Free video game hero scripts

[Cutscene. A collapsed chapel at dawn. REN sits up in the rubble, a small iron lantern still glowing in one hand] Okay. Okay, I'm alive. That's... good. That's a good start. [looks around] Where is everyone? Brother Aldis? Mara? [silence. Ren looks down at the lantern] You're still lit. The roof came down on us and you're still lit. [touches the glass] It's warm. It shouldn't be warm. There's no oil in it. There's never been oil in it. [stands slowly, wincing] He told me to carry you to the coast. That was the whole job. Walk to the coast, hand you over, come home, have supper. "Don't open the shutter, Ren. Don't let it touch the ground. Don't let anyone take it from you." Three rules. I thought he was being dramatic. He was always being dramatic. [beat] He wasn't, was he. [looks out through the broken wall at a sky full of smoke] There's no home to come back to. Is there. [beat. Grips the handle] Fine. Then I'll take you to the coast. And whoever did this can come and try to put you out.

[Session: combat barks. Character: TAMSIN, ranger. Short lines, read each one separately] [ENEMY SPOTTED] 1. Movement in the trees. Get low. 2. There. Two of them, on the ridge. 3. We've got company. [RELOAD / NOCKING ARROWS] 4. Quiver's light. Give me a second. 5. Last arrows. Make them count. [TAKING DAMAGE] 6. [effort, short] Agh! I'm fine. I'm fine. 7. [effort] That one went through the leather! [LOW HEALTH] 8. I can't take another hit like that. 9. Need a healer. Now, please. [ENEMY DOWN] 10. Clean shot. 11. Stay down this time. 12. One less. [ALLY DOWN] 13. No, no, get up! I've got you, I've got you. [FLANKING] 14. I'll go wide. Keep their eyes on you. 15. Circling left. Don't shoot me, please. [MISSED SHOT] 16. Wind took it. Again. 17. Ugh. That was a warning shot. Obviously. [COMBAT OVER] 18. Quiet again. Check the bodies, then we move. 19. Is everyone still breathing? Good. Let's not do that again.

[Audio log, recovered. Background hum of failing life support. Engineer OKONKWO speaks into a wrist recorder] Relay Nine, day forty-one. Engineer Okonkwo. Still the only one here, which makes the staff meetings very short. Good news first. I got the water recycler working again. It only took six hours and most of a spare boot. Bad news. The long-range dish is still pointing at nothing. I can hear the supply ship, sometimes. Little pings. Like someone knocking on a door three rooms away. [beat] I'm going out on the hull tomorrow to turn the dish by hand. If you're hearing this and I didn't make it back in, the tether clip on airlock two sticks. Kick it. Hard. It's not personal. [quieter] And if you're from the supply ship. Hello. I've been talking to the plants. They're good listeners. But I'd like to come home now. Okonkwo out.

[Gameplay. The courier, JUNE, walks through a dead town of melted glass, a package on her back] Package for Mister Hollis. Ninety-one Pike Street. [looks at the rubble] Pike Street's a crater. Great. Love that for Mister Hollis. Three hundred miles. Two sandstorms. One very rude goat. And the address is a hole in the ground. [checks the label] "Fragile." Sure. Because everything else out here is so sturdy. "Signature required." From who? The crater? [hears something, stops] Okay. That's either the wind or something with teeth. [draws a pipe wrench] It's never the wind.

[Gameplay. A dark hospital corridor. DEV holds a phone up as a flashlight, whispering] Okay. Generator's in the basement. Basement's at the end of Ward C. Easy. Easy, easy, easy. [a door creaks somewhere ahead] Nope. That's just the building. Old buildings make noises. It's settling. It's been settling for thirty years. [walks. Stops at a gurney] Who leaves a gurney in the middle of a... why is the sheet warm? Sheets don't stay warm. Nobody has been on this floor since they closed it. Nobody. That's what Marcy said. "Nobody goes up to Ward C, Dev. Not even the cleaners." [beat] So why are there wet footprints going into room twelve? [backs away] Okay. Different plan. New plan. I'm going to walk very quietly and very fast. [the phone light flickers] No, no, no. Battery, please. Ten percent. You can do it. Stay with me. [the light dies. Silence. A slow breath] Okay. Okay. I can see the exit sign. Just follow the green. Follow the green. One foot. Then the other foot. I'm really good at feet. [something breathes behind Dev] [very quietly] Don't turn around.

