Line #148 TheHeroDies/VideoGames


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7	'''''NOTE:''''' '''This is both a SpoileredRotten trope ''and'' a {{Death Trope\|s}}, meaning that EVERY SINGLE EXAMPLE on this list is a spoiler by default and will be unmarked.''' [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned This is your last warning]], only proceed if you really believe you can handle this list. That being said, it's also possible that examples may involve subversions or multiple protagonists.
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10	* In ''VideoGame/The3rdBirthday'', depending on how you look at it, Aya Brea was revealed to be Eve all along throughout the whole game that you play as her. In the ending, Aya and Eve switched bodies, with Aya in Eve's body doing a HeroicSacrifice to be gun down to prevent dooms day, leaving Eve alive using Aya's body. Aya was the protagonist from the first two Parasite Eve games while Eve was the heroine of the 3rd game, thus the outcome kinda [[MindScrew mind screws you]] regarding this trope.
11	* Although he's not the main character, Captain Brenner of ''[[VideoGame/AdvanceWars Advance Wars: Days Of Ruin]]'' fits this trope since Will (the star) is simply his sidekick until it happens. He's nuked while [[YouShallNotPass holding off the enemy]] and the focus of the story shifts to Will instead.
12	* At the end of the third episode of ''VideoGame/AliceIsDead'', the Rabbit is shot in the head by the Queen after exiting the club. What doesn't make this a complete DownerEnding is that Alice, who was FakingTheDead all along, returns the favor.
13	* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'':
14	** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations'': If you include the tie-in movie ''WesternAnimation/AssassinsCreedEmbers'', then you have the esteemed honor of watching both [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI Altaïr]] ''and'' [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII Ezio]] pass away onscreen. Of course it's not entirely sad; both died of old age ([[FridgeLogic and considering the average lifespan of someone born in their time periods, especially someone with a job as dangerous as theirs, they lived to an almost suspiciously old age]]) right after seeing their families one last time. Ezio dies on a bench in his beloved home city of UsefulNotes/{{Florence}} while watching his family with a smile on his face, and Altaïr gets to hug his son before sealing the Apple Of Eden inside the library and then walking over to a chair to "[[PassedInTheirSleep sit a moment and rest]]". His skeleton is found on that chair in the same position.
15	** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' has ''Desmond'', the true protagonist of the series perform a HeroicSacrifice in order to release Juno. While Juno saves Earth from the solar flare, she is determined to enslave humanity. Unfortunately, the best person to stop her just spent his life force to release her. Connor survives, though, especially since he has yet to reproduce (i.e. continue his genes) and, according to WordOfGod, is still a virgin.
16	** The memory sequences of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIVBlackFlag'' take place before those of ''Assassin's Creed III'', so we already know the ultimate fate of Edward, Connor's grandfather. After spending his youth pirating in the Caribbean, he settles down in England and, eventually, gets killed by two {{Mook}}s during a home invasion. Yeah, that's how a pirate/Assassin goes, apparently. This also allows his son Haytham to be corrupted into becoming a Templar.
17	* The namesake character of ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'' dies ''thrice'' from his first betrayal to his facing Yasha the first time and his fighting against and a third time if you consider his turning into a statue from the nuclear explosion from the gigantic Gohma's death he dies one last and final time while in his [[DeadlyUpgrade Wrath Form which begins to kill him as he uses it.]] He gets better from his HeroicWillpower.
18	** The game's GoldenEnding has Asura dying for good after destroying Chakravartin, the truly evil {{God}} of his general universe and the source of all Mantra. [[FaceDeathWithDignity He takes it well enough though]], since he finally [[PapaWolf saved his daughter]], is about to see his wife again, [[GoOutWithASmile and is no longer angry]]. That said, he is heavily hinted (and eventually confirmed), that along with the rest of the Deities, to AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence and reincarnate eventually with the sole exception of Chakravartin, who's DeaderThanDead and thus is the only character to be KilledOffForReal.
19	* In ''VideoGame/AvencastRiseOfTheMage'', the end is a HeroicSacrifice to take out the BigBad for good.
20	* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamKnight'' wasn't kidding when it opened with the line "This is how the Batman died." Following the events of the game, with the reveal that the titular Arkham Knight is really Jason Todd and Scarecrow outing Bruce Wayne as Batman, it appears as if Batman and Alfred have decided to blow Wayne Manor up with them in it.
21	** Subverted as the next game ''VideoGame/SuicideSquadKillTheJusticeLeague'' reveals that Bruce faked his death.
22	* ''VideoGame/BetrayalAtKrondor'' ends with the HeroicSacrifice of Gorath, who, if not necessarily the ''main'' protagonist, is still undeniably ''the'' hero of the story.
23	* Ending 20 of ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'' reveals that the years-ongoing theory that Isaac died locked in his toy chest has fully been confirmed. The spoilery bit is that none of the game is even happening to begin with, as it is all a DyingDream, and that he was DrivenToSuicide due to guilt over thinking he caused his family to split apart. He was never the hero to begin with.
24	* ''VideoGame/BioShock'':
25	** All endings of ''VideoGame/BioShock2'' involve Subject Delta dying, though it's his influence on Eleanor that determines how things end up and several of the endings involve her taking his essence so that he live on through her as a SpiritAdvisor.
