History Main / FissionMailed

*** In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', when the player fights in the battle arena, the player must lose to the (invincible) Armored Harriers in order to continue. Doing this causes a Yoshi to join the party. He can defeat the Harriers by spitting one at the other.
*** Also in that game, Mario fights a Duplighost named "???" who turns into a purple Mario. Upon "winning" the fight, Mario and "???" have switched bodies. You can only set things right by finding out "???"'s real name, [[spoiler:Doopliss, and the letter "p" to spell it with]].

** After the protagonist finds [[spoiler:Sayori's hanging corpse]], the screen fades to black, the protagonist has a breakdown, and the screen says "END." This ''is'' when the straight visual novel segment of the game ends, but attempts to start a new game after this point will instead lead to the next act of the game, which manifests itself as a new playthrough, but with [[spoiler:Sayori absent and tons of creepy glitches]]. This is when the "real" part of the game begins. This one also involves the illusion that you have stumbled upon a bad ending by making the wrong choice, when in fact it's inevitable.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':

* In ''VideoGame/TraumaCenter'', this happens [[spoiler:in Under the Knife 2, where Derek loses his Healing Touch and fails a couple operations.]] Hilariously, [[spoiler:it will still say "operation successful", even if you've let Adel bleed out]]. Even more amusingly, [[spoiler:the second of these two operations will yield the standard "The Medical Board will be notified" screen even though ''it's training done in private.'']]

** After the protagonist finds [[spoiler:Sayori's hanging corpse]], the screen fades to black, the protagonist has a breakdown, and the screen says "END." This ''is'' when the straight visual novel segment of the game ends, but attempts to start a new game after this point will instead lead to the next act of the game, which manifests itself as a new playthrough, but with [[spoiler:Sayori absent and tons of creepy glitches]]. This is when the "real" part of the game begins.

* In ''VideoGame/MyHouse'', [[spoiler:waiting a few moments after your first death will take you to a hospital bed, where you can explore the hospital. In one of the rooms you can find a defibrillator, which will revive you on the spot where you died and grant Berserk]].

* ''VideoGame/SpiderManAndVenomMaximumCarnage'' has an {{inver|tedTrope}}sion, starting the ending credits after a battle with Carnage... only to interrupt them when he stands back up and the TrueFinalBoss fight starts.
* The game ''VideoGame/XMen1993'' for the Sega Genesis asks you to mail the fission; you need to hit the "Reset" button on the console to continue the game at one point. If you were playing the game on a Sega Nomad portable, [[{{Unwinnable}} you got boned]] because the Nomad has no reset button. There is reputedly another way to get past this segment, but it's [[GuideDangIt so obscure that, if it exists, almost no-one knows about it.]]

* ''VideoGame/MaximumCarnage'' has an {{inver|tedTrope}}sion, starting the ending credits after a battle with Carnage... only to interrupt them when he stands back up and the TrueFinalBoss fight starts.

* ''Film/MissionImpossibleIII'' opens with Ethan Hunt captured and tied up along with his wife Julia. They are held hostage by Davian as he threatens Ethan to reveal where the rabbit’s foot is or he will kill Julia the rest of the movie shows how Ethan and Julia end up in this predicament. Davian does fire the fatal shot but late in the film, [[spoiler: Musgrave shows up and [[DisguisedHostageGambit pulls a mask off the dead Julia]], who turns out to be Davian's security chief. The entire scene was actually a SecretTestOfCharacter by Davian, and a YouHaveFailedMe for Davian's security chief.]]

* ''Film/MissionImpossibleIII'' opens with Ethan Hunt captured and tied up along with his wife Julia. They are held hostage by Davian as he threatens Ethan to reveal where the rabbit’s foot is or he will kill Julia the rest of the movie shows how Ethan and Julia end up in this predicament. Davian does fire the fatal shot but late in the film, [[spoiler: Musgrave shows up and pulls an mask off the dead Julia, who turns out to be Davian's security chief. The entire scene was actually a SecretTestOfCharacter by Davian, and a YouHaveFailedMe for Davian's security chief.]]

* ''VideoGame/NeedForSpeed: The Run'' has a mission to escape a police chase in Las Vegas. [[spoiler:At the end of the mission, there's a police road block; the standard "Busted" caption appears, but rather than failing, the player escapes the police on foot through a QuickTimeEvent.]]

* In hacking simulator ''VideoGame/{{Hacknet}}'', one early-game mission will lead to a pissed-off rival deleting a critical file from your system and then crashing it, dumping you at a text-only terminal interface. [[spoiler:In his arrogance, he didn't think you might have a practice machine in your network. Once you get used to the text-only interface it's trivial to dial that machine and replace the file.]] If you're not paying attention, though, it's entirely possible to mistake this for a NonStandardGameOver.
** Fan mission designers usually take the same route, and occasionally get headaches when a player uses cheats to beat a mission they were supposed to lose and then complain about the game being broken. Some wiser mission designers will make joke scenarios occur if this happens, to make it clear to these players that this was not the way the mission was supposed to go.

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'':

* In ''Manga/Eyeshield21'', in the Fall Tournament semi-final, the Deimon Devilbats lose the game against the Seibu Wild Gunmen and everyone believes their dream of going to the Christmas Bowl is over... Until Hiruma reveals that they can still go there if they win their consolation match.
* In ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'', when investigating the ruins of Yamsk 11, Kaname apparently undergoes a FaceHeelTurn and shoots Sosuke and Tessa in the head. Sosuke wakes up a few minutes later and realizes that it was just a vision of a possible future brought on by the Whispereds' psychic powers. [[spoiler:This becomes an important plot point, as Kaname goes on believing that it really happened, until it's revealed that it's actually the Whisperer controlling Kaname's body, and Kaname's mind was forcing her to think that Sosuke and Tessa were dead so she wouldn't consider them a threat, giving them enough time to organize a counterattack.]]
* In ''Manga/BabySteps'', [[spoiler:Coach Aoi doesn't believe Eiichiro is ready to beat the top national players, and states he must win the Kanagawa Junior Tennis Circuit[[note]] as winning the Kanagawa Junior will earn Eiichiro a seeded rank in Kanto and allow him to get to the top 16 by playing non-seeded players[[/note]] in order to reach the top 16 in Kanto and qualify for the All-Japan Junior tournament. Eiichiro loses to Araya in the Kanagawa finals, fails to become seeded, and is matched up against high-ranked Ide Yoshiaki in the All-Japan Junior qualifying match. He wins anyway.]]

* ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'': [[Franchise/AceAttorney Phoenix]] loses the case, [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Rainbow Dash]] is declared guilty, and the screen fades to black... [[spoiler:'''''[[BigWordShout OBJECTION!]]''''' [[BigDamnHeroes Fluttershy]] [[SurpriseWitness barges into the courtroom]] with a testimony that gives the defense a new lead]].
* ''[[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/170261 Twilight Sparkle, Ace Attorney: Turnabout Smiles]]'' has a Fission Mailed example very similar to the previous example. Hope Ray debunks everything Princess Twilight throws at him, even proving Princess Twilight herself got Pinkie out of jail and asked her to destroy her hoofprints. The Doctor declares the defendant guilty and all hope is lost for Pinkie and Twilight... [[spoiler:'''''[[BigWordShout OBJECTION!]]''''' ...when all of a sudden Applejack barges in, demanding to testify. The Doctor complies with the request.]]

* ''Film/{{Twilight}}: Breaking Dawn'': The scene near the end of the film where quite a few characters die is an absolute shocker. Once the scene completes, we see [[spoiler:it was a vision Alice saw of the future]], invoking this trope.

* ''Series/OneThousandWaysToDie'' has a segment where the victim is a man whose home gets broken in and the thief throws him off the balcony. Then we see the usual recap and the screen that numbers and names the death: "Homie Invasion"... then a record scratch happens and the narrator quips "Wait, it cannot end like this!". Turns out the man suffered of Lazarus Syndrome and raised up after a moment. He wandered back into his house and, when the thief sees him alive again, he gets so scared he [[LaserGuidedKarma ends up falling over the same railing]]. The screen is shown again, though now the death is renamed "Homie's Dead".

* Get the [[ProgressiveJackpot Vacation Jackpot]] in ''Pinball/WhiteWater,'' and the game goes dead for a moment, then fires off a rapid series of sirens, split-second frames, and soundbites. After the show is over, you're awarded the jackpot points.
* Similarly, in ''Pinball/ScaredStiff'' (also by Creator/DennisNordman), after successfully completing the Stiff-O-Meter, the game starts a MindScrew sequence that plays split-second animations, quotes, and soundbites at completely random times.

* There's an EasterEgg in ''Pinball/WhoDunnit1995'' if a game is started or played at midnight. The machine [[MindScrew pretends to malfunction,]] with the flippers going dead, the balls draining, and the game shuts down. After a few seconds, the game wakes up with MIDNIGHT MADNESS, all four balls are launched, and every shot is worth three million points. This also can occur on several other mid 90s Williams / Bally tables.

