They Had It Coming; You Are Both Happy And Sad.
When it comes to PC game villains, there is often a love-hate thing going on. On one hand, you have to respect their decisive plunge into mercilessness because it takes serious guts. And on the other, you feel compelled to spill their guts because they are so ruthless. Let us take a look at 10 PC game villains who got what they deserved.
1. Vaas Montenegro - Far Cry 3
Vaas is one guy you would not want to be stranded on an island with.
Vaas is the human version of a spider whose web is the remote Rook Islands which he uses to trap, tease, and torture wayward travelers. His features are in line with many of the other 10 PC game villains who got what they deserved. These features include intellectuality, remorselessness, and the drive to carry out psychopathic plans.
Enjoy this suspenseful UK launch trailer known as "Stranded".
This sucker is number 1 on the list for a bunch of reasons. The main reason is that he patiently waits for his prey to come to him. He just waits knowing he will eventually get to have his fun. This works thanks to Vaas's DJ friend who markets Vaas's island to tourists, convincing them they should pay a visit. And when they do, what do you think happens? They die, usually, but there are always exceptions.
Jason was one such tourist baited to the island along with friends. The thing is, Jason didn’t die, and instead somehow managed to repeatedly stab Vaas despite suffering a knife-wound prior to taking him down.
2. Vladimir Makarov - Call of Duty
If you do not recognize the name, Makarov is the main antagonist featured in the Call of Duty franchise. He shares many features with other bloodthirsty villains who made it into 10 PC game villains who got what they deserved. Makarov’s agenda is power to the nth degree and he isn’t afraid to remove any debris that might happen to slow him down.
This guy could not look innocent if he tried.
The turning point for Makarov was his premature release from the Russian armed forces following an investigation into inhumane military tactics he authorized. It seems at this point Makarov went rogue, joining what was known as the Ultranaturalists. While working under this radical political entity, he vaporized more than 30,000 Marines with a nuclear weapon. You do not get to kill that many people and go on living life.
This trailer for Modern Warfare 3 gives you a glimpse into the mind of Makarov.
Makarov finally dies at the hand of John Price, a Marine tasked with pursuing an evasive Makarov. Price made him pay the price by simultaneously hanging and sending him through a glass roof.
3. Frank Fontaine - BioShock
In BioShock you are led to believe that the man with the plan is none other than Andrew Ryan. This is why learning the truth about Atlas is so shocking. You see, Atlas is just another alias for criminal mastermind Frank Fontaine. This is a man who got his start long before Rapture, perfecting the art of conning unsuspecting victims and evading authorities.
If only you could tell evil by looks.
This prior experience made it easy for Fontaine to transfer his lucrative methods to Rapture. Posing as a freedom fighter named Atlas, he guides the unsuspecting player through Rapture under the pretense that Andrew Ryan is the only villain.
Our man Frank straight up injecting ADAM.
As the story progresses, you learn that everything from Little Sisters to the Splicers are not Andrew Ryan’s fault, and that the one most deserving of death is Fontaine. This is why you pursue him into his lair where he has overdosed on ADAM and doesn’t go down without a fight. In the end it is a combination of your actions and the Little Sisters that finally bring Frank Fontaine down for good.
4. Arthas/The Lich King - Warcraft
Arthas Menethil, former heir to the throne of Lordaeron, had everything he could have ever wanted. He had loyal family, friends and Jaina Proudmoore as his loving partner. And yet somehow it was not enough. What began as a vengeance mission against the Burning Legion eventually morphed into a quest for power at any cost. From the perspective of those close to him including Uther and Muradin, his first act of treachery was the mass-killing of villagers whose grain had been infected with blight. Instead of being conscientious of those uninfected, he singlehandedly carried out mass genocide in response to the outbreak.
Meet vengeance, I mean Arthas.
From there Arthas went on to claim the demonic blade known as Frostmourne as his own, succumbing to its power and using it to raise an army of undead. His downfall was tragic because not only did he betray his entire kingdom, he ended up serving the same threat that he swore to eradicate.
He is not even trying to hide it now.
Arthas met his ill-fate when former allies and heroes had no choice other than to take him down. It took a small army of heroes, including the souls that Frostmourne had harvested, to weaken the fallen paladin to the point that he was vulnerable to mortal attacks.
