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Times you felt bad for the villain

The Last of Us ending spoiler
Marlene getting killed by crazy murderer Joel
Yeah, I know, Joel is the true villain in the game

Funny how this ending is interpreted completely differently by parents. I guess I'd be a crazy murder too then man; I'll tell you right now I'd watch every mother fucker on this planet die slowly before I'd ever let a soul harm my daughter. It's illogical, but it's human. We're made to put our posterity above all else, it's the reason why we sacrifice ourselves for our children. I don't know of any other animal that would do that. I empathized with Joel completely as I would of done the same thing.
 
Poor Lisa Trevor

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Lisa's story is incredibly moving, which is pretty cool for Resident Evil. REmake's written journals are amazing, there's a ton of really fascinating backstory about how Umbrella worked. Same with RE2/3, I love reading about the people in the universe.

The fact she was injected with so much shit and had nothing but the face of her mother left due to her own actions is so sad. Stuff like that works great to make a villain out of the company.
 
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SOLIDUS WAS RIGHT
"All I want is to be remembered. By other people, by history."

The irony of that quote pierces my soul. Solidus was done so dirty in MGS4, and I don't think his existence was ever directly acknowledged in MGSV. Truly the red-headed stepchild of the Snake family.
 
Suikoden 2's bad ending.
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Became a villain to stop another villain. Then tried to change the country from within but was unable to end the war peacefully forcing him to fight against the protagonist who is his best friend since childhood. He uses his magic to hold back a powerful beast from being summoned which ultimately slowly saps at his own life force. Rather than facing the protagonist in a showdown when his kingdom is being conquered he slips away back to the hill top which he and the protagonist fought together on at the beginning of the game and their journey.
 
Suikoden 2 gets my pick, at least in terms of effectiveness. A lot of the Tales games have so-called sympathetic villains but rarely pull the concept off due to crappy writing.
 
Handsome Jack.
Lilith, Roland, and Moxxi stabbing him in the back and attempting to kill him because they suspected he would turn bad, without considering that he would go sociopathic precisely because of their failed attempt on his life.

Then to make it worse, Lilith brands his face with the Vault Relic and just moseys out like the total bitch she is.

I'm not saying he's totally sympathetic - because hey, he's a psychotic killer and sadistic tyrant - but I can understand a large part of his burning hatred for the vault hunters.

And yes, I am aware of the Game Theory video on him.

I don't think many people on Pandora are very good in general. Scooter, maybe. But he's killed Moxxi's boyfriends without provocation before, so I'm not sure. The point is that not even the so-called heroes are acting in an altruistic manner.

Except Handsome Jack
vented those scientist into space with little evidence one was going to betray him, thus a valid reason for Lilith, Roland and Moxxi not to trust him. Let's not forget he wanted to keep the Alien death eye, a weapon that was already proven to be super dangerous.
Lilith causing Jack's scar seemed like a poorly written excuse too.
The guy was an asshole ready to become a psychopath, regardless of what would trigger it.

Let's not forget
around TPS Angel is supposedly already locked away, he gets no sympathy points.
 
ALBW Spoilers:

My vote has to go to Hilda. I was legitimately shocked when it was revealed she was the villain the entire time, but when you heard her story, you couldn't help but feel bad for her. Her kingdom and people were suffering and this was the only way she could save her people. She even tells Zelda she did it for her people. I almost cried at the end when Zelda and Link give her back Lorule's Triforce. You can see she felt regret the instant her Triforce reappeared.

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I like how @NeoGAFNewThread totally spoiled this.
 
NieR and Ghost Trick hinge on this dynamic, and they do it really well.
Undertale

"You tell
ASGORE
that he's killed you once before. He nods sadly."
This was the most recent example of this I've seen, and featured quite a few unfortunate antagonists.
Asgore's is really well done, since you get the perspective of his people, his distant history and his recent one. He's got a great rep amongst the monsters as a kind-hearted person that goes out of his way to not inflict harm on others. He's very active and beloved in his community, and even plays the underground version of Santa. Then you get to read how humans boned the monsters over twice, and just pushed him over the edge when they killed his son over a quickly escalated misunderstanding. When you do confront him, he knows what he has to do to set his people free... steal your soul. The little bits of dialogue during his fight make references to trembling hands and uneasy breathing, as well as a sombre acknowledgement to how many times he's slain you before. Going by the sequence of events, I kind of assumed I had to let him win.

