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Big Good / Video Games

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Big Goods in Video Games. Main and/or supporting heroes will become the major forces of good at some point of the plot/story, so beware of spoilers ahead.

  • Various Onikiribe leaders (there are many, many groups) in Yuri Visual Novel Akai Ito and Aoi Shiro. Wakasugi Tsudura from Akai Ito is the biggest good by the time of events in Aoi Shiro.
  • Thomas Zane seems to fill this role in Alan Wake, though he has mysterious motivations and is not always straightforward about things. He acts as the embodiment of light in the struggle against the Dark Presence, providing Alan with guidance and directly opposing the Dark Presence on a few occasions.
  • Petra Johanna Lagerkvist from Arcana Heart counts in the third game as she is the head of the family that actively opposes the Drexler Institute.
  • Assassin's Creed: The Assassins (including the Hidden Ones) and their allies are the main protagonists for the entire franchise with Desmond Miles as the Player Character in the modern day portions of the story in the first few games until his Heroic Sacrifice in III to not only give the Brotherhood a fighting chance against Juno and the Isu Triarch but he would avert a catastrophe that would have destroyed humanity in 2012. Supplementary material and other games have Gavin Banks and William Miles filling the role for Layla Hassan, Kiyoshi Takakura and other Assassins in Origins and Valhalla. Some of the games also have their own Big Goods:
    • Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad and Ezio Auditore, the focus characters in the first few games of the series, each become the head of their respective Assassin Brotherhoods after the events of the main games. We only get to hear about Altaïr's deeds through his journal, but Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood actually focuses on Ezio as a Master Assassin, recruiting and training new members. Assassin's Creed: Revelations goes even further by delving into separate but parallel storylines for Altair and Ezio.
    • In Assassin's Creed III, George Washington is the leader of the American Patriots and a personal ally to Connor Kenway. It's somewhat subverted since he was actually responsible for the raid on Connor's home village in upstate New York after the Seven Years' War and not Charles Lee as the latter previously presumed. That said, Washington is still very much a good guy and has no problems working with a half-British, half-Mohawk Native American Assassin despite his shortcomings. Played straight with Connor himself who becomes the Mentor of the American Assassins at the end of the game.
    • Honoré Gabriel Riqueti / Comte de Mirabeau from Assassin's Creed: Unity is the Mentor of the French Assassins during the French Revolution and he's one of the signers of the Declaration of Rights, the founding document of the first French Republic.
    • Assassin's Creed Syndicate has Jacob and Evie Frye who establish a British working class crime syndicate based in London for the purpose of undermining Templar dominance over the city and to liberate the children suffering under the bad conditions of Starrick's factories.
    • Bayek and Aya/Amunet in Assassin's Creed Origins become a mixture of this and Greater-Scope Paragon to the entire Assassin Brotherhood as the founders of the Hidden Ones, the original incarnation of the group before the Third Crusade.
  • In Betrayal at Krondor Pug is the greatest magician the good side has. While the heroes of the game deal with lesser evils on his and Prince Arutha's orders, Pug seems to sense a greater evil behind it all. In addition late in the game he is incapacitated by the Big Bad Makala who acts as his opposite.
  • Beyond Good & Evil has the leader of the Hillys chapter of Iris, eventually revealed to be Jade's uncle Pey'j, and to a lesser extent the Governor of Hillys, as without them La Résistance wouldn't be possible.
  • Rachel Alucard currently fills this role in BlazBlue, explicitly naming herself the protector of the world in Chronophantasma's ending. Like Terumi, she manipulates the "actors" of the "stage" to serve her goals, which are the protection of humanity.
  • BioShock:
    • In BioShock Brigid Tenenbaum is the only source of good in Rapture and her help is vital to Jack's success. She still somewhat fills the role in BioShock 2, leading the hunt for the abducted girls, but her appearance in the game proper isn't much more than a cameo.
    • The Lutece Twins in BioShock Infinite set the whole plot in motion and sporadically provide Booker and Elizabeth with help.
  • Child of Light has the Queen of Light, in opposition to the the Queen of the Night. Being banished by the latter was the beginning of the misery in Lemuria, and one of the mysteries is finding out what happened to her. Bonus points for being the main character's mother.
  • In Chrono Cross, Belthasar is the big good, as well as The Chessmaster.
  • Statesman in City of Heroes, Alternate Company Equivalent of Superman, is the main signature character of the game, and avatar of the original lead developer Jack Emmert.
  • Control:
  • Crash Bandicoot gives us Aku Aku. He is the guardian of the Wumpa Islands as well as the father figure of Crash, Coco and their friends.
    • The recent game, Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, introduces the new Big Good Quadrumvirate in the form of the 4 Quantum Masks who protect time and space whose help Crash and Coco require in stopping Dr. Cortex and N. Tropy's schemes for inter-dimensional domination.
