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Videogames – entertainment for the most part. But sometimes, with some titles, you get so caught up in the story and the characters, that it leaves a mark on you for the rest of your life. Especially if treats you to some of the most shocking, awful, tragic deaths when you least expected them. With television making a mockery out of deaths each season, it’s nice to see that some games still rely on our fondness for a certain character to twist our emotions in the most primal way possible. Here then, are some picks for the Top 10 Memorable Deaths in videogames. The list is by no means perfect, so we’d really like to hear from you as to which loss choked you up the most. Needless to say, there are tons of spoilers here so if you still haven’t played some of these games, it’s best to stop reading now. For the rest, make sure you keep a couple of tissues handy.
10. Tassadar – StarCraft
- Sacrifices himself by crashing his ship into the Zerg Overmind
We don’t really get too attached to RTS characters, mostly because we see so little of them from our perch high above. StarCraft, a game that we consider the mother of all RTSes, was also one of the first RTSes to deliver an extremely high profile death, with the Protoss Executor Tassadar making the ultimate sacrifice to halt the Zerg menace. For the most part though, we just sat in shocked silence before the reverence for the character and his bravery set in. En Taro Tassadar. En Taro Tassadar, indeed.
09. Eli Vance – Half:Life 2 – Episode Two
- Partially dessicated by Combine Advisor in ambush
Few characters have stood so well with us over the years and Black Mesa scientist Eli Vance, the only colored scientist around, was definitely one of them. Leader of the human resistance, loving father and a kind mentor – Eli’s character, originally set to get sniped in Half-Life, had gone on to become one of the most endearing digital personas ever to grace a game and we, as the mute bystander, experienced every feeling he was going through. And his death, like all deaths in the real world are, happened when we least expected it, as we stood by completely helpless. The saddest part was that after all those bits of dialogue in Half-Life 2 and Episode One where Alyx kept saying that she wasn’t saying goodbye, she never really got a chance to do so.
08. Wander – Shadow of the Colossus
- Stabbed through the heart by Lord Emon’s soldier
When Dormin told us that slaying the colossi would extract a great price from Wander, little did we expect to pay such a huge one. After losing his innocence and racking up the sins with each slain giant, all for the sake of reviving Mono, it was genuinely sad to see Wander’s fate get so intertwined with the colossi he had slain. Although he kinda gets resurrected (or something) later, Wander’s great sacrifice for the one he loves is a legend that will live on long after people have stopped playing this masterpiece.
07. Angela Orosco – Silent Hill 2
- Consigns herself to the Otherworld Hell
Things couldn’t go worse for this poor teenage girl caught on the wrong side of the looking glass. We’re still not sure what was worse for this poor girl – living in the real world or suffering in the Otherworld. Abused and raped by her father, the poor creature winds up in Silent Hill after murdering him, even as she searches for the mother that had turned a blind eye to all of this. When we last saw her, the poor thing, consumed by her guilt and without the will to live, was climbing up a burning staircase that didn’t exist.
06. Lisa Garland – Silent Hill
- Killed by Dr. Kaufman / Abandoned by Harry Mason
Lisa could very well be the most helplessly tragic creature in the creepy town of Silent Hill. Presumably killed by Dr. Kaufman as she was trying to get baby Cheryl to Harry and his wife (this should probably be explained in the upcoming Silent Hill: Origins for the PSP) poor Lisa doesn’t realize that she’s actually dead and continues to slowly drive herself insane thinking about Alessa and everything that’s going on around her. When the haunted beauty finally figures out the horrible truth and seeks solace, Harry is too afraid to give it, leaving her locked up in her nightmare as she continues to sob heartwrenchingly on the other side in one of the most poignant scenes ever made in a videogame.
05. Aerith Gainsborough – Final Fantasy VII
- Stabbed by Sephiroth’s Masamune at the Forgotten City altar
When I started to write this article, Vijay said “Please don’t mention FF VII. Everybody’s doing it!” Sorry, friend, but that can’t be done. Ask anyone hardcore gamer which death upset them the most and Aerith will always be on the list, pretty much at the top or very close to it. Sure, she was a tad annoying at some points, but surprisingly, we never really cared a lot about her until she died. And when we, as young, impressionable teens, watched Sephiroth kill her in cold blood, and heard her heart stop as the White Materia bounced off, her theme playing in the background, we felt a cold knife slip past our own ribs. We still couldn’t really cry for her, but we felt more for Cloud rather than Aerith at that point, telling Sephiroth how Aerith could never talk, laugh, cry or get angry again. Best death in videogames? I think not, but definitely memorable.
