Trail of a Badman

Whew - bashing out 300 posts (and on a regular basis may I add) is certainly something to be proud of. But is it any reason to stop? Of course not! I still have plenty more to say and as long as I continue to do so, this blog may continue to thrive.

But what you may not know is that the list of 300 posts was not my original choice for the 300 post milestone. What happened is that my original idea didn't turn out as well as I hoped and it had to be scrapped - and the list of my 50 best games was a late-hour arrival. Now personally I find that the posts I put a lot of thought and effort into, turn out to be my best ones so in a way my fifty best games post seems rather anticlimactic.
But I digress. So what was the original post I had in mind? Well, the follow on from my best heroines and heroes posts, I felt it was fitting to continue with the theme with some of my favorite villains.

However once I took up the task, I soon faced a problem: I was having a really hard time trying to come up with eleven of them.

You see, the main difference between video games and books/films/TV series, is the principle of interactivity. And somehow that lessens the impact of a villainous presence.
Allow me to elaborate: I can think of many villains in books/films/TV series that have made an impression on me: Darken Rahl, Emperor Palpatine, Nurse Ratchet, Joffrey Lannister, David Xanatos, Mr Blonde, Lijah (FETHING!) Cuu, Gaston, T-1000, Makato Shishio, Dilandau, General Melchett, Discord and the Queen of the Changelings. These are characters who are made out to be nasty - true they may also be of a complex personality, have a decent motivation and may even be sympathetic. But in the end they are the villains and their ultimate role is to enough bad stuff to make you, the viewer, want them to get their just desserts from the protagonist. Indeed, I personally feel the mark of a good villain is the type that makes you want to reach into the pages/screen and wring the asshole's neck.

But therein lies the key difference with video games - the interactivity. You, the player are there to kill the bad guy. You aren't relying on someone else to do it. You are doing the same thing that countless heroes in books/films/TV series have done before you. And somehow, such knowledge lessens the impact a villain should have. The viewer finally can make a difference to the drama before them and go one on one with the once seemingly untouchable villain.
Therefore, whilst it's easy for me to think up many fictional villains, it's not so easy when it comes to video games. Very few video game villains I can think of have generated such an impact that equals, or even surpasses, the rogues gallery listed above.

In addition, in an attempt to find some inspiration, I read several gaming villains lists and I found they all said the same thing - Namely, GLaDOS and Sephiroth. But somehow I don't buy that because a) what, did all the other gaming villains pack up and leave? and b) it seemed to me that these two do something (Sephiroth killed Aerith! GLaDOS made me laugh!) and people are willing to spend many hours write down many an essay to back up their decision. But anyone could do that to any villain so why should these two get the red carpet treatment?

Grumbling aside, the idea of compiling a list of my favorite video game villains is still there and may be one that I may return to one day. I have my own ideas on what makes a great villain and upon seeing so many lists on what makes a great villain, somehow one gets the feeling an alternative view could be necessary....