10 Video Game Moments That Came Out Of NOWHERE

10 Video Game Levels or Scenes That Came Out of Nowhere

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!? These are 10 Moments in Video Games That Came out of Nowhere. When you’ve been at something for a good amount of time, it’s easy to feel like you’ve got a good grasp on what to expect. Well, for these moments, expect the unexpected. Let’s do it! Nah, let’s not... Okay let’s do it.

Other Games

“The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe” (2022)

The Stanley Parable puts expectation on its head. As one of the most interesting and cleverly arranged titles to ever be released, The Stanley Parable has the player repeating the same experience over and over and over again, finding that changing their pattern ever so slightly creates a butterfly effect leading them to a vast and diverse list of endings. One such ending we truly didn’t expect has the narrator of The Stanley Parable giving up on this game they’d created, and just deciding to use ‘someone else’s’. We can anticipate almost anything, but experiencing four different titles from developers unrelated to this studio was very unexpected. Firewatch, Portal, Rocket League, and even Minecraft. What the hell?

John’s Death

“Red Dead Redemption” (2010)

Our protagonist's death was somewhat more predictable in the series’ sequel, as this game had set up the tone of losing a protagonist, and continuing the epilogue as a different character. But unlike the second entry, John wasn’t sick, John had done everything he had been asked, and John was seemingly forgiven, praised, and moving on to a more peaceful existence with his family. After the game lulls us into a false sense of security, the US military shows up at John’s door, and after one final shootout, we face the wrath of a battalion of soldiers, all with their guns aimed at John. For a second, when we enter Dead Aim, we think “Oh are we about to quickfire 25 soldiers?” An obviously impossible feat in hindsight, but we just simply couldn’t believe we were about to watch John die.

Mr. Blonde’s Identity

“Perfect Dark” (2000)

Perfect Dark follows secret agent Joanna Dark, who is tasked with stopping NSA director Trent Easton from using alien technology to take over the world. The game is filled with surprising moments, and one twist that nobody saw coming was the revelation about Trent Easton's right-hand man, Mr. Blonde. Always by Trent's side, his true identity remains a mystery, until Mr. Blonde tells him he's outlived his usefulness, and Trent pulls a gun on him. Just as Trent is about to shoot, Mr. Blonde transforms into a gigantic alien and kills him in a gruesome manner. Despite knowing that extraterrestrials were part of the overarching plot, there was no hint they were walking among us… And now, we are left questioning who is and who ISN’T an alien.

Samus is Female

“Metroid” (1986)

Nothing was more surprising than the original Metroid's ending. If you completed the mission in under three hours, Samus would remove her armor in the credits, revealing she was a woman. This twist caught everyone off guard because twists in games weren't really a thing back then, and before this, there weren’t a bunch of mainstream female protagonists who used blasters and violence to take down their foes… Closest was Ms. PacMan. The instruction manual even referred to Samus as a 'he,' ensuring only dedicated gamers would uncover the secret. Since Samus showed no hint of personality throughout the game, some people even thought she was a robot! Nope, she’s way cooler than that.

Serge Speaks

“Chrono Cross” (1999)

In Chrono Cross, Serge and his group must venture through realities to stop General Lynx from destabilizing the space-time continuum. Why is it always the space-time continuum being messed with? Guys, leave it alone! About halfway through the game, Lynx blasts Serge with an unspecified energy spell to kill him, and when the dust settles, Serge seems unhurt, implying Lynx's spell failed. But when Serge's friends ask if he's okay, he replies, "I'm just fine." Although this sounds like an innocuous exchange, the player immediately knows something is wrong for one reason: this is the first time Serge has talked. The player realizes that Lynx has swapped bodies with him, and the player takes control of Lynx. Welcome to the next 20 hours of gameplay, where you play as Lynx. Wow.

Clayface

“Batman: Arkham City” (2011)

A twist to end all twists… Not really, but it was VERY cool. Just before the climax, Ra's Al Ghul impales the Joker with his sword, seemingly killing him. The Joker stands back up, maniacally laughing, and suddenly mutates, revealing his true identity… Clayface, easily the stupidest name for a super villain we’ve ever heard. Nonetheless, this twist leaves a significant impact because you feel like you should've seen it coming. If you used Detective Mode earlier, you would’ve noticed he had no bones, being made of clay. And if you ask him really really nicely, he’ll just tell you, and you’ll embrace, and the game ends happily… I think, I’ve never tested this theory.

Who is Comstock

“Bioshock: Infinite” (2013)

In BioShock Infinite, your character, Booker DeWitt, arrives in the floating city of Columbia, ruled by the self-appointed prophet, Zachary Hale Comstock. We love a self-appointed prophet, always good news. At first, you assume Columbia stays afloat through some form of incomprehensibly intelligent technology. But as you progress, you discover the city stays in the air through quantum mechanics. And you know what quantum mechanics always leads to in storytelling? That's right. Parallel universes. Once this revelation lands, hold on to your hats, because the game is gonna start hurling revelations at your head like they don’t even matter. Elizabeth can travel to parallel universes, Elizabeth is Comstock's adopted daughter, and while you're trying to wrap your head around all these epiphanies, the game drops one more bombshell on you… Comstock is a parallel version of Booker. Not only that, Elizabeth is YOUR daughter. Also, Pearl Harbour was orchestrated by Charlie Chaplin! That last one’s a lie, but it wouldn’t have been the wildest thing in that game.

The Huddle

“Inside” (2016)

Even with a game that’s completely open to interpretation, we still didn’t see this coming. Since there is no dialogue in Inside, context is displayed visually, and the climax is undeniably disturbing. As you approach the end of your journey, you enter a water chamber where you discover The Huddle, a grotesque mass composed of human limbs. To escape the facility, you must merge with the Huddle’s body to break free from the facility. Although the nature of this deformed organism is never fully explained, many believe that The Huddle has been controlling the boy throughout the game, manipulating him to enter the facility and free it from its aquatic prison. The realization that you may NOT in fact be the outlier, and the only person with free will, is upsetting, and shocking.

The Scratch

“The Walking Dead” (2012)

The show taught us to not get attached to any character, but in the game it's impossible not to fall in love with our hero, Lee, and the girl he’s protecting, Clementine. We live in their shoes, and we falsely lead ourselves to believe we always will. After a long game, and towards the title's climax, Lee is attacked by a Walker. And as he inspects his arm, he sees the zombie left a tiny bite on his wrist, meaning he is destined to become a Walker. Our minds run almost as fast as him, thinking HOW can we fix this? Unfortunately, we can’t, and our much loved protagonist ends his story just as it was beginning. Seeya Lee, you’ll never be forgotten.

Tee-Up

“The Last of Us: Part II” (2020)

Although many suspected going into this game that we were going to lose our first game’s protagonist Joel, nobody anticipated how quickly, and how brutally it would take place in the game’s narrative… Unless they read the leaked script, the many many spoilers, and rage filled hate bombs. If you followed the studios publicity however, you were led to believe Joel was going to be with us for a good amount of time. Instead, early in the game he is kidnapped, tortured, and in a final moment of brutality in the journey of a man who had enacted a fair amount of his own brutality, his head was bludgeoned with a golf club. The helpless nature in which he went out was incredibly realistic, but shocking nonetheless.