10 Shocking Video Game Deaths That Came Out Of Nowhere

9. Joker - Batman: Arkham City

The final shot of Batman carrying Joker's body out of Arkham City is an iconic end to their age-old battle, but it wasn’t one fans were anticipating.

While we often expect villains to get their just desserts at the end of a video game, there’s something so intrinsic to Batman’s story about his ongoing struggle with The Joker, that it’s difficult to imagine a compelling narrative about the caped crusader without him. Enter Arkham City where the Joker, voiced phenomenally by Mark Hammil, is feeling a little rough after enduring the events of Arkham Asylum. In Arkham City, he’s just about on his last legs and seeking a cure for an overdose of the Titan formula, which he has also infected Batman with via a blood transfusion.

As the story wears to a close, Batman secures a vial of the antidote off of Talia al Ghul. He drinks a portion of it and considers whether to give the rest to Joker. Here, Joker actually does himself in by breaking the very antidote vial he needed in an attempt to seize it off of his nemesis. Batman then tells him that he actually would have saved him and the Joker laughs his last laugh and dies with a smile on his face.

It almost feels like too simple of an end for the Clown Prince of Crime but that’s what makes it so shocking, especially given it took place only part way through Rocksteady’s Arkham series.