History NotSoDifferent / VideoGames

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->''"You and I are opposite sides of the same coin. When we face each other, we can finally see our true selves. There may be a resemblance, but we'll never face the same direction."''
-->--'''Pixy''', ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar''

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* ''VideoGame/AceCombatZeroTheBelkanWar'' makes use of this, providing the Page Quote above. Regardless of which [[KarmaMeter Ace Style]] you choose for [[PlayerCharacter Cypher]] during the events of the game, be it Mercenary, Soldier, or Knight, Pixy will say that you and him are alike, though your goals will always put him at opposition to him.
* Several instances of this in the ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars]]'' series, to the point it feels like a theme to be touched upon, given the military-centered tone:
** In ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars 2: Black Hole Rising'', there are a few main missions in which this notion is raised; the most significant is Yellow Comet CO [[TheStrategist Sonja]]'s mission "A Mirror Darkly", where, after the fact, Black Hole CO [[MadScientist Lash]] accuses Sonja of enjoying warfare just as much as she does, as though it were a game of chess. Try as she may, Sonja doesn't have a good response to provide for this. In the same game, in Blue Moon CO [[FriendlySniper Grit]]'s campaign mission "Tanks!!!" Black Hole CO [[SmugSnake Adder]] extends an invitation to Grit to defect to the Black Hole Army, on the idea that Grit didn't personally have any particular stake in which countries owned what territories. Grit concedes that Adder is correct on that point, but rebuffs this offer on the grounds that Black Hole had destroyed entire cities, and takes issue with their mistreatment of the citizens.
** The ending of ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars: Dual Strike'' consists primarily of a NotSoDifferentRemark by the defeated BigBad, complete with IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim. The player is then given the choice of how to deal with the defeated and now helpless BigBad. [[spoiler:Of course, if you don't have the heart to go through with it, [[BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork Hawke]] does.]]
** Similarly in the DarkerAndEdgier ''Advance Wars: Days of Ruin'', the defeated [[spoiler:Admiral Greyfield]] tells Lin she'll be just as bad as him if she kills him, although in this case, he's just deliberately [[InvokedTrope invoking]] the trope in a panicked and desperate attempt to save his own life. [[spoiler:She admits that he's completely right, then shoots him anyway.]]
*** Similarly, Waylon does this to Will in their final battle. Will admits it, but informs Waylon that this doesn't give him the moral high ground.
* ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'':
** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedI'', mad executioner Majd Addin attempts to pull this on Altair, explaining that they aren't so different and that he would have done the same were he in Addin's position. Altair's response is to agree that indeed, he once may have, until he discovered what awaits such people - demonstrated by [[ShutUpHannibal stabbing Addin in the neck.]]
** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'', the first mark (who got Ezio's father and brothers executed) makes the excuse, "You would have done the same...to save the ones you love." Ezio agrees... so he goes through with the killing.
** Averted in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' as one of the targets, Thomas Hickey, says that he and Connor are nothing alike, as he puts it, Connor is a type of guy who is always chasing butterflies while he is a type of guy who likes to have a beer in one hand and a titty in another.
** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRogue'', Liam and Louis argue that the Templars are evil because they are using Precursor artifacts to manipulate world politics and accumulate power. Shay asks, quite sarcastically, how that is different from the Assassin plan of using Precursor artifacts to manipulate world politics and accumulate power.
* In ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'', [[BloodKnight Augus]] claims this is true with him and Asura during the fight against him. Defied by Asura, [[spoiler:they couldn't be more different since Asura is actually fighting for someone he loves rather than for its own sake]] and ''that'' is what gives him the strength to defeat Augus in the end, with Augus contently conceding to said-point after the fact.
* While it does depend on how you roleplay TheHero, your half-brother [[BigBad Sarevok]] in ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'' is implied to have several similarities to you. Perhaps the most damning evidence is [[spoiler:a vision in ''Throne of Bhaal'' which shows that, had your positions been reversed, you each would have ended up ''exactly like the other'']]. You can't fulfill this trope any more than that.
** In an example with two companions, Korgan makes this argument to Valygar, since both are kinslayers. Valygar points out that his own motivation was to stop his crazed mother from killing people with BlackMagic, while Korgan went on a murder spree to be the sole claimant to an inheritance.
-->'''Korgan:''' Killing is killing, my lanky friend. Sugar-coat it all ye like but when we go to family reunions we both go alone.
* ''VideoGame/BioShock''
** In ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'', self-proclaimed prophet Zachary Comstock is considered not so different from Daisy Fitzroy or Booker [=DeWitt=]. All three of them are brutally dedicated to achieving their goals, whatever lies they have to tell or means they have to resort to. [[spoiler:The reason for that is Comstock is an alternate-reality version of [=DeWitt=] that went through the baptism that [=DeWitt=] himself rejected]].
** The first ''Bioshock'' also features the conflict between Fontaine and Ryan; they both use very similar methods and functionally there isn't any difference between their various facilities.
** There's also one between [[VideoGame/BioShock1 the first]] and [[VideoGame/BioShock2 second]] games; Lamb and Ryan, despite having polar opposite ideologies, both are willing to sacrifice their underlings to achieve their goals and both follow a very similar methodology -- a thing Lamb even calls him out on in a debate:
---> '''Andrew Ryan:''' Religious rights, Doctor? You are free to kneel before whatever tribal fetish you favor in the comfort of your own home. But in Rapture, liberty is our only law -- A man's only duty is to himself. To imply otherwise, therefore, is criminal.
---> '''Sofia Lamb:''' Ask yourself, Andrew -- What is your "Great Chain of Progress" but a faith? The chain is a symbol for an irrational force, guiding us towards ascension -- no less mystic than the crucifixes you seize and burn!
* When Arakune and Hakumen meet in the Arcade mode of ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', the latter tells the former that they are quite similar down inside.
** In ''Teach Me, Ms. Litchi!'', Litchi notes that "[Kokonoe and Taokaka]'re more alike than they seem. There's only a thin line between genius and... [[TheDitz Tao]]."
** Shockingly (and many seem to forget), Kokonoe is dangerously not so different with [[BigBad Terumi]], the very individual she hated herself. Both of them are not 100% human, and in the same time look down on them. They also placed themselves so highly [[ItsAllAboutMe in priority]] and [[{{Pride}} damn]] [[InsufferableGenius insufferable]] in it, so the majority of Kokonoe's would-be WellIntentionedExtremist acts end up failing because she's only thinking of her own desires, [[spoiler:such as the nukes she stored, she doesn't care if she'll have to take the whole civilization and humans in it so long as Terumi is dead by her own hands, the humans can die for all she cares,]] the same thing as Terumi only thinks of how he can have his fun of making people around him suffer or hate him.
** Siblings Ragna & Jin also are also not so different from each other. At first glance, they look like your standard [[RedOniBlueOni hot-headed protagonist and cool-headed rival]] archetypes, but as the series continues and they both go through their respective character arcs, it becomes increasingly clear that they're both kindhearted people who want to protect what's close to them, even if their [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold attitudes don't always make this fact obvious.]] There's still some bad blood between them despite this fact though.
** Jin also has this dynamic with [[VideoGame/BlazblueChronoPhantasma Kagura]]. They're both tall, [[ChickMagnet physically attractive]], [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]] and immensely badass heads of powerful noble families in the Duodecim. It's suggested by characters in story that if Jin were never born, Kagura would've been the Hero of Ikaruga. They even both have a thing for motorcycles! The main difference between them, however, is personality: Kagura is a laid-back NiceGuy, Jin is an arrogant {{Jerkass}}.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'': you can find a beggar in Forbidden Woods who pulls a FalseInnocenceTrick at you, he's [[ObviouslyEvil eating a corpse]], [[spoiler:should you sent him to Oedon Chapel, he starts to murder the inhabitants in the church, but shares the Beast Blood Pellets with you for each kill. Of course, you can always [[EvilerThanThou send this Abhorrent Beast to Iosefka's Clinic]]. However, he ''is'' indeed innocent, for a beast. He only preys on people [[NecessarilyEvil because of what he needed]], rather than murdering without reason. Should you engaged him in a fight, he plays this trope straight by pulling a speech, claiming the Hunter is [[EvilerThanThou far more despicable]] and [[PlayerPunch kill more often than him.]]]]
* Creator/HudsonSoft attempted to market ''VideoGame/BombermanActZero'' on their website with this in mind, saying the classic ''Bomberman'' gameplay was still there and intact despite its DarkerAndEdgier exterior, before [[OldShame/VideoGames accepting the fact]] that TheyChangedItNowItSucks.
