History MisaimedFandom / VideoGames

* ''VideoGame/NeedyStreamerOverload'' The game's premise is centred around Ame-chan, a girl aiming to become a top streamer, experiencing struggles with mental health and repeatedly exhibiting unhealthy, toxic behaviours in her relationship with P-Chan. Several of the endings depict Ame lashing out or acting extremely unreasonable, and she continues to strive for the heights of internet fame even when it is clearly taking a toll on her mental health. Several of the game's fans, however, look at this unhealthy savior dynamic in her relationship with P-Chan and view it as something desirable, either idolizing Ame despite the game's clear portrayal of her self-destructive behaviours and unhealthy behaviours, or fetishizing her and [[ICanChangeMyBeloved believing they can "fix" Ame themselves]], [[spoiler: despite the final ending, Comment te dire adieu, showing that the only good future for her is one in which she takes responsibility for her mental health and admits that P-Chan is fake. The game also has the player repeatedly witness bad ending after bad ending in the lead-up to unlocking [[OmegaEnding Comment te dire adieu]], once again showing that if Ame-chan continues her toxic relationship with P-Chan and does not commit to self-improvement, then there is no good future for her. Despite this, many fans do not take the hint and continue fetishizing or idolizing Ame as a cute menhera girl]]."

*** There's quite a sizable amount of people that got turned away from the game for having an unlikable protagonist in Luke. The problem here is that [[IntendedAudienceReaction you're not supposed to like him]] at first. He's a brat, and the game spares no expense in letting you know it, and also showing how much he irks the other characters. Then comes the WhamEpisode -- [[spoiler:wherein it's revealed that he is ''actually'' [[YoungerThanTheyLook seven years old]] due to CloningBlues]]. After that? He goes through CharacterDevelopment at a turning point where almost nobody in the game has any sort of sympathy left for him and resolves to become a better person, losing every one of the traits that many players found bothersome. It's hard to know if a certain character is static or dynamic at first glance, so many players end up missing out on this, and even if you did know, you still have to put up with an intolerable character for some hours.

** Some quests are clearly meant to be evil but players view these actions as justified. Good examples include the quest "The Broken Front", all Royal Apothecary quests and "It Was The Orcs, Honest!" Honorable mention to "The War of Northwatch Aggression", named for the infamous alternative epithet that racist Southerners gave to the ''UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar''. Basically, if you get given a quest with a title like that you're supposed to ask yourself if you're the baddies (you are). Then again, there are obvious logical inconsistencies in the quests that indicate different heroes are technically doing them lorewise. In several instances you even run into NPCs doing the exact same quests you previously did (or in a few instances, you send out NPCs to do quests you previously completed). This does allow you to decide whether your character actually did those quests or not. Not that player characters necessarily have to be good people in order to still be the Heroes of Azeroth. After all, plenty of the lore heroes are also {{Jerkass}}es.

*** It gets even worse. [[spoiler:Towards the climax of the game, as tensions rise, there's one last, desperate attempt at a parely between leaders of Mages and Templars. Anders, a renegade Mage from your group, ''blows up the church'' in the city, killing the church leader, who was the main source of reason trying to calm both sides. This ensures that there's no going back and city erupts into open conflict. This even goes beyond the city, as other Mages rise up, seeing no other alternative. Despite all that, you can still find fans who think that Anders did the right thing and consider him a hero. A big part of this is that the church leader in question is infamously UnintentionallyUnsympathetic, and many players [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation see her less as trying to calm both sides and more as actively preventing any sort of resolution even as her direct subordinates are blatantly ignoring the church's own laws]].]]

*** Dorian is a popular target for mods to make him romancable by a female Inquisitor, blithely ignoring that his entire character arc is based around his sexuality, the suffering and alienation he went through because of it and how that shaped his personality.

And a good portion of people who don't entirely agree with the Empire or the Stormcloaks symphathize with the Forsworn instead, to the point of publicly expressing their disappointment that the game doesn't allow you to join them. [[note]]Technically, you can join the Forsworn by freeing Madanach, but only his tribe in Druadach Redoubt become friendly.[[/note]] Yes, it is true that the Forsworn are trying to take back their homeland from foreign oppressors. No, you are ''not'' supposed to think [[WouldBeRudeToSayGenocide the]] [[ImAHumanitarian things]] [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil they]] [[GenuineHumanHide do]] in response to said foreign oppressors are in any way correct or justified.

*** Those who dislike the game's voice acting will always point to [[SignatureScene a particular scene]] where Tidus is laughing obnoxiously, to the point where it's become [[MemeticMutation emblematic]] of the game's problems in general. However, in the scene itself, [[StylisticSuck it's clearly supposed to be]] [[BadBadActing in-character bad acting]], with the other characters finding it embarrassing and complaining about it ("maybe you [[AnnoyingLaugh shouldn't laugh any more]]"). The moment became so infamous that Creator/JamesArnoldTaylor, Tidus' English voice actor, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRWab0q9aw4 eventually had to make a YouTube video about to explain it in context.]]
*** Jecht is beloved by the fandom and seen as a manly character, to the point where many fans of him often criticize Tidus for being "whiny". There are some who also argue that while Jecht was flawed, the fact Tidus turned out okay means he wasn't ''that'' bad of a father. The game very clearly paints Jecht as a shitty father, and he later realizes how much of a mistake he was, as he wanted to invoke ToughLove but his flaws made him instead an abusive person. Several of his Spheres left behind show that over his journey with Braska, he sobers up and wants to make amends but the fact he can't return home to do so makes him feel even worse about it, and in the finale when he gets to see Tidus again, he accepts Tidus' anger towards him and owns up to his mistakes. The fact Tidus turned out as well as he did doesn't prove Jecht was a good father either; instead it was ''in spite of'' Jecht that Tidus grew up as a good person, as Jecht was gone for a good amount of his life. Despite this, many of Jecht's fans often ignore that and focus on how "cool" he is, which isn't helped by games like ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' making him out to be a badass and don't really show him having the same development as he did back in ''X''. (Again, the fact that several of the characters in ''Dissidia'' are missing at least some of their memories and thus subjected to some degree of {{Flanderization}} partially accounts for this. The arcade reboot/''NT'' depicts Jecht as he appears at the end of ''X'' and he has a much healthier relationship with his son whenever they do interact.)

*** There's a BrokenBase over whether or not healers should either stick to their role of healing or if they should heal and dish out damage while in battle. People who are for the latter love to point out the one scene in the Conjurer quest line where a young girl refuses to use other forms of conjury (namely attack spells like Stone and Areo) because she feels she's better off just healing rather than using other spells. While the Conjurer quests does encourage the player to learn how to use their offensive spells to aid others in battle, the context is lost on many people; the girl in the quests is told that she has to learn to accept the elementals' blessing in order to further her abilities as a conjurer because if she keeps trying to heal without said blessings, she would kill herself using her own life force to heal others (for [[GameplayAndStorySegregation gameplay purposes]], actual healers in the game cannot suffer this).

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'''s [[BigBad Ardyn]] is [[LoveToHate beloved]] by most Western fans for being a total MagnificentBastard with {{Troll}}ish tendencies who also has a [[TragicVillain backstory]] that makes him more than a monster and he is widely seen as much [[EvilIsCool cooler]] and overall a better character than the protagonists. Some take this to the point of recasting him as a HeroAntagonist who is justified in wanting revenge for [[spoiler:Somnus attempting to kill him, inadvertently killing his love Aera, and usurping the throne to become the founder of Lucis]]. Although what [[spoiler:Somnus]] did is cruel (and kicking his ass in Episode Ardyn is [[KickTheSonOfABitch very satisfying]]), it hardly justifies Ardyn [[spoiler:turning the entire planet into a DeathWorld to avenge himself on Somnus' distant descendant who has no idea about what his ancestor did, Ardyn was unfit to be king due to his corruption, even if Somnus' opposition to him was partially motivated by [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]], and Somnus does seem regretful at the end of Episode Ardyn]].

** Several fans take the MotiveRant that Ganondorf gives before the FinalBoss fight of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'' as proof that he started out as a WellIntentionedExtremist who wanted a better life for his people who lived as DesertBandits; many of these fans often lament how the franchise has seemingly thrown away this plot point for Ganon being portrayed as a shallow "embodiment of hatred" following ''The Wind Waker''. In actuality, while the MotiveRant itself is very much up to [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation alternative interpretation]], Ganondorf says nothing about wanting to conquer Hyrule for the sake of the Gerudo. The closing quote to the rant goes, "I coveted that wind, I suppose", indicating that Ganon wanted the prosperity of Hyrule for himself rather than his people. Indeed, ''Ocarina of Time'' shows that Ganon made no effort to improve the Gerudo's standing in Hyrule, as they are still consigned to the desert and many of the Gerudo have little loyalty to their king.

** Cerberus is on the dark side of [[BlackAndGrayMorality morally gray]]. They're essentially a well-funded KnightTemplar terrorist organization out to ensure that humanity dominates the galaxy -- often resorting to cruel biological experiments on unwilling human test subjects. In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', they bring the protagonist BackFromTheDead and provide Shepard with a CoolStarship to investigate the abduction of human colonists while the established Alliance and Citadel governments do little to nothing to assist. It's made perfectly clear that Cerberus is using you to further their own agenda, and their past atrocities do not go unmentioned. While the franchise is full of moral ambiguity, what with Shepard spending a ''lot'' of time dealing with crime lords, terrorists, mercenaries and {{space pirate}}s -- several of whom even become your party members -- when they're not dealing with [[ObstructiveBureaucrat bureaucratic inertia]] and [[HeadInTheSandManagement unhelpful politicians]], and it's certainly true that the galaxy would have been royally screwed if they hadn't brought Shepard back when they did, many fans completely forget Cerberus' deplorable actions and instead find themselves wondering what everyone has against Cerberus. And as with ''Film/{{Avatar}}'''s Col. Quaritch, some people go as far as to seem to actually ''agree'' with the "secure-human-dominance-at-any-cost" mindset.\\\

** At least part of the problem is that most of Cerberus' on-screen villainy before the third game comes from side missions in the first game that you have to go somewhat out of your way to even ''find'', much less complete, and from the tie-in novels. The first game [[SequelDisplacement was also much less successful than the second]].

** In Kasumi's loyalty mission, a gold statue of Saren is actually seen as a desirable gift amongst the idle rich. It ''is'' a party for crime lords and war profiteers -- exactly the sort of people who'd have no problem with Saren's worser instincts. Shepard for their part is clearly not pleased by the sight of it.

** Komi's [[SovietSuperscience Ultravisionary Socialists]] are repeatedly described as an insane cult masquerading as a legitimate science-focused technocracy, hiding massive human rights abuses behind a facade of beautiful futuristic aesthetics and rhetoric about human scientific progress and space travel, wretched at actually governing a nation, and even in Kardachev's reformist path there's a decade of mismanagement and authoritarianism to dismantle, if he even can. But they have many unironic fans who want to believe there're good ideas worth salvaging in there, usually admittedly because they're fans of the beautiful futuristic aesthetics and rhetoric about human scientific progress and space travel. They're stereotypically compared to "{{tech bro}}s," Elon Musk fans, and the similar misaimed fandom surrounding ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty''.

* ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' gives us the infamous Pyramid Head and the Bubblehead nurses. Pyramid Head is the physical manifestation of James' guilt and repressed sexual desire, as evidenced by his male physique in contrast to the other monsters. Pyramid Head terrorizes both James and the other monsters, the latter through sexualized violence. The Bubblehead nurses also represent James' sexual frustration by being both "attractive" yet very repulsive. These two monsters are often taken out of the context of the game where fans legitimately find them attractive and often make a joke of Pyramid Head's raping habits, never mind rape is ''not'' a topic to joke about.

** Some people criticize the games for being "cliché" and play a lot of the tropes absolutely straight. While the ClicheStorm criticism may not be too far from the truth of a few games, part of the reason that the games have a fanbase is that even from the start, the ''Tales'' series has been known as a DeconstructorFleet -- starting almost every game as an absolute ClicheStorm, and then starting to turn around deconstructing all the cliches that they just played straight.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'' mini-quest "Chimera Prologue" left an alarming number of players believing two things: [[spoiler:that Ballas was right about Lotus manipulating the Tenno into leaving the Solar System vulnerable to the Sentient invasion, and that Ballas himself may not be such a bad person after all -- he gave [[PlayerCharacter the Operator]] a blueprint for a shiny [[WeaponOfXSlaying Sentient-slayer]]!]] So strong were these convictions that when the New War came and contradicted them [[spoiler:by showing Ballas not only spearheading that Sentient invasion, but also using that Sentient-slayer to cruelly stop the Operator from rescuing Lotus]], those players' reactions were less of a shock [[spoiler:about being another victim of Ballas' deception]] and more of an accusation of writers at Digital Extremes having no idea what they've written previously.

