History DoomedByCanon / VideoGames

* The ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} prequel ''VideoGame/DeadSpaceExtraction''. Anyone who has seen just the first ten minutes of the original should know what to expect...So yeah...

* The ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series has two spin offs on UsefulNotes/{{P|laystationPortable}}SP: ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWarChainsOfOlympus Chains of Olympus]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWarGhostOfSparta Ghost of Sparta]]''. The former is a prequel to the original game and the latter is set between the first and the second. The plots of both games are predictable due to this trope. [[SarcasmMode I wonder if Kratos will succeed in saving his brother..]]

* ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising'' has the main hero, Bahamut. He's the BigBad in ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}: Hard Corps'', who you have to kill in three of the five endings. [[WordOfGod The producers, however, have stated that]] he could be someone else entirely, only sharing the same name.

** Athos and Brammimond, the final two Legendary Heroes. The Legendary Heroes are all deceased by ''Binding Blade.'' Athos kicks the bucket on camera and his death also implies Brammimond died as well.

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* Players won't realize that this happens in ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys2'' until near the end when they find out [[spoiler:it's a [[StealthSequel prequel]] to ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys''. The old robots were being decommissioned because they were old, not because of their murderous rampage in the original game. The new robots were the ones who malfunctioned and thus destroyed, while the old robots (who were haunted) were rebuilt so the restaurant could reopen]].
** Also, on Night 6, Phone Guy says that when the place reopens, he'll take the night shift himself. Anyone who's played the first game knows [[CruelAndUnusualDeath it didn't work out as planned...]]
* ''VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns: [[ExpansionPack Dragonfall]]'' is set in a 2053 [[AnarchyIsChaos Anarchist free state]] Berlin in a game whose [[AllThereInTheManual source material]] ran forward to 2073 at that point. Anyone with knowledge of the TabletopGame knew [[spoiler:there was no way to save the F-state since it was canonically dissolved in 2055 by the German government]].
* The Selvaria DLC of ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' follows an Imperial Engineer by the name of Johann who by the end of the campaign is promoted into Oswald the Iron, one of the named EliteMooks of the main storyline.
** Speaking of her, in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesIII'', one of the protagonists, Imca, desired revenge towards Selvaria (Being the top brass of the opposing forces that're of Valkyrian blood) for the destruction of her home. Except [[spoiler:longtime players know of Selvaria's death in the first game happened, therefore there was no possible way for Imca to beat her and was beaten up like a ragdoll in her DuelToTheDeath.]]
* ''VideoGame/EndlessLegend'', the prequel ScienceFantasy spinoff to ''VideoGame/EndlessSpace'', eight separate empires are fighting to get off of the dying world Auriga before it is plunged into an [[EndlessWinter eternal winter]]. Come ''Endless Space'', the only faction that makes it off the planet wholesale are the Vaulters, a human empire that remembered their origins in space. However, there are a few survivors from other races, including a Broken Lord hero that appeared in ''Endless Space'' [[ProductionForeshadowing before]] ''VideoGame/EndlessLegend'' [[ProductionForeshadowing was even announced]].
* ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight Specter of Torment'' is a prequel featuring Specter Knight as the protagonist, on a quest to regain his humanity. Sadly for him, he's still undead in the game modes taking place in the present.
* ''VideoGame/{{Hiveswap}}'' is a prequel to ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', partially taking place an unknown amount of time earlier on the alien planet [[CrapsackWorld Alternia]]. Trizza's plans to usurp [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen the Condesce]] and Dammek and Xefros' rebellion against the TheEmpire and its FantasticCasteSystem are thus both doomed to failure, as Alternia is ruled by Condy and heavily divided by caste when the setting is introduced in the comic.
* ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar'' is about main characters Talion and Celebrimbor trying to conquer {{Mordor}} and overthrow EvilOverlord Sauron. Since the game is a prequel to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and Sauron is the creator of the most famous SoulJar in fiction, the chances of Talion and Celebrimbor succeeding are terrible. [[spoiler:In short, Celebrimbor loses his battle with the Dark Lord and fuses with Sauron to become the Great Eye that hovers above his tower in Mordor, while Talion is corrupted by a Ring of Power taken from the Nazgul, becoming one himself until Sauron's eventual defeat in the original story sets them both free.]]
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'' is a mixed case. It's a prequel to the [[VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption original game]] that follows the gang that John Marston was in, and introduces multiple new gang members who were never mentioned in the original game. Since the first game's plot requires you to hunt down John's old gang, most of these guys are gonna have to bite it before then, right? Well, it's a mixed bag. Some, [[spoiler: like [[TheHeroDies protagonist Arthur Morgan]] (who gets tuberculosis during the game)]] do die. Others [[spoiler:leave the gang as Dutch becomes less and less stable]] and go straight, with the epilogue implying that they ended up living peaceful lives and never becoming targets, with the gang members from the original game being the ones who couldn't go straight [[spoiler:after the gang dissolves]].
* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' gives you an extended tour of the beautiful planet Alderaan, with its appealing FeudalFuture vibe and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJOERDcQd8w gorgeous music]]. You help sort out a nasty succession crisis. Of course, anyone who's remotely familiar with [[Film/ANewHope the first movie]] will know [[EarthShatteringKaboom what happens to it 3600 years later]].

* As ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrangeBeforeTheStorm'' is a prequel set 3 years before ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'', most of the things are pretty much fixed in all of the MultipleEndings. Anything you can actually influence with your choices are necessarily about characters not appearing in the original game. More specifically:
** [[spoiler:Rachel will die. The game itself ends on a high note, but her ultimate fate is shown in TheStinger.]]
** You can make choices where Chloe apparently tries to reconcile with her stepfather David. Given their relationship in the original game, it won't happen no matter how hard you might try.

* ''VideoGame/HomeworldDesertsOfKharak'': we know from the original Homeworld that [[spoiler:the titular desertic planet is going to be destroyed in a firestorm caused by a massive orbital bombardment by the Taiidan Empire aimed at genociding the Kushan]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Extrapower}}'': Second game in the series ''VideoGame/ExtrapowerStarResistance'' focuses on Dark Force's invasion of the Shakun star and the efforts of Sharkungo, Forcestar and others to push back and stop the invasion. Unfortunately it takes place a day before the first game, ''VideoGame/ExtrapowerAttackOfDarkforce'', which ''opens'' with the conquest of Shakun and the defeat of the Star Lore Superstars as Dark Force and his two right hands Mensouma and Undata gloat over them, prompting Sharkungo to flee to the Earth and warn the humans that their planet is next. At least you've put up a good fight!
* ''VideoGame/{{Nosgoth}}'' is a multiplayer arena battle game in the ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' series. One of the playable classes is the flying Sentinel. Those familiar with the Legacy of Kain series will note the bitterness of playing this class as, as per games set later in the series' timeline, the entire clan making up the Sentinel class has been slaughtered and indeed is never even seen in the rest of the series at all.
* The ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' series: ''VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved'' begins on a ship which fled the complete annihilation of the planet Reach and the destruction of almost the entire remaining human fleet, which almost seals the inevitable defeat of the human race in the nearly 30-year-long war against the Covenant. Throughout the series, the Fall of Reach is treated as one of the darkest moments of human history. The later prequel ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' takes place on said planet, so it's a foregone conclusion that almost none of the characters will survive. And throughout the entire game, most players would have been aware that any attempt at defending the planet and each minor victory would be completely irrelevant in the end. [[spoiler:The only character introduced in ''Reach'' who survives is MauveShirt Jun.]]

* Zigzagged by ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals'', which is a prequel to ''VideoGame/LufiaAndTheFortressOfDoom''. There's a DiscOneFinalDungeon that [[TheChosenOne Maxim]] makes it through unscathed... but the first scene of ''Lufia I'', in which we see some legendary and ancient hero named "Maxim" making a HeroicSacrifice, turns out to also be the closing scene of ''Lufia II''.
