History ContrastingSequelAntagonist / Metro

[[folder:The Church of the Water Tsar to the previous Metro factions]]
The Cannibals. They are often portrayed as AlwaysChaoticEvil rather than their lawful but corrupt and supremacist predecessors, the Red Line and the Fourth Reich, as well as Hanza. They also have little to no morals, often seeing their victims as food to be eaten with rather than killing them for having a different political agenda.

The Munai-bailers. Contrasting to the Moscow Metro factions being political-leaning factions, the Munai-bailers are a full-blown raider faction resembling lawless DesertPunk factions. They have taken over all of the oil reserves across the dried-out Caspian, with its members comprising of ex-soldiers, mobsters, and Svarog Oil employees, as well as their own tribal combat slaves that they utilised. And they are also much bigger in terms of numbers and power, with at least ''700'' members, in contrast to the Red Line who are much smaller in terms of numbers. They also have access to pre-war weapons like Bulldog, Shambler and Gatling Guns, as well as access to transportation vehicles.

The Children of the Forest. Unlike various factions of the franchise, who all have a singular, unified ideology of their own, the Children are split into two hostile factions: the Pirates and the Pioneers, basing on their conflicting ideologies and are involved in an ideological CivilWar with each other. While they are both territorial, attempting to avoid invaders hostilely, how they handle their territorialism differs. The Pirates, led by Roman, uphold the Teacher's readings of survivalism comes off as violent and hostile to anyone they see even towards the Pioneers, their rivals. The Pioneers, led by Olga, are the pacifistic, isolationist splinter group of the Children. They are nowhere as violent as the Pirates, despite being also hostile to outsiders.

The Church of the Water Tsar. Unlike the politically powerful, influential and resourceful factions like the Red Line, Fourth Reich and Hanza, the Church and its members are {{Evil Luddite}}s, as well as technophobic isolationists, where they are significantly dwarfed in terms of influence and power. Their appearance is also a contrast to them. While the Red Line Army are dressed in military outfits and all get along with technology, the Church are dressed in normal-looking but dirtied clothing, as well as having intense hatred for electricity and technology in general, deeming them as heretical and sinful.

While Pavel is loyal to the Red Line's ideals, who went so far in betraying Artyom to pull off Korbut's plan and with Lesnitsky actively furthering Korbut's cause without mercy, Saul is a defector who actively works with Giul [[DragonWithAnAgenda to assassinate the Baron]] and usurp the leadership for himself, optionally with the help of Artyom depending on how he handles the situation with Saul.

Klim is Tom's brutal right-hand, who has an [[DragonWithAnAgenda agenda]] of his own, in his plans to steal the U.S.S. Mayflower and [[TheStarscream depose his superior]] to incite a nuclear war for his genocidal purposes. The Baron is the leader of the Munai-bailers and a bandit who holds iron grip across the Caspian Desert. And unlike the Baron, he initiates a global-level threat by planning to start a nuclear war. Like the Baron, he is also a weapons dealer who regularly supplies his men with weaponry, but he also contrasts to the Baron, as he is also TheBeastmaster who uses mutant Humanimals as a part of his own rank-and-file army of his loyalists.

He is often portrayed as a sociopathic, delusional cult leader of the Church, in contrast to Korbut. Korbut is the leader of the Red Line Army and the true leader of Red Line with a very intact mind. Silantius is a batshit insane SinisterMinister with a very detached view towards reality, closely resembling to the real-life Rasputin, and the cult leader of the Church who preaches his equally insane ideals of Luddism that borders to lunacy. Unlike Korbut who actively uses forms of technology in many of his missions, Silantius has a violent hatred towards them, branding it as sin in many of his usual "sermons" and he would never hesitate to punish someone who uses it by sending them to the [[GiantAnimalWorship Tsar Fish]] or an electrical anomaly to be "purified". While Korbut blackmails Maxim Moskvin by killing his brother Andrey to install him as a PuppetKing, Silantius is a DirtyOldMan who murders Katya's husband, uses his fanatical excuse of his hatred towards technology and imprisons her and her daughter Nastya, so that his true plan is to bring Katya into a ForcedMarriage.

