Obvious Spoilers ahead..

Gears of War might not be best known for it’s ability to trigger “the feels” or for massively in depth plotline/characters. But it’s still home to some of the saddest deaths in gaming. One in particular really hits home, Dominic Santiago.

Death is no stranger to Delta squad. Carmine is Sniped in GoW, Tai Kaliso is captured and tortured to death in GoW2. Many others are lost in the quest to eradicate the Locust, but none of them compare to Dom’s death.

Dom had a hard Life

Dom had a thirst for revenge against the Locust, and rightly so. They killed his parents and children on Emergence Day. (The Day the Locust launched their attack on humanity). This caused his wife Maria to go into a deep state of depression and self exile. One of Dom’s life missions was to find her.

Despite all this, after freeing Marcus Fenix (our player character in Gears 1). Dom always remained upbeat and optimistic. Through Gears 1-3 he was Marcus’ right hand man. Heck if you were couch co-oping with a friend then your friend would be playing as Dom.

From fighting Berserkers to planting the Lightmass bomb to killing Brumaks. Dom was there through it all. The man was a testament to mental fortitude. Even after finding Maria, captured by the locust in a lifeless and vegetated state, he still found the will to keep on fighting.

This all makes his sacrifice in Gears 3 hit so much harder. Delta Squad, Marcus and Anya are all trapped in a helpless situation, surrounded by Locust. When at the last seconds Dom, driving a tanker, tells Marcus and the rest to jump off the building they’re on to safety.

Never thought it would end like this, huh!? Huh, Maria!?.

Dom

Those are Dom’s last words, as he rams his tanker full speed into a fuel depot, killing himself and all the remaining locust, saving the rest of the squad and leaving us with one of the saddest deaths in gaming. It’s a devastating moment not only for Marcus but for us the player character too. They killed off Player 2 man.

As I said earlier Gears was never best know for its ability to trigger feels but god damn did it do a good job of building that sense of brotherhood. Dom’s final act of sacrifice shows just what that brotherhood meant to him.

RIP to a Legend