Rogue Protagonist: Difference between revisions

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While it can appear that way, this isn't in effect in a [[POV Sequel]], given that said [[POV Sequel]] is retelling of the original story.
 
A subtrope of [[Sudden Sequel Heel Syndrome]]; also compare with [[Not Asas You Know Them]]. Also note how these heroes seem to avert the [[Bag of Spilling]]. See also [[Previous Player Character Cameo]], when the old PC isn't a major antagonist.
 
Compare and contrast with [[Fallen Hero]]. Not to be confused with a hero who happens to be a [[Fighter, Mage, Thief|Rogue.]] Or [[X-Men|Rogue]] herself.
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== [[Anime]] ==
* Yomi in ''[[Ga -Rei Zero]]''. From helpful [[Cool Big Sis|mentor]] [[Les Yay|and]] [[Romantic Two-Girl Friendship|friend]] of Kagura in the prequel anime to the [[Big Bad]] in the beginning of the manga. And then an ''[[Apocalypse Maiden|even bigger bad]]'' near the end of the manga. She does lament her situation.
* {{spoiler|Bernkastel}} in ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Nini]]'', if we're going by the reasoning that she is {{spoiler|the summation of all the non-post-''Matsuribayashi'' and ''Saikoroshi-hen'' incarnations of Rika Furude}}.
* Sasuke in ''[[Naruto Shippuden]]''.
 
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== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Star Wars]]'': If you go chronologically, Anakin is the protagonist and becomes the antagonist.
* ''[[Mission Impossible (Filmfilm)|Mission Impossible]]'s'' {{spoiler|Jim Phelps.}}
* {{spoiler|Tron}} in ''[[Tron Legacy (Film)|Tron: Legacy]]'', {{spoiler|as the [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] "Rinzler". He gets better though}}.
 
