There’s an old saying that goes, “Every villain is the hero of their own story.” It’s a saying so old that I wasn’t even really able to nail down exactly who said it first, but the point remains — change the point of view, and the story’s evil bad guy can become its sympathetic hero. After all, what is a man but a miserable little pile of secrets?
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Which leads us nicely into the topic of this list: Metroidvanias featuring a villain – or “villain” in quotes, if you prefer – as the main character. We’ve arranged ten such games, although I freely admit I had to play fast and loose with the definition of “villain” in certain cases. These also aren’t in any particular order, although I did tend to start with some of the better known games first. Now, in the immortal words of Scott Hall, let’s say hello to the bad guys.
10 Carrion
Experimenting on Aliens Never Ends Well
It’s a classic trope: scientists find a mysterious creature, which they immediately scoop up and run horrific tests on. That creature turns out to be a monster – a monster that punishes the scientist, along with the rest of humanity, for their hubris. Rarely are these stories told from the creature’s point of view.
Carrion, on the other hand, is literally from The Creature’s point of view. That’s what it’s called: The Creature. This ball of space goop escapes confinement, consumes the lab’s staff, and upgrades its own DNA to get free of captivity. As for what happens when it does? Well, let’s just say that, whatever it is, we probably have it coming. This spooky pixel art title is well worth your time.
9 Metroid II: Return of Samus
A Dark Chapter in Samus’s Story
Now wait a minute, I can hear you saying: how is the legendary Samus Aran the villain of Metroid II: Return of Samus? Actually, I should probably give you more credit than that – you probably know exactly why Samus Aran is the villain. It’s hard to put up a heroic front when your mission is this dark.
That’s right. Samus is tasked with venturing to the planet SR388 and blasting all of the Metroids to the point where there aren’t any more Metroids. OK, that’s not entirely fair – obviously, this isn’t reflective of Samus as a character throughout the rest of the franchise. But, still – not a good look, Samus. Thankfully, Ms. Aran has plenty of other, more heroic adventures to choose from.
8 Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Guess Who’s Back, Back Again
After decades of games where the main goal is to defeat Dracula, it was pretty much only a matter of time until a Castlevania game put players in the shoes of the Prince of Darkness. While this concept would be used way more explicitly in 2014’s Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2, it was first brought forth in 2003’s Aria of Sorrow, where we learn that the trendy young Japanese fellow named Soma Cruz (which is just undeniably such an awesome name) we’ve been playing as is the reincarnation of Dracula himself.
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Whether or not Soma gives in to his villainous nature by the end of 2005 sequel Dawn of Sorrow is inevitably up to the player. There’s even a potential ending where Soma literally becomes the antagonist, and players assume the role of what is essentially that game’s Alucard. In either case, before arriving at that point, there’s another Dracula’s castle to steadily explore, awful monsters to dispatch, and a diverse range of souls to acquire and use as distinct abilities.
7 Maneater
The Life of a Hungry Predator
Sharks get a bad rap. Some think of them as soulless killing machines. All teeth, no brains, never stopping in a relentless pursuit of food and murder. Only some of this is true, and they can’t help that! Fortunately, a game like Maneater comes around and allows us to finally see things from the shark’s point of view. Let me tell you, it does nothing to counteract those assumptions of sharky brutality. It’s glorious.
Maneater certainly has enough Metroidvania elements to qualify it for this list. There’s plenty of exploration involved, and leveling up and gaining new abilities will open up new areas that were previously inaccessible. It’s also a revenge tale, much like the fourth Jaws movie, though Maneater is actually a quality product.
6 Prototype
Alex Mercer? More Like Alex Jerk-cer!
Much like our previous entry, Prototype makes effective use of staple Metroidvania elements. What’s less ambiguous, however, is just how much of a Not Good Dude the playable character, Alex Mercer is. Because he is 100% that guy. From seemingly being the one who created the virus that’s causing all the mayhem in the game, to eating people to take their appearance, to just generally being kind of a jerk, Alex Mercer is a villainous protagonist indeed.
