Disco Elysium has three different main endings, and twelve unique game overs.
Endings[ | ]
After the events of the Mercenary Tribunal, the ending of the game may split off on one of three paths.
- If Harry successfully warned Kim during the Tribunal's Authority check, he will remain Harry's partner and accompany him to the Sea Fortress to apprehend The Deserter. The following outcomes are available after this point:
- Kim returns to his own precinct in the GRIH while Harry drives back to Jamrock with his colleagues.
- Recruit Detective Kim Kitsuragi: Kim agrees to transfer to Precinct 41 and leaves with Harry.
- If Harry failed to warn Kim during the Tribunal, he will be taken to Precinct 57's infirmary to recover from a gunshot wound. This leaves Harry without a partner.
- If Harry agrees to taking Cuno along with him, he will accompany Harry to the Sea Fortress. The following outcomes are available after this point:
- Cuno is left in Martinaise while Harry drives back to Jamrock with his colleagues.
- Recruit Detective Kuuno de Ruyter: Harry successfully convinces Jean Vicquemare to allow Cuno to become a junior officer at the precinct, and Cuno accompanies Harry and his colleagues back to Jamrock.
- If Harry refuses Cuno's help, he will go to the Sea Fortress alone. Depending on choices made over the course of the game, this may lead to the bad ending.
- If Harry has remained completely sober and/or internalized the Waste Land of Reality thought, he will be allowed to return to Precinct 41.
- If Harry drank alcohol *and* did not internalize Waste Land of Reality, he will be left in Martinaise to live in the Coastal Shack.
- If Harry agrees to taking Cuno along with him, he will accompany Harry to the Sea Fortress. The following outcomes are available after this point:
Game Overs[ | ]
The following endings are seen in circumstances where the game ends prematurely, either from Harry's death/resignment due to his health/morale running out, or a specific event which causes a unique game over. These endings are stylized as a newspaper headline detailing Harry's fate.
COP SUFFERS FINAL HEART ATTACK[ | ]
- Requirement
- Allow health to run out.
A detective lieutenant of the RCM passed away yesterday. His death, though abrupt, did not come as a surprise to those who knew him. "He was the heaviest drinker I'd ever met," Captain Ptolemy Pryce, the deceased's superior officer, commented. "That ain't easy on the ticker."
"He loved his liquor, sure," said Detective Chester McLaine, friend and colleague. "But I think before he ever had a heart attack, his heart was broken."
According to an official statement given by the RCM, the officer was on the brink of solving a murder case.
COP GIVES UP THE DETECTIVE GENRE FOR SOCIAL REALISM[ | ]
- Requirement
- Allow Morale to run out.
Another police officer resigned from the RCM following a nervous breakdown. He now lives under a bridge, drinking and occasionally throwing excrement at passers-by, shouting, "I never loved that woman!"
When asked to comment, former colleagues objected to the theory that his psychological disintegration was precipitated by his wife leaving him. "It's because The Furrows lost that match," said Captain Ptolemy Pryce, once the man's superior officer. "It's because he couldn't get a big gun from acquisitions, and, anyway, police work really burns you out after a while," Satellite-Officer Jean Vicquemare, the deranged former cop's partner, commented. Sergeant Mack Torson, another former colleague, did not propose any theories, merely saying, "Whatever happened to him wasn't about birds. He got f****d, that's all."
MORE DEAD COPS[ | ]
- Requirement
- Harry does not back down when arresting the Hardie boys. If Kim is present, the ending will be slightly altered to reflect his death alongside Harry.
Without Kim[ | ]
Sad news from the district of Martinaise, where the body of a police officer was found floating in a canal. It is believed the officer was pursuing a murder investigation but got caught up in the dockworkers' strike, and was subsequently gunned down under unclear circumstances.
"Such needless loss of life is truly tragic," local union leader Evrart Claire commented, adding that although the event is 'truly horrid,' similar incidents will follow if right-wing vigilantes are allowed to run around unchecked, attempting to 'wiggle their way' into well-organized neighbourhoods.
With Kim[ | ]
Sad news from the district of Martinaise as the bodies of two police officers are found floating in the canal. It is believed the officers were pursuing a murder investigation but got caught in the dockworkers strike and were gunned down under unclear circumstances.
"Such needless loss of life is truly tragic," a local union leader Evrart Claire commented and added that although the event is truly horrid, we can expect similar incidents to follow if right-wing vigilantes are allowed to run around uncontrolled and try to wiggle their way into well-organized neighbourhoods.
DERANGED COP ELECTROCUTES SELF[ | ]
- Requirement
- Harry attempts (and fails) to fix the waterlock himself.
Citizens left in shock as a police officer, reportedly from the 41st precinct, electrocuted himself with a high-grade industrial current at the Martinaise Canal water lock.
"I don't know what the hell he was thinking," a technician sent to repair the water lock commented.
