History CreatorsPet / VideoGames

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' has Absolute Virtue, a side boss that went undefeated for an ''obscenely'' long time. Every time someone did manage to find a way, Square Enix went out of their way to squash those methods to render them useless (and often banned the players who did it). It's as if the developers enjoyed using the boss character just to piss off their fanbase.

* ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'' has Chloe Price. She's a compulsive troublemaker who often [[ItsAllAboutMe puts her own problems above everyone else's]], uses Max's powers for personal gain, [[TooDumbToLive brings her own misfortunes on herself]], and [[NeverMyFault rarely owns up to her flaws]]. Despite choice being a major gameplay mechanic, any choice that disagrees with Chloe often earns you a WhatTheHellHero response, no matter how illegal or morally wrong it is, and there would often be a shallow justification for why you should have sided with Chloe later. If the player wants to be in a relationship with her, you have to enable her selfish behavior, which sends a very problematic message about toxic relationships. Despite all of these flaws that made her so controversial, it seems like DONTNOD was expecting the player to [[spoiler: choose her over Arcadia Bay]] with the sequel comic, and she was given a [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrangeBeforeTheStorm prequel game]].

* ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'':
** Taimi became this over the course of the living story. There is nothing she can't deduce with her superior intellect, no problem she can't solve by building a magical machine. Even though she is still a child, the plot is frequently driven by the player character (and ostensible group leader) running around following the instructions she broadcasts. The only characters who ever seriously wonder whether Taimi should be in that role are portrayed as unequivocally wrong and likely corrupt. Fan reaction to her has become increasingly negative, but the writers still can't seem to get enough of her and she is worked into any possible plotline.
** This has lessened since Living Story Season 4. Joko's attempt to kill her horribly regained a lot of audience sympathy, and ex-Inquest scientists Gorrik and Blish joined the cast to share the spot of Resident Genius. Also, she has spent Season 5 moved her entirely out of focus to let other characters take the spotlight.

* Abby in the ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUsPartII'' was accused of being this by fans of the first game. For one; being the killer of first protagonist Joel in the first hour of the game, and for essentially taking over as the protagonist of the story with the game's writers seemingly siding with her on the whole CycleOfRevenge plot as Joel's adopted daughter Ellie is constantly condemned for her actions against Abby and her friends. Game Director Neil Druckman (also the director of ''Uncharted 4'') later admitted that Abby was his favorite character.

* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUsPartII'': Neil Druckmann has gone on record for noting that Abby is his favourite character in the game, explaining her being the playable character for half the game and having a good majority of the game's screentime. The fanbase, however, has a universally different take on Abby; [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment let's just say charitably]] that the character is ''extremely'' controversial and leave it there.

* ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUsII'': Neil Druckmann has gone on record for noting that Abby is his favourite character in the game, explaining her being the playable character for half the game and having a good majority of the game's screentime. The fanbase, however, has a universally different take on Abby; [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment let's just say charitably]] that the character is ''extremely'' controversial and leave it there.

** Within ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'', we have Genesis. Essentially a Sephiroth knockoff, he acts like a spoiled child, commits numerous acts of murder and violence for no good reason (not even having Sephiroth's excuse of being AxCrazy) and is generally uninteresting. Yet the major events of the game revolve around him, and the events of ''Final Fantasy VII'' are retconned to all be kicked off by Genesis. Worst of all, [[spoiler:''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'' shows us he somehow survives with no ill effects, making him the ''FFVII'' series' KarmaHoudini]]. This might have to do with Genesis being based on popular J-Pop singer Music/{{Gackt}}. He only appears to be in ''Crisis Core'' to have a FinalBoss to fight, since Sephiroth's survival is a ForegoneConclusion.

