History FromNobodyToNightmare / VideoGames

** According to the extended lore, the Prophet of Truth began as a low-ranked clerk in the Covenant bureaucracy dealing with neglectful superiors while sympathizing with the lower ranked member species of the Covenant such as the Unggoy. But by through his natural smarts and cunning, he managed to claw and conspire his way up the ladder until he eventually became the leading Hierarch of the Covenant and supreme leader of its mighty military force. And immediately after he began the Human-Covenant War which would last for 28 years and led to the death of 23 billions of humans and unknown number of billions of his own Covenant followers, destruction of countless worlds and the near total extermination of all life in the galaxy when he almost manages to activate all the Halo rings from the Ark, forcing NightmareFuel incarnate [[EldritchAbomination the Flood]] [[EnemyMine to ally with the Master Chief and the Arbiter]] to stop him from ending all life in his mad persuit for godhood.

* Everyone with a COMP in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'', provided they survive making a demon contract. Special mention goes to the MC who ends up facing off against several demon overlords bent on winning a battle royale to [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership become the ultimate ruler of all demons]] and which [[spoiler: he himself can win, doing so to become the next Demon King or Messiah.]] He even fights and defeats [[spoiler:Lucifer]] as a BonusBoss. In ''[[UpdatedRerelease Overclocked]]'', one of the [[PlayableEpilogue 8th Days]] ([[spoiler:Demon King Route]]) has you fight [[spoiler:Metatron]] as the FinalBoss, with the ending making it clear that the next enemy is [[spoiler:[[{{God}} the Big Man Himself!]]]]

** Lightning in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII:'' At the start of the game's story, Lightning is a sergeant in the regular army of the floating world Cocoon. After being corrupted by agents of the lower world Pulse, she becomes the leader of a RagtagBunchOfMisfits who singlehandedly topple the [[PhysicalGod Fal'cie]], and who slaughter their way through everyone and everything sent to stop them.

** From ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'', [[PhysicalGod the]] [[ChosenOne Demi-Fiend]]. OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent one moment. [[ImplacableMan Implacable]] [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu godslayer the next]]. If his [[BonusBoss appearance]] in ''VideoGame/DigitalDevilSaga'' is of any indication, he's powerful enough to trivially whack even ''other ''SMT'' protagonists at their full power'' into next week.

** There's also [[spoiler:Phillip]], a moderately experienced Grade 5 Fixer who works alongside his [[SenpaiKohai Seonbae]] Yuna and his mentor Salvador. However, in an expedition to the Library, [[spoiler:Yuna criticizing Phillip for being inept and her offhand mention of celebrating in Salvador's house was heavily implied to lead Phillip into delusionally beliving that Yuna was going to fornicate with Salvador and cheat with his wife and children. In reality, Yuna didn't think about any of these and you killed both her and Salvador, preventing his doubts to be soothed. Since then, Phillip falls into a [[TraumaCongaLine long road to sorrow]], eventually turning into a Distortion that killed people in a type of severity worse than the Pianist, said to be the most dangerous Distortion ever recorded.]] And the fun doesn't even end here: [[spoiler:it's implied that you and Carmen were ''deliberately'' messing with him just to get some authorities baited in and killed.]]

* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'': Porky Minch started off as Ness's neighbor - a [[PsychoSupporter devoted yet extremely obsessive]] [[SmallNameBigEgo egomaniac]], but too lazy and self-centered to do anything dangerous with it. Then he gets involved with [[EldritchAbomination Giygas]]. Once he gets his grubby little hands on some of Giygas's technology, he changes from a mere rotten brat to TheDragon to Giygas, or even part of a BigBadDuumvirate with him, ''OR'' even the downright BigBad, depending on your interpretation. He even gains an EldritchAbomination mech. Once that falls through and Giygas gets destroyed, he buggers off with the technology and disappears into time. [[spoiler:Come ''VideoGame/MOTHER3'', he's time-traveled so much that he's [[AGodAmI become immortal]], has raised an army, is perverting nature and [[OmnicidalManiac wants to destroy the world simply because]] ''[[VictoryIsBoring he's bored]]''.]]

* ''VideoGame/KirbySuperStar'': At first, Marx appears to just be another harmless, [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter cutesy]] resident of Dream Land, but in fact he [[spoiler:tricks the sun and moon into fighting, gets Kirby to summon Nova to stop the fight and then uses Nova's power to take over the galaxy.]] Then, in ''Kirby Super Star Ultra'', [[spoiler:he is resurrected from his former defeat in a demonic soul form by absorbing Nova's power]].

