And it’s turned them into pansies.

A fact that didn’t really bother me until now: we do not hate villains. In fact, we love our villains. We are affectionate to their purposes, understanding of their evil deeds, and enamored by their persona and style. The protagonist has been supplanted by the antagonist as the champion of the games we play, the shows we watch, and the books we read. In other words, villains nowadays are certified pansies. Pantywaists. Pussies.

One of the main problems with villains nowadays is that the deeds of these villains just aren’t nefarious enough. I’ve noticed that some of the crimes that these so-called bad guys commit are simply forgettable, and sometimes even forgivable. It almost seems as though the most extreme a villain will go these days is murder. Which, don’t get me wrong, is very despicable indeed. But, as they say, there are worse fates than death. And to be perfectly honest, does anyone really care about the characters these villains are snuffing out?

Take Kefka for example. He’s considered one of gaming history’s greatest villains, and I personally cannot see it. Sure, he was a zany misanthropist, and he was bat-shit crazy, and he killed a few people. But he never affected me on a personal level. He never invoked any anger or hatred or motivation. Just sheer annoyance, mild disgust, and amusement. (Quite often I found myself going “Haha! I fuckin’ love this guy!”). <Spoiler>Even when I saw him kill General Leo, I didn’t really feel anything except indifference. For like most main antagonists, Kefka tended to kill relatively insignificant characters that you barely knew anything about.</Spoiler>



One may argue, though, that one of the reasons we love villains so much is that our heroes are so dislikable. And to that I say that the real problem lies within our perception of what we believe makes a good hero. We generally tend to frown upon characters that display emotions such as despair and hopelessness and angst in our video games, when the source of said emotions is usually the villain, the bad dude we all seem to adore so much. Cloud and Sephiroth. Raiden and The Patriots. Tidus and Syn. The list goes on and on. A sad truth, but... we gamers typically like our avatars to be all-powerful hardasses. Don’t believe me? I know a few people that absolutely HATED Raiden, but have since grown to love him since Metal Gear Solid 4’s release. They splooge at the mention of him, now.

It’s the job of the villain to make you hate them. They’re supposed to be that inspiration, alongside simply seeing the ending, to complete a game. They’re supposed to make you feel like you have zero chance of defeating them. They’re supposed to put you in impossible situations. They’re there to hurt you, provoke your ire, and provide hopelessness. Think back to when you seriously hated a villain in a game you were playing. Remember how engaging the story suddenly felt? Remember how exhilarating that final showdown was? Remember how relieved you were when you struck that final blow? That, my dear friends, is the result of good villainy (and good writing).

Who are some villains that you loved to hate? And why?