The Role of Villains in RPGs

by Fritz Fraundorf 

It is often said that a story is only as good as its villain, a saying that applies to books, movies, and, yes, RPGs. So why is that, with a few exceptions, there are few good villains?

Let's start from the beginning. Back when RPGs had no real story, the villain was some Big Bad Evil Demon King that a party of nameless heroes had to defeat. This was all technology had to offer, so nobody really complained. Then we moved onto the Big Bad Evil Empire, in which the heroes clashed with generals who had names and occasionally personalities, and the villain appeared before the last hour of the game. Unfortunately, we haven't really moved much beyond that stage.

The foremost problem with most villains is that they are only villains because the game tells us so. Take, for example, Final Fantasy Tactics. There are many factions in FF Tactics, all of whom believe they are the good guys. Indeed, many of them make arguments as to why their side is the right one-- for instance, the Hokutens' belief that Ramza is a disgrace to the Beoulve name. Now, an entirely different game could have been made in which the goal was to punish Ramza for dishonoring his family. But no, we know that Ramza must be the good guy because he is the main character, and the main character is always right. Or how about Sephiroth? He wasn't really a bad guy, just misguided. In fact, many people didn't feel that he should even have been killed.

In order for any villain to be truly effective, the audience (in the case of RPGs, the player) must dislike the villain. Take, for example, Balio and Sunder in Breath of Fire 3. These two guys beat Ryu unconscious four times, take him prisoner three times, burn his house, drive his friends into hiding, and generally make his life hell. Besides the fact that they're obviously an enemy of Ryu, they're also an enemy of the player. They force you, as the player, to go to place you want to go, prevent you from backtracking, and force you into a chase around the world. Every time you're about to accomplish something, Balio and Sunder show up. You begin to harbor a personal dislike for them, and when you eventually get to fight them, you're thrilled to be able to rid yourself of these two pests. Now that's an effective villain.

Sephiroth may be a good character, but he is not a good villain. I even feel that he should have been an ally, and not the villain. The best villains are those with absolutely no redeeming qualities: Alhazad (Wild ARMs), Ghaleon (Lunar), Kefka (Final Fantasy), Balio and Sunder. You have no reason to like them; in fact, you hate them. And that fact alone is what makes them great villains.