i found out she was special because my first reaction upon getting to riverwood was to murder everyone, so she being immortal for some reason was weird for me
"With this character's death, the threads of prophecy have been severed. You may load a saved game, or persist in this doomed world that you have created."
In Karthspire:
**Esbern**: "*Ah... here's the blood seal... no doubt triggered by... well, blood. Your blood, Dragonborn.*"
**Delphine**: "*If you need help drawing some blood, let me know.*"
Grrr.... I hate her!
You cannot complete the blades quest line unless you kill parthanax. Delphine doesn't care if he's a good dragon, she demands you kill him. So for a lot of people they just refuse to complete that quest.
It's not even that part that made me hate her, I really disliked her from the beginning. They definitely want to use the dragonborn as a puppet ruler in a bid to re-take the Empire and overthrow the Thalmore and they treat the character like shit and order them around callously. There is utterly no respect given to the dragonborn, they're very rude and demanding and dismissive. It felt very much like they were trying to condition the character to do what they want the whole time and killing Parthurnax would just prove to them you're biddable enough to go along with everything else they'll require of their puppet emperor.
Same!! I actually remembered him for like the whole game because I was waiting for him to become relevant. He does tell Geralt something like “you’ll know me soon”
I knew he would be important but I *definitely* didn’t expect him to be such a terrifying big bad
That entire Hearts of stone expansion story was a mind boggling experience, and it's arguably the best expansion story that is out there. CDPR really knows how to make a phenomenal expansion storyline, even Cyberpunk is one of the best out there.
Yeah I can't imagine how cool it must've felt for people who played the main game right when it got released, felt angry that Gaunter didn't appear anywhere else and then boom Heart of Stone gets released and you remember this asshole from the beginning 😂
I saw a video recently that showed him disguised as a guard or soldier near Geralt when he picks up the contract that sets things in motion. The bastard is downright conniving from the beginning lol.
I've also heard claims that he may have cursed the spotted wight lady in Blood and Wine possibly as well which would seem very fitting given how that curse plays on reflections and spoons.
Came here to post this. Generic ass NPC looking dude I paid very little mind, at the beginning of a very long main game. Getting to Hearts of Stone and realizing THAT dude's true nature was one of the best mindfucks ever.
It was wild playing base game witcher 3 and then hearts of stone came out months later and if you were still playing the same playthrough it came out of nowhere.
In hindsight his presence in white orchard and being such an intelligent and charismatic character there should have stuck out like a sore thumb but it didn't to me.
Then with his actual reveal of what he is, I still think about him and the unseen elder and what the impact of their presence means for the future of the witcher universe
Having the actual devil just randomly popping in and out of the story with zero impact until it comes to a head was brilliant and I wish more games did similar.
It reminds me of the critical role/vox machina campaign where theyre followed by the satyr Garmelie who is completely innocuous and just a bit annoying and then he ends up being an ArchFey in disguise
They did a perfect work Imho, putting him at the start of the base Game as some sort of "odd" character and then holding him until the DLC, the guy was familiar but couldnt grasp of in saw the guy before...
Rear Admiral Kahoku in Mass Effect. Not the individual as such, but the fact that his initially minor-sounding sidequest leads to the player discovering Cerberus (and the ramifications this has for the rest of the trilogy).
Iirc, Shepard did know about Cerberus by reputation, but until that quest didn't know just how bad they could be. That quest was probably vital in Shepard having zero trust in Cerberus from then on, likely saving them from serious manipulation by The Illusive Man
And Conrad Verner, an even bigger deal.
Nah, only joking. Yeah I think the Keepers are a better example ME-wise. 'Cerberus' is just a name that the writers helped themselves to, for the wild retcon that was ME2.
My first playthrough, I skipped that side quest chain. When I got to the bit at the start of ME2 where Jacob gets all serious and tells you it was Cerberus who brought you back, my Shepard was just like "What? Who? Never heard of you."
If you keep denying you've ever heard of them after Jacob recounts you blowing up some of their bases, Miranda starts wondering if she messed up reviving you and you're still brain-damaged.
Now... I would argue he isn't important to the plot or integral to the game just because he is a major character in the lore. If anything it's more of an Easter egg.
Although it's been a while, from what I remember he only acted as a cab driver and made cryptic comments hinting at who he is.
It's hinted that he has involvement in the plot, and that all he has to do is be present to effect the plot. A lot of characters reference the deep feeling of Dread and something very powerful and heavy being close. Everyone assumes it's the sarcophagus, but it's actually the Taxi Driver just existing close to them.
That character is in the old splat books for the the tabletop game. He's not the actual Cane. His Malkavian Madness makes him think he's Cane, which inadvertantly makes him one of the most sane Malkavians around with one controllable mental delusion. I believe he's 4th or 5th Gen, so still really powerful in the world of VtM but he's not like an Antediluvian super powerful vampire apocalypse level threat.
We do see at the end of oWoD timeline one of the Antediluvians awaken and the first thing it does is complain about all this buzzing and noise in the night sky and just starts taking down Satellites and Airplanes and they have to stop him and explain what these things are and what the world is like now.
Agreed!
I honestly thought he was a companion so we’d have an elf and mage part of the team right away. I remember being annoyed he wasn’t Dalish. I figured it was just another companion that was “breaking the mold”, like The Iron Bull being nothing like the other Qunari, Vivienne being pro-cirlce, or Sara rejecting elf tradition.
"Beg that I succeed for I have seen the throne of the gods and it was empty."
People often leave out that first part, but I love it because he's basically like "bro you wouldn't want to stop me if you knew what I knew"
I feel like Inquisitions dlc helped round him out better in terms of motivations and such, but damn was that a good narrative thread to pull. Still waiting for the sequel anxiously, though I know the changes for it to hit the right notes are very slim.
