Villains in video games have taken on several shapes and forms, with some antagonists being the driving force behind most of the player's actions and endeavors. It becomes important for games with a strong narrative focus to have a compelling villain at the heart of things so that people are invested in the proceedings and actually want to fight against these characters or understand their motivations.

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So, it takes something really special in an industry full of villains with varying personalities to have an antagonist who is so engaging that players can't help but get drawn into the way they think and act. These villains are some of the best-written characters of all time and deserve their time in the limelight whenever they take center stage in their respective games.

6 Final Fantasy 15

Ardyn Izunia, later revealed to be Ardyn Lucis Caelum, is one of the most charismatic antagonists in Final Fantasy history. This villain was a gem to witness firsthand, with players loving the character from the very second he made his presence known in the game. Given the mess that was Final Fantasy 15's development, Ardyn appeared sporadically throughout the series before finally breathing his last at the end after being defeated by Noctis.

However, the release of Episode Ardyn revealed the circumstances that led to Ardyn becoming such a heinous character. He was actually a healer who tried to cure a disease called the Starscourge in a humane manner, transferring the ailment over to his own body. Slated to be king, Ardyn was betrayed by his brother, with his fiancee dying in the ambush. This caused his infection to manifest and his claim to the throne to be rejected, resulting in untold pain as he waged war on the Lucis bloodline to avenge the death of his beloved.

5 Portal 2

The first Portal game does a great job of introducing players to GLaDOS while establishing her as an AI villain who has gone rogue and forces test subjects to go through inhumane experiments. However, it's in Portal 2 that players actually interact with GLaDOS and figure out the details that led to her existence.

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She's revealed to be an AI program based on Caroline, Cave Johnson's assistant. The disturbing part is that this was done against her will, which has some dire implications. While GLaDOS is wracked by human emotions for a while, she promptly deletes the part of her that houses Caroline, which is exactly what fans expected from a hilarious game like Portal.

4 Heavy Rain

While Heavy Rain is a game that is certainly full of its fair share of plotholes, there's no denying that the reveal of Scott Shelby as the Origami Killer was tantalizing and added a lot of oomph to the story. It made the final confrontation against him a riveting one as players fought against him to save Shaun, with time running out as the boy's cell was slowly filled with water.

The reason why Shelby becomes the Origami Killer is a pretty fascinating one, with his brother drowning because of his alcoholic father's negligence. This takes him down a dark path as he tests the lengths that a father will go to in order to save their child, with Ethan being his latest victim.

3 The Last Of Us Part 2

Many people weren't huge fans of The Last of Us: Part 2, especially because of the puzzling manner in which Naughty Dog handled the story. Abby is a character who seemingly comes out of nowhere to become the main villain, only for players to see things from her perspective and realize that she isn't really a bad person per se.

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Joel's selfish actions lead to the death of her father, and Ellie's relentless quest to hunt Abby down to seek revenge leads to her closest friends being killed in this tale of violence. While some people argue that this dual narrative could've been handled in a better fashion, The Last of Us: Part 2 is still a great title with a well-told story that fans can't wait to see adapted in the HBO show.

2 BioShock Infinite

There are many people who have slowly grown out of the love they had for BioShock Infinite, finding the conveniences in the narrative to be a bit too huge to ignore. However, at the time of release, the game's story and gameplay were hailed as some of the very best in the FPS genre, and rightfully so.

The reveal of Booker DeWitt and Zachary Comstock being the same person from two alternate timelines was a great twist, showing how the major turning point in their lives led to the same person becoming two unique individuals. While some people feel that Infinite's story is very anti-religious, the truth is that Comstock used his misplaced faith to justify his atrocities, trying to forget and make up for his past in an unhealthy and detestable manner.

1 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Trials And Tribulations

The Ace Attorney series has always done a great job of giving its villains some time in the spotlight as their motivations are revealed for everyone to see. However, Trials and Tribulations took this to a new level, with many people considering this title to be the greatest title in the original trilogy.

Godot seems like a despicable character at first glance, only for his backstory to be revealed in a tantalizing manner that explains why he wears his mask. Dahlia Hawthorne is also introduced in this game, with this heinous character taking the top spot as one of the most evil video game characters of all time.

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