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* In ''GhostTrick'', [[spoiler:Yomiel]] [[GrandTheftMe possesses people]] to force them to commit crimes, cuts a deal with a foreign nation who will almost certainly use what he offers them to attack other counties, and [[spoiler:manipulates poor Kamala into killing her own mother, albeit indirectly.]] Towards the end of the game, [[spoiler: he saves Lynne and Kamala from drowning by breaking open the submarine door that's stuck and manipulating junk to make an arm to pull her out.]] We also get one from [[spoiler:Dandy, who is very polite and kind to Kamala, even when he kidnaps her, giving her a book and juice, finding it disturbing that he and his associate were asked to hold Kamala captive in the remains of her former home, and crying over Kamala's fate in the timeline when she was crushed to death.]]
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* In ''GhostTrick'', ''VideoGame/GhostTrick'':
** [[spoiler:Yomiel]] [[GrandTheftMe possesses people]] to force them to commit crimes, cuts a deal with a foreign nation who will almost certainly use what he offers them to attack othercounties, countries, and [[spoiler:manipulates poor Kamala Kamila into killing her own mother, albeit indirectly.]] Towards the end of the game, [[spoiler: he saves Lynne and Kamala Kamila from drowning by breaking open the submarine door that's stuck and manipulating junk to make an arm to pull her them out.]] ]]
** We also get one from [[spoiler:Dandy, who is very polite and kind toKamala, Kamila, even when he kidnaps her, giving her a book and juice, finding it disturbing that he and his associate were asked to hold Kamala Kamila captive in the remains of her former home, and crying over Kamala's Kamila's fate in the timeline when she was crushed to death.]]
** [[spoiler:Yomiel]] [[GrandTheftMe possesses people]] to force them to commit crimes, cuts a deal with a foreign nation who will almost certainly use what he offers them to attack other
** We also get one from [[spoiler:Dandy, who is very polite and kind to
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*** Earlier, [[spoiler:the flashback to Mia's first case showed that the arrogant Diego Armado still showed up to assist a rookie like Mia, when Grossberg overslept.]]
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** Subverted by Manfred von Karma taking a young Miles Edgeworth in, after Edgeworth's father died. Teaching the kid everything he knew and training him for his career sounds like a kind thing to do for the son of von Karma's rival, but actually, von Karma just taught Edgeworth to be as ruthless and amoral as he is. [[spoiler:He also did it with the ultimate intentions of framing Edgeworth for murder and getting a very strung out revenge on Gregory Edgeworth.]]
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** [[AssInAmbassador Udina]] gets one in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3''. Aside from actually acting like a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, he also tells you about how the destruction of the entire Alliance parliament (most of whom he knew on a FirstNameBasis) has affected him.
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*** Archie and Maxie in the Hoenn games also use Crobat, though they are [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Environmentalists]] so it's not a far jump for them to be responsible Pokemon Trainers. Still, that's four out of seven villains who use Crobat, and Giovanni's a debatable case since he [[DishingOutDirt specializes in another type]].
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*** Archie and Maxie in the Hoenn games also use Crobat, though they are [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Environmentalists]] so it's not a far jump for them to be responsible Pokemon Trainers. Still, that's four out of seven villains who use Crobat, and Giovanni's a debatable case since he [[DishingOutDirt specializes in another type]].
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* A subtle variation of this may have shown up in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'''s fourth generation games; Cyrus, the nihilistic BigBad who proudly admits he only uses Pokémon for their power, has a Crobat, a Pokémon that can only evolve from a Golbat through happiness (which increases as the bond a Pokémon has with its Trainer grows stronger). Crobat has actually been used similarly by the series, although in the earlier case it was to show that the rival had started valuing his Pokémon, rather than a Pet the Dog moment.
** A far less subtle case is where Cyrus, after the hero battles through his mooks and defeats him in battle, [[spoiler:exclaims how he admires the hero's courage, gives him/her a Master Ball as a reward, and tells him/her where to go to save the Spirit Pokémon. In "Diamond" and "Pearl", he comes to regret this, as it ends up ruining his plan, but in "Platinum", he's more prepared.]]
** A far less subtle case is where Cyrus, after the hero battles through his mooks and defeats him in battle, [[spoiler:exclaims how he admires the hero's courage, gives him/her a Master Ball as a reward, and tells him/her where to go to save the Spirit Pokémon. In "Diamond" and "Pearl", he comes to regret this, as it ends up ruining his plan, but in "Platinum", he's more prepared.]]
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* A subtle variation of this may have shown up in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'''s fourth generation games; games: Cyrus, the nihilistic and emotionally disturbed BigBad who proudly admits claims he only uses Pokémon for their power, has a Crobat, a Pokémon that can only evolve from a Golbat through happiness (which increases as the that in his final battle has turned into a Crobat. Golbat only evolves into Crobat when it has developed a particularly strong bond a Pokémon has of friendship with its Trainer grows stronger). Crobat has actually been used similarly by the series, although in the earlier case it was to show that the rival had started valuing his Pokémon, rather than a Pet the Dog moment.
Trainer.
** A far less subtle case is where Cyrus, after the hero battles through his mooks and defeats him in battle,[[spoiler:exclaims how he admires praises the hero's courage, gives him/her a Master Ball as a reward, and tells him/her where to go to save the Spirit Pokémon. In "Diamond" ''Diamond'' and "Pearl", he comes to regret this, as it ''Pearl'', this ends up ruining his plan, but in "Platinum", ''Platinum'', he's more prepared.]]prepared.
** Golbat's evolution into Crobat is also used in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' to show that [[HeelFaceTurn the rival character has begun to properly care for his Pokemon instead of just trying to use their power]].
*** Archie and Maxie in the Hoenn games also use Crobat, though they are [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Environmentalists]] so it's not a far jump for them to be responsible Pokemon Trainers. Still, that's four out of seven villains who use Crobat, and Giovanni's a debatable case since he [[DishingOutDirt specializes in another type]].
** A far less subtle case is where Cyrus, after the hero battles through his mooks and defeats him in battle,
** Golbat's evolution into Crobat is also used in ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' to show that [[HeelFaceTurn the rival character has begun to properly care for his Pokemon instead of just trying to use their power]].
*** Archie and Maxie in the Hoenn games also use Crobat, though they are [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Environmentalists]] so it's not a far jump for them to be responsible Pokemon Trainers. Still, that's four out of seven villains who use Crobat, and Giovanni's a debatable case since he [[DishingOutDirt specializes in another type]].
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* [[BigBad Killbane]] get one in Saints Row the Third when he lets Matt Miller leave the Syndicate with no strings attached. He even offers himself as a job reference! This is further highlighted by Matt clearly antsy and fearing ResignationsNotAccepted the entire time he's walking off.
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* [[BigBad Killbane]] get one in Saints Row the Third when he lets Matt Miller leave the Syndicate with no strings attached. He even offers himself as a job reference! This is further highlighted by Matt clearly antsy and fearing ResignationsNotAccepted the entire time he's walking off.off, especially since Killbane broke the neck of the last person who said they were getting out.
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* [[BigBad Killbane]] get one in Saints Row the Third when he lets Matt Miller leave the Syndicate with no strings attached. He even offers himself as a job reference!
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* [[BigBad Killbane]] get one in Saints Row the Third when he lets Matt Miller leave the Syndicate with no strings attached. He even offers himself as a job reference!reference! This is further highlighted by Matt clearly antsy and fearing ResignationsNotAccepted the entire time he's walking off.
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* Minor example: In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', there's a snippet of dialogue from a Yasogami student that hints that SadistTeacher Kinshiro Morooka can have some pleasant moments, as the student said that she got some candy from him. He's also in the habit of offering serious career advice to his students on the sly.
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* Minor example: In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', there's a snippet of dialogue from a Yasogami student that hints that SadistTeacher Kinshiro Morooka can have some pleasant moments, as the student said that she got some candy from him. He's also in the habit of offering serious career advice to his students on the sly. However he's always a jerk towards the protagonist and his friends so they never actually see this aspect of him.
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** [[MagnificentBastard OCELOT]] of all people gets one in the same game as an EasterEgg. If you get all the way to the torture sequence without saving, he'll remark that if you die there [[NoFourthWall you're going to have to go all the way back to the beginning.]] Then he gives you the chance to just submit right there without a fight, and even offers to tell everyone else that he broke you through torture.
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* [[BigBad Killbane]] get one in Saints Row the Third when he lets Matt Miller leave the Syndicate with no strings attached. He even offers himself as a job reference!