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That doesn’t make Prototype a bad game by any means. It’s a lot of fun to play, with its vicious and visceral combat, and the story of the Blacklight virus is harrowing. Its sequel is even better, too.
5 Doomblade
Prepare to unleash Doom… and Gloom!
At its core, Doomblade is a power fantasy. It actually employs one of my favorite tropes: A weakling finds an ancient weapon/undergoes a treatment/easts a magical sandwich/whatever, and becomes an unstoppable force. As a weakling growing up (and not exactly what one would call a “powerhouse” as an adult), Doomblade is just one of those games that gets me. On top of that, the action is just frenetic. You can lose literal hours of your life just mowing through what are, as far as you can tell, the forces of evil. Not all of us here enjoyed the ride, but to each their own.
As we all know, however, power corrupts. The power the Doomblade provides does not come without cost. If players aren’t careful, they could very well end the game by becoming one of the very things they set out to destroy. Not to mention that the Blade itself – well, let’s just say it never presented itself as a force for good. Just an instrument of revenge.
4 Biomorph
Now We’re Taking Things Pretty Literally
Up until this point, we’ve been discussing the concept of playing as the villain at a, for lack of a better term, philosophical level. The character you inhabit is motivated by selfish goals as opposed to altruistic, or goes about achieving those goals in a non-heroic fashion. When it comes to Biomorph, however, I mean it in a way more literal way. Players can literally transform into their enemies.
Killing an enemy gives you the option of taking that enemy’s form, which then can be upgraded and altered. This opens up new areas – and more places to explore – and abilities in the game, just as any other Metroidvania worth its salt does. You’ll want to do so, too, to learn more about what happened to this ruined world.
3 Fearmonium
Send in the Clowns
Over the past decade or so, a lot of indie developers have used the medium of games to explore themes regarding mental health. Titles like Celeste, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and Gris are just some of the more recent – and more acclaimed – titles to do this. While most of these games center on the impact of the likes of trauma and grief, Fearmonium takes a different approach to the same concept.
With an art style often compared to Cuphead, Fearmonium is an intriguing, unsettling experience. It features the quest of a personification of an unhappy memory, attempting to become an actual phobia inside the mind of a teenager. The game uses humor and well-designed gameplay to keep itself enjoyable and engaging to play.
2 Infernax
Will You Follow the Path of Righteousness? Or Drowsiness?
Like a few other games on this list, Infernax merely gives you the option to be the villain. There are nine different endings to experience, and there’s more than one that leads players down a dark path. No, seriously – there’s one ending literally called The Path of Evil. You don’t really get much more on-the-nose than that.
Infernax also features two player co-op, which not only gives you the option to be evil, but with a buddy. Just be forewarned, whether you decide to follow the Path of the Righteous or any of the less virtuous ones, it will involve plenty of pixelated gore. This is one bloody gross game. However, out of all the games on this list, it might be the most purely “Metroidvania” of them all, in terms of gameplay.
1 GRIME
Is There Anything More Villainous Than Trying to Eat the World?
When you think of villains, you probably picture them with certain dubious goals in mind. It might be wanting to rule the world with an iron fist. Perhaps it involves terrorizing a whole community, maybe even entire countries. If that goal happens to be “consume and destroy the entire world,” well, that’s when you know there’s very little moral grey area to work with. That’s 100% bad guy stuff. This, however, is what you discover your goal is in GRIME.
Taking the role of a “Spiral Heart,” which, to be fair, doesn’t sound all that evil, you are literally fighting to bring about the End of the World. Not only to end the world, but to consume it, which really comes across as unnecessarily rude when you think about it. Still, if you’re looking to unleash your inner evil beast, there are certainly worse ways to go about it.
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Author: 360 Technology Group