** Within ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'', we have Genesis. Essentially a Sephiroth knockoff, he acts like a loathsome spoiled child, commits numerous acts of murder and violence for no good reason (not even having the Sephiroth excuse of being AxCrazy) and is generally uninteresting. Yet, the major events of the game revolve around him and the events of ''Final Fantasy VII'' have been retconned to all revolve around having been kicked off by Genesis. Worst of all, [[spoiler:''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'' shows us he somehow survives with no ill effects, making him the ''FFVII'' series' KarmaHoudini]]. This might have to do with the fact that Genesis was based on popular J-Pop singer Music/{{Gackt}}. He only appears to be in ''Crisis Core'' to have a FinalBoss to fight, since Sephiroth's survival is a ForegoneConclusion.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' has Absolute Virtue, a side boss that no one seems able to defeat. Every time someone does manage to find a way, Square Enix goes out of their way to squash those methods to render them useless (and often bans the players who did it). It's as if the developers enjoy using the boss character just to piss off their fanbase.

** Although Lieutenant Thackeray is coming close to taking his place. It's [[ForegoneConclusion already been revealed]] that he's going to father an important character in the sequel with fan-favorite BrokenBird, Gwen. However, he was only introduced in the Christmas event, and since then his interactions with her have been seen as ham-handed at best, and [[StrangledByTheRedString outright forced]] at worst.

** Taimi has become this over the course of the living story. There is nothing she can't deduce with her superior intellect, no problem she can't solve by building a magical machine, and even though she is still just a child, the plot is frequently driven by the player character (and ostensible group leader) running around following the instructions she broadcasts. The only characters who ever seriously whether Taimi should be in that role are portrayed as unequivocally wrong and likely corrupt. Fan reaction to her has become increasingly negative, but the writers still can't seem to get enough of her and she is worked into any possible plotline.
* ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaMk2'' is largely laid out in a traditional Saturday morning cartoon fashion. Two very cartoony and decidedly fairly nonthreatening villains, Underling (her real name is Linda, but everybody calls her Underling) and Pirachu, hinder our protagonists at every turn as they attempt to accomplish their objectives. The game's creators have since acknowledged that the Saturday morning cartoon atmosphere and Underling were probably mistakes. But what about Pirachu, the less popular of the duo, considered to be obnoxious by many fans, and who scored lower than Underling on the official popularity poll? Oh, he's back for [[VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaVictory the sequel]].
* For several years, the creative team of ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' foisted the paradox that is Ash Crimson onto the world. AmbiguouslyGay, overpowered, [[DudeLooksLikeALady a strange, androgynous appearance]], and storywise is one of the strongest characters and is responsible for at least three characters [[BroughtDownToNormal losing their moves]]. The dev team absolutely loved him, but many fans wished he would he would step aside so that more orthodox characters could get a chance to shine. SNK acknowledged these complaints in ''KOF XIII'' by having him ''[[RetGone alter the past so he never existed]]''. And the truly ironic thing was, they did so in a way that, right at the last moment, ''[[AlasPoorScrappy managed to finally make him sympathetic.]]''
* ''VideoGame/TheLordOfTheRingsOnline'' has Thrymm Redbeard, an original character not from the books. He is a Rohirrim hero that came with the Wildermore expansion. All of the Rohirrim in the area shill him constantly, and when he apparently dies, they all go into a gloom about how no one else will be able to save them. The main antagonist, Nurzum, defeats Thrymm by grabbing him and throwing him about a mile away. You personally are not really allowed to fight Nurzum the multiple times he appears, because he's too much of a foe for you. Despite all of this, Thrymm's only real accomplishments in the story are somehow surviving being thrown for thousands of feet and defeating Nurzum at the end of the storyline. Yes, the character that you're considered subpar against killsteals the main antagonist of the entire expansion while you sit around debuffing him and playing second fiddle.
* ''VideoGame/{{Rayman}}'': Some older members of the fandom absolutely deplore the VideoGame/RavingRabbids. There can be little debate about their forcibly changing the ''Rayman'' series from adventure platformers to collections of short, bizarre mini-games, pushing all of Rayman's previous supporting cast out of the spotlight, and carrying on their franchise hijack for a large number of games in a short amount of time. Their Creator's Pet status only became more apparent when two or three of them got a playable role in, of all places, a ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' [[VideoGame/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesSmashUp game]]. Thankfully, the Rabbids eventually split completely from their parent franchise and Rayman's [[VideoGame/RaymanOrigins started going on adventures]] [[VideoGame/RaymanLegends without them again.]]

