Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
    • Game Insights
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Future Games Show
    • Genres
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
    • Franchises
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • Insights
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
    • Computing
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
    • Accessories & Tech
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Newsletters
    • Total Film
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsarama
Total Film
  • home
  • Games
    • View Games
      • Games News
      • Games Features
      • Games Reviews
      • Games Guides
      • The Big Preview
      • On The Radar
      • Future Games Show
      • Action Games
      • RPGs
      • Action RPGs
      • Adventure Games
      • Third Person Shooters
      • FPS Games
    • Platforms
      • View Platforms
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X
      • PC
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Nintendo Switch 2
      • Tabletop Gaming
      • Grand Theft Auto
      • Pokemon
      • Assassin's Creed
      • Monster Hunter
      • Fortnite
      • Cyberpunk
      • Red Dead
      • The Elder Scrolls
      • The Sims
  • Entertainment
    • View Entertainment
    • TV Shows
      • View TV Shows
      • TV News
      • TV Reviews
      • Anime Shows
      • Sci-Fi Shows
      • Superhero Shows
      • Animated Shows
      • Marvel TV Shows
      • Star Wars TV Shows
      • DC TV Shows
    • Movies
      • View Movies
      • Movie News
      • Movie Reviews
      • Superhero Movies
      • Action Movies
      • Sci-Fi Movies
      • Anime Movies
      • Horror Movies
      • Marvel Movies
      • DC Movies
    • Streaming
      • View Streaming
      • Apple TV Plus
      • Disney Plus
      • Netflix
      • HBO
      • Amazon Prime Video
      • Hulu
    • Comics
      • View Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • DC Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Lego
    • Dungeons and Dragons
    • Merch
  • Hardware
    • View Hardware
      • Hardware News
      • Hardware Reviews
      • Hardware Features
      • Desktop PCs
      • Laptops
      • Handhelds
    • Peripherals
      • View Peripherals
      • Headsets & Headphones
      • TVs & Monitors
      • Gaming Mice
      • Gaming Keyboards
      • Gaming Chairs
      • Speakers & Audio
      • Gaming Controllers
      • Tech
      • SSDs & Hard Drives
      • VR
      • Accessories
      • Retro
  • Deals
    • View Deals
    • Game Deals
    • Tech Deals
    • TV Deals
    • Buying Guides
  • Video
    • Newsletters
    • Total Film
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsarama
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Dying Light: The Beast
  • Borderlands 4 review
  • Battlefield 6
  • New Games for 2025
Don't miss these
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild screenshot showing Link, a male character with elf-like ears, blond hair, and bright blue eyes
Movies The Legend of Zelda movie is exciting, but I'm still begging for 5 specific video game movies to get adapted next
King K Rool
Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Bananza is the perfect time to bring back an AWOL villain, and I'm already uncovering conspiracies that say our favorite crocodile will turn up
Far Cry Far Cry 4 lead reveals a cut idea for enemy camps that would have completely changed the story: "I think that's where the fun of the whole genre might lie"
Vampire Survivors
Roguelike Games "I felt like playing 30 hours of story mode was actually the tutorial": Too many RPGs and JRPGs end after their combat really gets good, Vampire Survivors creator says, which is where the roguelike formula is so great
A screenshot of PUCK eating an enemy during the upcoming Xbox Series X game, Shadow Labyrinth.
Games The best retro remakes and reboots out there aren't afraid to get weird with it – as Shadow Labyrinth being a dark and gritty Pac-Man game shows us
Yuna, Rikku, and Pain pose in Final Fantasy 10-2
Final Fantasy I've spent well over 1000 hours playing Final Fantasy, so here are my most unforgettable 15 characters across the series
Mass Effect 2 - Garrus
Adventure Games The 25 best video game stories to play right now
An Argonian character looking over the Imperial City in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered
The Elder Scrolls If Bethesda wants The Elder Scrolls 6 to feel like a true sequel, I need it to wrap up a story that's been building since Oblivion and Skyrim
Judas key art of multiple characters posing on purple lighting
FPS Games Ken Levine's new BioShock-like game Judas carries the torch of Monolith's Nemesis System: "They can bribe you, save you in battle, talk s*** about the other characters, and share with you their darkest secrets"
Bioshock Infinite screenshot showing Elizabeth about to hit someone with a book
PC Gaming If "good is the new bad" in games, flawed experiments won't have time to grow into future GOTYs
Best single player games: Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2.
Games The 25 best single-player games to play right now
Red Dead Redemption 2
Adventure Games 25 best adventure games to get swept up in right now
Mafia: The Old Country
Action Games Mafia: The Old Country's divisive linearity is telling me everything I need to know about action-adventure games in 2025, and it all comes back to Indiana Jones
Darkseid
DC Movies DC fans are sharing who they'd want the Thanos of the DCU Chapter One to be
Promotional image showing the Everdark Sovereign version of Gaping Jaw in Elden Ring Nightreign.
Action RPGs If Elden Ring Nightreign wants to keep me around to buy DLC, it needs to lean into Dark Souls so much more
  1. Games

The Top 7... Villains that need their own spin-off games

Features
By Hollander Cooper published 7 May 2012

Give these antagonists a shot at being the star

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Make that antagonist a protagonist, stat!

