7 Video Game Villains Who Were The Hero All Along

The video game hero.

What would the medium be without this trope? Well in essence it simply wouldn't be anything. Without a character to root for, play as, or for a villain to push against then what investment is there for the player outside of earning points as a digitized ping pong paddle?

Therefore one of the key aspects of video game design is creating a memorable, relatable, and engaging hero and then giving them a quest worthy of the player's time and emotional engagement. Which is pretty bloody tough right? Especially when there are so many of the aforementioned villains trying to muscle in on the heroic spotlight!

That's right, sometimes video game villains, either because of a change of heart or because they were always working for Good all along, have dropped the turncoat and put on the party hat to join the big beatdowns offered out to the other antagonists of the piece.

So let's give it up for those that might have stumbled from the path of the righteous from time to time, but who got back on track when it counted.

So we begin this list with arguably the granddaddy of all great video game characters, the one, and only irate ape Donkey Kong.

His design and games are iconic, and who can forget that he's also one of the earliest examples of a video game villain spawning countless others in his wake. Except, however, there's a bit of a problem in tagging DK as a villain at all, as if you take a look at his backstory a little more you'll find he's anything but!

For you see a key aspect that many leave out of the Donkey Kong narrative is that, Donkey Kong is actually being abused by Mario which lead to his "villain" outburst! I know it seems absolutely mad to say this but it's printed as clear as day in the game's manual, which lays out that DK is actually Mario's pet who he's been "mistreating".

Suddenly everything you thought you knew about the original game is flipped on its head, much in the same way that the ending of Braid revealed Tim to be the villain all along, now you can't help but see old Jump Man over here maniacally twirling that soup strainer mustache as he laughs and whips the poor old ape.

Hell, maybe Pauline's cries for help weren't actually for Mario to save her, but to alert the police to the pair's presence and save them both from his ire! Ok maybe we're reading too much into it there but still, Donkey Kong is most definitely misunderstood as a villain and likely is a misunderstood hero hiding right under our noses.