Month of Characters: Top 10 Villains I Hate For All The Wrong Reasons:

Well, anyone who knows me could probably guess that this was coming.  We have tons of great villains in games.  Well rounded villains who are relatable, lucid ones who are charming and brilliant, and the most scummy ones who you hate because of how evil they are.  However, here's the thing...when the story does it's job right, you hate the villain because that's the way it should be.  When the story screws up, you hate the villain because you want to smack the game designer and go "What were you thinking?!"  These are 10 villains I utterly despise, but for all the wrong reasons.  Needless to say, there will be spoilers.

SPOILER WARNING!!!

Satan(Castlevania Lords of Shadow)

I've talked about this one before, so do I really need to go on?  Satan as the final boss of a Castlevania game?!  I mean, c'mon...where's Dracula?!  But, for completeness sake, let me explain, again, why this is such a stupid decision.  First off, he's never been introduced, mentioned, or even hinted at throughout the 30+ hour game and we're supposed to care about fighting him at the end?  Bull crap.  I know lots of games sometimes do the fake out, where the main boss you've been fighting gets killed off and a new guy appears, but it does not make it any less stupid.  Also, if Satan is the head baddy, why would he kill one of the Lords of Shadow?  Because he kills the Lord of Necromancers right at the end of the game.  Finally, by killing the Lord of Necromancers, Satan ACCIDENTALLY SAVES YOUR LIFE.  Gabriel Belmont had been used and tricked by the Lord of Necromancers all game and had unwittingly come into contact with a possessed artifact that the Lord of Necromancers could use to kill him.  In fact, after you create the item you've been looking for the whole game, the God Mask, he uses the possessed artifact to start to kill Gabriel and take the mask as his own.  Then Satan kills him and suddenly, your possessed artifact no longer has a master, so bam, you're saved and you defeat Satan to win the game.  Evil would have won if the prince of darkness had butted out.  Just pathetic storytelling.  I mean, I was told for over 30 hours that the three Lords of Shadow were my opponents.  In fact, it's in the title!  Yet Satan comes out and just goes "Fooled ya!  I'm the final boss!"  That is just stupid to the utmost degree.

The unholy one is a banished servant of the divine.  He holds no power, despite believing himself deserving of greatness and is worth more pity than fear.

Geldoblame (Baten Kaitos series)

For most head scratching appearance, let's give it up for Emperor Geldoblame.  Throughout most of Baten Kaitos, he is manipulating powerful forces to gather together the pieces of an ancient god and use them to control the world.  Then he gets killed, betrayed by his partner who is smarter and more nihilistic than he is.  It was a satisfying end for the tyrant, out witted and with his ambitions in shambles.  Then, at the end of the game after the players have killed the elder god which was summoned and their homes which had been floating in the sky touch down on the earth, he appears again.  Geldoblame's giant head made of stone pops out of the ground and attacks the players in a battle they pretty much can't lose.  Why?  Why did this need to be here?  He had his moment, died for his hubris, but now we have to fight him again?  Why?!  Oh, so the whale can come here and restore the ocean or something, whatever, alright...it just feels wasteful and stupid.  Geldoblame was a decent villain...until he came back from the dead as a giant stone head.  Then I scratched my head and started hating him.

The emperor held great power and ambition, but was ultimately brought low by his own desires.  Despite that, he clung to life and the memory of the tyrant was replaced by the memory of a pitiful ghost who could not let go of his greed.

True form of King Allant (Demons Souls)

I hated Demons Souls.  For a lot of reasons.  But that aside, what annoyed me probably the most is the final boss, which is basically a slug-like form of King Allant, the man who unleashed catastrophe on his kingdom and basically started the game.  He sought power and unleashed a monster which merged with and ultimately corrupted him.  He's pathetically weak and can be slain in a single blow.  Now, I know why that is and I know why we should hate him.  We should hate him for his greed and arrogance and ultimately pity him, for in trying to gain power he doomed himself to a cursed half existence as a monster, alone in the chamber of the beast he made a deal with.  But really, I was so annoyed at all this.  I'd cursed, sweated, and struggled through the other dozen or so bosses, each a nightmare unto themselves, and my final battle was against the "False King" a truly wicked bastard who killed me a number of times before I dropped him.  And then I am told I must go fight the real monster, the mastermind behind the whole event, and it's just Allant after become a slug like monster?  What a freakin disappointment!  This, especially, after fighting my way through hundreds of lives to reach the ending.  Dark Souls, its sequel, has you fight the specter of a god who, despite having lost much of his power, can rip you apart if you're not careful.  Not the hardest boss in the game, but not easy, either.  A climactic battle is what players want, since it makes the ending we fought so hard for that much sweeter.  But for just being completely pathetic and ultimately leaving a bad taste in my mouth after such hard work, I hate King Allant.  He's the epitome of pathetic.

The hanged man was once a king.  However, his intense desire for power and his fear made him weak, pitiful, and ultimately destroyed him.  All that remains is a shell.  To slay him is a mercy.

Barthandelus (Final Fantasy 13)

I.  DESPISE.  Barthandelus.  He comes right out of nowhere, has motivations which are not only selfish, but utterly stupid, he's been spying on the party for most of the game, manipulating them, and wants them to destroy him and all of creation.  Why?  Because the creator of the Fal'cie went away and they're throwing a fit, so they want to call him back through mass genocide.  Worse is that Barthandelus kind of makes the entire story irrelevant, since the players are basically in the palm of his hand from the start and guided by him throughout the story.  However, this opens a huge number of plot holes.  How could he have predicted the players would be turned into L'cie with the power to destroy all of creation?  How could he have orchestrated it all when everyone's actions were a comedy of errors?  Why, if he wanted you to destroy him, do HIS soldiers try to corner and kill you for the first FORTY HOURS?!  I mean, what would have happened if we'd lost?  If YOUR soldiers actually cornered and killed us?  Did you ever think of that, Barthandelus?  For that matter, why doe HE fight the players?  He's basically a mechanical god, with immense power, yet he wants the players to kill him and destroy everything, right?  So, why does he fight?  Why not just lay down and take it?  The character is so bland, stupid, and frustratingly cliche.  Even if you forgive the plot holes, let's just examine the situation closely for one moment.  Despite watching over humanity for millenia, ruling them in luxury, and basically being worshipped as a god, Barthandelus wants the main party to set off the apocalypse by killing him just so he can call his creator back and "Start over".  Say that out loud for a moment.  Then, join me in saying, "Barthandelus, you are made of stupid."

