With love, anything is possible... even horrible acts that will probably cause a party of adventurers to kill you. Sure, some romances are wholesome, but others just bring out the deranged sides in people.
Sure, anime has a stranglehold on yandere characters — a trope defined by unhealthy levels of infatuation and a lack of boundaries. But JRPGs aren't left out of the fun. With so many great RPGs with deep and compelling romances, there's always room for a few bad ones.
10 Octopath Traveler - Simeon
Given the nature of the yandere trope, it’s no surprise that there are several villains on this list — the first of which being Octopath Travelers’ Simeon. The game's ability to let players experience multiple perspectives just gives more potential for anime tropes to pop up, after all.
Primrose's arc comes to an end fighting Simeon, the Puppet Master. What starts as a typical relationship takes a turn for the unsettling when Simeon's mask slips — reveals that it's less 'love' he feels for Primrose and more a love for exploiting her life to create a theatrical performance. With the power of friendship, Primrose finally gets to defeat him on his own stage no less.
9 Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Hubert
The beauty of the Fire Emblem games is watching a wide-ranging cast of diverse personalities warm up to the protagonist over the course of hectic battles and mini-games… except Hubert. That guy’s always kinda a jerk. Especially if you put the moves on Edelgard, he has more hatred for Byleth than the entire Super Smash Bros community.
Luckily, this is in a Fire Emblem game — thus making Hubert a prime candidate for a tank in permadeath mode… and turning Byleth into the yandere. Maybe games with permadeath just bring out that villainous streak.
8 Persona 2: Eternal Punishment - Makoto Kuwahara
A title like 'eternal punishment' should've given away the ride we were in for. This is the Persona series we're talking about, so it makes sense that a world full of demons would be teeming with yandere characters. Makoto Kuwahara (or Stalker as he's first known) uses a chainsaw to show his infatuation with party member Elly.
Either his voice lines are coping mechanisms or his true goal was just to bait Elly into beating him up. Either way, he makes for a fairly easy battle — not giving Chainsaw Man's Denji a run for his money any time soon.
7 Yakuza 0 - Jun Oda
The Yakuza games are always chock-full of bromances. The lives of Japanese gangsters are morally gray on a good day. Conventions in typical relationships need not apply. Sometimes one needs to crack a few skulls to prove their love. And sometimes the best way to keep in the good graces of your brother in arms is to, uh, attempt to kill his sister, so he never finds out you sold her into slavery years prior? Well, we are talking about a yandere character after all.
Jun Oda is a yandere who tries to redeem himself, at least. Even if his actions were hardly redeemable, he sacrifices himself so that his bro Tachibana may one day be reunited with his sister. It’s more than can be said of many of the yandere on this list, but sometimes just the thought doesn’t count. Maybe he'd be better off modding the game to erase his misdeeds.
6 Legend Of Mana - Escad
The beauty of Legend of Mana is that it's a living, breathing world with years of rich history and the protagonist is just living in it. Major conflicts are all at their tipping point, and the player has just enough power to push them over the edge. One such example is in the Faerie Arc where an age-old love triangle just might end the world.
Haunted by the fact that his love interest Matilda has chosen his demon brother Irwin over him, Escad seeks revenge. And who better than the protagonist to rope into his own mess. To Escad’s credit, Irwin and Matilda did plot to destroy the world as a side effect of their dysfunctional relationship so no one is really coming out on top as the ‘good guy’.
5 Final Fantasy 10 - Seymour
Final Fantasy doesn’t shy away from the yandere trope. And while Final Fantasy 4’s Kain flies a little close to the sun trying to murder his best friend to snag Rosa for himself, Final Fantasy 10’s Seymour has the better boss music. You know, until Tidus came along, Seymour had everything going for him: a high-ranking position, slick drip, and a summoner fiancé to tie it all together. When Yuna’s heart wavered, however... Well, so did Seymour’s mask of civility.
While Tidus is proof that Yuna has no qualms dating the undead, it turns out that she has more of a thing for athletes. Tough break, Seymour, but probably not a good jumping-off point for world-wide destruction either. Granted, the theory that ‘no one can suffer if they’re already dead’ is technically true... it’s just that some theories are better left on paper.
4 Tales Of Symphonia - Mithos
There’s bound to be problems when the world’s greatest hero is also the world’s greatest villain. Tales of Symphonia’s Mithos — or Yggdrasill depending on how he’s feeling that day — plays the long ruse to bring his beloved sister back to life.
Also, a contender for worst father in gaming, Mithos don't lend any of his fanatical devotion to his son. Although, given the lengths he's proven he's go, perhaps that's for the best. He does make for a fun final boss fight, at least.
3 Kingdom Hearts - Riku
Given its often convoluted plot, it’s hard to tell why anyone in the Kingdom Hearts series behaves as crazy as they do. But one thing is certain with Riku, whether he wins the race or not, he’s making a bee-line for Kairi. And his best friend, Sora’s, feelings aren’t getting in the way of that... nor are Kairi’s feelings either or the fate of multiple worlds.
His desire to have Kairi all to himself leads to him befriending villains and nearly getting his best friend killed. But that might have all just been his shadow form, and his heart needed to be unlocked by a giant key, and... What’s the plot again?
2 Super Mario RPG - Bowser
Perhaps not a JRPG character in the strictest sense, Bowser did star in quite a few Mario RPG spin-off titles such as Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario making him technically fit the bill. More to the point, he’s certainly yandere. Kidnapping a woman and sicking an army of Goombas on her love interest doesn’t speak highly of one’s sanity. And this is coming from a guy who didn't even have a tragic backstory!
Was love truly the catalyst for all Bowser's misdeeds? Well, given his many odd life choices, there's probably a few more stripped wires under the hood. Unlike every other character on this list, however, he can put his rage aside to join his rival in party games and sporting events.
1 Valkyrie Profile - Lezard Valeth
With the likes of popular antagonists like Riku and Bowser on this list, the name 'Lezard Valeth' might get little more than a, "Who?" by comparison. What's brought Valkyrie Profile's crazed necromancer to this list, however, is his unwavering desire to woo a woman who clearly wants nothing to do with him. Godhood isn't even off the table when talking about lengths he's willing to go.
Some people like to paint portraits in their beloved's image... Lezard just creates an undead army of his love interest's look-a-likes. If only Valkyrie Profile had a decent port or reboot, maybe his yandere antics would be better known.