Why do so many video game villains feel forgettable?
I’ve been thinking about this a lot while studying narrative design in games.
A surprising number of game villains have:
- cool aesthetics
- tragic backstories
- massive lore
…but still leave almost no emotional impact.
Meanwhile, characters like Verso from Clair Obscure or Emmerich Voss from Indiana Jones and the Great Circle stay burned into people’s memory years later.
I think the difference usually comes down to one thing:
Great villains don’t just oppose the hero. They challenge the player’s worldview.
I started breaking this down by comparing a few different games and looking at the writing techniques behind each one:
-how they create tension
-how they justify their actions
-how they force the protagonist to change
It turned into the first episode of a new channel I’m launching about storytelling and writing in games.
Would genuinely love to hear:
What game villain do you think was exceptionally well-written—and why?