History ProperlyParanoid / VideoGames

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'', Balmora Mages Guild Stewardess Ranis Athrys has a major grudge against the [[EvilSorcerer Telvanni]], [[spoiler:likely due to them having [[MyParentsAreDead killed her parents]]]], and believes that they have spies within the Guild. [[spoiler:As a later quest reveals, she is absolutely right about that.]]

* Takumi in ''VisualNovel/ChaosHead'' is correct about a surprisingly large amount of his paranoid thoughts, though not all of them. [[spoiler:Like that Yua had ulterior motives for being nice to him, some invisible godlike presence is watching him, or that some sort of conspiracy surrounding Shogun is targeting him. Even about the idea that someone always seems to be watching him and that he is the avatar of someone else the same way Knight-Hart is his own in ESO.]]

* Tsugumi of ''VisualNovel/{{Ever17}}'' is convinced the entire disaster is some sort of setup. Obviously since it's on this page, she's right. [[spoiler:Tsugumi and Sora's routes have Lieblich trying to cover up that they just released Tief Blau onto the world by shutting in any survivors, and You and Sara's routes have the disaster being entirely a GambitRoulette based on a real event that Tsugumi was involved in before.]]

* Buggs from ''VideoGame/{{Kindergarten}}'' carries around a knife out of fear of authority figures and tells the protagonist about how he's scared of being expelled. Considering that he's on his third strike and that the principal's idea of expulsion involves shooting the child in question in the head, he's right to be worried.

* In Harebrained Schemes' ''VideoGame/{{Battletech}}'', the Marauders' navigation officer Sumire Meyer is extremely vary around all signs of LostTechnology, repeatedly asking that the crew avoid getting involved in hunts for it as it will inevitably get the big players of the Inner Sphere involved on the sheer off-chance that there's any actual [=LosTech=] to be found. [[spoiler:Not only is Sumire absolutely correct in-game, as a hunt for an SLDF cache causes the Taurian Concordat to get involved in the civil war on the other side ([[IWarnedYou Sumire is more resigned than gleeful at being proven right]]), but in the lore [[ImpartialPurposeDrivenFaction ComStar]] is actively hunting down and confiscating any [=LosTech=] they can find as part of [[MedievalStasis Operation Holy Shroud]], and frequently engage in KilledToUpholdTheMasquerade shenanigans.]]

* ''VideoGame/MentalOmega'': In the Allied Campaign of the GameMod the [[{{Teleportation}} Chrono]] [[RetGone Legionnaire]] cannot be trained as a normal unit and instead are given in some Act 2 missions as EliteMooks the player must conserve carefully, with the justification that their creator [[TheSmartGuy Siegfried]] is worried about the Chrono Backpack technology falling their enemies' hands should too many Legionnaires be freely trained. Unfortunately, he's ''entirely'' right to be paranoid, since this is ''exactly'' what happens when [[spoiler:Epsilon mind-controls one of them, allowing them to steal a Chrono Backpack and re-calibrate it for [[CuteAndPsycho Libra's]] use...which also ruins the Allies' plans in the endgame since her possession of the backpack allows her to NoSell the [[TimeManipulation Paradox]] [[TacticalSuperweaponUnit Engine's]] [[TimeStandsStill Time Freeze]] and ward off the Allies' attacks on Epsilon's HQ where they'd otherwise be helpless to resist.]]

* ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'': The Super Nerd at the end of Mt. Moon (called Miguel in later generations) who is very protective of his fossils will assume you're a plainclothes Rocket. A bit later on, you'll find a plainclothes Rocket at the end of the Nugget Bridge, so Miguel clearly wasn't about to take any chances.

* Many players of ''VideoGame/JumpStartAdventures4thGradeHauntedIsland'' have confessed to warping around the island via the [[WarpWhistle map]]. Not just because it's faster, but because if you walk around the island, you might get jumped by Repsac. Answer his question wrong, he'll deplete your health -- and if you lose enough, you get warped into the labyrinth... and he can still jump you ''inside'' the labyrinth. Use the WarpWhistle? He can't get you.

