10 Video Game Characters You Knew Were Evil From The Start

Forming alliances in video games is normally a dangerous exercise. For every genuinely benevolent soul who gives their all to help you on your quest, there seems to be a turncoat among the crowd, someone who manipulates you into thinking they're your friend until WHAM! ...They betray you.

For maximum effect, you expect these reveals to come out of nowhere, totally sweeping the rug out from underneath you and leaving you speechless. But apparently some video game backstabbers didn't get the memo, since they put next to no effort into hiding their true colours.

Ranging from the larger-than-life bigwig to the impatient companion all the way to the outright shifty so-and-so, you'll sometimes feel you have to trust these characters implicitly, either because they're the only ones around or because the game seems to want you to.

But even then, there's no pulling the wool over your eyes. You know their game, and it's only a question of when these half-assed charlatans are going to play their traitor card.

In the opening cinematic of Jedi Academy, your first impression of Rosh Penin will probably be that he's just the annoying, hyperactive sidekick to your stoic created character. That's not entirely false, but at the same time, it's this precise dynamic that clues you in to just where his path is headed.

The early levels of the game, particularly the tutorial gauntlet at the beginning, tell you that Rosh is a pretty hotheaded and overconfident guy. In the Star Wars universe, that combination's usually damning right away, but you may still give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

Then, later, when he explicitly acts jealous of your character, Jaden, and believes Kyle Katarn is holding him back, that suspicion you had of him is now all but confirmed.

Ultimately, Rosh is seduced by the Dark Side and becomes an apprentice Sith Lord. Jaden must confront him and either bring him back to the light, or end him and go down their own path of evil.

Whatever you choose, Rosh's downward spiral was pretty darn inevitable from the outset. Clearly, he could do with some brushing up on Yoda's "Anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering" speech...