History Main / FinalDeath

* FinalDeathMode: A game mode with no continues and where death results in a permanent GameOver.

* DeaderThanDead: Someone has made ''damn'' sure this character cannot be revived.

* AllDeathsFinal: KilledOfForReal applies to everyone no matter how fantastical the setting.

->''"If you leave your game, stay safe, stay alert! And what ever you do, don't die! Because if you die outside of your own game, you don't regenerate. EVER!'' '''''Game over.'''''"
-->-- '''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog''', explaining the dangers of dying in ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph''

...also known as "Permadeath". Beyond NonLethalKO, beyond OnlyMostlyDead. This is a relatively rare case in VideoGames where a character dying in battle is gone ''forever'', and now the rest have to go on without him or her. No resurrections, no revivals, this is AllDeathsFinal enforced as a rule of gameplay.

Usually only happens in games where it's possible to get a fairly steady stream of replacements, so that if you manage to dwindle your party down so much that your next fight is pretty much {{Unwinnable}}, you deserve to be screwed. Said replacements [[UnstableEquilibrium may not be as good]], however.

Note, this is usually separate from PlotlineDeath via {{cutscene}}, which are predestined affairs from the outset (that you usually don't know about beforehand). No; you the player were simply not good enough or not lucky enough to keep them alive and breathing. Hope you have a saved game to go back to! ([[DeletionAsPunishment Unless the game doesn't let you do that.]])

{{Roguelike}}s tend to have this as their standard -- and in many cases only -- option.

This trope is specific to gameplay; the equivalent of this in other fiction is DeaderThanDead. The inverse of this is DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist. See also KilledOffForReal. Compare OutOfContinues. If it's completely optional, that's a FinalDeathMode if the game enforces it, or NoDeathRun if it's an entirely SelfImposedChallenge.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Action Adventure]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheWizardOfOz'', if the Lion, Scarecrow, or Tin Man die, they're dead for the rest of the game. Though you can pick up lives for all three of them, they're pretty rare in comparison to Dorothy's.
* The unlockable "I Am The Night" mode for ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins'' is this. Basically, you have to go through NewGamePlus on one life. Dying even once will erase your save file for that mode, though there is nothing stopping you from simply SaveScumming if you're close to dying.
* ''VideoGame/FridayThe13th'' has your six camp counselors. Each time one perishes, they're gone forever. When all six have been killed? ''[[ItsAWonderfulFailure "YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE DEAD.]] [[GameOver GAME OVER"]]''.
* The SMS port of ''VideoGame/WonderBoyInMonsterLand'', and the English version of ''VideoGame/WonderBoyInMonsterWorld''.
* The ''Series/{{Buffy|the Vampire Slayer}}'' Xbox game and ''VideoGame/BuffyTheVampireSlayerChaosBleeds'' work like this. The health bar for Buffy and enemies is really just a guide to show when they can be killed. On the one hand vampires need to be staked, zombies need their head removed, ect. On the other hand, Buffy dies for good if fed on, bitten, or is dealt one of the special killing moves with no health.
* ''Anime/SwordArtOnline: Hollow Realization'' spins this trope on its head: as compared to the original SAO, players in ''Sword Art: Origin'' do not die in real life if their avatars die. On the other hand, [=NPCs=] that die remain dead. This applies [[StoryAndGameplayIntegration in-game]] as well: party members who are [=NPCs=] in ''Origin'' become PermanentlyMissableContent if they die.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Adventure Game]]
* The Creator/QuanticDream studio is well-known for their extremely story-driven games, almost all of which make heavy use of this trope one way or another.
** ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'' is a defining example. At several points throughout its plot, any one of the four playable characters can get themselves into a situation during which they can die. It's possible to survive the encounter every time it happens, but if they don't, though, they stay dead, and the game keeps on going. Two of them can't die until the final showdown, though. It's even possible to [[KillEmAll kill all of the central characters during one playthrough]].
** ''VideoGame/BeyondTwoSouls'' has multiple supporting characters that can die permanently. The story also adapts accordingly, but the impact is much less severe because there's just one PlayerCharacter, Jodie, who can only die for real at one point very late in the narrative.
** ''VideoGame/DetroitBecomeHuman'' returns to the ''Heavy Rain'' formula with multiple playable characters, numerous opportunities for them to die, and their deaths' more or less noticeable impact on the overarching story.
* ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'' operates on this principle, but since the only ways to actually ''die'' (being spotted just gets you stuck in a [[CardboardPrison Cardboard Dungeon]]) are either [[GuideDangIt so convoluted as to be nearly impossible to accomplish by accident]] or [[TooDumbToLive require such a lapse of thought on the part of the player, one might not even realize it until after a couple of plays through]].
* ''VideoGame/ZakMckrackenAndTheAlienMindbenders'' has a few ways, such as deliberately running out of oxygen on Mars (or stepping outside without a proper space suit) or walking into the Sphinx' guardian room three times. All are easily avoidable. They will also make the game unwinnable, as both Zak and Annie are needed to trigger the final action needed to complete the game.
* ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'': Whatever you do, DON'T LOOK FOR MISTER EATEN. The developers have explicitly stated that any character who completes the Mr. Eaten storyline is (A) an insane idiot/addict and (B) permanently enthralled to an EldritchAbomination that WILL. NEVER. STOP. DEVOURING. The account is as good as permadead, regardless of how much real-world money you invested. Note that other "Game Over" situations such as insanity, social suicide, imprisonment, and actual death are only temporary due to the strange nature of the underworld. Which makes Seeking Mr. Eaten an exceptional HaveANiceDeath that has required extensive tinkering and an option to stop killing your character.
* ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'' has multiple points where a character can die. If they die, the story keeps going without them. It is entirely possible for everyone to die, although two of the characters ''will'' make it to the last set of choices regardless of other outcomes.
* ''VideoGame/OneChance'' is a modern Flash game that tries its best to put the "final" in "final death".

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Beat Em Up]]
* In the NES version of ''[[VideoGame/DoubleDragon Double Dragon III]]'', the player starts off as Billy Lee (and Jimmy if a second player is present) and gains two additional fighters (Chin Seimei and Yagyu Ranzou) after the second and third stages. The player can change characters once they gain the other fighters, but each of them has exactly one life. This can be problematic since a death during the first two stages means an instant GameOver, and with all four characters shared by both players in co-op mode, an unskilled player will become a handicap if he wastes the other characters before his partner can use them. There's only one continue in the whole game and it's only usable after Mission 3.
* In ''Peace Keepers'' (aka ''VideoGame/RushingBeat Syura''), Prokop (one of the four default fighters) will suffer a PlotlineDeath if the player takes the wrong path in a certain stage, eliminating him from the character roster for the rest of the game.
* The ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' Fangame ''Grief Syndrome'' starts with all five of the main cast, but if any of them die they're gone for good. [[spoiler:And if Sayaka dies before the final boss you're forced to fight her witch form.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Driving Game]]
* If all of your cars are impounded in ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeedMostWanted'' or ''Carbon'', you must start your career from the beginning.
* The "Deaths" option in ''VideoGame/SanFranciscoRush'' makes crashing an immediate GameOver for both you and the opponents.
* in ''Xpand Rally'', in case of a really disastrous crash the pilot can die and the career must. Obviously, restarted from scratch with a new one.
* In the two ''VideoGame/StreetLegal'' games, damaging or destroying a car's chassis usually puts it out of commission for good: the chassis cannot be repaired in Street Legal 1 without dropping it to the floor and damaging it again, and any part damaged to zero percent in Street Legal Racing Redline cannot be repaired. Autosave in SLRR guarantees that any mistakes are permanent, and if you're left with no cash and no usable cars, you must restart.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Edutainment Game]]
* In ''VideoGame/TheOregonTrail'', members of your wagon's party remain dead if they perish. If you die, the game ends. Your final score in the game is determined, in part, by how many of your party members survive the journey.
* This is [[spoiler:the entire point of]] Jesse Venbrux's ultra-short freeware game ''Execution''. You start the game looking at a man tied to a pole through your scope. Shooting him yields the message: 'You Lose'. [[spoiler:Attempting to play a second time starts the game with 'Your actions have consequences, it is already too late'. If you try to play, the man will still be dead.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fighting Game]]
* In some deathmatch-style games, there may be options to give each player only one life per round, or use a communal batch of "tickets" that can only decrease in number. Neutralizing all the respawn points in "control point" matches can also cause enemy deaths to be final.
* In the FightingGame ''VideoGame/WeaponLord'', you can continue after losing a match normally, like almost all fighting games. However, if the opponent defeats you with a FinishingMove, you will not be given this chance, and you'll have to start all over.
* The manikins in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. While in the original game they were just Mooks, in the prequel ''Duodecim'' it's revealed that anyone defeated by a manikin may not be revived for the next cycle in the GroundhogDayLoop, as the manikins generally don't stop attacking, unlike the actual players on the side of Chaos and Cosmos. Being defeated by a manikin can therefore result in being beaten to death so badly that you're unable to be revived. [[spoiler:This is why Lightning, Kain, Yuna, Laguna, Tifa, and Vaan weren't in the original. They got overwhelmed by manikins after closing the rift that they were spawning out of.]]
* The Virtual Boy game ''Teleroboxer'' has a "Title Defense" mode in which you must fight all eight of your robot opponents at random (This mode can only be played if you defeat all of your opponents without losing once). If you lose a single match in this mode, that's it; you're no longer the champion, and you'll have no choice but to retire. The next time you go to the File Select screen, it will say "CHAMPION RETIRED" on whatever save file you played on, which means you cannot replay the game again on that same file and must erase the data in order to start a new game.
* ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' for the Wii unlocks a mode called "Mac's Last Stand" after beating Title Defense mode that works similarly to the above ''Teleroboxer'' example. However, in this case it's endless (so it's not a matter of if you succumb but when) and you have three opportunities to fall, not just once. When that third loss does occur, Little Mac retires, which marks the last time you'll be able to play Career mode for that save. There are also unlockables associated with Mac's Last Stand[[note]]Win ten fights in this mode and you unlock Champions Mode, which turns Mac into a OneHitPointWonder in Exhibition mode, and randomly encountering [[GuestFighter Donkey Kong]] as an opponent in Mac's Last Stand will open him up as a choice for Exhibition fights[[/note]] so if you fail to accomplish the necessary requirements before your third loss, it becomes PermanentlyMissableContent.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:First Person Shooter]]
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series: Sometimes fallen RedShirtArmy characters can be healed with medkits, but if their name turns red, they are dead for real. Major characters are invincible except for PlotlineDeath.
** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare'' has #YOLO mode. This comes with the extreme difficulty of [[HarderThanHard Veteran.]]
* In the ''VideoGame/RainbowSix'' game series, at least the PC games up to Raven Shield, if any of the named characters are "KIA"'ed during a campaign, they are dead for good, and you have to make do with the reserve agents.
** In later games, [=NPCs=] can only normally be NonLethalKO-ed, but if the player character or an NPC actually dies, it's game over. ''VideoGame/GhostRecon'' has gone this way as well.
* ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' and its sequel has this for the finales. If a survivor dies in the final map, they are dead for good and get an honorable mention in the credits. The sequel does avert this if someone is carrying a MagicalDefibrillator.
* ''One Life'' takes this UpToEleven, in a similar vein to ''VideoGame/YouOnlyLiveOnce''. If you die in the game, you are dead, no restarts, no anything. All you can do now is to delete it.
* ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' has Ultra-Nightmare mode. In that mode, you only have one chance to beat the campaign. Failure to do so would result in retrying the campaign all over again.
* Upon beating ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus'', you'll unlock the [[HarderThanHard Mein Leiben]] difficulty. If you start a game in Mein Leiben difficulty, you only have one chance to beat the game with autosaves and difficulty changes disabled. If you die or quit, you'll have to try again from the beginning.
* This trope is part and parcel of [[DeadlyGame battle royale games]], such as ''VideoGame/PlayerUnknownsBattlegrounds'' and ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'': ''Battle Royale'', since the goal of the game is to be the last person or team standing. Any player that runs out of health, and has no allies who can revive him/her in a short notice, is dead and out for the rest of the match. No second chances, no resurrections, no respawns. You better play carefully if you want to be number one.
[[/folder]]


