Villains or antagonists are part of what makes video games and stories so interesting. The constant battle of good versus evil is commonplace in video games and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Some of our most hated enemies blindsided us with their betrayal, some villains were evil all along, and some are just so damn annoying that we can’t help but hate them for causing us constant grief while constantly meddling in our affairs.
Naturally, there will be spoilers in this article as we expose the most hated video game villains and enemies. Just keep in mind, these are just our top choices and there are, of course, many more to choose from.
Edgar Ross – Red Dead Redemption
Rotten to the core, Edgar Ross blackmails John Marston into doing his dirty deeds, but as he returns home to resume his family life, Edgar comes back to gun him down for his crimes. Basically, everything you did for him was for nothing and he lied to you.
His character leads to one of the saddest video game endings of all time, but also a motive for the next game in the franchise. That’s right, we all get our revenge and all is well in the next part of the series as John’s son seeks revenge for his father and gets it.
Edgar Ross is hated, but he is made to be hated – that’s just the purpose of his character. He’s a great villain that did his part well, so even if we hate his guts, we applaud his villainy… kind of.
Cliff Racers – Elder Scrolls Iii: Morrowind
Perhaps one of the most annoying creatures you’ll ever encounter, Cliff Racers are everywhere and will not leave you alone – ever. It’s a fun read to look at threads of people who just absolutely loathe these flying creatures.
And it’s not that these things are hard to kill, they’re easy once you’ve reached a decent level. They are hated for how annoying and frequent they appear. You’ll be on your way to another part of the game or off to do some quest and you’ll be swarmed by five of them. This will then continue on even after you’ve defeated them repeatedly.
Plus, you can also hear them when you’re not fighting them which will create an anxiety-induced moment where you keep turning around to check where the creature is and if you are in their range of attack. Since they spawn so frequently, you’ll be turning around quite often and never have a moment’s peace.
D’vorah – Mortal Kombat X
A recipe to get the whole fanbase of a game to hate you? Walk into a scene and kill several of its beloved longstanding characters. D’vorah has added Mileena, Scorpion, and Baracka to her list of murders and fans were immediately outraged.
Understandably so, too. D’vorah as a character doesn’t hold much appeal, her backstory wasn’t special and her outfits and abilities look dull compared to the likes of others. For her to easily kill such iconic characters was rather underwhelming and frankly, cheap.
With that said, it might actually be a good thing she chose to end the lives of such iconic characters. This way she can build her reputation as a villain and a character that is not to be trifled with. Good writing in that sense I suppose. Plus, even with the hate, a lot of people still play as her character, so I guess the hate doesn’t run all that deep.
Kai Leng – Mass Effect 3
A straight-up childish, badly written, and annoying character from the Mass Effect universe, and it does not matter if you’ve read the comics or not. His character is equally bad in the game and the comics/novel.
He is easier to dislike for those who have not read the comics, since he just randomly appears in the game, gives a little boast, kills one of your beloved squad members, and runs away. Every time he appears on screen, he has some cheesy dialogue and tries to assert dominance against the main character which is you.
His arrogance and vindictiveness are what drives everyone to dislike him further. He’s like the character that tries to be a cool ‘hero’ but comes off as a try-hard that pushes your buttons instead. No worries, you’ll get your revenge on him!
Abby – The Last of Us Part 2
I think this does not come off as much of a surprise, but Abby from The Last of Us Part 2 could be the most hated character there is in the current history of modern video gaming. The moment the game was released and everyone swarmed to play it, the final verdict was “Abby deserves no mercy.” Rightfully so in my book, too.
The overwhelming hate comes from Abby killing off the most beloved father figure and main character of the franchise: Joel. What’s worse is, the developers didn’t even intend for Abby to be a villain, or garner so much hate. Players were supposed to sympathize with her and her killing Joel was supposed to be justified.
But nope. None of that. Having to play as Abby for hours didn’t really help her case either. This was just a case of really bad writing, and it doesn’t seem like there is any form of redemption for Abby in the future unless they remake the game somehow.