26	** Played with in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'': After Booker [=DeWitt=] realizes that he becomes BigBad Zachary Hale Comstock after his baptism, he proceeds to go through with his plan to kill Comstock as he was born by having Elizabeth and her alternate versions drown him. While the ending is slightly ambiguous, it is suggested that this kills all the versions of Booker that become Comstock, while the Bookers who didn't undergo baptism remain.
27	** The playable characters of BOTH episodes of the ''BioShockInfinite/BurialAtSea'' add-ons die in the end for different reasons: the alternate version of Comstock is killed at the end of episode one as part of Elizabeth's plan for revenge and Elizbeth allows herself to be killed by Fontaine as pat of a MemoryGambit to set up the events of the first ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' game where Jack comes to Rapture and frees the little sisters. This is also an act of atonement for using a Little Sister named Sally in her plans for revenge, so Sally will be rescued by Jack in the [[NoCanonForTheWicked good ending]] of ''[=BioShock=]''.
28	* Although [[CatchPhrase he is]] [[ArcWords only a man]] and not really a hero per se, Commander Video [[SuicideAttack rushes to his death]] to stop the Mingrawn Timbletot once and for all at the end of ''[[VideoGame/BitTrip BIT.TRIP FATE]]''.
29	* In ''VideoGame/TheBlackwellSeries'' this is the fate of Roseangela Blackwell: she reveals to her spirit guide that [[HopeSpot her ability to control the universe pouring into her head]] was only temporary, and that she could not sustain it for long.
30	* ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' has Roland shot in the back by Handsome Jack and he dies instantly. When you tell the major players in Sanctuary about the news, most of them are very heartbroken.
31	* ''VideoGame/BrokTheInvestiGator'' has MultipleEndings, some of which result in Brok and/or Graff perishing. Most notably, the Broken Detective ending sees Wes murdering Dee and Brok after Brok fails to deduce Wes is behind the Toxout Pill shortage (amongst other things), and the Fall ending has Brok accidentally beating Graff to death during an argument, which horrifies him so much that he resorts to committing suicide not long afterwards.
32	* ''VideoGame/BrutalOrchestra'': Although the game starts with [[DeadToBeginWith Nowak falling into Purgatory]], the game actually reveals that it is a DyingDream and Nowak has minutes left to live. At the end of the game, he has accepted that PerfectionIsImpossible and uses his last living moments to use his own blood to make one last memorial to his life and wild DyingDream even though the rain will wash it away before anyone sees it, before succombing to his fatal head injuries.
33	* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' has become (in)famous for doing this:
34	** In ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty4ModernWarfare'', a nuclear explosion [[RocksFallEveryoneDies kills the American protagonist and his entire squad]], as well as [[ShootTheShaggyDog rendering their accomplishments moot]].
35	** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare2'' is a doozy. Of the four heroes you control, two die, not to mention another character you control for all of five minutes. That's ''three'' out of five player characters dead by game's end.
36	** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyModernWarfare3'' does this somewhat differently: John "Soap" [=MacTavish=], one of the most major characters of the trilogy and the most recurring playable character (playable for more than half of ''[=CoD4=]'', the final three or four missions of ''[=MW2=]'', and one cutscene-mission in this game), dies during an assassination attempt. Yuri, a new playable character who you spend about half of this game as, also meets his end as an NPC in the final mission.
37	** ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps'' does this to Dimitri Petrenko, the hero of the Soviet campaign in ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar World at War]]'', killing him when his commanding officer [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness uses those among his troops who are less loyal to him than he'd like as test subjects for Nova 6]].
38	** In ''VideoGame/CallofDutyInfiniteWarfare'', this fate befalls upon Captain Nick Reyes, the protagonist of the game.
39	* In ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', [[HeroicMime mute hero]] Crono is literally ''reduced to ash'' halfway through the game at the hands of Lavos, the EldritchAbomination that our plucky heroes are out to stop. This was a '''huge''' shock at the time game was released, as it was generally accepted that, in games, TheHero couldn't die until they completed their mission. Given that the game is all about TimeTravel, there is a way to bring him back. It's completely optional, however, and you don't need to do so to beat the game.
40	* The ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' series actually does this a fair amount. For GDI, one of your operation commanders, Carter, eventually is seen with beginning Tiberium poisoning, but is killed by a Nod obelisk in his gunboat. [=McNeil=], the GDI commander in ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSun Tiberian Sun]]'' ends up 'killing' Kane, but in the following expansion, ''Firestorm'', he is killed right before the first mission when an ion storm downs his command ship.[[labelnote:*]]Although if the ''Tiberium Wars'' novelization is canon, he wasn't on board when it happened - he's certainly not seeing fit to make any appearance for the scene where the ''Kodiak'' appears in ''Firestorm''.[[/labelnote]] GDI also loses everyone on board the ''Philadelphia'' (space borne command center) in the opening stages of ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquer3TiberiumWars Tiberium Wars]]''. If Nod is your faction, they lose both the first and second wars, with Kane being reportedly 'killed' each time. Slavik of ''Tiberian Sun'' dies right before ''C&C3: Kane's Wrath'' starts. And in ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianTwilight C&C4]]'', the player character themselves dies in the ending, no matter which side you choose to play as. Subverted with Kane in this case though, as he [[AscendToAHigherPlaneofExistence completes his plan for Ascension]] and leaves Earth through a Scrin portal.
41	* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' can end this way, with V either taking the easy way out from the Relic's influence by shooting themself in the head, dying during a solo assault on Arasaka Tower, or relinquishing their body to Johnny Silverhand while their consciousness is transferred to cyberspace.