* ''VideoGame/JumpStartAdventures4thGradeHauntedIsland'' players frequently used the [[WarpWhistle map]] to warp around the island. Not just because it's faster, but because if you walk around the island, you might get jumped by Repsac. Answer his question wrong, he'll steal your health -- and lose enough you get warped into the labyrinth... and he can still jump you ''inside'' the labyrinth. Use the WarpWhistle? He can't get you.

** Hubert is the poor bastard whose job it is to protect the ninth crown heir of the Adrestian Empire from assassins. We say "ninth", because everyone before her in the line of succession has been brutally murdered. So [[spoiler:Hubert's willingness to threaten literally everyone she talks to and subvert her more merciful commands]] kind of makes sense. [[GreyAndGreyMorality Kind of.]] The story doesn't judge either way.
** Seteth strongly distrusts [[PlayerCharacter Byleth]] at first, strenuously objecting to Rhea's decision to make them a teacher at the Academy and later entrust the [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Sword of the Creator]] to someone with a largely unknown history whose motives cannot be vouched for. Not an unreasonable position, all things considered, [[spoiler:and should you take the Crimson Flower route his fears are borne out as you side with Edelgard to destroy the Church]].

** From the very beginning of the series, the '''very well-intentioned''' warning informs of any who may stumble upon X's stasis pod that, while X himself contains an unlimited amount of potential, the abilities of having feelings, thoughts and free will much like a human being, can be '''incredibly dangerous''' if used for unjust/inhumane purposes and will be utterly unstoppable by any force on Earth and relays to whomever finds X's stasis pod that he will require at least thirty years of testing his reliability in countless scenarios before being able to be released so that X knows enough to truly tell right from wrong and tells whoever finds X to not disturb the capsule until that appointed time has passed as he is already an elderly old man and has no one else to continue his work in his stead. [[spoiler:This warning gets completely ignored in an attempt to recreate the legendary Mega Man X (after he [[HeroicSacrifice gave his life to avert another evil from occurring]]) from the scientist Ciel's efforts, which [[GoneHorriblyWrong turned out VERY wrong]] and made the worst case scenario that the aforementioned warning from Professor Light come true in the form of [[EvilCounterpart Copy X]]. [[SarcasmMode Nice going there, Ciel...]]]]

* In ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'', the first hint that the player needs to develop this mindset if he/she wants to get through this game is Delicious Fruit that falls ''up'' and kills you. The ''only'' thing in this game that is perfectly safe is water.

** From the very beginning of the series, the '''very well-intentioned''' warning informs of any who may stumble upon X's stasis pod that, while X himself contains an unlimited amount of potential, the abilities of having feelings, thoughts and free will much like a human being, can be '''incredibly dangerous''' if used for unjust/inhumane purposes and will be utterly unstoppable by any force on Earth and relays to whomever finds X's stasis pod that he will require at least thirty years of testing his reliability in countless scenarios before being able to be released so that X knows enough to truly tell right from wrong and tells whoever finds X to not disturb the capsule until that appointed time has passed as he is already an elderly old man and has no one else to continue his work in his stead. [[spoiler:This warning gets completely ignored in an attempt to recreate the legendary Mega Man X (after he [[HeroicSacrifice gave his life to avert another evil from occurring]]) from the scientist Ciel's efforts, which [[GoneHorriblyWrong turned out VERY wrong]] and made the worst case scenario that the aforementioned warning from Professor Light come true in the form of [[EvilCounterpart Copy X]]. [[SarcasmMode Nice work there Ciel.]]]]

