10 Video Game Villains Who Had The Right Idea (But Terrible Execution)

Video games tend to rely on villains a lot. They are the opposing forces to your protagonists and make the narrative feel more dynamic and engaging.

However, being a villain isn't always about twirling your dastardly moustache and committing heinous crimes for the thrill of it. Sometimes, the enemy of your hero tries to do good in the world—it's just that they have a terrible way of going about it.

Yes, in some video games, you and the villain can actually have a lot in common. You both want to be the good guys, but while you do it through general acts of kindness, the other side tends to rely on subjugation, inhuman experiments, or machines that are prone to rather deadly error.

The villains, despite their noble intentions, end up causing a lot of harm because they are either too incompetent or they don't understand how the world works.

One way or another, their quest to do good is nullified by their own poor judgment, and what you're left with is a sad, misguided villain. That's what the following characters are: primes example that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

The Witcher 3's DLC, Blood and Wine, tells a tragic story of manipulation and deceit.

It starts off with Great hunting down the so-called Beast of Beauclair and ends with him realizing that his target, a higher vampire by the name of Detlaff, is actually a scorned lover who was manipulated to commit murders for his beloved Syanna.

Given that Detlaff was not an aggressive vampire back in the day and that Syanna tricked him into committing several murders by faking her own kidnapping and threatening him, it's obvious that Detlaff would want to get some comeuppance.

However, his way of obtaining it is far worse than the method of his manipulative lover.

You see, unlike Syanna, who tricks one vampire to get her way, Detlaff summons a whole army of them to attack Beauclair until Syanna comes out of hiding to see him. Not only that, whereas Syanna made Detlaff kill people who were responsible for her exile, Detlaff's rage makes him order the death of hundreds of innocent residents of the city, arguably making him the worse villain.

Of course, it's easy to sympathize with him, but when you look at the bigger picture, Detlaff is unfortunately the greater threat in the equation.