History NoOntologicalInertia / VideoGames

* The stealth shooter ''VideoGame/VampireRain'' takes this trope UpToEleven with the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Nightwalkers]] being completely dependant on the vampire who sired them. This becomes a gameplay mechanic about halfway through the game, when killing certain vampires will destroy all the vampires sired by that particular vampire in the level. [[spoiler: This is used as a plot point, when the protagonists destroy the four head vampires, purging the city of their bloodlines completely]].

* In ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', defeating the Starman Deluxe causes the Stonehenge base to noisily shut down, which frees everybody from the {{People Jars}} in the last room and removes all the enemies.

** A common pattern has Link visit a new area, find something wrong with the local environment, slay the boss monster inhabiting the nearest temple, and collect his reward from the grateful townspeople when their lake is refilled, their mountain quits erupting, their well quits sending out shadows to stalk them at night ...
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': Wizzrobes create elemental {{Field Power Effect}}s during combat. If the Wizzrobe is slain, the effect instantly vanishes.

** The series has this in spades. A usual pattern is visiting a new area, finding something wrong with the local environment, slaying the boss monster inhabiting the nearest temple, and collecting your reward from the grateful townspeople when their lake is refilled, their mountain quits erupting, their well quits sending out shadows to stalk them at night ...
** But averted in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime''. You kill the spider that lives in the Deku tree, but it's too late to save the tree... Said tree knew this all along, but tasked Link with ridding him of his curse anyway to see if Link was worthy of being the hero Hyrule needs.

* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'': The Infection is a disease plaguing the dreams of the citizens in Hollownest that was created by [[Main/BigBad The Radiance]], who became furious that everyone completely forgot about her in favor of the Pale King, Hollownest's new ruler. Once The Knight defeats her from inside the Hollow Knight, the plague vanishes. If the Absolute Radiance is defeated in the Pantheon of Hollownest, the same thing happens with the Infection disappearing except the Hollow Knight is freed from being sealed inside of the Black Egg Temple.

* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'': The Infection is a disease plaguing the dreams of the citizens in Hollownest that was created by [[Main/BigBad The Radiance]] who became furious that everyone completely forgot about her in favor of the Pale King, Hollownest's new ruler. Once The Knight defeats her from inside the Hollow Knight, the plague vanishes. If the Absolute Radiance is defeated in the Pantheon of Hollownest, the same thing happens with the Infection disappearing except the Hollow Knight is freed from being sealed inside of the Black Egg Temple.

* VideoGame/HollowKnight: The Infection is a disease plaguing the dreams of the citizens in Hollownest that was created by [[Main/BigBad The Radiance]] who became furious that everyone completely forgot about her in favor of the Pale King, Hollownest's new ruler. Once The Knight defeats her from inside the Hollow Knight, the plague vanishes. If the Absolute Radiance is defeated in the Pantheon of Hollownest, the same thing happens with the Infection disappearing except the Hollow Knight is freed from being sealed inside of the Black Egg Temple.

* VideoGames/HollowKnight: The Infection is a disease plaguing the dreams of the citizens in Hollownest that was created by [[Main/BigBad The Radiance]] after everyone completely forgets about her in favor of the Pale King. Once The Knight defeats her from inside the Hollow Knight, the plague vanishes.

** This trope very much comes into effect with [[spoiler:Graven Ashe's Aegis]], however. If the is killed during the endgame, [[spoiler:all the wounds and pain [[EmpathicHealer his Aegis had taken from the Disfavoured]] are returned in full force, instantaneously killing or crippling the majority of its members]].

* It's also common in video games for the level to end at the instant the hero gathers enough plot coupons. Even if an uncountable wave of enemies are swarming in for the kill; the minute you complete your objective it's is 'well done' and on to the next mission completely unharmed.

