8 Video Game Heroes Who Turned Evil In The Sequel - Commenters' Edition
3. Lance Bean - Contra: Shattered Soldier (2002)
The Contra series is famous for its duel protagonists, Bill Rizer and Lance Bean, allowing full 2-player cooperative gameplay for the most of the earlier instalments. Contra: Shattered Soldier, released for PS2 in 2002, takes a slightly different tack story-wise, all the while staying faithful to the classic run-and-gun gameplay.
Out of the originals, it's only Bill this time around, as Lance is believed to be dead - by his comrade's hand, no less. Rizer is released from prison in order to assist with combatting the terrorist outfit, Blood Falcon. The organisation act as the main antagonists of the first half of the game, made all the more impactful when you find out just who their leader is.
Yep - your brother-in-arms, Lance Bean, is alive and well, and after a tough battle, he reveals in his dying breath that the aliens from the original games were not the bad guys all along, but were just trying to recover a relic stolen from them by the ancient Triumvirate.
Just goes to show that it pays to hear your opponent out before you go sticking a gun barrel in their mouth.