Nearly every video game has a main character that you play as, called the protagonist. More often than not, this protagonist is also a ‘hero’ of sorts. While this isn’t always the case, these roles often overlap. From time to time though, you’ll come across a video game protagonist who displays villainous characteristics.
Here, we are going to take a look at some ‘heroes’ that can also be perceived as villains. We’ll attempt to avoid spoilers here, but just keep in mind that we will be going over what makes them villainous in a small amount of detail. If you see a game you haven’t played yet, skip it!
8Takumi Sumino
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy
The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is astory-heavy game that’s best played without knowing much. We won’t dive too deeply into the story, but shortly into the game, you’ll encounter a situation that will make you rethink Takumi Sumino, as well as all the other students.
When you finish a battle and it’s time to kill your first commander, the screen will go red and you’ll be able to hear a heartbeat; it feels like the POV is from the commander. After choosing who should kill the commander, you’ll watch an incredibly villainous killing animation. Without spoiling the story, just know that this vibe persists the rest of the game.
7Joel
The Last Of Us
Joel from The Last of Us is a popular character to mention when talking about villainous heroes. He is not exactly a villain, but he is definitely blinded by his connection to others. If you somehow haven’t seen the show or played at least the first game, we won’t ruin it for you. Just know, he acts a bit evil.
Rather than being an altruistic hero in the face of a zombie apocalypse, Joel is just some guy struggling to get by. He didn’t train for greatness, and after living in the current state of the world for years, he is tired. Overall, Joel is an average guy living in a harsh world who chooses to take extreme actions.
6Mario
Mario Franchise
Imagine this; you’re sitting on your balcony of New Donk City, taking in the city air. Suddenly, you hear a noise below and look down. There is a little man dressed in red who is jumping on cars, knocking over stoplights, and making weird noises. Sure, Mario may be all fun and games, but there is no denying that he causes a lot of destruction.
Mario isn’t really villainous, but he is definitely chaotic. If you’veplayed Mario Kart World for the Nintendo Switch 2, you may freeroam in the world, crash into cars, tear down wooden fences, and even bounce off the head of a Toad.
5Nier
Nier Replicant
Nier Replicant is similar to The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy; too much information here can really spoil the story. In this game, you play as Nier, though you’ll be able to change his name if you want to.
After playing through the game for the first time, you’ll be able to play again, but things will start to feel a bit different. This second playthrough recontextualizes the main character’s actions. The story will develop, proving to not be the classic Good vs. Evil situation that you believed it to be.
4Vincent
Catherine: Full Body
Quite honestly, Vincent is anything but heroic. While you do play as him and strive to help others in the Nightmare world, he is a bit morally grey. A major point of Catherine: Full Body (as well as the original Catherine) is cheating on your girlfriend.
Cheating doesn’t really make someone a bonafide villain, but there is no denying that it is bad. Aside from that, you’re able to also play the game pretty chaotically, which adds to the villainous aspect of Vincent.
3Dragonborn
Skyrim
In any open-world video game with tons of side quests, you may play a bit villainous. This includes Skyrim; you can be a good little Dragonborn and follow quests without causing harm, or you can just immediately start killing.
When most of us play Skyrim, we stray from the main story and do whatever we want for a while. Personally, I headed north to become a vampire, killing many humans along the way. Sure, you may build up a bounty, but the chaos is worth it.
2Kratos
God Of War
Kratos is the main character and protagonist of the God of War franchise. With a name like ‘God of War’ though, you may expect him to be a bit violent. In fact, many of his actions are ruthless, extremely violent, and downright villainous at times.
As more games in the franchise come out, Kratos' personality changes. In the beginning, though, he was brutal and borderline evil. This duality of good vs. evil in one person makes God of War so interesting, so it’s worth checking out for yourself.
1Lara Croft
Tomb Raider
The name ‘Tomb Raider’ alone should be enough of a reason to include Lara Croft on our list. Lara Croft seems to be a classic action hero, but while doing so, she is going into tombs and stealing artifacts from other cultures.
In each game,there is some amount of tomb defiling that occurs. From Lara’s perspective, it may be necessary, but from the perspective of the culture, it may be a bit (or very) insensitive. It’s up to you to decide if it’s worth it.
