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Top 10: Classic Console Villains

by roygbiv

There are legions of villains out there that have given players a reason to play games, hunting down this or that baddy and bringing them to justice (or outright killing them). Instead of making one massive top ten list of these villains, we're going to focus on who we feel are the best of the best when it comes to classic console game villains. So slap on your cape, top hat, and monocle, so we can begin.

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10. M. Bison (Street Fighter)

Here’s a villain that could easily get on one’s nerves. With his combinations of attacks, he could make mince meat of a lot of players while trying to enjoy the various Street Fighters that M. Bison appeared in. He was bent on world domination, and was a snappy dresser. His motives for villainy were pretty traditional, but it was his in-game move set, and how people used it that makes him a memorable bad guy.

9. Dr. Robotnik (Sonic)

The bulbous arch nemesis of Sonic the Hedgehog, Dr. Robotnik just couldn’t put the screws to the lightning fast critter. It’s sad, really, considering the guy had an IQ through the stratosphere. One would think that he could eventually build a device capable of catching Sonic (it's certainly not for a lack of trying). It’s okay, though, because we still love him. Besides, we’d have hardly anything to do with Sonic if it wasn’t for this guy.

8. Dracula (Castlevania)

Dracula has been a villain in so many pieces of pop culture, so it’s only natural that he would work his way into videogames. His presence in the Castlevania series just made sense if you’re going to make a game series about a family of vampire hunters. Sure, his voice acting was horrible in Symphony of the Night (as was everyone else’s for that matter), but we can look past that. He brought a certain coolness to villains calling themselves "Dracula" that got better with each game.

7. Kefka (Final Fantasy VI)

Bring out the clowns. Well, bring them out so long as they aren’t crazy. Unfortunately it was too late for the inhabitants of Final Fantasy VI, as this clown tore their world apart, and sucked the life out of magical creatures out called Espers just to make himself even more powerful. He wasn’t your typical villain, which made him all the more appealing in a slimy, want to see him dead kind of way.

6. Mother Brain (Metroid)

The way that Metroid continually built up as one played through it, collecting new items, exploring the stages, and encountering all sorts of different, evil baddies, the fight against Mother Brain was highly climatic. This was even more so the case when Super Metroid came along on the SNES. She’s just a very cool, sinister villain.

5. Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde (Pac Man)

They didn’t say much until someone decided to make an animated Pac-Man series in the 1980s, but these four ghosts were some of the earliest standout villains in video games. All that people knew was to keep Pac-Man well away from these guys unless they had just gobbled up a super power pellet, in which case it was time for some sweet revenge for all the times Clyde and the gang handed us another game over.

4. Dr. Wily (Mega Man)

Where would we be without mad scientists? In a very boring world, that’s where. Dr. Wily loved his thematic robot armies that filled every color of the rainbow, element of the periodic table, and at times other seemingly random themes that only made sense to him (and the good folks at Capcom who made the games). Making it to Wily’s fortress near the end of a Mega Man game felt like a real accomplishment, and beating it even more so. The rivalry he had with Dr. Light helped drive him to keep making more evil robots, and his influence continued from beyond the grave in later Mega Man games.

3. Bowser (Super Mario Bros.)

Seriously, how many castles does this guy own, and how has he been able to bankroll them all? Sure, he has plenty of gold coins scattered throughout his realms, but still, he has enough properties in the mushroom kingdom to put most real estate moguls to shame. And for all this success, he still can’t hold onto one princess, and fend off a pair of plummers…

2. Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)

We can probably thank this guy for making dark, brooding villains so popular over the last decade or so. He was the cold, heartless sort, and very calculated in his actions. Players slowly learned about his past, and were eager to find out all that they could about him and Cloud’s history together. Of course, the final battle against him at the end of Final Fantasy VII raised the bar considerably as to what an epic RPG fight could be. He pulled down asteroids from outer space to drop on you for crying out loud!

1. Ganon (Zelda)

This guy just doesn’t know when to quit. He’s almost as bad as Bowser for holding a grudge against a hero. Every once in a while, we think he’s gone, but not really because you just know he’s going to come creeping out of the shadows and make Link’s life much more difficult than it need be. Nonetheless, the battles against him were usually a challenge, and one of the high points of any Zelda game in which he appeared, making it impossible to ignore him for top spot on this list.

(March 24, 2009)