*** Jecht is beloved by the fandom and seen as a RatedMForManly character, to the point where many fans of him often criticize Tidus for being "whiny". There are some who also argue that while Jecht was flawed, the fact Tidus turned out okay means he wasn't ''that'' bad of a father. The game very clearly paints Jecht as a shitty father, and he later realizes how much of a mistake he was, as he wanted to invoke ToughLove but his flaws made him instead an abusive person. Several of his Spheres left behind show that over his journey with Braska, he sobers up and wants to make amends but the fact he can't return home to do so makes him feel even worse about it, and in the finale when he gets to see Tidus again, he accepts Tidus' anger towards him and owns up to his mistakes. The fact Tidus turned out as well as he did doesn't prove Jecht was a good father either; instead it was ''in spite of'' Jecht that Tidus grew up as a good person, as Jecht was gone for a good amount of his life. Despite this, many of Jecht's fans often ignore that and focus on how "cool" he is, which isn't helped by games like ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' making him out to be a badass and don't really show him having the same development as he did back in ''X''. (Again, the fact that several of the characters in ''Dissidia'' are missing at least some of their memories and thus subjected to some degree of {{Flanderization}} partially accounts for this. The arcade reboot/''NT'' depicts Jecht as he appears at the end of ''X'' and he has a much healthier relationship with his son whenever they do interact.)

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'': There's a large number of players who see [[AntiHero Velvet]] as an unstoppable and edgy protagonist along the same lines as [[Manga/{{Berserk}} Guts]]. While Velvet ''is'' these things, like Guts, you aren't supposed to see her a RatedMForManly AntiHero, she's really a young woman broken by how much she's lost and is so fueled by hate that she is on her way to becoming both a monster, and the thing that took her loved ones away from her. Later in the game, she breaks down into tears about how much [[IJustWantToBeNormal she just wants to be normal]] and misses her family. Despite this, she's commonly depicted by the community as essentially Female Guts.

** From ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' onward, some have interpreted Eggman's admiration for his late grandfather Gerald as the core reason why he decided to TakeOverTheWorld -- the idea being that Eggman wants to avenge Gerald's legacy and retaliate towards humanity for betraying and executing him despite how much Gerald did for them, and him [[BrokenPedestal losing respect for his grandfather]] once learning that [[spoiler:he posthumously attempted to ''destroy'' the world after going insane]] has also led some to even believe that [[DracoInLeatherPants he truly has some good in his evil heart deep down.]] However, the game also has him mostly be interested in his grandfather's ''work'' and the potential to use it for ''his'' own purposes, has him repeatedly preach about how ''he's'' going to start a legacy of being the world's greatest mind and ruler of all time without any reference to Gerald, typically references Gerald as his grandfather whenever it feeds ''his'' ego, and it's most likely that his admiration for Gerald is exclusively regarding his prowess ''as a fellow genius scientist'' as opposed to anything humanitarian or familial (as Eggman would probably be aware that a Gerald of sound mind would ''not'' approve of what he does to further his goals), with his own [[EvilVersusOblivion pragmatism or logic]] likely being why he lost respect for his grandfather. For most of [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog the franchise's]] history before ''and'' after this game, it's all but stated that his main reason for wanting to rule the world [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans no matter what happens to it]] is to [[ItsAllAboutMe continue to feed his ego]] and [[InTheirOwnImage improve it in whatever way he sees fit]].

** Some tend to claim the franchise was created to appeal to the Western market first and foremost, in part due to how Sonic's original design featured many American influences like Music/MichaelJackson or (implicitly) WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat, and in part due to how the series has historically been [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff far more successful in the West compared to Japan]]. Despite this sentiment, the franchise was always made with the intent to appeal to ''both'' Western and Japanese audiences, and [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1991 the original game's]] level designer Hirokazu Yasuhara has said outright in interviews (such as those in UDON's ''The History of Sonic the Hedgehog'' book) that he wanted to find a balance between how Western players desired more hardcore game experiences while Japanese players desired more casual ones (which is part of why Green Hill Zone alone went through so many iterations). The series has famously also taken inspiration from Eastern works since its early days, such as from ''Franchise/DragonBall'' or Creator/StudioGhibli films like ''Anime/CastleInTheSky''.

** Some tend to claim the franchise was created to appeal to the Western market first and foremost, in part due to how Sonic's original design featured many American influences like Music/MichaelJackson or (implicitly) WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat, and in part due to how the series has historically been [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff far more successful in the West compared to Japan]]. Despite this sentiment, the franchise was always made with the intent to appeal to ''both'' Western and Japanese audiences, and [[VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1991 the original game's]] level designer Hirokazu Yasuhara has said outright in interviews (such as those in UDON's ''The History of Sonic the Hedgehog'' book) that he wanted to find a balance between how Western players desired more hardcore game experiences while Japanese players desired more casual ones (which is part of why Green Hill Zone alone went through so many iterations). The series has notably also taken inspiration from popular Eastern works such as ''Franchise/DragonBall'' or Creator/StudioGhibli films like ''Anime/CastleInTheSky'' since its early days.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'''s [[BigBad Ardyn]] is [[LoveToHate beloved]] by most Western fans for being a total MagnificentBastard with {{Troll}}ish tendencies who also has a [[TragicVillain backstory]] that makes him more than a CompleteMonster, and he is widely seen as much [[EvilIsCool cooler]] and overall a better character than the protagonists. Some take this to the point of recasting him as a HeroAntagonist who is justified in wanting revenge for [[spoiler:Somnus attempting to kill him, inadvertently killing his love Aera, and usurping the throne to become the founder of Lucis]]. Although what [[spoiler:Somnus]] did is cruel (and kicking his ass in Episode Ardyn is [[KickTheSonOfABitch very satisfying]]), it hardly justifies Ardyn [[spoiler:turning the entire planet into a DeathWorld to avenge himself on Somnus' distant descendant who has no idea about what his ancestor did, Ardyn was unfit to be king due to his corruption, even if Somnus' opposition to him was partially motivated by [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]], and Somnus does seem regretful at the end of Episode Ardyn]].

* In ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII'', villain Raul Menendez has more than his fair share of fans. In-game, he's billed as the "hero of the 99%", and has inspired millions to follow his ideals. His exploits throughout the game have made part of the fanbase believe Menendez is a cross between CrazyIsCool and a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, having been a victim of a capitalist scam at just a child. Yet, he's still responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent people prior to the events of the game (including significant characters from the prequel), ruining the life of another child, and is more than willing to destroy the United States just to avenge the deaths of two people. Menendez is engaging in DisproportionateRetribution at its finest, and yet there are some people who consider him a hero.
* Chihiro Fujisaki of ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' is a [[spoiler:boy]] who was relentlessly bullied for [[spoiler:his physical weakness and feminine appearance]] and resorted to [[spoiler:crossdressing]] and pretending to be a [[spoiler:girl]] in order to escape it. Chihiro hates it, and Chihiro's sole motivation in life is to be strong so to be able to go back to [[spoiler:living as a boy]] without getting bullied again. In the bonus School Mode, Chihiro says outright that [[spoiler:he's a guy]]. However, a subset of fans insist [[spoiler:he's actually a trans girl]] and will jump down the throat of anyone who [[spoiler:"misgenders" him]] by [[spoiler:calling him a boy]]; the exact opposite of what Chihiro would want.
* Any discussion regarding [[AllThereInTheManual the lore]] of ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' tends to run into this on account of how vague and purposely unclear much of the story can be. A number of people will say, for sure, what happens based on item descriptions and placement, even when the games leave it unclear. As a result, many people take these details as 100% fact, when in truth the game was designed to leave things up to the viewers' interpretation.

*** Lucien Lachance is a psychopathic killer who takes unabashed glee in murdering others, but one look at him and most fangirls bring out the [[DracoInLeatherPants leather pants]]. Partially justified in what you need to do in order to even meet him: joining the Dark Brotherhood. A clan of assassins catered by both the [[GodOfEvil God of]] [[PowerOfTheVoid the Void]], Sithis, and his most loyal subject, an ancient woman who sacrificed her six newborn sons for the glory of said god, and who relays their lord's will through her mummified corpse for only a few select ears to listen. Adhering to such a guild would assume that the player has an special mindset about killing, revenge (the main reason people contract their services), and about being a sword of vindication... But seeing how the fandom only harped about how the gear, perks and other rewards, it seems that the Developers accidentally sabotaged their own message.

** The series as a whole can be a bit of this, with some fans ignoring that the series satirizes American Exceptionalism and American hypercaptialism and anti-communism during the Cold War that led to the in-universe apocalypse in favor of the googie, atomic-age aesthetics associated with America during that period.

*** After the release of the game, the Enclave went from being the most generally hated faction in the wasteland, as they were in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'', to having a ''huge'' fandom, who [[RootingForTheEmpire consider them the best bet to lead the Capital Wasteland out of the darkness]]. This is partially explainable by the fact that ''Fallout 3'' doesn't directly reference their origins as the insane and inbred descendants of the corrupt military and governmental elites who caused the great war, and tones down their genocidal inclinations from "standard operating procedure" to "providence of the somewhat crazed AI that's supposedly running the show". But, even then, the Enclave are still a bunch of brutal would-be tyrants and warlords who want to rule everything with an iron fist. It's just that the portrayal of the Capital Wasteland as, well, a wasteland full of raiders and super mutants makes some fans argue that their dominance would be a step ''up'' - [[SarcasmMode a wasteland full of raiders in power armor is much more welcoming, after all.]]
*** The Brotherhood of Steel. Introduced as an isolationist band of arrogant xenophobes who used theoretically noble claims of "protecting humanity from the abusive potential of technology" as an excuse to bully and steal all the tech they could in [[VideoGame/{{Fallout 1}} the first game]], a policy that had backfired on them by the second game. The third game introduced the Capital Wasteland Chapter, a branch of the Brotherhood that had explicitly broken away from the traditions and goals of their East Coast counterparts in order to serve as a power for good in the Capital Wasteland. They were so hugely popular that, despite the in-game characters explicitly saying they're a splinter-sect and not at all acting like the Brotherhood "should", newcomer fans were infuriated when the subsequent games showed more traditionalist sects, claiming that the New Vegas Chapter -- and especially the "restructured" Brotherhood from ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'' -- were completely antithetical to what the Brotherhood "should" be like.
*** There is a not-small part of the Fallout fandom that finds Liberty Prime and his cartoonishly anti-communist, jingoistic slogans deeply hilarious. On one hand, they're so far out there that they are funny on some level. On the other hand, some unironically quote him in support of US foreign policy (among other things).
** ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'':

*** The relative emptiness of the eastern side of the Mojave Wasteland is unintentional. WordOfGod has suggested that the Legion was supposed to be slightly more sympathetic and the player was supposed to see examples of the good side of the Legion way of life, but given the dev team's OhCrap moment when they realized how quickly the production deadline was approaching, this was cut for time (and would have been more or less impossible to pull off anyway).
*** For some reason, a certain quote of Joshua Graham's ("I survived because the fire inside burned brighter than the fire around me.") has taken on a life of its own, with it being reposted on many inspirational blog sites, ''even quoting Graham as the creator of the quote.'' Graham's writer (and New Vegas Lead Designer) JE Sawyer actually [[https://www.instagram.com/p/BLy1vjJAyZs/ stumbled across the quote written on a trail in his home state of Wisconsin]] and [[https://www.reddit.com/r/fnv/comments/58orm1/je_sawyer_posted_this_on_his_instagram_yesterday/d92wfjy/?st=iuqlydhf&sh=9cb90ffd some people]] have reported teachers using it in English class as an inspirational quote. Even then, if you take the quote as inspirational (it can be interpreted as such), the lack of context ruins the inspiration Graham puts behind the words. Out of context, the outer fire is commonly interpreted as stress or general adversity, and internal fire is just inner strength. In context, Graham says the fire inside was the [[ThePowerOfLove his love for his people and for God, and their love for him]], while the external fire is a [[LiteralMetaphor literal fire]], having been immolated and tossed into the Grand Canyon for [[YouHaveFailedMe failing to defeat]] the NCR at Hoover Dam. It is however a popular quote among Firefighters, especially Forest Firefighters, which despite not knowing the source, are much more in line with original meaning.