42	* ''VideoGame/{{Darksiders}}'':
43	** The first game has [[BigRedDevil Samael]] warning War of this when the Horseman makes a particular quip about [[GottaKillEmAll last of the four Chosen]] Samael wants him to kill knowing more about the situation that Samael had already dilvuged, not so subtly threatening War by then mentioning that he prefers the stories with a "happy ending." Amusingly, War ''had'' already died in the opening of the game before he was ResurrectedForAJob, [[spoiler:and then dies and gets revived at the end of the game as part of a ThanatosGambit involving the breaking of the Seventh Seal of Armageddon.]]
44	** ''VideoGame/DarksidersII'' has Samael warn Death of this as well as the two clash over the Demon Key (well, for Samael it's more ItAmusedMe) and mentions it's a lesson War knows well (despite the fight [[TimeyWimeyBall taking place in the past before the events of the first game]], but then again, Samael ''is'' TheOmniscient). [[spoiler:Once again, he's proven right as Death ultimately performs a HeroicSacrifice to revive humanity, only to also be brought back thanks to War's actions ultimately shattering the Seventh Seal of Armageddon.]]
45	* In the MMORPG Flash game ''VideoGame/DawnOfTheDragons'', the player character (referred to as the "Dragon-Rider of West Kruna") dies of old age at the end of the Crimson Shadows quest area. Notably, the hero/heroine has the chance to let Mina von Richten (an undead vampire) turn them into a vampire themselves, but they refuse the offer and other healing spells and pass on in peace. This doesn't change anything in regard to the raid system, as you continue to use the same player model while equipping armor and fighting.
46	* One [[MultipleEndings possible]] ending to ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution''. To ensure that mankind chooses its own destiny, Adam Jenson destroys [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Panchea]], bringing it crashing down on him ([[EverybodyDiesEnding as well as every other character present]]). Considering this is a prequel to the first game, the impact of what you do loses its effect. This ending is noncanon, though, since the sequel ''VideoGame/DeusExMankindDivided'' features Adam as the protagonist. However, MD hints that its Adam might be a clone of the one in HR, allowing this trope to still be in effect.
47	* ''VideoGame/DragaliaLost'': Although Euden successfully defeats [[BigBad Xenos]], since he is apart of his heart, Euden cannot exist without Xenos. This means that he will inevitably [[DisappearsIntoLight Disappear Into Light]]. Although he [[GoOutWithASmile Goes Out With a Smile]], he is unable to live in the world that he worked so hard to create. However, since Zethia was able to remember him, he gets revived. Despite this, since Zethia couldn’t remember him fully, this new Euden is a mere copy without any memories of the past, meaning that the Euden that we’ve been following throughout the entire adventure is well and truly gone.
48	* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
49	** One possible ending of ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' involves the [[PlayerCharacter Grey Warden]] performing a HeroicSacrifice to kill the [[BigBad Archdemon]]. Zevran will discuss this beforehand, only to realize something else.
50	--->'''Zevran:''' Oh, I'm not going to die. It's always the Grey Wardens that die. Did you not read the stories as a child? The hero always dies... unless the hero has a trusty sidekick with him. [[ExplainExplainOhCrap Then... mmmmm... then the sidekick dies instead.]] I ''knew'' there was a catch!
51	** Discussed in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' -- according to Varric, "it's not a good story unless the hero dies". While there's no ending where the player character dies, the person Varric was actually talking to can die by your hand if you choose. [[spoiler: However, depending on your choices in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', your PlayerCharacter in the second game will meet their end. In a way, Varric's words become prophetic.]]
52	* ''VideoGame/DreamfallTheLongestJourney'', the sequel to ''VideoGame/TheLongestJourney'', has April, the hero of the first game, get unceremoniously stabbed and fall into a swamp. While many players were unconvinced that it would stick, the [[VideoGame/DreamfallChapters third game]] squashed those hopes by opening with her funeral.
53	* By the end of ''VideoGame/{{DreamWeb}}'', you've killed quite a few people and then, just as you're waking up out of a blackout from your chat to the guy who made you do it, the cops shoot you. What?! You saved mankind from chaos and your reward is to be gunned down arbitrarily in the street?! What a load of ungrateful-
54	* Possibly the ending of ''[[VideoGame/{{Driver}} Driv3r]]'', where Tanner gets shot by the BigBad and {{flatline}}s.
55	** Subverted later, as he shows up alive and well in ''Driver: San Francisco''.
56	* Dust from ''VideoGame/DustAnElysianTail'' is enveloped by the lava of the Everdawn Volcano after defeating General Gaius. In the end his spirit is implied to depart with the Blade of Ahrah, whether to the sword's resting place or a new danger is unclear.
57	* Martin Septim from ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' dies to summon the God Akatosh in order to kill Dagon. He may not be the player, but Martin is arguably TheHero.
58	* In ''VideoGame/ElPasoElsewhere'', there are two endings depending on how many hostages were killed. In the "Thanks for Believing" ending, James Savage and his ex-girlfriend BigBad Draculae lay next to each other, mortally wounded. Draculae smashes her lifesblood vial which would have allowed Savage to turn into a vampire himself to spare him becoming "old and cruel." They both succomb to their wounds.
59	* In ''VideoGame/{{Fahrenheit}}'', Lucas died from the fall caused by the Oracle when he is saving his ex-girlfriend Tiffany. However, he [[UnexplainedRecovery got better]].
