10 Great Video Game Villains Who Were Totally Wasted
4. The Origami Killer - Heavy Rain
Who among us doesn't love a murder mystery? To that end, Heavy Rain did a fantastic job of building up its central antagonist, the child murdering Origami Killer.
Their deeply creepy modus operandi, of kidnapping young boys, drowning them in rainwater, and then leaving an origami figure near their corpse, left fans eager to find out the killer's identity and bring them to justice.
But for as brilliantly established as the killer was, it all fell completely apart when David Cage revealed who they were in the game's climax.
We eventually learn that the Origami Killer was actually one of the game's playable characters, private investigator Scott Shelby.
This wasn't an inherently lackluster revelation, but as ever, execution is everything (pardon the pun).
Even excusing Scott's rather silly motive - to find a father who would sacrifice themselves for their son - the game doesn't play fair with how Scott is presented throughout.
Given that we extensively play as Scott and even hear his internal thoughts, Cage holds us at arm's length from the truth, even intentionally misrepresenting scenes where Scott is the killer to prevent us from figuring out the truth.
As a result of the game's patent dishonesty the big reveal is woefully unsatisfying, in turn derailing all that time spent establishing the Origami Killer as a terrifying foe.