In video games, a protagonist's story may not end after the credits roll, especially if the player still wants to finish off a few side quests, tackle a couple of stray achievements, or if they just really like the game. However, years later, if and when a sequel comes out, players have to be curious about the fate of their former avatar.

7 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

The Hero's Spirit

In Twilight Princess, a mysterious skeletal hero named the Hero's Spirit occasionally shows after encountering howling stones in a dream-like haze to show Link a few fancy sword techniques. Those with a keen eye noticed that he had quite a resemblance to a certain mask-wearing, fairy-befriending hero of old. A few years later, this was confirmed by the Hyrule Historia.

It's rather fitting that one of the moodiest Zelda games should give one of the darkest possible ends to the protagonist of the previous game (at least chronologically). And given that Majora's Mask is arguably about as dark as it gets in the series, that former Link's fate should come as no surprise.

6 Grand Theft Auto 5

Johnny Klebitz

This former GTA protagonist doesn't just show up, he is brutally executed within minutes after his reappearance. After meeting the third and final member of the GTA 5 main cast, Trevor, players are treated to a scene in which he glasses Johnny Klebitz, the biker gang leader and main character of GTA 4's "The Lost And The Damned," in the face. Trevor then proceeds to crush Johnny's head under his boot in a wild rage.

That's not the only time that protagonists have turned up in different Grand Theft Auto games, of course. Claude and his (future antagonist) love interest, Catalina, show up briefly in San Andreas. For the observant super sleuth invested in cracking one of GTA 5's most infamous mysteries, CJ's own grave can be uncovered somewhere in the GTA 5 map.

5 Prototype 2

Alex Mercer

Given how unambiguously evil Alex Mercer was in the original Prototype, it was a stroke of genius to turn him into the bad guy for the sequel. Having spiked, squashed, and eaten about a third of New York City then releasing another iteration of the Blacklight virus, who else would have made such a compelling heel for Sergent James Heller to take down?

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Players get to see their new protagonist fight, make a truce with, get betrayed by, and ultimately defeat their old humanoid super-virus skin using a series of familiar and new bio-violent powers. Perhaps because Heller didn't innovate on the insanely high level of violence that the more blood and gore minded fans had come to expect, nobody new came along to consume and absorb his main character status.

4 Red Dead Redemption 2

John Marston

Technically, the sequel to Red Dead Redemption is a prequel game about the band that John Marston rode with back in his youth. It's unsurprising, then, that he should appear in Red Dead 2 as a young cowboy hitting his stride. Rather than showing up as a cameo late in the story, he appears in one of the earliest missions.

In fact, it's up to Arthur to rescue him from certain death, which comes in the form of a raging mountain bear. And it's good that he does, because Marston, just like Arthur Morgan, goes on to become (or already was, depending on the player's chronological view) one of the most iconic gunslingers in gaming. That decisive near-miss swipe to the face earns Marston his distinguishing and iconic facial scars.

3 Watch Dogs 2

Aiden Pearce

Watch Dogs 2's brighter, more optimistic environments and characters were a nice break from the often-gloomy original, but it was nice to see Aiden Pearce make a quick comeback in the appropriately named Aunty Shu side mission, Shadows. After investigating and uncovering the gang's human-trafficing activity, Marcus runs into a familiar baseball cap and mask locked in an underground cell.

After distracting the guard by hacking Aiden's cell phone, the grey-hat hacker is able to take out the guard and escape. He then goes on to take down the trafficking ring, giving Marcus a very 2010s-fashion trenchcoat skin as thanks. He also shows up as one of the near-infinite playable characters in the hack 'em up game set across the pond, Watchdogs: Legion.

2 The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim

The Champion Of Cyrodiil / Sheogorath

The last Oblivion players saw of the champion of Cyrodiil, they were whisked away to the Shivering Isles, a realm of Oblivion ruled by the mad Prince, Sheogorath. After discovering that the whole mad realm was underpinned by a cyclical event known as "the Greymarch," they are sent to defeat Sheogorath's other coin face, Jyggalag, the Daedric prince of order.

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If the player is able to defeat Jyggalag and break his curse, he names them the new prince of madness. One era later, players of Skyrim may accidentally wander into the mind of long-dead monarch, and the stage of Sheogorath (formally the Champion of Cyrodiil)'s dinner party, where the cheese-loving prince greets them with delight, rage, and a lecuture in cheese in equal measure, as the mad god is want to do.

1 Pokemon Gold & Silver

Red

Pokemon Gold and Silver are often considered the absolute peak in the series, in part because of the completely unexpected end game which adds almost the entirety of the previous game's maps in, as well as their respective gyms. To top it all off, the very final boss of the game turns out to be none other than Red, the main character of the previous games (or, at least, Pokemon Red).

As well as having a high level team, Red is hard to beat simply as, of all the pokemon trainers in the world, he is, bafflingly, the only one smart enough to diversify his pokemon elements AND carry a full team of six along with him, unlike all the other trainers who show up with, at most, two swap-outs comprising exclusively of one type of Pokemon.

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