Line #77 MisaimedFandom/VideoGames


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7	!!Examples with their own pages
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9	[[index]]
10	* ''MisaimedFandom/FinalFantasy''
11	* ''MisaimedFandom/FireEmblem''
12	* ''MisaimedFandom/{{Persona}}''
13	* ''MisaimedFandom/TalesSeries''
14	[[/index]]
15
16	!!Other examples:
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18	* Tom Nook in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' is a kind raccoon who, despite charging the player a ton of money to buy and upgrade their house, lets them take as much time as they need to pay the loan back with zero interest. In the fandom, Tom Nook is portrayed an evil and greedy LoanShark that acts no better than a MorallyBankruptBanker or a mobster that will kill you at the drop of a hat. While most of these comparisons are clearly meant to be jokes, some fans took it at face value, and others [[DiscreditedMeme ran the joke into the ground]]. Tom Nook is shown [[HappilyAdopted raising his two kids that are not his]], wanting to reward people for their hard work, having a history with Sable, and [[KnightInSourArmor having a troubled past that destroyed his idealism]]. But some fans still see Tom Nook as someone out to make the player character miserable with debts instead of cutting them a break. It also didn't help that in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingHappyHomeDesigner'', the developers knew of the jokes and fan interpretations and had Tom Nook say that [[ThenLetMeBeEvil he doesn't care if people paint him as the boogeyman]] as long as it means they repay their debts to him. It wasn't until ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons'' where Tom Nook became more kind and optimistic, which caused most people who held the "Tom Nook is evil" stance to finally back off.
19	* ''VideoGame/{{Balatro}}'' lacking a score preview for whatever hand you're preparing to play is a deliberate decision by the developer, since adding a preview would reduce much of the suspense of not knowing whether your current choice will push you past the needed ante. Part of the fun involves manually calculating your hand's score once you know the order of operations... only for the actual score to be higher/lower because you miscalculated somewhere. Nonetheless, online fan-made tools for ''Balatro'' enable you to quickly figure out the score of your hand.
20	* ''VideoGame/BioShock'':
21	** Andrew Ryan of ''VideoGame/BioShock1'' is seen by some fans as an Objectivist visionary who could do no wrong, whose government only went down the drain once Fontaine and his Plasmids showed up. No matter what your politics are, you'd still have to ignore the fact that he [[CorruptCorporateExecutive went off]] [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans the deep end]] and started murdering anyone who looked at him funny out of paranoia, even before the advent of ADAM. Just ten seconds in Rapture during the time of the first game will show that Ryan's philosophy didn't work; even then, he backed off of his ideals and became a massive {{hypocrite}} in the name of clinging onto power.
22	** Even the people who blame Fontaine seem to overlook the fact that he only became as powerful as he did because Ryan was a pretty big hypocrite right off the bat, decrying dictatorships while essentially running one of his own. This opened the door for Fontaine to gain a following from those Ryan alienated and to make money running a black market of things the supposedly laissez-faire Ryan had outlawed. Fontaine is arguably more of a free market capitalist than Ryan ever claimed to be and succeeded because he responded to market demands instead of clinging to vague ideals about individualism and the evils of government and religion (though his greed and quest for power were just as much to blame for Rapture's fall as Ryan's).
23	** ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite'' is a heavy {{deconstruction}}[=/=]TakeThat aimed at jingoistic UsefulNotes/ManifestDestiny ideology. This included [[https://girlslikegiants.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/gw-foreign-hordes.jpg an extraordinarily racist in-universe propaganda poster]], which features UsefulNotes/GeorgeWashington holding up a liberty bell to ward off racist caricatures of everyone in the world that isn't a WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant, with the caption "For God and Country, It Is Our Holy Duty to Guard Against the Foreign Hordes". This was intended to be over-the-top jingoism, but a Tea Party group [[http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2013/12/16/tea-party-group-unironically-utilizes-bioshock-infinite-propaganda/#760d38236eba missed the satire]] and unironically shared the poster on their Facebook page. It's also popped up in use among white nationalists and neo-Nazis.
24	* Several people have said that they'd rather play the ShallowParody of ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' used in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPqRue51GZ8 the commercial]] for ''VideoGame/{{Blur}}'' rather than the actual game. Apparently the game helped sales for ''Mario Kart'' too.
25	* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'', villain Raul Menendez has more than his fair share of fans. In-game, he's billed as the "hero of the 99%", and has inspired millions to follow his ideals. His exploits throughout the game have made part of the fanbase believe Menendez is a cross between CrazyIsCool and a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, having been a victim of a capitalist scam as just a child. Yet, he's still responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent people prior to the events of the game (including significant characters from the prequel), ruining the life of another child, and is more than willing to destroy the United States just to avenge the deaths of two people. Menendez is engaging in DisproportionateRetribution at its finest, and yet there are some people who consider him a hero.
26	* Chihiro Fujisaki of ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' is a [[spoiler:boy]] who was relentlessly bullied for [[spoiler:his physical weakness and feminine appearance]] and resorted to [[spoiler:crossdressing]] and pretending to be a [[spoiler:girl]] in order to escape it. Chihiro hates it, and Chihiro's sole motivation in life is to be strong so to be able to go back to [[spoiler:living as a boy]] without getting bullied again. In the bonus School Mode, Chihiro says outright that [[spoiler:he's a guy]]. However, a subset of fans insist [[spoiler:he's actually a trans girl]] and will jump down the throat of anyone who [[spoiler:"misgenders" him]] by [[spoiler:calling him a boy]]; the exact opposite of what Chihiro would want.
27	* Any discussion regarding [[JigsawPuzzlePlot the lore]] of ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' tends to run into this on account of how vague and purposely unclear much of the story can be. A number of people will say, for sure, what happens based on item descriptions and placement, even when the games leave it unclear. As a result, many people take these details as 100% fact, when in truth the game was designed to leave things up to the viewers' interpretation.
28	* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
29	** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' has a very unique situation; the third act deals with [[spoiler:the Templars of Kirkwall turning their already abusive repression of the mages up to eleven, not helped at all by their commander being bonkers by an ArtifactOfDoom or trying to cope with many horrifying abuses of blood magic and demonic possession; and the desperate, terrified renegade mages turning to terrorism and BloodMagic in response because they feel it can't be any worse than what they're already enduring, until there's open civil war in the streets, killing hundreds of innocents]]. Neither side is portrayed as wholly in the right (the old "reason does not equal justification" argument; the two groups in fact represent a minority of Kirkwall's population) but rather as two opposing WellIntentionedExtremist groups who each went completely over the edge due to a series of unforeseen, escalating problems. Never mind that the game lets you justify choosing either side while being rather difficult to go for a somewhat more neutral stance, several message boards were (and some still are) bogged down with arguments over ''which side'' was right in trying to slaughter anyone even tangentially associated with the other side rather than whether or not either one (or both) was maybe going too far.
30	*** It gets even worse. [[spoiler:Towards the climax of the game, as tensions rise, there's one last, desperate attempt at a parley between leaders of Mages and Templars. Anders, a renegade Mage from your group, ''blows up the church'' in the city, killing the church leader, who was the main source of reason trying to calm both sides. This ensures that there's no going back and city erupts into open conflict. This even goes beyond the city, as other Mages rise up, seeing no other alternative. Despite all that, you can still find fans who think that Anders did the right thing and consider him a hero. A big part of this is that the church leader in question is infamously UnintentionallyUnsympathetic, and many players [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation see her less as trying to calm both sides and more as actively preventing any sort of resolution even as her direct subordinates are blatantly ignoring the church's own laws]].]]
