10 Video Game Characters You Had ONE CHANCE To Get

One shot. One opportunity.
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[@barletproductions]

Something about taking the guy that started the conflict in Chrono trigger with you to save the world and redeem him is so beautiful

[@joshuawidener8407]

Tell me you didn't play the game or pay attention without telling me you didn't play the game or pay attention lol. Magus didn't start the conflict

[@oreodeplata922]

Missed Cloud in Final Fantasy Tactics, he’s missable though the window to do so is much more forgiving than the ones shown here

[@theREALfearsKLOWNs]

That unlock was a *chore*! Worth it tho.

[@eddythefool]

I remember seeing him in another list with the issue being that his stats are not worth getting at that point in the game, unless you want to grind.

[@theREALfearsKLOWNs]

@@eddythefoolIt's total fan service. Depending on how you feel about grinding, the time sink might not be your jam. Being able to pull out Onni Slash from that point on tho is power fantasy chef's kiss. Also, I might be a little biased; big FFT fan boy with TONS of hours put in.

[@eddythefool]

@@theREALfearsKLOWNs haven't played much FFT, but if the character quest lines were like the ones FFTA2 then only completionist and fans will do them. Iirc what the list brought up was that Cloud was obtained pretty late in the game so you didn't really get to use him much.

[@screamingfalcon71]

And if you make ONE wrong decision in a dialog choice, he's locked out for good.

[@samslenderman]

These kinds of details in games are always so cool, adding layers of depth and immersion. Its typical when RPG's include these things, but I was most impressed with Dishonored 2's Stilton storyline, because the game does NOT outright tell you about the option to save him from the ritual in the past, it's something the creators TRUSTED gamers to be intelligent enough to figure it out or try out of curiosity, and then rewarded us with an extensive storyline and character development that is so rewarding and adds so much to the narrative and ending. That's how good games are made, devs who actually care about those details and put in that extra effort, knowing full well that it may not even be seen by a majority of players, and trusting us rather than holding our hands and spoon-feeding us.

[@TerranFabricator]

Honestly, I'm impressed and amazed to see Arcanum in a list as it was an amazing yet often overlooked game.

[@patriksvensson2360]

Wholeheartedly agree.

[@thegoodtimesroll]

Absolutely

[@dantecoal7584]

There are dozens of us! DOZENS!

[@gabrielstratton1775]

In suikoden 1 there is Gremio. A powerful character in the early game that sacrifices themselves for the team about 1/4 of the way through the story. If by the time you launch the final battle you have recruited all 107 other stars of destiny(the games name for certain characters) a powerful time mage appears and brings Gremio back by plucking them from the timestream just before they died.

[@ivelchild]

Adding onto this, one of the other characters dies in a story duel unless you get enough defense prompts correct, the only thing that stopped me from getting Gremio back.

[@Tyrranis]

You could probably make this list several times over just using Suikoden characters if you wanted to. Given that each game has 108 recruitable characters (though this number does include the player character and those scripted to join you as part of story progression), it's easy to miss out on a few if you don't know how to get them, or when they become available. The first installment wasn't that bad with this (with a few exceptions), but later ones really dialed this up.

[@Outlaw88]

I was going to suggest the same thing.

[@oreodeplata922]

True lol, the squirrel squad alone 😅

[@damonscutz372]

Why does no one show love to this series?

[@jennyf-eg5gl]

No idea but there are a dozen of us who love this series. Dozens! ​@damonscutz372

[@jennyf-eg5gl]

I had to restart Suikoden 4 when I missed someone. I remember print 108 list to make sure that I didn't miss anyone.

[@austinyo69]

Adoring fan even has the same voice as the adoring fan in oblivion

[@chowda4u]

Tir McDohl in Suikoden 2, available only if you load your saved game from Suikoden 1 at the start and recruitable after a few criteria are met.

[@jennyf-eg5gl]

I love that. I totally back track to bring him to the final battle. And I love the double leader attack.

