The Chessmaster and the true leader of the Red Line to the Evil Luddite Sinister Minister of the Church of the Water Tsar.note
Contrasting Sequel Antagonists appearing in the Metro franchise who contrasts from villains of their previous works. Unmarked spoilers for each villain. open/close all folders
Metro 2035
Invisible Watchers to the Red Line and Fourth Reich
While both Red Line and Fourth Reich 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 Pawns 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 Non-Action Big Bad, 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 to the Fuhrer and Korbut
While many of the franchise's Big Bads including Fuhrer and Korbut 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 and Korbut
Korbut is the corrupt military leader of the Red Line Army, as well as being responsible for putting Moskvin in power through Black Mail, 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 Dragon-in-Chief Non-Action Big Bad who uses the Red Line Army to do his dirty work, while Dietmar, despite being a de facto Dragon-in-Chief 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.
Metro: Last Light
Red Line and Fourth Reich to the Dark Ones
Red Line and the Fourth Reich serve as the game's villains, who are drastically different to its predecessors, the Dark Ones in Metro 2033, as they are all human in flesh and blood. Whereas the Dark Ones are tragic Anti Villains 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 infighting and power struggle over who can use the Dark Ones, specifically the Baby Dark One, to eliminate each of their political rivals.
General Korbut and Dark Ones
The game's Big Bad and Dragon-in-Chief General Korbut is a contrast to the Dark Ones, in general. Unlike the Anti-Villain 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.
Metro Exodus
Hanza and Red Line
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 Sudden Sequel Heel Syndrome. 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 Starter Villain, instead of a group of villains that was confined to a singular antagonistic faction.
The Church of the Water Tsar to the previous Metro factions
Unlike the politically powerful, influential and resourceful factions like the Red Line, Fourth Reich and Hanza, the Church and its members are Evil Luddites, 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 Yamantau Cannibals to the previous Metro factions
The Cannibals are often portrayed as Always Chaotic Evil 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.
Munai-bailers and Red Line
Contrasting to the Moscow Metro factions being political-leaning factions, the Munai-bailers are a full-blown raider faction resembling lawless Desert Punk 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 to the previous Metro factions
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 Civil War 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 and 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 Sinister Minister and the Church's cult leader 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 Tsar Fish or an electrical anomaly to be "purified". While Korbut blackmails Maxim Moskvin by killing his brother Andrey to install him as a Puppet King, Silantius is a Dirty Old Man 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 Forced Marriage.
The Doctor and Korbut
While Korbut is the straight-up true leader of the Red Line, which automatically makes him an official, albeit a Corrupt Bureaucrat, 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 Mad Doctor.
The Baron and Korbut
Whereas Korbut is just the military officer (and the true leader) of Red Line, The Baron is a vicious tyrant of the Caspian Desert, 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 Social Darwinist, 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 fake his infirmity and even incapacitate Artyom and Giul temporarily with his cane by himself, whereas Korbut is a Non-Action Big Bad who relies on his Red Line Army and his Co-Dragons 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 to Pavel and Lesnitsky
Both are the right-hands of the respective antagonists, with Saul being the Baron and Pavel and Lesnitsky to Korbut. 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 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 and the previous Metro antagonists
Unique across the entire Metro franchise, she is the only antagonist in the franchise that is a female and a Badass Pacifist, 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 Hero Antagonist, 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.
DLC
Vinogradov and Korbut
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 Knight Templar and General Ripper, 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.
Tom to the previous Metro antagonists
Tom is a contrast to any other villains of the franchise. While most Metro villains are ethnically Russian, Tom is an American, like Sam, 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 Post-Final Boss once the main Big Bad 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 to the Baron
Klim is Tom's brutal right-hand, who has an agenda of his own, in his plans to steal the U.S.S. Mayflower and 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 Klim, the Baron is also a weapons dealer who regularly supplies his men with weaponry, but Klim also contrasts to the Baron, as he is also The Beastmaster who uses mutant Humanimals as a part of his own rank-and-file army of his loyalists.