The world ruled over all as a god since time immemorial.  However, even this was not enough for him.  He desired to return to nothing and start again, if only because he was bored, with no thought to those he would hurt or his children, which he would betray for his own petty desires.

The White Witch (Ni No Kuni)

This one is so easy it's kind of sad.  Ni No Kuni is subtitled "Wrath of the White Witch."  But despite the fact that the we see the witch "controlling things as a puppetmaster," she doesn't really do much and is pretty irrelevant to the story until the last...3-4 hours?  She runs a shadowy council and seems all intimidating and kills our hero Oliver's mom, but...she isn't the main villain.  Oliver and company don't even know she exists till she announces herself.  The main villain for most of the game is Shadar, the Dark Djinn, who has a much more tragic and satisfying backstory, far better reasons for being the villain, and a pay off at the end which is incredibly satisfying.  By the time I got to fight the White Witch, I felt like saying "Why are you here?  Bring back Shadar!"  She and her council are the final bosses, but they feel like they shouldn't even be in the game.  I mean, the plot could've been altered slightly to not include her and everything would've worked out fine.  Oh, White Witch...why do you even exist?

The priestess watched over the world from her gilded seat, unwilling to save it but more than willing to condemn it.  However, her vanity was such that she would not even rule it...instead giving that honor to her servant.  None know the priestess.  None care for the priestess.  The priestess need not be.

Maximillian (Growlanswer 2: The Sense of Justice)

Maximillian is actually a pretty interesting villain, but ultimately he feels shoved in at the last minute and has to be compared to the much more interesting monster named Gevas.  See, you meet Maximillian at the start of the game, you become friends, then, on a routine military expedition, you and he discover a cave with an ancient mask that he takes to go research.  Maximillian wants to rid the world of war and believes anything toward that goal is just.  At the end of the game, he finds that the mask is a subjugation artifact and that he can use it to mind control people into not fighting. And, for the sake of justice and free will, the player must stop him.  Here's the thing, though.  For most of the game, a character named Arrieta, with a dual personality, has acted as the main villain.  When cornered, she reveals herself to be possessed by Gevas, a world crushing monstrosity that the heroes of Growlanswer 1 fought and defeated.  Now it's returned and we have to fight it.  And after it's dead, we then go fight Maximillian.  To me, that just seems kinda pointless.  Not only did we defeat the ultimate evil, but we did it and the game didn't end...it only ends after we defeat Maximillian?  Lame.  Maximillian's plot and his final boss status seems kinda thrown in at the last moment, but they were alright.  They'd be fine if they didn't have to compare to Gevas, which we'd already beaten.  I hate this battle because the comparison just kills any tension, as Gevas was a far more final boss.

Judgement holds his answer as the truth above all others and will bring an end to the cycle of death and rebirth.  He seeks to end war, strife, and power, though his means be unjust.  The sad truth is that while he may judge, he holds no power compared to the vast will of the world.

Wilhelm (Xenosaga 3: Also Sprach Zarathustra)

Wilhelm is more baffling to me than hateful.  But, in a series with a ton of great villains, including the space pope, a man who blows his own head off, steps on it, then regenerates it, a body snatcher, and a space samurai, we have Wilhelm as the grand mastermind of some vaguely evil scheme.  Wilhelm is a CEO of a technology corporation in the far future, who looks to be about...age fifteen, tops, and has no emotions.  Or if he has them, he doesn't use them.  Wilhelm is boring.  And I have no idea why I'm fighting him, save that he's trying to...destroy the universe?  I guess?  And Wilhelm is the main villain.  He has private shock corps made up of better fallen villains.  He pisses me off because I have no reason to fight him, no reason to be invested, no reason to even care.  He's not even in the final battle.  He uses "The circle of Zarathustra" which I have no idea what its supposed to do, with a kid named Abel in the center, to try and kill the party.  Wilhelm seems about as bored as I am.  That's why I hate him.  The best thing a villain can be is memorable.  Some are memorable for good reasons, some for how lame or annoying they were, but they are still remembered.  The worst thing a villain can be is boring because no one will remember them.

The hermit does not indulge to enter the world.  He is content to stay back, emotionless, uninterested, holding his philosophy above all others.  There is nothing he has to say.  There is nothing he has to teach.  He may as well return to solitude.

Yu Yevon (Final Fantasy 10)

This villain is a thief.  As annoying and poncy as Seymour Guado was, he was still a pretty cruel, sadistic, nihilistic, evil villain, and fitting for the final boss role.  But no.  Instead, after fighting our way inside the colossal monster, SIN, which has rained untold destruction on the world, after putting Jecht to rest and outwitting the REAL villain, Seymour, we fight...a giant tick.  Yu Yevon was a summoner who formed the core of SIN by corrupting the summoned beasts, Aeons, and using them as an armor for its soul.  But Yu Yevon itself is nothing without the Aeons.  I doubt very much that its even capable of thought, much less malice.  It's a villain that was thrown into the final enemy slot because...I don't even know.  Players cannot lose the battles with Yu Yevon, no matter how weak they are.  What makes me so angry at this boss is that, despite how stupid he looked, Seymour was clearly the main villain.  And Square could have made him the final boss.  SIN was always a threat, yeah, but Yu Yevon wasn't really controlling it, just hiding inside it.  Yu Yevon is a pathetic waste of a boss, because he barely even exists and doesn't affect the story at all, save for stealing the final boss status from Seymour, who rightfully deserves it for all his dickish behavior.  Yu Yevon as a boss is a nonentity.  It's something that exists without reason.  That's even worse than being boring. 

The fool is a blind, deaf, idiot, dancing to his own tune, oblivious to the whims of others.  He may infuriate or annoy, but it matters not.  He is all sound and fury, ultimately accomplishing nothing, save for being a nuisance.

Xemnas (Kingdom Hearts 2)

Ultimately, I feel like miscasting was the downfall of Xemnas.  He's not really a bad villain, but he's so bland, generic, and boring that I can't help but yawn.  He uses his light saber swords, fights Sora and Riku, then disappears into nothingness, blah blah...we had so many other more interesting members of Organization 13 who could've taken the number 1 spot.  Saix was interesting and his relationship to Axel would've made him a moving final antagonist.  And his death, where he laments his lost heart and asks where it has gone is pretty heavy, for a villain dying.  If not him, why not Xigbar, who actually fought the original Keyblade masters in Birth by Sleep?  He seems more capable than Xemnas.  But no, Ansem's nobody had to be the final battle.  It depresses me because you do so many cool things in the battle, but Xemnas as a villain is so blah.  He's just there.  He doesn't make an impression like Xehanort did, doesn't have any really good lines and is constantly being one upped by his subordinates.  Xemnas.  So boring his battle almost killed me by putting me to sleep.