[@shadowrider6578]

yea and his soul rune power is just so great to use for farming monsters.its literally can one shot

[@DonkThikkness]

Remember Shining Force 3 having several missable characters. One being a werewolf that you had to push across town into your base. Fun game that needs a remaster.

[@kylepaup]

I can't believe you included Dog!!!!! That warms my heart... I need an Arcanum remake

[@danielmiller3596]

We all do

[@CyberGhost42]

Roo the kangaroo in Streets of Rage 3 comes to mind. He was one of the mini-bosses alongside Bruce. The idea was Bruce would stand back most of the fight and Roo would be much more aggressive, but if you defeated Bruce before Roo then Roo would run away and could be selected as a character from then on after a continue.

[@agrougroum2562]

You could basically fill the list just with Fire Emblem characters. But the most random recruit I can think of is Stefan (Radiant Dawn).

[@QuickSilverKitsune]

Stefan would've definitely been better then Donnel, since Most players are going to at least attempt to get Donnel a level since he just joined Stefan is a pain since you can find him with anyone, but HAVE to use specific units to get him.

[@joshuawidener8407]

You could also fill up half the list with ff1 characters. And then there is pokemon

[@chrisnedderman6759]

I would add Leena from Chrono Cross also since you have to turn down letting Kid join you multiple times in order for Leena to join you. If you accept Kid when she first asks to join, Leena will get jealous of her and subsequently not join you at all because of it. If you deny Kid at first (which you have to tell her no multiple times for her to leave you alone) she will ask to join again later after Leena has already joined you and there is no problem between the two then.

[@flintshaman]

Glenn too. So many characters hidden behind that single long annoying choice

[@kevinnagle9616]

The original star Ocean game had so many you could miss

[@felman87]

If there's a follow up, Reiji/Chris from Persona 1. Not only do you have to go to certain places and talk to specific people but you also need to talk to his mom in the convenience store and agree to be Reiji's friend. But only talk to her once, because if you talk to her more than that you won't get him. Then you have to reject other potential members as they ask to join your group, go through the 2nd dungeon of the game with only 4 party members instead of 5 and finally, you get Reiji once you get to the other world. Talk about a journey. But it's worth it. Reiji is strong. Also, there are certain persona that only he can equip. Yeah, if you miss Reiji, you're permanently locked out from acquiring certain personas. So, he definitely can carry his own weight when he joins the party a bit late.

[@kaneman556]

I'm kinda surprised HK-47 and/or Juhani from Kotor didn't make the list

[@user-lm3nr1yc2t]

I hate when you go though loops to unlock someone and they suck 😂

[@Sylvestro]

through hoops*

[@iyeetsecurity922]

*through poops

[@joemccracken7982]

The suikoden series was filled with missable characters

[@jaimekloth]

Never killed him in Dragon age. Dead men tell no tales so knew already he was worth more alive for information alone.

[@mattalan6618]

Vincent from FF7 and Cloud from FF Tactics

[@joshuawidener8407]

Uh no, you can always recruit Vincent.

[@Qunarr]

Sten from dragon age origins. If you leave lothering without releasing him from the cage, he disappears forever.

[@stevenalean9205]

I recruited him after releasing him.

[@Bloomingtide]

same for leliana if you don't ever visit the tavern in Lothering 😅

[@dylanbyard4594]

​@stevenalean9205 I did too. In my first playthrough I got Sten by accident at the start of the quest line about the Golems😅

[@stevenalean9205]

@@dylanbyard4594 That happened to me to. I gonna start a new game since it's been a long time since i played it once i have a planned day for it.

[@catherinesavill7678]

Gale, Baldur’s Gate 3, did my first play-through without him because I didn’t walk past his portal in the opening stage of the game so didn’t realise he was even a character until I started another game 😂

[@wesleymosier1786]

In KOTOR, you can reject Juhani as a companion.

