Even the best video games like to heavily telegraph some of their biggest twists. It’s not exactly rare to make your way through a game only to find that one of the main cast of characters has utterly betrayed you.How big of a jerk-move that isshould be left to be discussed another time, but it’s worth acknowledging we gamers can totally spot some of these traitors a mile away.
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There are some key tells of an incoming traitor: odd fashion choices that make characters look overly edgy, someone who should be competent bumbling around worse than I did in high school, and the game simply creating conditions that are just too good to be true. We’ve all playedDark Souls, we all know video games can be soul-crushing when they want to be.
10Albert Wesker - Resident Evil
I’m sorry, but no one who wears sunglasses indoors should be trusted.Considering Wesker wears them all day, every day, regardless of the situation, it’s fair to say the guy was up to no good from the start.
He was stylized in a way that didn’t give off too obvious of a bad-guy vibe when the originalResident Evilwas released, but we all knew better. Wearing shades in the middle of the night has to mean a person is behind the twisted events going on in a remote mansion.
9Maya Brooks - Mass Effect 3
Who could forget about bumbling Maya Brooks? She’s a major factor in what iswidely regarded as one of the best DLCs in gaming history, and of course, she just can’t be trusted. She’s a textbook example of the peppy but bumbling hero who’s obviously not a hero.
The biggest reason to not trust her is simply, when does Shepard ever get warned about anything that isn’t already trying to harm them? Someone you don’t know actively trying to help Shepard inMass Effect 3? Everyone knew she was going to pull a renegade prompt at some point.
8Martin Li - Insomniac’s Spider-Man
Ignoring those who still readSpider-Mancomics and would have already known about the more sinister side of Martin Li as Mister Negative, it was pretty obvious, wasn’t it? If it wasn’t already as obvious as it could be, there was one key moment that sealed the deal.
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Martin Li throws a brief little celebration to honor Aunt May early on, something that everyone should have taken note of. Nothing good can happen in a Parker’s life, that’s the Parker Luck, so it was only a matter of time. We’ve all gamed enough to know that a character with seemingly pure intentions is either destined to die or is diabolically evil.
7Mark Jefferson - Life Is Strange
Everyone should have known that Mark Jefferson was a complete creep right from the jump.A friendly teacher that actually takes interest in the lives of their students? Who’s ever heard of that? That just doesn’t exist… in video games.
Of course, there’s no way anyone could predict just how depraved Jefferson would end up being, but we all paid attention to the hair-beard-glasses hipster combo, so we knew who was going to end up being nothing but trouble. That’s without mentioning that there’s always something hidden about the teacher everyone loves, isn’t there?Life IS strange.
6Orson - Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
A classicFire Emblemgame also features a character we all knew was going to end up betraying us. Right from the first chapter, you get access to the always fantastic unit, Seth. He’s a unit that works wonders all throughout the game and can make some big saves early on.
Only a short while later, you get access to another strong paladin in Orson. Fire Emblem games don’t just give you that many incredible units that early, so it was only a matter of time. Orson’s story is an interesting one, but come on, two paladins? No way.
5General Shepard - Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Pick the classic version or the modern reimagining ofModern Warfare 2, it doesn’t matter — General Shepard can’t be trusted at first glance in either of them. Tackling his original appearance, it’s the mustache that just screams, “I’m about to do some sick war crimes.”
In the reimagining, everyone has the benefit of already knowing he’s a slimeball, but also, he just looks like every military bad guy in every piece of media from the last few years. His modern look really is more of the same in terms of telegraphing who’s about to make the world a living hell.
4Detective Adachi - Persona 4
I can’t be the only one who didn’t trust Adachi from the start, right? InPersona 4, Adachi is more or lessthe bumbling sidekick to detective Dojimaas they struggle to solve the string of murders that have begun in their sleepy town.
The game is filled with twists and turns, but Adachi just looked evil. No human alive wants to spend the amount of time at the store that Adachi does. All the time, he’s just at Junes, standing there, waiting, plotting, Adachi-ing, like an absolute villain.
3James Sunderland - Silent Hill 2
At this point, everyone is aware that James isn’t exactly a video game hero. He’s more of a witless dude who happens to survive a horrific experience inSilent Hill. Considering how “off” everything in Silent Hill is, it only made sense that there was something a bit sinister behind his character as well.
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I’ve met my fair share of awkward humans in my life, but never any quite as awkward as James. That’s not to say that awkward people are evil, but in James’ case, it’s definitely true. That jacket choice doesn’t help his case either.
2The Illusive Man - Mass Effect Legendary Edition
He’s literally called The Illusive Man — who could trust someone with a name like that? Things only get even more suspicious if you call him by his fan-chosen shortened name, Tim. He seems like he might have good intentions when you meet him inMass Effect2, but that changes in a hurry.
While he is a bit of a jerk, he’s never explicitly evil, that is, until Mass Effect 3. Still, the guy smokes when it was already horribly out of style, and as a wise fashionista once said, those who can’t follow trends can’t be trusted… other something like that.
1Wheatley - Portal 2
He might be an absolute delight whether he’s helping or hindering, but it was always just a matter of time before Wheatley showed his true colors. Never trust a strange robot companion that you meet in any kind of proximity of anything to dowith the absolutely haunted Aperture Science.
He may have that charming voice, and hilarious personality, but that was the real hint, wasn’t it? We can’t just fall in love with our new and onlyPortalfriend, because in Portal, we can’t have any friends unless they are a semi-sentient potato.