31	** After ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', [[spoiler:Solas]] is revealed to have a plan to [[spoiler:destroy the world]]. While he is an AntiVillain you're supposed to sympathize with, you're clearly not supposed to agree with his plans -- while he's deliberately vague on what they will involve, it's [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide unlikely to be healthy for anyone in Thedas as it exists]]. This does not stop some people from agreeing anyway, going so far as wishing the Inquisitor could help him, even though he himself regrets what he feels he must do and does not want them to go down that path. There actually is a dialog option to offer to join him (though it may require romance), but he turns it down, and in fact breaks off his relationship with a romanced Inquisitor specifically because he believes his true plan will render him irredeemable in her eyes.
32	*** Dorian is a popular target for mods to make him romanceable by a female Inquisitor, blithely ignoring that his entire character arc is based around his sexuality, the suffering and alienation he went through because of it and how that shaped his personality.
33	*** Sera is popular among fans for being an elf who doesn't buy into "elvish traditions" and "elven glory". The same fans also want to play a city elf who likes humans. This ignores that Sera is ''not'' a typical city elf, but a BoomerangBigot who rejects ''all'' aspects of elven culture, ancient empires and aravels and alienages, in equal measure, and that much of her InternalizedCategorism comes from her interactions with humans. It also ignores that most city elves are just as gung-ho about elven traditions as the Dalish, but have less space to act them out due to living in closer proximity to human power.
34	* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'':
35	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'':
36	*** Late into the game, the player must hunt down the BigBad in his pocket dimension, Camoran's Paradise. At first, "Paradise" appears to be a beautiful {{Arcadia}}n valley with flowers and meadows, but later, the player discovers that under this glade is a hellish cavern where Camoran, having made his fallen followers immortal, tortures traitors forever for betraying him. And if you're lucky enough to have been ''faithful'' to Camoran? He has monsters hunt you down and kill you, only for you to return and be hunted down again. The whole point of Camoran's Paradise is that it's meant to be a CrapsaccharineWorld that looks pleasant, but is really a horrible place to be. And yet, a lot of players can't look past the SceneryPorn and download {{Game Mod}}s that let the player revisit Paradise and live there.
37	*** Lucien Lachance is a psychopathic killer who takes unabashed glee in murdering others, but one look at him and most fangirls bring out the [[DracoInLeatherPants leather pants]]. Partially justified in what you need to do in order to even meet him: joining the Dark Brotherhood, a clan of assassins catered by both the {{God of\|Evil}} [[PowerOfTheVoid the Void]], Sithis, and his most loyal subject, an ancient woman who sacrificed her six newborn sons for the glory of said god, and who relays their lord's will through her mummified corpse for only a few select ears to listen. Adhering to such a guild would assume that the player has an special mindset about killing, revenge (the main reason people contract their services), and about being a sword of vindication... But seeing how the fandom only harped about how the gear, perks and other rewards, it seems that the Developers accidentally sabotaged their own message.
38	** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'':
39	*** There seem to be a lot of people who don't understand that the civil war plotline is supposed to be a case of GrayAndGreyMorality where ''each'' side has its flaws and its strengths, and that neither is supposed to be the "good guys" ''or'' the "bad guys". Depending on who you ask, either the Empire is a noble but misunderstood power that is only accepting the Thalmor's demands out of necessity and their control of Skyrim is necessary to maintain stability (when they banned the worship of the most important Nord god ''and'' the deified form of their own founder because they didn't want to keep fighting) while the Stormcloaks are a bunch of racist barbarians led by a power-hungry tyrant who only wants Skyrim for himself (when Ulfric has good reason to be offended by the treatment of the Nordic culture and wants Skyrim to be governed by his own people, not to mention the fact that he regrets the fact that he has to fight a war and expresses remorse for his enemies), or the Stormcloaks are justified freedom fighters nobly defending their rightful land against foreign oppression (when they do indeed tend to be xenophobic, and outright racist against dark elves), while the Empire is a ruthless totalitarian regime that wants to crush the civilisations of its conquered territories (when they're only banning the worship of Talos as a diplomatic move that not even they are entirely approving of, and when a more stable unified empire could potentially be safer in the face of another war with the elves.) The reality of the situation is that neither side is strictly right or strictly wrong, and the Thalmor are deliberately playing both sides against each other to weaken the Empire further.\
40	\
41	And a good portion of people who don't entirely agree with the Empire or the Stormcloaks sympathize with the Forsworn instead, to the point of publicly expressing their disappointment that the game doesn't allow you to join them. [[note]]Technically, you can join the Forsworn by freeing Madanach, but only his tribe in Druadach Redoubt become friendly.[[/note]] Yes, it is true that the Forsworn are trying to take back their homeland from foreign oppressors. No, you are ''not'' supposed to think [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide the]] [[ImAHumanitarian things]] [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil they]] [[GenuineHumanHide do]] in response to said foreign oppressors are in any way correct or justified.
42	*** The Stormcloaks, a bunch of Nord separatists, suffer from an in-universe version of this. The Nords of Skyrim are a deceptively civilised people, with an epic history, a [[WarriorPoet longstanding bardic and poet tradition]], a complex honour system and some historical affinity for magic (the "clever craft"). You wouldn't know from the Stormcloaks, who push solely the BarbarianHero[=/=]ProudWarriorRaceGuy aspect of Nordic culture in their push for Skyrim's independence.
43	* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'':
44	** The series as a whole satirizes American Exceptionalism and American hypercaptialism and anti-communism during the Cold War that led to the in-universe EndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, which some fans ignore in favor of the googie, atomic-age aesthetics associated with America during that period.
45	** ''VideoGame/Fallout3'':
46	*** After the release of the game, the Enclave went from being the most generally hated faction in the wasteland, as they were in ''VideoGame/Fallout2'', to having a ''huge'' fandom, who [[RootingForTheEmpire consider them the best bet to lead the Capital Wasteland out of the darkness]]. This is partially explainable by the fact that ''Fallout 3'' doesn't directly reference their origins as the insane and inbred descendants of the corrupt military and governmental elites who caused the great war, and tones down their genocidal inclinations from "standard operating procedure" to "providence of the somewhat crazed AI that's supposedly running the show". But, even then, the Enclave are still a bunch of brutal would-be tyrants and warlords who want to rule everything with an iron fist. It's just that the portrayal of the Capital Wasteland as, well, a wasteland full of raiders and super mutants makes some fans argue that their dominance would be a step ''up'' -- [[SarcasmMode a wasteland full of tyrannical thugs in power armor is much more welcoming, after all.]]
47	*** The Brotherhood of Steel. Introduced as an isolationist band of arrogant xenophobes who used theoretically noble claims of "protecting humanity from the abusive potential of technology" as an excuse to bully and steal all the tech they could in [[VideoGame/Fallout1 the first game]], a policy that had backfired on them by the second game. The third game introduced the Capital Wasteland Chapter, a branch of the Brotherhood that had explicitly broken away from the traditions and goals of their East Coast counterparts in order to serve as a power for good in the Capital Wasteland. They were so hugely popular that, despite the in-game characters explicitly saying they're a splinter-sect and not at all acting like the Brotherhood "should", newcomer fans were infuriated when the subsequent games showed more traditionalist sects, claiming that the New Vegas Chapter -- and especially the "restructured" Brotherhood from ''VideoGame/Fallout4'' -- were completely antithetical to what the Brotherhood "should" be like.
48	*** There is a not-small part of the Fallout fandom that finds Liberty Prime and his cartoonishly anti-communist, jingoistic slogans deeply hilarious. On one hand, they're so far out there that they are funny on some level. On the other hand, some unironically quote him in support of US foreign policy (among other things).
