History BlackAndGrayMorality / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/SplinterCellConviction'' seems to be headed this way.

** Then again, some of the Abstergo files in ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations Revelations]]'' seem to suggest the Templars took a bad turn [[EvenEvilHasStandards even for their regular standards]] during the Renaissance, as the Borgias and their allies were more interested in personal ambition and profit than creating a better world, and mainly comprised [[CorruptChurch corrupt clergy]] and [[AristocratsAreEvil greedy aristocrats]]. The Templars from the Crusades were all, except for Majd Addin, interested in actually stopping the Crusades and bringing peace to the Holy Land. Most of their amoral actions are based on the idea that there is no God or Afterlife, [[spoiler:as the Pieces of Eden were instruments from an ancient civilization to create and manipulate mankind as a slave race]], which they use as justification to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans create a better world, no matter how cruel they must be]]. Abstergo seems to follow this same line of thought, along with a hinted goal of [[spoiler:evolving humanity to a stage similar to Those Who Came Before.]] It's safer to say they think they're NecessarilyEvil and have good intentions, with some of their members actually being pure evil since they don't hold many hiring moral standards. There's also the case of [[spoiler:Lucy Stillman, who had become disenchanted from the Assassins for seemingly abandoning her in a deep cover infiltration and thus agreed to pretend to be a loyal Assassin so as to retrieve Ezio's Apple of Eden, but was never as amoral as her boss Warren Vidic]].

** Then again, some of the Abstergo files in ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRevelations Revelations]]'' seem to suggest the Templars took a bad turn [[EvenEvilHasStandards even for their regular standards]] during the Renaissance, as the Borgias and their allies were more interested in personal ambition and profit than creating a better world, and mainly comprised [[CorruptChurch corrupt clergy]] and [[AristocratsAreEvil greedy aristocrats]]. The Templars from the Crusades were all, except for Majd Addin, interested in actually stopping the Crusades and bringing peace to the Holy Land. Most of their amoral actions are based on the idea that there is no God or Afterlife, [[spoiler: as the Pieces of Eden were instruments from an ancient civilization to create and manipulate mankind as a slave race]], which they use as justification to [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans create a better world, no matter how cruel they must be]]. Abstergo seems to follow this same line of thought, along with a hinted goal of [[spoiler: evolving humanity to a stage similar to Those Who Came Before.]] It's safer to say they think they're NecessarilyEvil and have good intentions, with some of their members actually being pure evil since they don't hold many hiring moral standards. There's also the case of [[spoiler:Lucy Stillman, who had become disenchanted from the Assassins for seemingly abandoning her in a deep cover infiltration and thus agreed to pretend to be a loyal Assassin so as to retrieve Ezio's Apple of Eden, but was never as amoral as her boss Warren Vidic]].

* The main plot of ''VideoGame/BookOfMagesTheDarkTimes'' consists of a struggle between the White Robes and Black Robes. The [[PraetorianGuard Black Robes]] are exactly what you would expect; the best of them are either {{Punch Clock Villain}}s or fitted with an ExplosiveLeash, while the willing members are tyrannical villains. [[spoiler:The Great Mage is actually an AntiVillain who wants to become a RetiredMonster, but he's also guaranteed to die before the end game.]] The [[LaResistance White Robes]], however, are willing to commit some questionable deeds to accomplish their goals, including attempting to rig a mage tournament to prevent a Black Robe from taking the top spot, and while most of their members are fairly light grey, [[spoiler: Flamier]] is only in it for personal power, and the White Robe PC can [[spoiler: cause a FullCircleRevolution and oppress the other mages every bit as thoroughly as the Black Robes' Great Mage did.]] Meanwhile, neutral mages generally don't care about morality one way or the other; they only care that the Great Mage is elected [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership according to the rules]], and whether the Great Mage is good or evil is irrelevant to them.

*** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'''s main quest doesn't have a true BigBad, and its MultipleEndings allow you to work for/against several groups, ranging from lighter shades of gray (the Empire, the [[ICannotSelfTerminate Underking]]) to outright black ([[GodhoodSeeker Mannimarco]]) with several options in between. Even some of those in between options are pretty dark, however. Daggerfall's king [[spoiler: may have helped sell-out his own father to a power-hungry lord from Wayrest]]. Sentinel's king and queen [[spoiler:killed their firstborn son (by burying him alive) because he A) was constantly ill, and B) preferred scholarly pursuits over swordcraft]], and Wayrest...just Wayrest.

** The protagonists of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'' can only be said to be heroes in the sense that they fight against people who are even worse than they are. CJ, from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', on the other hand, has a few genuinely heroic motivations (getting the drug dealers out of his neighborhood, avenging his mother's death, keeping his family and friends safe from harm), but he's still a murdering, thieving gangbanger [[spoiler: who blows up Hoover Dam]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Ruiner}}'': Don't expect clear-cut good guys in a gritty {{Cyberpunk}} setting, especially in Rengkok. The central antagonist is the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive morally bankrupt]] MegaCorp known as HEAVEN, who is responsible for making Rengkok a WretchedHive so they can make profit with their virtual reality products known as Virtuality, and the corporation isn't above using HumanResources to power their machines, such as [[spoiler: the MOTHER and ANGEL units, with the latter containing [[AndIMustScream trapped yet fully-aware humans]] enslaved by the former]]. The only people who oppose HEAVEN are a bloodthirsty SociopathicHero and a mysterious woman called HER, who wants to free Rengkok's people from HEAVEN [[WellIntentionedExtremist by any means]], even if it includes blackmailing and killing hundreds of people. Then again, the people our protagonists kill had it coming anyways. To drive the point home, the shady morality setting is reflected through the game's [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver red, black, and gray color scheme]].

** In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', the bad guys are still very bad (Darth Nihilus in particular is a HumanoidAbomination). However, your PlayerCharacter [[spoiler:ended a war by setting off a planet-smashing WMD that killed ''millions'' of both enemy and their own troops]], which is why they went Force-deaf. Worse, they are only holding the party together [[spoiler: through an unwitting, low-level form of MindRape]] and Kreia's blackmail. Your companions come to include some pretty shady characters; the [[spoiler:JadedWashout Jedi youngling turned spy]] isn't so bad. Surprisingly, neither is the engineer [[spoiler:who cooked up the WMD your PlayerCharacter used]]. The Sith apprentice [[spoiler:is a SoleSurvivor IronWoobie who was "spared" when her Master devoured all life on her planet]]. The wisecracking smuggler [[spoiler:is an ex-TortureTechnician and MageKiller with a high body count who manually strangled his last victim and escaped when she exposed him for being a Force Sensitive]]. Then there's [[EvilMentor Kreia]]; her intentions are ([[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation probably]]) good, Kreia is capable of doing some [[WellIntentionedExtremist nasty things]] to get what she wants. And usually, she ''will'' get it, with or without your assistance. It's said frequently through the game that hardly anyone who isn't swinging a saber knows or ''cares'' about the difference between Jedi and Sith, given that there's been three wars in 50 years that have torn up the galaxy.

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny'': While the heroes are ALighterShadeOfGrey, they only start on the main quest because they were imprisoned and are using it as community service. Rutee will frequently try to rob the people she 'helps' and demands further rewards from them and Leon is a fan of electric torture. The king the party is working for is also shown to be a weak and incompetent ruler [[spoiler: whose rule has become meaningless in the second game.]] The main villains, however, are all bloodthirsty warmongers or [[spoiler: flat-out genocidal.]]

** In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', the bad guys are still very bad (Darth Nihilus in particular is a HumanoidAbomination). However, your PlayerCharacter [[spoiler:ended a war by setting off a planet-smashing WMD that killed ''millions'' of both enemy and their own troops]], which is why they went Force-deaf. Worse, they are only holding the party together [[spoiler: through an unwitting, low-level form of MindRape]] and Kreia's blackmail. Your companions come to include some pretty shady characters; the [[spoiler:JadedWashout Jedi youngling turned spy]] isn't so bad. Surprisingly, neither is the engineer [[spoiler:who cooked up the WMD your PlayerCharacter used]]. The Sith apprentice [[spoiler:is a LoneSurvivor IronWoobie who was "spared" when her Master devoured all life on her planet]]. The wisecracking smuggler [[spoiler:is an ex-TortureTechnician and MageKiller with a high body count who manually strangled his last victim and escaped when she exposed him for being a Force Sensitive]]. Then there's [[EvilMentor Kreia]]; her intentions are ([[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation probably]]) good, Kreia is capable of doing some [[WellIntentionedExtremist nasty things]] to get what she wants. And usually, she ''will'' get it, with or without your assistance. It's said frequently through the game that hardly anyone who isn't swinging a saber knows or ''cares'' about the difference between Jedi and Sith, given that there's been three wars in 50 years that have torn up the galaxy.

