History DroppedABridgeOnHim / VideoGames

** Subverted in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'', where Solid Snake is seemingly killed when the tanker sinks in the prologue, [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent causing the perspective to shift to Raiden]]. However, it quickly becomes clear that Snake survived after all.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty 4'': All the SAS members except Soap and Captain Price are unceremoniously executed at the end of the game. In ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare2'', all of TF-141, again barring Soap and Price, are killed off by General Shepherd. In fact, if you're a player character in a ''Modern Warfare'' title who isn't Soap or Price, you'd better call home and say your goodbyes while you can, because there's a rickety ridge overhead with your name on it.
** As of ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare3'', [[spoiler: [[TheHeroDies even Soap isn't safe]].]]

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* Brad Vickers, S.T.A.R.S. Alpha Team's pilot in the original ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'', appears as an easy-to-miss enemy zombie in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil2'' who only exists to grant the player the key to the wardrobe locker when defeated. ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil3'', being a NonLinearSequel to ''[=RE2=]'', had to come up with a more satisfying explanation for Brad's demise. It turns out he was killed by the Nemesis, Umbrella bio-weapon trained to kill the survivors of the mansion incident.

** There's plenty of bridge dropping (and [[LongBusTrip Long Bus Trips]], in Sakura's case) in the other two routes, though -- most notably Caster in Fate and Ilya/Berserker in UBW, who each get one scene to say "Hi, I'm a villain!" and then die in that scene or the next time we see them. HF does it slightly more due to it pulling in some completely new characters, but the real reason why HF's bridge dropping stands out more is that all of its characters had bridges dropped on them ''after'' the scenes that made fans care about them, whereas nobody cared about Caster yet when Gil insta-killed her ten minutes after her introduction in Fate.

* ''SoldierOfFortune II'': Madeline Taylor. By nothing more than a [[FacelessGoons faceless]] {{Mook}} that you tear to shreds as easily as all the others before him, to boot. Hawk suffers a similar fate in the first game, albeit at the hands of the BigBad.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}} 3'', it was stated that Jun, Baek, and indeed most of the cast of the original games had been killed and [[TheAssimilator absorbed]] by Ogre. Later games {{Retcon}}ned this by revealing that Baek and a few others (such as Lee, whose fighting set had been copied by Ogre, implying his death) had survived- the original King was the only one who's death was conclusive. Other characters did actually die between Tekken 2 and 3- the original Kuma died of old age (except that it was later stated that he was only in hiding), while the original Armor King was killed in a bar brawl with Craig Marduk before the start of Tekken 4.

** Chris Avellone and the Black Isle dropped a bridge on the [[NuclearNasty Wanamingos]] in the Fallout Bible, having described their sterility, genetic clock and an onslaught of a [[TheChosenOne travelling tribal]]. Unlike the others, [[DemonicSpiders they won't be missed however]].

* This trope is played for laughs somewhat in ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'s'' fifth ending, in which Caim and Angelus, having defeated the [[UltimateEvil Mother Angel/Queen-Beast]] after following it through a rift in the space time continuum, are shot down by Japanese Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets. It's unbelievably anticlimactic to the point where after everything that has preceded it, you have to laugh.

** After the two creators of the series split up, the remaining one said that all of the non-human characters all died due to a gigantic explosion following ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', apparently sharing Creator/JMichaelStraczynski's overzealous frothing hatred for cute kids and robots. This was apparently a joke, as non-human characters like Marcus returned in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas''.
** Chris Avellone and the Black Isle dropped a bridge on the Wannamigos in the Fallout Bible, having described their sterility, genetic clock and an onslaught of a [[TheChosenOne travelling tribal]].
** In ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', Liberty Prime (the DeusExMachina of the main game) is nuked from orbit during the first quest of the ''Broken Steel'' add-on. However, the Sole Survivor can choose to rebuild him/it two games later in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', if they side with the Brotherhood of Steel.

* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' revolves around the PlayerCharacter's efforts to [[OrderReborn restore]] [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential or destroy]] the Jedi Council by [[RetiredBadassRoundup seeking out the previous Masters]] it consisted of. While you meet all the others alive and well, you find that Jedi Master Lonna Vash was murdered by the Sith on Korriban right as you arrived and your apprentice [[DeadpanSnarker Atton]] comments that [[ShaggyDogStory the entire trip was a waste of time]]. With the [[GameMod Restored Content Mod]] you can meet her alive and well on the DummiedOut planet M4-78 [[spoiler:only for her to be electrocuted by the AIIsACrapshoot supercomputer on her way out]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}} 3'', it was stated that Jun, Baek, and indeed most of the cast of the original games had been killed and [[TheAssimilator absorbed]] by Ogre. Later games {{Retcon}}ed this by revealing that Baek and a few others (such as Lee, whose fighting set had been copied by Ogre, implying his death) had survived- the original King was the only one who's death was conclusive. Other characters did actually die between Tekken 2 and 3- the original Kuma died of old age (except that it was later stated that he was only in hiding), while the original Armor King was killed in a bar brawl with Craig Marduk before the start of Tekken 4.

* The moral based horror puzzle video game VideoGame/{{Catherine}} kills off the main character like this in the action stages if the player is not careful.

* The gimmick of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'''s SuicideMission is that [[AnyoneCanDie anyone in your squad can die]]. The game tries its best to make sure that DeathIsDramatic, with several potential deaths using tropes like DiedInYourArmsTonight, SayMyName etc. In the end though, some deaths end up being very abrupt, such as if you did not install the Thanix Cannon in the Normandy (where either Thane, Garrus, Zaeed, Grunt, Jack, Samara or Morinth is impaled by a metal beam with a brief "Oh no! [Character] is dead!" comment) and the HoldTheLine segment (where the camera just pans over the corpses of whichever characters did not make it). This can be especially bad if the character who dies is Shepard's LoveInterest.

** After the two creators of the series split up, the remaining one said that all of the non-human characters all died due to a gigantic explosion following ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'', apparently sharing Creator/JMichaelStraczynski's overzealous frothing hatred for cute kids and robots. This was apparently a joke, as non-human characters like Marcus returned in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas.''

** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', Liberty Prime, the DeusExMachina of the main game, is nuked from orbit during the first quest of the ''Broken Steel'' add-on. However, the Sole Survivor can choose to rebuild him/it two games later in ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', if they side with the Brotherhood of Steel.
** According to ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', Owen and Sarah Lyons died between 3 and 4. The former died of old age (paving the way for Arthur Maxson to take over) and the latter died in battle.

** It also applies to Prometheus, aka Robo, whose circuits (which apparently carried his personality) were used to construct the Prometheus Lock that kept the Frozen Flame sealed away from [[MasterComputer FATE.]] The most ignominous part is that, once she has recovered her access to it, she could have deleted Prometheus at any time. She was just waiting for Serge & Co (who have ZERO connection to Prometheus and don't even know who or what he is) to arrive at her inner sanctum, so the ''player'' could watch as she unceremoniously destroyed him without fuss or fanfare.

** There's plenty of bridge dropping (and [[LongBusTrip Long Bus Trips]], in Sakura's case) in the other two routes, though- most notably Caster in Fate and Ilya/Berserker in UBW, who each get one scene to say "Hi, I'm a villain!" and then die in that scene or the next time we see them. HF does it slightly more due to it pulling in some completely new characters, but the real reason why HF's bridge dropping stands out more is that all of its characters had bridges dropped on them *after* the scenes that made fans care about them, whereas nobody cared about Caster yet when Gil insta-killed her ten minutes after her introduction in Fate.

** As of ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare3'' [[spoiler: [[TheHeroDies even Soap isn't safe.]]]]

** Sgt. Johnson's death in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' is a strong example. Johnson was repeatedly shown as a [[BadassNormal formidable soldier who survived numerous dangerous missions]] despite being simply an ordinary human compared to John-113 or the Arbiter. Johnson was also one of John-113's most enduring allies who had been with him on numerous missions throughout the series. Him getting killed by 343 Guilty Spark, a character that is basically a support character with no previously-demonstrated combat abilities, comes across as abrupt and disappointing. Rather than go out fighting the Covenant or the Flood (which would make John-113's battle against them all the more personal) Johnson gets anticlimactically killed by a minor character.
** ''VideoGame/HaloReach'': We knew all of Noble Team was going to die going in. But Kat's was probably the most emotionally effective because it was the sudden, out of nowhere kind of death that could have happened to anyone.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** Between the events of ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' and ''[[Videogame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', a number of notable characters are killed or simply disappear. To note:

* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' has this happen to Phillipe Loren, who gets crushed by a large counterweight (it's more like "Dropped A Ball On Him").

