The Man Behind the Man: Difference between revisions

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** In ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'', you spend the vast majority of the game chasing Edea; tragic [[Backstory|back stories]] and conflicting emotions all come in to play about defeating your old mother-figure. But once you beat her, it turns out that your ''real'' enemy is a [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere|sorceress from the future]] who was controlling Edea. (Some fans criticize this as an [[Ass Pull]] to make the game longer, although it's actually foreshadowed as early as Edea's [[New Era Speech]] on disc 1.)

** ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' starts with Queen Brahne trying to [[Take Over the World]] with weapons of magic destruction. Halfway through the game, her magic supplier, Kuja, kills her. Almost immediately it's revealed he's fighting against his former master, Garland, who is trying to kill everyone on Gaia and replace their souls with the souls of the people of Terra. Near the end of the game, Kuja kills Garland and tries to destroy all existence in a [[Suicidal Cosmic Temper Tantrum]]. The [[Final Boss]] is the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of Death, but he doesn't count as this trope because he wasn't controlling or manipulating anyone, but just shows up due to the [[Rule of Symbolism]].

** [[~~Final Fantasy II (Video Game)|~~Final Fantasy II]] plays with this a little. When you defeat {{spoiler|The Emperor}}, about 3/4 into the game, the game makes you think that {{spoiler|Leon, who up until this point was serving the empire,}} is going to be your new [[Big Bad]], but then we get a subversion when {{spoiler|The Emperor comes back from hell to rule the world.}}

** [[Final Fantasy II]] plays with this a little. When you defeat {{spoiler|The Emperor}}, about 3/4 into the game, the game makes you think that {{spoiler|Leon, who up until this point was serving the empire,}} is going to be your new [[Big Bad]], but then we get a subversion when {{spoiler|The Emperor comes back from hell to rule the world.}}

* In ''[[Fatal Fury]]'', Kain R. Heinlein is the Man Behind The Man to Grant.

* ''[[Baten Kaitos]] Origin'' does this ''twice''. After setting up Baelheit as the [[Big Bad]] for 95% at the game, a late game [[The Reveal|Reveal]]/AssPull reveals that he was in fact being manipulated by {{spoiler|your mentor, Verus, who had previously shown no hints of evilness. And after you crush him, it turns out that ''he'' was in fact being manipulated by Wiseman, the dictator you supposedly destroyed 1000 years in the past.}}

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* In ''[[Embric of Wulfhammers Castle]]'', the Awesome Fellowship's [[Arch Enemy]] Lord Vecnathrax {{spoiler|is actually being manipulated by Loni, who is taking advantage of his senility to pit him against the Fellowship for the artistic value of the struggles.}}

* The end chapter of ''[[The Witcher]]'' reveals The Man Behind The Man, necessitating an Epilogue chapter to deal with him.

* In ''[[Resident Evil]]'', [[Big Bad|Albert Wesker]] is revealed to have been [[The Man Behind the Man]] to many of the events in ''[[Resident Evil 0]]'', ''[[Resident Evil 1]]'', ''[[Resident Evil 4]]'', and ''[[Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles]]''. ''Umbrella Chronicles'' also reveals, that Wesker's [[The Rival|rival]], [[Former Regime Personnel|Sergei Vladimir]] was [[The Man Behind the Man]] to much of ''[[Resident Evil 2 ~~(Video Game)~~]]'', ''[[Resident Evil 3 Nemesis]]'', and the rest of ''Umbrella Chronicles''. At the end of the day, most the series' plot up until then is the result of the war between these two men for control of [[Mega Corp|Umbrella]]'s remnants. As [[Tyke Bomb|Wesker]]'s [[Evilutionary Biologist|creator]], [[Dragon-in-Chief|Sergei]]'s [[Undying Loyalty|employer]], and [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] to the entire corporation, [[Evil Old Folks|Ozwell]] [[Evil Cripple|E.]] [[Non-Action Big Bad|Spencer]] can be said to be [[The Man Behind the Man]] (and [[The Man Behind the Curtain]]) to the entire series (up until [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|Wesker]] [[Hijacked by Ganon|offs]] him in ''[[Resident Evil 5]]'').

* In ''[[Resident Evil]]'', [[Big Bad|Albert Wesker]] is revealed to have been [[The Man Behind the Man]] to many of the events in ''[[Resident Evil 0]]'', ''[[Resident Evil 1]]'', ''[[Resident Evil 4]]'', and ''[[Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles]]''. ''Umbrella Chronicles'' also reveals, that Wesker's [[The Rival|rival]], [[Former Regime Personnel|Sergei Vladimir]] was [[The Man Behind the Man]] to much of ''[[Resident Evil 2]]'', ''[[Resident Evil 3 Nemesis]]'', and the rest of ''Umbrella Chronicles''. At the end of the day, most the series' plot up until then is the result of the war between these two men for control of [[Mega Corp|Umbrella]]'s remnants. As [[Tyke Bomb|Wesker]]'s [[Evilutionary Biologist|creator]], [[Dragon-in-Chief|Sergei]]'s [[Undying Loyalty|employer]], and [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]] to the entire corporation, [[Evil Old Folks|Ozwell]] [[Evil Cripple|E.]] [[Non-Action Big Bad|Spencer]] can be said to be [[The Man Behind the Man]] (and [[The Man Behind the Curtain]]) to the entire series (up until [[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder|Wesker]] [[Hijacked by Ganon|offs]] him in ''[[Resident Evil 5]]'').

* ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' does this, more specifically in ''[[Mortal Kombat 2]]''. In the first game, Shang Tsung is hyped as the big bad, a deadly, powerful, long haired, evil sorcerer who has taken control of the shaolin tournament through unethical means, and corrupted it into chaos, ensuring that with 10 consecutive victories, he can take over Earthrealm. It's later revealed he's doing this for his boss, the emperor of Outworld, Shao Kahn, who the good guys eventually met when they're forced to continue a new tournament in Outworld itself.

** It goes even behind that. In ''[[Mortal Kombat Deception]]'', although foreshadowing had hinted at it in earlier games, we are faced with the resurrection and revival of {{spoiler|Onaga, the Dragon King, former ruler of Outworld. The one Shao Kahn was formally an advisor too, and who he killed so he could take his throne.}}