History SuddenDownerEnding / VideoGames

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', if you die during "(Don't Fear) the Reaper", one of the endgame missions where you let your allies survive and you don't collaborate with [[MegaCorp Arasaka]], no matter how much friendship have you developed, how much you getting along with others, many of them end up [[DespairEventHorizon absolutely devastated]] upon hearing the news about your death ([[WhatTheHellHero with few of them berating you for your unintentionally selfish decision]]), even though you're doing a SuicideMission [[TheLastDance on your own as]] YourDaysAreNumbered.

%%* The general reaction of players to the ending movies of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2'' is something like this: "You know, they say this game has a [[DownerEnding bad ending]], but I gotta say, I'm not really seeing...Oh. There it is."

** The Bad Ending to the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog28Bit'', in which Sonic fails to get all the Chaos Emeralds before fighting Silver Sonic, and is punished for it by not completing his adventure, and instead showing a montage of him running from the middle of the day into the dead of night while the credits roll. The bad part? When he stops running, he looks up into the sky and sees Tails' face in the sky (compared to both of them in the good ending), implying that Eggman now has him prisoner forever. Despite WordOfGod confirming otherwise, many players who saw this thought this display meant [[KillTheCutie Tails was dead]].

** ''VideoGame/UltimaVIII'' has the Avatar doing some ''very'' unethical things to get out of Pagan and return to Britannia. At the end, he succeeds, but arrives in a burning wasteland with [[YouAreTooLate a giant statue of the Guardian looming overhead]].

* ''VideoGame/Bayonetta3'' isn’t exactly a light-hearted game by any means, but it still has this stylish and playful tone to it. That’s why it comes across as jarring when the game ends with [[FriendlyRivalry Jeanne]] getting killed right before the climax, and [[BigBad Singularity]] actually breaking Bayonetta’s necklace. Since Umbra Witches need that necklace in order to survive, this means that her death is inevitable. Although Bayonetta does beat Singularity (with lots of struggling), she still ends up dying. Luka comforts her in her final moments as the two of them are DraggedOffToHell. At the very least, Viola is still alive, and [[PassingTheTorch she takes the role as the next Bayonetta]].

* ''VideoGame/Haydee'' has three possible endings, and none of them is a happy one. The "Escape" ending, however, is the most cruel one : Haydee manages to reach the last room of the complex, her freedom is seemingly inches away... Then the door she came through closes shut behind her. And the door leading outside is still locked, meaning Haydee is now trapped inside that room, with no way out, until she dies.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts'': You completed your mission to kill [[BigBad Gabriel Rorke]], blasting his train with a KillSat, knocking it into the ocean, shooting Rorke with a HandCannon, and leaving him to drown. You and your brother barely make it out alive, but you manage to swim back to shore. Congrats, you did it, so sit back and watch the ODIN satellite take care of whatever's left of [[TheEmpire the Feredation]]... at least until you look to your right and see that Rorke actually managed to survive, at which points he knocks you and your brother out and drags you off to [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil torture and brainwash you into evil]].

** The Bad Ending to the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog28Bit'', in which Sonic fails to get all the Chaos Emeralds before fighting Silver Sonic, and is punished for it by not completing his adventure, and instead showing a montage of him running from the middle of the day into the dead of night while the credits roll. The bad part? When he stops running, he looks up into the sky and sees Tails' face in the sky (compared to both of them in the good ending), implying that Eggman now has him prisoner forever. Despite WordOfGod confirming otherwise, many players who saw this thought this display meant [[KillTheCutie Tails died]].

** The Bad Ending to the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog28Bit'', in which Sonic fails to get all the Chaos Emeralds before fighting Silver Sonic, and is punished for it by not completing his adventure, and instead showing a montage of him running from the middle of the day into the dead of night while the credits roll. The bad part? When he stops running, he looks up into the sky and sees Tails' face in the sky (compared to both of them in the good ending), implying that Eggman now has him prisoner forever. Depsite WordOfGod confirming otherwise, many players who so this thought this display meant [[KillTheCutie Tails died]].

** The Bad Ending to the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog28Bit'', in which Sonic fails to get all the Chaos Emeralds before fighting Silver Sonic, and is punished for it by not completing his adventure, and instead showing a montage of him running from the middle of the day into the dead of night while the credits roll. The bad part? When he stops running, he looks up into the sky and sees Tails' face in the sky, implying that [[KillTheCutie he died]].

