Top 11 Video Game Villains

Now, one of the things I am most interested in when watching a film or television show or playing a game, is the villain. The villain has to be memorable, there’s got to be a spark to them, otherwise we can’t take them or the film/television show/game seriously. So for this post, I’m going to have a look at what I consider the best video game villains.

Now, some restrictions. Firstly, I am not including villains who have started out in other media. So there’s villains like the Joker in ‘Batman: Arkham Asylum’ and...any crap film based game villain. Secondly, I am only going over games that I have played and have played consistently. So games like ‘Street Fighter’, ‘Tekken’, um, ‘Metroid’ and ‘Final Fantasy’ are gone.

But anyway, let’s get on with it shall we? Here’s my top 11 video game villains. Why top 11? Because I want to, basically.

Number 11. Gnasty Gnorc – Spyro the Dragon

Now this guy is one of the earliest villains I came across, all the way back to when I first got the Playstation one. Gnasty Gnorc effectively brought down the realm of dragons in minutes, after trapping all but one (our hero Spyro) in crystal statues and sending his Gnorc army across the plains to occupy them.

Initially sentenced to a junkyard world for a prison, he recreated it into a castle of his own liking, as well as learning magic and creating his own staff/club.

Despite a valiant battle against the young Spyro, he fell, and yet that wasn’t the last we heard of him, as in one of the game completion cutscenes, Spyro gives an interview only to see Gnorc using his spell again to crystallise his fellow dragons again!

Gnorc also returns in ‘A Hero’s Tail’, serving as a secondary antagonist under Red. Whilst Gnorc fell in battle to Spyro again, he did still terrorise the different realms alongside his Gnorc army and his new lightning staff (powered up by a fairy).

He may not be the smartest villain, but if Spyro was slightly bigger, then Gnorc would have taken over the dragon realms with ease.

Number 10. Doctor Robotnik – Sonic the Hedgehog series

You know someone’s evil when he wants to capture cute, little furry creatures and turn them into killing machines.

Oh yes, Doctor Robotnik, the first villain I came across, or at least the earliest I can remember. And what does he want to do? Take over the world of course! Initially, anyway. In the first ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ game back in 1991 he intended to use the Chaos Gems to turn all the creatures of the world into robots under his command. In the sequel he intended to use them to power up his Death Star. I mean, his Death Egg.

Robotnik is a genius. Not only can he change animals into robots, he can pretty much invent anything. The Death Egg and robots I’ve already mentioned, but there’s also drill vehicles, hover vehicles, and on top of all that a giant controllable robot! I have enough trouble with his normal vehicles, let alone his own Megazord! Then there’s Sonic’s metal alter-ego that Robotnik made, ‘Metal Sonic’, which was so good it turned on him.

And granted, whilst most of his plans fail, they are life threatening, such as when he attempted to control the world through the monster Chaos or Shadow the Hedgehog, heck some even succeed. He managed to trick Sonic into powering up a giant laser canon and blowing up the Earth!

And yet, he’s always foiled by one hedgehog. Screw Sonic’s friends, it’s Sonic who always foils Robotnik. And, whilst he is called Dr. Eggman in Japan, to me he’s DR. ROBOTNIK!

Number 9. Carlito Keyes – Dead Rising

Ah Carlito, you crazy guy. He’s the main antagonist for the ‘Dead Rising’ game, where he releases a virus which turns the population into zombies. Why does he do this? Because the American government conducted experiments on cattle in his hometown of Santa Cabeza, in order to generate more meat for Americans to consume. This experiment completely failed and turned the population into zombies.

Carlito is first seen on the rooftop of the Willamette shopping mall in a surprisingly friendly manner. That doesn’t last though as the second time we see him, he tries to shoot your head off. Yes in the many battles between Carlito and Frank West, our hero, as well as Homeland Security agent Brad Garrison, he certainly has a way of ‘shoot first, ask questions later’.

Not only that, he constantly has the upper hand. The first time we see him he’s armed with a machine gun and is placed on a balcony above you. Despite being the first boss he was actually really difficult to beat; some have described the ‘Dead Rising’ difficulty curve as hitting a brick wall. It took me several times to beat him, and then the save function screwed me over and I had to do it again when I died. And then I found the button that allows me to aim. That made it easier.

The second time he is armed with what appears to be the sniper rifle designed to penetrate TANK ARMOUR! According to the Dead Rising wiki site, it’s a Barrett M82 rifle, but either way, it’s a rifle that will take your arm off. If it misses. The third time he tries to run you down with a truck. I guess he didn’t have a rocket launcher or a tank like the final boss.

