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Koudelka
- Defeating the Final Boss of Elaine, which is a nigh-insurmountable task without excessive grinding and knowing how to abuse the combat system from the inside-out, results in less of a climactic ending in terms of resolving character arcs, but does result in seeing that nightmare abomination that took over her body going down messily and definitively. Roger Bacon even takes the opportunity to voice that he'd seen something quite interesting, implying that the mere act of a trio of barely-capable humans managing to beat a creation of the Émigré Document impressed a centuries-old Seen It All man down to his bones.
- The more tragic normal ending isn't to be scoffed at, either; losing to Elaine's final form has James proceed to cast out a Final Speech that works so well that he manages to cleanse Elaine's soul, Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence with her, and relatively save the lives of Koudelka and Edward. He learned his mistakes, and if it was really this series' equivalent of God that answered his call, it was clearly impressed with his willingness to sacrifice it all and finally set things right.
Shadow Hearts
- Yuri gets one right at his introduction in Shadow Hearts 1. As he followed Bacon, he had his arm sliced off by the minion the man had used to slaughter an entire train of Japanese Soldiers. Without a blink, he immediately catches the imp, crushed it in his hand before reattaching his fallen arm back on.
- When he and Alice stopped in Monster Town - it wasn't because of Plot-induced stupidity you would see in other games, they knew it was a trap, but decided to head in, intending to kick some ass before going to bed.
- Watch the ending of Covenant, then go back to Shadow Hearts listen to Yuri's account of what happened to his mother... and then reload a file right before the final fight with Dehuai. Killing that bastard becomes SO much more rewarding!
- If you successfully meet the requirements for the Good Ending, then just as Alice is about to surrender her soul and life to ensure Yuri's as per their contract, Yuri barges in, yells at Atman not to touch his woman and beats the living crap out of it. Following this, he later goes back to his graveyard mind. The Four Masks, who up until now have been treating Yuri like crap - belittling him, insulting him, threatening him - are outright freaked the hell out by his presence. In a last attempt to be defiant, they decline his demand for an apology... until he starts cracking his knuckles. They apologize.
- The unflinching ballsiness Yuri displays when talking to Atman.Atman: You plan to break a contract for a soul? To disrupt an ancient and holy ceremony?! Don't make me laugh. Have you lost your mind? You're throwing your own precious life away!Yuri: Maybe I am, so ya better watch it! Dumb-ass!
- The unflinching ballsiness Yuri displays when talking to Atman.
- A flashback reveals that Ben once saved Zhuzhen from Wugui and his underlings. Ben first stepped in on seeing them hurting an old man, and then revealed his true power on hearing that they were working for Dehuai. As a talented Harmonixer, Ben has no trouble defeating them, but leaves Wugui alive so he can send a message to Dehuai.Ben: A man has appeared, who is coming for you. Until he arrives, live out your remaining days in fear.
- History repeats itself when Yuri shows up to rescue Zhuzhen from Wugui in the present day, and it plays out almost exactly like the encounter with Ben. When it comes own to it, the father and son aren't so different after all.Yuri: I changed my mind! I'm not going to kill you anymore, so you run along to Dehuai... Since I'm here, he better hide his girlie magazines, 'cause he could get killed any day now!
- History repeats itself when Yuri shows up to rescue Zhuzhen from Wugui in the present day, and it plays out almost exactly like the encounter with Ben. When it comes own to it, the father and son aren't so different after all.
- Zhuzhen was reportedly tortured pretty badly by Wugui and his goons before this happens. While he's in too much pain to physically stand, Zhuzhen isn't afraid to speak his mind. He chastises them for following Dehuai, warns them that what he's trying to do is insane, and finishes it all off by telling them they would be better off worshipping a stray dog. He's still going strong after Ben rescues him.
- It turns out that it was Ben who stopped the Demon's Gate Invocation that almost happened fifteen years ago. He ended up dying in the process, which was why he never returned to Anne and Yuri.
- And once again, history repeats itself when Yuri ends up fusing with the Seraphic Radiance summoned by Bacon's Reverse Demon's Gate Invocation to try and stop it from destroying the world. While initially it isn't successful, as Yuri isn't strong enough to take control of such a powerful being, Yuri is eventually able to take over with help from Alice. Yuri knew that he might not be able to do it in the first place, but he tried anyway, even with the fate of his own soul at risk.
- After Yuri loses his soul when fusing with the Seraphic Radiance, he ends up fighting Alice, Zhuzhen and Keith in his delirious state. Once the fight is done, Alice finds herself in Yuri's self conscious, the graveyard. She quickly learns that Yuri will lose himself completely to the darkness unless he is helped, but is warned by the Four Masks that in exchange she will one day lose her own soul if she helps him. Alice doesn't hesitate, and admits that she loves Yuri. She then helps him fight his inner demons, and attempts to shoulder the weight of her sacrifice alone until the very end of the game.
- In the Good Ending, Yuri is able to return to the graveyard when Alice is summoned, and they fight side by side to save her soul.
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
- Rasputin doing the arms-spread fall off the edge of the Russian Palace and landing on his armoured zeppelin/airship, and smugly flying away. Only for Yuri, watching from below, to just smirk and transform into the(previously inaccessible) form of Amon, Demon of Destruction.
- Yuri is made of Crowning Moments of Awesome. One favorite is this exchange from Covenant between him and a Big Bad god of destruction on the verge of destroying the world:Nicholai-Astaroth: "My soul has been revived. The age of Mankind is coming to an end. Joy... sadness... desire... all of it is finished now. I will usher in a glorious new future."Yuri: "Before you do, can I ask a favor?"Nicholai-Astaroth: "What do you wish, human?"Yuri: "I wish you'd shove it. You know where."Nicholai-Astaroth: "......"
- This (spoilerish) scene
from SHII: Yuri manage to have a Heroic BSoD, a Kick the Dog moment and a CMOA in the SAME scene. And, come on, a Japanese game where we see a half-Japanese protagonist beating the hell out of a Japanese nationalist politician? You can hardly make something better than that.