10 Video Game Deaths You Were POWERLESS To Stop (But Kept Trying Anyway)

One of the most tragic moments in Metal Gear Solid occurs when your old frenemy Gray Fox shows up in the middle of the Metal Gear REX boss fight to offer some assistance.

Though Fox destroys REX's radome, in doing so he's also crushed against a wall by REX, mortally wounding him. 

As he dies, he urges Snake to fire their Stinger missile launcher at REX, even as villain Liquid Snake - who is piloting REX - points out that doing so will kill Fox.

At this point control is handed back to the player, and if you do as Fox instructs and attempt to fire the Stinger, Snake will point out that he can't do it, as doing so will finish his friend off.

Players might then try to find a way to fire the Stinger at a different part of REX's chassis further away from Fox, but alas, there's nothing to be done. 

After a while, a cutscene will kick in where REX knocks Fox to the floor and crushes him beneath its foot, ending him once and for all.

It's easily one of the most brutal deaths in the entire franchise, and considering you can save another imperilled character, Meryl, earlier in the game, fans can't really be blamed for thinking there was also a way to rescue Fox from the grave.