** The DiscOneFinalDungeon is arguably an example as well. Maxim is going to live because he has not married Selan yet and had a child (the Hero of Lufia and the Fortress of Doom is Maxim's descendant). [[spoiler:Though this can be defied in a New Game+ of the remake ''VideoGame/LufiaCurseOfTheSinistrals''.]]
* ''VideoGame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'' is an {{Interquel}} between ''VideoGame/Borderlands1'' and ''VideoGame/Borderlands2''. As such, the fate of the game's villain Col. Tungsteena Zarpedon is obvious from the get-go. Most of the other characters introduced however presumably survive due to the fact that the game takes place on Pandora's moon rather than Pandora itself.

* Ditto ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', which stars the BigBad group Organization XIII. About half of their members die offscreen about a couple hours in due to events seen in [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories another game occurring at the same time]], while the other half dies by the end of [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII the next chronological game]], both of which preceded ''358/2 Days'' in release order.
** You never heard of Xion during Roxas' flashbacks in ''Kingdom Hearts II'', despite her important role. So that helps guessing she was RetGone.
*** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'' has the same thing. Ven, Terra and Aqua aren't around in previous games so obviously it won't turn out well. It actually doesn't end that badly, but Terra's body is [[GrandTheftMe stolen and turned into Xehanort]] while [[AnimatedArmor his soul is forced to inhabit his empty armor]], Ven's heart is sealed into Sora's while his body is left to recover in a secret room within Castle Oblivion, and Aqua is thrown into the Realm of Darkness, to wander there alone without her friends for at least a decade. However the secret ending reveals there's still hope that they may one day see each other again.
** Most likely almost everyone in Daybreak town in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsX'' as the events of the game happened before the First Keyblade War which wrecked the universe.
*** Did you know that Xehanort had classmates when he was still leaning to wield the keyblade? Given only Eraqus is around when Birth By Sleep happens, it's hardly a surprise that all the others die in Kingdom Hearts Dark Road.
* ''VideoGame/DragonballZDokkanBattle'' has a story event called "Low-Class Warrior: Raditz's Pride", in which Raditz, motivated by Bardock's spirit, trains to become stronger just to be seen as someone worthwhile in Vegeta's and Nappa's eyes. He succeeds, but unfortunately for him, this event takes place before the Saiyan Saga...
* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 4: VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', there's the flashback mission with Captain Price where the objective is to assassinate the BigBad Zakhaev. Naturally, you fail; you "only" take his arm off.
* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': All of the flashback cases in some way or another have this by virtue of what characters are involved.
** In case 3-1, college-age Phoenix has a girlfriend. In the present-day, not only is Phoenix single, but said girlfriend is never even mentioned, so no matter who survives the case, their relationship won't. [[spoiler: His girlfriend, Dahlia, is the murderer and was using Phoenix as an unwitting accomplice and FallGuy, so it's no wonder Phoenix doesn't like talking about her.]]
** ''Trials and Tribulations'' case 4 has this several ways: We know from case 1 that this case traumatized Mia so badly she didn't take another case for a year (that case being case 1), we see Dahlia in both cases as a witness, and the first game states that Edgeworth (the prosecutor for the case) had never lost a court case until Phoenix got Maya aquitted. So no matter what Mia does, she can't get Terry Fawles declared Not Guilty, and Dahlia can't die or be arrested. [[spoiler: Dahlia is ''almost'' exposed as the true culprit, but before Mia can close the case, she manipulates Terry into suicide, setting up Mia's hatred of her in case 3-1.]]
** Case 3 of Investigations 2 is a big offender. You know that no matter how hard Gregory tries, he can't get a Not Guilty verdict for Tenkai, because Manfred von Karma is the prosecutor and his record remained unbroken until 1-4. And that exposing von Karma's forgery isn't going to end well for him... Fortunately, you get to solve the case for real as Miles in the present.
** ''Apollo Justice'' is especially cruel about this. You, as the player, are forced to make Phoenix present evidence that you know will ruin his career.
