These video game characters just won't stay down! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down the most resilient heroes who laugh in the face of death, surviving impossible situations, multiple deaths, and challenges that would crush ordinary protagonists.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the video game protagonists
00:14who have miraculously managed to survive crazy situations, or else who keep coming back to
00:18life in-universe.
00:20To be clear, these are just heroes, villains have a list of their own.
00:42Number 10, Zero, Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero, and Mega Man ZX franchises.
00:56Mega Man has had several darker and edgier counterparts in his storied franchise and
01:01spin-offs, but Zero is perhaps the most enduring.
01:04Originally introduced as the sword-wielding, ponytailed mentor to X in the Mega Man X series,
01:09Zero is killed multiple times in the X games, yet still manages to be revived, or at least
01:14rebuilt repeatedly.
01:28In Mega Man Zero, the now amnesiac reploid hero is revived in the distant future to face
01:33new threats.
01:34To top it off, Zero's essence survives in a bio-metal in the Mega Man ZX games.
01:39When you're as cool as he is, dying isn't an option.
01:50Number 9, Sekiro, Sekiro Shadows Die Twice.
01:56Honestly, we could have chosen any Souls-related protagonist, however we'd argue that Sekiro
02:04has the most character of the bunch.
02:06Sekiro is a ninja who becomes embroiled in a titanic conflict over immortality, and losing
02:11one of his arms is just the beginning of what he and the player have to go through.
02:22Chances are that Sekiro will die considerably more than twice.
02:25He's resurrected again and again due to the power of the Dragon's Heritage, the
02:30in-world explanation for Sekiro returning to life after facing all the punishingly difficult
02:35enemies in the player's way.
02:36Whether it's the player or Sekiro himself, taking down every brutal boss, no matter how
02:41many times you die, is truly impressive.
02:51Number 8, Master Chief, Halo Franchise.
03:01The faceless super-soldier at the heart of the Halo games, Master Chief John-117 is basically
03:07a one-man army.
03:08He nearly single-handedly wins the war against the alien Covenant forces, and repeatedly
03:13destroys several of the titular super-weapons.
03:16Between fighting his way through hordes of zombie-like Flood and Covenant soldiers, last-minute
03:20escapes from exploding Halos, and giving the Covenant back their bomb, Master Chief is
03:24ridiculously difficult to kill.
03:40The Covenant views him as a demon, and he certainly has the resilience of one.
03:44Even getting frozen in stasis isn't enough to keep Master Chief out of the fight.
03:48The Arbiter says it best at John's memorial.
03:59Number 7, Doomguy, Doom Franchise.
04:09The hero of this gloriously violent shooter series, the unnamed space marine known as
04:13Doomguy, or the Doom Slayer, is a downright unkillable badass.
04:16With his ever-expanding arsenal of powerful guns, weapons, and even his fists, Doomguy
04:21has mowed through hordes of demons effortlessly.
04:31Recent lore suggests he may be immortal, not even needing to sleep or eat.
04:35Whether the denizens of the underworld are attacking Mars, or he's taking the fight
04:39to hell itself, Doomguy will rip and tear until the fight is done, because his life
04:43will never be done.
04:52Number 6, Kratos, God of War Franchise.
05:03The eponymous God of War goes through a crazy number of trials and tribulations that would
05:07daunt even the toughest of mortal men.
05:09Kratos has killed dozens of gods across multiple pantheons and hundreds, perhaps even thousands
05:14of incredibly strong monsters of all sizes, including some truly gargantuan ones.
05:28Not even Fate Orb, the Fates, can stand between Kratos and protecting and or avenging those
05:33he cares about.
05:34The ghost of Sparda has been killed many times, and fought his way out of not just one hell,
05:40but several of them.
05:41Kratos is the textbook's definition of too angry to die.
05:55Number 5, Zagreus, Hades.
06:04Given that it's set in the Greek underworld of the same name, Hades revolves quite a lot
06:09around death.
06:10It's protagonist, Zagreus, dies time and time again on his quest to escape Hades, and
06:14his father, who shares the same name as his realm.
06:16The whip-smart young god must repeatedly overcome monsters, ex-lovers, and even his own dad
06:21on his quest to leave the underworld, and he doesn't let a little thing like dying
06:25over and over stop him.
06:38It's a tradition carried on by his sister, Melanee, in the sequel.
06:41Guess it runs in the family.
06:50Number 4, Everyone, Mortal Kombat Franchise.
06:55Yeah, the mortal part of this series' title really doesn't apply here, because nobody
07:02seems to stay dead.
07:04Even leaving aside whether all the grisly fatality moves throughout actually happen
07:07as they're depicted, there are a ton of story-related deaths in Mortal Kombat.
07:12And between the multiple timelines and resurrections, death just doesn't seem to stick for most
07:16of the cast.
07:17After all, if a character is dead permanently, they can't be a part of the roster anymore,
07:22and you can't rip out their spine anymore or whatever.
07:25Decide what the announcer says no one has ever truly finished in Mortal Kombat.
07:39Number 3, Nathan Drake, Uncharted Franchise.
07:49The video game equivalent of Indiana Jones, Nathan Drake has gone through some truly harrowing
07:53events while on his many treasure hunting adventures.
07:56Chase sequences, deadly traps, and shootouts all seem to follow Drake around like he owes
08:01them money.
08:02The plane sequence in Uncharted 3 alone is enough to prove the man has not just 9 lives,
08:06but infinite ones.
08:20Even unlike most of the impossibly still-alive video game heroes, Nathan Drake is just, well,
08:25a guy.
08:26No special powers or even equipment.
08:28All he has are his razor-sharp wit, some guns, and occasionally a grappling hook.
08:32And that makes the fact that he hasn't died yet even more impressive.
08:47Number 2, Link, The Legend of Zelda Franchise.
08:52Yes, yes, Zelda lorehounds, we know there are multiple Links.
09:00Whether they're all reincarnations of the original, or descendants, or both, there's
09:04always a Link trying to save a Princess Zelda.
09:07But whether you consider Link collectively or individually, it's truly astonishing
09:11that any of them survive their adventures in Hyrule.
09:14In the many dungeons he-slash-they traverse, the massive worlds they explore, and the countless
09:18monsters they've defeated along the way, Link even managing to reach Ganon, much less
09:23defeat him and save the kingdom, is an utterly miraculous feat.
09:26All those fairies must be working overtime.
09:53Number 1, Lara Croft, Tomb Raider Franchise.
10:02There are several versions of Lara Croft, and the fact that any of them manage to plunder
10:06those tombs and temples and live to tell the tale is positively incredible.
10:10Regardless of whether she wields a pair of pistols or a bow and arrow, Lara somehow survives
10:15trap-laden tombs, cultists, wild animals, and even gods and immortals on her adventures.
10:31While she has been presumed dead or been in situations she couldn't possibly survive,
10:35yes, looking at you, The Last Revelation, Lara always makes it through intact, though
10:40not necessarily unscathed.
10:41There's very little chance of anyone raiding her tomb, considering Lara seems capable of
10:45living through just about anything.
10:58Is there a video game character too stubborn to die that we forgot?
11:02We refuse to let you forget to tell us your picks in the comments.
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