A while ago I posted an Escapist forum regarding my feelings towards the kinds of villains we usually get in video games.
Today I want to talk more specifically about the villains presented to us in the Final Fantasy. We will be looking at examples of what I think are good villains, as well as bad ones. And yes, we will be discussing THAT villain as well.
Just a warning, this thread will contain spoiler information. You have been warned.
First, a good villain. I stated in my aforementioned post that good villains should in some way have heroic or admirable qualities to them. The FF villain which embodies this concept most would be the god-like being Venat, from FF XII. This is a character who motivations are to free humankind from the influence of the pantheon of gods known as the Occuria, of which Venat is one. It?s reasoning is that humankind should be in charge if it?s own destiny rather than be controlled by higher beings who have no real stake in the events of the mortal world. This, I think, is a very likeable and admirable quality to this character. The only villainous thing about him/her is that the way it carries out this plan is by siding with a group of humans whose methods involve massive wars and who oppose the main heroes, so it is a villain largely by association only. Still, if it was not for it?s choice of allies, I would be rooting for Venat.
Now a bad villain. Now just to clarify, a bad villain is someone who I consider to have little to no motivation whatsoever for doing the villainous things they do. ?Evil for evil?s sake? is a good phrase to keep in mind when considering bad villains. They may be imposing, threatening and a legitimate challenge for the hero to overcome, but if there?s no justification behind it, they?re still bad villains. The best example of this sort of villain in a FF game would be Ultimecia from FF VIII. This is a bad villain because her motives are completely unrealistic and confusing. Her goal was to become an all powerful god by destroying reality and time and becoming the only living thing in existence. That is just about the most confusing, convoluted and ridiculous plan ever put to script. Not only that but her character is just a cliché over-the-top villain, with the dialogue to match, you know the usual ?the world will soon be mine? type stuff. This is about as shallow, unjustified and annoying as a FF villain can get.
And now the part I?ve been dreading. I knew long before I decided to write this article that this character in particular would get me some scorn. This character is from a game that has become so revered amongst gamers, that it has become virtually impervious to any form of criticism. Any attempt to do so frequently results in angry forum rant, which I hope to avoid this time round. It?s time to talk about Sephiroth from FFVII.
This is a character who never struck me as a good villain. His motives, both that of the real Sephiroth and the Jenova-created image of him, never made much sense. The original character went mad when he found out he was the product of scientific experimentation and proceeded to destroy the home town of the main protagonist. OK, a revelation like that might screw anyone up, I admit that. But his descent into madness, and the slaughter which followed, is completely counter to his backstory was a famous war hero. Even if he wasn?t born naturally, he would still be loved by the people and lead a fulfilling life. This is proved by Cloud?s reaction to the revelation, as he still looked upto him regardless of his origins. The other Sephiroth you see throughout the game (which will be referred to as Sephiroth despite not really being him) just wants to destroy all life on earth to become an all-powerful being, much like Ultimecia. So again, a bad villain.
However, FF VII did have some good villains. The leaders of the SHIN-RA corporation struck me as far more believable as antagonists of the game. True, they may have embodied certain stereotypes of greedy multi-national corporations that we?ve seen a thousand times before, but they do have several redeemable and even likeable qualities. Characters like the Turks who despite being henchmen of the company, help the heroes and prove as capable allies on a number of occasions. Also, the main company executives, like Rufus, go to great lengths to stop the destruction of the world by Sephiroth. In fact, now that I think about it, they were far more effective at halting his plans than the heroes were on several occasions. Like enabling the main heroes to ultimately get to Sephiroth?s final location, or defeating Ruby Weapon. Had they been the only antagonistic force, the multinational quasi-government quasi-military corporation and it?s secret agent followers, VII might have been a better game for me, and is certainly why I?ve always felt that the earliest part of the games (upto leaving Midgar for the first time) were the best parts of the game as far as the story goes. Because someone in the position of a business leader at least has legitimate reasons for doing the morally dubious things they do. We may not agree, but they are at least legitimate.
That?s my take on Final Fantasy villains. I hope you enjoyed reading and I hope even more that people will not try to skewer me over daring to criticise something about FF VII.
