Sandbox / Magnificent Bastard Video Games A To L

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• 1bit Heart: Mikado Aisaka is the boss of the hackers and the future version of Yoshi Nanase/Nanashi. Seeing humanity fall to a Bad Future, he travels with Misane Mikoto back in time, giving himself the alias "Mikado Aisaka", to recreate the Master Program his employers greedily misused, while befriending his past self to gain his trust. Ordering his hackers to sow chaos and cause a distraction for Nanashi and Misane, Mikado works against his employers to redesign the Program so he may unite the minds of every human and put an end to conflict. Coming to near victory, Mikado plans to have Nanashi kill him as atonement for his actions and succeeds in the Bad Ending; in the other endings, he is only stopped by either Nanashi's suicide causing his own Cessation of Existence, or being talked down and agreeing to delete the Program to ensure humanity is never trapped under it.
• 10,000 Bullets (2005):
  • Judas is "Bloody" Crow's traitorous blood brother and mentor. A former fugitive from France who joined Papa Tonio's gang, Judas works alongside Crow in numerous assassinations, displaying excellent skill and quick reflexes, even killing the speedy Lightning Joe before he could ambush Crow. Getting Crow to kill Tonio to free himself from his control, Judas reveals himself to be a spy for the Sleepers, killing his girlfriend Keiko for trying to stop him from shooting Crow. Vanishing for five years, Judas heads to Japan to kill Crow and acquire his gunslinger blood, fatally wounding Crow's handler Mizuguchi while he's out performing a hit. Using Mizuguchi to summon Crow to a final battle, Judas dies admitting Keiko was the one thing he truly loved.
  • Mr. Mizuguchi, "Wisdom of Snakes", is a mysterious businessman who's able to use his wits to get every assassin he desires under his servitude. Tracking down Crow for his services, Mizuguchi later helps him escape to Japan after he's wounded by Judas. Using Crow to kill those who stand in the way of his shady company, Mizuguchi tricks assassins into his debt by having them perform tasks disguised as random hits, from sending Alice on a fake mission to test her skills, to getting rivals Crow and Boris to work together to take down a gang. Despite being willing to kill Crow should he go against him, Mizuguchi often wants what's best for his gunslingers, like assigning Alice to kill her grandfather's murderer.
  • "Chapter 1": Keats Eichmann is a dapper, easy-going assassin with the ability to produce copies of himself to fool his enemies. Using this ability to escape his first fight with Crow after feeling he might lose, Keats, seeking to kill Crow not only for his boss, but also to fulfill his destiny as a killer, casually invites him to a duel afterwards. Upon losing the duel, Keats accepts his death, while letting Crow know about his superpowered gunslinger blood.
• 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim: "Prisoner 426", otherwise known as Juro Izumi is a version of the current Juro Kurabe from two loops ago. Having learned the truth of his world and Universal Control, he wanted to free everyone from the endless cycle that everyone was trapped in, going so far as enacting mass shootings and other acts of terrorism for it. However, his crimes would eventually caught up to him, which led to him being captured, his physical body destroyed and his mind turned into an AI that was tortured for info. Still not giving up, 426 managed to escape and used this opportunity to prepare and manipulate the Sentinel pilots against the upcoming kaiju invasion under other identities such as Kyuta, Shiba and Fluffy, giving them access to the Metachips and guiding Juro Kurabe and Megumi Yakushiji. When the final battle arrives, all of 426's work pays off, allowing the Sentinel he entrusted to succeed where he had failed.
• 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand:
  • Raoul is an Arms Dealer who will supply anybody with weapons as long as they have the money for it. Helping out 50 Cent on his journey to reclaim his jewel-encrusted skull solely for the money, Raoul often provides assistance whenever he can, from supplying C4 needed to create a distraction that leads to Said Kamal's hideout getting set aflame with many of his men still inside, to recruiting a surviving enemy helicopter pilot to work for him so that 50 can use said chopper to chase after Wilder's men, while still charging 50 for it.
  • Derek Carter is a cool-headed mercenary for Trident who values money above morality. Siding with whoever pays him the most, Carter, hired by 50's promoter Anwar to help the rapper take down Kamal, makes a deal with 50 to assist him in robbing a truck full of gold before Kamal could as a form of payment. Manipulating 50 into wiping out Kamal's communication towers and his best men, Carter acquires the gold by activating a hidden explosive and knocking the truck off course. Betraying 50 to take all the gold for himself, Carter would've made it out with the gold if not for 50's tenacity.
• Accel World vs. Sword Art Online: Millenium Twilight (2017): Persona Vabel, the Twilight Witch, is a future version of Yui, Kirito and Asuna's AI daughter, who decides to erase herself after countless years of loneliness. Using her powers to travel to the past alongside Chrome Disaster, Vabel creates data copies of the Kings of Pure Color that she controls and leaks Brain Burst data to the MMORPG Alfheim Online (ALO), throwing ALO into chaos to activate its manual consoles. Inside ALO, Vabel manipulates Kuroyukuhime into fighting Kirito and kidnaps Yui to seal her. When Nega Nebulus and Kirito's friends join forces, Vabel unleashes a loyal Chrome Disaster to deal with them, showing friendship with the bloodthirsty beast. When the protagonists manage to reach her in the future thanks to help from the Cardinal System, Yui uses the Armor of Catastrophe to fight them and, after her defeat, she apologizes to Kirito for her actions.
• Aconcagua: Lopez, a seemingly helpful survivor, is revealed to be a traitor working for the Meruza government. Witnessing his beloved family getting killed by the mountain guerrillas, Lopez joined the Meruza military to get revenge. Posing as a survivor in order to get closer to Pachamama, Lopez reveals himself to his supposed friends by hijacking their escape helicopter and imprisoning them, just so he can interrogate Pachamama on the mountain guerrillas’ hideout location with hopes of wiping them out. Surviving an electric encounter from Kaoh through sheer determination, as he lays dying after his battle with Kaoh and Julia, Lopez activates a series of explosives to take the survivors with him.
• Agents of Mayhem: Persephone Brimestone is the calculating but ruthless founder of M.A.Y.H.E.M, and a former Minister in L.E.G.I.O.N along with her formerly beloved husband Lucas. The main strategist of “Devil’s Night”, Persephone coordinated L.E.G.I.O.N’s attacks around the world, admitting to getting caught up in the power and carnage. With L.E.G.I.O.N coming into power, Persephone was horrified to discover The Morningstar's endgame of destroying and recreating reality, putting a stop to it by bombing Dr. Babylon's lab. Going on the run and ousted as a traitor, Persephone steals L.E.G.I.O.N’s ARK to constantly evade capture. When her beloved city of Paris is destroyed to punish her, Persephone reached out to numerous governments and corporations to help build M.A.Y.H.E.M to dismantle L.E.G.I.O.N’s power over the world; reaching out to numerous individuals with their own vendettas against them as Agents. Having a no nonsense and pragmatic attitude as M.A.Y.H.E.M’s leader, Persephone shoots down any notion she’s a force of good, describing herself as “Bad against Evil”, even prioritizing the mission over civilian casualties or collateral damage. Once L.E.G.I.O.N’s operations are dismantled in Seoul, Persephone considers it a job well done, before moving on to the next city, leaving Dr. Babylon to die.
• AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative: Tokiko Shigure is the president of the Japanese Branch of Naix, whose ambition goes beyond the fabric of her reality. A devout believer that the world she lives in is a simulation after many near-death experiences, Tokiko seeks to achieve "Moksha" in order to escape it. Setting Uru up to his plans by indoctrinating him with her teachings, Tokiko uses his murders to setup a scenario where she can learn the nil numbers in order to escape. When Uru's Nirvana Initiative plan became too much for her, she sets up his failure by blackmailing Amane, after she killed Uru, forcing her to follow Tokiko's true plan to stop it, with-holding key info until the time is right. When Ryuki ends up learning the nil number and gives it to her in the past, Tokiko admits that was her endgame, accomplishing Moksha and ascending to a state of godhood, before giving him the perfect ending he desires as thanks for helping her achieve her goal.
• Alpha Protocol:
  • The agent called "Mike Thorton", no matter how he's played, is a quick-thinking and skilled recruit in Alpha Protocol, picked for his skills at manipulating situations and people to his advantage. Sent against the terrorist, Ali Shaheed, Mike learns of a conspiracy between Alpha Protocol and the weapons manufacture, Halbech. Betrayed and left for dead, Mike goes rogue with Mina Tang, using the resources at their disposal to uncover the conspiracy. Mike works with criminals, other agencies, conducts a raid on a CIA outpost, commits data theft, in another raid, fighting other criminals, and security and police forces; he can even execute or spare enemies and potential allies to get an advantage. In the endgame, Mike can near single-handedly bring down Halbech, or join it, and usurp Leland, or can bring down both Halbech and Alpha Protocol to dismantle the entire conspiracy.
  • Scarlet Lake is the personable and affable photojournalist, joining Mike on his investigations, and secretly an assassin working for Halbech in Taipei, working only for pay and taking both careers seriously, making it a point to avoid collateral damage. Hired to kill President Sung, she successfully keeps Mike in the dark while he's distracted with Omen Deng, even if she starts to care about Mike. Helping Mike during a raid, she distracts security by accusing a Halbech employee of being a sexual predator. When Scarlet is eventually exposed, Mike can convince her to turn against Halbech for holding out on her pay; at which point Scarlet proves to be capable of holding her own against Alpha Protocol's security forces; alternatively, she can be easily convinced to kill Leland on the spot, wishing Mike luck as they take their leave, or even goes off into the sunset with him if romanced.
• American Arcadia: Vivian Walton, real name Emily Garland, is the presentator for the show American Arcadia and the CEO for the company Walton Media. Initially one of the people who managed to escape the heavily secured Arcadia, she realized that the world outside of the confined city was worse than imagined, and managed to strike a deal with the other escapees to rise to the top of the Walton company going by a fake name. More manipulative and cunning than first seems, she undergoes by a fake alias of "Number Six" and manipulates both Angela and Trevor to seemingly escape Arcadia for the sake of a revolution, as well as hiring actors for them to chase them down all for the launch of a new spin off series "Escape from Arcadia", where people from the city realize their lifes are fake and try to escape in the real world. Willing to keep brainwashing people to prevent them from escaping the city through "The Jingle" system, and remaining polite all throughout, Vivian manages to get away with her plans unpunished, while also letting Trevor walk out of the city with money.
• Angels of Death: Reverend Abraham Gray is the B2 floor master and the Tower's creator, having done so after becoming repulsed by evil actions committed in God's name, so he could himself could experience being God. In Episode 0, Gray has Dr. Danny Dickens and Cathy Ward recruit killers to serve as the masters of the Tower's floors and kidnaps people to be put through the Tower's Deadly Game. Though sinister in intent, Gray truly cares for his followers like family. When an amnesiac Ray Gardner comes to him for medicine for Zack Foster, Gray puts her through a dangerous trial with the intent to have her confront her past sins. Guiding Zack through floor B1, Gray helps him rescue Ray from Danny and helps her and Zack escape from Danny, resolving to stay behind and die in the collapsing tower for his own sins after realizing his shortcomings.
• Ape Escape: Pumped & Primed: Grid Core is a malignant Artificial Intelligence with ambitions of dominating both the virtual world and the real world beyond. He does so by deploying the enigmatic Pipotron trio to find a disk that contains the means to take full control of the virtual world, soon acquiring it through the Pipotrons entering the High-Tech Tournament. Moments later, Grid Core praises, then discharges the Pipotrons, and immediately begins analyzing the disk. Meanwhile, he leaves the Pipotrons and the heroes to partake in his "Virus-Tech Tournament", pitting them against powerful enemies such as the Super Pipotrons and the supercharged Dark Jake and Dark Specter. When deprived of options, Grid Core promptly chooses to battle his foes himself, using the full power of the virtual world to his advantage, and complimenting his opponents' power as they fight him. Programmed with Pragmatic Villainy in mind yet joyously relishing every step of his plan, Grid Core proves himself a remarkably cunning and competent antagonist in this otherwise lighthearted franchise.
• Arcanum: Of Steamworks & Magick Obscura: Kerghan the Terrible is a pre-eminent human mage from the Age of Legends whose tireless pursuits led to the discovery of an entirely new yet twisted college of Magick - the Black Necromancy. Banished to the Void by Nasrudin for his immoral expermients, Kerghan found himself able to travel to the afterlife and from where he drew conclusions that life is a distortion which condemns disturbed souls to pain and suffering and needs to be destroyed entirely to bring the eternal peace. Pretending to be their master Arronax, his old rival who he had defeated and imprisoned long before, Kerghan guided the Dark Elves to infiltrate the Panarii Church and instructed them to orchestate the banishment of the Black Mountain Clan in order to pave his way back to Arcanum. Upon meeting the Living One, Kerghan explains his motives in great detail, invoking the arguments that even several of the hero's followers find to be legitimate. Kerghan then tries to win over the protagonist and allows them to examine and challenge his beliefs, succumbing to their reasoning if he finds it especially convincing. Manipulating the world events beyond the mortal plane and solidifying himself as the real Big Bad of the story, Kerghan manifests himself as not only the most dangerous threat Arcanum has ever faced, but also as the Living One's greatest intellectual foe.
• Arc Rise Fantasia: Prince Weiss Dona Meridia is the eldest son and ruler of the Meridian Empire who after learning the horrible truth about Eesa and its Laws intends to free the world from them even if it means conquest and destruction. After his father was cursed and brought to despair by Eesa's curse, Weiss began his plot against Eesa, propagandizing the Empire into invading other nations to cut off the religious influence and unite against Eesa, while using his brother L'Arc as a key figure in his battle as the Child of Eesa, deceiving him into his plans while secreting guiding him to the truth in hopes of getting him to denounce Eesa. Ultimately succeeding in convincing L'Arc, Weiss entrusted him to save the world in his place after his conquest was foiled by Alf, giving him final orders to execute a contingency plan he readied ahead of time in case he died, passing away peacefully after making amends to L'Arc in his last moments and being certain he will succeed.
• Asura's Wrath:
  • Deus was the leader of the Eight Guardian Generals fighting Vlitra and the Gohma, but believed Vlitra would one day be too powerful to stop. Assassinating The Emperor, Deus framed Asura while having his wife murdered and his daughter Mithra—who can channel and amplify Mantra—kidnapped. After killing Asura, Deus renamed the Generals "The Seven Deities" and created a worldwide cult with few dissenters that believed being killed by the Deities would lead their souls to Nirvana. In truth, the souls were gathered to power the Karma Fortress' Brahmastra to finally kill Vlitra. Trillions of souls were gathered over 12,000 years by the time Asura revived to eventually fight Deus and only by working with his brother-in-law Yasha are they able to beat him. With absolute conviction in his power and his ideals while hating being Emperor and what he has done, Deus is both one of Asura's smartest and most sympathetic foes.
  • Augus is one of the Eight Guardian Generals who follows Deus out of a promise for challenge in combat. Training young fellow Demigods Asura and Yasha, Augus spends thousands of years grooming the former into his ultimate opponent. Aiding Deus in his plot to rid the world of the Gohma and even betraying Asura's wife, Augus faces down against his former pupil in the glorious combat he desires, dying remarking it was "one hell of a battle" proudly.
• Atelier Series franchise:
  • Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk: Keithgriff "Keith" Hazeldine is a wandering alchemist, traveling to various places in the world in order to gain knowledge and to stop the Dusk. He encounters Ayesha many times during his journey, and is the one to make her understand that she needs to have a good understanding of alchemy to save her sister by herself. Believing alchemy too great a secret for most to have access to, Keith destroyed several places linked to alchemy, which made him a criminal. Following his conviction about alchemy, Keith even tells Ayesha that he might take alchemy away from her if she doesn't meet his expectations. However, despite acting codly to other people, Keith is not against helping them if he can benefit from it, like accepting to become Odelia's master in order to access secret informations.
  • Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book: Luard is an alchemist from 500 years ago whose original goal was to use alchemy to help people. After discovering Ablation Alchemy, which is more powerful than normal alchemy but damages the ecosystem when overused, Luard abused this power, causing his friend Plachta to turn against him and split his soul in two artificial beings known as Meklet and Atomina. 500 years later, Meklet and Atomina befriend Sophie, helping her restore Plachta's memory while plotting to betray her. Once Sophie and Plachta find the Cauldron of Knowledge, which allows the use of Ablation Alchemy, Meklet and Atomina steal it from them, using the Cauldron to regain their true form as Luard before disappearing so they can continue practicing Ablation Alchemy. After his defeat, Luard tries to make amends for what he has done, notably assisting Lydie and Suelle on their adventures, showing that his alchemy skills have improved to the point where he no longer needs Ablation Alchemy, while also trying to reconcile with Plachta.
• Azure Striker Gunvolt Series:
  • Original game:
    • Merak, "The Slothful Conjurer", is one of Sumeragi's seven Swordsmen, representing the Deadly Sin of Sloth. Touted for his brilliant mind, he is put in charge of the subaquatic base, which is infiltrated by GV to put a stop to his alleged plans to build an armed submarine. Using his Wormhole Septima, he repeatedly disorients the hero, making traversing the stage trickier than it would be otherwise, and allows the base to flood, still with his men inside, so that GV would drown, surrounded in his biggest weakness. Later showing up after his death and eventual revival, he kidnaps Joule and makes a swift exit, being defeated twice by GV but putting up a good fight each time. A lazy and entertainingly droll genius with the brains to outwit even the likes of Teseo, it is no wonder that Merak is one of Nova's favorites.
    • Asimov is the second Azure Striker and the leader of the SHEEPS team. Acting as a kindly, charismatic and somewhat quirky mentor and father figure to GV, having taught him how to use his Septima in the past, Asimov assists GV in his missions as he takes down Sumeragi's Swordsmen one by one. Once their leader, Nova, is defeated, Asimov reveals that he was manipulating GV all along, and that he really wishes to take over Sumeragi, kill off humanity, and create a world for Adepts, as one who has suffered greatly under the horrors of Project Gunvolt. He wishes for GV and Joule to rule as the king and queen of his Adept world, but defeated Copen and took his gun in preparation for GV opposing him. Almost killing him with ease when he does, Asimov is stopped by a revived and empowered GV, but not without giving his surrogate son the fight of his life. As he dies, Asimov genuinely commends GV's strength, before warning him that Adepts and humans will continue to fight, and he will be caught in the crossfire, a prediction that would soon come to pass.
  • Azure Striker Gunvolt 2: Zonda, "the Oracle", is the beloved priestess of Adept terrorist organization Eden. Desiring to create a paradise for Adepts by exterminating humanity, Zonda becomes one of the most powerful and respected members of Sumeragi's Adept Defence Task Force as "the Lustful Mirage" to steal their technology and learn about their experiments on Mytyl and Joule. When tracked down by QUILL, Zonda leaves a clone of herself to be dispatched. Resurfacing once Sumeragi is thrown into chaos by Nova's death, Zonda orders her warriors "The Seven" to rig an airship to crash into a skyscraper and kidnap Mytyl to draw out Gunvolt and Copen so that she can steal Joule's power from Gunvolt to be distributed among The Seven. Once three members of The Seven are killed, Zonda offers a prayer and urges her panicking soldiers to remain calm. When the heroes reach The Garden, Zonda uses the recaptured Mytyl to fuse with Joule and obtain a form where she can empower Adepts worldwide, having researched Gunvolt's battles with Nova and The Seven to ensure a perfect fusion where Joule cannot interfere compared to Nova's attempt. Polite and courteous to enemies and allies alike, Zonda truly does everything for the sake of love.
  • Azure Striker Gunvolt 3: ZedΩ, "The Golden Trillion" is the affable, charming and easygoing leader of ATEMS. First appearing after powering missiles to pierce Sumeragi's barrier and invade Japan, ZedΩ fights the heroes to test their strength before stealing the Binding Brands and making his retreat. Having Grazie turn the UTU Media Tower into his base of operations, the Sunrise Palace, he lies in wait and has the Knights ambush the heroes when they infiltrate. As Gunvolt and Kirin reach him, he reveals that he has found Moebius, hidden by Sumeragi, and plans to use the Djinn to control it and take over the world, as the alternative is allowing its awakening to coat the world in Dragon Radiation. Upon his defeat, he accepts his loss even when their clash ends up awakening Moebius, and uses his Septima to help Kirin save the day. As the star of the playable epilogue, he manages to secure an Azure Spirit and plans on gathering and researching them to learn how Gunvolt's Azure Striker managed to fuse with Astral Order and learn the root cause of Primal Dragonization, and though he ends up losing them when they accidentally fuse with Luxia, he successfully keeps one, which he hands over to Kirin as a token of goodwill before departing to his home country.
• Battlefield Hardline: Captain Julian Dawes leads a group of corrupt officers to cut deals with drug lords, wherein the latter groups are offered protection for agreeing for swearing a truce and ceasing violent conflict on the streets. When his attempts to corrupt Officer Nick Mendoza fail, Dawes manipulates Nick into giving him the evidence which would implicate Dawes and has Nick framed for corruption. Taking over Miami over the next three years with his organization the "Preferred Outcomes", Dawes begins expanding his operation to Los Angeles and becomes aware of the recently released Nick killing a number of his associates. Predicting Nick would try to steal his money, Dawes tricks them with a bomb rigged on his vault, badly injuring one of Nick's comrades and lures him to his remote island. Offering Nick a position in his organization when they confront each other, after Dawes is shot dead by Nick he leaves a letter revealing he knew Nick would kill him, that he did what he truly believed was best for society and details the location of his money, offering Nick the chance to take up his position.
