Favorite Antagonist

          Some time ago I wrote an article about favorite protagonists. As you can see by the title, I’m looking at villains now. Thing is, good villains are hard to find. 

          To me, Handsome Jack of Borderlands 2 is the most evil of all the antagonists I’ve encountered.  He does lots of bad things to the player, but he also hurts other characters in the world. It’s one thing for a villain to strike at me, but to drag in people I know and love? That’s grounds for war! What I like most about this guy is how often you interact with him. It’s not direct interaction, but it still makes me cringe every time I hear from him. Usually he insults you or impedes your progress by sending a boss to fight you or something. I think it’s when he gets personal is when you start to hate him. He’s the kind of guy you love to hate. Whenever he hurts someone you know, that’s when the grudge you’ve got against him intensifies. For example, he captures Mordecai’s pet hawk and infuses it with several properties such as Fire, Shock, Toxic, and even Elemental. He forces it to fight you. After you’ve weakened it enough, everything seems fine. We can all go home and get Bloodwing fixed. Then Jack decides to make the bird explode into meat chunks and leaves you and Mordecai to mourn over the loss of a dear friend. 

          Not all villains have to be smart, though. They can just be someone in the protagonists way. It could even be someone who has evil intentions, but is not competent at carrying out their plans. Take Dr. Nefarious of the Ratchet and Clank series. He’s the kind of guy who has one goal: kill the squishies (his term for organic life). The way he moves gives him this zany and comical feel and his dialogue makes you snicker. When he overloads with rage, a soap opera recording plays until someone smacks him back into reality. You just can’t take him seriously, but you sort of like him. Does he accomplish anything? Not really. But I’d like to see more villains like him.

          The scariest villains are usually the ones that don’t communicate with the player, but interact with them either indirectly or directly. In Among the Sleep, your own mother is a villain as a nightmarish representation. As a toddler, you perceive your mom as a caring person, but also as this horrible monster. In your mind, there’s a version of your mother who drinks excessively and becomes enraged, thus becoming this hideous beast. In this form, she can follow and capture you. In her normal form, she has a nurturing personality. It’s terrifying seeing one’s darkest impulses brought into a physical incarnation.

          What villains do you all think are great? Is it someone who’s committed the most nefarious deeds? Someone with wicked intentions? Or perhaps a complete monster?