The games with the best stories all have one thing in common – they all have a great villain. The villain provides the setting for which the hero arises. Without conflict from the bad guys, the hero is essentially useless, and that doesn’t make for a good plot now, does it?
But behind every villain, there is a story. Some stories are the typical bad guy mythos of ‘I want to rule the world/galaxy’ but other back stories just tug at your heartstrings and you can’t help but feel sympathetic for these so-called “villains.” So if you’ve got the best gaming laptop, here are games with villains that you just have to feel sorry for:
The Master (Fallout)
Based on appearance, the Master is a blob-like creature, but before he looked this way, he was a man and a good one at that. He fell into a vat of FEV whilst searching for the origins of animal mutants attacking human survivors.
Clearly, his new form warped this once good-hearted man. Through his twisted logic, he thought that the only way to make the mutant attacks stops, was just to unite the wasteland by making everyone mutants. Twisted indeed, but you can’t help but feel sorry for him. In the end, you can talk him to putting himself out his misery.
Saren (Mass Effect)
Saren is the primary antagonist in the first Mass Effect game. As the story of the game progresses, you eventually discover that he knew all about the Reapers’ plan to kill all organics. For whatever reason, Saren had good intentions when he aligned with the Reapers. He wanted to save the organics by pledging himself to the Reapers, thinking lives can be saved.
Unfortunately, his plan of self-sacrifice backfires and he ends up being indoctrinated by the Reapers’ twisted thinking. Depending on your choices, he can end up taking his own life in guilt.
Teyrn Loghain Mac Tir (Dragon Age: Origins)
The Hero of the River Dane himself, Teyrn Loghain, is a patriot who fought for his country’s independence; Ferelden is a free country thanks to him and King Maric. Through grit and determination he freed his people from the vastly superior Orlesian Empire. Now, just as the Fifth Blight is starting, he turns his back on his rightful king and takes power.
You later find out he did what he did because he thought it was the best way to protect his beloved Ferelden. You can either choose to execute him or let him join the party. If you want to learn more on why Loghain acted the way he did in Origins, you can find out more by checking out one of the Dragon Age novels, the Stolen Throne.
Sarah Kerrigan (StarCraft)
Sarah Kerrigan is one of the most iconic video game villains out there, but she didn’t always start out as a vile scheming bitch. Once she was a lieutenant in the rebel group The Sons of Korhal seeking to overthrow the tyranny of the Confederacy. She forms a relationship with Jim Raynor through their struggle together. During one of their sorties, the group’s leader Arcturus Mengsk left her for dead. Captured and infested by the Zerg, she now leads the vast Zerg hordes into destroying the galaxy.