Establishing Character Moment/Video Games: Difference between revisions

* [[AsurasAsura's Wrath|COME ON!!!]] Asura stopping a Country sized finger with his fists and punching it back in the first Trailers of ''[[AsurasAsura's Wrath]]''.

* One simple intro establishes [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] as Sega's [[Mascot Withwith Attitude]]. In the original ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (Videovideo Gamegame)|Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' for the [[Sega Genesis]], a black screen fades into the game's logo, and Sonic pops into the logo and does his signature [[Giving Someone the Pointer Finger|finger wag]] at you.

** The ''[[Sonic the Comic]]'' adaptation has this in the second story. He pops up a few pages in, with a pair of black [[Cool Shades]], and saves a guy. His entire look seems to set him off as being a "Snobby 90s cool guy".

* ''[[Halo (Video Gameseries)|Halo]]'' establishes John-117 as a badass by having him snark at Cortana while the ship is being boarded, he is being hunted, and they have just found an artificial ring world floating in space. Meanwhile, Johnson is established as a badass who will make you laugh by having him give what's known as the [[It Makes Sense in Context|Giant Hula-Hoop Speech]]. Gravemind is defined as an asshole by having him betray both the Arbiter and the Chief.

* Your first meeting with [[The Mole|Desther]] and [[Wide -Eyed Idealist|Fenthick]] in ''[[Neverwinter Nights]]'' quickly and clearly sums up the two, with Desther snapping at you for your incompetence at showing up too late to save the creatures and Fenthick apologizing for Desther's behavior and making excuses.

** In ''[[Pokémon Ranger (Video Game)|Pokémon Ranger]]'', we have Purple Eyes, who, ''before we even know he exists'', has beaten the crap out of Rand, of all people, and kidnapped his wife and daughter, Leanne and Nema. But when we meet him, {{spoiler|you can tell he's bad news. Just look at his Ranger pose. That 'the world is mine' one...it's quite creepy. But then again, he is a [[Complete Monster]]...}}

** The collection of fan-made modules isn't immune to this either. ''Tales of Arterra'' introduces [[Horny Devils|Persey]] with a scene in a brothel that underlines her inability to think of herself as a person. [[Princess Classic|Evanine]] is introduced in a temple in the grips of a deep bout of depression that can only be broken by a gift of flowers and a silly remark, foreshadowing just how much of an effect kindness can have on her. [[Blood Knight|Montador]] starts out being belligerent.

*** ''[[A Dance With Rogues]]'' introduces Vico with a rape scene, typical of [[Token Evil Teammate|his character]], but gives him a [[Pet the Dog]] moment right afterwards to show that he isn't that far gone. [[The Chick|Anden]] is introduced when you break him out of a cell in the middle of a forest, establishing his role as the [[Damsel in Distress]]. [[The Pollyanna|Pia]] is introduced when she has to use the Princess as part of a test, then feels really bad about it afterwards. [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same|Gemli]] challenges you to a drinking contest.

*** ''The Bastard of Kosigan'' actually subverts this with Alex, given her character role and her introduction scene you would expect her to be a [[Damsel in Distress]] but she turns out to be {{spoiler|the [[Magnificent Bastard]] in charge of the whole plot that has been mystifying the character since Cologne}}.

** Elanee is introduced to the player character when she jumps into a fight despite orders to the contrary [[Neutral Good|because it is the right thing to do]]. The first cutscenes she appears in show her [[Stalker Withwith a Crush|surreptitiously observing the player character]].

** In ''Mask of the Betrayer'', Safiya has a rather tender scene as her [[Establishing Character Moment]], foreshadowing the person you find under her businesslike shell. Gann has a rather comic scene of banter and wordplay, playing up his connection to the spirit world.

* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (Videovideo Gamegame)|Knights of the Old Republic]]'' effectively displays the Mission-Zaalbar sibling-like dynamic when you first meet them in the bar on Taris.

* In ''[[Half-Life (Video Gameseries)|Half-Life]]'', Gordon Freeman is shown to be a badass in the TUTORIAL by having him use the main gun and the 'nade launcher on a SMG or M16.

* KOS-MOS of ''[[Xenosaga (Video Game)|Xenosaga]]'' got herself an incredible entrance by blowing out an enormous metal door and kicking the asses of all the Gnosis that were previously making mincemeat of the people on the Woglinde. In other words, she was basically a [[Deus Est Machina]].

