History SacrificialLamb / VideoGames

*** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': Jory and Daveth, your peers in the Grey Warden new recruit group, die during the DeadlyInitiation. To a lesser extent, your commanding officer Duncan who dies in battle shortly thereafter.

* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': The courtroom encounter in Act I has a nameless captive who's [[YourSoulIsMine Purged]] and [[ReforgedIntoAMinion transformed into a Silent Monk]] before the player character's eyes, demonstrating the fate that awaits them if they can't escape [[TheAlcatraz Fort Joy]]. It's the captive's only appearance and the event is scripted to occur even if the purger is incapacitated.

* Creator/BioWare: This is a tradition in the company's [=RPGs=]:

* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'': Carmine is the first squad member killed. He's also the only one without a unique face, just wearing a helmet. His name is a shade of red, no wonder he's a RedShirt. His [[BackupTwin Backup]] ''[[BackupTwin Quadruplet]]'' brother shows up in the sequel only to get killed off ''too''.

* ''VideoGame/HalfLife'': The scientist in the chapter "We've got hostiles", who rushes to the first appearing military soldier, happy that the marines have arrived, and is gunned down in cold blood. He serves the purpose of letting you know that the military is ''not'' on your side. He actually ''can'' be saved though, if you act fast enough.

* ''VideoGame/PathfinderKingmaker'': Of the fifteen or so people who gather in the opening scene to answer a noble's call for warriors, about half are unnamed "Adventurers" who proceed to get mowed down offscreen by assassins working for the StarterVillain. Your very first fight of the game is against these assassins, and you can wander into the dead adventurers' rooms to hear your teammates express sympathy or scorn. After that, they're never spoken of again.

* ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' and ''VideoGame/XCOM2'' both have a scripted tutorial mission where [[SoleSurvivor all but one of your soldiers]] are wiped out. This serves both to establish how difficult the war against the aliens is, and to teach you about defensive game mechanics (using full cover, not letting your troops get flanked, etc.)

*** ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'': [[LeeroyJenkins Corporal Richard L. Jenkins]]. He has all the potential abilities of a Soldier character, except he's killed by the first enemies in the game in the cut-scene before the fight actually starts. Nihlus, Shepard's appointed mentor, is killed moments later by [[BigBad Saren]].

*** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': Jory and Daveth, your peers in the Grey Warden new recruit group, die during the dangerous InitiationCeremony. To a lesser extent, your commanding officer Duncan who dies in battle shortly thereafter.
*** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening'': Mhairi is introduced like any companion character would be, with even a little bit more character detail given because you meet her first, but then she dies during the ceremony.

** ''VideoGame/Persona4'' has Saki Konishi, 3rd year student and potential love interest of the Main Character's new buddy Yosuke. She hangs out with them for a bit, gives them info on the first murder, and seems to be set up to be the wise Sempai to the team much like Akihiko and Mitsuru in Persona 3. Then she becomes the 2nd victim of the murder case, there are no upperclassmen to help you out in Persona 4, instead you are the upperclassman and in charge. To make matters worse, when the team finds the place where she died, lingering thoughts of her inner self reveal she always found Yosuke annoying and was only acting nice because he was her bosses' son. Despite knowing that inner thoughts aren't a total representation of the character, due to interaction with his own inner self Yosuke becomes convinced she loathed him for the rest of the game.

!!'''As a DeathTrope, all spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''

* The horse thief Lokir is the very first character to die in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''. He is shot down by Imperial archers after he tries to escape execution, showing that 1.) this is going to be a rather bloody game, and 2.) cowardice is not a thing that will get you far.

* If playing as The Dark Urge, ''VideoGame/BaldursGate3'' has this in the form of [[spoiler:Quill Grootslang, who's a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute to Alfira if the player either kills or [=KOs=] the latter first to prevent her death from happening. If this happened, Quill Grootslang will appear instead and be promptly killed by The Dark Urge, if not, Alfira will be killed instead.]]

* If playing as The Dark Urge, ''VideoGame/BaldursGate3'' has this in the form of [[spoiler:Quill Grootslang, who's a SuspiciouslSimilarSubstitute to Alfira if the player either kills or [=KOs=] the latter first to prevent her death from happening. If this happened, Quill Grootslang will appear instead and be promptly killed by The Dark Urge, if not, Alfira will be killed instead.]]

