History BigBadDuumvirate / VideoGames

** Jon Irenicus and his sister Bodhi form the duumvirate in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII: Shadows of Amn'', although Irenicus is given much more spotlight, thanks to being a complex and somewhat sympathetic villain, while Bodhi is just your run-of-the-mill ChaoticEvil vampire.

** The team up of Doctor Doom and [[Franchise/ResidentEvil Albert Wesker]] in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3''. There's also a SealedEvilInACan that they accidentally released to count, [[spoiler:that being ComicBook/{{Galactus}}. But if Wesker's ending is to be believed, ''that's part of the plan'']].
** ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'' has ComicBook/{{Ultron}} and [[VideoGame/MegaManX Sigma]]. Both villains are working together due to their shared goals to KillAllHumans, and to that end they have [[FusionDance combined]] to become Ultron-Sigma.

** While Sigma is front and center in ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'', to the point of directly confronting the heroes in the intro stage to get his ApocalypseHow-scale EvilPlan rolling, he mentions right before the final battle that he had the help of "a new partner," someone who hates X just like he does and told Sigma of Zero's [[SuperpoweredEvilSide true]] [[AmnesiacDissonance nature]] (thus sparking his plot to draw it out via TheVirus). Between this, ''[[ContinuityNod everything]]'' about the first Zero Space stage [[note]]The stage itself is Quick Man's stage from ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'', OneHitKill lasers and all. Its boss, the [[BlobMonster Shadow Devil]], is a [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 Yellow]] [[VideoGame/MegaMan3 Devil]] variant capable of morphing into the [[VideoGame/MegaMan6 Wily Machine 6]] for one of its attacks. [[SigilSpam A familiar "W" logo]] appears in the background during the battle, which is set to [[DarkReprise a dark, orchestral remix]] of [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 the very first Fortress Boss theme]].[[/note]], and Sigma's OneWingedAngel form--which was also provided by this unknown benefactor--being based on Gamma (the FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/MegaMan3''), all signs pointed to this person being '''[[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Dr. Wily]]''' despite the huge gap in time between series meaning [[PosthumousCharacter he'd be a fossil by 21XX]]. WordOfGod would later confirm it was indeed Wily and that [[BackFromTheDead he even came back to life]] in the process, implicitly [[VirtualGhost because]] [[BrainUploading of]] the Maverick Virus. However, as Wily created Zero and most likely created the original form of the Virus (which ended up corrupting Sigma in the first place), he's already the GreaterScopeVillain of the ''X'' games and thus might have been TheManBehindTheMan to Sigma instead. This only becomes more confusing with the suggestion (particularly in [[LostInTranslation the Japanese version]]) that Serges, one of the X-Hunters from ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX2 X2]]'' (who were [[TheRemnant remnants]] of [[VideoGame/MegaManX1 the original Maverick uprising]]), is one of at least two robotic avatars for Dr. Wily[[labelnote:*]]the other being [[VideoGame/MegaManX6 Isoc]][[/labelnote]].

* Shang Tsung and Quan Chi are the eponymous duo of ''VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance'' and play this to a frightening hilt. Shang Tsung was a former sorceror of [[EvilOverlord Shao Kahn's]] until the two seemingly murdered him, and Quan Chi was once the fallen god Shinnok's arch-sorceror until he was unexpectedly banished to the Netherrealm by Scorpion. The two plan to use each other's talents for soul manipulation and necromancy to revive the invincible army of the Dragon King. Both of their endings see one betray the other, however, and while against all odds they [[TheBadGuyWins actually win]] in [[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception the next game]], Shang Tsung still betrays Quan Chi and pays the price. And then said Dragon King himself re-emerges and they both seemingly die trying to take him down as a threat to their rule.
** Ironically, the series' two biggest betrayers are at their best when working together, and they know it. Because of this, even across different timelines, the Deadly Alliance ''keeps forming''. It starts as an impromptu team-up in Shao Kahn's tournament in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' and shows up again [[spoiler:working together to destabilize Queen Sindel's regime in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'', which is itself a pawn for a [[PhysicalGod Titan]] Deadly Alliance aiming to destroy the New Era itself.]] So much so that Liu Kang drops ''everything'' to see the threat neutralized when he hears of it.
** The proven effectiveness of the pair continues in Chapter 13 of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'' [[spoiler:appropriately titled Deadly Alliance. Shang Tsung and Quan Chi run roughshod over the minions of their Titan counterparts and completely halt the plan to invade the New Era]].

** The proven effectiveness of the pair continues in [[spoiler:Shang Tsung's]] playable chapter in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat1'' [[spoiler:appropriately titled Deadly Alliance, Shang Tsung and Quan Chi run roughshod over the minions of their Titan counterparts and completely halt the plan to invade the New Era]].