* Averted twice in the ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'' series. The first is after the death of Eve. [[spoiler: The Ultimate Being she was trying to birth is born despite it's mother melting into a pile of goo and serves as the final boss]]. The second is revealed in ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve2''. Eve's monstrous creations did not all drop dead after Eve [[spoiler: or the Ultimate Being]] are destroyed and wreak havoc across the U.S for several years.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'': The second the final boss is defeated, random encounters vanish and the poisonous swamps are replaced with pretty flowers.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVI'':
*** Mortamor was the one who created the link between the Real and Dream Worlds, so when he dies, the link is destroyed along with him.
*** Discussed by townspeople, who wonder if the fact that the monsters don't go away after Murdaw is defeated has any significance...

* ''LightNovel/DanMachi: VideoGame/MemoriaFreese'': In the ''Winter Reverie'' campaign, killing the Swamp King erases the pollution it spread across the country of Veltane.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun2001'': Tret the Holy Tree is normally a kind and wise soul, but has entered an UnstoppableRage due to Psynergy Stones, and started turning all the people in Kolima into trees, hoping to spread the curse around as much as possible so he can take as many humans down with him as he can. After Isaac and his friends bring him back to his senses, Tret laments the fact that partially because of the wound the Kolima lumberjacks gave him, he's dying and no longer has the power to undo the curse. Isaac and his friends then head to the Mercury Lighthouse to fetch some Water of Hermes, to heal the dying tree. Only ''then'' is a grateful Tret able to return the people of Kolima to normal.

* ''In VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'', killing a summoned creature kills the summoner as well. Played for a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment in the village of Mist, when Cecil and Kain discover to their horror that not only did the [[FakeKing King of Baron's]] package just nuke the town, but they personally murdered Rydia's mother by killing her summoned dragon in the Mist Cave. There is also another important plot moment with the Dark Elf who stole Troia's Earth Crystal -- he cast a spell on the cavern he hid in, magnetizing the entire cavern so strongly that equipping even a hint of something metallic will completely paralyze the character in-battle, making it [[HopelessBossFight impossible to defeat him]]. But when [[spoiler:Edward's music]] breaks the Dark Elf's concentration, the aforementioned magnetism immediately vanishes and the party can defeat him for real.
* Played very straight in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', with good reason. [[spoiler:During the game's grand finale, after you've defeated Kefka, the player is shown that life is springing back all over the world. Sometimes through obvious elements like flowers and grass regaining color, other times through more symbolic touches like one of the [=NPC=]s giving birth to her baby. Justified because with [[NietzscheWannabe Kefka]] being the closest thing to God -- specifically god of a force that explicitly alters reality -- existence was unraveling. With him defeated creation slips [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic triumphantly]] [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome back]] [[TearJerker into]] [[GrandFinale place.]] ]]
** Less because of [[TheBigBad Kefka]] than of the [[GodIsEvil Warring Triad]]. [[spoiler: When you destroy their power contained in their statues and Kefka, [[TheMagicGoesAway all magic and all Espers in existence (except Terra, a HalfHumanHybrid, due to her strong love for the children in Mobliz ) vanish]] and Kefka's tower [[CollapsingLair collapses into rubble.]] Presumably the world's sorry state was held in place by the same force that held together the rocks of that monument.]]
* Played heartbreakingly straight in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX''. After the Fayth are released from their state of constant dream summoning, everything they summoned starts to fade away such as the Aeons and [[spoiler:the people of Dream Zanarkand, including Tidus]].
* Teased with in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''. [[spoiler: Amidst an intense aerial battle with the Vayne's forces and the resistance, Vaan and Co slip into Vanye's fortress. After defeating Vayne, the heroes gather together and stare triumphantly at the sky, their faces proud at their accomplishment at defeating the Big Bad. A few seconds later, a burning ship flies by, reminding them that yes, a battle is still going on.]]
* Happens in a way in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2''. Temporal anomalies referred to as "paradoxes" link different places and times together, often with disastrous consequences. By resolving the paradox, most of whatever doesn't belong is prone to disappearing. For example, when the "Mutantomato" paradox was resolved in the Sunleth Waterscape in 300 AF, Snow Villiers also vanished due to having been pulled there by that very paradox in the first place. A broader example; in Yaschas Massif 10 AF, a paradox caused a flying fal'Cie to eclipse the sun two centuries early. When our heroes go to Oerba 200 AF to resolve the paradox from that end, they end up creating a NEW Yaschas Massif 10 AF where said eclipse never happened.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'': Tret the Holy Tree is normally a kind and wise soul, but has entered an UnstoppableRage due to Psynergy Stones, and started turning all the people in Kolima into trees, hoping to spread the curse around as much as possible so he can take as many humans down with him as he can. After Isaac and his friends bring him back to his senses, Tret laments the fact that partially because of the wound the Kolima lumberjacks gave him, he's dying and no longer has the power to undo the curse. Isaac and his friends then head to the Mercury Lighthouse to fetch some Water of Hermes, to heal the dying tree. Only ''then'' is a grateful Tret able to return the people of Kolima to normal.