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* Depending on your playthrough of MassEffect, Commander Shepard has his moments. Most notably if he's usually [[JerkAss renegade]] and starts [[WhatTheHellHero abusing NPCs outside his crew]] but takes a moment to [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold console his squad]] with any problems they might have. This can be played fully straight if he's constantly renegade all the time in the [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 sequel]] but takes the paragon route on his crew's loyalty missions.
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* Depending on your playthrough of MassEffect, ''Franchise/MassEffect'', Commander Shepard has his moments. Most notably if he's s/he's usually [[JerkAss renegade]] and starts [[WhatTheHellHero abusing NPCs outside his his/her crew]] but takes a moment to [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold console his his/her squad]] with any problems they might have. This can be played fully straight if he's s/he's constantly renegade all the time in the [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 sequel]] but takes the paragon route on his the crew's loyalty missions.
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*** Alternatively in his Bad Ending upon realizing the plan Hakumen goes to fight Hazama himself [[spoiler: only to find that's she's already blind while Hazama beats her while she's down and insults her]] at which point Hakumen ''[[UnstoppableRage completely loses it.]]''
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** Troy Bradshaw as well...after becoming police chief he keeps Boss on life support and gets Gat protection in prison as a way of making up for being an undercover cop with the Saints.
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* The Boss in ''SaintsRow2'' comes across as a sociopath who revels in the evil s/he does. In ''SaintsRowTheThird'' s/he mellows out considerably, particularly in regards to the other Saints. The god ending and DLC have this further, with Boss positively nuzzling Jenny to the point she becomes a PromotedFangirl by standing up for herself and killing her JerkAss director, knowing Boss will have her back.
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* After a Space Route scenario in ''VideoGame/ShinSuperRobtoWars'', Laodecia finds a capsule with a weakened Earthling floating inside. She manages to say that her name is [[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Fuala]] before losing consciousness, and Laodecia orders her tended to.
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* After a Space Route scenario in ''VideoGame/ShinSuperRobtoWars'', ''VideoGame/ShinSuperRobotWars'', Laodecia finds a capsule with a weakened Earthling floating inside. She manages to say that her name is [[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Fuala]] before losing consciousness, and Laodecia orders her tended to. This act apparently caused Fuala to become loyal to the Balmarians' cause.
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* After a Space Route scenario in ''VideoGame/ShinSuperRobtoWars'', Laodecia finds a capsule with a weakened Earthling floating inside. She manages to say that her name is [[Anime/MobileSuitVictoryGundam Fuala]] before losing consciousness, and Laodecia orders her tended to.
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* In ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', Fassad is shown as being down right evil: torturing monkeys, and corrupting innocent civilizations, but after he is defeated, the player meets his pet mouse who is eagerly awaiting his beloved master's return.
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* In ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', ''VideoGame/MOTHER3'', Fassad is shown as being down right evil: torturing monkeys, and corrupting innocent civilizations, but after he is defeated, [[spoiler: the player meets his pet mouse who is eagerly awaiting his beloved master's return.]]
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* In ''BlazBlue'', everyone mocks at [[IdiotHero Bang Shishigami]]. The only one who actually praised him genuinely is Hakumen. That's right, the HeroAntagonist who exemplifies GoodIsNotNice.
** In Continuum Shift he gets another. When he meets Tsubaki Yayoi, instead of brushing her off, as he does most people, he sits down and asks her to 'listen to an old man's tale'. He tells her of a story of a woman he loved, but who tragicly died. [[spoiler: He was referring to Tsubaki herself, as Hakumen is really Jin Kisaragi from the previous time loop. Then once he figures out Hazama's plans for Tsubaki he finds this loop's Jin and convinces him to go save her, not wanting her to die in this loop too.]]
** In Continuum Shift he gets another. When he meets Tsubaki Yayoi, instead of brushing her off, as he does most people, he sits down and asks her to 'listen to an old man's tale'. He tells her of a story of a woman he loved, but who tragicly died. [[spoiler: He was referring to Tsubaki herself, as Hakumen is really Jin Kisaragi from the previous time loop. Then once he figures out Hazama's plans for Tsubaki he finds this loop's Jin and convinces him to go save her, not wanting her to die in this loop too.]]
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* In ''BlazBlue'', ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', everyone mocks at [[IdiotHero Bang Shishigami]]. The only one who actually praised him genuinely is Hakumen. That's right, the HeroAntagonist who exemplifies GoodIsNotNice.
** In ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift ContinuumShift Shift]]'' he gets another. When he meets Tsubaki Yayoi, instead of brushing her off, as he does most people, he sits down and asks her to 'listen to an old man's tale'. He tells her of a story of a woman he loved, but who tragicly died. [[spoiler: He was referring to Tsubaki herself, as Hakumen is really Jin Kisaragi from the previous time loop. Then once he figures out Hazama's plans for Tsubaki he finds this loop's Jin and convinces him to go save her, not wanting her to die in this loop too.]]
** In ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift Continuum
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* In ''DragonAgeOrigins'', [[spoiler:Loghain]] can get one if you have him in the party with your dog. It turns out, that part of the reason he hates the Orleasians so much because they killed his dog.
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* In ''DragonAgeOrigins'', ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', [[spoiler:Loghain]] can get one if you have him in the party with your dog. It turns out, that part of the reason he hates the Orleasians so much because they killed his dog.
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* King Foltest from the ''TheWitcher'' games is generally described as "The arrogant, sister-humping warmonger", a completely justified characterisation. However, he is AFatherToHisMen, and recognises and remembers the name of a private from a battle over four years earlier. Also, when interacting with his children, he turns into a complete creampuff.
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* The first part of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' ''CrisisCore'' serves as this for pre-insanity Sephiroth by showing that before the notorious mission to Nibelheim, he was actually a relatively nice person who had friends and worried about them.
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* The first part of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' ''CrisisCore'' serves as this for pre-insanity Sephiroth by showing that before the notorious mission to Nibelheim, he was actually a relatively [[SugarAndIcePersonality cool, but fairly nice person person]] who had friends and worried about them.
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* ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'': It's easy to forget because he's [[DeadpanSnarker so damn funny,]] and technically on your side, but [[MoralSociopathy Jade Curtiss]] [[FourEyesZeroSoul is pretty]] [[MadDoctor damn evil.]] And his cruelest moment, [[spoiler: suggesting Luke kill himself to destroy the miasma]], comes right before an extremely rare moment of kindness:
--->'''Jade''': That's what I would say if I was an emperor, with a country and people to look after. As your friend...I feel compelled to stop you.
--->'''[[spoiler: Luke]]''': I didn't realize you thought of me as a friend.
--->'''Jade''': Oh? Of course not. I can be a terribly cold person...I'm sorry.
--->'''Jade''': That's what I would say if I was an emperor, with a country and people to look after. As your friend...I feel compelled to stop you.
--->'''[[spoiler: Luke]]''': I didn't realize you thought of me as a friend.
--->'''Jade''': Oh? Of course not. I can be a terribly cold person...I'm sorry.
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* In ''KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', after [[spoiler: Splitting Ventus' heart in half and creating Vanitas, which nearly killed him]], [[BigBad Master Xehanort]] took him to his homeland, the Destiny Isles, so he could spend his last moments in a peaceful world. [[spoiler: Then cruelly subverted when Ven connects to Sora's heart and recovers, and Xehanort makes him suffer much, much more.]]
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* ''HeavyRain'' [[spoiler:manages to pull this off ''in reverse.'' Over the course of the game, Shelby saves the HookerWithAHeartOfGold from a former client, stops a suicide, takes care for said suicide near-victim's baby, stops a liquor store hold-up, and if the player is fast enough, saves Lauren again from a drowning car. Then you find out he's the [[CompleteMonster Origami Killer.]] [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation It's up to the player to decide whether these acts were genuine, or if he was simply a]] ManipulativeBastard.]]
* In ''DragonAgeOrigins'', [[spoiler:Loghain]] can get one if you have him in the party with your dog. It turns out, that part of the reason he hates the Orleasians so damn much because they killed his dog.
* In ''DragonAgeOrigins'', [[spoiler:Loghain]] can get one if you have him in the party with your dog. It turns out, that part of the reason he hates the Orleasians so damn much because they killed his dog.
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* ''HeavyRain'' [[spoiler:manages to pull this off ''in reverse.'' Over the course of the game, Shelby saves the HookerWithAHeartOfGold from a former client, stops a suicide, takes care for said suicide near-victim's baby, stops a liquor store hold-up, and if the player is fast enough, saves Lauren again from a drowning car. Then you find out he's the [[CompleteMonster Origami Killer.]] Killer. [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation It's up to the player to decide whether these acts were genuine, or if he was simply a]] ManipulativeBastard.]]
