History TheSociopath / VideoGames

* ''[[VideoGame/ShadowrunReturns Shadowrun]]: Hong Kong'' has Racter, a MadScientist who was diagnosed as this at age 8. In game terms, this is what allows him [[spoiler: to have his entire lower-half be robotic -- CyberneticsEatYourSoul simply doesn't apply to him.]] That said, he also expresses MoralSociopathy, because he believes that his research into his condition and the aforementioned spoiler could vastly improve humanity's lot.

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'': The Purple Man, otherwise known as William Afton, is a sadistic SerialKiller who had [[WouldHurtAChild killed at least eleven children]] whose [[HauntedTechnology souls would go on to possess the animatronics]]. Mr. Afton ticks off all the boxes: LackOfEmpathy; he doesn't care who he kills, and even his friends and family are at most pawns to be used (with the ''possible'' exception of [[DaddysLittleVillain his daughter Elizabeth]]). Lying manipulator; his intro speech in ''Sister Location'' is ''really'' well composed, but also doesn't address the question asked of him at all. Constant need for stimulation; the only reason that seems to be given why he kills children is that [[ForTheEvulz he likes it and he's able to]]. [[DitzyGenius Brilliant but also lacking foresight]]; while he is behind the creation of the Funtime animatronics and has in-depth knowledge on the springlock suits, he displays a severe lack of forward-thinking: he decides to climb inside the springlock suit even when the condition it's in makes it highly likely to kill him, and '''knows''' that the [[VideoGame/FreddyFazbearsPizzeriaSimulator pizzeria in the sixth game]] isn't what it seems but can't resist the opportunity to kill more kids. Both of these examples lead to his death. He seems to be of the low-functioning type since he has a single-minded obsession with killing people, even after [[CameBackWrong being turned into Springtrap]].

* Arcturus Mengsk from ''VideoGame/StarCraft''. Reviewing his key personality traits is like reading through a sociopath diagnostic checklist: superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self, pathological lying, a penchant for manipulating others to achieve his own ends, an absolutely '''''astonishing''''' lack of empathy or remorse for any of his actions, and an insatiable lust for power and dominance that drives his every move. He unleashed the Zerg on a planet populated by ''billions'' of people just to overthrow a few hundred individuals at most and establish himself as the preeminent political figure among the Terrans of the Koprulu sector. He has no qualms whatsoever about sacrificing those closest to him if it suits his purposes.

* The ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamSeries'' is filled to the brim with sociopaths. From the homicidal [[ComicBook/TheJoker Joker]], to the maniacal [[SerialKiller Victor Zsasz and Calendar Man]], to the calculating [[MadDoctor Scarecrow and Hugo Strange]], to the {{Pyromaniac}} Firefly, and many, many more. Listing them all would probably take up this whole page.

* ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'': ComicBook/TheJoker in the game proper is more of a NominalHero and doesn't get much screen time, but his Injustice counterpart takes this up to eleven by being the root cause for all of the misery that happens in the game. Five years prior to the game, [[spoiler:he planted the trigger for a nuclear bomb placed in the heart of Metropolis in a pregnant Lois Lane designed to go off the instant her heart stops beating. He also drugged Superman with Kryptonite-laced fear toxin, causing him to see Lois as Doomsday and kill her by dragging her into space so that the deaths of Lois, his unborn child, and all of Metropolis were on his hands]]. And the reason why he did it? He was tired of constantly losing to Batman and wanted someone whom he could [[EvilIsPetty mentally break]] all ForTheEvulz. [[spoiler:While the Joker is KilledOffForReal]], his actions drove Superman to adopt a hardline stance on crime. That Joker [[spoiler:[[DieLaughing got the last laugh]]]] shows he was fully aware of this fact. Likewise, nobody has forgotten about his twisted legacy [[VideoGame/Injustice2 in the sequel.]]

** [[ComicBook/MacGargan Mac Gargan, a.k.a. Scorpion]], is a low-functioning example. Disregarding that he's an AxCrazy criminal even ''before'' putting on the suit, he is also superficially charming, lacks empathy or a conscience, and (as his relationship with Rhino shows) is incapable of forming emotional attachments.