[[folder:Hack And Slash]]
* The ''Videogame/{{Diablo}}'' series:
** ''VideoGame/DiabloII'', already quite similar to {{roguelike}}s, offers a "hardcore" setting to players who have beaten the game, in which their character file is locked after a single death, and can no longer be played. (It's still there, though, and you can see a record of all your Hardcore deaths if you feel like keeping them. And cheaters can edit the dead character's save to restore them to life, good as new. [[NoFairCheating But that's cheating. Cheater.]])Quoth the game manual:
--->''Note: Creator/BlizzardEntertainment is in no way responsible for your hardcore character. If you choose to create and play a hardcore character, you do so at your own risk. Blizzard is not responsible for the death and loss of your hardcore characters for any reason including Internet lag, bugs, Acts of God, your little sister, or any other reason whatsoever. Consult the End User License Agreement for more details. Blizzard will not, and does not have the capability to restore any deceased Hardcore characters. Don't even ask. La-la-la-la-la, we can't hear you.''
** ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'' continues the Hardcore tradition, only the setting is available after making Level 10 with your first character. While you can use the Auction House to gear up your Hardcore character, the Real Money Auction House is not available for them. And it makes sense -- when your character has only one life and all your character's items are lost on death (which can happen in any number of ways as described above) do you really want to waste real-world money on your gear?
* So, too, does independently-designed ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' clone ''VideoGame/{{Torchlight}}'', but this setting is readily available upon character creation.
* In ''PathOfExile'', Hardcore is an extra modifier set for certain leagues. If you die in a league with Hardcore on, your character is kicked out to Standard, so while you don't completely lose your character, you will have to start over with a fresh character if you want to try that league again.
* ''VideoGame/DarksidersII'' offers you Nightmare Mode upon beating the game at hard ([[IdiosyncraticDifficultyLevels Apocalyptic]]) difficulty, where if you get killed by enemies even once, the game resets you back to the beginning. Dying in BottomlessPits won't impose such a penalty, thankfully.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[=MMORPG=]s]]
* There's a longstanding debate over permadeath in [=MUDs=] and [=MMOs=]. Most of these games have no permadeath and the trend has been in the opposite direction by increasingly making it so that DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist. However there have been exceptions, sometimes with very limited scope.
* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsGalaxies'', the original, highly exclusive Jedi characters had a form of permadeath. This was soon changed after the first Jedi characters in the game were predictably hunted down and ganked repeatedly.
* In ''[=ThunderDome=]'' MUDS, death from loss of Constitution below 4 resulted in permanent Condeath. The mechanics associated with aging made this inevitable, no matter how much Con could be bought back.
* Many roleplay-intensive [=MUSH=]es have a permanent policy on character death; one life, one death. This is more often determined by player agreements and/or moderator judgment than by game mechanics.
* Ultimate Mode in ''VideoGame/{{Shaiya}}'' allows you the most character points in the game, use of all the skills, and use of the best items. But if you die and are not resurrected within three minutes, your character is deleted.
* In ''VideoGame/RealmOfTheMadGod'', once you die, you lose all of your items and levels, then restart.
* Some players of ''[[VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline DDO]]'' do this as a SelfImposedChallenge. If your character dies and nobody is around to resurrect them, delete and roll a new character.
* In ''Videogame/ArmageddonMUD'', player characters who die are resurrected ''only'' in cases of extreme bug abuse/server issues.
* Spoofed in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' with the April Fools Day announcement of [[WillOTheWisp Wisps]] as a new player race. They would have the ability to explode, permanently sacrificing the character in exchange for draining 50 mana from all units nearby (the ability wisps had in ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII''). This ability would not be even remotely useful if it caused a [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist normal]] [=WoW=] death, and there is naturally no ability in the game worth destroying your character in order to use.
* ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}} Online'' features permadeath as a core mechanic. After dying, you have to make a run to a previously-touched statue through the spirit world with 10 orbs around your character. These orbs represent a 10% chance of successful resurrection, and there are monsters that can take one and send you back to your corpse to start the run over again. However, you [[BribingYourWayToVictory can also sacrifice gold and/or items for a higher success rate]] if that happens.
* In ''Face of Mankind'', characters respawn using clones, which cost money. If you are killed and have no clones or money left, your character is officially dead.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Platform Game]]
* ''VideoGame/YouOnlyLiveOnce'':
** The true extreme is the original game, a flash platformer which is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. No extra lives, no continues, you only live once. Oh, and you can't play again, as it will remember that you died. [[spoiler:Well, you can if you clear your Flash history.]]
** In its sequel, ''The Execution'', the player commands a firing squad aiming at whichever between Pink Lizard or the hero had been arrested, depending on the ending gotten in the first game. Execute them or leave them be. [[spoiler:Execute them, leave and come back gives you a bloody background. Leaving the game without executing them, leaving and returning, will leave them scott-free.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Mega Man X}}3'' is notable for that. If you play as Zero and Zero dies, that's it, he's permanently badly damaged for the rest of the game and he can't be used in any stages any longer. But you can bring him back pretty easily: [[spoiler:Get your new password, enter it in, then keep adding 1 to the last digit and pressing start. Eventually you'll get one that works where Zero's back.]] It should be noted that the spoilered information is "cheating."
* In ''VideoGame/MegaManX7'', Reploid civilians that take damage die, and stay dead. This can be a hassel, since certain Reploids provide chips that can be used to powerup your characters. Rescuing 64 Reploids is also a prerequisite for unlocking X early.
* In the NES ''VideoGame/StarWars'' game Luke can collect up to 7 extra lives (as well as having 10 continues), but if either Han or Leia dies they're gone for good unless you have Obi-Wan in your party, since he can use the Force to revive them, but only about 7 times total.
* In VideoGame/SuperMarioBros35, when Mario ([[SecretCharacter or Luigi]]) die once, that's it. You lost that particular BattleRoyale round. Now you can watch others play, or leave and find a new one.
* Survival Mode in ''[[VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia1 Prince of Persia Classic]]''.
* In ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'', beating the game unlocks the Steel Soul mode, where death is permanent and means the erasure of your save file. On the plus side, this means that the breakable Charms you can buy and equip are a lot more useful, since their main draw back is negated.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Time Strategy]]
* Many RealTimeStrategy games have a kind of FinalDeath in place, with units that happen to die in a battle needing to be replaced. ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpiresII'' could have special named units die and simply be lost, although this only happens to minor, one time characters (except during some campaigns, which require characters such as Joan of Arc, Attila the Hun and El Cid to stay alive during the scenario). The ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' series, while turn based, has your family members, which can die in battle, assassination, naval battle, plague, riots, disasters, and simply old age. Of course, new family members are born every few turns, but if you lose them all, you lose the game.
* ''VideoGame/LordsOfTheRealm 3'' is also notable, and along those lines. Aside from a few infinite RedShirts, all of your knights are actually drawn from a finite pool specific to the scenario you're playing. Knights are often able to retreat safely, rarely die even if felled, and high-tier or HeroUnit knights have a "luck" attribute that makes them even less likely to die in battle. However, if the knights ''are'' killed, or are captured and deliberately executed (as opposed to being honorably ransomed), they're dead for good. Killing certain knights is a victory condition in some scenarios.
* In RealTimeStrategy game ''VideoGame/{{Sacrifice}}'', souls are essential for monster-summoning and, for certain sides, resurrection. Unfortunately the battlegrounds are giant floating islands, and if a monster falls off the edge, its soul(s) are lost forever. One particularly nasty spell cuts the ground out from under their feet. Conversely, one side's monsters can use ''friendly'' souls to [[PoweredByAForsakenChild fuel powerful attacks and upgrades]].
* In the multi-platform game ''VideoGame/CannonFodder'', all of your troops only had one life. The more you killed, the more populated your graveyard would be with gravestones. Although the basic idea was that you'd be sending a few hundred troops to their deaths, it still stung when your current Lt. or General "Witty Name" got taken out by a spear trap.
* In ''VideoGame/WarhammerDarkOmen'' you are given a set number of regiments at certain points: Have one wiped out (as opposed to routed) and it's gone for good. (especially annoying with your {{Squishy Wizard}}s) even worse, regiments that have suffered casualties will have to buy replacements, and cash is VERY scarce.
* ''VideoGame/WarlordsBattlecry 2'' has an "Ironman" mode which deletes the save profile if the players hero dies. (Essentially the same as the Diablo example above)
* Some bosses in ''VideoGame/{{Patapon}}'' can perma-kill your soldiers.
* ''VideoGame/TreasurePlanetBattleAtProcyon'' utilizes this. In the campaign, if any of your ships other than [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou your command ship]] is sunk, then that ship is gone for the entire campaign.
* ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper 2'': Vampires normally lose a CharacterLevel and reconstitute in their Graveyard when "killed", only meeting final death if they die at Level 1. However, a vampire killed by a [[WarriorMonk Monk]] is gone for good -- hence why your first mission after recruiting vampires is to massacre the [[BeneathTheEarth underworld's]] largest monastery.
* In ''VideoGame/OgreBattle64'' sometimes, if a human dies, they ''permanently'' change class into an angel or a zombie. The angel's nice, but only happens to [[GamePreferredGender female]] characters who were extremely lawful in life. The zombie class can happen to any human, and is exceptionally [[SpoonyBard spoony]]. (However, they could upgrade to a passable skeleton, only to turn into an even spoonier ghost.) In some games, there was a zombie dragon for dragons.

