History MotiveDecay / VideoGames

** Neo Team Plasma from ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2''. After the events of the first game, their original motivation of liberating Pokémon from mankind for their own sakes was lost thanks to [[spoiler:their leader revealing his true intentions by the end of the first game]]. Now they behave like an outright terrorist group that only cares about taking over Unova by force instead of following their ideals. A small faction that tries to live up to their original goals still exists, though.

* The Brothers of the Eternal Pyre from ''VideoGame/{{Palworld}} started out as a religious organization dedicated to the [[SacredFlames worship]] of fire in both its purifying and deadly forms. Under Axel, they've devolved into a group of [[BloodKnight bloodthirsty]] {{pyromaniac}}s.

** Many of the members of Team Rainbow Rocket (all of which coming from alternate universes where [[TheBadGuyWins they won]]) seem to be going this way in ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon''. For instance, Archie and Maxie had semi sympathetic motives in ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', but in the new games they're simply part of an evil coalition wanting to rule the world.

* Sigma from ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' started off as wanting to take over the world to create a golden age of Reploids. Over the later games though, he eventually just wants to destroy the entire world, even saying "I will make X AND Zero MINE!". Then in ''X8'', he suddenly switched to a goal of creating a new world populated only by his 'children', the new gen Reploids. And then there's ''Maverick Hunter X'', an MMX reboot series, where Sigma's initial motivation was creating a new era and pushing Reploid potential. More like Motive Roulette than just straight-up decay.
** Without going into too much detail, it's been suggested that this is a result of Sigma's motives not being portrayed with adequate clarity the first time around. The underlying notion of this school of thought is that Creator/{{Capcom}}'s great crime is one of laziness, rather than randomness.
** When you think about it, his original motive was never really discarded. Every plan has him attempting to remove major obstacles in his path so his plans can proceed. In ''X1'', he decided Repoids were superior to humans and belonged at the top, with himself at the very top; in ''X2'', he tried to brainwash Zero to gain a powerful ally and destroy X, a major thorn in his side; in ''Xtreme'' and ''X4'', he tried to destroy the Hunters through subterfuge; ''X3'', ''Xtreme 2'', and ''X7'' were bids for power; ''X5'' was a combination of several former plans (Create large-scale chaos and destruction eliminating/distracting many who'd oppose him, gain a powerful ally in Zero, have him destroy X, proceed from there). His motive in ''X8'' is essentially a revaluation of his original one, that the superior beings belong at the top. Since he views himself as truly superior, only those with a direct connection him, such as Reploids with his DNA, belong in his perfect world.

* Bowser from the ''[[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]]'' series. His original motive to kidnap Princess Peach was because she was the only one who could undo the magic spell he put on the Mushroom Kingdom. The second time is apparently just to use her as bait to lure Mario into Dark Land (or maybe to stop her from mailing him magic items). Before long, he was kidnapping her all the time for a totally predictable reason: trying to get her to marry him.
** It should be noted though, that Bowser is heavily affected by DependingOnTheWriter. Sometimes he'll kidnap Peach as his primary motive, sometimes it'll be [[SkewedPriorities as a bonus to his scheme of taking the Mushroom Kingdom]] and, on a few occasions such as ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'', he's not above attacking her either.

* The Robot Masters in ''VideoGame/MegaMan4'' were only evil because their creator was blackmailed by [[HijackedByGanon Wily]] and they were built for [[SuperPoweredRobotMeterMaids practical purposes]]. In later appearances they are simply evil. To be fair the ''Mega Man'' series was never big on [[ExcusePlot plot]].
** ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' [[strike: filled a plothole]] lampshaded this, with the explanation being that the Soviet government took Dr. Cossack's plans and sold them to Dr. Wily, presumably because he forked over the most cash.
** There remains hope. The FMV game ''VideoGame/SuperAdventureRockman'' goes to great lengths to remind us that the ''Mega Man 1'' Robot Masters were perfectly good without Wily's influence, and ''VideoGame/MegaMan9'' shows heartwarming images of its Robot Masters integrating into everyday life during the credits.
* Similarly, Sigma from ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' started off as wanting to take over the world to create a golden age of Reploids. Over the games though, he eventually seemed to just want to mess with X and Zero, even saying "I will make X AND Zero MINE!". Then in ''X8'', he suddenly switched to a goal of creating a new world populated only by his 'children', the new gen Reploids. And then there's ''Maverick Hunter X'', an MMX reboot series, where Sigma's initial motivation was creating a new era and pushing Reploid potential. More like Motive Roulette than just straight-up decay.

