10 Video Games That RUINED Amazing Villains

Telltale's Guardians of the Galaxy series made its debut in April 2017, all while movie audiences were still waiting to see the MCU's Thanos (Josh Brolin) take on the Avengers in Avengers: Infinity War the next year.

But even the most casual Marvel fan already knew that Thanos was one of the most powerful Big Bads in the history of comic books, and so there was a reasonable expectation that he'd wreak absolute havoc in Telltale's series.

And so, when the game's very first episode saw the Guardians facing off against him, it was fair to assume that the confrontation would end with Thanos prevailing or at least escaping with his life in tow.

But in a move that shocked just about everyone, the Mad Titan was actually genuinely killed off in the first half-hour of episode one, when Star-Lord fatally blasts him in the chest. And though players surely expected him to return later in the series, he never does.

Thanos' battle with the Guardians confirmed that this version of the character was a far weaker iteration of the all-powerful hurt-bringer from the comics and movies.

While on one hand it's admirable that Telltale didn't simply follow the same rough arc as the MCU movies, it was still a huge disappointment for many who had been partially sold on the game by the heavy presence of Thanos in its marketing.

Subverting expectations can definitely be a good thing, but in this case they took a fan favourite villain and reduced him to a rent-a-goon who proved to be a mere inconvenience to the Guardians.