* ''VideoGame/{{Hitman}}'''s protagonist, Agent 47, is a sociopathic clone who is also the best assassin the ICA, Agent 47's employer, has at its disposal. He [[PragmaticVillainy tries to avoid unnecessary deaths, but that is only out of professional pride and a desire to avert suspicion]]; he will [[AxeCrazy murder anybody]] [[DisproportionateRetribution who inconveniences him]]. The only person 47 refuses to kill is [[spoiler:his handler and friend Diana Burnwood, instead choosing to wound her in order to fake her death.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' series has pulled out its share of notable sociopaths over the years. In order of appearance.

* ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* The ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'' series has three notable sociopaths.

* As goofy as she is, Gruntilda from the ''VideoGame/Banjo-Kazooie'' series definitely fits the bill. She's introduced trying to steal a little girl's beauty due to a perceived slight towards her massive ego, and she only gets worse from there. She practically revels in being as cruel as possible, as shown by her enslaving the friendly Clanker and turning him into a living trash compactor, or beating her loyal henchman Klungo to a pulp for his failures. Even her own sisters don't mean squat to her, since she'll kill them for losing a game show even though they saved her life.

* Gruntilda already showed signs of this in ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', where she's willing to kidnap a little girl and drain her of her beauty due to an indirect slight against her massive ego, as well as enslaving the friendly Clanker and forcibly converting him into a living garbage disposal that she keeps in terrible living conditions. But by the time ''VideoGame/BanjoTooie'' rolls around, she's become a murderous, abusive psychopath who's a complete terror to friend, foe, and uninvolved parties alike. She murders several characters (including her own sisters, simply for ''losing a game show''), completely wipes out the Grey Jinjo family, and viciously beats her loyal minion Klungo every time Banjo and Kazooie defeat him, with her abuse getting so bad that he ultimately ditches her. While she's silly enough to avoid being ''too'' severe of an example, she still passes the sociopath test with flying colors.

** The true villain of the game, [[spoiler:Otto Octavius]], develops into this thanks to [[spoiler:his tentacles' neural interface]] magnifying his darker impulses to terrifying extremes. [[spoiler:His hatred for Norman Osborn has completely consumed him, and he's willing to unleash a deadly bioweapon on Manhattan and cause further disasters purely to spit in the man's face. He couldn't care less about all the people that are sick and dying because of his actions, and petulantly whines that [[ItsAllAboutMe that only he knows how it feels to truly suffer.]]

** Infinite from ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' is a sadistic psychopath who gets his kicks by terrorizing others, and as revealed in the prequel comic, joined Eggman purely because he wanted to spread death and destruction around the world. Along with his cruelty and LackOfEmpathy, he's prone to not thinking things through and making monumentally stupid, self-sabotaging decisions, making him a ''very'' low functioning example of this trope.

** Doctor Eggman is a family-friendly version. Firstly, he has no conscience to speak of, using living creatures as batteries and by extension, experimentation on sentient beings. He is determined to take over the world purely because he ''deserves'' to rule the world -- while at the same time not being exactly clear on what he'd do afterwards. As well as this, he is always prepared to briefly ally with Sonic against greater evils, then toss him aside once he has no use. He has been known to lie without the twitch of a mustache. Most obvious is his vanity -- despite his many, many failures, he continues to fight Sonic with very little variation to his methods. Continuing in that vein, he is portrayed as also being charming and polite even to his enemies. Like most real-life Sociopaths, he also lacks CharacterDevelopment -- while his origins have expanded over the franchise, his goals and methods remain the same.

** [[spoiler: Rohan Kamakura was a {{yakuza}} [[TheDon boss]] who suffered brain damage after a beating from a rival gang, leaving him with partial blindness and a complete LackOfEmpathy. After he tortured rival gang members through FlayingAlive [[EvenEvilHasStandards even his own brother and eventual successor was terrified of him]], but his [[AsskickingEqualsAuthority ruthlessness allowed him to rise through the ranks]]. Eventually he developed a [[NightmareFetishist fetish for women's right eyes]] as his own no longer worked and became TheDragon to the Cyclops, helping him find targets in exchange for their eyes.]]

