10 Background Video Game Characters That Change EVERYTHING

Arguably the dictionary definition of a background character who ultimately changes EVERYTHING, the "President" in Metal Gear Solid starts off as a passing mention in the intro, before just exploding the sloppy innards of the entire plot all over the nice rug in the post-credits outro.

When Snake asks Colonel Campbell who's in supervisory control of this operation and is told "The President of the United States" it barely raises an eyebrow. He's outspoken on eugenics, doesn't know about the Rex project, and this all needs to be wrapped up before he signs an important accord with his Russian counterpart. Very standard President stuff.

However a phone call between Revolver Ocelot (presumably using a hands-free kit) and an unnamed, shadowy figure, reveals that the strings of the Shadow Moses incident have all been pulled from behind the scenes.

"No, sir. No one knows that you were the third one... Solidus. What should I do about the woman? Yes sir. I'll keep her under surveillance. Yes. Thank you. Good-bye. Mr. President."

The shock reveal that the US President is not only behind the entire thing, but is also part of the Les Enfants Terribles program that created both Solid and Liquid Snake, pretty much laid the groundwork for the entire bats**t narrative of the following three games.