*** Sephiroth is a megalomaniacal monster who spends most of the game on a murderous killing spree (including [[ItWasHisSled famously]] and [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice brutally]] [[PlotlineDeath slaying a beloved main character]]), pausing only to mock and psychologically manipulate Cloud. Because he does it with such style and is such a badass PrettyBoy, fans have turned him into a DracoInLeatherPants. In the original game, Sephiroth was fairly a decent person (if aloof and a bit cold) during the Nibelheim flashback, which was set before he goes insane. This portrayal was retained in prequels, which just adds fuel to the MisaimedFandom.

*** Certain fans have latched onto AVALANCHE as being similar to a certain notorious real-life group recently as AVALANCHE is opposed to Shinra, the government of Midgar. The fact though is that AVALANCHE is portrayed as no better than Shinra as their actions led to several people being killed. Cloud only helped AVALANCHE because he was a mercenary at the time and was simply getting paid by them. And Barret's supposed goal of saving the planet was only an excuse for his real reason of opposing Shinra which was revenge for the death of his wife. Other party members like Cait Sith, Yuffie, and Cid call out Barret and AVALANCHE for their actions and hypocrisy.
** Fans who complain about the Squall and Rinoa romance of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', saying that he should have got with [[TeacherStudentRomance Quistis]] when she offered the opportunity simply because she's MsFanservice. Quistis's advances towards Squall were based entirely on her hopes of obtaining emotional support from a guy who's even more messed up than she is. As Squall points out, [[TeacherStudentRomance she's his teacher]], and it would be grossly unprofessional and unethical of her to romantically pursue him. It's later implied that their relationship would be akin to BrotherSisterIncest. Technically, [[LikeBrotherAndSister they aren't]], so this hasn't stopped some fans from pairing them.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'':
*** Those who dislike the game's voice acting will always point to [[SignatureScene a particular scene]] where Tidus is laughing obnoxiously, to the point where it's become [[MemeticMutation emblematic]] of the game's problems in general. There exists a GameMod which replaces all of Tidus's dialogue with the laughing, and the music with autotuned Tidus laughs. However, in the scene itself, [[StylisticSuck it's clearly supposed to be]] [[BadBadActing in-character bad acting]], with the other characters finding it embarrassing and complaining about it ("maybe you [[AnnoyingLaugh shouldn't laugh any more]]"). The moment became so infamous that Creator/JamesArnoldTaylor, Tidus' English voice actor, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRWab0q9aw4 eventually had to make a YouTube video about to explain it in context.]]

*** The Ascians themselves have their own fans. They were always depicted as the GreaterScopeVillain, and ''Shadowbringers'' explains that they weren't just a group of [[GenericDoomsdayVillain Generic Doomsday Villains]] so much as [[spoiler: the actual Precursors - who are trying to bring back their civilisation by rejoining the shattered shards of the world to each other]]. Unfortunately, this causes some people to actually view them as being in the right, even though this caused (And will continue to cause) the deaths of ''billions of people''. Having a rather [[EvilIsSexy attractive]] character whose English voice actor has just enough HamAndCheese explain these points really does help people look past the multiple instances where the characters point out FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse or the Memetic speech of "I do not consider you to be truly alive, ergo [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything I would not be guilty of murder if I kill you]]".

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' is huge with this trope due to Marche's actions and motivations in the game. To put it simply, many fans agree to view him as an AntiVillain. The main cast of kids are transported to a fantasy world where their desires and wishes come true (Ritz's hair is naturally red; Donned, Marche's brother, can walk again; and Mewt gets rule over the country as a royal prince who's now revived mother gives him anything he wants). Marche himself does have some fun in the fantasy world, but he knows that living in such a world only makes people run away from their problems rather than dealing with it and he doesn't need anything from the fantasy world to begin with. As Marche tries to find a way to get home, his friends turn against him; Mewt throws a temper tantrum over Marche's progress and demands more laws be made to stop him, even though this would make the citizens more upset, and he eventually puts a bounty om Marche's head. Ritz doesn't support Marche 100% and she eventually fights him simply because she doesn't want to go back home and deal with her natural white hair. Donned doesn't want to go back since it would mean not being able to walk again, which would give him a reasonable excuse, but he also hires clans to stop and possibly kill his own brother. It isn't until Marche finally gets through to them that they all realized what they had done and try to appreciate the things they did have back home that they glossed over. While [[AntiEscapismAesop the main idea behind the plot]] is somewhat questionable and the execution of the story being a bit too {{Anvilicious}} for most, that is most likely the reason why ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' has a hero who is perfectly happy to have adventures and whose return home actually ''requires'' him to.\\\

*** The game has two realms with very different sets of morals and very different world-buildings associated to them. Both are supposed to be seen as possessing pros and flaws which are incarnated in their Royal Families: despite their differences they all love the Avatar, [[ChildOfTwoWorlds who belongs to both groups]], with all their hearts and will '''not''' react well to him or her choosing one over another [[spoiler:(or, in ''Revelation'', '''not''' choosing a side)]]. However, the fans have decided to latch on one Royal Family/Kingdom [[RonTheDeathEater and bash the fuck out of the other]], portraying their chosen "family" as poor dumb innocents whose flaws must be ignored or swept away to fetishize their suffering, while the other one is downgraded to Evil Incarnate and has its pros handwaved. The most rabid Nohr fans creepily reduce the genuinely tragic Nohrian Royal Family into helpless and fetishized victims who should never be called out for their own mistakes, while at the same time whining about the "horrible and privileged" Hoshidan Royal Family and deliberately ignoring how their supports [[spoiler:and Takumi's fate in ''Conquest'']] show that they're more dysfunctional than they seem; the most rabid Hoshido fans paint Nohrians as nothing more than [[CardCarryingVillain Card-Carrying Villains]] blindly following an Avatar who is little more than a deluded fool so they can have some sort of petty revenge at these privileged Hoshidans (at worst) or as complete idiots who also blindly follow an Avatar who is little more than a deluded fool so they can appease King Garon (at best).

*** There are parts of the fandom that insist the Church of Seiros is homophobic, for no other reason than its vague inspiration to the Catholic Church, which is through the eyes of a [[ValuesDissonance Japanese game developer]]. Not only is there nothing to suggest this in-universe, the ''archbishop'' [[spoiler:and ''founder'' of the church itself]] is a [[GayOption Bi Option]]. Compounding it further, Mercedes, one of the most devout characters in the game is also a Bi Option. Marianne comes at a close second when it comes to piety, and though she's not a bi option, she ''does'' have a bit of [[ShipTease subtext]] with her friend Hilda. Even [[TheTease Yuri]] is shown to have some faith and he's flirting with a [[PlayerCharacter Byleth]] of either gender right out of the gate. The [[spoiler:''Goddess herself'']] is a Bi Option. In each of these cases the issues of two women or two men getting together in a romantic relationship isn't even considered an issue, just two people coming together. Yet there's a troubling percentage of the fandom insisting the Church is homophobic.

* ''VideoGame/GoldenSunTheLostAge'' gives us the WhamLine that Saturos and Menardi from [[VideoGame/GoldenSun1 the first game]] [[spoiler:were actually [[AntiVillain doing what was right]] for their hometown and the world]] after all. While indeed, the cast of the first game [[spoiler:actually take over their footsteps in going to light the rest of the lighthouses]], it's very hard to blame them for thinking that Saturos and Menardi were pure evil and wanted to unseal alchemy for their own selfish purposes. Saturos and Menardi [[HeKnowsTooMuch beat up Isaac and Garet when they were fourteen for simply overhearing them]], regularly beat up (and sometimes kill) people who got in their way, go out of their way to KickTheDog for [[ForTheEvulz a cheap giggle]] like shoving a tree they knew [[AndIMustScream was a cursed woman]] into the river (it's implied it killed her if you [[VideoGameCaringPotential don't rescue her]]), engaged in kidnapping, and attempted to kill them ''multiple'' times. PoorCommunicationKills, yes -- given the information that Isaac and Garet (As well as the players!) were given in the first game, it's hard to blame the first four for thinking Saturos and Menardi were evil when they're at absolute best [[SociopathicHero Sociopathic]] {{Nominal Hero}}es. This is even acknowledged when the party gets to their hometown in ''The Lost Age'', with the town mayor and elder coming to understand and not fault Isaac's party [[spoiler:for killing Saturos and Menardi]] once they explain why.
* Dr. Breen in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' has his fans who think he did the right thing by assuring the survival of humanity by surrendering, except there are hints that he staged the entire Resonance Cascade for personal gain, and he is the one who insisted on the highly specific test requirements. Some of his comments as you [[spoiler: climb up the Citadel]] are [[HannibalLecture actually quite reasonable]], so it is easy to see how this gets started. [[spoiler:This is discounting how he's a borderline CardCarryingVillain who mind controls the populace with tainted water and by all accounts is still playing the fate of humanity for his own personal stake in the Combine empire]].

** Fans who base support on a Sora and Naminé romance due to the events of ''[[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories Chain of Memories]]'', which ignores that all of the memories Sora had of Naminé were fake, and the feelings he had toward her were actually his feelings for Kairi increased to obsessive levels by the FakeMemories so that he would become Naminé's -- and thus, Marluxia's -- slave. It wasn't supposed to be a good, loving thing; it was deception.

* Canderous Ordo and the Mandalorians from ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' are frequently beloved by fans for their [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy warrior race]] culture and mentality... overlooking the fact that Canderous speaks casually and candidly of wrecking whole worlds during the Mandalorian Wars, and that the reason Revan took up his famous mask was due to the [[spoiler:Mandalorians' xenocide of the Cathar.]] [[note]]You find much of the fandom for Mandalorians coming from ''Star Wars'' fans who view the Republic and Empire as StupidGood and StupidEvil. Top it off with Creator/ChrisAvellone's analysis in the second game that the factions are proxies for a group of overpowered wizards dragging everyone into their ceaseless religious war. Karen Traviss had this view of Star Wars and tried with varying degrees of success as presenting the ''Mando'ade'' as TakeAThirdOption, a group of [[MugglePower non-Force Sensitives]] who were capable of going toe to toe with Jedi or Sith, and who weren't beholden to either. Oh, and Boba Fett sure helped.[[/note]]