!!!Antagonists

* The Invisible Watchers to the Red Line and the Fourth Reich. While both factions vie for power through violent reasons, the Invisible Watchers does it in a more non-violent manner, where they use their past influence as the members of Russia's ruling elite and their own resources to manipulate the entire Moscow Metro and its people via its {{Unwitting Pawn}}s through propaganda. And true to its name, they are largely invisible in the 2035 novel, except for Bessolov who makes his physical appearance. They are also considered to be NonActionBigBad, as they often control the Metro through the shadows by forcing each factions to be at war with each other, rather than deliberately causing chaos towards them like how both factions did for their own goals.
* Aleksei Bessolov, the Watcher's leader and the ultimate BigBad of the ''2035'' novel and the franchise. While many of the franchise's BigBad often have violent, destructive agendas for them to achieve through political reasons, Bessolov does most, if not all, of them through the shadows by proxy without shedding any blood. He does so by manipulating other Moscow Metro factions for the Watchers and his benefit either by puppeteering wars against one faction after the other or by purposely spewing anti-surface propaganda to prevent the people of the Metro to know about life above the surface.
* Dietmar is this to Korbut. Korbut is the corrupt military leader of the Red Line Army, as well as being responsible for putting Moskvin in power through BlackMail, with Korbut later revealed to be the the true leader of Red Line. Dietmar, on the other hand, is a high-ranking officer of the Fourth Reich who is outwardly friendly to the protagonist Artyom. Korbut is a DragonInChief NonActionBigBad who uses the Red Line Army to do his dirty work, while Dietmar, despite being a ''de facto'' DragonInChief to the Führer, is a vicious military official who is ruthless and calculating, being able to start the Reich-Red Line war without the Führer's knowledge, with Dietmar responsible for the occupation of Teatralnaya single-handedly.

* Red Line and the Fourth Reich serve as the game's villains, who are drastically different to its predecessors, the Dark Ones in ''VideoGame/Metro2033'', as they are all human in flesh and blood. Whereas the Dark Ones are tragic {{Anti Villain}}s who break the minds of Metro's survivors, particularly adults, Red Line and the Fourth Reich are political organisations with members who are flesh and blood humans, are embraced in their villainy and are seemingly embroiled in their [[EvilVersusEvil infighting and power struggle]] over who can use the Dark Ones, specifically the Baby Dark One, to eliminate each of their political rivals.
* The game's BigBad and DragonInChief General Korbut is a contrast to the Dark Ones, in general. Unlike the AntiVillain primary antagonists of ''2033'', Korbut is openly villainous with a malicious agenda of his own, actively plotting to use the Dark Ones and the bioweapon to his own ends as means to destroy his own political rivals and take over the Moscow Metro by himself and rule it with an iron fist.

