Go Out With A Smile / Video Games

• Several of the major assassination targets in Assassin's Creed deliver their final words with smiles at Altaïr, usually because they're convinced that even in death their plans are still going to be completed. Robert de Sable's smile is a bit crueler; he delivers it firm in the belief that Altaïr will be killed by his own master, al-Mualim, and that all of Altaïr's work will be for nothing now that he's delivered the Holy Land into his hands.
• Asura's Wrath:
  • After an epic battle with his pupil, Augus dies smiling, content that his last battle was as exhilarating as he had hoped, even giving Asura his blessing.
  • Yasha dies smiling after his last battle with Asura, in hope that the now powered up Asura can save the world.
  • And finally, in the DLC ending, Asura himself dies after destroying Chakravartin and removes Mantra from the universe. As he fades away, he accepts his death and gives his sobbing daughter one last smile, finally free of his wrath.
• In Back to the Future: The Game, after Citizen Brown was run over by Edna Strickland, he asks Marty to see the 1986 newspaper — and sees that their changes to the timeline have resulted in him becoming a respected scientist like he dreamed when he was younger. He smiles as he fades out of the restored timeline.
• The Joker, true to form till the end, in Batman: Arkham City, physically, and even metaphorically — he dies directly because he attacks Batman as he's holding the very fragile cure needed to save his own life, and as the Joker attempts and fails to reckon with his mistake, Batman affirms to him:
  Batman: Do you wanna know something funny? Even after everything you've done... I would have saved you.
  Joker: [starts genuinely laughing] That actually is... pretty funny... [laughs turn to coughing as he finally dies]
• In The Binding of Isaac, against the Isaac boss, the third form has him smile widely as he grows angelic wings. What this means in conjunction with the fact that by this point Isaac himself is slowly dying is left to interpretation.
• BlazBlue:
  • In the True Ending of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift, just as Hazama is about to deliver the killing blow to Ragna, Lambda teleports in front of Ragna and takes the blow for him. She dies peacefully in Ragna's arms while telling him how much she loves him and how happy she was to sacrifice herself for him.
  • The last game Central Fiction is full of these.
    • Hazama jumps into the cauldron with a smile. Subverted, as the assumption is he'll end up in Naoto's world.
    • Terumi dies laughing and cursing Ragna after Ragna delivered the final blow.
    • Ragna smiles just before he erases himself. Possibly subverted, as we don't know his true final fate.
• In BoxxyQuest: The Gathering Storm, Tyalie is last seen smiling brightly and waving at the camera during the True Ending. She’s alive and well at the time, so it’s not an example of this trope… unless you watched her final support scene, in which she explains to the player that she knows she’s fictional, and that she’ll cease to exist as soon as the game ends and the credits roll.
• Crypt Of The Necrodancer: After Aria destroys the Golden Lute, she is seen smiling as she slumps to the ground, knowing she's put an end to the Lute's curse.
• Although he doesn't die, Sergeant Cyrus from Dawn of War believes in this. As he knows that he will die one day in battle, regardless of his skill or experience, he's come to realize that death is not exactly the best thing to do. When Sergeant Thaddeus asks him, Cyrus merely tells him to save some of the victory feelings he gets when he has beaten a very tough opponent, so that when the end does come, you can remember the feeling you got when you won and not have bad things to consider.
• Detroit: Become Human:
  • Should Kara be fatally wounded when crossing the Detroit River with Alice, she will shut down with a smile on her face after affirming that Alice will be fine without her.
  • If Markus commands his followers to attack the police during the chapter "Freedom March" and wins the fight, he will go to comfort an unnamed deviant afterwards who was badly hurt in the skirmish. He passes on happily after Markus reassures him of their victory.
• In Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey, after her plans have been foiled, Zara starts to cry... until the player character offers to hold her hand. Zara smiles peacefully and takes her hand, and disappears.
• In Dragon Age II Leandra, Hawke's mother, dies smiling in her child's arms after telling him/her how proud she is of him/her.
• Considering he's a flaming skeleton, you better believe Xan of DragonFable did this... but then he got better.
• Used cynically by Geese Howard at Terry or Andy's ending of Real Bout Fatal Fury. As he pushes himself out of either Bogard's grip, Geese Howard grins and laughs maniacally during the fall to his death, saddling Terry (if you play with him) with the guilt of having orphaned Geese's son Rock (much the same way he orphaned Terry and Andy).
