Castlevania: Lament of Innocence has a pretty noteworthy one; Leon Belmont, the protagonist of the game, renouces his title in the ongoing Crusades of that time period, and all of the benefits that came with that very title, all in a bid to rescue his beloved Sara Trantoul, who had been kidnapped. While this comes across as of little surprise, knowing that the game is the origin story of the war between the Belmonts and Dracula, it's still pretty heart-wrenching that, even after everything Leon sacrificed for the chance to save his love, he failed. He arrived too late to save Sara from the fate of vampirism that her kidnapper imposed upon her. This turns very bitter at the end of the game, when Mathias Cronqvist, Leon's best friend in the Crusades, reveals that he basically masterminded the events of the whole thing, just to spite the very God that the two had fought in the name of.
Just listen to Leon moments after having to give Sara the merciful end she asked him to give her. Made all the more worse considering just where Sara's soul is from that day afterwards. Leon may have done everything he could to ensure that his beloved's dying wishes were fulfilled, but Sara's soul, now inhabiting the weapon that was used in the game, will never truly move on to the next world. Hell, the narration in the game's closing moments even lampshades this!
Narrator: The years before their next meeting pass slowly and quietly, but with finality; the intermission from this exquisite play in which two souls will never escape.
There's still a saving grace to it all though: if the track "Legend of the Moon" from Yamane's autobiographical disc from the Castlevania Soundtrack Box Set is anything to go by, Sara does not regret her fate, and in fact states that her giving up her life and soul to complete the Vampire Killer serves as proof that she really existed, and she is pleased that it is being used for the good of the world.
After defeating Walter, Death shows up to steal his soul, seeing as he no longer possesses the Ebony Stone. Then, Leon learns a saddening truth: Matthias betrayed and used not only him, but Sara, Rinaldo, and even Walter all so he could have revenge on God for taking his wife away from him. Now in possession of the stone, Matthias has become Dracula, the immortal vampire. He offers to share his immortality with Leon, seeing as he went through something similar in losing Sara, but Leon refuses, stating that Sara would have wanted for others to avoid her same fate. In one selfish act, Matthias destroyed his friendship with Leon and doomed both him and his descendants to being his sworn enemy. Leon can only bitterly lament what has become of his former friend.
No other game EVER touches on this point about them having ever been friends. Given how late in the series this game came out, this makes sense, but from another viewpoint, this stands out as just how final the destruction of their relationship was if even Leon's children only knows of Dracula, their eternal foe. Listen to that last line from Leon to Death as a message for Mathias again and think about that...
Leon: You have become a cursed being, and I will never forgive you. This whip, and my kinsmen, will destroy you someday.
In addition to the above and the earlier mention of the situation where two souls won't escape from, the game takes place in the 11th century. Dracula is only permanently destroyed by Julius Belmont in 1999. Think about that the next time you play this game....Leon's descendants and Mathias will be bound to a lasting feud for nearly 1000 years, the Belmonts all burdened with the weight of facing off against their father's former best friend for a millenia... and as noted, they'll never TRULY be free from their mission since Julius still has to answer to any possibility of restoring Dracula in the Sorrow games.
