A Necessary Evil: Bringing Compelling Game Antagonists to Life

Video games come in many shapes and genres, but there's no denying that they share common threads that define their status as interactive entertainment. One such thread involves the presence of challenges that test the player's grasp of the mechanics and/or narrative quandaries, either in the form of environmental obstacles or non-player characters (NPCs).

In the latter case, one brand of personage casts a long shadow over the player's journey and the space they navigate—to the point where protagonists can be overshadowed by a potentially more iconic figure.

Welcome to the lion's den. With that lion being the video game antagonist.

From wrestling with the protagonist in one-on-one fights to taunting said protagonist from afar via loudspeakers and flickering screens, game antagonists hardly cut corners when it comes to asserting their literal and figurative dominance upon those seeking to thwart their plans.

As gaming tech evolved, antagonists began bearing potentially larger amounts of pixels and mental complexity in order to make a greater, more daunting impression upon everyone they wish to have sent six feet under.

Between the vengeful psychic that is Alma Wade from the F.E.A.R. titles (2005 - 2011) and the ego-shifting, triple-crossing mercenary Revolver Ocelot who appeared in nearly every installment in the Metal Gear Solid series (1998 - 2015), gaming churned out its fair share of baleful and/or charismatic baddies who seek to steal every scene they're in. Not to mention gamers' hearts if their onscreen performances prove especially entertaining.

But as with their movie and literary counterparts, there's a lot more that goes into making memorable antagonists than just their fun factor.

Whether it has something to do with the nature of their agenda or the manner in which they execute and communicate said agenda, game antagonists can show a level of initiative, planning, and moral complexity that can rival and even surpass the protagonist's. This brings up the following question:

How to craft a baddie that players can be both enamored of and opposed to?

NOTE: The tips?in this article?may or?may not be compatible with every game depending on the designer's vision, but they serve as general tenets that can benefit the experience when well-implemented. Spoilers abound since details about the villain shall be discussed.

Give them an eerie and unpredictable line of thinking

If an antagonist's goal is to put their opponents on edge and preclude them from achieving their goals, then one could say that wielding an uncanny state of mind and personality can make for a viable tactic. After all, a more transparent and typical mindset would make it easy for the player to suss out the baddie's weaknesses and prematurely overpower them.

If an antagonist's to keep the tension afloat, they need to erect a proverbial wall around their innermost traits that players will struggle to chip away at.

For example, developers could whip up a personality of sharp contrasts akin to Judge Holden from the novel Blood Meridian (1985): dauntingly brawny but also wickedly smart and capable of displaying superhuman reflexes. Likewise, they could aim for a mysterious figure who looks as if reality can't lay a finger—let alone a hand—on them, making them formidable beings whose opaqueness intensifies the fear of the unknown in players.

Case in point: The G-Man from the Half-Life series (1998 - 2020).

Between the vague yet all-knowing nature of his speeches and the unorthodox cadence with which he addresses Gordon Freeman and Alyx Vance, the G-Man makes it clear that he is a tough nut to crack. And that's provided players get a chance to come face-to-face with him, for he generally prefers observing them from afar and even striking a chat with NPCs long before the protagonist has a chance to reach said NPCs. Clearly, the G-Man's physical distance reflects his equally detached line of thinking.

What makes the G-Man even more enigmatic and hard to pin down is the fact that he's not the sort to pick sides in human affairs, further reinforcing the eerieness of his dispassionate worldview and loyalty to his "employers." Yet his willingness to freeze time and have the player's pursuit of their goals come to a screeching halt goes to show that the G-Man bears a shady agenda.

If familiarity breeds indifference, then the G-Man's consistently alien disposition ensures that the protagonist will always be on their guard whenever he shows up and starts talking. Also, what's in that briefcase?

Honorable Mention: Vaas Montenegro from Far Cry 3 (2012). Don't let his piratical occupation and anarchical look fool you: Vaas is the sort who likes to toy with his foes via speeches that belie his criminal background. Of course, the fact that he can mercurially shift from tranquility to unbridled frustration and anger means that Jason Brody will be too unnerved by Vaas's unpredictability to bother getting the best of his nemesis on a mental level.