* ''VideoGame/TheScorpionKingRiseOfTheAkkadian'' is a prequel to ''Film/TheScorpionKing'' and both Mathayus' mentor King Urhmet and his enemy [[OmnicidalManiac Magus]] die at this point.

* ''[[VideoGame/RaySeries RayCrisis]]'', the prequel to ''[=RayForce=]''. Despite your efforts, Con-Human succeeds in taking over the planet, according to the story of the first game. Makes the prequel a ShootTheShaggyDog story too.
* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'':
** ''VideoGame/PortalPrelude'', an unofficial 3rd party mod, shows the moment [=GLaDOS=] goes berserk and kills everyone in the Enrichment Center. Mike and Abby ''may'' have survived, but even if they did, they hastily abandoned Aperture.
** During the Old Aperture segments of ''VideoGame/Portal2'' you can hear recordings of Cave Johnson throughout the different eras of Aperture Science, from its bright and golden beginning to eventually what happens to it in the present day. Since the only individuals still left in Aperture during the original ''Portal'' are Chell and [=GLaDOS=], Cave's death preceding that game's events is a given.
* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', a prequel to the entire VideoGame/MetalGear series, having Snake or Ocelot killed will result in a Time Paradox since they were important characters in the previous games. Likewise, killing off EVA will result in a game over too, since her presence is needed for the game to progress. On the other hand, the game forces the player to kill off The Boss after defeating her, since her death is necessary for Big Boss' [[StartOfDarkness descent into villainy]]. If the player doesn't pull the trigger when prompted after a while, Snake will do it automatically anyway.
** Also, Naked Snake is none other than Big Boss himself, who in the other games appeared as an old man with an eyepatch. So his eye had to go, and he indeed loses it saving EVA.
** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', we're introduced to [[GadgeteerGenius Huey]] (Otacon's father) and [[TheLancer Kaz]] (aka Master Miller), both minor but rather pivotal background characters in Solid Snake's timeline. Both of them are doomed to die in the chronological later games; Huey kills himself and attempts to take his step-daughter with him sometime when Otacon was still a teenager (as we find out in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'')[[note]]Since this trope usually induces sadness in the player, to make players not feel too bad about it, in [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain the next canonical game]], Huey is turned into a MoralEventHorizon-crossing HateSink[[/note]], while Miller is murdered and has his identity stolen by Liquid Snake in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''.
** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'', Khamsin is introduced in the "Bladewolf" DLC as a member of the Winds of Destruction. Considering that said DLC is a prequel to the main game and Khamsin never shows up in Raiden's campaign, he's fated to die by the claws of Bladewolf.
* The ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} prequel ''VideoGame/DeadSpaceExtraction''. Anyone who has seen just the first ten minutes of the original should know what to expect...So yeah...
** Along with ''WesternAnimation/DeadSpaceDownfall'', and the two comics series (made to hype both games), [[DownerEnding the results are pretty much a forgone conclusion]].
** Anyone who's played ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' will already figure out that in ''Literature/DeadSpaceMartyr'' Altman is going to end up dead by the end, since his death is a major part of Unitology's history. The only surprise comes in the form of the circumstances surrounding his fate.
* The ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' series started out as a prequel to ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII''. Because Guile's RoaringRampageOfRevenge in ''II'' depends on Charlie being killed off sometime before the World Warrior tournament, Charlie ends up being killed off in both of his endings in the first two games. In the original ''Alpha'', he ends up being taken by surprise and stabbed in the back by Bison while contacting his base, while in ''Alpha 2'' Charlie is shot in the back by his own backup. However, ''Alpha 3'' deviates from this pattern by having Charlie not only survive his encounter with Bison, but he ends up being the one who destroys Bison and his base at the end. The console ports brought back the tradition of killing off Charlie with the addition of Guile to the playable roster by having Charlie die in a HeroicSacrifice in Guile's ending instead.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' has a TenMinuteRetirement at the beginning of ''X7'', getting tired of the more unscrupulous methods of the Maverick Hunters and trying to find a better solution to peace... and the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' series, set [[TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture a hundred years later]], shows that the war ''never'' even ended; in fact, the situation had gotten even ''worse''!