** Aya Shameimaru has long flirted with Creator's Pet status. She made her first appearance in ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View'' as a tengu reporter who was investigating the incidents going on at the time. Oh, and she also "accidentally" beat up everyone along the way because she was "holding back" and "not actually trying to fight." This would have been one thing, but she would, in some form, go on to appear in the next ''four Touhou'' games, including a GaidenGame with her as the main character. Her appearance in ''Mountain of Faith'' was particularly infuriating because most of the old cast, Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame notwithstanding, made no appearance in this game... except for Aya, who not only ended up being the level four boss, but was explicitly stated by ''Touhou'' creator ZUN himself to have lost to the heroine ''on purpose''.
** At her peak, Aya had become so bad that a minor [[MemeticMutation meme]] had spawned explaining that she had gotten into so many games in exchange for giving ZUN sexual favors ([[DudeNotFunny a highly disrespectful meme]] now that ZUN is HappilyMarried). However, fanon often portrays Aya as a [[SoBadItsGood humorously over-the-top, so-obnoxious-she's-funny]] tabloid reporter with a penchant for taking embarrassing photos of the other girls. This interpretation of Aya is not nearly as bad as the one that ZUN has saddled her with, and it not only [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap rescued her from the Scrappy Heap]], but it gave her almost as many ''fans'' as she has haters, making her one of the most polarizing characters in the series.
** Sanae as of late is on the verge of coming off as this, as she's been getting many starring roles and generally being shown as being on the same level as the other two heroines. She has also been getting some polarizing character development as some like the new quirky zealous Sanae while others prefer her earlier personality. A sign this may be wearing on the Japanese is that she's started to slip in popularity in Japan. Her absence between ''Ten Desires'' and ''Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom'' alleviated this, though, with some people accusing one of the older semi-heroines with actually more appearances than Sanae -- [[NinjaMaid Sakuya]] -- of being this in turn.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': The Charizard line seems to have become this around Gen VI, where Charizard was the only starter to have version-specific Mega Evolutions and the only Pokémon to bear such a distinction other than Mewtwo. Not helping matters is when it turned out to be the only pre-Galar starter to make the cut for the pruned Pokédex in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Sword and Shield]]'' (out of ''20 others'') on top of having a [[MakeMyMonsterGrow Gigantamax]] form, and has since been mocked mercilessly for its overexposure. This even extends outside of the ''Pokémon'' games, where Charizard appeared in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' as a solo character separate from Squirtle and Ivysaur, with whom it shared a slot in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'' before reuniting with them in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]''.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': The Charizard line seems to have become this around Gen VI, where Charizard was the only starter to have version-specific Mega Evolutions and the only Pokémon to bear such a distinction other than Mewtwo. Not helping matters is when it turned out to be the '''only''' pre-Galar starter to be found in the pruned Pokédex in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Sword and Shield]]'' on top of having a [[MakeMyMonsterGrow Gigantamax]] form, and has since been mocked mercilessly for its overexposure. This even extends outside of the ''Pokémon'' games, where Charizard appeared in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' as a solo character separate from Squirtle and Ivysaur, with whom it shared a slot in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'' before reuniting with them in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]''.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': The Charizard line seems to have become this around Gen VI, where Charizard was the only starter to have version-specific Mega Evolutions and the only Pokémon to bear such a distinction other than Mewtwo. Not helping matters is when it turned out to be the '''only''' pre-Galar starter to be found in the pruned Pokédex in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield Sword and Shield]]'' on top of having a [[MakeMyMonsterGrow Gigantamax]] form, and has since been mocked mercilessly for its overexposure. This even extends outside of the ''Pokémon'' games, where Charizard appeared in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForWiiUAnd3DS'' as a solo character separate from Squirtle and Ivysaur, with whom it shared a slot in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl Brawl]]'' before reuniting with them in ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]''.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'' has Absolute Virtue, a side boss that no one seems able to defeat. Every time someone does manage to find a way, Square Enix goes out of their way to squash those methods to render them useless. It's as if the developers enjoy using the boss character just to piss off their fanbase.

