History KickTheDog / Videogames

* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' famously had its demons kill a bunny and mount its head on a spike as they invaded Earth at the end of the original game. ''The Ultimate Doom'' reveals that the bunny in question was Doomguy's pet, Daisy, meaning that the demonic bastards presumably did this to spite him.

** This is done in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' with Team Plasma. Initially, Team Plasma's goals sound like they are actually reasonable. Players might originally find themselves intrigued by them. However, in the player's first direct encounter with Team Plasma's grunts, they are kicking a Munna, hinting that their intentions may not be all that genuine. It gets worse from there, with two grunts stealing a little kid's Pokémon and later Bianca getting her Munna stolen; it becomes clear very quickly that Team Plasma are just as bad, if not ''worse'' than Team Rocket with the added bonus of being [[MoralMyopia myopic]] {{Hypocrite}}s.[[note]]It should be noted that some of Team Plasma [[NecessaryEvil genuinely believe that they're doing the right thing]], while others are [[WolfInSheepsClothing clear-cut human monsters]].[[/note]] [[spoiler:The ending is a long series of KickTheDog moments, from the grunts in N's Castle rubbing in how [[ManipulativeBastard Ghetsis]] has been manipulating the hearts of Unova's citizens to a scientist referencing how they're going to release all of the Pokémon stored in the PC boxes. Then, after you beat [[UnwittingPawn N]], Ghetsis hurls insult after insult at both him and you.]]

* The tenth mission of ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars Days Of Ruin]]'' sets three "civilian" units (in gameplay terms no different from regular ones) directly in front of the enemy. Two of these units can escape, but there is no way whatsoever to save the third. The game goes to these lengths to set up a dogkicking moment for the Beast, who proceeds to slaughter the doomed unit for fun. '''''With a War Tank'''''. (For reference, that's the strongest ground unit in the game. The target is an Infantry -- the ''weakest'' ground unit in the game... ''before'' taking into account it's a civilian in story terms. Talk about swatting flies with a cannon.)

* ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock|1}}'' does this indirectly in an event that could also be considered a MoralEventHorizon. Dr. Suchong [[spoiler:forces the protagonist, Jack, who was a genetically conditioned child in Rapture to snap his new puppy's neck. Jack is mentally conditioned to obey him, even though the child protests profusely.]] This just demonstrates how much of a huge dick Dr. Suchong was.

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue''

* ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'': You're told to get an important MacGuffin from a bandit leader named Krom. You know nothing about him except for that. Problem is, he's the first major villain that doesn't wear a mask, so players might think he has some secret, sympathetic past. What's the very first thing he does when you see him? Shoot a cowering Claptrap in the face and push it off a cliff. He. Must. Die.

** ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'': [[SmugSnake Handsome]] [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Jack]] kicks the dog so much, you'd probably imagine he has them taped to his shoes, which makes his constant insistence that he is a hero all the more hypocritical. One of his biggest KTD moments is [[spoiler: killing Mordecai's longtime animal companion, Bloodwing. ''After'' performing horrific experiments on her, and turning her into a massive monstrosity]]. And this is ''before'' we learn [[spoiler:just what he has been doing to his own daughter Angel for the sake of getting to the Vault he wants to open, treatment so painful and horrific that she wants the Vault Hunters to kill her in order to end it]].

** Cipher makes Poochyena kicking, if not [[MoralEventHorizon molestation]], its modus operandi. In the events of ''VideoGame/PokemonColosseum'', they were running all of Orre from the shadows of the criminal underworld, with even its most affable Admin, Miror B., holding the mayor of Pyrite Town around his pinky while distributing Shadow Pokemon shipped from the Under to people at the Pyrite Colosseum. [[TheBrute Dakim]] was the enforcer who put everyone else in line, [[DarkChick Venus]] was the pretty face that kept the people of the Under out of Cipher's affairs with her gaudy entertainment programming, and [[EvilGenius Ein]] corrupted the stolen Pokemon that Team Snagem and other criminal organizations paid Cipher as tribute for use as weapons. The place was hell on earth in a near-literal form until Wes waged his two-man war, and five years later during the events of ''Pokemon XD'', changes in personnel aside, Cipher's at it ''again'', and the loss of support from Team Snagem is merely a setback to their greater operations.

** Goenitz also had one of these moments in KOF 96 when he [[spoiler: injured Chizuru Kagura to then step into the battlefield and challenge the heroes.]] In one of the mangas, he also [[spoiler: gives a BreakingLecture to Mai when she's in the middle of an HeroicBSOD, then beats Chizuru ''and'' Kensou within inches of their lives]]; in another manga, he [[spoiler: got Iori bound in a CrucifiedHeroShot ''and made him go intermittently into the Riot of the Blood when he was completely in defense'', despite the pleas of Kyo's girlfriend Yuki.]]

