Best Gaming Villains Ever.

[TheGreatCthulhu]

What's your favorite gaming villains?

 

[Ashley the Witch]

There's so many to choose from them I would consider my favorite, for multiple different reasons.

But one of my favorites that don't get too often talked about is Cortex from the Crash Bandicoot series. He's the main villain of the series, yet he doesn't act like one. He's in troubled Soul, and even nowadays he's just tired of being the villain. Tired of the constant struggles he has to endure.

He's a perfect example of pathetic humility. His boss battles aren't even that great, but they don't need to be.
He's like that sad clown you can just beat up, because you feel like it. And the irony of this is that he was brought up as a clown. Even the other villains like N. Tropy and Uka Uka are far more competent and somewhat scary as villains.

But Cortex, it's clear he doesn't want to be the villain, but he still gives it his best effort. A pathetic one, sure. But he tries, even when he's tired of it all. He tries.

And to that end, I sympathize with him, and even root for him sometimes, even though I know I'm going to beat him up. And can you really blame him, for trying, even when every plan of his fails? I don't think so. He may have evil intentions, but he has a heart and feelings. Not too many villains do.

 

[GrooseIsLoose]

Yes.

 

[Uwu_Oocoo2]

This may be a little obscure but I'm going to say Toc-Man. Firstly his design is sick, he looks totally terrifying. And secondly, I love that he actually has a real character. He was jealous of Pac-Man and so he wanted to become him. Dudes was just trying to throw a party. And he gets a very rare redemption arc, returning to help Pac-Man and save the Spectral Realm in Pac Man World 3 as a guide and inventor. He's just really cool and I'd love to see him make another appearance.

Additionally, and I don't have a reason for this one other than he's hilarious, Skullmageddon from Double Dragon Neon.

 

[Dio]

Definitely the menace himself. I can't think of a villain I like more. Always featuring a striking and intimidating design, Ganondorf brings a delightfully villainous presence that not many can match.

Whilst the details of his specific backstory remains quite the mystery his motivation is always crystal clear, to rule the world with an iron fist at whatever the cost. He's intelligent and ruthless.There is no reasoning with Ganondorf, and when he shows up you know the only way to stop him is to put him down.

Overconfidence is usually his downfall and is a consistent flaw of his throughout the series.

My favourite incarnation has to be the version in Ocarina of Time, here he is portrayed as a cunning mastermind in a world run by fools where children are the only ones who can see through his obviously evil demeanor. We see this version of The Dorf actually succeed in accomplishing his goal, making him all the more worthy an adversary.

 

[Ashley the Witch]

I would have to say another great villain is Bowser, he's like the father you wish you had. He knows how to take a joke, good as a comic relief, and serious when he needs to be. He has a great relationship with his son, as well as the rest of his minions. He's a guy you can root for, and even count on to join Mario and Friends when there's a bigger threat to take care of. It's no wonder why a lot of his minions stick with Bowser, he's definitely a guy you can look up to. He's honest, loyal, reliable, and a father. A charming guy all around.

 

[VikzeLink]

I've got two guys, and they're both comedic villains. I've always appreciated comedy more than anything else, so I'm drawn to that aspect in almost anything.

First one is Fawful from the Mario & Luigi series. He's the main villain's sidekick in the first game and acts as the penultimate boss of the game. Then he appears in the second game as a vendor, and also plotting his revenge against the Mario brothers. Then he's the main villain of the third game (but once again, he's the penultimate boss and not the final one), where he presumably dies at the end. It certainly looks like there is no return for him (or for that franchise at all at this point tbh)

Second one is Dr. Nefarious from the Ratchet & Clank series. He doesn't appear until the third game, but he was so beloved that they pretty much made him the main villain of the series after that. I've yet to play the latest game (still don't have a PS5), but I do think he appears in that one too

 

[Ashley the Witch]

And now for another villain I plan on reviewing here, is Clockwerk from the Sly Cooper series, though he only appears in the first two games, the fear he imposes throughout the games leading up to the final battle is really overwhelming. Even causing me to have the only true fear I haven't fully overcome is the fear of giant mechanical owls. And while the final battles themselves have a lot to be desired, the two games he appears in makes it clear that he's a force that needs to be taken down at all costs. Even causing Inspector Carmelita Montoya Fox, a cop that generally has a black and white outlook on criminals, to team up with Sly Cooper, a known Thief, just to take down the mechanical Menace in both games.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

I think my favorite (at the moment anyway) would have to be Albedo Piazzolla from Xenosaga. As far as twisted villains go, he's the one I latched onto the most. A big part of it is his voice actor who did a great job riding the line of someone sophisticated and well spoken to an unhinged madman who revels in torturing others and dismembering his own body, what immortality does to a person I guess. Also can't forget his laugh which may be a bit on the hammy side but still so good.

