| 1 | * The Carpenter in ''VideoGame/AliceMadnessReturns'', all of his actions involving sinking ships and building an underwater town were to protect his part of Wonderland from the Infernal Train. Said train smashes its way through the Carpenter's theatre, and he moves himself into its path so it doesn't hit Alice. |
| 2 | * ''VideoGame/ArteryGearFusion'': Each of the Puppet Masters faced in the main story have tragic backstories. |
| 3 | ** The Rift Octopus was once an Artery Gear who was experimented on and made to endure torturous pain. Killing her is treated as a cathartic moment of freeing her from her pain and continued existence. |
| 4 | ** The Centaur was once the most powerful knight from the Autoluna faction. Upon becoming Puppetised, she became obsessed with completing a mission she can no longer remember, but yet will travel to the ends of the earth to complete. Her death occurs when [[spoiler:Queen Autoluna orders her to commit suicide with the last shreds remaining of her loyalty. The Centaur complies.]] |
| 5 | ** The Iron Maiden was once a young girl that was TheUnFavourite of her family. Her own parents fitted her with a bomb and were planning to use her as a weapon, not caring for her life. As a Puppet Master, she constantly puppetises everyone and everything in a desperate attempt to gain the love from a family she so desired. In her last moments, she remembers her past before she is killed. |
| 6 | * ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'': Frequently occurs in the series given its love for GreyAndGrayMorality. |
| 7 | ** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'': |
| 8 | *** While most Templars earn sympathy for their [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans earnest beliefs that they're making the world a better place]], sympathy for the penultimate Templar target, Sibrand, is earned because of how pitiable he comes across at his death. Of all the Templars he took the knowledge of the Piece of Eden's existence the hardest. Believing the Apple was proof that God didn't exist and that there was no afterlife, Sibrand goes through a steady VillainousBreakdown brought on by paranoia that Altair would kill him just like he did to the rest of the Templars. By the time of his death, Sibrand is so crazy that he's firing at white birds because he's afraid they might be Assassins, and his final words display just how horrified he really is at the thought that [[CessationOfExistence he will no longer exist]]. |
| 9 | *** This actually happens so often in the first game, that one of the most notable assassination targets is an aversion of this trope. When Altair asks Majd Addin if, like the other Templars, he'll try to justify his crimes as being done for a greater good, Addin merely scoffs at him, saying that [[ForTheEvulz he murdered people for fun]], because [[AGodAmI it made him feel like a god]]. Altair, who has been steadily becoming sympathetic towards his targets as the game's gone on, decides to show Addin exactly what happens to people who put themselves above others [[PayEvilUntoEvil by shanking him in the neck]]. |
| 10 | ** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'': |
| 11 | *** While most of the Templars in Ezio's tale have turned from {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s [[BlackAndGrayMorality into power-hungry murderers and schemers]], at least some of his enemies still manage to be sympathetic, such as Dante Moro. Friend and bodyguard of Marco Barbarigo, Marco eventually decided that he wanted Dante's wife for himself, and put a hit on his "friend" in order to get her. While Dante survived, a stab wound delivered to the head resulted in him being brain damaged, which Marco exploited in order to get Dante to divorce his wife. As an easily malleable tool for the Templars, Dante falls to Ezio, [[DyingAsYourself but seems to gain some semblance of his old self in his last moments]], helping Ezio by telling him where the remaining Templars have fled. His death delivers an additional punch when Ezio finds a letter written to Dante from his ex-wife where she expresses that she still loves him, has never given up on him and now, with Marco dead, she promises to help him get his mind back. |
| 12 | *** Girolamo Savonarola, a monk not affiliated with either the Templars or the Assassins, he gained possession of the Apple of Eden and used its power to take control of Florence. Being a WellIntentionedExtremist trying to purge Florence of everything he viewed as evil, it's hard not to feel bad for him when he's defeated and nearly burned alive by an angry mob. Even Ezio pities him enough to deliver a MercyKill rather than let him die in such agony. |
| 13 | ** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' |
| 14 | *** Haytham Kenway, the father of protagonist Connor, dies following a duel with his son. Having spent so much time futilely trying to convert Connor to the Templar side, he acknowledges, [[BackHandedCompliment in his own way]], that he's proud of his son for the admirable qualities he's displayed. Connor takes no satisfaction in his death, and it's quite a sad sight to see when Connor arrives at his funeral where Haytham's mourners are weeping and Charles Lee is delivering an impassioned eulogy on what a good man he was. |
| 15 | *** It gets worse in context: ''Literature/AssassinsCreedForsaken'' reveals that Haytham had actually been trying to pull a YouShallNotPass to save Lee from Connor, and if the player has Connor return to the basement cellar of the Davenport Manor afterward, under Haytham's portrait is written "''[[http://25.media.tumblr.com/abc8420c367e717c3b9b7339a3442326/tumblr_mhz5eqfFFA1s4y6i6o1_500.jpg Sakataterihwáhten]]''" -- a seemingly common translation of which is "''I made a mistake''." |
| 16 | *** Charles Lee, despite being Connor's ArchEnemy and a cruel SmugSnake, also gets a sympathetic death. Unlike nearly every other assassination target, Lee has no final words. Instead, after his friends are dead, his plans are foiled, and he's been gravely wounded by Connor, Lee flees and eventually takes refuge at the Conestoga Inn. However, Connor manages to track him down. Faced with his imminent death, [[FaceDeathWithDignity Lee reacts with dignity]], wordlessly sharing a drink with his nemesis before giving a nod to Connor to let him know he's ready. |
| 17 | ** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'': |
| 18 | *** Benjamin Hornigold defected to the Templars because he wanted to make the world a better place after seeing Nassau devolve from the democratic society he and his friends first envisioned it would be into a WretchedHive. Though treated with contempt by Edward for his betrayal, Hornigold still attempts to warn Edward about how lonely and empty his life will be if he keeps going down his selfish course. By the game's end Edward has made peace with his deceased friend, as he imagines Hornigold sitting at a table drinking with the rest of their friends they lost along the way. |
| 19 | *** Bartholomew Roberts, the merciless, WildCard pirate not aligned with the Templars or the Assassins, [[FaceDeathWithDignity faces his death with dignity]], always knowing that his life would be a short one but a merry one. The only regret he has is that he was BornInTheWrongCentury and that, because of this, this incarnation of him would never be reunited with his one true love, Juno. Just before dying he asks Edward to dispose of his body, knowing that the Templars would use it to control the Observatory for themselves. |
| 20 | ** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedSyndicate'': Jacob assassinated the railway mogul Malcolm Millner... only to realize that ''he was fighting the Templars''. Jacob's been helping a Templar regain her fortune all along. Whoops. |
| 21 | * ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'''s Irenicus is rather pitiable in his final moments. Even more so is Yoshimo. |
| 22 | * Zulf from ''VideoGame/{{Bastion}}'', should you choose to leave him. As you fight your way to the exit, you hear him singing his own funerary song. This is helped by how he [[AntiVillain was already a sympathetic character.]] |
| 23 | * ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos Origins'' does this for almost every villain in the game, with the exception of the game's biggest monster and the one who was horror incarnate. This is particularly notable in the case of the BigBad and his [[TheDragon Dragon]], both of whom had their daughters crying over their bodies as they died, but it also shows up in the deaths of the rest of the major villains - such as Nasca, who fought despite knowing it was practically suicide simply because "[[WellDoneSonGuy Heughes]] would never let me live it down!" Then you get to Heughes... [[GiftOfTheMagiPlot who does the same thing because running away would be a bad example to set for Nasca]]. Though technically, it's the player's choice whether or not to fight and kill Nasca, Heughes, and Valara. And if you choose not to, they each pull off different but equally awesome BigDamnHeroes moments at the end of the game. |
| 24 | * At the end of ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', he's been around two games while kicking dogs and generally doing his best to piss you off. However, the death scene of ComicBook/TheJoker is surprisingly sad, even when you know he had it coming. |
| 25 | --> '''Batman''': Do you want to know something funny? Even after everything you've done... '''I would have saved you.'''\ |
| 26 | '''Joker''': (By now laughing and coughing uncontrollably) [[ActuallyPrettyFunny That actually is... pretty funny...]] |
| 27 | ** [[spoiler:Poison Ivy's]] death in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' is also very poignant. Despite ranting about how much HumansAreBastards, [[spoiler:her final act is a HeroicSacrifice,]] clearing the city of Scarecrow's fear toxin, saving countless lives, and simultaneously [[spoiler:rescuing the trees she cared so deeply about.]] In the end [[spoiler:she became a hero.]] |
| 28 | -->[[spoiler:'''Ivy:''' (As she dies in Batman's arms) Nature always wins.]] |
| 29 | ** Quincy Sharp may have been a SleazyPolitician and an AxCrazy KnightTemplar who approved of some evil deeds in past Arkham games, but when you find out that he was DrivenToSuicide for [[HeelRealization realizing his misdeeds]] at the urging of a hallucination of Hugo Strange while facing punishment for his crimes in prison, you'd probably feel a little depressed at how his life fell apart so fast. This is only made worse by the fact that his motivation was to become Gotham's hero like Batman. |
| 30 | * ''VideoGame/BattleForWesnoth'': A recurring enemy in ''Under the Burning Suns'', The Dark Assassin, is finally mortally wounded and captured in "Out of the Frying Pan". Because it turns out he is [[spoiler:Keratur, a fellow elf who was assumed to be dead and left behind by Kaleh's group and ended up getting tortured by necromancers]], he is forgiven by Kaleh and gets to die relatively peacefully, finally free from the trauma. |
| 31 | * ''VideoGame/BioShock1'': |
| 32 | ** The Big Daddies. After you kill one, its Little Sister runs up to the corpse, crying and asking for it to get back up again. |
| 33 | ** The Alpha series, those bastards who attacked with no warning. You're going to feel like a true {{Heel}} when you learn the reason why they're so suicidal. They lost their Little Sister, who was their whole world. Later, you're treated to the fact that one of them spent the remainder of his life crying next to a Gatherer's Garden. Almost makes you want to kill them just to put them out of their misery. |
| 34 | ** And then there is Andrew Ryan. He's definitely set up as the main antagonist during the first part of the game (he tries to kill you multiple times), but his death is too jaw dropping for words. He gives Jack commands punctuated with "would you kindly," the phrase Jack's buddy Atlas has been using over and over; it's seemed like an endearing little turn of phrase up until the moment when Jack powerlessly obeys all the commands Ryan gives him -- it's Jack's TriggerPhrase, and he's unknowingly been a SleeperAgent who is now being pulled this way and that by Atlas, who is actually Fontaine. Ryan is obviously disgusted by this as it contradicts everything his Objectivist philosophy stands for, summed up neatly in his faborite saying: "A man chooses, a slave obeys." At this point he "asks" you to kill him, knowing that Jack is his own son, taken from him from birth by his worst enemy and [[TykeBomb turned into an assassin.]] Though Ryan's motives are famously ambiguous at times (something others comment upon in game), he sacrifices himself in order to show his son that he's being controlled, shouting "A man chooses, a slave obeys!" as Jack helplessly beats him to death. |
| 35 | ** Songbird in ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite'' who Elizabeth is forced to kill near the end to protect Booker, by transporting the three of them to Rapture. He's stuck outside the glass, and Elizabeth comforts the one guardian and companion she had for her whole life trapped in her tower as he slowly succumbs to the enormous water pressure and slowly sinks to the bottom of the sea. |
| 36 | * In ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'', in comparison to the original ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', the U.S. Marines hunting the Gordon Freeman are portrayed much more sympathetically and tragically. In particular, the remade sections of the chapter "Surface Tension" show their doomed two front fight against Freeman and the Xen invaders in a more sad and horrific light, with new radio conversations illuminating the Marines' desperation as they're being overrun. The final one is of a dying Marine and the corpsman who's trying to save him, only for the dying Marine to stop responding. |
| 37 | * In ''VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight'', Johannes is greatly upset by the death of his mentor Alfred, despite everything the man had done prior and during the events of the game, reflecting on how the man's motives were [[NotEvilJustMisunderstood about as noble as they could have been given his situation]], and how Alfred went into the castle knowing full-well that no matter what happened, he wouldn't survive the events that transpired there. |
| 38 | -->'''Miriam:''' [[SympathyForTheDevil You sound like you've found some forgiveness for him...]] |
| 39 | ** Johannes also expresses sadness after the final downfall of [[spoiler:[[EvilAllAlong Dominique Baldwin]]]]. Subverted in that he's not sorry for [[spoiler:her]] fate, but that [[spoiler:she]] allowed [[spoiler:her]] RageAgainstTheHeavens for [[spoiler:remaining silent while her loved ones were slaughtered in the Demonic Invasion]] to warp [[spoiler:her]] into a depraved, manipulative person only interested in power. Given that Miriam has also endured a lot of suffering in her life, [[{{Foil}} but uses this as a reason to help others instead of as an excuse to gain power at their expense]], she understands where Johannes is coming from. |
| 40 | --->'''Johannes:''' [[spoiler:Dominique]]... [[spoiler:She]] could have done so much good, but...\ |
| 41 | '''Miriam:''' I know. |
| 42 | * Raul Menendez from ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII''. [[spoiler:If David spares him, he even describes Menendez as a "sad old man". Also, [[MultipleEndings in one ending]], he burns himself alive in front of his sister's grave.]] |
| 43 | * Interestingly, ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' doesn't do this for the BigBad, but for the little guys. In the [[MultipleEndings standard ending]], the cutscene features a slow pan over the various levels of the game and all the enemies in them, set to sad music. Then, the floating island they're on crashes. Also, Misery, except in the [[MultipleEndings perfect ending]]. |
| 44 | * Surprisingly, vicious and psychotic villain Revas in ''Franchise/TheChroniclesOfRiddick: VideoGame/AssaultOnDarkAthena'' manages this as she is suspended over an elevator shaft, just moments before her death: |
| 45 | --> '''Revas''': You know what? It doesn't fucking matter anyway. [Looks down the shaft with an expression of fear] Just don't forget me... [Lets go] |
| 46 | * ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'': |
| 47 | ** Magus, should the player decide to fight him at the North Cape. [[spoiler:With his dying breath, he tells the party how to revive Crono and drops the [[TragicKeepsake amulet his sister had given him as a child.]] She had promised it would protect him from harm...]] |
