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5[-[[caption-width-right:300:And they especially won't do squat about [[MentorOccupationalHazard the perils of mentoring]].]]-]
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10->''"Cutscene death: The only death that counts!"''
11-->-- '''[[LetsPlay/ChipCheezum General Ironicus]]''', LetsPlay ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots''
12
13When someone dies in a cutscene, [[TheoryOfNarrativeCausality because the story gods have demanded it]]. It doesn't always [[GameplayAndStorySegregation fit with how the game handles combat death and wounds]], be they NonLethalKO or OnlyMostlyDead and it doesn't matter how many extra lives the player has left. Characters who have taken [[StatisticallySpeaking fireballs (and worse) to the face]] at pointblank range will be felled with a single gunshot or stab wound, even if they're level 99. Don't even try your resurrection magic, [[FantasticAesop it would be wrong.]]
14
15 A few games actually see magic users or clerics attempting to heal fallen characters, but failing, somehow implying that the dying character is injured in a way beyond conventional methods of healing to help. It's technically a HandWave, but they tried. Another reason this could be is that the spells do not have the power to bring back the dead, they just can revive the unconscious.
16
17Sometimes this happens in RTS games as well, where in most levels a death can easily be fixed by building the relevant unit production structure. This is generally because developers found that when players ''weren't'' able to build heroes back during campaigns, they'd frequently ignore some of the [[TooAwesomeToUse most powerful units for fear of them dying]].
18
19If the killed character is an {{NPC}}, it's even worse, the gameplay mechanic usually simply doesn't allow the player to revive such a character.
20
21The flip-side is that, occasionally, what the story gods took away, they may give back; there may be a way to bring someone BackFromTheDead in a cutscene, but it's usually optional. If not, well, that's what makes it [[RuleOfDrama drama]].
22
23Inevitably, a character who is killed in this way will generate an UrbanLegendOfZelda regarding how they can be revived, even if actually reviving them is impossible.
24
25Usually a ''glaring'' example of [[GameplayAndStorySegregation gameplay and story segregation]], though a few games will make an attempt to [[JustifiedTrope justify]] it. Also the worst form of death in video games, going plotline death, KilledOffForReal, OnlyMostlyDead, and NonLethalKO. Very commonly part of a PlayerPunch and DeathByOriginStory.
26
27Inverse of CutscenePowerToTheMax, where a character does nigh-impossible feats, including defying death, merely by the virtue of being in a cutscene. Sub-trope to CutsceneIncompetence.
28
29'''This is obviously a {{Death Trope|s}}. It contains major unmarked spoilers, so read at your own risk.'''
30
31----
32!!Examples
33[[foldercontrol]]
34
35[[folder: Action Adventure ]]
36
37* Happens twice in ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus''. One is when [[spoiler: Agro throws you off her back [[HeroicSacrifice to save you]] from a BrokenBridge, falling into a crevice in the process. This is subverted in the ending, where it turns out Agro survived the fall, but not without a noticeable limp.]] The other time is [[spoiler: at the very end of the story, when Wander suffers a MercyKill at the hands of Lord Emon.]]
38* In ''WesternAnimation/KingArthurAndTheKnightsOfJustice'', at the end of the game, Morgana kills the two knights that were in your party. If you want them back, you have to go to the Land of the Dead.
39
40[[/folder]]
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42[[folder: Action Game ]]
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44* The difference between Plotline Death and gameplay death shows up again in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI''... But it's the ''opposite'' of the usual difference. When Kratos dies in gameplay, it's permanent, and you have to reload the last checkpoint... however, when the plot requires him to die, he's allowed a chance to fight back out of the Underworld and complete his quest.
45** Given the circumstances of the death (killed by Ares ''seconds'' after claiming PandorasBox, the one weapon that can kill him), and knowing Kratos, it's possible that when he dies in the plot, he's finally pissed off enough to kill his way out of there. That, and it's only on that visit that someone drops a rope for him.
46** Circumstances of his death is probably the key, especially since it's implied he needs supernatural help to be able to escape from the Underworld. If he dies before claiming PandorasBox, then he's just like anyone else who tried to get it and failed. If he dies after climbing out of Hades and challenging Ares, then even the power of the Box wasn't enough to kill the God of War.
47** The same thing happens in ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire''. If you die, it's reload time, unless you're killed confronting the BigBad, since that's where you're supposed to die. You then fight your way back from the afterlife.
48* Regardless of whom Cole decides to save in ''VideoGame/{{Infamous}}'', his girlfriend Trish will still fall to her death. This ends up motivating Cole to try to gain more powers and will not run away from the Beast in the future. In the ''VideoGame/{{inFAMOUS 2}}'' ending, its either the conduits or the humanity lives depending on your Karma.
49* In ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance'', you must choose between rescuing [[ComicBook/XMen Nightcrawler or Phoenix]] from Mephisto's realm. Doesn't matter if you have enough players to attempt to TakeAThirdOption, it's a case of ButThouMust. [[spoiler:If Nightcrawler is chosen, Phoenix returns in the epilogue as Dark Phoenix. If Phoenix is chosen, Mystique kills Professor X.]]
50** DLC does allow you to finally TakeAThirdOption with Magneto, who blows the locks on both cages and lets them walk out.
51* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', it doesn't matter how many guards or doctors you rescue, most of them will be dead before the game's end.
52** [[spoiler: Dr Young]] is probably the most notable. At one point you ''have'' to save her from Victor Zsasz to progress, but moments later there's nothing you can do to stop her getting blown up by the Joker.
53
54[[/folder]]
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56[[folder: Adventure Game ]]
57
58* Subverted in ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}'' (''Indigo Prophecy'' in North America) - the last third of the game is played as the main character despite him being technically dead.
59
60[[/folder]]
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62[[folder: Driving Game ]]
63
64* ''VideoGame/RacingLagoon'', the deaths of the [=NPCs=], Makoto Sawaki and Kyoji Nanba, are quite important to the TheHero as [[FromBadToWorse the show's getting worse and worse]]. It's justified why they are being thought of all the time since their crashes occurred [[PlayerPunch right after or not very long after you race with them.]]
65
66[[/folder]]
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68[[folder: Fighting Game ]]
69
70* Throughout the Story Mode of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', whoever has to kick the bucket will do so in a cutscene between fights, ranging from Scorpion immolating the original Sub-Zero at Quan Chi's behest to [[spoiler:Shao Kahn [[NeckSnap snapping Kung Lao's neck]]]] to [[spoiler:Sindel single-handedly massacring the Forces of Light before Nightwolf pulls a HeroicSacrifice.]]
71** ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' continues the trend. [[spoiler:Mileena and Quan Chi]] are each executed in cutscenes; [[spoiler:Baraka]], on the other hand, ends up [[SlidingScaleOfGameplayAndStoryIntegration on the receiving end of a Fatality]].
