Video game storytelling has grown a lot since the simplistic days of text-based adventures and instruction manual lore. Now, many modern games feature exceptionally dynamic stories complete with rich characters and deeply emotional moments. Much like other forms of narrative storytelling, one of the most tried and true ways to create such an emotional reaction from the audience is through the painful death of a prominent character.
Ever since video games have told intricate stories, they have been finding new ways to break the hearts of gamers around the world. These tragic deaths are some of the most emotional and shocking moments in video game history, still conjuring tears for many fans who will forever have a place in their hearts for these iconic characters.
10
Dominic “Dom” Santiago – ‘Gears of War 3’ (2011)
Gears of War is a franchise that isn’t particularly well-known for its exceptional storytelling, as it instead fulfilled its role as an exploration of explosive, gritty sci-fi action. However, this lack of previous emotional depth makes Dominic Santiago’s sacrifice that much more unexpected and emotionally impactful. The character has been a beloved friend and icon of the franchise since the first game, so seeing him make the ultimate sacrifice to save his friends hits especially hard for gamers who fell in love with him.
The game really does hammer home the gravitas and impact of this moment, even playing the iconic face of sad songs, “Mad World”, which acts as a direct callback to the iconic commercial for the original game. This singular moment still stands as the narrative highlight of the entire Gears franchise, and helped cement Gears of War 3 as one of the best games in the franchise to fans of the series.
9
Aunt May – ‘Marvel’s Spider-Man’ (2018)
Aunt May has died numerous times in various iterations throughout Spider-Man‘s history, between the comics and the movies, most prominently in Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, arguably the most emotional death that the character has ever had comes from Insomniac’s beloved video game on PS4, acting as a direct symbol for the heroic qualities and selflessness of Peter Parker.
Aunt May contracts a deadly virus that has been released in New York City by Doctor Octopus. Peter has a single dose of the cure, but using it on her would be dooming millions of others to death. This painful sacrifice already makes the scene sad enough, but pushing it over the top is that Aunt May uses her final words to tell Peter that she’s always known he is Spider-Man and that she’s so proud of him. This scene acts as one of many reasons that Marvel’s Spider-Man is easily one of the best Spider-Man video games.
8
Kaede Akamatsu – ‘Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony’ (2017)
Danganronpa is a franchise that is largely defined by death in all types, whether they’re shocking, emotional, or even comedic. By the third entry, fans had largely grown accustomed to the trends and cycle of how death in the series works, which makes the complete subversion in the death of Kaede Akamatsu that much more impactful. Up until her reveal as the culprit in this kill game, players were actively playing as Kaede, with the game presenting her as the main protagonist.
However, in a shocking twist of keeping information from the player, Kaede sets in motion a plan to attempt to kill the mastermind, only to fail and find herself the latest killer in the killing game and subject to death for her crime. Her actual death is a mix of shocking and absurd, yet the real emotional moment comes afterward, when new protagonist Shuichi Saihara reminisces on her words of encouragement while “Clair de Lune” plays.
For a large chunk of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, The Boss is presented as a double agent who betrays Snake and will be the inevitable final battle of the game. However, when this final battle does arrive, the tone is much more somber; there is still a clear emotional connection between Snake and the woman who mentored him into the soldier that he is today. When she is defeated in battle, it’s a clear moment of sadness and hesitancy, lingering in the inevitability of The Boss’s death.
To truly hammer home the difficulty of this action, the game actively gives control to the player during the final gunshot that ends The Boss’s life, with all the pain placed directly in the player’s hands. Even more painful is that after the fact, it is revealed that The Boss never actually defected, and was instead a triple agent working for the U.S. government. However, after the nuclear attack, the only pathway to U.S. innocence was for The Boss to be seen as a traitor and for Snake to end her life. It’s a painful finale that cements Snake Eater as one of the best video game prequels of all time.
6
Makoto Yuri/The Protagonist – ‘Persona 3’ (2006)
The various games in the Persona franchise go out of their way to have the player correlate and see themselves as the central protagonist, from choosing their name at the beginning to making choices in the social links and dialogue options. Persona 3 utilizes this facet to create one of the saddest moments in JRPG history, as the final moments see the protagonist dying, having sacrificed their soul to seal away the final boss and save humanity.
Even more emotional is that the protagonist’s final moments are being comforted by Aigis, reflecting upon her newfound appreciation for life and a reason for her to continue living. It’s a bittersweet moment that emphasizes the importance of life and the friendships and happiness that we have in the short time that we have. This death stands at the center of everything exceptional that the game accomplishes with its storytelling and themes, elevating it to all-time status.