* In the end of ''VideoGame/TheCavernsOfHammerfest'' the description of the completion of a quest that involves getting the cloak of the BigBad implies this of Igor.
* In a non-villain example, in ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', Paul Denton mentions to the player the irony of how in order to defeat the one-worlders, the resistance forces, who support sovereignty and independence for the different peoples throughout the world, have to become a global organization.
** It's never discussed, but in ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' Jensen can slaughter his way through the TYM manufacturing and R&D facilities, re-enacting the brutal raid by TYM-associated augmented commandos on Sarif Industries from the prologue.
* ''VideoGame/DMCDevilMayCry'': Ultimately, [[spoiler:both Mundus and Vergil see humans as subjects to be ruled.]] Dante even points this out: when [[spoiler:Vergil expresses his desire to rule humanity]], Dante responds "...you mean, like Mundus."
* ''VideoGame/DyingLight'' taunts the player for evil deeds they probably didn't even notice they were committing. Protagonist Kyle Crane meets a crooked politician who offers to help him escape the city and and give him a cut of his $25 million stash. When Crane asks if the money actually belongs to him, the politician brushes it off saying that the people it belonged to are zombies now, "... And besides, don't tell me you've never helped yourself to the wallet of a biter you killed." Err... maybe a few... [[spoiler:thousand...]]
* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** In the series' lore, the [[OurGodsAreDifferent Aedra and the Daedra]] are typically viewed as opposites, particularly by mortals. Good and Evil. [[OrderVersusChaos Order and Chaos]]. Light and Dark. [[GodIsGood Gods of Good]] and [[GodIsEvil Gods of Evil]]. [[OurAngelsAreDifferent Angels]] and [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Demons]]. However, prior to the [[CreationMyth creation of Mundus]], the mortal plane, there was no distinction made between these et'Ada ("original spirits"). The Aedra are simply the et'Ada who participated in creation (which is why their name means "our ancestors" in [[ClassicalTongue Old Aldmeris]], while the Daedra ("not our ancestors") did not. This is why scholars and, in a few cases, the deities themselves, are quick to point out that these are beings truly AboveGoodAndEvil who operate on their own BlueAndOrangeMorality. Anyone trying to classify them as such is simply trying to apply mortal moralities to immortal beings, which is a foolhardy endeavor.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'': Vivec, the [[PhysicalGod Tribunal deity]], clearly was never a big fan of the [[OurDwarvesAreDifferent Dwemer]]. As one of [[FounderOfTheKingdom Nerevar's]] councilors, Vivec believed that peace could not be had between the Chimer and Dwemer. He later urged Nerevar to make war on the Dwemer when evidence was brought forth that showed they were in possession of the [[CosmicKeystone Heart of Lorkhan]] and were attempting to [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence tap into its power]]. However, Vivec would later draw his own divine powers from the Heart and the AGodAmI-type response he gives if you question his past actions is ''very'' similar to the one he attributes to the [[MadScientist Dwemer Architect Kagrenac]] when Nerevar originally questioned him about the Heart in ''The Battle of Red Mountain'':
----> '''Vivec''': ''"Can you, mortal, presume to judge the actions and motives of a god?"''
----> '''Kagrenac''' (per Vivec): ''"But Kagrenac took great offense, and asked whom Nerevar thought he was, that he might presume to judge the affairs of the Dwemer."''
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'':
*** A very subtle one when the player is talking to Paarthurnax, a dragon who has overcome his inherent nature to kill and conquer and destroy through thousands of years of meditation and self control. He points out that ''all'' dragons have an inherent desire to be essentially destructive bastards - and then comments that ''you'', [[WhatTheHellPlayer the player]], being Dragonborn and thus possessing the soul of a dragon, [[VideogameCrueltyPotential likely have the same urges to kill and steal and destroy]], just like all the dragons you've been killing along the way.
*** From the same game, there's also the songs "Age of Aggression" and "Age of Oppression", sung by bards in pro-Imperial or pro-Stormcloak holds, respectively. The song tunes are identical and both songs have parts where the lyrics are the same.
*** The Civil War questline gets tons of this. Try saving before the peace treaty negotiation and take different dialogue options favouring one side or the other, and make note of how often the two sides will say nearly the same thing. More poignantly, if you completed the Civil War questline before the main story, [[spoiler:you'll see Rikke if you sided with the Stormcloaks, and Ulfric and Galmar if you sided with the Empire, in Sovngarde. It seems that no matter what petty squabbles the mortals have, in the eyes of Shor, they're all Nords and all worthy heroes who deserve a place in the afterlife.]]
* In ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'', few characters hate Eichi more than Madara, who dedicates much of his energy into taking him down. However, his methods are sometimes quite similar to Eichi's own, and he occasionally takes things too far in his single-minded quest for revenge -- in ''The Revolutionary Live Heralds The Dawn'' his actions endanger Anzu, earning him a thorough calling out from Kuro, who was technically aligned with Eichi but always tried to protect anyone he interacted with. Madara is very chastened by the event and resolves to do better from then on.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'', the Brotherhood of Steel has, since the first game, portrayed itself as a wise and noble order dedicated to protecting the rest of humanity from technology, which they are incapable of using wisely. They point to the Raiders and other scumbags of the wasteland as rationale for their confiscating what advanced technology they can, and destroying what they can't. Which makes them little more than the Raiders or any of the "I know best" themed tyrants in the game series.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}}'', the Brotherhood outright robs people to steal their advanced technology, killing them if they protest, and send people on lethal {{snipe hunt}}s into a heavily irradiated ruin for amusement. If you kill Rhombus, they even get motivated to storm out of their bunker hideaways and use that purloined technology to conquer the wasteland themselves.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'', the Brotherhood is in decline because their usual bully-boy antics failed to pay off after the other denizens of the wasteland both got more organized ''and'' acquired their own advanced technology to upset the balance of power back into their own favor.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'', subverting this, the Brotherhood genuinely are a noble band of helpful individuals... but, as is noted InUniverse, this is a splinter sect who have broken away with the established Brotherhood codes, so they still preserve the Brotherhood as a whole fitting this. Plus, the Outcasts are a sect of the splinter sect who have remained faithful to their traditions, so they're still a bunch of jerks.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout New Vegas}}'', not only is the conflict between the New California Republic and the Brotherhood from ''Fallout 2'' referenced, but in one of the endings where they survive, the Brotherhood go right back to mugging people and taking their technical stuff.
** Taken to its pinnacle in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', where the Brotherhood becomes a tyrannical, conquering army that supports itself by plundering from other settlements and intimidating or straight-up murdering anyone who dares to say no to them. In essence, nothing more than a particularly well-armed and organized Raider band.
*** The long-running gag is finally Lampshaded in the ''Nuka-World'' {{DLC}}; a [[AlwaysChaoticEvil Raider]] companion, Porter Gage, will react to the player being formally aligned with the Brotherhood of Steel by noting that the Brotherhood are really no different from Raiders -- using intimidation and violence to coerce people into providing supplies for them and stealing whatever they consider valuable (in their case, ancient tech like robots and energy weapons). The Brotherhood just dresses up what they do as having a "noble" cause, claiming they are guardians out to protect humanity from the destruction that the ancients caused with their mishandling of technology.
* In ''[[VideoGame/FarCry4 Far Cry 4]]'', [[BigBad Pagan Min]] gives Ajay one that comes with a good dose of VillainHasAPoint if you choose to hear him out during the final mission:
--> '''Pagan Min:''' But then I realized, I was only using Lakshmana's death as an excuse to do whatever I wanted to do. Just as you use those ashes to do whatever ''you'' want to do. God damn if it isn't fun.
** In fact, this trope is the core theme of ''[[VideoGame/FarCry2 Far Cry 2]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FarCry3 3]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FarCry4 4]]'' when it comes to the relationship between the protagonist and the antagonist, either for profit, or the enjoyment of carnage, or the family excuse of fighting a war.
* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'':
** Kadaj from ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren'' himself lampshades that Cloud knows all about being Sephiroth's puppet, confused and unsure of what to do and who he really is.
** In ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'', when Vincent [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impales]] Azul the Cerulean ''on his own cannon'' by ''hurling'' it through his torso, Azul comments that Vincent, possessed by [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Chaos]], is an even more of a beast than ''he'' is.
** Garland from ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' tells the Warrior of Light that they are both pawns in the endless cycle of battle. The warrior, however argues that Garland is a man who's given in to despair, whereas he has not.