* Neo Team Plasma from ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2''. After the events of the first game, their original motivation of liberating Pokémon from mankind for their own sakes was lost thanks to [[spoiler:their leader revealing his true intentions by the end of the first game]]. Now they behave like an outright terrorist group that only cares about taking over Unova by force instead of following their ideals. A small faction that tries to live up to their original goals still exists, though.

* Meta Knight first appeared in ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'' as a WorthyOpponent to Kirby who took part in King Dedede's scheme [[spoiler:to protect the Star Rod from Nightmare, knowing the Meta-knights would be a valuable asset]] and thus encountered the pink puffball in various LetsYouAndHimFight. Since then, he appeared as a WellIntentionedExtremist dedicated to ending Dream Land's lazy lifestyle, got caught up in another LetsYouAndHimFight, did his best to help Kirby save another world, and appeared as a BloodKnight protagonist.
* Featured in an in-game way in ''Videogame/{{Fallout 3}}''. In the Hubris Comics building (a parody of Marvel/DC), you can find a letter to the editor from an irate fan complaining about how the new writer of Grognak the Barbarian has reduced the villainess "the [=AntAgonizer=]" from a complex, sympathetic antagonist to a 2-dimension cardboard villain. Later in the game, you can even use the argument to persuade a woman who has based her entire persona on the fiction Antagonizer character to give up her life of supervillainy.
* This happens to the west-most sects of the Brotherhood of Steel by the time ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' rolls around; their motive of redeeming the wasteland has decayed into basically being thugs with power armor that "confiscate" any high-tech pre-war goodies that people outside the Brotherhood find. A maverick scribe Veronica has her companion quest center around her futile effort to avert this.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' has Ganondorf's villainy fluctuate this way. He was revealed in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' to have begun his efforts to conquer Hyrule because he wanted to make a better life for himself and his people by giving them a home that wasn't as harsh and uninhabitable as the Gerudo Desert. Unfortunately, as ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' implies, [[spoiler: he's been latched onto as the host and implement of an ancient demon's death-curse]], resulting in a rapid decay of his motives from "a better home for my people" down to "OmnicidalManiac" in a matter of months whenever he tries - judging from what we see, the decay took place entirely during or before his first appearance in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', it's just that Link (and thus the player) don't get to learn what he started out wanting until ''Wind Waker''.