* The gimmick of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'''s SuicideMission is that [[AnyoneCanDie anyone in your squad can die]]. The game tries its best to make sure that DeathIsDramatic, with several potential deaths using tropes like FamousLastWords, DiedInYourArmsTonight, SayMyName etc. In the end though, some deaths end up being very abrupt, such as if you did not install the Thanix Cannon in the Normandy (where either Thane, Garrus, Zaeed, Grunt, Jack, Samara or Morinth is impaled by a metal beam with a brief "Oh no! [Character] is dead!" comment) and the HoldTheLine segment (where the camera just pans over the corpses of whichever characters did not make it). This can be especially bad if the character who dies is Shepard's LoveInterest.

* The two creators of ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' split up, with the remaining one saying that all of the non-human characters all died due to a gigantic explosion following ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'', apparently sharing Creator/JMichaelStraczynski's overzealous frothing hatred for cute kids and robots. This was apparently a joke, as non-human characters like Marcus returned in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas.''
** Also, Chris Avellone and the Black Isle dropped a bridge on the Wannamigos in the Fallout Bible, having described their sterility, genetic clock and an onslaught of a [[TheChosenOne travelling tribal]].

* In ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'', after going through utter hell, seeing all her friends brutally murdered, and learning that she was nothing more than an UnwittingPawn all along, April is randomely attacked, impaled and left to drown in a swamp in literally ''the last few seconds of the game''.
** Many fans assume she is alive, remembering that, in the first game, she learned to breathe underwater.
** Now that ''Dreamfall Chapters'' is out of DevelopmentHell thanks to a Kickstarter campaign raising $1.5 million to fund the game, we may get an answer to that question. According to the creators, Zoe is still in a coma, but will learn to use her dream powers to travel between worlds even while her body is in the hospital. Kian is still alive but awaits execution. April's ultimate fate is not revealed, although her voice actress is set to return. Like ''Dreamfall'', ''Chapters'' will have 3 playable characters, and the third character has not yet been revealed (although it's mentioned that it's a female and someone new).

** It should be mentioned that the Chrono, Marle and Lucca that had Bridges Dropped on them were versions of them from failed timelines ending up in the Darkness Beyond Time and were likely the same ones fought as bosses in Chrono Trigger DS (of course if they are then their death would be at the hands of the main versions of Chrono, Marle and Lucca in the bonus boss fights).

* VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006: Sonic's temporary death at the hands of the villain came without warning or any form of foreshadowing. Despite being the title character, his death was unceremonious and abrupt.

* In ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'', the main villains are the Deadly Six, six entirely new characters each with their own unique personality, and [[KnightOfCerebus among the darker Sonic villains]], while bringing a sense of humor at the same time. How do they go out? Three of them, Zazz, Zomom, and Master Zik, are fought in a row at Zone 1 of Lava Mountain, and only take two hits before they are (presumably) destroyed as if they were common enemies. Zeena puts up more of a fight but goes a similar way, while Zor falls into the lava when Sonic hits a switch. Zavok on the other hand has more of a climactic battle with his giant form and [[DisneyVillainDeath fall down a shaft into lava]] (which is fitting since he's the main villain, although he is HijackedByGanon after his doom). Unlike Metal Sonic in the [[VideoGame/SonicGenerations previous game]], their deaths happen during gameplay rather than in cutscenes.
** However, their deaths are up to debate given that Eggman mentions recruiting them again in the ending.

* ''VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries'': In the [[spoiler:Master Bounty Hunter]] route of ''Completing the Mission'', Henry is accompanied in his infiltration of the Toppat Clan's soon-to-be-launched space station by a squad of three other bounty hunters. In the middle of the path, [[spoiler:all three of them are killed up by [[DragonAscendant the Right Hand Man]] [[WeCanRebuildHim Reborn]]. Afterwards, nobody ever mentions them again (let alone acknowledges their loss for a moment) for the rest of the route.]]

* ''VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries'': In the Bounty/Rescue route of ''Completing the Mission'', Henry is accompanied in his infiltration of the Topphat clan's secret lair by a squad of three other bounty hunters. [[spoiler:Along the winning path, all three of them are blown up by the Right Hand Man. Afterwards, nobody ever mentions them again (let alone acknowledges their loss for a moment) for the rest of the route.]]