DISGRACED COP SLEEPS IN TRASH[ | ]
- Requirement
- Harry fails to pay for his room at the Whirling-in-Rags and decides to sleep in the trash container. See Real Musor for the related achievement.
A deranged "law official" was found sleeping in a trash container behind the Whirling-in-Rags, a hostel-cafeteria in Martinaise.
Garte, manager of the establishment, had this to say: "He did ask for a free room. And I said no. I don't make the rules of the game, I just play my part."
DISTRICT IN MOURNING: BURNED-OUT COP SHOOTS CHILD[ | ]
- Requirement
- Harry shoots Cunoesse with Kim's gun while attempting to shoot the Hanged Man's body down.
Yesterday in the District of Martinaise, a deranged "law official" from the paramilitary outfit that calls itself the Revachol Citizens Militia shot and killed ten-year-old Cunoesse Vittulainen. Locals are in shock.
"He was out of control," said Lawrence Garte, local hostel and cafeteria manager. "I hope they put him away for good."
DERANGED COP KILLS HIMSELF[ | ]
- Requirement
- Harry shoots himself in the head after a failed Authority check with Titus Hardie.
Citizens in shock as a deranged law official, reportedly from the 41st precinct, shot himself in the head last night in the middle of a crowded cafeteria in downtown Martinaise. The exact details of the incident have not been revealed, but first-hand witnesses claim that the officer was *making a point*.
"Can't say I'm surprised," Lawrence Garte, manager of the Whirling-in-Rags cafeteria, where the incident took place, commented. "He was extremely unstable and had threatened to kill himself before."
11 DEAD IN A BLOODY SHOOT-OUT IN MARTINAISE[ | ]
- Requirement
- Harry dies from low health after he is shot during the Mercenary Tribunal and does not heal himself.
Streets run red with blood in the Martinaise district of Revachol where several people belonging to the Débardeurs' Union of Martinaise and two members of the Revachol Citizens Militia are gunned down by three unidentified assailants. Witnesses report heavy machine gun fire and note that the incident was over very quickly. The heavily armoured attackers vanished immediately after the bloodbath.
"Savage barbarians," Garte a manager of the cafeteria, *Whirling-in-Rags*, commented. "They had no respect for the architecture nor the well-being of bystanders. Bullets were flying in the mess-hall. It's a wonder that no one else was killed."
COP DIES UNDER THE BOARDWALK[ | ]
- Requirement
- Try to confront Ruby, the Instigator, alone.
An officer of the RCM hot on the track of a suspect died yesterday of causes yet to be determined.
"I told him not to go after the suspect without me," said Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi, the deceased's partner on the case. "But it seems that he wanted to play the hero." "It's just like him to run straight into the lion's den, fly unzipped and arms flailing," said Satellite-Officer Jean Vicquemare, friend and colleague of the officer. "If ever I saw a man with a death wish..."
COP DIES IN HEROIC ATTEMPT TO APPREHEND SUSPECT IN MURDER INVESTIGATION[ | ]
- Requirement
- Die while confronting Ruby, the Instigator.
The RCM is in mourning after a detective lieutenant lost his life while attempting to arrest a suspect in an ongoing murder investigation in Martinaise. Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi, the deceased's partner on the case who survived the encounter, said the suspect used a weapon the likes of which he had never seen before to temporarily incapacitate both of them. "I don't think she meant to kill him -- she apologized when she saw what had happened..." he added. "It's just like, to go out like a real cop in the end," said Captain Ptolemy Pryce, the deceased's superior officer."
POLICE OFFICER, RESPONSIBLE FOR SUICIDE OF SUSPECT, RENOUNCES THE RCM[ | ]
- Requirement
- Tell Kim you're done being a cop after Ruby commits suicide
Today, officer Harrier du Bois, formerly a lieutenant of the Citizen's Milition of Revachol, gives a candid interview -- in which he renounces the Militia, his years of service -- most of which he 'doesn't remember' -- and his own actions on the force. "I'm no longer a cop. I wish I never was. No one should be," says du Bois, who has fallen on hard times after resigning. "Fuck the RCM. Fuck duty," he adds. Continues on page 4...
WEEKS LATER, NO ANSWERS ABOUT EXTRACTED COP[ | ]
- Requirement
- Contact the Moralintern as part of the Moralist political vision quest, tell them about the hole-in-the-world in the church, and agree to come with them.
The condition and whereabouts of an RCM lieutenant extracted by a Coalition aerostatic two weeks ago remain unknown. The dramatic manoeuvre, witnessed by dozens near the north roundabout, has reportedly increased tensions between the citizens of Martinaise, the RCM, and Coalition authorities.
Early reports that the lieutenant was investigating entroponetic phenomena along the coast have not been confirmed.
According to an official statement given by the RCM, the lieutenant was in Martinaise as part of a murder investigation. A Coalition representative declined repeated requests for comment.
Trivia[ | ]
Several alternate endings remain in the game's files, but were never included in any playable form.[1]