60	* The Lone Wanderer of ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' dies if you take the 'good' path and sacrifice yourself to turn on the water purifier; this was fixed by the add-on ''Broken Steel''.
61	* ''Franchise/FarCry'':
62	** The ending of ''VideoGame/FarCry2'' has the mercenary under your control team up with the Jackal to save a group of refugees from being slaughtered by the UFLL and the APR. One of them has to blow up a mountain pass (along with themself in the process) to cover their escape, while the other has to deliver diamonds to the border guards as a bribe to let the refugees through and commit suicide after the exchange. Which one of these tasks you end up going through with is up to you.
63	** In one possible ending of ''VideoGame/FarCry3'', Jason kills his friends in order to complete his initiation into the Rakyat. Citra rewards him with sex, but drives a knife into him as soon as he impregnates her while assuring him his offspring will grow up to be formidable warriors like himself.
64	* Michael Beckett, the protagonist of ''[[VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon FEAR 2]]'' is killed near the end of ''[=F3AR=]'' by Paxton Fettel.
65	* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
66	** [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Was supposed to happen to Terra]] in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', but was left out of the final game. She comes very close when TheMagicGoesAway, but manages to retain her mortal body due to [[ThePowerOfFriendship the bonds she shares with her friends]] [[ThePowerOfLove and the children under her care]].
67	** Those who have played ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' will know [[DoomedByCanon how things will end]] for Zack in the prequel game ''VideoGame/CrisisCore''. [[spoiler: Because this was ''not'' the case in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', [[NotHisSled it was a huge shock.]]]]
68	** Late in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', Tidus discovers he is a LivingDream created by the Fayth. The dreams of the Fayth, which include Zanarkand and the rest of its inhabitants, were kept alive by both their deep sleep and the BigBad. When he dies, Tidus vanishes.
69	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII:'' Fang and [[StepfordSmiler Vanille]] end up as [[TakenForGranite crystals]] [[HeroicSacrifice to save the world.]] [[TheCutie Serah Farron]] also dies in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2''. [[spoiler: All of them are revived in [[VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII the final game of the trilogy]]]].
70	** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'' ends with Noctis taking the power of the past kings to purge Eos of the Starscourge and kill Ardyn's spirit for good at the cost of his own life.
71	* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
72	** {{Exaggerated\|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar''. In Chapter 5, ''the entire playable roster'' is killed in an absolutely brutal WhamEpisode, with main hero Sigurd being betrayed and [[KillItWithFire burned to death]]. The only thing that prevents a complete DownerEnding is the existence of the second generation, as the second half of the game centers on his son, Seliph.
73	** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'', Chapter 21 has Alear die [[TakingTheBullet taking an attack from Sombron meant for their younger sister, Veyle.]] While Veyle does [[{{Necromancer}} revive Alear as a Corrupted]], this is only a stopgap measure and their reanimated corpse gives out by the end of Chapter 22. However, thanks to the twelve Emblems causing a miracle, a power they can only use once ''ever'', [[CameBackStrong boy howdy did they get better.]]
74	* ''Franchise/FiveNightsAtFreddys'':
75	** Implied in the end of ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys4'', which ends with a cinematic of the protagonist fading away and, if you listen carefully, what sounds like an ECG flatlining in the background.
76	** As quoted above, the bad/real ending ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation'' has the protagonist being killed and used as GenuineHumanHide by a combination of the animatronics called Ennard. However, an update to the game added an addendum to it: the robot eventually leaves the corpse, which then ''[[BackFromTheDead rises up on its own]]''.
77	* ''VideoGame/FromNextDoor'':
78	** In one of the bad endings, player character Namie dies in a house fire trying to stop the creature.
79	** In another bad ending, she's taken by the creature and it's [[UncertainDoom not clear what happens to her]], but given that no one else taken by the creature is ever seen again her outlook is grim.
80	* The end of ''VideoGame/GameOfThronesTelltale''[='=] first episode has one of the playable characters, Lord Ethan, murdered by Ramsay Snow. He doesn't [[BackFromTheDead get better]] either, and his place as protagonist is instead filled by his brothers Asher and Rodrik in later episodes. ''Then'', at the end of Episode 5, either Asher or Rodrik must sacrifice himself in order to save the other, and [[SadisticChoice it's up to the player to decide who is saved and who dies.]] Either way two of the playable characters die, along with a number of their allies. Well, it ''is'' ''Game Of Thrones'', and AnyoneCanDie.
81	* Kratos from ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' dies many times throughout the franchise, only to come back out of the underworld every time. He even makes it into a BadassBoast, saying "the gates of Hades have never held me!" In the ending of the [[VideoGame/GodOfWarIII third game]], he stabs himself with the Blade of Olympus to end his life for good. However, his suicide, like many of his previous deaths, has since been annulled due to his appearance in [[VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4 the fourth entry in the series]]. Since [[NeverFoundTheBody his body goes missing]] after the credits roll in the third game, the idea as to whether he died at all is up for debate; the [=PS4=] entry never specifies if Kratos died from the self-inflicted stab wound or not.[[note]]The novelization states that [[WhoWantsToLiveForever he is incapable of dying by any attempted suicide]].[[/note]]
82	* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'':
83	** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'', Victor Vance, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCityStories'' is killed during an ambushed drug deal in the opening cutscene.
84	** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'', two of the three possible endings involve one of protagonists being assassinated by Franklin Clinton, with the survivor cutting all ties with Franklin. Thankfully however, subsequent updates to ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' have since rendered these two endings as non-canon.