[@HitchcockJohn]

You can technically go through the whole game without recruiting HK-47, since you only meet him by walking into a very specific shop. You can skip obtaining him all together if you’re not overly concerned with diplomacy against the Tusken Raiders. In the sequel, HK-47 is badly damaged and can only join the party if you restore him to working order. That requires you to get several parts all of which can only be obtained at very specific points in the game, usually when you encounter an HK-50 in a location you won’t be able to return to.

[@mattalan6618]

@@HitchcockJohn i remember having 47 in both games. once i did i felt so OP that the rest of the games were a breeze

[@SilverSpectre266]

Unlockable characters was always such an awesome hidden mechanic, especially if you earned something like that without knowing it was possible. I miss games doing that

[@user-zf2ru4eq4w]

In Chrono Cross a few characters you only had one chance to gain. Now in the Radical Dreamers you can gain them in a 2nd gameplay with the ones you already did from the 1st playthrough.

[@errtothebear]

A great game for this list is Radiata Stories because there are so many characters to get but depending on choices and other things you can miss some entirely or lose them forever

[@sjefdebelg3630]

Arcanum...was sooo much fun... nice to see it's not forgotten

[@damonscutz372]

Ogre Battle could fill this entire list

[@Bman32x]

Every time this list comes back, Donnel from Fire Emblem Awakening is always my favorite pick. My 90s kid paranoia helped me know there was more to him than a weak farm hand with a bucket on his head

[@chrisdoran3673]

The OG let me solo her

[@eddythefool]

The more modern Magikarp power character

[@DAWS0NStream]

Magus is fun, cuz hes not hard to get, but super easy to miss!

[@DivineCrusader2012]

On my first playthrough of "Dragon Age Origins", I was able to recruit Zevran, and even kept his loyalty later in the game. But... I did miss out on recruiting Leliana. I didn't even know she existed on my first run, cuz I never went into the tavern in Lothering. I did eventually recruit her, but not until my second playthrough... whoops?

[@Mikeprocurator]

Unicorn overlord: almost all of the companions

[@Shawn-le1wq]

Never knew about dog til today. I always love it when I see Arcanum in lists like these because I almost always learn something new. What a fantastic game.

[@Kilthan2050]

Arcanum is a blast, and the Worthless Mutt becomes an absolute whirling dervish of death.

[@WhatTheFirstAidSpray]

The Shadow entry is actually worse because you're wrong about the choice. You're not given the choice to "wait for Shadow", you're given the choice to "Jump" or "Wait", the latter of which is to any seasoned RPG veteran code for "there's something about yo happen, make sure you're equipped and healed". At no point does the game make it clear that saving him is an option.

[@insanehiker5587]

Not to mention that you need to arrive with more than 5 seconds on the timer, otherwise you won't get the wait prompt.

[@Blue-EyesWhitePrivilege]

No, they weren't wrong at all. She said that you have the option to jump, or to wait (for shadow.) This is a problem with the English language, and your choice to take what was said in a very specific way, rather than looking for other possible meanings. The option is to wait, but you're specifically waiting _for Shadow,_ that was the point.

[@WhatTheFirstAidSpray]

​@@Blue-EyesWhitePrivilege Except at no point does the game suggest in any way that Shadow is coming back. He leaves telling the party he has no right to fight by their side after betraying them. He doesn't say "I need to go and take a dump, can you wait for me at the cliff above the airship?". Yes, you have the choice to wait for him, but only if you know ahead of time that waiting for him is an option. Most players (like myself) either didn't realise or more likely assumed that- as had happened before- he had buggered off again and would reappear at a later point. That there is an option to wait is not an indicator that there is a reason to do so. As I mentioned, it is a common feature of an RPG to have a "proceed/don't proceed" text choice at the end of a section.