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roguelike]]
* Closer to it are {{roguelike}} games, such as ''VideoGame/NetHack'' and ''VideoGame/{{Angband}}'': If your character dies (and you can be ''very'' [[EverythingTryingToKillYou sure]] that [[NintendoHard they will]]), ''your character is erased.'' New characters retain a "memory" of monsters fought. Some versions of these games try to detect -- and reject -- copies of the deleted save file, but most simply put in finger-wagging messages.
* Some roguelikes like ''VideoGame/DungeonsOfDredmor'', ''VideoGame/{{Transcendence}}'', and ''[[http://trianglewizard.webs.com/ Triangle Wizard]]'', however, have options to disable permadeath if one so choose. ''VideoGame/{{Elona}}'' didn't even have permadeath until rather recently.
* ''VideoGame/RiskOfRain'' being a Roguelike action platformer, naturally, does this often with [[HaveANiceDeath hilarious death]] messages. In fact, this can become a form of progress as dying fifty times unlocks an item that lets you survive ONE death should you find it on future playthroughs (with additional 'lives' if you find more than one, which is unlikely). This can become very painful when you suffer [[YetAnotherStupidDeath a game-ending run from a too-big stack of monsters]].
* In ''VideoGame/RogueLegacy'', when you die, you start a new character who is a descendant of the prior one.
* In ''Videogame/DarkestDungeon'', when a hero dies, that's it. All that's left to remember them by is a marker in the hamlet's cemetery (unless you're lucky enough to get the "From Beyond" event). Fortunately, you're never in want of fresh recruits to throw into the meat-grinder. Unfortunately, you're going to need to keep some of them alive long enough to be able to face the Darkest Dungeon itself [[spoiler:and barring some extremely specific setup and some luck, two of the heroes you send to face the final boss ''will'' die. And [[SadisticChoice you have to choose which ones]].]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'' is unique in that whenever the player dies, Zagreus does too. However, since he's a being of the Underworld this means [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist he'll just be revived]] in a pool of blood cursing the name of his most recent murderer before starting the run over again.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Role-Playing Game]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}''
** The "Gone" status from the classic ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' is just that: You tried twice to resurrect someone, and it didn't work.
** ''VideoGame/ClassOfHeroes'', a SpiritualSuccessor to ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'', operates the same way.
** In ''VideoGame/WizardryLabyrinthOfLostSouls'', the character that you select as the "[[PlayerCharacter Leader]]" is [[PlotArmor exempt from this]], and will automatically be taken back to the Temple and revived with one HP if you party doesn't find a way to resurrect him/her before then. Created characters (or anyone originating from the Guild) can still be KilledOffForReal if you're unlucky.
* In most ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' games, someone's squad falling in a war can randomly result in either NonLethalKO or FinalDeath.
** ''VideoGame/SuikodenI'' has a seemingly HopelessBossFight with one of your 108 Stars pitted against someone he cannot possibly beat. Losing results in his death, and the loss of a Star. If you ''really'' leveled him up (as in, kept him with you throughout the entire game thus far), then he can win the duel and stay just barely alive, which lets you keep him.
** Choosing to defend the castle in ''VideoGame/SuikodenV'' instead of evacuate it results in one of the Stars dying for good. Their star falls off the list, and you can no longer get the best ending. Which is rather unfortunate, as anyone who's seen that choice generally feels it's a lot better than evacuating.
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series:
** Dead is dead when it comes to your companions (though as a player you can reload if you die). In this first game, this was baad news, thanks to [[ArtificialStupidity your companions having no survival instinct whatsoever]] and they couldn't equip any armour. It's possible, but extremely difficult, to beat the game with companions -- most can be left outside dangerous areas but keeping Dogmeat alive is very challenging.
** The 'Ironman' mode in ''VideoGame/FalloutTactics'' makes reloading even more costly, as you can only save while in a [=BoS=] bunker. If a companion dies you have to make a hard choice whether to accept it as Final or roll back all progress before even setting out on the trip. If your main character dies, [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou you don't even have that option]].
** ''[[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas New Vegas]]'' has ally permadeath only in "Hardcore" mode.
** In ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', companions are designated as "essential" [=NPCs=], and thus unkillable (though they can still get knocked out in combat and will be forced to return to a settlement if not revived in Survival mode) so long as they consider you a friend. If your standing with a companion is reduced to the point of them wanting nothing more to do with you (and you either fail a speech check or succeed but piss them off again later), their "essential" flag will be removed and they can be killed.
* ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland}}'' would ''erase itself'' if you got a GameOver, and the developers recommended you back-up your bought copy and only play the game using those back-ups.
* In ''VideoGame/Wasteland2'', when a party member runs out of health, they go into a "mending" state where they fall unconscious. They can be revived by a party member with an adequate "Surgeon" score and a trauma kit, but if their health drops below a certain threshold while mending, they will die and remain dead. Certain attacks may kill party members outright, however, in which case the end result is the same: a permanently deceased party member.
* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' & ''[[VideoGame/BaldursGateII 2]]'',
** Whether or not party members can die the final death is configured by difficulty. On the "easy" and "normal" settings, dead characters can always be resurrected; on "core" and "hard" it's possible for them to be permanently killed if enough damage is done to them in one turn, or if an instant death spell is cast on them. As an exception to this, being the target of a successful disintegration effect or being petrified and then having the statue damaged will always kill a character completely dead, but petrification is at least reversible by applying a ''Stone to Flesh'' effect on the statue.
** And as an exception to ''all'' of this, having the protagonist killed or Imprisoned is an instant game over, even if you could have technically "gotten better" at the hands of your party members if it had been a tabletop game. Your own un-resurrectability is justified: [[spoiler: Children of Bhaal instantly turn to dust upon death, their essence going towards fueling the resurrection of the dead god, as seen in BG 1's final cinematic with Sarevok.]]
** The first game has a particularly nasty variant towards the end. [[spoiler:If you get captured by Angelo (one of [[BigBad Sarevok]]'s henchmen), there is a random chance that he will murder one of your party members. That character is then considered KilledOffForReal.]]
* In ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'', if you die you're Dead For Real (unless you have a companion with a resurrection scroll handy). And you get to see your own grave.
* ''[[VideoGame/{{Lisa}} LISA: The Painful RPG]]'' combines this with RealityEnsues: Like in real life, your party members can recover from things like being knocked unconscious, beaten to a pulp, or bleeding out (albeit through more bizarre and faster ways than can real people.) Also like real life, being hit with a move named "Fatal Chomp", "Neck Break", or "Decapitate" will kill your party members instantly with no way to bring them back. The only character that doesn't suffer a permanent death after those moves is Brad, because he is the protagonist and [[PlotArmor the plot needs him]] to move on.
* Anyone, save Welkin, Alicia, Rosie and Largo (who are all main characters and therefore have PlotArmor) in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' will die for good if you don't get a medic to help them within three turns of losing the most important HP (or if the enemy gets to them first). Even during skirmish missions and side-story battles, they can still be killed permanently if you're not careful (the side-stories in particular can cause some weirdness, since some of them are flashbacks, so if a character dies there after you used them in missions that chronologically take place later, but are unlocked earlier, it would mean a dead person participated in that battle). The next games in the series [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist doesn't have this]].
* In ''VideoGame/SweetHome'', you have five party members at the start of the game, and the ones that die stay dead. There is no way to revive anyone who dies, and the "healer" of your group can only undo status effects and cannot recover HP. The [[MultipleEndings ending]] you get depends on how many of them are still alive at the end of the game.
* Unusually for what's essentially a {{Mons}} series, ''VideoGame/{{Geneforge}}'' does this with any and all slain party members in games 1, 2, 4 and 5. 3 has your [[SideKick sidekicks]] "[[ScrewThisImOuttaHere run off screaming]]" when badly wounded, allowing you to recruit them again, but still has your creations die permanently.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' has this for only a handful of characters. During Edge's Tale, you get four mini-missions with his Ninja in training, with each ninja going solo. Whereas in the rest of the game you get a Game Over if the party's wiped out, in this case, if a ninja dies on his or her mission, the game just moves onto the next one, and you never get that dead ninja back.
* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'', if Wrex, Kaidan, or Ashley dies in Virmire, they stay dead - they don't come back as a burn victim, they don't come back as a badass, they stay dead. And anyone who dies during the SuicideMission of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' stays dead, and won't come back in ''Mass Effect 3''. One of the endings even has Shepard dying, and if Shepard dies, you can't import that save for [=ME3=]. All of the above fall somewhere between this trope and PlotlineDeath, since all deaths take place in cutscenes integral to the plot, but you can still affect some of them thanks to the non-linear story ([[spoiler:though [[MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers either]] Ashley or Kaidan ''[[SadisticChoice must]]'' die on Virmire]]).
* ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfileCovenantOfThePlume'' is partly merciful: just letting an ally fall in combat won't finish them off. Sacrificing their life through dark magic to increase your power? ''That'' means FinalDeath. (Naturally, [[spoiler:you get the best ending through [[EverybodyLives refusing to kill off any of them.]]]])
* In ''VideoGame/UnlimitedAdventures'' (based on ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' above), a character destroyed with the Destruction spell will simply cease to exist - he cannot be resurrected, since there's no corpse to resurrect. Same happens if a character falls in battle and the other characters flee; all those left behind will disappear from the party. [[http://frua.rosedragon.org/pc/uanews/uanl34/da-gone.htm There are also other ways.]] Death of old age is also fatal... [[GameBreakingBug to the game itself; it makes it crash.]]
* The [[http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Nuzlocke_Challenge Nuzlocke]] SelfImposedChallenge of the ''[[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pokémon]]'' games work like this; among other rules, if one of your Pokémon faints during a battle it is considered "dead" and ''must not'' be used again (it must either be released from the player's possession entirely, or permanently set aside in a PC box).
%%* The Flying Men in ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' and ''VideoGame/EarthBound''.
* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher2AssassinsOfKings'' has this for ''you'' on [[HarderThanHard insane difficulty]]. If Geralt dies, all your saves from that playthrough are rendered inaccessible and you must start over.
* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'', if your [[{{Mons}} Spirits]] fall to 0 HP, a timer starts. If the timer runs out, they revert to their component parts. The timer is extremely generous, and it's easy enough to keep them from being knocked out in the first place that you're unlikely to see it very often anyway [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential (Unless you're trying to harvest dream pieces from them intentionally)]].
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** The series has seemingly every type of magic available ''except'' for true resurrection magic. {{Necromancy}} exists, but that's not quite the same thing... In the few in-universe cases where someone has had some success with it, the person that is resurrected is typically either [[CameBackWrong deranged in some way or suffers from some other issue]]. Also, though not quite ''resurrection'', the various [[OurGodsAreDifferent series' deities]] do seem to reserve the right to ''[[{{Reincarnation}} reincarnate]]'' someone if they see it fit.
** In terms of gameplay, anyone who dies (whether you kill them or something else does), they will stay dead. After subscribing to the AnyoneCanDie philosophy early in the series, ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' have plot relevant characters marked as ''[[StoryDrivenInvulnerability essential]]''. They cannot be killed, only knocked out. Anyone who isn't essential can still die and will stay dead.
* ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'' has several moments where one of your friends is in danger and out of your party, necessitating your intervention via battle so you can rescue them. The alternative is to skimp out on the rescue mission, which the game will freely let you do...before forcing you into an event consisting of you witnessing the victim's final moments. The only way to get the character back is to start a new playthrough.
* In the ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' game ''Legend of the Super Saiyajin'' for the SNES, this is in effect. If somebody dies in battle, that's it. If it's Goku or Gohan, immediate game over. That's right, you don't get to use the Dragonballs to restore anyone killed in battle, apart from at one fixed point in the plot.
* In ''Overfall'' a dead character is gone forever, with no resurrection possible.
* Normally, dying in ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' simply dumps you back at the last checkpoint you visited, minus the chips you had equipped (which can be retrieved and re-equipped if you find your previous body.) However, after [[spoiler: the Bunker is destroyed in Route C, and with it the ability to back up 2B and 9S' memories]], death becomes permanent, and saving the game as frequently as possible (the game even hammers it into your from the beginning that there is no auto-save) becomes important.
* ''VideoGame/{{Familiarsio}}'': As stated in the description, this is a world where the familiars' lives are precious, so once their HP reaches 0 they're gone forever.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Shoot Em Up]]
* The ''VideoGame/EscapeVelocity'' series has a checkbox marked "Strict" for character creation that will delete your character file if you die ingame. While you can eject from a blasted ship if you bought pods, you'll lose your current identity and fail all of your missions.
* In the original ''VideoGame/{{Star Fox|1}}'' and ''VideoGame/StarFox2'', if any of your wingmen get shot down, that's it; they're brown bread, toast, worm food, and thou must continue the game without them. From ''VideoGame/StarFox64'' onwards, they just get a NonLethalKO and are temporarily grounded for repairs.
* In ''VideoGame/BloodCrusher2'', you cannot restart the game from previous checkpoints. If you die, you have to restart the game in its entirety.
* In the doujin game ''VideoGame/SispriGauntlet'', you can choose one sister at the beginning to control. But then, you can find the rest of the cast as an "extended sister", aka. another sister to control. But as bloody bullet hell as this game is, if a sister dies you can't use her again for the remainder of the game.
* Dying to the FinalBoss in ''VideoGame/BurningForce'' is an instant game over regardless of how many continues you have.
* ''VideoGame/LoseLose'' deletes a file in your Home folder every time you kill an enemy. When you lose a life, the game deletes itself. Not only is it a FinalDeath for your player (of course, you could redownload it, but that's missing the point), but also for your precious files as well. Goodbye, music library and precious childhood photos. Norton Antivirus classified it as a virus, understandably.
* {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in ''Sub Mission'': There's a practice mode available where you can practice the game with robot, but if you attempt a mission for real and fail, a hostage dies and is erased from the disk forever. Unsurprisingly, sales were virtually nil.


