/vr/ - Retro Games

[fart senshi No.8369404]

Shit tier: villains who are just evil or lust for power.

[Anonymous No.8369471]

>>8369404
fuck off art student
>nooo my villian isn't sympathetic
>nooo my villain doesn't have a tragic backstory
Kill yourself. Degenerates like yourself do in fact exist, so it is entirely acceptable to tell a story of good versus evil

[Anonymous No.8369483]

>>8369404
I can hear this image

[Anonymous No.8369490]

>The “””””””””bad””””””””” guy did nothing wrong yet is still a bad guy
God tier

[Anonymous No.8369497]

Give me a retro game with
>villain is unrepentently evil but has such impossibly strong convictions in his cause that he cannot be swayed from the evil path he has gone down

[Anonymous No.8369501]

>>8369404
Kefka? Really? You picked HIM as a 'he's just evil' villain of the Final Fantasy series? One of the big themes of that game is the connections that people form with each other. Kefka lacks human connection, and that's a big part of his character. He's driven mad after failed Magitek experiments upon him, and thereafter is fruitlessly searching for something to give him more than a fleeting sense of joy or sadness or anything else. He has the power to destroy the world by the end of the story, but doesn't just because he lacks the motivation.

Meanwhile, exactly one game before, we have Exdeath. Who wants to rule the world because ... evil. And wants to become all powerful because ... evil. I mean to be fair, he's a tree who is only sentient because he's stuffed to the gills with evil spirits and demons, so it makes sense that he's 100% all evil. But he is, in fact, just evil and lusts for power.

And you go after Kefka. Sad.

[Anonymous No.8369503]

>>8369497
Luca Blight from Suikoden 2.

[Anonymous No.8369505]

>>8369503
Was in the middle of typing up a reply when you said it. Saw nothing but the world's evil when young, convinced himself there is nothing in this world worth saving so he doesn't care about anything but ensuring the world actually becomes as rotten as he thinks it is.

[Anonymous No.8369524]

>>8369503
Ooh, good one! That series has good villains for this. Marscal Godwin from Suikoden 5 is a villain who does everything he does out of a deep love of his country and its people.

[Anonymous No.8369526]

Nah, shit-tier is "irredeemably evil villain with a retarded plan who losers on 4chan call the good guy". Many such cases!

[Anonymous No.8369528]

>>8369490

[Anonymous No.8369590]

>>8369404
Execution matters way more than concept.
Not /vr/ related but I think Monstro from Pinnochio is a great villain despite being just a whale, because of how incredible his animation is.
I guess a /vr/ example would be Nemesis. His motivation is shallow (he only exists to kill STARS members), yet he's still incredibly memorable because of the execution, both in cutscenes and gameplay. His iconic "S.T.A.R.S. . . ." voice line, his music, how tough he is in-game, how he can suddenly appear out of nowhere, his relentlessness, etc.
If anything, if you have to analyze a villain's characterization before judging their quality, they're probably not very good. They should have a presence to them that is immediately apparent. They can have depth but that's more of the cherry on top. Especially in a video game. Literally, a villain should be judged by their "video" (presentational) and "game" qualities, before even thinking about the deeper writing.

[Anonymous No.8369609]

My favourite kind of villain is the villain who has been wronged in some way and has been consumed by their lust for revenge. The kind of villain that has a sympathetic, possibly even morally correct angle, but has become unforgivable due to the lengths they've gone trying to exact their revenge, to the point that their original intentions have just become completely meaningless.

I can't name any /vr/ examples though.

[Anonymous No.8369649]

>>8369609
Magus from Chrono Trigger, maybe? He has the opportunity to attempt to rewrite history in a way that would save his sister, the only person he really cares about. But he's been obsessed with getting even with Lavos for so long that he just can't let it go, and even uses his sister to attempt to do so. And in the end when Lavos just effortlessly brushes him aside, he's left a broken man who taunts the party in what's basically a suicide attempt. He's not completely evil, and I don't think the term 'unforgivable' would apply to him. But it's definitely a case of seeking revenge so hard that you forgot why you originally even sought it.

