Top 10 fallen heroes in games

10.
Rabbit
Medal Of Honor
Rabbit’s death is notable for its lack of drama and ceremony, at least relative to what you often get in games at such climactic moments. As a hero, he’s not that special. He’s part of an elite unit, but still a mortal man who’s ultimately just doing his job. The whole ‘Respect For The Soldier’ thing might have been a bit of an awkward marketing angle for Medal Of Honor’s reboot, but Danger Close did make a good effort to stick to that principle. The message from Rabbit’s death is clear – doesn’t matter how good he is, every soldier knows he might have to make the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty, and that does deserve respect.

9.
Lars Halford
Brütal Legend
Tim Schafer’s metal epic takes a bit of a sideways look at the very notion of heroism. The playable character, Eddie Riggs, does all the hard work in bringing revolution to The Age Of Metal, but he is not the hero. That accolade falls to Lars Halford who lacks Eddie’s organisational and motivational skills, but makes up for it with looks, charisma, beautiful hair and, it turns out in the end, bravery. After his death he leaves behind a legend that will inspire mankind for eons to come.

8.
Carmine
Gears Of War series
Carmine, like his brother Carmine, died an honourable, although arguably quite stupid, death serving with the COG against the Locust Horde. Epic has put the fate of the brother of Carmine and Carmine, Carmine, in the hands of fans who can vote for whether or not he lives to see the end of Gears Of War 3 by buying T-shirts that say, “SAVE CARMINE” or “CARMINE MUST DIE”. He’s Kenny from South Park, basically.

7.
Jan Templar
Killzone series
Templar is an ass-kicking action hero in Killzone and Killzone: Liberation, who kills lots of Helghast and saves the day numerous times. But perhaps his greatest feat of heroism is his dying act in Killzone 2. Shot and fatally wounded by Radec, Templar drags himself to the controls of his ship, the New Sun, and crashes it into the Helghast petrusite grid, clearing a path for ISA forces on the ground.

6.
James
Fallout 3
Everyone’s father is a hero to them, or at least should be, but in Fallout 3 your father takes heroism a few steps further than most. He’s dedicated himself to a project to bring clean drinking water to thousands of people, which is heroic enough in itself, but when he sacrifices his life to save you and to keep the project from falling into the wrong hands, he really earns his place in this list.

5.
John Marston
Red Dead Redemption
Another father who sacrifices his life for his family, Marston realises that his loved ones will never be safe so long as he’s still alive and, rather than making any attempt to escape when his ranch is attacked, he willingly steps out into the open in front of a rank of Edgar Ross’ men.

4.
Sergeant Avery Johnson
Halo series
Halo’s eccentric Apone-a-like was a veteran and hero of many key battles during the Insurrection and Human-Covenant War. Apart from being a skilled combatant and trusted leader, Johnson also played a diplomatic role, helping to forge an alliance between humanity and the Elites, and was a close friend to Master Chief, who doesn’t have many friends. He died trying to activate a Halo not just for the sake of humanity, but for all life in the galaxy.

3.
Gray Fox
Metal Gear series
Not only did Gray Fox fall, not only did he then stamped on by a massive walking tank, he also got smeared into the floor like he was a bit of dog poo Metal Gear Rex had trodden on while walking in the park. Ah well, those are the risks you run when you’re a double, double, double, double agent.

2.
Sergeant Paul Jackson
Call Of Duty 4
Paul Jackson isn’t the most widely recognised name in gaming because Infinity Ward and Activision didn’t play up the action hero angle with him in the same way they subsequently did with Soap, Price and Woods. But his death is all the more poignant for this. Like Rabbit in Medal Of Honor, his life comes to an end without glory or drama, and that painstaking final crawl from the helicopter wreckage still stands out as the Call Of Duty series’ finest moment.

1.
Eli Vance
Half-Life series
Heroism is about bravery and selflessness and no deceased game character can claim to have larger quantities of those than Eli Vance, a hero among heroes. The guy lost his leg in a bullsquid attack while helping Dr. Kleiner over a wall. He was the one who got the Vortigaunts on side. He’s a leader of the Resistance against the occupying Combine force. He gets captured and imprisoned at Nova Prospekt remaining calm and defiant throughout the entire ordeal, and even treating the turncoat Dr. Breen with forgiveness and understanding. And when he’s about to be killed by a Combine Advisor he’s more concerned that his daughter not see it happen than he is about his own imminent demise. What a guy.