5
Sarah Miller – ‘The Last of Us’ (2013)
The most emotionally impactful and saddest deaths often occur in the third act, long after players have grown accustomed to the character’s charms and beauty. The Last of Us is certainly home to its fair share of prominent emotional deaths that fit this bill, with many people quick to spout Joel’s shocking death in The Last of Us Part II as the saddest moment in the franchise. However, in terms of a genuine tearjerker, it’s hard to beat the moment that launched the emotional aspects of the entire franchise: Sarah’s death in the intro of the original game.
The moment takes place at the beginning of the outbreak, with Joel and his daughter Sarah running for their lives and coming face to face with a soldier who has been given orders to kill anyone out of fear of the infection spreading. While Joel manages to survive the skirmish, his daughter Sarah is shot, creating an absolutely devastating scene of Joel holding her and telling her it will all be ok as she cries out in pain and fear in her final moments. It then hard cuts to gaming’s most memorable title card, hooking audiences harder than any other narrative game in history.
4
Mordin Solus – ‘Mass Effect 3’ (2012)
Part of the beauty of the entire Mass Effect franchise is the bonds and connections that you foster with each member of the crew, growing and connecting with them throughout the trilogy as some of the most fleshed-out characters in sci-fi game history. This makes the various sacrifices and deaths of characters in Mass Effect 3 all the more painful, whether it’s deaths that you could prevent through strong gameplay or, even more emotional, those that cannot be avoided no matter what.
Of these inevitable deaths, the one that absolutely hits the hardest is Mordin Solus, an alien scientist who initially appeared in Mass Effect 2 and quickly became a fan-favorite thanks to his distinct personality and logic-based charm. His death comes as an act of pure sacrifice, with the character curing the Genophage at the cost of his life, using his skills as a scientist to save millions of krogan as his final act. To really hammer home the pain of this moment, Mordin, in his final moments, hums to himself his classic song, a riff on “Major General’s Song”.
3
Arthur Morgan – ‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ (2018)
Red Dead Redemption as a franchise is not a stranger when it comes to shocking and emotional deaths. The original game has one of the most infamous ones with the final stand and execution of player character John Marston. With this in mind, many players went into Red Dead Redemption 2 knowing that emotional death was a possibility. Yet, the prospects surrounding the death of the prequel’s new protagonist, Arthur Morgan, are much more somber and emotional.
While Martson’s death came from a place of betrayal as he failed to fight for his life that he fought so hard to maintain, Morgan’s death comes from inevitability and acceptance, as his body succumbs to the pains of tuberculosis. In his final moments, he maintains his moral character and feels content in his attempt to do good by his friends, convincing Dutch to abandon Micah in the process. In his final moments, Morgan watches the sunrise and embraces the inevitable, with some masterful music further emphasizing his death and legacy.
2
Lee Everett – ‘The Walking Dead’ (2012)
No matter what medium The Walking Dead takes place in, it is sure to have a number of shocking, noteworthy character deaths that lead to tears. However, no death in the comics or the TV show comes close to the emotional gut punch of Lee Everett’s demise at the end of Telltale’s episodic adventure game adaptation. Having been bitten by a walker earlier in the game, Lee has run out of time and cannot protect Clementine anymore, with the choice for either Clementine to shoot him or leave him to turn into a walker.
No matter the choice, both deaths are rife with heartbreak and pain, as the main character that players have been controlling for the entire game loses his life, leaving a permanent impact on Clementine and fans themselves. It’s a moment that exemplifies all of the greatest strengths of The Walking Dead as a franchise and is often considered one of the bleakest video game endings of all time.
1
Aerith Gainsborough – ‘Final Fantasy VII’ (1997)
Many prominent deaths have done a great job of bringing up the waterworks, but it’s impossible to understate just how much Aerith’s shocking death in Final Fantasy VII changed gaming forever. The lovely flower girl who shockingly ends up being a victim of Sephiroth, Aerith’s death comes as a complete shock due to its inherent sadness, and also because gaming simply didn’t have such a shocking moment up until that point.
Even nearly 30 years after the game’s release, no other gaming death has reached the infamy and icon status of this powerful moment. It lingers throughout the rest of the game and has had a legacy spanning the video game industry as a whole, paving the groundwork for nearly every other death on this list. It’s both beautiful and heart-wrenching in the best ways possible and will forever be the icon of sad video game tragedies.