[Anonymous No.8369659]

>>8369590
I like how Pinnochio is a movie with many villains, each representing different types of villainy. John and Gideon are common thugs, selfish and greedy, but still horrified by greater evil. The Coachman represents the greed and evil of men in power, caring nothing for the people he hurts and only interested in money (Stromboli is this too, but with some 1940's "them dirty foreigners!!" shit thrown in). And Monstro represents the brutal power of nature - he's not evil, he's just a huge animal the protagonist has no chance against.

[Anonymous No.8369665]

>>8369501
A simple-minded fool such as yourself could never hope to understand his motives.

[Anonymous No.8369671]

>>8369665
Yeah, but I am smart enough not to play in front of a black hole and see what happens. Also, bonus points to him for seeing what Enuo did and saying "So he was invincible, but then lost it when he gained the Void and died? I'm invincible ... ooh, I'll do the same thing! ... Oh no! How did I die??"

[Anonymous No.8369682]

>>8369671
The laws of the universe mean nothing!

[Anonymous No.8369691]

>>8369659
>dirty foreigners
But he's Italian like Gepetto. He's really an evil version of Gepetto.

[Anonymous No.8369703]

>>8369691
The movie is American, and Gepetto is just the typical sweet grandfather type character. Stromboli has an over-the-top accent and is drawn much more "ethnically" As a more modern example, look at the character designs of Aladdin and Jafar. They're both Arabian, but I mean ... look at them.

[Anonymous No.8369716]

>>8369703
But that's true of most villains and heros. The hero looks more youthful and dashing, and the villain is a caricature. Aladdin still looked middle eastern, with the nose and all.

[Anonymous No.8369734]

>>8369404
yeah i don't like kefka very much. he's cartoonishly evil and one dimensional. then he has a cool boss fight. i remember reading reviews of ffvi and people were like now this villain is BAD ASS blah blah blah. Sephiroth is even KEWLER than KEFKA!!!?!!?!? HOW?

so when I played FFVI I just thought he was a gay clown and didn't get it. MYES AND EAT THE BABIES. HAHAHAH KYAYKA AND IMPALE THEM SO THE WHOLE TOWN CAN SEE KYAA AND LIGHT THE TOWN ON FIRE AFTERRR KYA. AND THEN POUR PISS ON EVERYONE KYAAAAA AND THEN POUR ACID THAT LOOKS LIKE PISS SO THAT THEY DON'T RUN THEY JUST THINKS I'TS MORE PISS KYAAA BUT IT'S ACID KYA THEN COLLECT ALL THE ACID FLESH GOO AND FEED IT TO OTHER PEOPLE WHO WE HAVE TIED UP IN OUR DUNGEON KYAAA THEY'RE STARVING SO THEY'LL EAT IT KYA HA AND THEN THE ACID GOO WILL KILL THEM TOO BECAUSE IT'S STILL ACIDIC ENOUGH KYA A

[Anonymous No.8369798]

>>8369734
He's pretty bland by today's standards, sure. But every Final Fantasy villain before him was "I am an evil dude, bwa ha" and that's it. And Final Fantasy was still ahead of the pack on storytelling, compared to most video games of the period. Kefka cracking jokes and being actually insane, rather than just bland evil, was a breath of fresh air to SNES gameplayers. But yeah, he's still the villain of a 1994 video game. He's not going to win awards.

[Anonymous No.8369802]

>>8369716
You think so? I always thought Aladdin looked and sounded as Midwestern U.S. as they could possibly get him. But yeah, you're right that it could just be the hero/villain dichotomy.

[Anonymous No.8369827]

>>8369798
Did I say anything about the "video game antagonist climate" of 1994 or anything about award ceremonies regarding villains? No retard. I said he's one dimensional. He still sucks. I don't take every villain from 1994 and run them through an algorithm to see just how complex they are before I say a character is shit, dumbass. CRPGs had good villains at the time. But oh we shouldn't lump them with the console villains. Plus they're from different countries, and you have to factor in-- NO. Kefka is shit. You're a fucking retard.

[Anonymous No.8369840]

Kefka - and early Final Fantasy plots - in general were just OKAY. Good for their time, nothing to write home about that much today.

