History NotMeThisTime / Videogames

* In the novel leading up to the ''Cataclysm'' expansion of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', a peaceful meeting between Alliance and Horde druids to discuss the current state of the world is interrupted and attacked by a group of Orc soldiers. When Cairne goes to confront Garrosh (who is very vocal about his hatred of peaceful resolution to conflicts, druidism in general, ''and'' the Alliance in particular) about it, accusing him of being behind it, Garrosh's reply amounts to "IF I had done it, I wouldn't hide it". And while he ''is'' telling the truth (the attackers were [[ApocalypseCult Twilight's Hammer]] cultists [[FalseFlagOperation deliberatly posing as Horde members to instigate conflicts between the two factions]]), his extremely callous attitude towards the event still convince Cairne that he needs to be removed from his post of leader to the Horde. Then Cairne declares mak'gora (an orcish custom where a leader is challenged for his position) and Garrosh gets hit with this trope ''again'' when Cairne dies from it (Garrosh was willing to stop the duel at first blood, but his weapon was poisoned without him knowing it).

* In the novel leading up to the ''Cataclysm'' expansion of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', a peaceful meeting between Alliance and Horde druids to discuss the current state of the world is interrupted and attacked by a group of Orc soldiers. When Cairne goes to confront Garrosh (who is very vocal about his hatred of peaceful resolution to conflicts, druidism in general, ''and'' the Alliance in particular) about it, accusing him of being behind it, Garrosh's reply amounts to "IF I had done it, I wouldn't hide it". And while he ''is'' telling the truth (the attackers were Twilight Hammer cultists [[FalseFlagOperation deliberatly posing as Horde members to instigate conflicts between the two factions]]), his extremely callous attitude towards the event still convince Cairne that he needs to be removed from his post of leader to the Horde. then Cairne declare mak'gora (an orcish custom where a leader is challenged for his position) and Garrosh gets hit with this trope ''again'' when Cairne dies from it (Garrosh was willing to stop the duel at first blood, but his weapon was poisoned without him knowing it).

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', [[spoiler: Dimitri]]'s hatred of the Flame Emperor and the reveal that [[spoiler: it was Edelgard all along]] began under the assumption that the Flame Emperor was allies with the ones who caused the tragedy that led to the deaths of [[spoiler: Dimitri]]'s family and friends. While it is true that the Flame Emperor is allies with those people, it is a TeethClenchedTeamwork situation at best and they were allies ''long after'' said tragedy [[spoiler:(Edelgard was only a child when the Tragedy of Duscur occurred, after all)]]. [[spoiler: Edelgard]] doesn't bother to try explaining this because [[spoiler: Dimitri]] is beyond listening at that point.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', where the [[CorruptChurch Church of Yevon]] likes to blame ''everything'' that goes wrong on the Al-Bhed (no matter how little sense it may make), who are not followers of Yevon and try to recover and use advanced technology in defiance of Yevon's [[LuddWasRight anti-technology philosophy]]. So when the Church blames the Al-Bhed for [[SummonMagic Summoners]] mysteriously disappearing, you might think it's just another baseless accusation... but it really was the Al-Bhed this time, although it was done with good intentions.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel IV'', an entire sidequest that usually has the PhantomThief Bleublanc's work is at play and the heroes must solve his riddles. [[spoiler:It turns out that no, he didn't do it this time but a certain BigBad of the [[VideoGame/ZeroNoKiseki Crossbell arc]] did it and stole his shtick.]]

* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Shantae}} Shantae and the Seven Sirens]]'', all the half-genies sans our titular heroine suddenly vanish during a magic show that they were supposed to perform at. The next day, Shantae stumbles upon her longtime adversary Risky Boots breaking into the local ruins and confronts her about the kidnapping. Risky doesn't even try to correct her at first and decides to humor her, waiting until ''after'' their ensuing battle to admit that while she does have some schemes going on that could ''possibly'' overlap with whatever Shantae's whining about, she isn't directly involved. [[spoiler: She's lying- she set things up to get a LetsYouAndHimFight between Shantae and the Sirens]].

