History Main / PlotLineDeath

** Or in the jail cell. Or in the room with the Pyramid Heads. Or when you fight her, on some endings, anyways.

* Creator/ProZD: In the ''King Dragon Canon'', Lysanderoth shoots Archibald during a cutscene, and the PlayerCharacter is upset for [[SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear all the wrong reasons.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'', [[spoiler: Roland]] is killed by Handsome Jack late in the game, immediately after [[spoiler: Angel]] commits suicide with your help.

* In one of the endings in ''VideoGame/BaldursGate II'' and its ExpansionPack, Viconia is eventually assassinated by the Drow society that she had fled from by means of poison. However, throughout the game there are numerous people who have resurrection spells to bring back the dead, and you can even get a ring that renders its wearer immune to ''all poisons''. Viconia herself is such a spellcaster, and even if another character is an epic level cleric, she's KilledOffForReal. (It should be mentioned, though, that if a character you are engaging in a romantic subplot dies and is resurrected in the game, it breaks the romance...for some reason. It is also possible for a character to be killed beyond the means of magic to revive them, but this normally requires spells like ''disintegrate'', or such massive damage that the character is chunked.)

* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}} Innocent Sin'' a friend/lover of Yukino dies by bleeding wounds. Even though they didn't try to use magic here to heal him, they did try when Maya got stab by the ''Spear of Longinius'' at the end. She too didn't live due to the spear being able to cause wounds that can't be healed.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', [[spoiler:[[EnsembleDarkhorse Shinjiro]], Takeharu Kirijo, Shuji Ikutsuki, Jin, and ultimately, the main character.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' has a slightly more justifiable version. [[spoiler:[[GuestStarPartyMember Goro Akechi]] is killed by his father's cognition of him near the end of the seventh Palace. However, before he dies, he seals himself off with a huge steel door in order to protect the party. They can't use healing spells or items on him because they can't physically get to him.]]

** In the finale of the sequel, choosing poor teammates for specific tasks will get them (or another character) killed in a cutscene. Also, ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has to enter the history of video games as a game where you can actually put your handcrafted {{AFGNCAAP}} character through a Plotline Death (disregarding the fact that he/she dies in the beginning of the game).

** Played straight with Essential [=NPCs=] in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', who have GameplayAllyImmortality and can only die in cutscenes or scripted events (e.g. James' sacrifice at Project Purity).

** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' has [[spoiler: Jeralt, from being stabbed InTheBack by Monica/Kronya. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the PlayerCharacter actually ''does'' use the [[TimeMaster time rewind]] mechanic to try and save him. [[HopeSpot Only for Kronya's boss to show up and stop them from doing so.]]]]

%%* Poked at in [[http://www.goldcoincomics.com/?id=126 this]] ''WebComic/GoldCoinComics'' strip.

** OlderThanTheyThink: ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' has Josef get crushed by a [[IndyEscape boulder trap]], Minwu/Ming-Wu give up his life energy to break the seal on the Ultima/Xtal Tome, and Ricard/[[NamesTheSame Edward]] Highwind die to let Firion, Maria, Guy and Leon escape from the revived Emperor. Also, the first [[RecurringCharacter Cid]] dies to the Cyclone.

* Rather sloppily handled for at least one event in ''Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri''. In one mission the PC is captured by the bad guys and some of your buddies show up to bust you out, the "mission", such as it is, being "run to the exit". Schuyler, one of your guys, dies immediately as the mission starts (even though his health is full, no-one has even fired a shot yet, and they apparently managed to sneak in completely undetected - in '''''full power armour''''' no less). Makes even less sense as teammates (other than you) are almost never killed by running out of suit energy; the suit then "evacs" them from the mission when it hits critical (which is exactly what Schuyler does, complete with CasualDangerDialog) so this is rather jarring. Made ''worse'' by the fact that it's not even a particularly ''hard'' fight to get to the exit, and you are never really under any threat.

* In ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', Buzz-Buzz, the CrutchCharacter who joins Ness in the prologue, becomes the one prominent character in the game to be killed off permanently when he is swatted like the fly he is. A memorial for him can be seen much later in Magicant.

** In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', companions can only be knocked unconscious unless you're playing in Hardcore mode, with two exceptions: Jean-Baptiste Cutting blasting Cass with his laser rifle if the player complies with the Van Graffs' orders in "Birds of a Feather", and locking your human companion in the Ultra-Luxe freezer to be fed to the White Glove Society in "Beyond the Beef". Thankfully, neither quest is a requirement for any ending, and there are a number of other ways to complete the latter.

Inverse of CutscenePowerToTheMax, where a character does nigh-impossible feats, including defying death, merely by the virtue of being in a cutscene. Sub-trope to CutsceneIncompetance.

Inverse of CutscenePowerToTheMax, where a character does nigh-impossible feats, including defying death, merely by the virtue of being in a cutscene.

** Johnny Gat suffers one early into ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'', being gunned down by the Morningstar gang offscreen and returning a a zombie Homie at the end of the game, which in the series denotes a character that's DeaderThanDead. Taking note of the word "[[NeverFoundTheBody offscreen]]," the dev team made a [[AuthorsSavingThrow saving throw]] in the next sequel by revealing that Gat actually survived after all.

When someone dies in a cutscene, [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality because the story gods have demanded it]]. It doesn't always [[GameplayAndStorySegregation fit with how the game handles combat death and wounds]], be they NonLethalKO or OnlyMostlyDead and it doesn't matter how many extra lives the player has left. Characters who have taken [[StatisticallySpeaking fireballs (and worse) to the face]] at pointblank range will be felled with a single gunshot or stab wound, even if they're level 99. Don't even try your resurrection magic, it would be [[FantasticAesop wrong.]]