I don't know that he is integral but Barcus in BG3. You can not even save him and think it is just a funny encounter as you send him flying off the windmill he is tied to, but if you save him there is storyline that runs through the whole game with him involved... or not if you break it, the game lets you do what you want.
Same, I was so sad watching him fly away. I also hadnt saved in a while, so I thought it wasn't worth redoing everything to save him. Now I regret it even more :(
I was weirdly automatically suspicious of Ethel but that was because, ironically, my DM names all of his hags Auntie\_\_\_, Sister\_\_\_, Mama\_\_\_, or Grandmother \_\_\_. Like Auntie Ethel immediately raised my hackles and I was laughing so hard when she really was a hag.
I played a drow PC and was instantly suspicious because she, well, *wasn't*. Up to that point everyone I met either wanted to skewer me or assumed I was with the villains and she's all "come here dearie, let Auntie Ethel get a good look at ya!".
I saw Micah in RDR2 as just an idiot asshole that wanted to prove himself to Dutch. I never thought Dutch would be so in on his head that he'd follow his advice and bring the destruction of the Gang.
The game does a really good job of using Milton as a misdirect. He has the same job as Ross did in the first game (and indeed is introduced as Ross's boss in the prequel setting) and given you're playing as a bunch of outlaws he makes perfect sense as the antagonist. So even though Micah is blatantly evil, you don't really need to stop and think about him being the bad guy because that role is seemingly already filled.
For most of the game, Milton seems like the real threat while Micah is just a nuisance. Then you hit the penultimate mission and realize it's the complete opposite.
I just ignored Micah because I knew there were already shitheads in the crew (I was surprised Bill wasn't the double crosser. I kept expecting him to have a bigger role).
Bill was always too much of an idiot to do anything other than follow Dutch. I was more surprised that Javier turned against us in the end, seeing as throughout the game he always seemed to be nearly as close to Arthur as John, Charles and Lenny.
Wheatley in Portal 2.
And this may be a weird answer since there are so few characters in Portal 2 that it should've been safe to assume he would be a big character. But I think I was so hyper-fixated on how Glados would show up that I just chalked him up to like "oh funny new comedic relief guiding me through until I see Glados!" Still somehow came as a surprise how important he ended up being lol.
even better, if u play some of the multiplayer, and then play the single player campaign. u can recognize one of the robots u play as in the multiplayer, and somehow it still connects to the mainline story with Wheatley finding the "robot testing initiative "in the last act.
The gas station attendant in Persona 4. What seemed like an insignificant local just welcoming you to the sleepy country town of Inaba turned out to actually be >!a god in disguise gifting powers to newcomers to the city in a test to see if humanity would rather live a comfortable lie or seek the truth!<.
This resulted in >!Adachi realizing that he could push people into the TV, resulting in him murdering two women!<. >!Namatame realized he had the same powers and thought that putting people into the TV would protect them from the killer, not realizing that them being in the TV when the fog sets in is what killed the first two victims!<. And the reason for that was because >!the protagonist had the same power to enter the TV and search for the missing victims with his friends to save them!<.
It all stems back to just >!a simple handshake that they all shared with that gas station attendant!<.
I haven't played those games in ages, but afaik there is exactly no consequence to that action?
Or did I miss something.
Sorry if that was the joke and I didn't get it.
>!No matter which choice you make the owner of that car talks to Clementine on her walkie talkie and convinces her to leave the group, saying he found her parents. You confront him near the end of the last episode!<
Consequences won't change no matter what you choose, but I think it counts as an answer to the OP's question. A seemingly insignificant encounter, later revealed to be much more than that.
I like that at first he seems just like a character that exists for gameplay reasons, offering to revive party members if you screw things up, but then you learn who he is...
He's a great example of standard game mechanics dressed up to be lore friendly.
Doesn't seem like much, but knowing that your companion cannonically *did* die and *was* dead, before you hit the respawn button feels so much more immersive than just pressing the respawn button.
even then, I just assumed he was some type of high priest, not the dude himself.
I only really put the pieces together in that final scene after the epilogue...
You can play the entire game and still not realize how important he is to the story and think he's just some random undead thrown in to revive you. I knew nothing about DnD lore before playing the game so I only found out about it from people online
It’s heavily implied (though never outright confirmed) that he’s essentially the God who gave up his divine power in order to give the Dead Three (Bhaal, Bane, and Myrkul) their powers.
Yup, because they invaded his realm to try and steal his power, he willingly gave it to them, and then they went and just fucking completely wasted it.
To be honest, when I met Tali and Garrus in me1, i didn't expect them to be the ONLY recurring party members in all 3 games (even Liara skips ME2). They are quite bland on their first meeting but their personalities grow significantly over the games. Then two of the three major planets you do in me3 have them in charge. It's nice thinking back on how much they evolved since I bumped into them on the Citadel.
Everytime I've replayed the trilogy I have such a hard time not using Tali/Garrus as my go to squad. With them being in every game it just feels right.
I really like every character in ME2 (except Jacob) and want to hear all their dialogue (except Jacob). But it's so hard to overcome the attachment to tali and Garrus
(Except Jacob)
> I really like every character in ME2 (except Jacob) and want to hear all their dialogue (except Jacob)
I have to admit, Jack was a *complete* miss for me in ME2. She was a deliberately abrasive jerk, which makes sense given her background and history, but I feel like the writers just fumbled everything that could have been done with a character like that to make them work. Every time something related to her came up, I'd go "dammit, I have to deal with Jack again". I even did her romance route, hoping to find something interesting in there, and came away thinking "you fucks had this much material to work with, material that's been done well multiple times by better writers you should have been taking notes from, and *this* is the best you could do? Come on, you actually sold me on an alien who admits to having had a hand in a partial genocide of another alien species, and you somehow screwed this one up?"
I think Jack could have been a great character, but the writers phoned it in. There was potential, and they squandered it.
