8 Video Game Villains Secretly Introduced Way Earlier Than You Realise

Now this one needs a little explaining.

The Leviathan DLC for Mass Effect 3 finally revealed concrete details about the series' ultimate villain, the Reapers. With these lobster machines being tens of thousands years old and shrouded in secrecy though, the player and Commander Shepard couldn't just get this information from anyone. Instead, they had to track down beings not of the current solar system cycle. Beings known as Leviathans.

As the creators of the Reapers, only a few remain, hiding in the far reaches of space. They'll do anything to keep it that way too: brainwashing and killing anyone who threatens to uncover their secrets and, subsequently, alert the Reapers to their presence.

They're initially the antagonists of this DLC, throwing plenty of obstacles in your way, but you eventually convince them to join your side to destroy a common threat. Make no mistake though, they have no respect for humanity and in any other situation would seek to dominate and control their minds like they did civilisations centuries prior.

Despite being so mysterious though, the story of the Leviathans is actually teased all the way back in Mass Effect 1 when scanning Jatar and reading its description. Here you learn about the remains of a Reaper that's been dubbed the 'Leviathan of Dis'. The mystery of exactly what was able to kill this Reaper - and what the 'Leviathan' was - was kicked off here, and eventually answered in ME3's DLC.