10 Video Game Moments Where You Thought The Villain Would Win

Final Fantasy VIII has long been seen as the black sheep of the Final Fantasy family. It certainly does things very differently, with its controversial Junctioning system and blend of futuristic and classical magical motifs.

The game tackles some very poignant themes, such as love, loneliness and loss, taking them to some truly dark places at times. With all of this in mind, it’s probably only fitting that a nigh-invulnerable sorceress from the future should come along at the end and try to wipe everybody from the face of time itself. Why the heck not?

Later in the game, we learn that Edea is not the true villain of the piece: she’s a pawn in Ultimecia’s larger scheme. The latter is able to act in the present only by taking control of sorceresses of that time: Edea, Adel and Rinoa all serve this role at one point or another during the story. Through them, she finally manages to cast Time Compression: a spell that blends the past, present and future into one ‘moment,’ centered around Ultimecia, allowing her to shape everything that ever was or ever will be as she pleases.

When the spell begins to be cast, the party has a plan to turn it against her: to travel to Ultimecia’s time and defeat her before the process is completed. While this does succeed, humanity’s last hope is a huge shot in the dark. This was a whole new threat that a Final Fantasy party had never really faced before.