History Main / PlayerPunch

* In the final ''HarryPotter'' book, ''Deathly Hallows'', Dobby's HeroicSacrifice/ TakingTheBullet kicked ''many'' readers right in the stomach due to how unexpected it was. Hell, many, if not all, of the deaths were metaphorical punches or kicks.

* In the end of Volume 1 of ''Manga/BarefootGen'', after growing to know and love the Nakaoka family, the Atom Bomb drops on their home of Hiroshima and Gen and his mom Kimie watch in horror as they are unable to save the rest of their family who are pinned down under the rubble of their burning house. After they are rescued Kimie gives birth to a baby girl and as Gen holds her up in the air [[Tearjerker he breaks down crying knowing his father and sibling will never know her]]

* In [[Manga/GiantRobo''Giant Robo: The Animation'']] after growing to love the Experts of Justice nearly all of them are killed by the end of the series. The absolute heartbreaker of the casualties is [[EnsembleDarkhorse Ginrei]] whose death is absolutely one of the biggest Tearjerkers in the OVA

* When {{Lets Play}}er Nate From the Sunshine State gets to point in his playthrough of ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' where Miranda Keyes is killed from behind by the Brutes, you can hear him loudly inhale in shock... and then he growls in authentic rage, "I don't care what I have to do, '''''I will exterminate your entire f*cking species! I swear to f*cking God!"''''' And for the rest of the LetsPlay, every Brute he kills gets a "F*ck you! That's for Miranda!" send-off.[[/folder]]

** Afterwords, the writers seems to kill off more fan favorite characters with as of Episode 5, [[spoiler: [[ShyBlueHairedGirl Miaya]] being the robotic avatar of [[HateSink Monaca Towa]]]], [[BadassGrandpa Tengan]] being murdered by Munakuta, and [[CreepyCute Seiko]] ended up becoming the third murder victim of the attacker.

Enter the Player Punch. The script gives our hero a {{sidekick}} or [[MoralityPet supporting character]] who is given a good degree of [[CharacterDevelopment characterization]] or is just plain adorable. Over time, the player begins to [[VideogameCaringPotential take a liking to them]] when suddenly — BAM! The villain displays a startling KickTheDog moment in [[FriendlyTarget killing them off]] (usually in a non-resurrectable PlotlineDeath), or worse, forcing the ''player'' to kill them by kidnapping them and turning them into a TragicMonster. It isn't just [[ItsPersonal personal]] now for the character. The ''player'' has been drawn into the situation because they ''liked'' [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Skippy the Adorable Airedale]], and [[MoralEventHorizon now that villain is]] ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge going]]'' ''[[ItsPersonal down]]''. ''[[VideogameCrueltyPotential HARD.]]''

Enter the Player Punch. The script gives our hero a {{sidekick}} or [[MoralityPet supporting character]] who is given a good degree of [[CharacterDevelopment characterization]] or is just plain adorable. Over time, the player begins to [[VideogameCaringPotential take a liking to them]] when suddenly — BAM! The villain displays a startling KickTheDog moment in [[FriendlyTarget killing them off]] (usually in a non-resurrectable PlotlineDeath), or worse, forcing the ''player'' to kill them by kidnapping them and turning them into a TragicMonster. It isn't just [[ItsPersonal personal]] now for the character. The ''player'' has been drawn into the situation because they ''liked'' [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Skippy the Adorable Airedale]], and [[MoralEventHorizon now that villain is]] ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge going down]]''. ''[[VideogameCrueltyPotential HARD.]]''

Alternatively, the developer can do this by forcing to the player to kill a sympathetic AntiVillain (usually [[SlidingScaleOfAntivilains a type 4]] such as a NobleTopEnforcer), which causing the player to question why did it have to end like this?

Enter the Player Punch. The script gives our hero a {{sidekick}} or [[MoralityPet supporting character]] who is given a good degree of [[CharacterDevelopment characterization]] or is just plain adorable. Over time, the player begins to [[VideogameCaringPotential take a liking to them]] when suddenly — BAM! The villain displays a startling KickTheDog moment in [[FriendlyTarget killing them off]] (usually in a non-resurrectable PlotlineDeath), or worse, forcing the ''player'' to kill them by kidnapping them and turning them into a TragicMonster. It isn't just [[ItsPersonal personal]] now for the character. The ''player'' has been drawn into the situation because they ''liked'' Skippy the [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Adorable Airedale]], and [[MoralEventHorizon now that villain is]] ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge going down]]''. ''[[VideogameCrueltyPotential HARD.]]''

Alternatively, the developer can do this by forcing to the player to kill a sympathetic AntiVillain (usually a type 4 such as a NobleTopEnforcer), which causing the player to question why did it have to end like this?

Enter the Player Punch. The script gives our hero a {{sidekick}} or [[MoralityPet supporting character]] who is given a good degree of [[CharacterDevelopment characterization]] or is just plain adorable. Over time, the player begins to [[VideogameCaringPotential take a liking to them]] when suddenly BAM! The villain displays a startling KickTheDog moment in [[FriendlyTarget killing them off]] (usually in a non-resurrectable PlotlineDeath), or worse, forcing the ''player'' to kill them by kidnapping them and turning them into a TragicMonster. It isn't just [[ItsPersonal personal]] now for the character. The ''player'' has been drawn into the situation because they ''liked'' Skippy the [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Adorable Airedale]], and [[MoralEventHorizon now that villain is]] ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge going down]]''. ''[[VideogameCrueltyPotential HARD.]]''

