History KnightOfCerebus / VideoGames

* In the ''VideoGame/{{Kirby}}'' series, [[spoiler:Galacta Knight is revealed to be this in ''[[KirbySuperStar Kirby Super Star Ultra]]''. He destroyed entire civilizations, as shown in flashbacks, and, according to Nova, whom Meta Knight made his wish to fight the greatest warrior in the galaxy to, was so dangerous that he was sealed away out of fear that his power was too great]].
** ''KirbyMassAttack'' brought us the ''deathly evil'' Necrodeus, who not only was terrifying in looks, but nearly killed Kirby at the beginning of the game by [[CurbStompBattle splitting him into ten defenseless smaller Kirbies before proceeding to actually murder nine out of the ten while one of them escaped by literally following his heart]]. And that was only the beginning; every time Kirby left one of the islands, however many Kirbies were revived were captured by his mooks until only one of them was left (until Skullord's defeat, of course). You can have this guy to thank for sealing this game in CerebusSyndrome, as this adventure seemed like a trip through Hell itself for the smaller, weaker ten Kirbies.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' was not necessarily all bubblegum and rainbows, but [[spoiler:Ryoji's [[TheReveal reveal]] as the Avatar of Nyx marked a dark turn in the game's story, along with the MoralDilemma to either kill Ryoji, thus erasing your memories of the apocalypse to come and allowing you and your friends to live in blissful ignorance until the end; or spare Ryoji, thus allowing him to fully become the Nyx Avatar, and possibly dooming yourself and your friends to a long, excruciating end.]]
** Even before the character above shows up, Shinjiro's arrival marks a huge, sinister change in the atmosphere, especially in the female route in P3P because his social link contains a lot of dark foreshadowing. Oh yeah, and he [[spoiler: dies after one month, sparking Akihiko and Ken's CharacterDevelopment and showing you, ''finally'', that a game with the tagline "Memento Mori" means exactly what it's saying, and ''will not pull its punches.'']]
* While ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' was more lighthearted, it still had this trope whenever character that appears to have some role in the murder mystery appears.

%%* While ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' was more lighthearted, it still had this trope whenever character that appears to have some role in the murder mystery appears.

* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'' has the [[HiveMind aparoids]]. In ''VideoGame/StarFox64'', the main villain was a standard megalomaniac, and so was the villain in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures''. The aparoids, however, intend to assimilate all life in the universe. [[spoiler: The aparoids destroy most of the Cornerian Fleet, and General Pepper is nearly assimilated by the aparoids, which almost forces Fox to kill him.]] And [[spoiler: Peppy nearly [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] so Fox and the others can get to the aparoid queen, and Wolf, Leon, and Panther narrowly avoid death as well.]] They also invaded Sauria/Dinosaur Planet from the previous game, and [[spoiler: killed many dinosaurs there including the [=ThornTails=] Fox worked so hard to protect before.]] The aparoids attacked Sauria just to keep Star Fox busy while they launched a full-scale invasion of Corneria, during which [[spoiler: they attacked and nearly assimilated General Pepper]].
** They make their entrance by [[KilledMidSentence blasting]] Oikonny, Andross's nephew who comes off as more AffablyEvil than anything else. Even the main cast is audibly shocked.

* ''VideoGame/StarFoxAssault'' has the aparoids. In ''VideoGame/StarFox64'', the main villain was a standard megalomaniac, and so was the villain in ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures''. The aparoids, however, intend to assimilate all life in the universe. [[spoiler: The aparoids destroy most of the Cornerian Fleet, and General Pepper is nearly assimilated by the aparoids, which almost forces Fox to kill him.]] And [[spoiler: Peppy nearly [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] so Fox and the others can get to the aparoid queen, and Wolf, Leon, and Panther narrowly avoid death as well.]] They also invaded Sauria/Dinosaur Planet from the previous game, and [[spoiler: killed many dinosaurs there including the [=ThornTails=] Fox worked so hard to protect before.]] The aparoids attacked Sauria just to keep Star Fox busy while they launched a full-scale invasion of Corneria, during which [[spoiler: they attacked and nearly assimilated General Pepper]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' was not necessarily all bubblegum and rainbows, but [[spoiler:Ryoji's [[TheReveal reveal]] as the Avatar of Nyx marked a dark turn in the game's story, along with the MoralDilemma to either kill Ryoji, thus erasing your memories of the apocalypse to come and allowing you and your friends to live in blissful ignorance until the end; or spare Ryoji, thus allowing him to fully become the Nyx Avatar, and possibly dooming yourself and your friends to a long, excruciating end...]]
** While its sequel ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'' was more lighthearted, it still had this trope whenever character that appears to have some role in the murder mystery appears.