I used to think 6 was the best in terms of story and presentation but nowerdays I've moved over to 5 and 4. 5 is whimsical and goofy, which is something that holds up if you're doing a dumb dungeon crawl grind. 4 has a charming pulpiness to its dumb melodrama which you don't see much elsewhere.

[Anonymous No.8369846]

>>8369827
Oh, sorry. I thought you were ignorant, not willfully stupid.

[Anonymous No.8369850]

>>8369840
I really like 5, yeah. Exdeath is a cool concept for a villain, even if he isn't very colorful. And playing with the Jobs system is a lot of fun.

[Anonymous No.8369856]

>>8369404
You son of a submariner

[Anonymous No.8369860]

>>8369404
By Final Fanyasy standards he's one of the best villain. And he succeeded in his goals too.

[Anonymous No.8369863]

>>8369497
High tier: villains who are retaliating against miseeds done to them. They may be seeking to change society as a whole.
For a non-meme answer, the final bad guys from the same game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psUW_xxBvOA

[Anonymous No.8369867]

>>8369497
High tier: villains who are retaliating against miseeds done to them. They may be seeking to change society as a whole.
For a non-meme answer, the final bad guys from the same game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psUW_xxBvOA

[Anonymous No.8369874]

>>8369497
High tier: villains who are retaliating against miseeds done to them. They may be seeking to change society as a whole.
For a non-meme answer, the final bad guys from the same game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psUW_xxBvOA

[Anonymous No.8370367]

>>8369404
Nothing shit tier about this. What is wrong with a story of good vs evil? Virtue vs vice? The best villains are unsympathetic and without some bullshit gay faggot tragic backstory. Only pretentious fucks getting lectured by their homo art teacher disagree

[Anonymous No.8370902]

>>8369590
I remember the music in the save room being different if I entered it while Nemmy was outside. That was a shock at the time. He was waiting.

[Anonymous No.8370926]

>>8370367
>tragic backstories cannot work well, and anyone who disagrees with me is a pretentious fuck
Ah, yes, a hot steaming take of fecal matter right here. How open-minded of you, dear fuckwit. If you think the best villains are unsympathetic, fine, that's your opinion. Opinion =/= fact!

[Anonymous No.8371134]

>>8369501
in hindsight exdeath was a big downgrade from golbez

[Anonymous No.8371143]

God tier: Villain is the future version of one of the protagonists

[Anonymous No.8371176]

>>8371134
How do you figure?

[Anonymous No.8371181]

>>8369590
monstro's actually a fantastic villain for pinocchio cause he represents the greater universal force of hedonistic evil that motivates the other villains
>>8369691
he's actually romani. honest john calls him a gyp

[Anonymous No.8371189]

>>8371143
Will ff8fags ever shut up with their schizo headcanons?

[Anonymous No.8371192]

>>8370367
i think the idea is that a pure evil villain should have a motivation that makes sense at least for their own self interest. a bad guy that's just evil for no reason doesn't really make sense. knowing what makes evil is a virtue, the inverse is just naivety

[Anonymous No.8371201]

>>8369501
>He's driven mad after failed Magitek experiments upon him

Quite the opposite, actually. The experiment was TOO successful, to the point that he was infused with too much power, and that's what drove him mad.

I like to imagine prior to his infusion he was just kind of a dick, maybe even a sociopath, but not a sadistic, homicidal maniac.

[Anonymous No.8371203]

>>8371201
Ah, that's a good point. I meant 'failed' in the sense that he was driven insane, but yes, it did in fact make him powerful. The interesting thing is we have no idea what he was like before the infusion. He could have been a sweetheart for all we know.

[Anonymous No.8371232]

>>8371203
What I'm interested in is how in the fuck he became so powerful by the time you finish the Thamasa bit that he one-shots multiple Espers like they're nothing, both the same Espers who just prior to that had ravaged the Imperial capital AND their backup. Unless he always was that powerful and he just held back every time you faced him, and if so, he very well could have killed the Espers when they first invaded Vector. Which begs the question, if he's THAT powerful, why the fuck do they even need Terra at all?