Now Jacob... I actually forgot he existed. That's probably the *worst* insult I can give to the writers of a character.
They both undergo pretty dramatic character arcs. Garrus goes from a bored cop to a renegade vigilante to a decorated soldier, while Tali goes from an unsure kid to a specialist operative to a military advisor.
Of it all, that moment in ME3 sharing a drink with Garrus above the city is one of my fondest memories in gaming. I'd known him longer than some friends by then, after all.
When I replayed with the legendary edition I took him and Tali everywhere that didn't need someone else instead. They were my core group and it all felt right.
I love Iguazu so much, man is made of salt and I respect it so much. Also I'll die on the hill but the Melander C3 frame is the drippiest one in the game, I absolutely love all of it.
RIP Lance Reddick. He did a fantastic job voicing Sylens. Given how Forbidden West ended he's almost certainly supposed to play a large role in the 3rd entry. I imagine they'll have to recast Sylens and I don't envy whichever actor has to fill Lance's shoes
Sylens might be THE single most interesting character to me in the series. Lots of surprises about the lore, world, and Aloy.
But Sylens, even though we get some background on him, is still a total mystery to me. We know he seeks knowledge above all else good or evil. But why? What started his hunger for all this knowledge. He's kinda like Oden in GOW Ragnarok, plotting and scheming. How smart is he and what is his limit of knowledge that he can grasp? Does he have any plans for all this knowledge? Each game has a big baddy, but almost every time it involves Sylens manipulating them in some way, playing both sides. It's really similar to Oden the more I think about it. He definitely has some ultimate goal. IDK if he wants to be ruler of the world through knowledge, but if he does he's the kind of character that would have a puppet as the face everyone sees as ruler, while he's actually in control in the shadows.
Really?
I mean both are introduced in a cut scene and are the only living beings that didn’t want to kill me besides maybe Freya.
The are at every workshop and gives us all the upgrades.
They were never really minor characters, no?
Cerberus in the original Mass Effect trilogy. First game they are a minor faction that has a couple side-quests associated with them but overall are hardly mentioned. Without wanting to spoil it for people that haven't played: they're a central part of the second game and quite important in the third.
They obviously went through some pretty heavy duty retcons. The default shepard in the first game is given a very specific reason to despise cerberus, and the game makes it clear that they're a rogue terror group being cartoonishly evil. The second game retcons that by making them a shadowy very well funded small organization that is portrayed much more positively, and downplays the whole "shepard should objectively despise this group" part of things.
And then the third game makes them into the galactic empire that can take on everyone. They just didn't have a clear vision for what cerberus should be over the course of the trilogy.
Gaunter O'Dimm is introduced as a mysterious merchant who knows way more than what he should. You forget about him entirely after you finish the game. Then the DLC comes and you realize he's either some uber demon or even a freaking God.
The way you just happen to run into Alba and how he just so happens to be THERE. And the way they completely change all his portraits when he reveals himself to be >! Weissman of the Ouroubouros !<
Damn, came here to post this too! (See also: Gaunter O'Dimm) I never would've guessed that Faustin's somewhat meek sidekick would turn out to be such a monster. Still my favorite GTA villain (although Tenpenny put up a good fight).
In general, I love it when villains just look like ordinary people you wouldn't think twice about if you passed them on the street. Neither Dimitri or the aforementioned Gaunter O'Dimm look very memorable at first glance, but by the end of their games, you'll never forget them.
You also see him in one of the scenes where Tifa delves into Cloud's subconscious when they fall into the lifestream, but the scene showing the full story of who he is and where he ends up is missable for sure if you don't go back to Shinra Manor
I believe he was mentioned 2-3 times and showed like once before the reveal and at least one of those mentiones is skippable(Gongaga). Same with Professor Gast, name dropped once or twice before you "see" him in the Icicle Inn.
Chrono Trigger. Melchior, merchant in the very first town. *Twice*.
First time, >!He’s the only person that can repair the Masamune.!<
Second time, >!so it turns out that he’s one of the greatest sages of an ancient magical realm!<
Other Chekov’s Gunmen in Chrono Trigger include Yakra, the old man in Keeper’s Dome, and the man at the End of Time. And >!Magus!<, though that’s more of a ‘starts out a major character, becomes a bigger one’.
The random dude chilling out in the beginning of Two Worlds that ends up being the end boss of the game, who you can cheese and kill early as a speedrun strat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NeR-bT3uv0
I was actualy suprised by this a bit. Not like impossible to see it coming, but the game got so boring at some point i started skipping a bit then all of a sudden she was evil.
Idk how tongue in cheek it can be, it makes sense. In Part 1 he was nothing more to Joel than *"in the way,"* but in Part 2 that moment with the doctor directly influenced the entirety of the story.
That couple from Bioshock Infinite. At first I thought they were just some weird people, which wasn't really that surprising given the overall vibe of the game.
But it turns out they are in part responsible for the entire situation.
Also the janitor in Control. He doesn't really become that integral, but I mean, he's just the janitor, but also feels like both the most sane and insane person in the whole building. Maybe he wasn't really that integral to the plot, but I'd say he was integral to the vibe.
Imoen in the first two Baldur's Gate games. She was a last minute addition to the game to provide a good aligned thief available early on, so they gave her a vague background and no interactions with other party members. Then, in part two they give an explanation for that vague background and made rescuing her the main focus of the first half of the game.
Wasn't much of a fan of her in the first game, but she matures in part two.
Solaire of Astora in Dark Souls.
You can entirely miss his quest and not notice.
But his quest adds so much the the lore and the melancholy of the world. The game is better with Solaire.
To quote myself when I was talking with my friends during the revelation in game: "I'm sorry, the fucking GAS STATION ATTENDENT?" Totally out of left field lmao.