[Gameplay. Morning on a small farm. The player character, ROWAN, pulls up a turnip] Oh! Oh, look at you. My first turnip. [holds it up] You're slightly lopsided. That's fine. I'm slightly lopsided too. [looks at the field] Twelve more where you came from. And a row of carrots that I'm fairly sure are weeds. Granddad would have laughed. He grew three hundred a season. [smiles] But he started with one too, I bet. Right. Into the basket. Then pancakes. Farmers need pancakes.

[Cutscene. The huddle, final seconds, rain. The rookie, CASEY, looks at ten tired faces] Alright. Alright, everybody breathe. I know. I'm the rookie. I know you all wanted Marcus back. [beat] He's not here. I am. Forty yards. Eight seconds. One play. Line, give me three seconds. That's all. Three seconds and I'll buy everyone dinner. Wilder, you run deep and don't look back. I'll find you. [hands in] We didn't come this far to kick a field goal. We're going. On two.

[Driver radio. In-helmet, engine roar implied. Driver AVERY NAKAMURA-COLE] Box, box? No. No, we're not boxing. Tyres are fine. [breath] Okay, they're not fine. The rears are gone. But I can hold him. [effort through a corner] He's got nothing on the straight. He's got nothing. [beat] How many laps? Four. I can do four. Just tell me the gap. Don't tell me about fuel, don't tell me about the rain. Just the gap. [breath] Point eight. Copy. Watch this.

[Session: stealth barks. Character: WREN, thief. Whispered unless noted] [SNEAKING, IDLE] 1. Slow. Slow. Rooftiles are loud. 2. Guard below. Wait for the lantern to pass. 3. Nobody looks up. Nobody ever looks up. [PICKING A LOCK] 4. Come on, little pin. Come to me. 5. There. Easy. Easier than his last one. [TAKEDOWN] 6. Shh. Sleep now. 7. Sorry, friend. Nothing personal. Mostly. [BODY HIDDEN] 8. Into the crate you go. Sweet dreams. [SUSPICION RISING] 9. Did he hear that? Don't move. Don't breathe. 10. Too close. Back into the shadow. [SPOTTED, louder, urgent] 11. That's it, I'm seen! Go, go! 12. Over the wall, now! [ESCAPED] 13. [breath, catching it] Okay. Lost them. Lost them. 14. Note to self. Never trust a quiet chimney.

[Barks. PIP, a round little hero who bounces everywhere] 1. [jump] Hup! 2. Wheee! 3. Got a star! 4. Shiny! 5. [bump] Oof! I'm okay! 6. Ooh, a secret door! 7. Next level, here I come! 8. Pip power! 9. Bye-bye, grumble bug! 10. That was fun! Again?

[Cutscene. The walls of Dawnspire, before sunrise. CAPTAIN IRISEN faces a tired, frightened army] Look at me. All of you. Look at me, not at the hills. I know what's out there. I've seen it. I watched it take Harrowgate in a single night. [beat] And I know what you're thinking. That we are too few. That we are too tired. That we should have run south when we had the chance. Maybe we should have. But I want you to remember why we didn't. [gestures behind her] Behind this wall there is a bakery that still opens every morning. There is a schoolhouse with nineteen names carved into the door. There is an old man who feeds the gulls on the harbour steps and calls every one of them by name. They are not soldiers. They don't have swords. All they have is this wall. And us. [building] So when the horns sound, I won't ask you to be fearless. I'm not. I won't ask you to win. I can't promise that. I'll ask you to stand. One more hour. One more hour, shoulder to shoulder, while the sun comes up over Dawnspire. [full voice] Will you stand with me? [the army roars] Then raise your shields. And let them hear us all the way to Harrowgate!