* ''Franchise/MetalGear'':

* Another heroic example is of course Samus Aran of the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' series. The SpacePirates first encountered her as a harmless girl, orphaned when they attacked her home colony. Years later some bloodwork, warrior training and a suit of PoweredArmor has turned that little girl into a OneWomanArmy with a grudge. She cuts through their soldiers with contemptuous ease, and turns the pirates' technology against them. She can effortlessly hack their data networks and bypass their security systems. She doesn't just wipe out bases, [[MikeNelsonDestroyerOfWorlds she leaves destroyed planets in her wake]]. She is [[TheDreaded the Hunter]], the one threat in all the galaxy the Pirates are flat-out terrified of, all because one of their raids over a decade ago left one survivor.

** Akira Nishikiyama starts off as a low-ranked yakuza in ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' and at the start of ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}''. By the end of the first game, Nishiki has become a powerful, ruthless patriarch who will stop at nothing to get to the top, even if it means betraying and murdering those closest to him.

** Akira Nishikiyama starts off as a low-ranked yakuza in ''VideoGame/Yakuza0'' and at the start of ''Yakuza 1''/''Kiwami''. By the end of the first game, Nishiki has become a powerful, ruthless patriarch who will stop at nothing to get to the top, even if it means betraying and murdering those closest to him.

** Once more in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor2'', where the protagonist and his friends start off as normal high school students taking their entrance exams and end up becoming humanity's last line of defense against an alien invasion, fighting off both demons and StarfishAliens. This culminates in the protagonist and his team facing off with [[spoiler:[[RealityWarper Polaris,]] the Administrator with jurisdiction over reality,]] and can end up [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu killing it off in two endings!]] And then [[UpdatedRerelease Record Breaker]] [[SerialEscalation ups the ante by having you fight]] [[spoiler:Canopus, the Will of the Universe itself]], the entity responsible for the existence of the original game's FinalBoss. What really sets this up is that the protagonist has the option to [[spoiler:become the next Administrator himself in one of the Triangulum endings.]]
* One of the earlier ones: ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'''s protagonist starts out as some random marine contracted to protect a research facility in Phobos. One portal screwup and [[DemonicInvaders opening of Hell]] later, he goes on to singlehandedly save the base, prevent humanity's extinction, and ''completely wreck {{Hell}} itself''. As revealed in ''VideoGame/Doom2016'' and ''VideoGame/DoomEternal'', he then goes on to become a walking boogieman to ''all'' of demonkind.

** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', Hawke starts out a penniless refugee forced to eke out a living in the slums of Kirkwall. By Act II, s/he is the head of a rich noble estate. By Act III, the Champion of Kirkwall. In one ending, [[spoiler:the new Viscount of Kirkwall]], in the other, [[spoiler:the banner of the mages' rebellion against the Chantry across all of Thedas]].
*** In ''Dragon Age II'', Samson is a largely inconsequential character, being a former Templar reduced to a junkie eking out an existence as a beggar that Hawke may or may not have the option to help. Come ''Inquisition'', he is the dangerous and powerful leader of the Red Templars, and one of two potential [[TheDragon Dragons]] to the game's main villain.
** In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', most of the backgrounds for the Inquisitor are otherwise unspectacular individuals such as a simple mercenary or a criminal thug who got caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. Said unlucky individual would go on to become someone who would not only save Thedas from a world-shattering threat but also dictate the politics of nations in their spare time.

** Also, from the Reapers' perspective, [[TheHero Shepard]] him/herself. Starts out as a farming kid/{{street urchin}}/spacer depending on the player's choice, and an ordinary soldier, but becomes the single greatest threat to the Reapers in over a billion years.

* In the ''VideoGame/AceCombat'' games, your characters always start as unknowns, but quickly become the reason for much OhCrap from the enemies.

* Everyone with a COMP in ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'', provided they survive making a demon contract. Special mention goes to the MC who ends up facing off against several demon overlords bent on winning a battle royale to [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority become the ultimate ruler of all demons]] and which [[spoiler: he himself can win, doing so to become the next Demon King or Messiah.]] He even fights and defeats [[spoiler:Lucifer]] as a BonusBoss. In ''[[UpdatedRerelease Overclocked]]'', one of the [[PlayableEpilogue 8th Days]] ([[spoiler:Demon King Route]]) has you fight [[spoiler:Metatron]] as the FinalBoss, with the ending making it clear that the next enemy is [[spoiler:[[{{God}} the Big Man Himself!]]]]