Just one of those things in the game's plot that was never explained, and has always bothered me a bit.

[Anonymous No.8371246]

>>8371232
Ah, I think it's because they were working on the Magicite technology. During the infiltration of the Research Facility, Kefka sees the whole thing where the espers turn into magicite, and thus now understands the secret the espers were trying to keep for how to get their true power. Gestahl has already started dismantling the facility before the espers even show up, because he now realizes that extraction is pointless. I think, therefore, that between that point and Thamasa, Gestahl is working on getting magicite out of the corpses of espers. (Remember the pit that Ifrit and Shiva are thrown into? They have to have a bunch of dead espers somewhere, and that would mean magicite) So they hadn't figured it out yet when the espers hit Vector, but did afterwards. So Kefka goes to Thamasa with his new 'make magicite' spell and kaboom.

That makes sense to me, anyway. But we can't know for sure.

[Anonymous No.8371249]

>>8369404

Love his cool leather cap and goggles.

[Anonymous No.8371262]

>>8371232
>>8371246

Yeah I'm pretty sure that's actually mentioned somewhere around Thamasa, they actually figured out how to use magicite.

It's why the emperor can use merton/meltdown etc.

[Anonymous No.8371320]

>>8369802
>sounded as Midwestern U.S.
Well yeah, he was played by DJ's boyfriend from Full House

[Anonymous No.8371324]

>>8369798
>But yeah, he's still the villain of a 1994 video game.
So was Oersted in Live A Live and he got a lot of characterization

[Anonymous No.8371329]

>>8371192
>i think the idea is that a pure evil villain should have a motivation that makes sense at least for their own self interest.
This. Time Master from Freedom Force tried to create a temporal paradox that would destroy all existence except for himself, but he was doing it because it would create a reality where time had no meaning and thus he couldn't inevitably die of old age.

[Anonymous No.8371686]

>>8371192
Vegeta is evil and he is a legend

[Anonymous No.8373301]

>>8369827
>It's another soiboy mad about a one dimensional villain thread
There's nothing wrong with a one-dimensional villain, reddit, especially if that villain is consistent and the nature of his antagonism is suited his dimension of evil. Kefka is a nihilistic asshole who has contempt and hatred for the world and everything in it. The only way they could have improved the character would have been for him to an hero in the final battle, like a real IRL nihilistic faggot would do.

This relativist fad of whining about villains who aren't deep, complex, characters that undermine the very concept of good and evil needs to die already. Fuck that. Give me an evil tree that's evil because he's the garbage dump for all the evil souls of the world. I don't even care about the backstory so long as the character itself is both entertaining and a believable, effective antagonist.

https://vocaroo.com/11xDBJzjBrNS

[Anonymous No.8373327]

>>8371192
>i think the idea is that a pure evil villain should have a motivation that makes sense at least for their own self interest.
Kefka hates people and hates the world, that's his motivation.

[Anonymous No.8373359]

>>8373327
yeah sure that's probably true. i don't play jarpigs. there are plenty of vidya villains that fit in that category though. (i.e. bowser, where he keeps letting his army get butchered by mario over and over again just to hold on to a princess with no actual goal, besides odyssey. probably because they finally realized his motivation made no sense so they just stole the fanon marriage plot)

[Anonymous No.8373368]

>>8373301
"i'm evil for no reason" has never been acceptable writing. most old school villains have simple but reasonable motivations like money

i think i understand what you're really butthurt about with how certain modern villains have disingenuous redemption arcs despite committing genocide etc. but that doesn't mean the alternative should be no real motivation at all

[Anonymous No.8373374]

>>8373368
>"i'm evil for no reason" has never been acceptable writing
Not him but do you count "because they're satan" as "for no reason"? Because that's good enough for religion.

[Anonymous No.8373378]

People always complain that Kefka has no motive, but he has more motive, background, and character development than any villain in any FF game before

[Anonymous No.8373380]

>>8373368
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z834x4Qk_pM

[Anonymous No.8373386]

>>8373374
satan isn't evil for no reason. have you read his origin story as lucifer?

[Anonymous No.8373387]

>>8373386
The thing that isn't actually canon and doesn't even happen in the bible itself?