49	** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'':
50	*** The Legion has a huge following within the fandom despite being a group of enslaving, possibly homophobic, misogynistic, raping, pillaging thugs. Vulpes and Caesar, to a lesser extent, are some of the most popular characters in the fandom. It's not uncommon to see players' female couriers as part of the Legion either, even though it's made clear that women have no part in the Legion other than as slaves.
51	*** The relative emptiness of the eastern side of the Mojave Wasteland is unintentional. WordOfGod has suggested that the Legion was supposed to be slightly more sympathetic and the player was supposed to see examples of the good side of the Legion way of life, but given how quickly the production deadline was approaching, this was cut for time (and would have been more or less impossible to pull off anyway).
52	*** For some reason, a certain quote of Joshua Graham's ("I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.") has taken on a life of its own, with it being reposted on many inspirational blog sites, ''even quoting Graham as the creator of the quote.'' Graham's writer (and New Vegas Lead Designer) JE Sawyer actually [[https://www.instagram.com/p/BLy1vjJAyZs/ stumbled across the quote written on a trail in his home state of Wisconsin]] and [[https://www.reddit.com/r/fnv/comments/58orm1/je_sawyer_posted_this_on_his_instagram_yesterday/d92wfjy/?st=iuqlydhf&sh=9cb90ffd some people]] have reported teachers using it in English class as an inspirational quote. Even then, if you take the quote as inspirational (it can be interpreted as such), the lack of context ruins the inspiration Graham puts behind the words. Out of context, the outer fire is commonly interpreted as stress or general adversity, and internal fire is just inner strength. In context, Graham says the fire inside was the [[ThePowerOfLove his love for his people and for God, and their love for him]], while the external fire is a [[LiteralMetaphor literal fire]], having been immolated and tossed into the Grand Canyon for [[YouHaveFailedMe failing to defeat]] the NCR at Hoover Dam. It is however a popular quote among Firefighters, especially Forest Firefighters, which despite not knowing the source, are much more in line with original meaning.
53	* ''Franchise/FarCry'':
54	** ''VideoGame/FarCry3'':
55	*** There's a certain section of players who enjoyed Jason's descent into BloodKnight madness too much, and felt that he'd be better off as a pirate king. This, of course, completely defeats the point the game was trying to make, and if you go down that road you get the DownerEnding where Jason kills his friends and dies, having totally lost himself in the thrill of his wanton slaughter. Even [[Creator/BenCroshaw Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw]] fell for it, and felt the GoldenEnding was disingenuous.
56	** ''VideoGame/FarCry5'':
57	*** As part of the game's promotion, Ubisoft released the "When the World Falls" album, consisting of songs sung by the Hope County Choir. However, it's clear that the Choir is sympathetic to or outright members of Eden's Gate, making all of their songs propaganda for the antagonists. In reality though, many of the game's more conservative, religious, and pro-gun fans have [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic enjoyed much of the music]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0sdR-UdYzg "Keep Your Rifle By Your Side"]] in particular. As one of the top-voted comments notes: ''"If Ubisoft didn’t want us to identify with it then they shouldn't've made it such a banger."''
58	* Some fans of ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' need to be frequently reminded that the world does '''not''' need men like Kratos. Or that the world doesn't need '''''anyone''''' like Kratos. True, he does mellow out by [[VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4 the PS4 game]] into something more admirable, but even then fans take it as that he ''needed'' to do all the crap he pulled in the preceding games in order to reach this state.
59	* Dr. Breen in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' has his fans who think he did the right thing by assuring the survival of humanity by surrendering, except there are hints that he staged the entire Resonance Cascade for personal gain, and he is the one who insisted on the highly specific test requirements. Some of his comments as you [[spoiler:climb up the Citadel]] are [[HannibalLecture actually quite reasonable]], so it is easy to see how this gets started. [[spoiler:This is discounting how he's a borderline CardCarryingVillain who mind controls the populace with tainted water and by all accounts is still playing the fate of humanity for his own personal stake in the Combine empire]].
60	* ''VideoGame/{{Helldivers}}'' and its [[VideoGame/HelldiversII sequel]] have plenty of fans who unironically celebrate Super Earth's government as a democratic utopia. The over-the-top nature of the propaganda and the LargeHam lines from the Helldivers themselves are meant to be funny in how [[HamAndCheese enthusiastically they're delivered]], with most of the humor deriving from the fact that the player can clearly get that this is all a big joke. [[WeHaveReserves The expendable nature of the Helldivers]], [[OrwellianEditor the hand-waving of discrepancies in the propaganda]], and [[BigBrotherIsWatching the virulent culling of anyone who dissents]] make it clear that this is a CrapsackWorld with a nice coat of paint. Even if some players are going along with the idea of Super Earth being awesome as a PlayAlongMeme, it's done with tongue firmly planted in cheek. The fact that some players miss how silly this all is means that they are, rather ironically, demonstrating that such propaganda can actually work.
61	* Part of the point of ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'' is to parody PlatformHell games and remind us that the good old days weren't so good in that its challenges could just as easily become cheap shots and unfair moves from the old arcades that did it to make you shove quarters down the slot. But some people loved it for being such a challenge and made more games like it.
62	* Fans of the ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}}'' games often complain of not being able to play the Helghast as protagonists, arguing that they were the true victims in the franchise. What they don't appear to realize is that this angle is a thinly veiled effort at playing up the Helghast analogy to Nazi Germany, of which had a legitimate claim to have been disproportionately punished after World War I, yet their actions in World War II hardly were justified.
63	* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':
64	** Fans who base support on a Sora and Naminé romance due to the events of ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories Chain of Memories]]'', which ignores that all of the memories Sora had of Naminé were fake, and the feelings he had toward her were actually his feelings for Kairi increased to obsessive levels by the FakeMemories so that he would become Naminé's -- and thus, Marluxia's -- slave. It wasn't supposed to be a good, loving thing; it was deception.
65	** A lot of people hate Xion because she hits a lot of WishFulfillment triggers, which was intentional with Xion's introduction in ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2 358/2 Days]]''. Xion was meant as a ParodySue specific to the ''Kingdom Hearts'' fandom, showing just how terrible things would be if such a character were placed into the setting. She's presented as just making an already bad situation worse, her backstory reveals that she was created to serve the plans of Organization XIII and little else, and [[spoiler:she's even the final boss when she can't fight her way out of Organization XIII's plans. Her death leaves her RetGone, and it's played as tragically as possible, since not even her closest friends remember Xion so much as existed]]. Xion's role in the story and ultimate fate is adamantly ''not'' meant to be WishFulfillment.
66	** There are fans who seem to enjoy the RonTheDeathEater treatment of [[HeWhoFightsMonsters DiZ]] and [[KnightTemplar Eraqus]], while simultaneously DracoInLeatherPants-ing their clearly far-worse enemies[[note]]Ironically, different incarnations of the same guy, no less[[/note]] who caused said {{Jerkass}}eries to begin with. And no, not even [=DiZ=]'s and Eraqus's eventual {{Heel Realization}}s (in contrast to said enemies' LackOfEmpathy, of course) are enough to subvert this.
67	** Xehanort's final demise in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' was seen as too EasilyForgiven and getting off too lightly, simply because he [[FaceDeathWithDignity accepted his defeat]]. His demise was never intended to be a redemption arc. The [=Re:Mind=] DLC even spells this out that yes, Sora still despises Xehanort for all that he did, showcasing that fans who still despise the old man for everything he did are very much justified.
