Video Game Villains: The Top 5 in Adaptations

Challenge Video Game Villains and it’s Game Over

Heroes cut through hordes of mooks with impunity, but the boss fight always pushes them to the limit. Video game villains feature in the most dramatic moments, reciting overwrought speeches and giving heroes a reason to hate them before the climactic duel starts.

The silver screen is the perfect spotlight for video game villains. They get screen time to build their menace, then fight scenes that show their power. Unbound by gameplay that needs to give players a fair chance, they become even more dangerous. So which are the top 5 video game villains? Let’s find out.

Honorable Mention: Ganondorf

Series: The Legend of Zelda
Voiced By: Matthew Mercer, Hironori Miyata
Theme Song: Ganondorf’s Theme (Tears of the Kingdom)

One of the best video game villains will make his movie debut in 2027’s The Legend of Zelda. We can tell you about the encroaching King of Darkness, but we can’t judge his adaptation. Yet.

The Original: Ganondorf was a man born to the all-female Gerudo thieves. Raised to become their king, he learned of a divine relic called the Triforce. Ganondorf manipulated the peaceful kingdom Hyrule to steal it, but The Triforce shattered in the chaos, leaving him with only the Triforce of Power.

Ganondorf conquered Hyrule and reigned for seven years. He was magically sealed into another dimension by a knight named Link and Hylian princess Zelda, bearers of the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom. Ganon returned many times to resume his war, losing more of his sanity each time until he was reduced to an embodiment of pure evil.

Unknown to Ganondorf, his lust for power and destruction wasn’t entirely his own. Link and Zelda’s predecessors killed the Demon King Demise, who cursed their bloodlines to be hunted by an incarnation of his hatred. That curse manifested as Ganondorf, ensuring that he’ll always be reborn to menace the reincarnated Link and Zelda.

The Triforce of Power gives Ganondorf superhuman strength and fuels his dark magic. He uses spells against most foes, but fights Link while dual-wielding greatswords. By tapping into the Triforce and his curse, Ganondorf can become the giant boar-like demon Ganon. All of this dark magic is marred by Ganondorf’s crippling weakness against Link’s holy blade: The Master Sword.

Our Casting Choice: No one has been officially cast for the adaptation yet, so let’s take a stab at Ganondorf. He is charismatic, philosophical, ruthless, cunning, manipulative, and gives grandiloquent speeches. Giancarlo Esposito wouldn’t be bad for an entirely magic-focused Ganondorf, but Idris Elba can pull him off as the regal king and bloodthirsty warrior.

#5 Bowser

Series: Super Mario Bros
Voiced By: Jack Black, Harvey Atkin, Dennis Hopper
Theme Song: Final Bowser Battle

Video game villains have several go-to schemes, such as conquering the world, killing everyone, or kicking puppies for fun. But one of the most famous sticks to old reliable: kidnapping a princess. This video game villain will have his love, no matter how many times he has to try.

The Original: Bowser is the king of the Koopa Kingdom. He attacked the neighboring Mushroom Kingdom and kidnapped Princess Peach, the only one who could undo his dark magic. Bowser fell in love with Peach, who didn’t reciprocate and was eventually saved by the Mario Brothers. Bowser kept them busy by kidnapping Peach dozens of times over the years.

Despite thos kidnappings, Bowser slowly formed a friendly rivalry with Mario and Peach. The birth of Bowser Junior brought a more measured Boswer. He still kidnaps Peach, but is more focused on generic “conquer the world” plans, but Bowser and Junior are reluctantly willing to join forces with Mario and Peach against more dangerous villains.

Bowser is a giant dragon-turtle who knows dark magic. His fiery breath can roast foes, he can pound them with super strength, or cast a spell to turn them to stone. Bowser has multiple giant vehicles and often seeks powerful artifacts to use against the Mario Bros.

The Adaptation: The early Nineties were a rough time for Bowser. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show made him into a generic King Koopa, and the movie put a miscast Dennis Hopper in a ridiculous costume with the worst script possible. Thankfully, Jack Black was up to the task in The Super Mario Bros Movie, showing Bowser’s tyranny, goofiness, and hopeless romanticism.

#4 Video Game Villain: Vergil

Series: Devil May Cry
Voiced By: Daniel Southworth, Robbie Daymond, Hiroaki Hirata
Theme Song: Bury The Light

Rivals are often the best video game villains. The Big Bad may be about to destroy the world, but it’s the hero’s evil counterpart you want skewered. This villain is brother to one of the best adapted video game heroes.

The Original: Vergil was the son of the legendary Devil Knight, Sparda, who betrayed and sealed Hell away after falling in love with Vergil’s mother, Eva. While playing in a park, he was attacked by demons and ran home, only to find it destroyed. Vergil believed that Eva had abandoned him to save his twin brother Dante, a belief inspiring a lifelong desire for power so that he wouldn’t be hurt again.

He traveled the world to hone his skills, taking any job that increased his power without compromising his personal code. Vergil opened gateways to Hell, was corrupted into the demon knight Nelo Angelo, and ultimately unlocked his full demonic powers. Dante fought his power-obsessed brother many times, but their feud didn’t end until Vergil’s son Nero punched some sense into them. Dante and Virgil travelled to Hell to prevent further demon invasions, entrusting Earth to Nero.

Virgil is fast. He can swing his katana Yamato hundreds of times in seconds, making the blade appear invisible. Yamato can cleave through dimensions and open gateways to Hell. Vergil considers guns cowardly and manifests flying energy swords for ranged attacks. He eventually learned to merge his human soul and demonic heritage into his strongest form, The Sin Devil Trigger.