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' [[InvokedTrope invokes]] it for all its worth. Batman learns Hugo Strange is planning something called Protocol Ten, and assumes SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker is involved, partly because he's one of the top gang leaders in Arkham City, partly because he tried to kill Catwoman, but mostly because, well, he's the Joker. After learning of Joker's EvilPlan, we have this exchange:

* In the novel leading up to the ''Cataclysm'' expansion of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', a peaceful meeting between Alliance and Horde druids to discuss the current state of the world is interrupted and attacked by a group of Orc soldiers. When Cairne goes to confront Garrosh (who is very vocal about his hatred of peaceful resolution to conflicts, druidism in general, ''and'' the Alliance in particular) about it, accusing him of being behind it, Garrosh's reply amounts to "IF i had done it, i wouldn't hide it". And while he ''is'' telling the truth (the attackers were Twilight Hammer cultists [[FalseFlagOperation deliberatly posing as Horde members to instigate conflicts between the two factions]]), his extremely callous attitude towards the event still convince Cairne that he needs to be removed from his post of leader to the Horde. then Cairne declare mak'gora (an orcish custom where a leader is challenged for his position) and Garrosh gets hit with this trope ''again'' when Cairne dies from it (Garrosh was willing to stop the duel at first blood, but his weapon was poisoned without him knowing it).

* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Shantae}} Shantae and the Seven Sirens]]'', all the half-genies sans our titular heroine suddenly vanish during a magic show that they were supposed to perform at. The next day, Shantae stumbles upon her longtime adversary Risky Boots breaking into the local ruins and confronts her about the kidnapping. Risky doesn't even try to correct her at first and decides to humor her, waiting until ''after'' their ensuing battle to admit that while she does have some schemes going on that could ''possibly'' overlap with whatever Shantae's whining about, she isn't directly involved.

* In ''[[VideoGame/{{Shantae}} Shantae and the Seven Sirens]]'', all the half-genies sans our titular heroine suddenly vanish during a magic show that they were supposed to perform at. The next day, Shantae stumbles upon her longtime adversary Risky Boots breaking into the local ruins and confronts her about the kidnapping. Risky doesn't even try to correct her at first and decides to humor her, waiting until ''after'' their ensuing battle to admit she had absolutely nothing to do with it.

* Franchise/{{Kirby}} often goes after King Dedede for whatever evil plot is going on, whether or not Dedede had anything to do with it. And indeed, in ''most'' games, he either doesn't have anything to do with it, is actually trying to fix it ([[NiceJobBreakingItHero and thus Kirby makes the situation worse]]), or is [[BrainwashedAndCrazy being controlled by another entity]], bringing up the question of why Kirby is so insistent that everything is his fault. The ''only'' time he's the villain was back in the [[VideoGame/KirbysDreamLand very first game]] and [[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar its remakes]] over the years. And in one of those remakes (''Kirby Super Star Ultra''), his defeat is unambiguously played as a tragedy.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Futurama}}: The Game'', Bender says this when they find the ship badly damaged. It turns out that [[spoiler:he (as well as Fry and Leela) [[StableTimeLoop ''[[StableTimeLoop did]]'' [[StableTimeLoop do it]]]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Futurama}}: The Game'', Bender says this when they find the ship badly damaged. It turns out that [[spoiler:he (as well as Fry and Leela)]] [[StableTimeLoop ''[[StableTimeLoop did]]'' [[StableTimeLoop do it]]]].

* In ''VideoGame/{{Futurama}}: The Game'', Bender says this when they find the ship badly damaged. It turns out that [[spoiler:[[StableTimeLoop he (as well as Fry and Leela)]] ''[[StableTimeLoop did]]'' [[StableTimeLoop do it]]]].

* Franchise/{{Kirby}} often goes after King Dedede for whatever evil plot is going on, whether or not Dedede had anything to do with it. Indeed, in most games, he either doesn't have anything to do with it, is trying to fix it, or is being controlled by another entity, bringing up the question of why Kirby is so insistent that everything is his fault. Dedede is the champion of this trope. Let's look at the list of times he's the actual villain:
** ''Kirby's Dream Land'' (1992). Playing the role of EvilOverlord to the point where Kirby just naturally assumes he's behind every crisis forever. But he's not to blame again until...
** ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' "Spring Breeze" (1996), a remake of ''Kirby's Dream Land''. Okay, well he obviously has to be causing trouble again. And he does, eventually, in...
** ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Ultra'' "Revenge of the King" (2008), ''another'' remake of ''Kirby's Dream Land''. And his defeat is unambiguously played as a tragedy.
** And that's it. In twenty years, he was the BigBad effectively ''once'', and [[BrainwashedAndCrazy mistaken for the Big Bad]] ''eight more times''.