* In ''DragonAgeOrigins'', [[spoiler:Loghain]] can get one if you have him in the party with your dog. It turns out, that part of the reason he hates the Orleasians sodamn much because they killed his dog.
* In ''DragonAgeOrigins'', [[spoiler:Loghain]] can get one if you have him in the party with your dog. It turns out, that part of the reason he hates the Orleasians so
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* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar: Chains of Olympus'' seems to have a number of cinematics showing tender moments between Kratos and his family, before you-know-what happens. The ultimate peak of this, Kratos reuniting with [[spoiler:his daughter after renouncing his violent past and powers]], is followed by a heartbreaking ShooTheDog moment, in which he has to shove [[spoiler:his daughter]] away (in one of the series' trademark ''button mashing minigames'' no less) in order to save the world. It goes a long way to establish just ''why'' Kratos is so goddamn angry in the later games.]]
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* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar: Chains of Olympus'' seems to have a number of cinematics showing tender moments between Kratos and his family, before you-know-what happens. The ultimate peak of this, Kratos reuniting with [[spoiler:his daughter after renouncing his violent past and powers]], is followed by a heartbreaking ShooTheDog moment, in which he has to shove [[spoiler:his daughter]] away (in one of the series' trademark ''button mashing minigames'' no less) in order to save the world. It goes a long way to establish just ''why'' Kratos is so goddamn angry in the later games.]]
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* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar: Chains of Olympus'' seems to have a number of cinematics showing tender moments between Kratos and his family, before you-know-what happens. [[spoiler:The ultimate peak of this, Kratos reuniting with his daughter after renouncing his violent past and powers, is followed by a heartbreaking ShooTheDog moment, where he has to shove his daughter away (in one of the series' trademark ''button mashing minigames'' no less) in order to save the world. It goes a long way to establish just ''why'' Kratos is so goddamn angry in the later games.]]
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* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar: Chains of Olympus'' seems to have a number of cinematics showing tender moments between Kratos and his family, before you-know-what happens. [[spoiler:The The ultimate peak of this, Kratos reuniting with his [[spoiler:his daughter after renouncing his violent past and powers, powers]], is followed by a heartbreaking ShooTheDog moment, where in which he has to shove his daughter [[spoiler:his daughter]] away (in one of the series' trademark ''button mashing minigames'' no less) in order to save the world. It goes a long way to establish just ''why'' Kratos is so goddamn angry in the later games.]]
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* Subverted in ''{{Hitman}}: Blood Money'', where throughout the game, you see the cold blooded killer keeps a pet canary. However, the moment the bird starts chirping at an inopportune time: * crunch* .
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* Subverted in ''{{Hitman}}: ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}: Blood Money'', where throughout the game, you see the cold blooded killer keeps a pet canary. However, the moment the bird starts chirping at an inopportune time: * crunch* .
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** The nominally GoodIsNotNice [[TheFederation NCR]] get quite a few:
*** This depends hugely on your political views, but if you work hard enough and jump through enough hoops, [[EarnYourHappyEnding the Good Karma NCR ending is probably the nicest ending in the game]].
*** In one notable scene, the NCR are handing out supplies to the NCR refugees in [[WretchedHive Freeside]]. If you pose as a refugee for a quest, you get a dialogue option where you mention having a local friend who needs food. The NCR officer mentions being under strict orders that they cannot offer food for locals. [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Right before handing you another food package to take back to him]].
*** If you get a relationship value of Accepted with the NCR, a [[EliteMook Ranger]] will appear and meet you out in the wastes. He'll give you a radio and explain that you can call for NCR support should you need it.
** In ''Dead Money'', [[SplitPersonality God]] may be a [[ControlFreak controlling]] {{Jerkass}}, but he openly admits that [[PsychopathicManChild Dog's]] welfare is his top priority.
** Even ''you'' can get a few. You will be very likely playing as some form of AntiHero, anyway. For example, with a high Charisma score, you can play with the [[BarbarianTribe Boomer]] children and give them toys. Regardless of your [[KarmaMeter alignment]].
*** This depends hugely on your political views, but if you work hard enough and jump through enough hoops, [[EarnYourHappyEnding the Good Karma NCR ending is probably the nicest ending in the game]].
*** In one notable scene, the NCR are handing out supplies to the NCR refugees in [[WretchedHive Freeside]]. If you pose as a refugee for a quest, you get a dialogue option where you mention having a local friend who needs food. The NCR officer mentions being under strict orders that they cannot offer food for locals. [[ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight Right before handing you another food package to take back to him]].
*** If you get a relationship value of Accepted with the NCR, a [[EliteMook Ranger]] will appear and meet you out in the wastes. He'll give you a radio and explain that you can call for NCR support should you need it.
** In ''Dead Money'', [[SplitPersonality God]] may be a [[ControlFreak controlling]] {{Jerkass}}, but he openly admits that [[PsychopathicManChild Dog's]] welfare is his top priority.
** Even ''you'' can get a few. You will be very likely playing as some form of AntiHero, anyway. For example, with a high Charisma score, you can play with the [[BarbarianTribe Boomer]] children and give them toys. Regardless of your [[KarmaMeter alignment]].
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* ''FableII'': You can play as evil as you want, but your faithful dog still loves you.
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* ''FableII'': ''VideoGame/FableII'': You can play as evil as you want, but your faithful dog still loves you.
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* In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', a female villain pets a dog to prove her not-all-bad-ness. One of the characters remarks that her love of dogs must mean she's good inside, prompting the main character to rant about how her love of dogs proves nothing. While it might seem like a subversion at the time, as we proceed it turns out that the villain is not a creepy stalkerish murderer, but a lonely dog lover who only wants to be loved. [[ShootTheDog Then Snake kills her.]]
** Snake's love of animals probably counts too, because it's the first suggestion we get that he's anything other than an action hero with no inner life.
*** If anything Snake's dismissal of Otacon's defense of Wolf on this basis is deeply ironic and not a little tragic - he loves dogs too, but he believes himself to be an intrinsically worthless human being outside of the battlefield. Snake's self-loathing becomes more apparent by MGS 4, until [[spoiler: Big Boss reappears, more-or-less apologizes to Snake for how fucked up his life was, and then tells Snake to live out the short remainder of his life in peace and happiness.]]
** From ''Sons Of Liberty'' Fortune blasts apart a squad of Navy Seals for not being able to shoot her and then apologises to the dead seagulls that got hit by their bullets.
--> "I'm so sorry my beauties. I'll see you again someday"
* In ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III: The Frozen Throne'', Illidan Stormrage is a power-hungry, demon-night elf hybrid. Still, he goes out of his way to help save [[spoiler:Tyrande, his sister-in-law, for whom he harbors an unrequited love.]]
** Seeing how [[spoiler:His brother acts towards him every time he gives him a chance to, from the war of the ancients and forwards, one can argue that he's actively been working to turn him into a villain in order to secure Tyrande for himself, which in some ways would make a lot of the good things he does fall into this trope's territory.]]
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', Kel'Thuzad is an undead lich who serves as TheDragon to Arthas Menethil, the Lich King. However players can confront a kitten named Mr. Bigglesworth in his lair. If killed his reaction seems to be sadness and vengeful hatred towards those heartless loot-seekers that just killed his kitty.
** King Varian Wrynn, who is considered a racist jackass by some, gets one when he allows an enemy general to pass through Alliance lines unmolested so that he could retrieve the body of his slain son.
** Garrosh Hellscream, his is clear counterpart among the Horde, got one as well when he executed a warlord for attacking innocents and showed respect for the wisdom of a still-grieving Tauren chieftain.
* ''ShadowHearts: Covenant'' has a GiantMook named Lenny, who is a recurring foe on the first disc. On the second disc, however, one {{Sidequest}} reveals that he spends considerable amounts of time petting the dog. Among other things: he saved an old woman from muggers, he sent one mook with an ailing mother to report to their boss and thus saved him from certain death on the next mission, and he made a poor thief self-sufficient by teaching him math (which helped him get a job).
** And in the sequel, when Johnny gave him a glass of water a few years before the game, he vowed to serve him for life, serving as a BattleButler and being the muscle behind his top-tier Tool attack.
* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'': During the game's final story, [[spoiler:Eggman sets aside his rivalry with Sonic and company to stop the ARK from crashing into the earth. While the credits roll, we see Eggman having a friendly conversation with Tails about how he used to idolize his grandfather (the man responsible for almost destroying the world this time).]]