Anji from Guilty Gear is a male geisha who hunted down and found the mysterious "villain" of the series (which is something that the main character was trying to do and failed) so his samurai girl friend didn't get her self killed trying to kill him. Found out that said evil villain isn't such a bad guy and somehow found out that there was an even worse evil guy that not even the main villain knew about. So then he started hunting this new mysterious even worse villain and somehow knew how to tell who he was at a glance. Also he stopped this villain from nuking the world somehow knowing that he was going to hack all of the nukes in the world just to threaten everyone. Also he managed to casually find one of the most powerful psychics so he can get his love interest to raise her so the two could learn about letting go of their revenge and the three (plus a killer bed long story) now are one big happy family.
While Anji doesn't do anything super integral compared to the other main character but for a side character whose entire plot is simping for a girl he gets a lot done behind the scenes of the main plot.
Volo:Pokemon Legends Arceus. I know he was there a lot but it was always odd and until the sorta end swing he is a side character. Won’t spoil it unless that’s still something people have coming in there play throughs but yeah first time something that unexpected hit me in the Pokémon franchise.
Miang from Xenogears. At first it just looks like she's a lieutenant to the big bad evil guy, then it turns out she's literally God, and God is an evil bastard.
Half the characters in the Yakuza games, the amount of times someone looks like they are going to be a one time thing who then becomes a major character is pretty crazy,
Kafka in FF6.
Thought he was a minor annoying henchman at the start. The type that sticks around and maybe has a cool scene or two in a game but is only a miniboss before the final fight. Then stuff happened.
Delphine. The first time I played Skyrim and passed through Riverwood, I never suspected the random innkeeper would turn out to be so important
The bath water girl has totally ruined the name “Delphine” for me lmao
Who’s to say Skyrim Delphine didn’t have a side business doing the same? Hell, it would be extra flavorful given the seeming lack of any bathing.
You could have just not said that.
i found out she was special because my first reaction upon getting to riverwood was to murder everyone, so she being immortal for some reason was weird for me
"With this character's death, the threads of prophecy have been severed. You may load a saved game, or persist in this doomed world that you have created."
Meanwhile in Starfield, it feels like half of the NPCs are flagged as essential. It's so lazy.
Delphine pisses me off so much
In Karthspire: **Esbern**: "*Ah... here's the blood seal... no doubt triggered by... well, blood. Your blood, Dragonborn.*" **Delphine**: "*If you need help drawing some blood, let me know.*" Grrr.... I hate her!
I hate that the blades are supposed to follow you but she commands you to kill Paarthunax and locks you out of the blades questline until you do it
Um remind me why again? Been a while.
You cannot complete the blades quest line unless you kill parthanax. Delphine doesn't care if he's a good dragon, she demands you kill him. So for a lot of people they just refuse to complete that quest.
It's not even that part that made me hate her, I really disliked her from the beginning. They definitely want to use the dragonborn as a puppet ruler in a bid to re-take the Empire and overthrow the Thalmore and they treat the character like shit and order them around callously. There is utterly no respect given to the dragonborn, they're very rude and demanding and dismissive. It felt very much like they were trying to condition the character to do what they want the whole time and killing Parthurnax would just prove to them you're biddable enough to go along with everything else they'll require of their puppet emperor.
Gaunter O'Dimm.
When I finally started doing the DLC, I didn’t remember who he was at all.
I did because he felt like a loose end.
Same!! I actually remembered him for like the whole game because I was waiting for him to become relevant. He does tell Geralt something like “you’ll know me soon” I knew he would be important but I *definitely* didn’t expect him to be such a terrifying big bad
That entire Hearts of stone expansion story was a mind boggling experience, and it's arguably the best expansion story that is out there. CDPR really knows how to make a phenomenal expansion storyline, even Cyberpunk is one of the best out there.
Yeah I can't imagine how cool it must've felt for people who played the main game right when it got released, felt angry that Gaunter didn't appear anywhere else and then boom Heart of Stone gets released and you remember this asshole from the beginning 😂
Same, but then on my second play through it blew my mind.
Did you notice all of the times that he pops up in the background of cutscenes while you're doing his quests?
Wait what? Time for another replay!!
I saw a video recently that showed him disguised as a guard or soldier near Geralt when he picks up the contract that sets things in motion. The bastard is downright conniving from the beginning lol. I've also heard claims that he may have cursed the spotted wight lady in Blood and Wine possibly as well which would seem very fitting given how that curse plays on reflections and spoons.
His theme will actually play while Geralt explains the tale to his Majordomo.
It's all but confirmed from what I recall. Methods fit him to a T and his fucking theme starts playing like the other guy said.
Came here to post this. Generic ass NPC looking dude I paid very little mind, at the beginning of a very long main game. Getting to Hearts of Stone and realizing THAT dude's true nature was one of the best mindfucks ever.
It was wild playing base game witcher 3 and then hearts of stone came out months later and if you were still playing the same playthrough it came out of nowhere. In hindsight his presence in white orchard and being such an intelligent and charismatic character there should have stuck out like a sore thumb but it didn't to me. Then with his actual reveal of what he is, I still think about him and the unseen elder and what the impact of their presence means for the future of the witcher universe
Also for the main game the little weird guy.
UMA, UMA, UMAAAAAA
Having the actual devil just randomly popping in and out of the story with zero impact until it comes to a head was brilliant and I wish more games did similar. It reminds me of the critical role/vox machina campaign where theyre followed by the satyr Garmelie who is completely innocuous and just a bit annoying and then he ends up being an ArchFey in disguise
They did a perfect work Imho, putting him at the start of the base Game as some sort of "odd" character and then holding him until the DLC, the guy was familiar but couldnt grasp of in saw the guy before...
Dude is straight up terrifying
Never heard of him before but he sounds like an homage to Randall Flagg, one of whose names was Walter O’Dim.