Have them bear good intentions that are achieved via bad means

Despite what mustache-twirling and cat-stroking baddies would have many believe, people are loath to think of themselves as the villain in their personal narratives. It's more likely that they'll deem their actions and character virtuous and in line with good intentions—even if reality begs to differ. Ergo, players are more likely to buy into the believability of an antagonist if they're trying to do good via means they don't realize are questionable. This can have things take on a shade of gray instead of being starkly black-and-white.

To use an existing example from another medium, one can look to Killmonger from the Marvel flick Black Panther (2018). On one hand, he seeks to undo Wakanda's isolationist policies in favor of helping people like him who lie beyond the kingdom's borders. On the other hand, he aims to do so via a revolution that involves shipping weapons to allies around the globe.

The lesson to be taken from this is that baddies may not necessarily bear hearts of stone, but their potential to do good is marred by beliefs that were warped as a result of the woes tainting their circumstances and surroundings.

Speaking of warped, the Master from Fallout (1997) epitomizes the adjective literally and figuratively. Originally a philosophizing doctor who roamed the Wasteland with a positive reputation, the Master witnessed the horrors of post-nuclear warfare and the ways in which folks were more likely to behave tribally instead of coming together and forming a community.

Years of experimenting with lifeforms by fusing them together led to his coming up with the idea of unification. In other words, capturing and exposing folks to the same virus that mutated him so that they could become Super Mutants capable of thriving in the world's post-apocalyptic conditions.

As with Killmonger, the Master's end goal isn't the problem: having people cast aside their differences in the interest of rebuilding society is noble.

But how one aims to achieve said end goal is precisely the sort of thing that can distinguish protagonists from antagonists, with the Wasteland's sheer woes having scarred the Master to the point where he'd rather rush to conclusions via the use of force instead of letting nature take its course. As a result, players can potentially sympathize with the Master... and let him know that his plan's all for naught since Super Mutants are infertile.

Honorable Mention: Loghain Mac Tir from Dragon Age: Origins (2009). On one hand, he strongly desires to spare the people of Ferelden from the Darkspawn. On the other hand, he doesn't trust the major power figures in Ferelden to lead the charge against the enemy due to their seeming indolence and inability to shed blood in the name of protecting the innocent. Hence Loghain's decision to eliminate said power figures and the Grey Wardens.

Provide a backstory that details their descent into antagonism

No one is born evil, so anyone who turns out to be the antagonist in a story has their reason(s) for ending up on the tenebrous side of the moral spectrum.

This is where a baddie's backstory comes in, and its elegant inclusion can lead to players getting a better understanding of the forces to be reckoned with. Not to mention the realization that the antagonist in question isn't someone who came to be when players selected "New Game," but rather a three-dimensional soul who waded through countless trials in the past—only to emerge in a sorry state that blinds them to their actions' depravity and consequences.

A backstory, however, shouldn't be included in a way that hampers the pacing and/or if it doesn't add much to the title's thematic message. Instead, a backstory should be used to inform and contextualize the present-day doings of the antagonist—which helps the player mull over the moral quandaries and narrative stakes as they try to understand the thorny situation they're in. And if developers play their cards right, the revelations from the antagonist's backstory can empower the protagonist since they can potentially use that knowledge to target their nemesis's weaknesses via either reason or force.

Most importantly, however, a baddie's background should humanize them since their story could complement the main narrative and even serve as a cautionary tale with regards to the message that the game tries to convey.

If there's one antagonist whose tragic past brings weight to a title's present-day narrative, it's Robert Ramsey from Get Even (2017).

As players progress through the game, they come to understand that the face on the screen hasn't always been this shady and unapproachable. In the past, Ramsey pioneered a piece of technology that'd enable one to record and play back human memory. Seeing his mother succumb to mental illness traumatized Ramsey to the point where he began obsessing about his work and neglecting his family, isolating him from reality. That corporate woes led to the kidnapping of his daughter only drove Ramsey further down the abyss.

His refusal to admit that his neglect made his loved ones vulnerable to bad actors means that Ramsey bears unchecked doubt about and distrust towards the main character, who knows more about the kidnapping than he lets on.