** There's also [[spoiler:Phillip]], a moderately experienced Grade 5 Fixer who works alongside his [[SenpaiKouhai Seonbae]] Yuna and his mentor Salvador. However, in an expedition to the Library, [[spoiler:Yuna criticizing Phillip for being inept and her offhand mention of celebrating in Salvador's house was heavily implied to lead Phillip into delusionally beliving that Yuna was going to fornicate with Salvador and cheat with his wife and children. In reality, Yuna didn't think about any of these and you killed both her and Salvador, preventing his doubts to be soothed. Since then, Phillip falls into a [[TraumaCongaLine long road to sorrow]], eventually turning into a Distortion that killed people in a type of severity worse than the Pianist, said to be the most dangerous Distortion ever recorded.]] And the fun doesn't even end here: [[spoiler:it's implied that you and Carmen were ''deliberately'' messing with him just to get some authorities baited in and killed.]]

** According to the extended lore, the Prophet of Truth began as a low-ranked clerk in the Covenant bureaucracy dealing with neglectful superiors while sympathizing with the lower ranked member species of the Covenant such as the Unggoy. But by through his natural smarts and cunning, he managed to claw and conspire his way up the ladder until he eventually became the leading Hierarch of the Covenant and supreme leader of its mighty military force. And immediately after he began the Human-Covenant War which would last for 28 years and lead to the death of 23 billions of humans and unknown number of billions of his own Covenant followers, destruction of countless worlds and the near total extermination of all life in the galaxy when he almost manages to activate all the Halo rings from the Ark, forcing NightmareFuel incarnate [[EldritchAbomination the Flood]] [[EnemyMine to ally with the Master Chief and the Arbiter]] to stop him from ending all life in his mad persuit for godhood.

* ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow'': Soma Cruz starts ''Aria'' and the duology as a whole as a simple ForeignExchangeStudent living a relatively normal life in Japan. [[spoiler:[[MultipleEndings Make the wrong choices]], and one (allegedly) [[TargetedToHurtTheHero dead girlfriend]] and subsequent FreakOut later, he'll end ''Dawn'' and the duology as the literal opposite to God and planning to commit genocide against all of humanity.]]

** [[SpicyLatina Catalina]] started out as a petty crook in ''San Andreas'' and served a brief stint as CJ's MrsRobinson before going onto become the head of the Colombian cartel and the BigBad of ''III''.

* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'': Porky Minch started off as Ness's neighbor - a [[PyschoSupporter devoted yet extremely obsessive]] [[SmallNameBigEgo egomaniac]], but too lazy and self-centered to do anything dangerous with it. Then he gets involved with [[EldritchAbomination Giygas]]. Once he gets his grubby little hands on some of Giygas's technology, he changes from a mere rotten brat to TheDragon to Giygas, or even part of a BigBadDuumvirate with him, ''OR'' even the downright BigBad, depending on your interpretation. He even gains an EldritchAbomination mech. Once that falls through and Giygas gets destroyed, he buggers off with the technology and disappears into time. [[spoiler:Come ''VideoGame/MOTHER3'', he's time-traveled so much that he's [[AGodAmI become immortal]], has raised an army, is perverting nature and [[OmnicidalManiac wants to destroy the world simply because]] ''[[VictoryIsBoring he's bored]]''.]]