* Several people have said that they'd rather play the ShallowParody of ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' used in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPqRue51GZ8 the commercial]] for ''VideoGame/{{Blur}}'' rather than the actual game. Apparently the game helped sales for ''Mario Kart'' too.
* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'':
** Certains fans seem to think that the premise is "Solid Snake jumps in, kicks ass and chews bubblegum" despite the series serving as a {{deconstruction}} of the typical action hero.
** It was almost never made because higher-ups thought [[ItWillNeverCatchOn a game where you hide from enemies wasn't a game]]. Confronting an enemy head on is the quickest path to a Game Over, you're supposed to make sure they don't see you and are encouraged not to kill them, if you must engage them. And yet, you get fans who think running and gunning is a viable tactic.
** Creator/HideoKojima was in fact so appalled by fans misinterpreting Solid Snake as a character that a large part of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' [[ThisLoserIsYou is dedicated to]] [[TakeThatAudience attacking fans]] who played the first ''MGS'' as a power fantasy. [[EpicFail It went so badly]] that the backlash to the above attack spawned a ''new'' series of ''Metal Gear'' games, with ''[=MGS2=]'' being one of the most critically acclaimed games of 2001. SpringtimeForHitler was in effect for Kojima ever since (up until [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain his departure]] from Creator/{{Konami}}, that is), with attempts to hang up his coat incurring more backlash and ensuring Kojima would have to stay on as director. Even ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 4|GunsOfThePatriots}}'', which had its original TorchTheFranchiseAndRun-level ending [[WriterRevolt outright vetoed by the rest of the developer team]], was filled with plenty of potshots at the audience, including multiple DoingInTheWizard moments to combat the MindScrew of ''[=MGS2=]''.
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'':
** Cerberus is on the dark side of [[BlackAndGrayMorality morally gray]]. They're essentially a well-funded KnightTemplar terrorist organization out to ensure that humanity dominates the galaxy -- often resorting to cruel biological experiments on unwilling human test subjects. In the sequel, they bring the protagonist BackFromTheDead and provide Shepard with a CoolStarship to investigate the abduction of human colonists while the established Alliance and Citadel governments do little to nothing to assist. It's made perfectly clear that they're using you to further their own agenda, and their past atrocities do not go unmentioned. While the franchise is full of moral ambiguity, what with Shepard spending a ''lot'' of time dealing with crime lords, terrorists, mercenaries and {{space pirate}}s -- several of whom even become your party members -- when they're not dealing with [[ObstructiveBureaucrat bureaucratic inertia]] and [[HeadInTheSandManagement unhelpful politicians]], and it's certainly true that the galaxy would have been royally screwed if they hadn't brought Shepard back when they did, many fans completely forget Cerberus' deplorable actions and instead find themselves wondering what everyone has against Cerberus. And as with ''[[Film/{{Avatar}} Avatar]]'''s Col. Quaritch, some people go as far as to seem to actually ''agree'' with the "secure-human-dominance-at-any-cost" mindset.\\\
This is lampshaded, possibly as a TakeThatAudience, with Conrad Verner revealing that he's joined Cerberus in ''3''. When asked [[WhatTheHellHero what the hell]] he was thinking, given that they have only just attempted a failed coup of the Citadel, he explains that Cerberus are just misunderstood heroes who are working to protect humanity. After all, Shepard worked for them once, so they can't be all that bad, ''right?'' Cue {{facepalm}} as Shepard calmly explains that they worked ''[[EnemyMine with]]'' them to take down the Collectors and then severed all ties immediately afterwards.\\\
Further, it's less that Cerberus was using Shepard for their own ends and more that they were the ''only'' organization with any real resources to recognize the threat of the Reapers, and the importance of Shepard to thwart them. They're also self-aware enough to realize that antagonizing or attempting to control Shepard will only cause problems -- [[PragmaticVillainy either Shepard will not be able to focus on the Collectors if s/he is too worried about the possibility of Cerberus stabbing them in the back, and a mind-controlled Shepard would be far less effective than a free one.]] ''3'' eventually reveals that the entirety of their interactions with Shepard in ''2'' were, essentially, bending over backward to ensure that Shepard felt as secure as possible, with as much support as possible. Even most of the employees they had working with Shepard had been hand-picked for their relative LACK of loyalty to Cerberus, on the grounds that a support team that Shepard could not trust would have been a useless support team. Further, the Illusive Man admits midway through ''2'' that he was intentionally leaking information regarding Shepard's return and association with Cerberus to the Alliance and the Citadel, [[ManipulativeBastard which handily made anyone not aware of the Lazarus Project much less inclined to provide support that Cerberus couldn't control]]. And of course, the characters who [[ProperlyParanoid saw all this coming]] are the ones that receive fan ire.

** In ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', there exists a vid called ''Saren: A Hero Betrayed'', which glorifies the turian Spectre who has not only been eagerly painted as the mastermind behind the geth attack on the Citadel, but is noted repeatedly to have been almost psychotically callous and ruthless even before he was indoctrinated by Sovereign. Captain Anderson, who worked with Saren in the past and who was set up by Saren to deny him his chance at being the first Human Spectre, watches it and promptly [[INeedAFreakingDrink turns to drink]].

* ''VideoGame/NamuAmidaButsuUtena'': Despite what the majority of the fandom believes, Ashuku Nyorai is not a DudeLooksLikeALady. She's a trans woman.
* The creators of ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'' worked their hardest to [[DefiedTrope defy]] this in terms of Nazi Germany and fascism more generally, by sending the message that Nazism is both evil and inefficient [[{{Anvilicious}} with the subtlety of an atomic bomb]] ([[spoiler:in some ways, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt literally]]]]). While a small number of neo-Nazis who either miss or don't care about the message, the creators have done a relatively good job of keeping Nazi apologists away. However, ''The New Order'' stands out for also having a Misaimed Fandom of some more extreme anti-fascist types, who seem to think the message is "defeat Nazism even if it costs the world" ([[spoiler:again, sometimes ''[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt literally]]'']]).

** Komi's [[SovietSuperscience Ultravisionary Socialists]] are repeatedly described as an insane cult masquerading as a legitimate science-focused technocracy, hiding massive human rights abuses behind a facade of beautiful futuristic aesthetics and rhetoric about human scientific progress and space travel, wretched at actually governing a nation, and even in Kardachev's reformist path there's a decade of mismanagement and authoritarianism to dismantle, if he even can. But they have many unironic fans who want to believe there're good ideas worth salvaging in there, usually admittedly because they're fans of the beautiful futuristic aesthetics and rhetoric about human scientific progress and space travel. They're stereotypically compared to "tech bros," Elon Musk fans, and the similar MisaimedFandom surrounding ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty''.
* ''VideoGame/NickelodeonAllStarBrawl'' was Nickelodeon making a PlatformFighter crossover in a vein similar to ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''. They wanted specifically to acknowledge Nickelodeon throughout history - which includes the present day and TheNewTens. However, many people have complained that the game was including characters like [[WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse Lincoln Loud]] or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (which weren't associated with Nickelodeon by many of the PeripheryDemographic of [[TheNineties '90s kids]]), and somehow [[MisBlamed saying they were responsible]] for characters like [[WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife Rocko]] or [[WesternAnimation/{{Doug}} Doug Funnie]] not being there. Nickelodeon actually ''does'' in fact have a modern audience, despite what many people would claim, and thus including references to other shows that are either currently running or more recent is a good way to appeal to them - it wasn't specifically done as a game catering to [[TheNineties 90s nostalgia]].
** The same treatment also extended to many other "All Stars" games with Nickelodeon -- to the point where mentioning that the show would include characters from 90s series besides the Rugrats (Nickelodeon's cash cow franchise before ''[=SpongeBob=]'') has been mentioned as an AuthorsSavingThrow.

** Some feel that Team Plasma of ''[[VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite Black and White]]'' are actually in the right. This is in spite of ''the entire point of the game'' being that they're not. Indeed, the games can be seen as Game Freak responding to criticisms similar to the ones Team Plasma make that have been made by actual people. It doesn't help that [[spoiler:Plasma's figurehead, N]] legitimately believes that Pokémon abuse is a common thing. Or that, even if he's wrong about how common it is, it ''still happens,'' and the Pokémon it ''does'' happen to are all but defenseless as a result of the nature of Poké Balls. ''Or'' that instead of actually writing a convincing argument against the idea of owning Pokémon, the Plasma mooks are either [[BlatantLies openly, unapologetically]] [[KickTheDog abusing the Pokémon they "liberate"]] or having an "argument" with Plasma as [[TheWarOnStraw The Strawmen]] and [[{{Anvilicious}} everyone else being, well...]]

** ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'' gives us an in-universe example in Team Flare. Their boss charges a 50,000,000 Pokémon Dollar membership fee, which, in theory, represents a tangible commitment to creating/maintaining a truly beautiful world. In practice, however, Team Flare grunts treat their membership as not much more than a status symbol, and in fact consider themselves superior to everyone else just for being part of Team Flare -- a rather selfish viewpoint of an apparent symbol of altruism.
* Many fans of the ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' games became huge fans of Cave Johnson after hearing recorded speeches from him in the "Old Aperture Labs" levels of ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'', causing them to perceive him as being a spectacular case of SuccessThroughInsanity. The reality is, though, we're supposed to think of Cave Johnson as a delusional, highly dangerous bungling incompetent who caused the deaths of untold numbers of people and bankrupted his own company in the pursuit of outlandish, crackpot ideas like using a portal-creating device as a ''shower curtain''. The awesomeness of Cave Johnson is so well-entrenched that things like the fact his famous "when life gives you lemons" speech are actually supposed to be the demented ravings of a lunatic imbecile who refuses to accept that he murdered people and ruined his company because of his own incompetence actually wound up on the [[Fridge/Portal2 Portal 2 Fridge subpage]] -- they're considered ''that'' unobvious.

Ironically, the same people who insist that Yukari was stupid and wrong for wanting to resurrect [[spoiler:the Protagonist]] are the same ones clamoring for [[spoiler:the Protagonist]] to be added to the roster of ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'', despite said game existing within the canon universe of ''VideoGame/Persona3'' and ''VideoGame/Persona4'' ...and thus demanding the exact same thing as Yukari did in The Answer.

** [[spoiler:Tohru Adachi]], a serial-killing, [[StrawMisogynist misogynistic]], [[ItsAllAboutMe egocentric]] "[[spoiler:police dick]]" ([[VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax no, seriously, that's a canon title]]) whose attitude towards women is summed up in his fandom-popular phrase from ''Persona 4'' ([[BeamMeUpScotty which he never actually said in that game]]), "bitches and whores". For some reason though, there's a vast majority of the fanbase who actually considers him "not that bad." Never mind the fact that he's completely sexist, he's also a complete psychopath, who cannot be described in any other way than "fucked in the head." This isn't helped by the fact there's an ending in the game where [[spoiler:the player character can pick to act as Adachi's accomplice]]. Again, ''this ending wasn't supposed to feel rewarding''. It's specially designed to be a "you're a screwed up person" ending. The writers explicitly stated numerous times that the entire idea of [[spoiler:Adachi]] was to [[HateSink design someone the player would end up loathing]], who could be considered without any real question or debate as being a "bad guy", who everyone and their dog wouldn't like by the end of the game, especially to be in contrast with ''Persona 3'', where some of the real villains have good intentions. [[spoiler:Adachi]], however, was designed to be completely evil, with next to no real redeeming factors left by the end of the game. ''VideoGame/Persona4ArenaUltimax'', however, softens up on him a bit, [[spoiler:making him willing to go out of his way to make sure he actually faces justice for his crimes and that the case isn't just thrown out because of some completely unrelated supernatural shenanigans, and ending with him beginning to come around to the Investigation Team's way of thinking]].

*** Shadow Kanji takes the form of a CampGay man (and before that, there are a few moments that portray Kanji as AmbiguouslyGay). Because of this, the fandom has a tendency to fixate on Kanji's ambiguous sexuality as the be-all, end-all of his problems, when the game makes it clear that, as much as his sexuality is a ''part'' of his problems with himself, his real problem is with acceptance of his whole personality -- especially his [[RealMenWearPink "unmanly" hobbies and interests]] -- both from himself and from other people. Essentially, the fans [[{{Flanderization}} flanderize]] him into "the token Gay Guy", when his actual story is how he simply isn't sure how to view himself in relation to Japan's strict viewpoints on gender roles. His Shadow is also touted as if it's absolute truth that he's gay -- except that again, Kanji's arc is about how arbitrary gender and sexuality expectations are forced upon someone... and thus the fandom doing it is ''exactly'' what caused his problem to begin with.
*** Kanji, along with the existence of the YaoiGenre or the presence of the YaoiFangirl trope, are also touted as proof that Japan is perfectly accepting of homosexuality... Except that many instances of yaoi is seen as niche at best in Japan, the genre itself is aimed at straight people -- and Japan is actually not nearly as LGBT-friendly as many people believe it to be. In fact, a lot of Kanji's issues stem from how Japanese society rejects him for being AmbiguouslyGay, Yosuke's teasing him about it is a BerserkButton for Kanji, and in addition to having a crush on Naoto, also shows interest in Yukiko early on.

** The online fandom of the Phantom Thieves serves as an InUniverse example. When the fansite is first put up, the requests for the protagonists to solve are mostly personal problems and small in scale compared to what they wanted, which is people who are [[VillainWithGoodPublicity well-respected by society]] and getting away with their crimes because of their status and power. As they gain more popularity, and make it clearer to the public that their goal is to target societal corruption, the fandom is still misaimed as they become more focused on [[spoiler:bloodshed, as shown when they congratulate the Thieves for killing Kunizaku Okumura during a live broadcast, despite his death being a set up by TheConspiracy, then start demanding the Thieves be killed as retribution]]. The Phantom Thieves eventually realize [[spoiler:after Okumura's death]] that their fandom doesn't care about their goal of reforming society.
** One portion of the Western fandom believes that the game should have offered an option to [[VigilanteExecution execute]] the targets. This goes in complete contrast to their modus operandi to be Phantom ''Thieves'' of ''Hearts'', meaning they steal the heart of their target and force them to admit and atone for their sins, and that them killing any target would turn them into assassins and into nothing better than the role TheDragon has in the game. They completely ignore the fact that Ann was close to killing Kamoshida's Shadow, but when his Shadow actually offered her to kill him, she chose to not go through with it. She wanted Kamoshida to admit his crimes in person, and having him [[AFateWorseThanDeath live with his heroic reputation as an Olympic gold medalist ruined]], and everyone know what a horrible person he really is. And given the Thieves' reactions to [[spoiler:Okumura dying because his Shadow was killed]], it's clear that this is not the result they would've wanted to begin with.