[Anonymous No.8373396]

Kefka having no particular motive other than fun and nihilism is actually very consistent with the major underline theme of FF6.

[Anonymous No.8373401]

>>8373387
except yknow, isaiah. and ezekiel. the only thing that's supposedly non-canon is the name lucifer itself and only in modern interpretations

also i'd say the devil as the serpent was more chaotic neutral than anything, not pure evil.

[Anonymous No.8373402]

>>8373368
What about say, Biff Tannen from Bttf? There is no real motivation for him and his ancestors beyond the fact that he's just a bully and an asshole. Some people in the world are just assholes that get off on pushing around people smaller and weaker than them, and data shows that they in fact do not mostly come from a broken home where they're abused and thus take it out on others. Most of them are like Alex from Clockwork Orange, a child who never were disciplined for anything they did.

[Anonymous No.8373404]

>>8373401
>the devil as the serpent
Literally a retcon, in genesis itself the snake is just a talking snake.

[Anonymous No.8373407]

>>8373402
he wanted to coom in lorraine, obviously. not to mention make plenty of money with the almanac

[Anonymous No.8373410]

>>8373407
And Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen?

[Anonymous No.8373412]

>>8373404
yeah i know but he's generally interpreted as the devil by like all christians anyway to the point where the supposed truth of the matter doesn't matter. like much of the bible

[Anonymous No.8373418]

>>8373402
and alex just thinks its fun. i feel like you really don't understand what does and doesn't make a motivation. you're too caught up in the villains being meanie-heads

[Anonymous No.8373420]

>>8373410
i never saw bttf3 but yeah it might count. 1 and 2 do it right though and you included all tannens

[Anonymous No.8373441]

>>8369590
This. People won't care if a character has poor characterization or flimsy motivations if they're memorable. I know people groan when you bring up JoJo as an example thanks to the anime making it popular but Dio Brando really is the perfect example. Yes, Dio had motivations, but they were always kinda secondary to the fact that he is just evil to his core. That's basically the whole reason he's ok with killing his father, attempting to kill his adopted father and brother, burning his brother's dog alive, stealing the first kiss of his brother's crush, literally throwing away his humanity to become a vampire, etc. He even tries the "woe is me I had a tragic childhood" line for sympathy and Speedwagon immediately points out that he's from the streets and he's seen plenty of tragic childhoods, but most don't become an embodiment of evil from it because they're not a bad seed. His motivations are all secondary to the fact that he's a pyschopath, and the audience doesn't care because he has such presentation in doing so.

>>8373420
>i never saw bttf3
Not him but it's worth it. It does something different from the first 2 movies but it's still a well-scripted, well-acted film with a nice way to end the trilogy. People just didn't like that it took place in an entirely different setting from the other 2.

[Anonymous No.8373453]

>>8369501
Exdeath is an allegory for climate change

[Anonymous No.8373490]

>>8373401
Satan as a villain with motives distinct and apart from those of Yahweh is a late development in Judaism that was later read into earlier narratives and prophecies by both Jews and Christians. The character's earliest possible mention is in Job, where he's literally one of Yahweh's servants, serving as an accuser. The Lucifer bit in Isaiah, which, as mentioned, isn't even a name but a title used in the Latin translation, does not refer to the devil as we know him, but to a king of Babylon (or possibly Assyria in spite of the text, depends on who you ask). He starts getting something of an adversarial role (one of the meanings of the word Satan, of course) by Zechariah and the book of Chronicles, but it's not until inter-testamental times that he becomes full-fledged evil incarnate, with Jews often referring to him as Belial, which means something like "worthless". And it's not until Christian times that he is read into Genesis, Isaiah, and other places.

[Anonymous No.8373492]

>>8373327
I've always thought his motive was lulz, honestly. He literally tells you there's no fun in destruction if no "precious" lives are lost.

[Anonymous No.8373524]

>>8370926
>Ah, yes, a hot steaming take of fecal matter right here.
People who start threads like this deserve that kind of response.

[Anonymous No.8374151]

>>8371192
>>8373368
Some people are just assholes and born evil.

