20 Smartest Video Game Villains Who Deserved To Win

17. Sephiroth - Final Fantasy VII

Because it apparently isn't enough that Final Fantasy VII's Sephiroth is one of the coolest-looking antagonists in the history of pop-culture, of course he's got an absolute banger of a plan amid the convoluted nonsense soup that passes for the game's story otherwise.

It's actually pretty simple stuff for Final Fantasy standards - Sephy wants to summon Meteor, the meteorite entity capable of dealing insane amounts of damage to the planet.

This in turn will cause the Lifestream, effectively the planet's lifeblood, to flow in an attempt to repair the damage, giving Sephiroth the opportunity to absorb all the spiritual energy and become an outright god.

Sometimes the bad guy's plan is so clear-eyed, no matter how unhinged their motivations might be, that it's tough not to respect it. 

That's certainly true here, and Sephy got about 98% of the way to pulling it off, if not for the gallant effort made to repel him by Cloud and company.