History WhamEpisode / VideoGames

* Chapter 26 is the very last chapter, and hoo boy, does it live up to that. Now, the stakes are higher than ever, as [[spoiler: Xenos [[TheBadGuyWins actually succeeds]] in destroying the multiverse, and now, he just needs to create a new world where people don’t have free will. The gang confronts familiar enemy after familiar enemy

** Chapter 14 is when Euden and friends finally confront The Other once and for all in the climactic showdown. There’s just one problem: [[spoiler: it gets interrupted. When Euden is about to offer his own body to The Other so that Zethia is no longer possessed, the possession gets interrupted when Beren defeats The Other with ease. Instead, the gang fight Volk instead, who is just there as a distraction, since Zethia ends up getting kidnapped yet again at the hands of the Agito. After this, the other Zethia comes to help. She explains who she is and where she came from, and agree to work together to help get this timeline’s Zethia back]].

** Day 920 (The Uprising): [[spoiler:[[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters Disrupt]] launches a terrorist attack on the grand opening of the Peter Clements Memorial Garden. If the player helps them, Disrupt will also take out the news's broadcast tower. Both show that insurgency group is taking a harder-line stance in opposing Advance.]]

!!Following franchise has its own page:

** The first has to be, no doubt, with the end of the first chapter, where Noah and friends first meet Mio and friends. In it, [[PostHumousCharcater Guernica Vandham]] shows them the true conflict that they are up against, and what they need to stop. They gain the [[FusionDance Ouroboros]] powers, and they come into conflict with the first Moebius that they meet [[spoiler: who is Interlinked D and J]].

** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'': Mephilis kills Sonic, causing Elise to cry and unleash Solaris, thus resulting in TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.

* ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'': The game is about a group of people establishing an exocolony that gets attacked yearly by the planet's native fauna during a season known as "Glow." The fifth year's Glow attack destroys all but one of the colony's buildings and the casualities include the older brother of one of the PlayerCharacter's friends regardless of run and almost certainly the colony's governor. While the season following Glow is being used to rebuild the colony, ''a second spaceship from Earth'' crashes on the planet. Said spaceship contains a bunch of soldiers whose pre-crash purpose was clearly to arrest the colony's residents. Once things have settled down, the colony has a new governor in the form of the second ship's captain, all the colony's functions have shifted locations and there are three extra people close to the PlayerCharacter's age who can be interacted with.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' does this at what should be the moment of triumph. Martin Septim relights the Dragonfires and banishes Mehrunes Dagon back to [[FireAndBrimstoneHell his plane of Oblivion]]. Then there's the realization that Martin's HeroicSacrifice ended the Septim Dynasty...meaning there is no left who can keep the Dragonfires lit, and a war of succession is almost certain.

** There are two main wham episodes in the Dark Brotherhood: the first is when you are contacted by Lucien Lachance, and are informed that there is a mole in your sanctuary. To rat him out, you have to kill every single member of the brotherhood that you've learned to love so far. After that, you get promoted to Lachance's right hand man. After doing a few contracts from him, he stops you right after killing the last contract, and says that the traitor is still alive, has been tampering with your dead-drops, systematically making you kill each member of the [[BigBadDuumvirate Black Hand]], the leadership of the Dark Brotherhood. After doing some investigating, you go back to Lachance to find him brutally slaughtered by the new Black Hand, thinking he's the traitor. After that, the actual traitor reveals himself as one of new members of the Black Hand, killing two more of them, leaving only you (the new Listener) and one other Speaker to rebuild the guild.
*** These events actually devastated the Dark Brotherhood, and, after 200 years, there is only one functioning sanctuary left (out of at least five), and they only survived because they let go of the old ways, causing a lot of friction when someone comes in and tries to bring the old ways back.

*** After the Season Unending quest, where you have to broker a peace deal between the Empire and the Stormcloaks until Alduin is dealt with, the leader of one of the two factions related to dragons in the game drops a bombshell in your lap by revealing that they know about the leader of the other faction, a dragon who at this point in the game is your single greatest ally against Alduin, and cutting you off from all support from her faction until you kill him, which will permanently cut you off from all support from the other faction if you do this. And no, you can't persuade or intimidate her into seeing things your way, something many fans are less than happy with.

** ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat9 Mortal Kombat (2011)]]'' [[spoiler:If the intro is to be believed, then Shao Kahn [[TheBadGuyWins won the events of]] ''Armageddon''. That's why Raiden contacted his past self to try and keep it all from happening...]]
*** And that [[BlatantLies minor detail]] is just ''[[SerialEscalation the tip of the iceberg]]''. About halfway through the story, the game kicks WHAM into overdrive and never looks back. [[spoiler:Raiden's knowledge of the future and his actions to change it ''still'' do nothing to stop the events of ''MKA'', arguably making them ''worse''. The younger Sub-Zero, instead of Smoke, is captured by the Lin Kuei and [[CyberneticsEatYourSoul automated into a cybernetic warrior]] (fortunately, he quickly regains his humanity thanks to the efforts of Kabal and Jax). Later on, as Liu Kang rescues Kitana, Kung Lao (who has just defeated Shang Tsung, Quan Chi, and Kintaro) has his {{neck snap}}ped by Shao Kahn. And unlike ''[=MK3=]'', he's not FakingTheDead. He's '''[[KilledOffForReal dead]]''' dead. Liu Kang is driven into a furious RoaringRampageOfRevenge and ultimately kills Shao Kahn...or so it would seem. Then, Raiden and Liu Kang go to speak to the Elder Gods to request their aid; the Elder Gods turn a dejected Raiden down. While that's going on, the automated Lin Kuei warriors attack the heroes' stronghold, and then Sindel comes to play cleanup, enacting a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown that leaves most of them dead. Nightwolf manages to narrowly defeat Sindel, but only by [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing himself]] in a TakingYouWithMe moment. Only Kitana, Cage, and Sonya are left, and Kitana soon [[DiedInYourArmsTonight succumbs to her wounds as Liu Kang holds her in his arms]]. By this point, Liu Kang has had enough and [[WhatTheHellHero calls out Raiden]] for [[SenselessSacrifice the futility of everyone's sacrifice]]. Raiden, having crossed the DespairEventHorizon, decides to head to the Netherrealm to make a DealWithTheDevil with Quan Chi, and it is only then (after fighting the corrupted spirits of his fallen comrades) that Raiden realizes that his future self's final words, "He must win.", refers to ''Shao Kahn''. The only way to prevent ''Armageddon'' is a realm-wide SheatheYourSword; if Shao Kahn takes over Earthrealm and merges it with Outworld, the Elder Gods will then punish Shao Kahn for not following the rules of Mortal Kombat (the only legal way he's allowed to merge the realms). When he returns to Earthrealm, he tries to convince Liu Kang to believe in him, but the Shaolin warrior has lost all faith in Raiden and tries to attack Shao Kahn, ignoring Raiden's pleas. Cue a FightingYourFriend moment, where Raiden accidentally kills Liu Kang. In his last breath, Liu Kang curses his former mentor. Ultimately, Raiden's revelation is the key to Earthrealm's survival, but it is a '''major''' PyrrhicVictory. And then, the SequelHook sets up the return of Shinnok, the BigBad of ''4''.]] Sweet Elder Gods, the WHAM quota has reached oversaturation.

* The story of ''[[VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}} Onmyōji]]'' starts out as a tale of an AmnesiacHero who regularly has clients knocking on his door complaining about a certain ''yōkai'' causing trouble, after which he sets out to teach the MonsterOfTheWeek a lesson and make new friends along the way. Then one day [[CrusadingWidow Sakura-no-sei]] comes barging into his monastery trying to kill him for murdering her beloved [[InterspeciesRomance human]] fiancé. [[spoiler:Only, our NiceGuy never did such a horrible thing, silly. It was just a BigBad who ([[AllegedLookalikes allegedly]]) looks like him… and has the same soul as he does… and whose crimes will ''always'' be pinned on the hero no matter what he does. It only goes downhill from there.]]

* ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon'' has the cutscene before Scorch's Pit. In it, the Sorceress decides to create a monster to end them all and send it out to kill all the dragons, [[WouldHurtAChild including the hatchlings]]. When Bianca protests, the Sorceress brushes her off [[spoiler:and reveals why she had the dragon eggs stolen: not because she wanted to keep them around in order to prevent the Forgotten Realms' magic from fading, but because she needed the hatchlings' wings for a new spell that would make her immortal. She notes that she doesn't actually have to kill them for this-- in her own words, it just stops them from wriggling around so much. Bianca, now 100% done with the Sorceress, pulls a HeelFaceTurn in response.]]

* ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon'' has the cutscene before Scorch's Pit. In it, the Sorceress decides to create a monster to end them all and send it out to kill all the dragons, [[WouldHurtAChild including the hatchlings]]. When Bianca protests, the Sorceress brushes her off and reveals why she had the dragon eggs stolen: not because keeping them around would prevent the Forgotten Realms' magic from fading, but because [[MoralEventHorizon she needed the hatchlings' wings for a new spell that would make her immortal]]. Bianca, now 100% done with the Sorceress, pulls a HeelFaceTurn in response.

* ''VideoGame/EtrianOdyssey'' seems like your typical fantasy dungeon crawler slash EasternRPG. Then you get to the Fifth Stratum, which is [[spoiler:the ruins of Shinjuku, Japan. Then you find out that the game takes in the future, [[AfterTheEnd after the collapse of civilization]] forced humans to rebuild from scratch.]]

* ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' is filled with these just about every chapter, most of which usually come at the end of the games.

** Before ItWasHisSled, [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Aeris/Aerith]] getting KilledOffForReal in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' was pretty much WHAM all over. It didn't stop. [[spoiler:Add in the first scene at North Crater where Cloud [[HeroicBSOD loses his sanity]], gives Sephiroth the Black Materia which lets him cast Meteor, causes the [=WEAPONs=] to be unleashed, and wrapped in the candy coating that is Sephiroth has actually been dead this whole time and the one who you've been chasing around the world was actually ''Jenova'' (Who, admittedly, was under the control of puppetmaster Sephiroth).]]

*** Then, in the last battle of Chapter 2, you learn what the Church is really hiding. Those are just selections. There's Wham candidates after just about every battle.

** Then there's ''VideoGame/HaloReach''. [[TearJerker Oh boy.]]
*** Probably epitomized during the fifth mission, pretty much the exact midpoint of the game anyway, when you get to [[spoiler:watch the planet Reach's surface be burned in large chunks while the level is still going on and long before it actually ends]].

** The final episode is pretty much this non-stop. It begins with [[spoiler:''the Inquiry being destroyed'']], and goes downhill from there.

** Damas asking Jak to find his son in ''VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander'' and [[spoiler:realising it's Jak himself]].
* In ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'', Chapter 18. The previous 3 chapters were a series of {{Bizarro Episode}}s where [[EnemyMine your two enemies join forces with you]] to fight off an AlienInvasion. Then you start Chapter 18... and instead of the standard opening, you get Pit stranded in blackness wondering where he is. You then start a somewhat strange sequence where you control a little girl, and then a dog, running towards a town under attack. But the TearJerker music and bleak atmosphere should clue you in that something is very wrong. You see centurions patrolling the streets, and Pit is relieved that they at least have the situation under control. But the Wham really hits once you meet up with [[spoiler:Magnus]] and he reveals [[spoiler:[[TimeSkip THREE YEARS have passed since the last chapter]], and during that time everything has gone to hell. The centurions are actually the ''invaders'' which means, yes, the forces of [[FluffyCloudHeaven Skyworld]] have turned evil, and the benevolent goddess of light Palutena, your upbeat, joking MissionControl throughout the whole game, has become disillusioned and gone the KillAllHumans route just like the other bad guys. At the end of the chapter, you're shown what Skyworld looks like now: a bleak, crumbing ruin of what it once was. And Pit's only remaining real ally that he can trust help him save the day? It's [[GaiasVengeance Viridi]], one of the very enemies you were fighting against before the Aurum showed up.]] Given that the game pretty much ''defined'' DenserAndWackier up until now, this change in tone comes as a huge shock.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': STARTS with a wham when The Normandy is destroyed and Shepard DIES in the first five minutes of the game, then pulls a classic UnexplainedRecovery. It then goes on to throw another wham in halfway through with the revelation that The Collectors are actually the supposedly extinct Protheans before the various possible endings, in one of which the entire team INCLUDING THE MAIN CHARACTER can all die and the game still ends with a "mission successful".