* Giygas in ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings'' was trying to destroy Earth because [[spoiler:Ninten's grandfather George stole the PSI power from his people and feared that the earthlings may use it against them]]. In ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'', he now wants to bring all existence to eternal darkness. The creator handwaved that he went mad after the events of the first game, and the game confirms this was due to wielding vast cosmic power.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfDestiny'': In the original game, Miktran/Kronos wanted to use Belcrant to destroy the Er'thers and revive the Aetherian people with clones once that had been achieved, believing the Er'thers had slaughtered his people after winning the war. In the remake, his motive isn't nearly as well-explained and he comes across as wanted to laser the planet ForTheEvulz. He also gained even more hatred for the Er'ther population.
* ''VideoGame/FarCry2'' has an example where it happens with the protagonist. You are initially tasked to take out the Jackal, but get caught up in the Civil War while trying to obtain information from both factions. By the time the player catches up with the Jackal, they decide to join forces in order to take out the leadership of the UFLL, the APR and the Private Military Contractors working for both of them and help civilians flee the country.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'', Medeus the Earth Dragon king was essentially a military dictator who just happened to be a dragon, who wanted to subjugate the world for power and party as revenge for how humans used to oppress the dragons. By the time of his resurrection in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', he's become a [[DarkIsEvil Shadow Dragon]] and a straight-up OmnicidalManiac with little characterization. Though since the series establishes that dragons who live too long without sealing their powers eventually go mad, it's possible there's an in-universe justification for this. From the same games, Gharnef was originally TheStarscream to Medeus, whose main goal was to gather the legendary weapons, [[BatmanGambit trust Marth to kill off his competition]] and take over himself. By ''Mystery'', he's Medeus' loyal [[TheDragon Dragon]] who just wants to resurrect him for, again, OmnicidalManiac reasons. It's possible CameBackWrong via the Darksphere is to blame here.
* Nergal in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' is a justified In-Universe example. Play through most of the main storyline, and he comes across as a GenericDoomsdayVillain who wants to open the Dragon's Gate and release the dragons on the world ForTheEvulz. Hidden sidequests only available in [[AnotherSideAnotherStory Hector Mode]] reveal that he was once [[spoiler: a kind, loving father who was [[InterspeciesRomance married to a dragon]]. When his wife was captured by enemy forces, he sent [[HalfHumanHybrid their two children]] through the Dragon's Gate for their safety while he went to rescue her but was too late to save her. Afterward, he sought to reopen the Dragon's Gate to be reunited with his children.]] He studied Dark Magic extensively to find a way to do this, which unfortunately [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity slowly eroded his mind]] to the point where he's left with an all-consuming desire to open Dragon's Gate at any cost without remembering ''why''. It's also heavily implied that he's [[spoiler: Nils and Ninian]]'s father, which makes the fact that he [[spoiler:uses them as pawns in his schemes, and even causes Eliwood to unwittingly kill Ninian, without any qualms]] very sad in retrospect.
* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''[='s=] [[spoiler:Gangrel]] turns out to be this if you recruit him [[spoiler:in his [=SpotPass=] chapter]]. [[spoiler:Gangrel heard of [[TheConqueror Walhart]]'s conquest of Valm, which worried him. Hoping to counter Walhart's inevitable war against the continent of Ylisse, he sought to unite the three countries of Ylisse, Plegia, and Ferox under his own banner, but the thrill of power and his self-imposed rush to start his unification plan twisted Gangrel's mind, turning him into the war-hungry {{sadist}} we see in the main story.]] He expresses regret about this to both the male Avatar in their support conversations and to [[spoiler:Emmeryn in their [[DownloadableContent Hot Spring Scramble]] conversations together]].
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'':
** Dimitri [[spoiler:loses the plot in all routes save Crimson Flower and has to be reminded there's something worth living for on his own route, in contrast to his KnightInShiningArmor ideals.]]
** Rhea [[spoiler:goes insane, either through grief and betrayal in Crimson Flower or overuse of her powers in Silver Snow. The Immaculate One has to be incapacitated by force, although she can live to tell the tale in Silver Snow.]]

* [[PlayingWithATrope Used positively]] in ''VideoGame/TalesOfBerseria''. Velvet's one goal is {{Revenge}}, with "Kill Artorias" bolted to the top of her to-do list and everything else either being progress toward that goal or utterly ignored. She will ruthlessly do anything, sacrifice anyone to kill the Shepherd. [[spoiler:After Innominat tries to make her give in to despair by making her violent acts appear AllForNothing, she reconciles it all by changing her view of things. She's still determined to kill Artorias, but now because he needs to be stopped.]]
* ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda:'' Sloane Kelly, leader of the outcasts and exiles from the Initiative, who left because she disagreed with Director Tann's shabby treatment of the krogan. When they wound up on Kadara, she was determined to at least try and make a go of the place. Then it turned out the water was pure poison to the touch, and she gave up on that. By the time Ryder gets there, she's gone from this to a short-tempered, fee-collecting, drug-dealing tyrant who throws people who annoy her out into the wasteland to die.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' has Ganondorf's villainy fluctuate this way. He was revealed in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' to have begun his efforts to conquer Hyrule because he wanted to make a better life for his people by giving them a home that wasn't as harsh and uninhabitable as the Gerudo Desert. Unfortunately, as ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' implies, [[spoiler: he's been latched onto as the host and implement of an ancient demon's death-curse]], resulting in a rapid decay of his motives from "a better home for my people" down to "OmnicidalManiac" in a matter of months whenever he tries - judging from what we see, the decay took place entirely during or before his first appearance in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', it's just that Link (and thus the player) don't get to learn what he started out wanting until ''Wind Waker''.

