History PoweredByAForsakenChild / VideoGames

* In ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel'', the ultimate DesperationAttack in the Taranis' arsenal, the Soul Cannon, is the single most powerful option the player has in battle, but using it requires sacrificing one of the twelve children in your party. There exist items called "Dummy Souls" (one of which is included in the Deluxe Edition as a bonus item) which allow you to use the Soul Cannon once without sacrificing any of the children, but they seem to be exceptionally rare.
* ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel2'' introduces a second DesperationAttack in the form of the Tarascus's "Managarm". Like the Soul Cannon, the Managarm requires a child to provide power; but ''unlike'' the Soul Cannon, the Managarm does not kill whoever is chosen to power it, but instead uses just enough power from the child to deal heavy damage to enemies, incapacitating the child until they are given a chance to recover. The Soul Cannon is still present, however, with an added facet to its functionality: the Tarascus's AI [[spoiler:based on the BigBad of the previous game]] [[AIIsACrapshoot has no qualms about sacrificing one of your crew members to power it]] if a battle is going badly enough to justify its usage.

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' DLC ''The Pitt'', obtaining a cure for TheVirus requires kidnapping a baby.
* In ''VideoGame/FatalFrame1'', the reward for the eight-year-old who wins a game of demon tag is to spend ten years locked in total isolation before being torn apart by ropes, all to keep the HellGate closed. The loser doesn't fare much better, having stakes stabbed into her eyes and becoming "it" for the next game of demon tag.

** The Jailer has perfected the conversion of mortal souls damned to his realm into everything from perfectly loyal minions to power sources. Even the residue from the destruction of a soul can be condensed into a useful material for use in armor and construction. And with the events of ''Shadowlands'', the vast majority of souls flowing into the Maw are underserving of this fate.

* ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel'' introduces a second DesperationAttack in the form of the Tarascus's "Managarm". Like the Soul Cannon, the Managarm requires a child to provide power; but ''unlike'' the Soul Cannon, the Managarm does not kill whoever is chosen to power it, but instead uses just enough power from the child to deal heavy damage to enemies, incapacitating the child until they are given a chance to recover. The Soul Cannon is still present, however, with an added facet to its functionality: the Tarascus's AI [[spoiler:based on the BigBad of the previous game]] [[AIIsACrapshoot has no qualms about sacrificing one of your crew members to power it]] if a battle is going badly enough to justify its usage.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'': While venturing through the Shadow-cursed Lands, one needs a sufficient light source to stave off the curse. One that players can find is a Moonlantern, the light of which is provided by a pixie who is constantly being hurt for their illuminating pixie dust. If you choose to free the pixie, they can grant you a blessing that replicates the effects of the Moonlantern, sans cruelty.

%%* In ''VideoGame/{{Neopets}}'', Caption Contest #214 featured [[http://www.neopets.com/games/caption/caption_archive.phtml?place=214 this alarming image]]. Knowing TNT, though, it's probably a joke.

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue''

* ''XenobladeChronicles3'' rounds this out by introducing the idea of two armies of people who can't live past the equivalent of twenty at war because they're both sustained in such a faction, building to a revelation that not only is this energy used to sustain the immortality of their secret overlords [[spoiler:but preserve the world in a state of suspended animation on the brink of being annihilated by two incompatible universes merging.]]

* Yuri's household in ''VideoGame/RedAlert2: Yuri's Revenge'' would make even NOD shiver with unease. He got power from bio-generators (like in ''Matrix'') that could be enhanced by placing additional humans in them. His primary harvesting facility was a [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Slave miner]] and the secondary one was a huge [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Grinder]] that processed humans into credits. He used cloning vats to churn out infantry and his super-weapon turned humans into bulky brute mutants. Oh, and all his army was mindcontrolled by him. What a jerk.
* It's not surprising that his spiritual successor in ''VideoGame/RedAlert3'', Yuriko, runs on the same logic. However, she ''is'' the forsaken child. As ''Uprising'' reveals, her PsychicPowers alienated her from everyone in her village, and she was taken by the government at a young age and brainwashed into being a mindless killing machine. Even when she breaks free after the war, she's forced to [[spoiler:kill her own sister, and her revenge leaves her feeling empty inside.]] That's not even mentioning the thousands of {{expendable clone}}s, all of whom apparently felt the same things she did.
* ''[[VideoGame/ResidentEvilGunSurvivor ResidentEvil: Survivor]]'' reveals that the process used to create Tyrants (one of the toughest enemies in the game) involves [[spoiler: removing the pituitary glands from the brains of teenage boys after first producing a massive quantity of a chemical created by fear. The "improvement" Umbrella comes up with is to perform the surgery without anesthetic.]]