** [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent Joker's mini-level]] just after the Reaper IFF is installed: Collectors invade the ''Normandy'' and abduct your ''entire crew''. Joker also has a disease that makes his bones brittle, so you can only move at a painful walk, in addition to having no weapons and being forced to watch helplessly as the crew gets dragged away. He pretty much said it best...

** Issue #5: Players finally get to venture beyond the Fog and into the [[DarkWorld Red Sargassum Dream]], a twisted replica of Kingsmouth created by the [[EldritchAbomination Dreamers]] and populated entirely by [[MysticalPlague Filth]]-infected duplicates of the townsfolk. The reason for this? Just about everyone in town has been infected by an airborne strain of the Filth contained in the Fog, and though it's a slow-progressing variant, it's made abundantly clear that the people of Kingsmouth ''will'' eventually succumb to their infections: everyone you've met in the Solomon Island arc is doomed to become a Filth monster, ''[[PlayerPunch and there's nothing you can do to stop it]].''

** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' pretty much makes it a habit that it happens OncePerEpisode:

* ''VideoGame/SystemShock 2'' has the three most [[{{Pun}} shocking]] words ever spoken in a video game: [[spoiler:"I am SHODAN!"]]. It's pretty much the verbal equivalent of being kicked in the testicles. Repeatedly. With a spiked shoe. [[spoiler:''The Polito form is dead, insect!'']]
** Excepting the ProperlyParanoid people who deduced from the [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil box art]].

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'': [[PowerCrystal Exspheres]] [[PoweredByAForsakenChild are]] [[HumanResources people.]] The Church is [[PathOfInspiration a front for an evil organization.]] ''And'' pretty much all of Disc 2. YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle.

** Chapter 12. Just about everything to do with Chapter 12.
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' gives the first one a run for it's money with the twists.

** The final mission, "American Venom". Having built his ranch at Beecher's Hope with Uncle and Charles' help, invited Jack and Abigail there, and proposed to Abigail, [[HopeSpot John finally seems ready to leave the outlaw life behind]]... Then Sadie tells John she has a lead on Micah's whereabouts. Despite Abigail's protests, he joins Sadie and Charles and tracks Micah to his hideout on Mount Hagen. John is forced to ascend alone when Sadie and Charles are wounded, [[OneManArmy and after he blasts his way through Micah's entire gang]], he corners him outside his cabin. Sadie jumps Micah, only to be taken hostage as ''Dutch'' comes outside and points his gun at John, leading to a MexicanStandoff between the three men until Dutch, having finally realized that Micah's been playing him this entire time, [[EnemyMine helps John gun him down]] [[VillainExitStageLeft and leaves without another word]]. John then finds a ''massive'' amount of money and gold inside the cabin, which apparently came from the botched ferry robbery in Blackwater. John decides to take it, returns home, and finally marries Abigail, using a portion of the money to pay off the loans he took to build the ranch. As Sadie and Charles leave the country to live quieter lives, Ross and his new partner, Fordham, learn of the assault on Micah's hideout and track John to Beecher's Hope, setting the stage for the first game.

** The final mission, "American Venom". Having built his ranch at Beecher's Hope with Uncle and Charles' help, invited Jack and Abigail there, and proposed to Abigail, [[HopeSpot John finally seems ready to leave the outlaw life behind]]... Then Sadie tells John she has a lead on Micah's whereabouts. Despite Abigail's protests, he joins Sadie and Charles and tracks Micah to his hideout on Mount Hagen. Charles and Sadie are wounded in the ascent, forcing John to continue alone, [[OneManArmy and after he blasts his way through Micah's entire gang]], corners him outside his cabin. Sadie jumps Micah, only to be taken hostage as ''Dutch'' comes outside and points his gun at John, leading to a MexicanStandoff between the three men until Dutch, having finally realized that Micah's been playing him this entire time, [[EnemyMine helps John gun him down]] [[VillainExitStageLeft and leaves without another word]]. John then finds a ''massive'' amount of money and gold inside the cabin, which apparently came from the botched ferry robbery in Blackwater. John decides to take it, returns home, and finally marries Abigail, using a portion of the money to pay off the loans he took to build the ranch. As Sadie and Charles leave the country, Ross and his new partner, Fordham, learn of the assault on Micah's hideout and track John to Beecher's Hope, setting the stage for the first game.