10 Games That SWITCHED Protagonists

10 Games That Switched Protagonists

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we are looking at the infamous bait-and-switch. Some games like to offer multiple perspectives. Love it or hate it, there’s nothing crazier than when a game puts you in someone's shoes only to rip you out and throw you into someone else's shoes, and it always seems to happen right when those shoes were just starting to feel comfy. These are 10 Games That Switched Protagonists.

Kiryu to Majima

“Yakuza 0”

“Yakuza 0” doesn’t just flirt with a perspective shift, it builds the entire game around it. The game opens with Kazuma Kiryu, young, intense, and already carrying the weight of a murder accusation. You settle into his side of the conflict, trying to clear his name. Then the narrative cuts sideways. Suddenly you’re controlling Goro Majima, managing a cabaret club and operating under strict limitations imposed by the yakuza hierarchy. The tonal contrast is immediate. Kiryu feels stoic and restrained, while Majima carries a sharper edge, masking calculation behind charisma. The game alternates between them chapter by chapter, letting both arcs develop in parallel. It’s sitting at number 10 because instead of replacing one protagonist with another, “Yakuza 0” uses the switch to expand the scope of the story, turning what could have been a single revenge tale into a dual story. And it’s really awesome!

Nero to Dante

“Devil May Cry 4” (2008)

“Devil May Cry 4” shakes things up right away by introducing Nero, a brand-new protagonist who opens the game hunting Dante after the chaos at Fortuna. For longtime fans, that was a bold move. Suddenly the face of the franchise is your enemy, and is also sidelined for someone unfamiliar, and you’re expected to roll with it. The gamble mostly pays off. Nero feels distinct, especially with the Devil Bringer adding a grappling, aggressive twist to combat. Then, about halfway through, the game flips again and hands control back to Dante for several missions . He plays differently, juggling multiple styles and weapons with his usual swagger. By the final stretch, you’re back with Nero to close things out, and it feels right, it almost makes you appreciate the things that make Nero great. Smartly, the game keeps both characters comparably upgraded, so neither feels underpowered. Instead of replacing Dante, Nero compliments him. How beautiful.

Snake to Raiden

“Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty” (2001)

Few protagonist swaps have caused as much uproar as the one in “Metal Gear Solid 2.” The game opens exactly how fans expected, with Solid Snake infiltrating the tanker in the classic stealth-heavy style that defined the series. It feels familiar, comfortable, reassuring, while also bringing the beloved protagonist to the new generation. Then the tanker sinks, Snake disappears beneath the waves, and the story jumps ahead two years. Welcome to the Big Shell. Welcome to Raiden. And welcome to the greatest cover-up in videogame history. Suddenly you’re controlling a brand-new character for the entire Plant chapter while Snake lingers in the background as a supporting figure. For many fans at the time, it felt like a slap in the face, especially considering Raiden’s involvement was kept completely underwraps, with Snake even replacing him in some of the demo footage. They bought the sequel expecting more Snake, not a rookie operative with silver hair and a different tone. Over time, Raiden earned appreciation, but back then? I hated him with everything in my soul. Whiny little d***head.

Sigurd to Seliph

“Fire Emblem: Genealogy Of The Holy War” (1996)

“Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War” isn’t exactly a household name outside of Japan. It was a Super Famicom entry that was never officially released in the West. I say “Officially” because fans DID translate it. And it’s this beloved fanbase that made it into a cult classic, with one of the best protagonist switches in gaming. The game opens with Sigurd as the central hero, leading campaigns and building what feels like a standard Fire Emblem arc. Then it pulls the rug out completely. Sigurd and his entire army are wiped out in a shocking turn that flips the narrative on its head. After a time skip, the story continues through his son, Seliph, who steps into the protagonist role to carry on the struggle. There’s far more political drama and tragedy surrounding Sigurd’s downfall, but that core twist is what sticks. Killing off your main character mid-story is bold even now. It’s the kind of ambitious storytelling that makes this game so beloved.

2B to 9S to A2

“NieR: Automata” (2017)

“NieR: Automata” plays with perspective in a way most games wouldn’t dare. It opens with 2B and 9S descending to Earth to fight back against the machine invasion and reclaim the planet for humanity. Roll credits once, and you quickly realize you’re not finished. The second playthrough retells much of the same story, but this time through 9S, shifting both tone and gameplay style. Familiar events hit differently when you see them from another angle. Then the third route arrives, bringing A2 into focus and pushing the narrative into far stranger territory. It stops feeling like a simple protagonist swap and more like a story shared between fractured viewpoints. By the time you reach the true ending, the game does something even bolder, asking you to delete your save file as an act of sacrifice. Not many players expect a game to demand that kind of commitment, and even fewer probably agreed to it.

