Literature has long since provided us with an abundance of engrossing antagonists that appall, fascinate and charm us still (well, those of us who still read at least). Iago, Count Dracula, Mrs Coulter, Dorian Gray, Sauron, Satan – the literary hall of villainy is well-established, well-loved, and well-known. However, game villains don’t seem to earn the same amount of infamy or morbid respect as their cousins in print do – granted, it is a much younger, much less studied medium, but now that games are on the rise and becoming more established in our society, I think it prudent to examine the pantheon of rakes and rogues that have defined the modern gaming experience. Hopefully I’ll be publishing a new list in the near future, as I thought of lots more villains when I was writing this.
In short, here are the antagonists that I’d send a card or a mug to on International Villain’s Day. In no particular order. Yet.
May contain spoilers!
Paxton Fettel/Alma Wade – F.E.A.R
Ok, an unstable, psychic, cannibalizing commando with a battalion of expert soldiers that he can control with his mind which, coincidentally, is linked to the mind of his homicidal maniac of a mother, Alma. Hellbent on destroying the organization responsible for Project Origin, which essentially revolved around torturous experiments on Alma with the aim of exploiting her unmatched psionic abilities, he wreaks both physical and paranormal havoc and eats the corpses of the project leaders. Cliché as it might sound, I think the “rough childhood” excuse can be applied as a justification for Paxton’s actions. As understandable as his cause may be however, the fact remains that he is a danger to everyone and must be taken down – your job, incidentally.
Alma Wade and Son is/are the scariest villain(s) I have ever had to deal with. Ever. They made me afraid to turn corners, to enter dark rooms, to do much of anything really. Seeing as I was armed to the teeth with lead-launching contraptions and a bullet-time ability, that’s saying a whole damn lot. They will whisper to you from the dark, they will appear right in front of you as you turn a corner, they will make you hallucinate like a soothsayer on morphine, and more than once, they will have you at their mercy. Oh and, Paxton also happens to be your brother, which would make Alma your mother. This makes it all the wrong kinds of weird when Alma then proceeds to rape you, in a first-person hallucination, and effectively impregnates herself. So she’s the Mother Mary from hell who comes around to literally mind-fuck you.
Arthas Menethil – Warcraft III
From skeletal goat-riding avenger to zombie-commanding popsicle.
Arthas, son of the King of Lordaeron, paladin mentee of Uther Such-and-such, golden-haired champion of truth, justice, and the Amer… I mean Loradaeronian way. Not for long.
When the undead plague came to Lordaeron, Arthas was sent to investigate and eliminate the source. Unfortunately, the threat was greater than they realized (like way greater), before long shit started hitting the fan real hard. Arthas found the culprit, the Dreadlord Mal’Ganis who in a classic evil mastermind-fashion informed him that the plague of undeath was unleashed at the command of the Lich King of Northrend, and that Lordaeron was doomed.
So what does Arthas do? He decides that he’d better cut out the tumor to prevent the cancer from spreading, and thus he slaughters an entire city in order to hem the plague, before running off to Northrend with his army to kick Mal’Ganis in his Mal’Ganises. He finds it a tough conquest however, and in order to gain the power he needs to defeat Mal’Ganis and save his realm he comes up with the bright idea of claiming the cursed runeblade Frostmourne, which simply put makes him a slave of the Lich King. He then later becomes the Lich King, after having returned to Lordaeron, murdered his father and turning the population into an undead army. Boomshakalaka. Now, Arthas the Lich King, the man who I raised to evil glory, is free to be killed by any random twelve-year old with a half-decent PC – I hate WoW.
I find Arthas intriguing as a villain, mainly because I was there from the beginning. I witnessed his transformation from goodie two-shoes to Lord of Darkness, and I helped him destroy everything he fought for, and everyone he fought with. I sympathize with him. In a very, very crooked way, Arthas has always embodied the virtue of following your heart and doing what you think is right. He is a character driven solely by passion, by ideology, and I find his villainy admirable. Plus he’s got wicked cool armour.
G-Man – Half-Life Series
Who is G-man? What is G-man? We’re not sure, other than some sort of omniscient shriveled dude with a speech impediment. All we know is that he locked Gordon Freeman in some sort of time-stopping limbo closet, which prevented him from aging between Half-Life 1 and 2, when he freed Gordon. Presumably this was in order for Gordon to take down Dr. Breen and free City 17 from Combine occupation, but we can’t even be entirely sure about that either. We do know that Gordon (with the help of the Vortigaunts) eluded G-man when he attempted to put him back in Limbo at the end of Half-Life 2, and that seems to have made him quite peeved in the sequels. We also know that he has some sort of connection to Eli Vance, though Eli’s death sort of eliminated any possibility of getting answers there.
What makes G-man a great villain? Mystery. We know nothing of his motives, or those of his mysterious “employers” that he keeps referring to, we don’t know how he got his powers (and we don’t really know what those powers are either) – we don’t even know if he’s really a villain per se. He’s the big unknown in the Half-Life equation, and we’re all waiting to find out what and most importantly, why, he is.
GLaDOS – Portal
GLaDOS is many things – jailor, caretaker, psychopathic mother-figure, AI comedian. I’m not going to go into much detail because she’s so famous, and rightly so. What’s not to love about being locked in a lab complex with a creepy computer with a God-complex that runs experiments on you? The brilliance of GLaDOS is that despite her subtle homicidal tendencies and generally maniacal disposition is that you have to work with her to get out, and in a really messed up way, you end up relying on her. She is an ambiguous antagonist that puts Orwell’s Big Brother to shame.
The Arishok – Dragon Age II
The Arishok is a criminally underrated villain. Probably because he stars in an underrated game that everyone hates, except me. He’s stranded in Kirkwall until he can perform his duty and return an artifact stolen from his people. This endeavor takes time however, and before long the disgust he feels towards the corrupt and degenerate human society causes him to take matters into his own hands, and cleanse Kirkwall from the human disease.
I’m actually surprised that Monsieur Arishok hasn’t garnered more attention, considering the theme of his social crusade. He criticizes the consumerist nature of human society, and he does it very well too. A memorable moment for me was when he stands before the nobles of Kirkwall after having beheaded the viscount, and tells them that all they do is “feed and feed and complain only when (their) meal is interrupted!” – and you know what? He’s got a point. I was rather disappointed that I had to fight him, because his critique of our society is justified. We are selfish, greedy, and obsessed with material wealth and social standing – integrity and higher purpose are usually secondary values or goals when humans are concerned, and this is reflected in the world of Dragon Age, where money and power drive people to heinous acts of cruelty, and apathy and corruption run rampant.
However, the Arishok is also morally significant in the sense that he demonstrates what the wrong approach to fixing these problems are. He serves as an example of the futility and injustice of forcing one’s beliefs upon someone else. He’s a sort of noble fascist, and despite the flaws in his methods and his own beliefs, he holds up a mirror to our own morality, and that of our society as a whole. Thus, the Arishok provides sorely needed reflection on the human condition and its consequences.
Plus, he’s just a total badass in general.
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