History ChekhovsGunman / VideoGames

* The ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain'' has a brilliant example of this. Janos Audron is only a passing detail of flavor text in one of the items' descriptions in the very first game of the series, never mentioned anywhere else. He reappears to be a mentor to Raziel in the second game, [[spoiler: then we learn that his species, of which he is the last specimen, are actually ancestors to the vampires of this universe]].

* ''VideoGame/UnrealIITheAwakening'': The Kai are a peaceful species that perform menial tasks for humans. [[spoiler:However, it turns out that the DNA of an EldritchAbomination species is hidden in their genetic structure: the Tosc, the creators of the Artifacts you've spent the whole game retrieving]].

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'', it's possible to run into a babbling jester who is attempting to transport his mother's coffin across Skyrim, but the wheel on his wagon is stuck, and the nearest person who could help is refusing to do so. You can help the jester by getting the farmer to fix the wagon. If you then start the [[MurderInc Dark Brotherhood]] questline, you learn that this jester is a ''trained assassin'' and his "mother" is [[spoiler:the Night Mother, the "spiritual" leader of the Brotherhood]].

* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'', during the intro where you control Bruce Wayne, a prisoner standing in front of him on a line will say "Bruce Wayne...you're on my list". Since he looks somewhat nondescript and everyone else is hurling threats at Wayne, you tend to ignore him. [[spoiler:He's actually Floyd Lawton AKA Deadshot, the focus of a sidequest chain, and Wayne is indeed on his hit list]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Afterimage}}'': You'll find Echoes or notes of a blue-haired girl [[spoiler:mentioning another Renee, or that the blue-haired girl declares herself not Renee, but Avisia. Not only do these [[{{Foreshadowing}} foreshadow]] the existence of other Renee "clones", our protagonist duo eventually spot a blue-haired IdenticalStranger of Renee in the Whispering Forest, and "The Essential" ending sees her return (as Avisia) saving the playable Renee from the red-haired Renee]].

** In ''RedAlert'', every so often, a bald, goateed man appears and tells Stalin various things, though players don't get to hear his lines. Then the ending appears, and you realize said bald, goateed man is quite the MagnificentBastard.

** The parrot that Brandt's mom Kuore keeps as a pet in ''Videogame/FinalFantasyThe4HeroesOfLight''. [[spoiler:It's actually King Horne. The guy in the castle? That's ''Satan''. The spell breaks after his defeat]].

* In the UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor game ''VideoGame/MagiNation'', there is one who is practically a Chekhov's boss. In the third Shadow Geyser, you are suddenly stopped by someone named Warranda who summons a creature (and is practically a joke boss) She says a few things to you and then vanishes...making you wonder what the point of that was (unless you didn't return the Key to Ashkar). Then in the fourth Shadow Geyser, she appears to be the guardian of it, but gives you an offer. She'll either give you the PlotCoupon and let you go without a boss fight (making it the easiest Shadow Geyser after the first one) or you can fight her. If you take it and leave, you'll seemingly avoid a boss battle. ''HOWEVER'', if you do this, in the fifth shadow geyser, she mysteriously appears out of nowhere and tells Tony that he promised to leave, and didn't, so it was time to fight her. (Whether or not she's more powerful at this point isn't really known.)
* In the first level of ''VideoGame/MaxPayne 3'', Bachmeyer, Becker, Da Silva and Dr. Fischer[[note]]in the magazine Clue[[/note]] show up, well before they're formally introduced.

** The zombies in the Remake of ''Resident Evil'' for UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube become this if you fail to dispose of their bodies properly. If you think those zombie bodies just lay there the rest of the game to avert EverythingFades, you're in for a ''nasty'' surprise when they start [[DemonicSpiders getting back up]] about an hour later.

* ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'': Heihachi Mishima. The guy locks up his dad, tosses his son into a ravine, adopts another kid which becomes his first son's rival, and guns down his grandson. Yeah, it's safe to say that Heihachi's actions drives the series.

** Nue. To her credits she's an Extra Boss in Touhou 12, but by her own admission, she's [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere not directly connected to the story]]. Who would have thought that she has connection with Mamizou, who is [[TheCavalry supposed to defeat]] Toyosatomimi-no-Miko in Touhou 13.

* In the second episode of ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead: Season Two'' Clementine and Luke comes across a man on a bridge who offers them a place to stay and food, who is shot and killed by Nick when he thought he was endangering them from faraway. [[spoiler:It was Matt -- Walter's significant other, which causes some trouble later on that could possibly get Nick killed.]]

* In the UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis version of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' game, WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain can be spotted as one of the many cameos throughout the game. However, in the first stage, in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, you can find the two building a suited robot. It's the game's final boss.

** Early in the game, a blue-haired lady asks you to keep her moon rock until she comes back another day. Jihye looks like one of the few special customers with their own [[ScriptedEvent scripted transactions]], [[spoiler:but she's revealed at the end of Week 6 to be an OldFriend of Jisu Cha... [[TomatoInTheMirror who turns out to be]] ''[[TomatoInTheMirror you]]'' if you have been kind to your customers. If you reveal your identity to her, she gets shocked that you lost your memories of her, and she offers to take you to "the safest place in Mindlesia" if you can prove to her that you are her missing friend for the next two weeks.]]