History PlayerPunch / TurnBasedStrategy

** Crimson flower for that matter is a verifiable ''bloodbath''. You can literally kill [[spoiler: The ''entire'' Blue Lions house, half the Golden Deer House, ''and'' almost every one of the Knights of Seiros]] if you didn't recruit them. Oh, and some of them ''can't'' be recruited either.

* The scene before the final battle in ''VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness'' features Seraph Lamington "killing" the adorable LoveFreak Flonne by turning her into a flower. [[MultipleEndings She either]] [[DownerEnding stays dead]], [[BittersweetEnding is resurrected by Laharl's]] HeroicSacrifice (a PlayerPunch in and of itself), or is revived as a FallenAngel (which, despite how ominous it may sound, is a MegaHappyEnding. This is [[WidgetSeries Disgaea]], remember?)

** It's revealed she survived being StuffedIntoTheFridge and was working at a hospital... just in time for Driscoll to kidnap her and turn her into a ''CPU Chip!'' She is re-kidnapped in the fifth mission, but not revealed as dead until ''much'' later. You use this chip to kill Driscoll. He turns ''himself'' into a Giant Killer Cyborg. You kill him ''again''.

** Crimson flower for that matter is a verfiable ''bloodbath''. You can literally kill [[spoiler: The ''entire'' Blue Lions house, half the Golden Deer House, ''and'' almost every one of the Knights of Seiros]] if you didn't recruit them. Oh, and some of them ''can't'' be recruited either.

** Even the antagonists aren't without this - the Death Knight is revealed to be Jeritza (Though not outright stated)... but there is a strong hint that he has a tie to Mercedes. Should you unlock Mercedes's paralogue and complete it on the Azure Moon route, you will get a bonus scene in which she [[spoiler: crales her half-brother's head as he dies.]] And it's fully possible ''she'' is the one who defeated him... On Crimson Flower? You can make this even ''worse'' by not recruiting Mercedes and [[spoiler: sending Jeritza to fight Mercedes]].
** Not even '''''the Empire Route itself''''' is exempt from this, who is the FinalBoss of said route? [[spoiler:'''''Rhea herself!''''' Due to being driven berserk due to her dragon form and you're forced ro ''[[MercyKill put her down]]!'']] [[FromBadToWorse Even worse?]] The final boss theme is '''''SadBattleMusic''''', which makes it all the more worse. Thankfully, if her support is Rank A or higher [[spoiler: she survives the battle]].

** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsW'' had another: [[spoiler:The original [[TheLancer lancer]] of ''Anime/GoLion'', Takashi Shirogane, still dies early in the game so the final lineup that includes Princess Fala can come to fruition (though he at least makes it up with [[DyingMomentOfAwesome going to the battle one last time before succumbing to his wounds]]). And just in case you're wondering if his backup brother would appear and get spared... [[AdaptedOut Nope, he doesn't appear.]]]]

** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsZ'' series was the first time that Bandai Namco started punching the players in the gut in the same case of ''T'' above. Namely, [[spoiler:there is no way to avert the death of [[Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann Kamina]] and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Neil Dylandy/1st Lockon Stratos]], two of the gut-wrenching mecha anime deaths at the 2000's. They looked as if subverting it when in ''Z2.2'', they let you prevent the death of [[Anime/CodeGeass Euphemia li Britannia]]... and then rendered the route as non-canon in the ''Z3'' duology.]]