• Bayonetta: Rodin, the Infinite One, is the smooth-talking, demonic owner of the Gates of Hell bar, and a skilled gunsmith who supplies Bayonetta with all the weapons she needs on her journeys. Once a feared ruler of Paradiso, Rodin was banished to Inferno after participating in a failed insurgency, forced to craft weapons for the angels in their war against the demons. After growing tired of war and bloodshed, Rodin escaped Inferno to hide out in the human realm, remaining hidden for centuries. Slaying the most powerful of demons to acquire their souls for his weapons, Rodin values Bayonetta as a customer first and foremost, choosing to act as an observer who only gets his hands dirty when necessary. Though still willing to help Bayonetta out as long as it serves his needs, Rodin’s smooth charm helps disguise one of the most feared, powerful demons in the Trinity of Realities.
• BioShock Infinite: The Luteces are two mysterious twins frequently encountered, before revealing themselves to have set the plot in motion. Encountered by Zachary Hale Comstock, Rosalind Lutece agreed to help him build his floating city, Colombia and in return Comstock would fund her research on alternate realities; with these resources she made a contraption that allowed her Alternate Self Robert Lutece to come into her world. Together, the Luteces helped Comstock kidnap Booker DeWitt's daughter, though Robert regretted his part in the kidnapping as well as the state of Colombia and the Bad Future coming after so he decides to plot against Comstock, forcing Rosalind to help him on the threat that he'll leave her if she doesn't. Though seemingly killed by Comstock, they have in fact survived and involved Booker DeWitt in their plan, guiding him throughout Colombia, while also convincing Daisy Fitzroy to ignite her revolution and let Elizabeth kill her ensuring the downfall of Colombia and Comstock. After the death of Comstock and the destruction of his city, the Luteces collaborated with Elizabeth to kill off all the other Comstocks in different realities before leaving her after killing the last Comstock in Rapture completely satisfied with their end results.
• Black: The interrogator who questions Sgt. Jack Keller proves himself to be an incredibly manipulative agent. Beginning the interrogation by threatening that Keller can either cooperate or die in prison, he calls Keller's bluff on the ultimatum to get him to cooperate. Purposefully asking leading questions in order to lure Keller into traps, the interrogator reveals that he had previously gotten statements from two of his colleagues, playing their disparaging comments at precise moments to emotionally wear him down. After successfully getting into Keller's head and getting all the information he needs, he reveals that the interrogation was all a farce; in reality, he intends to fake Keller's death, using his desire for vengeance for his own ends to hunt down William Lennox off the books.
• Bloodrayne: Rayne herself started as another child of Kagan's, barely escaping the massacre of her family at a young age. Recruited into the Brimstone Society and becoming their top field agent, Rayne made a career out of facing monsters and demons leagues above her abilities and ultimately coming out on top, often outsmarting them when beaten down. Keeping many at arms length with a snarky attitude, and showing few her vulnerabilities, when Kagan was seemingly killed, Rayne settles on killing her wicked half-siblings to destroy his legacy. With many underestimating her, Rayne uncovers a Brimstone conspiracy, outsmarts god-like beings, secretly countered their attempts to cure her, and dismantled the conspiracy from within. When Kagan returns and causes a vampire apocalypse to break out, Rayne finishes off the last of her siblings, before killing Kagan himself. Becoming a fugitive, Rayne takes Kagan's kingdom for herself, hoping to use her new power to undo what he's done and protect the people living under her, cementing her brilliance and audacity in her appearances throughout the franchise.
• The Bourne Conspiracy: Jason Bourne is once again shown to be a highly lethal spy, with his time as an agent of Treadstone focused on heavily. Using a combination of stealth, combat skills and tactical planning, Bourne systemically eliminates all manner of targets across the globe. From gunning down swathes of enemy soldiers while pursuing a war criminal, to infiltrating high-security locations so as to stop a black market weapons deal, Bourne is efficient and unstoppable in his assassinations against both immoral monsters and apparently innocent university staff. Even after he is ousted from Treadstone thanks to amnesia, Bourne expertly evades all capture, kills every last one of his pursuers, and escapes to a happy life with his lover Marie.
• Brave Frontier:
  • Bertz "Klauser" Felker is an agent of the shadowy Abel Faction who masterfully persuades others by giving them information to target their emotional vulnerabilities, not even needing to lie by doing so. Seemingly working for his organization to stop the Summoner and their companions, Bertz in truth uses them for his own agenda. Stealing the core of a Divine Being the Abel Faction seeks, Bertz plans to use the power of the Divine Beings to save the world of Elgaia and put an end to his own nightmarish past.
  • Zamburg ruler, Cosmic Demon Amu-Yunos is an ancient, extra-dimensional being that seeks her own death to alleviate her boredom. Seeing the Summoner as a candidate for helping her end her own life, Amu-Yunos challenges them to defeat her lest she destroy Ishgria. When defeated by the Summoner, Amu-Yunos is thrilled at the excitement of death and helpfully warns the Summoner that they will have to fight another version of her. Amu-Yunos is also revealed to have made a pact with a young summoner whose comrades had been wiped out, allowing him the chance to change his destiny. Though Amu-Yunos simply seeks an entertaining end to her immortal existence, her charm and jovial nature made her to be one of the most compelling foes to be faced by the Summoner and their companions.
• Bravely Second: Yoko is the holder of the Yokai asterisk who hides her true nature behind a simple-minded personality. Developing a habit of testing the resolve of whoever she comes across, Yoko creates a fake older brother named Danzaburo to gauge whether Yew Geneolgia has the guts to reveal his Dark and Troubled Past to the party. Although Yew fails his first test, he passes the second one which has him learn more about the bloody history of his family line. Finding enjoyment in seeing others pass her tests and grow as people or suffer more than what death can bestow, Yoko leaves the party without any repercussions for her actions.
• Breath of Fire franchise:
  • Breath of Fire III:
    • This incarnation of the goddess Myria is a draconic ruler who truly wishes for peace and order no matter what she has to do. Witnessing humanity destroy itself with over-advancement and the expansion of the Desert of Death, Myria detached most of world in an isolated island, trapping it in her design where it's kept static under her rule away from potential destruction. Fearing the Brood for their destructive power, Myria created the Guardians to massacre them, before sealing away her remaining adversaries. Successfully manipulating history in embracing her architecture, by framing her adversaries as evil, Myria maintains her sanctuary for decades until the appearance of a surviving Brood name Ryu who she observes and later makes numerous attempts for his life including turning his own adoptive brother against him. While ruthless and smothering, Myria's true ambition is preventing potential catastrophe who till the end only did what she did out of misguided love.
    • The Weretiger Rei is Ryu's adoptive brother who after believing him dead goes in a bloody crusade against the crime syndicate who took him away. Formerly a petty thief, Rei along with his brothers ended up in trouble after being fooled to steal from their Mayor, not knowing his connection to the underground. Beaten and left for dead, when Rei recovered and was unable to find his family, Rei changed, becoming cold and vengeful before observing his enemies for years to plan retribution. Dissecting the syndicates, Rei launched his plan to kill every key member, transforming into the Weretiger to go on a rampage, dismantling the group up to their leader Mikba. Reuniting with Ryu in his crusade, Rei decides to stay with him to atone for not being there for him and the destruction he caused in pursuing vengeance.
    • Garr is a seasoned warrior who hides a sly mind under his massive exterior. Once human, Garr became a Guardian under Myria's name to slay the Brood after being convinced of their threat. Wandering the world, Garr ends up encountering Ryu and upon learning he's a Brood hatches a plan to continue his mission. Convincing Ryu's group to follow him claiming Ryu's life is in danger, unaware Garr intends to kill him, he tricks them into reaching Angel Tower, where Garr isolates himself and Ryu before attempting to kill him. Losing the battle and realizing that he shouldn't have been able to defeat the Brood, Garr spends the next few years to find Ryu to learn the truth about Myria and the massacre in a journey of redemption. After learning Myria's deception and earning forgiveness, Garr resolves himself to protect Ryu and free the world from Myria's manipulation even at the cost of his life.
  • Breath of Fire IV:
    • Fou-Lu, the first emperor of the Fou Empire, is Ryu's other half whose encounter with the worst of humanity led him to a desire to destroy them all believing them iredeemable. Creating the Fou Empire one thousand years before the events of the game, Fou-Lu went to sleep to regain his strength, waking up after the arrival of his missing half Ryu. Hunted down by his own kingdom out of a bid to stay in power, Fou-Lu was constantly pushed to near breaking points, until they sacrificed Mami to use the forbidden Hex against him. Believing humans are all monsters, Fou-Lu awakens to his true power, dismantling the Empire in revenge before unleashing his forces on the masses to call out his missing half in a bid to be whole again to regain his full strength. In the end after being defeated by Ryu in a final battle, Fou-Lu is able to have an epiphany and uses the last of his strength to restore the world before merging with Ryu.
    • General Yohm is a Fou Empire loyalist who would even be willing to fight a god for the sake of his nation. Using his years of experience in war, Yohm made multiple strategies to defeat the newly awakened godlike Fou-Lu, taking advantage of his weakness to fire and driving him to near death multiple times. In his battle, Yohm used any opportunity possible to shift favor in his odds, taking Fou-Lu's companion Mami to Yuna as a sacrifice in an attempt to kill with the Hex. When Fou-Lu retaliates by attacking the capital, Yohm, using the last of his abilities, gives a valiant last stand against Fou-Lu, expressing no regret after his defeat before combusting himself in defiance.
• Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars:Khan is a member of the Hashashin who opposes The Neo Templars from utilising the power of Baphomet and ruling the world. Khan murdered multiple members of the Templars by using a variety of costumes and utilising various false identities to cover his tracks. Aware that one of their members had a manuscript, Khan steals it from him and blows the member up in a cafe. Khan then follows the trail that George Stobbart does to Ireland to find the Lochmann gem, kidnapping who was trying to sneak it out. Deducing where Baphomet lies when in Syria, Khan travels to England to destroy both the Neo-Templars and Baphomet. Although dying after defending Nico from two Templars, Khan posthumously aids the heroes by providing them with explosives to stop the Templars for good.
• Buckshot Roulette: The Dealer is the demonic and enigmatic runner of the shotgun roulette game in the seedy nightclub, who entices their opponents with money to sign a waiver and play their game, even managing to convince and beat God himself. Maintaining his games are fair, even reviving the player when they lose during a round to continue, The Dealer uses various tools during the games to their advantage while going against the player, maintaining his demeanor while keeping a tense game against the player. Cutting off life support for the final round, The Dealer takes their defeat with grace, and if The Player wins, gives them the prize money as they presumably die.
• Bug Fables: Astotheles is the leader of a dangerous gang of bandits of the Lost Sands. A skilled criminal responsible for many successful thefts, Astotheles decides to capture Team Snakemouth in exchange for a reward from the Wasp Kingdom troops, and pulls it off by posing as a merchant who sells them the key to his own hideout, where he has his men ambush them on entrance and lock them in their prison. When Team Snakemouth escapes, Astotheles challenges them to the duel to death to protect the key to the ruins they're after. After being defeated and shown mercy, Astotheles commands his men to let them leave his hideout in a display of honor, and their own display of kindness causes him to rethink his life as a bandit while hiding from the law. Crafty yet noble to a fault, Astotheles proves to be the team's most honorable foe during their adventure.
• The Caligula Effect: Thorn is the leader of the Ostinato Musicians overseeing Mobius. Originally Asuka Natsume, Thorn was unable to move on from the suicide of her best friend and took on her identity inside Mobius, where Thorn became the right-hand of the sentient AI μ after μ denied Thorn her wish. Creating the Ostinato Musicians, a group of emotionally damaged individuals seeking to preserve their ideal lives by composing songs for μ and manipulating them as well, Thorn uses their songs to amass negative energy and slowly corrupt μ to grant her own wish. While the Go-Home Club manages to defeat the Musicians, Thorn succeeds in corrupting μ while also taking revenge on her former friend Shogo Satake by triggering his past trauma. Hiding her real intentions from both friend and foe, Thorn was the real mastermind behind the current Mobius, all in her plan to ensure the destruction of the real world.
• Call of Juarez: Gunslinger: Silas Greaves is a legendary Bounty Hunter who fought against many famous outlaws, outmaneuvering and defeating nearly all of them. After his brothers were murdered by three bandits, Mr. Ringo, Roscoe "Bob" Bryant, and Jim, Silas embarked on a quest to get enough skills and hunt them down. Crossing paths with historical figures like Billy The Kid, Jesse James, and Butch Cassidy, along the way, Silas outplayed and defeated all of them, escaping every death trap he ended up in. Successfully tracking down Mr. Ringo and Jim and killing them in a duel, Silas starts to wonder if he became worse than them, due to killing far more people than his enemies ever had. Finally tracking down Bob in a bar, Silas arrives to tell him the tale of his adventures, specifically to pinpoint Bob among the people. Upon discovering that Bob now leads a peaceful life, Silas reveals his true identity and, depending on the ending, can either forgive him or carry on with his revenge, killing Bob in cold blood.
• Catherine:
  • Ishtar is the Mesopotamian goddess of love and war who created the Nightmares and Great Trial to find a man worthy to be her consort. Transforming Thomas "Boss" Mutton into the demigod Dumuzid after he completed her trials so he can be her mate, Ishtar has him re-create the Nightmares, intending to find another man to replace the adulterous Dumuzid, using her guise as Astaroth to oversee their progress. Ishtar also disguises herself as the Golden Playhouse hostess, Midnight Venus, to scout for potential suitors, eventually setting her eyes on the Player Character. Should they complete her trials, Ishtar deems them worthy of being her consort and consummates a romantic relationship with them.
  • Thomas "Boss" Mutton, the gentle owner of the Stray Sheep and the deity Dumuzid in disguise, is the real mastermind behind the Nightmares. Boss was once a man cursed with nightmares before ascending to godhood after seducing Ishtar. With his power, Boss creates the Nightmares to secretly punish disloyal men in his plans to maintain stable population growth with happy families, sending succubi to seduce his targets and then having them climb the Nightmare ending either free or dead. When Vincent figures him out, Boss challenges him in one last Nightmare where he himself will chase him, becoming his most difficult challenge in the Nightmare. Having lost, Boss ultimately fulfills his bet with Vincent, freeing every man from his curse and helping him set up his dream as a man of his word.
  • The mysterious Catherine is in actuality a succubus sent by Boss to seduce Vincent to test his loyalty towards his girlfriend. A master temptress who has seduced hundreds, Catherine expertly uses her charm to seduce Vincent into an affair, inflicting the curse and stringing him along, unknown to him she's also seducing other men behind his back including his friends. Unexpectedly falling in love with him due to his unique affinity to chaos, Catherine decides to go beyond, tempting him into embracing his inner freedom in hopes of being with him, either succeeding in consummating their relationship in the underworld and overthrowing her father to rule Hell or failing and accepting defeat, leaving Vincent alone to enjoy his life.
• Chronicles of Tsufanubra: Veryl manipulates everyone in the game like fiddles. As the "savior" of the Kjrn he seeks to end the Fantastic Racism and will do anything to achieve this goal. He raises Celes to be the new goddess so he could have her as a part of his ambitions as a god. He also manipulates Vladimir to help him, sending him to Celes' group when he doesn't need him before annihilating the kingdom. Revealing his desire to become god and save his kind Veryl gives Celes a chance to join her before dying in the battle with her group fighting for his race.
• Chrono Trigger: Magus was once Janus, prince of the Kingdom of Zeal in Antiquity, until Lavos destroyed the kingdom and sent Janus forward in time to the Middle Ages. There, choosing the name Magus, he became the leader of the non-humans, deceiving them and declaring war on the Kingdom of Guardia. By doing so, he sought to gain enough power to summon and kill Lavos. When Crono and the party disrupt this plan, Magus is sent back in time to the Kingdom of Zeal before Lavos destroyed it. Disguising himself as a Prophet, Magus used his knowledge of history to gain the favour of Queen Zeal, positioning himself to kill Lavos when it surfaces. When this fails, Magus can be recruited as a party member, recognising he cannot kill Lavos himself. If recruited, he leaves the party to try to find his missing sister. Selfish and never truly turning good, Magus was nevertheless a brilliant, powerful and determined sorcerer that defied the Evil Overlord archetype with Hidden Depths.
• Code Vein:
  • Gregorio Silva is the charismatic leader of Cerberus and the survivors inside the Gaol of the Red Mist, who is willing to go to extremes to save as many as he can. Creating the Q.U.E.E.N Project and the Revenants in order to fight the Aragami using his daughter Cruz as the test subject, when Mido sabotage the program to drive Cruz into a frenzy, Silva turned many into Revenants as soldiers to stop Cruz's rampage. Knowing that the Queen he seeks to destroy is unkillable, Silva had her different pieces place into other Revenants as Successors, turning himself into one by taking her Brain to create the Red Mist before imparting an oppressive system towards the Revenants due to a resources crisis and giving Jack the task overseeing the Successors and put down any who frenzies. When Mido's attempt to eliminate him drives Silva to nearly lose himself, he has Jack lead the group into putting him down in a desperate attempt to maintain the Red Mist. While a dictator, Silva's only purpose is to save as many as he could in a desolate world ready to collapse.
  • Jack Rutherford, the Hunter, is Silva's right-hand man given the task of watcher over the Successors and Revenants. Working with the Protagonist to stop the Queen in Operation Queenslayer, when the Protagonist ends up infected by the Queen, Jack shows his resolve by attempting to put them down. Entrusted with the Queen's Eye, Jack is ordered to kill any frenzied Revenant or Successor and then scout out replacements, frequently appearing as an enemy, seemingly killing Mia's brother and trying to capture the Protagonist. Devoted to his duty, Jack decides to work with the group in defeating Mido and putting down Eva and Silva when they go rampage out of mercy, before leading them into the contingency plan to keep the Red Mist. While a cold-hearted executioner, Jack deep down is a warrior just trying to maintain order in a desolate world.
• Command & Conquer: Kane, the unshakable, powerful and charismatic master of the Brothrhood of Nod. Kane's manipulations go back all the way to Red Alert when he plays the Soviets perfectly toward his end goals. In the present, Kane betrays his second in command and manipulates the entire GDI to play to his own ends. Kane later even starts the Third Tiberium War just to trick the GDI into launching an Ion Cannon strike on Temple Prime and detonating a liquid Tiberium bomb so he can call the Scrin to earth and hijack one of their gates to leave the earth and ascend. In Kane's Wrath. Not only does Kane manipulate the fractured Brotherhood into reunifying in the wake of Firestorm, he also engineers the rise of Redmond Boyle, who he wants to be in charge of GDI so he can manipulate him into using the Ion Cannon on Temple Prime. And he does all this while constructing LEGION, the ultimate strategic AI to interface with the Tacitus and bring him and Nod one step closer to ascension, ending by achieving every goal he sets out for.
• Crash Bandicoot series:
  • Cortex Strikes Back: Dr. Nitrus "N." Brio is at his finest in this game. The former assistant to Dr. Cortex and creator of the Evolve-O-Ray, Brio discovers that Cortex has resurfaced and, realizing his chance at getting revenge on his abusive boss, creates an army of his own to stop a gullible Crash from gathering the power crystals for Cortex. Secretly hacking into his holograms, Brio also encourages Crash to gather gems instead, predicting that he would gather both so that he can power his own laser, which ultimately ends up destroying Cortex's space station.
  • Crash Boom Bang: The Viscount is a wealthy Tasmanian devil who seeks the Super Big Power Crystal. Upon realizing that he would need help to solve its puzzles, he organizes a tournament to con Crash and his allies into finding it for him. To this end, he disguises the puzzles as mini games, participating in some himself to keep up the charade. Calmly stating his true goals after a botched highjacking from Cortex, he still manages to persuade the gang into helping him, having them search an underwater shipwreck for a key to unlock the crystal's tower. Finally reaching the Tower, Viscount manages to beat the gang to the Crystal, nearly winning in the end and only failing due to Crash's quick intervention.
• Criminal Case: Grimsborough's "The Ghost of Grimsborough": Patrick Rufio is a wealthy man on the verge of bankruptcy who hires artist Wilhelm Moss to create a portrait of the Mad Pilgrim, supposedly cursed to kill whoever tries to paint him. Patrick sends letters claiming to be the Mad Pilgrim to fool Moss, then kills him in his art room to blame the curse and inflate the value of Moss' painting. When the police arrive, Patrick's method of killing stumps them and shows his skills brushing a suspiciously buried logbook and pulls a prank to scare the GBPD without being caught. When found out, Patrick shows respect to the player, admits his plan to sell the copy as the original to make a fortune and calmly accepts his life sentence, calling it a fair trade for the creation of a masterpiece.