* ''{{Persona 3}}'' was not necessarily all bubblegum and rainbows, but [[spoiler:Ryoji's [[TheReveal reveal]] as the Avatar of Nyx marked a dark turn in the game's story, along with the MoralDilemma to either kill Ryoji, thus erasing your memories of the apocalypse to come and allowing you and your friends to live in blissful ignorance until the end; or spare Ryoji, thus allowing him to fully become the Nyx Avatar, and possibly dooming yourself and your friends to a long, excruciating end...]]
** While its sequel ''{{Persona 4}}'' was more lighthearted, it still had this trope whenever character that appears to have some role in the murder mystery appears.

** ''ApolloJustice'': Like the above example, [[spoiler:[[TheChessmaster Kristoph Gavin]] is the villain of both the game's first and last case. And like the above, his murder in the first is nothing compared to what he did to Phoenix and the Misham family. For a game whose other two killers are a none-too-smart BitchInSheepsClothing and a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything goofy-haired rocker]], Kristoph's ruthlessness and intelligence is all the more threatening.]]

** Speaking of Shadow, Black Doom from ''Shadow the Hedgehog'' is a pretty dark villain as well, having his aliens invade the world and planning to kill all humans ([[spoiler:though he claims to only be trying to save them from a path of self-destruction]]). If Shadow chooses to help Black Doom in the Pure Dark path (and the player must view every ending in order to unlock the real ending) Black Doom has Shadow blow up a city with a bomb. Also, in the real ending of the game, Black Doom paralyzes Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, and Eggman and tries to feed them to carnivorous aliens.

* Reflux in ''VideoGame/Rayman3HoodlumHavoc'' could be argued as such, having probably the fewest humorous quirks in the game.

** [[WalkingSpoiler Purple Eyes]] from ''VideoGame/PokemonRanger Guardian Signs'' fits this trope to a T. [[spoiler: Let's see, before we even meet him in person for the first time, he's beaten Rand badly and kidnapped his wife and daughter, ouright attempts murder (which, mind you, has only been attempted by a few Pokémon villains such as a certain [[TheDragon Dragon]] from Shadows of Almia and the likes of the VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon villains) ranging from you and your friends, to the entire region, to ''the entire human population except himself'', he mugs the elderly Societea members (who deserved it, but still), laughs after making Mewtwo attack Edward and Rand, laugh once again at the thought of everyone in Oblivia being killed, as mentioned before, after being broken by questing at the Ranger Union, he turns into a MisanthropeSupreme, tries to convince ''ARCEUS'' to kill all humans except himself and let him rule under him. After a battle with Arceus, he deems it unsafe for ''him'' to be in the mortal plane and whisks him off to his world/dimension, to be judged. He's certainly unique as Pokémon villains go, and is pretty much Pokémon's answer to [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI Kefka]]. Not to mention how [[WildMassGuessing it looks how he might possibly be related to Sabios, the big bad from the past missions, and that he at least looks like he's 21...]] And there's no knowing what this guy has done before he became a member of the Pinchers.]] There's a ''reason'' this guy's entry is spoilertastic.

** And speak of the devil, [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Cyrus]] himself. Cyrus is an unusual example in that every following villain has seemingly been designed to top him, with the silliness removed. Whereas Team Rocket were OnlyInItForTheMoney, and Team Aqua/Magma were both WellIntentionedExtremist groups, Cyrus... is a WellIntentionedExtremist in that he is an OmnicidalManiac that seeks to remake the world so that it is without emotion or spirit. He's also implied to have a dark and horrible backstory (with some explicit reference to his parents being emotionally abusive at best), and, to date, [[spoiler:is the only main game antagonist to be a KarmaHoudini, with a horrifying SequelHook in that he is still in the Distortion World, working to unlock its secrets.]]

** Bloodtusk Ravine's story proves to be the darkest out of all the Chaos Lord areas so far, seeing how Xing & Xang's scheme for the ravine is darker than their previous schemes were, and not to mention [[spoiler:Krellenos also lands himself in this spot since he worked behind the scenes during the war between the Horcs and the Trolls and even murdered his own brother Antiphuus. Then Khasaanda kills and usurps her own twin brother, planning to use his powers to exact revenge on Drakath for what happened to her brothers themselves]].

* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' is a funny little game, filled with bright colors, clever humor, and quirky pre-teen kids as party members. The monsters never get scarier than giant rats or weird aliens or the like, and even then, the game never loses it's comedic and lighthearted energy. Oh, and did we mention that the main villian is an EldritchAbomination that is the [[VileVillainSaccharineShow literal embodiment of evil and lost innocence]] who's form [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm can't be comprehended by the human brain]]? Made even more jarring in that he doesn't even make an appearance until the final hour of the game.

** The [[VideoGame/TeamFortressClassic Classic Team]] also qualifies, seeing as they're more serious, competent, and organized than their modern counterparts. Much like Gray above, they don't approve of the antics played around them. [[spoiler: Modern Medic has done quite a bit to get on their nerves.]]

** The series tend to follow the general "kill some bandits that are anything but threatening and then BOOM the big bad shows up and stuff gets serious", but so far the one guy who managed to turn an entire game from a mostly lighthearted adventure to a dark rollercoaster of death is [[spoiler: Manfloy. His actions cause the death of various characters, including Sigurd and most of the 1st Generation playable units, contribute to the subjugation of most of Jugdral to his puppet Arvis' Grannvalian Empire, cause the evil dragon Loptous to posess Arvis' son and start child hunts, and a whole lot of other very unpleasant things for the continent. Not to mention his granddaughter despises him. The amount of crap this guy did to the mostly peaceful land of Jugdral and its happy map tunes is unprecedented and unchallenged in the series.]]
* ''[[StarFox Star Fox Assault]]'' has the aparoids. In ''Star Fox 64'', the main villain was a standard megalomaniac, and so was the villain in ''Star Fox Adventures'' (although the former killed Fox's father, and the latter is quite brutal and is described as a tyrant and dictator who controls the planet with fear). The aparoids, however, intend to assimilate all life in the universe. [[spoiler: The aparoids destroy most of the Cornerian Fleet, and General Pepper is nearly assimilated by the aparoids, which almost forces Fox to kill him.]] Not to mention [[spoiler: Peppy nearly [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself]] so Fox and the others can get to the aparoid queen, and Wolf, Leon, and Panther narrowly avoid death as well.]]
** Let's not forget they invaded Sauria/Dinosaur Planet from the previous game, and [[spoiler: killed many dinosaurs there including the [=ThornTails=] Fox worked so hard to protect before.]]
*** Not to mention that the aparoids didn't even ''need'' to attack Sauria: they just did it to keep Star Fox busy while they launched a full-scale invasion of Corneria, during which [[spoiler: they attacked and nearly assimilated General Pepper]].

** And speak of the devil, [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Cyrus]] himself. Whereas Team Rocket were OnlyInItForTheMoney, and Team Aqua/Magma were both WellIntentionedExtremist groups, Cyrus... is a WellIntentionedExtremist in that he is an OmnicidalManiac that seeks to remake the world so that it is without emotion or spirit. He's also implied to have a dark and horrible backstory (with some explicit reference to his parents being abusive), and, to date, [[spoiler:is the only main game antagonist to be a KarmaHoudini, with a horrifying SequelHook in that he is still in the Distortion World, working to unlock its secrets.]]

** The sequel has the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids]] in the vanilla campaign. Starting off, it's just tangling with the orks, which nobody considers a big deal. Then there's the revelation that a Tyranid Hive Fleet is approaching, which proves far more of a threat, and the efforts to stop it are far more desprate.

** ''Lego Batman 2'' has SelfDemonstrating/LexLuthor, who destroys the Batcave and nearly destroys Gotham city for petty reasons, and isn't PlayedForLaughs as much as the other villains, with most of his humour being TheComicallySerious stuff. ** In his brief screen time in his physical form in ''Lego Lord of the Rings'', Sauron is this, being presented as every bit the terrifying menace as in the scene in ''[[Film/LordOfTheRings Fellowship of the Ring]]''.

* The {{Lego Adaptation Game}}s are a barrel of laughs and fun to play, in ''Lego Star Wars'', the Emperor doesn't abide by this rule, he rarely has any funny scenes to show, minus one with [[spoiler: his alter ego]], he's more or less played seriously in comparison to the rest of the games. ''Lego Harry Potter'' has an odd aversion of this trope with Voldemort, who ends up more like an IneffectualSympatheticVillain (at least until Years 5-7 came out).
** ''Lego Batman 2'' has LexLuthor, who destroys the Batcave and nearly destroys Gotham city. In his brief screen time in his physical form in ''Lego Lord of the Rings'', Sauron is this, being presented as every bit the terrifying menace as in the scene in ''[[Film/LordOfTheRings Fellowship of the Ring]]''.

