Hes Back / Video Games

• Will in Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. He breaks down after his mentor, Brenner, gets killed by what's implied to be a nuke. He gets over it just in time to save his men from the pursuing enemy and strike back, determinted to carry on.
• In Command & Conquer: Tiberium, Kane is fond of pulling these after he's been believed killed. Usually in Do Not Adjust Your Set ways. An excellent example (Though by far not the only one) is in the Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun where his followers are chanting his Badass Creed as a traitor is being executed.
  Anton Slavick: "In the name of Kane!"
  Mob: "Kane lives in death!"
  Anton Slavick: "In the name of KANE!"
  Mob: "Kane lives in death!"
  Anton Slavick: "In the NAME OF KANE!"
  Kane, appearing on a big screen behind Slavick: "KANE! LIVES!!".
  • Note that he pulls this off to great effect so many times^note and it somehow does not detract from it. that by the time he is gone for good^note He isn't killed, he leaves on his own accord, people don't believe the news that he's gone for good.
• In Devil May Cry 5, Dante is beaten hard and presumed dead in the prologue, leaving Nero and V to try and defeat Urizen in his place. Unfortunately, in the month past Urizen has only gotten strong, easily tossing Nero around like a toy. Just when Nero is captured and all seems lost, something flies in and destroys Urizen’s grip on Nero. A few missions later, we find out that this is Dante, awakened from a month long coma. While he initially doubts he can beat Urizen even with a boost from the Qliphoth and the Sparda, once he uses the Rebellion on himself his power is multiplied greatly to the point that, in the battle that follows, Urizen is helpless against Dante, who can shatter his crystal barrier, which took Nero an entire boss fight to destroy, with a few swipes of his sword in his true demonic form, the Sin Devil Trigger. He's Back! indeed.
• Duke Nukem: "They used to tell stories of a man who saved the world. Man whose very presence sent aliens running back to their motherships. The man who disappeared without a trace. When the invaders came back, they came back angry. They tore our planet apart bit by bit. But... they made one mistake: They shouldn't have gone after our women." HAIL TO THE KING BABY!
• Final Fantasy:
  • In Final Fantasy VI, Terra finds herself unable to fight after the party gets separated in the World of Ruin. However, when Humbaba threatens the group of orphans that she cares for, and cuts down her friends who try to help, Terra snaps into her Esper form and stays in it for the entire fight. Asskicking ensues.
  • Compilation of Final Fantasy VII:
    • In the original game, Cloud has a spectacular mental breakdown under Sephiroth's possession, falls into the Lifestream and, due to exposure to such a powerful spiritual force, goes completely insane. It's only when he and Tifa both fall into the Lifestream together, and she enters his subconscious to talk to him, that he regains his sense of self, in time to give an inspiring speech to the party and lead an assault on the Junon military base.
    • In Advent Children, when evil arises once more, Cloud at first refuses the call, but the combined encouragement from his friends manages to bring him out of retirement to save the day. In a totally badass fashion, nonetheless.
  • Lightning, the main protagonist of the XIII trilogy, was frozen in crystal to live through the time crash at the end of XIII-2, and slept for 500 years, when she finally returns from her imprisonment to help save the world in the last game.
  • Final Fantasy XIV has a noteworthy example of a character last seen at the end of the main story questline of A Realm Reborn: Gaius van Baelsar, the original Big Bad. He returns in the endgame story questline of Stormblood, having survived his fight with the Warrior of Light and, upon realizing his actions and The Empire were being controlled by the Ascians, took on the name of "Shadowhunter" and organized a resistance movement to root out the Ascians. His identity is only hinted at with his familiar mask kept on his belt until he finally reveals his identity in 4.5.
    • Also from XIV, a more lighthearted example: During the Stormblood trial "Kugane Ohashi", players first square off against Yojimbo, a boss many will have previously fought in another dungeon. Then, early on in the fight, the music changes to 'Battle on the Big Bridge' as Yojimbo declares, "It's Gilgameshing time!", and reveals himself as the dimension-hopping goofball Gilgamesh, who had not been seen since A Realm Reborn.
• God of War (PS4): Kratos has a moment of doubt when his son is on the verge of death, and the only way to cure him is to descend into Helheim. But it's a place of impossible cold, where the Leviathan Axe will be of no use, and no flame lit in the Nine Realms will be enough to hold back the chill. Kratos considers for a moment, and then returns home. Whereupon he opens up the floorboards and retrieves the Blades of Chaos. No flame lit in the Nine Realms can hold back the cold of Helheim... but Olympus wasn't in the Nine Realms. The God of War has returned.
