are there any video game villains you find oddly relatable

[Iwata]

The Helghast from the Killzone series, absolutely. If you know the lore, the ISA treated them like shit, and you just get a sense that they've been bullied so much that now they're just pissed off. It's a very clear reference to the real-life treatment of Germany after WWI by the victorious powers and the unfair terms of the Treaty of Versailles that ultimately led to WWII.

 

[skywolfblue]

Kerrigan from Star Craft: Brood War. Mistreated all her life by the cruel ghost program, used like a toy by Mengsk, betrayed by her friends. She deserved a chance at revenge and she got it. Yes that also made her power hungry and more then a little crazy, but it's pretty understandable given what she's been through.

 

[AgentNein]

I really dug Sepheroth, for all the shit he gets, and for how he's popularized the long haired pretty-boy badass archetype (my friend lent me Battle Royale, and SPOILER IF YOU HAVEN'T READ IT I totally called the villainous student immediately, as his description immediately brought a dark haired Sepheroth to mind, so of course he became this near supernatural killer), he was still a pretty cool character. Cuz he didn't start off as that bad a guy! But he was manipulated to shit, and eventually got so pissed off at it all that he began to hate the world. I've been there, man.

 

[AgentNein]

Also Coach Oleander from Psychonauts. Not really THAT bad a guy! Just had some screwed up priorities. I guess meeting him as a child in his mind and getting a sense of why he is the way he is might've raised my sympathy meter.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

Adachi from persona 4 comes to mind.

Spoiler

Playing the dopey detective while using Namatame and Mitsuo as scape goats for the crimes. He had everything figured out, even world domination!

He was a great villian even if he was just a pawn used by Izanami.

 

[Racecarlock]

Alduin from skyrim. If you had the ability to resurrect freaking dragons from skeletons, what the hell would you do? Hire them as cooking assist- actually that would kick ass too. You know what? I'd use them for both. Probably have one to fly my places. *Sigh* kick ass...

 

[Vanitas likes Bubbles]

I never related to any bad guys in a game (maybe Glados or Saren), in a movie though yes, that chairman ceo guy from avatar. He was just trying to make progress at any cost. His character totally suited mine.

 

[feeback06]

Kreya from KOTOR 2. She really made me think about the entire spectrum of the force.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Tira from Soul Calibur. Sure she's a completely amoral nutcase who's bipolar and in the thrall of an evil sword, but at least she's honest and accepts herself.

All the 'protagonists' are really quite selfish and are looking to put themselves into the thrall of a different evil sword, again for their own selfish reasons.

Spoiler: Mira and the Locust from Gears of War

They were forced from their homes by the Lambent, a parasitic lifeform which mutated them into mindless monsters, were betrayed by the one man capable of stopping this because he failed and, even worse, then decided that his 'solution' that would coincidentally kill all the Locust along with the Lambent was fine as it was.

 

[C F]

I feel like I know GLaDOS well through both Portal games, but I don't relate.

Point for Kreia/Traya from KotOR II. She literally abandoned the entire universe for the sake of you, her pretty much adopted child. She may be a cold villain who puts herself above so many things, but she is also a very compelling mother figure. She wants to teach you to see things the way she does: putting ideals and the Light and Dark sides aside and looking beyond all that. I didn't feel sorry for her when we eventually fought to the death at Malachor (oh hush if you think that's a spoiler; that moment had so much foreshadowing, even my cat could have sensed it coming), I just saw it as something that needed to be done. Our disagreement needed to be resolved, and I needed to prove that I could cast aside my ties with her and defend my ideals. And despite the fact we had different outlooks, I felt she was similar to me in many ways.

And that's it, I think. No other villains come to mind. Go Obsidian.