* Completing Ringmaster Battle in ''Pinball/CirqusVoltaire'' causes a similar effect to ''Scared Stiff'' (they were done by the same programmer). The MindScrew sequence in this table, however, includes a ShoutOut to the ill-fated ''Pinball Circus'' project.
* On the ''Franchise/RipleysBelieveItOrNot'' pinball machine, starting the Frog Frenzy mode causes the display to fake crashing and rebooting before the display shows "Just kidding!" and starts the mode proper.
-->'''ShrunkenHead:''' "[[Pinball/TheAddamsFamily Now you've done it!]]"

* The TabletopGame/BlackCrusade adventure ''The Heart of the Vortex'' has the players fight through hordes of (possibly illusionary) enemies, until they all die from the wounds. That is, however, not very long-lasting, since unless they tried something really cowardly or contrary to their god's ideology during the fight, they get resurrected and rewarded with immeasurable power shortly thereafter.

* One ''Webcomic/CucumberQuest'' page had it look like Cucumber and Nautilus were killed by a fireball, and the description read "Thanks for reading Cucumber Quest, guys! I really enjoyed sharing this story with you." The author also played it up as such on Twitter, until the comic was updated the next day and showed that they were fine.

* The season 2 finale of ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'' was set up as one of these.

* Website/{{Akinator}} sometimes only guesses the wrong character because he tries to guess too quickly. Click "Yes" to continue, and the second time he guesses, he'll usually be right. (For example, answering questions in a certain way may cause him to guess "Urdnot Wrex" from the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series. If you were thinking of "Urdnot Grunt" instead, who superficially has a lot of similar characteristics but isn't as famous and therefore wouldn't spring to mind as quickly, rest assured that he'll answer "Grunt" the second time he tries to venture a guess after you've given him more information.) There's always a 90% chance he'll guess correctly after four or five tries.

* Done similarly in the ''Trouble Shooters'' (''Battle Mania'' in Japan) game for the Sega Genesis, where the credits begin to roll and a boss interrupts them; the game doesn't actually end until the stage after that.

* In the ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon'' series, most of the games since ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonBackToNature'' (PS) will trigger the credits sequence once you get married. But the game starts right back up as normal once they finish. Exceptions include ''For Girl'' (BTN's DistaffCounterpart) and if you're playing as Tina in the European/Australian version of ''Magical Melody''. In those cases, the game actually does end there. The American version of ''Magical Melody'' still ends at marriage, if you marry Jamie.
* A variation on this happened in the early missions of ''VideoGame/StarTrekStarfleetAcademy''. The early "tutorial" missions spend quite a bit of effort expressing how you should always follow orders, and failure to follow orders will result in a failed mission (which they do). Then, however, [[spoiler:in a mission where you're handling a culture's ancient artifact, you must specifically disobey orders to destroy it to pass the mission]]. Given the mission's otherwise fairly mundane presentation, it's likely very nearly all players fell into this the first time around. Not only that, but disobeying orders as a requirement never comes up again.

* A couple of ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'' missions will unavoidably fail your objectives partway through the mission, complete with a huge red Failed next to the objective, but instead of being given the 'Mission Terminated' or 'exiting the battlefield' prompt, it instead flashes new objectives to complete in order to succeed. For instance, one mission asks you to shanghai a convoy that you've jumped a few times before...only this time there's no convoy to capture. The game mails your fission...because this time it's an ambush that you now have to escape. Survive by either running or defeating all your opponents and the game will consider the mission successful that way instead.
* In hacking simulator ''VideoGame/{{Hacknet}}'', one early-game mission will lead to a pissed-off rival deleting a critical file from your system and then crashing it, dumping you at a text-only terminal interface. [[spoiler:In his arrogance, he didn't think you might have a practice machine in your network. Once you get used to the text-only interface it's trivial to dial that machine and replace the file.]] If you're not paying attention, though, it's entirely possible to mistake this for a NonStandardGameOver.
* In the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum slot-machine simulator ''Dizzy Dice'', beating the "Break the Bank" mode results in the Spectrum apparently resetting itself... until a key is pressed, whereupon the fake "start-up" message scrolls off the screen followed by a "gotcha" style message.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Suzerain}}'', accepting Serge's gift of a pocket watch then [[spoiler:suffering an assassination attempt will have [[PocketProtector the watch save your life]]. The scene is still presented in the same style as the game's endings, making it seem like the assassination was successful until you wake up in the hospital]].

* In ''VideoGame/SheepDogNWolf'', you start on a tutorial level. There's a white line a bit ahead from where you're standing. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6kJfj83joI&t=7m9s As soon as you cross it...]]

* ''VideoGame/ObsCure'' begins with an ActionPrologue with [[TheLeader Kenny]] and [[RedShirt Dan]] exploring a high school basement after hours. Not long after the second player is introduced, [[spoiler:Dan is killed during a bit of ControllableHelplessness and Kenny seemingly follows suit in apparent GameOver]]. Cue TitleDrop.
* The ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' app has one in Chapter 11: After killing the brute and walking around, the battery low icon appears and then another brute appears out of nowhere before the screen goes thwip - nightmare sequence in a marker-desert comes back on. Excessively scary if you haven't charged your iTouch for a while.
* The Indie horror game ''Headless Prisoner'' has one hallway where you can't turn to the side or stop moving, and must pass through several distractions. The last of these involves the game appearing to hang up, followed by an error message popping up. Hesitating instantly kills you.
* In the third ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark'' game, once you give Jeb Stone the briefcase full of money, he orders the Elwood brothers to shoot you dead. The following sequence has Carnby in the body of a jaguar, trying to revive himself.
* ''VideoGame/NeverendingNightmares'' has plenty of instances of this. There are multiple times where Thomas is put in an inescapable situation (such as walking in a room with an enemy and the door locks behind him) and FailureIsTheOnlyOption. And sometimes, his sister would be killed instead. But these serve to progress the plot by having Thomas wake up in his next dream.
* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'':
** Normally, getting jumpscared by an animatronic means GameOver. The Phantom Animatronics from ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3'' are an exception- their jumpscares will result in audio/camera/ventilation crashes and nothing more. Phantom jumpscares will, however, give [[BigBad Springtrap]] the opportunity to get to you- and he ''can'' kill you.
** On Night 3 of ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation'', on the way to and from the Parts & Services Room, you must sneak through the Funtime Auditorium and avoid being killed by Funtime Foxy. On the way back, however, you ''will'' be caught by Foxy whatever you do, and Night 4 opens with [[spoiler:Circus Baby revealing she kidnapped you and hid you in a spring-lock costume]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Signalis}}:'' The game seems to end after you complete the mines level: you get a DownerEnding, the credits roll, and the game returns to the main menu, which now says BEGIN instead of CONTINUE. If you click Begin, you find yourself back on the spaceship from the beginning of the game, but a few minutes of looking around will show that there's still plenty of game to go.

* In ''Franchise/{{Transformers}} G1 Awakening'', the player is facing the BigBad with the only controllable unit being Optimus Prime. While it's ''possible'' to win the battle, if the player loses, reinforcements arrive that revive Prime and help him end the war.

* In ''VisualNovel/FamicomDetectiveClub: The Girl Who Stands Behind'', you can visit the local police precinct. If you use the "Check" or "Take" prompts on the policewoman you're speaking to, she'll get mad at you and cause a "Game Over" screen to appear. However, the game will immediately resume after this, with the policewoman saying that she was only kidding.
* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' has a hilarious false BadEnd, complete with false Tiger Dojo. Tell [[BigEater Saber]] there'll be no food today if you want to see it.
* ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia'' continues the tradition when Shirou and Shinji sneak into Sakura's room to read her diary. But on a more serious note, due to the looping gameplay it's okay to get killed. In fact, you're going to get killed because you can't progress otherwise. Just ignore the Dead Bad End screen that pops up and continue playing.
* ''VisualNovel/PrincessWaltz'' gives you a "Bad End" halfway through the game, at which point you need to go back to the title screen and choose to play its second half.
* It is impossible to get the True Ending of ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'' on the first playthrough. [[spoiler:For plot reasons. Akane has to send Junpei through the Safe Ending to obtain a password so that she can give it to him on the next run through. Otherwise, the game ends with the Coffin Ending.]]
* In ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'', the good ending to [[spoiler:Lilly's path]] does its best to make you think you've gotten a bad end, up until the very last scene. In fact, the bad end is exactly the same as the good end except that it ends earlier.
* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'':
** In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'', [[spoiler:this is how chapter 5's "true" ending plays out. You are presented with a choice whether or not to reveal Kirigiri was lying in court. If you reveal her lie, Monokuma cuts the trial short in order to force Kirigiri to be executed, and you get a bad ending. But if you choose ''not'' to reveal her lie, the game at first makes you think that's the wrong choice: Makoto Naegi ''himself'', the player character, is set to be executed instead, and using the exact same method, too. But ''just'' as Naegi is about to be crushed to death, a virus planted by Alter Ego stops the crusher, saving Naegi's life and ensuring you get to continue to chapter 6 after all.]]
** In ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'', [[spoiler:this happens near the end of the final trial, when Hajime falls into a HeroicBSOD. Firstly, the player is put into a Nonstop Debate where they can’t fire their Truth Bullet. After a single loop, this leads to Hajime losing all his health. After this, the story continues, leading to a LotusEaterMachine, followed by a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind, after which Hajime breaks out, and enters a SuperMode, leading to the final series of challenges]].
** In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'', [[spoiler:Shuichi calls it quits after a multitude of {{Awful Truth}}s are dropped that sends him into a HeroicBSOD with the screen shutting down with the words "BAD END" appearing. Immediately, the game ask if you would like to "save" this situation, the trick is to change the prompt to "remedy" which shifts the game back with K1-B0 handling the trial.]]
* In ''VideoGame/MatchesAndMatrimony'', both the Bingely and Wickeby paths will at one point inform you that [[spoiler:your chosen suitor has married/gotten engaged to another woman]]. At this point, the narration will start to get sad, sending you back home, looking extremely similar to the closing of the paths that lead you to the bad "Miss Bennet" ending... until [[spoiler:your suitor comes to declare their love and tell you they are free to marry.]]

