History CharacterDerailment / VideoGames

* In ''VideoGame/{{Gothic}} 1-3'', Thorus is a high ranking GateGuardian of the Old Camp, Raven's bandits and LesCollaborateurs respectively who has LawfulNeutral tendencies and never tries to harm the player character unprovoked. In ''Forsaken Gods'' and ''[=ArcaniA=]'', he is the [[TheManBehindTheMonsters ruler of the Orcs]] and the BigBad (and later GreaterScopeVillain) who opposes TheGoodKingdom and summons a reincarnation of the [[DemonLordsAndArchdevils Sle]][[EldritchAbomination eper]] on multiple occasions.

** Originally, Knuckles displayed a cunning ability to outwit Sonic and Tails; he got tricked by Eggman into thinking that Sonic was the bad guy and wanted to steal the master emerald and was sometimes portrayed as hot headed when it came to protecting said emerald. In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' he was a philosophical WarriorMonk, struggling with his duty as the guardian of the Master Emerald, he was nonetheless calm and cool-headed most of the time and although he got tricked by Eggman again he actually doubted that Sonic would steal a piece of the Master Emerald until he saw Sonic holding a green emerald and thought that it was a shard of the Master Emerald. In ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' he displayed a calm and cool-headed ability to get his job done. While he was often fooled and misled, he was still fairly competent. However, as soon as ''VideoGame/{{Sonic Advance|Trilogy}} 2'' was released (along with the anime ''Anime/SonicX'') and onward, Knuckles is now portrayed as a village idiot. The Master Emerald is hardly even mentioned and it seems like Knuckles is just hanging around Sonic for the hell of it. In addition to this he also became the patsy of Sonic and friends, as well as often being the butt of jokes at his expense. In ''Sonic Lost World'' he only has two lines in the whole game and is portrayed as an incompetent braggart, getting beaten up by Flickies and generally useless. ''Sonic Battle'', ''Sonic Chronicles'' and to some extent ''Sonic and The Black Knight'' are the only games that return Knuckles to his former glory.

** Even Sonic himself has suffered from [[{{Flanderization}} Flanderization]] issues. In the classic games his "trademark attitude" was mostly limited to: [[FingerWag wagging his finger]] on the game's title screens, tapping his foot impatiently when idling, and being a thrill seeker (riding on planes, snowboarding, outrunning giant boulders). Even with the advent of voice acting in ''Sonic Adventure'' he was still pretty much the same, a snarky JerkWithAHeartOfGold who still cared for others. Since ''Sonic Colors'' his attitude has now grown to encapsulate his entire character to the point of SelfParody; he constantly makes jokes and sucks the drama out of any scene he appears in. In addition, other characters (except for Tails, and sometimes ''including'' Tails) aren't allowed to be truly helpful and Sonic isn't allowed to be truly one upped by any of his antagonists anymore (see his interactions with the Deadly Six versus his interactions with Knuckles in ''Sonic 3 & Knuckles'' and Shadow in ''Adventure 2''). It's telling enough that the most recent game to keep Sonic's old characterization is ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', a game of debatable canon not developed by Sega, where he slows down to attempt to save [[Franchise/{{Pokemon}} Pikachu]] from [[LightIsNotGood Galeem's beams of light]] without any snarky quips ''and'' [[TheBadGuyWins ends up getting disintegrated in the process]].

** The most common criticism of ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' is its characterization of Samus Aran, which is nearly impossible to reconcile with the way she usually acts. Despite being a HeroicMime, Samus has been strongly characterized as a competent, cunning and fearless bounty hunter. ''Other M'' instead presents her as someone who struggles to keep her cool in stressful situations, is obsessed with maternity, and is blindly loyal to a guy who treats her like garbage. The narrative justification is that she's effectively going through a quarter-life crisis [[SoWhatDoWeDoNow after accomplishing her life's goal]] of eradicating the Space Pirates in ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'', with this game's events having her realize that she still has a purpose as one of the galaxy's greatest warriors, but that doesn't do ''anywhere'' near enough to explain away her behavior, even if the player realizes that this was the story that the game was trying to tell. To say nothing of her being little more than a PinballProtagonist for the entirety of ''Other M'', meaning even Samus regaining her confidence towards the end of the game to act more like her usual self feels unearned.

