"Hosea..."
Sacrificial Lions in Video Games.
- Captain Brenner in Advance Wars: Days Of Ruin, who's death comes as a very nasty Player Punch about halfway through the game.
- The Cheshire Cat from American McGee's Alice fits this trope very nicely, especially since the last bit of info he tries to impart is that the Queen of Hearts and Alice share the same mind.
- In one version of Ao Oni, after evading the titular monster and navigating through its house, Hiroshi eventually reunites with his friends. As they debate whether or not the creature's real or some sort of "Scooby-Doo" Hoax, Takuro tries to take charge and tells everyone not to panic. Cue the Ao Oni popping up and biting his head clean off, effectively proving it's more than some guy in a suit.
- Yoshimo from Baldur's Gate II. Mind you, you're the one who kills him, but showing that he's been an unwilling The Mole for the Big Bad all along helps.
- In Blaze Union, we have Siskier in route A, Luciana in route B, and Jenon in route C. Each route also has a few sympathetic enemy characters who serve a similar purpose, at least as far as showing the situation's direness goes.
- Lars Halford in Brütal Legend. He's initially in charge of Ironheade, and about halfway through the game he makes a bold stand against Emperor Doviculus, declaring that he will lead the humans to rise up and defeat the Tainted Coil. Doviculus basically says "Can't let you do that" and fatally stabs Lars where he stands.
- Most games in the Call of Duty series have one. In order, we have Paul Jackson in Modern Warfare, either Roebuck or Palonsky and Chernov in World at War, Ghost and Roach in Modern Warfare 2, Dimitri Petrenko in Black Ops, Soap in Modern Warfare 3, Alex Mason in Black Ops 2 (although he is a possible subversion if you play your cards right), Elias Walker in Ghosts, Knox and Cormack in Advanced Warfare, and Omar and Raines in Infinite Warfare.
- King and Toroko from Cave Story; Curly, if you don't save her.
- Doubly so in King and Toroko's case, since King and Toroko die at nearly the same time, with Toroko being killed by Quote and King dying as soon as Quote is done fighting Toroko. No matter how long it takes.
- Danganronpa:
- Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair re-introduces Byakuya Togami, one of the surviving characters from the first game. He takes on a protective attitude towards the rest of the group, until he’s swiftly murdered during the first chapter due to a case of mistaken identity. Though it is later revealed that things are not as they seem: the “Byakuya” who’s murdered is actually an imposter, and the real one is still alive and well.
- In Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony, Pianist Kaede Akamatsu is billed as the game’s protagonist, and the game goes so far as to allow you to play through the first chapter with her... until the end, wherein she’s revealed to be the murderer and is swiftly executed by Monokuma. The real protagonist was her love interest, reluctant hero Shuichi Saihara.
- Almost all of the friendly Non Player Characters in Dark Souls end up dying or going hollow, losing their humanity to the curse of the Undead in the ruins of Lordran.
- Harley in Digital Devil Saga. Originally the confident leader of one of the six ruling tribes of his world, the arrival of the Demon Virus triggered a general collapse of his entire command structure, not helped by the new powers the virus had given every member of his tribe. The calm leader turns into a frightened child when met for an intelligence exchange meeting and quickly devolves even further into a scared beast — all of it to show just how dangerous the virus truly is for the inhabitants of the Junkyard.
- This happens midway through the second game after the shit hits the fan and you start losing party members; just to emphasize that this is a story where Anyone Can Die, Serph, the freaking main character, is the first person to get offed.
- Duncan from Dragon Age: Origins is introduced as the mentor after you lose everyone else in your Origin, only to be killed off a bit later, before he can even start acting this role. King Cailan can also be considered this, as long as you don't antagonize him.
- Queen Diene from Epic Seven was once a nun who successfully saved the world from Anghraf The Archdemon in the 7th War. Ras meets her in the first chapter. Unfortunately, at the end of that chapter she's killed by Vildred, who betrays the heroes and joins the Archdemon side. Things start to get serious. However, the younger version of her (before Ras meets her in the first chapter) is playable in the later update.