** Lightning and Fang in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' have a 'not so different' moment in Palumpolum, and the Datalog entry actually uses the phrase.
* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' has some notable examples:
** Pretty much the first three parts of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn]]'' was to show that the court of Crimea was not so different from Daein or even Begnion, which earlier was shown as to be not so different than ''Daein''.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', the Nohrian and Hoshidan royal families are not so different from each other. They both have their own positive traits ''and'' troubles, and they both have a serious older brother, an older sister with some level of devotion to [[CanonName Corrin]], an easily-jealous younger brother, and a younger sister who idolizes her older siblings. Corrin even lampshades it in regards to Xander and Ryoma at one point in the ''Conquest'' path.
-->'''Corrin:''' It's just that, despite your differences, the two of you are quite similar in some ways.
** In the ''Revelations'' route of ''Fates'', Takumi and Leo, who can't stand each other, are outraged in their supports when they find out that their siblings believe that the two of them are similar to each other. As they start talking and getting to know one another, they find they have similar interests- Leo likes beef stew while Takumi likes miso soup, and Leo likes chess while Takumi likes shogi. They end up becoming friends in the end.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', Edelgard is more similar to Rhea than she would realize. Both are [[NiceGuy Nice Girls]] who had horrible tragedies in their lives: [[spoiler:Crest experimentation and the Red Canyon event, respectively]]. They develop an obsession with destroying what had wronged them: [[spoiler:the system of nobility/Church of Seiros and Nemesis, respectively]]. They are willing to go the extreme to see their goals completed and ironically, both have Byleth as their MoralityPet.
** In the Azure Moon route of ''Three Houses'', this happens when [[PlayerCharacter Byleth]] confronts Dimitri over his growing obsession with revenge against [[spoiler:Edelgard]] for supposedly causing the deaths of his father, stepmother and friend Glenn in the Tragedy of Duscur, an event that led to the persecution of the people of Duscur, including Dimitr's retainer Dedue. Dimitri then asks if Byleth would let the people who took everything from them go unpunished, reminding Byleth of how they sought vengeance against [[spoiler:the person who killed Byleth's father Jeralt]] before the TimeSkip. [[JerkassHasAPoint Byleth can agree with Dimitri]], but regardless of what Byleth says, Dimitri will assert, "We're the same, you and I."
** Initially, it seems as though Felix and his [[PosthumousCharacter his late brother]] Glenn couldn't be more different. Felix is a rather cynical BloodKnight(although his cynicism was apparently caused by Glenn's death), while Glenn was apparently a KnightInShiningArmor. However, Dimitri notes that Glenn was always "sarcastic and constantly looking for a fight," like Felix. Dimitri also notes that Glenn never praised him to his face, prompting Ingrid to remark that "Well, he was Felix's brother. That family's not big on displays of affection."
** In Chapter 3, the player will be tasked with helping to put down a rebellion by Lord Lonato, who is seeking revenge on the church for his son's execution. After the battle, the other characters will be appalled by how Lonato embarked on a crusade of {{revenge}} that got himself and the commoners who served him killed. Edelgard sympathizes, but remarks that someday, she, too, will be like Lonato, in that she must risk the lives of her subjects when fighting wars. [[spoiler:Edelgard ultimately declares war on the Church of Seiros in order to bring about a world without Crests.]]
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'':
** In ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIV'', Niko is driven for revenge against the guy who sold out him and his friends [[spoiler:for $1,000. When he finally confronts the guy, Darko Brevic, he is asked how much ''he'' charges to kill someone. It seems that Niko knows that Darko is right as it shows in his choices: if he pulls the trigger on the guy, he feels empty and unsettled; if he doesn't and lets Darko go, Niko still feels angry but also a little bit better at the same time, since Darko is in a very, very sorry state and will [[CruelMercy continue to live on in suffering]].]]
*** [[spoiler:Darko also resembles Niko very much physically. Pretty unsettling...]]
** [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIVTheLostAndDamned The Lost MC]] and the rest of society also have more in common than one might expect, even though the Lost claim to be more about independence and freedom. For a one-percent biker gang, the Lost seem to have an awful lot of protocol: bikers have to ride in a strict formation, they can only call for certain degrees of firefight support if they're the President, and so on. This is even discussed in the opening cutscene of "Off Route," when Johnny is asked if fighting "The Man" has made him any happier. Johnny's response?
-->'''Johnny:''' "There's always a man. He just wears a different uniform."
** In [[VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV V]], should you decide to [[spoiler:kill Trevor]], Michael will start ranting, attempting to justifying [[spoiler:Trevor's death]]. Michael starts acting a little unhinged during the rant. [[spoiler:Not so different indeed.]]
* In ''VideoGame/HotlineMiami'', [[spoiler: Richter (the rat-masked assassin who was sent to murder Jacket and his girlfriend) says this to a vengeful Jacket upon being confronted by him during the "Assault" chapter. However, it's more of a passive confession than a taunt]].
* You'll get this at times in ''VideoGame/{{Iji}}'' if you kill too many enemies throughout the game. After all, Iji's trying to stop her species from being wiped out by unexpected alien threats. By the time Iji has a bodycount in the triple digits, those tasked with stopping her have exactly the same goal.
* ''VideoGame/InazumaEleven'':
** When Endou goes to Kidou's house, he discovers that he has more in common with his former rival than he thought and points out that they're the same. Kidou shows him an old soccer magazine, which is the only thing that was saved from his parents when they died in a plane crash and tells him that that's why he started to play soccer. Endou tells him that he lost his grandfather (though he died [[spoiler:or not]] before he was born) and he started to play soccer after he read his secret notebooks.
** Fideo invokes this with BigBad[=/=]DemotedToDragon Kageyama and tells him that the reason why he continued to be involved with soccer, despite claiming to hate it, is for the same reason why Fideo continued to play it, he loved his father and his plays (though it's not made clear what happened to Fideo's father).
* ''Franchise/{{Injustice}}'':
** ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'': Regime Superman essentially becomes not so different from several characters in this game.
*** To Sinestro and Black Adam. ''Especially'' to Black Adam, which the latter himself [[LampshadeHanging points out in prequels.]] Sinestro even lampshades this in the issue 5 of the Year Two in the prequel comics, pointing out he was trying to "extricate Batman's head from his body" moments ago.
*** He's always been a GoodCounterpart to General Zod, but now in this game he has not only become a Kryptonian who rules over humans with an iron fist, but when he wins a match in his alternate costume, he tells his opponent to [[KneelBeforeZod "Kneel before me..."]]
*** At the end of the story, Mainstream Superman admits to Batman that if he was put through the same FaceHeelTurn like his [[EvilMeScaresMe Regime counterpart]], he might react the same way. He hopes the day never comes to pass, though Insurgency Batman tells him that if it does pass, he'll come to hunt him down. In his ladder ending, [[spoiler:unsettled by his fight with his EvilCounterpart, Mainstream Superman decides to ingest a Kryptonite piece that can be remotely detonated by a trigger which rotates between each of the Justice League members, in case he ever goes down his counterpart's path. Appropriately enough, Batman has been denied a shift with the trigger.]]
*** By the end of the game, Regime Superman has been reduced to being a raving loon who's not so different from the Joker, whom he killed earlier in the game, constantly whining about how "ungrateful" the people are for his rule but seemingly completely ignorant of the costs of it.
*** In his ladder ending, Aquaman [[spoiler:becomes very much like Superman, though he responds to the fall of the Regime by consolidating control over the oceans, and then the surface into a similar United Earth. Unlike Superman though, he achieves this through peaceful means, by convincing the other governments to willingly support him through strong political and economically beneficial opportunities.]]
** ''VideoGame/Injustice2'':
*** In the game's opening, Batman points out how Superman's WellIntentionedExtremist approachon crime after Metropolis has not only driven him and most of the Justice League [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope down a path]] [[BewareTheSuperman of tyranny and fear]], it also transformed them into the very monsters they once fought against.
*** In the tie-in comics, Batman is compared to Superman by a US senator who accuses Batman of [[WhatTheHellHero constantly acting on his own without any input of people around him]], which [[NiceJobBreakingItHero lead to catastrophic consequences]] and hammers home that the only real difference between him and Superman is that Superman was more ''effective'' than Batman. On a much darker side, he elects to use Kryponite-infused [[SupernaturalFearInducer fear toxin]] against [[spoiler:Zod]] when he goes into PapaWolf mode, ''the exact same weapon'' that Joker used on Superman to cause so many problems for the world in the first place. In the game itself, Damian points out whether Batman would have taken the same route as Superman did if the Joker nuked Gotham and killed Damian instead of going after Metropolis, to which Batman is unable to answer.