** Kurtis is nothing compared to Judge Nemo in the [[VideoGame/Disgaea4APromiseUnforgotten fourth game]], or [[spoiler: real]] Overlord Zenon in the [[VideoGame/Disgaea2CursedMemories second game]] in this regard.

* ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'', as per its series tradition, is normally gory, but things do start out looking good for the heroes despite Raiden's attempt to change the timeline. Then Shao Kahn becomes one by [[spoiler:killing Kung Lao right after his victory over Kintaro]], showing that Raiden's actions have started to have disastrous effects. The bad news, that's just a ''minor one''. The next time, [[spoiler:Sindel becomes empowered with Shang Tsung's souls... and brutally ''murders'' the majority of the good guys, effectively putting Raiden and the Forces of Good at a severe disadvantage.]]

** ''Justice for All'': Hello [[spoiler: [[BitchInSheepsClothing Matt Engarde.]]]] The ''Ace Attorney'' series will [[BunnyEarsLawyer forever]] [[WorldOfHam be comedic,]] [[WorldHalfFull and it seems to believe very much]] [[EarnYourHappyEnding in well-earned happy endings,]] but [[spoiler: Phoenix's first truly evil client]] gave it a definite darker twist that never really left.

** ''ApolloJustice'': Like the above example, [[spoiler:[[TheChessmaster Kristoph]] [[DisproportionateRetribution Gavin]] is the villain of both the game's first and last case. And like the above, his murder in the first is nothing compared to what he did to Phoenix and the Misham family. For a game whose other two killers are a none-too-smart BitchInSheepsClothing and a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything goofy-haired rocker]], Kristoph's ruthlessness and intelligence is all the more threatening.]]
** ''Investigations'': Super-serious and super-dangerous international criminal syndicate leader [[spoiler: [[MarathonBoss Quercus]] [[BigBad Alba]]]] who is responsible for just about all of the game's events. While perhaps not as villainous as the other entries, he still takes the cake for his stubborn, utter refusal to admit to his crimes.
** ''Investigations 2'' has [[spoiler: [[AbusiveParent Bansai]] [[AmoralAttorney Ichiyanagi]]]]. Unlike the killers of the game's previous three cases, he has absolutely no redeeming features whatsoever, his [[spoiler: AmoralAttorney]] streak rivals or even surpasses [[spoiler: von Karma]] (he [[spoiler: auctions off evidence from past cases]], for one) and he manages to drives Edgeworth into a HeroicBSOD so bad he ''[[spoiler: resigns as a prosecutor!]]'' And just when you think it can't possibly get any worse, he crosses the MoralEventHorizon ''right in front of everyone'' by [[spoiler: telling his own son, in the [[KickTheDog cruelest way possible]], that he would never have amounted to anything without his help.]] It's no wonder that he pretty much causes [[spoiler: until-then [[TheRival rival]] Hakari Mikagami]] to go: "Screw this, I'm doing a HeelFaceTurn."
*** What's most surprising is the final case's killer actually ''doesn't'' fit this trope. [[spoiler: In fact, he's a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds with a DarkAndTroubledPast so horrible you can't help but sympathise with him. Still, he can still be [[MonsterClown pretty]] [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy creepy.]]]]

** Despite the games being seemingly lighthearted, most villains in Kirby can qualify for this. Dark Matter, the Nightmare, Zero, Magolor's Soul, Landia... It's a bit of FridgeBrilliance, since he's from Dreamland, all the villains would be Nightmares.

** Sepulchure himself in the games made by ArtixEntertainment that he appears in fits this trope perfectly, seeing as how there's less humor when he's around. In contrast with many {{Harmless Villain}}s working for him, he [[TheDreaded invokes fear in others]] and kills off many people, including the ones in the Guardian Tower he crashed his fortress into, as a show of proving that he means business. Of course, his [[LackOfEmpathy lack of remorse]] in turning Fluffy into a Dracolich and causing death and destruction doesn't stop him from being an AntiVillain with standards who loves his daughter Gravelyn so much [[spoiler:that he becomes unwilling to kill her despite her being the Champion of Light he sought to destroy]], and is trying to bring back his lost love Lynaria.