Undyne also plays well on the dynamic.
The game also portrays her as a well-liked and respected heroine, and during her "chapter", the game really hammers home how you need to lose for there to be a happy ending for these creatures. All her flavour text is her posturing like a stereotypical valiant hero. You also have little neat touches like how she needs to know you understand how she attacks before she's willing to really start going all-out. When you play a naughty run, Undyne even turns goes Super Saiyan. You sort of get a glimpse of what it's like to be on the receiving end of an anime hero desperation transformation.

The whole society there uses a weirdly harsh depiction of discrimination on the whole though, and can fuck right off. Most of them don't know dick about your kind, to the point where they don't even recognise you're a human, which causes them to talk shit to your face. Everyone assumes the worst of your kind by default, and you have to prove that you're "one of the good ones". Even if you can change their impression of you, a bunch of them still seem to be low-key rooting for your failure, because it is of the benefit of their own kind. I get that humans did their part to build up that rep, but it just feels unfair.
 
Bloody Baron.

Some will call it a pathetic sob story (I don't take them seriously), some don't even feel bad for him (Hell, I still think he fucked up very badly), but his storyline is one of the best in Witcher 3.
 
Funny how this ending is interpreted completely differently by parents. I guess I'd be a crazy murder too then man; I'll tell you right now I'd watch every mother fucker on this planet die slowly before I'd ever let a soul harm my daughter. It's illogical, but it's human. We're made to put our posterity above all else, it's the reason why we sacrifice ourselves for our children. I don't know of any other animal that would do that. I empathized with Joel completely as I would of done the same thing.

No, I am a father , and I still think he was wrong. I'm on my phone now, but I'll explain later.
 
Not the main villain, but Roach in Heavenly Sword. All he wanted was for his daddy to love him.

Had me in tears in the end when he jumps in tries to protect Bohan "Please don't hurt my daddy".

God damnit, that was such a good game.
 
Lisa's story is incredibly moving, which is pretty cool for Resident Evil. REmake's written journals are amazing, there's a ton of really fascinating backstory about how Umbrella worked. Same with RE2/3, I love reading about the people in the universe.

The fact she was injected with so much shit and had nothing but the face of her mother left due to her own actions is so sad. Stuff like that works great to make a villain out of the company.

I agree. You're not going to know much about Lisa unless you go looking for all the notes and diaries scattered across the mansion, but it's well worth it. Finding clues about the backstories of the history and characters in the RE universe is also one of my highpoints in the series - especially when it's done as well as in the first games.
 
Star Wars KoToR II :
Kreia
Tales of Symphonia :
Mythos
and
Zélos
if you choose
Kratos
at Flanoir.
Tales of Phantasia :
Dhaos
Tales of Eternia :
Chizel
and that poor
bear
.
Breath of Fire II : Not knowing that a guy in the airship with a parasite on his face is your
father
and that you can kill him by accident, leading to one of the saddest moment in the entire saga.
Breath of Fire III :
Teepo
NieR :
The ShadowLord
because of what it means for mankind if he dies.
 
N from Pokémon Black and White

200px-N_Artwork.png


He never wanted to be the villain, all he wanted was to gain freedom for all Pokemon, but in the end he was a figure head of a hostile takeover planned by his father who's only goal was to get rid of everyone who might stand in his way so he can gain control over the whole Unova region.

I felt bad for this dude because his intentions were honest and friendly, but were made to look like he was a evil mastermind by his dad
 
Marche dragging everyone out of there escapist fantasy.

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He was just trying to keep it real and everyone tried to murder him on several occasions for it.
 
No, I am a father , and I still think he was wrong. I'm on my phone now, but I'll explain later.

I'm interested in the explanation, but there is no way I'd of ever sacrificed my daughter, or someone that I've taken in as my child, for anyone on this planet so I empathize with Joel completely. Neil Druckmann actually wrote that game from the perspective of being a new father and realizing that he'd do anything, even horrible things, for the love of his child and that's something I can totally relate to. I never found a single person on this planet that I care for even a fraction of a percent as much as my little girl, and I fully admit that I'd take anyone apart for her if I had to. As I said, it's not whether you think he's wrong or right, (he's objectively wrong but that's not the point here), it's about how being a parent creates a bias in you that blinds you to anything in the world mattering as much as your child. Hell disagreeing with what he did just serves to make him a more interesting character and bring up some even more interesting questions about what causes a human being to feel this way when they have a child. The Last of Us does very well the best thing any story can possibly do; it inspires discussion.
 
