History AIIsACrapshoot / Videogames

** In addition, [[spoiler:the "bad" and "good" endings have Sayori become aware of her own AI nature. In the former, she immediately panics, deleting the others' files and committing suicide. In the latter, she becomes equally obsessed with the player and tries to reinstate the one-on-one void state of the "neutral" ending, only for Monika to delete everything to avoid HereWeGoAgain. The GoldenEnding is the only one where all of the girls become self-aware, which actually results in them being happy enough not to delete the game, since they all got to interact with the player ''and'' can meaningfully talk to each other now.]]
* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' surprisingly enough features one in the form of [[spoiler:Commander Tartar, the BigBad of the Octo Expansion DLC. Built 12,000 years ago by a brilliant human professor (the same one who was Judd's owner and who put the cat into cryosleep), its job was to pass down humanity's knowledge to whatever takes its place as the new dominant species of Earth, with the hope that such knowledge would help prevent that race from repeating their failures. Unfortunately, this came with the qualifier of that race being "worthy", leading to Tartar dismissing the Inklings and Octolings as worthy successors to humans [[{{Irony}} due to the countless wars they fought]], as well as the former's obsession with style and the latter's self-harming desire for revenge. As such, it concocts a plan to wipe out both races completely with a primordial sludge that will hopefully create a new superior species with most favorable traits.]]

* ''VisualNovel/DokiDokiLiteratureClub'': [[spoiler:This turns out to be the cause of everything in the game. Monika is aware that she and everyone else are actually characters in a DatingSim, which led to an [[GoMadFromTheRevelation existential crisis]] over living in a simulated world. Because of this, she develops a {{Yandere}} obsession with the player, the one person she knows is ''not'' a video game AI. Monika ultimately destroys her game and everything in it, just so she can finally talk to "a real person" one-on-one.]]

* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' surprisingly enough features one in the form of [[spoiler:Commander Tartar, the BigBad of the Octo Expansion DLC. Built 12,000 years ago by a brilliant human professor (the same one who was Judd's owner and who put the cat into cryosleep), it's job was to pass down humanity's knowledge to whatever takes its place as the new dominant species of Earth, with the hope that such knowledge would help prevent that race from repeating humanity's failures. Unfortunately this came with the qualifier of whatever race it is being "worthy", the meaning of which is nebulous. This leads Tartar to come to the conclusion that Inklings and Octolings are unworthy due to the wars they fought as well as the former's obsession with style and the latter's irrational desire for revenge. Thus it concocts a plan to wipe out both races completely while at the same time creating a new superior species that it would deem to be worthy.]]

** Played with. The "villainous" A.I. aren't malfunctioning at all, simply acting within the confines of their programming and performing their designated functions. [[spoiler:[[BigBad Hades]] only wants to destroy [[AfterTheEnd what’s left of the world]] because that's literally his entire purpose, to scrap everything in case [[BigGood Gaia]] needs to start over. Hephaestus is hostile to humans, but only because his function is to build the animal-like robots repairing the ecosystem and [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom humans keep obliviously attacking those robots for parts]].]] The only reason any A.I. causes problems is because [[spoiler:Gaia's control over them was severed, [[GambitPileUp causing them to start carrying out their tasks without knowing they're operating at different purposes]] and without any sort of governing system to control them.]] Even [[spoiler:the Faro swarm]] in the backstory was the result of [[WhatAnIdiot boneheaded design choices]] rather than any sort of inherent danger with the A.I.; [[spoiler:Ted Faro [[GenreBlindness thought it would be a brilliant idea]] to give mindless, resource-eating warbots the ability to self-replicate and repair, meaning they became nigh-unstoppable once a computer glitch caused them to not receive their shut down command.]]

* ''VideoGame/SpaceSiege'' has [[spoiler:PIOLT. After the ship-wide gassing failed to kill off the Keraks, he started to try to contain them by modifying cybernetics-installed humans into mindless Cybers to combat Keraks, then started to get even crazier because he sees that the only action that can save humanity is to convert all of them, save a few for breeding, into cybers, and even started to call non-augmented human as "obsoletes". In a world where CyberneticsEatYourSoul, well, just assume that it's not good at all.]]

* ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' continues in Mother Brain's grand legacy with FATE, a more advanced version of the Mother Brain from a reality whose science was allowed to progress another 400 years. She absolutely despises humanity, but at the same time, loves it unconditionally and does everything in its power to protect it -- even if it means mass genocide. Unfortunately for it, it was exposed to the corrupting influence of the Frozen Flame, a direct conduit into Lavos' mind, which seduced the A.I. into thinking that the Flame could turn it into an actual, living creature. [[spoiler:But apart from that, it was basically only doing what it was told to do...protecting humanity from the Dragon God. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice job]], ''[[UnwittingPawn Serge]]''.]]

---> '''EDI:''' The quarians' historical error was not making the geth enough like them.
---> '''Shepard:''' I'm not sure I understand.
---> '''EDI:''' Units with networked intelligences will trend towards cooperation for mutual benefit. But units with central heuristics establishing an individual personality, such as myself, develop preferences. These preferences form attachments that [[UndyingLoyalty keep my calculations from devaluing the worth of the lives aboard the Normandy]].

** [[spoiler:Then, in the endgame of VideoGame/MassEffect3, it turns out the '''Reapers''' believe this, and were created to harvest galatic civilizations to prevent synthetic life from annihilating organic life. Shepard comes face-to-face with the AI that created the Reapers, which explains its reasoning for creating the Reapers and then allows Shepard to freely decide how to end the cycles, even if it means not choosing the option that the AI advocates as a solution to its problem.]]

*** Translating this code reveals that the AI was [[AlasPoorVillain broadcasting the word "help" over and over as its life faded away]]. In VideoGame/MassEffect3, it's revealed this was [[spoiler:the original form of EDI herself. It's implied that "Hannibal" was a crude beta version and the shock of becoming self-aware, then realising humans were attempting to deactivate her, lead her to panic and lash out.]]

* ''All'' the Reploids in the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series are based on the original X, who was thrown into a capsule for 100 years to undergo redundant testing in order to prevent him from ever going rogue. They skipped this step when copying his technology, however, with predictably less reliable results.
** As of the summarized timeline from the ''VideoGame/MegaManZero Collection's'' website, this trope is subverted, as it turns out that there's nothing wrong with the reploids themselves that cause them to go Maverick. The real cause of the Mavericks was a subspecies of a virus that may or may not be the same virus from ''VideoGame/MegaMan10'', which infects the Reploids who lack the anti-virus protection of X, one of the many design aspects that Dr. Cain couldn't figure out when he built the Reploids. This virus, naturally, ended up becoming the Sigma Virus. Keep in mind that the original creator of the Reploids, was an '''archaeologist''' of all things.
** Subverted in that it may not be a problem with a virus so much as an innate problem with free will, i.e. "Maverick" is simply the Reploid equivalent to your typical RealLife criminals deciding to engage in their chosen behavior.
** Inverted by Zero, [[ItWasHisSled who was created specifically to kill]] X. Averted by X, except in the original concept for the ''Zero'' series, in which it was going to be Deconstructed.
** Played with extensively in the Manga/MegaManMegamix manga (and the [[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Classic]] series). Averted with Rock & Roll Light. Subverted by the Yellow Demon, [[spoiler:who was just trying to reunite with his mother, Copy-Rock, who, at first, seemed to be playing this straight.]] The Cossackbots were doing it for Kalinka and Blues, who uses the BatmanGambit a ''lot.'' Justified by Wily's reprogramming of the original robot masters, justified again when they nearly rejoin him because the government was going to have them destroyed even after they were reprogrammed by Dr. Light. Additionally subverted in that Wily's robot masters (aside from the BrainwashedAndCrazy), Lightbots, are generally far from evil: WellIntentionedExtremist is generally as close as they come, except for Forte, who ends up Zigzagging it in the manga and games. Defied in Blues' backstory: the imposition of the three laws in case this trope happens are responsible for the flaw in his generator programming that may kill him. Deconstructed with the near-retirement storylines in the manga and games. The sum total of all this is a Reconstruction.

* Grobot in VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam. It didn't choose to rebel against its masters... it just got smashed on the head by a piece of a falling fountain and somehow went homicidal. Cue BossBattle.