== Literature ==
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* This is how you appear to your former squadmates in ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', seeing as how you're currently working for Cerberus, a terrorist group whose members were shoot-on-sight enemies in the first game. Ashley and Kaidan outright refuse to go with you because of it, and Tali rejoins with serious reservations about the Normandy's Cerberus-comprised crew (they attacked her people, so [[It's Personal]]).
* Lloyd Irving in ''[[Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World (Video Game)|Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World]]'' is seen as a murderer at first, in stark contrast to his ideals in the [[Tales of Symphonia (Video Game)|first game]]. Emil hates him for killing his parents in a brutal massacre of Palmacosta. {{spoiler|Of course, he's not really a villain. The Lloyd who committed those crimes was Decus wearing a disguise.}}
* Isaac in ''[[Golden Sun (Video Game)|Golden Sun]]: The Lost Age'' is an unseen antagonist to the game's main character, Felix. Felix intentionally avoids contact with Isaac, because he knows they're working against one another, and wishes to avoid a fight -- until Felix's supposed allies Karst and Agatio try to kill Isaac, at which point the groups are forced into an [[Enemy Mine|uneasy alliance]]. (And eventually team up for real once Felix convinces Isaac he's right.)
** Felix was an opponent to Isaac's group in the first game, and [[The Stinger]] for the first game made it fairly clear you'd be playing as Felix in TLA. Neither Isaac's goal nor Felix's has changed, so they're still at odds. Effectively, it's ''the player'' who's gone rogue.
* Caim, the protagonist of ''[[Drakengard]]'', appears about halfway through the sequel as the "One-Eyed Man" responsible for the death of Nowe's adoptive father. [[Anti-Hero|He's basically the same person he was in the first game.]] He's just not the viewpoint character any more.
* In ''[[Armored Core (Video Game)|Armored Core]] for Answer'', ''AC4'''s main character is the pilot of White Glint, the NEXT leading Line Ark's military force. You can fight her in the storyline, or you could side with her. Either way, she loses the storyline fight.
* Subverted in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 2 Sons of Liberty]]''. At the start of the Plant chapter, [[And Now for Someone Completely Different|Raiden]] is repeatedly told that the leader of the terrorists is Solid Snake. Ten minutes of gameplay and one [[Paper-Thin Disguise]] later, you realize you were an idiot for thinking it was possible.
** If we look at the series' timeline, Naked Snake/Big Boss is one. He's the hero in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater]]'', ''[[Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops|Portable Ops]]'', and ''[[Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker|Peace Walker]]'', and the [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Metal Gear 1987 (Video Game)|Metal Gear 1987]]'' and ''[[Metal Gear 2 Solid Snake (Video Game)|Metal Gear 2 Solid Snake]]''. {{spoiler|And reappears in ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4 (VideoGuns of the Game)Patriots|Metal Gear Solid 4]]'s'' epilogue to tie up the loose ends.}}
* In ''[[Devil May Cry]] 4'', Dante is an example, showing up as a villain right out of hell, and making himself a serious enemy to Nero, the new protagonist. They do end up fighting for a similar cause later, especially when it's revealed that {{spoiler|the guy that Dante gunned down, and who got better, is the [[Big Bad]]}}.
* You learn of a possessed and evil character in ''[[Diablo]] II'', called the Dark Wanderer. As it turns out, he's the player character of the first game<ref>More specifically, the warrior class. The other two classes also turned rogue, including the rogue.</ref>.
* Kain, the main character from ''Blood Omen: [[Legacy of Kain]]'', was the [[Big Bad]] of the sequel ''[[Legacy of Kain]]: Soul Reaver''.
* In ''[[Star Wars: Dark Forces Saga (Video Game)|Mysteries of the Sith]]'', the player character for most of the game is Mara-Jade, and the previous player character Kyle falls to the dark side for the final boss fight.
* Clyde from ''[[Vigilante 8]]'' turns heel in the sequel.
* In ''[[Final Fantasy IV the After Years]]'', the kingdom of Baron is once again aggressively invading its fellow nations in order to take the [[Cosmic Keystone|Crystals]]. However, this time, the king of Baron is [[Knight in Shining Armor|Cecil]]... {{spoiler|a [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] Cecil.}}
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* Ethan Waber in ''[[Phantasy Star Universe]]'': ''[[Expansion Pack|Ambition of the Illuminus]]''. The events that cause him to go rogue are detailed in the [[All There in the Manual|online comic]] ''Shadow of the Arkguard.''
* {{spoiler|Lenneth}} Valkyrie from ''[[Valkyrie Profile]]'' is essentially the main antagonist (from Wylfred's eyes) in ''[[Valkyrie Profile Covenant of the Plume]]'', and can be the final boss (dependent on which ending is viewed.)
* In ''[[Prototype (Videovideo Gamegame)|Prototype]]'', [[Anti-Hero|Alex]] [[Humanoid Abomination|Mercer]] fought to stop the infected and Blackwatch from destroying New York. ''[[Prototype 2 (Video Game)|Prototype 2]]'' has him spreading the infection, including to the new player character, James Heller. The reasons for his [[Face Heel Turn]], given in a [[Motive Rant]] towards the end and a prequel comic seem to be out of line with his characterization at the end of the first game.
* J.C. Denton, the protagonist of ''[[Deus Ex (Video Game)|Deus Ex]]'', becomes one of the major faction leaders in the sequel, ''[[Deus Ex: Invisible War (Video Game)|Deus Ex Invisible War]]'', and is also arguably the character who is most centrally driving the game's plot (a role that usually falls to the [[Big Bad]]). You can join his faction in one ending path (and the majority of the game's plot seems to be building up to this), but if you chose any of the other 3 ending paths he becomes the "final boss" of the game since assassinating him becomes one of the key endgame objectives. Denton has changed quite a bit between the two games, but can still arguable be described as a "good guy", and ''Invisible War'' is much more [[Gray and Gray Morality]] than the first game.
* This seems to be the trend in the ''[[Necro Vision]]'' series. The protagonist of the prequel ends up becoming the [[Disc One Final Boss]] of the main game, while the protagonist of the main game either becomes the Devil's [[The Dragon|right-hand General]] or (in the hardest to obtain ending) ends up becoming the Lord of Hell himself. In either case it's pretty clear he'd be the [[Big Bad]] if any sequel was ever made. In both cases they turned to the dark side with the intention of preventing a greater evil from occurring.
* The sympathetic and seemingly good-natured protagonist of ''[[Mechwarrior]] 4'' is revealed to have turned into a cruel despot in the expansion pack, and serves as a [[Disc One Final Boss]]. In his case it may have been [[In the Blood]], as he obtained the throne by overthrowing his evil dictator uncle.
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** Also happens retroactively in ''Hard Corps: Uprising'', where the main character is a young Colonel Bahamut, who was the [[Big Bad]] of the original ''Contra: Hard Corps''.
* ''[[Tekken]]'' series would have this. Kazuya is the protagonist in the first game, but becomes antagonist in the second game up to the rest of the series. Jin is the protagonist in the third game onwards, and becomes the antagonist in the sixth game.
* In ''[[Ace Combat Zero]]'' the [[True Final Boss]] of the [[Brutal Bonus Level]] is Mobius 1, the protagonist and [[Player Character]] of ''[[Ace Combat 04 Shattered Skies]]''. Later games with similar [[Boss Rush]] modes also add Scarface One of ''[[Ace Combat 2]]'' and Blaze from ''[[Ace Combat 5 The Unsung War]]''.
* In ''[[Dead Rising 2|Dead Rising 2: Off the Record]]'', {{spoiler|Chuck Greene}} appears as a Psychopath, {{spoiler|having failed to save Katey in this continuity}}. Similarly, {{spoiler|Stacey is the [[Big Bad]] of the game, replacing Sullivan}}.
* {{spoiler|Jill Valentine}} in ''[[Resident Evil 5]]'' as a result of being [[Brainwashed and Crazy]] by Wesker. {{spoiler|She}} appears in ''Marvel vs. Capcom 3''.