  • Danganronpa has Makoto Naegi, the main character of the first game, who ends up having The Paragon, Messianic Archetype and Hope Bringer traits towards the end of the first game and maintains these through the franchise, having being the one to save the Remnants of Despair, putting them into the Neo World Program and trying to rescue them once Junko AI starts another Killing Game in the program and in Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak High School having other people admit that he became someone they look up to for hope, and in the end becoming the new Headmaster to the rebuilt Hope's Peak.
    • While Makoto is still the greater-scope Big Good for the Hope's Peak arc, in Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair the role is shared by Usami and Chiaki for that game's specific story. Despite Usami being treated with suspicion by the students throughout and Chiaki ultimately being revealed as the "traitor" in this iteration of the killing game, they were in fact working throughout to free the Remnants of Despair from both Junko's control and the Future Foundation's execution order, and were even willing to die to help them.
  • Dariusburst has Ti2, an AI terminal who represents Darius itself and is the pilot of the Silver Hawk "Legend".
  • In Dark Forces Saga, specifically Jedi Outcast and Jedi Academy, Luke Skywalker, as the head of the Jedi Academy and probably the most powerful Jedi ever will help however he can. He gives advice to Kyle, helps trains Kyle's apprentice and has enough personal power and influence with the Republic to fight the enemy on a scale Kyle and Jaden can't.
  • Dante from Devil May Cry takes over this role in 4 and 5, being the major force of good opposing the Order of the Sword, and against the demon invasion in Red Grave City respectively.
  • The archangel Tyrael is the closest thing the world of Diablo has to one of these, and is especially cemented in Diablo III, where he renounces his status as an archangel so that he can aid humanity against Hell directly.
  • Dragon Age:
    • The Grey Wardens as a whole are the Big Good. Though, in Origins one of your primary goals is to restore Arl Eamon to health, as he serves this role in unseating Loghain Mac Tir. Since the Wardens themselves are cut off from helping the player in Origins, they naturally have to fend for themselves. This effectively makes the Player Character the Big Good, since they're one of the only Wardens in Ferelden, and the others more or less defer to their leadership. If you play a character from an origin that has no political clout however (i.e.: anyone other than the human or dwarf nobles) then Eamon is the Big Good, as no one would take your challenge to Loghain seriously without his and Alistair's support behind it.
    • The Cousland family have for centuries stood as the Big Good towards all of Ferelden. It's worth noting that Highever is actually a Principality of Ferelden, being mostly independent and self-governed, and Teyrn Cousland is old friends and on a First-Name Basis with all of the people who owe fealty to him. It's mentioned that he was once offered the throne and turned it down, since as an ardent royalist, he believed that it should fall to Cailan, the rightful heir. When the Darkspawn threat arose, Teyrn Cousland was prepared to march into battle with the King's Army, alongside his firstborn son, in order to defend Ferelden. Unfortunately, most of the line was brutally murdered by their treacherous friend, Arl Howe; the only surviving members of the family are the aforementioned firstborn son and the Warden, should they be from the Human Noble origin.
    • In Dragon Age II, Viscount Dumar attempts to be this during the second act, desperately trying to keep the peace between the Qunari and the various groups in Kirkwall. Unfortunately, he keeps being kowtowed by various political pressures, making him somewhat ineffectual. He ultimately fails and gets killed by the very pissed off Arishok, during the Qunari takeover of Kirkwall. In Act III, Grand Cleric Elthina is the only person keeping Knight-Commander Meredith and First Enchanter Orsino from actively acting out against each other. Her death at the hands of Anders leads to open war between the two.
    • Hawke is the closest thing to a Big Good of the entire game, eventually earning them the title of "The Champion of Kirkwall" for his/her actions. Due to the Grey-and-Gray Morality of the game, depending on their personality, Hawke can either be played as a Messianic Archetype or Noble Demon. But as Varric's narration makes absolutely clear, Hawke is only person in Kirkwall actively trying to make the City of Chains a better place for everyone to live, and repeatedly puts their life on the line in order to go out of their way to help people.
    • In Dragon Age: Inquisition, the future Inquisitor begins as, more or less, a symbolic Big Good for the organization, as many outside of it see him/her as a religious icon, with Cassandra being the one really seen as the leader of the Inquisition. Over time, however, the other leaders (including Cassandra) unexpectedly realize that s/he is the one genuinely leading them and making the hard decisions where they matter and, after his/her actions during Corypheus' attack on Haven, they respond by making him/her the official leader and Big Good of the Inquisition.
  • Dragon Quest:
    • Dragon Quest IV: The Zenith Dragon is one of the most powerful beings in the series, and he was the one who initially defeated Estark and sealed him away. In the present day he prefers to act as a greater force for good.
