History Main / PlotlineDeath

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', Aerith's death is important to the story, so you're not allowed the chance to use a Phoenix Down to bring her back.

** It should be noted that an amulet of life saving doesn't prevent a death, it merely revives a death person. Regular healing doesn't work on the guy at all, should a player try it.

[[caption-width-right:350:And they especially won't do squat about [[MentorOccupationalHazard the perils of mentoring]].]]

'''This is obviously a [[DeathTropes death trope]]. It contains major unmarked spoilers, so read at your own risk.'''

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.]] A few games actually see magic users or clerics attempting to heal fallen characters, but failing, somehow implying that the dying character is injured in a way beyond conventional methods of healing to help. It's technically a HandWave, but they tried. Another reason this could be is that the spells do not have the power to bring back the dead, they just can revive the unconscious. Sometimes this happens in RTS games as well, where in most levels a death can easily be fixed by building the relevant unit production structure. This is generally because developers found that when players ''weren't'' able to build heroes back during campaigns, they'd frequently ignore some of the [[TooAwesomeToUse most powerful units for fear of them dying]].

Usually a ''glaring'' example of [[GameplayAndStorySegregation gameplay and story segregation]]. Very commonly part of a PlayerPunch and DeathByOriginStory.

Roughly, this is the worst form of death in video games, going plotline death, FinalDeath, OnlyMostlyDead, and NonLethalKO.

** 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".

** And before that [[spoiler: Blaze]]
** And then [[spoiler: the game retcons itself by resetting time to before the games starts ensure that none of the events ever happened. ever.]]

* The ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' games tend to conclude their (generally 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 in the third, Kei (Mio's uncle) is captured and killed by the Tattooed Maiden, with Mio left in a perpetual coma ever since the game's events. Good endings allow you to negate a lot of these, but again, they haven't been canon thus far.

** 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 a freezer to be fed to the White Glove Society in "Beyond the Beef".

* Jin Uzuki makes a HeroicSacrifice in the ending sequence of ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} Episode III''. Why did his [[TheScrappy sister]] have to survive?
** ArbitraryHeadcountLimit. Team Save the World already had 3 Characters, Jin included.

* The difference between Plotline Death and gameplay death shows up again in ''VideoGame/GodOfWar''... But it's the ''opposite'' of the usual difference. When Kratos dies in gameplay, it's permanent, and you have to reload the last checkpoint... however, when the plot requires him to die, he's allowed a chance to fight back out of the Underworld and complete his quest.

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** Played straight with Essential NPC's in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', who have GameplayAllyImmortality and can only die in cutscenes or scripted events (e.g. James' sacrifice at Project Purity).
** At the beginning of the ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' DLC ''Honest Hearts'', the Happy Trails caravan is attacked by tribals. No matter how fast you take out the bad guys, the caravaneers are scripted to drop dead.

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''This is obviously a [[DeathTropes death trope]]. It contains major unmarked spoilers, so read at your own risk.''

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' has a slightly more justifiable version. [[spoiler: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.]]

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** In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 3.5, which is the [[SmallReferencePools default assumption]] when someone refers to tabletop games, the various resurrection spells explicitly state that the target must be willing, so the GM usually has an easy HandWave of "sorry, they're enjoying the afterlife too much to come back for your cause".

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* ''WebOriginal/KingDragonCanon'': Lysanderoth shoots Archebald during a cutscene, and the PlayerCharacter is upset for all the wrong reasons.
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** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'' has a distinct NPC scenario. Steve, having mutated into a large green monster, can take any and all damage thrown at him by Claire without missing a beat. But he gets killed by a tentacle. A tentacle that had its end chopped off. [[FlatWhat Wut?]]

* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'' has a distinct NPC scenario. Steve, having mutated into a large green monster, can take any and all damage thrown at him by Claire without missing a beat. But he gets killed by a tentacle. A tentacle that had its end chopped off. [[FlatWhat Wut?]]
* The original ''ResidentEvil'' has poor Richard Aiken die, despite a HopeSpot being around in the form of finding a serum for him (he's poisoned). In the original game, you'll just get a radio if you give him the serum on time, while in the Gamecube remake, he'll live, but he'll either be killed by the snake Yawn (Jill's scenario) or a Neptune shark (Chris' scenario) shortly after. In the remake, having him die the latter way will net you his assault shotgun, however, so it's worth it to get him the serum.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral'', Sigurd, main character and Lord for the first half of the game dies on you at the end of a chapter. Along with his entire army except for one or two survivors. Fortunately, all the ladies left children behind to carry on the struggle. Two children each, in fact.
** And there's a [[JustifiedTrope justification]] as to why you couldn't use the Dead-raising "Valkyrie" Holy Stave-- when you get the wielder of the Staff, Claud, he says that it cannot raise those who have lost their Quintessence, which happens slowly over time, or could be stolen by special weapons... by time you get another Valkyrie wielder, the first gen characters have been dead far too long.
** In ''Sword of Flame'', Ninian (playable character) and Hector's brother Uther (NPC). We also have Eliwood's father Elbert and Matthew's love Leila (both NPC) who also suffer deaths without any chance to save them. Ironically, in ''Binding Blade'', we had Hector becoming the embodiment of PlotlineDeath.
*** Ninian got resurrected again though, and lived happily ever after, Athos was the true plotline death in that he apparently overdid it in the fight against the Dragon, regardless of whether or not you actually used him.
*** Also, Lord Helman (Lord Elbert's friend who gets stabbed by Ephidel, becoming the first victim of the Black Fang in the game)

** In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Path Of Radiance]]'', we have Greil and Rajaion.
*** In ''Radiant Dawn'' (for at least your first playthrough), Pelleas.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia'', your decoy in the fourth part of the Prologue, and Marth's parents. The sequel subverts the Decoy's death, as Frey (The canon decoy) shows up alive and kickin'.

* Made fun of in [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/01/22/commoditized this]] ''PennyArcade'' strip, as well.

* In ''VideoGame/JeanneDArc'', one would naturally expect the lead female to be burned at the stake. However, since Jeanne herself had already gone [=MIA=], and the French higher-ups made her childhood friend Liane pose as her for the remainder of the war... Although TeamPet Cuisses [[PowersAsPrograms inherits her stats]] via the Paragon's Armlet, Liane only comes back as a spirit to assist in a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind against a demonic duplicate, and the player can recruit her ghost as a post-game bonus. Nevertheless, she remains legitimately dead to the plot, and Jeanne and Roger are last seen praying for her at the Chapel near Domremy.

* In ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance'', you must choose between rescuing [[ComicBook/{{X-Men}} Nightcrawler or Phoenix]] from Mephisto's realm. Doesn't matter if you have enough players to attempt to TakeAThirdOption, it's a case of ButThouMust. [[spoiler:If Nightcrawler is chosen, Phoenix returns in the epilogue as Dark Phoenix. If Phoenix is chosen, Mystique kills Professor X.]]