History HarmlessVillain / VideoGames

* Pete, as characterized in ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'', is a bumbling oaf who never inflicts any lasting harm on either the characters or the worlds they fight to save, as opposed to Maleficent, who, in the first game, [[spoiler: turned the main character and his best friend against one another and led them all down the path that would separate them and the girl they were fighting over for several years]], and was likely responsible for the destruction of several worlds. This is also in contrast to his characterization as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in ''Disney/MickeysChristmasCarol', nearly two decades earlier, where he laughed diabolically as he unmasked himself and sent Scrooge falling into the fiery pits of hell.

* ''VideoGame/{{Okage}}: Shadow King'' has Evil King Stanley Hihat Trinidad XIV, or Stan, the SealedEvilInACan who's taken over your shadow. He really likes proclaiming how evil and mighty he is, but with one of his first displays of his terrible might being to rescue a cat stuck in a tree, he is not that good at it. Especially with how a bunch of Fake Evil Kings have stolen his power while he was sealed away.

* The VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas DLC ''Old World Blues'' has The Toaster, an OmnicidalManiac obsessed with burning the world. He is limited in his evil quest by being a talking toaster (and that alas, unbeknownst to him, [[AfterTheEnd the world has already burned]]. He gets very upset if you happen to point this out). About the worst he can do, should you not suffer an attack of stupid and [[TooDumbToLive stick your hand into his bread slot]], is ''threaten'' to set you on fire. He is a substantial danger to other toasters, though - provided you bring them to him.

* Pete, as characterized in ''KingdomHearts'', is a bumbling oaf who never inflicts any lasting harm on either the characters or the worlds they fight to save, as opposed to Maleficent, who, in the first game, [[spoiler: turned the main character and his best friend against one another and led them all down the path that would separate them and the girl they were fighting over for several years]], and was likely responsible for the destruction of several worlds. This is also in contrast to his characterization as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in ''Disney/MickeysChristmasCarol', nearly two decades earlier, where he laughed diabolically as he unmasked himself and sent Scrooge falling into the fiery pits of hell.

* Played for laughs in ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''. In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', you fight the very villainous and not-at-all harmless [[ReligionOfEvil Mythic Dawn daedric cult]], which almost manages to destroy the world. Then, a few centuries later, the PlayerCharacter in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' can meet a half-crazed ''fanboy'' of the Mythic Dawn who collects their old books and ceremonial garments, runs a Mythic Dawn Museum, and dreams of reviving the cult. He's serious about it but laughably incompetent and absolutely nobody takes him seriously [[spoiler: except Mehrunes Dagon, Lord of Destruction and former patron of the Mythic Dawn, who doesn't really like clueless wannabes exploiting the heritage of his most devoted and successful servants]].

* Pete, as characterized in ''KingdomHearts'', is a bumbling oaf who never inflicts any lasting harm on either the characters or the worlds they fight to save, as opposed to Maleficent, who, in the first game, [[spoiler: turned the main character and his best friend against one another and led them all down the path that would separate them and the girl they were fighting over for several years]], and was likely responsible for the destruction of several worlds. This is also in contrast to his characterization as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in ''MickeysChristmasCarol', nearly two decades earlier, where he laughed diabolically as he unmasked himself and sent Scrooge falling into the fiery pits of hell.

* [[spoiler:[[GoldfishPoopGang Mysterio]]]], the ''Spider-Man 2'' game version. Sure, he's got like a million robots and can successfully kill people from time to time, but ''man,'' what a friggin' ''loser.'' And he's got a glass jaw.

* ''Videogame/FallenLondon'': In just about any other setting, a series of highly like-minded AxCrazy {{Knife Nut}}s who like to hide in snowmen to ambush people and just generally love to slash throats and cut people up would be a very dangerous sort. In a setting where DeathIsCheap even to the poorest commoner (to the point some Londoners murder each other for fun), and SlashedThroat victims can get up minutes after he's left, Jack of Smiles, formerly known as JackTheRipper, isn't given anything even close to respect.

* [[spoiler:Wheatley]] in ''Videogame/{{Portal 2}}'', when [[spoiler:he becomes evil after being plugged into the mainframe of Aperture Science.]] He does pose a genuine and intentional threat...briefly, twice. The rest of the time he's dangerous not from menace but sheer idiocy, his complete incompetence [[spoiler:at controlling Aperture Science threatening to destroy the facility in a nuclear meltdown]]. It turns out he has a reason for being such an ineffective villain: [[spoiler: Aperture literally ''designed him to be stupid'' so that they could attach him to GLaDOS to keep her from becoming dangerous.]]