* On the ''Franchise/RipleysBelieveItOrNot'' pinball machine, starting the Frog Frenzy mode causes the display to fake crashing and rebooting before the display shows "Just kidding!" and starts the mode proper.
-->'''ShrunkenHead:''' "[[Pinball/TheAddamsFamily Now you've done it!]]"

* Subverted in ''[[VideoGame/HenryStickminSeries Escaping the Prison]]'' if you use the jetpack at the end of the Sneaky route. The jetpack fails to start at first and a [[HaveANiceDeath fail screen]] pops up for a moment but then disappears when the jetpack suddenly starts working after all... only for it to send Henry crashing right back into his prison cell and the ''real'' fail screen to appear then.
** Also subverted/PlayedWith in ''Completing the Mission.'' In the Thief/Allies route, after Henry and Ellie crash into the launch tower on the Toppat Clan's base and Ellie subsequently being captured, Henry can choose to use a [[GameBreakingBug CorrupTick]] to free her. When unleashed, the tick [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin corrupts the game]], causing it to "crash and reboot," returning to the previous scene with the game still corrupted. Henry and Ellie then crash into the tower in T-poses, and the government soldiers chasing them swing into the tower also glitched out. The fail ends with the Fission Mailed screen, although this counts as a regular fail.
* ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' has a mission near the end where you need to shut down the simulated world you're in. Near the end of the mission the simulation appears to crash, displaying a bunch of fake error messages and then cutting to a mock-up of the ''VideoGame/SaintsRow1'' title screen. The game begins again, outside of the simulation, after pressing Continue here.
* In ''VideoGame/TheFlameInTheFlood'', as you reach the Yards, Scout's raft collides with an impassible wall of debris. What looks like the usual "death by drowning" animation plays... then it cuts to Scout waking up on the shores of Angel Yards, still alive and with all her supplies. After you're done exploring Angel Yards, a traveler fixes up the raft so you can finish the game for real.

* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'': During the stay at Nortune, if Fei decides to let Citan remove his ExplosiveLeash, Citan accidentally ends up detonating the bomb, killing everyone in the vicinity. Fei immediately wakes up in terror, and promptly asks if there's a better solution.
* ''VideoGame/UltimaIII''. Many players RageQuit and reloaded when their boat was sucked into the whirlpool, since the game went black and you got the same initial text that you got when you died. Except - it's actually a ''portal'' to another world under Britannia. D'oh!
* ''VideoGame/DemonsSouls'' ends the tutorial with a boss fight that will result in your death (if you defeat the boss, you'll be able to get a few things before a later boss punches you in the face via cutscene). Thus setting up the gameplay mechanic of recovering your body after you die.
* The first fight against Seath the Scaleless in ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsI'' is unwinnable. Once you die, instead of respawning at the last bonfire you visited, you instead respawn inside Seath's dungeon. You eventually escape and get to face down Seath in a different location, where you are able to take him down.

* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'': The first boss, the Grafted Scion, is fought almost immediately, before the player even has a chance at a tutorial. After your near-inevitable death to it, the plot progresses and your character wakes up in a mausoleum (where you can find a tutorial). It is possible to kill the Grafted Scion, but if you do, your character will just fall off a cliff in a cutscene instead.
* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'':
** There's a minor example in the "Season Unending" quest. When attempting to write a temporary peace treaty between the Stormcloaks and the Empire, no matter what actions you take there will ''always'' be a moment where one or both of the factions will call the whole debate pointless and a waste of time and then threaten to storm out. This can make the player think they screwed up... until Esbern suddenly steps in and gives a scathing speech to both factions about the fact that ''Alduin will kill them all'' if they don't put aside their petty differences. The peace treaty negotiations then proceed from where they left off.
** Another example happens at the end of the ThievesGuild quest "Speaking with Silence," when Karliah shoots the Dragonborn in a scripted cutscene. You're lying on the floor, vision blurring and darkening, unable to do anything, and then [[spoiler:Mercer]] tops it off by stabbing you - all of that from a lovely first person POV. When the screen goes black, you could be forgiven for thinking the Dragonborn just got KilledOffForReal. Nothing of the sort happens, however, and the quest line proceeds one loading screen later.
** There's also the moment in the "Dawnguard" questline when the Dragonborn and Serana cross a bridge only to have it collapse under them, sending them plummeting to a river far below. Like with the Thieves' Guild example, the player could be forgiven for thinking they just made a terrible mistake.
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros''
** ''VideoGame/PaperMario'' does this four times:
*** The first battle in the original ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'' is a fight against Bowser that [[HopelessBossFight you have no choice but to lose]], since he is made invincible by the Star Rod.
*** In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', when the player fights in the battle arena, the player must lose to the (invincible) Armored Harriers in order to continue. Doing this causes a Yoshi to join the party. He can defeat the Harriers by spitting one at the other.
*** Also in that game, Mario fights a Duplighost named "???" who turns into a purple Mario. Upon "winning" the fight, Mario and "???" have switched bodies. You can only set things right by finding out "???"'s real name, [[spoiler:Doopliss, and the letter "p" to spell it with]].
*** In ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'', you really ''do'' die at one point, but then continue the game in the afterlife.
** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigi'':
*** In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'', after the first half of the FinalBoss fight, Cackletta suddenly seems defeated until she uses a Bob-omb to take down the duo and swallow them, leading to the real final fight.
*** In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime'', the player must lose to the Shroobs at Holli-Jolli Village in order to get the Baby Mario Bros. to join the party.
*** ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam'' parodies the Paper Mario examples when the brothers are given the option to drink from a strange fountain on Mount Pajamaja. Drinking from said fountain [[spoiler:makes Mario and Luigi fall asleep, dreaming about eating loads of mushrooms, growing massive, and being unable to go back to normal, which]] causes a fake GAME OVER screen to appear until they are woken up by Prince Dreambert. It completely restores their health and Bros. Points, though.

* The final and only boss in the Playstation version of ''VideoGame/AzureDreams'' must bring you down to zero hit points in order for you to win the game. This is a particularly nerve-wracking example, since normally being defeated in battle causes you to lose all your precious equipment and have your save overwritten, and the player is actually capable of escaping the battle.
* In ''[[VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork3WhiteAndBlue Mega Man Battle Network 3]]'', your first fight against Bass cannot be won, because he is surrounded by an impenetrable aura. He eventually defeats you, but instead of a game over, the next cutscene appears with Bass standing over Megaman in victory. Notably, if you bring over items from another game, [[OneGameForThePriceOfTwo which would have to have already gone far past this point in the plot]], [[DiscOneNuke you can remove Bass's barrier and take out his HP]]. Bass will keep going.

