The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 1

"Be the hero of your own story." Ever been given this advice? It's very good advice; it means to be the kind of person you want to look up to. Do good with your life; be successful, be happy, be GOOD. Take charge of your own life. But sometimes we screw up; we make one bad decision after another. Sometimes these decisions are so fatal, we become our own worst obstacles; our own villains. There will be times when the cause of our misfortune is ourselves; sometimes we can make up for it, sometimes we can't. When we can't recognize our own faults, our own shortcomings and weaknesses, we become our own villains. And if we're not careful, we end up hurting other people. Today's villain is a man who ruined his own life, and then kept on ruining everyone else's: Kratos, from God of War.

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 2

Cops are supposed to protect us. There's supposed to be a thick, clear line between a law breaker and a law enforcer: the former is to be despised, the latter, to be trusted. A cop is supposed to be someone who inspires a feeling of security in the common folk, someone to look up to, someone to trust. But that is not always the case. Sometimes, the cop is more dangerous than the common criminal. Sometimes  it's the cop who you should watch out for. Today's villain is precisely that: Officer Frank Tempenny from GTA San Andreas.

artwork from http://villains.wikia.com/wiki/Frank_Tenpenny

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 3

I had previously said that one of the greatest tragedies is seeing a former hero fall to evil. But of course, sometimes what makes someone a "hero" is subjective. Sometimes one man's hero is another man's villain. Sometimes the "hero" is someone who fought for what he thought was right, but went about it the wrong way. This is the freedom fighter, the revolutionary, the man picking up arms against tyranny. There is a great tragedy, then, in how the man who once fought for freedom turns around and fights for the tyrants that would gladly throw him away once he is of no use for them. Today's villain exemplifies what I'm talking about: Wiegraf Folles from Final Fantasy Tactics.

artwork from http://corpsebrigadecommander.tumblr.com/bio

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 4

Some villains are not people; there's a supernatural element to them, something that makes them seem so much more powerful than anything humanity can ever create. It's the super predator, the beast of destruction; a being so beyond humanity, that we are to it what ants are to us. It is a creature of immeasurable power, and it destroys with no thought. Today's villain is a great example of this type of villain: Sin from Final Fantasy 10.

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 5

Children, we want to believe them to be good, to be pure, to be free of the poison of society. Often we commit the worst acts of censorship for their supposed "safety"; we hide bodies and sexuality away from them to keep them from being "corrupted", we censor words we do not want them to speak, we hide ideas away from them so they do not become "confused". Because of this, we often underestimate children; they can be capable of great things. Children can be capable innovators, writers, singers, artists. A child well reared can be a great scientist, a natural leader, a fantastic artist, etc. But, sometimes, a child can be evil as well. Why? Partly because that's how he was raised, and partly because that's just who he is. Today's villain is an example of the Evil Child: Pokey Minch from Earthbound.

Literally the best image I could find. That's his teeth, by the way, not his eye.

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 6

Some people earn power through their hard work, others are born into it. Sometimes power corrupts, but some people should never be given power to begin with. The history books are filled with monsters in human skin who used power to commit the most heinous acts the world had ever seen: Pol Pot, Joseph Stalin, Adolph Hitler, Saddam Hussein, among many many others. Today's villain is a shining example of how much damage a mad man can do with political power: Luca Blight from Suikoden 2.

Taken from http://www.rpg-players.com/t168-suikoden-ii, originally posted by user Daniel.

The Top 11 Video Game Villains- Number 7

Perhaps one of the most enduring tropes of modern science fiction is the rogue Artificial Intelligence, the machine that rebels against its creators and seeks to destroy all humans. What is it about the Rogue AI that inspires us so? Is it a subtle, primal fear of our own capabilities, the idea that one day, something we made will get out of our control or destroy us? Ever since Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, science fiction has presented us the idea of our creations gaining minds of their own, and suddenly deciding we were no longer needed. Today's villain is a shining example of this trope in video games: Portal's very own GLaDOS.