The Regenerators – Resident Evil 4
These guys just don’t seem to die, which is fair enough as they are named The Regenerator. This is also why they are one of the most hated creatures in the Resident Evil franchise. They’re ugly, take precision and a whole lot of damage to kill, and they keep coming.
You need to shoot at five different parasites located on different parts of the creature’s body in order to fully disable it. It’s pretty hard to do when multiple are coming at you at once and you don’t have much space to back up anymore. They even have extendable spikes, so you can’t really run unless you have an explosive or a powerful weapon with you.
There’s an evolved version of The Regenerators known as the Iron Maidens that can impale characters in combat and have a parasite on their back at all times. Now that’s another horror that we don’t want to recall ever again.
Micah Bell – Red Dead Redemption 2
Micah is a well-written villain, his role was so well done that he is up there with the greats like Edgar Ross. His character evokes hate because of how evil he is and his famous abusive sequence where he torments the main character, Arthur Morgan.
His lack of empathy towards Arthur who is battling tuberculosis is what drives everyone mad. He makes fun of Arthur for his dwindling condition and in the end, takes a cheap shot at him to end his life. The treachery and outright rudeness of his character were so well written that they incurred a deep hatred within the fanbase.
Micah gets his due in the epilogue, so fans did not have to wait too long to celebrate an act of clean revenge for their beloved character. And now all is well again.
General Shepherd – Cod Modern Warfare 2
Another act of betrayal that most people did not see coming until the end. It’s quite notable too since General Shepherd was the first real villain to materialize out of the franchise at the time. But after going through all that hardship and pain to get to the end, you get betrayed so easily by the one man you trusted.
Getting backstabbed is one of the most painful realizations a person can suffer, but he ended up killing two iconic characters in the franchise too, Ghost and Roach. His betrayal was motivated by his desire to restore his country’s military reputation after 30,000 of his soldiers were killed by a former Russian militant gone rogue. Blinded by his need to be the best, he killed two of the best, and basically anyone who stood in his way to success.
General Shepherd did end up dying in the same game, as Soap pulls a knife from his own chest and throws it at him, landing directly in his eye with an instant kill. Soap and Price had discovered the betrayal but did not have time to warn Ghost and Roach, but at least they got revenge.
Ted Faro – Horizon Zero Dawn
We all know he’s the bad guy, he’s the creator of all the mechanical creatures and robots that you have to end up fighting in the game. But his reputation just progressively gets worse throughout the game, even if he is long dead.
He was the one responsible for bringing doom to the world TWICE. He purges APOLLO – the one useful program in the GAIA system that’s crucial for preserving humanity’s history. Sure, he might’ve been mentally ill and deranged for causing the extinction of the world with his swarms, but he did not show any signs of redemption at all.
In fact, some people are theorizing that he could be hiding and alive in a bunker that he built for himself all this while. So, yes, nobody is sympathizing with him even if he proves to be pathetic and mentally deranged.
Mindy – Pokemon Diamond & Pearl
If you’re a fan of Pokemon or at the very least played Pokemon Diamond & Pearl, you would have heard of the infamous Mindy. She’s an NPC in the game that is famous for being a pain to deal with. There’s even a whole subreddit dedicated to just pure hate for her character if you’d like to be amused.
So what was her fault that had caused this immense hatred? Well, she’s an NPC in Snowpoint that asks you if you would like to trade a Medicham for her Haunter. Haunter can then be evolved into Gengar, so naturally, this was a good deal.
But then, she’ll dupe you by saying “Did my Haunter turn into something? Ha! Just kidding!” as she explains that she’s given her Haunter an Everstone to prevent it from evolving. There are so many choice words I could use to describe her right now, but since I’m trying to keep it clean, I’ll leave it up to your imagination.
To Conclude
Some villains were crafted from the beginning and well-written into their stories, but then we have accidental villains and villains that we were supposed to sympathize with but ended up hating instead. Ehem, Abby. This only goes to show that creating a villain is not as easy to identify as we’d all hope.
Anyways, if you’ve got any other villains or enemies you absolutely loathe, do let us know! We’d love to hear from you.