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem''
** Because of the excellent characterization, this can happen with just about any character death, depending on how much you care about your troops. Especially in ''Echoes'', where not only are death quotes fully voiced, but other members of your army will mourn the fallen character on the post-battle results screen. Mourning quotes from family members or love interests are particularly heart-rending.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'':
*** Midway through Chapter 5, Quan and Ethlyn arrive with a contingent of Lance Knights to assist your army, and are (slowly) crossing the Yied Desert until a contingent of Thracian Dragon Knights appear at the rear. Armed with lances that are super-effective against mounted units and unfettered by movement penalties (while cavalry is crippled by the sand), they proceed to slaughter the entire army, culminating with Quan and Ethlyn. Additionally, if Ethlyn dies first, the leader of the Dragon Knights holds her daughter hostage, forcing Quan to disarm himself so ''[[MoralEventHorizon they can kill him more easily]]''. Oh, this also happens ''in-game'', so you can send your flier down and [[NintendoHard try to rescue them]], but you'll end up [[{{Unwinnable}} breaking the game]].
*** At the end of Chapter 5, Sigurd's former ally Lord Arvis betrays him and orders his mages to slaughter nearly every playable character in Sigurd's army, at least a few of which the player must surely have developed attachment to at this point. Arvis also reveals that he has taken Sigurd's wife (who has been brainwashed) as his own before personally murdering Sigurd with the legendary Valflame spell. The rest of the game takes place 17 years later, starring the children of the slain protagonists.
** Hector's death in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'' counts as one for anybody who played ''The Blazing Blade'' first, especially since it was orchestrated by Zephiel, the once-kind-hearted-prince of Bern that you had to rescue in the prequel.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'':
*** When Leila is slaughtered on Ephidel's orders, '''her mutilated corpse is left out for you to find and Ephidel mocks you over it'''. Many a player cries. Matthew's heartbreaking moodswings between being drastically, flat-out dead-depressed and acting optimistic and pretending that nothing was wrong, compounded with how he talked to her like she was there... that cues another tearfest.
*** Ninian's death. Especially if you maxed out her support level with Eliwood. That one is such a punch that it needs some expansion. To start: One of your party members is the MysteriousWaif dancer Ninian, a ProperLady who dances for the group, whom the young Lord Eliwood seems to grow very fond of... Later on, however, she is taken away by the BigBad Nergal, having offered herself as a hostage to protect her brother Nils, forcing Eliwood and the others to find a weapon to defeat Nergal, namely the titular weapon, Durandal. But just after claiming the weapon, a dragon appears. Eliwood easily takes it down, but then he learns from Nergal himself... that the dragon he fatally wounded... was really Ninian. This is pretty painful on its own, but if you've gotten their A-Support conversation, that makes it even ''worse''... Imagine killing the person you love and not knowing it until it's too late, and not only does she not blame you, but she's glad that she didn't harm you while in her dragon state, ''and'' she also begs you to finish saving the world right before breathing her last. [[spoiler:Fortunately, she is revived by one of the legendary heroes, although if paired she will still die young]].
*** Eliwood's father, Marquess Pherae's death was a huge punch. For almost ten chapters, Eliwood has been searching for him while untrue rumors fly that Elbert is working with the bad guys. Eliwood and co. finally find him near death on Dread Isle. Enter BigBad Nergal, who kills Elbert to open the Dragon's Gate. The game presents a heartrending still of Eliwood holding his dying father in his arms and weeping.
*** Bonus points for Elbert: Nergal had commented several times how powerful Elbert was, and he even gets a DyingMomentOfAwesome by severely wounding Nergal before perishing. It almost feels like one long, drawn-out HopeSpot; Elbert came ''so close'' to surviving all that, but dies in his son's arms anyway.
*** On the same note, you can force Nino to kill Lloyd or Linus. Again, more of an example of VideoGameCrueltyPotential. The worst part is, Lloyd doesn't make any attempts to attack her on enemy phase, making him very easy to defeat and one of the easiest ways to level Nino fast. [[HotBlooded Linus]], on the other hand, ''does'' attack her... [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge and it obviously doesn't make things better]].
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'':
*** Late in the game, you can force Myrrh to kill her own freakin' father, Morva! And none of the main characters (except for Ephraim -- and only if you're playing his route) will ever know until after the battle! [[YouBastard Nice job.]]
*** Lyon is a [[NiceGuy very kind man]] who legitimately cares about his people. Granted, he envies his friend Ephraim, but just how much he was driven by that envy is debatable. He tries to bring his father back from the dead, and ends up possessed by [[BigBad the Demon King]], who then uses his new vessel to start the war that drives the plot. You have to kill him, regardless of which route you play. If you play Eirika's route, it becomes clear that he loves Eirika, and [[DyingDeclarationOfLove he finally gets up the courage to tell her just as he's about to die]].