[RPG dialogue. The hero, SOREN, at a city gate. A guard has just said: "No one enters after dark." Record each option as its own take] [OPTION A: Polite] I understand. You're doing your job, and you're doing it well. But my sister is inside, and she's sick. I'm not asking you to break the rules. I'm asking you to bend them, just once, for someone who's frightened. Please. [OPTION B: Threaten] Here's what's going to happen. You're going to open that gate. Because if you don't, I'm going to climb it. And then you'll have to explain to your captain how a tired traveller with a broken boot got past you. Your call. [OPTION C: Charm] After dark, you say? Funny. It doesn't look that dark to me. Look, there's the moon. There's your lantern. There's your lovely face. Practically daytime. Come on. I'll even bring you back a pie. [GUARD REFUSES: shared line for all options] Fine. Fine. I'll find another way in. There's always another way in.

[Cockpit. Alarms. PILOT KAYE RASHIDI straps in] Okay, okay. Cold start. Reactor to thirty. Gyros, spinning. Hands are shaking. That's fine, hands don't need to be calm, they just need to work. [switches clicking] Weapons, safe. Legs, unlocked. Comms open. Bay Four, this is Kestrel. I'm awake, I'm mostly dressed and I'm ready to walk. [beat] What do you mean three of them? You said one. [sighs] Okay. Opening the doors. Let's go dance.

[Session: efforts and pain. Character: the hero, MALIK. Read top to bottom with a short pause between each] [LIGHT HIT] 1. Hnh! 2. Ow. Okay. [HEAVY HIT] 3. [effort] Aagh! 4. [winded] Oof. That hurt. [FALL] 5. [impact] Hhuh! [LOW HEALTH, quiet, breathing] 6. Come on. Get up. Get up. 7. Not like this. Not here. 8. Can't see straight. Just keep swinging. 9. Anyone? I could really use a hand. [HEALING] 10. [relief] Ahh. Better. Much better. [REVIVED] 11. I'm up. I'm up. Who hit me? Point at them. [DEATH] 12. [last breath] Sorry... I tried.

[Tutorial. A quiet range. The hero, NELL, coaches herself, and the player] Alright. Just like Dad taught me. Hold the bow up. [button prompt appears] Draw back. Slowly. Don't yank it. [beat] Feet apart. Shoulders down. You're not carrying the world, you're carrying a stick and some string. See the target? Don't stare at it. Look through it. Now breathe in. And out. And while you breathe out... [prompt: release] Let go. [SFX: thunk] Ha! Look at that. Not the middle. But it's on the board. Again.

[A customs dock in orbit. The captain, LUX MORROW, stands in front of an officer and a very suspicious crate] Officer. Lovely to see you. Is that a new badge? Very shiny. The crate? Oh, that crate. That is... medical supplies. [the crate growls] For a very sick... dog. A large dog. A large, sick dog, who is also my nephew's best friend. [crate thumps] He's restless. He misses home. You'd be restless too in a box. No, you don't need to open it. Opening it would upset him. And the paperwork says "do not open." [hands over a datapad] See? Right there. "Do not open." Underlined. Twice. [beat] ...You're going to open it, aren't you. Okay. Before you do, I want you to know you have kind eyes, and I'm sorry about your shoes.

[A dorm room at a school for magic. PRIYA holds a wand over a candle] Okay. Page one. Lighting spell. Literally the easiest spell in the book. Small children do this. [reads] "Speak the word with quiet confidence." Quiet confidence. Got it. I have so much quiet confidence. [deep breath] Lumen. [nothing happens] Lumen! [SFX: WHOOMPH] Okay! Okay, that's a lot of fire. That's a lot more fire than a candle. Water! Where's the water? Why is there no water in a magic school?

[Cutscene. A farmhouse kitchen. HILDE, seventy, ties back her grey hair. Her grandson watches from the door] Don't look at me like that, Teo. You'll get wrinkles. Trust me, I know about wrinkles. [takes an old sword down from above the hearth] Yes. That one. I told you it was decorative. I lied. Grandmothers lie about all sorts of things. That's in the rules. [tests the weight] Heavier than I remember. Or I'm lighter. Probably both. [turns to him] The riders took the Vossen girls this morning. You know them. The twins. The ones who stole our plums. Their mother came to my door with flour still on her hands. She didn't say a word. She didn't have to. Nobody else in this valley has done this before. I have. Forty years ago, and I was very good at it, and I hated every day. [softer] So I'll go. And you'll feed the goats, and lock the door, and not tell your mother. [beat] And Teo. If I'm not back in a week, the plums are yours.

