Top Ten Surprisingly Dark Moments

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Published 2023-10-31
Gaming isn't always about fun and light-hearted adventures. Some titles contain shocking and dark storylines that leave players in awe and they come out of nowhere! From unexpected character deaths to mind-bending plot twists to surprisingly horrifying backstories, we've got it all covered in this countdown.

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NEW COUNTDOWNS EVERY 1st and 15th!

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CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
01:12 10: Control Core Angel (Borderlands 2)
03:22 9. True Lab (Undertale)
06:10 8. Sectonia & Haltmann (Kirby)
09:25 7. Dark Curse (Miitopia)
11:55 6. Fugitive Arc (Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Rescue Team)
15:06 5. Athena’s backstory (Ace Attorney: Dual Destinies)
18:07 4. Light Dragon (Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom)
21:41 3. Giygas (Earthbound)
24:15 2. Star Door 15 (Trails)
29:18 Honorable Mentions
30:28 1. Max’s Death (Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse)

All Comments (21)
  • @HoshikoYui
    After both Athena and Renne entries…. Here’s an idea: Top darkest videogames backstories
  • @Chordata7
    You know stuff gets super dark when josh gotta put a trigger warning for an entry
  • @TheBlondeDude1
    I remember the fugitive arc, and it makes it very ironic that you learn in post game content that GENGAR is the human who got cursed and his Gardevoir pretty much sacrificed herself to ensure that he wouldnt die. Him pointing fingers at your character while HAVING to know that its HIMSELF who was the cursed human....just...wow.
  • @alvaroperez2349
    What better way to have a Halloween Special then moments that make you say: “how did they get away with that?”
  • @bennygairns2235
    All I have to say about Renne's backstory: that is honestly one of the most ****ed up backstories I've ever heard of in my life for a video game character.
  • @voidastralbirth
    6:11 - 9:19 Can confirm, this is why I firmly remain a Kirby fan. Also, we really need to start giving Shinya Kumazaki some credit. He’s the current director of the Kirby series after Sakurai stepped down. He’s dipped his foot into the eldritch and cosmically horrible, and came out a master of his craft: making quality Kirby games, and casually setting some of the darkest lore imaginable in stone for the Kirby series as a whole.
  • @Mermain123
    alphys wasn't trying to revive the monsters that became the amalgamates. she was trying to see if she could preserve their souls long enough to break the barrier but they happened to come back to life instead of turn to dust. it was an unintended result that she was just gonna roll with but then they started melting and became the amalgamates
  • @JoeyTurner476
    As you can imagine, I was thrilled to be writing entry Number 1 ^^ ...and I'm impatiently excited for when The Devil's Playhouse Remastered comes out ^^
  • @QuilledQilin
    When you started putting the Trails Series in your videos I told myself “there’s gonna be a countdown with Star Door 15 one day” and well, it’s here and just as hecked up as anticipated. Seriously, I cannot recommend this series enough. Seeing the growth of characters like Renne over the course of several games and seeing her go from small psychotic child to not-so-small only slightly psychotic teenager is just such a treat. And the bond she shares with Estelle and Joshua, especially in Sky 3rd and Zero, still brings me tears every time I see it.
  • @MrSolomonGaming
    "Kirby Pause Screens would get along real well with the Pokedex" So fun fact about that... The team that writes Pokedex entries and the team that designs Pokemon are two separate teams. The designers have no clue the adorable balloon is written as a child kidnapper, or the goofy big mouth giant Gengar is a portal to hell, etc. until later.
  • Athena's REALLY threw me for a loop. I knew shit would be bad, BUT DAMN. And Renne.... It's always the small little girls that always haunt us all.
  • @salsamonkey65
    The second I heard you say Trails I got chills... I still can't believe they actually pulled that off in a tasteful way
  • This video is the first time I found out about both Athena's backstory and Star Door 15. All I have to say is, "What the HELL, game creators!? How did you get away with this!?"
  • @gingerkays7362
    Something I really love about Pokémon Legends: Arceus is that it’s basically a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon game but with humans. Let’s see… -you’re brought to another world from your own in order to resolve a conflict -you’re part of a larger exploration guild but you also have your own independent team -there’s npc quests with items and new Pokémon as rewards -there’s a ranking system -there’s an extended period of time where you can’t return to the main hub SPOILERS you get betrayed by someone you trusted
  • @timmyreobed5043
    5:42 Another thing that I feel can kinda undermine the horror value of the True Lab is how, at the end of the day, none of the Amalgamates are any sort of malicious. The most threatening displays are from the Memoryheads seemingly trying to get you to join into a hive mind and Lemon Bread's ominous statements, but the Memoryheads treat the hive mind like a casual parts, and don't even force you to join, just act disappointed more than anything. And Lemon Bread's attitude can be chalked up to how two of it's components are antisocial introverts. Also they all have happy endings getting reunited with their families, so all's well that ends well I guess.
  • @tylergardner8033
    I’m so glad that Renne’s backstory from the Trails series was in the list because I literally had to leave my controller for a bit after learning what she has gone through, she was just a child for crying out loud. Did not expect at all how insanely dark it got. There are a few other dark moments but Renne takes the cake or she will rather host a tea party to take things. The Trails series is my all time favorite series and the characters and world building in the series are the main reasons why. I love Renne and I can’t wait how she will be in Trails Through Daybreak next year.
  • @KeyToAeris2024
    Star Door 15 is legit the darkest experience I’ve ever had in a game before. After a game full of magical creatures, strange worlds and quirky moments this basically dropped kicked me in the chest.
  • @waferdaze8017
    What gets me about the Sam and Max entry is just... How the games built up to that prior. When time travel became a thing, it's almost telling and honestly quite sad seeing Max go. Because in foresight... The games suggested just as much. In the past, the two are youthful eager kids who are playing games together, and generally having a good time. The future is so disconnected in that regard. Max in the future is almost just as young as he is throughout the games, just with sci-fi gimmicks. Sam on the other hand is old, likely suffering from more intense mental degradation. The Max he ends up with at the end probably also gets replaced. The tragedy is that they NEVER just get to grow together. Some version of Max just comes along as Sam's care taker, and it's sweet that he DOES care so universally about Sam he would do that, but Sam is lost in an old mind. Recalling his earliest adventures with the Max that he WAS growing up with. The one he likely had feelings for the most. It's such a gut punch looking at that scene again, because it really feels like the consequences of them NEVER truly opening to each other. They joked about it, they flirted with the idea, and were likely close to it multiple times. But it wouldn't last, so Sam felt incomplete, words not said to his little buddy.
  • @KudaGeatsune3821
    Nobody was ready for star door 15 And it remains the most gruesome backstory not just for a trails character but for a jrpg character in general
  • @tanandalynch9441
    Isn't Legends Arceus supposed to be Mystery Dungeon but you get to remain human?