''Exodus'' and its two {{DLC}}s ''The Two Colonels'' and ''Sam's Story'' introduced a slew of antagonists that are direct contrasts to the Red Line and [[CorruptPolitician General Korbut]], the previous antagonists of ''VideoGame/MetroLastLight'' in regards to their goals. ''Exodus'' also marks the only game in the franchise to not have a main antagonist to its overarching narrative, where instead they all are separated into {{Arc Villain}}s, with the exception of its DLC levels who both have a BigBad.
!!!Factions
* Hanza. They initially acted as a neutral but an On-and-Off faction between the first two games and they even became a reluctant ally to the Rangers in ''Last Light''. But after the protagonists uncover their deceit, they commit a SuddenSequelHeelSyndrome. They are a contrast to the previous antagonistic faction, the Red Line, due to them being more politically active in the cover up of the truth above the surface, whereas the Red Line are unaware of it and all go along with their superior's manipulation. The Hanza also break the series' trend of having a StarterVillain, instead of a group of villains that was confined to a singular antagonistic faction.
* The Church of the Water Tsar. Unlike the politically powerful, influential and resourceful factions like the Red Line, Fourth Reich and Hanza, the Church and its members are {{Evil Luddite}}s, as well as technophobic isolationists, where they are significantly dwarfed in terms of influence and power. Their appearance is also a contrast to them. While the Red Line Army are dressed in military outfits and all get along with technology, the Church are dressed in normal-looking but dirtied clothing, as well as having intense hatred for electricity and technology in general, deeming them as heretical and sinful.
* The Cannibals. They are often portrayed as AlwaysChaoticEvil rather than their lawful but corrupt and supremacist predecessors, the Red Line and the Fourth Reich, as well as Hanza. They also have little to no morals, often seeing their victims as food to be eaten with rather than killing them for having a different political agenda.
* The Munai-bailers. Contrasting to the Moscow Metro factions being political-leaning factions, the Munai-bailers are a full-blown raider faction resembling lawless DesertPunk factions. They have taken over all of the oil reserves across the dried-out Caspian, with its members comprising of ex-soldiers, mobsters, and Svarog Oil employees, as well as their own tribal combat slaves that they utilised. And they are also much bigger in terms of numbers and power, with at least ''700'' members, in contrast to the Red Line who are much smaller in terms of numbers. They also have access to pre-war weapons like Bulldog, Shambler and Gatling Guns, as well as access to transportation vehicles.
* The Children of the Forest. Unlike various factions of the franchise, who all have a singular, unified ideology of their own, the Children are split into two hostile factions: the Pirates and the Pioneers, basing on their conflicting ideologies and are involved in an ideological CivilWar with each other. While they are both territorial, attempting to avoid invaders hostilely, how they handle their territorialism differs. The Pirates, led by Roman, uphold the Teacher's readings of survivalism comes off as violent and hostile to anyone they see even towards the Pioneers, their rivals. The Pioneers, led by Olga, are the pacifistic, isolationist splinter group of the Children. They are nowhere as violent as the Pirates, despite being also hostile to outsiders.

* Silantius. He is often portrayed as a sociopathic, delusional cult leader of the Church, in contrast to Korbut. Korbut is the leader of the Red Line Army and the true leader of Red Line with a very intact mind. Silantius is a batshit insane SinisterMinister with a very detached view towards reality, closely resembling to the real-life Rasputin, and the cult leader of the Church who preaches his equally insane ideals of Luddism that borders to lunacy. Unlike Korbut who actively uses forms of technology in many of his missions, Silantius has a violent hatred towards them, branding it as sin in many of his usual "sermons" and he would never hesitate to punish someone who uses it by sending them to the [[GiantAnimalWorship Tsar Fish]] or an electrical anomaly to be "purified". While Korbut blackmails Maxim Moskvin by killing his brother Andrey to install him as a PuppetKing, Silantius is a DirtyOldMan who murders Katya's husband, uses his fanatical excuse of his hatred towards technology and imprisons her and her daughter Nastya, so that his true plan is to bring Katya into a ForcedMarriage.
* The Doctor. While Korbut is the straight-up ''true leader'' of the Red Line, which automatically makes him an official, albeit a CorruptBureaucrat, the Doctor is not an official, who only uses the "minister" disguise to lure any victims to the unfinished bunker in Yamantau and let them be eaten by the Cannibals. And true to his namesake, he is a doctor, but on the realms of being a MadDoctor.
* The Baron. Whereas Korbut is just the military officer (and the true leader) of Red Line, The Baron is a vicious tyrant of the Caspian Desert, [[FromNobodyToNightmare having started from being an Svarog Oil employee before rising through the ranks as the Munai-bailers' feared leader who has created a name for himself by enslaving the tribals]]. He is also a SocialDarwinist, seeing weak as useless in the post-apocalyptic world, while Korbut directly wants to wipe out humanity in the Moscow Metro as he see fit to rule over them. The Baron is also a capable fighter, being able to [[ObfuscatingDisability fake his infirmity]] and even incapacitate Artyom and Giul temporarily with his [[CaneFu cane]] by himself, whereas Korbut is a NonActionBigBad who relies on his Red Line Army and his CoDragons Pavel and Lesnitsky for his dirty work. Korbut is a younger man in his late 40s to early 50s. The Baron is an older, balding man who is reaching in his 70s.
* Saul, TheDragon to the Baron, is a contrast to Pavel Morozov and Lesnitsky, {{The Dragon}}s of Korbut in ''Last Light''. While Pavel is loyal to the Red Line's ideals, who went so far in betraying Artyom to pull off Korbut's plan and with Lesnitsky actively furthering Korbut's cause without mercy, Saul is a defector who actively works with Giul [[DragonWithAnAgenda to assassinate the Baron]] and usurp the leadership for himself, optionally with the help of Artyom depending on how he handles the situation with Saul.
* Olga contrasts to Korbut and the rest of the franchise's antagonists in general. Unique across the entire ''Metro'' franchise, she is the only antagonist in the franchise that is a female and a BadassPacifist, actively avoiding violence as shown when she tells Artyom not to attack the Pioneers while also being a capable leader of the Pioneers. She is an antagonist who is a HeroAntagonist, as her status as one is determined by Artyom's actions in the Taiga chapter. Murdering the Pioneers will certainly change her disposition to being outright hostile to Artyom and the rest of the Rangers.