 

[thePlinko]

Mine is also Ganondorf. Specifically the OoT variant. He’s the perfect example of a villain not necessarily needing a “totally heartbreaking and tragic backstory™️©️®️” as long as they’re written to be the antithesis of what the protagonist represents, and in his case specifically giving him some complex or even compelling motivation would take away from the fact that he’s supposed to represent everything bad about adulthood and mankind, like a Captain Hook to Link’s Peter Pan (it’s almost as if OoT is like an adaptation of something). For that matter, WW Ganondorf kinda misses the point, though he’s also pretty well written as long as you look at him without the context of how he was written in OoT, and to be fair that’s the entire point of WW’s story. The other versions of Ganondorf all suck though.

Also I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least mention Dimitri Allen and Clive Dove from Professor Layton and the Unwound Future as well.

 

[Bowsette Plus-Ultra]

Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising.

His first and only significant appearance is during Rising's last level, but he somehow managed to be the best part of the game. He's compelling, charismatic, and somehow manages to have a point about the military industrial complex despite being the villain of a Platinum game.

Heck, he's probably the most memorable villain of the entire Metal Gear franchise.

 

[TheGreatCthulhu]

Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising.

His first and only significant appearance is during Rising's last level, but he somehow managed to be the best part of the game. He's compelling, charismatic, and somehow manages to have a point about the military war industrial complex despite being the villain of a Platinum game.

Heck, he's probably the most memorable villain of the entire Metal Gear franchise.

Nanomachines, son!

 

[BloodyKun]

In more recent years there just haven’t been that many villains I’ve found all that compelling. So it was a bit of a surprise when Fu came about in No More Heroes 3, though in retrospect they’d already had each of the bosses in Travis Strikes Again being as impressive as they were as well. But Fu really takes the cake with just how much in his level of immaturity and naïveté and insecurity that Travis has grown in contrast.

Going off of Grasshopper’s other games, I’ve really enjoyed the Silver Case series, but it’s way harder to pinpoint a villain there, especially in the second game. I suppose it’s Kamui on the cover, sure, but I find the real crux of things to be about him being a scapegoat for society’s problems as a whole and that it’s kind of telling what happens to each of your associates in the aftermath - especially Nakategawa, he was a real asshole.

Something a bit more silly, not as much depth but still cool and stylish: DJ Cyber in Bomb Rush Cyberfunk. Don’t want to spoil how it all turns out with it being a much newer game but I especially enjoyed how the game sort of took the trappings of how Jet Set Radio worked and used them to subvert expectations of just how it would go. Really surprised me in a good way.

It’s been real interesting trying to analyze how some modern games go about this, some games like Bioshock with Andrew Ryan or Far Cry 3 with Vaas starting a bit of a trend where the bad guys themselves are more of the focus. I think I liked the idea of Comstock a bit more than the actual execution, but that can be said about Infinite as a whole really. I did like Joseph Seed quite a bit more with the sort of obvious allusions to Jim Jones and such, but unfortunately the way FC5 and even New Dawn ended kind of ruined it for me, one with an unsatisfying cliffhanger and the other on a wet fart of a boss fight.

There was a time I thought Halsey might become a villain in the Halo series, what I thought they might have been setting up with their weird spartan ops thing. Gravemind, they’re ok, Prophets pretty good if not kind of typical, but the Didact really left a sour taste in my mouth with being a generic, shallow Vader sort of knock off. So I thought, well Halsey was already interesting having been in charge of kidnapping child soldiers, controversial to say the least, and now being hunted down for treason or whatever. So I was unpleasantly surprised by sharp turns in the story for awful stuff like the Warden or Locke, etc. So much potential not even bothered with.

MGS series has a lot of loony villains, both big and small. Psycho Mantis is pretty popular, for good reason. I’m partial to Grey Fox myself. Can definitely get behind Fatman’s philosophy. The Fury and his f-bombs are great. Sundowner is just fun. But really you can’t go wrong with Ocelot. Even with how mgs4 kinda jumped the shark, I can sort of see the parallel to his own mother and her ideology and how it’s kind of twisted to try and reach the same goal, and what all he had to sacrifice to achieve that. Lastly I’m wondering if you can count Strangelove, considering her initial hostility, but either way I found her one of the better parts of Peace Walker. It’s too bad the last game had someone as stupid as skullface but that’s what you get when the more talented writers left the series.

One more that comes to mind is the masked man in Mother 3. Certainly other fun and interesting villains in the series, but this one I feel really resonated in a different and deeper way. That being said, it’s been a long time and it’s not so fresh in my memory now. But I think it’s a really beautiful way of showing how grief can affect people so differently, especially the circumstances and with those who you have to support you.