5. Darth Malak - Knights of the Old Republic
Malak is one of those tyrant-types whose killing spree was out of control. He commits treachery after treachery sparing no innocents in his conquest of the galaxy. We get it, Malak. Nobody understands you and you need more power.
You know you are a rebel when your master slices your jaw off.
You want to betray the Jedi Order? Fine, that is your choice. Oh, so now you want to exterminate the Jedi Covenant? Now we are a bit concerned. Seriously, Malak? You would happily execute thousands of innocents on Taris in order to ensure the death of Bastila Shan? You miserable wretch, you. And to top it off, you go and betray your Sith Master because you need more power? That is where we draw the line, Malak.
I proudly give you the original trailer for Knights of the Old Republic.
Plain and simple, Malak had it coming. Who better to deliver the fatal blow other than his former Sith Master fighting once again for the Jedi. Darth Revan puts this fireball down once and for all.
6. Handsome Jack - Borderlands
Handsome? I guess if you like old and angular.
Head honcho of Hyperion, Handsome Jack, is one of those guys whose cockiness simply cannot be ignored. From the first time you hear this guy speak, you want to end his consciousness. What is Jack guilty of exactly? A better question is what isn't he guilty of? Jack enjoys killing so much that he rants about it. His quest for power is more important than the livelihood of the natives on Pandora.
After viewing this we should all be on the same page.
This lack of remorse is exactly why Handsome Jack from the Borderlands series deserves to die. In fact, I recently began playing Borderlands 2 and as I sat there nearly 7 hours into the plot I collected my thoughts for a moment and asked myself; why had I spent 7 hours in this game? The answer was simple; to see Handsome Jack gurgle on his own blood.
7. Shodan - System Shock
Shodan puts Medusa to shame.
Shodan is the main antagonist in the System Shock games who ends up hijacking space stations and murdering the crew. Her name is an acronym which expands to Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network. Just a note friends; a space station or any other isolated environment is a terrible place to be stuck with a sentient A.I. especially if it has sinister plans. And sinister is exactly the category that her plans fell into; she made rare exceptions for who she left alive. And it was the fact that she left anyone alive that led to her demise.
Have a look at Nightdive Studio's trailer for their System Shock 1 remaster.
In one instance of her downfall, the coder who initially hacked her algorithms causing her to become unstable hacked her into oblivion. Or so he thought…
8. Andrew Ryan - BioShock
Think for yourself, would you kindly?
Andrew Ryan from BioShock is another villain who completely deserves the death that came his way. Andrew Ryan is a different breed of criminal than say Handsome Jack. Unlike Jack, Andrew Ryan had a code of ethics he believed in and felt would make Rapture a better place.
Rapture was his vision, chaos was the reality.
Unfortunately, when forced into a corner, Andrew Ryan had no choice but to bend his own rules which erased his credibility to lead. Attempting to regain control of the chaos that ensued from his bending of the rules, he became the very monster that he felt Rapture would be the solution to.
9. Wheatley - Portal 2
For the most part, Wheatley is awesome.
Wheatley from Portal 2 is a special breed of villain whose transition into power was abrupt. Wheatley became drunk on power and corrupted quickly. Instead of continuing his quest to assist Chell in her escape from the enrichment center, he concocts a series of traps to ensure her death which ultimately leads to his demise.
Get to know Wheatley by watching this clip.
Death would have been better than the fate Wheatley is still suffering. Instead of a quick disassembly, Wheatley was sucked into space through a portal accompanied by the most annoying of companions, the idiotic Space Core.
10. Sarah Kerrigan - StarCraft
Sarah was one of the best commando operatives, and then she was left for dead.
Sarah is a wildcard on this list because she never actually fell in battle. Conversely, she made the list of 10 PC game villains who got what they deserved due to the fact that she accomplished so much that she had set her mind to.
This woman has become the embodiment of vengeance.
She is similar to Wheatley in that her transformation was lightning fast. The sad thing about her story is that she did not choose her fate. Her superiors abandoned her mid-mission and as a result she was infested. Her rise as the Queen of Blades was not what she wanted, yet it gave her the platform she needed to exact revenge on those who chose for her.
It is my hope that this article has helped rekindle the hatred you harbor for these villains so you are inspired to go back and kill them again. Stay classy and happy gaming.