* ''VideoGame/ProgressQuest'' was meant to be a satire of level-grinding skinner boxes in [=MMORPGs=] by taking the concept to its logical conclusion, a game that plays itself with no input from the player. The idea was that when stripped of the graphics and the illusion of choice, the core experience of these games would be incredibly boring. Years later, [[IdleGame games that play themselves became a a real, completely unironic genre]]. [[BribingYourWayToVictory Many of them are even monetized]].
* ''VideoGame/SilentHill2'' gives us the infamous Pyramid Head and the Bubblehead nurses. Pyramid Head is the physical manifestation of James' guilt and repressed sexual desire, as evidenced by his male physique in contrast to the other monsters. Pyramid Head terrorizes both James and the other monsters, the latter through sexualized violence. The Bubblehead nurses also represent James' sexual frustration by being both "attractive" yet very repulsive. These two monsters are often taken out of the context of the game where fans legitimately find them attractive and often make a joke of Pyramid Head's raping habits, never mind rape is a heinous act in real life.

** From ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' onward, some have interpreted Eggman's admiration for his late grandfather Gerald as the core reason why he decided to TakeOverTheWorld -- the idea being that Eggman wants to avenge Gerald's legacy and retaliate towards humanity for betraying and executing him despite how much Gerald did for them, and him [[BrokenPedestal losing respect for his grandfather]] once learning that [[spoiler:he posthumously attempted to ''destroy'' the world after going insane]] has also led some to even believe that [[DracoInLeatherPants he truly has some good in his evil heart deep down.]] However, the game also has him mostly be interested in his grandfather's ''work'' and the potential to use it for ''his'' own purposes, has him repeatedly preach about how ''he's'' going to start a legacy of being the world's greatest mind and ruler of all time without any reference to Gerald, typically references Gerald as his grandfather whenever it feeds ''his'' ego, and it's most likely that his admiration for Gerald is exclusively regarding his prowess ''as a fellow genius scientist'' as opposed to anything humanitarian or familial (as Eggman would probably be aware that a Gerald of sound mind would ''not'' approve of what he does to further his goals), with his own [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatism]] or [[EvilVersusOblivion logic]] likely being why he lost respect for his grandfather. For most of [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog the franchise's]] history before ''and'' after this game, it's all but stated that his main reason for wanting to rule the world [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans no matter what happens to it]] is to [[ItsAllAboutMe continue to feed his ego]] and [[InTheirOwnImage improve it in whatever way he sees fit]].
** ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' ends with Modern Sonic telling his Classic self to "enjoy [his] future" as "it's gonna be great". Given how the series had gone through a lengthy AudienceAlienatingEra prior, fans reacted incredulously to this line, and its apparent irony led it to become [[MemeticMutation memetic]]. This completely overlooks how ''in-universe'', Sonic's frequently enjoyed his adventures and going on them, along with the basic fact that he won't dislike one of his adventures [[PsychologicalProjection just because the person playing as him does]]. This example was, like the ''Portal 2'' example discussed above, considered unobvious enough to end up on the game's very own [[Fridge/SonicGenerations Fridge subpage]].

** ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' introduced Echo Fighters, a new designation for MovesetClone characters (for example, Dark Pit is lumped together with Pit instead of getting his own unique slot in the roster). While this helped [[RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap popularize several Clone characters]], it also lead to people fantasizing about potential new Echo Fighters with significantly different movesets from their base character, missing the point of Echo Fighters being deliberately ar to pre-existing fighters. It doesn't help that the game is sometimes inconsistent in what makes an Echo Fighter: Toon Link isn't an Echo of Young Link and Wolf and Falco are not Echoes of Fox (even though Dark Pit and Lucina prove that returning fighters can get "demoted" to Echo Fighter status), but Ken is considered an Echo of Ryu despite having many significant differences.

** Some people criticize the games for being "cliché" and play a lot of the tropes absolutely straight. While the ClicheStorm trope may not be too far from the truth of a few games, part of the reason that the games have a fanbase is that even from the start, the ''Tales'' series has been known as a DeconstructorFleet -- starting almost every game as an absolute ClicheStorm, and then starting to turn around deconstructing all the cliches that they just played straight.
** For ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', there's quite a sizable amount of people that got turned away from the game for having an unlikable protagonist in Luke. The problem here is that [[IntendedAudienceReaction you're not supposed to like him]] at first. He's a brat, and the game spares no expense in letting you know it, and also showing how much he irks the other characters. Then comes the WhamEpisode -- wherein it's revealed that he is ''actually'' [[YoungerThanTheyLook seven years old]] due to CloningBlues. After that? He goes through CharacterDevelopment at a turning point where almost nobody in the game has any sort of sympathy left for him and resolves to become a better person, losing every one of the traits that many players found bothersome. It's hard to know if a certain character is static or dynamic at first glance, so many players end up missing out on this, and even if you did know, you still have to put up with an intolerable character for some hours.

*** The "Flynn is wrong" crowd. Flynn understands how important it is for justice to be delivered, much of the drama of his character is [[ToBeLawfulOrGood him wanting to do what's right, but being hamstrung by the law and being unable to help]]. A good amount of fans use this to say Flynn is wrong and needs to act outside the law, something Yuri very clearly tells Flynn '''not''' to do, because Flynn is too much of a good person to handle that kind of responsibility and that Flynn is right to hope to [[InternalReformist change the Empire]]. The laws are screwed up, but Yuri recognizes how important it is for Flynn to stay a knight so he can make things better through hard work and that if he did take justice into his own hands, [[HeWhoFightsMonsters he'd lose sight of himself]]. The game also has a side quest where a vigilantly not too different from Yuri is exacting his revenge on people, and takes it too far, with the party calling him out for his actions. Furthermore, Yuri points out that his own actions are hypocritical but it's only because Flynn is able to help him and [[MoralityChain keep him grounded]]. Like with Yuri, Flynn has every reason to believe the law can be improved and his beliefs are as valid and worth pursing as Yuri's.

** The game has the Genocide path where in order to see the bad ending, you have to spare not a single soul and slaughter as many mooks as possible while killing every single boss monster as well. By going on this path, you encounter two extremely difficult fights that [[SNKBoss are almost unfair to go against]] and the bad ending has [[spoiler: the entire world destroyed, leaving behind a black void]]. Even if you opt to go for a reset and try to make everything better again by going for the GoldenEnding, said ending is corrupted due to your actions from the bad ending and it follows you no matter how many times you reset (unless you fiddle with the game's files to override it). Many players who had done the Genocide path in their first playthrough or later complain how unrewarding the bad ending path is due to the difficult bosses and how one shouldn't be punished for simply getting the bad ending. The point behind the bad ending and future playthroughs being tainted is to show the player that treating the game nothing more than just a game and thinking they can be above consequences while they toy with the characters in the game will bite them in the ass no matter much they think they're above it all. The whole idea is that you shouldn't be rewarded for being a bad person and the trials for being fully evil will be just as difficult as being completely good. [[spoiler:Chara/The Fallen Child at the end of the Genocide run is the incarnation of the player's desires, where they want more power, get stronger, and move on to the next game once they've done everything in the current game. And even then, should you complete a second Genocide Run, Chara will express that they no longer understand what you gain from doing all this.]]

* Lezard Valeth from ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'' was written to be as repulsive as possible, a sexually deviant stalker and violator of natural laws; like Franchise/HarryPotter grown up terribly, terribly wrong. Some fans, however, like to pair him with Lenneth, the heroine of the first game. The blame/credit probably falls on the shoulders of his highly talented (and sexy-sounding) [[Creator/MaddieBlaustein English]] [[Creator/LiamOBrien voice actor(s)]]. In the original Japanese version, he's more of a standard deep-voiced villain (although he does have [[Creator/TakehitoKoyasu a sexy voice]] for a deep-voiced one).
* Inverted in the 2005 Rockstar video game adaptation of ''VideoGame/TheWarriors''. The game's depiction (which, naturally, takes many of its cues from the similar ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'') is a more accurate rendering of Sol Yurick's original characters than the [[AdaptationDisplacement popular 1979 film based on the novel]] on which the game is ostensibly more directly based. Whereas in the movie the young hoodlums (except, of course, for Ajax, and even he is up to debate) come off at worst as misguided, put-upon orphans, and at best as [[LoveableRogue Loveable Rogues]], in the game, these same characters truly are criminals: [[PragmaticVillainy ruthlessly pragmatic]], frighteningly power-hungry, and have no qualms about mugging the innocent and outright [[AssholeVictim murdering the guilty]]. (The game ''does'' conclude the same way the movie does, though, so maybe this is a straight example after all.)

** [[Franchise/TheWitcher The series]], [[VideoGame/TheWitcher2AssassinsOfKings the second game]] in particular, has a rapidly developing misaimed fandom. It's a tricky case due to its GreyAndGrayMorality clouding things, the game does expect you to make rather murky moral decisions, and no side is all good, or all bad. But overall, there is a clear message that bigots are bad. The elvish rebels methods are criticized in the game, but it is made clear that the fact that they are [[FantasticRacism discriminated against]] is not cool, and joining the non-humans is given as much weight as joining the pro-human factions. In fact, you get the best ending if you join Iorveth, the Scoia'tael leader. It is the only way to [[spoiler:lift the curse on [[JeanneDArchetype Saskia]], the (literal) dragon. Your other options are leaving her impaled on a tree, but alive, or kill her]]. Yet many fans agree with the strawman arguments put forth by the human characters in the game, and take the stance that the humans are always right by virtue of them being human (similar to ''Film/{{Avatar}}'''s [[MisaimedFandom/{{Film}} own misaimed fandom]]), and [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman should always take precedence over the non-humans in the game]]. They have also begun to drag real life prejudices in the game, by complaining when the developers do things to cater to fans who belong to a minority group, such as replacing textures on some brothel carpets which could offend some Muslims, or vehemently arguing against the inclusion of any form of homosexuality in the game, because apparently minorities should never be considered, despite the clear message saying otherwise in the game itself.

* Even though ''[[VideoGame/LikeADragon Yakuza]]'' is incredibly cartoonish and wacky ([[SarcasmMode "Yakuza is a serious crime drama"]] is a {{meme|ticMutation}} in the fandom for a reason), it does have serious moments as well -- and it does ''not'' romanticize [[{{Yakuza}} the Yakuza]] at ''all''. Anyone who gets involved with the yakuza pretty clearly gets their lives messed up. This still doesn't stop some people from assuming that the yakuza are actually the good guys and have a sense of morals to them -- this is similar to a lot of how Mafia and "Organized Crime" movies make gangs, TheMafia, et cetera look great. This may also partly be caused by how Kiryu and the other protagonists you play are genuinely good guys, but that doesn't mean that it extends to the other gangsters; most of the yakuza in the series are the bad kind of gangsters. Kiryu himself is also only in the yakuza in [[VideoGame/Yakuza1 the first game]] for the prologue mission, and in ''[[VideoGame/Yakuza0 0]]'' he's on the run from the yakuza.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' is about a blonde-haired blue-eyed hero fighting a monster from a Middle Eastern culture with a big nose. Guess [[ThoseWackyNazis who]] happens to fascinated with it. The irony of this is that the entire series glorifies numerous different races and groups who all come together and aid Link in the fight against evil, including Gorons, Zora, and Gerudo themselves, just to name a few. In fact, the Gerudo are often referred to as incredibly beautiful, skilled, and intelligent, with their only consistent flaw being xenophobia brought on by their dislike of men. More than once (including in their debut in ''Ocarina of Time''), the Gerudo have been helpful, even friendly, and in ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the character Urbosa is treated as an exceptionally skilled warrior ''and'' mother-figure/older sister in the life of Princess Zelda. The only member of the group that is out-and-out evil is Ganondorf himself.

** Some quests are clearly meant to be evil but players view these actions as justified. Good examples include the quest "The Broken Front", all Royal Apothecary quests and "It Was The Orcs, Honest!"
** Some players sympathize with Malygos and his plans to curtail the use of magic without realizing that they would kill many people and put the world in danger.