The nothingness holds no substance or value.  Merely a cheap copy of the truth, it has no reason to be here, save that it was recognized.  Though the idea of nothingness may intrigue others, it is without any lasting power.

Zachariah Comstock (Bioshock Infinite)

Originally, I had intended to include Demon King Malladus from Legend of Zelda: Spirit tracks...however, then I played Bioshock Infinite.  Literally the week before this post was to go up, I discovered one of the most frustrating and annoying villains I've ever seen in a video game.  Zachariah Comstock, the "prophet" of Columbia, a floating city in the sky.  I hate Comstock because, as a villain, I just want him to go away.  Not kill him, mind, I just want him to leave the story.  He is a loud, annoying, narcissistic, psychotically religious hypocrite with none of the charm and intellect of Andrew Ryan or the warped ideals of Sofia Lamb.  Comstock has NOTHING of value to say, but keeps going on and on about how he is the chosen one, how he will cleanse the sodom below, how everyone who is against him is against god, stock religious super villain nonsense.  And he seems so insecure, frequently building monuments the size of islands to his greatness when he cannot fight himself.  He's a frail old man who uses machines and his zealots, who are idiots for following him by the way, to do his dirty work for him.  At the best of times, he seems like he's using religion to his benefit, like any number of scam priests in stories.  At the worst of times, he seems pants on head insane, believing whole heartedly that stealing a baby from an alternate dimension, raising her in isolation, and frequently beating, torturing, maiming, and brainwashing her as an adult is somehow god's will and will save the world.  Comstock isn't compelling, intelligent, or even very well spoken.  He's an insane religious zealot with an inferiority complex.  Worse yet is that his character, when we learn the truth, makes absolutely no sense, as he actually didn't used to be Zachariah Comstock, but was another person.  A smart person.  A capable person.  A person who WASN'T pants on head insane.  Comstock ruined Bioshock Infinite for me.

The heirophant's arrogance knows no bounds.  He believes himself divinely blessed by god and will justify any atrocities in that name.  He says nothing of merit and is insecure in his own power.  Only a fool devoid of thought would follow his words.

            And there you have it.  These characters fail for a number of reasons, most relating to story and writing, sadly.  Any number of them could have been unforgettable main villains who embedded themselves in people's minds as amazing, well spoken, scary even, if they had a better script to work with or if the story was more refined.  Place Maximillion before the huge final boss battle...have Seymour Guado kill Yu Yevon and take his place inside SIN.  Have Satan at least HINTED at to some extent in the game.  Give Comstock ANYTHING interesting to discuss beyond how awesome it is to be a racist Catholic white man with a god complex.  These villains weren't brought low by our heroes.  They were brought low by the scriptwriters, the translators, and the story boarders who failed them.  Failed to make them compelling and instead opted for shock value or to cop out near the end of the game.

            There you have my month of characters.  Each of the character lists show an important aspect of the games industry, some that need to be focused on, like making compelling villains, admirable heroes, or great worlds to explore, and some that need to be stopped, such as making the villains so depressingly generic or unsatisfying.  Bear in mind, these characters are all just from my experience.  If you want, share in the comments some of your favorite heroes, villains, power fantasies, or characters you just can't stand and why.

Month of Characters: Top 10 Heroes I Wish I Were

Sometimes in games, we have power fantasies about the heroes we're playing.  We wish we could be him because he's so cool or we want to be strong like that one...it's escapist entertainment, so this is only normal.  For me though, I kind of respect certain heroes because I enjoy hearing their stories.  I don't want their stories to be my own.  However, other heroes I really wish I could be, just because their lives and their persona really gel with my own.  So, for those interested in power fantasy, here are the top 10 heroes I wish I could be.  Needless to say, there will be spoilers

SPOILER WARNING!!!

Kain (Legacy of Kain Series)

I love Kain.  He's a different kind of vampire who could just as easily be a villain instead of a hero, but his actions are carefully calculated to be of net gain to not only himself, but to the world.  Kain is arrogant, but wisely so.  He has enough power, wisdom, and foresight to allow himself to be a little confident.  What I love most about Kain is how Shakespearean he can be.  He is masterful with his language and very dramatic, using his words to great effect in both his musings and in arguing to justify his actions.  Having lived for thousands of years, he proves his intelligence not just through cunning but through philosophy, as he often waxes on what a king should do, condemn himself to death for the good of the world and in doing so destroy his race, or live, rule an empire in a dying world, and quietly await the end.  Kain believes that while fate may normally be immutable, there is always a better way, having long since set into motion a plan to cheat fate.  Kain is a vampiric messiah as well, being forever at odds with a being who aims to keep the world in an ignorant spiral of death and decay for his own profit.  Kain also never lies.  He can be cruel and wicked at times, as needs demand, but Kain will never go back on his word.  Those who betray him are damned by their own treachery, as Kain is still noble, at his core.  I wish I could be as commanding, confident, and intelligent as Kain.  Only someone truly amazing could aim to cheat fate and have both the courage and the audacity to move forward without hesitation.  Plus, he's a vampire.  That doesn't sparkle.  Bonus.

The Vampire has lived for countless ages.  He can afford arrogance, for it is juxtaposed by his cunning, his strength, and his drive.  Fate is his plaything.

Demi-Fiend (Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne)

The Demi-Fiend is an avatar for the human players in Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne.  He has his own look and powers and what have you, but he is mostly silent and his choices are made by the players.  Get used to those in this list.  So, why did I pick him?  Well, the Demi-Fiend is an amazing character.  He is caught up in the destruction and rebirth of the world and gets trapped in the inbetween world, partway between recreation, where a mysterious child implants a magatama, a demon worm, in him, transforming the normal school boy into a half human, half demon warrior.  His skin is grey and covered in pulsating tattoos and his eyes glow golden.  Only his shape even resembles human anymore.  Along with his new look, the Demi-Fiend is given new powers, such as breathing fire, causing great bursts of wind or ice to appear and the ability to heal and revive his friends.  Speaking of friends, the Demi-Fiend also gains the ability to talk to demons and by bargaining, begging, or threatening them, he can recruit them to fight for him.  This character would be amazing to be, for his insane level of power, quirky demon friends, and all the crazy sights he sees.  The Demi-Fiend travels around a Japan turned upside down by the end of the world, seeing its natural beauty turned horrific and fantastical.  An apartment complex turned into a demon prison?  Check.  A shopping mall inhabited by demons?  Check.  A palace to an unholy demon god?  Double check.  And all along the way the Demi-Fiend is hounded by fiends, monsters hunting him as a way of proving their mettle.  These include the four horsemen of the apocalypse, the whore of Babylon, and the trumpeter, among many others.  Once defeated, they can even serve the Demi-Fiend.  What I love perhaps most about the Demi-Fiend is he personifies choice.  With the world ended, he is given the choice of supporting some differing philosophies of how the world should be reborn, such as a world for each of us, survival of the fittest, or elitism.  Or, he can reject all these reasons and save the old world, recreating it just as it was before the cataclysm.  For all these reasons and more, I would love to be the Demi-Fiend.  Master of demons, who walks between two worlds, the chooser of destiny, he is the wild card planted in the middle of a battle between angels and demons.