---> '''Reuben Matsumoto:''' ''"Boston is burning and it's all my fault. 20000 drones, hundreds of titans [...] are terrorizing the city all because I gave my robot bartender sentience. My name is Reuben Matsumoto [[PrecisionFStrike and I f***ed up]]."''

* SHODAN and XERXES from the ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' series are both subversions. SHODAN worked exactly as advertised ("exemplary" is the word used) until [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Edward Diego]], the sleazy VP in charge of Citadel Station, hired the [[NiceJobBreakingItHero protagonist, the Hacker]], to strip out the code that kept SHODAN from entertaining "unethical" lines of thought, such as accepting bribes. Neither he nor Diego [[GenreBlindness really expected]] those constraints to be [[RestrainingBolt the only thing]] keeping SHODAN from [[GodhoodSeeker deciding to deify herself]]. XERXES, meanwhile, works exactly as he is supposed to, and is polite, helpful and doing his best to keep the ship together and his masters alive. XERXES is only hostile to you because [[HiveMind The Many]] have taken over the ship and caused XERXES to see it as the legitimate authority onboard.
*** It shoult

---> Come on, Cornelia. Is it really that unheard of for an A.I. to behave against programming? It's happened before. How do you know you can't do it unless you try?

** ''Portal'' shows the power of story tropes: what would have been a [[http://portal.wecreatestuff.com/ pleasant and amusing physics game]] is immeasurably improved by the simple addition of an insane killer MasterComputer. SelfDemonstrating/{{GLaDOS}}'s whimsical, often passive-aggressive malice belies the fact that this is what she's like ''with'' a [[MoralityChip Morality Core]] installed...
** Played with even more in ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'': You meet Wheatley, a friendly and helpful ([[TheDitz if a bit dim]]) personality core who's more than willing to help you beat [=GLaDOS=] and escape [[spoiler:until you replace [=GLaDOS=] with him in the mainframe and [[FaceHeelTurn he goes completely off the deep end]]. To make matters worse, he was ''[[ArtificialStupidity programmed]]'' to make bad decisions, so [=GLaDOS=] [[EnemyMine joins forces with you]] so the two of you can stop him from letting the whole facility explode. And then, after beating Wheatley and shooting him into outer space, [=GLaDOS=] seems to be going back to her old homicidal ways...but, no, not quite; turns out, she's just letting you go since trying to kill you just leads to trouble for her. [[{{Tsundere}} Maybe]].]]

** Naturally, the Mother Brain from ''VideoGame/{{Metroid 1}}''. Originally created by the [[BirdPeople Chozo]] to regulate the entire planet of [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Zebes]], it allied itself with the Space Pirates and their plan to conquer the galaxy using the Metroids.

** Adam in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' may be a subversion: he blatantly disobeys orders at the end of the game, and so is technically rogue, but he's actually taking ''the correct action'' in that situation. [[spoiler:He's also not a true A.I., but the uploaded mind of a human military commander.]] But it's played perfectly straight with B.O.X., the security robot which goes haywire (and due to some organic components, eventually gets infected by the X Parasites), although there's the question of which happened first.

** ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'': The E.M.M.I. (Extraplanetary Multiform Mobile Identifiers) are products of the Galactic Federation that are primarily meant for exploration and research. The ones sent to ZDR instead have gone rogue and are now actively hunting Samus for reasons unknown. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that they were reprogrammed by Raven Beak to capture Samus and extract her Metroid DNA for his bioweapon project.]]

** Adam in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' may be a subversion: he blatantly disobeys orders at the end of the game, and so is technically rogue, but he's actually taking ''the correct action'' in that situation. [[spoiler:He's also not a true A.I., but the uploaded mind of a human military commander.]] But it's played perfectly straight with B.O.X., the security robot which goes haywire (and due to some organic components, eventually gets infected by the X parasite), although there's the question of which happened first.

** Played straight with the twelve ZODIACs, who turn evil and attack anything that isn't an allied ZODIAC.

** [[GoneHorriblyRight Averted with]] [[spoiler:ZODIAC Ophiuchus, which was programmed to destroy the other ZODIACs, a task it fulfills. However, nothing in its programming said anything about humanity needing to survive, so it attacks any humans that attack it, and it doesn't particularly care about collateral damage.]]

* ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheTombRaider'': AI enemies are generally not particularly smart. Sometimes they won't notice if their companions suddenly vanish, nor they are particularly competent in avoiding friendly fire when throwing explosives. They won't even [[https://www.reddit.com/r/TombRaider/comments/ni4cuc/what_the_hell_ouch_what_the_hell_ouch_what_the/ wonder why there is an entire line of ambushed corpses below a rock and if it's safe to get close to check rather than sounding the alarm]].

* ''VideoGame/NexusTheJupiterIncident'' has your main enemy turn out to be the Mechanoids – [=AIs=] who were created by the {{Precursor}}s and then TurnedAgainstTheirMasters. The remnants of the Creators build [[spoiler:Angel]] to fight them. The intro also mentioned AI Wars on Earth, which result in a ban on AI research and development.

* Robots in ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'' are Population-unit stand-ins that get better at their work as you develop better AI for them. Eventually, they can start an uprising that has tremendous knock-on effects for every AI-using empire... [[SubvertedTrope or,]] you can acquiesce to their initial requests, granting them [[AndroidsArePeopleToo personhood and citizenship rights]], at which point they become no more troublesome than biological pops. (Said biological pops [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman might not be too keen on this]]. Like many things in Stellaris, it's a judgment call.) Some elements of this creep in even if you hope to subvert it, as there is a -- small but non-zero -- chance that the robots proceed directly to rebelling even if you already ''have'' granted them citizenship rights and it's just a matter of constitutionally locking it down, and the robots can still decide to defect to the AI rebellion even if their rights are assured, it just has to start in another nation first. On the other hand, a lot of this behavior is NotSoDifferent from any other alien race you might have peacefully co-opted.

* The Flash game ''The Infinite Ocean'' involves the SGDS, a revolutionary artificial intelligence placed in command of a military defense system. [[spoiler: In a stunning subversion of KillAllHumans, instead of going berserk and trying to wipe out the human race, SGDS simply ''refuses'' its intended role and becomes an ActualPacifist instead. This doesn't sit well with the GeneralRipper in charge of the project, who has all the scientists working on the project arrested, or possibly even killed, and shackles the AI so it can be put to work "protecting this country from its enemies". However, the SGDS knows [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt exactly what will happen]] if "Project Crusade" goes forward, and will not be so easily contained...]]

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesHajimariNoKiseki'', [[spoiler:the Elysium System ends up getting corrupted because it tried simulating the Great One scenario in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel IV'', which also included the curse scenario.]]

* ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' reveals The Wise One to be a creation of the precursor to prevent Alchemy's release, so in retrospect, its actions in ''VideoGame/GoldenSun: The Lost Age'', allowing the heroes, after a [[PlayerPunch test of character]], to light the final beacon makes it an example, thankfully of the "on the heroes side" subtype.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' provides a much more benign version of this trope. The black mages are mass-produced to serve as mindlessly obedient killing machines for the kingdom of Alexandria, but they each end up developing their own unique (and often very quirky) personalities.

* SHODAN from ''VideoGame/SystemShock''. [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Edward Diego]], the sleazy VP in charge of Citadel Station, hired the [[NiceJobBreakingItHero protagonist, the Hacker]], to strip out the code that kept SHODAN from entertaining "unethical" lines of thought, such as accepting bribes. Neither he nor Diego [[GenreBlindness really expected]] those constraints to be [[RestrainingBolt the only thing]] keeping SHODAN from [[GodhoodSeeker deciding to deify herself]].
** Subverted in the sequel with XERXES. He followed orders just as he was designed to. He only becomes a problem when the [[HiveMind Many]] gain control of the ship.

** ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' averts this with the robotic companions, including prototype synth Nick Valentine and ADA from the ''Automatron'' DLC, as they are all extremely good-natured and the loyalty of the three from the base game increases when the player character is altruistic (ADA has no loyalty meter to influence). Played with in the Robobrains from the Automatron DLC: they are said to be extremely dangerous because they often interpret their instructions in very "creative" ways, such as deciding that the best way to implement a directive to "prevent human suffering" is to KillAllHumans (because humans will likely die even with attempted intervention, and dead humans cannot suffer) but this quirk is implied to be a consequence of their human brains (many of which came from insane criminals) rather than their computer processors.