Identity Crisis

In the first Mega Man game, Dr. Wily reprogrammed a number of robots in a bid to take over the world. In Mega Man 2, Wily re-emerged with a new set of robots that he had created. He appeared to have changed his ways in Mega Man 3 and began working on a peacekeeping robot, but he was secretly plotting world domination the entire time. Dr. Cossack was painted as the villain in Mega Man 4, but Wily was revealed to have been pulling the strings. A similar series of events happened in Mega Man 5, with Wily trying to frame Proto Man for his wrongdoings. In Mega Man 6, Capcom decided to give Wily a rest and introduced a totally new villain named Mr. X. After inviting all of the world’s strongest robots to a fighting tournament, Mr. X reprogrammed them all and revealed himself to be Dr. Wily all along! *gasp*

As its title suggests, SNK Gals Fighters is a fighting game with an all-female cast. SNK was well-known for their King of Fighters series, but the plot in SNK Gals Fighters revolves around the “Queen of Fighters” tournament instead. Many popular ladies from SNK fighting games are featured, but Miss X stands out as being a little… different. Miss X is quite obviously a male fighter named Iori Yagami who was a key figure in the King of Fighters series. In order to enter the Queen of Fighters tournament, Iori dresses in a sailor scout uniform and dons a ninja mask. Nobody is fooled by his “elaborate” disguise and most of his female opponents call him out immediately. Miss X is mocked and his identity is questioned in what can only be described as a disgusting display of female privilege. Who are they to say that Miss X can’t be a female, amirite?

Once a respected physician, Dr. Baldhead became unhinged after a child died on the operating table. Unable to cope with the tragedy, Baldhead lost his grip on reality and became a violent murderer. When he eventually learned that he was not responsible for his patient’s death, Baldhead began wearing a paper bag on his head out of shame and went by the name Faust. To atone for his past actions, Faust traveled the world to help the injured and sick wherever he could. Faust’s disguise is among the most transparent on this list, and the paper bag does little to conceal his identity. Faust’s fighting style is exactly like Baldhead’s and he even arms himself with an oversized scalpel. Dr. Baldhead only appeared in the first Guilty Gear, but Faust has been a mainstay ever since the second installment of the series.

Castlevania games are usually set in the past, but the events of Aria of Sorrow take place in the year 2035. Dracula has long been sealed away by this point, but it was said that a reincarnation of Dracula would return to Castlevania to inherit the power he once had. Soma Cruz was one of many figures who tries to prevent the prophecy from coming true. A missionary named Graham Jones believed he was Dracula’s reincarnation and served as the game’s antagonist, but it was eventually revealed that Soma was Dracula’s vessel the entire time. Soma’s uncanny ability to absorb the souls of monsters and use their powers was derived from the dominion that Dracula’s had over the undead. Soma would have been rated higher on this list, but he was able to resist Dracula’s power to prevents the Dark Lord from completely taking over.

Bomberman was depicted as a little guy with a hat in his debut games on the MSX and ZX Spectrum before he was given his lovable “White Bomber” makeover on the NES. The White Bomber design was first used for the enemy robots in the NES version of Lode Runner. When Hudson released Bomberman on the NES the following year, no explanation was given as to why Bomberman suddenly looked like one of the enemies from Lode Runner. The plot of the game followed Bomberman’s journey to escape from a robot factory, and it was said that he would be granted a wish if he managed to escape. Bomberman ultimately used his wish to become a human, and he was transformed into the Runner at this point. In effect, the NES version of Bomberman was a prequel to the NES version of Lode Runner.

While working as a courier, Cole was hired by an anonymous customer to open a mystery package. This resulted in six city blocks being destroyed, but Cole managed to survive the blast and was bestowed with the ability to manipulate electricity. From this point, Cole became a superhero and found himself contending with numerous gangs. His primary rival was a mysterious man named Kessler who also had the ability to harness electricity. As it turns out, Kessler was an older version of Cole from an alternate timeline. After an entity known as the Beast plunged the world into chaos and killed his family, Kessler decided to go back in time and prepare his past self for the impending battle. In an ill-advised bid to push Cole to his limits, Kessler also arranged for his girlfriend to be killed. Needless to say, Cole was not impressed.

More than one individual has adopted the Sub-Zero persona. The original Sub-Zero was a ninja named Bi-Han who was killed by a rival ninja named Scorpion. The Sub-Zero that appeared in Mortal Kombat II was actually Bi-Han’s younger brother, Kuai Liang. The transition from one Sub-Zero to the next was seamless, as both brothers were known for their ice-based attacks. With Bi-Han out of the picture, Kuai Liang assumed the role of Sub-Zero for the rest of the series. At the same time, Noob Saibot made his debut in Mortal Kombat II with very little fanfare. He didn’t seem especially out of place in the series, but his past was shrouded in mystery. When Mortal Kombat: Deception was released 10 years later, it was finally revealed that Noob Saibot had been resurrected from the original Sub-Zero.

Double identities are common in the Zelda series. In various games, we’ve learned that Tetra was Zelda, Midna was the Twilight Princess, and the old woman in Skyward Sword was an older version of Impa. The revelation that Sheik was Zelda’s alter-ego was significant by virtue of the fact that it marked the first time we’d seen the Princess depicted as anything other than a damsel in distress. By muffling her voice, concealing her face, and exercising all sorts of ninja maneuvers, Zelda was able to hide her true identity from Ganondorf. She was basically unrecognizable as Zelda, and many characters in the game even referred to her as a man. In the Super Smash Bros. series, Sheik is the polar opposite of Zelda and relies on sneaky, fast-paced attacks that overwhelm opponents before they can even react.

Irene Lew was Ryu’s love interest in the original Ninja Gaiden trilogy. Working as a CIA Agent, Irene fell in love with Ryu and had major role the series. For unknown reasons, she was MIA when the franchise was re-launched in 2004. In place of Irene, Ryu spent much of his time working with a leather-clad CIA Agent named Sonia. Like Irene, Sonia was an experienced field agent, an expert marksman, and a victim of a kidnapping plot. The similarities between Sonia and Irene were explained away in Dead or Alive: Dimensions when Ryu casually introduced Sonia to one of his friends as Irene. After keeping the secret for the better part of a decade, it turned out that Sonia was merely one of Irene’s aliases. Irene didn’t disappear after the NES trilogy, she just dyed her hair white and bought some dominatrix clothing.

Big Boss was a former CIA operative who was used as a genetic template for several clones – including Solid Snake. He acted as Snake’s commanding officer in the first Metal Gear, but he was secretly working for the enemy. Several games in the franchise explored Big Boss’ complicated past, but The Phantom Pain had the most surprising twist. Big Boss adopted the codename Venom Snake in that outing, and the story focused on his actions as a mercenary in the mid ’80s. At the end of the game, Venom Snake was revealed to have been a clone of Big Boss the entire time. The implication of this was that “Big Boss” from the original Metal Gear was actually Venom Snake all along. Metal Gear was released in 1987, but gamers wouldn’t find out that Big Boss was a clone until 28 years later. That’s a long time to keep a secret.