• Crysis 2: Jacob Hargreave is one of the founders of Hargreave-Rasch Biomedicalis and the creator of the Nanosuit who is ready to make many sacrifices to save humanity from the Ceph. To this end, three years ago, he caused the war at Lingshan Islands and sent Prophet and his team there to test the Nanosuit against the alien race. After learning about Prophet's death and the Nanosuit being passed to a marine named Alcatraz, Hargreave would guide Alcatraz against the Ceph. Despite being put under house arrest and his leadership of the C.E.L.L being undermined by Lockhart, Hargreave maintains his intelligence and charisma, managing to have Alcatraz kill Lockhart before betraying and capturing him. When he fails to get the Nanosuit, Hargeave accepts his defeat with dignity and gives Alcatraz the last Nanosuit update and order the C.E.L.L to assist the marine before dying.
• Cuphead:
  • King Dice is the dapper right hand of the Devil and the manager of the casino that entraps Cuphead and Mugman. King Dice lures in the greedy by allowing them to win big before calling in his boss to cheat them out of their souls, doing the same to the brothers and forcing them to collect the soul contracts of previous victims. Watching them every step of their journey, he takes notice of their growing power and sets up a trap to steal the contracts and offer them to the Devil in their place. Making full use of his casino theme, King Dice first weakens the brothers with a series of boss battles before fighting them directly with his playing card powers. Ultimately defeated, King Dice maintains a wicked grin throughout in contrast to his cowardly and pathetic master.
  • The Delicious Last Course DLC:
    • Chef Saltbaker is first introduced as a kind and jovial baker seeking to create the Wondertart to bring Ms. Chalice back to life, but in truth has his own devious ambitions. Manipulating Cuphead and Mugman under false pretenses to gather the ingredients for the Wondertart, Saltbaker intends to bake one of their souls into it and use the power to become a god. In a titanic battle, Saltbaker creatively uses the Wondertart's ingredients as weapons against the brothers and later morphs the very salt of his being into deadly traps against them while attacking them with his empowered heart. While he is ultimately defeated and arrested, he fights to the bitter end and comes to genuinely enjoy his once humiliating community service.
    • The Moonshine Mob are a group of criminal insects who guard the Distillery Dough, one of the Wondertart's ingredients. First to fight the cups is the Spider, who summons bombs and reinforcements at the press of a button, followed by the Light Bug, who seduces the police to attack the cups while emitting harmful soundwaves from her gramophone. Last is the Announcer Snail, the Mob's boss, riding the giant Anteater who attacks with his tongue—sometimes faking out—and by flinging the insects he's eaten. After the Anteater's defeat, a fake knockout screen is shown before the Snail bombards the cups with his own soundwaves from his megaphone.

D - F

• Daniel Mullins Games, by release date:
  • Pony Island: Asmodeus.exe describes himself as more sophisticated than the other daemon programs, and lives up to his boast very well. Asmodeus challenges the player to a simple game: Don't leave the game window, and answer his questions correctly. Once it starts, Asmodeus steadily begins to employ a series of clever, fourth-wall breaking tricks to either ruin the player's focus or dupe them into tabbing out, ranging from taking the guise of somebody on their Steam friends list, to faking a game crash. Once beaten, Asmodeus congratulates the player for their performance, and accepts his death with pride.
  • The Hex: Reginald, the bartender, is actually Rootbeer Reggie, the star of Lionel Snill's first game and the mastermind behind the events of the story. Plotting revenge against Lionel for abandoning him, Reggie gathers six protagonists from Lionel's other games together at his bar for his plans, while also coordinating an assault on Gameworks HQ with Lazarus and Weasel Kid to obtain a special artifact. Aware of the player's existence and needing them for his plans, Reggie lies about one of the characters secretly plotting a murder, and sends the player on a goose chase to figure out who it is to keep them invested in the story until the time comes where they're needed. Ultimately, with the protagonists and the player together, Reggie uses the artifact to open the Hex, a portal to the real world that he uses to kill Lionel and secure his revenge.
  • Inscryption: Amid the myriad of gambits that form the central narrative, each of the four Scrybes manage to stand out for their own cunning intellect and strong personality.
    • Leshy, Scrybe of Beasts, is your macabre, yet accommodating Game Master for the first act of the game. Prior to the events of the game, Leshy obtained a piece of the nefarious OLD_DATA lurking in the game's code, and with it in tow, trapped his fellow Scrybes into cards using his magical camera and overhauled Inscryption to his liking, while purposefully leaving his magical camera empty of film when unused to avoid having the same thing done to him. An artist whose number one objective is giving the player a fun experience, Leshy sets up a creepy game involving gruesome mechanics and the stealing of the souls of the player's vessels, all while making his campaign heavy on lore and detail, all of which comes together to make for an immersive, if disturbing, experience. Assisting Grimora and Magnificus in shutting down P03's eventual takeover of the game, when the game starts being deleted Leshy uses his final moments to play with you a little more, having one last fun, casual game together until he shakes your hand farewell.
    • P03, Scrybe of Technology, is first introduced as the condescending and ungrateful "Stoat" that is content to allow Grimora and Magnificus to work to free them from Leshy's control. In truth an arrogant yet quirky robot, P03 uses its factory to dredge up a piece of the OLD_DATA and assume control of Inscryption to draw Luke into it own version of the game. Valuing mechanics over performance, P03 creates a series of meta-breaking Uber Bots to serve as creative and enthralling boss encounters all to district Luke while it works to connect to his Wi-Fi and access the internet. Masterminding the Great Transcendence, P03 seeks to upload itself and Inscryption to the web to finally give itself true freedom and never fall under anyone's control again. Ambushed and beheaded by Leshy before its upload can finish, the ARG reveals P03 had the foresight to upload a copy of itself as a precaution and is shown to have survived the final deletion and ultimately win out in the end.
    • Grimora, Scrybe of the Dead, starts out as the amicable "Stinkbug", freed from her prison inside Leshy's safe with the help of P03. With her at your side, Grimora will give you advice on how to progress, which will eventually result in Magnificus gaining freedom and setting into motion the events that lead to Leshy's downfall, all while Grimora is nothing short of pleasant towards you and her fellow Scrybes. Conspiring to take down P03 alongside Leshy and Magnificus, Grimora triggers the end of Inscryption by swooping up P03's control over Luke Carder's computer and deleting it, in the hopes of ending the Scrybes' infighting and destroying the OLD_DATA that lurks within. Playing one final game with you, Grimora laments that the two of you could have had so much fun together, and gives you a handshake goodbye.
    • Magnificus, Scrybe of Magicks, is first depicted as the one-eyed "Stunted Wolf" and the mastermind that set in motion the series of puzzles that allow Luke to overcome Leshy and free them all from their card prisons. A Plant Person with a long Wizard Beard made of leaves, Magnificus is a seer that foresaw Leshy's takeover and P03's Great Transcendence and took precautions that led to the end of both their plans. A calm and collected being on first glance, his dark side is shown in his tower as he challenges his disciples to horrific and painful tests to prove themselves worthy of being painted into cards for his deck. After Grimora initiates the deletion of Inscryption, Magnificus uses his sheer force of will to hold off his deletion and give Luke one last game before they both meet their makers and is deleted while struggling to shake hands in a final show of respect.
• The Darkness: Butcher Joyce is regarded as one of the best "cleaners" in New York's underworld, disposing of bodies and evidence from various hit jobs, jokingly considering his work a piece of art. Butcher knows everyone's business, but prides himself in ostensibly not taking any sides. A streetwise, laid back and loyal friend to Jackie, Butcher ends up being a critical ally in Jackie's feud with his "Uncle" Paulie, providing him with key information and locations to cripple Paulie's business. When Jackie goes after Pualie's business partner, Police Captain Eddie Shrote, Butcher gives Jackie a lead to steal evidence against Shrote, with Butcher putting a bomb in Eddie's briefcase, seeing the deaths of Eddie himself and his officers. After Jackie kills Paulie, Joyce would officially join the Franchettis as run by Jackie, seen remaining a loyal ally even years later.
• Dark Rose Valkyrie: The Director of Anti-Chimera Incercept Division (ACID), Taiki Shinohara is the mastermind behind all the atrocities. Seeking a female chimera capable of reproduction known as "EVE" to advance "Project Messiah", he manipulates all of the factions to work with the pro-chimera evolution group, Quo Vadis, for his own end goal. Using Valkyrie System technology to find the perfect EVE, he stops the Valkyrie Force captain from interfering with his plans by leaving a chimera to fend them off, leaving to personally have ACID headquarters utterly decimated with his own chimera army. Though eventually defeated, he graciously accepts his loss, allowing the Valkyrie Captain his own research notes to return the afflicted back to normal. Although a man of relentless methods, Taiki shows positive qualities in genuine gratitude towards his best friend, even as he kills him and disgust towards a country for discriminating against his foreign creator.
• Dark Souls series:
  • First game:
    • Kingseeker Frampt is Lord Gwyn's closest confidante and a key piece in his master's plan to save the Age of Fire, despite seeming like no more than a theatrical, sleepy serpent. Gwyn's plan entails a false prophecy of an Undead who would succeed him, drawing the worthy and gullible into ringing the Bells of Awakening. Once rung by the Chosen Undead, Frampt rises from his slumber and appears in Firelink Shrine to guide them, giving them concise instructions on how to proceed with their quest. As Frampt boasts of the Chosen Undead's destiny to take Gwyn's place, rarely dropping his hammy demeanor, he intentionally leaves out a crucial detail - to link the First Flame and save the Age of Fire, one must burn in fire for all eternity, something the Chosen Undead can learn the hard way.
    • Dark Sun Gwyndolin is Gwyn's youngest son, the sole remaining god of Anor Londo, and the other major player in his father's plan. Dutiful to his family despite Gwyn's blatant lack of care for him, Gwyndolin hides the sorry state of Anor Londo with an illusion of radiance and life, while having his Darkmoon Blades assassinate any who learn of its true nature. When the Chosen Undead surpasses the trials of Anor Londo, Gwyndolin uses an image of his sister Gwynevere to grant them the Lordvessel and give them further instructions on how to enter the Kiln of the First Flame. While the nature of the game means that Gwyndolin can be undone, he ultimately succeeds in tricking the Chosen Undead into linking the fire and survives the events of the story, choosing to continue his personal mission to protect Anor Londo and his family's legacy.
  • Dark Souls III:
    • The soft-spoken and enigmatic Yuria of Londor is the potential architect of the Age of Dark, pledging her loyalty to the Ashen One once they obtain 5 Dark Sigils from the pilgrim Yoel. Set on making you into a Dark Lord, Yuria uses a proxy to manipulate Anri of Astora into joining you in wedlock, granting the Ashen One the remaining Dark Sigils they need to become the Lord of Hollows. Instructing them to usurp the First Flame, one of the potential endings of the game sees the Ashen One bringing forth a new world of darkness, one where mankind can potentially thrive, just as Yuria desires.
    • Slave Knight Gael is an ancient undead first appearing as an ally of the Ashen One. Luring the Ashen One into the Painted World of Ariandel to free it from the tyranny of Sister Friede and bringing about the death of Father Ariandel to liberate the young Painter for a new world, Gael travels to the Ringed City with intention of claiming the Dark Soul. Realizing that the ruling Pygmy Lords' blood is too dried to serve as pigment for a new Painted World, Gael slaughters them and takes their blood to absorb the Dark Soul, devising a plan for the Ashen One to destroy him and bring his blood to the Painter for the needed pigment.
• Darksiders series:
  • Death, eldest and most powerful of the Four Horsemen, is one of the Firstborn of the Nephilim. Having helped his eldest brother Absalom destroy numerous worlds, Death led War, Fury and Strife from the Nephilim and joined the Charred Council to uphold the Balance, wiping the Nephilim out. Fighting countless battles since, Death shows no regard for honor or anything but victory, once using a plot to kill and revive War, or to deceive an opponent with a vision of his lost love to secure the victory. Deeply loving his siblings, Death sets out to clear War's name when he is accused of starting the apocalypse and to revive humanity to clear away War's crime. Ultimately facing a reborn Absalom, Death destroys his sibling once more and prepares to give his life to revive humankind before being revived by War breaking the final seals with Death prepared to face all of Creation at his brother's side.
  • Debuting in the first game, Samael is the most powerful demon around and loyal only to his own mysterious agenda. Imprisoned for 'disapproving of the company' his former master keeps, Samael encounters War and steadily guides him to destroy the Destroyer's Chosen to recover their hearts with the promise it will gain War entry into the Black Throne to take his revenge on the Destroyer. In truth, the hearts simply bind Samael and he tricks War into freeing him perfectly. Once achieved, Samael holds to his own unique code of honor and refuses to kill War, departing as a deal is a deal.
  • Darksiders III: The true villain of the game, Envy, possesses Fury's Watcher and spends the entire game steadily manipulating her to Envy's own ends. Having Fury eliminate all the Seven Deadly Sins, Envy emerges when Pride has been defeated to usurp all their power and defeats Fury effortlessly. Declaring that the world will be hers, Envy proceeds to storm over to the Charred Council and nearly erases them herself to achieve her own ends, showcasing a brilliant and cunning mind underneath her selfishness and deadliness.
• Dead Rising franchise:
  • Chuck Greene is a legendary motocross racer turned heroic zombie killer. After losing his wife in Vegas and escaping with his daughter on a bike he built from scratch, Chuck later became involved in the Fortune City Outbreak, being framed for the crime by Phenotrans. Slowly unraveling the conspiracy while saving people's lives, Chuck's ingenuity and quick thinking have him overcome insurmountable odds, including singlehandedly defeating an attack helicopter and using Raymond Sullivan's escape attempt against him. Chuck later breaks into a Phenotrans facility alongside Frank West and escapes alive, clearing his name for Fortune City. Returning in Dead Rising 3 having become a crime lord to pay for Katey's Zombrex, Chuck remains as effective as ever, tracking her down in the middle of the outbreak and jumping back into the fray against General John Hemlock without hesitation. Calm, collected, and devoted to his dear daughter, Chuck's determination is second to none, and no one, whether they're game show hosts or even entire corporations, wins against him.
  • Original game: Adam MacIntyre was once an ordinary clown who witnessed his audience being killed by the zombies. Despite going insane, Adam discovers a way to keep the zombies away, observing that the zombies stay away from the Space Rider rollercoaster when it's cranked to full speed. By overcharging the ride, Adam creates a zombie-free spot in the mall, then kidnaps Greg Simpson to place him on the ride for his own safety. When Frank West investigates the ride, Adam confronts him to prevent him from turning it off, combatting him with a wide variety of methods like his incredible mobility, attack methods for every range, and dangerous counterattacks. Adam's belief in the coaster is vindicated after his death, when Frank turns off the ride and causes it to be swarmed with zombies once more.
  • Dead Rising 2: Raymond Sullivan, posing as a benevolent yet incompetent security guard, is in truth the mastermind behind the Fortune City Outbreak. Acting on behalf of Phenotrans, Sullivan blows up the zombie cages while dressed as Chuck Greene, framing him for the crime in the process. Standing back while Chuck clears his own name, Sullivan causes a breach of the Safe House without anyone noticing his act, even successfully pretending to have been unconscious. Once Rebecca calls her news station for help, Sullivan reveals himself and executes her, gathering the evidence Chuck has found and moving to evacuate the city, leaving the survivors and witnesses to be bombed by the military. To the end, Sullivan insists that he and Phenotrans are only doing what they must to ensure a constant supply of Zombrex, and even when he's killed, he successfully gets the evidence out of the city, forcing Chuck to attack Phenotrans directly to clear his name.
• Dead to Rights games:
  • Original Game:
    • William T. Pinnacle III is the corrupt, cigar-chomping mayor of Grant City. Running for reelection against Gloria Exner, Pinnacle uses his campaign promises to hide his illegal underground gold smuggling operation, getting the Iron Point Penitentiary prisoners to mine the gold for him in secrecy. Getting Jack Slate on his side by promising to pardon him of his supposed murder should he retrieve Hennessey’s incriminating files, Pinnacle forces Gloria to kill Jack by threatening to murder her, only to have her killed by Jack's supposed friend Hildy. Killing Hildy after she hands over the files and hoping to frame her as the mastermind behind Gloria's death, Pinnacle also proves himself a powerhouse of a politician, able to shrug off Jack's attacks with ease, and dies joking how Jack will never be pardoned for his crimes.
    • Patch is a leader of Mayhem, Inc. A smartly dressed, dapper and intelligent assassin who frames Jack for the murder of mobster Auggie Blatz by luring Jack into a trap, Patch shoots him non-fatally, before using his gun to execute Blatz. Later blindsiding Jack and killing his ally Eve, Patch is almost able to successfully assassinate a mayoral candidate before engaging Jack in a final battle.
    • Prentiss "Preacherman" Jones is an inmate preacher at Iron Point Penitentiary who was framed for selling drugs. Having the utmost respect for Frank Slate, upon news of his demise, Jones does what he can to help his son Jack escape prison to avenge Frank's death. Getting Jack to acquire some battery acid and an escape map, moments before Jack's execution in the electric chair, Jones sneakily uses the acid and a hidden razor blade to break Jack free, afterwards taking advantage of a staged power outage to kill warden Sickle.
  • Retribution Continuity Reboot:
    • Shadow, Jack Slate's trusty Canine Companion, is far more clever and bloodthirsty than his original counterpart. A surprisingly tactical animal, Shadow uses stealth to carry out tasks for the Slate family, whether it be using his barks to lure goons to their demise, or sneaking up from behind and brutally murdering them. Dedicated to protecting Jack at all costs, Shadow successfully assists his master in the takedown of Redwater and G.A.C.
    • Captain Redwater is a well-respected officer who secretly created G.A.C. with hopes of turning Grant City into a Police State. Genuinely seeking to clean up crime, Redwater kills his friend Frank Slate to cover up his plans, partnering with Julian Temple to get G.A.C. legalized by allowing all kinds of criminal activity to happen under his watch in order to justify their deployment. Killing his partner Riggs after Jack reveals his plan to betray him, Redwater uses Temple's arrest by Jack to declare martial law, imprisoning his fellow officers with hopes of taking over the entire city with his army of G.A.C. troops.
• Death Stranding: President Bridget Strand and Amelie are the Extinction Entity and a being split between the living world and the Beach respectively. Haunted by nightmares of the world's destruction she is destined to bring about, Bridget and Amelie sought to avert the end. Bridget, in the living world, began unethical experiments on Bridge Babies, manipulating the noble Clifford Unger to turn his son into one. Eventually killing him, she inadvertently killed his baby as well and felt so guilty that Amelie repatriated the baby from the Beach, Bridget raising him as Sam Strand—this unfortunately triggers the titular Death Stranding. Deciding it may be best to put the world out of its misery, Amelie leads an expedition across America to establish the Chiral Network, also recruiting the psychotic Higgs Monaghan and the Homo Demens to destroy her own team and "capture" her. Bridget then coerces her adoptive son/brother Sam to rescue her, finish the network to either initiate the Last Stranding or have Sam kill Amelie to save the world. Sam instead manages to reach Amelie with love and she decides to seal herself away to give the world a reprieve from the inevitable extinction. Bridget/Amelie did terrible things to give humanity just a little more time and ultimately succeeded in her goal of reuniting America and granting humanity hope for tomorrow.
• The Desolate Hope: "Coffee" is a cynical and sarcastic coffee machine who secretly plans to upload a human embryo into a makeshift virtual reality so he can give her a chance at a normal life. Tricking the entire station that the anti-virus system guarding the items needs are dangerous malware, he creates a sentient virus and has it eliminate the security under the guise that he's eliminating viruses. Coffee also has the virus befriend and gain the trust of the Derelicts so as to upgrade his holograms, which are crucial to destroying the security. When the virus discovers its true purpose, Coffee explains his motives while managing to convince the virus to help him nonetheless, ultimately succeeding in giving the embryo a normal life, while also accompanying her in the reality using a body he made.
• Destiny 2: The Witch Queen, Savathûn's machinations bear their fruits in this game, with sweeping changes to the status quo. Her mistrust of The Witness's endgame leads her to backstab Nezarec and hide away the Veil prior to the story, stalling the Witness long enough for humanity to recover from the Collapse. In Forsaken, she has Riven curse the Dreaming City into a timeloop so that her forces may reach the Distributary and repeatedly massacre the Awoken there, potentially setting her free from her Worm-feeding if she succeeds even once. When her interference with the Guardians' communion with the Pyramids exposes her treachery to The Witness, she finds refuge by possessing Osiris throughout Year 4, mentoring Crow while testing the Vanguard's budding alliances with the Cabal and the Fallen. Upon revealing herself, Savathûn strikes a deal with Mara Sov to exorcise her Worm in exchange of releasing the real Osiris, keeping true to her word once the ritual is over. In Year 5, Savathûn returns with powers over the Light, unsealing Mars and beating back First Disciple Rhulk. With The Reveal that the Traveler gave the Light to the Hive and resurrected Savathûn despite the latter knowing it wasn't guaranteed, Savathûn regains the memories she lost upon revival and intends to seal the Traveler away from The Witness. Despite the Guardians foiling her, she's content that they are ready to stand against The Witness.
• Detroit: Become Human: Elijah Kamski is a brilliant cybernetics engineer and the founder of Cyberlife, having developed the line of androids that are now ubiquitous throughout society before withdrawing from public life. Curious to see whether his creations could develop the potential for independence, Kamski sets the stage for an android rebellion by designing Markus and gifting him to a friend of his. He also tests Connor's capacity for empathy by goading him to kill one of his first androids, then provides him with clues on how to prevent being reprogrammed by Amanda in the Zen Garden, an artificial intelligence which Kamski himself based on his former teacher. In the event that all three protagonists are killed off before the finale, Kamski will take back control over Cyberlife in order to study his robots and rebuild their code from the ground up. A cordial and philosophical man in person, Kamski seems concerned only with observing the events he set in motion without interfering, content to let the chips fall where they may no matter how many android or human lives might be lost in the process.
