Sometimes, the most entertaining character in a story is the villain. There are probably more people who look forward to watching the sneaky and conniving Iago than they do the title character in the Shakespeare tragedy Othello or the ruthless and pragmatic drug lord Stringer Bell than the other characters in David Simon's The Wire.
However, a proper antagonist in a video game isn't just entertaining to watch. They're a looming presence who actively impedes the player's progress. Granted, an antagonist isn't always a villain. They're just the opposing force that the protagonist must face to reach their goal. That being said, plenty of great titles give gamers the opportunity to say, "I'm the bad guy."
10 Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 Allowed Players To Control The Count
While Dracula seemed conspicuously absent from the first Lords of Shadow, the ending revealed that he was in fact, the character players had been controlling the entire time, Gabriel Belmont. The intro to the sequel pretty much re-enacts the ending of almost every Castlevania title from the complete opposite perspective. This time, players are the dark count fending off holy warriors who are storming the castle. The game also takes Dracula out of his element by setting his quest in modern times. Unfortunately, all the potential of this premise is squandered on tedious stealth sections, an underwhelming plot, and boring repetitive industrial areas.
9 Half-Life: Opposing Force Showed The Other Side Of Black Mesa's Incident
The first expansion pack for Valve's landmark shooter, Half-Life: Opposing Force put players in control of Marine Corporal Adrian Shephard, whose unit is tasked with quarantining the Black Mesa Research Facility and silencing all witnesses. Just like in the main game, the military finds themselves outmatched by Xen's forces and it's up to the player character to survive the facility and combat the alien presence. It's interesting to see the military's execution of the Black Mesa scientists firsthand after players had previously fought against them as Gordon Freeman in Half-Life.
8 Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 Let Players Satiate Their Greed
Wario, the greedy rival of Nintendo's famous plumber, made his debut in Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. In this Game Boy title, Mario must reclaim his private island from an evil doppelganger who's seized control in his absence. According to artist Hiroji Kiyotake, the team behind the Mario Land entries were unhappy making games starring a character they didn't create and introduced Wario as a means to "symbolize their situation." While not quite the subversion of the formula that the Wario Land sequels would later become, the first Wario Land game gave players an experience that differentiated itself from prior Mario games.
7 The Misadventures of Tron Bonne Starred The Eponymous Air Pirate
Gamers who've played the Dead Rising series might be familiar with the robots whose heads can be placed on unwitting zombies for comedic effect. These cuddly automatons, originally hailing from the Mega Man franchise, are known as servbots and are the metallic minions of the anti-villainess Tron Bonne, who received her own title on the original PlayStation. The Misadventures of Tron Bonne was a midquel set between Mega Man Legends 1 and 2 that placed players in control of the middle child of the Bonne family. In both of the Legends games, she and the other air pirates served as secondary antagonists to Mega Man Volnutt.
6 Players Could Control The Big Ape In Donkey Kong Country
Younger players who are used to seeing the big ape in the leading role might be surprised to discover that he first appeared as a villain in the 1981 arcade title Donkey Kong. Several follow-ups and a little over a decade later, a British studio known as Rare was experimenting with pre-rendered visuals and was granted permission by Nintendo to utilize this new technology with several of their key franchises. The studio chose the simian that helped kick start Nintendo's gaming presence, putting players in control of the Kong family in the Donkey Kong Country series.
5 Legacy of Kain: Defiance Concluded Both Characters' Stories
From his debut in the PlayStation and PC title Blood Omen, Kain has been such a fascinating character to watch and control. His Machiavellian manipulations, self-aggrandizing attitude, and sheer ruthlessness compel players to keep going just to see which character he'll backstab or what line he'll cross next.
The Soul Reaver games shift the focus to Kain's former lieutenant Raziel, who seeks revenge against his master for being cast into the abyss after growing wings. Both characters become playable in Defiance, the fifth title that serves as the grand finale which ties up most of the series' lingering plot threads.
4 Ace Attorney Investigations Took Miles Edgeworth To Court
Ace Attorney fans both love and hate the finger-wagging prosecutor Miles Edgeworth. Making his debut in the DS title Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney, his updated autopsy shenanigans put a monkey wrench in certain cases. The 2009 spin-off, Ace Attorney Investigations, put players in control of Pheonix's childhood friend and rival while making some adjustments to the formula established in previous titles. Certain sequences reminiscent of graphic adventures from LucasArts and Sierra allowed players to control Miles directly via the d-pad or touch screen and interact with characters and objects.
3 Lock On Technology Made A Rival Playable In Sonic 2, 3, and Knuckles
Long before the days of DLC, Sonic & Knuckles' special lock on cartridge granted players new content in the blue blur's previous games. Players could control Dr. Robotnik's unwitting pawn in the second, third, and fourth mainline Genesis entries while utilizing all of his unique skills. While the first title sadly lacked this feature, players could still use it to practice the Blue Sphere special stages in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Levels from Sonic 3 even included special areas that only Knuckles could access, giving this otherwise shorter entry lots of replay value.
2 Players Joined The Dark Side In Star Wars Tie Fighter
Following up the LucasArts PC flight simulator X-Wing, Star Wars: TIE Fighter saw players fighting for the Empire. The game tasked players with crushing rebellion ships in either the first- or third-person perspective. The sequel made some improvements to the gameplay introduced in X-Wing with an improved targeting system and the ability to bring up the mission status in-game. The game took place between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi and put players in control of a character who served under Grand Admiral Thrawn.
1 Episodes From Liberty City Let Players Control Niko Bellic's Foes
After the success of Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar Games released some supplemental material from the perspective of two characters that Niko Bellic encountered in his rise through Liberty City. The Lost and the Damned focused on Johnny Klebitz, whose Lost MC biker gang kidnapped Niko's cousin and attempted to kill him after stealing the diamond loot. The Ballad of Gay Tony put players in control of Luis Lopez, the bodyguard of the eponymous nightclub owner Gay Tony. While both stories were sold separately as DLC, they were eventually packaged together as Episodes From Liberty City.