Alternative Character Interpretation/Video Games: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

* "This game stars multi-billion dollar rich fuck Scrooge McDuck on an intercontinental quest to become even richer. Now, imagine flying into someone else's country, [[Inferred Holocaust|killing them with a cane and then taking all their treasure]]. Well, he's Scrooge [[McDuck]], and I guess he can do [[Screw the Rules, I Have Money|whatever the fuck he wants]]." (''[[The Angry Video Game Nerd]]'' reviews ''[[DuckTales (video game)|Duck Tales]]'')

** This one is a bit interesting compared to some of the others, considering that it comes from an error in the programming... (Also, the game doesn't break entirely; it is still somewhat playable.)

* Many people believe that Klavier from ''[[Ace Attorney|Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney]]'' is actually faking his German accent. The theories range from Klavier actually being from Germany, but speaking English just fine and only exaggerating his accent for effect, to Klavier being born and raised in the United States and not even speaking German. A few facts are usually used as evidence:

** It's been shown that Dante's usual opponents are demons who are, at least on a base power level, far stronger than he is. However, Dante is no slouch himself, and has the advantage of appearing human. So he acts like a jerk in order to piss off the demons, goading them into making stupid mistakes (thinking he is just a human with a big mouth) and then thrashing them with his unexpected strength in their moment of weakness. Dante has been shown to be extremely efficient when he is sure of what he is up against (see the opening of ''DMC4'', not a pun made, just wham bam blast the old man) or when he knows his opponent has his measure (like Vergil).

*** The [[Devil May Cry: The Animated Series|anime]] seems to support this, since when fighting the very large but fairly weak [[Monster of the Week]] he tends to snark and taunt, but in the final battle he suddenly gets serious.

** Oh, come on, even Nintendo can't decide which one is the "official" Donkey Kong.

*** But the real question is, do they care?

** That's stretching it. There's hardly grayness to be found in [[Ensemble Darkhorse|Bann Teagan]]. Loghain is a much more concrete example of this trope, but some of that is arguably [[Draco in Leather Pants|Leather Pantsing]]; he crosses the [[Moral Event Horizon]] several times (some would argue that {{spoiler|selling your own people into slavery to fund your coup}} can't ever be justified). This world isn't ''quite'' as gray as fandom sometimes portrays it.

*** Most people attempting to interpret Loghain in a positive light forget that he never thinks the Darkspawn pose an actual threat. His coup and "ends justify the means" attitude were based solely on the belief that Cailan having any sort of friendly relationship with Orlais would immediately cause Orlais to invade them and destroy Ferelden.

*** Many suspect Bann Teagan of sleeping around with his brother's wife, Isolde, due to the very personal and intimate way they speak with each other—some even claim Connor resembles Teagan more closely than he resembles the Arl. And Loghain is there to ask the question: do the ends justify the means? If he ''did'' manage to save the country, selling people into slavery still saves thousands of lives, and this was his intent all along.

**** Though given that Eamon and Teagan are brothers, it's hardly suspicious for Eamon's son to resemble Teagan. And while Teagan is initially grateful to see Isolde alive since he had been under the impression that everyone in the castle was dead, he quickly gets pissed at her for her part in the mess and stays that way. Frankly, he probably would have been just as relieved to find Owen's daughter Valena still alive, especially if she could give him news about his family. Though even on the off-chance he was having an affair with Isolde, I hardly think that qualifies him as being gray.

*** Then there's the Dwarven throne candidates. Is Bhelen a ruthless politician who will do anything to secure power and rules as a tyrant while spitting on Dwarven society, or a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] who [[I Did What I Had to Do|does what he has to]] to change a system that's inherently flawed? Is Harrowmont an honorable lord who leads according to Dwarven culture, or a weak old man too wrapped up in tradition to realize the current system doesn't work?

** Isabela. [[Lovable Rogue]] who enjoys her freedom in a world of uptight belief systems like the Chantry and the Qun, or selfish [[Broken Bird]] whose actions swing up and down the moral spectrum to relieve her guilt over the victims of her crimes? She may [[Pet the Dog|free slaves and look after Merrill in Kirkwall]], but her {{spoiler|stealing the sacred text of the Qunari caused a war that devastated Kirkwall and she may only return to stop it because Hawke was a good influence on her}}, and she's perfectly willing to let a slave trader walk away free if he gives her a ship and promises to leave her alone. And her chosen career is ''piracy'' when she clearly has the skills to take more legitimate employment. Even if you like Isabela it gets a little uncomfortable when you realize that, while she does have affection for others, she likely places herself and her hedonistic tendencies first .

* On the surface, Debora of ''[[Dragon Quest V]]'' is a shallow, conceited, self-absorbed [[Rich Bitch]], a sharp contrast with her [[Spoiled Sweet]] little sister Flora. Nearly everything she says makes it clear that in her view, [[It's All About Me|It's All About Her]]. However, she can also be read as an extremely '''TSUN-TSUN''' [[Tsundere]], a [[Defrosting Ice Queen]] who fights to keep any vulnerabilities safely hidden behind a veneer of all-consuming [[Pride]]. Despite being [[Spoiled Brat|spoiled rotten]], it's made clear that she's [[The Unfavorite]] compared to her [[Purity Sue|dear, gentle, sweet sister, who's loved by everyone]] while Debora herself is regarded with dismay. And if at least part of her attitude is a front, then the next question is: how much of it is an act, and how much is simple self-confidence?

*** Necromancy: merely an icky branch of magic that ''tends'' to attract the wrong sorts, inherently wrong due to messing with the dead, or is there something about it that drives people towards being genocidal, batshit insane sadists? In Morrowind, where necromancers ''cannot'' be upstanding citizens - by longstanding and deeply held tradition and law, necromancy is punished by death in the region it takes place in - yet we meet more than one necromancer that, while not necessarily good, aren't evil, either. In Oblivion, where necromancy is perfectly legal and, up until shortly before the game began, openly done by the Mages' Guild, there are no non-evil necromancers to be found.

** On the other side of the coin, Hannibal Traven. Is he the [[Only Sane Man]] in the Mages Guild who recognized the threat and evil of necromancy and did right in washing the Guilds hands of it? Or is he a [[Knight Templar]] whose zealous actions only ended up weakening the Guild as a whole?

*** In my game, my character actually staged a coup after becoming protector of cyrodil, and had all of the Elder Council arrested and executed in my secret hell-prison (obviously i needed mods to add, among other things, the prison and the Elder Council :P)

** King Hlaalu Helseth. Brilliant, fair minded [[Magnificent Bastard]] who skillfully manages to both act in the best interest of his people and province ''and'' keep a healthy diplomatic relationship with the rest of the Empire, or a tyrannical [[Complete Monster]] who ruthlessly exploits and oppresses his people for personal gain?

** Just how much of a 'Good' Daedra is Azura, really? For that matter, ''did'' she curse the Chimer into becoming the Dunmer, or did she just point it out while warning the Tribunal that there was going to be consequences for what was done?

* Loads of this in the Disney game ''[[Epic Mickey]]''.

** Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, for example, has gone from a character similar in personality to Mickey Mouse, to Mickey's bitter and distrustful older half-brother. Although, being abandoned by Walt Disney, being replaced by Mickey, and living in a world of darkness and suffering for a few years might make this particular example a [[Justified Trope]].

** In several continuities, the Blot's just a crook who aspires world domination, but in Epic Mickey, he's an [[Eldritch Abomination]] made of Ink and Thinner, with the possible goal of erasing everything.

* ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' fandom is ''full of'' these, mostly found in [[Fanfic]]:

** Eliwood is either an honorable, clean-cut, shining example of good morals and chivalry, a weeping pansy who flails at the very idea of fighting, or a secret self-cutter who just may be mentally ill.

** Really? I was under the impression that Marth was usually the one [[Wimpification|wimpified]]...

** I've actually always seen Roy and Marth as brothers, as I've only seen them in SSB - Roy always struck me as hot-headed, sharp, pyromaniac, horribly arrogant, with a hair-trigger temper, so on and so forth, but never a moron...

** Is Lyn a badass [[Action Girl]] or a [[Damsel in Distress]]? Only her love interests know for sure!

*** Or maybe she is a badass who downplayed her own might in order to have a chance to seduce men raised in male dominated societies who would find it difficult to accept [[No Guy Wants an Amazon|a woman stronger than them]].

** This is ''canon'' for Marth. He's always been noble and brave to a degree but in the earlier games he was decidedly naive and a bit of a bleeding-heart, apparently so much that the OAV adaptation ''removed'' the brave and noble part and upped the softness. In ''[[Super Smash Brothers]] Melee'', he was something of a show-off. Finally, ''Shadow Dragon'' introduced a bolder, more serious version of the character. To a lesser extent Sheeda went through this as well; the games portray her as a sweet, brave girl who supports and loves Marth 100% where the OAV portrays her as a snitty brat with a mean jealous streak. Considering her actions in Shadow Dragon, Sheeda would make a ''very'' convincing [[Manipulative Bastard]] if the story were told from the villains' point of view with Marth and co. as the antagonists. Lorenz even notes she tends to keep people wrapped around her finger.

** A lot of the cast of ''Radiant Dawn'' wasn't well developed, and are frequently subject to this.

*** Course she'll still try to kill your units when she's [[Brainwashed and Crazy]]. (The only way to avoid that is to [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|kill her or have her killed]], but [[Video Game Caring Potential|you won't do that will you]]?)

*** Then there's the interpretation that he's emotionally damaged. This makes more sense if you play through his route and watch his scenes with Lyon.

** Eirika gets this as well. Some fans see her as a hopelessly naive idiot for the mistakes she makes in canon, while others see her as having a spiritual side that makes her emotionally stronger than Ephraim.

'''Setzer''': When things fall, they fall... Life's a game of chance. You play your cards, and Fate plays hers... }}

** How about [[Take a Third Option|both?]] He treats everything as a game, and with any game, there's always a chance to either win or lose. Win, and you get to accomplish something and have some fun in the process. Lose, and all you have to lose is your life, which wasn't very much worth living anyway. In a weird way, this makes Setzer almost a sane counterpart to Kefka. What do you do when you have almost no inhibitions and see no meaning in life? You either become a [[Omnicidal Maniac|gibbering nihilist]] bent on random acts of destruction, or you [[Earn Your Happy Ending|seek your own meaning in life]] through random acts of altruism.

** Notable too for dealing with Setzer is that the game itself offers alternate character interpretations, due to its translations. Woolsey's SNES translation leans more towards happy-go-lucky thrill seeker (See: "All I've got to lose is my life, and I got that for free!"), whereas the GBA's modified translation paints him as much more depressive and morally grey—the GBA translation outright tells you he's amoral or immoral on his introduction. Since the GBA translation is much closer to the original Japanese overtones (seeing as Squaresoft of Japan was outright horrified at Woolsey's work), it's possible that moodier!Setzer is the "real" Setzer.

** Minor but consider Cyan. Yes the translated script is the very definition of Wooslyism, but his accent seems to be unique to him and not shared by anybody else in Doma, including the king. Later when you catch Cyan by surprise in the mountains, he starts with some incredibly casual tones before resuming his stiff, formal Olde English. Fake accent?

** The interpretation of Aerith as a cheerfully kinky [[Granola Girl]]—forcing Cloud into transvestitism, anyone? The statement is an alternate interpretation in itself. The majority of fans probably don't ship like either. Aerith is friendly, kind and sweet, but is also a bit flirty. Tifa may be a little clingy, but she is also brave, loyal and a good friend and eventually, {{spoiler|mother to Marlene and Denzel.}} Those of us who ship, however, tend towards hating whoever gets in the way. (Except for those whose [[OTP]]s include [[Ship Mates]].)

** No no, let's ''do'' get started on the theories on Sephiroth. From a canonical perspective, he was a [[Complete Monster]], an [[Omnicidal Maniac]], ''and'' he had a [[Squick]]y fixation on his "Mother", not seeming to notice that {{spoiler|she was freakin' beheaded and mutated}}. But from a fangirl perspective... he has pretty hair! [[Squee]]!

*** Seriously though, the theories/alternate interpretation on how much influence or control Jenova had on Sephiroth are still interesting (despite being [[Jossed]],) considering he had her cells injected into him in utero. Is Sephiroth subconsciously following Jenova's goals, or were they perhaps merged together into one being? Did Sephiroth gain control over her only to become the new incarnation of a [[The Virus|world-destroying parasite]]? Did Sephiroth just go bugfuck crazy from being injected with alien cells, or do something similar to Cloud's fractured psyche and subsequent false persona (of being a "descendant of the Ancients") to cover it up? On and on it goes.

*** It's interesting that so few people seem to ever take Sephiroth's childhood into consideration. Here we have a child who was ''raised'' from day one under the 'care' of scientists who more than likely didn't see him as a person, and probably spent a good chunk of his youngest years trying and failing to get any affection at all (especially considering psychological research that indicates a human being ''cannot'' function without at least some physical affection). Is it any wonder he latched on to a persona that, aside from his friends who betrayed him, and Zack who canonically didn't get a chance to get as close to him, was the first to offer him the affection he desired for most/all of his life? So few seem to see the inherent Woobieness in him from that angle, and are more concerned with what we're presented with in canon. And how pretty he is...

* ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]]'' fans are [[Broken Base|firmly divided]] among "Marche was a hero who helped his friends out of a [[Lotus Eater Machine]]" and "Marche was a villain who destroyed the dreams of his friends and his little brother, as well as a whole world, full of sweet, innocent moogles." It depends on how real they happen to think Ivalice is.

** This also determines whether Marche was a leader so charismatic that he could convince a small cadre of disparate people to help him destroy their own world, or delusional enough to think he was one.

* Tai from ''[[Gears of War]]'' may have been a little bit psychotic ''before'' he was mentally broken and [[Driven to Suicide]] by Locust torture.

** "I like the glow of Locust blood in this light." "You've got a sick mind, Tai."

** Augustus Cole is [[The Big Guy]] of the game's [[Five-Man Band]]. A former Thrashball player (essentially an [[Expy]] of the NFL), he always shown to be upbeat and fearless, usually spouting some sports-related terminology ("We're going into overtime," and "Get back in the game, Baby!" are both things he says upon reviving a downed teammate). He is only playable as the viewpoint character once in the entire series, for half a chapter in ''Gears of War 3.'' In that chapter, he starts hallucinating, seeing his enemies as players on a rival Thrashball team as he recklessly charges across the battlefield. After this, one has to wonder if maybe Cole has been so upbeat and fearless because ''he was playing Thrashball in his head for the entire war.''

* Based on a few bits from the games, Kraden from ''[[Golden Sun]]'' may be the real villain. The villains from the first game called him "Cunning beyond measure." Methinks there be some hidden layers to that old coot... [[Mad Scientist|Not all scholars are good.]] Most of the events seem to have stemmed from the fact that Kraden insisted on going on into the temple at Mt. Aleph, and it's implied that the villains couldn't have gotten through without that. Then he insisted on taking the Stars from there, seemingly knowing there was a powerful guardian waiting (he recognized it almost instantly as such).

