We all take pleasure in an surprising twist in a narrative. Villains, specifically, can change into tiring once they’re totally revealed and introduced outright from the start of the plot. That being stated, some video games attempt a bit too exhausting to shock their viewers.
If a villain’s id and function are apparent, don’t deal with the viewers as in the event that they’re idiots and don’t know. Well, until you’re doing it for laughs and satire, and that’s what this listing is all about. Here are our picks for the prime 10 online game reveals we completely by no means noticed coming.
*Warning: Spoilers (although apparent) forward!*
Venom: Spiderman 2
Everyone’s wished Venom to return to gaming in an enormous method. Sure, a brick model of Venom was within the Lego video games, and Venom was featured within the Ultimate Alliance, however followers wished one thing extra. The ending of Marvel’s Spider-Man fueled the Venom hype with the symbiote-infected Harry Osborne encased away in a lab.
Even non-fans may inform you what would occur subsequent. Marvel’s Miles Morales would go on to sprinkle in some extra Harry Osborne Symbiote scenes. And then, Spider-Man 2 was revealed in the course of the 2021 PlayStation Showcase. Peter and Miles are combating facet by facet till a darkish alleyway slowly uncovers Venom’s chilling voice and iconic face. From then onwards, followers appeared ahead to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 that includes Venom in an enormous method.
Future trailers went on to slant it as if Peter Parker was going to change into Venom, however all of us knew who the first host was from the primary recreation. Consider us all shocked when Spider-Man 2 releases and Venom’s actual id finally ends up being precisely what the ending of Spider-Man 1 confirmed us.
Dragon Lord: Any Dragon Quest Game
Dragon Quest is as traditional as JRPGs get. You have a typical save-the-world plot crammed with tropes you’ve seen a dozen occasions. However, Dragon Quest began placing a spin on its regular hero quest with Dragon Quest IV and up. The villains weren’t firmly established on the very begin just like the Dragon Lord of the primary three video games. Now, there could be thriller and intrigue as to who’s actually pulling the strings behind all of the village burnings and monster hordes.
Well, as you may in all probability guess, the reveal of the overarching villain simply finally ends up being the Dragon Lord from the primary video games once more. Dragon Quest villains remained largely absent of character depth till the eighth entry once we acquired to see some moments from the villain’s perspective.
The newest in the primary franchise, Dragon Quest XI, nonetheless retains the custom of a Dragon Lord villain archetype alive and nicely. I nonetheless laughed a little bit when Dragon Quest XI revealed the villain within the first half of the story and handled it as a shock to the characters. To Dragon Quest XI’s credit score, there are a number of villains and never simply one Dragon Lord. The method these cartoonishly evil villains are revealed does have some benefit, however man did it remind me of the early DQ video games and their one-dimensional villains once more, not that I’m complaining.
Shido: Persona 5
Persona 5 lacks subtlety in many alternative areas. The unabashed artwork model and daring colours are great of their hanging lack of subtlety, in contrast to some heavy-handed components within the narrative. From the primary moments within the recreation, you’re launched to a complete scumbag of a politician: Shido. The recreation hits you over the top in regards to the circumstances attributable to Shido continuously. You’ll start to see sure scenes in your real-life desires due to how usually they get repeated within the recreation. Persona 5 is a recreation that loves to make use of flashbacks, and it actually doesn’t conceal that reality.
It’s completely hilarious, then, when your complete occasion is shocked to study that Shido is certainly the one liable for the primary character’s predicament. What makes this specific villain really meme-worthy is simply how exaggerated his smugness is. The Japanese and English voice actors for Shido do an ideal job portraying that evil sleazy politician tone. There’s one sneering line specifically that will get repeated advert nauseam by Shido in flashbacks. Shido shouting, “Stupid brat! I’ll sue!!!” is a meme-worthy line that we’ll always remember.
Garon: Fire Emblem Fates
The villain of Fire Emblem Fates is much more cartoonishly apparent than Persona 5. The king of Nohr is a central antagonist by all three variations of the sport. The three variations do, nonetheless, differ in what kingdom Corrin sides with, displaying a special perspective with every. Birthright follows the Hoshido facet of the battle, whereas Conquest follows the extra bloodthirsty Nohr. Regardless of the model/route, you’ll change into acquainted with Nohr’s military and shortly understand who the primary villain is lengthy earlier than it’s ever revealed. King Garon of Nohr is unabashedly darkish and sinister, and the sport doesn’t attempt to conceal that reality.
It’s partially because of this that many followers think about Conquest the extra fascinating path to take. Fighting the evil empire from the within is simply a lot extra fascinating and intriguing than combating from the same old ‘good guy’ kingdom. Of course, Conquest provides an extra glimpse at King Garon and simply how stereotypical of an evil king he’s within the recreation. To reiterate, Garon isn’t even revealed because the villain till chapter three of the marketing campaign, some extent at which all of us acquired the trace already.
Jason Todd: Arkham Knight
Every side of Arkham Knight’s id was constructed to be tremendous apparent to followers very early within the recreation. Jason Todd isn’t actually current all through the earlier video games within the collection, so the flashbacks with him and Batman tip the participant off that he’ll get ample display time in some unspecified time in the future later within the recreation. At the identical time, Arkham Knight is introduced because the mysterious villain that can confront Batman later. The alarm alerts have been ringing very loud for the eventual reveal. It wasn’t simply that the reveal had plenty of foreshadowing and apparent buildup although, there have been additionally unintentional spoilers within the costumes.
