TwinBahamut
First Post
Lavos is certainly an amusing pick, and I will strongly support Luca Blight as a great villain. However, I have to disagree with "Kafka". His name is Kefka, not Kafka! He is a great villain, though. He is basically a Final Fantasy version of The Joker who manages to attain godhood. How can you beat that?
I may as well mention a few more of my favorites...
Deus, main villain of the videogame Xenogears
Track Record: A bit vague, but Deus was originally designed as an all-powerful interstellar strategic weapon system, but it went rogue and caused a lot of damage (wiping out at least one planet) before being dismantled. While it's components were being transported to a proper disposal site, it reactivated itself, destroyed the gigantic colony ship it was on, and crashed onto an uninhabited planet. There, it rebuilt humanity using its own genetic components, and proceeded to guide the path of human growth on that planet for 10,000 years, with the goal of eventually re-integrating those humans back into itself and using them as weapons for a new interstellar war.
Success Rate: A bit mixed. It was stopped originally, and it failed to completely restore itself onboard the colony ship, but it did manipulate the human population of its planet for 10,000 years. It also managed to force the evolution of the humans of that world through successive forced conflicts and genocidal wars, until the people of that world were capable of using incredible strong psychic powers.
How close to winning he gets: Pretty close. It successfully re-integrates most of its components (and that includes most of the human population of a planet) into its body, and begins using nanomachines to absorb an entire planet into its superstructure. It is only stopped because of an eleventh hour bait-and-switch tactic involving its most critical component (who happens to be the main hero of the game, and the only person capable of stopping it).
Style: The final battle against it is pretty awesome, and I think that more than suffices. Also, the army of "Seraphic Angels" it creates are pretty cool. It doesn't ever talk, though, so that may be a strike against it, though its main avatar in human affairs tends to be a brilliant and beautiful woman who works as one of those all-time great manipulators, so that may be a plus. Other people in that game (like Grahf) may beat Deus out for style, though.
Of course, now that I have mentioned Deus, I am obliged to mention another great villain of that game...
Krelian
Track Record: Fought as a major figure in a tragic war, helped develop nanotech technology that let him become immortal, and basically became absolute ruler of the nation he fought against in that war. Carried out most of the work needed to revive Deus, including the creation of a nanotech weapon that modified the human genome to turn people into zombie-like "Wels" and "Sufals" that were more suitable for integration into Deus.
Success Rate/How close to winning he gets: 100%. He gets everything he wants. He pulls off an insane Xanatos Gambit in which he triggers the revival of Deus, integrates himself in Deus's core, and successfully gambles on the heroes defeating Deus, which allows him to transcend mortality and ascend to a higher plane of existence (explaining how this works would take too long).
Style: He loses style points for being introduced so late in the game, but he gains some for being a brilliant manipulative bastard. For example, the way he manages to so utterly deceive and control Ramsus...
I would also mention Grahf (who definitely hoards all the villain style points in that game), but explaining his story would take a week.
Also, I would like to mention that, of all the Final Fantasy villains, I would say that Exdeath, Kefka, and Sephiroth, the villains of Final Fantasy V through VII, are easily the three best. I am just a bit too lazy to write up Exdeath and Sephiroth at the moment...
I may as well mention a few more of my favorites...
Deus, main villain of the videogame Xenogears
Track Record: A bit vague, but Deus was originally designed as an all-powerful interstellar strategic weapon system, but it went rogue and caused a lot of damage (wiping out at least one planet) before being dismantled. While it's components were being transported to a proper disposal site, it reactivated itself, destroyed the gigantic colony ship it was on, and crashed onto an uninhabited planet. There, it rebuilt humanity using its own genetic components, and proceeded to guide the path of human growth on that planet for 10,000 years, with the goal of eventually re-integrating those humans back into itself and using them as weapons for a new interstellar war.
Success Rate: A bit mixed. It was stopped originally, and it failed to completely restore itself onboard the colony ship, but it did manipulate the human population of its planet for 10,000 years. It also managed to force the evolution of the humans of that world through successive forced conflicts and genocidal wars, until the people of that world were capable of using incredible strong psychic powers.
How close to winning he gets: Pretty close. It successfully re-integrates most of its components (and that includes most of the human population of a planet) into its body, and begins using nanomachines to absorb an entire planet into its superstructure. It is only stopped because of an eleventh hour bait-and-switch tactic involving its most critical component (who happens to be the main hero of the game, and the only person capable of stopping it).
Style: The final battle against it is pretty awesome, and I think that more than suffices. Also, the army of "Seraphic Angels" it creates are pretty cool. It doesn't ever talk, though, so that may be a strike against it, though its main avatar in human affairs tends to be a brilliant and beautiful woman who works as one of those all-time great manipulators, so that may be a plus. Other people in that game (like Grahf) may beat Deus out for style, though.
Of course, now that I have mentioned Deus, I am obliged to mention another great villain of that game...
Krelian
Track Record: Fought as a major figure in a tragic war, helped develop nanotech technology that let him become immortal, and basically became absolute ruler of the nation he fought against in that war. Carried out most of the work needed to revive Deus, including the creation of a nanotech weapon that modified the human genome to turn people into zombie-like "Wels" and "Sufals" that were more suitable for integration into Deus.
Success Rate/How close to winning he gets: 100%. He gets everything he wants. He pulls off an insane Xanatos Gambit in which he triggers the revival of Deus, integrates himself in Deus's core, and successfully gambles on the heroes defeating Deus, which allows him to transcend mortality and ascend to a higher plane of existence (explaining how this works would take too long).
Style: He loses style points for being introduced so late in the game, but he gains some for being a brilliant manipulative bastard. For example, the way he manages to so utterly deceive and control Ramsus...
I would also mention Grahf (who definitely hoards all the villain style points in that game), but explaining his story would take a week.
Also, I would like to mention that, of all the Final Fantasy villains, I would say that Exdeath, Kefka, and Sephiroth, the villains of Final Fantasy V through VII, are easily the three best. I am just a bit too lazy to write up Exdeath and Sephiroth at the moment...