** ''VideoGame/Persona3'': The bulk of the game's boss fights come from the Full Moon Shadows, extremely powerful Shadows that each represent a different Tarot Arcana. You fight them all... except for Magician, the first to show appear, who is quickly killed by the protagonist in a cutscene.

** Throughout the franchise, it's traditional for a major parental figure to die early on to provide motivation for the hero to righteously avenge them. While most have enough characterization and die close enough to the midpoint to qualify as {{Sacrificial Lion}}s, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade Hector]][[note]]He received more development in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' that made him a SacrificialLion retroactively, but ''The Binding Blade'' only ever presents him as some old guy who dies early on to ensure that Roy takes command[[/note]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Fado]], and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Mikoto]] are only around for a chapter or two before biting the dust.
** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' has Annand ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS previously known as Mahnya]]), the only squadron leader of Silesse's pegasus knights to remain loyal to TheHighQueen. She is competent, steadfast, the admired older sister of Erinys, and a good friend to the prodigal Prince Lewyn. Then, her squadron is ambushed by [[WeaksauceWeakness archers]] ''and'' the traitorous pegasus knights, and are all mercilessly slaughtered. Her death not only cements the somber tone for the rest of the first half, the manner of it (where the player ''would'' be able to help if they weren't halfway across the map at the time) foreshadows [[spoiler:the way Quan and Ethlyn die in the next chapter]].

!!'''As a DeathTrope, all Spoilers will be unmarked ahead. Beware.'''

*** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': Duncan dies right after the Warden's initiation (not to mention that Daveth is killed at the start of the Joining just so Jory loses what little nerve he had and the Warden is the only one who survives).
*** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening'': Mhairi is introduced like any companion character would be, with even a little bit more character detail given because you meet her first, but then she dies during the joining.

** ''VideoGame/Persona3'': A large bulk of the games boss fights come from the Full Moon Shadows, extremely powerful Shadows that each represent a different Tarot Arcana. You fight them all... except for Magician, the first to show appear, who is quickly killed by the Main Character in a cutscene.

* Just about every grand-strategy level game set in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII will have [[ThrowAwayCountry entire countries]] get this treatment just to show how dangerous the UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons are. Poland is usually their first and most prominent victim. There is usually no way to save it, and even if the Poles somehow do hold back the Nazis, they'll get attacked from behind by the Soviets. France can also get this treatment since it will almost invariably be the first major power to fall to the Axis -- usually it will not last longer than one year after war is declared.

* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'': Although Mia Fey hits all the criteria, the universe itself is not really AnyoneCanDie. Even weirder, she sticks around after the fact to serve as the main character's SexyMentor through the magic of spirit channelling.

* ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'':
** Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Pop Sensation. She's set up to be a LoveInterest and is effectively the {{Deuteragonist}} of the game until the first chapter, wherein she's the first to die.
** Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Fashionista, gets an extra shout-out in the game’s intro and is set up to be a potential main character, until she’s unceremoniously executed by the mastermind in the first chapter for violating a rule. [[spoiler:Things are not how they seem in her case, however, as the "Junko" in the game is actually her twin sister Mukuro Ikusaba. The ''real'' Junko Enoshima is the one who orchestrated her twin's death, and she's also the mastermind behind the events of the game.]] In the unofficial English translation, Monokuma even lampshades ''and'' discusses this after Junko's death.
-->'''Monokuma''': I'm really feelin' it right now-- the importance of ''tropes''...\\
I was wanting to avoid causing any unnecessary deaths, if at all possible, but I guess a sacrificial lamb really ''is'' necessary! '''Man''', I love that trope!\\
But hey, you guys get it now, don't you?

* ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'': The Ninth Man dies at the start. [[WhyAmITicking Brutally.]] And it happens before the player can make any narrative choices at all, making it clear that there's no saving him.

