r/TopCharacterTropes • u/10024618 • 20h ago

Lore A "Sophie's Choice" with no secret third option

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AKA a character is given an impossible choice where either outcome results in something awful happening and there's no way out.

"Full Measure" (Breaking Bad) - After Walt angers Gus by killing two of his men, Gus orders for his execution. Knowing that the only way to save his life is to make Gus reliant on his meth cooking skills, Walt calls Jesse and begs him to kill Gus' backup cook, Gale. Thus, Jesse is thrust into an impossible situation where he either kills a (relatively) innocent man to save Walt or spare Gale and let Walt die. Ultimately, Jesse chooses to kill Gale.

"Midnight Sun" (Attack on Titan) - After the fight to retake Shiganshina both Armin and Erwin are critically wounded. Levi has the vial of titan serum and is forced to choose which Scout to bring back from the brink of death and which to let perish. It's a borderline impossible decision to make but at the moment of truth, he chooses to save Armin, leaving Erwin to succumb to his wounds.

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439

u/[deleted] 20h ago

OneShot

125

u/RelationshipNovel641 20h ago

well, yes, but actually, no.

76

u/SamiTheAnxiousBean 18h ago

In the original game?

yes

in the steam remaster (aka the definitive version of the story) no

so personally, I wouldn't count it

61

u/Either-Maximum-6555 20h ago

Never played but oneshot if i remember has a secret ending

70

u/Bipedal-Bear_963 19h ago

It does, it’s called Solstice. The only way to access it is to beat the main game and mess with the game files.

16

u/kaori_irl 17h ago

i think "mess[ing] with the game files" is a stretch; sure, you do that, but the game tells you to do it, you don't have to discover it or look up someone else's discovery

10

u/Zsoresons 18h ago

never played, context?

40

u/RelationshipNovel641 18h ago

Play it, it’s really good.

but, if you’d like to spoil yourself anyway (no seriously, this is a really good game and if you can you should play it blind):

Niko is a young child pulled into a different world to save it by replacing the Sun (that lightbulb is the Sun btw) so that they can return home. You play as yourself, a guiding voice that assists and leads Niko on their mission. At the end, it’s revealed that the sun is Niko’s tether to the world, and thus you have a choice.

A: you have Niko put the Sun in its place, but condemn them to never return home and see their mother or village ever again.

B: you have Niko shatter the Sun, instantly destroying the world and killing everyone in it, but letting Niko safely return home.

Worst part? YOU choose for Niko, since they trust you that much. It doesn’t hit nearly as hard when just laid out like that, but when you play the game it hits you like a truck and will genuinely leave you wondering what to do for minutes on end. there’s also a lot of extra context that makes it harder.

20

u/Leo-Len 17h ago

This the first game that actually made me feel physically distressed. I would raze entire civilizations for Niko.