Sometimes,game characters just gotta go, permanently. Most times, those game characters end up coming back after a few hours of gameplay, but that doesn’t make the loss hurt any less. Despite how many times that same trope ends up popping up, I’ll always be convinced that the character in question has been forever lost to the void, what a fool I am.
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The thing is, there’s always that chance that a character really is gone for good and I don’t ever want to get my hopes up. My heart has been broken far too many times for that. It may be decades since the release of the original Final Fantasy 7, but I’m still holding onto some hope that there’s a way to bringthat wonderful healer Aerithback from the dead.
10Commander Shepard - Mass Effect 2
Okay, you might think I’m a bit silly for believing that Commander Shepard had truly diedat the beginning of the incredible storythat isMass Effect 2, but can you blame me? How many people survive being shot out into space? I’d guess, not that many. I guess he technically does die pretty gruesomely, but he does end up alive again so I’d say it counts as a fake-out.
Watching the opening for the first time, I was left with my jaw on the floor as I watched my homemade Shepard meet his end. I figured the series had simply decided it was time for a new dashing commander, but I was wrong. We asked for more Shepard, and the developers gave us more of the Shepard we had at home.
9Half The Cast - Final Fantasy 4
Those that enjoy gaming that falls under the classic RPG genre will probably be fans ofFinal Fantasy 4. It’s a thrilling adventure that follows the hero Cecil as he attempts to save the world, pretty much what anyone would expect.
The thing is, this game loves its fake-out deaths. At almost every major point in the story, it appears that one of your companions has died. Somehow, almost every single one of them manages to come back eventually, even if they are lost at sea… or turned to stone… or completely blown up. I love me some Yang, so it’s not too big of a problem, but still, come on!
8Joel Miller - The Last Of Us
I know, I know, he did end upgetting the Tiger Woods treatmenteventually, but in the firstThe Last Of Us, Joel really went through it. The moment I’m talking about is when we get a brief time jump after Joel is impaled.
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Switching over to Ellie without any mention of Joel for quite a while had me worried. How in the world was Ellie going to make her way to the end of the game without all that dad energy? Everything turned out for the best, eventually… I guess.
7Ada Wong - Resident Evil 2
I am yet to find an adequate explanation for how Ada Wong survived her comically long fall in both the original and remake ofResident Evil 2other than, “because Resident Evil”. It was one of the few moments where I was entirely confident a character could not survive.
Once again, if you don’t see a character die on screen, don’t believe it, and honestly, even if you do see it, doubt it. Ada would have to fall for a seriously long time for Leon to not see her grapple hook away. It’s just one fake-out that I really don’t know how to explain, but maybe a series that features boulder-punching and suplexing zombies doesn’t need an explanation for something as minor as surviving a big fall.
6The Whole Party - Tales Of Symphonia
Considering I had no idea how longTales Of Symphoniawas supposed to be the first time I played it, I had no idea what was going on when I started losing all my party members. We were supposed to save Colette, and that’s a really hard thing to do when you only have Lloyd in your party.
Lloyd is great and all, but two swords aren’t going to cut it against literal angels. It’s heartbreaking to watch your team slowly fall apart, and the entire segment had me sputtering about what I was going to do as my team kept dwindling. Knowing my luck, I figured I’d just gotten some kind of bad ending.
5Joker - Persona 5
In another instance of, “Oh no, I’m pretty sure I’ve screwed upthis incredibly long gamea couple of dozen hours early”,Persona 5really pulled a fast one on me. The explanation for how Joker survived being shot is a bit complex, but it is fascinating.
Of course, I had to take some time to get how he survived explained to me, but still, it was a welcome surprise. The entire time it was going down, I was left hoping it was Yusuke instead after that whole weird mess surrounding painting Ann.
4Ganondorf - Ocarina Of Time
I did it. I claimed all the medallions, burst into that twisted version ofZelda’sHyrule Castle, and defeated Ganondorf. That sore loser basically causes the tower you fought him on to collapse, which is a bit of a jerk move, but once you escape things seem fine.
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That is until you realize you are very clearly standing in another boss arena. In what just might be the most metal last-stand moment in gaming, Ganondorf uses the Triforce of Power to turn into Ganon in hopes of defeating Link. He loses pretty hard, but it’s the thought that counts.
3Jax - Mortal Kombat 11
Honestly, you could point a finger at basically the entireMortal Kombatcast considering at this point they’ve all died at least once. Usually absolutely brutally as well. I specifically point toward Jax because his “death” actually plays into the narrative of the current game timeline.
Rather than letting people who can shoot fireballs and iceballs out of their hands die, fighters are brought back as revenants, a process that is eventually reversed for Jax. I’m sure the explanation is an adequate one, but it’s one that I likely won’t ever believe because Jax literally was dead 100 percent for sure (AGAIN), and now he’s alive, and now I don’t know what to believe anymore.
2Grunt - Mass Effect 3
Shepard isn’t the only one in the Mass Effect series who pulls a little bait and switch. Somehow, it almost hurts more when it appears Grunt dies while dealing with the dreaded Rachni, but that’s mostly because he’s like a roid-ragey Krogan child for Shepard.
Grunt can make a final stand to buy time for Shepard and company to escape, and while he’s bodying Rachni, he takes a tumble over a cliff. I should have known he was fine considering I didn’t see him die, but that sad music that plays over the scene had me believing my little pure-Krogan fighting machine had died.
1Albert Wesker - Resident Evil
I think I deserve a little bit of credit here. With how absolutely dorky Wesker was in the original Resident Evil,there was absolutely no way to predict what a phenom (and a meme) he’d end up becoming. When that Tyrant gave him the worst tummy ache this side of the Spencer Mansion, I assumed that was it for him.
I’ve seen people bounce back from some nasty stomach cramps, but I don’t think there are enough boo-boo kisses in the world to have properly helped Wesker. The man, the myth, the legend did live on though, and he kept rocking those sunglasses at the most inappropriate moments possible.
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