7 Real Heroes Who Died So Now You’re in Charge 

My favorite thing about Raiden is how he was created to be a grounded, less edgy protagonist. Then he became an insane, cyborg ninja and started punching Senators.

In The Outer Worlds your escape pod lands on a spaceship captain at the start of the game. You take on his identity and more importantly his ship. You can then impersonate him in dialogue choices for the rest of the game.

Fun fact: the cut content for Dark Souls reveals that Oscar was supposed to be around much longer. He'd go through the game parallel with you and then choose the opposite path of yours, meaning that in the end, you'd have to fight him to fulfill your goal.

Titanfall 2 would be a good one for this. You're just a grunt, who gets paired with a titan (BT) when your mentor sacrifices himself for you. After single-handedly (you and BT together) destroying entire enemy bases, fighting hundreds of opponents, defeating some of the most dangerous pilots in the frontier, and breaking the laws of time itself; when you finally regroup with the resistence they almost seem more impressed with BT having accomplished all that with you stuck inside him, and try to replace you with a "real pilot" at the first oppurtunity.

This is… literally every faction in Skyrim. Seriously if I were a guard I’d be running an audit on the Dragonborn who happened to become harbinger of the Companions after the last harbinger died days after they joined, leader of the Thieves Guild after the last leader died days after they joined, Archmage of the College of Winterhold after the last Archmage died days after they joined, leader of the Dark Brotherhood after, you guessed it, the last leader died days after they joined!

Really expected to see Duncan from Dragon Age Origins. The guy was a professional grey warden, leading an army against a cataclysm only he had the foresight to predict, personally a friend of the king, respected by all, humans, dwarves, even elves who hate humans. Then he dies (way sooner that you would have expected even for a mentor character) and now you have to be the one to save the world because it turns out you are one of the two last remaining wardens in Ferelden, a rando so new to the party you didn’t even have the time to actually learn anything from the competent guy.

Props to Faye, if you want a pantheon of gods eliminated there is no better person for the job than Kratos.

Andy would have been presenting this video, but he died thanks to getting sniped by a crocodile with a gun. I know, it sounds implausible, but that's why Luke and Ellen had to fill in his shoes.

Dragon Age Origins also fits. Not only has your character just gone through a stressful event before being recruited by the Grey Wardens, you are the only surviving recruit of a group of 3 after the joining ceremony. Then during your first mission as a grey warden, the rest of your order are killed, including your leader Duncan a experienced Warden and the man who saved your life, and the darkspawn are spilling out to threaten the rest of Fereldan. Now you must take charge of the grey wardens and unite various factions to face the darkspawn horde. Also as a pleasant side note, you have been accused of betraying the kingdom and have been declared traitors and are being hunted down. Luckily you manage to help everyone in the world with their various problems, gather an army and clear your name. You even manage to find a senior warden who takes charge and tells you that a grey warden must die to end the blight, but he states that he shall do the deed so that you can live. So with all of this you can now finally finish the blight and live the rest of your life as a warden, or at least the next 30 years of it. But alas this senior warden dies leaving you once again to lead the wardens and sacrifice yourself, barring the use of a mysterious and possibly disastrous ritual.

Anyone remember Mass Effect Andromeda? Your dad is both a N7 soldier, one of the most elite military ops in the human military in the game and is also the human pathfinder for the Andromeda Initiative. Or at least he would continue to do so if you hadn’t cracked your helmet and he had to save you by handing you his, not that it mattered that you did end up dying anyway ((for 20 seconds according to S.A.M.))

I'd argue that, for all his anxiety and having to review basics, Phoenix has a very high win-rate for his cases, so he arguably IS an ace attorney.

I'm surprised Final Fantasy 7 isn't on this list, it even goes the extra step further and leaves Cloud actually believing that he IS the hero due to memory shenanigans.