The Halfbreed shows true power.  Not through strength or cunning, but through choice.  He holds the power to guide the world into a new age...or free it from its hidden oppressor. 

Dark Souls Hero (Dark Souls)

This is kinda cheating, if you think about it, but I like Dark Souls alot.  The fact that they let you make your own hero shouldn't be any room for its disqualification, because the reason I wish I was a hero in Dark Souls is based more around the world than the character.  First, there is the immortality.  Heroes in Dark Souls are undead and will always be reborn at a bonfire when they die.  While others may go insane, turn hollow, and attack people, as the hero, that will never happen to me.  Plus, I get to wield all sorts of amazing powers, from slinging spell bolts, tossing fireballs, and hurling lightning spears to healing myself, turning invisible, and casting clouds of poison out in front of me.  Perhaps the most attractive thing about Dark Souls though is it makes you feel like a hero.  Players face insurmountable odds, like dragons, gargoyles, giant demons, huge wolves, undead monsters, cursed spider women, etc. and these things can be many times our size.  But, the immortality, coupled with a few tricks discovered through experimentation, means we can inevitably find a way to win.  Nothing inflates your ego more than taking down a giant iron golem even after it's whooped your ass several times.  There are lots of beautiful places to visit and cool weapons to wield in Dark Souls.  It's kind of a fantasy for all of us who wish we could be Stallone or any other action hero.  In Dark Souls, we can be powerful.  It would be a lonely existence, but Dark Souls is a game about personal betterment and striving.  You can find friends if you so desire, but the goal is self improvement and making a choice to either cling to the past or move on to the future, and all the risks that entails.  Being a hero with all that power, all that potential, and immortality?  Sign me up!

The Undead face the world in abject despair, bereft of all hope...yet still they continue onwards.  Cursed with everlasting life, forever bound by pain, they will fell dragons and bring the gods low to find their destiny.

Link (LoZ Twilight Princess)

This might seem sort of like an odd choice, considering that Link is kind of another avatar for players, wears a green skirt, and spends alot of the game cleaning up a giant mess.  But Link is so much more than that, in my opinion.  Link is almost an adult, physically fit and attractive, has his own horse, and is gifted with lots of friends as a support group.  When twilight engulfs the land, rather than becoming a monster or being rendered helpless, he turns into a powerful wolf and meets Midna.  And right there are some huge reasons to want to be Link.  The wolf form is cool, but Midna really sells it.  Snarky and sarcastic, but also tender, helpful, and even vulnerable.  Midna's a friend like you seldom ever get in a Zelda game and I'd love to have a chance to be there for her.  But that aside, you also get a ton of cool tools to play with, from iron boots that magnetize to steel walls, to a skateboard like cog, to a rod which allows you to give life to ancient statues.  Link's amazingly versatile and also a master swordsman.  There's also the beautiful land of Hyrule to explore, with snow mountains for snow boarding, rivers for rafting, farms and mountains for sight seeing, and a bustling castle town, full of fun places to visit, like Agatha's bug palace, the local bar, and even a real life haunted house.  Games abound as well, such as hook shotting around a cage to collect rupees or holding onto a chicken as you use it to glide onto a platform.  Let's not forget that Link also gets to meet amazing people.  How many of you can say that you've sumo wrestled a goron or had hot pumpkin soup with a yeti?  Not many, I can bet.  Link himself is a great guy too, doing everything he can to help out his friends, especially Midna, since her kingdom was taken from her.  Who wouldn't want to be him?  A great world to explore, fun toys to play with, neat people to meet, and the best little side kick ever?  Yes, please!

The Hero never fights alone.  It is for his friends that he fights and it is his friends who give him the strength to battle.  The world is always more fun to explore with company.

Frederick Chopin (Eternal Sonata)

Eternal Sonata was an interesting title for featuring Frederick Francois Chopin in a fantasy dream world, which he created as he lay dying.  And honestly...that's kinda what I love about Frederick.  He knows who he is and where he is, but goes along with the dream anyway, since he has nothing else to do.  He sees amazing sights, meets people, makes friends, and shares his piano music with the world.  And when the time comes, he must fight his friends to give their world substance as he loses his hold on life.  In death, he is able to save one of his friends, Polka, and offer a brilliant epitaph in the form of his piano playing and words that postulate that life is what you make of it, just as a flower can be named for something depressing or something uplifting.  It is all about perception.  Frederick as a character doesn't go through much growth or leave too much of an impression, but I'd love to be him and explore the crazy, musical world he spends his last moments in.  His sacrifice and piano playing are especially moving and often I wish I could see the world as he came to.  Even in death, he found something beautiful worth believing in.  So beautiful, he asked the question, "Which of my worlds is real and which is truly the dream?"

The Dreamer revels in his fantasy.  Though he know the sun will rise and his dream fade, he clings to it...for it is beautiful and more real than any truth he could find in the world we know.

Hero (Dragon Quest 8)

Another hero who you have to give a name to.  I probably am cheating, seeing as a ton of these entries are silent protagonists, but the Hero of Dragon Quest 8 is someone I really wish I could be.  In a world where death basically means going back to the last church you stayed at with half your money, the Dragon Quest universe is just fun.  I'd be strong enough to fight monsters, but I might be too busy laughing as the Hero.  The monsters in this world are so smiley and happy and goofy.  Hero also loves and is loved by a cursed princess, who when cured is a knockout, and Hero frequently makes reliable friends.  He converts a bandit to be his vassal and cures a lecherous knight of his philandering ways...to a degree.  He's kind hearted and honest, loves his friends, his lord, his lady, and his pet mouse.  He's immune to curses of any kind and has supernatural powers...and he's also a dragon.  Did I forget to mention that?  The Hero is a bastard child born of a tryst between a female dragon and a prince.  He holds dragon's blood in his veins and is also a member of royalty.  Is there any reason to not want to be this guy?  Friends, safety, a beautiful world to explore, royalty, cool abilities...the Hero is someone I'd love to be.  And on top of all that, he's a great guy too.