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar: Chains of Olympus'' seems to have a number of cinematics showing tender moments between Kratos and his family, before you-know-what happens. [[spoiler:The ultimate peak of this, Kratos reuniting with his daughter after renouncing his violent past and powers, is followed by a heartbreaking ShooTheDog moment, where he has to shove his daughter away (in one of the series' trademark ''button mashing minigames'' no less) in order to save the world. It goes a long way to establish just ''why'' Kratos is so goddamn angry in the later games.]]
* In the Demon Path of ''SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'', the BigBad and his party arrive at a city full of rich merchants hoping for some good murder and plunder, when one of the lackeys, a sort of anti-RobinHood whom
* ''PhantomHourglass'', Linebeck spends the entire game as a gutless coward who has to be bribed by [[spoiler:the Ocean King]] to convince him to help out at all. At the very end of the game, [[spoiler:he sees that Link lost his sword and is being attacked by Bellum and promptly stabs the demon to give Link a chance to fight back. The poor guy is then possessed for his efforts.]]
** At the end of ''Wind Waker'', [[spoiler:Ganondorf knocks out Link and steals the Triforce of Courage, but promises not to kill him or Zelda. Unfortunately, this goes out the window a second later when he loses the chance to rule Hyrule and goes rather crazy, determined to drown them all.]]
* Happens a few times in ''StreetFighter'':
** Sagat allowed both his former student Adon, who coveted his title, and JokeCharacter Dan, whose father he killed in a fight, defeat him to gain either the title or closure they sought. The second instance was the first step in his HeelFaceTurn, as he saw how much obsession with revenge ruined Dan's life (at the very least, it caused Gouken to turn him away partway through training, resulting in his JokeCharacter style), and he realized his obsession with Ryu was doing the same to him.
** Balrog, of all people, gets one of these in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV''. Bison's plans have, apparently, gone to Hell, and Balrog is stomping around the ruined base looking for some treasure to loot before the whole place blows up. He runs into a scared little girl instead, and opts to carry her out. He only decided to save her ''after'' he discovered she had some sort of special powers, so his motives might not be as altruistic as they seem...
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'' [[PsychoforHire Alice]] gets one in a sidequest, wherein an old lady from Sylvarant is thrown away by a priest from the [[CorruptChurch Church of Martel]] when she requests that he save his son. After Alice and Decus show up and beat up the priest, Alice tells the woman to go to Flanoir, where her son will be given free treatment. This may be because [[spoiler: [[FreudianExcuse Alice's parents were slaughtered by animals on a forced pilgrimage.]] This is also the reason why she believes MightMakesRight.]]
** YMMV; but the [[spoiler:AlasPoorVillain]] moment.
** In the original ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', Yuan gets one of these in a sidequest as well. After spending the entire game as a cold, impatient, manipulative bastard who appears not to care about even the HeroicSacrifice of his closest subordinate, you follow him across both worlds on a sidequest where he's searching for something that he sharply refuses to explain. [[spoiler:Turns out it was his engagement ring to Martel, and when he finds out that Lloyd was the one who picked it up, he's willing to literally beg for its return.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', Fassad is shown as being down right evil: torturing monkeys, and corrupting innocent civilizations, but after he is defeated, the player meets his pet mouse who is eagerly awaiting his beloved master's return.
* Minor example: In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', there's a snippet of dialogue from a Yasogami student that hints that SadistTeacher Kinshiro Morooka can have some pleasant moments, as the student said that she got some candy from him. He's also in the habit of offering serious career advice to his students on the sly.
* Save the truly villainous ones, the normally antagonistic rival prosecutors in the first three ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' games each have their own Pet the Dog moment to prove they're not as mean as their courtroom abuse of Phoenix would have you think.
** In "Bridge to the Turnabout", the smug Godot shows a soft spot for children when he comforts a distraught Pearl by giving her his last cup of coffee, and sweetens it for her.
** WordOfGod reports that Miles Edgeworth has a literal dog, named Pess, whose death would probably completely shatter him.
** Franziska has her soft spots, particularly towards young children and the hapless Adrian Andrews. [[spoiler: Even if she previously manipulated Andrews' codependency issues for court purposes.]]
** In the non-prosecutor department, [[spoiler:Matt Engarde has a cat named Shoe who he asks you to feed.]]
* A subtle variation of this may have shown up in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'''s fourth generation games; Cyrus, the nihilistic BigBad who proudly admits he only uses Pokémon for their power, has a Crobat, a Pokémon that can only evolve from a Golbat through happiness (which increases as the bond a Pokémon has with its Trainer grows stronger). Crobat has actually been used similarly by the series, although in the earlier case it was to show that the rival had started valuing his Pokémon, rather than a Pet the Dog moment.
** A far less subtle case is where Cyrus, after the hero battles through his mooks and defeats him in battle, [[spoiler:exclaims how he admires the hero's courage, gives him/her a Master Ball as a reward, and tells him/her where to go to save the Spirit Pokémon. In "Diamond" and "Pearl", he comes to regret this, as it ends up ruining his plan, but in "Platinum", he's more prepared.]]
* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'': Mercenary helmsman Lawrence borders on being a JerkAss most of the time, but when he's not on duty he chooses to hang out with [[TeamPet Pow]], so he can't be all bad. Also, when [[spoiler:the Crescent Island base is destroyed]], he is seen clumsily trying to corral the escaped chickens.
* At the end of ''VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon,'' [[spoiler: Harlan Wade]] is so deeply affected by guilt over what he did to [[TheWoobie Alma]] that he decides to [[spoiler:[[RedemptionEqualsDeath let her out and allow her to kill him]].]] [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Then again]], he knew she was little more than a walking personification of murderous hatred by that point ''and let her out of her box anyway'', which makes him a bit less sympathetic.
** In ''Project Origin'', one of the intelligence files reveals that the music box that appears early on in the game in Genevive Aristide's apartment (and is the source of the recurring theme music throughout the game) originally belonged to Alma, and that Aristide had it brought to her home, so she could listen to it and remind herself of how guilty she is herself.
*** Given Aristide's greedy, self-justifying behavior and comments in both Project Origin and the supplemental promotional materials, the idea of Aristide feeling any guilt over Armacham's treatment of Alma seems highly unlikely. Maybe Aristide just likes the music box's tune.
** Alma herself has a few Pet the Dog moments toward both the Point Man and Becket, like when she [[spoiler:kills a group of Replicas that have the Point Man pinned down in ''Extraction Point'',]] or when [[spoiler:she kills an Abomination that is directing Replica soldiers against Becket, or kills ATC troops in Becket's path in Wade Elementary.]]
* ''ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlRevis'' features Roxis (TheRival, JerkWithAHeartOfGold and [[HeelFaceTurn once a part]] of the QuirkyMiniBossSquad) who gets a few of these moments throughout the game, mostly after being recruited into the game's band of heroic friends. The first example was almost literal: adopting a stray kitten whose mother just died. He's even seen baby talking to it, although he'll deny any such events took place when confronted
* ''FableII'': You can play as evil as you want, but your faithful dog still loves you.
* In ''DynastyWarriors: Empires'' the ending consists of a 'clip show' with various officers of your faction in "''RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' outakes". One clip shows one of your officers leaping in front of a runaway carriage to save a small lapdog, then with their most heroic and staunch Chinese Warlord face, they nod approvingly over the tail-wagging little thing. Especially funny when a real jerkass officer like Lu Bu does it. Downright hysterical if that officer happens to be the Emperor of China at the moment.
* An ''AceCombat 4: Shattered Skies'' cutscene shows the enemy ace Yellow 13 holding and petting a small dog. He also [[spoiler: saves the narrator and the barkeeper's daughter from getting caught by military policemen after the latter is seen planting explosives.]]
* Subverted in ''{{Hitman}}: Blood Money'', where throughout the game, you see the cold blooded killer keeps a pet canary. However, the moment the bird starts chirping at an inopportune time: * crunch* .
** Also subverted in ''Contracts,'' where 47 has the option of petting the dog in order to advance his agenda: for example, he can offer to take the place of a tired bartender- so he can poison a customer's drinks.
* [[BigBad Lord Wily]] of the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series has paid for the medical treatment of [[spoiler:Joe Mach]]'s daughter, and he also temporarily abandoned his quest for revenge on society to [[spoiler:take care of Baryl for a friend.]] He also gets a CrowningMomentOfAwesome when he [[spoiler:walks into an exploding volcano to rescue his own son Regal and give him a second chance to be an upright human being courtesy of LaserGuidedAmnesia mixed with a rather amazing ResetButton.]]