* ''VideoGame/ActionTaimanin:'' The UFS is an arrogant superpower penetrated from within by criminal elements like NOMAD and collaborates with opportunists to get weapons of mass destruction, the Chinese Union is a police state that packages good old-fashioned colonialism with high rhetoric about "Asia ruled by Asians" that directly evokes 1930s-'40s era Japanese fascism, and Momochi isn't wrong that even the heroic Taimanin, through being government-operated, are fighting to uphold a failing status quo rather than actually making the world a better place. But their enemies are ruthless terrorists actively trying to massacre countless innocent people and spark a world war, themselves manipulated by an international criminal syndicate seeking world domination. There are even oblique references made to the events of the original games, in which NOMAD was behind some of the most horrific imaginable acts of human trafficking, sex slavery, mass murder, sadistic torture, and unwilling experimentation, without getting into the supernatural elements of their evil.

* ''VideoGame/ActionTaimanin:'' The UFS is an arrogant superpower penetrated from within by criminal elements like NOMAD and collaborates with opportunists to get weapons of mass destruction, the Chinese Union is a police state that packages good old-fashioned colonialism with high rhetoric about "Asia ruled by Asians" that directly evokes 1930's-40's era Japanese fascism, and Momochi isn't wrong that even the heroic Taimanin, through being government-operated, are fighting to uphold a failing status quo rather than actually making the world a better place. But their enemies are ruthless terrorists actively trying to massacre countless innocent people and spark a world war, themselves manipulated by an international criminal syndicate seeking world domination. There are even oblique references made to the events of the original games, where NOMAD was behind some of the most horrific imaginable acts of human trafficking, sex slavery, mass murder, sadistic torture, and unwilling experimentation, without getting into the supernatural elements of their evil.
* ''VideoGame/AlphaProtocol''. You work for a shady, accountability-free government agency that 'recruit' you by kidnapping you [[spoiler:and are secretly collaborating with the BigBad to escalate global politics for money]]. Your enemies include a CorruptCorporateExecutive, a CaptainErsatz of Osama Bin Laden, a psychopathic torturing gangster, and an ex-rogue agent who takes hostages and blows up museums because it's his job to do so. It speaks volumes that the only person who doesn't openly mislead, lie to or manipulate you is the game's SociopathicHero, who's only in it to hurt people you point him at.
* The protagonists in the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' series are members of an ancient [[MurderInc Assassin Order]] that by the Renaissance routinely works with [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenaries]], [[ThievesGuild thieves]] and [[TheOldestProfession courtesans]] to kill their targets. Said targets are usually members or associates of the [[KnightTemplar Templars]], a shadowy group that counts nearly every prominent historical figure (from [[Literature/TheBible Cain]] to [[Series/TheBorgias Pope Alexander VI]] to UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler to ''UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi'') as members that have been secretly guiding humanity since the dawn of civilisation, with the ultimate goal of controlling the human race via the removal of [[TheEvilsOfFreeWill free will.]]

** And then ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRogue'' completely flips things around. Achilles Davenport, the leader of the Colonial Assassins, is a pigheaded petty tyrant who never considers the consequences of his actions (which eventually leads to ''Lisbon being destroyed in an earthquake''). It's gotten so bad, in fact, that they've outright established a ''criminal network'' in two cities and various other locations in the colonies. They're single-mindedly focused on their war with the Templars (and use it to justify just about everything); none seem particularly interested in helping the people whose freedom they're supposedly fighting for. Meanwhile, Shay Cormac, after turning to the Templars, ends up liberating an Indian village, renovating broken buildings all over the colonies, and taking apart the Assassins' criminal network. James Monroe, a lifelong Templar, is by far the most decent person in the entire game (he's the one who gets Shay started renovating), and the Templars' allies are at worst harmless. Even Haytham Kenway isn't interested in harming anyone who isn't an Assassin (mind you, he still gets ''very'' nasty to them). Juno, meanwhile, is utterly impotent and actually pleads to anyone who will listen that she has the world's best interests at stake. (It's also strongly hinted that she has supporters, which pretty much kills any BigBad kick dead.)
* A similar setup was used in the sadly defunct MMORPG ''VideoGame/AutoAssault'' with the Humans, Mutants, and Biomeks. Each faction had reasons for wanting the other two dead, although the Humans may have been the biggest bastards of the bunch depending on how justified you think their desperate measures to protect their own existence were.
* In ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'', only two options are open to the player concerning allies who can help locate your kidnapped childhood friend: One option is to side with a guild of thieves. The other is to side with a guild of vampires. Vampire thieves. And just in case you were wondering: No, these are ''not'' thieves with a heart of gold. Inside their guild-hall you'll witness TrainingFromHell with actually lethal results, torture, and worse. Needless to say, this makes roleplaying a [[KnightInShiningArmor paladin]] in this game an extremely difficult task. This is driven home by the fact that Keldorn Firecam, a Paladin in his own right, will just flat-out leave your party [[PermanentlyMissableContent forever]] should you pick the vampires over the Shadow Thieves. (Keldorn isn't happy about working with the Thieves either, but, fortunately, he's very pragmatic).
* Basically the default in ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' games. The hero herself isn't technically a bad person, but she's rather snarky and self-interested, with her motivations always being either to look out for herself or the people she cares about. Her allies aren't much better; the closest thing to the embodiment of good in her universe is a rude, equally selfish brat. By contrast, her antagonists are usually genocidal and self-righteous, so they get to play the unlikable hypocrite role and be her punching bags.

* The main plot of ''VideoGame/BookOfMagesTheDarkTimes'' consists of a struggle between the White Robes and Black Robes. The [[PraetorianGuard Black Robes]] are exactly what you would expect; the best of them are either {{Punch Clock Villain}}s or fitted with an ExplosiveLeash, while the willing members are tyrannical villains. [[spoiler: The Great Mage is actually an AntiVillain who wants to become a RetiredMonster, but he's also guaranteed to die before the end game.]] The [[LaResistance White Robes]], however, are willing to commit some questionable deeds to accomplish their goals, including attempting to rig a mage tournament to prevent a Black Robe from taking the top spot, and while most of their members are fairly light grey, [[spoiler: Flamier]] is only in it for personal power, and the White Robe PC can [[spoiler: cause a FullCircleRevolution and oppress the other mages every bit as thoroughly as the Black Robes' Great Mage did.]] Meanwhile, neutral mages generally don't care about morality one way or the other; they only care that the Great Mage is elected [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership according to the rules]], and whether the Great Mage is good or evil is irrelevant to them.

** The four protagonists are all OnlyInItForTheMoney and more than a bit sociopathic (especially Mordecai and Brick). Their main allies are a greedy arms dealer who only helps them because they keep buying his weapons, an overly eccentric mechanic who cares more about his combat cars than ''anything else'', an [[JerkAss utter bitch]] who also happens to be the [[OnlySaneMan only sane woman]], a medic with a MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate who may or may not have an EvilTwin [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial who is most definitely not just him in a disguise]], and an elitist, egotistical InsufferableGenius with [[CloudCuckooLander a questionable mental state]]. And yet, despite all this, they're ''still'' about 100 times better than the Bandits, Crimson Lance and [[spoiler:Eridians]]. VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}} carries this tradition on, adding a kid with a [[CloudCuckooLander questionable mental state]] and a nice, spunky mechanic with a penchant of killing and [[FalseFlagOperation carrying out]] a bloody clan war. On the antagonist side, there's the Hyperion which making even the Crimson Lance look pleasant.

-->'''[[CloudCuckoolander Mr. Torgue]]''': MORAL AMBIGUITY. TASTE THE NIETZSCHEIAN INNER CONFLICT, MOTHERF**KER.

