10 Most Shocking Video Game Sidekick Betrayals

It’s handy when video game villains have big shootable eyes, maniacal laughs, or a penchant for kidnapping your girlfriend to signal that they’re super evil, but sometimes games throw you a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

In the roughest of examples, these can sometimes be the very people you’ve been trusting with your hide up until this point, so it’s a nasty feeling when they go and stab you in the back you expected them to be protecting.

In some cases you might be expecting it, in the most heartbreaking you absolutely were not, and we were spoiled for choice with this list.

Note: This list contains spoilers

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10. Astrid - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Now it’s commonly believed that the Dark Brotherhood quests are the best guild quests in Skyrim, or I think that and now I’ve said online that everyone thinks that, either way they’re famous for their twists and turns.

There’s plenty of backstabbing going on in the infamous assassin-riddled brotherhood, but it’s usually the literal kind and less so the turning-on-your-own-team kind. That is, until Astrid screws the pooch, and her entire crew over. We’re playing it a little fast and loose with the definition of ‘sidekick’ here but Astrid is indeed your sister in murdery crime as leader of The Dark Brotherhood.

Problem is, Astrid gets a little suss when you’re cast as the new Listener, liaison to the Night Mother. She feels threatened and decides to get her betrayal on.

She sells you out to the Empire after sending you on an epic Emperor poisoning quest. Rocking up back at the sanctuary post-assassination as you’re well used to doing by this point is a real shock. Turns out you only poisoned a decoy, and Astrid’s betrayal attempt itself is double crossed as the leader of the Emperor’s special security force turns on her and sacks the Dark Brotherhood sanctuary. Many of your comrades die and you can find a decidedly charred and remorseful Astrid in the remains, asking you to kill her.