*** Harley points out to Wonder Woman how she has become very similar to her, namely the fact that they tried to impress the wrong guy (Joker and Superman). Wonder Woman, while secretly acknowledging her role in manipulating Superman down a path of tyranny, [[IgnoredEpiphany responds by stabbing Harley in the stomach]], though Harley survives thanks to Supergirl's timely intervention.
*** After realizing what a monster her cousin has become, Supergirl is all-too-happy to tell this to Superman. [[InsultBackfire He retorts]] by stating that Krypton would have been saved if his father Jor-El had been more like Zod. On top of that, Zod's motivation for his coup in Post-Crisis canon was trying to save his planet from destruction by supplanting its ObstructiveBureaucrat leaders, which is is not unlike what Superman's now doing, and his rather condescending view of humanity as ''needing'' him to protect them is not terribly removed from [[PunyEarthlings how Zod sees them]].
*** Several villains such as Atrocitus and Gorilla Grodd invoke this trope on Superman. Most notably in his arcade ending, Grodd [[spoiler:steals Brainiac's tech to become a GalacticConqueror and impose his order, something which Superman does in the "Absolute Power" ending]].
*** Invoked by Scarecrow in one of his intros with Batman, as both use fear as a weapon against their enemies.
*** Poison Ivy isn't that different from Gorilla Grodd, as both despise humanity and claim to look out for their own, when in actuality, [[ItsAllAboutMe they only care about furthering their own power]]. They're also more than willing to kill their own kind in order to rule them: Grodd killed Solovar to become the king of Gorilla City, and Ivy [[spoiler:kills Swamp Thing in her Arcade Ending, to eliminate the competition for the Green's leader.]] Finally, neither of them have any loyalty to the people they work for: [[DragonWithAnAgenda Ivy plans to kill Grodd if he fails to keep his promises]], [[spoiler:and [[TheStarscream Grodd plans to kill Brainiac when he exposes his weakness, then take over his ship]]]].
*** Captain Cold goes against the Regime because they killed his sister and the Rogues, but this has made him very much like Superman, who went after the Joker for killing Lois and nuking Metropolis.
*** Green Arrow thinks Brainiac is another wannabe alien EvilOverlord who's very much like Superman or Darkseid, only for Brainiac to retort that Earth has its own share of tyrants and they ''don't need'' an alien warlord to be oppressed. [[VillainHasAPoint Arrow is forced to concede the point.]]
*** As usual is with him in most DC Comics media, the Joker invokes this trope in his StrawNihilist mindset, but many of the characters consider it nonsense, and [[YoureInsane some even call him out on his insanity.]]
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'': Master Xehanort calls Master Eraqus out for being too KnightTemplar with Light, while Eraqus calls Xehanort out for being TheUnfettered with Darkness.
* In ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain: Soul Reaver'', the final battle includes Raziel confronting Kain about raising his vampire lieutenants from the corpses of prominent Sarafan (vampire hunters):
-->'''Raziel''': The Sarafan were saviours, defending Nosgoth from the corruption that we represent! My eyes are open, Kain... I find no nobility in the unlife you rudely forced on my unwilling corpse!\\
'''Kain''': You may have uncovered your past, but you know nothing of it. You think the Sarafan were noble? Altruistic? (''laughs'') Oh, don't be simple. Their agenda was the same as ours!
** This is shown to be true in the ending of ''Soul Reaver 2'', when it proves that the Sarafan were controlled by Moebius, TheDragon of the series, and thus are bigoted and self-righteous. Raziel and his past, human self share this dialogue:
--->'''Human Raziel:''' You're a righteous fiend, aren't you?
--->'''Wraith Raziel:''' (''darkly amused'') Apparently, I am.
** Raziel also uses this as part of a ReasonYouSuckSpeech against the [[EldritchAbomination Elder God]] in ''Defiance:''
--->'''Raziel:''' We both know what you truly are. You're no better than the vampires you so despise. A voracious parasite, masking its hunger within shrouds of righteousness!
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfHeroesTrailsOfColdSteel'' has [[TheHero Rean]] admit that he and [[spoiler:his biological father, [[EvilChancellor Osborne]], have a lot more in common than they think as everything that Rean has done in his life, Osborne did the same. More humorously, they're also both very dense with women.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyroDawnOfTheDragon'': Malefor starts his BreakThemByTalking like this at the end of the game. Given he's the original Purple Dragon and is heavily implied to be a FallenHero, his argument may be valid.
--> '''Malefor''': Such determination to get here. It seems we share other qualities besides our color.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'':
** Link and Zelda felt the pressures and responsibilities of living up to their chosen hero status. It's Zelda realizing this that causes them to bond.
** Link and Revali both struggle with living up to the expectations of others, Link for Hyrule and Revali for the Rito. To some degree, they both are afraid to admit or show any weakness and cope with that stress differently (Link becoming stoic and Revali putting on a mask of arrogance).
* In ''VideoGame/LittleNightmares'', disturbingly, when given a choice, both the [[VillainousGlutton Guests]] and [[spoiler:Six herself]] prioritize eating a live meal than a prepared meal, seemingly because the still-alive food is more appealing to them.
* Explored during the [[{{Backstory}} Elder Wars]] of ''{{VideoGame/Lusternia}}''. The [[{{Precursors}} Elder Gods]] face off against the [[EldritchAbomination Soulless Ones]], and a splinter faction of Elders decides to employ the Soulless' own tactics against them: namely, [[CannibalismSuperpower eating their fallen foes to imbibe their strength]]. They become addicted to the rush of power and begin devouring other Elders, too. By the time of the game itself, one of these cannibalistic Elder Gods -- [[BlueAndOrangeMorality Morgfyre]] -- is indistinguishable from a Soulless One himself.
** Notably, the war effort ''fails miserably'' when the cannibalistic Elder Gods are cast out, and the Soulless are still alive (though [[SealedEvilInACan not in a position to do any damage]]) by the time the game takes place, suggesting the only way to [[HeWhoFightsMonsters beat a monster is to become one]].
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** By the end of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', Shepard and [[spoiler:the Reapers]] are not so different. In the first game, Shepard and [[spoiler:Sovereign]] are equally dismissive of the other. [[spoiler:Shepard doesn't believe Sovereign is really "alive" -- it's just a machine that can be broken. Sovereign considers organic life to be an insignificant aberration in the universe]]. When the second game begins, Shepard is revived and rebuilt with cybernetic implants to repair his/her skeleton, skin reconstruction, and synthetic fluids to restart his/her organs and blood flow. Then in the endgame it's revealed that [[spoiler:Reapers are also cyborgs, in a way. New Reapers are created by pumping the liquefied organic material of millions into a mechanical Reaper superstructure. The new Reaper's form is based on the species used to create it. The partially grown Reaper encountered in the end is a ''Human'' Reaper, which makes it even more eerily similar to Shepard]].
** In the DLC, ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', [[spoiler:the Spectre Tela Vasir, in her dying breath, will call Shepard out for condemning her for being a Shadow Broker hitman, when Shepard works for the terrorist organization Cerberus. She'll even point out that Cerberus did experiments on Sole Survivor Shepard's own squad.]]
** Shepard and the Illusive Man are not so different; depending on certain decisions, Shepard is perfectly willing to let innocent people die to achieve his/her goals, and in The Arrival DLC [[spoiler:the player has no choice but to sacrifice 300,000 innocent people to slow down the Reapers' invasion of the Milky Way.]] Couple this with the "Bring Down The Sky" DLC from the first game, where Balak asks "Who's the ''real'' terrorist here?" if you decide [[spoiler:to capture him at the expense of the hostages he'd taken]], and the conclusion of Arrival is a ''lot'' more depressing.
** There's also Nassana Dantius, an amoral asari politician who's been targeted by Thane Krios for assassination. To secure her building, she hired dozens of Eclipse mercenaries and, when things got desperate, ordered the many salarian construction workers captured or killed, resulting in a massacre of unarmed workers who posed no threat. When Shepard finally makes it to Dantius' office, the asari bitterly claims that the Commander has killed countless people and is no better than her. A Paragon dialogue option from Shepard can [[ShutUpHannibal refute this]] by telling Dantius that she kills people because she thinks they are beneath her, whereas Shepard kills people who give him/her no choice.
