It’s always nice to make new friends in video games. It’s even better when that newfound camaraderie comes from a former adversary. That kind of connection is always enjoyable, even on a platonic level. People way too into shipping shouldn’t have all the fun, though they’ll be darned if they don’t try.
In video games, there have been many instances ofvillains and other bossesultimately joining the player’s party, and it’s almost always a delightful moment (especially if the former antagonist in question retains their sassiness). But what are some other less fortunate bosses who really deserved that chance?
In Baldur’s Gate 3, Ketheric Thorm is kind of the epitome of an irredeemable villain who really earns his mystical beatdown. But there’s a lot more to him if you decide to dig deeper, and he could have had a lot more involvement beyond his ultimate battle. Whether he deserved to is another matter, but lots of slime balls out there deserve redemption, or at least a more meaningful boot to the head.
He’s the father of Isobel, who is almost solely responsible for the survival ofyour allies the Harpers. So it would have been interesting for him to pull a variation on “I now realize women are people because I have a daughter” and join you for the rest of your adventure.
Some delicious family drama is always a reliable method of messing with players' emotions and indirectly creating innumerable angsty fanfics. Mass Effect is no different, where you’re effectively forced to kill Matriarch Benezia, the possessed mother of one of your own squad members (unless you do things out of order and didn’t pick up Liara yet, in which case, enjoy your trip to Archive of Our Own.)
But what if you could break Sovereign’s hold on Benezia and give Liara the family reunion she deserves? Imagine interrupting her in the middle of her tragic monologue and slathering her with enough medi-gel to bring back Mufasa. Maybe that near-death experience would break Sovereign’s connection with her, then suddenly, you havea ticked-off asari matriarchon your team who knows all of Saren’s weird little tech bro secrets.
Bringing back the Mechanist as a new character in Fallout 4’s Automatron DLC was an inspired choice, and only partially because it let you wear the armor and live out your best Buzz Lightyear villain dreams. No longer tied to a single person, they became a symbol, one which new character Isabel Cruz used to her advantage.
After defeating Isabel as the Mechanist, and assuming you don’t kill her (you beast), she renounces that identity and gives you the armor. She was just using it to help with her relatably abysmal people skills. But how cool would it be to bring her along as a follower instead, letting her ease her way into no longer needing it?
Yes, Elena was already part of the original Final Fantasy 7. ButFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirth embellishedpretty much everything. That includes this newbie Turk member who everybody loves with no caveats. In the original, she was a loyal (if a bit unprofessional) Shinra agent. But Rebirth added a bit of chaos to her character that could have gone to some interesting places.
Rebirth had the chance to do something truly bold and defect Elena from the Turks to your party after one of her several defeats alongside her comrades Reno and Rude. As much as she loves being a Turk, her decidedly unsubtle personality lends itself well to brash actions, perhaps like getting separated from her group and having to team up with Cloud and company. Plus, since Yuffie is now a mandatory party member, why not add a new optional one by way of this explosive young snappy dresser?
There’s a lot of space for nuance when it comes to who gets to be a hero, and Metaphor: ReFantazio could have frankly really used some of it. Considering the main character’s ultimate inspirational speech amounted to little more than “let’s make nonspecific good things happen”, some chaos from someone like Zorba cwould have been welcome.
Zorba was a tragic figure who truly wanted a world where everyone was equal, even if it was accomplished through transforming everyone into monsters. His devotion to Louis was unshakable. But as amoral as he might have been, he could have madea fantastic late game party memberif he were made to see that the main characters' peaceful vision for an equal world was actually possible.
The Tevinter mage Calpernia is an unfortunately underutilized character in Dragon Age, a sentiment shared by Templar fans and fan art creators alike. If you choose to support the Templars in Dragon Age: Inquisition, Calpernia is your final boss in that storyline. you may actually choose to not only spare her but shake her faith a bit.
In this instance, she promises to return to Tevinter and work to free it from corruption. It makes sense that she wouldn’t join your party here given her priorities, but Tevinter is part of the world, and you’re saving the world, so it could have worked. Besides, BioWare had initially planned onincluding Calpernia as a party member in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. That’s twice they’ve missed out on letting fans team up with this gap-toothed legend.
The interdimensional storyline of Starfield ultimately involves universe-hopping humans, known as Starborn, clashing with the player character over who gets to access this ability. In a game as theoretically focused on player choice as Starfield, it’s a real shame you don’t actually get to recruit one or both of these main Starborn after settling your differences in one way or another.
While one of them, The Hunter, is always the same person, the other, known as The Emissary, is another version of one of your followers who died during a crucial story mission. It would be fascinating to have them join up as the face you know with a completely different character beneath. If you romanced them before they died, it would make way for some truly poignant moments. Or awkward ones if you happen to have started romancing someone else afterward.
Persona 5 almost seemed to be setting this one up at times. Almost the whole game ispresented with the framing deviceof the player character, Joker, being interrogated by prosecutor Sae Nijima as she slowly pieces together the story and eventually becomes one of the team’s trusted allies.
But the game could have gone even further and had Sae actually join your party as a fighter as well. Her sister was already in there, and you know they’d pull off some sick Showtime attacks together.
