History PayEvilUntoEvil / VideoGames

* Normally, killing in cold blood in ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'' gives a hit to your [[KarmaMeter honor]], but there are a few times when it will actually give you a boost. There are three encounters with the Klan where you can kill them for a gain in honor each time (though they kill themselves by accident if left to their own devices). A stranger mission involves helping a man who Arthur thinks got his house foreclosed on because he got screwed over by the railroad company, he's actually an old slave catcher who gives you an honor boost for killing at the end of the mission. There's a eugenics supporter in the HubCity of Saint Denis whom you can kill in broad daylight for an honor boost with absolutely no consequences, even with police officers standing on every corner. If you decide to put him on the back of your horse for a more creative death outside his street corner (such as feeding him to an alligator or dropping him into a canyon), no one wil stop you either and you get an honor boost when he dies.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'', [[EvilPoacher Rayne Syndicate]] thugs are often seen attacking humans or Pals unprovoked and are shown holding Pals in cages for unknown nefarious purposes; [[AnimalWrongsGroup Free Pal Alliance]] members are members of a [[{{Mons}} Pal]] worship cult who [[KnightTemplar attack]] those who they feel don't treat the Pals properly (read:[[WithUsOrAgainstUs everyone else]]), the [[TerroristsWithOutACause Brothers Of the Eternal Pyre]] are a group of [[BloodKnight bloodthirsty]] {{pyromaniac}}s who run around with [[FireBreathingWeapon flamethrowers]], setting fire to everything for the hell of it; the [[CityGuards Palpagos Island Defense Force]] are led by a DirtyCop drug dealer and it's implied that the nature reserves they protect are really fronts for their leader's drug trafficking operation; the [[PlayingWithSyringes Pal Genetic Research Unit]] are a group of {{mad scientist}}s who conduct cruel experiments on the Pals in order to make the [[UltimateLifeForm perfect]] BioweaponBeast. You are perfectly free to capture the {{mooks}} of any faction in Pal Spheres and then [[MadeASlave enslave]] them, [[HumanTrafficking sell]] them to merchants or just butcher them.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'', [[EvilPoacher Rayne Syndicate]] thugs are often seen attacking humans or Pals unprovoked and are shown holding Pals in cages for unknown nefarious purposes; [[AnimalWrongsGroup Free Pal Alliance]] members are members of a [[{{Mons}} Pal]] worship cult who [[KnightTemplar attack]] those who they feel don't treat the Pals properly (read:[[WithUsOrAgainstUs everyone else]])l the [[TerroristsWithOutACause Brothers Of the Eternal Pyre]] are a group of [[BloodKnight bloodthirsty]] {{pyromaniac}}s who run around with [[FireBreathingWeapon flamethrowers]], setting fire to everything for the hell of it; the [[CityGuards Palpagos Island Defense Force]] are led by a DirtyCop drug dealer and it's implied that the nature reserves they protect are really fronts for their leader's drug trafficking operation; the [[PlayingWithSyringes Pal Genetic Research Unit]] are a group of {{mad scientist}}s who conduct cruel experiments on the Pals in order to make the [[UltimateLifeForm perfect]] BioweaponBeast. You are perfectly free to capture the {{mooks}} of any faction in Pal Spheres and then [[MadeASlave enslave]] them, [[HumanTrafficking sell]] them to merchants or just butcher them.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'', [[EvilPoacher Rayne Syndicate]] thugs are often seen attacking humans or Pals unprovoked and are shown holding Pals in cages for unknown nefarious purposes; [[AnimalWrongsGroup Free Pal Alliance]] members are members of a [[{{Mons}} Pal]] worship cult who [[KnightTemplar attack]] those who they feel don't treat the Pals properly (read:[[WithUsOrAgainstUs everyone else]])l the [[TerroristsWithOutACause Brothers Of the Eternal Pyre]] are a group of [[BoodKnight bloodthirsty]] {{pyromaniac}}s who run around with [[FireBreathingWeapon flamethrowers]], setting fire to everything for the hell of it; the [[CityGuards Palpagos Island Defense Force]] are led by a DirtyCop drug dealer and it's implied that the nature reserves they protect are really fronts for their leader's drug trafficking operation; the [[PlayingWithSyringes Pal Genetic Research Unit]] are a group of {{mad scientist}}s who conduct cruel experiments on the Pals in order to make the [[UltimateLifeForm perfect]] BioweaponBeast. You are perfectly free to capture the {{mooks}} of any faction in Pal Spheres and then [[MadeASlave enslave]] them, [[HumanTrafficking sell]] them to merchants or just butcher them.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'', Rayne Syndicate thugs are often seen attacking humans or Pals unprovoked and are shown holding Pals in cages for unknown nefarious purposes. There's nothing stopping you from capturing one in a Pal Sphere and [[MadeASlave enslaving]] the thug.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' series:

** On the villain's side, [[BigBad Sarevok]] arranges the murder of [[BigBadWannabe Rieltar]], his foster father, with a garrote both for his personal gain and to frame the heroes, but also to avenge the murder of his foster mother [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes whom he adored]], and whom his foster father had garroted for infidelity. Right in front of Sarevok no less.

** To elaborate and clarify, the Knights Of The Ebon Blade are [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Death Knights]], soulless quasi-undead killing machines that the [[BigBad Lich King]] so well designed that they ''literally feel pain unless they are killing something''. Once they freed themselves from the Lich King's control, they didn't regain their souls and become moral warriors again. They just turned all of their power and malice ''back towards the Lich King''.

* ''[[VideoGame/LegacyofKain Blood Omen]]'' features an odd play on this; the main character ''is'' the evil being payed unto evil; he was created and turned into a monster to be set on the Circle of Nine, a group of insane wizards that were slowly destroying the world.

* Alec Mason in ''VideoGame/RedFaction Guerrilla'' spends most of the game causing property damage in the hundreds of millions, bombing industrial centers and troop barracks, and breaking many, many people in half through sledgehammer-induced blunt force trauma. There's no disguising the fact that he's functionally a terrorist...except that he's facing off the oppressive, thuggish, and violent EDF, who harass and abuse workers, shoot miners with little provocation, who finally pushed the [[RefusalOfTheCall initially reluctant]] Alec to join the Red Faction after an EDF gunship [[ItsPersonal killed his younger brother.]] The entire game really boils down to a RoaringRampageOfRevenge led by Alec Mason against the EDF to avenge Daniel.

* This turns out to have been the BigBad's motivation in ''[[VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth Ace Attorney Investigations 2]]''. No player really mourned [[spoiler:Di-Jun Huang's double]] after finding out what he did. You even kinda admire the BigBad for helping put [[spoiler:Blaise Debeste]] behind bars. On the other hand, the assassin Sirhan [[spoiler:considers threatening Patricia Roland's family]] as a case of this, but to the player it comes off as applying it to an AssholeVictim since at the time they don't know [[spoiler:she was involved in a presidential assassination]] and falls into the Deconstruction category as [[spoiler:Patricia is driven flat-out insane from being ProperlyParanoid to the point where it's hard not to feel sorry for her]].
* In ''VideoGame/GoneHome'' the reason the house has been ransacked turns out to be that [[spoiler:Sam pawned everything of value she could get her hands on to finance her elopement with her girlfriend, which she feels completely justified in doing thanks to her parents' passive-aggressive reaction to her coming out as a lesbian (though the years of implied ParentalFavoritism toward her older sister Katie may have also had something to do with it)]].

--> '''Fleet Intelligence''': ''The subject did not survive interrogation.''

* In one of the Ork's after-action epilogues in ''VideoGame/DawnOfWar'': ''Soulstorm'', the Orks deliver some measure of karma on the captured Dark Eldar by inventing a new sport which involves trapping the Dark Eldar warriors in their own slave cages and seeing how far they can throw them in the moon's reduced gravity.
* Leliana of the ''Franchise/DragonAge'' series subscribes hard to this. Torture and rape leads to her executing the guard captain responsible, and her personal quest involves hunting down the woman who betrayed her and even if let go Leliana does not let this drop. She tries to kill The Warden if The Urn of Sacred Ashes is defiled, and that's just the [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins first game]]. [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII The second]] she can be seen eliminating threats to Thedas and her reputation for this trope has her both revered and feared.[[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition The third]] can begin with her threatening assassination of the Inquisitor's family and murdering the son of a magister maddened with grief, and it gets better when she tries to go behind Josephine's back and plot murder on those who threaten her, or should the Duchess die take up the offer of her remains performing community service by warning off other threats.
* Dr. Luis, the antagonist of ''VideoGame/SouthOfReal'', spent the entirety of the main character's childhood [[PlayingWithSyringes experimenting on his own adopted children.]] Sure, Luis was trying to weaponize the kids and use them to stop TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. And sure, he's become a DeathSeeker by the time the game rolls around. But there's no reason to forgive him, whatever his reasons. [[spoiler:And there are no consequences for taking him out either.]]

