Please note, however, that massive spoilers lie ahead for some games, so go in with that knowledge in mind.
Prototype puts you in the shoes of Alex Mercer, a young man that wakes up in an experimental facility owned by the company Gentek. Mercer gains destructive superhuman powers through an outbreak of the BLACKLIGHT Virus. Along the way Alex, who has amnesia, learns about his dark past connected to the virus and unleashes immense destruction on the city. What’s more is that Alex is actually the main villain of Prototype 2, meaning you really were the villain the whole time.
Overlord is the epitome of playing as a villain, as you literally play as an evil Overlord that commands a horde of minions. Your minions resurrect you after years of slumber, and from there you have to conquer the land and take it from seven corrupt ruling heroes. It’s true that the humans you’re conquering aren’t really any more “good” than you, but much of the game is satire and parody of fantasy. There’s even a corruption mechanic that lets you choose between being “evil” and “more evil.”
Knights of the Old Republic took the Star Wars series thousands of years in the past, to a brand new era we’d never seen before. You wake up as someone with amnesia not knowing anything about who you are or what you’re doing, except for the fact you’re in the middle of a giant battle. KOTOR builds a proper, convincing universe for Star Wars where the Jedi and Sith armies wage war. The game has a monumental twist near the end, where it’s revealed that your character is actually the Dark Lord of the Sith, known as Darth Revan. You lost your memory during a Jedi attack, and now must choose whether you follow the Light or the Dark Side of the Force.
Spider-Man has a huge cast of memorable villain, but it’s not every day you actually get to play as one. You actually have the option to play as both Spider-Man and Venom, switching between the two in the open world and story. The two have wildly different abilities, with Venom having to drain life from his enemies as his own life bar constantly drains.
Kratos may have started out as a rage filled hero seeking vengeance for the murder of his family, but by God of War III the tables have turned and he’s become an all-out killing machine. With his vengeance fulfilled, God of War III sees our “hero” single-handedly destroying the ranks of Mount Olympus and anyone else that gets in his way. Kratos has no sympathy of any kind, for anyone, and the deaths only get more and more gruesome as the game goes on.
Bowser’s Inside Story is still very much a game about Mario and Luigi, but it features a big twist. The brothers actually end up inside Bowser, helping to fight off hostile invaders inside the villains body. Meanwhile, players actually get to take control of Bowser in battle sequences, even as a Giant Bowser in some spots. Flipping between the villain and the heroes managed to provide some entertaining variation.
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Games That Let You Play as the Villain
Video game heroes are vitally important to our experiences, as they're the character we take control of. Sometimes however, it's nice to be bad and change things up to take on the role of the villain. Here's 20 games that let you step into villainous shoes. Please note, however, that massive spoilers lie ahead for some games, so go in with that knowledge in mind.
Prototype
Prototype puts you in the shoes of Alex Mercer, a young man that wakes up in an experimental facility owned by the company Gentek. Mercer gains destructive superhuman powers through an outbreak of the BLACKLIGHT Virus. Along the way Alex, who has amnesia, learns about his dark past connected to the virus and unleashes immense destruction on the city. What's more is that Alex is actually the main villain of Prototype 2, meaning you really were the villain the whole time.
Overlord
Overlord is the epitome of playing as a villain, as you literally play as an evil Overlord that commands a horde of minions. Your minions resurrect you after years of slumber, and from there you have to conquer the land and take it from seven corrupt ruling heroes. It's true that the humans you're conquering aren't really any more "good" than you, but much of the game is satire and parody of fantasy. There's even a corruption mechanic that lets you choose between being "evil" and "more evil."
Destroy All Humans!
Destroy All Humans has you doing exactly what it sounds like, destroying the human race. You place as Cryptosporidium 137, an alien of the Furon race. You've come to Earth in order to harvest the DNA of humans and continue the cloning process of your species. The series plays with the established notions of alien abduction stories, and gives you tons of options for wreaking havoc on humanity.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord
Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King was a spinoff of the series that let you fill the shoes of a king and build your own town, with some surprisingly deep mechanics. My Life as a Darklord actually has you playing as the daughter of the villain from the first game, defending your traveling tower from adventurers. You need to fill your tower with monsters and traps and stave off the hordes of heroic adventurers seeking to destroy the Dark Crystal at the top.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Knights of the Old Republic took the Star Wars series thousands of years in the past, to a brand new era we'd never seen before. You wake up as someone with amnesia not knowing anything about who you are or what you're doing, except for the fact you're in the middle of a giant battle. KOTOR builds a proper, convincing universe for Star Wars where the Jedi and Sith armies wage war. The game has a monumental twist near the end, where it's revealed that your character is actually the Dark Lord of the Sith, known as Darth Revan. You lost your memory during a Jedi attack, and now must choose whether you follow the Light or the Dark Side of the Force.
The Misadventures of Tron Bonne
Mega Man has had his share of spinoffs, with entire series being started like Mega Man X. Legends is yet another spinoff that featured a brand new protagonist known as Mega Man Volnutt, and a cast of other new characters. Tron Bonne is a part of the criminal band of air pirates that function as villains, and she even got her own game. The Misadventures of Tron Bonne is actually a prequel to the first Legends game, that features Bonne and her loyal army of adorable Servbots.