!!!Antagonists
* ''The Two Colonels'':
** Anatoly Vinogradov, the general of OSKOM, contrasts to Korbut, where his motivation is to put order into Novosibirsk Metro, unlike Korbut who wanted to mass-murder the Moscow Metro's residents with a bioweapon to rule over it for himself. But after the anti-rad shortage crisis, Vinogradov becomes a KnightTemplar and GeneralRipper, now resorting to pragmatic methods of order by rationing the drug, which would later lead to the infamous riots and the eventual collapse of the Metro as a whole.
* ''Sam's Story'':
** Tom is a contrast to any other villains of the franchise. While most ''Metro'' villains are ethnically Russian, Tom is an American, like Sam, [[TokenMinority a rarity in post-apocalyptic Russia]]. Unlike the other villains who are in positions of power, Tom is a weapons dealer and a leader of a mercenary organisation, before temporarily becoming the ''de facto'' leader of Vladivostok. And interestingly enough, he is the only villain to serve as the PostFinalBoss once the main BigBad Klim is dealt with, but it depends on how the player decides the U.S.S. Mayflower's fate, either by choosing Tom's or Baranov's decision.
** Klim is Tom's brutal right-hand, who has an [[DragonWithAnAgenda agenda]] of his own, in his plans to steal the U.S.S. Mayflower and [[TheStarscream depose his superior]] to incite a nuclear war for his genocidal purposes. And unlike all of the villains in ''Metro'', he is the only villain in the franchise to initiate a global-level threat, which was never done by any of the villains from other installments. Like Tom, he is also a weapons dealer, but he contrasts to the bandits of the previous installments, as he is also TheBeastmaster who uses mutant Humanimals as a part of his own rank-and-file army of his loyalists.

* Silantius. He is often portrayed as a sociopathic, delusional cult leader of the Church, in contrast to Korbut. Korbut is the leader of the Red Line Army and the true leader of Red Line with a very intact mind. Silantius is a batshit insane SinisterMinister with a very detached outlook to reality, closely resembling to the real-life Rasputin, and the cult leader of the Church who preaches his equally insane ideals of Luddism that borders to lunacy. Unlike Korbut who actively uses forms of technology in many of his missions, Silantius has a violent hatred towards them, branding it as sin in many of his usual "sermons" and he would never hesitate to punish someone who uses it by sending them to the [[GiantAnimalWorship Tsar Fish]] or an electrical anomaly to be "purified". While Korbut blackmails Maxim Moskvin by killing his brother Andrey to install him as a PuppetKing, Silantius is a DirtyOldMan who murders Katya's husband, uses his fanatical excuse of his hatred towards technology and imprisons her and her daughter Nastya, so that his true plan is to bring Katya into a ForcedMarriage.