72
73[[/folder]]
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75[[folder: First-Person Shooter ]]
76
77* In ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}} 2'', you play as Sev, a soldier with a "medic gun" that can heal downed soldiers (as long as they haven't been shot in the head). Some time near the end of the game, one of your partners, Garza, is wounded by Radec and eventually dies. Why you couldn't use your Medic gun to heal him doesn't make much sense.
78* ''VideoGame/RequiemAvengingAngel'':
79** There is a Plotline Death that must be reversed to continue the game. (One of the player's powers is "revive".)
80** Also, later in the game, a semi-major ally character dies. It makes sense that you're unable to revive her, as she is blown to pieces, and your revive ability requires an intact body to function properly.
81* In ''VideoGame/CliveBarkersJericho'', two of the Jericho Squad members, Devin Ross and Paul Rawlings, have the ability to heal fallen comrades, provided that they maintain visual contact. Close to the beginning of the game, however, Ross dies after being slashed across the chest and dropped from a great height, and, no matter how hard he tries, Rawlings can not bring him back. This is important to the game mechanics during the following levels, however, as Ross' spirit lives on, possessing the bodies of his squadmates, so that he may share their consciousness and use their abilities, as well as still being able to use his own healing abilities.
82** Also, just before the final boss fight, both Simone Cole and Xavier Jones are killed by the Firstborn, who uses its powerful blasts of lightning from its hands to blow them into bloody chunks. They cannot be revived at all, and no-one even tries, quite possibly because bringing back someone from the dead who has been blown into tiny pieces would be a tad difficult. This is also necessary for the mechanics of the boss fight, as the Firstborn is able to use the squad's magical abilities against them, and it wouldn't have been feasible (or really very fair) for it to use Cole's time-slowing/firepower-increasing abilities or Jones' astral projection against the other characters.
83* Pretty blatant in ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'', especially the fourth. Non-plot essential characters drop like flies, but if they are plot-essential, then they're invulnerable to damage. Then in some later scene, they die, of course.
84** Some of the main {{Player Character}}s have this happen! You get to ''play out'' their final moments in first-person!
85* This is what happens to Bill in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' in The Passing campaign. Despite the fact that survivors respawn in closets when killed and the sequel introducing the MagicalDefibrillator to revive on the spot, Bill is truly dead [[spoiler: as was revealed in The Sacrifice comic when he was attacked by three Tanks while trying to raise the bridge to help his friends escape.]] Naturally, an UrbanLegendOfZelda spawned from this, saying Bill can be brought back to life with the defib. Obviously, it doesn't work.
86* In the ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor'' series, both major [=NPCs=] and {{Red Shirt}}s are frequently [[ScriptedEvent scripted]] to die, sometimes spontaneously dropping dead without even being hit.
87* In ''VideoGame/TheDarkness'', Jackie's girlfriend Jenny gets killed by the antagonist Paulie. The Darkness prevented Jackie from saving Jenny in order for him not to be [[TheyWereHoldingYouBack weakened by emotional ties]].
88* In ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'', [[spoiler: Roland]] is killed by Handsome Jack late in the game, immediately after [[spoiler: Angel]] commits suicide with your help.
89* Rather sloppily handled for at least one event in ''Terra Nova: Strike Force Centauri''. In one mission the PC is captured by the bad guys and some of your buddies show up to bust you out, the "mission", such as it is, being "run to the exit". Schuyler, one of your guys, dies immediately as the mission starts (even though his health is full, no-one has even fired a shot yet, and they apparently managed to sneak in completely undetected - in '''''full power armour''''' no less). Makes even less sense as teammates (other than you) are almost never killed by running out of suit energy; the suit then "evacs" them from the mission when it hits critical (which is exactly what Schuyler does, complete with CasualDangerDialogue) so this is rather jarring. Made ''worse'' by the fact that it's not even a particularly ''hard'' fight to get to the exit, and you are never really under any threat.
90
91[[/folder]]
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93[[folder: [=MMORPGs=] ]]
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95* During the epic "While Guthix Sleeps" quest in ''VideoGame/{{Runescape}}'' [[spoiler:[[BigBad Lucien]] does this to several [=NPCs=], including Hazelmere, who acted as a mentor in earlier quests, and two Slayer Masters, one of whom (Duradel) was the strongest Slayer Master in the game at the time the quest was released.]]
96** One of the required quests, Path of Glouphrie, has the player about to be killed in a death trap. Hazelmere, mentioned above, manages to teleport in and use a magic seed to save the day. [[spoiler: Before arriving, Hazelmere was having a chat with his god about how he would need that seed to save his own life during While Guthix Sleeps.]]
97** Invoked during one of the Dungeoneering sagas. You play as a Forgotten Warrior attacking a group of player spoofs. After beating them in the fight, you forcibly take their Ring of Kinship (in Daemonheim, you need to have one with you to enter and to choose your party), and then kill them. The Forgotten Warrior states that they would simply respawn if they had their rings.
98** This trope is eventually given an InUniverse reason for it, namely that fate requires certain people to [[TheChosenOne fulfill certain roles]]. If someone chosen by fate dies before they are meant to, TheGrimReaper will keep resurrecting them until their destiny is complete.
99* The original ''VideoGame/GuildWars'' features Prince Rurik tragically dying while leading his people to safety. In a world where resurrection is commonplace and takes 4-8 seconds.
100
101[[/folder]]
102
103[[folder: Platform Game ]]
104
105* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006''. Guess what happens in the last story....
106** And before that, [[spoiler: Blaze]].
107** And then [[spoiler: the game retcons itself by resetting time to before the games starts to ensure that none of the events ever happened, ever.]]
108* In ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFutureACrackInTime'', [[spoiler:Ratchet dies in a cutscene after taking a relatively weak looking energy blast to the chest from General Azimuth's wrench.]] Clank goes back in time later on to save him and succeeds, but one does wonder why [[spoiler:Ratchet]]'s nanotech didn't just heal him in the first place...
109** FridgeBrilliance: He didn't have his armor turned on. The devs game him Holo-armor so that they could turn it off during cutscenes. Due to the fact that he was completely unarmored, the weak looking energy blast offed him.
110
111[[/folder]]
112
113[[folder: Real Time Strategy ]]
114
115* Otomo in ''VideoGame/BattleRealms'', if you choose to follow the Dragon Clan plotline.
116* In ''VideoGame/RiseOfLegends'' Carlini dies in a cutscene near the beginning of third campaign by the god of Death himself, meaning he can't come back at all. Normally it just takes some resources and time to revive a fallen hero. Moreover in this mission you get to control a hero that has ability to resurrect friendly units.
