This is a tough list to make, because this is a rare classification - archetype of main character in a video game; so you really have to dig and find good justifications of why these characters are supposed to be here. I tried to limit the amount of RPG characters that have karma bars, unless they have a substantial history in being a villain otherwise, aside from the player’s wishes to cause evil. I could have filled this list up with characters like Shepard from the Mass Effect series but that couldn't be considered a challenge and those characters aren't really villains, it's just that you shape them to make bad choices and generally, they're still considered heroes in the story. No, this is a list about characters who engage in evilness, no matter what and no matter how you play the story they have darkness running in their veins. Let me be clear here, this is NOT a list containing wish-washy anti-heroes; this is about the glorious (and not so much) Main Character Villains!
Be warned however that this list will contains ~ MAJOR SPOILERS!~ from this point on. So don’t say I didn't warn you first!
Honorable mentions go out to the main character from Diablo, who ends up becoming corrupted by the wicked demon in the sequel, unfortunately he is well out of player’s hands by then, otherwise he would be high up on this list.
And also to Marche from Final Fantasy Advance, although the story-makers attempt to show him as the honest hero.. Some of his actions, including destroying crystals that hold together the world to get his friends who don’t want to leave back to the real world and besides, everyone knows that it doesn’t matter if he’s good or evil, because Marche is just a dick.
(Underneath that blank stare is a volcano of rage waiting to be unleashed, I’m telling you.)
So without farther introduction, here is your…
-Top Six List of Villain Protagonists – In gaming!-
#6 – Arthas Menethil / Lich King – Warcraft III and beyond
(Arthas:“Hey, you skeleton over there, why aren’t you wearing a helmet like all the other ones?” Skeleton:”Why aren’t you?” “..Point taken.”)
The main character that is most played as in the story of Warcraft III, you are the Prince of Lordaeron. He is a cocky inexperienced paladin of the light, who combats through the human campaign against an undead plague terrorizing your people. This man's morality is quickly realized as not so noble however when he kills a town full of peasants in order to keep them from becoming undead. At this point he travels to the frozen north’s of Northrend to put a stop to the Demon Mal’Ganis once and for all. However his troops received an order to leave by the King, so Arthas used mercenaries to burn the boats and subsequently blamed them for the attack, allowing them to be slaughtered. He finds the Runeblade Frostmourne which kills his fellow friend upon picking it up still Runeblade allows his to kill the demon but being the possession of the Lich King the blade speaks into his mind driving him mad in the winter lands. The last shot of the human campaign is him killing his own father and burning the human capital.
This sets up the Undead campaign where you play as Arthas, now a Death Knight Champion for the undead and his reign of terror begins here, killing many heroes and the power of his scourge grows for some time. Eventually he comes to the Lich King, a giant suit of armor setting in a block of ice
(Insert your token Army of Darkness quote here: )
by setting it free he melds his mind with the Lich King, becoming the leader of all of the Undead in Azeroth and by proxy one of the strongest characters in the universe.
As amazing as accomplishments sound you might be wondering why he is only position six? The reason he isn't higher is due to many reasons: He is ultimately portrayed at a sympathetic character, after the events described in Warcraft III he is never played as again in the Warcraft universe, he fought as a boss in the MMORPG World of Warcraft (Which is a huge let down for such an amazingly built up character, but that discussion is for another time) and just the way they waste him in the forthcoming events, such a disappointment.
Perhaps if they released a side story prequel-like game where you play as the Lich King as he uses his undead to take over Azeroth.. (Blizzard, are you taking notes??) Speaking of which, talking about that kind of world conquering game brings forth another similar game in my mind; which just happens to be number Five on our list.
#5 - Evil Genius/Dungeon Keeper (Both)
(Horny is quite displeased with the evil genius’s choice in mascara. ..No, the Asian male one.)