* In the short game ''[[https://ribyrnes.itch.io/candypink Candypink]],'' you're starting work at a candy factory and are tasked with making their most popular product, pink heart marshmallows. Turns out they're made pink by putting human fingers in the mixture, and your supervisor Almond gives you a knife and tells you to cut your finger off. You can either do it, or use the knife to stab her instead.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' has [[spoiler:Metal Gear Sahelanthropus, which was designed to use a combination of a human pilot with an artificial intelligence. The presented challenges in its construction: to accommodate the AI's computer, the cockpit had to be downscaled, as making the cockpit larger would make it too top-heavy to be practical. As such, no adult could pilot it. The cockpit, however, was perfectly sized for children. It is piloted by two children during the game: [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid a psychic child from Russia (Psycho Mantis), and an African child soldier (Liquid Snake)]]. To make matters worse, its creator [[HateSink Huey]] intended to use his young son to test it.]]

* VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII has this on a global scale. Mako Energy is powered by the life of the planet, or the latent life force that is currently cycling around waiting to be reborn.

%%* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX-2'''s Dresspheres are created from memories of past people, in fact Yuna being overcome by the memory of the Songstress Sphere is a major plot point. Now keep in mind there are about 40 of these dressspheres, most of them created by Shinra 'during' gameplay. [[spoiler: However, Lenne sealed herself in the songstress dressphere entirely by choice, and can clearly leave anytime she wants; she's just waiting for Shuyin to be saved before she does. The person whose memories are recorded in the BlackMage dressphere is met by the player and clearly not trapped.]]

* ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' reveals that Hell's Argent Energy, the energy alternative UAC was trying to harness for Earth, [[spoiler:is processed from the souls of humans and other beings that die to the demons, which are tortured to the point of despair by the demons to be converted into Hell Energy, which is then refined using Sentinel Energy to create Argent Energy, with the soulless husks left over from this process ultimately becoming demons themselves]]. The Night Sentinels uncovered the AwfulTruth about this energy during a mission that took them to Nekravol, the city where this ugliness takes place, and their discovery of this truth, as well as [[spoiler:the Maykrs' deal with Hell for the sake of this energy]], [[BrokenPedestal led them to abandon the Khan Makyr, who up until this point was considered the "Mother God" of their faith.]]

* ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' reveals that Hell's Argent Energy, the energy alternative UAC was trying to harness for Earth, [[spoiler:is processed from the souls of humans and other beings that die to the demons, which are tortured to the point of despair by the demons in Nekravol to be converted into Hell Energy, which is then refined using Sentinel Energy to create Argent Energy]]. The Night Sentinels uncovered the AwfulTruth about this energy during a mission that took them to Nekravol, the city where this ugliness takes place, and their discovery of this truth, as well as [[spoiler:the Maykrs' deal with Hell for the sake of this energy]], [[BrokenPedestal led them to abandon the Khan Makyr, who up until this point was considered the "Mother God" of their faith.]]

* ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'' reveals that Hell's Argent Energy, the energy alternative UAC is trying to harness for Earth, [[spoiler:is processed from the souls of humans suffering in Hell.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/powered_by_a_forsaken_child.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvolt "This is GV. I've engaged the target. Update the mission information. The Muse is no computer program. She's a young girl, and an Adept too."]]]]

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'' has [[spoiler:Metal Gear Sahelanthropus, which was designed to use a combination of a human pilot with an artificial intelligence. The presented challenges in its construction: to accommodate the AI's computer, the cockpit had to be downscaled, as making the cockpit larger would make it too top-heavy to be practical. As such, no adult could pilot it. The cockpit, however, was perfectly sized for children. It is piloted by two children during the game: a psychic child from Russia, and an African child soldier.]]

Phlebotinium [[PoweredByAForsakenChild powered by forsaken children]] in VideoGames.

Phlebotinium [[PoweredByAForsakenChild powered by forsaken children]] in video games.

[[caption-width-right:350: VideoGame/AzureStrikerGunvolt "This is GV. I've engaged the target. Update the mission information. The Muse is no computer program. She's a young girl, and an Adept too. "]]