10 Video Game Villains Who Won By Losing

The protagonist of the Middle-Earth series, Talion, is a tragic character. He is a humble ranger brought back from the dead to avenge his and his family’s murder.

The quest for justice leads him to Mordor to bring down the dreaded Sauron himself, and although in the games you get to wage a huge crusade against the Dark Lord, in the end, Talion’s efforts only end up strengthening his opponent.

By working together with Celebrimbor, the wraith who offered to resurrect him to carry out his revenge, Talion inevitably ends up supporting someone who could end up an even greater threat than the Dark Lord due to his own ambitions of power.

In realizing this, Talion decides to separate from Celebrimbor. Without the Bright Lord's magic, he has to prolong his life with one of the Dark Lord’s rings, dooming himself to becoming a Nazgul. Meanwhile, his old ally ends up getting devoured by Sauron after the latter defeats him in a duel.

The interesting thing here is that none of this would’ve happened if the duo hadn’t defeated Sauron once. Their victory fuelled their ambitions so much that they ended up pursuing separate goals and splitting apart, allowing Sauron to pick them off individually with ease.