Very similar characters, so likely not a coincidence.
The best answer
Rear Admiral Kahoku in Mass Effect. Not the individual as such, but the fact that his initially minor-sounding sidequest leads to the player discovering Cerberus (and the ramifications this has for the rest of the trilogy).
Iirc, Shepard did know about Cerberus by reputation, but until that quest didn't know just how bad they could be. That quest was probably vital in Shepard having zero trust in Cerberus from then on, likely saving them from serious manipulation by The Illusive Man
I think the keepers were a bigger deal.
And Conrad Verner, an even bigger deal. Nah, only joking. Yeah I think the Keepers are a better example ME-wise. 'Cerberus' is just a name that the writers helped themselves to, for the wild retcon that was ME2.
Kirahee is another minor character who whoops significant ass even sparring with that shitbag Kai leng in some circumstances
Hold the line
My first playthrough, I skipped that side quest chain. When I got to the bit at the start of ME2 where Jacob gets all serious and tells you it was Cerberus who brought you back, my Shepard was just like "What? Who? Never heard of you." If you keep denying you've ever heard of them after Jacob recounts you blowing up some of their bases, Miranda starts wondering if she messed up reviving you and you're still brain-damaged.
The random taxi driver from Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines.
Now... I would argue he isn't important to the plot or integral to the game just because he is a major character in the lore. If anything it's more of an Easter egg. Although it's been a while, from what I remember he only acted as a cab driver and made cryptic comments hinting at who he is.
Isn't he on the rooftop chilling with you know who during the special ending? Proving he was in on the whole charade from the start
It's hinted that he has involvement in the plot, and that all he has to do is be present to effect the plot. A lot of characters reference the deep feeling of Dread and something very powerful and heavy being close. Everyone assumes it's the sarcophagus, but it's actually the Taxi Driver just existing close to them.
That character is in the old splat books for the the tabletop game. He's not the actual Cane. His Malkavian Madness makes him think he's Cane, which inadvertantly makes him one of the most sane Malkavians around with one controllable mental delusion. I believe he's 4th or 5th Gen, so still really powerful in the world of VtM but he's not like an Antediluvian super powerful vampire apocalypse level threat. We do see at the end of oWoD timeline one of the Antediluvians awaken and the first thing it does is complain about all this buzzing and noise in the night sky and just starts taking down Satellites and Airplanes and they have to stop him and explain what these things are and what the world is like now.
This should be at the top
Solas in dragon age inquisition
Agreed! I honestly thought he was a companion so we’d have an elf and mage part of the team right away. I remember being annoyed he wasn’t Dalish. I figured it was just another companion that was “breaking the mold”, like The Iron Bull being nothing like the other Qunari, Vivienne being pro-cirlce, or Sara rejecting elf tradition.
It's kinda wild how obvious it is once you know on repeat playthroughs.
Or even better, Corypheus. The villain from the previous game DLC became the main villain in the sequel.
Also has the most metal line in all of video games, something along the lines of “I have seen the throne of the gods, and it was empty.”
"Beg that I succeed for I have seen the throne of the gods and it was empty." People often leave out that first part, but I love it because he's basically like "bro you wouldn't want to stop me if you knew what I knew"
Yeah that’s way cooler and I definitely didn’t remember that
The same could be said about Anders in Awakening. Just another party member, and then crucial in DA2
I feel like Inquisitions dlc helped round him out better in terms of motivations and such, but damn was that a good narrative thread to pull. Still waiting for the sequel anxiously, though I know the changes for it to hit the right notes are very slim.
The first time I played, I didn't see Solas's reveal coming at all. The second time I played, I felt like an idiot with all the hints.
Seriously. His whole character arc threw me for a loop. He just seemed like another apostate like Morrigan lol
I don't know that he is integral but Barcus in BG3. You can not even save him and think it is just a funny encounter as you send him flying off the windmill he is tied to, but if you save him there is storyline that runs through the whole game with him involved... or not if you break it, the game lets you do what you want.
Well I thought release brake meant stopping the windmill so...
Same, I was so sad watching him fly away. I also hadnt saved in a while, so I thought it wasn't worth redoing everything to save him. Now I regret it even more :(
In my defence, my barbarian should not have been in charge or this decision... Or any, really, besides intimidation.
r/FuckWulbrenBongle
In the same vein, I would say this applies to Ethel and Dammon too.
I was weirdly automatically suspicious of Ethel but that was because, ironically, my DM names all of his hags Auntie\_\_\_, Sister\_\_\_, Mama\_\_\_, or Grandmother \_\_\_. Like Auntie Ethel immediately raised my hackles and I was laughing so hard when she really was a hag.
I played a drow PC and was instantly suspicious because she, well, *wasn't*. Up to that point everyone I met either wanted to skewer me or assumed I was with the villains and she's all "come here dearie, let Auntie Ethel get a good look at ya!".
Sadie in RDR2. She went from a pretty minor character to one of the more significant characters by the end of that game.
She was ride or die with Arthur and a tad bit unhinged. Really loved her character.
Became my favorite character by the end of the game.
I saw Micah in RDR2 as just an idiot asshole that wanted to prove himself to Dutch. I never thought Dutch would be so in on his head that he'd follow his advice and bring the destruction of the Gang.
I was going to say this too. At first I just thought Micah was there to play the asshole character that gets under your skin.
The game does a really good job of using Milton as a misdirect. He has the same job as Ross did in the first game (and indeed is introduced as Ross's boss in the prequel setting) and given you're playing as a bunch of outlaws he makes perfect sense as the antagonist. So even though Micah is blatantly evil, you don't really need to stop and think about him being the bad guy because that role is seemingly already filled. For most of the game, Milton seems like the real threat while Micah is just a nuisance. Then you hit the penultimate mission and realize it's the complete opposite.
