20 Smartest Video Game Villains Who Deserved To Win

So much has been said about how incredible Mortal Kombat's Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn are, but Quan Chi deserves a little more respect on his name if only for thoroughly he's sought to manipulate basically everyone in his midst.

Quan Chi has had some sort of involvement in most of the Mortal Kombat series' biggest power plays, and even when he partners with the likes of Shinnok and Shang Tsung, he's typically serving himself and never above a good ol' double-cross.

There's something delightful about Quan Chi's utter lack of true loyalty to just about anyone, some of his most heinous acts including the eradication of Scorpion's clan and family, creating Noob Saibot, teeing up the death of Liu Kang, betraying Shang Tsung, and plotting to free Shinnok.

Sometimes a bad guy just needs to be a bad guy because they're a bad guy - they don't need a sob story or more nuanced motivation, and that makes it tough not to love Quan Chi's dead-set commitment to evil-doing.