** The most common criticism of ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' is its characterization of Samus Aran, which is nearly impossible to reconcile with the way she usually acts. Samus is traditionally a competent, cunning and fearless bounty hunter who lives to beat the crap out of criminals and confidently hangs around trashy bars wearing almost nothing on her off time. ''Other M'' instead presents her as a very submissive and dim woman who is incapable of making her own decisions, terrified of enemies she's effortlessly killed hundreds of in the past, obsessed with maternity, and blindly loyal to a guy who treats her like garbage. If this were a prequel of some sort showing Samus before she became the warrior we know her as, it might make sense, but at the time this game was released, it was chronologically the ''eighth game'' in the series and in the preceding and following games, she's her normal badass self.

*** While ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' didn't keep the part about him being a jerk, it did confirm that Tails is now a wimp who cowers from ''Chaos 0'' (keep in mind, he did defeat the much stronger Chaos 4 in Sonic Adventure 1) and is now unable to fight foes that ''Charmy'' (who is ''two years younger than him'', by the way) can fight. And keep in mind that Tails was once the resident BadassBookworm.

** Robert Baxter makes a reapparance in ''Time Crisis 5'' and [[SuddenSequelHeelSyndrome is revealed to have turned against the VSSE and humanity as a whole]], murdering Christy and pinning the blame on Keith and stealing a zombifying drug to weaponize it against major cities and "reset the world". This abrupt twist is regarded as exceptionally disrespectful, both to the character and to longtime fans of the series.

** Robert Baxter makes a reapparance in ''Time Crisis 5'' and [[SuddenSequelHeelSyndrome is revealed to have turned against the VSSE and humanity as a whole]], murdering Christy and pinning the blame on Keith and stealing a zombifying drug to weaponize it against major cities and "reset the world", all for some unexplained reason.

** The most common criticism of ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' is its characterization of Samus Aran, which is nearly impossible to reconcile with the way she usually acts. Samus is traditionally a competent, cunning and fearless bounty hunter who lives to beat the crap out of criminals and confidently hangs around trashy bars wearing almost nothing on her off time. ''Other M'' instead presents her as a very submissive and dim woman who is incapable of making her own decisions, terrified of enemies she's effortlessly killed hundreds of in the past, obsessed with maternity, and blindly loyal to a guy who treats her like garbage. If this were a prequel of some sort showing Samus before she became the warrior we know her as, it might make sense, but at the time this game was released, it was chronologically the ''fourth game'' in the series ('''''eighth''''' if you count the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters''), and in the preceding and following games, she's her normal badass self.