See: Carl Panzram. Under the age of 10 he was already causing trouble and committing crimes, suspected to have killed over a 100 men, raped a thousand boys, and almost sparked a war between America and Britain. Because...?

Some people are just fucked in the head.

[Anonymous No.8374178]

Shit tier opinion.
Villains who are unabashedly evil for literally no reason are based.
I'm so tired of the overwrought melodrama surrounding villains in rpgs
>oh noooo he was so misunderstood
>if only things had been different
>he wanted to save everyone, just in his own misguided way...
>he had such a troubled past...
>NO! I WON'T LET YOU BE EVIL. I WILL SAVE YOUUUUUUU
That shit is so fucking gay.
I just want to go on an adventure and face an imposing bad guy who is in my way, not listen to a bunch of psychology sessions.

[Anonymous No.8374320]

>>8374151
wow epic but we're talking about fictional characters within a narrative here

[Anonymous No.8374382]

>>8374178
Funnily enough, the heroes do in fact try to 'save' Kefka at the end. Convince him not to keep being a dick. And they all tell him, one by one, why they fight and why life is worth living. And his response?

"This is sickening. You all sound like chapters from a self-help booklet!"

Lol

[Anonymous No.8374405]

>>8374178
This old contrarian faggotry is as tired as "i play as female characters because i dont want to look at men's asses all day". Its not even a particularly common cliche to avert, Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, two of the largest behemoths across JRPGs alone has more generic evil psycho-niggers than melodramatic crybabies for final bosses by an ENORMOUS margin.

[Anonymous No.8374478]

>>8373368
kys art student
>>8373301
based

[Anonymous No.8376916]

What category does Sephiroth fall under?

[Anonymous No.8376937]

>>8376916
Well, on the one hand, it's nice that we get to see what he was like before he went nuts (he seemed like an ok guy, if a little terse). After that, though? Just your average megalomaniac with a god complex, who somehow still makes time to grief Kuroudo for... some reason? But at least the "become god" motivation is front and center in the original game, unlike everything FFVII-related that came out afterwards, where is sole reason to be appears to be Cloud-trolling.

[Anonymous No.8377151]

>>8369734
Meds. Now

[Anonymous No.8377191]

>>8371134
golbez is literally bad because zemus is controlling him
the only "character development" he has is fusoya's infodump and him going "brother...!" before you fight zeromus

that's quite literally his entire character
he's serviceable but i don't know why people like him

[Anonymous No.8377217]

>>8377191
He is just notable for being the first FF villain with any kind of arc, I guess. Also, a lot of people are suckers for redemption arcs. Plus he just looks wicked in that armor.

If you're the type that thinks TAY counts for anything (and let's be honest, few parts of it ought to), it does give a bit of insight into why he was susceptible to being controlled, similar to how Kain having some inner jealousy of Cecil over his unrequited feelings for Rosa made him an easy target for Golbez.

[Anonymous No.8377328]

Kain is so lame.
He was way cooler when he was always taking Rosa away and mocking Cecil for being a weak faggot.
Then he "comes to his senses" and decides to be the 3rd wheel again? What the fuck?

[Anonymous No.8377353]

>>8377328
spotted the incel

[Anonymous No.8377441]

>>8377353
The irony is that he had a much better chance of actually getting Rosa when he was being a bad boy.

[Anonymous No.8379025]

>>8373368
>"i'm evil for no reason" has never been acceptable writing. most old school villains have simple but reasonable motivations like money

"He likes to hear people scream" is a valid motivation in the context the other anon was talking about.

Or just "he thinks doing bad things is fun". A character can be cartoonishly moustache twirlingly evil, it doesn't mean they're evil "for no reason" or that they don't have a motive. They're motive can just be simple or instinctual.

>>8373418
See above.

This anon also explains it well too >>8373441

[Anonymous No.8379285]

>>8369404
Actually Kefka is lamer than that, since what actually happened was a modification that drove him insane:
>villain is crazy in no consistent way with any mental illness, all things are simply justified by the fact that they are crazy
That's the hidden bottom tier.