Make that antagonist a protagonist, stat!

Which is why we've assembled a dirty dozen (or, rather, dirty seven) of villainous misfits that we think should have their own shot in the spotlight.

Page 1 of 9
Page 1 of 9
7. Captain Qwark in: From Metropolis With Love

7. Captain Qwark in: From Metropolis With Love

But what if thats all an act? What if Qwark isn't as cowardly as we think? What if hes actually a hero? Thats the Captain Qwark game we want one where he plays the fool to Ratchet, only to secretly be pulling the strings in the background to save the day. He can have access to the typical assortment of tools found in R&C games, from crazy weapons to crazier gadgets, interspersed with the occasional stealth segment, where he needs to protect Ratchet without being exposed.

Page 2 of 9
Page 2 of 9
6. Super Waluigi Bros.

6. Super Waluigi Bros.

For years, Mario/Luigi/Wario/Waluigi voice actor Charles Martinet has been championing a Waluigi game in which players need to cheat to win. We think this is a fantastic idea, and would love to see Nintendo actually do it. Make it a fairly typical platformer filled with nostalgic cues from past Mario games, but let Waluigi literally cheat the game make it a major mechanic. He gets hold of a magic scepter or computer or something that lets him stop time, move platforms, gain extra coins, or do other things that would typically be considered cheating. Embrace his quirky personality, and finally give the character his due.

Page 3 of 9
Page 3 of 9
5. LeChucks Secret of Monkey Island

5. LeChucks Secret of Monkey Island

Tales of Monkey Island

LeChuck is simply an awesome villain, and we have a feeling his descent into true villain-dom could make for an awesome game. Gameplay-wise, it should be a fairly typical point-and-click adventure, showing his life and death to give the already interesting character more depth. Plus, even if we end up disliking the young LeChuck, we have a feeling thatll just grow our appreciation of the undead, green, monstrous LeChuck we already know and love.

Page 4 of 9
Page 4 of 9
4. Dr. Wily's Robot Builder

4. Dr. Wily's Robot Builder

We want to do that. We want to build robots. We want to design the perfect foes for the end of each level - heck, we want to design the levels, too. Games like Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord have made being the bad guy fun, and we think a similar gameplay style can make for a Mega Man-tastic good time.

Page 5 of 9
Page 5 of 9
3. Star Wolf: Bounty Hunter

3. Star Wolf: Bounty Hunter

the Top 7 bestest frenemies

Wed kill for a Star Wolf game with traditional Star Fox gameplay. Choosing between bounties, hunting down different anthropomorphic pilots, occasionally running into Fox it would make for an absolutely awesome experience. Not only would it give us more of the Star Fox action we desperately crave, but it would show us the dark underside of Nintendos Star Fox universe. We have to imagine theres some pretty seedy stuff down there.

Page 6 of 9
Page 6 of 9
2. Bobby Kotick's Game Pub Story

2. Bobby Kotick's Game Pub Story

The game (which we assume would be developed by Activision) would be a fairly true-to-life representation of the day-to-day duties of running the world's biggest game publisher, albeit made more interesting by giving the boss a hands-on approach to the game development. Kotick would be able to decide whether or not to pump out yearly sequels, create a new IP, resurrect an old fan favorite, or cancel a highly-anticipated new title. But here's the fun part: a major responsibility of the job would be making sure the stock doesn't fall. If you don't get that yearly CoD game out, you better believe the stock is going to suffer, and taking a risk on a new IP will almost always lead to some crappy earnings. Bobby Kotick's Game Pub Story would let us see why Kotick makes the choices he makes - and to figure out whether or not we'd actually be able to do a better job.

Page 7 of 9
Page 7 of 9
1. Andrew Ryans Sim Rapture

1. Andrew Ryans Sim Rapture

An Andrew Ryan game would put us in the dress shoes of the entrepreneur himself in a Sim City-style city-building game. Wed be responsible for placing the different districts, plotting the buildings, building the tunnels, and doing everything else a hands-on city-builder like Ryan would have done. But it extends far past that wed also make important decisions, like which babbling psychopaths should be put in charge of different areas and which controversial programs to enact. Maybe well just kill all of the poor people! Maybe well start a secret police force! Andrew Ryans Sim Rapture would be a blast, providing a drastically different take on the BioShock series and the city-building genre. How often do you get to raise taxes on using toilets in Sim City? Thats what we thought.

Page 8 of 9
Page 8 of 9
What did we miss?

What did we miss?

Don't just sit there shouting at the screen, though - comment below and let us know what you think of this Top 7.

And if you want to read more about our favorite villains, check out the Top 7 villains that never stay dead and the The Top 7 bestest frenemies.

Page 9 of 9
Page 9 of 9
CATEGORIES
Android iPad iPhone PC Gaming Wii-u Nintendo PlayStation Xbox Platforms Mobile Gaming
Hollander Cooper
Hollander Cooper
Social Links Navigation

Hollander Cooper was the Lead Features Editor of GamesRadar+ between 2011 and 2014. After that lengthy stint managing GR's editorial calendar he moved behind the curtain and into the video game industry itself, working as social media manager for EA and as a communications lead at Riot Games. Hollander is currently stationed at Apple as an organic social lead for the App Store and Apple Arcade. 