68	* Canderous Ordo and the Mandalorians from ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' are frequently beloved by fans for their ProudWarriorRace culture and mentality... overlooking the fact that Canderous speaks casually and candidly of wrecking whole worlds during the Mandalorian Wars, and that the reason Revan took up his famous mask was due to the [[spoiler:Mandalorians' xenocide of the Cathar.]] [[note]]You find much of the fandom for Mandalorians coming from ''Star Wars'' fans who view the Republic and Empire as StupidGood and StupidEvil. Top it off with Creator/ChrisAvellone's analysis in the second game that the factions are proxies for a group of overpowered wizards dragging everyone into their ceaseless religious war. Karen Traviss had this view of Star Wars and tried with varying degrees of success as presenting the ''Mando'ade'' as TakeAThirdOption, a group of [[MugglePower non-Force Sensitives]] who were capable of going toe to toe with Jedi or Sith, and who weren't beholden to either. Oh, and Boba Fett sure helped.[[/note]]
69	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''
70	** The series is about a blonde-haired, blue-eyed hero fighting a villainous man from a Middle Eastern-esque culture with a big nose. On one hand, it receives unwanted praise on these grounds from [[ThoseWackyNazis a disagreeable group of people]]. On the other, it faces scrutiny and criticism on these same points. The irony of this is that the entire series glorifies numerous different races and groups who all come together and aid Link in the fight against evil, including Gorons, Zora, and Gerudo themselves, just to name a few. In fact, the Gerudo are often referred to as incredibly beautiful, skilled, and intelligent, with their only consistent flaw being xenophobia brought on by their dislike of men. More than once (including in their debut in ''Ocarina of Time''), the Gerudo have been helpful, even friendly, and in ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the character Urbosa is treated as an exceptionally skilled warrior ''and'' mother-figure/older sister in the life of Princess Zelda. The only member of the group that is out-and-out evil is Ganondorf himself (who is actually the reason ''why'' the Gerudo have a distaste of men, so even that flaw isn't born of nothing to make them unlikeable).
71	** Several fans take the MotiveRant that Ganondorf gives before the FinalBoss fight of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'' as proof that he started out as a WellIntentionedExtremist who wanted a better life for his people who lived as DesertBandits; many of these fans often lament how the franchise has seemingly thrown away this plot point for Ganon being portrayed as a shallow "embodiment of hatred" following ''The Wind Waker''. In actuality, while the MotiveRant itself is very much up to [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation alternative interpretation]], Ganondorf says nothing about wanting to conquer Hyrule for the sake of the Gerudo. The closing quote to the rant goes, "I coveted that wind, I suppose", indicating that Ganon wanted the prosperity of Hyrule for himself rather than his people. Indeed, ''Ocarina of Time'' shows that Ganon made no effort to improve the Gerudos' standing in Hyrule, as they are still consigned to the desert and many of the Gerudo have little loyalty to their king.
72	--->'''[[https://youtu.be/Hlu_yZCKkZ0?feature=shared Derrick]]:''' This singular moment humanizes Ganondorf in a way that has never happened before, or arguably since. It provides a reason behind his hunger for power, and yet… it's never not selfish. There's no altruism in his goals. He's simply jealous. He sees the verdant wind of Hyrule not as something to share, or even take to ostensibly help his people. It's something he does not have, and he wants it.
73	* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
74	** Cerberus is on the dark side of [[BlackAndGrayMorality morally gray]]. They're essentially a well-funded KnightTemplar terrorist organization out to ensure that humanity dominates the galaxy -- often resorting to cruel biological experiments on unwilling human test subjects. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', they bring the protagonist BackFromTheDead and provide Shepard with a CoolStarship to investigate the abduction of human colonists while the established Alliance and Citadel governments do little to nothing to assist. It's made perfectly clear that Cerberus is using you to further their own agenda, and their past atrocities do not go unmentioned. While the franchise is full of moral ambiguity, what with Shepard spending a ''lot'' of time dealing with crime lords, terrorists, mercenaries and {{space pirate}}s -- several of whom even become your party members -- when they're not dealing with [[ObstructiveBureaucrat bureaucratic inertia]] and [[HeadInTheSandManagement unhelpful politicians]], and it's certainly true that the galaxy would have been royally screwed if they hadn't brought Shepard back when they did, many fans completely forget Cerberus's deplorable actions and instead find themselves wondering what everyone has against Cerberus. And as with ''Film/{{Avatar}}'''s Col. Quaritch, some people go as far as to seem to actually ''agree'' with the "secure-human-dominance-at-any-cost" mindset.\
75	This is lampshaded, possibly as a TakeThatAudience, with Conrad Verner revealing that he's joined Cerberus in ''3''. When asked {{what the hell\|Hero}} he was thinking, given that they have only just attempted a failed coup of the Citadel, he explains that Cerberus are just misunderstood heroes who are working to protect humanity. After all, Shepard worked for them once, so they can't be all that bad, ''right?'' Cue {{facepalm}} as Shepard calmly explains that they worked ''[[EnemyMine with]]'' them to take down the Collectors and then severed all ties immediately afterwards.\
76	Further, it's less that Cerberus was using Shepard for their own ends and more that they were the ''only'' organization with any real resources to recognize the threat of the Reapers, and the importance of Shepard to thwart them. They're also self-aware enough to realize that antagonizing or attempting to control Shepard will only cause problems -- [[PragmaticVillainy either Shepard will not be able to focus on the Collectors, being too worried about the possibility of Cerberus stabbing them in the back, and a mind-controlled Shepard would be far less effective than a free one.]] ''3'' eventually reveals that the entirety of their interactions with Shepard in ''2'' were, essentially, bending over backward to ensure that Shepard felt as secure as possible, with as much support as possible. Even most of the employees they had working with Shepard had been hand-picked for their relative ''lack'' of loyalty to Cerberus, on the grounds that a support team that Shepard could not trust would have been a useless support team. Further, the Illusive Man admits midway through ''2'' that he was intentionally leaking information regarding Shepard's return and association with Cerberus to the Alliance and the Citadel, [[ManipulativeBastard which handily made anyone not aware of the Lazarus Project much less inclined to provide support that Cerberus couldn't control]]. And of course, the characters who [[ProperlyParanoid saw all this coming]] are the ones that receive fan ire.
77	** At least part of the problem is that most of Cerberus's on-screen villainy before the third game comes from side missions in the first game that you have to go somewhat out of your way to even ''find'', much less complete, and from the tie-in novels. The first game [[SequelDisplacement was also much less successful than the second]].
78	** In ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', there exists a vid called ''Saren: A Hero Betrayed'', which glorifies the turian Spectre who has not only been eagerly painted as the mastermind behind the geth attack on the Citadel, but is noted repeatedly to have been callous and ruthless even before he was indoctrinated by Sovereign. Captain Anderson, who worked with Saren in the past and who was set up by Saren to deny him his chance at being the first Human Spectre, watches it and promptly [[INeedAFreakingDrink turns to drink]].
79	** In Kasumi's loyalty mission, a gold statue of Saren is actually seen as a desirable gift amongst the idle rich. It ''is'' a party for crime lords and war profiteers -- exactly the sort of people who'd have no problem with Saren's even worse instincts. Shepard for their part is clearly not pleased by the sight of it.
