History DeconstructedCharacterArchetype / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'':

** Garon in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' is everything that can go wrong with the Casanova Wannabe archtype. Like many Casanovas, he was a massive flirt with many women but could never let go of a woman he had relations with and quickly amassed a harem of concubines. These concubines eventually proceeded to kill each other and their children until only a few children remained. The whole situation left him very bitter and cruel.
*** Sylvain in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' is another deconstruction of CasanovaWannabe. While he acts like one, he only does so because he knows most girls are actually interested in his Crest rather than himself. This makes him bitter towards the girls he is wooing and he is unable to form proper romances with women because of this.
** The ''Fire Emblem'' series tends to base the personalities of most of its lords off of the first lord in the series, [[Characters/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Marth]] - kind, noble, and wise young royals who believe that WarIsHell and cling to optimism and ThePowerOfFriendship in the face of hardship in order to get through with their morality and optimism relatively unshaken. In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses,'' the closest of the three main characters to the Marth archetype is Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, crown prince of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. During the first part of the story, Dimitri fits the Marth mold, being the most moralistic, noble, and chivalrous of the three main lords, while having a strong distaste for killing and war. However, unlike Marth and similar lords, the emotional and mental trauma he experiences before the story begins[[note]]Namely, witnessing the murder of his father King Lambert, the deaths several of his close friends, and the resulting massacre that ensued[[/note]] and during the story's events [[spoiler:[[RealityEnsues breaks him]], turning him into a [[AxCrazy violent]], self-isolating and cynical KnightInSourArmor in the second part of the story who must be pulled out of his self-destructive behavior by his former teacher and friend, Byleth.]]
* ''{{VideoGame/Yakuza}}'' is in many ways a deconstruction of the romantic and idealized view of the {{Yakuza}}. Kiryu is a prime example of the romantic yakuza, a powerful and noble figure who protects the common people against brutal thugs and overbearing powers-that-be, and shows a lot of this attitude too. The games are mostly about what happens when this ideal runs headfirst into the realities of organized crime in the 21st century.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'': Kratos is a deconstruction of the classical Greek hero and Spartan archetypes: a person who is defined by using his physical strength to do whatever he wants, seeks revenge for any affront, has a "MightMakesRight" morality and [[spoiler:has divine parentage]] is less likely to be a paragon and more likely to be a violent psychopath hellbent on killing his enemies - at the expense of the whole universe.

* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria'': Alisha is a deconstruction of the PoliticallyActivePrincess. She actively tries her hardest to help her country, but because all the power seems to lie in the hands of Bartlow and his cohorts she's largely ineffective. However, it's not until later that you find out that the reason why she's ineffective is because Alisha valued being a knight over her duties as a princess and as a direct result of that, she actively neglected her own position as princess in order to live out the stories of knights and heroes that she loved. During the confrontation with [[spoiler:Maltran, she reveals that she deliberately raised Alisha that way to make it easy to manipulate her before forcing Alisha to kill her, all while telling her ThisIsReality; this forcefully shatters Alisha's idolization of knighthood and makes her set aside her knighthood and her belief in honor and chivalry to focus on being as the Princess of Hyland. It is only by doing this that she becomes effective politically.]]

* Rufus from the ''VideoGame/{{Deponia}}'' series takes the behavioral traits of your average adventure game protagonist: [[KleptomaniacHero rampant theft]] and regular screwing over of random people for their own benefit, and gives them to exactly the kind of selfish, unlikable sociopath you'd expect to have them.

* Rufus from the ''VideoGame/{{Deponia}}'' series takes the behavioral traits of your average adventure game protagonist: [[KleptomaniacHero rampant theft]] and regular screwing over of random people for their own benefit, and gives them to exactly the kind of selfish, unlikable [sociopath you'd expect to have them.

* Rufus from the ''VideoGame/{{Deponia}}'' series takes all the [[KleptomaniacHero rampant theft]] and regular screwing over of random people for their own benefit of your average point-and-click adventure game protagonist, and doesn't pretend that this is the behavior of a [[NominalHero good or even likable person.]]

* Rufus from the ''VideoGame/{{Deponia}}'' series takes all the [[KleptomaniacHero rampant theft]] and regular screwing over of random people for their own benefit of your average point-and-click adventure game protagonist, and drops all pretense that they're going to be a good or even likable person.