117* The ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' series, including ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', is fairly loaded with these. The [=RTSs=] vary between having missions fail if critical [=NPCs=] die or (in III) simply letting you pay to raise them. In the MMO, it's worse: gameplay-wise, every player and every NPC respawns after being killed, in intervals ranging from a few seconds to a week. This applies even if you personally walk into Thrall's room in Ogrimmar and slaughter him. But if an NPC has to die because a quest says so, or the story has to advance between content patches, well... that's it.
118** Confusingly enough, however, the spirits that can raise a player from the dead actually do so in canon as well, one featuring in a cataclysm quest.
119
120[[/folder]]
121
122[[folder: Roguelike]]
123
124* ''VideoGame/ForTheKing'': The final cutscene [[TheHeroDies kills the player characters]] in the abrupt [[LoadBearingBoss collapse of the final boss's lair]] after his defeat, no matter how many VideoGameLives or other protections from death they've saved up.
125
126[[/folder]]
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128[[folder: Role-Playing Game ]]
129
130* Subverted in ''VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery'', giving the AlmostDeadGuy an amulet of life saving instead of talking to him actually revives him. This is required for the GoldenEnding.
131** It should be noted that an amulet of life saving doesn't prevent a death, it merely revives a dead person immediately after they die. Regular healing doesn't work on the guy at all, should a player try it.
132* Sort of subverted in the Tactical-RPG ''[[VideoGame/AgarestSenki Agarest: Generations of War]]''. Canonically, the lead character of each Generation and the three females chosen by Dyshana die at the end of their Generation e.g. Leonhardt, Fyuria, Luana and Elaine all die at the end of the First Generation. ''However'', it is possible to bring back a "mindless, heartless" Marionette version of these dead characters by obtaining the Forbidden Book items and taking them to the Alchemist's Guild. These Marionettes have no purpose plot-wise; they exist merely for people who wish to use them in battles.
133* Occurs frequently in the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' games.
134** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', Aerith's death is important to the story, so you're not allowed the chance to use a Phoenix Down to bring her back. Unlike what many people think (that her death is a plot hole), Cloud not being able to use Phoenix Downs on her is justified (albeit very vaguely), as her soul refuses to return to her body because it has to connect with the Lifestream.
135*** In a PlotArmor reversal, in the Kalm "flashback" when young Cloud is running around with Sephiroth, Sephy is near-invincible in random encounters and will revive Cloud if Cloud dies. It gets more bizarre if in the flashback, Sephiroth's AI decides to be a [[JerkAss jerk]] and never revive you. This can lead to a hilarious moment where after Sephiroth is out of Cloud's party, Cloud is running around town by himself in his "dead" state. (And then Sephy dies instantly if you poke him with a straw at the game's end...)
136** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'', after Galuf's battle with Exdeath, your other party members attempt to use healing spells and items, including a Phoenix Down, to revive him. It doesn't work, and he dies anyway. (because he was simply too far gone, having single-handedly fought Exdeath even when he was technically dead.)
137** Played with in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'': at one point, the party doesn't even get a chance to fight Golbez -- two side characters are just blown out of the way in a cut scene. After he leaves, they sure look dead enough, but Rydia enters to revive them. [[CastFromHitPoints The same game has Tellah burn out his life to cast Meteor in an earlier sequence, putting him beyond resurrection.]] Before that, two sibling wizards petrify themselves to save the main characters from a room closing in on them. Although you can attempt to use spells to revive them, it is explained that the bond between the wizards is so strong that no magic can break the Break spell. [[spoiler:An explanation that falls flat on its face, to say the very least, when the spell ''does'' get broken off-screen later in the game. By a wizard explicitly ''less powerful'' than Tellah, who tries and fails to break the spell on-screen.]]
138*** The game is however generally quite fond of Plotline Deaths as a means to make room for new or returning character. However, most of the characters return to life near the end of the game, and the GBA remake allows the player to choose among them for the final dungeon as well as the two bonus dungeons of the remake.
139** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' usually plays this straight, but one of the sidequests has a cutscene in which Mustadio gets the crap kicked out of him and Ramza starts hollering for a Phoenix Down. Mustadio survives. Now just think, if '''someone''' (cough, Ramza, cough, Delita) had thought of this for someone's dead little sister, maybe the game would have been a lot happier...
140*** Attempting to do so during the battle with said dead little sister (at least the original [=PS1=] version) gives you the bizarre message that you "missed."
141*** This one is especially strange because even if she survived that battle, she would've died during the cutscene afterward anyway. Or in other words, there is no good reason even for the developers to not let you Phoenix Down her.
142*** The reason you can't revive Tietra is because, during said fight, she suffers from an inherent status (nicknamed "Auto-Dead") that makes her immune to everything. "Everything" includes having an HP count above 0.
143*** It's worth noting though that Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the few games in the series where your playable characters can die permanently outside of cutscenes. When one of your characters runs out of HP, they fall unconscious, and you have only a few turns to use a Phoenix Down or revival spell. If the time limit expires, they're gone forever. (Naturally, if this happens to Ramza, it's GameOver.)
144** OlderThanTheyThink: ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyII'' has Josef get crushed by a [[IndyEscape boulder trap]], Minwu/Ming-Wu give up his life energy to break the seal on the Ultima/Xtal Tome, and Ricard/Edward Highwind die to let Firion, Maria, Guy and Leon escape from the revived Emperor. Also, the first [[RecurringCharacter Cid]] dies to the Cyclone.
145** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' [[spoiler: Queen Brahne dies in the arms of Garnet/Dagger]]. At this point not only your party shall have a Phoenix Down, but this character already has a couple of healing/reviving spells.
146* Both ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' and ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' had deaths that could be reversed via time travel, if someone did the right things. In ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'', if you fulfill the requirements the dead person turns out to have literally been [[HesJustHiding hiding]] the entire time.
147** In the ''Chrono Trigger'' example, other special circumstances are required beyond just time travel to pull it off, explaining why other deaths can't be reversed. The specific mechanism for time travel in CT ''usually'' only allows you to travel backward or forward by very specific amounts of time. For example, you can travel back ''exactly'' 400 years from the "main" time period of 1000 AD, but you can't "redo" events you've already seen in the 600 AD period by traveling back 400 years and 1 day.
148** In ''Suikoden'', on the other hand, the time travel event is explicitly a one-shot deal. It can never be done again, meaning that other major characters who die later are dead forever. And the event can also only be used to bring back one of the current "[[BecauseDestinySaysSo 108 Stars of Destiny]]", meaning that there's no option to revive [[spoiler:the hero's childhood friend Ted]], [[spoiler:his mentor's girlfriend Odessa]] or [[spoiler:his father Teo]] instead of [[spoiler:[[BattleButler Gremio]]]]. One of those three ''used'' to be a Star of Destiny, but he's not one of the ''current'' set, so it doesn't count.
149* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2'' doesn't let you bring [[spoiler:Shandra]] back. Though the implication from Elanee's dialogue (if she is in your party at that point) is that normal resurrection spells actually revive people who are almost but not quite dead, and [[spoiler:Shandra]] was way past that point by the time you get to her. In a more meta sense the game actually ''has'' no resurrection magic without expansions except for an item you get much later.
150* Various non-player characters in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' cannot die until their role in a given plotline is fulfilled, if then. For example, you can range up and down the Archmage's tower in the Imperial City, killing key members of the Guild, over, and over again. Or go to the Imperial Palace, and cut down Chancellor Ocato until your weapon breaks. Most of the rulers of the cities of Cyrodil are likewise "immortal", save for one. Note that in ''Morrowind'' it ''was'' possible to kill plot-relevant {{NPC}}s, and in so doing, [[UnWinnable break the plot]].
151** The game sometimes disables the player's controls, effectively creating first-person in-engine cutscenes. One example delivers this trope through CutsceneIncompetence, forcing you to stand still and watch while a hostile fighter walks up behind your employer, draws a weapon, and kills him.
152** In the first ExpansionPack for ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'', before the designers came up with truly immortal [=NPCs=], they simulated the effect by giving the king a magic ring that makes him like unto a god. This was probably necessary because the king in question was such a MagnificentBastard that otherwise even the most saintly PC would have been tempted to indulge in a little regicide. The fun thing is that this ring also made killing the king even more tempting, as the player would be able to loot it for himself.
153** Unfortunately some of the unkillable allies in Oblivion are seriously lacking in skill, 'dying' over and over again during various missions, this can ruin the immersion somewhat.
154* Subverted in the {{eroge}}-SRPG, ''Genrin no Kishougun 2''. When characters die in combat THEY ARE DEAD FOREVER, not only can you not use them again but they can't even appear in story related sequences, which is particularly frightening in the fact that all but one of the first heroines introduced are your main combatants. Don't let them die.
155* In one of the endings in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'' and its ExpansionPack, Viconia is eventually assassinated by the Drow society that she had fled from by means of poison. However, throughout the game there are numerous people who have resurrection spells to bring back the dead, and you can even get a ring that renders its wearer immune to ''all poisons''. Viconia herself is such a spellcaster, and even if another character is an epic level cleric, she's KilledOffForReal. (It should be mentioned, though, that if a character you are engaging in a romantic subplot dies and is resurrected in the game, it breaks the romance...for some reason. It is also possible for a character to be killed beyond the means of magic to revive them, but this normally requires spells like ''disintegrate'', or such massive damage that the character is chunked.)
156** The games also have some cutscenes (in particular the battle at the end of the prologue in the first game) where a character is killed in actual combat... except that he simply drops dead after a while, even if the enemy wasn't hitting him/her at that point.
157** In addition, at the beginning, you find Khalid, Jaheira's husband, dead. Jaheira claims that it's no possibility of getting him back, since your captor had dissected and desecrated his body. Which was partially true in D&D at the time: Only a Resurrection spell -- a 7th level priest spell -- would work on saving someone whose body is dissected (which would be a fine limiting factor if not for the unfortunate fact that every temple in the game sold them and at least two Rods of Resurrection are on sale in the local adventure mart). The fact that Khalid's body stayed in Chateau Irenicus when it collapsed seals the deal, though.
158* Averted in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment''. When characters are killed during cutscenes, fights still take place true to game mechanics, with damage listings and all. When [[spoiler: your companions are all killed]] at the Fortress of Regrets, you are conveniently not there to Raise Dead.
159* In ''VideoGame/SDGundamGGeneration DS'', the Rival Route is accessed by imitating the novelization of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam''; in other words, someone other than Char has to deal the last blow to Amuro, which kills him rather than simply damaging the Gundam as per the anime.
160* In ''VideoGame/Persona2 Innocent Sin'' a friend/lover of Yukino dies by bleeding wounds. Even though they didn't try to use magic here to heal him, they did try when Maya got stab by the ''Spear of Longinius'' at the end. She too didn't live due to the spear being able to cause wounds that can't be healed.
161* In ''VideoGame/Persona3'', [[spoiler:[[EnsembleDarkhorse Shinjiro]], Takeharu Kirijo, Shuji Ikutsuki, Jin, and ultimately, the main character.]]
162** [[spoiler:Although in Shinjiro's case, playing as the female protagonist in the PSP remake can avert this. If you max out Shinjiro's Social Link, you can give him a gift watch that will stop the fatal shot that should have killed him. This is largely why Shinjiro and the Female Protagonist have become a FanPreferredCouple. Unfortunately, he falls into a coma and does not wake up until the final day.]]
163* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' has a slightly more justifiable version. [[spoiler:[[GuestStarPartyMember Goro Akechi]] is killed by his father's cognition of him near the end of the seventh Palace. However, before he dies, he seals himself off with a huge steel door in order to protect the party. They can't use healing spells or items on him because they can't physically get to him.]]
164** There's also [[spoiler:Kunikazu Okumura. The player won't mourn him, but his death causes a LOT of issues.]]
165* [[Administrivia/NotASubversion Lampshaded]] in the RPG ''VideoGame/DungeonSiege'': You are given a mission to find an elder. When you arrive there, a cutscene plays where he is killed. When you return to town to report the elder's death, they ask you why didn't you just use one of your potions of revival to bring the elder back to life.
166* ''VideoGame/ArcanumOfSteamworksAndMagickObscura'' averts this by allowing the player to revive dead [=NPCs=] who are not even recruitable as party members, as long as he has the means - even if they were already dead to begin with. This only applies to a handful of characters, however, and people can still get KilledOffForReal, which is often explained away as a result of certain magicks at work or the body missing some vital parts.
167** One famous example occurs when one of the companions decides to leave the group as part of his personal storyline: by the time he is found, he gets killed, but the player is encouraged to revive him (there's even a conveniently placed Scroll of Resurrect nearby). However, that particular case is actually an aversion, as in some versions of the game the character dies in a normal fight instead of getting killed by a script, and it is possible for him to survive this - though the dialogue never accounts for it.
168** It is possible for the ''player character'' to suffer this, should they complete a particular sidequest. A PC with a high technological inclination should be prepared for this and buy or create some revival gadgets beforehand, because the subsequent resurrection they're subjected to is a magickal spell that follows the game mechanics, meaning it'll fail on a technologist.