* In ''VideoGame/LaytonBrothersMysteryRoom'', the culprits are given particular moments where they're shown how horrible they truly are to make them particularly detestable Keys examples include:

* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' gives us a ''supremely'' heinous one on the part of Lev Lainur toward the end of the opening singularity. Not only is this guy responsible for the sabotage of Chaldea's Command Room via a bomb and the Rayshift experiment (which among other things required Mash Kyrielight to form a contract and become a Demi-Servant simply to survive), but the bomb that he used was placed directly underneath the feet of Olga Marie Animusphere, the Director of Chaldea, meaning that poor Olga was DeadAllAlong, doomed to vanish as soon as she returned with the heroes to the modern era. And because this just isn't enough for Professor Lev, he then proceeds to go the [[MoralEventHorizon extra mile]] by sending poor Olga on a crash-course into Chaldeas itself, which has the effect of tearing her apart on a molecular and spiritual level, and essentially dooming her to "infinite living death" -- one of the [[FateWorseThanDeath worst fates]] ever suffered by a Nasuverse character, and one that poor Olga doesn't even come ''close'' to deserving. It is little wonder that many players of FGO hate Lev Lainur [[HateSink with a passion]].

* The intro scene to the web game ''Dungeon Rampage'' features a literal example, which has Lord Dinglepus feeding a little girl's puppy to one of his orc bruiser minions.

* The intro to the web game ''Dungeon Rampage'' features a literal example in the intro scene, which has Lord Dinglepus feeding a little girl's puppy to one of his orc bruiser minions.

** As Belial's forces are attacking Caldeum, Adria insists on pursuing Belial immediately and that saving its people is a waste of time. Thankfully, neither Leah nor the Nephalem are in the mood to let everyone die, and it serves as good foreshadowing for [[spoiler:Adria's later betrayal in Act III]].

** Andariel's treatment of the Rogue Sisterhood in general. As if corrupting captured Rogues wasn't enough, she turns Rogues that fall to her demons into skeletons and zombies, and those that resist corruption, she has tortured to death in their own cathedral.

** Mephisto's corruption of the Zakarum faith is by far the most evil thing he has done.

** Archbishop Lazarus, in addition to what he did in the first Diablo, is revealed to have orchestrated the war between Khanduras and Westmarch and done much to speed Leoric toward madness on Diablo's behalf, a particularly low move involving convincing Leoric to have his own queen Asylla executed as a traitor so that no one can stop him from preparing Albrecht for possession by his master.

** As you are closing in on Diablo in Act IV, he very meanly uses the apparitions of dead characters from throughout two major games, both sympathetic (such as [[spoiler:Deckard Cain]], Marius, and others) and unsympathetic (Maghda and Zoltun Kulle) to taunt you. And the very first one that he uses? [[spoiler:[[PlayerPunch Leah]]]]. He also taunts you about how you've always been too late to stop him.

* ''VideoGame/DiabloI''

* The title Lord of Terror from the ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'' series has done plenty of evil things throughout the trilogy, including driving a good and noble king murderously insane, but in ''VideoGame/DiabloIII'', as you're closing in on him in Act IV, he very meanly [[spoiler:uses the apparitions of dead characters from throughout the game, both sympathetic (such as Deckard Cain, Marius, and others) and unsympathetic (Maghda and Zoltun Kulle) to taunt you. And the very first one he uses? ''[[PlayerPunch Leah]]''.]]

** [[spoiler:Adria]]'s final journal in the Blood Marsh in Act V all but clinches the fact that [[spoiler:she never gave a single damn about her own daughter as anything but a means to the end of resurrecting her monstrous master]].

* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'' goes further and gives each of the Templar assassination targets a "Kick The Dog" video profile showing why each is a ''very bad person'' (with the tragic exception of Dante Moro). [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII The sequel to that]] though eschews this, being seemingly content to have [[spoiler:Cesare Borgia kill a helpless Mario Auditore]], with the subsequent sin of the Borgia regime and troops being guilt by association.

** Except for the slave trader. Because do you really need any other reason to kill a slave trader?
*** Apparently horrible living conditions for the slaves. "Even Altair seems vaguely appalled."
** [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII The sequel]] goes further and gives each of the Templar assassination targets a "Kick The Dog" video profile showing why each is a ''very bad person'' (with the tragic exception of Dante Moro). The sequel to that though eschews this, being seemingly content to have [[spoiler:Cesare Borgia kill a helpless Mario Auditore]], with the subsequent sin of the Borgia regime and troops being guilt by association.

