[ALL] Leftwich's Top 50 Heroes and Enemies in Video Games

[SuperKevin]

Is Donkey Kong a hero or a villian? Classically he'll always be remembered as a villian but the Donkey Kong games for SNES and N64 made him a hero

 

[Leftwich]

Is Donkey Kong a hero or a villian? Classically he'll always be remembered as a villian but the Donkey Kong games for SNES and N64 made him a hero

:smug:

 

[CCBrink]

#1?

 

Garrus.....he is ok....should not be in top 10.

Can't be mixing up Garrus and Saren mang.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

 

[DomePatrol]

If he's not top 10 this list is fraudulent.

 

[Leftwich]

Foreword

Before I get any further into this, I want to make one thing perfectly clear. This list is how I rank how much of an impact each hero and villain has impacted gamers in general but more importantly, me. I’ve compromised this list of 50 of some of the greatest heroes to ever battle evil forces and the 50 greatest villains who have tried time and time again to put a cog in the system. Unlike my previous list, I am writing this list on the fly. I have not written out any of the blurbs other than the top ten of both heroes and enemies. I will make my promise to you guys once again that this list will be finished in a timely manner.

I am hoping that this list will make you guys appreciate each hero and enemy better and hopefully will help you broaden your horizons and try out a game or series you never put much thought into. As always the blurbs will start out short but as we dive deeper and deeper into the list we will see longer descriptions for your reading pleasure.

So ladies and gentlemen (and Maynard) I present to you my list of the greatest heroes and enemies ever to be a part of gaming.​

 

[Leftwich]

# 50 Hero

Sackboy

Where you might know him from: Little Big Planet 1, 2 and LBP Vita

Future?: Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale and Little Big Planet Karting

Yes coming in at number fifty is none other than PS3 exclusive, Sackboy! First off Sackboy is not the kind of hero that is going to take down terrorists, save the princess or anything as heroic as some of the people on my list What makes Sackboy a unique hero are two important things. Sackboy is your own creation, you can customize him to look like you want and express himself like you want. He’s not a Tomagatchi but more or less your custom avatar to get you through the story of Little Big Planet. The customization is also determined by you, you need to go about the game looking for new hats, trousers and just about everything you can think of. Sackboy isn’t equipped with much firepower either. He can’t jump and grab onto things in his environment. The real beauty of this is by using your enviorment to your advantage such as riding a skateboard, swinging from vines or really anything you can get your sack hands on. His downfall are the classic Mario types, fire, water and pits. This doesn’t sound much like a hero does it? This brings me to my second thing. The amount of user creation in Little Big Planet 1 and 2 is insane. You can have your little Sackboy traverse levels of insane jumps, perilous pits and just about anything the community wants to throw at you. This is what really sets Sackboy apart from every other hero on my list. It’s the trials your fellow gamers put him through. I’ve looked at a lot of user created content for LBP 1 and 2 and some of the levels are insane and guiding little Sackboy through the levels is no easy task. This is why he ranks number 50 on my list, because he does some things other characters never get to do. Plus look at him, he’s cute and just has Playstation marketing written all over him. But the question remains, if he does so much more than other characters then why is he so low on my list? Sackboy is still in his infancy as a character, who knows what the future holds for him. Could the next Little Big Planet flop hard or could it turn out to be one of the greatest franchises ever? Time will tell and I personally believe he won’t be as big as many heroes of gaming but will make his mark on at least this console generation, if not the next.

50 Villian

Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde

Where you might know them from: The Pac-Man Series

Future?: Uncertain

Nostalgia sets in and you are taken back to a time of prehistoric gaming. Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde are obviously the ghosts from the Pac-Man series and if you didn’t already know that then you should probably get your head checked out. At first glance you would look at these enemies and think how can these 4 ghosts really give me all that hard of a time? There movement is erratic and uncontrollable. That last statement is false. It’s a common misconception that the ghosts of Pac-Man run random routes trying to stop Pac-Man from completing levels but that’s simply not the case. The ghosts actually have their own personalities. To some of you older gamers you know this but for the younger crowd its news. I’ll explain, the Red and Orange ghosts chase Pac-Man while the pink and Blue ghosts are there to trap him or at least get in his way. One touch from the ghost is all it takes to kill Pac-man. This makes them seem overpowered but there is a catch. If Pac-Man collects the large white dot the ghosts all turn dark blue and scurry away from Pac-Man. This officially makes them the biggest pussies in gaming. I mean you have one job to do and that’s to kill pac-man but as soon as he eats something you run away? Gaming was different back then and there are a few enemies that still use this tried and true method. I’ll say that Pac-man is an insanely frustrating game later on but the enemies are still the same just with a little more speed. The fact that they run away from you sometimes is what makes them fall so far on this list. I don’t play pac-man much at all anymore unless I see a machine somewhere so I haven’t gotten to face off against Inky, Blinky, Pinky or Clyde. But I’m sure nothing has changed and they still react the same damn way.