** [[VideoGame/KirbySuperStar Marx]] manipulated the sun and the moon from fighting, [[BitchInSheepsClothing put on a friendly facade to Kirby in order to make him summon NOVA to stop the sun and the moon, then stabbed Kirby in the back when Kirby is about to wish to NOVA for the sun and the moon to stop fighting]], all so he could rule over Popstar. And when he returns in ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'', [[ItsAllAboutMe all he cares about is saving his own skin]].
** [[VideoGame/KirbyAndTheAmazingMirror Dark Meta Knight]] established how dangerous he is by defeating Meta Knight, sealing him in the Dimension Mirror and shattering it to pieces. Thinking Meta Knight was unable to return from the Dimension Mirror, he attempts pulling a DeadPersonImpersonation. One of the first things he does is trying to kill Kirby, [[GoneHorriblyWrong only to split him into four]]. After the four Kirbies fix the Dimension Mirror, Dark Meta Knight attempts to kill them before they could free Meta Knight, only to fail and end up sealed in the mirror himself. Wanting revenge towards Kirby and Meta Knight [[MoralMyopia for something he brought on himself]], he [[TheCorrupter manipulates]] [[VideoGame/KirbyTripleDeluxe Queen Sectonia]] into trying to destroy Kirby, only for Sectonia to fail and die instead. And in ''VideoGame/KirbyStarAllies'', all he cares about is [[{{Hedonism}} satisfying]] [[BloodKnight his bloodlust]].

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'': The Purple Man, otherwise known as William Afton, is a sadistic SerialKiller who had [[WouldHurtAChild killed at least eleven children]] whose [[HauntedTechnology souls would go on to possess the animatronics]]. Mr. Afton ticks off all the boxes: LackOfEmpathy; he doesn't care who he kills, and even his friends and family are at most pawns to be used (with the ''possible'' exception of [[DaddysLittleVillain his daughter Elizabeth]]). Lying manipulator; his intro speech in ''Sister Location'' is ''really'' well composed, but also doesn't address the question asked of him at all. Constant need for stimulation; the only reason that seems to be given why he kills children is that [[ForTheEvulz he likes it and he's able to]]. [[DitzyGenius Brilliant but also lacking foresight]]; while he is behind the creation of the Funtime animatronics and has in-depth knowledge on the springlock suits, he displays a severe lack of forward-thinking: he decides to climb inside the springlock suit even when the condition it's in makes it highly likely to kill him, and even as Scraptrap '''knows''' that the pizzeria isn't what it seems but can't resist the opportunity to kill more kids. Both of these examples lead to his death. He seems to be of the low-functioning type since he has a single-minded obsession with killing people, even after [[CameBackWrong being turned into Springtrap]]. It gets to the point where he knows the pizzeria in the sixth game is a trap but can't resist going there anyways if it means claiming more victims.

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'': The Purple Man, otherwise known as [[spoiler: William Afton]] is a sadistic SerialKiller who had [[WouldHurtAChild killed at least eleven children]] whose souls would go on to possess the animatronics. As the series progressed, [[spoiler: Afton]] is revealed to be the CEO behind a robotics company, specializing in creating animatronics to abduct, kill and store children inside of their stomach cavities. The [[VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddysSisterLocation fifth game]] suggests that despite his murders, he did care for his daughter Elizabeth. However, this is turned on its head in the [[VideoGame/FreddyFazbearsPizzeriaSimulator sixth and final game]] when it is implied that [[spoiler: Afton]] was really planning on making his daughter succeed him as a killer by corrupting her.

* In ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', [[spoiler: The Nameless One's "Practical Incarnation" was this. Ruthless and completely willing to destroy lives to fulfill his goals, he was responsible for many awful things you learn of through the backstory, including your party's DysfunctionJunction status. Notably this is why he's called Practical rather than Evil like one would usually expect; he did evil things not out of enjoyment of them, but simply because he was convinced they were the most effective and practical ways to get what he wanted.]]