* Many games rely on First Aid kits to heal the player. Picking one up tends to cause evidence of prior injuries to instantly disappear. This goes back at least as far as ''Wolfestein 3D'', in which the player could actually regain a lost eye.
** [[DemBones Clinkz]] from ''VideoGame/{{Dota2}}'' lampshades this aspect of healing items when picking up a regeneration rune.
-->'''Clinkz:''' Does this mean my flesh will grow back?
* It's also common in video games for the level to end at the instant the hero gathers enough plot coupons. Even if an uncountable wave of enemies are swarming in for the kill; the minute you complete your objective it's is 'well done' and on to the next mission completely unharmed.
* It doesn't matter how many world governments [[VillainProtagonist you've]] toppled, or how much of humanity you've destroyed. The second the cure in ''VideoGame/PlagueInc'' is completed, it's immediately deployed world wide, killing [[ThePlague you]] in days.
* ''VideoGame/MightAndMagic VIII: Day of the Destroyer'' has this, complete with sunshine, rainbow and birds flying.
** On the other hand, it appears that the consequences of the opening of the portals to the Elemental Planes remains even after the portals are destroyed -- the ending only gives short glimpses, but the island on which the Earth Portal is situated doesn't appear to sink after the portal is destroyed, nor does the lake in which the Water Portal is situated drain away as soon as the portal is destroyed. The post-ending gameplay would seem to corroborate that, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation except the elemental portals remain open despite the ending explicitly showing all of them being destroyed]].
* A rather ridiculous example of this is mentioned in Shang Tsung's ''VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon'' bio: Supposedly, his master, Shao Kahn, has a contractual stipulation with anyone who pledges allegiance to him that, if Shao Kahn ends up biting the dust, so too will they, which also means he's able to revive his minions should they die due to this link. In a minor subversion, however, it's apparently treated as an unsubstantiated rumor among Khan's allies, hence why Shang Tsung had no compunction about slaying him with fellow sorcerer Quan Chi's help at the beginning of ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance''. A minor point of argument with this among fans is exactly ''who'' will be affected by this trope should Shao Kahn be KilledOffForReal.
* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'':, as defeating Shao Kahn revives all the people who died in the game's opening apocalypse (presumably having their souls taken only rendered them [[OnlyMostlyDead mostly dead]]). This wasn't the case in the very first edition of ''Mortal Kombat 3'', which suggested that most of humanity remained dead even after the game ended, but that changed in all the subsequent editions, presumably to make further Earth vs. Outworld sequels easier to write.
* Occurs in the end of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI''. [[spoiler:When Sora and Mickey seal the Door to Darkness, every world and everyone that the Heartless destroyed was brought right back to the way they were before the Heartless attacked.]]
* The world of ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}'' has no ontological inertia. You ready for this one? [[spoiler:The seals placed against the Seeds of Resurrection also hold back the "true world", in which [[CosmicHorror the Grotesqueries]] roam free and hold dominance over all things. The world the protagonists are trying to save is a protective illusion. Thus the world that the majority of ''Drakengard'' takes place in doesn't have any real permanence: the moment all the seals are broken, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the world as we've known it disappears.]] The sky, for one, immediately [[AlienSky turns red.]]]] In the sequel, the change is even more violent, as the sky ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q_0pNlUBKs literally shatters]]''. This leads to a bit of FridgeLogic when one wonders how those seals came to be in the first place.
** [[AWizardDidIt Dragons did it.]] [[spoiler:They served the Grotesqueries in the true world, until the dragons wrote the seals to create a safe pocket of reality where they were the dominant species.]] Then humanity emerged and kind of mucked it all up.
* In ''VideoGame/MakaiKingdom'', anything that has been created by being written down in the wish-granting [[CosmicKeystone Sacred Tome]] will suffer the same fate as the page it was written on should the tome be damaged. Spilling coffee on the book is ''probably'' not a good idea -- burning it is even less so.
* In some video games, projectiles cease to exist if the enemy that fired them is destroyed. In some other ones (such as {{Shoot Em Up}}s), the projectiles turn into "happy things" that are attracted to the player to give points. But don't count on either behaviour.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/{{Bloodrayne}} 2'', where killing the BigBad at the end of the game doesn't actually change anything; the world remains the same vampire-ruled hellhole the Big Bad turned it into halfway through the game. The protagonist even remarks how thinking everything would change back to normal after the Big Bad's death was "pretty stupid, huh?"
* ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' is all over this trope. In any battle, as soon as you kill the last enemy, you're invincible; all onscreen attacks will either disappear or pass right through you. This is true even in ''Network Transmission'', a sidescrolling homage to the classic series. Examples abound in the plot of the games too: when you beat an enemy [=NetNavi=], whatever havoc it's created in the real world is harmlessly defused.
