10 MORE Video Game Villain Turns You Never Saw Coming
4. Dycedarg - Final Fantasy Tactics
The world of Ivalice in the 1997 tactical RPG Final Fantasy Tactics is one just recovering from a war that lasted decades. Wealth inequality runs rampant within the nation and two opposing political factions are poised for violent confrontation. Wow, sounds more like the U.S. than is probably healthy.
The player's character, Ramza, is a member of the wealthy and prominent Beoulve clan. His elder brother Dycedarg, becomes the clan leader after the death of their father. It's clear early on that Dycedarg is one of the chiefs of the political machinations - it's a civil war, everyone has to take sides, after all.
Late in the game you learn that Dycedarg isn't just a plotting noble, though - no he's actually one of the primary forces behind the civil war, hoping to use it usher in a new age with him at the top. He proves truly Machiavellian when it comes to light that he not only killed his childhood friend Duke Larg, but also poisoned their father. After killing his own brother, and being turned into a demon, one of his colleagues turns his dead brother into a vampire.
Dycedarg certainly didn't have much appearance of being a hero, for sure, but being one of the main antagonists wasn't what may have been expected by players at the time.