They say, “Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” And boy, do video games show how true that is. So many great video game villains are members of royalty for a reason. The idea that someone with such power and authority is corrupt or just downright evil is a terrifying prospect.

Even more comical or cartoonish examples still use their crown to get up to whatever mischief they want, and it’s the hero’s quest to knock them off their throne. Here are some of the biggest baddies in video games born with a silver spoon in their mouth, but with no heart to be found.

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7 King (Deltarune)

He’s…The Bad Guy!!!

Deltrarune was a welcome return to the world of monsters Toby Fox introduced in 2015’s Undertale. Although this land is more of a parallel to the original, it’s still filled with plenty of quirky, lovable characters fans have come to expect. It’s also got its share of terrifying characters that fans have come to expect.

The best (and worst) of those is King, the ruler of the Card Kingdom and father to Lancer. While Lancer eventually turns around to view the Lightners as his friends and teammates, his father is another story. The game heavily implies that he’s not the greatest father either, even when he’s not threatening to drop his son off a cliff.

6 Queen Ga’ran (Ace Attorney: Spirit of Justice)

The Soulless Queen of Spirit Mediums

The Ace Attorney franchise is filled with corrupt officials who abuse their authority to get away with murder. These characters often feel they’re above the law, but it’s only the corrupt queen of Khura’in, who actually is. Queen Ga’ran has abused her unchecked authority for decades, eventually spurring her people into a full-blown revolution.

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She’s not any better in her personal life, either. Ga’ran is a menace to her entire family, as well. Her husband despises her. Her daughter lives in fear of her constant disapproval and impossible expectations. And that’s before even mentioning her sister and in-laws.

5 The Queen of Hearts (American McGee's Alice)

The Real Mind-Killer

American McGee’s Alice is a dark, twisted take on the classic Alice in Wonderland books. Here, Wonderland isn’t some carefree world, but rather the manifestation of Alice Liddel’s fractured psyche after the death of her family. As she traverses her childhood land of make-believe, she eventually comes across the entity responsible for her madness.

That madness is, of course, the Queen of Hearts. It’s her efforts to take Wonderland for herself that have kept Alice locked in a mental asylum all these years. Her ghastly, monstrous hands, as well as her face that resembles a younger Alice, have so much haunting symbolism for Alice's lost childhood. Considering how much she loves taking off people’s heads, is it any wonder she’s the reason poor Alice lost her mind?

4 Shadow Queen

The Dormant Evil Underneath Rogueport

For such a bright and colorful game, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has quite the dark side. The door that players have been working to open is eventually revealed to have been locked for a very good reason. It exists to contain the Shadow Queen, a demon who once destroyed the town of Rogueport a thousand years ago.

The X-Nauts have been working tirelessly to revive their evil queen all this time. Once she’s free, she possesses Princess Peach and threatens to finish what she started centuries ago. It’s up to Mario and all his newfound party members to finally dethrone the Shadow Queen for good.

3 Odin (God of War)

The Not-So-Fatherly All-Father

In God of War (2018), players hear countless tales of Odin, the cruel god who tormented and betrayed everyone in his path to absolute power and control over the nine realms. And when players finally met the King of Asgaard in Ragnarok, he proved to be even worse than the stories could ever describe.

Odin is cunning in his deception, playing the role of the “misunderstood grandfatherly figure” to perfection. But underneath that friendly exterior, Odin is a snake who constantly seeks to twist things to his advantage. His machinations inflict suffering on every main character players have grown to love, all with a casual smile on his unassuming face.

2 Bowser (Super Mario)

King Koopa Has Arrived

He may have mellowed out a bit over the years, but Bowser is still one scary Koopa when he wants to be. He’s unleashed countless schemes against the Mushroom Kingdom over the past couple of decades, from kidnapping its princess to launching the entire palace into the furthest reaches of the galaxy.

And let’s not forget: it’s his Koopas and Goombas that Mario has to jump over (or on) to rescue Princess Peach every time. Bowser may be a semi-decent kart racer and more-than-decent father to his son, but this scaly, spiky, fire-breathing king is a force to be reckoned with.

1 Demon King Ganondorf (The Legend of Zelda)

The First Incarnation of the Calamity

Fans of the Legend of Zelda franchise know by now that Ganon is evil incarnate. He and Link are the villain and hero destined to duke it out throughout time. In Breath of the Wild, Ganon took the form of the Great Calamity, a sheer force of pure evil that threatened to destroy the land. And in Tears of the Kingdom, players discover where that force came from.

Before he became Calamity Ganon, this ancient evil took the form of a man named Ganondorf. But even in human form, his heart was filled with nothing but hatred and a lust for power. He waged a devastating war on the young Kingdom of Hyrule, eventually transforming himself into the Demon King. He got the power he wanted, but lost what little humanity he had left.

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