- Eternal Darkness is loaded with characters who could at least be considered this — within the main cast, no less! The best cases can be made for Anthony and Paul, who get arguably the most unpleasant ends out of the Chosen — and while most of the others' contribute to an overarching cause in a way that's acknowledged in following chapters, the plot significance of theirs is debatable.
- Familia: Marlene, the grandmother of the family, is also their strongest member at the start of the game. She dies in a Mutual Kill with the Conjurer to show how high the stakes are when fighting the Draconian Empire.
- Fate/stay night:
- All the Servants except Rider in the Heavens Feel route. It's a good thing they added about half a dozen characters to the main lineup for this one or we'd be down to Shirou and Tohsaka and no villain.
- Archer in the Fate route. Though the anime gave him his crowning moment here, in the game it happened offscreen.
- Final Fantasy:
- Josef in Final Fantasy II accompanies the party to make up for them saving his daughter...and makes a Heroic Sacrifice to save them from a boulder trap. It quickly makes clear to the player that not even their companions are safe.
- Tellah in Final Fantasy IV. Though his death was probably foreshadowed as an inevitability by the fact that Tellah's stats never go up (and sometimes decline) when he's Level Grinding. He still manages to Take a Level in Badass giving his last battle all he's got.
- Galuf in Final Fantasy V. Though it wasn't as much a practical loss because, upon his death, all his abilities were instantly transferred to his granddaughter Krile, who continued his role in the party as if nothing had changed. Also, his death was remarkably similar to Tellah's in the previous example.
- Final Fantasy VI:
- General Leo.
- As does Emperor Gestahl, who finds out, to his dismay, that someone else gets to be the Final Boss. He only fits this trope if you think he's a sympathetic character, though.
- Final Fantasy VII:
- The original AVALANCHE members, Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse, fill this role. They start off as your initial companions (although not as party members) and are given distinct personalities, but are then promptly killed following a botched attempt to save the Midgar slums.
- Aerith may be a far more definitive version, or possibly fall into another trope.
- Final Fantasy XII: Reddas sacrifices his life to destroy the Sun Cryst with the Sword of Kings.
- Anyone who's played the series knows Fire Emblem is an Anyone Can Die series. However, there's usually one or two characters whose deaths really kick the plot into high gear.
- Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War gets MEAN with this. Upon hitting Chapter 5: Door to Destiny (Fitting name) you see two former party members die to a boss that you can't fight, but the real kick is when you clear that chapter — you're treated to the "Battle" of Belhalla
— and the death of not one character, but the death of damn near the ENTIRE CAST. And Now for Someone Completely Different... - The death of Ike's father Greil in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance serves two purposes: it shows how dangerous and powerful the Black Knight is, and it forces a shift in the status quo for Ike. He suddenly goes from being a member of a mercenary company and being mentored by his father to leading said the mercenary company, when he has no leadership experience whatsoever.
- Fire Emblem: Awakening uses the Heroic Sacrifice of Emmeryn as this trope. While she did choose to die on her own accord, her act of sacrificing herself leads to her becoming a martyr to most of the people of Plegia. This leads to the war between Plegia and Ylisse to start its abrupt decline, as most of Gangrel's forces refused to fight anymore, only wanting peace, and only his most devoted fighters remaining by his side.
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses:
- The death of Byleth's father Jeralt effectively marks the end of the happy days at Garreg Mach, as afterward, Byleth merges with Sothis, the Flame Emperor is revealed to be Edelgard when the Holy Tomb is raided, and Edelgard attacks Garreg Mach, ending the academy phase of the game.