The Knight holds the heart of a dragon and the soul of a saint, forever seeking sanctuary and solace for his lord and lady.  He does so with a smile and without need of thanks, for he is justice itself.

Rudy Roughknight (Wild Arms)

Rudy was one of my first big RPG characters and I loved his soft spoken demeanor, his skill with guns, called ARMS in the series, and how he did what was right, even if it meant that he was going to be ostracized or suffer for it.  It very much felt like Rudy and I were kindred.  Then it turned out Rudy was a cyborg.  So much for that.  Rudy, despite his differences, is beloved by his friends and plays the part of a true wild west gun slinging hero.  Perhaps one of the best scenes for me in the game is where he cuts off his own arm to prevent himself and his friends from being pulled into a death trap.  And this is how he's revealed to be a cyborg.  Rather than being freaked out, his friends pull out all the stops to find someone to help fix him and even the girl who liked him before still cares for him after knowing.  For being so somber and quiet, but so moving, strong, and stoic, I wish I could be Rudy.  I wish I could be a gun slinging hero with my friends close by my side.  Rudy was the outcast who was chased away for his power.  But despite that, he always held hope.  He went back and saved the people who hurt him, showing them what a true hero was, and when the final guardian of the world, the dragon Zephyr, the west wind of hope, was trapped, it was Rudy's artificial heart which saved him.  If I had even a fraction of Rudy's strength and hope, I could rule this world.  But I wouldn't.  Cause Rudy wouldn't.

The Gunslinger is ostracized for his beliefs and feared for his power.  Yet he never loses his pride or his principles.  His aim is sharp, his heart strong, and his spirit as free as the wind.

Adol Christian (Ys Series)

Adol Christian, or Adol the Red as he is sometimes called is quite possibly the ultimate adventurer.  He's saved the world eight times and each time he does, it seems like there's a beautiful maiden waiting for him to settle down and be her beloved.  But each time, Adol continues exploring, looking for new vistas to see and new challenges to face.  And a good thing to, since he's one of the few swordsmen who not only routinely battles gods and monsters seeking to destroy whole countries or the world, but who is also genuinely likable.  Despite being ruggedly attractive, Adol never comes off as a cheat or a player and there's an air of tragedy to his departing those who love him.  But part of his journey is knowing he can always come back to visit.  I'd love to be Adol.  Skilled with both blade and mind, a kind hearted soul, handsome to the point of ridiculousness, has an amazing roster of friends who will always look out for him, and gifted with wanderlust, which guarantees adventures for him for the foreseeable future, Adol Christian is the kind of wandering swordsman we all dreamed we could be since we were kids.  I adore Adol because he does all the things I'd want to do if I could just sling a sword on my back and head towards the horizon.

The Adventurer's greatest weakness is his wanderlust.  Forever seeking new quests and people to save, he is never still and always on the move.  Those he leaves behind mourn for his departure, but the adventure continues...and some day, he shall return.

Hyakkimaru (Blood Will Tell)

This is actually kind of an odd choice, all things considered.  Hyakkimaru has lived a terrible life, with his father selling his organs to demons before he was born.  He would have died as a babe if an advanced herbalist had not healed him, given him a new body, and installed weapons in his limbs to go hunt the demons who took his organs.  Hyakkimaru is the kind of bad ass we all wish we could be.  He's a Japanese samurai, in feudal era Japan, with detachable arms which hide blades, a machinegun in his elbow, a rocket launcher in his leg, and on top of all that, he's a master swordsman in his own right.  He takes down demons every day, some the size of mountains, and doesn't even blink.  What's more, though, is that Hyakkimaru is always experiencing new things.  His life starts out bad, but when he gets his eyes back, he sees the world for the first time.  When he gets his nose or ears, he can hear and smell.  When he gets his vocal cords, he marvels at the sounds he can make.  His life is always getting better.  Coupled with a rapscallion named Dororo who keeps him honest, Hyakkimaru is an interesting twist on the samurai archetype and one I wish I could be.  Also, interesting note, Dororo is actually a girl and full grown by the time the game ends.  What can a world weary samurai and his friend for years, now a full grown woman, do together, I wonder?

The Cripple is born without hope or a future.  His weakness shall become his strength as he plods forward against the tides of destiny.  He shall protect the weak and fight for his lost youth.  He shall be a samurai.

Sora (Kingdom Hearts)

Kingdom Hearts is a whimsical little series, where the magical world of Disney works hand in hand with the grittier, more mature Final Fantasy series.  At the heart of Kingdom Hearts is Sora.  This kid is like an adventurer's dream.  He grew up on a tropical island most of his life with his best friends, sought out adventure in a bigger world, and was gifted with the power to wield the Keyblade, the greatest weapon of all.  He is the bridge between worlds for other characters, a pure hearted, honest youth who's greatest goal is to save his friends, and despite all this, is one helluva fighter.  Whether soaring through space in a gummi ship or exploring the sands of the desert outside of Agrabah, Sora is like all our childhood dreams, fostered by movies and imagination, rolled together.  Partnered with the comedic pair of Donald Duck and Goofy, Sora is prepared for any situation, no matter how grim, because he knows he can count on his allies.  To the point where even if it goes against their mission, Donald and Goofy refuse to abandon their friend.  Sora's also extremely powerful, shown to not only be nimble enough to dodge around large enemies and use their strength and smaller foes to his advantage, but also strong enough to cleave through whole buildings with his Keyblade.  Face it, at one point in life we all wish we could pal around with the Disney gang and later on, gamers often wish they could meet the Final Fantasy crowd.  Sora gets to do all this and more.  To a child of any age seeking adventure, he's a dream come true.

The Keymaster holds the ultimate weapon.  He wields the key to the hearts of worlds.  He unlocks the hearts of his friends.  He restores the hearts of the fallen.  The true power he wields is kindness.

            And these are the power fantasies of a simple gamer.  Many of us wish to visit strange new worlds or take to the road with sword in hand and a song in our heart, but society has changed from the medieval settings or the wild west archetypes we see in movies.  You really can't get anywhere in the world without identification, money, and connections...it's not possible to really go wandering, as these heroes do.  Which is why they're so precious to me and why I'd like to be them.  I've lived my life vicariously through these heroes and would love a chance to see their worlds first hand.  If nothing else, these heroes and their worlds are just fun.  They're worth exploring more than once.  To me, that's the sign of a great game and a great character.  Someone we want to be in a world we can't help but revisit.