* ''VideoGame/{{Mother}}'':
** ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'':
*** In Prince Poo's introduction arc, he needs to allow a mysterious spirit to (apparently) [[FateWorseThanDeath completely break and cripple him]], with his HP dropping to 0 in the process, to pass a spiritual challenge.
*** Also, an NPC in Moonside will say "Ness' HP drops to 0! Jeff's HP drops to 0!" when spoken to. But nothing really happens.
** ''VideoGame/Mother3''. The fight against the mechanical lion in the chimera factory. You can kill it, it's just really, really hard.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'': The first battle is extremely one-sided, and ends with [[TotalPartyKill the entire party being killed]], then revived in a nearby castle, which kickstarts the plot.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'': When you first get to fight the Cloud Of Darkness, there's no way to keep her from vaporizing you and cutting your HP to zero. Don't waste a shuriken - you're not going to win, as she's too powerful at the time and it's pretty important to the plot.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'':
*** The first real boss fight with Golbez starts with him paralyzing the entire party and summoning a dragon that proceeds to use a Death attack on each of your party members. Just as he is about to finish off Cecil, the Mist Dragon appears out of nowhere to defeat him and cure Cecil. Right after, Rydia (who summoned the Mist Dragon) rejoins the party mid-fight and the battle continues. Of course, the game also has its fair share of {{Hopeless Boss Fight}}s. Note, however, that this fight comes immediately after a rather difficult PuzzleBoss fight. If Cecil is dead at the end of that fight, you won't have time to resurrect him before Golbez paralyzes and kills your entire party, causing a ''genuine'' Game Over.
*** At one point in the game, the hero Cecil is forced to fight his old friend Kain. Kain is pretty much unbeatable in a normal game, having approximately 60,000 HP, and using attacks that are way too damaging to survive. But if you really crank out the level-grinding or use a cheat device to max out your stats and equipment, you can burn through all that HP and cause Kain to be "killed" on the battle screen. Cecil does the victory dance, but there are no rewards for winning, and when the game exits back to the normal field screen, Cecil slumps over in defeat while Kain stands triumphantly over him; essentially, the same thing as if you had lost.
*** In the fight against the Dark Elf where you can't use any weapons and armor made of metal, you have to lose so Edward plays on his harp weakening the Elf. If you're not playing the DS version and reequip all your metal equipment before the battle (since you know it's throwaway), you're all paralyzed, so it's a Game Over. The DS version goes directly to the weaken cutscene if this happens.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0'' absolutely LOVES this trope, with at least three different boss fights you're forced to lose (with all 14 characters) until your EleventhHourSuperpower kicks in.
* ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel'' pulls this on the player during the tutorial prologue, where the children are so distraught by the Soul Cannon taking one of them to the grave that they lose the will to fight and allow themselves to be killed by a Berman Army ambush. It's only through mysterious powers provided by the Woman on the Radio that the death is undone and the kids learn [[PoweredByAForsakenChild the true nature of the Soul Cannon before it becomes available in combat]].
* ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel2'' pulls this off ''twice'', once in the tutorial when the Tarascus gets overwhelmed by the Soul Cannon shot and everyone dies, and again in Chapter 4 [[spoiler:when Malt lets himself get killed by the Exo-Taranis' Soul Cannon [[WeAreStrugglingTogether because he was too distracted with an argument with his friends to provide any tactical leadership]]. This time, it's Malt who is capable to pulling small-scale time rewinds to correct his mistakes]].
* At one point in ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheSecondStory'', your party is ambushed while you're transporting a weapon meant to destroy the DiscOneFinalBoss. You inevitably lose and you and your party's unconscious bodies are tossed into the sea. Fortunately, everyone survives and you get to continue to the BigBad's fortress. Once you get there and the BigBad reveals their plans, you get into a fight that in which you can't actually hurt the enemy at all, ''but'' if you die, you get a game over. You have to survive until the battle ends automatically, which then results in [[spoiler: the world of Expel exploding with you on it]], which also seems like a game over. But then you're told to put in disc two.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'':
*** The game has one of these in the opening sequence - after rescuing Joker aboard the exploding Normandy, Commander Shepard is flung into space where s/he asphyxiates and dies. The game then cuts to the ''Mass Effect 2'' logo, before continuing on to Shepard's revival thanks to Project Lazarus. What makes this example particularly clever is that, in Bioware's pre-release demonstrations, it was strongly implied that this particular scene was avoidable. So the game's biggest followers get a ''real'' shock.
*** Happens again with the Arrival DLC if [[spoiler:Shepard gets "killed" in the Object Rho fight, instead to be knocked out and sedated. If you survive your LastStand, then the artifact simply knocks you out for the same thing to happen]]
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' does it one last time. [[spoiler:When you're running to the teleport beam to get to the citadel, Harbinger's laser will hit (or, as it turns out, miss by a hairsbreadth) Shepard and the screen fades to black and radio chatter basically says that the final push failed. Then Shep's eyes open, s/he gets back up, having had all his/her armor burned off, grabs a gun and heads for the teleport beam.]]
* ''VideoGame/TalesOf''
** '' VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'':
*** The game, at least in the PS version, has a puzzle in Moria Mine where using the Sorcerer's Ring on a certain candle will cause an arrow to fire from a wall and seemingly kill you, as the "Game Over" music starts playing. Cless, however, gets back up and mentions that (dying from an arrow) would never happen. In the SFC version, you just lost hitpoints.
*** The fight against [[spoiler:Dozo and Okiyo in the Euclid Arena]] qualifies, but it is possible to win with some extra grinding/Infinity Plus X swords available elsewhere (It goes up to Infinity Plus 5!)
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', there are two Fission Mailed battles [[spoiler:at the Tower of Salvation against Kratos and Yggdrasill]]. Both battles allow you to lose and still continue the game. The first battle can be beat with a bit of grinding; the second the most you get for your trouble is just staying alive a little longer (probably wasting a lot of healing items), as the battle ends automatically after a certain amount of time.
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld,'' the sequel, features a few of these as well. [[spoiler:Under the Tower of Mana against Lloyd, who you can defeat, but the game will continue as if you lost anyway, Richter toward the end of Chapter 7 can be beaten, but losing to him changes nothing about the plot, and against Lloyd and Marta at the end of the game, only this time winning gets you the Bad Ending and losing will get you the true/normal ending]].
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', a [[CorruptChurch Tribunal Temple]] quest requires you to go to a specific canal in Vivec and [[spoiler:allow yourself to drown to death in order to reveal a hidden shrine]]. It's a test of faith and you'll be fully healed immediately after.
** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', there's a quest where you have to let a NPC kill you. This time though the game explicitly tells you what you must do.

* ''Franchise/BaldursGate'':
** This happens in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'' when you reach [[spoiler:Spellhold]] to confront [[spoiler:Irenicus]], since he will [[spoiler:capture your party and steal your soul]].
** Inverted in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIIThroneOfBhaal'': At one point, your highly advanced group meets a low-level group of [=NPCs=] and can hire them to clean up some minor monsters. After the [=NPCs=] are finished, a short sequence starts when they try to attack your group and are instantly slaughtered by the main character's SuperpoweredEvilSide. Then, the [=NPC's=] leader reloads the game to the point before the [=NPCs=] returned, as if you had just done a reload, and the [=NPCs=] reappear, just take their fee and leave.
* PlayedWith in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' as the player avatar always comes back to life after dying and occasionally ''must'' die to advance the plot, but you aren't always told when this is what's going on, and dying, while not permanent, is still fairly annoying from a gameplay standpoint, so it's to be avoided most of the time.
* In the prologue to ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'', the 14-year-old versions of Isaac & Garet have to fight Saturos & Menardi. As the villains are experienced Adepts, the heroes inevitably lose within no more than a turn or two. This leads into the "Three years later..."
* Happens three times in ''VideoGame/{{Terranigma}}'', the first two being optional. The first time you go into a poisoned room that has Ark doing his fainting animation but he is thrown out. The second happens the first time you try to cross a certain desert, giving the standard game over text (however the town music is playing all the time). The only obligatory time is when you meet [[spoiler:Light World Ark]], which plays the fanfare with the text and it's implied it actually kills Ark.

* In ''VideoGame/ArcRiseFantasia'', the first boss fights against Ignacy, and much later [[spoiler:Luze]], play out like this. It's impossible to win both fights, so you have to let them kill you to advance the plot. The two fights against [[spoiler:Alf, Adele, and Leslie/Clyde]] ''would'' count; except in the first fight, you CAN defeat them, but it is very difficult to do so, and the plot continues on whether you win or lose (though you lose out on getting a [[{{Mons}} Rogress]] if you lose). In the second fight, while it's impossible to win, if you lose you get the standard Game Over; the key is to stall out the fight until it ends on its own after enough turns have passed.
* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
** In ''VideoGame/Persona3'', during Minato's Moon Arcana Social Link rank eight event, no matter what choice the player makes, the Moon will [[YouLoseAtZeroTrust Reverse]] briefly, before ranking up.
** ''VideoGame/Persona4'':
*** During the final battle with [[spoiler:Izanami]], it's impossible to kill her. Even if you knock down her health bar all the way, she'll wipe you out with an instant kill spell, at which point [[MissionControl Rise]] will freak out, just as she does when you lose normally. However, [[ThePowerOfFriendship the power of the Social Links you've built]] will kick in and give you the EleventhHourSuperpower necessary to beat her.
*** Also played with earlier on with Shadow Rise. When she uses Supreme Insight, none of your attacks will hit her. The battle will still continue for a few more turns until you're treated to a cutscene of you and your team about to die [[spoiler:until Teddie/Kuma goes berserk and kicks Shadow Rise's multicoloured ass.]]
** In ''VideoGame/Persona5'', there is a point towards the end of the game in which you must make a decision that will result in a game over if you choose the wrong dialogue option. Namely, [[spoiler: you must decide whether or not to sell out your friends to Sae, the prosecutor questioning you. Doing so will result in a real game over, but you'd be forgiven for thinking you got a game over even if you don't choose to sell them out.]] The cutscene that plays when you get a real game over and the cutscene that plays when you don't are almost identical, except in the latter [[spoiler: the cutscene continues to show Joker isn't really dead.]]
* ''The Maimed Gods Saga'', a fan campaign for ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'', has this happen near the end when a corrupted paladin stabs you in the back to ensure you won't come back from a trial by fate scenario. You pass out from the resulting blood loss, but a literal DeusExMachina saves you.
* To defeat the Norlac in ''VideoGame/TheImmortal'', you have to get yourself sucked into an apparently fatal whirlpool, so that the monster gets dragged in with you. If you try to go for the ladder, you get a real game over.
* ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy 012'': Upon starting a new game, it asks you if you mastered the original. If you say yes it pits you (Level 1 Lightning) against a level 120 Feral Chaos. Impossible to win but you don't get a penalty for losing.
* The Gamecube/Playstation 2/Xbox version of ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsTheThirdAge'' starts off with you being attacked by a pair of Nazgûl. After your first (useless) attack, one of them proceeds to "kill" you in a single hit. It turns out that you were only badly wounded, and you get rescued and patched up right away.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'':
** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter4 Ultimate'': There's a High Rank Caravan quest in which you [[spoiler:capture a Rathian. Unfortunately, when you move in to finish the job, a Seregios shows up and chases her away. Since you've been prevented from capturing the monster, the quest is considered failed. Fortunately, the Caravaneer and the Guild award you with some cash and items as a consolation reward, and you're then given the next Urgent Quest to avenge the failure (the target monster is Seregios itself).]]
** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterGenerations Ultimate'': After hunting a Gravios in a High Rank Village quest, [[spoiler:Valstrax appears just as you're about to leave. You can attempt to repel it and receive an extra reward for doing so, but if you faint just once while fighting it the Elder Dragon will flee and the Failure music will play]]. Luckily, even in the latter scenario, you'll be able to progress in your adventure normally, though all people in the Soaratorium (especially the captain) will look and act very worried about you.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' has one nearer to the end of the game in which your party can either surrender to or fight Ser Cauthrien and her rather sizable group of mooks. She's a tough enemy if you aren't sufficiently leveled, and while it is possible to defeat her it's not easy. Losing the fight doesn't kill you - instead the game treats it as though you had surrendered, and you're treated to an extra quest that has some of the funniest lines in the game.

* ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'' has a variation. Halfway through the OptionalBoss fight with [[GlitchEntity not_intended]], the game glitches out and appears to crash, throwing up a volley of error messages about missing files and such. This turns out to be part of the boss’ OneWingedAngel transformation into Nihilerror, and the battle is just getting started.
* ''VideoGame/PathfinderKingmaker'': It is impossible for Amiri to defeat Armag in the duel in the barbarian camp in "The Twice-Born Warlord": the Defaced Sister always interferes and the quest stage is always marked as failed. But this doesn't break the quest.
* Inverted in ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' [[spoiler:with the fight against Patriarch Sergius. Halfway through the fight, he is knocked down as if he was defeated, and the screen cuts to the usual post-battle experience gain screen. Once it gets you to think you've beaten Sergius, the screen turns red and shatters, returning you to the battle as Sergius re-initiates the fight through sheer force of will.]]
* At the first visit to the Sacred Stormvale castle, in ''VideoGame/YsIVMaskOfTheSun'', Adol is "[[DisneyDeath killed]]" by the Clan of Darkness when he was caught spying on them.
* ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'':
** In the second chapter, Kris can find a hidden alley in the Cyber City highway that seems suspiciously empty; continuing down it results in them being run over by the Annoying Dog in a toy car, which near-instantly kills them and results not in the regular Game Over screen appearing, but the ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' one, complete with music. Then the Annoying Dog runs over that too, after which Kris wakes up by a dumpster with a Dog Dollar added to their inventory.
** If you attempt to buy 400 bagels from K_K, the screen will fade to black and say Kris was crushed under the weight of 400 bagels and defeated instantly... only to cut to the game screen and tell the player not really, they just can't carry that many.
* In ''VideoGame/DiscoElysium'', if you find the hidden compartment in the ledger and read Dora's letter, the Detective will suffer a sudden emotional breakdown and collapse on the spot, followed by a FadeToBlack and a SmashCut to what appears to be a splash screen with the game's opening title. One short conversation with the Ancient Reptilian Brain and Limbic System later, and it's revealed the Detective merely passed out, and he wakes up to Kim pouring water on his face.

* The only way to get the Flame in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersia2: The Shadow and the Flame'' is to be killed by the {{Mook}} on the same screen and ignore any indications to press keys to continue.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Futurama}} the Game'', the first level has a forced Fission Mailed -- Fry ''has'' to grab a hammer and be crushed to death. Then, after a game over screen, Farnsworth brings Fry back with the Reanimator. The Game Over itself is then lampshaded when Leela asks what death is like.

* In the comedic ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' fan game ''VideoGame/WhenTailsGetsBored'', right before the final level, there is a cutscene that starts with a reproduction of the game's Game Over screen. As it turns out, this is because Sonic is frustrated with the game and refuses to continue.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Eversion}}''[='=]s later worlds, [[spoiler:one of the screens that occasionally replaces the "READY!" screen is a false Game Over screen. You actually cannot get a game over in normal play, since you have infinite lives and the only other time you can get one is through the bad ending, so the fake Game Over can be pretty jarring.]]

* In ''VideoGame/DrawnToLife: The Next Chapter'', [[spoiler:when you first battle Wilfre, he is invincible, and [[HopelessBossFight you must deliberately die from his attacks to proceed]].]] Then a cutscene shows, and then the real battle begins.
* ''Franchise/MegaMan'':
** The first boss battle in ''VideoGame/MegaManX1'', who makes it a little obvious due to his lack of a health bar (though since he IS the first boss, a first-time player would have no frame of reference for a boss fight). After avoiding Vile's attacks for several seconds, he begins to shoot small, slow-moving orbs of energy almost constantly. When hit by one, X will be caught in an energy net, ending the battle and initiating a cutscene. If you attempt to dodge these orbs, Vile will keep assaulting you until you explode, no matter how many times you blast him. In the [[VideoGame/MegaManMaverickHunterX PSP remake]], Vile has a health bar and it is required to defeat him before he does the same to you. He'll still grab X, though in this case it's because X is naïve enough to approach the seemingly destroyed Ride Armor, completely changing the context of the scene[[note]]In the original game, X wasn't powerful enough to defeat Vile and his Ride Armor, because he wasn't built strictly for combat, with the implication that he has to learn to fight and what to fight for in order to find the strength to succeed. In the PSP remake, X ''is'' powerful enough to defeat Vile, but holds himself back because he's afraid of his own power and doesn't like fighting[[/note]].
** The first battle with High Max in ''VideoGame/MegaManX6'' is similar, though High Max is [[HopelessBossFight completely invincible]], which X will point out in the cutscene following several seconds of [[CurbStompBattle getting his arse handed to him]].
* The events of ''Enchanted: Once Upon Andalasia'' take place during a bedtime story Giselle is telling Morgan. When Giselle's game self falls from too great a height and apparently dies, Morgan asks how that's possible and Giselle replies that she must've gotten carried away with the story.
* One of the trials in the final level of ''VideoGame/ASuperMarioThing'' involves being apparently taken to the Bonus Game, only you drop through the floor and the message "Oame Gver" appears on screen.
* In ''VideoGame/CaveStory'', after defeating [[spoiler:the Core]], you will be trapped in a flooded BossRoom and have no option but to let your OxygenMeter run out. After it runs out, rather than the standard GameOver screen, the screen goes black, then you wake up to find that [[spoiler:[[HeroicSacrifice your partner has given you her air tank.]]]]
* In ''VideoGame/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'', a fake GameOver message may appear, followed by an apology for the interruption in gameplay.
* In the second episode (game) of ''VideoGame/CosmosCosmicAdventure'', the eponymous character has to climb to the highest part of the last level to reach an open cavity in the ceiling and thus finish the quest. If the player dies near that high point, the character's death animation will begin as his soul rises to the heavens. Since reaching the top ''happens to be the goal of the level'', the game will succesfully end as if he had reached there alive.
* In the first mission of ''VideoGame/FarCry3BloodDragon'', during the cutscene after defending Spider, your VoiceWithAnInternetConnection says "Objective failed" along the words "You Fail" flashing, as Spider's attempt at hacking the missile computer backfires, leaving you to stop the launch yourself.
* ''VideoGame/Inside2016'' has a couple sections where you had to evade an underwater... human? ...who resembles a StringyHairedGhostGirl and will kill you if she catches you. At the end of the second of these, you are finally caught by one after failing to grab a ledge above... and are dragged down harmlessly. For what seems like ages. Eventually, she attaches some kind of device to you, which detaches when its cord runs out, and when you finally land at the bottom, you can now breathe underwater. Why this particular one decided to do this while all the others wanted you dead is, like [[EpilepticTrees everything else in this game]], never explained.
* ''VideoGame/RainWorld'' offers an unusual take on this trope. Most enemies that kill you will trigger a game over cutscene where they drag your body to their nest. If the player waits the cutscene out, there is a chance for another creature to fight the one holding you over your body, and results in them dropping you. If this happens, the "Game Over" text vanishes and you are able to continue.
* ''VideoGame/DistortedTravesty'': Happens in the third game, against the TrueFinalBoss. The boss unavoidably buries Jeremy under a bunch of rocks, depleting his health, and the credits start to roll as if the player got a bad ending... only for Jeremy to interrupt the credits, erupt out of the rocks, and take the fight to Round 2.
* ''VideoGame/{{Raskulls}}'' plays this for laughs. In one of the cutscenes, as the tournament is about to start, Dragon is dumped by Riding Hood for Pompous. This triggers a game over screen, except the options are "Wallow in self-pity" and "Get on with life". No matter which of the options you pick, Dragon then gets a message from the King wishing him luck in the tournament, and the game continues as normal.