Many gamers came upon the id of Arkham Knight from the costume display. You could possibly be at first of the sport innocently searching the completely different costumes for Batman whenever you come throughout an alternate costume for Red Hood as Arkham Knight. Whoops! Talk a couple of ruined reveal second.
Seymour: Final Fantasy X
Has there ever been a extra apparent musical cue for a villain in all of fiction than Seymour in Final Fantasy X? It’s actually exhausting to beat the blatantly sinister “Dun, DUN, DUUUUNNNN!” music enjoying because the menacing Seymour Guado walks towards the occasion. Seymour’s Theme is pure villainy in musical kind, so listening to it for the primary time connected to this new ominous character raises the alarm bells. Plus, Seymour’s hair resembles satan horns and his Anima summon stays one of many creepiest designs in video video games. Everything about Seymour screams, “Look at me, I’m super evil.”
Yet, Final Fantasy X tries to maintain Seymour’s true motive mysterious till the reveal. To the sport’s credit score, Seymour isn’t immediately hostile to the primary protagonists and has a quiet and reserved character. He’s fairly cordial and well mannered early on, however the presentation of music and character design screams villain a mile away. Actually, I take that again, his quiet demure character made us all of the extra suspicious of his true nature.
Lysandre: Pokemon X/Y
Pokemon X/Y’s Team Flare is what you get whenever you mix the cartoony tone of Team Rocket with the sobering philosophizing of a madman. The chief of Team Flare, Lysandre, goes on cartoonishly evil monologues however isn’t cartoonishly evil in his intent. No, he’s straight-up evil, with plans to wipe out the inhabitants and commit mass genocide. This dichotomy locations Lysandre as somebody who doesn’t slot in both class, inherently weakening the character in consequence.
We’re speculated to take him critically, however he’s introduced so cartoonishly it’s unimaginable to. But what places him on this listing isn’t his tropey presentation, it’s how the protagonists react to him. The occasion is definitely stunned when it’s revealed that Lysandre is the evil chief of Team Flare. Um, duh? I do know Pokemon is written with a younger viewers in thoughts, however no less than be extra artistic with the reveal, y’know?
Wesker: Resident Evil
The first Resident Evil pulls off the traitor trope nicely, even whether it is manifestly apparent from the beginning. Resident Evil 1 begins off with three surviving S.T.A.R.S. members investigating a haunted mansion. The chief of the group, Wesker, goes off alone whereas Jill and Barry workforce as much as search the humongous mansion.
You go many hours with out a hint of Wesker’s whereabouts. But then, issues begin getting suspicious as Jill overhears Barry speaking a couple of plot to overthrow S.T.A.R.S. …and one thing about his household being threatened. Jill runs into Wesker in a while and he doesn’t appear phased within the slightest, nor does he appear all that anxious for his teammates.
These are all good indications that there’s a betrayal among the many characters, however there’s extra. Jill comes throughout a photograph of Umbrella scientists with Wesker clearly within the shot. Wesker’s title can be talked about in an Umbrella report additional implicating him within the heinous group’s crimes. When the reveal lastly comes and Wesker makes Barry intention his gun at her, Jill is shocked to study the reality. We can’t blame Jill for being shocked in such a annoying state of affairs, however the stilted voicework and graphics nonetheless make it appear painfully ham-fisted and anvilicious. In a great way, after all.
Dr. Wily: Mega Man 4
A traditional amongst classics. Mega Man 4 was the primary recreation within the collection to introduce a major villain that wasn’t Dr. Wily … till the very finish of the sport. Wily was thought to have been useless because the occasions of Mega Man 3. Mega Man and Dr. Light now should deal with a brand new evil Robot Master, however this time he’s Russian. The greatest indication that Cossack was a purple herring of a villain was how he popped out of nowhere. Even the illustrious Dr. Light wasn’t conversant in Dr. Cossack when he acquired the message from this self-appointed genius.
Mega Man 4 is maybe the very first instance of a pretend villain trope in gaming. It’s only a disgrace that Cossack didn’t have any lead-up or characterization to determine himself as a major villain apart from, “Trust me, bro. I’m the big bad … and somehow a genius that the scientific community has never heard of.” Still, Wily utilizing a puppet proxy is a fairly cool idea, even when the reveal isn’t stunning within the least.
Kain: Final Fantasy IV
We finish this listing with one other true traditional: Final Fantasy IV. This was the primary FF recreation to go for a extra cinematic and plot-rich narrative. You begin out as a soldier of an evil empire and your first mission is mainly razing a village together with your finest bud named, you guessed it, Kain. The title itself is a useless giveaway of how traitorous this pal would change into. But biblical allegories apart, the truth that you begin out burning villages must be sufficient of a touch that the Dragoon Captain Kain could be hassle down the road.
Final Fantasy IV can’t actually be blamed for being spinoff and trope-infested; in spite of everything, it established what story-driven RPGs appeared like in gaming. But it will probably’t be missed that the occasion in some way is shocked to study that Kain betrays them and joins with the enemy (once more). With evil-looking dragon armor and a reputation synonymous with traitor, Kain’s behavior of betraying his pal Cecil ought to come to no one’s shock.
That’s a wrap on the 10 online game reveals we by no means noticed coming. This satirical compilation isn’t supposed to mock the video games herein however relatively to have fun and honor the custom of surprises and twists in video video games. Of course, many of those examples have been lower than delicate in the best way they dealt with the shock reveals, however some have been deliberately apparent and enjoyable. If you’re curious, we’ve acquired extra options and enjoyable prime 10s right here on Twinfinite, comparable to our listing of most grotesque Mortal Kombat fatalities.
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