Best Villains of This Console Generation
10. Jack Baker, Resident Evil VII
Who would’ve thought that one of the most memorable villains of this generation would be from Resident Evil? A series that fans thought was all but dead after the sixth main entry.
Resident Evil 7 single-handedly revitalized the series by introducing a brand new protagonist, implementing first-person view, and giving us a group of wacky villains in the form of the kooky Baker family. In particular, Jack Baker serves as one of the most frightening villains we’ve seen in the series.
Sure, Marguerite’s creepy and all with those bugs of hers, but Jack fulfills the horror movie trope of the undying boogeyman that just won’t stop chasing you down. He brings back insane Nemesis memories from Resident Evil 3, and while I’m typically not a fan of run-and-hide style horror games like Outlast and Amnesia, RE7 is careful not to overuse these sequences, allowing players to suffer with just the right amount of tension in each encounter.
Jack is delightfully maniacal in your encounters with him (“I’m gonna take you for a ride!”), and his voice actor delivers his lines with so much gusto. His country boy accent just makes his character all the more memorable.
Jack Baker might just be your typical B-movie horror villain, but Resident Evil 7 embraces that side of him, and delivers a villain that’s so fantastic to watch from start to finish.
Best Villains of This Console Generation
9. Ardyn Izunia, Final Fantasy XV
The Final Fantasy series has always been known for their memorable villains. In the company of some of gaming’s best like the psychotic Kefka or the terrifying and mysterious Sephiroth, standing out is hard to do. However, that is exactly what Final Fantasy XV’s Ardyn does.
Ardyn has a swagger and eccentric personality and sense of humor that makes him an instantly intriguing character. Going through Final Fantasy XV’s story, finding out who exactly Ardyn is and what he wants is one of the central driving forces.
Seeing Ardyn’s personality twist and turn, along with his theme song, is one of the most fascinating aspects of Final Fantasy XV. By the end he becomes a truly malicious force, and one that feels like a real danger to Noctis and company.
Having a fun, devious and masterful manipulator like Ardyn as an adversary is one of the best parts of Final Fantasy XV. While the competition is strong, we believe Ardyn has a place among the best villains in the series.
Best Villains of This Console Generation
8. Nadine Ross, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Nadine Ross was introduced in Uncharted 4 and immediately stole the show. Even in a series with countless memorable and well-written characters, Nadine instantly stands out and earns your respect, even as she’s choking Nathan out.
What makes Nadine such a great villain how similar she is to Nathan. She isn’t some malicious, evil person but she also isn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty. She’s out for her own self-interest and lives in a morally gray area that the protagonists of Uncharted also exist in.
While she isn’t the central villain of the story, her likable personality, super-competence and general badassery make her one of, if not the best adversary to Nathan in the series. The fact that their chemistry can be so good as they try to kill each other is impressive.
Best Villains of This Console Generation
7. Baldur, God of War
Last year’s God of War brought the series and its protagonist, Kratos, to all new heights and told one of the most compelling video game stories we’ve ever seen. Part of what makes this story click is the focus on a small cast of interesting characters, and a great villain.
From the very beginning of the game, Baldur shows incredible strength, holding his own in a brutal fight with the God of War himself. However, it’s the intrigue of Baldur’s troubled past and the sympathetic moments we see him in that make him so compelling.
While Baldur is brash, arrogant and a bit annoying on the surface, his character goes far deeper than the game first lets on. As the story progresses, he goes from a despised enemy to someone more tragic and harder to define.
And, like the best villains do, Baldur brings out new and interesting elements from our hero, and the interactions between Baldur and Kratos are incredibly powerful. While the writing for Kratos and Atreus gets lots of deserved love, let’s not forget the villain that helps shape them.
Best Villains of This Console Generation
6. The Bloody Baron, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Witcher 3 is overflowing with memorable and superbly written villains, but The Bloody Baron just might be the single best one. The Baron’s character is so complex and morally gray that even calling him a villain could spawn a good debate.
Minor Spoilers for The Witcher 3 ahead.
The quest that The Baron sends Geralt on to find his wife and daughter is expertly told, and what seems like a simple missing person quest turns into a poignant reflection on the complicated nature of love and forgiveness, and how you can have one and not the other.
The Baron is an angry mess of a man who strikes fear into peasants and generally treats those around him terribly. He is someone I expected to hate, and honestly part of me does. However, another part of me aches for him and wants him to have happiness. That’s good writing.