** In your first playthrough of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', you have no choice but to [[spoiler:kill the king you spent almost all of part one searching for and then trying to get up onto the throne, because according to his research, it's the only way to break the Blood Pact he was tricked into signing. But guess what? ''It doesn't work''. So basically, you were forced to kill the poor man for nothing.]] Thankfully, your second playthrough onward lets you TakeAThirdOption.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'':
*** When you first start the game, you get to create your own customisable [[AudienceSurrogate Avatar]], who joins [[TheHero Chrom]] on his adventures. What's the first thing you see your Avatar do in the story right after creating them? [[spoiler:Getting [[GrandTheftMe possessed]] and ''[[TheHeroDies killing Chrom!]]'']] The game then [[HowWeGotHere flashes back to when Chrom and the Avatar first meet]], with you, the player, already knowing how it all ends. And worse, if your Avatar is female, [[spoiler:they can ''marry'' Chrom and have his children, making the inevitable moment even ''more'' painful!]]
*** Later, you meet [[spoiler:Lucina, Chrom's KidFromTheFuture who went back in time to prevent his death in the first place. At one point, she considers going as far as ''killing'' the Avatar to prevent their fate, even though she doesn't like the idea.]] Except it's possible for the Avatar to become [[spoiler:her husband or mother]], and this changes the scene and makes it even more emotionally charged, for better or worse.
*** [[WhamEpisode Chapter 9]] consists of clearing a courtyard of enemies so that [[spoiler: Emmeryn]] can be safely extracted by air. However, at the very last minute, [[spoiler: Aversa summons a veritable army of risen archers that promptly [[OneHitKO insta-kills]] the Pegasus Knights that were supposed to do the extraction, rendering your efforts up to that point utterly pointless. Worse, Emmeryn chooses to sacrifice herself to keep Chrom from surrendering the Fire Emblem for her life.]] The next chapter does nothing to uplift the mood. [[spoiler: It's even worse if her Spotpass map's played. She's alive, but can't remember anything or anyone and her solo ending says she ''never'' fully recovers. She ''only'' recalls who she is if she's killed off afterwards.]]
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' is just as brutal in this regard, if not even worse. There are two paths to choose, ''Birthright'' (allying with your biological family in Hoshido) or ''Conquest'' (allying with your adopted family in Nohr): choosing one of these pits the PlayerCharacter against one of their two families, both of them love the Avatar in their own ways, and the Avatar feels ''terrible'' about fighting them.
*** The gameplay also creates a very, ''very'', painful one: solely choosing a path will determine whether some characters on one or another side '''will be KilledOffForReal''' or not during the story. The ''Birthright'' path is really cruel ([[spoiler:Felicia's sister Flora is forced to double-cross the group and then is DrivenToSuicide out of guilt, Elise pulls a HeroicSacrifice to stop the Avatar and Xander from fighting to the death, Xander himself commits SuicideByCop out of despair, Xander's subordinates Peri and Laslow are almost surely fought to death and [[DimensionalTraveler Laslow's VERY spoileriffic origins]] make this ''even crueler'']]), but the ''Conquest'' side isn't without its punches either ([[spoiler:Sakura is a skippable boss but fighting her is a heartbreaking option ''plus'' she's imprisoned whether she's fought or not, Ryoma will commit {{Seppuku}} to save the Avatar from a SadisticChoice (of having to kill him or be killed) and the final boss is ''Takumi'', who dies regretting he never got to know the Avatar better, and not before his very sympathetic subordinates Oboro and Hinata are also almost surely killed.]]) Also? [[spoiler: Both Lilith and Azura die, Lilith in the middle of the game, and Azura at the end of both routes. In Azura's case, it can be especially painful if the male Avatar married her.]]
*** Not even the third path is completely exempt from this. While the majority of the characters that died on ''Birthright'' or ''Conquest'' will live in ''Revelation'', there are still a handful of [[PlotlineDeath unavoidable deaths]]. The most egregious example is [[spoiler: Scarlet]], ''who is still completely marriageable'' despite [[spoiler: her]] death (which happens [[GuestStarPartyMember not too long]] after the player even gets [[spoiler: her]]). Making this death even worse, [[spoiler: you have to fight her re-animated, possessed corpse a few chapters later]]. What really hurts about this is that it's given no fanfare, you'll just be looking through the enemies and suddenly see [[spoiler: Scarlet]]'s name.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' manages this even ''better'' than ''Fates'' in terms of how much it punches you (Seems fitting, since one of the directors of Three Houses was a director for ''Fates''). During the first twelve chapters of the game (About a year in-game time), you can explore the academy and talk to all the playable characters in the game. You have ample time to talk with them, build supports with them, help them out with their issues, [[GuestStarPartyMember even have them join you for mission assistance]], and even recruit them into your class. But if you do not recruit them, they may end up as enemies on the battlefield... and this is ''not'' like ''Radiant Dawn'' where they simply retreat. This is more like ''Fates'' and you ''kill'' them. Not knock them out. ''Kill''. And with only a few [[HateSink actually evil]] characters, everyone is arguably on the right side... their only crime was that you didn't recruit them in part one. YouBastard.
*** Making this even worse is not just their death quotes, but sometimes, if they are on the same map as their house leader, they will mourn their death in public.