The Adaptation: Virgil made his screen debut in 2025’s Devil May Cry. He appeared sparingly, though a shapeshifter took his form early on to unnerve Dante. Virgil disguised himself as Nelo Angelo to support the Big Bad and reappeared in his human form to free demons from a concentration camp.

#3 Shang Tsung

Series: Mortal Kombat
Played By: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Chin Han, Jim Cummings, Ed Boon
Theme Song: It Has Begun

Old school video game villains didn’t have much nuance. They were there to kick your ass and cause a game over. 1995’s Mortal Kombat reforged this snake from a low rent Chinese sourcerer to the franchise’s Big Bad.

The Original: Shang Tsung is a sorcerer from Outworld who was sent to Earth to host a divine tournament called Mortal Kombat and merge the realms. Outworld’s forces won nine tournaments, but he was defeated in the final one by Earth’s champion: Liu Kang.

Shang Tsung manipulated several factions to kill Liu and seek power. He succeeded at both, emerging as a godlike Titan to face the reborn fire god Liu Kang. Shang Tsung was defeated and erased from existence, but clung to life long enough to inspire his counterpart in Liu Kang’s rewritten New Timeline.

Stolen souls fuel Shang Tsung’s magic and immortality. He must defeat powerful opponents to claim their souls, but he can collect weaker souls en masse by creating a “Soulnado.” Shang Tsung’s favorite tactic is shapeshifting into defeated opponents and fighting with their moves to disorient his foes. He kills enemies with gruesome Fatalities to demoralize their allies.

The Adaptation: Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa gave Shang Tsung his trademark deceitful personality and almost-purring speech patterns in 1995’s Mortal Kombat. Shang appeared in many other adaptations as the viceroy to Big Bad Shao Kahn. He shockingly survived 2021’s Mortal Kombat and will return from Outworld with reinforcements in the 2025 sequel.  

#2 Video Game Villain: Jinx

Series: League of Legends

Voiced By: Ella Purnell, Sarah Anne Williams, Mia Sinclair Jenness
Theme Song: Get Jinxed

A villain isn’t always responsible for their actions. Madness can send them spiraling into depravity as they seek some measure of control or comfort. This video game villain is a victim of circumstances.

The Original: Jinx was a mentally unstable anarchist from the impoverished city Zaun. No one knew where she came from, but everyone could tell where she had been thanks to a trail of sprayed paint and devastation. The amoral Jinx did whatever she wanted though she only hurt people when it was funny.

Jinx’s Joker-esque rampage was opposed by a pair of Enforcers named Caitlyn and Vi. Jinx was always able to outrun them or distract the duo with her traps, but was privately less violent with Vi. They never let anyone know that they were long-lost sisters stuck on opposite sides of the law.

Jinx builds her own tools and loves blowing stuff up. A minigun called Pow-Pow is her favorite weapon. She has a shock pistol for close range and monkey head-shaped bombs that she throws with wild abandon. Jinx’s strongest weapon is Fishbones, a Hextech-powered rocket launcher shaped like a shark that launches her Super Mega Death Rocket.

The Adaptation: Arcane revealed Jinx’s backstory. She was Powder, Vi’s little sister, who wanted to prove herself to their gang despite her reputation as a jinx. She stole Hextech crystals, which brought the Enforcers down on Zaun. Disasters continued mounting until Powder accidentally killed the gang and her adopted father Vander. Only Vi survived, and she abandoned Powder, who was found and adopted by Vander’s enemy, Silco.

Several years later, Powder became Jinx, Silco’s surrogate daughter and attack dog. She hallucinated about Vi and the dead gang, lashing out at anything that triggered her. Vi was recruited to stop her, leaving Jinx trapped between Silco’s manipulations, her sister’s attempts at reconciliation, and the voices of the dead egging her on.

#1 Sephiroth

Series: Final Fantasy
Voiced By: Lance Bass, George Newburn, Tyler Hoechlin
Theme Song: One Winged Angel

The other video game villains were fighting for second place. This was the only choice for the best. Whether you recognize him from his silver hair, a sword longer than he is tall, or his badass theme song, you know a bad time is coming when the One Winged Angel descends.

The Original: Sephiroth was part of the paramilitary organization SOLDIER serving the Shinra Electric Power Company. He discovered that he had been created in a lab and infused with cells from an alien called Jenova. The revelation drove him mad. Sephiroth went on a rampage to reunite with his ‘mother’ before being mortally wounded by a low-ranking soldier named Cloud Strife.

A dying Sephiroth controlled several other beings enhanced with Jenova Cells to save him and bring him the Black Materia, which would summon a planet-destroying meteor. Sephiroth planned to become a god by absorbing the planet’s Lifestream, but Cloud and a band of ecoterrorists defeated him although he has returned many times to become a god and fulfill his final fantasy.

The Adaptation: Sephiroth made his screen debut in the sequel movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Three “Remnants of Sephiroth” embodying different parts of his personality wrought havoc to resurrect him. A weakened Sephiroth was reborn and dueled Cloud one last time. Even as his soul was destroyed, Sephiroth swore to return.

Which Video Game Villain is your favorite? Tell us in the comments.

Image: Devil May Cry S1. Robbie Daymond as Vergil in Devil May Cry S1. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2025

Jared Bounacos

Jared Bounacos has written for Movie Rewind since 2016.