Games where you realize too late that you were the villain

Games are such a wonderful medium that allows you to see the perspectives of heroes, villains and everything in between – while keeping your hands on the wheel and controlling the action. There's no shortage of games that let you play as the villain from the start, or games that let players make “evil” choices, but sometimes you get a game that pulls a bit of a trick on its own players: the surprise hero-turned-villain reveal.

In each of the following games, the character is presented as a force for good or an otherwise neutral party from the start, only to have the truth come crashing down on the players' heads. Whether it was by choice or completely unintentional, here are five games where it's revealed you were the bad guy all along.

This article will contain major spoilers for: Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, Heavy Rain, Mouthwashing, Shadow of the Colossus, and Nier Replicant.

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean — Kalas

Revenge is a powerful motivator

This GameCube RPG, which also had a remaster shadowdropped on Steam, was developed by Monolith Soft, the team behind Xenosaga and Xenoblade Chronicles series, and follows the protagonist Kalas as he travels the world seeking revenge for the murder of his grandfather and little brother. While the perspective of Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean is through the eyes of Kala's Guardian Spirit (and all dialogue choices made by the player are from the spirit), the player completely controls Kala's movements and actions throughout the game.

After meeting a woman named Xelha, Kalas inadvertently unleashes an “End Magnus” which can be used to free the evil god Malpercio in combination with the other four End Magnus. The party travels the world to stop the release of these creatures, but is rejected at every turn, making Malpercio's revival more and more likely.

However, it was no coincidence that the enemies seemed to be one step ahead at every turn. Turns out Kalas was working for them the whole time, helping locate and capture every End Magnus along the way. Eventually, Kalas absorbs the power of End Magnus and becomes possessed by Malpercio.

Thankfully, there is a bit of a happy twist to this story. Kalas will regret his betrayal and looks for a way to reseal Malpercio. The player, now in control of Xelha, eventually reunites with Kalas and frees him from his servitude to the evil god. They then work together to defeat Malpercio and restore the world.

Heavy Rain — Scott Shelby

Perpetuating the cycle of violence will not heal you

Throughout A lot of rainthe player takes control of four different playable characters, all of whom seem to be looking for the Origami Killer, a serial killer who targets children in the rain. One of the four playable characters is a private investigator named Scott Shelby, who meets with the families of the previous victims and gathers evidence from each one that may lead to the Origami Killer's whereabouts.

However, near the end of the game, it is revealed that Scott was not looking for the Origami Killer, but was actually the killer. Changed by the experience of losing his brother to parental neglect, Scott kidnaps children to find a father willing to sacrifice himself for their children. Scott Shelby's actions throughout the game are then re-contextualized, as he did not gather the evidence for investigative purposes, but rather to dispose of it and ensure his escape.

However, the dispute may feel a little cheap to players, who A lot of rain gives us the internal monologues of the playable actors throughout the game, and Shelby's internal voice never mentions or alludes to his actual reasons for gathering evidence. The multiple endings, including whether or not Scott gets away with his crimes, are determined by the players' actions and which characters come to help Shaun escape.

Mouthwash — Jimmy

Avoiding responsibility to the end

Told through a non-linear, fractured timeline, the story of Mouthwash follows five crew members: Jimmy, Captain Curly, Anya, Daisuke and Swansea. The crew has been stranded after their captain deliberately crashes the ship they are working on. Each small story vignette reveals more about the events leading up to the crash and the fallout that followed. Our main character, Jimmy, tries to take on the role of captain, leading everyone towards survival.

But the whole mess was Jimmy's fault in the first place. Not only is Jimmy the one who crashed the ship, but he also commits some other serious transgressions throughout the game that cause the crew to lose their lives. As the game progresses, Jimmy spirals further and further into madness, trying to “correct” the mistakes he's made, culminating in Jimmy literally cannibalizing Captain Curly before giving up and placing Curly in a cryocapsule to keep him alive.

It's a harrowing account of the lengths some people will go to avoid accountability, and one that's sure to stick with players who can make it all the way through.

Shadow of the Colossus — Wander

The road is paved with good intentions

The story of Shadow of the Colossus follows a young man named Wander who strives to revive a young woman named Mono, and pleads with the entity Dormin to help bring her back. Dormin promises to revive Mono if Wander kills the 16 colossal beasts scattered throughout the realm.

As Wander tracks down and defeats each of the colossi, a blast of shadowy essence pierces his body, knocking him unconscious and waking up back at the temple. After each successful kill, Wander's skin becomes paler and his hair darkens. Each new colossus is accompanied by its own theme music, which starts out heroic and exciting, but turns to a more mournful tone when the colossi are finally put down. Every battle ends with a note of sadness.

The journey itself is beautiful and haunting, in a way. These massive, majestic figures once roamed the land, minding their own business, but now the Forbidden Lands lie empty. After defeating the last colossi, the truth is revealed: the colossi were actually fragments of Dormin's soul. By destroying the Guardians, Wander has unwittingly unleashed the great evil of Dormin.

While it's obvious that something was wrong from the start, the final transformation into Dormin's ship is a shocking one. The entire journey to save Mono has been a task devised by a great evil to free itself. The effort feels like it was for naught as Mono remains lifeless on the plate and Wander is sucked into a portal to be shut away. However, in the game's closing moments, Mono finally awakens, with an injured Agro returning, and Mono finds a small horned child in the pool where Wander was sealed. Maybe there is hope for Wander yet?

NieR Replicant — NieR

Protecting one soul condemns countless others

NieR replicant begins as standard fantasy fare: a young man explores a post-apocalyptic world to find a cure for his sister's terminal illness. Along the way, he slaughters hundreds of “Shades” (monstrous, shadowy creatures that appear to be nothing more than mindless fodder) on behalf of Devola and Popola. But a terrible truth is revealed to us in the process: the shades were human.

As part of Project Gestalt, humanity's souls were separated from their physical bodies. This was necessary because a disease threatened to end the existence of mankind. So it was supposed that humans would separate their souls from mortal flesh and then place them in the manufactured bodies of the replicants. But replicants developed their own souls, rejecting this merger and forcing humans to live without bodies.

If the wanton destruction of these human souls wasn't enough, it's also revealed that the Shadow Lord is the only thing stopping the shades from going mad, and is actually the figure of the boy from the prologue, with our main character as the replicating body meant to house him. By defeating the Shadow Lord, Nier dooms all of humanity and, by extension, the replicants.

The true tragedy NieR replicant is that there are no good answers or clean solutions, and everything about the game is just a little messy. If Nier had allowed the Shadow Lord and the other figures to inhabit the replicant bodies, the replicant souls that had evolved would have been eliminated. And while stopping the antagonist allows replicants to retain their free will, it is a genocide of all humanity and ultimately dooms the replicants as well.