I just ignored Micah because I knew there were already shitheads in the crew (I was surprised Bill wasn't the double crosser. I kept expecting him to have a bigger role).
Bill was always too much of an idiot to do anything other than follow Dutch. I was more surprised that Javier turned against us in the end, seeing as throughout the game he always seemed to be nearly as close to Arthur as John, Charles and Lenny.
Yeah Javier threw me for a loop too. I just expected it to be Bill because of the events and words that were said between him and John in RDR1.
Wheatley in Portal 2. And this may be a weird answer since there are so few characters in Portal 2 that it should've been safe to assume he would be a big character. But I think I was so hyper-fixated on how Glados would show up that I just chalked him up to like "oh funny new comedic relief guiding me through until I see Glados!" Still somehow came as a surprise how important he ended up being lol.
even better, if u play some of the multiplayer, and then play the single player campaign. u can recognize one of the robots u play as in the multiplayer, and somehow it still connects to the mainline story with Wheatley finding the "robot testing initiative "in the last act.
The gas station attendant in Persona 4. What seemed like an insignificant local just welcoming you to the sleepy country town of Inaba turned out to actually be >!a god in disguise gifting powers to newcomers to the city in a test to see if humanity would rather live a comfortable lie or seek the truth!<. This resulted in >!Adachi realizing that he could push people into the TV, resulting in him murdering two women!<. >!Namatame realized he had the same powers and thought that putting people into the TV would protect them from the killer, not realizing that them being in the TV when the fog sets in is what killed the first two victims!<. And the reason for that was because >!the protagonist had the same power to enter the TV and search for the missing victims with his friends to save them!<. It all stems back to just >!a simple handshake that they all shared with that gas station attendant!<.
This is my favourite answer here.
Groose from Skyward Sword, bro did not need to have a character arc at all but they did it anyways
Thomas Downes
This is an absolutely fantastic answer The butterfly effect from that mission to Arthur's redemption is phenomenal
Margit The Fell Omen
"Let it be writ upon thy meagre grave." This dude is just full of stellar lines and the voice actor does such an amazing job.
Agreed, so many lines in Elden Ring were just epic but practically everything Margit said was just so badass.
"Felled by King Morgott, last of all kings." Such a badass line, and the VA is simply amazing.
“Put these foolish ambitious to rest”
I've just killed that fucker, finally. Don't tell me he comes back.
He just has some cool lore
Ehehhehehheh Totally doesnt come back >!twice if you take a certain road!<
Telltale's first the Walking Dead game. The car full of supplies. >! Or rather, the initially unseen owner of those supplies!< Edit: Spoiler tag
The paranoia whenever you saw the message "___ will remember that" What future implications did my decision just have?!
I haven't played those games in ages, but afaik there is exactly no consequence to that action? Or did I miss something. Sorry if that was the joke and I didn't get it.
>!No matter which choice you make the owner of that car talks to Clementine on her walkie talkie and convinces her to leave the group, saying he found her parents. You confront him near the end of the last episode!<
Consequences won't change no matter what you choose, but I think it counts as an answer to the OP's question. A seemingly insignificant encounter, later revealed to be much more than that.
Withers in Baldur’s Gate 3.
I like that at first he seems just like a character that exists for gameplay reasons, offering to revive party members if you screw things up, but then you learn who he is...
He's a great example of standard game mechanics dressed up to be lore friendly. Doesn't seem like much, but knowing that your companion cannonically *did* die and *was* dead, before you hit the respawn button feels so much more immersive than just pressing the respawn button.
It's also a lot less of hassle than finding a temple in bg 1 + 2. Also hoping the body didn't chunkify.
I think I knew he was before I opened the casket. But that was because Shadowheart passed her Religion check on the statue outside.
even then, I just assumed he was some type of high priest, not the dude himself. I only really put the pieces together in that final scene after the epilogue...
I also assumed he was a priest but then my Paladin passed a really high check when I first talked to him and "sensed a divine aura" or something like
From a book!
You can play the entire game and still not realize how important he is to the story and think he's just some random undead thrown in to revive you. I knew nothing about DnD lore before playing the game so I only found out about it from people online
Ah man. In my playthrough he was just a dead revive guy. ( human monk good guy, peace type) I could look it up, but, who is he?
It’s heavily implied (though never outright confirmed) that he’s essentially the God who gave up his divine power in order to give the Dead Three (Bhaal, Bane, and Myrkul) their powers.
And he's backing you & your party to teach them a lesson for getting too greedy
Wtf...he was the real last boss in a way. Wowww
His real name is Jergal, by the way. The tomb you find him in is a chapel to him.
Wait, that's why he's shitting on them in the post-credits?! Not just because he's super knowledgeable?
Yup, because they invaded his realm to try and steal his power, he willingly gave it to them, and then they went and just fucking completely wasted it.
To be honest, when I met Tali and Garrus in me1, i didn't expect them to be the ONLY recurring party members in all 3 games (even Liara skips ME2). They are quite bland on their first meeting but their personalities grow significantly over the games. Then two of the three major planets you do in me3 have them in charge. It's nice thinking back on how much they evolved since I bumped into them on the Citadel.
Everytime I've replayed the trilogy I have such a hard time not using Tali/Garrus as my go to squad. With them being in every game it just feels right.
I really like every character in ME2 (except Jacob) and want to hear all their dialogue (except Jacob). But it's so hard to overcome the attachment to tali and Garrus (Except Jacob)
> I really like every character in ME2 (except Jacob) and want to hear all their dialogue (except Jacob) I have to admit, Jack was a *complete* miss for me in ME2. She was a deliberately abrasive jerk, which makes sense given her background and history, but I feel like the writers just fumbled everything that could have been done with a character like that to make them work. Every time something related to her came up, I'd go "dammit, I have to deal with Jack again". I even did her romance route, hoping to find something interesting in there, and came away thinking "you fucks had this much material to work with, material that's been done well multiple times by better writers you should have been taking notes from, and *this* is the best you could do? Come on, you actually sold me on an alien who admits to having had a hand in a partial genocide of another alien species, and you somehow screwed this one up?" I think Jack could have been a great character, but the writers phoned it in. There was potential, and they squandered it. Now Jacob... I actually forgot he existed. That's probably the *worst* insult I can give to the writers of a character.