[@keeganlafferty1395]

the characters you can recruit during major battles in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes would fill up a whole list or two if they were counted separately, basically most, if not all, of the major battles has a character from the enemy faction you can recruit, however you must dedicate strategic resources to the strategy to do so as well as activate said strategy when the prompt comes up, otherwise when you defeat the character in question without the recruitment active that's it: they're dead

[@PikaLink91]

I love hidden stuff like this.

[@DJSchreffler]

The Suikoden series runs on this, which makes it very difficult to get all the 108 Stars of Destiny needed to qualify for the True Endings. In the first game, you have to advance the plot to X point, and then stop talking to your strategist, and go get the character. Talking one more time means that you lose a character and cannot bring a heroic sacrifice back.

[@teachersama]

Played Chrono Trigger on my SNES back in the day, but I didn't know I could play as Magus. I think I finished that game (or was about to) without him.

[@kaneblaireau4864]

Gong and Yogurt in Shining Force!

[@BOTHthosearetaken]

I got several on the first try As a rule of thumb if a game asks if you want to let someone live you should do it at least the first time Mercy is the mark of a great man AND provides a late game bonus nine times out of ten

[@yunarukami2512]

You could make a entire 3 lists of just suikoden characters

[@joshuawidener8407]

You can make half the list with just ff1 characters

[@hackcubit9663]

It's my vague recollection that Final Fantasy 6 had at least three or four missable characters, the others being Mog, Umaro, and Gogo. Can't say whether they were one-chance characters or if they all just had obscure requirements to recruit them, like Yuffie and Vincent in Final Fantasy 7.

[@stevenchase7013]

They weren't missable but were very obscure, out of the way, finds I'm world of ruin

[@joshuawidener8407]

You can get them at any time

[@dantecoal7584]

Never seen Arcanum mentioned like anywhere before, and I LOVE the game so damned much. I still poke around with it from time to time, and while I have 0 hope that it would ever get a modern Baldur's Gate treatment, I can damn well dream.

[@ScaerieTale]

I actually didn't find out Cloud Strife was in Final Fantasy Tactics until a few years ago when I saw a video like this :D

[@merikksoleil5648]

Ravness. Not only do you have one chance to proc her trigger on the path to join you, you have four more times where you can mess it up but only after you proc the first trigger. And given she's only available on one route of Tactics Ogre, there're so many times you can mess it up by not listening to battle conversation, not doing a mission before another required mission, and missing the newspaper report that opens up saving it. These are all missable AFTER the first time, and have to be done in order.

[@mar71n32n0v1lLL0]

In Cyberpunk, if you have the charged-jump implant, a fully charged jump can easily get you back to the room Takemura is fighting in, straight through the hole in the floor/ceiling. When I first ran into the mission, I didn't even think about leaving alone, I just jumped back up through the fire and flames, and used the apartment's entry door as a bottleneck, very useful for clearing out the enemies that assault you...

[@DgoSiq]

Donel is one of the two characters in Awakening that can use the skill Armsthrift to it's full extent. If the character reaches luck 50 or over, it's weapon will never degrade. Making him a powerhouse.

[@waskodestroy]

How about Ash's transformation from vandal hearts. The vandilier is very hard to get but insanely overpowered

[@matthewrowlett1564]

Why is donnell on this list? The game actually TELLS YOU how to unlock him... still one shot, but it's not hard. Now, back in Path of radiance on GameCube, THATS a tough one... There's a sword master guy. In a desert. And you have to stand on a CERTAIN Tile, before a certain turn, to unlock the guy.... you don't get a do-over.

[@ohdubwest7533]

Ahhh … Dog. I remember having him in Arcanum. LoL, he hit like nuke by the end game. Such a good boy.

[@timcasey8314]

Ogre Battle: A Person of Lordly Caliber had several (at least) characters where you had to do weirdly specific things in order to recruit them. That game desperately needs a remaster!

[@danielmiller3596]

While I LIKE the leap of logic connecting Fallout and Arcanum... and you could have noted Sierra was also around back in those days... not the same dog. Just same premise.