* Silantius. He is often portrayed as a sociopathic, delusional cult leader of the Church, in contrast to Korbut. Korbut is the leader of the Red Line Army and the true leader of Red Line with a very intact mind. Silantius is a batshit insane SinisterMinister with a very detached outlook to reality, closely resembling to the real-life Rasputin, and the cult leader of the Church who preaches his equally insane ideals of Luddism that borders to lunacy. Unlike Korbut who actively uses forms of technology in many of his missions, Silantius has a violent hatred towards electricity, branding it as sin in many of his usual "sermons" and he would never hesitate to punish someone who uses it by sending them to the [[GiantAnimalWorship Tsar Fish]] or an electrical anomaly to be "purified". While Korbut blackmails Maxim Moskvin by killing his brother Andrey to install him as a PuppetKing, Silantius is a DirtyOldMan who murders Katya's husband, uses his fanatical excuse of his hatred towards technology and imprisons her and her daughter Nastya, so that his true plan is to bring Katya into a ForcedMarriage.

* Silantius. He is often portrayed as a sociopathic, delusional cult leader of the Church, in contrast to Korbut. Korbut is the leader of the Red Line Army and the true leader of Red Line with a very intact mind. Silantius is a batshit insane SinisterMinister, closely resembling to the real-life Rasputin, and the cult leader of the Church who preaches his equally insane ideals of Luddism that borders to lunacy. Unlike Korbut who actively uses forms of technology in many of his missions, Silantius has a violent hatred towards electricity, branding it as sin in many of his usual "sermons" and he would never hesitate to punish someone who uses it by sending them to the [[GiantAnimalWorship Tsar Fish]] or an electrical anomaly to be "purified". While Korbut blackmails Maxim Moskvin by killing his brother Andrey to install him as a PuppetKing, Silantius is a DirtyOldMan who murders Katya's husband, uses his fanatical excuse of his hatred towards technology and imprisons her and her daughter Nastya, so that his true plan is to bring Katya into a ForcedMarriage.

* Olga contrasts to Korbut and the rest of the franchise's antagonists in general. Unique across the entire ''Metro'' franchise, she is the only antagonist in the franchise that is a female and a BadassPacifist, actively avoiding violence as shown when she tells Artyom not to attack the Pioneers while also being a capable leader of the Pioneers. She is also the only antagonist who is a HeroAntagonist, as her status as one is determined by Artyom's actions in the Taiga chapter. Murdering the Pioneers will certainly change her disposition to being outright hostile to Artyom and the rest of the Rangers.

** Tom is a contrast to any other villains of the franchise. While most ''Metro'' villains are ethnically Russian, Tom is the only villain who is an American, like Sam, [[TokenMinority a rarity in post-apocalyptic Russia]]. Unlike the other villains who are in positions of power, Tom is the only villain who is a weapons dealer and a leader of a mercenary organisation, before temporarily becoming the ''de facto'' leader of Vladivostok. And interestingly enough, he is the only villain to serve as the PostFinalBoss once the main BigBad Klim is dealt with, but it depends on how the player decides the U.S.S. Mayflower's fate, either by choosing Tom's or Baranov's decision.

* Silantius He is often portrayed as a sociopathic, delusional cult leader of the Church, in contrast to Korbut. Korbut is the leader of the Red Line Army and the true leader of Red Line with a very intact mind. Silantius is a batshit insane SinisterMinister and the cult leader of the Church who preaches his equally insane ideals of Luddism that borders to lunacy. Unlike Korbut who actively uses forms of technology in many of his missions, Silantius has a violent hatred towards electricity, branding it as sin in many of his usual "sermons" and he would never hesitate to punish someone who uses it by sending them to the [[GiantAnimalWorship Tsar Fish]] or an electrical anomaly to be "purified". While Korbut blackmails Maxim Moskvin by killing his brother Andrey to install him as a PuppetKing, Silantius is a DirtyOldMan who murders Katya's husband, uses his fanatical excuse of his hatred towards technology and imprisons her and her daughter Nastya, so that his true plan is to bring Katya into a ForcedMarriage.

