There are a ton of different genres in the gaming world, and for every major genre, there tends to be at least a handful of subgenres that shoot off from it. The action-adventure genre, for instance, has open-world, Metroidvania, and survival horror games as subgenres, among many others. And for each of these genres and subgenres, there are countless gaming tropes associated with them. While most gaming tropes are specific to just one or two genres, the same can't be said for the "cruelty is the only option" trope, which can be found across the industry.
Video game protagonists are often the most important characters to get right, especially if they're the player-character. Players need to feel attached to their avatar, and while that definitely doesn't mean they need to all be lawful good, it does mean that the player needs to relate to their motivations. A character can commit some pretty heinous acts, but as long as the player feels like the act is justified, it's all good. That's where the "cruelty is the only option" trope comes in, potentially ruining this player/character bond for the sake of plot or drama.
The 'Cruelty is the Only Option' Gaming Trope Explained
The "cruelty is the only option" trope is most often used to describe a sequence in a game when the player is forced to commit a violent act that doesn't necessarily fit in with the rest of the game's mechanics. While players can blast their way through hundreds of enemies through some of the best FPS games' campaigns, the "cruelty is the only option" trope can rear its head when they're forced to commit certain acts of violence that would be deemed disproportionately cruel.
This doesn't mean sequences where players need to defend themselves against an enemy at close-range, or when they're taking out foes of equal strength, even if the player's methods are incredibly violent and gory. Instead, the "cruelty is the only option" trope just refers to those moments where the player is forced to carry out an action that seems egregiously vicious and savage, often on those who probably don't actually deserve it.
The Best Examples of the 'Cruelty is the Only Option' Trope in Gaming
Some of the best examples of the "cruelty is the only option" trope in gaming come from The Last of Us series. During the entire series, players are constantly murdering others, and sometimes even dogs, but it's all done under the guise that it's self-defense, and that's true, as letting the enemies get to Joel or Ellie will see them brutally killed as well. But at the end of the first Last of Us, players are forced to take a particularly grim action, when Joel chooses to save Ellie from the Fireflies, and kills the doctor about to perform surgery on her instead. This is a perfect example of this trope in action, as the player has no other choice but to kill the surgeon and take Ellie, which is a downright evil choice. The Last of Us Part 2 continues this, with Ellie hunting down WLF members. Once Ellie catches up to Nora, the player is forced to press the square button, which brutally beats Nora to death.
The PlayStation 2 classic Shadow of the Colossus is another great example of this trope, but with even more damning results than The Last of Us. Throughout the game, the player's only goal is to find and kill the 16 Colossi. However, most of these bosses don't fight back and are simply minding their own business when the player is forced to kill them. Valve's Portal has a more lighthearted version of this trope, forcing players to destroy the Companion Cube before they can move on to the next level. Even a handful of kids' games use this trope, such as Super Mario World, which occasionally asks the player to sacrifice the Yoshi they're riding on to reach higher ledges.