** Well, not exactly. The war they were fighting ended. Then a new war that nearly wiped out all life began. Then, when that was done, ''another'' war began, this time because of scapegoating due to an energy crisis. At least after the Zero series, the wars actually stop. [[VideoGame/MegaManZX For a while.]] With ''[[VideoGame/MegaManLegends Legends]]'' being in the main canon, you can only wonder what the hell went wrong even later when you learn certain details about the world...
** There's also the ''Day of Sigma'' OVA that's part of ''VideoGame/MegaManMaverickHunterX''. Justified since it's a prequel.
** Considering [[VideoGame/MegaManX7 Axl]] is never even referenced in the Zero series, there's a Biometal based on him in ''[[VideoGame/MegaManZX Mega Man ZX Advent]]'' ([[spoiler:even if it's not actually him]]) and [[spoiler:Lumine implants him with... something, leaving him comatose at the end of ''VideoGame/MegaManX8'']], it's safe to say he's a dead Reploid walking.
* ''VideoGame/MightyNo9''[='=]s RAY and her DLC appearance in ''[[VideoGame/MightyGunvolt Mighty Gunvolt Burst]]'', which involves her trying to find her creator Professor White and the answers behind her perpetual xel deterioration in the former, which unfortunately did not go well as she nearly broke down for good thanks to her faulty xel core programming at the end of her DLC campaign, but was resuscitated by Beck after Professor White found her, ashamed of his past failed creation, and was taken for examination to the lab at Sanda Technologies only for RAY to eventually lost control of herself and thrashed her way out of the escort vehicle, roaming rampantly as the Vermilion Destroyer. Her ''Mighty Gunvolt Burst'' appearance sees RAY trying to make one last-ditch effort to stay sane as she was being taken to Sanda Technologies and find the missing pieces of her past through cyberspace, but it was already too late for her by the end her campaign.
* In ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar [[SuperTitle64Advance Portable]]'' (which takes place between the first ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarUniverse'' game and ''Ambition of the Illuminus,'' Vivienne is introduced as a new type of [=CAST=] who ends up performing a heroic sacrifice. She doesn't make any future appearances within the time line, thus making her fate somewhat of a ForegoneConclusion. ...That is [[SubvertedTrope until the last chapter of Episode 3]], where she remembers the player character (after, as a side story indicated, her memory of you would be erased) when she possesses Lou's body. But even then [[DoubleSubversion it's implied that she'll forget the player character afterward.]]
* The goal of ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfileCovenantOfThePlume'' is to kill the Valkyrie Lenneth. This is a prequel to the original ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'', which ''starred'' Lenneth. The best you can do is not get anyone sent to hell who wasn't already from it. However, strictly speaking, it doesn't state anywhere in the opening that it's a prequel, so it's not a foregone conclusion when you start... although FridgeLogic states that it couldn't very well be a sequel, now could it?
** ''Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria'' is -also- set up as a prequel to the first game but averts this trope anyway. Due to time travelling shenanigans, it ends entirely differently.
* ''VideoGame/NinjaGaidenIIITheAncientShipOfDoom'' is actually an {{interquel}} set after the events of the [[VideoGame/NinjaGaidenNES first game]], but before ''[[VideoGame/NinjaGaidenIITheDarkSwordOfChaos II]]''. This fact is vaguely implied in the instruction manual, but not outright stated, which helps hide the fact that Irene Lew, who is supposedly killed in the intro, isn't really dead at all since she returns in ''II''. One big giveaway that ''III'' is set before ''II'' is the fact that Ryu still has the Dragon Sword, which he loses at the end of ''II''.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/FearEffect 2''. This game is a prequel to the original and introduces Rain, Hana's love interest. She's in danger a lot and you'd think she'd be killed since she isn't in the original game. She's not killed and apparently was just off-screen then.
