This list is Nintendo-specific, so use Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes as reference. Shortly before attacking Metal Gear Rex and subsequently being killed by Liquid Snake, the mysterious Cyborg Ninja (aka Grey Fox) spills his guts to Solid Snake. Informing him of his troubled past, he admits that when Naomi was a very young child he was forced to kill her parents, but couldn't bring himself to murder her as well. He instead adopted her as a sister. Knowing that his own death was imminent, he asks Snake to tell Naomi the truth. But once Snake encounters Naomi and informs her of her brother's death, he lies to soften the blow. Realizing that the one branch to her past is forever lost, he instead tells her that Grey Fox's last words to Naomi was that he loves her.
This moment exemplifies perhaps the largest moral dilemma of humanity: lying to achieve the greater good. The beautiful tragedy executed by Snake signifies the harsh reality that sometimes, one deserves better than the truth. Compassion often finds itself incompatible with honesty. But is the lie told to a grandmother ("Mmm, this pie is delicious!") any different than the lie told to a spouse ("Of course I'm not having an affair with my secretary!")? Both are deceitful, yet both are preventing pain. One can debate the moral justifications of such lies until the end of time. What is less debatable, however, is the ease in which you would be able to tell the truth if placed in Snake's boots. Games don't always provoke such deep thought, and rarely do they present it with such emotional weight. Bravo, Kojima.