• Several examples in Final Fantasy:
  • Though it probably wasn't intentional (as Word of God states she was not making a Heroic Sacrifice) Aerith's final sweet smile before her death in Final Fantasy VII broke the hearts of thousands of gamers.
  • In Final Fantasy XII, Judge Drace smiles as Gabranth kills her because he's promised to take care of Larsa in her stead.
  • In Final Fantasy XIII-2, the Yeul of 200AF (the one who likes to pick flowers) dies smiling after seeing a vision of a happy version of Academia in 400AF, where there is no proto Fal'cie.
  • As did Zack in the ending of Crisis Core, even though everyone already knew he was going to die.
  • In Final Fantasy XIV, Louisoix Leveilleur dies saving the player character's life. Once the heroes are safely away, the old elezen looks at the ultimate attack Bahamut sends at him and is content.
    • Later on, in Heavensward, Haurchefant Greystone serves as both an example and an inversion. His last words are asking the Warrior of Light to smile, as it "better suits a hero". They oblige, and he smiles in return before dying.
    • Emet-Selch is an Ascian with an embittered attitude, sarcastic smirks and a back bent by the burden of having spent the last 10,000 years or so attempting to restore his world, no matter the cost. When you finally kill him at the climax of the Shadowbringers main quest storyline, he stands up straight, finally freed from the burden of his responsibilities, begs you not to forget that he and his people once existed, and gives you a sincere smile. It is at once both deeply heartwarming and absolutely heartrending.
• Fire Emblem:
  • Used in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. In the last chapter, you have to fight the morphs of major bosses from earlier in the game. Their faces relax into relieved smiles as you kill them.
  • In Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Volke tells Ike his mother died smiling as she freed Greil from his berserker rage. From the same game, this is also how Rajaion dies.
  • Fire Emblem: Awakening does this with your avatar should you choose to deal the finishing blow to Grima. Before your avatar fades away, s/he turns to Chrom and bids him farewell with a final wave. Along with a unique voice clip, your avatar is seen with a cheerful expression. (Subverted in that the Avatar is later found, alive.)
    Robin: May we meet again, in a better life...
  • Fire Emblem Fates:
    • There's a potential example with Kaze in the Birthright route. Should you not get him up to an A-Support with Corrin before Chapter 15, Kaze will save them from falling off a cliff, only to end up falling off it himself. His final line features him smiling in relief that he was able to save them.
    • There's also something of an inverted example at the very end of Birthright. Azura's the one dying, and she asks Corrin to smile for her, so the last thing she can see is them smiling instead of crying.
    • Meanwhile, in the Conquest route, both Ryoma and Takumi (the second time) give you reassuring smiles right before dying.
• In the finale of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, when King Volechek gives his life to end the Grave Eclipse, the player is treated to one final look at his character portrait, closing its eyes with a smile as the screen fades to white.
• Daniella from Haunting Ground smiles after a shard of glass impales her from above. When you examine her body, Fiona mentions that, after she had shown no emotions save for homicidal fury, she was now grinning from ear to ear]]. Although there's no direct explanation given, fans speculate that either Daniella felt the sensation of pain for the first time, something that she (being a homunculus) could not ordinarily experience, or that she hated herself and that dying was a relief.
• Kingdom Hearts:
  • Sora from Kingdom Hearts smiled, before he stabbed himself with Xehanort's dark keyblade to free Kairi. It just turns him into a Heartless.
  • After spending his entire life angsting at how he is just an imitation of the real one, Riku Replica does this in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories where after the real Riku comfort him in his dying moments, Repliku goes out with a smile on his face.
    Repliku: A faithful Replica until the very end. That's... okay.
  • Axel smiles before fading away into nothingness after his suicide attack on the Dusks in the sequel, Kingdom Hearts II.
  • And in 358/2 Days, after Roxas defeats Xion in a boss battle, Xion smiles at Roxas one last time in his arms as she fades away.
  • In Kingdom Hearts III, nearly every single defeated Organization member (save for Terra-Xehanort, who just transforms back into Terra) fades away with a peaceful smile. Some of them know they will be recompleted as humans afterward, but even characters like Vanitas, Ansem Seeker of Darkness, and Xemnas manage to give one last smile—culminating in Master Xehanort finally giving up and moving on with his best friend Eraqus at his side, both smiling.
• The King of Fighters XIII: Just before being erased out of existence, Ash Crimson smiles one last time for his childhood friend Elizabeth.