This narrative tension is amplified by the explorable sections that have the protagonist witness Ramsey's cheerier past and descent into despair, turning an initially hazy figure into a human being one can't help but progressively understand and relate to. Ergo, Ramsey's story smoothly complements Get Even's theme of distinguishing between reality and fiction, as well as the need to embrace the ugly truth and be brave enough to own up to one's mistakes and carry on.

Honorable Mention: Kreia from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords (2004). Her atypical rise and fall as a Jedi Master stemmed from her desire to understand the Force and destroy its predestination and "light vs. dark" binarism in favor of galaxy-wide free will. Sadly, the Jedi Council's fear of the unorthodox led Kreia down a dark path, but the unveiling of her past doings and beliefs means that players are more likely to hear her out and grasp her three-dimensional take on the Force before dealing with her aggressively.

Make them a darker reflection of the protagonist

Dealing with antagonistic forces is hard enough, so what happens when the baddie shares more than a few commonalities with the protagonist?

In a world where people swear to their naysayers that they're nothing like them, having a nemesis who is another's spitting image in terms of personality—and even appearance—can make for a discomforting experience that can inspire either denial or courage with regards to confronting said nemesis. The reason such a comparison can make for strong storytelling is that it can result in potent character development, with the protagonist being compelled to size themselves up in light of some of the disturbing traits and thoughts that they and their foe share with one another.

On top of that, an antagonist's acknowledgment of the attributes they share with the protagonist means that the former is likely to know the latter's weaknesses—providing opportunities where the baddie may use force, words, or a blend of both to get the upper hand on the player character. This also promotes character development—not to mention additional hours of gameplay—for the protagonist will understand that they need to tackle more trials along their journey so they're a near-untouchable match for the baddie.

Dutch?van der Linde from Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) epitomizes the concept of a protagonist's darker side. In this case, Arthur Morgan struggles to morally keep up with the same man who took him in at a young age and taught him to read, write, hunt, fight, shoot, and ride the wide open plains.

Breaking away from what one internalized during their childhood is hard, and Arthur's tardiness on that front only exposes him to more of Dutch's increasingly damning doings. Only when Arthur contracts a terminal illness and meets a pious soul does he start reflecting on his beliefs. This echoes the Emersonian quote, "A foolish consistency's the hobgoblin of little minds."

The independent life of crime in the name of freedom and liberties above all else is something that Dutch and Arthur deeply cherished in their early days as compadres. Yet the moral trade-offs that come with such a pursuit mean that Arthur's now challenged to change or else he'll be no different from the desperados who take joy in mowing down the innocent and looting without hesitation. Thanks to the game's length and morality system, players are given a chance to change for the better sooner rather than later—which can potentially result in a journey that's both spiritual and physical in nature.

Honorable Mention: Maria from Silent Hill 2 (2001). A manifestation of James Sunderland's sexual frustration and inability to own up to killing his wife, Maria taunts James by repeatedly dying at the hands of Pyramid Head throughout the adventure. Only by witnessing her final demise does James come to terms with his past crime. Her attempts at seducing him darkly reflect James's being tempted to abandon his mission and not learn the truth.

Have their influence felt throughout the adventure

Unlike movies and books, video games seldom shift the POV from the protagonist's to the antagonist's and vice versa. This means that gamers don't get the skinny on both sides the way that moviegoers and bookworms do.

To circumvent this limitation and provide players with an idea of just how proactive and consequential the baddie can be, developers are free to fall back on depicting the antagonist's influence rather than their onscreen presence. This can be achieved through spatial storytelling, lore, and/or hearsay to highlight just how influential the antagonist is in the world that players are dropped into and trying to navigate in the face of adversity.

As an example, one can imagine a thought leader taking advantage of an unstable environment by preaching to the rudderless and anarchic masses with an ideology that sounds noble on paper. Never mind the fact that it actually involves a level of sacrifice that can harm the self as much as the collective that said ideology seeks to prop up by force. The side effects of this questionable line of thinking can thus be communicated via the way NPCs interact with one another and the player character, as well as through spatial references and collectibles that reinforce the feeling of a lion's den.

