9 Times Video Games Tricked You Into Becoming The Villain

3. Shadow Of The Colossus

Shadow of the Colossus was one of the first well recognised "oh s**t, you were the villain the whole time!" video games, and part of its appeal is how it slowly reveals that fact to the player as they continue to hunt down the game's "enemies".

The entire plot is about protagonist Wander attempting to revive Mono, and he's told in the opening that in order to do so he needs to hunt down and kill the 16 Colossi out in the wild. Of course, you do this, and are given enough of an emotional reason to want to see the mission through, and even without that drive, being an adventurer hunting down a bunch of big monsters is classic genre stuff.

However, you soon come to appreciate the Colossi for what they truly are: majestic forces of nature who belong to the world way more than you do, and not at all monsters (despite their appearance). They give the world personality and life, and you're invading their territory and killing them without provocation.

Though the player might understand this by the time they get to the last couple, Wander being the bad guy is cemented in the final sequence, where it's revealed that he's been manipulated by an evil force right from the start.