04. Mona Sax – Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
- Shot by Vladimir Lem at Alfred Woden’s Manor
Few developers can trigger emotions the way the geniuses at Remedy can. Even though Max had lost everything in the first game – his wife, his baby daughter, his best friend and the woman he was just starting to fall for – we didn’t really feel a whole lot of “payne” for good old Maxie. With Max Payne 2 (consciously titled “A Film Noir Love Story“) however, all that was about to change. Nobody realized until the very end that we were always watching Mona die and when she quietly slipped away with a reference to her own little flirt with Max in the first game, it hurt. Bad. Which, then, became much more worse as Max said “Now, like all loves, she is mine forever” kissing Mona’s dead lips, triggering a sadness that hasn’t gone away to this day.
03. Jenny Romano – The Darkness
- Executed by Paulie Franchetti in front of Jackie Estacado
Being the complete badass that we are in The Darkness – devouring hearts, sneaking up on some poor unsuspecting bastard and ripping his throat out, impaling him or worse, opening a black hole right on top of his sorry ass – I was surprised that one of the sequences that I enjoyed the most was cuddling on the couch with the sweet, innocent and downright cute Jenny. So when Paulie pressed her face inches from mine and blew her head off, with me standing there, completely powerless to do anything, it was so shockingly brutal that I had to stop playing for a couple of hours after that. What is amazing about this death is the transformation in Jenny as the event unfolds – she goes from defiant, to scared, to terrified before finally resigning herself to her fate and forgiving Jackie with her last words. Truly upsetting.
02. Tidus – Final Fantasy X
- Dissolves into nothingness after defeating Sin
It’s not an easy choice for developers to put an end to their protagonist at the end of the game, but Square Enix hit a whopper with Tidus. A truly lost character from the beginning, Tidus’ emergence into a strong man who discovers the magic of love is suddenly shattered by the fact that his presence is just a dream that’s been summoned by the Fayth to kill Sin once and for all. Though we knew what was coming, watching Yuna run right through the disappearing Tidus sent a sickening feeling of loss, especially the first time I played it and every time after that. Sure, it didn’t really make us bawl our eyes out, but it was one of the saddest moments in videogame history for sure.
01. The Boss – Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
- Defeated and shot by Snake with her own Patriot gun
We’re sure a lot of you may be less than enthusiastic over our choice of the most upsetting death, but hear us out here, will ya? From the beginning and all the way to very end, we were constantly being reminded that The Boss was a traitor, a backstabbing bitch that was out to ruin everyone’s lives. Even in the last few moments of her villified life, while we were emotionally shaken up for some time, we didn’t really feel too sad when she bit the dirt. It was only when the final tape rolled and we learned what a huge burden she was carrying and what an utterly selfless person she actually was that the true trauma of our actions sunk in. Her sacrifice, enough to make even the tough-as-nails Snake shed a tear, totally ripped us to pieces, earning her the distinction of being the most shocking death on our list.
However, as with any such article, we’ve had to drop a lot of people we wanted to mention, but that’s what we have you readers for. Drop us a comment saying why this list sucks, or better yet, make your own list. Which videogame character’s death upset you the most?
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Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 03:33 pm GMT +5.5 at 3:33 pm
This list has a lot of good names, but misses out on quite a few as well. Here’s my top 10 Videogame deaths:
10. Sgt. Johnson, Halo 3
Cause of death: Shot by Guilty Spark
Sgt. Johnson’s death was memorable, but not all that much special. The utter potential for badassery was so fucking taken out that I honestly dont know why I’ve even placed it here. The thing remains a blot upon H3, something for which I can never, EVER forgive Bungie.