* Similarlu, Sigma from ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' started off as wanting to take over the world to create a golden age of Reploids. Over the games though, he eventually seemed to just want to mess with X and Zero, even saying "I will make X AND Zero MINE!". Then in ''X8'', he suddenly switched to a goal of creating a new world populated only by his 'children', the new gen Reploids. And then there's ''Maverick Hunter X'', an MMX reboot series, where Sigma's initial motivation was creating a new era and pushing Reploid potential. More like Motive Roulette than just straight-up decay.

* Giygas in the original ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' game was trying to destroy Earth because [[spoiler:Ninten's grandfather George stole the PSI power from his people and feared that the earthlings may use it against them]]. In ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'', he now wants to bring all existence to eternal darkness. The creator handwaved that he went mad after the events of the first game, and the game confirms this was due to wielding vast cosmic power.

* This can happen to almost all the faction leaders in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'':
** Edelgard [[spoiler:completely forgets her cold logic and [[WellIntentionedExtremist noble but extreme]] plans of social reform in Azure Moon, instead committing all her power to killing Dimitri for perceived slights.]]

** Claude [[spoiler:is an exception, as he had no vested interest in the conflict and will cut his losses and flee to Almyra when the writing's on the wall.]]

** Ironically, [[spoiler:Those Who Slither In The Dark are the only ones immune to this. Most routes completely derail their plans largely by accident but when you know what their goals are, it's evident they're always patiently chipping away at them until confronted in Verdant Wind.]]

** Edelgard [[spoiler:completely forgets her cold logic and [[WellIntentionedExtremist noble but extreme]] plans of social reform in Azure Moon, instead committing all her power to killing Dimitri for perceived sleights.]]
** Dimitri [[spoiler:loses the plot in his own route and has to be reminded there's something worth living for, in contrast to his KnightInShiningArmor ideals.]]

** Rhea [[spoiler:goes insane, either through grief and betrayal in Crimson Flower or overuse of her powers in Silver Snow. Either way, The Immaculate One has to be put down.]]

* ''Franchise/RatchetAndClank'': Dr. Nefarious's original motive was FantasticRacism; as a robotic MadScientist, he desired to destroy organic life and [[RobotWar conquer the galaxy in the name of robotkind]]. As the series progressed and he was [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain continuously beaten]] by Ratchet and Clank, his goal to lead his fellow robots to a bright future increasingly fell to the wayside in favor of [[{{Archenemy}} trying to destroy them specifically]] (admittedly so he can conquer the universe ''without'' them in his way). This is lampshaded in ''[[VideoGame/RatchetAndClankRiftApart Rift Apart]]'', when Nefarious meets his alternate universe counterpart [[AlternateUniverseReedRichardsIsAwesome Emperor Nefarious]], who was never beaten by Ratchet and Clank and resultantly never lost sight of his real goal. This, combined with just being more competent in general, led to him [[TheBadGuyWins actually succeeding in conquering his own reality]], and he is [[OtherMeAnnoysMe simultaneously bemused and mortified to meet his mainline counterpart]].