85	* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
86	** Noble Six dies in a LastStand at the end of ''VideoGame/HaloReach''.
87	** In ''VideoGame/HaloWars'', Sergeant John Forge decides to sacrifice himself to destroy the Shield World, since the bomb he was using had to be activated manually after its remote detonator was irreparably damaged.
88	* At the end of ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonAWonderfulLife'' you die. It's not a complete DownerEnding in that you die of old age and lived a, well, wonderful life.
89	* ''VideoGame/HeavenlySword'': The titular sword takes most of Nariko's life force, and she gives up the last of it to heal Kai. Though not before taking [[BigBad King Bohan]] with her in a final showdown.
90	* This is the main premise behind ''VideoGame/HeroMustDie'': the protagonist sacrifices himself to defeat the BigBad, but is brought back to life for five days in order to take care of problems that still persist after his victory. Over time, he grows weaker and more reliant on party members. The game ends on the sixth day, when the hero finally dies, this time for good.
91	* ''[[VideoGame/Hellfire1989 Hellfire S]]'' ends with Karou's HeroicSacrifice.
92	* ''VideoGame/HeroOfMany'' ends with the HeroicSacrifice of the main protagonist.
93	* ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami2WrongNumber'', where it doesn't matter who you consider the hero, because everyone dies.
94	* ''VideoGame/{{Ikaruga}}'', by HeroicSacrifice.
95	* Zigzagged in ''VideoGame/{{IMGCM}}''. Starting in Chapter 4, Episode 5 of the main story, Kaori, Seira, Lilly and three more of the heroines die (and in some cases, are subsequently corrupted into demons) in a GroundhogDayLoop many times. The last one is the worst: all the heroines, except Omnis, merely die onscreen. However, all heroines get better in the end. It's revealed that {{Groundhog Day loop}}s are caused by Omnis' special ability to [[RealityWarper alter reality]] by [[RealityMaker creating]] {{alternate universe}}s. [[MergedReality Omnis merges the old universes with his newly created universes]], where all the heroines are alive and intact. Both living and dead heroines in the universes where he screws up are merged with the copies of themselves from the universes he recently created, and their deaths get undone.
96	* If you play the good Karma final mission against the Beast in ''VideoGame/InFamous2'', Cole's actions will led to every Conduit's as well as his own demise. The people of New Marais will honour and remember Cole as a hero for his deeds.
97	* ''VideoGame/{{Infernax}}'': Happens in both the endings of the Good and Redemption paths after the battle with Belphegor. While the ending of the former shows that the villagers are building a memorial statue of Alcedor in his honor for his (and Cervul's) HeroicSacrifice, the ending of the latter shows that the angels and demons are waging war over Alcedor and Cervul's souls, before the angels triumph and [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence carry them away into the heavens above]]. This kinda sorta also happens in the Evil path ending, [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie but it also doesn't]] (in two-player mode, Cervul succumbs to his wounds alongside him even in the Evil path).
98	* At the end of ''VideoGame/IronStorm'', protagonist James Anderson is unceremoniously killed in the evacuation aircraft he takes because HeKnowsTooMuch about the Consortium that's PlayingBothSides of the ForeverWar.
99	* ''You'' die in ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' at the hands of Sun Li. [[BackFromTheDead You get better.]]
100	* Occurs twice in ''VideoGame/Journey2012''. While there are only a few instances of violence and [[DiegeticInterface you don't have a health meter]], being hit by war machines doesn't count as death. The first time is when you're struggling to climb the mountain amid an intense snowstorm. A last try to reach the summit is granted as you're resurrected by the White Robes, '''[[EarnYourHappyEnding then you finally make it]]'''... and die again, [[BookEnds returning to the beginning]]. The situation worsens (or gets better - the second death is often viewed more positively as a rebirth) if accompanied by another player.
101	* Conway, the first character the player has control over in ''VideoGame/KentuckyRouteZero'', dies at the end of Act IV and leaves to work in a distillery for all eternity.
102	* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
103	** ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', being a prequel, has the demise of its protagonists as a foregone conclusion. One is subjected to GrandTheftMe and has his own heart enslaved as an attack dog for the man who stole his body, one is sent to the equivalent of ''hell'' where she spends the next ten years being tortured, and the third puts himself into a coma to stop the end of the world.
104	** ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'' ends with Xion not only dead but erased from all memory, while Roxas falls in battle against Riku and is set up for his demise at the start of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''.
105	* Ash Crimson, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters XIII'', [[RetGone erased himself from existence]] when he eliminated the FinalBoss, his ancestor Saiki. Ash later came BackFromTheDead through the aftermath of the [[VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXIV Verse's defeat]], which heralded his return in ''[[VideoGame/TheKingOfFightersXV XV]]''.
106	* The final episode of ''VideoGame/KingsQuest2015'' ends with Graham passing away. Graham was very old and his health was failing at the very start of the game, so not much of a spoiler. What will be spoilered however is the circumstances surrounding Graham's death; splashing himself with poison to save his castle, his family and his kingdom from Manny's machinations. As well as a HeroicSacrifice, it acts as a PassingTheTorch moment as his grand-daughter Gwen takes up his feather cap, implying she'll be in for her own adventures.
107	* In ''VideoGame/LANoire'', Cole Phelps is killed by a rush of water during the final case in a sacrifice to save an old member of his unit. The last cutscene before the credits takes place at his funeral.