* In a Multimedia example, [[VideoGame/CityOfHeroes ''The Web of Arachnos'']] tells the story of Marcus Cole and Stefan Richter; best friends who grew up in the same household and later became soldiers of fortune. Marcus's brother Ezra and Stefan's sister Monica also make appearances. Anyone who has actually played the game (or [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil looked at the cover of the book]]) knows that Marcus Cole becomes [[TheCape Statesman]] and Stefan Richter becomes [[EvilOverlord Lord Recluse]] after achieving their goal of reaching the Well of the Furies. Monica goes on to marry Marcus, but Ezra was never mentioned before the novel's release.
** MMO time creates some wacky examples in ''City of Heroes''. Any arc where the goal is to prevent the Second Rikti Invasion is doomed to fail, because that storyline has to begin when you reach level 35. Praetor Duncan's plan to kill Diabolique fails because Diabolique's OneWingedAngel form from her Incarnate Trial was used in the promotional material for the issue that arc appeared in. Most importantly, no matter what you do in Praetoria Tyrant will still blow up it's capital out of spite.
* In ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'', a prequel to ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'', Adam has to die (as [[BrainUploading he becomes Samus' computer guide]]) and two bosses, Ridley and Nightmare, will at least leave corpses which will be brought to the BSL and copied by the X Parasites.
* ''VideoGame/PerfectDark Zero'''s plot involves the death of Dr. Carroll, who [[BrainUploading uploaded his mind]] before death and appears as a floating laptop computer in the first game.

* The [=GameCube=] version of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' added the option to rescue Richard Aiken by healing his poisonous snake wound on time. However, since the sequels require the deaths of all the Bravo Team members (except for Rebecca) for the storyline to make sense, Richard will simply die at a later point of the game.
** A new facet of the plot in the ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3Remake'' [[spoiler:involving Jill and Carlos trying to prevent the destruction of Raccoon City by giving the US goverment a cure for the T-Virus will obviously fail, as the destruction of Raccoon City is one of the pivotal events in the universe's timeline. Sure enough, Nicholai destroys the only sample of the cure {{for the evulz}}.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Okami}}'': When Amaterasu and Issun wind up in Kamiki Village 100 years ago, they find themselves having to re-enact the very battle with Orochi as told in legend. Issun, remembering how this one ended with "Shiranui" dying, is ''very'' nervous about it. [[spoiler: They defeat Orochi without incident but Shiranui appears in time to save Nagi from a falling boulder -- and Shiranui, as we find out later, is ''already dying'' from a mortal wound inflicted elsewhere.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Okamiden}}'': Like its predecessor, the game features TimeTravel. The instant you go back in time, you realize that [[GravityIsAHarshMistress you're in mid-air over an ocean.]] Luckily, a ship called the Goryeo comes and its friendly crew take you on board. You explore the ship, and find that it's the sunken ship from the first game. The one loaded with evil and bad stuff.
* You may not know this the ''first'' time you play through ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre The Knight of Lodis'', but you have two routes to take in the game. The canonical option is Path "A", wherein Alphonse kills his best friend and commander, Rictor, as well as his second in command Orson, and his love interest Eleanor sacrifices herself, making them examples of this trope, and the official ending is the DownerEnding / BittersweetEnding
* Say, you know those two from ''VideoGame/OgreBattle''? Holy knight Lans and Warren? They make it to episode seven, along with Canopus, except They don't wind up making it out - Warren sacrifices himself to save everyone from being sucked into a Chaos gate, whereas Lans was driven insane by torture. The remake implies otherwise though.
* The prequel to ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', ''Literature/TheStolenThrone'', is absolutely ''loaded'' with this. Like the anti-heroic badass Loghain Mac Tir? He's the [[AntiVillain villain]] of the main game. Boy, Maric really came into his own as King! His rule is pretty darn short. Look at adorable little Prince Cailan in the epilogue! Aww! He dies young at the beginning of the game, and is hinted to be a mediocre king at best. ''Franchise/DragonAge'' taking place in a CrapsackWorld, this isn't entirely unexpected.
