10 Video Game Characters You Had ONE CHANCE To Get

Throughout most video games, players will encounter numerous characters throughout their adventures. While some of them will be enemies and miscellaneous NPCs, others will be close allies who’ll accompany the hero on their journey.

Especially in larger RPGs, players can find and recruit several companions to accompany them on their quests. Across the course of the dozens of hours that will be spent playing these games, close relationships will be gradually formed with each party member. By the time players reach the end of a game, they’ll feel like they’ve got to know each of these characters personally.

However, it can be all too easy to miss certain people along the way.

Although many video game companions will become recruitable after completing a specific quest, at which point it becomes a matter of asking them to tag along, there are others out there which players may not even realise they can get to join them.

Whether it involves selecting the right dialogue options or performing a series of actions to meet the right conditions, players only have one chance to get some characters. Miss their chance, and these characters will be gone for good in that playthrough.

Often considered to be one of the greatest video games ever made, Final Fantasy VI (initially released as Final Fantasy III in the US) took players on an epic RPG adventure in which they set out to defeat the ruthless Kefka. Along the way, players will spend dozens of hours getting to know the cast of memorable party members who fight alongside them.

One of these companions is Shadow. Always accompanied by his loyal dog Interceptor, Shadow is a mysterious ninja who occasionally swoops in to help the party throughout the game. It's possible to have this fan favourite character join the rest of the team during the final showdown, however players only have one opportunity to get him.

After Kefka unleashes cataclysmic destruction on the Floating Continent, players must race back to their airship to escape while an onscreen countdown ticks down to their imminent annihilation.

Players are then given the choice to jump to the ship or wait for Shadow. If players buckle under the pressure and jump, they’ll lose Shadow forever. To save him, you must wait until the last possible second for him to arrive before leaving together.

It’s an intense moment, and seeing Shadow join the final fight is more than worth the anxiety.