169* In the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series, the player's party members die and get resurrected all the time... with two notable exceptions. In ''VideoGame/UltimaV'', a character slain by evil king Blackthorne's pendulum is permanently dead. And in ''VideoGame/UltimaVIIPartII'', a sacrifice is required for the Balance Serpent, for which one of your party members volunteers who will then be gone forever. Until the much-maligned ''VideoGame/UltimaIX''. *sigh*
170* In an interesting example, ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarII'' uses ''cloning'' as the preferred "revival" method of fallen characters - why a plot-killed character can't be cloned is vaguely explained in the US version by stating she can't be cloned because she's not human, [[DubInducedPlothole even though cloning prior to this point works on her]]; the original JP version instead states that the data required to revive her has gone missing; after the destruction of Climatrol and the death of [[MonsterLord Neifirst]], the technology used to create [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke biomonsters]] [[NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup is no longer available on Motavia]]. The Japan-only [=PS2=] remake adds an optional side-quest to fix this.
171** Bit character Tiem is murdered by her father Darum at the North Bridge when Rolf & co. bring her to see him; it's all a bit strange, since Tiem refuses to remove the veil obscuring her identity, and she mouths off to him when he demands the "stranger's" money, prompting him to slice her in the stomach. After he sees what he had done, he commits suicide, thereby letting the party continue on towards the Biosystem Labs.
172** Also in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIV'', Alys is struck by an attack that's used repeatedly in the battle proper, but when it hits her in the plot, the effects are lethal. This is certainly an example of GameplayAndStorySegregation, however the 'lethal' result is interesting in that Alys doesn't die immediately - she becomes sick, and dies slowly over the next few (in-story) days/weeks - an attack that in most [=RPGs=] would either kill you or not, actually killed because of side-effects such as infections that most games would just ignore. This attack also seems to suppress healing abilities; the party healer attempts to heal her in the cutscene that follows, only to fail. This actually ends up being a bit of foreshadowing for the second act: [[spoiler: The Black Wave's primary effect on Algo's people ''is' that disease. It can't be cured with magic and will raise corpses as zombies if they're continually exposed after death, with only the most powerful spiritualists actually making a full recovery on their own. The citizens of Mile don't even live long enough to make it ''indoors''. Having taken a Black Wave attack directly in the chest with no protection against it, Alys was only its first victim.]]
173* In ''VideoGame/SwordOfMana'', the main character has to kill Amanda after she is bitten by Medusa. They try to bring her back using healing magic, but it only gives her enough time to speak a few final words before dying. One is left to wonder why they didn't try an Angel Grail instead.
174* There are several of these in ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Corporal [[LeeroyJenkins Jenkins]] gets gunned down by MechaMooks right at the beginning of the game's first battle. Nihlus gets shot in the back of the head by Saren. And on Virmire, Shepard must [[SadisticChoice choose]] whether to save Kaidan or Ashley; the one not chosen dies in a nuclear explosion. Wrex can also be killed in a cutscene on Virmire, but whether or not he died depends on the player's choices.
175** In the finale of the sequel, choosing poor teammates for specific tasks will get them (or another character) killed in a cutscene. Also, ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' has to enter the history of video games as a game where you can actually put your handcrafted FeaturelessProtagonist character through a Plotline Death (disregarding the fact that he/she dies in the beginning of the game).
176** The third game guarantees the deaths of [[spoiler:Thane and Legion]]; the former is guaranteed to go out like a badass, while the latter will either make a HeroicSacrifice or be killed to stop him from killing you, depending on the choices you make. While a ''lot'' of former allies, and even some current ones, can die over the course of that game, these two are the only teammates who are guaranteed not to make it to the ending under any circumstances.
177* Jin Uzuki makes a HeroicSacrifice in the ending sequence of ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} Episode III''. Considering that he's a BadassNormal with a [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]], probably falls under TooCoolToLive.
178* ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'': Damn near everybody. But in a sort of inversion, since you're playing as a Valkyrie, that's how everyone ''joins'' your party.
179* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny2'', Karell's death is a ForegoneConclusion. Still, it's a bit jarring to see him felled by one little stab wound, and neither [[CombatMedic Atwight]] or [[TheRedMage Harold]] even bother trying to heal him. Harold might have had the excuse that she was in shock (and she does tell him to stop talking to try to stay alive longer), she knew it was supposed to happen, and her spells take a while to charge, but there's no excuse at all for Atwight not even trying a minor healing spell to buy him some time.
180* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', the party healer's failure to save a dying NPC is {{Handwaved}} as healing magic being less effective on people without Exspheres. But it was always completely effective on Genis and Colette even before they got theirs.
181** Nevermind Zelos's death if you choose to end the game with Kratos. He has access to both an Exsphere and Cruxis Crystal. This is {{Handwaved}} by no characters even attempting to save him. Of course, in that ending he had just betrayed the party, so bringing him back to life might not have been the best strategic decision. And he turns out to be a DeathSeeker, as well - hardly someone you want to be relying on in future battles, in either case.
182* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' will always include [[spoiler: Replica No. 7]] Ion dying. Whether he was a DeathSeeker at that point is debatable - he was ready to heal Tear, which would've put his own life at risk. Luckily, Anise's betrayal had given him a wonderful excuse for a HeroicSacrifice to help the party get rid of the miasma and heal Tear, too.
183* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'', the party healers try to save Stella after she has her spirit bird Teriques eat a cannon beam, but she's apparently too far gone for healing Eres to have any effect. So much for that RomanticFalseLead. Later on, when Fenimore is stabbed, Maurits orders his men not to heal her in hopes that this will create impetus for Shirley's powers to awaken. She dies. It works.
184* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia'', Milla performs a HeroicSacrifice to save the rest of the party when the E.S.S. Zenethra is destroyed after they defeat Gilland and Celsius. The trope is both averted and played straight when she returns to the human world not long after, but as a spirit with a physical body rather than a human.
185* ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000RogueTrader'': While it's impossible for any of your companions to die in combat (they just get knocked out, and assuming you win, [[InjuredVulnerability they just wake up afterwards with an Injury]]), many of your companions can be killed off (or worse) in the story, often at your hands. Some of the more notable ways are handing them off to Heinrix (an Inquisitorial acolyte), [[spoiler:executing (or ordering Argenta to execute) Idira if she gets out of line or loses control, executing Jae for over-asserting her authority, executing (or allowing Idira to kill) Argenta in Commoragh]], the list goes on.
186* ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}} 8'' has this in spades. When a PC gets killed, you can resurrect him/her with relatively little effort (Resurrection Powder). Should the same happen to an NPC, he/she is gone (with a rather gory explosion, usually). A particularly egregious example is the death of Jan-Ette, a recurring NPC from the previous Wizardry, who you find imprisoned and dying on Bayjin. She actually manages to talk to your party one last time, then she simply collapses in a heap and vanishes from sight.
187* In Square's ''VideoGame/SaGaFrontier2'', most of your characters will die in plot deaths fighting in battle, due to old age, or due to illness. Granted, the game spans almost a century (Only one character is shown to have lived to experience the entire game).
