History ShooOutTheClowns / VideoGames

** In the first game and its sequel, ButtMonkey Enzo only appears at the very beginning and end of the games, before the plot really kicks off and after everything has been settled. The only other times the player will see him (in medal/trophy form) are from getting Stone awards, and that's something to try to avoid. This is justified in that he's a regular human who has no chance whatsoever against the forces of Paradiso (and Inferno in ''2''), so he mostly gives Bayonetta the information she needs and she heads off by herself.

* Taokaka tends to disappear from the plot of the ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' games whenever it takes a serious turn. She's barely present at all in the final game.

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' is initially full of BlackComedy, mostly involving the sheer awfulness of the nightguard job getting multiple {{lampshade|Hanging}}s. For instance, the Phone Guy [[ConditionedToAcceptHorror nonchalantly]] telling you about how being stuffed into a suit can result in "a [[{{Understatement}} bit of discomfort]]... and death." [[spoiler:The moment the [[KnightOfCerebus Murderer]] is brought up, everything starts to go downhill. When he actually ''[[FinalBoss shows up,]]'' the games lose any and all elements of BlackComedy that they used to have, replacing Phone Guy's almost ''[[CrossesTheLineTwice overkill]]'' attempts to make the job seem completely normal with him [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant casually informing you]] that if you screw up, you will die [[CruelAndUnusualDeath a horrible death,]] and that all you can do about that is, at best, ''crawling away to bleed out unseen by the children,'' and replacing the goofy-looking mascots with ''an ArtificialZombie that is [[BodyHorror visibly rotting]].'']]
** Phone Guy's [[spoiler:complete omission]] from ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys4'' reveals just how little of a laughing matter the series has become by this point.
* ''Videogame/GodOfWarRagnarok:'' The story's tone takes a turn for the much darker (thanks in part to the rippling effect it has on the cast, especially on [[spoiler:Sindri]]) once [[spoiler:Brok, the uncouth and irreverent dwarven smith (with [[SirSwearsALot more foul language than the rest of the cast put together]]), gets killed by Odin. It's this very same irreverence that got him killed, too, as he had zero qualms with haranguing "Tyr" over [[SpottingTheThread every spotted thread]] once he felt things smelled fishy enough, and the impersonating Odin felt backed far enough into a corner to blow his cover and lash out lethally]].
* To show how much more [[DarkerAndEdgier serious]] ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' is than the earlier ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' games, the Covenant all speak in an [[BlackSpeech indecipherable]] language, even the formerly PluckyComicRelief Grunts, effectively making them all ''much'' scarier. Also a ContinuityNod: most of the Covenant forces in the very [[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved first game]] only had a few repeating speech sounds, with ''only'' the Grunts speaking English. The game itself pulls this trope with [[FriendlySniper Jun]], [[PutOnABus putting him on a bus with Dr. Halsey]] before the final [[HeroicSacrifice mission]].

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', ''Ground Zeroes'''s second part, pushes this even further, mutilating Kaz and transforming him from a funny and likeable character into a hissing vengeance-crazed psychopath. The ComicRelief Cécile and the heroic Amanda are pushed offscreen, and Huey, who makes a reappearance, is now referred to by his real name "Emmerich" instead of by his cutesy nickname and is now a very sinister character.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' has an incredibly extreme example. Around the point where the plot gets ''really'' dark, your goofy, bad-pun spewing BigGood [[spoiler:is revealed to be a very insane villain who was just using you the whole time to bring about TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. And then he's quickly killed off.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', the party is joined by Teddie, an anthropomorphic bear[=/=]mascot creature as they investigate a series of bizarre murders. After Nanako, the protagonist's young cousin and foster sister, goes into a very serious coma, the majority of the party heads to confront the man behind the murders, Teddie stays behind with Nanako and none of the other characters realise he wasn't with them until afterwards. As the party learns the suspect wasn't behind the murders, just the kidnappings the party had been thwarting, and was manipulated into that by another person, Teddie outright vanishes from the plot until the player identifies the true culprit.
* In ''VideoGame/PersonaQShadowOfTheLabyrinth'', Rei, one of the two new characters, is a [[CheerfulChild cheerful young girl]] with a love of food, and a tendency to misinterpret what other people say as references to types of food, in contrast to her [[TheStoic stoic]] partner Zen. At the end of the fourth labyrinth, Rei [[spoiler: finally recovers her memories- that she died after living a short, lonely and unfulfilling life- and shortly thereafter, is captured by a spider to lure Zen to the top of the final dungeon]]. In Rei's absence, the endgame becomes much more somber- your party members are no longer having fun at the festival that serves as the game's hub, most of the Strolls and dialogue scenes while exploring the labyrinth talk about the desperate struggle to reach the end and [[spoiler:what it truly means to live]], and some of the background music and character voiceovers change accordingly.

* ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' has the Censors, a goofy reoccurring enemy that comes in several types and appear throughout the game's several Mental Worlds. They are completely absent in the final and most NightmareFuel-centric Mental World, [[spoiler:the Meat Circus]]. Additionally, a PointOfNoReturn at this point prevents Raz from returning to the real world, rendering him unable to see the camp's kids again until the ending.

* Occurs very noticeably in Issue #10 of ''VideoGame/TheSecretWorld'': for most of "[[StartOfDarkness Nightmare In The Dream Palace]]" you're playing through John's memories of the wild night on the town he had with the hilariously dickheaded Che Garcia Hansson; this particular night out features punch-ups with [[ChefOfIron Akashi]], duels with [[{{Oni}} the House In Exile]], BulletDancing with the Korinto-Kai, and even a dance-off with Ricky Pagan. Exactly one scene after Che leaves Kaidan, John was charged with detonating a [[FantasticNuke Filthy device]] on the Tokyo subways; you not only have to fight off his nightmares of [[spoiler: [[TheDreaded Lilith]] and what she might do to him if he fails]], but you're given a horrific recollection of the exact moment he detonated the bomb [[spoiler: and became the Black Signal. Worse still, the Black Signal then realizes that you've been reading his memories and [[PokeInTheThirdEye retaliates]] by turning the mission into a MindRape of the player character]]. Even the Black Signal lampshades just how grim everything got once Che departed.

* Upon picking up an item in ''VideoGame/TombRaiderII'', Lara will exclaim "ah-ha!" upon her discovery, giving a somewhat whimsical feel to her adventure. The last level takes place in Lara's home where the remnants of the cultists Lara dealt with throughout the game show up to kill her in revenge for her killing [[BigBad their leader]]. Lara does not make any sounds upon picking up items since she's more focused on [[ProtectThisHouse killing all the home invaders.]]
* Throughout ''VideoGame/TombRaiderLegend'', Zip and Alister will constantly chatter and bicker between themselves as Lara listens over the radio while she goes on her adventures (and will snark at them as well). During the last level where Lara is about to confront [[EvilFormerFriend Amanda]], she calmly tells Zip and Alister to not talk or interrupt her at all, which they comply with and don't speak to Lara until Amanda is defeated.

* The first half of ''VideoGame/Warhammer40000SpaceMarine'' involves [[TheCaptain Captain Titus]] and his soldiers plowing their way through hordes of orks, giving it the feel of a fairly standard ASpaceMarineIsYou storyline. [[spoiler: Then [[TheLegionsOfHell Nemeroth and his Chaos Space Marines]] show up...]]

* ''Videogame/GodOfWarRagnarok:'' The story's tone takes a turn for the much darker (thanks in part to the rippling effect it has on the cast) once [[spoiler:Brok, the uncouth and irreverent dwarven smith (with [[SirSwearsALot more foul language than the rest of the cast put together]]), gets killed by Odin. It's this very same irreverence that got him killed, too, as he had zero qualms with haranguing "Tyr" over [[SpottingTheThread every spotted thread]] once he felt things smelled fishy enough, and the impersonating Odin felt backed far enough into a corner to blow his cover and lash out lethally]].

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidGroundZeroes'' signals its DarkerAndEdgier turn from its predecessor, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPeaceWalker'', by throwing the adorable little child soldier who provides MissionControl guidance for the [[CryptidEpisode Cryptid Missions]] into prison where he is tortured and [[RapeAsBackstory raped]], and the quirky MagnificentBastard with a [[MechaShow Mecha anime genre]] motif who spent most of the previous game disguised as a funny PuritySue now has a shaved head, [[MedicalHorror has had a bomb surgically implanted into her guts]] and has been the victim of a MindRape so thorough she's a LaughingMad hollow shell. Also qualifies as BreakTheCutie.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidV'', ''Ground Zeroes'''s second part, pushes this even further, mutilating Kaz and transforming him from a funny and likeable character into a hissing vengeance-crazed psychopath. The ComicRelief Cécile and the heroic Amanda are pushed offscreen, and Huey, who makes a reappearance, is now referred to by his real name "Emmerich" instead of by his cutesy nickname and is now a very sinister character.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsInTheSky The 3rd'': Translation induced example. The english versions of the trilogy insert comedic banter into the descriptions of empty chests you already looted. However in the climax of the third game, with it's heavy topics of SurvivorGuilt and self-harm, the chests just say "This chest is empty" so as not to clash with the tone.

* On ''VideoGame/PoliceQuest: Open Season'''s final day, Detective Carey is separated from his LAPD comrades and must infiltrate the BigBad's hideout [[ItsUpToYou alone]] without any backup or comic relief.