* Duc de Puce, a.k.a. "[[FailOSuckyName The Rat]]", from the ''VideoGame/{{Stronghold}}'' series. TooDumbToLive, GeneralFailure, MinionWithAnFInEvil, SmallNameBigEgo. He's more of [[{{Narm}} an entertainer]] than a real antagonist.

* ''Videogame/FallenLondon'': In just about any other setting, a series of highly like-minded AxCrazy {{Knife Nut}}s who like to hide in snowmen to ambush people and just generally love to slash throats and cut people up would be a very dangerous sort. In a setting where DeathIsCheap even to the poorest commoner, and SlashedThroat victims can get up minutes after he's left, Jack of Smiles, formerly known as JackTheRipper, isn't given anything even close to respect.

* In ''{{Starcraft}} II'', Donny Vermillion likes to fancy himself as the face of Emperor Mengsk's unstoppable propaganda machine. In truth, he's laughably incompetent at his job; the fact that his star reporter either isn't in on the plan or actually ''likes'' Raynor doesn't help. Supposedly, the media is a major weapon for Mengsk, so it's possible Raynor only watches Donny's show because the others are actually good at it.
* Duc de Puce, a.k.a. "[[FailOSuckyName The Rat]]", from the ''{{Stronghold}}'' series. TooDumbToLive, GeneralFailure, MinionWithAnFInEvil, SmallNameBigEgo. He's more of [[{{Narm}} an entertainer]] than a real antagonist.

* The Clockwork King in ''CityOfHeroes'' is probably the closest it gets to Harmless Villain. The worst he might do to normal civilians is send his minions to steal a watch and some scrap metal, or make a mechanic work on his robots. He hates heroes, but given that a hero smacked him around so hard that he turned into a brain in a jar, that's probably justified. Turned slightly to the [[HeelFaceTurn side of good]] with the Faultline revamp and his protection and assistance of some civilians, although the crazy kinda gets in the way of helping.

* ''{{Okage}}: Shadow King'' has Evil King Stanley Hihat Trinidad XIV, or Stan, the SealedEvilInACan who's taken over your shadow. He really likes proclaiming how evil and mighty he is, but with one of his first displays of his terrible might being to rescue a cat stuck in a tree, he is not that good at it. Especially with how a bunch of Fake Evil Kings have stolen his power while he was sealed away.

* Played for laughs in ''TheElderScrolls''. In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion Oblivion]]'', you fight the very villainous and not-at-all harmless [[ReligionOfEvil Mythic Dawn daedric cult]], which almost manages to destroy the world. Then, a few centuries later, the PlayerCharacter in ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' can meet a half-crazed ''fanboy'' of the Mythic Dawn who collects their old books and ceremonial garments, runs a Mythic Dawn Museum, and dreams of reviving the cult. He's serious about it but laughably incompetent and absolutely nobody takes him seriously [[spoiler: except Mehrunes Dagon, Lord of Destruction and former patron of the Mythic Dawn, who doesn't really like clueless wannabes exploiting the heritage of his most devoted and successful servants]].

* Pete, as characterized in ''KingdomHearts'', is a bumbling oaf who never inflicts any lasting harm on either the characters or the worlds they fight to save, as opposed to Maleficent, who, in the first game, [[spoiler: turned the main character and his best friend against one another and led them all down the path that would separate them and the girl they were fighting over for several years]], and was likely responsible for the destruction of several worlds. This is also in contrast to his characterization as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in "A Disney Christmas Carol", over a decade earlier, where he laughed diabolically as he unmasked himself and sent Scrooge falling into the fiery pits of hell.

* Pete, as characterized in ''KingdomHearts'', is a bumbling oaf who never inflicts any lasting harm on either the characters or the worlds they fight to save, as opposed to Maleficent, who, in the first game, [[spoiler: turned the main character and his best friend against one another and led them all down the path that would separate them and the girl they were fighting over for several years]], and was likely responsible for the destruction of several worlds. This is also in contrast to his characterization as the Ghost of Christmas Future in "A Disney Christmas Carol", over a decade earlier, where he laughed diabolically as he unmasked himself and sent Scrooge falling into the fiery pits of hell.

