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10 Video Game Characters Who Were Doomed From The Start

10 Video Game Characters Who Were Doomed From The Start
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10 Video Game Characters Who Were Doomed From The Start

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Some video game protagonists simply cannot have a happy ending. There are a number of different factors that lead into a tragedy, often outside the protagonist’s control, leading to grief and loss unimaginable.




Sometimes, though, these characters are doomed by the narrative itself.

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It could be due to the character’s lifestyle, events prior to the game, or just being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Ultimately, their fate isn’t desired or deserved, yet it is their fate anyway.

That’s the tragedy of these characters; they were completely doomed from the start.

This article contains heavy spoilers for all characters and their respective games.


10 Isaac Clarke

Dead Space

Isaac Clarke in the Advanced Engineer RIG (Dead Space)

In Dead Space (and by extension, its remake), the members of the USG Ishimura were unaware of the fact that they were all sent straight to their deaths.


The Concordance Extraction Corporation (CEC), the leading body of the space mining industry, had an illegal mining company on the planet Aegis VII, where they had discovered Marker 3A — the creator of the Necromorphs and the catalyst of the entire game.

The Church of Unitology used their connections in the CEC to man the ship and retrieve this marker, with the crew inside being expendable. Isaac Clarke serves as the ship’s engineer and is the sole survivor of the sci-fi horror game.

Surviving may not have been the best outcome, however, especially after he comes into contact with the Red Marker, driving him insane. His now-infected mind fractured, and he would never be able to shake away the Marker’s influence, nor the trauma from the events of the first game.

Because of this, EarthGov uses him to be a Marker Signal Host in future games, which doesn’t go well either.

He was doomed to die, but met a far worse fate by surviving.


9 Joel Miller

The Last of Us

Joel looking at Ellie in the pre-purchase trailer for Last Of Us Part 1 2022 Remake

The post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us is unforgiving to everyone — most especially to Joel Miller, the main protagonist of Part I. His story is a tragic one from start to bitter end.

After the devastating loss of his only child, Sarah, the game starts with him living as a smuggler, an already dangerous lifestyle in an even more dangerous environment. His fate is sealed, however, the moment he agrees to smuggle an immune 14-year-old girl named Ellie to the Fireflies.

By the end of the game, Joel is faced with an impossible decision that continues to spark debate: potentially creating a cure from Ellie’s DNA, killing her in the process, or saving her and damning the rest of the world. He chose to save her, a choice that many players, including his voice actor, Troy Baker, would have replicated.


However, this action would have dire consequences. He was later hunted down and killed by Abby, the daughter of the surgeon handling Ellie’s operation and the main antagonist of Part II, and strained his relationship with Ellie by doing so.

Even if she hadn’t, someone else would have — he was doomed the moment he met Ellie, and the moment he agreed to escort her across the country.

The Legend of Zelda

Link holds his corrupt arm above his head in the sunlight in The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

The Legend of Zelda franchise is notorious for its complex and interwoven timeline, spanning dozens of games and intricate storylines.

Prior to the events of Skyward Sword, the goddess Hylia renounced her divinity so that she could wield the Triforce, ensuring that she and Her Knight would continue to reincarnate to prevent the Demon King from returning ever again.


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Her Knight, in particular, would reincarnate as Link.

This is an unavoidable, irreversible process, meaning that Link is literally pre-determined to fight Ganon and all his incarnations to the end of eternity. His entire existence is solely dependent on this, and it feels more of a tragic fate than just failing altogether.

7 Cameron “Caz” McCleary

Still Wakes The Deep

Caz McCleary in his wedding photo and in an in-game screenshot from Still Wakes The Deep

When players are introduced to the world of Still Wakes The Deep, it’s hopeless. It’s desperate, heavy, and cold. There’s no light or hope at the end of the tunnel—everyone’s work is fruitless, struggling to meet the company’s profit demands and proper upkeep.


The world is bleak, as is the attitude of everyone on the Beira D. Oil Rig — and it’s most apparent in the game’s doomed protagonist, Caz McCleary. He’s desperate for a way out of his situation, just as the oil rig is desperate for a break from the constant budget cuts and disrepair.

If this means recklessly and unknowingly drilling into The Shape, the Lovecraftian monster of the game, then so be it. Reawakening The Shape, combined with the disrepair of the oil rig, would lead to the deaths of every single employee.

And, in a final, selfless sacrifice, this includes Caz, a decision that has divided several players. Ironically, though, for a game that started off and seems completely hopeless, the final message of the ending is almost hopeful, despite the tragedy that occurs.

