🎉 Celebrating 25 Years of GameDev.net! 🎉
Not many can claim 25 years on the Internet! Join us in celebrating this milestone. Learn more about our history, and thank you for being a part of our community!
What Makes A Great Villian?
Author
This post is merely to start a discussion and find out other people''s opinions:
Sephiroth is mine, and most people''s, favorite villian of all time. Whether he was rambling on in insanity, burning your hometown, or killing one of your love interests, he remained your favorite villian throughout the entire game and maybe still does to this day. What do you think makes a great villian and why?
~I really want to hear feedback on this one!!!
"Stop it mister!!! I don''''t even know you!!!"
My favourite villains of all time are of the type that have are otherwise normal, but have either a critical character flaw that I recognize in myself, or are totally outlandish.
#1: I liked Satan, in "Paradise Lost". Sure, he was the arch-enemy of all that was good, but he had problems and emotions - and was quite possibly the suavest character ever. If you haven''t read it yet, go and read it now. Best adaptation of theological doctrine ever (next to the Inferno)
#2: Dr. Faustus. In what is quite possibly the only opera in which the Devil is more sympathetic than the main character, Goethe''s Faust remains morbidly terrifying for me. There''s so much in Faust that I recognize in myself that it frightens me. THAT is what makes a villain unforgetable.
#3: From the anime Trigun (do I have a strange taste in material? Yes, I do!), the Gung-Ho Guns. I want to steal the guy who made the character concepts and wring all his genius from him. Those guys were stylishly insane - I can''t descibe them here, you''ll just have to go see here!
#4: Yeah, it''s Sephiroth, for all the above reasons, plus his hair.
Cheers,
-Operator
#1: I liked Satan, in "Paradise Lost". Sure, he was the arch-enemy of all that was good, but he had problems and emotions - and was quite possibly the suavest character ever. If you haven''t read it yet, go and read it now. Best adaptation of theological doctrine ever (next to the Inferno)
#2: Dr. Faustus. In what is quite possibly the only opera in which the Devil is more sympathetic than the main character, Goethe''s Faust remains morbidly terrifying for me. There''s so much in Faust that I recognize in myself that it frightens me. THAT is what makes a villain unforgetable.
#3: From the anime Trigun (do I have a strange taste in material? Yes, I do!), the Gung-Ho Guns. I want to steal the guy who made the character concepts and wring all his genius from him. Those guys were stylishly insane - I can''t descibe them here, you''ll just have to go see here!
#4: Yeah, it''s Sephiroth, for all the above reasons, plus his hair.
Cheers,
-Operator
Author
I agree... I saw Trigun and Legato is definetly awesome!
"Stop it mister!!! I don''''t even know you!!!"
"Stop it mister!!! I don''''t even know you!!!"
I hate that damn retarded smiley icon in the topic header.
A great Villian is one that you can see as having a strong passion for something and following it through, no matter what the cost. And ruling by pure fear. How one man can control and put fear into many things is a good thing. GOOD.
A great Villian is one that you can see as having a strong passion for something and following it through, no matter what the cost. And ruling by pure fear. How one man can control and put fear into many things is a good thing. GOOD.
Seymour Guado, a man with so much passion for what he believed in, he refused to stay dead. He knew what he wanted and how he planned to get it. And I couldn't help but get excited on Gagazet Mountain when he tells Kimahri and the rest of them that the majority of the Ronso race had been wiped out. That was just so damn awesome.
Kaizer Soze, who was unbelievably awesome in The Usual Suspects. Kaizer Soze posed as a man named Verbal Kint, who was a gimp and didn't seem to be useful, when in reality, he was the most notorious mobster known. While explaining Kaizer Soze to a police officer in the guise of Verbal, he told about how he was once a small man in organized crime, but when men came into his house while he was at work and took his family as hostage, he came home and seen this, then shot his own family so they couldn't. That's how badass he was.
edit: Added Kaizer Soze
[edited by - orionx103 on December 23, 2003 12:46:21 PM]
Kaizer Soze, who was unbelievably awesome in The Usual Suspects. Kaizer Soze posed as a man named Verbal Kint, who was a gimp and didn't seem to be useful, when in reality, he was the most notorious mobster known. While explaining Kaizer Soze to a police officer in the guise of Verbal, he told about how he was once a small man in organized crime, but when men came into his house while he was at work and took his family as hostage, he came home and seen this, then shot his own family so they couldn't. That's how badass he was.
edit: Added Kaizer Soze
[edited by - orionx103 on December 23, 2003 12:46:21 PM]
I''m assuming this isn''t limited to games?
I''d say what makes a great villain is a combination of style, confidence, respect of his peers/enemies and their fear as well. You have to be able to admire a villain, no matter how heinous the crime, for them to be considered a great villain.
Take the previous example of Kaizer Soze. Here is a man who not only shot his own family to keep them from having to live with the shame of what his enemies had done to them, but then after killing the men who attacked his family he then went and tracked down the men''s families, their friends, the friends of the families - anyone who had ever known these men were killed.
You''ve got to respect a man like that, admire his determination and fear him at the same time.
I''d say what makes a great villain is a combination of style, confidence, respect of his peers/enemies and their fear as well. You have to be able to admire a villain, no matter how heinous the crime, for them to be considered a great villain.
Take the previous example of Kaizer Soze. Here is a man who not only shot his own family to keep them from having to live with the shame of what his enemies had done to them, but then after killing the men who attacked his family he then went and tracked down the men''s families, their friends, the friends of the families - anyone who had ever known these men were killed.
You''ve got to respect a man like that, admire his determination and fear him at the same time.
Thanks for elaborating where I failed to. I couldn''t remember every detail.
I agree, though. You have to admire the villain for him to be a great villain. I don''t think villains that every hates are great villains.
I agree, though. You have to admire the villain for him to be a great villain. I don''t think villains that every hates are great villains.
Some things that i think make a good villian is when they have a plan that the player is against, then as the player gets closer to the end of the game the villian knows it and begins to panic or struggle a bit, sending their elete troups. I think this gives the player the sence that they are hunting the villian. Multiple encounters with the villian where the villan believably escapes also helps.
I like villians that do things out of the ordinary.
Name: Albedo
Game: Xenosaga: Episode One
Actions: Child Molestation
Name: Albedo
Game: Xenosaga: Episode One
Actions: Child Molestation
This topic is closed to new replies.
Advertisement
Popular Topics
Advertisement