  Ash: Sorry Betty. I'm out of ti—
• Kirby Star Allies: After defeating Void in Soul Melter EX, he gives off Kirby's smile as he explodes with stars flying out of his body.
• Trails Series:
  • In The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky SC, Loewe dies smiling after he manages to rescue his little brother and finally understood what it was like for Karin — his dead girlfriend and Joshua's older sister — to sacrifice her life to save her little brother.
  • The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III has Millium dying with a smile on her face, content that she managed to save Rean and Altina from the Nameless One. Its sequel, Cold Steel IV has Rean, Crow, and Millium dying in the normal ending with smiles to their faces as they disperse the curse of Erebonia for good.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: After taking a fatal wound from Link's Master Sword, Ganondorf gives him a final rueful smile.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks has Byrne/Staven who, in the final battle against Malladus and Chancellor Cole, his former masters, conjures a forcefield that lets Zelda reclaim her body. As a result of this, he is killed with a spell that completely and utterly destroys him. His last words to Zelda are a laugh with "Didn't you say you wanted words with me?"
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword: A variation is made with Zelda. She doesn't die, but she locks herself in a crystal to fall into a deep sleep for thousands of years, to keep Demise at bay — which could be considered similar to death. After Link promises to wake her up, you can see her tearfully smile behind the crystal just before she falls asleep. She does, however, wake up later in the game.
• Mass Effect:
  • Mass Effect:
    • Several people go out like this: If you convince Saren to off himself, he whispers "thank you," and his face looks, if not smiling, then at least calm (he is a turian, whose facial anatomy doesn't exactly make smiling like a human particularly easy or obvious).
    • Several of your squadmates do something like this if they die during the suicide mission.
  • Mass Effect 3:
    • This exchange:
      Shepard: I'm sorry.
      Mordin: I'm not. Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong.
    • Anderson dies with a peaceful smile after telling Shepard how proud he is of her/him. Shepard seems ready to do the same before a call from Hackett and an intervention from the Catalyst pull her/him out of it.
    • While he can't physically smile, Legion's dialogue gives this vibe if peace is achieved between the geth and quarians.
      Tali: The answer to your question^note Does this unit have a soul?, is yes.
      Legion: I know Tali, but thank you. Keelah se'lai.
• Iris in Mega Man X4. Unfortunately, in the US version, this is also one of the most infamous Narm moments.
• The Nintendo Wars game Advance Wars: Dual Strike has a minor one with Andy's clone near the end of the game. All of the clones in this game apparently suffer from rapid degeneration that causes them to die after their featured mission. However, the Andy clone hangs on long enough to ask everyone what the real Andy is like, and hearing them praise his original allows him to die happy.
• Holly Summers in No More Heroes goes out this way before she bites down on one of her greandes to kill herself, much to Travis's horror.
• Persona 3:
  • The Main Character reaches up to dry Aigis's tears and gives her a heartfelt smile before falling asleep for eternity.
  • In the final scenes of the game, the sociopath Takaya limps up to the top of Tartarus to laugh in the party's face as, despite all their efforts, Nyx is still coming to end all life. Even though the heroes hadn't injured him fatally, he collapses on his back and smiles to welcome the end, thinking of his (dead) partner Jin, implying that he willed himself to die as reward for fulfilling their plans.
• Queen Frieda does this in One Way Heroics, during the epilogue. The spell animating her body wears off as she is happily enjoying a parade.
• The final stages of both Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan games are both a world-threatening disaster — a meteorite in the first, and the Sun freezing over in the second. Unlike most continue screens in the game, which show the person you were helping on a Pose of Supplication over their failure, the screens for these stages show the Ouendan cheerleaders smiling together, having failed to stop the world ending. To make it even more pronounced, in the first game the lighting on this screen creates the strong impression that this was the moment before they themselves were about to die.
• In Shadow Hearts, Alice hides the fact that she will soon die from a curse from Yuri and goes on cheerfully, dying in her sleep with a smile in the bad ending. In Covenant, when the attempt to resurrect her fails, she opens her eyes, smiles, and tells Yuri she loves him right before her body disintegrates.
• The Super Mario Bros. series has Dimentio and Fawful, from Super Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi, respectively, as each has a final plan to eliminate the Mario Bros.
• The opening of Dark Prison shows Shu Shirakawa smiling inside his Neo Granzon when Masaki in his Cybuster impales him, at the climax of Original Generation Gaiden.