** Overly curious, yes, but that hardly makes him a villain. And this raises a question, what did he want with the elemental stars to begin with? There's no timeframe given on when he reaches the conclusion that the world with die without Alchemy, perhaps lighting the lighthouses was his goal all along?

* Claude of ''[[Grand Theft Auto III]]'' has this, due to his [[Heroic Mime]] status. Is he motivated by revenge against Catalina? Against anyone who betrays him? Is he merely a [[Punch Clock Villain]] who takes all these jobs for money? Power? [[Blood Knight|Blood lust?]] Some combination of the above? On a smaller scale: Did Claude actually {{spoiler|shoot Maria}} or did he merely {{spoiler|fire into the air to shut her up?}}

** Also from ''San Andreas'': Is Sweet Johnson a Jerkass who ran his brother out of town, blaming him for his little brother's death, disrespects said brother for trying to get his family out of the ghetto, and deserves everything he gets? Or is he a stand-up guy who cares deeply about his home, family and friends, and wants to get everything back to what it was in the good old days and ends up in a deep pile of crap he didn't deserve because of it?

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7xt22nk6w This review] of the freeware game [[Guardian of Paradise]] is perhaps the best example of ''[[Alternative Character Interpretation]]'' ever made.

** The second probably comes from the [[Expanded Universe]] with the SPARTAN-IIs rather unfortunate conscription - the concept of John-117 being trained from a child isn't explicitly stated in the games. He could almost be considered a villain, and certainly is from the Covenant perspective. He's slaughtered thousands of them, many which were forced to fight. Some enemies, like the Unggoy (grunts), run from you in fear, and a few scream for mercy. 'Demon' is an apt name from that perspective, and, in Halo 3, the Sanghelli (elites) obey you mainly out of fear.

*** Almost, save for the fact that he's trying to stop the Covenant from ''destroying the galaxy.''

** A Hero, or a [[Tyke Bomb|Weapon]]?

*** Very compelling. Exactly how much free will does John possess? Is he doing what he thinks is right, or what he's been forced into thinking is right? (Is there any difference?) Are his amazing feats the result of true heroism and ingenuity or ''exactly what he was designed to do?'' (Again, difference?)

*** In the books he does have to decide making a somewhat minor decision between what is morally right and what may possibly be best for humanity, and he chooses the former.

** This applies to every spartan in existence...

** The Rookie from ODST could be thought of as merely another silent protagonist. But when you look at his history, you will find that he recently endured a horrific massacre of his previous squad and all other forces there, implying (though not directly saying) that he has some major PTSD.

** The Elites: [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|ProudWarriorRaceGuys]] or homicidal [[Jerkass]]es?

*** [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|ProudWarriorRaceGuys]]: They welcome their defeated enemies into their ranks as brothers, forgive all sins at the end of wars, and argued for humanity to be allowed to join the Covenant rather than be entirely wiped out, and despised the attrocities they had commited against humanity later on, Rtas Vadumee going so far as to lose all sense of what makes him who he is and visit a planet he personally glassed to find the answers.

** Though not as obvious, almost all of interpretations about [[Halo|Master Chief]] above can be applied to the player character, The Security Officer.

** It's a possibility that Ethan, Madison, Norman, and Scott all investigate the Origami Killer [[Death Seeker|so that they could die]].

* Were the [[Jade Empire|Brothers Sun]] ''actually'' in the wrong when it came to the siege of Dirge? The Empire was ''dying.'' Hundreds of thousands had perished already, and the drought would have continued for 3 more years, killing thousands more and collapsing the Empire. The Water Dragon [[Jerkass God|had it in her power to end the suffering and refused]]. The Spirit Monks were perfectly willing to let more people die and civilization collapse in order to serve the whims of their Goddess. Queue one massive tragedy that leaves the Monks dead, the Emperor an insane ghost, the youngest brother's spirit bound to an abomination, and the surviving brother off in the backwoods pulling off a [[Xanatos Gambit]] to ''force'' Order back onto Creation. On the other hand, Sun Hai admits during the conversation with his daughter and his [[Motive Rant]] before fighting the hero that he was largely motivated by wanting to keep his throne, and given that his brothers try to betray him in order to seize power, it can also be argued that everyone involved was selfish.

** What Diz says is true, when talking about ''normal Nobodies.'' The problem is that he applies the same ideas to Roxas, who can and does feel emotions, (probably something to do with {{spoiler|Ventus}}) and Namine, who he ''admits'' in the Secret Ansem Reports is almost nothing like a Nobody to begin with.

** Others decide to interpret other characters. Such as how Sora is often portrayed as [[Idiot Hero|being a blithering idiot]] or how Kairi and Namine are [[Die for Our Ship|portrayed as being evil.]] And Riku is a full-on [[The Woobie|woobie]] who certainly didn't ''mean'' to [[Kick the Dog]] throughout the first game.

*** Also, because Namine is often seen drawing, there's a good number of [[Yaoi Fangirl]]s who think that she's... well, a [[Yaoi Fangirl]].

** Due to graphical limitations and some ambiguous dialogue, Axel can be seen as an [[Axe Crazy]] psycho in the original ''[[Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories]]''. Not so much in the remake or sequels (he was certainly a cold-blooded killer in ''Chain of Memories'', but the 3D version shows that it's clearly not of the psychotic variety) but the damage has been done.

** This is Kirby. He eats when he is hungry and sleeps when he is tired.

*** Anyone should eat when you are hungry and sleep when you are tired, whether you are Kirby or not.

** Most of the games in ''[[Kirby Super Star]]'' consist of Kirby just kind of charging around, occasionally fixing something, again by accident.

*** In the first game, he is deliberately stopping Dedede after he steals all the food, and in the ending can be seen giving the food back to the people. In Dyna Blade he might be bungling around, but the act of kindness he shows at the end is deliberate. It's possible he lacks self awareness (the anime says he's a baby), but he's almost definitely heroic.

*** (Or maybe only some of the cappies are?)

*** The fan-made live action series [[There Will Be Brawl]] completely suppresses everything good in Kirby and takes his bad side (his tendency to eat whatever walks) to the extreme. In this series Kirby becomes a cannibalistic maniac, as well as a pervert and a sadist. His appearance is utter [[Nightmare Fuel]]. He is an obvious tribute to Hannibal Lecter of ''[[Silence of the Lambs]]''. [[American Kirby Is Hardcore]], indeed. VERY hardcore.

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdnBWpHwayA Sonic for Hire] chucks out the "heroic" bit and just makes the guy a full-on sociopath. It fits what he does in the games pretty well.

** Dedede gets his own share of it, too. The games portray him as a [[Man Child|bumbler]] of a king whose hatred of the stars and gluttony often leads him into to mischief, yet also occasionally does positive acts, while ''Right Back At Ya!'' makes him a cruel(yet [[Man Child|bumbling]]) dictator who oppresses the Cappys and repeatedly assaults Kirby for no reason other than being a threat to his power.

*** Only because Revan turned to the Dark Side. If he hadn't, none of this would have happened. And Revan only fell to the Dark Side because the Jedi were doing nothing, forcing him to go to war to save the galaxy, in his eyes.

**** Here's a controversial one, at that: DID Revan turn to the Dark Side? The exact nature of the conflict is fairly ambiguous. The Jedi may have declared everyone who went to fight the Mandalorians to be Dark Jedi immediately after they left. Revan and Malak have pretty uncreative names for Sith Lords, as though someone had just gone? "Revan? No, that's not Revan. That's DARTH Revan of the SITH." It really casts some doubt on who, exactly, started the war after Revan and his crew came back. We're TOLD Revan did, but we're told that by Jedi.