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' features ''a lot'' of Batman's RoguesGallery, but the main plot is driven by Hugo Strange (running Arkham City and building up to 'Protocol Ten') and The Joker (who has poisoned both Batman and a large portion of Gotham). [[spoiler:Ra's al Ghul turns out to be sponsoring Strange, making him the game's BiggerBad]]. Perhaps unsurprisingly, The Joker [[HijackedByGanon hijacks the plot away from Strange early on]], forcing Batman to focus on his plot while Strange's mysterious Protocol 10 plan gets ever closer and closer. [[spoiler:Following the deaths of Strange and Ra's, the final confrontation is appropriately against the Joker]].

* ''VideoGame/HorizonForbiddenWest'' has two {{Big Bad}}s in the form of Gerard Bieri and Tilda van der Meer. Both want to take GAIA and leave Earth at the hands of Nemesis, though it borders to TeethClenchedTeamwork due to them having very different, conflicting goals on leaving Earth to Nemesis. [[spoiler:Gerard wants to steal it to remake Earth in his image, while Tilda wants to take Aloy and do the same thing with Gerard by forcing her to betray her own allies.]] However, it is clear that Tilda is the one who spearheaded this plan in the first place [[spoiler:after Nemesis' terror in Sirius and Gerard is the one who led the Zeniths including Tilda to Earth to take the working GAIA and her runaway functions.]]

* ''VideoGame/HorizonForbiddenWest'' has two {{Big Bad}}s in the form of Gerard Bieri and Tilda van der Meer. Both want to take GAIA and leave Earth at the hands of Nemesis, though it borders to TeethClenchedTeamwork due to them having very different, conflicting goals on leaving Earth to Nemesis. [[spoiler:Gerard wants to steal it to remake Earth in his image, while Tilda wants to take Aloy and do the same thing with Gerard by forcing her to betray her own allies.]] However, it is clear that Tilda is the one who spearheaded this plan in the first place [[spoiler:after Nemesis' attack and Gerard was the one who led the Zeniths to Earth to take the working GAIA and her runaway functions.]]

** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' has [[spoiler:the triumvirate of [[GeneralRipper General Ketheric Thorm]], [[PsychopathicManchild Orin the Red]], and [[TyrantTakesTheHelm Lord Enver Gortash]]. All three were [[TheAntichrist the Chosen ones of the evil gods known as the Dead Three]], and TheManBehindTheMan behind the game's ApocalypseCult. However, they had constant infighting as Thorm and Orin sought to take control for themselves while AffablyEvil Gortash [[WeAreStrugglingTogether struggled to get them to stick to the plan]].]]

* Jon Irenicus and his sister Bodhi form the duumvirate in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII: Shadows of Amn'', although Irenicus is given much more spotlight, thanks to being a complex and somewhat sympathetic villain, while Bodhi is just your run-of-the-mill ChaoticEvil vampire.

%% * ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
%% ** Eggman and Chaos in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure''. Initially Eggman is dominant, but [[spoiler:Chaos betrays Eggman and serves as the game's final boss]].
%% ** Eggman and Shadow in ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''. One might also count Rouge, the third member of the Dark story, though she is an undercover government agent, but is also out to steal the Master Emerald.
%% ** Eggman does this with his alternate dimension counterpart Eggman Nega in the ''VideoGame/SonicRushSeries''.
%% ** In ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'', [[spoiler:Dr. Eggman does this with ''himself'']].
%% ** In ''VideoGame/SonicForces'', Dr. Eggman does this with Infinite. Though, Infinite appears to be Eggman's [[TheDragon Dragon]], as Eggman is dominant.

* Sarah Kerrigan and Arcturus Mengsk become this briefly in ''VideoGame/{{StarCraft|I}}: Brood War'', until Kerrigan decides otherwise. In somewhat of a subversion, they are working with the good guys against a faction of space Nazis, and Mengsk wasn't given a choice if the alternative was cryogenic imprisonment. By the time they return to being villains, they're at each other's throats again.

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'':

** ''VideoGame/MegaManX8'' also might have used this trope. It's left ambiguous as to whether Sigma was the real mastermind behind [[spoiler:Lumine]], [[TheManBehindTheMan if it was the other way around]], or if they were just like minds using each other to fulfill their goals (the former wanting to ensure that he and his ideals [[GreaterScopeVillain live]] [[PredecessorVillain on]] in the New Generation Reploids even if he were to finally die for good, and the latter wanting to purge old-gen Reploids to pave the way for the New Generation Reploids to take over). The fact that [[spoiler:Lumine]] reveals Sigma's DNA data is in the Copy Chips possessed by all New Generation Reploids sans Axl yet later claims they are able to go Maverick "at will" muddies things further. Some say Sigma had his usual HijackedByGanon status reversed on him, others say [[spoiler:Lumine]] is more of an OverlordJr in practice.

* Every ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' game in the [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia Archanea canon]] features [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Medeus]] and [[EvilSorcerer Gharnef]] in such a duumvirate -- Gharnef specifically revives Medeus from his centuries-long death for this purpose, but it's implied he has plans which transcend Medeus and will (try to) dispose of him once he's done; for his part, since [[OrcusOnHisThrone he cannot leave his castle]] without losing his power or risking death, Medeus relies on Gharnef to actually execute their plans for dominating Archanea.