80	* Certain ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' fans seem to think that the premise is "Solid Snake jumps in, kicks ass and chews bubblegum" despite the series serving as a {{deconstruction}} of the typical action hero. Confronting an enemy head on is the quickest path to a Game Over, you're supposed to make sure they don't see you and are encouraged not to kill them, if you ''must'' engage them. And yet, you get fans who think running and gunning is a viable tactic. Creator/HideoKojima was in fact so appalled by fans misinterpreting Solid Snake as a character that a large part of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' [[ThisLoserIsYou is dedicated to]] [[TakeThatAudience attacking fans]] who played the first ''MGS'' as a power fantasy. [[EpicFail It went so badly]] that the backlash to the above attack spawned a ''new'' series of ''Metal Gear'' games, with ''[=MGS2=]'' being one of the most critically acclaimed games of 2001. SpringtimeForHitler was in effect for Kojima ever since (up until [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain his departure]] from Creator/{{Konami}}, that is), with attempts to hang up his coat incurring more backlash and ensuring Kojima would have to stay on as director. Even ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 4\|GunsOfThePatriots}}'', which had its original TorchTheFranchiseAndRun-level ending [[WriterRevolt outright vetoed by the rest of the developer team]], was filled with plenty of potshots at the audience, including multiple DoingInTheWizard moments to combat the MindScrew of ''[=MGS2=]''.
81	* ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare 2'' has a few different categories of this, the most obvious being a large part of the player-base (and critics, for that matter) that at best [[DoNotDoThisCoolThing doesn't notice the series has an anti-war message]] and at worst takes a ''positive'' view of war because of it. The worst are, by far, the players who ''[[spoiler:root for General Shepherd.]]'' It's largely because the game's finale involves him both kicking ass in a crazy action-scene, as well as being where he [[MotiveRant explains his motivation and ultimate goal,]] both of which are easy to sympathize with. They are ''not,'' however, justification for [[spoiler:a senior officer ''killing his own men in cold blood'' so that they won't discover he's ''manipulated another country to invade the United States,'' specifically with the goal of killing as many civilians as possible.]]
82	* While [[{{Goth}} Goth Boy]] for the ''VideoGame/MySims'' series has [[EnsembleDarkhorse many fans]], a few fans believe the creators got the goth subculture wrong. Except, if anything, Goth Boy is supposed to be an AffectionateParody. The game has many Spooky Sims, each having their own unique personalities, so saying they got it wrong with just one character isn't fair. Plus, the subculture is pretty chill and doesn't have too many requirements, [[AccidentallyCorrectWriting so the games actually got it]] ''[[AccidentallyCorrectWriting right]]''. A lot of the same people gave us [[VideoGame/TheSims the Goth Family]].
83	* ''VideoGame/NamuAmidaButsuUtena'': Despite what the majority of the fandom believes, Ashuku Nyorai is not a [[DudeLooksLikeALady Dude Who Looks Like a Lady]]. She's a trans woman.
84	* ''VideoGame/NeedyStreamerOverload'' The game's premise is centred around Ame-chan, a girl aiming to become a top streamer, experiencing struggles with mental health and repeatedly exhibiting unhealthy toxic behaviours in her relationship with P-Chan. Several of the endings depict Ame lashing out or acting extremely unreasonable, and she continues to strive for the heights of internet fame even when it is clearly taking a toll on her mental health. Several of the game's fans, however, look at this unhealthy saviour dynamic in her relationship with P-Chan and view it as something desirable, either idolizing Ame despite the game's clear portrayal of her self-destructive behaviours and unhealthy behaviours, or fetishizing her and [[ICanChangeMyBeloved believing they can "fix" Ame themselves]], [[spoiler: despite the final ending, [[OmegaEnding Comment te dire adieu]], showing that the only good future for her is one in which she takes responsibility for her mental health and admits that P-Chan is fake. The game also has the player repeatedly witness bad ending after bad ending in the lead-up to unlocking Comment te dire adieu, once again showing that if Ame-chan continues her toxic relationship with P-Chan and does not commit to self-improvement, then there is no good future for her. Despite this, many fans do not take the hint and continue fetishizing or idolizing Ame as a "cute menhera girl"]].
85	* ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysofEurope'':
86	** The creators worked their hardest to send the message that Nazism is both [[FascistButInefficient evil and inefficient]] [[{{Anvilicious}} with the subtlety of an atomic bomb]] ([[spoiler:in some ways, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt literally]]]]). While a small number of neo-Nazis who either miss or don't care about the message, the creators have done a relatively good job of keeping Nazi apologists away. However, ''The New Order'' stands out for also having a Misaimed Fandom of some more extreme anti-fascist types, who seem to think the message is "defeat Nazism even if it costs the world" ([[spoiler:again, sometimes ''[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt literally]]'']]).
87	** The game constantly emphasizes that the [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge Black League of Omsk]]'s goal of war and [[spoiler:a nuclear exchange]] to ensure the erasure of Germany will devastate the entire world, even having Yazov regret their actions by the end of a successful campaign. Despite this, there are many fans that root for them, viewing their omnicidal crusade as justified, with the writing behind them providing the charismatic image of an uncompromising militant faction with sympathetic motivations.
88	** Komi's [[SovietSuperscience Ultravisionary Socialists]] are repeatedly described as an insane cult masquerading as a legitimate science-focused technocracy, hiding massive human rights abuses behind a façade of beautiful futuristic aesthetics and rhetoric about human scientific progress and space travel, wretched at actually governing a nation, and even in Kardachev's reformist path there's a decade of mismanagement and authoritarianism to dismantle, if he even can. But they have many unironic fans who want to believe there're good ideas worth salvaging in there, usually admittedly because they're fans of the beautiful futuristic aesthetics and rhetoric about human scientific progress and space travel. They're stereotypically compared to "{{tech bro}}s," Elon Musk fans, and the similar misaimed fandom surrounding ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty''.
89	** Magnimik has mentioned that the mad Russian dictator Sergey Taboritsky's notoriety had become "an Internet wide cognitohazard" in a Discord chat. He was pissed when he found that overzealous fans were making references to TNO in the comments sections of any article that mentioned anything remotely related to the historical Taboritsky (including about Vladimir Nabokov), and especially pissed when one fan ''tried to get his name changed to Taboritsky''.
90	* ''VideoGame/NickelodeonAllStarBrawl'' was Nickelodeon making a PlatformFighter crossover in a vein similar to ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''. They wanted specifically to acknowledge Nickelodeon throughout history - which includes the present day and TheNewTens. However, many people have complained that the game was including characters like [[WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse Lincoln Loud]] or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (which weren't associated with Nickelodeon by many of the PeripheryDemographic of [[TheNineties '90s kids]]), and somehow [[MisBlamed saying they were responsible]] for characters like WesternAnimation/{{Rocko\|sModernLife}} or [[WesternAnimation/{{Doug}} Doug Funnie]] not being there. Nickelodeon actually ''does'' in fact have a modern audience, despite what many people would claim, and thus including references to other shows that are either currently running or more recent is a good way to appeal to them - it wasn't specifically done as a game catering to [[TheNineties 90s nostalgia]]. The same treatment also extended to many other "All Stars" games with Nickelodeon -- to the point where mentioning that the show would include characters from 90s series besides the Rugrats (Nickelodeon's cash cow franchise before ''[=SpongeBob=]'') has been mentioned as an AuthorsSavingThrow.
