Most Evil Starfield Characters, Ranked

Some games live or die on the strengths or their NPCs. Bethesda's Starfield is a vast game with dozens upon dozens of named NPCs populating its streets, ships, and stations - some of them friendly and compassionate, others... not so much. Many players' favorite characters are the ones they can recruit to their crew or team, while others enjoy unique vendors, quest givers, or random NPCs.

But some of the most memorable characters in any game are the big bads, the down and outs, the villains. And that's true in Starfield too, as some of the game's biggest personalities are found in its villains and morally questionable characters.

Starfield: Every Companion (& How to Get Them)

There are 26 Starfield companions, each of whom boasts their own unique personality and a very particular set of skills to aid players on their quest.

This article contains spoilers, so players should proceed with caution.

10 Nicolaus Slayton

The CEO of Slayton Aerospace, whose ship parts many players use throughout the game, Nicolaus Slayton is also a man of questionable morals. His response to a little bit of corporate espionage is to seal up his building and have the player shot on sight, while also getting their ship impounded. Slayton even wants to have a former employee of his killed for stealing company property. All par for the course in the literally cutthroat corporate world of Neon megacorps, but still not very nice.

9 Lucas Drexler

Lucas Drexler is the CEO of Ryujin Industries' competitor, Infinity LTD. Encountered during the Ryujin Industries questline, Drexler is shown to be a pretty bad guy all around.

As is standard in the dangerous corporate world of Starfield, Drexler is involved in more than one thing that's a little bit naughty. But Drexler is responsible for orchestrating an illegal human clinical trial of untested and dangerous Internal Neuroamp technology. Most of the subjects ended up dead, brain-dead, or comatose. And that's without the mercenaries he sent to intercept shipments.

8 Ularu Chen

Ularu Chen is Starfield's take on corporate evil. A high-up in tech giant Ryujin, Ularu Chen is a scheming mastermind seeking to oust the company CEO, Masako Imada. Ularu Chen is perfectly happy to frame her trusted subordinates for crimes they didn't commit, while also plotting to take down competitor companies after giving them insider information. Ularu Chen is the mastermind behind much of the Ryujin Industries questline, as it's her actions that have caused many of the problems faving the company. She even backs the use of dangerous mind control technology against her own colleagues.

7 Ron Hope

Ron Hope is a dedicated and generous business, a man who built a spaceship company from the ground up - along with a town. Ron Hope provides hundreds of well-paid jobs for many good people, family men and women who without Ron Hope would have nothing at all. Ron Hope sounds like a pretty standup guy.

Starfield: Where Is HopeTown? (Vendors, Locations & More)

For those looking to shop HopeTech products, here’s how to get to HopeTown in Starfield as quickly as possible.

Except in actuality Ron Hope has hatched a secret plot to con hardworking farmers out of their farms. Using an experimental fertilizer that increases the mineral content of soil, Ron Hope hoped to drive farmers out of business while increasing their land's mineral content all so he could buy it cheap and use it in his spaceships. Using mercenaries and disaffected veterans Ron Hope sought to turn his plans into reality, only to be foiled by players during the Freestar Collective questline.

6 Benjamin Bayu

The city administrator of Neon, Benjamin Bayu is neck deep in all the shady goings-on that occur there. Friendly with the Seokguh criminal syndicates, there isn't a criminal pie in the city that Bayu doesn't have his fingers in. Encountered several times by players in various quests, Bayu is alleged by many Starfield NPCs to have a habit of 'disappearing' people who public criticize or disagree with him. And he's on the Freestar Collective's Council of Governors, too!

5 Naeva Mora

The second in command of the Crimson Fleet pirates, Naeva is a greedy, violent pirate without much of anything resembling morals. Naeva tasks the player character with all sorts of piratical missions including the destruction of ships and thievery and seems to revel in the violence and mayhem that come with being a Crimson Fleet pirate. Naeva is also responsible for sending Crimson Fleet pirates out to claim bases and footholds on other worlds from which they can be more effective pirates. And she doesn't seem to show an ounce of regret.

4 Delgado

Delgado is the leader of the Crimson Fleet faction of space pirates and general criminals that prey upon the people of the Settled Systems from their space station, The Key.

image showing the key space station in starfield.

Starfield: Where Is The Key? (Vendors, Locations & More)

For Starfield players looking to sneak into space pirates' headquarters, here’s how to access The Key space station the easy way.

A bit of a dreamer, Delgado seems more concerned with finding a legendary pirate treasure than in running the day-to-day affairs of the Crimson Fleet. But make no mistake, Delgado presides over all the wanton killing, destruction, and piracy comitted by the members of the Crimson Fleet and doesn't even bat an eyelid. For Delgado, all this is part and parcel of being a space pirate, and he wants the legendary treasure to make things even easier for his pirates. He is part of a pretty difficult boss battle sequence, though.

3 Vae Victis

should you reveal vae victis secret in starfield

Vae Victis, also known as Francois Sanon, is a decorated United Colonies veteran, a commander once high up in the UC chain of command. During the Colony War Vae Victis destroyed the city of Londinion's spaceport to prevent a terrormorph infestation from spreading.

Sentenced to death after the Colony War, for war crimes Vae Victis was secretly kept alive and hidden underneath New Atlantis, where he plotted to carry out terror attacks against New Atlantis using terrifying aliens called Terrormorphs, all in a bid to get himself a bit more power.

2 The Hunter

An enigmatic Starborn, the Hunter serves as a cautionary tale for players seeking the Unity. Jaded and bored by his countless trips through Unity into an endless procession of near-identical universes, the Hunter decides that the easiest way to achieve his goals is to simply... kill everyone and everything in his way.

The Hunter plays a major role in main story quest, High Price to Pay, where his approach to seeking the Unity is well and truly put on display to frightening effect. Easily one the most evil characters in Starfield, the Hunter boasts of being responsible for countless deaths of innocents and even appears to find it fun.

1 Victor Aiza

Introduced to players in one of the final missions of the main story quest, Unearthed, Victor Aiza is the mastermind behind the Grav Drive technology that lets players and NPCs alike travel the stars. So far, so good. Right? But later on it's revealed that Victor Aiza knew the Grav Drive tech would destroy the Earth's magnetosphere, resulting in the extinction of millions of plant and animal species along with costing humanity its homeworld. Victor Aiza kept all this secret from his employees and from NASA and other colleagues until it was far too late and the damage was done.