** And while we are at it, let's frost the cake with them pulling a [[Mind Rape]] on a {{spoiler|captured Revan}} just to try and find the Sith's secret weapon. {{spoiler|OK, Revan may have been all but brain-dead, but there isn't a lot of evidence either way.}} What exactly were they planning to do with {{spoiler|the player character}} if the Endar Spire hadn't been attacked, and they wound up succeeding in their plan {{spoiler|to use Revan as an unwitting tool to lead them to the Star Forge}}? [[The Coroner Doth Protest Too Much|They may SAY they don't execute their prisoners]], but considering that the trope is named [[From a Certain Point of View]] for a reason? She/he probably would have [[Make It Look Like an Accident|met with a "tragic accident"]].

*** Again, in all fairness, while it puts the Jedi under questionable light, Bastila does argue for it pretty well simply by asking "What else were we supposed to do?" With ulterior motives and all, it was probably the kindest way you could treat "the biggest villain in the galaxy".

**** That's debatable. Who is to save that Revan wouldn't have preferred to simply being killed instead of having them Mindrape him/her?

*** [[Wild Mass Guessing|It has been theorised]] they suspected more about Revan's fall than they were willing to divulge. The sequel raises the possibility that Revan actually chose to turn to [[The Dark Side]] due to the fringe benefits of being evil, but had good intentions and stuck with them. Therefore it was a [[Batman Gambit]] so that he would revert to his naturally lightsided state. Or something...

** On the subject of KOTOR, there's Kreia. Dear lord, Kreia. [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]? [[Complete Monster]]? [[Tragic Hero]]? Old hag full of hot air? The debates rage.

* In ''[[Chzo Mythos|7 Days a Skeptic]]'', the events of the game show er, John trying to warn everybody about the supernatural phenomena, but in ''6 Days a Sacrifice'', it shows John, aka {{spoiler|Malcolm}} killing several Welders, Yahtzee implies in the commentary that {{spoiler|everything was all ''Malcolm's'' story, and he killed everybody}} he hasn't confirmed though.

** And the most interesting part is, there is a bit of evidence supporting the possession, in the game, {{spoiler|Malcolm constantly sees the ghost of Serena, for no other reason than to [[Mind Screw|screw with your head]]}}, and also the fact the first death in the flashback in the last game is {{spoiler|"The Welder" being impaled}}, and every death shown afterward.

** And that's not even getting into the [[Moviebob|God-vs-Satan]] interpretations...

** Bowser Jr.: In his canon appearances, his action is to take Peach hostage and preventing Mario to take her back. But does he do that to follow his father's steps to threat Mario, or does he believe that Peach is the closest being he has for a "mama", and wants to get his "family" together? Perhaps his way to do that reflects what he learns from his father, that is to take things by brute force - but neither of them seem to want to really hurt Peach.

** It is explained how the Reapers make more of them, turning an organic race into biomass and creating a new being out of that with machine parts thrown in. Since Sovereign was destroyed they needed a replacement. They let civilization advance far enough to allow races to expand to the necessary requirements but kill them all before they have a [[Curb Stomp Battle|chance against the them]].

** As of ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' the Geth, who existed entirely to sink bullets into in the first game, are shown to be a machine race that has no interest in wiping out the quarians and other races. The Reaper-supporting Geth are even considered heretics by the primary Geth culture.

*** Jossed by [[Mass Effect 3]], where its revealed that The Illusive Man ''intentionally'' recruited sympathetic individuals (mostly disaffected Ex-Alliance members) to be part of Shepard's crew in order to gain both his/her sympathies and secure their investment in completing the mission.

** Aria T'Loak: is she the ruthless, amoral Pirate Queen driven exclusively by [[Pragmatic Villainy]], or is she an [[Anti-Hero]] of a particularly hardcore bent who is controlling [[Wretched Hive|Omega]] in [[Knight Templar|the only way possible?]]

** Tali'Zorah nar Rayya: kind, caring engineer entitled to occassional snappiness from her upbringing in a paranoid society and being biased against by the galaxy, or snippy, hyper-defensive shrew that sees [[Fantastic Racism]] in seemingly everything?

*** This mostly stems from the habit Tali has of bringing up anti-quarian sentiments over apparently unrelated things, and her incredible hatred and fear of synthetics. Her interactions with Jacob after joining the team imply she's not terribly slow to make conclusions about other people either.

** There's also a floating idea that the team Shepard starts Mass Effect 2 with are part of an elaborate plan by the Illusive Man to ensure Shep's cooperation. Miranda is vocally Cerberus loyal and mission-focused, intended to appeal to Shepard's renegade tendencies. Jacob, with his Alliance-related backstory and more personal ethics-oriented outlook was intended to appeal to the paragon war hero in Shepard. Some take it further and point out that Shepard conviently gets off the station in the intro with a sexy woman and a man with washboard abs, implying that maybe they were put chosen to appeal to Shepard sexually.

*** This is a case of [[Occam's Razor]]: The Illusive Man planned for Miranda and Jacob to be on the Commander's team, yes. But the fact that Shepard leaves with them just shows that TIM chose them well- the Shadow Broker's files say that Wilson was working for him when he sabotaged the project, not TIM.

*** The prequel anime included in the remake does clear a few things up about X: {{spoiler|he does hesitate in decisive moments, but a flashback where he actually talked with Dr. Light before being sealed away, exchanging the testing phase with Dr. Light saying [[You Are Not Ready|humanity wasn't mature enough to accept X yet]] shows he ''chose'' to fight of his own free will, with Dr. Light saying he wanted X to guide humans and robots, not ordering him.}}

** Axl, the latest hero character, ranges from a hyper-active little kid, a good-natured rookie, a [[Creepy Child|creepy]] [[Child Soldier]] who sees everything as a game, or an angsty cutter. (Yes, really.)

** Vile: A [[Ax Crazy|complete psychopath]] who wants to kill X to [[The Only One Allowed to Defeat You|get even for his defeat]], or is he a cynical [[Rebellious Spirit]] who isn't [[Not So Different|all that different]] from the heroes or a reploid with an [[Love Makes You Evil|obession]] with X and will do [[Stalker with a Crush|anything to be with him]]?

** For that matter, the entire "Maverick" thing. Canonically it's caused by viruses, but especially in the first and fourth games, there's very little to suggest that it was anything other than what it looked like on the surface: a rebellion. If that's what it was, were they even necessarily bad? Moreover, was Repliforce in 4 really bad at all or were the Maverick Hunters and/or humans just paranoid and overzealous bastards who couldn't stand the thought of robots not following orders? This is compounded severalfold by the fact that in the Zero series (same universe, just a hundred years or so later), the Irregulars ''are'' a genuine robot rebellion (and the good guys) against a tyrannical society which seems to hate all reploids, and the leader of their enemies is ''a copy of X''.

*** Maverick Hunters didn't really start their [[Knight Templar]] tendencies until after the Repliforce incident. Did the Maverick Hunters start their shoot first, ask questions later ''because'' of Repliforce, where free-willed Mavericks proved to be just as dangerous as viral Mavericks? Magma Dragoon dropped a floating city killing millions to draw the protagonists into a fight with him, and the Repliforce preferred to start a shooting war over clearing themselves from a frame job for ''incredibly'' petty reasons. Is it any wonder humans don't trust reploids? Was Repliforce the catalyst for the later games' morally ambiguous nature of the Maverick Hunters?

