20 Smartest Video Game Villains Who Deserved To Win

13. Kessler - Infamous

Throughout Infamous, the villainous Kessler is a mysterious figure who leads the secret society known as the First Sons and seems to have a disconcerting fascination with protagonist Cole McGrath and his abilities.

But that's because, as we learn late in the game, Kessler is actually Cole from the future. 

After Future Cole failed to defeat the entity known as the Beast and prevent him from wiping out humanity, he decided to travel back through time, adopt the villainous mantle of Kessler, and effectively set himself up as a big bad villain to help prepare Cole for his future battle with the Beast.

That's... genuinely brilliant, if not for the fact that by heading back in time and accelerating development of the Ray Sphere - a device capable of unlocking powers in those with the Conduit gene - he also hastened the arrival of the Beast.

Still, we can't be too hard on Kessler - he had quite the plan, but it's tough to account for the many unknowable variables where timey-wimey shenanigans are concerned.