* Although Mia Fey of the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series hits all the criteria, the universe itself is not really AnyoneCanDie. Even weirder, she sticks around after the fact to serve as the main character's SexyMentor through the magic of spirit channelling.
* This is a tradition in Creator/BioWare [=RPGs=]:

*** [[LeeroyJenkins Corporal Richard L. Jenkins]] in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1''. He has all the potential abilities of a Soldier character, except he's killed by the first enemies in the game in the cut-scene before the fight actually starts. Nihlus, Shepard's appointed mentor, is killed moments later by [[BigBad Saren]].
*** There's also Wilson in [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 the second game]] - unlike Jenkins, he actually lasts throughout the entire introductory mission working alongside Shepard. Then it turns out he's a traitor and he's shot in the head by Miranda.

*** Duncan in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' dies right after the Warden's initiation (not to mention that Daveth is killed at the start of the Joining just so Jory loses what little nerve he had and the Warden is the only one who survives).
*** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening'', Mhairi is introduced like any companion character would be, with even a little bit more character detail given because you meet her first, but then she dies during the joining.
*** [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII The sequel]] features Bethany and Carver, who are inversions of the trope. While one of them always dies depending on your chosen class, the other sticks around as a regular party member... until they, too, either die or are PutOnABus for some time.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Call of Duty}}'' series has this as a time-honored tradition, usually paired off with a SacrificialLion later on for added oomph. In order, we have Yasir Al-Fulani from ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', Joseph Allen from ''Modern Warfare 2'', Andrei Harkov and Leonid Pudovkin from ''Modern Warfare 3'', Erik Breighner from ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII Black Ops 2]]'', Baker, Kyra Mosely, and Ajax from ''[[VideoGame/CallofDutyGhosts Ghosts]]'', Will Irons from ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyAdvancedWarfare Advanced Warfare]]'', and Dan "Wolf" Lyall from ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyInfiniteWarfare Infinite Warfare]]''.

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' has the Lone Wanderer's mother Catherine, [[DeathByChildbirth who dies in childbirth]] at the beginning of the game; [[BlackDudeDiesFirst Jonas]], whose death jumpstarts the LW's escape from Vault 101; and later, [[RedShirt Initiate]] [[MeaningfulName Reddin]], who is crushed by a Super Mutant Behemoth shortly after you first meet the Brotherhood of Steel.

** Elia/Aria from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII'' fits the trope perfectly. She's the first character to appear once you leave the FloatingContinent (starting the game properly), gets about half an hour of character development, and is killed by the first boss you encounter.
** Wedge and Biggs' death in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' served to show us how powerful the Espers are.
** Wedge and Biggs get offed like this ''again'' in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', where, after a charming couple of hours of introduction where they're presented as fellow members of the terrorist team, [[DialogueTree interesting conversation partners]] and potential future party members, they are killed fighting alongside Barret in an attempt to stop Reno from blowing up the Sector 7 Pillar. A third member of AVALANCHE, Jessie, is the most shocking death of this scene - she isn't doomed to being a MauveShirt by her name, gets the most CharacterDevelopment of the three, and is presented in the opening act as a RescueRomance love interest to Cloud and a [[BettyAndVeronica rival to Tifa]].
** Vaan's older brother, Reks from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' plays hand-in-hand with DecoyProtagonist in this trope. Reks exists to die in the introduction and demonstrates clearly this game will not be shy about killing off important characters.
** Izana Kunagiri in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyType0'' played this trope. He and his chocobo Chichiri perish, fueling some rage in his brother blaming Class Zero.
* In the ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series:

** ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon]]'' (a remake of the original game) adds a new character, Frey, early on that wasn't in the previous versions. It also adds a prologue segment, where, in an object lesson in necessary sacrifice, you ''have'' to send one of your units to certain death. Frey has little to no plot relevance and exists ''solely'' so you can send someone off without losing one of the starting army from the previous versions. However, you can defy canon and send any current member of Marth's entourage in his place. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]'' reveals that Frey is indeed the canonical decoy, but he [[NotQuiteDead survived after all]], albeit with memory loss.
* In ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'', Carmine is the first squad member killed. He's also the only one without a unique face, just wearing a helmet. His name is a shade of red, no wonder he's a RedShirt. His [[BackupTwin Backup]] ''[[BackupTwin Quadruplet]]'' brother shows up in the sequel only to get killed off ''too''.
** Lieutenant Kim from the first game also counts, as he had his own character model, and thus actually had a chance of being a recurring character.
* In ''VideoGame/GhostReconFutureSoldier'', DecoyProtagonist Joe Ramirez and his squad are killed by a dirty bomb during the tutorial.
* Ling in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoChinatownWars'' is a very odd case of this, where she is on the cover of the game box, and the poster inside the game is practically a pin-up of her, and then she dies the second mission in.