Interestingly, Faye herself wasn't especially good at the "hero" thing by all accounts. She had a history of disrupting Aesir operations and killing some of their important workers, but apparently was never seen by any of the actual gods aside from Thor, and he was so plastered he doesn't even remember the encounter. She contacted Brok and Sindri in order to have a weapon produced to rival Mjölnir, and hunted down and killed around 20 Frost Trolls (some of whom were probably just minding their business), harvesting their screams to be forged into the Leviathan Axe. After obtaining a weapon that powerful, she immediately set out to find Thor for the aforementioned encounter, and together they turned an entire city into a crater, killing its inhabitants without any apparent thought to their wellbeing. She then ran away when she realized she wouldn't be able to kill Thor, even when blackout drunk. She participated in at least one rebellion that ended in tragedy, apparently abandoning the Dwarfs near the end when Heimdall showed up to quash it. She went back to Jötunheim and argued about the prophecy. Ultimately she decided to return again later after the other giants died and destroyed the mural so that Kratos and Atreus could decide their own fates (this probably happened shortly before she died herself). _Then_ she retired to Midgard, had a short fight with Kratos (who had been living there for a few decades at that point), they settled down (for a few more decades) and THEN Atreus was born and she died about 12 years later. Her track record was pretty hit or miss, but at least her scorecard is better than Kratos'. Sure, the guy saved Greece once, but that wasn't because he cared about the realm. He just wanted to make sure his daughter could live happily in the afterlife. Before and after that he basically waged war on whoever he didn't like that day, before finally destroying the entire Greek world.

Don't know if he counts as a "hero" per se, but in Control, the director of the FBC has died just as Jesse Faden shows up looking for her brother - leaving you to stumble upon the service weapon in Trench's office and suddenly you're the new director of the FBC, congrats!

At least with Ace Attorney, you get to befriend the younger sister of your dead boss, and this sister, Maya, is able to channel Mia at certain times, being a spirit medium in training. It's helpful when you cross-examine a parrot. It's a weird game, is what I'm saying.

BioWare loves this trope; besides DA:Origins and MA:Andromeda, which have been mentioned, there's also Nilhus in Mass Effect itself, and even Divine Justinia in DA:Inquisition.

You could make a case for James in Fallout 3. He's the brains behind the Waters of Life project, but it ultimately falls to you to finish his work after the Enclave gets involved.

You missed the greatest fallen hero of them all: Your grandpa in Stardew Valley.

Really surprised to not see Mass Effect: Andromeda on this list. Following the character's N7 dad as he bulls his way through a base without even slowing down was insane.

Not only does Link not seem to take a solemn moment to mourn his uncle, he excitedly celebrates getting his sword and shield with a little jingle! These teens 😠

I think a great example of this is in _Dragon Age: Origins_ in which your mentor, Duncan, is the far better Grey Warden than you, but unfortunately comes down with a bad case of "stomped to death by an ogre" and you have to take over after he's gone.

Not sure if this counts, but in Danganronpa V3 you start the game as the Ultimate Pianist, Kaede Akamatsu. After the first case (for reasons I will not spoil), you play as her “assistant” and Ultimate Detective, Shuichi Saihara.

How about Alec Ryder in Mass Effect Andromeda! Not only is your dad the hero who died, but you're not even meant to be the person who takes over after he dies! You jump the queue!

Amusingly it comes full circle in Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. Phoenix isn't dead but he has had his law license revoked after being found guilty of fabricating evidence so he now plays piano and poker for a living, and your actual law mentor (Kristoph Gavin) is very swiftly taken out of the picture as well

In Phoenix's defense (pun intended), he forgets the VICTIM'S name. The DEFENDANT is his best friend, so forgetting that would definitely put some strain on the relationship. Edit: Mia wasn't much better in her rookie days. In her first SUCCESSFUL trial, she defended Phoenix and uncovered the true criminal, who not only killed an innocent man, but tried to kill Phoenix and Mia's senior lawyer (and boyfriend).

