History CardCarryingVillain / Videogames

* ''VideoGame/StreetFighter'':

* Considering that the carnival of ''VideoGame/CarnEvil'' is named, well, CarnEvil, pretty much all of the villains qualify since the game makes absolutely no efforts to hide that fact.

* ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'': Dracula is portrayed as a SatanicArchetype in this series. It is said that every 100 years, evil corrupts the hearts of man, and they summon their dark lord once more. Under him are examplaries of this trope like [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaRondoOfBlood Shaft]] and [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness Isaac]], who all follow him so evil can rule unopposed (because they love evil, you see). His closest ally is [[TheGrimReaper Death itself]], who also counts but for meta reasons, as his {{Leitmotif}} ever since [[VideoGame/CastlevaniaLamentOfInnocence Lament of Innocence]] is "Evil's Symphonic Poem". Dracula himself is a matter of debate, however, as he displays a MightMakesRight ideology in most of his appearances, but it still doesn't stop him from wanting to plunge the world into eternal darkness and kidnapping maidens to suck their blood.

* ZigZagged by the BigBad of ''VideoGame/Persona5'', Masayoshi Shido. Head of the [[FascistButInefficient ultranationalist]] GovernmentConspiracy manipulating Japan from the shadows, he considers himself to be [[DarkMessiah Japan's savior]] but [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist he differs from other most other targets in that he's aware of his own]] [[MentalWorld Palace]], meaning he ''knows'' his mentality has been warped by his own desires. [[spoiler: Worse yet, Shido embraces his distorted mentality to the point of putting himself in a temporary coma once he realizes his heart is about to be changed.]] It takes a special kind of hypocrisy to be as self-righteous as Shido while still being aware of one's own insanity. Considering that every other Palace-ruler's ShadowArchetype has physically warped to match their internal perception of themselves, it's rather telling that Shido's Shadow looks exactly the same as his real-world self until [[LetsGetDangerous he prepares for battle]]. As if to emphasize this, the yellow lenses of his glasses make his eyes look like a Shadow's even in the real world.

* The Ilwrath of ''VideoGame/StarControlII'' go on at length about how evil they are, as a matter of {{religion|OfEvil}}. They certainly do enjoy torture, genocide, murder, etc. However, you can induce a LogicBomb by pointing out that, although they are certainly evil by external measures, by following the tenants and customs of their society, they are, in fact, good. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, all this accomplishes is to convince them to try to slaughter you for being an annoying twerp.]]

* One of Shao Kahn's interaction with GuestFighter Franchise/{{Spawn}} in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' sees the Kahn proudly boast "And you can't beat that!" after Al tells him he's "sinned on a scale reserved for gods."

* One of Shao Kahn's interaction with GuestFighter Franchise/{{Spawn}} in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' sees the Kahn proudly boast "And you can't beat that!" after Al tells him he's sinned "on a scale reserved for gods."

** [[TheSocialDarwinist Seth]] is the leader of S.I.N and makes no bones about how evil he is. In his ''Super VideoGame/StreetFighterIV'' intro he even goes on to say that [[NotSoDifferent all of humanity is just like him in a way]] in that they do whatever it takes to get ahead regardless of others.

** Ganondorf, called Ganon in his boar-demon form, openly calls himself the Great King of Evil, the Dark Lord, even the Prince of Darkness; he seeks to TakeOverTheWorld and has a memorable EvilLaugh; he performs human sacrifices when they get him what he wants (which is pretty rare, ''but still''); he regards civilian populations as an obstacle to be overcome (he left Hyrule a heap of ruins in the first game, conjured up a magical plague in ''A Link to the Past'', killed most of the country in ''Ocarina of Time''...); and he enjoys chaos for its own sake, as well as a means to an end. (This is why EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce is consistently averted in the ''Legend of Zelda'' series.) He reflexively conspires against any superiors he may have, doesn't even try to form alliances, and has only once (in ''The Wind Waker'', in his increasingly gloomy middle age) even attempted to talk in terms of right and wrong. But he's brave, intelligent, quick-witted, and strangely charismatic; we've never seen him take hostages or use torture; he doesn't want revenge against those who defy him (indeed, he enjoys a good fight with a brave enemy, and doesn't try very hard to detect or destroy resistance against his rule); he can be kind in small matters, [[AMillionIsAStatistic even while being appallingly destructive in the big ones]]; he doesn't hold grudges against any enemy smaller than the Kingdom of Hyrule as a whole; and his followers are intensely loyal to him. It's not pleasant to be an innocent bystander when someone like this is around, but it's easy to see how he lives with himself; imagine a pirate chief or a mercenary captain, plus enormous magical powers. ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' gave him a somewhat sympathetic backstory, but ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' established quite clearly that he likes what he does -- far too much to be sympathetic himself.