* ''VideoGame/DangeresqueRoomisode1BehindTheDangerdesque'' involves Dangeresque solving a case without leaving his office. Should Dangeresque screw up, he will be arrested in a game over sequence. This sequence can be interrupted at any time with a mouse click which will bring up an "Or did I?" screen. Clicking once again will reset the game to the point before the action that got Dangeresque arrested.
* At one point in ''VideoGame/ThereIsNoGameWrongDimension'', you'll end up playing "Rogue Quiz". The narrator, Game, says that if you get a question wrong he will erase your save file. If you do get one wrong (and you will, because the third question is impossible), you are returned to the title screen and indeed, it looks like you have to start the game over from the beginning. However, Game gives different lines than he originally did, revealing that the game is actually continuing from that point.

* ''VideoGame/HostileWatersAntaeusRising'' has a example that narrowly avoids being annoying. The first time you see a helicopter with the scientist you were supposed to rescue take off, it means you failed the mission. When the same happens several missions later, it's just a scripted event.
* In ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000: VideoGame/DawnOfWarII''[='s=] final mission, [[spoiler:your cruiser is destroyed and your position is being overrun by Tyranids. Though after the first few waves you'll receive a communication from another cruiser that was presumed lost earlier in the game, that they'll be reinforcing you to finish the mission. The in game objective even changes to indicate that your situation is hopeless and should just take as many of them with you as you can.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Colobot}}'', there is a mission where you land on a new planet, with no bots or supplies at your disposal, and you are ordered to retrieve a TNT box lost by the previous expedition. That TNT box is guarded by hostile giant ants that shoot acidic projectiles at you, and there's literally nothing you can do to retrieve the box without dying, which is something that has to happen in order for you to be able to proceed to the next mission. And even if the ants weren't there, retrieving the box still wouldn't be possible, since there's quite a few ponds you have to fly over, and you can't fly nor walk underwater while carrying objects. Probably the best part of this is the fact that the level is literally called "The Trap".

* The song ''[=PARANOiA=] Revolution'' in ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'', at a little past the halfway mark, contains the sound effect you normally hear when failing a song, paired with the music video in the background abruptly cutting to the failure animation. The chart also pauses for a beat at this point, just to throw off the player even more.
* In ''VideoGame/UmJammerLammy'', this happens during the cutscene before the sixth stage (but only in the Japanese and European versions, due to censorship for the American release). In said cutscene, Lammy [[spoiler:dies from slipping onto a banana peel, and ends up in hell. She reasons that, if she's dead, it must mean the game is over.]] Cue credits reel... until another character pushes them away. There's still two stages left.

* ''VideoGame/JustShapesAndBeats'': During the FinalBoss, you're gonna find yourself surprised when [[spoiler:the BigBad covers up the whole screen, leaving its final chomping attack the only accessible place on the screen. Worse still, every attempt you make to recover as normal is interrupted. Wait long enough, though, and after a final, heartwrenching cutscene of the other characters mourning your death, you'll be granted your EleventhHourSuperpower.]]

* In ''VideoGame/DeathRoadToCanada'', if every human member of your party dies but you have dogs still alive, you will receive a message saying that your journey has ended. The next dialogue box, however, reveals that the dogs have taught themselves how to drive, and the game will continue.
* ''VideoGame/DarkestDungeon2'' has a TroubledBackstoryFlashback mechanic you can optionally go through for heroes in exchange for upgrades and new skills. Some of these flashbacks [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration incorporate the battle mechanics in the flashbacks as combat encounters with special mechanics]]. However, [[spoiler: both flashback “fights” of the Hellion and the Man-at-Arm’s first flashback fight are UnwinnableByDesign (both character’s first flashback has your allies being numerically inferior to your foe and causing stress damage when they die), with the character in question being unable to help turn the tide and being forced into either cowering (Hellion) or getting their comrades routed (Man-at-Arms)]]. The [[spoiler: Hellion’s second flashback has her unable to recover stress faster than the widows she’s comforting can pile it on, ending upon hitting ten stress]]. Thankfully, these encounters still end with the normal rewards for victory.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleOfSeasons'', if you destroy (either by cutting them down, throwing them or what have you) enough signs then talk to the NPC that runs a sign shop he'll get particularly angry and give you a warning, if you break more signs and talk to him he'll make the Capcom logo flash on the UsefulNotes/GameBoy screen momentarily as if the game had reset, and you receive a [[CosmeticAward ring which notes your hatred for signs.]]

* At one point in ''VideoGame/ThiefDeadlyShadows'', you have to get beaten up by the guards and hauled off to jail in order to advance the plot. If this occurs at any other point, it's game over.
* A common theme in the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' games:
** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'', Al Mualim stabs Altaïr with a dagger in the second Memory Sequence for his failure at the Temple of Solomon (where he broke all three parts of the titular Creed). The game returns to the White Room of the [[FramingDevice Animus]], just as if Altaïr [[InsistentTerminology gets desynchronised]]. However, Altaïr awakens in front of Al Mualim's desk, in shock that he has survived. It turns out that Al Mualim intended for the stabbing to be a "spiritual" death, effectively giving him a blank slate and allowing him to continue serving as an Assassin... [[ATasteOfPower except now he has the lowest rank and has lost almost all of his skills and items.]]
** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', [[spoiler:Rodrigo Borgia defeats Ezio using the Staff and takes the Apple from him, depriving him of the only way to fight against his power. Borgia then stabs Ezio and leaves him for dead. Ezio struggles but ultimately collapses in a pool of blood. The screen fades to black. However, a few seconds later it fades back, with Ezio standing and recovering slightly.]] The next game reveals that [[spoiler:Ezio's armour blunted the attack, causing only a shallow wound.]]
** Happens ''twice'' in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'', first when [[spoiler:Ezio is shot by snipers on the rooftops on Monterriggioni and falls to the ground,]] then when [[spoiler:Ezio is on horseback heading for Roma after the siege, where he collapses and falls off the horse.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'', [[spoiler:Hedron crashes into the floor, falling apart and dying, which severs Jesse's connection to [[GuardianEntity Polaris]] and therefore removes both her powers and her protection against [[TheCorruption the Hiss]]. Jesse gets possessed by the Hiss and starts reciting their MadnessMantra, then the credits roll. Certainly a DownerEnding where TheBadGuyWins. That is, until the Madness Mantra starts showing up in the credits too, and then the credits start warping and distorting until they're nothing but an unreadable white blob. Then you get shunted into a DreamSequence and the ''real'' endgame starts.]]

* Very briefly appears in the original ''VideoGame/TombRaiderI''. At the end of "The Cistern", Lara must jump into a well, which turns out to be much too deep for a survivable fall. Lara goes into her "death scream", then lands in the water. But the game goes on to the next level quickly enough not to worry players unduly. As long as you land in water that's deep enough to swim underwater in, [[SoftWater you can fall from any height and survive]].
* In ''VideoGame/GunstarSuperHeroes'', the GBA sequel to the Genesis game, Black's dice maze includes a new room. In the Japanese version of the game, upon entering this room through sheer (bad) luck, you are treated to a message that claims that failure to complete this challenge will cause your game file to be erased and if you think you can't do it, you should press Start+Select+A+B to reset the game and start the stage over from beginning. Next, you have to frantically blast through the floor of a seemingly endless vertical shaft while a literal representation of your game file crashes down from above. In the (extremely) likely chance it eventually catches up to you and crushes you, it turns out that the game was only kidding, but even if you survive, you still have to redo a large portion of the level. The English version has the same room, but the effect is lost because there's no message and the tombstone graphic has been altered so that the text in it refers to your character instead of your save file, although the location is still called File Crasher on the map. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UerlRjBPBdc Talk about fighting under pressure]]

* In ''Wiz'n'Liz'', one of the available spells (which you have to try out to find the effect) does "Game over! ... Just kidding!"

* ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland'':
** In ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland'', wandering too close to the edge of a cliff causes Guybrush to fall off and a game over screen parodying Creator/{{Sierra}}'s HaveANiceDeath tendencies to appear... and then Guybrush pops back up with two words of explanation: "Rubber tree."
** In ''VideoGame/MonkeyIsland2LeChucksRevenge'', there's a scene where Guybrush is suspended over a cauldron filled with acid. If you take too long to get out, Guybrush falls into the acid and dies -- only to be reminded that he can't die in a story he himself is ''in the middle of telling''.
** In ''VideoGame/TheCurseOfMonkeyIsland'', at one point Guybrush has to mix alcohol with medicine and drink it, causing him to instantly pass out. The other characters then assume that he's dead and the game is over, going so far as to comment on how it's supposedly impossible to die in a Creator/LucasArts game. Guybrush then finds himself buried in a crypt, and the fake credits (complete with a hokey score counter) stop rolling as soon as he regains consciousness.