[@AngelTerri]

Missed the 3 other ppl in Persona 1. If you take Brown into your party at the beginning, you’ll never be able to recruit the other 3 ppl.

[@AjaxCal]

Anyone know the background music of the list?

[@nataliebateman1151]

Correct me if I'm wrong (Because I've never tried this), but I believe you can (In some sense) recruit Yurgir from Baulder's Gate to your team. I think he's a summon though. Similar to those three trolls.

[@metleon]

I had Chrom carry Donnel through that mission, and then had him marry the bunny lady. Their son got his extra growth ability, so it wasn't long before he could pretty much solo encounters.

[@robertsanders4575]

To heck with Takemura, he's a corpo through and through.

[@626games]

I dunno. I think the gnome kicking the dog to death is kinda responsible. Lol😂

[@mattalan6618]

and funny

[@giantcat4354]

In FE Awakening Donal starts weak but quickly becomes one of the strongest amd most flexible characters in the game. He was my tank and i relied on him.

[@gascraiccraic3857]

Great UBP last week. Great to hear other voices. Congrats to Scott More non Scott podcasts + female voices please!

[@mattalan6618]

what about the hidden characters in Gauntlet Legends/Dark Legacy? yeah the were basically palate swaps of the main ones but they still count

[@psudodrake]

The Adoring Fan is a JOY! and he doesn't CARE one way or another of anything you do. He's like a constant Hype Man.

[@teenkitsune]

There's a character in Persona 1 that requires very specific steps to add them to your party, they should've been on the list.

[@EonEsper-Kriz]

Even if you save Shadow, he choses to not escape and let himself die for no reason during the end cutscenes. 😭

[@erikberggren3549]

I love Arcanum! Such an epic game ❤️

[@chadflanaganCFC]

Zevran is a valued member of the team, until he decides to stab you in the back should you not necessarily bond with him too much.

[@patriksvensson2360]

Or just keep him on your good side. It's not hard.

[@chadflanaganCFC]

Eh considering your party consists of a rowdy dwarf, a freakin dragon man, the heir to the kingdom, a shape shifting witch, a granny who's possessed by a good spirit, and Liliana. Not gonna lie raising the bond levels with just a elven assassin didn't exactly sound interesting on a first play through.

[@CaptCrapBag]

I was not into recruiting him AT ALL, when he shows up in a later game I also refused his help then too

[@chadflanaganCFC]

@@CaptCrapBag I'm not against him that heavily, but like compared to the others in the base game he's easily most mundane, even the dog is more interesting.

[@Algeo69]

What about Sin rhe Aeon in Final Fantasy 10. Can only get him at 1 point during the game and is significant in the end againt dark aeons.

[@stevenbart2375]

Honestly, recruiting Donnel isn't too hard. He just needs to land three killing blows and one more hit. Pair him with Kellam for the big defense boost, and he should be able to survive at least two hits. If you use both Lissa and Maribelle, or at least have one with a Mend staff, he won't die if you play smart, unless the enemy gets a BS, single-digit percent crit.

[@user-lm3nr1yc2t]

I did not know goro was saveable till my second playthrough

[@robertsissco2439]

I somehow got lost in the building and found him on my first. I didn't know that he was miss-able until I a FAQ on how to save him.

[@mr.e6289]

'Shining Force' games coudl have there own set alone them and 'Phantasy star'

[@superwolfleo]

You missed the entire suidoken series, where there were quite a few chars throughout the entire series that were chars that could only be recruited at once.

[@timthegem]

Maybe that's why it was left out.

[@stevenrichard9047]

One trick I found in cyberpunk is to use the double jump to get to him immediately

[@Revenant420]

You forgot Amos from Dragon Quest VI

[@jethiliusavalar6449]

Have you done a video on 10 late bloomer party members? If not, can y'all think about doing one? I really like Donny is all lol

[@shallendor]

I missed Cloud in my first through of FFT! : (

[@DragonLigerX]

Out of the ones on I played I didn't miss any of these

[@supernova582]

The adoring fan is great for morale support lol. And he won't judge you for your less than honorable actions

[@mattalan6618]

i always laughed when i did evil in front of him

[@davidfitzpatrick6535]

11:01 Too bad most video games end up killing the dog for dramatic purposes. DANG U A PLAGUE TALE INNOCENCE DANG U!