** The Soviet Campaign of ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyWorldAtWar'' consists of hoards of pissed off Russians smashing their way through Nazi Germany, brutally killing anyone that stands in their way. Granted, the Germans did the same to them, but the Soviet's payback gets so bad that one of your squadmates will frequently protest the slaughter.
** The loading scene before the last level consists of Reznov reading a diary passage from said squadmate, after [[spoiler: his death by a German flamethrower.]] If you have your character fully participate in the slaughter of the Germans, he will denounce the character. If you restrain yourself, he will praise you. If you do a mixture of both, he will simply paint you as a moral question mark.
** During ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'', members of your party regularly engage in torture, one murders an unarmed man tied to a chair, and another holds an ally over a ledge with the full intent to drop him. By the next game, your party gets even more ruthless, at one point (implicitly) interrogating someone with electricity. When playing as an American going undercover, [[spoiler: you're forced to gun down an airport full of civilians.]] [[spoiler: However, you were playing directly into the BigBad's hands with that one.]] By the end of the second act, [[spoiler: Capt. Price, your team leader, launches a nuclear warhead at the United States, nullifying all technology on the East Coast.]] And by the end of the game, [[spoiler: Soap, your character, and Price have become fugitives with only one intent in mind: kill the bastard who set them up, and fucked over world history in a big way.]] There is no question, however, that these men are infinitely more heroic than [[AlwaysChaoticEvil the people they fight]].

* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' tends towards [[GreyAndGrayMorality Grey And Gray And Sometimes]] BlueAndOrangeMorality... with the exception of one boss who has zero sympathetic elements and no reason for you to feel sorry for beating them to death.

* ''VideoGame/DeadRising'' specifically the first one has a mix of grey vs a lighter shade of black vs black as none of the heroes are straight up good people, and the villains' motives range from 'understandable' to 'monstrous' to 'both'. The good guys are there because they want to be famous or work for the government and are wishy-washy on revealing information. And the villains are terrorists that believe what they are doing is in the right when clearly it isn't, as well as two [[GreaterScopeVillain Greater Scope Villains]] who did what they did either [[ForTheEvulz because they thought it was fun]] or [[ForScience they thought there would be benefits from it]].

* ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans'' starts more black and white, only [[VillainProtagonist the black is the player]], as the title makes clear it's an alien invader exterminating whoever appears (and the only morally questionable people are TheMenInBlack who want to use alien technology to TakeOverTheWorld). The sequels make Crypto a more gray [[TheGreys Grey]], facing off against even more evil aliens who downright want to irradiate\flood Earth into something more inhabitable to them, a fast food mogul whose menu is made out of [[HumanResources war casualties]], and splinter members of his species wanting to take over their civilization.
* Both ''VideoGame/DeusEx'', where one less evil [[BigBrotherIsWatching conspiracy faction]] is fighting the more evil one, and [[VideoGame/DeusExInvisibleWar its sequel]], where everyone is somewhat ambiguous except for UsefulNotes/TheKnightsTemplar extremists.
** And said extremists are, well, [[ThoseWackyNazis Hitler]].

* Like its predecessor, ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' also has very little "purely good" characters and choices. Which of the many sides of Kirkwall are Black and which are merely Gray is a bit up in the air, depending on one's interpretation. The [[KnightTemplar Templars]] are (on paper) tasked with stopping mages who consort with demons from harming innocent people. In practice, they believe that any mage is only a moment's temptation away from throwing everything away and summoning demons to slaughter their neighbors and crack down ''harshly'' on any mage suspected of not toeing the line, hitting them with either death or [[FateWorseThanDeath Tranquility]]. Meanwhile, the mages are visibly cracking under the strain of dealing with the Templars, with many of them resorting to BloodMagic out of either desperation or building resentment and hate towards the Templars. The Chantry (i.e. the Church) tries to mediate between the two, in addition to the standardly churchly things of charity of various sorts--but this is undermined by the Templars being an actual branch of the Chantry, as well as the Chantry opposition to the Qunari living in Kirkwall. The Qunari, meanwhile, are terrifying fighters [[spoiler:who sack the city pretty thoroughly halfway through the game]]...after suffering repeated insults such as rampant racism, ill treatment by the ruling class, and high-ranking Chantry elements torturing and murdering innocent Qunari for no other reason than being Qunari and refusal of anyone in charge to do anything about it--you know, things they cannot be reasonably expected to take lying down. Then there's the elves, the rich/poor divide in the city--the short version is that in ''Dragon Age II'', '''no one''' comes out smelling like roses.
* The bread and butter of ''VideoGame/{{Drakengard}}''. The protagonist is a bloodthirsty psychopath with a penchant for vengeance; your allies are a pedophile, an insane infertile child killer, an elitist bigot and religious fanatic, and a dragon with an unbridled hatred for all of humanity; your former "friend" goes nuts with jealousy and grief; and the most innocent character, your sister, wants to jump your bones and because of this she [[spoiler:kills herself]] after revealing that. This is all much less clear in the American version, where they greatly toned down these quirks, but they're still there... and to think, you're the ones trying to save the world. The rest of the world is trying to kill you. In the sequel ''Drakengard 2'', this is much less so.
** ''Drakengard 3'' looks to be back on track with the heroine being nearly as bloody and psychopathic as Caim, and all party members being psycho-enabling members of her harem.
* The ''[[VideoGame/Earth2150 Earth]]'' RTS series. The Eurasian Dynasty is TheEmpire, combining the worst aspects of Soviet Russia and the Mongolian Khanate. Against them in ''Earth 2140'' are the UCS -- a group of lazy hedonists completely dependent on machines for labor. Sequel ''VideoGame/Earth2150'' introduces the Lunar Corporation, who start off as ALighterShadeOfGrey... but get worse ''fast'' due to actually having to participate in the war. By ''Earth 2160'', they're confirmed to be working on chemical weapons.

** The series in general tends more toward GrayAndGreyMorality, while the main quests of most of the games (and most expansions) are standard [[BlackAndWhiteMorality Good vs. Evil]] affairs (though the villains often have some HiddenDepths and even WellIntentionedExtremist motivations). However, there are two major exceptions:

*** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' is filled with Black and Gray Morality, along with GrayAndGreyMorality and sometimes outright EvilVersusEvil. The Civil War plot is a prime example of this kind of conflict, as it pits a well-intentioned but [[CulturalPosturing culturally condescending]] occupying Empire that [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation depending on who you ask]] is either a last bastion of human survival against the Dominion or an oppressive VestigialEmpire that doesn't belong in Skyrim and deserves to collapse until someone worthy can reunite the continent; versus a splinter group of Nord nationalists led by (and named for) a man who [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation depending on who you ask]] is either a revolutionary hero trying to save his country in a dark time or a power-hungry tyrant who used KlingonPromotion to try and claim the throne; but both sides are opposed to a faction of supremacist and truly evil [[ANaziByAnyOtherName elf Nazis]] who want to ''[[OmnicidalManiac unmake all creation]]'' because their religion preaches that mortality is a prison. Also, a Dragonborn played as an [[UnscrupulousHero unscrupulous]] murdering AntiHero is this to Alduin the [[PlanetEater world-eating]] DraconicAbomination.

* In both ''VideoGame/{{Fable}}'' games, you can be as evil as they come, and still be expected to defeat the BigBad. Thus, making you the Black, and Jack/Lucien the Gray.
** The third game ramps it up [[ExaggeratedTrope even further]]. Along with being able to murder, steal, and destroy with wild abandon, the last leg of the game gives you a choice: [[spoiler: follow Logan's example and oppress the people for the sake of raising enough funds to keep them safe, or be a just ruler at the possible expense of your subjects being genocided by an army of shadow demons.]] Yet, even if you choose to be the biggest {{Jerkass}} in Albion you're still the Gray in this case... (Of course, you can also choose to TakeAThirdOption: [[spoiler:already have enough money to keep them safe without acting tyrannical]].)

** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' sets up a conflict where the Legion is black and... well, just about any other faction is gray. When playing the game, you have the option of siding with the New California Republic (a democratic republic with an imperialistic slant that is bedeviled by bureaucracy, nepotism and corruption, but which is legitimately trying to do well), siding with Mr. House (a somewhat insane but brilliant man who has plans to use New Vegas to re-ignite old-world tech and eventually catapult humanity out of the post-apocalyptic wasteland), or taking the Wild Card route (usurping power for yourself, which may end up with you uniting or destroying various minor factions in the Mojave). Then you have the option of siding with Caesar's Legion. The faction of brutal, barbaric, expansionist, [[AssimilationPlot culture-destroying]] neo-primitives who ''forbid'' the use of a large variety of medicinal and labor-saving devices, [[NoWomansLand brutally enslave their women]] with, among other things, [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil institutionalized "breeding programs"]], support their empire on the basis of slave labor, worship their dictator to the point of practicing ''HumanSacrifice'' in his honor, practice [[ImAHumanitarian cannibalism]], use vicious amounts of torture and brutal justice for the least of offenses, and are openly acknowledged in-game that they will fall apart into internecine conflict when Caesar inevitably dies. Even with WordOfGod that there was supposed to be more "Legion-friendly" content planned for the game which was cut due to it being rushed out, the fact that this "good side" amounts to "there are no raiders or even petty criminals in Legion territory" (because all crimes are punished with mutilation, torture and execution) and "there is no substance abuse in Legion territory" (because, again, it's a death sentence to be caught using or peddling drugs) kind of pushes the Legion's "good side" into an inversion of InformedWrongness.
** In ''VideoGame/Fallout4'', there are three factions that cannot be reconciled with each other in the game, and of those, you can choose to side with [[spoiler:The Institute, the one that kidnaps and murders random people and replaces them with robotic clones to steal resources from starving and destitute wastelanders]], the most unambiguously evil faction despite their claims otherwise. Then there's [[WellIntentionedExtremist the current incarnation]] of the [[KnightTemplar Brotherhood of Steel]], who in addition to their continuing belief they're the only ones who can be trusted with advanced technology, are now more aggressive than ever, believing all ghouls, super mutants, and synths should be wiped out. The Railroad, a nominally good faction, are [[SingleIssueWonk utterly fixated]] on [[AndroidsArePeopleToo Synth liberation]] [[spoiler:and you have to wipe out both of the above factions if you join them]], remaining largely unconcerned with the citizens of the Commonwealth due to their belief the synths are in greater need. Probably the most unambiguously heroic faction is the Minutemen, but their goodness is tarnished by the fact that [[spoiler:they are somewhat xenophobic, however they can be persuaded to remain peaceful with any of the other factions except the Institute[[note]]the Minutemen can remain peaceful with the Institute... in the Institute questline, which entails you, the Minutemen General, participating in the destuction of the Railroad and the Brotherhood.[[/note]]]] with [[spoiler:their potential victory over the Brotherhood meaning they blow up their CoolAirship while it has children and non-combatants on it]].
* ''VideoGame/FarCry4'': Pagan Min is a batshit crazy murderous dictator, but the two rebel leaders aren't good people either: Amita is a ruthless Marxist revolutionary while Sabal is a reactionary religious fundamentalist. [[spoiler:You later find out it's EvilVersusEvil, as Pagan Min is a NobleDemon and both Amita and Sabal go off the deep end: Amita turns Kyrat into a communist narcostate with ChildSoldiers and is heavily implied to have had Bhadra murdered, while Sabal conducts a purge of Amita's followers and anyone not conforming to the native Kyrati belief system (which would mean most of Kyrat's people as the religion has been banned for the past 26 years).]]

* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'' starts off like this and falls prey to [[FromBadToWorse getting darker as things go on]]. The humans are not portrayed as the nicest guys to start off with, and while Myrrah, the Locust queen, claims at the end of the first game that that the humans have actually done something incredibly horrible in the past -- something that, to the Locust, completely justifies their own war of extermination -- the Locust kidnapping of humans expressly for torturing them, as revealed in the second game, gives them absolutely no moral high ground to condemn humanity with. Moreover the COG forces have been intentionally and explicitly designed as [[PuttingOnTheReich Space Nazis]]. They even have their own medical concentration camps and they're perfectly willing to stunt the Locust advance by killing the vast majority of their own people with [=WMD=]s and preserve the human race by impregnating women against their will.

* The protagonists of ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoIII'' and ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'' can only be said to be heroes in the sense that they fight against people who are even worse than they are. CJ, from ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'', on the other hand, has a few genuinely heroic motivations (getting the drug dealers out of his neighborhood, avenging his mother's death, keeping his family and friends safe from harm), but he's still a murdering, thieving gangbanger [[spoiler: who blows up Hoover Dam]].

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' is like this. The designated protagonist faction, the [[TheEmpire UNSC]], is a totalitarian military dictatorship that runs [[ChildSoldier Child]] SuperSoldier programs [[WouldHurtAChild that kill the bulk of their recruits]], gives cloned kids cancer in order to cover it up, backstabs their own allies in order to maintain the BalanceOfPower, arrests political dissidents, [[https://www.halopedia.org/Far_Isle nukes civilian populations off the face of their respective planets]] to crush rebellion, etc. Its semi-shadow government, the Office of Naval Intelligence, veers much closer to the black side of things, with its willingness to do things even the rest of the UNSC doesn't approve of. It borders on StupidEvil when they nearly start a war between the Elites and humanity after ''4'' by supporting the Servants of Abiding Truth against the Swords of Sanghelios, the latter of which is led by the Arbiter, who saved humanity from extinction. ''Forward Unto Dawn'' also the shows the UNSC's military as an indoctrinated force subject to extremely heavy state censorship, to the point that ''they didn't know they were losing the war'' (this is consistent with some novels, such as ''Moral Dictata'' when even high-ranking UNSC officials are ignorant to major events like the nuking of Far Isle). They would be the BigBad in most other works... but their opponents are [[EvilVersusOblivion the Covenant]], who not only operate a brutal racial caste system and corrupt religious dogma in their interstellar empire that sees the vast majority of its populace born into chattel slavery, but routinely burns entire populated worlds to cinder for essentially no reason other than ego, racism and Religious dogma.Their EliteMooks also [[ToServeMan eat children. Literally.]] And that's not counting the Flood, highly infectious {{Parasite Zombie}}s, or the Forerunners, AbusivePrecursors who not only created the Halos (massive doomsday devices that can wipe out all life in the galaxy - to destroy the Flood by robbing it of bodies, but still!) but eventually emerge with a remnant out to enslave and exterminate humankind, not necessarily in that order.

** ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'': Its an AlternateHistory 1960s, and the United States is leading [[TheAlliance the OFN]] into an [[SpaceColdWar Alternate Cold War]]. The [=CIA=] is willing to organize foreign coups, and the US military keeps some [=OFN=] states in by force. They even get involved in a brutal war in South Africa that's on the same level of brutality as (if not ''more'' brutal than) the [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar real-world Vietnam War]]. But who are they fighting this war against, you might ask? ''UsefulNotes/NaziGermany'', who [[AlternateHistoryNaziVictory won WWII in this universe]].