** [[BigBad Dr. Wily]] is usually portrayed in this manner. He likes skulls, styles his hair in the shape of bat wings, and wants to take over the world. In ''VideoGame/MegaMan8'' he's trying to control something literally called "Evil Energy". The Battle Network version of him sometimes slipped into this, but he's more of a PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery kind of guy.

** Parodied in VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon which have Team Skull (not to be confused with the one mentioned above). They talk about how evil they are openly and their leader says he's "Destruction in Human Form" but they're absolutely harmless. Nobody's actually even scared of them. They're basically if the entirety of Team Rocket were the Anime Trio.

* In the ''Human shields'' trailer for ''VideoGame/{{Hatred}}'', the VillainProtagonist refers to himself as a "fearless remorseless genocide machine, cold and deliberate".
* [[UpToEleven ALL]] of the antagonists in ''VideoGame/HerosRealm'' fit the bill, but special mention goes to Balthalas, who sports a fantastic EvilLaugh to boot.
* King Squid from ''VideoGame/JablessAdventure'' outright identifies himself as "the villain" and tells the hero, Jables, that it's too late to stop him from...to be honest, King Squid never really gets to explain what, exactly, his evil scheme is.
* Malefor, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro'' trilogy, has absolutely no problems with his title as The Dark Master and, in fact, took the name himself. He's also a third sphere version intending to destroy the world. Unlike most examples of this trope, he's played ''dead serious'' and is pure terror.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' examples:
** Ganondorf, called Ganon in his boar-demon form (which is becoming rarer these days, as he ages and gets more of a handle on his temper), is a very lifelike example of this trope. He openly calls himself the Great King of Evil, the Dark Lord, even the Prince of Darkness; he seeks to TakeOverTheWorld and has a memorable EvilLaugh; he performs human sacrifices when they get him what he wants (which is pretty rare, ''but still''); he regards civilian populations as an obstacle to be overcome (he left Hyrule a heap of ruins in the first game, conjured up a magical plague in ''A Link to the Past'', killed most of the country in ''Ocarina of Time''...); and he enjoys chaos for its own sake, as well as a means to an end. (This is why EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce is consistently averted in the ''Legend of Zelda'' series.) He reflexively conspires against any superiors he may have, doesn't even try to form alliances, and has only once (in ''The Wind Waker'', in his increasingly gloomy middle age) even attempted to talk in terms of right and wrong. But he's brave, intelligent, quick-witted, and strangely charismatic; we've never seen him take hostages or use torture; he doesn't want revenge against those who defy him (indeed, he enjoys a good fight with a brave enemy, and doesn't try very hard to detect or destroy resistance against his rule); he can be kind in small matters, [[AMillionIsAStatistic even while being appallingly destructive in the big ones]]; he doesn't hold grudges against any enemy smaller than the Kingdom of Hyrule as a whole; and his followers are intensely loyal to him. It's not pleasant to be an innocent bystander when someone like this is around, but it's easy to see how he lives with himself; imagine a pirate chief or a mercenary captain, plus enormous magical powers. ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' gave him a somewhat sympathetic backstory, but ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' established quite clearly that he likes what he does -- far too much to be sympathetic himself.

* Complicated [[MyCard literal]] case with Seiga Kaku of 'Franchise/TouhouProject'' fame. She's a {{pride}}ful, self-centered, {{Manipulative B|astard}}itch of a "[[HermitGuru Wicked Hermit]]" who [[CallingYourAttacks styles her Spell Cards with names]] such as "Demonify 'Zouhuo Rumo'" [[note]]走火入魔: A state of frenzy often associated with the mismanagement of the "vital forces"[[/note]] and "Evil Sign 'Yang Xiaogui'" [[note]]養小鬼: A sorcery which enslaves vengeful spirits by using them to reanimate fetus corpses[[/note]]. She has no regard for the course of nature, flipping off both Heaven and Hell with ImmortalityImmorality and being a [[{{Necromancer}} necromantic]] (and possibly [[ILoveTheDead necroromantic]]) EvilMentor whom's main reason for doing ''anything'' can be chalked up to "ItAmusedMe"... She's also a very [[AffablyEvil friendly and cheerful]] woman who loves socializing and hanging out with "interesting" people, and aside from the whole desecrating-of-the-dead-in-order-to-raise-them stuff, she never really does anything particularily bad.

