Video games are a fantastic way to experience stories from all sides – heroes, villains, and everything in between – and actively control what happens. While many games let you start as the villain or make questionable choices, some offer a clever twist: a reveal where the character you thought was a hero turns out to be the villain all along.
Many games start with you playing a character who seems good or at least neutral. But what happens when you discover you’ve actually been the villain the whole time? Here are five games that pull the rug out from under you by revealing you’re the bad guy, whether you meant to be or not.
Be warned: This article reveals key plot details from several games, including Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, Heavy Rain, Mouthwashing, Shadow of the Colossus, and Nier Replicant. Expect major spoilers!
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean — Kalas
Revenge is a Powerful Motivator
Developed by Monolith Soft, creators of the Xenosaga and Xenoblade Chronicles series, Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean is a GameCube RPG recently surprise-released on Steam in a remastered version. The story centers on Kalas, who journeys across the world to avenge the deaths of his grandfather and younger brother. Though players experience the game through the eyes of Kalas’s Guardian Spirit – and all dialogue is spoken by the spirit – they directly control Kalas’s movements and actions.
Kalas accidentally starts a chain of events after encountering a woman named Xelha, potentially leading to the resurrection of the evil god Malpercio. These events involve powerful artifacts called End Magnus, and collecting all five would allow Malpercio to break free. The group races against time to prevent this from happening, but their efforts consistently fail, bringing Malpercio’s return closer and closer.
Okay, so it wasn’t just bad luck that the enemies always knew where we were going. Turns out, Kalas was a double agent the whole time! He was helping them find and capture each End Magnus. It was a total betrayal! And the worst part? He ended up absorbing their power and getting completely taken over by Malpercio. Seriously, I did not see that coming.
Okay, so things actually turn around! Turns out Kalas feels really bad about betraying us and starts looking for a way to fix things and lock Malpercio back up. I got to play as Xelha and eventually found Kalas, and we managed to free him from being controlled by that evil god. Then, the best part – we teamed up and finally beat Malpercio, saving the world! It was a pretty awesome comeback story, honestly.
Heavy Rain — Scott Shelby
Perpetuating the Cycle of Violence Won’t Heal You
In the game Heavy Rain, players control four characters who are all trying to find the Origami Killer, a dangerous criminal who attacks children when it rains. One of these characters is Scott Shelby, a private investigator. He visits the families of the killer’s victims and gathers clues to help track him down.
Late in the game, a shocking truth is revealed: Scott isn’t hunting the Origami Killer – he is the Origami Killer. Traumatized by the neglect his brother suffered, Scott abducts children, hoping to find a father who would make the ultimate sacrifice for them. This changes how you understand everything Scott does throughout the game; he wasn’t collecting evidence to solve the case, but to destroy it and cover his tracks.
Some players might find the plot twist a little unsatisfying. Throughout Heavy Rain, we hear the thoughts of the characters we control, but Shelby never reveals his true motives for collecting evidence. The game’s various endings – including whether Scott is caught – depend on the choices you make and which characters you help rescue Shaun.
Mouthwashing — Jimmy
Avoiding Accountability Till the End
The story of Mouthwashing unfolds through a jumbled timeline, focusing on five crew members – Jimmy, Captain Curly, Anya, Daisuke, and Swansea. They’re stranded after their captain intentionally crashed their ship, and each short scene gradually reveals what happened before and after the crash. Jimmy tries to step up as a leader, guiding the others in their struggle to survive.
The whole situation started with Jimmy, who was responsible for crashing the ship. Throughout the game, he makes several serious errors that lead to the crew’s deaths. As things get worse, Jimmy’s mental state deteriorates as he desperately tries to fix his mistakes, eventually resorting to cannibalizing Captain Curly before finally giving up and putting Curly in a cryo pod to save his life.
This is a deeply disturbing story about how far people will go to escape responsibility, and it’s one that will likely stay with anyone who finishes it.
Guess the games from the emojis.
Gamoji
Guess the game from the emojis.
Title
Clues
Results
Title
— Clues
—
Shadow of the Colossus — Wander
The Path is Paved With Good Intentions
Shadow of the Colossus tells the story of Wander, a young man who tries to save Mono, a woman who is near death. He makes a deal with a powerful being named Dormin: if Wander defeats sixteen massive creatures spread throughout the land, Dormin will bring Mono back to life.
As Wander defeats each colossus, a dark energy enters his body, knocking him unconscious and returning him to the temple. With each victory, Wander’s appearance changes – his skin becomes paler and his hair darker. Each colossus has its own unique music, starting with a hopeful and energetic sound that turns sorrowful as the creature is defeated. There’s a sense of melancholy at the end of every battle.
Honestly, playing through this game was just… breathtaking, but also really sad. Seeing these huge, incredible creatures just existing peacefully, then realizing the world they inhabited is now deserted… it’s haunting. And the big twist! After finally taking down the last colossus, you find out they weren’t just monsters – they were pieces of this being called Dormin. It hit me hard that by destroying them, I hadn’t saved the world, but actually let loose something truly terrible. It’s a really clever and unsettling story.
From the beginning, it was obvious something wasn’t right, but seeing Wander become Dormin’s vessel is still a huge surprise. The whole quest to save Mono turns out to have been a plan by a powerful evil to break free. It feels like everything was pointless, as Mono lies still and Wander is trapped in a portal. But then, at the very end, Mono wakes up, Agro limps back, and Mono discovers a small, horned child where Wander disappeared. Could this mean there’s still a chance to save Wander?
NieR Replicant — Nier
Safeguarding One Soul Dooms Countless Others
NieR Replicant begins like many fantasy stories: a young man journeys across a ruined world, searching for a way to save his sister from a deadly disease. He spends much of his time fighting countless shadowy creatures called “Shades,” guided by the characters Devola and Popola. But as the story unfolds, a shocking truth is revealed: these Shades were once people.
During Project Gestalt, people’s souls were removed from their bodies to save humanity from a deadly disease. The plan was to transfer these souls into artificial bodies called Replicants. However, the Replicants unexpectedly developed their own consciousness, effectively leaving humans without bodies and unable to complete the transfer.
Beyond the tragic loss of human lives, it’s discovered that the Shadowlord is the only force preventing the shades from going completely insane. He’s also revealed to be the original consciousness of the boy we met at the beginning of the story, and our protagonist is simply a body created to contain him. When Nier defeats the Shadowlord, he unknowingly seals the fate of both humanity and all the Replicants.
The heartbreaking part of NieR Replicant is that it doesn’t offer easy answers or satisfying resolutions – everything is complicated and flawed. If Nier had let the Shadowlord and other Gestalts take over the Replicant bodies, the Replicant personalities would have been erased. But even stopping the villain means wiping out humanity, which ultimately leads to a grim fate for the Replicants themselves.
Read More
- All Shadow Armor Locations in Crimson Desert
- How to Get the Sunset Reed Armor Set and Hollow Visage Sword in Crimson Desert
- All Skyblazer Armor Locations in Crimson Desert
- Best Bows in Crimson Desert
- Marni Laser Helm Location & Upgrade in Crimson Desert
- All Helfryn Armor Locations in Crimson Desert
- All Golden Greed Armor Locations in Crimson Desert
- Wings of Iron Walkthrough in Crimson Desert
- How to Craft the Elegant Carmine Armor in Crimson Desert
- Keeping Large AI Models Connected Through Network Chaos
2026-04-04 07:35