But his crusade against the US government initially killed an entire town, and he wasn’t going to let anyone get in his way, whether it be Frank, Brad or even his sister Isabela (though he is later heard on the PA system asking Isabela to forgive him shooting her). But even when he’s killed he was still a threat, as it is revealed he had infected fifty odd children across the States with the virus as ticking time bombs, something which would then devastate America, including Las Vegas.

Cold, calculating and, perhaps his most dangerous attribute, determined. How can he not be on this list?

Number 8. Queen Myrrah – Gears of War series

The ruthless Locust leader who attempts to wipe out humanity and the Lambent infection. Initially seeking a way to deal with the Lambent infection, she made a deal with Adam Fenix in order for him to cure it. However after five years the Locust became desperate. She built up forces to invade Sera and invaded after the human Pendulum Wars finished, wiping out cities and killing billions of humans in the first 24 hours ALONE. The attacks even lead to the COG (Coalition of Governments) using the Hammer of Dawn (satellite cannons) on their own cities so that the Locust don’t get them.

Her plan was simple, wipe out humanity and sink the human city Jacinto, which would flood the hollow (the Locust stronghold) and wipe out the Lambent infection. Simples yes? Well, it doesn’t help when the Gears Marcus, Dom, Baird and Cole (kill a Lambent brumak and) flood the hollow themselves. But Myrrah’s motivations for her genocide of the human race were simply because she wanted to remove any possible threat against her species.

But we still don’t know a lot about Myrrah, or at least I don’t know a lot. It may have been talked about in the comics or the books, but I haven’t seen read them. Why does Myrrah look human? How did she become queen of the locust? How does she know Marcus’ dad, Adam? Why are the Gears shocked that Myrrah survived the flooding of the Hollow when Cole said she flew off on a reaver?

So after the sinking of Jacinto and the loss of General RAAM and high-priest Skorge, she decides to lead her forces herself personally on her mount, the Tempest, a giant beetle-like creature which has a devastating fire breath technique. Through this she manages to claim the human island fortress Azura which was protected by a machine generated Maelstrom, as well as reorganise what was left of her forces (apart from those which broke away and became a Savage clan) and successfully breached the walls of Anvil’s Gate; the first time it had ever happened.

Despite her tactics, her power and her dangerous stead Tempest, she couldn’t stop the Gears from activating Adam’s weapon which wiped out both the Locust and Lambent. Myrrah, being human, is unaffected, but it does seem to be a bit ironic that Myrrah survived when a giant weight fell on top of her mount, she survived when the Tempest was hit by multiple Hammer of Dawn strikes, but what kills her is a knife. She survives all that punishment, and a knife is what gets her?

Number 7. General RAAM – Gears of War, Gears of War 3

Okay, I first bought Gears 2 so I came across Skorge first, then I got Gears 3 which had the queen as the major boss, and then I got the first Gears to play co-op with my mate. But the first time I saw RAAM, oh my God!

He just calmly walks through a firefight, commanding his forces at the same time, then he simply picks up Lt. Minh Young Kim with one hand and kills him with his five foot long knife. The way they did it though was superb, the silent slow motion of RAAM in the chaos showed nothing was going to stop him. And the fact that he hardly says a thing in the whole game, let alone this scene, makes him even more disturbing, along the same lines as Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers. He also kills a captured Gear in cold blood after overhearing details on the planned Lightmass bombing.

RAAM is also capable of controlling the Kryll, a flying piranha-like creature, which he uses to protect himself as well as use them to try and eat Gear heroes Marcus and Dom. And he’s capable of lifting one of those troika turrets WITH ONE HAND! This guy is strong! And he’s a brilliant tactician; his tactic of taking out the leaders of Gear squads was an effective one which even Queen Myrrah approved of.

I also feel that RAAM had some sort of control over the Lambent, since in the first game the Lambent wretches don’t attack the Locust, and we don’t see the Lambent wretches fight with the other Lambent forces until after RAAM’s death. So if RAAM didn’t have a form of control over the Lambent, he at least could control the Lambent wretches.

And he had balls. Despite the fact that Marcus and Dom slaughtered their way through drones, wretches, Lambent wretches, reavers and a bezerker, he still stood his ground on his own and tried to kill both Gears. Heck, with RAAM’s death the tide of the war between the Locust and Gears turned in the Gears favour.

RAAM was also a last minute addition. Yeah, he wasn’t in the game at first. I can only assume that Epic put him in when they found they didn’t have a final boss. But what a boss he was.

