Your top 5 saddest character death in video games!

[Jonnusthegreat]

Well, some spoilers there. Didn't know about that death in Witcher 3... eh...

The game is almost 5 years old. It's not a spoiler at this point.

Bruce Willis was dead the entire time.

[madethisfor1post]

FFXIV - Noraxia
Spiderman PS4 - Aunt May
Tales from the Borderlands - Scooter

[Steelangel]

Runas in Legion's Azsuna was pretty sad to me. Although I suppose you could argue he's not technically dead...

This. I level every alt through Azsuna just because of Runas. His voice actor also does Winnie the Pooh, which makes it even more heartbreaking.

[Mirishka]

He's the first one I remembered too when I thought back on this topic. Hell I'd also put Legion on the list because his storyline was excellent and getting to that final scene in the first playthrough just was a great impact.

"Does.. this unit... have a soul?"

*ugly cries*

[Steelangel]

Nope. Never played an FF game (save for an hour on FF14). Was contemplating taking the plunge. I'm not anymore. ^^'

Wow. Ok then. That's pretty hardcore to have missed 23 years of that being out in the wild.

[Mirishka]

This. I level every alt through Azsuna just because of Runas. His voice actor also does Winnie the Pooh, which makes it even more heartbreaking.

I do as well, and I stay with him until the very end.

[Orby]

2 words: Mordin Solas. His death in ME3 was the culmination of one of the best redemption stories in all of gaming... to this day I still think about Mordin every time I hear the word 'seashell'.



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It was, yea, I guess, more a sad face moment, than any shedding tear moment for me :P

Ysera's death was pretty heartbreaking, as was Varian's IMO.

Now for me the saddest WoW moment is the Old Soldier cinematic. But no one died in that unless you count the flashback scene between Saurfang and his son Dranosh :P

[TragedyAnn]

It honestly surprises me so many people are saying Tidus. I've beaten FFX and FFX-2 in their entirety twice, once as a kid, once as an adult (even did all the superflous crap and got the ultimate weapons, and 100% completion and such on the adult playthroughs) and he never really registered as a genuine "death" to me in either playthrough, or impacted me emotionally at all... probably because he "dies" near the end of the game, and then they pretty much immediately tease he isn't dead in the after credits scene (which later gets resolved in X-2)

And then ya'know... the perfect ending in X-2 made him ACTUALLY still alive, but that didn't bother me, since the after credits ending in X already setup that tease. (And a great deal of X-2's plot revolves around the idea of chasing the notion he might still be out there anyway - So that feels like a pretty natural place for the perfect ending to go)

Someone said X-2 cheapens it, but since the after credits tease for FFX sets up the idea he's still alive before X-2 even enters the picture, I don't think that's fair.

I mean say what you will about X-2, if you hate the game and want to strike the way it resolves Tidus' story from your memory, be my guest, but the tease that Tidus survives at the end of X remains, regardless of your feelings about X-2. Thus I wasn't at all sad at the end of X... the last thing they do before X concludes is dangle the happy notion he survived in front of you. So his death never rang as sad or genuine to me.

[Blackmist]

Your list does not feature Mordin Solus, so it can fuck off.

[Aresk]

Finding it difficult to recall those moments but managed to find 5 that got to me in some aspect, starting from least to most immediate impact.

The Older Brother in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

This is top of my list. The way the tied it to game mechanics was unbelievably emotional to me.

Tassadar sacrificing himself.

I loved the Overmind and the Zerg, and this one still got me.

For my own addition: the death didn't technically occur during the events of the game but were rather discussed in game, and that's Kanai in Diablo 3. Knowing the story behind that one really gets me, and I think of it every time I use that cube.

[fwc577]

Ones that jumped out at me from games:

Rabbit's death, Medal of Honor (2010)



Mordin Solus, Mass Effect 3



Thane Krios, Mass Effect 3



Ysera, World of Warcraft



Winston and Peggy, Sleeping Dogs




PS, I need a Sleeping Dogs live action movie. I just saw that there is a live action hype trailer for the game released by SE in 2012. Last I heard it was supposed to go into pre-production back in 2018 with Donnie Yen to star but haven't heard a thing since.

Edit: Should add, I know someone who passed away right before I watched the Ysera's death scene back in 2016 and so it's always been a little rough of a scene for me to re-watch. She passed away September 1st from an undiagnosed heart condition (Legion was released August 30th) and she was only in her 20s AND she had just gotten married a couple months prior.

[Shaneodude]

BT from Titanfall 2. Who woulda thought I'd get so attached to a robot in a game I didn't expect to have a good story.