188** Johan in this game is a good example of a Plotline Death that avoids GameplayAndStorySegregation. Characters in the game die if their LP runs out, and during Johan's final sequence, his LP slowly ticks away to zero due to a poison as he fights hordes of incoming monsters. Annoyingly enough, main character Gustave dies in the EXACT SAME place and time, from the EXACT SAME HORDE OF MONSTERS without ever getting a chance to fight properly.
189* In ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'', despite the fact you have a medic that can revive teammates who have taken tank shells ''to the face'', Isara dies of a single gunshot. The medic is nowhere to be seen.
190* Pokémon battles only ever lead to Pokémon [[NonLethalKO fainting]], and they can easily be revived at a Pokémon Center. Cubone's mother in ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' was just the first Pokémon character to explicitly die - various Pokémon graveyards exist, for one thing.
191** One of the plotlines in ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'' has the player working to prevent one of these. [[spoiler:Arven's Mabostiff was gravely injured by Paradox Pokémon beyond what Pokémon Centers could heal, so he and the player search for Herba Mystica to heal it.]]
192* Completely averted in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}''. When a character dies, they STAY dead.
193--> "Dogmeat has died" Crap, quick load! Stupid dog!
194** Played straight with Essential [=NPCs=] in ''VideoGame/Fallout3'', who have GameplayAllyImmortality and can only die in cutscenes or scripted events (e.g. James' sacrifice at Project Purity).
195** In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'', companions can only be knocked unconscious unless you're playing in Hardcore mode, with two exceptions: Jean-Baptiste Cutting turning Cass to ash with his laser rifle if the player complies with the Van Graffs' orders in "Birds of a Feather", and locking your human companion in the Ultra-Luxe freezer to be fed to the White Glove Society in "Beyond the Beef". Thankfully, neither quest is a requirement for any ending, and there are a number of other ways to complete the latter.
196** At the beginning of the ''New Vegas'' DLC ''Honest Hearts'', the Happy Trails caravan is attacked by tribals. No matter how fast you take out the bad guys, the caravaneers are scripted to drop dead, and one of the attackers is invincible until they all die.
197* Modus operandi of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', it seems. All fights in the game are essentially the same, so whether a character is to die or simply be captured, the individual event happens in a cutscene after the fight, and sometimes when they have been lying dead in a pool of blood for half the battle.
198* In ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiStrangeJourney'' the first sector has Gore killed in a cutscene. Interestingly just before this there is a cutscene fight which visually is a perfect mimic of game battles, but he is killed outside of battle. Unlike most examples, humans can't be brought back through the common resurrection item.
199** Also from ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'', this is a key aspect to the ''[[VideoGame/DevilSurvivor Devil]] [[VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2 Survivor]]'' games. Many of your potential party members ''will'' die unless you go out of your way to save (or not kill) them. [[AntiFrustrationFeatures Luckily]], it's impossible to have them all killed off, particularly when [[ButThouMust the game forces you to save them]] after too many deaths.
200* One of the bosses in Sion's campaign in ''VideoGame/TreasureOfTheRudra'' has an ability called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin 'Foxy Killer']] which it uses to force one of these. Foxy can't be revived by usual means after being hit with this skill, only by a trip to the underworld.
201* There's a bloody cutscene in ''VideoGame/{{Blackguards}}'' when Niam gets killed by the Louse Queen in the gladiator arena.
202* In ''VideoGame/EarthBound1994'', Buzz-Buzz, the CrutchCharacter who joins Ness in the prologue, becomes the one prominent character in the game to be killed off permanently when he is swatted like the fly he is. A memorial for him can be seen much later in Magicant.
203* In ''VideoGame/RavenswordShadowlands'', the [[BigGood Archmage]] dies as a result of [[TheDragon Kavanaugh]] attacking him when he opens the portal to [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Shadowlands]].
204* ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel'' mostly averts this for the cast, where AnyoneCanDie... except for latecomer Britz, who cannot be sacrificed prior to Chapter 11. If you fail to satisfy the GoldenEnding conditions, then Britz will kill himself out of grief after his boss fight. ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel2'' doubles this up with [[CantDropTheHero Malt]] and Vanilla, [[WhyAmITicking the latter who will be forced by the]] BigBad [[WhyAmITicking to detonate a bomb to cripple the Exo-Taranis, killing her in the process]], and the former will [[TakingYouWithMe sacrifice himself to the Soul Cannon automatically against the]] FinalBoss if you fail to get the GoldenEnding.
205[[/folder]]
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207[[folder: Simulation Game ]]
208
209* ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' deaths (for anyone but yourself) only happen when the story says that they happen. Unlike GameplayAllyImmortality, this applies to enemy [=NPCs=] as well. For example, in ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar'' Erich Hillenberand will ''always'' survive you shooting him down (in fact his first line is about him ejecting as you opened fire), while Anton Kupchenko won't; same goes for Ilya Pasternak who is killed in ''VideoGame/AceCombat6FiresOfLiberation''. A twist in ''Zero'' is that your story path determines whether or not Alberto Lopez survives being shot down, although this is inconsequential to the broader story. In any case he ends up dying anyway, with the story path only determining how long it takes to happen.
210** Also done in ''VideoGame/AceCombat5TheUnsungWar'' with one of your squadmates and an enemy. If you shoot the named enemy in the second-to-last mission there's a comment about you being the ace of aces, but the enemy still appears during the final sequence to get his final KarmicDeath.
211* In the original ''VideoGame/WingCommander'', if a character died, they were gone for good, sometimes resulting in you having to fly missions solo. (Given [[ArtificialStupidity wingman AI]], however, it could be argued that [[ItsUpToYou you were always flying solo.]]) Starting with second game, pilots who get shot down eject, until the storyline calls for them to die.
212
213[[/folder]]
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215[[folder: Stealth-Based Game ]]
216
217* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', you could've totally saved your father and brothers with a fair bit of skills and some attempts, but they have to die during a cutscene and your sword had totally be knocked out of your hand even though you could easily pick it up/dodge the attack if it's in gameplay.
218
219[[/folder]]
220
221[[folder: Survival Horror ]]
222
223* In ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' there is no way to prevent Maria's death in Brookhaven's basement.
224** Or in the jail cell. Or in the room with the Pyramid Heads. Or when you fight her, in some endings, anyways.
225* The ''VideoGame/FatalFrame'' games tend to conclude their canon endings with a death. In the first, Mafuyu stays behind with Kirie, effectively killing himself to be with her; in the second, Mio strangles her sister Mayu to death as part of a ritual; and the fourth game concludes the introduction phase by killing off Madoka Tsukimori.
226* ''VideoGame/PeretEmHeruForThePrisoners'': While you can save the lives of up to seven of your fellow tourists, there's no way to prevent Professor Tsuchida gunning down his assistant Kuroe before being crushed under a pair of pillars.
