killed Jackie just to save their own skin]] and Johnny Silverhand, the latter of which tells V that they'll regret it and [[SellOut that they chose wrong]]. Sure enough, Arasaka can't save V anyway and the only options are to live out what's left of their life and die, or get uploaded into the "Secure Your Soul" program and eventually get a new body once technology advances enough to make it possible. The latter option does have ''some'' hope assuming that Arasaka upholds their end of the deal, but the former is a complete DownerEnding because V [[AllForNothing betrayed Johnny and his/her friends for nothing]], culminating with them chucking the bullet necklace in anger. Said ending is fittingly called "The Devil".]]

* ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'' shows a metaphorical version with [[spoiler:Penelope]] selling herself to [=LeParadox=] for money and the lives of Sly and Murray. She did so, believing she'd be able to use [=LeParadox=] for her own gains, but as [[spoiler:Bentley]] pointed out, it's the other way around, and she's now his puppet. [[spoiler:Penelope's stubbornness costs her ''everything'', as Bentley dumps her and she's kicked out of the Cooper Gang and handed over to Interpol in disgrace. Even [=LeFwee=] mentions he's done with Penelope later on, having gotten what he needed from her]].