Top 9 Video Game Villains Of 2012

7. The Conduit (Mass Effect 3)

I will not make the argument that The Conduit€”or Star Child, as he€™s commonly referred to by his detractors€”is one of the year€™s most compelling, well-written characters. I will tell you, however, that the internet flipped its shit when he appeared at the end of Mass Effect 3 and crushed the dreams of anyone hoping that their commander Shepard could snag a happy ending that included galaxy-wide peace and little blue inter-species babies. In a scene that passionate fans will tell you was lifted straight from the end of The Matrix Reloaded and repurposed for the Mass Effect universe, the Conduit, taking on the form of a child who€™s haunted you in psychological Heavy Rain-esque sequences throughout the game, gives you three options that result in three endings. A fourth option (among other things) was added to the end of the game with Bioware€™s release of free Extended Cut DLC, which was brought about by angry fans€™ complaints concerning numerous plot holes and what they perceived to be the generally blehness of the series€™ ending. The Star Child was a bad enough villain to be the catalyst (har, har) for Bioware's decision to release that Extended Cut in an attempt to assuage angry passionate fans. Talk about being reviled. Of course, Star Child detractors are still stuck with him but, hey, it was a nice gesture, right?

 
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Javy Gwaltney is an aspiring author, screenwriter, and essayist from South Carolina. He also likes to write about video games. You can find his articles on those at Bitmob and Whatculture! If you like, you can follow him on twitter: https://twitter.com/JavyIV