227* An interesting aversion occurs in the SurvivalHorror game ''VideoGame/ObsCure''. The only way a character can be killed off is through [[TooDumbToLive your own]] [[YetAnotherStupidDeath incompetence]]; the game continues until all four (later five) available player characters have been killed. You can theoretically finish the game with [[EverybodyLives all five characters still alive]], or with [[FinalGirl only one]]; in fact, [[MultipleEndings which ending you get]] is determined by whether or not everyone made it to the end. The sequel, however, plays this very straight, with most of the characters getting [[CruelAndUnusualDeath brutally butchered]] as the game progresses, ending with only Shannon and Stan still alive.
228** However, played straight in one case in the first game - Dan, the character Kenny finds in the basement, ''has'' to die from being killed by a monster.
229* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series:
230** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilCodeVeronica'' has a distinct NPC scenario. Steve, having mutated into a large green monster, can take any and all damage thrown at him by Claire without missing a beat. But he gets killed by a tentacle. A tentacle that had its end chopped off. [[FlatWhat What?]]
231** The original ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'' has poor Richard Aiken die, despite a HopeSpot being around in the form of finding a serum for him (he's poisoned). In the original game, you'll just get a radio if you give him the serum on time, while in the Gamecube remake, he'll live, but he'll either be killed by the snake Yawn (Jill's scenario) or a Neptune shark (Chris' scenario) shortly after. In the remake, having him die the latter way will net you his assault shotgun, however, so it's worth it to get him the serum.
232* In ''VideoGame/{{Ib}}'', there is no way to save both Mary and Garry. One of them will die no matter what. Garry will either be driven incurably insane and left to die or he'll be murdered by Mary, and in a playthrough where he survives Mary will be set on fire. It's also possible to end the game with both of them dead, and in a really bad playthrough Ib will die too.
233* ''VideoGame/UntilDawn'':
234** No matter the choices of the player in the prologue, [[spoiler: Beth and Hannah]]'s fates won't change. They will always [[spoiler: respectively, die and become a Wendigo]]. This is lampshaded by Dr Hill who says, "No one can change what happened last year. The past is beyond our control".
235** Likewise, [[spoiler: The Stranger]] will be quickly killed and there is nothing the player can do to prevent it.
236[[/folder]]
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238[[folder: Turn-Based Strategy ]]
239
240* In the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series:
241** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', Sigurd, main character and Lord for the first half of the game dies on you at the end of a chapter. Along with his entire army except for one or two survivors. Fortunately, all the ladies left children behind to carry on the struggle. Two children each, in fact.
242*** And there's a [[JustifiedTrope justification]] as to why you couldn't use the dead-raising "Valkyrie" Holy Staff-- when you get the wielder of the Staff, Claud, he says that it cannot raise those who have lost their Quintessence, which happens slowly over time, or could be stolen by special weapons... by time you get another Valkyrie wielder, the first gen characters have been dead far too long.
243** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'', Ninian (playable character) and Hector's brother Uther (NPC). We also have Eliwood's father Elbert and Matthew's love Leila (both [=NPCs=]) who also suffer deaths without any chance to save them. Ironically, in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'', we had Hector himself dying.
244*** Ninian gets resurrected again though, and lives happily ever after. Athos is the true plotline death in that he apparently overdoes it in the fight against the Dragon, regardless of whether or not you actually used him.
245*** Also, Lord Helman (Lord Elbert's friend who gets stabbed by Ephidel, becoming the first victim of the Black Fang in the game).
246*** Ninian is replaced by Nils for gameplay purposes.
247*** Fairly popular Shaman Canas's death is a ForegoneConclusion, given that his son in the previous game was an orphan. His unavoidable death in his ending led to the cry "[[MemeticMutation Canas was killed by continuity errors!]]"
248** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'', we have Glen the Sunstone and the Ismaire the Queen of the White Dunes, though at least the former obeys normal combat rules (he simply attacks from the wrong position in the ElementalRockPaperScissors and receives a guaranteed critical hit to boot).
249** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', we have Greil and Rajaion.
250** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'' (for at least your first playthrough), Pelleas.
251** In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon]]'', your decoy in the fourth part of the Prologue, and Marth's parents. The sequel subverts the decoy's death, as Frey (the canon decoy) shows up alive and kickin'.
252** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', several characters who are playable on one route will be killed off on another route. The most notable deaths, however, are Gunter (thrown into a chasm to his apparent death pre-route split; he is discovered alive later in ''Conquest'' and ''Revelation'', but never rescued in ''Birthright''), Kaze (sacrifices himself to save you midway through ''Birthright'' if you don't have an A-rank support with him), and Scarlet (murdered midway through ''Revelation'' a mere two chapters after she joins you), who are all killed off despite being in your party at the time.
253** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' has [[spoiler: Jeralt, from being stabbed InTheBack by Monica/Kronya. {{Justified|Trope}} in that the PlayerCharacter actually ''does'' use the [[TimeMaster time rewind]] mechanic to try and save him. [[HopeSpot Only for Kronya's boss to show up and stop them from doing so.]]]]
254* A remarkable number of people have died in Cut Scenes over the ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' games, despite the fact that most characters can learn to cast Resurrection. Easily.
255* In ''VideoGame/LaPucelle'', Alouette the Maiden of Light uses the last of her power to help Prier purify Croix's [[spoiler: (the Dark Prince)]] heart and passes on.
256* In ''VideoGame/JeanneDArc'', one would naturally expect the lead female to be [[BurnTheWitch burned at the stake]]. However, since Jeanne herself had already gone [=MIA=] from a crossbow bolt into a river, and the French higher-ups made her childhood friend Liane [[ElCidPloy pose as her for the remainder of the war]]...[[KillTheCutie yeah]], Jeanne didn't take it well when she made it back after the fact. Although TeamPet Cuisses [[PowersAsPrograms inherits her stats]] via the Paragon's Armlet, Liane only comes back as a spirit to assist in a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind against a demonic duplicate, and the player can recruit her ghost as a post-game bonus. Nevertheless, she remains legitimately dead to the plot, and Jeanne and Roger are last seen praying for her at the Chapel near Domremy.
257* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', especially ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration'' series love this trope. We have Captain Daitetsu Minase and Ouka Nagisa dying on the course of the game with no way to resurrect them. Likewise, some AntiVillain like Folka's AloofBigBrother Altis Tarl will also suffer a Plotline Death.
258** But they have also toyed with us with this trope. Axel Almer and Alfimi were supposed to be KilledOffForReal after ''Original Generation 2'', yet they came BackFromTheDead when ''OG Gaiden'' rolls in. Likewise, put one of your character a Defensive Support skill, and get him/her near Kyosuke during the last mission of the bonus section of [=OGs=]. Lamia Loveless would still get killed... until OG Gaiden rolls in and it's revealed that she's only NotQuiteDead.
