There are many things that make the game truly outstanding: graphics, a catchy plot, and interesting characters. However, it is the believable and terrifying negative characters that leave the most vivid impression.
Science fiction as a genre gives writers and screenwriters almost endless scope for imagination. This means that it allows you to find more and more unusual motives that can move characters who have taken the side of evil. The villains in Sc-Fi don’t care about little things like morality or fairness. Their ambitions truly reach galactic proportions.
10th place – GLaDOS (Portal)
GLaDOS is one of the most recognizable video game villains of all time. Valve Portal and Portal 2 have become famous as puzzles, in part due to their innovative gameplay mechanics, but mainly due to the inclusion of sarcastic, evil AI.
Although GLaDOS is technically a robot and incapable of emotion, her actions can often appear very impulsive. The worst part about interacting with this AI is that it never gives away the promised cake.
9th place – Simona (Nier: Automata)
NieR Automata’s Simone is not the main villain, as the “real” antagonist in the game is more difficult to pinpoint due to the many story ramifications available to players. Simona is the boss and main enemy in the Amusement Park section of the game.
This villainess should not be underestimated. Simone is a real cannibal, only she does not eat people, but the same robots as herself. The music playing in the Amusement Park and the atmosphere itself can also cause serious discomfort to the players.
8th place – Dr. Wallace Breen (Half-Life 2)
Dr. Breen from Half-Life 2 as selfish as possible. Initially, this hero was the administrator of Black Mesa, and later the Administrator of the Earth under the control of the Alliance. His power is almost limitless. He negotiated with the enemy to ensure the survival of humanity, provided that people will completely submit to the will of the Alliance.
However, these rules did not apply to him. Dr. Breen traveled wherever and whenever he wanted, enjoyed the approval of the Alliance, and did everything in his power to ensure his own survival, not the survival of humanity.
7th place – Caesar (Fallout: New Vegas)
Fallout: New Vegas is filled to the brim with interesting characters and unique villains in the Mojave Wastes. But perhaps the most memorable is Caesar. He is a modern version of the ancient Roman ruler – with historically accurate slavery, crucifixion and other atrocities.
Caesar is admired by many fans for his grand performances and charisma. He is able to persuade anyone to the thoughts he needs. However, you just need to look a little deeper to find a psychopath taking advantage of the devastation of the post-apocalypse.
6th place – The Flood (Halo)
The flood is not so much an individual villain as villainous entity or life form. This protagonist is the main driving force behind the storytelling in the Halo franchise, a collective intelligence that seeks to consume the world and destroy all life in the universe.
The Flood entities do not have a “conscious” desire to destroy, which raises the question of whether they are truly evil or simply a force of nature. However, the chaos they wreak throughout the Halo series, as terrible as possible.
5th place – Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII)
Sephiroth is one of Final Fantasy’s most iconic villains and arguably one of the most recognizable characters from any JRPG of all time. He was the main antagonist of Final Fantasy VII, who showed his true villainous power at the end of the first Playstation 1 disc. by destroying a party member…
Sephiroth is so loved as a villain that he was added to Super Smash Bros Ultimate in 2020to confront Cloud. His terrifying musical theme is enough to guarantee him a spot on any list of the greatest gaming villains.
4th place – Shodan (System Shock 2)
System Shock 2’s Shodan is a sentient, hyper-optimized data access network. She is a villainess similar to Skynet from the Terminator franchise. Shodan is AIwho went over to the evil side during a hacker’s attempt to seize control over her.
This protagonist was also the main antagonist in the original System Shock game. She was considered destroyed, but in fact Shodan landed on a distant planet, biding its time and enslaving the local species with a collective mind called “Many”.
3rd place – Handsome Jack (Borderlands)
Handsome Jack is also one of the most evil characters in the history of games. and one of the most charismatic. He is the main antagonist of the Borderlands series, with the exception of Borderlands 3 where he appears either as a person, or as a voice, or as a holographic image of one’s consciousness.
Handsome Jack is the embodiment of selfishness. He created his counterparts solely to protect himself, used his company to hunt for vaults and doesn’t care about morality when it comes to those who stand in his way. He is a classic narcissistic villain, but he has perhaps the funniest quotes of all the characters in the game. Unsurprisingly, he found such a large fan base in the gaming community.
2nd place – Reapers (Mass Effect)
The Reapers are like the Flood in that they seek to destroy the universe and wipe out all life. without any conscious thought behind their actions. The Reapers are semi-intelligent, starship-like creatures that leave the Dark Space every few millennia to purify the galaxy that is part of the harvest and revival cycletaking place since the beginning of time.
Like the Flood, these creatures have no evil intentions. However, from the point of view of human morality, what they do with innocent beings, can not be justified by anything. They are a recurring antagonist in the Mass Effect series and are arguably one of the greatest evils ever presented in a sci-fi game.
1st place – Giygas (Earthbound)
Giygas is simply evil incarnate. A universal cosmic destroyer that is difficult for mortals to understand. It is presented in the form crooked screaming face with a frightening, blood-soaked color scheme. He seeks to rob humanity of PSI magic and create a nightmarish reality for all who are under his control.
This is why so many enemies in Earthbound seem innocent and out of place – Giygas made them cruel by corrupting their minds and spoiling their lives. What could be worse than a villain who breeds other villains?
If you like studying antagonists, then we recommend reading about all the bosses in Valheim. In this unusual survival game, interesting protagonists who migrated to the game from folklore. We also recommend reading about Johnny Silverhand, a Cyberpunk 2077 character who can deservedly receive the title of villain if you take his image apart.