 

[Leftwich]

49 Hero

HK-47

Where you might know him from: Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic 1&2 and Star Wars Galaxies

Future: In Doubt

HK-47 walks a fine line between being labeled as good or evil. Sure he can be part of your squad but his absolute hatred for all organic life makes him seem like a sure fire asshole. If you have no idea who I’m talking about, let me explain. HK-47 made his debut in 2003 in Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, which was in my top 100 games of all time. He is a Droid who only cares about who he is going to kill next. While playing KOTOR you arrive on Tatooine you can purchase the droid. If you do so you can choose whether or not you want to activate him. I highly recommend doing so because he is the absolute hands down best squadmate in the entire game. But to activate him you have to find parts, seems like a lot of work some an asshole but it’s well worth it in the end. Once he is actually activated you’ll get to hear him put you down every chance he gets. His dialogue throughout the entire game is hilarious as well. His comedic relief is one of his strongest points but his ability in battle is outstanding. He can take a lot of punishment and dish it out worse. He is a straight up soldier which is helpful to your character if you choose to use the force more than combat. Revan (the main character of the game) works very well with a lot of squad members but I think the guys over at Lucasarts and BioWare wanted to make sure the player used HK-47. The point is proven even further when HK-47 makes a return in Knights of the Old Republic 2. I’m not the only one who feels so strongly about having him as one of the top 50 heroes in gaming. Plenty of the Star Wars nerd fan sites consider him the greatest droids in the whole series. I disagree, that little trash can R2D2 was and will always be the best. To be completely honest, when I think of Knights of the Old Republic I always think of HK-47. So for some of you guys who have never played the series before should definitely check this out. If you’re a Mass Effect fan then you’ll feel right at home.

49 Enemy

The Dog From Duckhunt

Where you might know him from: Duckhunt

Future: Probably dead, that dog was around in 1985

So I understand that he is not a boss, villain or enemy of any sort. He can’t hurt. So why did I include him on my list then? Well because of his taunting. As a little kid using my little Nintendo Zapper while playing Duckhunt was always a good time. I figured I was a pretty good shot and could get far in the clay disc game and shooting ducks. I thought it was great that a little dog would go retrieve the ducks for me after I shoot them but this Dog was straight evil. Every single fucking time I missed both ducks he would laugh. Every time I didn’t make it to the next level he’d laugh. It got to the point where I tried my hardest to shoot the screen to kill that damn dog. It never worked because no matter how hard I tried to make it further in the game I always ended up missing and having that mutt laugh at me. I thought it couldn’t get any worse but then you go to the bonus stages and this dumbass dog decides he’s gonna jump around and get in my way while I try to shoot as many ducks as I can. Do you know what happens when you shoot the dog? No he doesn’t laugh, it ends the round. So this fucking dog not only laughs at you when you miss or fail but also doesn’t want you to get any bonus points. Is this dog the first great villain in a video game?

 

[ThomasTomasz]

How could you write a blurb about HK47 and not include the term "meat bag?"

He's also made a small appearance in The Old Republic as well. We know from SW Galaxies that he is not dead at all.

 

[Leftwich]

Sorry Thomas, forgot all about the meat bag part

 

[Leftwich]

48 Hero

The Prince (Prince of Persia)

Where you might know him from: The entire Prince of Persia series

Future: Nothing new since 2010 and nothing on the horizon.

The Prince from prince of Persia is one of the oldest characters on this list. His first appearance was in 1989 in “Prince of Persia”. A few sequels appeared afterwards but his big success as a character came during the reboot by Ubisoft. The Sands of Time, Warrior Within and The Two Thrones were very good games and received a lot of critical acclaim, not so much the final in the trilogy but as a whole they were very well received. Then another reboot and another spinoff appeared but to not as much fan praise. The original Prince of Persia really stood out as a platformer with its death defying jumps and parkour style. Not only the movement of The Prince was important but his ability to wield weapons and fight through stages of enemies was a major focal point of each game. We saw in the reboot the ability to control time, rewind and fast forward. This gave the game a very fresh feeling and made The Prince that much more of a powerful character. What really hurts him from getting any further down my list as one of the greatest video game characters is his wishy washy sequels and spinoffs. The sequels to the original Prince of Persia were not that successful and the reboot after the reboot was a decent game but nothing special and didn’t sell well either. To me personally, The Prince is one of the most iconic characters in video games but as the newer generations of gamers play more they will forget all about him. One good thing about The Prince is he got his own movie, unfortunately the movie wasn’t very good. I can let it slide that it got the movie treatment and flopped only because I enjoyed playing as The Prince throughout most all of his adventures.

