Games That Let You Play As The Villain

Without the repercussions of real life, being placed into the shoes of a bad guy in a video game can be a great way to go wild and let off some steam. Playing the virtuous hero who saves the day game after game can get stale pretty quickly, after all, so it’s always interesting when a game lets the player take control of the villain instead.

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In many of these games, it’s easy to tell when the protagonist is actually the villain, but some instead choose to obscure the player’s vision of this fact until much later on in the story. For those looking to experience the joys of being bad for themselves, the best games that let you play as the bad guy are well worth checking out.

Updated January 12, 2025, by C.M Edwards: The majority of video games allow players a chance to be the hero who saves the day. Set in a world on the brink of destruction, it is the player’s duty to be the shining protagonist who rights wrongs and protects the innocent. There have been hundreds of games that let players wield the hero’s sword or control a mystical power bestowed by the gods. However, there are also a genre of games that do just the opposite. Players can step into the stories of thousands of versatile characters with varying causes, motivations, and ideals. While most games lean toward making players the heroes of their own stories, there are many titles that do the opposite. Some games put the players in more sinister roles that allow them to be the thing that goes bump in the night. As a very exhilarating experience, being the villain gives players a new perspective on how bad guys become bad guys. From destroying entire worlds to wreaking havoc on a single city, sometimes being the bad guy can be better than being a goodie-two-shoes. Here are some of the best games that let you play as the bad guy.

26

Deadshot

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League

Deadshot is one of the most deadly assassins in DC Comics and has recently crossed over into film and video games. In the recently released Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League, players can take control of a number of iconic DC villains, one of which is Deadshot. Deadshot’s particular skill comes from his inhuman accuracy.

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He is able to pinpoint a shot from hundreds of meters away and hit a target through unreasonable obstacles. Deadshot can ricochet projectiles off the edge of surfaces and make contact with targets with a precision that is unmatched throughout most of the comic book universe. Deadshot is a cold and calculating villain who only just recently began leaning toward a more anti-hero persona.

25

Lego Harley Quinn

LEGO DC Super-Villains

Harley Quinn has become one of the most popular characters in DC Comics, who was not originally a character in the comics. First appearing in the Batman: The Animated Series, Harley was attached to the hip of the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker. As the Joker’s sidekick, she facilitated monstrous acts and endured even more at the hands of her villainous boyfriend.

However, as her comic mythos evolved, she separated from the Joker and gained her own identity. In LEGO DC Super-Villains, players can play as Harley Quinn in the open-world environment of the game, and take it straight to the Justice Syndicate playing as the hammer-wielding hellion.

24

Jackie Estacado

The Darkness

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The story of The Darkness comes from the Witchblade universe, which belongs to TopCow productions. In this universe, The Darkness is a primordial entity that embodies one of the most powerful forces in that universe. The Darkness is handed down through a particular bloodline of men and bestows upon them great power at a great cost.

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In The Darkness video game from the mid-2000s, players take control of Jackie Estacado who, on his 21st birthday, becomes the current wielder of The Darkness. Jackie is an assassin for the mob, but after they betray him, Jackie’s power awakens, and he goes on a mission to completely annihilate those who wronged him. Jackie has otherworldly powers that allow him to teleport, summon demons, and create almost any weapon he wishes, similar to Spawn’s armor. The Darkness powers make for some of the most unique first-person shooter gameplay of the era.

23

The Main Character

Fable

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September 14, 2004

Fable was a highly innovative fantasy game that gave players the ability to make real decisions and an enormous amount of freedom in how they approached the game. Starting out, players were free to choose how they progressed in the game, but making it further and further into the story, players could decide what kind of hero they become or if they became a hero at all.

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Players could become an absolute menace to the game world by killing villagers, purposely making negative decisions during quests, and wreaking havoc on entire towns. A consequence of making evil decisions in the game resulted in the player’s character gaining a more sinister-looking appearance, like horns and glowing red eyes.

22

Agent 47

Hitman 3

The argument that Agent 47 is a lesser evil in a sea of devils is a valid one to take. However, with the entire legacy of Agent 47 being endless amounts of bodies in his wake, there is too much red in his ledger to ignore. Hitman puts players in control of Agent 47 and follows him as he brutally carves a path through anyone in his way to his goal, guilty or not.

