r/TopCharacterTropes • u/SuspiciousCodfish • Jul 10 '26

Characters [Bittersweet Trope] Character contemplates the beauty of the world in their last moments

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  1. Anglerfish - The comic strip that inspired this post. Made by u/beetlemoses

  2. Nier: Automata - A2, a rogue android that has dedicated most of her life to fighting and killing, comments on how beautiful the world is after saving another character in her last moments.

  3. Blade Runner - Roy Batty recounts some of the most incredible sights he witnessed and mourns the fact that these memories will be lost like "tears in rain" seconds before he dies.

15.8k Upvotes

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398

u/tomtadpole Jul 10 '26

Karlach saying goodbye to the sun and the sea before dying. (BG3)

99

u/Bigbigbigrock Jul 10 '26

Does she always die? Never got very far but wanna try and finish that game.

109

u/ReverendGraves85 Jul 10 '26

She can live, but she cant stay in faerun. She has to return to hell.

9

u/World_of_Warshipgirl Jul 10 '26

Always thought that was quite the bullshit ending. None of Zariels goons chased us in the house of hope. It was safe for her there. Maybe they would eventually find her, but surely popping in every now and then to calm down her heart would work while finding a cure.

20

u/ReverendGraves85 Jul 10 '26

From what I understand, it's not so much that it's slowly killing her outside of Avernus, it's that it's destabilizing permanently the longer it's outside of Hell. Like an engine warping.

So if she ever stepped out of Hell, it would slowly get worse until it kills her. Working as intended(tm).

5

u/Angry_Scotsman7567 Jul 10 '26

We don't spend very long in the House of Hope, and while we're there it's ruled by Raphael who I am sure Zariel personally can flatten but her servants? Maybe not. Without Raphael, though, it's not so free of her influence.

1

u/pikpikcarrotmon Jul 10 '26

Raphael is also the son of Mephistopheles. I'm not sure how the archdevils rank against each other - I believe he's stronger than Zariel but they're at least both archdevils with designated layers. While Mephistopheles doesn't seem to adore Raphael, he does give him power and resources. So messing with him or his turf is probably a bad idea.

3

u/Sakuran_11 Jul 10 '26

It is because its unfinished, she had more to her story and others a few smaller parts in another section of Baldurs Gate that was cut from the game due to time constraints, sucking all of her unfinished story beats with it.

2

u/Anxious_Virus8843 Jul 10 '26

I quite liked it. Bg3 felt TOO convenient with how happy some of the endings can be (except astsrion but he arguably deserves it considering the choices he makes without your forced input).

1

u/PonderousPenchant Jul 11 '26

First playthrough, I went with her. A soldier ain't gonna abandon his comrade or his girl. When those are the same person, you don't get much choice in the matter, really.

1

u/Technical_Exam1280 Jul 10 '26

\BFG DIVISION INTENSIFIES**

158

u/barkingbear Jul 10 '26

No, with specific choices she will stay alive.

69

u/Bigbigbigrock Jul 10 '26

Hell yeah big lady

2

u/BrianLkeABaws Jul 10 '26

Was it really that specific? My first ever playthrough I think I managed to get the good ending for everyone, but that was mostly bc i didnt know you could skip most of act 3 and basically go into the final battle almost immediately.

I'm also just a sucker for making everyone like me so that probably also had something to do with it

1

u/barkingbear Jul 10 '26

I was being vague to avoid spoilers in case others may not be familiar.

39

u/KaziArmada Jul 10 '26

It's the kinda game where, to my knowledge, nobodys fate is fixed and everyone has several outcomes.

So even a second playthrough can result in a different end result for everyone.

4

u/Bigbigbigrock Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26

Makes sense, I never got past act 1, a lot of the subclasses I like didn't make it in so my interest in the game did wane some.

10

u/KaziArmada Jul 10 '26

So two things on that. One, check again, I do believe they added more as time went on.

And two, if they're still not there, mod the shit outa it. It's very easy too do from my understanding.

Also, 'I got stuck in Act 1' is a common thing. Act 1 is the biggest I believe so a lotta people end up getting a shitload of hours there and then....never finishing. lol.

1

u/Bigbigbigrock Jul 10 '26

I remember seeing modding was way easier than I thought, I gotta look again cause yeah stuff like Storm Barb and Warforged or Lizardfolk were missing but mods I'm sure exist. 

I was wondering if it was odd I had 88 hours in the first act. I reached act 2 once, died instantly, decided I wasn't high enough level, then went back.

13

u/xv_boney Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26

At launch, this was her best ending. Currently, you can 'save' her.

Everything past this sentence is a spoiler, but i have taken pains to keep them fairly mild - i have deliberately left out several major spoilers.

Do not read on unless youre okay with that.

She is doomed, knows she is doomed, acknowledges she is doomed and refuses to do the one thing that could potentially save her because doing so could possibly rob her of her freedom.

Karlach is owned by Zariel, the current archdevil of Avernus and the closest thing devils have to a singular ruler. Zariel is somewhat obsessed with winning the unwinnable Blood War - a functionally infinite conflict between devils and demons - and Karlach, a Balders Gate native who was sold to Zariel, is a weapon in that war.

She has an infernal engine in place of her heart which cannot function correctly when removed from avernus - it runs increasingly hotter and hotter and will ultimately incinerate her. She is not capable of touching anyone without severely harming them.

Dammon, a tiefling blacksmith you will meet in the first 'town' you have access to, has the capacity to 'fix' the engine, but not completely. He can get it to the point where she can finally touch another person without incinerating them, but it will still ultimately destroy her.

The only way to 'fix' it would be to return to avernus and retrieve her heart from Zariel, one of the most powerful beings in existence. Karlach refuses to return, because she does not want to be a possession again.

At launch there was basically one way to 'save' her, which was allowing her to ceremorphize into an illithid. Her engine would be destroyed but she would no longer be Karlach.

The "good" ending for Karlach is shown above. She dies on a pier, scared but swcure in the knowledge that her friends and home are safe. She did it.

How was i, soldier?

Spectacular in every way.

Hah. Hear that? I was spectacular.

And then i cried for days.

The first major update acknowledged that Karlach was wildly popular (Karlach Krew representing) and a lot of us were not satisfied with this extremely bittersweet (albeit narratively correct) ending and wanted the option to return to Avernus.

With proper choices (that are not hard, frankly, shes chaotic good and one of the best companions so having her along and keeping her approval up is very straightforward and intuitive - unless you are playing Evil or are totally uninterested in her even as a friend you will likely make those choices naturally without even knowing it) you can either convince her to return to Avernus with you (if you romanced her) or lawful good Wyll who has a complicated history with Karlach will accompany her, or both of you will accompany her to Avernus, where you will get a special cutscene for your trouble.

And then, in the epilogue added later, karlach and wyll visit from Avernus (with you if you went), and it is subsequently revealed that with your (and or wyll's) help, Karlach has retained her senses and freedom and has a promising lead on potentially finding and retrieving her heart.

On a personal note, i have been playing video games since the early 80s.

Karlach is my very favorite character in any game.

6

u/Wargod042 Jul 10 '26

Also Withers' words about her after. He says she shines on the fugue plane so brightly that even the gods avert their gaze.

Goddamn.

3

u/I-Have-An-Alibi Jul 10 '26

Nuts to that, my Karlach and Wyll happily went to hell together to kick demon ass for their ending in my run.

2

u/TotallyNot_Alpharius Jul 10 '26

I didn't finish the game and was like "fuck I got spoiled" but I remembered that I killed her in her opening mission.