[Thalassian Bob]

Wow. Ok then. That's pretty hardcore to have missed 23 years of that being out in the wild.

Yeah, I think I conflated Kingdom Hearts (which always looked so dumb to me, even as a kid) with Final Fantasy, so I never really engaged with the franchise.

Maybe in 5 years when the game is hopefully next to nothing I can pick it up after forgetting this thread

[cparle87]

I hate that scene... so cheesy. "Is it over?". Ugh!

How is that cheesy? Guy has had his soul trapped in that sword for 10+ years while his soulless, evil body is running around murdering entire countries in his name. Arthas was straight up waiting for death. What he was really saying is "Is this nightmare finally over? Can I finally die for real?"

[Mirishka]

It was, yea, I guess, more a sad face moment, than any shedding tear moment for me :P



Now for me the saddest WoW moment is the Old Soldier cinematic. But no one died in that unless you count the flashback scene between Saurfang and his son Dranosh :P

Yeah, when he was holding Dranosh and screamed silently, that was pretty heart-wrenching.

As for Mordin, his death really hit me. ME2/ME3 did such a good job of steadily bringing his guilt about the genophage to the surface, so when we arrive at that moment of undoing it, it really FELT like he had to be the one to do so. Ugh.

Goddamn it Bioware, 8 years later and I still feel things. >.<

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BT from Titanfall 2. Who woulda thought I'd get so attached to a robot in a game I didn't expect to have a good story.

Doesn't BT technically 'survive' though?

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Edit: Should add, I know someone who passed away right before I watched the Ysera's death scene back in 2016 and so it's always been a little rough of a scene for me to re-watch. She passed away September 1st from an undiagnosed heart condition (Legion was released August 30th) and she was only in her 20s AND she had just gotten married a couple months prior.

That's really, really sad to hear. I'm sorry.

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Wow. Ok then. That's pretty hardcore to have missed 23 years of that being out in the wild.

I've never played a FF game either, videos of the gameplay have always turned me off to them. I've never enjoyed the turn-based/summon-a-thing kind of stuff... I realize I've missed out on some great characters/stories, but gameplay matters most to me.

[neocount]

Without a doubt, this or perhaps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9ktXQkrv84

[Kyanion]

"Does.. this unit... have a soul?"

*ugly cries*

I think some of the impact of that would have been lost on a future playthrough, to get that scene on my first play through was as powerful and as memorable as I could have hoped for. But the entire storyline with the Geth and Quarians and the payoff of Legion making that sacrifice for his race was wonderfully written and made you think at the same time it made you really sad.

[Kumorii]

How is that cheesy? Guy has had his soul trapped in that sword for 10+ years while his soulless, evil body is running around murdering entire countries in his name. Arthas was straight up waiting for death. What he was really saying is "Is this nightmare finally over? Can I finally die for real?"

Yeah, you just explained why it's horrible. To me. He was interesting because his vengeance to defeat evil made him fall into a dark path. Then we are supposed to feel sorry for him, turned him into a cheese cliché. Granted no idea what they should've done instead, probably just have him dead already instead of dying and Terenas saying what he wants to say without Arthas giving that line. It made it seems like he's a passive victim when that's far from the case.

[LeftyDPS]

For me the saddest death is the ending of valiant hearts. If you e not heard of it, it's an Unisoft game based on events on world war 1, where you get to play as multiple people on both sides of WWI and look at the impact it had on their lives.

To help clarify this clip, YOU are controlling the character. You have no option but to move them forward even though you KNOW what is going to happen.....



The other top 5 would be Ysera in legion ( it's not expected)

Yuri in Shadowhearts covenant (and that's the good ending!)

Dom in GOW3

Most of the character deaths in Neir:automata

Aeris in FF7

Also a bonus sad moment of the ending of Ori and the Blind Forest (not putting names due to spoilers)

[Mirishka]

I think some of the impact of that would have been lost on a future playthrough, to get that scene on my first play through was as powerful and as memorable as I could have hoped for. But the entire storyline with the Geth and Quarians and the payoff of Legion making that sacrifice for his race was wonderfully written and made you think at the same time it made you really sad.

I both loved and hated Mass Effect 3. It felt like it was going out of its way to kill off the characters, but some of the deaths were so poignant and well-done that it was hard to fault Bioware for going that route.

Mordin and Legion's deaths were the worst for me though. I knew Thane was toast from the first conversation with him aboard the Normandy in ME2, and thankfully most of the others are avoidable if you play your cards right (or wrong, I guess).

But damn, it really felt like Bioware's thinking was basically "this is the last game in this story and we're going to make sure there aren't enough characters left for a part 4."