JD Fenix to Kate Diaz

“Gears 5” (2019)

“Gears 5” starts out feeling like a continuation of JD Fenix’s story from “Gears of War 4.” He’s positioned as the central figure again, still carrying that confident, slightly idealistic COG-soldier energy. Then Act One hits hard. The Hammer of Dawn incident changes everything. JD survives the catastrophic strike, but several of his allies don’t, and the fallout leaves visible scars, both physical and psychological. From that point on, he’s not the same character. The optimism fades, and the game subtly shifts its focus. Instead of doubling down on JD’s arc, the narrative pivots to Kait Diaz. JD doesn’t disappear, but he’s no longer the driving force. Kait’s family history, particularly her connection to the Locust legacy, becomes the emotional core of the story. The spotlight moves, and “Gears 5” is all the better for it.

Cole Phelps to Jack Kelso

“L.A. Noire” (2011)

For most of “L.A. Noire,” you’re in the polished shoes of Cole Phelps, climbing the ranks of the LAPD in 1947 through homicide, vice, and beyond. It’s a steady rise built on discipline, that is until his personal life detonates. An affair becomes public, his image collapses, and he’s demoted to the arson desk. That’s where things get interesting. While investigating a string of suspicious house fires, Phelps uncovers a much larger conspiracy tied to land development and corruption. The problem is, members of the police force are tangled up in it, which blocks him from digging deeper. So he turns to someone outside the department, Jack Kelso, a former wartime acquaintance now working as a claims investigator. From that point forward, control shifts. You step into Kelso’s role to pursue the truth Phelps can’t openly chase, and the final stretch of the game plays out through his eyes. It’s really cool, and unexpected.

Ellie to Abby

“The Last of Us Part II” (2020)

“The Last of Us Part II” wastes no time pulling the rug out. It opens quietly, with Joel and Ellie settled into life in Jackson, trying to build something normal in a broken world. Then everything unravels. Joel is brutally killed early on, and the story pivots into Ellie’s relentless pursuit of Abby, the woman responsible. But this change from Joel to Ellie isn’t the change we’re concerned with. The game builds toward their confrontation, and when they come face to face, and players expect the story to continue from there, it rewinds. Suddenly you’re controlling Abby, starting from the moment right after she killed Joel. It was a daring narrative swing from Naughty Dog, asking players to inhabit and eventually understand someone who murdered a beloved protagonist. Joel was flawed, but he was deeply loved. The shift sparked intense backlash when the game launched, and this backlash makes fans of the series really anxious for the upcoming season 3 of The Last of Us.

Gustav to Verso

“Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” (2025)

Our latest entry on this list, “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” begins with a clear focal point. You step into the role of Gustave, a determined member of the latest expedition sent to confront the Paintress and break the cycle that erases an entire age group each year, and that’s the simplest way I could pitch the lore. Play the game, it’s crazy. For the opening stretch, it feels like his story, his resolve driving the mission forward. Then the game makes a sharp turn. Midway through the narrative, control shifts to Verso, and the tone subtly but unmistakably changes. Where Gustave feels grounded and driven by responsibility, Verso carries a different energy, more introspective, more ambiguous, forcing players to reassess what they thought they understood about the mission. The swap isn’t just cosmetic; combat rhythms, dialogue weight, and narrative emphasis all feel slightly altered. It’s a sudden and shocking change, one that we truly did not see coming.

Arthur to John

“Red Dead Redemption II” (2018)

As a sequel to a game infamous for switching protagonists at endgame, we should have seen this coming (I don’t want to brag but I did). “Red Dead Redemption 2” works as a prequel, but it’s Arthur Morgan’s story, not John Marston’s. You ride with Arthur as a core member of the Van der Linde gang, watching Dutch’s ideals slowly unravel and the group fracture under pressure. Arthur is charismatic, conflicted, and surprisingly thoughtful for an outlaw, which makes what happens next hit even harder. Midway through the decline of the gang, he contracts tuberculosis, and given the late 1800s setting, there’s no miracle cure waiting around the corner. His health deteriorates alongside the gang’s collapse, and eventually he dies, both at the hands of Micah, but also through his weakened state, his fate sealed no matter how honorably you play him. But the credits don’t roll. Instead, the game launches into a lengthy two-part epilogue where control shifts to John Marston.