** From the very beginning of the series, the '''very well-intentioned''' warning informs of any who may stumble upon X's stasis pod that, while X himself contains an unlimited amount of potential, the abilities of having feelings, thoughts and free will much like a human being, can be '''incredibly dangerous''' if used for unjust/inhumane purposes and will be utterly unstoppable by any force on Earth and relays to whomever finds X's stasis pod that he will require at least thirty years of testing his reliability in countless scenarios before being able to be released so that X knows enough to truly tell right from wrong and tells whoever finds X to not disturb the capsule until that appointed time has passed. [[spoiler:This warning gets completely ignored in an attempt to recreate the legendary Mega Man X (after he [[HeroicSacrifice gave his life to avert another evil from occurring]]) from the scientist Ciel's efforts, which [[GoneHorriblyWrong turned out VERY wrong]] and made the worst case scenario that the aforementioned warning from Professor Light come true in the form of [[EvilCounterpart Copy X]]. [[SarcasmMode Nice work there Ciel.]]]]

** From the very beginning of the series, the '''very well-intentioned''' warning informs of any who may stumble upon X's stasis pod that, while X himself contains an unlimited amount of potential, the abilities of having feelings, thoughts and free will much like a human being, can be '''incredibly dangerous''' if used for unjust/inhumane purposes and will be utterly unstoppable by any force on Earth and relays to whomever finds X's stasis pod that he will require at least thirty years of testing his reliability in countless scenarios before being able to be released so that X knows enough to truly tell right from wrong and tells whoever finds X to not disturb the capsule until that appointed time has passed. This warning gets [[spoiler: completely ignored in an attempt to recreate the legendary Mega Man X (after he [[HeroicSacrifice gave his life to avert another evil from occurring]]) from the scientist Ciel's efforts, which [[GoneHorriblyWrong turned out VERY wrong]] and made the worst case scenario that the aforementioned warning from Professor Light come true in the form of [[EvilCounterpart Copy X]]. [[SarcasmMode Nice work there Ciel.]]]]

* ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'':
** [[spoiler:Peach Wilkins. A fisherman and smuggler who has holed himself up in Fontaine Fisheries, he believes that you are just a troublesome agent of his supposedly dead boss Frank Fontaine, whom he currently has a ''very'' low opinion of (justifiably, Fontaine was a crook and a slimeball). He's right. You just don't know it at the time, as Fontaine is masquerading as the sympathetic Irishman Atlas.]]
** Starting at Fort Frolic, the Properly Paranoid player will develop a habit of shooting any frozen splicers, statues, or suspicious corpses he comes across. Because you never know when one of them might spring to life and assassinate you.

* In {{Shoot Em Up}}s, a common strategy amongst players is to fire {{Smart Bomb}}s at even the slightest hint of danger of losing a life. Since dying traditionally resets the player's bomb stock back to 3, rendering any bombs left over prior to death wasted, it's generally accepted that it's better to waste bombs over overestimated danger than to waste lives over overestimated safety.

** Hubert is the poor bastard whose job it is to protect the tenth crown heir of the Adrestian Empire from assassins. We say "tenth", because everyone before her in the line of succession has been brutally murdered. So [[spoiler:Hubert's willingness to threaten literally everyone she talks to and subvert her more merciful commands]] kind of makes sense. [[GreyAndGreyMorality Kind of.]] The story doesn't judge either way.

** After the birth of the main character Byleth, their father Jeralt became fearful of the Archbishop Rhea, due to the facts that Byleth's mother had died giving birth and that Byleth never cried once as a baby, being completely silent and missing a heartbeat despite seeming perfectly healthy. No longer trusting the church he served, he faked both his and Byleth's deaths and moved around the continent to avoid being found. While Byleth's condition wasn't Rhea's fault, [[spoiler:as Byleth was actually stillborn, causing their mother to get Rhea to transplant the crest stone in her heart to act as Byleth's own, resulting in Byleth's TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour and their mother's death, Rhea did plan on taking advantage of the situation by attempting to use Byleth as a vessel to resurrect Sothis]], justifying Jeralt's fears.