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'':
** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts'': You completed your mission to kill [[BigBad Gabriel Rorke]], blasting his train with a KillSat, knocking it into the ocean, shooting Rorke with a HandCannon, and leaving him to drown. You and your brother barely make it out alive, but you manage to swim back to shore. Congrats, you did it, so sit back and watch the ODIN satellite take care of whatever's left of [[TheEmpire the Feredation]]... at least until you look to your right and see that Rorke actually managed to survive, at which points he knocks you and your brother out and drags you off to [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil torture and brainwash you into evil]].
** In ''Videogame/CallOfJuarezGunslinger'', should Silas go through with his revenge after sniffing out one of the patrons as the man he's after, the whole thing ends tragically with everyone being horrified and Silas regrets the whole thing.

* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay''. After a humorous ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''-styled adventure, Conker inadvertently becomes King of All the Lands. But at a price. His girlfriend, Berri, died during the final boss fight, and he fails to realize that he might've had a chance to bring her back to life. By the time he realizes it himself, it's too late, and it's highly implied that he's spiraling towards booze-filled self-destruction. In the original ending, things were a bit less...subtle. In the bar scene at the end, Conker was supposed to shoot himself in the head. The only reason this was changed was because the creators were planning on a sequel where he inadvertently becomes Emperor of the Known Universe.

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', if you die during "(Don't Fear) the Reaper", one of the endgame missions where you let your allies survive and you don't collaborate with [[MegaCorp Arasaka]], no matter how much friendship have you developed, how much you getting along with others, many of them end up [[DespairEventHorizon absolutely devastated]] upon hearing the news about your death ([[WhatTheHellHero with few of them berating you for your selfish decision]]), even though you're doing a SuicideMission [[TheLastDance on your own as]] YourDaysAreNumbered.

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', if you die during "(Don't Fear) the Reaper", one of the endgame missions where you let your allies survive and you don't collaborate with [[MegaCorp Arasaka]], no matter how much friendship have you developed, how much you getting along with others, many of them end up [[DespairEventHorizon absolutely devastated]] upon hearing the news about your death ([[WhatTheHellHero with few of them berating you for your selfish actions]]), even though you're doing a SuicideMission [[TheLastDance on your own as]] YourDaysAreNumbered.

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'', if you die during "(Don't Fear) the Reaper", one of the endgame missions where you let your allies survive and you don't collaborate with [[MegaCorp Arasaka]], no matter how much friendship have you developed, how much you getting along with others, many of them end up [[DespairEventHorizon absolutely devastated]] upon hearing the news about your death, even though you're doing a SuicideMission [[TheLastDance on your own as]] YourDaysAreNumbered.

* If you complete a GottaKillThemAll run in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', both variants of the GoldenEnding gain a [[TheStinger Stinger]] that transforms them from ordinary happy endings into bad ones. After completing the GottaKillThemAll run, the world was destroyed, and you had to sell your SOUL to the Fallen Child to get it back. The added stinger strongly implies that they intend to use that SOUL to take control of the PlayerCharacter and go and GottaKillThemAll again without you.

* ''VideoGame/DrawnToLife: The Next Chapter'' for the DS. Basically, all of the adorable [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Raposa]] in the village are killed, G-Rated style (they fade away). One of the characters, named Mike, fades away last. The voice of Mike's sister Heather is heard asking the Creator, the god-like figure in the game, to bring her brother back, which at first seems like a heartwarming moment. Then her message changes and she was really trying to say, "God, just bring back my little brother to me." It is now [[TheReveal revealed]] that Mike and Heather are actually humans, and the whole story with the village of cute animals was AllJustADream that Mike was having. It wasn't a regular dream, either; it turns out that Mike and his family were in a ''car crash, which killed his parents, injured his sister, and put him in a coma''. [[note]]The CompilationRerelease, on the other hand, has a way different ending: Mike and his sister Heather were outside catching fireflies, Mike accidentally falls off of a tree while trying to catch one, the impact of which rendered him unconscious, but luckily he doesn't go to the hospital because of it. This ending was most likely changed due to the rating in the original game.[[/note]]

* In ''Videogame/{{Broforce}}'' using the fire button instead of the melee button when asked to handshake the president will result the main character killing the president and getting imprisoned because of it.
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyGhosts'': You completed your mission to kill [[BigBad Gabriel Rorke]], blasting his train with a KillSat, knocking it into the ocean, shooting Rorke with a HandCannon, and leaving him to drown. You and your brother barely make it out alive, but you manage to swim back to shore. Congrats, you did it, so sit back and watch the ODIN satellite take care of whatever's left of [[TheEmpire the Feredation]]... at least until you look to your right and see that Rorke actually managed to survive, at which points he knocks you and your brother out and drags you off to [[BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil torture and brainwash you into evil]].
* In ''Videogame/CallOfJuarezGunslinger'', should Silas go through with his revenge after sniffing out one of the patrons as the man he's after, the whole thing ends tragically with everyone being horrified and Silas regrets the whole thing.

