History IneffectualSympatheticVillain / VideoGames

* Winston Payne from the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' series, while not a villain, is a prosecutor, and therefore an antagonist. He was once the famous "Rookie Killer" who claims to have never lost a case in his first seven years as a lawyer, but lost one case along [[HairTodayGoneTomorrow with his hair]] and, from then on, basically became a joke.

* Papyrus from ''[[VideoGame/{{Undertale}}]]'', when you first meet him. Unlike the Royal Guard, he's not actually out to ''kill'' the player character, but he still wants to run them through a gauntlet of puzzles before capturing them and sending them to King Asgore (who's killed six other children already). But he's not particularly good at it - with some covert help from his brother Sans, his puzzles become a non-issue, and the bars of his prison cell are wide enough to walk through (escape enough times and he'll ask you to let him know beforehand next time, because he got worried about you when you disappeared. And he ''means it''). Averted, though, when his boss fight hits - first [[WakeUpCallBoss he drops the "ineffectual" part]], then he decides to let the player character go, becoming a sweet and loyal friend for the rest of the game.

%%* Portal 2. [[spoiler: Wheatley. Oh, Wheatley.]]

* ''{{Halo}}'' has the Unggoy/Grunts, the main cannon fodder for the Covenant. Small (by Covenant standards), requiring gas masks to breathe in non-methane atmosphere, mistreated by the other races, they're slaves who come across as cowards. In large part because, fearing an uprising, the Covenant doesn't want to give them any actual combat training. Half the fandom feels sorry for them. The other half [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential loves to slaughter them]]. Averted in ''Halo3'' and ''Halo3: ODST'': there, they take [[TookALevelInBadass so many levels in badassery]].

* Professor Nakayama in the ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' DLC add-on "Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt". He's ''evil'', sure, and has a plan that he simply can't be allowed to carry out, but he's also scared out of his mind by the player characters. He sees you killing his minions with ease and is frightened by your power -- he's a bad guy but not a brave, confident, or competent one. [[spoiler: You don't even get to fight him. After putting a stop to his "plan", he walks out to confront you himself... annnnnndd promptly falls down some stairs and dies. Thus, you're spared from feeling like a total prick; he's just that pitiful.]]

* Portal 2. [[spoiler: Wheatley. Oh, Wheatley.]]

* Bowser in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'' is trying his hardest to be the BigBad, but is always one or more steps behind the rest of the cast. Also has a very not-intimidating appearance in the Glitz Pit.
*** What about [[IronButtMonkey Jr. Troopa]] from the first Paper Mario game? He tries ''so'' hard to be intimidating and actually puts up a bit of a fight later on, only to be humiliated and beaten by Mario on a regular basis. The game also allows you to jump on him, hammer him, hit him with Kooper's Shell, and even ''bomb'' him. The poor guy even gets frozen after beating him in Shiver Snowfield. Yet he [[TheDeterminator never gives up]].

* Kamek from the ''VideoGame/YoshisIsland'' games. Seriously, you'd have to be a pretty pathetic Magikoopa to be beaten by infants ''three times''.

*** What about [[IronButtMonkey Jr. Troopa]] from the first Paper Mario game? He tries ''so'' hard to be intimidating and actually puts up a bit of a fight later on, only to be humiliated and beaten by Mario. The game also allows you to jump on him, hammer him, hit him with Kooper's Shell, and even ''bomb'' him. The poor guy even gets frozen after beating him in Shiver Snowfield. Yet he [[TheDeterminator never gives up]].

** What about [[IronButtMonkey Jr. Troopa]] from the first Paper Mario game? He tries ''so'' hard to be intimidating and actually puts up a bit of a fight later on, only to be humiliated and beaten by Mario. The game also allows you to jump on him, hammer him,
hit him with Kooper's Shell, and even ''bomb'' him. The poor guy even gets frozen after beating him in Shiver Snowfield. Yet he [[TheDeterminator never gives up]].

** What about [[IronButtMonkey Jr. Troopa]] from the first Paper Mario game? He tries ''so'' hard to be intimidating and actually puts up a bit of a fight later on, only to be humiliated and beaten by Mario. The game also allows you to jump on him, hammer him, hit him
with Kooper's Shell, and even ''bomb'' him. The poor guy even gets frozen after beating him in Shiver Snowfield. Yet he [[TheDeterminator never gives up]].

* Winston Payne from the ''AceAttorney'' series, while not a villain, is a prosecutor, and therefore an antagonist. He was once the famous "Rookie Killer" who claims to have never lost a case in his first seven years as a lawyer, but lost one case along [[HairTodayGoneTomorrow with his hair]] and, from then on, basically became a joke.

* Professor Nakayama in the ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' DLC add-on "Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt". He's ''evil'', sure, and has a plan that he simply can't be allowed to carry out, but he's also scared out of his mind by the player characters. He sees you killing his minions with ease and is frightened by your power -- he's a bad guy but not a brave, confident, or competent one.

* Portal2. [[spoiler: Wheatley. Oh, Wheatley.]]

* [[''VideoGame/Portal2'']]. [[spoiler: Wheatley. Oh, Wheatley.]]

* ''VideoGame/Portal2''. [[spoiler: Wheatley. Oh, Wheatley.]]

* "VideoGame/Portal2". [[spoiler: Wheatley. Oh, Wheatley.]]

* ''{{Disgaea}}'' has the Ex-Dark Adonis Vyers...

** He's proven so popular with fans that he's made reappearances as a summon in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII VIII]]'', a sidequest character in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX IX]]'', an unrelated character with the same name in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI XI]]'', and appeared in all his original glory as a comical quest-character/bonus boss in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII XII]]'', {{retcon}}ned into the rereleases of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' as a secret boss/summon, and a playable character in ''[[DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia Final Fantasy Duodecim 02]]''. The best part? Every time, it's the [[DimensionalTraveler original Gilgamesh, hopping from dimension to dimension]].

** He's proven so popular with fans that he's made reappearances as a summon in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII VIII]]'', a sidequest character in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX IX]]'', an unrelated character with the same name in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI XI]]'', and appeared in all his original glory as a comical quest-character/bonus boss in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII XII]]'', {{retcon}}ned into the rereleases of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' as a secret boss/summon, and a playable character in ''[[DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia Final Fantasy Duodecim 02]]''. The best part? Every time, it's the [[DimensionalTraveler original Gilgamesh from Final Fantasy V]].

** He's proven so popular with fans that he's made reappearances as a summon in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII VIII]]'', a sidequest character in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX IX]]'', an unrelated character with the same name in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI XI]]'', and appeared in all his original glory as a comical quest-character/bonus boss in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII XII]]'', {{retcon}}ned into the rereleases of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' as a secret boss/summon, and a playable character in ''[[DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia Final Fantasy Duodecim 02]]''. The best part? Every time, it's the [[DimensionHopper original Gilgamesh from Final Fantasy V]].

** He's proven so popular with fans that he's made reappearances as a summon in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII VIII]]'', a sidequest character in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX IX]]'', an unrelated character with the same name in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI XI]]'', and appeared in all his original glory as a comical quest-character/bonus boss in ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII XII]]'', {{retcon}}ned into the rereleases of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'' and ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' as a secret boss/summon, and a playable character in ''[[DissidiaFinalFantasy Dissidia Final Fantasy Duodecim 02]]''.