Top 20 Most Shocking Video Game Plot Twists Ever

Top 20 Shocking Video Game Plot Twists

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Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 20 shocking video game plot twists. For this list, we’re looking at the most surprising plot twists you never saw coming – but they don’t have to be good to be unexpected. Consider yourself warned, there are major spoilers ahead for every game we’ll be discussing. Which twist left you speechless? Let us know in the comments below!

“Metroid” (1986)

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Back in 1986, everybody assumed that this brave space marine on a mission to defeat a cabal of space pirates and the monstrous Mother Brain was, you know... a guy. When, at the end of the game, the marine removed their helmet and revealed that she was in fact a woman, it was unprecedented. While Samus Aran is now one of the most widely known female video game heroes and “Metroid” is a long-running, popular franchise, the impact of this iconic moment can’t be understated. That being said, the additional ending where she strips to her underwear probably should have been left on the drawing board.

The intimidating leader of the First Sons, Kessler is seemingly a megalomaniac and is responsible for murdering Cole’s girlfriend Trish halfway through the game. When you reach the final boss fight against Kessler, however, he manages to implant a vision into Cole’s head: it turns out Kessler is Cole from the future, a Cole who let the world be destroyed by the Beast rather than lose his family. When Kessler lost his family regardless, he decided to use his powers to travel back in time, seize control of the First Sons, and force Cole to be the man he never was, so that the true villain – the Beast – can finally be defeated in the sequel.

Just who is the sinister, sadistic serial killer terrorizing the city in “Heavy Rain”? Did you guess it was that friendly, bumbling, private detective who saves lives everywhere he goes? No? The shocking reveal that the Origami Killer and Scott Shelby are one and the same really did come out of nowhere. Plot twists are fun and all, but many players found this one hard to swallow. We’re supposed to believe Shelby, who spends the whole game trying to solve the crime, is a murderer – not only that, but that he also killed his old friend Manfred off-screen while we were playing as him. The more you replay “Heavy Rain” the less sense this plot twist makes.

“Final Fantasy VII” (1997)

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Sephiroth is a merciless villain, and while Cloud knows this from the get-go, it takes a while to convey to the player just how irredeemable he truly is. That moment finally comes during the absolutely gut-wrenching scene where Sephiroth kills Aerith, the innocent flower-seller who captured the hearts of “Final Fantasy” players around the world. How could Sephiroth murder someone so kind and beloved? The fact that Square Enix was brave enough to kill off a major character and party member halfway through the game is commendable, especially when it’s so well-written. Decades later and Aerith’s death is still a tragedy like few others.

“Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” (2016)

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Thought to have been fatally shot during a daring prison escape, Sam Drake makes a dramatic entrance in “Uncharted 4.” Sam wants Nate to get back into treasure hunting so that they can finally find the lost gold of the legendary pirate Henry Avery. Initially, he tells Nate that he promised a dangerous crime lord, Hector Alcazar, a cut; if he doesn’t deliver Alcazar will kill him. But once Nate, Sam, and the game’s villain Rafe Adler are back together, Rafe reveals that he was the one who got Sam out of prison, and Alcazar already died months ago. Sam’s been lying the whole time.

“Yakuza: Like a Dragon” (2020)

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After a gruesome murder, the Arakawa family patriarch implores loyal yakuza Ichiban Kasuga to hand himself over to the police and take the fall. Kasuga spends nearly twenty years in prison, and when he’s finally released, it’s too little fanfare. Of course, the first thing he does is look for Arakawa, whom he expected to meet at the prison gates. But when Kasuga finally reunites with Arakawa, Arakawa shoots him in the chest in front of a meeting of the Omi Alliance. Understanding this shocking and painful betrayal drives Kasuga from that point on, as he barely survives the bullet with which his father figure tried to end his life.