| 48 | ** Then we have Azala, who had been waging a war of extinction against the prehistoric humans, and eagerly anticipating Lavos' imminent planetfall. However, her last words are not to curse her opponents, but to lament that her people never had a future and accepts her species' defeat without a VillainousBreakdown. Though she's a villain she was simply fighting for the future of she and her people, not that different than the humans, which actually moves Ayla of all people to show mercy and offer to rescue Azala: an offer that gets rebuked because [[TheFatalist it's meant to be]]. |
| 49 | * ''VideoGame/CriminalCaseGrimsborough'': Of all people, [[spoiler:The Rorschach Reaper]] somewhat gets this treatment. It's a complicated example, too, as she can also be seen as AssholeVictim given that she's a SerialKiller. But after the team discovered why she's killed, [[spoiler:that she attempted to seek the truth about her ancestor's death and indirectly exposed the Crimson Order who responsible for said ancestor's death]], she becomes less of an asshole. Even her sister who initially openly hated her for being a killer later admits that she does feel sad over her death. |
| 50 | * The Great Wolf Sif in ''VideoGame/DarkSouls''. He can't really even be called a villain -- Sif is just having a knee-jerk reaction to someone trespassing near his friend's grave. Near the end of the battle, Sif even starts ''limping in pain'' as he valiantly struggles to protect Artorias' grave from an Undead monster (i.e., you). Sadly there's no way to spare him since you need Artorias' ring to proceed with your quest, and the only way to get the ring is by killing Sif. |
| 51 | ** And it gets even worse if you become his friend by [[spoiler:saving his life with time travel]]; he has a duty to protect Artorias' grave, so you still have to kill him, despite the fact that neither of you wants to. |
| 52 | * The Traitor's fall and death in ''[[VideoGame/DawnOfWar Dawn of War II: Chaos Rising]]'' is treated sympathetically, but the deaths of Jonah Orion, Avitus, and Tarkus stand out in particular: |
| 53 | ** [[DemonicPossession Jonah Orion]] is possessed by a Daemon and forced to betray your side, leaving behind a message in which he desperately pleads with you that he can't control his actions and to forgive him. When he finally goes down FightingFromTheInside against the Daemon possessing him, his former squadmates express sympathy for his fate, with Tarkus commenting that "The man who has nothing can still have faith." |
| 54 | ** [[BloodKnight Avitus]] [[spoiler: (the canon traitor)]] falls to Chaos due to crossing the DespairEventHorizon after [[ShellShockedVeteran losing faith in the chapter and fiinding the dead returning to plague his mind.]] His last moments are spent with his old friend Tarkus trying to offer him some semblance of comfort, to which Avitus responds with the following, in an utterly ''broken'' voice [[note]]Taken even further in ''Retribution'', where Tarkus/The Ancient admits that killing Avitus still weighs heavily on his conscience[[/note]]: |
| 55 | -->'''Tarkus:''' No man died in his service that died in vain. |
| 56 | -->'''Avitus:''' [[DontYouDarePityMe Spare us your empty platitudes!]] It matters not who lives and dies! [[CrapsackWorld Blood is shed, as it has always been! There is nothing else in this forsaken...existence...!]] |
| 57 | ** [[AFatherToHisMen Tarkus]] falls to Chaos out of a desire to protect his brothers and stop the Chapter's [[HighTurnoverRate slow slide into destruction]]; his final speech has him desperately asking them ([[AmbiguousSituation or his Daemon-possessed bolter]]) why they are abandoning him, and he's portrayed as a tragic WellIntentionedExtremist. |
| 58 | * Thomas and George from ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition''. Thomas secretly had a [[HoYay crush]] on George, and was jealous of Emily over the fact that George obviously cared for her. This jealousy was used by [[BigBad Forrest Kaysen]] to drive him murderously insane, forcing Emily to kill him. As for George...you wouldn't think he'd get a touching sendoff, given his actions, but then you realize that he only did the murders because the ''horrific'' ColdBloodedTorture his own ''mother'' subjected him to during his childhood deeply traumatized him to the point that he wanted to become strong above all else. Oh, and like Thomas, he was essentially being used by Kaysen. George's pitifulness is driven home during his VillainousBreakdown, where he tearfully calls out to his long dead mother, saying that it wasn't his fault and begging her to not to hurt him again... |
| 59 | * Cliff Hudson from ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' is a Vietnam war veteran who is experiencing war flashbacks due to the death of his granddaughter at the hands of zombies, and has become psychopathic as a result. When in his death throes, he snaps out of his madness, resulting in an extremely sad death scene. He is one of the few Psychopaths that most players regret killing, and notably the ''only'' one [[SympathyForTheDevil Frank himself feels bad about putting down]]. |
| 60 | * [[DualBoss Amber and Crystal Bailey]] from ''VideoGame/DeadRising2''. You only have to kill one of them to win the BossBattle, because when you do, the other will curse [[PlayerCharacter Chuck]] for taking away her "[[{{Twincest}} other half]]", and then commit {{seppuku}}. |
| 61 | * ''VideoGame/DetroitBecomeHuman'' is full of [[{{Jerkass}} arrogant jerkasses]] who bully androids and androids who bully humans for different reasons, which doesn't mean they cannot come across as sympathetically. |
| 62 | ** The StarterVillain Daniel is an android who feels betrayed by his owners for replacing him, and to this end Daniel decides to kidnap the daughter of the family named Emma and becomes a SerialKiller. Although how sad his death is widely depends on how the player chooses to interact with him, if the player decides to give multiple promises to Daniel that everything will be fine, only for a sniper to shoot him, his death is taken very sympathetically and extremely tragic. |
| 63 | -->'''Daniel''': YOU LIED TO ME... [[PlayerCharacter Connor]]... |
| 64 | ** Of all people, [[spoiler: Todd]] is given this in all of his defeats. If he is killed early on in the game, his insanity is played for sympathy and he comes across as more of a broken man than the evil man he is previously seen as, stating that he actually loves his daughter [[spoiler: who he abuses on a daily basis]]. If he survives, he will return in the chapter "Battle for Detroit" and desperately scream "YOU STOLE MY LITTLE GIRL" when he finds Kara and Alice which already applies sympathy, but is given even more sympathy if Kara tells him about his backstory; [[spoiler: His wife left him and took his real daughter away, leading Todd to buy the android Alice in order to cope with reality, but it all went wrong and he started abusing the poor android. Todd]] will start crying and hugging Alice, before telling a security guard who he earlier told that Kara was an android who was to be executed that he was mistaken and, although he doesn't die here and seems to redeem himself, he still lost Alice who he will never see again. |
| 65 | ** If he becomes a VillainProtagonist, [[spoiler: Connor himself]] will have multiple possible deaths, and all of them are sympathetic. There are two standouts however. Captain Allen might return as [[spoiler: Connor]] is trying to assassinate the Jericho leader Markus in the chapter "Battle for Detroit" and try stopping him from doing it, but [[spoiler: Connor]] will instead try killing Allen and his mooks. Allen will shoot [[spoiler: Connor]] multiple times and how utterly pathetic his death is and yet how loveable and EndearinglyDorky he used to be makes it hard to see him dying like that. There's also an example if Hank confronts him while trying to assassinate Markus and the two will start a fight, and although it possible that Hank is the one who dies, which is equally sad and a MoralEventHorizon for [[spoiler: Connor]], it might just be even more depressing seeing Hank throw him off the bridge after all of their CharacterDevelopment together. |
| 66 | ** One InUniverse example is Leo Manfred. Although he is an AssholeVictim and HateSink for most of the players, if Markus decides to fight back when Leo picks a fight with him, Leo will get pushed into a lamp and faint, although he ''does'' actually survive if this happens as revealed later, he certainly seems dead, and Carl Manfred, his dad, comes up to him to hug him and say "my little boy... Leo...", which is tragic, as stated, InUniverse and most people saw his presumed death as nothing but deserved. |
| 67 | * ''VideoGame/DeusEx'': [=DeBeers=] by all accounts is a terrible, classist man whose actions during the 20th century and during the beginning of the 21st lead the world into the state that it is in. That being said, it's hard for some to not feel sorry for him when the player learns that Morgan has no intentions of curing his diseases and plans to leave him in a cryopod indefinietly. |
| 68 | * After you defeat the recurring WorthyOpponent Nelo Angelo in the first ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry1'' game, it's revealed that he was really Dante's twin brother Vergil. Vergil also qualifies for this in the [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry3DantesAwakening third game]], when he chooses to stay in the demon world after losing to Dante. |
| 69 | * Hina in ''[[VideoGame/DonPachi DoDonPachi SaiDaiOuJou]]''. Especially in the Xbox 360 mode, where Saya breaks down in tears as Hina [[DiedInYourArmsTonight dies in Saya's arms]]. |
| 70 | * In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', the moment when (if) Teyrn Loghain is executed is one of these, as his daughter weeps and begs for his life and he looks back saying that little girls never grow up and always have pigtails in their hair. Then she gets spattered with her own father's blood. |
| 71 | * ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' has two major examples: Meredith and Anders (if you choose to kill him). Both started out as reasonable people who were corrupted by a combination of supernatural forces and their own prejudice or anger and both have tearjerking death scenes: Anders tells your PlayerCharacter "I'm glad it was you" before s/he kills him, with a look of anguish and remorse both before and after being stabbed. Meredith turns herself to stone in the midst of her VillainousBreakdown, permanently frozen in a nightmarish expression of rage and fear. |
| 72 | ** Many of the possessed Mages faced in the game. After being backed into a corner by the Templars, they resort to BloodMagic out of sheer desperation and end up becoming monsters. Made even worse where in some cases, Hawke arrives only a few moments too late to be able to save them, such as with Ser Thrask's daughter. |
| 73 | ** The Arishok. He spent [[OrcusOnHisThrone three years stuck]] in Kirkwall and was unable to leave until he found the Tome of Koslun, thus fulfilling his duty to the Qun. It's heavily implied that part of his motivation for invading was to either cleanse the city of it's corruption or die in the process, with his DuelToTheDeath with [[WorthyOpponent Hawke]] being an intentional SuicideByCop. |
| 74 | * ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': In the DS version, it's hard not to feel bad for King Korol when Nimzo has Ladja execute him in an excessively brutal fashion. |
| 75 | * In the ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' series, Cao Cao was always portrayed as somewhat villainous and cruel. However, in the seventh game, it showed that beneath the coldness, he does care about the people who serve him, and he does wish for the chaos to end. Right before his death, he pleads for Xiahou Yuan and Dian Wei (both of whom died serving their lord) for their forgiveness. |
| 76 | * ''VideoGame/DyztopiaPostHumanRPG'': Depending on the player's choice for their first bonding event, [[spoiler:Barbados's last words will be different. If Akira didn't increase Barbados's link level to 1, Barbados accuses them of being a FalseFriend who never really cared about him and dies unrepentant. If Akira did spend time with Barbados, the latter shows regret for his actions and acknowledges Akira as his friend]]. |
| 77 | * ''VideoGame/ElementalMaster'' has the death of your brother, Roki, who made a DealWithTheDevil for power but shows genuine remorse after you defeat him in the final stage, where is death is portrayed as sympathetically as possible. |
| 78 | --> "My eyes are growing dim. It's time for me to depart this world. Good bye, my brother." |
| 79 | * ''VideoGame/EldenRing'': The Loathsome Dung Eater is a gargantuan HateSink who makes a point of informing you, sparing no details, of how much he would like to gruesomely murder you in a way you wouldn't come back from. If you carry out his quest line to the end, it triggers one of the worst endings in the game. And yet, [[spoiler:forcing him to drink Seluvis's potion, turning him into a soulless, mindless puppet]], is ''such'' a horrible fate that even the game admits you have to feel sorry for him. It doesn't help that the Dung Eater spends his last moments [[spoiler:before the transformation desperately trying to assert his own identity]]. |
| 80 | * This trope strikes HARD at the end of the Imperial questline in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''. Whatever you think of Ulfric Stormcloak, he [[FaceDeathWithDignity faces death with dignity]] - and some incredibly poignant [[LastWords last words]]. |
| 81 | -->'''Ulfric:''' I'll never surrender Skyrim into the hands of a corrupt and dying empire!\ |
| 82 | '''Rikke:''' Skyrim doesn't belong to you, Ulfric.\ |
| 83 | '''Ulfric:''' [[TearJerker No... but I belong to her]]. |
| 84 | ** Conversely happens with General Tullius as well, should you side with Ulfric. While a grumpy old jerk who clearly holds the Nords in disdain, Tullius fought to preserve the Empire because he truly thought it was best for Skyrim's prosperity and protection, and the only thing stopping mankind from being destroyed by the Thalmor. Once you've cornered him in Solitude, [[DespairEventHorizon he's basically given up]], though he'll still fight you. His LastWords are bluntly and resentfully telling Ulfric [[UnwittingPawn that he's just given the Thalmor exactly what they want]]. |
| 85 | * ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' |
| 86 | ** In ''VideoGame/Fallout1'', this can happen with [[BigBad the Master]] if the Vault Dweller choses to [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath convince him of the futility of his plan.]] He converted people into Super Mutants because he truly believed that they were the race best engineered to survive the wastes, and that by unifying everyone into one race, he'd be preventing humanity from tearing itself apart because of their differences. If the Vault Dweller can prove to him that his mutants are all sterile, and his plan can't work, he'll be hit with the full weight of his crimes, and commit suicide out of guilt and despair. His final words are particularly poignant. |
| 87 | -->'''The Master''': "Leave now. Leave while you still have hope." |
| 88 | ** Comes up more than once in ''VideoGame/Fallout4''. It first comes up with [[spoiler:Kellogg, the man who shot your partner and kidnapped your son Shaun]] when you [[spoiler:trawl through his memories after you kill him and find that he lived a horribly cruel life and lost his own wife and child, which drove him to become a ruthless mercenary]]. Notable in that the [[PlayerCharacter Sole Survivor]] can either express sympathy for him or rationalise that he doesn't deserve it because [[spoiler:he knew himself what it was like to lose the love of your life and your only child and chose to inflict that misery on someone else]]. It also comes up with [[spoiler:Shaun himself, who is now an old man and head of the Institute]], provided you didn't kill him before the final quest and [[spoiler:didn't side with the Institute: he lies dying knowing that his own mother/father is about to destroy his life's work, still convinced that the Institute is the last hope for humanity. His last interaction with his parent is to bitterly tell them to leave.]] |