* In ''[[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VII]]'', Rufus Shinra's introduction when he arrives in a helicopter to find his father killed by Sephiroth. Aerith/Aeris says of him "I've heard that no one's ever seen him bleed or cry." His appointment speech, along with fighting [[Super Soldier]] Cloud and surviving, and managing to escape by holding on to the helicopter with one hand while heavily wounded all perfectly establish him as the [[Badass]] [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] that he is.

{{quote| '''Rufus Shinra:''' ''That's right. I'll let you hear my new appointment speech...My old man tried to control the world with money. It seems to have been working. The population thought that Shinra would protect them. Work at Shinra, get your pay. If a terrorist attacks, the Shinra army will help you. It looks perfect on the outside. But, I do things differently. I'll control the world with fear. It takes too much to do it like my old man. A little fear will control the minds of the common people. There's no reason to waste money on them.''}}

* Zack in ''[[Crisis Core (Video Game)|Crisis Core]]'' is introduced to the player by jumping out of a helicopter in mid-air, land perfectly fine on a train riding at high speed below and running along it, preparing to take down some baddies. When they shoot at him, he says "Well, hello to you, too!" and dodges all bullets, does an impossibly long jump and separates two traincars from each other by stabbing the connection with his sword. [[Big Damn Heroes|He's the hero of the game, alright]].

* Auron in ''[[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|Final Fantasy X]]'' is introduced in a way that officially sets up his "[[Cool Old Guy]] who knows a lot more about what's going than he tells people" credentials: He [[I Have the High Ground|climbs up to a high place]] and seems to welcome Sin as it comes closer to Zanarkand without a word. He then walks calmly through the street as a wave of water approaches the city and begins to ''disintegrate it'', and when he shows up later to help fight off monsters, once again without losing the cool head, he's officially established as the resident [[Deadpan Snarker]] / [[Samurai]].

** Played with by Seymour in the same game-- — he invokes the trope deliberately by slaughtering attacking fiends in the most [[There Is No Kill Like Overkill|overkilltastic]] way possible, intending to establish himself to the population of Spira as an incredibly powerful savior figure. However, the moment that establishes his ''real'' character for the player's convenience happens a little bit later, in just six words: "Then pretend I didn't say it."

* Zero of ''[[Mega Man X (Video Game)|Mega Man X]]'' establishes himself as a badass on his first appearance during the prologue stage when he blows the arm off Vile's mech as Vile is [[Hopeless Boss Fight|preparing to finish off X]].

* Ashe's introduction scene/stage in ''[[Mega Man ZX (Video Game)|Mega Man ZX]] Advent'' shows her credentials as an [[Action Girl]] ''before'' becoming Mega Man Model A, and how far she'll go to get what she wants. She ''jumps off the side of an airship'' and lands unscathed after ''at least'' a kilometer's fall, for starters, fights her way through a force of mavericks and a ''boss'' with a simple blaster pistol, you know, the kind that only [[Red Shirt|Red Shirts]] in the series would use, and the series' resident [[Psycho for Hire]] is the only one who manages to stop her. Then it's implied that she survived a ''multi-kilometer fall'' after that. No, she's not a robot, she's ''human''. ''[[Mega Man ZX (Video Game)/Awesome|Oh, man]]''.

** All of the Mega Men in ''[[Mega Man ZX (Video Game)|Advent]]'' have nice moments as well. They only consist of standing there and talking, but they pretty much explain who they are, what they want, how they are going to get it and why they really do not like you.

* ''[[Gears of War (Video Game)|Gears of War]]'': You know the Cole Train means business when his first appearance is taking on about 10 Locust on his own, not even bothering to take cover. In the second game, he first appears coming to your rescue - ''while making an entire squad of Locust about to kill you run away scared.''

* Fawkes from ''[[Fallout 3 (Video Game)|Fallout 3]]'' is first introduced by talking to [[Word of God|him]] through a speaker. He seems nice and polite, despite the fact that he is a super mutant. He helps you for a while, then politely departs. His establishing character moment is later on when you find him jumping out of the side of an aircraft with a giant laser minigun screaming various battle cries...and he's ''still'' polite to you when you talk to him.

* Godot in ''[[Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney (Visual Novel)|Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney]]: Trials and Tribulations'' has one when he is first presented to the courtroom. He sips his coffee, throws out a coffee-related quip, and generally acts like he owns the place.

