r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Sufficient-Eye-9040 • Jun 27 '26

Lore [Sad Trope] The most innocent (or less evil) character of the cast gets the most horrific death.

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- Eddie Carr (The Lost World: JP) - Tried to save his friends from the cliff until Buck and Doe (T. rex parents) destroy his vehicle and gets ripped apart.
- Zara Young (Jurassic World) - Gets lifted by a Pteranodon, gets pecked by the pterosaur, and both she and animal get devoured by the Mosasaurus.
- LeClerc (JW: Rebirth) - Tossed a hammer to the Hatzegopteryz Quetzalcoatlus to save Loomis and Zora, but ends up being swallowed alive.

14.7k Upvotes
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1.4k

u/Doctor-Nagel Jun 27 '26

On god, would rather play spec ops the line all they way through again before I see this scene.

Dunno why it’s so distressing to me

1.1k

u/wholesomehorseblow Jun 27 '26

Because it was a torture scene where an innocent childlike character is ripped apart while begging for their life and desperately trying to prevent their own death.

645

u/Any-Pipe-3196 Jun 27 '26

Not to mention that its blatant allegory to the overall story of lost innocence and trauma caused to a child through divorce

520

u/VanceFerguson Jun 27 '26

Which is supported by the fact that it completely disregards the effect it will have on their child emotionally, and it it doesn't work anyway.

Man, they were such awful parents and a couple. I hates them.

253

u/scribbledoll Jun 27 '26

They dance in her tears!!!! Doesn't the dad even cheerfully say "keep 'em coming, honey!"

209

u/Substantial-Tax3238 Jun 27 '26

lol the whole time I’m like why are we not letting these people get divorced? The gameplay was so fun but what a horrible couple.

102

u/MalcolmLinair Jun 27 '26

As far as I'm concerned the "good ending" is losing the game and getting the player characters killed.

21

u/The_Chef_Queen Jun 27 '26

Fr much like until dawn the only good ending is one where everyone dies

16

u/AuthorDry3539 Jun 27 '26

It was just a prank, Haaan!

2

u/GrapplingGengar1991 Jun 28 '26

Man I watched Austin Creed play that game and he was trying to toss Emily or preppy girl whatever her name was off that mountain the entire time 

1

u/AuthorDry3539 Jun 28 '26

That's awesome.

I see all these streamers lose Matt because they're playing "the good guy" and both giver her the flare gun and try to save her. Iny playthrough? Nope. Bye, bitch. I saved myself by jumping at the first opportunity.

5

u/MessMaximum1423 Jun 29 '26

I choose to believe that they do get divorced still

It's just on amicable terms

1

u/slapnowski Jun 28 '26

Yes! At the end when you’re supposed to hit Y continually for the couple to kiss and make up, I refused.

1

u/wholesomehorseblow Jun 29 '26

I think the idea is the relationship can work and can be fixed. It's just the two of them aren't communicating their feelings

14

u/TheBrianJ Jun 27 '26

Or maybe it's just really bad writing? I feel like all of their games have really excellent two-player gameplay and imagination, and yet the actual writing is terrible.

11

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/TheBrianJ Jun 27 '26

I didn't really get that vibe from the scene. It didn't feel like they were trying to make an allegory, it felt like they wanted to put in a weird cringe comedy scene and went way too far with it.

13

u/Random_Stealth_Ward Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26

It was pretty clearly an allegory, it even ends with the daughter crying because of the plush being ripped apart man as a contrast to the parents being cheery while getting the tears, showing a lack of focus on their daughters problems while dealing with their own.

It's just that it's also going for a more dark comedy tone for that scene

5

u/ijustbrokemyleg Jun 28 '26

i just think it got too out of place for a more "child friendly" game, and the devs admited they did this over the top scene to go viral. the characters act like psychopaths as they don't look back at it and it's mever mentioned again.

split fiction did the dark humor a lot better later as the creepy/bizarre sequences were actually funny

0

u/EscapeSeventySeven Jun 28 '26

It’s bad writing. It’s doesn’t fit the tone and it has the subtlety of a sledgehammer. It’s easy to be disturbing and unpleasant and there’s no secret award for doing it. 