- On Azure Moon, Dedue plays a literal sacrificial lion — Dimitri reveals that Dedue rescued him from near-execution, only to be killed himself. If his paralogue was completed, it's revealed several chapters later that he survived, albeit severely injured; Dimitri still believed him to be dead. This catalyzes Dimitri's Broken Bird state post-timeskip, bumping off one of the few characters who could get him to see reason, and emphasizes to the player how dire things have gotten in the Kingdom — even in a game where playable characters can be Killed Off for Real, Dedue is the only one to which this can happen offscreen.
- After the timeskip, either Ashe (on Silver Snow and Verdant Wind), Ferdinand or Lorenz (on Azure Moon), or Ignatz or Leonie (on Crimson Flower) can become this if not recruited during the academy phase, depending on route. Ashe is fought in the Valley of Torment on Silver Snow and Verdant Wind, situated between you and a chest and friendly reinforcements. Ferdinand and Lorenz defend the Great Bridge of Myrddin against Kingdom forces on Azure Moon and are designated as enemy commanders, forcing them to be killed off in order to progress. On the Crimson Flower route, Ignatz and Leonie defend the Great Bridge of Myrddin against the Empire; Ignatz is positioned as such that it's hard to avoid killing him, although with clever use of Stride and Warp alongside flying units, he can be spared, while Leonie hits your flank midway through the battle and will likely need to be taken out unless you can get to the level boss Judith first. Their deaths show that former students, with few exceptions, can be Killed Off for Real in Part 2.
- Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War gets MEAN with this. Upon hitting Chapter 5: Door to Destiny (Fitting name) you see two former party members die to a boss that you can't fight, but the real kick is when you clear that chapter — you're treated to the "Battle" of Belhalla
- Game of Thrones (Telltale) somehow manages to do this with a central player character, namely Ethan Forrester, the newly appointed Lord of House Forrester. He is set up to be an important figure in the story, with the player having to make a number of important decisions to decide what kind of Lord he will eventually be. Then he is abruptly stabbed in the neck and killed by a bloodthirsty Ramsay Snow.
- Tai in Gears of War 2 fits this mold. Much of the first act is building up his invincible nature and the second act shows how he survived brutal torture by the locust. It breaks him so badly he kills himself. Benjamin Carmine also fits the mold, surviving through the second act and having Marcus and the others noticeably saddened by his death. This is especially noticeable compared to his Sacrificial Lamb brother Anthony Carmine in the first game, who was killed by a random sniper shot in the first act.
- Shanti in Geneforge 2 is the player's mentor throughout the first act of the game, and works alongside them to investigate the conspiracy of Drypeak. This ends when she goes ahead of them into the tunnels at the northwest end of the desert, and gets killed by Stanis at the other end. The player doesn't learn the true nature of her disappearance until much later, however, when they find her body in a grove near the city of Rising.
- Briggs the pirate in Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. Killed by the shadow monsters spawned by the Grave Eclipse, during the mission to rescue his son Eoleo (who then joins your party to avenge him).
- Guild Wars:
- Kehanni in Nightfall, whose death is the catalyst for General Morgahn's Heel–Face Turn.
- To some extent, Rurik in Prophecies, although curiously both he and the dwarves who kill him are forgotten almost immediately thereafter. You finally do end up fighting the dwarves much later in the game, although without mention of them being the guys responsible for Rurik's death.
- And while his popularity with the fans is debatable, Yijo Tahn serves the same role in Factions. He goes through a few starting missions with you and is pretty much Togo's other star student...until he gets sent to help the victims of the plague and ends up as an Afflicted.
- Halo 3:
- Miranda Keyes. This definitely qualifies as a Player Punch also.
- And, a little later, Sergeant Johnson gets killed, just to remind you of Halo: Combat Evolved and of how annoying 343 Guilty Spark was there and then rubbing it in your face when you think he may actually be able to redeem himself.
- Subverted in King's Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder!, in that Cedric has been Graham's sidekick for most of the game only to be struck down by Mordack at the very end, but not hard enough to kill him.
