History SacrificialLion / Videogames

* Anyone who's played the series knows ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' is an AnyoneCanDie series. However, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' gets MEAN with this. Upon hitting Chapter 5: Door to Destiny (Fitting name) you see 2 former party members die to a boss that you can't fight, but the real kick is when you clear that chapter -- you're treated to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HNE87Taixc the "Battle" of Belhalla]] -- and the death of not one character, but the death of damn near the ENTIRE CAST. AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent...
* The death of Ike's father Greil in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' serves two purposes: it shows how dangerous and powerful the Black Knight is, and it forces a shift in the status quo for Ike. He suddenly goes from being a member of a mercenary company and being mentored by his father to ''leading'' said mercenary company, when he has no leadership experience whatsoever.
* The death of Jeralt, [[PlayerCharacter Byleth's]] father in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses]]'' effectively marks the end of happy days at Garreg Mach, as afterwards, Byleth merges with Sothis, the Flame Emperor is revealed to be Edelgard when the Holy Tomb is raided, and Edelgard attacks Garreg Mach, ending the academy phase of the game.
** After the timeskip, one of [[TheIdealist Ferdinand]] or [[NiceGuy Ignatz]] can become this if not recruited during the academy phase, depending on route. On the Crimson Flower route, Ignatz defends the Great Bridge of Myrddin against the Empire and is positioned as such that it's hard to avoid killing him, although with clever use of Stride and Warp alongside flying units, he can be spared. Ferdinand, on the Azure Moon and Verdant Wind routes, defends the same bridge against Kingdom/Alliance forces. Unlike Ignatz, however, Ferdinand is designated an enemy commander, forcing him to be killed off in order to progress, showing that former students, with few exceptions, can be KilledOffForReal in Part 2.

* Johnny Gat was intended to be this in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'', but [[InternetBackdraft the ire of the fans]] caused the developers to [[NotQuiteDead bring him back for the fourth installment]]... where ''[[RockFallsEveryoneDies almost all of Earth's population gets killed off all at once]],'' including Oleg and Nyte Blade.

* Most games in the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series have one. In order, we have Paul Jackson in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', Ghost and Roach in ''Modern Warfare 2'', Dimitri Petrenko in ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps Black Ops]]'', Soap in ''Modern Warfare 3'', Alex Mason in ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps2 Black Ops 2]]'' ([[spoiler:although he is a possible subversion if you play your cards right]]), Elias Walker in ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts Ghosts]]'', Knox and Cormack in ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare Advanced Warfare]]'', and Omar and Raines in ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare Infinite Warfare]]''.

*** There's also one other choice regarding the Genophage cure where you ''have'' to either martyr Mordin (or some other character if Mordin already died in the second game) to cure the Krogans or refuse to finish the cure and instead kill Wrex (if you didn't kill him in the first game) after he becomes enraged at Shepard's betrayal of his trust (also, the salarian still dies if you choose that, but if Wreav is the krogan leader, you can convince the doctor non-lethally). Plus, Captain Anderson, who's essentially been Shepard's mentor since the beginning of the original game, dies regardless of his/her actions… it just determines whether he dies quickly or manages to have one final poignant scene with Shepard before his death at the end.

* Anyone who's played the series knows ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' is an AnyoneCanDie series. However, ''Genealogy Of The Holy War'' gets MEAN with this. Upon hitting Chapter 5: Door to Destiny (Fitting name) you see 2 former party members die to a boss that you can't fight, but the real kick is when you clear that chapter -- you're treated to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HNE87Taixc the "Battle" of Belhalla]] -- and the death of not one character, but the death of damn near the ENTIRE CAST. AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent...
* The death of Ike's father Greil in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' serves two purposes: it shows how dangerous and powerful the Black Knight is, and it forces a shift in the status quo for Ike. He suddenly goes from being a member of a mercenary company and being mentored by his father to the ''leading'' said mercenary company, when he has no leadership experience whatsoever.

* ''VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}}'': [[spoiler: Kagura]] is revealed that she will eventually become one as of chapter 24, where [[spoiler: her true identity as the Sacrificial Miko with the god-like power capable of activating the Sword of Kusanagi.]]