* Early on in ''[[VideoGame/{{Shantae}} Shantae and the Seven Sirens]]'', the half-genies (except Shantae) suddenly vanish during a magic show that they were supposed to perform. The next day, Shantae stumbles upon Risky Boots breaking into the local ruins and confronts her about the kidnapping. Risky doesn't try to correct her and humors her about it, only deciding to wait until ''after'' their ensuing battle to suggest going after the real culprit and source of evil.

'''Joker:''' Protocol Ten?! ''[[{{Gasp}} dramatic gasp]]]'' ...never heard of it.

* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' invokes it for all its worth. Batman learns Hugo Strange is planning something called Protocol Ten, and assumes SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker is involved, partly because he's one of the top gang leaders in Arkham City, partly because he tried to kill Catwoman, but mostly because, well, he's the Joker. After learning of Joker's EvilPlan, we have this exchange:

'''Joker:''' Protocol Ten?! ''[dramatic gasp]'' ...never heard of it.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII''
** Sephiroth laughs at your party when you get attacked by a dragon in the temple of the ancients and think that he is responsible for it.

* A rare heroic example happens in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem''. When Marth gets fed up with being treated like an errand boy by General Lang, Lang accuses Marth of orchestrating Ogma's rescue of Grustian prince and princess Jubelo and Yuliya. Marth admits he had nothing to do with it (it was actually his old buddy Lorenz), but would have if he had the opportunity.
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', [[spoiler: Dimitri]]'s hatred of the Flame Emperor and the reveal that [[spoiler: it was Edelgard all along]] began under the assumption that the Flame Emperor was allies with the ones who caused the tragedy that led to the deaths of [[spoiler: Dimitri]]'s family and friends. While it is true that the Flame Emperor is allies with those people, it is a TeethClenchedTeamwork at best and they were allies ''long after'' said tragedy [[spoiler: Edelgard was only a child at that time after all]]. [[spoiler: Edelgard]] doesn't bother try explaining this because [[spoiler: Dimitri]] is beyond listening at that point.

* In ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'', [[spoiler:Hades]] does this twice in the story, stating that he had nothing to do with the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Aurum]] (and he even [[EnemyMine joins in on the fight against them]]) and later showing up when Pit is dealing with the [[spoiler:Chaos Kin]] just to say that he also had nothing to do with this as even he had no way of controlling it. [[spoiler:Overall, this [[BlatantLies isn't entirely true]] (but [[FromACertainPointOfView not entirely false]]), though, since he was more or less the reason leading up to Pit attacking the Lunar Sanctum in the first place by dragging the Forces of Nature into the scene.]]

* In ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Tetris'', Lemres points out that the Dark Prince ([[{{Bowdlerise}} that is]], {{Satan}}) has been spotted around Primp Town about the same time that Tetriminos started falling from the sky. Everyone jumps to the conclusion that it must be another one of his evil plots, despite this not making a whole lot of sense. After everyone is done accusing him, [[TheDevilIsALoser making him cry]], and eventually calming him down, Schezo points out that he doesn't actually seem guilty. The Prince reminds everyone of ''another'' recurring antagonist, one who has space-time warping powers, and who has a rather dangerous idea of what constitutes fun. This idea makes rather more sense... [[spoiler:but Ecolo isn't the culprit either!]]

* Early on in ''[[VideoGame/{{Shantae}} Shantae and the Seven Sirens]]'', the half-genies (except Shantae) suddenly vanish during a magic show that they were supposed to perform. The next day, Shantae stumbles upon Risky Boots breaking into the local ruins and confronts her about the possible kidnapping. Risky doesn't try to correct Shantae and humors her about it, only deciding to wait until ''after'' the ensuing battle is over to suggest going after the real culprit and source of evil.