• The reboot of Killer Instinct leaves T.J. Combo near-penniless, banned from the ring, and publicly shamed by the time the game starts due to UltraTech's machination. His response? Give up his former cheating ways, rip out his own cyber-enhancements, and take the fight to UltraTech to prove that nobody can keep the champ down.
  "I took the easy route, once. It got me fame, fortune and glory. But it was all hollow. When I fell, I fell hard. I lost everything. But I'm back now, and this time, I'm doing it right. And don't think for a moment that I'll let anything get in my way. 'Cause if you give me that moment...I win!"
  • His theme song is practically a giant hype builder; He has rediscovered his passion for boxing, feels a whole lot better about himself after removing his enhancements, and he is making a comeback.
  I'm back to Rise! I'm back to Glow! I'm back to Fly! I'm back to Soar! I'm back to War! Let the truth be Told! I feel on fire when my passion Flow!
• Kingdom Hearts II: Upon arriving at Beast's Castle, Sora, Donald, and Goofy are surprised to learn that their old buddy The Beast has a much larger stick up his ass than usual, as shown when he swats away both The Heartless and the heroes to make sure his precious rose is safe, then leaves without a word. After multiple attempts to get him to stop obsessing about the rose that Xaldin stole and the fact that he believes himself to be a monster now, you finally get the badass you had in the first game back after Sora reminds him of how it was before Belle showed up.
  Beast: I know one thing... This castle belongs to me. Xaldin will never be welcome here.
  • Another KH2 example, when Sora, Donald, and Goofy are about to be overwhelmed by Nobodies, fan-favorite Axel returns to help Sora kick ass...and then kills himself in the process.
  • Also, Riku when he turns back into his normal self. If anything, he becomes twice the badass he used to be.
  • A much more subdued example: as you progress through the final world, you find that Ansem the Wise, that is, the real Ansem has come there to set things right that he himself put wrong in the first place instead of simply sitting in wait to hope things fix themselves. A Heroic Sacrifice ensues after forgiving himself for his anger and he damages Kingdom Hearts enough to prevent Xemnas's plan from coming to fruition.
• Legacy of Kain: In Blood Omen, the vampire Vorador was noted by Kain to have been defeated by his own hedonism, despite having been Famed In-Story for killing six members of the previous Circle of Nine and defeating the Sarafan warrior Malek in battle. When Kain summons him later on at Dark Eden to fight Malek, Vorador ends up killing him for good, with no sign of the hedonism that Kain had previously made note of.
• Leisure Suit Larry 3: Passionate Patti in Pursuit of the Pulsating Pectorals: After being dumped by Kalalau, Larry does not know what to do. Give up on women forever, perhaps enter the ministry? No! Not Larry, Larry Laffer! So he summons a telephone booth, gets rid of the cool surfer look, and retrieves his classic polyester suit: the original swinger is at it again!
• Two instances in the Mass Effect trilogy, first when Shepard wakes up on an operating table and proceeds to slaughter his/her way through a facility full of robots bent on killing him/her while grossly underarmed at the start of the second game, second when Shepard gets exonerated and reinstated as an emergency measure at the beginning of the third game.
• Metroid: Zero Mission: Getting shot down and losing your Power Suit? Running and hiding from just about everything? A Chozo Trial boss fight later, and The Hunter, who strikes fear into the hearts of the Space Pirate legions, is reborn, more powerful than ever. With dozens of Space Pirates now waiting between you and where you need to be, the Theme Music Power-Up starts playing and the Space Pirates get to experience what it feels like to be on the receiving end of a Roaring Rampage of Revenge by Samus Aran.
• Kamille gets his signature Zeta Gundam halfway through Super Robot Wars V and while at first he's in his Heroic BSoD phase, he finally gets out of it after confronting Jerid and gives him a Waverider Crash.
• In Chapter 8 (Jax's chapter) of the Story Mode of Mortal Kombat X; it's been 25 years since Jax was restored to life and freed from Quan Chi's magic; he hated the thought of his daughter joining the military, and Sonya practically has to beg him to help now, seeing as said daughter is missing. However, when he finally gets to the Outworld and faces Quan Chi's revenants:
  Revenant Kung Lao: Do not interfere, Jackson Briggs. Return to hiding.
  Jax: Hiding? Guess I have been.
  • He then proceeds to beat Kung Lao black and blue, proving he's done hiding.
• In MS Saga: A New Dawn, the main character's best friend, Fritz, realizes he's The Load and feels that he isn't worthwhile anymore and, thus, disappears before a big battle, claiming he'll return when he's stronger. He lives up to that promise after the battle leaves the hero without his friends when he arrives to save the day, much more confident and armed with the FA-78-1 Full Armor Gundam.