• In Gaiden, this is the expression of the Final Boss, Shu Shirakawa, makes after the playable characters defeat him. How he looks like in his final moments before coming Back from the Dead is shown in detail during the prologue of Dark Prison where Shu Shirakawa is the headlining protagonist.
• In Tales of Symphonia, when Colette is sacrificing herself as part of the World Regeneration, just before her soul would be sealed into her Cruxis Crystal, so her body could be used for Martel Yggdrasill's resurrection, she smiles and tells her beloved Lloyd how happy he made her then after a goodbye, her soul is lost. However, Colette doesn't actually die and is restored to her normal, non-dog-kicking, non-horrific-eyed self not too long after this event.
• Tales of the Abyss has a subtle version after Asch's You Shall Not Pass! moment turns into a Heroic Sacrifice. He has a very faint smile on his face as he entrusts the future to Luke and passes on his own power to him to aid in that.
• Undertale:
  • Sans literally never stops smiling the entire game, even as he bleeds to death at the end of the Genocide route. It's plausible the reason is that he's aware of the player's ability to reset the game, meaning nothing that happens, good or bad, is necessarily permanent and everything will most likely return to normal.
  • Papyrus, like Sans, is a perpetually grinning skeleton, but his fixed grin does fit the tone of both ways he can be killed — on a Neutral run, he'll pipe that at least his head's still intact after the body the player cuts it off of disintegrates (his head, too, disintegrates right afterwards); and on a No Mercy run, he'll assure the player that he knows there's still good in them despite the situation.
  • Undyne, after assuming her Undying form in the Genocide route. She grins proudly as she tells the protagonist that she won't give up hope.
  • Mettaton does this if he's killed on any playthrough — he goes out with a bittersweet smile and a surprisingly graceful losing speech on a Neutral run, and he smirks through his pain to give either a last dry one-liner or a Kirk Summation on a No Mercy run.
  • Flowey flashes a triumphant Slasher Smile should you kill him at the end of your first run as you, by doing so, have validated his ideology: In this world, it's KILL or BE KILLED. It's very effective at making the bile rise in your throat.
  • A small one for Toriel — if you kill her during a Neutral run, she implores you to keep going and not let your SOUL be claimed by Asgore. She then dies with a small smile and a final Meaningful Echo:
    Toriel:...Be good, won't you?
    Toriel: My child.
• From Valkyria Chronicles:
  • The first game has Isara Gunther getting shot down, out of the blue, by an Imperial sniper. As she lies dying, she says that she failed to make her brother's dream (to fly) a reality. When Welkin says that she, in fact, has made it such, she dies with a smile.
  • Your comrade-turned-traitor Gusurg dies smiling in your arms after you kill him in battle.
  • Big Bad Dahau smiles and dies at the end of Valkyria Chronicles III with the soul of his wife, or a hallucination of her, telling him that now he can rest.
• At the end of The Walking Dead: Season One, if the player chooses to have Clementine shoot Lee to prevent him from turning, he will turn to her and smile before he goes limp and Clementine fires her gun.
• In Warcraft III, Grom Hellscream suffers mortal injuries slaying the demon that corrupted him and his entire race via a Deal with the Devil. As he lies dying, he offers Thrall a smile and tells him that he can feel the corruption leaving his body (shown by his eyes no longer glowing with demonic flame), and dies satisfied that he freed himself. Thrall's response to him.
  Thrall: No, old friend. You've freed us all.
• In A Way Out, this happens to either Leo or Vincent, should you choose to fatally shoot one of them in the climactic battle. If Vincent is shot, he requests that Leo give his wife Carol his apology letter; Leo agrees, and Vincent dies smiling. If Leo is shot, Vincent takes pity on him and decides to stay by Leo's side and hold his hand, out of respect towards their former friendship, which comforts Leo enough that he dies with a smile on his face.
• Sota from The World Ends with You appears to smile, before he is erased, shortly after Nao's erasure.
• Xenosaga plays it straight with Jin as he finds peace in his final moments saying: "It's quiet now. I don't think it's ever been this quiet before in my whole life. This is what I sought. And yet, now that the time has finally come, I long for the noise of the past. I long for those hectic and chaotic days that once were. But this too, is pleasant, in an odd sort of way"
• Yakuza 2: As he lays dying from a gunshot wound to the stomach and shoulder, Ryuji asks his half-sister Kaoru to smile for him as it reminds him of his late mother. Kaoru complies, and Ryuji gives a smile of his own before he bleeds out.

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