* Early on in ''[[VideoGame/{{Shantae}} Shantae and the Seven Sirens'', the half-genies (except Shantae) suddenly vanish during a magic show that they were supposed to perform. The next day, Shantae stumbles upon Risky Boots breaking into the local ruins and confronts her about the possible kidnapping. Risky doesn't try to correct Shantae and humors her about it, only deciding to wait until ''after'' the ensuing battle is over to suggest going after the real culprit and source of evil.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', [[spoiler: Dimitri]]'s hatred of the Flame Emperor and the reveal that [[spoiler: it was Edelgard all along]] began under the assumption that the Flame Emperor was allies with the ones who caused the tragedy that led to the deaths of the former's family and friends. While it is true that the Flame Emperor is allies with those people, it is a TeethClenchedTeamwork at best and they were allies ''long after'' said tragedy. [[spoiler: Edelgard]] doesn't bother try explaining this because [[spoiler: Dimitri]] is beyond listening at that point.

** In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', Rawk Hawk reveals that he was behind the guards locking Mario and his party up in an abandoned locker room, as well as a poisoned cake before fighting the party (in order to dissuade them from challenging him). However, when the party claims that he must have been the one emailing the threatening messages regarding the crystal star, he doesn't know what they are talking about, and reacts in such a way that he is genuinely unfamiliar with the concept of Crystal Stars, meaning he was not behind the threatening emails. [[spoiler:It was actually the emcee/promoter, Grubba, who was emailing the threatening messages, as he was using the Gold Star to retain his youth.]]

** In the second game, Shepard passes through a police scanner when first visiting the Citadel. It lets out an alarm because it's sophisticated enough to scan the DNA of the people walking through it and Shepard is listed as killed in action. The operator assumes it's an error. If master thief Kasumi Goto is in the party when this happens, she immediately says, "I swear to god, I didn't touch anything."
** Whenever the human supremacist organization Cerberus is caught doing something particularly nasty, the Illusive Man will usually respond with the excuse that it was a rogue cell in the organization operating without his approval. Almost nobody ever believes this. However, in the third game, when a Cerberus force is found wantonly slaughtering human refugees, Hackett notes that the Alliance is, for once, inclined to believe him. The Illusive Man is very much a [[PragmaticVillainy Pragmatic Villain]]: he only does something if he thinks he will gain something from it, and killing off fleeing human refugees is of no benefit to him.

** In ''Andromeda'', Vetra's loyalty mission begins with her and Ryder winding up in a room filled with people who claim Vetra helped them escape a psychotic criminal, who's now after them and Vetra for revenge. Vetra, who frequently uses IKnowAGuy due to the nature of her business (and to maintain plausible deniability with Ryder if she does something illegal), swears up and down she has no idea who these people are or why they're thanking her. [[spoiler:Because she really doesn't. Her little sister is the one who helped them, while pretending to be Vetra.]]

* In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', Rawk Hawk reveals that he was behind the guards locking Mario and his party up in an abandoned locker room, as well as a poisoned cake before fighting the party (in order to dissuade them from challenging him). However, when the party claims that he must have been the one emailing the threatening messages regarding the crystal star, he doesn't know what they are talking about, and reacts in such a way that he is genuinely unfamiliar with the concept of Crystal Stars, meaning he was not behind the threatening emails. [[spoiler:It was actually the emcee/promoter, Grubba, who was emailing the threatening messages, as he was using the Gold Star to retain his youth.]]
* In ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'', Peach is kidnapped at the beginning of the game. Immediately, Mario and Luigi go to Bowser's Castle to rescue her. When the bros get there, however, they find Bowser giving a rallying speech to his army ''in preparation for'' invading Peach's Castle. When the bros confront him, he just ends up confused:
--> '''Luigi:''' Quiet, you big Bowser! We know you kidnapped Princess Peach! Now where'd you put her?!\\
''[Bowser has a ? appear above him]''\\
'''Bowser:''' Where'd I... Wait, what? We're only now about to launch our atta--
* In the opening FMV of the UsefulNotes/{{Nintendo 64}} version of ''VideoGame/MarioTennis'', when Bowser arrives at the court, the other participants are understandably worried when he arrives, as they think he's planning to attack the tennis arena. However, instead, Bowser just [[GoKartingWithBowser challenges Mario to the tournament in a friendly fashion]] when he actually approaches Mario.

