8 Video Game Characters Hiding Terrible Secrets

Despite what gun aficionados will tell you, information is the real deadly weapon of the modern age.

In the enlarged school ground that is this world, the game of "who knows what" and how such data can be leveraged against others is one that is played by world leaders with wanton abandon. We might think that their fingers are hovered constantly over nuclear missile buttons, but it's probably more likely they're sweating over their emails than radioactive fallout.

Secrets like this power our world, and when you look at a medium such as video games, which absolutely adore hiding Easter Eggs and secrets in every nook and cranny, of course, some titles are ripe with terrible and terrifically fascinating ones.

From NPCs looking to feast on the corpses of others, to those who have done some terrible things in their past, these characters aren't likely getting a wink of sleep due to the skeletons rattling in their closets.

When first loading up Stardew Valley and seeing how offensively cute the aesthetics are, you might immediately write this game off as being a sickeningly charming and relaxed affair. And for the most part, you'd be right, seeing as the general day-to-day gameplay centers around crop growing, house maintenance, and building relationships within the local community.

However, it's in this last aspect where the friendly facade of the title drops slightly, as it turns out that some of these locals have some really dark, depressing, and quite dangerous secrets. Across your time you'll meet characters displaying clear signs of PTSD, depression and in the case of Pam, mother of fellow resident Penny, she's a raging alcoholic.

Every single night, the player can find her in the local bar boozing away her problems, and while it might not become apparent at first, Pam is clearly hurting a lot inside. Her home is in a state of disrepair, her job as a bus driver doesn't seem that rewarding, and even when the player maxes out their relationship with Pam, she reveals she's not been able to control her drinking.

However, the really dark sting to this story, is that beer, mead, and other alcoholic gifts are one of the quickest ways to gain favor with her, meaning that you might have accidentally enabled her drinking in order to max out her relationship meter!