    • In Dragon Quest V, the player character is not the Chosen One — that role goes to his father — but he is the one who marshals the forces of Good to destroy Nimzo.
  • Eco Fighters: Uncle Moly reconstructs two fighting machines and has his niece and nephew fly in them to stop Goyolk's exploitation of the planet.
  • The Elder Scrolls:
  • In Eternal Darkness, Mantorok is the Big Good guiding the protagonists throughout history through the Tome of Eternal Darkness. You know the setting's dark when an ancient abomination is the Big Good. His motivations are actually fully selfish, initially just vengeance against the other Eternals and afterwards either gaining control of/destroying all existence or escaping from his prison.
  • Zig-zagged with the Brotherhood of Steel in the Fallout series. They're a group of xenophobic, isolationist Principles Zealots, but they've dedicated themselves to protecting humanity and typically take a heroic role in the series.
    • In Fallout they were at the forefront of the war against The Master, but started to demilitarize by the time of Fallout 2. This nearly got them wiped out by the Enclave, but they still did everything they could to provide The Chosen One guidance and aid.
    • In Fallout 3 the East Coast Brotherhood renounced their isolationist ways, and became the de-facto rulers of the Capital Wasteland protecting it from Super Mutants and the Enclave. In Fallout 4 they fell back into their more morally gray roots, but still had a vested interest in protecting the common people.
    • Downplayed in Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 76 as in the former the Brotherhood was in hiding due to their ideological conflict with the New California Republic escalating into full-on war between the two, but a politically savvy Courier can broker peace between the two and have them assist the NCR against Caesar's Legion in the Golden Ending. As for the latter, they were wiped out prior to the start of the game by the Scorched but reinforcements later arrived from their headquarters Lost Hills to help cleanse the region.
  • Final Fantasy has a series staple here.
  • Five Nights at Freddy's:
    • The Puppet, who first appears in Five Nights at Freddy's 2, originally appears to have malicious intent, notably affixing the heads of the main 4 animatronics to the heads of dead children in the 'Give Life' minigame. However, it turns out in Five Nights at Freddy's 3 that she was trying to help save their souls all along, and the good ending in the game is unlocked by completing a Minigame where the Puppet helps the children's souls ascend to the afterlife. Mind you, she also tried to kill any night guard that worked at Freddy's, regardless of whether or not they were innocent. Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator confirms that the Puppet indeed was trying to protect the innocent as well as revealed that the Puppet, or at least the soul possessing it, is female.
    • Pizzeria Simulator: Cassette Guy reveals himself as this, as the entire game was a trap to lure Springtrap, Scrap Baby, Lefty, and Molten Freddy to a fake pizzeria in order to burn them all to the ground, send William Afton's soul to hell, and put the souls of the murdered children (including the Puppet's) to rest. Fittingly enough, his real identity is Henry Emily, the father of the soul possessing the Puppet.
  • In Freedom Wars, it's heavily implied that Simeon fills this role. While he doesn't take any real action, he states that his ultimate goal is the downfall of On High, so that he can begin the Great Transformation. Alas, it never comes to pass.
  • As Myrrah from Gears of War cements herself as the Big Bad, it would seem that the Big Good of the story is Adam Fenix, Marcus' father who had apparently died some 4 years before the games. Except his voice at the end of the second game credits....
  • As in Mythology above, King Arthur in Golden Logres is this. The ultimate goal of the game is to resurrect Arthur and bring eternal prosperity to Logres by his return.
  • The Master of Whispers in Guild Wars: Nightfall runs an ancient organization of informants and agents watching for the return of dark powers. He soon joins you on the front lines of the struggle as one of the game's customizable Hero NPCs. Equally good but not quite as big are Evennia, leader of the Shining Blade revolutionaries, and Kormir, nominal leader of the Sunspears after the group is shattered. Though Kormir becomes very big of a good when she ascends as the Goddess of Truth.
  • Queen Salma in the War In Kryta arc, and in Guild Wars 2, Queen Jennah for humans and the imperators of each legion for the Charr. A strange case in that each of the Guild Wars 2 Big Goods are Big Bads of sorts for the other race.
  • Guilty Gear shows a very spoilerific example the series has to offer: Xrd -SIGN- reveals that Asuka R. Kreutz, aka That Man, has been orchestrating the efforts to stop the Kill All Humans plan of the real Greater-Scope Villain of the series, and imprisoned and experimented on Justice in an attempt to rescue her from said villain's brainwashing.
  • Half-Life 2 shares this role between Eli Vance and Dr. Kleiner, along with Dr. Magnusson in Episode Two, all prominent leaders of La Résistance.