[Anonymous No.8379291]

>>8369501
Exdeath is justifiable simply for storytelling practicality reasons: we would have to hear the story of every one of his evil spirits to know why they are evil. I'm pretty sure nobody is interested to know any of those.

[Anonymous No.8379310]

FUCK OFF. Cliches are good. They wouldn't be cliches if they were never good.

[Anonymous No.8379332]

>>8379310
This is a topic about what OP thinks are patterns of lazy writing, which aren't necessarily cliches unless every piece of commonly neglectful writing counts as a cliche to you. And if those count as cliches to you, by including that under the embrella of "cliche", you counter your own point that cliches are good.

[Anonymous No.8379439]

>>8377191
>he's serviceable but i don't know why people like him
Because he looks cool, has a dramatic evil-sounding theme, and is an effective antagonist throughout most the game (although the point where his hand appears after getting beat by Rydia is kind of lame and forced). "Effective antagonist" is the part most meme critics forget. Most stories are not about the villains, they are about the heroes. The villains exist to cause problems for the heroes, with style. Anything else is a bonus, and that's assuming you can pull it off without undermining their role in the story with distracting woe-is-me backstories and so on.

Golbez is on a quest to gather the 8 Crystals so he can open the way to the moon and gain ultimate power. He's being manipulated by Zemus, who wants to wipe out humanity, but this is just a twist for the final chapter (and also offers a way for Golbez to gain partial redemption in keeping with the theme of the game).

>he has is fusoya's infodump and him going "brother...!" before you fight zeromus
>that's quite literally his entire character
That's the whole game, though. FFIV is extremely compressed, text-wise. Nobody gets any elaborate development. It's all brief bits of dialog that leaves a lot for your imagination to fill in.

>>8379332
OP is a fag though. There's nothing wrong with a villain whose main motivation is lust for power.

[Anonymous No.8379454]

>>8379439
>although the point where his hand appears after getting beat by Rydia is kind of lame and forced

This bothered me for years as well. Is it meant to imply you only fought a shadow of Golbez and not the real deal? Because otherwise it makes him look like a bitch, considering you fight him before you even fight his top henchman.

[Anonymous No.8379481]

>>8379332
I don't agree with the premise that it's neglectful or lazy writing.

[Anonymous No.8381074]

>>8376916
He's in the angsty, albino, emo category. Along with Griffith and that warlock dude from Fire and Ice

[Anonymous No.8381356]

[Anonymous No.8381450]

>>8369609
Seifer from FVIII was a good tragic villain I ended up just feeling sorry for

[Anonymous No.8381463]

>>8376916
cool, edgy, hot emo guy

[Anonymous No.8381694]

>>8369404
Why does he have a goatse at the crotch of his kilt

[Anonymous No.8382073]

>>8371143
Hey, if you wanted to talk about Ulti, you could do so without bringing up that nonsense.

[Anonymous No.8382110]

>>8371189
ff8fags still haven't recovered from ff8
their schizo theories are a coping mechanism to try and prove the story is good
it isn't
the game is shit
spoony isn't the antichrist
move on with your lives ff8fags

[Anonymous No.8382125]

>>8382110
Spoony is a faggot irregardless of his opinions on FFVIII.

[Anonymous No.8382143]

>>8382125
ff8fags haven't recovered from ff8 but especially haven't recovered from spoony

[Anonymous No.8382175]

>>8382125
The word is "regardless" you fucking retarded ape.
Please get off my internet.

[Anonymous No.8382208]

>>8382143
He’s an unfunny cunt. Don’t bring him up ever again

[Anonymous No.8382225]

>>8382175
Go home and get your fucking shinebox.

[Anonymous No.8382250]

>>8382208
What is your opinion of his Final Fantasy X video series?

[Anonymous No.8382253]

>>8382125
Could you tell me what "irregardless" literally means?
>>8382208
There was a point in his ff8 review where I was in tears from laughter

[Anonymous No.8382360]

>>8381463
Can you consider emo something that got created before that word got invented ?