* Ubisoft's ''VideoGame/HeroesOfMightAndMagic''. The bad guys are simple enough, undead and Demons, but on the "good guy" factions, the Griffon Empire is a KnightTemplar organization that operates under a heavy WithUsOrAgainstUs mentality (the standard punishment for ''questioning a draft'' is having you, your friends and your family put to death, your home looted, and your entire town ''burned to the ground''), a society of aloof, arrogant elves, and xenophobic, warmongering dwarves.
** In Creator/NewWorldComputing's old setting, The first ''Heroes Chronicles'' has an interesting case where this is effectively the case throughout the campaign... but who is the Black and who is the Gray ends up shifting. You start out as the Barbarian being willing to be a bit ruthless to overthrow your tyrannical Wizard oppressors, but by the time you attack Bracaduun proper your ruthlessness has gone ''[[VillainProtagonist way]]'' out of control, while your enemies now include people who just want to defend their homes (who happens to lie in the tyrannical Wizards' nation).
* In the {{Abandonware}} game ''VideoGame/HiddenAgenda1988'', if you side with the right-wing professional army, they will run death squads and engage in massive brutality. If you side with the left-wing ex-guerillas, all they do is "merely" beat people up, harass opponents, shut down dissenting newspapers and forcibly conscript citizens en masse. If you want to TakeAThirdOption and try to keep both sides under control, then that requires establishing a personal dictatorship because elections will set off the powder-keg, and tolerating death-squad violence because the alternative is civil war.
* ''Franchise/{{Hitman}}'' has you playing as a cold blooded, emotionless contract assassin, killing for money and showing no sympathy whatsoever to any of his targets, regardless of their situation. But almost every one of your targets are corrupt politicians, corrupt military personnel, corrupt businessmen, dictators, cult leaders, gangsters, and/or terrorists.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Homefront}}'' The KPR follows the rules of the mandated cliches of oppressive forces by executing people on front of their children, sending those who cannot be indoctrinated into the KPR to labor camps, and brainwashes children into child soldiers. The Resistance are the... Well, resistance against the KPR, who while focused on freeing the oppressed, follow the ideology of "If you're not helping us, you are a traitor" and frequently abandon others in need to rescue high priority targets only.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Homeworld}}'' series plays into this somewhat. By the time the player is controlling them, the Kushan seem to be the [[TheWoobie punching bag]] of the galaxy. As the backstory is revealed, however, it's shown the Hiigarans [[spoiler:broke several treaties, attempted to conquer everything, attacked plenty unprovoked, and misused the Hyperspace Drive to attack large swaths of the galaxy]]. They could well have been a Big Bad in a prequel game. It's no real wonder they were smacked down like they were.
** There's also one portion in the game where a captured enemy captain died under interrogation. This is no Starfleet Command we're working with (though granted said captain had been part of the fleet that had just destroyed their home world, killing billions).
* Despite the series having a huge amount of humor, ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising'' ends up falling in this category. You have the Underworld Army that is clearly evil, and then you have the Forces of Nature that want to destroy humanity for destroying nature, the Auron army that take planets and make a civilization from them, and space pirates that are just looting treasure. They're all in the grey zone as they all have good reasons for causing harm. Angel Land and humans are also not immune, as [[{{Troll}} Palutena]] is shown to not be the [[GoodIsNotNice nicest Goddess]] alive as Pit makes her out to be, and HumansAreTheRealMonsters in this game. Pit is the only character in the entire game that is shown to be the morally good person (white) of the series, with his EvilTwin [[spoiler: (and that is subverted near the end when he becomes almost as good as Pit)]] Dark Pit being the second given Pit's status as the IncorruptiblePurePureness made him neutral at worst. And then there’s Hades, who despite being one of the funniest characters, is a complete psychopath.
* In ''VideoGame/Killer7'', the protagonists are a group of amoral assassins who do work for people manipulating the fates of entire countries. Killing one of their targets, Toru Fukushima apparently results in the entire population of Japan being massacred, and if you refuse, Japan becoming a ShadowDictator to everyone else. The villains include a [[CardCarryingVillain card-carrying terrorist]]. Dan's old mentor is a black-market organ dealer - and that's the face he ''doesn't'' conceal from the world. And then there's the fact that the protagonists are embodiment of good fighting against evil.
* ''VideoGame/{{Killzone}}''. On one side, we have the Helghast, a HumanSubspecies specifically designed to evoke Nazi imagery with their trench coats, [[NoSwastikas black-and-red flags]], and atrocious treatment of human prisoners. That said, they have their moments of nobility, and their grievances against their enemies is a valid one -- not to mention the fact that in the second and third games, it's ''their'' planet that's under attack. Which brings us to the other side, the ISA, who forced the original Helghast colonists off their own world in the first place over property rights and onto the local DeathWorld, where they pretty much had to evolve and develop a harsh and tyrannical society or die. Oh, and they secretly controlled traffic between the two worlds, making it impossible for the colonists to contact friends and family suffering on Helghan. So, who's black and who's gray? We're probably meant to sympathize more with the ISA, but there's a ''lot'' of RootingForTheEmpire. As far as most fans are concerned, it just comes down to the Helghast [[EvilIsCool looking goddamn awesome]] and the ISA troops being a bunch of boring run-of-the-mill SpaceMarines.
** The soldiers on both sides are gray. Really, it's the leaders of both factions that perform the most atrocious acts in the game; Some of them fanatically believe in the war (Sinclair, Stahl), others are just in it for themselves (Visari, Dr. Meisner). The sad thing is, the protagonists butcher thousands of enemy soldiers, but never get to kill the people making their efforts worthless or counterproductive. ([[spoiler:Echo's Kill Sinclair mission is playable, but by that point the main character is dead]]).
* ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain''. Your hero is either a SociopathicHero or an UnwittingPawn with a habit of [[NiceJobBreakingItHero screwing everything up]]. Your villain tends to be a corrupt EldritchAbomination that would fit in well with H.P. Lovecraft's horrors and all of his minions. Even the Sarafan Brotherhood, a bunch of priests, were noted by Kain as being ignoble in the opening of ''Soul Reaver 2''. The closest thing you get to something RELATIVELY good is [[LastOfHisKind Janos Audron]].

*** Neither Janos nor Moebius realized that the Elder God was just a hungry Eldritch Abomination. He even manages to fool Kain once. The Elder God is TheOmniscient MagnificentBastard, and made everyone his [[UnwittingPawn Unwitting Pawns]] till Raziel purified Kain and allowed him to see the Elder God. [[spoiler: Moebius himself is forced to see it, [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone and is quite horrified]]. Janos even admits that to pass on the curse was horrible, but it was necessary to keep the Hylden at bay. Also, while Raziel's main motivation is vengeance, he comes as more sympathetic and troubled guy as the story goes by. He REALIZES he's an UnwittingPawn to everyone, especially the guy who created and burned him, Kain, and in the end is willing to make a sacrifice of the same vein Kain wasn't willing to (sacrifice yourself to save the world), though in Kain's case, killing himself wouldn't have solved anything]]. The plot is complicated, so it's safe to say everyone's got their Freudian Excuse or has been fooled into being what they are.
*** The Hylden. When you hear their story, you surely pity and root for them. Problem is, after so many eons trapped in the Demon Realm, they've become as genocidal and monstrous as the Ancient Vampires and Sarafans. They engineered Ariel's murder and the Corruption of the Pillars, and it's hinted they would have done it again and succeeded if Kain had sacrificed himself in the first game. In ''Blood Omen 2'', they are revealed to have created a [[DoomsdayDevice massive bio-organic superweapon]] [[FinalSolution to kill every non-Hylden thing on Nosgoth]]. Plus, as [[spoiler: they are secretly controlling the Sarafans]], their rule is quite the inquisitorial, fascist one.
* ''VideoGame/{{LISA}}'': The protagonist of ''The Painful'' is Brad Armstrong, a drug-addicted murderer who resorts to killing bystanders who have seemingly not done anything wrong in his effort to get his adopted daughter Buddy back. By the time ''the Joyful'' takes place, Buddy herself [[spoiler:starts tracking down and murdering the leaders of Olathe, from a combination of being raised in a ruthless apocalyptic wasteland, taking the "Joy" drug, and simply wanting to be left alone]]. However, the enemies that they face are oftentimes violent rapists, gang members, and/or members of a mysterious army who is spreading Joy around with the full knowledge that it transforms its users into mutated monsters. ''The Joyful'' also reveals that [[spoiler:Lisa herself isn't completely innocent, since she manipulated and corrupted Buzzo]].
* ''VideoGame/LittleNightmares'': While willing to cooperate with other people, Six is an "every man for himself" kind of girl, and is shown to desire survival at any cost. However, she's by no means as bad as the rest of the Maw's staff, who run a restaurant founded on [[spoiler:kidnapping and killing children for their meat. They are also shown to kill their adult guests for meat as well.]]
* The Renegade playthrough of ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' seems to take this light. While that's not to say there isn't a decent amount of [[GreyAndGreyMorality grey]] in the Paragon playthrough, Shepard and their crew are, for the most part, pretty clear-cut good guys. In the Renegade playthrough on the other hand, Shepard is portrayed as a WellIntentionedExtremist [[TheUnfettered who will go to any lengths]] to stop Saren and, later, [[spoiler:Sovereign.]] Though this can be justified by Saren being a monster, and [[spoiler:Sovereign being an OmnicidalManiac]].
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' is this trope regardless of paragon or renegade status. Not only does Shepard have to make an alliance with a terrorist group to fight the [[EldritchAbomination Reaper]] threat but Shepard's team is made up of {{Vigilante|Man}}s, {{Knight Templar}}s, [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well-Intentioned Extremists]], and other [[PsychoForHire ruthless murderers]]. Almost everyone on the team this time around is an [[AntiHero anti-hero]] in some way. Their opponents are [[StarfishAliens The Collectors]], a sinister, drone-like race of InsectoidAliens who kidnap entire colonies of people using their advanced technology, experiment upon them, turn them into husks [[spoiler:and worst of all, turn them into human paste to activate and power a human-shaped Reaper]].
** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', Shepard can help [[TheDon Aria T'Loak]] unite the Terminus Systems into a lawless version of TheAlliance, gathering three major [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenary companies]] -- Eclipse, the Blood Pack and the Blue Suns -- to bolster her forces. Not an ideal situation, but [[NominalHero they are technically on your side this time]] -- after all, Aria is pitting them against [[spoiler:the Reapers, who are an entire army of {{Eldritch Abomination}}s and {{Omnicidal Maniac}}s,]] and you need all the help you can get anyway.

