10 Video Game Villains Who Actually Killed The Hero

3. Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed)

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While Emperor Palpatine was unable to defeat Luke in Return of the Jedi and Rey in The Rise of Skywalker, he's not always completely useless when it comes to killing his enemies, as the likes of Mace Windu and Starkiller will attest to.

But even then, both of those men had Palpatine cornered and could've easily killed him if they'd acted more decisively. Starkiller - the protagonist and playable character in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - fights and overpowers Palpatine in the game's light side ending, but before he can strike a fatal blow, he's stopped by Kota, who doesn't want Starkiller to strike his foe down in anger.

And unsurprisingly, the decision to spare Palpatine backfires drastically.

After pulling off one of his signature "I'm too weak" acts where he pretends to be defeated, Palpatine shoots two beams of lightning from his hands, knocking Kota aside. Starkiller then stands up to ol' Palpy once more, absorbing the lightning and ultimately succumbing to its immense power.

The Force Unleashed has another ending in which Starkiller lives, but the light side conclusion is considered the game's canon one. Not that it mattered anyway, because the sequel managed to bring him back by introducing clones, only to kill him off again in that game's dark side ending. This guy can't catch a break.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for almost nine years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. He has been writing and video editing for 10+ years, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers and uploading them to YouTube (they're admittedly a bit rusty by today's standards). If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order or to tell you about the making of 1988's Remembrance of the Daleks, Danny is the person to ask.