* From the beginning of the ''VideoGame/CrashBandicoot'' series, [[BigBad Doctor Neo Cortex]] was motivated to TakeOverTheWorld by a combination of TheyCalledMeMad and [[TheNapoleon abuse related to his short stature]]. From ''Videogame/CrashBandicoot3Warped'' onward, his schemes are mostly carried out [[DemotedToDragon as a service to his boss Uka Uka]]. At other times, he either specifically attempts to get rid of Crash ([[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] in ''Crash Nitro Kart'' when Cortex ponders how he can defeat the Bandicoots before recalling his original world domination goal) or does what he does ForTheEvulz.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'', Medeus the Earth Dragon king was essentially a military dictator who just happened to be a dragon, who wanted to subjugate the world for power and party as revenge for how humans used to oppress the dragons. By the time of his resurrection in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', he's become a [[DarkIsEvil Shadow Dragon]] and a straight-up OmnicidalManiac with little characterization. In any later games where he's referenced, he's treated as something akin to an UltimateEvil. Though since the series establishes that dragons who live too long without sealing their powers eventually go mad, it's possible there's an in-universe justification for this. From the same games, Gharnef was originally TheStarscream to Medeus, whose main goal was to gather the legendary weapons, [[BatmanGambit trust Marth to kill off his competition]] and take over himself. By ''Mystery'', he's Medeus' loyal [[TheDragon Dragon]] who just wants to resurrect him for, again, OmnicidalManiac reasons. It's possible CameBackWrong via the Darksphere is to blame here.

* Bowser from the [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario series]]. His original motive to kidnap Princess Peach was because she was the only one who could undo the magic spell he put on the Mushroom Kingdom. The second time is apparently just to use her as bait to lure Mario into Dark Land (or maybe to stop her from mailing him magic items). Before long, he was kidnapping her all the time for a totally predictable reason: trying to get her to marry him.

* In ''Videogame/DevilMayCry'', Lady continued on her path as a Devil Hunter at the end of the third game (rather than go back to a regular life) because she had "a job to do that's far from done, which is to eliminate every last demon", to ensure that monsters like her father never came about again. Seems heroic, right? Too bad you won't be able to tell. The animated series has her saying that she stays with the job, not out of a sense of heroics or a greater goal, but because she has an insatiable need to kill things. That's that.

* Similarlu, Sigma from ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' started off as wanting to take over the world to create a golden age of Reploids. Over the games though, he eventually seemed to just want to mess with X and Zero, even saying "I will make X AND Zero MINE!". Then in X8, he suddenly switched to a goal of creating a new world populated only by his 'children', the new gen Reploids. And then there's ''Maverick Hunter X'', an MMX reboot series, where Sigma's initial motivation was creating a new era and pushing Reploid potential. More like Motive Roulette than just straight-up decay.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' this trend has become somewhat of a joke fan community. An increasing number of villains appearing in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' were [[FallenHero once heroes]] or otherwise [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-intentioned characters]] who have suffered from MotiveDecay, most often {{Hand Wave}}d with the "insanity" excuse. How else are you going to find new storyline bosses?

** Sephiroth in ''Videogame/FinalFantasyVII'' initially turns evil after [[GoMadFromTheRevelation going mad from the (partly false) revelation]] about his origins and deciding to take revenge on humanity on behalf of his mother whom he believes to be a Cetra. After he falls into the Lifestream and floats there for a few years, he returns having decided that it's actually all right that his "mother" is an EldritchAbomination (the one who nearly wiped out the Cetra), and decides to absorb TheLifestream to [[AGodAmI become a god]] and acquire ultimate power. Then [[TheHero Cloud]] defeated him for a second time. In almost every spin-off since Sephiroth is little more than Cloud's archrival, obsessed with defeating him but not before {{MindScrew}}ing him by pointing out how easily he can push Cloud's buttons. He did have a new plot to take over the world in ''[[Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren Advent Children]]'', but he set it aside in the climax for a duel with Cloud and his plan failed when Cloud beat him. [[AllThereInTheManual The accompanying]] novellas reveal he didn't even ''have'' to recreate a physical body for himself to see his plan succeed, he ''chose'' to do it just to rub his rebirth in Cloud's face. At this point Sephiroth is little more than the personification of EvilIsCool, striking iconic poses and dropping quotable one-liners about despair before going off to duel Cloud again. The novellas justify his obsession with Cloud by explaining that his hatred was the only thing that allowed Sephiroth to maintain his individuality in the Lifestream. Sephiroth kept his ego from being absorbed by the Lifestream by thinking really hard about how much he wanted to beat the crap out of Cloud.