Number 6. The Prophet of Truth – Halo series

Ah one of three original Hierarchs that declared the genocide of the human race. Along with the Prophet of Mercy and the Prophet of Regret, he led the Covenant (a group of alien forces) after they forcefully took over from the original three Prophets (Restraint, Tolerance and Obligation).

Determined to wipe out humanity, he installs faith into the Covenant forces to keep them determined. But he’s also power hungry, and manages to manipulate everyone into thinking the Sangheili, better known as the Elites, were the cause of Regret’s death; though it is revealed later that their forces were ordered to retreat before Regret’s demise. He would also leave Mercy to die at the hands of the Flood so that he could gain full control over the Covenant forces.

Not only that, but he not only ordered the genocide of the human race, but the Elites as well. You have to be extremely evil in order to order the extermination of two species, let alone one. That actually became his downfall, as it split the Covenant in two, with the Elite-led side (the Separatists) joining forces with the humans and taking on the Loyalists. Heck, they even temporarily joined forces with the Flood to take on Truth. You have to be extremely hated for that to happen!

But perhaps his most dangerous quality, was his faith. He truly believed it was the will of the Gods that humanity should be wiped from existence; this made him truly determined in his crusade. He even started saying he himself will become a God, how can you stop something like that?

Well, an Elite with an energy sword found out how.

Number 5. GLaDOS – Portal series

Who doesn’t enjoy GLaDOS? Everyone’s favourite piece of computer software since the HAL 9000 or Skynet.

GLaDOS ran the computer system for the Aperture Science research centre. However she gained sentience and released a neurotoxin into the centre, causing the scientists to install a morality program to prevent her from killing everyone.

Promising cake (which turns out wasn’t a lie), GLaDOS lures the main character Chell through testing areas, every so often saying that Chell doesn’t have a chance completing the task, then sounding surprised when she does.

Whilst her time was short, she left such an impact on us. Her personality, villainy and humour were absolutely brilliant, almost Joker...ish. It will have you laughing during and after the game, and she’s one of two reasons why I like playing the game again and again (the other reason being the gun turrets).

And despite being incinerated and sucked into a twister, she survives! She sings the end credits! She then returns in Portal 2 to resume her experiments. And yet, from what she sings in ‘Still Alive’, she isn’t the most terrifying thing in the world. Something had happened, something is out there as proven by “I look out there and I’m glad I’m not you,”.

Now what could be more dangerous, than GLaDOS?

Number 4. Albert Wesker – Resident Evil series

Wesker!!!! Oh my God, this guy is awesome!

Initially part of the S.T.A.R.S team investigating the Arklay Mansion, it was revealed that Wesker knew what happened and went there only to recover data on Biological Weapons by effectively screwing the rest of his team.

Since then there has hardly been a scheme in the Resident Evil universe where Wesker wasn’t involved. Raccoon City, Rockfort Island, Las Plagas, Uroboros, betraying anyone and everyone, mind controlling Jill Valentine, his rivalry with Chris Redfield, giving himself superpowers? I think the quicker answer is what ISN’T he involved with?

His cold blooded attitude, high intelligence and determination to see his plans through to the end made him a dangerous foe. And then there’s his abilities; enhanced strength, enhanced speed and regeneration capabilities. He was capable of avoiding machine gun fire and catching a rocket!

His last plan was to create a race of super humans with Uroboros, a virus created from the basics of every single other virus in the game, as well as Las Plagas. His determination to succeed eventually became an ambition to become a God over this new race. Whilst Chris and his new partner Sheva Alomar thwarted his plan to release Uroboros into the atmosphere, Wesker’s hatred and raged caused him to combine himself with Uroboros, losing what remained of his humanity and becoming Hellbent on ripping Chris and Sheva limb from limb. Despite this he was held off, but he was only stopped by a combination of lava and a rocket launcher shot to the head. Wesker, the man who has consistently tried to bring the world to extinction, has had a hand in wiping out cities, is finally dead.

And I know I’m only talking about video games, but Wesker was essentially the only good thing in the Resident Evil: Afterlife film. Bloody literal money shot.

Number 3. Saren Arterius – Mass Effect

Saren, why are you so cool? In the Mass Effect series, the Truian Saren was an agent for the Reapers, a race of synthetic/organic machines, which take on the form of giant battleships, determined to wipe out all life in the universe. Saren was looking for the conduit and the means to bring the entire Reaper fleet to the rest of civilisation.

Saren didn’t even like humans to begin with, believing that the humans were too aggressive in their expansion in the universe and the killing of his brother.