108	* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'':
109	** At the end of ''VideoGame/{{Blood Omen\|LegacyOfKain}}'', Kain can either choose to sacrifice himself to save the Pillars of Nosgoth, or refuse the sacrifice and let Nosgoth suffer. The canonical ending has him refusing the sacrifice, instead choosing to rule as the vampiric overlord of Nosgoth.
110	** The very beginning of ''[[VideoGame/LegacyOfKainSoulReaver Soul Reaver]]'' has Raziel being thrown into the lake of the dead by Kain as punishment for [[GreenEyedMonster surpassing Kain in evolution]]. After a thousand years, Raziel ends up being [[BackFromTheDead resurrected]] by [[EldritchAbomination the Elder God]].
111	* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel IV'', after four whole games, Rean Schwarzer dies alongside Crow and Millium in the default ending. The trope is averted in the GoldenEnding as Rean finds a way to survive his death.
112	* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfTianding'' ends with Tian-ding getting shot by his own protégé, in the final cutscene ''after'' defeating the main villain Shimada. There are two different endings where the situation plays out differently, but you ''will'' get a bullet to the heart regardless. [[spoiler:However, in the secret ending, you managed to survive by way of PocketProtector]].
113	* [[AllThereInTheManual The official timeline that was released in the 2011 artbook]] ''Hyrule Historia'', surprised fans by revealing that the time-traveling exploits of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' resulted in [[TakeAThirdOption three splits in the timeline of the timeline rather than two]]. This third split involves Link dying in the final battle instead of fulfilling his destiny, with this branch eventually leading to the NES games.
114	* ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange2'' entails this in the "Lone Wolf" ending. If Sean chooses to surrender at the Mexican border and Daniel's morality is low, Daniel refuses to comply with his brother and forces their car to drive through the border gate. The police open fire on them in response and Sean takes a bullet to the throat, causing him to bleed to death almost immediately. The epilogue shows Daniel going it alone in Mexico several years later, having turned to a life of crime and violence without his brother to keep him in check.
115	* ''VideoGame/LufiaIIRiseOfTheSinistrals''
116	** Maxim and Selan's death in [[{{Prequel}} the second game]] is a ForegoneConclusion since the prologue of ''VideoGame/LufiaAndTheFortressOfDoom'' depicts their journey's end (at least what is known to Guy and Artea). Its remake, ''VideoGame/LufiaCurseOfTheSinistrals'', keeps the general idea unchanged (Maxim and Selan die roughly at the same time instead of Selan first in the original with an aversion in NewGamePlus.
117	** This trope is supposed to happen earlier to Maxim in the middle of the game after a battle with Guy and Dekar against Gades in Ancient Tower. However, the Goddess of Death who arguably orchestrates the death to happen pulls a sudden HeelFaceTurn to save him, thus kickstart the second half of the plot.
118	* The main protagonist of ''VideoGame/MafiaTheCityOfLostHeaven'', Tommy Angelo, was killed after moving out of his criminal life. By the [[VideoGame/MafiaII sequel]][[PlayerPunch 's protagonist]], Vito Scarletta and his best friend, Joe Barbaro. In ''VideoGame/MafiaIII'', Vito himself can be killed by that game's protagonist, Lincoln Clay, and if the player has him go too far, the game will end with Father James Ballard deciding to kill Lincoln with a car bomb.
119	* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
120	** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', twice, [[BackFromTheDead same hero]]. Once is at the beginning and unavoidable, though you do get better thanks to [[EnemyMine Cerberus]]. The other is the bad ending, which is what you get for [[EarnYourBadEnding practically going out of your way to screw things up.]]
121	** All but one ending of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' ends in Shepard's death. The Control and Synthesis options have Shepard sacrifice themselves to take control of the Reapers or initiate a process which converts all life into organic/synthetic hybrids respectively. In the Rejection ending, Shepard is just one of the countless humans killed as the Reapers successfully complete their harvest of advanced civilizations. The Destroy ending kills all synthetic life, including Shepard if your Effective Military Strength is not high enough. Otherwise, a brief scene confirms their survival as they are shown inhaling in the aftermath of Crucible's activation.
122	* ''VideoGame/Me2017'': At the final stretch, "Me" goes through fading "Years" platforms while slowing down, eventually reaching the "Death" platform and stopping.
123	* ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonor2010'': Rabbit is captured by the terrorists and mortally wounded, and his rescuers encourage him to hang on while the rescue chopper arrives, with the first person view periodically blacking out, but he ultimately expires.
124	* Zero makes yet another HeroicSacrifice at the end of ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 4''. This time, [[KilledOffForReal it's permanent]]. [[VideoGame/MegaManZX Mostly]].
125	* ''VideoGame/MetalGear''
126	** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'', DecoyProtagonist Solid Snake drowns aboard the sinking Tanker, prematurely ending his side of the story and switching the perspective to a rookie FOXHOUND operative named Raiden. However, it ends up being subverted near the end of the game with the reveal that Iroquois Pliskin was indeed Solid Snake all along, and [[PaperThinDisguise his voice acting and suspiciously-similar mannerisms]] weren't a coincidence.
127	** The epilogue of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' saw the demise of Big Boss, the main protagonist of the prequel games.
128	* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'':
129	** In order to establish the BigBadDuumvirate of ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance'' as a threat, Shang-Tsung and Quan Chi kill TheHero Liu Kang in an ambush. He later CameBackWrong as a murderous undead husk.
