10 Most Shocking Video Game Sidekick Betrayals

9. Master Li - Jade Empire

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Bioware

BioWare’s Jade Empire isn’t quite an anime betrayal, but it is an excellent shock turn so let’s take a walk down memory lane.

Master Li was the brother of the Empire and your teacher in Jade Empire. For the first half of the game he serves as your mentor and everything’s all good, then once you vanquish The Emperor Li tells you how proud he is of you and then freaking kills you. The Water Dragon Spirit walks you through a little resurrection process but the biggest sting comes from realising you were just a pawn in Li’s major revenge scheme.

Also there’s the whole him becoming a god and proclaiming himself to be the new Emperor of the Jade Empire, that’s a bit of a problem too.

This was a turn plenty of players didn’t see coming, which makes it so fantastic. I mean, this guy made you who you were and had your back every step of the way, and that makes your final confrontation with your ex-Master bear a tonne of narrative weight.

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Contributor
Contributor

Likes: Collecting maiamais, stanning Makoto, dual-weilding, using sniper rifles on PC, speccing into persuasion and lockpicking. Dislikes: Escort missions.