* [[SinisterMinister Silantius]]. He is often portrayed as a sociopathic, delusional cult leader of the Church, in contrast to Korbut. Unlike Korbut who is the leader of the Red Line Army and the true leader of Red Line with a very intact mind, Silantius is a batshit insane cult leader of the Church who preaches his equally insane ideals of Luddism to his fellow cultists. Unlike Korbut who actively uses forms of technology in many of his missions, Silantius has a violent hatred towards electricity, branding it as sin in many of his usual "sermons" and he would never hesitate to punish someone who uses it by sending them to the [[GiantAnimalWorship Tsar Fish]] or an electrical anomaly to be "purified". Unlike Korbut who blackmails Maxim Moskvin by killing his brother Andrey to install him as a PuppetKing, Silantius is a DirtyOldMan who murders Katya's husband, uses his fanatical excuse of his hatred towards technology and imprisons her and her daughter Nastya, so that his true plan is to bring Katya into a ForcedMarriage.

* [[SinisterMinister Silantius]]. He is often portrayed as a sociopathic, delusional cult leader of the Church, in contrast to the genocidal Korbut. Unlike Korbut who actively uses forms of technology in many of his missions, Silantius has a violent hatred towards electricity, branding it as sin in many of his usual "sermons" and he would never hesitate to punish someone who uses it by sending them to the [[GiantAnimalWorship Tsar Fish]] or an electrical anomaly to be "purified". Unlike Korbut who blackmails Maxim Moskvin by killing his brother Andrey to install him as a PuppetKing, Silantius is a DirtyOldMan who murders Katya's husband, uses his fanatical excuse of his hatred towards technology and imprisons her and her daughter Nastya, so that his true plan is to bring Katya into a ForcedMarriage.

* [[SinisterMinister Silantius]]. He is often portrayed as a sociopathic, delusional cult leader of the Church, in contrast to the genocidal Korbut. Unlike Korbut who actively uses forms of technology in many of his missions, Silantius has a violent hatred towards electricity, branding it as sin in many of his usual "sermons" and he would never hesitate to punish someone who uses it by sending them to the [[GiantAnimalWorship Tsar Fish]] or an electrical anomaly to be "purified".

[[caption-width-right:550:TheChessmaster and the true leader of the Red Line to the EvilLuddite SinisterMinister of the Church of the Tsar.[[note]]Top: [[VideoGame/MetroLastLight General Korbut]], bottom: [[VideoGame/MetroExodus Silantius]].[[/note]]]]

* [[SinisterMinister Silantius]]. He is often portrayed as a sociopathic, delusional cult leader of the Church, in contrast to the genocidal Korbut. Unlike Korbut who actively uses forms of technology in many of his missions, Silantius is known for his one-sided, vitriolic anger towards electricity, branding it as sin in many of his usual "sermons" and he would never hesitate to punish someone who uses it by sending them to the [[GiantAnimalWorship Tsar Fish]] or an electrical anomaly to be "purified".

{{Contrasting Sequel Antagonist}}s appearing in the ''Franchise/{{Metro}}'' franchise who contrasts from villains of their previous works. Unmarked spoilers for each villain.

* [[SinisterMinister Silantius]]. He is often portrayed as a sociopathic, delusional cult leader of the Church, in contrast to the genocidal Korbut. He is often known for his one-sided, vitriolic anger towards electricity, branding it as sin in many of his usual "sermons" and he would never hesitate to punish someone who uses it by sending them to the [[GiantAnimalWorship Tsar Fish]] or an electrical anomaly to be "purified".