* In ''VideoGame/OmikronTheNomadSoul'', as the name would imply, dying at certain points (not a difficult feat) results in the player's soul merely transferring to a hapless passerby. In fact, [[spoiler:your first character ''cannot'' survive the game; offending the BigBad early in the plot has him labeled as a wanted criminal, and he is unceremoniously shot dead attempting to reach the next zone.]]
* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVIHeirTodayGoneTomorrow'':
** In the Minotaur's lair, there are many rooms with deadly trap doors, and one with a not-so-deadly trap door. If you, like many, restored every time you ''started'' to fall, it took a long time to realize you '''had''' to fall into one of them.
** There was also the bottle that shows up on the Isle of Wonder. Take a swig, and it appears as though Alex drops dead. Seeing as your typical KQ game had [[EverythingTryingToKillYou everything trying to kill you]], this seems to be another trap... until Alex wakes up.
** Also, some of the places where you observe cutscenes of your demise (or failure) are visitable while you're alive later in the game, such as the underworld.
* ''VideoGame/{{Riven}}'':
** You have to enter the trap book you're carrying to prove to Gehn that you're sincere. After you enter the book, the screen shows the view through the "link window", with Gehn deliberating if he should or shouldn't enter the book. Then, Gehn finally decides to enter the book, catapulting you out... on the opposite side of the prison bars. But if you enter the book before reaching Gehn, you're eventually freed inside his cell; he realizes you were trying to trap him and [[NonstandardGameOver shoots you dead on the spot]].
** When you first enter the Rebel Age, you are discovered and knocked out by the rebels. When you come to, you get to helplessly watch as you are transported by boat to the "Hive".
* In the first levels of ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}'', getting busted by the police usually means a GameOver for Lucas. However, at some point, Lucas gains enough badassitude to turn what starts unraveling as a typical go-to-prison-for-life GameOver scene into a spectacular EscapeSequence with mad kung fu powers, hanging off flying helicopters, and leaping onto moving subways.
* In ''VideoGame/WorldsEndClub'', the "Ending 1" route ends with [[spoiler:the Go-Getters dying in a helicopter explosion]], with the credits following afterwards. After that, the game gives the option of stage select, allowing the chance to revisit the previous level to prevent that outcome from happeningx
* In ''VideoGame/TheAdventuresOfWillyBeamish'', one of the puzzles near the end requires you to get captured by the villain [[spoiler:after rescuing several frogs from being boiled alive]] and nearly drown. The first several seconds appear exactly the same as the actual failure of the puzzle, but letting the game over screen play out [[spoiler:sees the rescued frogs come and rescue the protagonist]].

* In ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'', any of your main characters can die, but the story will go on regardless. One potential death sequence actually features the terrified death screams of your heroine.
* ''VideoGame/DetroitBecomeHuman'': During the conflict between Markus and Leo in the chapter "Broken", whether you pushed Leo or not [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption will always result in the police coming in and shooting Markus,]] making many players fear that they ultimately screwed up and for a while it certainly seems as if the rest of the game will continue without him... that is, until it's revealed that he's still alive at the scrap yard in the next chapter. However, choosing not to fight back against Leo will result in Carl having a heart attack and dying.
** If Kara doesn't break free from the machine in Zlatko's basement in time, her memories will be erased, making players feel though all hope might be lost for poor Kara, (it is possible to break loose from the machine and not have Kara's memory erased, but many players saw it as ControllableHelplessness and end up having Kara loose her memories) but thankfully you can still regain her memories back and eventually escape the basement... if players can get them all back before the time limit, that is.
* In ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'', most of the time when you die a short piece of advice will appear on the screen before the game reloads at a recent checkpoint. In one case, you go through a door only to run into multiple monsters and find out the door you just came through has been locked. When you die, the game tells you to "sleep" - and rather than go back in time, you wake up in a cell that you must escape.

* "Go West" from ''The IGF Pirate Kart'' is a text adventure which you win by repeatedly going west, with any other scenario resulting in your character dying '[[TakeOurWordForIt a terrible, terrible death]]'. In the last room, if you try to go west, you get the same Game Over, only at the bottom it asks "Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last command, or GO WEST?" Choosing to Go West wins the game.
* ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'' does something like this near the end of the game, when Manny is finally brought to [[BigBad Hector's]] place, but is left completely unarmed. In order to [[EventFlag trigger further events]], you have to confront Hector and watch a cutscene where Manny [[DeaderThanDead gets shot]] [[FateWorseThanDeath with a sproutella dart]] and escapes, only to fall to the ground in agony. Then you have to realize that you still have control of Manny even if he is unable to stand up, and thus [[ControllableHelplessness you still have access to the inventory]], which contains the one item capable of killing sproutella. (Of course, GF ''is'' a [=LucasArts=] game, but this scene is still pure terror, especially if you weren't expecting Hector to be [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim smart enough to just shoot Manny]]...)
* ''VideoGame/CusterdsQuest'': Near the end, you die of starvation. Only to be told that it is a joke and then it is back to the game.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'': [[spoiler:The main character has defeated [[FinalBoss Jubileus]], but it looks like the game will have a DownerEnding anyway, because the body is plummeting to Earth and threatening to wipe out humanity. But just as the end credits start to roll, [[TheRival Jeanne]] appears and STOMPS on them, and she and Bayonetta are able to team up in an attempt to stop the plummeting corpse.]]

* ''VideoGame/FarCry2'':
** In the first playable portion the story requires the player to be gunned down. And if you escape, you collapse from the malaria and open your bottle of meds, only to find that it's empty and collapse on the ground.
** After you finish half the game, [[spoiler:you need to make a brave last stand at either a Church (to protect refugees) or a Bar (to protect your fellow mercenary buddies)]]. Regardless of your decision, [[spoiler:you can't win, because the enemy has infinite reinforcements. You die, along with everyone else... or so it seems, because you recover after falling off a truck transporting your "corpse".]] Then, while stumbling through a sandstorm, you "die" again, but are saved by [[spoiler:the man you've been hunting all along]].
** During normal gameplay, if you have a buddy in "rescue-ready" status, you get saved by them if you get "killed" by enemy forces. If your buddy isn't on standby for you, you die for real.
** Seeming to die is so common in that game that [[spoiler:many players find it hard to believe when they actually [[DownerEnding do die forever and for real at the end of the storyline]] [[BolivianArmyEnding Or so it seems]]]].
* In a cutscene in the beginning of ''VideoGame/ProjectSnowblind'', [[spoiler:where you are being rushed to the hospital after being bombed to death]], the screen suddenly becomes filled with static for a few seconds, as if something had broken.

* ''VideoGame/{{Destiny}}'': The Warlock has a class that allows them to self-resurrect after death with a full super charge. This can be done even if the 'game over' countdown timer has started. This can even be done in certain PVP modes where you only have limited lives.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hexen}}'':
** A quirk in the ACS used in the game(and, through porting, [=ZDoom=]) allows for a level transition while the player is dead. Normal behavior for that situation is to "respawn" the player on the new level. With enough delicate scripting, it is possible in [=ZDoom=] to note the entire inventory of a player before instant-killing them with a scripted death and then force a level transition to the next level, which would then give them their entire inventory back. Fission Mailed indeed.
** There's one point in the original ''Hexen'' where, to get to the next level and thus advance the plot, you ''need'' to stumble into a pit and fall to your apparent death (complete with scream); you're teleported to the new level before you actually hit bottom and die.

* In ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'', immediately after [[spoiler:you kill Ryan and Atlas is revealed to be Fontaine]], the Little Sisters appear and guide you into a crawlspace to evade [[spoiler:Fontaine's security bots]]. There is a hole in the crawlspace, which you cannot avoid, and you appear to die before [[spoiler:waking up in Tenenbaum's safehouse]].

* ''VideoGame/Borderlands1'' and [[VideoGame/Borderlands2 its second game]] does this. Of course, there's the whole "You will just respawn there, so no big deal", but there are two specific moments, one in each game, where the fission must be mailed.
** In "The Secret Armory of General Knoxx" [[spoiler:you have a countdown running as you have to collect all the loot you can in the end of the DLC chapter. Catch is that there's NO WAY OUT! No matter what, you can only die to get out. But, as soon as you die, you get the chapter ending and you keep all you looted.]]
** ''Borderlands 2'' is very straight-forward at this in one very specific moment. [[spoiler:Kill Yourself. No, seriously, it is a mission given by Handsome Jack. He has chosen a spot for you to commit suicide and gives you the choice of doing or not. It's hilarious, regardless of the outcome.]]
** Also on ''Borderlands 2'', there's "Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty" DLC. [[spoiler:Last mission involves you finding the "marked spot" that should lead to a vault full of loot. Instead, you get EATEN by Leviathan. The best part? He is taking you and her straight to the Vault, but the BEST part is... Do you remember her pet Roscoe? She found him!]]
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty''
** In one level of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare3'', you play as an agent of the Russian equivalent of the Secret Service, trying to protect the Russian President from an assassination attempt. At the end of the level, a helicopter arrives to rescue you, [[spoiler:but it's Makarov. A "Mission Failed" indicator comes up, and Makarov takes the President prisoner, and kills you. Well, sort of. You're still able to get up, kick asses and save the President's daughter in the co-op mission, somehow.]]
** The second mission of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare'' sees you and your [[PrivateMilitaryContractors Atlas]] squad tasked with rescuing the US President from a group of terrorist kidnappers. At the end of the mission, you and the President reach an armored car, but your bionic arm malfunctions before you can open it and a terrorist knocks you to the floor, shoots the President in the head, and takes aim at you... whereupon you find out it's just a VR simulation. Notably, once your arm gets fixed, you get to run the simulation again, and this time you succeed.

