History HonorBeforeReason / VideoGames

* Both [[KnightTemplar Colonel]] and [[WellIntentionedExtremist General]] from ''VideoGame/MegaManX4'' have been duped into sending Repliforce to war with the world by [[ManipulativeBastard Sigma]], forcing X and Zero to stop them. Colonel foolishly becomes a MartyrWithoutACause, which has a ''horrific'' [[KillTheCutie repercussion]] if you're playing as Zero. [[spoiler:His sister Iris tries to exact [[RevengeBeforeReason heartbroken revenge]] after being [[BreakTheCutie emotionally wrecked by the death of her brother]], and Zero, her beloved boyfriend, is forced to do her in (Similar to Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet, but Romeo still lives). Zero has a '''''stratospheric''''' HeroicBSOD as a result]].

** In ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII The Onion Knight]] learns this as AnAesop, as, though it went against his otherwise perfectly rational motto of not taking on any foe he wasn't confident about, he found he had to fight on regardless if it meant [[DistressedDamsel rescuing]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Terra]].

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'', Eubans and his mercenaries rebelled against Ostia on Marquess Laus' behalf to fight in the war he started, which the heroes cut short by killing Laus. When he insists on attacking the lords, his subordinate Heath points out that they have ''no reason'' to do that because Laus vanished on them, to which Eubans says that they answered Marquess Laus' call and that they should fulfill their duty anyway.

* True to the tabletop setting they come from, lore in the VideoGame/MechWarrior series has this trope as fuel. You get things like trials of position, which invariably end up in the death of all the challengers but one so the last man standing can rise in rank; retreat is generally seen as an undesirable concept even if you're being absolutely overwhelmed; and many 'Mech pilots have this weird idea that if your own machine is being blown to bits around you, using the ejection system is dishonourable and it's preferable to die with it.

* Inverted in the ''Franchise/MetalGear'' series. Being a StealthBasedGame, Snake isn't averse to using every dirty, underhanded tactic in the book to incapacitate/kill/sneak past his enemies, and MissionControl encourages the player to employ these tactics at every possible occasion, while the villains ''always'' announce their presence and proceed to give Snake a (relatively) fair fight instead of [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just killing him]].

* In the ''Franchise/{{Kirby}}'' series, Meta Knight will give you a sword in the favor of a fair fight, even when the fate of the universe is on the line. In one game, the two of you are on a damaged airship that is currently falling towards the ocean -- and he'll wait a full thirty seconds for you to pick up the sword before deciding to attack you anyways. In another, the fact that his evil doppelganger doesn't throw you a sword is the first clue that it's not really him.

* In ''[[VideoGame/SonicStorybookSeries Sonic and the Black Knight]]'', you eventually have to defeat Sir Gawain (AKA Knuckles) in a duel. Knuckles is so ashamed of his loss to "a mere apprentice", he attempts to [[SlashedThroat slit his own throat on the spot]].

* One of the playable factions in ''VideoGame/WayOfTheSamurai4'' is the Prajna Movement; a group of xenophobic nationalists who want nothing more than to prevent western culture from flowing into Japan. Despite knowing guns are superior to swords, they refuse to use them, as these are not weapons a true samurai would use in their eyes. Unfortunately for them, all other sides in the game's conflict have no qualms to use firearms.
* In a rare ''villainous'' example of this trope, in ''VideoGame/{{Weaponlord}}'', it has been prophecied that on the night that the moon bleeds, the BigBad Zarak will be killed by the Weaponlord, whose identity is unknown except for the clue that he/she was born under the Warrior's Moon. Zarak's lieutenants advise him to pull a Herod and simply slaughter all the infants born under that moon, but Zarak instead decides to wait until the Weaponlord is grown up, and then face his prophecied killer fair-and-square in single combat to see if the prophecy will really work. [[spoiler:This gets Zarak killed if you play anyone but him, and if you play Zarak himself, it is revealed that Zarak ''himself'' was born under a Warrior's Moon, and since he killed the ''previous'' BigBad, Zarak ''himself'' becomes the Weaponlord]].

* In the storyline of ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' Kotal Kahn, TheEmperor of all Outworld, permits a foreign emissary of no great importance to challenge him in TrialByCombat for the life of a petty thief. His decision to personally participate himself instead of using a champion is questionable, although it may have been a calculated risk given that he's [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking an incredibly deadly warrior]]. Less forgivable is that upon losing, he insists that the winner execute him as per ancient tradition, even though he's in the midst of a SuccessionCrisis and his death would give the throne to his hated, psychotic rival. He only survives because his opponent [[CantKillYouStillNeedYou needs him on the throne]] and demands his service instead.

** Gerik and his mercenaries from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones''. When they and their employer [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Prince Innes]] are vastly outnumbered by an enemy army, Innes tries to convince them to surrender and save themselves since the other guys are only after him. Even after he fires them they refuse to (though he orders them to surrender [[WhatAnIdiot after firing them]]).

* In ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', TheChosenOne's first encounter with DragonInChief Frank Horrigan has him [[ResignationsNotAccepted confronting an Enclave defector]] who tells him [[DoomedMoralVictor he'd rather die than go back]]... resulting in his wife [[WouldHurtAChild and son]] being shredded by the trooper's minigun alongside him.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', with the Broken Steel DLC installed, while the player can send a radiation-immune companion character to activate the purifier rather than sacrificing themselves or Sarah Lyons, the game still considers this a cowardly choice rather than [[NegateYourOwnSacrifice Negating Your Own Sacrifice]].

** The ProudWarriorRace [[HornyVikings Nords]] place a high value on honor in their culture, which can, of course, lead to these issues. For instance, one of the core causes of the 4th Era Skyrim {{Civil War}} is that the secessionist Stormcloaks believe that the Empire sacrificed their honor and dignity by accepting the terms of the White-Gold Concordant with the [[AntiHumanAlliance Aldmeri Dominion]] to end the [[GreatOffscreenWar Great War]], particularly the provision outlawing Talos worship. ([[RealMenLoveJesus Talos is one of the most popular deities in modern Nord religion]].) On the other hand, Imperial loyalists among the Nords accept that the Empire (which was ''[[FounderOfTheKingdom founded by Talos]]'') has fallen on hard times, but believe that ''real'' honor means never abandoning an ally just because the going's gotten tough. Additionally, the Empire hasn't really bothered to even enforce those bans. Further, the Stormcloaks are painted as short-sighted in starting the Civil War, as both sides recognize that a second Great War with the Dominion is inevitable. Loyalists believe that a united Skyrim backing the Empire gives them the best chance of victory, while the Stormcloaks feel that a united Skyrim on its own has the best chance without being bogged down by the declining Empire.