Line #1 ThrowTheDogABone/VideoGames


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7	* ''Franchise/AceAttorney'':
8	** In Case 3 of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', there is a fantastic moment where [[spoiler:Miles Edgeworth not only stops Dee Vasquez from ending the cross examination, but points out a vital contradiction in her testimony, thus giving Phoenix what he needs to prove her guilt.]] Given how Edgeworth has done nothing but make the cross examinations miserable for Wright (all while [[SmugSnake being smug and condescending]]), this is ''very'' welcome.
9	** In the ending of ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations Trials and Tribulations]]'', after two games of being verbally abused, whipped, having his pay cut to unbelievable levels, getting a ''tracking device placed on him'', and then getting ''fired'' (though he gets rehired), it's implied that [[InspectorLestrade Dick Gumshoe]] finally hooks up with his longtime crush Maggey Byrde. Unfortunately, as StatusQuoIsGod, they seem to be JustFriends again by the time of ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations'', barely a month later. He gets another moment at the end of ''Investigations 2'', where [[spoiler:Edgeworth actually ''raises'' Gumshoe's salary for a change. He takes a while to understand what just happened.]]
10	** Larry Butz, the ButtMonkey of the original trilogy who's [[NewJobAsThePlotDemands constantly changing jobs]], returns in the DLC case of ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneySpiritOfJustice Spirit of Justice]]'', where he's made a name for himself as a picture book author. He's still [[SerialRomeo looking for his one true love]], though.
11	* ''VideoGame/BendyAndTheInkMachine'': After all Wally Franks has been through (according to his previous recordings), one tape in Chapter 5 reveals that he found a large, uneaten chocolate cake on a chair while cleaning up. While he's unsure why it was there in the first place, he gladly took it as a bonus.
12	* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'':
13	** [[TheWoobie Noel Vermillion]] has nothing but sad endings. Except that one ending involving her getting enchanted with Litchi Faye Ling's cute panda hairpin and pinning it on happily. It's the closest thing to a happy ending she can get. The true endings also improve things for her somewhat (although [[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift the second game]] is still somewhat bittersweet despite the fact that she's [[spoiler:been convinced that she's a person despite her ArtificialHuman status and never having been in the timeline before and hanging around with her best friend]], since [[spoiler:her other best friend has undergone a HeelFaceTurn and wants to kill her]].
14	** The gag ending for Lambda-11 looks like this when she gets a pet insect and makes friends with [[FunPersonified Makoto]], [[spoiler:but this turns into a YankTheDogsChain when Kokonoe unknowingly throws the unfortunate creature away and erases L-11's memory of the diversion (made even worse by the fact that had she known Lambda wasn't an EmptyShell she may well have been much nicer [or as nice as she is to Tager])]].
15	** Throughout the ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueChronoPhantasma Chronophantasma]]'' story mode, [[spoiler:Litchi is forced to eventually pay the consequence of her turn to NOL, being pitted against Bang and breaking his heart and assisting Relius in a plan for world destruction [[TragicDream for the sake of Lotte's existence, all with her grief untamed]]. But by the end of it, not only has Bang indirectly freed her from Relius's influence (by wrecking his plan so hard he fell into VillainousBSOD), Litchi is currently with Carl, a boy that cares for her (and she cares for him too) and is more capable of easing her grief and maybe making her give up her destructive TragicDream, the cause of all of her suffering.]]
16	* ''VideoGame/ChicoryAColorfulTale'': While Radish's artwork isn't accepted by the Elevenses gallery due to their high standards for art, she is able to showcase it at Luncheon, to great success.
17	* In ''VisualNovel/{{CLANNAD}}'', Sunohara actually manages to secure some dignity for himself in Kyou's route and also shows himself to actually be a fairly decent guy. Even though he claims in the same route that he would be going for a harem end to solve Tomoya's dilemma. Then again, the fact that just having a little dignity is ''that'' rare for him sort of cancels it out. This trope could also be considered the main purpose of the Sunohara siblings route, in which Tomoya and Sunhohara's relationship is examined much more seriously.