Oscar from Dark Souls actually had a cut quest-line that would have him become your direct rival. At the end of the game, depending on which side you choose, he would choose the opposite and fight you.

Making us play as noob Jason instead of pro Grant was the best call to set up Far Cry 3. You don’t start out as an expert. You experience what it takes to become one.

If you're going to put Link's Uncle on this list, may as well include Buzz Buzz from 'EarthBound' as well.

While they didn't die, in Monster Hunter Freedom 2, Pokke Village's usual hunter got injured by a Tigrex, leaving you to deal with everything. Including said Tigrex.

I feel like Oblivion might fit. The Emperor straight up gets killed in the intro, and he tasks you with being the "side character" to so many other people throughout the game (Jauffre, Martin, etc...)

FF VII comes to mind. Zack was the actual awesome guy, not Cloud!

Far Cry 6 has this happen twice. Dani's interest at the beginning of the game is leaving the island. It's only after her rebel friend Lita is killed that Dani has to work for the guerillas to earn a boat. If you choose to stay and fight, the guerillas leader is later killed, forcing a reluctant Dani to lead the final battle against Anton Castillo.

What about Mass Effect: Andromeda? Your character weirdly becomes the Pathfinder after their father dies, even tho dad had a more competent second in command who had been training to succeed him her whole life

Maybe consider these other hardened heroes and their plucky successors: - Dunban, the legend among the Defence Force, and Shulk, the humble young engineer (Xenoblade Chronicles) _(I know Dunban didn't die, but you did count Raiden in this - and Dunban was far more debilitated than Snake was.)_ - Greil, the Divine Knight of Daein, and Ike, his son put in charge of his mercenaries (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance) - Zack, the powerful first-class SOLDIER, and Cloud, his friend suffering layers of mental trauma (Final Fantasy 7) - Bayonetta 0, the first of many Arch-Eves to fall, and Viola, her sword-and-darts daughter (Bayonetta 3)

In 'The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles,' you start as a sidekick on a journey to London. However, when the real hero tragically dies on the way there, you're thrust into the lead role. Now, it's up to you to navigate court battles and complete his secret mission, transforming from an observer to the main protagonist in a dramatic turn of events.

I'm surprised I'm not seeing anyone mention Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. The game starts back immediately after how 2 ended and almost immediately Cesare Borgia and his entire army invades Monteriggioni eventually killing your Uncle Mario right in front of you. Ezio was already set up to be the hero but not on as great of a scale until this moment, and it basically falls on Ezio to rebuild the brotherhood entirely in Rome now

I think you could make this entire list just with Dragon Age Origin characters, literally everyone competent except Loghain dies in the first couple hours.

I remember playing Final Fantasy XII. You play the whole prologue with Reks. A noble knight. Just for him to die and you being forced to play as Vaan.

In Halo Reach, you are not the original Noble 6 you are his replacement. Thom-A293 died a hero, and The Lone Wolf you play as becomes the 6th member of Noble Team.

Does anyone here remember an indie game called "Rise & Shine"? It's a 2D sidescroller shoot 'em up where you play as the titular Rise, a young boy who, after witnessing the death of the Legendary Hero during an interplanetary invasion, is forced to inherit the Hero's weapon, a sentient, talking pistol named Shine. This gun gives infinite respawns and increased durability to whoever wields it, and is apparently the key to putting an end to the war.

I think that Eternal Darkness Sanity's Requiem counts. At the beginning of the game, the death of Edward Roivas is caused by Pious Augustus in retaliation for using a powerful magic spell to destroy all of the monsters in the forbidden city. When his granddaughter Alex comes to his home to confirm his death, She ends up getting involved in Pious's plan to summon one of the three ancients into our reality and has to finish what her grandfather started.

I'm going to disagree about Link's uncle being the hero in LTTP... Yes, he does wield a sword and shield, but he also died in the hidden passageway beneath the castle, which means he was probably bested in combat by a couple of rats and bats. Not exactly the strongest foes in the game (which, as we all know, are chickens).