See more Games Features
Read more
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild screenshot showing Link, a male character with elf-like ears, blond hair, and bright blue eyes
The Legend of Zelda movie is exciting, but I'm still begging for 5 specific video game movies to get adapted next
 
 
King K Rool
Donkey Kong Bananza is the perfect time to bring back an AWOL villain, and I'm already uncovering conspiracies that say our favorite crocodile will turn up
 
 
Far Cry 4 lead reveals a cut idea for enemy camps that would have completely changed the story: "I think that's where the fun of the whole genre might lie"
 
 
Vampire Survivors
"I felt like playing 30 hours of story mode was actually the tutorial": Too many RPGs and JRPGs end after their combat really gets good, Vampire Survivors creator says, which is where the roguelike formula is so great
 
 
A screenshot of PUCK eating an enemy during the upcoming Xbox Series X game, Shadow Labyrinth.
The best retro remakes and reboots out there aren't afraid to get weird with it – as Shadow Labyrinth being a dark and gritty Pac-Man game shows us
 
 
Mass Effect 2 - Garrus
The 25 best video game stories to play right now
 
 
Latest in Games
Borderlands 4 Harlow character close up holding a detonator
As Borderlands 4 PC performance woes continue, Gearbox says "we're reading every piece of feedback" and it's "our top priority" to make improvements, with one patch coming today
 
 
007: First Light
007 First Light director says IOI "set a challenge" for itself to create "the best weapon-handling we have done to date" because, unlike Hitman, ranged combat isn't a last resort
 
 
Super Mario Sunshine screenshot of Mario striking a post with the FLUDD tool on his back
After 23 years, I've officially beaten Super Mario Sunshine, and now I need a Switch 2 remaster to teach you youngins why the GameCube years really were a golden era for Nintendo
 
 
Cover art for The Witcher: Blood Stone
Geralt returns for another "blood soaked tale" in The Witcher: Blood Stone, a new comic that'll send him monster-hunting in deadly dwarven mines
 
 
A press image shows the Song of Saya protagonist smiling against a red wall of gore
Brave dev vows to keep making games for freaks like me even as daddy Steam decides to crack down on NSFW content: "I'll just create the things I find interesting"
 
 
Palworld
Palworld dev says a Dark Souls 3 mod invalidates Nintendo's Pokeball patent, Nintendo says mods don't count as real games, and an expert worries prior art precedents could see a modder's work "used against them"
 
 
Latest in Features
Demon Slayer Infinity Castle
Anime is officially mainstream after Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle, but where does it go from here?
 
 
Chance Perdomo in Gen V
Is Chance Perdomo in Gen V season 2? How The Boys spin-off pays tribute
 
 
Assassin's Creed Shadows
Assassin's Creed Shadows' new DLC weapon transforms Naoe into a samurai-bashing machine, and I'll never use anything else
 
 
Asa Germann as Sam Riordan in Gen V season 2
Gen V season 2 proves you can go bigger and bolder without relying on shock value, and The Boys' final season could learn a lot from the spin-off
 
 
Borderlands 4 tips picture showing enemies drawn into a singularity vortex while the player watches
Borderlands 4 does what Destiny couldn't: I'm finally back on the looter shooter train, and it feels like reliving my 60 hours in Borderlands 2
 
 
The key art for Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight showing a shadowed Batman superimposed in front of a neon and spotlight lit Gotham City
I briefly mistook the new Lego Batman for modded Arkham footage, genuinely bamboozling me while making me more excited for the game than ever
 
 
  1. Key art for Lego Voyagers showing the two lego heroes with red and blue brick eyes near a rocket
    1
    Lego Voyagers review: "A carefully crafted, playful, and earnest adventure"
  2. 2
    There's now a real version of the Witcher Gwent card game, and it's just as engrossing as the original
  3. 3
    Borderlands 4 review: "Undeniably an excellent looter shooter, but one that requires a bit of tunnel vision to fully enjoy"
  4. 4
    This enormous exploration board game won't be for everyone, but it's a masterclass in narrative and sandbox gameplay
  5. 5
    Hollow Knight Silksong review: "Worth the wait and then some, this isn't just more Hollow Knight but an evolved, spindly beast all its own – even if it's fiddly at times"
  1. Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob in One Battle After Another
    1
    One Battle After Another review: "One of the best studio movies in years and an instant classic"
  2. 2
    The Conjuring: Last Rites review: "Not bold or memorable enough for the Warrens' final chapter"
  3. 3
    Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle review: "Roars past Mugen Train as Demon Slayer's best adventure yet"
  4. 4
    The Long Walk review: "One of the best Stephen King adaptations ever made"
  5. 5
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  1. The cast of Gen V season 2
    1
    Gen V season 2 review: "As strong as the first season, if not stronger"
  2. 2
    Wednesday season 2 part 2 review: "Ortega shines, but it's a zombie who steals the entire show"
  3. 3
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  4. 4
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  5. 5
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...