- If Sarah was a Sacrificial Lamb in The Last of Us, Joel becomes this in the beginning of The Last of Us Part II. Joel was shown to be brutally bludgeoned to death by an unexpected character by the name of Abby in front of Ellie in order to display how cruel and revenge-driven people can be.
- Emma from The Last Remnant dies in combat against the Conqueror when he single-handedly invades Athlum and steals their Remnant. The impact of her death is only slightly lessened by the arrival of her younger daughter Emmy, who immediately replaces her.
- Left 4 Dead's Bill was one of the playable survivors in the first game. In "The Passing", his corpse can be found slumped up against a generator, his cigarette still in his mouth and his M-16, which you can loot for yourself, in his hands.
- In the DLC campaign "The Sacrifice" you can relive his last moments.
- During the Virmire mission in the first Mass Effect game, two of your party members become mutually exclusive. There is no way around it, and they'll both insist that you should have saved the other one afterward. You can also lose Wrex, but that one's avoidable.
- The sequel has your entire original ship, several of its crew, and, best of all, you. Later, your ship is attacked again, and nearly every member of your crew is taken. This time, however, you can rescue them.
- It's possible for a number of squadmates to die during the suicide mission at the end, and whichever one does will remind you that you're playing for keeps. It's still possible, with proper planning, to get everyone out alive.
- Mass Effect 3, being set in a galactic war, has several instances of this with your own party members, current and past. Your choices throughout all three games can defy some of these cases, however. There is one unavoidable case in Thane Krios, who's already dying of a terminal disease. He's one of the deadliest assassins in the galaxy, but his only role in the game is to be killed by Kai Leng after a quick one on one duel, thus demonstrating just how deadly and ruthless he and Cerberus can be.
- There's also one other choice regarding the Genophage cure where you have to either martyr Mordin (or Padok Wiks if Mordin already died in the second game) to cure the Krogans or refuse to finish the cure and instead kill Wrex (if you didn't kill him in the first game) after he becomes enraged at Shepard's betrayal of his trust (also, the salarian still dies if you choose that, but if Wreav is the krogan leader, you can convince the doctor non-lethally). Plus, Captain Anderson, who's essentially been Shepard's mentor since the beginning of the original game, dies regardless of his/her actions… it just determines whether he dies quickly or manages to have one final poignant scene with Shepard before his death at the end.
- The sequel has your entire original ship, several of its crew, and, best of all, you. Later, your ship is attacked again, and nearly every member of your crew is taken. This time, however, you can rescue them.
- Sergeant Magnusson from Medal of Honor: Vanguard, the leader of the player's squad, gets killed by a German Sniper halfway through the game.
- Several of the heroes in Mortal Kombat 9 play a large part of the overall story, only to be Killed Off for Real near the end to show how truly catastrophic the changes to the timeline has become.
- Onmyoji: Kagura is revealed that she will eventually become one as of chapter 24, where her true identity as the Sacrificial Miko with the god-like power capable of activating the Sword of Kusanagi is revealed.
- In Persona 3, Shinjiro Aragaki was killed off to show just how evil Strega is, and to propel the Character Development of Ken Amada and Akihiko Sanada, both of whom reach a degree of personal resolution and receive upgraded Personas as a result. Given that he's a well-balanced character and that he has his own personal weapon type that you can continue buying until the end of the game (quite unlike most temporary guest characters), it can come as a bit of a shock. In Persona 3 Portable, it is possible for him to survive only to end up in a Convenient Coma because the plot would no longer work otherwise.
- A less obvious example is Chidori Yoshino, the Love Interest for Junpei. The two spend a lot of time together and we learn quite a few things about her, including her viewpoint on life. During her death scene, she uses her powers to help Junpei get the resolve to continue fighting (plus a new Persona, created by fusing Junpe's Hermes with her Medea). In Persona 3: FES, it is also possible to revive her but she'll have amnesia.