** There are fans who seem to enjoy the RonTheDeathEater treatment of [[HeWhoFightsMonsters DiZ]] and [[KnightTemplar Eraqus]], while simultaneously DracoInLeatherPants-ing their clearly far-worse enemies [[note]]Ironically, different incarnations of the same guy, no less.[[/note]] who caused said {{Jerkass}}eries to begin with. And no, not even [=DiZ=]'s and Eraqus's eventual {{Heel Realization}}s (in contrast to said enemies' LackOfEmpathy, of course) are enough to subvert this.
** Xehanort's final demise in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' was seen as too EasilyForgiven and getting off too lightly, simply because he [[FaceDeathWithDignity accepted his defeat]]. His demise was never intended to be a redemption arc. The [=Re:Mind=] DLC even spells this out that yes, Sora still despises Xehanort for all that he did, showcasing that fans who still despise the old man for everything he did are very much justified.

* From ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' onward, some have interpreted Eggman's admiration for his late grandfather Gerald as the core reason why he decided to TakeOverTheWorld -- the idea being that Eggman wants to avenge Gerald's legacy and retaliate towards humanity for betraying and executing him despite how much Gerald did for them, and him [[BrokenPedestal losing respect for his grandfather]] once learning that [[spoiler:he posthumously attempted to ''destroy'' the world after going insane]] has also led some to even believe that [[DracoInLeatherPants he truly has some good in his evil heart deep down.]] However, the game also has him mostly be interested in his grandfather's ''work'' and the potential to use it for ''his'' own purposes, has him repeatedly preach about how ''he's'' going to start a legacy of being the world's greatest mind and ruler of all time without any reference to Gerald, typically references Gerald as his grandfather whenever it feeds ''his'' ego, and it's most likely that his admiration for Gerald is exclusively regarding his prowess ''as a fellow genius scientist'' as opposed to anything humanitarian or familial (as Eggman would probably be aware that a Gerald of sound mind would ''not'' approve of what he does to further his goals), with his own [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatism]] or [[EvilVersusOblivion logic]] likely being why he lost respect for his grandfather. For most of [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog the franchise's]] history before ''and'' after this game, it's all but stated that his main reason for wanting to rule the world [[DespotismJustifiesTheMeans no matter what happens to it]] is to [[ItsAllAboutMe continue to feed his ego]] and [[InTheirOwnImage improve it in whatever way he sees fit]].

* Chihiro Fujisaki of ''Franchise/{{Danganronpa}}'' is a [[spoiler: boy]] who was relentlessly bullied for [[spoiler: his physical weakness and feminine appearance]] and resorted to [[spoiler: crossdressing]] and pretending to be a [[spoiler: girl]] in order to escape it. Chihiro hates it, and Chihiro's sole motivation in life is to be strong so to be able to go back to [[spoiler: living as a boy]] without getting bullied again. In the bonus School Mode, Chihiro says outright that [[spoiler: he's a guy]]. However, a subset of fans insist [[spoiler: he's actually a trans girl]] and will jump down the throat of anyone who [[spoiler: "misgenders" him]] by [[spoiler: calling him a boy]]; the exact opposite of what Chihiro would want.
* Any discussion regarding [[AllThereInTheManual the lore]] of ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' tends to run into this on account of how vague and purposely unclear much of the story can be. A number of people will say, for sure, what happens based on item descriptions and placement, even when the games leave it unclear. As a result, many people take these details as 100% fact, when in truth the game was designed to leave things up to the viewers interpretation.

*** It gets even worse. [[spoiler: Towards the climax of the game, as tensions rise, there's one last, desperate attempt at a parely between leaders of Mages and Templars. Anders, a renegade Mage from your group, ''blows up the church'' in the city, killing the church leader, who was the main source of reason trying to calm both sides. This ensures that there's no going back and city erupts into open conflict. This even goes beyond the city, as other Mages rise up, seeing no other alternative. Despite all that, you can still find fans who think that Anders did the right thing and consider him a hero. A big part of this is that the church leader in question is infamously UnintentionallyUnsympathetic, and many players [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation see her less as trying to calm both sides and more as actively preventing any sort of resolution even as her direct subordinates are blatantly ignoring the church's own laws]].]]

*** Sephiroth is a megalomaniacal monster who spends most of the game on a murderous killing spree (including [[ItWasHisSled famously]] and brutally slaying a [[PlotlineDeath beloved main character]]), pausing only to mock and psychologically manipulate Cloud. Because he does it with such style and is such a badass PrettyBoy, fans have turned him into a DracoInLeatherPants. In the original game, Sephiroth was fairly a decent person (if aloof and a bit cold) during the Nibelheim flashback, which was set before he goes insane. This portrayal was retained in prequels, which just adds fuel to the MisaimedFandom.

*** Jecht is beloved by the fandom and seen as a RatedMForManly character, to the point where many fans of him often criticize Tidus for being "whiny". There are some who also argue that while Jecht was flawed, the fact Tidus turned out okay means he wasn't ''that'' bad of a father. The game very clearly paints Jecht as a shitty father, and he later realizes how much of a mistake he was, as he wanted to invoke ToughLove but his flaws made him instead an abusive person. Several of his Sphere's left behind show that over his journey with Braska, he sobers up and wants to make amends but the fact he can't return home to do so makes him feel even worse about it, and in the finale when he gets to see Tidus again, he accepts Tidus' anger towards him and owns up to his mistakes. The fact Tidus turned out as well as he did doesn't prove Jecht was a good father either, instead it was in-spite of Jecht that Tidus grew up as a good person, as Jecht was gone for a good amount of his life. Despite this, many of Jecht's fans often ignore that and focus on how "cool" he is, which isn't helped by games like ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'' making him out to be a badass and don't really show him having the same development as he did back in ''X''. (Again, the fact that several of the characters in ''Dissidia'' are missing at least some of their memories and thus subjected to some degree of {{Flanderization}} partially accounts for this. The arcade reboot/''NT'' depicts Jecht as he appears at the end of ''X'' and he has a much healthier relationship with his son whenever they do interact.)
** Lightning of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'' and her large fanbase just shows how gamers tend to have really bad role models. Gamers tend to love Lightning for her tough, take-no-prisoners attitude and her tendency to punch people who piss her off. They seem to have missed the part where treating everyone around her as incompetent and/or worthless and berating even her sister for "lying" about turning into a l'Cie (something that no sane person would ever lie about) is not good for her or anyone else. Punching people doesn't fix anything and doesn't even make her feel that much better, which is why she gets CharacterDevelopment to ''be a better friend''. (And no, that doesn't mean she's not tough anymore.)

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' is huge with this trope due to Marche's actions and motivations in the game. To put it simply, many fans agree to view him as an AntiVillain. The main cast of kids are transported to a fantasy world where their desires and wishes come true (Ritz's hair is naturally red; Donned, Marche's brother, can walk again; and Mewt gets rule over the country as a royal prince who's now revived mother gives him anything he wants). Marche himself does have some fun in the fantasy world, but he knows that living in such a world only makes people run away from their problems rather than dealing with it and he doesn't need anything from the fantasy world to begin with. As Marche tries to find a way to get home, his friends turn against him; Mewt throws a temper tantrum over Marche's progress and demands more laws be made to stop him, even though this would make the citizens more upset, and he eventually puts a bounty om Marche's head. Ritz doesn't support Marche 100% and she eventually fights him simply because she doesn't want to go back home and deal with her natural white hair. Donned doesn't want to go back since it would mean not being able to walk again, which would give him a reasonable excuse, but he also hires clans to stop and possibly kill his own brother. It isn't until Marche finally gets through to them that they all realized what they had done and try to appreciate the things they did have back home that they glossed over. While the main idea behind the plot is somewhat questionable and the execution of the story being a bit too {{Anvilicious}} for most, that is most likely the reason why ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' has a hero who is perfectly happy to have adventures and whose return home actually ''requires'' him to.\\\

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXV'''s [[BigBad Ardyn]] is [[LoveToHate beloved]] by most Western fans for being a total MagnificentBastard with {{Troll}}ish tendencies who also has a [[TragicVillain backstory]] that makes him more than a CompleteMonster, and he is widely seen as much [[EvilIsCool cooler]] and overall a better character than the protagonists. Some take this to the point of recasting him as a HeroAntagonist who is justified in wanting revenge for [[spoiler: Somnus attempting to kill him, inadvertently killing his love Aera, and usurping the throne to become the founder of Lucis]]. Although what [[spoiler:Somnus]] did is cruel (and kicking his ass in Episode Ardyn is [[KickTheSonOfABitch very satisfying]]), it hardly justifies Ardyn [[spoiler:turning the entire planet into a DeathWorld to avenge himself on Somnus' distant descendant who has no idea about what his ancestor did, Ardyn was unfit to be king due to his corruption, even if Somnus' opposition to him was partially motivated by [[GreenEyedMonster jealousy]], and Somnus does seem regretful at the end of Episode Ardyn]].

*** A lot of fans see Tharja's {{Yandere}} attitute towards [[PlayerCharacter the Avatar]] as fetish material and it's a major reason why [[EnsembleDarkhorse she's so popular]]. Her ending up as an [[AbusiveParents abusive mother]] to her daughter Noire [[spoiler:in the BadFuture]] was most likely intended as a PlayerPunch for players who didn't realise this, as well as a {{Deconstruction}} of what marrying a {{Yandere}} might eventually lead to. And yet there are a ton of fans who see the Avatar, Tharja and their children as a perfect happy family, despite Noire herself calling her mother out on her behavior and Tharja herself realizing that this isn't the way to go. There's no denying she ''does'' have a HiddenHeartOfGold, but that still doesn't mean her negative traits were meant to be appealing.
*** Some players view the actions of the first generation parents negatively due to the BadFuture details that suggest many of the first generation parents weren't the best parents to their kids. This ignores the fact that the characters that discuss the topic with the kids are the past versions, who haven't done anything yet to warrant the same criticism or ire, something that almost all the supports between the parent and child discusses and works to resolve. For example; some people use Future Cordelia being unable to get over Chrom according to Severa to criticize Cordelia, despite the current Cordelia addressing it, while Tharja's detractors will criticize her future self using Noire as a way to test curses, something past Tharja actively avoids doing upon learning.

** Xehanort's final demise in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'' was seen as too EasilyForgiven and getting off too lightly, simply because he [[FaceDeathWithDignity accepted his defeat]]. His demise was never intended to be a redemption arc. [=Re:Mind=] DLC even spells this out that yes, Sora still despises Xehanort for all that he did, showcasing that fans who still despise the old man for everything he did are very much justified.

Further, it's less that Cerberus was using Shepard for their own ends and more that they were the ''only'' organization with any real resources to recognize the threat of the Reapers, and the importance of Shepard to thwart them. They're also self-aware enough to realize that antagonizing or attempting to control Shepard will only cause problems -- [[PragmaticVillainy either Shepard will not be able to focus on the Collectors if s/he is too worried about the possibility of Cerberus stabbing them in the back, and a mind-controlled Shepard would be far less effective than a free one.]] ''3'' eventually reveals that the entirety of their interactions with Shepard in 2 were, essentially, bending over backward to ensure that Shepard felt as secure as possible, with as much support as possible. Even most of the employees they had working with Shepard had been hand-picked for their relative LACK of loyalty to Cerberus, on the grounds that a support team that Shepard could not trust would have been a useless support team. Further, the Illusive Man admits midway through ''2'' that he was intentionally leaking information regarding Shepard's return and association with Cerberus to the Alliance and the Citadel, [[ManipulativeBastard which handily made anyone not aware of the Lazarus Project much less inclined to provide support that Cerberus couldn't control]]. And of course, the characters who [[ProperlyParanoid saw all this coming]] are the ones that receive fan ire.
** At least part of the problem is that most of Cerberous' on-screen villainy before the third game comes from side missions in the first game that you have to go somewhat out of your way to even ''find'', much less complete, and from the tie-in novels. The first game [[SequelDisplacement was also much less successful than the second]].

** The same treatment also extended to many other "All Stars" games with Nickelodeon - to the point where mentioning that the show would include characters from nineties series besides the Rugrats (Nickelodeon's cash cow franchise before Spongebob) has been mentioned as an AuthorsSavingThrow.

