10 Video Games That Killed The Main Character Early

3. Crono - Chrono Trigger

In what remains one of the most disturbing and unexpected deaths in video game history, Chrono Trigger's protagonist Crono is turned to dust roughly mid-way through the game by antagonist Lavos. This is almost 25 years before Avengers: Endgame did it, mind.

And like Endgame, the player is able to use time travel shenanigans to resurrect Crono, but it's entirely optional, and it's totally possible to finish the game with Crono still nothing more than a pile of soot.

For players used to protagonists who would survive to the tail-end of a game to battle the villain, this was a hard, brilliant slap in the face, and one that's lost little of its power in the decades since Chrono Trigger's release.