Saren was a Spectre, one of the Council’s (the Government of the universe, so to speak) extremely well trained agents, which made him tremendously dangerous. He knew guns, he knew fighting skills, he knew biotics (think telekinesis), he was cunning, a brilliant tactician, he knew everything that could bring down armies. Sure enough, he lead a Geth army (another race of sentient machines) by using the conduit to reach the Citadel (the main space station of the universe) and leading his Geth fleet and his Reaper ship Sovereign to not only summon the rest of the Reapers, but wipe out the entire Citadel fleet as well.

One of the things that made Saren a great villain was the scene which introduced him. The opening mission in ‘Mass Effect’ involved Shepard and two other soldiers teaming up with the Turian Spectre Nihlus. Nihlus knew Saren from before, as Saren was his mentor. Making Nihlus believe they were on the same side was easy, then Saren shot him in the back. The fact that he killed his former student, a Turian who trusted him deeply, in the back no less, shows the extent of his villainy, and he was only on the screen for about thirty seconds! Though I suppose there was a hint that he still had some sympathy; he shot him in the back not because it was easier to kill him, but because he didn’t want to see Nihlus’ reaction when he did it. He wanted to feel less guilty about it.

But it’s not all his fault. He initially made the alliance with Sovereign to save the races of the universe. However Sovereign gradually indoctrinated him, changing and twisted him into thinking he was doing the greater good. There’s even a point when Shepard (the character you play) can try to persuade Saren to fight back. Saren, realising what he has done tries but he has been under Sovereign’s control for too long. Using every last bit of his strength, he thanks Shepard, in turn forgiving humanity for their part in the First Contact War and the death of his brother, and shot himself in the head.

If you remember from my ‘Top 15 Batman Villains’, I love tragic villains, and Saren is one of the best.

Number 2. Nightmare – Soul Calibur series

I absolutely love this guy!

Nightmare originally started off when the warrior Siegfried Schtauffen found the ancient sword Soul Edge. The sword would then go on to corrupt him, changing him into Nightmare, Soul Edge’s living persona. Nightmare would then march across the land, gaining souls to make itself and Soul Edge stronger. Siegfried would eventually be freed when Nightmare falls into a void, but Nightmare would come back stronger than ever.

Nightmare is essentially a juggernaut, he can hardly be stopped. And whenever he does, as I have already mentioned, he just comes back, stronger than ever. He’s also ruthless, cutting down whoever’s in his path. Whilst in the games he has been defeated by characters like Raphael, Kilik, Maxi and Chai, I personally feel that only Siegfried can defeat Nightmare, and that they’re forever destined to fight.

Nightmare is truly evil, he even sacrifices his allies, including the Lizardman, loyal servant Tira and the powerful golem Astaroth.

Ruthless, powerful tremendously evil, effectively has the power of Lazarus and has a growing list of kills and trails of destruction, I absolutely love this Nightmare.

Number 1. The Archdemon – Dragon Age: Origins

My God, was this thing hard. Seriously, I’m not the only one to have had trouble with this thing, even on the casual difficulty. That’s right, the Archdemon in the first Dragon Age game was so hard, people had difficulty beating it on the easiest difficulty! Granted once you know the method and going in with over a hundred health items, it is then quite easy.

In the beginning, the magisters of the Tevinter Imperium wanted to find the Golden City, the afterlife paradise which the Maker (essentially God) allowed spirits of the dead to cross into. The magisters created a portal and entered the City, however the second they did, the Golden City became Black and the magisters became the first Darkspawn, a race of evil monsters (though according to Corypheus, one of the first magisters, the City was already Black when they entered). The Darkspawn would then try to find one of the Old Gods, and when they do the corruption they have turns the Old God into an Archdemon, who then leads the Darkspawn in a Blight (a crusade) to consume the world. There’s a special unit called Grey Wardens who fight the Darkspawn and the Archdemon.

 

And my God, no matter which Archdemon leads the Darkspawn, you can expect terrible things to happen. The one in the game, whilst leading the shortest Blight in Dragon Age history, did burn half of the capital Denerim, whilst also commanding three Darkspawn hordes to destroy Lothering, Ostagar and half of Redcliffe, whilst also causing the rest of the country of Feralden to collapse just because the Darkspawn horde was marching onwards.

As a dragon-like creature, the Archdemon is extremely powerful. It’s armed with fire breathing, huge claws, a tail, an area attack, and of course Darkspawn control. The Archdemon itself is responsible for the deaths of two high ranking Grey Wardens as well as the King of Feralden.

But the Archdemon was an awesome antagonist, one which made Dragon Age: Origins one of the greatest games of all times.

And that was my top 11 video game villains, please comment if you agree or disagree, or if you have your own list. I did this list as a break from the zombies films I did last month. But am I done with the ‘...of the Dead’ films? Not even close!