* Franchise/{{Kirby}} often goes after King Dedede for whatever evil plot is going on, whether or not Dedede had anything to do with it. Indeed, in most games, he either doesn't have anything to do with it, is trying to fix it, or is being controlled by another entity, bringing up the question of why Kirby is so insistent that everything is his fault. Dedede is the champion of this trope. Let's look at the list of times he's the actual villain:
** ''Kirby's Dream Land'' (1992). Playing the role of EvilOverlord to the point where Kirby just naturally assumes he's behind every crisis forever. But he's not to blame again until...
** ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'' "Spring Breeze" (1996), a remake of ''Kirby's Dream Land''. Okay, well he obviously has to be causing trouble again. And he does, eventually, in...
** ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Ultra'' "Revenge of the King" (2008), ''another'' remake of ''Kirby's Dream Land''. And his defeat is unambiguously played as a tragedy.
** And that's it. In twenty years, he was the BigBad effectively ''once'', and [[BrainwashedAndCrazy mistaken for the Big Bad]] ''eight more times''.
** The worst example of this is in ''VideoGame/KirbySqueakSquad''. Kirby's cake is stolen at the beginning of the game by the eponymous gang of thieving mice, and Kirby immediately concludes that Dedede is responsible with no evidence.
** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'' is another case of this. The villains are all running around turning heroes into trophies. Dedede captures several, and keeps them in his castle, placing badges on them. He runs out of badges, and reluctantly takes his own off to attach it to the final hero trophy. [[spoiler:After the real villain, Tabuu, uses his ability to turn every single character into a trophy, the purpose of the badges is revealed: they restore a trophy to life after a time delay. And with Dedede's contingency plan proven a good idea, he and the heroes he captured go off to rescue the entire rest of the cast.]]
* Dr. Wily claims this in ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'', citing a video as proof that Dr. Light is the one wanting world domination. He's lying. He does it again in ''VideoGame/MegaMan10'' when he claims that the TheVirus wasn't his doing, except Mega Man and co. actually believe him. [[spoiler:This shouldn't really be a spoiler, but he's still lying.]]
** The fan game ''VideoGame/MegaManUnlimited'' has Dr. Wily claim that his latest robots went out of his control and the resulting crisis is not his own doing. Dr. Light believes him and helps to solve the problem. [[spoiler:He's lying yet again, but the robots going rogue during his plans was an unintentional side effect, [[MetaphoricallyTrue so it's somewhat true]].]]

* Happens in the Multiplayer ''VideoGame/SpaceStation13''. People assume that if you're the chemist, you're responsible for the the roiling cloud of thermite-napalm-superfoamsmoke that is destroying the station.

* In ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'', after Pigma steals the memory core, the Star Fox team fights Star Wolf in the Sargasso Space Zone because they think that they were involved in Pigma's recent theft and want them to hand him over. However, after the fight, Wolf reveals that not only were they ''not'' involved in Pigma's theft, but they actually kicked Pigma out of Star Wolf long beforehand, and went as far as to order a shoot on sight command in regards to Pigma should he ever attempt to arrive at the Sargasso Space Zone. They do nonetheless give intel on where he is most likely at, however.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Avernum}} 3'', your party is trying to figure out who created the plagues of monster that are attacking TheEmpire. You can question the dragons, the Vahnatai, and the sorceress Erika, all of whom have grudges against the Empire and the means to create the monsters, but they all insist that while they hate the Empire with a passion, they have nothing to do with this. [[spoiler:The Vahnatai are lying.]]