* ''VideoGame/{{Puppetshow}} 8: The Face of Humanity'' has a rather creepy one after you break into David and Hannah's workshop with newspaper headlines stating that the detective died of poison, the mayor's daughter was never found and "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT," followed by two decrepit, insect-ridden puppets with David and Hannah's faces.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Curses}}'', putting something of the right size into the slide projector transforms it into a PortalPicture. Entering the pictures projected by the Grim Reaper, Drowned Sailor or Fool tarot cards gives the standard '''***You have died***''' message, followed by:
-->Or have you? No... this isn't quite the end. You see an intense blue-white light at the end of what seems a tunnel, and drift toward it until you realise that you are staring, dazed, into the light of the slide projector, and have not moved at all.
* In Creator/AdamCadre's ''Shrapnel'', all paths quickly lead to instant death, yielding a standard "Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, or QUIT?" prompt. However, whatever you type, the command "RESTART" appears on-screen, allowing you to try again and get [[Main/TheManyDeathsOfYou killed a different way]], while your former selves starts piling up in the game world.
* Classic text adventure ''Heroine's Mantle'' has this. There's lots of foreshadowing (if you pay attention), and it fits well with the game's theme of sacrifice. [[spoiler:You still have to have your protagonist jump to her death, and pass the Heroine's Mantle on to the next Crusader. Which you then get to play for the grand finale.]]
* In ''[[http://ifdb.tads.org/viewgame?id=2cuwjlvpybg8oaf0 Midnight Swordfight]]'', you play as a jester forced to engage in a deadly duel with a vengeful countess. Every move you can make results in your immediate death, but every death is followed by the message ''"But the curtain can be raised again..."'' and you being taken back to the start of the duel. After you die in this manner a couple of times, the game mentions that you can simply [[AllJustADream wake up]].

* ''VideoGame/ForumWarz'' Episode 2 ends with your character's (apparent?) death, then goes on to state that your character has been deleted, your account has been deleted, and that your IP address has been blocked so you can't make a new one. In fact, every IP address has been blocked so nobody else can play again, and the game servers are being physically destroyed.

* ''VideoGame/HearthstoneHeroesOfWarcraft'':
** A fight against Arthas in the Icecrown Citadel is once again the location of this trope, this time with Jaina Proudmore instead of a player character but this time [[spoiler: Arthas actually ''wins'' and steals Jaina's soul, making her fight Tirion instead, without starting a new battle, adding an extra layer to the use of the trope by screwing with pre-established game mechanics and also making it clear that you ''technically'' didn't lose. Likewise, [[UnexplainedRecovery Trion ultimately uses the Holy Light to help her get better]], [[MagicAIsMagicA even though the Holy Light has never been established to work that way]]... Of course, it also adds yet another extra layer that Jaina is specifically one of the avatars you play with, meaning if she wasn't purified, you'd be stuck with the undead Jaina, which was most likely why the developers decided it was for the best for her to get better...]]
** It's also possible to ''deliberately'' destroy your hero to replace it with another, which will ''not'' result in losing.
** In the ''Galakrond's Awakening'' adventure, the Dragonslayer Skruk encounter pits you against an enemy with whopping 200 health (the norm for playable heroes is 30) and minions that get buffed in his hand every turn and will quickly overwhelm your hero. However, [[spoiler:once you take fatal damage, your hero, Chromie, [[IAmNotLeftHanded transforms into her real form]], that of a bronze dragon with mastery over time, gaining 60 health and a new Hero Power that makes you always take two turns instead of one. Once that happens, it's not hard to win.]] Unlike many other instances of this trope, it's possible, if challenging, to win without triggering this scripted event.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'':
** The year 2009 Crimbo event did this. Don Crimbo was unbeatable, but losing to him was followed by a TalkingYourWayOut scene.
** Progressing through the Palindome, you will eventually encounter Dr. Awkward in a noncombat adventure. This will beat you up, and makes you aware of his ineptitude field you must bypass to proceed.
* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'': In one quest, you die. Three times. And go to the Fremennik afterlife. [[spoiler:Sadly, that prince/princess you were engaged to and possibly got married to a few minutes ago are both KilledOffForReal by the Dagannoth Kings.]]
** During the first storyline of the Arc Islands release, you have to fake being beaten to death by a cyclops. The death jingle and message appear, but you don't respawn at Death's office.
* ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline'': If you play as a hobbit, you ''will'' get knocked out by bandits within the first few minutes of the tutorial. Also, if inevitable eventual deaths count, then the fight with Sambrog in the barrow of Othrongroth is a Fission Mailed. He keeps healing himself when he gets to a certain health level, during which he's untargetable. The only objective is to survive until Tom Bombadil gets there.
* The free-to-play MMO ''VideoGame/JadeDynasty'' contains a quest that requires you to "understand the secret of life and death". No other indication is given in the quest description of how to do this. The way to complete the quest is, of course, to die. [[spoiler:However, the game is set up so that certain quests fail if you die, and this quest is one of them. Dropping a quest counts as failing it. This means that you don't actually have to die to complete the quest; you can just drop it, and the game will think you have fulfilled the necessary conditions for completing it and move on to the next one.]]
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has a few moments if this to keep players on their toes.
** 6.1 updated Lahabrea's fight to be a solo duty separate from The Praetorium and Porta Decumana (the Ultima Weapon portion of the dungeon). [[spoiler:In this new version, there's an unwinnable DPS check that ''kills you''. The story would have ended there if Hydaelyn didn't bestow some divine intervention to help you finish the fight.]]
** The Unending Coil of Bahamut (Ultimate) has you fighting the hardest version of Bahamut where the party can't afford any mistakes or you'll risk a TotalPartyWipe. There is an instance where a meter for Bahamut appears and you have to kill the adds before the meter maxes out. If the meter fills up completely, Bahamut [[OneHitKill kills everyone]]. If you manage to stop it in time, Bahamut still kills everyone. However, the fight doesn't reset and the party is resurrected by Phoenix, giving everyone a second chance in beating the primal.
** The final boss of ''Endwalker'' uses its ultimate attack, which a tank player has to mitigate with a LimitBreak. After some initial confusion, the boss merely [[TimeMaster rewinds time]] on its attack and hits the party with it ''again'' now that you don't have a Limit Break to use anymore. The screen fades to black... [[spoiler:And it turns out that the Scions are praying for your success, which not only completely nullifies the attack, but also bestows the party ''seven stacks'' of a buff that both increases damage dealt and decreases damage taken, with which the party can shred the boss's 60%-or-so remaining HP as it [[VillainousBreakdown flails wildly at the party]] because it [[WhatIsThisFeeling can't comprehend the Scions' hope]]]].

* In ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', when investigating the ruins of Yamsk 11, Kaname apparently undergoes a FaceHeelTurn and shoots Sosuke and Tessa in the head. Sosuke wakes up a few minutes later and realizes that it was just a vision of a possible future brought on by the Whispereds' psychic powers. [[spoiler:This becomes an important plot point, as Kaname goes on believing that it really happened, until it's revealed that it's actually the Whisperer controlling Kaname's body, and Kaname's mind was forcing her to think that Sosuke and Tessa were dead so she wouldn't consider them a threat, giving them enough time to organize a counterattack.]]

* ''VideoGame/MissionImpossibleKonami'': An autoscrolling section in the final stage has a collapsing floor. If your agent falls in, it shows them plummeting as expected for a [[BottomlessPits bottomless pit]] and the agent lost music plays. But instead of starting the section again with the next available agent as usual, you start on the previous floor with the same agent who fell.

** The Nightmare Amusement Park in the beginning of ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'', where Heather gets run over by the roller coaster at the end. Heather can also "mail the fission" at any time during the nightmare by being killed by the enemies or jumping into a BottomlessPit.

** ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel2'' pulls this off ''twice'', once in the tutorial when the Tarascus gets overwhelmed by the Soul Cannon shot and everyone dies, and again in Chapter 4 [[spoiler:when Malt lets himself get killed by the Exo-Taranis' Soul Cannon [[WeAreStrugglingTogether because he was too distracted with an argument with his friends to provide any tactical leadership]]. This time, it's Malt who is capable to pulling small-scale time rewinds to correct his mistakes]].