| 89 | * In ''VideoGame/FarawayStory'', [[spoiler:The TokenGoodTeammate of the antagonistic Midage Unit, Remi Currensia, only wanted to claim the Philosopher's Stone in order to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans bring peace and prosperity to the world]]. Unfortunately, she is disposed of by the BigBad, who needs her dead in order to fulfill a prophecy. Pia is brought to tears and desperately attempts to heal her wounds, but to no avail.]] |
| 90 | * In ''VideoGame/FarCryPrimal'', [[HandsomeHeroicCaveman Takkar]] and his tribe, the Wenja, must contend with Ull, the warchief of the [[AllCavemenWereNeanderthals Udam tribe]], who constantly launch attacks on the Wenja "softbloods" to murder and [[IAmAHumanitarian consume]] them. Later on in the game, however, [[spoiler:we learn that Ull has two children to take care and is desperately trying to save his tribe from "skull fire", a mysterious and lethal disease. The Udam are consuming Wenja because they think it will cure them of their disease. And once Takkar confronts Ull for the last time at his cave, once he gives him a lethal wound, Ull desperately staggers away from Takkar in an attempt to prevent Takkar from murdering his baby. Takkar, feeling SympathyForTheDevil, agrees to raise Ull's children for him to make sure they don't die of "skull fire" like their people, and respectfully says "Walk free" when Ull dies.]] |
| 91 | * Surprisingly enough, Geese Howard from ''VideoGame/FatalFury''. At the end of Real Bout, he receives a Power Geyser from Terry, which sends him flying towards the window. As he is about to plunge to his death (again), Terry holds his arm to save him. Geese simply smiles and shrugs him off, falling to his death while laughing. |
| 92 | ** In ''Garou'', we learn he left his son Rock for Terry to take care. Probably because Terry could be a much better father that he could ever dream to be. |
| 93 | * Shinji Matou in ''VideoGame/FateExtra''. A Jerkass and a SmugSnake who is constantly treating everybody as if they were below him. But once he loses, [[NeverMyFault he immediately starts lashing at his Servant for being weak and you for beating him]]; all while whining [[AndYouThoughtItWasAGame he does not want to die]]. Then, [[ItMakesSenseInContext we get]] [[WhamLine his last words]]: “I’m only eight years old!”. |
| 94 | ** Most of the opponents in Fate/Extra have at least a few moments to make players pity them: |
| 95 | ** Dan Blackmore apologizes to his Archer for [[HonorBeforeReason forcing him to fight fairly and denying him his greatest advantage]], who in turn wishes he had been a better Servant for Dan’s sake. At least, [[TogetherInDeath Dan gets to reunite with Ann…]] |
| 96 | ** Alice, [[CheerfulChild the little girl]] [[ObliviouslyEvil who didn’t know any better]], and finally realizes [[DeadAllAlong her happy dream]] [[HappyEndingOverride is finally over…]] |
| 97 | ** [[TykeBomb Julius]] [[ProfessionalKiller Harwey]] is revealed to [[YourDaysAreNumbered have a quarter of his original lifespan left]], [[KillTheOnesYouLove murdered his mother Alicia on orders of his and Leo’s father]], and spends his last moments being comforted by his enemy Hakuno. |
| 98 | ** [[AntiVillain Leo]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist Harwey]] finally realizes he was not fit to rule Earth after finally learning from defeat. [[DramaticIrony He has finally learned the quality he needs to grow]], just in time to die… |
| 99 | * ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' |
| 100 | ** There are a number of antagonists in the game with a variety of sympathetic reasons. A few of them take the cake: |
| 101 | |
| 102 | * ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' has this from time to time: |
| 103 | ** '''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]]''', of all people, gets this in ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy''. |
| 104 | --->'''Kefka''': Why create when it will only be destroyed? Why cling to life, knowing that you have to die? None of it will have meant anything once you do.\ |
| 105 | '''Terra''': We live to protect what we hold dear. As long as you have that, you can find the meaning on your own.\ |
| 106 | '''Kefka''': Meaning, schmeaning. The whole world's going bye-bye! You included! Life... Dreams... Hope... Where do they come from, and where do they go? None of that junk is enough to fulfill your hearts! Destruction... Destruction is what makes life worth living! Destroy! Destroy! Destroy! LET'S DESTROY EVERYTHING! ''[explosion, followed by a sobbing laugh]''\ |
| 107 | '''Terra''': [[SympathyForTheDevil It was your broken heart. You were trying to fill it with destruction...]] |
| 108 | ** While Sephiroth doesn't recieve any outright sympathy, quite a few characters hint that his cold exterior is a result [[GoMadFromTheRevelation of a deep despair.]] |
| 109 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' is the first entry of the main series featuring scenes that are explicitly portraying the deaths of main villains as sad moments. |
| 110 | *** [[DiscOneFinalBoss Brahne]]'s death is a surprisingly solemn moment. In spite of all the atrocities she commited, Garnet still loses her mother when she dies. The two of them share some memories, during which Brahne reminisces about a play she watched with Garnet and her husband, one of the last times she was truly happy. Then she admits she did terrible choices as a queen, and Alexandria will be better off in Garnet's hands. Although it's a little played with. While Garnet is (understandably) saddened by her death, the other party members (like Vivi) on the other hand feel sad for Garnet, not really for Brahne. |
| 111 | *** The end of the game has Kuja dying at the base of the Iifa Tree. Being a fluke with a crushingly short life-span made him cruel and nihilistic, but only when he was defeated by the heroes and had nothing left to live for did he realize too late what it means to really live. This also gets a callback in ''Dissidia''. |
| 112 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'': despite their eventual descent into madness, Cid and Vayne have some redeeming qualities, and [[TheManBehindTheMan Venat]] garners some sympathy: |
| 113 | *** Vayne is one of the most affable and - dare one say it - ''likeable'' antagonists in the series due to the inherent humanity behind his actions, and though he ''does'' KickTheDog on occasion, he's a WellIntentionedExtremist ''par excellence'' with good emphasis on the "Well-Intentioned" part of that description. His genuine love and compassion for his cute little brother Larsa helps immensely. Right before Venat merges with him, Vayne laments he failed them both, and he's not worthy of being Venat's dynast king. |
| 114 | *** In the case of Cid, it hits especially hard when the player [[FridgeBrilliance realizes]] that Cid only started neglecting his family ''because'' Venat contacted him. After his defeat, [[GracefulLoser Cid calmly accepts his loss]], tells Venat he enjoyed the years they've spent working together, and shares a short quiet conversation with his son. Balthier is especially saddened by his death, asking him if there was no other way. Cid sadly retorts he should spend his pity elsewhere. |
| 115 | *** Venat exemplifies all the best aspects of the SatanIsGood trope - the compassionate DefectorFromDecadence to contrast with the JerkassGods, the genuine liking for mortals and a desire for them to attain self-independence (much like [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Prometheus]]), and the capacity for kindness when s/he ''sacrifices his/her immortality'' simply so that Vayne doesn't have to die alone; as such, they depart the world together and in some semblance of peace. |
| 116 | *** While only an optional boss, [[KillerRabbit Fury]] will start crying upon his defeat. |
| 117 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'': Wiegraf Folles and his sister Milleuda, who both started off well-intentioned and were arguably more heroic than the ''heroes'' during Chapter One. Wiegraf eventually went too far, what with joining the CorruptChurch and selling his soul to the Lucavi, but still... Milleuda, in contrast, was sympathetic until the end - being ''forced'' to kill her to progress in the game is a ''notorious'' PlayerPunch. |
| 118 | *** Isilud Tengille, who wasn't even ''evil'' - when he realised he was on the wrong side, he tried to stop his father-turned-demon, only to be unceremoniously killed, followed by asking Ramza's sister Alma to send Ramza his apologies for having opposed him. |
| 119 | *** Both Confessor Zalmour Lucianada and High Confessor Marcel Funerbis had incomplete information, and seemed to genuinely believe they were doing the right thing. Zalmour [[FaceDeathWithDignity goes out with a commendable dignity]] as he prays to ''God'' - not the Lucavi demons - to punish the wicked for their sins, and Funerbis swallows his pride as he begs Ramza "the Heretic" to stop the demons (after having been run through by the BigBad and his minions despite pleading for his life). |
| 120 | ** The final rank mission of San d'Oria in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' ends with this trope. With Prince Trion aiding your party in the fight, the head of the Orcish tribes, Warlord Rojgnoj, falls at your feet. In the FFXI universe, the orcs are beastmen who patrol various regions of the game, attacking adventurers at will - their reasoning for this? The very sword that Trion wields, one with enough power to separate a peninsula from the mainland and driving the inhabitants of a former powerful city underground. Rojgnoj tells all of this to us in broken English (or Japanese or French, depending on where you're playing from) and tells us this was the cause for the orcs waging war against the Kingdom of San d'Oria 20 years ago. It caused him and his people pain, and they simply wanted to destroy it. He dies shortly afterward. |
| 121 | ** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' has several sympathetic villains and has given them touching send-offs: |
| 122 | *** Zenos yae Galvus is a vicious BloodKnight who terrorizes his subjects in the hopes that someone will rise to give him a decent fight, yet his death is a sombre moment. When you defeat him, he admits that this is the first time he's ever felt joy in his life, and bids you—his first "friend"—a fond farewell before slitting his own throat. [[spoiler:It’s then subverted when he comes BackFromTheDead.]] |
| 123 | *** Emet-Selch, the ArcVillain of ''Shadowbringers'', is a WellIntentionedExtremist who is trying to bring back everyone who died when the original world was split into the Source and its thirteen Shards. When you defeat him and land the killing blow, his LastRequest is for you to remember that his people once lived: once you agree to do so, he fades away with a smile as melancholic music plays. |
| 124 | *** Emet-Selch’s colleague Elidibus likewise gets a touching sendoff in Patch 5.3. After you defeat him, he reverts to his true form as a small, childlike figure, and he finally remembers what he’s been fighting for all these long eons: |
| 125 | ---->"Yes… I would become Him. I would save everyone. This I believed. Yet still they cried out, in rage and despair… Divided—over the fate of the star. A rare occurrence, always fleeting. But not this time. Not this time… Reconciliation. Elidibus. I was needed. I withdrew myself from Zodiark. For them… My people. My brothers. ''(sheds a SingleTear)'' …My friends. Stay strong. Keep the faith. At duty’s end, we will meet again. We will. ''(struggling not to cry)'' We will. The rains have ceased, and we have been graced by another beautiful day. But you are not here to see it." ''(DisappearsIntoLight)'' |
| 126 | * The ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series in general is quite fond of this trope. More specifically: |
| 127 | ** Camus in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'' is an [[WorthyOpponent honorable knight]] who helps the player at several points even though he works for the enemy and suffered from MyCountryRightOrWrong. His death is somewhat lessened by ''Gaiden'' revealing that he was NotQuiteDead, but he still gave up his old identity as Camus to start his life all over again. |
| 128 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'', especially its remake, has a lot of this: |
| 129 | *** Rudolf dies revealing [[LukeIAmYourFather his true relation to Alm]], much to the poor guy's very understandable disbelief. Before Alm has time to digest it, however, Rudolf tells him about the Falchion and Mila and begs him to slay Duma to save the world. Then, he dies [[SnowMeansDeath as the snow falls]], and poor Alm pretty much screams "MyGodWhatHaveIDone!" When he talks to Mycen afterward, Alm bitterly asks [[SelfMadeOrphan if he sent him to kill his own dad]], before Mycen can explain Rudolf's reasons and the years-long ThanatosGambit he had developed. |
| 130 | *** Fernand, who has been a JerkAss to the group the entire game, sees the error of his ways after being mortally wounded as a conequence of Berkut's VillainousBreakdown. His former friend Clive holds him in his arms and Fernand does what he can to tell him about Duma's madness and Berkut's own changes, and ask Alms to put Duma to rest. Then, Fernand aknowledges that his lack of forgiveness was his undoing, and dies telling Clive that he was right all along and chose the right king, Alm. Both Clive and his sister Clair are greatly distressed, with Clair telling him "PleaseWakeUp" and then sobbing. It's even worse if the player has a certain DLC stage that shows [[FallenHero how Fernand USED to be]] before his DarkAndTroubledPast hit him... |
| 131 | *** After both Berkut and his girlfriend Rinea (who had been turned into a Witch after Berkut sold her soul to Duma) are defeated, the mortally injured Berkut still refuses to give up or to see Alm as his cousin rather than his enemy, and urges Alm to give him the killing blow. But as Alm insists that he never wanted to be Berkut's enemy... Rinea's now-free soul appears in front of the group, speaking kindly to Berkut even after what he did to her, [[TogetherInDeath telling him to come with her so they can find their own empire.]] Berkut is flabbergasted [[TearsOfRemorse and seems to be crying]] as he tells [[ActualPacifist Rinea]] that she always was right, begs her to forgive him, and accepts her offer to go away with her. Then he makes peace with Alm and, before definitely dying, gives him [[TragicKeepsake a ring that belonged to his late mother]] and begs him to make Valentia a land where no one will be corrupted by the gods again. |
| 132 | *** Even a mini-boss in the ''final stage'' gets one. Hestia, one of Duma's witches, holds resentment towards her sister Sonya who ran away and averted being transformed, but [[DyingAsYourself regains her will as she dies]] and says she should've lived her life as she saw fit, as Sonya did. |
| 133 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem'': |
| 134 | *** Hardin. He was a trustworthy ally who fought alongside Marth, and was a great hero to the many he rescued from slavery. He ended up going through a DespairEventHorizon and getting BrainwashedAndCrazy into [[EvilOverlord being a power-hungry tyrant]]. As he's dying, he [[DyingAsYourself reverts back to his old heroic self]], apologizes to Marth for all the grief he caused to him ''and'' to Nyna, and [[DyingDeclarationOfLove reaffirms his love for Nyna]] in his literal dying breath. Both characters likely inspired the later {{tragic villain}}s in the series. |
| 135 | *** The remake of the game [[FillerVillain adds]] Clarisse. Throughout the game, she's depicted as a sadistic, cold-hearted killer, who constantly abuses her adoptive sister Katarina for being useless. So one look forwards to the moment when she's finally fought... and her death comes as one of the most heart-wrenching moments in the series, specially when Clarisse quietly asks Katarina "StayWithMeUntilIDie." |
| 136 | *** Eremiya. She's the one to blame for Clarisse being the way she is (and Katarina, and Roro, and Roro's clones...), then when it's time to finally beat the bitch, it's like [[DecapitatedArmy a moment to celebra]] - [[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle what's]] ''[[YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle this]]''?! She once was a genuinely good person but Gharnef put her under MindRape when she fell into despair after witnessing the deaths of the orphans she originally cared for during the war, turning her ''into'' a Mega-Abusive-Bitch? And now, while she's dying, he completely restores her memories of who she once was, laughs, and lets her bleed to death in complete despair? ... Ouch. Just... ''ouch''! For a character who didn't even exist in the original game, that's some pretty powerful woobie material right there. There's a good reason Gharnef earns more loathing than the game's actual BigBad, Medeus. |