130	** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' had most of the heroes die in an attack by a supernaturally powered Sindel. Later, Liu Kang is killed by Raiden in an accident. Something similar happens in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11: Aftermath'', this time with a different BigBadDuumvirate composed of Shao Kahn, Sindel, and Shang-Tsung. This includes both Liu Kangs of that current timeline, but not the all-powerful Fire God Liu Kang beyond space and time... [[TheBadGuyWins but Shang-Tsung can kill him too]], [[EarnYourBadEnding depending on player choice]].
131	* Haku's, Zabuza's, Orochimaru's and Gaara's sagas in ''VideoGame/NarutoUltimateNinja'' end with Team 8 being killed.
132	* Ending D of ''VideoGame/NieR'' has the player character [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing]] his entire existence in order to bring [[ActionGirl Kainé]] back to life after the Shade Tyrann takes over her body. In case you don't know exactly what that means, the D Ending is the last ending you can possibly get. It is the last ending because getting it erases your entire save file piece by piece as Nier himself is erased from existence. It's pretty hardcore.
133	* In ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'', 2B becomes infected with a logic virus early in the post-Ending [=A/B=] route, with A2 providing a MercyKill. Depending on whether you go for ending C or D after that, either A2 sacrifices herself to destroy the Tower while 9S' fate is left ambiguous, or A2 and 9S kill each other. Ending E, however, gives the player the chance to undo all three characters' deaths and give them a second chance at life, but it's nearly impossible without enlisting the help of other players who sacrificed their own save data to assist you (possibly invoking a meta version of this trope in the process,) and the player is given the option to give up their own save data to pass it forward.
134	* The final level of ''VideoGame/OhSirTheInsultSimulator'' has the player character battling in The Afterlife against {{God}}.
135	* John Pilgrim can die in most endings of ''VideoGame/OneChance''.
136	* Soki did a HeroicSacrifice in ''VideoGame/OnimushaDawnOfDreams'' after finding out he's the reincarnation of a death god.
137	* At the end of ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'', the titular hero [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices their life as a guardian spirit]] and [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence becomes the new Spirit Tree]] in order to revive their owl friend Ku and save the land of Niwen from TheCorruption.
138	* The protagonist of ''VideoGame/Persona3'' by HeroicSacrifice. Well, he ''was'' a fairly obvious MessianicArchetype...
139	** Some of the other characters are ''not'' happy about this. When given the option to resurrect them, the party start fighting amongst themselves, providing an extra chapter. Then at the end of the chapter, they discover that the Protagonist's soul is keeping a huge gate closed to stop two supernatural entities from touching each other and destroying the world.
140	* ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', but that's what the hero has been trying to achieve. And [[MyDeathIsJustTheBeginning his death is not the end]].
141	* Though the heroine of ''[[VideoGame/RaySeries RayForce]]'' successfully destroys Con-Human, she dies in the resulting explosion.
142	* The final story mission of ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' has John Marston walk out to face his doom at the bullets of an army, [[HeroicSacrifice in order to give his wife and son a chance to escape and live better lives]]. Widely considered to be a DyingMomentOfAwesome.
143	** In the prequel, ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'', Arthur Morgan, already terminally ill with tuberculosis, performs a HeroicSacrifice at the end to help John secure a better future for his family. Depending on his honor, Arthur is either murdered by Micah Bell (low honor) or spared by him and allowed to relax content with himself and [[CueTheSun catch a final glimpse of the sunrise]] shortly before passing away peacefully (high honor).
144	* In ''VideoGame/RefleX'', the pilot of the Phoenix is brutally killed by the [[HeroKiller ZODIAC]] [[KnightOfCerebus Virgo]] in a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.
145	* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvilVillage'': Ethan Winters has technically been dead since Jack Baker's AccidentalMurder in the prologue of ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil7Biohazard'', where he was resurrected by the Mold. He dies for good at the end of ''Village'' when he starts calcifying and [[HeroicSacrifice decides to stay behind in the village to detonate a bomb to destroy the Megamycete]], content with the knowledge that his wife and daughter are safe.
146	* Nathan Hale in the ending of ''VideoGame/{{Resistance}} 2''. Though he had just succumbed to TheVirus he'd been struggling with the whole time, so he technically wasn't a hero when he died.
147	* At the end of ''VideoGame/RobotechBattlecry'', Jack Archer ends up getting transported into deep space along with Zeraal when the latter uses an old Spacefold drive in Zentradi City to warp them away. Archer defeats Zeraal in the ensuing fight, but with his own craft running out of power and no way of contacting Earth, he is condemned to die far from home when the oxygen in his craft eventually runs out...
148	* In ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier2'', Gustave XIII is killed by monsters in the middle of the story, an event which kicks off two generations of warfare as the empire he built in the first half of the game breaks apart.
149	* ''VideoGame/SakuraWars'':
150	** A subverted example occurs at the end of ''VideoGame/SakuraWars1996''. The rest of the Flower Division's efforts to buy Ichiro Ogami and the top girl some time ultimately lead to their deaths, but Michael revives them so that they can take down Satan for good.
151	** In ''VideoGame/SakuraWars2019'', Anastasia Palma, Clarissa "Claris" Snowflake, Azami Mochizuki and Hatsuho Shinonome are all killed during the Flower Division's FinalBattle with Yaksha. {{Subverted\|Trope}} when they are revived thanks to the sakura petals from the alternate dimension.