* In ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic IV'', Gauldoth, a NobleDemon necromancer, saves the life of a priest named Alana and brings her with him on a quest so he can have someone to debate philosophy with. She's initially set up as a MoralityPet who believes she can turn Gauldoth to Good, but when Gauldoth realises the dangers involved in activating the MacGuffin, he tricks Alana into activating it instead, killing her.
* Trask Ulgo in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''.

* Jacques Batiste in ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor: Underground'', who gets killed at the end of the very first mission, [[EscortMission which involved escorting him]].
* Zero from ''VideoGame/MegaManX1'' fits this to a T, including being the EnsembleDarkHorse and [[BackFromTheDead returning in the sequel ASAP.]] Of course, Zero's character design was actually the original rejected design of X himself.
* Amie Fern in ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2''.
* The Ninth Man in ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'' dies at the start. [[WhyAmITicking Brutally.]] And it happens before the player can make any narrative choices at all, making it clear that there's no saving him.

** In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'', a large bulk of the games boss fights come from the Full Moon Shadows, extremely powerful Shadows that each represent a different Tarot Arcana. You fight them all...except for Magician, the first to show appear, who is quickly killed by the Main Character in a cutscene.
** The sequel ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' has Saki Konishi, 3rd year student and potential love interest of the Main Character's new buddy Yosuke. She hangs out with them for a bit, gives them info on the first murder, and seems to be set up to be the wise Sempai to the team much like Akihiko and Mitsuru in Persona 3. Then she becomes the 2nd victim of the murder case, there are no upperclassmen to help you out in Persona 4, instead you are the upperclassman and in charge. To make matters worse, when the team finds the place where she died, lingering thoughts of her inner self reveal she always found Yosuke annoying and was only acting nice because he was her bosses' son. Despite knowing that inner thoughts aren't a total representation of the character, due to interaction with his own inner self Yosuke becomes convinced she loathed him for the rest of the game.

* The way ''[[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration Super Robot Wars: Original Generations]]'' was set up, probably Lamia Loveless was turned into a SacrificialLamb to add suspense in OG Gaiden. So you get acquainted with her a lot in the OG 2 portion. Then in the bonus segment... she's shot down dead. Of course, when OG Gaiden comes out, it turns out to be just a set up for CliffHanger and she came back... well enough. She's not an EnsembleDarkHorse like Zero, though.
* Mark from ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' sort of just... appears... [[RememberTheNewGuy in between Episode One and Two]], is unceremoniously killed and turned at about the midpoint, and never mentioned again. He's a particularly glaring example because he's the only character to join the player's group off-screen between episodes ''in the entire Telltale Walking Dead series''.
* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'', Rhyme serves this purpose. From up until then, the game was fairly lighthearted, if not slightly confusing. But that one event opens up a whole can of worms and is the final push to set the rest of the plot into motion.
* Just about every grand-strategy level game set in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII will have [[ThrowAwayCountry entire countries]] get this treatment just to show how dangerous the UsefulNotes/NazisWithGnarlyWeapons are. Poland is usually their first and most prominent victim. There is usually no way to save it, and even if the Poles somehow do hold back the Nazis, they'll get attacked from behind by the Soviets. France can also get this treatment since it will almost invariably be the first major power to fall to the Axis - usually it will not last longer than one year after war is declared.
* Jesan Nadina in ''[[VideoGame/{{X}} X3: Terran Conflict]]''. He's a mercenary pilot who hired on with a private space force called Operation Final Fury that seeks to drive the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Kha'ak]] completely out of the Community of Planets. He brings the player character into the plot, then [[DroppedABridgeOnHim has a bridge dropped on him]] offscreen two missions in.