[[/folder]]

[[folder:Simulation Game]]
* ''VideoGame/TheSims'': In the original game, without any expansion packs, once a Sim died, that was it.
** In ''The Sims 3'', the only way for a Sim to be truly dead is if they were made a playable ghost, age normally, and then "die" of old age.
** Later in ''The Sims 4'', a dead Sim can hang around as a ghost. You get the option to release their spirit to the Netherworld, which takes them out of the game. This also happens after a certain amount of time for an unplayed ghost (due to the game automatically culling them), though you ''do'' get warned about this so you have a chance to bring them back.
* In one of the [[CrackIsCheaper most expensive home games ever made]], ''VideoGame/SteelBattalion'', your character will be killed and your profile erased if your Vertical Tank (Mecha) is destroyed and you fail to use the eject button on the massive controller included.
* The ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' series has flip-flopped on this a bit. In [=WC1=], all wingmen could be killed with relative ease, meaning that you had to fly the rest of the system's missions solo. In [=WC2=], all wingmen played a bigger role in the plot, and would automatically eject if their ship took lethal damage. Starting with [=WC3=], wingmen would start out automatically ejecting, but after a certain point (depending on the wingman in question), each would start to be flagged as "at risk", and would no longer eject in time
* In the ''VideoGame/MonsterRancher'' games, your [[{{Mon}} monsters]] will eventually die of old age if you don't freeze or combine them.
* ''VideoGame/{{Creatures}}'' series embodies this - a creature, be it Norn, Grendel or Ettin, that dies, dies for good. There are ways to stall death indefinitely but once a creature dies, there is no way to reverse it. The game uses a save system that prevents simply reloading the game and injecting a [[ChemistryCanDoAnything ton of various chemicals]] in the creature's system to stall death.
* In ''VideoGame/ShadowPresident'', depending on the actions that you take throughout the game, your advisors may resign due to policy disagreements, be assassinated, or be caught up in a scandal. These advisors do not come back, making your job as President very difficult, as they're able to provide many of the facts behind other countries including military capabilities, population statistics, and financial standings.
* The UsefulNotes/{{Steam}} versions of ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X3: Terran Conflict]]'' and ''X3: Albion Prelude'' have the Dead-Is-Dead game start, wherein if you die the game deletes your save. Both games feature [[ThatOneAchievement special achievements]] for completing plots in Dead-Is-Dead. Unfortunately the implementation is a little glitchy; a poor Internet connection can cause premature deletion.
* In the original ''VideoGame/AirCombat'' game that launched the ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' series, if you crashed a plane or were shot down, you would lose that plane for good. If you lost all your planes, then it was game over.
* Your packmates in ''VideoGame/{{Wolf}}'' will remain dead if something happens to them, as will any animals that you kill for food.
* ''VideoGame/{{Uplink}}''
** The game ends with a black screen if you failed to cover your tracks. Some company will have tracked your hack to the source, right up to the Gateway you were connected to, and from that point, the Uplink corporation you worked for has to disavow all knowledge of your connections to them, and destroy that gateway. And you can't restart the game unless you backed up the user directory, or deleted your profile to start with a new one.
** In the demo there was only one way to get arrested: refuse to pay your fines and you'll get convicted. This is somewhat humorous since hacking into your ultimate employers computers (the titular Uplink corporation) would only get you disavowed. This is probably why it got taken out, along with the clash with the new identity never culpable theme.
* In the second ''VideoGame/MechWarrior Mercenaries'', any of your lancemates whose 'mechs are destroyed will ''usually'' eject safely, however this trope is occasionally invoked, forcing you to hire a replacement pilot.
* A ''VideoGame/{{Tamagotchi}}'''s lifespan ends with it dying forever.
* In the Super NES game ''Wings 2: Aces High'' (aka ''Blazing Skies''), if a pilot crashes his plane or gets shot down, then that pilot is gone for the rest of the game. If you lose all of your pilots, it's game over for you.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sports Game]]
* In a non-death example, the Wii ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' revamp has a "Mac's Last Stand" mode. Basically, lose three matches, and Mac quits. Which means you can never play Career Mode again from your profile. The good news is that this only opens after you've beaten the entire opponent roster ''twice'', so you're just trying to see how much further you can go before hanging up the gloves. Even after the Career is locked, Exhibition Mode remains available. The main goals players seek during Last Stand are the SecretCharacter who can appear randomly in a fight (once you fight him, win or lose, you can fight him anytime), and the NintendoHard "Champion Mode" (where all your opponents can OneHitKO you) which turns on after 10 wins and becomes an in-game option from then on.
* What happens to the main character is unclear, but the player only gets one shot to beat the final level of ''VideoGame/PropCycle''. The other three levels the player could retry with more quarters, but if the player can't finish the final level, which can only be reached if the first three levels are beat, the player has to start from the beginning.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Stealth Based Game]]
* The PSP game ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'' allows you to recruit your own allies and send them into battle. If these allies die, they cannot be brought back. Amusingly enough, while random allies can end up gone for good if they end up on the wrong end of too many bullets, any character who can't be renamed simply passes out and you get him/her back later. This obviously applies to the main character, Naked Snake, but extremely minor side character Jonathan is also invincible, even though he gets one CutScene and then stops being in the plot [[spoiler:until his meaningless and accidental PlotlineDeath, three quarters of the game later...]].
** This is made more annoying by the fact that soldiers can die for good even with full LIFE - if they run too hard for too long without eating anything, their Stamina empties and they pass out - forever.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' includes the infamous torture scene, where Ocelot [[BreakingTheFourthWall goes out of his way to warn Snake that there are no continues]], and if Snake can't stand the torture and kicks the bucket, the game is ''over''. Of course, this is all there to give players an incentive to submit to Ocelot's torture if they can't keep up ([[MemeticMutation And don't even think about using auto-fire, or he'll know!]]), when the [[MultipleEndings ending of the game]] depends on how well the player does at the torture scene. There is, however, nothing stopping the player quitting and loading a save from before the torture scene and trying again if they fail (the player even gets an OminousSavePrompt just beforehand).
* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'', novice Assassins that die are gone for good and you need to recruit a replacement.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Survival Horror]]
* ''VideoGame/HellNight'' had you fleeing through an AbsurdlySpaciousSewer with a partner. If the monster caught up with you, your partner would die permanently and instantly. You'd be on your own until you found the next one.
* ''VideoGame/ObsCure'' gives your five characters (two of whom, Stan and Kenny, are discovered over the course of the game) to play as. If any of them dies, the game continues on without them, until [[KillEmAll everyone has been killed]]. This is the ''only'' way that a character can die; there are no {{Plotline Death}}s within the main cast, and you can theoretically finish the game with [[EverybodyLives everybody still alive]] (indeed, this is the only way to get [[MultipleEndings the good ending]]), or with only one survivor. The sequel removes this system, instead opting for {{Plotline Death}}s.
* In the original ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'
** The two heroes you can pick from each get a partner. If they die during the game, they don't come back. Chris' partner Rebecca can be killed by a Hunter after the [[PlotlineDeath death]] of Richard if you don't get to her in time. Jill's partner Barry can die during the final part of the game if you agree to split up with him in the underground passage instead of letting him go with her or having him wait at the entrance (this happens if you answer "no" to his two questions; answering any other way ensures his survival). Note that both Rebecca and Barry [[PlotArmor both survive in canon.]]
** The UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube remake changes Barry's case; if Jill doesn't give Barry his gun back during a particular Boss fight, said Boss will launch him into an abyss.
* In ''VideoGame/SongOfHorror'', if a PlayerCharacter dies, the story continues from another character's perspective. You only have 13 characters, though.
* ''VideoGame/{{SSTR}}'': Every time you die, [[BigBad [=SSTR=]]] will awaken a new crew member from cryosleep for you to play as.
* The main twist of ''VideoGame/ZombiU''. If you die, the player character becomes a zombie, and you take control of a new survivor. You lose all your items, but you can get them back by killing the zombified previous player character.
* ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' has a difficulty level completely dedicated to this idea. The idea is if you die, that's it. You have to start all over again. Which is annoying, because a few enemies can perform {{OneHitKill}}s on you. This difficulty level is appropriately named [[MeaningfulName Insane]].
* Losing a party member in ''VideoGame/SweetHome'' had them gone for good with their personal item going along with them. There are other items in the mansion that act as replacements, but they take up a spot in your very limited inventory. Depending on who died, when they died and where, you could wind up in an {{Unwinnable}} game. The ending also changes depending on how many characters died.
* Hardcore Mode in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3'' makes it so dying erases your save (as opposed to the previous installments, which let you die as much as you wanted but saving was limited to three saves for the whole campaign).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Third-Person Shooter]]
* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 3'' has "New York Minute Hardcore" mode, which forces you to complete stages within a single minute, gaining time extensions for kills, but die once and you have to restart the whole game.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Turn Based Strategy]]
* ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre'':
** Deaths are permanent, unless the character is resurrected during the battle in which they died. Note that the resurrection spell is not found until late-game and is very expensive [[ManaMeter MP-wise]]. Few alternatives exist, and those are found even later.
** The remake softens this, resurrections are easier to get and units don't die permanently until they've been incapacitated and not recovered three times.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' has characters reduced to 0 HP have NonLethalKO only for a limited time within the battle. If they are not healed and the battle isn't finished within a certain number of rounds, they're gone for good. Should that happen to Ramza, [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou the game ends on the spot]].
** Various games in the series have stages called "Jagds," which always lack some vital mechanic of the game. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' the mechanic in question is the magical law system that governs combat and keeps people from dying of their injuries. Any allies who have 0 HP at the end of a fight in a Jagd will die. Should that happen to [[TheHero Marche]], [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou the game ends]].
* In the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series, a unit that falls in battle in the missions is generally gone for the remainder of the campaign. Plot-important characters are considered to have sustained a crippling injury so that they can never fight again (allowing them to interact with other characters during cutscenes), whereas less important characters simply perish. If a ''main'' character is killed, it is [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou game over]]. There is, however, nothing to prevent players from [[SaveScumming reloading the mission]] every time a character dies. Recent entries in the series include a "Casual Mode" where this can be disabled, allowing defeated characters to be usable again in the next mission (or even the next ''turn'', in the case of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates''' "Phoenix Mode". Some games also have items that can resurrect allies who have died, but these items tend to be [[TooAwesomeToUse difficult to find, few in number, and limited to one use.]]
* ''[[VideoGame/CriticalMass1995 Critical Mass]]'', a game originally created in the mid-90s, would delete your file if you died without ejecting, or your pod was destroyed. And, given the nature of [[AIIsACrapShoot your AI allies to shoot you as much as the enemy]], it has become the main competition on the forum to see how many missions you can survive. (Don't worry about finishing, it's an EndlessGame.)
* ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000ChaosGate''- once a Marine is dead, he's dead. You only have limited Terminators too and can't move them over.
* Unlike every other game in the series, the original ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' on the UsefulNotes/GameBoy has permadeath. It can get away with it because it has [[ExcusePlot the bare minimum of plot]], compared to the series' modern trend of [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover mixing tons of plots together]].
* In ''VideoGame/OperationDarkness'', any fallen unit that remains dead at the end of the stage stays dead. Luckily, you've got HerbertWest, who can revive anyone before end of stage.
* In ''VideoGame/YuGiOhMonsterCapsuleGB'', losing a monster means it's gone forever, though this doesn't apply to Yugi's friends.
* This is the case for normal mode in ''VideoGame/TelepathTactics''. In casual mode, [[DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist characters return in the next battle with a slight nerf to their max health]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Wildermyth}}'', heroes defeated in battle have the option to retreat [[AnArmAndALeg less a limb]] or go out in a blaze of glory. If they're defeated a second time in the same chapter, they die. Once a hero dies, they're gone for good for the rest of the campaign, though they can be added to your Legacy and recruited into a new story with some of their skills and all of their story hooks.
* All deaths in ''VideoGame/CrystalWarriors'' are permanent. This also applies to any MonsterAllies your characters may have recruited.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Turn Based Tactics]]
* In ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance 2'', ALL deaths are final. This ranges from a bullet, to a knife in the gut, to, in one frustrating example, an unlucky swimming skill check. Down to Davy Jones' locker, Ira!
* In the ''VideoGame/{{XCOM}}'' series you can hire recruits cheaply and easily. Usually most of them will suffer perma deaths before they're experienced enough to stop being [[OneHitPointWonder One Hit Point Wonders]] who graduated at the ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy. Maybe if your troops are lucky, they might just get an incapacitating wound instead of flat-out dying, but even that comes with long-term consequences.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Wide Open Sandbox]]
* ''VideoGame/SurvivalCrisisZ''
** Hardcore mode, where player death is usually final. There's an item that will let you take over someone else's body when you die, but you lose your entire inventory except your money. If you get a high enough score in [[KobayashiMario Arcade Mode]], though, you'll get a cheat that will let you revive as many times as you want, without any item loss.
** Your allies will die permanently if they run out of health or remain infected for too long, regardless of whether you're playing Hardcore mode or not. Unlike the above, there is no way to reverse it, though another ally will usually replace them sooner or later.
* In ''VideoGame/DeadRising'', all characters suffer from this. (Of course, if Frank dies, you get game over.)
* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' has Hardcore mode where you are stuck on Hard difficulty and dying means you are unable to respawn to your world and are forced to create a new save. Before 1.9, if you die, your save for your Hardcore world ''gets erased from your computer!'' Not recommended for players who want to build and/or explore. Hardcore mode extends to multiplayer as well should the server admin allow it on. Anyone that dies on the server automatically gets kicked out and banned.
* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' has hardcore difficulty. If you die, the character you made is gone. Unlike the ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' example, dying doesn't force you to delete the world, only the character; this means you can start another character to attempt to continue the game. As multiple characters can go through your worlds, it's not a total loss if you stored items regularly. You still lose that inventory and HP/MP gained on the character.
* ''VideoGame/{{Starbound}}'' features a hardcore difficulty setting: dying would not result in your character respawning on their ship, and would lock out the character's save file, rendering it unplayable.
* ''VideoGame/StateOfDecay'' has this for all potential player-controlled survivors. Whether you are controlling them or not, if a survivor dies, they're done in for the rest of the playthrough, and all their built-up stats and skills go straight with them. Non-playable and [[PlotArmor plot-critical]] [=NPCs=] such as the MissionControl Lily Ritter and Doc Hanson are immune to this, and many survivors such as [[spoiler:Pastor Will]] are [[PlotlineDeath scripted to die at certain points]] and cannot be killed before then, but even some characters with significant relevance to the story, such as Lily's brother Jacob and the initial player character Marcus, are all fair game.
* ''VideoGame/DontStarve'' is always on permadeath, unless you activate a Touch Stone, build a Meat Effigy, or wear a Life Giving Amulet. Touch Stones are rare and inconvenient, Meat Effigies are made from middle to endgame materials, and Life Giving Amulets are only accessible in the very late game. The multiplayer mode, Don't Starve Together, is a lot better about permadeath, allowing dead players to remain as ghosts - but there are a lot of penalties for resurrection to both the resurrector and resurrectee, and ghosts that have not yet been revived will continuously drain sanity for all players. Additionally, when all players have died at once, the entire server resets itself after a few minutes.
* Very unforgiving example in ''VideoGame/TheLongDark''. You can't manually save, the game maintains a single {{Autosave}} which it automatically deletes if you die, forcing you to start all over. A single dumb decision in game can cost you dearly. Just like real life, of course.
* A slight variation in the Desolation of Mordor DLC in ''Videogame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar''; due to the fact that Baranor is a normal human without the ResurrectiveImmortality of Talion or Eltariel, upon death everything save for story progress and certain skill upgrades resets, meaning you lose any accumulated loot and any outposts you control.
* In ''VideoGame/StarTradersFrontiers'', playing on hard difficulty or above activates permadeath, meaning if your captain dies at any point in the game, the campaign is over.
[[/folder]]



!!Non-video game examples:

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'', Yusuke and his friends are forced to play in an actualized version of a video game titled "Goblin City" against a CreepyChild named Amanuma and nicknamed "Game Master". Amanuma takes the role of the game's final boss the Goblin King, not realizing that the Goblin King is killed off after the player completes the game, whereas the player can revive as many times as he wants since the game has unlimited continues. As a result, Amanuma dies for real when Kurama completes the final stage, horrified as he ''does'' realize that he will undoubtly perish, and pretty much saying "IDontWantToDie"; as a result, when Kurama faces the next enemy, [[BewareTheNiceOnes he is INCREDIBLY angry]] after being forced to kill the kid. [[spoiler: Koenma manages to revive him.]]
* The basic premise of ''Anime/SwordArtOnline'' is that you die in real life if you die in the game.
* ''LightNovel/LogHorizon'', on the other hand, applies this trope on [=NPC=]s instead of players.
* In ''Manga/DragonBall'', Shenron has the power to restore life to someone who has died, but only once: if they die again afterwards, he cannot revive them again. He also cannot revive anyone who had died of natural causes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]
* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
** The ''Fanfic/PokemonBlack'' {{creepypasta}} ends with Ghost killing the player character, erasing the save file afterwards.
** This is the underlying point of the [[Webcomic/NuzlockeComics Nuzlocke]] [[SelfImposedChallenge challenge]] in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games. The base rules are simple: one can only attempt to capture the first Pokémon they encounter in any given route, and anyone that faints is considered dead and must be released or placed in a PC box indefintely at the next opportunity to do so.[[note]]It's also considered good practice to nickname everyone you successfully acquire. Any additional rules are up to the player, should they choose to add them.[[/note]] As this makes any Pokémon captured very difficult to replace, it becomes surprisingly heartbreaking whenever one of them '''''do''''' faint, whether as a result of a random CriticalHit or, worse, because of your own mistakes. [[ArcWords I believe this is all happening for a reason.]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film - Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Coco}}'', the [[DemBones skeleton inhabitants]] of the Land of the Dead vanish if no one among the living remembers them anymore.
* One of the rules in the ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' universe is that if a character dies inside their game, they'll respawn, but if they die ''outside their game'', they're dead for good. [[spoiler:[[BigBad Turbo]] [[LoopholeAbuse gets around of this]] by modify the datas of an in-Universe game "Sugar Rush", get rid of Vanellope's data and then replacing her with himself as King Candy.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/{{Gamer}}'', the player avatars in ''Slayers'', the [[TheMostDangerousVideoGame fictional video game]] at the center of the film, are real [[CondemnedContestant death-row inmates]] who have offered to have computer chips installed in their heads so that they can be controlled by people in a violent FirstPersonShooter meets real-life DeadlyGame. When they survive thirty matches, they win their freedom. Needless to say, none have made it so far.
* ''Film/SpyKids3DGameOver'' does this with a virtual reality game, ''Game Over'', where if you lose all your lives, "You lose. No replays, no restarts." And judging by what happens when one person loses their lives, well...
* The plot of ''Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018'' revolves around the OASIS, an all-encompassing VR simulation that serves as the world's foremost means of entertainment, education and trade. Dying in the OASIS doesn't kill the player, but it permanently deletes their avatar and everything the player invested in it, forcing them to start over from scratch. Seeing [[CrapsackWorld how messed up the setting's real-world economy is]], many desperate players try their luck in the OASIS' numerous free-for-all games, but only a scant few survive there long enough to make a living, and most lose everything.
* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing'', the many spirits of the Army of the Dead, after having fulfilled their oaths to protect Minas Tirith, fade away into dust, finally in the peace they sought for years.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' has balefire. It doesn't just kill you; it [[RetGone burns you out of the fabric of reality itself]]! There's also death within the DreamWorld; dying there removes you from the Pattern, meaning you can't reincarnate.
* The novel ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' is about the world's first Virtual Reality MMORPG in which the creator tries to increase its realism by taking out magic and also adding the fact that if you die in game, your headset will microwave your brain making death final. The story ends with about 4000 people dying.
* Used in ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'' in a fictional MMORPG, where character death is permanent. After losing his high-level character due to the interference of the titular network, [[SeriousBusiness Orlando's driving goal is to find out why]].
* ''Literature/TakeshiKovacs'': Thanks to "Cortical Stack" implants that preserve the consciousness and can be [[BodyBackupDrive transferred to new bodies]], death of the body is only considered "Organic Damage", albeit still devastating for those without the resources to arrange a suitable replacement. "Real Death" is when the Stack and any extant backups are destroyed, and is the only form of death that's considered murder.
* In the Creator/GregEgan novel ''Incandescence'', BrainUploading is so ubiquitous and the galaxy-spanning [[TheAlternet Alternet]] so advanced that "dying" only costs the victim their memories since their last backup. Truly murdering someone is nigh-impossible and is described as the stuff of especially lurid media epics.
* ''Literature/TheCosmere'': When someone dies, they first turn into a [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Cognitive Shadow]], their mind becoming the new focus point for their existence now that they no longer have a body. This is an unstable state of being however, requiring a steady stream of [[{{Mana}} Investiture]] to keep going, which is nearly impossible to get unless a [[PiecesOfGod Shard]] is involved. So most people end up going to [[OffscreenAfterlife the Beyond]] in less than a minute, from which there is no return.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action Television]]
* In ''Series/ZyudenSentaiKyoryuger'', the members of the evil Deboss Legion end up in the Darkness of the Land/Deboss Hell when they're slain, and can be brought back to life by retrieving them (something that happens several times over the course of the series). [[spoiler:In the final arc, the team's mentor Torin allows himself to be killed so he can destroy Deboss Hell from the inside, preventing the members from ever coming back.]]
* In ''Series/DoctorWho,'' a Time Lord is very LongLived, and can regenerate into a new body to avoid most brands of death. The rule is 12 regenerations for a total of 13 lives. As such, a Time Lord would enjoy a lifespan in at ''least'' five digits if s/he were to live a full life in each body. Even then, regeneration energy can be granted or stolen. However, Time Lords can be and ''are'' KilledOffForReal sometimes, either by taking so much damage that what's left can't trigger a regeneration (River Song says stopping both hearts at once would do it, the Master says that ''and'' the ChunkySalsaRule are a sure method), or certain poisons, or certain brands of punishment in the early, unstable days of a new body, or Time Lord weaponry. ''Trying'' to regenerate when OutOfContinues is a good way to evaporate on the spot, too (though the one time we see that comes from an unfinished episode whose finished portions have been released, so the canonicity of this is debatable.)
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', the FinalDeath is that of old age. Any sentient creature, even if DeaderThanDead, can be brought back by a ''true resurrection'' spell, unless dead of old age. Certain spells such as ''trap the soul'' can prevent resurrection at the GM's discretion, but using a ''wish'' to bring someone back to life can trump even that. Just make sure the wish isn't being granted by a JackassGenie...
** There are ways around even that. An Elan has no maximum age. The Green Star Adept PrestigeClass confers agelessness, although it otherwise isn't that good. And depending on the DM, "Reincarnate" might be interpreted as a loophole, as it explicitly creates a young body.
** Inversely, there are also ways of making sure someone stays out of the way forever, too. Certain spell effects or monster special attacks have a 50% chance of essentially destroying the soul of the victim as well, meaning that there's nothing to resurrect. Also, the spells for resurrection require the soul being brought back is willing so if they're happy being dead, then dead they shall stay, and finally, there are alternate rules for the DM who wants death to be a wee bit more enduring then a nap in the dirt.
** Also, starting in the 3rd Edition, it is stated that someone cannot be brought back to life against their will. (Why would a soul object to this? A variety of reasons, mostly spiritual and religious in nature; possibly, the cleric trying to raise them from the dead is an enemy who would make the risen hero a prisoner or slave). In such a case, resurrecting an unwilling soul is ''impossible''.
** In the splatbook ''Tyrants of Nine Hells'' states that Lawful Evil souls end up as sickly, pathetic soul-maggots in the eponymous place. The devils can then legally torture those soul-maggots to extract some evil divine-energy from them. And after nothing is left, the maggot can be crushed for a last drip of power, this act remove said soul from the multiverse, forever.
** ''However'', this can happen to ''any'' fiend, no matter how powerful. If they are summoned from their home plane, they are reborn back there if killed, but if they physically leave or are killed on their home plane, they risk True Death, and are not reborn. No-one knows what becomes of their souls, but many believe - and hope - they face only oblivion. (This is one of the few things that even devils are afraid of, mostly because they are control freaks to the extreme and really don't know what happens to them when they truly die.)
** In 4th Edition, resurrection is handled as the person in question having an "unfinished destiny" and being able to come back. Thus, if the GameMaster deems an NPC's death as [[PlotlineDeath "important to the plot"]], then he won't be able to be brought back. [=PCs=] can always be brought back by resurrection spells, though([[KillerGameMaster unless the GM is a dick]]).
* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}}'' this occurs when the body is completely destroyed; for a normal (HP 10) person this requires taking 110 points of damage. Any other sort of death can be fixed by sufficiently powerful magic while only [[DeusExMachina a god]] can fix that much destruction.