[Helmet comms. Hiss of the regulator. Diver ESME TALBOT descends] Depth, two hundred and ten. Visibility is maybe four metres. Lamp's holding. Topside, if you can hear me, the wreck is right where the chart said. Big. Bigger than the photos. [breath] There's writing on the hull. Not a name. Scratches. Lots of them. Like counting. Rows and rows of little lines, all the way down past my lamp. Somebody was inside this ship for a very long time. Counting days. [beat] Okay. Going in through the cargo hatch. Tether's clear. [a long metallic groan] That's just the wreck shifting. It's settling into the silt. Normal. [quieter] Topside, quick question. Is anyone else on a dive today? Because something just passed my lamp. Something long. [breath, faster] No, I'm fine. I'm fine. Heart rate's up. I'm going to come back out. [the tether jerks] Topside, did you pull the line? [silence] Topside? [very quietly] Something's pulling the line.

[Barks. BLOSSOM, a cheerful flower mascot. Rising excitement as the combos grow] 1. Nice match! 2. Ooh, sparkly! 3. Three in a row! 4. Combo! 5. Super combo! 6. Gem burst! Wow! 7. Mega blossom bloom! 8. Level clear! You did it! 9. One more move, you've got this! 10. Aww. Try again?

[The dungeon entrance. The hero, BASTIAN, wakes up on the same stone floor, again] [gasp] I'm alive! I'm... [looks around] Oh. It's this floor again. Hello, floor. Hello, torch. Hello, skeleton who I'm fairly sure was me, three tries ago. [picks up a rusty sword] And hello, worst sword in the world. We meet again. [stands, stretches] Okay. Learned some things last time. Don't touch the glowing mushroom. Don't trust the friendly chest. [beat] This is the one. I can feel it. This run is the one.

[Cutscene. A camp at night, campfires to the horizon. ELLIS writes by candlelight. Voiceover] Dear Mam. Dear Pa. Dear Bryn, if they're reading this to you, stop pulling faces. I'm well. The food's bad but there's lots of it. They gave me new boots. They're too big, so I wear two pairs of socks, like you always said I should. The captain is fair. Loud, but fair. There's a lad from Mossbridge called Pell who snores like the mill wheel, and we've become good friends anyway. Tomorrow we go up to the old fort on the eastern line. They say it will be over by supper. They said that about the last one too. [beat] I'm scared, Mam. I didn't want to write that. I crossed it out twice. But you always knew when I was lying, even in letters. So I'm scared. But I'm not alone. And I know exactly why I'm here, which is more than most can say. If the weather turns, bring the hens in early. Tell Pa the gate still sticks. Tell Bryn the wooden horse is his now, and he's to look after it properly. I'll write again after the fort. [beat] I love you. All of you. Even the hens. Your son, Ellis.

[A kitchen at night, giant from a mouse's eye view. SIR THIMBLE draws a sewing-needle sword] Fear not, Kitchen Kingdom! Sir Thimble rides to your aid! Well. Walks. My steed is a beetle and he has fallen asleep. [looks up. And up] The Great Pantry lies at the top of these stairs. One hundred stairs. Each one taller than my house. [nods firmly] Then I shall climb one hundred stairs. [beat] Starting tomorrow. Knights need a good night's sleep before a quest. It's in the code.

[Session: climbing. Character: SAGE, explorer] [GRABBING A LEDGE] 1. [effort] Hup! 2. [effort] Hngh! Got it. [LONG JUMP] 3. [effort, big] Haaa! [SLIPPING] 4. Whoa, whoa, whoa! 5. [panic breath] Hold. Hold on. [TIRED] 6. Arms are burning. Keep going. 7. Don't look down. Don't look down. [LOOKS DOWN] 8. Why did I look down? Why do I always look down? [REACHING THE TOP] 9. [exhausted laugh] Made it. Never again. 10. Okay. Great view. Totally worth it. Ow. My fingers.

[Voiceover. A rainy street, flashing lights. DETECTIVE MARLOWE HAYES steps under the tape] It had been raining on Calloway Street for three days. The city never cleans itself. It just gets wetter. The body was a man named Felix Quade. Owned a clock shop on the corner. Nice suit. Cheap shoes. That's always the first lie a man tells. [crouches] The uniforms had already decided it was a mugging. They like muggings. Muggings fill out the paperwork for you. No wallet, but his watch was still on his wrist. Gold. Expensive. Stopped at eleven forty. A thief who leaves the gold isn't a thief. [stands, looks at the shop] The lights were on in the clock shop. Somebody had locked the door from the inside. [beat] I've been doing this job for twenty-two years. In that time I've learned two things. Everybody lies. And clocks don't stop on their own. [walks toward the shop] Time to find out who was running late.