* Many fans of the ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' games became huge fans of Cave Johnson after hearing recorded speeches from him in the "Old Aperture Labs" levels of ''Videogame/{{Portal 2}}'', causing them to perceive him as being a spectacular case of SuccessThroughInsanity. The reality is, though, we're supposed to think of Cave Johnson as a delusional, highly dangerous bungling incompetent who caused the deaths of untold numbers of people and bankrupted his own company in the pursuit of outlandish, crackpot ideas like using a portal-creating device as a ''shower curtain''. The awesomeness of Cave Johnson is so well-entrenched that things like the fact his famous "when life gives you lemons" speech are actually supposed to be the demented ravings of a lunatic imbecile who refuses to accept that he murdered people and ruined his company because of his own incompetence actually wound up on the [[Fridge/Portal2 Portal 2 Fridge subpage]] -- they're considered ''that'' unobvious.

** Yukari Takeba's [[TookALevelInJerkass actions]] in The Answer are seen by many fans as proof she was a horrible BitchInSheepsClothing all along. While it's true that her actions are meant to be viewed as wrong, the game makes it clear [[DespairEventHorizon she's irrational over the loss of someone extremely close to her]], and dealing with personal loss is a major theme of the game. When she eventually opens up to her friends about it, they're able to help her through it [[CharacterDevelopment and she comes out a better person.]] Her detractors ignore her epiphany and consider her a nothing more than a cruel, jealous AlphaBitch, and downplay her moments of niceness during the main story.\\\

*** Shadow Kanji takes the form of a CampGay man (and before that, there are a few moments that portray Kanji as AmbiguouslyGay). Because of this, the fandom has a tendency to fixate on Kanji's ambiguous sexuality as the be-all, end-all of his problems, when the game makes it clear that, as much as his sexuality is a ''part'' of his problems with himself, his real problem is with acceptance of his whole personality — especially his [[RealMenWearPink "unmanly" hobbies and interests]] — both from himself and from other people. Essentially, the fans [[{{Flanderization}} flanderize]] him into "the token Gay Guy", when his actual story is how he simply isn't sure how to view himself in relation to Japan's strict viewpoints on gender roles. His Shadow is also touted as if it's absolute truth that he's gay — except that again, Kanji's arc is about how arbitrary gender and sexuality expectations are forced upon someone... and thus the fandom doing it is ''exactly'' what caused his problem to begin with.

*** ''WebAnimation/ExtraCredits'' gets in on this — in their sexual diversity episode, they praise Creator/{{Atlus}} for writing a gay character and praise Kanji because a tough guy with a feminine side who is gay (and comes to terms about it) makes him different than the other tough guys with feminine sides in their eyes. The bit about the acceptance of his personality is rarely mentioned at all, and they even bring up Naoto as an example in this episode but don't go in because they feel it would be too spoilerific.
** Some players complain about Yukiko's decision to give up on a chance to pursue an interior decorating career outside Inaba and instead inherit her family's inn, viewing it as a betrayal of her character arc, in which she becomes more independent. This is missing the point of Yukiko's CharacterDevelopment — before, she resigned herself to inheriting the inn because she felt as though she had to do it, but by the end of her Social Link, she decides to inherit the inn because she ''wants'' to do it to help her family, the inn's employees and the town. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfBSSYfIvyg This video]] analyzes Yukiko's character and explains why her decision to stay in Inaba makes sense for her.

** ''Persona 5 Strikers'' has another InUniverse example. [[spoiler:Akane Hasegawa]] becomes a big fan of the Phantom Thieves, believing them as promoting [[BlackAndWhiteInsanity all rebels as heroes and all authority figures as villains.]] While it's true that the Thieves' rebellion helped a lot of people and they targeted horrible people in power, they only went after specific targets, who themselves were rebelling against what was considered right.

** During the presentation for [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Sephiroth]], Sakurai pointed out that he wanted to make ''Smash'' a simple party game rather than a competitive fighter, something the casual side of the CasualCompetitiveConflict latched on to because they like to constantly remind competitive players of it. However, immediately after, he said that the details of a move's frame data should be left to tournament players, as he just brought up the frame data for Sephiroth's forward and back air attacks. His actual purpose for this scene was simply to remind himself that casual players don't care about frame data, not that tournaments are bad.

** Some people criticize the games for being "cliché" and play a lot of the tropes absolutely straight. While the ClicheStorm trope may not be too far from the truth of a few games, part of the reason that the games have a fanbase is that even from the start, the ''Tales'' series has been known as a DeconstructorFleet — starting almost every game as an absolute ClicheStorm, and then starting to turn around deconstructing all the cliches that they just played straight.
** For ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', there's quite a sizable amount of people that got turned away from the game for having an unlikable protagonist in Luke. The problem here is that [[IntendedAudienceReaction you're not supposed to like him]] at first. He's a brat, and the game spares no expense in letting you know it, and also showing how much he irks the other characters. Then comes the WhamEpisode — wherein it's revealed that he is ''actually'' [[YoungerThanTheyLook seven years old]] due to CloningBlues. After that? He goes through CharacterDevelopment at a turning point where almost nobody in the game has any sort of sympathy left for him and resolves to become a better person, losing every one of the traits that many players found bothersome. It's hard to know if a certain character is static or dynamic at first glance, so many players end up missing out on this, and even if you did know, you still have to put up with an intolerable character for some hours.
*** On the flip side, there are many fans that actually played through the game and heavily sympathize with Asch, and like him more or even state that [[spoiler:he deserved to live more than Luke did]]. The problem is that Luke is intended to be seen as more worthy, as while Asch also got the short end of the stick, he also heavily contrasts Luke by being a static character that does ''not'' undergo character development. He remains an unapologetic asshole through and through, and even some of his more well-intended actions that people may like Asch for are the same things that the game goes at length to explain are not good ideas — at least when it's Luke attempting it.

*** During the scene where Migal [[spoiler:sacrifices himself to show Dohalim the truth regarding TheConspiracy, and the outcome of the fight with Dohalim that follows]], some players criticized Kisara for her BrokenPedestal reaction towards Dohalim, thinking it was dumb or out-of-character to feel so strongly simply because Dolahim wasn't as perfect as she thought. This misses the point of Kisara's rage and the main issue at play: [[spoiler:it was that Dolahim was essentially trying to deny what Migal was saying and his sacrifice, on top of how Migal — who had been nothing but a loving older brother — had been wrongly accused of being a traitor and Kisara had accepted it because she believed in Dohalim]]. In that moment, seeing her brother [[spoiler:die to prove a point to Dohalim, only for him to just shut down and not only seemingly deny it, but also reveal he was more selfish then he let on]], causes her to react so strongly because she felt the tragedy might've been AllForNothing.
*** When Almeidrea crosses the MoralEventHorizon in ''VideoGame/TalesOfArise'', a lot of people saw Law trying to stop Rinwell from getting her revenge (at that particular point) was ''very'' stupid. Even going to consider Law playing devil's advocate for no apparent reason, or saying he is a hypocrite because he got his revenge on Ganabelt earlier. This misses that once Law had got his revenge against Ganabelt, it [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty left him with an empty feeling]] because he felt like he had no purpose, thus he [[AndThenWhat had no idea what to do with his life]]. This fits into one of the game's themes of continuing a CycleOfRevenge — especially since Niez [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized had apparently deposed Almeidrea earlier]] but had done so [[PyrrhicVictory leaving Niez trashed and killing an unknown amount of their own people]]. Admittedly, this is also a case of ValuesDissonance, as in the west, results are oft seen as more important than the means used to achieve them.

* Even though ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' is incredibly cartoonish and wacky ([[SarcasmMode "Yakuza is a serious crime drama"]] is a {{meme|ticMutation}} in the fandom for a reason), it does have serious moments as well -- and it does ''not'' romanticize [[{{Yakuza}} the Yakuza]] at ''all''. Anyone who gets involved with the yakuza pretty clearly gets their lives messed up. This still doesn't stop some people from assuming that the yakuza are actually the good guys and have a sense of morals to them -- this is similar to a lot of how Mafia and "Organized Crime" movies make gangs, TheMafia, et cetera look great. This may also partly be caused by how Kiryu and the other protagonists you play are genuinely good guys, but that doesn't mean that it extends to the other gangsters, most of the yakuza in the series are the bad kind of gangsters. Kiryu himself is also only in the yakuza in the first game for the prologue mission, and in 0 he's on the run from the yakuza.

* Similarly to ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' and its [[KarmaMeter kill/spare system]], ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel'' features a VideoGameCrueltyPotential mechanic in the form of the Soul Cannon-- a DesperationAttack that involves [[PoweredByAForsakenChild sacrificing one of your party member's lives]]-- and some fans have tried calling out other players or streamers for using it (along with other forms of backseating, as those like Creator/SeanChiplock can attest to). Just like ''Undertale'', however, the game is intended to be played blind to allow the player to learn and make their own decisions at their own pace, while still giving them the opportunity to course-correct in a later playthrough. Due to its WarIsHell theming, ''Fuga'' itself doesn't even [[WhatTheHellPlayer chew out the player for their unfavorable actions]] like ''Undertale'' does, and still [[ThankingTheViewer gives thanks to the player]] for their decisive choices if they miss out on the GoldenEnding. As the game's lead artist and character designer put it, the choice to use the Soul Cannon is [[https://twitter.com/shimipan/status/1438171022600007683 "a sacred decision for you and your children"]] rather than something the player should beat themselves up about.

* Similarly to ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' and its [[KarmaMeter kill/spare system]], ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel'' features a VideoGameCrueltyPotential mechanic in the form of the Soul Cannon-- a DesperationAttack that involves [[PoweredByAForsakenChild sacrificing one of your party member's lives]]-- and some fans have tried calling out other players or streamers for using it (along with other forms of backseating, as those like Creator/SeanChiplock can attest to). Just like ''Undertale'', however, the game is intended to be played blind to allow the player to learn and make their own decisions at their own pace, while still giving them the opportunity to course-correct in a later playthrough. ''Fuga'' itself doesn't even [[WhatTheHellPlayer chew out the player for their unfavorable actions]] like ''Undertale'' does, and still [[ThankingTheViewer gives thanks to the player]] for their decisive choices if they miss out on the GoldenEnding. As the game's lead artist and character designer put it, the choice to use the Soul Cannon is [[https://twitter.com/shimipan/status/1438171022600007683 "a sacred decision for you and your children"]] rather than something the player should beat themselves up about.

Further, it's less that Cerberus was using Shepard for their own ends and more that they were the ''only'' organization with any real resources to recognize the threat of the Reapers, and the importance of Shepard to thwart them. They're also self-aware enough to realize that antagonizing or attempting to control Shepard will only cause problems -- [[PragmaticVillainy either Shepard will not be able to focus on the Collectors if s/he is too worried about the possibility of Cerberus stabbing them in the back, and a mind-controlled Shepard would be far less effective than a free one.]] ''3'' eventually reveals that the entirety of their interactions with Shepard in 2 were, essentially, bending over backward to ensure that Shepard felt as secure as possible, with as much support as possible. Even most of the employees they had working with Shepard had been hand-picked for their relative LACK of loyalty to Cerberus, on the grounds that a support team that Shepard could not trust would have been a useless support team. And of course, the characters who [[ProperlyParanoid saw all this coming]] are the ones that receive fan ire.

* Similarly to ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' and its [[KarmaMeter kill/spare system]], ''VideoGame/FugaMelodiesOfSteel'' features a VideoGameCrueltyPotential mechanic in the form of the Soul Cannon-- a DesperationAttack that involves [[PoweredByAForsakenChild sacrificing one of your party member's lives]]-- and some fans have tried calling out Let's Players or streamers for using it (along with other forms of backseating, as those like Creator/SeanChiplock can attest to). Just like ''Undertale'', however, the game is intended to be played blind to allow the player to learn and make their own decisions at their own pace, while still giving them the opportunity to course-correct in a later playthrough. ''Fuga'' itself doesn't even [[WhatTheHellPlayer chew out the player for their unfavorable actions]] like ''Undertale'' does, and still [[ThankingTheViewer gives thanks to the player]] for their decisive choices if they miss out on the GoldenEnding. As the game's lead artist and character designer put it, the choice to use the Soul Cannon is [[https://twitter.com/shimipan/status/1438171022600007683 "a sacred decision for you and your children"]] rather than something the player should beat themselves up about.

* Even though ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' is incredibly cartoonish and wacky ([[SarcasmMode "Yakuza is a serious crime drama"]] is a {{meme|ticMutation}} in the fandom for a reason), it does have serious moments as well -- and it does ''not'' romanticize [[{{Yakuza}} the Yakuza]] at ''all''. Anyone who gets involved with the yakuza pretty clearly gets their lives messed up. This still doesn't stop some people from assuming that the yakuza are actually the good guys and have a sense of morals to them -- this is similar to a lot of how Mafia and "Organised Crime" movies make gangs, TheMafia, et cetera look great. This may also partly caused by how Kiryu and the other protagonists you play are genuinely good guys, but doesn't mean that it extends to the other gangsters, most of the yakuza in the series are the bad kind of gangsters. Kiryu himself is also only in the yakuza in the first game for the prologue mission, and in 0 he's on the run from the yakuza.