** Averted by the bosses of the first ''Mega Man'', where boss attacks did in fact survive their user's destruction and could do damage to Mega Man. Made worse by the fact that you couldn't move for a split second after defeating the boss, meaning if the timing was just right (or wrong, as the case may be), you were a sitting duck for a stray shot or one of Fire Man's ground plumes. Especially problematic against Elec Man or Ice Man, whose projectiles could take off roughly a third of your health.
* In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'', the final boss is a [[LoadBearingBoss load bearer of galactic proportions]] -- upon defeat, not only is the boss's planet destroyed, but so is ''all Phazon throughout the entire galaxy,'' instantaneously, and in suitably explodey fashion. This is due to the fact that Phazon is [[SentientPhlebotinum alive]] and the planet in question was the [[EldritchAbomination very source of it]]. The final boss had essentially hijacked into the planet's "brain" to control all the galaxy's Phazon and with their death caused the death of the planet, which killed off all the Phazon.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'' reveals that, if Maxwell dies, the schism [[spoiler: that separates the world of Rieze Maxia and Elympios]] will disappear.
* The same effect applies to hunters and warlocks in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''. Whether it happens with {{NPC}}s tend to vary on whether they are normal units (where they almost never disappear) or bosses, when they frequently do.
** Played straight with the shaman class and their totems (elemental talismans dropped on the ground that buff players or debuff/damage enemies). When the shaman dies, the totems vanish.
** Averted with buff or debuff spells with lasting effects cast on friend or foe (including heal-over-time and damage-over-time spells). They remain in effect until the spells wear off or are specifically removed, or the recipient dies. They do not wear off just because the caster dies.
** Subverted in the ''Wrath of the Lich King''. The initial invasion is planned to defeat the Lich King and then wipe up the remaining Scourge after his fall. It is subsequently revealed that [[spoiler:the Scourge will not simply die with the fall of the Lich King, but instead will become even more dangerous without the control Arthas imposed. Even if he is slain, somebody must assume the role of the Lich King or the Scourge will overrun the world]].
* ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' has an odd variant of this: When player characters are killed their summoned pets disappear. However, pets of [=NPC=]s do not and must be killed separately.
* It's a slightly odd moment in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' (amongst other games) when you realise that destroying an enemy causes all of its projectiles that are coming towards you to mysteriously disappear.
** Not to mention that after Eggman [[spoiler:blew up the half of the moon with the Eclipse Cannon,]] in got better in later events showing the moon after [[spoiler:the cannon]] was put out of commission. It's especially jarring in ''VideoGame/SonicAdvance'', where [[spoiler:the final boss fight takes place on the moon]].
*** According to WordOfGod, Eggman [[spoiler:restored the moon (somehow) after the game as an apology for his part in his grandfather's scheme]].
* In Mushroom Hill Act 2 of ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'', the green grass on the ground turns into brown leaves and the sky turns a strange color at the start of the level. The effect gets worse as you progress though the level. At the end of the level, you find a satellite dish broadcasting some type of signal. Destroying the dish will instantly revert the ground back from brown leaves to green grass and make the sky (and the rest of the stuff in the level) turn back to its correct color.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 2|CursedMemories}}'': [[AllThereInTheManual According to the art book]], even with the death of [[spoiler:The fake Zenon]], Veldime will in fact remain a netherworld. The people will remain Demons, the monsters that were attracted to the world under Zenon's influence will not leave, And while the landscape's transformation ''has'' been halted, what had already been changed will remain so. The book does go on to say however, that since Zenon is no longer [[spoiler:draining the morality and consciences out of the people]], they will at least stop turning evil, and points out that many changes brought to Veldime as a Netherworld were in fact positive, so things still work out in the end.
** Invoked in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 4|A Promise Unforgotten}}'' : Valvatorez believes that eliminating the source of the A-Virus pandemic ([[spoiler:Namely, Axel]]), will reverse the virus's effects. [[spoiler: He's wrong (Though things still turn out [[JustForPun A]]-OK when a cure ''is'' found)]].
* Takes on another form in online games that utilize "lag compensation," notably [[{{FPS}} first-person shooters]]. Suppose two combatants fire upon each other, one with a plasma gun, another with a rocket launcher. From each player's perspective, the other hasn't yet fired; meanwhile, on the server, the rounds pass each other by mid-flight. The plasma bolts, having faster velocity, hit their target first for lethal damage. Should the rocket launch and plasma death occur within the lag compensation window (usually around 1/10th of a second), the rocket "was never fired," and the plasma gunner gets an easy kill. Outside the window, the plasma gunner still has to dodge the rocket. This phenomenon also causes hastily-flung grenades to disappear, and assault rifle victims to apparently die from one or two bullets rather than the five to nine they have to hit anyone else with for a kill. On a related theme, some weapons "charge up" by holding fire, and launch when their button is released. Killing players during the charge up sequence often causes the super-attack to instantly dissipate rather than either launching at that instant (or wildly). Lag compensation in many of these games lead to the phenomenon of the high-ping sniper, a player whose bullets seem to curve around corners or otherwise kill enemies that are out of their effective range.

* ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'' mocks the "head vampire" variant, as that's really not how the game it's based on works. You can find a neonate who's lamenting his undead condition and seeking a cure; you can either let him down easy or try to con some money out of him by saying it only works if you kill the head vampire with a stake of "holy rosewood" (which you just happen to have).
* [[DiscussedTrope Referenced]] but Averted in the ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' series. Ancient vampire Janos Audron mentions to Raziel that the Sarafan ''think'' killing him will be the end of the vampires but adds, "We are not that fragile."
* Killing a Demoman in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' will cause all the explosive traps he's laid to disappear. There's even an achievement for removing a certain amount of traps by killing the Demomen that made them.
** Similarly, killing an Engineer during Sudden Death (and possibly Arena) will make all his buildings explode. Note that this does not happen in any other game mode, where the Engineer can then respawn and go back to his hopefully still standing buildings.
*** Also if an Engineer switches to another class, all their buildings will disappear. This is probably an AcceptableBreakFromReality because otherwise someone could build a sentry, switch to a more deadly class, and still get sentry kills.
*** A now fixed bug made so that any missiles fired from a sentry that got destroyed after they were fired became neutral entities, allowing potential griefing Engineers to kill allies.
*** Engineers who switch between the Gunslinger (a mechanical hand that gives him 25 extra HP and replaces his normal sentry with a combat mini-sentry) and any wrench will have their sentry destroyed, presumably to keep him from having the Gunslinger's benefits and a level 3 sentry gun at the same time. Previously, switching melee weapons at all destroyed ''all'' his buildings, forcing him to have to start again from scratch.
** Averted with weapons who make the enemy bleed, burn, or otherwise lose health over time like the Pyro's flamethrower or the Spy's Sapper, that continue to damage away at enemies even after the user has been killed.

* ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'' has a few quest-based curses that expire on death. One example is found early on, and the other involves the CrystalBall quest. The Gypsy Blood curse, on the other hand, is caused by death.
** This actually applies to a large majority of spells. Summoned monsters disappear when you no longer sustain the spell, time reverts to normal when you're no longer consciously altering it, et cetera. Actually, Arcanum makes considerable use of the ephemeral nature of magic both in its discussion of the setting's philosophies, sciences and cultures, and in its game mechanics. No Ontological Inertia is again used here with deliberate intent. Its few exceptions run the full gamut from excellent writing to dropping the ball.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** The series has this in spades. A usual pattern is visiting a new area, finding something wrong with the local environment, slaying the boss monster inhabiting the nearest temple, and collecting your reward from the grateful townspeople when their lake is refilled, their mountain quits erupting, their well quits sending out shadows to stalk them at night ...
** But averted in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime''. You kill the spider that lives in the Deku tree, but it's too late to save the tree... Said tree knew this all along, but tasked Link with ridding him of his curse anyway to see if Link was worthy of being the hero Hyrule needs.

* ''VideoGame/{{Cabal}}'' has this in spades. To beat a level, you had to defeat enemies and destroy structures until a bar at the bottom filled up, at which point every remaining enemy died/blew up and every remaining structure on screen collapsed. As for the two {{Flunky Boss}}es, destroying the main target would cause all the flunkies to spontaneously explode.
* In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', when the event Zoroark is defeated/captured, the clearing it is in fills with flowers and much more pleasant-looking trees. Justified because the Zoroark had not actually changed the clearing, it was using its powers of illusion to make it appear otherwise.
* Averted in the Valley of Dying Things scenario of ''[[VideoGame/{{Avernum}} Blades Of Avernum]].'' The Vale is suffering a curse in which the rivers poison the vegetation and anything that drinks from the river or eat food grown with river water. After destroying the source of the toxins, [[spoiler: an abandoned magical waste treatment facility deep below the surface]] the poison already within the environment does not leach away or vanish, and the inhabitants of the Vale flee only to come back once the Vale has been magically cleansed. Even then, the land is still not as prosperous as it was before the curse.
* Subverted by the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series. At the end of the first game, you [[spoiler: kill the Master of the Super Mutants]]. In all the subsequent games, supermutants continue to be present, ranging from TheRemnant, hostile to all, to contributing members of society (including one who's an NCR Ranger).