* [[spoiler:Captains Romulus Slag and Angstrom Darkwater]] in ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank Future: Quest for Booty''.

* ''VideoGame/PulpAdventures'' has [[Radio/TheShadow Shiwan Khan]] and [[Franchise/DocSavage John Sunlight]], whose plan is to conquer the world (Khan would receive the eastern half and Sunlight the western half).

* Mr. Negative and [[spoiler:Dr. Octopus]] in ''VideoGame/Spider-ManPS4''

* Mr. Negative and [[spoiler:Dr. Octopus]] in ''VideoGame/Spider-Man(PS4)''

* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'': [[TheEmperor Emperor Cain]] and [[WhiteHairBlackHeart General Kahran Ramsus]] rule over TheEmpire of Solaris. [[BigBadEnsemble They are also competing]] with [[EvilChancellor Shakhan]], the [[TheOmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Gazel Ministry]], and [[DarthVaderClone Grahf]] for control of the empire, while [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Id]] seeks revenge on them all. [[spoiler:Except Cain [[GoodAllAlong turns out to be]] trying to [[StealthMentor help the heroes]], Ramsus [[TheStarscream betrays him]], and all of them are revealed to be {{Unwitting Pawn}}s. The [[TheManBehindTheMan real]] Duumvirate is Miang Hawwa, Kahran's [[TheManInFrontOfTheMan supposed]] [[BodyguardBabes sidekick]], and Krelian, the MadScientist true leader of Solaris; they in turn are working for {{Deus|EstMachina}}, the GreaterScopeVillain. Miang herself, or rather the Miang Factor personified as the [[{{Ouroboros}} Urobolous Snake]], is the PostFinalBoss of the game. Defeating her means Deus cannot be activated and is utterly useless.]]

** While Sigma is front and center in ''VideoGame/MegaManX5'', to the point of directly confronting the heroes in the intro stage to get his ApocalypseHow-scale EvilPlan rolling, he mentions right before the final battle that he had the help of "a new partner," someone who hates X just like he does and told Sigma of Zero's [[SuperpoweredEvilSide true]] [[AmnesiacDissonance nature]] (thus sparking his plot to draw it out via TheVirus). Between this, ''[[ContinuityNod everything]]'' about the first Zero Space stage [[note]]The stage itself is Quick Man's stage from ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'', OneHitKill lasers and all. Its boss, the [[BlobMonster Shadow Devil]], is a [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 Yellow]] [[VideoGame/MegaMan3 Devil]] variant capable of morphing into the [[VideoGame/MegaMan6 Wily Machine 6]] for one of its attacks. [[SigilSpam A familiar "W" logo]] appears in the background during the battle, which is set to [[DarkReprise a dark, orchestral remix]] of [[VideoGame/MegaMan1 the very first boss theme]].[[/note]], and Sigma's OneWingedAngel form--which was also provided by this unknown benefactor--being based on Gamma (the FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/MegaMan3''), all signs pointed to this person being '''[[VideoGame/MegaManClassic Dr. Wily]]''' despite the huge gap in time between series meaning [[PosthumousCharacter he'd be a fossil by 21XX]]. WordOfGod would later confirm it was indeed Wily and that [[BackFromTheDead he even came back to life]] in the process, implicitly [[VirtualGhost because]] [[BrainUploading of]] the Maverick Virus. However, as Wily created Zero and most likely created the original form of the Virus (which ended up corrupting Sigma in the first place), he's already the GreaterScopeVillain of the ''X'' games and thus might have been TheManBehindTheMan to Sigma instead. This only becomes more confusing with the suggestion (particularly in [[LostInTranslation the Japanese version]]) that Serges, one of the X-Hunters from ''[[VideoGame/MegaManX2 X2]]'' (who were [[TheRemnant remnants]] of [[VideoGame/MegaManX1 the original Maverick uprising]]), is one of at least two robotic avatars for Dr. Wily[[labelnote:*]]the other being [[VideoGame/MegaManX6 Isoc]][[/labelnote]].

%% ** In ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'', [[spoiler: Dr. Eggman does this with ''himself'']].
%% ** In ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' Dr. Eggman does this with Infinite. Though, Infinite appears to be Eggman's [[TheDragon Dragon]], as Eggman is dominant.

* ''VideoGame/JojosBizarreAdventureThe7thStandUser'' has DIO like in the source material, but also adds [[spoiler:Vins]] into the mix as a second antagonist for the new protagonist.

* In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOrigins'', [[spoiler:Flavius Metellus / The Lion]] and [[spoiler:Lucius Septimius / The Jackal]] are the real puppetmasters pulling the strings for the Order of the Ancients by manipulating UsefulNotes/{{Cleopatra}} and UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar to unwittingly aid them in their quest for complete control of the known world.