* In ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'' and ''TabletopGame/VampireTheRequiem'', vampires have two stages of death: Torpor, basically a lengthy but recuperative hibernation (up to centuries, in a few cases), and [[TropeNamer Final Death]], which can only be caused by what the game terms "Aggravated Damage". This means the type of damage that a vampire cannot automatically heal: sunlight, fire, magic, another supernatural creature, decapitation, or completely destroying the body.
* ''TabletopGame/BeastThePrimordial'' has a variant. Normal people (including most species of supernatural) can only enter the Primordial Dream via a kind of AstralProjection, and if they die in this form they wake up in their own bed (albeit with some nasty psychic shock). A Beast's Horror, however, exists wholly within the Primordial Dream. While this does give it a very powerful dream form, it also means if it dies in the Dream it dies for good, and its human host dies with it.
* You get three tries to bring someone back with the only resurrection spell in ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}''. It's ''very'' high-level. If you fail all three times (you have a 45% chance to succeed), one other mage may make three attempts. If the other mage fails thrice, the dead person is gone.
* In ''TabletopGame/EclipsePhase'' characters get [[BodyBackupDrive cortical stacks and off-site backups]], allowing players to keep playing the same character even if they get vaporized. However it is possible for a persistent enough enemy to steal or destroy the stack, and delete all backups. In addition, if a character is infected with a strain of the Exsurgent virus that stays dormant long enough their backups may be overwritten with infected versions.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Paranoia}}'', the Computer creates clone backups of all citizens, but you only get six. Or you may be able to buy more, but your credit limit only stretches so far (especially after cleaning up genetic drift). Or the Computer may discover that you have Machine Empathy and [[BerserkButton immediately wipe your template]].
* Defied in one specific instance in ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters''. Polydegmon, the Kerberos of Mictlan, is known as 'The Welcomer of Many' and 'The Collector of Souls'. But see, if you can somehow entreat his favor (indeed the rulebook says that while the path to his graces may be long and arduous, eventually he ''will'' concede to your request), you can request the soul of anyone who has ever died from him. It doesn't matter if the person in question experienced FinalDeath or even CessationOfExistence, he can easily summon the soul just the same. This power, combined with his [[PhysicalGod perfect stats]], [[GeniusLoci Geognosis]] and the ability to [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem change the rules of his realm at a whim]] seem to confirm that he is one of the mythical Deathlords.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/CaptainSNES'': Normally, characters don't die, and if they do, it's a plot-related death, which can be [[DeathIsCheap reversed]]. There are two cases of potential "true" death however.
** Firstly, the main character is not a video game character. He has the power to make use of save points and such to avoid death, but if, for example, he travels to a new video game world and dies before saving again, he will not revert to the last save, and die.
** Second, the main villain of the comic uses an energy foreign to Videoland called "Omega Energy", which is capable of ignoring the usual rules and killing someone outright. It's all but stated to come from the real world, via [[WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster Kevin Keene]].
* In ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}'', each of the kids/trolls/[[spoiler: alpha kids]] has a "dream self" that acts as a second life if they are killed [[spoiler: and serve as a way to ascend to [[PhysicalGod God Tier]] later down the line.]] If these dream selves are killed, than characters will STILL appear as ghosts wandering through physical memory bubbles deep in the furthest reaches of space. But should these ghosts be caught in [[spoiler: [[BigBad Lord English's]]]] blasts, which have the power to shatter reality itself, then they are irrevocably dead. Game over, indeed.
** Players who ascend to God Tier gain ResurrectiveImmortality. However, it only works if the player was not given a [[HeroicSacrifice Heroic]] or [[KarmicDeath Just]] death. [[spoiler: Though Aranea's powers can nudge the judgement.]]
* ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'' introduces a "Laz Scale" for severity of death after the public release of personal {{Nanomachines}} that back up the user's memories throughout their bodies. Laz-5 is "Really, Actually Dead", where the brain is destroyed and the backups are too compromised to be meaningfully recovered.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* The form without an option even to restart the entire campaign, seen in ''You Only Live Once'' or ''Sub Mission'' above, is parodied in a ''Website/{{Cracked}}'' Photoplasty. It's called the [[http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_381_22-terrible-ideas-that-would-have-ruined-great-video-games/ #22 terrible idea that would have ruined]] ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros''.
* This is the point behind ''LetsPlay/PBGHardcore'' games. If one of the players dies in the game, they are gone for the rest of the season.
* Sarena from ''Webcomic/LaMouetteNoire'' was already deceased at the start of the series, despite the series being based on a (fictional) video game, and that she had ''many'' VideoGameLives.
* Normally on ''Roleplay/NoPixel'', characters can survive things that would kill a normal human, meaning that DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist. But from time to time a character will "perma," meaning that they permanently die in the narrative. These characters are completely deleted from the server and can never be remade.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* TV example, sort of: ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster'' could survive death in the video game world a few times, but if his "extra lives" ran out, he'd "[[NeverSayDie go to the big game-over in the sky]]".
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', the Avatar spirit itself would suffer this if the current incarnation of the Avatar is ever killed while in the [[SuperMode Avatar state]]. Otherwise it would just reincarnate into the next part of the cycle after his/her death.
* ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'': Xandir, being a pastiche of videogame heroes, has VideogameLives. When he was suicidal he [[BlackComedy killed himself 98 times]]. Building up to this trope with #99. He was talked out of it.
* On ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'', "dying" on Lyoko usually just meant being forced back to the real world (as the virtualization process transformed the heroes' bodies into computer avatars) but there were exceptions. Aelita was the biggest exception; she had no human body until season two, and until season three (her body in season two was virtual; in the season finale she regained her real one), she was at risk of ceasing to exist if her life points ever fell to zero, forcing the other heroes to act as a HeroSecretService for her much of the time. Also, [[BigBad XANA]] would frequently try to block off their means off access to the devirtualization process, hoping to trap them so that dying on Lyoko would mean actual death. (Fortunately, he never succeeded.) There was also the matter of falling into the Digital Sea, basically a representation of raw network data. Falling bodily into it was assumed to result in the virtual avatar being scrambled beyond recovery (there was one time when three of them were about to fall in, so they all [=DV'd=] each other to prevent it). When they developed a way to traverse this sea in order to locate [=XANA's=] replica worlds, the craft served as a link back to the Supercomputer. [=DV'd=] characters were held within, so the craft had to be protected to prevent a Final Death.
* The characters in ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce'' die multiple times, but always come back thanks to a mix of {{Snap Back}}s and NegativeContinuity. In the GrandFinale, however, both Frylock and Shake die, and their deaths ''stick''. The final few minutes of the episode are a DistantFinale showing what happened to Meatwad after the deaths of his friends.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Gems are beings of HardLight, so if their bodies get too badly damaged they can retreat into their HeartDrive and regenerate. However, if the Gem is directly damaged they can "shatter", killing them off for good. Making it [[FateWorseThanDeath worse]] is that sometimes a shattered Gem's shards will still try to regenerate, [[AndIMustScream coming back as disembodied limbs desperately trying to find their missing pieces]]. [[spoiler:However, ''Future'' reveals Yellow Diamond can restore shattered gems with her powers, and Steven was able to revive Jasper by combining all four Diamonds' bottles.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
[[Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease Omnipresent.]]
[[/folder]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'' is unique in that whenever the player dies, Zagreus does too. However, since he's a being of the Underworld this means he'll just be revived in a pool of blood cursing the name of his most recent murderer before starting the run over again.

