History BrokenPedestal / VideoGames

* In ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands,'' this is the entire crux of Rhys' CharacterDevelopment from start to finish. In episode one he's a Hyperion employee who deeply admires [[BigBad Handsome Jack]], and his present day self says that, back then, he wanted to be "just like him." Come episode five, after he's spent time with [[ArtificialIntelligence a hyperrealistic AI of Handsome Jack constructed shortly before his death]] and seen just how vengeful, self-centered, and gleefully violent he really is, Rhys can't believe that he ever once idolized the image of him that he was sold. If you choose to play him a certain way, you can kickstart this process very early, having Rhys be hostile and uncooperative towards Jack from the minute they meet, and have him call Jack out being a "mass-murdering megalomaniac" who committed so many atrocities while he was alive.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands,'' this is the entire crux of Rhys' CharacterDevelopment from start to finish. In episode one he's a Hyperion employee who admires [[BigBad Handsome Jack]], and his present day self says that, back then, he wanted to be "just like him." Come episode five, after he's spent time with [[ArtificialIntelligence a hyperrealistic AI of Handsome Jack constructed shortly before his death]] and seen just how vengeful, self-centered, and gleefully violent he really is, Rhys can't believe that he ever once idolized the image of him that he was sold. If you choose to play him a certain way, you can kickstart this process very early, having Rhys be hostile and uncooperative towards Jack from the minute they meet, and have him call Jack out being a "mass-murdering megalomaniac" who committed so many atrocities while he was alive.

* In the ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' series, this applies to (in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'') [[spoiler:Most of the Begnion senators]], and (in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'') [[spoiler:The god that most of the populace worshiped]]. There are also {{inver|ted trope}}s: Micaiah dismisses Sothe's constant praise of Ike as exaggerated at best, while Soren describes Micaiah, not without reason, as the figurehead of a zealous fanatic movement. When they all team up in the finale, they see that all the praise really is warranted.

** In the ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' {{DLC}} "Soldier's Peak", Sophia Dryden becomes this (posthumously) to her descendant Levi Dryden. While her goal of opposing a tyrant was admirable, she still resorted to BloodMagic and demon summoning when the chips were down and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard suffered the consequences]].

*** The "Legacy" {{DLC}} turns [[spoiler:Malcolm Hawke]] into one [[spoiler:with TheReveal that he was a Blood Mage. Probably the most sympathetic example of this trope ever since he did it to seal away a powerful evil, was forced to do it with a threat to his lover, and he made sure his mage child(ren) knew of the dangers associated with it. Malcolm was ashamed of his past and hoped his family would never learn of it.]] His children still don't take the news very well but understand why he did it.

* ''VideoGame/{{Infamous}}'': Cole's girlfriend Trish breaks up with him when the Voice of Survival's MaliciousSlander leads her to believe that Cole deliberately set off the Ray Sphere explosion that claimed her sister's life. Depending on whether or not the player does Good or Evil Karma, she'll either reconcile with Cole or die cursing his name.

* In ''VideoGame/WildARMs5'', Dean worships and tries to emulate the famous golem hunter Nightburn. When it turns out he's TheQuisling for the Veruni, his pedestal shatters.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands,'' this is the entire crux of Rhys' CharacterDevelopment from start to finish. In episode one he's a Hyperion employee who admires [[BigBad Handsome Jack]], and his present day self says that, back then, he wanted to be "just like him." Come episode five, after he's spent time with [[ArtificialIntelligence a hyperrealistic AI of Handsome Jack constructed shortly before his death]] and seen just how vengeful, self-centered, and gleefully violent he really is, Rhys can't believe that he ever once idolized the image of him that he was sold. If you choose to play him a certain way, you can kickstart this process much earlier, having Rhys be hostile and uncooperative towards Jack from the minute they meet, and have him call Jack out being a "mass-murdering megalomaniac" who committed so many atrocities while he was alive.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands,'' this is the entire crux of Rhys' CharacterDevelopment, from start to finish. In episode one, he's a Hyperion employee who admires [[BigBad Handsome Jack]] and his present day self says that, back then, he wanted to be "just like him". Come episode five, after he's spent time with [[ArtificialIntelligence a hyperrealistic AI of Handsome Jack constructed shortly before his death,]] and seen just how murderous, self-centered, and gleefully violent he really is, Rhys can't believe that he ever once idolized him. If you choose to play him a certain way, you can kickstart this process much earlier, having Rhys be hostile and uncooperative towards Jack from the minute they meet, and have him call Jack out for all the atrocities he committed while he was alive and for being a "mass-murdering megalomaniac."

* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'': [[spoiler:Albus]] is this to Revello Forsythe. Once a friend of both Forsythe and Geoffrey Azelhart and [[spoiler:Captain of the city watch, Albus]] was [[EvilPaysBetter privately frustrated that his honour wasn't earning him as much money as he would have liked]], and [[spoiler:eventually [[FaceHeelTurn switched sides]] to [[TheSyndicate the Obsidians]] in secret. [[EvilFormerFriend He would become one of the three Crow Men who murdered Geoffrey]] for [[HeKnowsTooMuch finding out]] about the [[VeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Gate of Finis]], top-secret information to the Obsidians. Albus then pulled a FakingTheDead deception, tricking the residents of Noblecourt, Forsythe included, into believing he had died with honour resisting the Obsidians.]] In the present, the late Geoffrey's daughter Primrose Azelhart, accompanied by Forsythe, infiltrate the Right-hand Crow's lair, only to discover his true identity as [[spoiler:Albus]]. Naturally, Forsythe does not take TheReveal at all well.

** It also happens in the [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2016 2016 game]], although here [[spoiler:Qwark]] does legitimately [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regret his actions]] after [[spoiler:seeing Novalis get destroyed and spends the ending in prison doing community service to make up for it[[note]]although that one is debatable considering the fact that the whole game is Qwark retelling the events of the first game, and when taking into account just how much of a vain UnreliableNarrator Qwark is...[[/note]].]]

*** Downplayed with Jade and Kotal Khan. Jade is horrified by the several KickTheDog moments Kotal has since her death and he is no longer the person she fell in love with. However, she chose to remain by his side and believes he can change for the better.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', Dedue, Dimitri's retainer, admired Gilbert, a knight in the service of the Kingdom of Faerghus, and saw him as a role model. In their supports, however, Dedue expresses disgust for Gilbert's abandoning the kingdom in shame over his failure to stop the Tragedy of Duscur, believing he doesn't live up to the stories Dimitri told him.

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/VandalHearts 2'' were the resident messiah figure, St. Nirvath, is revealed to have been a mass murderer and glory seeker, causing a crisis of faith in one of the characters. It turns out that while Nirvath is guilty of wiping out a large portion of humanity, he did so in order to save the remainder from a devastating disease and was convinced that history would remember him as a criminal and not as a saviour no matter how necessary his actions were.

** He's also this to [[spoiler:Stuart Zurgo, a.k.a the Qwark fanboy from a sidequest in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando Going Commando]]'']], as his numerous scandals lead the latter to become disillusioned with him into becoming the BigBad of ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFullFrontalAssault Full Frontal Assault]]''.

** He's also this to Stuart Zurgo, a.k.a the Qwark fanboy from a sidequest in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando Going Commando]]'', as his numerous scandals lead the latter to become disillusioned with him into becoming the BigBad of ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankFullFrontalAssault Full Frontal Assault]]''.

** He's also this to Stuart Zurgo, a.k.a the Qwark fanboy from a sidequest in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankGoingCommando Going Commando]]'', as his numerous scandals lead the latter to become disillusioned with him into becoming the BigBad of ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankAll4One All 4 One]]''.
** It also happens in the [[VideoGame/RatchetAndClank2016 2016 game]], although here [[spoiler:Qwark]] does legitimately [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone regret his actions]] after [[spoiler:seeing Novalis get destroyed and spends the ending in prison doing community service to make up for it.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesHajimariNoKiseki'' has a portion of the Imperial Army having this reaction towards [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel Rean]] [[TheHero Schwarzer]] due to his status as the national hero and yet decided to strive to end the war when the reason they enlisted to the army was because of him in the first place.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands,'' this is the entire crux of Rhys' CharacterDevelopment, from start to finish. In episode one, he's a Hyperion employee who admires [[BigBad Handsome Jack,]] and his present day self says that, back then, he wanted to be "just like him". Come episode five, after he's spent time with [[ArtificialIntelligence a hyperrealistic AI of Handsome Jack constructed shortly before his death,]] and seen just how murderous, self-centered, and gleefully violent he really is, Rhys can't believe that he ever once idolized him. If you choose to play him a certain way, you can kickstart this process much earlier, having Rhys be hostile and uncooperative towards Jack from the minute they meet, and have him call Jack out for all the atrocities he committed while he was alive and for being a "mass-murdering megalomaniac."

** Then in ''VideoGame/ShadowTheHedgehog'', it's revealed that Gerald Robotnik struck a deal with the Black Arms alien race (who at this point have [[AlienInvasion invaded the earth]] and revealed their intention to [[ToServeMan enslave humans for food]]) that in exchange for their help in his research (which led to the eponymous character's creation), the Black Arms could have the planet. Eggman upon discovering this is nothing short of aghast. [[spoiler:However, it is later revealed in the game's Final Story that Gerald regretted his decision and originally developed the Eclipse Cannon to destroy the Black Comet --the Black Arms' home planet-- and intended for Shadow to carry that task out in order to save their world.]]