[Gameplay. A town overgrown with ivy and rust. The hero, CAL, walks slowly down the main road] Ashford. Population, nobody. [stops] That was the bakery. Mister Lund used to give us the burnt rolls for free. He said they had character. [walks on] The school. The bell's still there. Huh. We tried to steal it once. Got as far as the fence. Ruth Pemberton cried so loudly the whole street woke up. We blamed the dog. [stops at a sign, half buried] "Ashford Spring Fair. All Welcome." That was the last one. The year before the dust came. I won a goldfish. He lived for eleven years. Out of spite, Mum said. [stops at a house with a red door, faded pink now] And that's us. [long beat] The door was redder. Mum painted it every spring. Said a house should look like it's waiting for someone. [pushes it open] Hello? It's Cal. I know it's been a while. [silence. Then, looking at the floor] Wait. Footprints. Fresh ones. Small boots. [looks up the stairs] Somebody's been living here. [quietly] Somebody kept the door.

[A dark briefing room. Agent VALE listens, then answers] One guard rotation every ninety seconds. Two cameras. One locked vault. One very nervous bank manager. And a party upstairs with a string quartet. [stands, straightens a cuff] Fine. I'll take the job. But I'm not dancing.

[A seaside skate park, crowd noise. JESSE, sixteen, rolls to the top of the ramp] Okay, okay, okay. Big crowd. That's fine. I've skated in front of people before. Mostly seagulls. But they're very judgy. [looks over the edge] First the rail. Then the bowl. Then the kickflip off the big step. The one I've landed... once. In the rain. When nobody was looking. Okay, maybe twice. The second time I landed on my back, but my feet were on the board. [breathes out, grins] You know what? Nobody's looking at the seagulls either. Let's go.

[Session: command barks. Character: COMMANDER ODUYA, on the bridge of the Steadfast] [BATTLE START] 1. All hands, battle stations. This is not a drill. 2. Shields to the front. Bring us about. [ORDERS] 3. Helm, hard to port. Now, please. 4. Fire everything we've got on the lead ship. 5. Hold. Hold. Fire. [HULL HIT] 6. Report! Where did that hit us? 7. Seal deck four. Get those people out first. [LOSING] 8. We're not dying out here today. Find me an option. [WINNING] 9. They're turning. They're turning! Keep the pressure on. 10. Don't chase them. Let them run. We've done enough today. [BATTLE OVER] 11. Stand down. Good work, everyone. Breathe. 12. Medical to every deck. And somebody get me a coffee.

[Final cutscene. The hero, ARDEN, stands before the Ember Gate, which must be sealed from the inside. Record each ending as its own take] [ENDING A: Arden stays] Don't argue with me, Lio. Not now. We don't have time, and you'd lose anyway. Someone has to hold the gate from this side. I've known that since the tower. I think you knew too. [smiles] Go home. Fix the roof. Teach the kids to fish badly, the way I taught you. Tell Marta I'm sorry about the boat. She'll know which boat. [Lio tries to grab Arden's arm] No. Look at me. You were the best part of all of this. Every road, every awful inn, every night in the rain. That was you, making it bearable. And when people ask what happened here, don't tell them I was brave. Tell them I was stubborn. It's more accurate. [steps back through the gate] Close it. Close it, Lio. It's alright. I'm not afraid. [the gate shuts] [ENDING B: Arden walks away] No. No, I'm not doing it. I'm not dying in this place for a city that never once said my name. [backs away] Let it burn. Let them find someone else to be a hero. [running, then stops at the top of the hill. Looks back at the fire] It's not my fault. It's not. I gave them years. I gave them my hands and my sleep and my brother. Nobody gets to ask for more than that. [Lio says nothing] Say something. Please. Tell me I'm right. [quietly] Then why can't I stop looking? [turns away] Come on, Lio. We walk until the smoke is gone. And we never talk about this. Ever.