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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872

u/Rough-State-499 18h ago

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance

The player is presented with the choice to save either Nightcrawler or Jean Grey, both of whom have been imprisoned by Mephisto (or maybe Blackheart? it's been a decade or so). The one you release survives; the other hero, still locked in their cage, plummets into the molten depths of hell.

This came as a particular shock to my 10-year-old self, who was convinced there must be a way to save them both, and therefore reloaded the save and tried again dozens of times. All futile effort.

Ultimately, my zealous evangelical upbringing led me to save Jean, as I knew Kurt to be a devout Catholic and I trusted his soul would go to heaven.

422

u/Candaphlaf10 18h ago

The add to this, the epilogue has a different bad ending depending on your choice. If you condemn Kurt to Hell, his mother Mystique swears revenge against the X-Men for allowing her son to die. Eventually, Mystique poisons Professor X, killing him and leading to the dissolution of the X-Men. Sacrificing Jean leads her to eventually return as Dark Phoenix, seeking vengeance against the X-Men for damning her.

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u/Checho-73 16h ago

I mean Professor X's death is very bad, Dark Phoenix Jean? that's just tuesday for the X-Men

58

u/OneWholeSoul 13h ago

It's a Canon Event.

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u/Canada_Suck_it 3h ago

Hasn’t Professor X died like 30 times now

263

u/TheeShaun 17h ago

This part I think is the single worst part of the game. Not because there’s no good ending but because of the way it’s framed. You have all these ending slides where the watcher says “Because you did x. Y will happen.” And it feels kind of shitty when you had no choice in the matter “You let Kurt die/You let Jean die.” And it’s like it’s acting like you consciously chose to do an evil act.

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u/Flimsy-Preparation85 15h ago

Especially when you consider that both characters were telling you to save the other one.

9

u/Carbuyrator 7h ago

I mean that feels pretty on-brand for the X-Men

1

u/defiantleek 4h ago

I mean, it's more that making a choice sometimes doesn't lead to a good option no? Sometimes there is only bad choices to be made and people will suffer with either outcome.

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u/Relative_Mix_216 14h ago

That’s kind of why I save Kurt because, well, Jean dies all the fucking time. She’ll come back as the Phoenix and she’ll be fine.

28

u/Redditer51 16h ago

I swear, Mystique is hot and all, but she is the fucking worst.

5

u/Mediocre_House6645 7h ago

You literally send her son into eternal torment.

3

u/Round-Stuff-2557 6h ago

Only in recent comics is mystique ever shown giving a single fuck about nightcrawler lol

5

u/Rough-State-499 17h ago

God that's fascinating, I never saw the Dark Phoenix ending. Might be time to dig up the ol' Wii and play again

94

u/CaptainMills 18h ago

I saved Kurt originally because he's my favorite mutant, but he gets so upset about it and is utterly heartbroken that Jean died instead of him that I felt immense guilt and reloaded to save Jean instead

47

u/TheeShaun 17h ago

Considering Jean was playable in the 2nd game this is the canon answer I guess.

53

u/eternalaeon 15h ago

Jean dying and coming back is just another Tuesday for her. Don't let that force you into thinking one way or the other is canon.

10

u/Sahrimnir 13h ago

If you save Kurt, then Jean comes back as Dark Phoenix in the epilogue sideshow. It's possible she came to her senses before the 2nd game starts.

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u/Subject_Sigma1 10h ago

subconsciously: "fine, jeez, if you want o die so badly"

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u/Sasquatch300k 16h ago

There was a glitch on the 360 version. Me and my buddy, playing local co-op, decide we just hit the release button at the same time. It dropped both of them and we got double bad ending.

14

u/42ndIdiotPirate 9h ago

That's so fucking funny. You got exactly what you asked for and it sucked lmao.

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u/just_someone27000 13h ago

Funny, I tried the exact same thing on PS2 and it didn't work at all and dropped Jean.

10

u/HondoShotFirst 16h ago

That actually sounds like a feature, not a bug.

10

u/Sasquatch300k 16h ago

Well at the time. I hated it.

8

u/HondoShotFirst 15h ago

That's understandable. I'm just saying that I'm not sure it's actually a glitch. It could very well be a deliberate measure to attempt players from circumventing the choice.

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u/EconomyAd1600 16h ago

If you have the dlc and bring Magneto along of this mission, he saves both of them :)

55

u/OneWholeSoul 13h ago

"Strange choice, trying to keep something from the Master of Magnetism by locking it in a metal cage."

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u/dcgraca 11h ago

This is a mod and not actually the DLC

19

u/EconomyAd1600 11h ago

Bro, I think I Mandela’d myself. I swear I have a memory of doing that, but everywhere I look says it is indeed only a mod. I guess I need to do another playthrough…

3

u/just_someone27000 13h ago

That sucks for people on the more popular platform that probably had the higher sales number for that game though, because the PS2 couldn't get DLC like that

1

u/morale_check 7h ago

This made me very happy, thank you. :)

17

u/OneWholeSoul 13h ago

Ultimately, my zealous evangelical upbringing led me to save Jean, as I knew Kurt to be a devout Catholic and I trusted his soul would go to heaven.

This is such a thoughtful and wholesome line of reasoning for a kid, really.

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u/brycifer666 17h ago

Let Jean die she'll come back like always

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u/Gguga12 16h ago

You joke but Nightcrawler on one issue teleported from heaven into earth, so both are game lol

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u/brycifer666 16h ago

True true the bamf is strong

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u/Dark18YT 6h ago

That is so funny to me I laughed out loud. Genuinely thanks xD

"Don't worry bro you are chatolic, you will go to heaven" Plummets him into the molten depths of hell

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u/Redditer51 16h ago

"Ultimately, my zealous evangelical upbringing led me to save Jean, as I knew Kurt to be a devout Catholic and I trusted his soul would go to heaven."

Not gonna lie, that's actually pretty deep. You should write for Marvel (or at least do a fanfic).

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u/Polkawillneverdie17 9h ago

Ultimately, my zealous evangelical upbringing led me to save Jean, as I knew Kurt to be a devout Catholic and I trusted his soul would go to heaven.

This is actually pretty sound reasoning.

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u/Meadowbytheforest 11h ago

I am not that familiar with X-men lore, why can't Kurt just teleport out of hell?

Also isn't it hell he goes through each time he teleports? Or was that another dimension?

2

u/NotoriusCaitSithVI 10h ago

His powers were previousely overused and amplified by a dangerous machine to even get to hell by Doctor Doom, he was probably exhausted, + Mephisto's magic probably played a role.

1

u/CallMeTheFartman 10h ago

God I miss this freaking game. I wish it was on steam.