* ''Videogame/PillarsOfEternityIIDeadfire'': Maia is originally presented as your bog-standard no-nonsense sniper lady, which is mostly true. However, it soon becomes apparent that Maia is ''horrendously'' racist against Huana, to the point that she actively disapproves of you giving murdered Huana you find a bare minimum of what is DueToTheDead instead of lootingadn leaving the bodies to rot, and makes jokes to your teenage Huana party member's face about their home village (that was in the path of the BigBad) being destroyed.

* The first act you witness the [[ArmsDealer Van Graffs]] committing in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is executing one of their own employees, in order to intimidate a business partner trying to negotiate a better price for their services.

** In the Old World Blues DLC, one of the Think Tank scientists, Dr. Borous, had a dog named Gabe, who was apparently his best and only friend. Gabe was very loving towards Borous, even when Borous began to feed him chems and perform cruel experiments.
*** The player actually fights Gabe at one point (turned giant from Borous' chems), and if they take his food bowl, Borous will show remorse for the death of his once-beloved pet.

* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' gives us a ''supremely'' heinous one on the part of [[spoiler:Lev Lainur]] toward the end of the opening singularity. Not only is this guy responsible for [[spoiler:the sabotage of Chaldea's Command Room via a bomb and the Rayshift experiment (which among other things required Mash Kyrielight to form a contract and become a Demi-Servant simply to survive)]], but [[spoiler:the bomb that he used was placed directly underneath the feet of Olga Marie Animusphere, the Director of Chaldea, meaning that poor Olga was DeadAllAlong, doomed to vanish as soon as she returned with the heroes to the modern era]]. And because this just isn't enough for [[spoiler:Professor Lev]], he then proceeds to go the [[MoralEventHorizon extra mile]] by [[spoiler:sending poor Olga on a crash-course into Chaldeas itself, which has the effect of tearing her apart on a molecular and spiritual level, and essentially dooming her to "infinite living death" -- one of the [[FateWorseThanDeath worst fates]] ever suffered by a Nasuverse character, and one that poor Olga doesn't even come ''close'' to deserving]]. It is little wonder that many players of FGO hate [[spoiler:Lev Lainur]] [[HateSink with a passion]].

* The very first thing you see [[PoliceBrutality UFE]] do in ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 3'' is finish off some downed crooks you just took down at the end of the first mission, shooting them right there and then instead of arresting them. Considering these guys are supposed to be ''cops'', this is a very bad sign. [[spoiler:They later turn out to be murdering homeless people and harvesting their organs]].
** In the first game, Max mentions that Vinnie Gognitti, who's cowardly and inept enough to be a borderline IneffectualSympatheticVillain, takes out his frustrations on underage addicts and call girls. This ends up being OffstageVillainy, but it's mentioned during the second game's recap of the first game.

[[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Digital denizens doing]] [[KickTheDog dastardly deeds]].

** ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'': [[SmugSnake Handsome]] [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Jack]] kicks the dog so much, you'd probably imagine he has them taped to his shoes, which makes his constant insistence that he is a hero all the more hypocritical. One of his biggest KTD moments is [[spoiler: killing Mordecai's longtime animal companion, Bloodwing. ''After'' performing horrific experiments on her, and turning her into a massive monstrosity]]. And this is ''before'' we learn [[spoiler:just what he has been doing to his own daughter Angel for the sake of getting to the Vault he wants to open, treatment so painful and horrific that she wants the Vault Hunters to kill her in order to end it]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'':

* As if his "Sound the retreat!" at the Battle of Ostagar weren't enough, Loghain's real Kick The Dog event is having his daughter locked up and threatening to let Howe execute her. Given that this is ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Dragon]] [[CrapsackWorld Age]]'', a realm far on the cynical side of things, he can still [[spoiler:join your team and become TheAtoner]].
** Loghain even has several more KickTheDog moments which the player can all use to argue against him as the whole point of the landsmeet. Responisble for poisoning Arl Eamon? Selling his own people as slaves? What's missing?
*** Condoning Howe's torture of nobles, perhaps?
** If a human noble!Warden confronts Howe, he'll describe every detail of Eleanor Cousland's death and what he did with Oren and Orianna's body. The player may already want him dead by this point but now he just put the last nail in his coffin.
*** Lampshaded by Arl Eamon, who says that Howe is the kind of guy who would actually kick puppies just to show off how much of an asshole he is.

** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' doesn't give the player nearly as many brutal dog-kicking moments as ''Origins'', but he/she can still do things like [[spoiler: hand Isabela over to the Qunari at the end of the second act, and give Fenris, an escaped slave, back to his former master Danarius during his last personal quest.]]

** It's no secret that Jin Kisaragi is a massive {{jerkass}} but he becomes this taken UpToEleven whenever he's with Noel. He will waste no time insulting and belittling her.