** [[Destructoid]]'s Tony Ponce [http://www.destructoid.com/dr-wily-the-man-who-tried-to-save-the-world-199795.phtml takes a look into Dr. Wily's character]. Is he actually the [[Only Sane Man]] on the outlook of human-robot relations, seeing [[Ridiculously-Human Robots]] as a danger to society, and eventually [[Becoming the Mask]] as a [[Mad Scientist]] bent on [[Take Over the World|taking over the world]]?

* Aoko Aozaki from ''[[Melty Blood]]''. Doing it for the lulz or carefully manipulating events to [[Screw Destiny]]?

* [[Metal Slug|Morden:]] [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] who tries to prevent events like his son's death, or just another lunatic? Are the protagonists actually bad guys, who protect a corrupt government by slaughtering a larger rebellion army?

* ''[[Metroid Prime]]'': Is Samus Aran the villain? Is she anything more than a sociopathic bounty hunter? The games often center around breaking into the Space Pirates' bases and killing everyone inside. When introduced to a planetary ecosystem, she kills everything in sight, which must have a lasting impact on the ecosystem.

*** And then there's ''[[Metroid: Other M]]'', which managed to take whatever was left of the fan base and shatter it into pieces beyond repair. Samus is either seen as a human being who can convey emotions and feel some sympathy {{spoiler|towards MB/Melissa Bergman}} while still being a complete bad ass, or she's just a whiny overemotional bitch who has to constantly be reassured by Adam and {{spoiler|needs to get over herself after the freak out scene over Ridley.}} Though Ridley {{spoiler|ate Samus mother in the manga}}

*** Speaking of Adam: in light of his role in ''[[Other M]]'', is he really the mentor, confidant, and father figure that Samus has painted him out to be? Or a man who exploits Samus' unhealthy obsession with him to abuse her physically (e.g. preventing her from using her life-saving power-ups is dangerous situations) and emotionally (e.g. {{spoiler|giving himself the last laugh by sacrificing his life in Sector Zero in order to deeply upset Samus}})?

* The Runners in ''[[Mirror's Edge]]'' refuse to be part of the unbearingly oppresive and emotionless society of The Coty created by the opressive surveilance state that brgan some decades ago, which gets them in constant trouble with the police. But in the game, you only get the runners word for it, as you never meet or even see any civilians and the only confirmed occasion of police brutally breaking up a riot was over 18 years ago, when the characters were still young children. While there are no reasons to think that the government is not authoritarian and the corporate executives corrupt, you can't completely shake the feeling that the Runners might get a slightly distorted view of society from their hideouts high on the roofs of skyscrapers.

** An [[Alternative Character Interpretation]] is even done within the game by Celeste, who tells Faith that survival is meaningless if you don't also live a little bit. {{spoiler|It is later revealed that she didn't meant by it, that Faith should losen up a bit and have some fun at times. In fact she secretly accepted a job offer by the government to work as a state employed assassin, which is about the only job her skill and abilities qualify her for. She much rather tries her luck in rejoining society and have at least some kind of life, instead of hidding on the roofs until she gets shot by the police or falls 80 meters to her death.}}

** Porky Minch: [[Jerkass]] through and through and determined to turn the universe into his own personal toy box, or abused [[Woobie]]? There's certainly evidence for the latter; His parents were abusive and various people in his hometown mock him, though he still shows that odd big-brother sort of caring for Picky and is friends with Ness. When Giygas begins to control him, he gets a taste of a much, much better life and does everything to keep it, including lie, steal, and alienate his only friend. In ''[[Mother 3]]'', he surrounds himself with his own personal utopia: A place filled with self-praise and reminders of his old life and friends, and his grand plan is to destroy the world, therefore destroying everyone who won't like him.

*** Furthermore, Woobifying Pokey in Mother 3 is pointless when you remember another Woobie in your Party that had it worse: Duster. He was legitimately abused by his father (even if it did cause him to be an awesome Wall-Stapler) to the point of having a life-long limp, was not very social (Dialogue implies the he rarely gets to go to Tazmily villaige), and he's still very heroic.

*** Related theory: Ness, random kid screwed over by his jerkass pal, or jerkass screwing over his pal? He never attempts to snap his friend out of his obvious Giygas influence, and it's often implied that he dislikes Porky just as much as the others do, but he still plays with him, giving off a biiiit of a two-faced air. The biggest example is that he saw or at least heard Aloysius Minch beating his children and never does a thing about it. Ness is a [[Heroic Mime]], and he couldn't exactly ask Pokey to stop what he was doing more then he could ask for a hot dog. And when they meet, Pokey is either sicking guards on him or fighting him from a spider mech. When the reader gets a glimpse of ''Ness's'' perfect world, as with Pokey's, the other boy makes an appearance - as a truly remorseful and kind person, which implies that's either how Ness would like him to be, or how he thinks he still is. Either one is oddly touching.

** Dr. Andonuts: kindly, absent-minded scientist who's {{spoiler|forced to work for the Pigmask army}}, or {{spoiler|mad scientist who'll work for anyone who'll fund him? He apparently doesn't stand up for himself in the slightest until Lucas comes through--or, to be even less charitable, until the very end of the game, when he already knows what side his bread's buttered on anyway. He seems to spend most of Mother 3 in an apathetic haze, making cool toys (he makes monstrous chimeras ''in his spare time, for fun''). Think Nazi-turned-Allied scientist Wernher Von Braun, but in a trash can, and with more child neglect than you can shake a stick at.}}

*** It seems someone forgot that {{spoiler|Porky likely went out of his way to kidnap Andonuts and brought him to the future.}} It's uncertain whether he was threatened into {{spoiler|working for the Pigmasks or not,}} but he was likely in emotional shock from being {{spoiler|yanked away from his life and thrust into a completely unfamiliar environment.}} He had nobody to look forward to for rescue or otherwise, no idea what was going on, and no reason to believe that he could escape. And the [[Mix-and-Match Critters|chimeras?]] Perhaps he wasn't designing them for combat purposes. {{spoiler|It could explain why the Ultimate Chimera was unstoppable: Andonuts gave Porky [[Be Careful What You Wish For|what]] [[Gone Horribly Right|he]] [[Hoist by His Own Petard|wanted]], hoping it would devastate the Pigmask army!}}

*** Actually, their abilities were given to them by {{spoiler|Izanami}} when the {{spoiler|protagonist, the [[Complete Monster]], and Namatame first came to Inaba and met the gas station attendant, who shook hands with them. She gave each of them an aspect of human nature to represent and follow: Hope, Emptiness, and Despair respectively.}}

** The Protagonist of ''[[Persona 3]]'' being made into a [[Stepford Smiler]]. Which is also pretty reasonable considering the circumstances of his back story.

*** To say nothing of the differing theories as to what that he ''meant'' in that scene. The theory that he planned to be the only thing that existed doesn't seem to hold water, as he talks later about others being there, including people he wouldn't logically know about. Was he testing the player character's reaction, as he seemed to be doing with his bomb threat in Celestic and his later threat that capturing/defeating Giratina would cause everything to end (which is counterproductive to his goals as if everything ended ''that'' way, he couldn't create his new universe)? Was the "lie" refering to how he had no intention of letting his subordinants ''rule'' rather than exist at all? Or is he just being his usual inscrutable self and the true meaning of it is known only to him?

** It's worth noting that there is [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure|a canon]] where Cyrus {{spoiler|realizes that what he had done was wrong}}, although we're not told the specifics of his realization. It's also the only canon where someone {{spoiler|shows him forgiveness}}, and it's implied that the two are related. However, DPA-verse was for the most part written without Platinum's characterization.