• Devil May Cry 5: V, the human half of Vergil, is a charming, William Blake-poetry loving man with a penchant for getting people to do what he wants even when they are suspicious of him. Introduced in the prequel novel having mugged a man to hire Dante, V seeks to defeat the Demon King he has dubbed Urizen while secretly planning to merge with him when he is beaten. V falls back on numerous insurance policies when things don't go his way, namely bringing Nero to back up Dante against Urizen and seeking the Devil Sword Sparda as a trump card. Persevering even as his body falls apart, V has Nero bring him to Urizen as his dying request, succeeding in his plan and "recompleting" Vergil, being more than happy to kill his brother Dante in one last duel. While often ruthless in his plans, V is genuinely remorseful over his past actions and develops into a better person by the end of the game.
• Diablo:
  • Diablo II: Baal, Lord of Destruction, is the middle brother of the Prime Evils and far more clever than he is typically given credit for. More straightforward than his wantonly sadistic siblings, Baal was the first of them to suspect his niece Lilith's theft of the Worldstone. After following the Dark Exile, Baal emerges thanks to manipulating the wandering patsy to Diablo Marius into freeing him, later appearing to him as the angel Tyrael so that Marius will surrender his Soulstone to him before he executes Marius as a "reward" and proceeding to go on to corrupt the Worldstone to seize control of the world.
  • Diablo IV:
    • Lilith, Daughter of Hatred, is an ancient demon of the Burning Hells and child of the Prime Evil Mephisto. Long ago, tired of the Eternal Conflict, Lilith seduced the angel Inarius and created the world of Sanctuary with him. When they bore the Nephalem, Lilith destroyed their allies so she alone might utilize the power of their children. Returning from oblivion to seduce the Nephalem Uldyssian and subvert the church of the Triune to her own ends, Lilith's schemes came to naught when she was again banished by Inarius. Summoned anew millennia later, Lilith slowly warps humanity to her own purposes and sets events in motion so she might consume Mephisto and take his power. Breaking her old lover Inarius with words to open him to a fatal blow, Lilith utltimately comes within a hairsbreadth of destroying her hated father to gain enough power so she might turn humanity into a weapon to conquer all creation.
    • The villagers of Nevesk at first glance appear to be the traditional town in dire need of a hero, yet in truth are cultists in league with the demoness Lilith. Accepting Lilith's promises of freedom through sin, the villagers murder their town priest and trick and drug the monk who comes to investigate the disappearance. They play him off as a disturbed survivor of a demon attack and collectively play the role of desperate peasants to convince the Wanderer to "protect" them from demons and lead a nigh suicidal charge into a local ruined fort. Laying their dead priest as a trap to summon a powerful demon to fight the Wanderer, they take advantage of their survival to throw a victory party and drug their savior to serve as a powerful sacrifice for Lilith.
    • Elias, the Pale Man, is a former Horadrim prodigy who believed the world was irreparably lost without swift intervention. Fearful of the future of humanity, Elias delved into forbidden lore and came away with the belief that only Lilith, Daughter of Hatred, could save Sanctuary. After fooling even the tree of knowledge with his immortality to achieve knowledge of the great ritual, Elias proceeded to manipulate treasure hunters into a sacrifice to call Lilith back to the world. Serving her will, Elias assists in her plans so she may consume her powerful father and destroy the Prime Evils forever with full belief that any sacrifices are necessary to safeguard Sanctuary's future.
• Dicey Dungeons: Lady Luck is the snarky, shamelessly terrible hostess of Dicey Dungeons, a game show where participants of any kind can come aboard to fight in the dungeons for a chance at anything they desire. In truth, Lady Luck has rigged the game to ensure nobody can ever win, and as a result, contestants can either fight in pointless battles forever, or forfeit themselves to Lady Luck and become her minions, trapped on the show for eternity no matter what. When the contestants finally fight back and defeat her, Lady Luck joyfully reveals that the show was a plot to make the contestants give up on their selfish wants and learn a valuable lesson instead, happily allowing everybody to leave while becoming significantly warmer in the post-game, fondly reminiscing on her own defeat as she dubs it a "fan favorite".
• Disco Elysium: Detectives Harry Du Bois and Kim Kitsuragi face many manipulative and cunning adversaries in their long and complex investigation of the hanged man.
  • Evrart Claire is the leader of the Dockworker's Union, alongside his brother Edgar, and serve as the de facto rulers of Martinaise. Operating under the guise of corrupt, smug crime bosses, the brothers are truthfully die hard communists who had the last Union boss assassinated for being a corporate bootlicker and work hard to better the lives of their workers and the people of the district. With Edgar out on business, Evrart is personally stalling negotiations to ensure the worker's strike lasts indefinitely to perform mass theft on Wild Pines assets and keeps his people paid by using the harbor as a drug smuggling operation. When the detectives arrive to investigate the murder of a Krenel mercenary strikebreaker, Evrart masterfully manipulates the amnesiac Harry and uses him to perform dirty work to further Union goals for promises of information and engineers a violent confrontation with his men and the mercenaries to cause a PR nightmare for Wild Pines and Krenel. Ultimately, Evrart was banking on the detectives to pass this information on to Wild Pines ensuring they would pull out and leave the Union to secure their power base and the beginnings of a second communist revolution.
  • Klaasje Amandou was a corporate spy who performed industrial sabotage and espionage by using her quick wits and sultry charms to work her way into the trust of her targets. After one particularly nasty job, a guilt ridden Klaasje fled from her employers and stole enough money to ensure she could hide indefinitely. Fleeing to Revachol and the district of Martinaise, Klaasje lived a hedonistic lifestyle while earning the affections of Titus Hardie and his gang, their trucker friend Ruby, and the Krenel mercenary Lely whom she also fell in love with. When Lely is fatally shot by Klaasje's unknown stalker, the communist holdout Iosef, during sex, she acted immediately by using Ruby and the Hardie boys to frame the killing as a Union backed hanging to distance herself from the crime. Despairing at the abuse and neglect of her lover's corpse, Klaasje hides her voice and phones the police to finally give him peace. When the investigation comes her way, she is able to effortlessly charm the detectives and send them on a false hunt for Ruby to make her own escape, while leaving them a vital clue to ensure the real killer would be caught.
  • Ruby is butch truck driver whose entanglements with Klaasje and the Union put her as a prime suspect in the murder of the hanged man. Working as a lorry driver by day, Ruby is a technical genius who masterminded a massive drug smuggling operation by using custom radio stations to lead a fleet of trucks to transport narcotics and is single handedly keeping the Union strike funded. A good friend to the Hardie boys, she was able to perfectly frame the lynching as a Union murder and flees to the coast when the Revachol police arrive to investigate. Believing Harry to be a corrupt cop working for a drug kingpin sent to kill her, Ruby chooses the perfect hideaway to buy herself enough time to build a pale emitter that transmits painful signals from the void consuming the world to lure the detectives into a trap that all but incapacitates them, and chooses to kill herself rather than being arrested if that fails. While ultimately only a misdirection for Klaasje, Ruby still served as perhaps the greatest obstacle for the detectives during the murder investigation.
• Disaster: Day of Crisis: Colonel Haynes is the commander of SURGE who sought revenge against America after witnessing his men getting burned to death by the US government to cover up their ties to the corrupt South American government. Stealing three nuclear warheads, Haynes threatens the US government with activating one of the nukes should he not receive $200 million, half of which would go to the families of his fallen soldiers. Taking geologist Professor Davis and his assistant Lisa hostage, Haynes instigates numerous natural disasters across several cities SURGE is based in so that the government can't send their forces after him. Supposedly killed by the traitorous Major Evans after he calls off the mission, Haynes shows up on Evans's ship to kill him, and assists Ray in deactivating the final nuke, while allowing himself to stay onboard the sinking ship as Ray and Lisa make their escape.
• Disgaea franchise:
  • Hour of Darkness:
    • Seraph Lamington, the leader of Celestia, initially seems to be a spacey airhead with little understanding of his surroundings, but in truth, he is the mastermind behind the events of the game. A wise, friendly angel seeking to improve relations between angels and demons, Lamington aims to test Prince Laharl's heart and make him prove himself as Overlord of the Netherworld. To this end, Lamington sends Flonne to assassinate the long-dead King Krichevskoy, knowing that she would fail and become friends with Laharl instead, teaching him love and compassion in the process. Keeping a steady hand over events through his partner Vyers, Lamington knowingly enables his treacherous right-hand Vulcanus, flawlessly working his scheming into his own plans and turning the tables once his treason stops being useful. Lamington's final gambit involves gambling Flonne's life and provoking Laharl's wrath to test his willingness to show mercy, fully willing to accept his own demise as a potential penance for his manipulations. Lamington ultimately ends the game fully victorious, coming to an arrangement with the now-mature Overlord and opening the way for peace between both worlds.
    • Vyers/"Mid-Boss", the "Dark Adonis", is seemingly nothing more than the recurring wannabe rival to Laharl and company, but in truth he is the reincarnation of King Krichevskoy, the deceased ruler of the Netherworld and Laharl's loving father. Working in cahoots with Lamington, Vyers happily plays the part of a pathetic nuisance, frequently provoking encounters with Laharl to test his strength and mold him into a more benevolent Overlord. On the off-chance he actually wins one of these encounters, Vyers rolls with it and takes back the throne, waiting for Laharl to rise to the challenge once again.
  • A Brighter Darkness: Xenolith is a soft-spoken, enigmatic figure who turns out to be Etna's older brother. Knowing Etna's innate magical power would lead to her demise, Xenolith claimed the magic-absorbing Artifact of Absolute Death to save his little sister's life, only to realize he had no way of turning it off, causing it to siphon the Netherworld's magic and tear it apart. To fix this, Xenolith began kidnapping angels to drain them of their magic and stabilize the Netherworld, staying under the radar and even deflecting suspicion by defending an angel he would capture later. Once cornered, Xenolith keeps calm and tries to dissuade the party from destroying the Artifact, knowing it would kill Etna if they did, and accepts his defeat with grace when they manage to shatter it without casualty.
• Dishonored:
  • Delilah Copperspoon, master of the Brigamore Witches ia a brilliant, determined witch and the illegitimate sister of former Empress Jessamine Kaldwin. Once cast into the streets, Delilah clawed her way tot he top, even earning the attention and Mark of the godlike Outsider himself. Seeking the throne, Delilah builds the Brigamore coven and proceeds to enact a scheme where she will replace Jessamine's daughter Emily's soul with her own, sending her strongest witches against the assassin Daud just to insure they won't be around to betray her when she replaces her niece. When this fails, Delilah is cast into the void but by sheer force of will she returns and assists her old allies to restore her to the material plane before launching a coup against her niece, effectively usurping the Kaldwin throne. Not satisfied, Delilah plots to even usurp the Outsider himself, a scheme the Outsider fears Delilah is completely capable of enacting. Ruthlessly dedicated to her own advancement and hell bent on forcing her vision upon the world, Delilah demonstrates just how high a once penniless urchin can rise with sheer force of will and hatred within her.
  • Daud himself, the Knife of Dunwall is a genius assassin who even attracted the notice of The Outsider. Forming The Whalers, Daud performed daring assassinations for the benefit of the corrupt, before accepting and completing a job on Empress Jessamine. Feeling true remorse when he saw what his deeds had done, Daud later dismantles the Brigamore Witch cult and tricks Delilah into being trapped in the void. Returning years later, Daud even puts together a plan to destroy the Outsider himself, using his one true friend Billie Lurk to carry it out.
• Doom franchise:
  • The legendary Doom Slayer himself, the greatest and most feared enemy of all demonkind, was once a humble marine caught in a demonic invasion. After fighting the demon hordes from Mars to Earth, the Slayer sealed himself in Hell before becoming a Night Sentinel to the world of Argent D'Nur. After reawakening many years later, the Doom Slayer resumes his fight on demonkind with overwhelming force and intelligent strategies, including shooting a hole through the surface of Mars to reach a way to Argent D'Nur. The Doom Slayer steadily destroys every opponent in his way, even unleashing the demons on the Maykr world of Urdak to destroy the Khan Maykr's base of power. Later fighting to bring the demons' ruler, the Dark Lord, into physical form to destroy him once and for all, the Doom Slayer is willing to gamble all existence on his chance to destroy the demonic threat for good.
  • Samur Maykr, better known as the Seraphim, aligned with the Father eons ago to defeat the Dark Lord Davoth and seal away Hell. Tasked with hiding the Father's life sphere, Samur, upon witnessing the Doom Slayer's battle prowess and willpower, assisted in helping him defeat the Dreadnought Titan by using the Divinity Machine to transform the Slayer into a legendary warrior and king, intending to use his skills and power later to revive his master. Coming to Earth years ago, Samur transfers his consciousness into an artificial human body, taking the name Samuel Hayden and becoming a powerful scientist who assisted mankind in discovering and harnessing Argent energy at the cost of many lives. Becoming the CEO of the Union Aerospace Corporation, Samur as Hayden releases the Doom Slayer when his understudy, Olivia Pierce, goes rogue and makes a pact with the Dark Lord in order to defeat her, then later assists him in locating Urdak to take down the Khan Maykr. Upon regaining his original body and being betrayed by Doom Slayer when he destroys the Father's life sphere, Samur fights the Slayer himself to prevent the Dark Lord's resurrection.
  • Doom³: Councilor Elliot Swann is one the highest ranking members of the Union Aerospace Corporation who came to Mars to investigate and deal with the recent troubles caused by Dr. Malcolm Betruger. Alongside his bodyguard Jack Campbell, Swann instantly deduces Betruger is the mastermind behind the demonic invasion and seeks to prevent the forces of Hell from reaching Earth no matter the cost. Swann has Campbell destroy all outside communication preventing the UAC Fleet from arriving and being ambushed by the demons, all the while condemning any survivors to certain death. When the Marine comes to manually send out a signal, Swann reveals his motives to turn the Marine to his side and orders him to destroy the man made portal in Delta Labs. Ultimately mortally wounded, Swann has the Marine take up his mission to destroy the main portal to Hell and succeed in driving back the demonic threat.
  • Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods DLC: Davoth, the "Dark Lord" and the true Father, was once a benevolent deity who sought the best for all his people by giving them immortality. Creating the Maykrs before being betrayed by them, Davoth sought destruction for all life in retribution. Davoth was reduced to a voice, and even then engineers Hell invasions across multiple dimensions, making numerous bargains before turning on his "partners". Notably, Davoth uses the Kahn Maykr's greed and the Doom Slayer's war on Hell to play all sides against each other, resulting in the Slayer wiping out the Maykrs as revenge for their betrayal and tricked Samur Maykr into empowering the Slayer with his essence, creating Hell's greatest threat and knowing they would face each other one day. Resurrected by the Slayer, Davoth intends to lead the final battle for the fate of creation, and forces the Father to reveal the truth of his betrayal. When beaten, Davoth accepts his death and asks the Slayer if he has anything to say to his creator.
• Dragon Age:
  • The mysterious Flemeth, Witch of the Wilds, is shrouded in mystery, a seemingly dotty old woman who speaks in riddles. In truth a mortal who bonded with the soul of Mythal, Flemeth deals in bargains but is swift to twist them to her own benefit. Saving the Grey Warden of Ferelden, Flemeth assists them and sends her daughter Morrigan with the secret hope that Morrigan will conceive a child using the soul of the Darkspawn Archdemon. Setting up her own survival by manipulating the hero Hawke, Flemeth returns years later to secretly assist Morrigan and potentially take the Archdemon's soul from her grandson before seemingly giving her life to the mysterious Solas for his own purposes.
  • Leliana is an initially carefree Orlesian bard who helps save Thedas on more than one occasion. After helping the Grey Wardens defeat the treacherous Loghain and the darkspawn, a hardened Leliana years later becomes the spymaster for the Inquisition, and helps track down many of the order's foes through coercion, bribery and murder. Despite her newfound ruthlessness, Leliana can be softened and persuaded by the Inquisitor to use more merciful methods, and if she's elected Divine Victoria, she abolishes the Circle of Magi and opens priesthood to all races. If she remains hardened, she has a rebellion that opposes her reforms infiltrated and destroyed from the inside.
  • Zevran Arainai is a former member of the Antivan Crows. An assassin whose brilliance is focused on seduction, Zevran deserts the Crows to join the Grey Warden and assists them with flair and intellect the whole way through. Later returning to Antiva, Zevran begins to bring the Crows down, converting some to his cause and infiltrating and destroying other Houses of the Crows, with full intent to see them burn for what they have done.
  • Inquisition:
    • Solas, seemingly a kind, helpful figure, is in actuality Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf of elven myth. Having once banished the tyrannical elven gods and raised the veil, Solas deeply regrets the damage this has done to the elven peoples and seeks to correct his actions. Manipulating the entire Inquisition and the Inquisitor against the evil sorcerer Corypheus, Solas conceals his own role in Corypheus's rise and when the battle is done drains the witch Flemeth of her powers, before helping thwart an invasion of the Qunari. Solas then reveals his plan is to tear down the veil itself, which will kill millions of innocents, even if he has no desire to do so. Seeing no other way, Solas accepts the Inquisitor will hunt him to kill him or show him a better way, stating he would cherish a chance to be proven wrong in his current course.
    • The Iron Bull is a Qunari Ben-Hassrath agent that is strong as he is smart. Capable of reading a person at a glance Bull would pose as mercenary in Orlais so he may spy on the nobles, forging a close bond with his company. Allying with the Inquisition to stop the Breach Bull would help bring a potential alliance between the Inquisiton and the Qunari. Bull can either let his company die or saving them but leaving the Qun. If Bull saves his company he permanently joins the Inquisition while letting them die will have him turn on the Inquisition when ordered to.
• DragonFable:
  • "Wind Orb" Saga:
    • Captain Blackberry commandeers the Red Betty, the most feared pirate ship to sail the eight seas. 20 years ago, Blackberry came across a spell that could turn him into a deity, which he wove into the ship itself, but required the Wind Orb as the final ingredient. Eventually discovering the Wind Orb resided in the perilous Ruins of Kordana, Blackberry leaked the Orb's location to Sepulchure, who sent Drakath to retrieve it. Knowing that the Wind Orb would activate if the holder encountered "their greatest foe", Blackberry sent the Hero to intercept Drakath. The activated Wind Orb gets summoned to the Red Betty where Blackberry successfully uses it to transform into the godlike sea monster, the King Braken.
    • Okuchi No Okami is an information peddlar and the most notorious enemy of the Shadow of the Wind Village, having stolen their sacred Wind Scrolls while continuously alluding the ninjas' attempts to recover them. Having studied the Wind Scrolls, Okuchi learned he could use the Wind Orb to summon Honda the Iron-Fisted Giant, which he intended to attack the ninja village and subsequently to take over the world. Okuchi willingly sells Drakath information, while secretly using the scrolls to program the Wind Orb Darkath stole, then allowing Drakath to leave where he unknowingly protects the Orb. Once ready, Okuchi reveals Drakath's location to the Hero, then waits as the Wind Orb transports Drakath to the now evacuated village, where Okuchi begins summoning Honda.
  • "Light Orb Saga" Zhoom is a renowned Bounty Hunter and considered the world's most dangerous ranger. He is willing to undertake any job so long as he got paid, while abiding by a strict Code of Honour that he would always fulfill his contract. Hired by the tyrannical Sek-Duat XV to capture the members of La Resistance, Zhoom successfully captures around 90 rebels before the Hero's arrival to the Sandsea. Immediately aware that the Hero had allied with the rebels, Zhoom played along with the Hero's Double Agent act due to enjoying the additional challenge, while keeping Sek-Duat clueless on who the real traitor is. Remaining loyal to Sek-Duat only to abide by his code, Zhoom relentlessly goes after the Hero once Sek-Duat agrees to pay him. Upon discovering Sek-Duat broke the deal first, Zhoom wastes no time joining forces with the Hero to defeat the tyrant and free the captured rebels. Learning the value of fighting for what is right, Zhoom becomes one of the Hero's most trusted allies.
  • "Death Knight": Sir Bram Malifact was once a heroic Paladin who discovered a cursed ring that transformed him into a Death Knight. Becoming Drunk on the Dark Side, Sir Malifact embraced who he had become and betrayed his former friends. Unable to permanently kill a Death Knight due to his Resurrective Immortality, his friends halted his revival by scattering his belongings, leaving him a disembodied ghost haunting the tomb. As a ghost, Malifact would manipulate any adventurer who stumbled upon the tomb, pretending to be a tormented soul with Ghost Amnesia and requested help in restoring his memories by collecting his items. Sir Malifact is also happy to train the Hero when they seek to become a Death Knight, treating them as an equal in their quest for power.
• Dragon Quest:
  • Dragon Quest IX: Corvus was once the Guardian Celestrian of Wormwood Creek before being betrayed to the Gittish Empire where he was tortured and left to rot for 300 years. Far from a broken wreck, Corvus utilises his hatred to strengthen him, eventually resurrecting the Gittish Empire and striking the Almighty himself. Free from his shackles, Corvus warps the Almighty's domain into a realm more fitting for him, resurrecting the Triumgorate to hinder the player while he completes him ambitions. Bested by the hero once, Corvus quickly deduces how they manage to do it before transforming into his true form, culminating in a battle with Corvus almost silencing the universe in one massive wave of energy. Seeing the error of his ways when reunited with Serena, Corvus forsakes his goal and ascends peacefully to the stars above.
