10 Truly Evil Video Game Villains Everyone Loves

The main point of villains in video games is to provide the player with motivation for their actions. The villains are designed to hate and to be hated, so no matter where the player is or what they are trying to do, their main objective will be to take down the evil bad guy.

However, sometimes the villain is just too hard to dislike. It’s not because they’re sympathetic or because their goals make more sense than the main character’s; it’s just that they’re too damn charming for your own good.

Whether it’s their alluring personalities or their special brand of unhinged hilarity, these villains capture the hearts of their audience with ease. Which is pretty amazing considering how everything else about them is absolutely diabolical.

You may not agree with their plans for mass genocide or conquering the world, but at the end of the day, it won’t matter. The following villains can capture your heart with only their smile and a little dose of personality.

After the snoozefest that was the final showdown with Eredin, The Witcher 3 really needed a good villain to make up for it. Luckily, Gaunter O'dim from the game's first DLC, Heart of Stone, turned out to be exactly that and much more.

Gaunter O'dim, also known as Master Mirror, is a powerful and mysterious demon who toys with mortals by granting them monkey-paw-type wishes in exchange for their souls. He loves to twist the words of his victims to ensure they always regret what they wish for and leave the world of the living as emotionally broken messes.

After reading all this, you might be asking why the game allows you to side with Gaunter and help him collect his debt from Olgierd. A more apt question, however, is why so many people actually choose to do this.

Well, the simple answer is that Gaunter is just a very charming character. He looks unassuming, and his humor and wisdom make him seem like a pretty approachable person. But at the same time, there's always this looming and somewhat ominous aura of mystery about him that makes each conversation with Gaunter insanely intriguing.

The devil's in the details, as they say.