10 Devastating Video Game Deaths That Came Out Of Nowhere

2. Cole Phelps - L.A. Noire

Unlike a lot of the characters on this list, there was never any guarantee that Cole Phelps would make it out of LA Noire alive. After all, the kind of stories the game was sending up revelled in surprise deaths of protagonists and subversive, downer endings that saw corruption, crime, and politics all win out in the end.

With that said, it still didn't prepare anyone for how Cole would actually bite the dust. The finale of Rockstar's troubled title had ambitions that exceed its reach, and for a chunk of the final act you actually play as a new character, Jack Kelso. When you pick back up with Cole it's for the final mission, where you hunt down an old army buddy who's been manipulated into burning down houses and then... get drowned in the sewer.

It is jarring to say the least, and totally unsatisfying. You half expect Cole to show up again - the water having not killed him - but he never does, and instead he goes out like a chump.