Have you ever feared or anticipated the death of a character?

[Ophi]

Has there ever been a character in a game that you just didn't want to see die?
One that you've grown attached to, yet there was no guarantee of their survival?
Did they end up dying, or not?



Or, has there ever been a character that just couldn't die sooner, making you anticipate their deaths every cutscene?


As for me, I played Gears of War 2 without remembering Carmine of GoW1 or reading spoilers on GoW2. I had grown to like Gow2's Carmine, but I had a horrible feeling that he wouldn't survive in a gritty and violent shooter. Every cutscene that he survived was another small victory in my mind.
Unfortunately, I was right about his fate.


Because I'm such a Pokemon nerd, I have to include an example from a Nuzlocke run here, where the rules include releasing a Pokemon if they faint even once.
I was extremely weary of losing my Charizard, Sigurd. I grow way too attached to my Pokeymanz even when not Nuzlocking. But he was just too powerful not to use, so I risked him.
After grueling hours of painful gameplay, I finally defeated Lorelei, whom I considered the main threat to Sigurd's existence. I was greatly relieved and found myself playing less carefully.

And then he died to Blue's Alakazam's critical Psychic. I was devastated.



Has anybody else felt this way about a character?

 

[Delock]

Heavy Rain and Mass Effect both used their advertisement of permadeath to the proper extend, making me fear for the lives of the host of characters in them.

Other than that... well, in recent memory there has been one monumental example of this in Halo Reach

Spoiler

The very end of the game. You're told to fight to survive on the landscape you saw your helmet buried in at the beginning. Eventually, you succumb, only to have your character violently separate themselves from being your avatar, instantly becoming a character based on your actions and interpretations, somehow different than just being you. You watch helplessly as they fight a hopeless battle, hoping for the best, only for the battle to cut off before the final blow is even prepared, giving the player a chance to hope and make excuses only to get a brutal wake up call that shatters all those hopes. Somehow, this was far more effective than any other death in the game, all of which I've actually gone into detail before as to why I liked them in the game, yet this is the person you see the least in the game (given that the character only exists about that point. Even during cutscenes you still get the feeling that Noble 6 is only your avatar, barely mobile without you).

Otherwise, it's often the villain I hate to see die, as they often get their best bit of characterization right then.

 

[Lamppenkeyboard]

In Prototype, I was paranoid that the spec ops guy with the cattle prod and the homing missles would get killed every scene he was in. I mean, the guy had a fucking crotch grappling hook! Then you find out what an asshole he was after all, and then the feeling got reversed.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

I was anticipating Bill's death in Left 4 Dead to be something heart-wrenching and tearful.

It was actually a fairly generic death unfortunately, but still. I was looking out for that one.

 

[Hman121]

Jack Swift's death in Red Dead Revolver. It was sad that such a great British gunslinger gets killed by a few minions.

 

[Skorpyo]

Lieutenant Chen from F.E.A.R.: Perseus Mandate.

He is portrayed as just being the best guy to have on your team EVAR, and then, well...

This:

 

[I Am Donut]

As for me, I played Gears of War 2 without remembering Carmine of GoW1 or reading spoilers on GoW2. I had grown to like Gow2's Carmine, but I had a horrible feeling that he wouldn't survive in a gritty and violent shooter. Every cutscene that he survived was another small victory in my mind.
Unfortunately, I was right about his fate.

I hated that Carmine died in the first, and i didn't think they would kill his brother in the second but they did which was surprising and really sucked.

 

[Zhukov]

Wrex from Mass Effect.

Being able to talk him down was a huge relief.