While there are numerous examples of CD Projekt Red’s outstanding writing in The Witcher 3, this is certainly one of the most compelling storylines, and it lives and dies by the strength of its deeply flawed but unforgettable villain.
Best Villains of This Console Generation
5. Suguru Kamoshida, Persona 5
The concept of palaces, stealing hearts and altering people’s distorted desires in Persona 5 is a little hard to completely grasp. This is why Kamoshida is the perfect first villain for the game: He is an absolute monster.
Kamoshida is a former Olympic athlete turned high school volleyball coach, mostly for the fame he brings to the school. Kamoshida uses this position of fame and power to manipulate and use young students who are afraid to speak against him for fear of punishment.
The heights of Kamoshida’s selfishness and lack of empathy continues to grow to include sexual harassment, blackmail, physical abuse and much more. The player is made to hate him so much that when it’s time to change his heart, you feel intensely motivated.
The impact of the Kamoshida plotline is seen far into the game, and it shows the damage that a predator like him can do to young people. He isn’t pleasant, and he doesn’t have too many redeeming qualities, but Kamoshida is a great villain to convince you to be a hero.
Best Villains of This Console Generation
4. Badeline – Celeste
Celeste tells a heart-warming yet very real and poignant story about depression, anxiety and learning to love yourself, and the game’s central villain, Badeline, is at the heart of this message.
Badeline represents a more paranoid, cynical and destructive part of Madeline’s personality, and spends the game hunting her down and trying to stop her from accomplishing her goal of climbing Celeste mountain. Her design also reflects a dark version of Madeline.
The fighting between Madeline and Badeline goes beyond the normal hero vs. villain battle, as it represents Madeline fighting between her ambitions and her fears. Badeline’s dialogue sounds like the internal doubt that holds many of us back from reaching our potential.
Badeline is frightening and mean, but also relatable. Matt Makes Games did a fantastic job of using their villain to help capture what it feels like to experience crippling self-doubt, and what it takes to overcome it.
Best Villains of This Console Generation
3. Frau Engel, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Frau Engel is a student of the nightmare-fuel psychotic murderer school of villainy and she’s clearly an overachiever. Wolfenstein II puts Frau Engel’s terrifying and unforgivable cruelty on full display, which makes her a fitting villain to lead futuristic sci-fi Nazis.
Wolfenstein II is a game that leans into shock factor and gory, over-the-top violence. As such, Frau Engel’s ruthless nature goes with the tone of the game, and every interaction with her brings out a reaction similar to seeing a demon in a horror film.
However, there is context that makes her into more than just a pointlessly violent Mortal Kombat character. The best example of this is her disturbing and abusive relationship with her daughter. This relationship really shows us how heartless of a character Engel really is.
She’s terrifying and deplorable and serves as a great motivation to plow through the tough-as-nails gameplay in Wolfenstein II.
Best Villains of This Console Generation
2. Otto Octavius, Marvel’s Spider-Man
Insomniac’s Spider-Man told one of the most gripping narratives of 2018, with lots of nostalgic callbacks but also several unexpected twists. Octavius, one of the game’s central villains, represents both of these in wonderful ways.
Octavius becoming a deadly mad scientist is a story that has been told many times in many mediums. However, Insomniac still gives Octavius the build-up he deserves, and knowing where his path is heading almost makes his character developer all the more tragic and impactful.
Insomniac makes Octavius a character that Peter and the player grow to care for deeply and, while his actions are deplorable, we can understand his mindset. This along with some great twists that I won’t spoil here, makes Octavius a villain we aren’t soon to forget.
Best Villains of This Console Generation
1. Dutch van der Linde – Red Dead Redemption 2
Dutch van der Linde is such a difficult character to pin down. He will shoot someone in the street and preach about peace on the ride home. He will say he loves you, and probably mean it, and leave you for dead hours later. He’s conflicted, determined, caring and cruel, all at once.
Similar to the members of his gang, the player’s opinion on Dutch is constantly in flux. You never truly know if he believes his own talk of love, family and a bright future or if he’s just a master manipulator. The answer might be both.
With Dutch, Rockstar proved that they are masters of character development. Watching the gang go from inspired by his words to disturbed by them and witnessing him slowly break his moral code was as engaging as it was deeply sad.
While there has been many great villains over this generation, none of them are quite as powerful and interesting as the head of the Van der Linder Gang. What are your favorite villains of the console generation? Let us know in the comments!
Published: Jan 10, 2019 01:24 pm