** Saren and Shepard, though it doesn't become fully apparent until the end of the third game - [[spoiler:and he died in the first]]. Saren advocated a partnership with the Reapers in order to spare organic life, and even [[spoiler:becomes an organic/synthetic hybrid, with "the strengths of both, the weaknesses of neither,"]] at the end of the first game. Shepard becomes one too when they are resurrected at the beginning of the second game, using similar tech. And then, at the end of the third, one ending resembles what he advocated - [[spoiler:Synthesis, giving organics synthetic aspects and synthetics organic understanding, making all life into cyborgs of one degree or another. The strengths of both, the weaknesses of neither.]]
** Han'Gerrel, despite being an "ally", pulls this on you as well. At the end of the Geth Dreadnought mission, he [[GeneralRipper starts firing on it the moment its barriers go down]], even though your team is still on board; when you get back, whether or not you punch him in the stomach, he tells you that if the world being reclaimed in this battle was Earth, you'd be right on board with a little friendly fire. [[spoiler:In the Destroy ending, he's right - you're willing to sacrifice, at the very least, your friend EDI, and possibly the entire geth culture if you ensured their survival, to take out the Reapers. You may even have sacrificed the geth and another friend, Legion, to preserve the quarians.]]
** Miranda Lawson despises her [[AbusiveParents father]] for attempting to take absolute control over her and her sister's lives and viewing them as nothing more than his property to be disposed of when no longer useful. However, she was willing to do this exact thing to Shepard when bringing him/her BackFromTheDead, wanting to place a control chip in his/her brain. As time goes on, this becomes more subverted as they turn out to be very different. Whereas [[LackOfEmpathy Henry Lawson feels no remorse for his treatment of Miranda and Oriana and eventually commits arguably the single greatest atrocity in the series]], Miranda has a breakdown in ''3'' [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone where she reveals how much guilt she feels about what she wanted to do to Shepard, practically begging for forgiveness]], becomes a genuinely good and heroic person, and [[BigSisterInstinct is obsessed with her sister for the sole purpose of protecting her out love]].
* Pulled on VideoGame/MaxPayne by himself in usual {{Self Deprecati|on}}ing style in the third game, where he considers how the Cracha Preto are gunmen on a payroll and wonders if that's all he is.
* In ''VideoGame/MegaManZero 4'', [[BigBad Dr. Weil]] desperately bluffs Zero and tries to convince him that killing Weil would be stooping to his level of villainy. In a rare example for this trope, Zero [[BlackAndGreyMorality ''agrees'' with him]], saying he never thought of himself as a hero to begin with, and kills him anyway.
** Though never conversed, a much sadder example involving WhiteAndGreyMorality exists with Zero and Harpuia, given how both are fighting for the same goal.
* Done rather sadly in ''VideoGame/MegaMan 2: The Power Fighters'', where Mega Man's solo ending had Dr. Wily pointing out Mega Man's senseless destruction of robots in the act of peace for humans and robots. This puts Mega Man in guilt long enough for Wily to escape by the time he is cheered up by his friends.
* In ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce'', with Mega Man Geo-Omega (the protagonist, and a good guy) telling Harp Note that he is just like her, in an effort to get her to join forces with him. Not only does it work, but it is actually true as both of them have previously [[ParentalAbandonment lost a parent]].
* ''Franchise/MetalGear'':
** Big Boss, an antagonist whose ideology of perpetual, honourable warfare lingers on through his unkillable son, Liquid Snake. It all seems the usual completely bonkers nonsense, until you're put into his shoes at the start of the third game and get to see what he went through before he formed the Foxhound unit and started trying to create a military nation to leave soldiers free to do battle. He suffers through the same betrayals and manipulation that the series protagonist, Solid Snake, has gone through, and at the end is just as alienated and bitter. It leaves a potent, unstated message about how someone's past experiences don't control their future.
** A clearer example is towards the end of the first ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid''. Liquid is talking about bringing about his father's vision of a return to warfare. When Snake claims that he doesn't want that kind of a world, Liquid's response:
--->'''Liquid''': So why are you here, then? Why do you continue to follow your orders while you superiors betray you? Why did you come here? (''Snake fails to answer.'') Well... I'll tell you then. You ''enjoy'' all the killing, that's why.
** Psycho Mantis does give a similar statement to Solid Snake. Well, sort of...
--->'''Psycho Mantis''': I've seen true evil. You, Snake. You're just like the Boss... no, you're ''worse''.
** A more direct use of this was shortly after Psycho Mantis revealed what he did to the village:
--->'''Solid Snake''': Are you saying you burned your village down to bury your past?\\
'''Psycho Mantis''': I see that you...have suffered the same trauma. (''Mantis laughs feebly.'') We are truly the same, you and I... The world is a more interesting place... with people like you in it. I never agreed with the Boss's revolution. His...dreams of world conquest do not interest me. I just wanted an excuse to ''kill'' as many people as I could.
** ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' has most of the villains relating themselves to Raiden. It's even present in the lyrics to the final boss's theme music.
--->"Standing here, I realize, you are just like me trying to make history."\\
"I've cut my own path, you've followed your wrath, but maybe we're both the same."
* ''VideoGame/MinecraftStoryMode'': Magnus and Ellegaard, despite their dislike of each other, are both [[{{Pride}} stubbornly proud]] of their achievements and difficult to get on the good side of. When they meet [[spoiler:the Wither Storm]], they both come to the same conclusions (the one you recruited realizes it's a threat they could never have imagined and decides to go at night, the one not recruited wants to wait til morning, and if you pick going out at night, the opposing party says that they're only going because you're a fan of the other).
* ''VideoGame/MOTHER3'' features protagonist Lucas who is eerily similar to both overarching antagonists of the series, Giygas and Porky. Lucas and Giygas were both sensitive children with mothers that coddled them and that they loved very dearly and were very close to, but [[spoiler:both lost their mothers' tragically and it scarred them emotionally]]. Lucas and Porky were both children who after a point were neglected by their parents and shunned by all the people and "friends" around them, essentially outcasted and had no one to rely on, which made them bitter and jaded. All three of them ended up becoming very emotionally scarred/tormented by the situations/circumstances surrounding them and their lives, but a key difference is that [[spoiler:Lucas managed to hold onto the love his mother and family gave him and not forget the kindness and good lessons she instilled in him, and didn't become evil nor learn to hate the world like the antagonists.]] Lucas managed to rise above his suffering and be a better person for it rather than a worse person, and with the love in his heart made the world a better place.
* ''VideoGame/MyChildLebensborn'': A journal entry written by the PlayerCharacter points out that both the Germans who valued the child and the Norwegians who are ostracizing the child think of the genes the same way. The only difference is that one group considers those carried by the child to be inherently good and another considers them to be inherently bad (the Norwegians believe that propensity for creating another UsefulNotes/NaziGermany is InTheBlood).
* The main plot of ''VideoGame/NieR'' loves this trope, too. Particularly when you find out that [[spoiler:the Shadow Lord you've been hunting, the one who "kidnapped" Nier's daughter/sister (depending on the game version) Yonah, turns out to be the "real" Nier. The character you've been playing the whole game? Just a construct made to house the real Nier's soul. And both of them have the same goal -- saving their daughter/sister Yonah from the one trying to take her away, no matter what.]]
* Happens again in ''VideoGame/NierAutomata''. [[spoiler:9S]]'s actions at the end of routes C and D bear a disturbing resemblance to [[spoiler:Eve]]'s actions at the end of routes A and B.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Oni}}'', at the end of the Rooftops sequence's ninja bossfight, the main character exclaims that she has nothing in common with him [[spoiler:- then breaks his neck with her boot.]]
-->'''Mukade:''' Does your blood burn when you kill? Mine does.\\
'''Konoko:''' Stop it...\\
'''Mukade:''' We writhe inside as we are torn apart to make way for what we will become. Surrender to it... Let the bliss of oblivion free you all your doubts and fears!\\
'''Konoko:''' You're one of Muro's thugs, nothing more!\\
'''Mukade:''' ''(laughs)'' We shall see...\\
''(Konoko beats the crap out of Mukade)''\\
'''Konoko:''' ''(thinking) Griffin encouraged me not to look too deeply into my past. Seems like there was a lot he didn't want me to know... I could feel the ninja and I know he could feel me. Why? What am I becoming? Are we the same...? '''No''', I have nothing in common with him. (kills Mukade)'' ''(aloud)'' '''Nothing!'''