“Dead Space” (2008)

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Isaac’s mission is not an easy one. In fact, it’s a downright nightmare. The one thing keeping him going, however, is the belief that he’s soon going to be reunited with his girlfriend, Nicole, who was working on the Ishimura. This being the first game of the series, players weren’t primed to expect the hallucinations the Marker induces in its victims, which is why the plot twist that Nicole has been dead all along was so unexpected. You, like Isaac, hoped that Nicole was surviving somewhere deeper in the ship, but it turns out she died long before the Kellion arrived. Even more spine-chilling is the fact the chapters have been spelling out the truth since the start.

“Halo: Combat Evolved” (2001)

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If you thought “Halo” was just going to be another bland shooter, you were sorely mistaken. While the setup of the human war against the Covenant isn’t particularly unique, the reveal of a third enemy part way through the game changes everything. It turns out that the giant “halo” at the center of the story is actually a weapon designed to wipe out a race of parasitic aliens called the Flood; if they’re not stopped, they’ll take over and destroy all organic life in the galaxy. Now, you need to eradicate the Flood without using the Halos, which will kill organic life before the Flood can get to it, thereby starving them. No pressure!

“Final Fantasy VI” (1994)

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A sinister figure from the beginning, Kefka is always unsettling. But still, you probably didn’t realize he was going to become the final boss and one of the most devastating villains in the entire “Final Fantasy” series. Kefka makes his intentions to take over the world clear when he murders Emperor Gestahl, the guy most of us believed would serve as the ultimate villain up until that point. Kefka proceeds to destroy the planet, shattering the continents into pieces and becoming a god, hell-bent on destruction for destruction’s sake. It’s this reveal – along with the outstanding writing – that makes “Final Fantasy VI” one of the best in the series, and Kefka such a memorable monster.

“The Last of Us” (2013)

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The death of Joel’s daughter Sarah during the prologue is a moment you’ll never forget. It sets the stage for the rest of the game as Joel comes to see Ellie, who he’s hired to protect, as a surrogate daughter. Ellie is immune to the zombie virus and a group called the Fireflies believes that they can use her to develop a vaccine to save the world. The problem is that her immunity comes from the fungus growing on her brain, which means she won’t survive the operation the Fireflies want to perform. When Joel discovers this, he murders all the Fireflies in the building and saves Ellie’s life, sacrificing the only hope of a cure.

You probably shouldn’t kill every single character in “Undertale”. But if you somehow missed that memo and went into the game expecting it to just be a standard RPG, in which everyone is treated as a target, you may not have seen this sickening reveal coming. When you make it to the end, Sans reappears and explains to you that you haven’t been collecting experience points to level up at all: they’re “execution points”, and you’re a heartless, murdering maniac. By this point, you’re completely irredeemable, and even if you’re tempted to start the game over, the characters will remember what you’ve done.

Since the dawn of time, brave heroes have been rescuing captured princesses. As such, you probably won’t question the motivations of “Braid’s” main character, Tim, as he tries to rescue a princess from a villainous knight. Until the very end of the game, that is, where the time manipulation mechanic shows that the princess isn’t running from the knight at all; she’s running from you. The knight is actually helping her and the one who truly wants to rescue the princess, and you’ve been pursuing her relentlessly for the entire game so far. It’s a masterfully constructed twist that makes you question the “damsel in distress” trope much more widely.

“Red Dead Redemption” (2010)

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Ex-gunslinger John Marston is enlisted by the United States government to track down his old crew and eliminate them one by one. Fail to do so and he’ll never see his wife Abigail and his son Jack again. Marston, of course, does what they want, traveling across the land to hunt Bill Williamson, Javier Escuela, and leader of his old gang, Dutch van der Linde. When that’s done he comes back home to finally start living his life as a rancher, but the government has other ideas. Weeks after John is reunited, the government agents return to Beecher’s Hope and execute John in front of his own barn.

“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” (2009)

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In this acclaimed sequel, Task Force 141 is still hard at work trying to take down Vladimir Makarov, a Russian terrorist trying to start a third world war. But it turns out that Makarov isn’t the one they need to worry about; close to the end of the game. two major members of the One-Four-One, Ghost and Roach, are betrayed by their commanding officer General Shepherd. Shepherd shoots them both as they try to evacuate, leaving only Soap and Captain Price left to pick up the pieces; Shepherd wants to start a war just as much as Makarov. Soap does get swift revenge on Shepherd at the end of the game, but this plot twist still stings.