* Averted in ''VideoGame/SwordOfTheStars''. If you attack a planet and kill all the population, any planetary defenses will still be active and need to be destroyed before you can take over. Sometimes you can even kill just the "imperial" population, leaving (most of) the "civilian" population intact. (Basically killing anyone directly related to the faction who owns the planet, but leaving everyone else.) If nobody moves in to grab the planet after that, they will just declare independence and become a neutral party until someone muscles in on them again.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/AnvilOfDawn''. While trying to get past the gargoyle in the basement of the Dark Lantern, you can point out that the mage who summoned him as a guardian is now dead. The gargoyle says he's pleased to hear that, but he's still bound by the summons, which you have to break yourself before you can get past him.
* The stealth shooter ''VideoGame/VampireRain'' takes this trope UpToEleven with the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Nightwalkers]] being completely dependant on the vampire who sired them. This becomes a gameplay mechanic about halfway through the game, when killing certain vampires will destroy all the vampires sired by that particular vampire in the level. [[spoiler: This is used as a plot point, when the protagonists destroy the four head vampires, purging the city of their bloodlines completely]].
* Averted twice in the ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'' series. The first is after the death of Eve. [[spoiler: The Ultimate Being she was trying to birth is born despite it's mother melting into a pile of goo and serves as the final boss]]. The second is revealed in ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve2''. Eve's monstrous creations did not all drop dead after Eve [[spoiler: or the Ultimate Being]] are destroyed and wreak havoc across the U.S for several years.
* In ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' (and all spinoffs), any enemies in boss battles will immediately vanish once the boss is defeated. In ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' this extends to sprites in general, if you're riding a Yoshi in a battle, the Yoshi vanishes once the boss is defeated as well.
* According to the original plot for ''VideoGame/{{Killer7}}'', managing to kill a being called the "Final" or "Last Shot Smile" would have caused the regular Heaven's Smiles the player faces throughout the game to cease existing. The Final Smile isn't in the released game, though the supplementary "Hand in killer7" material is still based on an earlier version of the story where an FBI agent, making use of a prediction machine whose probability of a successful prediction went up with each successful prediction, was manipulating the direction of the plot from behind the scenes to force the Last Shot Smile into existence and destroy it himself. Garcian Smith does end up killing the Big Boss, however, which is implied to be the sire that fertilizes all the egg-laying Heaven's Smiles - killing him will result in the eventual extinction of the Smiles, since reproduction by conversion isn't a valid long-term tactic. The sire is [[spoiler:Iwazaru, one of Harman's (Garcian's boss) servants, who is revealed to be a clone of Kun Lan, the primary antagonist.]]
* Egregious in ''VideoGame/JeffWaynesWarOfTheWorlds'', where destroying a builder unit detonates any unfinished buildings that unit was working on, destroying an HQ building detonates ''all'' other buildings in the sector, and destroying the central HQ in the faction's home sector destroys ''everything'', granting [[InstantWinCondition instant victory]] to the other side.
* At the end of ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsCompact3'', Alkaid says that there's no worry. Once he dies, the dimensions should return to their rightful state without his power tugging at it. These people should be sent home. Alkaid then notes that he has no regrets about his life and to meet Folka and his new way. In the end, he gives Folka his thanks to which Folka says that the same goes likewise. Alkaid then dies with the Raha Extim exploding and there is a flash, sending everyone back to their homeworlds.
* ''VideoGame/WarlockMasterOfTheArcane'' averts this. When a faction is defeated, all their units and cities remain in the game, but are now considered "neutral".
* This one's a plot point in VideoGame/{{OFF}}: [[spoiler:Whenever a guardian is killed, his zone, and all its inhabitants, in one of them's words, "fall into nothingness, never to return"]].
* In the Sega Saturn [=RPG=] ''Albert Odyssey'', the main character's adoptive caretaker is [[TakenForGranite turned to stone]] early on in the story. A search for a powerful healer eventually reveals that numerous other people have suffered the same fate, with the most powerful known healer unable to help them. Defeating the [[DiscOneFinalBoss megalomaniac wizard]] who cast the curse is speculated to be the only possible cure, and in fact the aforementioned caretaker is seen fully recovered soon after the wizard is taken down.
* All minion attacks and a large number of hero abilities in ''Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign'' create countdown tiles that, when the specified amount of turns have elapsed, trigger the character pulling off a special ability. The countdown tiles can be destroyed like normal ones, or they can all be instantly wiped off the board by their owner being downed.
* ''[[VideoGame/DonPachi DoDonPachi]] [=DaiFukkatsu=] BLACK LABEL'' allows you to trigger this. Destroying a large enemy with your shot and laser firing at once causes its bullets to vanish too, turning into point-accumulating stars and adding to your combo. Cancelling bullets ''en masse'', especially with [[DynamicDifficulty Red Mode]] activated, is the key to earning massive scores.
* Averted in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun'': Tret the Holy Tree is normally a kind and wise soul, but has entered an UnstoppableRage due to Psynergy Stones, and started turning all the people in Kolima into trees, hoping to spread the curse around as much as possible so he can take as many humans down with him as he can. After Isaac and his friends bring him back to his senses, Tret laments the fact that partially because of the wound the Kolima lumberjacks gave him, he's dying and no longer has the power to undo the curse. Isaac and his friends then head to the Mercury Lighthouse to fetch some Water of Hermes, to heal the dying tree. Only ''then'' is a grateful Tret able to return the people of Kolima to normal.
* In ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', defeating the Starman Deluxe causes the Stonehenge base to noisily shut down, which frees everybody from the {{People Jars}} in the last room and removes all the enemies.
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** Several [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Vampire]] bloodlines in the Iliac Bay region are known to have this as a weakness. If their progenitor (known as a "Blood Father") is killed or cured, the other vampires of the bloodline will lose their powers as well. This is said to include RapidAging, which for those who [[TheAgeless have been alive longer than their natural lifespans]], leads to death.
** Atronachs, a type of unaligned [[OurDemonsAreDifferent lesser Daedra]] which are essentially the {{Elemental Embodiment}}s of the elements they represent, typically have this occur if they've been summoned to Mundus (the mortal plane) by a mortal summoner. If that mortal dies, the Atronach will vanish or disintegrate. This is also the case for a number of types of undead and their {{necromancer}} summoners as well.
* In the story mode of ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'', when Celeste is defeated and sealed, death returns to the Mist-Shrouded island and all the villagers crumble to dust. Justified in that they were all supposed to have decayed for a long time.
* Some of the ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' games have an optional setting for skirmish and multiplayer battles that enforces this - as soon as a player loses all of their buildings that produce things (Construction Yard, Barracks, War Factory, etc.), all of their remaining defensive structures and units currently on the field will self-destruct or drop dead, forcing them out of the game. The only thing that stays around are walls.
* ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'': [[spoiler:Averted. After [[BigBad Ultron Sigma]] is defeated, the Convergence between the Marvel and Capcom universes remains in place, contrary to what the heroes were expecting. Because the Reality Gem was damaged by Thanos earlier in the story and can't be used at full power anymore, there's no way to separate the universes, meaning that there's now a permanently merged Marvel vs. Capcom universe.]]