** Aya Shameimaru has long flirted with Creator's Pet status. She made her first appearance in ''Phantasmagoria of Flower View'' as a tengu reporter who was investigating the incidents going on at the time. Oh, and she also "accidentally" beat up everyone along the way because she was "holding back" and "not actually trying to fight." This would have been one thing, but she would, in some form, go on to appear in the next ''four'' ''Touhou'' games, including a GaidenGame with her as the main character. Her appearance in ''Mountain of Faith'' was particularly infuriating because most of the old cast, Reimu Hakurei and Marisa Kirisame notwithstanding, made no appearance in this game... except for Aya, who not only ended up being the level four boss, but was explicitly stated by ''Touhou'' creator ZUN himself to have lost to the heroine ''on purpose''.

** Sanae as of late is on the verge of coming off as this as she's been getting many starring roles and generally being shown as the same level as the other two heroines. She has also been getting some polarizing character development as some like the new quirky zealous Sanae while others prefer her earlier personality. A sign this may be wearing on the Japanese is that she's started to slip in popularity in Japan. Her absence between ''Ten Desires'' and ''Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom'' alleviated this, though, with some people accusing one of the older semi-heroines with actually more appearances than Sanae -- [[NinjaMaid Sakuya]] -- of being this in turn.

* Kurtis Stryker looked incredibly out of place in the ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' universe, as he was a plainclothes cop in a video game world filled with demons, cyborgs and {{palette swap}} "{{ninja}}s." From his initial appearance in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat3'', [[ExecutiveMeddling the developers]] figured that he would become one of the series' new favorite characters and tried to elevate his power to near-GameBreaker status, but only made him a TierInducedScrappy. Thanks to his new design in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatArmageddon Mortal Kombat: Armageddon]]'', he's been RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap. The backwards baseball cap is gone, at least... And then, when ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' came by, he was given a much better personality and a simpler, yet cooler outfit, making the fanbase warm up to him a lot more. As in ''[=MK3=]'', his character still comes a bit out of the blue in the storyline and no explanation for him being there is ever given other than "Raiden has chosen you to defend Earthrealm" (that is the actual word for word quote as said by Nightwolf, by the way), which was actually true of several of [[TheChosenMany Raiden's chosen]] originally, but the vastly improved characterization, writing, and badassery did wonders for what was one of the series' most widely-hated characters.
** Quan Chi, while [[CreatorsFavorite one of the creators' favorite characters]] and [[EnsembleDarkhorse an overall fan-fave in general]], doubles as [[TropesAreTools a bad example]] of what happens when you let a CanonImmigrant {{ascend|edExtra}} ''too'' far. The groundwork for this was laid in his debut as Shinnok's [[TheDragon Dragon]] in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4'' and ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatMythologiesSubZero Mythologies]]'', where Quan Chi proved so cunning he was able to dupe both ''Raiden and Shinnok'' with a duplicate of Shinnok's amulet, allowing him to successfully backstab his boss, ''an immortal fallen Elder God'', in his non-canon ending. Then, he manages to escape getting some long overdue retribution at Scorpion's hands and forms the eponymous duo of ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance Deadly Alliance]]'' with Shang Tsung, which leads to the death of several characters ([[TheHeroDies including Liu Kang]]) and Raiden's defeat. As the intro to ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception Deception]]'' shows, Quan Chi was poised to win it all had [[EvilerThanThou Onaga not shown up]]. These cases, while eye-rolling, weren't ''too'' bad on their own, but then Quan Chi started to appear in games where, due to the timeline, he ''shouldn't'' have even been present (''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatShaolinMonks Shaolin Monks]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse vs. DCU]]'', ''[=MK9=]''), was able to effortlessly manipulate both sides of the