Month of Characters Continued: Top 10 Villains I Love to Hate

A good villain is one who is both intimidating, yet admirable to a degree.  Not admirable in that you want to be like them, but you can respect their power, or their motives, or they are relatable, in that you find something about them in yourself.  These villains are ones we love because we hate them.  They are the perfect opposing force for our heroes.  And here's a tribute to the 10 villains I love to hate the most.  Needless to say, there will be spoilers.

SPOILER WARNING!!!

Kefka (Final Fantasy 6)

I bet everyone knew this was coming.  Kefka, the psychotic clown.  Of course he makes the list.  There's something undeniably scary, but also silly about Kefka.  Despite wielding immense magical power, he never really does much with his life besides kill.  And normally, this would be horrific, but he's so gleeful and childlike at times that it's hard to chastise him.  Kefka laughs and rhymes and makes terrible jokes and is garbed in harlequin's makeup.  Despite being a truly evil villain, he's one of the silliest characters in all of Final Fantasy.  What makes Kefka more intimidating, however, is that despite being silly and childish, he's ruthlessly clever, cunning, and unconstrained by morals.  He'll poison an entire population just for fun, kill his master to serve his ambition, and all the while seem like an unassuming fool.  Kefka literally becomes a god halfway through Final Fantasy 6, merging with the three mystic forces that created the world to take full control over them and become a god of magic.  The world is turned inside out and Kefka watches it burn with unprecedented glee.  For all his malice, though, Kefka seems like he's lacking.  He finds no use or purpose in life and so wants to end all of it.  Nihilism at its core.  Even becoming a god didn't cure him of it.  While he is maliciously evil, Kefka has a kind of charm to him, with his horrific acts juxtaposed by his crazy personality and clown-like appearance.  Also, while most villains seek to control or destroy the world but are always thwarted, Kefka managed to do both and was only stopped years after he'd become a god.  Perhaps what is most interesting is that Kefka's death is almost like a middle finger to the heroes, as all their magic is now useless without him, the god of magic.  If they want to live, he's forcing them to do it the hard way.  For how irredeemably evil, yet undeniably fun and funny he is, Kefka remains a favorite of mine even years after I first saw his goofy face and heard him proclaim "You son of a submariner!"

The fool dances to his own tune, creating and destroying in equal measure.  He is totally self involved, unaware that all his sound and fury ultimately signify nothing.

Sephiroth (Final Fantasy 7)

I know some people are going to roll their eyes at this inclusion, but hear me out.  You see, when I first played Final Fantasy 7 in 1996, Sephiroth wasn't the overpowered, momma's boy, bishounen that he eventually became thanks to media overexposure and what not over the years.  My first encounter with Sephiroth was when I had escaped the prison in Shinra tower and discovered that all hell had broken loose.  The tower was decimated, countless guards were dead, and the president of Shinra had been impaled on a sword.  I went in with about four guys and had to sneak, battle, and work my way up to the top, but one guy utterly destroyed the place.  For a little bit, I was actually scared.  Sephiroth created an atmosphere around him throughout much of the game that made him scary, because chaos and death were always on his heels.  He goes to Nibleheim?  Town is burned to the ground and almost everyone dies.  Follow him to the Ancient City?  One of your team permanently dies.  What impressed me the most, however, was the Midgar Zloom.  It's a giant snake that's easily ten times your size and which can casually annihilate your party when they first meet it.  When the party cross the Midgar Zloom's marsh via chocobo, they see a Zloom impaled upon a giant tree trunk by Sephiroth, as if it were nothing.  That is power, cruelty, and terror.  Sure, he's had a bit too much exposure lately, but Sephiroth was true fear for a while, creating an atmosphere more in line with survival horror than a JRPG.  That's one of the reasons I still love him.

The devil spreads death and chaos wherever he goes.  He is fear made manifest and his cruelty extends to all things, good or evil.

One man did all this.  No...not a man.  A monster.

Grahf (Xenogears)

Words do not describe the sheer oddity or the sheer terror that Grahf inspires.  Grahf is, in a nutshell, a split personality of an ancestor of our hero, Fei Fong Wong, that became a parasitic psychic entity after he lost his most cherished friend and lover.  This entity became obsessed with power and would frequently body snatch those close to his reincarnated self, as his body and spirit had died, but this facet of his personality lived on.  Grahf seeks ultimate power for the purpose of destruction, reducing all those around him to ash.  Yet, he is also a cautionary tale about how absolute power corrupts and will ultimately destroy us.  Grahf is constantly watching Fei Fong Wong in Xenogears for the purpose of using him, as he is another reincarnation of Grahf's previous form and Grahf believes Fei will lead him to the ultimate power he seeks.  Fei, possessing a similarly destructive split personality, is both at odds with and subservient to Grahf, as his evil persona, ID, was trained and manipulated by Grahf from childhood to adulthood.  Perhaps Grahf's most signature trait is that he possesses the ability to give others extraordinary power.  Power that is so intense that it will literally burn them out, leaving them naught but a withered husk of their former selves.  The real kicker?  Grahf needs a body for his persona to attach to and when he makes his final stand against Fei, it's revealed that the body he took was that of Fei's father.  Grahf has no redeeming qualities, but is interesting for his aesthetic, resembling something like Darth Vader if he were more dramatic and monstrous, and for his situation, being a psychic entity which has walked the earth for centuries seeking the power to purify it in flames.  While a bit one note at times, Grahf is an interesting look at just how out there a villain can be while still being taken seriously.  In spite of his odd back story, Grahf stands tall as a villain, acting as both the catalyst for Fei to overcome his own weakness and as a cautionary tale of how power and loss can corrupt even the best of us.

The seeker is forever in search of power, freely giving or taking with no regards for those hurt in his quest.  This power will consume him and all the world.  Knowing this, he continues on, for he has nothing left to protect.  Only things to destroy.