** Played in-universe in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', however. The game is a story-within-a-story concerning [[PlayerCharacter Hawke's]] rise to power, and his/her role in events that have torn [[TheChurch the Chantry]] apart and flung Thedas (the setting) into war. Played with in that the storyteller and listener know the ultimate outcome, but the player has a lot less information.
** Also, ''Literature/TheCalling'' prequel. The few people who will definitely survive will be King Maric, Duncan (he dies pretty early in the first game), Fiona, Utha and the Architect.
* In the ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ Second Super Robot Wars Z: Hakai-hen]]'', there's nothing players can do to prevent the deaths of [[Anime/CodeGeass Euphemia li Britannia]], [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Neil "Lockon Stratos" Dylandy]] or [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Kamina]], in defiance of franchise tradition of usually [[FixFic letting the player prevent plotline deaths]]. However, this is a special case, as these characters' deaths are arguably so plot-critical to their home series, they ''have'' to happen. In fact, the sequel ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ Second Super Robot Wars Z: Saisei-hen]]'' plays with this: Neil and Kamina remain dead, but Euphemia becomes NotQuiteDead, [[GuideDangIt provided certain requirements are met]]. Ultimately subverted in the ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ Third Super Robot Wars Z: Jigoku-hen]]'', where events state Euphemia is KilledOffForReal.
* ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' series:
** In ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'', if you had Georg Prime investigated, you would find out that he killed the queen of Falena, Queen Arshtat. ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'', set a few years before ''II'', explains the circumstances behind it: Georg had to kill the queen before she could roast the entirety of Falena with her absurdly powerful Sun Rune.
** Inversely, in ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'', a pair of recruits are the chef family Retso and Shun Min. They were depicted as a normal and stable family. Yet, players of ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'' will know that their happy times will not last forever.[[labelnote:Click for the story of how they won't end happy]]Retso is one of the opponents of the cooking mini game sidequest by ''II''[='=]s resident chef Hai Yo. He appears there as a bitter man because Shun Min has been killed and blames Hai Yo for her death. But the truth of the whole story is that Shun Min detected that Retso came in contact with Jinkai whose grand plans to make everyone happy with his new Moon Bird recipe was [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist actually a cover for his own nefarious plan to rule the world with cooking.]] She stole the recipe and gave it to Hai Yo for safekeeping, then Jinkai's thugs killed her. Hai Yo had to hide in the castle at ''II'' while taking up a job as the castle chef, until Jinkai's men (and Retso) come knocking.[[/labelnote]]

* In ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos Origins'', if you've played more than ten minutes of ''Eternal Wings'', you can probably guess [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Verus]] and [[BigBad Baelheit]] are going to be killed off, simply based on the fact that Geldoblame is in power in ''Eternal Wings'', twenty years later. Sharp-eyed players will pick up on a few others.
* In ''VisualNovel/CorpseParty: Book of Shadows'' (a sequel of sorts to ''Blood Covered''), we are introduced to Kai Shimada and Naho Saenoki's friend Sayaka Ooue. Shimada is part of the same group of friends at Byakudan High School, where he has a one-sided rivalry with Yuuya Kizami, and Sayaka is mentioned in Naho's Notes. You find their bodies in Chapters 2 and 5 of ''Blood Covered'', respectively.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** While the franchise had been going on for twenty-five years by that point, we've never known of Fi's existence outside of the [[AnachronicOrder chronologically first]] game, ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'', despite her being the spirit of the series' iconic weapon, the Master Sword. You can probably fill in the blanks for yourself. [[spoiler:Which is why it's a bit of a shock when she briefly reappears in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]''.]]
** ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriorsAgeOfCalamity'' takes place 100 years before ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', when the Champions and the King of Hyrule were still alive and just before Hyrule was essentially destroyed by Calamity Ganon. It's a given that none of these characters survive the story, since they were all killed when Calamity Ganon took over. [[spoiler:Subverted when intervention from time-travelers creates an AlternateTimeline where EverybodyLives.]]