11:15 This is actually a nod to "Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions" for the PS1, it's understandable that OX didn't get this reference since the game was released as "Metal Gear Solid: Special Missions" in the PAL territories. It has, you guessed it, 300 missions. Each one focusing on exploiting obscure some mechanic or making ridiculous skill shots.

What about Cid in Final Fantasy XVI?! He dies literally destroying the crystals sucking life out of the world, after setting the entire rebellion up, allowing Clive to step in after all the connections and hard work is done…

How did Final Fantasy 12 not make this list? You start the game as a cool, relatable hero, that is swiftly killed so you have to play the rest of the game as his widely disliked younger brother.

Surprised crysis 2 wasn’t in this list, prophet from the first game basically says ‘good luck’ to the walking corpse stuffed inside his former armour before taking the express route to the afterlife.

What about Nhilus in Mass effect the highly trained Turian special agent sent to make sure you know what you’re doing only to get betrayed and murdered so you have to clean the mess up yourself

In Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Peter Parker leaves Miles in charge of being Spider-Man after the first level. Sure, Peter didn’t die, but he did go on vacation with his girlfriend, which is basically the same thing.

The most interesting character in Mass Effect Andromeda who should’ve been the player character dies in the first hour.

What about Watchdogs Legion? A cool James Bond kind of spy doing all the heroics in the first mission only to die at the end of it and leaving the task to retired dentists and dog-walking grandmas.

genuinely surprised yall didnt include duncan from dragon age origins

Every time you die in a tutorial, a timeline is created where a random NPC was secretly your brother and takes over for you

Link's uncle clearly survives and is in the end scene next to the phrase "your uncle recovers"

The prequel, The Great Ace Attorney, has this double. Not only is the guy you replace an actual law student in Meiji Japan headed to learn in London, he's also a veritable ninja with a bandana and sword! (Does he come back in the second game, retroactively disqualifying this entry? Let's say no)

I was in the Army. They do not teach you how to escape a Gilligan's Island-style tiger cage.

Man, that piece of music at 9:39 is so iconic, made even more so by being sampled by Burial on the track _Archangel_ from the album Untrue. Just absolutely gorgeous.

The people in Far Cry 3 would have been better off with literally anyone BUT Jason Brody.

Alec from Mass Effect Andromeda is the perfect fit for this! He was a badass N7 like Shepard, developed an AI and helped pioneer the entire Andromeda Initiative... So on your very first mission, where Alec is doing his best to keep you, his son/daughter alive in hostile territory, you flounder your way through the first planet, while Alec comes up with ALL the solutions. So when he dies protecting you once again, you became the new Pathfinder, and for no other reason than it being impossible to remove SAM from you, and Alec transfered Pathfinder authority to you, despite Cora being next in line... And Ryder is basicly just a grunt! They spent most of their time before Andromeda guarding a relay, and the only reason they become a badass supersoldier later on is because of SAMs influence.

What, no Roger Wilco from Space Quest? The janitor was not ready to be the hero!

Titanfall 2's campaign had a really cool element of this, it related to how you were bonded to your titan.

Phoenix got that luck from his ancestor who also had to take on the great ace attorney role after a far better attorney bit the bullet. Really weird how fate works in those games...

Half-Life is entirely this. The most junior postdoc happens to be the only one in an environment suit when disaster wipes out the senior staff.

I really love how they just set Grant up and got nailed in the throat and Vaas just looked at you, nodded and then gave you a 10 second head start.

In the opening moments of Mass Effect 2, the hero of the citadel, commander Shepard, dies. This leads to you, commander Shepard, picking up the mantle two years later to fend off the collector threat This is a huge technicality, but it kinda works

Not that anybody remembers Rage 2, but it fits the bill perfectly. You’re little town is getting invaded by The Authority, everyone’s waiting on Ranger Jersey to come save the day! Then Jersey gets his head taken off right in front of you, prompting you the player to take his armor and weapons and become the hero (or nearest equivalent) you were always meant to be.

