History ReplacementGoldfish / VideoGames

* Invoked by [[TheDragon Bedman]] in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' ''Xrd''. [[spoiler:He kills a Magehound puppy that [[EmotionlessGirl Ramlethal]] befriended and then provides her with a replacement puppy. When this new puppy doesn't bite her finger affectionately like the old one did, he explains that the old one is truly gone forever and cannot simply be replaced. Although this is understandably a heart-rending experience for her, this succeeds in teaching Ramlethal about the value of life and leads to her eventual HeelFaceTurn]].
* In ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'', Ethan Mars' wife leaves him [[spoiler: after the death of their son. He has the option of getting together with Madison Paige in one of the endings, though another possible ending implies a [[RelationshipSalvagingDisaster reconciliation]] with Grace.]]
* ''VideoGame/HeroBank2'': Near the end of the game, it's revealed that [[spoiler:Sumimori Adachi created Sekito in the image of his dead son.]]

* Likely unintentional, but in ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAnimalParade,'' if you decide to start a [[NewGamePlus new game]] when your child recently grew up, your spouse might suggest to have a second child before your first leaves on their journey (although, you can't continue your file after they leave anyway, sooo...).

* Played for serious drama in ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' Season Two:

** According to the enemy notes and her appearance, [[spoiler:[[RobotMaid Lil' Miss Marshmallow]] was built by Porky to replace his human maid, Electra, from the previous game (''VideoGame/EarthBound''), who he apparently had a crush on and who he could no longer be with due to TimeTravel problems.]]

* ''VideoGame/BoxxyQuestTheGatheringStorm'': Judging by their similar names and similarly red hair, it’s implied that [[BigBad Boxxyfan]] created the A.I. Cornelia as a replacement for his dead sister Coria. If that’s true, though, then it raises some rather uncomfortable questions about Cornelia’s… [[GagBoobs most notable assets]], since the original most certainly didn’t have them.

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', both Thancred and Ran'jit goes through this with "Minfilia" in the ''Shadowbringers'' expansion. Thancred because he sees this as his [[MySecondGreatestChance second chance]] to protect Minfilia while Ran'jit [[spoiler:wants to lock her away so that she doesn't become another weapon against the sin-eaters]]. Thancred is able to let go while Ran'jit never gets the chance.

* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'': At first Joel sees Ellie as a means to an end, and nothing more. As the game progresses, the two bond, and eventually Joel begins to think of Ellie as his surrogate daughter (his real daughter Sarah was killed 20 years ago in the game's prologue, and Joel has been trying to bury her memory). He even calls her "baby girl", like he called Sarah and [[spoiler: forcibly ends a firefly attempt to cure the fungus by performing a lethal experiment on Ellie]].

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', both Thancred and Ran'jit goes through this with "Minfilia" in the ''Shadowbringers'' expansion. Thancred because he sees this as his SecondGreatestChance to protect Minfilia while Ran'jit [[spoiler:wants to lock her away so that she doesn't become another weapon against the sin-eaters]]. Thancred is able to let go while Ran'jit never gets the chance.

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', Aerith is drawn to Cloud because he reminds her of her former boyfriend, Zack Fair [[spoiler: who turns out to have been Cloud's BigBrotherMentor before his death.]] Aerith's kind and gentle demeanor (though she is quite spunky at times) reminds Cloud of his late mother. Aerith even lampshades the trope in the Gondola Date, then adds that she would like to know Cloud better for the guy he actually is.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate II'':

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'': Partway through the second act [[spoiler: Hawke encounters Quentin, a deranged [[BloodMagic Blood Mage]], who has been killing women throughout Kirkwall to recreate his diseased wife out of their body parts.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'':

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'':

** This is also the backstory of ''Seihou''[='s=] (''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}''[='s=] "sister" series) main character [[ArtificialHuman VIVIT]]; Erich, the developer of Saboten energy, suffered an accident that left him a cyborg and took his daughter's life. Thus, VIVIT was created by him as a replacement for the original Vivit. And because Erich [[DirtyOldMan is a bit of a perv]], he dressed his robo-surrogate-daughter [[{{Meido}} in a maid outfit]].

* VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077:

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'':

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', Aerith is drawn to Cloud because he reminds her of her former boyfriend, Zack Fair [[spoiler: who turns out to have been Cloud's BigBrotherMentor before his death.]] Aerith's kind and gentle demeanor (though she is quite spunky at times) reminds Cloud of his late mother. Aerith even lampshades the trope in the Gondola Date, then adds that she would like to know Cloud better for the guy he actually is.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'':
** Halfway through the game it's revealed that Princess Garnet is actually one of these. She's actually a summoner born in Madain Sari and washed up in Alexandria Port not too long after the real Princess Garnet died of an illness. As [[IdenticalStranger they looked similar]] she was raised to believe she was the princess.
** It's strongly implied that [[spoiler: Vivi dies]] during the epilogue, but a whole crowd of his children are seen who look identical to him.

* Played for serious drama in ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' Season Two with Kenny, who bonds with Clementine and Alvin Jr. as a replacement for his lost son. [[TearJerker He even mistakenly calls Clem by his son's nickname "Duck" over a meal at one point]]. On the flipside, however, his bond with these two is what gives him the will to keep living.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'' the character of MOMO is an ArtificialHuman reconstruction of her creator's daughter, Sakura. He even went a little further with MOMO being the 100th Replacement Goldfish he created in a full scale production line of androids with her face. His wife, on the other hand, was none too pleased with seeing a hundred copies of her dead daughter running about the galaxy and mentioned as much. It's something of an unusual example, as MOMO and the others were originally only meant to replace part of Sakura, as she suffered from a disease similar to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-In_syndrome Locked In Syndrome]] and MOMO was meant to become a new body for her. It was only after the poor kid bit it that Mizrahi decided to go the whole hog and use MOMO as a full Replacement Goldfish. In the third game when Mizrahi tells MOMO that he had long since accepted that he would never get his daughter back, and had truly grown to love his 'second daughter' as a completely separate being.

* In ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'', when a soldier that you really like is KilledOffForReal, it is sort of common practise for players to take another soldier, then change their name and give them plastic surgery to create a replica.
* ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'':
** In season 1, Sam and Max actually get a replacement goldfish and they worry he'll find out.
** In Season Two, the Goldfish dies, and returns from Hell to kill them. They replace him in their office with a stone replica naming it as the prophesied leader of the sea chimpanzees.
** At the end of Season Three, [[spoiler:Max is killed, but Sam meets another Max from an AlternateUniverse who had similar adventures, but Sam died in that universe instead. They're each other's replacement goldfish]].
* ''Franchise/MegaMan'':
** In the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series, [[spoiler:[=MegaMan=] was made by Lan's father FROM his dead son Hub]]. In later games, this is spoken of casually. This is also the reason Lan can use his EleventhHourSuperpower.
** The sequel series, ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'', [[spoiler:the robot Hollow is a replacement for the BigBad Vega's dead lover. Ironically, she never pays proper attention to him because he isn't an exact copy, but he ends up developing a soul and falling for her.]]
** While the actual romance never goes beyond ShipTease, in ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 2'' it's pretty obvious that Ciel only thinks of Elpizo as a replacement for Zero after he disappeared at the end of the first game, which makes things pretty damn awkward when Zero inevitably returns.
* In the Nintendo DS game ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheCuriousVillage'', [[spoiler:Lady Dahlia is a robot, like everyone else in St. Mystere except for Flora. She was created by Baron Reinhold to be a replacement for his dead wife. However, her existence as a replacement for the dead wife was so traumatic to his daughter that he had the robot's memory wiped and the Lady Dahlia personality created instead.]]

* ''Franchise/SilentHill'':
** ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' has [[spoiler:Maria]], who was born from [[spoiler:James' wish to be with his dead wife Mary.]]
** In ''VideoGame/SilentHill3'', Heather is, in a way, a ReplacementGoldfish for Cheryl. Slightly different in the fact that she [[spoiler:is the reincarnation of Cheryl and Alessa (who were originally one person to begin with). At the end of the game, she starts going by Cheryl again.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'':
** This is the backstory behind the Prismriver Sisters. A long time ago, a man named Count Prismriver had four daughters, but he tragically died and the sisters were orphaned. Each went their separate ways, but the youngest couldn't bear to part with her sisters, so she created three poltergeists with the appearances and personalities of her sisters.
** Reisen Inaba used to be owned by the Watatsuki sisters but after fleeing to earth and becoming an outlaw, the Watatsuki sisters still felt attached to Reisen and named their new pet Reisen as well.
* This is also the backstory of ''Seihou''[='s=] (''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}''[='s=] "sister" series) main character [[ArtificialHuman VIVIT]]; Erich, the developer of Saboten energy, suffered an accident that left him a cyborg and took his daughter's life. Thus, VIVIT was created by him as a replacement for the original Vivit. And because Erich [[DirtyOldMan is a bit of a perv]], he dressed his robo-surrogate-daughter [[{{Meido}} in a maid outfit]].