* ''VideoGame/DrawnToLife: The Next Chapter'' for the DS. Basically, all of the adorable [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Raposa]] in the village are killed, G-Rated style (they fade away). One of the characters, named Mike, fades away last. The voice of Mike's sister Heather is heard asking the Creator, the god-like figure in the game, to bring her brother back, which at first seems like a heartwarming moment. Then her message changes and she was really trying to say, "God, just bring back my little brother to me." It is now [[TheReveal revealed]] that Mike and Heather are actually humans, and the whole story with the village of cute animals was AllJustADream that Mike was having. It wasn't a regular dream, either; it turns out that Mike and his family were in a ''car crash, which killed his parents, injured his sister, and put him in a coma.'' [[note]] The CompilationRerelease, on the other hand, has a way different ending: Mike and his sister Heather were outside catching fireflies, Mike accidentally falls off of a tree while trying to catch one, the impact of which rendered him unconscious, but luckily he doesn't go to the hospital because of it. This ending was most likely changed due to the rating in the original game. [[/note]]

* ''[[VideoGame/BitTrip BIT.TRIP FATE]]'' is a pretty dark game compared to the other games in the series, but the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKOD7kjSDfw#t=8m47s ending]] takes the cake. Upon defeating Timbletot, [=CommanderVideo=] TurnsRed, gets into position...[[SuicideAttack and rams himself into the Timbletot, destroying him and killing himself]]. After the final point tally, [=CommandgirlVideo=] arrives at the site of the final battle, realizes what just happened, and sheds a SingleTear.

* ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay''. After a humorous ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''-styled adventure, Conker inadvertently becomes King of All the Lands. But at a price. His girlfriend, Berri, died during the final boss fight, and he fails to realize that he might've had a chance to bring her back to life. By the time he realizes it himself, it's too late, and it's highly implied that he's spiraling towards booze-filled self-destruction. In the original ending, things were a bit less...subtle. In the bar scene at the end, Conker was supposed to shoot himself in the head. The only reason this was changed was because the creators were planning on a sequel where he inadvertently becomes Emperor of the Known Universe.
* ''Videogame/DeathSpank'' is a comedic hack and slash RPG that prides itself in its wacky, lighthearted VideoGame/MonkeyIsland-esque humor. Then, at the end of the sequel, [=DeathSpank=]'s closest ally and possible love interest [[FaceHeelTurn goes batshit insane]] due to the Thongs of Power's corrupting power, and he must either let himself be killed to fuel her delusions of godhood or cut her down himself, which greatly troubles him as he mourns and buries her. Unlike literally the entire rest of the series, this is all treated as somber and tragic as possible. And the canonical choice? He kills her.
* The Bad Ending to the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog28Bit'', in which Sonic fails to get all the Chaos Emeralds before fighting Silver Sonic, and is punished for it by not completing his adventure, and instead showing a montage of him running from the middle of the day into the dead of night while the credits roll. The bad part? When he stops running, he looks up into the sky and sees Tails' face in the sky, implying that [[KillTheCutie he died]].
* In ''VideoGame/SonicBattle'', after spending the entire game learning, forming strong friendships, and growing more powerful, with the player watching Emerl grow from babyhood to a mature young robot, Eggman overloads him with power and makes him go crazy. You then play as Sonic to kill him. The game ends on Sonic and Shadow lamenting the tragic turn of events whilst Tails comforts a devastated Cream.
* The ending to ''Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light'', which had up to that point been a fairly normal, relatively upbeat (no major betrayals, no major massacres, nobody dies, etc.) RPG, can only be summarized by TheBadGuyWins.

* The Conquest ending to the otherwise giggles-and-rainbows game ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaMk2'' has Nepgear taking the lives of the 7 other [=CPUs=], including her own sister, in the most heartwrenchingly depressing death scenes you can imagine.
* In the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'', certain characters get bad endings for little reason. Est, for example, feels guilty over her uselessness forcing her husband Abel to commit a FaceHeelTurn to protect her, and [[StarCrossedLovers leaves him without saying a word]].
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' talks about what happened to all the characters after the ending. All of them turn out pretty okay getting married and whatnot...oh except for Canas who dies along with his wife in a snowstorm. Nino also disappears and leave two children behind since either she or her husband is wanted by assassins. Both are actually {{Foregone Conclusion}}s if one has played ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'', but [[NoExportForYou nobody except Japan]] [[ContinuityLockout would know this]] at the game's release.
* ''VideoGame/UltimaV'' ends this way; the Avatar returns to Earth to discover that his house has been robbed while he was away saving Lord British. This was apparently done to drive home the moral that the path of virtue is its own reward.

