For more on my CRPG QotD, please see my blog: http://www.wastedbrilliance.com/2008... - Brooks Bishop

Inner conflicts between good and evil . . . or they used to be a "friend" Those always make the story more interesting and brings the conflict to you. Because you want to like them and forgive them but they continue to do terrible things. An outright evil villain with no redeeming qualities makes it too easy to fight them and hate them. - Lindsey is Fierce!

Oo, I feel like John McCain knowing in advance what the question was going to be. Yet, due in part to my profound laziness, I prepared no answer. So here we go impromptu answering take 1. I like villains who's causes are just and noble. Their relationships are real and their humanity is visible. But their means are are so contorted that they can not be justified by the ends. I also like zombies. - Geoff Schultz

I like villains to be the actual villains. I hate getting halfway through the game only to discover that the person I thought I was fighting against is actually being manipulated by the bigger bad. - James (@willia4)

On the technical side, I like it when the villain's tactics change as the story evolves. It is really boring to fight the same, yet longer, fight over and over again. - Jennifer Dittrich

Good call on the former friend Lindsey, I think anything that personalizes them is great. Tug at them emotional strings. Also agree somewhat with James, maybe in the case of manipulation I would be put off but I LOVES me some good old fashion conspiracy shit, so in that sense it could be good. - Geoff Schultz

Also: if the villain's the legitimate authority in the world. Fighting the rightful king can be fun because the characters have to lay low throughout the game and it can even help explain why the shopkeepers charge so much to give you weapons to use when saving the world. The first bits of FF7 had this, with the villain represented by Shinra. I think FF12 is in this same vein, but I haven't played it much due to time constraints. - James (@willia4)

+1 Jennifer Dittrich, BTW Brooks has informed me that my answer was excelling in halfassery(Patent Pending) By "Just" I of course do not mean something that is self justified by the villain. I mean things like world peace, world hunger, scientific advancement. Stuff that are somewhat universally good goals but can be pursued in less than ethical ways. - Geoff Schultz

@Geoff: I said it was half-assed, because you only mentioned the case of evil means to a just end. Most villains people remember are all about some world shattering evil plan, even if they justify it by some twisted logic. So in my own way, I think one of the most important traits (if anything, to keep the game epic and interesting) is a villain who has some grand scheme (usually of world destroying proportions) that the heroes must thwart. - Brooks Bishop

Also . . . I truly LOVE (and can't remember which game did this) to find out that the greatest evil . . . that the true villain is yourself. That all the efforts you are making to save the world are actually what's going to destroy it. - Lindsey is Fierce!

Lindsey -- Mix this in with a time travel element and it could be pretty powerful. - James (@willia4)

Yeah, similar to what Lindsey said. I like villains who isn't, say, chaotic evil. But "good" folk who believe they are doing right by the world. Brings a philosophical perspective. Doesn't help I watched Hero last night. >_> - Arlan Koizumi

I don't think there's enough love here for the shoot-the-messenger style villains. The ones who are evil just because they enjoy being evil and will kill someone just to make their body-count quota before lunch. Also, they should have a trapdoor in their throne room (which implies that I think they should have a throne room). - James (@willia4)

lol @ Arlan . . . I also recently finished watching season 1 of heroes . . . maybe that's where I'm getting this from ^-^ Oooooh . . . an RPG based on Heroes . . . now that would be something ;) - Lindsey is Fierce!

@Lindsey I actually meant the movie with Jet Li, but if what I'm thinking is what you're thinking, then yeah, that bit in Heroes was/is pretty good. :) - Arlan Koizumi

So I'm going to throw what I call the "hateability" factor. Only a villain that has done (and continually does) things to deserve your ire, no matter what their motivation, is truly memorable. This kinda plays in with the "late reveal villain" thing mentioned earlier. I think those types don't work because you haven't had a chance to really get to know them over the course of the game. So I think you really have to "love to hate" the villain of an RPG for it to be effective. - Brooks Bishop

Brooks -- The first act of the story should involve the villain walking into your house, killing your puppy, and leaving. Things can progress from there. - James (@willia4)

@brooks- if you're talking memorability then that's a slightly different story. The most memorable villains for me are invariably the bastards that are the toughest to beat. - Lindsey is Fierce!

Their evil laughs (muahahahhahahahha), sizes (!), weapons, and their abodes (read: dark, murky lairs) - Mona Nomura

You know what I liked now but (sorta) hated when I played the game? The character twist in Chrono Trigger. - Arlan Koizumi

Back in Elderscrolls: Arena, I liked the bad guy Jagar Tharn, because he taunted you in voiceover whenever you died. - Rachel R.

@Brooks - the only exception to the "late reveal" that I can think of that still really works for me is Sephiroth. I mean - the player knew he was probably evil, but nobody predicted what was going to happen when he finally came out. - Jennifer Dittrich

I don't think Sephiroth was a late reveal. Everyone is talking about him, and you see what he's done to Shinra HQ before you get out of Midgar. His back story is fleshed out over the course of the game through flashbacks by Cloud and Tifa, and he's present in some form every time you fight an aspect of Jenova. I'm going to say that FF4 is an offender for late reveal. You don't even learn about Zemus until you're on Lunaria and have it explained to you. - Brooks Bishop

I think I like girlyman villains - bishonen, as Brooks tells me - it's almost a cliche, but it gets me. And I agree the "late reveal" doesn't usually work for me, either. - Steve Butowick