* This becomes glaringly obvious when you play the prequel to ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII: VideoGame/CrisisCore'', when you realise that all of that cool stuff Cloud did? Zack did it first, and Aeris noticed.
* In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' you have the option to help a woman get back her droid. [[spoiler:As it turns out, he became a replacement for the woman's dead husband. '''In a lot of ways.''' If you find him, he asks you to end his misery.]] "Wow. She really misses her droid, doesn't she?"

* Mona, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/AVampyreStory'', is the latest in a protracted line of ReplacementGoldfish for the villain, Shrowdy von Keifer. After his mother vanished, he went a little goony (well, moreso than usual - the dialog is peppered with implications that even before the Baroness disappeared, Shrowdy was everything wrong with mama's boys) and started kidnapping young women and keeping them in his castle. It's stated once or twice that Mona's been around the longest of all of them because she bears an uncanny resemblance to the missing Baroness.
* In ''VideoGame/MoonCrystal'', Ricky is aided by a mysterious girl named Rosina who claims to be the daughter of [[BigBad Count Crimson]]. It is later revealed [[spoiler: that Rosina is, in fact, an automated corpse; she died long ago and Crimson used the Moon Crystal to bring her back to a half-living state.]]

* ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'': "I loved my chosen. How then to face the day when she left me? So I took from her body a single cell, perhaps to love her again."
* In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', the scientist Corin builds a clockwork replacement for his daughter, Orianna. Because she had wanted to compete in the league, he also made her a killer robot. She has at least some of the original's memories, but her personality seems a bit limited, and everyone but her questionably sane father finds her unsettling.
* ''VideoGame/OverBlood'': It turns out [[spoiler: that Milly is a clone from the villain's wife who died, she still has all the memories intact so she would still love him. Didn't work.]]
* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'':
** In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3'', [[Manga/GetterRobo Benkei Kuruma]] was this for Musashi Tomoe. After Musashi was killed in a HeroicSacrifice, Professor Saotome called in Benkei to replace him after unveiling the Getter Robo G. Ryouma and Hayato were ''not'' please in the least, but the two end up warming up to the pilot, and in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars4'', they go and teach him Musashi's signature attack so that they're at the same level.
** In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration 2'', Lemon Browning is revealed to have been an android (or possibly resurrected cyborg) made by the parents of an alternate universe Excellen Browning, who didn't survive the near-death incident of her backstory. However, her parents quickly realized the disrespect they had done to their daughter, and rejected Lemon ([[FridgeBrilliance which may explain her name]]). This is apparently what motivated her to create human-like androids of her own, and why she was actually happy when one of them made friends and betrayed her for their sake.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'': Partway through the second act [[spoiler: Hawke encounters Quentin, a deranged [[BloodMagic Blood Mage]], who has been killing women throughout Kirkwall to recreate his diseased wife out of their body parts.]]
* Done subtly, but very creepily in ''VideoGame/{{Robotrek}}'' on the SNES. Nagisa is an android created by the protagonist's father to look after him. She's also modeled to look like his dead wife, something you can easily miss via dialogue until a flashback midway through the game shows the protagonist's mother.
* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'': At first Joel sees Ellie as a means to an end, and nothing more. As the game progresses, the two bond, and eventually Joel begins to think of Ellie as his surrogate daughter (his real daughter Sarah was killed 20 years ago in the game's prologue, and Joel has been trying to bury her memory). He even calls her "baby girl", like he called Sarah and [[spoiler: forcibly ends a firefly attempt to cure the fungus by performing a lethal experiment on Ellie]].
* Invoked by [[TheDragon Bedman]] in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' ''Xrd''. [[spoiler:He kills a Magehound puppy that [[EmotionlessGirl Ramlethal]] befriended and then provides her with a replacement puppy. When this new puppy doesn't bite her finger affectionately like the old one did, he explains that the old one is truly gone forever and cannot simply be replaced. Although this is understandably a heart-rending experience for her, this succeeds in teaching Ramlethal about the value of life and leads to her eventual HeelFaceTurn]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'':
** Somewhat tragically, from what little we see of Nora [[spoiler:before she goes into Vault 111 with her husband and is cryogenically frozen only to be murdered by Kellogg]], she has an awful lot in common with Piper. Dark, elegant hairstyle? Check. Solving her problems with a quick wit? Check. Encouraging and coddling a partner who tries to help others and making witty remarks about {{Jerkass}}es? ''Check''.
** At the end of the game [[spoiler: it's revealed that Shaun, the protagonist's son, is actually "Father", the BigBad of the game. He was released from cryostasis many decades before the player character, brainwashed by the Institute at a young age, and eventually became their leader. Now he is an old man, dying of cancer, and even if the player chooses to side with him and become his successor, they have no more than a few months together. However, he had a synth version of himself as a child made, which he leaves to the protagonist as a gift. The synth does not seem to be aware of what he is and genuinely believes himself to be the protagonist's son, and if you choose to adopt him, the player will respond in kind]].