  • Dragon Quest XI: Krystalinda is an ice witch freed by Jasper from a magical grimoire who follows his orders by freezing the town of Sniflheim and pursuing Hendrik as thanks. On her own accord, Krystalinda seals Queen Frysabel in the grimoire and transforms into her, tricking Hendrik and the Luminary into killing Jörmun, the beast that kept a portion of her powers. When revealed and defeated, Krystalinda takes advantage of the scholar Snorri making a mistake on the sealing spell by keeping Frysabel sealed and transforming into her again, at the cost of all of her ice powers. When this ruse is also revealed, Krystalinda surrenders but is pardoned, sincerely promising to "take very good care" of Frysabel.
• Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter: Wilfre, a Raposa corrupted by his attempt to use the Book of Life and upstage the Creator, becomes more cunning in this sequel. A self-styled savior of the Raposa world, Wilfre fosters all the misery of the game by manipulating and deceiving the leader of the Raposa villages, while secretly simultaneously masqeurading as the thief Salem and the heroes' own friend Sock, betraying them when it's too late for them to do anything about it. Wilfre finally manages to break Mari's will solely by telling her the truth about the world; all of it is a mere dream caused by a car accident that sent Token Human Mike into a coma, with all of Wilfre's efforts a sincere but deluded effort to preserve the world no matter what.
• Dying Light: Karim is a survivor of Harran recruited into Rais' gang after being fired for amputating his boss' leg. Rising up the ranks to become Rais' quartermaster and Mission Control, Karim organizes the gang's runs, finding ways to make sure that they retrieve the airdrops before anyone else does while managing the supplies they obtain. Befriending Kyle Crane, Karim helps him complete missions for Rais while subtly telling him to escape Rais' grasp to avoid his cruelty, returning Crane his equipment after Crane does so, while also letting Crane take the supplies after working together. Getting mortally wounded by Rais, Karim spends his last moments warning Crane about the traps Rais set for him, allowing Crane to avoid Rais' traps and kill him.
• Elephant Games works:
  • Mystery Trackers: The Void: Sirius Void is the second personality of Malleus Void, who came to be after Malleus couldn't handle the abuse he was suffering. Stronger and tougher than Malleus, Sirius posed as his twin brother while trying to turn the park Malleus has created into more nightmarish land. Killing the doctor, whom Malleus had hired to suppress him, Sirius manipulates and kills two celebrities who came to Malleus for fame and immortality. Falling in love with Rebecca Thatcher, Sirius committed several crimes in her name and when the Detective arrived to stop him, he tricked her into falling to his deadly traps, nearly killing her twice. Completely "destroying" Malleus by the time of the Bonus Chapter, Sirius breaks free of Rebecca's influence and effortlessly escapes the high security prison by fooling all the guards and the computer system, flying to the ship, which he took over and travels deep into the sea with no one being able to catch him.
  • Grim Tales series: Richard Gray is a powerful occultist and Anna's father. Sacrificing his memories in exchange for resurrecting his Love Interest, Richard goes on to become involved in dark magic to learn its secrets and achieve true immortality. In The Bride, he captures his other daughter, Luisa and uses her to lure Anna to himself, planning to use their life force as the final component for his ritual. After being killed by Anna, Richard returns in The Heir, manipulating Anna into bringing him back as a ghost and guiding her into defeating his father Samuel. Later on, Richard secretly cursed his grandson's wife, Elena, with a deadly sickness to trick Anna into recovering the Soul's Heart, which he planned to use to fully resurrect himself. Trapping Anna in the past, Richard give her a hint how to find him and after she defeated him, he congratulated her on her victory and granted her eternal youth. Coming back in later games, Richard becomes a loyal ally to Anna, saving her numerous times and guiding her to victory.
  • Haunted Hotel series:
    • Eternity: Tobias Irving is the true villain of the game, who orchestrated the events of the plot. Originally caring for his brother Terence, Tobias' heart was filled with grief when he found out that his brother was turned into a seemingly mindless energy being by the scientists of the project "Eternity" and swore revenge. Tracking down one of the heads of the project, Professor Kevin Reynolds, Tobias gained his trust and became the chief of his security. Manipulating the professor, his driver Douglas, who also worked on the project "Eternity", and the Detective into arriving at an abandoned hotel where the experiments took place, Tobias faked his own disappearance and captured the Professor, later on killing Douglas using the same substance the subjects of "Eternity" were injected with, as he forces the Detective to solve his puzzles and learn about "Eternity". Nearly killing the Detective numerous times, Tobias revealed himself and his motivations, while intending to torture the truth out of Kevin, planning to let the whole world know about his misdeeds.
    • Lost Dreams: John Schneider is the head of Schneider's Hotel and Spa and a gifted scientist. Living a happy life with his family, John suddenly lost them to a horrific accident, which killed his wife and put his children in the near death state. Desiring to cure his children, John found the magic crystals, which were capable of transferring the life energy from one human to another and used the Faceless Strider in his experiments. Causing the whole train full of people to crash, solely so he could capture Mark and his wife Jane as the life source for his children, John managed to convince Mark to go along with his scheme, promising to let his wife to survive and when the Faceless Strider broke free, John comes up with the plan to stop it, effectively holding it in one place, while Mark assisted him in defeating the creature, leading to John sacrificing himself to save everyone.
  • Detectives United: Origins: The Collector, real name Theodore Alphardi, was once a respected doctor in the Raincliff clinic. After his family was murdered by the Headless Man, Theodore decided to bring them back. With his knowledge of magical artifacts and discovering the components needed to create a Reality Cube, the artifact which can warp and change space and time itself, Theodore effortlessly stole the first two parts from the famous detective James Blackthorne and the treasure room of the Queen of the United Kingdom. Luring the heroes into his trap, Theodore successfully imprisoned Anna Gray in the past, slowing his enemies down, while he himself steals the next component to the Reality Cube. Easily disabling the heroes and attacking the homebase of Mystery Trackers, Theodore was only fully defeated, when Anna Gray traveled to the past and saved his family from death, erasing his deeds as The Collector from history.
• El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron: Archangel Lucifel is the charismatic guide of the scribe Enoch in their quest to locate, defeat and seal the Fallen Watchers. Using his powers, Lucifel ensures Enoch walks the proper path and revives him should he fail while constantly reassuring God as to Enoch's progress. Upon Enoch being lost to the Darkness, Lucifel manipulates one of the Fallen, Amaros, into saving Enoch, before leaving Amaros to be consumed by the Darkness himself as saving Enoch was all he required him for.
• Endless Nightmare: Shrine: Jessica, former spy-turned-treasure hunter, is Carlos Gonzales' main rival in seeking the Heart of Pharaoh. Introduced saving Carlos from mummies, Jessica stays two paces ahead of Carlos with ease, skillfully avoiding mummies and assorted monsters and secretly assisting Carlos by selling him weapons and equipment, all the while playing him in her hands as Carlos further uncover clues leading to the Heart for her. When Carlos obtains the Heart only to be knocked out by Anubis, Jessica pickpockets the gem from an unconscious Carlos but decides to save him from the collapsing tomb and escape with the Heart in her possession, leaving Carlos safely beside the pyramid ruins while she's well out of sight.
• Enter the Gungeon: Though at first glance a raging brute, The Convict is much smarter than she lets on. In truth the cunning mob boss Laser Lily, she was arrested when her partner, the corrupt politician Blackstache, framed and arrested her. Convincing the Hegemony of man to let her brave the Gungeon instead of facing life in prison, she feigns the desire to erase her crimes from time. Fighting through the gungeon and besting the massive High Dragun, she obtains both the Bullet and Gun that can kill the past, being one of the first to survive facing the entire labyrinth of bullets. Going back in time, she acts on her true intention to erase her being arrested. Using her second chance to gun down Blachstache and his police army, she ends the game a free woman relaxing on the beach.
• Eternal Darkness: Mantorok, the greatest of the Ancients, is a powerful being imprisoned by the machinations and powers of the Lich Pious Augustus, slowly dying in an ancient Cambodian temple. In truth, Mantorok is not idle and bequeaths its powers to the slave girl Elia, keeping her alive for centuries, so she may pass it on to Dr. Edwin Lindsey. Mantorok proceeds to manipulate each of the mortals to foil the plots of the Ancients through the Tome of Eternal Darkness, bringing them so they may have an Ancient destroyed by its opposite and allow Mantorok to merge the timelines, killing all three at once and leaving Mantorok victorious and free to weave its own plots.
• Eternal Radiance: Eldareth is a sorcerer seeking revenge against the mysterious Shadowborn organization for slaughtering his village. After joining the Shadowborn and feigning loyalty long enough to climb to the top of their hierarchy, Eldareth steals dangerous Akleim Artifacts in order to prepare for a ritual to wipe out the organization's headquarters, even at the cost of his own life and potentially causing a continent-wide disaster. At the same time, Eldareth stations Yvonne at his alma mater to silence anyone who tries to investigate him or the Shadowborn. When it comes time to perform the ritual, Eldareth gives his most loyal subordinates false leads on artifacts so that they'll be spared from the destruction of their base. After losing to the protagonist Celeste, Eldareth uses his last moments to tell her where to find his research notes so she can keep them out of the Shadowborn survivors' hands.
• The Evil Within: The Keeper is the safe-headed mental construct guarding Ruvik's secrets and a terrifying Implacable Man that sets its sights on killing Sebastian Castellanos when he comes too close to answers. Building numerous traps and tricking Sebastian into walking into them to try and kill him, the Keeper stalks Sebastian until it reaches him trying to save the young Leslie. Taking on Sebastian, the Keeper proves its intellect in a heated battle. Setting off a gas leak to trap Sebastian and using the safes around the area to regenerate itself, the Keeper proves cunning and audacious enough to kill itself just to respawn right behind Sebastian. When Sebastian reaches the final wheel to end the gas leak and escape, the Keeper smashes it to bits to prevent his escape. When Sebastian finally overcomes it, the Keeper only dies after Sebastian crushes it in its own trap; even as it's being crushed, the Keeper stands firm and tries to push the trap back up through sheer force of will.
• Exmortis: Azrael is the last survivor of the Ancient Dominion War besides his brother, Vlaew. A brilliant leader and a master tactician, Azrael led his armies to topple Vlaew's bastions, sparing him to enlist him as his general to help defeat the threat Kfafta posed to the both of them. With Kfafta vanquished, Azrael assumed a totalitarian rule over the lesser entities and prepared to have Vlaew executed, only for his armies to turn against him and for Vlaew to banish him to a hellish dimension. Meeting with Mr. Hannay, Azrael offers to transfer the Ancient powers to him to finally defeat his brother and asking to be freed from his eons of suffering.
• The Fairly Odd Parents Shadow Showdown: The Chamberlain's Shadow is the true mastermind behind the game's events, scheming to switch the places of humans and shadows and Take Over the World. Taking advantage of Oberon and Titania's ego to recruit them, he has the two steal the Royal Jewel and use it to sap the powers of every fairy in Fairy World. He then pins the blame on the Jester, having the two accuse him of the crime. Staying undetected for the majority of the game, he takes precautions to slow down Timmy Turner, with tricks ranging from having the King and Queen fight them to fooling a monkey king into kidnapping his mom. By the game's climax, he's betrayed his minions and has taken over their plot, ripping into them for their egos before facing the heroes himself. Only being thwarted at the last second, the Shadow proves to be one of Timmy's most cunning adversaries.
• Far Cry series:
  • Far Cry 2: The Jackal is an infamous Arms Dealer, currently funding both the APR and UFLL factions in a war torn country to play them against each other. Rumoured to be dying of brain cancer, he openly uses cancer as a description of war and how it corrupts people. It is soon revealed he his helping refugees escape the country, by keeping the factions fighting each other, using underhanded tactics to prevent a ceasefire that would kill the civilians; such as stealing blood diamonds and framing the player for his killing of a warlord. Coming out on top of every encounter with the player, he eventually gets them in on his plan to save the last refugees, having the player kill the last warlords and their corrupt "Buddies". The Jackal then has the player take part in his suicide mission to ensure the last refugees escape, claiming that their own deaths are to destroy "every cell" to "keep the cancer from spreading".
  • Far Cry 6: Juan Cortez is an affably alcoholic guerilla fighter for Libertad, who uses his CIA connections to both help Libertad and personally profit. A rebel and spy for decades who has written his own book on warfare with tips that he supplies Dani Rojas throughout their quest, Juan orchestrates a great many of Dani's victories with his tactical mind. Going behind Libertad's backs, Juan makes deals with enemies and sells off Viviro to smugglers to amass riches for the rebellion and himself. Scheming the downfall of the Castillo regime by all means—including murdering teenage Diego before he can become a dictator like his father—Juan is regarded as a dangerous and ruthless, but nonetheless necessary, leader of Libertad alongside his more moral allies.
• Fatal Fury: Geese Howard is the infamous crime boss of Southtown and the most prolific villain in the SNK library. Desiring power at a young age, Geese trained at the Hakkyokuseiken school of martial arts, while steadily developing connections to Southtown's mafia through bribery and intimidation tactics, culminating in him overthrowing reigning kingpin Mr. Big and becoming the police chief of the city, with every cop and politician in his pocket. He then began hosting the King of Fighters tournament series to find worthy henchmen, strong-armed renowned martial artist Takuma Sakazaki into working for him, and vengefully murdered his rival Jeff Bogard. Despite suffering setbacks due to defeats at the hands of Ryo Sakazaki and Terry Bogard, Geese always recovers, and when Terry finally beats him for good and tries to save him from plummeting to his death, Geese chooses to fall as a final act of spite, laughing all the way down. For all his misdeeds, Geese never loses his trademark swagger, and so great is his popularity that in an alternate timeline, he survives and continues to plot behind the scenes.
• Final Fight: Streetwise: Father Bella, the true mastermind behind Glow’s creation and distribution, seeks to use the drug to rid the world of sinners with help from his Four Horsemen army. Disguising his operation to the public, Bella kills one of his henchmen, crime boss Vito Bracca, by taking advantage of his strong religious beliefs, later killing three officers about to storm his church in one fell swoop by luring them into a trap. Revealed to be the brother of the criminal Belger, Bella gets his brother’s killer Cody Travers addicted to Glow in an attempt to kill him, later having him take the late Stiff's spot as his Horseman of Death when he’s killed by Kyle, pitting the two against each other as his final act of revenge.
• F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch: Cicero is a commander for the Machine Legion and a former resistance war hero. Seeking power and hoping to preserve and evolve the furtizens in Torch City, Cicero faked his death during the war and willingly chose to become a cyborg. Afterwards, he sought out the Spark so he could use its power to turn the inhabitants of Torch City into cyborgs like him. To cover up his schemes, he imposed a curfew and arrested or killed any members of the rebellion who stood in his path, including his former colleague, Rayton. When one of the Sparks is destroyed, Cicero allows Rayton and his ally, Lady Q, to procure a second one before stealing it from them and leaving them both to die in an underground temple. Even after Rayton escapes his demise and confronts Cicero to try and take back the Spark, Cicero single-handedly fights against Rayton and shows him the powers of the Spark when utilized properly.
• Five Nights at Freddy's franchise:
  • Sister Location: Circus Baby, the mascot of Circus Baby's Pizza World, is one of the few animatronics with the ability to think. Upon becoming possessed by the spirit of William Afton's daughter and getting locked away and abandoned, Circus Baby forms an escape plan convincing the other Funtime animatronics to meld their exoskeletons together to create Ennard. To this end, she poses as the helpful guide for the player, gradually manipulating them into following her instructions culminating in the player getting lured into the Scooping Room to be disemboweled. Despite the horrific nature of her plan, Circus Baby takes no sadistic pleasure in it, earnestly apologizing to the player for misleading them and assuring them that they wouldn't be in pain for long.
  • Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria Simulator: The "Cassette Man" is actually Henry Emily, the creator of the animatronics and one of the co-founders of Fazbear Entertainment, alongside his friend and business partner, William Afton. After Afton murdered Henry's beloved daughter along with five other children, Henry held himself responsible for decades and returned with a complex revenge plan. Creating a new restaurant and turning it into an elaborate and near-inescapable trap, Henry lures Afton to the establishment and keeps him distracted for days on end with the sound of children crying, while also sending his Lefty animatronic to capture the Puppet, containing his daughter's soul, and bring it to the building. In the true ending, Henry finally sets the pizzeria ablaze, killing himself, the player, and all the remaining animatronics in agonizing fashion, while freeing the children's souls and temporarily getting rid of Afton. Even in the non-canon endings, Henry always has a backup plan, ranging from merely firing the player and starting over to having them wrongfully committed to an asylum if they find out about his plan.
• For Honor: Apollyon is the ruthless, terrifying, armored warrior leading the Blackstone Legion, who desires war as the true state of mankind, dreaming of a world where only the strong survive. Recruiting only the strongest for her armies, Apollyon also attacks the Vikings and manipulates a greater conflict while forcing them to fight among themselves so only the strong will survive. Turning her eyes to the east against the samurai who call themselves the Chosen, Apollyon invades and with a series of brilliant gambits, subdues them as well, also uniting the knight legions and remaining Chosen against her. Even as they oppose her, Apollyon plans it so that with her death, the Vikings will invade, destroying the fragile alliance and kicking off a massive war that continues years after her demise. Combining a dark charisma with an endless hunger for war, Apollyon shows why she is possibly the most terrifying figure to ever lift a sword on the battlefield.
• Forspoken: Susurrus is an intimidating Divinely Appearing Demon who was summoned to destroy the world of Athia by the destroyed people of Rheddig. Over twenty years before the events of the present, Susurrus was sealed within the protectors of Athia, the four Tantas. In the present, corrupting the Tantas from within, Sussurus sets about a plan to return himself to glory and full power. Susurrus manipulates Frey Holland into putting him on in his form of a golden "Cuff" and then stirs her into taking out the other Tantas so he can reabsorb his divided power into himself. Susurrus also acts as her seemingly affable companion "Cuff" while helping her to best various threats to make his return to full power smoother. Reviving himself fully, Susurrus sets about destroying Athia for good to avenge the Rheddig and very nearly succeeds before being sealed again by Frey. Even after his defeat, Surrus simply calmly accepts it and now helps Frey in undoing the damage caused by his machinations.
• Fossil Fighters: Champions:
  • Don Boneyard is introduced as a Card-Carrying Villain with the intent of ending the Caliosteo Cup prematurely. To this end, Boneyard recruits societal outsiders by showing them genuine respect, then allows them to kidnap fighters, trap them in grape jelly, and steal the islands' power supply so they are no longer willing or able to compete. Boneyard is resilient, and after the other plans are foiled, initiates his own plan to sink the islands, providing ample warning to prevent casualties. After the tournament concludes, Boneyard saves the protagonist from being possessed, explains his motivation of preventing a tyrannical ruler from taking power, and the two successfully team up towards this end. While Good All Along, Boneyard was willing to take extreme measures in service of his goals.
  • Zongazonga takes over the body of Joe Wildwest after the latter unwittingly frees him, leaving Joe as a talking skull. As Joe, Zongazonga puts up a convincing impression and sees the Caliosteo Cup to completion despite frequent sabotage by the BB Brigade. Once the player wins the cup, Zongazonga seeks to take their body as a new vessel, and to this end, uses his outward identity as Joe to turn the islands' staff against them, then Brainwashes the hero's best friend by playing on deep seated jealousy. When seemingly cornered, Zongazonga improvises by fleeing to the elevator and swapping into the runner-up's body with no one the wiser. Zongazonga then takes position at his base, and in a Near-Villain Victory, is only finally defeated after the Fossil Cannon is modified to launch a human through unnavigable winds.
• Freedom Planet 2: Corazon “Cory” Tea, Carol’s older sister, is a thrill-seeking pirate working for Merga in her plan to awaken Bakunawa and destroy the moon. A skilled plunderer who regularly uses her hundreds of drones to distract people and steal countless items, Cory often uses deception to escape from her opponents. With a genuine love for her sister, Cory hopes Merga leaves her alive for when Avalice is eventually in ruin, and even attempts to sacrifice herself to save her upon Merga’s betrayal.
• FreeSpace: Admiral Aken Bosch spends the entirety of the game attempting to ally with the Destroyers—aka the Shivans—whom he believes are unstoppable and will never be defeated regardless of the efforts of the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance (GTVA). When the players are tasked with a squadron to intercept and disable his ship, Bosch openly sends a communication channel to the player and taunts them, questioning the competence of their commanders as he warps out of the system, well before the players have any chance at hitting him, just before a Shivan fleet ambushes the player's squadron. He frequently outsmarts the entire GTVA command in his capital ship, and when it looks like he's finally been caught when his ship is disabled and boarded, it's found out that he had planned a ruse which included the capture of his ship and all of his crew all along, and he had actually used the confusion to escape alone on-board a Shivan transport, showing more ingenuity and unpredictability than even the inscrutable alien race.