** ''VideoGame/Fallout4'':
*** Frighteningly enough, some people claim that the Brotherhood is the best choice for the Commonwealth in ''Fallout 4''. They're a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything fanatic, isolationist, autocratic cult of personality]] with access to the most raw firepower of any faction. Despite their position in the Capital Wasteland only 10 years earlier, Maxson's Brotherhood of Steel seems to be more interested in killing all Ghouls, Super Mutants, and Synths over helping the people of the Commonwealth. Granted, neither the Railroad nor the Institute helps the Commonwealth as a whole, but they don't really claim to.

*** Certain fans have latched onto AVALANCHE as being similar to a certain notorious real life group recently as AVALANCHE is opposed to Shinra, the government of Midgar. The fact is though is that AVALANCHE is portrayed as no better than Shinra as their actions led to several people being killed. Cloud only helped AVALANCHE because he was a mercenary at the time and was simply getting paid by them. And Barret's supposed goal of saving the planet was only an excuse for his real reason of opposing Shinra which was revenge for the death of his wife. Other party members like Cait Sith, Yuffie, and Cid call out Barret and AVALANCHE for their actions and hypocrisy.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' is huge with this trope due to Marche's actions and motivations in the game. To put it simply, many fans agree to view him as an AntiVillain. The main cast of kids are transported to a fantasy world where their desires and wishes come true (Ritz's hair is naturally red; Donned, Marche's brother, can walk again; and Mewt gets rule over the country as a royal prince whose now revived mother gives him anything he wants). Marche himself does have some fun in the fantasy world, but he knows that living in such a world only makes people run away from their problems rather than dealing with it and he doesn't need anything from the fantasy world to begin with. As Marche tries to find a way to get home, his friends turn against him; Mewt throws a temper tantrum over Marche's progress and demands more laws be made to stop him, even though this would make the citizens more upset, and he eventually puts a bounty om Marche's head. Ritz doesn't support Marche 100% and she eventually fights him simply because she doesn't want to go back home and deal with her natural white hair. Donned doesn't want to go back since it would mean not being able to walk again, which would give him a reasonable excuse, but he also hires clans to stop and possibly kill his own brother. It isn't until Marche finally gets through to them that they all realized what they had done and try to appreciate the things they did have back home that they glossed over. While the main idea behind the plot is somewhat questionable and the execution of the story being a bit too {{Anvilicious}} for most, that is most likely the reason why ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' has a hero who is perfectly happy to have adventures and whose return home actually ''requires'' him to.\\\

** In Kasumi's loyalty mission, a gold statue of Saren is actually seen as a desireable gift amongst the idle rich. It ''is'' a party for crime lords and war profiteers -- exactly the sort of people who'd have no problem with Saren's worser instincts. Shepard for their part is clearly not pleased by the sight of it.

* While [[{{Goth}} Goth Boy]] for the ''VideoGame/MySims'' series has [[EnsembleDarkhorse many fans]], a few fans believe the creators got the goth subculture wrong. Except, if anything, Goth Boy is supposed to be an AffectionateParody. The game has many Spooky Sims, each having their own unique personalities, so saying they got it wrong with just one character isn't fair. Plus the subculture is pretty chill and doesn't have too many requirements, [[AccidentallyCorrectWriting so the games actually got it]] ''[[AccidentallyCorrectWriting right]]''. A lot of the same people gave us [[VideoGame/TheSims the Goth Family]].

* The creators of ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'' worked their hardest to [[DefiedTrope defy]] this in terms of Nazi Germany and fascism more generally, by sending the message that Nazism is both evil and inefficient [[{{Anvilicious}} with the sublety of an atomic bomb]] ([[spoiler:in some ways, [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt literally]]]]). While a small amount of neo-Nazis who either miss or don't care about the message, the creators have done a relatively good job of keeping Nazi apologists away. However, ''The New Order'' stands out for also having a Misaimed Fandom of some more extreme anti-fascist types, who seem to think the message is "defeat Nazism even if it costs the world" ([[spoiler:again, sometimes ''[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt literally]]'']]).

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria'': There's a large number of players who see [[AntiHero Velvet]] as an unstoppable and edgy protagonist along the same lines as [[Manga/{{Berserk}} Guts]]. While Velvet ''is'' these things, like Guts, you aren't supposed to see her a RatedMForManly AntiHero, she's really a young woman broken by how much she's lost, and is so fueled by hate that she is on her way to becoming both a monster, and the thing that took her loved ones away from her. Later in the game, she breaks down into tears about how much [[IJustWantToBeNormal she just wants to be normal]] and misses her family. Despite this, she's commonly depicted by the community as essentially Female Guts.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' is about a blonde-haired blue-eyed hero fighting a monster from a Middle Eastern culture with a big nose. Guess [[ThoseWackyNazis who]] happens to fascinated with it. The irony of this is that the entire series glorifies numerous different races and groups who all come together and aid Link in the fight against evil, including Gorons, Zora, and Gerudo themselves, just to name a few. In fact, the Gerudo are often referred to as incredibly beautiful, skilled, and intelligent, with their only consistent flaw being xenophobia brought on by their dislike of men. More than once (including in their debut in ''Ocarina of Time''), the Gerudo have been helpful, even friendly, and in ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', the character Urbosa is treated as an exceptionally skilled warrior ''and'' mother-figure/older sister in the life of Princess Zelda. The only member of the group that is out-and-out evil is Ganondorf himself.

*** Shadow Kanji takes the form of a CampGay man (and before that, there are a few moments that portray Kanji as AmbiguouslyGay). Because of this, the fandom has a tendency to fixate on Kanji's ambiguous sexuality as the be-all, end-all of his problems, when the game makes it clear that, as much as his sexuality is a ''part'' of his problems with himself, his real problem is with acceptance of his whole personality — especially his [[RealMenWearPink "unmanly" hobbies and interests]] — both from himself and from other people. Essentially, the fans [[{{Flanderization}} flanderize]] him into "the token Gay Guy", when his actual story is how he simply isn't sure how to view himself in relation to Japan's strict viewpoints on gender roles. His Shadow is also touted as if it's absolute truth that he's gay — except that again, Kanji's arc is about how arbitrary gender and sexuality expectations are forced upon someone... and thus UnfortunateImplications the fandom doing it is ''exactly'' what caused his problem to begin with.

*** Shadow Kanji takes the form of a CampGay man (and before that, there are a few moments that portray Kanji as AmbiguouslyGay). Because of this, the fandom has a tendency to fixate on Kanji's ambiguous sexuality as the be-all, end-all of his problems, when the game makes it clear that, as much as his sexuality is a ''part'' of his problems with himself, his real problem is with acceptance of his whole personality -- especially his [[RealMenWearPink "unmanly" hobbies and interests]] -- both from himself and from other people. Essentially, the fans [[{{Flanderization}} flanderize]] him into "the token Gay Guy", when his actual story is how he simply isn't sure how to view himself in relation to Japan's strict viewpoints on gender roles. His Shadow is also touted as if it's absolute truth that he's gay -- except that again, Kanji's arc is about how arbitrary gender and sexuality expectations are forced upon someone... and thus [[UnfortunateImplications the fandom doing it is]] ''exactly'' what caused his problem to begin with.

*** ''WebAnimation/ExtraCredits'' gets on on this -- in their sexual diversity episode, they praise Creator/{{Atlus}} for writing a gay character and praise Kanji because a tough guy with a feminine side who is gay (and comes to terms about it) makes him different than the other tough guys with feminine sides in their eyes. The bit about the acceptance of his personality is rarely mentioned at all, and they even bring up Naoto as an example in this episode but don't go in because they feel it would be too spoilerific.
** Some players complain about Yukiko's decision to give up on a chance to pursue an interior decorating career outside Inaba and instead inherit her family's inn, viewing it as a betrayal of her character arc, in which she becomes more independent. This is missing the point of Yukiko's CharacterDevelopment -- before, she resigned herself to inheriting the inn because she felt as though she had to do it, but by the end of her Social Link, she decides to inherit the inn because she ''wants'' to do it to help her family, the inn's employees and the town. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfBSSYfIvyg This video]] analyzes Yukiko's character and explains why her decision to stay in Inaba makes sense for her.

** Some people criticize the games for being "cliché" and play a lot of the tropes absolutely straight. While the ClicheStorm trope may not be too far from the truth of a few games, part of the reason that the games have a fanbase is that even from the start, the ''Tales'' series has been known as a DeconstructorFleet -- starting almost every game as an absolute ClicheStorm, and then starting to turn around deconstructing all the cliches that they just played straight.
** For ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'', there's quite a sizable amount of people that got turned away from the game for having an unlikable protagonist in Luke. The problem here is that [[IntendedAudienceReaction you're not supposed to like him]] at first. He's a brat, and the game spares no expense in letting you know it, and also showing how much he irks the other characters. Then comes the WhamEpisode -- wherein it's revealed that he is ''actually'' [[YoungerThanTheyLook seven years old]] due to CloningBlues. After that? He goes through CharacterDevelopment at a turning point where almost nobody in the game has any sort of sympathy left for him and resolves to become a better person, losing every one of the traits that many players found bothersome. It's hard to know if a certain character is static or dynamic at first glance, so many players end up missing out on this, and even if you did know, you still have to put up with an intolerable character for some hours.\\\
On the flip side, there are many fans that actually played through the game and heavily sympathize with Asch, and like him more or even state that [[spoiler:he deserved to live more than Luke did]]. The problem is that Luke is intended to be seen as more worthy, as while Asch also got the short end of the stick, he also heavily contrasts Luke by being a static character that does ''not'' undergo character development. He remains an unapologetic asshole through and through, and even some of his more well-intended actions that people may like Asch for are the same things that the game goes at length to explain are not good ideas -- at least when it's Luke attempting it.

*** During the scene where Migal [[spoiler:sacrifices himself to show Dohalim the truth regarding TheConspiracy, and the outcome of the fight with Dohalim that follows]], some players criticized Kisara for her BrokenPedestal reaction towards Dohalim, thinking it was dumb or out-of-character to feel so strongly simply because Dolahim wasn't as perfect as she thought. This misses the point of Kisara's rage and the main issue at play: [[spoiler:it was that Dolahim was essentially trying to deny what Migal was saying and his sacrifice, on top of how Migal - who had been nothing but a loving older brother - had been wrongly accused of being a traitor and Kisara had accepted it because she believed in Dohalim]]. In that moment, seeing her brother [[spoiler:die to prove a point to Dohalim, only for him to just shut down and not only seemingly deny it, but also reveal he was more selfish then he let on]], causes her to react so strongly because she felt the tragedy might've been AllForNothing.
*** When Almeidrea crosses the MoralEventHorizon in ''VideoGame/TalesOfArise'', a lot of people saw Law trying to stop Rinwell from getting her revenge (at that particular point) was ''very'' stupid. Even going to consider Law playing devil's advocate for no apparent reason, or saying he is a hypocrite because he got his revenge on Ganabelt earlier. This misses that once Law had got his revenge against Ganabelt, it [[VengeanceFeelsEmpty left him with an empty feeling]] because he felt like he had no purpose, thus he [[AndThenWhat had no idea what to do with his life]]. This fits into one of the game's themes of continuing a CycleOfRevenge -- especially since Niez [[TheRevolutionWillNotBeCivilized had apparently deposed Almeidrea earlier]] but had done so [[PyrrhicVictory leaving Niez trashed and killing an unknown amount of their own people]]. Admittedly, this is also a case of ValuesDissonance, as in the west, results are oft seen as more important than the means used to achieve them.

*** It gets even worse. [[spoiler: Towards the climax of the game, as tensions rise, there's one last, desperate attempt at a parely between leaders of Mages and Templars. Anders, a renegade Mage from your group, ''blows up the church'' in the city, killing the church leader, who was the main source of reason trying to calm both sides. This ensures that there's no going back and city erupts into open conflict. This even goes beyond the city, as other Mages rise up, seeing no other alternative. Despite all that, you can still find fans who think that Anders did the right thing and consider him a hero.]]