[Anonymous No.8382623]

>>8382250
I never found any of his reviews funny. I feel the same away about the rest of TGWTG

[Anonymous No.8383015]

>>8382208
>>8382110
>>8382125
>>8382143
>>8382253
Spoony always was a bit of a cunt, admittedly, but he was still hilarious up until 2009 or so when he won that stupid meme award and let it get to his head, and he gradually went from funny though kind of a cunt to a massive unfunny cunt. And we all know what transpired afterwards. Now he's nothing but a soulless husk of a man that looks like he's one bad day away from gently caressing the barrel end of a shotgun to just end it all.

[Anonymous No.8383035]

"Just" lusting for power, as if power isn't a very valid and serious end in itself, pursued by basically every great conqueror and ruler in human history.

[Anonymous No.8383710]

>>8369404
>Beyond Elder God Tier
Ted Woolsey's localization gives villain bunch of memorable one liners.

[Anonymous No.8384104]

>>8382360
Emo as we know it today was getting big right around the time FF7 came out. I would not say Sephiroth was emo or had anything much to do with it, but it definitely existed. I was in college in 1997 and my roommates were all Emo fans. They wound up founding an emo band together after they graduated.
>1994–1997: Underground popularity
>According to Andy Greenwald, "this was the period when emo earned many, if not all, of the stereotypes that have lasted to this day: boy-driven, glasses-wearing, overly sensitive, overly brainy, chiming-guitar-driven college music

[Anonymous No.8384802]

>>8369404
What's this

[Anonymous No.8385045]

>>8369404
How do you write a memorable villain without making it sounds like they're just evil for the hell of it, or having retarded motivations? What would be a good motivation?

[Anonymous No.8385060]

>>8369874
>They may be seeking to change society as a whole.

[Anonymous No.8385062]

>>8385045
to redditors villains have to be emo depressed soys with a tragic backstory and are looking for revenge or some utilitarian bullshit

[Anonymous No.8385242]

>>8382125
Spoony is unmedicated for bipolar disorder II with a serious case of imposter syndrome. He deserves your pity, not scorn.

[Anonymous No.8385257]

>>8385045
motivation aside, the most important thing imo is actually making them do evil shit. let them prove it through their actions, forget motivations if they don't serve a purpose of an enigma to solve. even the cartooniest, dumbest, most sub-human motherfucker can be a fun monster to hate if he gets a chance to pull off a couple atrocities or two. its why Kefka in the OP works for a lot of people, his motivations are completely retarded and his sole source of "backstory" comes from a random NPC but he sort of makes up for that with his deft combination of humor and heinous acts

[Anonymous No.8385346]

>>8371686
the majority of Z is his personal redemption arc

[Anonymous No.8385364]

>>8385242
Fuck him. He's an ass.

[Anonymous No.8385401]

>>8385364
You only thing that because you're terminally /here/. If you spend time away from the internet, your mind might finish developing.

[Anonymous No.8386825]

kekekekekeke

[Anonymous No.8386970]

>>8385257
I guess that's why my favorite villain is the Joker, he's just a perfect foil for Batman and an entertaining madman who does a lot of funny/heinous shit. In some interpretations they give him that sobstory of Red Hood and how he was a failed comedian falling into a vat of acid, but even that is left up to interpretation as one of many possible stories because the Joker is an unreliable narrator. And in hindsight, yeah, you're right, Kefka is beloved for the same reasons. I was just more wondering why people get upset about the sobby backstory kind of thing, there doesn't seem to be any other avenue you can take to add "depth" to your villain that way so I guess it ends up being an overused trope that people get tired of.

I'd say another villain I do enjoy in games is Eggman: He's just this fat balding mustached fuck who wants to corrupt animals into robots and just expand his influence by making giant metropolis kingdoms full of tech and his imagery. The way he just constantly doggedly pursues this goal with nary any other reason than "Just because" is entertaining in its own right, irrespective of what certain other Sonic games try to make of it, like that small moment in SA2 where he questions his grandpa's morality. He just simply wants to prove he is the best and buttress his ego. No sob story or anything else deeper than that really, as far as I know.

[Anonymous No.8387328]

>>8385257
Kefka's also pretty consistent in his craziness.

[Anonymous No.8387359]

>>8369501
Gotta admit though, Exdeath's armour is stylish as fuck.