Binge Gamer Dot Net

The world of video games has its fair share of awesome heroes. Who doesn’t love Master Chief and Mario? I think we’re all overlooking something here, though. There are some really freakin’ awesome villains out there. I mean, creating a hero? That’s run of the mill. Save the world. Save the damsel in distress. Yada, yada, yada.

But to be a cool villain you have to be complex. Brooding. Evil. Yet, the best video game bad guys are the ones that we somehow love as well. Sure, we may chop at you face with our sword or blow you in half of with our unnecessarily huge gun…but we admire you. Here are the top ten video game characters I love to hate:

7. Dr. Cid, Final Fantasy
The Final Fantasy series is one of the most long-running and popular in the video game world. I doubt the original creators could have ever imagined that it would be the empire it is now. In my opinion, one of the reasons it has been such a success is that they doesn’t reuse characters again and again – every game is its own storyline. However, there is one character that has made a number of appearances in various forms – Cid.

In the most recent FF, Cid – or Dr. Cid, more accurately – was evil and played a bigger role than in most past FF games. And this character? He is fucking nuts. He’s not the main villain, and not the final boss fight, but you do battle him and spend a lot of the game chasing him around. He. Is. Crazy. He talked to an evil god (basically, the FF version of the devil) that no one else can see and would kill his own son for more power. What do you get when an ingenious scientist/mechanic goes bad? Dr. Cid.

Haven’t fought Dr. Cid yet? Buy Final Fantasy XII now!

6. Ares, God of War
God of War is one of the bloodiest games I’ve ever played…and I love it. The basis of the story is that the main character, Kratos, is a warrior under Ares (the Greek god of war) until Ares makes Kratos kill his own wife and daughter. The whole game is about finding this villain and seeking revenge.Now, all the while, you are of course cheering on Kratos. You’re playing with him after all. But if your game play was anything like mine, you too grow to hate Ares. I mean…hate. What kind of a character is responsible for the deaths of a woman and child? In the final boss battle, Ares actually uses visions of Kratos’ family to try to overcome him. That is low.

Haven’t fought Ares yet? Buy God of War now!

5. Carmen Sandiego, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Ok, ok, go ahead and give me shit…but Carmen Sandiego is one of the best villains in the history of gaming. Let me tell you why: You never actually want to catch her.

Think about it. You spend the whole game battling the clock to find her and her evil henchmen, but when it is all said and done, it is the thrill of the chase that is so exciting. Once you actually catch her, you’re like “Oh…” and you’re almost happy that she escapes so there can be another game. Sure, Carmen may not stack up against today’s villains, but for her time, she was queen.

Haven’t fought Carmen Sandiego yet? (You poor child.) Buy Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego now!

4. Shang Tsung, Mortal Kombat
There’s no lack of villains in Mortal Kombat, but one of my favorites has to be Shang Tsung. This guy won’t just kill you…he’ll eat your fucking soul. There are few others in this game that even come close to him in sorcery skills, and I’d venture to say that there are none that match him in intellect.

Shang Tsung is the type of character that will throw you a grand ball…and kill eat you soul in the middle of it. I rank him with Hannibal Lector in sophistication and ability to terrorize. Add to that his ability to shape-shift, and you have one creepy, cool character.

Haven’t fought Shang Tsung yet? Buy Mortal Kombat Armageddon now!

3. Saren, Mass Effect
When coming up with this list, an obvious choice in my mind was Saren. I wasn’t a fan of Mass Effect. I know, burn me at the stake. However, I was in awe of the character the game’s creators developed in Saren. This villain makes you feel angry and sad and hurt…all at the same time.Saren is bad; there’s no question about that. He has a ton of moral issues, and he doesn’t think twice about brutally killing people when they are no longer useful to him. That said, he thinks he is doing the right thing. He believes in the greater cause. There are two different endings to the game, but both cause you to pity the character and to wonder if you would have done the same thing as him if you would have been given the opportunity.

Haven’t fought Saren yet? Buy Mass Effect now!

2. Psycho Mantis, Metal Gear Solid
If originality is one of the qualifications to get on this list, Psycho Mantis definitely has to be here. With Metal Gear Solid, game developers created a video game villain that didn’t just stay on the TV screen…the evil seemed to seep into your life. Controlling and reading your console to make the game customized for each player? Yeah, that’s a bit scary.

The ending…well, yes, it was a bit gimmicky. Even if you hated it, though, you have to admit that it was original. This is one of the most creative villains there has ever been; there was none like it before and there will be none that has quite the same effect ever again.

Haven’t fought Psycho Mantis? Buy Metal Gear Solid now!

1. Albert Wesker, Resident Evil
Ok RE fans…I know you were beginning to panic because Wesker wasn’t on my list yet, but never fear; he, my friends, is number one. Wesker is that character that is ice. He’s bad to the core, but cool as hell. Every guy wants to be him. Every girl wants to be with him. He’s prime evil, but a-freakin-mazing.

He starts as a more run-of-the-mill character. I mean, he’s still really cool, but in the original RE, Wesker is nothing more than an evil force who isn’t afraid to manipulate people to get exactly what he wants. He is killed at the end of the game, and if that was the end of things, he’s have come in on the list at 8 or 9 maybe. But no – that is not the end. He injected himself with the T-Virus, which not only brings him back to from the dead, but makes him superhuman. Then we get Wesker’s Report – the story as told by Wesker himself, and we…we love him.

I don’t really care if you’re a fan of Resident Evil or not. Wesker is amazing. I dare you to make a case about anyone else being listed at number one in his place.