Today I want to talk more specifically about the villains presented to us in the Final Fantasy. We will be looking at examples of what I think are good villains, as well as bad ones. And yes, we will be discussing THAT villain as well.
Just a warning, this thread will contain spoiler information. You have been warned.
First, a good villain. I stated in my aforementioned post that good villains should in some way have heroic or admirable qualities to them. The FF villain which embodies this concept most would be the god-like being Venat, from FF XII. This is a character who motivations are to free humankind from the influence of the pantheon of gods known as the Occuria, of which Venat is one. It?s reasoning is that humankind should be in charge if it?s own destiny rather than be controlled by higher beings who have no real stake in the events of the mortal world. This, I think, is a very likeable and admirable quality to this character. The only villainous thing about him/her is that the way it carries out this plan is by siding with a group of humans whose methods involve massive wars and who oppose the main heroes, so it is a villain largely by association only. Still, if it was not for it?s choice of allies, I would be rooting for Venat.
Now a bad villain. Now just to clarify, a bad villain is someone who I consider to have little to no motivation whatsoever for doing the villainous things they do. ?Evil for evil?s sake? is a good phrase to keep in mind when considering bad villains. They may be imposing, threatening and a legitimate challenge for the hero to overcome, but if there?s no justification behind it, they?re still bad villains. The best example of this sort of villain in a FF game would be Ultimecia from FF VIII. This is a bad villain because her motives are completely unrealistic and confusing. Her goal was to become an all powerful god by destroying reality and time and becoming the only living thing in existence. That is just about the most confusing, convoluted and ridiculous plan ever put to script. Not only that but her character is just a cliché over-the-top villain, with the dialogue to match, you know the usual ?the world will soon be mine? type stuff. This is about as shallow, unjustified and annoying as a FF villain can get.
And now the part I?ve been dreading. I knew long before I decided to write this article that this character in particular would get me some scorn. This character is from a game that has become so revered amongst gamers, that it has become virtually impervious to any form of criticism. Any attempt to do so frequently results in angry forum rant, which I hope to avoid this time round. It?s time to talk about Sephiroth from FFVII.
This is a character who never struck me as a good villain. His motives, both that of the real Sephiroth and the Jenova-created image of him, never made much sense. The original character went mad when he found out he was the product of scientific experimentation and proceeded to destroy the home town of the main protagonist. OK, a revelation like that might screw anyone up, I admit that. But his descent into madness, and the slaughter which followed, is completely counter to his backstory was a famous war hero. Even if he wasn?t born naturally, he would still be loved by the people and lead a fulfilling life. This is proved by Cloud?s reaction to the revelation, as he still looked upto him regardless of his origins. The other Sephiroth you see throughout the game (which will be referred to as Sephiroth despite not really being him) just wants to destroy all life on earth to become an all-powerful being, much like Ultimecia. So again, a bad villain.
However, FF VII did have some good villains. The leaders of the SHIN-RA corporation struck me as far more believable as antagonists of the game. True, they may have embodied certain stereotypes of greedy multi-national corporations that we?ve seen a thousand times before, but they do have several redeemable and even likeable qualities. Characters like the Turks who despite being henchmen of the company, help the heroes and prove as capable allies on a number of occasions. Also, the main company executives, like Rufus, go to great lengths to stop the destruction of the world by Sephiroth. In fact, now that I think about it, they were far more effective at halting his plans than the heroes were on several occasions. Like enabling the main heroes to ultimately get to Sephiroth?s final location, or defeating Ruby Weapon. Had they been the only antagonistic force, the multinational quasi-government quasi-military corporation and it?s secret agent followers, VII might have been a better game for me, and is certainly why I?ve always felt that the earliest part of the games (upto leaving Midgar for the first time) were the best parts of the game as far as the story goes. Because someone in the position of a business leader at least has legitimate reasons for doing the morally dubious things they do. We may not agree, but they are at least legitimate.
That?s my take on Final Fantasy villains. I hope you enjoyed reading and I hope even more that people will not try to skewer me over daring to criticise something about FF VII.