* In the original ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'', Quayle is quite arrogant and stupid. In the series, he's a kindly old gnome who has adopted Aerie, caring for her after her traumatizing experience in the circus that resulted in her losing her [[WingedHumanoid wings]]. This is a rare case of a character having a ''more positive'' personality after being derailed.
** Quayle explains to Aerie that she changed him for the better, explaining his more compassionate nature. How it made him more intelligent is anyone's guess.
** Or for that matter, how either had any influence on the other at all, when he can't have been with the circus for more than a month or two, since he met the PC in baldur's gate, many miles away, a few month's ago, and the PC's travel was probably magically aided.
** Also, the novelization derails every single character's personality. Which is why fans don't acknowledge that it exists.
** Ironically, the novelization counts as canon within the Forgotten Realms setting, while the game with it's non-linearity doesn't.
*** However because most of the fans dislike the novelization, Creator/WizardsOfTheCoast declared it uncanon, much to the joy of the others.
* A portion of the ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' fanbase utterly ''detests'' the way that [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud & Co.]] were characterised in their various spinoffs and cameo appearances. Case in point: Cloud got over his angst in the game, but became {{Wangst}}ier than ever in both, and Sephiroth underwent MotiveDecay to the point where he's just sort of ''there'' to torment Cloud and nothing else.
** Cloud can be more a case of PanderingToTheBase-triggered CharacterDevelopment in that he is at least given some understandable reasons for his severe depression in ''[[Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren Advent Children]]'', which were made clear in the DirectorsCut ''Advent Children Complete'' version. Also, complainers about Cloud's supposedly wangsty behavior seem to ignore that Cloud explicitly '''gets over it''' by the last third of the movie. This is even more apparent from one of the cutscenes in ''VideoGame/DirgeOfCerberus'' -- when Vincent talks to Cloud over the phone, Cloud is upbeat enough to snort in obvious amusement at one of Vincent's comments. That said, without the additional exposition in ''Complete'', Cloud's {{wangst}}ing had a negative impact on his character, and was further [[{{Flanderization}} flanderized]] with each subsequent appearance until later in TheNewTens.
** Sephiroth in ''VideoGame/{{Dissidia|FinalFantasy}}'' borders this. Of all the villains he is one of only two who has no interest in either dominating or annihilating all of existence, and instead fixated on getting his memories back and then endlessly harassing Cloud like a jilted lover. Sephiroth in his own game was a FallenHero TragicVillain who wanted to absorb the planet's Lifestream to become a god [[TheUnfettered even if it meant]] destroying all of existence. Although he does pay lip service to the idea of using Chaos' power to become a god before his final battle with Cloud it seems like he is only doing this to get Cloud to take the battle seriously. He does maintain his trademark [[NervesOfSteel stoicism]], though.
*** Really a lot of the characters in ''Dissidia'' are like this. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Tropes are Not Bad, though]]; almost all of the characters [[DivergentCharacterEvolution have certain aspects of their personality highlighted to set them apart from each other]]. For Sephiroth, they focused on the FallenHero aspects of his character. Some characters like the [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIII Onion Knight]] and [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyI Warrior of Light]], had their character basically [[OriginalGeneration invented for the game]]. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Terra]] is seen as considerably meeker while Tifa picks up her more ActionGirl traits; [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]] is heavier on the MonsterClown and lighter on the ManipulativeBastard but actually gets an AlasPoorVillain moment where it's revealed that [[StepfordSmiler he can't comprehend true happiness]] and acts like a troll because he wants everyone else to be miserable too. Most of Kefka MagnificentBastard traits went to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyII The Emperor]] who acts like the quasi-BigBad of the game, [[RightHandVersusLeftHand even manipulating the other villains]]. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX Kuja]] loses almost ''all'' of his [[MagnificentBastard capacity for magnificent bastardry]] and acts like a whining, arrogant child although the prequel ''Duodecim'' reveals that [[spoiler:his HeelFaceTurn at the end of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' stuck and he initially acts as a TheMole aiding the heroes until Kefka catches him and [[FakeMemories manipulates his memories]] to make him loyal to Kefka]]. [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX Tidus]] is more optimistic and tough here than in his own game. And then of course there's [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyV Exdeath]] who went from very generic EvilOverlord to an amusing LargeHam BarrierWarrior who has probably the best defense in the game.
*** Terra deserves special mention, as her new characterisation as a [[ShrinkingViolet shy]], [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty hapless]] [[DamselScrappy victim]] proved unpopular, even in Japan (which has a higher tolerance for meek characters and [[AmericansHateTingle isn't nearly as fond of her original game as the US is]]). It was criticised enough that her unvoiced dialogue was rewritten for the ''Duodecim'' release to make her tougher, and the [[VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy2015 2015 reboot]] outright nullified Terra's {{Chickification}} by basing her depiction on her more confident personality at the end of ''VI''.