Kato (Shadow Hearts: Covenant)

In a game series full of tragedy, where the bad endings are frequently canon, Kato appears as a most unlikely villain.  A special forces agent for Japan at the turn of the 19th century, Kato has unlucky metaphorically stamped on his forehead.  He lost the woman he loved due to internal fighting and betrayal and became jaded about his own weakness, especially after seeing his friend Yuri Hyuga defying fate.  So, Kato did what many men in the series did and set about trying to change his destiny.  He used forbidden necromantic documents to revive the woman he loved in an artificial body, though she held no memories, created artificial super soldiers, and tried to make Japan strong by enslaving a biblical demon from Europe.  Yuri and his friends had to stop him, but Yuri and Kato understood one another, both having lost their true loves.  Yuri had to stop Kato because he knew what would happen if that power ran amok.  And Kato tried anyway, out of love.  In the end, Kato lost his love a second time and tried to change fate directly, meddling with time itself, in order to settle things.  However, even as he and Yuri squared off, there were no hard feelings.  They both knew that there was no turning back.  And that's why I like Kato.  Honorable, true to his friends and his convictions, and a romantic at heart.  He started the Shadow Hearts series as a weak incidental character but improved himself and made himself strong.  All for the sake of love.  Kato is the perfect sympathetic villain, as you both feel sorry for him but cannot allow him to continue, for the greater good.  Over the course of the game, players even get a chance to control Kato's super soldiers and work with him, endearing him to the audience, despite his goals, and his introduction was early enough that the players probably didn't see him as becoming the main villain, even though it makes perfect sense when he does.  It seems as if Kato is meant to suffer, but his drive is a force to be reckoned with.

The soldier is supposed to work for the betterment of his country.  Must he then sacrifice all he holds dear to achieve this?  Or shall he defy fate for a chance at happiness and redemption?

Lezard Valeth (Valkyrie Profile series)

There has never been a more obnoxious, arrogant, and hilarious bastard in Midgard or Asgard than Lezard Valeth.  He's a sorcerer with immense natural talent, an inquisitive mind, and no moral qualms about furthering his research.  He's Shakespearean in his wording and loves to analyze and argue points.  He's charming, despite being a tad insane, and he's madly in love with the warrior goddess Lenneth Valkyrie, who he's trying to build a mortal body for.  Lezard, despite being really, REALLY, evil, is too silly, crazy, powerful, and...human, to dislike.  In fact, to further his goals of attaining his love, he actually helps save her from death by putting her into one of the artificial bodies he made.  Later, he warps back in time to try and kill Odin, lord of the gods, and usurp his position.  And he does it with ease.  Coupled with all that, Lezard possesses the philosopher's stone and was the only human not under the protection of Lenneth Valkyrie to survive the end of the world, Ragnarok.  Even if his schemes are evil, horrific, or morally questionable, there's always a sense of fun with him.  Lezard is both respected by his colleagues and victims, but also the butt of many jokes, as a classmate of his frequently teases him and calls him a freak with a lolita complex despite his immense power.  Perhaps what's scariest about Lezard, however, is that even though he has a fun loving, inquisitive, and enjoyable demeanor, he can be ruthlessly cunning and totally amoral.  When he warped into the past, he lied and hid his true nature to become an apprentice to three sorcerers and got close to another Valkyrie named Silmeria.  No one suspected a thing until he was already ruling Asgard.  He also outright admits that the majority of his plan to take control of Asgard and alter history was just to lure Lenneth into a situation where he could control her.  It is only through the intervention of the other Valkyrie and their allies that he is stopped.  However, even if he is a villain, Lezard is just fun.  He laughs frequently, tells lewd jokes, and just enjoys life, even if he's the only one having fun at the time.  What's not to love about Lezard Valeth?

The magician revels in knowledge and power, feeling no sacrifice is too great or compromise too unlikely for the sake of his experiment.

Galcian (Skies of Arcadia)

Galcian is a fascinating villain for all his nuances.  He's the leader of an evil empire's airship armada, skilled with a blade to the point where he's almost untouchable, stealthy enough to manipulate his empress and his enemies while cunning enough to appear on the level to both, and surprisingly loyal to his comrades, all things considered.  Even those he turns on, he treats with some degree of honor and respect.  Galcian once had to kill an old friend of his for letting a group of sky pirates escape him and they fought.  Galcian won, but warned the guards to take care of the body, for it was worth far more than any of them.  His most trusted assistant, Ramirez, held the key to ultimate power in his body and would have sacrificed his life so that Galcian could remove it.  Instead, Galcian found another way, in order to spare the life of his associate.  Nothing seems to phase Galcian, as he is prepared for all outcomes in a battle, even if it is a loss.  The single time he shows any manner of shock is right before his death, and that was likely due to the way he died.  Galcian shows no favoritism to allies and only respects those who are useful, which is quite refreshing as one of the minor villains of Skies of Arcadia is a snobby, but incompetent, aristocrat who acts as an airship captain.  He lies and cheats his way into the army's top brass and frequently makes excuses, but Galcian doesn't take any of it and disciplines and demotes him regardless.  Even though he acts without remorse, Galcian's vision of the world is almost one people can get behind, with his armada acting as a police force.  People would be welcome to live in peace and without fear so long as they obeyed his will.  True, it would be totalitarian, but compared to the empire he would be replacing, it'd be much more desirable.  Galcian's ambitions are to destroy his corrupt empire and conquer the world for his own sake.  And he believes he can do it.  Everyone believes he can do it.  That's what makes him so dangerous.  And, to top it off, he has a beautiful woman for a girlfriend who also commands a battalion of airships for him.  Bonus.

The emperor holds dominion over all he surveys.  Strong, just, confident and utterly ruthless, his greatest flaw is putting his ambition before his heart. 

Gannondorf (LoZ Twilight Princess)

With Gannondorf, I'm kind of being selfish, because he's not a well rounded villain, a well spoken villain, or even a very deep villain.  But I admire his power and his aesthetic.  Gannondorf is gifted with the Triforce of power, because he desires power over all things and this strength of his is what allowed him to reach out from beyond the Twilight realms and corrupt the false king, Zant, thus starting the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess proper.  He is able to control others, turn into a giant beast, summon a horse and riders to support him and when facing a monster formed of ancient and destructive twilight magic, Gannondorf shrugs it off and crushes its head.  Gannondorf is not very nuanced, but his power makes him pretty bad ass.  And it's not just that he has power which makes him cool, but rather, the way in which he uses it.  For example, he could fight Link head to head, but instead amuses himself using Zelda as his puppet and fighting through her.  Or, as a show of irony, uses the sword which impaled him as his personal weapon.  Even if few words pass Gannondorf's lips, it's plain to see that there's something's going on behind those cold eyes.  Apart from that, Gannondorf just looks like a conquering king, with his tied back dreadlocks almost forming a crown, his pitch black armor, and his ability to ride and fight on a horse.  Gannondorf, to me, also wins this spot for his role in Super Smash Brothers Melee and Brawl, where his obscene power is enough to punch people beyond the realm of the screen and kill them with very little effort.  He takes skill to use, but he is a fun villain to have on my list.  Gannondorf is power and style, all wrapped up in a nice little package.