* ''VideoGame/IMissTheSunrise'' actually ''inverts'' this in a few cases -- Marie, Rami, and Mahk are all alive and well in ''VideoGame/TheReconstruction'', so they can't die (though something does have to happen to Mahk to make the crew believe he died). Played straight with Tezkhra, however.
* ''VideoGame/ElShaddaiAscensionOfTheMetatron'': Lucifel. Pretty obvious [[{{Satan}} who he'll become someday]]. [[TheEndOrIsIt Then again]], [[AlternateHistory Enoch averted the Great Flood]], so who knows?
* Vic Vance, the protagonist of prequel game ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCityStories'', is unceremoniously gunned down in the introduction of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'', set two years later. He is one of only two playable protagonists (the other being [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheLostAndDamned Johnny]]) to canonically die during the series, unless you count Endings A or B in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV''.
* ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising'' has the main hero, Bahamut. He's the BigBad in ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}: Hard Corps'', who you have to kill in three of the five endings. [[WordOfGod The producers, however, have stated that]] he could be someone else entirely, only sharing the same name.
* Followed in an odd yet internally consistent way in ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors.'' The main feature of the games is the 'story mode' which tells the tale of whichever of the characters you happen to select. While Koei takes some liberties with the history, iterations such as 5 and 7 in particular are surprisingly true to the source material, ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms''. This means that some games with prequel missions which feature certain characters already tell you how they're going to end due to the presence of later stages. For instance, in the ExpansionPack for 5, a mission is introduced with the imperial guardian He Jin as an important NPC, against a rebel cadre of eunuchs. No matter how you do in this prequel stage, though, He Jin must die either in the course of gameplay or shortly after, as both [[FatBastard Dong Zhuo]] and [[UpperClassTwit Yuan Shao]] are shown ascending to power in the early stages of 5, after He Jin's death at the hands of the eunuchs' conspiracy (as the actual facts of history tell).
* The ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' series has two spin offs on UsefulNotes/{{P|laystationPortable}}SP: ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWarChainsOfOlympus Chains of Olympus]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/GodOfWarGhostOfSparta Ghost of Sparta]]''. The former is a prequel to the original game and the latter is set between the first and the second. The plots of both games are predictable due to this trope. [[SarcasmMode I wonder if Kratos will succeed in saving his brother..]]

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'' players could be forgiven for being unaware that everything they do in the game, even if they go for HundredPercentCompletion, will be undone in the end, since while some of that is a given due to [[spoiler:him returning to England with riches enough for land, finery, and title]] as per the ending, ''Literature/AssassinsCreedForsaken'' already revealed -- hence why his own Database entry in ''IV'' does -- that [[spoiler:Edward dies in 1735]], [[spoiler:his daughter is still estranged from him]], and shows that [[spoiler:his son Haytham goes on to become a Templar Grand Master]]... who in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' [[spoiler:will be killed by his son, Edward's grandson, Ratonhnhaké:ton aka Connor Kenway]].
* Because ''VideoGame/TheSims3'' is a prequel to the two previous games, characters carried over from the older games (who are mostly children and teens in this version) more or less have their lives mapped out for them right up until they die of old age (or otherwise). Of course, since it's an open-ended simulation game, it's entirely up to the player whether they [[PlayingWithATrope play this straight]] or {{avert|edTrope}} it in game-play, though this doesn't affect the characters' official canonical fates.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' frequently mentions the long-ago [[GreatOffscreenWar Aegis War]], which is chronicled in the prequel ''Torna ~ The Golden Country''. This game has the party establishing bonds and connections with people all across Torna, which is rather painful when the main game established that [[spoiler:the entirety of Torna gets destroyed during the final battle of the Aegis War, with very few survivors]]. Additionally, a flashback in the main game showed that [[TheHero Lora]] was killed shortly after the Aegis War, which led to Jin's FaceHeelTurn, and indeed the epilogue for ''Torna'' cuts off just before the flashback would begin.