conflict to his advantage (''vs. DCU'', ''[=MK9=]''), and began to usurp the importance of other, more established villains like Shang Tsung (''vs. DCU'', ''[=MK9=]''). And while TheStinger establishes [[spoiler:his messing with the timeline (which disastrously derailed Raiden's efforts) was due to Shinnok's crafty plans and not his own]], fans are already expecting [[spoiler:Quan Chi to somehow overtake the plot from Shinnok ''again'' in the next game. He actually received [[HumiliationConga a set of humiliations]] in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatX X]]'', losing control of Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Jax, getting a GroinAttack by Sonya, getting beaten up by Jax, and finally getting killed off by Scorpion, allowing Shinnok to retain his true position as the BigBad, but there has been rumors that he might have been manipulating people from beyond the dead..]].
** D'Vorah seems to have taken Quan Chi's place in more recent installments. Like Quan Chi in ''Mortal Kombat 9'', D'Vorah was retconned into the stories of past games in her debut appearance in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatX Mortal Kombat X]]'' (having apparently worked for Shao Kahn during the events of the original trilogy). Also like Quan Chi, she's depicted as a supreme chess-master, playing her employers like a fiddle for her own goals [[spoiler: (including betraying Kotal Kahn for Shinnok, and according to her arcade ending, even turns out to potentially be using Shinnok himself)]]. On top of that, she has the highest kill count in MKX's story, having killed fan-favorites [[spoiler: Baraka and Mileena]]. By the end of the story, she's replaced [[spoiler: the now-dead Quan Chi as Shinnok's right hand servant]]. It continues in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat11 Mortal Kombat 11]]'', where, according to intro dialog between Kitana and D'Vorah, D'Vorah has also been retconned to be the one who killed the Edenian King Jerrod on behalf of Shao Kahn. [[spoiler: In Mortal Kombat 11's story, D'Vorah also pulls off another high-profile murder, when she kills Scorpion's human self, Hanzo Hasashi]]. In the story of both games she appears in, she [[KarmaHoudini manages to get away scot-free]], more or less (though she does [[spoiler: suffer defeat at the hands of Cassie Cage and Past Scorpion, respectively]], she escapes both encounters with her life and is not seen in either story again).
** Ed Boon has not been very subtle about the fact that Scorpion is his favorite character, and it really shows as far as promotions go. Scorpion has been featured on the covers of ''MK9'', ''MKX'', and ''MK11'', being the sole character represented on the latter two, and in the announcement trailers for ''MKX'' and ''MK11'', Scorpion ultimately wins the fight with his opponent, with both trailers ending in said opponent's violent deaths (though in ''MK11's trailer, Raiden does kill one Scorpion, only to be killed by another Scorpion from the past). And when ''[[VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs]]'' chose to have a Mortal Kombat representative, who was chosen? That's right, Scorpion! Downplayed within the game itself, as Scorpion's relevance to the overarching plot is actually rather small compared to many of the other characters.

** D'Vorah seems to have taken Quan Chi's place in more recent installments. Like Quan Chi in ''Mortal Kombat 9'', D'Vorah was retconned into the stories of past games in her debut appearance in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatX Mortal Kombat X]]'' (having apparently worked for Shao Kahn during the events of the original trilogy). On top of that, she has the highest kill count in MKX's story, having killed fan-favorites [[spoiler: Baraka and Mileena]]. By the end of the story, she's replaced [[spoiler: the now-dead Quan Chi as Shinnok's right hand servant]]. It continues in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat11 Mortal Kombat 11]]'', where, according to intro dialog between Kitana and D'Vorah, D'Vorah has also been retconned to be the one who killed the Edenian King Jerrod on behalf of Shao Kahn. [[spoiler: In Mortal Kombat 11's story, D'Vorah also pulls off another high-profile murder, when she kills Scorpion's human self, Hanzo Hasashi]]. In the story of both games she appears in, she [[KarmaHoudini manages to get away scot-free]], more or less (though she does [[spoiler: suffer defeat at the hands of Cassie Cage and Past Scorpion, respectively]], she escapes both encounters with her life and is not seen in either story again).