*** They also appeared to radically alter the height of Samus, or simply had no idea of how tall she is. Canonically, Samus is 6'3'' (190ish centimeters) tall outside of her power suit. However, there is a scene where Samus is standing next to Adam without her power suit, and she comes up to about his elbow. So either Samus shrunk two feet, or Adam is 12 feet tall.

* [[DudeLooksLikeALady Bridget]] in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearXX'' was a WholesomeCrossdresser who was born into a pair of identical male twins and was RaisedAsTheOppositeGender to avoid being [[OneTwinMustDie put to death for backwards superstition]] by the village. Bridget's motivation to becoming a bounty hunter was to [[ScrewDestiny defy the superstition]] and prove he's not an ill omen and becoming more masculine to defy the given status quo, and didn't have a reason to hide as the opposite gender. Come ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearStrive'', Bridget was able to win the village's trust, but is suddenly not happy to admit being a boy, and by the end did a complete 180 and [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} decides that he's a woman after all]]. Long-standing memes and gender politics aside, there are people who argue this change of heart feels sudden and goes against her original character arc because deciding to be a girl is going against her motivation to defy the status quo forced onto her.

** Adam Malkovich gets hit with this as well in ''Other M''. He was introduced in ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'' as a very competent, gruff former-CO of Samus', who had a possibly-flirty and certainly friendly working relationship with her before he made some heroic sacrifice to save her life. [[spoiler:Also, he isn't dead due to MindUploading. Through the game he indeed maintains a professional working relationship with Samus, and he ends up being vital to stopping the unfolding disaster at the end of the game via a superior tactical mind to hers.]] We also get to see him in the ''Manga/MetroidManga'' where he's a no-nonsense case of AuthorityEqualsAssKicking who actively, and willingly, assists Samus in raiding Planet Zebes to defeat Mother Brain long after Samus became a bounty hunter. In ''Other M''? He gets almost his entire squad killed through incredibly poor strategic decisions, treats Samus with ''at best'' callous indifference and at worst [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything disturbingly akin to an abusive relationship]] thanks to a ''strong'' case of ValuesDissonance, and that heroic sacrifice is [[StupidSacrifice entirely pointless]].

* As is a common complaint about ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' with [[spoiler:Zant's abrupt VillainousBreakdown which turns him from a methodical, intelligent, menacing, cold, and aloof figure with a deep growl who dwells in the shadows to a gibbering PsychoticManchild who throws tantrums, twirls around, yips in a high-pitched voice, and has [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Looney-Tunesesque]] themes to his battle like getting his head stuck waist-deep in the dirt or hopping around on one foot after you strike it. Even many fans who were fine with his villain status being HijackedByGanon before the final dungeon feel that would have worked fine without the sudden shift in his personality. Notably, as it was a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au4ZGt1MReA&t=1m50s very last-minute decision in development]] they likely didn't have the time to properly {{Foreshadow}} his true personality or otherwise integrate it better into the game]].

* ''VideoGame/XCOM2'': Poor, poor Dr. Vahlen. In the first game, she's willing to go "farther" than Doctor Shen (well, up until Enemy Within, where Shen is happily willing to hack off perfectly healthy limbs while Vahlen just adds removable alien transplants to soldiers) because she's more optimistic that humanity will use science for good things, and is always horrified when she sees science used for cruel ends or that just goes too far, as seen in her reactions to the first terror mission and EXALT gene mods. In the second game, she's an amoral mad scientist that makes monsters for fun. The sad thing is that with just a small tweak to her MOTIVATION (simply say that she made the Alien Rulers to use as weapons against ADVENT out of back-against-the-wall desperation instead of "uhhhhh I found these unaltered alien embryos and I grew them into adults just to see what would happen") for making the monsters, this all could have been avoided and even made more sense (their equipment and psionic gate ability would be there on purpose, to increase their combat effectiveness and allow them to run away and recover if they're ever in real danger, instead of "WHY DID VAHLEN LET THEM HAVE THIS"), while still giving the player cool bosses to fight.

