Couch Soup die-hards and baddies know our friend, Iain McParland. He's fantastic, he's a pop culture connoisseur with strong feelings about the Alien franchise and an excellent sense of fancasting. But as brilliant as he absolutely is, he's dead wrong about one very specific thing.
Iain recently published his list of "10 Video Game Villains Who Are Baddies In More Ways Than One", and while I appreciate his start, there were some glaring omissions. Essentially, his list looked lonely, and I can fix that.
In a collaborative effort, I do want to legally recognize two of Iain's selected baddies. His fourth selection, Lady Dimitrescu (Resident Evil Village) and third selection, Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club Plus) are valid. Bad ass babes with bad intentions? Absolutely, well done, Iain.
But Lady Dimitrescu and Monika aside, we've got way more mean girls to celebrate. And now, on with the real top ten. Here are the actual 10 baddest baddies in video games.
Faith Seed gets overlooked because of what an absolutely fantastic villain Joseph Seed in Far Cry 5 is, but she's still a baddie. She's a drug kingpin who oversees a massive section of the map, making her the dainty answer to El Chapo in Hope County. Her boss battle is brutal and at times, she's heartbreaking, but that's the price of being a peyote princess (allegedly).
Yes, she's a narcissist who will gaslight you until you're numb, but my god, those eyes. She's a witchy girl who knows what she wants, which is to become a god, and she'll move time and space to do so. She's possessive (especially if you're Sorceress Edea) and gives one hell of a boss battle, fit for a boss ass bitch.
We love women in leadership roles. Queen Myrrah is the undeniable heart of the locust horde and happens to be an ageless queen. Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's a rare reaction to Imulsion that keeps her cells from breaking down. Either way, all hail the locust queen.
First of all, yes, she's an apparition of the Marker, but that's not the point. During the first game, Issac sees her as Nicole, and that makes her Nicole to the player (until the end, at least). She's smart, she's scared, and she's trying to bring Issac to the truth. The real Nicole is dead before Issac touches down on the USG Ishimura, but this Nicole is just as focused as the real one. Unfortunately, she's focused on the Marker infecting Issac and spreading its reach across the galaxy. She's not perfect, but she is still a cutie.
Sarah Kerrigan is the Queen of Blades and our hearts in the Starcraft world. She's a bad bitch with a deeply complex history, but still owns her femininity through it all. She was isolated as a child and never had a shot at a normal life because her powers always set her apart from everyone else. She's gorgeous and I'm terrified of her, the perfect combination.
Admittedly, she could be summed up by saying she's Princess Zelda's Wario, but she's so much more than that- she's also bloodthirsty. Her goal is to protect her kingdom at all costs, even if it means trying to fight Link. I love how decisive she is and that she's willing to work with others, but will never bend on her goals.
Freya in God of War? Lovely, a fantastic supporting character that takes somewhat of a liking to Atreus. Freya in God of War Ragnarok? Furious and vengeful after the bloody death of her son. Reasonably, she's upset and goes through a lot to bring the pain to Kratos and Atreus for a short time. Through her arc, we see her come back around and support Kratos and Atreus, bringing her back to center as a supporting character in their lives. We love a queen who can grow.
That's 'The Eagle' to you. Ankhsar isn't in the mainline Ghost of Tsushima arc but lives on Iki Island, the DLC. She can certainly tango with a sword, but her poison of choice is literal poison. She pairs psychological torment with her razor-sharp battle sensibility, all while being dripped out in the coolest outfits.
There may be some derivative elements of Widowmaker's design to the other Blizzard baddie on our list, Sarah Kerrigan, but Widowmaker still stands alone as a drop-dead gorgeous assassin. Her skin is blue due to a near-fatal experience, which just adds to her allure (if you're into that?). The French accent is just the cherry on top- which she can hit from a mile away. 360-no-scope, baby.
Look, I love a woman in STEM. GLaDOS is the former assistant to Aperture Science's CEO, Cave Johnson, and was promoted to… whatever GLaDOS is now. GLaDOS has an incredibly high body count, but she can sing, which is charming. She's smart, she's funny, she's lethal, and one time she was a potato. She's the kind of gal you could, oh, I don't know, split a slice of cake with.
So which list do you like more, mine or Iain's? Are there still any bad ass babes we missed? Yell at us collectively in the comments.
Honestly, you had me at "Iain was wrong". Also, good call on GLaDOS...steal my heart you murderbot.
HOW DARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRE YOU SIR
No no let him cook
You already know it had me at that.
I feel both list were good, but Juri from Street Fighter and Benedikta from FF 16 are my personal faves