** Doubly so in King and Toroko's case, since [[spoiler: King and Toroko die at nearly the same time, with Toroko being killed by Quote and King dying as soon as Quote is done fighting Toroko. [[AlmostDeadGuy No matter how long it takes.]]]]

* Tellah in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV''. Though his death was probably foreshadowed as an inevitability by the fact that Tellah's stats never go up (and sometimes decline) when he's LevelGrinding. He still manages to TakeALevelInBadass giving his last battle all he's got.

** [[MeaningfulName General Leo]].

* Tai in ''GearsOfWar 2'' fits this mold. Much of the first act is building up his invincible nature and the second act shows how he survived brutal torture by the locust. It breaks him so badly he kills himself. Benjamin Carmine also fits the mold, surviving through the second act and having Marcus and the others noticeably saddened by his death. This is especially noticeable compared to his SacrificialLamb brother Anthony Carmine in the first game, who was killed by a [[KilledMidSentence random sniper shot]] in the first act.

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/KingsQuestV'', in that Cedric has been Graham's sidekick for most of the game only to be struck down by Mordack at the very end, but not hard enough to kill him.
* Lars Halford in ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend''. He's initially in charge of LaResistance, and about halfway through the game he makes a bold stand against [[BigBad Emperor Doviculus]], declaring that he will lead the humans to rise up and defeat the [[TheLegionsOfHell Tainted Coil]]. Doviculus basically says "Can't let you do that" and [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim fatally stabs Lars where he stands]].

* The protagonists brother in ''RedFaction: Guerrilla''. He dies after the tutorial mission, conveniently after you have explained to him you just want to do "honest work" and "are not a terrorist". His death turns you into one. Not by choice.

* Most games in the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series have one. In order, we have Paul Jackson in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', Ghost and Roach in ''Modern Warfare 2'', Dimitri Petrenko in ''[[VideoGame/CallofDutyBlackOps Black Ops]]'', Soap in ''Modern Warfare 3'', Alex Mason in ''[[VideoGame/CallofDutyBlackOps2 Black Ops 2]]'' ([[spoiler:although he is a possible subversion if you play your cards right]]), Elias Walker in ''[[VideoGame/CallofDutyGhosts Ghosts]]'', Knox and Cormack in ''[[VideoGame/CallofDutyAdvancedWarfare Advanced Warfare]]'', and Omar and Raines in ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare Infinite Warfare]]''.

* Anyone who's played the series knows ''FireEmblem'' is an AnyoneCanDie series. However, ''Genealogy Of The Holy War'' gets MEAN with this. Upon hitting Chapter 5: Door to Destiny (Fitting name) you see 2 former party members die to a boss that you can't fight, but the real kick is when you clear that chapter -- you're treated to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HNE87Taixc the "Battle" of Belhalla]] -- and the death of not one character, but the death of damn near the ENTIRE CAST. AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent...
* During the Virmire mission in the first ''Franchise/MassEffect'' game, two of your party members become [[MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers mutually exclusive]]. There is no way around it, and they'll both insist that you should have saved the other one afterwards. You can also lose Wrex, but that one's avoidable.

* Leo from ''TheWitcher''.
** [[spoiler:Vesimir]] in TheWitcher3WildHunt.

* Johnny Gat was intended to be this in ''{{VideoGame/Saints Row The Third}}'', but [[InternetBackdraft the ire of the fans]] caused the developers to [[NotQuiteDead bring him back for the fourth installment...]] where ''[[RockFallsEveryoneDies almost all of Earth's population gets killed off all at once,]]'' including Oleg and Nyte Blade.

* Zeratul was killed in [[VideoGame/StarcraftIILegacyOfTheVoid StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void]] while freeing Artanis from a link with his people called the Khala which the main villain corrupted and used to take over his body. Zeratul was instrumental in laying out the path for the characters of this game as well as [[VideoGame/StarcraftIIWingsofLiberty StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty]] and [[VideoGame/StarcraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm]]

*** There's also one other choice regarding the Genophage cure where you ''have'' to either martyr Mordin to cure the Krogans or refuse to finish the cure and instead kill Wrex after he becomes enraged at Shepard's betrayal of his trust. Plus, Captain Anderson, who's essentially been Shepard's mentor since the beginning of the original game, dies regardless of his/her actions... it just determines whether he dies quickly or manages to have one final poignant scene with Shepard before his death at the end.