** The recurring nemesis Bowser switches back and forth from a vicious warlord into a simply grumpy and ineffectual villain in the ''Mario'' spinoffs with little-to-no explanation. A few of the main games, such as ''VideoGame/SuperMarioSunshine'', try to reconcile the radically different portrayals. Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto has admitted that there is no continuity whatsoever between games, so he can be free to do whatever he wants in each game without being bound by canon. Bowser is whatever the story needs him to be, be it AffablyEvil, NotEvilJustMisunderstood, or [[GoKartingWithBowser just some guy to go-kart with]].

* "[[Franchise/DotHack .hack//Link]]" is this (or at least the starting point for it) for much of the .hack franchise, most of the fan-favorite castmembers being demoted in persona to slave them to and glorify the game's [[TheScrappy wannabe hero]] Tokio. [[http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x34aaw0_hack-retrospective-hack-link-part-2_fun As pointed out by]] internet reviewer and [[ApprovalOfGod Cyberconnect2-recognized]].Hack Fan Des Shinta, the straw that broke the camels back on this was the game showing the Franchise's Single-most-popular character, Haseo, trying to kill his companion and potential love interest Atoli; a Girl that canonically suffered from depression and lack of self-esteem so severe she almost committed suicide, who Haseo was responsible for helping her out of. LINK!Haseo only tries to kill her so Tokio can be shown as a "better" person by saving her...even though Tokio is responsible for the series of events that caused this massive derailment in the first place. The only excuse that can be made about this is all the past characters seen in the game are AI duplicates of the originals, but that then implies that were the REAL people behind them to have their histories changed by Tokio's actions they would've reacted in that way as well...when all evidence in the franchise says they would not have.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', Flynn is unwaveringly good to properly contrast with Yuri's vigilante tendencies. He absolutely ''does not approve'' of Yuri [[spoiler: killing criminals.]] What does he do in the prequel movie, ''First Strike?'' [[spoiler: helps Yuri kill a criminal. It's also implied that he, without Yuri's influence, covered up the entire event by falsifying reports.]] Game-Flynn would have a pretty solid WhatTheHellHero speech ready upon watching his movie counterpart.

* [[DudeLooksLikeALady Bridget]] in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearXX'' was a WholesomeCrossdresser who was born into a pair of identical male twins and was RaisedAsTheOppositeGender to avoid being [[OneTwinMustDie put to death for backwards superstition]] by the village. Bridget's motivation to becoming a bounty hunter was to [[ScrewDestiny defy the superstition]] and prove he's not an ill omen and becoming more masculine to defy the given status quo, and didn't have a reason to hide as the opposite gender. Come ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearStrive'', Bridget was able to win the village's trust, but is suddenly not happy to admit being a boy, and by the end did a complete 180 and [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} decides that he's a woman after all]]. Long-standing memes and gender politics aside, there are people who argue this change of heart feels sudden and goes against her original character arc because deciding to be a girl is going against her motivation to defy the status quo forced onto her.

* [[DudeLooksLikeALady Bridget]] in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearXX'' was a WholesomeCrossdresser who was born into a pair of identical male twins who was RaisedAsTheOppositeGender to avoid being [[OneTwinMustDie put to death for backwards superstition]] by the village. Bridget's motivation to becoming a bounty hunter was to [[ScrewDestiny defy the superstition]] and prove he's not an ill omen and becoming more masculine to not have to hide from it, and had to keep letting others know that he was a boy. Come ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearStrive'', Bridget was able to win the village's trust, but is suddenly not happy to admitting being a boy, and by the end did a complete 180 and [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} decides that he's a woman after all]]. Long-standing memes and controversy aside, there are people who say this change of heart feels sudden because it invalidates about one half of her old character arc.

* Albert Wesker had a bad case of this in ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5''. He goes from being a {{Chessmaster}} ManBehindTheMan who [[KnowWhenToFoldEm knew when to retreat]] to an egotistical [[AxCrazy lunatic]] with a [[AGodAmI god complex]] whose grudge against Chris Redfield took over his character. He even went OneWingedAngel in the end forgoing logic to try and kill Chris. This earned him a rocket launcher to the face. Only time will tell if this will stick.