  • Iji has Hel Sarie, posthumously. Formerly a popular leader of the Tasen, she frequently advocated for restraint and kept trying for peace with the Komato, once publicly punching out Krotera during one of his particularly jingoistic rantings, and she and the Big Bad used to be friends before the whole "genocidal war" thing. Fittingly, it's implied that if she was still alive the whole mess in the game could have been avoided.
  • The Precursors in Jak and Daxter, especially after it becomes clear that they're neither extinct nor merely using recordings to communicate their advice and objectives to Jak.
  • Palutena from the Kid Icarus series is the goddess of light and ruler of Skyworld.
  • The King of Fighters:
    • Heidern is the founder and leader of the Ikari Warriors and he fully serves the position in the NESTS Saga to stop NESTS from their plans of world domination.
    • Since her debut in The King of Fighters XI, Elisabeth Blanctorche takes up the role for the Tales of Ash Saga, as she helps the heroes stop both Ash and Those from the Past.
    • In her debut in The King of Fighters XV, Dolores plays this role by recruiting Isla to her and Heidern's team and seeking to get both her and Shun'ei to unite against the threat that Re Verse poses.
  • Kingdom Hearts has several examples in the Disney sub-page.
  • Kirby:
    • Believe it or not, King Dedede occupies this role in The Subspace Emissary mode on Super Smash Bros. Brawl. His actions were all to ensure some brawlers would survive when Tabuu turns them all into trophies, not to be a Jerkass.
    • Kirby and the Forgotten Land: Elfilin takes up the Big Good mantle, as he is trying to save the Waddle Dees from the Beast Pack even before Kirby arrived on the scene, and he's both willing and eager to guide Kirby on a quest to rescue them and build up Waddle Dee Town. Additionally, he's the Good Counterpart to Fecto Forgo; he represents the part of Fecto Elfilis that's capable of compassion, love, and reason.
  • In The Legend of Zelda, more often than not Zelda herself is the driving force of goodness and hope in Hyrule. Similar to how Ganon is the Big Bad who is often behind lesser evils, Zelda has a habit of turning out to be the force behind lesser goods. Appropriately enough, Skyward Sword reveals that she's the human incarnation of the goddess Hylia, the creator of Hyrule. When it's not Zelda, however, it's often her father, the King of Hyrule, especially if she's the Deuteragonist instead.
    • The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask has the Goddess of Time, the enigmatic figure who watches over both Hyrule and Termina and provides Link with the means to travel back three days using the Song of Time in order to save the latter realm.
  • Shoko Ozora from Liberation Maiden is the President of Japan after her father was assassinated.
  • LittleBigPlanet 2 has Larry Da Vinci, the leader of The Alliance.
  • Aisha Blanchette from Macross 30: The Voice that Connects the Galaxy is the head of the SMS Ouroboros branch. Both Leon and Mina answer to her.
  • Mass Effect:
    • The Citadel Council are clearly meant to be this, but their track record says otherwise.
    • In Mass Effect 3, Commander Shepard, Admiral Hackett, and Admiral (formerly Captain/Councilor) Anderson become the Big Good Ensemble for the multi-species alliance in the war against the Reapers. Shepard is the vanguard-type Big Good, inspiring people by fighting with them on the front lines and rallying all of the species together, while Hackett and Anderson are the leader-types, serving as Reasonable Authority Figures for humanity in space and on the besieged Earth, respectively. By the end, most of the galaxy is looking up to Shepard and both Anderson and Hackett acknowledge him/her as the real key to victory.
    • If he survived the first game, Urdnot Wrex becomes this to the krogan. When not within earshot of Wrex, "Eve" admits to Shepard that Wrex is the single greatest thing to happen to Tuchanka and the krogan in over a thousand years.
    • In the Control ending, Paragon Shepard ascends to become The Champion to the entire galaxy, controlling entire fleets of optimised killing machines yet only unleashing them on massive threats while letting the galaxy flourish, and will be known as a great hero for aeons.
  • Master Detective Archives: Rain Code has Number One, the leader of the World Detective Organization, picked by majority vote throughout the organization's history. Number One gives the order for the detectives to search for Kanai Ward's Ultimate Secret, which is what triggers the plot of the game. The current Number One is actually the protagonist, "Yuma Kokohead". The "Number One" communicating with the Nocturnal Detective Agency and sending them on their mission to search for Kanai Ward's Ultimate Secret is actually a Body Double hired by him.
  • The Mega Man franchise:
    • Dr. Light in the classic series, serving as The Mentor and Team Dad to Mega Man, Proto Man, and Roll. He continues to be this posthumously in the Mega Man X series, now guiding X and Zero in their own adventures from beyond the grave.