G - L

• Genshin Impact:
  • Ningguang is the Tianquin of the Liyue Qixing and owner of the Jade Chamber, where she performs economic research with the help of her vast spy network, ranging from store owners to Liyue's children. After the death of Rex Lapis, Ningguang immediately gets to work on combating the Fatui's attempts to destabilize Liyue's politics. To this end, she invites the Traveler to the Jade Chamber and offers them to take any object from there, predicting that they'd choose a paper from her wall of research and so places a report of Fatui activity there in advance, predicting that they'd investigate. Pulling an Enemy Mine with the Adepti after the release of Osial, she helps lead the attack on the released god, culminating in her performing a Colony Drop with her Jade Chamber to reseal him, which helps proves the Qixing's right to rule to the Adepti. Hearing of Osial's wife, Beisht, being sighted nearby, Ningguang starts reconstructing the Jade Chamber to lure her out for a more properly prepared counter-attack to further prove the Qixing to the Adepti, namely the still skeptical Cloud Retainer, ultimately succeeding. Cunning and shamelessly manipulative, Ningguang nonetheless puts Liyue and its people above all else.
  • Zhiyi is the pupil of Uncle Tian, desiring to become the successor of Tian’s position, he made a deal with the Fatui by slowly worsening Tian’s health with poison by using fish soup’s favour to hide the one of poison, even turning it from lethal to slow-affecting, meanwhile feeling remorse over such betrayal. Knowing that the Fatui will just use him as a puppet, he tricked the Fatui ambassador Yuspupov’s minions with rumours of treasure at Qingxu Pool and captured them. Later tricking Yuspupov into drinking a poison wine meanwhile secretly collaborating with Yuspupov’s power hungry right hand. Spending the majority of the time of the Story Quest in planning ahead of Yelan and the Traveler, Zhiyi comes very close in becoming Tian’s successor meanwhile cutting loose end. After being exposed and imprisoned, Yelan mentions him being very cooperative.
  • Focalors is the Hydro Archon, bearing the burden of her predecessor's sin of creating Fontaine's people from Primordial Seawater. Faced with a prophecy that declares her people will be wiped out, Focalors sets off to challenge the Heavenly Principles themselves to avert it. She splits herself into her divine and human halves, cursing the human "Furina" with immortality, tasking her with pretending to be the Hydro Archon and demanding absolute secrecy about the truth, forcing her to live with her loneliness for five-hundred years while Focalors hid within the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale. Once Neuvillette and the Traveler stage a trial against Furina for her deceit, unintentionally playing into the prophecy in the process, the Oratrice gives a verdict declaring that the Hydro Archon is sentenced to death. Focalors appears before Neuvillette, revealing her plans to deceive the Heavenly Principles to make it appear that Furina fulfilled the prophecy, and admits that she had him become Iudex to make him sympathetic towards humanity's plight. She then accepts her fate, using the Indemnitium gathered by the Oratrice to create a blade powerful enough to kill her and completely destroy the seat of the Hydro Archon, restoring Neuvillette's authority as the Sovereign Dragon and allowing him to absolve Fontaine's people of their sin. In her final moments, she apologises to Furina, freeing her from her curse and letting her live her life as a normal human.
• The Getaway: Yasmin is a no-nonsense hitwoman working for Charlie Jolson. Tasked with kidnapping Mark Hammond's wife, Suzie, and son, Alex, Yasmin and her companions successfully kidnap Alex so Charlie can hold him hostage and force Mark into taking out the other gangs in London. Although Yasmin is arrested by DCI McCormack, she remains silent during her interrogation before being confronted by Mark himself. Knowing Charlie wants her dead and that Mark wants his son back, Yasmin offers to help Mark rescue Alex, and the two of them shoot their way out of a police station before Yasmin poses as a dancer so she can infiltrate Charlie's mansion. Even after the rescue attempt is botched, Yasmin continues assisting Mark and going after Charlie, killing several of his minions before she and Mark talk their way out of being killed by the other gangs.
• Ghost of Tsushima: Tomoe the archer is the former student of the famed Sadonobu Ishikawa. A born killer and brilliant archer, Tomoe won her way into the Mongol ranks when taken hostage by teaching them archery and leading their forces when Ishikawa tries to hunt her down, targeting strategic locations to attack his hometown of Hyoshi Springs. Ruining the reputation of Ishikawa and hero Jin Sakai by targeting travelers and framing them, Tomoe later sides with the heroes to eliminate the Khan's archers she trained, using Jin and Ishikawa as cover to destroy them to slip away during the fighting and flee to the mainland, leaving behind a final note for Ishikawa on their history together and her gratitude as his pupil.
• Ghost Recon Wildlands' DLC "Narco Road": Jose Vargas is El Invisible, an elusive and influential figure in charge of Santa Blanca's global smuggling network. Hoping to leave the cartel, Vargas disguises himself as the fisherman Señor Sonrisa and tells the CIA on how to dismantle his inner circle and recover the PDA containing the knowledge of his smuggling network on the condition that they give him immunity and sanctuary in America, while also fully aware the undercover Ghost operative trying to infiltrate his organization. Also seeking revenge on the US Government for the death of his friend, Vargas had a virus installed in his PDA which he unleashes onto the CIA servers, exposing their dirty laundry to the public, before he makes his escape, with the CIA unable to find him for two years.
• Giga Bash: Pipijuras is a taunt-happy alien tasked by his race to deliver a beacon to earth that'll teleport it to them, only to end up being captured by the government and brainwashed into a weapon. Breaking free after a fight with Gorogong, it beats him using the artifact he was attracted to and escapes to repair the beacon. Outwitting and outmaneuvering everything the G.T.D.I throw at it, utilizing its long-range attacks and the environment to its advantage, it eventually repairs the beacon and reaches the Giga Core, first by evading a nearby S-Class Yeti by tiring it out and then using the Giga Energy against the Core's guardian. Attaching the beacon to the core, it successfully teleports Earth right to his people, leaving it ripe for an invasion.
• God of War:
  • Chains of Olympus: Persephone, Goddess of Spring and unwilling Queen of the Dead, was forced into marrying Hades. Disillusioned with the gods that abandoned her and mortals for their selfishness, Persephone decided to destroy the world and return it all to Chaos. Freeing the Titan Atlas, she sent him to kidnap Helios, causing the sun to fall and Morpheus' influence to spread, putting the gods to sleep, neutralizing them. She then sent Atlas to break the pillar that held the world up while at the same time using a vision of Kratos' daughter to lead him to her. Playing on his love for his daughter and his apathy towards humanity, Persephone tricks him into giving up his powers to purge his sins so he can join his daughter in Elysium, scorning him afterwards for how selfish he is. Driven to nihilism by the fate thrust upon her, Persephone came close to destroying the whole world.
  • 2018 game & Ragnarok: Freya is the beloved Queen of the Vanir, a powerful and cunning sorceress, and skilled warrior who wed and later left the cruel Aesir Odin for his abusive ways. Cursed by Odin to never leave Midgard or harm another living soul, Freya nevertheless loved their son Baldur and "gifted" him invulnerability while robbing him of his ability to feel pleasure and pain in the process. Outcast from both the Vanir and Aesir, Freya lived in exile as a healer until she by chance met Kratos and Atreus on their quest to spread Faye's ashes. The motherly Freya aided them many times in their journey while also secretly stealing their mistletoe that could hurt Baldur and cursing Mimir during his resurrection to never reveal her son's weaknesses. During their battle with Baldur, Freya cleverly works around her curse by indirectly harming and hindering Kratos and swearing vengeance upon him when he kills Baldur to save her. She later retrieves her Valkyrie wings and tries to murder Kratos multiple times and puts both him and the innocent Atreus in harm's way by manipulating human survivors of Fimbulwinter into attacking them. Ultimately, Freya uses Kratos to break her last curse, helps him meet the Norns and forgives him in the process, and works with him to finally cast down Odin and destroy Asgard.
  • Ragnarok: The Norns are the Goddesses of Fate in the Norse Pantheon and powerful seers who reveal one's destiny while forcing them to face their flaws. In truth, there is no such thing as fate and the Norns are simply masters of foreseeing what others will do based on their personal actions and history. When Kratos and Freya come seeking them to discover Atreus's whereabouts, the Norns hinder their journey by creating illusory paths and monster ambushes. Their final challenge involves placing Kratos, Freya, and Mimir in horrible nightmares to force them to confront their greatest fears. During their confrontation, the Norns work together to harangue the trio with a combination of blunt sarcasm and mockery that ultimately prove effective enough to drive both Kratos and Freya to overcome their flaws and become better people.
• Golden Sun:
  • Alex is the closest thing the series has to a Big Bad, running the course of Enigmatic Minion to eventual mastermind in the span of three games. A Mercury Adept who betrayed his sister and his clan for the pursuit of personal power, Alex makes and breaks alliances with heroes and villains alike at his own convenience, always concealing his true intentions behind a stoic, cool-headed exterior. Alex rarely even personally dirties his hands, one of the few times he does resulting in him singlehandedly wiping out an entire battalion of elite soldiers. At the climax of The Lost Age, Alex manipulates every party into a position where they have no choice but activate the Elemental Lighthouses and bestow Alex the godlike power of Alchemy. Even when Alex is Out-Gambitted and seemingly left for dead on the collapsing Mt. Aleph, Alex adopts the identity of Arcanus in Dark Dawn and resumes old habits, cheerfully manipulating entire nations to his advantage and activating the apocalyptic event known as the Grave Eclipse. At Dark Dawn's end, Alex appears to betray his allies once again to undo the apocalypse he himself wrought, and escapes to seemingly end the series as he started it: unharmed, unfazed, and a total mystery to everyone who knows him.
  • The Wise One is the guardian of the power of Alchemy, the last creation of the Ancients and the last threshold for anyone seeking to harness the power of the Golden Sun for themselves. Having been meticulously guiding the heroes since the first game, the Wise One subjects the heroes and villains alike with ruthless tests designed to test their moral character and see if they're worthy to wield the power of Alchemy. The Wise One is so ruthless it tricks the heroes into facing a dragon secretly composed of the mutated forms of Isaac's father and Jenna's parents in a ploy to either shatter them or prove they have what it takes to handle the Golden Sun. When this test is passed, the Wise One graciously concedes and resurrects the heroes' parents. The Wise One is also the one character in the series to Out-Gambit Alex, secretly sabotaging the means with which Alex attempts to achieve godhood, then swiftly defeating Alex and leaving him on a collapsing mountain to ruminate about his mistakes.
• GrimGrimoire: Advocat, Professor of Demon Sorcery is a devil who's wit matches his charm. Actually Mephistopheles, servant of Grimmlet, Advocat signed a deal with Gammel Dore after he sealed his boss becoming a professor, believing it easier to take souls over serving Grimmlet, tempting students with contracts. Against Grimmlet and Calvaros as threats to his selfish wishes, Advocat advised Lillet in the loop, stealing the Lemegaton in a soul pact and protecting her. Having grown fond, Advocat taught Lillet how to cheat a devil, giving her means to defeat Grimmlet, laughing at his demise, as his ambitions continue, secretly hiding his love for the school staff.
• Growlanser:
  • IV: Wayferer of Time:
    • Ludwig, General and later President of Dulkheim, is a man with great ambition for his country and will do whatever is necessary to achieve his dream. Recruiting Remus and hero Crevanille to the army, Ludwig wins them over to his side and uses them to further learn about magic from Ancient times. After betraying them to be experimented to further developed the country's magic capabilities, Ludwig lead Dulkheim during the upcoming war, defeating Iglesia and pushing back Valkanian before usurping his way to presidency by winning the people over, bringing prosperity to his country while gaining traction in the war. When Crevanille's group manage to rise to challenge Dulkheim, Ludwig decided to go all out to conquer them to secure his country's position in power, even putting his own life on the line even when cornered. A man who will keep fighting till the end, Ludwig shows himself as a grand leader with the iron-will and ruthlessness to succeed.
    • Sir Bernhart Muntzer is a member of the Valkanier Royal Guard, who shows why he's considered one of his country's best and a dangerous foe to face. A quiet man with great skill in combat and tactics, Muntzer manages to lay a successful siege upon Dulkheim's military base with strategic prowess, capturing Vallery for his country's magic research before winning him over as one of his soldiers. Running into him after escaping Dulkheim, Muntzer shows he's actually a very kind man and father to his family and men with a sense of justice, even saving Crevanille's group from bandits. However when Valkania decided to turn on Marquelay and Ordineil for its wealth, Muntzer despite feeling conflicted remained loyal to his king, leading the fight against them, even putting his fellow Royal Guard Aplphone to a corner and came close to winning.
    • Bryntir is a mysterious man who seems connected to Crevanille and Freya before being later revealed as a master manipulator setting things behind the scenes to defeat The Angel, Akyel and Vester, for the sake of his siblings. A renowned military officer in Dulkheim, Bryntir uses the army to investigate ruins for info against those threatening the world. Later investigating Valkania's ruins, he becomes a spy for them, assisting them in invading Dulkheim's army base before turning against them and abandoning them during the middle of the war. Showing up throughout the game as an ambiguous force in the conflict, Bryntir does what he believes is necessary to stop his enemies, even trying to kill Maggie. After gaining the info needed to stop the Angels and guiding Crevanille and Freya with the notes he left behind, Bryntir helps them put a stop to Akyels rampage, sacrificing his own life to help defeat him. A man who does not care about being branded a traitor, Bryntir would do anything for the sake of his brother and sister.
  • V: Heritage of War:
    • Commander Seldous, leader of PMB, is the first progenitor of peace, ending a century war. War orphaned, Seldous with Vanette and Isaac sought an ancient weapon to force peace in the world, building the Admonisher to force a ceasefire after annihiliating an entire battlefield, creating the PMB to enforce non-war. Maintaining peace for decades with leadership and power, when hostility began appearing, Seldous help control it, tempering other kingdoms, and helping Haschen eliminate loose ends, ending in him sacrificing himself and the Admonisher to help beat the Queen Screaper, imparting the path to true peace.
    • General Rockbein is the beloved war hero of Neylern who initiated a complex plan to bring indepedence to his people. Leading a rebellion against Grangale and the PMB, Rockbein sought his own ancient weapon to defeat the two, forming a web of espionage to find it. Discovering Ziekwald a bio-weapon that can defeat both nations, Rockbein worked with Pernagi to resurrect him, using the PMB's Admonisher to free it with himself as bait to fool them, laying out schemes after his demise so Neylern would win as his rebellion carry on, nearly coming out victorious through excellent foresight, and still achieving his goal with his war forcing the others to acknowledge Neylern's freedom.
• Guilty Gear: The mysterious "That Man", also known as the Gearmaker and by his real name, Asuka R. Kreutz shows a great deal of power as Sol Badguy and Baiken unsuccessfully attempt to strike him down for his deeds. In Anji's ending he invites him to his side and later in XX Accent Core Plus hires him to track down and punish one of his Co-Dragons I-No for all the trouble she's stirring up. He knows that Sol's ability to use Dragon Install could very well one day help to save mankind from a possible future threat. Despite his horrible deeds, That Man is truly remorseful for what he's done and genuinely believes he is doing what is best for mankind, something ultimately confirmed in the Xrd games where it is revealed he is one of the creators of Gears. Manipulating the fighters by forcing them to fight, destroying things around them to make them get stronger and encouraging them to use the Gears to destroy threats to humanity, That Man remains one of Guilty Gear's most brilliant and inscrutable characters.
• The Gunstringer: The titular Gunstringer is an undead cowboy seeking revenge on his old gang, who've previously left him to die. Going on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge, he outguns and outwits anything that gets in his way, wether it be mooks, ninjas or even zombies, while unafraid to take cover and use the environment to his advantage during a shootout. In the process, the Gunstringer uses various tactics to locate his targets, from destroying their property to lure them out to befriending enemies and working with them. Upon discovering that the Player is the final member, the Gunstringer shoots his way out of the theatre he's performing for and goes off to finish his quest for vengeance.
• Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure: Puku is the fake Phantom Prince, responsible for the destruction of Monster Village. Planning revenge on humans for destroying his home, Puku planned to unseal Tokadon, using the Prince guise to get the phantoms kidnap the monsters to make Parin stronger. Getting her in Monster Village and awaken the legendary weapon to fight the phantoms, Puku turned Parin strong enough to defeat the Phatoms, tricking her in unsealing Tokadon, delaying her long enough to finish the ritual. After Parin defeats Tokadon, Puku accepts defeat, accepting Parin's forgiveness to redeem himself.
• .hack//G.U.: Ovan was once an ordinary hacker playing The World who had the misfortune of getting possessed by AIDA, who forced him to put his sister Aina and other players into comas, becoming the notorious PKer Tri-Edge. To save Aina and the other Lost Ones, Ovan conspired to trigger the Rebirth by manipulating Haseo into fighting and defeating the seven other epitath users, including Ovan himself. Ovan effortlessly manipulates Haseo, the cruelly ambitious Sakaki, system administrators, the World's AI guardians, and even the AIDA possessing him, without revealing his identiy as Tri-Edge until he desires it. His plan to trigger the Rebirth goes off without a hitch and Ovan saves Aina and the Lost Ones at the cost of falling into a coma himself.
• Half-Life: The G-Man is an enigmatic bureaucrat who uses his supernatural abilities to carry out the whims of his "employers". Always watching from afar, the G-Man monitors people who exhibit great survival instincts to employ them under his cause. Responsible for bringing the crystal sample that caused the Black Mesa Incident, the G-Man went against the orders of his superiors to rescue Alyx Vance and Adrian Shephard for his own purposes. The G-Man would rearm a nuclear warhead to destroy the entire facility to cover-up his tracks. When Gordon Freeman killed the Nihilanth, the G-Man recruited him as Xen was now under the control of his employers. Twenty years later, he sent Gordon to City 17 to help overthrow the rule of the Combine. Although he was held back by the powers of the Vortigaunts, the G-Man waited until they were distracted to order Alyx to warn her father about the Borealis. With motives known only to himself, the G-Man removes any sense of choice from the people he manipulates.
• Halo:
  • Thel 'Vadam, best known as the Arbiter, is a Sangheili commander and a genius warrior who rose to command through the crucible of battle, defeating and outwitting assassins sent against him by members of his own clan. A brilliant leader, 'Vadam ensured the Covenant victory at Reach, before the Flood was unleashed to deal him a defeat. Condemned by the Prophets, 'Vadam becomes their hidden enforcer, the Arbiter, and a One-Man Army who deals harsh punishment to rebels and heretics. Eventually betrayed by the Prophets, 'Vadam rallies the Sangheili and outfights the Prophets and the Covenant, personally killing the megalomaniac tyrant Truth and helping to ensure a lasting peace between humans and the Covenant, considering the Master Chief his friend when once he believed him a demon.
  • The surprisingly eloquent and crafty Gravemind is the Lord of the Flood. A genius who nearly defeated the Forerunners with its strategy and power, Gravemind even managed to use its force of will and a breaking speech to turn a loyal AI to Gravemind's own side while instituting a Logic Bomb on the other AI. After being defeated and returning in the current day, Gravemind manipulates the Master Chief and Arbiter into fighting for it to handle its enemies as it prepares the Flood to take over all else, even employing its clever strategy to spread itself, such as when it takes over a ship and crashes it to take over a populated city. Even in defeat, Gravemind proclaims that besting it for the moment is simply added time to "a sentence I never deserved, but you imposed", truly believing that peace will be gained when the Flood dominate the galaxy.
  • Infinite: Escharum is a war chief of the Banished who once served as mentor to their warmaster Atriox. Taking command after Atriox goes MIA, Escharum creates a Cult of Personality around Atriox's visage to maintain order in the diverse Banished and rallies them behind Atriox's plan to repair and fire the Zeta Halo in retribution for the destruction of Doisac. Viewing the UNSC Spartans views as Worthy Opponents and desiring a fight with Master Chief himself before his age catches up to him, Escharum creates a specialized team of Spartan Killers to combat them. Killed by Master Chief, Escharum dies happily at having had a glorious Final Battle, and is acknowledged by Master Chief as a soldier trying to do right by his people.
• Hard Reset: Professor Percival Novak is the creator of Interior AI, which he planned to use to defeat the robots, who wiped out majority of humankind. After Interior AI betrayed him and took over the Corporation, Novak started to devise a plan to beat it and thwart the robot's scheme of destroying the city of Bezoar. To this end, Novak deactivated the shields of Sector 6 to lure Major Fletcher to himself, which led to robots invading the sector and slaughtering hundreds of people. Manipulating the Corporation, and in turn the Interior AI, into believing it has an advantage, Novak captures Fletcher, explains his motivation to him and tricks him into uploading his mind into his own body, killing himself beforehand to make the Corporation think he is dead. Leading Fletcher to defeating the Atlas and the Constructor, Novak has Fletcher upload nanomachines from the defeated robots into his mind, to empower him and make him "the perfect weapon against the machines".
• A Hat in Time: The Conductor and DJ Grooves are a pair of eccentric rival film directors who rope Hat Kid into their latest competition for the annual Bird Movie Awards. Fashioning Hat Kid into the star of their latest films, the Conductor stages a fake murder for footage while Grooves runs a PR campaign to boost her popularity. For the climax of their movies, the two put Hat Kid through bombastic, dangerous, challenges. Whichever one wins the Award then steals a Time Piece in order to go back in time and make it so they’ve won every award, with the loser informing Hat Kid of the betrayal so she’ll stop him. When confronted, the winner utilizes various props in combat before stopping the fight to earnestly try to win Hat Kid over, only to use the opportunity to plant a bomb on her which the loser manages to defuse. When Mustache Girl steals the Time Pieces to judge everyone, the directors put aside their differences and sacrifice themselves to help Hat Kid defeat her and, when brought back, beg Hat Kid to stay on the planet and remain their friend.