18	* The ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' series likes to do this with its resident ButtMonkey character of each game ([[VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc Yasuhiro]], [[VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair Kazuichi]], and [[VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony Himiko]]). [[spoiler: All three of them get to survive their respective killing games.]]
19	** Each ''Danganronpa'' game also comes with bonus modes where there are no killing games and the students just get to interact with each other and make friends. ''Trigger Happy Havoc'' has School Mode (the kids are being forced to build Monokuma robots instead), ''Goodbye Despair'' has Island Mode (Usami defeats Monokuma and the class trip proceeds as normal), and ''Killing Harmony'' has both Love Across the Universe and the Ultimate Talent Development Plan, which puts all the game characters in the same school and just has them all bounce off each other.
20	** The ''Daganronpa IF'' novel gives one to [[spoiler: Mukuro Ikasuba, who was canonically Junko's ExtremeDoormat minion who died a rather UndignifiedDeath early on. Here, she survives her execution because Makoto saves her, has a HeelFaceTurn, and gets to show off how awesome her Ultimate Soldier talent is and get all the students out alive.]]
21	* ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'':
22	** In the normal ending of ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 2\|CursedMemories}}'', ButtMonkey GoldfishPoopGang Axel [[spoiler:regains his reputation as the Dark Hero by making the entire Netherworld think the Overlord Zenon thing was just him trolling them.]]
23	** After all the abuse he suffers through in ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea 3\|AbsenceOfJustice}}'', Almaz ends up getting what he wants. [[spoiler:He marries Sapphire in the post-credits epilogue of the normal ending.]]
24	** In the sequel to ''VideoGame/PrinnyCanIReallyBeTheHero'', RecurringExtra Asagi finally gets a starring role in the extra content of the game. It's called Asagi Wars, where her main opponents are -- of course -- alternate versions of herself.
25	* Waver Velvet of ''Literature/FateZero'' became "Lord El-Melloi II" after the Fourth Holy Grail War, but all he ever wanted was to be with his [[UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat King]] again. It's stated to be a TragicDream in the written midquel series, the ''Literature/LordElMelloiIICaseFiles''. He gets his wish by becoming a [[{{mon}} Servant]] in ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder''.
26	* Steiner, [[KnightInShiningArmor Knight in, er, Cheap and Rusty Armor]] and TheBigGuy (and also TheLancer), spends a good portion of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' as the ButtMonkey to [[TheHero Zidane]] as well as a ChewToy... but he also manages to [[spoiler:hook up with his long-time rival [[LadyOfWar Beatrix]] in the end (it turns out that ''she'' has a crush on him, and then it might actually be mutual).]] Still feel sorry for the guy?
27	* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', nobody seems to notice [[TheNondescript Kel]][[GentleGiant lam]]. But this RunningGag ends up subverted a few times:
28	** In the game itself, some of his potential girlfriends can spot him easily, like Panne and Nowi [[note]](implied to be because neither girl is fully human, so their SuperSenses make it easier).[[/note]]
29	** If he has a child s/he will see him with no troubles, whether in the proper game or in the DLC dialogues (i.e., a Kellam!Kjelle from The Future Past notices him almost immediately, tells him how strong and brave he was in her BadFuture, and tells him that she's immensely proud of being his child).
30	** If Kellam and Frederick are deployed in the Summer Scramble DLC, not only does Fred find Kellam immediately, but he praises the guy highly for his hard work.
31	* Nugget from ''VideoGame/{{Kindergarten\|2017}}'' has a ''lot'' of misfortune befall him in both the first and second game. In ''VideoGame/Kindergarten2'' alone, he gets stuck behind a sewer grate, [[AnArmAndALeg chews his own arm off]] because of said situation, and depending on the route he can either [[HeadDesk bang his head against the wall]] so hard it starts to bleed out of despair over receiving cold chicken nuggets, or [[GagHaircut get his hair cut off so violently that his scalp bleeds]]. However, things finally go his way in the final mission of that same game, in which he [[spoiler:gets a [[TheCavalry Cavalry]] moment saving the protagonist and his friends from the BigBad, then gets a [[SmoochOfVictory kiss on the cheek]] from his crush Lily for his bravery]].