But then that’s sort of part of the reason why it’s memorable in a way. Its so bad, i’ll never forget it. EVER, sadly. >:(
9. The Allied General’s Death in Red Alert 2
Cause of death: Death by Crazy Ivan.
The Crazy Ivan’s death is probably one of the more silly and campy ones. While hardly memorable in terms of sadness or loss, it was still memorable in terms of it’s “Hello, SURPRISE! KABOOM!” factor and utter ridiculousness, which is the only thing that brings it at #9 on this list.
8. Captain Keyes, Halo: CE
Cause of death: Flood infection
Captain Keye’s death was somewhat saddening, his last few struggles to alert the chief to keep away almost heart-wrenching in a way – but there is that small glimmer of hope you can get to him before the flood do…and then when you do, you realize its waaay too late :<
7. GTVA Colossus, Freespace 2
Cause of death: sacrificed itself to hold off a Sathanas Juggernaught
The Colossus was humanity’s hope, it’s last defense against the neverending horde that was the Shivans. It was the gaurdian and protector of all of humanity…and it was lost. When you see it go down in the near-last mission in the game, your hopes pretty much go down the drain and you get the utter, frightening feeling of just how Screwed you and the entire human race is at that one moment of time. The feeling was just re-enforced in teh latter missions and the ending.
6. Ada Wong, Resident Evil 2
Cause of death: varies, usually dies/disappears after the fight with one of the Nemesis units or the G-virus.
Not much comment, save that it really hit hard once she died, especially after how much she helped Leon Kennedy
5. The GTD Galatea, Freespace 1
Cause of death: Caught in a surprise attack and destroyed by the SD Lucifer.
Throughout the majority of Freespace 1, the Galatea was an important ship – one which you flow off of and was often in conflict. It was akin to a hero character, one that the player often assumes simply cannot be destroyed – something which, honestly, was shook up when it DID get blown to smithereens by the Shivan Super Destroyer. It was incredibly frightening in the way it went off though – it just died, like droves of other ships that went up against the Lucifer and really drove home just how tiny the player is compared to the events around him.
4. Sgt. Holiday, FEAR: Extraction Point.
Cause of death: Ripped to shreds by Alma’s Ghosts
All I can say to Sgt. Holiday’s death is Noooooo! Holiday was amongst the most badass delta force members there – to see him go out to Alma like that was an utter shock and surprise – but at the same time proves just how awesome he was when he took in getting smashed and grabbed by Alma’s ghosts and then not only surviving, but holding on just long enough to say “FIND JIN!” before Alma gets him. He was an utter badass – and died like one, too.
3. Dr. Marie Delacroix, System Shock 2
Sgt. Bronson, System Shock 2
Cause of Death: Angry AI Goddess.
Dr. Marie’s Death is incredibly tragic and frightening in many ways. She was the only to survive The Many onboard the Von Braun and her story of survival was parrallel to yours. The horrors and going-ons of the ship in the logs she left behind are incredibly detailed and show a significant depth to the character. It was also incredibly tragic considering just how far she went…only to perish when SHODAN favors you as her avatar. Her body is cast aside, much akin to a rag doll. But even in death, her messages and logs guide you on to guide and fight SHODAN toe to toe.
We never hear from Sgt. Bronson herself, nor do we get to see her…but through the logs that not just she, but many of her victims, leave behind the character is probably one of the more badass members of the VB crew, one that gave up everything in an attempt to contain The Many. Her final words of “Resist! This is bigger than my little life…the lives of my friends…and the people I was forced to kill…resist!” before dying really strikes a chord in one’s mind of just how she must’ve felt actually being forced to kill off almost all the crew.
2. Death of the entire Traffic Department Team, Traffic Depatment 2192 chapter 3.
Cause of death: Surprise raid.
Like the Galatea, the TD team were central characters that were there throughout all the 3 chapters. They were there when you were forced to leave the planet and go on the run, and had saved your lives on more than one occasion. They were more than just supporting characters though – each had a distinct personality and depth that the game fleshed out to bring you in deeper and deeper. And each death was pretty much like a spike driven into your heart at the end.