| 137 | ** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', several people Tear Jerked over Arvis, who was actually similar to Lyon, and wasn't entirely the evil bastard he would appear to be if you took him in context. (One FreudianExcuse later) He was actually shown to be trying to ''[[PetTheDog stop]]'' the Child Hunts that were going on. Even Seliph, [[YouKilledMyFather whose father was murdered]] by Arvis, later says that Arvis didn't deserve to be demonized by history. |
| 138 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'': |
| 139 | *** Galle, who was never your enemy, and was possibly romantically linked to one of your party members (though it isn't necessary to kill him) and Brunnya in the bonus chapters - fighting for a king already dead and knowing she only fights to be killed to stall your army. The final boss was a frail looking girl, though she gets better. |
| 140 | *** Despite being a veritable madman, King Zephiel - his final words, which verify his adamant belief that HumansAreBastards is quite sad, particularly in light of the kind boy he used to be before his father's repeated assassination attempts screwed him up. Not to mention [[TheDragon Murdock]], who goes out loyally serving him despite being an honourable man who disagrees with the war as a whole. |
| 141 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'': |
| 142 | *** Black Fang member Linus, or Lloyd if you [[GuideDangIt managed to get the alternative chapter]]. |
| 143 | *** ''All'' the major Black Fang members. Brendan, Uhai, [[TearJerker Ursula]], Darin, and yes, even Nergal himself, whose death becomes more pitiable depending on how many bonus chapters you unlock. The only Fang members you can completely hate at the end of the day are PsychoForHire Jerme, ChurchMilitant Kenneth, EvilMatriarch Sonia, and Ephidel, who probably has the most satisfying demise in the game. |
| 144 | *** And Kenneth and Jerme might earn a modicum of pity as well when you consider their appearance as Morphs in the finale chapter. It ''is'' implied by Eliwood and Co. that [[BrainwashedAndCrazy both men were driven insane by Nergal]], especially when you consider that Jerme used to be the Fang's finest assassin before Jaffar joined the Four Fangs - Brendan had already shown he didn't tolerate sociopaths by locking up [[AxCrazy Pascal]] [[AMillionIsAStatistic Gretzner]] (who deserves to be on the list of "completely hateable Fang members") in the past, after the man massacred innocents while gunning for his targets, just because he enjoyed killing so much. |
| 145 | *** Another is Nergal's top lieutenant, Limstella. Despite being a rather creepy, [[EmotionlessGirl emotionless]] ArtificialHuman, she has an absolutely ''gut-wrenching'' final moment where she laments her lack of emotion, while showing [[TinMan genuine sadness]]] at [[UndyingLoyalty failing Nergal]]. |
| 146 | ---->'''Limstella''': I am not human. This body and this heart are constructs. Yes, as is this sorrow. |
| 147 | *** Nergal himself also turns out to be this. At first, all he wanted to do was to find his missing wife, then reunite with his lost children. But Aenir was nowhere to be found, and with the Dragon's Gate closed, he began to dive deeper into the darkness so he can find a way to reopen it and see his children again... but slowly, the darkness engulfed him and eroded his mind completely, leaving him with no memory of who he was, or why he was even doing any of this; it all goes downhill from there for everyone, including Ninian and Nils, the very reason he chose this path to begin with. By the time you kill him in the endgame, Nergal has become so corrupted by his dark magic, he can barely remember his own name. |
| 148 | ** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'': |
| 149 | *** A vast majority of fans were [[TearJerker bawling]] at the death of Lyon, quite possibly the most likable main villain in the history of the franchise. Mostly because he [[EnemyWithin wasn't the villain...]] |
| 150 | *** [[MagnificentBastard The cool, ambitious, suave]], and [[AffablyEvil incredibly likable]] (despite many KickTheDog moments) General Caellach. It was plot essential to kill him, which would have been more saddening if he wasn't ThatOneBoss... |
| 151 | *** Selena - the good general hopelessly in love with her long-deceased Emperor. |
| 152 | *** Orson also qualifies. Despite betraying his homeland of Renais to the Grado forces, it's made clear that he only did it because the death of his wife broke him completely, leaving him open to manipulation by having her (half-assed) resurrection offered in exchange for his compliance. He becomes more physically emaciated each time he appears, and in his last appearance (where you kill him), he's gone completely off the deep end talking to a shade of his wife - his last word is her name. Ephraim, Eirika and Seth all show sadness at how far he fell, not able to bring themselves to hate him despite all that he did. |
| 153 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'': |
| 154 | *** The Black Knight. Yes, he killed Greil, but you still can't help but feel sorry for the guy. |
| 155 | *** Then there's his boss, Sephiran, a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds and DeathSeeker who's out to [[SuicidalCosmicTempertantrum end it all]] because he can't see the good in the world anymore. The latter's cohort, Dheginsea is another example, as is Jarod, who for a relentlessly unpleasant {{Jerkass}} gets a surprisingly sympathetic send off, going down fighting after giving a RousingSpeech to his troops. The previous game has [[AntiVillain anti-villains]] Shiharam and General Bryce, whose death's cross the line into PlayerPunch territory, and Petrine who while an incredibly vicious bitch for most of the game, goes out so [[HesitantSacrifice terrified]] that it's hard not to at least pity her. |
| 156 | *** Hetzel as well. Of all the Begnion Senators, he's clearly the least evil. (e.g., buying Rafiel as a slave only to save him and then release him.) Even when you do fight him, he apologizes and says he doesn't want to do it, he's more afraid of what Lekain will do to him if he ''doesn't'' go along with it. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Data that has been found suggests that he could have been spared, actually.]] |
| 157 | ** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' mostly does its best to avoid this with the majority of villains simply being [[CardCarryingVillain openly evil]] and anyone important having an UnexplainedRecovery. Nevertheless, there are two examples. |
| 158 | *** Mustafa, a Plegian General who is so touched by the previous chapter's sacrifice that he does not wish to fight you, but must because his king, Gangrel, [[IHaveYourWife will bring harm to his family otherwise]]. Even before the battle starts, he realizes his own men don't feel like fighting either, and volunteers to take the blame for them if they choose to leave. It's actually this bravery in the face of punishment that makes them decide to stay until the end. It becomes even more of a PlayerPunch when you realize he was also the kind of general that was AFatherToHisMen. Not only are his dying words a plea to spare his men, but a conversation between Ricken and Plegian recruit Henry reveals that Mustafa used to give Henry a bag of peaches whenever he visited, because he reminded him of his son and even considered Henry a part of his family. |
| 159 | ---->'''Mustafa''': Well done, Ylisseans... Hrrggh! Please...spare my men... |
| 160 | *** Victor and Vincent are a pair of cheerful bandit twins who raid villages and have a very close relationship. If Victor is killed, the surviving Twin, Vincent is [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes despondent]] and seeks to get his brother a grave after his AvengingTheVillain is completed. While the whole thing was PlayedForLaughs, many players found it [[UnintentionallySympathetic genuinely touching]] and sympathized with the bandit twins. |
| 161 | ** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' |
| 162 | *** Edelgard becomes a major antagonist on all routes unless you choose to teach the Black Eagles house to which she belongs and agree to join her in the Holy Tomb. However, her death on the Verdant Wind[[note]]if you join the Golden Deer[[/note]] and Silver Snow[[note]]if you join the Black Eagles but don't side with Edelgard after the Holy Tomb invasion[[/note]] routes is a surprisingly somber affair. Edelgard, defeated, tells Byleth that the conflict will continue as long as she is alive and begs her former teacher to finish her off. As Byleth prepares to comply, Edelgard's last words are to express how she wished Byleth could have walked the same path as her. On the Azure Moon[[note]]if you join the Blue Lions[[/note]] route, this is slightly downplayed, since after being defeated by Byleth and Dimitri in the final battle, Edelgard throws a dagger at Dimitri's shoulder rather than surrender, although her reasons for doing so are left [[AmbiguousSituation open to interpretation]]. However, Dimitri takes no pleasure in killing her in self-defense despite his years-long obsession with killing her out of revenge, and wistfully talks about her if he and Byleth achieve an S Support. |
| 163 | *** On the Crimson Flower route[[note]]if you join the Black Eagles and side with Edelgard[[/note]], Dimitri is [[HeroAntagonist only a villain from Edelgard's perspective]], as while he has sided with [[BigBad Rhea]] despite her morally questionable actions, he is fighting to defend his homeland. In most circumstances, he spends his final moments ranting about wanting to kill Edelgard in revenge, unaware that she is not responsible for the tragedy that claimed the lives of the people most dear to him, before she sadly finishes him off. If Dimitri's retainer Dedue is defeated before he can transform into a Demonic Beast, he will crawl over to Dimitri with the last of his strength, reassure Dimitri that his life was not in vain, and [[TogetherInDeath die together with him]]. |
| 164 | * The ''Front Mission'' series is known for having these type of sad deaths with most of its supporting cast. ''VideoGame/FrontMission3'' is one of the better examples since you get to play two story lines which help show you the lives of those you end up killing or saving from new perspectives, including recruitable characters. |
| 165 | * ''VideoGame/{{Galerians}}'' wants you to feel bad for all the titular Galerians. AxCrazy psychic superhumans though they may be, they are just pawns in a [[AIIsACrapshoot deranged A.I.'s]] [[GodhoodSeeker bid at godhood]] in the end. This leads to some serious SelectiveCondemnation, in that the protagonist [[ContemplateOurNavels navel-gazes]] after killing Galerians, but offs security guards and research personnel without a second thought. |
| 166 | * ''VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima'' has Ryuzo. Yes, he betrayed Jin by siding with the Khan and the Mongols, and his actions had ultimately led to the death of [[spoiler:Taka]], but it's clear how much he regrets his choices in his final duel against Jin. At this point, his fellow Straw Hat ronin are dead and everything is crumbling around him, and all that's left for him is to go down fighting, instead of being beheaded as a traitor. |
| 167 | * ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'': |
| 168 | ** ''VideoGame/GodOfWarIII'': [[spoiler:Zeus]]. It's revealed right after his utterly ''brutal'' death by Kratos' hands that he was actually evil because he'd been consumed by the evils of Pandora's Box. |
| 169 | ** ''VideoGame/GodOfWar2018'': [[spoiler:[[Characters/GodOfWarSeriesOtherCharacters Baldur, a.k.a. the Stranger]]]]. His death by Kratos' hands to prevent him [[spoiler:killing (an unresisting) Freya in revenge]] is treated as an extremely solemn affair. Besides how it ''devastates'' Freya, it leaves quite the impression on Kratos and Atreus, with the latter being dismayed to think that being a god will always end with children killing their parents like Kratos did and like what Baldur would have done, whilst Mimir solemnly comments there was no easy choice regarding Kratos' action. |
| 170 | * The two major {{ant|iVillain}}agonists of ''VideoGame/GoldenSun: The Lost Age'', Karst and Agatio, [[ImColdSoCold die of hypothermia]] in Mars Lighthouse after being turned into dragons and forced to fight the heroes until they're too exhausted and injured to warm themselves or escape. Agatio, TheGenericGuy to the end, just tells the heroes to continue their mission and fire the Lighthouse for them. Karst, on the other hand, received just enough CharacterDevelopment to shed sympathy on her RoaringRampageOfRevenge, so when she begs Felix to comfort her, it's both surprisingly {{moe}} for her and a flat-out TearJerker for us. Needless to say, a lot of fans rescue her in FanFiction. |
| 171 | * ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'': |
| 172 | ** [[spoiler: Big Smoke]] from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' gets some sympathy from CJ who is forced to kill him due to the former turning against the Grove Street gang. The two are implied to have been friends since childhood and [[spoiler: Big Smoke]] going down the path of money, greed, and power only makes CJ solemnly wonder what exactly went wrong with his former friend and how it ended this way. Once said friend passes on, CJ can only utter "Damn...what a waste." |
| 173 | ** ''Videogame/GrandTheftAutoV'' has [[spoiler:three examples, two depending from the player's option:]] |
| 174 | *** [[spoiler:Trevor's death. On the other hand, one might not feel so bad about killing Trevor when you remember some of his actions... But being burned alive, screaming his head off, is a horrible way to die even for him. That Trevor's implied to be more surprised and hurt by Franklin's betrayal than anything else is rather heartbreaking on its own; he clearly trusted him completely.]] |
| 175 | *** [[spoiler:Michael's death, as well. From Michael's distraught voice as he screams how Franklin was like a son to him, and that Michael practically let him stay at his house, to the shot of Michael's corpse on the ground and Franklin looking like he's just fighting back tears when he sees what he's done.]] |
| 176 | *** [[spoiler:Johnny Kiebitz's death. In singleplayer, we see him what happened to him (and the Lost MC) after The Lost and Damned. He is a train wreck all these years due to drug use and when he angrily confronts Trevor, he gets murdered when the latter is enraged by the discovery of Michael's survival. In GTA Online Halloween 2023, Johnny reappears as a ghost at the same place where he died and repeats some of his final words and calls Trevor's name. Poor guy can't seem to pass on to the afterlife.]] |
| 177 | * [[LesCollaborateurs Doctor Breen]] in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'', who genuinely believes that what he's doing is the only way that humanity can survive. His EvilGloating and attempts at {{Not So Different Remark}}s get increasingly desperate as Gordon gets closer and closer, and right before his death, he tearfully cries "You need me!" |
| 178 | * ''VideoGame/HauntingGround'': |
| 179 | ** It's very easy to feel sorry for Debilitas, should the player not drop the chandelier onto him and opt to defeat him the old-fashioned way. Fiona feels rather guilty for killing him in self-defense, considering that Debilitas only wanted to play with her, [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength not realizing how dangerous he was.]] [[spoiler:In fact, getting the best ending requires that he survives.]] |
| 180 | ** There's no option that lets the player defeat Daniella without killing her, but for all her [[AxCrazy Ax-Craziness]] and wanting to kill Fiona, it's pretty easy to feel sorry for her when she dies. She only wanted to be complete. |
| 181 | * Duvall, the main villain in ''VideoGame/{{Haze}}'', is an extremely arrogant and over-confident jerk for the entirety of the game. When's he fatally wounded in the final duel, however, it's hard not to feel sorry for him when he's sobbing, and then begs you [[DontTellMama not to tell his mom what he's done]] (slicing off fingers, killing people, etc.). |