48 Enemy

The Flood (Halo Series)

Where you might know them from: The Halo Series

Future: Possibly in the new trilogy but not in Halo 4 (confirmed)

I am not as big a Halo fan as I once was but I do give the developers a lot of praise for making a great game that has spanned 2 consoles and sold millions. I’m not here to talk about the Halo series as a whole but rather the one enemy that always seemed to give me a lot of trouble in the Campaign mode. You all know I’m talking about The Flood. The beauty about these enemies is the way we were introduced to them. In Halo 1 we thought we were only fighting the covenant but completely out of left field we start fighting the Flood. Well not really out of left field but when you search the Halo Facility and find out the humans and covenant release them for the first time in thousands of years. For real though, its almost scary the first time you have to fight them. The reason I have them on this list is the fact that they are so annoying to battle. Before I get into that I want to paint a picture for those of you who don’t know. The Flood is a parasitic alien for that devastate and destroy everything in their path through infection. A 100,000 years ago humans destroyed all forms of life in the galaxy to starve them. Anyway enough about their history, The Flood were a pain in the ass to battle because of their many different forms. The infectors were little things that crawled onto the ground and in scripted moments they would infect soldiers. They’re easy to kill and I believe you can just step on them to kill them but if you become overwhelmed by their numbers then its probably lights out for Master Chief. The worst of all The Flood in my opinion were The Carriers. You had to be careful not to shoot the giant sack on their back because if you do The Infectors will burst out and they become a nuisance when there are a lot of enemies to face. There are other forms as well like infected humans and pure Flood enemies but just the simple Carriers and Infectors can give you trouble. I always got frustrated with them especially on the harder difficulty levels and they really are a disturbing and difficult enemy. It’s kind of a blower that they won’t be in Halo 4 for the challenge but hopefully we’ll see them return maybe even in cameo style.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

The Flood were an absolute pain in the ass for all of the games, but especially Halo Wars- they were absolutely tough no matter the difficulty.

 

[Leftwich]

47 Hero

Earthworm Jim

Where you might know him from: Earthworm Jim 1 and 2 and Earthworm Jim HD

Future: Dead

Earthworm Jim was a great series but kind of died out after the Super Nintendo and Genesis did. Its unfortunate that the series couldn’t spawn sequels as the generations wore on but I think more than anything is the nostalgia of playing as him is what makes him such a great character. Earthworm Jim is your average earthworm but he stumbles across a special suit that makes him act a normal human being. Of course numerous enemies and downright bad guys are after him so they can have the suit for themselves. Not only is Earthworm Jim attempting to evade his foes but he is also trying to save Princess what’s Her Name. Earthworm Jim is not blessed with superpowers, psychic powers or any powers for that matter. What Jim does have is his worm body he can use to whip at enemies or slide down wires. He can also shoot his gun as well. Jim does not have an easy road ahead of him, The original and sequel are both some pretty tough games. Not impossible but not a game you can breeze through. There are a lot of end bosses to face and some unfair enemies but Earthworm Jim is a wise cracking badass so he can handle it. Not only did Earthworm Jim make an impact in gaming but the networks caught wind of his huge marketability and developed a show based on the game. Earthworm Jim was one of my favorite shows growing up mainly due to my adventures through gaming with him. It’s just such a travesty we never got to see a next gen version of him. There is always the future but it looks really bleak for our friend Earthworm Jim.

47 Enemy

Ultimecia

What you might know her from: Final Fantasy 8

Future: This bitch is dead

Sorry Twigg you can stop here if you want. For those of you haven’t ever played Final Fantasy 8, you should probably stop here. Ultimecia is the main villain in Final Fantasy 8 and pretty much the focus of the plot after the first disc. At first you think Seifer and Edea are the main boss but Ultimecia has assumed control of Edea. Edea doesn’t make her evil presence known until you actually go to the moon to set Ellone free. I know this is all confusing but it makes sense in the end. Why is she my 47th greatest enemy? The woman was pure evil and insanely powerful. The woman has the ability to compress time and really mess everything up. She can prevent you from entering towns, gardens or really anywhere with civilization. You have to go to her realm to fight her and just to get a chance to face her you have to face numerous bosses, some of which are almost on her par of difficulty. She doesn’t say much unless she is speaking through someone else but as the old saying goes “Actions speak louder than words”. The boss battle with her is unfair in my opinion. Even coming into the battle 100 percent prepared isn’t enough. You have to rely on some luck and a grueling amount of skill. Patience more than anything is key in the epic battle with her. She has her normal form which typically has a lot of HP and will take a little while to wear her down. After you defeat her once you will face her as a Guardian Force named Griever. This is yet another tough battle because Griever uses more magic and physical attacks than Ultimecia. After you fight this exhausting battle you have to face Ultimecia junctioned into Griever. This is yet another painful battle. You would think you’re done now but you have to face her final form which is incredibly unfair. The woman has so much HP that it will literally take a half hour for this form. She won’t just sit there and take the punishment either. She has moves that will instantly kill, take you down to 1 HP or cause status ailments to your whole party. When you finally do beat her it feels great. This is one of the few times in gaming that I generally felt better about defeating such a powerful and evil force. She is overshadowed by other enemies in the Final Fantasy series but as far as boss battles in the whole series goes, this is the toughest.