Such is the iron fist that Sofia Lamb wields in BioShock 2 (2010).

Unlike her Objectivist predecessor Andrew Ryan, Lamb believes strongly in the idea of a world shorn of individuality and bound to collectivistic mores. From the graffiti adorning Rapture's walls to the audio diaries of denizens singing the praises of or condemning Lamb's mindset, the space that players explore hardly minces words regarding the level of influence Lamb exerts. The spatial details succeed in tiding players over till the next radio call from Lamb, assailing Subject Delta with words on top of the Splicer followers she sends his way.

Lamb's prolonged physical absence is akin to that of Kurtz in the novella Heart of Darkness (1899) in that the two leave a trail of evidence pertaining to their deeds and descent into iniquity. It cements the idea that Lamb's untouchable, like a deity in the sky who happens to be underwater.

As a result, the only form of interaction players have with her for most of the game is indirect (i.e. via the Splicers and unspoiled denizens of Rapture like Lamb devotee Grace Holloway). The frustration players feel at not being able to take a swing at Lamb only adds to the taunting influence she flaunts from one part of Rapture to another. This makes the final stages of BioShock 2 cathartic when players begin foiling Lamb's measures more directly.

Honorable Mention: Monika from Doki Doki Literature Club! (2017). While players do get to spend some time with her in person, Monika isn't shy about utilizing her antagonistic sway via fourth-wall-breaking tricks. By twisting the narrative in a way that seeks to make players romantically beholden to Monika, DDLC! highlights the benefits of subtle storytelling influences that become more tangible when players start smelling something fishy... only for Monika to assert full control before they got a chance to bail.

Ensure they are one step ahead of the protagonist

The thing about stories is that unless there's something standing in the way that keeps the protagonist from easily reaching their goal, chances are they'll swiftly have their way and end their story prematurely without any challenges to test their character and encourage them to change for the better.

This is why having an antagonist who seems to be one step ahead of the protagonist is crucial to promoting a sense of physical and/or spiritual journey via the tug-of-war that the two moral sides engage in. Whether it involves besting their adversary in battle or using a trump card of sorts to pull a fast one on the protagonist, a good antagonist forces the player character to slow their roll. Doing so means they may assess what has transpired and consider if their tactics and/or character need to be changed.

The resulting experience can be one that has players looking forward to their next encounter with the main baddie. They may learn lessons along the way and resolve other conflicts that can bring the protagonist closer to besting their nemesis and fulfilling their narrative goal(s). The key, then, lies in providing an antagonist who seems resourceful and quick to adapt.

One foe that fits the description of a capable and persistent baddie is Letho of Gulet from The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings (2011). From the moment he sneaks into the soon-to-be-besieged La Valette Castle as a monk, Letho establishes himself as a brawny but smart soul in a game of cat-and-mouse.

From slaying a monarch and framing Geralt of Rivia for murder to capturing the sorceress Triss and forcing her to teleport them to Aedirn, Letho takes every opportunity to put some distance between himself and the player character. That Letho is able to overpower Geralt in a swordfight goes to show that even when the latter catches up to the former, Letho never misses a beat. This remains the case when he tries to cover his tracks in light of his failure to turn an elven lieutenant against an ally Letho decides to betray.

The seemingly endless chase that Geralt engages in throughout the game means that by the time the two sides come face-to-face for the last time, both the player and Letho will have developed mutual respect for one another. Not because the two reached a moral consensus, but rather because of how similarly tenacious they were in the pursuit of their respective goals. Long story short, an antagonist who is a match for the protagonist can make the latter's inner growth and physical journey that much clearer and more tangible to admire.

Honorable Mention: Majid Sadiq from Splinter Cell: Blacklist (2013). As the leader of the terroristic Engineers and a former MI6 operative, Sadiq knows all the rules in the espionage playbook and is thus able to tilt the odds in his favor whenever Sam Fisher gets close to subduing Sadiq. From attempting to crash Fisher's plane by hacking into its network to luring government officials into a bunker so as to easily apprehend them in one spot, Sadiq doesn't so much pull the strings as he tugs at them unexpectedly.

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