** The one from the classic series gets a few too; in [[spoiler:''VideoGame/MegaMan10'', he turned out to be the villain ''again'', but, when he got a fever from Roboenza, he was put into the hospital, he escapes soon afterward, but not before leaving enough Robonenza cure capsules to cure a population, and if it's not enough, they could still examine it and determine the cure]], Wily may be a villain who wants to take over the world, but he's ''not'' a heartless monster.
* Koei loves giving ''OdaNobunaga'' pet the dog moments:
** A cinematic in ''SamuraiWarriors: Empires'' has Nobunaga trying to cheer up Nene when she's upset by her husband's philandering. (This one happens to be TruthInTelevision, quoted straight from a letter Nobunaga wrote to Nene.)
** In the Sengoku ending of WarriorsOrochi, [[GenkiGirl Xiao]] [[MoeBlob Qiao]] gets upset when the three main characters (Nobunaga, Uesugi Kenshin, and Takeda Shingen) start trading not-so-veiled threats at each other, so Nobunaga chuckles and pats her on the head. (ItsAllThereInTheManual - Xiao Qiao reminds him of his sister Oichi.)
** In ''SamuraiWarriors 2'', this gets raised to HoYay levels when he sheds a tear at [[spoiler: Mitsuhide's death]] in his ending.
* In ''BlazBlue'', everyone mocks at [[IdiotHero Bang Shishigami]]. The only one who actually praised him genuinely is Hakumen. That's right, the HeroAntagonist who exemplifies GoodIsNotNice.
** In Continuum Shift he gets another. When he meets Tsubaki Yayoi, instead of brushing her off, as he does most people, he sits down and asks her to 'listen to an old man's tale'. He tells her of a story of a woman he loved, but who tragicly died. [[spoiler: He was referring to Tsubaki herself, as Hakumen is really Jin Kisaragi from the previous time loop. Then once he figures out Hazama's plans for Tsubaki he finds this loop's Jin and convinces him to go save her, not wanting her to die in this loop too.]]
** Also, in the first game, Ranga the Bloodedge is given two options after defeating Arakune in his story mode. Option one is to just leave and let Litchi greave over him. Option two is to stay behind and finish the job. If you choose this option, Ragna stays and argues with Litchi over why she should let him kill Arakune. Eventually, he leaves her and grumbles something along the lines of "If you wanna save him, go ahead. It's none of my business." But, as he leaves, he also quietly whispers "Good luck."
*** He gets another one with Taokaka. After fighting him in her story mode, Ragna offers her some of his food.
** In ''Continuum Shift'', Jin Kisaragi is a [[JerkAss complete asshole]] who throws death threats to anyone who gets in his way. However:
*** Tsubaki is his MoralityPet and possibly his LoveInterest, so he cares about her well-being ''a lot''. She's the only person in the game that Jin doesn't insult or belittle at all, if he beats her, he apologizes and promises to pick her up when it's all over, and [[BerserkButton if you actually hurt her in front of him, he will]] '''[[BerserkButton hunt you down]]''' [[BerserkButton and make sure you never do so again]]. The same is true for [[spoiler:Hakumen]].
*** Although to a much lesser extent than Tsubaki, he's also quite friendly to Makoto, if a little [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]]. He seems to genuinely care for her well-being, saving her life when [[BigBad Hazama]] attempts to "discipline" her (read: he's trying to off her [[spoiler:because [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]]]).
*** He also seems genuinely sorry for the female officer he knocks out to escape the NOL ship at the start of his story.
*** In the Drama CD The Wheel of Fortune. [[spoiler:It was shown that when they were kids, he is rather affectionate to Saya before she became sickly]]. The reason for Jin's hatred towards Saya and why she suddenly became ill is as of now unknown.
* The protagonist of the remake of ''TheBardsTale'' is an AntiHero JerkAss more interested in, as the game states, "coin and cleavage" than saving the world. He is a compulsive liar and cheat, swindling his way through life and seducing his way through women. However, not only does he pick up a dog companion early in the game, but he [[spoiler: sheds a genuine tear and vows revenge when the dog is killed by a monstrous minion of the apparent BigBad]].
* ''HeavyRain'' [[spoiler:manages to pull this off ''in reverse.'' Over the course of the game, Shelby saves the HookerWithAHeartOfGold from a former client, stops a suicide, takes care for said suicide near-victim's baby, stops a liquor store hold-up, and if the player is fast enough, saves Lauren again from a drowning car. Then you find out he's the [[CompleteMonster Origami Killer.]] [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation It's up to the player to decide whether these acts were genuine, or if he was simply a]] ManipulativeBastard.]]
* In ''DragonAgeOrigins'', [[spoiler:Loghain]] can get one if you have him in the party with your dog. It turns out, that part of the reason he hates the Orleasians so damn much because they killed his dog.
* In ''MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'', Bowser, when facing his troops who went AWOL, decided not to scold or punish them instead told them to continue what they were doing and that they needn't worry of the situation.
* In ''ValkyrieProfile'', the PC acts as a {{Psychopomp}}, recruiting Einheriar from the 'worthy dead', and sending the rest to Hel. One of your recruitments features a low-down thug named Badrach, who's popped up in the stories of several other characters before - including participating in the kidnapping and transport of a princess, which led to her death. When his deeds finally catches up with him, he drags himself home to his worn-down little house, and his sharp-tongued wife, bleeding all the way before collapsing on the doorstep... and in the afterlife, he finds Lenneth Valkyrie waiting for him, only too eager to send him hurtling down into Hel - but she gives him a chance: Did he ever do ANYTHING worthy? A single good deed? He first tries to lie, but he cannot - instead, he merely spouts a string of crimes, from mugging and burglary to outright murder. But finally, he does recall a single redeeming act - one time, he was running security for slavers, and one slave, a little girl, took a shine to him. When the slavers' pay didn't measure up to his expectations, he ditched them and took the girl out of spite, bringing her to...an abandoned church. Probably better than staying with the slavers, though.
** A bit interesting if you look closer, its implied the girl he saved was lucien/rucio's sister that was sold off in the prologue.
* In ''TheIncredibleHulkUltimateDestruction'' you generally run around doing whatever you want, and that usually involves the killing of many, many, ''many'' innocent people. But if you so choose to grab a person you have an option besides throwing them into the distance: Putting them down gently and patting them on the head.
* Subverted by a literal case in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' - the Legionary Antony displays more regard for the dogs under his charge than he does for people. He offers his aging favorite to be killed in the arena for the possibility of giving her immortality as the brain of a cyber-dog, and he gives the other dogs a teddy bear to play with - which he [[KickTheDog took from a child slave]].
** Played straight in the ending if Caesar's Legion wins and Caesar himself is still alive. One of the only non-evil things he does is let the humanitarian organization Followers of the Apocalypse leave Vegas peacefully because he himself was raised by the Followers.
* Revealed near the very end of ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2''. Director Tiedemann, who seemed throughout the game to be a cold, ruthless CorruptCorporateExecutive, is in fact shown via three audio logs to have had the best interests of humanity in his heart. He went along with the Marker project because humanity was slowly dying out and he thought that this was their best hope for salvation, and when the outbreak occurred he blatantly disregarded the protocols set in place by the shadowy figures in charge and called for a station wide evacuation, doing his best to save as many citizens as possible from the necromorphs.
* Subverted in the non-canonical ending of ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}} 5''. Kazuya actually paid respect to his grandpa Jinpachi before fighting him by giving him a respectful bow. After beating him, he even cradled him on his hand while remininscing his past with his grandpa, when he was an innocent boy... cue Kazuya getting his EvilEyes activated, killed Jinpachi with his own hand and cue another EvilLaugh... [[BaitTheDog He got you again, didn't he?]]
* Gogandantess from ''{{Onimusha}} 2: Samurai's Destiny'' is a highly arrogant Genma who is the self-proclaimed "greatest swordsman of all demons". Although he isn't nearly as evil as the other Genma shown in this series - in fact he is [[NobleDemon very honorable and chivalrous]] - he's still definitely a bad guy. So, it comes as a surprise to Jubei (and the players) when, just as it looks as though Oyu is going to plummet to a firey death, Gogandantess [[VillainousRescue leaps in and saves her at the last second]].
* Depending on your playthrough of MassEffect, Commander Shepard has his moments. Most notably if he's usually [[JerkAss renegade]] and starts [[WhatTheHellHero abusing NPCs outside his crew]] but takes a moment to [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold console his squad]] with any problems they might have. This can be played fully straight if he's constantly renegade all the time in the [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 sequel]] but takes the paragon route on his crew's loyalty missions.