While Agent 47 has a strong understanding that he is just the tool that completes a contract, it is still his hand on the gun, knife, or whatever else he deems useful at the time. Hitman 3 does an excellent job of allowing players to connect with the main character, giving him more depth than just a heartless gun-for-hire. But in all right, Agent 47 is a bad guy who kills for money.

21

Shay Cormac

Assassin’s Creed Rogue

Shay Cormac starts off as a budding member of the Brotherhood of Assassins who is slighted by the Brotherhood’s ideals as he gains a peek behind the curtains after a catastrophic event that kills thousands. Cormac turns his back on his own blood and decides to join up with the Templars, believing that the Brotherhood must be stopped at all costs. This is the setup for Assassin’s Creed Rogue.

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Unfortunately, Cormac has decided to be on the wrong side of history. While the Brotherhood does do questionable things for the greater good, the Templar movement is primarily based on the lust for more power at any cost, depending on the leader of the movement at the time.

20

Joker

Batman: Arkham Knight

Most of Batman: Arkham Knight is spent playing as Batman cleaning up the streets of Gotham City as one might expect. Near the end of the game though, the Caped Crusader is injected with a dose of Scarecrow’s fear toxins, which sends Batman into a hallucinogenic state.

Control then switches abruptly from Batman to his arch-nemesis, The Joker, resulting in some of the very best gameplay in the franchise. Not only do players get to roam the halls shooting things with Joker’s weapons, but they also get to drive a Joker-inspired Batmobile that looks incredibly cool.

19

Tim

Braid

With its fantastic time manipulation mechanics, Braid is one of the most innovative games of the early 21st Century and played a huge role in the rise in popularity of the indie game genre. At a glance, it appears to tell the story of a time-bending man named Tim as he struggles to save a princess from an evil knight. However, as the game progresses, it becomes clear that nothing is quite as it seems.

It’s revealed that Tim is actually the bad guy, with the princess running away from him the entire time. What’s more, the knight that players had been conditioned to hate turns out to be one of the good guys, doing everything in his power to prevent Tim from getting his hands on the princess. This big reveal makes not only for a shocking twist but also an excellent conclusion to an already incredible game.

18

The Monster

Carrion

Most horror games are filled with fearsome foes and jump scares that are designed to petrify their players with fear. In Carrion, however, players are the jump scare. The amorphous monster that they control throughout the game is absolutely terrifying and becomes even more so as the game progresses.

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Few monsters are as adept at causing death and destruction and the prospect of it breaking out of the lab’s confinements really doesn’t bode well for humanity. There is no gray area here; only a large red tentacled blob that kills indiscriminately and is incredibly proficient at doing so.

17

Various

Dead By Daylight

The dramatic rise in the popularity of asymmetrical multiplayer games over the past decade or so has led to some fantastic titles. Few have had quite the same impact as Dead by Daylight though. Four players must work together in order to escape from a crazed killer, who just so happens to be controlled by another player.

Despite having been released more than half a decade ago now, the game is still going strong and continues to add new characters to its roster as time goes by. Having launched with just three killers, there are now considerably more of them; many of whom are licensed from movies, television shows, and other video games.

16

Crypto

Destroy All Humans!

Destroy All Humans! is a classic example of a video game that lets players control the bad guy. The game takes place in 1959, as players get to take control of the alien Cryptosporidium (Crypto, for short) and unleash carnage with an arsenal of powerful and hi-tech weaponry.

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Crypto is a Furon warrior who enjoys destroying and torturing the inhabitants of Earth. The comedic tone of the game makes ravaging the planet feel a lot less terrible than it really should, which in turn makes this game incredibly unique and a lot of fun to experience.

15

Kratos

God Of War

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March 22, 2005

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Sony Computer Entertainment

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Mighty

Kratos is one of the most complicated protagonists in all of gaming. While he’s certainly been on the receiving end of some pretty despicable acts, some of the things that he’s done are truly unforgivable. He’s killed more family members than can be counted on a single hand and has unleashed his wrath and rage on countless mortals and gods.

The most recent entries in the God of War series brought some big changes to Kratos’ character, both in terms of his appearance and his personality. As well as being redesigned to look a bit less intimidating, players were shown a different side to the bloodthirsty brute as well as a genuine desire from Kratos to change his ways. As the game’s narrative unfolds though, it becomes clear to both Kratos and the player that he can’t escape his true nature, nor his bloody past.