** Elizabeth/[[spoiler:Anna [=DeWitt=]]] is another example, particularly in the [[spoiler: bad future sequence, where she takes over Columbia and uses it to destroy god only knows how many versions of human civilization]]. She started out as a harmless baby [[spoiler: who just so happened to lose her small finger in a dimensional rift and became a being with godlike powers]]. In the Burial At Sea DLC [[spoiler: this extends to being the instrumental cause of the Rapture civil war]].
* ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' and ''Videogame/BorderlandsThePreSequel'' reveals that Handsome Jack was formerly a low-level code monkey who happened to have [[spoiler:a [[TouchedByVorlons Siren]] as a daughter]]. While he was never truly heroic, the events of Elpis (particularly betrayal by [[spoiler:the Meriff]] and [[spoiler:Moxxi, Roland and Lilith]]) slowly but surely drove him insane and by the end of it all he became the narcissistic megalomaniac of the second game.
** In general, the entire cast of playable characters sans the Sirens are often normal individuals that either gain abilities thanks to technology or generally just badassery and end up becoming the very nightmare of any sane man on Pandora.
** All things considered, there is nothing particularly powerful about Mordecai, Axton, Athena, Brick, Gaige, Zane, Salvador, Roland, Nisha, or Moze. Heck, technically not so about [=FL4K=] (a library robot) or Claptrap (playable in TPS. None of them have magical powers, none of them gain some sort of magic, and none of them have unusual superhuman physique by default. Despite this, every one of them is, by the words of Dr. Nakayama, a "Walking Apocalypse" by pure skill and effort, slowly building up their strength or gaining technological augments that put them on par with the Sirens.
** Krieg is this to Hyperion. A normal schmoe that was heavily experimented on that broke loose. Thanks to their bizarre experiments, Krieg has practically magical biology that can completely mutate him into a walking abomination. Woe be Hyperion that cross paths with Krieg.

* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'': Porky Minch started off as Ness's neighbor - a [[PoisonousFriend devoted yet extremely obsessive]] [[SmallNameBigEgo egomaniac]], but too lazy and self-centered to do anything dangerous with it. Then he gets involved with [[EldritchAbomination Giygas]]. Once he gets his grubby little hands on some of Giygas's technology, he changes from a mere rotten brat to TheDragon to Giygas, or even part of a BigBadDuumvirate with him, ''OR'' even the downright BigBad, depending on your interpretation. He even gains an EldritchAbomination mech. Once that falls through and Giygas gets destroyed, he buggers off with the technology and disappears into time. [[spoiler:Come ''VideoGame/MOTHER3'', he's time-traveled so much that he's [[AGodAmI become immortal]], has raised an army, is perverting nature and [[OmnicidalManiac wants to destroy the world simply because]] ''[[VictoryIsBoring he's bored]]''.]]

* Utsuho Reiuji, the FinalBoss of ''VideoGame/TouhouChireidenSubterraneanAnimism'', was originally just a simple, stupid bird whose job was to operate the boilers of [[FantasticGhetto Former Hell]]. Then she ate a sun god, gained the power to [[ILoveNuclearPower control nuclear fusion]], [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity went mad with power]] and decided to TakeOverTheWorld and turn the surface into a blasted hellscape. The problem is that under her new megalomania and insane wish to burn everything, she was still the same dumb raven, and after she had gotten [[DefeatMeansFriendship some sense beaten into her]] she quickly dropped her plans. Turns out that [[TheDitz she hadn't considered]] the possibility that [[BlueAndOrangeMorality some people might prefer grass, trees and cooling breezes to lava wastelands and sulfur]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': The protagonist starts out as an innocent-looking child. On the [[KillEmAll Genocide route]], they begin to butcher everyone in sight, turning them into a physical incarnation of the desire for video game players to gain more power; everymen run away, heroes fight them and die.

* A general theme for the ''player character'' in the ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' games. [[VideoGame/Fallout1 Know-nothing k]][[VideoGame/Fallout3 ids in Vaults]], [[VideoGame/Fallout4 random schmucks from the Pre-War world]], [[VideoGame/Fallout2 dim tribesmen]], and [[VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas simple couriers]] - that's what they can all start out ''as''. But each and everyone of them can end up cranking a ''global nuclear apocalypse'' UpToEleven. Entire towns of innocents slaughtered. Mindless nuclear detonations and KillSat hellfires. Children, old men, diplomats, guards, all dying, enslaved or ''worse'' in their passage. [[EvilPaysBetter And it usually pays better than playing as a good guy.]] By the end of each game, even what are effectively ''world powers'' are either quaking in fear of the protagonist, or good as ''dead''.

* Psaro The Manslayer from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIV'', a pretty boy who builds up a hate for humans because cruel men want his elf girlfriend's ruby tears and hurt her for them, He gathers monsters to invade other towns in order to kill the legendary hero/heroine, but is simply rumored by regular people as a random cruel arena fighter. [[spoiler:When Psaro's girlfriend, Rose, is actually killed by humans, he goes mad and seeks a way to evolve into a monster]], and you have to fight him as a final boss.