91	* Although many of the Variants in ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' have fans despite being disfigured psychopaths, the most stunning example of this in the Outlast fandom is that for Eddie Gluskin. Established in the game as criminally insane before the [[MindRape Morphogenic Engine experiments]], Gluskin is an unrepentant (to the point of [[IRejectYourReality refusing to accept the deaths of his victims even when presented with photographic evidence]]) SerialKiller who was responsible for the brutal murder and dismemberment of a number of innocent women before being caught, having butchered them after choosing them to become his "brides" only to be rejected. Further unhinged by the procedures he underwent, Gluskin's psychosis leads to him fixating on the idea that he can "make" a perfect bride from one of the men caught in the asylum with him, which leads to him trying to [[GroinAttack brutally castrate]] anyone he catches in hopes of then using the resultant wound as a vagina to start a family with. A huge fandom absolutely ''loves him'', taking his FauxAffablyEvil presentation of being a romantic, 50s-esque family man (ignoring how that's a thin veneer over a psychotic PoliticallyIncorrectVillain) and playing it absolutely straight, to the point of shipping him with the ''Whistleblower'' protagonist, a HappilyMarried straight man with two sons whom Eddie attempts to castrate with a table-saw and then tries to stab and hang for escaping. All because Eddie is [[DracoInLeatherPants handsome(ish) and feigns being romantic]], and because he has a DarkAndTroubledPast involving [[AbusiveParents being raped by his father & uncle as a child]]. This particular Misaimed Fandom is so vocal that it [[BrokenBase absolutely incenses those who don't buy into it]], especially since the game itself never portrays Eddie as being in the slightest sympathetic or anything other than a deranged murderer.
92	* ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}}'': Lovander is a PsychoPink salamander {{mon}} that, much like its inspiration Salazzle, was intended to [[FanDisservice gross people out]] instead of titillating them. Also like Salazzle, this had the [[SpringtimeForHitler complete opposite effect]], with it becoming high-octane RuleThirtyFour fuel.
93	* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
94	** Some feel that Team Plasma of ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Black and White]]'' are actually in the right. This is in spite of ''the entire point of the game'' being that they're not. Indeed, the games can be seen as Game Freak responding to criticisms similar to the ones Team Plasma make that have been made by actual people. It doesn't help that [[spoiler:Plasma's figurehead, N]] legitimately believes that Pokémon abuse is a common thing. Or that, even if he's wrong about how common it is, it ''still happens,'' and the Pokémon it ''does'' happen to are all but defenseless as a result of the nature of Poké Balls. ''Or'' that instead of actually writing a convincing argument against the idea of owning Pokémon, the Plasma mooks are either [[BlatantLies openly, unapologetically]] [[KickTheDog abusing the Pokémon they "liberate"]] or having an "argument" with Plasma as [[TheWarOnStraw The Strawmen]] and [[{{Anvilicious}} everyone else being, well...]]
95	** In a sense, the popular "Nuzlocke" SelfImposedChallenge is a case of this. Series creator Satoshi Tajiri has stated that the NonLethalKO nature of the battles is very much deliberate, as he believes it's unhealthy for kids to associate death with losing in a game. This didn't stop players from imposing {{Permadeath}} as a SelfImposedChallenge.
96	** Lavender Town in ''[[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue Red and Blue]]'' was probably intended to make the distinction between fainting in battle and actual death clear, as well as to teach kids to treat death with more respect. A large portion of the fandom now considers Lavender Town CreepyAwesome, fixating on its NightmareFuel aspects and creating Creepypasta that makes it far more disturbing than it actually is.
97	** ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' gives us an in-universe example in Team Flare. Their boss charges a 50,000,000 Pokémon Dollar membership fee, which, in theory, represents a tangible commitment to creating/maintaining a truly beautiful world. In practice, however, Team Flare grunts treat their membership as not much more than a status symbol, and in fact consider themselves superior to everyone else just for being part of Team Flare -- a rather selfish viewpoint of an apparent symbol of altruism.
98	* Many fans of the ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' games became huge fans of Cave Johnson after hearing recorded speeches from him in the "Old Aperture Labs" levels of ''VideoGame/Portal2'', causing them to perceive him as being a spectacular case of SuccessThroughInsanity. The reality is, though, we're supposed to think of Cave Johnson as a delusional, highly dangerous bungling incompetent who caused the deaths of untold numbers of people and bankrupted his own company in the pursuit of outlandish, crackpot ideas like using a portal-creating device as a ''shower curtain''. The awesomeness of Cave Johnson is so well-entrenched that things like the fact his famous "when life gives you lemons" speech are actually supposed to be the demented ravings of a lunatic imbecile -- who refuses to accept that he murdered people and ruined his company because of his own incompetence -- actually wound up on the [[Fridge/Portal2 Portal 2 Fridge subpage]] -- they're considered ''that'' unobvious.
99	* ''VideoGame/ProgressQuest'' was meant to be a satire of level-grinding Skinner boxes in [=MMORPGs=] by taking the concept to its logical conclusion, a game that plays itself with no input from the player. The idea was that when stripped of the graphics and the illusion of choice, the core experience of these games would be incredibly boring. Years later, [[IdleGame games that play themselves became a a real, completely unironic genre]]. [[BribingYourWayToVictory Many of them are even monetized]].
100	* Most of the ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' fandom champions Leon and Ada’s relationship. Their so called “cat and mouse” DatingCatwoman dynamic getting no small amount of fan art, fan fiction and general appraisal especially since they’re an interracial couple. Problem is, their relationship even within the campy setting is on Ada’s side unhealthy, emotionally manipulative and downright cruel with Ada as TheVamp repeatedly exploiting Leon’s feelings entirely for her own criminal benefit. Such behaviour would be considered textbook romantic abuse in real life, yet the majority of fans see no problem with it, thanks to Ada chucking Leon a RPG when he needs it or outright fetishise Ada’s toxic dominance over Leon as something hot and sexy. There were plenty of complaints from fans when ''[=RE2make=]'' and ''[=RE4make=]'' took a more realistic approach to their dynamic, i.e Leon being disgusted and furious at Ada for using him and being quite hostile towards her, rather than flirty in the latter remake. Even though Leon is perfectly justified to treat Ada in such a manner after what she did to him. Most telling, Leon’s other genuinely good and affectionate love interests Claire and Ashley [[GoodIsBoring get their bond with him celebrated less among the fans, compared to Ada]].
101	* ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' gives us the infamous Pyramid Head and the Bubblehead nurses. Pyramid Head is the physical manifestation of James's guilt and repressed sexual desire, as evidenced by his male physique in contrast to the other monsters. Pyramid Head terrorizes both James and the other monsters, the latter through sexualized violence. The Bubblehead nurses also represent James's sexual frustration by being both "attractive" yet very repulsive. These two monsters are often taken out of the context of the game where fans legitimately find them attractive and often make a joke of Pyramid Head's raping habits, never mind rape is ''not'' a topic to joke about.
102	* The ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' franchise predictably has some cases of this, due to generally being cluttered with misinformation and urban legends:
103	** Some tend to claim the franchise was created to appeal to the Western market first and foremost, in part due to how Sonic's original design featured many American influences like Music/MichaelJackson or (implicitly) WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat, and in part due to how the series has historically been [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff far more successful in the West compared to Japan]]. Despite this sentiment, the franchise was always made with the intent to appeal to ''both'' Western and Japanese audiences, and [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1991 the original game's]] level designer Hirokazu Yasuhara has said outright in interviews (such as those in UDON's ''The History of Sonic the Hedgehog'' book) that he wanted to find a balance between how Western players desired more hardcore game experiences while Japanese players desired more casual ones (and that Green Hill Zone alone went through so many iterations just to strive for this balance). The series has famously also taken inspiration from Eastern works since its early days, such as from ''Franchise/DragonBall'' or Creator/StudioGhibli films like ''Anime/CastleInTheSky''.