 

[Swarley]

What the shit happened to this list??

 

[Leftwich]

Like i said to everyone who has asked me. I'll finish this list, i guess the summer wasn't the best time to start this list.

 

[BigBucs]

Get it over with.... #1 and #2 will be

 

and

 

 

[Twigg4075]

That's one Lefty. Four to go.

 

[DannyD]

Hurry up.

 

[Bomberooski]

Glad this got bumped. Subscribed

 

[Leftwich]

46 Hero

Dante

What you may know him from: Devil May Cry Series

Future: DMC: Devil May Cry (Jan 2013)

I’m fairly certain the vast majority of posters here at VSN or all around the internet have played Devil May Cry at least once. In my opinion it is a stylized hack and slash game with some gun play and magical elements to it. Dante made his first appearance way back in 2001 for the PS2 and almost instantly added himself as a staple at Capcom. Dante is a mercenary who is hired to kill demons, ghosts, vampires or whatever creepy dudes who are running amok. He looks like your typical Japanese wet dream hero. Over here in the states he looks kinda gay. But don’t let his glossy white hair and fair skin fool you. He’s a bad ass killing machine equipped with a sword made of ass kicking metal and a pair of pistols capable of making Swiss cheese out of the supernatural. This may seem like a lot of power to wield for one guy but it gets better. I neglected to mention that Dante is half demon and can go into “Demon Mode” (forgot the real name) and he will unleash hell on his foes. Dante seems pretty bad ass, no? Well Dante did span 3 games and even got trapped in hell but I can’t put him any higher because of what I’ve seen in the next Devil May Cry and the pure disappointment of DMC3. Dante looks totally different in the next game and even though I said he looked gay beforehand, his new look is not any better, if not, worse. Hopefully I’ll be wrong and this alternate universe Dante will be a breath of fresh air and breathe new life into the franchise. Although Devil May Cry 3 was not the game it should have been, I still think Dante is one of the top 50 characters in gaming due to his powers, backstory (that I’m not going to spoil) and just the adversity he has to face be it multiple enemies or huge bosses that will not only test Dante’s might but also test your patience as a gamer. One last thing, if you don’t like insanely difficult games Devil May Cry 2 and 3 may not be for you.

46 Enemy

The Entire Game of Super Ghouls and Ghosts

Future: I hope to God they never bring this Satan game back.

As an 8 year old kid not knowing anything about the classic difficulties of Capcom games, I decided to rent this game from Blockbuster. I was in for a shock. Super Ghouls and Ghosts is one of the hardest games I’ve ever played in my life. The levels are full of asshole enemies and cheap deaths. Each level is split into two “Acts” and from the start of the game you know how bad it’s gonna be. Zombies pop out of the ground and hurt you, bats attack you and even treasure chests aren’t always what they seem. Realistically you have to keep from getting hit and collect the best weapons to beat this game. When I say this game reeks of cheap deaths, I’m not kidding. When you’re jumping and trying to get across a gap you should doubt every move. If you miscalculate the jump you can’t make adjustments. Sure you can collect armor but that doesn’t help you from falling in water or a chasm. One thing about the armor, it doesn’t last long. You will get hit, A LOT. You will die, A LOT. This game seriously took me years to beat. There is no save feature and the bosses are sons of bitches. If you ask a lot of people how they feel about the bosses they’ll tell you they’re easy and the game itself is hard. I partially agree, the bosses to start the game are easy but the last two, LOL. Sounds like a pretty tough game right? Did I mention there is a time limit to every level as well? So not only do you have to take on some tough enemies but you also have to race against the clock. So you really don’t have the time to be cautious. You need to play at a normal to fast pace to make it through each level. If you lose all your lives you have to go all the way back to the beginning of the game. As a kid this led to many days of having my mouth washed out with soap as I cursed my SNES.