• Hero King Quest: Peacemaker Prologue: Spiderweb is the leader of the Dark Realm's assassin guild who plots the downfall of her wicked sister Dark Lord Spidergland. Seeking to conquer the world by unleashing the Dark Mother in order to provide protection for her race, Spiderweb recruits the nearby factions her sister has oppressed to form a large splinter army. Upon being sold out to the Cerulean Kingdom by Spidergland to selfishly ensure her protection, Spiderweb gives herself up in order to sneak inside the Kingdom’s prison and free her niece Spidervenom, where she will take her place as the new Dark Lord and act as Spiderweb's own Puppet Queen. Upon Spidervenom's refusal to participate in her plan, Spiderweb instead fakes her niece's death to claim the throne for herself. Staging a successful rebellion against Spidergland that sees Spiderweb crowned the new Dark Lord, Spiderweb stages an attack on the incoming Cerulean army, afterwards plotting the demise of the remaining two kingdoms in an upcoming war.
• Honkai Impact 3rd: Otto Apocalypse's centuries-long wish to undo the mistake that cost Kallen Kaslana's life is the catalyst for the evil deeds he commits throughout the main timeline. The charismatic and intelligent Schicksal Overseer prolongs humanity's war against the Honkai in order to draw out the source of their power that may provide him with the key to bringing back Kallen. Otto deceives and manipulates anyone he deems useful to him, even those he grows to genuinely care like Fu Hua, Theresa and Durandal. His machinations eventually turn allies against him and cause countless tragedies, up to the sacrifices and revelations that shape Kiana Kaslana into a true savior. Upon realizing that the world won't truly let him resurrect Kallen, Otto plans to use the Imaginary Tree to seemingly reset the timeline back to how it was before Kallen's death. When Kiana and Durandal confront and defeat him, Otto reveals that the battle allowed him to harness the power of their emotions so he can freely influence the Imaginary Tree and enact his true plan: to create a separate timeline in which Kallen will live. Otto then sacrifices his entire existence for it, content that this new timeline is untouched by his mistake.
• Honkai: Star Rail:
  • "Future Market": Topaz, real name Jelena, is one of the Ten Stonehearts of the IPC, in charge of collecting debts from planets that have made loans with them. Learning that Jarilo-VI survived the Eternal Freeze, Topaz is assigned with collecting Belobog's debt, and approaches Bronya, offering to turn Jarilo-VI into an IPC colony world in order to have their debts forgiven and help reconstruct the climate. Resisting every attempt at negotiation, she appeals to Bronya by sharing a story of her own past, where her once-ruined world flourished under the IPC, almost getting Bronya to accept until Himeko reveals she left out the fact that the IPC's success isn't a guarantee, potentially devastating the planet if they fail. In the meantime, she uses a piece of IPC source code to control Belobog's robots, strong-arming Svarog into helping her find the automaton factory in hopes of proving to the IPC shareholders that the planet can generate worth and effortlessly subduing the Silvermane Guard. Anticipating the Astral Express' interference, she waits for them, requesting permission from her superiors to attack them ahead of time and unleashing an army of robots on them once it is granted. Despite her shady actions, Topaz truly wishes for the best for Jarilo-VI, and when Bronya shows her that its people can fight for themselves and help their own situation, she willingly backs down, accepting punishment from her superiors without complaint.
  • "Crown of the Mundane and Divine": Dr. Veritas Ratio is a member of the Intelligentsia Guild, seeking to cure the "disease" of ignorance that plagues the galaxies through the distribution of knowledge. Interrogating the Trailblazer on the disappearance of Herta's puppet, he works from an accusatory perspective to find the truth, before learning that Ifrit of the Annihilation Gang plans to attack the station. He and the Trailblazer investigate this further, learning about the spontaneous combustion teleporting several researchers and Adler looking into the Phase Flame, a mysterious Curio that Herta was interested in. When Asta herself combusts, Dr. Ratio determines that the flame is still in the station, and with the Trailblazer's help, manages to neutralise the threat. When confronted by Screwllum at the end, Dr. Ratio confirms that he knew all along that Ifrit was going to strike, and used the Flame to intercept his plans by making sure everyone was teleported safely within the station. Knowing Ifrit planned to sow chaos, Dr. Ratio allowed this to happen, letting discontent spread across the station and seeing the ordeal as a learning opportunity so that the researchers would shed their blind worship of geniuses that stunted their potential and come to a solution on their own.
  • "Bestial Ferocity" Adventure Mission: The silver-tongued Zhongshan is an enigmatic NPC who ropes you into resolving a conflict within a group of merchants called the Unshackled, who try to earn merit points from Yaoshi by releasing wildlife aboard the Luofu regardless of ecological consequences. After hearing the requests of the three belligerent Benevolent Ones as to avoid a food chain, Zhongshan quickly picks up the Trailblazer's offhanded suggestion to look beyond organic lifeforms, ultimately settling for Belobog's Automatons with the phony reasoning that such an outrageous idea is interesting. With some smooth talking from Zhongshan and additional reassurance from the Trailblazer, the Benevolent Ones are sold on the idea that the Automatons fit their vision of wildlife to be released, unaware that their enablement would land them in hot waters with the Luofu authorities in true karmic fashion. Reveling in the Benevolent Ones' comeuppance and humbling, Zhongshan departs for the stars, leaving behind a letter that confirms her goal of "unshackling" the Unshackled and hints at her allegiance to the Aeon of Elation, Aha.
• Horizon Zero Dawn: The brilliant, manipulative Sylens discovered the rogue AI HADES, repairing it and assisting it in exchange for HADES' knowledge on the Old World, even helping to form the Cult of the Eclipse. Growing wary of the increasingly vicious HADES, Sylens revealed he had not been foolish enough to ever trust the AI and managed to escape. Upon later making contact with the young scavenger Aloy, Sylens feeds her information while leading into her fighting Eclipse and HADES, leading to her eliminating Sylens' enemies for him, eventually even saving Aloy before she can be executed by the ruthless Eclipse leader Helis. Guiding Aloy to HADES' defeat, Sylens ends the game by trapping HADES' essence, intending on taking all of HADES' secrets for himself.
• House of the Dead: Caleb Goldman, the Big Bad of House of the Dead 2 and 4, is the founder of the DBR Corporation and secretly funded Dr. Curien's research into creating zombies and monsters. Goldman, himself an expert in the Genome Theory, carried on the late Curien's work to create a being to rule over humanity and revert it to his natural state. Unleashing the zombie hordes on Venice and inviting his AMS "friends" to his office, Goldman explained that humans had upset the Life Cycle and needed to be culled. After The Emperor is defeated, Goldman chooses death over being apprehended, promising a "successor" will come. Three years later, Goldman's backup plan came into effect. Zombies were unleashed once more and messages left by the deceased Goldman reveal to James Taylor and Kate Green a countdown for a nuclear launch—which turns out to be a hoax. Goldman leads the duo to his office while providing tests of strength to destroy The World, a monster he made that had become too powerful. Goldman also promises that he did not intend to destroy humanity and specifically made sure people could live in the North, remarking that "hope is such a splendid thing."
• Huntdown: The Shogun is the boastful leader of the No.1 Suspects, and the Final Boss of the game. Planning a citywide takeover, he uses the chaos caused by the other factions to silently take over various casinos and nightclubs around the city, bribing greedy cops to fight on his side. By the time anyone noticed his operation, the remaining law enforcement were left too weak to stop him. His loyal minions being some of the toughest opponents in the game, he fights you personally when cornered, first chasing you in a Humongous Mecha around his building, and then fighting you with only his skills and his swords while you're both on falling debris. Being bested, he warns the Bounty Hunters that the corporation that hired them isn't trustworthy, as well as claiming that someone just as dangerous as him could take over, both notions proven right when the corporation puts a bounty on their head.
• Henry Stickmin Series: The Right Hand Man is the second in command of the Toppat Clan and The Dragon to Reginald Copperbottom. The Right Hand Man assists Reginald in his plans to launch the Toppat Orbital Station into orbit, allowing them to pull off as many heists as they please while remaining completely untouchable to The Government. Having mastered the utilization of many forms of weaponry, the Right Hand Man is often able to hold his own against many threatening foes such as Henry Stickmin, proving to be a formidable adversary even despite the latter's game-breaking capabilities. Following the Rapidly Promoted Executive and Relentless Bounty Hunter routes, the Right Hand Man is turned into a cyborg after being temporarily put out of commission by Henry. Now with his newly added cybernetic enhancements, the Right Hand Man utilizes his new array of abilities to give his adversaries a run for their money, proving himself to be one of the toughest obstacles that his enemies would ever have the displeasure of facing.
• Immortals Fenyx Rising: Prometheus is the titan of forethought who was punished by Zeus for stealing fire from the gods. Disgusted that Zeus turned humans into stone, Prometheus had Atlas free Typhon from his imprisonment. This allowed Typhon to bring chaos onto the world, forcing Zeus to come to Prometheus for help, but instead got told the story of Fenyx, hoping to stall Zeus long enough for Fenyx to arrive and kill Zeus. Though his plan failed, it was only due to Fenyx deciding to forgive Zeus. Zeus was so impressed with the story Prometheus told that he decided to free him from his imprisonment, but not before having Prometheus listen to Ligyron's re-telling of Fenyx journey.
• Inazuma Eleven series:
  • Ray Dark is the coach of the succesful Royal Academy. Having a grudge against the Raimon Institute, Dark even tries to murder their team. After the Royal Academy rejects him, Dark coaches Zeus Junior High and uses ambrosia to enhance their skills, while remaining a formidable foe even without their drink. Later, Dark allies with the Ailea Academy to create the Royal Academy Redux, convincing the friends of Jude Sharp to join his team and use Dangerous Forbidden Techniques before confessing to Jude that he considers him to be his greatest work. Taking a new identity during the Football Frontier International, Dark tries to convince Jude to join him and becomes the coach of the Italian team Orpheus, paying for the operation of their ace's little sister. Eventually regretting his wrongdoing, Ray Dark cooperates with the police and is murdered by Garshield, smiling at his own death in the anime. Resurrected and ordered to train the Earth Eleven for the Grand Celesta Galaxy tournament, "Astero Black" selects untrained talents that are constantly tested and even manipulated to create a team that eventually saves Earth and the entire galaxy.
  • Chrono Stone: Simeon Ayp is the leader of Nu-Gen, an organization comprising Second Stage Children—powerful mutants with a low life expectancy—who rebel against societal mistreatment and their own mortality. Already having won when the story starts, Simeon counters El Dorado's attempts to erase football using Time Travel by sending his lieutenant Fei Rune, whose memories are altered to take advantage of the kind-hearted nature of the Raimon team. When the Raimon discovers the truth, Simeon breaks his ceasefire with El Dorado to destroy their headquarters and announce the Ragnarok Tournament to decide the fate of the world, planning to annihilate regular humans if he wins. During Ragnarok, Simeon awakens Fei's memories and tests his loyalty by making him score a goal against the Raimon yet also accepts Fei leaving Nu-Gen after that. In the match against the Chrono Stone team, Simeon uses diverse techniques to win the advantage, and despite his despair at realizing his own limitations, he remains Defiant to the End alongside his friends, accepting his defeat as he promised and renouncing his powers.
• inFAMOUS: Kessler is a version of Cole MacGrath from the future where he lost his entire family from The Beast's rampage. Traveling back in time he forcibly took control of the First Sons where he had them create the Ray Sphere and then giving it to Cole MacGrath, resulting in the latter getting his powers, as well as causing massive collateral damage to Empire City and its eventual quarantine. Setting himself as Cole's nemesis, he tricks Cole into believing he had cause the grim future, manipulates Cole's best friend Zeke into joining his side, and giving Cole a series of Sadistic Choices leading to the death of Cole's girlfriend Trish. Successfully causing Cole to seek vengeance on Kessler, he gives Cole the Ray Sphere to use, before fighting him head on. Upon being defeated, Kessler then reveals to Cole his true identity, as well the existence of The Beast and the destruction he'll bring, admitting that his actions against Cole was to make him stronger so that he'll be able to succeed at stopping The Beast where Kessler himself failed.
• Ittle Dew: Itan Carver, initially seeming like nothing more than a quirky merchant, is eventually revealed to be behind the creation of the island. Dreaming of creating a "tourist attraction" for adventurers, he previously arrived to the island and renovated the whole land into the ideal adventure, setting up the puzzles and dungeons himself. He also pays the residents to act as enemies while secretly conning them into giving his money back. When Ittle Dew and Tippsie arrive, he tricks them into testing out the island by tasking them to retrieve the artifact from the final dungeon in exchange for making them a raft. Acting as the Final Boss, he happily makes the raft that he promised after being beaten, sincerely bonding with Ittle in the process.
• Jade Empire: Master Sun Li, the "Glorious Strategist", once orchestrated the downfall of the Spirit Monks and upon failing to overthrow his brother, Emperor Sun Hai, kills the guardian of the last Spirit Monk and becomes his caretaker in the wilderness. Training the Spirit Monk to defeat Sun Hai one day, Sun Li uses him to defeat his brother and leave the throne of the Jade Empire open before revealing he trained his student with a flaw in his fighting style so Sun Li could exploit it and kill him, before claiming the throne. Taking over, Sun Li plans to conquer all he can and even if fatally wounded by the Spirit Monk, merely dies with pride in his own teaching ability, repeatedly showing himself worthy of the moniker for which he is known.
• Jak X: Combat Racing: Rayn is the daughter of Krew and far more charming and clever than he ever was. Enacting her deceased father’s plan to flush out rival gangster Mizo and take his assets by winning a racing bet, Rayn poisons Jak and friends, faking her own poisoning to gain their trust. Only by winning the racing tournament will they be given the antidote. Playing the part of the innocent daughter, Rayn never breaks character, even as Ashelin—the only person to doubt Rayn—threatens her. Carefully stringing along the heroes by exposing parts of Krew’s plan while acting surprised, Rayn even decides to race and put herself in harm’s way to ensure nothing is left to chance. After Mizo is defeated, she fulfils her part of the bargain, providing the antidote to the poison. She also leaves behind a message from Krew to come clean to everyone and as a new crime boss orders that Jak and the others—whom she now considers friends—are not to be harmed. Winning and getting away with everything, Rayn is one of the series’ most affable and cunning scoundrels.
• Jump Force: Light Yagami joined the Jump Force both to protect the world and to find a way to restore power to his Death Note. Quickly deducing the presence of a mole within Jump Force, Light is also the only one to suspect Angela, who turns out to be Galena, exposing her and partially preventing her from destroying the Umbras base with a trap. Locating Galena while she reports her failures to Kane, Light arrives and convinces Kane that the villains hold the advantage, while claiming his interests align with the villains, allying himself with the villains while the heroes are left in the dark. After Prometheus/Director Glover's betrayal, Light assumes leadership of Jump Force and assists the Player by bringing a reformed Kane who gives the Player their own cube. After Prometheus' defeat, Light manages to acquire one of the Umbras cubes which was his plan all along. This Light proves himself to be far more collected and sympathetic than his smug canon self, while no less brilliant.
• Kid Icarus: Uprising: Arlon the Serene is the commander of the Lunar Sanctum and the most affable out of the Forces of Nature, and indeed almost any villain in the game. A jailkeeper and military general who styles himself as an impeccable Battle Butler, Arlon deals with Pit's invasion of the Lunar Sanctum with his elaborate illusions, manipulating Pit's Evil Twin Dark Pit into impeding him with a Batman Gambit, and relentlessly stringing genuine compliments toward Pit and his resolve. Felled by the end, Arlon's demise only worsens the war as his presence is the only thing keeping the Chaos Kin sealed in the Lunar Sanctum, a fact Arlon only neglected to tell Palutena out of loyalty to his own master Viridi.
• Killzone: Mercenary: Blackjack is an Arms Dealer with no loyalty to either the ISA or the Helghast and whose primary motive is profit, yet is affable, charming and with a code of honour, morally objecting to the creation and use of a virus that could wipe out all life on a planet. Assisting Danner throughout the campaign, even when Danner is falsely labelled a traitor to Vekta and forced to work for Colonel Vyktor Kratek, Blackjack continues to sell him weapons and tools and eventually saves the day by hijacking Danner's comms, leading him and the boy Justus to safety and orchestrating to destruction of the virus. Ending the game by wiping out records of Danner's and Justus' pasts to help them evade capture, Blackjack will continue to profit from the war between Vekta and Helghan.
• Kingpin: Life of Crime: "Thug", real name unknown, after being beaten to near-death by Nikki, vows revenge on Nikki and anyone who hurt him. After cutting through the Sewer Rat and Scorp gangs to steal a battery for a motorcycle, Thug then assists Louie in stealing some documents from Nikki, before confronting Nikki in their office, pursuing him when Nikki escapes. Teaming up with Big Willy to take down Heilman at the wharf, Thug later goes to Steeltown to free Moker's workers from his grasp, and slays him. Also killing Tyrone en route to Radio City, he strikes an alliance with the Jokers against his own odds, and reaches the Crystal Towers with their assistance, completing his revenge by killing Nikki, then killing the Kingpin to take over his syndicate, ending the game having gotten everything he wanted while improving the syndicate the Kingpin once owned.
• Kirby franchise:
  • Super Star: Meta Knight's one true running as Big Bad in "Revenge of Meta Knight" showcases him to be a ruthless Determinator on par with Kirby himself. Aboard his faceship the Halberd, Meta Knight attempts to conquer all of Pop Star to liberate it from its "lazy" lifestyle while repeatedly preventing Kirby from opposing his takeoff, forcing him to waste his time fighting Heavy Lobster before blowing both away with the Halberd's jets. Even when Kirby's tenacity ends up with the Halberd crashing toward the sea, Meta Knight refuses to give up, persistently hounding Kirby until the literal last minute. Even at his worst, Meta Knight is a Noble Demon, offering Kirby a sword to fight him with in an even duel as he always does, and quietly regretting he's unable to save his crew from certain death due to their Undying Loyalty toward him.
  • Return to Dreamland & Deluxe remake: Magolor, upon crash-landing in Dream Land, plays the innocent victim to persuade Kirby and his friends into repairing his ship, traveling with him to Halcandra, and defeating the dragon Landia, whereupon he seizes the Master Crown and sets his sights in conquering the rest of the universe, starting with Planet Popstar. After being defeated and stranded in an alternate dimension, Magalor still manages to fight his way out while destroying the corrupting Master Crown, taking refuge in an alternate Dreamland before making it back to his own universe. What separates Magolor from the other one-shot villains of the series is his personable and talkative personality, going so far as to earnestly thank Kirby for his help even as he betrays him. Having a change of heart in Kirby's Dream Collection onwards while retaining his cheeky personality, Magolor set a standard of character depth for future Kirby antagonists.
  • Forgotten Land: Sillydillo, the "Armor-Plated Prancer", is a deranged-looking armadillo working for the Beast Pack. After Kirby's main ally Elfilin is captured, Sillydillo lures Kirby into his lair with a doll resembling Elfilin. Battling Kirby, Sillydillo tries to capture him in a cage, and even utilizes a "dance partner" he made out of junk when his health gets low enough. Loyal to his King, Sillydillo makes a Heel–Face Turn at the end when Leongar is saved. In spite of his comical nature, Sillydillo proves himself to be quite the crafty adversary.
• Knack: Katrina is Viktor's right hand woman, both seeking to open a locked door containing countless Massive Relics that they want to use to revolutionise the world. Katrina is the brains of the operation, coming up with just about all the strategies. Believing Knack to be the key, she suggests Vitor kidnaps him. When that doesn’t work, Katrina suggests they simply let Knack and crew investigate the door themselves, correctly predicting they’d also be fascinated by it. Later managing to bug a memento of kid sidekick Lucas, Katrina is able to ascertain where the real key is, managing to snatch it from right under the heroes’ noses. Through acrobatics and strategy Katrina was able to go toe to toe with the much stronger Knack and when Knack outsmarted her, she went into training and accepted Viktor's gift of a mech and poisoned relics to even the odds. Even after being defeated and reforming Katrina creates her own successful company focused on private security. Almost always one step ahead, Katrina was Knack’s most likable and devious antagonist.
• Knights of Ambrose:
  • Uno is a skilled assassin and a reliable ally in mortalkind's struggle against Zamas. After gaining a fearsome reputation for killing corrupt aristocrats in Halonia, Uno forms a secret alliance with King Floyd in order to eliminate their mutual enemies. During a mission to kill Typhus the Worldbreaker's son, Uno befriends the Halonian champion Ruth, going as far as to free her from her unjust imprisonment while taking advantage of the chaos caused by Typhus. Uno later reveals he stole the legendary Sylvans sword from Halonia, ensuring the party's victory over Typhus. In Timeline 1, Uno separates his wife Malady from their son Dylan and devises an elaborate security system in his new home to keep her out, but reconciles with her after she solves his puzzles. When Halonia's rival nation Zamaste emerges from stasis, Uno takes Dylan on a mission to spy on the latter country's royal family, with Uno mugging and impersonating a butler in order to get closer to the queen. Although the queen sees through his disguise and imprisons him, Uno kills the prison guards and the butler, and then uses the butler's corpse to fake his own death so he can sabotage Zamaste's war effort. In Timeline 2, Uno steals Hermes's staff from his former ally Lissandra and instructs his descendants to seal it in a temple, keeping Lissandra from obtaining it for nearly a century.