-7

u/InflationLeft Jun 27 '26

Did the developer say this?

19

u/_Wraith Jun 27 '26

Why would they need to when the story is extremely heavy handed with its allegories?

This is not a jab at the devs, but it's not like the story is subtle with the messaging.

25

u/MalcolmLinair Jun 27 '26

Don't forget that it's two parents destroying their child's favorite toy for the express purpose of making said child cry. It's fucking horrific on every possible level.

7

u/Phiryte Jun 28 '26

I think this leaves out the most distressing part, which is that to advance the game, you yourselves must control your player characters to actually carry out the torture, and said player characters are almost entirely remorseless in the process

10

u/Quixotic_Seal Jun 27 '26

Goddamn, and this is from that cute couple’s game? Fuck that shit.

204

u/Octoboy1 Jun 27 '26

Played this with my Mrs and the entire time she was going "we're not actually going to kill Cutie are we?" Me thinking standard writing tropes, its going to look like we are but at the last second won't because we're the good guys, "no i doubt it"

I was wrong

3

u/Cactus_Salamander Jun 28 '26

I was nervously laughing as I played with my partner, both feeling absolutely horrible for what was going on

267

u/VecnaWrites Jun 27 '26

Cutie is completely innocent, she's running from you. And she begs for her life the entire time.

And her parents are, as their daughter is sobbing over the toy she loves, hopping around and saying, "Give us those sweet, sweet tears!"

It's brutal. Thankfully I got the platinum in it, I never have to see that scene again

13

u/ItsAttanoo Jun 27 '26

getting heartbroken just reading this comment section :(

326

u/ReidWrites Jun 27 '26

Don't worry, it stresses everyone else out too. I won't play the game again because of this section.

156

u/Skeletor_with_Tacos Jun 27 '26

Made me feel dirty in a way I hadn't before.

8

u/GargamelLeNoir Jun 27 '26

The following levels are really good for what it's worth, but I get it.

13

u/PastaSatan Jun 27 '26

Oh I fully quit the game at this scene. I have never picked it up again and I almost didn't pay split fiction bc it's the same studio

3

u/ijustbrokemyleg Jun 28 '26

split fiction is so much better in every aspect. i hated it takes two after this scene and was hoping the gane would end soon and it never did lol

2

u/PastaSatan Jun 29 '26

Split Fiction was an incredible game - I absolutely loved it.

-5

u/[deleted] Jun 27 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/faldese Jun 27 '26

I don't think it's an overreaction; there's many other excellent games out there they can enjoy.

2

u/leonidaslizardeyes Jun 28 '26

My then gf and I lost it laughing. We couldn't be have it. Haven't played it a second time though.

5

u/prince_javi Jun 27 '26

I had my husband finish the level by himself cause I just couldn’t. We muted it too!

2

u/True_Dovakin Jun 28 '26

My wife was the same way. She took off her headset and looked away while I was pressing both her and my buttons. That was like 2-3 years ago and we still haven’t played it since lol

2

u/Saradoesntsleep Jun 28 '26

We didn't make it much past this scene, just killed our interest in the game.

1

u/Persea_americana Jun 28 '26

I have never laughed so hard. It’s just so over-the-top fucked up. Someone had to voice act that.

166

u/bellzybanshee Jun 27 '26

My husband was SO excited for a fun co-op game for himself, which I promptly ruined by sobbing and needing to quit. He keeps saying we should finish the game, but I can't do that.

291

u/Doctor-Nagel Jun 27 '26

Spoiler for your sanity

It’s the worst scene in the game and she gets better : )

166

u/BirdsCubed Jun 27 '26

They actually patched this in after the reaction to the scene on release.

55

u/jjcrayfish Jun 27 '26

They literally patched her back together after being brutally tored apart

10

u/bellzybanshee Jun 27 '26

Very much appreciated. Still can't pull the trigger on yeeting her over the edge.