** Franziska's entrance into the plot involves whipping Gumshoe.

{{quote| '''Engarde''': {{spoiler|''(brushes back hair to show scars, smirks, holds up a brandy glass and swirls it menacingly)'' How do you do, Mr. Lawyer? I'm Matt Engarde.}}}}

* In ''[[Tsukihime (Visual Novel)|Tsukihime]]'', Nero/Nrvnqsr Chaos's first scene is meeting Shiki late at night while dogs howl and it's made ''very'' clear that Shiki is about four seconds from death. The next time we see him, he's just eaten every single person inside a hotel before attacking Shiki and Arcueid. The manga skips the first scene and [[Moral Event Horizon|shows Chaos' entrance into the motel, where he brutally murders everyone including a pair of cowering children.]] Apart from Makihasa Tohno (who's already dead) he's the easily the least sympathetic character introduced in the entire game because everyone else is a gigantic woobie. <s>Even</s> Especially the next baddie, SHIKI.

* ''[[Fate/stay Stay Night (Visual Novel)|Fate Stay Nightnight]]'' has the most deadly Servant Gilgamesh turn up, kill Caster and show clearly that he is [[Eviler Than Thou|even worse]]. And then he leaves because he thinks that Shirou's mansion (one of the biggest in town) is too low class a place for him to fight. Oh, and he refers to Saber as his property near constantly.

* The very first thing we see [[Armies Are Evil|Blackwatch]] do in ''[[Prototype (Videovideo Gamegame)|Prototype]]'' is save an innocent woman from a horde of Infected...only to kill the woman immediately afterwards. This is arguably meant to show that Blackwatch is willing to kill ''anyone'' with any contact with [[The Virus]], ''even if they're not even infected themselves.''

** The opening gameplay segment features Alex raging against Blackwatch, carving tanks and men apart, fighting giant infected behemoths, taking out helicopters, then tracking down an officer, slamming him to the ground, and pounding his skull into paste.

* Rachel from the Xbox remake of ''[[Ninja Gaiden (Video Game)|Ninja Gaiden]]'' appears staring down a fiend larger than herself and [[One -Hit Kill|One Hit Killing]] it. This particular type of fiend is one that remains annoying even with later health and weapon upgrades. [[Cutscene Power to Thethe Max]] or not, it nicely makes her out to be some [[Badass]] [[Action Girl]]...so it's funny how Ryu ends up having to save her repeatedly, eh? From the same title, Gamov shows himself by speaking up from a hitherto unseen corner, making some cryptic comments and then showing a capacity for [[Offscreen Teleportation]] that leaves our [[Ninja]] protagonist befuddled, clearly setting up his [[Mysterious Watcher]] role.

* In ''[[Disgaea (Video Game)|Disgaea]]'', Flonne's introduction:

{{quote| [[The Ditz|"Nice to meet'cha, I'm an assassin! ...Oops, I wasn't supposed to tell you that."]]}}

* The first mission of ''[[Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception]]'' has some Leasath chair forcers rain bombs on a defenceless city [[For the Evulz|just because they could spare the ordnance]], showing that these aren't quite the [[My Country, Right or Wrong]] [[Punch Clock Villain|Punch Clock Villains]] of other titles in the series.

** Still in the first game, King Mickey is introduced right by the end on the other side of Kingdom Hearts. He appears warding off countless heartless with the light of his keyblade, then looking over his shoulder to say some inspiring words to the heroes. He only gets better in [[Kingdom Hearts II (Video Game)|the sequel]].

* In the first ''[[God of War (Video Gameseries)|God of War]]'', the player quickly learns all he/she needs to know about Kratos if he executes a Grab attack on the initial zombie [[Mooks]]: Drive them to the ground and stab them repeatedly, impale them on his chainblade and whip them around, or ''tear them in half with his bare hands''. Whatever is about to happen that will make him hurl himself off a cliff in the intro, Kratos clearly begins as a man not to be trifled with.

* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Video Game)|The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time]]'', Ganondorf's first appearance is in a dream and his second is faking loyalty to the king. However, in his third appearance, he knocks Link to the ground with a single attack and says, "I am Ganondorf! And soon, I will rule the world!"

* The very first thing you hear Neku say in ''[[The World Ends With You (Video Game)|The World Ends With You]]'' is, among other things, "I don't get people. Never have, never will." This sets up his initial antisocial behavior, and sets him up to learn [[The Power of Friendship]].

* Pretty much all of the main characters in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy VIII]]'' get introductory animations:

* Lightning of ''[[Final Fantasy XIII (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XIII]]'' is first seen in the intro calmly pointing her gun at a group of soldiers whose weapons are all trained on her, setting her up as an [[Action Girl]]. She later appears holding an oversized, delicate dandelion in her hands, watching it with her usual stoic expression, managing to not disturb the fluff until the wind blows it away, showing her [[Hidden Heart of Gold]].