* Gray Mann in VideoGame/TeamFortress2. In his very first appearance he [[spoiler:murders his brothers Redmond and Blutarch in cold blood and takes control of their companies]], plots to take over Mann Co., and dispatches an army of robots for that very task [[EnemyMine that the formerly RED/BLU-employed mercenaries must band together to repel]] for the sake of their jobs. Now, this kind of diabolical behavior is par for the course in [=TF2=], but what sets Gray apart is his dead seriousness compared to the other characters and the absolute lack of humor in his actions and schemes, in contrast to the [[LaughablyEvil kind]] [[BlackComedy of]] [[WorldOfHam stuff]] we usually see in the game and its side material. Even the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4cfo0f88Ug premiere video]] of Mann vs. Machine is noticeably darker and more solemn in reflection of just how much the new gray team is playing for keeps. Though he's not ''completely'' serious, considering his robots run on ''piles of money''.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' is another series that wasn't exactly light and happy from the beginning, but the series takes a dramatic turn for the darker on the planet Virmire. Things get bad from the beginning, but then Commander Shepard meets [[EldritchAbomination Sovereign]], whose appearance heralds the apocalyptic mood of the rest of the series. Arguably, the Collectors and by extension Harbinger then one-up Sovereign in the ''opening scene'' of the second game, destroying the Normandy and [[spoiler:killing Shepard.]] The heroes never even get a chance to fight back before getting utterly defeated.

* ''CommandAndConquer'' ''RedAlert2'' for the most part is LighterAndSofter sequel compared to its predecessor with most of the characters and plot being based around RuleOfFunny, and the threatening Soviet villains are comedic and bordering on harmless. The exception is with [[HyperCompetentSidekick Yuri]]. Departing from the usual [[LargeHam hamminess]] the series [[EvilIsHammy Command And Conquer villains usually bring]], his behavior is entirely restrained and he talks with [[EvilSoundsDeep deep]] low voice that coupled with his role involving PsychicPowers outright terrifies a large portion of the fanbase, and the number of moments with him that have any humor to them can be counted on one hand. Come the expansion pack ''Yuri's Revenge'', even with the campaigns maintaining the same humor as the original's, his is still humorless outside of his defeats in the endings and arguably even manages to surpass the franchise's BigBad Kane in his air of menace.

* Kurtis ''looked'' like one of these in the first ''VideoGame/{{Disgaea}}'' game; up until that point, Laharl's major enemies (UnknownRival Mid-Boss, LoveFreak Flonne, DirtyCoward Madeiras and LordErrorProne '''Captain Gordon, Defender of Earth!''') had been little more than comedic interludes, to which the cyborg proved to be remarkably strait-laced by comparison. [[spoiler:It turned out he was neither particularly evil nor particularly competent--the real Knight of Cerebus was his boss, General Carter. Who had, it later turns out, made a deal with Vulcanus (who was being manipulated by Seraph Lamington)!]]
** Kurtis is nothing compared to Judge Nemo in the fourth game, or [[spoiler: real]] Overlord Zenon in the second game in this regard.

** Xenolith in ''DisgaeaDimension2''. Even before [[spoiler: he's revealed as the BigBad]], there's nothing comedic about him, in a sharp contrast to the usual Disgaea humor.

* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'' is a funny little game, filled with bright colors, clever humor, and quirky pre-teen kids as party members. The monsters never get scarier than giant rats or weird aliens or the like, and even then, the game never loses it's comedic and lighthearted energy. Oh, and did we mention that the main villian is an EldritchAbomination that is the [[VileVillianSaccarineShow literal embodiment of evil and lost innocence]] who's form [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm can't be comprehended by the human brain]]? Made even more jarring in that he doesn't even make an appearance until the final hour of the game.

** ''VideoGame/LuigisMansionDarkMoon'' has put King Boo here.

* Reflux in ''{{Rayman}} 3'' could be argued as such, having probably the fewest humorous quirks in the game.

** [[spoiler:Lysandre]] from ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' is a FallenHero OmnicidalManiac determined to kill ''everyone'', people and Pokémon alike, who is not a part of Team Flare. Unlike [[VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl Cyrus]], he has no plans to make a new world; he just wants to wipe everything out. [[spoiler:And he nearly succeeds.]]

** Bowser himself actually became this in the games ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2''. Granted he's still humorously hammy as always, but at least he holds onto the fearsome BigBad role this time. He even started out this way in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' compared to AntiVillain Donkey Kong in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' and BadBoss Foreman Spike in ''VideoGame/WreckingCrew''.

** Bowser himself actually became this in the games ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2''. Granted he's still humorously hammy as always, but at least he holds onto the fearsome BigBad role this time.