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'': [[PsychoPartyMember Micah Bell]], [[spoiler:the BigBad of the entire storyline]], is a very accurate depiction of a true sociopath/psychopath. [[FauxAffablyEvil He is very good at putting on a facade of confidence]], has a heightened sense of self, a need for stimulation (as exemplified when he shoots up an entire town), is a [[ConsummateLiar pathological liar]], an exceptional [[ManipulativeBastard manipulator]], lacks remorse, guilt or [[LackOfEmpathy empathy]]; possesses promiscuous sexual behavior, is a cold-blooded murderer [[TeensAreMonsters from an early age]], is irresponsible, and absolutely lacks realistic goals or objectives, which is very common for sociopaths living day to day, harming others [[ForTheEvulz for the sake of it]], without goals in life. Unfortunately for him, [[spoiler: he's also completely unaware of how far people will go to hunt him down in revenge as shown in the epilogue, which perhaps also speaks towards his LackOfEmpathy]].

* ''VideoGame/RWBYArrowfell'': Bram Thornmane only cares about being seen as a hero and receiving the glory he believes he deserves, is willing to cause Grimm attacks all across Atlas, lies and manipulates anyone that can be of use to him only to have them betrayed when they served their purpose, and shows no concerns for any of the innocents that are put in danger because of his goals.

* ''VideoGame/{{Wadanohara}}'': Sal is the Ambassador of the Sea of Death who admits that ForTheEvulz is his primary motivation for his atrocities. He is manipulative having had his twin brother Samekichi framed; he removes Wadanohara's memories and gleefully threatens to destroy her mind by reinserting them; and masterminds the conflict between two warring kingdoms. While he claims to have loved Wadanohara, he has no qualms with leaving her for dead if she rejects his advances, or alternatively, [[ForcedToWatch forces Samekichi]] to watch him assault her if she relents.

* ''VideoGame/WolfensteinIITheNewColossus'': BJ's father, Rip, is a textbook example. Lack of empathy? Check; he's ''very'' racist and bigoted, and he shows no love even for his own family nor any remorse for crossing the MoralEventHorizon by [[spoiler:selling out his own Jewish wife, Zofia, to the Nazis]]. Lying manipulator? Check; he's a con artist who scammed people out of their money by selling phony ailments, he tricked Zofia into falling in love with him by making her laugh with a monkey joke, and the only time he wasn't a complete asshole to his son (which showed him giving a BB rifle to confront his nightmares) was only to get him to stop waking him up at night with noise after a good ol' beating didn't work. Constant need for stimulation? Check; he's very easily angered, never happy, yells, and gets physically violent, especially when things don't go his way. Abhorrent selfishness? Check; he only married Zofia for her father's money, and when scolding his son for terrorism he manages to make it about his own reputation. Inflated opinion of his own abilities? Check; he didn't shut down his business when Zofia's father told him to, he blames literally everyone but himself for his own problems, and he [[spoiler:insults and tries to kill his own son despite knowing that he is, in his own words, a super-killer terror bomber. It ends the only way anyone could possibly expect; his own death.]]

* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'': [[PsychoPartyMember Micah Bell]], [[spoiler:the BigBad of the entire storyline]], is a very accurate depiction of a true sociopath/psychopath. [[FauxAffablyEvil He is very good at putting on a facade of confidence]], has a heightened sense of self, a need for stimulation (as exemplified when he shoots an entire town), is a [[ConsummateLiar pathological liar]], an exceptional [[ManipulativeBastard manipulator]], lacks remorse, guilt or [[LackOfEmpathy empathy]]; possesses promiscuous sexual behavior, is a cold-blooded murderer [[TeensAreMonsters from an early age]], is irresponsible, and absolutely lacks realistic goals or objectives, which is very common for sociopaths living day to day, harming others [[ForTheEvulz for the sake of it]], without goals in life. Unfortunately for him, [[spoiler: he's also completely unaware of how far people will go to hunt him down in revenge as shown in the epilogue, which perhaps also speaks towards his LackOfEmpathy]].