** After the halfway point of the campaign, Anya will read excerpts from her cousin Ramona's diary, which states that soon after her boyfriend was summarily executed by Nazi soldiers, [[HoneyTrap she started picking up random Nazis and leading them to their deaths,]] and at one point she [[spoiler:becomes pregnant, and once aborts the "Nazi" baby]] and continues her killing spree like nothing happened.
* This is an alternate version of ComicBook/{{Superman}}'s philosophy after he was tricked by ComicBook/TheJoker into nuking Metropolis and killing his own wife ComicBook/LoisLane in ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs''. He vowed to no longer stand by and watch, and except for Batman, most of the Justice League supported this policy of abandoning the ThouShaltNotKill rule, transforming them into the Regime. But as time went by, this policy [[HeWhoFightsMonsters slowly]] made [[KnightTemplar them]] no different from the criminals and villains they fought for so long. By the end of the game, the Flash [[HeelRealization begins to]] [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realize how]] far Superman has fallen [[spoiler:after noticing the corrupt Man of Steel [[WouldHurtAChild kill Shazam]] in cold blood just for questioning his policies post-Metropolis.]] In [[VideoGame/Injustice2 the sequel]], the Regime's WellIntentionedExtremist stance on crime hasn't changed despite most of its members defecting to other factions, on the run or being incarcerated, and they plan to restore their tyrannical order once ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} is dealt with.
* During the ending of ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheSecretRings'', Sonic forces Erazor Djinn-- a sadistic and psychotic JackassGenie who abused his companion Shahra and planned to destroy the Arabian Nights to remake it in his own image-- to grant his three wishes (which were the antithesis to what Erazor wanted, and it's implied that it physically hurt Erazor when Sonic used Erazor's lamp to force the genie to grant said wishes), with Sonic's third wish being [[AndIMustScream for Erazor to be sealed away in his lamp forever]]. To go one step further, Sonic then throws said lamp into a pit of lava to ensure Erazor never returns.

* ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'': The Black League of Omsk intends to do this to Nazi Germany with the [[red:Great Trial]], their plan to develop nuclear and chemical "revenge" weapons and use them to wipe Germany and her people from the face of the earth. Ultimately it's a {{Deconstruction}} because their efforts turn Russia into a brutally totalitarian Ultranationalist state built on tenets that are just the same as (or arguably even worse than) Nazism, and [[DownerEnding their revenge unleashes nuclear Armageddon on the world]].
* ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'' The end of disc one destruction of Etrenank by Id.

* In the backstory of ''VisualNovel/TheGreatAceAttorney'', [[spoiler:Klint van Zieks]], a highly regarded prosecutor, became [[spoiler:the SerialKiller known as "The Professor" in order to bring corrupt nobles who were otherwise above the law to justice.]]

* Hell is bad, but [[OneManArmy the Doom Slayer]] is worse, as ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' demonstrates. The game's backstory outright states the Doom Slayer has been brutalizing and butchering the demons such an ungodly length of time that ''they'' are collectively pissing terrified of ''[[TheDreaded him]]''. Being demons of the classic 'corrupt mortals, scourge worlds, spread suffering' variety, they deserve every bit of violence they receive at the hands of [[UnstoppableRage one spectacularly furious man]].

* This is the LAST thing you'd expect from the ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog series'', let alone its titular character, but Sonic actually does step into this in ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheSecretRings''. In the ending, Sonic forces Erazor Djinn to grant his three wishes (which were the antithesis to what Erazor wanted, and it's implied that it physically hurt Erazor when Sonic used Erazor's lamp to force the genie to grant said wishes), with Sonic's third wish being [[AndIMustScream for Erazor to be sealed away in his lamp forever.]] To go one step further, Sonic then throws said lamp into a pit of lava. If Erazor Djinn hadn't proven himself to be utterly irredeemable, this would definitely come off as uncharacteristically cruel for Sonic.

** On the villain's side, [[BigBad Sarevok]] arranges the murder of [[BigBadWannabe Rieltar]], his foster father, with a garrote both for his personal gain and to frame the heroes, but also to avenge the murder of his foster mother [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes whom he adored]], and whom his foster father had garroted for infidelity.

** On the villain's side, [[BigBad Sarevok]] arranges the murder of Rieltar, his foster father, with a garrote both for his personal gain and to frame the heroes, but also to avenge the murder of his foster mother [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes whom he adored]], and whom his foster father had garroted for infidelity.