* Kitsune, the fourth Lord of Chaos in ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'', is extremely fond of all of his fellow [[{{Youkai}} Yokai]]. When Emperor Daisho started inviting foreigners from outside Yokai Island to the island itself, Kitsune became furious and didn't share the same sentiment with Daisho, vowing to do everything he could to return the island to its former secluded sanctuary - which is how Drakath made him the fourth Chaos Lord. Kitsune became a MagnificentBastard as soon as Drakath convinced him to use the Hanzamune Dragon Koi Blade to free the O-dokuro from its prison in the rift of time.
** Zahart was extremely fond of [[JackassGenie Tibicenas]], the eighth Lord of Chaos, whom he got the ability to summon and command after Drakath gave him a chaorrupted magic ring. He was so fond of Tibicenas that he wanted to use him to rule the Sandsea for all eternity after paying off his debt to Drakath by using the red diamond found by his slaves to animate the Chaos Sphinx. Unfortunately for him, Tibicenas has plans much worse than he himself had originally planned.
** And in the Doomwood saga, Drakath, being the AffablyEvil guy he is, has landed himself in this spot since he kindly retreieves Vordred's helmet and returns it to Sally.
* In ''GhostTrick'', [[spoiler:Yomiel]] [[GrandTheftMe possesses people]] to force them to commit crimes, cuts a deal with a foreign nation who will almost certainly use what he offers them to attack other counties, and [[spoiler:manipulates poor Kamala into killing her own mother, albeit indirectly.]] Towards the end of the game, [[spoiler: he saves Lynne and Kamala from drowning by breaking open the submarine door that's stuck and manipulating junk to make an arm to pull her out.]] We also get one from [[spoiler:Dandy, who is very polite and kind to Kamala, even when he kidnaps her, giving her a book and juice, finding it disturbing that he and his associate were asked to hold Kamala captive in the remains of her former home, and crying over Kamala's fate in the timeline when she was crushed to death.]]
* The first part of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' ''CrisisCore'' serves as this for pre-insanity Sephiroth by showing that before the notorious mission to Nibelheim, he was actually a relatively nice person who had friends and worried about them.
* Travis Touchdown of ''NoMoreHeroes'', a perverted, BloodKnight {{Otaku}}, has a thing for cats. He owns a Scottish Fold, Jeane, which he can interact with in both games and one of the jobs in the first game has him finding runaway cats.
* Yeager of ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' was portrayed as one of the BigBad's servants, and was considered to be evil and manipulative. However, there are two girls who're helping him, and during his final battle, explicitly ordered them to ''not'' join in the fight between him and the heroes, heavily implying that he ''wanted'' to die. If you do a big of digging, you find that [[spoiler: Gauche and Droite were actually from an orphanage that Yeager ''funded'', and pledged their lives to help him]].
----
** Snake's love of animals probably counts too, because it's the first suggestion we get that he's anything other than an action hero with no inner life.
*** If anything Snake's dismissal of Otacon's defense of Wolf on this basis is deeply ironic and not a little tragic - he loves dogs too, but he believes himself to be an intrinsically worthless human being outside of the battlefield. Snake's self-loathing becomes more apparent by MGS 4, until [[spoiler: Big Boss reappears, more-or-less apologizes to Snake for how fucked up his life was, and then tells Snake to live out the short remainder of his life in peace and happiness.]]
** From ''Sons Of Liberty'' Fortune blasts apart a squad of Navy Seals for not being able to shoot her and then apologises to the dead seagulls that got hit by their bullets.
--> "I'm so sorry my beauties. I'll see you again someday"
* In ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} III: The Frozen Throne'', Illidan Stormrage is a power-hungry, demon-night elf hybrid. Still, he goes out of his way to help save [[spoiler:Tyrande, his sister-in-law, for whom he harbors an unrequited love.]]
** Seeing how [[spoiler:His brother acts towards him every time he gives him a chance to, from the war of the ancients and forwards, one can argue that he's actively been working to turn him into a villain in order to secure Tyrande for himself, which in some ways would make a lot of the good things he does fall into this trope's territory.]]
* In ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', Kel'Thuzad is an undead lich who serves as TheDragon to Arthas Menethil, the Lich King. However players can confront a kitten named Mr. Bigglesworth in his lair. If killed his reaction seems to be sadness and vengeful hatred towards those heartless loot-seekers that just killed his kitty.
** King Varian Wrynn, who is considered a racist jackass by some, gets one when he allows an enemy general to pass through Alliance lines unmolested so that he could retrieve the body of his slain son.
** Garrosh Hellscream, his is clear counterpart among the Horde, got one as well when he executed a warlord for attacking innocents and showed respect for the wisdom of a still-grieving Tauren chieftain.
* ''ShadowHearts: Covenant'' has a GiantMook named Lenny, who is a recurring foe on the first disc. On the second disc, however, one {{Sidequest}} reveals that he spends considerable amounts of time petting the dog. Among other things: he saved an old woman from muggers, he sent one mook with an ailing mother to report to their boss and thus saved him from certain death on the next mission, and he made a poor thief self-sufficient by teaching him math (which helped him get a job).
** And in the sequel, when Johnny gave him a glass of water a few years before the game, he vowed to serve him for life, serving as a BattleButler and being the muscle behind his top-tier Tool attack.
* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'': During the game's final story, [[spoiler:Eggman sets aside his rivalry with Sonic and company to stop the ARK from crashing into the earth. While the credits roll, we see Eggman having a friendly conversation with Tails about how he used to idolize his grandfather (the man responsible for almost destroying the world this time).]]
* ''VideoGame/GodOfWar: Chains of Olympus'' seems to have a number of cinematics showing tender moments between Kratos and his family, before you-know-what happens. [[spoiler:The ultimate peak of this, Kratos reuniting with his daughter after renouncing his violent past and powers, is followed by a heartbreaking ShooTheDog moment, where he has to shove his daughter away (in one of the series' trademark ''button mashing minigames'' no less) in order to save the world. It goes a long way to establish just ''why'' Kratos is so goddamn angry in the later games.]]
* In the Demon Path of ''SoulNomadAndTheWorldEaters'', the BigBad and his party arrive at a city full of rich merchants hoping for some good murder and plunder, when one of the lackeys, a sort of anti-RobinHood whom
* ''PhantomHourglass'', Linebeck spends the entire game as a gutless coward who has to be bribed by [[spoiler:the Ocean King]] to convince him to help out at all. At the very end of the game, [[spoiler:he sees that Link lost his sword and is being attacked by Bellum and promptly stabs the demon to give Link a chance to fight back. The poor guy is then possessed for his efforts.]]
** At the end of ''Wind Waker'', [[spoiler:Ganondorf knocks out Link and steals the Triforce of Courage, but promises not to kill him or Zelda. Unfortunately, this goes out the window a second later when he loses the chance to rule Hyrule and goes rather crazy, determined to drown them all.]]
* Happens a few times in ''StreetFighter'':
** Sagat allowed both his former student Adon, who coveted his title, and JokeCharacter Dan, whose father he killed in a fight, defeat him to gain either the title or closure they sought. The second instance was the first step in his HeelFaceTurn, as he saw how much obsession with revenge ruined Dan's life (at the very least, it caused Gouken to turn him away partway through training, resulting in his JokeCharacter style), and he realized his obsession with Ryu was doing the same to him.
** Balrog, of all people, gets one of these in ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIV''. Bison's plans have, apparently, gone to Hell, and Balrog is stomping around the ruined base looking for some treasure to loot before the whole place blows up. He runs into a scared little girl instead, and opts to carry her out. He only decided to save her ''after'' he discovered she had some sort of special powers, so his motives might not be as altruistic as they seem...
* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'' [[PsychoforHire Alice]] gets one in a sidequest, wherein an old lady from Sylvarant is thrown away by a priest from the [[CorruptChurch Church of Martel]] when she requests that he save his son. After Alice and Decus show up and beat up the priest, Alice tells the woman to go to Flanoir, where her son will be given free treatment. This may be because [[spoiler: [[FreudianExcuse Alice's parents were slaughtered by animals on a forced pilgrimage.]] This is also the reason why she believes MightMakesRight.]]
** YMMV; but the [[spoiler:AlasPoorVillain]] moment.
** In the original ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', Yuan gets one of these in a sidequest as well. After spending the entire game as a cold, impatient, manipulative bastard who appears not to care about even the HeroicSacrifice of his closest subordinate, you follow him across both worlds on a sidequest where he's searching for something that he sharply refuses to explain. [[spoiler:Turns out it was his engagement ring to Martel, and when he finds out that Lloyd was the one who picked it up, he's willing to literally beg for its return.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'', Fassad is shown as being down right evil: torturing monkeys, and corrupting innocent civilizations, but after he is defeated, the player meets his pet mouse who is eagerly awaiting his beloved master's return.