Now these are true, simple, evil Villains! Yeah! This is a pick that is relatively forgotten but very a satisfying entry none the less, these games are made by the same developer and are all extremely similar to each other, such so that you could think of the Evil Genius as a inheritor of power and this is why I just decided to put both of them into the same entry. You are the leader of (depending on the game) a vile evil dungeon or villainous spy-like base. As you build up your power you proceed to take over the lands or the world in the case of Evil Genius. Each game has many things to make it worthy of this list: Torturing people, using dead soldiers to animate corpses to fight for you, building giant diabolic lairs complete with deadly traps and many henchmen at your command, the list could go on and on.
The reason in my eyes that this doesn't get higher is because of the campy nature of these games, the action that goes on at times is really silly and slapstick and while that lends itself quite well to the style of the games, on this list it is a big drawback. The lack of main character depth, as well as the fact that it's not very well explained that you are the main character of these games. It's easily assumed that you are, however, you don't see them engaging in the same acts you do in the game, in fact, the only time you see your main character in the Dungeon Keeper games - a demon named Horny (What?) is at the end of a stage when he shows up and grabs the evil crystal after you defeat the end boss.
#4 – Kratos – God of War (Series)
(What can I say, Kratos is just a hundred and ten percent Spartan, god-killing bad ass.. Kratos could you try not looking in the opposite direction when I’m attempting to complement you? Geez.)
This was a character that I was hesitant to put on this list and that isn’t because he’s a popular and very clear choice for this list’s theme. There were two different characters that I was planning on taking this spot but overall after some thought I really do feel Kratos deserves the number #4 spot. The reason you would think he obviously should be number 1 is, well, obvious. He’s a chaotic evil berserker who solves his problems by killing it, and if it doesn’t work, killing it harder until it does work. Nothing will stop him from his revenge, friend and foe alike.
But, can you blame him? He’s a soldier raised in the Spartan culture of kill-or-be-killed, after the death of his family he has been betrayed time and time again by gods and mortals alike and after hearing his story you feel pity and sympathy for this savage character. This is why he was a hard pick, because he regularly walks the narrow line between Anti-hero and Villain with swift vigor! But, after pondering; to me this makes him that much more of an interesting pick. You see in the first two games he is walking this line clearly, however it is the third game that shows just how much of a Villain he is to me. This is very ironic because that game is considered his redemption.
It is the fact that to finally reach his goal he must kill off his own allies, which is a Villainous act all on its own and the Pandora’s Box that he abuses to weaken his enemies, the gods. Why? To obtain the power necessary; to defeat the gods and then restore order to the world? No, he uses it to corrupt and weaken the gods in order to destroy them. It is one thing to kill heroic gods, It is quite another to unleash their sealed fears and emotions and let them drown in it before murdering them.
It is that sympathy however that holds him back from being a better Villain to me. I am not saying he is a bad character, in fact quite the opposite! It’s just his motivations for evil are simple and that sympathy really shows his true humanity and ultimately forces me to restrain him to the number four position.
#3 Main Player Character Aka Dark Lord Revan - Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
(A pose that could stop the gods in their tracks.. now if only Revan could figure out how to actually see out of that wicked mask..)
From the information that has been revealed during the video games and the Expanded Universe as well of the various choices you are able to make in a Bioware RPGs, this is a lot to take in and explain, so for your sake; as well as mine, I am just going to talk about the main points that to me, really define the evil aspects of this character.
At one point in the game, the information is dramatically revealed that your main character was actually Darth Revan. Darth Revan is a character was responsible for the rise of the Sith during the past Mandalorian Wars. If you have been acting evil through the game this really enhances the fact that your character is a villain. If I was one of the members of his party and I found out about this I would be like so. “Wait a minute.. the guy I am following was actually the previous Dark Lord.. Wait, he has been acting evil this whole damn game! We got to take him out now!”
Just being known as this Sith Lord and being evil throughout the game just isn’t enough to be an awesome villain on our list however. But, during the ending of this game the player has the chance to fall back in the shadows, becoming the feared, menacing figure once again. Of course, because the majority of your allies are not this type they won’t stand for your sudden Heel turn and you must either kill off your former friends or if powerful enough, use Force mind tricks so make them kill off each other first. Darth Revan: because being a sith in a dark metal masked costume has NEVER been so cool.
(I said NEVER damn it!)