104	** From ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' onward, some have interpreted Eggman's admiration for his late grandfather Gerald as the core reason why he decided to TakeOverTheWorld -- the idea being that Eggman wants to avenge Gerald's legacy and retaliate towards humanity for betraying and executing him despite how much Gerald did for them, and him [[BrokenPedestal losing respect for his grandfather]] once learning that [[spoiler:he posthumously attempted to ''destroy'' the world after going insane]] has also led some to even believe that [[DracoInLeatherPants he truly has some good in his evil heart deep down.]] However, the game also has him mostly be interested in his grandfather's ''work'' and the potential to use it for ''his'' own purposes, has him repeatedly preach about how ''he's'' going to start a legacy of being the world's greatest mind and ruler of all time without any reference to Gerald, typically references Gerald as his grandfather whenever it feeds ''his'' ego, and it's most likely that his admiration for Gerald is exclusively regarding his prowess ''as a fellow genius scientist'' as opposed to anything humanitarian or familial (as Eggman would probably be aware that a Gerald of sound mind would ''not'' approve of what he does to further his goals), with his own [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatism or logic]] likely being why he lost respect for his grandfather-- along with the very fact that ''[[EvilVersusOblivion he]]'' would've died as part of Gerald's scheme. For most of [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog the franchise's]] history before ''and'' after this game, it's all but stated that his main reason for wanting to rule the world [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans no matter what happens to it]] is to [[ItsAllAboutMe continue to feed his ego]] and [[InTheirOwnImage improve it in whatever way he sees fit]].
105	** ''VideoGame/SonicAndTheBlackKnight'': A number of people view [[spoiler:Sonic's [[NoSympathy lack of sympathy]] towards Merlina's plight as being uncharacteristically callous of him, given how her plans technically involve preventing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt for Camelot. These players tend to forget that Merlina's plans would also involve subjecting Camelot to an eternity of being trapped in [[TheDarkArts the darkness of the Underworld]], and how there's zero indication within the game itself that Merlina's motivations are unselfish: during the FinalBoss, Sonic ''explicitly'' describes her sorrow towards the end of Camelot as being "one-sided", and Caliburn [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse calls her out]] on how she's risking everyone else's lives [[ItsAllAboutMe just to escape said sorrow]].]]
106	** ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' ends with Modern Sonic telling his Classic self to "enjoy [his] future" as "it's gonna be great". Given how the series had gone through a lengthy AudienceAlienatingEra prior, fans reacted incredulously to this line, and its apparent irony led it to become {{memetic\|Mutation}}. This completely overlooks how ''in-universe'', Sonic's frequently enjoyed his adventures and going on them, along with the basic fact that he won't dislike one of his adventures [[PsychologicalProjection just because the person playing as him does]]. This example was considered unobvious enough to end up on the game's very own [[Fridge/SonicGenerations Fridge subpage]].
107	* ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'' is well-loved by fans of classic shooters (''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'', et cetera) and non-military shooters as they see the game as an attack on the modern military genre and its fans, though lead writer Walt Williams has stated that is not the case, and that his actual intention was to make people question why they played shooters to begin with.
108	* ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'':
109	** [[VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising Dark Pit]] is both liked and disliked for a myriad of reasons, but they all surround him being a DarkerAndEdgier version of Pit. But whether the character is derided or loved for it, most aren't aware that (in the context of his game) he's a ''parody'' of "dark counterpart to hero" characters, which is why he has such an uninspired name. He picks fights with Pit for no real reason, is constantly made fun of for his uncaring attitude, and it's made abundantly clear he's as much as a dork as Pit is despite supposedly being a "dark" version of Pit, if not more so for trying so hard to act like he's better than Pit is. ''Smash'' makes no attempt to illustrate this, being a fighting game where characters spend more time jumping around than talking.
110	** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' introduced Echo Fighters, a new designation for MovesetClone characters (for example, Dark Pit is lumped together with Pit instead of getting his own unique slot in the roster). While this helped [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap popularize several Clone characters]], it also lead to people fantasizing about potential new Echo Fighters with significantly different movesets from their base character, missing the point of Echo Fighters being deliberately similar to pre-existing fighters. It doesn't help that the game is sometimes inconsistent in what makes an Echo Fighter: Toon Link isn't an Echo of Young Link and Wolf and Falco are not Echoes of Fox (even though Dark Pit and Lucina prove that returning fighters can get "demoted" to Echo Fighter status), but Ken is considered an Echo of Ryu despite having many significant differences.
111	** During the presentation for [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]], Creator/MasahiroSakurai pointed out that he wanted to make ''Smash'' a simple party game rather than a competitive fighter, something the casual side of the CasualCompetitiveConflict latched on to because they like to constantly remind competitive players of it. However, immediately after, he said that the details of a move's frame data should be left to tournament players, as he just brought up the frame data for Sephiroth's forward and back air attacks. His actual purpose for this scene was simply to remind himself that casual players don't care about frame data, not that tournaments are bad.
112	** Fans have wanted several characters to get Smash Taunts similar to Snake's Codec calls and Palutena's Guidance, where the character and their allies discuss an opponent, such as having the Lords from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' discuss whoever Byleth is facing at Garreg Mach Monestary, or having the [[VideoGame/Persona5 Phantom Thieves of Hearts]] discuss whoever Joker is facing in Mementos. However, the reason Snake and Pit have their Smash Taunts is because they're based on things that happen in their games. In ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' games, Snake (or whoever the player controls) can call anyone on MissionControl during gameplay, and they'll give info about a boss if one is being fought, similar to the Codec calls in ''Smash''. Meanwhile, in ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'', Pit and Palutena will frequently have conversations during gameplay about things that are happening in the game, including talking about enemies and bosses in a similar manner to Palutena's Guidance.
113	* There is an article called [[http://www.dc.state.fl.us/pub/compass/0305/2.html Guardians of the Threshold]] published by the Florida Department of Corrections outlining the ideals a responsible correctional officer should live by. The list they give of these ideals is copied from the Guardian's virtues as described in ''VideoGame/UltimaUnderworld II''. The only problem with this? The Guardian is a ''bad guy''. His virtues are supposed to be ''tools of oppression''.
114	* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'':
115	** The game has the Genocide path where in order to see the bad ending, you have to spare not a single soul and slaughter as many mooks as possible while killing every single boss monster as well. By going on this path, you encounter two extremely difficult fights that [[SNKBoss are almost unfair to go against]] and the bad ending has [[spoiler: the entire world destroyed, leaving behind a black void]]. Even if you opt to go for a reset and try to make everything better again by going for the GoldenEnding, said ending is corrupted due to your actions from the bad ending and it follows you no matter how many times you reset (unless you fiddle with the game's files to override it). Many players who had done the Genocide path in their first playthrough or later complain how unrewarding the bad ending path is due to the difficult bosses and how one shouldn't be punished for simply getting the bad ending. The point behind the bad ending and future playthroughs being tainted is to show the player that treating the game nothing more than just a game and thinking they can be above consequences while they toy with the characters in the game [[VideoGameCrueltyPunishment will bite them in the ass no matter much they think they're above it all]]. The whole idea is that you shouldn't be rewarded for being a bad person and the trials for being fully evil will be just as difficult as being completely good. [[spoiler:Chara/The Fallen Child at the end of the Genocide run is the incarnation of the player's desires, where they want more power, get stronger, and move on to the next game once they've done everything in the current game. And even then, should you complete a second Genocide Run, Chara will express that they no longer understand what you gain from doing all this.]]
116	** Several fans enjoyed the Genocide route despite having the intention of being unsatisfying. This largely comes from challenge-focused gamers, seeing as the path throws two of the game's hardest bosses even when said bosses were part of ''punishing'' the player for following through the path. On the other side, there's the story-focused fans who like how the path [[TheApocalypseBringsOutTheBestInPeople shows some of the characters at their best]] or see it as a good tragic story on its own. Relatedly, Sans and Papyrus are also, if not ''the'' most popular characters in the game, but a lot of the former's popularity stems from [[spoiler:his actions and lines exclusive to the Genocide route, especially the boss fight he throws the player into at the end]].