* As mentioned by the AVGN, in ''VideoGame/TheWizardOfOz'', if the Lion, Scarecrow, or Tin Man die, they're dead for the rest of the game. Though you can pick up lives for all three of them, they're pretty rare in comparison to Dorothy's.

[[folder:Role Playing Game]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'': Guardians can be resurrected infinitely by their Ghosts. But the Ghost is a physical entity, and if ''it'' dies, then the Guardian is down for good. Most of the times when Guardians mention death, they are referring to final death after a Ghost is destroyed; we see this happen in ''VideoGame/{{Destiny 2}}'' with [[spoiler:Cayde-6, when an enemy snipes his Ghost when she pops up to heal him in the middle of combat]]. Non-Guardians are more likely to speak about the many deaths that Guardians suffer, while Guardians themselves [[ButForMeItWasTuesday don't consider them worth mentioning]].

* One of the rules in the ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'' universe is that if a character dies inside their game, they'll respawn, but if they die ''outside their game'', they're dead for good.

* Defied in one specific instance in ''TabletopGame/GeistTheSinEaters''. Polydegmon, the Kerberos of Mictlan, is known as 'The Welcomer of Many' and 'The Collector of Souls'. But see, if you can somehow entreat his favor (indeed the rulebook says that while the path to his graces may be long and arduous, eventually he ''will'' concede to your request), you can request the soul of anyone who has ever died from him. It doesn't matter if the person in question experienced FinalDeath or even CessationOfExistence, he can easily summon the soul just the same. This power, combined with his [[PhysicalGod perfect stats]], [[GeniusLoci Geognosis]] and the ability to [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem change the rules of his realm at a whim]] seem to confirm that he is one of the mythical [[AGodAmI Deathlords.]]

** ''VideoGame/ZakMckrackenAndTheAlienMindbenders'' has a few ways too, such as deliberately running out of oxygen on Mars (or stepping outside without a proper space suit) or walking into the Sphinx' guardian room three times. All are easily avoidable. They will also make the game unwinnable, as both Zak and Annie are needed to trigger the final action needed to complete the game.
* ''VideoGame/FallenLondon'': Whatever you do, DON'T LOOK FOR MISTER EATEN. The developers have explicitly stated that any character who completes the Mr. Eaten storyline is (A) an insane idiot/addict and (B) permanently enthralled to an EldritchAbomination that WILL. NEVER. STOP. DEVOURING. The account is as good as permadead, regardless of how much real-world money you invested.
** Note that other "Game Over" situations such as insanity, social suicide, imprisonment, and actual death are only temporary due to the strange nature of the underworld. Which makes Seeking Mr. Eaten an exceptional HaveANiceDeath that has required extensive tinkering and an option to stop killing your character.

* ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}} II'', already quite similar to {{roguelike}}s, offers a "hardcore" setting to players who have beaten the game, in which their character file is locked after a single death, and can no longer be played. (It's still there, though, and you can see a record of all your Hardcore deaths if you feel like keeping them. And cheaters can edit the dead character's save to restore them to life, good as new. [[NoFairCheating But that's cheating. Cheater.]])
** Quoth the game manual:
-->''Note: Creator/BlizzardEntertainment is in no way responsible for your hardcore character. If you choose to create and play a hardcore character, you do so at your own risk. Blizzard is not responsible for the death and loss of your hardcore characters for any reason including Internet lag, bugs, Acts of God, your little sister, or any other reason whatsoever. Consult the End User License Agreement for more details. Blizzard will not, and does not have the capability to restore any deceased Hardcore characters. Don't even ask. La-la-la-la-la, we can't hear you.''

* There's a longstanding debate over permadeath in [=MUDs=] and [=MMOs=]. Most of these games have no permadeath and the trend has been in the opposite direction by increasingly making it so that DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist. However there have been exceptions, sometimes with very limited scope:
** In ''VideoGame/StarWarsGalaxies'', the original, highly exclusive Jedi characters had a form of permadeath. This was soon changed after the first Jedi characters in the game were predictably hunted down and ganked repeatedly.
** In ''[=ThunderDome=]'' MUDS, death from loss of Constitution below 4 resulted in permanent Condeath. The mechanics associated with aging made this inevitable, no matter how much Con could be bought back.
** Many roleplay-intensive [=MUSH=]es have a permanent policy on character death; one life, one death. This is more often determined by player agreements and/or moderator judgment than by game mechanics.
** Ultimate Mode in ''VideoGame/{{Shaiya}}'' allows you the most character points in the game, use of all the skills, and use of the best items. But if you die and are not resurrected within three minutes, your character is deleted.
** In ''VideoGame/RealmOfTheMadGod'', once you die, you lose all of your items and levels, then restart.
** Some players of ''[[VideoGame/DungeonsAndDragonsOnline DDO]]'' do this as a SelfImposedChallenge. If your character dies and nobody is around to resurrect them, delete and roll a new character.
** In ''Videogame/ArmageddonMUD'', player characters who die are resurrected ''only'' in cases of extreme bug abuse/server issues.

* ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}} Online'' [[http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/12902/wizardry-online-announced-will-feature-permadeath promises]] to feature permadeath as a core mechanic.
** It has since been elaborated upon - after dying, you have to make a run to a previously-touched statue through the spirit world with 10 orbs around your character. These orbs represent a 10% chance of successful resurrection, and there are monsters that can take one and send you back to your corpse to start the run over again. However, you [[BribingYourWayToVictory can also sacrifice gold and/or items for a higher success rate]] if that happens.

** ''Lords Of The Realm 3'' is also notable, and along those lines. Aside from a few infinite RedShirts, all of your knights are actually drawn from a finite pool specific to the scenario you're playing. Knights are often able to retreat safely, rarely die even if felled, and high-tier or HeroUnit knights have a "luck" attribute that makes them even less likely to die in battle. However, if the knights ''are'' killed, or are captured and deliberately executed (as opposed to being honorably ransomed), they're dead for good. Killing certain knights is a victory condition in some scenarios.

** Sometimes there are in-game ways to survive a final death, however, such as ''VideoGame/NetHack'''s amulet of lifesaving. If you would die when wearing one, instead the amulet is destroyed and you are restored to full health.
** The presense of FinalDeath makes roguelike games stressful, of course, but it can also make them more exciting: when the Ancient Blue Wyrm can actually kill your character off for real, the thrill of actually defeating it [[YouCanBarelyStand with a single HP left]] is indescribable.

* The "Gone" status from the classic ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' is just that: You tried twice to resurrect someone, and it didn't work.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series, dead is dead when it comes to your companions (though as a player you can reload if you die). In this first game, this was baad news, thanks to [[ArtificialStupidity your companions having no survival instinct whatsoever]] and they couldn't equip any armour. It's possible, but extremely difficult, to beat the game with companions -- most can be left outside dangerous areas but keeping Dogmeat alive is very challenging.

* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' & ''[[VideoGame/BaldursGateII 2]]'', whether or not party members can die the final death is configured by difficulty. On the "easy" and "normal" settings, dead characters can always be resurrected; on "core" and "hard" it's possible for them to be permanently killed if enough damage is done to them in one turn, or if an instant death spell is cast on them. As an exception to this, being the target of a successful disintegration effect or being petrified and then having the statue damaged will always kill a character completely dead, but petrification is at least reversible by applying a ''Stone to Flesh'' effect on the statue. And as an exception to ''all'' of this, having the protagonist killed or Imprisoned is an instant game over, even if you could have technically "gotten better" at the hands of your party members if it had been a tabletop game.
** You own un-resurrectability is justified: [[spoiler: Children of Bhaal instantly turn to dust upon death, their essence going towards fueling the resurrection of the dead god, as seen in BG 1's final cinematic with Sarevok. This still leaves a few strange issues, such as why it doesn't happen to Imoen as well, but those are probably just engine limitations.]]
** Also, if your love interest gets petrified or imprisoned in the second game, the romance is considered broken even if you do restore them afterwards. Guess they are angry about you letting this happen to them...
*** From a gameplay standpoint, because petrification technically isn't killing them, but would present a problem if you have to walk to another area(possibly to get a Stone to Flesh scroll) with the petrified party member unable to move, it's considered equivalent to kicking them out of the party (which would not be good for any relationship between adventurers).

* In ''VideoGame/{{Uplink}}'', if you are caught doing any hacking activities, you will receive a warning or, depending on the severity, your account will be terminated. This means entering the game presents you with a simple "you hacked __ systems, but now you are dead" screen. Most importantly, there are no in-game instructions for covering your tracks. The only way to continue on if you're on the verge of getting terminated is extremely expensive and involves installing motion sensors and ''explosives'' in your remote terminal and putting enough money aside to purchase a new one when you blow up your old one to erase any incriminating evidence.
** In the demo there was only one way to get arrested: refuse to pay your fines and you'll get convicted. This is somewhat humorous since hacking into your ultimate employers computers (the titular Uplink corporation) would only get you disavowed. This is probably why it got taken out, along with the clash with the new identity never culpable theme.

* In ''VideoGame/UnlimitedAdventures'' (based on ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' above), a character destroyed with the Destruction spell will simply cease to exist - he cannot be resurrected, since there's no corpse to resurrect. Same happens if a character falls in battle and the other characters flee; all those left behind will disappear from the party. [[http://frua.rosedragon.org/pc/uanews/uanl34/da-gone.htm There are also other ways.]]
** Death of old age is also fatal... [[GameBreakingBug to the game itself; it makes it crash.]]

* The Flying Men in ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' and ''VideoGame/EarthBound''.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' has final death occur on any party member that is not revived in 3 turns (this also happens to enemies). If a unit dies, they leave behind a treasure box containing a random item they were carrying or their soul becomes a crystal where another person can pick it up and either restore their HP and MP or inherit an ability from the crystal. If your party members die, you'll have to recruit new ones and if Ramza dies off, [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou Game Over]].
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' has a similar feature, but not as harsh. Battles that take place in a Jagd are more dangerous because anyone that is left KO'd when the battle is over dies for real and their bodies fade away. Naturally, the game ends if Marche is killed off in this way. This is handwaved in the story where it is said that Jagds are places that the judges cannot go to, thus the law system doesn't exist in those places, but even the most hardened criminals would rather fight battles with a judge present (the judges and the laws prevent death in battles) than to risk their lives in a lawless battle.

* ''VideoGame/{{Uplink}}'' ends with a black screen if you failed to cover your tracks. Some company will have tracked your hack to the source, right up to the Gateway you were connected to, and from that point, the Uplink corporation you worked for has to disavow all knowledge of your connections to them, and destroy that gateway. And you can't restart the game unless you backed up the user directory, or deleted your profile to start with a new one.

* In the original ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'', the two heroes you can pick from each get a partner. If they die during the game, they don't come back. Chris' partner Rebecca can be killed by a Hunter after the [[PlotlineDeath death]] of Richard if you don't get to her in time. Jill's partner Barry can die during the final part of the game if you agree to split up with him in the underground passage instead of letting him go with her or having him wait at the entrance (this happens if you answer "no" to his two questions; answering any other way ensures his survival). Note that both Rebecca and Barry [[PlotArmor both survive in canon.]]

* In ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre'', deaths are permanent, unless the character is resurrected during the battle in which they died. Note that the resurrection spell is not found until late-game and is very expensive [[ManaMeter MP-wise]]. Few alternatives exist, and those are found even later.

* While not "turn-based", ''VideoGame/OgreBattle64'' is tactical, and sometimes, if a human dies, they ''permanently'' change class into an angel or a zombie. The angel's nice, but only happens to [[GamePreferredGender female]] characters who were extremely lawful in life. The zombie class can happen to any human, and is exceptionally [[SpoonyBard spoony]]. (However, they could upgrade to a passable skeleton, only to turn into an even spoonier ghost.) In some games, there was a zombie dragon for dragons.

* ''VideoGame/SurvivalCrisisZ'' has Hardcore mode, where player death is usually final. There's an item that will let you take over someone else's body when you die, but you lose your entire inventory except your money. If you get a high enough score in [[KobayashiMario Arcade Mode]], though, you'll get a cheat that will let you revive as many times as you want, without any item loss.

* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' has Hardcore mode where you are stuck on Hard difficulty and dying means you are unable to respawn to your world and are forced to create a new save. Before 1.9, if you die, your save for your Hardcore world ''gets erased from your computer!'' Not recommended for players who want to build and/or explore.
** Hardcore mode extends to multiplayer as well should the server admin allow it on. Anyone that dies on the server automatically gets kicked out and banned.

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* {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in ''Sub Mission'': There's a practice mode available where you can practice the game with robot, but if you attempt a mission for real and fail, a hostage dies and is erased from the disk forever. Unsurprisingly, sales were virtually nil.
* ''VideoGame/{{Wasteland}}'' would ''erase itself'' if you got a GameOver, and the developers recommended you back-up your bought copy and only play the game using those back-ups.
* ''VideoGame/LoseLose'' deletes a file in your Home folder every time you kill an enemy. When you lose a life, the game deletes itself. Not only is it a FinalDeath for your player (of course, you could redownload it, but that's missing the point), but also for your precious files as well. Goodbye, music library and precious childhood photos. Norton Antivirus classified it as a virus, understandably.
* ''VideoGame/OneChance'' is a modern Flash game that tries its best to put the "final" in "final death".
* This trope is part and parcel of [[DeadlyGame battle royale games]], such as ''VideoGame/PlayerUnknownsBattlegrounds'' and ''VideoGame/{{Fortnite}}'': ''Battle Royale'', since the goal of the game is to be the last person or team standing. Any player that runs out of health, and has no allies who can revive him/her in a short notice, is dead and out for the rest of the match. No second chances, no resurrections, no respawns. You better play carefully if you want to be number one.
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*** However, some players consider it fair to keep any "dead" Pokemon in your party as HM slaves so long as they aren't used in battle, thus subverting the trope.

** There are ways around even that. An Elan ([[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick no relation]]) has no maximum age. The Green Star Adept PrestigeClass confers agelessness, although it otherwise isn't that good. And depending on the DM, "Reincarnate" might be interpreted as a loophole, as it explicitly creates a young body.

*** ''However'', this can happen to ''any'' fiend, no matter how powerful. If they are summoned from their home plane, they are reborn back there if killed, but if they physically leave or are killed on their home plane, they risk True Death, and are not reborn. No-one knows what becomes of their souls, but many believe - and hope - they face only oblivion. (This is one of the few things that even devils are afraid of, mostly because they are control freaks to the extreme and really don't know what happens to them when they truly die.)

* The Virtual Boy game ''Teleroboxer'' has a "Title Defense" mode in which you must fight all eight of your robot opponents at random (This mode can only be played if you defeat all of your opponents without losing once). If you lose even one match in this mode, then it will say that you are no longer the champion and must now retire. The next time you go to the File Select screen, it will say "CHAMPION RETIRED" on whatever save file you played on, which means you cannot replay the game again on that same file and you will have to start over.

* Normally on ''WebVideo/NoPixel'', characters can survive things that would kill a normal human, meaning that DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist. But from time to time a character will "perma," meaning that they permanently die in the narrative. These characters are completely deleted from the server and can never be remade.

* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' has Hardcore mode where you are stuck on Hard difficulty and dying means your save for that world ''gets erased from your computer!''. Not recommended for players who want to build and/or explore.

** A particular ''Pokémon'' horror story features [[{{yandere}} Mew]] doing this to all its trainer's Pokémon.