Inspired in part by a discussion of Kingdoms of Amalur on the 01-31-2012 Bombcast. Everyone on this list has a similar issue: They died either moments after starting the game, or some time before. Generally not how you want to begin your (bogus) journey to video game stardom and beyond, but these guys managed to do okay despite their handicap. "Death is but a door, the video game monitor is but a window."
The initial seed for this list idea. Your hero is brought back to life to face a world eeriely similar to that of Skyrim's. Man, I haven't played it but I'm already being reductive about it. Sorry Rich Gallup.
Likewise, this Diablo-esque open-world RPG also begins with a nameless hero being brought back to life to save those still living. Other than that novel plot point, there's not a lot to be said for this game. Hopefully Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning doesn't follow suit (seriously Rich, I must apologise. I must just be crabby today).
Ditto. It's.. it's not a novel idea at this point. But I'd imagine Reckoning will be better than this Diablo also-ran. Actually it might be okay, I didn't get too far into it.
This was the first thing the Bombcast duders thought of when hearing about Reckoning's plot. I can see why it wouldn't be exactly like Planescape, given the nature of that game's hero and setting. In a word: Weird.
Maybe this was a bit too easy. There's a whole mess of games where you're controlling an undead person, so obviously they would have had to have died beforehand. This is the only one I'll include that has a zombie protagonist, I swear.
Ghost protagonists, though, that's a whole different story. Ghost detective Sissel uses his newfound spooky powers to solve the mystery behind his recent death and prevent the deaths of others.
If I'm allowed one ghost and one zombie, I'm allowed one vampire too. In the original Legacy of Kain, the eponymous Kain is the one who gets murdered and comes back as a vengeful and increasingly powered-up vampire anti-hero. In later games, that role goes to the brutally tormented Raziel, later reborn as the wraithlike Soul Reaver - a creature that scares even ageless vampires.
Unlike the Doom marine, the protagonist of Painkiller took the more painful and direct route to Hell by dying. That doesn't mean he's done fighting though. I've really been meaning to play the copy of this that I have. It sounds like it beats the shit out of the similarly themed Dante's Inferno.