** Red has various interpretations on both design and personality. His remake design ''always'' shows him scowling and his ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' counterpart is a bit of a [[Jerkass]] (or at least quite cocky) along with his ''[[Pocket Monsters (manga)|Pocket Monsters]]'' counterpart, though the games imply he's a nice [[Determinator]]. But his classic design is almost always shown happy, smiling, friendly, and [[Hot-Blooded]]. Fans love to portray him as [[The Stoic]].

*** Other protagonists are like this too, even the ones with a set personality in their [[NPC]] roles. Dawn and May in particular get hit with this hard in [[Fanon]], often being tomboyish and role model-like when their game personalities are very feminine and [[Tsundere]] in Dawn's case.

** "And when you're dead I will be still alive". Threat of a future murder attempt on Chell, statement of immortality, or ''lamentation'' of immortality?

** Did the test go horribly wrong, resulting in the tester's death, or did it go horribly right, and showed the portal gun at its finest? Both? Neither?

** Is she not an AI at all, and simply a sophisticated but buggy user interface, full of pre-recorded statements?

** In the first game until the sequel. Did Chell just defeat the evil computer and save herself or did Glados just finish yet another test with a human specimen by pretending that the incinerator was the end of the obstacle course?

** Caroline with regard to the cut dialog: Goofy and victimized assistant of Cave Johnson? Or complicit psychopath who only considered the horrific implications of her work when it came barreling down on her?

** Cave Johnson - An honestly well-meaning guy who is simply down on his luck and clueless to how to appropriately use his products in the real world, or a deranged man hell-bent on testing his products as much as possible to sate his curiosiyy? Nevertheless, one thing everybody can agree on is his obvious lack of sanity.

* Is Ratchet from ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'' a great hero, saving the galaxy whenever the time needs him or is he secretly an omnicidal manic just using the hero excuse so he can kill innocent beings that get in his way with really big guns?

** Easily the former. There are a huge number of venues to legally murder wave upon wave of creature for profit and earn a very good living doing so all around him - that he never partakes in these competitions until he has to (as evidenced by him always being the new unknown challenger) as opposed to doing it professionally shows he's doing it cause he has to, and the player is doing it cause they're an omnicidal maniac just using the hero excuse so they can kill innocent beings with really big guns.

* ''[[Silent Hill: Shattered Memories]]'' may be this in regards to the first game of the series, interpreting ''everyone'' in different ways. Is Harry really a [[Papa Wolf]], {{spoiler|or is that how Cheryl ''wants'' to see him as, was he nothing more than a lecherous ass}}? Cheryl gets this too, {{spoiler|interpreting her as slightly not right in the head after her dad dies.}} In fact, {{spoiler|one theory is that the entire first game was imagined up by Cheryl}}. This being [[Silent Hill]], we'll ''never'' be sure...

* [[Sinistar]]. Villain or Tragic Character? When he arrives he tells the player to Beware, and to "Run! Run! Run!," before finally being overtaken by evil, letting out an angry and sorrowful shout before giving chase to the player.

** Sonic himself has been portrayed as a [[Sat AM Sonic the Hedgehog|wisecracking resistance commando who engages in bouts of]] [[Well, Excuse Me, Princess!]] with the team's leader, a [[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog|good natured drifter who for all his attitude shows respect for genuine authority and behaves like an ideal father to his]] [[Kid Sidekick]], a [[Sonic the Comic|self-centered, sharp-tounged, hotheaded jerkass without a nice thing to say to anyone]], or [[Sonic X|a free spirit who hardly speaks and his happy to tag along with a lonely rich kid.]] Sega's own employees are not exempt from this, some they say Sonic's a nature loving hero with great appreciation for beauty and relaxation, and some say that he's so hyperactive he can never sit still let alone sit and look at the scenery, some also say he's a loner and likes his peace while others say he's gregarious and likes a lively atmosphere.

** [[Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog|Tails on occasion shows traits of being]] a [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass]], [[Sat AM Sonic the Hedgehog|an easily excited fanboy of Sonic's who sometimes acts like a]] [[Reckless Sidekick]], or [[Sonic the Comic|a butt monkey who suffers from an inferiority complex and gets flustered easily]] or a [[Sonic X|techno-wiz with maturity beyond his years and shows leadership skills.]]

*** And, sometimes, he's [[Innocent Prodigy|portrayed as having some measure of each]].

*** Another meta-example could be that Amy could be defined as the "Anti-Peach" like Sonic was the "Anti-Mario".

** Sonic's apparent complete indifference to girls despite being 15 years old has sparked many speculations among people, maybe he's gay, may be he's unwilling to utilize his [[Popularity Power]] to get into bed with someone because he sees it as shallow, or he's [[Asexuality|asexual.]]- Love seems to confuse him. Maybe it's becuase of how young everyone is, or perhaps he really ''does'' love Amy, but [[The Drifter|isn't ready to settle down yet]] and/or [[It's Not You, It's My Enemies|doesn't want Robotnik to pick up on said affections and]] [[I Have Your Wife|kidnap]] ([[Stuffed Into the Fridge|and possibly hurt, or even]] ''[[Stuffed Into the Fridge|kill]]'') [[I Have Your Wife|Amy]] [[It's Not You, It's My Enemies|just to get to him]].<ref>Sure, Amy is quite capable of taking care of herself, but who says Robotnik couldn't send in an army to overwhelm her or plan an ambush to capture her without even allowing her a chance to fight back? The guy ''is'' a genius, he can probably come up with a tactically sound plan, even if his immaturity usually gets in the way.</ref> But then he doesn't seem to have interest in any other girls.

*** [[Take a Third Option|She's schizo?]]

*** Her personality in ''[[Sonic the Comic]]'' changed overtime, to change right back in the last arc. The more well-known personality is the result of [[Executive Meddling]] in relation to role models for girls. The original Amy was supposed to be more of a comical foil to Sonic who fights, but not much. The changed personality made her into a [[Badass]] (or [[Badbutt]]) character in stark contrast to any other of her personalities, with emphasis on romance (though in this continuity it's implied her crush is small and she just likes teasing Sonic). It becomes noticeable how different the personalities are when the last arc comes and Amy does ''nothing'' action related, when before she would be right in the action.

* People find Purge from ''[[Space Channel 5]] Part 2'' to be a villain, but in reality he was just trying to make people happy. He probably went insane though...

* Roger Wilco of ''[[Space Quest]]''. Bumbling, lazy idiot who only manages to succeed through sheer blind luck, or underestimated (though unmotivated) hero who manages to get ahead by using his cunning and resources to save the day? [[Big Bad]] Sharpei of ''[[Space Quest]] VI'' feels it's a bit of both, that Roger is a bumbling idiot but he couldn't have survived the way he has without some degree of genuine capacity.

