Top 10 Video Game Heroes Who Made Things Worse

“The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” (1998)
While Link did save Hyrule from the clutches of Ganon, let’s not forget that one major ‘oopsie’ that our green-clad adventurer made along the way. The stop Ganondorf, Link had to travel across the vast land of Hyrule in search of three spiritual stones. These stones were the keys required to open a passageway found within the Temple of Time in order to obtain the ‘sword of evil’s bane’: the master sword. Mission accomplished, but opening that door also gave Ganondorf the opportunity to enter the sacred realm, thus giving him enough power to devastate the once peaceful land of Hyrule and transform into a harsh wasteland full of darkness and despair. Nice Going ‘Hero of Time’.

“Nier” (2010)
Our main hero Nier embarks on a big adventure to save the world. It’s a tried and true formula, but this game throws a curveball that not even he saw coming. All Nier wanted to do was find a cure for the illness called ‘the black scrawl’, but by the end when he defeats the evil Shadowlord, he sets in motion a horrifying chain of events. Killing the Shadowlord along with the other decisions made in the game, essentially wiped out all of humanity, rendering that cure pretty pointless. We can cut Nier some slack here as he couldn’t have predicted such a cataclysmic outcome from his actions, but hey, he still messed up. Congrats Nier, you unleashed Armageddon, Achievement Unlocked.

“Killzone 2” (2009)
Already established in the first game was the violent tension between the Vektan and Helghast populations, and this second instalment only ramped up the hostilities between these groups ten-fold. The Vektan armies launch an all-out assault on the Helghan home world in order to bring an end to the fighting and for the most part, the infiltration is successful. However, when the tyrannical Helghan leader ‘Emperor Visari’ is about to be arrested, the ‘shoot first ask questions later’ soldier named Rico kills Visari in a fit of rage, only escalating the already bitter relationship between the two factions. Nice work.

“BioShock” (2007)
The character you control throughout this atmospheric shooter isn’t quite as heroic as you’d expect. Over the course of the game, Jack fights his way through the dangerous catacombs of the underground city called Rapture, all the way to the Founder of the sunken city: Andrew Ryan. At this point Jack is at wits end with Mr. Ryan but before anything can happen, the game reveals a major twist. It turns out that this entire time, Jack is actually a mind controlled puppet and every decision made during the game hasn’t been his own. He was under the influence of Frank Fontaine who used Jack to do his dirty work, to ensure that the city of Rapture fell into his ownership.

“Silent Hill 2” (2001)
The town of Silent Hill is meant to embody an individual’s own ‘personal hell’ with nearly everything inside the world representing all of the fear and regret that a person feels within the dark recesses of their mind. Taking that into consideration, James Sunderland has done some dastardly deeds in his lifetime, leaving him with more emotional and psychological scars than any one person should carry around. Silent Hill reminds him of his tragic past around every turn, with each creepy monster or twisted scenario being symbolic of his own horrendous actions. However, it’s James’ choice to continue to venture further into this dilapidated hells cape. So, the farther he goes, the deeper into his subconscious he will dive. Must be a masochist.

“Call of Duty: Black Ops II” (2012)
It’s already bad enough that Mason is considered fit for active duty since you know; he was brainwashed by the Russians to kill JFK in the first Black Ops game, but Woods’ actions were inexcusable despite his motive. During a heated struggle, (quite literally) Woods and Mason infiltrate the Menendez estate and cross paths with a young man named Raul, who rushes to the protection of his sister Josefina. Things get out of hand when Woods tosses a grenade into the room where Josefina is. Witnessing his sister’s death at such close proximity fueled Raul’s quest for revenge, resulting in the deaths of millions. But hey, Wood and Mason aren’t the bad guys right? They’re American! *Sigh*

“Spec Ops: The Line” (2011)
In the Ruins of Dubai that make up most of this game’s world, humility and kindness are hard things to come by. Amidst all the madness and bloodshed, Capt. Martin Walker at least realizes the nastiness of everything around him, and makes the attempt to be a better person. Well, easier said than done, by the end of the game, Walker has honestly done more harm than good. He ruthlessly murders several American soldiers, launches white prosperous that kills both enemies and innocent civilians alike and the real kicker is when he destroys the water supply for Dubai, basically dooming the entire city’s population. Captain Walker should really get into the habit of practicing what he preaches.

“Half-Life Series” (1998-)
Yes, fighting off a deadly alien armada is sure to bring about some undesirable collateral damage and consequences. However, we haven’t forgotten that it was Gordon Freeman himself who played a helping hand in opening the portal that unleashed said aliens onto our world in the first place. Technological advancements and expanding our minds in the wonderful world of science-ey science is great and all, but as a leading member of his research division, you’d think that maybe Freeman would have spoken up once and suggested that trying to open portals to make contact with extra terrestrial beings wasn’t such a good idea? Why exactly does everyone in Half Life 2 regard him as their saviour again?

“God of War III” (2010)
Kratos’ quest for “REVENGE!” has caused several casualties over the years. However, we feel his exploits in God of War 3 easily takes the cake in comparison to all the other horrific deeds he has committed because this time he sort of…you know: broke the world. By the end of the game, Kratos has brutally murdered nearly every god and titan that crosses his path and has left the entirety of Olympus in bloody, broken shambles, and his actions bring about about a cataclysmic apocalypse, since offing each respective god only plunged the world further into a state of chaos. But it’s ok, we’re supposed to forgive him for his genocidal ways in the next game, he has a son now.

Before we reveal our number one screw up, here are a few honorable mentions…


Slippy Toad
“StarFox Series” (1992-)

Alex Mercer
“Prototype” (2009)

Jason Brody
“Far Cry 3” (2012)

“Shadow of the Colossus” (2005)
Do you see those ginormous colossi roaming around within this vast, sprawling game world? Well, as monstrous as some of them appear, they are not the real monsters here; that antagonistic title can be reserved for the lone wanderer that the player controls. The entirety of the game revolves around this wanderer character tracking down and killing sixteen giant colossi, because in doing so, he may restore the life of a young village girl he loves named Mono. Hey man, we get it, love makes us do crazy things; but going around murdering innocent creatures for your own selfish ambitions aint cool. Not to mention killing the colossi broke the mystical seal holding back an ancient, demonic entity. Fantastic work there, bud.

Do you agree with our list? Which video game hero do you feel made things worse? For more Top 10’s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com