    • The Real X in the Mega Man Zero series, with Zero himself as the hero. He carries on Dr. Light's vision of a peaceful coexistence between humans and robots, and passes that vision onto Zero when he dies. Ciel, to an extent, fulfills this role too.
    • In Mega Man ZX, Prarie, the leader of the guardians, fulfills this role, carrying on the will of her sister Ciel, who has become a Greater-Scope Paragon in creating the Biometals to stop Model W.
  • Mortal Kombat:
    • Raiden filled this role for most of the early installments of the franchise, acting as a mentor figure to the heroic forces of Earthrealm (and to Liu Kang especially). However, starting in Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, he grows increasingly obsessed with keeping Earthrealm safe at any cost, which ends up in him becoming corrupted and fighting (and killing) Liu Kang across several timelines.
    • Come Mortal Kombat 11, he realizes this and saves Liu Kang turning him into a Fire and Thunder God. The good ending of the Aftermath storyline implies Liu Kang is now going to take this role, starting by mentoring the Great Kung Lao so the new timeline runs better.
    • In Mortal Kombat 1, Liu Kang fills this role far better than Raiden did. His very presence gives off wisdom, tranquility, and compassion. He instructs his champions on what to expect in Outworld, as well as is patient with them through their ignorance of the larger universe they're learning about for the first time, and conservative about showing off his powers.
  • In Neverwinter Nights, the Big Good is Lord Nasher Alagondar, ruler of Neverwinter. He reprises the role in the sequel.
  • Operation Wolf Returns: First Mission has Colonel Jones, who serves as the player's commanding officer.
  • Operetta and Aoba Anoa as Hyper Anoa from Otomedius.
  • In The Outer Worlds, Phineas Welles is a scientist/wanted fugitive who awakens the protagonist from their cryosleep as part of his plan to oppose the corporate entities that rule the colony. He serves as the primary mission giver for the main questline, with the alternative being to side with The Board and do their bidding, which will eventually bring you to conflict with Welles.
  • Queen Fay in Overlord II is the ruler of Light Magic beings and the Evil Overlord's foil. Later on however while sacrificing her energy during an Enemy Mine with the Overlord she ends up being corrupted and driven mad by his dark magic, becoming the Fallen Hero Dark Fay.
  • Overwatch has Winston, the hero who recalls Overwatch and binds the old, scattered team together again. He's the most invested in Overwatch and the True Companions he found there, and will do anything to keep Overwatch heroic. Before the fall of Overwatch, the Big Good was Jack Morrison, who at present time has devolved into a bitter vigilante.
    • If the two are in the same team, they will occasionally have this passive-agressive interaction:
    Soldier: 76: So you think you can do my job, do you...
    Winston: Someone has to.
  • Perfect Dark has Daniel Carrington, founder and head of the Carrington Institute. Although, apart from opposing dataDyne, one has to wonder what it is they actually do. The Carrington Institute develops advanced computer software, hardware, and weaponry (all of which is put to good use by their agents). They are also the creators of the "null-g" technology, which lead to the development of hovercars. As a diplomatic party, they maintain peaceful relations with the Maians.
  • Pikmin: After Pikmin 2, Olimar moves from The Hero to this:
    • In Pikmin 3, his data files give the Koppaites the information they need on Pikmin, ideas on how to move through an area, and advice for Boss Battles. Though he spends some of the game unaware that they were there, he does notice that someone else is on the planet and hides space suit upgrades for them to find.
    • Downplayed in Pikmin 4, since he is stranded on the planet. However, his notes on the Pikmin and caves greatly help the Rescue Corps find him and other people who have also crashed into the planet. The rescue corps coming to the planet allows them to find treasure which will prevent them from going bankrupt. In addition, his actions as the Leafling save people by allowing them to breath oxygen and this completely heals them, and his battles with the rookie train them in the art of Dandori.
  • Mii Koryuji from Project × Zone. She and her family are the keepers of the Portalstone, which is the cause of why the many heroes and villains show up in her world after it is stolen. In addition to trying to get it back, she also has to hire her personal bodyguard Kogoro Tenzai to help.
  • Ford Cruller in Psychonauts is the former leader of the eponymous organisation and the personal boss of the two agents seen in the game, but injuries from a past battle mean he can't leave his sanctuary, restricting his role to giving vital training and advice to Raz.
  • Helga Lindenbaum from Raiden V. She's the most prominent member of the council, whom Max and the Fighting Thunders answer directly to.
  • In a rare case, you become one in Runescape when you unlock the Player-Owned Ports. You fund adventurers to go to the Eastern Lands, fulfill their personal stories, and bring back loot, never getting directly involved.