[[quoteright:349:[[WebAnimation/DorklyOriginals https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/plotline_death.png]]]]
[-[[caption-width-right:350:And they especially won't do squat about [[MentorOccupationalHazard the perils of mentoring]].]]-]

* Lampshaded in [[http://www.virtualshackles.com/47/ this]] ''Webcomic/VirtualShackles'' comic.
* Poked at in [[http://www.goldcoincomics.com/?id=126 this]] ''WebComic/GoldCoinComics'' strip.
* Made fun of in [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/01/22/commoditized this]] ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'' strip, as well.
* Discussed then exploited in [[http://www.darklegacycomics.com/227 this]] Webcomic/DarkLegacyComics

* In an interesting example, ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarII'' uses ''cloning'' as the preferred "revival" method of fallen characters - why a plot-killed character can't be cloned is vaguely explained in the US version by stating she can't be cloned because she's not human, even though cloning prior to this point works on her; a line in the original JP version states that the data required to revive her has gone missing; after the destruction of Climatrol and the death of [[MonsterLord Neifirst]], the technology used to create [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke biomonsters]] [[NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup is no longer available on Motavia]]. The Japan-only [=PS2=] remake adds an optional side-quest to fix this.

* ''WebVideo/TheKingDragonCanon'': Lysanderoth shoots Archebald during a cutscene, and the PlayerCharacter is upset for all the wrong reasons.

Usually a ''glaring'' example of [[GameplayAndStorySegregation gameplay and story segregation]], though a few games will make an attempt to [[JustifiedTrope justify]] it. Also the worst form of death in video games, going plotline death, FinalDeath, OnlyMostlyDead, and NonLethalKO. Very commonly part of a PlayerPunch and DeathByOriginStory.

* There are several of these in ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Corporal [[LeeroyJenkins Jenkins]] gets gunned down by MechaMooks right at the beginning of the game's first battle. Nihlus gets shot in the back of the head by Saren. And on Virmire, Shepard must [[SadisticChoice choose]] whether to save Kaidan or Ashley; the one not chosen dies in a nuclear explosion. Wrex can also be killed in a cutscene on Virmire, but it's probably more of a FinalDeath than a Plotline Death, since whether or not he died depends on the player's choices.

* The ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' games tend to conclude their canon endings with a PlotlineDeath. In the first, Mafuyu stays behind with Kirie, effectively killing himself to be with her; in the second, Mio strangles her sister Mayu to death as part of a ritual; and the fourth game concludes the introduction phase by killing off Madoka Tsukimori.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'', Ninian (playable character) and Hector's brother Uther (NPC). We also have Eliwood's father Elbert and Matthew's love Leila (both [=NPCs=]) who also suffer deaths without any chance to save them. Ironically, in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'', we had Hector becoming the embodiment of PlotlineDeath.

** Another version of toying around: According to ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsCompact3 Compact 3]]'', Fernando Albark, Maysis Mark and Alion Lucada are supposed to suffer PlotlineDeath, there's no way you can save them. But their stories get tweaked that they didn't die. Fernando and Alion ends up joining you for good, while Maysis takes the back seat. Likewise, this also happens to [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsReversal Despinis]], who ends up doing a HeelFaceTurn before she could get killed, ensuring her survival.

Usually a ''glaring'' example of [[GameplayAndStorySegregation gameplay and story segregation]], as well as the worst form of death in video games, going plotline death, FinalDeath, OnlyMostlyDead, and NonLethalKO. Very commonly part of a PlayerPunch and DeathByOriginStory.

* In the post-apocolyptic Kaiju vs Mecha world of Atomic Rex, the main character laments that an attack of giant locusts have damaged the crops in the community that he is responsible for, and that will result in mass starvation deaths. 'The old, the sick, the very young, and even some of the young and healthy people would die a slow and hungry death.' He endevours then to set out with his HumongousMecha and deal with the ''Kaiju'' problem plaguing his world. The first thing he does is load his mecha with "whatever food and water that he had into a sack. Once he had enough provisions to last him for a 'few weeks' he crept back out into the settlement." Either the main character is JerkAssHero who has been hoarding weeks worth of food and water in a place where lots of people are starving to death, or the author thinks that the main character's inventory should be seperate from the plot.

[[Literature]]
* In the post-apocolyptic Kaiju vs Mecha world of Atomic Rex, the main character laments that an attack of giant locusts have damaged the crops in the community that he is responsible for, and that will result in mass starvation deaths. 'The old, the sick, the very young, and even some of the young and healthy people would die a slow and hungry death.' He endevours then to set out with his HumongousMecha and deal with the kaiju problem plaguing his world. The first thing he does is load his mecha with "whatever food and water that he had into a sack. Once he had enough provisions to last him for a 'few weeks' he crept back out into the settlement." Either the main character is JerkAssHero who has been hoarding weeks worth of food and water in a place where people are starving to death, or the author thinks that the main character's inventory should be seperate from the plot.

[[quoteright:350:[[WebAnimation/DorklyOriginals https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/plotline_death.png]]]]

When someone dies in a cutscene, because the story gods have demanded it. It doesn't always [[GameplayAndStorySegregation fit with how the game handles combat death and wounds]], be they NonLethalKO or OnlyMostlyDead and it doesn't matter how many extra lives the player has left. Characters who have taken [[StatisticallySpeaking fireballs (and worse) to the face]] at pointblank range will be felled with a single gunshot or stab wound, even if they're level 99. Don't even try your resurrection magic, it would be [[FantasticAesop wrong.]]