* In the last episode of the third season of ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice'', TheDevil himself shows up to refute any claims that the [[DoomsdayDevice Devil's Toybox]] is in any way related to him. In fact, the Toybox predates the Devil by an order of magnitude and the object was named this way by mistake.
* In ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves'', Carmelita believes that Sly is responsible for the theft of the Clockwerk parts. While Sly had been planning to steal them, the Klaww Gang stole them first.
-->'''Sly''': Crime? I haven't stolen anything... yet.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonQuestII'', you get to meet the Dragonlord's grandson, and he's even sitting on his grandpa's throne. However, the fact that Charlock Castle looks like crap kinda disabuses you of the notion he had anything to do with the plot, and he outright confirms it. In fact, not only does consider his and your families' pasts water under the bridge, he even [[EnemyMine considers Hargon a pretentious upstart]] and gives you some info on how to kick his ass.
* ''VideoGame/RatchetAndClankAll4One'' starts with Dr. Nefarious siccing a huge monster onto Ratchet, Clank, and Captain Qwark. After the monster is beaten, a massive spaceship appears in the sky, and as the four are staring up in wonder, Nefarious remarks, "That's not one of mine." just before they get abducted.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', we have an heroic example, when a member of the [[ScaryDogmaticAliens Qunari]] suspects Hawke of being responsible for the deaths of a heavily-armed patrol sent to scout the Wounded Coast. Hawke remarks that they actually ''weren't'' involved for once, but are mildly flattered that they're at the top of the suspect list.
** If [[spoiler:Loghain is recruited]] in VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins, he will mock Wynn's belief that he was behind the problems in the Chantry Tower, which worked purely against him. Of course, he ''was'' TheManBehindTheMan in that plot. Uldred acted and tried to usurp control of the Circle specifically because he wanted to align the Circle to Loghain.
* ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' invokes it for all its worth. Batman learns Hugo Strange is planning something called Protocol Ten, and assumes SelfDemonstrating/TheJoker is involved, partly because he's one of the top gang leaders in Arkham City, partly because he tried to kill Catwoman, but mostly because, well, he's the Joker. After learning of Joker's EvilPlan, we have this exchange:
-->'''Batman:''' So that's Protocol Ten. [[spoiler:Poison Gotham.]] I expected more.\\
'''Joker:''' Protocol Ten?! *dramatic gasp* ...never heard of it.

--> '''Levi:''' WAAAAAAAHHH!!! [[WhatTheHellHero What is it?! Why are you bullying me?! Did I do anything bad to you? I haven't even done anything yet!]]\\

* In ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'', [[spoiler:Hades]] does this twice in the story, stating that he had nothing to do with the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Aurum]] (and he even [[EnemyMine joins in on the fight against them]]) and later showing up when Pit is dealing with the [[spoiler:Chaos Kin]] just to say that he also had nothing to do with this as even he had no way of controlling it. [[spoiler:Overall, this [[BlatantLies isn't entirely true]] (but [[FromACertainPointOfView not entirely false]]), though, since he was more or less the reason leading up to Pit attacking the Lunar Sanctum in the first place by dragging the Forces of Nature into the scene.]]
* ''VideoGame/LuminousArc'': Every time the player party bumps into [[RecurringBoss Vanessa]], they assume she's up to no good even before she attacks them, even when they happen to stumble onto her having a quiet drink at a bar. [[spoiler:At no point is she ''ever'' up to anything villainous when they cross paths, and she's been framed for what atrocities she was present for. She starts fights because that's how she solves problems, and she knows the party will never believe her side of the story anyway.]]
* At one point during the main quest of ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', Delphine suspects the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Thalmor]] are behind the recent reappearance of dragons. In search of information, the Dragonborn infiltrates a party being held by Thalmor diplomats, causes a good bit of havoc and death, and finds that no, the Thalmor aren't responsible at all, and are in fact conducting their own investigation to see what's going on (and to find out if someone's trying to use the dragons against ''them''). In fact, they believe that the Blades are responsible. Delphine Lampshades this when you tell her.
* In ''VideoGame/TouhouKaeidzukaPhantasmagoriaOfFlowerView'', an incident disrupting the cycle of life and death causes flowers to bloom en masse. Suspicion naturally falls on [[TheDreaded Yuuka Kazami]], an [[StrongerWithAge ages-old]] {{youkai}} of [[GreenThumb flowers]], who has been involved in at least one incident before, was seen at the scene, and is strong and enough of a flower aficionada to pull something like that. Turns out it's a naturally occurring phenomenon that takes place every sixty years (it's a bit stronger this time, but Yuuka had nothing to do with that). Unfortunately ([[AxCrazy for the player]]), she's enough of a {{troll}} and a BloodKnight to realize she will be misblamed and lounge around in order to be challenged.