  • While the leaders of any alignment you happen to be on in Shin Megami Tensei could be considered this (or Big Bad Protagonists in the case of many Law and Chaos representatives) the character that fits this role best for the entire franchise is Stephen. For starters, he created the Demon Summoning Program that allows humans to tame mythological creatures, and thus the whole reason the series' heroes can accomplish their quest at all. Stephen will also offer his wise advice to the heroes periodically, especially on the Neutral path of a given game, where he shows he doesn't care about the petty squabbles between Heaven and Hell and just wants them both to get off humanity's back, and since Neutral is both usually the "best" alignment and usually assumed canon, it can be inferred that the heroes "officially" listen to him.
  • Persona:
    • For the first and second games the designation fell squarely to Philemon, a manifestation of the best aspects of mankind, who helps the party against his rival, Nyarlathotep. The main reason for the conflict was because he hatched a bet with Nyarlathotep over whether or not Nyarlathotep could successfully prove Humans Are Bastards. However, he later went Out of Focus along with Nyarlathotep himself. Nevertheless, the save points in Persona 4 were made to look like a cloud of butterflies as a reference to Philemon's continued involvement in the overall series.
    • Igor, one of Philemon's assistants, took over the role after the latter's departure. He runs the Velvet Room, a dimension between dreams and reality that is accessed by Persona owners. He is the primary Mysterious Backer of the series since Persona 3, often observing the main cast as the protagonist attempts to defy the odds time and again. Unfortunately, Igor's original Japanese actor lost his life to illness after Persona 4, so he temporarily underwent a serious case of Demoted to Extra, with various spinoffs choosing to recycle his old lines instead of recording new ones, until he was finally recast in time for Persona 5. Except he wasn't. That Igor is a fake, and the real one is still voiced by a bank of recycled lines from the original VA.
    • Margaret, herself one of Igor's assistants, largely took up her master's role in various Persona 4 spinoff games, offering advice, dropping exposition, and being a much more personal adviser and mentor figure to the protagonists. Persona 4: Arena and Ultimax even have her as the de facto Big Good, with Igor nowhere to be found.
    • Shuji Ikutsuki from Persona 3 is the leader and founder of S.E.E.S., but not a frontline fighter and far from a Persona user. Subverted when it turns out he's been manipulating S.E.E.S. to bring about the Fall.
  • Planescape: Torment, being what it is, has an incredibly dark take on this trope. The Practical Incarnation, one of the main character's previous incarnations, was The Chessmaster and a Manipulative Bastard who played everyone like a fiddle. The clues and allies he left behind are legitimately useful for you in the present, and you would never get as far as you did without him. But he was also an utter bastard who treated everyone around him like tools and left a line of broken people in his wake with no remorse whatsoever.
  • The Boss from Saints Row IV onwards. Before that game, they were more of an Anti-Hero, with their good attributes overshadowing their bad attributes by the fourth game's events.
  • Sakura Wars:
  • Seraphic Blue: Benedicta Fezzite and Katherine Rio guide the party to activate Gaia's Rebirth, which will save the world from the Gaia Cancers that are slowly eating away at it. This gets deconstructed when the pressure of saving the Crapsack World and her own issues cause Benedicta to go mad with grief and hasten the world's destruction, though the party manages to save her before it's too late.
  • As The Sinking City is a pretty bleak Cosmic Horror Story, it can't really play the trope straight, though the closest it has to offer are two members of Oakmont's "Grand Families", Robert Throgmorton and Graham Carpenter. The former genuinely wants to find out what's causing the flood that's destroyed huge portions of the town and rendered most of its population destitute, sinking a lot of money into it in the process, while the latter is trying to reform local organized crime (that his family traditionally led) and provide unselfish charity to the suffering. However, Throgmorton is also an unapologetic racist towards the recently displaced Innsmouthers to the point he's ready to start a race war, and Graham, despite plenty of in-game evidence pointing to him being a genuinely kind man, is a member of a dangerous local cult and was perfectly willing to kill his father to take over the family. So, while they really are the best driving forces for good in the city, they're both still A Lighter Shade of Gray.
  • In any game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series where the good guys are a unified force, Sonic himself usually fits this role. And even outside of those cases, he's always people's first choice when the situation calls for a hero, being a world-renown hero who has saved the world countless times.
  • Starbound: The Cultivator, a godlike being who nurtured and protected the universe, and who fought and banished The Ruin at the cost of its own life.
  • StarCraft:
    • The Overmind, of all characters, is revealed in StarCraft II to have seen a vision of the future and that he orchestrated all of the events of the first game so that all of the races in the sector may have a fighting chance against the Xel'Naga when they return, and that the Zerg may be free from the corruption of The Void.
    • For the protoss, it's Tassadar, Zeratul, and Artanis.
    • On the Terran side, Jim Raynor and Crown Prince Valerian Mengsk.