It actually saddens me to say that the sole reason this character isn’t higher up on the list, as vile as he is; is that in the Knights of the Old Republic canon this character is a light side Jedi. So no matter how much damnation you do within the game, you know that he is truly a hero on the scripture. Damn and we were so close too! Oh well not too worry, there are still two awesome entries left!
#2 – The Nameless One - Planescape Torment
(Again, when dealing with Immortal bad asses like this, it would be insane to even attempt to act snarky.)
The Nameless One is the name (funnily enough) used to describe the main character of Planescape Torment, by looks and feel alone this man is the most villainous on this list. Being an immortal character that has mysteriously lost his memories he wakes up in the morgue his skin a mass of scar tissue and death, covered in tattoos he is almost more undead than alive in this sense. Through the game you make his decisions and the events are slowly unrevealed that make up this complex character. To me, The Nameless One represents the worst possible path of someone with the power of being immortal, and shows it can be a grave weakness.
Although The Nameless One has had many past personalities, that he can no longer remember due to memory losses of the decades; such as being evil, manipulative and insane; even the original personality which is called the good incarnation committed so many sins in his life that in order to atone for them he would have to become immortal and spend eternity to make up for it. Just think about that for a moment and you’ll know why this character is so well suited for such a list.
The Planescape world is that of a massive unending combination of planes and power, it feels so very rich, dark and just generally chaotic - thus as The Nameless One you are meant to blend and be part of its balanced insanity. As such, the opportunities to be a villain are numerous and vast and it gives you this feeling as you play that hasn’t been seen since it. You are meant to truly make the decisions this character faces and as such you can ultimately become a good character overall despite your terrible past. #1 on this list doesn’t have such a weakness however.
#1 – Wander – Shadow of the Colossus
(A tale about a pre-adult adventurous boy shooting arrows at monsters from horseback while trying to save a sleeping princess.. where have I heard that before…?)
Wander is my ‘surprise reveal’ for this list, if you predicted this you are a true sinister mastermind! He is awesome villain while he doesn’t look the part as well as others on the list and you don’t feel any evil intentions from him at the beginning, it ramps up dramatically by the end.
The plot that involves this character is summarized as thus: you are Wander, a young adult with little past, a bow and a reliable horse. You have a girl with you who is dead and an entity comes to you saying that if you defeat several monstrous Colossus that wonder the lands it will use its powers to restore her life. The only thing that can defeat them is a sword from the king, so after stealing the sword you use your horse to find these colossi to kill them. The entity never explains why he needs them killed, or that maybe they are horrible evil beasts deserving of killing and Wander never asks. Of course there are signs that these Colossus are, in fact, targets of nobility that you wouldn’t assume they are at first thought, for example when they are killed a pillar of light marks where they have fallen in the game.
(Ladies and Gentlemen, our hero of this story!)
After killing some of them you notice a dark taint from their death begins entering his body as the corruption slowly befalls you after killing each Colossus. The hero’s appearance begins to begin more twisted ultimately growing horns from your head. By the time the Lord Emon finds him, he has soldiers at his command, and your thoughts of the righteousness of Wander is thrown out the window as he is shocked by your demonic, undead-like husk of a human body that is left and he orders the soldiers he has to attack him. But, before Wander can be killed the essence from the Colossi consume him and the entity, named Dormin is finally brought back to world from the Colossi and Wander’s left over remains.
(“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”) – Martin Luther King, Jr.)
This is exactly what completely sells this character as a Villain to me, Wander knows what he is and he doesn’t care one bit. The King is warns him that the road he is on will be an ‘extremely high price to pay’ which he states “It doesn’t matter.” Unlike the other Villain Protagonists, there is no redemption for Wander. Despite a seemingly noble goal, the means to get it is certainly completely villainous. In other words, if he were in another game; he would be the character you are trying to stop before he destroys the world.
Well folks, that’s it! I hope you enjoyed this Top List and I hope to return with bigger and better lists soon, in the mean time please tell me what you thought of it! Did I leave out some awesome character that is just too important to not bring up? I would like you to let me know! Until next time.
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