The Metal gear entry now makes me want to see a video where Ellen sneaks around the office using her beat saber knowledge

This only partially counts since some of the team is still alive, but The Five Great of Hallownest from Hollow Knight were amazing heroes that you, a creepy living shadow wearing a child’s body, have to follow.

What about Noble 6 from Halo: Reach? Through out the final levels. Your tasked to deliver Cortana to Keys. Then afterwards you stay behind to shoot down an alien spaceship.

What about Danganronpa V3? Spoilers ahead but the protagonist you are playing as who led everyone doesn't just die, she switches the protagonist to another character and forces him to "kill her" The ironic part being that the "poor schmuck" you play as after is the ultimate detective

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney being on this list absolutely sent me when I fully realized how true it was.

Elden Ring definitely should've made the video, what with Vyke being the original main character and "closest to becoming the Elden Lord" only to be misled right at the end and be overtaken by a Tarnished of no renown.

5: I love how I'm watching this list as I have the TV muted for a Robot Chicken sketch about Solid Snake having back problems from the way he crouches over when he's sneaking around, LOL! (As soon as he demonstrates for the doctor, the doctor goes "Wait, where did you go? I can't see you any more!") :) 7: When I saw the spoilers and saw God Of War with no modifiers, I was like "You don't MEAN the original God Of War, do you?". Lo and behold I was right, not the PS2 game I enjoyed, but some later game that I guess they were inconsiderate enough not to give its own name... :) I just realized at the end, that's lovely Jane in an OXtra video, nice! :)

Bioware likes to do this a lot. I'm thinking of Duncan in Dragon Age: Origins or your dad in Mass Effect: Andromeda.

Danganronpa V3 applies to this prompt!! Spoilers to follow, but at first you play as Kaede Akamatsu, but she tragically dies because that’s the nature of Danganronpa games, people kill each other. However, her death is a beautiful setup for the actual main character, Shuichi Saihara, someone who has the confidence of a kitten who just took a bath, to take the reins.

Lords of the Fallen (2023) Starts with the real hero Isaac dying in the opening cut scenes and then a Preist finds you and makes you Isaac's replacement.

Doesn't Shadow of Mordor technically count here? You died, so now you're the schlub that has to save everyone. Also Celebrimbor.

How much do you want to bet that if Grant survived the escape alongside Jason that he'd probably take out a good portion of Vaas' pirates himself?

I will put in the Original Baldur's Gate where Gorion gets killed immediately and you need to wade through AD&D 2nd edition just trying to not die in one hit. Hence where save scumming was a true chore.

I expected to see Lasdimosa from Titanfall 2. Not only is he a well known pilot, but he is also Cooper's mentor. He not only saves you but also dies during the intro passing on both his pilot gear and his Titan BT-7274 who we all know and love. Another fit would be Reinhardt from overwatch. Reinhardt was part of the faction known as crusaders, who fought against the omnics. The leader of the crusaders was Bauldrich, who was initially chosen by overwatch to join their team. Sadly he dies during the next omnic attack after which Reinhardt instead takes him place in the overwatch roster. The game might be bad, but it's story most definitely isn't.

You could make the case for Dragon Age Origins. If not for Duncan's intervention in the prologue, the Hero of Ferelden dies. So no matter which version you play, there are five other dead potential "Heroes."

I expected to see titanfall 2 on this list, both pilots Lastamosa AND Anderson die and leave rifleman jack cooper in charge of a very VERY high stakes mission ...

To be fair to Jason Brodie, Vaas was the real villain who died just so the rest of the game could be bland.

Honestly, these teams... They are awesome! Thanks Outside Xbox and Outside Xtra!

The death of the brother in Far Cry seems like an especially big bummer

Dragon Age: Origins. Duncan is the true hero of Ferelden.