* [[BigBad Eve]] in ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'' claims that Aya, the main character, is no different from her and that over time, her powers will help her evolve and grow stronger just like her. She also mixes this up with a few WeCanRuleTogether speeches, but Aya isn't buying any of it.
* In ''VideoGame/Persona2'', twin deities Philemon and Nyarlathotep embody the best and worst traits of humanity, respectively. The plot of the game is set into motion by a bet the two make on whether humanity will be more like Philemon and elevate themselves, or more like Nyarlathotep and destroy themselves. Nyarlathotep is a prideful {{Jerkass}} who breaks the rules of the bet from the outset to make humanity ruin itself, so naturally, Philemon is BigGood by default, right? [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Maybe not.]] Even though they have polar opposite goals and Philemon is unfailingly kind and helpful, they both have the exact same method to get people to do what they want: give them some power and manipulate them into fighting the other's agents. Plus, as good a benefactor Philemon is, he shows the same callous disregard for his champion's suffering as the villainous Nyarlathotep does. There's even an option to [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu punch Philemon in the face]] later on.
* ''VideoGame/Persona3'':
** Yukari Takeba is initially on bad terms with her mother because Mrs. Takeba, devastated by losing her husband and Yukari's father, entered superficial relationships with many men. Through the course of Yukari's Social Link, as she becomes closer to the protagonist, she'll admit that she gradually has started to understand what it means to lose the one you love ([[LesYay which also goes for the female protagonist]]). In ''The Answer'', [[spoiler:Yukari's grief and desire to see the protagonist again cause her to be willing to go back in time and risk the end of the world just so there's a chance she could save it without him having to die]].
-->'''Yukari''': Deep down inside, I think (Mom) still misses Dad. It's hard to explain, but I realized this when you and I started going out, ([[FirstNameBasis First]] [[HelloInsertNameHere Name]])-kun. She couldn't handle it... Losing someone so important to her.
** Shinjiro pretty much tells this to Ken [[spoiler:when Ken tells Shinjiro that he's going to kill him to avenge his mother, who died when Shinjiro accidentally lost control of his persona. Shinjiro tells Ken that if he goes through with killing him, he'll become what Shinji was to him and regret it later on in life.]]
** Also both think that the Female Protagonist should spend time with other people instead of them and [[spoiler:in romance both are shocked that [[ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe the protagonist would return their feelings.]] (Shinji is planning on dying and doesn't think he's worth it and Ken's JustAKid and any kid would be surprised that a PrecociousCrush is mutual. Both don't mind but Ken is rightfully nervous about it.)]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}:'' "The difference between us is that I can feel pain..."
** ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'': [[ParodiedTrope "We're a lot alike, you and I. You tested me. I tested you. You killed me. I- oh, no, wait. I guess I haven't killed you yet. Well. Food for thought."]]
* A heroic version comes up in ''VideoGame/ProjectXZone'' when players pair up [[VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesIII Kurt Irving and Riela Marceris]] with [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsAlpha Sanger]] [[VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration Zonvolt]] when the latter comments that the [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Nameless squadron]] isn't any different from the [[TheGreatestStoryNeverTold Kurogane crew]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'', Alex Mercer displays intense distaste for Blackwatch and Gentek, especially [[spoiler:the real Alex Mercer]]. He's ruthlessly violent and unfettered in trying to kill his way through them, not unlike Blackwatch's own willingness to stop at nothing. He also is determined to stop [[WalkingWasteland Elizabeth Greene]] from triggering a ZombieApocalypse. Come ''VideoGame/{{Prototype 2}}'', and he fully intends to follow in her footsteps [[spoiler:and even restarts the outbreak in Penn Station, like the original Mercer did]].
* In ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'', [[spoiler:Stocke realizes that he likely would have turned out like Heiss if he had not found friends to give him hope in the future]].
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption'':
** During Nigel West Dickens's missions, John Marston frequently grouses about the SnakeOilSalesman and how he cheats people out of their money. Dickens never hesitates to point out that Marston robbed people of their money at gunpoint, and refuses to let Marston get away with his fumbling Robin Hood defense.
** A conversation with [[spoiler:Edgar Ross]]'s wife in the PlayableEpilogue implies that, like Marston, he wanted to retire from his dangerous lifestyle and live out his remaining days in peace, but kept getting dragged back in [[spoiler:until it eventually killed him]].
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemptionII'':
** Ironically, Dutch and his hated enemy Colm O'Driscoll ultimately have a lot more in common than Dutch would admit, especially by the end of ''II''. Ex-O'Driscoll gang member Kieran describes how O'Driscoll indoctrinates his men and "makes them love only him", which is eeriely similar how some gang members such as Bill or Javier blindly follow Dutch to the point of worshipping him.
** Dutch tells Leviticus Cornwell that both of them kill and rob, though Cornwell does it indiscriminately while Dutch picks and chooses who he wants to rob and kill.
** Arthur is annoyed by the talkative, bragging, lively Sean but both Dutch and Hosea comment that Arthur was a lot like Sean at that age.
** One interpretation why Dutch [[spoiler:shot Micah in the epilogue]] is because he realized [[spoiler:Micah]] was trying to get John [[spoiler:Dutch's remaining son]] killed, something Dutch had done to Rain Falls and Eagle Flies earlier. This could have made Dutch realize he is not the heroic outlaw he believed himself to be but a manipulative murderer all too similar to [[spoiler:Micah]].
* A version involving [=NPCs=] happens during one dialogue in ''VideoGame/RuneScape'', where two of the pacifistic cave goblins, who are descended from a tribe of normal AlwaysChaoticEvil goblins who fled underground to avoid being forced to fight, are discussing what colour to change the city guards' armour to, [[http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Ur-pel/dialogue the discussion]] echoes the plot line of an [[http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Goblin_Diplomacy entire quest]] where two goblin generals are disagreeing over their tribe's armour colour.
* ''VideoGame/SigmaStarSaga'' uses a MeaningfulName to signify the similarity between [[spoiler:your [=CO=], Commander Tierney and the Krill leader, the Tyrannical Overlord. Both are willing to sacrifice their own homeworlds to get control of the bioweapon.]]
* ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'':
** This exchange right before the boss fight with Panda King in [[VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus the first game]]:
--->'''Panda King:''' Why should you care if I bury a few worthless villages in snow? You are a thief, just like me.
--->'''Sly:''' No that's only half true. I am a thief -- from a long line of master thieves. While you... You're just a frustrated fireworks artist turned homicidal pyromaniac!
** In [[VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves the third game]], [[BigBad Dr. M]] uses this with Bentley because they were/are {{the smart guy}}s of their group, with Dr. M stating that Sly's talks of Friendship is just an inherent Cooper lie. Near the end, Dr. M grudgingly admits that Sly's and Bentley's friendship might be real after all.
* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] quite well in ''VideoGame/StarControlII'' by the Druuge [[spoiler:when you're going to fight them to obtain the formerly Utwig-guarded Precursor bomb]]
-->'''Druuge Captain''': (...) We know your soul, young Captain. It is no brighter than ours! We acknowledge our greed. We revel in it. You are the dishonest one! Hiding your shame in shadows, you fabricate justifications, rationales! '''In the end, we are just the same'''. (...)
* In ''VideoGame/BountyHunter'', when Jango Fett and his arch-nemesis Montross face down for the final time, Montross says "We are the same, you and I." Fett replies, hilariously, "[[DeadpanSnarker Now you're just]] [[StealthInsult being mean]]."
* The original ''Franchise/StarWars: VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' when [[spoiler:Malak reveals that you are Darth Revan.]]
** Canderous pulls this on Carth in the first game and the player and Bao-dur in the sequel.
** In the GameMod ''Brotherhood of Shadow'' Kobayasi invokes this on [[IHaveManyNames Channa Mae/Sera Degana/Shadow]].
* In ''VideoGame/TheSuffering,'' Horace compares himself to the protagonist Torque in several scenes, though he often encourages him against becoming too much like him:
-->You had a wife, right? Didja love her? How far would you go to make sure she stayed yours? When you get mad, you feel you could kill a man, rip him apart with your bare hands. You ever feel that way? Maybe you're not like me, it's hard to say. Ya gotta fight it. Don't let this place do to you what it did to me.
* The ending of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' makes clear that Mario, if he's pushed, can be just as blunt and overconfident as Bowser himself. [[spoiler:When they and Peach escape from the caves of Honeylune Ridge, Bowser desperately tries to win her affection by presenting her with flowers. Mario reacts by doing the same thing, resulting in the two suitors aggressively shoving flowers into the princess' face. Understandably, Peach turns them both down and storms off, leaving them to quietly sob and comfort each other for a moment.]]
* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsV'': [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny Shinn]] seems to see his past self in [[Anime/CrossAnge Salia]], what with her needing to be accepted by somebody. [[spoiler:This comes to a head when she joins Embryo, as Shinn sees their relationship as being similar to the one he had with Chairman Durandal, so naturally, he tries to convince her to fight of her own free will]].
* ''VideoGame/TalesSeries'':
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'':
*** This is one of the main points in the plot. The hero of the game, Lloyd Irving, is outright compared to [[BigBad Lord Yggdrasil]] more than once. [[spoiler:Mithos' final words drive the point home too. "Farewell, my shadow, you who stand at the end of the path I chose not to follow. I wanted my own world, so I don't regret my choice. I would make the same choice all over again. I will continue to choose this path!"]] It really makes one think on how close Lloyd would have come to being like him if [[spoiler:Colette had actually become Martel's vessel in the end]].
*** Also in the same game, Zelos and Colette, while they're both considered protagonists, are often compared to each other due them both having status as [[TheChosenOne Chosen]], but are considered to be quite different from each other: Colette is a cheery if clumsy girl who always tries to help other people and look on the positive side of things, while Zelos is a loudmouthed, perverted cynic who isn't afraid to be blunt. However if you really look at their situations you see that they both [[spoiler:try to hide their pains and insecurities beneath their smiles and pretend like nothing's wrong, which in both cases lead to negative consequences.]]
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'': Velvet, the revenge-obsessed "Lord of Calamity" and Eleanor, the sweet and polite exorcist who just wants to help people, are so much alike it's rather frightening. A kind young woman taught by her idol, Artorius, raised on his maxims and ideals, who is motivated by the horrific murder of a loved one. When she sees said murderer, she flies into a blind, unstoppable rage that cannot be stopped or quenched until the murderer is dead and buried. She grew disillusioned with her idol and those old ideals, and seeks to carve out her own identity based off her own free will. She feels immense guilt for [[spoiler:killing someone who was only trying to protect a family member they loved]], and seeks to atone for all the sins she feels she facilitated or committed no matter how small or how little agency she actually had in those same sins. Both women become [[CoolBigSis Cool Big Sisters]] to Laphicet, they are both [[FriendToAllChildren friends to all children]], they both enjoy cooking and cleaning, and they both end up developing an OddFriendship with their total foils despite their enmity.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' has the protagonists and the antagonists (the god generals) directly parallel one another and have connections that show how similar they are and personal ties that show how easily either party could've been on the other side. Both want the same goal of [[spoiler:stopping the score and forging their own fates but differ in their methods of obtaining that, the protags. wanting to save people and lead them in a better direction as a civilization while the antags. want to start a new civilization and erase the old one.]] The 2 groups even point out their similarities and how they aren't so different due to their very morally grey situation, but still stand firm on their sides and beliefs.
* He has a [[CoolMask mask]] which is never removed, he is shrouded in mystery, needs to sneak around lest he get shredded, and punishes enemies who let him get behind them. This character is also voiced by Dennis Bateman. Now which ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' class are we talking about, the Spy or the Pyro with a Backburner?
** What's the difference between a Medic and a Spy? ''The team that's yelling at him.''[[note]]This is because players will call for their own team's Medics when low in Health, and identify disguised enemy Spies to other teammates by shouting, "That *class* is a Spy!".[[/note]]
** Kills by targeting weak points from concealment and prides himself on professionalism. Sniper or Spy?
** A somewhat quiet but highly intelligent man -- you might think from his accent that he's not that clever, but as it turns out, he actually holds a doctorate. A bit particular with his guns...okay, ''very'' particular about his guns and is often distrustful of other people touching them. A great defensive class but extremely vulnerable to Spy attack, and can also heal others as a side benefit. Bald, chin stubble, and normally wears clothing that obscures their uniform shirt, which have emblems of their melee weapons on them. Was that a brief summation of the Heavy or the Engineer?
** A loud, often entertaining warrior who specializes in explosives. Can wield a sword, but is just as likely to blow something up. Possibly himself, by exploding his primary weapon under his feet and launching himself into the air. Can swap one of his other weapons for equipment to support his tactics--or a parachute. Definitely made to worry Engineers and a great healing buddy for a Medic. Has some distinct vision problems, which are ''technically'' self-inflicted. Was deceived into trying to kill his best friend in his update, but has apparently since calmed back down and made up. Has a lot more depth to his character than you might expect at first glance. Has personal issues with Merasmus the wizard. Is this the Soldier or the Demoman?
** The RED and BLU Teams in general are also not so different. To the point that they're both ''identical aside from the colours of their tops'' (and team–painted cosmetics).
* Between members of the party in ''VideoGame/TearsToTiara2''. When discussing the prospects of an alliance with Qart Hadast, Monomachus calls them cowards for abandoning their previous alliance as soon as the war turned against Hispania, and Hanno not a real friend and family because he just sat back and watched Hasdrubal die. Enneads reminds him that they, loyal subordinates, also sat back and watched him die.
* Asuka and Lars from ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' series are may have been in different life, yet Lars is a Mishima, and Asuka herself wasn't aware her family involved with his family's feud, starting with her relative, Jun who involved with the feud first in ''Tekken 2''. They have a same manners of trying to ScrewDestiny but [[YouCantFightFate unable to fight their families]], but still [[IJustWantToBeNormal trying to find a way to solve things in peaceful manners and wanted a peaceful life]].
* In ''VideoGame/ThetaVsPi7'' King Pi uses this trope word for word, claiming that he used to be in the same position Theta is now. In his case, he doesn't do it to win Theta over to his side, but to warn Theta about ending up like him.
* [[BigBad Natla]] in the Anniversary edition of ''VideoGame/{{Tomb Raider|Anniversary}}'' pulls this trope on Lara Croft during the final boss fight. She tries to mess with Lara's mind saying how Lara is obsessive and selfish like she is and that trying to save the world is just an attempt to redeem herself and that in reality, her heart is as black as Natla's. Lara doesn't fall for it and proceeds to kick her ass.
* In ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves'', Lazaravic calls out Nathan Drake on all the mooks he's killed, saying that it makes Drake no different than he is. In context, the scene is a huge mashup of this trope, MoralDissonance and SelectiveCondemnation.
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' employs the trope between monsters and humans. You're told that monsters and humans fought in a war long ago with the humans being the victors, thus one would assume the monsters were evil. You quickly find out that the monsters have a culture very similar to humans (use of the internet, celebrating Christmas, etc) and should you spare monsters instead of killing them, they can see that not all humans are bad and the two sides might be more similar than they think.
** On the flip side, [[spoiler:[[{{BigBad}} Flowey the Flower]] tries to push you into accepting his philosophy, "In this world, it's KILL or BE KILLED" and, should you kill him at the end of the neutral path, his last words are a triumphant "I KNEW YOU HAD IT IN YOU."]] Conversely, if you choose to [[spoiler:show him mercy, despite everything that he has done and is threatening to do should you let him live, he'll have a VillainousBreakdown and run away. Fleeing is one of the options in the "mercy" menu, meaning you've made him accept your philosophy, that kill or be killed are never the only options.]]
** In a more meta sense, [[spoiler:at the end of a [[KillEmAll Genocide playthrough]], Flowey tells you his story. He has the power to SAVE and RESET just like you, and just like you he used it to find out [[OneHundredPercentCompletion every possible outcome]], without regard for the fact that all the characters are people with feelings. He befriended everyone, then reset and killed everyone. If you're reading that speech, you most likely did the same thing. Or you're watching someone else play, in which case...]]
--->'''Flowey:''' [[spoiler:At least we're better than those sickos who stand around and WATCH it happen...]]
--->'''Flowey:''' [[spoiler:Those pathetic people who want to see it, but are too weak to do it themselves.]]
--->'''Flowey:''' [[spoiler:I bet someone like that's watching right now, aren't they...?]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} 3'', Mannoroth taunts Grom Hellscream, saying that they are the same. Grom responds by screaming defiance and charging forward to kill him.
** In the ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' quest chain required to forge Shadowmourne, the Lich King includes this argument in his BreakThemByTalking to you as you steal the souls of your fallen Scourge enemies. [[AntiHero Darion Mograine]], however, challenges you to kill without being consumed by its power.
