With mechanics like Dishonored’s chaos system and Red Dead Redemption 2s honor system, video games incorporate more and more morality every year. It offers an exciting, extra layer of immersion for those who like to role-play their characters, and an extra layer of challenge and intrigue for those who usually blast through levels with reckless abandon.
When it comes to characters who find the line between heroism and villainy, video games do it best. Whether they’re anti-heroes, heroes who struggle with an immense amount of power, or heroes who want a taste of the dark side, some heroes seem destined to walk the line.
10 Ellie Continues a Cycle (The Last Of Us Part II)
After seeing Joel, her adoptive father, brutally murdered by a woman named Abby in The Last of Us Part II, Ellie vows revenge, no matter the price. However, the situation is not as clear as it seems. Abby’s father was one of the doctors who killed Joel at the end of this year The last of us after discovering that Ellie would die in the procedure to synthesize the cure.
Just as Ellie did for Joel, Abby swore she would take revenge for her father. Whatever players think of the games, the second game creates moral ambiguity around Ellie’s decisions, and her status as a hero, antihero, or villain changes between each player.
9 Aya is willing to leave everything behind (Assassin’s Creed: Origins)
Both Aya and her husband, Bayek, are on a perilous journey of revenge when the player encounters them in Assassin’s Creed: Origins. Bayek chooses to stay in their homeland while Aya continues her journey to the rest of the world. While Bayek seems bound by duties, Aya takes a more dangerous path.
Aya embraces the name Amunet and isn’t afraid to put her life behind her. This choice is a fatal blow to her marriage, the only significant relationship she had after the death of her son, Khemu. Aya’s potential for villains does not stem from her beliefs or actions, both of which are incredibly honorable, but her ease in affirming her life for the sake of the mission.
8 Atreus Has Unknown Boundaries (God of War)
Atreus has yet to prove himself as a hero or villain. His time to take a stand is likely to come in time to come God Of War Ragnarok. In the first episode, however, he proves that it will not be an easy task.
Atreus has to deal with side effects of his dual parentage, with his mother being a giant and his father a Spartan demigod. Those conflicting origins manifest in illness, extreme power surges, and a certain kind of Spartan rage that even Kratos doesn’t fully understand. Atreus’ true strength and future motivations are completely unclear, and it’s entirely possible that he could lean either way.
7 Harrier Du Bois can be everyone’s worst enemy (Disco Elysium)
The bumbling fool at the center of ZA/UM’s 2019 role-playing game, Disco ElysiumHarrier is a blank slate for players to integrate their ideals into. With multiple police identities like Sorry Cop and Art Cop to explore, and multiple political ideologies like Communist and Moralist, Harrier can be as close or far from rogue as the player wants him to be.
Canonically, Harrier is brilliant at his job and solving crimes, but absolutely atrocious with interpersonal relationships. While collecting his fair share of commendations, he has pushed away a variety of loved ones and colleagues. Harrier does as much good as bad, and depending on the events of Disco Elysiummay he fall on the dark side.
6 Liara T’Soni Takes a Dark Turn (Mass Effect)
Liara’s character has arrived Mass effect takes her from an innocent archaeologist trying to escape her mother’s influence, to the nickname of the most powerful information broker in the universe, the Shadow Broker. It also takes her from a certified hero to a hardened anti-hero who isn’t afraid to hurt those she considers enemies.
In reality, there’s not much stopping Liara from more vicious actions, other than her own moral code and the fact that she tends to follow Shepard’s ideology. Through Mass effect 3 she seems much more willing to blur the meaning of hero, for better or for worse.
5 Xiao has endured centuries of torment (Genshin Impact)
As the only surviving member of the five Yakshas who helped Zhongli rid the world of demons, Xiao has endured a horrific ordeal. In his youth, he was forced into servitude under an ancient god who used him to harm innocent victims. Zhongli eventually killed this god and Xiao swore fealty to his savior, but the damage had only just begun.
As Xiao rid the world of demons, Xiao built up their karmic debt. This guilt did terrible things to his body, physically and mentally, and only Venti’s music saved him from absolute corruption. Even now, Xiao is experiencing tremendous pain and bears trauma from his losses. Though he would never fall into the villainy of his own accord again, there is a thin line he continues to walk.
4 Wei Shen Lived Two Lives (Sleeping Dogs)
The undercover protagonist of sleeping dogs, Wei Shen is torn between loyalty and duty when he infiltrates the Triads. Shen finds herself in the midst of a gang war and the throes of intense police corruption, and faces hostility from all sides. He fights to stay true to his job of protecting the public and his loved ones in the Sun On Yee triad.
Literally, Wei Shen is one step away from rogue at all times. He has plenty of opportunities to do wrong during his time with the Water Street Gang, but he encourages them to do right. It would be easy for Shen to fall into a life of crime, but instead he tries to help others escape that life.
3 Ciri has the potential to destroy everything (The Witcher 3)
As one of the mightiest creatures in The Witcher universe, if not the most powerful creature, Ciri has the potential to become the greatest hero the land has ever seen, or their most terrifying villain. A lot witcher characters even refer to this possibility, and some are so terrified of her and her abilities that they’d rather see her dead or locked up.
With the help of her loved ones, such as Geralt and Yennefer, Ciri is heroic in almost every way. She helps those in need, puts herself at risk to save others and feels immense guilt over those she loses in the fight against the Wild Hunt. However, there is no denying that her blood comes at a high price.
2 Cole can be as bad as the player wants (inFAMOUS)
In infamous, players can defeat Cole along two routes, good and evil, much like the other morality systems used in other games. Canonically, Cole is on the right track as evidenced by the events of inFAMOUS 2.
However, even if he takes the right route, Cole gains a tremendous amount of power that could easily allow him to control masses of civilians if he wanted to. Luckily for the general public, Cole is a good guy. But that’s only because he chooses to, and anyone can change their mind.
1 There’s more to six than many realize (Little Nightmares)
For those who haven’t played yet Little nightmares 2Calling Six anything but a silent protagonist may seem far-fetched. After all, she’s just trying to avoid being eaten by monstrous creatures bent on devouring her. Except that Six doesn’t seem to be the friendly main character she seems to be at first.
Every time Six feeds on something, an entity called Dark Six is seen nearby. Her hunger seems so insatiable that she consumes a Nome she doesn’t realize was once a human child. Combined with her strange betrayal of Mono at the end of Little nightmares 2, there is clearly something going on with Six. Whether that something makes her a hero or a villain remains to be seen, but Six’s behavior blurs the lines.
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