Nintendo has some of the all-time best villains in video games. In the Mario franchise, Bowser reigns supreme, always trying to kidnap Princess Peach, destroy the Mushroom Kingdom, and generally being a thorn in Mario's side. The Legend of Zelda franchise has Ganon, or Ganondorf depending on the timeline, who also loves stealing princesses and ruining Link's day. Come to think of it, Nintendo seemingly has a thing for villains who like to kidnap women.

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Oddities aside, these villains are iconic, but those villains have kinder sides too, just like Nintendo’s many protagonists. Even heroes have dark sides to them, which is exactly what this list will explore. Are these Nintendo heroes worse than their true villains like Bowser or Ganon?

6 Captain Olimar

Leaves His Pikmin Soldiers Behind To Die On Countless Occasions

Captain Olimar is from the Pikmin series, which are like mini-RTS adventures. Most games follow Captain Olimar or his fellow cadets on a mission to gather materials on a new planet. To aid in their adventures, the explorers befriend the titular Pikmin, and task them with doing everything from fighting monsters to gathering goods. This is all while Captain Olimar and the others sit back and watch, thus leading to many Pikmin deaths.

It’s sad to see the little spirits evaporate off of these tiny plant creatures. It’s even more depressing when Captain Olimar abandons a planet as quickly as possible after a victory (or defeat), leaving Pikmin behind to presumably die. This can be blamed on players for their actions, but Captain Olimar and the others are culpable too in the franchise’s lore.

5 Donkey Kong

When He's Out Of His Country, DK Does Bad Things

Donkey Kong began as an threat to Mario in his titular Donkey Kong arcade series. With the advent of Donkey Kong Country on the SNES, Donkey Kong suddenly became a hero, along with his fellow Kongs. Since then, he’s mostly been seen as a hero in the games he appears in. However, Nintendo still releases occasional entries to remind fans that this banana-loving ape has a darker side.

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Mario vs. Donkey Kong was the first game in this puzzle platformer series, which began on the GBA. It recently received a remake on the Switch in 2024. It was a good remake, and it was also a good reminder that Donkey Kong still has some amount of deep-seated resentment towards Mario, which he needs to let out from time to time.

4 Kirby

Nothing Can Satiate His Appetite

Kirby was seemingly created to appeal to an even younger demographic than even Mario could cater to. He's pink, fluffy, he can fly, and his sucking ability is instantly intuitive. Kirby began on the Game Boy with Kirby's Dream Land which was followed up by Kirby's Adventure on the NES. In Kirby’s Dream Land, Kirby could merely suck and shoot enemies.

In Kirby’s Adventure, certain enemies gave Kirby power-ups like the ability to wield a sword. It’s a cool gameplay mechanic, but also a really dark idea. While Kirby may look innocent, all of that eating is kind of sick and twisted. How horrifying would it be to be eaten in one gulp? Not only that, but Kirby never seems to... "process" what he eats. So what happens to those creatures? Do they die in his stomach, or do they become a part of Kirby when he absorbs their abilities? Are they still conscious? The concept gets darker and darker the more deeply it's examined, but it's undeniable that Kirby has a loose set of morals when it comes to his food.

3 Mario

Nintendo's Greatest Hero, Or Nintendo's Secret Villain?

Nintendo’s flagship character has a darker side too, and it all began with Super Mario Bros. on the NES. In the manual, it states that the citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom were turned into bricks. These bricks, of course, are the ones players (and, by extension, Mario) break in the game. Nintendo could retroactively state that not all bricks contain Mushroom Kingdom souls, or any souls at all, but even if Mario isn't out crushing them, it is a grotesque situation regardless.

Besides that nugget, Mario’s behavior in all of his games could be considered sociopathic. He wantonly kills enemies without a moment’s hesitation, from Goombas to Koopa Troopas. That’s how the Mario games are designed as platformers, and they ask players not to think about the consequences of their actions. It’s a dark thought to have about Mario, but one worth dissecting further.

2 Noah

His Past Haunts Him, Pushing Him Into Doing The Unthinkable In Another Life

Spoilers Ahead for Xenoblade Chronicles 3

Noah is the protagonist of Xenoblade Chronicles 3. This is a major spoiler, but the faction that Noah and his teammates fight in the game is seemingly led by two characters initialed as N and M. In a plot twist, N turns out to be Noah from another timeline, and Mio, his love interest, is M.

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N was sick and tired of seeing his comrades, especially M, die repeatedly. So, he turned to the dark side in hopes of keeping his allies alive. Noah struggled with this revelation, wondering if he too would succumb to this sickness. It’s a lesson about how far one will go for the love of their life.

1 Princess Peach

Possessed By An Evil Spirit, Peach Does Bad Things

Spoilers Ahead for Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

Princess Peach has had some evil interactions too. Players who are into the remake of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on Switch may already know where this is going. In the game, Princess Peach is kidnapped, as usual, but this time its not Bowser doing the evil deed, but an organization known as the X-Nauts.

Led by Grodus, he wants to sacrifice Princess Peach to the Shadow Queen, who needs a vessel to be resurrected. In the final battle of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Princess Peach is possessed by the Shadow Queen and seemingly kills Grodus, after which she attempts to take over the world. Princess Peach can largely be forgiven for these actions, since this was a possession. But who knows if Peach may have enjoyed the power a little?

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