- Alys Brangwin from Phantasy Star IV.
- Latios and Latias star in a prominent sidequest in the postgame of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team which characterizes them enough to become this in Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon in which they get the "honor" of being the first Legendary Pokémon to be turned into stone by the antagonist. Their functional deaths are frequently lamented by the partner character, and also kickstarts the game's case of Cerebus Syndrome in the story's second half.
- Red Dead Redemption II Most of the characters in the Van Der Linde's gang counts, but the most gut-wrenching one goes out to Hosea Matthews in the end of chapter 4 who was basically the voice of reason for the entire gang and the only one who can keeps Dutch from going to the deep end. Even worse, after his death, Lenny, out of all people, also bites the dust not so long after. No wonder the gang's morale plummeted heavily after the botched robbery.
- The protagonists brother in Red Faction: Guerrilla. He dies after the tutorial mission, conveniently after you have explained to him you just want to do "honest work" and "are not a terrorist". His death turns you into one. Not by choice.
- The While Guthix Sleeps quest in RuneScape has the player recruit a number of NPC warriors to help them stop a powerful and evil mage from achieving godhood. The NPCs are all known to the player, from other quests and skill training. Some of them are ones that the player might contact at least once a day. Out of the eight NPCs that confront the enemy mage, only two survive; one of those only because he is a demon with super healing. It's a gut-punch of popular NPC death in a game where such things had previously been confined to one-time NPCs inside their own quest chain.
- Johnny Gat was intended to be this in Saints Row: The Third, but the ire of the fans caused the developers to bring him back for the fourth installment... where almost all of Earth's population gets killed off all at once, including Oleg and Nyte Blade.
- Shin Megami Tensei:
- Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne has three, one at the hands of each of the other Reason-holders. Hijiri is sacrificed by Isamu; Futomimi gets killed by Chiaki (or you, if you chose to side with her); and Yuko is sacrificed by Hikawa.
- In Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, Commander Gore, the valiant leader of the Investigation Team, dies to a cheap shot from the first Mini-Boss. However, he is revived by the goddess Ouroboros later on and serves as your mentor should you choose the Neutral path.
- In Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, your character's mentor Nikarri and his fellow student Manabu are charbroiled by the first boss when they take an attack aimed at you and your Implied Love Interest Asahi.
- Back in Shin Megami Tensei II there was Beth, who is introduced as soon as you return to the Center, and appears to be a Composite Character of the Heroine and Yuriko from Shin Megami Tensei I, but dies Taking the Bullet for you during the fight against Daleth several hours later (at the most). Her importance (and the true nature of the rest of the main cast) is only made clear after her death.
- Hawk in Soldier of Fortune. You get to watch the Big Bad execute him two-thirds of the way through the game. Big Player Punch.
- Maruhashi is a prominent side character in the first two chapters of Spirit Hunter: NG, with his personality and relationships being fairly fleshed out, but he meets an untimely death thanks to Kubitarou. His death shakes Akira to the core as he realizes how truly dangerous the situation is, and it makes him reluctant to involve anyone else in the investigation. It takes a pep talk from Kaoru/Seiji to get him back on his feet.
- Zeratul was killed in StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void while freeing Artanis from a link with his people called the Khala which the main villain corrupted and used to take over his body. Zeratul was instrumental in laying out the path for the characters of this game as well as StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty and StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm.
- Star Wars: The Old Republic: In the first two major expansions, Darth Marr rises from a minor character of the Sith Warrior and Sith Inquisitor storylines to the de facto co-regent of the Sith Empire along with the Inquisitor PC. In the first chapter of Knights of the Fallen Empire, he and the Player Character are taken prisoner by Emperor Valkorion of Zakuul, who tells them We Can Rule Together and takes Marr's handcuffs off. Marr says Screw Your Ultimatum! and goes berserk on Valkorion's guards, before being effortlessly struck down by Valkorion with Force lightning.