* [[DudeLooksLikeALady Bridget]] in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'' was a WholesomeCrossdresser whose family [[AbusiveParents groomed him to look and act like a girl and sent him off to be a nun]] out of a backward superstition, with his storyline revolving around him saying ScrewDestiny and being [[{{Determinator}} determined]] to prove his manliness regardless of how he looked. However in ''VideoGame/GuiltyGearStrive'' he suddenly does a complete 180 and [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} decides that he's a woman after all]], rendering her entire journey meaningless.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', Flynn is unwaveringly LawfulGood to properly contrast with Yuri's vigilante tendencies. He absolutely ''does not approve'' of Yuri [[spoiler: killing criminals.]] What does he do in the prequel movie, ''First Strike?'' [[spoiler: helps Yuri kill a criminal. It's also implied that he, without Yuri's influence, covered up the entire event by falsifying reports.]] Game-Flynn would have a pretty solid WhatTheHellHero speech ready upon watching his movie counterpart.

* Played for either laughs or serious tones in ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' for Jin Kisaragi, depending on where it is. Jin is normally level-headed and TheStoic to the cast, never fretting over anything... until Ragna appears. This is his cue to be ''[[{{Yandere}} insane]]'', with his speech becoming littered with... [[HomoeroticSubtext overtones.]] However, in his Gag Reel and the bonus material and FourthWallMailSlot "Teach Me, Miss Litchi"/"Help Me, Professer Kokonoe", the overtones are lampshaded and UpToEleven. Nobody has yet to complain, possibly because fans are only using the jokes that Arc System Works started. ''It should be noted that this change is '''only''' in bonus material, and does not affect the main story.''

** The most common criticism of ''VideoGame/MetroidOtherM'' is its characterization of Samus Aran, which is nearly impossible to reconcile with the way she usually acts. Samus is traditionally a competent, cunning and fearless bounty hunter who lives to beat the crap out of criminals and confidently hangs around trashy bars wearing almost nothing on her off time. ''Other M'' instead presents her as a very submissive and dim woman who is incapable of making her own decisions, terrified of enemies she's effortlessly killed hundreds of in the past, obsessed with maternity, and blindly loyal to a guy who treats her like garbage. If this were a prequel of some sort showing Samus before she became the warrior we know her as, it might make sense, but at the time this game was released, it was chronologically the ''fourth game'' in the series ('''''[[UpToEleven eighth]]''''' if you count the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeTrilogy'' and ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimeHunters''), and in the preceding and following games, she's her normal badass self.

** Revan was a WellIntentionedExtremist who foresaw the return of the Sith and [[INeedYouStronger sought to conquer the Republic in order to develop it into a force strong enough to resist them militarily]], until SWTOR {{retcon}}ned it so that he was just BrainwashedAndCrazy by the Emperor, robbing his character of all agency. In SWTOR he goes from a ManipulativeBastard or GuileHero who's a master at bringing others over to his side to pulling a Leeroy Jenkins on TheEmperor alone, the exact thing he tried to prevent his StupidEvil apprentice Malak from doing.

* [[PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo Darth Revan and]] TheExile suffered heavily from this in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' and the ''Literature/{{Revan}}'' tie-in novel, as they seemingly existed for no other reason than [[TheWorfEffect to make the Sith Emperor more threatening]]. Initially, Revan was a WellIntentionedExtremist who foresaw the return of the Sith and [[INeedYouStronger sought to conquer the Republic in order to develop it into a force strong enough to resist them militarily]], until SWTOR {{retcon}}ned it so that he was just BrainwashedAndCrazy by the Emperor, robbing his character of all agency. And [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter Exile served no narrative purpose whatsoever]] [[ForgotAboutHisPowers despite their Force wound powers serving as a hard counter to Vitiate, as he was simply just a stronger Darth Nihilus]].