Villains Who Became Allies In Later Games

Villains Who Became Allies In Later Games

• Redemption arcs are popular in video games, with villains like Franziska von Karma turning a new leaf unexpectedly.
• Maleficent called a truce in Kingdom Hearts 2 to help Sora defeat Organization XIII, showing a softer side to her character.
• Bowser's need for Mario's help in Super Mario RPG led to a temporary alliance, showcasing a different dynamic between the two.

Sometimes, video game villains fall into the “enemies to friends” pipelines with their respective heroes. Redemption arcs have gotten popular, and sometimes the best way for fans to see more of their favorite baddies is for them to join the opposite team.

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Then there are times when villains and heroes will simply call a temporary truce, usually because of a much greater threat to deal with. Once that’s settled, the two of them can go back to their regularly scheduled rivalry. Most villains like to be the only world-ending threat in town, after all. Here are some villains who either began to turn a new leaf or who simply decided that the hero was an enemy of their enemy.

Franziska Von Karma

Rediscovering Herself After A Humiliating Defeat

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations

Platform(s) Wii, PC, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DSReleased January 23, 2004Developer(s) Capcom Production Studio 4Genre(s) Visual Novel, Adventure

In Justice For All, Phoenix Wright came across Franziska von Karma, the prodigious daughter of the diabolical Manfred von Karma. Raised to be a ruthless perfectionist, Franziska strove to live up to her father’s fearsome reputation and failed. Twice. Even when she finally defeated Wright in court, the victory left her feeling hollow.

So Wright was beyond surprised to see Franziska return toward the end of Trials and Tribulations. While she was still her arrogant, whip-wielding self, Franziska was still willing to help out during the final case. Without her lust for vengeance, her sharp mind allowed her to be a useful asset, with Wright himself surprised at her sudden character growth.

Maleficent

The Mistress Of All Evil Calls A Truce

Kingdom Hearts 2

Platform(s) PS3, PS4, PS2, PCReleased March 28, 2006Developer(s) Square EnixGenre(s) Action RPG, Hack and Slash

In the first Kingdom Hearts game, Maleficent was the big baddie she was made to be. She was the sinister voice in Riku’s ear, poisoning his mind into turning against his lifelong friend Sora. And it was her Heartless that Sora had to battle his way through for most of the game. Even if she ended up being just another pawn to Master Xehanort, Maleficent’s darkness was still a force to be reckoned with.

By Kingdom Hearts 2, Maleficent managed to resurrect herself, but her power and following had greatly diminished. On top of that, she was faced with a much bigger threat: Organization XIII. She couldn’t pull off any evil schemes of her own with them in the way, and so she decided to (reluctantly) help Sora defeat them. Her help during the World That Never Was segment of the game was probably the dynamic duo that no one could have seen coming.

Bowser

The Koopa King Is Not Too Proud To Beg

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Platform(s) SNESReleased May 13, 1996Developer(s) Square EnixGenre(s) RPG

These days, Bowser and Mario get invited to a lot of the same social gatherings. From go-karts to tennis to baseball, these arch-enemies sometimes feel more like rivals stuck on opposite ends of the same social circles. However, this civility wasn’t always the case. In fact, one of the earliest examples of Mario and Bowser putting their differences aside was back in 1996 with Super Mario RPG.

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The Smithy Gang has rolled into the Mushroom Kingdom, and Bowser finds himself pushed aside. He’s lost his castle, his armies, and even his chance to kidnap Princess Peach to these intergalactic thugs. He doesn’t want to admit it, but he needs Mario’s help. As he joins the party, it’s hard not to feel at least a little bad for the guy.

Koume & Kotake

From Ganondorfs Surrogate Mothers To Retired Sisters In The Swamp

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Platform(s) GameCube, Nintendo 64Released October 26, 2000Developer(s) Nintendo EADGenre(s) Action, Adventure

In Ocarina of Time, the twin witches Koume and Kotake were the ones responsible for creating the menace that was Ganondorf. They also imprisoned Nabooru, one of the seven sages, as their mindless minion for seven years. Link needed to fight tooth and nail to defeat them in their combined form, Twinrova.

So imagine his surprise in Majora’s Mask when he arrives in Termina to find Koume and Kotake living it up in a poisoned swamp. Here, they’re surprisingly friendly, letting Link play their boat ride minigame and even selling him potions (complete with a free empty bottle to store them in). The game treats these cooky old ladies like Link’s never met them before, yet everything about their appearance, names, and constant bickering with each other are exactly the same. Perhaps they decided to simply start over somewhere new?

Helios

Hell Help, But Hell Also Complain The Entire Time

God of War: Ragnarok

Platform(s) PS5, PS4Released November 9, 2022Developer(s) Santa Monica StudioGenre(s) Action, Adventure

In the original God of War trilogy, Helios was just another divine casualty in Kratos’s vengeful crusade against the gods. The sun god tried to warn Kratos about the consequences of taking down Olympus, but Kratos wasn’t interested in a lecture. He ended up ripping Helios’s head off in one of the trilogy’s most iconic kills.

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That was the last gamers had seen of Helios until the Valhalla DLC for Ragnarok dropped. As Kratos contends with his past self from his Greek days, players expected he’d be haunted by notable figures like Zeus or Athena. Helios’s head taking the place of Mimir’s was certainly a surprise. This literal mouthpiece helps Kratos navigate puzzles and his inner demons throughout the DLC in the most hostile, passive-aggressive ways he can.

GlaDOS

Demoted From Head Of Aperture Science To A Potato Battery

Portal 2

Platform(s) PS3, Switch, Xbox 360, PCReleased April 18, 2011Developer(s) ValveGenre(s) Puzzle, Platformer

GlaDOS is one of the most iconic video game villains of the 21st century. Her deranged testing throughout the first Portal game, combined with her stellar comedic line delivery, made her equally memorable and menacing. By Portal 2, she’s revealed to still be alive, and Chell must once again knock her nemesis offline to escape the facility. But there’s a twist when GlaDOS gets replaced by another AI, the once-harmless Wheatley. As he goes mad with power, GlaDOS gets shoved into a potato battery and chucked aside.

From then on, GlaDOS and Chell are forced to work together to take Wheatley down before his antics destroy the entire facility. GlaDOS gets some much-unexpected character development here, even becoming somewhat fond of her former captive. This camaraderie pays off by the end of the game when GlaDOS decides to uphold her end of the bargain and finally allows Chell to leave.

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