Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • SFX
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
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
View
Trending
  • Summer Game Fest
  • New games for 2025
  • Upcoming Switch 2 games
  • Switch 2 stock

Recommended reading

Resident Evil Village
Games The 25 best video game villains you just love to hate
The Evil Queen in hag mode from Snow White
Movies The 33 greatest Disney villains
Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight
Movies The 32 greatest supervillains from movies and TV
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
Bring on the Bad Guys: Mephisto #1
Marvel Comics Nearly 50 years later, Marvel's new Bring on the Bad Guys aims to "stand side-by-side with Stan Lee's iconic volume" as a modern classic: "The best villains are the heroes of their own stories"
Mass Effect 2 - Garrus
Adventure Games The 25 best video game stories to play right now
Hitman Trilogy is now on Xbox Game Pass
Hitman If Assassin's Creed isn't going to bring back the multiplayer we all loved, there's another stealthy murder game that can do it even better: Hitman
  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
Resident Evil Village
The 25 best video game villains you just love to hate
The Evil Queen in hag mode from Snow White
The 33 greatest Disney villains
Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight
The 32 greatest supervillains from movies and TV
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
Bring on the Bad Guys: Mephisto #1
Nearly 50 years later, Marvel's new Bring on the Bad Guys aims to "stand side-by-side with Stan Lee's iconic volume" as a modern classic: "The best villains are the heroes of their own stories"
Mass Effect 2 - Garrus
The 25 best video game stories to play right now
Latest in Games
Dave the Diver Godzilla screenshot
Dave the Diver celebrates 2nd birthday by sharing messages from Baldur's Gate 3 actor Neil Newbon and the Subnautica studio CEO, bringing back Godzilla DLC, and dang, delaying its next DLC
Diablo 4
Blizzard jumps out of bed, rushes to the desk, and slams the nerf button after Diablo 4 players find a way to use Season 9 powers to "teleport effectively infinitely" and speed farm with every class
Marvel Swimsuit Special: Friends, Foes, and Rivals #1
As if the usual Marvel Rivals leaks weren't enough, Twitch has accidentally confirmed that Phoenix and Blade are your new Season 3 heroes alongside new "sizzling summer events"
Malys images
Ex Dragon Age writer's new studio shrugs off a failed Kickstarter, chucks its exorcist take on Slay the Spire right onto Steam – and it's a cool roguelike with a mana system I don't think I've ever seen
A screenshot of Palworld's Terraria crossover
Palworld has a gigantic new Terraria collab because creator Redigit got a Hail Mary DM from Pocketpair: "Let this be a lesson to always shoot your shot"
Old School Runescape old man trailer
MMO community fears PvP bots have formed a "cartel" using false reports to get you banned if you kill them for their illegal loot, bringing Old School RuneScape's bot problem to a boil
Latest in Features
One-Punch Man season 3: Saitama punching while in mid-air during the anime One-Punch Man.
Anime Expo 2025: dates, announcements, and why One-Punch Man fans should be excited
The Shrouds
It may feature corpses, missing limbs, and AI, but with The Shrouds, legendary director David Cronenberg has made the ultimate meditation on grief: "To me, there is no afterlife"
A full setup for Fate of the Fellowship with cards, tokens, and pieces all laid out
Legendary board game designer says his upcoming Lord of the Rings project is "definitely the most thematically and mechanically rich game I’ve worked on"
Promotional artwork for the Steam Summer Sale 2025 which runs from June 26th - July 10th at 10am PT
I've spent six hours exploring the Steam Summer Sale with our Games Editor, and these are the 10 best games on discount I'd recommend so far
The Outer Worlds 2 screenshot of Aza, a cultist companion with short pink hair who holds a dagger
The Outer Worlds 2 is "going deeper and more complex" with its companions, and I'm already making grabby hands at this RPG
Ruffy runs across the ocean on wooden crates in Ruffy and the Riverside, with the GamesRadar+ Indie Spotlight logo
Banjo-Kazooie and Paper Mario mix together in this delightful puzzle platformer that has me swapping textures to solve puzzles by changing the world
  1. Sam fires at the ghost mech squid boss in Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
    1
    Death Stranding 2: On the Beach review: "This tarpunk delivery epic is more Metal Gear Solid than ever, for better and worse"
  2. 2
    Rematch review: "As with Rocket League, the just-one-more-game pull is magnetic"
  3. 3
    Tron: Catalyst review: "Disc slinging is a thrill in this gorgeous rendition of the series, but I'm let down by a time-loop story that falls flat"
  4. 4
    FBC: Firebreak review: "A disappointingly bland multiplayer FPS that's missing far too much of what made Control special"
  5. 5
    Dune: Awakening review: "Both extremely compelling and extraordinarily boring, sometimes at the same time – yet still a true Dune love letter"
  1. M3GAN doll in M3GAN 2.0
    1
    M3GAN 2.0 review: "A bold sequel with a slightly underwhelming conclusion"
  2. 2
    28 Years Later Review: "Enough terror, splatter and suspense to satisfy”
  3. 3
    Predator: Killer of Killers review: "Great characters, thrilling action, and gorgeous Arcane-esque animation"
  4. 4
    From the World of John Wick: Ballerina review: "Brilliant action, even if the plot gives you a sense of déjà vu"
  5. 5
    Karate Kid: Legends review: "Better than Karate Kid (2010), nothing on Karate Kid (1984)"
  1. Lee Jung-jae as Gi-hun in Squid Game season 3
    1
    Squid Game season 3 review: "A staggeringly excellent final season wraps up one of the greatest Netflix shows ever"
  2. 2
    Ironheart review: "A relic of Marvel's content-at-all-costs era"
  3. 3
    Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 3 review: "The show's most assured run of episodes to date"
  4. 4
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 8 spoiler review: 'The Reality War' is "a mix of the good, the bad, and the truly baffling"
  5. 5
    Doctor Who season 2, episode 7 spoiler review: 'Wish World' is "an exciting and ambitious" start to the season finale, with hints of WandaVision

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...