* Wes of ''[[Pokémon Colosseum (Video Game)|Pokémon Colosseum]]'' has pretty much the best introduction of any character in the series, handheld or not--he ''blows up a criminal hideout with dynamite''. As the only non-[[Kid Hero]] playable, he already stood out, but it was that moment that marked him as one of the best human [[Badass|badasses]] in the series.

* ''[[Mass Effect 2 (Video Game)|Mass Effect 2]]'' loves to not outrightly reveal the major characters, but rather all you are given is a name and a very vague description of the characters skill or occupation. As you are on your way to find them, you will have several encounters with people who will give you a few more pieces of information about the person you seek, and each time the mental image you get becomes more and more outrageous and even horrifying. And then comes the [[Big Entrance]], which usually even much more badass than anything you would have imagined.

** Wrex in the first game shows up for the first time making a series of [[Badass Boast|Badass Boasts]] to a Krogan bouncer in Chora's Den. If you happen to miss that scene, you meet him at C-Sec headquarters after he's been detained for making the aforementioned boasts. To make up for the player having missed the scene, he makes a series of [[Badass Boast|Badass Boasts]] to the officers instead.

*** If that wasn't enough, he gets another Establishing Character Moment a few minutes later, when Fist's thugs try to hold Dr. Michel hostage. He pops out of the other side of the room and deals a clean [[Boom! Headshot!|headshot]] to the thug holding Michel. Shepard can then either compliment his aim or [[What the Hell, Hero?|call him out for putting the doctor in danger if he missed]].

** Though she appears a twice beforehand and is heard over loudspeaker and in a few video clips, Miranda's first real introduction is when Wilson opens the door to the room she's been hiding in, {{spoiler|promptly shooting him with a sarcastic quip, insisting that he's a traitor, and ignoring all of Shepard's counterarguments and stating "I'm always right."}} Quickly establishing pretty much everything you need to know about her. [[Hidden Depths|Or not,]] depending on your point of view. It certainly tells you everything you need to know about [[Well -Intentioned Extremist|Cer]][[Complete Monster|berus]], [[Continuity Lock Out|if you haven't played the first game.]]

* ''[[Transformers: War for Cybertron]]'': Most people know Megatron as a megalomaniac, and as someone not to mess with. In the very first stage, he commands his flagship to ram into a space station, [[Bad Boss|casually shoots a subordinate decrying the plan]], then as the ship and the station section it crashed into collapses, he simply charges out of the wreckage with two lieutenants and starts massacring Autobot [[Mooks]] left and right while he lets Soundwave organize any survivors strong enough to live.

* ''[[Dragon Age]]: (Video Game)|[[Dragon Age]]: Origins|Origins]]'' does this with...well, pretty much everyone. Aside from those characters who are more than they appear to be in their first seen, what you see is what you get.

* ''[[Dragon Age II (Video Game)|Dragon Age II]]'' does the same thing for many of its primary characters.

* Minor villain Pascal Grentzer from ''[[Fire Emblem Elibe (Video Game)|Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword]]'' asserts his status as perhaps the [[Complete Monster|vilest individual in the entire game]] when, upon being released from prison, he attempts an [[I Have You Now, My Pretty]] on his liberator...who happens to be a [[Dark Magical Girl]] [[Manipulative Bastard|Manipulative Bitch]] [[Hot Mom]] who could quite easily turn him inside-out with magic. She quickly asserts control over him, but what he would've done to anyone less willful is disturbingly clear...

** Granted, Ike had his time during his own ''Fire Emblem'' games, he pretty much earns himself another one in his first appearance in ''[[Super Smash Bros (Video Game)|Super Smash Bros.]]. Brawl'''s Subspace Emissary. You've just seen Marth and Meta Knight fail to stop the Ancient Minister and his bomb. He flies off, thinking he's won. Suddenly from behind you see a BFS slowly rise from behind him as epic music starts to play. Ike then jumps up to catch it for his signature move Aether (he yells "Great Aether" just because it's cooler that way) and easily slices down the bomb the Ancient Minister was carrying, disarming it (becoming the only character ever to do so) and he strikes a pose as the Ancient Minister flies off into the distance.