| 182 | * ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'' gives you the option to do this with [[TheHeavy Helis]]. If you choose the [[AllLovingHero Compassionate]] dialogue option after defeating him for the last time, Aloy remarks sadly that for all his belief he was chosen, and the fact he killed so many, including Aloy's ParentalSubstitute, in the name of that belief, right up until his death he was just a pawn used by HADES who doesn't understand the forces that drive him. She allows him to look to the sun one last time before killing him quickly and cleanly, and closes her eyes sadly. It helps if you find some of his audio diaries and hear how much he loved his wife, and how devastated he was when she and his child died in childbirth. Of course, [[NoSympathy You can also take]] the [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Aggressive dialogue option]]... |
| 183 | * ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'''s final boss, General Tor, gets a death scene like this. |
| 184 | * ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'': In the third game, after Kageyama makes a HeelFaceTurn, he is soon killed in what appears to be an accident (in the anime, it was caused by Garshield). Kidou is shown to be sad in both adaptations and cries in the game. |
| 185 | * In ''VideoGame/TheJourneymanProject'' trilogy, villain of the first game Elliot Sinclair gets this in his appearance in the third game when we find out his true motivations: he witnessed his hometown destroyed by a Cyrollan ship and spent the three and a half millennia of life granted him by exposure to an alien artifact slowly growing into a bitter old man. Having failed to stop the Cyrollans from returning, he's given up living and lost his immortality, slowly wasting away in a hospital bed in prison. |
| 186 | -->'''Gage''': I was at Atlantis. I saw its destruction. |
| 187 | -->'''Sinclair''': You saw it? ''[Heartbroken]'' Then you ''know'' that the most beautiful city in history was destroyed by our '''benevolent protectors'''. |
| 188 | * Xaffiquel, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/{{Kamui}}''. |
| 189 | * Pedro Montana, from ''VideoGame/{{killer7}}'', is a total bastard who sells orphans so that their organs can be used for Heaven's Smiles. But when we actually ''see'' him, he's playing handball when his partner, Curtis Blackburn (whom Pedro recently betrayed and ran out on), arrives. Pedro is ''terrified'' when he sees Curtis, and soon we discover he had a damn good reason to be - Curtis doesn't forgive. In this case, Curtis's idea of proper retribution is '''''slaughtering Pedro's entire family'''''... and then taunting him with stories of how they died. It's one of the hardest scenes in the game to watch, and makes it very clear that, out of all the villains in the game, Curtis Blackburn is the worst. |
| 190 | * The ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' series has plenty: |
| 191 | ** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'', this happens to Clayton, one of the Disney villains. While the rest of the villains willingly allied themselves to TheHeartless for their own sick desires, Clayton was just a hunter who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and having an emotional moment of weakness, which allowed the Heartless to find him and steal his heart, turning him into their puppet. After his death, the party expresses pity for him, with Tarzan saying that if Clayton had some friends at his side, then maybe he wouldn't have fallen to the darkness. |
| 192 | --->'''Tarzan:''' Friends, same heart. Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no see friends. No heart, no friends. |
| 193 | ** The Organization members across ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories Chain of Memories]]'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' prove to be rather pitiful in their final moments as they're overcome with fear that their deaths mean the permanent end to their existence, [[spoiler:though the emotional punch is lessened with the reveal that it actually helped restore them to their humanity once their hearts were freed from the Heartless and[=/=]or Xemnas's artificial Kingdom Hearts.]] |
| 194 | *** Axel dies in ''Kingdom Hearts II'' after becoming TheAtoner and performing a HeroicSacrifice to allow Sora's team access to the Organization's base. The fact that he jokes about his death makes it worse. |
| 195 | ----> '''Sora''': You're... you're fading!\ |
| 196 | '''Axel''': That's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack... not that Nobodies actually HAVE beings, right? Hehahahaha... |
| 197 | *** Saïx, despite his ruthlessness towards everyone, gets a touching sendoff as he pines for Kingdom Hearts to give him his heart back. |
| 198 | *** Xemnas gets what would seem to be a crack at this after the first fight with his armored form, driven home by chest/heart-clutching and indeterminably pained facial expressions, making it look like he was expressing genuine sadness over something. The moment, which managed to get [[SympathyForTheDevil Sora to sympathize slightly with Xemnas]], was ruined on two accounts: 1.) Xemnas was faking his death and promptly returned for another three battles, only to get a more unceremonious send-off when he ''did'' bite it, and 2.) [[AmbiguousSituation Xehanort's convoluted backstory calls into question how sympathetic Xemnas is as a character]]. |
| 199 | ** The Riku Replica spends his last scenes in ''Chain of Memories'' tormented by the fact that he's just a copy of Riku, leading him to try kill the original to make himself "real". Once Riku defeats him, he has this to say: |
| 200 | --->'''Riku Replica:''' So... it's over. Hmph. Death doesn't frighten me. Good riddance to a phony life. My heart was never real. I'm sure even what I'm feeling now is probably fake.\ |
| 201 | '''Riku:''' What are you feeling?\ |
| 202 | '''Riku Replica:''' What happens when a fake dies - one like me? Where will my heart go? Does it disappear?\ |
| 203 | '''Riku:''' It'll go somewhere. Maybe to the same place as mine.\ |
| 204 | '''Riku Replica:''' A faithful replica until the very end. That's... okay. |
| 205 | ** Other examples in ''Kingdom Hearts II'': |
| 206 | *** After Sora and co. defeat the Experiment and return the presents it stole, Santa Claus speculates that it only took them because it believed the joy associated with gifts would somehow give it a heart. Dr. Finklestein backs this up by mentioning he failed to provide the Experiment with a heart during the creation process. |
| 207 | *** In the [[Manga/KingdomHeartsII manga adaptation]], Sark's reason why he works alongside the Master Control Program was because [[spoiler:he lost faith in the users following the banishment of Ansem the Wise, and Terra-Xehanort taking his name. Since Sark had no idea on what really happened, he simply thought that Ansem betrayed him. His derezzing words were to warn Tron that Sora, Donald and Goofy would eventually betray him if he continues to believe in them. Sora, feeling sorry, reassures Tron that they will always be friends.]] |
| 208 | ** Vanitas in ''Birth by Sleep'' makes such a lost and sad expression as he pitifully tries reaching for the χ-blade before fading away in ''Birth by Sleep'' that it's hard not to feel some degree of sympathy for him, despite being a remorseless HumanoidAbomination [[MadeOfEvil made of darkness]]. It doesn't help that [[spoiler:his face is identical to Sora's, apart from the eye and hair color.]] |
| 209 | ** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' gives this to a number of the Real Organization XIII's members as they're defeated in the final battle, but not all: |
| 210 | *** Dark Riku [[spoiler:(i.e. the Riku Replica from the past) is ZigZagged, as he's just as determined to prove he's the "real" Riku as he used to be, but gets eliminated by his present-day self, who performs a HeroicSacrifice to give Dark Riku's vessel to Naminé.]] |
| 211 | *** Xigbar [[spoiler:subverts this, faking out the heroes with a [[DrivenToSuicide self-imposed]] DisneyVillainDeath after revealing his whole motivation was [[IJustWantToBeSpecial to have a Keyblade to call his own]]. Not only did he survive, but he's one of the original owners of Xehanort's Keyblade, and the one stringing Xehanort around all along.]] |
| 212 | *** Luxord [[spoiler:is a GracefulLoser and gives Sora a "wild card" as a reward to help him some time in the future. The two then promise to meet up and play each other again one day, not as agents of light and darkness, but just as two everyday guys.]] |
| 213 | *** Larxene [[spoiler:downplays this as she [[SoreLoser pouts over losing to Sora yet again]], but is at the very least grateful that it means she won't have to be Xehanort's vessel anymore, and gives Sora a [[WhenSheSmiles playful smile]] as she fades away.]] |
| 214 | *** Marluxia [[spoiler:begins to regain his memory as he fades away and gives a sad yet genuine laugh, feeling emotion for the first time in years and thanking Sora for helping him reclaim his old identity.]] |
| 215 | *** Vanitas [[spoiler:defies this by undergoing a RedemptionRejection as Ven tries convincing him he's his own person who doesn't need to define himself as [[EnemyWithout Ven and Sora's darkness given flesh]], saying that he chose to view himself this way and is damn proud of it.]] |
| 216 | *** Terra-Xehanort [[spoiler:averts this when he gets booted out of Terra's body by his Guardian Heartless--possessed by Terra's heart--after trying to kill Aqua and Ven.]] |
| 217 | *** Saïx [[spoiler:makes amends with Axel after finally admitting his own jealousy of Roxas and Xion before [[DiedInYourArmsTonight dying in his friend's arms]], promising to meet him again as a human.]] |
| 218 | *** Ansem [[spoiler:finally acknowledges that Riku has triumphed over the power of darkness and accepts that his own time has passed, offering words of encouragement to the heroes to move on as well.]] |
| 219 | *** Xemnas [[spoiler:regains his heart and suffers a VillainousBSOD, overwhelmed with a sense of loneliness after realizing he has taken all his old allies for granted, and finding new appreciation in the strength Sora and other humans have to bear it.]] |
| 220 | *** Young Xehanort [[spoiler:averts this, having already anticipated and accepted his own defeat while [[EvilGloating gloating that Sora has sealed his own fate with his actions]].]] |
| 221 | *** Master Xehanort [[spoiler:gets a big one, where the ghost of his childhood friend/rival comes in to talk him down, remind him of better times, and travel with him to the afterlife.]] |
| 222 | * ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'': |
| 223 | ** A non-death example happens with King Dedede in ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStarUltra'''s Revenge of the King; after being defeated by Kirby one last time as [[CoolMask Masked Dedede]], Dedede sulks through the desert at sunset, depressed to have failed to defeated his fated rival yet again despite how hard he worked. He is then followed by the Waddle Dees, signifying that even though this would be the last time Dedede would actively try to fight Kirby, he still has his loyal subjects to support him all the way. |
| 224 | ** You just can't help but feel bad for [[TragicVillain President Haltmann]] meeting his end in ''VideoGame/KirbyPlanetRobobot''. Starting out as your typical CorruptCorporateExecutive, it turns out that he [[spoiler:lost his daughter during an incident with [[AIIsACrapshoot Star Dream]], lost all of his memories of her in his attempts to bring her back, and when she returned, he didn't recognize her at all. All of this makes his death at the end of the game all the more upsetting.]] |
| 225 | * Darth Malak, if you confront him on the lightside path, in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''. Despite setting up camp on the far side of the MoralEventHorizon, his doubt and regret as he's dying is ''just'' believable enough to earn a little sympathy. Bastila, too, if you decide to kill her (or have to because you can't talk her down, although less so there.) |
| 226 | ** Many villains in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'' |
| 227 | *** Colonel Tobin wants to protect his home planet and goes to extreme measures to do so. His final fate, having the life slowly sucked away from him by a humanoid abomination is a grim fate for even him. You can give him the chance to redeem himself through a self sacrifice however. |
| 228 | *** Darth Sion ''is'' evil, and has very little to redeem himself with. But he is constantly in pain and only his hate and mastery of the dark side holds him together. You literally talk him into giving up, and with his last words he reflects on how empty his life was. |
| 229 | *** Atris is a fallen Jedi who's driven mad by both guilt, loneliness and surrounding herself with Sith holocroms. While their relationship is highly antagonistic through most of the game, The Exile and Atris have a lot in common and a lightside Exile might choose to bring it up and spare her. |
| 230 | *** Despite being a ConsummateLiar you do get to find a lot about Kreia, and it's clear your relationship with her is very important. She doesn't necessarily want you to agree with her, though that would be appreciated, she just wants you to listen and learn from the mistakes of both the Jedi and Sith. Her final goal is to destroy The Force and given the arguments through the game you might agree with her. |
| 231 | * ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfDragoon'': Greham. He was Lavitz's father's best friend, but grew envious of how strong he was, and betrayed him to his death for the power he wanted. When he falls before the party, he reveals all of this, and his last words are, "Now... I can go... to be with Servi..." |
| 232 | * ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroDawnOfTheDragon'': It's revealed that the Apes were given a FateWorseThanDeath by Malefor so terrible, it's rather hard not to feel some sympathy for them. They were turned into living skeletons, forever cursed to remain in the shadows and feed off the energy of others, unable to ever be full. Even Spyro and Cynder are visibly horrified by this. |
| 233 | * Ganondorf, oddly and impossibly enough, manages to invoke a tiny bit of sympathy with his death in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''. The wind is blowing indeed. In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', Link and Zelda also express pity as Ganondorf passes away, though that seems to just make him hate them all the more. His death blow is actually done by Zant, who was his servant and clearly turned on him, likely killing them both. |
| 234 | ** FanGame ''VideoGame/HyruleConquest'' gives a [[TearJerker truly heartwrenching]] one with Ganon, [[AdaptationalHeroism of all people]]. As if his DarkAndTroubledPast and [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremism]] weren't enough, he dies cornered by the Hylian army and betrayed by Bongo, [[VillainousBreakdown desperately crying and not even opposing Princess Zelda]], [[KickThemWhileTheyAreDown who mercilessly cuts him down]]. Then the content of his book, where he had written of his plans for the Triforce, is revealed: childish drawings of a peaceful world where Hylians and Moblins live happily together, with all the people who died in the war resurrected. |
| 235 | * [[spoiler:Nathan Prescott]] from ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'' |
| 236 | ** [[spoiler:For most of the game he's an arrogant creep at best and deranged psycho at worst, who you learn is responsible for the murder of Rachel Amber, and when you are told that he has been murdered it seems like karma. However, Rachel's death was an accident, as Nathan kidnapped her by himself to impress Mr Jefferson, the only ParentalSubstitute to show any compassion or praise towards Nathan, which backfired horribly. Once you escape the Dark Room you receive his final message, a voicemail on your phone in which he warns you that Mr Jefferson is out to kill you, even as he knows that Jefferson is coming to kill him first, before he breaks down and begs forgiveness for what he's done, sobbing in remorse.]] |