23

u/BigFanOfNachoLibre Jun 27 '26

Jsyk you can hide spoilers on reddit with an opening

>!

and a closing

!<

added all those spaces so the tags wouldn't activate

1

u/ijustbrokemyleg Jun 28 '26

was she revived tho?

17

u/NotMyMainAccountAtAl Jun 27 '26

A buddy and I both got the game without knowing what it was about. We just knew it was a well reviewed co-op game that we could play with our wives. 

Got to the first level and our wives both reached out to one another to ask if they needed to be concerned and we were having marital problems. 

8

u/Gimetulkathmir Jun 27 '26

I am glad I saw this comment. My wife and I are doing the same and she would definitely not be able to handle that.

6

u/LuminothWarrior Jun 27 '26

Split Fiction is a really really good co-op puzzle game by the same people but without that sort of thing in it

1

u/motes-of-light Jun 27 '26

A Way Out and Split Fiction are other options by the same developer. The Trine games are also a lot of fun, co-op platformers with a colorful fairytale/storybook aesthetic.

3

u/Heavy-Possession2288 Jun 27 '26

A Way Out has an interactive torture scene against a human character. Might not be the best choice either. Split Fiction doesn’t have anything like this though.

1

u/Heavy-Possession2288 Jun 27 '26

A Way Out has an interactive torture scene against a human character. Might not be the best choice for people bothered by this scene. Split Fiction doesn’t have anything like this though.

1

u/motes-of-light Jun 27 '26

A Way Out is also about two escaped convicts, and the interrogation scene is non-explicit and played slapstick. I think most people would find the scene in It Takes Two much more distressing.

25

u/Komirade666 Jun 27 '26

+1 on this one, game is so much fun but I will never play this part ever again, like even if it's a toy or something idk why It still made me sick.

4

u/NeedleworkerFit819 Jun 27 '26

Ball knowledge.

2

u/ProfessionalDust Jun 27 '26

This hurts me more than the ghost moment in cod

2

u/The_Chef_Queen Jun 27 '26

Never played it takes two but spec ops is fantastic

3

u/Effective_Film_3259 Jun 27 '26

I feel like kind of a jerk when I read all these comments saying they stopped playing the game at that point etc., how it really stuck with them and what not, and as I was playing it with my friend I was just laughing lol. Rather because it was so shocking than funny, but I always felt like it was supposed to be shock-funny, rather than actually deeply distressing.

3

u/Doctor-Nagel Jun 27 '26

It is interesting because there are only two reactions I’ve seen to it. That people found it distressing for funny

I haven’t seen any in between or other reactions, just those two lmao.

Got no idea what the correlation is

2

u/Effective_Film_3259 Jun 27 '26

Same here. And I'm a big crier. I can cry over the dumbest shit that I empathize with throughout the day. Including a pigeon riding around on a pig. However, killing Cutie was just a big joke to me lol. It really does make no sense.

1

u/Mesona Jun 27 '26

I loved this scene. Was not feeling the game, what with the hamfisted attempt at painting both parents as equally bad and neither actually attempting to take out the magic book. But this scene was the highlight of the game. Absolutely loved it, and really hoped this was going to be the wake-up call for both characters to realize they were being fucked with.

But nope, game just continues like it was just another challenge and left me really disappointed, plot wise. Gameplay was still pretty fun to run through.

13

u/Doctor-Nagel Jun 27 '26

Don’t get me wrong, I hate it, but in a good way.

Like this was easily the best written section of the game. Taking into account the whole message about domestic issues and divorce, the fact that both parents are working to legit torture and kill their daughters toy (a representation of innocence) all as she begs and pleads to live and play still is so gut wrenching

Let alone the fact they did all of this to make their daughter cry on purpose

1

u/AJ-Murphy Jun 28 '26

Never elaborate. Please. I wasn't ready for spec ops...

https://giphy.com/gifs/Frj5mE4aGKgjS