Summary
Nintendo has been making video games and consoles since 1977. In that time, the company has created some of the mosticonic gaming franchises of all time, includingMario,Pokemon, andThe Legend of Zelda. Each hero in these games is instantly recognizable, but they would not have endured for so long without a healthy slew of popular bad guys to face off against.
The villains of Nintendo games may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the company. However, this company has created some ofthe most evil antagonists in gaming history, and some are nearly just as iconic as the protagonists they face off against.
Bowser may just be the most recognizable villain that Nintendo has ever created. The spiky dinosaur has always appeared as the main foil in theMarioseries and was even featured heavily in theSuper Mario Bros.movie. However, Bowser isn’t as evil as some of the other villains in Nintendo’s catalog.
His propensity to kidnap Princess Peach does give him a few points in the evil column. Also, he seems intent on ruling the Mushroom Kingdom as a dictator. However, Bowser’s willingness to compete with his enemies intennis tournaments or other party gamesdoes dent his evil persona quite a bit.
Team Rocket is the first villainous team that players encounter in thePokemonfranchise. This band of evil trainers is hell-bent on stealing other trainers' beloved Pokemon and will even take over huge corporations, like Silph Co., to achieve this goal. However, no one member of Team Rocket is as evil as the man who leads the team, Giovanni.
This boss is a tough Pokemon trainer in his own right and is also secretly working as the Viridian City gym leader. Giovanni’s villainous ways were even extended when he tried to steal and clone Mew to create another villain in thePokemonuniverse, Mewtwo. Otherevil team leadershave come and gone in thePokemonseries, but none have been as intimidating or successful as Giovanni.
The big winged creature, Ridley, from theMetroidseries, looks far more intimidating than he actually is. Ridley is a space pirate, who roams the star systems, looking for ships to intercept and steal from with his crew. He also isn’t shy about killing the crew on board these vessels. Obviously, Ridley’s huge, dragon-like form helps in these missions.
The only thing that holds Ridley back is his over-inflated ego. For example, his first meeting with a young Samus saw the protagonist’s father sacrificing himself to rid his ship of the pirates and save his family. Ridley may have survived the attack but has held a grudge against Samus ever since.
King K. Rule is a large mutant crocodile who serves as the main antagonist intheDonkey Kongseries. Since Kong is often seen as a villain in theMariofranchise, the developers needed to create someone truly evil for the ape to face as the final boss in his own series.
The result was King K. Rule, the leader of the Kremlin Kremlin, who is always responsible for making life for the Kongs as difficult as possible. As a king, he is cruel. King K. Rule is often seen lashing out against his own minions before sending them out to steal Donkey Kong’s horde of bananas.
The evil of Majora’s Mask mainly comes from its origin. It once belonged to an ancient beast, but it became sentient enough to becomethe main villaininThe Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. The mask has the power to speak with and take control of other people, and this ability is used to construct a time loop that Link must fight to stop.
Link is successful in his endeavor, and the mask is finally destroyed. As such, any evil that this object possessed is dispelled, and Majora’s Mask goes back to being an inanimate object once more, but it remains one of the most evil entities to ever exist in theZeldaseries.
Link has one main villain inThe Legend of Zeldaseries who shows up time and again. That is Ganon, an evil warlock who takes human form to fight Link and try to enslave the fantasy world of Hyrule. He first started out as a simple thief but was able toachieve new levels of powerwhen entering the Sacred Realm. Ganon stole the Triforce and used it to turn this dimension into his own Dark Realm.
Link defeated the one his people had begun to call The Demon King, and Ganon has since sought to achieve this level of power again. Sometimes, this involves the warlock breaking time or changing things just enough to make him the ruler.
Thecolorful and child-friendlyKirbyseries may not be where most players expected to find one of the most evil villains that Nintendo has ever created. However, this sinister creature shows up as the main villain in bothKirby’s AdventureandKirby: Nightmare in Dream Land. In both of these games, Lord Nightmare gains control of The Fountain of Dreams in his effort to rule the land.
Lord Nightmare is a large wizard who is the physical embodiment of evil and darkness. Though Kirby and his allies are able to stop this evil boss from achieving his goal of world domination, it does not stop Nightmare from being the most evil character that Nintendo has ever created.
