10 Most Evil A.I. In Video Game History

7. The Reapers - Mass Effect Series

mass effect reapers
Bioware

In terms of raw power, size, and threat level not much can stand up to the Reapers from Mass Effect.

Like many of the baddies on this list, they’re so fascinating, effective, and scary because they are certain they’re in the right. And we all know that’s what makes the best kind of villain. They’re an odd one to classify, however, because though they were indeed created by the Leviathans, they’re actually sentient spaceship sized artificial intelligences made up of billions of organic minds. They range from 160 metres to 2 kilometres in length making them as fearsome to behold as they are to battle on the technological or intelligence stage.

Though initially created to solve the ongoing conflict between organics and synthetics, the Reapers evolved enough to turn on their makers and decide the solution is just to kill ‘em all and let the passage of time sort them out.

Essentially serving as their own cyclical extinction event against all other lifeforms in the galaxy, before harvesting and eliminating, there’s very little any of the dominant races of the galaxy could do for the tens of thousands of years the Reaper’s reign of terror persisted. Until one kickass Commander shows up, that is.

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Jess has been a journalist and content creator in the games industry for over 15 years and has been WhatCulture's resident Australian import and sorry cop since 2020, upping the quotient of swearing and apologising in WhatCulture Gaming's annual blooper videos considerably. She previously worked at GameSpot for 10 years, most notably hosting GameSpot News in addition to E3 live shows, and PAX panels. She regularly livestreams a variety of games on her 'jessmcdonell' YouTube and Twitch channels and hosts the 'Do It On The Day' podcast. She has won awards for her news and feature work in gaming as well as an accolade for her comedic writing (likely an admin error). She can be found on X at @jessmcdonell and Instagram at @jessicamcdonell sharing her current videogame fixations, industry insights, and videos of her cat, Karma.