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'': defied when you find a xvart settlement west of Nashkel. They are AlwaysChaoticEvil humanoid blue creatures that you just accidentally meet while wandering in the wilderness. They spawn as hostile and you have no reason to not kill them, given the fantasy context and how gameplay works. However, one of them will protest and complain that they did nothing wrong, but you suddenly came and attacked their village without any reason that wasn't simply "going around killing everything that is evil by default because yes".

* VideoGame/SlyCooper steals from other thieves and gives to himself and his friends. He doesn't seem to ''do'' anything with his money, though; it was mostly for bragging rights. It's also the ancestral family trade; the fourth game ''[[VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime Thieves In Time]]'' shows that his family has been stealing from other criminals from at least the Ice Age onward.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'', [[spoiler:Wheatley]] pulls this during his descent into villainy when he [[spoiler:turns [=GLaDOS=] into [[ItMakesSenseInContext a potato]]]].

* This turns out to have been the BigBad's motivation in ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations 2''. No player really mourned [[spoiler:Di-Jun Huang's double]] after finding out what he did. You even kinda admire the BigBad for helping put [[spoiler:Blaise Debeste]] behind bars. On the other hand, the assassin Sirhan [[spoiler:considers threatening Patricia Roland's family]] as a case of this, but to the player it comes off as applying it to an AssholeVictim since at the time they don't know [[spoiler:she was involved in a presidential assassination]] and falls into the Deconstruction category as [[spoiler:Patricia is driven flat-out insane from being ProperlyParanoid to the point where it's hard not to feel sorry for her]].

* ''VideoGame/InfamousSecondSon'': While the KickThemWhileTheyAreDown option normally nets players [[KarmaMeter Evil Karma]], during the first boss fight against [[BigBad Brooke Augustine]], doing so actually nets the player Good Karma. It makes sense when one considers the fact that Augustine just [[spoiler:killed Delsin's brother Reggie right in front of him]].

* This turns out to have been the BigBad's motivation in ''[[VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations Ace Attorney Investigations 2]]''. No player really mourned [[spoiler:Di-Jun Huang's double]] after finding out what he did. You even kinda admire the BigBad for helping put [[spoiler:Blaise Debeste]] behind bars. On the other hand, the assassin Sirhan [[spoiler:considers threatening Patricia Roland's family]] as a case of this, but to the player it comes off as KickTheSonOfABitch since at the time they don't know [[spoiler:she was involved in a presidential assassination]] and falls into the Deconstruction category as [[spoiler:Patricia is driven flat-out insane from being ProperlyParanoid to the point where it's hard not to feel sorry for her]].

* This is the LAST thing you'd expect from the ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog series'', let alone its titular character, but Sonic actually does step into this in ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheSecretRings''. In the ending, Sonic forces Erazor Djinn to grant his three wishes (which were the antithesis to what Erazor wanted, and it's implied that it physically hurt Erazor when Sonic used Erazor's lamp to force the genie to grant said wishes), with Sonic's third wish being [[AndIMustScream for Erazor to be sealed away in his lamp forever.]] To go one step further, Sonic then throws said lamp into a pit of lava. If Erazor Djinn hadn't proven himself to be utterly irredeemable, this would definitely come off as uncharacteristically cruel for Sonic.

* Both this and its sister trope KickTheSonOfABitch are extremely common occurrences in ''VideoGame/CriminalCase'', due to the fact that the number of murder victims in that game who ''aren't'' {{Asshole Victim}}s could be counted on one hand. Murder is still almost always treated as a prison-worthy offence in-game, though.

* Hell is bad, but [[OneManArmy the Doom Slayer]] is worse, as ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' demonstrates. The game's backstory outright states the Doom Slayer has been brutalizing and butchering the demons such an ungodly length of time that ''they'' are collectively pissing terrified of ''him''. Being demons of the classic 'corrupt mortals, scourge worlds, spread suffering' variety, they deserve every bit of violence they receive at the hands of [[UnstoppableRage one spectacularly furious man]].

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'': During his travels, Link can encounter Bokoblin camps, where they’ll happily dance about and chat among themselves. He can then slaughter them all, harvest their body parts, and raid their camp for their weapons, food, and loot before going on his merry way. Granted, the Bokoblins are also minions of [[EldritchAbomination Calamity Ganon]] who will immediately try to kill Link the moment they see him.