Villains are essential to story-based video games and in many cases they are the best part of their games. Many wonderful antagonists have developed over gaming history, with some villains appearing only once while others survive throughout franchises. Whether you consider yourself a gamer or not, you’re likely to recognize some of the iconic villains within this quiz.
Only two villains in this quiz are playable, yet many of these antagonists are just as relatable—if not more relatable—than the protagonists they oppose. With understandable motivations, tragic backstories, or a great sense of humor, a villain can easily gain a greater fandom than the playable protagonists. Some players sympathize with villains and thus do not want to fight them; some games encourage this mindset by allowing players to either kill or spare antagonists.
Whether you like them or not, these villains have both influenced their games and affected a wide variety of players. Some gamers will never forget their names, while other players will forget them due to the vast number of video game villains in the world. However, you might recognize these villains even if you haven’t played their games. To test your gaming knowledge, see if you can correctly identify these villains.