259** Another version of toying around: According to ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsCompact3 Compact 3]]'', Fernando Albark, Maysis Mark and Alion Lucada are supposed to die, there's no way you can save them. But their stories get tweaked that they didn't die. Fernando and Alion ends up joining you for good, while Maysis takes the back seat. Likewise, this also happens to [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsReversal Despinis]], who ends up doing a HeelFaceTurn before she could get killed, ensuring her survival.
260** And for non-OG examples (for this instance, Z), we have Setsuko's teammates Toby Watson and Denzel Hammer, killed by Asakim Dowin to [[BreakTheCutie further traumatize Setsuko]].
261* Baldarov from ''[[VideoGame/{{Langrisser}} Warsong]]'' (Volkov in the original Japanese version of ''VideoGame/{{Langrisser}}'') is struck down by an assassin's arrow at the end of Scenario 5, forcing the hero Garett (Ledin) to continue to journey on his own. Hopefully, you'll have given him an opportunity to level/get promoted before Baldarov/Volkov's inevitable death.
262* In ''VideoGame/LuminousArc2'', you may have battled and beaten him plenty of times, but Master Mattias only died in a cutscene, complete with a special CG.
263** A mention also goes to Steiner and Bharva, both of whom only die ''in the same cutscene'' (Steiner kills Bharva and dies in the process). This, despite the latter having been defeated by the player in battle several times, although he does have [[CutScenePowerToTheMax the ability to take out your whole party during any storyline cutscene.]]
264* ''VideoGame/{{Odium}}'': Poor Joan [=McFadden=]. Killed almost instantly by a poison which inexplicably was particularly deadly and immune to antidotes on that occasion. Too bad that her corpse and [[SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear everything she was carrying]] vanished mysteriously shortly thereafter, too. But not before she delivered some annoyingly {{narm}}y lines.
265* So when the king is killed in the very ''beginning'' of ''VideoGame/ShiningForce'', ''why exactly can the local priest not revive him?'' Even worse, since he didn't die right away, why can't you just HEAL HIM?
266* ''Future Tactics'' has one ''glaring'' example of GameplayStorySegregation in this regard. At first if you lose a single party member it is an instant game-over. A ways into the game, however, you obtain a device that will resurrect any dead party member, and in subsequent fights you only lose a party member for the remainder of the battle if one dies. [[spoiler:Then, in a cut scene Pepper is killed by a stray grenade, and remains very much ''dead'' even though the immortality device was a ''huge'' plot point.]]
267* Everthing in the main plot of the sixth ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic'' game is kicked off when [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Duke Slava Griffin]] is assassinated, and resurrecting him is never discussed as an option. This is in a game where ''all'' healing magic, even some wielded by the most basic units in Slava's army, has the power to raise the dead if it raises someone's health pool above full.
268
269[[/folder]]
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271[[folder: Wide Open Sandbox ]]
272
273* In ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'', Carlos could have EASILY been saved. How? Shock Paddles, some food, walking it off, or calling 911 for an ambulance. Though he does come back as a zombie, and since Zombie Lin from Saints 1 is canon (some goths mention her, and the Boss says he tried to sell the story to Channel 6 in one of the [=DLCs=]) then so is he.
274** It's supposed to be a mercy killing due to the mutilation of his pretty face, which hard to swallow with [[StoryAndGameplaySegregation so many cheap plastic surgery clinics around]].
275** Johnny Gat suffers one early into ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'', being gunned down by the Morningstar gang offscreen and returning as a zombie Homie at the end of the game, which in the series denotes a character that's DeaderThanDead. Taking note of the word "[[NeverFoundTheBody offscreen]]," the dev team made a [[AuthorsSavingThrow saving throw]] in the next sequel by revealing that Gat actually survived after all.
276* A version of this occurs in ''VideoGame/LittleBigAdventure II''. Normally, non-villain characters in the game can't be killed, and most of them won't die even if they accidentally get whacked by a villain aiming at the hero. However, at one point a dissident escaping prison with you gets shot before he can get out of the building, and dies. An interesting thing about this is that your character possesses some sort of a healing ability, and the dissident doesn't really die ''instantly'' after being shot -- but since the event happens during the cutscene, there's no way you can save him.
277* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas''. A character who has the oomph to resist multiple bullets moments ago (on the roof of Madd Dogg's mansion) gets taken down by a single bullet in the foyer.
278
279[[/folder]]
280
281!!Non-video game examples:
282
283[[folder:Literature]]
284* In the post-apocolyptic Kaiju vs Mecha world of Atomic Rex, the main character laments that an attack of giant locusts have damaged the crops in the community that he is responsible for, and that will result in mass starvation deaths. 'The old, the sick, the very young, and even some of the young and healthy people would die a slow and hungry death.' He endevours then to set out with his HumongousMecha and deal with the ''Kaiju'' problem plaguing his world. The first thing he does is load his mecha with "whatever food and water that he had into a sack. Once he had enough provisions to last him for a 'few weeks' he crept back out into the settlement." Either the main character is JerkAssHero who has been hoarding weeks worth of food and water in a place where lots of people are starving to death, or the author thinks that the main character's inventory should be entirely seperate from the plot.
285[[/folder]]
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287[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
288* This can happen in tabletop games too, if your GM decides to unleash ThePlotReaper on an important NPC. Even if one of the PC's has healing abilities, they will not be able to help. Resurrection will be completely out of the question. Of course, this works better if the game is already very cinematic/story oriented.
289* In ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 3.5, which is the [[SmallReferencePools default assumption]] when someone refers to tabletop games, the various resurrection spells explicitly state that the target must be willing, so the GM usually has an easy HandWave of "Sorry, they're enjoying the afterlife too much to come back for your cause."
290[[/folder]]
291
292[[folder:Webcomics]]
293%%* Lampshaded in [[http://www.virtualshackles.com/47/ this]] ''Webcomic/VirtualShackles'' comic.
294%%* Poked at in [[http://www.goldcoincomics.com/?id=126 this]] ''Webcomic/GoldCoinComics'' strip.
295* ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'': {{Parodied|Trope}} in [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2014/01/22/commoditized this]] strip, where a quest giver loudly laments the king's murder and talks over a player character's offer to resurrect him.
296* ''Webcomic/DarkLegacyComics'': {{Discussed|Trope}} and {{Exploited|Trope}} in [[http://www.darklegacycomics.com/227 a strip]] where Gigz witnesses a HeroicSacrifice, learns that resurrection magic won't work because it's "part of the story line", and promptly tries to murder her teammate in a sufficiently narratively satisfying way to make it stick.
297[[/folder]]
298
299[[folder:Web Videos]]
300* WebVideo/ProZD: In the ''King Dragon Canon'', Lysanderoth shoots Archibald during a cutscene, and the PlayerCharacter is upset for [[SoLongAndThanksForAllTheGear all the wrong reasons]].
301[[/folder]]

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