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/BrutalLegend'', when [[BenevolentPrecursors Titans]] AscendedToAHigherPlaneOfExistence, their servants, the Tainted Coil, tried to create new masters for themselves to serve. However, like everything they made, their creation, [[spoiler: known as Humans]], became only a pale copy of what their masters could accomplish. The knowledge that their [[HappinessInSlavery beloved masters]] were well and truly gone drove them insane with rage and grief, that they vented on their creation.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'':
** Halfway through the game it's revealed that Princess Garnet is actually one of these. She's actually a summoner born in Madain Sari and washed up in Alexandria Port not too long after the real Princess Garnet died of an illness. As [[IdenticalStranger they looked similar]] she was raised to believe she was the princess.
** It's strongly implied that [[spoiler: Vivi dies]] during the epilogue, but a whole crowd of his children are seen who look identical to him.
* After a big reveal late in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2 '', it’s heavily implied that Jack and Abigail Marston are this for [[spoiler:Arthur’s son Isaac and baby mama Eliza who died in a robbery (over $10) at some unspecified point before the game. Early on in the game, before John really starts to take responsibility for them, he goes out of his way to help them and even says in his journal that he should have married Abigail because he could provide for them when John couldn’t.]]
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': In the ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' arcade game, Pauline was Mario's love interest and girlfriend. But in Super Mario Bros. Nintendo introduced Mario with a new love interest: Princess Peach. They don't look much alike, but they're similar enough (particularly in their early 8-bit graphics forms) that many people have assumed that Pauline is Peach. Peach was in turn replaced by Princess Daisy in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioLand'', who gained her ''own'' Replacement Love Interest in later titles where she was given more of a {{tomboy}} personality and paired with Luigi. Interestingly, ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'''s Princess Rosalina is ''[[AvertedTrope not]]'' this despite her princess status and some similarities in character design with Peach; she's more of a MamaBear as opposed to a LoveInterest.
* Haseo has this happen in ''VideoGame/DotHackGU'' when he meets Atoli, who is a literal PaletteSwap of his old love interest Shino (perfectly {{Justified|Trope}}: this all happens in an MMO). However, Atoli is decidedly ''not'' Shino in terms of personality, something that disturbs Haseo greatly at first, though he later accepts her as her own person.
* In ''VideoGame/HeavyRain'', Ethan Mars' wife leaves him [[spoiler: after the death of their son. He has the option of getting together with Madison Paige in one of the endings, though another possible ending implies a [[RelationshipSalvagingDisaster reconciliation]] with Grace.]]
* Subverted in ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'' although not in typical way. 5 years prior to when game takes place Phoenix dated Dahlia who turned out to be heavy case of BitchInSheepsClothing when she tried to kill him. Then in last case of the game Phoenix meets Iris, who looks just like Dahlia [[spoiler:since they're twins]], but is a really NiceGirl. [[ShipTease Sparks fly]], EveryoneCanSeeIt. And then [[spoiler: it turns out that Phoenix was dating ''Iris'', not Dahlia, the first time around, and she dissapeared because she felt guilty after Dahlia tried to kill him.]]

* In the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' fandom, some consider [[GirlyGirl Lyra]] to be this to [[{{Tomboy}} Kris]], even going as far as to refer to one of the ships involving the former as Replacement Shipping (Ethan x Lyra).