The Master from Fallout

Guy has a horrific backstory, but he still came out of it trying to do what he thought was best for the world.
He had a pretty monstrous plan, but he sincerely believed that it was worth it, but the player can make him see the total flaw in his plan, and seeing this he falls into a complete despair, both at his failure and at what he already did in its name, and he kills himself.

"I... don't think that I can continue. Continue? To have done the things I have done in the name of progress and healing. It was madness. I can see that now. Madness. Madness? There is no hope. Leave now, leave while you still have hope..."

and the end of such a dark game, in a setting that explored all sorts of evil, i really was not expecting the biggest threat to be such a tragic mistake.
 
Undertale and Ghost Trick both have villains (
Yomiel
and
Flowey
) who are introduced as this crazy unstoppable force that you can't ever imagine sympathising with. Then
you find out their backstory and suddenly see how alone they've been, and how that drove them crazy. Come to think of it, they're actually kind of similar. They're both dead and stuck in this horrible post-death state
 
Steins;Gate
Moeka and Mr.Braun. Moeka because she was a bit insane and loved a person who didn't exist. You can feel her loneliness and betrayal at the end. Mr. Braun because he was forced by the organisation and was protecting his daughter. You feel sorry for everyone in that game!

MGS3
Every boss is pretty tragic.
 
Funny how this ending is interpreted completely differently by parents. I guess I'd be a crazy murder too then man; I'll tell you right now I'd watch every mother fucker on this planet die slowly before I'd ever let a soul harm my daughter. It's illogical, but it's human. We're made to put our posterity above all else, it's the reason why we sacrifice ourselves for our children. I don't know of any other animal that would do that. I empathized with Joel completely as I would of done the same thing.

Agreed.

However I also find it funny that people conclude Joel the villan and ignore a ton of factors.

Firstly most people are horrible in one way or another in this world.

Then with the end in particular there are these key things.
1) they were just going to thank Joel for delivering the "cure" by taking hin out back and killing him.

2) they were going to kill ellie while she was still out cold and not even ask her permission.

3) they have no idea it will actually work. You find evidence that shows they have found previous immunes and not succeeded in developing a cure.

4) what would a cure actually do. There world is already a heap of shit. They would likely use it to try and take power. Bribe people into their government.

Basically most people are arseholes including Joel but they are also just human, just trying to survive. There is good in many people as well and everyone's actions are right in their own mind due to their perspective on the situation.

It's actually pretty great that it is so divisive.
 
Agreed.

However I also find it funny that people conclude Joel the villan and ignore a ton of factors.

Firstly most people are horrible in one way or another in this world.

Then with the end in particular there are these key things.
1) they were just going to thank Joel for delivering the "cure" by taking hin out back and killing him.

2) they were going to kill ellie while she was still out cold and not even ask her permission.

3) they have no idea it will actually work. You find evidence that shows they have found previous immunes and not succeeded in developing a cure.

4) what would a cure actually do. There world is already a heap of shit. They would likely use it to try and take power. Bribe people into their government.

Basically most people are arseholes including Joel but they are also just human, just trying to survive. There is good in many people as well and everyone's actions are right in their own mind due to their perspective on the situation.

It's actually pretty great that it is so divisive.

I was starting to feel alone in my opinion, good to know that's not the case :)
 
Priscilla from Dark Souls. A really tragic figure in the game, and a victim more than a villain. You don't even have to fight her, and she is happy to leave you alone as long as you leave her alone.

I also agree with the posts that have mentioned the
Bloody Baron
from The Witcher 3. Although he made some terrible mistakes, he seems genuinely remorseful and pays a big price, no matter how the story ends.
 
Caius Ballad from FFXIII-2.

Lives forever to protect a person only to see her die again and again for centuries. Atleast he wins in the end.
 
Caius Ballad from FFXIII-2.

Lives forever to protect a person only to see her die again and again for centuries. Atleast he wins in the end.

Of recent games, I would chose this.

He's also got a fantastic VA behind him which helps make him a memorable character in an otherwise dull and forgettable game.
 
No Xenogears mentions?

I felt bad for every bad guy except for
Miang. She's a total bitch and deserves to be stomped on.
 
Bowser.I mean cmon,hes tried so hard in so many games yet he always fails...poor poor Bowser.I will lay some flowers on my nes in his honour
 
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