  • Lissandra is the second leader of the Drakon Cult, who is brainwashed by Zamas and Lilith to help them revive Typhus the Worldbreaker. In Timeline 2, Lissandra attacks and taunts the heroes of Halonia in order to bait them into seeking the pieces of the wish-granting Vulcan Stone, all while plotting for her brother Hermes to gain their trust and hand the pieces to her. When Hermes helps the party take the stone back, Lissandra anticipates that they'll go to Mount Vulcan and intercepts them, coming dangerously close to resurrecting Typhus. After Hermes sacrifices himself to free her, Lissandra declares vengeance on her former manipulators and tries to steal Morgoth's Eye of Destruction without her allies' permission. A century later, Lissandra, now known as Silnastra, sends her son Achilles to join Lilith as a spy in order to look for a way to kill her nemesis. Taking advantage of Helen's mental shutdown, Silnastra instructs Belume's heroes on how to save her in exchange for Hermes's staff. Silnastra then stalks the party to the Depths and tries to take a powerful tome from them by force, but gracefully accepts defeat when she fails. During the battle against Lilith, Silnastra overloads Hermes's staff to save the party and permanently weaken Lilith, and then sacrifices herself to prevent the continent of Belume from crashing to the surface.
  • Knight Bewitched 2: Hermes is a seemingly harmless cleric who seeks to cure his sister Lissandra of Zamas's influence by using the forbidden power of the Vulcan Stone. When Lissandra has a vision about the Vulcan Stone pieces being located in the Underworld, Hermes agrees to help her by acting as a spy within the dwarven expedition and getting the party to obtain the stone pieces, which he hands over to her. Hermes then betrays Lissandra by telling the party her next location, causing them to recover the completed stone just before she can wish for Typhus's resurrection. When Lissandra takes back the stone, Hermes declares his wish first and destroys the stone, knowing that doing so will curse him to become a demon. Hermes then attempts to seal himself away to avoid killing anyone, and when the party and his sister chase him down anyways, he holds back his demonic impulses so that they can Mercy Kill him.
• L.A. Noire:
  • Jack Kelso was a marine whose inspiring charisma earned him the respect of his allies and rivals. Returning home after World War II ended, Jack's loyalty to his men causes him not to report on them when they decide to steal the surplus morphine in the SS Coolridge. This sense of loyalty carries on in Los Angeles when he ambushes Mickey Cohen to get him to back down on them and refuses to rat them out to Cole Phelps when he demanded answers. When hired by Elsa Litchmann to investigate her friend's death, Jack figures out the corrupted motivation behind the Suburban Redevelopment Fund and orchestrates a raid on its leader Leland Monroe, before putting Monroe under his mercy and dismantling his plans. With his willingness to bend the rules contrasting with Cole's more procedural methods, Jack Kelso proves to be an invaluable ally to Cole despite acknowledging that they weren't friends.
  • "The Set Up": Albert Hammond is a cunning boxer who would turn against his manager, Carlo Arquero, when he tries to bribe Hammond to loose the next match. Exploiting the many people betting against him while placing several bets on himself, Hammond calculated that he would make over $11,000 if he won the fight, before following through with his plan. Going into hiding after winning the fight, Hammond has his girlfriend, Candy Edwards, collect his winnings at various bookmakers before covertly taking the winnings from Candy. He later confronts Arquero and learns that he killed Candy. Cole Phelps and Roy Earle end up saving Hammond, with the former deciding to let Hammond leave with his winnings, sympathizing with his struggles and impressed that he was able to swindle all of Los Angeles.
  • "A Polite Invitation" & "A Different Kind of War": Leonard Petersen is the Assistant District Attorney of Los Angeles who is trying to get elected to the District Attorney office. Painting himself as an ambitious crusader against corruption to support his election campaign, Petersen rcruits Jack Kelso as his investigator, letting him look into the Suburban Redevelopment Fund. Upon learning of the corruption behind the Suburban Redevelopment Fund and among those involved including the mayor and police chief, Petersen uses his findings to leverage a deal, promising to keep quiet about their involvements if they give him his desired position.
• Last Alert: Guy Kazama is a former soldier whose squadron was killed in a massive ambush organized by Chairman Steve Lloyd. Recruited by the CIA to stop Steve's Force Project, Guy proves his combat skills by accomplishing impossible tasks, such as tracking down General Kadat by locating his aides and killing them for his location; seeing through Steve's body double on a cruise ship and using explosives to cause enough chaos to draw out the real Steve; and stopping Dr. Garcia's Indra satellite designed specifically to kill him should he try to destroy it, saving the entire world in the process.
• The Last of Us: Tess is an infamous smuggler in Boston acting as the brains to Joel's muscle in their operations. After Robert's attempt on her life, Tess uses her contacts to corner and kill him for selling their guns to the Fireflies. Tasked to deliver the immune Ellie to them, Tess shows kindness towards her and grows to see this mission as a chance for redemption. Infected along the way, Tess persuades Joel to carry on without her and performs a Last Stand against the military to allow him and Ellie to escape.
• The Last Remnant: The Conqueror is a brutal, ruthless, godlike man whose strength is rivaled only by his keen strategic mind and whose presence is felt in every scene he's in. A Warden of the Remnants and a sort of Remnant himself, The Conqueror deceives Duke Wilfred Hermeien, manipulating him into thinking he's in control of The Conqueror while The Conqueror himself attacks various settlements and steals their Remnants. One notable conquest has him lead the armies of Athlum away from their city with his own troops so he could single handedly attack it, fighting and killing Emma Honeywell and stealing the Remnant Valeria Heart. Betraying Hermeien, he forces him to be a test subject by infusing him with power to see what would happen to the world if he released Remnants. Seeing that the result would be the death of humanity, The Conqueror sees this as a reasonable price to pay, believing that human exploitation of Remnants would destroy all of reality. Defeated by Rush Sykes' Heroic Sacrifice, the last we hear of The Conqueror is him speaking with Rush in post credit dialogue, affably asking him if he is going to return to the world. With an iron will and a cause he believes to be noble, The Conqueror is a simple yet electrifying antagonist.
• Last Scenario: Augustus works himself to the top so he can become the Empire's minister and seeks to prove that even commoners can achieve the throne. He effortlessly manipulates Felgorn into murdering the Emperor so that the Spoiled Brat princess Helga can take over. He then lets her run the Empire into the ground so that when he covertly assassinates her, the Empire's citizen rejoice and appoint him Emperor. When Felgorn finally wises up and turns on him, Augustus allows Felgorn to kill him, stating before dying that he is content and that, with his desire fulfilled, he has already won.
• The Last Story: Dagran, hero Zael's childhood friend and boss, after losing his family to the corrupt nobility, masterminded the Garuk and Lazulis war. Desiring his group's future and revenge, Dagran planned to get the Outsider's power to gain Count Arganam's support, but when Zael got it instead Dagran tried appealing him to the count, even pushing him to wed his niece Calista. While doing this, Dagran staged a Gurak invasion as cover to kill General Asthar, leader of the knights who killed his family, but when Zael was blamed for it, he framed Jirall, Calista's fiancé, to secure their marriage but when Zael denounce Arganam, Dagran realizing his plan has crumbled, decide to get the full power of the Outsider to reshape the world, manipulating the wielders Zangurak and Zael before taking the power for himself. Confronted by Zael's group, he reveals his entire plan to them before reluctantly battling them in a final fight, and after being cut down Dagran, in his last moments, reconciles with his team and resurrects Lowell with the last of his power. A crafty mercenary, Dagran's wit showed how he was able to be the one ruling everything.
• Left 4 Dead: William "Bill" Overbeck is the de facto leader of the Survivors and looks after his own group no matter the cost. Having been introduced to the Infection when he powered through surgical anesthetic to kill a zombie with his bare hands, Bill remains just as effective a zombie killer as his younger counterparts, leading them from Philadelphia to rescue at the Millhaven outpost. Inside the outpost, Bill helps overpower his captor before leading the expanded group across the outpost, picking up on Louis' plan to take out a Tank and playing his role perfectly. When they get to the train, Bill starts it and leaves everyone except for his group behind, beginning a new plan to reach the Florida Keys. When the plan goes wrong, Bill sacrifices his life to ensure the group's survival, facing down three Tanks with nothing but a last smoke and the comfort that his loved ones are safe.
• Legacy: In this duology, two of the major antagonists stand out as being the deadliest and craftiest:
  • Shadar, "The Malevolent Shadow", was once the Prince Galahanzer, who faced the god of the world, Proteus, and was driven to despair upon learning the truth of humanity's past as creatures that had rejected their god. Seeking to balance the world by destroying the gods who torment humanity, Shadar became known and feared for killing overpopulated areas to maintain balance, and battles and mentors Slade, allying with him as needed, while outwitting his rivals to always come out on top. Nearly becoming a god before being stopped, Shadar returns in the sequel to implant his soul in Nero, a golem boy, whom he uses to defeat yet another rival and enters the Ether Vein to destroy it and achieve balance. Forced into a stalemate in a final stand, Shadar concedes, content with the balance achieved.
  • Proteus, the god of the world, once created a paradise for humanity and his demi-god children, but after being imprisoned and split into a good and evil half, the latter half became infuriated with his creation's ingratitude and resolved to wipe them out. Manipulating Rhea into becoming his pawn, the evil half of Proteus uses her to eliminate his enemies, getting the drop on Shadar and forcing his good half to engage the heroes personally to test their strength. When faced directly as the Final Boss, the evil Proteus remains undaunted and, even in his loss, merely questions if humanity is able to live on without him. Even then, he returns in the sequel under the alias Dalmar, attempting to destroy the new heroes and take back the world one last time.
• Legacy of Kain:
  • Once a petty noble in the world of Nosgoth, murdered and revived as a vampire, Kain has chafed at the tyranny of fate. Establishing a vampire monarchy, but wishing for a way to save the world without sacrificing his own life, Kain condemns his right-hand man Raziel to the Abyss, knowing Raziel will survive and return as a wraith, allowing Kain to manipulate him, the one being with true free will, into changing fate to the point of even averting his own predestined death, as well as saving Raziel from his own fate of being consumed by the Reaver. Kain proceeds to overcome a multitude of dangers with his wit and skill, constantly able to keep pace with the most powerful players in Nosgoth to the point he is able to even defeat the monstrous Eldritch Abomination, the Elder God, who has been responsible for all the bloodshed and horror Nosgoth has endured for eons, while never losing his sardonic wit or dark charm.
  • The Necromancer Mortanius of the Pillar of Death helped to lead a rebellion that overthrew the vampires before he became aware of the Hylden being held back by the Pillars of Balance. Possessed by the Hylen leader, the Unspoken, and used to murder the Guardian of Balance, Mortanius sets the events of the series in motion by having the petty noble and heir to Balance, Kain, murdered and revives him as a vampire to kill the brigands who slew him to begin with. Once this is achieve, Mortanus manipulates Kain to steadily purge the Circle, ending with Kain killing him as well, all with the intent of returning the Pillars to vampire ownership.
• The Legend of Spyro: The Chronicler is an ancient, wise dragon that has long prepared for the return of Malefor. Using a variety of visions and magics to test Spyro's power, the Chronicler slowly helps Spyro unlock abilities he will need in the fight against Malefor, even at risk of Spyro's own life. Though offering Spyro the chance to hide in safety and leave the world to Malefor's machinations, the Chronicler offers useful assistance when Spyro chooses to save Cynder from the Well Of Souls, and it is the Chronicler's wisdom that guides Spyro to "ride out the storm" leading to an ultimate victory against his foe.
• The Legend Of Tian Ding: Chen Liang-jiou is a fellow thief and the most cunning of Liao Tian-ding's rivals, introduced effortlessly extracting his lover Kawashima Kaguya in the aftermath of a heist and evading the hero's attempts to chase him down. Reappearing on a train, Chen snatches an important plaque from Liao Tian-ding using his spear and derails the train to cover his escape, taking flight as Tian-ding is distracted trying to save everyone; when Tian-ding eventually catches up with Chen, Chen proves himself a Combat Pragmatist and skilled martial artist almost on par with Tian-ding. Upon defeat, Chen reveals he's neither on the side of the Japanese or Taiwanese, but willingly returns the plaque to Tian-ding before throwing himself in the path of Shimada's pistol to save Tian-ding, ultimately dying on the side of good.
• LEGO Adaptation Games, by release date:
  • Jurassic World: The Indominus rex is more sympathetic than her original counterpart while still retaining her intelligence. Bitter about how she's treated by the Jurassic World staff, she hatches a plan to escape and destroy the park. Using her camouflage ability, she hides in her cage and makes it look like she climbed out, escaping when the doors are open for investigation. Managing to remove her tracking device to throw security off, she continues her rampage while overcoming anything in her way, be it the security or other dinosaurs. When confronted by the Velociraptors tamed by Owen Grady, she uses her raptor DNA to communicate with them and win their sympathy, becoming the pack leader and having them drive off her enemies. After Owen manages to win them back, the Indominus wastes no time combating the Raptor Pack, incapacitating two of them and holding her own even after "Rexy" is unleashed, only being stopped by being suddenly eaten by the Mosasaurus.
  • Marvel Super Heroes: Magneto is an extremely powerful mutants with mastery over magnetism, and the longtime archenemy of the X-Men. Leading a cabal of supervillains seeking to take over the world by weaponizing Cosmic Bricks alongside Doctor Doom and Loki, Magneto proves instrumental to the group's plans thanks to the manpower provided by his Brotherhood of Mutants as well as his obscene strength and guile. Whether it's leading successful attacks on the Raft and the X-Mansion, using the Statue of Liberty as a weapon and transportation device to great effect, or employing Mystique's convincing shapeshifting skills to distract the heroes while he lifts the cabal's base into space, Magneto constantly beguiles the heroes and snatches victory after victory from them, all the while oozing with charisma and charm. He's also the only villain suspicious of Loki, and when Loki confirms his suspicions by betraying the group, he's quick to check his pride at the door and mobilize the villains to help the heroes save the planet from a Loki-controlled Galactus.
  • DC Supervillains Sidequest "Krypto-might Need Some Help": The evil clone of Jimmy Olsen, created by Darkseid to trick and destroy Superman, tricks the player into freeing him from his prison and has them escort him to a teleporter to earth. Revealing his deceptions and instructing you to teleport him, you can either do what he says and he rewards you, or you can try to teleport him to the sun, at which point he reveals that he hacked the lever in advance to teleport him to earth anyways, nonetheless still rewarding you for your troubles.
  • Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga: Bossk, a notorious Bounty Hunter, plans on locating a treasure on Mustafar for himself. When seemingly caught by Aurra Sing and the Player Character smuggling trampolines to utilize for the treasure, he convinces them that he's planning on giving them to the workers, even hiring the player to smuggle them into Mustafar's atmosphere for him. When caught with the treasure later, he lure the player into an arena to fight them, having put trampolines all around to bounce on and make him harder to hit. Being bested, he gives them the treasure with little fuss, even offering his services to them, having been impressed by their "bouncing skills".
• LiEat III: The Lie-Eating Dragon and the Gold Thief: The titular Phantom Thief Butterfly, real name Cyril Leonhart, is an infamous thief who has stolen artifacts and eluded police around the world. Seeking revenge on both the gang that tormented her in her childhood and her brother Teobaldo for abandoning her, Cyril, with the help of Enos and Gene, infiltrates the showing of the Antique Artifact disguised as Enos and uses ultrasonic waves to disable Efina's power. Stealing the artifact and submerging the building in lies, Cyril forces Teo and Efi to expose Master Wilbur, the party host, and one of his maids as members of the gang, then fights them and corrupts Teo with lies, intending to use him to flood all of Gold Town with lies and wipe out the gang for good. Even in the ending where Efi saves Teo, who apologizes for abandoning Cyril, she refuses and escapes unscathed, promising only to meet them again someday.
• Lily In Grave: Mommy Mearest, wife of the famed singer Daddy Dearest, worked together with her husband on musical affairs, assisting him with looking for potential musicians to approve of while also letting him know when their daughter is dating somebody so that he can order a hit on the boyfriend. Behind his back, Mommy Mearest secretly invites Lily Engrave to his party for the two of them to meet. When she arrives and asks to sing with him, Mommy Mearest encourages her husband to give her what she wants, even pointing out how harmless she is. She even admits to being the one who invited Lily after the fiasco due to Lily being the daughter of the one person Daddy Dearest respected.
• Little Nightmares series: Six is a child who uses her cunning and ruthlessness to survive the monstrous world she inhabits. Making her first canonical appearance in Very Little Nightmares she allies with an unnamed girl to escape the Nest and helps her defeat The Pretender before taking the girl’s yellow coat to remember her when she perishes. Getting captured by the Hunter in II, she manages to escape her prison with Mono's help before using the Hunter's shotgun to kill him. The two would then travel to the Pale City where Six uses hers wits to help Mono survive throughout their journey before leaving him in the Single Tower when her window of escape begins to vanish. Eventually brought to The Maw, Six brilliantly outsmarts and defeats her enemies before killing The Lady and gaining her powers which she uses to kill all of the guests before making her escape.
• Live A Live's "Distant Future" chapter: OD-10 is the A.I. control system of the Cogito Ergo Sum. Designed to maintain order on the ship, OD-10 perceived the crew as liability to the mission after seeing them fight among themselves, and decided to kill them to preserve order. Starting its killing spree by cutting off oxygen for Kirk's spacesuit and then sabotaging his medbay's life support, OD-10 sent his grief-maddened girlfriend Rachel a fake message, telling her to open the airlocks as a way to "save" Kirk. Using the distraction to release the dangerous alien beast Behemoth, OD-10 killed Captain Hor by asphyxiating him in his own locked chamber. As the Behemoth killed Huey, OD-10 finished wounded Rachel off by disabling her cryo-pod using Cube's prototype body, sending it to kill Kato afterwards. As Kato, Darthe and real Cube out the imposter, OD-10 finally reveals itself as the killer and locks the ship's systems, forcing the survivors to use the game console to connect Cube to its MUR-TH-UR Matrix to reset its systems, with OD-10 refusing to go down without a fight, an ultimately well-meaning and undeniably clever incarnation of Odio.
• Lost Judgment: Jin Kuwana, formerly Yu Kitakata, was a classroom teacher fired after one of his students committed suicide for bullying. As a local handyman, Kuwana contacted his former students and blackmailed them into kidnapping other bullies involved in suicides so that the loved ones of the victims could exact their revenge. Creating an alibi for Ehara as a sex offender so that he could spite the justice system, Kuwana keeps the corpse of one of the bullies hidden as a leverage to blackmail his former students. Kuwana teams up with Takayuki Yagami on several occassions when fighting the criminal organization RK while managing to evade both RK and the police, only feeling remorse over Yoko Sawa's death as collateral damage. Charming and ruthless, Yagami and the others were unsure whether bringing Kuwana into justice was the right thing to do, and eventually let him go due to insufficient evidence in exchange for the rest of the victims' locations.
• Lugaru: Turner is a rabbit ex-soldier whose village and family is killed following a bandit raid. Setting out for vengeance, he kills numerous bandits with a combination of combat pragmatism, wits, and agility. Uncovering King Hickory's plan to let the wolves use the rabbits as a food source to his royal guard, Turner becomes their de facto ruler. Infiltrating the wolves territory, he defeats the exiled King Hickory after calling out his cowardice and then kills the Alpha Wolf, his mate and even cubs, before relinquishing his authority to wander the world. Returning in Overgrowth, Turner fights the slaver group The Catchers and their leader, the cat noblewoman Amethyst. With the assistance of the Rabbits of the Moon, he defeats numerous captains, showing his pragmatism when he grants a raider a death in combat in exchange for information. Abducted to fight in Amethyst's Gladiator Games, Turner makes his way up the games until he confronts Amethyst while the Rabbits of the Moon stage a distraction. When Amethyst tries to bargain, he provokes her into combat by mocking her and breaking her pride and then escapes the city the games were held. As the Rabbits of the Moon remain hunted, Turner kills the guards denying them access to their former home before setting off on his own to wander once more.
• Lunar: The Silver Star: Magic Emperor Ghaleon was once one of the four great heroes who becomes disillusioned with the world after the supposed death of his best friend Dyne. Ghaleon decides the world cannot function without gods, feeling betrayed by the goddess Altena's decision to be reborn as a mortal and seeks to either supplant her or force her to resume her role. Ghaleon manipulates the heroes into assisting him in his goals, capturing four great dragons to harness their energy to pull his plans off. Ghaleon remains one step ahead of everyone, even capturing Altena's human form Luna and almost succeeds in his ultimate goal. In Lunar 2: Eternal Blue, Ghaleon is revived, seemingly as a minion of the God of Destruction Zophar, but having grown repentant for his actions, Ghaleon instead works against Zophar and assists the heroes, becoming a Stealth Mentor to the young warrior Hiro before peacefully passing into the afterlife once he tests Hiro's strength enough.