“Resident Evil” (1996)

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We all know by now that Wesker is a villain—he’s a power-hungry sociopath and part of the Umbrella Corporation. But in 1996, when the world was first introduced to “Resident Evil”, the twist that Wesker’s been working for Umbrella for years and played a major role in developing the t-Virus threw players for a major loop. In the same scene where Wesker reveals the truth, he also shows you his pride and joy, the first Tyrant, which he’s been growing in the underground lab. When awakened, the Tyrant kills Wesker – or tries to, at least, we know he survives – and the series has never been the same since.

“Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic” (2003)

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Surprise, surprise; you’re not a blank slate protagonist after all! You’ve actually got a very specific identity, and the reveal is akin to finding out that Darth Vader is Luke’s father in true, “Star Wars” fashion. You’re actually Darth Revan, an ex-Jedi Knight turned Sith, who’s lost their memories. This is imparted to the player by Darth Malak himself, the primary antagonist and also Revan’s ex-apprentice. Now the choice between the light and dark side of the Force becomes even more important; are you going to abandon your former ways and defeat Darth Malak, or succumb to the dark, becoming the Sith Lord you once were?

“God of War” (2018)

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After decimating all the Greek gods, Kratos travels to Midgard to escape from his past and marries a warrior named Faye, with whom he has a son, Atreus. Faye dies immediately prior to the events of 2018’s “God of War”, leaving Kratos and Atreus to carry out her final wish: scatter her ashes from the highest peak in the Nine Realms. After much difficulty, they’re finally able to do this, at which point a prophetic mural prompts Kratos to reveal that Faye is a giant and she chose the name “Loki” for Atreus. This makes Atreus the trickster god of Norse mythology and father of the World Serpent, Jörmungandr, in the future. It was a revelation nobody was expecting.

“Spec Ops: The Line” (2013)

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You’ve spent the entire game battling through the streets of Dubai during a deadly sandstorm, pursuing the insane and dangerous Colonel Konrad. Konrad has deserted the US army along with his entire battalion of men to take control of Dubai – or so you believe. When the main character, Captain Walker, finally makes it to the top of the luxurious hotel Konrad is living in, he finds Konrad’s dead body. It turns out Konrad shot himself weeks ago, and the Konrad who’s been taunting and manipulating Walker was all in his head. All the terrible things Walker did, he did of his own volition, and it’s up to you whether he can live with the consequences or not.

“Silent Hill 2” (2001)

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James Sunderland sets out to Silent Hill after receiving a strange letter from his wife Mary, whom you quickly learn died a few years ago. Throughout his time in the nightmarish Otherworld, James is tormented not only by Pyramid Head – one of the most terrifying villains in gaming – but by Maria, a strange woman who shares an uncanny resemblance with James’ dead wife. The reason for all of this? James is plagued by unrelenting guilt; it turns out that Mary didn’t die of her long illness, she was murdered by James, who managed to block this out of his memory. Pyramid Head is a manifestation of James’s desire to be punished. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few Honorable Mentions:

Bell is a Soviet, “Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War” (2020)

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Aloy is a Clone, “Horizon Zero Dawn” (2017)

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“BioShock” (2007)

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You thought you were just the survivor of an unfortunate plane crash in the mid-Atlantic Ocean. You believed that your descent into the underwater city of Rapture was a complete coincidence. Turns out that you’re wrong on both counts! You’re actually the son of Andrew Ryan, genetically experimented on and brought back down to Rapture by Fontaine – disguised as Atlas – to finally kill Ryan. And guess what? Fontaine’s plan succeeded. Brainwashed by the phrase “would you kindly”, you’ve had no choice but to obey his commands throughout the entire game. The chilling discovery of the “would you kindly” room and the truth about Jack is a plot twist that gamers will never forget.