The list of evil versions of characters in fighting games is a long one, made even longer by the recent reveal of Street Fighter V’s Kage.
While this new evil counterpart of Ryu certainly has his merits, he got us thinking about who the top 5 evil versions of fighting game characters are across the genre’s history. Let’s run through the best of the best.
Top 5 Evil Versions of Fighting Game Characters
Devil Kazuya (Tekken Series)
While Devil Jin is the more well known member of the Tekken series, Devil Kazuya proves the more worthy contender for the series’ most formidable evil version of a character.
Brought about by a cursed bloodline, Kazuya’s devil form is a manifestation of pure evil and sadistic tendencies. He revels in the pain of others and will stop at nothing to achieve his own ends and goals, or at least more often than when he’s in his human form.
When in his devil form, Kazuya also takes on a much more monstrous appearance than Devil Jin. His entire body is adorned in hellish spikes and demonic flesh, with wings adorned in multiple eyes for good measure.
That’s to say nothing of his move set, which will induce rage in most any Tekken player who isn’t prepared to dodge laser blasts and combo barrages at a moment’s notice.
Top 5 Evil Versions of Fighting Game Characters
God Rugal (Capcom vs. SNK 2)
Though Rugal is best remembered as a villain from the King of Fighters series – and has his own evil variant in that series no less – his God Rugal form from Capcom vs. SNK 2 stands as the more intimidating twist on the character.
A villain created through the unholy union of Rugal’s Orochi powers and Akuma’s Satsui no Hado, God Rugal isn’t subtle about his destructive intentions.
Players are introduced to the big bad with a shot of Akuma broken and limp in his hands, his powers absorbed to make Rugal even more powerful.
Once players confront him, they’re met with an adversary that has access to both villains’ movesets.
When players aren’t dodging slashing hand attacks or explosive orochi energy, they’ll have to watch out for the Shun Goku Satsu and its life bar depleting barrage.
Though the lack of a new Capcom vs. SNK title has meant he hasn’t made an appearance in some time, his devilish move set and high difficulty level ensured he wouldn’t be forgotten by those who faced him.
Top 5 Evil Versions of Fighting Game Characters
Evil Raiden (Mortal Kombat Series)
For years, Raiden stood as a paragon of good in the Mortal Kombat series. He fought against the evil forces who would seek to control the different realms of existence, and would rally the series’ heroes to the cause of peace and balance time and time again.
That’s why it was all the more shocking when the God of Thunder pulled a heel turn at the end of Mortal Kombat X.
Gone was the fighter who prioritized those above himself, replaced by a despot intent on ruling with an iron fist after killing off all of his competition.
In-game, this new variant sells his evil tendencies with a more brutal set of techniques. His attacks and combos are more aggressive, tearing through enemies’ defenses with flurries of blows at a time.
His lightning attacks and aura take on a blood red hue as well, replacing his more godly aesthetic of old with that of a villain who is right at home incinerating his opponents to a crisp.
Top 5 Evil Versions of Fighting Game Characters
Nightmare (Soul Edge/Soul Caliber Series)
While he’s since established himself as his own character in the Soul Caliber series, Nightmare was born from the evil transformation of the valiant knight Siegfried.
A knight with noble ambitions toward honor and grandeur, Siegfried was driven mad after killing his own father. He convinced himself someone else was responsible and set out to find the Soul Edge, a cursed blade he could use to take his revenge.
Once obtained, the Soul Edge used this insanity to drive Siegfried to collect the souls of innocents, promising to use them to revive his father.
As Siegfried did this, he was twisted into a monstrous version of his former self, warped into a monster by the dark powers he tried to wield.
The two have since been split into separate entities, but Nightmare remains an intimidating villain and reminder of Siegfried’s crimes nonetheless.
His brutal fighting style, which relies on crashing and smashing through one’s opponent relentlessly, still distinguishes him as a violent counterpart to his more refined and noble host, and shows how close the knight rode the line between savior and savage killer.
Top 5 Evil Versions of Fighting Game Characters
Oni (Street Fighter Series)
In case the intro to this list didn’t clue you in, the Street Fighter series has a lot of evil variants of series lead Ryu, so an evil version of another character is bound to stand out all the more.
Enter Oni, an even more evil version of the villain Akuma. Though the fighter is known for his brutality and embrace of dark fighting styles, Akuma was still considered to have a small amount of humanity left that kept him from becoming a monster.
The loss of that last shred births Oni, a venerable god of darkness engulfed in evil energies who wants nothing more than to crush his opponents into dust.
Where Akuma would occasionally be engulfed in a reddish-black flame, Oni glows dark blue with ominous purple ki radiating around him.
His move set takes elements of Akuma’s and throws in devastating darkness infused blows, resulting in even more fiendish knock outs and finishing blows. Factor in his taunts of impending doom and damnation when he wins, and you’ve got an evil character variant that’s hard to forget.
Published: Dec 21, 2018 02:56 pm