Going off that, not as much to say about him but I have a soft spot for Asgore in Undertale. Sans, too, for that matter. Well actually pretty much most characters in it and Deltarune are good.

And now I’m thinking of it I have to mention Pokemon I guess. Not so much in the first two gens(though I do like the rival and what they did with Team Rocket in gen 2), or all the gens I skipped. But the last boss in Scarlet I found one of the better ones. Really sucks I can’t say much without ruining it.

 

[TheGreatCthulhu]

In more recent years there just haven’t been that many villains I’ve found all that compelling. So it was a bit of a surprise when Fu came about in No More Heroes 3, though in retrospect they’d already had each of the bosses in Travis Strikes Again being as impressive as they were as well. But Fu really takes the cake with just how much in his level of immaturity and naïveté and insecurity that Travis has grown in contrast.

Going off of Grasshopper’s other games, I’ve really enjoyed the Silver Case series, but it’s way harder to pinpoint a villain there, especially in the second game. I suppose it’s Kamui on the cover, sure, but I find the real crux of things to be about him being a scapegoat for society’s problems as a whole and that it’s kind of telling what happens to each of your associates in the aftermath - especially Nakategawa, he was a real asshole.

Something a bit more silly, not as much depth but still cool and stylish: DJ Cyber in Bomb Rush Cyberfunk. Don’t want to spoil how it all turns out with it being a much newer game but I especially enjoyed how the game sort of took the trappings of how Jet Set Radio worked and used them to subvert expectations of just how it would go. Really surprised me in a good way.

It’s been real interesting trying to analyze how some modern games go about this, some games like Bioshock with Andrew Ryan or Far Cry 3 with Vaas starting a bit of a trend where the bad guys themselves are more of the focus. I think I liked the idea of Comstock a bit more than the actual execution, but that can be said about Infinite as a whole really. I did like Joseph Seed quite a bit more with the sort of obvious allusions to Jim Jones and such, but unfortunately the way FC5 and even New Dawn ended kind of ruined it for me, one with an unsatisfying cliffhanger and the other on a wet fart of a boss fight.

There was a time I thought Halsey might become a villain in the Halo series, what I thought they might have been setting up with their weird spartan ops thing. Gravemind, they’re ok, Prophets pretty good if not kind of typical, but the Didact really left a sour taste in my mouth with being a generic, shallow Vader sort of knock off. So I thought, well Halsey was already interesting having been in charge of kidnapping child soldiers, controversial to say the least, and now being hunted down for treason or whatever. So I was unpleasantly surprised by sharp turns in the story for awful stuff like the Warden or Locke, etc. So much potential not even bothered with.

MGS series has a lot of loony villains, both big and small. Psycho Mantis is pretty popular, for good reason. I’m partial to Grey Fox myself. Can definitely get behind Fatman’s philosophy. The Fury and his f-bombs are great. Sundowner is just fun. But really you can’t go wrong with Ocelot. Even with how mgs4 kinda jumped the shark, I can sort of see the parallel to his own mother and her ideology and how it’s kind of twisted to try and reach the same goal, and what all he had to sacrifice to achieve that. Lastly I’m wondering if you can count Strangelove, considering her initial hostility, but either way I found her one of the better parts of Peace Walker. It’s too bad the last game had someone as stupid as skullface but that’s what you get when the more talented writers left the series.

One more that comes to mind is the masked man in Mother 3. Certainly other fun and interesting villains in the series, but this one I feel really resonated in a different and deeper way. That being said, it’s been a long time and it’s not so fresh in my memory now. But I think it’s a really beautiful way of showing how grief can affect people so differently, especially the circumstances and with those who you have to support you.

Going off that, not as much to say about him but I have a soft spot for Asgore in Undertale. Sans, too, for that matter. Well actually pretty much most characters in it and Deltarune are good.

And now I’m thinking of it I have to mention Pokemon I guess. Not so much in the first two gens(though I do like the rival and what they did with Team Rocket in gen 2), or all the gens I skipped. But the last boss in Scarlet I found one of the better ones. Really sucks I can’t say much without ruining it.

This thread is just about your favorite gaming villains, no need for them to be recent.

And I'm glad to see Jet Set Radio Future get some love. That game was underrated, and needs more love. It was a rad game.

 

[Vanessa28]

Good old big G. What Plinko and Dio already said.

Browser because even though he can be real mean he also can be very cool. I definitely like the guy.

Another one I like is Dimentio from SPM. His motivations and the way he set up the whole plan. I might be one of the few who actually like him