* ''VideoGame/ReahFaceTheUnknown'' ends with a final encounter with the phantom Alchemist, who delivers an ominous speech that blows away anything presumed about the player's reason for ever coming to the planet, Reah. Everything the player had seen from the beginning was actually made up by the Alchemist, as part of his "cybernetic dream", and that the alchemist wasn't just a ghost, but some kind of AI. Furthermore, the player has already come along the path he took before, hence why everyone along the way knew him. It's implied that the alchemist had wiped the player's memory, and used him as a test subject of sorts for some kind of experiment. And on top of it all, the alchemist intends to [[AndIMustScream keep using this person for as many times as he sees fit]]. The player character normally talks a lot, but in this scene, [[NothingIsScarier he has no words to say]]. After the alchemist stops talking, the game then abruptly turns to a "GAME OVER" screen, and no possible alternate endings exist for this game.
* ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3: Awakened'': After destroying the Tau Volantis moon, Isaac and Carver return to Earth only to find that the [[EldritchAbomination Brethren Moons]] [[LateToTheTragedy got there first]].
* ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureToolsOfDestruction'' appears to end on a happy note. Tachyon and Slag are defeated, the Cragmites are permanently banished again, and Polaris is now free from the former's tyranny. But then the Zoni reappear and kidnap Clank, taking him back to their home where he is put into a coma. Ratchet and the rest of the cast, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness even Qwark and Rusty Pete,]] are left standing in silent horror just before the fade out to the credits.
* The various books in ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'' give each of the playable characters relatively happy endings, with Velvet making progress in trying to avert Armageddon. Then Armageddon happens anyway, and everyone dies except for four of the five main characters. [[BittersweetEnding Things get better after that,]] but the sudden swerve towards the sadistically cruel can be surprising.
* The Amstrad CPC version of ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' had the heroes defeating the evil Red Falcon and saving the Earth...but, [[DiabolusExMachina by destroying Red Falcon]], [[DeadMansSwitch it activated a bomb]] [[EarthShatteringKaboom which destroys the Earth anyway]]!