* It takes most of ''[[Yggdra Union]]'' for Gulcasa to finally get one of these, but when he does it's very powerful. In the very short scene in question, a scout arrives to tell him that {{spoiler|his little sister Emilia}} is dead. He accepts the news and dismisses her rather than opting to [[Shoot the Messenger]]...and then once she's out of the room, he breaks down crying. Rather than rage against the Royal Army for their role in that character's death, Gulcasa [[ItsIt's All My Fault|blames himself for lacking the power to save her]]. And once he's managed to pull himself together, he goes right back to rallying his men to defend his capital from your attack. Each of these actions [[Blaze Union|has a story behind it]], but simply seeing them for what they are is enough to succinctly explain [[Nice Guy|what kind of person Gulcasa is outside of battle]].

* ''[[Golden Sun (Video Game)|Golden Sun]]'' and the sequels have a large cast of characters, most of them flat. As a result, their characterization is established immediately upon meeting them, and there's not much development afterward.

*** Ivan is introduced [[Mind Reading|violating the mental privacy]] of two total strangers. Who then [[Mind Over Manners|call him on it]], [[Moral Dissonance|much to his surprise]]. He's been [[Raised Byby Natives|raised by non-Adepts]] and didn't know his powers had a name, much less that there were rules to using them.

** ''[[Golden Sun: Dark Dawn]]'':

*** Rief is introduced trying to get a better look at a giant Psynergy Vortex, while his older sister yells at him to [[Don't Touch It, You Idiot!|get away from it]]. [[Distressed Dude in Distress|Then he gets kidnapped by bad guys.]] He's [[Exposition Fairy|better at trivia]] than at [[Too Dumb to Live|common sense]], danger-prone enough to make the latter a problem, and endearingly enthusiastic about it. (Nowell is cranky and yells a lot, but clearly cares about her brother.)

*** Sveta, being the [[Spot Light Spotlight-Stealing Squad]], got ''three'', before you even learned her name. In Te Rya, you catch a few glimpses of a girl who flees when she realizes she's been spotted. Later, you spot her a few more times, leading you through the Teppe Ruins (and even leaving some of her climbing gear about for you to follow her). When she finally does start speaking, she's just as [[Moe|shy and kind]] as the previous scenes showed her to be, but you also find out that she's a [[Badass Adorable|kung-fu werewolf Adept]]. ''Then'' she introduces herself formally...

* The first cinematic in ''[[Tomb Raider (Videovideo Gamegame)|Tomb Raider]]'', in which Lara reveals herself for the first time to the player by cutting the rope that holds her, tossing off her shawl, drawing her guns, and firing a few shots at the wolves attacking her guide before she hits the ground.

* The opening to ''[[Left 4 Dead (Video Game)|Left 4 Dead]]'' quickly establishes the dynamic between the four survivors. Bill [[Team Dad|leads the group through an alleyway]] using military handsigns, and specifically investigates the zombie remains in hopes of understanding them. Francis makes [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold|asshole remarks, and during a horde helps Zoe while quipping]]. Louis [[The Pollyanna|remains optimistic and hopeful]]. However, Zoe's [[Genre Savvy]] nature never comes up.

** The opening to ''[[Left 4 Dead 2 (Video Game)|Left 4 Dead 2]]'' is less movie-like, but still has this. Coach's quips are centered around his [[Team Dad]] status ("This used to be a ''nice'' neighbourhood!"). Ellis is fairly enthusiastic about kicking zombie ass ("Kill all sons of bitches. That's my 'ficial instructions."), and grins goofily when Rochelle gives him a grenade launcher. Rochelle [[Sad Clown|uses mild snark to keep herself and the group going]] (When faced with a load of zombies: "Kill all sons of bitches, right?"). Nick [[Jerkass|mocks Coach for being fat]], and, more subtly, [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold|is always the first to help people in trouble]].

{{quote| '''Nick:''' [[Badass Boast|I have not...Come this far...To die NOW!]]}}

* In ''[[Fallout New Vegas (Video Game)|Fallout: New Vegas]]'', from the very beginning of the game you are told about Caesar's Legion, a brutal band of slavers and raiders that aim to conquer the Mojave, and how they're some of the worst scum in the world. However, it's not until {{spoiler|the sacking of Nipton}} that you realize just how cruel and depraved they truly are.

* Willard H. Wright's first appearance in EP7 of ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Umineko no Naku Koro Nini]]'' consists of him busting into a sham trial of a falsely accused maid and using Van Dine's rules to save her.