** Played straight in ''VideoGame/StarControl''. When the Alliance of Free Stars, the ostensible good guys, captures a Hierarchy mine or colony, they just bombard it to destruction from orbit. When the Syreen, one of the Alliance races, captures a Hierarchy colony, they first use mind control to recruit crew members from the civilian population, and then annihilate the rest from orbit. Oh, and one member "race" of the Hierarchy, the Androsynth, are actually just human beings, but, because they were clones, they were enslaved by the rest of humanity. They joined the Hierarchy because the Alliance recruited humanity. And another Alliance race, the Shofixti, use suicide bombing as a standard tactic.

* This is Fifth Planet Games' M.O., with each of the protagonists fighting against the forces of evil... and sometimes reveling in evil themselves. Examples from the games that involve the Blue Dragon faction include kleptomania, pride, manslaughter, outright mass-murder, and a general sense of self-denial of all their personal misdeeds being that bad (One of them [[spoiler:nuked two colony planets]]. Granted, the civilians were Neo-Nazis BUT SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE HELL.). This is in comparison to the Black Dragon faction, who are so proud of themselves that they seek to conquer everything and put themselves higher than gods (who, in this twisted crapsack setting, aren't pure good themselves), and effectively worship a leader who keeps crawling straight out of hell and even reforming his soul after it breaks apart, even though it's obvious that he becomes more insane and violent with each resurrection.

* ''VideoGame/NoMoreHeroes''. The name says it all. The game series is severely lacking in any truly moral characters, with the main character Travis Touchdown being a [[ThisLoserIsYou loser]] and AntiHero who mostly kills simply under the promise of getting sex with the beautiful young lady who arranges the fights and to get enough money to pay off his rent. And while he does have ''some'' morals, keeping him at a rather light shade of grey, the other assassins he has to face range from {{Tragic Villain}}s forced into the line of work due to circumstances, to [[AxeCrazy complete psychopaths]]. [[spoiler:Subverted at the end of the second game when Travis vows to destroy the UAA after seeing how many lives it has destroyed, making him more of true hero]].

** [[spoiler: [[DiscOneFinalBoss Vader Eloha, the Queen,]] who neglects the world she rebuilt, sends assassins to kill her own minion and is implied to have created the spectres in order to kill her own subjects. Though it’s also implied Japhet is the one who made them go crazy and Vader [[GoodAllAlong meant no real harm in anything she did.]]]]
** Zacharie, a merchant who helps the Batter, even after [[spoiler: he told him that he was going to kill Enoch, [[LoadBearingBoss knowing what would happen.]]]] The implications are that he is just doing it for the money. Also, he doesn't really care about [[spoiler: the death of Sugar, who is supposed to be his friend, claiming that it's "better like that".]] There is a wrench in this whole thing though: unlike the other characters, he is [[FourthWallObserver completely aware that he's in a video game]], and therefore that nothing that happens in this world has any permanent significance. Make of that what you will.
** Pablo, the Judge, who seems to be the least evil character, [[spoiler: immediately goes along when the Batter claimed his mission to be purifying the world, without asking what he means. He even helps him after the destruction of Zone 1, although maybe he didn't notice. However, he acts as the world's avenger in the final battle.]]

** However, the worst of them is the BigBad: [[spoiler: [[VillainProtagonist The Batter]], an OmnicidalManiac who [[KnightTemplar deems everyone and everything impure.]] He kills Elsens for just blocking his way, and kills the guardians leading to their zone being "purified", [[PureIsNotGood the residents falling into nothingness and diabolic spirits appearing.]] Even after that he still hasn't had enough. He [[WouldHurtAChild kills Hugo]] and flips the switch off that was powering the world. This makes for an odd example in which the ''protagonist'' is the black and the ''antagonists'' are the grey, an inversion of the usual setup.]]

* ''VideoGame/PapersPlease'' is a depressingly realistic version of this trope. You play a [[ObstructiveBureaucrat border crossing guard]] in a Communist country, tasked with checking passports and refusing an entry visa to anyone without the proper paperwork. You're paid per visa granted and fined for each one you grant improperly, even if that means keeping a couple separated or refusing entry over a bureaucratic triviality. Oh, and your family is barely living hand to mouth as it is, so altruism will bankrupt your character quickly, as will keeping everyone out. There ''is'' a group of freedom fighters who are planning to overthrow the current regime, and you can help them if you want...but they utilize terrorist tactics and chemical warfare, and it's not clear if they really are going to instate a better government should they take over.
* In the world of ''VisualNovel/ThePiratesFate'', there is perhaps ''one'' person who can be considered entirely moral and decent, and it isn't even the protagonist. Everyone else, even the seemingly altruistic, is willing to do questionable or outright terrible things in pursuit of their goals. However, while this can range from a pragmatic willingness to betray someone you've only just met for a profit to WellIntentionedExtremist schemes, they have some redeeming features or are at least [[ALighterShadeOfGrey not truly evil in intention]]. Then there's Rourkie, Bilba, and [[spoiler:Lazerby]] who are the "black". One is a spiteful, sadistic murderer of a pirate with a personal grudge against Captain Darious and who has zero redeeming features [[spoiler:unless his identity is rewritten]]; the other is a sociopathic murderous plotter who cares about nothing at all except power (and is as bad as [[ProperlyParanoid her sister makes her out to be]]), and the last and worst is [[spoiler:a bitter and selfish ghost who wants to turn the world into a living hell where people are possessed by ghosts the moment they're born to create the ultimate in ImmortalityImmorality.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'' doesn't really have any heroes. Correction, it ''really'' doesn't have any heroes. Take your pick: zombie mutants controlled by a psychotic girl, soldiers who are more concerned with destroying evidence than protecting anybody, or a main character who is out for revenge, is a self-proclaimed terrorist, and has absolutely no qualms with tearing innocent people to shreds and eating their insides to heal? (He gets a conscience later on, but still.) Sure, there's the Marines [[PunchClockVillain who only want to save people and destroy the main character and zombie mutant side because they're eating people]], Dr. Ragland and Dana Mercer, but it doesn't change the fact that the fate of the city lies in the hands of a man-eating mutant monstrosity.
* ''VideoGame/{{RefleX}}'': [[spoiler: The conflict between ZODIAC Ophiuchus and its [[CainAndAbel siblings]] falls under this trope. The ZODIACS are [[AIIsACrapshoot omnicidal war machines]] that [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters turn against their creators]] and seek to destroy anything that is not one of them. Meanwhile, Ophiuchus is programmed to battle its peers and does a HeroicSuicide to prevent its core from being abused by wrong hands, but it is not programmed to protect innocent lives, as Ophiuchus' [[TheUnfettered ruthless pursuit]] of destroying its peers [[DestructiveSavior leaves horrific collateral damage and mass loss of life]], resulting with the surviving humans seeing Ophiuchus as [[HeWhoFightsMonsters another foe to destroy]] rather than a guardian.]]
* ''VideoGame/RememberMe'' tends to switch between this and GrayAndGrayMorality. While many of the enemies you fight against are clearly not good people, the protagonist herself, Nilin, questions if what she's doing for the Errorist cause is right, especially since the Errorists rely on terrorist acts that involve the deaths of innocents all for what they perceive as "the greater good" (the fact "Errorist" is literally one letter away from "terrorist" makes this a MeaningfulName).

* ''VideoGame/{{RUINER}}'': Don't expect clear-cut good guys in a gritty {{Cyberpunk}} setting, especially in Rengkok. The central antagonist is the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive morally-bankrupt]] MegaCorp known as [=HEAVEN=], who is responsible for making Rengkok a WretchedHive so they can make profit with their VirtualReality products known as Virtuality, and the corporation isn't above using HumanResources to power their machines, such as [[spoiler: the [=MOTHER=] and [=ANGEL=] units, with the latter containing [[AndIMustScream trapped yet fully-aware humans]] enslaved by the former]]. The only people who oppose [=HEAVEN=] are a bloodthirsty SociopathicHero and a mysterious woman called [=HER=], who wants to free Rengkok's people from [=HEAVEN=] [[WellIntentionedExtremist by any means]], even if it includes blackmailing and killing hundreds of people. Then again, the people our protagonists kill had it coming anyways. To drive the point home, the shady morality setting is reflected through the game's [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver red, black, and gray color scheme]].
* ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'' focuses on the exploits of the Third Street Saints, a street gang (and later media empire and Presidential administration) led by a HeroicSociopath with no compunctions about using violence to get what they want, and backed up by a motley crew of similarly violent and[=/=]or morally flexible individuals. The gang, ironically enough, was originally founded in order to oppose forces even worse than themselves. So, who exactly opposes them that are somehow even worse than them?

** ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'': Another gang of arms dealers with a love of monster trucks that takes [[PayEvilUntoEvil "an eye for an eye"]] to ludicrous extremes, the local chapter of a pseudo-{{Yakuza}} organization led by an unscrupulous WellDoneSonGuy, a South America-based gang of militant drug runners, and a MegaCorp ready to engage in some ''extreme'' renovation by wiping out the city's "undesirable" groups (ie.: ''you'').
** ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'': TheSyndicate, a coalition of three powerful gangs that includes a Belgian-based gang dealing in prostitution and human trafficking, a gang of hackers led by an InternetJerk, a masked wrestler gun runners led by an utter megalomaniac. Also, a paramilitary anti-gang unit who will not hesitate to level a city to wipe out a gang.

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' is devoted to this trope. Then again, being a DeconstructorFleet for many RPG tropes, this should come as no surprise. Given the series' emphasis on personal choice, where the "gray" area lies is solely your business; the Law faction is a group of well-meaning extremists intending to crush free will in order to ensure a perfect egalitarian society, Chaos is a group of vicious anarchists who worship freedom above all else, and the Neutral factions' permissiveness allowed the conflict in the first place and more often than not collapses into either side, but while it works it ensures an "island of stability" between both sides. Of course, humans being what they are, all this conspires to ensure a cycle of destructive {{Full Circle Revolution}}s that will last until Humanity finally learns to sit down and sort out its messes ''for good''.
** ''VideoGame/Persona5'' brings some of this into the ''SMT'' into the [[Franchise/{{Persona}} spinoff franchise]]. The protagonists, a group of rogues knows as the Phantom Thieves who induce HeelFaceBrainwashing methods on their targets, would come off as crossing all sorts of lines if it weren't for the fact their targets tend to be various kinds of serial abusers who are explicitly above the law. The only exception to this is [[spoiler:a girl who was going to commit suicide otherwise and who asked them to do it to her so that she wouldn't end up killing herself]]. But even then, the Phantom Thieves are in fact completely aware of the implications of their methods, and refuse to use it at all during their first mission until a student tried to commit suicide because of abuse by their first target. Throughout the game, the Phantom Thieves [[DiscussedTrope openly wonder]] if what they're doing is the right thing.
* All of the leaders in ''VideoGame/SidMeiersAlphaCentauri'' range from light grey to full black, fittingly as they're based on [[StrawCharacter political straw-men]]. Going from lightest to darkest, take your pick from:

* ''VideoGame/SlyCooper'' leans in this direction, he robs the wicked and gives to himself as part of a family tradition that goes back thousands of years. Most of what's been stolen hasn't even been spent, but rather dumped in a vault because when it comes down to it the Cooper Clan steals things purely to stroke their own egos.

* In ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm'', this is the crux of the conflict between the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Zerg Swarm]] and the [[TheEmpire Terran Dominion]]. On the Zerg side, there's Sarah Kerrigan, a zerg/terran hybrid who dances terrifyingly close to the MoralEventHorizon in the name of self-preservation and revenge; Zagara, who [[BlueAndOrangeMorality thinks nothing of invading a planet, covering it in]] MeatMoss [[BlueAndOrangeMorality and killing or assimilating anyone unfortunate enough to be living or stationed there at the time]]; Abathur, an EvilutionaryBiologist who sees nothing wrong with [[MadScientist experimenting on sentient beings]] if it proves beneficial for the Swarm in the long run; Dehaka, a primal zerg packleader who [[IFightForTheStrongestSide allied himself with Kerrigan because she was stronger than anyone else]]; and Alexei Stukov, an infested terran who was once part of the [[ANaziByAnyOtherName UED]] invasion force seen in ''Brood War''. On the Terran side, you have [[TheEmperor Arcturus Mengsk]], an utter sociopath who could succinctly be described as the most evil terran character in the game, against some stiff competition, and beyond him is [[GodOfEvil Amon]], a [[EldritchAbomination totally out-there]], [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm unfathomable]], out-and-out evil Xel'Naga whose only long-term goal is the [[OmnicidalManiac eradication of all life in the cosmos]].
** The first portion of ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'' was Mengsk, then a rebel leader and not an emperor, leading an uprising against the Dominion's predecessor, the Terran Confederacy of Man. Mengsk [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilised made some pretty dark decisions]] as the campaign went on, but the Confederacy was so horrible that he was still the more sympathetic party -- especially since the Confederacy had his father, mother and little sister killed for his father's own revolutionary activities, and Mengsk had actually lived as a civilian prospector on his homeworld of Korhal until the Confederacy carpet-bombed it with nukes and ruined him. It's a little telling that the moment the game started treating him like a monster happened only when the Confederacy was well on its way out the door, and that the point where he became an antagonist was after they were gone entirely and the Terran Dominion was born.
*** Further muddying Kerrigan's conflict with Mensgk... he left her behind to get infested by the zerg, but she was the Confederate assassin who murdered his family. In the end, ''neither'' of them come out looking too pretty.
* ''Franchise/StarWars'' - Bioware and Obsidian taking on the franchise went here so much they are cited in fandom as prime examples of the trope:
** In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', you're going to kill Malak no matter what your moral persuasion. Carth even explicitly uses this to rationalize staying with you after [[spoiler: [[TheReveal finding out who you really are]].]] The Jedi might also qualify for this, given that [[spoiler: they might or might not have erased your memory and turned you into a drone so that they could use you to uncover [[ArtifactOfDoom the source of Malak's power]], if not just do the DirtyBusiness of killing him. Their hands stay clean and they can spin it as "redemption"]] You can try to turn him, and if you do he'll repent as he lays dying. Even a character you had ''just'' previously turned back to the Light side will act surprised you even made the effort, though. Even if you are playing the lightest of light sided characters, it's also hard to like the Jedi much, seeing as they left the Republic to rot during the Mandalorian War, are content to let Mandalorian bandits shake down farmers within a stone's throw of their enclave, the FridgeHorror of the "tests" regarding Juhani [[spoiler: They trick her into thinking she killed her Master. When she self-quarantines in the nearby grove, they send your character - the mindwiped Sith Lord - against her. Take the "light side" action of bringing her back, and she blames herself for everything while the Masters pat themselves on the back for the "redemption." Kill her, and they aren't too broken up about it, since you proved you're still an effective weapon to be pointed at their enemies.]] There's also that little matter of [[spoiler: BrainwashingForTheGreaterGood they pull on the PlayerCharacter]] and the reveal in ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' that the ''entire enclave'' was used for this purpose - the PlayerCharacter wasn't the only one given this treatment.
** In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', the bad guys are still very bad (Darth Nihilus in particular is a HumanoidAbomination). However, your PlayerCharacter [[spoiler: ended a war by setting off a planet-smashing WMD that killed ''millions'' of both enemy and their own troops]], which is why they went Force-deaf. Worse, they are only holding the party together [[spoiler: through an unwitting, low-level form of MindRape]] and Kreia's blackmail. Your companions come to include some pretty shady characters; the [[spoiler: JadedWashout Jedi youngling turned spy]] isn't so bad. Surprisingly, neither is the engineer [[spoiler: who cooked up the WMD your PlayerCharacter used]]. The Sith apprentice [[spoiler: is a LoneSurvivor IronWoobie who was "spared" when her Master devoured all life on her planet]]. And the wisecracking smuggler [[spoiler: ex-TortureTechnician and MageKiller with a high body count who manually strangled his last victim and escaped when she exposed he was a Force Sensitive]]. Then there's [[EvilMentor Kreia]]; her intentions are ([[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation probably]]) good, Kreia is capable of doing some [[WellIntentionedExtremist nasty things]] to get what she wants. And usually, she ''will'' get it, with or without your assistance. It's {{Lampshaded}} frequently through the game that hardly anyone who isn't swinging a saber knows or ''cares'' about the difference between Jedi and Sith, given that there's been three wars in 50 years that have torn up the galaxy.
** ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'' (arguably the third in the series) tends to take this option. No one is going to argue that the Republic doesn't have ''serious'' problems like crooked government officials, crazed "scientists," corrupt {{MegaCorp}}s, and KnightTemplar Jedi. They also cut deals with terrorists (like Consular companion Zenith, who bombed civilian targets on Imperial-occupied Balmorra and doesn't much regret it and Trooper companion Tanno Vik, who is only in the army to [[TradingBarsForStripes avoid jail]] and/or the bounties on his head) and criminals (the entire Smuggler class). Ord Mantell's government is openly corrupt with local soldiers and government abusing civilians and gambling on sadistic "games" like betting on a refugee's odds of walking across a minefield and surviving. There is also the whopping black eye that is Belsalvis; a maximum-security, supposed-to-be-a-dirty-secret PenalColony where the Republic "scientists" staged gladiatorial combat between different species to "test" them, conditions are so bad that a good prisoner gets ''weekly'' showers as a reward, and even the ''offspring'' of the inmates are treated like criminals and imprisoned, despite the crime being done by their parents or ''great-grandparents'' in come cases. Likewise, the Imperials (and Imperial players have the option to) PetTheDog on occasion, but it does ''not'' mitigate the fact the Emperor is an OmnicidalManiac, Darth Malgus (your main quest-giver for that side) is a wife-beating thug who ''killed'' his Twi'lek "[[SexSlave spouse]]" (she was technically his ''[[StockholmSyndrome slave]]'') because she was a weakness to him, the Sith are unanswerable to any rule of law and have the average sanity of Franchise/{{Batman}}'s RoguesGallery, slavery and genocide are practiced openly (one Imperial official is running a Dachau-style "labor camp" on Nar Shaddaa, complete with gas chambers, crematoriums, and piles of corpses), [[FantasticRacism anyone not human or Sith species gets treated like something scraped from a boot]], and the whole thing runs on MightMakesRight and ChronicBackstabbingDisorder with everyone from Dark Council members to low level officials trying to knife each other in the back. For all their many flaws, the Republic still looks great by comparison.
* ''VideoGame/StrikeCommander'' follows the honorable [[PrivateMilitaryContractor mercenary company]] known as the Wildcats as they struggle to remain afloat in a CrapsackWorld. However despite the lofty ideals of their leadership, the Wildcat pilots themselves often push for pragmatism above honor. Furthermore, the difficult situations they find themselves in often [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse force the Wildcats to work for the baddies]], including fighting for a BananaRepublic, assisting the New Siberians in invading Alaska for its oil, participating in extremely violent CorporateWarfare, and aiding the invasion of Rhode Island by the nefarious [[EvilStatesOfAmerica Internal Revenue Service]]. On the other hand, the Wildcats' rivals are all ''much'' worse than they are, offering their services to the highest bidder regardless of any moral compunctions. At least the Wildcats are uneasy with their choices!
* ''VideoGame/SupremeCommander'' falls squarely into this mindset-- the United Earth Federation, Cybran Nation, Aeon Illuminate, and Seraphim can and do make extremely good cases for why the other three are villains worthy only of annihilation. The Cybrans are the least-black of the factions, but it does boil down to what you view as the least evil: TheEmpire, LaResistance with a bad case of TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized and WeAreStrugglingTogether, a ChurchMilitant, or the local ScaryDogmaticAliens.
** Worth noting that the mindset is enforced by the fact that which faction holds the SanityBall changes between campaigns: if you play as the UEF, the Cybrans become a group of psychopathic terrorists hellbent on tearing down the semblence of stability that the UEF provides, while playing as the Cybrans shows the UEF as {{General Ripper}}s out to enslave and exterminate everyone who doesn't fit with their deeply supremacist vision for humanity, and Aeon players see the worst of both and their own; in fact even in the Aeon campaign ever Aeon commander who isn't the player is presented as an OmnicidalManiac.
* If you ever play ''VideoGame/TacticsOgre'' past the first chapter, then you'll see this trope in spades: everyone (including yourself, possibly) commits truly horrific atrocities, yet your home team still somehow ends up gray...
** The most clear-cut example in the game is from Chapter 2 Chaos when [[spoiler: Balbatos is executed. As his last words,]] he hurls the accusations against him (warmongering and the systematic purging/ exploitation of an ethnic minority) back at his former subjects, claiming that this was only accomplished because a great many of them shared his views. Sadly, the codex supports his claim. While he faced opposition, it was insufficient to derail his agenda.

