8 Video Game Protagonists You Fought In The Sequel

The general expectation with most video game franchises is that, once players have become attached to a protagonist, they're going to stick around for the long haul.

After all, why mess with something that's working?

But sometimes developers want to try something different by introducing a new protagonist in a sequel, and yet to avoid alienating fans entirely, the original protagonist will often show up in a smaller supporting role.

And in rare cases, the developers might do something considerably bolder and have the new protagonist take them on in battle.

This is a tough twist to pull off, but when it works it really works.

In some cases the original hero might become a corrupted villain, while in others they may have a more ambiguous difference of opinion with the new protagonist. 

Whatever the reason, these video games all had you fight the original protagonist in the sequel.

Some of these fights ingeniously inverted the power fantasy of the original game, while others challenged players in provocative ways, forcing them to fight the beloved character they never wanted to throw down with...

Alex Mercer is the protagonist of the original Prototype, yet for the sequel the decision was made to introduce a new player character - ex-U.S. Marine Sergeant James Heller.

But in a fun twist, Heller finds himself hunting down Mercer after Mercer vows to wipe out humanity with a new outbreak of the Blacklight virus, which Heller believes is responsible for the death of his family.

During their first clash, however, Heller is infected with the virus and develops superhuman abilities similar to Mercer. 

And so, you can probably see where things are going from here.

Prototype 2's final boss fight is a superpowered grudge match between the two, each throwing everything that they have at the other until Heller finally defeats and consumes Mercer, in turn absorbing all of his accrued knowledge and memories.

That's... one hell of a definitive way to slam the door on the original protagonist, that's for sure.