* Rufus from the ''VideoGame/{{Deponia}}'' takes all the [[KleptomaniacHero rampant theft]] and regular screwing over of random people for their own benefit of your average point-and-click adventure game protagonist, and drops all pretense that they're going to be a good or even likable person.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfZestiria'': Alisha is a deconstruction of the PoliticallyActivePrincess. She actively tries her hardest to help her country, but because all the power seems to lie in the hands of Bartlow and his cohorts she's largely ineffective. However, it's not until later that you find out that the reason why she's ineffective is because Alisha valued being a knight over her duties as a princess and as a direct result of that, she actively neglected her own position as princess in order to live out the stories of knights and heroes that she loved. During the confrontation with [[spoiler:Maltran, she reveals that she deliberately raised Alisha that way to make it easy to manipulate her before forcing Alisha to kill her, all while telling her ThisIsReality; this forcefully shatters Alisha's idolization of knighthood and makes her set aside her knighthood and her belief in honor and chivalry to focus on being as the Princess of Hyland. It is only by doing this that she becomes effective politically.]]

** FreudianTrio: Adams and Lugo actually trade the positions of id and ego over the course of the game; Adams is serious and stern but wants to save the refugees of Dubai, and Lugo is cheerful and joking but puts the mission above all else. As a result, they frequently disagree and butt heads. Walker is supposed to be the superego, the one who resolves their differences and balances their viewpoints out, and thus they follow him no matter how bad things get. His lost cause [[spoiler:leads them both to their doom]].

** Akihiko deconstructs BloodKnight. His entire reason for fighting is to protect his loved ones, the problem is that it also distracts him from his emotional problems. Since he enjoys fighting so much, he's let his will to fight take over his life. Shinjiro, Mitsuru, and the female protagonist all take issue with this sort of self-destructive behavior, and agree that he's running away from his problems instead of solving them.

** Morgana deconstructs TokenNonHuman as he strongly believes he WasOnceAMan and becomes very touchy when people call him a cat. However when evidence starts appearing that he was never human, it leads to more denial and him questioning whether he belongs with his human friends, to the point [[spoiler:Morgana temporarily leaves the Phantom Thieves over an argument with Ryuji.]]

** Akechi deconstructs a GreatDetective. All his fame and fangirls are superficial and he is just as lonely and friendless as he was when he was growing up, except now people expect great things from him. He privately reveals to the Thieves that he isn't even passionate about the job; he continues to do it because he wants some catharsis from punishing criminals.

** FreudianTrio: Adams and Lugo actually trade the positions of id and superego over the course of the game; Adams is serious and stern but wants to save the refugees of Dubai, and Lugo is cheerful and joking but puts the mission above all else. As a result, they frequently disagree and butt heads. Walker is supposed to be the ego, the one who resolves their differences and balances their viewpoints out, and thus they follow him no matter how bad things get. His lost cause [[spoiler:leads them both to their doom]].

* ''{{VideoGame/Yakuza}}'' is in many ways a deconstruction of the romantic and idealized view of the {{Yakuza}}. Kiryu is a prime example of the romantic yakuza, a powerful and noble figure who protects the common people against brutal thugs and overbearing powers-that-be, and shows a lot of this attitude too. The games are mostly
about what happens when this ideal runs headfirst into the realities of organized crime in the 21st century.

* ''{{VideoGame/Yakuza}}'' is in many ways a deconstruction of the romantic and idealized view of the {{Yakuza}}. Kiryu is a prime example of the romantic yakuza, a powerful and noble figure who protects the common people against brutal thugs and overbearing powers-that-be, and shows a lot of this attitude too. The games are mostly about what happens when this ideal runs headfirst into the realities of organized crime in the 21st century.

* ''VideoGame/GodOfWarSeries'': Kratos is a deconstruction of the classical Greek hero and Spartan archetypes: a person who is defined by using his physical strength to do whatever he wants, seeks revenge for any affront, has a "MightMakesRight" morality and [[spoiler:has divine parentage]] is less likely to be a paragon and more likely to be a violent psychopath hellbent on killing his enemies - at the expense of the whole universe.

** The ''Fire Emblem'' series tends to base the personalities of most of its lords off of the first lord in the series, [[Characters/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Marth]] - kind, noble, and wise young royals who believe that WarIsHell and cling to optimism and ThePowerOfFriendship in the face of hardship in order to get through with their morality and optimism relatively unshaken. In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses,'' the closest of the three main characters to the Marth archetype is Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, crown prince of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus. During the first part of the story, Dimitri fits the Marth mold, being the most moralistic, noble, and chivalrous of the three main lords, while having a strong distaste for killing and war. However, unlike Marth and similar lords, the emotional and mental trauma he experiences before the story begins[[note]]Namely, witnessing the murder of his father King Lambert, the deaths several of his close friends, and the resulting massacre that ensued[[/note]] and during the story's events [[spoiler:[[RealityEnsues breaks him]], turning him into a [[AxCrazy violent]], self-isolating and cynical KnightInSourArmorin the second part of the story who must be pulled out of his self-destructive behavior by his former teacher and friend, Byleth.]]

