Games in which the protagonist dies after winning(?)

[nokori3byo]

I was thinking about this while walking to work the other day. How many games can you think of in which the protagonist dies after completing the game? I remember Kano and Kung Lao's endings in MK3 resulting in their respective deaths. I think a main, playable character might get killed in a certain GTA knockoff with the initials SR. Then, of course, there's a popular FPS on one of the next gen consoles in which the protagonist's ultimate fate is left unclear.


Can you think of any others?

Needless to say, this thread comes with a high spoiler risk, so please give warnings if discussing anything remotely new.

 

[Rapstah]

ICO's ending can be seen as such.

There's a lot of RTSes that do it as well, but they don't count. Grom Hellscream in WC3, for example.

 

[Absinthe]

Reptile's ending from MK4 blew.

 

[Deleted member 56031]

final fantasy X (kind of)

 

[Polaris]

I hope it will be Metal Gear Solid 4.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Half-Life, refuse G-Man's ultimatum.

 

[Asknoone]

I hope it will be Metal Gear Solid 4.

I'm thinking it will.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

I think we basically know Solid Snake, as we know him, will die (at his own hand?) - thus supposedly ending the big boss bloodline (bullshit).

 

[Asknoone]

Yeah then we find out about his second cousin removed.

 

[Dekstar]

One of the Tenchu's games has the main character supposedly dying (tenchu 2 I think it was), but he kinda didn't.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Yeah then we find out about his second cousin removed.

Who races dogs in Alaska and must be pulled out of retirement, and has a personality astonishingly similar to Naked and Solid Snake respectively.

 

[A True Canadian]

I'm pretty sure the marine bites the bullet at the end of DOOM: Knee Deep In The Dead. But then he's perfectly fine at the start of the next episode, so that might not count.

 

[Bob_Marley]

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel (sort of)

Grim Fandago (well, really sort of, as He's already dead and dependent if moving to the next underworld is "dieing")

Command & Conquer: Red Alert (Soviet Campaign)

 

[Tagaziel]

I'm pretty sure the marine bites the bullet at the end of DOOM: Knee Deep In The Dead. But then he's perfectly fine at the start of the next episode, so that might not count.

He goes to Hell, man. He's technically dead.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert (Soviet Campaign)

Err, what? The only people who die are Nadia and Stalin.

 

[mastag]

Mafia.

 

[Bob_Marley]

Err, what? The only people who die are Nadia and Stalin.

And Stalin is the main protagonist of the Soviet campaign.

 

[Tagaziel]

And Stalin is the main protagonist of the Soviet campaign.

Errr, no. The protagonist is you, the commander.

 

[Polaris]

Err, what? The only people who die are Nadia and Stalin.

Also Kukov was throttled by Stalin and Graďenko was killed by poisoned tea, but you're right, protagonist of Red Alert is the Commander.

 

[Tagaziel]

Also Kukov was throttled by Stalin and Graďenko was killed by poisoned tea, but you're right, protagonist of Red Alert is the Commander.

Don't forget about the severa thousand soldiers who die during the campaigns.

 

[Jintor]

Dey don't count. Dey're conscripts.

 

[Raxxman]

One of the Tenchu's games has the main character supposedly dying (tenchu 2 I think it was), but he kinda didn't.

First one

 

[leib10]

Reptile's ending from MK4 blew.

Heh, I remember being kinda bummed about that too.

 

[Gunner]

Stalker?

 

[Dog--]

Dead Rising (one ending) he dies.. And almost dies in another ending..

 

[nutcrackr]

Stalker?

yeah this is true he dies in a few of the endings.


And technically Diablo because he takes the soulstone, later transforms into Diablo in Diablo 2 and gets killed by the main protagonist. But I guess he didn't really die in the game so no.

 

[nokori3byo]

Things don't look too rosey for for Gordon Freeman when the screen fades to black at the end of the "Uplink" demo. Of course, it's assumed to be non-canonical.

 

[AmishSlayer]

Freespace 2 if you don't haul ass to the final gate and leave all the civ. ships behind.

 

[DannyC.]

Stalker?

Oooohhhh, you bitch. Well, I guess it's my fault for reading the thread. :\

 

[happyhappy]

The made up starwars character from the starwars game for the n64 :S. I dont really remember his name or the game name but in the end you blow up the big ship from the inside. When you try and fly out it doesnt really seem as if you make it but he might have, I guess they left it up for you to decide.

 

[nokori3byo]

[/I]

I'm pretty sure the marine bites the bullet at the end of DOOM: Knee Deep In The Dead. But then he's perfectly fine at the start of the next episode, so that might not count.

Ineteresting, according to the Wiki entry on "Doomguy" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doom_guy#Incarnations ), he does die in the first game:

In the Doom novels, the main character is referred to as Flynn "Fly" Taggart, which is universally suggested to be the Doomguy from the games. However, Tom Hall's original design draft, also known as Doom Bible, suggested his name was Buddy Dacote ("Dacote" being short for "Dies at conclusion of this episode", which is indeed the fate of the character).

But, as has been said, the same character is alive and well at the start of Doom 2. A clue to why this is so might be found in the "cutscene" (actually no more than onscreen text) which follows the completion of Chapter 1 of Doom 2, in which Doomguy is said to be preparing to meet his death when he receives orders to seek out the origin of the Hellmouth/portal/whatever. This suggests he would have been only too willing to give up the ghost had he not discovered he was still under contract. Could something similar happen at the start of Doom 2? Possibly, but folks weren't as tight with continuity back then, were they?

(Off-topic addendum: Looking at the following list of projected character descriptions from the Doom Bible: http://5years.doomworld.com/doombible/section06.shtml, I couldn't help notice that it looks a hecuva lot like what they ended up putting into Rise of the Triad, which I suppose makes sense, gvien the Tom Hall connection).

 

[Que-Ever]

ICO's ending can be seen as such.

There's a lot of RTSes that do it as well, but they don't count. Grom Hellscream in WC3, for example.

ah, shit, I haven't beat that game yet :|

 

[Letters]

At the end of Neverwinter Nights 2, a building collapses on you and any party members you had with you. Nice.

(That game gets my award for dumbest ending in a game ever... you get some text saying you win but then a building falls on you while some horrible voice guy that sounds like he was probably the programmer reads it to you. Again, nice.)

 

[nokori3byo]

Here's another one, Phantasy Star II, in which the heroes apparently prepare to fight the Earthmen to their own deaths:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outro_(computer_gaming)#Some_Examples_of_Famous_Outros

 

[nokori3byo]

Info on what could be the first negative conclusion (in a Infocom game) can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outro_(computer_gaming)#Some_Examples_of_Infamous_Outros

 

[Beerdude26]

Condemned: Criminal Origins. Protagonist doesn't really die though.

 

[oldagerocker]

I cant believe noone has said Max Payne yet.

 

[Synthos]

It really just doesn't make good business sense for game companies to kill off their characters if they have any intention on re-using them in the future. (And re-using characters/franchises is a big deal, because half your marketing is already done.)

 

[kupocake]

I cant believe noone has said Max Payne yet.

Eh? He's alive at the end of both of them.

 

[Asknoone]

Doesn't Mona die? You do play as her at some point in the game.

 

[Drackard]

Eh? He's alive at the end of both of them.

Yeah, but he's pretty much near to death at the end of the second one, so unless they release a third one to say otherwise I suppose you can assume he is dead.