8 Surprising Video Game Villain Turns You Never Saw Coming

7. Shelby - Heavy Rain

Perhaps Quantic Dream's best game, Heavy Rain is all about the search for the Origami Killer, with both the player and the characters trying to figure out the criminal's true identity. There are plenty of red flags throughout the game, with the lovable everyman Ethan being the obvious suspect, but it turns out that it's the investigator on the case, Shelby, who's actually been behind the whole thing.

Although every game has an uphill battle when it comes to creating a twist like this, a title like Heavy Rain - which is all about the story - is walking on even thinner ice, as botching it could have killed any desire for players to go back through it all again.

Consequently, the eventual reveal is surprising (partly because it raises so many plot holes in hindsight, admittedly), yet it doesn't ruin the replay value because it completely recontextualises the entire game on a second playthrough.