* The BigBad of ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' is Yuuki Terumi, a ghost separated from his body long before the plot began. This means he doesn't have a stable existence. He solves this by deliberately acting as an in-universe HateSink - the hatred he receives from characters like Ragna and Kokonoe validates and sustains his life. A DiscussedTrope in later games is that ''everything'' in the ''Blaz Blue'' universe has no ontological inertia - [[QuantumMechanicsCanDoAnything they only exist because they are being Observed]]. Most things are Observed by [[DeusEstMachina Master Unit Amaterasu]], but Terumi takes a more direct route for his sustenance by deliberately antagonising everyone. The more you hate him, the stronger he gets.

** This trope very much comes into effect with [[spoiler:Graven Ashe's Aegis]], however. If the is killed during the endgame, [[spoiler:all the wounds and pain [[EmpathicHealer his Aegis had taken from the Disfavoured]] are returned in full force, instantaneously killing or crippling the majority of its members]].

* It doesn't matter how many world governments you've toppled, or how much of humanity you've destroyed. The second the cure in ''VideoGame/PlagueInc'' is completed, it's immediately deployed world wide, killing you in days.

** This trope very much comes into effect with [[spoiler:Graven Ashe's Aegis]], however. If the is killed during the endgame, [[spoiler:all the wounds and pain [[EmpatheticHealer his Aegis had taken from the Disfavoured]] are returned in full force, instantaneously killing or crippling the majority of its members]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'', Ghasts' fireballs vanish when they are killed. This can save you from being hit with one if you kill them fast enough.

* The BigBad of ''Franchise/BlazBlue'' is Yuuki Terumi, a ghost separated from his body long before the plot began. This means he doesn't have a stable existence. He solves this by deliberately acting as an in-universe HateSink - the hatred he receives from characters like Ragna and Kokonoe validates and sustains his life. A DiscussedTrope in later games is that ''everything'' in the ''Blaz Blue'' universe has no ontological inertia - [[QuantumMechanicsCanDoAnything they only exist because they are being Observed]]. Most things are Observed by [[DeusEstMachina Master Unit Amaterasu]], but Terumi takes a more direct route for his sustenance by deliberately antagonising everyone. The more you hate him, the stronger he gets.