** D'Vorah seems to have taken Quan Chi's place in more recent installments. Like Quan Chi in ''Mortal Kombat 9'', D'Vorah was retconned into the stories of past games in her debut appearance in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatX Mortal Kombat X]]'' (having apparently worked for Shao Kahn during the events of the original trilogy). On top of that, she has the highest kill count in MKX's story, having killed fan-favorites [[spoiler: Baraka and Mileena]]. By the end of the story, she's replaced [[spoiler: the now-dead Quan Chi as Shinnok's right hand servant]]. It continues in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat11 Mortal Kombat 11]]'', where, according to intro dialog between Kitana and D'Vorah, D'Vorah has also been retconned to be the one who killed the Edenian King Jerrod on behalf of Shao Kahn. [[spoiler: In Mortal Kombat 11's story, D'Vorah also pulls off another high-profile murder, when she kills Scorpion's human self, Hanzo Hasashi]]. In the story of both games she appears in, she [[KarmaHoudini manages to get away scot-free]], more or less.

** D'Vorah seems to have taken Quan Chi's place in more recent installments. Like Quan Chi in ''Mortal Kombat 9'', D'Vorah was retconned into the stories of past games in her debut appearance in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatX Mortal Kombat X]]'' (having apparently worked for Shao Kahn during the events of the original trilogy). On top of that, she has the highest kill count in MKX's story, having killed fan-favorites [[spoiler: Baraka and Mileena]]. By the end of the story, she's replaced [[spoiler: the now-dead Quan Chi as Shinnok's right hand servant]]. It continues in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat11 Mortal Kombat 11]]'', where, according to intro dialog between Kitana and D'Vorah, D'Vorah has also been retconned to be the one who killed the Edenian King Jerrod on behalf of Shao Kahn. [[Spoiler: In Mortal Kombat 11's story, D'Vorah also pulls off another high-profile murder, when she kills Scorpion's human self, Hanzo Hasashi]]. In the story of both games she appears in, she [[KarmaHoudini manages to get away scot-free]], more or less.

* [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BigBad Master Xehanort]] became this in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII''. Despite every single unforgivable action that he ruthlessly enforced that impacted the lives of Sora and the other protagonists, (with Terra, Aqua, and Ventus being his most notable victims) the ending portrayed his actions like he was in the right to do all those things, and it even tries to actually [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/UnintentionallyUnsympathetic gain sympathy to him after everything he's done.]] Tetsuya Nomura has even admitted that Xehanort is his favorite character, and he empathizes him the most out of all of the characters.

** Quan Chi, while [[CreatorsFavorite one of the creators' favorite characters]] and [[EnsembleDarkhorse an overall fan-fave in general]], doubles as [[TropesAreTools a bad example]] of what happens when you let a CanonImmigrant {{ascend|edExtra}} ''too'' far. The groundwork for this was laid in his debut as Shinnok's [[TheDragon Dragon]] in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat4'' and ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatMythologiesSubZero Mythologies]]'', where Quan Chi proved so cunning he was able to dupe both ''Raiden and Shinnok'' with a duplicate of Shinnok's amulet, allowing him to successfully backstab his boss, ''an immortal fallen Elder God'', in his non-canon ending. Then, he manages to escape getting some long overdue retribution at Scorpion's hands and forms the eponymous duo of ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeadlyAlliance Deadly Alliance]]'' with Shang Tsung, which leads to the death of several characters ([[TheHeroDies including Liu Kang]]) and Raiden's defeat. As the intro to ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatDeception Deception]]'' shows, Quan Chi was poised to win it all had [[EvilerThanThou Onaga not shown up]]. These cases, while eye-rolling, weren't ''too'' bad on their own, but then Quan Chi started to appear in games where, due to the timeline, he ''shouldn't'' have even been present (''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatShaolinMonks Shaolin Monks]]'', ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatVsDCUniverse vs. DCU]]'', ''[=MK9=]''), was able to effortlessly manipulate both sides of the conflict to his advantage (''vs. DCU'', ''[=MK9=]''), and began to usurp the importance of other, more established villains like Shang Tsung (''vs. DCU'', ''[=MK9=]''). ''9'', in particular, gave reason for many to slap the VillainSue label on him, and while TheStinger establishes [[spoiler:his messing with the timeline (which disastrously derailed Raiden's efforts) was due to Shinnok's crafty plans and not his own]], fans are already expecting [[spoiler:Quan Chi to somehow overtake the plot from Shinnok ''again'' in the next game. He actually received [[HumiliationConga a set of humiliations]] in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatX X]]'', losing control of Scorpion, Sub-Zero, and Jax, getting a GroinAttack by Sonya, getting beaten up by Jax, and finally getting killed off by Scorpion, allowing Shinnok to retain his true position as the BigBad, but there has been rumors that he might have been manipulating people from beyond the dead..]].