** By the time of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', set at minimum ten ''thousand'' years after any previous game, Ganon (now called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Calamity Ganon]]) has become little more than a walking, mindless natural disaster with no sign of the human Ganondorf left, and a goal to destroy the world rather than conquer it. In the final battle he even gives up on reincarnation just to make sure Link dies.

* Giygas in the original ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' was trying to destroy Earth because [[spoiler:Ninten's grandfather George stole the PSI power from his people and feared that the earthlings may use it against them]]. In ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'', he now wants to bring all existence to eternal darkness. The creator handwaved that he went mad after the events of the first game, and the game confirms this was due to wielding vast cosmic power.

* Nergal in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' is a justified In-Universe example. Play through most of the main storyline, and he comes across as a GenericDoomsdayVillain who wants to open the Dragon's Gate and release the dragons on the world ForTheEvulz. Hidden sidequests only available in [[AnotherSideAnotherStory Hector Mode]] reveal that he was once [[spoiler: a kind, loving father who was [[InterspeciesRomance married to a dragon]]. When his wife was captured by enemy forces, he sent [[HalfHumanHybrid their two children through the Dragon's Gate for their safety while he went to rescue her but was too late to save her. Afterward, he sought to reopen the Dragon's Gate to be reunited with his children.]] He studied Dark Magic extensively to find a way to do this, which unfortunately [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity slowly eroded his mind]] to the point where he's left with an all-consuming desire to open Dragon's Gate at any cost without remembering ''why''. It's also heavily implied that he's [[spoiler: Nils and Ninian]]'s father, which makes the fact that he [[spoiler:uses them as pawns in his schemes, and even causes Eliwood to unwittingly kill Ninian, without any qualms]] very sad in retrospect.

* Nergal in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' is a justified In-Universe example. Play through most of the main storyline, and he comes across as a GenericDoomsdayVillain who wants to open the Dragon's Gate and release the dragons on the world ForTheEvulz. Hidden sidequests only available in [[AnotherSideAnotherStory Hector Mode]] reveal that he was once [[spoiler: a kind, loving father who was [[InterspeciesRomance married to a dragon]]. When his wife vanished, he sought to open to Dragon's Gate to find her again.]] He studied Dark Magic extensively to find a way to do this, which unfortunately [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity slowly eroded his mind]] to the point where he's left with an all-consuming desire to open Dragon's Gate at any cost without remembering ''why''. It's also heavily implied that he's [[spoiler: Nils and Ninian]]'s father, which makes the fact that he [[spoiler:uses them as pawns in his schemes, and even causes Eliwood to unwittingly kill Ninian, without any qualms]] very sad in retrospect.

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'', Medus the Earth Dragon king was essentially a military dictator who just happened to be a dragon, who wanted to subjugate the world for power and party as revenge for how humans used to oppress the dragons. By the time of his resurrection in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', he's become a [[DarkIsEvil Shadow Dragon]] and a straight-up OmnicidalManiac with little characterization. In any later games where he's referenced, he's treated as something akin to an UltimateEvil. Though since the series establishes that dragons who live too long without sealing their powers eventually go mad, it's possible there's an in-universe justification for this. From the same games, Gharnef was originally TheStarscream to Medeus, whose main goal was to gather the legendary weapons, [[BatmanGambit trust Marth to kill off his competition]] and take over himself. By ''Mystery'', he's Medeus' loyal [[TheDragon Dragon]] who just wants to resurrect him for, again, OmnicidalManiac reasons. It's possible CameBackWrong via the Darksphere is to blame here.
* Nergal in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' is a justified In-Universe example. Play through most of the main storyline, and he comes across as a GenericDoomsdayVillain who wants to open the Dragon's Gate and release the dragons on the world ForTheEvulz. Hidden sidequests only available in [[AnotherSideAnotherStory Hector Mode]] reveal that he was once [[spoiler: a kind, loving father who was [[InterspeciesRomance married to a dragon]]. When his wife vanished, he sought to open to Dragon's Gate to find her again.]] He studied Dark Magic extensively to find a way to do this, which unfortunately [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity slowly eroded his mind]] to the point where he's left with an all-consuming desire to open Dragon's Gate at any cost without remembering ''why''. It's also heavily implied that he's [[spoiler: Nils and Ninian]]'s father, which makes the fact that he [[spoiler: uses them as pawns in his schemes, and even forces Eliwood to kill Ninian, without any qualms]] very sad in retrospect.