* Minor example: In ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', there's a snippet of dialogue from a Yasogami student that hints that SadistTeacher Kinshiro Morooka can have some pleasant moments, as the student said that she got some candy from him. He's also in the habit of offering serious career advice to his students on the sly.
* Save the truly villainous ones, the normally antagonistic rival prosecutors in the first three ''VisualNovel/AceAttorney'' games each have their own Pet the Dog moment to prove they're not as mean as their courtroom abuse of Phoenix would have you think.
** In "Bridge to the Turnabout", the smug Godot shows a soft spot for children when he comforts a distraught Pearl by giving her his last cup of coffee, and sweetens it for her.
** WordOfGod reports that Miles Edgeworth has a literal dog, named Pess, whose death would probably completely shatter him.
** Franziska has her soft spots, particularly towards young children and the hapless Adrian Andrews. [[spoiler: Even if she previously manipulated Andrews' codependency issues for court purposes.]]
** In the non-prosecutor department, [[spoiler:Matt Engarde has a cat named Shoe who he asks you to feed.]]
* A subtle variation of this may have shown up in ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'''s fourth generation games; Cyrus, the nihilistic BigBad who proudly admits he only uses Pokémon for their power, has a Crobat, a Pokémon that can only evolve from a Golbat through happiness (which increases as the bond a Pokémon has with its Trainer grows stronger). Crobat has actually been used similarly by the series, although in the earlier case it was to show that the rival had started valuing his Pokémon, rather than a Pet the Dog moment.
** A far less subtle case is where Cyrus, after the hero battles through his mooks and defeats him in battle, [[spoiler:exclaims how he admires the hero's courage, gives him/her a Master Ball as a reward, and tells him/her where to go to save the Spirit Pokémon. In "Diamond" and "Pearl", he comes to regret this, as it ends up ruining his plan, but in "Platinum", he's more prepared.]]
* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'': Mercenary helmsman Lawrence borders on being a JerkAss most of the time, but when he's not on duty he chooses to hang out with [[TeamPet Pow]], so he can't be all bad. Also, when [[spoiler:the Crescent Island base is destroyed]], he is seen clumsily trying to corral the escaped chickens.
* At the end of ''VideoGame/FirstEncounterAssaultRecon,'' [[spoiler: Harlan Wade]] is so deeply affected by guilt over what he did to [[TheWoobie Alma]] that he decides to [[spoiler:[[RedemptionEqualsDeath let her out and allow her to kill him]].]] [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation Then again]], he knew she was little more than a walking personification of murderous hatred by that point ''and let her out of her box anyway'', which makes him a bit less sympathetic.
** In ''Project Origin'', one of the intelligence files reveals that the music box that appears early on in the game in Genevive Aristide's apartment (and is the source of the recurring theme music throughout the game) originally belonged to Alma, and that Aristide had it brought to her home, so she could listen to it and remind herself of how guilty she is herself.
*** Given Aristide's greedy, self-justifying behavior and comments in both Project Origin and the supplemental promotional materials, the idea of Aristide feeling any guilt over Armacham's treatment of Alma seems highly unlikely. Maybe Aristide just likes the music box's tune.
** Alma herself has a few Pet the Dog moments toward both the Point Man and Becket, like when she [[spoiler:kills a group of Replicas that have the Point Man pinned down in ''Extraction Point'',]] or when [[spoiler:she kills an Abomination that is directing Replica soldiers against Becket, or kills ATC troops in Becket's path in Wade Elementary.]]
* ''ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlRevis'' features Roxis (TheRival, JerkWithAHeartOfGold and [[HeelFaceTurn once a part]] of the QuirkyMiniBossSquad) who gets a few of these moments throughout the game, mostly after being recruited into the game's band of heroic friends. The first example was almost literal: adopting a stray kitten whose mother just died. He's even seen baby talking to it, although he'll deny any such events took place when confronted
* ''FableII'': You can play as evil as you want, but your faithful dog still loves you.
* In ''DynastyWarriors: Empires'' the ending consists of a 'clip show' with various officers of your faction in "''RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' outakes". One clip shows one of your officers leaping in front of a runaway carriage to save a small lapdog, then with their most heroic and staunch Chinese Warlord face, they nod approvingly over the tail-wagging little thing. Especially funny when a real jerkass officer like Lu Bu does it. Downright hysterical if that officer happens to be the Emperor of China at the moment.
* An ''AceCombat 4: Shattered Skies'' cutscene shows the enemy ace Yellow 13 holding and petting a small dog. He also [[spoiler: saves the narrator and the barkeeper's daughter from getting caught by military policemen after the latter is seen planting explosives.]]
* Subverted in ''{{Hitman}}: Blood Money'', where throughout the game, you see the cold blooded killer keeps a pet canary. However, the moment the bird starts chirping at an inopportune time: * crunch* .
** Also subverted in ''Contracts,'' where 47 has the option of petting the dog in order to advance his agenda: for example, he can offer to take the place of a tired bartender- so he can poison a customer's drinks.
* [[BigBad Lord Wily]] of the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series has paid for the medical treatment of [[spoiler:Joe Mach]]'s daughter, and he also temporarily abandoned his quest for revenge on society to [[spoiler:take care of Baryl for a friend.]] He also gets a CrowningMomentOfAwesome when he [[spoiler:walks into an exploding volcano to rescue his own son Regal and give him a second chance to be an upright human being courtesy of LaserGuidedAmnesia mixed with a rather amazing ResetButton.]]
** The one from the classic series gets a few too; in [[spoiler:''VideoGame/MegaMan10'', he turned out to be the villain ''again'', but, when he got a fever from Roboenza, he was put into the hospital, he escapes soon afterward, but not before leaving enough Robonenza cure capsules to cure a population, and if it's not enough, they could still examine it and determine the cure]], Wily may be a villain who wants to take over the world, but he's ''not'' a heartless monster.
* Koei loves giving ''OdaNobunaga'' pet the dog moments:
** A cinematic in ''SamuraiWarriors: Empires'' has Nobunaga trying to cheer up Nene when she's upset by her husband's philandering. (This one happens to be TruthInTelevision, quoted straight from a letter Nobunaga wrote to Nene.)
** In the Sengoku ending of WarriorsOrochi, [[GenkiGirl Xiao]] [[MoeBlob Qiao]] gets upset when the three main characters (Nobunaga, Uesugi Kenshin, and Takeda Shingen) start trading not-so-veiled threats at each other, so Nobunaga chuckles and pats her on the head. (ItsAllThereInTheManual - Xiao Qiao reminds him of his sister Oichi.)
** In ''SamuraiWarriors 2'', this gets raised to HoYay levels when he sheds a tear at [[spoiler: Mitsuhide's death]] in his ending.
* In ''BlazBlue'', everyone mocks at [[IdiotHero Bang Shishigami]]. The only one who actually praised him genuinely is Hakumen. That's right, the HeroAntagonist who exemplifies GoodIsNotNice.
** In Continuum Shift he gets another. When he meets Tsubaki Yayoi, instead of brushing her off, as he does most people, he sits down and asks her to 'listen to an old man's tale'. He tells her of a story of a woman he loved, but who tragicly died. [[spoiler: He was referring to Tsubaki herself, as Hakumen is really Jin Kisaragi from the previous time loop. Then once he figures out Hazama's plans for Tsubaki he finds this loop's Jin and convinces him to go save her, not wanting her to die in this loop too.]]
** Also, in the first game, Ranga the Bloodedge is given two options after defeating Arakune in his story mode. Option one is to just leave and let Litchi greave over him. Option two is to stay behind and finish the job. If you choose this option, Ragna stays and argues with Litchi over why she should let him kill Arakune. Eventually, he leaves her and grumbles something along the lines of "If you wanna save him, go ahead. It's none of my business." But, as he leaves, he also quietly whispers "Good luck."
*** He gets another one with Taokaka. After fighting him in her story mode, Ragna offers her some of his food.
** In ''Continuum Shift'', Jin Kisaragi is a [[JerkAss complete asshole]] who throws death threats to anyone who gets in his way. However:
*** Tsubaki is his MoralityPet and possibly his LoveInterest, so he cares about her well-being ''a lot''. She's the only person in the game that Jin doesn't insult or belittle at all, if he beats her, he apologizes and promises to pick her up when it's all over, and [[BerserkButton if you actually hurt her in front of him, he will]] '''[[BerserkButton hunt you down]]''' [[BerserkButton and make sure you never do so again]]. The same is true for [[spoiler:Hakumen]].