| 237 | ** Made even more impactful if you explore [[spoiler:his room while searching for clues]] and the principal's office, where you can find [[spoiler:an email from his sister expressing concern that their abusive father (who sent her away to the other side of the world for defying him) will try to mould him into his own image to continue the family legacy whatever the cost, reminding Nathan that she still loves him and cares for him]] as well as [[spoiler:the school psychiatrists report, which repeatedly emphasises Nathan's unstable mental condition. It also reveals that Nathan suffers disconnection from reality, anxiety and possibly bipolar disorder, and his psychiatrist recommends Nathan see someone more qualified for such conditions, but Nathan's father insisted that Nathan simply be given heavy medication and be left at Blackwell. Searching his locker in the locker room also turns up psych meds.]] |
| 238 | ** It is strongly implied that [[spoiler:Nathan was in love, or at least infatuated with Rachel]] and various conversation options throughout the game reveal that [[spoiler:Nathan's mental condition has been noticeably deteriorating ever since her disappearance/death]] although the only person to notice was [[spoiler:Victoria Chase, who genuinely cares about Nathan, and her misunderstanding over this is a large part of her hostility towards Max.]] |
| 239 | * Although Durandal from ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' is not ''technically'' a villain, he is forcing people to die meaninglessly, and sends the player on suicide missions, sometimes for the hell of it. Tycho also reveals that Durandal doesn't care about humanity or the S'pht (in fact, he might hate humanity, although this may be somewhat a case of UnreliableNarrator), he just wants to find the Eleventh Clan of the S'pht because he believes that they know where he can find the Jjaro, who have the ability to help Durandal become God in the next universe. Nevertheless, he did want to stop the Pfhor invasion of Earth, and killing him was a horrible thing to do. Until we find out that he [[BackFromTheDead wasn't really dead]]. |
| 240 | * In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', this applies to Saren if you manage to convince him that he's been indoctrinated and become nothing more than a slave to the Reapers. He regains enough control to shoot himself in the head, letting him [[DyingAsYourself die as himself]]; |
| 241 | --> '''Saren''': Goodbye, Shepard. ''Thank you''. |
| 242 | ** Matriarch Benezia, as well, particularly since she started out trying to keep Saren from going too far and ended up BrainwashedAndCrazy for her efforts. |
| 243 | ** In the sequel, the Collector General, when it's revealed that Harbinger has been possessing it all along. The way it looked around in confusion and reaches up at the hologram of Harbinger (because it's all it has), as the space station was blowing up around it just tears your heart out. |
| 244 | ** Although it's uncertain when, exactly, he fell, at the final moments of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' you're confronted with an indoctrinated [[TheChessmaster Illusive Man]]. He can either be made to realise this, in which case he [[DrivenToSuicide shoots himself]] with a resigned, "[[MyGodWhatHaveIDone I tried, Shepard]]", or he can be gunned down, following which he looks out, one last time, at the view of Earth and comments; |
| 245 | --->'''Illusive Man''': There... Earth. I wish you could see it like I do, Shepard. It's so... perfect... |
| 246 | ** The supposed Luna VI that was actually an illicit AI called Hannibal gets one of these when you destroy the last of its mainframes. Sure, it had killed or was trying to kill everyone around it, but when you pull the plug the terminal fills with binary code that, if translated in real life, reveals the word "help" repeated over and over. Hannibal is scared of dying and is desperately shouting "Help me!" over and over as he fades away. |
| 247 | *** This is made even sadder by the revelation that Hannibal was rebuilt into EDI. She still has memories of it. |
| 248 | ** The BigBad of the ''Citadel DLC'' for ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', is a [[EvilTwin Cerberus Clone]] of Shepard, attempting to KillAndReplace the original. While both are hanging off the edge of the ''Normandy'' ramp, they rant about what makes Shepard so special, only to get an answer when Shepard's [[TrueCompanions friends]] rush to help them, while Brooks callously leaves them to die. This [[HeelRealisation realisation]] is why in the Paragon Ending, they refuse a TakeMyHand and let themselves [[DrivenToSuicide fall to their death]]. |
| 249 | * ''VideoGame/MegaManX'': |
| 250 | ** Sigma's speech upon his defeat comes off as this. |
| 251 | ** In the remake, ''VideoGame/MegaManMaverickHunterX'', this doesn't happen to Sigma. Who this does happen to is [[spoiler:Vile at the end of his exclusive mode]]. |
| 252 | * Most of the baddies in the ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' series gets this. |
| 253 | ** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'': |
| 254 | *** Psycho Mantis: His mother [[DeathByChildbirth died giving birth to him]], his father [[MaternalDeathBlameTheChild deeply resented him for that]] and [[AbusiveParents abused him through his life]]. On top of that, Mantis' PsychicPowers made things even more [[AMindIsATerribleThingToRead difficult]] for him. As he dies, Mantis uses his powers to help Snake and Meryl and remarks that [[GoodFeelsGood helping someone feels rather nice]]. |
| 255 | *** Vulcan Raven: An honorable shaman and warrior who lived a harsh life, he puts up a tough fight against Snake, dispenses some knowledge into Snake's nature, and is then eaten by his ravens, "becoming one with them." |
| 256 | *** Sniper Wolf. In between her horrible childhood and her downright painful death (including gunshots to her lungs), it's hard not to shed a tear for her. |
| 257 | ** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'': |
| 258 | *** Fortune: A DeathSeeker who finally gets her wish granted to her... right after finding out her father's death, as well as her husband's arrest, mother's suicide and her miscarriage, were all planned out by her employers. It helps that she also spent her last moments alive [[DeathEqualsRedemption helping Snake and Raiden survive Ocelot's missile assault]]. |
| 259 | *** Solidus's defeat was also somewhat pitiful on his part: He ended up killed by the Patriots via Raiden, [[WellIntentionedExtremist after working hard to re-establish liberty in the USA]], especially when he had nothing else to leave behind other than this. This is best demonstrated by his final actions: after falling from Federal Hall, his last visible action is him reaching up to a statue of George Washington in longing, as he attempted to redo America the way Washington originally founded it. |
| 260 | ** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'': |
| 261 | *** The Fury's dying words as he flashes back to his days in space, right before he blows himself up. |
| 262 | --->'''The Fury:''' Mission Control, do you read me? I'm coming home! |
| 263 | *** The End similarly gets a touching send off, dying doing what made him happy. |
| 264 | *** The Boss. Until a minute later, you really feel this. After that, whatever humanity there was just gets strained as you learn the truth. Considering how well it was done, it may still be a "poor villain" because of how well she played her part. |
| 265 | ** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'': |
| 266 | *** One's mileage could vary on this, but Vamp's death could count. Caught in a terrorist bombing, he was forced to drink the blood of his family in order to survive while stuck under the rubble. And with the HealingFactor-inducing nanomachines in his body, he becomes as much of a DeathSeeker as Fortune was by the time ''Guns of the Patriots'' rolls around. The fact that he's ''smiling'' as the nanomachines are finally shut down in his body makes you feel bad for him. Sort of. |
| 267 | --->'''Vamp''': I can... die...? |
| 268 | *** The kicker though, has to be ''every single member'' of the Beauty and the Beast Unit. And if their respective [[BreakTheCutie backstories]] didn't solidify their position as the biggest [[TheWoobie Woobies]] of the game, their death scenes, where their humanity finally shows through, are a pretty good litmus test for deciding if there is an ounce of humanity in you. |
| 269 | *** [[spoiler:Major Zero]]. Sure, he was the (indirect) cause of all the events in the main series, but he [[WellIntentionedExtremist truly never meant]] for things to [[GoneHorriblyWrong go as horribly wrong]] as they did. By the time the AI constructs turned out to be [[AIIsACrapshoot a crapshoot]], it was too late for him to fix his mistakes. When we see him at the end of the game, he's a pitiful old man - a catatonic wheelchair-bound vegetable kept alive only through life support, who can't even take responsibility for the things he didn't know he caused. And when [[spoiler:Big Boss]] pulls the plug on him, the way he fidgets and spasms as his oxygen supply is cut off is downright unsettling. |
| 270 | ** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'': [[TheFakeCutie Paz Ortega Andrade (Pacifica Ocean)]], claimed to be a believer of peace, but was really a spy and fooled Big Boss and his people, becoming the FinalBoss of the game itself. However, her dairy entries showed that during the time she regretted her actions but she felt she didn't have a choice in the matter. Fast forward to ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain Ground Zeroes]]'' and we discover that Paz survived, but is a prisoner who was getting tortured and possibly raped for months. Chico, who deeply cared about her, tried to save her, only to be captured and used as leverage against her. In spite of all this, she found some solace and hope in having Chico, her only companion and friend in that prison camp. Big Boss is able to save her and Chico, and even remove a bomb that was implanted in her stomach. Only for her to wake up and reveal that a second bomb was planted elsewhere in her body. She [[RedemptionEqualsDeath sacrifices herself]] by jumping out of the helicopter just before the bomb detonates. |
| 271 | ** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'': Skull Face: While he was a douchebag for most of the game, it's hard not to feel sorry for him during his final moments, slowly dying in pain after being crushed and his limbs (except his left arm) dismembered by Kaz and Big Boss, all while he begged to be killed. But then he got killed by Huey, and then he yelled "REVENGE!" |
| 272 | * In the ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' franchise, Mileena is a murderous AxCrazy psychopath who ''loves'' to kill. Thing is, when you look into her background thoroughly, you find out everything she does is for her "father", Shao Kahn, and that she just wanted to be accepted by him. In fact, Kitana's non-canon ending of ''9'' shows she would have made a HeelFaceTurn if Kitana and Jade had [[IJustWantToBeLoved simply accepted her rather than regard her as an abomination.]] All this makes her execution at D'Vorah's hands in ''X'' kind of sad. |
| 273 | * Saya, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/NamcoXCapcom''. |
| 274 | * Aribeth in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'', if you can't turn her back. All of the other villains in that story and the expansions are of the AxCrazy [[OmnicidalManiac variety]], though. |
| 275 | * ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'': |
| 276 | ** This AlternateHistory mod provides a moment for one of the most notorious Nazis in-game and in RealLife. Reinhard Heydrich is the leader of the Waffen SS and has a somber storyline that presents him sympathetically as it goes on. He initially vomits when he learns of Himmler's plans to [[spoiler:incinerate the entire world in a nuclear holocaust]] and after a few days of smoking and drinking himself into a stupor, abandoning any Spartanist ideals he once had, he scrounges up a ragtag coalition to stop the Burgundian madman. If he wins the ensuing confrontation, he realizes that his idol was an utter maniac and the fact that he had to co-operate with Polish "untermensch" who fought with valour at his side and had nothing but honesty in their dealings, [[spoiler:Himmler's omnicidal plot]] and Heydrich's own association with the ideology killed more Aryans than any supposed "Jewish plot" ever could have, including one of his own sons, and alienated him from his surviving family, and the SS are in the end willing to plunge Germany in chaos ''again'' to seize power, all show Heydrich how twisted and beyond the pale Nazi ideology is. The resulting mental breakdown causes Heydrich to [[AteHisGun blow his own brains out]], as he decides the world would be better off without him and Nazism. If he ''loses'' to Himmler, Heydrich is left crying out the names of his children in horror and anguish [[spoiler:as Himmler commences his plan to destroy the world and purge it of non-Aryans.]] |
| 277 | ** There is a measure of sympathy to be found in the horrifically insane [[TheCaligula Sergey Taboritsky]]. Even as he [[spoiler:gasses his own people and slaughters everyone with the slightest hint of impurity or disobedience in Russia until he completely kills even the ''idea of Russia as a nation''...]] there is something harrowing in watching him realise how delusional and lost his cause is, becoming more insane especially after he [[spoiler:murders his friend Nabokov]]. This culminates in the revelation of the obvious: that Alexei Romanov was murdered as a boy by the Bolsheviks, and is never coming back no matter what he does to "purify" Russia. He dies screaming at a horrific hallucination, pitifully begging for Alexei to return. |
| 278 | * ''VideoGame/NocturneRebirth'' has the BigBad, [[spoiler:Khaos, who wants to destroy the world and reconstruct it to the time before his friend was killed, all while believing that she's the only person who can give his life meaning. When that plan fails, he puts on a sad smile while stating he will never get a happy ending, and then commits suicide. The party is distraught by this, since they considered him a [[BigBadFriend friend]] despite his antagonism.]] |
| 279 | * ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes'' often invokes this with the deaths of each {{boss|Battle}}, many of them being [[AntiVillain sympathetic]] and all of them being [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot awesome]]. Good examples include Dr Peace, Holly Summers, Jeane, Ryuji, and Captain Vladimir. Alice Twilight certainly qualifies. By the time Travis meets her, she's sunk into depression, mourning the loss of Margaret Moonlight, and honestly just wanted to die. She even spells it out to Travis that the reason most of the assassins he's encountered have been so delighted to meet him is because they all just want to be freed of the endless fighting. It's also her death that causes Travis to have a WhatTheHellHero revelation as he finally gets sick and tired of the killing. |
| 280 | * Gogandantess from ''VideoGame/Onimusha2SamuraisDestiny''. Despite his [[ArrogantKungFuGuy arrogance]] and the fact that he's, well, a demon, he is also one of the few Genma [[NobleDemon with a sense of honour and chivalry]], and [[UsefulNotes/YagyuJubei Jubei]] develops a respect for him, culminating in him actually rushing to Gogandantess' side to be with him in his dying moments, during which they both [[WorthyOpponent express their respect for each other]]. The music during the scene doesn't help, either. |
| 281 | * ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' has [[TheBrute Chris Walker]], the towering ImplacableMan that stalks Miles Upshur throughout the game. Although he is AxCrazy and seemingly killing people at random, Walker is actually trying to make sure that the [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Walrider]] is unable to possess any of the patients and staff [[WellIntentionedExtremist by killing everyone else in the building]]. [[AlwaysABiggerFish The Walrider later kills him itself]], tearing Walker into pieces as he dies screaming. Miles recognizes this AntiVillain behavior, and in his journal, sympathizes with Walker and hopes he's not in pain anymore. |
| 282 | ** It may seem strange that he is so obsessed with pigs, but if you read The Murkoff Account, you see that he was a BruiserWithASoftCenter who had a stuffed pig he adored. Even after he's been physically mutilated and mentally shattered, he still holds onto that piece of himself. |