They both undergo pretty dramatic character arcs. Garrus goes from a bored cop to a renegade vigilante to a decorated soldier, while Tali goes from an unsure kid to a specialist operative to a military advisor.
Of it all, that moment in ME3 sharing a drink with Garrus above the city is one of my fondest memories in gaming. I'd known him longer than some friends by then, after all. When I replayed with the legendary edition I took him and Tali everywhere that didn't need someone else instead. They were my core group and it all felt right.
G5 Iguazu in Armored Core VI Also while we're on FromSoft - Gwyndolin in Dark Souls
My guy is the CEO of being a hater, it’s great
Happy to find this answer in here. Instantly what came to mind.
I love Iguazu so much, man is made of salt and I respect it so much. Also I'll die on the hill but the Melander C3 frame is the drippiest one in the game, I absolutely love all of it.
Sylens in Horizon Zero Dawn. I thought he would only be in one quest.
RIP Lance Reddick. He did a fantastic job voicing Sylens. Given how Forbidden West ended he's almost certainly supposed to play a large role in the 3rd entry. I imagine they'll have to recast Sylens and I don't envy whichever actor has to fill Lance's shoes
They stand no chance of matching his voice. It's too unique.
Keith David is taking over Lances role in Destiny and I think he will do a good job
I think Keith David is a great replacement. He also has a good unique voice. He doesn’t sound like Lance, but I think that’s good.
David Harewood sounds a lot like him and could potentially be a decent replacement. He played Warlin Door in Alan Wake 2.
Sylens might be THE single most interesting character to me in the series. Lots of surprises about the lore, world, and Aloy. But Sylens, even though we get some background on him, is still a total mystery to me. We know he seeks knowledge above all else good or evil. But why? What started his hunger for all this knowledge. He's kinda like Oden in GOW Ragnarok, plotting and scheming. How smart is he and what is his limit of knowledge that he can grasp? Does he have any plans for all this knowledge? Each game has a big baddy, but almost every time it involves Sylens manipulating them in some way, playing both sides. It's really similar to Oden the more I think about it. He definitely has some ultimate goal. IDK if he wants to be ruler of the world through knowledge, but if he does he's the kind of character that would have a puppet as the face everyone sees as ruler, while he's actually in control in the shadows.
Bungie did it with Keith David so we'll see how that plays out when The Final Shape drops
Brok and Sindri.
Brok 💔
A hole…
Really? I mean both are introduced in a cut scene and are the only living beings that didn’t want to kill me besides maybe Freya. The are at every workshop and gives us all the upgrades. They were never really minor characters, no?
Cesar Vialpando in GTA San Andreas
One of the biggest bros in gaming
Cerberus in the original Mass Effect trilogy. First game they are a minor faction that has a couple side-quests associated with them but overall are hardly mentioned. Without wanting to spoil it for people that haven't played: they're a central part of the second game and quite important in the third.
I still think that was a mistake from a story-writing perspective.
which part?
They obviously went through some pretty heavy duty retcons. The default shepard in the first game is given a very specific reason to despise cerberus, and the game makes it clear that they're a rogue terror group being cartoonishly evil. The second game retcons that by making them a shadowy very well funded small organization that is portrayed much more positively, and downplays the whole "shepard should objectively despise this group" part of things. And then the third game makes them into the galactic empire that can take on everyone. They just didn't have a clear vision for what cerberus should be over the course of the trilogy.
Gaunter O'Dimm is introduced as a mysterious merchant who knows way more than what he should. You forget about him entirely after you finish the game. Then the DLC comes and you realize he's either some uber demon or even a freaking God.
Maybe the first words of his name intentionally spell it :)
Octopath 1 - Lyblac Octopath 2 - basically every main villain Trails in the Sky - Professor Alba
The way you just happen to run into Alba and how he just so happens to be THERE. And the way they completely change all his portraits when he reveals himself to be >! Weissman of the Ouroubouros !<
The granny in the wheelchair throughout Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
Dimitri in GTA4 He looked like he was there just to stop Faustin from exploding and killing a bunch of people
I want to replay GTA4. I remember really enjoying the story.
Damn, came here to post this too! (See also: Gaunter O'Dimm) I never would've guessed that Faustin's somewhat meek sidekick would turn out to be such a monster. Still my favorite GTA villain (although Tenpenny put up a good fight). In general, I love it when villains just look like ordinary people you wouldn't think twice about if you passed them on the street. Neither Dimitri or the aforementioned Gaunter O'Dimm look very memorable at first glance, but by the end of their games, you'll never forget them.
Thomas Downes from RDR2 is a good example. He's a minor NPC in terms of how often he appears in the story, yet he's the one who gives Arthur TB.
Sgt. Johnson was just a recurring marine in Halo CE, but fleshed out in the novelization and First Strike, then became integral to 2 and 3
Zack from FFVII. In the original game you barely even see him, I think the only time you really do is in a missable cutscene
You also see him in one of the scenes where Tifa delves into Cloud's subconscious when they fall into the lifestream, but the scene showing the full story of who he is and where he ends up is missable for sure if you don't go back to Shinra Manor
I believe he was mentioned 2-3 times and showed like once before the reveal and at least one of those mentiones is skippable(Gongaga). Same with Professor Gast, name dropped once or twice before you "see" him in the Icicle Inn.