• Night in the Woods: At the start of the fourth chapter Mae's concussed in a fall while running from the cultists, and is limited to clutching herself and walking. After they're trapped in the cave, she has an encouter (maybe?) with the eldritch monster they were sacrificing people to, and delivers a badass boast to make it leave her alone. At that point what should be needed to save the day, but a jumping puzzle? Cue Mae saying she feels better and the full jumping mechanics being restored.
• Epilogue 1 of Red Dead Redemption II comes after a rather long emotional and quiet stretch. Arthur had died of tuberculosis to give John and his family a better life. John, now going under the name Jim Milton, finds work at Pronghorn Ranch working for David Geddes, who's been hassled by the Laramie Gang. One night, the gang attacks the ranch and John, having had enough of them, suits up for a shootout in the mission "Jim Milton Rides Again" to show that John Marston is back!
• Resident Evil 6: Chris Redfield suffers a Heroic BSoD after Ada Wong's Doppelgänger Carla Radames kills most of his squad in Eastern Europe, leading him to become an amnesiac drunk for the next six months until the BSAA find him and convince him to come back. When he finally regains his memories, he becomes obsessed with getting revenge on Carla, which leads to the deaths of even more of his men, and finally snaps out of it and returns to his old self after a meeting with Leon Kennedy.
• In Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, during the battle against Penelope, Bentley finally has shaken off his Heroic BSoD from discovering her betrayal and shows up to take her on. And he's piloting a robot suit. Awesome.
  • Earlier on, during the events of Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, we learn that Murray blamed himself for Bentley being crippled by Clock-La, and later left the team to go find inner peace. The entire first chapter of the game revolves around Sly and Bentley trying to stop the environmentally-unfriendly schemes of Octavio in order to get Murray back. It culminates with Bentley nearly getting killed by Octavio, which provides the push Murray needs to jump in and save the day.
  Murray: "The Murray" RETURNS!!!
• The Dark Side ending of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.
  • The Light Side ending as well, but in a more subtle fashion. Instead of being the galaxy-conquering variety of badass, you're the galaxy-saving variety that you were before the Mandalorian Wars and zero guidance got you Drunk on the Dark Side.
  • The scene in the sequel where Kreia's coaching helps the Jedi Exile regain her confidence and powers.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic has a villainous example in the "Decieved" trailer, with Darth Malgus announcing the Sith's return to the galaxy (after 300 years of what passes for soul-searching for the Sith) by attacking the Jedi Order's HQ head-on — and winning.
  "And now, finally... We. Have. Returned."
• In Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Rahm Kota recovers from his self-pity and binge-drinking to become the mighty Jedi Knight he once was.
• When Lelouch suddenly finds himself revived in the world of Al-Warth in Super Robot Wars X, he is in a Heroic BSoD due to the trauma of the series combined with his death and resurrection. Death God believes Lelouch to be a Dark Lord, because of the way Lelouch's actions shook his world. Using the Mirror of Truth, Lelouch's true personality, which rejects all evil, is brought to the surface. Lelouch promptly rejects the notion of becoming a Dark Lord and leads the X-Cross to victory.
• Tales of Xillia: A rather awesome one from Milla considering she died and she had to practically will herself back into existence.
• In Tokimeki Memorial 2, this trope is an integral part of resident Broken Bird Kaori Yae's storyline. After a 2-years long Heroic BSoD due to a traumatic event that occurred before the game's proper, she manages to overcome her past and turn back to the Genki Girl she was, thanks to her relationship with the protagonist. The change in her attitude and appearance after she takes her resolve is dramatic: she enters the Volley-Ball Club and fully involves herself in; her body language sprites change from unhappily talking-over-her-shoulder or holding-her-arm-and-looking-at-the-floor poses, to looking straight at you with a beautiful and cheerful smile; her clothes' fashion at dates become colorful, elaborate and varied; she regulary comes to you to invite you for dates; and her somber theme tune is replaced with a peppier variation of it.
• Wolfenstein: The New Order: BJ Blazkowicz takes a large chunk of shrapnel to the back of the head at the end of the prologue, loses his memory and is reduced to a sorry state. He's taken in at a mental hospital in Poland and cared for by a kindly nurse. While he's down, the Nazis defeat the Allies and conquer the planet. The Nazis send a detachment to execute the patients and they make the big mistake of turning on the staff too...
  "Nazi scum!"
  • Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus starts off with BJ at death's door following the finale of the previous game, which saw him injured so badly that the only way he can even stand and walk is with Power Armor. He is dispondent over his impending mortality and keeps fighting just so he can give his unborn children a better world to live in after he dies. After getting beheaded by the Nazis, however, his friends recover his head and graft it onto an Ubersoldat body, granting him a new lease on life and his vim and vigor once more.