I think Control fits this. Jesse Faden walks in on the current director of the FBC being forced to shoot himself by the Board and is immediately appointed the new director by said Board.

You forgot pathfinder: wrath of the righteous. You get carried into a festival on a stretcher, the dragon protector of the city heals you and you get to enjoy the festival for a bit. After that small bit of enjoyment, all hell breaks loose and the dragon Terendelev gets murdered by a demon lord and you fall into a crevice. After you fall you find a sword that belonged to an angel who was also slain by that very same demon lord a long time ago. While you were down there, an Aeon(a sort of cosmic/celestial judge) tries to fight the demon lord and also loses. Then after managing to retake the city, the queen declares you knight commander of the fifth crusade. Tldr: 3 heroes died before you became the one in charge

Mass Effect: Andromeda comes to mind. I know a lot people don’t like the game, but I found it refreshing that you are just part of the first contact team, not in charge of it. But then your much more competent father dies and leaves you with massive shoes to fill. Everyone doubts you, piles expectations on you, and naturally, you flounder in response. The game does a great job of presenting how you’re just a young adult with a dream, who solves problems less conventionally and with less grace than someone who trained for this.

While he technically was not the most competent or strongest hero in the game, he was the best leader in the game. As such, I do believe he would count for this list. Captain Max Howard was not the most graceful combatant in Neuron, but he had experience and was a capable leader. Unfortunately, he dies in the second chapter of Astral Chain, since good anime fathers are not allowed to live. This leaves the newly awakened legionis to cleanup the mess that was made in wake of his death. So not only do you lose the most experienced and capable combatant in Neuron, you and Akira are orphans again.

I thought this was about times where the protagonist that YOU’RE controlling died so you had to play as someone else and I was just about to suggest Danganronpa V3.

100% gotta mention ZHP. Zettai Hero Project on the PSP. The whole plot is the hero dying right in front of you and him being like. "Well. Guess you have to take over. I believe in you thought!"

Another good example would be Lenna's Inception. Youre giving a tutorial to the main hero Lance when he gets crushed by a glitchy fridge

Dragon Age Origins, 100%. There are several points where the experts or specialists have failed and now you have to step up. (Such as the Mage Tower and how the Templars failed at their main task of stopping abominations.) I would also make a case for Commander Shepard of Mass Effect. Yes, Shep is an elite military operative, and proves themselves over and over across the games. But in the beginning of the first game, we are told over and over how bad*ss the Spectres are, and Nihilus especially. He is put in charge and told he will be observing Shep for seveal missions to judge if they are fit to join the group. Then Saren happens and now Shep has to step up. (Edit: Spelling)

Gotta do a commenter version of this bc id argue Cyberpunk 2077 deserves to be on here. Jackie dying in cyberpunk sent V on his journey but what wouldve happened if he survived? Hed be looking for the cure for the relic and Dexter Deshawn probably couldnt kill V and Jackie together

Infinite Undiscovery was my favorite game with this trope. You travel with the hero and only take up his mantle because you look like him and people around you want don't want to reveal the hero died. You then start taking up the mantle on your own.

The “Mama Mia” in the title card is amazing on several levels.

Dragon age origins! Duncan the heroic gray warden leader dies the hero king fanboy gets betrayed and he dies too leaving you and the hero king fanboys whiny half elven brother to lead the army and run the country potentially

What about Reks from FFXII? A young soldier fighting for his country & his younger brother only to die during the prologue leaving us stuck playing as his younger brother Vaan. It wouldn't be bad except that for a good chunck of the game is always going on about wanting to be a pirate & have his own airship

I'd argue the Arisen from Dragon's Dogma since you find out at the dragon is/was probably an Arisen and other Arisen have died, gone insane, gone into hiding or accepted the dragons bargain

You could add Final Fantasy VII and/or Crisis Core, seeing as initially, Cloud