Time and time again, we come back to the topic of video games telling stories of characters at their most pathetic lows as well as the most soaring highs. It is high time that outside audiences should start accepting it as an entertainment medium for the mature.
In the following list, we are going to talk about some of the games and their characters who come face to face with the most pathetic deaths imaginable.
Pathetic Deaths in Video Games
Lance Vance (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City)
The Grand Theft Auto series is filled with characters who face their consequences, ending up with the most pathetic deaths in existence. So we will get to see quite a few of them on this list. Starting with Lance Vance from GTA Vice City, easily one of the more popular characters who ends up double-crossing our protagonist.
Lance gets introduced to the game as this mysterious character who announces himself as an ally to Tommy Vercetti. But in the end, we find out that Lance was always working against our protagonist.
He meets his demise in what should have been one of the more cinematic setpieces, but we all know how pathetic it turned out to be in the end.
Frank Tenpenny (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)
The very first non-playable character that we are introduced to in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is literally the main antagonist of the whole game, Frank Tenpenny, a corrupt cop. GTA games are well known for having some classic corrupt characters who are practitioners of the law.
Tenpenny, especially, is a deplorable character whose greed knows no bounds, because he is ready to stoop to severe lows in order to join hands with criminals just for money. In the end, he does meet his demise, but just like in every GTA fashion, it is a pathetic end.
King Vendrick (Dark Souls 2)
The Dark Souls series is filled with NPC characters who are marked by the most depressing back stories. King Vendrick from Dark Souls 2 is a major character whose fate is very similar, nonetheless.
But what makes him stand out further for us to put him on this list is how he meets his end in the game. He finds out that the fates are working against him, so all he can do is wait for a chosen undead to end his life.
When we find him in the game, King Vendrick is a hollow and pathetic shell, mindlessly roaming in round circles. We are given the option to end his helplessness or just let him be forever.
Catherine-B320 (Halo: Reach)
Catherine0-B320, or as everyone calls her, Kat, is not really the most important character in the grand scheme of things when it comes to Halo. But she did have her part to play in the Fall of Reach, which was an important point in the franchise.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about her own legacy as a character because she was written off in the most unhappening way imaginable. Kat’s fans still mourn how she was met with a pathetic end in Halo: Reach, as she gets shot in the head during a cutscene, almost suddenly. Which also reflects how fleeting life can be in the middle of a war, despite the fictional setting.
Micah Bell (Red Dead Redemption 2)
We are back to talking about another major antagonist from a Rockstar Games title, because it seems like they are really good at making the absolutely disgusting villains. Micah from Red Dead Redemption 2 is initially a part of the party in alliance with the main character.
But by the end of the game, he becomes the reason why Arthur Morgan, one of the most beloved protagonists in the franchise, meets his end. Fans were left wishing the worst for Micah, and Rockstar Games were happy enough to grant that wish.
The next time we meet Micah in the game is through the lens of John Marston, who ends his pathetic life after listening to his feeble attempts at convincing John to join him.
Ghost and Roach (Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2)
This one is a heavy hitter as it was an interesting point in the Call of Duty franchise, back when it was still not the notorious multiplayer video game franchise that it has turned into these days, thanks to corporate greed.
The death of Ghost and Roach came so suddenly that it shocked the whole of first-person shooter fandom. Two of the biggest fan favorite characters were victims of a plot twist instigated by another major character. Commander Shepheard made their deaths look depressingly pathetic.
This particular moment in Call of Duty is still recalled as one of the points when storytelling touched its peak in the series, but it has never been able to do that again.
Joel Miller (Last of Us II)
As discussed above, pathetic character deaths in video games don’t always happen to the antagonists. It is unfortunate to witness a character that people grow to love end up meeting their demise in the most pathetic possible ways.
Joel’s death in The Last of Us II is one of the prime examples of this, because it brought the whole video game community together to mourn and raise hell over how the whole thing was handled.
Even after cementing himself as one of the best father figures in modern gaming, Joel ended up becoming a helpless murder victim in the franchise sequel.