* Sigurd of Chalphy, the protagonist of the first half of ''Videogame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' deconstructs the typical ActionHero archetype of the series' Lords. He's the typical noble hero holding fast to his beliefs, but his optimism and noble nature become a double-edged sword in the grand scheme of things, as his BlackAndWhiteMorality leads him to solve his problems by just defeating his enemies. [[spoiler: This gives the corrupt Grannvale nobles the chance to take advantage of him to conquer the entire continent, and his trust in Arvis blinds him to the point he doesn't see the latter's betrayal coming until it's too late, ultimately paying the price with his life.]]

** Cecil in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' is a deconstruction of the hero of 80s {{JRPG}}s like ''VideoGame/DragonWarrior'', who would go out, steal things from distant kingdoms and kill dragons because a king asked him to. Cecil starts the game miserable about his chosen career path but unable to bring himself to quit; later, the Mist Dragon he is sent to slay turns out to be connected to the life force of a young mother who dies as a result, leaving her daughter an orphan. He eventually decides to quit his job, and most of the game is his attempts to undo as much as he can of his damage.

** Big Boss, who Solid Snake is a clone of, takes the deconstruction even further. While we initially meet Snake as a seasoned soldier, Big Boss's first mission turns him from being a WideEyedIdealist with PatrioticFervor into a ShellShockedVeteran who felt that he became an UnwittingPawn to the government when the mission's true nature was revealed to him - a petty political affair carried out to kill an innocent soldier (who served as his mentor) and ensure that the United States made off with a fortune. As such, he left the United States to start his own private military company that became involved with increasingly morally-questionable operations, which eventually led to him [[FallenHero being branded as a terrorist]] in spite of the fact that his actions successfully prevented nuclear war. After his base of operations was destroyed for the first time, he became a shell of a man that decided [[ThenLetMeBeEvil to embrace his role as a war criminal]] as long as it meant he could create a Heaven for soldiers like himself - which, of course, would come at the cost of making the rest of the world a living Hell for everyone else. Interestingly enough, this would retroactively make Solid Snake a {{Reconstruction}} of this archetype: while he's still an emotional wreck, he serves as a KnightInSourArmor that still chooses to fight with the government because he believes that it's the right thing to do, even if BeingGoodSucks, instead of pursuing his own selfish and ultimately self-destructive goals like Big Boss.

** Nanase is a deconstructs the violent {{Tsundere}} girls who quickly jump to conclusions that have overrun anime and games for years. Having been rescued from a Void by Hyde, Nanase developed a huge crush on him, but responded to that by chasing him across the city claiming he had done something perverted to her because she thought In-Birth powers were transmitted through sex. Instead of being endearing or having heartwarming moments with her dere side, she only causes trouble for Hyde by making his female friends believe he actually did molest her, and when the misunderstanding is cleared up, it's clear they have little patience left for her. It's still PlayedForLaughs, but her multitude of negative traits land her solidly in JokeCharacter territory.

* Dutch from '' VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'' and its {{Prequel}} '' VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'' is a deconstruction of the JustLikeRobinHood character archetype. Whether or not he was EvilAllAlong is left open to interpretation, his gang in its early days only robbed from the rich. However by the events of ''II'', he’s so obsessed with playing the hero that he’s got delusions of grandeur and makes terrible decisions, leading to the destruction of the gang and even more disastrous results. Turns out he just can’t stop being a criminal, no matter how noble he thinks he intentions are. He gets damn near every member of the gang killed for it ([[spoiler:every active member at the beginning of ''II'' is dead by the end of ''I'' and they lost two right before ''II'']]) , including himself.

*** [[SilentProtagonist Link]] [[spoiler:felt it was necessary to hide all emotion, and constantly maintained a cold and stoic front, to cope with the huge amount of responsibility he were given and keep from cracking under the pressure. He even [[HeroicMime refused to speak too much]], out of fear of saying anything unbecoming of the Chosen One. All of which made him feel very alone.]]

* ''{{VideoGame/Yakuza}}'' is in many ways a deconstruction of the romantic and idealized view of the {{UsefulNotes/Yakuza}}. Kiryu is a prime example of the romantic yakuza, a powerful and noble figure who protects the common people against brutal thugs and overbearing powers-that-be, and shows a lot of this attitude too. The games are mostly about what happens when this ideal runs headfirst into the realities of organized crime in the 21st century.