32	* Poor, poor Sie Kensou from ''VideoGame/PsychoSoldier''. Ever since his stint in ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'', he has been constantly the DoggedNiceGuy to Athena Asamiya, who's constantly implicitly turning him down. His unluck runs out in the AlternateContinuity of ''Maximum Impact 2'', as there it is mentioned that Athena's started secretly dating him.
33	* Nick in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead2'' is usually either berated by his fellow survivors for his {{Jerkass}} attitude or is teased for his disgust (or possibly fear) of germs and anything unclean. In one of the possible openings to the Swamp Fever campaign, Coach may actually praise and compliment Nick for his quick action in shooting the then-turned helicopter pilot, despite the event causing the helicopter to crash.
34	-->'''Coach:''' That was some crazy shit, the pilot becoming a zombie right before our eyes. Nice shooting, Nick.\
35	'''Nick:''' No problem, big guy, sorry about the landing.
36	* ''VideoGame/MariAndTheBlackTower'': Angoma is a clumsy thief who can't land a hit to save his life and is too shy to talk to his crush, Natalya. He also accidentally steals Natalya's ring, incurring her wrath. Later on, he improves enough at fighting to give the party a serious challenge. In the ending, [[spoiler:he manages to get a date with Natalya]].
37	* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' has an example of this for not simply a character, but a ''player class'': TheEngineer. [[SquishyWizard Squishy]] like the [[MindOverMatter Adept]] without the versatility (and fun), it was only really effective against [[MechaMooks machines]]; otherwise, Shepard has to hide behind more sturdy squadmates like [[MagicKnight Wrex]] and [[ActionGirl Ashley]] in [[VideoGame/MassEffect1 the first game]], and considering OldSaveBonus, this means it was the least popular class players would use throughout the trilogy, polling at ''[[EpicFail 8%]]'' on the Creator/BioWare forum. While [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 the second game]] made the class [[TookALevelInBadass take a few levels in badass]] to not be so pathetic, the bone came in [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 the third game]]'s DLC where ''only'' the Engineer class can TakeAThirdOption to solve a SadisticChoice and even snark at the BigBad about it.
38	* Johnny Sasaki of ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' finally gets some luck in ''[[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots Guns of the Patriots]]''. [[spoiler:He gets cured of his bowel problems, stars in his own SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome, and then marries his commanding officer/long-time crush Meryl in the ending of the game.]]
39	* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'':
40	** In [[VideoGame/GodOfWar Kratos's]] ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' ending, [[spoiler:he is personally thanked by Raiden, the only god to not stab him in the back or treat him like a tool]].
41	** Reptile is finally given a break in ''VideoGame/MortalKombatX'' after multiple games featured him getting screwed over by his masters. His new boss, Kotal Kahn, is a NobleDemon who values and greatly respects Reptile for his loyalty and sense of duty.
42	** Johnny Cage spent most games as a FakeUltimateHero and in Mortal Kombat 9, he's a ButtMonkey who gets his ass kicked by most characters. But in the end, they made him survive the carnage that the game was. Things get better for him in Mortal Kombat X, where he [[TookALevelInBadass took several major levels in badass]], gets to kick Shinnock's ass, marries Sonya and have a daughter with her (even if they divorce, they get together again at the end of the game).
43	** Three endings in ''X'' have this to Scorpion (who gets recruited by Raiden alongside his Shirai Ryu clan to protect Earthrealm), Takeda (who finds Taven in a crucial step towards finding his mother's killer) and Kitana (who is granted a vision of her killing Shao Kahn and liberating Edenia). Things aren't as cracked-up for Scorpion and Kitana though, considering that the former is now in service to a WellIntentionedExtremist and the latter is [[YankTheDogsChain forced out of the vision]] into less than desirable circumstances.
