A few months ago I was arguing on facebook with a guy about Kefka from Final Fantasy 6. The guy claimed Kefka was an awesome video game villain. I didn’t agree with him, but it took me awhile to fully formulate my arguments. This post is the result of that formulation. I present to you, for your unadulterated amusement, what makes a good video game villain.

The thing is – I believe Kefka, while better than some, is just a poor villain masquerading as a good one. If you don’t play video games, or have never played Final Fantasy 6, this post is still useful to you – some of the criteria surely surpasses both the specific game and the medium. Anyway, here are the essential characteristics of a good video game villain:

Actions that Betray a Low Pathos

The best villains act in a way that demonstrates their lack of human concern. This, unlike the Greek tragic hero, whose fatal flaw is traditionally hubris, is the fatal flaw that makes a villain a villain (though hubris can lead to a lack of pathos). They have a personal agenda that must be satisfied no matter what. Good villains always think the ends justify the means. The best villains care about the carnage they inflict on other human lives, but don’t care enough to stop.

An Understandable Motivation, Explainable by Cause and Effect

I absolute loathe villains that are just evil for the sake of evil. This is the lamest motivation a villain can have. People like that don’t exist. This is especially loathsome for the standard video game villain endgame: destroying the world while laughing like a hyena. I just don’t buy it.

I mean, if you live on the world, why the hell would you want to destroy it? Being batshit insane is the only motivation that explains this desire, unless the dude is so bummed that he wants to kill himself and take the world with him. But still. It’s so dumb.

Money and Power do in a pinch here if motivation is needed, but only if the reason for wanting to acquire those things is explainable. A guy who wants to get rich to just be rich is a poor villain. A guy who wants to get rich to save his family, buy a specific item for important reasons, or has a direct personal motivation (dude was poor when he was a kid) to acquire riches is a good villain. This explainable motivation is the key difference, especially for the “I’m evil so I want to destroy the world types.”

The very best villains are presented with dire circumstances and you understand why they made the choices they made. Even if you wouldn’t have made the same choices, you understand how a sane human being could make those choices, too. This is why Kefka is a lame duck villain. He has no motivation  beyond abject insanity.

Personal Choice (As Opposed to Fate)

Personal choice is as essential to a villain as it is to the hero. If anything, a good hero and a good villain are flipsides of the same coin – when presented with an awful situation, the hero decides to do the right thing and the villain decides to do the wrong thing. But the point is: the choice matters.

So many games try to flit around this point (probably because it’s damn difficult to pull off as a storyteller) but including some type of “fate.” While this is a lazy story telling technique for both heroes (“Because you are the one, Neo.”) and villains, it’s especially asinine with villains. What kind of lame villain is so spineless that he’s fated to be evil and he just accepts it? If there’s no personal choice, there’s no drama.

Again, the best villains are placed in a situation where you can understand their choices and you understand exactly why they made them.

Can Only Be Overcome By the Growth of the Hero

If Superman fights a normal gun-wielding yahoo, it’s no contest. The bullets bounce off his manly star-emblazoned chest while he laughs at their ineptitude before punching them in the face and going to make time with Lois Lane. Get the point? You have to have villains that are powerful enough that they can only be overcome by personal growth of the hero, but not so powerful that the hero’s growth is unrealistic.

An ant is not a good villain for Superman, but an ant could be a great villain for a termite. Superman needs world-class villains. World-class villains need world-class heroes.

Conclusion

So those are the four main things I think makes a good video game villain. Before I close and ask you want you think, I want to present some examples:

Awesome Villains

Sephiroth

Darth Vader

That fat guy from Jurassic Park

Satan

HAL 9000

Hannibal Lecter

Agent Smith

Poor Villians

Kefka

Carnage

Professor Moriarty

Most Greek Gods

Nature and Bad Weather

If you agree or not, drop me a line in the comments and we’ll argue. C’mon. It’ll be fun.