* The [[WouldHurtAChild Purple]] [[SerialKiller Guy]] in ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'' is in [[GreaterScopeVillain one way]] [[BigBad or another]] responsible for all the dangers faced in the games — except ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys4'', where he only has a cameo, [[VillainsOutShopping doing his day job]]. The Child is being attacked by the Nightmare Animatronics for reasons unrelated to him. [[spoiler:They're actually the Child's nightmares, caused by [[BigBrotherBully his brother]], his fear of the real animatronics, and the fact that he's (probably) the victim of the Bite of '87.]]
* In ''VideoGame/FarCry4'', everyone refers to how the [[LaResistance Golden Path]] leader Mohan Ghale was killed by [[TheCaligula Pagan Min]], and it's not an unreasonable assumption, since the two were enemies. Min, for his part, doesn't seem all that interested in correcting people, and it's only at the end of the game that the truth comes out: [[spoiler:Min was involved, but only peripherally. Ghale was actually killed by his own wife, Ishwari, after Ghale [[WouldHurtAChild murdered Ishwari's baby daughter Lakshmana]] after Ghale found out that his plan to have his wife serve as a HoneyTrap spy on Min [[GoneHorriblyRight went too well]] and she genuinely fell for him and had a child. After killing her husband, Ishwari took her son Ajay and fled to the United States, and the plot is kickstarted by Ajay wanting to fulfill his mother's dying request to have her ashes placed with Lakshmana's]].
* In ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo Tetris'', Lemres points out that the Dark Prince ([[{{Bowdlerise}} that is,]] {{Satan}}) has been spotted around Primp Town about the same time that Tetriminos started falling from the sky. Everyone jumps to the conclusion that it must be another one of his evil plots, despite this not making a whole lot of sense. After everyone is done accusing him, [[TheDevilIsALoser making him cry]], and eventually calming him down, Schezo points out that he doesn't actually seem guilty. The Prince reminds everyone of ''another'' recurring antagonist, one who has space-time warping powers, and who has a rather dangerous idea of what constitutes fun. This idea makes rather more sense... [[spoiler:but Ecolo isn't the culprit either!]]
* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'': The game starts off with an iron crisis; the iron ore coming out of the mine in Nashkel makes brittle iron, and the miners are under constant attack by kobolds. Common knowledge is that the Zhentarim are behind it, trying to drive up iron prices for their own purposes. However, the first two recruitable [=NPCs=] are Zhentarim agents sent to investigate the Nashkel mines, and it very soon becomes clear that while the Zhentarim have a lot of sins to account for, this is not one of them.
* PlayedForLaughs near the end of ''VideoGame/GrimFandango'': Manny fires off several shots at BigBad Hector, punctuating each one with an "AndThisIsFor" for all the people that Hector's sprouted over the course of the game. When Manny accuses Hector of killing [[spoiler:Lola]], however, Hector is genuinely confused, since he had nothing to do with ''that'' one.
* Zigzagged in ''VideoGame/Sly2BandOfThieves''. Sly argues that it could not have been his gang who stole the Clockwerk parts when Carmelita catches him at the scene, since they were in the middle of trying to steal them, and would not be there if they had already done so. She does not believe him, of course, leading to a chase.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel IV'', an entire sidequest that usually has the PhantomThief Bleublanc's work is at play and the heroes must solve his riddles. [[spoiler:It turns out that no, he didn't do it this time but a certain BigBad of the [[VideoGame/ZeroNoKiseki Crossbell arc]] did it and stole his shtick.]]

* A rare heroic example happens in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem''. When Marth gets fed up with being treated like an errand boy by General Lang, Lang accuses Marth of orchestrating Ogma's rescue of Grustian prince and princess Jubelo and Yuliya. Marth admits he had nothing to do with it (it was actually his old buddy Lorenz), but would have if he had the opportunity.