* The Clockwork King in ''CityOfHeroes'' is probably the closest it gets to Harmless Villain. The worst he might do to normal civilians is send his minions to steal a watch and some scrap metal, or make a mechanic work on his robots. He hates heroes, but given that a hero smacked him around so hard that he turned into a brain in a jar, that's probably justified. Turned slightly to the [[HeelFaceTurn side of good]] with the Faultline revamp and his protection and assistance of some civilians, although the crazy kinda gets in the way of helping, too.
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'': Mario's rival, [[VideoGame/WarioLand Wario]], in the ''Mario Sports'' games, as well as his partner Waluigi. They mostly just act like jerks while trying to ruin Mario's day. Wario was considerably more threatening--downright scary, even--in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'''s story mode, though still comical.

** The tougher Pete is more or less the original concept of Pete, who's often as tough as ever when battling Mickey, Goofy, and others in the comics (even today). He clearly thinks nothing of trying to kill our heroes with swords, guns, clubs, and other weapons, and often is only stopped by dumb luck.
*** Or by Mickey Mouse in rare Badass mode, who, while much smaller than Pete, is a fast and clever (if comedic) fighter.

* [[spoiler:Wheatley]] in ''Videogame/{{Portal 2}}'', when [[spoiler:he becomes evil after being plugged into the mainframe of Aperture Science.]] He does pose a genuine and intentional threat...briefly, twice. The rest of the time he's dangerous not from menace but sheer idiocy, his complete incompetence [[spoiler:at controlling Aperture Science threatening to destroy the facility in a nuclear meltdown]].
** Then again, he has a reason for being such an ineffective villain: [[spoiler: Aperture literally ''designed him to be stupid'' so that they could attach him to GLaDOS to keep her from becoming dangerous.]]

* The VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas DLC ''Old World Blues'' has The Toaster, an OmnicidalManiac obsessed with burning the world. He is limited in his evil quest by being a talking toaster (and that alas, unbeknownst to him, [[AfterTheEnd the world has already burned]]. He gets very upset if anyone informs him of this). About the worst he can do, should you not suffer an attack of stupid and [[TooDumbToLive stick your hand into his bread slot]], is ''threaten'' to set you on fire.
** He is a substantial danger to other toasters, though. Granted, you have to bring them to him first.

* Played for laugh in TheElderScrolls. In ''VideoGame/{{TheElderScrollsIVOblivion}}'', you fight the very villainous and not harmless [[ReligionOfEvil Mythic Dawn daedric cult]], which almost manages to destroy the world. Then, a few centuries later, the PlayerCharacter in ''VideoGame/{{TheElderScrollsVSkyrim}}'' can meet a half-crazy guy who is actually a ''fanboy'' of the Mythic Dawn, collects their old books and ceremonial garments, runs a Mythic Dawn Museum, and only dreams of reviving the cult. He is serious about it but he is laughably incompetent and absolutely nobody takes him seriously [[spoiler: except Mehrunes Dagon, Lord of Destruction and former patron of the Mythic Dawn, who doesn't really like clueless wannabees exploiting the heritage of his most devoted and successful servants]].

** Wario has even been made a fool of in a game where he's the star. In ''Wario Land II Shake It'' his longtime rival Captain Syrup helps him for most of it, [[spoiler:but in the end, she double-crosses him and robs him blind.]]

* ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'': Mario's rival, [[VideoGame/WarioLand Wario]], in the ''Mario Sports'' games, as well as his partner Waluigi. They mostly just act like jerks while trying to ruin Mario's day. Wario was considerably more threatening--downright scary, even--in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'''s story mode, though still comical.

* Bowser in ''SuperMarioBros'' sometimes falls into this trope, mainly in the {{RPG}}s and Party games. Even in the mainline games, he doesn't seem to be able to do anything other than [[DamselInDistress kidnap Peach]], though.
** His [[WesternAnimation/SuperMarioBros cartoon counterpart]], King Koopa, definitely does. He is regularly incapable of even capturing the princess, never mind taking care of Mario and his friends. The only times he is ever effective is when the plot demands it; the heroes [[IdiotPlot suddenly fall for traps and get defeated by things that they could've easily taken care of before]]. They always break out and foil Koopa's ridiculous plots in the end, though.
** So does Mario's rival, [[VideoGame/WarioLand Wario]], in the ''Mario Sports'' games, as well as his partner Waluigi. They mostly just act like jerks while trying to ruin Mario's day. Wario was considerably more threatening--downright scary, even--in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Brawl'''s story mode, though still comical.