[@calick7208]

Lion… 😢

[@davidfitzpatrick6535]

@@calick7208 I thought his name was Leon? I although I think ur'e right in saying his name means lion in French.

[@Insanemonk11]

Even though he's 1,000% always with the Corp, I usually let Goro live in every playthrough I do

[@disturbedrebirth]

The dog from Dragon Age Origins.

[@javypotter1994]

Minthara in BG3 I killed her on my first play through only to find out she’s a companion if you knock her unconscious instead and find her later in Moonrise Towers (in her underwear if you loot everything…which I did) 😂

[@damnyoukira]

Should have had Ravness from tactics ogre.

[@katherinebeard8304]

Missed Cicero from Skyrim

[@thedisconnect5769]

How are you wrong right off the bat? There are 3 occasions you can get shadow =| I think in the pure english version it may have been just one? I dont know I played emulator solely on the translated international version but I know for a fact theres 3 points you can get him once in a pub once in a forest and once in the mentioned method. The first two require paying him to hire him and he will charge you regularly and leave your party if you cant pay.

[@bulbus7062]

Shout out to Donnel, who is a pain to recruit, but an absolute OP beast once leveled, as opposed to Cloud in FF tactics…

[@QuickSilverKitsune]

Except hes not hard go recruit...at all(at least as far as playing normally goes) Most FE veterans(and even noobs tbh) should've/would've noticed his unique skill, and set up kills to get him at least one level up in his chapter. Challenge runs i can maybe see him being hard, since you have to waste some EXP getting him onto even footing with the other Shepards, but as long as you dont go insane with how fast you push forward, and arent too squeamish about him potentially getting hit on enemy phase, you get plenty of opportunities to get him that 100 exp.

[@joshuawidener8407]

He's not OP whatsoever lol and he's incredibly easy to get.

[@Lord_Raptor]

Cloud in Final Fantasy Tactics

[@Krow_Lenin]

Castlevania 3: Dracula's curse; Sypha, Alucard, or Grant can be found and recruited, you can only choose one.

[@joshuawidener8407]

Technically that's not true. You can recruit them all. But you also end up having to kick two out lol

[@LPJZ456]

Because of this video I have an excuse to go back and play cyberpunk and dishonored 2 🙏🏾

[@darklonermage1]

Surprised that not a single one was from Crono Cross.

[@michaelmooney5246]

None of these are as frustratingly missable as the Space Marine in the recent WH40K Rogue Trader. He's central on the box art, but the window to recruit him may as well not exist. It's ridiculous.

[@BlueGriffin20]

When you said Shadow from FF6, I thought you meant Shadow for Sonic 06. Then was really confused when you called it a great game. 🤣

[@DarkFoolJin]

jeah, this list could just be filled with Chrono Cross alone :D

[@mattalan6618]

with a cast of 40 you could fill more than 1 list

[@jackwoods5239]

Yeah and if you don't spend a ton of time with Zevran he then turns on you at a later date and tries to kill you AGAIN, thus reinforcing the whole kill first mindset.......

[@Dabergyt]

Jess is awesome! 😊

[@TrailmixGaming]

Roo from streets of rage 3 you only had one chance to get as a playable character

[@MDKGunner]

And Shiva or Ash depending on the version

[@Bman32x]

Unless you know the button cheat codes 😂 A lost art these days

[@ryanrowe1975]

The real life dog

[@marvelsProtege]

R. I. P The Real-life Dog 🐕

[@YukikoEx]

I basically always got Zevran unless I decided to kill him

[@Sterlingme]

Wasn't there another one in Witcher 3?