A video game can have strong boss fights without those bosses having a substantial impact. With few exceptions, audiences will generally remember characters who give them something to think about over a flashy monster-of-the-week encounter. Plenty of 2022 releases had great villains, from Mr. Grizz recontextualizing a trilogy's worth of events in Splatoon 3 to Tilda van der Meer leaving an entire planet at risk for the chance of rekindling an old flame with her lover's clone in Horizon Forbidden West.
However, some villains stood out more than others in both AAA and indie releases this year. With 2023 promising titles like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Starfield, more will undoubtedly come, but 2022 is a tough act to follow. Major spoilers are ahead for all games included, but these are the 10 best video game villains of 2022, in no particular order.
Count Victor de Arles - A Plague Tale: Requiem
Grand Inquisitor Vitalis Benevent's shadow looms large coming out of A Plague Tale: Innocence, but Requiem's Victor de Arles stands out in his own right. He serves as the Count of La Cuna island, where Amicia and Hugo travel to hide from a mysterious organization called the Order. Hugo is mistaken as the prophesied "Child of Embers" whom Victor made up to appease his wife Emilie, and their attempt to forcibly adopt him leads to the death of the siblings' mother - as well as the seeming death of Amicia herself. This grief drives Hugo to fully merge with the Macula, becoming an inconsolable force of nature that Amicia is forced to kill.
Prince Frederik - Chained Echoes
In many ways, Chained Echoes is an excellent take on the kind of fantasy story one expects from a politically-steeped JRPG. One of the game's strongest characters is Prince Frederik of Taryn. As heir apparent to one of the three major kingdoms of Valandis, Frederik takes advantage of peacetime following a great catastrophe to shore up his peoples' chances of future victory. This includes inciting a false flag operation to justify further conflict, and Frederik's cruelty is on further display as he maims a subordinate for nearly harming his sister amid the assassination attempt.
Chained Echoes also grapples with weapons of mass destruction, as Taryn's unhinged prince has access to the Grand Grimoire: a crystal that absorbs all life within a thousand miles if activated. Its power is demonstrated in the game's prologue, building up suspense as a bomb sits under the table. Frederik will do whatever is necessary to gain power, but is also cunning enough to hide his deceptions from other major players in Valandis.
Savathun - Destiny 2
Of all the villains that have cycled in and out of Bungie's sci-fi universe, Savathun has received among the longest build-up leading to her self-titled expansion, The Witch Queen. Players have faced her brother Oryx in the past, but Bungie made this encounter more personal throughout various seasonal updates in 2021 that dialed up her trickery while disguised as the Guardians' ally Osiris.
The Witch Queen then centers the mystery of how Savathun and her Lucent Brood received the Traveler's Light, eventually revealing it's because the seeming arch-nemesis shares a common enemy: The Witness, a major embodiment of the Darkness. While Savathun must be stopped on account of her plan to hoard the Light within her Throne World, it seems likely this is just a pathway to darker foes.
Margit - Elden Ring
Among the pantheon of early tutorial bosses in FromSoftware games, Margit's battle outside Stormveil Castle is a strong barrier that holds many players back until they learn Elden Ring's quirks - an especially important role for this open-world title. However, Margit stands out further when it is revealed he's Marika's child Morgott in disguise, becoming a much stronger adversary to protect the Erdtree, the source of his family's power and legacy. It's clear through his battles and lore scattered around The Lands Between that Margit will do anything to gain his mother's approval after being cast away, but this won't stop the Tarnished on their journey to become Elden Lord.
Odin - God of War Ragnarok
Throughout God of War (2018), Mimir regales Kratos and Atreus with mythological tales about the cruelty and depravity of the Norse pantheon, particularly Odin and his son Thor. Neither appears beyond a brief tease of Mjolnir, leading to plenty of build-up for God of War Ragnarok. Yet Santa Monica Studio subverts expectations by presenting Odin as neither a megalomaniacal madman nor a calming presence a la the MCU's Anthony Hopkins, but rather a shifty man pursuing knowledge and control of the Realms.
Richard Schiff sells this take on the All-Father, one who seems kind to Atreus despite every member of his found family reminding the young warrior that Odin will say anything to get what he wants out of friend and foe alike. Ultimately Atreus must come to terms with Odin's true nature as a Corleone-esque mob boss who rules with deception and fear, and will kill his own family to learn a sliver more about gods' mortality.
The Hulk - Marvel's Midnight Suns
Marvel's Midnight Suns has been warmly received for the ways each hero can interact in-between Firaxis' card-based combat, but there are also plenty of fun characters working under the banner of demonic antagonist Lilith: Venom, Scarlet Witch, and Sabretooth among them. Early marketing revealed Hulk as one of her corrupted soldiers, but he serves an interesting role.
Rather than being Lilith's main bruiser, Hulk's alter-ego Bruce Banner takes center stage as a tactician and manufacturer for the Lilin. Firaxis gets to eat its cake too when the Hulk is unleashed as a last line of defense, giving players an idea of what he can do before joining the Midnight Suns.
Green - Neon White
A major aspect of Neon White is the interactions between each Neon, assassins who are brought up to Heaven to deal with an infestation of demons, framed as a contest to win a "Mechanical Halo" that allows them to stay. Neon Green is the current Halo holder, but through his increasingly bloodthirsty nature - including killing other Neons - it is revealed that the Halo is a mind-control device.
Neon White learns Green was his gang's boss in life, ultimately responsible for the deaths of many main characters. When he frees Green from the Mechanical Halo's control, White finds out his ultimate plan has been to manipulate former allies into helping destroy Heaven. By the end of the game, White must decide whether to forgive or judge Green for his actions.
Volo - Pokemon Legends: Arceus
While Pokemon games aren't often regarded for their strong villains, some fan-favorite examples include antagonists with moral ambiguity who consistently interact with players. N from Pokemon Black and White is a good example, as is Volo from Legends: Arceus. Being an ancestor to Sinnoh's Champion Cynthia, players are likely to appreciate Volo's guidance and shelter when Jubilife Village rebels against them. Yet it's revealed that Volo opened the original Space-Time Rift and is using players to summon Arceus so that he can subjugate its power. This ambition is only extinguished after a grueling three-part battle that includes both forms of Giratina, breaking the series' typical 6v6 format with no chances to heal in-between.
Yang - Sifu
Sifu has a relatively simple story befitting its design, steeped in inspiration from classic martial arts films. Yang leads the organization players take on throughout the game, as the protagonist is driven by a personal vendetta after Yang killed the main character's father. Similar to the titular antagonist from Kill Bill, defeating Yang is what the entire journey builds to, and players gain an animosity matching their avatar as the organization's leaders fall one by one. Even so, forgiveness is possible - and encouraged - when deciding whether to continue the cycle of violence.
Dragon Lord - Tiny Tina's Wonderlands
Gearbox's Borderlands franchise is known for its irreverent sense of humor, and hearing that the Dungeons and Dragons-inspired spin-off would include Will Arnett as a villain likely conjured up images of a funny, if unserious threat. Luckily Dragon Lord is given more to do, and he epitomizes many of the underlying themes in Tiny Tina's Wonderlands.
After facing Dragon Lord's trickery throughout the adventure, players come to learn he is a darker manifestation of Tina's original Bunkers and Badasses character, the Dragon Knight, abandoned after one of Tina's in-game decisions was considered "evil." Now he seeks vengeance against his creator. However, it's implied some of this is Tina's internalized grief following the death of her original Bunker Master Roland in Borderlands 2 - a fitting connection given Wonderlands is an expansion of the Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep DLC.