    • For the franchise as a whole, the title definitely goes to Artanis: he was both the Player Character of the first game who commanded the Overmind's defeat and, as of the second game, basically the leader of the entire protoss race. Raynor and Valerian help out, but they're ultimately sidekicks at best compared to the might of Artanis's alliance, and appropriately follow his lead in the final battle of Legacy of the Void.
  • Star Shift Rebellion: Played with. Commander Lexington is considered the leader of the Outer Rim Coalition rebel group, which the protagonists are a part of, but the coalition is also a decentralized group of autonomous cells. In the ending, he cedes leadership to Admiral Jaxon Bernard, who is more calm and levelheaded.
  • Star Wars: The Old Republic has the role split between Satele Shan, Grand Master of the Jedi order, and Janarus, Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic. The latter ends up either retiring in shame or killed/frozen in carbonite by the Bounty Hunter and is replaced by Supreme Chancellor Saresh, who is more of a General Ripper.
  • Street Fighter:
    • Upon his playable debut in Street Fighter IV, Gouken is the closest thing the series has to the Big Good, with being extremely wise, powerful, and benevolent, and he is actively aiming to snuff out evil.
    • Karin Kanzuki arguably takes this role in the Street Fighter V story mode, being the driving logistical force behind most of the fighters getting together to combat Bison.
  • Suikoden:
    • Suikoden starts out with Odessa Silverburg, the leader of the Resistance, until she dies when the hideout at Lenankamp is attacked.
    • Suikoden II has Riou as the Big Good, and it's invoked by Freed during a war battle.
    • Suikoden III has the Flame Champion, who protected Grassland from Harmonia. Of course, he's dead at this point in the game, and a successor takes up his rune.
    • Suikoden IV has Lino en Kuldes, King of Obel. Eleanor actually worries whether the army would splinter over choosing to follow him or Lazlo, the player character. A duel settles it, and Lazlo is cemented when Lino concedes.
    • Suikoden V starts with Salum Barows, who takes in the Prince, the player character, and Sialeeds. Of course, Salum is a schemer who cannot be trusted, and you leave his company soon after his treachery is revealed.
  • Super Mario Bros.: Mario and Princess Peach form a Big Good Duumvirate in most games. Mario is the vanguard-type Big Good, as The Hero actively fighting Bowser; while Peach is the leader-type Big Good, serving as the ruler of the most powerful heroic faction in the setting.
    • Rosalina in Super Mario Galaxy is introduced as the protector of the cosmos and mother of the stars, and is the one that guides Mario on his quest to defeat Bowser. Princess Peach also qualifies as a Big Good, being the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom and all.
    • Merlon from Super Paper Mario. He helps out Mario and his friends by constantly researching the Light Prognosticus and instructing where to go next after recovering one of the Pure Hearts.
  • Tends to vary in Super Robot Wars, but whoever the canonical Big Good of various licensed series is will usually defer to one character (though there can be more than one). In older titles, Bright Noah gets this task due to overall command experience.
  • Sword of Paladin: Nade and Sophie take this role for Asgard. After becoming the Paladin, Nade is obligated to take the role of commander of Asgard's entire military force. Meanwhile, Sophie is the queen of Asgard due to her father being assassinated by someone from the Extra Gem conspiracy. After Sophie is incapacitated at the end of Chapter 1, Alex becomes the acting king due to being part of the Charlemagne family, at least until Nade revives Sophie.
  • Tales Series
    • Tales of Vesperia:
      • Don Whitehorse is the head of the Guild Union, and everybody in the Union looks up to him.
      • Ioder Algios Heurassein becomes this for the Empire by the end of the story, as he is quite willing to listen to commoners and form treaties with the Guilds.
    • Tales of Hearts: Lithia Spodumene has been opposing Creed's plan for a long time, and is the person who guides the protagonists in defeating him.
    • Tales of Xillia: Milla Maxwell, The Hero of the game, becomes the true Lord of Spirits at the end of the first game. In the sequel, her defense of humanity results in Chronos banishing her to the Void Between the Worlds.
      • Tales of Xillia 2: As it turns out, Origin is very much on the side of humanity and is even willing to twist the rules in their favour because he likes them so much.
    • Tales of Arise:
      • Zephyr is the proactive Big Good to the Crimson Crows and Dahnans of Calaglia, serving as both their leader and moral center.
      • Once enough Dahnan Astral Energy is gathered in one place, the Will of Dahna develops some degree of sentience that wants to help the party. It does so by showing Naori's memories, giving Alphen and Shionne their Sovereign and Maiden clothes, and fusing with Rena in order to placate Rena's Great Astral Spirit.
