10 Dead Video Game Characters You Can Actually Save

Shadow, Final Fantasy VI's resident ninja, is one of the oldest examples of a character you could have saved but probably didn't.

Midway through when your party is escaping the formerly Floating Continent - now the Rapidly Falling Continent - Shadow stays behind to hold off the enemy. Once you arrive at your airship, you're given the option to escape or wait for him.

This kind of decision-making wasn't common in games at the time and required you to literally stand still and do nothing, so you could be forgiven for assuming that he'd show up later regardless.

After all, up until this point, Shadow had only ever been a temporary party member who came and left at his leisure.

But, wouldn't you know it, ninjas can't fly. And if you stood idle as the countdown continued, Shadow would arrive at the five-second mark and permanently join the party... after you find him again in the World of Ruin, anyway.