Most Despicable Villains in Video Gaming

[Nidoking's iconNidoking]

This is... quite difficult. There's a lot to consider.

Probably not the most evil villain ever or anything, but when we're talking really immoral pieces of shit... my favorite is probably Quan Chi.

 

[miguk]

Kefka Palazzo

He's basically The Joker with magic.

View attachment 25607

Funny thing is, this is one change that Ted Woosley made that has been so embraced that it's now basically canon in later appearances. In the JP version, he was a mentally regressed man, behaving like a child instead of an adult. His behavior isn't so much psychopathic as it is just too immature to get that he's doing anything wrong. Of course, the Woosley's idea of making him basically Joker turned out to be a better fit, so SquareEnix has stuck with it.

 

[Ian Naxieas]

Quan Chi

Ooh, good choice my HM slave! I would have never thought about him. He really is a piece of shit though, with all his necromancy and stuff.

 

[fudanshiki]

Bridget? Absolute villain, if it's +R Bridget i will report you to FGC authorities right now
If it's Strive Slayer i can't judge you
If it's Xrd Elphelt i can see why too

...hey, I need to show Bridget who the cute one is around here.
ME.
God, just look at that face.

I am the cutest b!$tch! The law can SUCK MY D@#K!

 

[RunicOrangejuice]

I actually like villains in games. Not because of what they do or plan, but because of the legacy they leave on the player. You remember their impact, even after the game is beaten.
An English teacher told our class once:
"The mark of a successful antagonist is not whether they achieved in story, but whether you recounted them with fervor long after they are put away."

 

[Ian Naxieas]

I actually like villains in games. Not because of what they do or plan, but because of the legacy they leave on the player. You remember their impact, even after the game is beaten.
An English teacher told our class once:
"The mark of a successful antagonist is not whether they achieved in story, but whether you recounted them with fervor long after they are put away."

Oh, you're 100% correct. A good villain is absolutely wonderful. My original post had Argath from FFT and I stand by that. Folmarv is way more of a villain throughout the story and while I do remember him too, something about Argath just stuck with me over everyone else and it's always a pleasure to slay the little shitbag. He's so hateable, but I wouldn't want it any other way. But yeah, that was my intention with this topic, to shine a spotlight on and discuss the villains that left a lasting impression on people. Lots of good choices so far.

 

[Michael Frank]

I actually like villains in games. Not because of what they do or plan, but because of the legacy they leave on the player. You remember their impact, even after the game is beaten.
An English teacher told our class once:
"The mark of a successful antagonist is not whether they achieved in story, but whether you recounted them with fervor long after they are put away."

Honestly that´s the reason why most(not all of them but still) protagonists, be it videogames, movies, novels, series, are such a letdown these days, writers nowadays make "sympathetic" or plain bland villains that honestly LACK SO MUCH of the charisma and style of their predecessors, look at God of War for example, Zeus and Odin are night and day, the first one got me pumped up to 100% when i fought him, then it came Odin and i just felt nothing, well look at the Castlevania Netflix series "villains", it´s just tiresome at this point, i miss the time when a villain was so much of an asshole that i just smile and remember him fondly (be it i hated him or liked him) because every deed he did made the final showdown more sweeter.

Post automatically merged: Feb 19, 2025

Honestly that´s the reason why most(not all of them but still) protagonists, be it videogames, movies, novels, series, are such a letdown these days, writers nowadays make "sympathetic" or plain bland villains that honestly LACK SO MUCH of the charisma and style of their predecessors, look at God of War for example, Zeus and Odin are night and day, the first one got me pumped up to 100% when i fought him, then it came Odin and i just felt nothing, well look at the Castlevania Netflix series "villains", it´s just tiresome at this point, i miss the time when a villain was so much of an asshole that i just smile and remember him fondly (be it i hated him or liked him) because every deed he did made the final showdown more sweeter.

Clarifying, i meant the protagonists because i always think that a hero is just as great as the hardships and foes he has beaten, sadly there is a considerable lack of great evil foes these days.

 

[RunicOrangejuice]

Honestly that´s the reason why most(not all of them but still) protagonists, be it videogames, movies, novels, series, are such a letdown these days, writers nowadays make "sympathetic" or plain bland villains that honestly LACK SO MUCH of the charisma and style of their predecessors, look at God of War for example, Zeus and Odin are night and day, the first one got me pumped up to 100% when i fought him, then it came Odin and i just felt nothing, well look at the Castlevania Netflix series "villains", it´s just tiresome at this point, i miss the time when a villain was so much of an asshole that i just smile and remember him fondly (be it i hated him or liked him) because every deed he did made the final showdown more sweeter.

Post automatically merged: Feb 19, 2025

Clarifying, i meant the protagonists because i always think that a hero is just as great as the hardships and foes he has beaten, sadly there is a considerable lack of great evil foes these days.

This is probably a hot take, but Kefka comes to mind regarding that. Too clownish. Makes me quit FF6 even before World of Ruin.

 

[miguk]

Honestly that´s the reason why most(not all of them but still) protagonists, be it videogames, movies, novels, series, are such a letdown these days, writers nowadays make "sympathetic" or plain bland villains that honestly LACK SO MUCH of the charisma and style of their predecessors, look at God of War for example, Zeus and Odin are night and day, the first one got me pumped up to 100% when i fought him, then it came Odin and i just felt nothing, well look at the Castlevania Netflix series "villains", it´s just tiresome at this point, i miss the time when a villain was so much of an asshole that i just smile and remember him fondly (be it i hated him or liked him) because every deed he did made the final showdown more sweeter.

Post automatically merged: Feb 19, 2025

Clarifying, i meant the protagonists because i always think that a hero is just as great as the hardships and foes he has beaten, sadly there is a considerable lack of great evil foes these days.

The problem with that is the writer can easily end up with a poorly written villain if they can't explain why they behave that way. If they're just evil because they are evil, it's not much of a character.

Likewise, the "sympathetic" villain is a result of writers being sick of technically bad writing. We've had more than enough "people do bad things because evil" over the course of literary history. Very few writers take the time to address things that a writer who actually works instead of being lazy needs to research, like psychological issues, sociological forces, ideological pressure, and other problems that are out of the hands of one individual. To successfully make a villain sympathetic requires a writer to consider a perspective other than their own or other than what would typically be assumed by an outside observer; to write a pure evil villain often just requires them to say "bad thing bad!"

And that actually results in more realistic characters often, as real people aren't pure good or pure evil.

 

[RunicOrangejuice]

The problem with that is the writer can easily end up with a poorly written villain if they can't explain why they behave that way. If they're just evil because they are evil, it's not much of a character.

Likewise, the "sympathetic" villain is a result of writers being sick of technically bad writing. We've had more than enough "people do bad things because evil" over the course of literary history. Very few writers take the time to address things that a writer who actually works instead of being lazy needs to research, like psychological issues, sociological forces, ideological pressure, and other problems that are out of the hands of one individual. To successfully make a villain sympathetic requires a writer to consider a perspective other than their own or other than what would typically be assumed by an outside observer; to write a pure evil villain often just requires them to say "bad thing bad!"

IDk why, but i've heard some Devs end up chopping up good villains like that during final production hours, long after writers have already established them fully.

 

[miguk]

IDk why, but i've heard some Devs end up chopping up good villains like that during final production hours, long after writers have already established them fully.

The "ruined in post" problem is a thing in high budget media in general and doesn't just apply to villains. That can't be blamed on writers, though, but on bad editing and micro-management by producers.

 

[Kid Dynamite]

Sephiroth from FF VII. Pompous ass.

 

[FTLOTG]