* Happens ''repeatedly'' in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' (to Josef, Minwu, Richard and Cid), to the point where the GBA EnhancedRemake (and every other one after it) had a bonus game, ''Dawn Of Souls'', made up entirely of playable characters who had died (and cameos from other non-playable characters who had also died), and now they're fighting on in the next life. In fact, parts of ''FFII'' felt more like a KillEmAll in a similar vein to [[AnyoneCanDie death-saturated]] stories like ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''.

* One GuestStarPartyMember in nearly every [[TalesSeries Tales franchise]] installment.

* [[spoiler: Alys Brangwin]] from PhantasyStarIV.

* Most games in the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series have one. In order, we have Paul Jackson in ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', Ghost and Roach in ''Modern Warfare 2'', Dimitri Petrenko in ''[[VideoGame/CallofDutyBlackOps Black Ops]]'', Soap in ''Modern Warfare 3'', Alex Mason in ''[[VideoGame/CallofDutyBlackOps2 Black Ops 2]]'' ([[spoiler:although he is a possible subversion if you play your cards right]]), Elias Walker in ''[[VideoGame/CallofDutyGhosts Ghosts]]'', and Knox and Cormack in ''[[VideoGame/CallofDutyAdvancedWarfare Advanced Warfare]]''.

* Isara from ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles''.
* ''EternalDarkness'' is [[BrokeYourArmPunchingOutCthulhu loaded]] with characters who could at least be considered this - within the [[ShootTheShaggyDog main cast]], no less! The best cases can be made for [[ImpededMessenger Anthony]] and [[GoodShepherd Paul]], who get arguably the most unpleasant ends out of the Chosen - and while most of the others' contribute to an overarching cause in a way that's acknowledged in following chapters, the plot significance of theirs is debatable.

* Lars Halford in ''BrutalLegend''. He's initially in charge of LaResistance, and about halfway through the game he makes a bold stand against [[BigBad Emperor Doviculus]], declaring that he will lead the humans to rise up and defeat the [[TheLegionsOfHell Tainted Coil]]. Doviculus basically says "Can't let you do that" and [[WhyDontYaJustShootHim fatally stabs Lars where he stands]].
* In ''{{Persona 3}}'', Shinjiro Aragaki was killed off to show just how evil Strega is, and to propel the CharacterDevelopment of Ken Amada and Akihiko Sanada, both of whom reach a degree of personal resolution and receive upgraded Personas as a result. Given that he's a well-balanced character and that he has his own personal weapon type that you can continue buying until the end of game (quite unlike most temporary guest characters), it can come as a bit of a shock. In Persona 3 Portable, it is possible for him to survive only to end up in ConvenientComa because the plot would no longer work otherwise.

* ''GuildWars'':

* Briggs the pirate in ''GoldenSunDarkDawn''. Killed by the shadow monsters spawned by the Grave Eclipse, during the mission to rescue his son Eoleo (who then joins your party [[YouKilledMyFather to avenge him]]).

* Anyone who's played the series knows ''FireEmblem'' is an AnyoneCanDie series. However, ''Genealogy Of The Holy War'' gets MEAN with this. Upon hitting Chapter 5: Door to Destiny (Fitting name) you see 2 former party members die to a boss that you can't fight, but the real kick is when you clear that chapter -- you're treated to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HNE87Taixc the "Battle" of Bahara]] -- and the death of not 1 character, but the death of damn near the ENTIRE CAST. AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent...

** And, a little later, Sergeant Johnson gets killed, just to remind you of Halo: Combat Evolved and of how annoying 343 Guilty Spark was and then rubbing it in your face when you think he may actually be able to redeem himself.

* The Cheshire Cat from ''AmericanMcGeesAlice'' fits this trope very nicely, especially since the last bit of info he tries to impart is that the Queen of Hearts and Alice share the same mind.

* Duncan from ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' is introduced as TheObiWan after you lose everyone else in your Origin, only to be killed off a bit later, before he can even start acting this role. King Callinead can also be considered this, as long as you don't antagonize him.

* Yoshimo from ''[[BaldursGate Baldur's Gate 2]]''. Mind you, ''you're'' the one who kills him, but showing that he's been an unwilling TheMole for the BigBad all along helps.

* King and Toriko from ''VideoGame/CaveStory''; Curly, if you don't save her.