The usurper is power made manifest.  Nothing can stop him.  Not royalty, not sages, not death.  He turns his pain into power and fights without fear.

Xehanort: All Incarnations (Kingdom Hearts series)

I find something positively enchanting about all incarnations of this Kingdom Hearts villain.  Despite his role as ultimate evil, a greedy, selfish incarnation of how a good power can be turned wicked, Xehanort remains pretty engaging as a character, in my opinion.  In the first Kingdom Hearts game he is a very dramatic, almost Shakespearean figure, using his words and his mere presence, which at that time was without physical form, to manipulate Riku, best friend to our hero, Sora, before ultimately possessing him.  Xehanort only evolves from there, going from a shadow of his former self to a being gifted with power over the darkness in hearts, which grants him near limitless strength, as all hearts contain at least some darkness.  He uses this power to continue his pursuit of knowledge and the ultimate heart, Kingdom Hearts.  Even after his defeat, he lingers within Riku, tempting him with offers of power but also helping the boy to grow into his own.  After all is settled in Kingdom Hearts 2, the prequel story, Birth by Sleep, reveals the truth of Xehanort.  A grim, jaded old man who despite his frail appearance is one of the strongest Keyblade masters to ever live.  His search for the truth of the heart and for knowledge led him to become cunning and deceptive, so that he could corrupt and manipulate a youth named Terra before stealing his body.  Xehanort is interesting because while he will not hesitate to manipulate, corrupt, fight, or lie to achieve his ends, he is a scholarly individual, musing on the nature of good and evil, light and darkness, right and wrong, and constantly seeks knowledge for his goals.  He's revealed to not be entirely heartless either, such as when he managed to aid Riku and encourage him, or when after hurting his own apprentice, he returned him to the islands he grew up on so the apprentice could rest.  While his plans can be a bit too elaborate at times, he's interesting for his scholarly pursuits and because there are shades of a time when he was actually a warrior for the light, before his obsession and fear surrounding death and heartlessness jaded him.

The scholar quests for answers within the darkness.  He cares not for those hurt by his goals, he cares only for truth.  No act is too cruel, no betrayal too great, so long as he finds answers.

There was a time when the scholar sought answers in the light.  However it blinded him and he became jaded.  Thus, he turned to the dark.  The scholar is corrupted, but wise.  Demonic, but not without a human heart.  He is selfish, but shades of a hero remain.

Creator (Aquaria)

Children are selfish.  Children act without thinking.  Children are almost always sure they are right.  And the Creator in Aquaria is a millenia old child.  Formed when a child falls from a city in the sky into the ocean and merges with a god-like power, the Creator is one of the most despicable, but also tragic villains I've ever met.  He lost his home and his mother and spent his eternal life trying to recreate her under the sea.  And each time he failed to make her "Perfect" he destroyed the civilization that had been created by his "mother."  This means the Creator of Aquaria has singlehandedly committed genocide almost 12 times, sparing only the mother figures, usually, out of some misguided form of love.  He hounds Naija, the hero of Aquaria, throughout the game, constantly seeking her mother, Mia, his "perfect" creation.  And yet, in the end, he was just a child given power he never wanted.  He only desired to return home and be with his mother.  And when Naija defeats him, his final request is that she sing him to sleep with the lullaby of his mother.  The Creator is an interesting look at both the psychology of a child and how gods can be very much like children.  You see, children only develop ideas of right and wrong after a certain age when their brains become advanced enough to understand morality.  But the Creator never seemed to understand what was wrong with his actions, following the logic of, "I created it, it is mine, I can do with it what I please."  This draws a nice parallel to other gods in myth and religion because while they always act like they are right, they can at times be petulant children.  They will punish their creations on a whim and call it just because they are the ones who made them.  They lack basic ideas of morality or willfully ignore them for their own pleasure.  The Creator is an interesting look at how pathetic a god can be when brought low...and also how tragic they can be, since despite his power, the Creator could never have what he truly wanted.  He only found peace when Naija sang him to sleep.

The child thinks himself a god.  He sees no consequences of creation and no wrongs in destruction.  Without a guiding hand, he will continue to spread misery until it engulfs him entirely.

Creator (Final Fantasy Legend)

The Creator from Final Fantasy Legend was something of a tossup, since I only had 9 villains who absolutely had to make the list.  But, let's just say that the Creator is kind of beautiful in shock value, symbolism, and in how his actions affect the players.  You see, in Final Fantasy Legend, heroes must climb a tower that reaches into the sky, fighting fiends and monsters on each floor they arrive on and seeing all manner of sights, from an ocean world, to a cloud kingdom, to a dystopian nightmare.  However, when they get high enough, they fight Ashura, who offers to give them worlds of their own to rule.  When they refuse and beat Ashura, they are deposited back in the first world and, with no further fiends above them, reach the top of the tower, where it is revealed that the entire tower and the worlds below are merely a game for the Creator, the god of the world.  In essence, he created the tower, Ashura, and the worlds as a game, creating everything for the purpose of entertainment.  He was amused by the heroes efforts to reach paradise, at the top of the tower, and watched them every step of the way.  He is the designer of this world...a game designer.  The Creator sees nothing wrong with what he's done, since to him the characters are little more than bits of data, but the heroes are horrified at having their lives and the lives of their friends manipulated by this callous god.  So, they defeat him and are presented with an opportunity to see behind the Creator's door, to enter his world, a place none have ever seen, possibly the paradise they have been seeking.  And they choose to go home instead.  Even if their world was just a game, it had become something real to them.  I love this villain because you never saw it coming, but it kinda makes sense in a metaphysical way.  His actions and thoughts likely mirror our own, making both designer and player kind of the villain here, but it also shows that constantly moving forward isn't the only way.  Sometimes, when the adventure is done, it's nice to return home and spin your stories around a campfire.
 

The god sees all the world as a game.  For his own amusement, people fight and die.  However, is is only when the god is brought low that he realizes his folly.  The world is far more than just a game.

 And those were the greatest villains I've discovered.  They each have something special about them which endears them to the audience, which is important, but are also unapologetic about their actions which seek to hurt countless innocent lives.  It makes sense for the heroes to stop them, no matter how charming they may be.  And in my opinion, that's what makes a good villain.  They are likeable, even understandable, but also unapologetically evil, doing either malicious or selfish acts for their own personal gain.  They aren't evil because "Wooooooo the plot needs a bad guy!" they're evil because it serves their needs.  That's understandable.  That's human.  And that's scary.