20 Video Game Villains You Couldn’t Wait To Kill

13. Nikolai Diavolo - James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing

Having an unexpected A-lister’s face and voice turn up in a video game may be so commonplace now (Kit Harrington in COD: Infinite Warfare; Giancarlo Esposito in Far Cry 6) that we barely notice, but back in 2004 it was major news.

James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing arrived when the sixth generation of consoles still reigned supreme, Pierce Brosnan’s face was still the face of the world’s favourite superspy, and EA was still doing a roaring trade in non-movie tie-in 007 games. Playing as Bond, we rescue scientist Katya Nadanova from terrorists, and team up with geologist Serena St Germaine to prevent ex-KGB agent Nikolai Diavolo from using Nadanova's nanobots to destroy the Kremlin, seize the Russian war machine and conquer Europe.

The cast matches the films, with Brosnan, Judi Dench and John Cleese all providing their voices and likenesses, but this is par for the course. The big ticket on this one is Willem Dafoe as Diavolo, turning in a digital Bond villain performance for the ages, who, very annoyingly, continues to slip from our grasp. Each time we defeat the slick git, and assume the best, he comes back for one more diabolical intervention. Thus, when the time comes to put him down for good, with a well-timed rocket launcher, it feels as good as taking out any of the rogue’s gallery of film villains.