14

Michael, Trevor, & Franklin

Grand Theft Auto 5

The Grand Theft Auto franchise shows that video games based around playing as the bad guy can resonate with a wide audience of gamers around the world. Despite players growing to like the three playable characters from the fifth installment, Grand Theft Auto 5, they are all hardened criminals.

The three go to great lengths to make their fortune and protect their own interests; often at the expense of other people’s lives and well-being. That’s arguably what makes Michael, Trevor, and Franklin such compelling characters in the end though, as players are given a lot of insight into what makes each of them tick.

13

Cole MacGrath

InFAMOUS 2

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Multiple endings are something that more video games should try and incorporate into their narratives, as it can really improve the sense of agency that’s given to players. It also provides a great deal of replayability, which is something that is prevalent in the inFamous series.

Cole MacGrath is the main character of inFAMOUS 2 and is one of the most interesting protagonists in gaming when it comes to morality. One of the endings explicitly paints him as the villain of the game, though the player can choose to do evil deeds way before the credits roll at the end of the story.

12

Superman

Injustice 2

When asked to think of an iconic comic-book hero, Superman is usually one of the first names to spring to people’s minds. However, Kal-El isn’t always playing the hero, with the Man of Steel having turned heel at numerous points over the years. One such example of this can be found in Injustice 2, where, for all intents and purposes, the Last Son of Krypton serves as the main villain.

Despite Superman being shown to have lost his marbles right throughout the course of the title’s main story, players are given a chance to side with him come the game’s epic conclusion. Siding with Superman instead of Batman and then winning the resulting fight will result in players getting the bad ending, with Superman brainwashing some of the other characters to do his evil bidding.

11

Abby

The Last Of Us Part 2

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June 19, 2020

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Mighty

The Last of Us Part 2 kicks off Ellie’s story of revenge. Abby brutally murders Joel pretty early on in the game, instantly making her the primary villain of the story. At least it does for a while, anyway, but the narrative takes a pretty big turn a bit later on.

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Eventually, control switches over from Ellie to Abby, allowing players to see the bigger picture from another side. Despite the game doing its best to make her an admirable character though, many fans of the franchise were unable to see her in a positive light due to the horrific manner in which she killed Joel.

10

Vito Scaletta

Mafia 2

There have been a few different playable protagonists throughout the Mafia trilogy, each with their own quirks and vices. The name of the franchise speaks for itself though, as criminal life is heavily ingrained across all three of the games and into all of their playable characters.

Vito Scaletta is a former soldier who now lives the life of an up-and-coming gangster who is hoping to rise up in the ranks of the Falcone crime family. In order to do this, Vito does everything that one would expect a typical mobster to do; intimidating, beating, and, in many cases, killing those who stand in his way.

9

Bull Shark

Maneater

Games like Goat Simulator and Untitled Goose Game opened the door to a whole new genre of games that allow players to control a host of misbehaving animals. While the aforementioned goat and goose were merely mischievous though, the bull shark that players take control of in Maneater is out for blood.

Though the game’s evolution mechanic can at times border on ridiculous, it can greatly improve the proficiency with which this bloodthirsty bull shark can cause carnage and chaos. It could certainly be argued that it’s in her nature to kill, but that doesn’t make it any easier for her many innocent victims.

8

Bowser

Super Mario RPG

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Released

November 17, 2023

Developer(s)

Nintendo

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

OpenCritic Rating

Mighty

With Mario being one of the longest-running video game franchises of all time, it seems safe to say that the titular plumber’s rivalry with Bowser is fairly well-documented at this point. The Koopa King is constantly kidnapping Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom, forcing Mario and his friends to rescue her from the villain’s clutches time and time again. However, there have been many games in which Bowser has been playable.

Outside of sports, kart racing, fighting, and party games, Super Mario RPG is perhaps the most notable example of this. The game begins with Bowser doing what Bowser does best (kidnapping Princess Peach), but he eventually ends up being an integral member of the player’s party. Smithy may serve as the game’s true villain, but Bowser remains the big bad of the series despite his temporary alliance with the good guys.

7

The Overlord

Overlord

The Overlord series has players controlling the titular overlord and his army of minions as they bid to take over the world. Like many other games of the era, each title features a morality system, though rather than good or bad, the scale tends to range from bad to flat-out sadistic.

Those who enjoy dark humor and satire will likely love what Overlord has to offer, as the games are full to the brim with both, and never take themselves too seriously. Granted, the most recent title, Overlord: Fellowship of Evil, is a bit of a dud, but the first few are top-notch and are definitely worth a look.