8. Darth Malak - Star Wars: Knights Of The Republic
Dancing past one of the
greatest plot twists in the history of gaming in regards to Darth Revan, it's the titanic overlording force of Malak that easily made Bioware's revolutionary take on the Star Wars mythos so stupidly enjoyable. KOTOR's huge appeal comes from a great many things including everything from exploring the ports and cantinas of Lucas' universe as much as you like to building your own lightsaber and training in the ways of the Jedi - but what good is a Star Wars spin-off without a suitably population-hating villain? Malak plays back into the final plot twist in a way that pits you against him even more than before, turning the narrative on its head and adding a surprisingly personal touch to what you would assume was going to be the more standard 'hero triumphs over evil' tale. It's a really brilliant head-scratcher that showed Star Wars there was some very bright lights at the end of the tunnel throughout last decade.