10 Video Game Good Guys You Knew Were Villains All Along
9. Dr. Otto Octavius - Spider-Man
To anyone famiiar with Spider-Man lore, it surely wasn't a surprise that the timid, awkward scientist, Otto Octavius, was destined for villainy.
Developer Insomniac's take on the wall-crawler was the first significant success for the character in video games since the Raimi movie tie-in titles, and the way it handled character development and interaction was at the heart of its charm; from Peter's mentorship of Miles Morales, his rekindling romance with MJ and, most prominently, his employment with Dr Octavius.
When we're introduced to the now infamous bad guy, his friendship with Peter is sincere. The pair rely on each other for their critical research, and while Otto is technically Pete's boss early on, it always feels like they're closer to work partners than a simple employer-to-employee dynamic.
In an unsurprising twist, however, the acquisition of four extra, big, metal limbs brings out the villain in poor old Otto, and the once introverted nuclear physicist becomes the primary thorn in Spider-Man's side for the closing chapters of the game.
A truly great descent into intellectual madness and criminal behaviour, Otto's development was impeccably handled by Insomniac. Unfortunately, to anyone familiar with the source material (and most people are), it was an arc that was all too predictable.