** Many of the members of Team Rainbow Rocket seem to be going this way in ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon''. For instance, Archie and Maxie had semi sympathetic motives in ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', but in the new games they're simply part of an evil coalition wanting to rule the world.
* Sigma from ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' started off as wanting to take over the world to create a golden age of Reploids. Over the games though, he eventually seemed to just want to mess with X and Zero, even saying "I will make X AND Zero MINE!". Then in X8, he suddenly switched to a goal of creating a new world populated only by his 'children', the new gen Reploids. And then there's ''Maverick Hunter X'', an MMX reboot series, where Sigma's initial motivation was creating a new era and pushing Reploid potential. More like Motive Roulette than just straight-up decay.
** Without going into too much detail, it's been suggested that this is a result of Sigma's motives not being portrayed with adequate clarity the first time around. The underlying notion of this school of thought is that Creator/{{Capcom}}'s great crime is one of laziness, rather than randomness.
** When you think about it, his original motive was never really discarded. Every plan has him attempting to remove major obstacles in his path so his plans can proceed. In X1, he decided Repoids were superior to humans and belonged at the top, with himself at the very top. In X2, he tried to brainwash Zero to gain a powerful ally and destroy X, a major thorn in his side. in Xtreme and X4 he tried to destroy the Hunters through subterfuge, X3, Xtreme 2, and X7 were bids for power, X5 was a combination of several former plans,(Create large-scale chaos and destruction eliminating/distracting many who'd oppose him, gain a powerful ally in Zero, have him destroy X, proceed from there.) His motive in X8 is essentially a revaluation of his original one, that the superior beings belong at the top. Since he views himself as truly superior, only those with a direct connection him, such as Reploids with his DNA, belong in his perfect world.

-->'''Kefka''': Uh, what is it that you want?

* Meta Knight first appeared in ''[[VideoGame/{{Kirby}} Kirby's Adventure]]'' as a WorthyOpponent who got caught up in King Dedede's self-induced LetsYouAndHimFight with Kirby. Since then, he's appeared as a WorthyOpponent, got caught up in another LetsYouAndHimFight, appeared as a WellIntentionedExtremist dedicated to ending Dream Land's lazy lifestyle, and appeared as a BloodKnight protagonist.

* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': Ganondorf was revealed in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' to have begun his efforts to conquer Hyrule because he wanted to make a better life for his people by giving them a home that wasn't as harsh and uninhabitable as the Gerudo Desert. Unfortunately, as ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' implies, [[spoiler: he's been latched onto as the host and implement of an ancient demon's death-curse]], resulting in a rapid decay of his motives from "a better home for my people" down to "OmnicidalManiac" in a matter of months whenever he tries - judging from what we see, the decay took place entirely during or before his first appearance in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', it's just that Link (and thus the player) don't get to learn what he started out wanting until ''Wind Waker''.

* Giygas in the original ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' was trying to destroy Earth because [[spoiler: Ninten's grandfather George stole the PSI power from his people and feared that the earthlings may use it against them]]. In ''VideoGame/{{Earthbound}}'', he now wants to bring all existence to eternal darkness. The creator handwaved that he went mad after the events of the first game.