8 Exact Moments We Knew Video Game Characters Were Doomed To Die

8. Dom Speaks To His Wife - Gears Of War 3

Dom is one of Gears of War's most tragic characters, and his death sequence in the third game, for many, is one of the industry's most moving. With the solider selflessly sacrificing himself to save his brothers in arms, set against the series' unofficial theme song Mad World, it's an expertly constructed goodbye to a fan favourite.

Of course, Dom dying doesn't really come as much of a surprise. In fact, there are plenty of hints throughout the game that this is the only way his story could end.

After losing wife Maria in the second instalment, Marcus' best mate becomes a shell of a man in the third. He's lost his entire family to this never-ending war, and he spends most of the third game feeling downtrodden and lacking the spark he had previously. He is, perhaps justifiably so, a cry-arse.

However, the exact moment you know Dom is doomed comes in the same level he dies in. Returning to his home town on a mission, he visits Maria's grave. Here, he tenderly talks to his departed wife and children, telling them that that one day soon they'll be reunited.

The scene clearly shows Dom has one foot in the grave already, and so desperately pines to be reunited with his family, a wish he'd be granted shortly after.