To suddenly see them die at the end pretty much threw me into a loop. An angry loop which was released in the next mission when we go about and kill off everyone in revenge. D:<
1. Lt. Bannon, World in Conflict.
Cause of death: Sacrificing himself to distract and keep a Soviet force within the range of a Nuclear strike.
Lt. Bannon’s death is probably one of the better done deaths in videogaming history. You saw so much of Bannon’s personality in the first few missions that honestly, hearing him offer to sacrifice himself was partially a surprise. It become incredibly sad when towards the end of the game you hear his last message to his mother, giving an insight into his mind and sheer determination to make up for his mistake back in Europe.
The entire thing added a whole dimension of meaning to his death, while still keeping enough vague to leave it upto the viewer’s interpretation. It is, by and far, incredibly well executed and just goes to show just how awesome the Massive team is when it comes to writing stories.
Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 04:21 pm GMT +5.5 at 4:21 pm
I actually had a lot of those guys on my list, but had to cut them for obvious reasons.
Sgt. Johnson’s and Miranda Keyes’ deaths were just freaking completely pointless and unnecessary. Sure, I was kinda expecting Miranda to buy it this time around, but Sgt. Johnson, whos this hard assed tough-as-nails bastard who single-handedly escaped the massive Flood outbreak, gets killed by this little blue floating light bulb? Sickeningly stupid, the ONLY reason he dies is because someone at Bungie said “Oh this is the end of the saga, let’s kill as many people as we can in completely asinine ways!”
As for Cpt. Keyes, I kinda naturally assumed he should die. Never really felt that strong an attachment to him so even though Cortana was panicking, I took my own sweet time anyway.
Ada Wong… hmm, never really felt she was dead in RE2, since I never SAW her die. At least in a final deader-than-dead way. So I kinda said “Oh, she’ll be back!” and YAY, she was! Couldn’t really put up her name on the list when she’s in a great sequel, which is more than I say for Tidus’ STUPID return in FF X-2.
Coming to Holiday again, there wasn’t that much of an emotional attachment to the guy so when he died it was more like a “Oh, yeah, goodbye” moment rather than something that pulled at the heartstrings.
Marie in SS2, oh yeah,she should have DEFINITELY been on the list, along with Andrew Ryan’s death in BioShock, which was one of the most shocking, brutal, upsetting deaths I’ve seen in recent times.
Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 05:11 pm GMT +5.5 at 5:11 pm
I agree on the Sgt’s and Miranda’s death being useless. Sgt Johnson deserved to go out in a fucking blaze of glory against the flood and elites, nothing more, nothing less. Hell, I’d have paid extra just to SEE such a blaze of glory…and yet he fell to that fucking blue orb! Bungie will pay for this! *rabbles on babbling* D:<
Cpt’ Keye’s death was a fair bit more tragic when you read the books and novels before the game. I put it in there partially because of that. Although honestly,
I’d probably replace it with the more gut-wrenching death of Captain McDuff, Commander of the [i]Under New Ownership[/i], I-War 1. Seeing that guy sacrifice his Destroyer into King’s cruiser was something that brought a tear to my eye – especially since he primarily did it for people that had, till then, been his enemy for several years prior.
Ada Wong -did- die. At least, in one of the alternative endings with Leon Kennedy. She was stuck over this abyss while Leon was trying to hang onto her. She speaks a few words to Leon, before letting go and falling down into the blackness. I always assumed that she had died then – guess that wasn’t a ‘canon’ ending. It was still sad, though.
Dunno about Andrew Ryan’s death though – gonna have to wait till next month for that when I pick up the Bioshock collector’s edition XD (Big Daddy Figurine – HELLS YAH!).
Thursday, October 25th, 2007 05:04 pm GMT +5.5 at 5:04 pm
When snake crys at the end that got me going..
and im not the usual one to cry o.o
Like.. 3 of my friends cried at the last bit of metal gear when he was shedding his tear, but dam.. that bit got to me ill admitt.
Long live snake..
>.< IF he dies in the next game im probuly gna be worse, Ive always played metal gear..
Thursday, October 25th, 2007 05:09 pm GMT +5.5 at 5:09 pm
[sorry for double post]
2nd most upsetting thing i think should of been sniper wolf on metal gear solid PS1, When they was battling and she died and the wolf was crying. Kinda old school but yeh that was kinda upsetting.