** After playing through the games, there's an even darker variant of the second theory. Roger is far from the sharpest knife in the drawer, but [[All of the Other Reindeer|he is surrounded by a universe that seems to care more for appearances than realities, and is horrified by the ''very notion'' that a mop jockey can save their butts]]. At least once per game, [[What You Are in the Dark|he could have said "Screw it, not my problem" and no one would have thought any different of him - or even considered it a preferable action to heroics]]. In the first game, he had a ship and could have gone anywhere. He knew damn well the Sariens had a lot of ways to make him die painfully - he still went after them to destroy the Star Generator. In the third game, he had a ship and a few hundred buckaziods - he didn't ''have'' to go rescue the Two Guys. In Space Quest 4, he had a freaking time machine. Why go back to the [[Crapsack World]] of Space Quest 12 which was even ''worse'' than the Sarien ship? Space Quest 5 had Star Con perfectly willing to blow off Beatrice's reports of illegal dumping of toxic sludge and look the other way because their golden boy Quirk was the "hero type" they wanted. It may have been a total fluke that put Roger in the captain's chair of the Eureka, but he manged to win the loyalty of the surly crew (risking his life for theirs more than once), accomplish his missions, blow the lid off the conspiracy, and save the Confederation from the pukoid monster. In the last game, he's busted back down to Janitor. Part of the charges against him were "consorting with a female of higher rank," which is nasty on a couple fronts - no one was bitching when Quirk was trying to force himself on her, and Bea is perfectly capable of making her own choices as to a partner! [[Kangaroo Court|The admiral that was presiding over the alleged tribunal turned out to be allied with Sharpei later]]. Speaking of Sharpei, Star Con was all too willing to write off Stellar's ''highly suspicious'' alleged death because the [[Screw the Rules, I Have Connections|wealthy and well-connected Sharpei was considered beyond suspicion or reproach]]. Worse, no one believed Roger when he tried to tell them something was wrong. Yet, he couldn't let that injustice lie, no matter how badly Star Con wanted it to do so. [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished|Given how many times he stepped up, only to get kicked in the teeth, insulted, and hurt ''every time,'' who can blame the guy for being unmotivated]] or believing he's worth less than the stuff he mops off the floor?

** Arcturus Mengsk: power-obsessed sociopath with a God complex or trying to unite the Terrans of the Koprulu sector in order to ensure their survival?

*** Or both?

** I'm surprised Zagi from the same game isn't mentioned. Homicidal creepily evil dude with a thirst for blood and an [[Ho Yay|unhealthy obsession with fighting Yuri Lowell]], a young assasin who is the best at what he does, but has not seen enough challenge in life until meet Yuri, which fuels him with passion and desire to continuously battle to the death with a worth rival, or perhaps a troubled soul who is isolated because of his profession, and in finding someone who could best him, [[Kuudere|he finally finds a person he could call friend but doesn't know how to express it?]]

* ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'', having an [[Excuse Plot]] and paper-thin characterization, can support a variety of interpretations, though beginning with the recent WAR update each major revamp has started to fill in the backstories a bit more. Some fans attempt to stay within the framework of the information provided, others throw all of that out the window and create a number of [[Sailor Earth]]-types who are more or less just "my character, as this Class".

** Joshua's [[Ambiguously Gay|ambiguously gayness]], having the ambiguous part taken out. This can even be further alternatively characterized as him simply messing with Neku, and in fact being straight.

*** In the end, was Joshua a [[Smug Snake]], [[Magnificent Bastard]] who {{spoiler|enjoyed forcing people to play games and in fact knew he wouldn't destroy Shibuya from the first day}}, or was he {{spoiler|inspired by Neku's refusal to shoot him}}?

** Kariya is either too lazy to get promoted, or he enjoys Uzuki's company so much he doesn't want to leave their partnership.

*** Or he's perfectly aware of how corrupt the higher-ups are and has no intention of joining them.

* ''[[Touhou]]'' needs to get special mention here. Beyond the absurdly high fans-to-source-material ratio meaning there's a ton of this to begin with, ''UFO'''s A and B paths not only affect the characters abilities but their personalities as well. So Reimu is either driven primarily by a need for money or out of genuine concern for people, and both versions are equally canon.

* [[Valkyria Chronicles|Faldio]]: irredeemable asshole who jumped at the chance to shoot his best friend's girl as much out of jealousy as patriotism, or the only person [[I Did What I Had to Do|with the guts]] to choose [[Designated Evil|the many over the one]] when his back was against the wall? It's usually a matter of how you feel about the romance plot.

** There's also [[The Hero|Welkin]]: the game plays up the idea that he's a cute, well-meaning nature-nerd who only wants to save his country so he go home and be a teacher, but some fans speculate that he's got a nasty [[Jerkass]] streak, and isn't actually that smart—mainly that he seems very comfortable with ignoring Alicia's existential crisis until it's time for him to [[Big Damn Heroes|save the day]], he physically assaulted Faldio because he couldn't argue with his logic, and anyone with any kind of deductive reasoning could have told that the river was shallower where there were plants growing up out of it.

*** A little of both. He's clearly addicted to power and is extremely ruthless, but isn't completely heartless. He did sincerely love Tyranda, and he didn't get into any of the "force her to love me" routine. For the most part, however, his motives to appear to selfish.

** Orgrim Doomhammer: A tragic hero who wanted the best for the orcs, even if it meant the destruction of the humans, or a murderous, backstabbing warlord? (It's entirely possible, using the demonic corruption backstory, that it was first one, and then the other.)

*** One of the reasons Orgrim is up to so may interpretations is the number of retcons relating to him; originally he decieved and ambushed Lothar(greatest human hero ever); later this was retconned into killing him in an honorable, on on one fight—something a lot of people didn't like. Also, he was known among the orcs as "The Backstabber" for usurping the posistion of warchief from Blackhand. A lot of people took this to mean he stabbed Blackhand in the back in a cowardly assassination attempt; it was never clearly stated in the original lore and was someone in line with his behavior, like ambushing Lothar. It was later explained that he killed Blackhand in a fair fight—he was called the backstabber because Blackhand was [[Villain with Good Publicity|popular]]. From there, Orgrim was mainly doing what was best for the orcs even if it meant wiping out the humans.

** Daelin Proudmoore: A prejudiced, violent psychopath who couldn't let go of the past, a noble but tragically short-sighted hero who couldn't let go of the past, or a hero who was betrayed by his own daughter?

** Jaina Proudmoore: A philanthropist who is trying to avert pointless tragedies, or a traitor and appeaser who refuses to see the big picture? Her actions willfully condemned her own father to death and later denied the Alliance a golden opportunity to decapitate the Horde's leadership: was she saving lives or ensuring a longer, bloodier war later on?

*** And that's not even getting into the theories that her support of Thrall (and thereby the Horde) may have a [[Shipping|deeper motive]].

*** Or she's just plain evil. Two of her boyfriends and arguably her father have gone insane, she manipulated Thrall into bumping off Daddy, and everything which happens seems to consolidate her powerbase. Now in Cataclysm, Alliance forces (presumably under her command) have invaded the Barrens.

** Sylvanas Windrunner: has she, as an undead horror, retained any of her former heroism and nobility, or is she a [[Fallen Hero|twisted, irrevocably corrupted mockery of everything she was in life]]? Interestingly enough, this particular one is occasionally discussed ''in-game'', especially among the Blood Elves in Quel'thalas to whom Sylvanas has offered her protection and sponsorship. There are ''more'' than enough hints of both a genuine sadness and a merciless, ruthless streak, as revealed in various events that emphasize either her bitterness or her melancholy, though currently she seems slightly closer towards good than evil. (The RPG books listed Sylvanas as Lawful Evil, but they're a bit out of date in the timeline, and Blizzard seems to ''love'' teasing players with this one.)

*** The Lament of the Highborne and The Lady's Necklace quests seem to support the genuine sadness part. However, after you finish the quest, she yells at the player character who was thinking she was weak and holding on to the past. Maybe she's just kidding herself?

* Wilhelm from ''[[Xenosaga]]'' get a fair bit of alternate interpretations. Is he a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] who is underestimating humanity or a somewhat cold man who is nonetheless working for the greater good? Depends largely on if you believe Eternal Recurance was a means or an end. It could be both, considering his main goal was to prevent the collapse of the lower domain (our universe). And when the alternatives are our universe getting destroyed and the upper one staying around or BOTH getting destroyed. Considering both ways end up with the lower domain still around either by resetting everything or the collective unconscious evolving enough to prevent or reverse the dispersion that would have lead to said destruction. And since doing something like THAT is by no means easy, he really skirts the line between [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] and [[Necessarily Evil]].