  • Tekken:
    • In hindsight, Jun Kazama is this in the entire Tekken saga, starting from her debut. She is one of the few people with a pure heart and is the sole reason why her son hasn't fully succumbed to the Devil Gene as it is slowly corrupting him as every game passes. And even though he is too far gone to be saved, she still holds out hope for Kazuya and wants to stop both him and Jin from fighting one another.
    • Upon his debut in Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion, Lars Alexandersson is the leader of the organization who seeks to save the world from the war between the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation.
    • Lee Chaolan, the younger, adopted son of Heihachi Mishima, and CEO of Violet Systems, takes up this role in Tekken 7. Here, he collaborates with Lars, first by restoring Alisa to a fully functional state, then by assisting Lars and Alisa in rescuing a weakened Jin, foiling the Tekkenshu (under the command of Nina and Heihachi) attempts to capture or kill him and bringing him to safety so he can heal and prepare himself for his impending, decisive battle with Kazuya.
  • Yukari Yakumo from Touhou Project. While she has her share of negative traits like being lazy, Trollish, and possessing the same Blue-and-Orange Morality as many other Youkai (one official comic all but outright says that she keeps a stock of humans for Youkai to feed on in winter), she's ultimately concerned with protecting Gensokyo by maintaining both the natural order and the Great Hakurei Barrier — in fact, she's one of the sages who created the Barrier over a hundred years ago. While she normally naps all day and foists responsibilities off onto Reimu, if you damage the Barrier or cause a massive upheaval, you will have to answer to Yukari personally.
  • Lord British of the Ultima series, who rules over Britannia. He is also the Author Avatar of creator Richard Garriot.
  • Sans The Skeleton of Undertale presents himself as the weakest monster in the Underground, but guides you throughout your journey and tries to convince you not to murder the monsters. However, you can choose to become a Villain Protagonist who murders every monster on sight for the sake of power. If you decided to commit genocide, Sans will fight against you.
  • Myrddin in Vampyr is a mysterious vampire entity that describes himself as the protector of Britain and has sired champions such as King Arthur, William Marshall and Jonathan Reid to save the land from disasters and calamities. While detached from humanity and unconcerned with the consequences of his actions, for better or for worse, his goals are still benevolent since he wants to protect Britain from the Morrigan's wrath.
  • Warden: Melody of the Undergrowth has Nyona, the forest's guardian spirit, who's been bound by mystic chains that Tavian, as the new Warden, needs to free her from.
  • King Foltest in The Witcher is a Reasonable Authority Figure and, much like Geralt is a Straight Man in a cast made up of sociopaths, corrupt nobles, batshit insane clergymen,murderers and drug addicts at worst, and morally shady mercenaries at best. This is probably why he lasts all of 20 minutes before being offed in the sequel.
  • Every World of Warcraft expansion tends to have one. In the Burning Crusade, A'dal stood at the literal center of Outland, and occasionally players would kite monsters to him to see A'dal deal ridiculous damage. In Wrath of the Lich King the role belongs to Tirion Fordring, the leader of the Argent Crusade. In Cataclysm, we have Alexstrasza the Life-Binder, queen of the dragons and Deathwing's heroic counterpart. Mists of Pandaria has two -Varian Wrynn for the Alliance and Vol'jin for the Horde. Varian Wrynn is the High King of humanity and de-facto leader of the Alliance, while Vol'jin leads the good parts of the Horde in rebellion after Garrosh Hellscream turns from Anti-Hero to outright villain.
  • In Xenoblade Chronicles 1, the role is covered by Lady Meyneth, the benevolent goddess of Mechonis, who guides to protagonists to a way to put a stop to the root cause of all the problems that are befalling to the world. Ironically enough, she was indirectly assumed to be the enemy at first.
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 3: The game has something of a Big Good Ensenmble, where various character can fill that role, these being Queen Melia of Keves, Queen Nia of Agnus, and Consul M.
    • The first two worked together to create Origin, and intended to save the world from a possible destruction together, but were thwarted by Z. They spend the majority of the game kept prisoner and in a deep sleep respectively, but as they return, they become key pieces in helping the heroes in the final fight by supporting the destruction of the Flame Clocks and giving them vital information.
    • The latter conspired together with Mio to give her a great boost in powers and save her from Homecoming. Her main interest was to stop Consul N in particular, but she gives them vital information to find the real Queen of Agnus, which helps save the world.
  • Yoku's Island Express: The island's last remaining god, Mokuma, who is the namesake of Mokumana Island. While Mokuma doesn't have an active role in the story, it is strongly implied that they are the one keeping the island safe and prosperous.
  • In the Zero Escape trilogy, the leader of Crash Keys ( Akane Kurashiki) is responsible on some level for everything good that happens, whether it's preventing a twelve-year-old's murder or the release of an apocalyptic virus. Every other esper in the game either takes orders from her or relies on her group to get shit done.

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