7 Times Video Game Villains Would've Won (If They Weren't Idiots)

3. Alduin - Skyrim

For a thousand-year old intelligent dragon, Alduin sure is a big dummy.

The Elder Scrolls V opens, as is series tradition, with the player character as a prisoner, this time en route to Helgen to be executed for undisclosed crimes. However, in a blistering introduction, the sentencing is interrupted by a dragon, who kills anyone in its sights and decimates the small village with fire.

It's a striking opener, and teases the wider plot to come with the then-unnamed dragon referring to the player as the "Dovahkiin", but when you know the plot as a whole, it's hard to see it as anything other than a major error in Alduin's grand plan. It's never totally confirmed, but it's hinted at that the attack is inspired by the dragon sensing the Dragon Born nearby, and wanting to snuff him out before he fulfils his destiny.

The only problem with this is that all of Alduin's problems would have been solved had he just done nothing. Lest we forget, the Dovahkiin was actually on their way to being executed, and would have been parted from their head had the dragon not interfered. By taking matters into his own hands, the villain stabbed himself in the foot.