117	** Some fans have been known to push other players, mainly Let's Players, into doing a PacifistRun on their first playthroughs, sometimes using the game's tagline [[note]]"The Friendly RPG Where Nobody Has to Die"[[/note]] as evidence that this is what you "should normally" do. In truth, the game is meant to be played blind, and the whole point of the morality system is to catch unsuspecting players off guard with the reveal that their own, personal choices in the game have consequences. It comes a bit harder to give the message when a player avoids committing negative actions not because it was their natural inclination, but because other people told them to in advance.
118	* Lezard Valeth from ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'' was written to be as repulsive as possible, a sexually deviant stalker and violator of natural laws; like Harry Potter grown up terribly, terribly wrong. Some fans, however, like to pair him with Lenneth, the heroine of the first game. The blame/credit probably falls on the shoulders of his highly talented (and sexy-sounding) [[Creator/MaddieBlaustein English]] [[Creator/LiamOBrien voice actor(s)]]. In the original Japanese version, he's more of a standard deep-voiced villain (although he does have [[Creator/TakehitoKoyasu a sexy voice]] for a deep-voiced one).
119	* The ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' mini-quest "Chimera Prologue" left an alarming number of players believing two things: [[spoiler:that Ballas was right about Lotus manipulating the Tenno into leaving the Solar System vulnerable to the Sentient invasion, and that Ballas himself may not be such a bad person after all -- he gave [[PlayerCharacter the Operator]] a blueprint for a shiny [[WeaponOfXSlaying Sentient-slayer]]!]] So strong were these convictions that when the New War came and contradicted them [[spoiler:by showing Ballas not only spearheading that Sentient invasion, but also using that Sentient-slayer to cruelly stop the Operator from rescuing Lotus]], those players' reactions were less of a shock [[spoiler:about being another victim of Ballas's deception]] and more of an accusation of writers at Digital Extremes having no idea what they've written previously.
120	* Inverted in the 2005 Rockstar video game adaptation of ''VideoGame/TheWarriors''. The game's depiction (which, naturally, takes many of its cues from the similar ''Grand Theft Auto'') is a more accurate rendering of Sol Yurick's original characters than the [[AdaptationDisplacement popular 1979 film based on the novel]] on which the game is ostensibly more directly based. Whereas in the movie the young hoodlums (except, of course, for Ajax, and even he is up to debate) come off at worst as misguided, put-upon orphans, and at best as {{Loveable Rogue}}s, in the game, these same characters truly are criminals: ruthlessly pragmatic, frighteningly power-hungry, and have no qualms about mugging the innocent and outright [[AssholeVictim murdering the guilty]]. (The game ''does'' conclude the same way the movie does, though, so maybe this is a straight example after all.)
121	* ''VideoGame/WatchDogsLegion'' marketed itself in 2019 with an {{anvilicious}} left-leaning "Post (Anti) Brexit" viewpoint of a Britian that does whatever it wants with no oversight from the European Union, and forms a fascist police state by exploiting the public's fear after a bio-terror attack. It was derided by more right-leaning critics (whom tend to be in favor of Brexit) whom accused the game of fear mongering. However come 2020 and the UsefulNotes/Covid19Pandemic, many of said critics have come to embrace the game as an anti-lockdown narrative. Bonus points for conspiracy theories of Covid being an engineered biological weapon.
122	* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'':
123	** [[Franchise/TheWitcher The series]], [[VideoGame/TheWitcher2AssassinsOfKings the second game]] in particular, expects you to make rather murky moral decisions, and [[GreyAndGrayMorality no side is all good, or all bad]], but overall, there is a clear message that bigots are bad. The elvish rebels methods are criticized in the game, but it is made clear that the fact that they are [[FantasticRacism discriminated against]] is not cool, and joining the non-humans is given as much weight as joining the pro-human factions. In fact, you get the best ending if you join Iorveth, the Scoia'tael leader. It is the only way to [[spoiler:lift the curse on [[JeanneDArchetype Saskia]], the (literal) dragon. Your other options are leaving her impaled on a tree, but alive, or kill her]]. Yet many fans agree with the strawman arguments put forth by the human characters in the game, and take the stance that the humans are always right by virtue of them being human (similar to ''Film/{{Avatar}}'''s [[MisaimedFandom/{{Film}} own misaimed fandom]]), and [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman should always take precedence over the non-humans in the game]]. They have also begun to drag real life prejudices in the game, by complaining when the developers do things to cater to fans who belong to a minority group, such as replacing textures on some brothel carpets which could offend some Muslims, or vehemently arguing against the inclusion of any form of homosexuality in the game, because apparently minorities should never be considered, despite the clear message saying otherwise in the game itself.
124	** If you know anything about elves in the later ''Witcher'' books (which did not receive a widespread release until after the games and [[Series/TheWitcher2019 Netflix shows]]' success), the treatment of elves does become a bit more of a moral grey area. It is also worth noting that not choosing Yorveth in the second game prevents Flotsam from turning into a giant bloodbath.
125	* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'':
126	** The original LeeroyJenkins [[WebVideo/LeeroyJenkinsVideo video]] was, despite being a staged over-the-top reconstruction of a real event, more a parody of "nerd guilds" with their excessive and sometimes nonsensical planning[[note]]If you know anything about the Upper Blackrock Spire dungeon, listen to what the players are actually planning--it boils down to "let's aggro as many enemies as we can and try to kill them all at the same time" (also known as suicide)[[/note]] than a parody of Leeroy's player archetype.
127	** Some quests are clearly meant to be evil but players view these actions as justified. Good examples include the quest "The Broken Front", all Royal Apothecary quests and "It Was The Orcs, Honest!" Honorable mention to "The War of Northwatch Aggression", named for the infamous alternative epithet that racist Southerners gave to the ''UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar''. Basically, if you get given a quest with a title like that you're supposed to ask yourself if you're the baddies (you are). Then again, there are obvious logical inconsistencies in the quests that indicate different heroes are technically doing them lorewise. In several instances you even run into [=NPCs=] doing the exact same quests you previously did (or in a few instances, you send out [=NPCs=] to do quests you previously completed). This does allow you to decide whether your character actually did those quests or not. Not that player characters necessarily have to be good people in order to still be the Heroes of Azeroth. After all, plenty of the lore heroes are also {{Jerkass}}es.
128	** Some players sympathize with Malygos and his plans to curtail the use of magic without realizing that they would kill many people and put the world in danger. It took until ''Battle For Azeroth'' when it was revealed that Azeroth was indeed a Titan World Soul that people stopped sympathizing with Malygos. Not only would his plan have endangered the entire world, but also ley lines are literally the veins of a living being. Imagine having all your veins ripped out of your body.
129	* Even though ''[[VideoGame/LikeADragon Yakuza]]'' is incredibly cartoonish and wacky ("Yakuza is a serious crime drama" is a sarcastic {{meme\|ticMutation}} in the fandom for a reason), it does have serious moments as well -- and it does ''not'' romanticize the {{Yakuza}} at ''all''. Anyone who gets involved with the yakuza pretty clearly gets their lives messed up. This still doesn't stop some people from assuming that the yakuza are actually the good guys and have a sense of morals to them -- this is similar to a lot of how Mafia and "Organized Crime" movies make gangs, TheMafia, et cetera look great. This may also partly be caused by how Kiryu and the other protagonists you play are genuinely good guys, but that doesn't mean that it extends to the other gangsters; most of the yakuza in the series are the bad kind of gangsters. Kiryu himself is also only in the yakuza in [[VideoGame/Yakuza1 the first game]] for the prologue mission, and in ''[[VideoGame/Yakuza0 0]]'' he's on the run from the yakuza.

Context MisaimedFandom / VideoGames