While heroes take the spotlight in gaming, every good hero needs a good villain standing opposite. The villain serves as the driving force that keeps the hero or party on their quest, and the best video game villains make you hate them with a fiery passion. There are a few that stand out above the pack, however, due to their absolutely atrocious and deplorable actions, making it an agonizing wait to see their demise. Just a warning before we go further that there will be major spoilers for the villains and games discussed, in order to really hone in on the nature of what makes each villain so despicable.
Zeus – God of War 3
Kratos is a pretty terrible person, but equally terrible is his father Zeus, the main villain of God of War 3. Besides the multitude of affairs and killings Zeus orchestrated in actual Greek mythology, his actions directly against Kratos give the antihero more than ample reason to kill him.
Zeus and the other gods deceived and used Kratos to kill Ares in the first God of War, instilling him as the new god. However, once Kratos became too dangerous once again Zeus deceived him and killed Kratos, who also happens to be his son from an affair. While Zeus is overcome with the evils of Pandora’s Box, his many atrocious actions paint him as a ruthless, vindictive ruler of the gods. Kratos’ killing may not always be justified, but at least this one time it definitely was.