Alternatively, the developer can do this via a very sympathetic AntiVillain (usually a type 4 such as a NobleTopEnforcer) by forcing the player to kill them, causing the player to question why did it have to end like this?

In unusually cruel and dark cases the player is simply punched without there being a villain, or anybody else, to blame and take revenge on. Or even any other kind of positive resolution.

Enter the Player Punch. The script gives our hero a {{sidekick}} or [[MoralityPet supporting character]] who is given a good degree of [[CharacterDevelopment characterization]] or is just plain adorable. Over time, the player begins to [[VideogameCaringPotential take a liking to them]] when suddenly BAM! The villain displays a startling KickTheDog moment in [[FriendlyTarget killing them off]] (usually in a non-resurrectable PlotlineDeath), or worse, forcing the ''player'' to kill them by kidnapping them and turning them into a TragicMonster. It isn't just [[ItsPersonal personal]] now for the character. The ''player'' has been drawn into the situation because they ''liked'' Skippy the [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Adorable Airedale]], and [[MoralEventHorizon now that villain is]] ''[[RoaringRampageOfRevenge going down]]''. '''[[VideogameCrueltyPotential HARD.]]'''

* When {{Lets Play}}er Nate From the Sunshine State gets to point in his playthrough of ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'' where Amanda Keyes is killed from behind by the Brutes, you can hear him loudly inhale in shock... and then he growls in authentic rage, "I don't care what I have to do, '''''I will exterminate your entire f*cking species! I swear to f*cking God!"''''' And for the rest of the LetsPlay, every Brute he kills gets a "F*ck you! That's for Amanda!" send-off.
** His reaction is Narmy for quite a few reasons. 1: Her name is ''Miranda'', not Amanda. 2: [[BigBad Truth]] is the one who shoots her in the back, not the Brutes. 3: ''He doesn't actually fight any Brutes from that point onwards'', just the [[ParasiteZombie Flood]] versions of some of them, which are already dead. So he's screaming at the wrong versions of the wrong people for the wrong person's death.
[[/folder]]

* In ''Anime/DanganRonpa3 Future Arc'', a LOT of watchers were in complete distraught at the end of Episode 2, when Aoi Asahina, one of the survivors of the first game and having built up a sizable fanbase beforehand, was out and out murdered. This was to the point a lot of watchers decided to quit, citing DarknessInducedAudienceApathy.

* ''Series/OrphanBlack'' gets into the action with the episode "The Scandal of Altruism", a major case of TheBadGuyWins and DownerEnding. [[spoiler:Kendall Malone, from whom both the Leda and Castor clones were cloned (due to BizarreHumanBiology), is shot and immolated, apparently destroying all traces of her genetic material. This leaves the clones, several of whom possess severe genetic illnesses, with a major recourse to unlocking the cause of these illnesses now closed to them. Additionally, Cosima's research on her illness and genetic code is seemingly destroyed, rendering her last several months' worth of work futile. As icing on the cake, we learn that Beth Childs was blackmailed into committing suicide, as she was threatened that if she did not do so, the other clones would be killed. Of course, the faction responsible for this turns out to be the same faction responsible for Kendall's murder and the destruction of Cosima's research.]] The show has had {{Wham Episode}}s before, but nothing approaching how devastating this episode was. It's almost a ''Game of Thrones''-level gut punch.

* ''Series/OrphanBlack'' gets into the action with the episode "The Scandal of Altruism", a major case of TheBadGuyWins and DownerEnding. [[spoiler:Kendall Malone, from whom both the Leda and Castor clones were cloned (due to BizarreHumanBiology), is shot and immolated, apparently destroying all traces of her genetic material. This leaves the clones, several of whom possess severe genetic illnesses, with a major recourse to unlocking the cause of these illnesses now closed to them. Additionally, Cosima's research on her illness and genetic code is seemingly destroyed, rendering her last several months' worth of work futile. As icing on the cake, we learn that Beth Childs was blackmailed into committing suicide, as she was threatened that if did not do so, the other clones would be killed.]] The show has had {{Wham Episode}}s before, but nothing approaching how devastating this episode was. It's almost a ''Game of Thrones''-level gut punch.

** The entire series, that book especially, is basically written to make you feel bad about enjoying violence and drama in the media.

* For readers who came to the ''RiftWar'' saga by Creator/RaymondEFeist via ''VideoGame/BetrayalAtKrondor'', Locklear's senseless death can be this after spending so much time with the character in the video game.

* For readers who came to the ''RiftWar'' saga by RaymondEFeist via ''BetrayalAtKrondor'', Locklear's senseless death can be this after spending so much time with the character in the video game.

** His reaction is Narmy for quite a few reasons. 1: He name is ''Miranda'', 2: Truth shoots her in the back, not the Brutes, and 3: ''You don't actually fight any Brutes from that point onwards'', just the [[ParasiteZombie Flood]] versions of some of them, which are already dead. So he's screaming at the wrong versions of the wrong people for the wrong person's death.