Summary
An RPG can only be as good as their lead character or villain sometimes. For example, the dynamic between Cloud and Sephiroth inFinal Fantasy 7gripped people in 1997. The world of video games was changing as they were becoming quite literally cinematic. Another good villain example would be Magus fromChrono Triggeralthough Crono, as a lead, was not as engaging as a silent protagonist.
That didn’t diminish what Magus brought to the table though. So,Final Fantasy 7andChrono Triggerare two of the most celebrated RPGs of all time. These other examples are good too, but some of their villains didn’t have much life after their initial debut. Here’s what makes these villains tick—with spoilers on.
Masayoshi Shido turned out to be the big political influence that was driving the plot forward inPersona 5. He was the crooked politician who had the protagonist move to his new home after a scandal. Breaking Shido should have been the triumphant win forJoker and the rest of The Phantom Thieves. However, Society still was not fixed.
Players had to traverse Mementos next and at the very end of this sprawling dungeon, players were met by something unspeakable. The true mastermind of the game was called Holy Grail and it looked like a big cup. It was the collective unconscious of society that players had to break through. It still doesn’t make sense years later and Holy Grail isn’t the villain players remember most from the game anyway. It’s not even the final boss but it still plays a big role in the story.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Starswas the first game to featureMario in an RPG. From here, two spinoff series were born:Paper MarioandMario & Luigi. Square Enix never got to make a Mario RPG game again besides helping with the Switch remake,Super Mario RPG.
It’s a shame as a lot of the villains from Square Enix’s interpretation were iconic. The overall big bad, Smithy, collected a wide array of hilarious bosses to do his bidding. His head-morphing ability was a neat idea and his vow to break the chain of wishes was dastardly. Unfortunately, Smithy doesn’t get the same screen time as Bowser or even Wario as villains in the overallMariofranchise.
Those who have not touchedThe World Ends With Yousince it was released on the DS in 2008 or got the Switch remaster in 2018 may not remember how that whole story plays out. Neku, the protagonist, dies and goes to another version of Shibuya. Here, he is forced to play several rounds ofa Death Game, like in an anime, hoping to get a wish so he can then get revived. Along the way, he gets several partners including Joshua.
Joshua seems to know more than he is letting on, but for all intents and purposes, he is just another dead teen like Neku. Well, Joshua turned out to be the god-like being who created the game in the first place. It was a huge twist, so some players may have indeed forgotten that Joshua was a villain, technically, the whole time. Joshua had his “just” reasons but ultimately Neku beat him down and got what he wanted.
Airy had a similar twist in her game, Bravely Default. Airy was a fairy that followed the party around, adding helpful advice from time to time. She very much fell in line with fairies likeNavi fromThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Timebut Airy talked even more than her.
Airy may have interrupted a lot, but she seemed on the up and up. That is until the party eventually figured out they were stuck in a time loop and Airy was the mastermind behind it all. Her final form was less cute as Airy looked like a giant slug. Oddly, Airy was featured on the cover of the 3DS game when she was the villain the whole time. That was bold of Square Enix in retrospect but they never revisited Airy in any large capacity.
Not everyFinal Fantasygets an iconic villain likeSephiroth fromFinal Fantasy 7or Kefka fromFinal Fantasy 6. Vayne was the big bad behind most evil deeds inFinal Fantasy 12and even ancillary releases following this did not celebrate Vayne. For example,Dissidia 012 Final Fantasyadded Vaan and Judge Gabranth to the roster in celebration ofFinal Fantasy 12.
Judge Gabranth is a good side villain but it would have made more sense to put Basch in the game as the hero instead of Vaan then since Basch is Judge Gabranth’s good brother. Why wasn’t Vayne picked then? For most of the game, he’s just a guy until he turns into a more flesh-colored Hulk before the final battle. Vayne is conniving as a ruler, but he does not rank that high as a memorableFinal Fantasyvillain.
Albedo could get an entire article dedicated to him as all villains led to this moment. He is predominantly the main villain intheXenosagatrilogyalthough there are other characters above him technically. What made him great was that Albedo was seemingly an all-knowing god who constantly teased players with bigger things to come. One of his most memorable scenes was between him and Momo, one of the game’s party members.
As he sucks other androids dry of their essence, Albedo waxes poetic about what it is to be alive. He then rips off his hand, demonstrating to Momo that he can regrow limbs. After, he tears his own head off and still goes on while laughing manically. Crispin Freeman, his English voice actor, did a tremendous job. The Joker from the Batman comics wishes he was this powerful and unhinged.