- Sword of Paladin: Clifford, the commander of Zanga's knight squadron and a powerful guest party member, is killed by the Ogre boss to show that anyone can die in this game. This is also the point where the game gets much darker.
- One Guest-Star Party Member in nearly every Tales franchise installment.
- In Tales of the Abyss, there's another one as well: the shockingly-appropriately-named Aslan Frings. A Recurring Character, he's a soldier of Malkuth and you have the option of going through a long Match Maker Quest getting him and his Kimlascan counterpart, Jozette Cecille, together. After the war ends, they're engaged to be married, and their marriage is said to be a symbol of the newfound peace between the two countries. Whether you do the sidequest or not, though, he gets killed right after the timeskip, as your first indication that you haven't actually resolved the main plot yet.
- Uncharted 2: Among Thieves: Elena's cameraman Jeff, assumed to become a major character, gets wounded and must be carried while evading gunfire. Regardless of your efforts. He's shot at gunpoint by Lazarevic.
- Valkyria Chronicles: Isara Gunther, sister of the hero Welkin, is killed by a sniper about two-thirds of the way through the game, kicking off the darkest part of the game and cementing that War Is Hell.
- The Walking Dead (Telltale):
- Mark from Season 1 sort of just appears between chapters one and two, and just barely skirts above Sacrificial Lamb since he actually does get quite a bit of characterization. Then he abruptly dies just as quickly as he appeared, and is has immediately forgotten by the rest of the cast.
- Omid dies very suddenly and abruptly in the very beginning of Season 2, and is killed by an absolute nobody character who is herself immediately and unceremoniously killed by Christa, just to let you know that the series is playing for keeps just as ever after the death of Lee in the end of Season 1.
- In the second season, when Pete was introduced, it seemed like he was being set up to be a major character, as he was the most reasonable of the cabin group, and episode 1 even seemingly ended with a Sadistic Choice between either Pete or his nephew, Nick. However, Pete becomes a Sacrificial Lion because no matter what choice you pick, Pete will die, and Nick will live.
- Leo from The Witcher.
- Vesimir in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
- Rhyme Bito in The World Ends with You. Given the information of the instruction booklet, it looked like she would spend the whole game as the Messianic Archetype
- 777, Nao, and Sota also serve as this, all of them surviving a fair way into the game and having Character Development before they're offed.
- In Xardion, Panthera (a leopard mecha, thus almost a literal example) is one of the three-party members until being killed off during an escape cutscene.
- X Com Enemy Unknown: The German Recon team from the tutorial. Most you will find on the street, disemboweled. The last one will be in the warehouse, giving Creepy Monotone shouts of "Hilfe", mind-controlled by a psionic alien. He cannot be saved and kills himself and one of your guys with a hand grenade if you come close.
- Most of Xenoblade Chronicles 1 follows Shulk's revenge plot, but rather than simply fridge his love interest, Fiora goes out with a bang. After Shulk unlocks the power of the Monado, he can finally harm the Mechon that are currently attacking Colony 9, but for some reason he can't harm their apparent leader, a mysterious Mechon with a face. Just as he, Reyn, and Dunban are about to die, Fiora bursts onto the scene in a freaking mech. Of the four playable characters, she is the only one who manages to harm the Faced Mechon at all, but she draws too much attention and is murdered for her bravery. To make matters worse, Shulk foresees the whole thing, but is powerless to actually stop it. Of course, it turns out she's not completely dead, as her body was taken back to Mechonis where she was turned into a new Face Mechon and on top of that was secretly implanted with the soul of the titan Mechonis herself.
- Joe Tazuna in Your Turn to Die is introduced as the best friend of protagonist Sara Chidouin and her potential partner throughout the Deadly Game. Unfortunately, he just so happens to get the Sacrifice card in the first round, and he eventually winds up dead. Via having all of his blood drained out of him.
