Keeping a game's overall plot fresh and not so cookie-cutter is difficult; audiences don't want to feel as if they've already seen the same story unfold, so the more predictable a story is, the more it hurts its immersion. To counter any tropes or clichés that audiences may have in mind when playing a game, developers and writers may try to throw their audiences for a loop with a big twist; which often is a character's sudden betrayal.
However, despite their best efforts, some traitors can be spotted from a mile away, and in turn, make their big moment of reveal feel a bit underwhelming. Here are some of the most notable traitors in video games whose betrayals were just too obvious.
Major story spoilers ahead!
8 Wheatley (Portal 2)
It was a nice change to finally have a friend for Chell in Portal 2, and although the trusty Companion Cube was everyone's favorite in Portal 1, it didn't make for great conversation. After being constantly ridiculed by GLaDOS through every test, it was a fantastic breath of fresh air (and sigh and relief) to meet Wheatley in the second game.
However, with how charming and kind Wheatley was it was fairly obvious that his fate was inevitably going in one of two directions: he was either going to betray Chell and turn evil or tragically perish just like the Companion Cube. Luckily Wheatley didn't meet his untimely end, but, of course, the little personality sphere did turn against Chell in the end after getting a proper taste of power.
Perhaps Wheatley's betrayal was fairly predictable after meeting him, but the partnership between Chell and GLaDOS wasn't something everyone saw coming!
7 Ace (Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors)
Admittedly for the first few hours in Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, everyone seems a bit suspicious. The player takes the role of a young man named Junpei and because of his lack of memories of his life before waking up in the Nonary Game, even he himself is a suspect.
While the entire boat the cast is on is unpredictable and full of hidden dangers, there is one instance where Ace gives himself away. After finding out only a certain amount of people could pass through one of the locked doors, Ace volunteers to stay behind and for whatever reason, chooses to inject himself with a substance they found nearby.
Ace is later revealed as the C.E.O of Cradle Pharmaceutical, the company that held the very first Nonary Game. No normal person would have injected a random substance into their system in such a dangerous situation; Ace, of course, recognized the substance as a product of his own company and knew it was a harmless sedative.
6 The Traveler's Sibling (Genshin Impact)
At the beginning of Genshin Impact, the twins were separated and players never really heard from them since. Since that cinematic first cutscene, the Traveler has been spending all their time traveling from nation to nation, seeking out the help of the Archons to find and reunite with their lost sibling.
However, during a particular quest, the player catches wind of a supposed Abyss leader, whom everyone calls The Prince/Princess Of Abyss Order. The title of the leader is what ended up giving this supposed twist away as the title will perfectly be the opposite of the gender of the player's character, the Traveler. If the player chose Aether as the Traveler, then the Abyss leader would be referred to as the Princess, and if the player chose Lumine as the Traveler, then the leader would be a Prince. The Traveler's sibling hadn't been seen for ages at this point, so it made perfect sense that they'd turn up in a place that's least expected!
5 Atlas (Bioshock)
Often time, what makes a horror game a harrowing experience is the loneliness that comes with it. Going through spooky corridors and haunted buildings with not a friend in sight makes for a horrifying experience. This is exactly why when players were suspicious when they were almost immediately greeted by a friendly face (or voice, rather) at the beginning of Bioshock.
A character by the name of Atlas volunteers himself as the player's right-hand man under the guise of trying to escape with his family, and he gives the player all the lore, gameplay strategies, and direction they need. Atlas' willingness to help out and make things as easy as possible for the player was all fans needed to begin their suspicions of their unknown partner. Of course, in the end, their suspicions of Atlas' overly friendly "too good to be true" assistance proved to be right as he revealed himself to be Frank Fontaine.
4 Jonathan Irons (Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)
Casting a big Hollywood actor does a lot of good for a game in terms of publicity; however, in Call of Duty's case, it brought attention to where it shouldn't be.
Initially, Jonathan Irons, the C.E.O and founder of Atlas Corporation (a private military corporation), was simply meant to be a supporting character to the protagonist. Irons was to have no real presence outside of sections in between missions, but because of the game's casting choice, players were already suspicious. They had already gone through all the trouble of casting a big Hollywood name, so it seemed natural that they'd give him a bigger, more substantial role (such as a villain).
3 St. John Family (Telltale's The Walking Dead)
The St. John Family was introduced in the second episode of Telltale's The Walking Dead series. In a post-apocalyptic world, resources are precious, and betraying one another in order to get more of those resources isn't exactly unheard of. Once the St. John Family entered the picture, players were suspicious of them right from the start.
Offering an entire group a whole meal in the middle of an apocalypse is fishy enough. No matter how many resources one has, it's in human nature to try their best and reserve it for their loved ones rather than give it away to strangers. The St. John's family's insistence on having a large group of strangers with no worry about having enough food for them all, the large morphine supply, and Mark's mysterious disappearance all made their inevitable betrayal all too obvious. No wonder the St. Johns were so excited to have guests over; they were essentially bringing in fresh new meat for dinner!
2 Goro Akechi (Persona 5)
For many Persona 5 fans, Akechi's suspicious behavior was so obvious that it initially seemed like a red herring. However, sometimes the most obvious answer is the correct one. Surely it was just too simple to have the bad guy constantly flaunt his outright disapproval of the Phantom Thieves, right? Apparently not.
It seems a bit "on the nose" to make the idol detective, a character that already has all eyes on him, the secret villain of the game, but it's that reverse psychology that gets everyone to doubt themselves.
Akechi's impending betrayal was apparently so obvious that the rest of the Phantom Thieves preemptively planned around Akechi's backstabbing, being one step ahead of the detective the entire time.
1 Albert Wesker (Resident Evil)
Perhaps it's not always right to judge a book by its cover but in Resident Evil's case, it may just save someone's life. In regard to Albert Wesker's, his character design on its own is clearly enough to tip some players off about his true identity and motives.
There was just something eerie about how Wesker carried himself in the first RE game that immediately made players wary of him and where his loyalties truly lied. Of course, as the Captain of the S.T.A.R.S, Wesker calls the shots, but it seemed all too convenient that Jill, Barry, and Chris were always separated from their Captain when it would have been much more efficient to search for clues together.