** At her peak, Aya had become so bad that a minor [[MemeticMutation meme]] had spawned explaining that she had gotten into so many games in exchange for giving ZUN sexual favors (a highly disrespectful meme now that ZUN has [[DudeNotFunny a wife and a son]]). However, fanon often portrays Aya as a [[SoBadItsGood humorously over-the-top, so-obnoxious-she's-funny]] tabloid reporter with a penchant for taking embarrassing photos of the other girls. This interpretation of Aya is not nearly as bad as the one that ZUN has saddled her with, and it not only [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap rescued her from the Scrappy Heap]], but it gave her almost as many ''fans'' as she has haters, making her one of the most polarizing characters in the series.

* For several years, the creative team of ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' foisted the paradox that is Ash Crimson onto the world. AmbiguouslyGay, overpowered, [[DudeLooksLikeALady a strange, androgynous appearance]], and storywise is one of the strongest characters and is responsible for at least three characters [[BroughtDownToNormal losing their moves]]. The dev team absolutely loved him, but many fans wished he would he would step aside so that more orthodox characters could get a chance to shine. SNK acknowledged these complaints in ''KOF XIII'' by having him ''[[RetGone alter the past so he never existed]]''. And the truly ironic thing was, they did so in a way that, right at the last moment, ''[[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap managed to finally make him sympathetic.]]''

* Zavok in the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series. When the Deadly Six were introduced in ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'', they quickly descended into [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] status for being bland, one-dimensional villains that don't fit the ''Sonic'' universe. Despite their status, Zavok started making more appearances in later games and media including a playable character in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndSonicAtTheOlympicGames Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games]]'', a boss fight in ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' (when the more popular antagonists Shadow and Chaos didn't get one), and even an appearance as one of [[VideoGame/MegaManX Sigma]]'s minions in ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite Worlds Unite]]'', with nothing being done to make him more interesting as a character. It got to a point that when he was announced to be a member of Team Eggman in ''VideoGame/TeamSonicRacing'', fan reaction was largely negative, leading many to believe he has become a Creator's Pet for Creator/{{Sega}} / Creator/SonicTeam.

* Zavok in the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' series. When the Deadly Six were introduced in ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'', they quickly descended into [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] status for being bland, one-dimensional villains that don't fit the ''Sonic'' series. Despite their status, Zavok started making more appearances in later games and media including a playable character in ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndSonicAtTheOlympicGames Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games]]'', a boss fight in ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' (when the more popular antagonists Shadow and Chaos didn't get one), and even an appearance as one of [[VideoGame/MegaManX Sigma]]'s minions in ''[[ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite Worlds Unite]]'', with nothing being done to make him more interesting as a character. It got to a point that when he was announced to be a member of Team Eggman in ''VideoGame/TeamSonicRacing'', fan reaction was largely negative, leading many to believe he has become a Creator's Pet for Creator/{{Sega}} / Creator/SonicTeam.