Dungeon Keeper
You know all those dungeons you wander into in games like Ultima and Diablo? Well Dungeon Keeper basically puts you into the role of stopping all those pesky heroes that wander into old crypts and caves. It's a strategy game that has you playing the role of the Dungeon Keeper, constructing minions, traps, and general infrastructure. The game lets you interact with almost all of your minions, showing off a fittingly dark sense of humor.
Fable Series
Fable is one of many games all about choice. The first title in this popular RPG series introduced the mechanic of a morality slider. Actions you took in the world would give you points towards good and evil respectively. The unique twist Fable brought, was that as your morality changed so would your character. You can do some truly devilish things in the Fable games including murder, harassment, and just generally being a terrible person. Of course, as you did these things your "hero" would grow horns, gain red eyes, and have flies buzz around them.
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm
Starcraft II's campaign was split into three different parts with the second, Heart of the Swarm, focusing on the insect-like Zerg. The title focuses on the former Terran Serah Kerrigan, now the commander of the Zerg known as the "Queen of Blades." Heart of the Swarm is a story about revenge, with Sarah trying to regain control of the Zerg swarm to exact vengeance on the deceitful Arcturus Mengsk. You'll have access to all the horrifying Zerg units you could want along the way.
Disgaea
Disgaea is an incredibly quirky strategy game that has you playing as the demon Laharl trying to take back his dead father's throne, and having to work with more heroic elements against his will. Laharl, his vassal Edna, Angel Trainee Flonne, and other motley characters fight to take back The Netherworld. Disgaea has a hilarious and ridiculous story, that actually satirizes JRPGs and many elements of Japanese games.
Payday and Payday 2
It should be no surprise to anyone that you play the bad guys in a game about robbing banks. The Payday titles are four player co-op games that have teams working together to systematically rob a bank, taking hostages and cracking safes along the way. Working together is the key to victory, and taking home a big score.
Braid
Braid is a game that completely plays with your expectations, tasking you with saving a princess from a monster in the traditional Mario-esque style. The Princess always seems to be one step away however, and through the journey you'll learn more about the main character Tim's motivations. Ultimately, the game pulls a big reveal and shows that Tim is actually the monster the Princess is running from, completely changing your perception of the game.
Deception Series
Koei's Deception series may not have your character starting out as a villain, but they certainly become one. The first game has you playing as a murdered prince who makes a pact with the Devil to become the master of the Castle of the Damned, eventually having the option to resurrect him. The details change from game to game, but each entry in the series focuses on using traps to kill invading heroes and adventurers in particularly horrible ways.
Bowser's Inside Story
Bowser's Inside Story is still very much a game about Mario and Luigi, but it features a big twist. The brothers actually end up inside Bowser, helping to fight off hostile invaders inside the villains body. Meanwhile, players actually get to take control of Bowser in battle sequences, even as a Giant Bowser in some spots. Flipping between the villain and the heroes managed to provide some entertaining variation.
inFamous Series
Like other games before it, inFamous provides you with a world full of moral choices, and a good and bad morality slider. The catch this time around though is that your main character, Cole McGrath, is a superhero. Certain binary choices will affect certain aspects of the plot, and also give Cole access to different powers. Evil powers tend to be more violent and destructive, while good powers tend to be more exact.
Twisted Metal Series
Twisted Metal has a diverse cast of characters, many of which can be considered villains and generally unheroic people. Primary among these characters, is the demonic looking clown known as Sweet Tooth. Each game in the series has a variation on the story, but it always revolves around a horrific demolition derby called "Twisted Metal," hosted by a man named "Calypso." There will most certainly be casualties in each tournament, and each car is a carefully crafted death machine.
Ultimate Spider-Man
Spider-Man has a huge cast of memorable villains, but it's not every day you actually get to play as one. You actually have the option to play as both Spider-Man and Venom, switching between the two in the open world and story. The two have wildly different abilities, with Venom having to drain life from his enemies as his own life bar constantly drains.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and Lords of Shadow 2
Dracula is and always has been the main villain of Castlevania, but he's inconspicuously absent for most of Lords of Shadow. Gabriel Belmont is a member of the Brotherhood of Light, knights that defend the people against supernatural creatures. Ultimately, Gabriel confronts and defeats Lucifer, gaining an unholy power himself. We then find out that Gabriel has become the Lord Dracula we all feared so much, and Lords of Shadow 2 throws us right into that role.
Star Wars: Bounty Hunter
Jango Fett may not have been given his time to shine in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, but at least he got his very own video game. Bounty Hunter has you stepping into the shoes of Boba Fett's predecessor, to hunt the Dark Jedi Komari Vosa. There's some important plot points revealed during the game like why Jango was chosen as the template for Clone Troopers, how Boba Fett was born, and how he obtained the iconic ship Slave I.
God of War III
Kratos may have started out as a rage filled hero seeking vengeance for the murder of his family, but by God of War III the tables have turned and he's become an all-out killing machine. With his vengeance fulfilled, God of War III sees our "hero" single-handedly destroying the ranks of Mount Olympus and anyone else that gets in his way. Kratos has no sympathy of any kind, for anyone, and the deaths only get more and more gruesome as the game goes on.
About the author
Hayes Madsen
A connoisseur of all things RPG related, and always looking for the artistic expression in gaming. His love of Gundam is only matched by his love of Pizza. Playing Games Since: 1991 Favorite Genres: RPGs, JRPGs, Strategy,