152	* In the ending of ''VideoGame/Shinobi2002'', Hotsuma stays behind at the collapsing Golden Palace after killing Hiruko to seal away Akujiki.
153	* ''Franchise/SilentHill'':
154	** Harry Mason, the hero of the first ''VideoGame/SilentHill1'', dies halfway through ''[[VideoGame/SilentHill3 3]]''. He also dies in the non-canon "Bad" Ending of the first game.
155	** ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' can potentially end with protagonist James Sunderland committing suicide by driving his car into a lake. The fourth game reveals that he never came back from Silent Hill, which many has interpreted as this ending being the canonical one.
156	** In ''VideoGame/SilentHill4: The Room'', Henry dies in the [[MultipleEndings "21 Sacraments" Ending]].
157	* ''VIdeoGame/{{Skully}}'': While you're technically DeadToBeginWith (being a ''skull'' bestowed life by the earth elemental, Terry), in the final scene you sacrifice yourself to seal the cracked Heart of the Earth, to unite the elemental siblings at the cost of your life. The game ends with you reverted to an ordinary skull embedded in earth.
158	* ''VideoGame/{{SOS}}'': Happens to each of the protagonists if they escape with a D rank (save Luke Haines, if he escapes with a C ranking). Also happens to Capris Wisher if he escapes with a B or C ranking; to Redwin Gardner if he escapes with an A ranking; to Jeffrey Howell if he escapes with an A ranking; and to Luke if he escapes with an A or B ranking.
159	* Walker dies in two of the four endings of ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'', either by [[DrivenToSuicide his own hand]] or [[SuicideByCop at the hands of the squad of soldiers sent to rescue him]]. Depending on one's interpretation of the game, he may have died during the InMediasRes helicopter fight at the beginning.
160	* If you choose to fight the emperor, Starkiller in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheForceUnleashed'' will die fighting the emperor to buy time for the resistance to escape. Though he "indirectly" [[UnexplainedRecovery got better]] in the sequel. If you choose the Dark Side ending in the sequel, the Starkiller clone and everyone good on the platform are killed by an evil Starkiller clone.
161	* Possibly the epilogue of ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter: Logan's Shadow''. Since the series has apparently been terminated, we may never know.
162	* Luke fon Fabre in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss''...''maybe''. He's gradually fading away as a result of performing a hyperresonance to eliminate the miasma late in the game, and seemingly fades away completely after freeing Lorelei. It depends on whether the red-headed man in the post-credits sequence is him or Asch, or perhaps some combination of the two, since the man vaguely alludes to a "promise" he made to someone. Or, to quote WordOfGod, it depends on who ''you'' think it is.
163	* Ark from ''VideoGame/{{Terranigma}}'' is killed by his light counterpart, and vanishes in the end as a consequence of him destroying the Underworld.
164	* The titular emerging AI in ''VideoGame/ThomasWasAlone'' is consumed by the Pixel Cloud about halfway through the game, just as the [=AIs=] reach the end of the level. This is the first indication to the rest that the Pixel Cloud really is dangerous. The rest of the original [=AIs=] willingly disperse themselves in order to allow the others to escape the system.
165	* ''VideoGame/TombRaiderTheLastRevelation'' was supposed to be the end of the ''Franchise/TombRaider'' series (at least on the [=PS1=]), with Lara suffering a NoOneCouldSurviveThat fate. It ended up being an OurHeroIsDead instead, with her [[UnexplainedRecovery getting better]] in ''VideoGame/TombRaiderTheAngelOfDarkness''.
166	* This happens at the end of the [[KarmaMeter Morality]] endgame in ''VideoGame/TriangleStrategy''. Serenoa [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] to keep Idore from suicide bombing the rest of the party and the escaping Rosellan slaves.
167	* The silent protagonist Anon from ''VideoGame/TronEvolution'' died protecting Quorra from a huge falling aircraft.
168	* ''Turning Point: The Fall of Liberty'' has the player character prematurely detonate a German atomic bomb meant for New York, and he dies in the blast.
169	* In the finale of the ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' series, ''VideoGame/UltimaIX'', the Avatar must sacrifice himself to also destroy the Guardian. His sacrifice is marked by a new constellation in the sky.
170	* In ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDeadTelltale'', Lee Everett either dies or reanimates as a walker at the end of Episode 5 after the TwistEnding of Episode 4. With Clementine in the room. She can even be the one who [[MercyKill puts him down.]]
171	* The tragedy of ''VideoGame/WhenYanderesCry'' involves this trope. Each of the MultipleEndings just leads Nishiki to a girl who has something different to say to him before killing him.
172	* In ''VideoGame/TheWitchAndTheHundredKnight'', there is a timer countdown of how many more days Metallia has left to live at the end of every chapter. In all 3 endings, shdies in different ways, through she was revived through growing from a seed in the "Bad" ending epilogue.
173	* An interesting case in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1''. The protagonist Shulk was [[DeadToBeginWith technically dead since long before the story began]], only being kept alive by the god dwelling within him, who was also the one who killed him in the first place. When said god leaves his body, he becomes truly dead, but has his life force restored by a more benevolent god shortly after.
174	* In the DLC 'Final Transmission' ending of ''VideoGame/TheCallistoProtocol'', Jacob is revealed to be already on the verge of death and eventually succumbs to his wounds shortly after Dr Mahler completes the transmission of all of her evidence and research data.
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Context TheHeroDies / VideoGames