* VisualNovel/AceAttorney

** Irenicus from ''Videogame/BaldursGate 2'', it isn't that he revels in being a villain, he simply does not care enough to bother denying the charge.

* The Mad Doctor from ''Videogame/EpicMickey''. This is especially obvious in the sequel ''The Power of Two'', where he sings a song about this, "The Mad Doctor's Plan", and also title a TV show he created "The Mad Doctor's Wonderful World of Evil".

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''

* King Squid from ''Videogame/JablessAdventure'' outright identifies himself as "the villain" and tells the hero, Jables, that it's too late to stop him from...to be honest, King Squid never really gets to explain what, exactly, his evil scheme is.

* Judging from a certain Scream Fortress 2014 line, Merasmus of VideoGame/TeamFortress2 seems to revel in being evil.

* Complicated [[MyCard literal]] case with Seiga Kaku of ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' fame. She's a {{pride}}ful, self-centered, {{Manipulative B|astard}}itch of a "[[HermitGuru Wicked Hermit]]" who [[CallingYourAttacks styles her Spell Cards with names]] such as "Demonify 'Zouhuo Rumo'" [[note]]走火入魔: A state of frenzy often associated with the mismanagement of the "vital forces"[[/note]] and "Evil Sign 'Yang Xiaogui'" [[note]]養小鬼: A sorcery which enslaves vengeful spirits by using them to reanimate fetus corpses[[/note]]. She has no regard for the course of nature, flipping off both Heaven and Hell with ImmortalityImmorality and being a [[{{Necromancer}} necromantic]] (and possibly [[ILoveTheDead necroromantic]]) EvilMentor whom's main reason for doing ''anything'' can be chalked up to "ItAmusedMe"... She's also a very [[AffablyEvil friendly and cheerful]] woman who loves socializing and hanging out with "interesting" people, and aside from the whole desecrating-of-the-dead-in-order-to-raise-them stuff, she never really does anything particularily bad.

** [[spoiler:Luke Atmey]] of case two of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney Trials And Tribulations''. At one point, when [[TheJudge the good ol' Judge]] tells him that he's evil, he replies with "But of course! Evil is what I am!"

** [[PracticallyJoker Yuuki Terumi]] [[BitchInSheepsClothing pretended to be good]] at the beginning of ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueCalamityTrigger Calamity Trigger]]'', but by ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift Continuum Shift]]'', abandons the facade entirely, nicely encapsulated by this little speech he gives to Hakumen:[[note]]Unusually, there is a reason given for Yuuki's open revelry in suffering. He [[GodNeedsPrayerBadly requires outside observation to exist]], so making people hate him (especially those with a RippleEffectProofMemory like Hakumen) ensures he'll be around long enough to complete his bigger plans.[[/note]]

** Their counterpart in [[VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers the sequels]], Team Skull (Team Poison Rose in the Japanese versions), are the same. Their only motivation is greed and harassing the players' team to make them look bad. Compared to the real BigBad of the game and his Dragon, they're almost the Team Rocket trio in Pokémon form.

*** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'' largely averts it, having perhaps the most morally ambiguous main quest to date with the option of completing the main quest for any of seven different parties on a scale of [[BlackAndGrayMorality light gray to outright black]]. Mannimarco, known [[OurLichesAreDifferent Lich]] and "[[{{Necromancer}} King of Worms]]", doesn't try to hide his dark morality and is open about [[AGodAmI wanting to become a god]].

** Dr. Weil, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'', who had the ambition of fulfilling all three spheres, and ''even succeeding''. And this is one of the modern examples that's ''not'' played for [[LaughablyEvil laughs]] or [[EvilIsCool cool]]; he provides us with one of the quotes before battling Zero, describing himself really well. Strangely, despite realising he's evil (he actually says [[AGodAmI "I am the Devil!"]]), he [[ItsAllAboutMe doesn't think he deserves his rightful punishment]]. It makes him even more demented.

* ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' has Doctor Regal, a representative of moral relativism taken to its extremes, is a very disquieting type 2 Card-Carrying Villain, whose objective is to make everyone as evil as he is, first by [[spoiler:gaining control of Duo's asteroid]], then by [[spoiler:trying to connect all human minds to the Soul Net, and then using Nebula Grey to corrupt it]]. Unlike most such villains, he is ''not'' played for laughs and, in fact, comes out as one of the most threatening and chilling characters in the whole series.
* Dr. Weil, the BigBad of ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'', who had the ambition of fulfilling all three spheres, and ''even succeeding''. And this is one of the modern examples that's ''not'' played for [[LaughablyEvil laughs]] or [[EvilIsCool cool]]; he provides us with one of the quotes before battling Zero, describing himself really well. Strangely, despite realising he's evil (he actually says [[AGodAmI "I am the Devil!"]]), he [[ItsAllAboutMe doesn't think he deserves his rightful punishment]]. It makes him even more demented.
* ''VideoGame/MegaManStarForce''. In the third game, the villains belong to an organization known as Dealer, and they carry Noise Cards with them to make Wizards go out of control.

* ''VideoGame/MarvelUltimateAlliance'' has bag guy organization called the "Masters of Evil".

* [[spoiler:Luke Atmey]] of case two of ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney Trials And Tribulations''. At one point, when [[TheJudge the good ol' Judge]] tells him that he's evil, he replies with "But of course! Evil is what I am!"

** [[AxCrazy Yuuki Terumi]] [[BitchInSheepsClothing pretended to be good]] at the beginning of ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueCalamityTrigger Calamity Trigger]]'', but by ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift Continuum Shift]]'', abandons the facade entirely, nicely encapsulated by this little speech he gives to Hakumen:[[note]]Unusually, there is a reason given for Yuuki's open revelry in suffering. He [[GodNeedsPrayerBadly requires outside observation to exist]], so making people hate him (especially those with a RippleEffectProofMemory like Hakumen) ensures he'll be around long enough to complete his bigger plans.[[/note]]

* The Genma of the ''VideoGame/{{Onimusha}}'' series revel in being referred to as "evil", most notably in the [[VideoGame/Onimusha2SamuraisDestiny second game]] (evident by the final boss being the Golden Evil Statue, and also by the content of some in-game documents). Due to its tendencies to hand down HistoricalVillainUpgrade everywhere, it also ends up turning many historical figures into CardCarryingVillain whenever they got too chubby with the Genma.

* The Genma of the ''Franchise/{{Onimusha}}'' series revel in being referred to as "evil", most notably in the [[VideoGame/Onimusha2SamuraisDestiny second game]] (evident by the final boss being the Golden Evil Statue, and also by the content of some in-game documents). Due to its tendencies to hand down HistoricalVillainUpgrade everywhere, it also ends up turning many historical figures into CardCarryingVillain whenever they got too chubby with the Genma.

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':
** Generally Dr Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik believes that his superior intellect means the world would be better off with him as a ruler, but he makes no pretence about being the villain, and seems to openly revel in the fact. Just the same he manages to be a fairly interesting character, largely because of how [[{{Determinator}} stubbornly persistent]], [[ManChild childish]], [[LargeHam over the top]] and ridiculously inventive and resourceful he is.

** [[OverarchingVillain Yuuki Terumi]] [[BitchInSheepsClothing pretended to be good]] at the beginning of ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueCalamityTrigger Calamity Trigger]]'', but by ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift Continuum Shift]]'', abandons the facade entirely, nicely encapsulated by this little speech he gives to Hakumen:[[note]]Unusually, there is a reason given for Yuuki's open revelry in suffering. He [[GodNeedsPrayerBadly requires outside observation to exist]], so making people hate him (especially those with a RippleEffectProofMemory like Hakumen) ensures he'll be around long enough to complete his bigger plans.[[/note]]

** Dr. Nefarious, a MadScientist LargeHam robot [[CrushKillDestroy bent on destroying the "Squishies"]].

** Yuuki Terumi [[BitchInSheepsClothing pretended to be good]] at the beginning of ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueCalamityTrigger Calamity Trigger]]'', but by ''[[VideoGame/BlazBlueContinuumShift Continuum Shift]]'', abandons the facade entirely, nicely encapsulated by this little speech he gives to Hakumen:[[note]]Unusually, there is a reason given for Yuuki's open revelry in suffering. He [[GodNeedsPrayerBadly requires outside observation to exist]], so making people hate him (especially those with a RippleEffectProofMemory like Hakumen) ensures he'll be around long enough to complete his bigger plans.[[/note]]