* In the anime and videogame of ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'', the character of MOMO was an ArtificialHuman reconstruction of her creator's daughter, Sakura.
** He went a little further than that with Momo being the 100th Replacement Goldfish he created in a full scale production line of androids with her face. His wife, on the other hand, was none too pleased with seeing a hundred copies of her dead daughter running about the galaxy and mentioned as much.
** Something of an unusual example, as MOMO and the others were originally only meant to replace part of Sakura, as she suffered from a disease similar to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locked-In_syndrome Locked In Syndrome]] and MOMO was meant to become a new body for her. It was only after the poor kid bit it that Mizrahi decided to go the whole hog and use MOMO as a full Replacement Goldfish.
*** In the third game when Mizrahi tells MOMO that he had long since accepted that he would never get his daughter back, and had truly grown to love his 'second daughter' as a completely separate being.
*** Scores more heartwarming when Juli herself accepts this fact too.
* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGate II''

* Subversion: In ''[[VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam and Max: Season 1]]'', Sam and Max actually get a replacement goldfish, and they worry he'll find out.

* In the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series, [[spoiler:[=MegaMan=] was made by Lan's father FROM his dead son Hub]]. In later games, this is spoken of casually. This is also the reason Lan can use his EleventhHourSuperpower.

* ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' example: [[spoiler:Maria]], who was born from [[spoiler:James' wish to be with his dead wife Mary.]]

* According to the enemy notes and her appearance, in ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', [[spoiler:[[RobotMaid Lil' Miss Marshmallow]] was built by Porky to replace his human maid, Electra, from the previous game (''VideoGame/EarthBound''), who he apparently had a crush on and who he could no longer be with due to TimeTravel problems.]]
** Seems to also be the case with the robotic waitresses in New Pork City that greatly resemble Porky's mother to a tee in both appearance and personality.
* This is the backstory behind the Prismriver Sisters from ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}''. A long time ago, a man named Count Prismriver had four daughters, but he tragically died and the sisters were orphaned. Each went their separate ways, but the youngest couldn't bear to part with her sisters, so she created three poltergeists with the appearances and personalities of her sisters.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', where [[spoiler:Luke is a replica of Asch, created by the BigBad prior to [[BecauseDestinySaysSo the prophesied death]] of the original in order to die in the original's place]]. While considered little more than a cheap knock-off by his creator, the people who genuinely care never consider him a replacement, [[spoiler:because they weren't in on his creation in the first place and considered the two to be distinctly individual people when they learn the truth]].
** The one instance this is actually played straight in the game is with [[spoiler:Nebilim]], who was intended to 'replace' [[spoiler:the person she is a replica of]] on an emotional level.
*** Actually, [[spoiler:Ion is another instance, as the Ion you travel with turns out to be a replica of the original Fon Master Ion, who died two years prior to the game's events. After this Ion [[KillTheCutie is killed]] as well, he's replaced yet again with another goldfish, Florian.]]

* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration 2'', Lemon Browning is revealed to have been an android (or possibly resurrected cyborg) made by the parents of an alternate universe Excellen Browning, who didn't survive the near-death incident of her backstory. However, her parents quickly realized the disrespect they had done to their daughter, and rejected Lemon ([[FridgeBrilliance which may explain her name]]). This is apparently what motivated her to create human-like androids of her own, and why she was actually happy when one of them made friends and betrayed her for their sake.
** Way before that, in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars3'', [[Manga/GetterRobo Benkei Kuruma]] was this for Musashi Tomoe. After Musashi was killed in a HeroicSacrifice, Professor Saotome called in Benkei to replace him after unveiling the Getter Robo G. Ryouma and Hayato were ''not'' please in the least, but the two end up warming up to the pilot, and in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars4'', they go and teach him Musashi's signature attack so that they're at the same level.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''. Partway through the second act, [[spoiler: Hawke will meet a "Quentin", who has been killing women throughout Kirkwall to recreate his diseased wife out of their body parts, using BloodMagic.]]

*** This becomes a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming in the third game when Mizrahi tells MOMO that he had long since accepted that he would never get his daughter back, and had truly grown to love his 'second daughter' as a completely separate being.

* Subversion: In ''[[SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Sam and Max: Season 1]]'', Sam and Max actually get a replacement goldfish, and they worry he'll find out.

** Somewhat tragically, from what little we see of Nora [[spoiler:before she goes into Vault 111 with her husband and is cryogenically frozen only to be murdered by Kellogg]], she has an awful lot in common with [[HotScoop Piper]]. Dark, elegant hairstyle? Check. Solving her problems with a quick wit? Check. Encouraging and coddling a partner who tries to help others and making witty remarks about {{Jerkass}}es? ''Check''.