44	** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'' throws an even bigger bone for the original-timeline Scorpion in the first ''Invasion'' event. [[spoiler:After having lost his shit due to many failed attempts at finding a timeline with a surviving Harumi, eventually finding one where she's married to Kuai Liang, after the Invasion, Fire God Liu Kang tries to find a timeline where Harumi is alive and unwedded for Hanzo. He eventually finds one where [[SwappedRoles it was Hanzo who was killed by Quan Chi and Harumi who took up the mantle of Scorpion.]] In the end, Hanzo now has his lovely wife back with the added bonus of them becoming a BadassCouple ripping through the evil within Harumi's timeline.]]
45	** Fire God Liu Kang in general gave out bones to almost every villain in the franchise, letting them start over with the hopes they won't succumb to their evil ways.
46	* ''VideoGame/NobodySavesTheWorld'': After all the injuries and misfortune Randy has suffered during the game, the ending [[spoiler:not only has him celebrated as one of the two people who stopped the Calamity, but he gets a future date with Danielle the Mummy]].
47	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
48	** In ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', there is a seasonal FerrisWheelDateMoment with a Hiker-class Trainer if the PlayerCharacter is male that involves some very suggestive dialogue -- but since it's ''Pokémon'', the man is middle-aged, and the main character is a ''teenage boy'', nothing comes of it. ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'' are direct sequels that take place two years later, and if the PlayerCharacter is female, she can meet with the Hiker in the same place, where he'll mourn a lost love. In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', a worker will mention offhand that he has a Hiker friend who loves Ferris wheels, and that the man finally found love.
49	** As a meta example, Raichu was considered TheArtifact as soon as Pikachu became a BreakoutCharacter, with Pikachu getting all kinds of event-exclusive moves, formes, and playing a major role in most Pokémon media. Raichu, by contrast, got nothing new added to it, only shows up once every so often in the anime, and is almost never marketed anymore, to the point where the fandom started joking that Creator/GameFreak wanted people to forget that it even existed. Then ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' happened, however, and Raichu was among the various Pokémon to receive an Alolan Forme. Then, ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', Raichu along with other Pokémon that can evolve via Evolution stones can relearn the moves of their pre-evolutions meaning it can be instantly evolved from Pikachu and learn Agility and Quick Attack and can also learn Thunder Punch. In addition, Gigantamax/Terastal Pikachu keep the base form's terrible stats and in addition the former can't even evolve whereas Raichu can soak up some hits and chase off Ground-types with Surf and Grass Knot. Finally, in the [=TCG=], most Pikachu cards have incredibly low health and damage with only the [=EX=], [=GX=], V and [=VMAX=] cards being as powerful as Ash's Pikachu whereas Raichu cards are far stronger and it got a BREAK card instead of Pikachu.
50	** In another meta example, 2019-2020 has been a very generous period for Porygon and its evolutions. ''VideoGame/PokemonMasters EX'' included Porygon in as a feature called the Poryphone, who's role could've easily been filled by Rotom. After the line had been excluded from the base release of ''[[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Sword & Shield]]'', they were added back in through ''The Isle of Armor'', with a Porygon given for free by Mustard's son Hyde, and [=Porygon2=] having a giveaway event by code during late August 2020. Finally, the line was the featured Pokémon for the September 2020 Community Day in ''VideoGame/PokemonGo''. It also got a Spirit in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.
51	%%* Someone gets her bone in ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone'' when she [[spoiler:finally finds Lost Jerusalem]]. (Administrivia/ZeroContextExample)
52	* In the Wii version of ''VideoGame/PunchOut'', one of [[{{Jobber}} Glass Joe's]] challenges is to ''let him win''. It's actually harder than it sounds, since the win has to be by Decision after knocking him down three times.
53	* In ''VideoGame/{{Rakuen}}'', talking to Danielle in the cafeteria about Sue right before the ending of the game [[spoiler: reveals that the real Sue was somehow able to reunite with Puchi at the hospital before her death, with Danielle stating that she's never seen Sue so happy, other than when she was spending time with the Boy.]]