[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/metro_contrasting_sequel_antagonist_korbut_silantius.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:TheChessmaster and the true leader of the Red Line to the EvilLuddite SinisterMinister of the Church of the Tsar.[[note]]Top: [[VideoGame/MetroLastLight General Korbut]], bottom: [[VideoGame/MetroExodus Silantius]].[[/note]]]]

* Dietmar is this to Korbut. Korbut is the corrupt military leader of the Red Line Army, as well as being responsible for putting Moskvin in power, with Korbut later revealed to be the the true leader of Red Line. Dietmar, on the other hand, is a high-ranking officer of the Fourth Reich who is outwardly friendly to the protagonist Artyom. Korbut is a DragonInChief NonActionBigBad who uses the Red Line Army to do his dirty work, while Dietmar, despite being a ''de facto'' DragonInChief to the Führer, is a vicious military official who is ruthless and calculating, being able to start the Reich-Red Line war without the Führer's knowledge, with Dietmar responsible for the occupation of Teatralnaya single-handedly.

* Red Line and the Fourth Reich serve as the game's villains, who are drastically different to its predecessors, the Dark Ones in ''VideoGame/Metro2033'', as they are all human in flesh and blood. Whereas the Dark Ones are tragic {{Anti Villain}}s who break the minds of Metro's survivors, particularly adults, Red Line and the Fourth Reich are flesh and blood humans, are embraced in their villainy and are seemingly embroiled in their [[EvilVersusEvil infighting and power struggle]] over who can use the Dark Ones, specifically the Baby Dark One, to eliminate each of their political rivals.
* The game's BigBad and DragonInChief General Korbut is a contrast to the Dark Ones, in general. Unlike the AntiVillain primary antagonists of ''2033'', Korbut is openly villainous with a malicious agenda of his own, actively plotting to use the Dark Ones and the bioweapon as means to destroy his own political rivals and take over the Moscow Metro by himself and rule it with an iron fist.

* The Invisible Watchers to the Red Line and the Fourth Reich. While both factions vie for power through violent reasons, the Invisible Watchers does it in a more non-violent manner, where they use their past influence as the members of Russia's ruling elite and their own resources to manipulate the entire Moscow Metro and its people via its {{Unwitting Pawn}}s through propaganda. And true to its name, they are largely invisible in the 2035 novel, except for Bessolov who makes his physical appearance. They are also considered to be NonActionBigBad, as they often control the Metro through the shadows by forcing each factions to be at war with each other, rather than deliberately causing chaos towards them.

* Red Line and the Fourth Reich serve as the game's villains, who are drastically different to its predecessors, the Dark Ones in ''VideoGame/Metro2033'', as they are all human in flesh and blood. Whereas the Dark Ones are tragic {{Anti Villain}}s who break the minds of Metro's survivors, particularly adults, Red Line and the Fourth Reich embraced in their villainy and are seemingly embroiled in their [[EvilVersusEvil infighting]] over who can use the Dark Ones, specifically the Baby Dark One, to eliminate each of their political rivals.

* Hanza. They initially acted as a neutral but an On-and-Off faction between the first two games and they even became a reluctant ally to the Rangers in ''Last Light''. But after the protagonists uncover their deceit, they commit a SuddenSequelHeelSyndrome. They are a contrast to the previous antagonistic faction, the Red Line, due to them being more politically active in the cover up of the truth above the surface, whereas the Red Line are unaware of it. The Hanza also break the series' trend of having a StarterVillain, instead of a group of villains that was confined to a singular antagonistic faction.
* The Church of the Water Tsar. Unlike the politically powerful, influential and resourceful factions like the Red Line, Fourth Reich and Hanza, the Church and its members are {{Evil Luddite}}s, as well as technophobic isolationists, where they are significantly dwarfed in terms of influence and power. They are dressed in normal-looking but dirtied clothing, as well as having intense hatred for electricity and technology in general, deeming them as heretical and sinful.

* The Munai-bailers. Contrasting to the Moscow Metro factions being political-leaning factions, the Munai-bailers are a full-blown raider faction resembling lawless DesertPunk factions. They have taken over all of the oil reserves across the dried-out Caspian, with its members comprising of ex-soldiers, mobsters, and Svarog Oil employees, as well as their own tribal combat slaves that they utilised. And they are also much bigger in terms of numbers and power, with at least ''700'' members. They also have access to pre-war weapons like Bulldog, Shambler and Gatling Guns, as well as access to transportation vehicles.