* ''VideoGame/ThingThing'''s protagonist is a ruthless, somewhat sociopathic PhlebotinumRebel who happily mows down hundreds of hired mercenaries, expressing no discontent with his purpose as a SuperSoldier beyond anger that ''he'' had to be created as one. Contrastingly, the main antagonists are an amoral MegaCorp that specialise in creating {{Human Weapon}}s to be sold to the highest bidder, psychologically condition their projects into becoming obedient killing machines through drugs and {{brainwashing}}, and are [[WeHaveReserves willing to send countless mercenaries to die]] in an effort to recapture an escaped test subject living in seclusion to avoid them.
* ''VideoGame/TotalAnnihilation'' is a galaxy spanning war-game about two factions that have ultimately desecrated and destroyed all of the principals they once fought for over an obsessive determination to annihilate their enemy.
* In ''VideoGame/TriangleStrategy'', House Wolffort gets stuck between two opposing countries whose leaders are mostly corrupt, with Aesfrost starting the war and Hyzante being built on slave labor. However, in order to survive the conflict, Serenoa often has to choose which one to side with for the moment. Despite House Wolffort being full of mostly-good people, this often puts them in less-than-ideal situations, with the characters noting the difficulty of their choices. Even if you try to choose as many of the traditionally "moral" choices as possible, some questionable choices are unavoidable, and the three default endings are some level of [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet]].
* Very present in the German RPG-Maker Game ''VideoGame/VampiresDawn''. The fact that you're playing a vampire should already give you a hint. While it is perfectly possible to play a noble kind of vampire who doesn't feed on humans or does worse to them, the technical leader of the trio is not TheHero, but the TokenEvilTeammate, who revels in being a vampire. Therefore, you will still be doing some morally questionable things, like killing the nation's King or sucking up souls for extra strength. In the second game, our heroes are engaged in a three-way battle with the Elras Mages and the heroic, but flawed Warrior Clan, and slaughter both indiscriminately.
* In ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' the factions ranged from genocidal (Undead) all the way to willing to let everyone die out of sheer prickishness (Night Elves). ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' turns around and averts this with Tirion Fordring. Despite the questlines in Northrend which appear to be arguing that good people must sometimes do bad things, the only man who keeps his hands clean [[CurbStompBattle melts the face off the Lich King]] every time they meet.

* In typical RPG fashion, ''VideoGame/TheWitcher'' allows you to side with one of two warring factions in the Vezima area. One the one side you have a racist order of human knights who wage a genocidal war against elves and dwarves, and on the other side you have a racist terrorist group of elves and dwarves who wage a genocidal war against humans. Fortunately you can TakeAThirdOption, which means siding with neither faction and becomming an enemy of both. While all 3 options are gray to some degree (neutrality ends with a huge kill count on ''both'' sides), the main enemy, Salamandra, has no redeeming qualities.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' series vacillates between this and GreyAndGreyMorality depending on the game. All the game's major villains are {{yakuza}} ranging from unfettered scumbags to {{Noble Demon}}s, but the protagonists are only slightly better from a purely lawful perspective, including several other yakuza and a CorruptCop. Even the goody-two shoes AllLovingHero main protagonist Kazuma Kiryu is an on-again off-again yakuza himself.

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' takes place in a CrapsackWorld that's been ravaged by an EldritchAbomination for 10 straight years, and that's just the backstory. The present timeline has three distinct sides in the plot, and each character on the respective side have their own motivations and each one of them have pretty dirty laundry. Honestly, the morality in this series is all over the place.
** First of, are the Novus Orbis Librarium, (NOL for short,) the ruling government of the entire planet. They maintain order in the CrapsackWorld and keep it from getting even worse for the most part, but have extremely questionable methods in doing so and have no problem silencing anyone who opposes their rule. The heads of said organization are also the {{Big Bad}}s.

** The UN Peacekeepers, commanded by Commissioner Pravin Lal, uphold democracy, personal freedom and human rights, and cultural diversity, but are bureaucratic and inefficient, and also prone to ham-fisted stumbling into the internal affairs of other nations.

** The first portion of ''VideoGame/StarCraftI'' was Mengsk, then a rebel leader and not an emperor, leading an uprising against the Dominion's predecessor, the Terran Confederacy of Man. Mengsk [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilised made some pretty dark decisions]] as the campaign went on, but the Confederacy was so horrible that he was still the more sympathetic party -- especially since the Confederacy had his father, mother and little sister killed for his father's own revolutionary activities, and Mengsk had actually lived as a civilian prospector on his homeworld of Korhal until the Confederacy carpet-bombed it and ruined him. It's a little telling that the moment the game started treating him like a monster happened only when the Confederacy was well on its way out the door, and that the point where he became an antagonist was after they were gone entirely and the Terran Dominion was born.