*** Although to a much lesser extent than Tsubaki, he's also quite friendly to Makoto, if a little [[DeadpanSnarker snarky]]. He seems to genuinely care for her well-being, saving her life when [[BigBad Hazama]] attempts to "discipline" her (read: he's trying to off her [[spoiler:because [[HeKnowsTooMuch She Knows Too Much]]]]).
*** He also seems genuinely sorry for the female officer he knocks out to escape the NOL ship at the start of his story.
*** In the Drama CD The Wheel of Fortune. [[spoiler:It was shown that when they were kids, he is rather affectionate to Saya before she became sickly]]. The reason for Jin's hatred towards Saya and why she suddenly became ill is as of now unknown.
* The protagonist of the remake of ''TheBardsTale'' is an AntiHero JerkAss more interested in, as the game states, "coin and cleavage" than saving the world. He is a compulsive liar and cheat, swindling his way through life and seducing his way through women. However, not only does he pick up a dog companion early in the game, but he [[spoiler: sheds a genuine tear and vows revenge when the dog is killed by a monstrous minion of the apparent BigBad]].
* ''HeavyRain'' [[spoiler:manages to pull this off ''in reverse.'' Over the course of the game, Shelby saves the HookerWithAHeartOfGold from a former client, stops a suicide, takes care for said suicide near-victim's baby, stops a liquor store hold-up, and if the player is fast enough, saves Lauren again from a drowning car. Then you find out he's the [[CompleteMonster Origami Killer.]] [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation It's up to the player to decide whether these acts were genuine, or if he was simply a]] ManipulativeBastard.]]
* In ''DragonAgeOrigins'', [[spoiler:Loghain]] can get one if you have him in the party with your dog. It turns out, that part of the reason he hates the Orleasians so damn much because they killed his dog.
* In ''MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory'', Bowser, when facing his troops who went AWOL, decided not to scold or punish them instead told them to continue what they were doing and that they needn't worry of the situation.
* In ''ValkyrieProfile'', the PC acts as a {{Psychopomp}}, recruiting Einheriar from the 'worthy dead', and sending the rest to Hel. One of your recruitments features a low-down thug named Badrach, who's popped up in the stories of several other characters before - including participating in the kidnapping and transport of a princess, which led to her death. When his deeds finally catches up with him, he drags himself home to his worn-down little house, and his sharp-tongued wife, bleeding all the way before collapsing on the doorstep... and in the afterlife, he finds Lenneth Valkyrie waiting for him, only too eager to send him hurtling down into Hel - but she gives him a chance: Did he ever do ANYTHING worthy? A single good deed? He first tries to lie, but he cannot - instead, he merely spouts a string of crimes, from mugging and burglary to outright murder. But finally, he does recall a single redeeming act - one time, he was running security for slavers, and one slave, a little girl, took a shine to him. When the slavers' pay didn't measure up to his expectations, he ditched them and took the girl out of spite, bringing her to...an abandoned church. Probably better than staying with the slavers, though.
** A bit interesting if you look closer, its implied the girl he saved was lucien/rucio's sister that was sold off in the prologue.
* In ''TheIncredibleHulkUltimateDestruction'' you generally run around doing whatever you want, and that usually involves the killing of many, many, ''many'' innocent people. But if you so choose to grab a person you have an option besides throwing them into the distance: Putting them down gently and patting them on the head.
* Subverted by a literal case in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' - the Legionary Antony displays more regard for the dogs under his charge than he does for people. He offers his aging favorite to be killed in the arena for the possibility of giving her immortality as the brain of a cyber-dog, and he gives the other dogs a teddy bear to play with - which he [[KickTheDog took from a child slave]].
** Played straight in the ending if Caesar's Legion wins and Caesar himself is still alive. One of the only non-evil things he does is let the humanitarian organization Followers of the Apocalypse leave Vegas peacefully because he himself was raised by the Followers.
* Revealed near the very end of ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2''. Director Tiedemann, who seemed throughout the game to be a cold, ruthless CorruptCorporateExecutive, is in fact shown via three audio logs to have had the best interests of humanity in his heart. He went along with the Marker project because humanity was slowly dying out and he thought that this was their best hope for salvation, and when the outbreak occurred he blatantly disregarded the protocols set in place by the shadowy figures in charge and called for a station wide evacuation, doing his best to save as many citizens as possible from the necromorphs.
* Subverted in the non-canonical ending of ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}} 5''. Kazuya actually paid respect to his grandpa Jinpachi before fighting him by giving him a respectful bow. After beating him, he even cradled him on his hand while remininscing his past with his grandpa, when he was an innocent boy... cue Kazuya getting his EvilEyes activated, killed Jinpachi with his own hand and cue another EvilLaugh... [[BaitTheDog He got you again, didn't he?]]
* Gogandantess from ''{{Onimusha}} 2: Samurai's Destiny'' is a highly arrogant Genma who is the self-proclaimed "greatest swordsman of all demons". Although he isn't nearly as evil as the other Genma shown in this series - in fact he is [[NobleDemon very honorable and chivalrous]] - he's still definitely a bad guy. So, it comes as a surprise to Jubei (and the players) when, just as it looks as though Oyu is going to plummet to a firey death, Gogandantess [[VillainousRescue leaps in and saves her at the last second]].
* Depending on your playthrough of MassEffect, Commander Shepard has his moments. Most notably if he's usually [[JerkAss renegade]] and starts [[WhatTheHellHero abusing NPCs outside his crew]] but takes a moment to [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold console his squad]] with any problems they might have. This can be played fully straight if he's constantly renegade all the time in the [[VideoGame/MassEffect2 sequel]] but takes the paragon route on his crew's loyalty missions.
* Kitsune, the fourth Lord of Chaos in ''VideoGame/AdventureQuestWorlds'', is extremely fond of all of his fellow [[{{Youkai}} Yokai]]. When Emperor Daisho started inviting foreigners from outside Yokai Island to the island itself, Kitsune became furious and didn't share the same sentiment with Daisho, vowing to do everything he could to return the island to its former secluded sanctuary - which is how Drakath made him the fourth Chaos Lord. Kitsune became a MagnificentBastard as soon as Drakath convinced him to use the Hanzamune Dragon Koi Blade to free the O-dokuro from its prison in the rift of time.
** Zahart was extremely fond of [[JackassGenie Tibicenas]], the eighth Lord of Chaos, whom he got the ability to summon and command after Drakath gave him a chaorrupted magic ring. He was so fond of Tibicenas that he wanted to use him to rule the Sandsea for all eternity after paying off his debt to Drakath by using the red diamond found by his slaves to animate the Chaos Sphinx. Unfortunately for him, Tibicenas has plans much worse than he himself had originally planned.
** And in the Doomwood saga, Drakath, being the AffablyEvil guy he is, has landed himself in this spot since he kindly retreieves Vordred's helmet and returns it to Sally.
* In ''GhostTrick'', [[spoiler:Yomiel]] [[GrandTheftMe possesses people]] to force them to commit crimes, cuts a deal with a foreign nation who will almost certainly use what he offers them to attack other counties, and [[spoiler:manipulates poor Kamala into killing her own mother, albeit indirectly.]] Towards the end of the game, [[spoiler: he saves Lynne and Kamala from drowning by breaking open the submarine door that's stuck and manipulating junk to make an arm to pull her out.]] We also get one from [[spoiler:Dandy, who is very polite and kind to Kamala, even when he kidnaps her, giving her a book and juice, finding it disturbing that he and his associate were asked to hold Kamala captive in the remains of her former home, and crying over Kamala's fate in the timeline when she was crushed to death.]]
* The first part of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' ''CrisisCore'' serves as this for pre-insanity Sephiroth by showing that before the notorious mission to Nibelheim, he was actually a relatively nice person who had friends and worried about them.
* Travis Touchdown of ''NoMoreHeroes'', a perverted, BloodKnight {{Otaku}}, has a thing for cats. He owns a Scottish Fold, Jeane, which he can interact with in both games and one of the jobs in the first game has him finding runaway cats.
* Yeager of ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'' was portrayed as one of the BigBad's servants, and was considered to be evil and manipulative. However, there are two girls who're helping him, and during his final battle, explicitly ordered them to ''not'' join in the fight between him and the heroes, heavily implying that he ''wanted'' to die. If you do a big of digging, you find that [[spoiler: Gauche and Droite were actually from an orphanage that Yeager ''funded'', and pledged their lives to help him]].
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