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 03:01 pm GMT +5.5 at 3:01 pm
Nice work guys !!
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 12:26 am GMT +5.5 at 12:26 am
Lovely piece !! Great read and well put together.
Although you have spoiled HL2:Ep2 for me (Havent finished it yet in all the console game release madness with special emphasis on Halo 3 and Mass Effect)
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 02:34 am GMT +5.5 at 2:34 am
Oopsies, guess I completely forgot about the Xbox 360 and PS3 owners when I wrote this one.
Figured it was almost a month since the game was out and everybody would have finished it by then. 
Wednesday, November 28th, 2007 05:48 am GMT +5.5 at 5:48 am
Nice!
but Sniper Wolf of Metal Gear Solid doesn’t deserve a position? :,(
Thursday, November 29th, 2007 01:31 am GMT +5.5 at 1:31 am
[...] we decided to look at something very obvious but yet very distinct. So far we’ve looked at The Top deaths, The Top 10 weapons and the Top 9 original soundtracks. In this week’s iteration of the Thursday [...]
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 05:21 am GMT +5.5 at 5:21 am
I almost cried while watching your videos… you idiots
aaah, The Boss… That was a damn good character. And the other points of your lists all sound good (I mean sad) to me. I don’t really see any death that touched me more than those. Maybe Otacon’s sister in MGS2, or Raziel’s sacrifice in the end of the Soul Reaver / Legacy of Kain Saga, when in lets Kain kill him with the reaver to allow him to fight the Elder. Or Kratos family… Or Deus Ex Paul Denton (well, you could actually save him but so was it the case for the girl in Max Payne 2)… Or that old lady in Syberia… Jeeze, I’m not gonna cry, I’m not gonna cry ^_^
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 05:40 am GMT +5.5 at 5:40 am
Grey Fox’s death in Metal Gear for the ps1 would have been a good choice too?
Thursday, December 13th, 2007 01:38 am GMT +5.5 at 1:38 am
Well to me the Metal Gear Saga has the saddest deads in all gaming. From Gray Fox to Sniper Wolf, to Emma and Olga, to The Boss and The End. They really emphasize the characters right when they are dying, which to me is powerful. A big factor too is the score they use right when they die.
Friday, December 14th, 2007 08:22 am GMT +5.5 at 8:22 am
Don’t know about the rest of you, and i know it’s still a relatively new game, Major Strickland’s demise in Crysis kind of got to me. Perhaps it’s because I share his last name…
Monday, December 17th, 2007 04:26 am GMT +5.5 at 4:26 am
vote for silent hill game
Monday, December 17th, 2007 08:46 pm GMT +5.5 at 8:46 pm
Aeris/Aerith should be first, and Tidus shouldn’t even be on the list.
Monday, December 17th, 2007 08:53 pm GMT +5.5 at 8:53 pm
Nice spoilers. Thanks a lot.
Saturday, December 22nd, 2007 09:27 pm GMT +5.5 at 9:27 pm
You spelled “Aries” wrong
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008 07:40 am GMT +5.5 at 7:40 am
I stumbled this page, and the first damn picture I see is Alyx Vance cradling her dead father. I hadn’t finished ep2 yet, and after I read the title of the article, there’s no way I would have kept on reading. So my question is probably pretty obvious; why the shit did you put that picture right there at the top of the article? Why? It very completely ruined the ending for me, plus, it sucks cause it didn’t get spoiled from any other post or anything since I unwittingly stumbled upon this page.
I’m pretty pissed, so, ya know, whatever. I realize you will deride me for using the internet or even being alive at all, but just so you know, I think you suck for putting that picture as the header of the article like that. You suck. A giant “SPOILER ALERTS” banner would have sufficed. Asshats.
Saturday, February 16th, 2008 06:19 am GMT +5.5 at 6:19 am
What part of “video game deaths” did you not associate with “surprise ending” or “game ruining spoilers”?
Cry some more.
Thursday, July 17th, 2008 02:37 pm GMT +5.5 at 2:37 pm
how do video games effect teens…
How does the rss feed work so I can get updated on your blog?…