Highlights
- Open-world games are enhanced by riveting villains that players are eager to take down and defeat. The best villains in these games have captivating personalities and motivations.
- Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor , Far Cry 3 , and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt are all examples of open-world games that feature memorable and impactful villains.
- These villains bring excitement and drive to the gameplay, providing players with a satisfying confrontation with the antagonist that is worth the wait and adds to the overall enjoyment of the game.
The best open-world games often feature riveting villains that players can’t forget. Since the open-world genre is packed with amazing games, in order to stand out, they also need amazing villains. Luckily, there are plenty of games in which the best villains feature at the forefront, and players will journey across the expansive maps of these open-world titles just to take them out. A fight is bound to break with these villains, but that’s half the fun.
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The villainous acts of these video game characters, paired with their personalities and reasonings, make them hard to kill.
Experiencing an open-world game isn’t just taking the time to smell the roses or explore the vastness of the map. Much of the excitement and drive comes from the inevitable faceoff between the protagonist and the antagonist, and with the best open-world villains, that confrontation will be worth the wait in these titles.
6 Middle-Earth: Shadow Of Mordor
The Black Hand & Orcs
Simply walking into Mordor is villainous in itself, but those that lurk within are far darker than the lands could have imagined. In Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor, players will be tasked with avenging the deaths of Talion’s wife and son, as Talon is entwined with the spirit of Celebrimbor. Together, the two seek vengeance over Mordor’s lands, and any orc that comes in their way.
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Whilst the main conquest of vengeance is the Black Hand of Sauron, the game really shines thanks to its Nemesis System, in which every character, no matter how insignificant, can quickly rise through the ranks and become a memorable nemesis to Talion and the player, with constant clashes and battles to the death, the villains in Shadow of Mordor brim with personality and orc blood.
5 Far Cry 3
Vaas Montenegro & Hoyt Volker
It’s impossible to mention villains without talking about the strong impressions left by Far Cry 3. Vaas Montenegro was a captivating villain that fans still clamor for, even years after. Michael Mando’s performance as Vaas is incredible, and the constant cycle of insanity from this villain keeps players gripped as they try desperately to survive and escape the dreaded island that was supposed to be a vacation hotspot for the daredevil group of Jason Brody’s friends.
Whilst Vaas may only be the secondary antagonist in Far Cry 3, he is by far the most memorable, hence why he is the poster boy for the game. Yet, it would be a disservice to not talk about the other fantastic villain, Hoyt, a kingpin of evils who runs a drug trade, slave trade, and weapons trafficking ring.
4 Yakuza Kiwami
Majima & Nishiki
Yakuza Kiwami is a remake of the original Yakuza, brimming with style that makes it superior to the original in every way. Not only are the graphics and combat stylistic and revamped, but the villains receive new life. There’s a lot more to Nishiki’s story this time around that helps to make him a compelling and fascinating villain. Besides, one cannot mention Yakuza without talking about Majima.
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Yakuza Kiwami is infamous for the Majima Everywhere feature, in which Majima will tease Kiryu-chan and surprise him with multiple fights to get him to up his game after returning to Kamurocho. As Kiryu experiences the life of a failed yakuza ten years after his imprisonment, he’s bound to come across some fascinating foes.
3 Elden Ring
Radagon & Mohg
Elden Ring
- Platform(s)
- PS5 , Xbox One , PS4 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , PC
- Released
- February 25, 2022
- Developer(s)
- From Software
From the minds of Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin comes Elden Ring, FromSoftware’s first open-world game in the vein of Dark Souls. Elden Ring dives deeper into an original set of lore like never before, and players will come engrossed within the Lands Between and all that it has to offer as they seek to rise as a Tarnished and become lord. Yet, this journey, like any FromSoftware game, is filled with hardships and villains.
Players will face all sorts of monsters in Elden Ring, whether their motives are known and understandable, tragic, or just plain sick. Players can fight bosses determined to stop chaos from enveloping the world, or battle foes who wish for fates worse than death.
2 Batman: Arkham Knight
Scarecrow, The Joker & The Arkham Knight
Batman: Arkham Knight is a sprawling open-world game featuring the world of DC Comics’ very own Batman. As Batman battles through Gotham City to stop Scarecrow from his most ghastly plot yet, he will encounter many infamous members of his Rogues Gallery, including one he thought was long dead. Batman: Arkham Knight has some fantastic renditions of classic Batman villains from Rocksteady Studios, leaving many anticipating what they will do with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Within Batman: Arkham Knight, players will constantly be teased by the sinister and maniacal Joker, played ever so perfectly by Mark Hamill. During their crusade for Gotham City, plenty of other villains will make themselves known, and it's up to Batman to put a stop to it on what could be his last night.
1 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Eredin & Gaunter O’Dimm
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Platform(s)
- PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , Switch , PC
- Released
- May 19, 2015
- Developer(s)
- CD Projekt Red
A sprawling game, The Witcher 3 is expansive and provoking with its engaging villains. Not only will players be enthralled by the might of Eredin and the Wild Hunt, but across the many Witcher contracts that they find across the map, they will have a new villain to face seemingly every day. The Witcher 3 does many things right, and its villains are certainly one of them. Yet, there is a stand out when it comes to Gaunter O’Dimm.
Gaunter O’Dimm is one of the first characters players meet in The Witcher 3, but it is not until the Heart of Stone DLC that players get to look deep into his sinister obsessions, and how truly evil he is. Gaunter seems to thrive in manipulation and cruelty, and his sadism is boundless, and completely out of this realm of existence.
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