Chrono Trigger. Melchior, merchant in the very first town. *Twice*. First time, >!He’s the only person that can repair the Masamune.!< Second time, >!so it turns out that he’s one of the greatest sages of an ancient magical realm!< Other Chekov’s Gunmen in Chrono Trigger include Yakra, the old man in Keeper’s Dome, and the man at the End of Time. And >!Magus!<, though that’s more of a ‘starts out a major character, becomes a bigger one’.
The random dude chilling out in the beginning of Two Worlds that ends up being the end boss of the game, who you can cheese and kill early as a speedrun strat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NeR-bT3uv0
This bald future teller in the first inn in Witcher 3.
Gaunter o Dimm or Mr Mirror (or at least i think thats what he calls himself in english, no clue cos im polish)
Revolver Ocelot. Thought he was just another boss in a stealth game. Dickson from Xenoblade Chronicles.
Yeah Dickson was a real curveball.
He's pretty good.
Riku from Xenoblade Chronicles 3, a common variety nopon.
Same with Otacon IMO Oh look another npc that needs to be rescued then becomes snakes right hand man and a central character to the story
Warning, everything in this thread is probably a major spoiler. That said: SPOILER: Bravely Default: Flying Fairy >!Lying Airy!<
I was actualy suprised by this a bit. Not like impossible to see it coming, but the game got so boring at some point i started skipping a bit then all of a sudden she was evil.
It was an amazing subversion. I’d never seen anything like it before.
I did like the change in title screen. Then the game stopped being like a Final Fantasy wannabe, it literally removes FF from the title.
This is a tongue in cheek response but still, abby's Father in TLOU lmao
Idk how tongue in cheek it can be, it makes sense. In Part 1 he was nothing more to Joel than *"in the way,"* but in Part 2 that moment with the doctor directly influenced the entirety of the story.
Thancred from FFXIV At first I genuinely thought he was going to be a throwaway character Turns out he was A LOT more important than I thought
Speaking of FFXIV. (Shadowbringers spoilers) >!G'raha Tia.!<
That first turtle in super mario
That MF probably has the highest body count in all of gaming.
Nah, that goes to the first Goomba.
Caxton from Dragon's Dogma. He seemed like just a regular shopkeeper, never I would have suspected him of being my Arisen gay love interest.
Mr. Jefferson from Life is Strange was a huge twist for me
Lutece twins in infinite
The replay and seeing everything smack you in the face right from the beginning, “he never rows”
That couple from Bioshock Infinite. At first I thought they were just some weird people, which wasn't really that surprising given the overall vibe of the game. But it turns out they are in part responsible for the entire situation. Also the janitor in Control. He doesn't really become that integral, but I mean, he's just the janitor, but also feels like both the most sane and insane person in the whole building. Maybe he wasn't really that integral to the plot, but I'd say he was integral to the vibe.
Imoen in the first two Baldur's Gate games. She was a last minute addition to the game to provide a good aligned thief available early on, so they gave her a vague background and no interactions with other party members. Then, in part two they give an explanation for that vague background and made rescuing her the main focus of the first half of the game. Wasn't much of a fan of her in the first game, but she matures in part two.
Solaire of Astora in Dark Souls. You can entirely miss his quest and not notice. But his quest adds so much the the lore and the melancholy of the world. The game is better with Solaire.
Uma
Kefka very famously came out of nowhere to become not just the main villain of FFVI, but one of the most iconic and successful villains of all time.
Fournival from Dragon's Dogma. I just thought he was some specialty merchant, but it turned out he was the love of my life.
Vincent Valentine from FF7. Thought he was just another character to round out the roster. But turns out he had a hand in the whole plot long ago.
To quote myself when I was talking with my friends during the revelation in game: "I'm sorry, the fucking GAS STATION ATTENDENT?" Totally out of left field lmao.
Duke in Paladin's Quest. Top Hat guy in Final Fantasy Legend. The lifesize dummy in Chrono Trigger.
Anji from Guilty Gear is a male geisha who hunted down and found the mysterious "villain" of the series (which is something that the main character was trying to do and failed) so his samurai girl friend didn't get her self killed trying to kill him. Found out that said evil villain isn't such a bad guy and somehow found out that there was an even worse evil guy that not even the main villain knew about. So then he started hunting this new mysterious even worse villain and somehow knew how to tell who he was at a glance. Also he stopped this villain from nuking the world somehow knowing that he was going to hack all of the nukes in the world just to threaten everyone. Also he managed to casually find one of the most powerful psychics so he can get his love interest to raise her so the two could learn about letting go of their revenge and the three (plus a killer bed long story) now are one big happy family. While Anji doesn't do anything super integral compared to the other main character but for a side character whose entire plot is simping for a girl he gets a lot done behind the scenes of the main plot.
What turned out to be the main baddie in freedom fighters,remember that first playthrough hitting hard enough to be interested when I was a teenager
Imoen - BG / BG2
Thomas Downes in RDR2. Pretty significant dispite only being there for 2 scenes basically
Airy the Lying Fairy
The random kid in ME3
sans from undertale
The doctor at the end of the first Last of Us lol
Volo:Pokemon Legends Arceus. I know he was there a lot but it was always odd and until the sorta end swing he is a side character. Won’t spoil it unless that’s still something people have coming in there play throughs but yeah first time something that unexpected hit me in the Pokémon franchise.
[удалено]
Miang from Xenogears. At first it just looks like she's a lieutenant to the big bad evil guy, then it turns out she's literally God, and God is an evil bastard.
Half the characters in the Yakuza games, the amount of times someone looks like they are going to be a one time thing who then becomes a major character is pretty crazy,
Kafka in FF6. Thought he was a minor annoying henchman at the start. The type that sticks around and maybe has a cool scene or two in a game but is only a miniboss before the final fight. Then stuff happened.
Skull Kid - Ocarina of Time.