** In a Duskwood quest, when you learn that Stalvan Mistmantle [[IfICantHaveYou killed his student]] [[MurderTheHypotenuse and her lover]] when his [[TeacherStudentRomance feelings]] for her were not reciprocated, his brother Tobias is horrified at this and confronts the now undead Stalvan, who confirms this. Stalvan then suggests that Tobias is feeling what he did- enough rage to kill someone- and Tobias transforms into a Worgen and fights him alongside the player. After Stalvan is defeated, Tobias has a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment, but when you turn in the quest, he's calmed down and has concluded that it's up to him whether he truly becomes a monster.
** The ''Wolfheart'' novel has this in spades, particularly with respect to the contempt King Varian Wrynn of Stormwind has for the Worgen, specifically for Lord Genn Greymane. Slightly subverted in that Varian doesn't particularly have anything against the [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Worgen]] in general, but the only ones he know are those from Gilneas, who he feels abandoned TheAlliance in its hour of need. Malfurion is the one who tries to persuade both kings (mostly Varian) that they are not so different: both care about their respective people, both want to help the Alliance. Of course, the biggest similarity turns out to be the fact that Varian is revealed to be carrying the spirit of the wolf demigod Goldrinn whom the Worgen revere. After both kings reconcile, Varian leads the Worgen in a charge that breaks TheHorde's advance into [[OurElvesAreDifferent Night Elf]] lands and sends the [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orcs]] running.
** In a Vol'dun quest, an NPC makes a very weak declaration that because the player killed him to prevent him from killing a camp of peaceful exiles, the player is no better than him and they are "the same".
* In ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'', this is one of the things Alad V says of you if you support the Corpus during the Gravidus Dilemma.
* In ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'', optional rebel character J has a less than rosy view of American society before ThoseWackyNazis took over with their DieselPunk, pointing out that the Nazis' actions are just the logical extreme of views on racial superiority and purity that were held by virtually every country in the 1930s, and that in particular America used to treat colored individuals like himself almost as bad as the Nazis treated Jews. To the point that, as a black man, the Nazi regime is pretty much a case of MeetTheNewBoss. Player character B.J. Blascowicz, an American-born Polish Jew (who ironically looks like he stepped off of a Nazi propaganda poster about the Ubermensch), doesn't take the comparison very well.
** The New Colossus takes a disturbing look into the lives of [[TheQuisling American Quislings]]; somehow, they manage to be ''worse'' than the Nazis in a few ways. Even the Nazis try to have (generally unstable and abusive) families; [[spoiler:Rip J. Blazkowitz]] outs his wife as a Jew, but not because he's afraid or wants more money (he had enough from selling out his neighbors), but because ''he was sick of looking at her face''. He also tortures his son for not wanting to act like a Confederate-era slave-driver.
* ''VideoGame/WolfsGang'': Wolfgang vows to defeat the heroes for killing the Dark Lord and most of his friends. At the end, [[spoiler:Ralph reveals that he and his friends were out to kill the Dark Lord for revenge for the murder of Ralph's parents, meaning that despite being enemies, he and Wolfgang had largely the same goal.]]
* A rare heroic example comes from ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' -- [[spoiler:the protagonist, Shulk, rather than giving into [[BigBad Zanza's]] goading and killing [[AntiVillain Egil,]] instead decides to give him a speech about how alike each of them are, pursuing revenge for the loved ones they'd lost, and refusing to let Egil fall prey to his rage. [[HeelFaceTurn It]] [[HeroicSacrifice works.]]]]
* VideoGame/{{Ys}}:
** In ''VideoGame/YsOrigin'', Hugo's desire to prove himself as a mage causes him to blindly seek power, much like the Darklings, due to his family's doctrines. [[spoiler:After taking in the Demonic Element and nearly going insane from it, he realizes how wrong his mindset was.]]
** In ''VideoGame/YsMemoriesOfCelceta'', Gruda tries to claim the moral high ground over his Darkling ancestors, stating that while they selfishly seek power for their own selfishness, he seeks power for a greater purpose, or at least what [[KnightTemplar he thinks is a greater purpose]]. [[spoiler:By the end of the game, he's addicted to the godlike power of the Mask of the Sun, much like how his predecessor was seduced by the Black Pearl.]]

----

* A rare heroic example comes from ''{{VideoGame/Xenoblade}}'' -- [[spoiler:the protagonist, Shulk, rather than giving into [[BigBad Zanza's]] goading and killing [[AntiVillain Egil,]] instead decides to give him a speech about how alike each of them are, pursuing revenge for the loved ones they'd lost, and refusing to let Egil fall prey to his rage. [[HeelFaceTurn It]] [[HeroicSacrifice works.]]]]

* ''VideoGame/MyChildLebensborn'': A journal entry written by the PlayerCharacter points out that both the Germans who valued the child and the Norwegians who are ostracizing the child think of the genes the same way; The only difference is that one group considers those carried by the child to be inherently good and another considers them to be inherently bad (the Norwegians believe that propensity for creating another UsefulNotes/NaziGermany is InTheBlood).

* In ''StarWars Bounty Hunter'', when Jango Fett and his arch-nemesis Montross face down for the final time, Montross says "We are the same, you and I." Fett replies, hilariously, "[[DeadpanSnarker Now you're just]] [[StealthInsult being mean]]."

** In ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'', there are three main missions in which Black Hole calls this; the most significant is Sonia's A Mirror Darkly, in which she and Lash play a game of chess (with artillery and neotanks, natch), but both of Grit's missions in the Blue Moon campaign section show Lash and Grit invoking this trope, too.
** In ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars 2'', MadScientist Lash taunts [[TheSmartGuy Smart Girl]] Sonja by accusing Sonja of enjoying warfare just as much as she does.
** The ending of ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars: Dual Strike'' consists primarily of a NotSoDifferentRemark by the defeated BigBad, complete with IfYouKillHimYouWillBeJustLikeHim. The player is then given the choice of how to deal with the defeated and now helpless BigBad.

* By the end of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', Shepard and [[spoiler:the Reapers]] are not so different. In the first game, Shepard and [[spoiler:Sovereign]] are equally dismissive of the other. [[spoiler:Shepard doesn't believe Sovereign is really "alive" -- it's just a machine that can be broken. Sovereign considers organic life to be an insignificant aberration in the universe]]. When the second game begins, Shepard is revived and rebuilt with cybernetic implants to repair his/her skeleton, skin reconstruction, and synthetic fluids to restart his/her organs and blood flow. Then in the endgame it's revealed that [[spoiler:Reapers are also cyborgs, in a way. New Reapers are created by pumping the liquefied organic material of millions into a mechanical Reaper superstructure. The new Reaper's form is based on the species used to create it. The partially grown Reaper encountered in the end is a ''Human'' Reaper, which makes it even more eerily similar to Shepard]].
** In the DLC, Lair of the Shadow Broker, [[spoiler:the Spectre Tela Vasir, in her dying breath, will call Shepard out for condemning her for being a Shadow Broker hitman, when Shepard works for the terrorist organization Cerberus. She'll even point out that Cerberus did experiments on Sole Survivor Shepard's own squad.]]

* ''Franchise/MetalGear'' has Big Boss, an antagonist whose ideology of perpetual, honourable warfare lingers on through his unkillable son, Liquid Snake. It all seems the usual completely bonkers nonsense, until you're put into his shoes at the start of the third game and get to see what he went through before he formed the Foxhound unit and started trying to create a military nation to leave soldiers free to do battle. He suffers through the same betrayals and manipulation that the series protagonist, Solid Snake, has gone through, and at the end is just as alienated and bitter. It leaves a potent, unstated message about how someone's past experiences don't control their future.

* In ''VideoGame/Persona3'', Yukari Takeba is initially on bad terms with her mother because Mrs. Takeba, devastated by losing her husband and Yukari's father, entered superficial relationships with many men. Through the course of Yukari's Social Link, as she becomes closer to the protagonist, she'll admit that she gradually has started to understand what it means to lose the one you love ([[LesYay which also goes for the female protagonist]]). In ''The Answer'', [[spoiler:Yukari's grief and desire to see the protagonist again cause her to be willing to go back in time and risk the end of the world just so there's a chance she could save it without him having to die]].

-->'''Panda King:''' Why should you care if I bury a few worthless villages in snow? You are a thief, just like me.
-->'''Sly:''' No that's only half true. I am a thief -- from a long line of master thieves. While you... You're just a frustrated fireworks artist turned homicidal pyromaniac!