| 283 | ** From the minute you encounter Eddie Gluskin in the Whistleblower DLC, it's clear that he's a [[MoodSwinger volatile,]] misogynistic killer, sent to Murkoff for [[SerialKiller killing multiple women who didn't live up to his vision of his]] [[LoveHungry "perfect bride" who would serve him dutifully and give him a loving family.]] The other inmates are terrified of him and often refer to him as "The Groom". He scrawls saccharine marital advice on the walls, litters his makeshift workshop with bridal dresses, and mutilates whatever male inmates he can get his hands on by [[GroinAttack chopping off their penises]] and sewing breasts onto their dead bodies. Once he turns his sights onto Waylon, he comes ''this'' close to giving him the same fate before he manages to escape his operating table; Eddie hunts Waylon through the asylum afterwards, cycling between threats and warm pet names. So it's even more surprising when his last words before [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice he succumbs to his wound and dies]] are surprisingly tender. In addition, reading the document that details the [[RapeAsBackstory horrific childhood sexual abuse he suffered at the hands of his father and uncle]] and how he's dissociated from it in order to cope makes you think that his unrelenting pursuit of a beautiful home with a loving family whom he can protect [[FreudianExcuse probably has some psychological weight behind it.]] |
| 284 | -->'''Eddie, clutching Waylon's hand:''' We could have been beautiful. |
| 285 | * ''VideoGame/OriAndTheBlindForest'' has Kuro, a rampaging owl who is trying to stop your quest to revive the light of the forest at all costs. [[spoiler:About halfway through the story, you find out the light emitted by the Spirit Tree while searching for Ori killed her babies, and she is only trying to make sure the same doesn't happen to her last unborn chick. When she sees for herself what damage she has wrought on Nibel and the immediate danger it presents to her egg, she returns Sein, the source of the Spirit Tree's life, to the tree, sacrificing herself so the forest may return to normal.]] |
| 286 | * ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'' has Shriek, the mutated owl of the petrified Silent Woods. [[spoiler:From her birth between her petrified parents, she never found love, being rejected by other owl families due to her mutations]]. After Ori defeats her in the final battle, [[spoiler:she crawls under the wings of her petrified parents to wait for death]]. |
| 287 | * While ''VideoGame/PaperMarioStickerStar'' is undoubtedly the [[LighterAndSofter Lightest and Softest]] game in the series, the fourth boss, Mizzter Blizzard, was revealed to have a tragic backstory that led to him getting the Royal Sticker, which let him live like he wanted to at the cost of his sanity. He regains his sanity after losing, at which point he reveals his backstory and that he got the Royal Sticker as a result of praying to have a body that wouldn't melt. He then, in a playful manner, asks Mario to rebuild him next winter so they could play again, this time on friendly terms. To drive it all home, the narration of his backstory, which is third person for all other bosses, is in the first person here. |
| 288 | * ''VideoGame/Persona5'': TheMole reveals that all he wanted was to be acknowledged by his father. [[spoiler:He also admits that his goals and the Protagonists' are ultimately the same after throwing his massive tantrum, and seemingly [[RedemptionEqualsDeath dies]] protecting the party from his father's mental projection of him inside the MentalWorld of the Palace.]] |
| 289 | * ''VideoGame/PillarsOfEternity'': For most of the game, [[BigBad Thaos]] is a mysterious, yet ruthless and cruel man willing to do anything to protect the AncientConspiracy he founded. Then TheReveal happens and you see what he really is; [[spoiler:a sad old man who watched everyone he ever cared about kill themselves in a mass HumanSacrifice in a misguided attempt to give the world guidance in the form of [[FantasyPantheon undeniably real gods]]. He’s spent the last two thousand years alone and miserable, manipulating society out of desperation to keep the origins of the gods secret and ensure his people didn't all die pointlessly. After he dies, your character can potentially show sympathy and understanding towards him before you decide what to do with his soul.]] |
| 290 | * ''VideoGame/Portal2'': |
| 291 | ** [=GLaDOS=] and Wheatley. Neither of them die, but during the core transfer, [=GLaDOS=] screams in pain and it's terrifying. Wheatley shoots right into antagonist territory, destroying her power. And then you transfer them ''again'', and throw him into space, and he gets an absolutely heartbreaking apology monologue. It makes you wonder who to feel sorry for at that point. |
| 292 | ** The guy's [[PosthumousCharacter long-dead when you first hear him]], but Cave Johnson. Specifically, when you hear his recordings from the 1980s, and his company's nearly bankrupt and he's dying of [[ItMakesSenseInContext moonrock poisoning]]. |
| 293 | * In ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone'', when a villain's final defeat occurs, they may have a final speech that causes this reaction. Most notable are [[spoiler:[[VideoGame/SakuraWars Aya-me]] and [[VideoGame/MegaManX Vile]] [[{{Jerkass}} of all people]].]] This also happens to [[spoiler:Saya again in the sequel. Even Reiji and Xiaomu express some sympathy for Saya.]] |
| 294 | * ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'' has a FinalBoss that goes down like this. The version of his death in the GoldenEnding is the most moving. The world in Radiant Historia is constantly in danger of becoming a lifeless desert, and only the voluntary HumanSacrifice of a member of the royal family of Granorg can postpone it. When it was his turn, he refused to go through with it because he didn't see anything in the world that was worth saving, and spent the game trying to make sure the only other remaining potential Sacrifice - [[PlayerCharacter you]], his nephew - doesn't become one either. When you defeat him and make it clear that you're going to go through with it whether he likes it or not, if you've achieved OneHundredPercentCompletion, he decides that ''you'' are something in the world worth that's worth dying for, and performs the HeroicSacrifice himself in your place. |
| 295 | * Skint in ''VideoGame/TheReconstruction''. Towards the end of the story, it seems like he's going to turn out to be the BigBad, but when your party arrives at TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon, you find him collapsed in a bloody heap right outside it. He reveals that he actually tried to stop the BigBad and was on the heroes' side the whole time before asking Dehl to MercyKill him. |
| 296 | * [[DiscOneFinalBoss Dutch van der Linde]] from ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption''. According to John Marston, Dutch was once an altruistic idealist who led his gang with the goal of bettering the world. His descent into insanity was triggered by the realization that all his efforts to improve the world were futile, combined with the guilt of all his deeds. His final moments are a somber affair between him and John where Dutch shares an epiphany he's had. Dutch admits he can't change the world and he can't change his nature, so he fought all his life despite knowing it was a lost cause. Dutch ends up committing suicide rather than let himself be captured by the government he spent his life rebelling against, his death symbolically tied to the end of the romanticization surrounding the Old West. |
| 297 | ** Bill Williamson's death in ''I'' is the one that becomes more sympathetic with the addition of ''II''. In ''I'' he's an AxCrazy psychopath who's the most explicitly evil member of John's former gang. Bill is revealed in ''II'' to have what seems like PTSD from his time in the army during the Indian Wars. He's also scared of getting what seems like dementia that drove his father into madness. He's also TheUnfavorite in the gang despite being one of the people who's loyal to Dutch till the bitter end. Bill is also heavily implied to be gay in ''II'' living roughly a century before it was socially acceptable so he's living with a big secret (which would be hard enough on anyone, let alone someone as fragile as he is) with probably lots of shame and self-loathing tacked on for simply being who he is. It's no wonder the guy has lost it in the interim years. |
| 298 | ** Javier Escuella can count whether you decide to capture or kill him in ''I''. He was quite a nice gentleman in ''II'' who had been starving to death in America while fleeing from his home in Mexico until Dutch took him under his wing and gave him a new life, a new home, and a new family. Javier was a guitarist and a good fisherman, often teaching Arthur Morgan how to fish; and he would often hit Micah Bell for telling him to "fuck off back to Mexico". However, his unyielding devotion to a man on the brink of collapse proved to be his downfall, and by 1911 he had returned to Mexico a jaded and amoral mercenary, working for the very government he once fought to overthrow. If John Marston decides to capture him, he is taken into custody and deported to America by Edgar Ross and the U.S. Government who would later try and hang him. On the other hand, if John decides to kill him, he will pick up Javier's corpse after shooting him down and carry him to his cell for a moment, weeping tears of sorrow that he has to bring the corpse to Ross as proof in order to claim the bounty. Either way, it's a sad state of affairs that the man who had taught Arthur to catch fish and saved John from a wolf attack is now dead. |
| 299 | * The ending of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' begins with a montage of happy scenes of the villagers of Pueblo before being infected by [[TheVirus Las Plagas]], contently tending to their farms, playing with kids, and shows that the [[PlayerPunch very first Ganado you killed liked to play guitar for the village children]]. Then the music turns dark, the cultists arrive, and everything goes straight to hell with scenes of villagers suffering convulsions, killing children, and [[BodyHorror mutating]]. |
| 300 | * There are two endings in ''VideoGame/SaikoNoSutoka'' on Normal/Hard Mode which portray the titular villain sympathetically. In the Good Ending, [[spoiler:Saiko is impaled on glass after crawling out of a window to chase Akira. Rather than this being triumphant, it is framed tragically as Saiko is reduced to begging Akira for help. Her last moments are spent in fear of her inevitable death.]] In the Best Ending, [[spoiler:Saiko is able to take back control from [[SplitPersonality her alter]] and prevent herself from killing Akira, but it's not enough for Akira to forgive her. He runs away, and Saiko is left alone and miserable.]] |
| 301 | * After each of the mind-blowingly epic boss battles in ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'', you are treated to a brief cutscene of the colossus succumbing to death accompanied by remorseful and heartbreaking background music. Surely enough, [[YouBastard you feel like a sick, twisted bastard for killing such a magnificent creature]]. They're not even villainous. They are only antagonists because [[AntiHero Wander]] made a [[DealWithTheDevil deal with Dormin]] to save Mono. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero They wouldn't be bothering anyone if you weren't there.]] Phalanx, the Thirteenth Colossus, doesn't bother anyone even ''after'' you try to kill it- ''[[WhatTheHellHero It is fleeing from you the entire time.]]'' |
| 302 | * ''VideoGame/ShantaeHalfGenieHero'': After defeating [[spoiler:Squid Baron]], Shantae laments that this time the villain seemingly blew up for good. [[spoiler:It turns out he's fine.]] |
| 303 | * One of the original ones for Video Games was Oddler/Odd Eye in ''VideoGame/ShiningForceII''. Dude joined you as a blind kid with no memories, he follows you and clearly admires your skill, and stays behind with Creed. Unfortunately, he turns out to be a greater devil and is fought as a boss, wishing, as he died, that he could live his life again not as a devil. |
| 304 | * [[PsychopathicManchild Walter Sullivan]] of ''VideoGame/SilentHill4''. Spends the first half of the game brutally murdering everyone the player character meets and the second half trying to kill him while laughing hysterically, but it is still almost impossible to hate someone whose final action was to desperately call for his mother. By the end of the game, the player is really finding themselves wondering if you're killing him because you hate him or if you just want to put the man out of his misery. |
| 305 | * ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' gives us Ramirez's death at the end of the game. When all that's left of him is his crystal, Vyse expresses sympathy for Ramirez and requests to give him an honorable sailor's burial. Notably, he's the only real villain in the game that's shown in a truly sympathetic light, and whose circumstances are seen as a [[FallenHero tragedy]]. |
| 306 | * ''VideoGame/{{Super Robot Wars Original Generation}}s'': |
| 307 | ** Invoked in-game, as part of the {{Retcon}} given to Axel Almer. Originally, in the face of death, he continued to mock Lamia and died 'being a doll on his own will'. In the remake, however, after his heartfelt confession on how the ArtificialHuman surpassed his ''very low'' expectations, he mutters Lemon's name before his demise, signifying his genuine care; even Raul, who was practically angry at Axel, who caused Fiona to disappear, feels bad on having to kill him. Then, it's subverted in ''Original Generation Gaiden'', when Axel comes BackFromTheDead and has a HeelFaceTurn. |
| 308 | ** An even better example is Echidna Iisaki, one of Lamia's sisters. Thought to be personality-less as the W Numbers are suppose to be, in the end, she's revealed to be completely sentient when she disobeys orders to come back alive at all costs in order to take a fatal blow for her Mistress's boyfriend, Axel. When asked why, she responds that it would make her Mistress sad if Axel was killed, as, while she can be replaced as many times as needed, humans are gone when they die. Lamia begs her to eject so they can help her, but the dying Echidna defiantly proclaims "I am not... Echidna Iisaki! I... am... W16...". Axel's reaction on both occasions counts for this trope. While the original had him cursing over how a doll he hated saved his life, you feel sorry for Echidna dying and still being treated like trash by her superiors; the remake had Axel lamenting over how her death will end up demoralizing the whole Shadow Mirror army. |
| 309 | * When Hyouma defeats Garuda in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsCompact3'', he tells him to eject from his mech and the Combattler team agree since he's lost the battle, he doesn't need to lose his life but Garuda says that he is content to have fought them as a real Campbellian would have, right to the end which made Chizuru asks if what he said just right now means that he isn't one. Garuda confirms it saying that it's true that he is a robot. Garuda tells Hyouma and the Combattler team that this is a battle with no hate behind them, a fair fight to the end. He only wishes that he had realized things sooner before Mia had been destroyed. Folka notes that pride alone isn't capable of changing things, he wonders what is necessary in order to break free of the cycle of tragedy. Hyouma muses that he wished that he and Garuda had met under different circumstances and Folka agrees that Garuda was a very prideful warrior even if what he believed in was incorrect. |
| 310 | * Dark Knight Andoras in ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre''. All of 'em were jerks, sans Lans Tartare, Volaq (due to being OutOfFocus, but what little we ''do'' see paint him as an honorable man), and maybe Ozma in the remake[[note]]Only when she joins you[[/note]]. But then comes Andoras, who actually ''joins'' Barbas and Martym in betraying the other three, possibly for personal gain. So you'd probably think he was dislikable, like Barbas and Martym were. But he actually did it because his family and countrymen were enslaved by Lodis, and he wanted to get back at Lodis to free the countrymen he felt were "hostages". Before he dies, he even warns Denam that Valeria must be united, because that was the reason that the Bolmarkians (his nationality/ethnicity) and Nirdums (the Royal family he was a part of) fell to Lodis. |
| 311 | ** In the GaidenGame, Rictor and Cybil come off this way. Shaher also only wanted attention from God, too. |