6 Noble Six

Halo Reach

Noble 6 Halo Reach


Halo players consistently hear characters in the franchise reference something called Reach. It was an icon, a motivator, a war cry—and it’s not until Halo Reach that players finally get heartbreaking context for the game’s history.

Reach is, in fact, a Fortress World that fell in one day. Playing as the protagonist, Noble Six, new and veteran fans of the series finally understand the catastrophic weight of the Human-Covenant War.

Players grow attached to the Noble Team in despair, knowing what’s coming next — and even still, nobody was ready for it.

The ending of Reach is notoriously one of the saddest in gaming history, with the entire team being picked off one by one in a devastating poetic irony.

Noble Six is the last one standing, the doomed Lone Wolf forced to helplessly watch the literal end of the world.


5 Ghost and Roach

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Roach leaning on Ghost in Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (free cam)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is without a doubt one of the most popular games in the Call of Duty franchise. It was recently rebooted, with many changes to the story and its characters for a fresh, new outlook.

One thing is consistent in both games, though: General Shepherd is a traitor.

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In the original Modern Warfare 2, though, his traitorous reveal results in the direct death of two characters: Ghost and Roach, who players control. Shepherd shoots them both and has their bodies burned after, spitting on their graves and memories.

Neither character knew of their upcoming demise until it was far too late, despite Shepherd and the rest of his crew being in on it.


4 Kratos

God of War

Kratos looks on in God Of War Ragnarok

Rarely does Greek Mythology end well for mortals, and for Kratos in the God of War series, the pattern continues. If anything, it’s the epitome of a Greek Tragedy, despite it being an action-packed hack-and-slash.

By desperately making a deal with Ares, Kratos, unknowingly, sealed his demise, and the demise of his then-wife and daughter. He would break free of the gods’ clutches by slaying the entire pantheon, but it would cement his title as the true God of War. He would be unable to escape from his past, as evident in the newer games set in Norse Mythology.

And that’s ignoring the role of the Three Fates — Kratos can’t be more doomed from the start than his future being written into fate before he was even born.


3 Arthur Morgan

Red Dead Redemption 2

Arthur Morgan from Red Dead Redemption 2

The world is unforgiving to outlaws, being most especially true in the case of Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Arthur is well aware of the grim fate that awaits him in the game, making several mentions of it at various points in time. In one example, after players complete a Stranger Mission involving the reveal of the electric chair, Arthur writes in his journal that he hopes that when he’s caught, he’s hanged instead.

Unexpectedly, he’s hit with an entirely different cause of death, equally horrifying in 1899: Tuberculosis. And, even more depressing, it’s terminal and there’s no cure — just as thousands have died over a century ago to not having a cure, either.


He was long foreshadowed to die, especially considering how Red Dead Redemption 2is a prequel to a game that doesn’t show Arthur once. It’s a devastating tragedy, but one that most, including the narrative itself, knew would be coming.

2 Solid Snake

Metal Gear

Snake from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

The lore of the Metal Gear franchise is immensely complex and convoluted, and it’s tough to follow with several different versions of Snake. Perhaps one of the most tragic, however, is the iconic Solid Snake himself.

Solid Snake goes through far too much, ranging from war trauma to accelerated aging to a thousand other tragic events across the franchise.


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His doom, however, comes from the fact that he’s a clone of Big Boss — and will come from the FOXDIE virus in his bloodstream, the cause of his accelerated aging. His cells degrade to the point where they cannot repair themselves, killing him instantly.

It’s a guaranteed death, completely unavoidable, no matter what Snake’s attempts may be. He was created this way as a clone, cementing his fate before he could understand the concept of what fate is.

1 John Marston

Red Dead Redemption

Red Dead Redemption Nintendo Switch Port John Marston On A Horseback

The most tragic part of John Marston and his story in Red Dead Redemption comes from the fact that he fought so hard for a normal life — and ultimately didn’t have it.


John’s story sends a clear to the other Wild West outlaws: nobody can completely run away from their past, as it will always find a way to catch back up. It’s a theme that Rockstar seems to love bringing back in their games.

Players fight along with John to reclaim the narrative, to take back the quiet life that they had worked so hard to maintain. They will shoot down anyone, Dead Eye or not, who stands in the way of that.

All of this, just for John to die at the end, with a harrowing realisation to everyone involved: the Pinkertons never intended to let him live in the first place. He was always doomed from the very start.

Garrett from Thief (2014) on a wall with a bow, Master Chief from Halo aiming forward, and Max Payne from the Max Payne games

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