* More of a Sudden BittersweetEnding but ''{{VideoGame/Klonoa}}: Door to Phantomile'' reveals at the end that Klonoa came from another world and his entire life in this world was a lie made by the ''good guys'' (including Huepow) to stop the BigBad. Nevertheless his adoptive grandfather is still dead, and he and Huepow must be separated for good as the world is returned to normal.
* If you complete a GottaKillThemAll run in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', both variants of the GoldenEnding gain a [[TheStinger Stinger]] that transforms them from ordinary happy endings into bad ones. After completing the GottaKillThemAll run, the world was destroyed, and you had to sell your SOUL to the Fallen Child to get it back. The added stinger strongly implies that they intend to use that SOUL to take control of the PlayerCharacter and go and GottaKillThemAll again without you.
* The normal ending for ''VideoGame/DistortedTravesty 3'' has Jerry and Claire defeat both Hexor and the Warmaster and proceed to bring down the Warship, only for Hex to have put a safeguard in both control consoles. Jeremy, Jerry, and Claire all perish when the Warship is destroyed, leaving Chao as the only survivor, and in the end, Hex got what he wanted, [[TheBadGuyWins his own demise and that of Jeremy]].
** Later, an unlockable epilogue was added which leads to a GoldenEnding where Jeremy was able to push the ResetButton, sending things back before they stormed the Warship, destroy the [[TheVirus Parasite]] controlling the EldritchAbomination, who brings down the Warship on its own, and Jeremy manages to defeat Hex, resulting in a happy ending for everyone instead.
* In ''Cheesy'', right after you defeat the final boss Cheesy throws the last ingredient into the magic pot, and then jumps inside it. He falls into a room filled by mouse traps; he looks around and shrugs. Then the screen goes black and you hear the mouse traps being activated and you hear him scream in pain.
* The best ending of ''Videogame/{{Prey 2017}}'' implies that you made the best out of a terrible situation. You rescued the humans that could be saved, you defeated an unexpected and terrible foe and have evidence on the wrongdoings of an EvilInc. And ''[[GainaxEnding then]]'' [[AllJustADream it turns out it's all been a simulation!]] [[TheBadGuyWins The bad guys won]], or at least [[AlienInvasion have infested Earth]]. Morgan, and likely everyone you 'saved'. were likely DeadAllAlong, and [[TomatoInTheMirror you are a monster dreaming of being a human]] who can slaughter any remaining hope of humanity's survival right at the last moment. Yeesh.
* The original ending of ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' was moderately happy, with the player successfully defeating the Mad AI [=GLaDoS=] and escaping from the facility. However, in the patch released shortly before ''VideoGame/Portal2,'' an unseen robot is heard, and it drags Chell ''back'' into the nightmarish Aperture Science Facility.
* ''VideoGame/IronHelix'': After destroying the ''Obrian'', the player character goes to Starbase Amethyst, only to immediately get detained, interrogated, and ''tortured'' by Admiral Arboc, who ''was'' [[MissionControl helping them throughout the game]], but now is demanding to know how much the protagonist knows about "Project: Iron Helix". For some reason, this cutscene is only in the Sega CD version. In the Mac and PC versions, the game simply ends with the player character being ''summoned'' to Starbase Amethyst, leaving their fate ambiguous.
* ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight'' prequel King of Cards' downer ending was intended, but the story of this sole adventure makes it fall into this trope. After having united all of the kingdoms behind him, defeated the Enchantress and broken her spell on his companions, King Knight decides to betray them and to enter in the Order of No Quarter, to their dismay. The final cutscene, where he is the PuppetKing of Pridemoor Keep, is ambiguous, but saddening in both cases: is he mourning his companions and [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas his mother]], or is he happy to get what he always wanted? [[HeroOfAnotherStory Shovel Knight]]'s entrance in the throne room is only the last straw.
* ''VideoGame/BabaIsYou'': You're playing along, solving mind-bending puzzles that feature cute, quirky characters and (mostly) colorful visuals, and then the secret ending happens, where you (as Baba) annihilate all of reality by making the simple rule "All is Done". Oh, and even the credits are messed up. Baba is [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Whoops]].
* ''VideoGame/CrushCrush'' is a silly, lighthearted [[IdleGame Idle]] DatingSim for most of its running time. Even when you [[NiceJobBreakingItHero accidentally create a Dark Portal that threatens to end all of reality]], the game doesn't take it ''too'' seriously...until you finish the final girl's levels and she reveals to you that the only way to stop the portal from ending the world is for someone pure of heart to make a HeroicSacrifice and you are given the choice of letting her sacrifice herself (which causes her to become permanently unavailable until the next time you reset the game) or sacrificing yourself instead (which causes an ending cutscene to play of all the girls weeping over your sacrifice). While neither ending prevents you from resetting the game and continuing to play it, both of them are surprisingly somber and basically force you to sacrifice something to be able to complete the game.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'' is one of the goofier games in the ''Tales'' series, but features one of the darkest endings. In the Julius Ending, you decide not to fight your corrupted brother, and instead protect him against your party members, killing them all and in the end leaving him corrupted with no hope for a cure and humanity doomed. Luckily, much like the above-mentioned ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaMk2'' which shares a similar ending, you have to choose to do it.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky'' has a short PlayableEpilogue where your two permanent party members, Estelle and Joshua, enjoy the Queen's birthday festivities after defeating the final boss and preventing the villain's coup. They've also individually worked up the resolve to talk to each other about their romantic feelings for each other. Then recurring character Professor Alba appears to talk to Joshua while he's waiting for Estelle, and he reveals that he's TheManBehindTheMan and part of [[GreaterScopeVillain a shadowy evil organization called Ouroboros]], Joshua used to be a member and assassin until he failed to kill Estelle's father and Alba, whose real name is [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Weissmann the Faceless]], wiped his memory and has used him as a spy and puppet for the last five years, and everything the heroes did was just furthering his own plan. Joshua later confesses it all to Estelle, drugs her with a kiss and tells her to forget about him, and runs away. Cue end credits.
* ''Dreaming Treat'', part five of the ''VideoGame/LonelyWolfTreat'' series, is a heartwarming story where Mochi and Treat start a garden together and Moxie helps Treat work out her romantic feelings. In the end, Treat finally admits her feelings to Mochi and becomes an [[OfficialCouple Official]] [[{{Polyamory}} Throuple]] with her and Moxie... and then finds out that some [[FantasticRacism wolf-hating]] vandal came by and wrecked Mochi's garden while they were away.