** Wilhelm may have been trying to become God (or really was him, thus making it a case of [[God Is Evil]]) himself. Not only does he have some subtle [[A God Am I]] like moments, he also can {{spoiler|make people immortal, see the consciousness of anyone he likes, and is able to keep the time-loop he had going. Also, he can do whatever he wants, whether it's transporting gigantic robots with the snap of a finger or force choking someone. He also acts more like God than what the official explanation is. He claims U-DO is God and that the two Abels are it's observation vessels, but knowing Wilhelm, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that he had something to do with that too. This is the guy who was behind the U.M.N. Another thing is that we never really saw what happened to him and Kevin. It's assumed that he dies along with Kevin, but they never show them actually disappearing (like they did with Caanan and Voyager) nor do they mention it after the last boss fight. This leaves me to believe he just went to a different dimension (most likely the Upper one) during the Zarathustra battle. I mean, I find it hard to believe that he'd give a Testament the power to kill him, let alone create just one key to activate Zarathustra.}} He probably just went elsewhere to plan. Not that we'd ever find out anyway, thanks to the series being canceled.

** Ganondorf himself gets this in ''[[The Wind Waker]]'', due to mentioning a [[Freudian Excuse]] for dramatic effect. Now, people are unsure if he's just a [[Complete Monster]] and [[Magnificent Bastard]], or a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]] turned batshit insane due to a series of failures. And then, there's King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, who is either thought to be a [[The Atoner|wise monarch who regrets his past mistakes]] or... [http://www.halolz.com/2009/10/12/the-king-of-hyrule-is-a-jerk-part-3/ this.]

*** And, even more fundamentally, Just like Link and Zelda are [[Chosen One|chosen by the gods]], ''so is Ganon''. They are the three forces that keep Hyrule's history going: whenever Hyrule has [[Status Quo Is God|fallen into a stasis]], Ganon destroys it, Link defeats him, and Zelda puts it all together again, in a greater form. He might not be ''likable'', but he is ''necessary'': [[Balance Between Good and Evil|without him, Hyrule's past is slowly but surely forgotten, it's treasures buried in forgotten dungeons, and the whole realm languishes with lack of any progress, while with the destruction wrought by Ganon comes the chance of and motivation for new growth and improving things]].

** Link himself can fall into this. Is he a badass, heroic avatar of courage, or an [[Heroic Mime|antisocial]] [[Kleptomaniac Hero|vandal/theif]] more concerned about [[Take Your Time|fishing and gathering chickens]] than saving the world?

*** On the subject of Link; think about his [[Angst? What Angst?]]. Is he a [[Determinator]] too set on saving the world to worry about his own problems, or a [[Stepford Smiler]]? (In reality, it's probably the first one, but [[Epileptic Trees|whatever.]])

*** Or a [http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/195 creepy giant who catches fairies and puts them in jars for sale]?

* The Illuminati and Morgan Everett in ''[[Deus Ex]]''. Are the Illuminati against MJ12 because MJ12 controls the U.N., so, is in the position where the Illuminati want to be? Or is it because they believe that MJ12 aren't doing what is best for the world? Is Morgan's hypocrisy a sign that he is no better than MJ12 or that he needs to be the lesser of two evils? Given the fact there are sign of both sides, the answer's a guess at best.

** Tracer Tong: dangerously naive idealist, or the only one who wishes to bring freedom to humanity? Does he work for the Triads for protection, uses them as his tool, or does he [[What the Hell, Hero?|just not care]] about the drug trade and human trafficking?

** Cute Pink a sweet cute girl or a slut?

** Is Racer Bomber [[The Generic Guy]] or a really rabid [[Yaoi Fanboy]]?

{{quote|'''Sakuya''': That child goes around with an air of evil and fear around her, but I know she is really very gentle and vulnerable.}}

* [[Tales of Graces|Pascal]]. Is she just [[Obfuscating Stupidity]], in love with Sophie (in a creepy way), or is she just Autistic?

** Some signs to show that [[Even Evil Has Standards|even if Jimmy is a bully, he has standards]] when he tries to bring order back to the school, tells the bullies to stop picking on weaker kids, and is storyline wise never shown being mean to a girl or young kid. (In fact; harassing girls and kids, especially ''beating them up'' is considered among the worst things you can do.)

* [[Half Life|Gordon Freeman]]. Is he [[The Messiah]], a pure an just bringer of intervention when the time is right, or a [[Complete Monster]] with the intention of killing everything he can. [[Freeman's Mind]] puts him in the middle, as a self serving nutjob who thinks that gnomes are real, and would like one as a pet.

** The G-Man faces just as much interpretation. Is he good? Evil? Selfish? Is he just working for a higher power? [[Epileptic Trees|Is he Gordon from the future or something?]] Only time will tell.

* One existing interpretation of ''[[Alan Wake]]'' is that the heroes of the story aren't Alan and Barry, but Tor and Odin Anderson, who wrote a couple of songs ("Children of the Elder Gods" and "The Poet and The Muse") that came true, describing Alan's quest to rescue his wife and defeat the Dark Presence. The entire game is, in this interpretation, an epic bit of Norse-inspired mythology written by the Andersons to defeat the Dark Presence.

* [[Let's Play|AmbisagrusSA]] posted [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7fzhtMZNJs this video] as an [[April Fools' Day]] joke. Nevertheless, it's an interesting [[Alternate Ending]] to the ''[[Bit.Trip]]'' series, with [[The Hero|CommanderVideo]] being a vain, ignorant fool with many clever allegories hidden in his life.

** Pravin Lal of The Peacekeeping Forces: Voice of humanitarianism or far too attached to his outdated ideals?

** Prokhor Zakharov of The University of Planet: Bringer of the light of knowledge or ruthless, amoral [[Mad Scientist]]?

** All of the demons attacking Mankind: Either they're out to [[Kill All Humans|kill humanity]] or [[Blood Knight|challenging its greatest warriors]] to endless combat?

* Due to the nature of ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]'', it practically breathes this trope. What really happened in 1986? Was there a real culprit, or was everything just magic? Are Shannon and Kanon {{spoiler|real people, or actually Yasu [[Sweet Polly Oliver|in disguise]]}}? Is Beatrice {{spoiler|one person, or several}}? When considering who's real and who's not, you can end up with an endless array of mystery/fantasy stories. But the most important question, which drives the whole plot and is never truly answered, is "[[Driving Question|Magic or Trick]]"?

** Frampt, {{spoiler|who's willing to use deception to allow the Age of Fire to persevere, is either a [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]], or he simply wants he and/or his allies in Gwyn's family to maintain their power.}}

** Likewise, Kaathe {{spoiler|could be honest in his intention to give rise to mankind by ushering in the Age of Dark, or he's being just as deceitful as Frampt, and that the Age of Dark will not be good for any mortal.}}

** Griggs is unambiguously a spy for Vinheim. Is he really the [[Nice Guy]] he appears to be?

** Abysswalker Artorias; {{spoiler|Did he become a monsters by succumbing to darkness or was he convinced by Kaathe that the Age of Fire needs to end, and that the Age of Darkness, of Humanity must begin? Was his covenant with the Darkwraiths an alliance of convenience with Kaathe, so that he could gain the power to easily hunt the Darkwraiths? Find out in the [[Updated Rerelease|PC version!]] ([[Story Breadcrumbs|Or not.]]) }}