54	* Pierce Washington of the ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' series usually plays ButtMonkey to the other Saints, with the Boss constantly disregarding his [[ComplexityAddiction overly complex plans]] in favour of the much quicker (and much more fun) method of just barging in and shooting everybody between him/her and his/her objective.
55	** In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'', his loyalty mission involves the Boss actually letting him do one of his plans for once.
56	** ''VideoGame/AgentsOfMayhem'' takes place in the AlternateTimeline created by ''VideoGame/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell'''s CosmicRetcon ending. In this timeline, the Saints do not exist, and therefore the man/woman who would become the Boss never got involved in crime. Instead, Pierce is known as "Kingpin", and is the equivalent of both the Boss ''and'' Benjamin King. After succeeding King as leader of the Vice Kings, Pierce united the Vice Kings, Westside Rollers, and Los Carnales under one banner by [[BribingYourWayToVictory offering them a shitload of money if they agreed to his terms]].
57	** In the third game he gets a small one in a cutscene. He apparently is so good at chess that he can make the team's GeniusBruiser Oleg RageQuit.
58	* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
59	** Luigi, Nintendo's poster boy for ButtMonkey, got thrown a bone by ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl''. He ends up as one of the four characters who save the rest of the heroes of the overworld. Granted, it's after a scene where he's scared of [[TheGoomba Waddle Dees]] and gets sneak-attacked by Dedede, but the clumsy little plumber helps Dedede save ''everyone''. There's also ''VideoGame/LuigisMansion'', where Luigi finally takes a starring role, and saves ''Mario'', despite being scared out of his wits (this is technically the second time this happens, but nobody counts ''VideoGame/MarioIsMissing''). In 2013, Nintendo also gave Luigi a bone by dedicating an entire year to him, fittingly called "Advertising/TheYearOfLuigi". Several games were made where it was either swapping Mario with Luigi in being the main star or making Luigi the main character in his own games.
60	** In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'', [[spoiler:Bowser saves the Mushroom Kingdom from the Dark Star and Fawful, only to end up getting beat up by the Mario Brothers once again after challenging them. After the credits, while he's recovering from the injuries, he gets a present from Peach and the Mario Bros. It's a ''VideoGame/SuperMario64''-like cake with his face.]]
61	** After spending years [[SatelliteCharacter as an extra]] and [[TheUnfavorite generally ignored and left out]] in favor of characters like Rosalina, longtime Mario series [[MemeticLoser loser]] Princess Daisy got the ''biggest'' bone tossed her way by being made a playable character (albeit as Peach's [[MovesetClone Echo Fighter]]) in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.
62	** Princess Peach is perhaps one of the most infamous cases of the DamselInDistress trope in all of fiction. Her usual role is to sit in the sidelines watching the Mario Bros and their allies save her and act as TheLoad or NeutralFemale, almost never being allowed or having the chance to join in the action herself. The sheer amount of times she has been kidnapped is truly astonishing. However, every once in a while, Nintendo puts her out of the DamselInDistress trope and she is PromotedToPlayable and gets to show off what she's truly capable of. Examples of this include Super Mario Bros.2, Super Mario RPG, Super Princess Peach, Super Paper Mario, Super Mario 3D World, Super Mario Run, Super Mario Wonder, both Mario Plus Rabbids games and the Super Smash Bros series. She also gets to show off the full extent of her skills, intelligence and magic powers in the other RolePlayingGames and spinoff titles.
63	* Being the [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover kind of game]] that it is, ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'' tends to have this in spades. Quite noticeable in ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha 3'' with [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion NGE]], given how depressing the original series is and how the focus of that game is to defeat what passes as an [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu elder god]] there.
64	* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'', Allen ends up with his crush, Shion, and the person she cares about more than him has to leave until some {{reincarnation}} in the future.

Context ThrowTheDogABone / VideoGames