* ''[[War CraftWarcraft]] 3'''s resident bigot Garithos:

{{quote| ''"You're late, Prince Kael'thas. I thought you Elves take pride in your punctuality"''.}}

* ''[[Crysis (Video Gameseries)|Crysis]] 2'''s [[Troperiffic]] [[Batman Cold Open|opening cinematic]], "Second Chance," opens with a [[Super Soldier]] flinging himself out of a skyscraper [[Dodge the Bullet|just ahead of an incoming rocket]] and [[Three -Point Landing|landing]] [[Made of Iron|unscathed]]. He then ambushes an enemy soldier, takes his rifle, shoots another soldier with it before he can react, [[Super Speed|evades]] an A-10 [[Death From Above|napalm airstrike]], turns [[Invisibility Cloak|invisible]], [[Neck Lift|neck lifts]] a third soldier, [[Destination Defenestration|hurls him out a window]], follows him down, and uses his Mk.60 to disable an [[Awesome Personnel Carrier]] while [[Immune to Bullets|shrugging off]] its machine gun fire. His next step is to [[In a Single Bound|fling]] himself in [[Slow Motion]] onto the APC, trigger his [[Super Strength]], and [[Removable Turret Gun|rip]] its .50 caliber machine gun right off its mount. By the time he's used it to [[Short -Lived Aerial Escape|shoot down]] the helicopter that shot that first rocket at him, it's abundantly clear that a well-used [[Power Armor|Nanosuit 2]] is a force to be reckoned with. This entire sequence takes two minutes, with [[Hans Zimmer]]'s [[Crowning Music of Awesome|"Insertion"]] blaring in the background the whole time.

* In ''[[Star Fox 64 (Video Game)|Star Fox 64]]'', almost immediately after gameplay begins, Slippy [[Leeroy Jenkins|flies out ahead of everyone else]] and an enemy fighter starts chasing him. This will happen quite often.

* Invoked intentionally with ''[[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]]'' and the "Meet The Team" videos (minus the Pyro, whose video is lingering in [[Development Hell]]). You can learn everything you need to know about the individual classes by watching them.

* ''[[Command and& Conquer]]'''s [[Big Bad]] Kane has truly memorable moments:

* The first sign that the Boss is [[Inexplicably Awesome|thoroughly awesome]] in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater]]'' is when she can tell that Snake has lost weight just by the sound of his voice.

* In ''[[Grand Theft Auto IV (Video Game)|Grand Theft Auto IV]]'', shortly after Niko {{spoiler|kills his subordinate Vlad}}, he and Roman are kidnapped and wake up tied to chairs in the basement of Russian mob boss Mikhail Faustin who immediately establishes himself as violent, unconcerned with human life, and ''batshit insane'':

{{quote| '''Mikhail''': ''[Pointing a gun at Niko]'' You think it's okay to kill one of my employees?<br />

'''Niko''': If he's an asshole, yes.<br />

* ''[[ModernCall Warfareof (VideoDuty: Game)Modern Warfare|Modern Warfare]]'' makes sure we know where each of the primary villains sit.

** Imran Zakhaev is introduced at the same time as Khaled al-Asad at President al-Fulani's execution. However, the scene makes it quite clear who is in charge with a remarkably subtle gesture: when al-Asad appears, Zakhaev points a pistol at him, in the middle of a courtyard filled with al-Asad's soldiers - and ''al-Asad'' is the one who stops in his tracks, obviously surprised and worried. ''Then'' Zakhaev hands him the gun, and al-Asad executes al-Fulani, establishing who is in charge, and who is the subordinate.

* In ''[[Katawa Shoujo]]:''

** In [[He -Man Woman Hater|Kenji]]'s second scene, he starts theorizing that Yamaku having mostly female students is proof of a feminist conspiracy trying to take over the world. He even suggests that Hisao is a possibly psychic spy based on him saying "It's me".

* The [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39gX7GpYf0Q infamously chilling close-up of SA-X's face] in ''[[Metroid (Video Game)|Metroid Fusion]]'' does well to convince the player that they should steer clear of this foe.

* In ''[[Kid Icarus: Uprising]]'', moments after Dark Pit's creation, Pandora introduces him as her newest minion. He responds with an [[Offhand Backhand]], and joins you in the second half of her boss fight. Meet the [[Wild Card]].

* Very early into ''[[Prototype 2 (Video Game)|Prototype 2]]'', when James Heller first catches sight of Alex Mercer, he slits the latter's throat. [[Healing Factor|It doesn't take, of course,]] but it and the subsequent dogged pursuit firmly show that if anyone can take Alex down, it'll be James and his depleted uranium balls.