*** And if ''that'' isn't bad enough, some characters such as [[spoiler: Ashe and Lorenz]] will actually ''leave'' you in part two even ''if'' you recruited them in part one due to plot circumstances. This happens suring Silver Snow and Verdant Wind for [[spoiler: Ashe]] and Silver Snow and Azure Moon for [[spoiler: Lorenz]]. Unavoidable plotline death? Not so much actually - if Byleth faces them on the battlefield and defeats them, they will actually surrender and the game will give you the option to either spare them or finish them off. And if you decide to finish them off, they will indeed express sadness at what you just did. YouBastard.
*** For Crimson Flower, the characters you have the option to spare are [[spoiler: Lysithea]] and [[spoiler: Claude]]. Except only [[spoiler: Lysithea]] will join you if you spare them. Sure enough, you will get a mourning quote as they face their death.
*** Also, special mention goes to [[spoiler:Seteth and Flayn]], who can be spared during Crimson Flower but not recruited. Killing one causes the other to cry out in total anguish, and on top of that, by the end of the game you will have practically [[spoiler:wiped out their entire race]].
*** Crimson flower for that matter is a verfiable ''bloodbath''. You can literally kill [[spoiler: The ''entire'' Blue Lions house, half the Golden Deer House, ''and'' almost every one of the Knights of Seiros]] if you didn't recruit them. Oh, and some of them ''can't'' be recruited either.
*** On top of this, Crimson Flower allows you to recruit Felix and Annette... and [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential you can make them fight their own]] ''fathers''. Sure enough, if [[SelfMadeOrphan you make them do this,]] the game ''will'' in fact acknowledge this.
*** Speaking of Gilbert, you will get a ''massive'' punch on the final map if you ''didn't'' recruit Annette, as they will be fought on the final map ''together''. If you kill her first, the game will [[DevelopersForesight acknowledge this]] and Gilbert will [[DespairEventHorizon break his AI pattern and charge literally]] [[{{Determinator}} through the burning city to avenge her death]]. Think killing Gilbert first is any better? Nope, Annette will do the exact same thing as her father if he's killed before her.
*** If Bernadetta is not recruited in Azure Moon or Verdant Wind, she will [[spoiler: literally have the ground erupt in flames under her feet]] provided you didn't [[spoiler: run up and kill her first before Edelgard can light the trap]]. This is an absolutely ''horrible'' way to die. This deserves special mention, despite that...
*** ...literally everyone in the Black Eagles ends up doomed depending on who you did ''not'' recruit in Azure Moon and Verdant Wind. Sure, you can skip a ''few'' of them and leave it up to your interpretation that they escaped. Except it's ''not'' easy to actually do this...
*** Oh, and remember the exploring the Monastery bits? You can still do that in part two... and if you killed a character's friend, they will be mourning their death. Sometimes, you can actually ignore them as they are not the stage objective and therefore avoid the punch, but other times, they are a stage objective and you can ''not''.
*** Even the antagonists aren't without this - the Death Knight is revealed to be Jeritza (Though not outright stated)... but there is a strong hint that he has a tie to Mercedes. Should you unlock Mercedes's paralogue and complete it on the Azure Moon route, you will get a bonus scene in which she [[spoiler: crales her half-brother's head as he dies.]] And it's fully possible ''she'' is the one who defeated him... On Crimson Flower? You can make this even ''worse'' by not recruiting Mercedes and [[spoiler: sending Jeritza to fight Mercedes]].
*** Marianne is literally the only character to never be fought as an enemy, except in the Field of the Eagle and Lion, a mock battle. In fact, she just disappears from the world if not recruited on any route except Verdant Wind (wherein she is with you by default). Most players may not even realise this, but if you view her supports, then notice her room has another chair in it, players [[DrivenToSuicide quickly put together a disturbing theory on what happened]].
*** Not even '''''the Church Route itself''''' is exempt from this, who is the FinalBoss of said route? [[spoiler:'''''Rhea herself!''''' Due to being driven berserk due to her dragon form and you're forced ro ''[[MercyKill put her down]]!'']] [[FromBadToWorse Even worse?]] The final boss theme is '''''SadBattleMusic''''', which makes it all the more worse. Thankfully, if her support is Rank A or higher [[spoiler: she survives the battle]].

*** Marianne is literally the only character to never be fought as an enemy, except in the Field of the Eagle and Lion, a mock battle. In fact, she just disappears from the world if not recruited on any route except Verdant Wind (wherein she is with you by default). Most players may not even realise this, but if you view her supports, then notice [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar her room has another chair in it]], players [[DrivenToSuicide quickly put together a disturbing theory on what happened]].

*** What makes it worse is that this comes right after the game’s take on the Bardiel fight from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. Considering that Ayato has just moments ago [[BigDamnHeroes managed to block the Dummy Plug-controlled Eva Unit-01 from ripping Eva Unit-03 apart]], allowing Touji to survive the incident intact and thus lessening Shinji’s HeroicBSOD, one might be lead to believe that [[HopeSpot there’s a way to save Hiroko too...]] [[ButThouMust but there isn’t]].

** ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsMX''. Reenacting [[WhamEpisode the Vibrato battle]] in Anime/RahXephon. '''With the player in control throughout.''' Meaning, [[spoiler: the player controls Ayato as he fights Vibrato... and as he ''unknowingly kills Hiroko at the same time''.]]