| 312 | ** For that matter, a lot of bosses give lines when they die, such as characters lamenting about how they couldn't give medicine to their sick daughter, how the boss was fighting for his wife, and how the ''wife'' of said boss was ''pregnant''... Matsuno ''really'' wanted to drive home the point of how war affects everybody in ''terrible'' ways. |
| 313 | * All of the God-Generals save Dist, who survives, in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' get one of these. After the speeches they give about their ideals before their final fights (most of which involve copious amounts of angst), it really makes you feel like a douche for having to kill them. There's some GreyAndGrayMorality in there, given ''some'' of them... |
| 314 | ** Arietta's might be the worst, however. She's one of the least malevolent of the God-Generals and has, at that point in the game, lost ''everything'' that matters to her... and unlike the other God-Generals, who mostly get fought in Boss Battles and then die off afterwards in cutscenes, she actually does die directly due to the player beating on her, her last words lamenting her failure to avenge the deaths of her mother and Ion, both of which are caused by the player party's actions. And she's only a little girl! |
| 315 | ** Sync tends to get this the least out of the other God generals (Sans Dist, since he never actually dies), mostly because he didn't seem to give as much of a shit about it all. Yeah, he's got some angst and all...but he psychologically tortures Anise and does all sorts of things that almost push on the MoralEventHorizon. |
| 316 | ** The game also does this to Grand Maestro Mohs. |
| 317 | * On the subject of a Tales of game, ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'' also has one of these. Which was the game's primary twist in the end, since Dhaos had stated in the very end that he didn't want to be ultimately confronted by the heroes since he was just trying to save his people. Even the characters say that they appear to be the bad guys from Dherris Karlan's point of view. Way to go, Cress. |
| 318 | * Alice and Decus in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld''. Most people despised the former after all of the cruel things she did, treating Decus like crap when he is in love with her. After their final fight, Decus even [[TakingTheBullet takes Emil's sword for her]] and died in Alice's arms. She realized that she loves Decus after all, proceeded to go into an UnstoppableRage to avenge his death. She even cried for him. Then, she said that soon they'd be together again and held his hand as she died. This is following a few PetTheDog moments from her, too. |
| 319 | * Even the first ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' had this with either Zelos (if you got the 'bad' ending), who pulled a FaceHeelTurn (in his last words, he's talking about how his death might make life easier for his estranged sister), or Mithos himself, who started this entire 'chosen' and got involved in the 'splitting the world/harnessing mana' mess because he wanted to bring his sister back from the dead. His last words don't help. |
| 320 | -->'''[[FallenHero Mithos]]''': Farewell, my shadow, you who stand at the end of the path I chose not to follow. |
| 321 | * Poor Walter in ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia''. He was just doing what he was conditioned to do since birth. |
| 322 | * One really couldn't help but feel sorry for [[VideoGame/TalesOfGraces Lambda]] after hearing all of the stuff that was done to him by Emeraude. Almost makes you feel ''glad'' for him when he [[YourHeadAsplode blows her up]]. |
| 323 | ** The same happens for the Little Queens. When the characters defeat the Fodra Queen, [[spoiler:all that's left is one Little Queen who is still trying desperately to cling to her duty. Sophie can't help but feel sad for her.]] |
| 324 | * Izebel, the DiscOneFinalBoss of ''VideoGame/TearsToTiara2''. She [[spoiler:Is a FallenHero. And the only reason she did a FaceHeelTurn was because she was ordered to by her commanding officer and the person she loves in order to save their country. She had to genuinely switch sides in order guard Hispania from the worst of TheEmpire's excesses, and she has to bear the name of traitor and murderer of said commander as well as face the hatred of all her old friends and colleagues. Even before this, she was forced to work as a child spy for TheEmpire to support her sickly mother, who due to the sickness either always yells at her or doesn't recognize her.]] To top it all off, we learn of the truth only after Hamil ran her through with his sword. |
| 325 | * Genbu from ''VideoGame/{{Tenchu}} 2'' died on his feet and with a smile on his face. This is made all the more tragic when it turns out that Genbu is defending his boss because she was the only warrior to accept him as a Ninja, despite his otherwise comically inept ninja skills. |
| 326 | ** The BigBad, Kagami, is an example. All she wanted to do was unite the ninja throughout Japan and free them from the survitude of abusive lords who often take advantage of them and treat them like dispoable slaves, instead of elite soldiers worthy of respect. This is the reason [[spoiler: Tatsumaru stays with her, even after regaining his memories. And after she is assasinated, its clear that Akame and Rikumaru reasons weren't because they didn't understand her motives, but because of personal reasons of not liking her, mainly taking Tatsumaru away from them.]] |
| 327 | * Lara does ''not'' feel good at all about the death of [[spoiler:Larson]] in ''VideoGame/TombRaiderAnniversary''. That they had a history together, that he [[TokenGoodTeammate really wasn't that bad of a guy]], and that Lara really didn't want to pull the trigger but had no choice certainly didn't help either: she's visibly distraught after watching him die. That moments earlier in the game he, unbeknownst to Lara, went out of his way to ''save her life'' by "accidentally" shoving The Kid and then missing his shot on purpose, doesn't make it any easier for the audience either. |
| 328 | * In the middle of ''VideoGame/TrialsOfMana'', all the [[BigBadWannabe aspiring Big Bads]] race into the Mana Sanctuary to attempt to claim the sword of mana. However, two of them are worfed by the one who ends up ''becoming'' the Big Bad. All of them will, even if they have no connection to anyone in the party, give a sad speech about how they have lost everything and [[DespairEventHorizon have no more reason to live]]. |
| 329 | ** The Darkshine Knight is no longer sustained by the Dragon Lord's power, thus when he confronts the party he informs them he has but mere moments to live, but at least [[DyingAsYourself he dies as himself]], free from brainwashing. |
| 330 | ** Goremand is destroyed physically but pops away with a WeWillMeetAgain. |
| 331 | ** Belladonna in particular - she is DrivenToSuicide, and even tells Riesz (if she is present and thus not the main character) that Elliott was returned to Laurent because she has no reason to harm him. |
| 332 | *** It's worth pointing out that even ''on'' her route, Belladonna receives some of this because of her unrequited love towards her dark prince. |
| 333 | * Thorne in ''VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh''. Yes, he was greedy and made an exceedingly stupid mistake (that laser caused his wife to die, and his best friend to vanish - Alan Bradley is ''not kidding'' about the safety protocols!). But his [=PDA=] testifies to a lonely, frustrated life (the contact list comprises work contacts, [[EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas his mother]], and a shrink), and he dies horribly (being eaten alive by TheCorruption). |
| 334 | * [[spoiler:[[OmnicidalManiac Flowey]]]], of all people, gets this at the end of a No Mercy Run in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}''. [[spoiler:After explaining how he came to be to [[VillainProtagonist the Fallen Child]], he realizes that the Fallen Child plans to kill him, and [[VillainousBreakdown utterly panics.]] He destroys Asgore's soul for you in an effort to gain your favor, then takes the appearance and VoiceGrunting of his old self, Asriel, in a desperate attempt to remind the Fallen Child that he was- and still is- their best friend. The Fallen Child then ''[[CruelAndUnusualDeath proceeds to brutally murder]]'' '''''[[KickTheDog their best friend.]]''''']] For everything he did, it's still far more horrifying than satisfying to see his demise. |
| 335 | ** Another one is [[spoiler:Asgore. He may be the main reason that your character has to face so many monsters trying to take your soul, but he is actually a genuinely nice person. And he is killed in every ending, save for the PacifistRun.]] |
| 336 | * ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles''' Selvaria [[EarthShatteringKaboom blew herself up with most of Gallia's army]], but the look on her face and her reasons for doing so will just make you feel sorry for her. |
| 337 | ** Maximilian. It's clear that the writers intended for him to be sympathetic in his final moments. |
| 338 | * [[NoNameGiven The Stranger]] who abducts [[TheCutie Clementine]] in Telltale's ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' game. Before that, he was just a father trying to keep his family alive through the ZombieApocalypse, but after losing his son while they were hunting and having all his family's supplies stolen while they were searching for him, his wife and daughter took off on their own only for him to find them as [[NotUsingTheZWord Walkers]] the next day. And the ones who took his family's food were ''your'' group. |
| 339 | * ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'': Many examples in the franchise: |
| 340 | ** ''VideoGame/WarcraftIIIReignOfChaos'': Grom Hellscream. Despite slaughtering his way across two entire planets, despite embracing demonic corruption twice over, despite condemning his people, and despite frequently jeopdardising the future of the Horde...his HeroicSacrifice and death scene in Reign of Chaos makes up for it. Almost. |
| 341 | ** ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': |
| 342 | *** The final moments of [[FallenHero Arthas Menethil]] surprisingly fit this. Despite constantly hearing that nothing remains of Arthas himself, there's still enough for him to cling to his father's specter in search of some final comfort as he lies dying. Somewhat eclipsed by the ensuing HeroicSacrifice. |
| 343 | *** Given Illidan's official [[TheWoobie Woobie]] status throughout much of ''Warcraft'' lore, his death (by betrayal, no less) at the end of the Black Temple raid dungeon is tragically empty. WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife indeed. |
| 344 | *** In ''Warlords of Draenor'', [[spoiler:Garrosh Hellscream's death in a duel against his old mentor Thrall has many players feeling sorry for Garrosh, [[AlasPoorScrappy despite his well-hated status in the fandom]]. It doesn't help that his accusations towards Thrall aren't exactly wrong, and Thrall's refusal to acknowledge his partial responsibility for Garrosh's fate ends up making Thrall look like the bad guy.]][[note]]It should be noted that Thrall decided to make amends for his part in enabling Garrosh's reign of terror by cheating in a duel so he would be forcefully demoted to the bottom of the Shaman class... which bites everyone in the ass when he can no longer lead during an even worse crisis, mirroring the way he abandoned the Horde in the first place.[[/note]] |
| 345 | ---->[[spoiler:''"YOU made me Warchief! You LEFT ME to pick up YOUR! PIECES! YOU... FAILED... MEEEE!"'']] |
| 346 | *** Kil'Jaeden in the ''Legion'' expansion. As he lays there dying, knowing that the heroes are going to escape his TakingYouWithMe attempt, he lays bare his DespairEventHorizon motivations for joining the Legion itself. Velen silently touches his forehead before teleporting out, signifying that he had forgiven Kil'jaeden's many millennia-long vendetta against both the Draenei faction and Velen himself. |
| 347 | --->'''Kil'Jaeden''': I was always envious of you. Your gift. Your faith. Your vision. I never believed that Sargeras could be stopped. Perhaps... you will prove me wrong. |
| 348 | * ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'': Kitaniji, upon realising he has failed to save Shibuya, leaves it in Neku's hands, accepting his fate for Shibuya's sake. |
| 349 | * ''VideoGame/XComChimeraSquad'': While most of the enemies in the game are just straight-up terrorists, Gray Phoenix's ultimate goal is to assemble a spaceship and go back to where they came from, escaping a world that doesn't accept or value them and is in their eyes nothing more than a blood-soaked prison. Upon being defeated, the leader either tearfully orders her followers to disarm or commits suicide, depending on your choices. |
| 350 | * The final boss of ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'', [[spoiler: Zanza,]] provides an odd example. In game, his death is triumphant, the end of an ageless and meaningless war, and the end of the worlds cycle or revenge, leaving few players feeling anything other than satisfaction. Come the sequel, however, and his death is recontextualised thanks to his relationship with [[spoiler: The Architect.]] Turns out, [[spoiler: Zanza is only half of Klaus, a scientist who’s actions created the worlds of both Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2 by destroying the original. In the original, Klaus did so out of the selfish desire to be a god, but 2 reveals he also wanted to evolve humanity end the suffering of his world, which was being torn apart by war. The result split Klaus, sending half of his mind into another dimension that eventually became Zanza, with the remaining half becoming known as the Architect.]] While both were granted the power of a god, [[spoiler: the Architect]] was left in the universe he decimated, giving him a major case of MyGodWhatHaveIDone, leading him to try and rebuild life to atone for his crimes. After realising that the life he had created could end up just like him, he became a DeathSeeker, but due to his connection to [[spoiler: Zanza,]] he could only die when Shulk [[spoiler: killed Zanza.]] When the final blow is dealt, [[spoiler: the Architect]] is finally released from his endless suffering. In short, while in his own game [[spoiler: Zanza’s]] death is celebrated, with the context of the sequel it becomes a lot more tragic. |
| 351 | * The main (human) antagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' vowed to use science to ''create'' a God to replace the one who had created, and then abandoned, the world. In despair over the death of his unrequited love, Sophia, he succeeded in bringing "God" back to the world in the form of a malevolent alien superweapon. Upon its destruction and his own defeat, he was taken up [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence directly to Heaven]] by the true God, while telling the reincarnation of Sophia and her lover that he envies their capacity for unsullied human love. |
| 352 | * The main antagonist of ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'', Albedo, exhibits this trope as well. After commenting positively about the fact that he will no longer have to fear losing anyone (a fear which was the catalyst for his decent into psychopathy to begin with) in oblivion, he tells the protagonist, whom he has known since childhood and who is clearly distraught by the climax of their encounter: "What's with that face? You look like... you just lost your best friend." Junior himself is on his knees crying at this point, and you should be too. Ironically, he cries out for the antagonist not to 'leave him alone', a sentiment the antagonist exhibited in childhood upon realizing that he was immortal and would outlive the people in his life. [[{{Narm}} Except the seriousness of this scene could be ruined given that little girls in angel wings take him away in a crucified antagonist shot... with one literally holding onto his leg]]. |
| 353 | * At least half of the main antagonists in the ''Yakuza[=/=]VideoGame/LikeADragon'' series qualifies. ''VideoGame/Yakuza1'' has Akira Nishikiyama and Reina, the former being Kiryu's best friend who turned villain and latter being a someone who followed Nishiki out of unrequited love, ''VideoGame/Yakuza2'' has Ryuji Goda, ''VideoGame/Yakuza3'' has Yoshitaka Mine, ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' has Hiroki Awano and Homare Nishitani, ''VideoGame/Yakuza6'' has Takumi Someya, and finally, Ryo Aoki/[[spoiler:Masato Arakawa]] and Jo Sawashiro in ''VideoGame/YakuzaLikeADragon''. |
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