* In ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands,'' this is the entire crux of Rhys' CharacterDevelopment, from start to finish. In episode one, he's a Hyperion employee who admires [[BigBad Handsome Jack,]] and his present day self says that, back then, he wanted to be "just like him". Come episode five, after he's spent time with [[ArtificialIntelligence a hyperrealistic AI of Handsome Jack constructed shortly before his death,]] and seen just how murderous, self-centered, and gleefully violent he really is, not to mention almost being killed by him twice, Rhys can't believe that he ever once idolized him. If you choose to play him a certain way, you can kickstart this process much earlier, having Rhys be hostile and uncooperative towards Jack from the minute they meet, and have him call Jack out for all the atrocities he committed while he was alive and for being a "mass-murdering megalomaniac."

* In ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands,'' this is the entire crux of Rhys' CharacterDevelopment, from start to finish. In episode one, he's a Hyperion employee who admires [[BigBad Handsome Jack]] and his present day self says that, back then, he wanted to be "just like him"; he's willing to backstab and steal from the company to rise up the ranks and bring his friends Vaughn and Yvette up with him. Come episode five, after he's spent time with [[ArtificialIntelligence a hyperrealistic AI of Handsome Jack, constructed shortly before his death,]] and seen just how murderous, self-centered, and gleefully violent he really is, not to mention almost being killed by him twice, Rhys can't believe that he ever once idolized him. If you choose to play him a certain way, you can kickstart this process much earlier, having Rhys be hostile and uncooperative towards Jack from the minute they meet, and have him call Jack out for all the atrocities he committed while he was alive and for being a "mass-murdering megalomaniac."

* In ''VideoGame/GhostOfTsushima'', Jin Sakai, the PlayerCharacter, initially holds his uncle and surrogate father Lord Shimura in the highest regard, and spends the first act of the game trying to reach his uncle and release him from Mongol captivity. However, after releasing him, Lord Shimura insists on [[AttackAttackAttack recapturing his castle by [[spoiler:sending his soldiers in through the front gate, which enables the Mongols to blow the bridge up and kill most of his men.]] Jin is disgusted by his uncle's [[WeHaveReserves willingness to treat the soldiers as expendable]] [[NobleBigot for being common-born]], and by his [[HonorBeforeReason insistence on fighting the Mongols with "honourable" tactics]] when it is clear that [[CombatPragmatist such poor strategies will end up giving the Mongols a greater chance of conquering Tsushima]]. But the final straw comes when [[spoiler:Jin sneaks into the Mongol camp and poisons their milk, and Lord Shurima pleads with his nephew to blame his friend Yuna the thief for it, [[UngratefulBastard regardless of the fact that Yuna has never done anything unhelpful throughout the war]], which will see her sentenced to death.]] Jin rejects this offer, embracing his title as the [[PragmaticHero Ghost]], [[spoiler:and by the end of the game, Lord Shimura is ordered by the Shogunate to kill his nephew to atone for his mistakes.]]

* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'': [[spoiler:Albus]] is this to Revello Forsythe. Once a friend of both Forsythe and Geoffrey Azelhart and [[spoiler:Captain of the city watch, Albus]] was [[EvilPaysBetter privately frustrated that his honour wasn't earning him as much money as he would have liked]], and [[spoiler:eventually switched sides to [[TheSyndicate the Obsidians]] in secret. [[EvilFormerFriend He would become one of the three Crow Men who murdered Geoffrey]] for [[HeKnowsTooMuch finding out]] about the [[BrutalBonusDungeon Gate of Finis]], top-secret information to the Obsidians. Albus then pulled a FakingTheDead deception, tricking the residents of Noblecourt, Forsythe included, into believing he had died with honour resisting the Obsidians.]] In the present, the late Geoffrey's daughter Primrose Azelhart, accompanied by Forsythe, infiltrate the Right-hand Crow's lair, only to discover his true identity as [[spoiler:Albus]]. Naturally, Forsythe does not take TheReveal at all well.

** In ''Videogame/Persona5'', Yusuke Kitagawa was raised by the famed artist Ichiryusai Madarame, who has been plagiarizing him and other apprentices for years. After learning that [[spoiler:Madarame let Yusuke's mother die in order to take credit for her work as well as to take Yusuke]], he loses all sense of admiration for the man. His personal Confidant storyline deals heavily with his feelings regarding his former mentor. He eventually comes to peace with him after a former colleague of Madarame stated that when Yusuke fell ill as a child, Madarame was desperate to save him, indicating at least some sense of affection (albeit [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatic]]), and Yusuke realizes that he can still see Madarame as a [[ParentalSubstitute father figure]] and Mentor while still despising his manipulative and egotistic nature.